#if I think about this family tree for too long I get a headache

[vwoop-prince]

YJ S3 Dick, still in the midst of his fever dream, hides underneath the 'souvenir' instead of behind some boxes, and accidentally opens the airlock trying to take care of the Parademons. The others get it to close... but not before Nightwing is thrown into space.

There, he stares at the ship holding his friends and mentors. There, he wishes more than anything that he can, somehow, survive. There, he tries to live, if only so his family don't have to bury him like Jason.

There, Nightwing dies, wanting to save everyone, even with the cold seeping into his bones far too quickly for a regular section of space.

Then, Dick opens his eyes to... Earth? There's a little house, and grass, and trees, but there's a bubble of green over it all. Outside of that green was an entire castle, one that looked like it should have far more support beams than it does for even a hope that it stays standing.

And the sky was swirling shades of that same green. It makes him think of Lazarus.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day." He whips his head behind him, a bit too fast for Earth's atmosphere, but it doesn't hurt him. Past the bubble of green was a blue-skinned adult in purple robes, the insides of a grandfather-clock fitted inside their torso, and a black staff with a stopwatch on its top. Beside them was a man with snow white hair, glowing green eyes, a crown of frozen fire dancing above his head, and the most galaxy-like cloak Dick's ever seen clasped to his shoulders. He's wearing... a hazmat suit? Maybe? The twinkling stars and odd lighting of wherever he is were giving him a bit of a headache.

But in front of those two, within this bubble, was...

"DICK!" Wally shouted with unrestrained glee, a blur overtaking his spot for barely a heartbeat before Dick's stuck in a crushing hug that he reciprocates once his brain stops feeling like its melting.

He doesn't know how long it took for them to calm down, but the man with the crown spoke up after a time, as Wally was still wiping their faces free of tears. "Welcome to the Infinite Realms, Nightwing." Dick barely even registered that he was still wearing his suit, but now it felt suffocating. "I suppose you're the one Clockwork was holding out for; There shouldn't've been enough Ectoplasm around you to form a Ghost, and your physical body's still in space. I can see why you like this one, though, Clockie," he states flippantly, turning to his companion. Almost like he didn't expect Dick to pay too close attention to what he was saying.

"Either way, there's two options for you." The man didn't let Dick swallow his tears and question anything. Dick's not sure if he's grateful or not. "First: Stay in the Realms permanently. You'll see Kid Flash whenever you want and learn to be a Ghost with the denizens of the Realms. Maybe find your parents."

"But..." Dick pulls away from Wally, keeping him at arms length, eyes flitting between them. The two outside the bubble were distinctly... ghost-like, so the mentions of 'Ghosts' make sense. But Wally looked... alive. A bit pale, a bit thin... but alive. Dick can't see any of his own skin to see if it was blue or tinted that way, but the Nightwing symbol on his chest kept flickering between its own blue and this 'Realms' green. "But--What about the others? What about you? Why can't you come home?" The last two, he focuses on Wally, because now he can feel a heartbeat beneath his gloves. Wally's alive. He's alive.

His friend just shrugs. "Something about their portals not fit for the living? I'm meant to wait for someone to figure out a permanent portal, but they won't tell me how long that'll take." Wally glares at the... 'Ghosts'? There was a heat to it, but it also seemed like this was a well-worn argument.

"The permanent portal was always an 'if', Wallace West. And that is entirely dependent on if Richard Grayson takes the second option," the clock Ghost--Clockwork?--speaks up. But instead of the adult Dick was expecting, there was an elderly Ghost in their place. Still with the time motif. Was that... more literal than Dick took it?

"Yes, the second option..." The crowned man glares daggers at Clockwork. The temperature dips below comfortable. Dick tries to blink the spaceship and stars out of his sight, withdrawing his arms from Wally to try and warm himself. Tries to remember he's not in space. "The second option is that you return to your body... changed. You'll be able to protect Earth better, stay with your alive family, save the Lost Ones... for a price."

Dick doesn't know if he should ignore the plural in 'Lost Ones'. He doesn't know if he's reading too much into how, in this Realm, apparently only his parents were able to be found. Where's Jason? He doesn't dare hope, but...

"What's the price?"

The man smiles and a ring of blue forms around his waist. It splits in two and travels up and down his body, replacing the cloak and whatever clothes he was actually wearing with a NASA shirt, worn jeans, and red sneakers actually duct taped together. The blue tint to his otherwise tan skin fades completely. His hair turns black. His eyes turn blue.

He was like a taller, slightly slimmer, way hotter version of Bruce.

The man walks through the bubble, but doesn't disturb the grass beneath his feet. "You become the Ghost King's vassal." Dick flinches away and almost hides behind Wally. "Not my idea! But, well... it is either this, or your permanent death."

"What does becoming a vassal do to him?" Wally asks, gently trying to stop Dick from breaking his ribs with how tightly he was hugging himself. Does he even have ribs?

"He gains my powers. Ice, electricity, invisibility, intangibility, flight... He becomes a Halfa. He becomes what I was, in life. Just... needing to make offerings to me, now and then. Something like that, at least. I give him powers, he gives me a chunk of, I don't know, chocolate once a week. Like a warlock."

Wally keeps talking to the man, keeps getting information that he knows he should pay attention to, but something in his chest screams to accept this deal, and he can't focus on anything else.

Nightwing can protect. He can return to life and go back to Blüdhaven, be the Vigilante they need. He can visit Gotham every now and then, help with cases and stop criminals from harming others. He can see his brother. He can see his friends. He can eat Alfred's cookies, and have little get-togethers with Babs and the Team--hell, he can argue with Bruce.

And all he has to do is... give an offering to this guy? The Ghost King? Every once in a while?

"There's no other price?" The King turns his attention to Dick. His eyes had shifted to a blue-green that almost hypnotize him. The green swirls, the blue forms and melts like snowflakes, and he can't look away.

He takes another step forward and Wally steps to the side. There was familiarity between them. Wally deferred to him. Dick can't quite tell why. Though, with how Wally hasn't once looked at Clockwork, maybe it's because he's... grounded? Are all speedsters in trouble with, what, the Ghost of Time? That... actually makes perfect sense.

"I'll be honest, Nightwing: You've impressed me." The weight behind the King's words lifts the ones that've been on his shoulders since he was nine. "You remind me of myself. Maybe, if I wasn't a Halfa... If I had a mentor... I could've been like you.

"Despite Clockwork's insistence over the years that I get back in touch with the living, I've held off. When he eventually suggested that I help create another Halfa, I locked him in his tower for twenty years. I didn't want anyone to go through what I had. But, now... I see that you won't. You can't. Even if you hide this deal--our shared powers... You'll still have people by your side. Strong people. Smart people. You can already handle yourself. And I'd love to see what you can do--who you can save--with my help."

There was maybe two inches between their faces when the King finishes speaking. Dick roves his eyes across the other's face, trying to find the common and familiar ticks that show lies and deceit and manipulation. All he finds is sincerity and genuine care.

Wally plays with his fingers from the corner of his eye, gaze hopeful as he looks between the two of them. Wally, who was alive and breathing and able to leave if he accepts. Eventually. Somehow.

Dick Grayson sends a quiet apology to his parents and hopes they will forgive him for being a little bit selfish.

"I accept."

He flings his eyes open. Above him, domino mask too wobbly to be properly secured anymore, was Robin crying and begging him to wake up. His hands were sloppily placed over his heart. Batman was trying to drag him away, the firm set of his jaw screaming grief.

Nightwing gasps once he registers his lungs burning.

There's a large cacophony of noise, multiple bright suits and people hounding over him, and the distinct artificial taste of slightly-too-much oxygen that the ship with the Parademons had. That he flew out of and died. He was still too cold.

Someone moves their arm beneath his knees and shoulder and Dick passes out.

(Dick 'Nightwing' Grayson dies in space. Ghost King Danny Phantom likes this too-human Hero. They split their souls in half, take one piece of the others, and all they know is that Phantom is now Nightwing's Patron Deity. Danny uses ice, for electricity killed him. Dick uses electricity, for ice killed him. They are opposites, and yet so incredibly similar. Clockwork was looking forward to when Danny starts putting off his paperwork to hang out with his new 'friend'.)

[spacedace]

Found this old snippet and don't really remember of the context for it outside of being a joking exploration of how weird the Fenton/Phantom family tree would seem to outsiders (not even getting into how relationships might be classified differently between the human side & the ghost side)

Anyway gonna drop it here as a prompt lol

Mind the quick reference to dismemberment, there's no gore or detailed description and no one is actually hurt, it's more there for comedic effect, but still wanted to give the heads up on it 👍

---

Nomad motioned to the towering, vaguely vampire-looking buff dude with literal flaming hair what the fuck, “Dan, this is everyone. Everyone this is Dan. He’s my…” Nomad trailed off and blinked, a look of confused befuddlement on her face as she let the sentence hang for too long.

“Huh…” She said considering, looking up at vampire-dude, Dan apparently, with a confused furrow on her brow. “You know this is the first time I’ve ever had to try and explain our relationship to each other and I’m drawing a blank and what exactly to call you. Uncle? Dad? Brother? Like, I think you could technically be considered all three.”

What the fuck did that mean??? Kon snapped his attention over to meet Tim’s masked gaze, the look of wild confusion Kon was sure was on his own face mirrored there. Around the meeting room confused and worried looks were being shared by the rest of the League. Which like, yeah, what in the Habsburgs was happening here for all of those terms to be applicable?

“Well, you’re Danny’s Mirror, so if you consider him your dad then it stands to reason I’m also your father.” Dan said, hand coming up to his - literally flaming, how did that work? - goatee thoughtfully.

“Yeah but like, I call Danny dad just to piss Vlad off.” Nomad countered, toying with her severed arm with her still attached hand. Kon didn’t think he’d ever get over how casual she was about being literally disarmed and just…not caring. “And I definitely don’t see you as a dad. Uncle?”

The giant of a ghost shook his head with a frown, “Implies that Danny and I are brothers, which could work but gives our relationship kind of a weird vibe. I feel more like his father than anything.”

“Gramps, then?”

“No.”

Nomad laughed, “Fair, wouldn’t want to take the title of Grampa away from CW. Besides we’re both half Vlad, so I think brother works best here.” She frowned, looking thoughtful, “Maybe half brother?”

Dan considered, “Half-brother could work. Though it gives Vlad more credit than he deserves.”

“Oh come on, can you imagine the look on his face if we went in together on suing him for child support?” Nomad asked, fanged grin wicked. Dan’s face lit up at the idea, and Kon felt like they were rapidly heading towards the two ghosts running off to go and go torment whoever this Vlad guy was rather then them help deal with the current demonic problem at hand.

“Can you please explain what any of that means?” Kon asked, more a squeak than anything else. He was starting to get a headache.

[astvrook]

洪水 | YANDERE THEMES | JUNGWON.

once, your teacher gave an explanation of altitude sickness or mountain fever, defining it as a claustrophobic reaction when a person began to spend too much time cooped up with others, and it could manifest itself when people ascended to very high altitudes, starting with symptoms such as headaches, fatigue or nausea, and eventually causing harm to themselves or others around them.

he seemed, evidently, to know what he was talking about, so that you believed him, and your mind focused on that ancient explanation as you struggled with the events that, during a «apparently harmless» winter holiday with your friends at the cabin, began to make sense when you started having nightmares about their deaths.

"do you think i'm out of my mind?" you asked jungwon, your best friend, after a terrible night full of incessant screaming.

alas, he hesitated too long to answer. yet he could see your muscles tense with fear and smiled at you. "i don't know," he said, glancing at you pityingly and falling silent again as if a clock were ticking over his head. "just know that some places are like people, too much they get inside your head."

after all, the hut belonged to his family and, as far as you knew, he went every winter to stay with them more than 20 miles from the nearest town. jungwon's grandmother, before seeing you two off, tried to reassure you by mentioning that, as they had a good income, they were always stocking the larder with food and water, everything was close at hand and easy to get without having to leave, except that things began to change when they mentioned over the radio that the roads were closed because of a severe storm, perhaps one of the biggest that had occurred in years.

at high altitude, air felt different, and the group started to behave differently, so the fights between everyone started, first because of differences in personalities, then because of the cold and then because of hunger, starting to behave like badly socialised people, because you had to keep well fed if you wanted to be happy. indeed, one of them started complaining about your relationship with jungwon, pointing out to everyone how annoying it was that he shared his room with you (which was the best) and wrongly accusing you of having food kept, which kept the others from being fed and they started exaggerating about the severity of the situation they were subjected to.

then you began to miss the rustling trees that surrounded you in the city, those birds scattering from the branches, flapping their wings wildly as they fled, wishing (for the first time) that you were one of them with all your might, and if phone communications hadn't been cut off because of the heavy snowfall, you would have immediately called the first number you had saved for help.

"guys, can complain all you want and hope that someone around here for «miles around» will listen." jungwon commented, mocking your friends' desperation, before wrapping his arms around you and pulling you back into the room, declining to play the same game.

"what was the point of us all getting mad at each other?" you pressed your lips together at your own words, listening as the silence fell over you, thick and heavy. "my stomach is growling too."

rather than rest at your side, jungwon showed leadership once again and made a point of leaving the room, but not before locking it so that no one could interrupt your rest, meaning you couldn't leave, though you didn't mind. you were weak, and while could stand for the moment, it didn't mean you always could, so you decided to listen to him, for it wasn't so far-fetched to find comfort in the smell of his pillow.

some hours passed, maybe six, when again you heard footsteps behind the door, but every time you turned your body, jungwon never came to open it. exhausted, you decided to rest for a while longer, until you heard a vibration in the mattress beneath you. a dull thud. and, as you stood up, still sleepy and checked under the bed, you found the device hidden in a hole in the mattress. "how—?" took the device between your fingers and saw that the signal did indeed work, staring at it for a moment with something akin to confusion mingling with betrayal brewing inside you.

"are you up?" then jungwon asked, knocking on the door through the wood. his voice was raspy, likely from exposure to low temperatures, but it didn't make you feel safe like it used to.

"yes, i'm coming!" you had to raise your voice to be heard over your chest that was threatening to close up in panic. left the mobile phone where you found it and crossed your arms over your chest, struggling to retain some warmth and stop shivering, not from the cold, but from the knowledge that you had to tell the others soon and, even if it hurt, charge jungwon for keeping it hidden from you.

because you knew the rules of survival, therefore you refused to be like those animals in the forest who chewed off their own paws to escape, or perhaps for fear of defending yourself.

your eyes darted to the door when the lock was opened, and followed jungwon's body in front of you, landing on the snowflakes covering his coat. "do you feel better?" he asked.

well, you couldn't answer because you didn't know at the time; you would have said whatever jungwon wanted you to say. had he wished you to say that you were delighted to see him, you would have said so, even if it was untrue. but instead, you just replied, "maybe. i'm so hungry."

as he left the threshold by the bedroom door, he moved so close that you could reach him, grabbing your cheeks and letting them rest in his hands. his face changed then, from worried cat to bright-eyed domestic kitten, and the sudden curve in his lip made you tense as you took your time to breathe.

"we'll sort that out at this moment." your eyes met, and the thick feeling of fear dissipated in you, like panic, at the mention of food. "come to me, (y/n)."

aside from the furious gurgling in your stomach, you followed him silently, staring at the kitchen table like the clock inside it. it seemed more than six hours had passed since everyone had left. when you smelled the scent of food, you let out a sound of satisfaction and clung tighter to jungwon's hand, tucking your lower lip between the teeth.

"does that expression on your face signify that you're content?" his movements paused for a second before he resumed, stowing what appeared to be bags inside the freezer.

surprised you weren't fighting, and you concentrated even more on following the steam from the frying pan with your eyes. "how did you make it?"

without answering you, jungwon bit the tip of your nose lightly, then suddenly, as you began to realise that the bags contained enough meat for the winter, the oxygen in the room faded and froze your breath, for as the hours passed, your friends did not return.

and you realised that, from then on, it would only be the two of you for a long time.

LISTA MAESTRA DE ENHYPEN

[cute-sucker]

No but what do you think younger Rafe is like?? I’m talking like 12 year old Rafe. Do you think he be one of those obnoxious elementary school boys that think they are so cool? Do you think he was a good student or not. I mean he graduated eventually but idk if he would struggle with school or not. Or if he got along well with his sisters at one point? I wanna hear your opinion on this!!

so this ask marinating in my box because i was going to write something long about it but i'm stupid?? so anyways (let me know if y'all want more about this au)

1.) rafe is so obnoxious when he was younger, always up tree tops, diving into the pool, and yelling about how he was the king of the forest. he was always the king of something with his loud voice

2.) he definitely thinks he's so cool, and he hates the way you disregard him with your pretty pink princess dress, and little tiara. you glare at him from distances, and tell him that you'll turn him into a frog

3.) as the two of you grow up, you become more academically focused, not paying attention to the lean rafe who towers over you when you check out books. he comes into the library to make fun of you, and you roll your eyes at him, perfect manicured hands on your math books, and emily bronte

4.) he hates it all, but enjoys the look on your face when you get focused. he hates to admit it but he struggles at school, looking at the pages of the words until they start to move. it gives him a big headache, so who cares about school? but he sees you hanging around the academically smart boys, the ones that know all the answers and decides to crack open a book.

5.) quickly enough when he gives it a try he doesn't figure it out, so instead he asks you to tutor him. you look surprised, looking up at him with his letterman jacket and agree. he looks amused at the way you flush when he asks. maybe he has some sort of effect on you.

6.) the tutoring lessons work so well, and with your soothing gentle voice, and soft hands to guide him the way. suddenly he sees the way you see everything, as if you were the key to it all.

7.) he gets along with his siblings, especially wheezie who's old enough to get teased by him. he's mean to her sometimes, but there is some sort of softness with the two of them, the black sheep of the family. one thing that i feel would happen between them is wheezie forgetting to make a science project, and wobbles over to rafe.

8.) within 1 hour rafe has made a full display for her, his face orange with sticky fingers, hair ablaze. he has a proud dad smile on his face, sneaking into the science exhibition to just look at his sister. wheezie is laughing too, looking up at her big brother with happy eyes.

9.) it all goes downhill when he tries to make a pass at you in tutoring, giving you a soft kiss on the lips. he pulls away thinking that it'll be fine, but you had a suprised expression on your face, "what was that for?" and he smirks, "what do you think?"

10.) you run out after 10 minutes of that encounter, and rafe stands on the sidewalk next to tanyhill watching you pedal away.

he'd just lost the best thing in his life.

[skippyv20]

Let’s take a peek into MM’s diary….

Dear Dairy,

Sorry I haven’t written to you for awhile. I’m so popular and I don’t have a second to myself these days. Everyone…and I mean EVERYONE wants to be my bestie. I am good with that, as you know, the more people I can use and abuse, the happier I am. I must say though, unless I get something out of a bestie…I’m not interested. The Kardasicans, give me a headache. They walk around like they live for money and selfies! I mean please! I know they are jelly (have scrapped the scam jam, and going to make jelly now, see how I did that?) of me, they would grab onto Larry, sorry…Harry in a second. They don’t stand a chance with him though, because they may be trashy…but believe me…I AM trashier. That’s how I won his (heart). Anyways, I am done with them using my mom so they can stay in the news. They need to be able to say…”we are besties with Doria the DuchAss’s mom! Forget it! I told my mom (who happens to be 50% Nigerian) that she needs to be careful with those people, as they don’t even like her….no one does….they only like ME, and use her to get to ME. Anyways, enough about them.

I know people are getting impatient waiting for my long, long, long list of products for my new Scam Company ARO. They are coming….likely in the year 2080. So, something to look forward to. I have great hope for my toilet paper line, dental floss, toothpaste, perfume, and dish detergent. I am really focusing on these items. I do however want to start a line of brooms and shovels as well. Everytime I am on SM (shhh don’t tell everyone)…I see them talk about brooms and shovels, so yeah, I get the message, my public wants me to sell these items. So working on that. The shovels will be tested this week at the local farm. Trying them out in the horse stalls, see how much they can handle. I did get Larry (Harry) to try out a broom. I had him climb up a tree with a broom. He got on a thick branch and stood up with the broom, and jumped thinking he would fly. Sadly, he couldn’t fly with it. Back to square one, and research. Look at him! How embarrassing! Great news though! The broom didn’t break!

Oh Diary, a sneaky peek at my new Dish Detergent I created….on sale in 2079…I LOVE the packaging…great name too!

When I was 11 yrs old….i saw a commercial. There was a girl washing dishes! I said NOPE! I wrote to the company and said NOPE, girls have better things to do then wash dishes! Why can’t boys wash dishes! The company changed the commercial…..immediately! Now boys wash dishes….thanks to yours truly, ME! So anyways, that’s why it was so important for me to create my new dish detergent, I can’t recall why I named it Dawn though? Oh, I do recall now….thats the time I usually roll home! My amazing business ARO is a family business, I even have LallyBet doing testing…she will always have a future washing dishes. She will have to earn her own money in life, because….what is MINE…is MINE, and I will spend every penny on ME!

Oh my trip! Yeah so I was invited to……Nigerian. It was fun. The best part is….they see me as the Princess of Nigerian. They were so easy to scam! (Note to self…send them jam and dish detergent.). They really made us feel welcome, but I didn’t like the food. I didn’t like the way the dressed. I didn’t like the air. I didn’t like the people. I did however, LOVE they see me as influential and a role model for the young ones. I could see in their sad little eyes, they ALL see me in them and them in me. They will never achieve what I have achieved. Sadly, not everyone is a good grifter. I don’t know, maybe if a go there every few months I can change a couple of them into little mini me grifters….I don’t know. I almost fell on my face! My spray tan was rubbing off, or dripping off I should say. Spray tan doesn’t work in extreme heat!!!! No biggie, they know I am 89% Nigeria. It was a privilege for all to meet me, and they paid me plenty…so all good.

Ok, this is a real secret. Larry (Harry) and I are going to Australia. We decided we are going to become King and Queen over there. We can’t get back into the UK, or Kanada..so Australia is the only place left. I want to go there for two reasons. One, they need a king and QUEEN. Two, I love Kalhua Bears. We are going to get a partition going, should be easy. The Aussies have thick accents, and I don’t think they understand English so should be easy to fool them. If they catch on and say they have a King and Queen, we will just tell them they quit their jobs, and told us to go under. Seriously, I think we can pull this off. I will have the biggest tiara anyone has ever seen. Do they have yachts in Aussie? Asking for a friend. I have seen some of the men in Aussie. Oh yeah….they would like me…no doubt about it. Those Hems worth bros are so good looking….yep….I have got to meet them.

Well I guess I should go, Larry (Harry) is crying again, blah blahblahblah……

If anyone happens to read my Diary, please donate to our new charities:

Make Me Richer Foundation

Me Me Me Foundation

Dish Detergents Foundation

Broken Harry Foundation

Also buy MY new books:

I Can Scam Like No Other

The Best Way to Fool Governments

I Know Everyone In The World Wants to be ME

How To Pretend You Have Children

How To Be 89% Nigeria And Get Away With It

I have another 59 books but I will tell you about them later!

Love Me….I LOVE ME!xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

[irrevocableloves]

violent delights

twilight rewrite! edward cullen x fem!witch!reader

chapter one: the city of forks welcomes you

masterlist ౨ৎ chapter two

summary: y/n swan has lived in forks all of her life, but when she takes her summer-long vacation to california to visit her mother, she returns to a strange new family accompanying her small town.

warnings: swearing, angst

words: 1.8k

a/n: this has been in my drafts for so so long and tbh i haven't written a fanfic since i was 12... and i'm fr 22, but i've ran out of twilight fanfics to read (i've been waiting weeks for one specific one to update and i'm going crazy)... so anyways !! hope you enjoy !!

Opening my eyes, I was greeted with the trees of Forks, Washington. After an almost four hour drive, I could sense that I was nearing my home as the city was nowhere to be found. Instead it was replaced with deep green trees, dim skies, and the small shops that swept by as my dad drove.

I liked Forks, more than I probably should. Everyone here, mostly the kids, sulked about big bright cities where the sun would actually make an appearance. They longed for the liveliness that Forks had never given them.

But me? I secretly adored the quietness of it all. But of course, I had a disadvantage. Every summer I bathed in the sun rays of California, visited the busy cities, the warm beaches, and the overall liveliness that was craved from everyone else. But I was drained. Normally, it would be the opposite from any other person, but I always loved the cold. Ever since I was a kid, my little brain was wired to believe that Forks was almost like Christmas every single day of the year. So, rain, snow, or even ice (even with the ungodly amount of times I've slipped) never had me in too big of a rut.

With my mom back in California, though I loved her to death, was an absolute headache most of the time. And unlike my dad, she hovered. But, it wasn't her fault. The summer is the only time she had me, the rest were reserved with Charlie, which had resulted in this summer's mishaps: she begged me to stay longer. One would think that school would be an easy get out, but she knew the first month was nothing but dry introductions, syllabi, and effortless assignments. It was partly my fault. I was never one to turn her down, perhaps it was guilt because maybe she and I felt deep down that I favored my father more because who could ever turn down a chance to live in the perfect bustling city of San Francisco over Forks.

So I stayed. But now, it's the beginning of October. Thankfully, I was able to get in contact with the school in order to get all of my classes in order, as well as the help of my best friend, Angela, who emailed me all of the assignments. Jessica on the other hand, filled me in on all of the gossip. Her phone calls consisted of talks about her massive crush on Mike as well as the new and "totally weird" (as Jessica put it) family. "Suuupperrr pale, but weirdly GORGEOUS. I mean this Edward guy, he's wow. I swear if Mike doesn't make a move soon... I wonder if I could make him jealous?" The conversations were mostly one-sided, always either complaining about Mike's obliviousness or never catching that new guy's attention.

Now that I knew I was caught up on everything to do with school, all I wanted was to bury myself in bed and prepare for an alarm that hasn't been set in months.

I awoke to the sound of a car honking outside my window, assuming it was nothing, I settled back into my pillows, throwing my purple duvet back over your head for hopefully another thirty minutes of sleep.

"Y/N/N!" I heard my dad's voice accompanied by one of his famously loud whistles from outside of my window. That's when I finally got up and peered over with squinting eyes to see my father coming out of a car that most definitely wasn't his squad car.

Once my vision settled, I saw a green Volkswagen beetle parked in the driveway. No fucking way. I sprinted down the stairs and flung the front door open to see my father with a wide grin, gesturing the keys in front of my face.

"For me? You're joking?" I said in complete shock.

"You want me to be joking? Cause if so I can just bring this right back to Billy and let him sell it to some other geezer."

"No! No! No! I mean... Thank you, dad. Oh my god, how did you guys even find this?"

"Well, consider it a late birthday present. Billy and Jacob found it back in May for your birthday and decided to fix it up for ya, free of charge, but I paid 'em of course."

"Thanks dad and how about we invite Billy and Jacob over sometime and I'll cook? As a thank you?"

"You bet."

Once I parked in front of the school, my group of friends welcomed me with open arms, with Angela and Jessica squealing about how much they missed you and the boys, mostly just Mike, trying to awkwardly hug me.

I knew Mike had a crush on me, since third grade to be exact, which only made it worse for my friendship with Jessica, which made it worse for Lauren, Jessica's bestest friend to have an even better reason to despise me.

The first four classes: English, Government, Trigonometry, and French were surprisingly a breeze thanks to the assignments either Angela or the teachers sent over while I was away.

While at lunch, a new, unfamiliar bunch emerged from the cafeteria doors. They were beautiful... and also extremely pale even for Forks. So, this was the family Jessica was practically drooling over?

"Who are they?" I questioned anyways.

Jessica leans in, being careful to whisper, "It's the family I was telling you about. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They all moved down here from Alaska like last month."

I studied the first girl who walked in, bleached blonde hair, almost black eyes that were almost unsettling, she wore a thin grey coat and a knitted white scarf that matched her icy skin, and a necklace with a large charm that looked to be a family crest of some sort.

"The blonde girl, Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett..." Jessica continued.

More of the family gathered in slowly, the blonde was linking hands with a man with jet black hair, with the same family crest residing on his wrist.

"... they're a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal." Jessica grimaced.

Angela piped in, "Jess, they're not actually related."

"But they live together and all wear that weird creepy crest like some sort of cult. And the little dark haired girl, Alice, she's really weird..."

Despite Jessica's remarks, Alice was the one who caught my eye the most so far and not in a negative way. She reminded me of a fairy almost with her pixie-like hair cut, her style, and the way she carried herself, which was pretty whimsical in a way. Her arms were locked with a man beside her, bleached blonde just as Rosalie was.

"... she's with Jasper, the blonde who looks like he's in pain" Jessica continued on, "I mean, Dr. Cullen's like this foster dad slash match maker."

"Maybe he'll adopt me." Angela giggled.

The last Cullen to enter, I assumed it was Edward, the man Jessica claimed to be weirdly gorgeous and 'wow'. 'Wow' was the perfect word to explain how I felt as he strode down the cafeteria. I couldn't keep your eyes off of him, even as he went past your table, I was oddly captivated by his presence. He had a lanky body, matched with the same pale skin as his siblings, bronze hair and striking smirk. You could've sworn he heard Jessica's whispered remarks from across the cafeteria.

"He's totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, no one here is good enough for him. Like I care." She does. "Anyway, don't waste your time."

"I wasn't planning on it." I looked away before his eyes could find mine and once I did, I felt as if holes were practically burned at the back of my head. Was he staring?

Out of curiosity, I peered over my shoulder, quickly glancing, seeing his eyes on mine and quickly turning my eyes back, slowly hiding behind my hair.

Before I walked into Biology, I shuffled through my backpack to look for the assignments I'd done in your time away, settling them in my hands as I walked through the door.

Greeting Mr. Banner, I handed him my completed assignments that were neatly put together with a paper clip.

"Finally nice to see you Miss Y/L/N, how was your summer?" Being great at biology put you at an advantage, not only for assignments, but because Mr. Banner didn't question much about my month long disappearance, but I couldn't say the same about PE...

"It was good, thank you."

"Well that's great, I'm glad! And I appreciate your completed assignments, not even people attending have it all quite done like you have!" He rambled. "So! Your seat... There's a seating chart, but there should be an empty seat I left for you...,yes! Right there, next to Mr. Cullen." Mr. Banner pointed to the right side of the classroom to the seat next to the Cullen boy.

Edward's eyes once again felt as if they burned through my own, staring at me as if you had wronged him in some way. The hatred in his eyes was well aware, but for what reason?

With each step I took, the more disgust in his features appeared, almost as if he was holding his breath. Did I stink or something? I attempted not to smell myself to see if perhaps I had raging body odor or even a bad breath that radiated from across the classroom. No one else seemed to have an issue besides him.

Once I was sat, I heard him mutter into a cough, but I only made eye contact with his beading black eyes and said nothing at all. He only pushed the microscope towards me slowly, being careful to not come any closer to me as if he would catch something.

I sighed loudly, making my annoyance well known. He only just tensed.

Throughout the entirety of the class, the tension continued. I even considered going up to Mr. Banner and asking to switch seats with someone, but that only sparked the possibility of Mike forcing Eric to switch seats and I honestly couldn't figure out which would be worse. So, I decided to suffer through the entire hour and perhaps learn to suffer the entire year partnered with a man who could hardly even look me in the eye without being utterly disgusted.

At first I was hurt, but the hurt swiftly turned into annoyance once the partner sessions began. He didn't even consult with me, rather he just scribbled as fast as he could, only of what he was able to see through the microscope, only handing it to me after to check his answers. All correct, surprisingly.

Staring at the clock, I was counting down the time until the bell. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Edward had gotten up, practically running out of the classroom before the bell had officially rung.

next chapter

taglist ₊˚⊹♡

[belle--ofthebrawl]

I am so invested in your posts about Mountain and his pack of moms.

Does Mountain turn into a big kit whenever he visits them? Like a college kid who goes back home to his family during holidays.

- @ghouletteanon

(I did exactly two Google searches and these are the names for the previous drummers I found. I went with Terra over Gamma for obvious elemental reasons. I think there's three total? My inbox and DMs are open to any and all earth ghoul stans who know more than I do.)

Nothing terrible under the cut except the horror of knowing your parental figures have sex.

He knows Pebble's aware as soon as he sets foot into the deeper woods. The trees and mycelium networks are her eyes and ears, leaves rustling with wind-carried words to wherever she is. Not a single twig in this forest snaps without her knowing about it, which would give anyone else an incredible headache but Pebble seems to like it just fine.

And sure enough, he doesn't get but a yard or so before she appears. Sitting on an ancient log like she's been there the whole time waiting for him to pass by, even though he knew he'd been alone just moments ago.

She's all criss-crossed up from her arms to her legs, still as a statue as she watches him approach with his picnic basket. He doesn't say anything; he knows this routine well enough by now. Pebble can get odd, when left to her own devices for too long. The others are usually good at bringing her back to herself though.

Food helps too. Not the food she can scavenge from the forest like berries and mushrooms and prey animals eaten raw. Food that's been altered, baked, cooked. He lifts the cloth of the picnic basket and lets the warm smell of fresh bread waft out. Her nostrils flair and she stands up, quick as a wink. With one quick nod, she's off; darting through the undergrowth like a fox. It's on him to keep up, but he knows she'll come back for him if he lays behind too far. She'll get impatient but she'll always come back.

The path is different every time he visits. Some trick of Terra's to keep strangers out if they aren't guided in but he doesn't mind. He knows how much they value privacy and the time it takes to get to the destination is never too long. The undergrowth thins out, the trees grow further and further apart until they're in Ivy's garden with Ivy herself bending over to tug up a bundle of root vegetables. Pebble licks her fingertips as she walks over, delivering a loud and resounding smack to Ivy's rear end that Mountain glances away to avoid seeing barely in the nick of time.

"Pebble!" Ivy shouts, shooting up straight and cuffing the small menace in return. "Just once, a hello would be nice to hear instead of-"

"Hello." Mountain calls, walking between the rows to her with a wave. She turns around again and her happiness is so infectious that nearby plants immediately start flowering in response. Pebble takes the opportunity to dart into the little home that's been carved into the earth, set into the base of gentle slope covered in soft green grass.

"Mountain!" She cries, dropping her harvest into the dirt and leaping over the plants to catch him up in a bear hug. "Oh, I was just thinking about you! Terra was saying you were all back from tour, so of course we've been expecting you but honestly not so soon and-"

"Let that boy breathe." Comes a deeper voice from the doorway of the little home. Mountain straightens up automatically, brushing a few fly aways out of her face as Terra easily lopes over with her cane. She stops a few feet away, looks over him with a critical eye and he's acutely aware of every wrinkle and stain in his clothes, the way his right boot's come untied and how the flannel he has on now was definitely hers once upon a time.

"Suppose we'll have to take you as you are then." Terra says, a telling twinkle in her eye though her face remains firm. "What'd you bring us this time?"

"Harvest bread." He says, finally handing over the picnic basket. "Gooseberry and raspberry jam. Two kinds of cheese. Wine and whiskey and weed."

"Good stuff." Ivy says in approval.

"We'll see." Terra says. Then, "Pebble, don't you dare."

Pebble slinks out from behind Terra, hands raised in innocence even as her tail whips back. It's caught just in time by Terra's own tail, wrangled into submission as Mountain pretends to be thoroughly engrossed by his feet. He's not a prude, far from it but it just feels awkward to watch the ones who helped him with his first moments Topside be...like that.

"Welcome back." Terra says fondly after Pebble yanks her tail away and stomps off to set the table. Ivy picks up her vegetables again and goes to put her gardening tools away. "Tell us where you've been this whole time."

"All over." Mountain begins. And, like he always does, hits his head on the doorframe on the way in.

Some things never change.

[mikeandikeschmidt]

🎄Christmas with Mike & Abby: Headcanons

•I think Mike would either be a Scrooge like, “great. One more thing I got to worry about.”

OR he’d go crazy trying to make Christmas perfect. He remembers a time when Christmas used to be such a huge thing for the family and he wants Abby to experience that too. And with you in the picture now, it makes him that much more motivated to make this the happiest holiday ever. So I’m leaning towards the latter. That Mike would try way too hard to make a good Christmas.

•First step? The tree. Mike gets a real tree. He’s very particular about it, he likes the smell of the pine, it brings back memories. Then he’s quickly reminded of how much of a pain in the butt they are and he regrets everything

•Abby’s favorite Christmas song is the Chipmunk one. Just because it’s Mike’s least favorite. The high-pitched voices annoy the crap out of him and Abby likes watching him try not to show how big of a headache he’s developing. His second least favorite song is Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You. When he was a mall security guard, he had to listen to that on the PA wayy too many times.

•Mike’s payback is singing along to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. And he always jokingly exaggerates the crooner’s voice, making Abby complain she hates his singing. You giggle and reassure him you like when he sings but Abby just comments, “I guess love is deaf too.”

•When it starts snowing and actually packing, you take Abby out to build a snowman. But when you see Mike pull into the driveway, you both get a mischievous idea…and you start pelting him with snowballs.

At first, he’s grumpy from just getting out of work and he shouts at you both to knock it off. So you and Abby pout and go back to your snowman…letting your guard down long enough for Mike to get payback. (And that guy has a good arm. He can throw a mean snowball)

•Three words for you; Christmas. Movie. Marathon. I’m talking Home Alone, Christmas Story, Charlie Brown Christmas. Cocoa with marshmallows. Watching movies together. And seeing how long it takes Mike to fall asleep. (Hint, not very long)

•Mike is a bit of a klutz sometimes. He’s so tired all the time, it manifests itself in occasional bursts of clumsiness. One of those unfortunate times was when he was trying to put up the Christmas lights. He got tangled up in the wires and you found him hanging from the roof, upside down. Like something from National Lampoon or Home Improvement. Abby was laughing hard and you were just panicking, trying to get him down without letting him fall.

•Helping Mike pick out gifts for Abby. He’s absolutely lost on what little girls like so you have to help him, but you both were in total agreement when you both saw a journal and marker pack for your little artist. She was ecstatic when she saw her presents.

•You got Mike a watch, some new comfy sweatshirts, as well as an expensive cologne. You felt he deserved to treat himself a little bit. Mike tried to act casual about it, but you could tell he was all bashful at your generosity. Abby also pointed out that he was blushing (which made his face turn redder)

•Abby made you a homemade card with a drawing of the three of you together at home with a rainbow overhead. There’s also a lot of unnecessary glitter that falls into your lap. But it makes you tear up, because it really makes you feel like part of the family.

•Mike’s gift to you is very humble. It’s something small but intimate. It shows he doesn’t have a lot of money but that he listens to you. It’s something you thought he wouldn’t have even noticed or heard you talking about. But he pays attention to you. And it was the sweetest gesture that melted your heart.

•Back to the topic of Christmas lights, it’s a Schmidt family tradition to drive around to look at other houses’ lights one last time.

Mike drives and he smiles softly, looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing Abby asleep in the back. ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ plays on the radio and Mike reaches over to hold your hand, softly rubbing your knuckles with his thumb. And everything feels right in the world.

[y-rhywbeth2]

*Sarevok Anchev. A Bhaalspawn who failed to become Chosen, long ago. A spilled stain of Father's Divine Essence left out to dry. Is he your cousin? Great-uncle? Brother, even? Bhaal's bilious waters are always a little murky.*

"Even by Bhaal's standards, you're truly vile, uncle." - Durge to Sarevok about his abuse of Helena and Orin after her death, giving Bhaal far too much credit.

"And when you do, remember grandfather Sarevok. Remember how he helped you. Return to visit him, and tell the blood-drenched tale of your victory."

What do you mean "brother, even"? if you're directly spawned of Bhaal surely that would be the first choice?? Or he'd be your son too because of the clone thing, which is even stranger, but "great-uncle"?? Or is this a Mystra -> Midnight thing? Bhaal was reborn from one of his children so kind-of-sort-of this is a new Bhaal who is also technically of the same generation as Sarevok while still technically preceding... my head hurts. Oh, for the good old days when we just called each other "siblings" and Bhaal was only your father and had no additional kinship titles that could be applied on top of that...

Durge gets the opportunity to describe the family tree as "a bit of a circle", but honestly I think the tree, soaking in that "bilious water," has forsaken 2D shapes in favour of trans-dimensional non-Euclidean nightmares at this stage.

(I tried to find a way to fix some inconsistencies and got a bigger headache.)

"Grandfather" I can explain away as Sarevok (presumably) being much older than Durge in non-headcanon. I can charitably put "uncle" there too, but the fact that Durge doesn't even know what title to use because Bhaal is a nightmare says it all.

The Thorms having a vague and unexplained confusing family tree was not a competition, Bhaal!

[captainmalewriter]

Powerless

In a world where nearly everyone has superpowers, my Powerless family really got the short end of the stick. Only a handful of people in my family tree have some kind of power, if anything at all.

That's why it came as no surprise to anyone when my younger brother Luis and I were also born Powerless. And not gonna lie, being Powerless was really depressing while growing up. I remember being jealous of all my peers at school when they showed off their powers; super strength, super speed, flying, and whatever other powers they had. But luckily, I got over it as I got older. I mean, yeah, it would be pretty cool if I had some kind of cool power to show off. But I don't, and I'm fine with that.

My brother Luis on the other hand... I don't think he ever truly got over being Powerless. He mellowed out with age too, but there's just something off about the way he talks about people with superpowers. You wouldn't be able to tell right away, but if you listened closely, you could tell he's still angry about it. I think it goes beyond simple jealousy... It's almost like he's got a personal score to settle with everyone. Like he's got something to prove.

I don't know. I couldn't tell you what goes on in my little bro's mind. At least he's found a way to channel all those strong emotions into fuel for working out. Bro's jacked as fuck! Not that he'll ever be Superman level strong but hey, he's the strongest, Powerless guy I know. That's something!

So why am I telling you all this? Well, I figured some context would help make what I'm about to tell you make more sense.

One random week in the summer, Luis and I visited our parents at our old childhood home. It was nice getting to see my family all together again after so long. Although, just as my bad luck would have it, I started feeling cold symptoms after the second day. I just chugged some Dayquil to kill the sickness though. But after a night out drinking with Luis, it got worse.

I woke up the next morning with a killer headache. It took me a while to get off my old bed because of how light-headed I was. It was awful, I had cold chills and a 100°F fever at the same time. But unfortunately, I couldn't just stay in bed until I felt better. Luis had gone with our Dad to the good grocery store across town. And I had promised to step up and take care of all the house chores so that Mom wouldn't have to. I figured it was the least I could do for the woman who raised me.

I took some medicine for my symptoms, and I proceeded to clean the house all by myself. I had to slow down and take frequent water breaks because of how feverish I felt, but I managed to get it all done by myself. All that was left to do was the laundry.

I gathered up my parents' dirty clothes and took it down to the basement where the washer was. It was a lot of clothes, I knew immediately that I would have to break it up into several loads. Because of that, I figured I would throw in Luis' and my dirty clothes too. Help save water or some shit like that.

After starting the first round of laundry, I went back upstairs to gather Luis' dirty clothes. I went into his room and took out his luggage. While picking out his dirty clothes from the clean ones, I found one of his gold chains. I had never been much of a jewelry kind of a guy, but I knew Luis loved looking his best. I couldn't tell you why, but as I was holding his necklace, I got the urge to put it on. Maybe it was the growing fever messing with my mind, but I just couldn't resist the urge to put it on. So I did.

As the necklace hit the top of my chest, I felt my nausea spike out of nowhere. The room was spinning, and I could barely hold myself up without using the bed as support. But aside from the light-headedness, I felt my shoulders start to warm up too. I could feel my muscles loosen and tighten, over and over again. And as the heat came in waves, I could feel myself getting bigger. My shoulder span widened to that of a linebacker by the time of heat subsided. But because of my still stocky body frame, it made my new wide shoulders look incredibly cartoonish. Just thinking about how I must've looked made my cheeks flush...

But that visceral feeling of rapidly putting on muscle mass was unlike anything I had ever experienced...

And I wanted more.

In my stupor, I threw myself onto Luis’ backpack. I threw out any clean clothes that were in my way until I found exactly which of his clothes I wanted to wear. I started with a gray wife beater that Luis had recently worn to the gym. It reeked of his sweat! I stuffed it into my nose and took a deep whiff of Luis’ masculine pheromones. Whatever sickness I had made my senses razor sharp, including my sense of smell. Luis’ musk filled my nostrils with their sweaty aroma, causing a moan to escape my lips as I savored the smell. I always had a thing for a man’s natural scent, but gym bros were by far my favorite. I had dreamed about smelling my brother’s dirty gym clothes ever since he started working out regularly, but I always hesitated. I was finally living my fantasy, and I made sure to enjoy every moment.

Once I had my fill on his scent, I proceeded to get naked and don the tank top. It was at least one or two sizes too big for me. The wife beater draped over my chubby torso like a rag. But then, the heating sensations began again, and I collapsed onto the bed. It started in my heart and spread out from there. My moobs got hotter and hotter as the layers of muscle and fat tightened. Within seconds, the fat I had had transformed into a nice set of muscular pecs. The warmth made my nipples extra sensitive, and I moaned like a madman as they shrunk from their pepperoni sizes to match the new, heavy slabs of beef on my chest. 

I pinched and rubbed my nipples as the heat moved on from my pecs to the rest of my torso, making me thrash around on the bed. I could feel all of my body fat melt away with the strange heat. Each abdominal began popping out like candy until I had bulking bodybuilder’s six pack. My flabby arms became chiseled; the size of my biceps were like melons now. The veins of my arms were throbbing with strength too, it was as if I had gone to the gym for my entire life!

I was squirming on the bed like a snake on crack. The combined sensations of intense warmth and muscles bursting all over my torso was more pleasurable than any orgasm I’ve ever had! But once my whole upper-body was jacked as fuck, the heat started to subside again. But I refused to let it stop, so I grabbed a pair of cum stained shorts my brother had and put them on as quickly as I could. The cotton shorts wrapped around my upper thighs and groin, and once it did, the pleasure came back again.

“OHHH FUCK!!” I cried out. The heat was even stronger this time around!

The heat started at my dick this time. I was already at full mast, but the rush of warmth made my dick grow even more erect than I’ve ever been before. The heat my body was producing made the cum stains Luis had left on his shorts warm up. Soon enough, I could feel his old cum stains become liquid again. The cum had leaked off of his shorts and began dripping onto my dick. His cum then slithered its way into the slit of my cock head, sending another wave of ecstasy-like pleasure throughout my growing body as I felt my throbbing member getting filled up with his cum. My dick grew in both length and girth because of it. My dick grew by several inches, my pubes grew longer and bushier, and the head grew wider to match my new fat cock. I could feel my balls hanging even lower too as they started producing more and more cum at a rapid pace. Within a minute, I had become hung like a horse with a pair of heavy, cum-filled balls to go with it. I had a massive bulge out of my shorts now… and I could tell my new dick was just itching to be drained!

Naturally, the lower half of my body followed suit once the heat had moved on from my junk. My thigh muscles ballooned with mass until they were nice and thick. My calf muscles were carved out until they resembled a Greek god’s. Even my feet had grown in size! My entire body had transformed into a 6’2 muscle jock’s body, all while I squirmed and spasmed from how much pleasure I was in. My new body was massive! And hot!

I was left laying in bed trying to catch my breath after all of the warm bodily sensations had stopped. As if the complete body transformation wasn’t enough, the heat had taken all of my cold symptoms with it when it left! It was like a miracle…

I couldn’t help but jump out of bed and take my new body for a spin. I was so tall and muscular now, I could feel the newfound strength just pulsing throughout my body. I flexed and rubbed my body as I admired myself, making my dick get hard as I did so. My heavy dick was swinging around in my shorts as I danced while going commando. I gave it a couple of rubs through the fabric while I kissed my new biceps. But while I was busy loving myself, I accidentally looked up and saw myself in the mirror. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw Luis’ face looking back at me instead of mine! I thought I had just grown a bunch of muscle! But instead, I had somehow shapeshifted into an exact copy of my brother’s body!

It was so uncanny looking at my new self in the mirror. I had become Luis… I was Luis! Luis was me! But at that moment, my mind had finally connected the dots to what had happened. There was no denying it, I had transformed into Luis by putting on his clothes. Which could’ve only meant one thing… I wasn’t Powerless! I was just a late bloomer! Sure, it took 25 years, but my powers had finally come in! 

I walked closer to the mirror, and a smirk began unconsciously spreading across my face. With Luis’ good looks, I could get any man I wanted! But while I daydreamed about all the dick I was gonna get with Luis’ body, another thought had hit me. If I could steal Luis’ muscular body with a simple outfit change, what was stopping me from transforming into other people? And, more importantly, what was stopping me from shapeshifting into someone with actual superpowers?

I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about all of the possibilities. I would need to test my superpower to see what I was and wasn’t capable of, but now that they were finally unlocked, the world had become my personal playground. And I was ready to have fun. 

[tsarisfanfiction]

Beneath the Stars

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Gen Genre: Family/Angst Characters: Will, Nico Apollo kids slept with the sun, except for when they didn't. Overnight pre-quest outings don't help. TOApril day 9 - The Hour Past Midnight. I am tired and Will is tired so if this is incoherent, that'll be why.

Will was tired but he couldn’t sleep.  Usually, he slept just fine as long as the sun was down (when the sun was up was another matter entirely), but a pre-quest, well, quest, rather enforced the need for him to stay awake.

Then again, Will suspected that this would’ve been one of those rare, irritating nights where he couldn’t sleep even without external stimuli keeping him awake.  Going out lizard-hunting with Nico to try and gather bribes for the cavern-runners drove home exactly what they were going to be doing in the morning, but at least it came with the added side effect of knowing that they were also doing everything they could to mitigate the risks.

And there were a lot of risks.

The moon was out, no clouds thick or plentiful enough to hide its light, and Will let his head tip back to stare up at it.  He’d seen a lot of the moon over the past six months, since Apollo’s stint as a mortal had begun, and there were some things that just weren’t coincidences.  Will didn’t know how much influence Artemis had over her brother’s fate, but it was comforting, in a strange, disquieting, way, to recognise that with his dad… incapacitated, for lack of a better word, his aunt (not that he often thought of Artemis as such, wasn’t sure if she viewed herself as such) was still there.

Sure, Artemis would never drop by in his dreams, or even acknowledge his existence, but any hint of normality in a world that was currently anything but normal was one that Will would clutch at with both hands and never let go.

If only getting Apollo back where he belonged was that easy.  Right now, it felt more like Will was helping to accelerate his father’s permanent demise, because going to the trogs still felt like a terrible, terrible, idea, yet here he was.

Will was trying hard not to think about how if they weren’t all eaten by the trogs, there was still Nero to contend with, and after him, Python.

Even the name of the last one had him shivering.

His head knocked against the trunk of the tree he was leaning against, torn between being awake and passing out where he stood.  He could take a nap, if he wanted to.  Nico had never expected him to do more than keep him company for this, Will knew, especially as it was long past sunset and the lizard traps showed no sign of succeeding in their purpose just yet.

He should take a nap.  They were due to head out at dawn – provided they caught a stupid lizard in time – and then the quest would begin in earnest and Will’s opportunities for sleep would drop considerably.  He wasn’t Nico, who could go entirely too long without sleep – not for any logical reasons like being a son of Hades, but because he’d messed his sleep schedule up so badly that his body just rolled with it, even though it shouldn’t.  If Will didn’t get some sleep now he was going to crash mid-quest.

The problem was, Will wasn’t going to sleep.  He could feel it in the tenseness of his body and the faintest strains of a headache at the base of his skull.  He was too stressed to sleep, too on edge for his mind to slip away.

Next to him, also leaning against the tree, Nico was fully alert despite the late hour.  They were nearing midsummer, and even Nico had shed his outer layers until he was just in a t-shirt and jeans.  His bare forearm pressed against Will’s, cool but not worryingly so, and Will’s hand was close enough to his wrist to feel the rhythm of his boyfriend’s pulse steady and even beneath the skin.

It was soothing, and Will knew Nico was doing it on purpose, using his vitakinesis against him to keep him relaxed.  It was hardly the first time, and wouldn’t be the last, either.  Nico had used the exact same trick to get him to sleep after a late night in the infirmary, and with his sword out, he was clearly prepared to stand guard while Will slept.

If only Will could actually sleep.

Above him, beyond the moon chariot, the stars shone clearly.  Will could name all the constellations despite rarely being awake late enough to see them, because they were all named for Greek mythology – all came from Greek mythology.

The newest acquisition, the Huntress, was nowhere to be seen, because she was a winter constellation, and that meant Orion was also missing, because he was part of the winter sky, too.

Will’s eyes found Lyra, the lyre of Orpheus.  It wasn’t the biggest constellation in the sky, but it was one of the most Apollo-like in the sky (Will adamantly ignored Serpens; Python was slithering around in his mind unwelcomely without further incentive), and Will would take any connection to his dad at all.  Any hint that he would survive and regain his godhood.

Right now, his father would be laying in the cot in the middle of cabin seven, a bed meant for guests when Apollo belonged in the cabin more than any of the rest of them.  Will hoped he was asleep, but he didn’t think the laws of the universe that dictated that children of Apollo didn’t stay awake easily at night applied to the god himself, even if the god happened to be mortal and vulnerable.

Still, Apollo needed the rest, so Will could hope.  He could suffer a sleepless night and its consequences if it meant his father was well-rested and had the best possible chances of survival.

He sent a private, silent prayer to the moon above him.  Maybe Artemis could help that happen – at least then, Will’s sleepless night would feel like it had a purpose.  He would gladly never sleep again if it helped to keep Apollo alert and alive.

[jttw-monkeybusiness]

I don't know if you've asked this question before, but have Sophie and Wukong ever had a serious fight/argument? (Idk if my question got submitted so just in case I'll submit it again, i hate my wifi)

They had!

One of the main arguments was when Wukong tricked Sophie to eat Ginseng fruit bc he heard about her fear of getting old in this world or even dying. She doesn't know about life in ancient China but it sure was more harsh compared to where she comes from. So when Wukong stole 3 Ginseng fruits for him and his 'brothers' he also took one for Sophie. But since Sophie knows about the fruits thanks to Pigsy and also knows Wukong's nature for being mischievous, he sliced the fruit for her. So when the monkey was away to save the gang after he beat the living shit out of the Ginseng tree Sophie had finally a moment with Trip to explain what the fuck happened. So yeah these two argued for a long time (after Tripitaka gave a good headache to Wukong) because what he did was seriously fucked up. Because Sophie's fear now is that if she goes back home, she will live while watching the rest of her family die, she can't get a partner who would live as long as her + it's only a matter of time before the people started to get SUS of her not getting old. Wukong however doesn't understand how our world works so he thinks she is being a bit too sensitive and he did a great help to her. After all, if you are scared of something just get rid of it. Plain and simple. She should feel grateful for him to even bothering to help her and to have a taste of that fruit in his opinion In the end, Wukong in his own way apologized after a few days. Because their relationship changed dramatically in a bad way. Sophie however didn't forgive Wukong until after a few weeks but she still treated him well, but not as close as they were. After she accepted her fate slowly but surely their relationship became as close as it was before and Wukong learned his lesson. Other times when they argue it's more mild compared to this one, but usually it's like having different opinions or Wukong being a little shit again. It doesn't last as long compared to Wukong and Trip's arguments! Those can last for hours!

[pebblysand]

Hi can you do me a prompt? Cause I LOVE your writing! 💗

Ginny comes home from the 2014 quidditch world cup-reporting after a long long time away from harry and kids!

did it take me two and a half years to fill this prompt? yes. as evidence that no one should ever lose hope.

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spring rolls, pizzas and curries

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Tonight, after she gets home - after a smiling kiss hoisted up to the corner of his mouth, tippy toes and tight hugs to the kids - after a warm shower and a change of clothes, they'll order in.

It's the end of summer, that year. Leaves wilting in the trees; the wireless runs repetitive adverts for Hallowe'en decorations and this morning, when he headed into work, Harry noticed an irreversible sort of chill in the air; when Ginny comes down later, her hair wet over her shoulders, she'll be wearing a jumper. Lily and Al will soon hound her with questions, about the World Cup and about Namibia or about something else, and James will hurry into the kitchen too, just as she will pour herself a large glass of wine. He will be loud and lanky and almost-teenage. 'Where's food?' he'll ask, then.

And: 'Well, hello, Ronald,' she will laugh. Say.

Chinese, Indian or Italian - the kids will have their pick. It's a long-standing tradition in the Potter household since the dreadful winter of '09, when James had the flu and Lily was sniffling and Harry spent five days battling family germs on his own until Ginny came back from a work trip to save them all. He tiredly sunk into the couch next to her and: 'You should have stayed there,' he observed. Sighed like a headache. 'You're gonna catch it too.'

She shrugged. Smiled. Laid her head on his shoulder. He didn't have the heart to push her away. 'Let's order in, yeah?'

Harry will phone in. Everybody's favourites memorised like the faded lines at the back of his hand. There will be noise - James arguing with Al over the TV remote, Lily talking to herself, playing with her animal figurines and toy soldiers. She's built a whole ranch with Playmobils in her bedroom: fake horses and fake cowboys and fake fences - her magic makes it all move of its own accord - it's a bit of a nightmare.

The kind of nightmare Harry doesn't mind having.

They'll eat pizza on the couch or nems from clear plastic boxes scattered across the kitchen table, and the kids will fill Ginny in on everything she missed. Lily won't stop chatting and 'Mum' this and 'Mum' that, and James will say: 'Oh, will you shut up for once?' One of them - or both of them - will automatically throw back: 'James, don't talk to your sister like that.'

There will be second servings, thirds. Harry will smile and laugh, and feel like a weight lifted off his chest the moment she opened the front door just as easily as he will later clear the plates, with a simple wave of his wand. Ginny will go up to unpack, and he'll try to convince the kids to go to bed - with moderate success. James will try to convince him he needs a new broom, with no chance of success. Al will wandlessly tie his brother's shoelaces together before quietly retreating to his bedroom, a loud tumble ensuing with his victim falling flat on his face at the top of the staircase. He will deny having done any magic the next morning.

'Prove it,' he'll say.

Harry will want to smile (like a headache, too).

And, you know, he wonders - sure - but he's not jealous. Being jealous of his own kids would be fucking weird and, anyway, he's over it, now. He's even stopped being bitter. Ginny hasn't stopped being angry but there's something almost comforting about it, about her anger and her capacity for unrelenting outrage when they sent Petunia a card last Christmas and she wrote back: Please, take me off your mailing list.

'Cunt,' she said.

He winced or cringed, he's not sure. 'Yup.'

He's not jealous - not bitter - but he does wonder. He wonders and thinks of James. So, so tiny, in Ginny's belly. The first time he felt a kick against the tips of his fingers and held his breath - like, forever. And Ginny, who asked why he couldn't sleep, that night, watched him puff cigarette smoke out the window. 'I'm nervous,' he said.

'I'm the one giving birth,' she laughed.

'What kind of father do you think I'll be?'

He thinks of James and he thinks of Tom, sometimes. His palm against the skin of her stomach was sweaty - like warm, summer nights.

And, he looks at the kids and he wonders. What it would have been like. Growing up like that.

With them, you know?

He thinks of James again. Of James and of Albus and of Lily. He wonders if they know. That he's happy. That they're happy. That he's not jealous or bitter or angry. And, that love tastes like food. Like strawberries on Ginny's lips, and spring rolls, and pizzas and curries.

[houseofkirklands]

Headcanons relationship each Kirkland brother have with each other

Okay this is like the typical draw explaining the relationship some characters have but since I suck at drawing (really I don't even know how to draw a tree) I'll drop some hcs here about what do I think their relationship is like

-England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

•With Wales: He is the brother he probably trust the most in a normal daily basis. He and Wales have been living together for so long and England didn't really have at all that much problems with him that he is the first one he comes to when needs to talk to one of his brothers. Wales is the one who can understand better England and since Wales is the calmest one in the family he won't get angry easily but England knows Wales is the worst one to face if he gets angry

•With Scotland: Oh god from where to start? Their relationship is ...complicated... Mostly because of all the war they had which made broken their brotherhood more but the current political situation around Scotland makes England have a headache. They have that love-hate brotherhood the "he is an idiot but is my idiot". They will never tell each other but deep inside they really care about each other, Scotland tried his best to take care of England, which he thinks he failed by a lot but England will come to Scotland when he feels like, Scotland is the closest person England could consider as "a brother and a father". He knows Scotland tried to protect him and he learned a lot from his older brother. England will never tell but Scotland was the only one who could make England feel safe when he was a little kid, he will come to him when he was scared looking for Scotland's protection and that still happens nowadays

•With Ireland: They are the most distant between all the brothers. Nowadays they are working in their personal relationship which is kinda a sign for the rest of the brothers to keep an eye on them cause they can't be left alone in the same room for 5 minutes and try to be civil and well mannered people. England feels like Ireland sometimes makes a drama over smaller things and tend to exaggerate everything to the point he can't take him seriously but deep inside he knows Ireland still holds a grudge against England for everything he has done to Ireland for the last 800 years and because of this it's difficult for them to have a talk but sometimes they can forget about their differences and share the same braincells which can be very dangerous from an outsider view

•With Northern Ireland: It's a bit difficult to explain this one. They trust in each other and get along pretty well but from England' side he sometimes see in North a young America cause like his former colony, North is cheerful, full of energy and joy, with creative ideas but then he remembers North is also a Kirkland so he has gotten his strong headed from somewhere. England sometimes feels like if he is doing right with North in taking care of him while North is living in his house, the little boy will go sometimes asking help from England when it comes to the problem on how to be a country but then he sees North and remembers Ireland and everything, he knows one day North will stop living in England's house and the cheerful and joy that brings to the house will dissapear to give that to Ireland, he just doesn't know exactly how to feel about him, he worries about him, he deeply cares but North sometimes makes it difficult to tell, he just doesn't want to get too much attached to him

Wales

•With England: He is the one that get on well better with England like already metioned. From Wales perspective, he doesn't have any problem in help him if needed, he would sit down on the sofa with him, make some tea and drink it together while he is listening to his younger brother. Wales was the one who took care of England when Britannia was under Rome's rule so Wales became very important for the personal development of England, also Wales is good at giving advices so he would try to help England the best he can and he would be the one next to him most likely when England struggles with the problems but on the other side, he can be mad at him for some England's ideas or actions sometimes, Wales could be found not defending England when it's Scotland or Ireland matter depending on the topic (mostly for a historical grudge) so that can make England think Wales doesn't care about him at all...which it isn't true but Wales is not stupid, he has seen things and won't defend something that has no right to be defended specially if it involves his brothers and he knows England has hurt them in the past....

•With Scotland: They have like a "middle" relationship. They don't get along the best but they don't hate each other. Wales rarely has asked Scotland for any help and depending of the mood Scotland has that day could send Wales to heaven or to hell. Wales knows that's if its needed Scotland would be there for him since Scotland is the most protective of all the brothers but Scotland is aware Wales prefers England's company than his

•With Ireland: Kinda similar to Scotland-Wales relationship. They don't really talk to much, it's not like they dislike each other actually when they are together they become a bunch of idiots. Wales used to be the one who used to send letters to Ireland to know let him know what's going on in Great Britain, how he, England and Scotland were doing. This is a thing they do nowadays but changing the letters with text messages since Wales probably knows all the secrets his brothers have and Ireland as the oldest brother, has his right to know how are his younger brothers doing

•With Northern Ireland: They have a lovely brotherhood dynamic. North is a really young country compared with the thousand of years his brothers have and is trapped in a 15-18 years old body. So Wales is the one who helps North with some stuff North might find interesting, if England can't help him in the affairs of the country, Wales will help him (actually every one helps North with this) and like the curious mind North has, he always goes to Wales to ask him how he can learn magic as fast as he can to reach his brothers's magic level or go to the countryside and Wales will start to talk to him about animals, Wales is also the one teaching North how to sing and when it comes to emotional support, Wales will be there for North

Scotland

•With England: Tries to hide it but he deeply cares about England. He is the little brother he raised the most, Scotland wanted him to be stronger than he ever was cause he didn't want England to suffer as much as Scotland did when he was just a child/teenager. He just couldn't see his brother being in pain but the problem was, how a 7 years old kid can raise a little brother that is 4 years old knowing they have lost their parents recently? How a family of brothers who didn't surpass the 10 years old age could survive in a world where Rome and Germania were expanding their territories so fast? And the Vikings...They lived in a forest, surrounded by animals, started to see magical creatures and needed to survive without a parental/maternal figure, they were so young for the world, and that's what Scotland wants to England to understand. Life was not easy, life was never easy for them, England doesn't remember cause he was very young but Ireland and Scotland struggled a lot, they needed to grow up while being child to protect the younger brothers, they even had no idea if there were going to survive the next day...Find some food for 4 mouths, everything was so difficult and for a moment Scotland thought maybe Wales and England being under Rome's rule was good, cause they had food, they had a proper bed, proper clothes, they could study, learn how to write, how to read and a decent house to be stay but when they meet each other again, England wasn't the boy Scotland knew before, Scotland's methods to raise England weren't the best, he is aware of that. For the rest of their history, Scotland just couldn't see anything more but a mix of hate and dissapoinment, England made things to him that Scotland would never do to him but Scotland has been always the one more affected for England's change in the personality, the fact he wants to get independence doesn't mean he hates him, if only England could understand ...

•With Wales: If there is something Scotland will never understand is how Wales can defend a lot England, how he can be so clever and so stupid at the same time? Scotland appreciates Wales for being the brigde between him and England current fights, Wales always listen to the both of them so it's easy for him to find an answer and make those two make the peaces and bring to the house 5 minutes of really silence and a peaceful mood. They are the ones who can be the most be found doing some magic together

•With Ireland: The dynamic duo, the stupid dumbass big brothers of the entire islands, they same the same braincell literally. These two have the best relationship between all the brothers, similar tastes, similar physical features, similar everything around those two.

Just Ireland is the extrovert one and Scotland rarely wants to be social cause he holds an introvert ass

These two are the C-H-A-O-S of the family together, they will ally together to annoy their little brothers BUT only them are allowed to do that, if anyone outside the family makes fun of one of their brothers, prepare yourself, put some trainers and be ready to run the marathon of your life cause they will kick you and won't have any regrets in doing it. Their family is very important for them, extremely important, they will risk their lives to protect them even through they are annoying as f.

They will start speaking in Gaelic much for the disgrace of Wales and England while North is just there trying to see if he can understand something

Now leaving the brothers behind, they fully support and worry about each other, they are the ones who have struggled the most to survive so they can understand each other so well. Ireland as the oldest, doesn't want to see Scotland suffering and if there is a brother Scotland will let his guard down and need a should to cry on, that would be Ireland for sure, the rest of the brothers have Ireland and Scotland for them to ask about life and that stuff...Scotland only has Ireland as his older brother, the one and only, the one who raised Scotland, the one Scotland used to look up for and he doesn't know what he would do if he lost his older brother, he wishes he could protect Ireland for all the suffering he had gone through, Scotland promised himself to be strong to be able to protect Ireland but he just can't, he just wants him to be happy and will say to him he is proud of Ireland knowing how much he endured everything to become a stronger person and a better nation for his people, he will say those words cause Ireland tends to forget them, Scotland will always support him

•With Northern Ireland: North will go to Scotland to ask him about his homework problems, or just anything that involves problems, Scotland will be here listening to North most of the time but other times Scotland would just think North problems are dumb as f which can lend to North to get angry.

But most of the time, Scotland is the one that spend more time with North either playing with some toys or videogames or bringing the boy outside to do some outdoors activities just to make the little lad forget about everything that involves to be a nation

Ireland

•With Wales: Ireland is very fond of Wales, he is the brother he can always trust because Wales is so open-minded and will listen to any of the brothers no matter what. Ireland sometimes used to ask Wales to look for the safety of Scotland when they were younger even though Scotland was trying so much to be a good big brother, taking care of England cause we are talking about a period when Ireland and England didn't have problems and to protect and support North when needed. They maybe don't talk too much but definitely they care about each other so much and Ireland couldn't be more happy to have Wales as his brother.

•With England: Oh god... This one... He is glad that nowadays they are working on their relationship and can cooperate but it takes just a minimum thing done wrong for Ireland to explote out of the patience because of England.

It's just so much going on between them...They manage to work together but Ireland just had enough from England, he is tired to fight with him. There was a time they were on very good terms however for Ireland is not easy to forget 800 years of colonialism. England has caused him so much trauma and mental illness, Ireland is working on it, he is really trying and he just wishes England could understand its just not easy to forget. He can forgive cause Ireland has a big heart but the damage to him, his land and people are there. He doesn't understand how England can say he is exaggerating sometimes over things England might find unserious but for Ireland it's just a whole world, luckily Wales and Scotland knew to be there for Ireland when he needed and talk with England over how he was treating Ireland.

Also they kinda agreed to work and improve their relationship for the best specially for Northern Ireland cause he just can't choose between the two and they are like their tutors but everyone knows they can't spend so much time in the same room.

•With Scotland: If there is something that Ireland will say to Scotland, it would be he is proud of him. He is the brother he has spent most time with during his whole life, the first ever brother he took care of, Ireland made sure Scotland learned everything but because of circumstances it was difficult for him to do it.

Ireland remembers how much Scotland looked up for him back in the days when they were just the two of them, then Wales came, England came and now with North, they are the older brothers and they need to protect their younger brothers the best they can, they have seen each other at their worst but they have always supported each other cause they could understand each other situation.

You won't see Ireland crying that much cause he was used to feel pain but he knows if he needs to cry even though he has always seen like he isn't broken, he can be very vulnerable sometimes, he could be found alone crying in Scotland' shoulders

No matter what Ireland loves Scotland so much and will make sure he can have a better life than his. They have their own agreement to protect each other from any pain but definitely they can hang out to have a drink and forget about the world for a moment

•With Northern Ireland: They have their ups and downs, it depends so much of the period, they can have their misunderstandings but they also know they need each other.

In Ireland's eyes, North is a baby based on the terms of a nation, North is only a century old compared with him. Ireland feels like he needs to protect North, Ireland has seen so much and has gone through so many bad times, North is aware of this and just because Ireland doesn't want North to have the life he had, he sometimes will go on "parental mode activated" when North is struggling with something. He just wants to give North the best childhood he can have, a childhood neither Ireland or the rest of the brothers have.

Ireland knows he can't treat North like the way he treated his younger brothers centuries ago. North is growing up in a very different world and that's a thing Ireland has needed to understand, so he is always ready to help North the best he can either with homework or just when North is hitted with some anxiety attacks. He will stay next to him and let him know that even though North lives with brothers that are ancient af, they would be there forever for him.

North appreciates that and Ireland just loves to see him happy. Ireland will always find some time to spend with North because he knows North needs and desires for that time.

Northern Ireland

•With England: When he was younger he was very fond of England but as he is growing up and understanding the history of his family, he doesn't know what to think about England at all. North likes England a lot, he is always looking up for him for some advice and he is aware England actually helps him a lot but then he founds about the past of England, about what he did to Scotland and to Ireland specially and he might have mixed feelings towards England. He actually knows England is not anymore like that but also he can understand why his oldest brothers are like that with England. He just doesn't know how to feel about it, he sometimes think it's just better to let his older brothers issues between his older brothers cause its a past thing and he just simply hasn't lived those times with them.

North just depending on his mode sometimes will love England and other times he will go specially when something political happens and he sees his own country affected by a very bad decision England took, telling him he wants to be back in Ireland's house just to pressure England that or he takes action, or he will call Ireland and North knows England doesn't want to face Ireland

But in general facts in a personal way North and England get along pretty well but England understands given the situation North has, he could some days find the teenager very, very angry at him and deal with him it's actually difficult for England cause North is a Kirkland and is linked to Ireland so he is the ultimate stubborn of the family.

•With Wales: Wales is actually the one who is teaching North basic magic concepts and some singing voice classes. North likes so much to spend time with Wales, he learns so much with him, Wales is the reason why North started to like animals a lot and he will always watch with his older brother documentaries about the animal world and some mystical and mythological animals as well and for Wales means so much that little boy has so many interests in so many different things and topics. North trusts so much in Wales and he will go to him everytime he see the other brothers fighting either because England and Scotland fought again, Ireland and England or just the 3 of them so for North, Wales is that scape he has for a period of time where fighting is not allowed where Wales will tell him just not to get involved in the discussion of the rest of the brothers

•With Scotland: North looks up for Scotland a lot too (I mean he is the baby brother, he looks up for all his brothers). Advice for life and supervivence, North likes a lot to follow Scotland anywhere, he is young and he is willing to see the world so he always go with the Scotsman to the trips he had planned (mostly to the Scottish Highlands), Scotland loves to be a guide tourist for North telling him stories about the places they are visiting, he is a really good storyteller so when North was very little, he was the one who used to read him a book to make him sleep. North also loves to go to Scotland's workshop and see all the manual works Scotland has done. He remembers how Scotland used to give him as a present some figures for him which really appreciates and eventually will make a team with him to make jokes to the rest of the brothers

•With Ireland: North doesn't want to admit or at least not in front of him but he is really scared to lose Ireland. He doesn't want to fail him and wants him to be proud of what North has become on his own. He is aware he is sometimes very rough at Ireland but just like with England because of his situation he just has mixed feelings, in a personal way he really love and appreciates Ireland, he knew that he is linked to Ireland no matter how many people tells him otherwise, in a personal way, Ireland has been there for him and North knows he has learned a lot from Ireland. He took care of him when he was a little toddler, how to walk, how to talk, how to read... Thanks to Ireland he has that part of him that makes him interested in Irish culture and traditions just like the UK brothers did as well with the British culture, he learned Irish, he got interested in Irish dancing and loves when Ireland tells him stories as well just like Scotland. With time he has learned to try to understand Ireland better cause he feels like he has been rough with him for so long, ofc he knows Ireland isn't a saint but history is there written and well its not like North can't pretend he doesn't feel bad when he reads a bit of Ireland's history and point of view or defend England actions or even Ireland own actions back then, he just can't but if he was honest he feels like the way he sees England and Ireland as brothers is very different from each other, he won't tell but he knows he loves when Ireland defends and protects him and Ireland just goes on his father mode cause for him North is his little baby and actually North doesn't mind that all...

[pearlsinmyhair]

༄ breath of venus ༄

chapter seven • flame

summary: a girl is born from nothing, and her whole life she’s spent trying to become everything her family and clan need her to be. what happens when she’s abducted by long dead soldiers and old ghosts.

synopsis: venus finally gets to hunt. quaritch reveals some things about paz. a story is shared. confessions are whispered.

warnings: a lot of talk about food in this chapter, specifically that venus isn’t eating enough. brief mention of periods. descriptions of cutting animal meat and cooking it. consumption of animal meat. hunting.

an: guys the next chapter is crazy. this is your warning.

word count: 3.7k

“you touch me and suddenly i feel a little less war torn. i’m not sure what peace is supposed to feel like but i think it may feel a lot like you.”

They had been traveling for a month, and Venus could feel herself growing weaker every day.

It wasn’t for lack of exercise, that was for sure. Rather, it was her diet.

Fruit couldn’t sustain her forever, no matter what minerals she got from various plant fibers and select bark. She needed meat, and soon.

And it wasn’t just her belly aching or the headaches that tipped her off to this problem.

Her period was late. By nearly two weeks. A sign that the stress of being a teacher/hostage/guide was taking a toll on her health, along with her lack of iron intake.

She was too stubborn to drink the grey mush that the recombinants ate from their plastic packages, so she was stuck with foraging. She had no knife and no bow. and even if she had a weapon to hunt with, she had no freedom.

So instead, she and quaritch were at a draw, both too stubborn to relent.

“You have to eat, kid.” Quaritch tried, though his tone was not pleading. Instead, he sounded irritated with her little fast, adopting the same voice he used when he called her ‘princess’ or ‘spoiled brat.’

She supposed she was being childish, staring at the tube that quaritch held out to her, but she had morals. That…thing did not come from Eywa, and it disgusted her to consume it when the forest around them was so plentiful.

She couldn’t blame them for eating it though. She had threatened to fight them if they tried to hunt. Life needed to be appreciated before it was taken, and these soldiers had not shown any feelings of appreciation thus far. Not enough for her to allow them a kill, at least.

So here she was, leaned against a tree as her head panged, looking down at a plastic tube of bland grey mush. The promise of a full stomach, right before her.

She sniffed at it, and turned her head away.

Quaritch scoffed, apparently done with her stubborn show, and pocketed the tube. Light was fading in the forest, and Venus could hear the tittering of animals, prey aplenty, rising in the night.

They were in an uninhabited part of the forest today, devoid of human and na’vi. Every day the squad drew closer to Tamar’s territory, and with it the promise of hours of constant flying.

“Let me hunt.” Venus murmured, and Quaritch turned to her from where he was discussing camp with Wainfleet.

“Absolutely not. I know better than to put a knife in your hand, kid. If you don’t want what we have, then you won’t eat at all.”

She wrinkled her nose, dejected and frustrated. Did he not understand that the price of killing him now far outweighed the benefits? No, he didn’t. He just denied her on principle.

Her head throbbed again, and her belly growled terrible. Mansk looked over at her in concern, and she gave him a weak smile.

He had already offered her his portions many times before, but she refused politely. Venus had learned that one of the ways that Mansk showed his care was through food, and he always found her favorite fruit or plant to chew on, even if she had only shown him once.

She tried to convince herself that it was not a unique gesture. He had gathered fruit for the squad many times. It wasn’t like she was special.

Wainfleet and Zdog told her otherwise, and their little sideways glances at her and Mansk were becoming unbearable.

But no matter how far he’d come, she wouldn’t even send Mansk out to kill. He was attentive when she explained the forest, the most empathetic out of all of them. But there was still some hesitancy when he touched a leaf or stepped around a lizard.

They felt the forest. They felt Eywa. But they didn’t listen to either.

They did not see.

Not yet.

As her body ached once more, she conceded.

“Please.” she said, earnest.

Quaritch whipped his head to her with a look of mock-surprise. He arched an eyebrow.

“What was that, princess? I didn’t hear you.” he said, even going so far as to press a hand to his ear.

Her jaw clenched. “Old man.” she whispered, before raising her voice. “Can I please hunt? It won’t take me long, and i’ll only need a knife. You have a tracker on me, it’s not like I can reasonably go very far or sneak up on you.”

Quaritch’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened to deny her again. But then Wainfleet brushed his fingertips against his forearm, a near imperceptible touch that Venus just barely caught.

Quaritch’s ears dropped back, caught, and he glanced at Wainfleet.

His corporal tilted his head slightly, silently asking him to weigh his options.

He hated to admit it, but he and his squad had grown to somewhat trust Venus. Vice-versa, Venus didn’t seem outright malicious to them. She was pissed, for many reasons that he couldn’t blame her for. But she wasn’t going to kill them.

So he went for logic instead.

“Where are we going to cook it?” he asked, looking back to his daughter Venus.

That stumped her, and he took a moment to relish in the way her expression dropped. His satisfaction quickly disappeared when her face fell into a grimace.

The rule of txep’ke was established by Venus very early on. Literally translated to ‘no fire’, it meant that at night they would only use the bioluminescence for light. Any alien illumination would attract curious creatures, some brave enough to attack if they were willing to risk it.

“We find a cave, with some kind of hole in it. That way it can filter smoke out and we can be away from the ground.” Venus said softly. Her will was being eaten away by hunger now that Quaritch looked open to the idea.

“Are you sure that you’re even well enough? You look like you’re gonna pass out.” came the Colonel’s response. It was reasonable, but she knew that if she had the chance to go out into the forest that her head would clear.

“I’ll be fine. Does this mean i can go?” she asked, and she was well aware that her eyes must look pleading. If she wasn’t starving then she’d be more concerned with how easily she was giving in.

Quaritch sighed, looking around at his team. She knew that the promise of meat was tempting to them too.

He looked back down at her. “When we find a cave, i’ll consider it.”

She nearly cried in joy.

༄

With the help of Brown’s and Lopez’s scouting, they found an acceptable cave within the hour, the light of the sun peaking over the horizon as they landed.

When they flew, she typically stayed close to Mansk. This was mostly due to the fact that their mounts were mated, which made for some rather…interesting times.

Like how, as they landed, Rutxïryo almost immediately tackled Sìlpey, cooing at her as he searched her for injury.

Sìlpey. Hope. The name that Mansk had given his ikran and told Venus of a few days ago. It suited her. Venus hadn’t asked why he had named his ikran it. Naming had always been personal to both rider and mount.

She and Mansk watched as their ikran’s curled up and around each other, hunkering down for the night. They made eye contact, and Mansk gave her one of his rare amused smiles. She outright laughed.

They walked into the cave, unrolling mats and assembling packs for the night. Quaritch looked down at his feet, contemplating.

He looked up at Venus, who stood at the entrance, waiting for his verdict. Then, his gaze shifted to Ja, and he nodded.

Ja bent down and unzipped his rifle bag. As Venus opened her mouth to protest giving her a gun, he pulled out something that silenced her completely.

Her bow.

Completely intact and just as beautiful as when she had last seen it. Carved from the wood of the fallen Home Tree, strong but flexible.

“You saved it?” she whispered as she took it from Ja. The man nodded. “Figured if nothing else the scientists could use it for study.” he murmured, his tone light in teasing.

He then pulled her knife from his pocket. She slid it into the sheath at her waist.

Without thinking, she raised her fingers to her head.

“Oel ngati kameie.”

The marine stood still, processing her words. She had taught them the gesture while they were flying, but very few of them captured the full meaning of it.

Ja was one of the few that understood. He lifted his fingers to his own forehead. “I see you.” he said, quiet.

She turned to Quaritch, giving him a nod of thanks. He watched her for a moment before dipping his own chin in acknowledgment.

She turned back to Mansk. “I need you to make a slow fire, mostly coals. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

Mansk nodded, and Venus took one last look behind her at the squad before she bounded down the cliff side to the forest.

༄

As promised, Venus returned not one hour later with a small yerik hoisted on her back.

It was nearly euphoric seeing the faces of the Recombinants as she walked in to the cave, watching them search for the puncture wound of her arrow.

“It’s the eye.” she said, laying the dead animal down on a rock to skin it. “I always shoot them in the eye. It doesn’t always strike their brain, but it does make them drop easier, which allows me to end their suffering faster.”

She murmured a quick prayer over her knife before she sliced the skin of the yerik down.

At some point, Lopez walked over to help her, and they fed the parts of the beast they wouldn’t be eating to their banshee’s, who waited patiently at the entrance for their fill.

When the meat was sectioned, they brought it to the fire that Mansk had prepared, and for a good thirty minutes they huddled in a group and discussed different ways to cook and season it.

It was comforting to her, watching Lopez and Mansk argue over how to cook it. It reminded Venus of home, of the way her mother and father bickered playfully. Of how her siblings had as well.

She felt her smile leave her face as her thoughts dipped down to her family, so far away.

At least, she hoped.

But she recovered right as Mansk glanced at her for guidance, and she showed him how to properly shuck the herbs she had collected for their flavor. She placed her hands over his and demonstrated, and he perfectly replicated the movement on his own.

The rest of the recombinant’s spirits had noticably risen. Now that she was paying attention, there was laughter and chatter, and Wainfleet had even put on some music on his tablet. Even Quaritch seemed more relaxed, chuckling at something Z and Wainfleet were arguing about.

When the food was ready, she went to pass it out. It was something she was used to, bringing food from home to her siblings or teylu from the communal pot to elders.

But Mansk brushed her shoulder, putting enough pressure on it that she backed down.

“You eat first. You hunted it, and you need it the most out of all of us.” he said, passing her a portion.

She looked up and around, finding that the soldiers were already watching her, nodding with Mansk’s words. Her eyes darted to Quaritch, who she could always rely on to take offense at her existence. But he too nodded.

So she found a spot against the wall, curling her tail around her ankles, and ate.

༄

“And I had to watch Lopez book it from a viperwolf, howling and screaming all the way to the chopper.” Brown recounted, brows knit as he recalled the story from when he had first arrived on Hellsgate.

“Cut me some slack, she was small but fast as a fucking demon.” came Lopez’s reply, whose tail curled around his leg in a defensive gesture.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have poked her when she was sleeping.” was Brown’s chuckled answer, and Venus laughed along with the others.

The atmosphere of the group had lightened substantially now that they were eating. They traded stories, teasing each other about memories from their past lives. The game of Trade had been long forgotten, as the conversation now flowed easily between each member.

Venus had largely remained silent, watching and listening with concealed happiness as she dug into her food. She kept herself restrained majority of the time, still wary around the squad during moments of weakness.

Wainfleet and Lopez were currently trying to get Quaritch to open up about his relationship with Paz, and Venus could tell by the Colonel’s expression that he wasn’t willing to disclose much.

Quaritch didn’t sit far from her, so she swatted her tail to get his attention. When he looked at her, she inclined her head. She knew little about her mother, and she was curious.

He was hesitant, but he looked down in contemplation as the group quieted. Wainfleet have her an impressed look.

“It was for convenience. Only physical. We didn’t exactly expect to get pregnant.” Quaritch said, not looking at anyone in particular. It seemed that that was all he had to say on the topic, so the rest of the squad quickly started new conversations to ease the tension.

“What was she like?” Venus asked quietly, and Quaritch turned his face to her. A muscle feathered in his jaw.

“Kind. Real confident in her skills. I didn’t see many pilots that actually had the technique to back up their bragging, but she was one of the few.” He studied. “You look like her. Your nose crinkles the same was that hers did.”

Venus stayed silent, nodding at his answer. She knew better than to push things like this. She learned from how Jake talked about his fallen friends. Trudy. Grace. Tsu’tey. As much as Venus enjoyed making Quaritch suffer, she would not pick at his grief. The relaxing of his shoulders told her that she had made the right choice.

She looked down at the food in her lap, taking the final bite as she tuned back in to the squads conversations.

“What about you, Venus? Got any stories of romance?”

She looked up, shocked at Brown’s sudden question. He looked at her with a grin, already reading her expertly.

Damn him.

“That’s a long story.” she replied, trying to deflect as the tips of her ears warmed.

“We got a long time. Might as well tell it.” replied Wainfleet, his eyes glinting. The rest of the squad looked at her eagerly. Even Quaritch tilted his head at her, mirroring her behavior towards him.

She sighed. What was she worried about? These soldiers had no right to judge her, and they had no control over the events that transpired years ago.

Her gaze flicked to Mansk, and her chest tightened.

She took a breath and began.

༄

She had known Ku’altu for years. He was the olo’ekte of the Tawkami clan, and she the tsakarem of the Omatikaya. They were bound to meet eventually.

The first time they met, his mother Suna brought him with her to the Omatikaya. It was a diplomatic mission, meant to encourage alliance and friendship between the two clans.

Venus was eleven, Ku’altu thirteen.

His mother had gestured for him to greet her, pushing him by the shoulder. He walked and stood before her, already a foot taller. He was handsome even then, all lithe muscle and confidence, a boy growing into a man. Venus was smitten.

Until he clicked his tongue and said loudly “I will not greet a worm-faced demon.”

And that was just the beginning. He relentlessly tormented her, calling her names and teasing her appearance. She hated him, and he loved riling her. His handsome face was wasted on him, she thought.

It was a shame, for she loved his mother. Suna was the tsahík of the Tawkami, beautiful and tall, with gentle eyes and a sweet voice. She hated how her son treated Venus, but it just made Ku’altu more calculated with his jabs.

They stayed for three weeks, and at the end Venus had cursed Ku’altu, proclaiming that she hoped she never saw him again.

And she didn’t for five more years. Suna came many times alone, bringing gifts to the Sully children. She would always make sure to bring Venus a rose bud from the Tawkami harvest, and she had saved many of them over the years.

The celebration of Venus’s sixteenth birthday was huge. It was her coming of age ceremony, announcing her as a woman to the entire clan. And as it was a celebration of a tsakarem, many clans came baring gifts.

Venus had rushed to the outskirts of the villiage when she had heard that the Tawkami ambassadors had arrived, expecting to find Suna and her ikran Twal.

She instead ran straight into a hard chest.

The owner of it caught her by the waist when she stumbled back, pulling her up so that she was steady. She rested a hand on their skin.

“I’m sorry, are you alright?”

She remembered clearly how her heart thumped against her ribs as her mind zeroed in on his voice. It was much deeper now, the voice of a man rather than a boy. And his tone was sincere.

“Ku’altu?”

Eighteen and strong, he looked down at her with no trace of the disgust that he once had. His face had sharpened with age, cheekbones high, yet his eyes were softer, like his mothers.

“Hello, Venus.”

The next days were a mess of preparation and flutters in her stomach. Wherever she went, it felt like Ku’altu was always there, speaking to her brothers or her father, or carving something for the children of the village.

She remembered how her face felt hot for days, even as her mother painted ceremonial markings onto her skin the night of her birthday.

She remembered how his eyes had followed her through the dancing, how his fingers barely touched her waist when he finally joined her.

It was the first time she had truly felt the fire that her mother had described to her when she asked about how she met her father.

She and a group of teens ran off to the warm pools in the mountains, flying their ikrans away from the party to have their own celebration. Tu’la had stolen some sweet wine, and they were all giggling and warm in the blue water.

She hadn’t touched a drop, and neither had Ku’altu. Even as they spoke to the others, she felt his eyes on her, watching her move and shift in the water.

She had been the one to take him to a different pool, away from the others.

Her confidence disappeared as soon as they got in the water. There was no buffer now, no wall preventing whatever feelings they were experiencing. Yet the boy across from her made no moves, simply leaned against the edge of the pool, body half in the water as he watched her.

She couldn’t remember what they were talking about before his hands rested against her waist. Or before his breath fanned against her cheek.

All she knew is that in one moment he asked if he could kiss her, and the next she was pressing her mouth to his.

They had stopped when his hand brushed the skin under her top. He would leave tomorrow, and she knew better than to continue past kissing. He knew too, but he was more insistent.

“Come back with me.” he whispered, eyes soft as he asked that she become his tsahík.

༄

“I told him no.” she ended simply, and the recombinants looked at her with gaping mouths.

“Why?” Ja asked, and Venus had to remember that they didn’t understand her politics.

“Because if I left with him, then i’d be leaving my own position as tsakarem of the Omatikaya. It would be shameful to myself and my clan. In the Omatikaya, I am tsakarem in my own right. If I went to the Tawkami, i’d only be tsakarem because I was Ku’altu’s mate.” she explained, though she could tell that they still didn’t quite understand.

The group was quiet after she had finished. She expected that they would all retreat to their packs, but then Mansk broke the silence.

“We’re going to the Tawkami clan.” he said, and she knew he had figured it out.

Soon she would be face to face with a boy that she had fallen in love with, now a hostage to the enemy. What would he think of her? They had not seen each other for many years.

“Old flames, reunited.” Wainfleet said, his tone teasing. Venus tossed a bone at his head, and he hissed at her half-heartedly.

She scoffed. He was one to talk about old flames.

༄

Venus curled into her sleeping bag, belly full and muscles stinging pleasantly from the workout of the hunt.

Mansk turned to her from his own pack, only a few feet from her.

“Do you still love him?” he whispered, soft.

She took a second to look at his tanhí, studying the way they freckled his skin. They were more scattered, a bit less patterned than most. She wanted to touch them, to find a pattern to follow.

When the trail led down to the one right above his lip, she glanced back up to his eyes.

“No.” she answered. “No, I do not.”

Yes, Ku’altu had felt like fire. Like something burning that had never been lit before. But fire, if not cared for and fueled, dies with the smallest change of wind.

The low heat in her gut was familiar. But it was nothing like what she had felt all those years ago.

She rolled to face away from Mansk in an effort to smother it.

masterlists. | next

next chapter is traumatic for venus. we are in fact nearing the middle of this fanfic. not quite there, but we’re getting towards it.

taglist:

@lisedanie @xstarsmvxz @avatar4eva @xylianasblog

[sinkat-arts]

“That’s the last of them…” Daichi announced, “Everyone’s gone… Asahi wanted me to tell you to have a glass of water or three before bed if you don’t want a headache tomorrow.” Daichi grinned, looking down to where Koushi had sprawled out on a blanket someone had spread out under the giant tree in their backyard. His eyes were closed, hair mussed, clothes rumpled. It had been a night to remember, for sure. 

The fairy lights they’d hung together the day before lit Koushi’s face with a soft golden glow, and in that light, the man was almost angelic with his fair hair and pink cheeks. Daichi had questioned the need for so damn many of the little lights - wouldn’t a few bigger lights have made more sense? - but as soon as the sun had set, he understood. There really was something magical in those lights. Koushi had been right, as he was about a great many things. 

“Suga,” he prompted, and then shook his head. How many years had they been together now? How many times had he been gently - and not so gently - reminded to call him Koushi? Habits were hard to break, and Daichi didn’t miss the furrow that drew a vertical line between Koushi’s brows.

“Nuh uh,” Koushi murmured without opening his eyes, fighting the heaviness of alcohol or the exhaustion of the day. Probably both. “Not anymore, sir.” He paused and let a smile spread across his face. A picture of pure content, illuminated in gold. “For real. For keeps.” 

And it hit him. Not anymore. As of 5:37 that evening, while the sun was setting, Sugawara Koushi had become Sawamura Koushi. Right here in their backyard. Under this very tree. In front of all their friends and family.  

“Sawamura-san?” Daichi offered, mostly as a joke, though that was…

Koushi’s eyes opened and he sat up, propped on his elbows. His nose wrinkled as the wheels in his head whirred. “Well, that’s just weird,” he finally decided. 

Half a heartbeat passed as they looked at one another in silence. Koushi was the first to break, giggling in that infectious way he had, and it wasn’t long before Daichi joined in and the two of them were laughing in earnest. 

“You’re gonna have to get used to it…” Daichi finally rebuffed. 

“I will, I will,” Koushi sniffed, making the first futile attempt to get to his feet, “But from you, just all of a sudden like that… it’s weird!”

“Uh huh,” Daichi deadpanned, taking the few steps needed to reach his new husband, “weird.”

“It is! And it’s your name, too! So maybe you’re just talking to yourself. How will I know?” 

“Right, because that’s something I do. Address myself in third person. By name. Formally.”

“I don’t know all your secrets. Maybe you do,” Koushi answered, indignantly thrusting his hand up at Daichi, “I’m gonna need some help here…” 

“Maybe I do… and maaaaybe that’s the champagne talking,” Daichi laughed, hauling Koushi up to his feet, “Do I need to carry you inside? That’s the tradition, right? A bridal carry over the threshold…” 

“No, you big dummy,” came the reply. Koushi’s tone was sullen, but after so many years, Daichi knew the difference between real pouting and play. He waited, only smirking a little.

The flush on Koushi’s cheeks deepened as he looked at Daichi from under thick lashes, suddenly bashful. That look took Daichi by surprise, wiped the smirk off his face and made something in his chest twist. He knew, of course he knew, but sometimes… sometimes the fact that Koushi was so damn… beautiful… knocked Daichi flat on his ass.

“I think… maybe that would be nice,” Koushi said, fiddling with a button on his vest, “I only get the one chance, right?” 

Daichi hummed thoughtfully as tucked a stray bit of hair behind Koushi’s ear and let his hand settle to cup his jaw, lifting the other man’s face so their eyes met. “Maybe just the one chance on your wedding night,” he agreed, and it was his turn to blush as he continued, “But I’ll carry you as much as you need now. For the rest of your life. As long as you’ll have me.” 

Koushi’s eyes snapped open. Daichi felt the muscles in his jaw work as a flash of emotion passed across his face in an instant. Eyes wide and glassy, there were tears welling there, moments from spilling out. “Same,” Koushi managed to choke out. "For the rest of... forever."

Maybe it was the damn fairy lights casting some kind of romance spell - though probably it was the reality of the word forever sinking in - but that exchange felt like their real vows, treasures spoken in secret and just for them. He felt the sting of tears in his own eyes, hot and urgent, but decidedly good. They were smiling at each other, after all. Unguarded and happy because they both knew there wasn’t a single lie in those words. 

“Dummy,” Koushi finally said, as he rapped Daichi’s chest with the back of his hand. “Come here.” He tugged at Daichi’s tie, pulling him closer, and their lips met for a kiss that tasted like champagne and promises. 

They stayed that way for a long while, wrapped up in themselves and lost in the new world they shared. In the end, neither was steady enough for the bridal carry experience, so they compromised. After Daichi lifted Koushi onto his back and adjusted his center of gravity so they were steady, Koushi leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“I was right,” he said, “This is nice.”