#that grown adults are just as much of thieves and bullies as teenagers

[naferty]

Stark Holiday 

(First Part. Recommend reading that before this one. Makes a little more sense!) 

~~~

Steve once wrote a letter to get a best friend for Christmas. He had been eight-years-old, back when his health was bad and his scrawny child body had been scrawnier than most. Finding someone to be his friend proved to be a real puzzle. 

He didn’t know why he chose that particular year to ask for a friend from the jolly man. Maybe the bullying had been particularly bad that year, or maybe he was finally old enough to understand the feeling of loneliness, either way, he wrote the letter and only asked for a friend while requesting other, important things for his ma. 

Steve didn’t remember much of that year, but he did remember it was the year where he finally made a friend. 

The boy had been similar in age as him, with the darkest eyes and darkest hair Steve had ever seen. Steve remembers the boy practically wore nothing against the cold. Only the thinnest little sweater and boots, while Steve had been wrapped in every jacket they had owned. As if the cold didn’t affect him. 

Steve also remembered how the boy smiled at him. Wide and open. No sneer in sight. That year, Steve played in the snow for hours and never wanted to stop. He never wanted to say goodbye to the boy, to Tony. 

The next day, Tony was still there and still wanted to be his friend. Steve had been overjoyed. 

Then the next day and the next, until the strangest thing. Come the first day of the next year and Tony never returned. Vanished with no trail left behind. Little eight-year-old Steve had been heartbroken for a time but then he brilliantly resolved; he’ll just as the jolly man up north for his friend to return. 

Come the following Christmas and… it worked. Tony came back and Steve had another wonderful holiday with his friend. 

Then Tony disappeared on the first day of the following next year again, so Steve wrote another letter and come Christmas week, Tony was back. 

This pattern repeated for years until Steve finally met Bucky one sunny day in February. A jerk who became his best friend. Thick as thieves and glued to the hip. They’d later join the military together and share an apartment. 

Steve didn’t write a letter for this year, nor any of the following years, and didn’t recall ever seeing Tony. Steve hated to admit it, was a little ashamed of it to be honest, but he had forgotten all about Tony. About the letters. Until now. 

His date with Sharon went well and seeing as Christmas was right around the corner one of the topics they had gone over had been their childhood holiday memories. What their families had done before. Any embarrassing stories for a particular year. 

Steve remembered Tony and the letters. He told Sharon as much. A cute story in his childhood that he now chucked it up as pure coincidence. Tony had probably just been in the area visiting family and celebrating the holidays. Once Christmas was over he’d return back to wherever he lived and then return again to Steve’s neck of the woods to visit and celebrate. 

Sharon agreed and they smiled and laughed. Their date continued until they had to go, but they left agreeing to try again. Steve liked Sharon. He could see himself dating her if it worked out, but not anything further than that. They needed a bit more time for that. 

He returned to his apartment with the discussions of the date in mind. Specifically, the letters and Tony. To many, including himself, it really could have just been a coincidence. A little boy visiting distant family that happened to live in Brooklyn and looking for a friend to play with for the week, but what had happened on the year Tony never returned? A falling out with his family? Rebellious teenage faze where family reunions were too boring for him so he whined and whined until he was allowed to stay home? 

Steve couldn’t say, but it did catch his curiosity. What are the odds the letters and Tony are connected? Low, but who would it hurt if Steve wrote one more? For old time’s sake, and as an apology for having forgotten his old friend. 

So, he wrote. 

A simple letter consisting of questioning his sanity for writing to jolly ol’ Saint Nick as a full-grown adult and mentioning his old friend who Steve was curious to see now. See how Tony had grown, how he looked, what became of his life after. 

How Steve had come to miss him now that he remembered him. 

He signed it and sent it on its way. Never to be seen for Steve had no idea where letters addressed to a fictional character go. 

Just as years before, Steve had forgotten about it shortly after. Not out of malicious intent. He just had so much to do. Work, check on Bucky, share a coffee with Sam, meet with Sharon for another date and promise a third, drop off lunch for Natasha, make sure Clint hadn’t been thrown overnight in jail, figure out his budget for presents, the list went on and on. 

The 21st came upon him pretty quick. Steve thought nothing of it. Just a regular, rare day-off. Get up for the day, stop by his favorite coffee place for a little treat and enjoy his free time before meeting up with Natasha and Bucky for some dinner. 

He had just gotten in line for his drink and slice of cake and was looking around the establishment when something caught his eye. A sweater. A thin and outrageously colorful little thing, worn by a man sitting at a table. There was no sign of a coat or jacket or anything else to keep warm. Just a sweater, pants and boots. 

There were inches of snow outside and the wind was unforgiving. Only someone insane would wear a simple sweater. 

The questionable sanity of the man caught Steve’s attention. Then Steve noticed the man looking at him. Embarrassed at being caught, Steve turned away and stubbornly pretended he saw no one. 

His stomach dropped when at the corner of his eye sweater-man stood and made his way towards him. He felt his face heat up. Sweater-man was going to demand to know why he had been staring and Steve would have to somehow explain why he had been fixated by the sweater-man’s choice of clothing. 

“Excuse me?” Sweater-man said.

Steve accepted his fate. This was his end. “Yes?” 

Sweater-man smiled. Wide and open, with exposed pearly whites. “Steve, it’s good to see you again.” 

Steve’s mind blue-screened. Again? Steve had met sweater-man? When? Where? Steve may forget people from his childhood, but he prided himself on easily remembering faces as an adult. He’d remember a face like sweater-man’s. Pointy nose, round doe-eyes, fluffy dark hair and a goatee. It was a face Steve would easily remember put together.

He didn’t remember sweater-man. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve said softly, “I don’t recall. Where did we meet?” 

The smile remained, growing a little wider. “I’m not surprised. It’s me, Tony. Remember us playing in the snow way back when?”

Steve’s jaw nearly made friends with the floor. “No way,” the odds were supposed to be low! How was it possible he’d run into Tony after just having thought about him. “Oh, my god, how have you been?” 

“I’ve been great. Busy. This is my busiest time of the year so finding time to relax is a miracle, let me tell you.” 

Steve got a better look at the man. Shorter than himself but carrying some muscle. Visible through the fabric of the sweater and pants. Slightly pale, as if he rarely saw the light of day but pink on his cheeks and nose. Looking at his face a second time… it was a handsome face. Tony was a very handsome man. 

His holiday friend had grown up to be a very fine man. 

“What do you do?” Steve moved out of the line, not wanting to create traffic as he caught up with an old friend. 

“I’m in the posting business. Distributing, mailing, take your pick.” There was a gleam in Tony’s eyes. As if he was revealing a secret. 

“With the holidays coming up, no wonder you’re so busy.” 

“Never busy enough for a cup of coffee, though, and enjoy a little stroll in the park. Care to join me?” The smile of before, the same smile Tony had often given him when they had been kids, made Steve’s heart skip a beat. 

It was cold and the wind was hell. Only the brave or insane would take a stroll in the park in this weather. Steve eagerly said yes. 

[afandomroom]

Character File: Sage Brooks

Note- This is the updated version of Sage’s initial “Fact File”

Warning- Brief mentions of parent death, death, abandonment, and bullying. Nothing descriptive or angsty, this isn’t a story just a fact file, but I’m adding warnings anyway. Also uh…I know parts of her story might not be...totally believable or even sorta stretched? But trust me when I say this is much better than her original story.

Also also, it's very very long. So..be prepared. Wish there was a way to sum this all up.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Full Name- Sage Celia Brooks Birthday- August 15th, 2002/1999 Age: Canon: 18 - 21 Future: 26 - 29 Hometown- Eyton, Northern Ninjago 

(Blood) Family- Aster Brooks (father; deceased), Lily Brooks (mother; deceased)

(Found) Family- Asher Woodman (older brother figure), Marion Nettle (younger brother figure)

(Future) Family- Willow Woodman (Niece), Cedar Woodman (Niece), Katlyn Woodman (Sister in law)

Hair- Black, falls to the center of her back, usually pulled into a braid of some form. Eyes- Silver Height- 5”3’ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sage grew up in a small Northern village by the name of Eyton, a traditional, old fashioned place, where the main income was fish and river crustaceans/mussels. 

Sage’s parents moved to Eyton a year before Sage was born, taking an old, partially abandoned house as their own and fixing it to their liking. Aster took a job on the fishing boats, and hunted in the nearby forests both to bring meat home and bring in extra cash. Lily opened a baking business, and sold flowers during festivals. 

While there wasn’t any proof of the matter, people of Eyton whispered about how Aster looked suspiciously similar to a man who’d accompanied a gang that’d caused some trouble a few years prior, until a warrior had chased them off. 

Again, without proof they couldn’t hold a trial or even attempt to kick him and his slowly growing family out, but that didn’t stop the villagers from turning up their noses and even encouraging their kids to stay away from Sage and her parents. 

Despite her social isolation, Sage was a very sweet child, who always tried to be nice to her classmates despite feeling that they hated her. She wasn’t blind to the way adults acted whenever she walked through town with her father.

When she was seven years old, one of the town’s fishermen was found dead on shore, an arrow sticking out from his skull. Aster was the only notable archer in town, and it was noted that he’d had an argument with the man a few nights prior. Given his possible prior gang affiliations, he was placed under house arrest until a proper trial could be put together. 

The trial would be put off when an illness, deadly to adults (when left untreated) but nonlethal for children under seventeen, swept through the village. Lily caught said illness, and despite Aster’s attempts to take care of her, refusal from the village to treat her and inevitably Aster himself led to both of their deaths. 

After burying both her parents within the same week, Sage was kicked from the village after a mostly unanimous decision. 

For two years Sage wandered about alone, until she came to a village with a stone wolf statue in the center. 

On her third day there, she was cornered by a group of town kids, who taunted her and pushed her around until another street kid, a boy with white hair and blue eyes, stepped in and fought of the bullies. 

He only spent a few seconds checking to make sure Sage was ok, before turning to walk off by himself, determined to remain alone. 

Within that same week, a skeleton horde attacked the village. Sage was quick to find an elevated porch to hide under, hoping she could wait out the raid. 

This was when she spotted the white haired boy running, assumedly from the skeletons. Thinking quickly, she grabbed him and dragged him under the porch before he could be spotted. 

After what felt like hours of awkward silence between them, the boy introduced himself as Asher and the two ended up spending the night under the porch. They decided to stick together afterwards, Asher stating that they’d be partners, looking out for each other to survive. 

Sage would grow to care very much for Asher (platonically and soon in a familial way), and while Asher felt the same, he struggled to come to terms with caring for someone other than himself for a long time. 

When Sage was eleven, Asher managed to…find a job. A thief named Ronin offered to hire them for help on a job. Despite Sage feeling the job betrayed her morals, she didn’t was Asher to do the job alone, and so, she agreed to join. 

And this was the beginning of Sage’s long life of crime. As they got older, their names were spread around more and more, and soon a steady enough flow of money began to come in. 

As time went on, certain events started to change Sage’s overall demeanor and personality. At the beginning of her teenage years, anxiety and general depression ran rampant. By sixteen, an apathy started to overtake her. She started losing touch with the caring, over all happy girl she’d once been. 

During the SOG takeover, Sage became a target for UV’s wanted list after shooting some of the gang members. (Reason has yet to be determined). She caught the attention of Mr.E while running over the rooftops, and miraculously escaped with few injuries.

Sometime, early on in the takeover itself, Sage was traveling across the rooftops when she found a boy cornered by SOG members. She didn’t hesitate to shoot the gang members in the head with her bow, only realizing later that there may have been a more merciful way to deal with them. 

After learning that the boy didn’t have a place to go, she brought him with her to the apartment she shared with Asher at the time. He would introduce himself as Marion. 

Something about the rescue inspired her, and from there she would do her best to save other targets of the SOG for the remainder of the takeover. 

This was the start of a change in Sage, one that would reconnect her with herself. She started caring more, smiling again, thinking of different ways out of situations than just...shooting first. She felt severe guilt, but she also felt a form of freedom. She realigned her morals. 

Sage would do her best in the years that followed to provide Marion with a better life than her own, and would become a main supporter in his journey to master his element and become one of Ninjago’s protectors. 

Three years later, Sage ended hiding a young man with a green streak of hair from a team of muggers. Deciding to take a risk, she invited the strange man to their home. She wouldn’t let him know that she recognized him as the Morro until a week or so later. 

While Morro never joined in the thieving business, he did freelance with lifting and loading jobs to pull his weight. He’d also become Marion’s mentor later on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the future- Eventually, Sage would leave the crime life. The guilt of her actions and belief that her parents would be sorely disappointed in the way she’d led her life drove her to quit. 

She would never turn herself in, instead running a branch tea shop with a close friend, volunteering and donating when and where she can as an attempt to give back. 

She’d continue to be a supportive and loving figure in her brothers’ lives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season by Season:

- Season 1- Sage meets Asher Sage and Asher were in a village that was attacked by the Skeleton Horde She was in Jamanakai with Asher when Lloyd first attempted to raid the place for candy. She was going to offer to help him snag some candy, but got scared off when the ninja arrived. 

- Season 2- Sage and Asher continue their partnership, their loyalty and trust has grown quite a bit.

- Season 3- Sage and Asher begin their lives in crime.

One of the jobs Ronin hired them for was keeping an eye out while he grabbed Zane.

- Season 4- They were in one of the villages attacked by Chen’s cultists. 

- Season 5- Asher and Sage officially refer to each other as siblings.

They were in Styx when the ninja attempted to steal from Ronin. Sage saw them leaping across the roofs.

- Season 6- With the ninja’s rise in fame, stealing becomes both harder and easier. On one hand, they’re too busy to come after them. On the other, cops were alerting the Ninja to every crime. Sage and Asher end up laying low.

- Season 7- When Borg disappears, Sage and Asher are given the job of stealing his tech.

- Season 8- Sage and Asher are offered a job by Harumi, but they ultimately turn it down. 

- Season 9 – Sage is wanted by the SOG, saves Marion, and begins fighting against the SOG. 

- Season 10- Sage, Asher, and Marion hide in an underground bunker during the oni attack. This is when they meet Jerome Rune and Calvin Rune. 

Season 11- Sage, Asher, and Marion were not in the city during Aspheera’s attack. Rather, they were trying to remove Marion’s vengestone cuffs. They spent the rest of the season try to help Marion with his abilities. 

- Season 12- The minute Sage hears about the video game linked disappearances, she drags the boys away from the city and to a rural village. Girl isn’t taking any chances. 

Later that year, Sage meets Morro

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

Facts: - Her father taught her the archery basics; she chose to learn how to shoot and uses a bow as her primary weapon because of her father’s prowess with the weapon. - She taught Marion and Asher’s daughters how to use a bow. - Has callused fingers from archery. - Can throw knives like a boss. - She does know a few things about fighting, but it’s not her strong suit and she prefers long range and dodging to melee and hand to hand combat. - Her favorite tea is Passion flower, and her favorite food is puffy pot stickers(or just pot stickers in general) - She has a kill count of 27, and is very closed off when asked about it. - She can pick locks relatively well, including handcuff locks and jail cell locks. - Like Asher, she is notorious for breaking out of holding cells and police custody. - Every year since she was 14, she visits Eyton to update her parents on her life and apologize for the life she is living. - Learned to drive a car and ride a motorcycle at 15. A fellow thief for hire taught Asher and Sage. - Built/repurposed her motorcycle, Asher’s motorcycle, and their pickup by herself. - Her motorcycle is her baby and if you break it she will break you. - Impulse drives her motorcycle when incredibly stressed. - Taught herself mechanics and medical stuff - Got all of her education from libraries, everything she knows about math, history, etc. is self taught - She was 17 when she got her first tattoos. - In total she has four tattoos. A raven carrying a hyacinth on her back, vines around her right arm, an ace flag yin yang on her left, and Edelweiss around a knife in a currently undetermined location. - Each tattoo has some varying form of significance. - She picked up roof running to help with jobs, it became a hobby later on - Tried to teach herself guitar, but they moved around too much for her to focus on it. - Family is everything to her. - A sign that you have her full trust you is that she becomes willing to be more...physical around you. Nudging your arm, playful punches and shoves, hugs, hair ruffling. She also won’t freeze or tense up if you grab her suddenly. -Basically she becomes notably less awkward and anxious, and wary around you. - She is fiercely loyal, and will stay by your side even if it means she might die. - Very tired and frequently has nightmares. Anxiety and guilt also prevents sleep. - Has to have a knife on her person at all times in order to feel safe; even in her own home and while she sleeps. - Crystal necklace is from a friend, a reminder that she isn’t alone and that she has people there for her. - Various scars, each with their own story. - Most people don’t assume Sage is a criminal when they first meet her.

[crowraths]

❛ if only there was someone who loved you. ❜ :3

akechi has to wonder what brought up the statement.

why did you say that— he opens his mouth to speak, but the question hangs on his tongue and wilts so quickly he can only close it that the only thing left was a surprised stare towards the barista. the detective surmises that it must have been the quaintness of the coffee shop today;  when time crawls by with nothing to do, humans tend to allow their thoughts to trail to the borderlines of existence and morality. as akira does, and as he himself does, too.

silence hung in the air. goro isn’t sure what to say to it, only looked down at the reflective calmness of his half-finished coffee, long since lost its warmth since it was brewed yet still tantalizingly bitter. it’s refreshing, in a way. not too different to how he’d describe himself.

it reminds him of his mother.

his impression of his deceased parent was brief, if it should be phrased that way. she was already too infrequent for him to remember her face right, but he could recall she often left behind a mug of coffee on the dining table every time she’s out with some other lovely gentleman. the young boy thought nothing of it, assumed it must have been breakfast left for him when he crawled up the legs of the cheap yet too tall dining chair for a sip. he remembered it tasted disgusting.

thinking back makes him glance down at his coffee cup again. of course it tasted disgusting. his mother didn’t have any money to spare beyond her fake brand outfits she uses to go out and then some, just to make sure she can last a toddler’s food. the coffee she ever made was some type of watered down package coffee made in a flurry and drank just as fast, with no time to spare for more than a gulp before her partner of that day hurried her out.

he finished her leftovers and washed the cup quietly.

she never bothered asking him about it. not that she had time to when she was always so occupied, and goro never tried to question her. she often silenced him with meaningless words like ‘it’s work’ and ‘this is for you’ before ushering him to go to the bathhouse once he was old enough. for a long time, he assumed that was how love was   —   parents saving the best things for their children in a show of love, a small but noble act of sacrifice just like what he read in books. maybe that was why he drank it for years.

maybe he was just convincing himself mother loved him.

—

time didn’t leave enough space for a child with no mother to cope. for years and years, he was passed on between orphanages and caretakers, and all the same, he was always obedient   —   he could still recall the words of one of the caretakers about being good children that he took to heart for time to come. goro was always smiling to the adults no matter what they made him do, so much that it made his peers hate him. 

‘ass kisser,’ they called him, ‘caretaker’s little pet’. he’d made a face and said innocently that he’d never kiss somebody’s bottom. they beat him up.

he was moved to another orphanage thereafter, when the kids decided to gang up on him and tell his guardians that he’d been a bad bully to everyone else. goro had felt betrayed, but there was nothing else he could do; surely the adults wouldn’t buy his words over the accusations of a bunch many other. still, he’d hoped.

the first time it happened, it shattered his heart. the second time, it hurt a bit less. by the seventh or tenth or whatever number of times he’d lost track of, he’d become numb. there was no love here, not even the half-full cup of coffee like mother used to do.

and then … he met his father. masayoshi shido, the very future prime minister of japan! goro was in awe. then that awe turn into grief. and … hatred.

why?

why wasn’t he with him all this while?

wasn’t he his father?

wasn’t he supposed to be there?

why didn’t he stop mother from dying?

why?

why?

why?

orphanages had taught him that answering the wrong question would be punishment, so goro never asked him out loud. instead, he became eager. he still is   —   so eager to please and grovel and do every goddamn dirty thing shido demands of him. his past had festered into something ugly inside his heart that he would do anything just to get a speckle of that farfetched love and approval if there was any left to spare for him.

he knew better than to hope. he still yearned for it.

shido never gave him any gratitude or so much as a thank you for all of his work. never once called him son. in turn, akechi never called him dad   —   it’d be a painful reminder of whatever fling that never came to fruition, just like how akechi shouldn’t have been born. where a target died came another and another and another, the neverending list of enemies was so long that akechi had never once stopped to ask about why. not out of fear, of course. just that his father would be disappointed that he was butting his nose into somebody else’s business.

there’s no love here either, akechi thought. not that he understood what love was.

what shido does manage to give, though, was popularity. the fame of detective prince rose just like a kite in the wind as soon as his first cases were brought to light, and the media swallowed it greedily. charming! beautiful! intelligent! such was the second coming of the detective prince, headlines claimed, the rise of a true person of justice. fans love him, elderly and children and teenagers alike.

it never occurred to goro that he’d been twisted until then. he basked in that superficial adoration from society, so spoiled that he suddenly understood why his biological parent wanted more power. people hang onto his every word like it’s the gospel, and he wanted more. perhaps it’s no genuine love like how parents should be to their kids, but it felt better than that taste of blood when he was hit by other children at his youth. 

no love here. no love anywhere. he’ll take everything else.

then came the phantom thieves.

they’re … a confusing bunch. they aren’t friends, not really, not as far as he was aware. half of the team was recruited because the barista in front of him was blackmailed, akechi himself included. by all means of logic, they shouldn’t have been friends. and yet … they are.

he thinks of ryuji, so loudmouthed, the foul of the team. the runner never liked him. they’re like polar opposites, so the detective never gave him much credit. ann with so much charm but not enough academic intelligence to follow up. just as much a media darling as him but with less tolerance to the dirty and damned. yusuke, the oddball with five parts quirk and ten parts talent. the socially reclusive futaba. the heiress whose father goro had murdered without so much as a bite of remorse, haru. the student council student with a biting elder sister, makoto. mona, the yapping cat. and then … his rival, akira.

he thinks of that bright-eyed red-haired darling who loves him so dearly that she’s willing to do everything for him even though he didn’t even know who she really was.

all of them had treated him better than anybody else had been in the past. akechi had grown immune to so much bad intention that he could recognize anybody trying to use him with just a glance, and they … aren’t. nothing of him genuinely attracts them. not his fame, not his pretty face. in front of them, he’s just akechi goro, a teenager like any other.

it doesn’t feel nice. it’s love, but… it doesn’t feel nice.

he wonders why.

akira was giving him an expectant glance by the time he came back to reality.

❝  if only there was someone who loved you.  ❞

❝  yes,  ❞  he answers in earnest,  ❝  if only.  ❞

[vagrantblvrd]

some prompts for u dear: a fun twist on king au, gav as king and some of the others of his court? whatever ship you’re feeling but idk king gav is always a favorite. boy is smarter and more competent than others give him credit for

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about this one for the last couple of days and it’s a whole ~universe. (Mainly because I am such a sucker for the whole trope of the evil chancellor/coup/DRAMA in a kings au setting, but yes.)

It happens when Gavin’s a child, seven or eight, and his father allows himself to be captured to give his mother and him time to escape.

They use hidden passages and such under the castle that let out near the stables, take his father’s war horse and ride as far as they can before the poor thing needs to rest, but it’s not far enough. So they leave it tethered to a post in a small village, taking care to remove its tack and whatever else might give them away too soon and his mother steals a horse.

She gives him a look when he makes a noise, swallowing up any protests because this is not the time for things like that, knows these are unusual circumstances.

They keep traveling like that for days until they manage to cross the border to a neighboring kingdom through a treacherous mountain pass. They finally stop in some sleepy little village far from the border and while the people there are curious, they have manners, don’t pry too much when news reaches them of what’s taken place. Assume they’re refugees for one reason or another and leave them to their own business.

Gavin’s mother has sold off bits of jewelry and other finery along their way here so they have a little money, enough to get them a room from someone in town long enough for her to find work in a tavern, and things are fine for a little bit.

She works hard to keep them both fed and clothed and when she’s not at work she tells him stories about their kingdom, his father, and so on in their tiny bed while the rain falls outside. Makes sure he continues his schooling with the local children, tells him not to mind them when they look down on him and his threadbare clothes, hand-me-downs from their parents who feel sympathy for this widow and her son.

But then she becomes sick a few years on, and there’s no cure. (Heartbreak, someone tells him, because sometimes a loss is too great.)

There’s no one in the village willing to take Gavin in – too poor, and he’s likable enough, yes, but not one of theirs – so he’s take to a larger town nearby with an orphanage.

Underpaid workers there with too many mouths to feed, too many children to clothe and care for and it’s made them not unkind, exactly, just not caring.

There are children there who are mean and cruel, bully those weaker than them and at first they think Gavin is like that.

He isn’t, though. Small and quiet, far too clever for his own good, but not weak. (A good king is never weak.)

Too small to fight off the larger boys – nearly teenagers – on his own, but there are others who don’t care for bullies. A pair of boys who look enough alike at first glance it would be easy to think they were twins, who fight dirty and whisk Gavin away to some hiding spot of theirs before the adults take notice.

And that’s where Gavin first meets Trevor and Alfredo.

Alfredo loves him immediately, but Trevor is a harder sell. Wary of new people and the like, but it’s not long before Gavin and Alfredo win him over and they become close friends as they grow up in the orphanage together. (Think he’s a bit odd with his accent, the way he speaks – no commoner, Gavin – but he’s quiet and clever and quick to offer a suggestion when they’re up to some small mischief.)

A few years later there’s word of bandits getting bolder, attacking villages and the like. No one knows what they’re after because it’s obvious they’re looking for something – someone – and Trevor and Alfred worry about Gavin when they find out his old village was one of the first attacked.

Gavin makes ~secret plans to leave because he knows they’re after him – doesn’t want to get Trevor and Alfredo caught up in this whole mess.

Doesn’t realize that Trevor’s making similar plans and doesn’t explain why when Alfredo catches him at it, refusing to let him go alone and all that both reluctantly agreeing it would be best to leave Gavin out of it. Think he’ll be safer at the orphanage and that he’s bright enough to look after himself when he ages out.

Before they can put their plans in motion their city gets attacked.

It’s pretty obvious that the attackers aren’t your typical bandits, more organized, better equipment and so on, and Gavin goes missing in the chaos.

Everyone thinks he’s been killed – he’s just a kid and the orphanage was one of the main targets in the attack, burned to the ground and such – so they assume one of the bodies is his.

Trevor takes it hard, thinks it’s his fault even though he doesn’t tell Alfredo why

Trevor and Alfredo run away, get lost in the city’s underbelly and become thieves and the like, dragged in deeper and deeper until someone notices them and thinks they have ~potential and before you know it they’re part of an assassin’s guild.

(Trevor tries to convince Alfredo to stick to thieving, or learn a trade, but Alfredo won’t hear of it. Worried about Trevor after Gavin died because he’s grown colder, more distant and so on.)

There’s also this budding...something between them, which honestly has always been there but neither of them act on it. (They both know something it missing and don’t dare talk about what – who – it might be, because Gavin’s dead, so...)

A few years go by where they get a reputation for being able to pull off assassinations thought to be impossible – they step on a few toes in the guild in the process.

This pair of upstarts the guild master found picking pockets in the marketplace who don’t know their place, have upstaged senior assassins who have too much ego and nowhere near enough skill so the guild master hands them an assignment, someone with a grudge against a storekeeper in the capital city.

Trevor and Alfredo are a little offended at first because this is the kind of assignment handed to the novice assassins, but the way the guild master’s acting and the nature of the assignment itself is super suspicious, right?

She warns them to be careful, something she never does, and gives them the pick of the armory and whatnot and something it definitely up.

They gear up, grabbing weapons and such they didn’t have access to before and head off on their assignment. Go through cities and villages, small settlements the bandits have attacked – the attacks don’t happen as frequently anymore, and Alfredo wonders why that is, Trevor musing about the number of assignments their guild has gotten since they joined. Senior assassins who weren’t threatened by them mentioning there have been more than usual, and maybe the two are connected?

And then they reach the capital city and check in with the assassin’s guild master there (all of them thinking it a bit odd if not wholly unusual their client didn’t go to them directly) and spend the first day there familiarizing themselves with the city.

Wait until night of the second day to see to their assignment, but when Trevor sneaks in the storekeeper is gone.

His son, however, is not, and proves to be something of a capable fighter. The two of them trading blows in the near darkness and Trevor reluctantly impressed with his ability to keep up with him – until Alfredo steps in to put an end to it.

And it’s a terrible idea, sudden impulse that makes Trevor reach for the candle on the table to see the face of the person who’s been able to fight on an even level with an assassin of his ability as long as he did – and it’s Gavin.

!!!

This look on his face, in his eyes, they remember from the orphanage when the bullies caught up to him before Trevor and Alfredo let them know what a bad idea that was.

Defiance and bravery and all that, and clearly he’s expecting them to kill him. Don’t know it’s them with the scarves and masks over their faces, so – against guild rules and all common sense – Trevor pulls them away, and watches the disbelief on Gavin’s face.

Sees the way he glances immediately to Alfredo like of course that’s who Trevor’s partner would be and all three of them are caught in this standoff not knowing what to do next.

So of course that’s when the storekeeper arrives, startling all three of them.

“Friends of yours?”

Gavin looks back at Trevor and Alfredo, blade to his throat and clearly in some form of trouble – it’s clear the storekeeper is armed, will act the moment he gets a chance.

“I’d like to think so,” he says, but times change. (People change.)

Alfredo clears his throat, shares a look with Trevor and puts his blades away, Trevor following suit a beat later, and then it’s all-over awkward.

Gavin is still staring at Trevor and Alfredo, and they’re still staring at him, and the storekeeper just sighs as he goes about making tea because clearly it’s going to be a long night?

Trevor watches him closely – it’s clear the man knows they’re there for him but he doesn’t seem at all ruffled by the presence of two assassins in his kitchen.

After a moment Gavin goes to help, placing four mugs of tea around the small table and looking at the two of them expectantly.

He’s nervous, scared, Trevor knows. Small tells he learned when they were in the orphanage together, but he’s placing some level of trust in the two of them. (Still makes sure to keep himself between the storekeeper and the pair of assassins, though, and that makes him smile a little because it’s very...him.)

The storekeeper gets things rolling, tells them he knows they’re here for him and guesses their client correctly – and instead of sounding worried or even afraid he’s just annoyed.

“Bastard doesn’t have the balls to come after me himself,” he grumps, and Gavin hides his grin behind his mug, because Geoff.

Trevor and Alfredo are like ??? because not the usual reaction to someone sending assassins after them?

But then Geoff looks at Gavin – full-on Dad mode and asks if this is why Gavin wanted him to pay visits to some of their associates in the city earlier.

Gavin can’t meet his eyes, hems and haws and answers the question by not answering it.

“Idiot,” Geoff mutters, and Gavin shoots him a look, which he ignores as he studies the two assassins.

Young, just stupid kids. And he’s heard Gavin’s stories about his childhood, the friends he had at the orphanage before this and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out these are the same people. (In name at least.)

“Well, this changes things, doesn’t it.”

Trevor and Alfredo have no idea what the hell that’s even supposed to mean, but Gavin clearly does.

Looks startled, sitting up with this strange expression on his face.

Geoff sighs, odd smile gracing his lips.

“If they’re getting this desperate, we’ll have to move things ahead.”

Which is how Trevor and Alfredo end up discovering Gavin is the missing(presumed dead) prince to their neighboring kingdom???Geoff is a former castle guard who ~fled to this kingdom with his husband not long after the coup.

Realized the man behind the coup suspected Gavin was still alive and started searching for him following vague clues and whatnot to the orphanage the night it was attacked and used the chaos to spirit Gavin away. (Because plot reasons.)

The made it to this city thinking it would be a better place to hide him than some border village or what have you. Bought a small store to bring in money and set about training Gavin and inadvertently start up a resistance cell???

Gavin snorts at that because there was never a chance they wouldn’t get involved in things being who they are, but Geoff and Jack insist Gavin would have done something stupid that forced their hands, so. Yes.

Jack comes home while Trevor and Alfredo are processing everything they’ve learned, and Geoff sends him to help because Jack’s got packages – foods and whatnot that were given as gifts.

And Geoff, okay. Geoff.

Leans forward, making sure to keep his voice low so Gavin won’t hear him and threatens to kill Trevor and Alfredo if they even think of betraying Gavin. Tells them he’s trusting Gavin right now, but he doesn’t know them. Doesn’t trust them, and they’re assassins.

A respected profession, to be sure, but there are always weasels in any walk of life. The ones who are good at faking morals and the like, and he might be old now, but he’s smart.

Trevor doesn’t seem overly impressed by the threats, but he swears he won’t betray Gavin, as does Alfredo – and when Gavin comes back he knows something happened but no one’s talking, so.

Yes.

They agree to fake Geoff’s death, reporting to the assassin’s guild in the city they’ve completed their assignment and send word to their guild master via carrier pigeon or whatever to prevent arousing suspicion anything is wrong.

And then they get roped into helping with the resistance cell, realize it’s larger than expected as they leave the city and meet with more along the way because it’s past time they retook the throne and all that.

Gavin and Alfredo reconnecting quickly while Trevor takes longer to warm up – partly at the surprise of Gavin being alive after all these years, partly because of the fact he’s the prince? (And a little of Trevor’s own secrets.)

It takes time setting everything in motion. Getting word out to various cells that they’re finally ready to act without revealing themselves.

A lot of time spent traveling, shenanigans in which they run into bandits – real and not – along the way. Gavin, Trevor, and Alfredo getting separated from Geoff and Jack after an attack and having to take shelter in an old farm somewhere until the weather lets up.

Trevor got hurt in the fight while watching Gavin’s back and so Gavin fusses over him while Alfredo looks on in amusement (really, he’s the best adjusted out of everyone in this AU and think Gavin and Trevor are the dumbest smart people he knows).

Trevor studying Gavin and talking quietly, Alfredo standing guard and piping up as they talk about their lives after the attack on the orphanage. Gavin sharing what happened with him, guilty about keeping his secret from them but not wanting to endanger than he already had.

Tells them about his plan to sneak away before the attack happened and Alfredo giving Trevor this look because Trevor has secrets of his own, right? And Trevor stiffly telling Gavin about his plans to sneak away and they’re both just like, so stupid?

Trevor reveals he’s from Gavin’s kingdom as well, has an older brother who was some kind of scholar, a researcher in service to the new king – he scoffs at the title, bitter twist to his mouth because the man is no king, merely a petty bully – who sent Trevor away when things became too dangerous.

Intended to send him to stay with relatives in this kingdom, but there was a bandit attack or something and he ended up in the orphanage where he met Alfredo and later Gavin. (How long he spent thinking Gavin died because the bandits might be looking for him instead and thinking he might be able to do something about the baddie if he became an assassin, sneak into the castle and kill him, reunite with his brother and so on.)

They reconcile, Alfredo a little too smug about things, so of course he gets his comeuppance hen Trevor and Gavin share a look. And Gavin grabs Alfredo into play fight, giddy laughter and this relief that they’re not completely changed by their experiences and Trevor and Alfredo fully throwing their lot in with Gavin and the others.

They meet up with Geoff and Jack a few days later and both of them sense something’s changed in their time apart. See the way Trevor’s cool demeanor towards Gavin has softened, the way he and Alfredo are always at his side and decide to let the three of them figure the rest out for themselves. (Idiots that they are.)

Once they cross the border the extend of the tyrant's abuse of the people is more evident, abandoned farms – some because the farmers couldn’t afford the taxes, some simply burned to the ground when they dares speak out.

It gets worse the closer they get to the capital city, Gavin more and more determined to put things right. (And scared, because what if he fails?)

Trevor getting quieter as he watches Gavin, and Alfredo watching both of them.

They join up with the main resistance cell and spend some time going back and forth deciding a plan of attack, and Gavin speaks up when someone brings out a map of the castle showing hidden passageways and the like.

Asks for a drawing implement and adds to it, the passageways he and his mother used when they escaped. Half-remembered but a better way in to the castle than other routes and it’s decided a small party would be best.

Gavin, Geoff, Jack. Trevor and Alfred – a pair of assassins of their ability will be valuable in this. Jeremy, who smuggled the map out of the castle to the resistance cell given to him from an inside source, and a few others.

They infiltrate the castle and get caught up in an ambush – because of course they do – and Gavin ends up separated from the others while the baddie monologues.

There’s a one on one fight where Gavin manages to hold his own, but then the baddie plays dirty – calls in hidden guards he has to fend off and in the fray he gets hit with a throwing knife that’s been dipped in poison.

Just as the baddie is about to kill Gavin, the others break through the barricaded doors for a last minute rescue.

Trevor and Alfredo take up protective positions around Gavin while Geoff and the others deal with the remaining guards and the baddie.

Geoff gets into a tight spot and suddenly Trevor’s there, killing the guard before he can kill Geoff and then he’s gone again, going after the baddie while Alfredo helps deal with the riffraff.

No one notices Gavin following Trevor and the baddie up to one of the castle towers, especially not Trevor or the baddie. So when the baddie corners Trevor who’s lost his weapons, back to a window, both of them are surprised when Gavin appears.

Distracts the baddie long enough for Trevor to snatch up a dropped weapon and kill the baddie with, the two of them staring in shock when they realize they’ve done it.

Killed the tyrant and cleared the way for Gavin to retake his throne, start setting the kingdom to rights and all that.

Go back down to where the others are to find them mopping up, Geoff and Jack running over to Gavin who collapses. (Still poisoned, btw.)

They fuss over him before Alfredo comes over with the dagger used on him that Alfredo pocketed before the real fighting started. He and Trevor figure out which poison was used and the antidote needed to counter it (plot reasons) and Gavin recuperates with Geoff and Jack taking care of things in the meantime.

Trevor or Alfredo can be counted on to guard over Gavin, and thwart a few assassination attempts while he recovers. (Leave their guild, although neither of them mention it to anyone, especially Gavin.)

Shenanigans, in which Gavin is recognized as the missing (presumed dead) prince and a coronation ceremony happens.

Everything looks like it’s going to have a happily ever after, but Trevor is distracted.

Gavin too busy to notice at first, but Alfredo mentions he doesn’t seem himself and Gavin goes to talk to Trevor. Realizes Trevor’s brother is missing and he’s worried.

Afraid he’d been caught or killed before now, that Trevor’s been wasting time that could have been spent looking for him. (A mole for the resistance within the castle walls for so long, surely he would have been discovered by now.)

So Gavin looks around, all these loyal guards – Geoff’s taken up position as head of the castle guard grumbling all the way. (Has his eye on this particular guard, mouthy brat who could be incredible with more training.)

Knows Trevor, that eventually he’ll sneak off on his own to look for his brother now that things are starting to settle, the people realizing that things are changing for the better, and acts first.

Arranges supplies and equipment, money, for Trevor and Alfredo to go find his brother, because of course Alfredo will go with him. (Leaves a note, telling them to come back when they’re ready to and all the documents that will allow them to travel freely in the kingdom until then. Acting as his personal agents or what have you.)

They’re gone for a long time, following what small clues and whatnot they find along the way. The three of them sending letters back and forth, and finally, finally, they come back, Trevor’s brother in tow.

He’d fled when the baddie realized he was the mole, handed the map to Jeremy and acted as a decoy to allow him to get it to the resistance. Gotten caught up in various shenanigans of his own – fake bandits and the like and thrown into a prison on false charges when Trevor and Alfredo caught up to him.

Got him out using their positions in Gavin’s court and spent some time waiting for him to recover before making back for the capital and the castle.

And in the meantime, Gavin’s installed Jack as his main advisor, takes his counsel seriously as he builds up his staff of advisors and whatnot.

Finds suitable candidates for most, but the role of head researcher/what have you is proving difficult – until, of course, Trevor and Alfredo return with Trevor’s brother.

Clever man with a fascination for redstone and its potential.

There’s a bit of unease within the court at first, people recognizing him as someone who was close to the baddie. Worked his way up the ranks until he became the baddie’s most trusted advisor,  privy to sensitive information he funneled to the resistance when he could.

Worked with operatives like Jeremy and Michael and other key resistance members who vouch for him.

Still, to avoid the appearance of favoritism Gavin sets up a competition between the people vying for the position, and Ryan (because of course it’s Ryan) winds handily. (And while there’s still grumbling, it’s more thoughtful now, and as time passes it fades away when he doesn’t reveal himself to be the traitor his detractors think he is.)

And then, you know.

Trevor becoming Gavin’s spymaster while Alfredo fades into the background, carrying out assassinations and aiding Trevor in his work.

People thinking Gavin’s too young, inexperienced at being a king, but he has Jack and Geoff helping guide him and several others besides. Makes mistakes, yes, but he’s learning, doing his best and his people learn to love him.

Trevor and Alfredo continue to thwart assassination attempts, sniff out dissenters who have plans to start another coup before they gain any traction.

Geoff is clearly training Michael up to take over as captain of the castle guard with Lindsay as his second in command there.

Jeremy shows an interest in redstone - and Ryan, which is absolutely mutual and entertaining to watch play out for everyone else.

(Gavin goes down to their workshop when his duties get to be a little too much, gets drawn into explanations of their current projects and volunteered as an extra pair of hands. Ryan’s tolerant of his questions and curious about the other brazen fool who’s won Trevor’s head so completely. Jeremy just likes having a similarly minded partner in crime.)

After an assassination attempt that comes a little too close, Trevor insists Gavin pick up his training again. (Terrified about what could happen if he doesn’t, if Trevor and Alfredo are too slow, or away dealing with Gavin’s enemies.)

Which of course leads to close quarters combat, and Trevor pinning Gavin who cheats outrageously by kissing him. Takes advantage of Trevor’s surprise to reverse their positions, smug grin on his face and face bright, bright red.

From the exertion, yes, but also at his boldness. Little bit of fear that he’s overstepped, that things have changed between them – but then Trevor’s kissing him back and it’s all very lovely, indeed.

Until Alfredo complain about being left out of things. (He’s been gone for the better part of a week on a mission for Trevor, and this is what he comes home to? Come on, guys.)

Gavin and Trevor sharing a look before they gang up on him, and manage to make up for being so unbearably inconsiderate of him. (Thoroughly.)

And then happily ever after for everyone, because of course it is.

[unluckyadept]

Writer Journal Entry

//Raw notes re: Isaac’s portrayal in IALS

Presented as-is, with the wording it was written in

A long time has passed since I started writing such series. I like to think I've grown a bit as a person. That I can see the tale more objectively, or at least somewhat sympathetically. Isaac is still a (read as: “one of several”) hero of the series: I may not feel he deserves the favoritism that he gets (meta influence of nostalgia with TBS being first aside), but I recognize that a lot of people like him, and he's supposed to be a good person.

Even heroes can be flawed. And blind loyalty and obedience are certainly among the more dangerous flaws for a hero to have. If "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing," can be (and is indeed) true…

…Then it's just as true that "All that is needed for a bad situation to get worse is that two good men at odds do not communicate" is a factor.

In some ways, Isaac did nothing. He didn't think for himself, he didn't stand up for his friends, he didn't try to make amends.

But for the most part… he hadn't been taught, didn't grow up in an environment that promoted independent thinking. Vale fostered a (frankly) xenophobic, elitist, self-righteous, and subservient mindset. He was very dedicated to his mission, which had no reason to seem anything but straightforward. He went along with what other leaders and rulers wanted him to do because it seemed a fairly reasonable "why not" of the most polite, least complicated way to get where he needed to go.

Isaac had been dealing with aftermath from Saturos and Mendari for years. From his limited perspective, they did nothing but cause trouble; kidnapping, thieving, blackmailing, vandalizing, bullying, and (in the end) even murdering. From what (misinformation) he knew, they were—shall we say—radicals who sought to cause mass destruction. Who would literally cause the end of the world if he didn't stop them.

Felix, on the other hand, as far as Isaac could tell, was an argumentative coward who refused to help save the world. Who just went along with these people, despite it being evil. And then, when given a chance to "repent," he just swore to finish what they started and ran away again. He didn't seem to care that the world would end in the process, and didn't give a single excuse, motive, or reason.

Isaac would have started out his journey as a young teenager, too, just like Felix. He didn't have the benefit of having other adults around for guidance, other than the town and city rulers—and later Hama, who DID say outright that there was more going on than Isaac realized, and that he needed to not be so hasty in judging Felix. Everything he did seemed to earn him recognition for doing what was right—so how was he supposed to think otherwise? He was just a kid.

By the time they got to Mars Lighthouse, Isaac probably still had a very similar mindset. Other than the annoyance of having to chase Felix everywhere, and the constant "curses, foiled again" of not being able to stop Saturos and Mendari… he wouldn't have had much opportunity to mature his mindset in seeing things as more than black and white. He assumed that Felix was on the same page with this, especially since he had chosen to leave Karst and Agatio behind.

I think, perhaps, that after Felix left, he expected him to return someday. That perhaps he stayed out of affairs in Angara because he thought it would be “interference” and/or abuse of his own power.

Perhaps he, too, was just really tired of the world, and wanted to be left alone. Maybe he, too, blamed himself for everything that happened at Mars Lighthouse, and for Felix running away (and never being seen again). After all, Felix made it quite clear that that’s how HE felt on the matter: that he blamed Isaac, that Isaac was responsible. Maybe that hit home a little too hard, especially as the years went by with no chance to reconcile. Where Sheba wouldn’t even speak to him, and he had no way of knowing if Felix was even alive. Perhaps he eventually just came to think Felix was dead and that it was his fault, and it seemed the only person who could give any answers was the Wise One.

Perhaps.

Maybe Isaac was just a person who took things at face value because he didn’t know any better, who allowed himself to be a pawn because he mistook that as being “cooperative” or “diplomatic”, who didn’t communicate because he didn’t understand the necessity (in addition to not realizing that most everyone else wasn’t on the same page) in discussing what seemed to be a “no other option” scenario…

If all that were the case, then he would have been very confused, not able to understand right away that he had done a great deal of damage to others. He could have been a dismayed kind of perplexed at how, “suddenly,” his behavior was horrifically backfiring on him: people were blaming him for things that either made no sense or were out of his control. The person he was trying to make things up with, who seemed to have gotten better—this person kept telling him he was a bad person and did everything wrong, only made everything worse, that it was all his fault. And he couldn’t understand any of it, might have started second-guessing all his decisions because of that.

Perhaps that may be it. And when I’m feeling more generous in any given writing session, that may come across. That’s probably closer along the lines to how Isaac will be in 2.0, even if there will be very, very limited opportunity to really show it.

The story is, after all, from Felix’s perspective. And for the most part, it’s not a “This is how I feel about what happened” story as much as it is a “This is what happened and what I WAS feeling” story. So things like the Lighthouses will still not be altogether nice to Isaac. Felix will have plenty of opportunity to commentate on his current perspective as part of an epilogue, or as bonus content.