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amberjazmyn · 2 months

Text

make you feel my love 🫶💔🥹

pairing : max verstappen x fem!reader, lando norris x fem!reader, oscar piastri x fem!reader and charles leclerc x fem!reader

summary : through the lyrics of shane filan's "make you feel my love" we see four of the f1 grid (m. verstappen, l.norris, o.piastri and c.leclerc) loving their partner through everything and anything

warnings : tears, fluff, workplace harrassment due to gender, mentions of abuse, mentions of illness and dodgy google translations

a/n : this came out of nowhere lol, please enjoy! also bold italics is lyrics, italics is like flashbacks and everything else is the regular font. remember, don't forget to reblog and comment. you can also request one-shots as well!

max verstappen:

when the rain is blowin' in your face and the whole world is on your case, i could offer you a warm embrace, to make you feel my love.

today had been the worst day in the world for you and you wish you could understand why. first off, it was raining cats and dogs outside, so loud you personally thought your work building would collapse in on itself and it utterly terrified you. and two, it seemed as though your whole office building and everyone inside of it was on your case and trying to nit-pick at every little thing you did, whether that was in regards to you doing your job properly or just breathing, someone in your office had something to say about it and it almost made you want to scream. but, you remembered you actually liked this job and didn't want to lose it all because you lost control once at a time when you were defending yourself from everyone else's ridicule and judgement. even though you were one of only five women working this specific job, you still loved it even though it was a male-dominated job. you knew that when things like this happened, when the rain was blowing in your face and the whole world was on your case that your boyfriend, max, would offer you a warm embrace, making you feel his undying love for you.

however, he still hadn't returned from the monaco grand prix so unfortunately, your boyfriend wasn't going to be home the same time you returned home from work. so, you just sucked those tears back up and pushed on through the rest of the work day, only hoping that no one else would try to test you otherwise you would start to bawl your eyes and not have the ability to stop. cause once you start, you could find it quite difficult for yourself to stop crying.

continuing your customer service job, which truthfully you didn't need due to your boyfriend's extravagent job, you still loved it. it started to eventually come to the end of your work shift when you and the two other work colleagues that were incessant on causing you to almost have a mental breakdown, because of your gender, were called in for a meeting with the boss. and you just hoped it wasn't you getting yelled at again because you couldn't deal with that. and, you somehow managed a shaky breath of relief when you saw the body language your boss had in regards to your colleagues in comparison to you.

"---sir, i'm sorry but, what on earth are we doing in here with...her?" the older work colleague of yours jeered with attitude in his voice as your boss gave him a sharp look whilst you stayed silent, looking anywhere but at your boss and the two other colleagues

"pourquoi penses-tu, todd ?" your boss matched todd's attitude in french (since they were in monaco, dutch was not the main langauge spoken) as the man stepped down as he gulped before your boss couldn't stop himself from continuing but in english why do you think, todd?

"why do you both think it's okay to constantly bother y.n when she's just peacefully doing her job like everyone else, just like she's supposed to? don't you ever get tired of being incessant bullies? don't you ever think that i can actually hear all this bullying and abuse that you're aiming at y.n? do you ever step back and think to yourself how much stress and harm you are putting on her? do you ever step back and wonder if your words actually cause harm to your fellow work colleagues or are you just so ignorant that you no longer care anymore? because that's what i think of you todd and of you as well, richard, and i wish i had found out about this earlier so i could have let you both go before it could have escalated this far. and y.n, i am so incredibly sorry that it's taken this long for me to take action because this behaviour...this genderphobic misogynistic behaviour is never and will never be tolerated in my workplace, not today, not ever! so, todd, richard, it's with my greatest pleasure that today is your final day at this job and you will be fired because how you behave towards your other work colleagues is simply not tolerable any longer. i'd like to say i wish you both the best but, i'd honestly be lying if i said that so, let's hope the next time i have to see or hear about either of you, you guys' heads will have been removed out of arses. but in saying that, i don't have high hopes for that either...grab your things the both of you and leave, i want you guys clocked out and out of the building before the end of the day..." the boss was no longer allowing this abusive behaviour and you couldn't help but feel thankful to him, it was also quite hilarious to see how todd and richard reacted

for those who wanted a mental image of the way these two grown ass adults reacted to their firing was them basically throwing fits in the way a child would if they were told no, you cannot play on the tablet (child's name) your screen time for the day has finished. as much as you wanted to laugh, you found yourself not being able to because you were just so exhausted from this long and quite frankly traumatic day that you just wanted it to be over so you could go home and cacoon yourself in blankets on the couch as you then wait for your boyfriend max to return home from the monaco grand prix. but then you remembered that you still had a job to finish and, just as you went to leave your boss's office, he stopped you.

"...oh, y.n, before i let you go, i am terribly sorry that you had to deal with todd and richard constantly on your case today and every other day. you didn't deserve it and it was completely unwarranted every single time, no if's, no buts, no nothing. i wish i had done this firing sooner because they truly don't deserve a place in my workplace if they are being disrespectful to my fellow employees just because of their gender which is something that is of course, not easily changeable. also, if you wish to, i give you full permission to clock out earlier today since i know how exhausted you are from all of their abuses you've recieved. all i ask is that if you do leave early, that i get a text message reassuring me that you've got home safely and another one when max gets home from the grand prix since i remember you telling me that he returns back tonight because i want to know that you're being taken care of properly, okay?" tears welled in your eyes as you smiled, making eye contact with your boss as you nodded your head

"thank you sir. all of this has been well appreciated and, i'll be leaving work early since i don't think i feel like i'm in the right headspace to continue so, i'll clock out early. and, i promise, as soon as i get home and then as soon as max gets home, you'll be receiving text messages from me, don't worry. again, thank you for firing todd and richard and for sticking up for me, i know everyone else has but, having you also stick up for me just makes it a little bit better..." you trailed off as your boss nodded his head and watched as you left his office, a little less of the world weighing you down as you walked out then what you had when you walked in

let's just say you were happily surprised and relieved when you came home to see your boyfriend already home with his arms open ready to comfort you whilst you just unloaded on him after sending a message letting your boss know you had got home safely and that max too was there with his arms open waiting.

lando norris:

i know you haven't made your mind up yet but i would never do you wrong. i've known it from the moment that we met, no doubt in mind where you belong.

you hated being in this position. your childhood best friend, lando norris (yes the lando norris from formula 1 was your childhood best friend) had just professed his undying and neverending love for you just hours before he was to leave for the japanese grand prix yet, you couldn't give him a yes or no answer. so, you just stood there, in the loungeroom of your childhood best friend's house, like an utter loser as you just stared at your best friend.

"...umm, i...i'm sorry what...what did you just say lando?" you managed to finally stammer out as lando let out a shaky breath, letting you know he was about to cry and you hated it - you hated being the reason that your best friend was crying

you could tell that lando didn't want to repeat himself and was about to leave so you stepped forward and grabbed his hand, "no, don't...please don't leave lando...i just, i know what you said, i heard it but i just...can i...maybe...have some time to think about my answer?" you stammered out as you held lando's hand tighter as his tears started to trickle down his cheeks as his lip trembled

"umm...yeah, sure....that...that's fine, y.n. i...i'm sorry, i shouldn't...i shouldn't have put you on the spot like that i just...i wanted to tell you before i leave for japan and i just...truthfully, i panicked and i just--"

"--hey, lando, calm down bubs. it's fine, you didn't put me on the spot, i just wasn't expecting it but, that doesn't mean i shouldn't not have expected it at all either. but, i'm still okay to think about my answer?" you reassured lando as he nodded his head to your question of still wanting to think about your answer and if it was okay

"yeah, absolutely, you can think about your answer, take as long or as little as you want. there is no timetable whatsoever, i just wanted to tell you before i left so, yeah..." lando smiled shyly, wiping away some extra tears off his cheeks as you smiled and moved closer

"...yeah, i get it lan. you didn't want to leave anything unsaid before leaving so you said it all now, it wouldn't be the first time we've done this. because, if i remember right, we had a similar if not same exact conversation when we were sixteen and seventeen right before you left for f2 and i gave you the same exact answer except, i never gave you the answer to your question but, this time, i promise i will because i think this time i'm ready to accept the truth and not be selfish anymore..." you trailed off, giving a quick kiss to lando's head leaving him confused as he turned around

"...selfish? you're never selfish, y.n..." lando whispered but you still heard it and you smiled as you opened the front door

"...i never intended to but, yes, i was this time lan. have fun during the race and i'll be there at the airport waiting for you and the grid to come home!" you smiled and left without another word as lando was still confused but didn't try to pursue anything more since he was needed at the airport within minutes

°•. ✿ .•°

lando had been having the best time in japan for the japanese grand prix. by the end of the race, whilst he didn't podium, he still got p5 and got a few points for mclaren with oscar piastri, the second mclaren driver getting p8 and also getting points for the team. but, even all that fun couldn't stop the fear of what your answer to his question was going to be when he reunites with you later tonight in london heathrow airport. he loved you dearly, you both knew this since like mentioned earlier, it wasn't the first time lando had professed his more than platonic love for you and you had rejected his advances and honestly, looking back on your sixteen-year-old self now as a twenty-three-year-old, you thought it was quite selfish as you remembered the same tearful, devastated face that little seventeen-year-old lando shared with the same but older, twenty-four-year-old lando the second time you "rejected" him. you couldn't keep on pretending that you too hadn't fallen head over heels in love with lando like he had with you because, you really had fallen in love with him. and probably first fell in love with him when you truthfully first met him when you guys were in primary school, never realising it until you were sixteen, when lando first tried to ask you out after expressing his love for you. you knew he would never do you wrong and would treat you like an absolute queen, seriously, he had seen you be mistreated since you were sixteen, after he left for europe and formula 1 and it bothered him so bad that he couldn't do anything to stop it. even after he pleaded with his dad, adam, to keep an extra close eye on you to make sure there were no physical injuries, you still refused to believe that your ex-boyfriends were abusive and bad because you didn't want to believe you were in love with your childhood best friend who you'd known since first grade in primary school.

except, now that you had the conversation a second time with lando at an older and slightly more mature age and just before you two would be apart for the best of a few months, you finally realised you couldn't be selfish anymore and you could no longer hide your true affection for lando anymore. so you didn't want to hide it anymore. as you impatiently waited at london heathrow airport with lily, oscar piastri's girlfriend, you went back and forth in your mind of how you were going to tell lando that in fact, you too were in love with him and you wanted to be with him for as long as forever. but, just as you could think up of what you wanted to say to lando, you heard lily let out the loudest scream in the world, lily yanking on your hand as you looked up.

and all of a sudden, you couldn't stop your hand from sliding out of lily's or your legs from moving forward. bursting out into tears, you ran as fast as you could as you barely noticed the way lando's face lit up in excitement and slight anxiousness as you ran closer to him. since you were a loud crier, you basically had the entire arrivals terminal staring at you. and it wasn't just because there was a whole ass stampede of formula one teams returning home. via a normal commerical airplane and walking through a regular airport terminal in replacement of a private one right at the back of the airport. where no one else of the public would see them return home and potentially infiltrate them.

you finally got closer to lando who quickly dropped his duffle bag and opened his arms knowing you were going to jump into them. since it was something you always did from when you were younger. however, this time, it was different and he couldn't understand why until...

...you grabbed his face and kissed him in the most passionate way you had ever kissed anyone before in your entire life. lando, at first, of course was shell-shocked and understandably, mortified. but, as soon as he tasted the saltiness of the tears streaming down your cheeks on his lips, he didn't hesitate a second longer and started kissing you back. as cheers, applauses and wolf-whistles galore filled the arrival terminal at london heathrow airport as lando's team of mclaren, oscar piastri and their team principal watched on. lily holding tightly onto her own boyfriend with the biggest smile on her face. all of them happy that lando would no longer have to be devastated or fearful of his best friend not reciprocating her obvious love for him anymore.

"...i love you, i love you, i love you, i love you lando! i love you so fucking much and i am so sorry for being so selfish not telling you. i didn't really need time to think ahout my answer, i just said those things because i didn't want to allow myself to believe that i was in love with my best friend and it was so selfish of me and i cannot believe i made you cry like that and i just wish i could---"

kissing you again, lando pulled apart this time after initiating the second kiss, "---shut up will you, y.n, you really must love the sound of your voice if you're still too thick in the head to think i don't forgive you because i do forgive you. believe me, it took me way too long to pull my own head out of my arse because i also refused to believe that i was in love with my best friend as well. but, i put on my big boy pants and i told you two times, once when i was seventeen and about to leave for europe and the second time when i was twenty-four and leaving for the japanese grand prix because i didn't want to leave you without thinking i had forgotten anything. and i didn't because i told you that i was head over heels in love with you and unlike anyone else i'd ever loved before. and it broke my heart hearing you say you needed more time to think about it even though you had given me the same answer the first time and actually never gave me a response because you just couldn't face it at the time. and that's okay because this time you did and i couldn't have loved you anymore y.n. i mean...i...i've known it from the moment we met and there was no doubt in my mind where you belong and that's with me and no one else..." lando trailed off, tears welling in his eyes as you smiled as you initiated a third and one last kiss as the both of you couldn't stop laughing and crying and hugging each other

although it had taken years upon years of selfishly pretending you weren't in love with your best friend, you were glad it had taken until the japanese grand prix to kick your arse and head into gear as well as your head being removed from your arse and realise that you couldn't be selfish anymore. and you had to acknowledge that you couldn't fall in love with someone else because it was always going to be lando. and now, as you held tightly onto one another as you walked through london heathrow airport with the rest of the mclaren team and lily, you couldn't be any happier with your life now that you had lando with you forever and he was more than just your "childhood best friend".

oscar piastri:

i'd go hungry, i'd go black and blue, i'd go crawling down the avenue. no, there's nothin' that i wouldn't do, to make you feel my love

you struggled to believe it. oscar utterly refused to believe it. and he wished there was something he could have done to prevent it from happening...

"...mr piastri...did you hear what i just said?" oscar lifted his head up from staring at the carpeted floor in your, his wife's oncologist's office, with eyes that couldn't lie - your husband hadn't been listening at all to anything your oncologist had just said during the entire duration of them being in there

"ah, no i...i didn't, sorry, what were we talking about doctor marshall?" oscar gulped as he squeezed your hand tighter as you smiled with a soft and tenderness at him as doctor marshall smiled too

"don't apologise mr piastri, things like this can happen, especially because of how difficult it can be to comprehend your spouse having what can turn into a terminal illness, a lot of spouses will often pretend they didn't hear the diagnosis because they don't want to believe that their other half could be so sick..."

oh, that's why they were visiting doctor marshall. he was giving a diagnosis to you, oscar's wife, in regards to all the blood tests and other scans that you had been doing after you had been dealthly sick. and no one, not even your local gp in london, could provide you with an answer so they referred you over to doctor marshall in bristol. oscar had completely forgotten about that since he had been worrying about everything else that he couldn't even remember why he was in bristol with his wife and almost bursting out into tears in doctor marshall's office.

"...oh, umm, doctor marshall, will...is y.n able to undergo rounds of chemotherapy or any other form of can...treatment for her illness?" oscar stammered out as tears started to get him choked up as you stayed stoic and comforted your husband - you had a feeling that this doctor's appointment wouldn't be a happy and easy one to get through

"now, mr piastri, of course she is able to. we always suggest that the smartest and most logical idea, especially when we detect and diagnose the cancer early that going through treatment will give us and your wife the highest rate of surviving her cancer which is what we want. but, of course, we can't just force y.n to undergo treatment just for our own selfish needs. it has to be of her own wishes and accord because we don't know if the person suffering with the illness really wants to go through the process of the treatment and its side effects that it comes with as well as the long and constant hospital stays as an inpatient. so, if the both of you need some time to hash it out, i am absolutely fine with giving you guys a chance to chat and decide whether or not you, y.n, would like to go through with treatment or if you don't and after that, we can go from there, alright?" doctor marshall explained as you and oscar nodded your heads as you held each others hands tighter

"thanks, doctor marshall, we shouldn't take long..." you trailed off for the first time since the beginning of the appointment as you could hear your husband attempt to quieten his sobs as his body shook, his free hand covering his mouth as his eyes clamped shut tight

you knew this was breaking your husbands heart, you guys had lost your mum to cancer not too long ago just before formula 1 returned after their summer break and now, he had to go through that all over again with his wife? how on earth was that fair to oscar? it wasn't, it wasn't fair at all. however, you were determined to survive and beat your cancer for your mum who wasn't able to. you were determined to get to the end of your chemotherapy and ring that goddamn bell at the end of it all for those who never got to.

reaching over doctor marshall's desk to the tissue box, you grabbed a few and handed them to your husband as he wetly giggled, grabbing one of them and wiping his tears after pocketing the others, "...thanks babe..." he muttered as you kissed his temple softly as you continued to squeeze his hand comfortingly

"...so, doctor marshall wants us to discuss the idea of me going through treatment, so, how do you feel about me doing that?" you questioned, your head tilting to the side as oscar looked at you as though you were insane - which, in fairness, you were a little bit but, that's why oscar fell in love with you in the first place

"why are you asking me this, y.n? how do you the one who's actually going to through it, feel about it? this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you, just like doctor marshall said. just because i may want and heavily suggest you do it, if you don't want to do it, i respect your decision and will do everything i can do to make this journey easier for you! this is not my decision to ultimately make, babe!" oscar's tears were still heard in his voice although his sobs had calmed down as you sighed and nodded your head, smiling softly

"okay. well, it wasn't a hard decision, osc. i want to go through with the chemotherapy, especially because doctor marshall said that we caught it early that i have a higher chance of surviving. i...i want to ring that bell at the end of chemo because mummy never got to ring that bell and i want to do that. i can't bare the thought of you losing another person you love with your entire beating heart to cancer because that's just unfair. especially when you had no idea that she was living with it until her death. so, it's best i start now when it's still early in the cancer to do so..." you trailed off, your heart breaking as your husband's sobs returned at the mention of your mum, his mother-in-law's death to cancer alongside the possibility of his own wife losing her cancer battle as well

"...i can't either, y.n. i can't lose you either! i barely survived losing your mum, i can't lose you too! i don't want to!" oscar sobbed as he folded in on himself, his pain immeasurable as you reached over the chair's arm and hugged your husband as tightly as you possibly could as he wept

"you won't lose me baby! i'm going to get through this cancer, i'm gonna ring that bloody bell and then we're going to rest and then after that, we're gonna have as many kids as we possibly can and we're gonna live happily ever after, i promise..."

°•. ✿ .•°

...psh, yeah, happily ever after my arse! once again, almost like a coda to the day you were diagnosed with cancer, you were stoic and unemotional whilst oscar, your husband was almost weepy at doctor marshall's check-up with you at the cancer hospital in downtown bristol. for some context, not too long after that doctor's appointment where you were first officially diagnosed, within a month, you were admitted to bristol's cancer hospital as an in-patient so you could start your cancer treatment basically straight away to give you the best chance of survival and eliminating the cancer all together. whilst oscar had to sadly return back to formula 1 and the grand prixs, making sure that he'd return straight back to bristol when given permission to do so by his team principal at mclaren.

however, this is where the "pssh, yeah, happily ever after my arse!" comes from because, just this last couple weeks, you'd been blindsided with a dangerous infection in your bloodstream which nearly rendered you into a coma if the nurses hadn't noticed in time. and, even though, like your cancer, the nurses caught the infection early, it still didn't stop you from being in dangerous waters. so, you had to constantly fight every single day by forcing yourself to keep your eyes open, to eat, to drink and to walk around the upper cancer unit for ten minutes a day before returning back to your hospital room so you could then spend a couple of hours with oscar and someone else that he'd invite to come with him. the "someone else" was usually his mclaren teammate lando norris or your childhood friend's charles leclerc from ferrari and red bull's max verstappen. but today, it was all three of them because your oncology team had a terrible gut feeling and whilst they wished it to be a false alarm, they wanted to make sure oscar had enough people around him to comfort him if their gut feeling was to follow through and come true. thank god there was a three week break between the grand prix that just occured and the next one coming up because there was no way that all four f1 drivers would get away with missing a grand prix as unfortunate as it sounds.

oscar was currently sitting uncomfortably, with his legs crossed like when you were kids at primary school sitting on the floor, his right elbow resting on the arm of the chair and his left arm stretching over to hold yours as you rested, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, your chest ever so slightly rising and falling tucked away under the sheets of your hospital bed. tears were constantly threatening to dribble down his cheeks as he constantly willed them away as he breathed shakily in and out, his hand occasionally coming up from the chair arm and covering his mouth for the times he couldn't help a sob and it's escape. and standing all around the rest of the room were his three teammates, lando, charles and max and they were helpless in knowing how to console their castmate. none of them had gone through the loss of someone they love due to cancer and now the possibility of the same thing was happening to his wife. although you were currently unconscious but breathing, you just knew that oscar wished it was him in the hospital bed with cancer and this mysterious yet dangerous blood infection. it was completely obvious because oscar had been that way ever since you two started dating and even before that when you two were just best friends.

i mean, this man, this lunatic of a man who was crazy in love with you would go hungry for you. he'd go black and blue for you. he'd go crawling down the avenue for you. there was absolutely nothing this looney toon wouldn't do for you because if it showed you how much he loved you, he'd do it. he'd even switch places with you, have himself go through this cancer, the treatment and this awful, stressful, heartbreaking, scary blood infection if it meant that you were okay and not worried every single day about whether or not you were actually going to end up ringing that bell at the end of your chemotherapy.

and, suddenly, out of pure fight that you still had left in you, you opened your eyes more determined then ever whilst oscar cried the same way he did when his best friend took his last breath with lando providing him with some comfort as he kind of rested on top of him, his arms around oscar's waist which moved each sob which made lando move slightly. charles and max not too far behind when charles' eyes widened, his teary eyes, since oscar wasn't the only one in a grief-like state, spoke up in a whisper.

"...osc...y.n's woken up..." charles whispered and as oscar and lando both heard that sentence, their heads shot up and more tears poured down oscar's face as he touched your face, lando's arms letting go of his hold on oscar

"...oh, baby! are you okay? are you hurt? what hurts? do i need to get the nurse what's--"

"--calm down babe, breathe. yes, i'm okay darling. i'm not hurt, i'm just a little numb and stiff due to the way i've been lying down. and yes, getting the nurse would be a great idea, and i think you should do it because you've been holed up in this room longer than anyone else has. lando, charles and max will take immense care of me for the five or so minutes you step out of this room to grab the nurse so don't have a freak out, alright love? i'm still here, i haven't left and i won't leave...now go, get the nurse and doctor marshall," you may have just woken up but that didn't mean you were tired or exhausted because you weren't, truthfully, you felt more alive than you'd ever felt before

agreeing and too tired to think about arguing, oscar nodded his head and unlatched his grip from yours and left the hospital room to fetch the nurse and doctor marshall, "okay, i'll be back love. have some water, you must be thirsty, lando'll help you if you need it," oscar smiled softly with a tender kiss to your temple as you smiled as you watched him walk out, wiping away his wet cheeks and to the left to the reception desk so they could page for the nurse and doctor marshall

let's just say, from how calm and smiley both the nurse and doctor marshall were, it seemed as though their gut feeling was wrong and the blood infection had been caught early and it looked as though you were going to make an amazing recovery. from not just the infection but also from the cancer and that was why the rest of bristol's cancer hospital could hear cheers, screams and just outright excitement coming out of room 4580.

charles leclerc:

when the evening shadows and the stars appear, and there is no one there to dry your tears, i could hold you for a million years, to make you feel my love.

you couldn't stay strong anymore so you didn't. you had returned home from the sinagpore grand prix to monte-carlo, monaco early to hold a vigil back in your childhood home for your father who was dying due to respiratory distress and it had just been confirmed that your father had died. you didn't want to believe it, i mean, what twenty-four-year-old wanted to believe that their father has just died after months and months of being bedridden after being diagnosed with respiratory distress? the doctors promised you, promised your whole family that with some sort of miracle drug that was very new but already so revoulationary and able to cure the disease that you were beside yourself that their promise fell on deaf hands and deaf ears. how dare they lie to you and your family? how dare they provide you with such comfort and solace that your dad was going to survive only for him to die months later in his bed in the very home you had every single childhood memory up until age twelve when you moved to montmatre, france to monte-carlo, monaco after your parents civily split up. and right now, you just cried. your body fell forward as a loud and guttural sob that sounded as though it was from an animal that was dying fell from your mouth as your knees hit the ground, your arms falling onto your father's bed on which he laid on in his final moments.

it was in that moment that the rest of your siblings, mum and doctor left the master bedroom as you continued to weep, wishing only for the dark to become light again, wishing for your father to open his eyes and just say he was joking even though he knew that would be a too crude joke to play on his ever-loving family who had never done a thing wrong to deserve that type of tasteless joke. your mum, whilst devastated over the loss of her ex-husband, knew you'd be the most devastated about this and was thankful, praising god that she remembered that charles leclerc, your boyfriend and f1 driver had been granted early leave from the singapore grand prix. it was well known within ferrari that your dad's health had been declining so, lovingly, they allowed the smart decision for charles to have permission to leave any time he got the phone call from your mum or anyone in the family about the death of your dad. the only one who could provide comfort for her was charles.

due to your wailing and complete ignorance to the world around you, you hadn't noticed the gentle touch of your gorgeously talented but ever so empathetic and sweetheart of a boyfriend, charles. however, because you could feel the slight change in the air, you could tell without lifting your head up off of your father's bed and current resting place that someone was next to you. it wasn't until you heard his soft voice that you knew instantly by the way of his accent, the french effortlessly slipping from his mouth and how it was obvious he too had spent time crying himself, that it was your boyfriend next to you and not a family member who just carelessly decided to check in on you just for the sake of it.

"...y.n, bébé, tu peux te reposer maintenant..." charles' soft voice, that sounded like he too had been crying after recieving the phone call from your mother sounded from beside you as you finally lifted your head up from the warm blankets and sheets of your father's bed y.n, baby, you can rest now

"...charles... qu'est-ce que... qu'est-ce que tu fais ici ? tu es censé être toujours à singapour pour le grand prix..." you trailed off, your voice croaky and hoarse from all the wailing you had been doing for what felt like eternity at this stage charles...what...what are you doing here? you're supposed to still be in singapore for the grand prix

"...tu es plus important, y.n. ta mère m'a appelé, elle m'a raconté ce qui s'était passé..." charles' voice stopped as he got all choked up as tears welled in his eyes as you struggled to hold yourself together again you are more important, y.n. your mum called me, she told me what had happened

"...il...mon père est mort charles...il...il ne reviendra pas...il...il ne se réveillera plus jamais..." you sobbed as you fell, instead of collapsing forward onto the bed, you fell sideward onto charles who caught you and held you as more sobs jolted your tired body he...my dad's dead charles...he...he isn't coming back...he...he's never going to wake up again

"...je sais chérie et je suis vraiment désolée. j'aimerais pouvoir dire n'importe quoi qui pourrait soulager cette douleur mais je sais que rien ne peut faire ça!" charles whispered as he held you, rocking the both of you back and forth as tears streamed down the both of your faces whilst your dad's lifeless body laid in rest on the top of the bed that you were still hunched over i know darling and i am so sorry. i wish i could say anything that could ease this hurt but i know nothing can do that!

the evening started to shadow the master bedroom of your childhood home and you could see the light of the stars started to appear, there was an obvious brighter star that shone the brightest out of all of them. it was clear that that star was none other than your dad reassuring you and the rest of the family alongside charles' own dad and godfather jules that he was safe and that he'd always be there to shine bright every single night. last time your family went through a bereavement, you and charles were only best friends and he was in italy and you were in monte-carlo which meant that he wasn't just a quick drive away to wipe away all your tears over the loss of your grandpapa when you were a mere twelve-year-old returning back to monte-carlo in the same way twenty-four-year-old you had returned to monte-carlo to stand vigil at your now-dead father's bedside. it was a weird sense of deja vu or like a coda in a movie or song but, this time you were just grateful that you had charles here with you to comfort you and to dry your tears, to hold you for a million years.

"...charles...je t'aime tellement..." you whispered, your eyes only just staying open since it was now midnight and you and charles were still sitting vigil in your father's bedroom hours after his death date had been called charles...i love you so much

"...je t'aime aussi bébé... je pense qu'il est temps de se reposer et d'aller dormir ? qu'en penses-tu?" charles whispered as you couldn't help but agree, although you wanted to stay in this room with your father for the rest of eternity, you knew you couldn't do that i love you too baby...i think it's time we get some rest and go to sleep? what do you think?

"ouais, je ne pense pas que papa voudrait qu'on pleure à son chevet pour le reste de notre vie. je pense que s'il avait la capacité de devenir un fantôme, il nous reprocherait certainement de pleurer sur lui *tearful giggles*. en plus, je suis épuisé et il est presque minuit trente minutes et je suis sûr que tu es incroyablement fatigué par le long vol alors il est temps d'aller au lit..." you trailed off with a broken smile, standing up off the floor from your kneeling grief position and held out your hand for charles to grab it yeah, i don't think dad would want us crying at his bedside for the rest of our lives. i think if he had the ability to become a ghost, he'd definitely tell us off for crying over him. besides, i'm exhausted and it's nearly thirty minutes after midnight and i'm sure you are incredibly tired from the long flight so, it's time for bed

and he did, with an identical broken smile, he grabbed your hand and stood up as well as you guys walked out of your father's bedroom, not forgetting to quietly close it behind you cause, even in death, it would be rude to loudly close your father's door when he's trying to sleep.

fin

why do i make only a couple of them so sad? i don't know but anyway, i enjoyed rewriting this into a new version and i hope you guys enjoy reading it. also, funny that the only real translating i used was for charles' one-shot since there was no way i was going to translate the entirety of max's one-shot lol. anyway, i hope you guys enjoyed this.

#formula one #fluff #angst #comfort #max verstappen #lando norris #oscar piastri #charles leclerc #mentions of death #mention of terminal illness #mentions of workplace harrassment due to gender #do not read if any of these topics trigger you

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lune-de-miel-au-paradis · 11 months

Text

The old villa, rain of shooting stars and the old legend

Summary: A little backstory about Nina's secret special place in Naboo. A sweet little memory from her childhood.

Pairing: Darth Maul x OC Nina Cerasus

Warnings: Mention of abandonment, illness, anxiety

AN: This fic means a lot to me and I worked on it a lot. If you have any advice or comments, please share them with me kindly. I'm posting for the first time in years and I don't want nasty comments to discourage me from posting again. If you don't like it, please go to another blog. I did my best to translate it, so pls forgive me, English is not my first language. Please enjoy reading!

previous chapter

Everyone has places in their lives, usually not too far from home, where they find the much requisite peace and comfort when it becomes necessary to recharge a little, or when the waves are crashing over our heads, right? Well, there were a few such places in Nina's life as well, regarding appropriate situations that fit both the occasion and the mood. Such was, for example, the glass-domed upper floor of the observatory wing of the university library, if she wanted to immerse herself in the endless world of stars and the galaxy, or the library itself, where she could easily slip away from reality with the help of endless stories, and legends.

Then there was the roof that belonged to her apartment in the almost completely empty building. All she had to do was climb out of the window and there was the park and the university, decorated with arcades and columns shrouded in darkness at night, the best sight for rethinking existential thoughts.

She could take advantage of the little light pollution and stare at the sky and the planet's moons, which looked much bigger and brighter from here than anywhere else in the city. Perhaps that is why the observatory was built nearby.

Usually, when she didn't have much time, she found the peace she needed here.

But there was a place, special and secret. At least that's what she liked to believe. A small empire of her own that her mother gave her many, many moons ago on a sleepless summer night, during an exciting adventure together. She might have been seven years old at the time. There were only three people living in that small house, but at least they tried to push out the bitter, medicine-scented air of sadness with an act of love and the warmness of a truncated family.

Grandma Eve-Lynn was already fast asleep, but Nina could not dream, she tossed and turned until the bed finally threw her out. Her mother was sitting in the kitchen. Nina remembers her sitting there, one leg pulled up on the chair, a mug resting on her knee, in it the remnants of mint tea, which had cooled down a long time ago, painted the rim of the ceramic mug in a dark green shade. The holopad was on the table, Nina's mother was directing the touch screen with one hand, the other was supporting her sleepy head. Her hair was short, and the colorful scarf she had put on in the morning was now slightly to one side with a loose bow. She hummed a melody of some old song with amusement and the air smelled of cherry and jasmine. An expensive perfume from a far away place. Gift from a traitor person, to cover up a lie, or maybe it was a kind gesture? Who knows? That person no longer lived in Nina's memories. Perhaps, if such a thing exists, it would have remained in another timeline. The same man who taught her to play the piano, who opened her interest to the sky full of stars and wonders, or who built the best bunker during storms by making a huge mess of quilts and pillows.

In Nina's memory, the man already lived differently. Every single memory was rewritten retroactively, tainted with some kind of strange poison that gave them a darker filter and a bittersweet taste. Just like the memories, the poison of betrayal took its toll on Nina herself. Like her father Felix, the old Nina no longer existed, at least not in this timeline. Since then, it's as if every passing day has brought more and more darkness into her life, as if the universe decided that it would be a fun game to kick the little girl, in as many ways as possible. A kind of transformation began in her personality. She already saw the world differently. She saw adults as liars, doctors as frauds and hope as a children's fairy tale.

And about Felix: his name no longer meant 'father' or certainly not for her, it was shortened to many other adjectives that the girl had heard so far only from holofilms, such as 'liar', 'cheat', 'coward'. The first man in her life she loved was the person who represented to her the true meaning of these adjectives.

Nina didn't like to think about him, but she liked to see her mother like this, peaceful, absorbed in something and not tied to a sick bed.

"Why aren't you sleeping, little star?" the woman asked softly when she noticed the little girl peeking from behind the door frame.

"I can’t sleep. I'm not tired. And the super-duper sleeping count spell is wrong. It’s broken. It doesn't work, even though I tried to count all the loth wolves who howl to the stars like Grandma suggested."

"Looks like none of us are sleepy. It's time for a little adventure then!"

Nina loved it when her mom felt better, everything was happier and more colorful, almost magical. The evening stories were longer, making dinner together was also good fun, accompanied by music to which they sang together. At such times, her mother's eyes were filled with life and sparkled like the constellation Canis Minor on clear nights. Just like tonight.

They didn't change clothes, they just put on their shoes, the jacket over the pajamas and the portable telescope.

Nina looked up at her mother a little confused as they walked towards the lake. It wasn't far, it was a well-known path for a while, then it became unknown and exciting. Nina hasn't been out at the lake at night yet. It was completely different to see the landscape and the creatures at night. Millions of luminous insects fluttered their wings in flight, and even blue-glow fish glistened under the lake's water dark coloured mirror surface as they bathed in the moon. The white flowers bloomed at night, filling the air with an intoxicatingly sweet scent. It occurred to Nina that they are no longer on Naboo, but in an exotic, distant landscape, one of those places that are used to be told as evening fairy tales, or the stories told by the vendors in the market.

"Where are we going?" he asked as she held her mother's arm tighter.

She didn't like the fact that the leaves of the lush forest vegetation were caressing her arms, hair and face from everywhere. Seeing this, Nina's mother Holly put her on her back so that Nina was like a little human backpack. They went on laughing.

"You'll see, little star. Tonight we'll watch the shooting stars from a very special place."

They followed the unknown path, but soon, behind two huge rocks, a secret lake appeared in front of them. It was surrounded by forest and opposite the domed roof of the distant Theed’s Royal Palace and the three moons shone high on the mountaintops. And a small waterfall also filled the silence of nature with a gurgling sound, mixed with the soft sounds of nocturnal animals.

And there stood the house. It was big and -we should rather call it a villa-. It is two-storey, built of stone and carved brick. With tall split windows, some of them patterned with colored glass. The years had worn it down a lot, the glass was missing in several places, or it was just cracked and broken. The walls were covered with various creepers, with bright pink papery petals and white fluffy stamens with a sweet scent. The tower roof had holes in several places, and the tiles were mostly dislodged, so thin mold disfigured the corners of the rooms. The bottom of the upper terrace, decorated with arcades, rose above the columned circular terrace outside.

Statues and worn carvings decorated the house, most of them depicting a species of monster with a terrifying face. Nina was a little surprised, but her mother walked in through the old black wooden door, which was cracked and the paint had almost completely worn off.

But the best part was the glass domed roof, of course it was also holed, broken and dirty, but a wonderful light filtered through it and illuminated the space. Nina has always dreamed of a bedroom with such a roof view.

Inside, on the walls were paintings and pieces of mosaics, carved fireplaces, and old ornate furniture. Among the scraps of red and black patterned carpet and sofa fabric, golden threads glistened in the sunlight. Even the lamps were made of ornate wrought iron, with the remains of tiny candle stubs. The living room, which was oval, surrounded by windows, in the center of which stood an old piano covered, and on the wall a huge mirror, the rim of which was gray with dirt, but still nobly grandiose in its bronze frame.

"What is this place, mother?" Nina asked in amazement, running her tiny fingers over the stars painted on the wall. There was a layer of gray dust on her fingers from the movement, which she wiped on her pajamas, with a little frown.

"This is our perfect stargazing spot. And our secret little palace, my little star."

"I feel like a princess here." the little girl whispered to herself, and dreamily turned around a few times. Her mother took her by the hand and led her and started telling stories. "Officially, the place is not ours, at least according to local legends it belonged to a rich married couple. The husband was a warrior who came from a far away planet and had a huge business. He met the woman, and he fell in love with her at the light festival. From here, the maiden watched the lanterns flying into the sky, gracefully reaching for them and saving several from falling into the lake.

The best view of the stars was from here and on the lanterns flying towards them. They looked into each other's eyes and fell in love.

The men decided to build the villa as a wedding present for his beloved fiancee. The carvings tell the story of the culture of a distant planet. They are said to contain protective charms so that the house will always be blessed and hidden from those with bad intentions.

To protect the family while the husband is away." “Woow, he must have really loved his wife. But what happened to them, mother?

" Well, it's not known exactly, they didn't have a child. They were sad because of that, and tried everything. There are several stories floating around about what happened to them. Some people think that someone took revenge on them."

"But who? And why?"

Nina asked in a high pitched voice, she felt some curiosity mixed with fear and a hint of excitement. She loved to listen to legends.

"There are those who believe that Magic itself came, because sorcery has a price. There are those who believe that the husband's old master attacked them because he wanted his warrior back. The legend says he loved his wife so much that he used all his power to save her. "

“ But how? And did he save her? What happened to him?”

Holly set up the telescope in the garden of the old house while telling the story. The leaves of the trees formed a frame around the sky, on the dark surface of which the stars just shone. She adjusted the right angle and called her little girl over. Standing on her toes, Nina looked into the telescope with one eye. "See that cluster of stars? Are there two bigger and brighter ones close together?"

"Yes. There they are!" Nina pointed her little finger to the sky.

"The myth says that the warrior placed his love in the sky and that's how one part of the constellation was made. All his magic went into this spell. But he knew that his beloved would be safe and he would see her every night. But this made his evil master so angry that he ended the life of the warrior. Then the old gods, the Maker, or the Force itself took pity on the lovers and placed the energy of the dying warrior next to his beloved up in the sky. This is how the constellation of lovers was formed, how we can see it now. This is the only place you can see it this brightly from the planet.

The two were together in the sky and adopted dozens of smaller stars, which pass by them every year and visit them in the form of a meteor shower. You can see this ... right, now!"

Nina's eyes widened, dozens of tiny plumes of light floated across the sky in front of the constellation. The swarm consisted of many tiny dust particles. Her father had taught her many moons ago that these meteors heat up and burn due to their high speed in the planet's atmosphere, they do not reach the surface. He said that the best time to observe them is from midnight to dawn, when they can be seen in the greatest numbers. Her father promised that they would watch together this year, but according to him, this was just another lie. But Nina didn't want to think about that, instead she embraced her mother with joy, who, unaware of the promise, still surprised her with this experience and the legend along with it. They came at the perfect moment. The comets left behind colorful plumes, green, pale blue, purple, even pink.

After that, she went out a lot with her mom for picnics and night stargazing at the lake and the old villa, until Holly became so weak that she was bedridden again.

When her mom's illness got worse and passed away months later, Nina hid here to sob and mourn. This was their common place, every time she came here it was like a warm hug, she relived the lovely moments and warm memories over and over again. This became the place of her secret study place, and she went there whenever something that pressed hard on her soul, or simply to feel something. She talked secretly to the stars, as if her mother could hear her, waiting for an answer, but she never got one. After a terrible day, she was filled with peace and strength here, which helped her to continue her life and pretend to be strong in front of her grandmother, and all the doctors.

This was one of those days, so she decided it was time to look for the secret villa by the lake deep in the forest and seek out some peace.

If not for peace, but for something else - more precisely, someone else - she certainly found it.

Mood board made by me, pictures are from Pinterest.

next chapter

Taglist: @stardustbee @hellhound5925 @cloneloverrrrr @the-chains-are-the-easy-part

Let me know if you want to be added 💖

#star wars #darth maul #oc nina cerasus #starcrossed #nika's writing #darth maul x oc nina cerasus #maul x nina #original character #backstory #starcrossed fic #my fic writing #naboo #romantic story

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golddustedqueen · 11 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

13! Tho one of them’s cowritten so maybe 12? Hopefully it’ll be up by one in a week or so tho~

2. what's your total Ao3 word count?

149,077 words! Probably like another ten thousand+ in wips

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently it’s mostly Genshin, but I’ve written for BNHA and Black Butler before and plan to write more BNHA and break out into at least bsd and possibly Voltron?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Benedictions of the New Moon (E) (490)

Forever Mine Even Your Breath (E) (326)

Love Me Honey Like Ambrosia Wine (E) (300)

I Love You Most But I’m Not Worthy (E) (274)

When Wind Meets Grief and Divinity (E) (250)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah! I love interacting with readers! If i don’t then it’s usually that i saw it, meant to respond, and forgot😔 its the ADHD

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably When Wind Meets Grief And Divinity (E)? Forever Mine, Even Your Breath (E) is probably also pretty angsty, both are VERY dead dove do not eat so beware!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oooh I dunno, I think maybeeee Its a Love Story (E)? I do think that ending is soooo cute! Oh and True Soul Bound To True Soul(T)!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I’ve gotten like one hate comment? Definitely have gotten some slightly annoying comments tho^^; readers pls, asking me to update does not make me go faster😭

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Smut is what I like writing the most! I love writing kinky queer smut, no one’s cis or straight in my fics

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don’t really tend to? Not on my own at least, I’ve cowritten/rp’d/brain rotted a few but never finished or published anything.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Gosh i hope not! If you see my fics anywhere but ao3 they’re likely stolen!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of but if anyone would ever want to do so id welcome it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah! Loads of times! Most aren’t published tho and likely will never be, you can find the singular published cowritten fic on my ao3! Black Butler: House of Gold

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh man I have to pick???? I don’t think i can! But I definitely love writing xv the most so far!! Smth abt them gives me violent brainworms

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Probably this one firefighter xiao/single mom chem major venti au i have, its plotted out pretty heavily and its super cute buuut i dunno modern aus aren’t my favorite to write and I have so many other ideas, but who knows! Maybe ill get brain worms for it eventually!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Id say prooobably my descriptions??? And world building?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Repetitiveness for sure, tho i think im getting better at not repeating constantly

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think its a great idea!! I do it a bit in my fics, a word here and there with translations, and I think it helps like i dunno pull their culture in? Also I think sometimes the English version of certain words don’t have the same Impact yknow?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

…One Direction… i had like the beginnings of a whole fantasy au written out at one point and i had a sorta shadow hunters au started too

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Ooh thats a tough one!! I looove Benedictions of the New Moon (E) so much but i also love Treat Me Right (E) and Its A Love Story (E), those two are very much labors of love but i also think they’re really interesting!! Our Love Is Holy (E) is also one of my favs because it was the first time I wrote Venti the way I see her, a genderfluid transfemme! And it’s just so sappy even though its filthy

#my writing #xiaoven #my fics #shinkami #black butler #i stole this from sucrosette #its fine they love me~

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valentinesweetheartspecial · 1 year

Note

what manga is that double one? I can't find anything about it

I take it you are asking me about this :

This isn’t a manga! This is a multimedia series called Milgram . I will proceed to explain Milgram under the cut

Milgram is a story told primarily through voice dramas and songs, and is supplemented by some other stuff that mostly provides character info, like posts on the Milgram app and interrogation questions posted to Twitter. It’s written by Yamanaka Takuya and DECO*27, who writes almost all of the music in the series.

The premise of Milgram is that there are 10 prisoners, all in a jail of sorts, all being judged for their “sins”. It’s up to the jailer, Es, to judge them for their actions in 3 separate trials— the decisions that Es takes are directly influenced by us, the audience, because we get to vote for their verdicts! A main pull of Milgram is the fact that it’s entirely based on questions about morality. All of them are murderers, you’re not being asked to judge if they’re guilty or not— you’re being asked if you forgive them. Of course, that means that some of these are very morally grey and some of these aren’t even direct killings. This can get very…tricky, especially when the story gets as cliche as it does at times LMFAO

The songs can all be found here. Voice dramas can be found …anywhere….probably. Usually I just look up “(character) voice drama translation” on tumblr and I find one. You can listen to them on streaming services and on YouTube , probably. The music videos all have English subs already. Currently we are in the midst of trial 2, so we’re waiting on Amane, Mikoto and Kotoko! So you can still have fun voting time yayayayayay. U can vote Here

The guy in the art I posted—the double thing—is Mikoto Kayano, the 9th prisoner. Here’s his first trial art vs his second trial. As you can see he’s not doing too great. The art you saw is the jacket art for his second trial song, Double, which releases in October.

Mikoto is a perfect example of Milgram’s ups and downs. He has one of the best songs in the series and his first MV showcases their truly amazing ability in animation— at the same time, he is seemingly very poorly written and is a mental illness serial killer . The hope for him is minimal . I’m on this ride to see how he turns out and how they salvage this already sketchy plotline for him. Idk, there’s two trials left, maybe it’ll turn out fine …somehow …..

Anyways yeah, Milgram is a multimedia series that tries to ask deep morality questions but sometimes it feels like they’re like. Do you forgive this woman for getting an abortion. How do you feel about this child with mental illness who killed people. Thoughts. So😭. Imo it’s not all bad and definitely worth getting into if you feel like it, the music is definitely really good ..so…yeah

If you end up liking this series shoot me an ask or something! Thanks for asking I love explaining things always

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claire-starsword · 2 years

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Found scans of what I think is the best Shining Force guide in terms of lore, so I’ll be translating and discussing some stuff here for the next days. Let’s start with the two characters you’d expect:

Protagonist [Human] Class: Swordsman -> Hero

The young hero who faces battles, spurred on by destiny

*** As protagonist of the game, he's the young hero who leads the Shining Force. One year ago, he lost his memory, and was found unconscious by Lowe in the coast near Guardiana. After that, he continued to train his swordsmanship in there. His real identity (?) is descendant of the family entrusted with the duty to protect Dark Dragon's seal. ***

As revealed in the later half of the game, he is the younger brother of Cain from the Runefaust army, and the two were fated to fight Dark Dragon.

The black armor (reinforced clothes?) he wears after changing class to "hero" were designed for this mission, much like Cain's white armor. It seems the armor itself has been among his belongings even when he was still in Guardiana, but before becoming "hero" class, he didn't know how to put it on, and thus could not use it in battle. _____

Mae [Centaur] Class: Knight -> Paladin

The crimson fighting spirit galloping through the battlefield! Shining Force's offense captain!

*** The only daughter of Varios, captain of the Guardiana knights. She's very proud of her class and species. At the start she was prejudiced against the protagonist because he was an outsider, but once the castle fell she realized their duty, and vowed to cooperate with him. After that she became the Shining Force's main fighting power. ***

In the game she's the focus of the event with Varios, and thus it isn't mentioned anywhere, but of course, Mae had a mother as well. Her name was Allia, and she was a female knight who fought alongside Varios in her youth. However, she died of an illness when Mae was young.

Her popular (?) strong personality is in part due to having her parents in mind. Ever since she was young, she dreamed of becoming a knight like her mother and helping Varios in battle.

_____

Notes about Max:

The armor thing is a detail mentioned only by this guide, but Max's backstory and family are explained in the original game, the english localization just did away with all of it because it is uh, Bad, to put it mildly.

"My name is Adam... I am a mechanical soldier created to help you in battle... You and Master Cain have the blood of the ancients in your veins... You were fated to fight Dark Dragon since you were born... Darksol... He plans to resurrect Dark Dragon, and found out about the both of you. He schemed to manipulate you in order to obtain the key to the seal and the Book of Secrets. Master Cain fought to give you a chance to escape... But he was defeated by Darksol... And you suffered terrible wounds. Because of that you lost even your memory."

[The official translation uses "manual of the seal" for ひでんのしょ, but "Book of Secrets" (used by the GBA version) is a more accurate translation.]

Lowe finding him at the shore is mentioned both in game and in the manual from what I recall, and the interesting thing is, the manual contains a pixel art illustration of Lowe carrying him into Guardiana. It's the only time I've seen a pixel art scene in these extra materials, so I wonder if it was made for an intro in the game itself and got cut.

Notes about Mae: Mae's initial distaste for Max is also clearer in the japanese version.

“Don’t get too full of yourself just because you’re training with my father. You’re still an outsider!”

Mae talks about her mother in the GBA version, and it matches this backstory perfectly, with extra details on how she became a knight and married Varios. Her name was however changed to Arisa (アリサ in the JP version). I chose to romanize the original name here as Allia to avoid bad implications, but throwing アーリア in the online dictionary gave me a lot of result related to aryan race and similar things, so this might be why they changed it, and I deeply support that change. The new name might also be an homage to Alis of Phantasy Star, but that's just me speculating.

#shining force #shining series #ressurection of the dark dragon #sf mae #sf max #sf cain #shining force localization stuff #sf kouryaku no tebiki translations

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psychedelcs · 2 years

Text

❝ 𝒊 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 , 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕 . ❞

character’s full name: tamsin kana fawley faceclaim: kaylee bryant gender + pronouns: non-binary + they/she age + birthday: 23 + march 3rd blood status: halfblood house + year: hufflepuff + fifth year specialization: alchemy (spagyrics) + theory of magic extracurricular activities: herbology club, broom racing 4 traits: dreamy, empathetic, generous, oblivious, single-minded

about the character:

the fawley family had never cared to be part of the sacred 28, though circumstances kept them “pure” for many generations; there was no fallout when the heir, tamsin’s grandfather, married a japanese witch and settled there, passing his wizengamot seat onto his little brother. there was no hierarchy based on blood in wizarding tokyo, rather the hierarchy was based on the strength of one’s magical signature and generational wealth – two things that yamamoto kana had an abundance of.

benjiro fawley, tamsin’s father, had not planned to retake the family’s wizengamot seat, however his uncle’s ill health and lack of heir meant the future of the fawley family was his responsibility and rather than attending the prestigious wizarding schools in tokyo he attended aurelius institute where he would meet tamsin’s mother. benjiro had never fully settled into the ways of wizarding uk and he found himself incredibly homesick for his home in tokyo, fulfilling his duties to the wizengamot and the family seat via correspondence.

tamsin has never known what it was like to fit. despite having never lived anywhere but japan, their appearance kept them separate from their peers. and though their father had tried to take them to society events of wizarding uk, as a child they were fluent in japanese, barely passable in french (due to her orphaned, muggleborn mother), and spoke abysmal english, they couldn’t quite find comfort in children who looked like them. it took a conscious effort for them to become fluent in english and french; by then it had been too late. the lines had been drawn and they had already been marked an outsider. while this had been a major cause of despair during puberty, they found that they had no need for people that didn’t outright choose them.

there was no event that triggered their curiosity. no tragic story. they were simply under the influence when the thought occurred to them. they’d always had a talent for transformation magic and an interest in herbology. but under the constellations, knee deep in water surrounded by lotus they were reminded of something that should have been a passing thought. the sacred lotus – a nearly mythical variety that grew only under very specific circumstances. since then they had made it their life’s mission to replicate the perfect environment for the elusive blossom in order to distill its essence in the purest form. in theory, if they could stabilize its magic, they may discover a panacea.

for several years they attempted to carry out their studies in tokyo, but the greenhouses were insufficient. the libraries, though vast, were void of paracelsus’ studies or insufficiently translated and they waited weeks for owls to deliver parcels from aurelius institute which housed a surprising amount of literature on alchemy, spagyrics, and panacea. in the new year of their second year, they applied for transfer and by september they were in aurelius.

there are many familiar faces in aurelius, people they know by name due to the society events they had been forced to attend, but none that would be ecstatic to see them in the halls. though they are not opposed to making deeper connections, they simple do not know how and are hindered by their single-minded focus on their studies. they’re highly averse to large crowds at parties, though they love a small get-together. though they love high-speed flying, they have never taken to quidditch. they always have their magical equivalent to airpodsmax on their ears, though they are rarely ever playing music. they frequent the greenhouses, having commandeered one to replicate an ice cavern and have just surrounded it with the right mix of flora and fauna for the sacred lotus to grow.

character tag

#aureliusintro #introducing : 𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒚 .#muse inspo : 𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒚 .

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szczekaczz · 2 years

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some long talk about about my artistic (?) project below

there is a story i've been working on since 2019. i love it so much and it's been a continuous comfort for me during all this time. however the topics, and themes, and messages included in it are so very personal for me, that even after all these years i find it impossible to write anything about it, be it short stories, lore ect. my biggest hope for this year is to overcome it and let my project to exist anywhere else than just in my thoughts...

there are two main characters. one is a grey, lurcher-like dog with blue bandana wrapped around its neck. this dog knows how to light the lantern again after it goes out, as it was kept as a pet in puppyhood and it was always drawn to light, paying great attention to how humans operate it. now it goes from place to place in order to help all the dogs it meets, who need their lanterns to be restored. second one is an abnormally huge, light coated dog from a former puppy farm, it looks a little similar to a caucasian shepherd. it lacks the sense of smell, the most important one for the dogs. it spent its whole life isolated in a small kennel. when the news of the illness came to the breeders, they opened up all the kennels and shooted blindly and the dogs, a few of them managed to escape - it includes this character. both of them meet sometime after the giant's escape, when it lies lifelessly in an open field, weak of cold, hunger and lack of any hope. blue bandana one decides, of course, to help it, and soon they start to travel together.

it is set in a non-specified, tundra-taiga place, where the winters start to rapidly become much longer and harsher every year. so we have snow, winter, abandoned nature, a plague of illness, dogs with lanterns... this is the imagery i'm trying to set. as for themes, i often use this project as a place to vent, so i think i'm still not quite ready to dive deep into it. let's just say it it deals broadly with grief, lots of morals and ethics regarding dogs as a species, pedagogy. one of main characters lacks the sense of smell, which also brings the theme of disability. the other one is uhh autistic coded let's say (not in a literal sense as it is a dog, but i'm using this character as an outlet for my own experiences of having autism and such, i try to sort of translate ((i can't find a good word for it in english sorry)) the human experience into dog and show how it can look like in this universe of talking dogs lol).

so this is it for now, i hope i will be able to share more than the very basic and shortened lore in the future. however i might delete this post later or even tomorrow if i find it being too much for me because yeah. it is a very personal story and it makes me very nervous to make it exist somewhere else than just my thoughts

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discoscoob · 3 years

Text

Fires of Pompeii | Loki x Female Reader

Loki (Marvel) x Doctor Who

You and Loki meet each other while you’re both running for your lives through the streets of Pompeii.

Part Two | Chapter Index

Words: 10k +

Warnings: blood and injury

Read on AO3: here

You huddled under the arch of an abandoned doorway just off the high street, it provided you suitable enough shelter from the miserable rain which pathetically drizzled down from the night sky. The light from the street lamps, traffic and shop fronts reflected off the soaked concrete while in the distance you could hear the laughter and chatter of groups of people as they made their way to the pubs and the clubs, the night was still early for them but you intended to be home and curl up in bed within the hour but first, dinner.

You warmed your frozen fingertips around the paper wrapping which contained a piping hot portion of golden chips from your favourite chippy. Just as you were about to pop one of the steaming chips into your mouth using one of those tiny wooden forks you only ever find in chip shops, something caught your attention and you paused.

“You’re not mating with me, sunshine!” A woman gasped in a broad east London accent that you would recognise anywhere, it belonged to your auntie Donna, a fiery redhead with an unmistakable dialect. Reluctantly you dropped your wooden fork, with your chip still attached to it, back onto the pile of chips which sat on the wrapping paper cradled in your palm and you ran out from under the doorway to investigate.

“A mate. I want a mate.” Came a reply and you turned your head in the direction the voice came from to find your auntie, half shielding herself behind the door of an old police box, while a man you didn’t recognise stood before her wearing a pinstripe suit with a pile of luggage gathered around his feet.

“Well just as well because I’m not having any of that nonsense. I mean you’re just a long string of nothing, you know, alien nothing.” She asserted, now standing fully outside the police box.

“Is everything okay?” You approached the pair, completely lost by the conversation or argument you had picked up on midway through. Upon hearing your voice Donna gasped your name suddenly looking like someone caught doing something they shouldn’t.

“Oh chips! I love chips. Can I have one?” The man smiled and pinched a chip from your pile before you could even answer.

“I can explain.” Donna offered and that is where it all began.

Donna’s explanation had consisted of an elaborate story about how the man she was with, known simply as The Doctor, was the last surviving member of an advanced alien species which specialised in space and time travel and that he had offered to take her exploring with him through all of time and space. Naturally your initial response was one of disbelief, you questioned your auntie on how much she had to drink that night, then you quickly switched to concern wondering if this strange man had drugged her.

Donna looked offended that you believed she was anything but sober while the Doctor was startled that you believed he had any ill intent and was quick to sincerely reassure you that he meant your auntie no harm and that he was more than happy to extend his invitation of space and time travel to you, either in order to prove what they were telling you was in fact the truth or to allow you to come along to ensure Donna’s safety.

You were tempted by his offer until you found out that their mode of transportation was the cramped police box the three of you were stood in front of, the Doctor informed you that it was called a TARDIS, an abbreviation for something you were sure you wouldn’t remember, and that it’s appearance as a police box was merely a disguise however the function had stopped working several decades ago meaning it was stuck like that permanently. You questioned how all of you would comfortably fit inside, along with the huge pile of Donna’s luggage. Images of scenes from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure ran through your mind, the two teens faces pushed up against the glass of phone box which they were squashed into like sardines along with several prominent figures from history.

Your concern soon developed into wonder after you were ushered by the pair into the box to find it was much bigger on the inside, and not in a ‘its size is deceiving’ sort of way where they cleverly maximised the limited space inside, it was literally impossibly bigger. You had to immediately step outside and circle the boxes perimeter to make sure it wasn’t attached to any walls but it stood in the middle of the street completely detached from any other structure or building. That is when you first started to believe that maybe what Donna had told you wasn’t so far fetched after all.

Barely 10 minutes later you were rendered speechless as you were stood in the middle of a busy outdoor market, chippy tea long forgotten. Beneath your feet the ground was no longer covered in puddles or reflected the colours of the different city lights, instead you stood on cobble stone covered with dry sand and stray piles of straw. The black night sky was replaced by a flawless blue with not a single white cloud in sight as the heat of the midday sun caressed your skin. You were quick to unwrap your scarf from around your neck and shrug off your bulky winter coat and carelessly throw them back into the TARDIS without a care where they landed.

“Ancient Rome!” The Doctor enthusiastically announced.

Your eyes scanned around the bustling market once again and you took in the sight of all the people dressed in period typical clothing, tunics, sandals and such. The air way filled with the smell of fresh baked goods, scents similar to a barbeque and the faintest smell of horse stables. Some people who walked by were even wearing armour with long red capes draped over their shoulders, you eyed them cautiously as they passed.

“Oh my god!” Donna gasped, grabbing your attention you quickly turned around. “It’s… it’s so Roman! This is fantastic.”

You rolled your eyes at her dramatics as she threw her arms around the Doctors neck to pull him into a hug and he laughed happily with a proud smile on his face. You had to admit, you were impressed, more than impressed, you were astonished. You could hardly believe your eyes as you took in your surroundings, you would have believed you were on a film set were it not for the lack of a technology crew, cameras and director yelling at you to get out the way of the shot.

“Hold on a minute, that sign over there’s in English. Are you having us on?” Donna spotted and you looked in the direction she pointed in to find a sign which read ‘TWO AMPHORAS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE’ and your shoulders sank and the prospect of being lied to this whole time.

“No, no, no,” the Doctor calmly reassured her “that’s the TARDIS translation circuits, it looks like English. It works for speech as well, you’re talking Latin right now.”

That certainly was very clever and convenient, you thought to yourself.

The Doctor lead the way as you continued your stroll through the crowded streets in search of landmarks like the colosseum, the pantheon and the circus maximus. You were excited by the prospect of seeing these ancient landmarks in all their former glory but the Doctor appeared lost as he aimlessly wondered the streets with no sense of direction.

A sudden deep continuous rumbling caused the ground beneath your feet to shake and vibrate, causing tremors to ripple through your entire body, almost knocking you off balance, while the pottery from the market stalls could be heard smashing as they fell to the floor and the scent of smoke in the air intensified. You panicked and grabbed onto Donna’s arm for balance, you caught her staring upwards her eyes transfixed on the sight before her. You followed her line of sight and your face dropped when you saw a mountain top standing tall over the small buildings which surrounded you, as black clouds of ash emerged from the top of it, your heart hammered against your ribcage and your grip on Donna involuntarily tightened.

“Pompeii. We’re in Pompeii and it’s volcano day.” Your throat closed up as you heard the words leave the Doctors lips.

Without another word the Doctor began sprinting back in the direction you previously came, you and Donna quickly followed on his heel. As all three of you dashed through the busy streets as fast as your feet could carry you, in an attempt to make it back to the TARDIS and escape the city before the volcano erupted, you collided into someone’s chest just as they were running in the opposite direction, your foot got caught on their ankle, causing you to trip and before you knew it you were heading straight for the floor with barely enough time to brace for impact.

“Watch where you’re-“ You heard a raised voice behind you and cringed as you prepared to be yelled at on top of the humiliation of already tripping flat on your face, but his voice faltered mid-sentence and you cautiously looked over your shoulder to find a man dressed in modern attire staring back at you with a slack jaw and his brows pulled together as his eyes roamed over you. Obviously your modern clothes caught his attention, just as his caught yours and you could practically see the cogs turning behind his eyes, you were sure your expression mirrored his as you studied each other. You pushed yourself to your feet and glanced over his appearance from head to toe. His shoulder length dark hair was windswept indicating that he must have been running for some time, he wore a brown jacket with its collar pulled up, over a plain white dress shirt paired with a thin dark tie and matching straight leg brown trousers and on his feet he wore a pair of smart polished black shoes. He definitely didn’t belong here, you concluded.

You barely noticed him take a quick glance over your shoulder before he grabbed a firm hold of your wrist and pulled you into a small nook hidden behind one of the market stalls and clamped his hand over your mouth before you could let out a single sound. You glared up at him to try and communicate how aggravated you were, only to find he wasn’t even looking at you as he was too occupied with searching the market with shifty eyes. So you gave up on your glaring in an effort to try and spot what he was looking for, that is when you caught sight of a man who stood out in the crowd, due to the fact that he, too, was dressed in modern attire. You could see he was searching for something, no doubt it was the man who had you pinned against a secluded wall with his hand over your mouth, for your own good you had to ignore the way your stomach flipped ever so slightly by that predicament.

Once the man on the street was out of sight the stranger slowly removed his hand from your jaw and took a step back to give you some space. You were about to open your mouth to ask him what exactly that was all about when another rumble shook the ground beneath your feet and reminded you of how urgently you needed to catch up with Donna and the Doctor before the entire city was destroyed and you along with it. You had no time to stop and interrogate the stranger with all your questions such as where he came from, how he got here, who was that man on the street and why was he hiding from him and why volcano day in Pompeii was such a popular destination for time travellers. Perhaps you could bring it up with the Doctor later as he seemed to have all the answers.

You were about to step foot back onto the street and continue your sprint back to the TARDIS but the stranger had other ideas. He wrapped his large hand around your upper arm and tugged you back against the wall, with no concerns about being gentle and this time he managed to cage you in with both his arms placed on each side of your head.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice was low and intimidating, as he loomed over you threateningly and stared at you from under his dark eyebrows but with adrenaline already coursing through your veins you were feeling bolder than usual and with your mind occupied by the imminent threat of ash clouds and burning hot magma, it would take a lot more than a deep voice and an intimidating stare to scare you into submission right now.

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have somehow failed to notice that you arrived in Pompeii on the same day the volcano famously erupts and I think it goes without saying that I’m not too fond of the idea of being here when it does. So to answer your question I am trying to get back to the time machine that I came here in so I can get out of here before the city is destroyed. I advise you hurry back to yours and do the same.”

The man looked taken aback by your abrupt tone and you momentarily allowed a fluttering of pride to fill your chest but it didn’t last long before it was once again drowned out by the heavy feeling of anxiety caused by the life threatening natural disaster which lay just around the corner, both literally and figuratively.

“The volcano doesn’t erupt until tomorrow,” the man finally explained once he regained his composure, dismissing your concerns. You blinked, contemplating whether or not to believe him. “But more importantly, I couldn’t help but hear the fact that you mentioned you have a time machine.”

“Of course. How else would I have got here? Don’t you have one?” Despite your positions you were beginning to feel less threatened by the man as your interaction shifted into feeling more like casual conversation.

“It’s a long story.” He vaguely answered.

“What about that man you were hiding from?” You suggested.

“What about him?”

“Does he not have a time machine?”

“It’s a long story.” He repeated and you sighed with the realisation that this conversation was going nowhere fast.

“Right. Well, it was... interesting to meet you but I need to get back to my aunt and the Doctor before I get left behind. Then I would be in trouble.” Donna wouldn’t leave you behind, you hoped, surely she was worrying about you right now, wondering where you were.

“I need safe passage on your time machine away from here.” The stranger rushed to explain before you could duck out of his makeshift trap.

“I mean... technically it’s not mine.” You awkwardly scratched the back of your neck, as you cleared up the misunderstanding.

“You just said you have a time machine.” He narrowed his eyes as his expression grew dangerous.

“I have access to one but it’s not mine. It belongs to the Doctor.” You quickly clarified.

“Then you will take me to this Doctor.” He commanded, leaving no room for negotiations.

“I don’t even know your name.” You hesitated.

At this the man paused and finally took a step back once again granting you your personal space.

“I am Loki of Asgard, God of Mischief and you will answer to my request.” Loki answered as he raised his head with pride and looked down his nose at you.

There was a momentary beat of silence as you stared at one another before you couldn’t hold it any longer and you let out a snort of laughter.

“I’m sorry, does that amuse you?” Loki look mortified and you quickly bit your lip to contain your giggles, realising he looked truly offended.

“Wait, you’re being serious?” You paled.

His quiet glare was enough to tell you he was not messing around and you looked down and awkwardly cleared your throat. Had you met this man yesterday you probably would’ve thought without a shadow of doubt that he was suffering from delusions of grandeur but today you were in Pompeii in 79 AD so your mind was beginning to open up to new possibilities, one of those being, meeting a God. Stranger things have happened.

“Okay, Loki, God of mischief...” you began as you introduced yourself following the same format, telling him your name followed by the country you lived in and jokingly adding ‘mortal of existential crises’ at the end.

“Don’t do that again.” Loki didn’t appear amused.

***

“No, no, no. This can’t be happening.” You panicked when you returned to the exact spot where the Doctor had left the police box only to discover it had vanished, leaving no trace behind.

“What? What can’t be happening?” Loki asked you from where he stood a few steps behind, his eyes were still shifty as he seemed paranoid about that man he was hiding from finding him.

“The TARDIS, the time machine... it’s gone.” You could barely believe the words coming out your mouth, they couldn’t have left without you, Donna wouldn’t have left you behind. Unless the Doctor forced her, but no she would’ve fought him, you would never want to get on the wrong side of your auntie, she was a force to be reckoned with and the Doctor was no match, like she had said he was a long string of alien nothing. There had to be an explanation.

“Are you sure that this is where they left it?” Loki impatiently offered.

“Yes, I’m certain. It’s a big blue police box, you can’t miss it. He parked it right there.” You gestured to the empty corner with both your arms, before you brought one of your hands to your forehead while the other rested on your hip.

“Excuse me.” You jumped when you felt a tap on your shoulder and turned around to find an older man with a head full of curly hair stood behind you. “I couldn’t help but overhear you’re looking for a blue box.”

“Yes, it was stood right there,” you pointed behind you. “Did you see it?”

“I sold it. A young couple came looking for it not too long ago, I sent them to Old Caecilius’ villa on Foss Street, he’s the one who bought it, if you’re quick you might be able to catch them, I think they might try to steal it.”

“Steal it? You can’t steal something that already belongs to you!” You complained.

“Well, it belongs to Caecilius now, don’t it? After all he bought it off me fair and square.” The man haggled and you finally noticed that he was speaking with a rough cockney accent which was very fitting with his sleazy disposition, presumably the work of the TARDIS’ automatic translations, this offered you the peace of mind that it was still here along with Donna and the Doctor.

“It wasn’t yours to sell!” You argued in return.

“It was on my patch, weren’t it?”

You growled, ready to argue back but Loki quickly stepped in.

“If you would be so kind as to point us in the direction of Foss Street and we will be on our way.” Loki charmed the older man with a polite smile and your jaw dropped at the contrast to the abrupt and arrogant attitude he had treated you with since your encounter began.

“Straight up there, big villa, can’t miss it.” He pointed to the street behind Loki.

“Thank you, sir.” Loki slightly nodded his head before before he took a hold of the back of the shirt near the small of your back and began tugging you towards Foss Street, while you stared at him speechless.

“What?” He finally snapped when you didn’t take your eyes off him.

“What was that?” You asked as you shrugged his hold off your shirt.

“What was what?”

“Back there,” you gestured behind you with your hand. “‘If you would be so kind... thank you, sir.’ What possessed you? You’ve been nothing but rude since I met you.”

“You we’re doing nothing but wasting my time by engaging in an argument with him and being polite was the quickest way to get the answer I needed so I could be on my way.” He curtly answered, never once meeting your gaze as he kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings.

“Why is that man looking for you?” You wondered out loud a few moments later, finding his constant surveillance of the surrounding area concerning. If you were going to help this man escape, undoubtedly you had a right to know what you were helping him run from.

“He wants to erase my existence.” He answered so bluntly it stunted to silence for a moment.

“Why?” You finally asked.

“I’m a glitch in the timeline, I’m not supposed to be here.” He admitted but you were lost.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s a-“

“Long story.” You rolled your eyes but you meant no harm, Loki realised, when he fixed you with a hash glare which softened when he saw your teasing smile.

Your eyes quickly snapped away from Loki’s when you heard your name being called and found Donna running towards you, you left Loki to run over to her and she pulled you into a bone crushing hug once she finally reached you.

“I thought you had left without me.” You admitted, as you snuggled into her embrace, all your emotions of the day finally overwhelmed you and you felt moisture building at the rim of your eyes.

“I’d never leave you behind, besides your mother would kill me if I let anything happen to you.” She assured you with a small laugh, she wasn’t exaggerating. “But where did you go? You vanished into thin air.”

You were about to answer her when her eyes fell on Loki who was quietly stood behind you with his hands resting in the pockets of his pants, his modern attire immediately making him standout to Donna as he did to you when you first laid your eyes on him.

“Who’s this?” She asked, her interest clearly peaked.

You invited Loki over by extending your arm and he stepped up beside you.

“Loki, this is my auntie Donna. Donna, this is Loki. I crashed into him while we were running back to the TARDIS, he’s the reason I fell behind.” You glared at him accusingly and he rolled his eyes.

“You found your very own time traveller?” Donna looked at you with genuine excitement, obviously putting two and two together from his outfit.

“I am a God.” Loki narrowed his eyes, frustrated at his status being reduced to ‘someone’s time traveller’

Just like you had, Donna burst into laughter and you awkwardly pulled your lips together while you waited for her to realise he was being serious.

“He’s a bit full of himself but at least he’s easy on the eye.” Donna did a terrible job of trying to subtly whisper in your ear and you massaged your eyebrows in embarrassment.

“I heard that.” Loki sighed exasperatedly, already finding your aunties lack of filter tedious.

“Come on, let’s get you inside. It’s getting dark.” Donna put her arm around you and guided you into the villa, in an effort to run away from Loki’s glare. Loki followed a few paces behind the pair of you and he glanced over his shoulder one last time before he stepped through the entrance to the villa.

***

As soon as you entered the villa you could see how grand it was compared to the other houses on the streets of Pompeii, it was obvious that the family who lived here were well to do. Everywhere you looked all you could see was marble, it covered the walls and floors and the room was decorated with various marble sculptures and other art pieces, Caecilius was clearly a collector. Sculpted pillars ran through the room, supporting the high ceilings and in the very centre of the room there was fountain. You thought it was a shame that it would all be buried under rocks and fire within less than 24 hours, but you tried to let yourself think too much about it as Donna introduced you to Caecilius, the man who bought the Doctors TARDIS, which you noticed was stood in the far right corner of the room, and Metella his wife, she explained that they also had two teenagers, a daughter, Evelina but she was sleeping and a son, Quintus, who was currently out with the Doctor.

“The Doctor isn’t here? But we’re meant to be leaving.” You asked, your voice slightly raised in pitch due to your panic.

“Something came up. Strange things have been happening, he just wants to make sure nothing untoward is going on.” Donna answered.

“This Doctor...” Loki stepped forward. “He will return soon, yes? I am in quite the rush to leave.”

“You’re coming with us?” Donna looked between you and Loki for an answer.

“Yes.” He answered

“I mean, if it’s okay with the Doctor.” You answered at the same time.

Without warning the whole villa began to shake as tremors ran through the floor again, Caecilius and Metella held onto their valuables to stop them from smashing against the ground, it reminded you of the scene from Mary Poppin’s where Mrs Banks and the maids cling onto the furniture when the admiral sets off his cannon. You noticed that this time the tremors felt different, they weren’t continuous, they came one after another mimicking the rhythm of footsteps. Before you could question it, the Doctor came running loudly into the room just in time. A teenage boy, presumably Caecilius’ son, Quintus, followed close behind him.

“Get out! All of you! Get out!”

“Doctor! What is it?” Donna yelled, she and the Doctor were holding onto each other for stability and that’s when you realised you had instinctively held onto Loki after the tremors started and he was holding onto you, the both of you stepped away from each other as soon as you realised.

“I think we’re being followed!” The Doctor explained, before his eyes landed on Loki and he took in his appearance.

“Who are you?”

“Loki of Asgard-“ Loki started.

“The God of Mischief?” The Doctor finished, his pitch raised several octaves as his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Hold on, for real?” Donna looked between Loki and the Doctor, now realising Loki was serious about being a God earlier and in normal circumstances you would have face palmed.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” The Doctor thought out loud and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a device the size of a pen and pointed it at Loki, the tip glowed blue and it emitted a high pitched bleeping sound as he scanned it over his body.

“What is that?” Loki quickly jumped back, dodging the device in the Doctors hand and with a flash of emerald light he was holding a dagger in his hand, that appeared out of nowhere, causing you to gasp and Donna quickly pulled you to her side.

“It is a sonic screwdriver.” The Doctor answered distractedly, not even noticing the weapon in Loki’s hand as he closely inspected the device with furrowed brows and mumbled something about not being able to get clear readings, but before he could allow himself to get too concerned over the matter, you were all reminded of the bigger problem by the sound of a loud clatter which came from inside the room, it was caused by the metal grid flying off one of the square grills.

“Just get out!” The Doctor yelled at you all again, as he flapped his arms towards the doors but you were frozen to the spot, you could hear a sinister growling from beneath the floor, there was definitely something alive down there and from the cracks that were beginning to form around the grill, it was obviously trying to break out.

Gradually a large creature made of magma and stone began to rise out of the ground, until it stood to its full height of about eight foot.

“The Gods are with us.” Evelina, Caecilius’ daughter, cried as she entered the room and her mother wrapped a protective arm around her.

“That is no God! I am the only God present.” Loki seethed in offence.

“Water, we need water. Quintus, Donna, all of you, get water!” The Doctor yelled above the growls which came from the threatening creature.

You were about to follow Quintus and Donna out of the room as they rushed to get buckets of water like the Doctor instructed, but Loki grabbed hold of your wrist and kept you by his side. You looked at him and pulled your brows together confused by his actions, but he offered you no explanation as he closely watched the beast which stood high above all of you.

“Talk to me, that’s all I want! Talk to me! Just tell me who you are.” The Doctor cautiously approached the tempered creature, with his arms held out before him. “Don’t hurt these people.” He continued to try and reason with it, while it just continued to growl and snarl aggressively at him.

Quickly Quintus came rushing into the room with a bucket of water and threw it over the beast. A loud hissing could be heard, as steam evaporated around it, and the Doctor shielded Quintus with his own body as he backed him away from the creature which began to crumble to the floor into a heap of rocks.

“Like I said, not a God.” Loki smugly remarked to no one in particular.

“What was it?” Caecilius shouted at the Doctor, quickly learning that he was usually the one with all the answers.

“Carapace of stone, held together by internal magma, not too difficult to stop but I reckon that was just a foot soldier. Still... If there are aliens at work in Pompeii, it’s a good thing we stayed.” The Doctor pondered aloud.

“Excuse me, aliens?” Loki stepped forward.

“Oh yes, I still haven’t figured out what you’re doing here.” The Doctor drew his focus back to the God, clearly intrigued by his presence.

“It doesn’t matter why I am here, I only wish to leave.” Loki answered with a scowl.

“Why don’t you just leave the same way you got here.” The Doctor challenged with raised brows.

“I cannot.”

“Why not?”

As you observed the exchange you saw Loki falter and his eyes cast downwards.

“It would result in my death.” He answered truthfully.

The Doctor suddenly looked upon Loki with eyes that seemed filled with familiarity and a hint of sympathy.

“You remind me of an old friend of mine, I think you would’ve liked him,” he paused as if imagining it. “Actually, perhaps not… your personalities would’ve probably clashed.” The Doctor digressed. “Since you’re not supposed to be here you’re welcome to join us on the TARDIS.”

Loki’s brows shot up, as he seemed genuinely surprised that the Doctor agreed to let him travel on the TARDIS.

“We should be on our way, it will not be long before,” Loki glanced at Caecilius and his family who were all comforting each other after the ordeal they just witnessed, without wanting to mention the volcano out loud in case they might overhear he resorted to miming an explosion with is hands while adding a “boom” sound effect by blowing air through saliva at the back of his throat.

“Not just yet, I need to- Donna?” The Doctor paused looking around the room in search of Donna and you began looking around for her too but she was nowhere to be found. “When did you last see her?” The Doctor looked at you.

“She ran out when you asked for water, I didn’t realise she hadn’t returned.” You scolded yourself for not focusing, you should have noticed she wasn’t there.

“Donna!” The Doctor shouted at the top of his lungs, as he began to run out into the street but before he could leave Evelina stopped him timidly.

“I saw members of the Sibylline Sisterhood take her while you were confronting the beast.” She quietly confessed.

“The who?” You questioned, completely confused, while the Doctor grumbled under his breath wasting no more time before he dashed out the door and you were quick to follow after him. Behind you, you heard Loki call your name as he followed after, but you didn’t listen, Donna had been taken and she needed your help.

***

When you sneaked into the temple between the Doctor and Loki, who had caught up to you halfway, and saw Donna bound to a slab of stone, surrounded by a group of women dressed in red robes and one of them holding a dagger above her head ready to plunge it into your aunties chest, you were ready to attack, but the Doctor held you back before you could do anything rash and silent put a finger to his own lips to signal for you to keep quiet, his eyes silently assured you he had a plan.

“Let me go!” You heard Donna yell above the voice of the woman who held the dagger. The Doctor quietly made his way across the room, ready to intervene at any moment while you stayed by Loki’s side near the back of the room.

“This prattling voice will cease forever!” The woman yelled as she began to lower the dagger towards Donna.

“Oh, that will be the day.” The Doctor casually commented, causing all the women around Donna to gasp in shock, while your auntie sent the Doctor and you a wide smile when she realised you had all come to save her.

“No man is allowed in the Temple of Sibyl.” The woman who was clearly the leader of the group warned the Doctor, before her eyes also shifted to Loki.

“Well, that’s alright, just us girls.” The Doctor joked as he made his way towards the women, while in the corner of your eye you caught a glimmer of green light only to do a double take when you found Loki had transformed into a woman.

She sent you a proud smirk as you gaped at her with a slack jaw, your face full of confusion and astonishment.

You turned your head back to Donna and the Doctor when you heard the sound of his sonic screwdriver, which he held above her restraints and they immediately fell lose, freeing her bound wrists.

“I have got to get one of those.” Loki commented, her voice sounded more feminine to match her changed appearance, but it still kept that low and slightly intimidating tone.

As soon as Donna was free she came running over to you and you gave each other a hug, when she pulled back her eyes were on Loki.

“You’ve changed.” She stated the obvious as her eyes dragged up and down Loki’s new form.

“I am respecting the sisters temple.” Loki raised her chin and crossed her arms over her chest as she answered.

“Respecting the sisters temple?” Donna sounded exasperated. “They just tried to kill me!”

“I saw.” Loki offered no concern.

“I’m just glad you’re safe now.” You quickly interjected before the argument escalated, you put your hand on Donna’s shoulder and moved yourself between the pair while you sent Loki a disapproving stare.

“Show me this man!” A voice echoed through the temple, startling you and drawing your attention back to the Doctor and the sisters. Immediately they all turned and fell to their knees and bowed their heads.

“They dare kneel before another being whilst in the presence of a God?” Loki seethed as her brows cast a shadow over her eyes.

“And after you respected their temple n all.” Donna poked from beside you, feigning sympathy.

You placed a hand on Loki’s chest to hold her back when you heard her grumble under her breath.

“High Priestess, the stranger would defy us.” The leader spoke, being the only sister left standing.

“Let me see. This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake.” The voice echoed again, coming from behind a set of sheer drapes at the top of the temple.

“Where do these words of wisdom come from?” The Doctor asked as he approached the voice.

“The Gods whisper to me.” It replied.

“If they’re hearing voices, it’s not mine.” Loki raised her hands innocently.

“Might I beg audiences? Look upon the High Priestess?” The Doctor suddenly requested and the sheer drapes slowly pulled back to reveal a woman made of stone sat upon a bed.

You watched closely as the Doctor inspected the Priestess’ condition, and inquired her about it to try and figure out the cause.

“The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts.” The Doctor observed.

“This word... this volcano... what is that?”

“More to the point, why don’t you know about it? Who are you?”

“High Priestess of the Sibylline!”

“No, I’m talking to the creature inside of you. I demand you tell me who you are!” The Doctor commanded.

“We... are... awakening!” The Priestess spoke, but her voice had suddenly deepened and multiplied, she sounded possessed.

“The voice of the Gods!” The leader of the sisters cried, before those who were on their knees before the Priestess began repeatedly chanting ‘words of wisdom, words of power...’ your eyes widened at the scene before you, Donna’s jaw was slack with shock, while Loki just rolled her eyes and appeared bored.

“We... are... rising!” The possessed voice of the Priestess grew louder as she rose from the bed and stepped toward the Doctor.

“Tell... me... your name!” He yelled back, mirroring her tone.

“Pyrovile!” The voice inside the Priestess roared.

“Pyrovile, pyrovile, pyrovile...” The sisters chanted.

“And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor.” The possessed Priestess threatened.

“I warn you I’m armed!” The Doctor yelled as he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Is that... a water gun?” Loki squinted her eyes at the yellow plastic toy the Doctor held in his fist.

You heard your name yelled by the Doctor as he instructed you and Donna to lift the grid off one of the grills, similar to the one the monster smashed through in Caecilius’ home.

Without hesitation you followed Donna over to the grill and you both hooked your fingers into the holes on each side and attempted to lift it, but it slipped from your fingers since you weren’t expecting it to be so heavy and it crashed back into place. Loki quickly joined you and Donna to offer a helping hand and together the three of you lifted the heavy iron grid, while the Doctor continued to argue with the Priestess behind you.

“Got it!” Donna yelled at the Doctor, once the grid was completed removed.

“Now get down!” The Doctor quickly shouted back, and you looked down into the hole in the ground which hot steam was rising out of.

“What, down there?” You asked, wondering if the Doctor had lost his mind.

“Yes, down there!”

“Sisters, I see into his mind, the weapon is harmless!” The leader of the sisters yelled.

“Yeah, but it’s gotta sting.” The Doctor shrugged before he began squirting water at the Priestess who groaned in pain as steam evaporated from where the squirts of water hit her stone surface and she stumbled backwards.

“Get down there!” He repeated louder when he saw none of you had yet made a move to jump into the hole.

Donna jumped in first.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Loki spoke, her eyes almost looking spooked as she glanced down at the steaming hole.

“It’s either climb in there or stay here and wait for the volcano. Your choice.” The Doctor told Loki as he urged you to climb in next.

Sensing Loki’s anxiety you offered her an assuring nod. “You’ll be okay, look watch me and then follow right after.”

Once you joined Donna you found yourself in an underground cave, you could instantly feel the change in the temperature as the air was thick with heat. You looked back up through the hole to find Loki looking down at you.

“See, perfectly safe.” You assured her.

Hesitantly Loki climbed into the hole and you helped her down, once both her feet were on the ground she swayed and stumbled as if she was about to faint but you caught her with your arm around her waist and helped her regain her balance. She held your shoulders and shook her head and forcibly kept her eyes wide open before she looked back at you, suddenly aware of how close you were.

“Are you okay?” You asked, concerned by her behaviour.

A green light shimmered over her body and he returned to the form you had met him in, you noticed he instantly grew taller and you needed to tilt your head slightly to maintain eye contact, your arm was still wrapped around his waist but it was no longer holding him up as he was supporting his own weight now although you could still feel his body swaying slightly as it was pressed against yours.

“I’m fine.” He answered curtly, before taking a step back to put some distance between the two of you.

“This way!” The Doctor led as soon as he jumped into the cave.

“Where are we going now?” Donna sighed.

“Into the volcano.” The Doctor answered as if it were obvious.

You failed to notice Loki’s face fill with dread beside you.

“No way.” Donna challenged.

“Yes way.” The Doctor smiled as he twirled the water gun around his finger.

“Wait, for once I agree with her. We can’t go into the volcano. It could be dangerous.” Loki argued before quickly adding, “for mortals.”

“It will be fine, it doesn’t erupt for another few hours yet.” The Doctor dismissed. “Now, come on!”

Before anyone else could protest he had already turned on his heel and began leading the way through the cave, Donna followed behind him, you followed behind her and Loki was at the back.

As you followed Donna and the Doctor through the winding path of the cave, you kept taking quick glances over your shoulder to check on Loki and you grew increasingly concerned as his condition appeared to deteriorate each time you looked. The further you walked into the cave, the hotter and thicker the air became, you were surprised to find Loki seemed to be the one who was most affected by the conditions out of all of you. While your breathing had become heavy and a thin layer of sweat coated your skin, sweat literally dripped from Loki’s forehead, he started using the walls of the cave to hold himself up as his legs barely carried him, the skin around his eyes grew darker and you could hear him straining on each breath.

Once you reached inside the volcano Loki rested his back against the wall and began to sink to the floor, his chest rose and fell rapidly as he struggled to shrug off his jacket, his white shirt clung to his body due to his sweat and he attempted to loosened his tie with trembling hands.

“Doctor!” You called, as you rushed over to Loki who looked as though he was about to pass out. The Doctor quickly joined your side, as did Donna once her eyes fell on Loki’s condition.

“What happened?” He asked you urgently.

“I... I don’t know, he hasn’t been right ever since he entered the cave.” You explained.

“Loki! Loki, can you hear me?” The Doctor tried, he gently tapped Loki’s cheek but his head just lulled to the side and he struggled to keep his eyes open as he mumble some incoherent in a cracked voice.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning it over Loki.

“That’s not possible.” You heard the Doctor whisper to himself as he looked over the readings, he quickly gave Loki another scan and read them again and his face squished up in pure confusion.

“What is it?” You urged him.

“He’s... he’s Jotun?” The Doctor answered while sounding more like he was asking a question.

“What’s a Jotun when it’s at home?” Donna asked.

“He isn’t Asgardian at all, magic is suppressing his true form. He’s from Jotunheim, a frost plant inhabited by Jotuns, they aren’t designed to withstand heat of such temperatures as this. We need to get him out of here.” The Doctor quickly explained as he crouched down to scoop a barely conscious Loki into his arms and held him bridal style, once he knew he was secure he began running further into the volcano, leaving both you and Donna trailing behind after him.

You all stopped in your tracks when you found more of the giant stone beasts roaming around inside the volcano.

“There’s tons of them.” Donna gasped. “You better hurry up and think of something, Rocky 4’s on its way.”

“There’s an escape pod!” The Doctor noticed.

“Maybe... it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?” Donna offered, since obviously the escape pod belonged to the stone creatures which were currently invading Pompeii.

“Oh, it’s worse than that.” The Doctor whispered.

“How could it be worse?” You frowned.

“Heathens!” You heard a man cry. “Defile us! They would desecrate your temple, My Lord Gods!”

“Come on.” The Doctor started running towards the escape pod, which looked like a huge hollow boulder with circuits inside.

“We can’t go in!” Donna shouted after him.

“Well, we can’t go back.”

“Crush them! Burn them!” The man who you now noticed was stood on top of some rocks looking down at you as you tried to escape.

A giant monster blocked your path to the escape pod and growled causing you all to slide to a stop.

“Get the water gun, it’s tucked into the back of my pants!” The Doctor called your name, unable to get it himself as he was still holding an unconscious Loki in his arms. You wasted no time reaching for the water gun and squirted it directly at the creature and it stumbled back with a groan easily allowing you all enough time to rush past and continue your dash towards the escape pod.

“There is nowhere to run!” The man screamed.

“No. But if I might beg the wisdom of the Gods, before we perish, once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?” The Doctor yelled up to the man.

“My masters will follow the example of Rome itself. There is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise.”

“Yeah, I should warn you, it’s 70% water out there.” The Doctor explained, nodding his head to the world which lay beyond the mountain.

“Water can boil, and everything will burn!” The mad man argued.

“Then the whole planet is at stake.” The Doctor concluded to himself. “Thank you. That’s all I needed to know.”

He quickly turned and gently lowered Loki to the floor of the escape pod then ushered both you and Donna inside before he squeezed in as well and used his sonic to seal the door shut.

It was cramped inside of the small escape pod with the four of you squashed inside together, once you got inside you immediately crouched down beside Loki to check on his condition.

“Loki, can you hear me?” You gently nudged his shoulder. His eyes fluttered slightly but he failed to open them and he let out a weak groan, but you were just relieved that he was still conscious.

You were conscious of the fact that inside the cramped space of the escape pod it felt even hotter, even you were starting to feel faint. You were still holding the water pistol in your hand and had an idea. You took a gentle hold of Loki’s chin in your free hand and encouraged his mouth open, in his weak state he didn’t fight you, and you pulled the trigger of the toy gun to spray water into his mouth. Once he felt the cool liquid hit his tongue he gladly accepted it as it provided him a little relief from the heat. Loki offered you a small grunt as thanks.

“See? The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds the Pyrovile to human. Now it’s complete, they can convert millions.” You heard the Doctor explaining how the Pyrovile planned to take over the human race to Donna, sounding completely horrified.

“Can’t you change it? With these controls?” Donna tried, her voice filled with panic.

“I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But that’s the choice, Donna. It’s Pompeii or the world.” The Doctor revealed the heavy decision you were all faced with.

“Oh my god.” Donna paled.

“If Pompeii is destroyed then it’s not just history, it’s me. It was always meant to be me, I make it happen.” The Doctor realised. “Push this leaver and it’s over. 20,000 people.”

The pod fell silent as the Doctor froze with his hands held over the leaver, Donna watched him with tears building in her eyes and you looked at Loki who was barely unconscious and you made your choice.

You used the wall to push yourself back up to your feet and you stepped between Donna and the Doctor. You placed your trembling hands over the Doctors. You looked to your auntie when she whispered your name and saw the tears brimming out of her eyes your chest felt heavy. At first you thought she was going to talk you out of it but when you felt her hand rest on top of yours you couldn’t control the tears that threatened to fall from your eyes as well. She gave you a final nod and then you knew you could do it, all three of you pushed down the leaver and within seconds the entire pod was shaking, you braced yourself against the wall, careful not to trample over Loki and prepared yourself for whatever fate awaited you.

Your body got flung around as you were pretty sure that the pod you were in was currently flying through the air, you could only pray you would survive the crash landing. A force pushed you to the ground and you landed on top of Loki’s chest, while the Doctor fell down beside you and Donna miraculously remained the only one standing. Your eyes snapped open when you felt the first breeze of fresh air brush your cheek and you saw the Doctor crawling out the pod. You felt hands wrap around your upper arms and you looked up to find Donna helping you to your feet and you both stumbled out the pod on shaking legs, while the Doctor lifted Loki back into his arms and you noticed that he had sustained an injury to his head during the escape.

You didn’t have much time to do anything other than run when you noticed the heavy cloud of ash quickly heading straight for you and all three of you began running as fast as your legs could carry you, hoping you could make it to the city and into the TARDIS before it was too late.

You and Donna held onto each other’s hands as you ran ahead of the Doctor who was slowed down by the extra weight of Loki, but he still managed to run pretty fast. You weren’t far from the city when the thick ash blocked out the light of the sun and plunged the city into darkness, though it was daytime it felt like night as you raced through the streets, trying to remember the direction to Caecilius’ villa.

Ash fell down from the sky like snow as the people of the town scrambled in different directions in attempts to make it out of the city alive, you could hear nothing but their cries and the thunderous sound of the volcano as it felt like the whole world was crumbling around you.

As Caecilius’ villa came into view you pushed yourself to go even faster and you looked over your shoulder to find the Doctor not too far behind with Loki still in his arms, his injured head fell limp over the crook of the Doctors arm, revealing his long neck and prominent adam’s apple and dread struck through you, you had to remind yourself he was only unconscious.

You pushed through the doors of Caecilius’ villa and headed straight towards the TARDIS but the sound of whimpering stopped you in your tracks, you looked to find Caecilius and his family crowded together on the floor, holding on tight to one another as they cried.

“God save us, Doctor!” Caecilius begged the Doctor when he came running in behind you, and he stopped beside you and Donna for a moment as you all looked at the family, you thought the Doctor would encourage them all to get on board his TARDIS but eventually he turned away kept running towards his TARDIS in the corner of the room.

“No! Doctor, you can’t!” Donna called after him, you silently looked between the Doctor and the family, as he kicked the TARDIS door open with his foot and disappeared inside with Loki. You pushed away the feeling of guilt which fell heavy on your chest as you followed after the Doctor into the TARDIS.

“Donna!” You pleaded with her when she remained frozen in place, she couldn’t look away from Caecilius and his family as they looked straight back at her, silently begging her to save them. The sound of one of the windows smashing through snapped Donna back into reality and she looked back at you before she hesitantly made her way towards the TARDIS, leaving the family behind.

When you entered the TARDIS, you saw the Doctor had placed Loki down onto the floor while he operated the console, preparing the TARDIS to leave. You rushed over to Loki and immediately checked his pulse and breathed a heavy sigh of relief when you found it still beating.

“You can’t just leave them!” You heard Donna yell as soon as she entered the TARDIS but you couldn’t lift your eyes from Loki, looking over his pale face and hovering your hand over the injury on his head, drops of blood had ran down the side of his sharp cheek and matted into part of his hair.

“Don’t you think I’ve done enough? History’s back in place and everyone dies.” You heard the Doctor answer, as you checked over Loki for anymore injuries.

“You’ve got to go back. Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back!” Donna demanded.

The TARDIS shuddered and your whole body jerked letting you know the Doctor had sent it into flight, once the tremors subsided, the ship fell silent.

“It’s not fair.” Donna whispered.

“No, it’s not.” The Doctor agreed.

“But your own planet. It burned.” Donna cried, and you finally looked up, you didn’t know what your auntie was referring to but you looked at the Doctor with sympathy. It suddenly made sense why he froze when it came to pushing the leaver, if he had already watched his own planet suffer a similar fate.

“That’s just it. Don’t you see, Donna? Can’t you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can’t. I can never go back. I can’t, I just can’t, I can’t.” His voice broke.

“Just someone. Please.” Donna bargained. “Not the whole town. Just save someone.”

“You saved him,” you spoke, as you looked at Loki, who was laid out in front of you. “You can save them too.”

***

The Doctor had returned to Pompeii and saved Caecilius and his family, he and Donna were currently outside bidding them fair well where the Doctor had safely dropped them off just outside of Rome, while you stayed inside the TARDIS by Loki’s side waiting for him to regain consciousness.

You had cradled his head and moved so you could cushion it against your lap, since you imagined his head will already be hurting from the injury it wouldn’t be very comfortable for him to rest it against the hard floor of the TARDIS.

The first sign of Loki regaining consciousness was his eyebrows drawing together as a groan slipped out between his lips, no doubt quickly becoming aware of the pain in his head. His eyelashes fluttered against the top of his ash covered cheeks before his eyes slowly blinked open and the first thing he saw was your face above his.

“Hi,” you began, unsure of what else to say.

You barely leaned back in time to avoid his head colliding with yours as he suddenly shot up, so he was sitting up straight on the floor with his legs still lying out in front of him. This appeared to make his head rush as he moaned and cradled his head in the palms. You slowly shuffled up to him so you were at his side, careful not to startle him, you hesitantly placed your hand on his strong shoulder.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” You assured him softly.

He lifted his face to look at you, his eyes filled with something you couldn’t quiet put your finger on.

“Where are we?” He asked you, for the first time since you met him his voice sounded gentle.

“The TARDIS.” You answered him, just as gently.

He let his eyes roam over the room, taking in his surroundings, before they finally landed back on you. “Am I severely concussed or is this thing bigger on the inside?”

You laughed softly.

“It’s bigger on the inside.” You confirmed. “Don’t ask me how, I have no idea how it works, if you’d like to know I’d recommend asking the Doctor.”

Loki nodded with a slight smile as his eyes fell to his lap and you both stayed like that for a moment, neither of you saying anything.

“Thank you.” Loki eventually broke the silence.

“What?” Your head shot up, afraid you had misheard him.

Loki avoided your eyes and his dark hair shadowed most of his face, protecting him from your gaze as he continued.

“For what you did in the volcano and for...” he cleared his throat, “for the lack of a better word... saving me, I guess.”

“I mean to be fair the Doctor did most of the heavy lifting.” You humbly joked.

“Where is he anyway?” Loki asked, since he noticed it was only you and him. “Isn’t he the pilot of this thing?”

“He’s just outside with Donna saying goodbye to Caecilius and his family, he dropped them off safely just outside of Rome.” You don’t know why your chest felt heavy as you asked Loki your next question, perhaps it was due to the fact that you had just started warming to his company and he would be leaving soon. “So do you know where you would like the Doctor to drop you off?

Loki seemed stumped by your question, as if he hadn’t gave where he was going much consideration, instead he was more focused on just escaping Pompeii rather than where he was escaping to. When some time passed and had yet to answer, you decided to break the silence.

“I mean, if you’re not sure where you want to go, you could always stay with us.” You offered, it was now your turn to avoid his eyes as he looked at you with as much shock as you had when he thanked you.

“You think the Doctor would be okay with that?” Loki worried.

“Sure, why wouldn’t he?” You now looked up at him with your brows pulled together.

Loki opened his mouth about to answer you when he realised, you didn’t know him, you didn’t know any of his previous actions, on Asgard, on Jotunheim and on your very own planet. Then it crossed his mind, he didn’t know what year you were from, in his time it had been about a week since he attacked New York, he imagined his face would have been all over every media outlet after the attack but you hadn’t even recognised him when you first ran into each other.

“What year are you from?” Loki quickly inquired out of nowhere and you were a bit confused by the random question.

“2008.” You answered him anyway.

4 years before he first stepped foot on midgard, 4 years before he attacked New York under Thanos’ control, 4 years before you would know him as the man who tried to take over your planet and rule the human race. Right now you only knew him as the time travelling God of mischief who you ran into while you were both running for your lives. He had anonymity with you, you offered the perfect opportunity for him to start a fresh. He could join you on the TARDIS for a while, with your auntie and the Doctor plus he imagined it would only make it harder for the TVA to find him if he was constantly moving through time and space.

“I would like that.” Loki confessed.

“To stay?” You asked hopefully, just to make sure you weren’t misinterpreting him.

When Loki nodded you couldn’t hold back the smile that took over your whole face, you we’re excited to spend more time with Loki, learn more about him and explore all of time and space with the God of mischief.

#loki #loki (marvel)#marvel #doctor who #loki imagine #loki x reader #loki x you #tom hiddleston #Tenth Doctor #Donna Noble #fires of pompeii

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nordleuchten · 3 years

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La Fayette in Les Misérables

Les Misérables is one of my absolute favourite books. I never get tired of it – funny coincidence, La Fayette is also in there. I have read the book in three different languages now and noticed that the amount of La Fayette varies in the different versions. The French original sets the precedent of course. The English translation (or, as there are of course several different translations, the English translation I read) featured La Fayette ten times (just as often as the French original). My two German translations feature La Fayette less often than the French and my English one. With that being said, I present to you the La Fayette-szenes in Les Misérables (Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee, based on the translation by C. E. Wilbour, published by Signet Classics, 1987)

Courfeyrac had a father whose name was M. de Courfeyrac. One of the false ideas of the Restoration in point of aristocracy and nobility was its faith in the particle. The particle, we know, has no significance. But the bourgeois of the time of La Minerve considered this poor de so highly that men thought themselves obliged to renounce it. M. de Chauvelin became M. Chauvelin,.M. de Caumartin was M. Caumartin, M. de Constant de Rebecque simply Benjamin Constant, M. de Lafayette just M. Lafayette. Courfeyrac did not wish to be backward, and called himself simply Courfeyrac. (Marius, book four, The Friends of the ABC, p. 653)

So the bourgeoisie, as well as the statesmen, felt the need for a man who would say "Halt!" An Although-Because. A composite individuality signifying both revolution and stability; in other words, assuring the present through the evident compatibility of the past with the future. -This man was found ready-made. His name was Louis-Philippe d'Orleans. The 221 made Louis-Philippe king. Lafayette undertook the coronation. He called it "the best of republics." (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 829)

I can not give you a direct written example where La Fayette said “the best of republics” but the statement mirrors his early impressions on Louis-Phillipe’s reign perfectly.

These memories associated with a king fired the bourgeoisie's enthusiasm. With his own hands he had demolished the last iron cage of Mont-Saint-Michel, built by Louis XI and used by Louis XV. He was the companion of Dumouriez, he was the friend of Lafayette; he had belonged to the Jacobin Club; Mirabeau had slapped him on the shoulder; Danton had said to him, "Young man!" (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 834)

These doctrines, these theories, these resistances, the unforeseen necessity for the statesman to consult with the philosopher, confused evidences half seen, a new politics to create, in accord with the old world, and yet not too discordant with the ideal of the revolution; a state of affairs in which Lafayette had to be used to oppose Polignac, the intuition of progress glimpsed through the riots, the chambers, and the street, rivalries to balance around him, his faith in the Revolution, perhaps some uncertain eventual resignation arising from the vague acceptance of a definitive superior right, his desire to remain in his lineage, his family pride, his sincere respect for the people, his own honesty-all of this preoccupied Louis-Philippe almost painfully, and at times strong and as courageous as he was, overwhelmed him under the difficulties of being king. (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 841)

The distress of the people; laborers without bread; the last Prince de Conde lost in the darkness; Brussels driving away the Nassaus as Paris had driven away the Bourbons; Belgium offering herself to a French prince, and given to an English prince; the Russian hatred of Nicholas; at our back two demons of the south, Ferdinand in Spain, Miguel in Portugal; the earth quaking in Italy; Mettemich extending his hand over Bologna; France bluntly opposing Austria at Ancona; in the north some ill-omened sound of a hammer once more nailing Poland into its coffin; throughout Europe angry looks peering at France; England a suspicious ally, ready to push over anyone leaning and throw herself on anyone fallen; the peerage sheltering itself behind Beccaria to deny four heads to the law; the fteur-de-lis erased from the king's carriage; the cross tom down from Notre-Dame; Lafayette weakened; Lafitte ruined; Benjamin Constant dead in poverty; Casimir Perier dead from loss of power; the political disease and the social disease breaking out in the two capitals of the realm, one the city of thought, the other the city of labor; in Paris civil war, in Lyons servile war; in the two cities the same furnace glare; the flush of the crater on the forehead of the people; the South fanaticized, the West uneasy; the Duchesse de Berry in La Vendee; plots, conspiracies, uprising, cholera, added to the · dismal mutter of ideas, the dismal uproar of events. (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 843)

In an instant the little fellow was lifted, pushed, dragged, pulled, stuffed, crammed into the hole with no time to realize what was going on. And Gavroche, coming in after him, pushing back the ladder with a kick so it fell onto the grass, began to clap his hands, and cried, "Here we are! Hurrah for General Lafayette! Brats, my home!” Gavroche was in fact home. (Saint-Denis, book six, Little Gavroche, p. 956-957)

Hence, if insurrection in given cases may be, as Lafayette said, the most sacred of duties, émeute may be the most deadly of crimes. (Saint-Denis, book ten, June 5, 1832, p. 1052)

A circle was drawn up around the hearse. The vast assemblage fell silent. Lafayette spoke and bade farewell to Lamarque. It was a touching and noble moment, all heads uncovered, all hearts throbbed. Suddenly a man on horseback, dressed in black, appeared in the midst of the throng with a red flag, others say with a pike surmounted by a red cap. Lafayette looked away. Exelmans left the cortege. This red flag raised a storm and disappeared in it. From the Boulevard Bourdon to the Pont d'Austerlitz a roar like a surging billow stirred the multitude. Two prodigious shouts arose: "Lamarque to the Pantheon! Lafayette to the Hotel de Ville!" Some young men, amid the cheers of the throng, took up the harness and began to pull Lamarque in the hearse over the Pont d'Austerlitz, and Lafayette in a fiacre along the Quai Morland. In the cheering crowd that surrounded Lafayette, a German was noticed and pointed out, named Ludwig Snyder, who later died a centenarian, who had also been in the war of 1776, and who had fought at Trenton under Washington and under Lafayette at Brandywine. Meanwhile, on the left bank, the municipal cavalry was in motion and had just barred the bridge; on the right bank the dragoons left the Celestins and deployed along the Quai Morland. The men who were pulling Lafayette suddenly saw them at the bend of the Quai, and cried, "The dragoons!" The dragoons were advancing at a walk, in silence, their pistols in their holsters, their sabers in their sheaths, their muskets at rest, with an air of gloomy expectation. At two hundred paces from the little bridge, they halted. The fiacre bearing Lafayette made its way up to them, they opened their ranks, let it pass, and closed again behind it. At that moment the dragoons and the multitude came together. The women fled in terror. (Saint-Denis, book ten, June 5, 1832, p. 1059-1060)

Ludwig Snyder was a historical person who indeed existed and not a person that Hugo made up.

Alarming stories went the rounds, ominous rumors were spread. "That they had taken the Bank" ; "that, merely at thencloisters of Saint-Merry, there were six hundred, entrenched and fortified in the church"; "that the line was doubtful"; "that Armand Carrel had been to see Marshal Clausel and that the marshal had said, 'Have one regiment in place first,' " ; "that Lafayette was sick, but that he had said to them, 'I am with you. I will follow you anywhere that there is room for a chair' "; "that it was necessary to keep on their guard; that at night people would pillage the isolated houses in the deserted neighborhoods of Paris (the imagination of the police was recognized here, that Anne Radcliffe element in government)" ; "that a battery had been set up in the Rue Aubry-le-Boucher" ; "that Lobau and Bugeaud were conferring; and that at midnight, or daybreak at the latest, four columns would march at once on the center of the emeute, the first coming from the Bastille, the second from the Porte Saint-Martin, the third from La Greve, the fourth from Les Hailes"; "that perhaps the troops would evacuate Paris and fall back on the Champ de Mars"; "that nobody knew what might happen, but that certainly, this time, it was serious." (Saint-Denis, book ten, June 5, 1832, p. 1067-1068)

I could not find any historical reference about the chair-quote and I am pretty sure that Hugo made that up - however, it sounds very much like something that La Fayette would say - and Hugo and La Fayette probably knew each other, although superficially. Toward the end of La Fayette’s life, when Hugo was still a young men, there were different salons in Paris that both attended and it is quite likely that they both ran into each other during one of these meetings.

At this moment the bantam rooster voice of little Gavroche resounded through the barricade. The child had climbed up on a table to load his musket and was gaily singing the song then so popular:

En voyant Lafayette

Le gendarme repete

Sauvons-nous! Sauvons-nous! Sauvons-nous ! (Saint-Denis, book fourteen, The Grandeur of Despair, p. 1143)

This scene is not featured in my German version. It is mentioned that Gavroche sang a song but the text is not given in that translation.

They take you, they hold on to you, they never let go of you. The truth is, there was never any amour like that child. Now, what do you say of your Lafayette, your Benjamin Constant, and of your Tirecuir de Corcelles, who kill him for me ! It can't go on like this." (Jean Valjean, book three, Mire, but Soul, p. 1317)

La Fayette did not made it into the musical version of Les Misérables (neither in the French Original nor in the more popular English version) although he would have fit perfectly in there. I also have never seen him featured in any of the countless movie or TV adaptations - officially at least. Some adaptations that feature the funeral of General Lamarque have some extras running around that I sometimes turn into La Fayette - that was not the intended casting but it worked out for me nonetheless :-)

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egg-shark · 3 years

Text

Cupe: on the Road to Recovery

TW: suicide, mental illness, self-harm

Hey y’all.

Recently I took part in a national scholarship competition to create a product that would impact the world for the better. The idea was to find a problem that needed solving and to work out a solution that would move towards that goal. Products varied anywhere from water filtration systems to drowning detection devices to fire prevention products to apps.

A friend of mine suggested we tackle mental illness, and we bounced ideas off each other until we came upon Cupe (also their idea). It’s an app designed to help people of all ages, but in particular teenagers and adolescents, to recuperate from mental-health-related struggles.

Thus Cupe was born, a place where users can go for help, for advice, or for distraction from what’s going on in their minds.

Cupe includes:

suicide prevention hotlines

information regarding various mental illnesses (including diagnosis and symptoms)

advice on how to seek help

help on calming down from a panic attack or avoiding one in the first place

an extensive page on different coping mechanisms and their benefit on not only the brain but on the body as well

calming gifs and images for those who prefer visual stimulation

a page dedicated to music and ambient noise for those who prefer auditory stimulation

grounding techniques for those who prefer other sensory stimulation techniques

reminders to take care of oneself through eating, hydrating, and exercising

a note-taking page where users can log their triggers or positive reinforcement or notes for themselves or their doctor/therapist

and the constant reminder that no one has to walk this road alone.

Cupe was designed as a safe place for all people, regardless of age, gender, disability, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. It is primarily available in English as my resources were limited and I only speak English myself, but I would be completely open to translating should anyone be willing to help with that process.

If you know me, I’m really not one for advertising. However, I was encouraged by several of my friends to get this out there and share it with whoever might need it. If you’re interested in downloading Cupe or sharing it with others, information is below the cut.

Cupe is completely accessible on browser, but it may be easiest to download as a mobile device application. This link takes you directly to this page on desktop:

OR to this page on mobile:

On iOS Safari, the above message will appear prompting you to click the “Share” button and then scroll down until you find “Add to Home Screen”. As expected, this will then download Cupe to your home screen and it will be available just as any other app would be.

The Android page will look very similar and should prompt you to a download similar to that of iOS. There have been a few scenarios where this was not the case, and I will continue to look into it and post an update and walkthrough as soon as I am able.

I’m tagging a few friends and some popular blogs I know since my reach is fairly limited and I think this could benefit a lot of people. Please spread the word if you know of anyone who could benefit from this app, and thank you so much for your time. It means a lot to me personally :)

@little-boats-on-a-lake @one-time-i-dreamt @biggest-gaudiest-patronuses @she-who-fights-and-writes @cecilsstorycorner @notugalan @heywriters @pukicho @bookishdiplodocus @badjokesbyjeff @prokopetz @pancake0606

#mental health #mental heath support #mental health mention #app

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liums · 4 years

Text

Malleus Draconia SR Halloween “Scary Outfit” Personal Story-This is...interesting

Part 1

Diasomnia Dorm- Lounge

Lilia- ....Here you are Malleus. I was looking for you.

Malleus- Lilia. What happened?

Lilia- There’s something I want to ask for.

Lilia- Would you decide on the disguise for Diasomnia this Halloween?

Malleus- Me? Why? Lilia did chosen it last year and 2 years ago.

Lilia- This year, in particular, I’m working as a steering committe member. I have to show up in the club activities .

Malleus- However, I don’t know what to do. I think there are more suitable people...

Lilia- No, only our Lord.

Lilia- Choosing a disguise means deciding Diasomnia theme for year.

Lilia- if its such an important thing...in my opinion, then I, or the dorm learder must decide.

Malleus- Does Lilia, who looks forward to halloween every year, decides the outfits for that reason?

Lilia- Kufufufu...Well, there is another reason.

Lilia- Its boring that I get to decide a costume every year.

Lilia- However, if the next king of the Valley of Thorns chooses, all diasomnia students will be curious.

Lilia- Of couse, I am too. How is it? Will you do it?

Malleus- ....All right. If Lilia says so, I will choose.

Malleus- Certainly, I will choose a ghost costume with various monsters caracteristics (Didn’t understand well,its literally translated as- Certainly, I was dressed in a ghost costume with various monsters as mortifs from each dorm)

Malleus- I will go to the library and try to find useful books.

-Library

Malleus- ....Well, what kind of disguise should I wear?

Malleus- Even if I choose a theme, it needs to be relatable with Diasomnia.

Malleus- A high-rank being is desirable, but....

Malleus- If I choose the dragon, Lilia will complain I should deviate a little more.

Malleus- It should be a creature that I myself has never seen. If I do that, It will be possible to make a difference to the other Dorms.

Malleus- If I look up local folklore from diferent regions, I may find information about creatures that you can’t find regularly.

Malleus- However, it will be hard to find those books.

Maleus- I’ve heard that you can search for the book you need by using a computer in the library....

Malleus- .....No, it’s complicated to use them.(poor Malleus ｡T ω T｡) .Let’s go around and looks for a book.

...*some time passes i think*

Malleus- ...98.....99....this is the 100th book.

Malleus- No way, there are about 100 folklore books in this library...

Ortho- Wow! So many books!

Malleus- You are....the youngest Shroud.

Ortho- Malleus Draconia!

Ortho- What happened to be stacking a lot of books around?

Malleus- I have to decide on a Halloween costume.

Malleus- I was gathering books, but when I noticed, I was surrounded by a lot of books.

Ortho- Hmm. Can I help you if you are looking for something?

Ortho- If you are interessed, you can use a database instead of the books in the library.

Ortho- And if you use the ”Olympus” search engine

Ortho- You can also do a semantic search that uses the user intentions and purposes. How about?

Malleus- In other words....what do you mean? (why is this cute)

Ortho- It identifies what Malleus Draconia wants to find out. (also Ortho deserves best brother award)

Malleus- Hmm....I understand.

Ortho- “Activate voice recognition function. Start the semantic search”.

Malleus- ......................

Ortho- ....Oh, so?

Malleus- what?

Ortho- Um...Can you tell me what you want to look up, even if its fragmented?

Malleus- Can I?

Ortho- Of course.

Malleus- Then...I am looking for information on creatures used as inspiration in halloween costumes...

Ortho- “Searching...”

Malleus- What happened?

Ortho- Don’t worry, can you tell me more?

Malleus- ....Alright.

Malleus- I would like to consider a high-ranking creature suitable for Diasomnia.....

.....

Ortho-”Search complete”

Ortho- I found it, Malleus Draconia. I’ll project the image on the wall right away!

Malleus- Oh, This is.....Interesting.

Part 1 end

Part 2

-.Library

Ortho- Is this the creature that Malleus were looking for?

Malleus- Hmm...The King who dominates the demons on Bald Montain.

Ortho- It has a big pitch black body and huge wings. And its penetrating eyes....so cool!

Ortho- I’m certain there was never a costume with this concept in the history of Night Raven College before.

Malleus- Certainly he is a high-ranking being....

Malleus- However, if the body is all black, it will not stand out. Lilia would likely complain that it’s too plain.

Ortho- “Researching.....search completed”

Ortho- If that’s the case, then look. A headless horseman who rides trough the valley at night!

Ortho- A galloping horse swinging a sword! The red cloak stands out, dosen’t it?

Malleus- ....No, its no good.

Ortho- Eh!? Why?

Malleus- When it comes to reproducing its appearence that has no neck, The costume becomes too complicated.

Malleus- Besides, it would be difficult to prepare horses for all the students.

Ortho- I see....

Ortho- Reflecting the current information, the next image is...This!

Malleus- .....Oh? It’s quite small but, is this red being is.....a dragon?

Ortho- Oh? Dragon should have been omitted from the search since we looked it up before....Oh!

Ortho- This is not a dragon. (doragon is what they said, they mean the english version of dragons, lthe classics like maleficent one) Its a dragon! (”Ryuu” wich means dragon in japanese, they are refering to oriental dragons, like the one in Ramshackle dorm and the one from Dragon ball Z, chinese dragons basically)

Malleus- A dragon(ryuu)....A being that lives in the Far east and is sanctified by humans.

Malleus- It combines both strenghth and grace.....A dragon-like high ranking being....

Malleus- Above all, a being that I have never seen myself...

Malleus- Alrigh, I decided. The costume of Diasomnia will be a dragon (ryuu)

Malleus- Detailed information is needed create the costumes. Can you search for it?

Ortho- Yeah! Leave it to me!

.....

Ramshacle Dorm

Malleus- ....Sorry I kept you waiting.

Malleus- This will be the halloween costume for Diasomnia this year.

Sebek- Young....Young master! Such a dignified figure! (hes crying.. 0.0)

Silver- It really suits you.

Malleus- How is it Lilia? I want to hear your opinion.

Lilia- Its has such a sophisticated design, but its really collorful....I like it!

Lilia- Looks like it was the right choice, leaving you decidde the costumes.

Lilia- I would have never guessed you would use a Far eastern dragon as a motif...

Malleus- Its not a dragon.

Malleus -Dragons and dragons are different, from appearence to abilities, the kind of horns and the lack of wings....they only look similar on the surface.

Lilia- Hahahah wow! Its like how you said. You managed to do so susch a good research in a short period of time. You are such a prefecionist

Malleus- It was thanks to the yougest shroud. He did a good job

Malleus- Though...I didn’t understand at all how he did it. (*pat pat* its alright, its alright, u are perfect just like that)

Lilia- Well, the costumes are perfect, lets give them to the dorm members.

Malleus- Ah. This year’s halloween we’ll bring more fear than before.

-Halloween day-

Malleus- Trick or threat! (my lips are sweet, does that count??)

Malleus- Fufu... The majesty of this dragon, Ill burn it in your eyes...!

END

So as I suspected, that tail is REAL ,Malleus confirms it in one of his lines.

Also XD when Sebek and Silver were little they’d wet the bed on the halloween because Lilia would always scare them, Diasomnia is one big family and I just love it

Add me if you want uwu

-Please don´t post it anywhere else, just redirect them here

disclaimer- I do not own Twisted Wonderland or any of its characters

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marvel-and-mischief · 4 years

Text

Safe Haven Part I

Title: Safe Haven.

Words: 3200

Warnings: None

Synopsis: Pero x Reader. You are the owner of a tavern in England when a mysterious stranger asks to stay in your lodgings whilst he works for the Lord of the town you live in. Soft, awkward, grumpy Pero! Post TGW (no William).

When you thought about the past eleven months, you couldn’t believe you had gotten this far. You had three wonderful, hard working women under your care. Gwen kept to herself in the kitchens, baking meat pies for your customers and keeping the tavern clean and tidy. Darcy could talk the back legs off a donkey if given the chance, but her charm kept the customers coming back and those passing through remembered to come back the next time they were near town. And Adelaide, or Addy as she was known, helped you with the business; counting money, keeping on top of the food and drink that was needed, finding new ways to attract guests to the lodgings out back.

When your father had suddenly come down with a fever, you were certain it would pass. The cold, damp nights had started to settle in, so it wasn’t unusual to hear of the townspeople getting ill. You sat by his bedside in the day, feeding him soup and reassuring him that the tavern would be just as he left it when he returned to work. And at night you opened up as usual, serving the locals who had come in for the warm fire and mead. You only had Gwen back then, so you were rushed off your feet without your father as well. When not even a week later your father had taken a turn for the worse, you couldn’t deny that maybe this new way of running the tavern would be a more permanent way of life.

The fever took your father five days after he fell ill. You worked harder than you ever thought you would have to. You not only had to quickly learn how to be a business owner, but being a woman you had to earn the respect of the townspeople. They all knew you, having grown up in the tavern as your father’s only child. The town healer helped your mother give birth to you, as a small child you brought bread from the baker, you courted the blacksmiths son as a teenager. But as a businesswoman, they were a little more concerned. The regulars that came into the tavern most nights had your back, but some of the older members of the town thought you couldn’t handle it. Some even suggested they would only support you if you found yourself a husband.

After two months, you had found your newest employee. Darcy stumbled into the tavern just as you were closing up one night, mud caking her hands and most of her dress. You brought her inside, sitting her in front of the large fire on one side of the tavern. You asked Gwen to make up a tankard of warm milk and honey and handed it to this stranger. You convinced her that if she just trusted you, allowed you to keep her safe in the tavern, you would never ask where she came from or who she was running from, and she would always have a home here. She had nowhere else to go and she had had no better offers than yours and doubted anyone else would be so kind. She agreed to work for you.

After a few weeks Darcy opened up a little more. She had travelled from Armagh in Ireland, looking for a new life away from a family that wished to marry her off to a brute of a man. She would rather have died journeying out of Ireland than be made to live the rest of her life with him. Her sweet Irish accent hypnotised anyone who heard her speak, so custom quickly picked up and so did her confidence.

Soon after that was your last employee. Addy was mild tempered, still is, when you found her covered in blankets and huddled against a stone wall in the marketplace. Her large brown eyes were flitting back and forth, her hands shaking where they clung to her only bag of belongings. The first time you tried to walk up to her she hid under the blankets and started crying. You left her an apple and a chunk of bread, not wanting to spook her any more than you already had.

The next day you went back to where you had last seen her but she was gone. She had moved to the opposite side of the marketplace and was trying to hold onto her bag which was being torn away from her by a boy no older than twelve. You had rushed over to her, yanking the bag from the boy and pulling yourself up to your full height to tower over him. With a gasp the boy ran off and you turned to see Addy with her eyes down, biting her bottom lip. After assuring her you only wanted to help, you handed her the bag and brought her back to the tavern.

Once she was comfortable with you, you realised she was literate and could help with the day-to-day running of the tavern. She was born in France but spoke very good English. She has never told you why she ended up in England but it didn’t matter. She was kind and thoughtful and worked harder than any man you’d ever met.

Once you had your team set up everything felt like it once had. People respected your position, they supported the tavern and your guest rooms were never empty.

Your day dreaming was disturbed by Darcy slamming a tankard on the counter in front of you. You raised an eyebrow in her direction, silently asking why she did that.

“There’s a new man in town,” she stated matter-of-factly. It wasn’t unusual for travellers to pass through. The river that ran through the town lead a few miles east to the sea that separated England and France. Anyone travelling from Europe would most likely have to come through your town to reach the rest of the country. So why was Darcy making such a big deal about this one man?

“Does he practice sorcery or something just as interesting?” You asked with a smirk. Darcy came from a country steeped in superstition so you knew that would hit a particular spot.

Darcy made the sign of the cross against her chest and gave you a warning look. “Do not jest. Of course not. But everyone’s talking about him. He barely says a word to anyone. Has an accent apparently-“

“How do they know he has an accent if he doesn’t speak?”

Darcy seems to think this over. The difference between Darcy and Addy is, where Addy is educated, Darcy is smart when is comes to the realities of life. She knows to keep to the clear roads and not walk through the woods when travelling to market, but she doesn’t always understand irony.

“Well… I’m not sure. He must have spoken at some point. You can’t just not speak!” She was getting flustered which made you giggle. Darcy realised what you were doing and grabbed the towel that had been hanging over her shoulder and whipped it in your direction, catching you on the elbow where your arms were folded.

“Alright alright! I’m sorry. What is it they are saying about him?”

“Just that he’s a little strange. And he has a large scar over his eye.” She shrugged and began to use the towel to wipe dust off the counter.

“A mercenary perhaps?” You had met mercenaries before. They weren’t common but they were all the same. Kept themselves to themselves and never stayed anywhere long enough to make friends.

“Do you think he will cause trouble?” Darcy was purposefully not looking in your direction. She was worried. Trouble meant fighting and none of the girls were comfortable with dealing with that.

“No,” you said sternly. You glanced down to the thick sharpened branch you hid behind the counter. You would nip it in the bud before any fighting started. You wouldn’t have the girls frightened to live here. This was supposed to be their safe space. “If I think he’s going to cause a problem I will kick him out. He may not even come in here Darcy.” You spoke softly, not wanting to spook her.

She seemed satisfied with that answer when she walked away to clean the table tops. You watched as she began to hum a tune as though the previous conversation had never happened.

“I’m going to check that Gwen is ready to open up for the night,” and with that you left in the direction of the kitchen, putting this stranger to the back of your mind.

You had opened up in the early evening, just as the sun was beginning to set. The night had been busy but not chaotic. Gwen managed to sell all but one of her pies so the three women were sat around the kitchen table tucking in. The last of the drinkers were stumbling out of the front door. You bid them a safe journey home when you noticed a man walking towards you. The lights from the tavern weren’t strong enough to catch any details until he was right in front of you.

He wore a black cape, hood up against the bitter air, and the unmistakable line of a sheathed sword could be seen poking through the material. He carried a bag over his shoulder and nothing else. You looked up as he took a step closer and candlelight showed you the scar of the man Darcy had been talking about earlier that evening.

You stood up straighter, head held high. You were not going to be intimidated by this man and the permanent scowl that seemed to be etched onto his features. His facial expression didn’t change even as he spoke.

“Do you have rooms?” Darcy was right, there was an accent. But it didn’t sound like Addy’s French accent. You had had men pass through from further afield, but some didn’t speak English at all so you couldn’t ask where they came from.

“My rooms are full.” You didn’t mean to be blunt but that’s how it came out. You weren’t lying, your earliest vacancy was in two days time but you still felt bad. This man must have walked all the way from where his ship had docked, and he hadn’t brought a horse with him. He was about to turn away when you shouted out to him.

“I have a stable.” It was the only solution you could think of. He didn’t turn to look at you but you heard him grumble something in his native tongue. You didn’t think you wanted to know what it translated to. “It’s enclosed. With the door shut it’s quite warm. Only one horse in there at the moment too.”

He finally turned to look at you. He raised one eyebrow rather high, and you thought if he just stopped scowling he may be handsome. So you gave him a small smile. He hadn’t done anything to offend you, yet, so the least you could do was be polite.

“Where can I find more rooms, camarera?” His voice was deep and his accent was strong, and you don’t know what he had called you but he sounded tired. And maybe you were too kind for your own good but you didn’t want him travelling longer than he had to when there were perfectly fine stacks of hay he could sleep on for a few hours.

“You would have to travel north into town. On foot, you could reach it by sunrise.” He seemed to be mulling it over. Was he serious? He’ll drop down in exhaustion before he’d even travelled halfway. “Come into the stable. I won’t charge you anything.”

That seemed to make up his mind because he was walking back towards you. You stepped inside to let him in before locking the door. You took him through a side door, down the side of the building and into the stables.

It wasn’t large. Could fit three horses in at a squeeze, but the current resident was lying against the large doors and on the other side against the stone wall of the guest rooms were stacks of hay.

The horse raised his head and let out a huff of disapproval when you both walked past him, but soon became disinterested when neither of you paid him no attention.

The stranger sat on a stack of hay, moving about to test how comfortable it was. He looked up and nodded when he was satisfied. There was an awkward silence for a moment before you remembered that this was your tavern and you shouldn’t be feeling nervous.

“Did you want a blanket?”

“No thank you.”

“Something to eat or drink?”

“No.” He cleared his throat and looked away. “Thank you.”

You nodded and turned away to leave him alone. When you got to the door you had entered through you saw he was still sat exactly where he was. He hadn’t moved in the slightest. Was he not used to anyone being nice to him? Or was he just an awkward, angry man?

Closing the door behind you, you let out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding. You began to walk along the corridor, taking a turn to arrive in the kitchen.

The women had devoured the pie that had been left. Gwen was nearly falling asleep at the table whilst Addy had taken over the washing up duties. Darcy was nowhere to be found.

Addy saw you first, holding up a finger to the ceiling when she noticed you were looking around the kitchen.

“Darcy went to bed. Are you going up?”

For the first time that night you realised just how tired you were. You didn’t know whether to tell them about the man in the stables. Maybe it was for best that Darcy was already in bed. She would be none the wiser.

“I just need to stub the candles out in the front. I’ve let a traveller stay in the stables. Don’t disturb him. I imagine he will be gone by morning.”

Addy frowned. It wasn’t unusual to let the odd person stay in the stables. Usually poor travellers looking for work, or like tonight when you were feeling especially kind. But maybe your tone inflicted that it was unusual with this man because she looked like she was waiting for you to explain.

You refused. You grabbed some pie crumbs off the plate and shoved them into your mouth.

“Alright. I’ll stub the candles out if you wanted to go on up? I’ve nearly finished here.” She grabbed the empty plate you had just eaten off of and dumped it in the bowl of water.

You made your way towards your room, hopefully to get some sleep and forget about the man in the stables. You don’t know why he was bothering you so much. You were acting like he was a dirty little secret. He’ll be gone in the morning and you will never see him again.

You sort of hoped you were wrong.

The morning started as it always did. The birds singing and the Winter sun shone through my window.

Your room was modest. The bigger of the three bedrooms upstairs (it was formerly your fathers room). You had it all to yourself, whereas Addy and Darcy shared a room and Gwen had the smallest room furthest from yours. You had a small wooden table next to your bed which sat a candle and a ribbon for your long hair.

Across from your bed, underneath the window, was a box to store your clothes in and along the wall on the left of the room was a tin bath, the only one upstairs.

You were lucky, you knew that. Working in a tavern brought in more money than the average business in town. But with four mouths to feed you didn’t have a lot of money for long.

You were rubbing the sleep from your eyes when the memories of the previous night came rushing back to you. you remembered the strange man with the scar that intrigued you. The deep, husky voice, the grumpy look on his face, his curt responses.

You should be hoping that he’s long gone but as you jumped out of bed, quickly throwing your outer dress over your underdress and slipping on your boots you realised you were hoping for the exact opposite. You ran down the stairs, rushed through the hallway and arrived at the kitchen to see Gwen at the stove.

You couldn’t help but notice the smell of warm milk and honey in the air. You grabbed a tankard off the side and dipped it into the pan that Gwen was mixing.

“Sorry Gwen,” you muttered. You knew she’d be annoyed for the rest of the day but you’d find a way to make it up to her. You always did.

The short walk to the stables had your heart pumping. You suddenly felt stupid. He probably wasn’t in there anymore. And what if he didn’t like honey? And why did you care so much?

When you opened the door you almost bumped into him. You gasped as he jumped back, hand immediately reaching the hilt of his sword.

The hood of his cape wasn’t up so you could see his face much more clearly this morning. He had a peculiarly large nose which you found yourself wanting to run your finger along, and an unusual moustache that you never saw on Englishmen. He was staring at you, mouth slightly parted when you realised you had also been staring at him for longer than was acceptable.

You caught your breath and decided to show him the contents of the tankard.

“Warm milk with honey. Thought you might want something before you left?” You said hopefully. He was inspecting the contents as though he had never been presented with something before. It was as though he didn’t know how to respond. “You don’t have to. Just thought after a cold night, something warm would be welcome,” you shrugged and started to take it back. But he stopped you with a gloved hand over yours.

He took the drink off of you and began to sip at it. He didn’t make a face of disgust so you assumed he liked it. You were desperate to know where he was going but you didn’t want to intrude. Luckily you didn’t have to.

“Thank you, that is nice. I have to go. Work in town.” His words were to the point. Not like yours were when you rambled like a mad woman. You nodded and took back the drink he was handing back to you.

“Good luck. I hope everything goes well for you.” You smiled, and it looked like he was going to smile back but he nodded instead.

“Thank you. For the bed.” And with that he brushed past you. You knew Addy would be at the front of the tavern to let him out so you didn’t follow. You also didn’t want to make more of a fool of yourself than you already had.

You sighed and trudged back towards the kitchen. You had some making up to do.

#Pero #Pero Tovar #Pero x Reader #Pedro #Pedro pascal #fanfic #first fanfic #pero tovar x reader #pero fic #pero tovar fic #tovar #safe haven

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saejinws · 3 years

Text

let’s get it! it’s chey ( she/her ), bringing you wishbone’s act #2, paksae. he’s an indie artist with heavy influence from the bedroom pop & chillwave micro-genres, as you can gather from his three official singles at the moment: cassette, karma & late night movie. if discord is more convenient for you, you can add me there ( stream do or not#1490 ), but otherwise, i’m usually reachable in ims! here are saejin’s links : career / stats / plots / pinterest, and hopefully all the other information you need will be found below.

the story.

saejin was lucky enough to be born into a relatively happy family, albeit a small one. both parents are only children, so he didn’t have aunts, uncles or cousins, and only his maternal grandparents were heavily involved with the family, but it was alright! lower middle class, mom who made him watch bird documentaries, dad who had a face made out of stone, but there was still a lot of love. it was nice.

the first big change happened when his little sister ( saebyeol ) was born. her existence put a tragic end to his legacy as the park family’s number one baby, considering she’s a whole eight years younger than him.

in the next year, his mom was diagnosed with a chronic illness; one that would see her rapidly going in and out of hospitals for years to come, so the days of naïve happiness were over for saejin. from that point on, it was about “cherishing every moment” and “living life to the fullest” and “not wasting breath on things that can’t be changed”.

aka his mom’s circumstances meant that he was constantly getting scolded by doctors, rns, family friends, his dad, whoever for displaying negative emotions. was shut down a lot, told that he was being a hassle and that he needed to make things easier for his mom. learned to suppress his emotions unless they were positive.

but while most adults in his life were trying to teach him how to be realistic and approach life with an understanding that nothing is easy, his mom worked hard to do the exact opposite. constantly pushed him to chase his dreams because life is so short, and when he decided that he was going to pursue music, she was the first person to tell him to go for it and give it his all.

got his first guitar at age 14, which is when he started writing his own songs and messing around with editing software, but it wasn’t until 2015 that he started playing his music for people. started in coffee shops ( at this point, his songs were entirely acoustic ), then started playing in clubs in hongdae, which is when he started experimenting with his sound. struggled to gain attention. can’t think of what it’s called rn, but there’s a set amount of tickets that opening acts have to sell to earn their spot in a lineup; saejin’s parents and close friends usually bought a tonnn to help him out because strangers wouldn’t give him the time of day. a nobody. hung out after his sets to meet people, but nobody wanted to meet him. pain.

popularity steadily grew over time, and by late 2019, he was in talks with wishbone records. by the new year, he was a signed artist.

assumed that having a record deal guaranteed International Stardom, so you can imagine his surprise when his first music video hardly gained 5k views in the entire debut week... it was an eye-opening experience for him. realized that the grind was, in fact, not over yet.

his popularity is on a steady incline, but he still isn’t anywhere close to being a household name. very lowkey. he pretends that he doesn’t care, but it eats away at him. spends most of his time in his studio nowadays, trying to create a song that will pull him into the charts. becoming more distant from his parents because he’s so caught up in work, so that’ll probably come back around to bite him in the ass eventually but yk... oh well.

saebyeol is the only family member whom he couldn’t distance himself from if she tried because she’s a parasite. always at his apartment or blowing up his phone, which drives him absolutely crazy because her favorite pastime is ruthlessly bullying him. she’s a little demon.

the character.

park saejin, aka PAKSAE. ‘97. seoulite. soloist.

social introvert. he prefers to spend time alone and usually doesn’t seek company, but if he’s approached first, he’s a relatively open book. forms bonds quickly.

gets unreasonably attached to his friends in short periods of time, so he tries to keep his circle small. he can only deal with wondering why three people aren’t texting him back in a single day: any more than that and he spirals.

pretty optimistic view of life, i think. could’ve become jaded due to his mom’s situation, but she’s made huge efforts to keep his worries minimal and be the best role model she can be in her circumstances. has tried to instill a “life is short, so embrace every moment with open arms” mentality in both of her kids, which saejin picked up on a whole lot more than his little sister has. you probably wouldn’t assume this by listening to his Pity Party Songs ( as saebyeol puts it ), but he’s a happy guy!

on the topic of his pity party songs, all three of his singles so far are a bit sad/melancholic, detailing looking back on the ending of something. he rarely expresses sadness or regret in his day-to-day life, but he considers music to be an outlet. the one place he can be as real as he wants without being criticized. ( that’s what he thought before, anyway. nowadays, he’s constantly getting comments about how nobody wants to listen to him cry about his breakups. fair enough. )

his appearance contradicts his personality. on the outside, he seems like a very loud, expressive person: vibrant colors, unusual materials ( silk chiffon, organza, velvet, etc ), lots of accessories such as gaudy rings, y2k-style beaded necklaces & polymer clay earrings that he probably buys from etsy. but he’s really, really chill & soft-spoken, tries to blend in even though it’s... impossible when he looks the way that he does.

gets most of his social interaction through the sporadic gigs that he plays. on stage, he’s highly expressive and interactive with his fans. when i think of his stage presence, i think of artists like lauv & troye sivan: he utilizes all of his stage space, even when performing more mellow songs. doesn’t want to just stand around and bore his audience. but nowadays, he rarely waits around to meet people because he’s become even more introverted than he was before. in his day-to-day life, there are only about three people whom he contacts frequently and always shows up for. otherwise, his connections are situational: associates the people in his life with certain places, things or activities and rarely meets up with them outside those situations. prefers to communicate through texts or social media messages if he can, but even then, if you aren’t one of his three closest friends, it’s difficult to reach him unless he needs or wants something.

but even tho he’s SUCH a loner... he’s what i like to call a serial romantic. not on a dating ban and also not that popular anyway, so he goes on a lot of dates. blind dates, tinder dates, whatever. texting his friends like “i think i’m in love” twice a month but he’s never talking about the same person. wears a heart-shaped rose quartz pendant to try to manifest meeting his soulmate but he doesn’t want to be clowned for believing in the power of crystals/stones ( or for being so obsessed with love even though it’s OBVIOUS if you listen to his music ) so he says he just wears it ‘cause it’s nice to look at.

his stage name, 박새, is a type of bird. it’s usually stylized as paksae, so most people don’t question it much, but eventually his intl fanbase got curious about what it means and popped the hangul into a translator: lo and behold, he’s now “affectionately” referred to by fans in english-speaking regions as tit. it isn’t saebyeol’s fault but he’s definitely found a way to blame her for it.

if you go to any of his music videos, you will find numerous comments from paksaeanti05. that’s saebyeol. usually she’s hating on him, but if anyone ELSE tries to hate on him, she turns into a keyboard warrior. she’s his biggest critic and his most loyal supporter.

#ws:intro

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peace-coast-island · 3 years

Text

Diary of a Junebug

The trail of the Whispering Winds

The Moonlit Woods transforms into a different place after midnight. It's still as eerie as ever, but in a different way though - as in different vibes. I hardly venture out here for good reason so when I do, it's usually with a group, preferably those versed in magic and supernatural stuff.

Last time I came to the Moonlit Woods was with Team Magic - Pippa, Mariposa, Angie, and Willow. While hunting for gyroids we came across an old travel log and found a cocostar tree, which is super rare, so we struck gold with that discovery. Being with the girls made me feel a bit more confident about venturing into the woods so since then, planning out my next adventure has been in the back of my mind.

Speaking of Team Magic, the girls are looking forward to coming back for another gyroid event. Mariposa's been working with Daisy Jane on gyroid designs since then and they're pretty much ready to go. We just haven't been able to set a date yet because the girls are busy with school and college apps but they're hoping to drop by sometime in the near future.

Instead of Team Magic, we have a new group accompanying us in the woods. They don't have an official name but they have been working as a team for years. There's Taiki, a freelance exorcist who comes from a family that has dealt with the supernatural for generations. He's a friend of Miki's, having gone to the same university together.

Nene's his best friend from his hometown - she actually spent a semester at Tome U so she also got to know Miki a bit. She's also the artist Rika has been following, the one who just set up a Patreon and is in the process of getting her webcomic, Seven Wonders, published.

Haru is what they call an untethered spirit. He used to haunt the halls of the school Taiki and Nene went to before it was demolished. Basically Taiki contacted Miki who contacted her brother and his friends at the consultation center so they can find a way to keep Haru around. I only know this because Mikayla asked for some sparkle stones and essences a while back.

Then I got curious and decided to do a bit of research. Turns out there's a lot of different kind of procedures that have varying results. So what Taiki and the others did was no easy feat and they succeeded either by luck or some other factors. In other words, Haru's still a ghost or a spirit, but now he also has a physical form. He looks young - 13 or 14 at the most - but he's obviously a lot older than that - though for the most part he's like any other guy as far as I can tell.

Nene is an artist and the author of Seven Wonders, a webcomic about a girl who befriends a spirit who resides in her school. The story's loosely based on her life - as well as Taiki and Haru's. She started writing it a few years ago, originally a side project to keep herself busy. Then she began updating it regularly and grew a following, prompting her to expand the story. The webcomic then reached international audiences when Taiki offered to translate her work into English so that's when it really started taking off.

The three of them go way back, having first met almost a decade ago. Nene managed to summon Haru in hopes of granting a wish, similar to what happens with the main characters in Seven Wonders. The two end up in a series of misadventures that result in them being bonded by a curse, resulting in Nene being connected with the spirits of the school. Then Taiki came along with the intent of exorcizing spirits such as Haru, only to end up befriending him.

They've been through a lot together, even defying fate (Haru's words) so they can have this future they're living in right now. From what I've heard, dealing with the supernatural - willingly or not - always has a price to pay. It's one of those things where no matter how lightly you tread, you'll step on a landmine either way.

In other words, there's always something to lose.

Taiki was never one to have a "normal" life considering that he comes from a family of exorcists. He has an older brother and younger sister, both who are powerful and pretty well known back home. Miki mentioned that he hasn't really spoken to his family much since moving out. According to Nene and Haru, Taiki was close to his brother, having looked up to him a lot back in the day. Nene and Miki have both speculated that the rift between Taiki and his brother was probably one of the reasons why he decided to stay in Mina Creek instead of going back to Inazuma.

Nene stuck around Inazuma before deciding to join Taiki. Even after graduating she stuck around the school to see Haru, working as a janitor so she'd have an excuse to be there. But when Taiki graduated the following year, the trio didn't see much of each other. Taiki went abroad to Tome University and while Nene still visited Haru and the other spirits, she had to focus on her studies.

Then Nene signed up for a study abroad program, which happened to take her to Miki and Taiki's school. I remember Miki talking about helping out this freshman who was an international student. She said he was struggling quite a bit so it was lucky that they ran into his old friend - his senpai, as he called her back in the day. During her time there while reminiscing with Taiki, Nene was inspired to write Seven Wonders so that's how it all began.

Nene ended up dropping out of university after that semester so she became an artist/content creator while working as a school janitor. Along with that she was also the bridge between the living and the spirits, a role she carried since becoming Haru's assistant when they first met.

In the years that followed, Nene and Haru got involved in supernatural affairs while Taiki offered his assistance once in a while. Things were going well until the school had to close due to financial problems. If that wasn't bad enough, the city was going to demolish the school and a bunch of other old buildings in that area. So Haru was in a tight spot as he would have nowhere to go since he couldn't be outside of the school. And as for Nene, she didn't really have anywhere to go either since being a janitor was what kept her afloat.

Thankfully Taiki and the others were able to come up with a solution or else Nene and Haru wouldn't be here with us. Taiki made the offer for Nene to join him in Mina Creek, something which she was understandably on the fence about. She says she's been adjusting to the move a lot better than she thought, probably because she has been here before so it's not too drastic of a change.

However, it's a big leap for Haru considering that he's been restricted inside a school for years and now he's in a foreign country surrounded by a lot of unfamiliar things. He does seem to be a fast learner - Nene and Taiki were surprised at how quickly his English's improving and if I didn't know, I'd think he'd been studying the language for at least a year or so. Taiki's obviously quite fluent while Nene's sorta in between - Taiki serves as an interpreter when they need a bit of help, which is pretty much what he does during his non-exorcist job.

So far Nene's enjoying life at Minai Creek, though she admits to missing home. She finds the change in scenery intimidating but also necessary. On one hand she's sad to leave the school and the other spirits but at the same time she feels it's probably for the best. Haru's holding his own, though Nene worries about him as the changes they're going through can't be easy on him. She's also worried about Taiki too, especially since it seems like he's completely cut off his ties from his home - by that she means his family.

Nene definitely comes across as a big sister/mom friend. Taiki sometimes calls her onee-chan, which is a way one addresses their older sister in Japanese. I've met Taiki a few times before and I see a different side to him when Nene's around. Or maybe it's because this is the first time I've really gotten to know him? He just seems more ...himself? open? ... when he's with Nene and Haru. It's sweet how much he looks up to Nene - whenever he talked about her in the past you can tell how much he respects and admires her - and now that I finally meet her, I can see it. I think Nene and I are gonna be good friends.

Taiki's had his eye on the Moonlit Woods for a while as there's a section that's kinda dangerous to tread if you're not well versed with spirits and such. Only the bravest exorcists venture there to help clean up the place a little and contain the bad karma by doing what's necessary. He did his research extensively before considering going to that place due to rumors of seasoned exorcists being ill prepared and becoming corrupt, which is the worst case scenario.

Since strength lies in numbers, Taiki needed a reliable team to keep things under control and make a speedy retreat if necessary. Haru and Nene's connections to the spiritual world are valuable, especially since Haru has a bit of a pull with certain higher status spirits that can come in handy in case things go south. As for me and the campers, we're kinda the brute force, serving as the muscle and sort of an anchor to keep the others grounded. Something about certain spirits having an effect on those who can see and interact with them and taking advantage of that by blurring the lines between reality and delusion so we have to keep them from straying.

I don't know how the trio does it, especially Taiki and Nene. To live between mortals and spirits is not easy, more of a curse than a blessing to many. For people like them, they have no choice but to fulfill their roles - Taiki in damage control and Nene in being the communicator. And for Haru, being a spirit who voluntarily chose to stay in the world of the living after being bound to one through a curse, I can't imagine that being easy on him either. There's a lot to unpack with these three and whether I'll get to know the full story or not, it's clear that there's a lot on their shoulders.

Like I said, there's always a price to pay when it involves things beyond our understanding. I just hope that it was worth it. Me being cautiously optimistic, I'd like to think it was or else they wouldn't be together.

The Whispering Winds trail, as expected, was full of perils. On one hand, it was kinda good that I was kept in the dark in an ignorance is bliss sorta way. But that also makes it a bit harder to know exactly what's going on. In a place where the spirit world and mortal world becomes blurred, it gets disorienting, to put it simply. We know we're there when us mortals can see some spirits so it's important to keep our guard up.

There's a reason why they call this trail the Whispering Winds. I heard voices from all around - it wasn't a pleasant experience, to say the least. It was jarring at first but then I grew numb to it. Still, it was an unsettling feeling - 0/10 do not recommend. This is why it's best to go in a group because unexpected things will happen so it's better to be (over)prepared.

In between exorcism rituals we did a bit of sightseeing, which helped lighten the mood. Haru introduced us to some spirits he knew to be harmless and they served as guides through areas they were familiar with. Taiki and Nene did most of the heavy lifting when it came to the rituals while the rest of us stood guard. From what I've seen, it looks like a lot of work - the kind of thing you should leave to the professionals.

All around us were these blue light orb things - spiritual remnants that serve as trail markers according to Haru. Depending on the traces the remnants can leave behind, Nene can manipulate them to open up new pathways. The deeper we go into the trail, the harder it is to navigate as it's supposed to be like that for good reason. Nene's the only one who can directly interact with stuff like that so people like her are the ones who really are granted access to forbidden parts such as these. According to Haru, he and Taiki can't touch them because it can cause trouble due to their blood - meaning it's off limits for exorcists and spirits.

The light orbs also gave us some much needed visibility as well as an eerie glow. When things got quiet, it sorta felt like we were just walking down a long, dimly lit path. When things start to get a bit hazy, that's when it was time to investigate. The feeling is heavy, almost suffocating - a heavy burden to bear indeed. When the heaviness is gone, we move forward, going as far as we can before hitting a dead end. From there, our trek is over and instead of venturing a different path, we go back the way we came, careful not to disturb the newfound peace.

It was an interesting experience - again, it's probably for the best that I don't know too much about it. There's a whole 'nother world out there with exorcisms, spirits, psychics...as curious I am about these sorts of things, I respect that it's not my place when it comes to certain aspects. It's a fascinating world out there but we can't experience or begin to understand certain things that are beyond our scope. It sucks sometimes being just a bystander or outsider but it is what it is.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

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