#like people will defend dream and tear into people who like phil

[dromaeo-sauridae]

me watching parts of the fandom get up on their high horse and hate on actual irl people for liking a character

[griffintail]

Okay this is just a small thing that you don't have to do, just an idea but like. What do you think their reactions would be to wolf hybrid!Child reader going Rabid on a skeleton that tried to hurt their dad.

I hope you enjoy! ♥

In Game, Reader is 10

Pairings:  Platonic! Parental! Tommy, Wilbur, Philza, Technoblade, Eret, and Dream x F! Child! Wolf Hybrid! Reader

Warnings: Fighting of Mobs

        TommyInnit

        Hyped

        Tommy loved bringing (Y/N) everywhere he went, much to everyone’s dismay her whole life.

        Their dismay lessened once (Y/N) was able to actually learn how to fight. With her added perks of being part wolf and her father being a decent fighter, she wasn’t half bad for only being ten.

        Today, the pair were out trying to get (Y/N) her first disc. Sure, she had her father’s she shared with him but she wanted her own, which made Tommy so proud of her. Together they struck out into the world and went searching for a few ruined temples and such.

        “We only got a few diamonds so far.” (Y/N) huffed, her ears flat on top of her head after they searched their third temple.

        “None of that now!” Tommy tried to cheer her up. “It took me ages to find my first disc. We’ll find one for you. And having a few diamonds isn’t too bad either! We can use them to try and scam a few items from people.”

        (Y/N)’s tail wagged at her father’s words. “Yeah! We’ll find one! And if you’re going to do more scams with Uncle Tubbo can I join?”

        “Of course! That’s the spirit!” He ruffled her hair between her ears as they went to find a new place to loot.

        Night was slowly creeping up on them when they found a new abandoned building.

        “Alright, it’s dark inside and it’s late. So, get your shield and sword ready.” Tommy told her.

        She nodded, taking her shield off her back as Tommy went in first, shield up and sword at the ready. Following in after him with her shield, her ears twitched as she listened. Tommy walked forward when (Y/N) heard the pulling off a bow. Before she could warn him, Tommy yelped as an arrow snagged his bandana and tore it as it went by.

         He whipped around to defend himself when (Y/N) snarled, launching herself into the skeleton.

        The monster was barely able to hold itself together and got no chance to respond to the attack as the child used her sword to cut off its head. Tommy stood in surprise as (Y/N)’s ears twitched and her tail straight as she growled tearing the rest of the bones apart.

        “Holy shit!” He exclaimed finally, (Y/N) jumping as she looked at him. “That was fucking awesome!”

        She knelt on the ground for a moment with a bone in her hand, watching him before grinning and her tail wagged quickly.

        “Really?”

        “Of course! My training for you has really worked!” He grinned as helped her up. “Let’s go own more shit!”

        “Yeah!” She bounced putting the bone in her hand in her bag to gnaw on later.

        Tommy had her listen first this time and together they took out any other mobs.

        In the end, Tubbo screamed as Tommy slammed his door open with (Y/N) on his shoulders, practically howling while holding a disc in celebration. It was just an average adventure.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Wilbur

        Worried but proud

        Oh look, Wilbur has another animal child, who would be surprised?

        After the war, L’Manberg had become a mostly peaceful nation. (Y/N) didn’t need to learn how to fight like her brother so he let her instead enjoy her other passions.

        It very much pleased Wilbur though that his little girl always still wanted to spend time with him. One of those days, the pair had been outside the walls. Wilbur had brought his guitar, strumming as he sang, while (Y/N) ran around to get her extra energy. The father hadn’t expected the storm clouds to roll in so fast but they did.

        The rain started to pour, (Y/N) screaming as she clung onto Wilbur as thunder boomed.

        “It’s alright little star.” He assured her as he quickly got up, putting his guitar on his back. “Let’s get back home.”

        She clung to his hand as they sprinted for the path and went for L’Manberg. He had carelessly not brought a weapon as he hadn’t expected to be out when monsters could come out. So, when a skeleton was in the path, he halted to a stop, looking for a quick escape before it noticed them.

        “This way—” Wilbur tugged (Y/N)’s hand but his eyes went wide as the arrow flew past his head. “Shit!”

        Before he knew it, (Y/N) had let go of his hand. He was too busy looking for a weapon to defend himself and his child when he noticed (Y/N) attacking the skeleton.

        “(Y/N)!” He yelped in panic as he rushed forward.

        Even without any experience, just pure instinct to protect her pack, she managed to take apart the skeleton. Wilbur pulled her from it, her big eyes looking at him with a bone in her mouth. She sat there for a moment before her eyes went wide, the bone dropping.

        “I’m sorry daddy!”

        Wilbur didn’t know what to say for a moment, the thunderclap breaking him from his thoughts as (Y/N) screamed, clinging onto him again. He took a new approach and scooped her up before sprinting instead for the Embassy. Tommy wasn’t in, so they were able to slip in. The man sighed with relief to be out of the rain, putting (Y/N) down.

        She shook the water out of her hair as she swished her tail to do the same. Wilbur took off his guitar, jacket, and hat, laying the objects on a chest as he ruffled his hair.

        “Alright, let’s get your jacket off and find something to dry off with,” Wilbur said, going for the back room.

        “I’m really sorry daddy.” She spoke before he stepped through.

        He stopped, remembering what happened. He looked back at her, her ears pointed back as she stared down at the ground with her hands behind her back and her wet tail on the floor. Coming over, he knelt in front of her, taking her shoulders, having her look at.

        “There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Wilbur told her, making one of her ears twitch. “You did good. I was extremely worried, yes. I was scared you would get hurt and I don’t want you to rush into danger again without a proper weapon, but I’m not angry or disappointed with you.”

        “I really did good?” She asked, her tail coming off the floor.

        “Yes, you did.” He smiled. “I’m proud you were able to think on your feet little star and protect us both. But, as I said, we’re not going to do that again without a weapon right?”

        “Yes sir, Mr. President.” She gave a giggle with a salute.

        He laughed as he kissed her forehead and ruffled her hair. “Now let’s get you dry.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Philza

        Would have taught her more control, proud

        (Y/N) laughed as Phil held her securely to him as they soared through the sky from the village they had just traded at.

        “You having fun darling?” He smiled at her.

        “Yes!” She cheered, her ears twitching madly in the wind. “This so much more fun than walking!”

        He laughed himself as he nodded. “It is. Like I said though, I can’t do this long, we’ll probably have to walk the rest of the way home.”

        “Aw ok.” She frowned but instead smiled and decided to enjoy the moment.

        Phil had promised the young girl when she was old enough, he’d start taking her one trading expeditions after he trained her up a bit. He did tend to stay out for long periods of time after all and usually saw mobs. It had come to that time and Phil personally trained her. As Phil had taught all three of his sons, teaching his fourth child was no work and (Y/N) picked it up quickly. He also helped her work on her wolf instincts just as he had with Techno with his piglin ones.

        Of course, it was precautional training. He wasn’t going to let her fight mobs so easily. There was little to no chance she’d have to fight anything; Phil was a master at avoiding mobs and taking them out with ease as he only had one life left to his name and had to be extra careful.

        As night was starting to set in, Phil landed as his wings took as much as they could.

        “Alright, stay close to me darling.” He told her as he took off his shield and sword as a precaution.

        She nodded, her ears perked up and listening carefully to help her father as she had her own gear out. Together, they walked through the snow towards their home, Phil ahead of (Y/N) as she was close to his back. As they were close to the edge of their property, (Y/N)’s right ear twitched at the sound of a bowstring in the distance. Quickly, she turned and held up a shield in front of her father’s back, an arrow giving a loud THUNK as it hit the wood.

        Phil jumped at the noise, whipping around just as (Y/N) dashed forward and used her sword to strike the skeleton with ease. He rushed over as the skeleton tried to recollect itself and gave a final blow to it.

        “Come on,” Phil told her as her tail swished and she growled lightly. “We’re almost home.”

        She followed Phil again and from there they got home safely. He sighed in relief as he laid down his weapons, (Y/N) laying hers down beside him. Looking at his daughter, he patted her head between her ears smiling.

        “Good job kiddo. You really had my back.”

        Her tail wagged eagerly as she smiled. “I learned from the best.”

        He laughed as he nodded. “Guess you did. We got to work on you not rushing in head first though ok?”

        “Ok.” She nodded with determination.

        “That’s my little angel.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Technoblade

        Proud

        (Y/N) was the daughter of the Blood God!

        The second she could hold a sword on her own, she wanted to learn everything she could just to be like her father. Techno was glad to teach her as he wanted to make sure if his enemies ever found her, she could defend himself and he did tend to exploit her wolf abilities in some dangerous places, so not having to watch her constantly was good too.

        Today was any other day. A bit of training between the two, trading a bit with a village, minor terrorism in the Dream SMP land.

        “So, what did we learn today?” Techno asked as he led her across the bridge in the Nether to the home portal.

        “Grandpa doesn’t let us have fun?” She questioned as she looked at him.

        Techno threw back his head in laughter at that. Phil had convinced Techno not to do a few of his crimes, much to the pair’s disappointment.

        “I was looking for more we keep better track of our invisibility, but grandpa not letting us have fun is true too.” He grinned.

        (Y/N) wagged her tail as Techno went through the portal first, (Y/N) a few seconds behind. He frowned at the night sky, taking his axe off his belt as he saw a few scattered mobs in the snow.

        “Guess we were in the Nether too long,” Techno said. “Stay close to me. We’re going to make a run for the house.”

        “Ok.” She nodded as she took off her sword just as a precaution.

        “Three, two, one, go!” He told her before the two of them sprinted across the snow.

        They had piqued the interest of a few zombies but they were much too fast for them. As they got close to the house, an arrow snagged itself into Techno’s cape. He stopped and went to turn with a full axe swing but didn’t get the chance as a snarl filled the air. Looking, he saw (Y/N) slashing through the skeleton with ease then tore it apart with her own hands.

        He was impressed but there were mobs around. So, grabbing her by the arm, he dragged her away, forcing her to run with him again as she growled still at the now-dead skeleton.

        “Come on killer.” He told her with a proud smirk.

        “It tried to hurt you.” She huffed as they finally slowed down on the porch.

        “Yes, but what do we say?” He looked at her.

        “Technoblade never dies!” She threw up her arms with a grin and he smiled as well as he ruffled her hair as he opened the door.

        “That’s right. You did well out there, little goddess, we need to work on your form though and that was a bit overkill.”

        She pouted. “Ok.”

        He chuckled patting her head. “But I’m proud of you regardless.”

        That made her smile again as Techno took off his cape to fix it. As he did the voices were chanting.

        Blood Child! Blood Child! Blood Child!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Eret

        Worried

        (Y/N), as a wolf hybrid, had an excessive amount of energy that Eret was just not able to keep up with sometimes. So, he’d let her go off on her own with Tommy, the two usually able to work both of their excessive energy out without any possible danger as Eret made Tommy promise him.

        It had been one of those days and Eret was waiting by the castle gate, worry starting to seep into him as the sun was starting to set.

        “Damn it, Tommy.” He muttered under his breath before going back inside the castle for a moment.

        Coming back out and starting to walk down the path, now he had a sword strapped to his belt as he made his way to Tommy’s. As he got to the fenced area, he heard the sounds of (Y/N)’s laughter as Tommy was yelling out profanities. Going in and to the door, he knocked on Tommy’s door. Swinging it open, Tommy stood there with a scowl on his face.

        “You’re both late,” Eret told him.

        “Shit, is it really that late?” Tommy’s eyes went wide at the setting light. “I got to meet up with Wilbur!”

        He went back inside as (Y/N) came over, seeing her father, a guilty look on her face seeing the fading light.    

        “Sorry, dad.”

        “It’s alright sweetie. Let’s get home before it gets too dark. Stay safe Tommy!” He called as (Y/N) came to Eret’s side.

        The two walked down the Prime Path as the sun set full set.

        “You’re not mad?” (Y/N) asked.

        “No princess, I understand you were having fun. I was just worried and I knew I had to come to get you. Tommy’s a good fighter but I don’t think he could protect two people.” Eret explained calmly to her.

        “Well, I’m sorry I worried you.”

        “It’s alright, let’s just get home safe.” He smiled at her.

        The castle was just in sight, making Eret feel relief that they’d get there without seeing a single mob, but he jinxed himself. As they stepped out of the gate from the Community House, an arrow flew by his arm. He jumped in surprise, pulling his sword as he went to grab (Y/N) to pull her behind him, but only grabbed air.

        Looking around in a panic, he saw his little girl tackling the skeleton on instinct and starting to pull it apart with her hands.

        “Princess.” He said quickly as he went over and pulled her off the mob as she growled. “It’s alright. Calm down.”

        “It tried to hurt you!”

        “I understand sweetie, but you should have let me handle it alright?”

        She huffed but nodded. “Alright.”

        He helped her up and smiled as he ruffled her hair. “Thank you for being my knight instead princess but I promise I got it.”

        “Ok, dad.” She agreed as they went home to the castle without any more problems. “…can you teach me how to fight though?”

        “If you want to princess. We’ll figure it out.”

        “Thank you, dad.” She smiled.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Dream

         Proud but Worried

        “Got you!” (Y/N) howled as she tackled George, who in turn screamed.

        Dream laughed as he came over to them putting his wooden sword on George’s chest. They were playing a game of Manhunt and Dream had (Y/N) on his team naturally. With that, she was able to use her wolf senses to win with ease. Dream actually had to do very little but defend her. Sure, he trained her but there was a large training curve between her and everyone else.

        “We win again.” Dream told him.

        “This is no fair,” George whined. “(Y/N) can hear everything.”

        “You guys practically stomp around the forest.” (Y/N) grinned as she jumped up, her tail wagging rapidly.

        “Now don’t be too mean to your uncle.” Dream laughed, ruffling her hair.

        “I’m going to guess George lost too.” Sapnap came over to the group.

        “Dad and I are the best team!” (Y/N) threw up her hands, making Dream grin as he moved his mask from his face.

        “What told you? The scream?” Dream teased George now.

        George grabbed Dream, trying to tackle him but Dream managed to swing it back and pin George to the ground. The goggled man huffed at his second defeat as (Y/N) cheered.

        “Alright, let’s get home you two idiots.” Dream chuckled as he helped George up.

        The sun was close to setting and they were in the forest. The two other men agreed with Dream and everyone started walking.

        “Can we play again tomorrow?” (Y/N) asked Dream with eagerness, her tail still wagging.

        He laughed, nodding. “Sure. But why don’t you try and find me tomorrow with your uncles?”

        “But I like your team.” She pouted.

        “I’m honored sweetheart, but we have to make your uncles think they’re good too.” He whispered but loud enough for the others to hear.

        “Alright! You listen here Dream!” Sapnap stopped to argue with his friend, making Dream laughed.

        (Y/N) was giggling as the three were playfully arguing with each other but she frowned as her ear twitched hearing a sound in the forest. It sounded like…bones?

        Then she heard the bowstring and her eyes went wide.

        “Look out!” She shouted, startling everyone, giving them enough time to move as the arrow just flew past Dream’s face.

        “Holy shit!” Dream exclaimed in surprise.

        Before anyone could react, there was a snarl and the three saw the little girl tearing the skeleton apart.

        “Yo! You show it (Y/N)!” Sapnap cheered.

        “Shut up. Alright, sweetheart.” Dream came over, pulling her off. “You got it.”

        She huffed at the pile of bones before looking at her dad. “Are you ok daddy?”

        He smiled lightly as he nodded, patting her head as he crouched in front of her. “I’m fine, you warned me just in time.”

        “Good.” She grinned, her tail wagging.

        “But I don’t want you to do something like that again ok?” He looked at her seriously. “You got it, but you went way over of what you needed to.”

        She frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

        “It was dead, but you kept going. That’s serious stuff. Sapnap was wrong to encourage you. I’m proud you got it, but you need to keep your control, ok?”

        She nodded slowly. “Ok. I think I understand.”

        He smiled again, kissing the top of her head. “Good. Now let’s get home before anything else catches us.”

        With that, the four went home, pride definitely in his chest but he would make sure his daughter understood her anger.

[anarchy-and-piglins]

(Read on AO3)

He doesn't know if Ranboo heard him.

And Techno can't say if that makes it better or worse or maybe both at the same time because the universe is cruel and uncaring and thoroughly fucked up. But he knows it hurts to think about, and he knows it will probably haunt him forever.

He dreams about it – nightmares are supposed to be unrealistic and comical in how they warp your memories into seeming that much worse than what actually happened. You're supposed to wake up and realize that the scenes laid before you were nothing more than fragments, made more sharp-edged by your own subconscious. You're supposed to shake them off easy.

But at night, Techno is getting out of the water again, clothes drenched and sticking to his skin. And the fabric of his cape is singed from the lava where the fire res potion hadn't soaked in thoroughly in all the same spots as it was on that day. He is met with the same people, glances of confusion and panic, and hears the same ringing of Sam's voice in his ears.

(and Techno knows maybe there is little difference in nightmare and memory for him)

Sapnap staring at him - his fingers twitching on the sheath of his sword - and then over Techno's shoulder. Staring at Dream, who Techno had almost kind of forgotten was there. Eryn has his weapons out and Techno can hear an arrow being notched and he feels his shoulders draw back, feels the tightening of the noose around his throat. Surrounded on all sides, outnumbered, unable to take them all in a fight by himself.

(he smells the ashes of the community house burning)

They have to get out, they have to move, Techno wants to move and be able to breathe without the weight of too much too many people bearing down on him. Chat rears its ugly head like an animal cornered, screaming for bloodshed, screaming for him to scratch and bite and pry his way out of this situation if necessary. Anything for survival. Techno can't.

He's waiting on the others to get there first.

Dream's already going ahead, a blur of scrambling motion. Connor is running around in the chaos and Techno still doesn't know why he's even here but nobody seems to be too bothered so he ignores it. Just Ranboo has lagged behind, Techno only needs Ranboo and then they can make a run for it. He's turning his head, he's defending against a million enemies at once, he's ignoring Dream's urges that they need to hurry and go!

(not without Ranboo, never without Ranboo)

And then he's watching Ranboo unbuckle the straps on his armor. He's watching the netherite fall to the ground, the only barrier between Ranboo and the wrath of what feels to Techno like every single person on the server. The only barrier between Ranboo and Sam's sword at his throat and why, why would Ranboo do that Techno can't understand, can't think, can't breathe.

It's almost a miracle he hears Sam's demands over the roaring of the voices and the dissonance of the crowd and his own panic spiraling. It's spreading through his every limb, it's tearing down into his core, it's destroying him.

(the phantom cold of the blizzard nips at his flesh and sinks into his bones, an axe pulled up against Carl's neck. It fades as quickly as it came to him and now he's being led into the capital of those that want him dead, Phil's disbelief at him being captured almost a compliment that Techno can't acknowledge over his own growing anger because Phil is there, unharmed but in harm's way, fingers curled around the balustrade and ankle weighed down by a monitor. Techno is surprised the butcher army didn't bind his wings – they seem pretty fond of treating people as if they were animals.

the cage and the anvil become meaningless in the face of keeping Phil safe from them)

He needs to keep Ranboo safe but how can he when Sam wants Dream, wants what Techno can't give him – not even if Techno has a sickening moment of wanting to. He would. He wished that he could. Dream who is still yelling for them to move and Techno who can't because he'd rather carve his own fucking heart out than abandon Ranboo.

(Ranboo doesn't do anything, calm and still and almost as if resigned to his fate)

Techno tries to reason, he tries to stall – he's not holding a crossbow this time, staring at a box and finger on the trigger but all the same, he is hoping for anybody to intervene. To step in and do something that would keep him from bearing the weight of an innocent's death.

(just like back then, nobody does)

Sam won't listen to him, Dream won't listen to him, nobody will just listen to him for once-

"Dream doesn't care!" Techno yells, voice pinched, desperate to be understood. "I care!"

And the only mercy is that it's quick. It's over in a blink – maybe faster – and Techno knows enough about how the nervous system works to know Ranboo didn't suffer. He probably barely registered it, didn't get a chance to feel any pain. Sam made the cut clean and quick and hopefully, Techno prays that hopefully, Ranboo was dead before he had a chance to realize or feel it happen.

But he doesn't know if Ranboo heard what he said.

He wakes up with that same desperate scream dying out in his throat, tangled in the blankets and heaving, scratching at the mattress just because the alternative is digging into the skin of his own arms. Phil is at his side in a second.

They've been sleeping in the same bed every since the jailbreak. It wasn't a conscious decision they made, it wasn't a discussion they needed to have. It was just Techno returning from Snowchester, exhausted and confused and with barely enough strength in his legs to not collapse on the spot, barely making it to his bed. And Phil silently following him up there, sure and steady in his presence and with the dust of the wither's netherrack still staining his face, curling up against Techno's side and bringing his arms around him like an anchor against the world's currents.

(Techno cried, that first night, but he hasn't since)

Phil smooths the hair out of his face and then grabs his wrists to pin them down so Techno doesn't hurt himself in a blind panic. Waits with undeserved patience until Techno can come down enough to talk, to breathe, to let out dry sobs that shake his entire chest.

"It's okay, Techno. You're alright." Phil sticks so close to him it hurts, it consumes Techno with comfort he can't accept.

"I don't-" Techno tries to speak, because talking feels like dying but it's Phil and for you, Phil, the world even if it leaves him choking on every syllable. "I don't know if Ranboo heard me. I, I was still in the middle of my sentence when he- there was so much noise, what if he didn't hear?"

(so much noise and everything was bright except Ranboo's eyes, the light fading from them too fast, too easily)

Techno failed him.

(In a different memory, Ranboo is grinning, playfully throwing up some water at him with the wooden oar of his boat as if it were a game while they made their way to the next spawner. "If you're the main character," Techno had told him. "Then I want to be the cool sensei."

How easily Ranboo had played into that joke. How he had faked despair at Techno's insistence that he'd become the best mentor in the world and then promptly die a dramatic death because come on, Ranboo, that's just how storytelling works don't you know?

How hollow that joke felt in hindsight, when it was supposed to have been the other way around.)

"He already knew," Phil says then. His hands are on Techno's cheeks and he presses their foreheads together and it's almost not too much. "Oh Techno, you got to believe me, he knew mate. Ranboo knew."

"But I didn't tell him," Techno insists, more urgently.

Phil smiles, softly, gently, tracing his thumb against the curve of Techno's temple. "You didn't need to. He already knew."

And Techno wants to believe that. With every single ounce of his being, he wants to believe that Phil is right.

He just doesn't think he can yet.

[ray-ray-writings]

Protect You-Technoblade

#349 from this prompt list. Check out my masterlist here!

This is a Technoblade x gn!reader in the dreamsmp! I hope you enjoy!

Side note, this will not have the correct dialogue that happened in canon at all lol. I have a really hard time writing things like that, so most of the dialogue will be my own. 

Y/N tries to warn their boyfriend about the Butcher Army. The prideful man that he ignores their attempts of getting him to flee. By the time he realizes they were right, it’s too late.

Y/N’s POV

“Techno! I shouted, pounding on the front door of my boyfriend’s ‘retirement’ home. I had been hanging out at Phil’s house when Tubbo, Fundy, Ranboo, and Quackity lowkey burst down his door demanding to know where Techno was. Phil, wanting to keep his son safe, refused to tell them. It didn’t matter though, they found the compass that Techno gave his father so that he could always find Techno’s house. The older man was put under house arrest for refusing to help, meaning that he couldn’t go warn his son. Luckily, I was in the backroom when they were questioning Phil, they didn’t even know I was there. So as soon as they were out the door, I said goodbye to Phil and rushed outside, climbed on my horse, and galloped as fast as I could to Techno’s house to warn him. 

“Techno! Open up!” I shouted, pretty panicked about what was going to happen to the man. The front door opened to reveal my very confused boyfriend. “Y/N? What’s going on?” He questioned. “We have to go” I rushed out, “You’re being hunted by Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity, and Ranboo. They’re calling themselves the Butcher Army. They have Phil’s compass that they stole and they’re on their way right now to take you to L’Manberg, what for? I don’t know. We have to leave!” Techno grabbed my shoulders forcing me to focus on him, “Y/N, take some deep breaths and calm down. Now I want you to think about who you’re talking to. I’m Technoblade. I’m the Blood God. I think I can handle a couple of wimpy kids coming to drag me many many blocks away. I think I’ll be fine.” His words frustrated me. Why wasn’t he taking this seriously. I wasn’t able to respond to his prideful words because they arrived. 

“Technoblade!” Tubbo yelled as the four charged forward. Techno pushed me slightly behind him and descended the stairs to greet the four boys. “Gentleman!” He greeted loudly, “To what do I owe the pleasure.” The Army glared at Techno, their eyes watching his every move. “Technoblade, for your crimes against L’Manberg, you have been summoned to the L’Manberg’s court house so that you may be put on trial.” I slowly descended the stairs, getting closer to them, trying to hear better. That seems a lot more civilized than I originally planned. 

Techno let out a deep chuckle, “Yeah, I think I’m good. I owe you people nothing. You took everything from me and so I think I’ll just stay here.” The sound of swords unsheathing filled the air as the four of them got into a defensive stance. “I don’t think you understood Blade,” Quackity hissed. “It wasn’t a question. Now drop your armor and weapons and come with us.” When Techno made no moves to follow orders, Quackity laughed. “We can do this one of two ways, the easy way or the bloody way. Which would you prefer?” Now it was Techno’s turn to laugh. “The bloody way? Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the Blood God. I’d love to see you try” Techno taunted, moving closer to the three… Wait a moment. There were only three in front of him now. Where did Ranboo g- 

“I didn’t want to do this Techno, but you leave me with no choice. GRAB THEM!” Tubbo yelled out. I was confused, grab what? I didn’t have to wait long for my answer. I let out a short scream as I was grabbed from behind. A sword pressed itself against my throat causing me to gulp. “Sorry Y/N” I heard Ranboo whisper in my ear. It was then I realized that the reason I lost sight of him earlier was because he was sneaking up behind me. 

I glanced around and found Quackity had a hold of Carl. My eyes met Techno’s. His face was still stoic, but his eyes were swimming with fear. “Now you have two options, Techno. Either come with us or watch the two things you love the most be killed in front of your eyes.” Tubbo announced. Techno’s eyes flickered between Tubbo and me for a moment. I silently begged him to stay strong. I had all my canon lives, if I died once, I’d be fine. But Techno didn’t get the hint. “Okay,” He conceded, “I’ll go with you.” 

My chest felt heavy. Oh how I wish that he had listened to me earlier. A wicked smirk found its way onto Fundy and Quackity’s faces. “Perfect, now drop your armor and weapons.” Techno did as he was told. His shiny purple armor falling onto the snow and his weapons of the same description followed suit. “Let’s move,” Tubbo commanded. Ranboo moved the sword away from my neck, but still had a tight grip on my shoulder. He nudged me forward a bit and the six of us, plus Carl, began the trek back to L’Manberg. 

*Small Time Skip*

Once we got into L’Manberg, Carl and I were separated from Techno. Techno immediately protested and made an attempt to get to us, but once a sword was placed not only at my neck but his own, he settled and complied with the instructions. Carl and I were escorted to a nearby building that had iron doors and bars, so that once we were inside, there was no getting out from the inside. Someone would have to let us out. 

The door slammed shut as Ranboo exited the room, leaving me alone with Carl. My eyes filled with tears as I turned to my boyfriend’s beloved horse. Carl, seeming to sense my sadness, bumped his head against my hand causing him to pet him. I did as he asked with a watery laugh. “I’m really worried about him,” I spoke aloud. Carl let out a huff answering me. “Well I know it’s just a trial, but I can’t help but worry about something much more sinister. I mean they named themselves the Butcher Army. That doesn’t seem very diplomatic to me.” Carl let out another huff, looking at me almost annoyed. “I’m well aware he can take care of himself, but I fear he may not defend himself if he thinks we’re in danger.” Carl conceded and didn’t “say” anything else. 

The sound of the iron door creaking open, broke me out of the moment. My head snapped to the doorway and was shocked at the sight. “Dream?” I whispered, stunned at the sight of the green cloaked, white masked, man. “Yeah it’s me. Come with me, now. I’m going to get you out of here.” He urged, motioning for me to do as he asked. I was hesitant. Why would Dream help us? But then again, what would I rather? Stay here and wait for the butcher army to come back. Or escape now? I decided on the latter. 

I grabbed Carl’s reins and pulled him out of the house, following Dream as we snuck down the prime path. “Are we going where I think we’re going?” I asked aloud as I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Dream chuckled at my tone, “Yeah. We are. It’s where I told Techno to meet me.” I let out a sigh but nodded, “Great” 

The Final Control Room. I remember like it was yesterday. Eret’s betrayal shocked us all. I shook the thoughts from my head as we made our way inside. “Techno!” I breathed out, rushing forward and hugging him. Techno instantly returned the hug and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Y/N. I’m so glad you’re safe.” “What happened?” I questioned, pulling back from the hug. “I’ll explain later, but we’ve got to go now.” He muttered, turning to Dream. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Oh how the turn tables….

“Thanks Dream” Techno thanked. I turned and found Techno handing Dream a bunch of items. “Anytime Techno. Pleasure doing business with you.” Then Dream was gone. Techno turned back to us with a slightly worried face. “I can hear Quackity calling for me. He’ll be here any second. I’m going to have to fight him and I really don’t want him to know that you two are here. I’m going to block you in. Hang tight for a minute.” I nodded and moved so that I was standing next to Carl and made it so we were taking up as little space as possible. “Okay here we go.” Techno quickly put cobble down and blocked the two of us in. 

Techno finished just in time because I heard Quackity yell his name. I could barely hear what was happening through the cobble, but I got the gist of it all. After a few minutes, I got a notification. I held my breath as I read it, praying it wasn’t Techno. It wasn’t. Quackity was slain by Technoblade. I let out a sigh of relief and began breaking the cobble wall down. It went pretty quick as both my boyfriend and I were both breaking the wall. After most of the wall was down, I was able to wrap my arms around my boyfriend. We squeezed each other really tightly for just a moment before breaking apart. “Let’s go.” 

Techno hopped on Carl and then helped me on as well. Techno gave Carl a swift kick and we were off. As L’Manberg fell behind me I felt all of the stress fall off of my shoulders and the air fill my lungs. The clops of Carl’s footsteps and the constant rocking motion of the horse caused me to let out a yawn. I buried my face into Techno’s back as he looked over his shoulder. “Tired?” he gently asked. I simply nodded and closed my eyes. “Sleep then. I’ll wake you up when we get home.” I smiled at the terms used. Home. He didn’t say his house. He called it home. 

*another small time skip*

I was woken up to my body being set down on something comfortable. I let out a groan as my eyes fluttered open. Techno stood over me with a small smile. “Hey there love. We’re home.” He mumbled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my lips. I hummed in contentment as I kissed back. Techno broke the kiss as he moved to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to me. I gently rolled on my side to face my boyfriend. The two of us just stared at each other for a moment, soaking up each other’s presence after the crazy day we had. 

“You want to talk about it now.” I asked softly, tracing random shapes on Techno’s chest. Techno let out a sigh as he pulled me close to his chest, “It wasn’t a trial. They lied to me. There was never a trial. They took me to L’Manberg to execute me.” Techno breathed out. I let out a small gasp at his words. Those boys planned on executing someone? “I knew something was up because Dream came to me with a woodland mansion map and told me it would be worthwhile to go find it. So I did and got a few totems of undying. That’s how I survived today.” I wrapped my arms around Techno and squeezed him tightly to my chest. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that.” I murmured into his chest. I felt Techno’s shoulders move in a shrug. “It is what it is….” “Well then I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner today to warn you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you better.” 

Techno’s chest rumbled as he chuckled, “You know, as long as I’m alive there are going to be people hunting me and wanting me dead? You can’t protect me” He murmured in my ears. I rolled my eyes at his response and peered up at him. “I can do my best. I love you so much and I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.” I whispered, bringing my hand up and stroking Techno’s cheek. Techno’s eyes fluttered closed at the gentle contact. 

A silence fell over the room as the two of us cuddled together, falling asleep after a long and stressful day. I closed my eyes and snuggled into his chest. As I fell asleep, I felt Techno’s breath on my cheek as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “For what it’s worth. I will always protect you. I love you so much Y/N. I would burn the world if anything ever happened to you.” A gentle kiss was pressed to my cheek and then to my lips before he settled back down. I fell asleep that night wrapped in my boyfriend’s arms with a soft smile on my face. 

I suck at endings so so much. But I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please leave a like and maybe even tell me what your favorite part was!

[artistconk]

The one who stayed AU

-Wilbur and Techno are twins, with Techno being 2 minutes older. Wilbur is Phil’s favourite. Wilbur and Phil often leave for long periods of time, leaving Techno to raise Tommy. 

-This leaves Tommy with very anarchist views. He’s also able to work for himself instead of stealing, and good with swords. He’s also terrible at being alone.

-One day, Philza and Wilbur leave to create a nation, they call it L’manberg. In this nation, is Wilbur, Philza, Tubbo, Niki, Jack Manifold, Eret, and a boy that Wilbur adopted named Fundy. The country is a Communist Dictatorship, Wilbur being the President, and Philza being the Vice-President. [This idea is credited to @beeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaans ]

-They fight for the independence of this nation, and get taken to a small room, where Eret says she has things to help. At this time, everyone other than Phil has 3 lives. Phil is at one.

-Eret betrays them, all losing a cannon life, other than Phil, who is ushered out by Wilbur so he can live.

-Upon seeing this Massacre, Phil grows tired. He duels Dream one on one for independence. They use bows, the first to kill the other wins. Phil wins this duel, taking Dream down to two cannon lives. L’manberg gains independence.

-They live happily for a while, but after a few years, Wilbur confides in Phil  saying he feels that no one listens to him anymore. Phil suggests that it’s because he was not democratically elected, and suggests they hold an election. Wilbur agrees with this idea, and they start a party called POG2020. This stands for the Politicians of Gaming.

-Upon hearing that Phil and Wilbur plan on rigging the election by being the only running party, Quackity runs for president, with his running mate, Georgenotfound. They create a party called SWAG2020. George figures Philza and Wilbur will win, as they’re beloved by the nation, and sleeps through any and all important events. This includes when Endorsements occur, and both Schlatt2020 and Coconut2020 become parties. 

-Quackity, desperate for power, and seeing that Phil and Wilbur are most likely to win, forms a coalition party with Schlatt2020. This Coalition government wins the election by 1%. Phil and Wilbur are exiled from L’manberg. They form a commune called Pogtopia. Worried about Schlatt and Quackity’s government, they call Techno and Tommy for help. 

-While being exhiled, Wilbur loses a second cannon life. He and Phil both only have two.

-While Techno and Tommy aren’t the biggest fans of the two, they give them a chance. I mean, they want to destroy the government, right? What could possibly go wrong?

-They grind, Techno and Tommy provide the revolt with supplies.

-This is where Tommy meets Tubbo! Tubbo is an undercover spy for Pogtopia. After Wilbur and Phil were exhiled, Schlatt welcomed Tubbo into his cabinet, hoping to influence his young mind into being like him. 

-When Tubbo and Tommy meet, it’s great! I mean, a friend their age? Fuck yeah! Technoblade is the only one who notices their friendship. Wilbur is busy going insane and Philza really couldn’t care less about Tommy. [Talk abt a shit parent amirite] [Idea from @strawberrylemonz ]

-Tubbo, instead of picking up Schlatt’s ideologies, picks up Tommy’s! He feels bad about having to help reinstate the previous government, however. Tommy and Tubbo are really close!

-Tommy teaches Tubbo about his spy towers! They’re well built, hidden towers, that are hard to recognise unless you know exactly where you’re looking, So far, only Technoblade can recognise them, however Tubbo slowly begins to recognise them too. 

-Wilbur is slowly losing his sanity, threatening to blow up lmanburg as more and more people join pogtopia. It gets to the point where the only people on Schlatt’s side are everyone on his side in cannon.

-The day comes, and Techno and Tommy bring the group to a vault. There is enougn supplies for everyone to be fully stacked. 

-They go to war, Schlatt fuckin dies of a heart attack, you know how it goes.

-Phil goes to make a speech of how he’s proud of everyone, but especially Wilbur. He doesn’t even mention Tommy and Techno. This makes them slightly angry, but it’s nothing they aren’t used to by now.

-Wilbur comes up on stage, and he hands the presidency to the son whom he is so proud of, Fundy. Wait, another presidency? What the fuck? Didn’t they just overthrow the president? Are they fucking dumb? They just saw what power does to people.

-Fundy makes Niki his vice, renaming POG2020 to Coconut2020.

-Wilbur leaves, and Fundy gets on stage to make a speech. Tubbo silently mutters apologies to Tommy, and promises he will be on their side no matter what, and that he isn’t happy about the government either. 

-Phil notices Wilbur’s departure, and follows him. He finds him in the button room, about to press the button. Phil attempts to convince him not to. Think of all they’ve built together. Wilbur laughs, and asks Phil if he ever notices his other children. 

-Techno and Tommy rage. How dare they build a government in front of us? Everything they just fought against? Did they not see how much effort the two had put into helping their revolution. Had their own family just used them as tools? Lackeys to do the dirty work? What the hell? They begin to build a wither. Fundy and Niki attempt to convince them not to.

-Wilbur presses the button, blowing up L’manberg. 

-This makes Tommy and Techno overjoyed, once again proving that power corrupts. They release the withers, forcefully take the items they grinded for, and leave. Tommy offers to take Tubbo with him. Tubbo declines, saying he knows they’ll rebuild, and it’s best to have a spy on the inside, just in case. Tommy agrees, and they part ways.

-Wilbur begs Phil to kill him. It’s what everyone wants, right? He just blew up their home. Phil, in tears, obliges, taking his final life.

-Tommy and Techno retire to the antartic, creating the antartic commune. They decide that until necessary, they’ll retire. They build a cabin together, and Tommy builds another spy tower in the hill. Techno builds his wither skull vault, in case of emergencies. 

-In rebuilt L’manburg, there are wanted posters of Techno and Tommy. No one seems to have noticed Tommy and Tubbo’s friendship.

-Dream starts to put input into L’manburg. Hey Fundy, why is Phil still here? He killed Wilbur. Exhile him, or I build this wall higher and higher.

-Phil gets exhiled. He realises that Dream had him exhiled because he just never seems to die, and he’s pretty strong, isn’t he? Phil uses this time to debate on him killing Wilbur. He sees that he should have killed him anyways, and that he could not be helped. Phil works on mindless tasks, and Dream visits him daily, secretly blocking other visitors. 

-Phil collects supplies to fight back to Dream. Ghostbur joins him, providing some angsty moments ;]

-Quackity, Fundy, Ranboo and Niki form the Butcher Army. They can’t have Tommy and Techno interfering with their country. They just had it blown up. 

-The Butcher Army track Dream’s footprints as he travels to give the Antarctic Commune a map to a woodland mansion. They get 2 totems each.

-Tommy and Techno now owe Dream a favour.

-The Butcher Army attack the Antarctic Commune, using Carl and a moth called Clemintine? Huh? How’d he get a moth? As leverage to get them to cooperate. [THE DISCS DO NOT EXIST IN THIS AU.] The two come peacefully. Tommy takes note of how Ranboo seems to not want to help the Butcher army.

-The Butcher Army give Carl and Clemintine to Tubbo, he seems as if he would be good with animals. Dream, who is one of the only people to recognise Tommy and Tubbo’s friendship, asks Tubbo to help him get Techno and Tommy out of L’manburg safely. Tubbo agrees, on the grounds that he is not caught, and his identity remains a secret. Dream agrees to these terms, and when questioned later, Tubbo tells the Butcher Army that Dream threatened him when taking the pets.

-The Butcher army attempt to execute Techno first, as they see him as the stronger one. He uses a totem, and Dream helps the two escape. Quackity gets angry, and the Antarctic Duo fight him, taking a cannon life. They leave for the Antarctic Commune, bitter about the loss of tools and armour, swearing to get it back. They are full of rage about being dragged out of retirement. 

-Tubbo talks to Ranboo, and confirms that he did not wish to be in the Butcher Army. They both visit the Antarctic duo, and Techno gives them both back their armour. The Antarctic duo offer to allow Ranboo and Tubbo to stay. Tubbo agrees, joining the Antarctic Commune. Ranboo does not stay, leaving to go back to L’manberg, and apologising for helping the Butcher Army. 

-Dream finds Phil’s secret supplies, and destroys it all. He says that as a punishment, he will be visiting less. Phil takes this as his time to escape Logstedshire.

-Phil turns up on the Antarctic Trio’s doorstep, apologising for being a horrible father. He asks for their help and for their forgiveness. The siblings agree to help them.

-Phil helps Tommy and Techno get their things back. Eventually, Ranboo tells them about a festival. 

-Dream blames Phil for blowing up the community house. He attempts to defend himself, and explains that Dream was watching him because he knew he held power. He says that L’manburg is his home, and that he built it with his son. He would not leave, even if his son was dead. Techno explains that in re-joining L’manburg, he will be betraying his two living sons. Tommy states that Ghostbur told him that he confronted Phil about his blatant favouritism in his final moments, and that if even Wilbur, in his final moments, while insane, can understand that Phil is a poor parent, then he should know this too.

-Phil is adamant on joining his Grandson in L’manburg. Fundy is happy, Tommy and Techno are NOT. They rage, explaining that if he would not understand that he was abandoning his children for this, then he will not get his home. Queue Techno screaming “I’M A PERSON” at Phil. Dream asks the Antarctic Trio if they would like to destroy L’manberg with him. The trio agree. 

-Doomsday comes, and L’manburg is destroyed. Niki an Eret join this destruction. [I’m not involving Fundy in this, as his character motivation is getting people to pay attention to him. Phil is paying attention to him] Fundy feels devastated about the betrayal. 

-Ranboo is invited to join the Antartic Commune once again. He accepts.

-Tommy and Techno relax, knowing that L’manburg is not coming back any time soon. They settle back into retirement.

-Fundy creates a town named Snowchester with Phil. They are a commune, and wish to declare independence.

-Tubbo starts making nuclear weapons, to provide the antartic commune with even more power. Ranboo seems worried, and his memory is deteriorating.

-Dream threatens Fundy and Phil, saying that he will hurt everyone they care about if they don’t fight him. They start grinding.

-Dream wins the fight, showing he isn’t even trying. He shows that hes always had the upper hand

-Dream takes all of their supplies. Phil reassures Fundy that they’ll be okay, and that he won’t let any harm come to him.

-Dream shows them the Vault. He explains that Phil brought L’manburg, and that L’manburg brought attachments, whether those be between people or items. He explains how he was going to use

-Phil explains that Dream has made a fatal mistake in trusting a mercenary. Punz comes through the portal, with the server. They take Dream’s belongings and Sam takes him to the prison.

-Wilbur tells Fundy how proud of him that he is, and that Phil is still a horrible father, and emphasises how much he has hurt them. This makes Phil realise his actions, finally. He tells Fundy that his siblings are planning on resurrecting him, using how Wilbur also brought attachments to the server to convince Dream to resurrect him. He tells Fundy to join the Antarctic Commune, and that they will forgive him. 

-Ghostbur dissapears, as making Fundy happy and standing up to his father was his unfinished buisness. 

[immortalcoelacanth]

Between the Walls, Chapter 1: Roommates (Dream SMP fic)

I've noticed there's an unfortunate lack in Borrower AU content, and as that shit is my jam I'm putting forth the content I wish to see into the fandom XD

To quote my friend, "I do not control the hyperfixation"

Word count: 4497

Summary: At first retirement had sounded like an excellent idea. Make a house far away from everyone else, get some peace and quiet, no longer concern himself with the total garbage that was the local government. Nice things, relaxing things.… 

But then the scratching in the walls started happening.

Techno groaned as he flopped backwards into his chair, tired eyes staring into the glowing fireplace as he relaxed after his busy day. A day full of building, repairing the damage dealt by the creeper population, and…

A day spent trying to find any signs of his thief.

You see, Techno had assumed that retirement would be an excellent way to unwind from the massive amount of blood that had been shed after L’Manberg went up in smoke, as well as the aggravation he felt towards his sweet, innocent cows being slaughtered and his bunker being raided.

Raided and dismantled thanks to Phil stealing his bookshelves and in turn chunks of the wall.

It was scuffed, horribly scuffed, and left him with one option.

Relocation.

That, combined with the wanted posters Quackity had hung up demanding his capture and subsequent execution after what he had done. Honestly, talk about the biggest character arc for Quackity, going from fearing him to taking an active role in trying to end his life.

Too bad for him that Technoblade never dies.

But still, having to constantly deal with being attacked while no longer having a truly safe and secure base was troublesome, so he had sought out to make a new home far from L’Manberg and all other communities.

The isolation did not scare him, on the contrary he liked having a space all to his own with no worries about socialization or someone bothering him. Besides, Phil could always visit him if he wanted some company.

Fortunately, constructing his new home had taken relatively little time once he had found the best spot for it, and with some help from Phil, moving all the important resources and equally important fixtures of his home had taken even less time.

All in all, Techno had managed to acquire a new sanctuary away from all the plotting and scheming, although he had a feeling someone would try to mess with him at some point, and he had plenty of space to make a brand new vault. He had achieved peace and quiet, and was even in the process of planning on making a turtle farm. Surely all these positive developments would mean he was happy, right?

Well, he would be if it weren’t for the fact that there was a thief rummaging through his home.

It started with small things, like his chests becoming less and less organized over time. Yes, there were moments where he simply chucked whatever useless items were in his inventory into the nearest empty chest, but he would never clutter up chests containing important items, like potions and enchanted books.

So, finding several misplaced items as well as random blocks of dirt and stone, practically pebbles given their size, while also finding certain resources such as wood and leather missing was the first sign of something strange going on.

The next was the odd noises that seemed to come from the walls of his home. Faint scratches that would be inaudible to anyone but himself due to his heightened hearing. It reminded of a rat infestation, and he unconsciously shuddered.

Not due to fear or discomfort, but the sheer amount of work it would take to get rid of a pest infestation. At that point he might as well take his house apart and build elsewhere.

However, despite his suspicions and hypothesis, there was practically no evidence to support. There were, thankfully, no signs of rat activity, or activity from any other pests. No scratches, bite marks, signs of wood decaying, or anything like that. Other than the noise and the strangely messy organization of his chests, there was no sign of the thief.

And he had looked.

Intensely, as best he could. Logic and inductive reasoning had led him to this conclusion. There was a thief, so there had to be signs of this thief somewhere. A lack of footprints meant they must use pearls to get around. The fact that his rarer resources had not been stolen, his potions of strength and enchanted books, meant that his thief was either unconcerned with stealing things of value from him and just wanted to mess with him, or they were a cocky idiot.

… So it was either Ranboo or-

His ears perked up, cutting off his train of thought as he glanced over at the nearby wall. His eyes narrowed and he pushed himself up and out of his chair before striding over to the wall, cape swishing about behind him.

He pressed the side of his head against the wall, eyes closing as he tried to focus on where the sound was coming from. It was here! It had to be! There was something hidden in this very wall. The source of his annoyance, his thief.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Techno readied his axe, and swung it down-

                                                   xxxxxxxxxx

There are times where Tommy can’t stop himself from looking in the nearest reflective surface and asking how he managed to fuck things up this bad. It was painful to recall the steps that had led him to this outcome, the signs obvious but he had been too stupid and ignorant to pay them any mind.

Causing trouble was in his blood, something the local borrower community had reluctantly accepted over the years, helped by how eager he was to throw himself into dangerous situations. Something that should have been concerning to the adults who watched them, taught them how to borrow, how to gather items and even hunt in order to survive, but he had learned that lesson at a very, very young age.

The lesson that no one would step in to help him if he was in danger. That he was on his own and had to prove his worth in order to stay, constantly putting his life on the line for the slightest crumb of respect.

To hear someone say that he had done a good job, to be thanked for his hard work instead of always being brushed off and ignored.

Of course, his friendship with Tubbo helped to soothe that constant within him, dulling the sting of rejection while reminding him that there was one person who truly cared about him. One person who would always be there for him, would lift him up when he was down, and jump into any situation to protect him.

Orphans had to stick together, after all.

And it was a good thing they did end up working together as the duo balanced each other out perfectly. Tommy was far more outgoing and blunt, hotheaded being the best word to describe him. He was willing to do whatever he needed, always ready to speak up when he thought there was bullshit going on, and spoke his mind freely.

It was an ironic honesty, a trait that one assumed would help to attract friends but only aided in driving them away.

Meanwhile, Tubbo was much softer in some ways. Much more reserved than Tommy, he was more of a thinker and planner. Nowhere near as comfortable with spontaneous action as his friend, but he had the knowledge and skills to reign in those impulsive actions before things got dangerous.

They were the best of friends, pals to the very end.

Even though they would never see each other again.

And it was all his fault.

Tommy had ruined everything.

The plan had been simple, easy. All he wanted to do was mess up Mrs. Brigsburry’s house. Just a tiny touch of crime and freaking the old bat out.

She deserved so much worse because of that day. The pot that had been thrown at Tubbo and how much blood Tommy had seen running down the side of his face. The bitch’s shrieks and curses as she insulted them over and over again.

Swearing they both should have died with their parents-

How was he supposed to know he accidentally left one of her rags near the lit stove, the fire within causing the piece of fabric to ignite and in turn allowing the flames to spread to the rest of the house.

It was a good thing she lived on the edge of Borrowton, the fires thankfully only burning her home to the ground.

No one wanted to live near an asshole like her.

Tommy, who had been feeling proud of himself, quickly experienced true regret and fear once the meeting started. Shouts, demands, and insults had flown through the air, many of the people he had grown up with insisting that he be tossed out for what he had done, exiled from the only home he had ever known.

It had been terrifying to see how quickly everyone had turned against him, how they refused to give him the chance to defend himself or even explain why he had done what he did. Not even Tubbo had been able to protect him from the crowd’s wrath, his attempts at standing in front of Tommy and blocking him from sight thwarted when one of the adults grabbed his arm and dragged him elsewhere.

He would never be able to forget the haunting sight of Tubbo reaching for him, tears pouring from his eyes as he screamed his name over and over. It was the last time he had seen his friend, too.

And yet, this was not the worst part of his punishment.

He had been given an hour, one measly hour, to pack up everything he had ever owned before being forcefully exiled from Borrowton. The realization of what was happening had slammed into him all at once, leaving Tommy trembling and unable to move.

He was going to lose everything he had ever known, everything he had worked so hard to build, Tubbo-

He was going to lose his Tubbo.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

No amount of begging or pleading had stopped the adults who dragged him to his shoddy, shared home. He had groveled on his hands and knees, promising to change, to do better, to do whatever they wanted if they just let him stay.

Don’t take my Tubbo away. Don’t take him away. I need him, I need him-

Smack!

The harsh sting of his cheek and the painful sensation of his neck snapping back from the force of the slap was enough to snap Tommy out of his trance. He blinked and looked around, feeling all the more disconnected from reality as he noticed the two bags that had been placed beside him.

One for food, and one for clothes and tools.

… He was really getting exiled, wasn’t he?

“You have no one to blame but yourself for this.” The adult beside him grumbled, dragging the stunned teen up to his feet and shoving him towards the door.

“Front gate. Now. And if I find you causing more trouble, you’ll be leaving with nothing but the clothes on your back.” The man sneered.

For a moment that spark of anger rose up in him, rage flowing through his veins and making his fists clench while he ground his teeth together. The urge to lash out, both physically and verbally, was strong, and yet…

As quickly as those feelings emerged, they faded, and Tommy was left feeling hollow and drained. What was the point in fighting back if all he did was get himself into more trouble. It was obvious they weren’t going to change their minds, he would be exiled no matter what, and if he did lash out-

Tubbo screaming his name as he was dragged away, snot and tears flowing down his face. Thrashing and struggling in a futile attempt to reach him.

… The risk, the damage he could do to his friend, was far greater than the satisfaction of breaking the man’s knobby nose. So, with extreme reluctance, Tommy left the house and made his way towards the front gate. The streets were surprisingly empty, he had expected to see a mob of people cheering while watching him leave, maybe even get the occasional bit of dirt thrown his way.

Treated like the trash they thought he was.

His send off lacked all formality. Only the usual guards of the gate were present, and even then they paid him no mind. He was simply shoved towards another borrower, a lady this time who, based on the immense amount of foliage covering her clothes, spent most of her life out in the wild.

God, how would he ever survive out there. Between the wild animals, the shitty weather, and the mobs that would wander the lands when darkness fell, he was doomed.

He had only ever known how to survive in his community, where you could barter for goods and depend on someone to help you. Now he wouldn’t have any of that. There would be no shelter, no safety in numbers-

No Tubbo.

Numb, Tommy was shoved towards the woman and quietly took note of the presence of the animal he could not see before. It was a fox, quite large compared to him and the other borrowers, and domesticated since it wasn’t ripping anyone apart.

… Or maybe it was just waiting until he got outside, then it would rip him to shreds. Wouldn’t want any blood splatters staining the inside of the gate.

He was so absolutely, royally fucked.

“C’mon, we gotta get moving.” The woman barked, grabbing his arm and pushing him towards the fox with little care for his comfort and the fact that she was adding more bruises to his arm. Tommy hissed in pain and rubbed the aching spot while glaring at her.

Everyone in this place was a fucking asshole.

“Alright, alright, chill the fuck out. I’m moving.” Tommy grumbled as, after a moment of hesitance, buried his hands in the animal’s warm fur and climbed up its side. A moment later, the woman jumped up to join him, taking a seat near the fox’s shoulders while Tommy struggled to pull his bags up as well.

Finally, once his meager supplies had joined him, it was time for them to set off. He had nearly been thrown off as the fox stood up, and when the animal sprinted out of the hidden tunnel and into the fading sunlight-

Well, it was a good thing he managed to grab hold of his bags before they were knocked off. He shuddered in the sudden, stinging breeze, and did his best to hunker down into the warm fur below him. He had no idea where they were going, no clue what far away biome he would be abandoned in, and quietly decided to not think about it further. The last thing he wanted to do was to start crying.

… Even if he had been ever since they first left the front gate.

He quickly rubbed at his face, trying to dry the lingering tears so there were less signs as to his degenerating mental state, and instead decided that it would be best to strike up a conversation, something that would help to distract him from what was going on.

Tubbo, Tubbo. He missed Tubbo. He wanted to see Tubbo again-

“Name’s Tommy!” He called out. “What’s yours?”

Silence was his answer.

“... Well fuck you too then.”

Much like the start of their journey, the rest of the trip was silent as the fox ran through various biomes, fields, and forests. On multiple occasions they stopped, the woman gathering some sort of herb every single time.

… Perhaps she was making drugs.

Tommy snorted to himself at the joke, mood lifting just the slightest bit before plummeting back to bedrock. God, he was tired. His body ached from sitting still for so long, as well as the general discomfort from the fox nimbly jumping from cliff to cliff, ducking around trees, and just being an agile shitbag. It was annoying and he hated it.

… Hated the fact that he was getting further and further away from his friend. Hated the fact that the fox could cover far more distance than he could ever hope of traversing on his own, and that the odds of him managing to reunite with Tubbo at some point were growing slimmer with every block they crossed.

Eventually they reached the coldest biome Tommy had experienced yet, ponds covered by ice and snow layering the ground. The snow seemed to muffle their surroundings, the only sounds coming from the snow crunching under the fox’s paws and the animal’s panting as it started to feel the strain of their journey.

And yet, for as desolate as this tundra seemed to be, Tommy spotted something in the distance. A structure that was definitely man made and appeared to be well taken care of, which meant there was someone living there.

Someone he could mooch off of and boost his chance at surviving his exile.

It had been a stroke of pure luck that he had managed to convince the borrower escorting him to change their route, practically begging her to take him to the lit house that was just barely visible through the snow.

The sounds of Tommy sniffling and sobbing since the start of their journey had probably helped to wear down her resolve to take him to wherever he was originally supposed to go.

In the end, she had agreed and directed the fox towards the house. It was interesting to see her previous confidence of navigating the cold tundra diminish the closer they got to their destination, as though she was unsettled by the house.

Strange, but then again she probably thought the same of him and how much of an idiot he was for getting kicked out of somewhere perfectly safe.

Safe aside from the prying eyes, the cruel words and harsh hands. His salvation was Tubbo and their whispered promises. They would leave one day, set out into the world and make their own home.

The moment they arrived at their destination, the woman wasted no time in metaphorically, and literally, kicking him off the fox. He dropped into the freezing snow, landing face first, and pushing himself up seconds later to cough out the chilly substance that had invaded his mouth.

The memory of Tubbo laughing as his snowball hit Tommy in the face, the other teen turning to the side and yelling about how “cold as shit” it was.

“Maybe you should try keeping your mouth shut for once.” Tubbo teased as Tommy, snow still stuck to parts of his face, flipped him off.

“Fuck you.”

Tubbo’s laughter rang out around them, and the teen kept laughing until his face was red and tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes.

… Damn, it was cold.

Trembling, he stood up just in time to dodge the bags that had been carelessly thrown his way, getting a concussion from one of his tools would definitely be a death sentence in this situation, and he promptly flipped the woman off.

“Oi! Watch where you’re throwing that shit!” He shouted before crouching down to inspect his supplies, quietly relieved that nothing seemed to have been damaged. “Fucking bitch...”

She just rolled her eyes in response to his insults and looked unimpressed as he grumbled, huffed, and got himself organized. No words were exchanged between the duo, no goodbyes or wishes for good luck, just the howling of the winds while the borrower made his way to his new home.

As Tommy had trudged through the too tall snow, he had been oblivious to the way the woman stared at the house, eyes wide with some sort of emotion. Was it fear? Not quite, it was more a combination of dread mixed with reverence, emotions fueled by her knowledge of the being who resided in this place. A whispered phrase floated through the air, much too quiet for him to have heard. It was a simple sentence that made her stance and understanding of the situation clear.

“Blood for the Blood God.”

Then she fled, leaving Tommy alone to deal with whatever fate he had stumbled into by breaking into the house.

And what a house it was.

All pretty and neatly designed, complete with various floors and tons of storage, and even some decorative flowers outside the windows, which meant Tommy had many things to rummage through. The roaring fireplace was an added bonus since the cold was one of the things he had been the most worried about.

Knowing those assholes, they had probably planned to abandon him somewhere in the tundra, leaving him alone and freezing in the cold…

Honestly, all things considered, this was a good place to settle down in. He had basically everything he needed, as well as access to some rarer resources too. It was ideal, practically perfect given how easy it would be to create small, unnoticeable entrances into each chest for him to use to snag items, but there was one downside to his new home.

His roommate.

He was tall, far taller than anyone Tommy had ever seen before, and he looked… weird. Like one of those pig monsters he had heard stories about back in Borrowton. Monsters from hell that craved gold and bloodshed. With his pig-like features, including a set of tusks that poked up from his lower jaw, he was a perfect match for those nightmarish beasts.

… But, they weren’t in hell, and this man seemed to be far less gold and bloodshed obsessed than the stories had said, even with the various scars the borrower had seen littering his body.

It was weird, he was weird, and the weirdness had only increased the more time Tommy spent in the house. Despite his regal attire, consisting of a flowing cape and golden crown, it was obvious that the pig-man was no prince or nobility. Plus there were those shitty reading glasses Tommy had seen him wearing once, stuck together with taping and looking like they were on the verge of breaking again. He was the strangest combination of loud-yet-awkward behaviour, something that the borrower actually related to quite a bit. His roommate was not “normal” and acted how he wanted, whenever he wanted, with little regard to how “improper”, “violent”, or “rude” he was.

Like Tommy…

He found it comforting to know that there was someone else more like him out there, someone else who was unlike everyone in Borrowton, someone else who would know what it felt like to be treated as an outcast, like he did not belong there or anywhere. Stuck in this new place, he did not feel as alone as he originally expected.  

He did not consider the possible problems this could cause in the future, of course. Tommy had never the best at planning ahead since that had been Tubbo’s specialty-  

But, the positives ended there as he realized that trying to survive in this relatively small, isolated house was going to be far more of a challenge then he had originally anticipated, with his roommate presenting the greatest obstacle to his success. Breaking in had been easy, actually situating himself and building a decent base within the walls of the house was downright impossible in these circumstances. At most he had managed to dig out a shitty hole close to the fireplace where he stashed all his stolen goods.

And even if he wanted to leave, it was impossible thanks to all the snow and how bloody cold this damn biome was!

So, here Tommy was, having essentially trapped himself with some creepy pig guy who owned too many weapons for comfort and was decked out like he was about to fight the whole damn world. Sure, his house was pretty nice, there was tons of food for him to steal and snack on, and the resources were plenty, but he would have rather had anyone else as a roommate in this situation.  

At least this guy was in retirement, or whatever that meant.

He let out an annoyed sigh, arms dropping as he allowed his axe to rest against the wooden floor of the passage he had been carving out. While most of the house was made out of concrete, Tommy had focused on carving passages through the wooden supports in order to have a network of tunnels he could easily move around in without being spotted. All in all, it was a good plan, even if it was a massive pain in the ass to make.

It was like every time he started making a tunnel, no matter what time of the day it was, that piggy dipshit would show up and start stalking the walls, looking for him!

… Granted, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to make boar-face all suspicious by messing with his chests, but Tommy needed the resources! And it was pretty funny hearing the surprised sounds the man would make echo through the house.

His trouble making nature might have been the cause for his exile, along with some other bullshit, but that did not mean he would try to suppress it, even if it would be better for him in the long run. That was like asking to stop breathing. It was just a part of him that could only be controlled and never truly stopped.

… He missed Tubbo. He missed him so much and the ache in his chest still had not faded, and he felt all hollow and empty, without purpose-

Unfortunately for the borrower, the world refused to give him a break as he spiraled, his negative emotions distracting him and preventing him from paying attention to his surroundings.

Like the footsteps that were slowly getting closer to his location.

Without warning, the wall beside him cracked and split open, and Tommy let out a terrified shriek. He jumped backwards, dropping his axe in the process as light spilled into the carved out passage.

The now exposed passage.

A passage that had been cracked open by a certain pig man who had clearly been awake instead of asleep like he had assumed. Brilliant red eyes met terrified blue, and Tommy swallowed nervously.

Of course, of fucking course! As if the world didn’t hate him enough as is! Now he had to deal with that pig shithead who’d been tormenting him for days with his stupidly good hearing, preventing him from making any progress in creating his new home.

And of course the second he tried to make a tunnel this bastard just had to appear and ruin everything!

On the plus side, he had not actually done anything yet, although Tommy was certain things would turn south soon based on the axe the man was holding. So, he would live for now, and his shocked state allowed the borrower to make the first move.

“How do,” Tommy greeted, tilting his head to the side and smirking. “You ugly motherfucker.”

If he was going down, he would go down swinging.

                                      xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Technoblade, holding up a cup containing Tommy: So I found this, anyone wanna trade a book of mending for him- Tommy: *feral screaming intensifies*

[artanogon]

okok i just saw your post abt marina songs being superior for dsmp and you are So Right omg

(hope you dont mind if i elaborate on this on my own? ALSO i got into the dsmp very recently pls dont kill me if i'm wrong about some parts)

seventeen: eret

the "upper class wife" bit is talking about george and the "rise of a king and the fall of a queen" part is about his dethronement. we can technically call eret a queen, right? right. there's that. "you don't know f-ck about my family" is her still considering lmanburg family after all that's happened and defending them against dream. "you teach me how to behave" wasnt there that one time when dream canonically called them well behaved? yeah. that.

solitaire: quackity

"i see buildings and bars from the window/and i listen to the wind blow/i see people and cars covered in gold/and I'm happy to be on my own" LAS NEVADAS HELL YEAH. i'm not that caught up on las nevadas lore but i know that it's heavily based off of las vegas yes? plus all of the casino!q art i keep seeing. anyways this is quackity bc there's the elements of paranoia "i'm obsessed with silence/i go home and i lock my door"

primadonna & state of dreaming: george

"living life like i'm in a dream" ........

also! it's mostly abt his relationship with xd- the netherite in exchange for friendship, all the dxd sugar daddy memes lmao. to my knowledge c!george is kind of greedy? which primadonna perfectly encapsulates :)

moving on to state of dreaming. if the title isn't obvious enough already- "i would sell my sorry soul/if i could have it all" THATS JUST THE NETHERITE THING RIGHT. and all the lines about living in a dream...

daddy was a sailor: fundy

why havent i hit a character limit yet. anyway. "mama was a mermaid" SALLY :D !!! and the grandpa was a miner stanza? with the line that went "bitter rivers of coal black dust/tore our country apart" phil. blew up lmanburg. wonderful. and "oh, daddy was a sailor/the only man who could tear me apart" because fundy has been hurt by wilbur time and time again whether he meant to hurt him or not

pandora's box

.... :)

everyone else leave the room we want to be alone with strawberrie-faerie

[dyketubbo]

mkay. ive woken up, it doesnt seem like theres any new developments, so. post explaining what the hells been going on about the ae/emeraldduo qpr discourse ig woo. this is going to be from my perspective, because i am one person. shocker. anyways,

basic summary: i made a post saying that because c!kristin is canon and philza and techno have boundaries against shipping, i believed that maybe there should be a genuine effort to chill out with putting c!philza and c!technoblade in a qpr or platonic marriage, as c!philza being married to c!kristin is based off the irl marriage and c!philza and c!technos friend dynamic is based off the ccs dynamic even outside of the dream smp (such as, of course, the antarctic empire being a smpearth thing). i also said this because i feel like theres a genuine problem in the fandom with how it treats kristin, not only in fanart (making her skinny and white), but also just. in general, overshadowing her with the idea of emeraldduo being married, shit like that, and it irked me esp bc shes a woc while philza and techno are white men.

people get pissed at me, both to my face and behind my back, and i get insulted, called stupid, arophobic, anti-polyam, told i dont understand friendship and that i dont have friends. i joined a server just to wake up and find myself banned and blocked with no explanation, left to assume that i was talked about behind my back while i was unable to defend myself. out of all the people who disagreed with me, one person. one. person. was nice to me and didnt call me arophobic, actually giving me constructive criticism and a chance to elaborate. one. i finally start to feel better two days after the fact, consulting people outside the fandom to get second opinions and getting happy when people agreed with me and even gave insight to things i didnt consider, and what do i get?

someone rbed to tell me "not to go on twitter" because people were talking about me, and informing me that there was a group chat dedicated to "talking about how wrong [i am]". what the rest of the post said, i dont remember, because the person seems to have me blocked and i fucking panicked after being told theres literally an entire group of people talking about me on twitter- of which, yknow. is known for harassing people and even once had a black girl doxxed?? not to mention that the person who mocked me for supposedly not having friends did so when i said to leave me alone, and ive said publicly for people to leave me alone consistently, and. well, insulting and going after someone, or even talking about them behind their back, when they said to leave them alone is in fact harassment, by definition.

im accused of not listening to philza, with the only clip being given to me of him talking about c!emeraldduo being like "the platonic version of achilles and patroclus", as if platonic = queerplatonic. yesterday was the first time i was given a clip of phil talking about qprs specifically, given to me by someone who didnt evem disagree with me anyways, again showing the people disagreeing with me were barely actually willing to cooperate with me. i have. complicated feelings on the clip (mainly with how its worded as just headcanons and only given the definition of "platonic life partners" which.. hm.), but this post isnt about that.

regardless, i vent to my friends, because i was having a delusional breakdown, and one makes a post saying they didnt want to interact with the fandom after people went after me. they inform me that both people who insulted me before and others reblogged from their post to again assert that im arophobic, claim that no one was talking about me outside of people publicly talking about how "arophobic" i am (which.. is people talking about me), claim that i called people racist and sexist (i didnt?? i dont think anyones racist and sexist, not even for what i brought up concerning the fandoms treatment of kristin, it gives me a bad taste in my mouth, but i would never call anyone racist or sexist for it [outside of the whitewashing but thats a different issue from the qpr discussion]), and then they were sent anon hate, one even asserting that they were arophobic and talking over minority groups and therefore deserved to be in their bad home situation. outside of their post being in the dream smp tag, its hard to believe that people just. normally found their post. unless they were going through the recent posts in the dream smp tag (which i dont feel is the case), it is.. concerning that they found my friend trying to defend me so quickly and immediately decided to continue to talk about me behind my back and even insult them as well.

so.. yknow, not great in asserting that there arent people tracking me somehow, which is incredibly triggering and paranoia inducing.

either way, in the end, if people disagree with me about the situation, i dont care, i cant stop them, but i just want people to stop being fucking pricks about it. i want people to stop being pissy at me and about me, i want people to stop insulting me and telling me and telling people i interact with that im arophobic when im not. i want people to stop pretending to care when they tell me to take a break when theyre the fucking reasons i have to take a break. i want people to stop being condescending to me, to stop talking about me, to stop acting like theyre superior while fucking insulting me.

i just wanted to bring up an issue about the lack of respect kristin gets, and people as always turned it into something about philza and technoblades relationship when that was literally the behavior that i was complaining about. i hate that me wanting to talk about how kristin and her marriage to phil is treated turned into me having several breakdowns in one day because i kept getting worse and worse news about how people were treating me. i hate that i did take breaks, that i actively distracted myself, went outside, took care of my pets, took care of myself, talked to my friends, and yet people just acted condescending and went all "if you cant handle criticism then leave :/".

what the fuck is wrong with you people? why is it that this fandom actively defaults to harassment and using ccs against fans when an issue arises? and i fucking hate that this is my first goddamn actual interaction with aeduo fans. im genuinely terrified of aeduo fans now if this is how they react to problems. fuck everyone who talked about me behind my back, fuck everyone who acted condescending towards me, fuck everyone who called me arophobic or anti-polyam or whatever the hell they had up their sleeves, fuck every single grown ass adult who saw a teenager have a fucking breakdown over the shit they did and said and decided to continue. fuck everyone who didnt even bother to have a goddamn level conversation with me before insulting me and attempting to tell others that im arophobic and other shit like that.

this shit happened because of two paragraphs. i said two goddamn paragraphs about a personal issue with the fandom i had and now ive genuinely been pushed almost to the point of relapsing. i dont give a shit if people think i have a victim complex, i just want people to leave. me. alone. its the fucking least you could do. oh, and go fuck yourself. if you genuinely thought id be apologizing after that shit, fuck you. i shouldnt have to be the better person with this shit, i shouldnt be pushed to choking on my own fucking tears because people wont let it fucking be. im not goddamn apologizing after three days of getting insulted and harassed and talked about behind my back for a fucking shipping issue. piss off.

[amintyworld]

Denial - Dream SMP SMPsona Oneshot

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of content lately, I've been on a bit of writer's block. Anyway, this one-shot is inspired by my OC SMPsona Flower! If you'd like to see more content of her let me know and if you have questions about her character or story my ask box is open! I hope you enjoy it! - Minty

Summary: After losing her first cannon life, Flower visits Phil as she usually would for tea. She ends up finding comfort in the only true friend she has left.

TW: Major Character Death, Mention of Major Character Death, Slight blood/gore (Not too severe, just a few sentences), Betrayal (If you squint), denial, loneliness, self-blame. (LMK if I need to tag anything else!)

----------------------------

Flower grasped the basket of goodies awkwardly, taking a deep breath she wasn’t aware she needed. The other day was… it wasn’t great, but today’s a new day. A clean slate. That doesn’t mean everything was the same, however - Fundy and Quackity glared at her as she passed, and when Ranboo tried to walk up to her to say hello it was like he realized who it was and just froze in his tracks. Murmurs floating around didn’t exactly help the large pit that grew in her stomach. Traitor, they said. How could she be something she never wanted to be? She never tried to be? L’manberg was her home. These were her friends. She.. she wasn’t like Eret, or… or Wilbur. She was just defending someone who couldn’t defend himself! She was just trying to help.

Despite it all, one thing was for certain - she’d give anything for things to be normal right now. Maybe that was why it took her so long to meet up with Phil for tea.

Gathering courage, she raised her arm and knocked. For a moment she wondered if Phil was mad at her too. He didn’t see everything, maybe he thought she’d lead them there. Shuffling could be heard beyond the door, muffled with voices inside. Voices. Did he have someone over? She didn’t want to impose, he’s been through a lot, maybe she should just-

When Philza finally opened the door, blonde hair framing his face perfectly with that same tired warm smile, she’d tensed up. “Hey, Flower.”

“Hi, Phil.” She swallowed, mustering a small smile. “Sorry I didn’t come by earlier, I was, uhm… busy.” She heard a distinct ‘Baa’ come from inside, which proved to only raise more questions to add to her ever-growing list. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, no no please.” Phil moved aside, holding the door open. “It’s been quite a while.”

Flower walked inside, her heart dropping in her chest seeing materials scattered all over the floor, chests busted and broken. The walls and floor were littered with axe and sword marks. They really weren’t kidding. She remembered only a few weeks ago Phil finally was fully moved in - he’d organized the chests to his satisfaction and somehow lugged his bed up to the second floor. It was pristine. Did… did they really-? “Phil… Phil, what…?”

“Sorry for the mess, everytime I think I’ve gathered it all I find more material in a corner somewhere.” He shrugged, moving toward the furnace and grabbing a kettle from the chest. A lump formed in her throat when she noticed the bulky and seemingly heavy ankle bracelet on his right foot. The blinking red light taunted her. “Can I get you some coffee, tea…?”

After what felt like forever, she found her voice again. “Some tea would be great.”

“Of course. Make yourself at home, I’ll be right over.”

“Right. Thanks.” As she moved to go sit, she’d been so distracted she hadn’t noticed a blue-wooled sheep sniffing around her basket. It looked up at her with big brown pleading puppy-dog eyes, and she couldn’t help herself from smiling at the creature, even to relieve her worries for just a moment. “Excuse me, little guy, but what exactly do you think you’re doing in there?”

“Ah, I see you’ve found Friend.”

“Friend?”

“Ghostbur’s pet.” Ghostbur? She hadn’t heard of him since he got shipped out with Tommy after the exile. He was... back in L’manburg? The teenager turned to the winged creature.

“Phil, you’re sheepsitting?” She smirked slightly, hand combing through Friend’s soft fur.

Philza chuckled, turning briefly to face his friend. “It wasn’t exactly as if I had much of a choice. He didn’t trust anyone else.”

“That’s… kinda cute, though.” she admitted, moving to sit and put her basket upon the table. “You know, in a Ghostbur kind of way.” She shrugged.

“He’s been visiting a lot more lately. I gotta admit, it’s nice to have the company.” Phil carefully picked up the two mugs, bringing them over and setting them down on the table to cool.

“Sorry about that, I really should’ve told you-”

“Flower, it’s okay. You don’t have to look after me. I know you’ve got things going on.” Flower couldn’t understand how Phil kept smiling, throughout all this. How he kept his voice even. Why wasn’t he mad, no, furious with her?! She was the one who tried to protect him! She was the one who couldn’t fight back. She was the one who failed.

It’s… it’s okay..? It’s okay?!

“But this… your house, you… you have a fucking ankle monitor, Phil! That’s NOT okay.” Flower raised her voice. “You didn’t do anything!”

Phil winced at her outburst, looking down at the steam rising up from his mug. “I... didn’t tell them where Technoblade was.” He breathed. Flower deflated, looking over toward her friend, eyebrows furrowed. “That’s why. They demanded to know where he was so they could kill him, and I wouldn’t tell them. Not like it mattered, they found the compass he gave me anyway.”

“This isn’t like them, any of them,” Flower added, breaking the brief moment of silence. “I don’t... agree with what Techno did, but… going after him, organizing a witch hunt… Tubbo said he promised we’d get peace. No more fighting, not after the 16th.” Tears welled up at the edges of the teen’s eyes. “This isn’t, this wasn’t like him. They were never this violent, Ranboo would never hurt a fucking fly, I…”

“People change. Sometimes it’s… it’s just not for the better.”

“But I know them, they’re my friends…” She took a deep breath. Friends. Yeah, the same friends who won’t talk to you anymore. “This doesn’t make any sense, they wouldn’t… they wouldn’t…”

They wouldn’t kill me on purpose.

...Right?

“I told you, get out of the fucking way!”

“No! I won’t let you hurt him! If you’re gonna kill him you’ll have to kill me first!”

“We don’t want to hurt you, Flower.”

“Guys, can we just… uh… talk about-?”

“Back off, Ranboo.” Quackity warned.

“Flower, please. Please, just step aside. You don’t know what’s going on here, you don’t know what he’s hiding!”

“Yeah, you’re right, Tubbo. I don’t have a clue about what Phil knows. But I know netherite has never mixed well with a simple conversation, has it?”

“We’re not gonna hurt Gramps-”

“Then drop the weapons.”

“Flower…”

“You don’t wanna hurt me? You wanna talk to him? Drop the weapons now.” Her eyes narrowed. “That means you, Quackity.”

Something darkened in his eyes, anger flared from a place Flower never knew existed. His eyes narrowed. “I don’t take orders from you. MOVE!”

“Make me.”

It was so quick. A second of pure pain. A whimper escaped her lips. She felt the blade slice through her body, the blood well up on her throat as she choked. For that one second, she looked at them. Her friends.

Tubbo merely looked at the ground, eyes shut.

He didn’t care.

Phil looked over at her, squeezing her arm in a bit of comfort. “Are you… are you okay, Flower?”

The scar across her chest throbbed in pain at the memory, her eyes wide and a knot in her throat as tears fell down her cheeks. “I… P-Phil...” She sobbed, tea long forgotten as she curled in on herself.

“Oh, mate…” Phil’s warm gaze turned to sympathy as he moved over toward her, wrapping her in a tight hug pulling her to the floor. The teenager sobbed, heartbroken. Tears pricked at the edges of the winged creature’s eyes. “I know… I’m… I know…”

“He didn’t even look at me Phil… they killed me and he…” She sobbed. “He…” Phil’s hands laced through her hair, his wings moved slightly to wrap around her as well, like a soft, warm blanket. Protection. Protection the Angel of Death couldn’t give her then, but he swore he would now. They sat there for hours, surrounded by destruction and hurt, their only real comfort being each other.

-----------------------------

General Writing Taglist (Let me know if you'd like to be added/removed!):

@bones-sprouts

@foolishcaptains

[onecanonlife]

careful son (you got dreamer's plans)

Wilbur gasps back to life with mud between his fingers and rain in his eyes.

Wilbur was dead. Now, he is not. He can't say that he's particularly happy about it.

Unfortunately, the server is still as tumultuous as ever, even with Dream locked away, so it seems that his involvement in things isn't a matter of if, but when.

(Alternatively: the prodigal son returns, and a broken family finally begins to heal. If, that is, the egg doesn't get them all killed first.)

Chapter Word Count: 8,205

Chapter Warnings: swearing, referenced past suic.ide

Chapter Summary: In which Wilbur tries very hard to hold a productive meeting, and does not quite succeed.

(masterpost w/ ao3 links)

(first chapter) (previous chapter) (next chapter)

Chapter Seventeen: ‘til the work is done

In retrospect, it’s not his best idea. He seems to be full of those, lately. Not-great ideas. This one is foolish simply for the fact that he is already tired, and gifting energy to Schlatt is a strain on his already depleted reserves. It takes about twenty minutes for him to get dizzy, and another two after that before spots start drifting across his vision, and at that point, he has to admit defeat, cutting himself off mid-sentence and breaking their connection. Schlatt swears as he loses his tangibility.

“Fuck, that felt weird,” he says. “What the fuck was that, why’d you stop?”

He wets his lips. It takes longer than it should for the words to formulate.

“I told you, we’re essentially sharing a lifeforce, Schlatt,” he says. “There’s only so much I can give you.”

Schlatt starts hovering in the air again, regarding him with a dark stare. And then, his expression clears.

“Oh, I see, so you’re being a dumbass,” he says, and Wilbur wants to protest, but he can’t get a word in edgewise. “Why the fuck are you giving me shit you can’t afford to lose, then? Jesus Christ, Wilbur, would you sit down?”

“There isn’t time for that,” he replies. “I’ve spent too long up here already. I need to go and meet with the others.”

Schlatt stares at him for a long moment. He’s not sure why. And when he speaks, his voice is—strange.

“I was right about you,” he says. “You really don’t change. Not when it comes to yourself. You’re just as stupid and self-destructive as you always have been. And now that coating of paint you try to put on over it? That’s flaking off. The only question is how many people you’re going to bring down with you this time.” He shakes his head, and his eyes narrow, expression hovering somewhere between a dark satisfaction and something else, something difficult to interpret. “You’re wearing yourself thin. I see it, everyone else can probably see it. But you can’t. Or you do, but you can’t accept it.”

(you put on a smile for the masses an upbeat tone for your friends but you’re a sinking ship and you know it, and you think it might be easier to let yourself drown even though you know you won’t, because you cannot allow yourself to fail because you are leader you are president and this is everything you fought for so it is a fault in you if you cannot handle it so you push through you make yourself and you scream into your pillow and cry yourself to sleep because at the end of the day your self-loathing clings to you like cobwebs and secondhand smoke)

He inhales.

“I don’t see how me needing to have a meeting with everyone else has led you to that conclusion,” he says, tone frosty, “but you can think what you want. And besides, you can hardly talk. We’ve had a conversation like this already.”

He turns on his heel, letting his coat flare out behind him; though, it’s still damp, so the motion isn’t nearly as satisfying as it usually is. But Schlatt follows along with him, and he grits his teeth, letting each of his footfalls resound with purpose, with confidence that he is struggling to truly find.

This was definitely a bad idea. Engaging with Schlatt always is. He should know this by now, should know that a welcome distraction can turn unwelcome at the drop of a hat.

“I never said that I was any better,” Schlatt says, “but that’s the difference between you and me, Wilbur. I know exactly what I am. You don’t know who the fuck you are, so you hide behind labels because that makes it easier for you to think about.”

(general president exile villain and round and round it goes and there is truth to his words because he scrambles for stability scrambles to fit the old roles but the fact of the matter is that he is something new and he is floundering because for all that he wants to be better he has never known how so it’s casting a coin in a wishing well and hoping)

“I know exactly who I am for the moment,” he says, “and that’s someone who’s going to get rid of the fucking Egg and pummel Dream’s face into the ground. For now, that’s more than good enough.”

He gets to the stairs again, and takes them two at a time on his way down.

“Fine, then, just don’t come crying to me later,” Schlatt says. “So, what’s the deal with Dream anyway? How the fuck did he get out of prison?”

That actually gives him pause for a second.

“I’m not actually sure,” he says. “A question for the warden.” One that he does intend to ask, if only to know how, exactly, Dream made what was supposed to be a secure prison seem like child’s play to escape. Was he waiting for the right moment all along? He’s not sure he likes the implications of that,

(especially since he deemed the right moment to be after Wilbur’s return, during the implementation of a plan that he helped to form, and it sickens him that he might have played any role in Dream’s decision making, that he might have led everyone into these circumstances, eyes wide open but blind all the same)

but it would make sense, considering everything that he’s learned, considering what he now knows of the rot that’s woven  itself into Dream’s very being. The corruption that lends him power.

“How much have you even been here for?” he continues, glancing at the ghost out of the corner of his eye. “Do you have any idea what’s been going on, or have you just been fucking around since the last time I saw you?” When you ran away from Tubbo, he does not say, and he wonders if Schlatt catches it anyway.

There is a beat, and then, “I—know that Dream’s out,” Schlatt says, the words reluctant, and he suppresses a bark of laughter.

“So, you know jack shit,” he says.

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“You know jack shit,” he repeats. “That’s fine. Stick around, I’m sure you’ll get caught up to speed.”

“Oh, great, yeah, that’s exactly what I want, hanging around you chumps some more,” Schlatt mutters. “What a good time. God, I need a drink. Or you know what, I’d settle for a fucking protein shake. You got any of those around?”

He doesn’t respond. It takes some effort, but anything he could say would only rile him up further, and any indication of actually, you do not need a drink, and I am going to make sure that you don’t get one literally ever is sure to set him off, which is exactly what he doesn’t need right now. So he lets Schlatt complain as he backtracks to the entrance hall, and then to the throne room where he assumes everyone else is.

His assumptions are proved correct the moment he draws close enough to hear everyone’s voices. Talking over each other, tones fluctuating. It sounds anything but peaceful.

Eret has moved their throne aside, he notes as he stops in the doorway. Most of the room is now taken up by a large wooden table, clearly meant to be a place for meeting. He appreciates the gesture, or would, if anyone seemed to be using it. His eyes find Techno and Phil first, next to a cluster of torches; Techno is still wringing water from his hair, looking very put out, but his posture is tense, on guard, and Phil looks about the same, even as he helps Ranboo get the last of his armor off without flicking himself with water.

(it is easy to forget that his family is among enemies there, that at least a few of these people would like to see them dead)

He finds Fundy next. He’s standing by himself, ears flat against his skull, and every now and then he twitches toward Eret. But the main spectacle in the room is the ongoing argument, and he narrows his eyes, trying to pick out the participants and their stances. There’s Quackity—and that’s an interesting scar on his face, though with what he knows of the man’s combat ability, or lack thereof, he was bound to gain an injury like that sooner or later, with the server being what it is—shouting at Sam, who looks like hell, frankly, and Puffy next to Sam trying to defend him, maybe, and Sapnap by Quackity’s side trying to calm him, and then there’s Eret, who appears to be trying to mediate with little success.

“—don’t fucking care,” Quackity is saying, and he sounds near-hysterical, words spat out at a record pace, even for him, “I do not fucking care what the rules were, I do not fucking care, just, fuck, Puffy, stop trying to defend him, if he’d kept Dream locked up like he was supposed to, like his job was, like we all trusted him to, we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place, just, I don’t fucking understand how you could’ve let that happen, Sam, I don’t—”

He keeps going, and at the same time, Eret’s voice overlaps—“We’ve been through this already, Quackity, and I don’t see how this is helping.”—with Puffy’s—“You’re the one who needs to fucking stop, it wasn’t his fault, so stop yelling at him!”—and Sapnap’s—“C’mon, Q, please, I know, but you think tearing into each other is gonna help right now?”—and Sam himself is just standing there, taking it, eyes dull.

On the other side of the room, Tommy and Tubbo appear in the opposing set of doors and draw up short, Tubbo placing his hand on Tommy’s shoulder to pull him back, face settling into what might be resignation. This isn’t the first time, then.

Schlatt whistles. “Damn,” he says. “Something about this is familiar.”

“I do not want to know that,” he replies, eyeing Quackity. “Don’t tell me anything about your relationship, I categorically do not want to know.”

“Wait, what the fuck do you think I’m talking about—”

He meets Techno’s gaze. Techno raises an eyebrow, pointedly squeezes his hair with a towel, and inclines his head, as if to say, You deal with this. He glares back, trying to convey, Fuck off, I am not in charge of corralling these fuckers, and Techno rolls his eyes, the arsehole, because of course, he knows that that’s a damn lie, and actually, he kind of has put himself in charge of corralling these fuckers.

(something about this is familiar indeed, and these could be earlier days if he takes a step back and squints, looks at them all through blurry vision, and this could be a nation risen up around a drug van if he tilts his head just right, and he could be in charge of leading them, because the original members are all here, him and Tommy and Tubbo and Fundy and Eret all here, except the arguments are sharper and lined with more desperation than any of their original squabbles, before the war became real, before everything, before it all fell apart for the first time, before it was never meant to be, and he can lead, can pretend that it is all like it was then, but it would be unwise, perhaps, to forget that it is not like then at all)

So he steps further inside, notes with some displeasure the way that no one has marked his presence yet, and says, as loud as he can, “What the fuck are you all shouting at each other for, then?”

Quackity cuts off abruptly, which solves eighty percent of the noise problem, and Puffy stops after he does, which solves another fifteen percent. Quackity wheels toward him, not quite shocked, but still surprised, perhaps.

“Holy shit,” he says. “They said you were back, but—wow, Wilbur, you’re looking good. For a dead guy, I mean.”

“Thank you, Quackity,” he says, nodding. He strides up to the table, though he doesn’t sit, and splays his hands against it. It would probably be more picturesque if he weren’t still dripping a bit, but he made his choice to forgo towels and that’s the hill he’s dying on, apparently. “You’re also looking good. It’s nice to see you.”

“Tell him he looks sexy,” Schlatt suggests, and with a great amount of fortitude, he ignores him.

“So,” he continues, “is any of this arguing actually something that needs to be happening right now? Or can we move on to arguing about different things?”

Quackity’s face twists. “I’d say we do need to be arguing about it, actually,” he says. “Look, Wilbur, I know you—you left a while ago, right, so you’ve missed a lot, so I’m not sure how much about this you know. But Sam was supposed to be in charge of the prison. He had one job, and that was to keep Dream in his cell. And now look at where we are. So, yeah, I’d say it’s something that needs to be happening.”

(people keep saying that, that he left, and that’s not quite right, because leaving is slinging a bag over one shoulder and waving goodbye and leaving implies going somewhere when he wanted to go nowhere at all, and leaving is a sanitary way to phrase the desperate exit he made and perhaps they don’t know better or perhaps they do but don’t want to confront it but either way something in him recoils whenever they say he left because that is not the word is not the word at all and if they’re going to bring it up he wishes that they would actually bring it up rather than dance all around it dance in quicksteps that serve nothing)

“I agree that it’s important,” he says. “I would like Sam to explain what happened. But I also don’t see that recriminations are where we need to be directing our energy at the moment. Considering that what’s done is done” —He meets Quackity’s gaze as steadily as he can, meets his gaze and brings all the weight of their history to bear, from the debate floor to the podium and the stage to the dark caverns of the rebellion— “and going through all of the ways that everyone in this room has fucked everyone else over hardly seems like the best use of our time.”

He knows the statement won’t land like it should. He knows that he of all people has no right to ask for this. But the longer he stands here, the more aware he is of all the bad blood in this room, the more aware he is that this particular group of people is like a powder keg set to explode, that they could all turn on each other and do Dream’s job for him at a poorly placed jab or threat. The air is thick with the complicated web that binds them all.

(betrayals and lives taken and homes destroyed and even the bedrock of a once stable foundation shaken and torn up)

“Well, that’s kind of a convenient stance to take,” Quackity shoots back, and it’s precisely the response he expected “considering what you did.”

“I’m aware,” he says, drowning out the way that Tommy audibly starts to protest. “I think my point still stands, though. Unless you really think now is the time to air out everyone’s dirty laundry. I’m sure Dream would find it entertaining, at least.”

(the words taste like ash and he feels like a hypocrite but he can’t let them see how off balance he is can’t let them know because a leader is needed and he could step aside and let someone else take the position but that has always been a weakness of his, his need for control, so even when the control is slipping he grasps it with both hands and hangs on to it with all his worth whether it’s wise or not because someone needs to lead and he does not trust himself but he trusts others even less and he has always been one to take on the responsibility even when he ought not to even when)

Quackity breathes in and out, eyes narrow.

“Alright,” he says. “No, you’re right.” He steps up to the table as well, pulling out a chair for himself, though he doesn’t yet sit. He also, Wilbur notes, does not apologize to Sam, but that’s not a requirement, even though the way Puffy is glaring suggests that she would like it to be.

“Wait,” someone says, and Wilbur starts, looking to—George, and how did he not realize George was here, too? Perhaps because he’s been quiet. Quieter than the norm, though he can’t say that he’s ever known George all that well. Or perhaps it’s just a surprise to see him around. “Is he in charge?” George continues. “Why is he in charge?” He sounds genuinely confused more than upset, but he still feels his hackles raise.

(he is placing himself in this position and it feels natural and right and feels wrong and unsteady like his footing is slipping like he’s on the edge of the cliff face and below the rockslide is starting but he can do this, he can, he can lead this, it’s just one meeting and he can do it because if not him then who else will and he can do it)

“I’m not ‘in charge,’” he

(lies? he doesn’t know doesn’t know)

says. “I’m just trying to get a meeting started. We’re all here, aren’t we?”

“Everyone we were able to find is in this room,” Eret says softly, and then, to everyone else. “And I agree with Wilbur. We need to plan out our next move. And seeing as a meeting table has been provided—” They gesture, rather pointedly, and Puffy is the first to nod, pulling out a seat and all but collapsing into it, running a hand through her hair. Sam is next, and then Tommy and Tubbo enter fully, situating themselves directly to his right. Phil is the next to approach, followed by Techno and Ranboo, and he does not miss the way Quackity’s eyes track Techno’s movements.

Before long, it’s just him and Quackity standing. A concession might be needed here, or at least, a show of one; he doesn’t actually want to cause too much conflict with the man, if it can be avoided, not right this second, so he tilts his head slightly and sits in a chair of his own, though carefully, so as not to slump into it. Sitting seems to make him realize just how tired he still is, and the urge to let himself sag is strong. But the ploy works; Quackity seats himself, Sapnap on one side and George on the other, and really, this has to be one of the strangest collections of allies to have ever existed.

It reminds him of the final days of the rebellion, a little bit. The way that so many flocked to their banner to depose Schlatt. It’s difficult to look back on, but that aspect of it, at least, is not entirely tainted. There was a sense of camaraderie among them that is not quite present here, but he doesn’t miss it for himself; in those days, too, he held himself apart, struggling to resolve himself to what he was going to do, knowing too well that the traitor they all feared existed was him.

But there’s people here who weren’t here then. And people here then who are missing now.

“Who couldn’t be found?” he asks, and it is Puffy who answers first.

“Niki,” she says, and his heart skips several beats, unprepared for that answer, though its truth is undeniable. “I tried, but we only had so much time, and I have no idea where she’s been staying these days. There also wasn’t time to get to Foolish, but he lives a long way out, so he’s probably fine.”

It is a struggle not to react outwardly. Niki. He hadn’t even thought to—

No. Now isn’t the time.

(even though he wronged her, too, wronged her as he wronged everyone else and she deserved so much better than what he could give her and she is a dear friend so dear that even Ghostbur always remembered her but it seems that in the midst of everything else he might have failed her again and she deserves a thousand apologies and all the atonement he can offer but now he may never get that chance, may never and now is not the time to focus on it but oh gods Niki)

“Jack Manifold, too,” Tubbo chimes in. “He was staying in Snowchester, but I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Karl’s gone,” Quackity says. “But he does that a lot, so that might not necessarily mean anything.” His voice is too strained to be causal, and Wilbur has to make an effort not to react to that, too, though for an entirely different reason. He’s not sure how much Quackity knows. Not sure how much he should say, if anything at all.

(but he has seen Karl bargain with a god has seen the universe cling to him has seen the way he sidesteps in and out of reality and through time to the places inbetween and he would not have thought it of Karl of all people but perhaps that is the point)

“Hannah,” Sam offers, and nothing else. It’s not a name he knows.

“That might be everybody, though,” Sapnap says. “Alyssa and Callahan are long gone, and people like Vikkstar and Lazar haven’t been around for a while, now. Or, wait, actually, I have no idea where Hbomb is.”

“And there’s Purpled, too,” George says around a yawn. “No clue what he’s been up to these days, but he was always pretty close to Punz.”

“Oh, yeah, and the vines were all over his UFO,” Puffy agrees. “Um, and we might want to add Skeppy onto that. I have no clue where he is, but I’d be surprised if he weren’t Team Egg, since Bad is.”

There is a moment of silence.

“Is that actually everybody, then?” George says. “That’s more people than I thought.”

“It could be worse,” Phil says. His head is tilted back, eyes tracing the ceiling, though Wilbur knows him better than to think he’s actually relaxed. “We know about Dream, and BadBoyHalo, Antfrost, Ponk, and Punz. It’s a maybe on Niki, Jack Manifold, Hbomb, Skeppy, Karl—”

“Not Karl,” Quackity insists, and Wilbur is inclined to agree with that much, at least, even while Phil presses on.

“—Purpled, and—Hannah, did you say? And possibly Foolish, since we don’t know, but I’m inclined to agree with Puffy that he’s probably alright. So absolute worst-case scenario, that’s twelve, maybe thirteen people we’re up against. Pretty even odds.”

Phil’s definition of even odds, he thinks, is slightly skewed.

“Yeah, except you’re forgetting that the Egg is a demon. Dreamon, whatever. And Dream is also a demon, kind of,” Sapnap says. “That doesn’t sound even to me.”

“He’s still homeless,” Techno murmurs.

“The fuck does it matter if he’s homeless?” Quackity snaps, and then visibly quails when Technoblade looks at him, even though it’s also obvious that he’s trying not to. History there that he’s not privy to, perhaps, and he’s hardly going to bring it up right now.

“Well, I mean, we’ve already—” Fundy tries to speak up, but he’s drowned out by about four other people trying to weigh in on whether Dream’s homelessness has any bearing on the conversation, and Wilbur takes a second to frown at Techno for the hornet’s nest he’s kicked up, and by that time, Puffy’s speaking again.

(it’s fine, it’s still under control, he has this under control, it’s fine, and so what if he’s running on too few hours of sleep and so what if he wants to set his head down on the table and stay there, because he’s not about to actually do that, and it’s fine, he’s fine, it’s all fine)

“What about you guys?” she says, and everyone else falls quieter. “You were looking for dreamon-related stuff, right? Did you find anything? Honestly, we weren’t sure that you guys would be back this soon.”

“Is that where you went?” Schlatt asks. “How the fuck did that lead to you antagonizing a god?”

He ignores him, still. It’s the only option, really. “We went through as many of the stronghold’s” —There are several exclamations at that, at the fact that they know where one of the server’s strongholds is, as well as a sigh from Phil, no doubt an objection to spreading that tidbit around, but he continues— “books as we could, but we didn’t find anything. I did attempt to provoke a god into helping us, so we’ll see if that pans out at all, but I wouldn’t call it a wasted trip. I also managed to confirm for sure that the Egg is a dreamon, but I think we pretty much knew that.”

There is another moment of complete silence.

“I’m sorry, you did what now?” Quackity asks, and from where he’s drifting behind him, Schlatt starts cackling, loud and extremely irritating, a wheezy undertone to it that makes no sense considering that he does not need to breathe.

“I attempted to provoke a god into helping us,” he repeats. “I’m not sure whether I succeeded or not—in the helping area, at least. They were very provoked. But—” He pauses, considering. It’s always a tricky game, figuring out what to say and what to keep close to the chest, but this case is harder than most. “Actually, Sapnap and George, I’d like to ask, were you aware that Dream is a god? Or was a god?”

He is predicting the chaos that erupts after that, all exclamations and incoherent sounds, most of them some variation on either “What?” or “Fuck!” or some combination of both. But he keeps his gaze flickering between George and Sapnap, measuring their reactions. George’s face goes blank—shock, he thinks, rather than the expression of someone being caught out. And Sapnap’s jaw drops slightly.

“Dream’s not a god,” he says, and his voice overrides everyone else’s. “Dream’s not—there’s no way he could’ve kept that from us. Absolutely no way.”

“He’s not now,” he agrees. “He separated himself from the vast majority of his power, somehow, when he realized he’d be corrupted by the remnants of the dreamon. But he was one. I’m sure of that much. He may have hidden it from you, but I am certain of it.”

Sapnap’s face reddens.

“Aw, I think you hurt his feelings, Wilbur,” Schlatt says.

“Dream’s not a god,” Sapnap says again. “He’s not.”

“Even if he is, what does it matter?” Fundy says suddenly. “Especially if he’s not one now. It’s the dreamons that we have to deal with. The Egg, and whatever’s left in Dream. So if we don’t have anything that can take care of that, then what the fuck is all of this for? We have nothing.”

“Weird time for the kid to grow a spine,” Schlatt comments, and he’s ignoring him, he’s ignoring him, even though the vitriol in his son’s voice hits like a knife driven through stitches, back into a wound not yet healed. Fundy’s not looking at him, and the avoidance only makes it worse.

(it is directed at you it has to be it has to be that it is directed at you and it hurts hurts hurts and there is no one to blame but yourself and it hurts and you’re so tired and you have to stay in control but it hurts)

A hand touches his. He glances down to find that he’s clenched them, that his knuckles are white and his palms are stinging from the bite of his fingernails in his flesh, and Tommy has placed his hand on his, watching him. It is an effort to relax even a little bit, but for Tommy’s sake, he manages it.

Tubbo clears his throat. “What Fundy is getting at, I think, is that even with the stuff that me and Fundy have, it won’t be enough to kill them. Maybe we could banish the Egg, but apparently the exorcism we used on Dream wasn’t entirely effective, so we can’t be sure of that much. So maybe we’re not quite at square one, still, but we haven’t gotten that far. And if we can’t beat the dreamons, we can’t beat the Egg. Since the Egg is a dreamon.” He shrugs. “We’ve managed to keep it out. And as long as none of us break the enchantments from the inside, we should be fine to hold out here. But in the way of attacks, we don’t have much.”

“Great,” Quackity says. “So where the fuck does that leave us, then?”

He narrows his eyes at the table, attempting to collect his thoughts, and then looks back up. “I think we’re getting a bit off track,” he says. “Sam, is there anything that you can remember from the moment that Dream broke out that you think might be relevant?”

He tries to keep his voice, if not gentle, then at least free of blame, perhaps because he sees what Quackity apparently doesn’t; there is nothing he could say that would assign more fault than Sam has already assigned to himself. His eyes are dark, shadowed, and what skin is visible above the lines of his mask is pale and gaunt. It’s only been two days, little though that seems possible, but Sam appears as though he hasn’t eaten or slept for a week. Frankly, Wilbur hopes that he’s not planning to join in the fight that is sure to be on the horizon; he hardly looks as if he could effectively wield a sword. He is a far cry from the confident, stoic warden he met in the prison a few weeks ago.

“I don’t know,” Sam says, voice half a moan. “I think—I didn’t go in his cell. I know that for sure. I’d have no reason to. I didn’t go in, and the lava wasn’t lowered, so somehow, he escaped despite that. Which doesn’t make any sense, since the prison was designed to cut people off from any extraneous powers that they might otherwise have access to, and that includes admin abilities.” He stops for a second. The table has fallen silent again, though this time, there is a certain anticipation to it, a horror. Even Quackity looks considering rather than outraged. “I didn’t see him coming. He stabbed right through my armor. And I don’t—maybe it’s related to the demon thing. Or maybe—Wilbur, you said he was a god?”

His voice rises in pitch on the last sentence, cracks a bit on the last word, and Wilbur is suddenly reminded that Sam, like Sapnap and George, has known Dream for a very long time. Known Dream for a very long time and somehow, not known this.

“He was,” he says. “I don’t know how much of that power he still has. Not much, I’d imagine, but in combination with demonic corruption, perhaps that doesn’t matter. And in any case, it’s not something you would have known to plan for.”

“Wait,” Schlatt says, “is that why he could see me? Wilbur, what does it mean that he could see me? Does that mean something?”

He blinks. That—might actually be a good point. One that he hasn’t thought about in some time, though where he fits that into the mess of puzzle pieces spread out before him, he has no idea.

“So we’re back to square one there as well,” Phil says.

“Then I’ll reiterate, where the fuck does this leave us?” Quackity says. “We’ve been doing a whole lot of talking here, but not a whole lot of actual planning. Does anybody actually have an idea of what to do, or are we going around in circles?”

“I don’t see you offering much of anything either,” Eret points out.

“Yeah, ‘cause I don’t know what the fuck is happening!” Quackity shoots back. “At least I can admit that instead of yanking everyone around pretending like I know what I’m doing!”

That is a barb, probably, but Quackity isn’t even looking at him, is glaring at Eret, and this is about to erupt into another argument, and he thinks he’s going to allow it to, because even laying out all the information available to them isn’t getting them anywhere, and even if he had the ability to impose control over the room, there is still a part of him that whispers, that cries out that he does not have the right, and any moment now they will decide that punishing him for his crimes should be higher on the list of priorities, especially if he tries to step back into his old role, and—he’s not nearly as over this as he hoped he was, is he?

(he forgot how to trust a long time ago and perhaps these fears are baseless but that makes them no less potent and he forgot how to trust a long time ago he cannot trust them he cannot and he holds none of his former power not even that which was rightfully his he holds none of it and he cannot trust)

(he can control this he can lead but)

(but he)

(he’s supposed to be)

(a question, one that you do not want to confront: were you ever in control?)

So he lets them. He lets them talk over each other. Even Tommy joins in after a moment, after a sideways glance and another squeeze of his hand, and he can’t even pay attention to what everyone is saying.

It is difficult to keep his shoulders erect. There is a weight trying to bring his head down to his chest. It’s just an argument, and he can hardly expect anything less from these people, so bitter have the tides of history turned between them all, but it feels like a failure on his part, and his thoughts are fracturing again, flying beyond his grasp.

“Wil,” Phil murmurs next to him, but he just shakes his head.

“Yeah, this is going great,” Schlatt says. “Good job with the meeting. Y’know, when I was in charge, I didn’t let any of this happen. I ruled with an iron first. People listened to me. They respected me.”

“And then you died in a drug van,” he says, “from a heart attack, surrounded by people who hated you.”

This gets him an extraordinarily strange glance from Phil, but no one else is paying attention. He can’t keep track of who is snapping at who, but they’re all snapping at each other. In a way, Schlatt is right; the peace lasted, what, ten minutes at most?

Schlatt is silent.

Fundy is looking at him, too. He doesn’t look back. He doesn’t want to read the expression on his face. He doesn’t want—

“Wait,” Schlatt says suddenly, “wait, fuck, do you feel that?” He sounds genuinely alarmed, for once, and after a second, Wilbur feels it too, feels

(the air in the room alight and alive and their voices waver in and out of tune with the underlying melody and the regard lies heavily on them all and the universe is always there is always with you in the back of your mind but it is leaning in closer leaning in over your shoulder and you feel)

the way the atmosphere shifts. His ears fill with white noise. Everyone is still arguing, and they need to stop, but he can’t force the words out. Beside him, Phil jolts. Tommy grips his hand tighter. He doesn’t know if they’re saying anything, can’t hear anything past the ringing.

(a realization, dim and far too late: he really should have tried to get some more sleep)

Schlatt curses. He can hear that, for some reason, loud and clear. And then, he becomes aware of the tether again, aware that the tether is being pulled, is being yanked on, a burst of energy departing from him, energy that he’s fairly sure he might not actually have to give, and—

“Hey, could you all just shut up for two fucking seconds?” Schlatt says, voice almost causal, strong, no longer echoing, and the static clears from his mind and ears, and the room is once again quiet. His hands have begun to shake, and the tether is pulling on his heart, he thinks. He doesn’t have to turn to know that Schlatt stands behind his chair, solid as anything.

His heart is literally fluttering. That might not be good.

“What,” Quackity says, “the fuck.”

And he doesn’t say anything else. Because the god appears, then, hovering over the meeting table, cloak fluttering without wind, twin halos circling their head, and it’s interesting, that he can see those now without straining his mind. The space under their hood no longer appears full of shadows, but rather of the universe itself, a darkness that is not empty, starstuff swirling just out of view.

“Oh, shit, that actually is a god,” Schlatt mutters.

He hears the humming. It bolsters him, a bit, boosts his flagging strength. He takes in a deep breath, and his heart calms, steadies.

He focuses.

“Is hovering over tables the only way you know how to make an entrance?” he asks.

The god’s hood swings his way.

“I asked the universe,” they say. “The universe did not refuse.”

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck,” Quackity is muttering under his breath. Eret is staring, jaw slack. Puffy has grabbed onto Sam’s arm. The reactions on his side of the table are less pronounced; Phil and Ranboo have seen the god before, Techno is not one to be impressed without what he considers due reason, and Tommy refuses to be cowed on general principle, though he does hear him and Tubbo both let out a, “Holy shit,” under their breaths, almost in unison.

But Sapnap has risen to his feet, eyes wide.

And George says, “Dream?” His voice does not waver. He sounds curious, confused. Perhaps hopeful.

The god actually seems to still, the motion of their cloak dying down as they turn away from Wilbur and toward the other side of the table.

“Once,” they say, and Wilbur is surprised that they’re answering at all, to be honest. “No longer.” They pause. “He loved you. May yet still, under the corruption that has taken him. I am sorry.”

The god does not know human emotions. The god is not a person in their own right, not really; they are built of the power of a god and little else. But somehow, Wilbur almost believes that they mean it.

Sapnap makes a gasping sound, like air tried to escape his lungs but got caught in his throat. George has sat up straighter in his seat, his whole body leaning toward where the god is hovering. His hands rest on the table, palms facing upward, as if in invitation.

If it is one, the god does not take it.

(DreamXD, Karl called the god, DreamXD, Dream XD, Dream Xed, Dream crossed out, Dream but not, and perhaps this is the cruelest thing he could have done to these two, inviting a facsimile of their friend to hover in front of them, a reminder of what they lost and are not likely to ever have again, because this god could never hope to replace the man that Wilbur remembers from the beginning, the Dream that used to be and will likely never be again)

“I asked the universe,” the god says again, and turns back toward him. “The universe did not refuse. The universe sees you, and the universe would reply.” They pause, allowing that declaration to simmer in the air for a moment. Their voice echoes, and he can hear in that echo the overlay of the song, the tune, the notes that the stars hum reverberating in the world’s atoms. “If I alone were strong enough to exorcise this corruption, he would have done so when we were whole. But you have met with the universe, and the universe would aid me, so that I might aid you.”

His attention is fixed on them. But in his peripheral vision, he sees Sapnap slump back into his seat, face contorted.

(yes, this is the cruelest thing he could have done, bringing their dearest friend’s mirror reflection here)

“And what—” He stops. Wets his lips. His mouth is dry. “And what aid would that be?”

The folds of their cloak stir. A hand emerges, and the hand, too, is darkness-that-is-the-universe, and it is not connected to any arm that he can see. Their fingers splay wide, and then dropping from the air and onto the table, there are two swords. On first glance, they seem to have been forged from diamonds, sparkling blue in the throne room’s flickering firelight, but there are runes crawling up and down the blades and hilts, runes that seem to squirm and dance and shift.

And the runes are lit with starlight. He’s not sure that anyone else can see it. But he knows.

(the runes hum)

“The void is not so easily subsumed,” the god says, “and it is from the void that the corruption comes. But the void is part of the universe even as it exists outside of the universe. Corruption can be destroyed.” The hand gestures to the swords, now lying beneath them on the table. “With great effort, but the universe has joined me in it. These are the result.”

“I’ve never seen runes like those before,” Tubbo breathes, eyes wide. He leans forward, apparently overcoming his wariness. “These can—these can kill a dreamon? Like, actually?”

“The blow must be lethal,” the god says. “But the corruption can be destroyed. You asked me for help. This is all I can offer you.”

“It’s far better than nothing,” he says, and pauses, just to hear the hum, now coming from multiple sources, the swords and the god alike. “Thank you.”

“Do not fail,” the god says, and under any other circumstance, Wilbur might laugh at the words, so stereotypical, like something out of a television show. Do not fail. As if he plans to, as if he would without this prompting. “Do not allow this to be in vain.”

The world folds around them. The air compresses. Just as they appeared, they are vanish again, the only sign of their presence the swords that still glimmer before them all. The atmosphere lightens, the sensation of being watched easing away, like storm clouds dissipating. The god is truly gone, then, and staring at the blades, he’s not sure what to feel. He supposes that he hoped for more, somehow, hoped that the god would have the power to solve the issue for them, that if he could just persuade them to act then their troubles would go away. But it makes sense that they can’t; if the god’s power were enough to destroy a dreamon, then Dream wouldn’t have been possessed in the first place, and none of this would be happening at all.

This is the second best thing. The universe itself has interceded.

(and it’s such a strange thought is something that he never would have thought plausible because the universe does not interfere the universe watches and waits but he has been there in the cradle of the cosmos and felt them watching heard them whisper the stars and the space between and they watch but they watch with love and the universe has not fixed their problems has not made them magically disappear but it has given the means to do it themselves and upon further reflection that is like the universe that is very like the universe and perhaps what it has given them is hope)

“Well, that was enlightnin’,” Techno drawls. “So glad we got all of that cleared up. Can I have one of those fancy swords, or do we need to have a whole argument about this, too?”

“Why the fuck are you being so calm about this?” Quackity says. “Why the fuck—what the fuck even was—and you!” He stands, the motion quick and sharp, and he throws an accusing finger in his—no, in Schlatt’s direction, because the god is gone and he can feel his heart fluttering again, his energy tugged away from him at a rate that should perhaps be considered alarming, and he can sense Schlatt’s presence behind him, solid and breathing. “How are you here, you’re dead, you are so fucking dead, I ate your fucking heart that’s how dead you are, I literally own your, your leg bones, I have your femurs, how are you here, and can you just die again, right now?”

“Aw, did you miss me, honey bear?” Schlatt says.

“No, I hate your fucking guts, I hate you so fucking much, you are—” And he keeps going, and Sapnap has shaken himself out of his stupor enough to glare daggers at—shit, at his fiance’s ex-husband, and that’s a bit messy, isn’t it? And absolutely no one at the table appears pleased that Schlatt is here, even though several people seem to be too focused on absorbing what’s just happened with the literal god to be too concerned at the sudden reappearance of a former dictator, but Quackity continues and Schlatt eggs him on, and Tubbo is a few seats down, swiveled in his chair and staring at Schlatt with an expression that’s impossible to determine

(but that he doesn’t like, doesn’t like the mix of hope and fear and want and disgust, doesn’t like it at all)

and it’s all too much, and his chest hurts. Like it’s too tight. Like his lungs aren’t inflating.

(Schlatt died of a heart attack hated and alone even surrounded as he was he was alone and he died of a heart attack of a)

He glances around the table one last time, hoping for some indication that somebody, anybody, wants this conversation to get back on track. Instead, his gaze lands on Fundy, who is watching Schlatt with shock and open anticipation but very little anger, and somehow, that is what does it, what sends everything boiling over, the fact that his son is looking at Schlatt with a more welcoming expression than he greeted him with.

(and he deserves it he deserves it he knows but)

He never had control here. He has to face that.

He yanks at the tether, pulls with what little strength he has left, and the flow of energy halts, and Schlatt goes translucent mid-sentence.

“Just to be transparent, the bastard’s always around,” he says into the silence, rising from his seat, blinking black spots from his vision. His own voice sounds distant, but clear, at least. “But he literally has to draw from my lifeforce to do that, so that’s enough for now, I think. Please direct your complaints to the empty air rather than me, as I have very little say in where he decides to go poking around, and I probably agree with all of your objections to his general everything in any case.” He leans against the table, and tries not to make it obvious that that’s what’s keeping him upright. “I suggest we conclude our discussion for now, and come back in a few hours to actually formulate a plan based on our new resources.”

He gives it a second, but only waits for one person—Puffy, he thinks, though his vision is swimming—to nod, hesitantly, before turning on his heel and leaving the room. Going anywhere. Anywhere else.

(you lost control of them and you’re losing control of yourself and how long until you have to admit that you never had control in the first place that you claim to be better but don’t even know what that means that the paint really is scraping off and once it’s all gone there will be no more lying to yourself and then where will you be, Wilbur, where will you be)

No one stops him. A few people call out. Schlatt—sounding irritated, but that’s tough; he’s going to have to deal with it—and Tommy, and Phil.

He took a few minutes before the meeting began. To compose himself, to relax. That didn’t work, so he’ll take a few hours. And then get back to it. There’s no choice otherwise, after all. No real rest until this nightmare is over with, whenever that may be.

He ignores the voice that whispers that he’s not going to make it that far. He’s pushed through times like this before.

He can do it again.

[zeta-in-de-walls]

This was a submission, I received:

———————————————

(Is it ok if I go ?meta? on you. I need to talk to someone about this.)

(DSMP)Why does the New L’Manburg/L’Manburg nation always have to face the consequences of the actions made by the people?

Dream didn’t like it when Tommy played a prank on George’s house, causing a fire that could’ve be easily fixed? So he threatens to turn the whole nation into a prison with obsidian walls because of that one prank. And wouldn’t budge unless Tommy was exiled.

Dream also blamed Tommy for the destruction of the community house? Well time to go blow up the nation again. Not even going to give you a fair fight cause I’ll be blowing it up at 3 pm the next day. (He didn’t even stick to that!)

Phil was placed under house arrest by the Government (3 people, plus Ranboo but he didn’t really do anything) of New L’Manburg and watched his friend get executed. Along with seeing some become almost corrupted because of it? Time to help Dream and Techno blow up the entire nation. With the builds, the lanterns, his house, Ghostbur’s sewers and books, Friend and people’s homes just to send a message specifically about how it’s wrong to create a government.

Techno was hunted down by the government (3 people) and executed without being given a trial?(not that it would’ve done anything) Alright, time for the whole nation to be completely decimated by all these withers. Because apparently, just because the government is somehow corrupted, the whole nation is too now.

Fundy was screwed over by the people he cared for in his life. Even though Wilbur didn’t like Fundy in Pogtopia because Fundy only told Wilbur near the end of Wilbur’s life that he was a spy and that burning the flag, tearing the walls, disowning Wilbur was to help keep a cover (Guys just to be clear this isn’t a Fundy hate post or anything. He did what he had to do to get close to Schlatt, I understand that. I just wished more people realized this or I wish Fundy had told Wilbur he was a spy earlier) Well time to sabotage New L’Manburg’s supplies so they cannot fight equally and time to just watch as my friends go fight for a nation while I do nothing because they need to be taught a lesson.

Niki doesn’t like Tommy and is being ignored by the people? Time to burn down the L’mantree and not really help them defend their nation (she even said that this was her home) because of a dislike towards one person in particular. Even though Tommy isn’t the only one part of New L’Manburg? That doesn’t matter, because if Tommy is part of the nation, then the whole nation and everyone needs to suffer because of past actions. This is teaching a lesson apparently.

———————————-

Hey. Yeah, it’s frustrating. Tommy’s actions did not justify anything close to the level of punishment - Dream wasn’t looking for justice, he was always looking to hurt Tommy as badly as possible. Dream is scary because he has no morals and no restraint - he blew up L’Manburg specifically to spite Tommy. (maybe there’s other motives too but I really thinking Tommy was a key motivator. 

Techno has a dogmatic worldview and its dangerous too, because he always thinks what he does is entirely justified, when in fact he’s lost his vision of fixing a country and is instead his thoughts are clouded with revenge and destruction. Likewise, Philza supports Techno and is unwilling to see his faults. He’s convinced himself that blowing up a country is entirely fair because he dislikes a few actions from the Govt. 

Fundy is struggling, he was a citizen of L’Manburg from the start and he’s never got what he wanted from it, he’s always felt lost. It’s not about teaching them a lesson really, Fundy’s lashing out and realising he doesn’t really have ties to the country that let him down any more. We should be sympathetic, even if he’s become so disillusioned. I wish it were Fundy who had destroyed L’Manburg - he had far more of a right to do it than Technoblade ever did, tragic as the story is.

Niki too, she’s blaming Tommy but that’s not the source of her real hurt. It’s Wilbur. It’s easy to blame Tommy but L’Manburg failed her a long time ago and she no longer really welcome there. Burning the tree is a statement, of how she’s given up hope. She’s moving on from L’Manburg and lashing out at others in the meantime. Her story is tragic too. 

L’Manburg as a country didn’t deserve to fall. It was Dream who orchestrated this, with Technoblade as the weapon of Destruction. They don’t see the country, they see something to be destroyed and care little for the history or why it exists. These are not good people. They’re twisted people, and they’re broken people. 

L’Manburg is gone but Tommy and Tubbo and Quackity will remember this. 

[truamatized-kids-writes]

A New Home

Prologue This has been uploaded on a03 and yes we are the original writers  Dec. 13. 2021

“Well then, Tubbo, do you have everything we need?”

"I think? I've got food, beehive's nukes and a few other things we'll probably need"

“Yeah yeah, you and your goddamn Bee’s, where the hell is “Ranboo?”

"Last I'd seen he was on his way here? Maybe he got distracted or something?"

“Probably, fuckers distracted by anything and everything, we should probably go look for him if he doesn't show up in the next 12 minutes or something, god knows what could happen to him around here”

"That's true things have gone to shit at this point, besides we need to leave as soon as possible"

“Yeah no shit, all of L’manburg is gone at this point, Dream’s beyond insane, Ghostbur want’s to bring back fucking Wilbur, it’s a mystery what happens next”

"Yeah yeah I get it Cut the existential dread let's go look for Ranboo, and grab the jukebox and whatever things we've got left"

“Yeah yeah, shut it Bee boy I’m going, still can’t believe we’re actually going through with this though. Though it is to be expected at this point, we all know what happened last time we thought about this and didn’t actually do it”

"Then we still had something to actually work towards now let's go"

◦╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌𓂂꒰𖥸꒱𓂂╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌◦◦╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌𓂂꒰𖥸꒱𓂂╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌◦

Tommyinnit has died from lightning

Tubbo_ went out with a bang

Ranboo drowned trying to escape Elder Guardian

◦╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌𓂂꒰𖥸꒱𓂂╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌◦◦╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌𓂂꒰𖥸꒱𓂂╌╌≺ ೃ≻╌╌◦

The death of the three shook many and gave a slight moment of clarity for those taken by surprise. One of the first reactions was from Sam he seemed so lost and confused by the events that had taken place , he tried messaging the three Individually and with no answer he panicked looking into what's now L'mancrater ever so shook and lost, he was just getting to know the kids, what a week ago and now they're gone?

Silence ran through the air the second the death messages were sent out, a lone father, if you could even call him that anymore, stood on an obsidian grid, re-reading the message over and over again. Philza Minecraft, a man who once had Three sons, now left with one, now left to face the consequences of his actions. Phil knew none of the kids would be happy after what he had done, but he though it had to be done, he thought that the Smp could go back to being just an Smp without L’manburg, he didn’t think he’d be left to mourn with only one son left out of the three he once knew and loved.

Things were hushed as the large demi-god sheltered his father/mother from the explorations. When the chaos finished he frantically checked his communicator to see what damage had been done, the once was god of death(?) And reincarnation (?) was in tears. This wasn't meant to happen , he wasn't meant to lose them this soon. The messages of the three deaths sent anger, greif, and sadness throughout the demi-god causing him to shout out in frustration. The three boys he'd gotten so used to talking to, giving gifts, and seeing them sneak around his builds, gone all so suddenly with out a chance to say anything, it pissed him off, he'd lost a sibling and two close friends this day and he didn't intend to let their names go down in vain.

The mother, being protected by her son saw the messages, one among the first to see them just the look fo them brought her to tears. They couldn't be real, they just couldn't she thought as she read over the messages herself over and over frantically before it finally set in and brought her to hysterical sobs.They were gone.. She couldn't help them now, her bee loving son, his rowdy swearing friend, and the quiet forgetful boy they'd drag along with them. This small ragtag group of friends gone, she hoped begged even for her son Foolish to tell her it wasn't true, but she could see it the grief in his eyes, yet somehow she felt it her fault. She should've been there for the three, she should be been the one. Defending then this entire time, looking around this crater she knew what had come of the smp. With the three gone there would be no more scolding them to leave the kitchen as she made dinner or telling the three about the pirate adventures she remembered, there would be none of it. No more laughter from the kids. It broke her but she knew someone had to step up and at least be some sort of light or joy in this time of need, and that would be her, no matter how broken she was she'd do it.

Then, there was one person who could never seem to remember what had occurred on that day. The day of Doomsday, the ghost of the server known as Ghostbur had lost two brothers, and someone he was still getting to know. Once he received the news, blue started pouring from the poor ghost’s eyes, instantly becoming a dark royal blue the second it touched his ‘skin’.

Ghostbur may not be able to remember a lot about Tommy, but he and Alivebur really cared about him, the same goes for Tubbo and Ranboo. The ghost just held blue and cried for as long as he could before melting in the rain and waking up back in the sewer, forgetting everything that happened the day prior, along with the fact that the three youngest on the server were forever gone.

The girl with the flowers , when she saw the death messages she wasn't sure what to feel, glee, anger, sadness? She felt this odd moment of clarity, it was foggy but before she knew it she was crying , there weren't any words as she looked up to the rain, the tears and water mixing as she grinned, a look of both sadness and madness on her face as she choked on non-existent words. The thought of wanting to laugh and cackle at the three deaths crossed her, but so did the thought of standing there rain the rain grieving a shouting to the sky in anger and sadness crossed too. She felt so many mixed emotions that she didn't know what to do. While she wanted to grieve and hurt like everyone else she had left to care about, she just couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t shed a single tear that would mean anything, she was upset, so why couldn’t she show it?

The piglin up on the obsidian grid noticed his fathers sudden look of despair and checked his communicator, the deaths only two had a lasting impact on the piglin. Tommy , dead, it shook him, he expected something a little more dignified for the boy he called Thesus. His stone heart nearly split in two reading the message, why him? Sure he was annoying as all hell but the boy deserved greatness , glory, to be on the winning side of the battle for once. He wished to give it to him , but he couldn't any more. Tubbo's message hardly affected him , sure he was a kid but he also at one point was a government and had tried to execute him as well, there's no reason in worrying over someone you don't care about. Though the same couldn't be said for Ranboo. Ranboos death caught him off guard. He didn't know them too well but he was getting to know him, this kid despite how cold he was and how often he pushed them away came back, happily and even gave him a gift. A life lost is a life lost but this one he'd mourn just like Tommy's the two would most certainly get a memorial at the house of the blade,

Then, you had the one behind the chaos, the one who caused everything, the man, the myth, the legend, Dream. The one person left who felt nothing but pure glee, the one who wanted those damn kids gone from the beginning, Tommy being gone would be a bit of a setback, but it could be dealt with. Dream didn’t care as long as the other two were gone, However, Dream isn’t as naive, he isn’t one to believe so quickly. Dream knew those kids were not dead, they would never die, even if they did, Dream could just bring them back, there was no escaping him, no escaping the DreamSMP. Dream would make sure of it. Even if it hurt the people he, deep deep down, cared about.

[terrible-leviathan]

Okay Okay Okay. So I'm not really done with the second part yet (it got long so I'm separating it into two sort of parts) but I just wanted to get your thoughts (feel free to answer this one privately, just cause I don't know if you wanna spam your problems with this wip)

The cabin in the snow had always been a warm place. Despite the callous legends and myths surrounding its’ inhabitants, the home itself had always been rather…cozy. With polished wood, fuzzy carpets, and the perfect amount of heat radiating from the fireplace, the cabin had always been an oasis; a reprieve from the cruel desert of ice outside.

It supposedly warmed the even the cruelest of hearts. The home allowed Blood Gods to read on plush couches, it allowed Angels of Death to sip hot chocolate by fires, it allowed Endermen Hyrbids to calm down.

It warmed the coldest of souls, and melted the roughest of exteriors.

Except, for apparently, one.

For no fire, and no warmth, could melt the man who wore ice itself as shield.

They were seated around a dinner table, polished acacia with miscellaneous fillings that helplessly tried to disguise the countless knife marks scarring the wood. There were candles on the table, and while they usually provided light, tonight they only served to cast shadows.

Ranboo hadn’t been particularly thrilled when Phil had invited Wilbur to dinner. But he had obliged. He was Phil’s son. He deserved a chance to have dinner with his father.

And apparently his father’s piglin-hybrid roommate, and ender-hybrid neighbor.

Ranboo, of course, had tried to avoid the engagement, but Phil had insisted. Phil had begged. And at the insecurity evident in the eyes of the immortal, at the fear of him of being alone with his son, the worry of rejection prominent in his plea, Ranboo had agreed.

But now, sitting across from Wilbur, with Phil and Techno on his right and left, Ranboo knew he should’ve just said no.

“So, Phil.” Wilbur started, a small smile on his face as aimlessly swirled the dark red drink in his hand, “How’ve you been?”

Phil’s eyes widened, “Oh! I—I’ve been good, Wil, I’ve—uh—I’ve missed you. A lot.”

Wilbur’s eyes softened slightly as he smiled at his father, “I’ve missed you too, Phil.”

A grin formed on Ranboo’s face as something lit up in Phil’s eyes.

“It really is nice to have you back,” Phil whispered, “I don’t—it’s been so long.”

“Yeah,” He whispered, “It has—“ His eyes darted towards Ranboo, “Obviously, though, you’ve been doing well enough.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ranboo questioned.

Wilbur’s eyes widened, as if struck by the fact that Ranboo was addressing him, “Hm? Oh, nothing really, just that I am very happy that Phil found someone to take care of. Someone whose battles he’d be willing to fight. Someone who doesn’t fight their own.

Ranboo’s hand clutched his drink with white knuckles, “I don’t like conflict, that doesn’t mean I need someone else to fight my battles. I don’t get into battles.”

Wilbur scoffed, “You avoid battles. You’re spineless.” He spat the word like a curse, setting down his goblet with a thud. Something inside his eyes dimmed as he said it, fingers curling into tightly wound fists.

Ranboo wanted to let it go. He really did. And he would’ve, too. He would’ve allowed the insult to stay rooted in his mind, untouched and unmoving, yet diligently ignored nonetheless. He would’ve kept smiling and laughing awkwardly, his lips barely stretching into a thin smile, and his eyes barely disguising his discomfort.

He would’ve.

He would’ve done it for Phil.

If Wilbur had just stopped talking, then he would’ve been able to let it go.

But the man always seemed to have so much to say, and so with a twinkle in his eye and a dramatic flourish in his movements, words had kept flowing from his mouth.

“I was thrilled to have dinner with you, Phil,” Wilbur murmured, “Me and you. I thought it was just going to be me and you. I wasn’t surprised to hear you’d invited Techno, of course, why would that possibly come as a surprise at this point? But you didn’t even stop there, no—“ His gaze sharpened on Ranboo once again, “I’m stuck passing the potatoes to a coward.”

“Wilbur,” Phil warned, sighing slightly, “Ranboo hasn’t done anything to you—“

“Exactly!” Wilbur cried, “He hasn’t done anything! He’s just sat there! Staring! He won’t even say anything back to me—“ Wilbur stopped, shaking his head and laughing, “I really do wonder how you and Tubbo get along so well, Tubbo’s far braver than you could ever hope to be, although I don’t even really understand what he sees in you—“

“That’s it!” Ranboo cried, slamming his hands onto the table in front of him. Phil and Techno both jerked their eyes towards him. Phil looked nervous, agitated, whereas Techno looked as if he would rather be anywhere else. Or maybe that was just his normal face. Ranboo could never tell.

Wilbur raised an eyebrow, “Oh is it? That’s it? Tell me, Rahnboo, what it is you’ve had enough of?”

“You, for one,” Ranboo murmured.

Wilbur let out a loud chuckle, “Oh! So the little Enderman has a spine after all, does he? Come on, Ranboo,” His eyes flickered with something, and for a moment Ranboo though he could see sadness. He thought he could see behind a facade of ice, behind the grin of a showman. But just as soon as it had came, it had disappeared.

And Ranboo was still pissed.

“I’m not a coward,” He bit out, “I—I try to be there for my friends, I always try to—“

“You try?” Wilbur repeated, “Tell me, Ranboo, how hard did you try when your so-called ‘friends’ were stuck in a cacophony of fire, when they were being surrounded by a crumbling country, when they were left to the mercy of Phil and Techno? How hard did you try then?”

Ranboo shook his head, “That was different—“

“Was it? You let them get hurt, you allowed the burns to stain their skin and the scars to mar their chests, you—“

“You blew up the country yourself!” Ranboo cried, leaning over towards Wilbur, “I might have let it happen, but at least I didn’t press the button! I wasn’t the one who destroyed what Tommy loved, I wasn't the one who hurt him so badly that he trembles when saying your name, I’m not the one that put Tubbo through so much pain that he can’t even look at one of his old suits without crying—“ Ranboo shook his head, “I might not be perfect, but at least I’m not you!”

A silence drifted over the table. Phil looked up at him with shock, indiscernible emotions lurking behind his eyes. Ranboo knew he should apologize. But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what for.

Technoblade drummed his hand on the table once, before standing up with an awkward cough, “I’m gonna go get some more meat, I—“

“Oh no, Techno.” Wilbur murmured, head tilted in amusement as a grin stretched across his face, “This little Dinner Party just got a lot more fun. You wouldn’t want to miss the…festivities would you?”

Techno didn’t seem impressed, but his eyes instinctually shot to Phil, and at a pleading glance from his closest friend, he sat back down.

“So you’re personal grievance against me is because I hurt Tommy? Hurt Tubbo?” Wilbur asked with a small grin, “You hate anyone who’s hurt them?”

Ranboo nodded, his eyes steely. He would protect Tommy and Tubbo and Michael with his life. And from what he had seen, Wilbur only wanted to hurt them. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt them, he had to protect the people he cared about.

So he spoke the one word he knew to be true. “Yes.”

For a moment there was silence, and the a brash laugh echoed from inside of Wilbur’s chest. He threw his head back, the cry of laughter seemingly being too much to bear. The rest of them simply watched him in unease, cringing as his chuckles echoed inside the room that now seemed much to small.

Once the trickle of laughs died down, and Wilbur wiped a few nonexistent tears from his eyes, he turned back to Ranboo, an almost victorious smile on his face.

“Hypocrite.” He murmured, “You’re a fucking hypocrite! You are a spineless child who only follows his moral code when it’s convenient for him. You aren’t even a liar, Ranboo—“ He shook his head with a laugh, “You’re just an idiot.”

Wilbur expected that to be the end, as if he had played the final note in his song, tied up the engagement with one last piece of string. But Ranboo’s eyes had darkened, and he was done taking his bullshit.

“AND YOU IDOLIZE TOMMY’S ABUSER!” Ranboo yelled, “You saw what he did to Tommy in exile, you saw what he did to Tubbo! You see what an absolute monster he is, and you don’t care!”

“Of course I care!” Wilbur cried, eyes wide. He stopped speaking immediately, as if ashamed by his own words. Why anyone would be ashamed of caring, Ranboo did not know. But that didn’t stop the trembling man in front of him.

“What I meant to say,” Wilbur rephrased tensely, “Is that I have a code. Dream is the hero. He is the only one who can save us. What he did to Tommy, to Tubbo, to me, is unimportant in the grand scheme of the world. I don’t care if it makes anger pool in my stomach, I don’t care if it makes my vision turn red, I don’t care if it makes my blood feel like lava. I don’t care.” He chuckled, “I can’t care.”

A frown settled onto Ranboo’s face, “Dream has hurt the people you care about, so why the hell do you still idolize him?”

Wilbur chuckled lightly, “The raven should never insult the crow—” He gestured to Phil and Techno around him, “—if they have the same feathers.”

Ranboo shook his head, “What does that even mean? That doesn’t—you’re not making any sense.”

Wilbur chuckled darkly, “I know I’m a monster. I know I’m the bad guy. The villain. But if you believe my adoration for Dream is a sin because he’s ‘hurt people’, then tell me, Ranboo, how can you possibly sit in this house, a contented smile on your face, and laugh and joke and grin with the gods and immortals who’ve hurt the very people you claim to defend?”

Ranboo’s eyes turned to Phil, then to Techno. That was different. Phil and Techno were good. Sure they didn’t get along with Tommy and Tubbo, but they would never hurt him.

Ranboo shook his head, “They would never hurt them the way Dream did. They would never hurt one of them on purpose, they would never kill one of them.”

Techno’s utensils fell from his hands with a clatter.

Ranboo raised a questioning eyebrow at him, as the Blood God had frozen in his seat.

For a moment Wilbur looked shocked, his eyes turned to Techno, almost appalled. Then he jerked his head to Phil, who still looked confused and comfortable, then he moved his gaze back to Techno, and eventually towards Ranboo once again.

“I—wow,” Wilbur murmured, running a hand over his face, “I almost—I almost don’t know what to say—“

Ranboo simply shrank back into his chair as Wilbur cocked his head.

“Do you know about the whole—“ He gestured his hands in a small pop, mouthing the word boom.

“Of course I do,” Ranboo answered easily, “But I don’t blame Techno and Phil for what happened to L’manburg on Doomsday. I don’t hold that against them, and I don’t really even think—“

“No, no, no!” Wilbur said with a laugh, waving him off, “You think I care about that country being blown to bits? Of course not! I don’t care. I never cared. Ever. What I’m talking about it a much smaller boom—“ He chuckled to himself, “But a much more colorful one.”

Ranboo turned towards Techno, whose eyes had darkened.

“Wilbur,” He started, “I don’t really want—“

“OH!” Wilbur cried as his eyes widened, slamming his hands down on the wood and leaning forwards towards Ranboo, “You don’t know!” He cried. It wasn’t a question, it was a realization. A realization that made the hairs on Ranboo’s neck stand up.

He laughed awkwardly, already fearing the answer, “Know what?”

Wilbur shook his head as he ran his hand down his face, “Holy fuck. This is—this is too much,” He turned towards Techno, a laugh bubbling out of his throat, “I—I can’t believe you never told him!”

Techno’s eyes narrowed, “I have told him. Multiple times. But it doesn’t really strike me as polite dinner conversation—”

Wilbur waved Techno off, turning back towards Ranboo.

“Tell me, Ranboo,” He murmured, “What are your thoughts on fireworks?”

MATCH AAA

Genuinely the way I slapped my hand to my mouth so many times cuz HOMEWRECKBUR HOMEWRECKBUR !! Also I just love the way u did the whole buildup to this like u can literally tell how smug of a shit Wilbur is, how awkward and quiet the other people around the table are, and when Ranboo finally snapped like YESS HAVE A SPINE

Tho my only comment to this is it'd be more cool if u would show more of Philza and Techno's reaction especially when certain info gets revealed like the whole abuser thing and to Ranboo snapping cuz this boi rarely even shouts. But other than that, that was an absolute delight to read and I'm so fucking excited for the next part!!

Ranboo: I am against people who have hurt the people I care about. Specifically Tubbo, Michael, and Tommy.

Philza and Techno, who has beat the shit out of Tommy in a pit, who has shot multiple fireworks at Tubbo (and Tommy), who blew up their country just cuz they had a personal agenda against the two teens:

[joannie95]

Legacy - Part 38

Pairing: Carter!reader x ?????

Summary:  Everyone knows Peggy Carter is a force to be reckoned with, who could have guessed her granddaughter would hold the same ferocity, if not more.This story follows y/n Carter’s life as she faces the obstacles life pitches her.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Swearing, mentioned death and Alzheimer. I have done as much research as I can on Alzheimer so I apologize if the information is incorrect 

A/N: Thank you to @mo320  for proofreading and helping with the ideas for this chapter and @welldonebeca for reviewing the story, thank you to @writeyourmindaway for making these awesome text dividers im so excited to use them all

A/N: I know Steve and Peggy first meeting isn't until winter soldier but I decided to push it up to match the story

A/N accidentally posted this as part 36 instead of 38. sorry for the confusion

A week has passed since the attack in New York. You were able to fly your grandma back once you knew it was safe and you started to plan Phil's funeral. It took a lot out of you both physically and emotionally, when the day of the funeral finally arrived you woke up feeling numb to the world. When you lost Craig you went through so many emotions but now after losing Phil you didn't know how to feel. You just knew a part of you was missing. You and your grandma got ready for the long day ahead of you, you planned to meet up with the few people who were closest to Phil at the cemetery. In all, it was you, your grandmother, Darcy, Clint, Natasha, Maria, and Nick. You all walked to his gravesite together and planned to say your goodbyes. One by one, everyone spoke up and told stories about Phil: their first encounters together, their best memories, and how he made them a better person. When it was finally your turn, you had thought about what you wanted to say and what you wanted your last words to him to be, but decided it would be best to just say what Phil meant to you. 

"For as long as I can remember Phil Coulson has been my rock. He has always been there for me, to support me even with my most idiotic ideas. He wasn't afraid to tell me when I was being an idiot, but he was always one of the first to defend me when I was being told the same by someone else. He wasn't afraid to put his job on the line if it meant standing up for me and my insane ideas. I'm so grateful-." You stopped for a second when you felt tears running down your face but decided to continue. "I'm so grateful that I was able to have someone as amazing as him in my life but I'm even more grateful that he was like a father to me and that he saw me as his daughter." You looked down as his casket was being lowered. "I'll always love you dad." 

His casket was buried and you all said your final goodbye before parting ways,  leaving you to glance back at his gravestone with a sad smile on your face and fresh tears on your cheeks. Here lies Philip J. Coulson July 8, 1964 - May 4, 2012, The man with the plan. Beloved son, friend, and father.

In the past year, you'd noticed your grandmother's mental and physical health deteriorating. While living together in London you were able to help her 24/7 but now that you were back in New York working at S.H.I.E.L.D that was no longer the case. After discussing it in length you both came to the agreement to move her into a retirement home. It wasn't the easiest decision, you felt ashamed that you couldn't care for her, but she reassured you that she understood.

You finished unpacking the last of her items into her new room when you decided to sit and talk for a while. 

"So talk to me dear, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay I guess. Everything is finally starting to hit me. Phil's gone, Tony and I are surprisingly in a better place and Steve Rogers is back which is absolutely insane by the way." You placed a hand on top of hers. "He's really nice, all the stories are nothing compared to the real thing."

She smiled and noticed a slight twinkle in your eye, one she hadn't seen since you spoke about Craig. "I'm glad you like him, knowing him made me a better person and I hope he does the same for you." 

"I’m sure he'd love to be able to talk to you, I can ask him if you'd like."

"No that's alright dear, things are probably a little difficult for him at the moment. I'll give him some time and whenever he's ready to talk I'll be here." 

A few weeks went by and everything seemed to go back to as normal as it could. You were working in your lab trying to modify one of Natasha's weapons when your AI notified you that someone was arriving. "Miss Carter, you have a visitor."

"Thank you Albert, let them in please." 

You looked and saw Steve walking through the door. "Oh, H-hi." You internally scold yourself when you hear the nerves in your voice.

"Hi." He looked at you sheepishly when he noticed the items on your table. "I'm sorry I hope I'm not interrupting." 

You gave him a kind smile. 

"You're not, I just thought I'd modify some weapons for agent Romanoff. Is there something you needed?" You tried keeping your voice steady. 

"Yes. Actually, I was hoping I could meet up with Peggy soon. I think I'm ready to see her again if that's alright with you." 

He seemed nervous asking, almost as if there was a chance you'd say no. 

"Of course that's alright, she's really excited to see you." 

"Really?" 

"Absolutely, she wanted to reach out but she thought it'd be best to wait until you were ready. Does this weekend work for you?"

"Yes, absolutely. Thank you." He looked down at his feet before speaking up again. "I should get going then, I'll see you around."

You spoke up before he had a chance to leave. 

"Steve, you should know she's not really herself."

He looked at you and waited for you to continue. You wring your hands together. 

"She has Alzheimer’s. Some days, she has moments when she'll forget where she is or even what day it is. I just don't want you to worry if it happens while you're there."

"Oh." He lowers his head and looks worried. "Ok, thank you for telling me." 

You write something on a slip of paper and hand it to him. 

"This is her address, I'll be there this weekend, so feel free to come by when you're ready." You hand him the paper, your hands slightly touch and you look at each other. You quickly pull back and clear your throat.

He takes the paper and puts it in his pocket. "Alright, so I'll see you around." He walks to the door and looks back and smiles before he walks out.

You lay your head on your hands and let out an exasperated breath. "What are you doing?" 

The weekend came by quickly enough and you were waiting with your grandma for Steve to arrive. 

"Alright as soon as he gets here I'll head out and give you guys a couple of hours to catch up before coming back."

"Darling I've already told you, you don't have to leave. You can stay, it's alright."

"I know but I'd rather let you two be alone. There's probably a lot you two need to catch up on and I'll just be in the way." 

Before she could talk you out of it a nurse knocked on the door and entered the room. 

"I'm sorry to bother you both but there's someone at the front desk that's here to visit you." 

You thank the nurse as she leaves the room and you turn to your grandma. 

"That's him, I'll go get him." You walk up to the front desk and see Steve looking very nervous. "Hi, I'm glad you could make it. Are you alright?" 

He hesitated for a second. "I think so, just a little nervous." 

"That's alright but there's no need to worry, she's still the same person you remember." You gave him a reassuring smile. "Come on I'll show you to her room." You're about to open the door, you stop and turn to Steve. "Before we go in, if she does have any memory problems the best thing to do is just to go with it. Trust me I know instinct will tell you to correct her but it'll be better for her."

He swallows hard and nods. "Alright."

You quickly change your demeanor from serious to slightly more cheery. "Grandma you have a visitor." You walk in and see her lying in bed looking out her window. She turns and looks at you both with a smile on her face. You walk up to her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and kiss her cheek. "I'll head out now, call me if you need anything." You say goodbye to Steve and walk out.

Steve's pov 

I couldn't help but stare as she walked out of the room. I turned back and saw Peggy in front of me. I never imagined I would see her again, it almost feels like a dream and as soon as I wake up she'll be gone.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" 

I chuckled and sat down in a chair next to her bed. 

"This doesn't seem real. I'm still trying to convince myself it is." 

She grabbed ahold of my hand, looked into my eyes, and gave me a caring smile. "It is real. I've missed you so much Steve."

"I've missed you too Peggy. I'm sorry I didn't come by sooner, I guess I just needed to come to terms with everything." I look down, I feel ashamed for not coming by sooner.

"Please don't apologize, I can't imagine how you must have felt. Waking up and everything you've known is gone. You're allowed to process things in your own time." She places her hand on my cheek.

I try to change the subject before becoming too emotional. I look towards the pictures at her bedside. "You have a beautiful family Peggy." I grab a picture of Peggy with a man who I assume is her husband and a young boy who must be her son. 

She looks at him with a sad smile on her face. "Yes, I miss them dearly." 

I look up quickly. "I didn't know, I'm sorry I-." 

"It's quite alright Steve."

I set the picture down and look at one next to it. She answered my question before I even had a chance to ask.

"That's Y/N and her parents, I believe it was taken a few months before they passed." 

"What happened to them."

"That's not something I can tell you. Maybe one day you can ask Y/N and she'll be able to." 

I look at the last picture, it's one of Peggy and Y/N. They both look so happy. "She looks just like you." 

"The resemblance is uncanny isn't it. We've almost been inseparable ever since she was a baby." She looks so proud talking about her, like a parent bragging about their child's achievements. "After her parents passed we became closer than ever, we took care of each other. I saw myself in her more and more each day." She stops for a second. "I hope you know she is her own person though, she may have gotten my features and mannerisms but she's not me." 

I'm getting confused as to why she would say that. "I don't understand." 

She chuckles. "I'm no fool Steve, I saw the way you looked at her before she left. I understand that it could be easier for you to view her as something to help you hold on to the past but she isn't me. Maybe you could get to know her and understand she's her own person. You two have more in common than you think." She grabs his hand and looks into his eyes. "I want you to know that it's okay to move on. I had a wonderful life and I want the same for you." 

I look at the floor and smile. "Thank you. You should be proud of yourself Peggy."

"Mm. I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours."

My smile falls. Even after all these years she cares about my life and happiness. 

"What is it?"

"For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It's just not the same."

She chuckles. "You're always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather...mucked it up."

"You didn't. Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I'm choosing to stay."

She strokes my hand to get my attention. "Hey. The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over." She starts to cough and tries to catch her breath.

I turn to get her some water, when I turn back she has a confused look on her face. 

"Peggy."

She suddenly looks at me like she's seeing me for the first time.

"Steve?"

"Yeah."

"You're alive! You...you came, you came back."

This must be what Y/N meant. Now all I can do is go along with it. "Yeah, Peggy." 

She starts to cry. "It's been so long. So long."

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance." I turned when I heard a knock on the door.

"Steve you can't be here if my landlady sees you she'll kick me out." She started to panic when she saw the door open.

Y/Ns pov

I was about to knock when I overheard the conversation coming from inside.

"You're alive! You...you came, you came back."

"Yeah, Peggy." 

"It's been so long. So long."

I tried to take a second to compose myself. As soon as I walk in there she won't recognize me, it's going to hurt but I need to go with it. I take a deep breath, knock on the door and walk-in. "Peg you know he can't be here. If Miriam sees him she'll kick you out just like she did with Molly for sneaking in her boyfriend." You close the door behind him and walk towards them. "Miriam is doing her rounds so he needs to go now. I'll go distract her, you two say goodbye then go." You look towards Steve and hope he understands what you're doing.

"Of course, thank you miss I really appreciate it." 

You smile at them and quickly walkout. Once you're in the hallway you notify a nurse of your grandmother's mental state at the moment. You wait for Steve and will yourself not to break down until you're home.

Legacy Tags:

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[allthephils]

Luna Ursi

Phil takes in a stray dog and soon realizes he’s found his other half.

Word count:  5209 so far Rated T

Chapter 2

Read on AO3

Excerpt: The autumn sun streams muted through the windows and Phil stirs. He wakes just before his alarm sounds. That hasn’t happened in ages. Most mornings, he’d grab his phone and scroll mindlessly for a while before even getting out of bed. Today, he can hear Bear’s sleepy breaths, like last night but calmer, softer like he’s not dreaming anymore. Phil stays cozy beneath the duvet and listens to the sound. He listens until he hears something that makes his breath catch in his throat. Holding it there so he can hear clearly, he waits and it comes again. A hum, just a small sleepy moan. It’s the sound you make when you’re comfortable and warm and just stirring from sleep, when a person is stirring from sleep. There’s someone else in the room.

He shuffles toward the headboard, knees to his chest. He wants to call for Bear but he doesn’t dare make a noise. Bear will keep him safe, he could scare off anyone. Where is Bear?

Read on AO3

Bear jumps onto the bed three times before he finally listens and lays down in his bed on the floor. It breaks his heart a little but Phil holds his ground. The dog takes up altogether too much space and it seems important to start building good habits if he’s going to live here now. Phil’s mind races with plans for his new life as a dog owner. Tomorrow morning, he’ll get online and find a good vet. He knows he’ll need to do a cursory search for Bear’s owner too, though he doesn’t think anyone who’d lose him twice in as many months truly deserves him. 

 Phil dreams of the woods again, of running fast through the trees, glowing silver around him. This time he’s not alone, Bear runs at his side. He can hardly keep up and he stops trying. He just runs, his blood pumping fire in his veins as the cold London air whips by. Bear is meters ahead, sprinting, weaving around roots and rocks and fallen branches, until he leaps without warning. He lands crouched, front paws coming down hard onto something grey and furry. Phil stands perfectly still, watching the small thing struggle under Bear’s powerful legs and eventually it hangs limp from his jaws. Bear looks back at Phil before turning to walk toward him. He lays his offering at Phil’s front paws, nudging it closer with his nose. Phil sniffs at their prey, lowering his head, and Bear nuzzles into the side of his face and the thick fur at his neck. 

 He wakes with a growling stomach but feeds it only a glass of water. Bears snuffling breaths are the sweetest sound in the dark of night. They sing him back to sleep. 

 The autumn sun streams muted through the windows and Phil stirs. He wakes just before his alarm sounds. That hasn’t happened in ages. Most mornings, he’d grab his phone and scroll mindlessly for a while before even getting out of bed. Today, he can hear Bear’s sleepy breaths, like last night but calmer, softer like he’s not dreaming anymore. Phil stays cozy beneath the duvet and listens to the sound. He listens until he hears something that makes his breath catch in his throat. Holding it there so he can hear clearly, he waits and it comes again. A hum, just a small sleepy moan. It’s the sound you make when you’re comfortable and warm and just stirring from sleep, when a person is stirring from sleep. There’s someone else in the room.

 He shuffles toward the headboard, knees to his chest. He wants to call for Bear but he doesn’t dare make a noise. Bear will keep him safe, he could scare off anyone. Where is Bear?

 “Who’s there?” Phils says. He’s trembling, struggling to sound strong and unafraid. “I have a very big dog and he will fuck you up. I’m not kidding.” 

 They’re moving, he can hear them moving. He steadies his breath as much as he can, struggling to stay just this side of absolute terror. His mind races. This person broke into his home, into his bedroom, his sanctuary. Everything of value is in the other rooms. Did he interrupt their burglary? Is he going to be killed or something far worse? Where the fuck is Bear? His legs prickle with heat, the blood rushing to fuel his escape. It doesn’t seem likely. He’ll have to fight. 

 Finally, a person comes into view, pushing off the floor to stand near the foot of his bed. Desperate, Phil gropes for his glasses on the nightstand and now he can finally see. It’s a man. A broad, tall man. He doesn’t stand a chance. As the man stands to full height, it dawns on Phil that he’s not wearing any clothing and fear takes over. Phil’s breath quickens as his body moves without him, jumping from the bed. 

 “Bear!” Phil calls out, the shake in his voice betraying him.

 The man turns slowly and Phil reaches behind him to grab something, anything to protect himself. He finds himself with a ridiculous nin-nac in his hand, a ceramic lamb -banana hybrid that he bought for it’s sheer absurdity. Right now, it’s not the least bit funny. It is heavy though, it might not knock the guy out but it would slow him down. He stands stall, chest puffing, and takes a few steps towards the man. 

 As he comes face to face with Phil, the man takes a single step forward and Phil raises his arm, ready to defend himself.

 “No, no, no! Stop,” The man pleads, “Phil, please don’t freak out. You’re not in any danger. I’m not gonna hurt you.” 

 He can see all of him now. He’s completely naked, hands up in front of him, he looks terrified. Phil doesn’t lower the lambanana just yet.

 “How do you know my name? How did you get in here?” Phil shouts, his chest is heaving. “What did you do with my dog?!”

 “Phil,” the man says, “I know this is crazy, I’m so sorry I frightened you.”

 One more step forward and they are eye to eye. The man’s hands are still up, he’s defenseless. Phil lowers his weapon and just looks into brown eyes that feel so familiar. Despite his resistance, his gaze wanders over miles of smooth, champagne colored skin. He’s beautiful and Phil’s body warms and softens at this close proximity. 

 “Phil.” His voice is reassuring for no reason at all.

 “I don’t know how you know my name,” Phil says, “but you’re…”

 He steps back and sits on the edge of the bed. The fear that was so present a moment ago, pushing him to run or fight or scream, is gone. He can feel his heart reach out. 

 “Do I know you?” Phil says, his voice wobbly. “What the hell is going on?”

 “It’s me, Phil.” He approaches slowly and crouches down in front of Phil. He tilts his head as he looks up at him.

 “You?” Phil says, exasperated. 

 “My name is Dan. But Phil,” The man sighs. He reaches out and it looks as though he’s going to put a hand on Phil’s but he pulls it back. “It’s me. I know this sounds fucking mental but it’s me, it’s Bear.”

 “Okay, Dan is it?” He does his best to speak in a soft, measured tone. “You seem like a nice guy but I think you need a kind of help that maybe I can’t give you. There are people who know how to help you, so I’m just gonna make a call now.” Phil picks up his phone, ready to dial 999.

 “Wait, wait, wait, I can prove it,” Dan says, frantically, “you have emoji pajamas.”

 “Have you been watching me?” 

 “You have sonic the hedgehog underwear.”

 “Oh my God.” Whatever comfort he had found in Dan’s eyes is rapidly twisting itself into pure menacing danger. 

 “You have a little mole under your right arse cheek. It’s cute.” Dan says and he smiles a very small, very shy smile. 

 “Fuck,” Phil says, voice barely working as his throat siezes up with fear, “don’t come any closer. I’m calling 999.”

 “No! Shit, I’m fucking this all up.” Dan stands and paces the floor. 

 Phil dials 999 and lifts the phone to his ear.

 “Phil, please.” Dan scrubs his hands over his face. “You met me in the park. You called me pupper. You called me bear because I’m strong.”

 “Emergency. What service to you require?”

 Phil hears the operator but he doesn’t respond, he’s paralyzed, caught between astonishment and disbelief.

 “You brought me home but then I was gone.”

 Phil looks up at Dan, who cautiously moves closer. 

 “Hello? Emergency. Are you in need of service?”

 “So sorry,” Phil says into the phone, “my mistake.” He ends the call. 

 “It’s me, Phil. It’s Bear. Come closer. You know it’s me.” 

 “I don’t know,” Phil says, “I don’t know.”

 “Think for a second,“ Dan continues, “have you ever seen your dog during the day?”

 Phil stands.

 “You met me in the park, on the full moon, and then you didn’t see me again for a month. The next time you saw me was…”

 “The next full moon,” Phil whispers, before clasping his hand over his mouth. His eyes fill with tears but he’s not sure what they’re for.

 Stepping forward, Dan pulls Phil’s hand away and holds it. Tenderly, slowly, he brings their bodies together and leans to press his face into Phil’s long neck. He sniffs and nuzzles and Phil’s arms finally make their way around to hold him. He can deny the warmth in Dan’s eyes, the things he knows, he can deny the way this man smells like home to him. There is something else though, a visceral recognition that he can’t deny. Every piece of Phil’s body knows what his brain is trying desperately to catch up to. It’s him, it’s his Bear.

 “Bear,” He sighs as he pulls him closer.

 ***

 “You’re so beautiful.” It’s the third time Phil has said it. They’re sat on his sofa. Dan has the sleeves of Phil’s big oversized hoodie pulled down over his hands. He’s wearing a pair of Phil’s joggers too. His knees are pulled up to his chin, mug of tea held up close to his nose so he can smell the sweet floral fragrance. Phil is sat on the other end in a similar configuration. He’d been determined to wrap Dan up in warmth, not that he minded the view. He just feels this intense draw to make Dan cozy and safe.

 “Are you ok? Do you need anything?” Phil says, “Are you hungry? I might have some biscuits. Maybe something more substantial?” He starts to get up.

 “Phil. I’m ok.” Dan’s smile is so soft and lovely and Phil sits back down and stares.

 “You have to stop looking at me like that.”

 “Sorry. You’re just so…”

 “You have to stop saying that too. But, thank you.” Dan’s cheeks, already pink from the steam of his tea, deepen their color and Phil has to bite his tongue to avoid saying it again and again.

 “You’re ok?” Phil aks.

 “I’m ok.” Dan takes a sip before continuing. “This is really nice, Phil. I’m usually alone when I turn back and it’s, well, this is better.”

 Satisfaction settles in and Phil relaxes back into the cushions, pulling a blanket over his lap. He’s drinking his coffee and watching Dan sip his tea and it’s raining outside the window. It’s as close to perfect as he can imagine and his mind supplies a timeline of morning after morning, spent just like this. This isn’t something that has happened before. Phil has never met someone and imagined a future with them, at least not one so mundane and domestic, so real. No sooner has he lost himself in that fantasy than his mind supplies a storm of doubt. He doesn’t know if Dan sees Phil the way that Phil sees him. Maybe all the nuzzling and affection is just a dog thing. Are they even friends? Is Dan even single, is he even gay? It’s at that precise moment that Phil realizes, of all the questions currently vying for attention in his brain, none of them are about the fact that Dan is apparently a werewolf, or a weredog, or something. He can’t help but laugh.

 “What?” Dan asks.

 “This is insane,” Phil says, “You’re a fucking werewolf, Dan.”

 Dan raises his brows as if to say, yeah mate, I know.

 “I should be freaking out,” Phil says, “I should have questions.”

 Dan nods a small nod and curls in on himself a bit. He shrugs. “ What do you want to know?”

 Phil swallows. All he really wants to know is, is Dan warm enough, does he think Phil is good looking, does he feel the pull toward Phil that Phil feels toward him? He doesn’t ask those things.

“How long have you been…?” He doesn’t like saying the word. It doesn’t fit. 

 “I was 20, so 6 years?”

 “Are there more? Like do you know others, like you?”

 “There are, but I keep my distance. I’m not like them.”

 “So how did it happen? Who made you.. or… is that how it works?”

 Dans lips pull tight and he squares his shoulders. Phil knows he crossed a line and he desperately wants to take the question back.

 “Forget I asked that.” Phil says, “Different question?”

 Dan nods. He grabs the end of Phil’s blanket to pull over his legs and Phil moves a little closer to give him more to work with.

 “Can you turn anytime you want to?”

 “Yeah, as long as it’s night, and the moon is out. The sun drowns her out during the day, there has to be moonlight. And yes I know that light comes from the sun, I don’t make the rules.” Dan eyes are firmly on his own hands. His tea set aside, he’s started to twist the blanket in his fingers, fidgeting. “I can’t help it though, when the moon is full, and the days surrounding it. When it shines brightest in the sky, for those three days, I have to hunt. I need to run.” 

 “So how often do you turn when the moon isn’t full?”

 Dan huffs a breath, “Never.”

 “Why not?”

 “Because it’s awful. It scares me. What if i hurt someone?”

 “You wouldn’t.”

 Phil hasn’t looked away from Dan’s face since they started talking and he’s finally rewarded now. Brown eyes meet his, narrowing a bit, and he’s reminded again of the connection they have. He felt it when he first knelt down to pet Bear, when he’d  followed him home, when they walked side by side through the park. It’s so strange, this attraction, but it’s been there from the start, it’s natural. 

 “People fear me, dogs fear me, wolves attack. I’m all alone when I turn.”

 “People fear you?”

 “Well yeah, I look so scary.”

 “I mean, you’re a big boy,” Phil laughs a little, “but you just looked sweet to me, friendly. I saw someone I could be friends with.”

 “That’s what you saw?”

 “Yeah.”

 Dan unfolds his legs and scoots toward Phil under their shared blanket. Soon his head is on Phil’s shoulder, nose nuzzling against his neck and Phil’s fingers have found a home in Dan’s curls. He resists the urge to pet Dan’s head and instead rubs his fingerstips into his scalp, massaging and scratching to the sound of contented sighs.

  “Phil?” Dan’s voice is barely a whisper.

  “Hmm?”

  “I’m glad you found me.”

  Phil’s heart feels tight, like Dan has crawled inside and there’s no room for anything else. “Me too, Bear,” he says. 

[dawnblxde]

[Kingdom Hearts 3 Review]

Welp I’ve finally done it, finally played and finished KH3! - After intentionally delaying doing so with my day one copy after finding out for some silly reason - it lacked multiple world visits for development sake and had no Final Fantasy characters - so I decided to finish the games I was in the middle of then replay the entire KH franchise, except the ones you could watch. Gonna leave my thoughts below. Just in case there are those out there still trying to avoid legit spoilers!

There were good and bad elements to this game.. Plenty of my experience that I enjoyed, but I believe more so that I didn’t - which made me want to pull out my hair. But I like my head shaved, so that wouldn’t work lol I liked the graphics, beautiful but I knew a PS3 could handle them as the quality of Woody in this game was the same as him in Toy Story 3 (2010 Video Game). Enjoyed the gameplay, though it felt like a flawed, floaty and broken version of Kingdom Heart’s 2 near perfect improvement of Kingdom Heart’s gameplay. A problem was the fact that in the first two main games, even when I was level 50-60′s - I always felt like I could DIE. It was always a fear during major combat moments. I had to concentrate so much just to be successful. Even if I tried to be a higher level then recommending through grinding. I never felt like that in KH3, every moment was such a cake walk. Even the final battle. Did they even try. Regardless, I had a good time with the gameplay and the visuals. But I wasn’t as drawn in as previous games. It did the game no favors and was a massive flaw, it lacking Final Fantasy characters. We should of been able to explore Radiant Garden or had other worlds relevant to FF characters. They were really important to Sora’s development as a Keyblade wielder. Cloud and Squall for sure. Sora wouldn’t be who he is if he hadn’t encountered and spoke to them. They’d of been useful in multiple sequences. We deserved the next part to Cloud’s issues with Sephiroth. That wasn’t resolved. See how Squall/Leon and the others reacted and dealt with what was going on at Radiant Garden. They’re capable of other world travel, seeing how they’d react to some of the new worlds would of been great as well. Nomura confirmed the only Noctis he’d put in KH was his Noctis. Versus XIII Noctis. And interest in doing so. Yet he wasn’t in the game, when as an Anti-Hero of both light and darkness would of been interesting. Seeing he’d take neither side. Also has important factors in common with Rapunzel and Elsa. Seeing them relating over this would of been nice. The lack off FF adds to factors that make KH3 be disappointing experience - along with an enjoyable one. One of the things that still makes KH2 the best. Was how awesome it was to watch the Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters team up in the battle of 1000 Heartless. One of the best aspects about the franchise is the concept of it being a FF x Disney - a Final Fantasy and Disney collaboration. Multiple visits were really needed. Some of the worlds were quite enjoyable and not frustrating. But they all have different percentages of feeling rushed and not fleshed out enough due to one visit. And some annoyingly treated Sora like he didn’t matter. Just acted like making you watch rushed unfinished version’s of the original Disney movies. Sora’s just there like. Oh look, it’s Sora over there! Hi Sora! You don’t matter here! Shouldn’t be like that. The Disney characters should be well blended into the Kingdom Hearts plot and Sora in the plot of the Disney world. The story made me feel emotional, I enjoyed all the Kingdom Hearts parts, even if I felt some of them were rushed or not written well. Tears did leave my eyes. I liked how Aqua didn’t actually give into Darkness, it was Ansem’s fault. I liked the reunion, final battle sequences and all the stuff leading up to it. My favorite parts to praise are the deaths of all Org 13 members, each made me feel emotional and I wanted to see those character’s again reborn. Not so much young Xeraxnort. But Ansem and Xemnas? Oh the feels there, they were strong. I clapped. I felt there could be more with Larxene in the game in general, including her end. Luxord’s! Clap, really want him to come back and play cards with Sora. Riku Replica’s was great too. Both Riku Replica’s. Marluxa’s.. Vanitas’s was disappointing. However, these great moments aren’t enough for me to forgive those disrespected by this game. The one’s from the worlds you could visit. I’ll get to the unforgivable bits last. Toy Story’s new story and world were great. I loved exploring that world and playing through it. The development was great. Only flaw was what they did with Buzz, he’s stronger character then they take him for. He wouldn’t lose himself to the Darkness. Otherwise, everything was great. Pretty sure it’s my favorite. Hercules’s world was the level of quality I expected! It was decent, I miss the goddamn tournament's, Phil’s voice - but I did love the exploration of his city and meeting his father! Shame no boss fight with Hades's, they’re great and fun! Twilight Town sucked! I liked seeing the gang again, Uncle Scrooge and little chef. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that more then half of Twilight Town is cut and it doesn’t look like the same place! I liked exploring the entire world, not just a portion of it. Monsters Inc’s sequel to the first film with that world experience was great! I had a blast! I always wanted to see Sully’s reunion with Boo! It wasn’t perfect, but I had a good time! Pirates of Caribbean felt like it changed things from it’s canon, but it was an emotional blast! Jack Sparrow scenes and Will scenes, it was just great! The Big Hero 6 world! Oh it was great! It was emotional to lost Baymax in the film, to get him back was great! Kinda sucked to not see the big brother come back, but they’re saving that version of events for the sequel. Two Baymax’s. The only thing I didn’t like was how the whole cast was shrunk. Best example being Honey should of been taller then Jack Sparrow’s model, but she wasn’t. These worlds could of really done with multiple visits. Even more so the three left, that were wronged and disrespected. Don’t try to praise/defend what was done to them, they deserved better. Winne the Pooh deserved better. I liked not having to collect Torn Pages, but even if you didn’t have to. In the previous games, The Winnie the Pooh worlds lasted about an hour or so doing all the activities, helping out all Pooh Bear’s friends - stuff like that. Then you have KH3′s version, which is less then 20 minutes, doing the same activity three times. That was awful. Pooh’s universe deserved better. We deserved better. This is a massive flaw. Can’t forgive this. I love Pooh Bear. Now, as someone who love’s Rapunzel, not fond of how they treated her world either. It was basically the movie with bits cut out and skipped. She hardly interacted with Kingdom Hearts lore, Sora hardly stuck around her. It was just like. Now and then, Sora’s there. Why were they so scared of showing Rapunzel kissing Flynn? There were so many moments Sora should of got to interact with? Where were the two bad guy twins? Rapunzel just generally deserved better in this game. Last but not least, Frozen. Probably the worst world in the game. Because you spend most of it just falling off mountains. They hardly let Sora interact with Elsa or Anna. Or left them get involved in Kingdom Hearts lore. Sora would of been able to relate well to Elsa if they let it happen. You can’t explore the palace, Han’s has no lines and you’re forced to listen to Let It Go again with Sora basically just there. Like hi Sora! All I liked was Snow guard getting more of a role. Don’t even get to explore the city. Just the snowy place. No real development, it’s like - what was the point? There really was none. Why did we go there? Why was Larxene there? Elsa and Anna deserved better then this. Also while not all Disney worlds could of returned in KH3, due to their stories being settled. A lot definitely could! Also, Kairi deserved better then pretty much being a plot device, hardly getting development at all just to go poof. And the idea that Sora’s sacrifice to get her back doesn’t lead to the priority of everyone to find and/or bring him back somehow instead of chilling. Just made the whole ending sequence an OOC moment for me.

Verdict! 

Kingdom Hearts 3 is a decent game and fun experience, but it’s also a flawed mess. Like handling in a English report that gets a low C and just barely hits the passing grade. It is not the worst in the franchise, but Kingdom Hearts 2 easily beats it and so does Kingdom Hearts, the original one. Funner to play then Dream Drop Distance, Chain Of Memories, Recoded and the Roxas focused game! But the rest defeat it! I have no interest in a new game plus, roleplay wise I intend to amend the flaws. The Disney worlds that were wronged will get justice. Add back Final Fantasy and the missing Disney worlds. Make it what it should of been! I had a good time, I really did. But once was enough. After finishing, it now shocks me that an amount of people I can count on just one of my hands tried to either tell me KH3 was good enough or superior to all the other games, even KH2. My assumption now is, they hadn’t recently played the other games before playing 3, were lost in Nostagla or something else was going on. Just how.. How could this possibly beat the two other main titles? The only thing superior is the more then three team mates tbh. xD

7/10

I really feel like I’m being generous here, but if I went lower then I’d think I was being too harsh. It’s not FFXV and Bound by Flame 5/10 quality, but it’s certainly not The Walking Dead (by Tellale) and The Last of Us 9/10 quality. So this will have to do. Nomura, I strongly advise you to look back at Kingdom Hearts 2 and what made it so great, before you work on your next main title.