#in ghosts long long long after they pass

[gay-artificer]

I was talking a bit about this but I think part of the reason iterators are designed as these small little doll-like puppets is both to humanize and dehumanize them by the Ancients. The puppet, at is core, is a means for communication with a great biological machine- to give it a face and features and ground it as you ask its advice or it's progress. This massive, world-altering creation simplified down to this little thing that had all the features of a person. But its also small, cute, Ancient-like but clearly not an Ancient itself. They're colorful and simple, like a toy for children. And I think thats largely how Ancients saw them- often not as a person with desires and opinions but as an extension of the Ancient's work, a personalized character that represented their cities and people, whos citizens could like them and were comprehensible to their children, but was not them- and would not reap the reward of being them when a solution was found. Each one pretty and unique to make them individuals, but not seen- truly- as individuals by many- just as parts of their cities, something under the Ancients. Like if every town had its own personal My Little Pony they could ask advice on where the next community center should be built.

[starry-bi-sky]

Clone^2 danny headcanons and/or facts that i wanted to expand on but didn't have the motivation or inspiration to write a ficlet about. Ultimately most of these are ideas that already exist in canon clone^2 but are only now being expanded on/explored/stated specifically.

Because I'm procrasinating cfau and passively thinking about clone danny and damian again.

1 - As he's liminal, Danny generates his own ectoplasm. He generates it at a slower rate than the casual ghost but faster than the average liminal. It's what gives him an ecto-signature and results in him triggering his parents' weapons and ecto-sensors.

The ectoplasm he generates actually has a use, and he tends to burn through his supply while he's fighting because of all the physical energy he spends + the use of his scary eyes requires (albeit really minor amounts of) ectoplasm to use. It also has health benefits, as using his ectoplasm keeps his heartbeat steady and lessens the risk of his arrhythmia flaring up due to all of his physical activity and adrenaline.

It does happen occasionally that he uses up more ectoplasm than he can replace, and this has the expected negative effects on his health as all that adrenaline and stress catches up to his heart without a buffer to mitigate it. He carries a canteen full of diluted ectoplasm with him in order to give his system the boost it needs in order to stabilize itself, which he can usually tell when he needs due to excessive fatigue/chest pains/dizziness/other arrhythmia symptoms he gets that means he's low on ectoplasm.

2 - Danny's arrhythmia is a form of bradycardia (which is a slower heartbeat) -- what type? Unspecified / Unknown thanks to it being ectoplasmic in nature.

3 - In that same breath, Danny also has to burn that ectoplasm off in some form or another because if he doesn't it builds up and causes him the same issues as if he was too low. It also causes him to become more emotionally volatile, restless, irritable, overstimulated, etc, which the stress of that then makes his heart condition worsen. If too much ectoplasm builds up, it'll cause a physical electrical shock/shortage. This is rare however, and usually is the equivalent of giving someone a painful static shock. At best it makes the lights flicker or technology fritz out for a few seconds.

While it doesn't have much effect on the physical world, it does expend a good chunk of ectoplasm. Think like dumping out a heavy bucket of water that you've been carrying for a while, or getting into a hot shower after being outside in the cold for hours. It's emotionally draining but very relieving.

4 - Danny can replenish ectoplasm or generate ectoplasm faster by resting, eating, consuming other ectoplasm (fastest), fulfilling his interests / doing things that makes him happy, or by being exposed to high amounts of ectoplasm in the area. He can also rapidly generate it by being in a volatile emotional state, but that drains ectoplasm almost as quickly, and runs the risk of causing flare ups in his arrhythmia.

5 - this is actually canon to the au but I figured it wouldn't hurt to expand more on it / clarify / confirm, but Danny post-Damian has chronic pain in his hands from the nerve damage he sustained. He has daily physical therapy exercises he's supposed to do that he does in the mornings/evenings and whenever his hands hurt/feel stiff. He wears compression gloves in his day-to-day life and gets Sam and Tucker's help to brainstorm ideas about how to make compression gloves for Phantom that can include his knuckledusters. His grip and hand strength is weakened.

He has bad hand days where his hands hurt more than usual. This can happen at random, but is more common after he's overused/strained his hands either the day before or earlier in the day. His fingers stiffen up for similar reasons, and he gets tremors. It's happened before where (for example) he's braiding his hair and unbraiding it, only to need someone else to finish the braid because his fingers stiffened up and don't want to work like he wants them to.

Massages, heat, pressure, etc. helps soothe the pain, and since Danny's a fidgety person his friends and family can usually tell when he has a flare up because any hand movements he was doing prior ceased/slowed suddenly, or he starts massaging his hands / stretching out his fingers.

Damian very stubbornly insists on massaging his hands for him when this happens, he has a lot of intense guilt for being the reason for Danny's chronic pain so he wants to alleviate it in anyway he can.

6 - Danny has what I like to call "Bruce-isms", a word I came up with just now that means he has Bruce Wayne mannerisms that come from the fact that he's still Bruce's clone. A Nature vs. Nurture thing. His Bruce-isms include the Bruce Grunts Of Ambiguous Tonal Meaning ("hm", "hrm", "hn"), his workaholism, his paranoia (on a milder scale), etc. They're small, relatively non-defining things that are quirks but don't make up his personality.

He's got what Sam and Tucker like to call "Bruce Wayne Moments" which are essentially Bruce-isms but only ones that Danny and his friends are aware of considering they only know Bruce as Brucie Wayne and not Batman. "Bruce Wayne Moments" include Danny being clumsy, doing something air-headed, being oblivious, etc. It's not a common joke among the three of them since Tucker and Sam know that Danny's still pr sensitive to the whole clone thing. So they only bring it up when he's done something stupid but hilarious.

7 - while clone^2 focuses more on Danny and Damian's relationship and Danny helping Damian develop his identity beyond just "Damian Wayne's Clone", Danny still suffers from his own identity crises. He sometimes gets jealous of Ellie and Damian for being "lucky" that they always knew they were clones, rather than finding out later in life.

He's aware that this is not fair to think and that Damian and Ellie both have their own struggles as clones, but he can't help it sometimes.

He tries not to think about it too much, but when things get too quiet or when he's not busy, Danny can't help but wonder how much of himself is things he's learned on his own and come from him, and how much of it comes from being Bruce Wayne's clone. He has to stop and count how many things are unique about him specifically when he starts to emotionally spiral. It's not rational, but it's not supposed to be.

As a result Danny kinda, hm, clings to his identity as the Phantom, just a little bit? He thinks it's one of the few things that he has autonomous control over as "Danny Fenton", rather than it being a result of him being Bruce Wayne's clone. Because Bruce Wayne isn't a vigilante! Right? Right?

Consequently this becomes one of the reasons that Damian keeps mum about Bruce Wayne's identity. The original reasons were because Danny asked not to know much about the LoA beyond what Damian already told him, and Batman was technically "apart" of the LoA, and secondly because he just didn't want Danny to get involved with Batman and co and Danny knowing about Bruce Wayne's identity could potentially cause that.

But as time goes on Damian kinda notices like, just how being a clone is affecting Danny even if he hides it from Damian pretty well. He can't really comprehend what it was like for Danny to grow up thinking he was normal like everyone else only to find out he was a clone, but he does see the hurt it's causing his brother. And he does notice that Danny was holding onto being Phantom quite a bit, and figured that if he found out Bruce Wayne was also a vigilante, it would hurt him beyond belief.

8 - So Danny's creation has been kept relatively,,, mmm,,, vague? considering I've been struggling for a time how I could plausibly have his creation happen without Bruce finding out about it immediately. And my conclusion is that around the time Danny was created, Bruce met up with the Fenton parents again for some reason or another -- checking out their tech under the guise of wanting to catch up with them.

And I can imagine that, due to being close friends in college, the Fentons literally just outright told him, "Hey we wanna 'nother kid but don't want to go through the risk of pregnancy again, so we're gonna make a clone of one of us instead"

and in true Bruce fashion, he mentally went "wow i should learn Everything And Anything About This Thing Specifically. Just In Case." and outwardly went "woah cool! ahaha how does it work"

and since the Fentons consider Bruce a close friend and are also incapable of Not Talking About Science, turned and went "OH WE CAN SHOW YOU" and showed Bruce their entire cloning process up to and including how they (safely) extracted the DNA they were gonna use. of which they already had. they were gonna just extract Jack's DNA a second time as an example, but it was Bruce who said "hey you should try me instead" in order to gauge how exactly safe this was and if there were any symptoms he would need to recognize in cloning.

so with his consent they did, and then showed him how they were going to use the DNA to make a clone without actually going through the process. Without prompting from Bruce, the Fentons went "we're gonna throw your DNA away though since we don't want this lying around and because we have no use for it" and visibly showed him that they were disposing it.

Bruce came to the conclusion that the Fentons weren't planning anything nefarious, they just really wanted another kid, and (reluctantly) left afterwards. The mixup comes when Maddie, surprisingly, misplaces the cartridge with Jack's DNA in it and while they could have always gotten another sample, it was better and safer to just try and find the original before that.

Jack finds Bruce's in their disposable. In his excitement, he forgets that it was Bruce's DNA, and manages to get it out safely. Maddie wasn't looking when he found it, and in her excitement also forgot to ask where Jack found it. They used that cartridge instead.

When they found out they used the wrong DNA, Danny was already about year old and while Jack and Maddie are morally dubious, they're only morally dubious towards ghosts. Danny was their beloved human baby, they would never do anything to him.

That being said, they were still horrified when they found out, and really, they genuinely did consider reaching out to Bruce to tell him. They thought it was something he deserved to know since it was his DNA that got used instead, and they felt awfully guilty after he trusted them enough to let them draw DNA from him. The only reason they hadn't is because, at the time, Bruce had been really busy with something in his public life and they didn't want to bother him during such a stressful time.

So they were going to wait, and in Fenton-like fashion, forgot to tell him. When the subject came up again sometime later, they assumed they already told Bruce and went about their day.

[siramay-the-showgun-dragon]

me: kodaka can we have naejunko? kodaka: we have naejunko at home naejunko at home:

[majimasleftasscheek]

I support your million demonjima agenda do whatever you want forever king

Also I like how you draw kiryu's nips <3

Have an amazing day~~~♡♡♡!!!!!<3<3<3

why thank you (◡‿◡✿) I've just literally become that person that puts x character into everything and anything and I gotta live my truth 😤🥴

and I'm glad you enjoy the neep nops too kdljkldskl <3

also same to you!! have a very good one uwu

[anxiouspotatorants]

Maura watched the strange man freeze in place in front of her. He no longer seemed as spectral as he had been mere seconds ago. Now it was he who looked as if he was watching a ghost.

The Spirits of Prometheus Asylum: An 1899 Victorian Gothic AU

(Raw images: not mine)

[brother-emperors]

I'm so sorry if you get tired of answering asks about Pompey and Crassus BUT your response to the anon asking if Crassus let Pompey get away with things really got me thinking! Specifically about the way that Plutarch (I think?) says that Crassus didn't hold ill-will against Pompey for "stealing" his triumph. And how it feels like Crassus just kind of decided to shrug it off and instead asked Pompey for help for the consulship elections. Crassus seems so ruthless and direct while on the field, and I have so many questions about how he and Pompey worked together in Spoletium which will never be answered 😭 But then when it comes to politics I really can't see the pattern!

oh, I love talking about Crassus (and Pompey too, by extension), literally I can't stop. you can ask several people. I'll be talking about one thing, and all of a sudden: Crassus has entered the conversation. it's terrible, I can't stop. mostly, it takes me a thousand years to articulate my thoughts in any kind of way that makes sense.

I actually think that there are two times that Crassus subtextually calls Pompey a bitch, and the triumph incident is one of them!

specifically in that Crassus's comment about it:

Crassus, for all his self-approval, did not venture to ask for the major triumph, and it was thought ignoble and mean in him to celebrate even the minor triumph on foot, called the ovation, for a servile war.

Crassus is also not the first person to hold this sentiment.

Crassus' Ovation in 71 B.C., B.A. Marshall

I think it's important to remember that for Rome as a whole, the Third Servile War was terrifying because of the scale of the threat it posed to how an imperial wheelhouse running on a slave economy functions, but also because it's really fucking embarrassing for Rome's identity.

Crassus is also not the first person who commands the leading role against Spartacus. Spartacus goes through two other commanders before Rome asks Crassus to enter the scene. Crassus specifically is a private citizen when he is asked to step into this role: up until now, Rome's own praetors and consuls have failed to rise to the occasion.

Crassus' Ovation in 71 B.C., B.A. Marshall

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward

this is a deeply humiliating moment for the Roman reputation and identity. Pompey taking credit for Crassus' victory is an expected power grab, but it's also kind of cringe that he did it. Crassus was doing Roman's Duty To The State (or, if you like a spicier take on it, may have pulled strings for it. after all, you can't consider a man rich unless he can fund his own army. and the army Crassus brought with him for this was is own)

and so taking credit for that is like. man. this was NOT a "glorious war" that was fought. (Lucullus cites this as a blemish on Pompey's character during his vulture speech, it's very fun!)

so while Crassus may have realized that writing back to Rome and requesting back up was a mistake because whoever showed up would have the world's easiest time taking credit and accepted that it would happen, I do think that he took alternative measures to even the playing field in a 'okay sure, have your triumph, but don't think you're going to have it all,' kind of way because he also does this

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward

Pliny, Natural History 15.125

Gell. NA 5.6.23

Cic. Pis. 58

which does not strike me as the behavior of someone who is letting Pompey just run away with it without any kind of pushback.

and now to throw out literally everything I just said about the Triumph Incident, B.A. Marshall (whose article I've cited several times already in this) has an incredibly compelling case to make that there wasn't really as much conflict between the two over this as ancient narratives might indicate (which. seems to be a recurring theme with them)

Crassus' Ovation in 71 B.C., B.A. Marshall

I will stick to my narrative speculation that some of their respective peers probably thought it was at least embarrassing behavior on Pompey's part, because Lucullus has a lot of vitriol to direct at Pompey, and he does cite this incident as something negative to Pompey's overall character) someone who steals credit and glory from other people). so. hm. I think the assumed personal and periodically biting rivalry (in addition to the usual political rivalry) between the two is extremely fun, but so is. this. thoughts! much to think about.

[floorpancakes]

no context catverse content but in case anyone was wondering i have like. several xxxholic ocs and i love them dearly

[kideternity]

A side effect of getting into digimon is that it’s like. Really made me appreciate Mechas more and robot designs? Combined as well with reading comics like Atomic Robo and then last week watching bang brave bang Bravern. For years my interactions with mecha media was like, Trying to force myself to enjoy transformers, and unfortunately I just don’t think it’s a media franchise for me and it really stifled my ability to enjoy mecha as a genre because of trying to pigeonhole into that. I suppose this is a very roundabout way to say that if anyone has any mecha recommendations hit an ant up about this. And that I've also started getting into gunpla/mecha model kit building- I've made two so far (: and I have another kit I'd like to make soon. If you wanna see pics send me an ask and ill dm them

[waywardsalt]

also do u think Linebeck is originally from the World of the Ocean King or from the Great Sea?

I think he's from the Great Sea. This is mainly just because in-game there isn't a whole lot of evidence to the contrary? (There isn't much evidence that he's from the great sea either but there's more for that than the other thing and I'll take what I can get)

I'll just go ahead and list out my fairly simple reasons why I think this just to streamline this away from being a block of text.

1: In the loz encyclopedia, on page 39, the text associated with the little picture of linebeck (its the one labeled '3') says 'captain linebeck, one of the people lured into the world of the ocean king' and i do not care if that's a mistranslation or whatever but i am taking it and RUNNING WITH IT.

2: unlike in the manga he never wishes to go to link's world, but i imagine he didn't know for sure that he and link were from the same world, but he ends up there anyways good for him

3: when oshus initially introduces that link and tetra (and linebeck) are from a different world he says that the ghost ship will not longer haunt 'your' world, not specifying just link and tetra but possibly also including linebeck in that statement. when everyone talks about the door to the other world opening and all of that shit they never specify that it's just link and tetra's world, they just call it 'your world' and whatever, and when neri talks about being a part of oshus's world, she never explicitly includes linebeck in that grouping, and i would assume that she would know if he's a part of the same world as her or not. she also thanks both link AND linebeck, further suggesting that he's automatically going to be leaving with link. plus, the way the spirits talk to him and say goodbye very heavily imply that he's from the same world as link and will automatically be leaving with him. also i imagine that he shows up out of nowhere with his ship afterwards is possibly because he got lured in through a different method than link and tetra, possibly causing his ship to get dragged in with him, most likely in a way that he didn't actually fully notice.

4: if he's not originally from the great sea why send him there if he doesn't ask to??? you can argue why he'd be tossed out with them but just based on wording in the game and stuff it makes a lot more sense if he was also from the same world as link and co. just got dragged in a different way, at a different point in time. i have a convoluted headcanon all about him getting dragged in and for how long and how and all of that but i'll leave that in the tags.

5: i like him being from the great sea more bc it works for my purposes also i just like it better. that simple.

[analvolcano]

.

[cassiesboy]

have been floating a lot of ideas in my head about cassie not necessarily becoming a hunter, but wanting to learn supernatural self-defense, after her experiences in route 666, and then that sort of intensifying over time (particularly after dean’s season 3 death) to where cassie’s not a hunter, but is equally as capable as one in combat against supernatural entities. SO this is my wish fulfillment episode intro to a post-season 3 episode about cassie’s status as a pro bono/accidental ghost hunter, which ties in immediately to my wish fulfillment 4x01 where dean calls cassie and tells her he’s back from the dead.

[witchspeka]

Do yall think Dimple and Mob will be spirit besties in the afterlife? Or does Mob pass on and Dimple just... continues "living"?

How do spirits even work, I remember seeing a post once saying Dimple is somewhat akin to a minor God because he keeps coming back due to Mob believing in his existence, plus he does get stronger when people worship him I think

If Mob dies and doesnt become a ghost... Will Dimple just dissappear eventually?

[wurdulac]

whenever i encounter ppl who have some sort of social phobia and/or other related issues and then i learn that they somehow also are involved in some group projects, contributed to like fan publications, have partners etc etc i immediately start feeling super bad abt myself. how did you manage that aaa

[deus-ex-mona]

the stare of judgemental confusion is real—

[pirateborn-a]

i vowed i would never die, can you tell me the same too ?

✧.   He’d found him by chance. Fate, Roger would call it, with a smile on his face as he watched Rayleigh from the shadows. It hurt, of course it did. The first time he’d caught sight of the comfortingly familiar face, he’d forgotten how he was dead and thoughtless cried out with joy in greeting, only for his old first-mate to show no signs of hearing him.

     It’d hurt, just as it had with Rouge, and just as it had with few others he’d ran into before; but still, he laughed and contented himself with watching with smile on his face because he got to watch them grow, and wasn’t that a wonderful blessing ?

     But as time passed, his merriment was quick to grow strained.

     Rayleigh... wasn’t well, it was as clear as day. He’d known the man for nearly forty years, and yet he’d never seen Rayleigh get this… bad before. He’d known his death would be harsh on Rayleigh, but there’d been faith in his strength. He'd believed in him, trusted him to take care of himself with his captain no longer around to do so.

     But maybe that wasn’t quite right, because Roger was still around, only now he was unable to do anything. He tried, the Sea knew how hard he tried; from hak,i to song, to rage he’d tried everything he could think of to get Rayleigh to listen —  but the only time the man ever seemed to even entertained the thought of Roger being there, was when he was far too deeply drowned in a bottle for him to manage to get anything through that thick skull of his.

     Still,he tried. He stuck around, leaving rarely and briefly, only if he caught nearby tale of someone else he knew. He kept telling stories, teasing and joking, lighthearted with laughter ever frequent in hopes that even an ounce of it could manage to reach Rayleigh. He laughed about their lives together, he laughed about their adventures, he laughed about Laughtale, and the marines they’d fought, and music and— and— and—

     He was leaning against a wooden support on the docks with small frown on his face, watching as Rayleigh prepared himself a small boat with seemingly no purpose.

“ What’re you up to now, Rayleigh ? ”   he didn’t mean for it to come out a mutter, didn’t mean to let concern bleed through because even though he was dead, he still had to stay strong. Someone had to.

     There’d been an odd look in his partner’s eyes when he woke up this morning, one that still lingered there when he looked and one he didn’t like in the slightest. But Rayleigh couldn’t hear him, so Roger forced himself to be content with stowing onto the boat as his partner set sail from shore.

“ Hey, it’s just like all those years ago when we first met, eh ? ”   he joked cheerfully, even as dread continued to sink deeper in his guts, warning him,   “ You’re fishing all wrong, Ray. Where’s the net ? ”

     There was no response, and even after all this time he still couldn’t help but be disappointed by the lack of one, but he didn’t let that deter him and continued his merry chatter, ignoring the way his own voice grew more and more tense the longer they stayed out.

“ Think we should head back now ?  The fish aren’t biting, and I could use something to eat, ”  he didn’t, he hadn’t eaten since the day before he’d died. But surely Rayleigh had to ?

     No answer.

“ I don’t like the look of those clouds, partner. Wasn’t that one of the first things we learned when we set sail, about how looming dark clouds are bad ? ”   his eyes narrowed on the horizon, the Grandline rarely gave itself warning. Surely, Rayleigh wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and heed it ?

     The storm kept approaching. Rayleigh remained unresponsive.

“ Hey, let’s go to Sabaody. Let’s check out the amusement park again. Remember how we all got sick from the rides and how hard we laughed, the first time we went ?  Wahaha, hey, hey, come on Ray, let us go again, ”   he couldn’t remember at what point he got up to his feet, desperation creeping into his voice, though he kept his smile. Hands unable to reach Rayleigh’s shoulders when he tried to shake his friend out of whatever trance he was in.

     Surely, Rayleigh wouldn’t—

“ Come on, Rayleigh. Shakky’s probably waiting for you. You don’t want her to worry her now.  Remember when we first met her ?  I laughed so hard when she claimed she wanted to run away with you !  But you always were a catch, heh. I am glad you found her, you know ?  Even back then when it meant I had to share you, wahaha ! ”

     Surely. Because Rayleigh wouldn’t. Rayleigh couldn’t.

“ Silvers Rayleigh, as your captain I am ordering you to turn this boat around ! ”   he snapped, barely audible to his own ears over the sea as the storm hit them without mercy. Dammit, who cared if they disbanded. He would always be Rayleigh’s captain and he would always be his first mate so why—

     Rayleigh was smiling.

     Roger stared at it in open horror, cold taking home in his body, as though he truly were the dead man he was supposed to be.

     For the first time in his memory, both alive and dead, Gol D. Roger was utterly lost.

     The towering wave crashed down onto them and with it he yelled a single name that meant so much more with all his might, with all his energy , begging for death to be kind because he could not stand to be the killer of his own partner—

“ Rayleigh, Rayleigh— ! ”   he couldn’t stop himself from screaming if he tried, desperately trying to cling onto the sinking boat and still partner —  why aren’t you fighting, Ray, you’re supposed to always fight  — but his hands would constantly stop short of reaching him and rage boiled underneath his skin because now was not the time for bullshit rules !

     He took in a deep breath —  useless habit, a waste of precious few seconds — and dove down into the murky darkness, trying so desperately to hold Rayleigh but it was all in vain. He was the god damn Pirate King, carrier of the Will of D, and utterly useless to do anything but watch as he condemned the man who was his heart.

“ Dammit all ! ”   his voice stained with grief at his own inability, hoarse and jagged; though how that even worked when he was dead and underwater, while he wasn’t even allowed to save Rayleigh was far beyond infuriating—

     A voice whispered to him amidst the cacophony, gentle and sweet. He recognized it, heart aching even more, it was the same Voice that’d put the Sea in his blood when he was a boy —  and he clung onto it with all he had, as though he were the man drowning, and begged her to guide him once more. So he followed her blindly, letting her bring him further down into the dark waters when— when—

“ Help ! ”   he shouted, projecting every part of himself into his plea towards the small, shadowy figure lingering in the depths,   “ Please !  I am begging you to help, my partner is drowning—  I don’t know how long he has !  Please, please just save him, save my partner !  He’s right here, you just need to turn around ! ”

     Maybe there was a god, or maybe the Sea took pity, because—  miraculously  — the figure looked his way and then beyond, immediately bolting towards the prone figure of his Rayleigh and Roger sobbed. He followed them without hesitation, swimming towards the surface and doing his best to keep up with the fishman  ( thank you. Thank you )  who’d saved his partner. His mind was a blur, filled with static as it struggled to  process what had just occurred. He didn’t know, refused to know, though he couldn’t stop it from sinking in his mind.

     He’d almost lost Rayleigh.

     Hah. Hah. He wanted to laugh from the bitter irony of it all. His entire living life he’d tried to protect Rayleigh, threw himself in danger careless of his own well-being if it meant he were a shield. He’d fought, killed, razed—  all for his partner.

     And now, he’d almost lost Rayleigh to himself. Because of him.

     He did manage a chuckle, because the humor was far from lost on him, though the sound came came out more a bitter choke as he watched the young fishman drag Rayleigh to shore and pretended that he could actually help.

“ You fool, ”   he said, voice shaking still, because he could not stop the tears from flowing down his face, no matter how hard he tried, but that was okay because only his first mate had ever been allowed to see his tears,   “ Heh, worrying your captain like that. I’m supposed to be the reckless one... What am I going to do with you, Rayleigh ? ”

     He didn’t know, he didn’t know and he hated it. Because he could no longer protect Rayleigh, but he was still there. By the sea, he would let thousands more sabers make home in his chest if it meant Rayleigh could remained safe and were allowed joy.

     He’d never felt more lost, the feeling foreign and disquieting, so he started talking. He started talking and didn’t stop talking. Sitting there as close to Rayleigh as death would allow him, Roger kept speaking, babbling nonsense and memories and hopes for Rayleigh’s future because he had always followed his dreams, but what if his dream was for Rayleigh to live ?  What if his dream was for Rayleigh to be happy ?  So he said it, and said it again, and again, and again, and not once did he stop the flow of words until they were forcefully interrupted by Rayleigh’s splutters of life and—

     And Roger laughed. Truly and boldly. He laughed so hard he doubled over until he was sprawled across the floor, utterly cackling in his relief. He kept laughing as his partner and Hatchan  ( thank you )  talked and introduced themselves. Kept laughing as they started to make their way back to Rayleigh’s house. Laughing so brightly, that if he still had air left in his lungs he’d be kneeling over like an old man tenfold.

     Because even if Rayleigh refused to see it for the time being, Roger would cherish every breath his partner still took as a treasure above anything gold or Joyboy could dream to offer, for they meant Rayleigh lived.

“ Thank you, partner, ”  he gasped out between mirthful wheezes, wiping the remaining tears from his face, and maybe it was selfish when he was still dead, but he couldn’t care less in face of the pure relief and warmth bursting from his chest,   “ Thank you for living. ”

[aria0fgold]

Oh yeah I remember now! The thing I was supposed to post that I forgot! It was about my dead OC. Turns out I DO have a dead OC, it's Seph's older sister. I'm thinking bout her now and the more I do the more I realize how tragic her life is so now obviously I gotta expand on that. As a treat for the other OCs that'd be affected by the death (something that past Aria forgot to do so I'm taking up the mantle for that).