#the game is exactly up my alley and is inspiring me to make stuff too | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mdhwrites · 1 year

Note

I know you've been asked this before, but still, now since toh has ended would you consider giving Arcane a chance? Not right away but maybe when feel like it. 👀

I promise it's not a bad show, I watched it after starting toh to pass the time. It's only 1 season for now and it has just 9 episodes, but these episodes are so packed! The world building is easy to grasp, the characters do interact, there's development, it has a diverse female cast and fighting scenes. There's at least 3 conflicts that interconnect at the end.

The thing about it that amazes me is that it does so much in such a little short time, 9 episodes only. I often compare it toh and wonder about how much toh could've done if they knew how to plan beforehand, because toh had all the time in the world in comparison. (I'm mentioning this because I'm also bitter about the shortening thing being thrown around to excuse the bad writing).

So I will 100% admit that Arcane sounds entirely up my alley. It's in a universe that has had literally over a decade to flesh out its lore and ideas, characters they've been working with for at least half the games life cycle, it has rave reviews, lesbians, the animation is GORGEOUS, I've actually heard surprisingly little analyzing the plot and that could be fun for me. I... just don't know why I haven't watched it. And it's not like I'm so busy as to not watch shows. I watch WAY too much Youtube and streams. That stuff is mostly mindless and pure entertainment and I can't make blogs or stories about it. But that might also be exactly why I don't watch much scripted content. See, I watch a lot of stuff while I'm on walks to have some noise going, or music while I think about writing ideas, or while I'm playing a game or the like. It's distraction. It's to turn off the part of my brain that's too wound up and emotional and analytical. Also a lot of media has the unfortunate problem of me going "What can I be inspired by this for?" Which if I was going full blast would be great! At 8k words a day, having things to distract me or keep my motor running would be almost necessary. And that's technically a conservative statement as when I first joined TOH, I did 200k words in 2 weeks. That's 15k a day. The fact that it took me months to burn out during that time period is a miracle. But when I'm depressed? Those ideas honestly hurt more than anything else. I still haven't done Amphibia blogs because I just can't get myself to bring my thoughts together independently on the subject for some reason despite the fact that I DO have things to talk about, whether that be talking about what sells the characters as family to me, what makes Sasha's introduction one of the best charismatic villains I've ever seen, how Hop Pop is showcase of fantasy trauma done right, why people CAN skip the first season and how insane that is and even for a more negative one: Why Marcy is so far easily the most awkward element of the show so far that I've seen. Not even bad but just not nearly as natural as the rest. And yes, while I'm still only at the First Temple, you can still send me Amphibia asks. It honestly helps my literal personality disorder to be responding to asks instead of making them myself.

I don't know. I wish I did. My head is a chaotic mess and I honestly just need to learn to calm down a lot more but my literal two main disciplines as a creator require my brain to be on. at maximum volume all the time. And it only gets worse when I go "Well what about Amphibia, or that TMNT series, or Molly Mcgee- Oh but you really ought to be looking for something new. Preferably something you can write for within its first week of airing. Even better if before then. Got to get that ENGAGEMENT after all! GROW YOUR COMMUNITY!" *sigh* And I don't want this to make you all feel bad. PLEASE let me know what you're interested in seeing me maybe talk about. I commonly forget about Arcane because it just flies under my radar for the most part for some reason. Just understand I'm slow to move. I'm trying to get better but I don't know when or if I'll ever be good at it. Edit: Because I feel like it, I do want to shout out a few channels I like to watch. Youtube: Noah Caldwell Gervais is one of the best video game essayists out there. When I talk about just putting on something to zen out to for a few hours... Well, I've watched his 8 hour Resident Evil Retrospective twice. He also has a great, dry sense of humor and great analytical skills. Todd in the Shadows is where I go for pop song reviews. Honestly, I'm pulled in more by his One Hit Wonderland Series and his Trainwreckords but it's also nice getting incite on modern pop music. If you're into animation, you NEED New Frame Plus in your life. Daniel Floyd is absolutely amazing at his job, he's ex-Pixar so that's not surprising, and pretty much all I know about animation comes from that channel. Absolutely phenomenal work. Twitch: CauseImDanJones is my favorite streamer period. Not only is his chill vibes immaculate, he has this insane talent to say the most bat shit crazy things and act like they're entirely normal. He never is an over the top streamer but he still manages some of that "WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?" energy those people have. JHobz296 is someone you likely know if you watch GDQ. For those who don't know him though: He's my go to for speedrun content. He does a lot of Kingdom Hearts speedruns, does a lot of Kingdom Hearts 2 Rando WAY better than I do and when he does variety, he keeps it laid back and casual. (I like chill streamers). Gilbot9000 is my last callout. He does a lot of fighting game streams and likes to throw it back old school, or play games with an old school vibe to them. He's a nice dude and a good friend of mine so I'd be remiss to not mention him.

2 notes · View notes

olderthanthemorning · 3 years

Text

gold rush (bill weasley) part 1

pairing: bill weasley x reader

summary: “everybody wonders what it would be like to love you.” bill weasley is a golden boy, but i don’t like a gold rush. (based on the song “gold rush” by taylor swift)

wc: 3.1k

warnings: none, someone walking in on someone else but nothing dirty, swearing

a/n: hello! so i didn’t mean for this to be so long lol but anyway, there will be more. once again, a song has inspired me to write. i feel like gold rush totally describes bill and so i tried to run with that. as always, i would love comments/feedback. also if you like it please reblog/follow! i want to start taking requests!

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

what a cliche it would be to be hopelessly in love with bill weasley. the charming gryffindor was the poster child of his house, his year, and his family. don't get it twisted, it wasn't that he didn't deserve all the praise; he was kind to younger students, witty in his classes, and bloody brilliant in your shared defense against the dark arts class. you just found it a little funny that everyone he met instantly fell in love with him. how could you take someone like that seriously?

"so you really don't think he's cute?" your friend, rose, asked you as you entered the great hall, the smell of fresh bread and pumpkin juice temporarily distracting you.

"no, that's actually not what i said. he's quite fit, it's just think people make too much of a big deal about it. sometimes i think you'll wet yourself when he looks at you in the corridor." you threw yourself down at your table and started reaching for the pile of sandwiches in the middle of the table. if you two wanted to make it to the beginning of the gryffindor vs ravenclaw game, this would have to be a quick lunch.

"well it's not everyday you see an arse like that in the corridor!" rose says. taken aback by her forward statement, you shove her shoulder, "gross, rose." after a few more minutes of conversation and inappropriate comments from rose, you down the last of your juice and pull your companion off the bench and toward the door.

you could hear cheers long before you were close to the game. after finding a spot with your house, you saw madam hooch release the snitch and the players shoot up to start following the quaffel. a flash of red hair passes in front of the stands as another weasley, charlie, flies at lightning speed.

The game was action packed, but not short. your cold muscles ached a bit as you moved them to walk into your dorm and sit on your bed. as if reading your mind, your roommates crowd into the bathroom to start the showers. you groan, knowing that at this rate, it'll be an hour before you can warm yourself with hot water. then a thought crosses your mind. the prefect bathrooms. your sister had been a prefect years before and had told you where they were, something you were silently thanking her for now. you gathered your towel and robe and slipped out of the room before anyone could ask where you were going.

The prefect bathroom was large and dimly lit, something that made it seem even colder when you walked in. on the far wall there was a myriad of knobs, all leading into a large bath that looked like it could hold your entire upper level herbology class. throwing down your stuff on a nearby bench, you rush to turn all the knobs you can, as blue, and green, and sparkling gold liquids splash into the basin along with steaming water. you slid out of your cold clothes and into the tub, hissing at the difference in temperature between your skin and the water. the water was heavenly and you sunk in until your shoulders were under the water, pulling your hair up from the nape of your neck so not to wet it. the room had filled with the scent of lavender and honeysuckle, and you closed your eyes to take it in.

suddenly there was a creak that you immediately recognized as the door opening. 'fuck, fuck, fuck,' you thought. you could chance jumping out and hoping the person didn't see you naked or you could wait to get caught. you decided that your clothes were too far, and started frantically ushering as many bubbles to you as possible, trying to cover your body. you turn your back to the entrance just as you see the shadow of someone begin to round the corner.

"oh, shit, i'm sorry i didn't realize someone was in here." you wanted to curl up into a human ball of embarrassment. not only did the voice belong to a boy, but you knew exactly which boy it belonged to, and it rhymed with will beasley. unsure of how to respond, you just let out a nervous laugh, not wanting to let your voice give you away as someone who was definitely not a prefect.

"okay, well... i'll just come back later." you waited until you could no longer hear footsteps to climb out of the tub. once dry and wrapped in your fluffy robe, you reentered the hallway, but only after sticking your head out to make sure bill wasn't waiting by the door. as you walked back to your dorm, you could only begin to imagine all the teasing rose would give you when she found out he had seen you in the bath. luckily, by the time you cocooned yourself in your comforter, she was already asleep. you would have to tell her in the morning, or maybe you wouldn't.

by breakfast the three days later, the bath incident had left your mind. after the first 24 hours, you felt sure bill hadn't suspected anything, and even if he did, there was no way he could tell who the student in the bath was. you had to pause with the spoon of porridge halfway between your bowl and your mouth, because rose's impression of flitwick had made you burst into laughter. an owl fluttered down in front of you, dropping an envelope with your mother's handwriting on the front. you ripped it open and began to read.

"Dear y/n,

Hello love, I hope you're doing well with all of your classes this term. I'm writing to tell you that we'll be spending part of the Easter holiday with one of my friends and her family. Her name is Molly and she has two sons at hogwarts. Be sure to say hello to them, Molly says they're nice boys. The three of you can leave school together to travel home for break. I miss you dearly and can't wait to hear about your term in person.

love always,

mum"

rose put her chin on my shoulder to read the letter. "i didn't know your mum was friends with the weasley's," she giggled, obviously thinking about bill. "yeah, well that makes two of us." to be honest, you never really realized your mum had close friends. there was no reason for her not to, it had just never occurred to you that your parents were people outside of being your parents.

"actually, it makes four of us," you whipped around to see bill and charlie, a letter you assumed was similar to yours grasped in bill's hand. "my mum wrote they met here as kids and ran into each other a few weeks ago in diagon alley." his easy smile was attractive and his hair fell effortlessly into place, with one soft strand too short to be pushed behind his ear. it looked almost like someone had written it in, it was so perfectly placed.

"wicked," escaped rose's lips as a strained whisper. you elbowed her, praying that she would come to her senses and start acting like a real person.

"listen, i got to run to practice, but let's meet in the main entrance tomorrow morning, yeah? 10am?" charlie butt in, reaching around his brother to grab a banana off your table and without waiting for even a nod, turned to catch up with the rest of his team at the other end of hall.

"sorry about him, he's..." bill was suddenly looking down at you with a slightly funny expression, a small grin on his face.

"preoccupied?" you finish his sentence, marking the first words you've said since he approached you.

"yeah," then, he leans down close enough that only you can hear him when he says, "next time you go for a soak, i suggest trying the orange blossom bubbles," maintaining eye contact with you the whole time.

taken aback, you feel yourself get blush and lean back, your brow furrowed, "what? how did you-"

"i didn't realize you were so interested in astronomy, y/n," he says a little louder, standing back to his tall figure and casually tapping the back of his neck.

you mimic his motion and remember the small tattoo of a moon that sat at where your neck met your shoulders. you close your eyes and cover them with one hand. maybe if you shut your eyes hard enough and clicked your heals he would disappear. or even better, you would. "i'll see you tomorrow," he sent another cheeky smile and turned to walk away, hands in his pocket, laughing quietly to himself.

"um... what the fuck," rose spoke, making you realize you were still watching his back. "what was that about? how does he know about your tattoo?"

"he might've walked in on my while i was bathing a few days ago," you said, bracing yourself for the inevitable.

"WHAT?!" it was even louder than you expected. honestly, you loved rose but bringing attention to herself, and by proxy, you, was something she had a knack for, but not in an endearing way.

"would you calm down please? everyone was taking too long in the showers so i went to the prefects' bathroom and he came in. he only saw my back so i didn't think he knew who it was, but i forgot to account for moony back there," you rolled your eyes, how could you forget about something that you had chosen to put on your body forever?

"merlin, that's so not fair, do you know what i would give to be seen naked by bill weasley?" once again, you were slightly horrified by a comment made by your best friend. this is what you didn't understand about everyone's fascination surrounding bill. even as he walked away, you had noticed a handful of other students following him with their eyes. it was a fact that bill was attractive, beautiful even, but the way people would do anything for his attention freaked you out. being treated like that had to go to someone's head eventually.

"okay, that's enough of that. i'm just glad he didn't give me detention or something," you went back to your breakfast, although you were no longer very hungry.

the journey to the weasley's cottage by the sea was uneventful. in the morning, you boarded the hogwarts express with charlie and bill. you didn't speak much, but read a book in your shared compartment while charlie talked to bill non-stop about the latest quidditch techniques. "and i've been reading about dragons, and how they fly, and i think it would be really cool to try some of their flying patterns on a broom. it would be really hard and i'd have to make a few adjustments, because obviously i'm not a huge majestic creature, but if it worked, it'd be brilliant!" you looked up to see charlie on the edge of his seat, trying to mark some of the flying patterns, and looking intently at bill, as if waiting for him to be just as excited. "that sounds great, charlie, really. how did you start on about dragons?" bill quickly caught your eye and tried to share some of the amusement his brother brought him. "hagrid gave me a book, they're really something, bill."

your party gets off at king's cross, and you followed the older boy through the station, until he stops in front of a women's toilet. "uh, i think the men's is over there," you said pointing behind you. charlie laughed. "hah," bill faked a monotone laugh, "there's a portkey inside that will take us to shell cottage. dad said it was a," he looked down at a paper in his hand, "toilet brush. lovely. right, we have three minutes until it leaves. ladies first." he gestured and you entered the room. it was somewhat cramped with the three of you and your trunks, but in the corner was a white, and thankfully clean looking, toilet brush. you grabbed it and held it out for the others to hold on too. after about 10 seconds of waiting, you felt your body being pulled up and then like you had just jumped off a high diving board at a pool. falling, but strangely still feeling like you were upright. before long, your feet hit solid ground again, well somewhat solid ground. the sand made your landing shaky, as it moved under your weight. you looked up and saw a cozy house with warm light glowing from the windows.

after lots of introductions and even more hugs, you finally settled yourself in to a guest room. the view was beautiful. the sun was just starting to set over the sea, the orange hues reflecting off the vast water. putting away the last of your things, you walked down the stairs and announced to your mum and molly that you would be going on a walk. they nodded and made you promise to be back for dinner before returning to their conversation. as soon as you got to the beach, you slipped off your shoes and feel the cool sand swallow each of your toes. it was crisp, but not too cold. you walk for a bit and then sit down on a dune, just taking in the picture the world had created for you.

you see a figure walking toward you and, as it gets closer, you notice it's bill. "mind if i join you?" he asked.

"of course not," you watched him as he sat. "it's beautiful here, your family has a really lovely house."

"thanks, mum has a talent for making any place feel like home." he looked out at the water, but for some reason you kept looking at his face, trying to find details. bill felt your gaze and his eyes met yours. normally, you would've looked away, but a new confidence allowed me to hold his eye contact. "so, tell me more about your tattoo." you chuckled, you should've known it would come up at some point or another.

"i got it with rose on holiday using fake muggle IDs," you explained.

"any special meaning behind it?" he asked, his eyes were now flickering from yours to your neck.

"nope, just liked the art," it was true, you knew you wanted to get a tattoo but didn't want something that held too much weight, so you got something that was simply beautiful.

"that's cool," he said, reaching to touch it with his index finger, "did it hurt?" you shivered at the contact and he pulled away, "sorry."

"no, that's okay," you said turning slightly away from him so he could see it better and indicating that he could touch it. he went back to tracing it with his finger, leaning in to get a closer look. "it didn't hurt as much as i thought it would. but now that you've seen it, it's only fair that you tell me if you have any secret tattoos."

you heard him laugh, "obviously, i've just got the gryffindor lion across my chest, nothing crazy," he joked. you smiled and turned back to him.

"seems very fitting for you."

"oh yeah?"

"charismatic prefect, brave older brother, top of our DADA class? if you were any more gryffindor-y you'd be called godrick," you poked fun at him and leaned back to lay down.

"merlin, you make me sound unbearable."

"well–" you start to trail off only to feel a foot hit your knee, just hard enough to show playful anger. "alright, alright, kidding!"

"do you know what you want to do after school?" he asked, also lowering himself to the ground, but staying propped up on one elbow, his body turned to you.

"not exactly, i really like herbology and history of magic, so maybe find a job where i can study how wizards lived in the past? like how they used plants and stuff" it was something you had thought a lot about, but hadn't really found an answer that fit well.

"you'd be great at that." you shot him a skeptical look. "what? it's not hard to notice you're brilliant in herbology. sprout has you practically teaching half the lessons." you felt a blush spread across your cheeks, and felt thankful that the sunlight was starting to dim. you hadn't even realized you two shared that class, you were always more occupied in the nearest plant.

"what about you?"

"something to do with defense against the dark arts, mcgonagall told me about a career in curse breaking that sounds good. i think it'd allow me to travel, which is a plus."

"that sounds amazing," you say, your mind whisking you away to all the places you wanted to see.

"you can come and visit me, wherever i am." bill chuckled, letting another heart-breaker grin fall into place on his lips.

"and what makes you think we'll keep in touch after we leave hogwarts?" the tone turning back to a lighter banter. you push yourself up onto your elbows

"well, for one thing, our mums. but i also just have a feeling." you're betrayed by your cheeks heating up again. you look into his eyes and find sincerity. they're a deep blue, almost like they've been taken from the nearby water. once again you're reminded of his handsomeness, but this time it's a little different. maybe it's because you've talked more and he's shown you the things he's taken time to notice in you. but his beauty feels warmer. like it was only for you, like it could engulf you. you can see he's started to move closer, and you start to mirror his actions. your eyes move from his to his lips and the light stubble that runs along his jaw, and back again to his eyes. "can i...?" you close your eyes and start to nod, anticipating the feeling of his lips on yours, until, "kids! dinner!" and just like that, the moment is ruined. the two of you open your eyes and put space between yourselves. you clear your throat and stand up, brushing sand off of your legs.

"we should get back," you say.

"uh, yeah, totally." he says, also standing and following you back to the house.

on the walk back, you make sure to stay a few steps ahead of bill to allow yourself some time to think. what had just happened? did you like bill? surely it was just a weird moment following a minor existential crisis about the future right? you should just forget about it and try to focus on spending time with you family the rest of the trip.

256 notes · View notes

wishingstarinajar · 3 years

Text

I am going to ramble a bit but I will hide it under a cut because it's a bit long. It will be about the previous fandom I was active in around two years ago and how it affects me to this day. It's also about popularity and putting others on a pedestal.

If this sort of ramble isn't up your alley then feel very free to skip over this post! I don't mind. If you want to read more about it, just check under the cut.

The Franchise And Its Creators

====

THE FRANCHISE AND ITS CREATORS Around mid-2014, I joined the Wakfu and Dofus fandoms, a small-ish fandom as a whole but popular in certain circles.

For those who don't know, Wakfu and Dofus are (online, console, mobile, figurine, card and board) games, comics, animated series, specials and movies created by a French studio named Ankama. These two franchises are intertwined with each other as they play out in the same universe but in different timelines. I myself dabbled around in the animated part of the fandom; I was a huge fan of the two series and the Dofus movie.

There was very little catering to the international part of the fandom when it came to the studio's attention and interactions. There were no English dubs or subtitles; international fans had to rely on English fan subtitles on ripped/pirated episodes of the show and movie, same for the franga/comics. Merch was hard to get. A lot of articles related to the shows and whatnot were in French only, which is understandable because it is a French-made product. But there's no denying that the international fanbase felt a little neglected back then.

====

MY FANDOM JOURNEY

Because I was very interested in the lore of both franchises, I had to do a lot of digging and translating to be able to fully indulge in it all. I went full in! I dug deep, created OCs, art and also tried to write fanfiction. I also shared news and info about the series and movie; I ran a fan blog dedicated to sharing things with the international part of the fandom. I was also often approached about lore, particularly for a few of the canon characters and one of the races that play a role in the Wakfu franchise; the Eliatropes. It was fun, it felt good to help other fans out, it was nice to make friends and be creative with others about similar things.

Eventually, the character and art theft began. We all know this is a 'normal' part of fandoms, so I won't hammer too long on it. My issue with it was the fact that my main OC, a female Eliatrope, gathered a lot of attention because female Eliatropes were a rarity in the Wakfu franchise. They existed but didn't get a moment in the limelight, except for one that even received her own game (Islands of Wakfu) but it was so obscure that a lot of fans didn't know about its existence. My OC was somehow mistaken as canon by plenty of folks and many others started to use her as a template to create their own (female) Eliatrope OC. I didn't mind, as long as they weren't straight-up copies and I tried to be supportive by answering lore questions and give feedback whenever it was asked for it (which happened a lot). Of course, copying and theft happened more often than not; over the five years I was part of the fandom, I sent out almost a hundred DMCA reports for art and character theft (like true theft; I could handle some similarities or one-time occurrences). One particular case went to the extreme but I won't beat that dead horse any further; it brought me enough misery to last me half a lifetime, that's all I'll say on it. I kept a lot of the negative experiences behind closed doors and dealt with a lot of it quietly to not bother, worry or burden anyone else with any of it. I wanted a positive and supporting environment for my followers, even if the truth wasn't as pretty.

====

ANKAMA'S STRUGGLE

Over the years, studio Ankama increased attempts to cater more to the international fanbase of its animated properties (articles in English, English dubs and subtitles, etc). However, the studio's struggle to garner the attention of international supporters (aka companies and sponsors) didn't go too smoothly, and to make matters worse, they were also struggling with finding a platform in France to broadcast the Wakfu series on after wishing to take a different and more mature direction. Ankama wanted more freedom with the Wakfu show, like less censorship, a serial rather than episodic, and it not being aimed at a young audience like its previous contractor demanded Wakfu to be. Ankama even turned to crowdfunding to get certain projects (like new Wakfu seasons) off the ground and let's just say that those crowdfunding projects are best described as tiny dumpster fires; they weren't pretty to watch. The first one was a disaster with plenty of displeased backers and the following crowdfunding attempts often didn't meet the end goal due to bad past experiences or the lack of interest.

Luckily, Netflix breathed some life into the international Wakfu fandom, which was great! But it was still received badly (mostly due to the awful English dub and sound mixing of the first two seasons and special) that the third season Netflix made possible was not getting the attention it deserved. It was also a rushed product due to financial and time constraints on Ankama's part. Netflix eventually declined a fourth season and it all fell a bit apart from there. Ankama turned to crowdfunding once more to try and make season 4 a reality. Last time I checked (which was quite a while ago), it did decently enough to make season 4 a reality. (Please don't ask me about it, I don't know anything about it.)

====

THE PEDESTAL

While all this was happening behind the scenes, I was starting to struggle with the reputation I built up in the Wakfu and Dofus fandom over the few years I was a part of it. The best way to describe it is that I had grown exhausted.

Aside from dealing with the theft and answering people's questions daily, I wanted to be treated as an average fan but I kept getting put on a pedestal. People went as far as to call me by titles (like lady Wish and miss Wish) more often than not. To be called and treated as such made me feel alienated, like as if I wasn't considered real. I often asked to just be called Wish, no titles/formalities required, and that I wasn't as 'popular' as they believed, but the majority of the people didn't seem to listen. People were either afraid or refused to interact with me because they considered me 'too popular', or simply wanted nothing but my validation, feedback and/or free art. I also had my fair share of haters and people that didn't approve of my 'status' in the fandom. Join the club xD I wasn't very happy with it either.

I really started to dislike being called 'popular' because it had such a bad impact on the people around me (and my own mental wellbeing). Friends started to become jealous of the attention I garnered and it dragged me down every time. At times, it would turn toxic. It was never my intention to make my friends feel like they meant less because they surely didn't. To learn that they believed others were only friends with them or only looked at their art/writing because they were good friends with me hurt so much. It still does. I refuse to believe that was fully true because I was (and still am!) surrounded by very creative people and they all deserved as much attention as I was getting, at times more. I wish others saw it that way too.

I was also heavily chained down thanks to the role (model) I played in the fandom. Too many people (especially young ones) looked up to me and there were a lot of expectations that I felt forced to meet. I started to lose the energy for it, but if I dared to stray a little from the path, the pitchforks and torches would come out. It was very restricting.

In the end, I felt stuck. Things started to grow toxic. There was a point where I began to dislike the franchise because of the bad feelings it brought me. I couldn't even get myself to watch the series or movie anymore. I focused less and less on the canon side of things and more on my own ideas, which was one of the only comforts I really had left in the fandom. I started to shut myself off, which upset a lot of people. I am sorry for that, I wish it didn't happen that way but I was at my wits' end.

When I realized and also accepted that I was no longer enjoying myself with canon or fanon, I knew I had to move on or stuff would end badly. It was a very tough realization and decision to accept and make; I literally dedicated five years of my life to the fandom. I spent hours a day digging for info and news to translate and share, doing 'research' for my fanfics, answering questions, and whatnot. I truly lived the fandom day in and out. It was the first fandom I ever actively participated in to this degree. What the heck was I going to do without that?

====

THE NOW

Abandoning the fandom was a scary step to take but not one I regret. I left the Wakfu and Dofus fandom behind me in late 2019. I feel freer now and so much happier. I no longer have the burden of expectations, being a lore guide or be forced to portray a certain role model weighing me down. I am no longer on that f*cking pedestal. I can finally explore interests that aren't exactly child-friendly without a big part of my following pummeling me down for it. (Don't worry, I always try my best to keep it in the appropriate places.)

Do I still like Wakfu/Dofus and all the stuff I've created with it? Yes, I do but I also want nothing more to do with it. Aside from the friends I've made there and also stuck around on my new adventures, I left the fandom behind me.

I still get approached at times about how my Wakfu OC, art and writing inspired someone and ask me if I could give them feedback for their own ideas or give them advice/information on Wakfu/lore. I am extremely humbled by it every time. It's great to see someone feeling inspired and be creative. However, I've moved on. I've left interacting with the Wakfu/Dofus fandom and fan-made stuff far behind me. I haven't touched it for almost two years and it shows on all the social media I share my art and writing on. I at times wish people could be considerate about the fact that I moved on but I also know and understand that not everyone knows my reasoning or my side of the story. I try not to be too harsh on it.

====

MY ADVICE

I don't hate anyone for how things turned out; a lot of it was my own doing by not saying no or taking a stronger stand.

It did teach me a lot of things, especially about caring for my own well-being and putting others on pedestals. Please be mindful when you treat someone like others treated me before; it's not healthy, for yourself and the person you put on that high pedestal. Take everything in moderation and consideration, that's all. Everyone's human, everyone has feelings, and everyone deserves a sense of being. Even your favorite artists and content creators. Don't treat them like an otherwordly being that you have to worship.

In turn, if a fandom or something you enjoyed is making you unhappy nowadays, you owe it to yourself to make or find a change. Be good to yourself, always!

Thanks to anyone who read through this ramble. I needed to get this off my chest. I am not asking for advice, neither pity or whatever else. I just wanted to share my thoughts on past experiences because I have a feeling others might be going through something similar.

Thank you again, please take care.

#wish talks #wish rambles #edited with some format fixes

42 notes · View notes

druedidit · 3 years

Text

Drue Wilkes Intro

★ BIRTH DATE / 21 February, 1960 (bro this is my third pisces i am going out of my fucking mind) ★ BLOOD STATUS / Pureblood ★ PRONOUNS & IDENTITY / she/her; cis female ★ FACECLAIM / Reina Hardesty

ACADEMICS & ROOMING

★ PRIMARY SCHOOL / Cornwall County Day School, 1978 ★ ACADEMIC PURSUITS / Social Studies degree, History of Magic cohort ★ HOUSE & YEAR / Slytherin, 2nd Year

TW: mentions of murder, suicide, and gaslighting

POINTS OF INTEREST

★ The Wilkes, unlike most of the families listed as the Sacred 28, did not have much in means of monetary value to fall back and survive on. They were forced to become working class people, after the failure of yet another business idea of Rupert Wilkes. When two children came along, Devin and Drue, it only complicated things further. Thankfully, Lindsey Wilkes was able to salvage a hair dresser’s business in Diagon Alley, with a small flat above. It was much too stuffy for four people and while the adults complained and huffed, it was nothing but normal to their two children. Eventually, they were able to afford another business, just next door. They even had the opportunity to join the two flats above.

★ Owning the Junk Store, which worked like a wizard’s pawn shop, introduced the Wilkes to many opportunities they thought they’d never have. Most of the objects that came through their shop were faulty and Mr. Wilkes would spend hours trying to fix them -- success was 40/60. One day, something came through their shop he couldn’t pass up. A time turner. Months were spent, casting charms and spells to make it function good as new. And what do you know? Rupert Wilkes mended it. It became their family’s sole, greatest possession. The only thing of value to the Wilkes name.

★ Of course, having that much power would eventually lead to some trouble. In 1975, after Rupert refused to turn back time to save the family’s dying pet, Devin took it upon herself to steal the time turner. Fifteen year old Drue was woken from a dead sleep, to the sounds of screams. She always thought in a moment like so, she’d freeze up. But no, Drue ran on to her parent’s bedroom, and found her older sister standing over their limp bodies. Devin said only two words murder, suicide. Her life was now built upon this lie, because her sister refused to go back in time now and had much graver plans.

★ Devin never hid a single murder she committed from her younger sister. Family breakfast became confessional. Gory detail after gory detail, Drue knew if her sister did not slow down soon, she would be caught. Or become notoriously known. Either way, having the advantage of being two places at once seemed to lessen her chances of ever being arrested. But without Drue’s own sharp perception, she does not trust Devin’s sloppy ways and has vowed to assist her sister in her crimes. Drue’s become her own personal bait to lure in victims and participates in crime scene clean up. Now, in 1980, Devin has committed seven murders in the last four years. She believes spacing them out will draw away attention. Drue sincerely hopes so.

Extra HC Shit

She & her sister, Devin, claim their mum was a huge advocate for peace and muggleborns. They’ve even inspired people to start a foundation named after Lindsey Wilkes (who was allegedly murdered at the hands of her husband), which encourages blood unity through muggle sports such as tennis, bowling, and roller blading. They do not care if their pureblood allies believe them to be blood traitors. The end game is much more important -- you must be friends with your enemies.

Has never been too affected by the death of her parents, tbh? And though she lives this uncomfortable paycheck-to-paycheck life, she blames them for all of Devin’s disadvantages in life.

Works part-time at Junk Shop and the hairdressers called Hair Dahlia. There was no large inheritance when her parents died. They were left with more debt than anything and both had to continue working. Devin did not attend Hogwarts and Drue only got in on a scholarship for academics.

Working at the Junk Shop has turned her into a total COLLECTOR OOPS! But, she just collects the cool stuff that looks “artsy”. More so for aesthetic than function. Her dream of all dreams is to open some sort of art history museum in the wizarding world. Of course, the funds make it almost impossible to. She is majoring in History because of this, however. Might as well become rich in knowledge if you can’t with money, right?

Is a large participant in JWL and has never felt the need to exactly prove herself because of her lack of money. She feels her ideas and informative opinions are enough to carry her through. Maybe she’ll be so lucky to become President next year, with a little elbow grease.

Devin, her older sister is 100% a Death Eater. Drue’s in the process of being recruited. Which, she more than accepts. Their message is something she agrees with. Although, she wouldn’t be so messy about it -- it’s why she’s going to join. To reform the Death Eaters and keep her sister out of any crossfire.

Also speaks Japanese, is learning Latin, and is a fan of haiku, unironically.

TRAITS

✓ audacious; accommodating; tough ✗ gaslighting; extravagant; amoral

yes so p.s. my dears..... while i am not a fan of “mindgames”/intentionally gaslighting people, drue can be that way. it may actually be unintentional sometimes because how often she has done it in the past. anyways, i understand it can be a lot! if you ever, ever, ever need me to tag something as a trigger, let me know!!! <3 trust me bbs, i gotchu!

#sleepingd intro

8 notes · View notes

sserpente · 5 years

Photo

A/N: Request from anon. I loved the concept… and then I couldn’t stop writing and it went so well with some other ideas I had and it escalated and ahhh, you guys were supposed to get this Imagine three days ago. Anyway… enjoy reading! ♥ Words: 4628 (oops) Warnings: gore/blood, fluff (the combination doesn’t sound right, now does it)

Here’s an extra warning: I got a bit inspired by “Coriolanus” so there will be a very bloody and graphic scene… stuff I usually don’t write myself. As I said though, I really got inspired by the play so I just went along with it, if anything to not repeat myself with this one scene we all hate so much. It thus also might rip open the wounds Infinity War caused. Therefore, the scene will be marked with “*” at the beginning and the end in case you prefer to skip it.

“It’s a myth.”

“It’s not a myth. They are omens of death.” Thor argued. Grinning smugly, he leaned back and took a sip of his beer.

Tony buried his face in his hands. “You know I started believing in many things when you fell out of the sky to help us fight aliens but… there’s a line. ‘Black angels’? With shimmering wings? Please, Point Break.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know. They say only those before their imminent death can see their wings.”

“Have you ever seen an angel then?”

“No! I told you, they are omens of death. Volstagg’s father… he saw one. He swore he did. One week after, he perished.”

“Coincidence.”

Loki rolled his eyes. He had known before that mortals were ignorant and refused to face reality, Stark’s stubbornness however surprised even him. Many creatures shared their stories in the Old Norse myths, stories which his mother had told him before bed when he was a child.

Angels… omens of death. Black, shimmering wings… they said whoever saw one before death, their soul would leave their body contently… that they were of such beauty it would not compare to any other being in the nine realms. As a young boy, Loki had told Frigga he wanted to see one for himself—and Frigga chided him for wishing for such an atrocious thing.

Shivering, you wrapped your black coat around yourself tighter. You had bought it from a street market for little money which you had stolen from a peasant. High up in the sky, you were never cold. You were free. Those human sensations were downright irksome.

Perhaps it was your own fault you had ended up on Midgard of all places. Stranded and stripped off most of your powers, they had cast you out and forced you to live a mortal life—knowing you would never find friends on a planet inhabited by beings that would not grow half as old as you.

Perhaps you should have joined your people when they swore their allegiance to the purple titan. But you knew you would have made the wrong decision. What Thanos wanted was impossible—and you sincerely hoped he would fail. His lackeys were already spreading dread, fear and death across the planet. You had seen them lurking about, watching his evil plans unfold and wreak havoc when it was fun.

A high-pitched scream ripped you from your thoughts. Turning straight on your heel to see what had caused it, your instincts kicked in. Altruistically saving humans wasn’t high on your priority list, kicking Thanos’ monkeys’ arse, however, was. It felt good to ram your poisoned dagger into their hearts… and it least gave you some satisfaction.

You frowned when you reached the dimly lit alley, scanning the area to analyse the situation. Somebody had beaten you to it. Clenching your fists, you recognised both Tony Stark and Captain America along with a raven-haired man with a sharp jawline and the most stunning blue eyes you had ever seen—Loki, God of Mischief.

Thanos’ lackeys were nowhere in sight. Instead, what part of the Avengers… and Loki put up with was a dirty burglar who seemed to have tried to rob a young woman who was currently shaking on the cold ground like autumn leaves in the wind.

“Are you alright, Miss?” You heard Steve Rogers ask her humbly, all the while the burglar—terrified for his life—scrambled to his feet, abandoning the knife he had held. Loki rolled his eyes. With but one effortless movement, he kicked him in the stomach the moment he attempted to run and proceeded to grab his collar to lift him off the ground.

“Please, please… please don’t kill me!” The burglar whimpered. You suppressed a chuckle.

“Let him go, Reindeer Games.”

“Let him go? What did we intervene for? Mercy? I disagree…”

“Nope. FRIDAY has already saved his fingerprints and appearance. The police will get him soon enough. Now let him go. I think he peed his pants.”

Loki’s face distorted when he spotted the wet spot between the burglar’s legs. Disgusted, he did as he was told and threw him back to the ground. He swallowed thickly before hurrying away clumsily. Then, he looked up—and his blue eyes locked with yours.

Paralysed, he captured you in his both scrutinising and fascinated gaze. Your lips parted when you realised that he could see your wings. Dark, shimmering and as soft as a crow’s feather dress they framed your form—petite compared to his—and complimented both your (Y/H/C) hair and (Y/E/C) eyes. You were beautiful.

Neither of you paid attention to the young woman who had stood again by now, approaching Loki timidly. Her ‘thank you’ went unnoticed even when Steve called his name.

“Who are you?” You blinked, reluctantly tearing your eyes away from Loki’s to face Tony Stark.

“(Y/N)… my name is (Y/N). I am what other beings would refer to as… a black angel.”

Tony snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

One heated discussion after your confession led to another and Captain America and Iron Man—for Loki had remained completely silent—decided to take you back to the compound to speak to Thor. You did not take kindly in spilling your secret to strangers. Hundreds of years ago, humans, Asgardians and other species had hunted you down for amusement, using poison to make your wings visible and cutting them off to sell them on the black market—an ironic name, really.

But this… was different. Loki—the Loki, God of Mischief and Lies, Trickster… son of Laufey and Farbauti and Prince of Asgard—he could see your wings. Legends had been told about connections alike. They said that every living black angel in this universe served a purpose, was meant to follow a path and fulfil its destiny—and to be with one person who loved them dearly for the rest of their existence. Only those that fate chose to be a black angel’s partner would be able to see their wings—to see all of them—in their full glory and true beauty. Loki’s blue eyes were practically glued on you; and if you were not mistaken, there was a hint of panic glistening in his irises too.

Did he feel the connection, perhaps? That you seemed to have found the man your heart would likely belong to for the rest of your life? Strangely enough, you felt… oddly exposed. Only other black angels had ever been able to see your gift, unwillingly sharing it with someone you had but heard of and never met made you vulnerable… and it made you self-conscious.

“How exactly did you end up here on Earth?” Thor leaned forward, crossing his arms on the vast glass table in the middle of the conference room. Around him, the remaining Avengers which you had not officially met yet, squinted suspiciously in a desperate attempt to spot your wings as well. One of them—you believed he was called Rhodey—had even examined your back but found nothing.

“I was… banished. My own people abandoned me because I refused to join the new force.”

“Does that force answer to the name of Thanos by any chance?” Tony tossed in. You nodded.

“You have heard of him. He means to wipe out half of the universe. We have to stop him whatever it takes.”

You could feel Loki’s presence behind you. He was still silent, pacing up and down the room like a cunning predator waiting to strike.

“How do we know we can trust you?”

“You don’t. I am merely warning you. I don’t have the powers to stop him but you might. And I certainly did not ask to be invited to your humble home.” You snapped. They were hostile towards you, you could tell. Something about you unsettled them. If only you knew what it was.

Be that as it may, the Avengers decided to let you stay for a while. They hadn’t locked you in a room but if you were to try and leave without anyone accompanying you… then the Norns beware.

You sighed. You should have never mentioned you were a black angel, pretended to be human instead… pretended that Loki was hallucinating. His eyes had made you forget all reason. The invisible force pulling you to him was destructive. You wanted to be close to him, be with him, be there for him… lay your life, soul and heart in his hands… all the while he seemed to painstakingly ignore you.

You barely knew but you could sense that Loki was everything you could ever wish for. An intelligent, powerful, cunning and charming man, tall, blue-eyed and so outrageously handsome he even outshone his brother Thor. You had never spoken to him personally and yet, you felt like you would die for him. Now what if he never reciprocated those feelings? Tragic stories were told about black angels who found love and yet had to live without it.

At the very least, so you figured, you had access to a fully furnished kitchen tonight. It was your first warm supper in two weeks and bit more nourishing than a mere apple or a handful of nuts. It was almost midnight now and hunger had gotten the better of you… or maybe it was the prosperity of food being available to you at any time without you having to steal hard-earned money for it first.

Passing through the hallway, your tread entirely mute, you stopped dead in your tracks when you heard two familiar voices talking in the living room.

“Big… imposing… no, I did not imagine it, Thor. They were there. A pair of shimmering black wings…” Loki sounded worried, yet you could tell he was trying hard not to let it show. He had already seemed to have panicked a little when he first laid his eyes upon you.

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t know.”

“How much time do you have left?”

“I don’t know, Thor.”

“Don’t you… worry, brother… I’m sure everything’s gonna work out fine.”

There was a moment of awfully painful silence. Then, somebody left.

Frowning, you knocked. You were unsure of what they had been talking about. Loki’s expression darkened when he spotted you entering the room shyly, his eyes focused on the wings on your back.

“You… seem to be avoiding me, Loki. Have I… done something?”

Loki smirked—it was bitter. Now that he had told Thor, by tomorrow… they would all know he was going to die soon.

“You have not, dear. It is not something you did. It is your purpose.” Your heart skipped a beat. You had not expected such an honest answer.

“My purpose? I don’t have a purpose here on Midgard.” His eyes were ice cold when he looked up to meet your gaze.

“You are an omen of death.”

Your lips parted. “I am… I am not.”

“No man who sees a black angel’s wings survives. I can see yours.”

“B-but… but that… you’re not going to die.”

His bitter smile returned. “We are facing Thanos. If I was doubtful about my fate before, I am no longer now.”

“Loki, that’s not what it means…” It felt like your heart was shattering, to a million tiny little pieces. He thought you were his death… no wonder he felt uneasy around you. Where had that stupid superstition come from? Why would you be an omen of death?

You longed to tell him what it really meant. Only right now, in this very moment, it did not feel right. Would he even believe you? Probably not.

“Good night, Loki.”

When you returned to your room, you sent your pillow flying through the air all the while suppressing a scream of anger.

The following days were equally frustrating. Loki seemed to be avoiding you at all cost and even Thor and the others only spoke to you when it was absolutely necessary. They were scared. All of them. Dreading that at some point, they might see your wings too. You had already given up attempting to explain it to them. There were much more important things to take care of.

Figuring out your own feelings, for example. It was impossible to love someone you had just met, even for black angels… right? The invisible force linking you to Loki’s body and mind was so strong it almost physically ached to not be near him. You were worried. Loki thought he was going to die. It was obvious he had a past with Thanos, one that was about to catch up with him.

You had your dagger—it was the least you could fight with to protect his life. After all, that one superstition was indeed true. Yet when you stood in front of him, the purple titan who had stolen away your people, and the black angels you had thought of as friends and family… you were terrified.

All of them were ready to fight. Man against man, woman against woman and you… somewhere in between. You had never agreed to destroy him, had never promised to help. It was not in your nature to intervene in such things; even though you would not exactly call yourself a pacifist, wars held a bitter connotation. All you cared about was Loki—even if he did not care about you.

Proudly and arrogantly, he lifted his chin in pure defiance. You could feel he was anxious. His heart was beating so fast your own almost stopped. Thanos wanted the Tesseract—and Loki was denying he was in its possession.

The whole Avengers compound had become a bloody battlefield. There was debris, there were screams and the sounds of metal clashing. Clutching your dagger tighter, you watched how Thor was hurled through the air and landed on the hard ground.

“We don’t have the Tesseract! It was destroyed on Asgard!” He growled, spitting a mouthful of blood into the grass before two of Thanos’ lackeys managed to restrain him.

Loki briefly closed his eyes, guiltily. One single moment of negligence—and enough for Thanos to grab his head forcefully and throw him on the ground before Ebony Maw’s feet.

Loki gasped in pain but the ugly sorcerer did not hesitate. He raised his hands, fingers crooked… only to send shockwaves of agony through his blood. As a Frost Giant… the heat pumping through his veins was pure torture.

“The Tesseract…” Thanos remarked, seemingly unimpressed. Your eyes widened. Loki really had it. Of course he had it.

“Please, stop…” You heard yourself whisper, the pain he felt cursing through your own body. Only yours wasn’t physical. “Stop it! The Tesseract is not here. Let him live. Whatever he has done in the past, he did it to survive, wouldn’t you do the same?”

“He disappointed me,” the titan argued. “He failed.”

“We all do. It was not his fault. Look around you. Look at your forces fighting against a bunch of mortals. If they are having difficulties defeating them now, then how would you expect Loki to do it all on his own?”

Loki’s stunning blue eyes widened upon hearing your words. He kept grunting, growling and panting as Maw intensified the spell, making you panic slightly.

“I am not merciful, little one. If I were, I wouldn’t be where I am standing now.”

“You… don’t have to be.” You swallowed. “His life in exchange for mine. I shall serve you if you let him live.”

“Why would I want your allegiance?”

“I am an angel, too.”

Thanos raised his eyebrows.

“You would give your freedom to save him? Him?”

“Yes.” Blinking frantically to scare away the tears in your eyes, you watched the titan nod slowly. With a start, Ebony Maw stopped, earning him another pant from Loki. In his ugly hands… he held the Tesseract.

“You have a good heart, little one. Unfortunately… I don’t like being lied to.”

*It happened fast, almost too fast for you to comprehend. Thanos’ sword slashed through the cold air and Loki’s neck, blood spurting from the freshly cut wound and staining his skin and armour. His blue eyes closed, the downright repulsive sounds of him choking on his own blood filling your ears.

Then, he stopped moving, the red liquid still pouring from his neck.*

You screamed, both in pain and indescribable grief when Loki’s heart stopped beating. He had been right. You had been his very personal omen of death.

You didn’t sleep. You didn’t eat. You didn’t speak. Thanos was gone, two Infinity stones along with him. And while the Avengers were busy figuring out a plan to stop him once and for all, you spent your time sulking away in your room, your eyes red and swollen from the many tears you shed for the man you had never had a chance to love.

You had meant to save him. Loki had trusted you to seal his fate and when you had attempted to lay down your own life so he would survive, you had caused the exact opposite. It wasn’t your fault, not really and yet… it felt like it.

It felt like your heart had been ripped in pieces, like Thor had driven his beloved hammer into your chest repeatedly and shattered all of your ribs.

Dead. You had found the one man your poor existence as a god damn black angel had made sense for, the one man who could have made you happy. And now he was dead.

You were ready to do anything to get him back. And so you were plotting.

Whether Thor was grieving, you did not know. But you had heard of Ragnarok, the destruction of his home world, of Asgard, the realm of the gods. Hela had wreaked havoc and claimed the throne. Hela, the goddess of death… Hela, who could resurrect the dead and bring them back to life.

“Tony.” Your voice carried only feinted politeness. You simply did not care how worn out he was, noodling around in his lab. Neither did you care that Thor did not even look up when you entered.

“Can I speak to Thor, please? In private?”

He was his brother. If anyone was going to help you bring Loki back, it was him. Thor had complained about having lost Loki before. That he had thought him dead before. Whether he could not accept he was truly gone this time or had simply moved on, you could not tell. But you sincerely hoped Loki was important enough for him, worthy of saving.

The God of Thunder looked up, his brows raised in surprise. Nodding mutely, he stood and left the room, allowing you to close the door to Tony’s lab behind you.

“There is a way to bring Loki back alive.” You stated straight away, swallowing thickly. Thor crossed his arms before his chest, a defensive posture.

“What do you mean?”

“Loki is not in Valhalla, his soul did not… ascend. He should have been… he would not give Thanos the Tesseract to Thanos, he was enduring torture, he… wanted to save you. All of you, stop the titan himself. That… that means…” Again, you swallowed, forcing back the tears forming in your eyes. “It means he is in Hel. I’ve been there before, black angels… we are immune to… well, it doesn’t matter. But… the goddess of death. Hela, she could…”

“No.”

“What?”

“No.” Thor repeated sternly. “Hela is my sister. She caused the destruction of Asgard, she killed my friends and hundreds of innocent Asgardians.”

“I have heard the stories… but Thor, Loki is your brother.”

“Do you truly think she will resurrect him without asking for something in return? We barely managed to banish her again, I will not risk the subjugation of the nine… the eight realms.”

Angrily, you narrowed your eyes at him, your heart pounding in your chest.

“If Thanos gets a hold of the remaining Infinity Stones, say goodbye to the entire universe. He will be ten times worse than Hela. If anyone can help you defeat him, it’s your brother. Your brother, Thor.”

Why did he hesitate? As a black angel, you had never had brothers or sisters but if you did… if you did you would love and cherish them dearly. Did Thor not love Loki? Did he not love him as much as Loki loved Thor? You could see it in his eyes. Loki had a good heart, vulnerable and tainted but good.

“Why would you want to bring him back? You don’t know him. Loki’s been dead before, if it’s true this time… it is what it is.” Thor mumbled. “Look, (Y/N)… Loki is dead because of you. Your appearance… it was the sign… there is no way around that.”

“That’s bullshit, Thor,” you snapped. All of a sudden, the truth spilled from your lips uncontrollably. “I’m not an omen of death, who came up with this? Loki was the only one who can see my wings because he was meant to be my soul mate. I… I fell in love with him the moment I first looked him in the eye. I was going to sacrifice my life to save him, those were not empty words, you heard them!”

Thor paused. “That’s… impossible. All my life… I grew up believing black angels were deadly.”

“We can be. My blades of my daggers are drowned in poison but we do not promise death to those we show our wings to. It wasn’t my decision, Thor. Please… help me bring your brother back.” This time, you were unable to hold back your tears. Sobbing quietly, they ran over your reddened cheeks.

The God of Thunder took a deep breath.

“I can take you to the portal. The rest is up to you. But if you endanger this realm by setting Hela free, you will live with the consequences because we will kill you. I have to protect these people, (Y/N).”

Determined, you nodded. “I will make this right, Thor. I promise.”

The portal was a church. At least, it looked like a church. Home of the angels… you snorted. If only you could live in a richly decorated church. The more you approached, the more of the dead energy did you feel. Helheim was near.

You had a plan, of course. It was risky and bold and perhaps a bit reckless… but at least, it was a plan. Thor had held his promise and he made sure to stay until you returned—with or without Loki.

Then, with one final deep breath—for there was no reason to breathe in Helheim—you stepped over the threshold of Durham Cathedral and disappeared into nowhere, an invisible force sucking you into another realm.

The stench of death filled your nose before you had even opened your eyes again, corpses, skeletons and bloody soil staining the dark landscape. Like you had expected, your presence in the realm of the dead as a living being did not go unnoticed.

“I’ve met black angels before. But they were dead.” Hela’s voice echoed through the minging air, her blue eyes, complimented by dark coal, boring into yours.

“I came to warn you.”

“Warn me? Child… Look around you… this place is dead. What do I have to fear?”

“Thanos. He means to wipe out half of the universe. Killing half of every single living being.”

Hela raised her eyebrows, seemingly unimpressed.

“Where do you think will most of these souls go? Half the universe… crammed in one realm. Your realm.”

“The Gauntlet. He has it then.”

“And he is collecting the stones. There is a force on Midgard… across the universe to stop him. They need all the help they can get.”

It was then the goddess of death began to smile cruelly. “Who is it you want me to resurrect?”

“How familiar are you with the powers of black angels?”

Hela shrugged. “They are meant to find their soul mates, the only beings they unwillingly reveal their true nature to.” As the goddess of death, she knew a lot more than the rest of the Asgardians then.

You nodded. “My powers were taken from me when I was cast out. They will return once I am reunited with mine.” That was a lie. But if Hela was Thor’s sister, you could imagine she did not exactly take a liking into Loki. “I need you to return Loki to the living. We stop Thanos, we stop this realm from destruction. And we both know that even Helheim could not take the masses of murderers and villains once the titan snaps his fingers.”

Snarling, she turned her scrutinising gaze away from you. “Loki?” She snorted. “You know what? Take him. Take that little cockroach and leave. Hel will be better off without his smug remarks.”

You were almost surprised by how calm you managed to speak with her. The prosperity of seeing Loki again filled your broken heart with joy and love, even if the God of Mischief himself, so you imagined, would hardly feel the same.

Hela narrowed her eyes. With but a flick of his wrist, she summoned Loki like a demon. Your heart skipped a beat when you spotted him. He did not look harmed, the atrocious wound on his neck luckily gone completely.

“I was trying to sleep. Forewarn me before you—“ Loki stopped his mocking complaint mid-sentence. His lips parted when he saw you—that’s when you had already thrown yourself into his arms and buried your face in his neck, inhaling his wonderful scent and enjoying the touch of his body, beginning to heal you instantly.

“Husband…” You murmured, knowing that Hela was still watching you intently.

Loki froze. “What?”

“Just play along. Please… I’m gonna get you out of here.” You whispered mutely. Then, you timidly pressed your lips against his, triggering an explosion of chemistry between you. You almost flinched… and apparently, Loki felt the same.

Hela rolled her eyes in a disgusted manner. Clearly, she was convinced. “Leave. Make sure not to return.” She flicked her wrists once more, almost as if taking a spell on Loki—whatever had been necessary to allow him to travel through the portal and back to the living.

Confidently, you reached for his hand, a touched smile spreading on your lips when he accepted it and followed you back to Midgard and into Durham Cathedral.

“Husband?” He repeated, ignoring Thor who received him with his mouth wide open.

“There is a lot of explaining I need to do, I’m afraid.” You began apologetically.

“Indeed.” He was still holding your hand, not pulling away. It filled your chest with a cosy warmth which you had never felt before.

“You… only you can see my wings.”

“I still do.”

“You… you can because… because I am your soul mate. I never was an omen of death, Loki. I.. love you.”

The God of Mischief’s face fell.

“What you said to Thanos… you did attempt to…” You nodded quickly.

“I… I had to try. Contacting Hela, convincing her to resurrect you…”

“Thank you.” He interrupted, looking you deep in the eye. It was surprise which you found sparkling in those blue irises. Surely… never had anyone done this for him. Surely, nobody else would have done this for him. Thor still went ignored.

“I… I can understand if you… if you don’t want me to stay. I can leave. Being my soul mate, it doesn’t… it doesn’t link you to me if you don’t want to.”

Your heart jumped when Loki began to smirk mischievously... but genuinely.

“Oh no, my dear. I think I am going to keep you.”

A/N: If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate so much if you supported me on KoFi! kofi.com/sserpente

1K notes · View notes

perfectharmonyloveschaos · 4 years

Note

what if whenever klaus is accidentally doing his telekinesis at first, everyone thinks it's vanya, including him. but when hes by himself or something and things keep happening he doesnt notice it or brushes it off by reasoning it. ben keeps trying to tell him that hes being dumb and it's klaus whos doing all of that

Sorry if you just wanted me to talk about this in bullet points or anything (i still might, god I love making those), this idea was just too good and immediately inspired me to write a small fic about it so hope you’re not mad anon! I wasn’t sure how much to go into, so I tried to keep it to your ask, but goddamn if it wasn’t fun. Klaus being an idiot and not realising that he can move things with his mind is so funny to me for some reason, hope you enjoy it!

The first time there had been anything out of the ordinary, it had been Ben who had noticed it. Field after field of wheat and corn and cotton stretched as far as Klaus could see, squinting his tired eyes against the glare of the sun that sat lazily on the horizon. If not for the aches left from his sudden fall into whatever time period they were in – little Five had said that the equations were a bitch to get exactly right – than Klaus may have paid more attention.

Ben, however, didn’t get sore from falls out of the space-time continuum or hours of blind walking, so it really had been no wonder that his deceased brother had far more focus.

“Great.” Klaus hissed; his brows knitted together tightly as he hugged his arms closer to his chest. A shiver ran through him, the irritable itch of his skin taking no time in setting over his body. “This is just peachy, huh? Fivey couldn’t have dropped us somewhere nice… like Vegas?”

Ben made a face, strolling leisurely by the medium’s side as he watched the cattle stare as they passed. “Fresh air is better for you than booze and slot machines.” Ben reasoned, his lip rising as he watched Klaus’ slug by, his legs dragging off the dirt countryside roads until anything else came into view. “Besides, all these,” He added, gesturing a hand to a black Angus calf ignorant to them as it suckled its mother. “-must belong to someone.”

“Little shit dropped us in the asshole to nowhere…”

“The others could have landed in the nearest town.”

“-and my ribs hurt.”

Ben sighed, leaning his head back as he let his arms flop down to his sizes, focusing on the swaying motion of them as they walked in silence. They’d be okay, they’d find the others – probably Diego in that stupid outfit scowling at Klaus for ‘wandering off’ – and then Klaus would smile and quip and everything would be okay.

The others weren’t in the nearest town.

They could only gather so much from their surroundings, but their deductions seemed sound and clean enough that Ben smiled at his brother as he peered at the newspaper over his shoulder. Klaus’ long, knobby fingers worked on straightening the wrinkles and skimmed over the weather-worn letters – people had thrown looks at the lanky man tearing paper from a nearby trashcan, but none of them said anything, thankfully – only to let out a tired groan.

Ben didn’t need to read through it to understand what his brother meant.

“Nothing.”

Without another word, the newspaper was crumpled up into a ball and dropped at his feet, worn trainers that scuffed off the concrete feebly kicked it aside. He could see the tension in his brother’s shoulders, bare against his torn army vest – Dave, would he have been able to lift Klaus’ hopes better than Ben, did Klaus want Dave there more than him? – as his withdrawal slithered back in to replace the time-travel nausea.

Ben grimaced at the slump of Klaus’s body, hunched meekly on the sidewalk.

A few moments of silence went by.

“What are we gonna do?”

“We should check around for the others, at least we know something.”

“Fine.” Klaus nodded but didn’t budge from the sidewalk as his hands covered his face. The fashion definitely struck them of being around the 1960s, at least giving them a when to base their next action on, the newspaper only confirming it as 1960 to be exact. It was early morning, so fewer people were around to see Klaus – who appeared to be talking to the air, Ben reminded him – but the oncoming morning rush meant a higher chance of standing out.

“The Commission is probably already on our asses.”

Klaus snorted, but didn’t release the tension in his shoulders. Pressing his arms tighter against his side, the skin of his hands pressed white off the sidewalk, pushing all his weight into his limbs and yet failing to move. Short nails clawed at the concrete. Ben stared down at him, brow wrinkled at the heaving breaths that passed through his thin form, shivering with each exhale.

Glancing up to take a look at their surroundings, Ben forced himself to stay put. Withdrawal was a bitch, that much was given at how many times he had seen Klaus go through it before in hospitals and rehab, only to dive back into the intoxication pool without hesitation. But time-travel? That was a whole other game, sensations that he couldn’t understand as he was.

Klaus exhaled a hard breath beside him, the muscles of his arms flexed between them and his teeth clenched down hard into his jaw. Breathe, Ben reminded him, repeating the word over and over until it sounded wrong and then kept going.

"Breathe”.

“I know.”

“We’ll be okay.”

Klaus groaned in reply.

“We’ll find the others, and everything will be-”

The newspaper shot away from them and all the way across to the other side of the street.

Ben blinked.

His mouth opened to speak, to question what had just occurred, only to let his mouth close once more. There had been no wind, no breeze that flapped at Klaus’ clothing or anything else on the street strong enough to do that, so how-

“Alright... I’m alright,” Klaus said slowly, letting out a groan as he shakily rose to his feet. Ben leapt to attention, adrenaline left over alerting him to the scuff of his brother’s foot off the road before he could help him to his feet, his eyes never leaving Klaus. That was… new. “Let’s go.”

(***)

“Klaus.”

“Ben, for the last time-!”

“It was floating!”

“I must’ve made some other ghost corporal by accident!” Klaus reasoned, waving his brother’s concern away as he shoved his arms back through his jacket sleeves. “Remember when you were able to hold stuff again? You knocked all kinds of shit over-”

“There were no other ghosts, I would’ve seen it.”

Klaus rolled his eyes, picking up the knocked over lamp and replacing it back on the motel bed table. Blowing a raspberry after flicking the light switch on to make sure the bulb wasn’t damaged; Klaus hoisted his bag over his shoulder and gestured for Ben to follow. “Maybe being corporal makes it harder to see other ghosts, Benny-boy.”

Realising the other was heading out the motel room door rather than listening, Ben pursed his lips with a shake of his head as he followed Klaus. Watching Klaus tie his hair into a high bun – the tangled mess of curls on his head now reaching his chin – in order to help dry the sweat still coating his neck, Ben sighed.

Ghosts can’t knock over lamps, he frowned to himself as Klaus hopped into the driver seat, quickening his pace to slip in the passenger seat before the other had time to start the engine. But idiots who can move stuff without touching them having nightmares can.

(***)

“Lucky that the guy tripped, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ben sighed, rolling his eyes as Klaus swung his arms leisurely, going on his merry way as if he hadn’t almost been mugged and stabbed by some alley-thug five minutes before. “It’s our lucky day…”

Because men twice the size of Klaus just so happened to become clumsy despite being able to sneak up on a man and a literal ghost.

And that said thug had tripped so hard that he somehow flung himself back down the alleyway far enough that they could escape.

And that the man’s knife just so happened to fly out of his hand and straight into a wooden pallet leaning against a wall more then ten feet away.

Purely, undoubtedly, luck.

Shaking his head, Ben forced himself to only nod when Klaus suggested they get something to eat.

His brother was such an idiot.

(***)

Their whole family were idiots.

“Our first objective should be stopping the apocalypse─”

“We need to help Vanya─”

“Allison please, we don’t know what she’s capable─”

“She is trying to control them, Luther. Why can’t you─

Any attempt at conversation was muffled out as Luther shouted louder, only angering Allison who had stood in-between him and Vanya once their brother had shown a lack of resolve to control himself. Lingering off to the side of the room, Klaus could only chuckle as chaos erupted between his three siblings, earning a look from the remainder of his family.

Five took no time in trying to dismantle the tension, jumping back and forth between the living room and the kitchen counter in order to move his plans elsewhere. Neither Ben, Klaus or Diego could blame the fifty-year-old-teen for his lack of concern, arguments were as common in their family as game nights for other, more functional homes.

Earning an expectant look from Ben, Klaus sighed as he hoisted himself up from the couch and stepped cautiously over to their siblings. Diego, raising a brow, glanced over to Ben before giving his dead brother a small smile.

Good job.

Ben straightened his posture, lifting his weight from the settee arm and instead balancing it on his opposite hip. He pursed his lips, however, into a glare at the shift of Luther’s stance, using his bulbous shoulders to basically shove Klaus out of the argument without even hearing what the medium had to say.

Lifting his hands before him to show no harm, Klaus tried to draw attention back to Vanya and her own voice, rather than letting her be drowned out like always. Sharing a smile with his shorter sister, Vanya shifted to allow Klaus room, guiding Allison who could only smile at her growth in confidence.

The conversation, however, didn’t calm as Luther continued to protest despite the majority, besides Five who was too busy working out equations in the kitchen and trying to save the world to care, to the point where Diego rushed in at the mention of their childhood numbers.

Klaus groaned, smothering his face with his own hands once Diego unsheathed a knife. Not listening to either Allison or Vanya demanding them to stop, Ben stood back as the argument began to break down into a brawl between the two highest numbers.

That was, until, something pushed them.

Silence fell as a force of some kind knocked into both men, knocking Diego’s knife from his hand and sending both him and Luther further back from one another. Wide-eyed, the group grew silent.

Until Five jumped back into the room, pissed-off and snarling at the group to restrain themselves, rather than making the Commission’s job easier for them.

Ben sighed as the blame shifted to Vanya, furrowing his brows as he caught sight of Klaus stepping back from his sister in shock. None had noticed his hand, clenched tightly into a fist and still slightly glowing blue.

Sharing a look with his startled brother, Ben scowled at his dismissal and the attention on Vanya, ignoring their sister’s certainty that she hadn’t done anything. Klaus shook his hand out, letting the colour fade and acted to be simply stretching once Five and Diego looked at him at the collapse of the argument.

Shrugging of Diego’s concerns, Klaus was quick to console Vanya.

Ben frowned but pushed those thoughts away upon his siblings realising he was corporeal once more, attempting to ease tension within the bunker.

Idiots.

#the umbrella academy season 2 #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy fanfiction #tua #tua season 2 #tua klaus #tua fanfic #tua ben #klaus hargreeves #i forgot you could tag asks #oops #do i tag the rest of the characters?#nah #ill just tag ben #ben hargreeves #it is his pov mainly

18 notes · View notes

awkwardbluefish · 4 years

Text

A Roomate or Two

—

Summary: Jason isn’t happy with what they do with Tim. Especially after not what happened to him. I mean being tortured into a baby joker? Yeah that wouldn’t be fun.Not at all. So what if he has an extra person to look after? It should be fine.

Warnings: mentions of torture and panic attacks

A/n: @aloofwindbag inspired me with their magnificent drawing so enjoy!

—

Jason sees red when he sees Tim. He’s small, tiny really and that straight jacket? It engulfed him.

“Hey buddy,” Jason says and hauntingly sad green eyes meet his. The once blue eyes widen before the boy glances down, shuffles his feet.

“You don’t like me,” he whispers and Jason cringes.

Cause yeah, he didn’t like this kid. Before that is. When he was still fucked up by the Lazarus and he wasn’t right in the head. He still wasn’t right, didn’t think he’d ever be again but at least he had his goddamn head out of his ass now.

He coughs and shrugs, clicking at hinges and pulling off the hood. He hooks it under his arm and leans against the white wall behind it. “Eh that was in the past. You’re all right kid, better than Dickie, that’s for sure.”

He doesn’t miss the way Tim curls into himself at the name, well, nickname. Jason doesn’t narrow his eyes but it’s a damn close thing. What the hell did the golden boy do now? Well, he could take a guess.

Tim swallows and Jason eyes the stark white neck at the motion. Anger coils around his gut tight, just like a fuckin’ cobra. If Bruce has just ended that bastard, none of this would be happening. How many robins does he need to lose because he can’t break one rule that could save thousands?

“Bruce doesn’t think so,” comes the whisper and the trembling starts. His arm move under the fabric and he starts rocking.

“When does Bruce ever think?” Jason jokes. It falls to deaf ears. “Oi, replacement- what are you doing?! Stop that!”

Laughter spills from his chapped lips and Jason is rushing forward. The helmet clanks against white tiles as he shoves Tim to his chest. The boy trembles, green eyes wide as tears spill down his pale cheeks. His lips are stretched up into a tortured grin and Jason tugs the boy’s face into his shoulder.

He holds him and he holds him tight. The laughter echoes in the room, only stopping for a wet hiccup or two. Jason rocks them, hand fisted in a green hair. He feels sick, bile licking at the back of his throat. Tim doesn’t belong here.

And he’s going to get him fuckin’ out.

—

Jason has more nightmares and Tim notices. He tried so damn hard to keep them down, to kick them the fuck out of his head. That hadn’t work.

He should’ve known Tim wouldn’t sleep well. It’s should’ve been obvious, obvious like the sky is blue and waters wet. And yet now he’s tracking the little shit through Gotham, on the first night god damn it, keeping an eye out for a pipsqueak with sickly green hair.

It takes two fuckin’ hours and now he knows why Alfred is basically bold. All of his hair is going to go white and this point. He isn’t even twenty five yet dammit.

Jason pointedly makes noise as he walks into the alley. Tim flinches before relaxing as the cat bumps their head under his chin. Well shoot, that’s just cute ain’t it?

“Looks like I found two runaways,” He drawls and Tim peers up at him under long murky hair.

He ducks again, avoiding Jason’s eyes. He huffs and moves forward, plonking himself on his ass, on most likely pissed on ground, to be closer to the kid. The things he does for the little runt.

The black cat hisses at him, ears flattened and fur on end. “Shove it,” Jason tells it wisely just as Tim soothes the little kitten with soft whispers.

It’s quiet for a while but then again Jason wasn’t ever one for patience. “I know why you ran,” he informs the boy and Tim tenses, refusing to meet his eye, “and frankly it’s a load of bullshit.”

“I have nightmares of that fucker, not you Tim. Joker did this to me, to us and you are not responsible for it at all. I have nightmares, yeah I’m man enough to admit it and so does everyone. I just got to get the fuck over it.”

Jason’s had enough of this sappy bullshit so he heaved himself up, patting down his butt because it’s wet and it hasn’t rained at all today. He just hopes he didn’t sat in piss. That wouldn’t be fun.

“C’mon kid. It’s one in the morning but I’m craving pancakes so we’re freakin’ getting some.” He informs them and he sees Tim smile. It’s small but it’s genuine. It’s his own smile, not one that was forcefully carved onto his face. Jason decides to ignore the mushy feeling in his chest. Yep, no need for that.

He makes a move to stand, freezing when the kitten mewls loudly in protest, claws digging into white pants. Tim freezes while Jason makes a mental note to go shopping. Yeah, that might be a good idea.

“Are you and the feline coming or what?” He grumbles, smirking when the look of shock and restrained joy crosses the kids face.

“We’re keeping her?” He asks and of course the little nerd would already know the cats gender. Jason most likely wouldn’t of even checked.

“She’s fiesty,” he tells him, hooking an arm around the boys waist and pulling the two tight to his person. “I like it.”

—

Jason’s watching the two passed out on his worn out white couch when he gets the call. He should have been expecting it, because of course they would know.

He makes sure he’s away from the brats before he accepts it. He doesn’t want to wake them up, and he doesn’t want Tim to hear this. Because whatever goes down Jason knows he’s not going to like it, not one fuckin’ bit.

“Where is he.” Bruce demands as soon as he answers. Jason rolls his eyes, leaning against the fire escape and rolling a ciggie between his lips.

He sucks the cancer in, letting it out slowly. He can feel Bruce’s impatience over the phone. Good, he thinks, let the fucker wait for a bit.

“Well hello to you to,” He drawls out lazily, uncaringly. He would rather be watching the two strays sleeping, it was- dare he say it- nice watching them both relax. Ew, he’s gone soft. Gross.

“Where is he.” He growls again and Jason smirks, he likes making him angry. It’s the least he deserves.

“I haven’t a clue of who you’re talking about,” Jason informs him, eyeing the wonderful view. A brick wall right in front of his apartment, how lucky can a guy get?

“I’m not playing games Jason,” Bruce begins, voice low and growled. “Where is Tim?” Bruce apparently isn’t playing around, and isn’t that a bummer. Because Jason isn’t either.

“Why the fuck do you want to know?” He cuts in, fingers tightening around the railway. He doesn’t want to get rid of the disposable phone just yet. He needs to hear Bruce’s so called excuse.

Bruce sighs like he’s just a kid and doesn’t know what he is doing. Well fuck you, he’s an adult now. He can do whatever the duck he wants.

“Tim is under my care,” Jason doesn’t let him finish.

“And is that why you chucked him in Arkham? Some caretaker you are,” He sneers, nice and low. The cobra is back and this time it’s ready to go in for the kill.

“Tim went through a lot,” and here comes the bullshitting, “he needs help and Arkham can give him that.”

Jason barks out a laugh, loud in the night. “You’re one of the richest men alive! You could hire anyone to help him and yet you throw him in Arkham with the crazies and expect him to be a okay?!”

“I didn’t say that-“ Bruce is angry but Jason? He’s fucking pissed.

“Exactly! You didn’t say any of that when you should have! They had him in a stray jacket and locked up like he’s a killer! You aren’t helping him Bruce, you’re pushing him away in the worst damn way possible.”

There’s blaring silence at his yell and Jason grits his teeth. He drops the ciggie and crushes it with his foot, kicking it over the balcony after.

“I know,” Bruce finally says. It’s said quietly, in a low murmur. “I failed him, I failed both of you. This is all my fault.”

“Get over yourself Bruce,” Jason snaps, “this isn’t about you and your self deprecation shit. This is about Tim, and Tim only. When you finally get your arse out of your angsty crack then we might be able to talk. Might.”

The hangs up right after, physically shaking. He always had to make it about him huh? It’s always about his failures, his mistakes. What about the people he failed? He never truly thought about that.

He scruffs a hand over his face and drags it down. He needs to go on eBay or some shot to get some furniture and nerd stuff.

He throws the phone, watching in satisfaction as it smashes against brick wall before tumbling down. Have fun tracking that old man.

It’s warmer in the house which is nice. It doesn’t feel as lonely anymore. He goes back to the lounge, flipping onto his armchair with a huff.

A tail flickers and a yellow eye flares at him as Tim stirs at the sound. Jason snorts. “Yeah, yeah you little shit. I’ll keep it down.”

A yellow slitted eye glower at him a second longer before closing and Jason resists groaning. He’ll have to get shit for the damn cat too, dang it.

Maybe he can get Barbara to help with that. She could give him Bruce’s credit card and his information. Yeah, that’ll work.

—

“Why did you do that?” Jason asks quietly, desperately.

He holds the soaked boy to his chest as he wraps his hands in a white bandage. His fists are split and purple, painfully bruised.

Tim doesn’t answer and Jason sighs, tying the bandage. He buries his nose in green hair, taking in the scent of fresh coconut.

They’re sat in the bathroom, glass cracked and splintered around them. Tim is shaking, staring at a piece of glass with unseeing eyes.

Jason tears his gaze away, understanding and guilt knowing on his chest. It looks just like him, with the green hair and eyes. Tim’s blood is smeared on it, making a bloody grin. Tim doesn’t see himself when he looks in the mirror, he sees the joker.

“I got some left over black hair dye,” Jason says quietly and Tim just nods, eyes haunted and desperate. Jason holds him a little bit closer.

—

They cut his hair first.

It’s a mangled heap and it genuinely looks like a birds nest. Jason knows the brushing has too hurt, because seriously, how couldn’t it?

Tim doesn’t even flinch though. That doesn’t settle right with Jason so he apologises after every yank and after every tangle is cleared. Tim accepts it with a small amused smile but his eyes? They remained haunted and empty.

—

According to Glamour it’s a good thing Tim’s hair hasn’t been washed in a couple of days. Jason thinks otherwise but he keeps that to himself as he starts the process of dying. Heh.

First Jason lathers the dye in his hands, snickering at the sound it makes. Tim smiles slightly at him, a small twitch of the lips.

He applies the dye half an inch away from Tim’s scalp. He massages his locks and slowly made his way towards the ends of the locks. After a bit he goes back and cover the roots, smiling when Tim finally began to relax into his hands like putty.

At least he’s finally getting comfortable.

—

“Tim- Tim oh my god,” Jason is saying and the little nerd is just giggling at him. “Tim stop, stop look at this little shit!”

Tim lets out an hilarious snort that Jason would have loved to film but he’s too busy gaping at the prancing little shit in front of them.

She- that damn cat- was red! Red! “I let her on my couch, oh my god Tim I let her on my couch.”

Tim looses it, curling into himself as Babs, the newly named orange cat, climbs up his back and curls around his neck. A yellow eye peers into Jason’s soul and Jason swears the thing is smirking.

“Tim, Tim my couch is white. White.”

—

“Is he safe?” Is the first thing he hears when he answers the call.

Jason sighs into the receiver, adjusting the mobile to fit more comfortably against his ear. His hands were loaded with shopping bags. At least he’s taken his helmet off. Yes, yes he did go shopping as Red Hood. Fuck You, he does what he wants.

“That depends,” he says, heaving ten grocery bags onto the counter. He glances behind him, smiling when a soft snort reached his ears. “Do you consider me safe?”

“You’re better than half of the people in Gotham,” Barbara tells him, voice laced with anger and annoyance. Jason knows it’s not at him, it’s at this damn city. The damn world.

“You’re too sweet to me,” Jason informs her, ruffling through the bags and taking out the freezer stuff.

“I know, and I’ll continue to be if you take care of Tim.” Barbara says simply. There’s ruffling on the other end and he guesses she’s in bed.

He silent for a moment, shoving the meat and frozen peas away. “You know I will,” he finally says, “as long as you and Alfie come visit of course.”

“What about Dick?” She asks and Jason slams the freezer shut accidentally. “...I’m guessing that’s a no.”

He cringes as a warning meow and and a flick of a tail is directed at him over the couch. Yeah, he deserves that one.

“Of course it’s a fuckin’ no. He did nothing to stop Bruce from putting Tim in Arkham. Hell, he didn’t even go to find Tim with you guys on that night. He not getting near him in a 10 mile radius or I’m kicking his arse.” Jason curses and Barbara laughs slightly.

“Watch your language,” she teases and just like that the mood is lighter. Just a bit. “You got a kid in the house now.”

“Fuck you,” Jason wisely replies back, slotting the drinks into the fridge. He shuts the door quietly, well aware of the Brady yellow eyes aimed at the back of neck. “And for your information I have a kid and a cat in the house, so suck it.”

“Wait-,” Jason snickers at the sudden ruffling, placing the biscuits and chips into the cabinet. “You guys have a cat? Since when?”

“Since Tim ran away because he thought he was the reason for my nightmares. Found the brat in the alley with the stray. She was black Barbara, then she was red. I let her on my couch, my couch.”

Barbara is chuckling softly, clearly amused at Jason’s distress. “The next thing you know she’ll be going purple,” she teases and Jason scowls, folding up the bags and sticking them in the bottom draw.

“I was prepared this time. I got a blanket on the couch, nice try little fucker.” He declares proudly, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the back of the couch. Babs stares at him before curling into Tim’s chest happily.

“Please tell me you didn’t call it little fucker.” Barbara says despairingly and Jason smirks.

“Nope!” He sings.

“What’d you call it then?” She asks and Jason grins. She’s just gonna have to wait.

“You’re gonna have to wait my dear,” he teases and Barbara groans, “you shall know when you come visit!”

She laughs at that and Jason can imagine her shaking her head. “You tease, okay then. You’ll have the money by tomorrow morning so try to get everything sorted out then, yeah?”

“Yes ma’am,” Jason murmurs, smiling softly. Oh god, he’s gone soft. How gross.

—

“Tim, tim please stop! It’s just lightning, he’s not here!” Jason says desperately, holding Tim wrists to stop him from scratching at himself.

Tim just screams, tears streaming down his pale cheeks, eyes screwed up and chin trembling. Spit bubbles past his lips when he sobs out a hiccup, fighting desperately against his memories.

Jason doesn’t know what to do so he holds him tight in his arms. His forearms are soon bleeding, scratched at by nails that are far too long and dirty. It stings but he doesn’t complain, just holding tight.

Babs watch them warily from the couch, tail flickering in concern as Jason begins rocking them back and forth. Thunder clashes and Tim screams again, sobbing harder and shaking his head.

“It’s just thunder,” Jason reassures, rocking them softly. “It just thunder. You’re okay Timmy, you’re with me and Babs. You’re home,” he whispers.

Tim doesn’t seem to hear him but Jason repeats it like a mantra. The storm rages on for another four hours. Tim only slackens into his arms after three.

Neither of them sleep that night.

—

“I’m sorry,” Tim says as daylight flickers in through the glass door of the fire escape.

Jason shakes his head, running a hand through his new raven and greasy locks. “You never have to apologise for being scared. Never. Just remembered you’re safe here, no one will ever hurt you here.”

The boy nods and Jason holds him tighter, both watching as the shadows are chased to the corners of the apartment. Babs craws into Tim’s lap and licks at his chin.

“You’re home.” Jason repeats and this time Tim hears it. He nods.

—

“You still wanna be a vigilante?” Jason asks, flipping an egg.

Tim nods fiercely and strong and Jason sighs in amusement. He plates the egg on some toast and slides it across the bench to Tim.

“I do. I won’t kill, I won’t. Not- not again.” He murmurs and Jason nods, reaching over to ruffle his raven locks before going over to turn off the stove. He bats Babs away from the pan as he does.

“I don’t expect you to,” Jason says and then, “do you have a name?”

“Outlast.”

#tim drake #jason todd #dc #barbara gordon #batfamily #batsiblings #batbrothers #mine #my writing

32 notes · View notes

advernia · 4 years

Note

F and M for the ask game? 😊

reply’s late but thank you for asking, anon! happy new year to you! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

dialogue scenes… (ʃ⌣́,⌣́ƪ) i skimmed the last 10 fics i posted for this, and i think this wins:

“Though the thrones are numerous and never vacant, the crown still remains unworn.”

i think i’m proud of this bc it was one of my favorite results of thinking about different angles to see the black army’s meritocracy system, haha! i’m awfully fond of thinking about stuff like this… anyway, the beauty of the system is that you base worth on skill and ability, rather than other given factors (wealth, bloodline, etc). in-game, the approach is pretty straightforward: it seems that anyone(?) can claim the title of the chosen thirteen, given that the individual can beat the current titleholder in a fair one-on-one fight. it’s still vague to me and tbh i hope there’s more explaining to this, but this seems to be the case presented in ray’s route……

for the person speaking though, rather than seeing the system as something like champions defending their titles, he sees it as a matter of choice - the black army’s thrones are created by the hands of those who wish to be chosen, not the black army creating the thrones for the chosen… and while the crown does go the strongest soldier, does it belong to the strongest throne? no, not necessarily… and why is that? who decides this?

…. the choice falls onto the soldiers of the black army themselves. if the throne of the strongest soldier doesn’t appeal to the majority and is built on lies, is there a reason for an army to support him? if the throne of the weakest soldier is as weak as his body but as strong as his will, is there a reason for an army to support him? if the throne of the king has been built alongside his fellowmen and its foundation is made of his hard work, is there a reason for an army to support him? it goes on and on, and on………

… thrones are made by choice, but ultimately, it is the army that decides - who chooses - whose throne they will and shall serve.

that is because the soldiers - the black army as a whole - form the crown, and if it is left unworn… it means that there’s yet a throne to fascinate them, or there hasn’t been a throne worthy enough yet to serve in their eyes.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

Σ(゜゜) b-b-back burner premises!?!?! got a lot of that…. but two premises have been bugging me for months tho, so here’s one of them!

it’s an ikerev mafia!au, inspired from the game’s actual mafia cards! i saw the posts about them pretty late but still, bless the kind souls who posted those cards bc wOW…. my eyes???????? they have been cleansed + my crops have been watered??????? ( ꒪Д꒪)ノ

i guess it clung to me pretty bad bc 1) i like mafia themes, 2) it reminded me that otomate’s piofiore no banshou is gonna be localized and i’ve been pretty interested in it despite polarizing opinions, and 3) those gacha cards look great???????? i was half expecting cybird to make an event about it lolol!

anyway, here’s my outline about it! excuse the odd formatting, i wrote it to be play-like the day i plotted it out!

…

welcome to cradle, all you ladies and gentlemen gathered here today! here, in this seemingly quaint crescent-shaped city, the citizenry live like they’re dying, so watch your back! always think twice before you act, or else you may end up in a sack!

what’s the reason for that, you ask? well now! you see, here in cradle, families run rampant! and we’re not talking about some happy household kind of family… we’re talking about men, women and children of all ages unafraid to spill blood, if only to protect their families or their families’ interests! are they noble, or simply selfish? are they justified, or simply paranoid? was this for survival, or for profit? all the lines have blurred!

what interests are we talking about, and why exactly has this beautiful city turned this way, you ask? tsk, tsk! you’ll never learn if all you do is question others for answers! so instead, why don’t we look around first? do follow me closely as we observe this place we call cradle, this city that is our stage!

enter stage left!

there goes a raven-haired lad and with him his band of merry men, forming a renegade group that bows down to no family or any other ruling power in cradle (except the government, what model citizens they are!).

it’s been at least three years since the group has entered + made themselves known in cradle, and sometimes the citizens start to think they’re a family, too - they’re the good kind, though!(?) they help the powerless citizens, watch over clueless tourists, assist the government in maintaining order (in their own ways - while they help, they also refuse to be fully bound to the government), and even go as far as keeping tabs on all the families present in cradle!

but why are they here, and why do they do what they do for cradle? it turns out the lad who appears to be their leader is searching for answers about a certain major incident that happened years ago in cradle. not everyone in the group knows about this purpose of his, though - refusing to get the whole group involved in his business, the lad allows only a select few to (grudgingly)assist him in his search for the truth.

one day, things get complicated: unfamiliar men are suddenly after the lad’s head! this was not an unusual occurrence for him or in cradle, but what throws everyone off is that these hitmen are different and dangerous: they’re incredibly skilled, annoyingly hard to brush off, and will do anything to complete their task… and that includes killing themselves off with their own blade / poison / hands once they are defeated / failed their mission.

the lad’s been on the run for three whole months without rest until he finally discovers a lead about his pursuers… deciding that it’s better than nothing, the lad and his trusty men follow this lead… even if it would make things more complicated, because the lead points the way to investigating five certain families in cradle that they’re not too keen in getting involved with at all.

will the lad ever find the answers to both his old and new questions, or will he eventually end up dead? will he ever know why he’s being hunted in the first place and discover who’s after him? where will this lead bring him: who will he meet, who will he trust, what will he do? destiny has quite a lot in store for him and his friends….

enter stage right!

if you cross paths with a beautiful man with hair spun like fine gold threads but with eyes as cold as ice, it would be wise not to offend him - he is the son and the future boss of a highly respectable family in cradle! this family has a long history and is still the leading voice in the council, an organization created by the government that enlists the aid of five special families in maintaining a semblance of balance and order among the many families and powers in cradle (think something like one piece’s shichibukai).

everything is fine and dandy until one day, the son’s father is found dead in cradle’s central square, his mutilated body hung up in the fountain for everyone to see……… naturally, this becomes a very serious issue + hot topic in cradle: who would do such a thing, why a man from the council from all people, and how mad was this person to display a corpse in such a gruesome fashion? so many questions….

but the son has hardly any time to pay attention to such whispers - his family has suffered a grave loss + a blow to their reputation and is now seen as vulnerable, the four other families of the council see an opportunity to claim the power of the leading voice, and there are no leads about his father’s murderer. hardly having any time to mourn, he takes up his father’s mantle and goes about to set things right.

in the short span of four months, he succeeds: he picks his family up again and gives no one any doubt that their family is stable and still not to be underestimated, manages to maintain the position of the leading voice and keeps the greedy hands and prying eyes of the other council members at bay, and also restores the public’s respect for his family.

while he was busy doing all that, he had ordered a handful of his men to search for any clues about his father’s death - it seemed like the search was going nowhere, until one rainy day one of them discover a tattered letter stuffed away haphazardly in an unsuspecting dark alley - it bears the family’s rose seal and a single word is spelt on its surface through messy, bloody fingerprints: jabberwock.

was this some sort of code? did the word actually mean anything to the family, to anyone? was this the name of a family, a person, or the murderer? was this even related to the murder, or a different issue entirely? it’s a pursuit with not much to start with………..

finally, center stage!

enter the algarde, cradle’s “most notorious crime” family. why the quotation marks? simple: despite being a prime suspect in perhaps every crime that happens in cradle, they have never been caught. all evidence against them always happens to be circumstantial and never incriminating enough to pin them to the crime….. how was this even possible????

the algarde is one of the oldest families reigning in cradle, and going against them is a guaranteed swift trip to death. both the government + council have never been able to tame the algarde, nor have they been able to keep proper + regular track of their movements. one thing is really for sure about the algarde, though: once you get directly involved with their business, you might as well start to treasure + be thankful for each day you’re still alive…

their current head is an odd middle-aged man known for his sharp silver eyes - his name is farlan, and he’s really quite charismatic as he is elusive. he’s said to have the whole of cradle dancing on the palm of his hand, but he claims he’s not that influential… what a joke. he’s constantly on the move to find something that amuses him and depending on his mood, the whole of cradle can be subjected to his whims - what a fearsome man!

what role does the algarde family play in this story, you ask? who knows! are they the ones after the lad’s head? do they hold the key to understanding the word jabberwock? better yet - are they responsible for both incidents, or are they shockingly unrelated to them? the plot thickens….

ah, before i forget! you didn’t hear this from me, but it’s said that farlan has a child, of all things! a son or a daughter??? who cares! it’s a joke, a made-up tale on the streets!

………………………………… or is it?

#askdfghjl #i fell asleep while answering this yesTERDAY NYAHA GET REKT #hopefully my answer to question f makes sense??? it sounded better in my head lol #this is one big wall of text aha brick me hi i'm rambly

7 notes · View notes

lnc2 · 6 years

Note

Adrienette 5 is meant to be if you ask me \(☆o☆)/

“It’s weird how we’ve been friends forso long but never went through that ‘crushing’ phase.” - Adrienette

A/N: This is a gift for @thenovelartist who is not only super sweet and stupid talented and ridiculously supportive but who inspired this with her delightfully absurd tumblr post.AO3

He knew.

How he knew was irrelevant when the fact of the matterwas that he did.

Or thought he did.

There was clearly some uncertainty inthe matter but it was insignificant to Marinette when it came down to thefacts:

1. Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir.

That alone was a brain wreck on athought train headed down a broken track. The moment thatrevelation had been dumped on her, literally, when the stupid cat tumbled ontoher mid-transformation through an open window was one she couldn’t soon forget.

No matter how much present awkwardnessmade her wish she could.

How she’d muddled through thatparticular conversation was a miracle worthy of her miraculous itself. Only Tikki’s good fortune could take her incoherent babbling andstupefied shock and turn it into something salvageable.

Namely, a third relationshipwith the blonde idiot boy that consisted of late night post-akuma Ladybuggushing and quiet confessions about his filial insecurities. A strangeamalgamation of the two most important boys in her life wore cat ears andplayed Ultimate Mecha Strike while talking about his most recent trip to Milan.

It was… dizzying to say the least.

Made all the more so by the fact that

2. Adrien Agreste absolutely knew she wasLadybug.

She didn’t know what tipped him offexactly – after all, she wasn’t the one tripping over civilians when shede-transformed– but there was no doubt that somewhere along the way he’d foundher out.

Marinette could even pinpoint it to theday– a Thursday. A night patrol. Three weeks back.

She’d swung up beside him on an oldchurch rooftop and he’d just

melted.

A cautious, lovesick six-foot somethingpuddle of goo who could no more whisper bonne nuit, milady than handle abaton.

She’d thought it excessive at the time,a little much even for her crushing kitten, only to catch Adrien giving her thesame look– soft, heart-soul, disbelieving adoration– when she’d turnedto him in physics to ask for his notes.

Marinette wanted to scream.

Especially when it became clear to herthat

3. Adrien Agreste did not know she knew heknew she was Ladybug.

And for some guardian-level mystickwami bullshit reason he seemed determined to keep that knowledge to himself.

A decision that meant Marinette wasconstantly walking on eggshells around her classmate and partner, parsing everyglance, every double entendre, every gesture to find out just whatthe hell he was playing at.

Things were… stressful… to say theleast.

Especially on the nights when her alleycat came tumbling through her skylight to spend the evening keening and sighingover Ladybug all the while watching her from beneath lowered lashes likehe was getting away with some great secret.

Every frustrated, incredulous blush aprize he was determined to steal away. His satisfied smirk covered by forlornsighs and terrible (and it was terrible) poetry about her eyes, herhair, her smile.

“I bet you two would get along great,Mari.” He’d murmured softly as she did her best not to combust from the sheerabsurdity of it all.

That goddamn, sneaking, thieving cat.

No amount of quelling looks or snarkyreplies could shame him.

Adrien Chat Noir Agreste was determinedto play his game, whatever it was, until the end and Marinette was too goddamncurious to call him out before she’d discovered his motive.

It snuck up on her like most things hedid.

She’d been exhausted.

Two mid-day akumas and a competitiondeadline meant that by the time she stripped and scrubbed and showered she waspractically sleepwalking. When she’d climbed up from her trap door,toothbrush in mouth as she tied up her damp hair into a bedtime bun, it washardly a surprise to find Adrien lounging on her chaise, an immovable lump.

“Do I need to get you a change ofaddress card?” She garbled around her toothpaste, before walking over to thesink in the corner to spit.

“Yes,” He grunted, turning his faceaway from the cushions so he could look at her. “Make it out to Hawkmothand tell him to kiss my leather-clad ass.”

“Hmm,” She mumbled, a tired smirkpulling at the edge of her lips. “I don’t know, Agreste. Wouldn’t Ladybugbe jealous?”

“Something tells me she wouldn’t mind,”He said, smiling.

Ugh.

Marinette was too tired to handle hisbullshit. Chat Noir could be sneaky on his own time– right now all shewanted to do was sleep.

Rolling back her shoulders, she headedtowards her ladder when Adrien reached out and snatched her wrist.

“Um,” He said, avoiding her questioninglook as he stared at his fingers wrapped around her skin. Marinettewatched, confused, as red crept up his neck and ears. “You don’t think she… would she?”

What?

“What?”

“N-nothing. Never mind.” He said,releasing her to run his hand through his hair. “It was stupid.”

If it was as she suspected and it wasan aborted attempt to fluster the hell out of her, Marinette couldn’t find itin her to disagree. Unfortunately her poor kitten looked so distraughtshe found herself unable to move away.

No rest for the righteous.

“I’ll make time for stupid,” She said,gesturing for Adrien to scootch over on the chaise.

He smiled and for once since this wholemess started he actually seemed nervous.

“It’s weird, right?” He said, hesitant. “That we’ve been… friends for so long.”

Marinette frowned. “Weird how?”

“Not like that,” He said, panicking ather puckered expression. “Not weird because you’re weird oranything. Because you’re not. Weird. You– You’re perfect! No– well not no, but–”

She mercifully cut him off with a tiredlaugh and Adrien didn’t even try to hide his sheepish grin. But it gave him thecourage to continue.

“I just meant… We’ve been friends forso long and we– we’ve never gone through that phase.”

“What phase?” She asked, eyes slippingshut as she leaned back and rested her head against his shoulder. Herkitten was having issues with words tonight. She might as well get comfortable.

“You know.” He said, his fingersplucking at her own. “That ‘crushing’ phase.”

The words hung in the air for a moment–long enough for Marinette to process just what exactly her connivingpartner was getting at– before her eyes snapped open. Slowly, she pulledback so she could properly face him.

His red cheeks were like a neon sign.

A dead, dead giveaway.

“Unbelievable,” She said, stunned. “That’s what you’ve been doing?”

“Wha–”

Marinette cut off his denial before itcould start.

“It’s been weeks.” She gestured,incredulous laugh building. “You’ve been torturing me for weeksand all because you wanted to know if I liked you?”

Adrien stilled, eyes guilty wide.

Then stupid did what stupid did best

and played dumb.

“I have no idea what you’re talkingabout, Marinette.”

Oooooh she could kill him.

“You’re a dumbass and a half, minou.”She said instead. Adrien’s blinked, stunned, and she rolled hereyes. “Drop the act, Agreste. Iknow you know.”

He shifted, nervous, and looked away. “Know… what?”

“I’m Ladybug.”

The not-really-confession was easierthan she’d ever thought it’d be. Then again there weren’t any stakes whenthe confessee already knew.

And yet

“Whaaaat,” Adrien said, voice too high,too exaggerated to be genuine. “That is brand new information!”

“I hate you so much right now.”

Adrien deflated, shoulders slumping.

“I’m sorry, my lady.”

She huffed, irritation and affectionwarring within her. Ridiculous idiot boy cat.

“You’re a terrible actor, Chaton.” Shecould feel Adrien’s eyes on the side of her face.

“I’ve been in commercials,” Hesaid, indignant.

“Because running across rooftops is sucha stretch for you.”

He opened his mouth to argue beforesnapping it shut. There was no real way to argue with that.

Radiant, carefree, oblivious

Adrien.

“So… what gave me away?”

Marinette snorted.

What hadn’t given him away?

She was ready to tell him as much whenshe looked over to him and froze.

He was picking at a loose thread on thechaise’s seam. His smile was too stiff to be genuine, shoulders too rigidto be relaxed. Her kitten may be playing the cool cat but she wasn’t hispartner for nothing.

“If you really want to know,” She said,voice coming out softer than she’d intended. “It’s the way you were looking atme.”

Adrien’s bright eyes met hers andMarinette’s heart gave a tiny, traitorous flip. It had been a long time sinceshe’d seen him so… unsure.

Not fair.

“I always look at you.”

Really not fair.

“No you don’t– didn’t.” She said,shaking her head. “For all the years I tried to get you to see meI turn around one day and there you are. Seeing way more than I was reallycomfortable with. Chat eyes on display for the world.”

“I–” Adrien flushed as his voicecracked. “I do not have Chat eyes.”

The blatant lie was immediatelydisproved. Embarrassed as he was there was something so very earnestabout the way Chat had always looked at Ladybug. The way Adrienwas looking at her now.

It was enough to make a superheroineswoon.

Marinette shakily raised her hand andpressed his nose only for Adrien’s eyes to cross following her movement.

She smiled.

“Chat eyes.”

Green and large and wanting. Bright with hope and confusion and all the little secrets eyes sharedwhen lips stayed shut.

It was her turn to look away, heatflaring up her arms and chest like a sunburn.

Really, really not fair.

“So you knew this whole time?” Heasked, flopping back to lay beside her. “And you just let me make a foolof myself?”

“Honestly I just wanted to see how faryou would take it,” She shoved her elbow into his side. “Turns out prettyfar.”

“Marineeeeette,” He whined. “I said somuch embarassing stuff.”

Adrien’s head fell against hershoulder, his hair tickling underneath her chin. She laughed but didn’t try toshove him off.

“You did that to yourself.”

“I just wanted to know if you likedme.”

She practically choked on her laugh,sending her into a wild coughing fit that had Adrien patting uselessly at herside.

“You– you’re kidding me right?” Shefinally managed, eyes watery as she waved off his hand. “Pleasetell me you’re kidding.”

“Uh… no?” Registering her blatantdisbelief he rushed on. “I knew you liked someone but you’d neverreally let me in as Chat and as Adrien I knew a ton of people were alreadythrowing themselves at you.”

Marinette stared.

How was it possible they’d managed to hold offHawkmoth for so long when her partner was such an oblivious moron?

“I don’t know whether to laugh or tocry right now, Agreste. Wasn’t homeschool supposed to make you smart?”

“Wait–” He said, voice cracking. “So– so it was me?”

“Despite my better judgment yesyou dork.”

“But–” He was facing her fully now,body practically vibrating beside her. “Why didn’t you sayanything?

She threw up her hands, flailing. “I can’t believe you didn’t know!”

“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?” Hesquawked, flailing right back.

“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe the blushing,the stammering, your pictures plastered all over my goddamn wall–”

“You said it was because you likedfashion!” He said hotly.

Unbelievable.

“I kissed you, Adrien.”

“On the cheek!”

Marinette sighed, rubbing her foreheadto stave off the headache that was this conversation. “Do you go aroundkissing Nino’s cheek?”

“That’s not– but… but the Internet.”He sputtered, scandalized. How could he have missed this? “It said… you kissed me on the cheek, Marinette. I thoughtthat meant we were friends.”

“We’re French, Adrien. We’re not stupid.”

Or at least she wasn’t.

She was starting to have some seriousdoubts about her partner.

“What idiot have you been takinglessons from?”

“Pinterest!” He shouted, mortified. Hislady had liked him and he’d somehow missed it?

Marinette blinked, his franticconfession hanging in the air between them like a hangman’s noose to hisdignity.

And as there really was nothingfor it–

She laughed.

Gut-aching, chaise-shaking screechesthat resulted in her falling over the side and onto the floor. Adistraction that sobered her for a moment until she caught sight of Adrien’sdeer-headlight horrified red-cheeked pout and sent her back into another fit ofhysterics.

It was only when the hiccups startedthat she managed to calm down enough to reach out for him, grabbing his arm totug him down to the floor beside her, unable to keep stifle the occasionalgiggle.

“It wasn’t that funny,” He said,petulantly.

Marinette rolled her eyes but couldn’thold back her grin. “Yes it was.”

Adrien shifted beside her, glancing toand away with heated cheeks and nervous hands. Embarrassed as he was, hecouldn’t hide the tentatively hopeful smile threatening to break out.

Really, really, really not fair.

How could she not answer thequestion he wouldn’t ask?

Slowly, Marinette reached up to cup hisface, bringing him down enough so their gazes were level.

“But just so it’s clear, minou,” Shemurmured, watching his eyes dilate as she leaned forward to brush her lipsagainst his. “I like you.”

He whimpered as she pulled away, toolittle, too brief, too cute.

“Okay?”

Marinette tried to lean away only forAdrien’s hands to grip her upper arms. Her heart stuttered as his thumbsran circles over her skin.

“I don’t know,” He managed,crush-dazed. “I’m pretty dense, my lady. M-maybe you should show meagain?”

And because she was such a goodpartner

she did.

#the look before you reblog drabble series #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #post reveal pre relationship #thenovelartist #sacrificialpiccolo #this was supposed to be a joke #ladynoir #idk even know what this is but it exists now so take it #lnc2 writes

1K notes · View notes

thedeaditeslayer · 5 years

Photo

FanExpo Canada Interview: Actor and Host Bruce Campbell for Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

Here’s an interview that mostly covers Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

If you’ve ever watched a cop show, seen someone fight a Deadite, or stayed up late enough to watch offbeat flicks on basic cable, you’ve probably seen Bruce Campbell. Campbell has a long history on screen, starting with his breakout performance in The Evil Dead, a small film he made with his buddy, Sam Raimi, that went on to spawn sequels, spin-offs, comics, games, and a series. Though horror fans most recognize him as Ashley “Ash” Williams from that franchise, Bruce has had a robust career. With the “face of a soap opera star”, he went on to star in shows like Ellen, Xena, and Burn Notice. Now an actor and an author, he’s added “host,” to his hyphens, having hosted the touring live show Last Fan Standing and now, Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

The first season of this new show hit the Travel Channel this year, and so Bruce sat down with some of us at FanExpo Canada to discuss the show and his illustrious career. The show is different from the Ripley’s of the past, focusing on the strength and perseverance of different people, what they’re able to overcome in the face of adversity. The warmer side of the horror icon was fully on display as we pulled up some chairs to chat.

You’ve shot a few episodes now. Will you be back for any more?

Bruce Campbell: You need to call the Travel Channel and work that out. We don’t know yet. I think they haven’t decided because it hasn’t even opened in Canada yet. So, I don’t think you make those decisions until you figure out how it’s going to play everywhere.

And how did you get these hosting gigs? There’s obviously not something that you’d usually do.

Bruce Campbell: No, but other people get ideas and they pitch them out. And this one I thought was pretty good to do because it was a very reputable company that’s been around for 100 years now, which is rare, especially in America. Companies don’t last that long. They last 20 years. They think, “Wow, Amazon, 20 years.”

This is FanExpo’s 25th year.

Bruce Campbell: That is impressive though. That’s a quarter-century but you know Ripley’s is kicking your ass too. So that’s why I thought it was worth exploring. I followed Ripley’s. I read the books and watch the TV shows and I knew exactly what was going on.

[The Ripley’s exhibit], obviously, they have this section, which is the props and movies and the film. Is there something for one of your movies that you would love to see in the Ripley’s exhibit one day?

Bruce Campbell: Yes. Yeah, they should have some stuff in Ripley’s, but Ripley’s is kind of, unless it’s amazing, they won’t have it. That’s the thing. They don’t just play it [as this] history game. It’s got to be amazing. It has to be a strange animal, a strange device, something unique that’s never been done before. So yeah, that’s what makes their collection cool.

Will you be revisiting any of the [Ripley’s stories] that were previously covered? Or like kind of a look back?

Bruce Campbell: I think over time, they’ll have to do everything to choke the airwaves of material. You know, if you get three, four seasons into something, you have to get clever. But the thing that this first season showed me is how many stories there actually are. We did sixty stories. This for the first season alone. So, can you imagine over three, four years? That’s a lot of stories. Which shows you it’s a big world out there, and there’s a lot of crazy stuff going on. I feel like we’re playing catch up.

Any examples you can give us from those sixty?

Bruce Campbell: No, no, because it’s…I can’t. It’s silly to single anything out. But they are amazing. The show is higher quality than I had hoped for. You never know when you get involved in something, is it going to be something they slapped together? Or do they care about it? So, as an executive producer, it was important to, I thought on my part, to work on the tone so we treat these people with respect. Because not one of them are normal. Normal as in our traditional normal. But that’s what’s cool about the show.

And do we get to see you kind of going out and about on location?

Bruce Campbell: No, I’m a studio guy. I tied all together. The crew goes out in films, the folks. They filmed themselves a lot. We’re using their footage at the time. Everyone has a camera like you, we’re all running around filming their exploits. We found some of these people on YouTube. You know, they have their own channel. It’s easier nowadays to find them than it was 10 years ago. Type in “weird shit,” and stuff comes up.

Would you ever like to travel in the future with the show?

Bruce Campbell: I travel enough. I, you know, last three years, I think it was thirty-five cities or forty cities. I’m only twenty-five cities this year. I’ve got off easy this year.

This is Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Is there anything that you’ve come across that you just do not believe?

Bruce Campbell: I believe it. But it is amazing. Still, it’s believable. But you go “I don’t know how but it’s believable. Unbelievable.”

And I was wondering just one of the exhibits that Ripley’s is famous for is the hairball. Have you contributed to the hairball? Have you contributed a lock of hair?

Bruce Campbell: Screw that. I’ll bring my cat by and give it a furball. Where is it? Where is the big ball?

Here.

Bruce Campbell: In Toronto?

No, it’s downstairs. It’s there now people are contributing their hair to the hairball.

[PR chimed in to let us know it got stuck for a while at Canadian customs]

You mentioned the longevity of Ripley’s. What do you think it is about the exhibit that in this day and age where there’s so much in terms of entertainment, this kind of old school form of entertaining is still popular?

Bruce Campbell: Well, you get to know the people. Anyone can find weird footage on the interwebs, but get to know the people that’s what’s different from us on a security camera. Showing weird things happen. We get to know these people and then we see it act out. We see what they’re trying to accomplish, overcome. They’re always trying to meet some new challenge mostly. We’re documenting that we’re taking their footage, we’re stealing their footage.

It’s about a good story.

Bruce Campbell: Yeah, it is because most of it, it’s come from behind because people are born, you know, kid’s born blind, just wants to ride his bike. So how do you learn? How do you ride a bike if you’re blind? You just want to be a normal kid. So, he learned that bats can echolocate, and make little clicking noises and they can see and can tell things from the sound bounced back. Is it a hard surface, a porous surface? Is it closer or further away? Is that an alley? Is it open space? Is it dirt? He learned it all and he started riding his bike by making little clicking echolocating noises just like a bat. And he got so good. You can teach other blind kids. It’s amazing.

Could you do it? Maybe? Could I do it? I don’t know. But you know, it’s how we think someone is born with a negative what you see if you make it into such a positive, the kids like abnormally gifted, in my opinion, to overcome what most of us would go “well, I’m blind. Guess I’m not riding that bike.” It’s great to see someone go, “no, I think I want to try that.” It’s great. We all get very convinced of our own limitations, and I think we could fool ourselves sometimes.

Do you think then in that vein, the show is quite inspirational?

Bruce Campbell: It’s 100% inspirational. Most of these people have lives that kind of blew before good things started to happen. Or they had physical challenges or were hurt, injured.

You mentioned tone there. Had they ever run segments past you that you turned down?

Bruce Campbell: No, because as long as it’s real, and that is the most amazing thing about Ripley’s it’s not faked. So we move kind of beyond the reality show aspect. Reality shows are manipulated, every single aspect of The Bachelor, every aspect is manipulated no matter what you think, it’s producers behind the scenes, pulling the strings, figuring out who would be the most entertaining to put together. We don’t do that. Everything you see is completely real. The guy says he can cut an Oreo cookie and half in the middle of the air through the cream sideways, he can do it, you know, verified. We have a bunch of the Guinness World Records folks doing stuff to sell. So, there’s a lot to look at.

You came a couple of years ago doing Last Fan Standing. What have you brought over or learned from Last Fan Standing that helped you host or what did you really have to change?

Bruce Campbell: I learned that people don’t need that show. Otherwise, we would get the show on the air by now. Sometimes it just takes a while to learn things. It was fine. We had fun. But we tried to pitch it as a TV show and nobody wanted it. I think they don’t want to white middle-aged guys running around acting like your crazy uncle. It’s when we realized we’re a little past our demographic.

It was good in the ’90s.

Bruce Campbell: Yeah, would have been great in the ’90s probably.

Was there anything in the Ripley’s warehouse that you were excited to see or are most looking forward to seeing?

Bruce Campbell: No, because I don’t know what they have. I’d love to see the inventory. I’m sure there’s stuff in there that’s more amazing than you would think. It’d be fun to do some shows where you just get the crates, get the crowbar. Get the curator, you know, come on, let’s show some stuff and tell the stories behind it. Because they wouldn’t have it in the museum if it wasn’t amazing. They’ll have a two-headed goat. They won’t have a one headed goat they’ll have a two-headed or a four-eyed something. Smithsonian doesn’t have that.

What do you want audiences to take from the show?

Bruce Campbell: Just a positive experience. Because you can sometimes see the normal side of people through extreme activity in a weird sort of way. Doesn’t really make sense. But yeah, mostly a positive experience. The “it factor” is not that hot. We don’t want to turn people off, that’s not the idea. But there are people who are doing stuff that’s both amazing and repulsive, at the same time. So you’re gonna have to deal with that to.

Granny’s not gonna want to watch everything and little Billy’s not gonna want to watch everything but, tough, that’s half the fun. There’s no reason for us to flinch away from it because it is real. A guy wanted to become a parrot, so he did everything he possibly physically could to become a parrot. So what would that entail? Surgery tattoo on his eyes, removing your ears, tattooing your face, like the patterns of a feather. He wanted to fly, so he rigged up some crazy fly rig. Amazing? Yes. Horrifying? Potentially. So, some stories have a two-edged sword. Yet at the same time, you celebrate that person’s independence. “I want to be a parrot. Here I go. Fly a little bird.”

Certainly innovative.

Bruce Campbell: Let’s go with that.

Well, you can be whatever you want when you grow up.

Bruce Campbell: You can do whatever you want. I want to be a parrot. Some guys want to be a fireman.

You mentioned that you have been a fan of Ripley’s for some time. So, what was your first experience?

Bruce Campbell: Their book, they had a leather, clothbound red book. It was a good-sized book. And then they have their very unique illustrations that they always had. That was just a permanent fixture on our bookshelf in the living room. Most people had a Ripley’s book of some kind. That’s what you get with an institution

What do you think Ash Williams would make of the Ripley’s exhibit?

Bruce Campbell: He’d be like it’s cool. We did a story about a woman with a bionic arm. She has parts that she can put on, clip-on and clip off. Yeah.

You’ve done some pretty cool mutilation and gory scenes like being thrown through a glass window in Lodge 49 and cutting off your own hand in The Evil Dead 2. What’s been your most favorite gory scene to shoot?

Bruce Campbell: I’m not a gore guy, so I don’t have a favorite gore. Gore is a drag to me. Yeah. Blood is sticky. Blood is cold. Not fun, sticks on all your clothes. Yeah, I’m so over it.

You’re past it. You’re in your host life now.

Bruce Campbell: You know, once you realize you’re in your late fifties, should I really still be lying on dirt floors covered in blood? Is that really what’s on the agenda still, like still? It’s having it off the floor.

Personally, I would love to see you return to Sam Axe.

Bruce Campbell: It’s about time. People are starting to get nostalgic. All you gotta do is wait the right amount of time, which could be right about it now.

Quick letter-writing campaign.

Bruce Campbell: Especially when the world’s going to shit, everyone wants to find the shows that make them feel comfortable. They want that meatloaf sandwich that made them feel good. Like everything was safe.

Do you have any characters that you’d love to do one last hurrah with?

Bruce Campbell: I never sort of play that game. But you know, I could do this Western again. The Adventures of Brisco Country, Jr., Brisco Rides Again. Could do that. Sam Axe, Burn Notice could be good. There are still d-bags in the world that need to be taken down. You know, come out of retirement. Yeah, there’s stories in there. You know, these days with the structure of television. Everything’s going that way, anyway. Everything’s always a limited series, eight episodes or ten episodes. But that’s how you get Kirsten Dunst for Fargo. One year obligation, it’s not a seven-year contract. All TV contracts were always seven years and actors, they really start to bristle at that. Why you can’t get bigshot actors because they’re like “seven years. You kidding me? No chance, Lance.”

So, it’s kind of interesting how the format of TV shows works professionally because now you can get someone like Kirsten Dunst because she’ll go, “Great. I can do a whole season of a character study.” For an actor, it’s awesome. That’s the best part of Ash vs. Evil Dead, going back with experience now as an actor to that guy. To bring the character forward now and try and mess with it. It’s a very appealing aspect of it. So, I don’t know. Never say never about any remake. Everyone’s got remake fever. But they always have. The first movie ever made in Hollywood is The Great Train Robbery. You see cowboy pointing a pistol at the camera. And what’s the second movie? It’s the sequel, The Great Train Robbery 2. That didn’t take long. That’s how Hollywood works. I don’t know Marvel themselves into the ground.

Are you hoping to get a call to appear in Spider-man to prove to Tobey Maguire that you did outlast him?

Bruce Campbell: No. I don’t need that to prove my ability to outlast Tobey Maguire.

What is next for you then in terms of directing or acting?

Bruce Campbell: I have stuff coming up that’s not official so I can’t really talk about it. But I’ve written some of my own stuff that I’ve just finished up. Because I realized that you can’t… I want to get back into the movie game. Sort of where I started. I got diverted into TV for years, so it’s time to go back. But you need material. So I’ve just been writing more books, stuff like that.

Will you be working with the Raimi Brothers?

Bruce Campbell: If it falls off the truck that way. If that’s how it works, yeah.

Is it harder to get projects greenlit these days?

Bruce Campbell: I’m going to find out. All the executives are twenty-five. So it could be easier, it could be impossible. They might go, “Thanks, gramps. Nice meetin’ with you.” I mean, it’s time to find out.

On Ripley’s, will we be seeing a Ripley-esque ability from yourself?

Bruce Campbell: I don’t have those skills. Look, I got stunt guys for that. They’re there to make me look good. It’s all smoke and mirrors, you know. But Ripley’s is not fake. I’d have to have a skill it was real. I don’t have any skills that are real, other than riding electric bikes really well.

Was there any particular character you’ve ever played that you really identify with and miss playing?

Bruce Campbell: Most of ‘em. But Evil Dead, Ash, I’m done with. I’ve done that. Got that box checked. Because I think I played with enough to get my, you know, I left everything on the table. I don’t know, usually, when I’m done with the character, I’m happy to walk away from it. Burn Notice, same thing. Seven years, it’s a long run. Hundred and eleven episodes. That’s enough. Yeah, so we’ll see. Could be here next year. touting the Burn Notice movie.

What’s your favorite scary movie?

Bruce Campbell: Well, it’s the guy who sort of, persona non grata, Mr. Roman Polanski, The Tenant. A movie that haunted me for weeks after I saw it because it messes with your head. It’s trying to make you think you’re going crazy and by the end of the movie you actually really wonder if you’re going fucking crazy and it really disturbed me. I found it completely disturbing and not a drop of blood in the whole movie. No gore, no monsters, no nothing. I mean, it’s creepy as shit because that’s what Polanski’s really good at. And he’s in it and so it’s really weird. Yeah, he’s a weird actor. Yeah.

#Bruce Campbell #Ripley's Believe It Or Not!

11 notes · View notes

mirika · 4 years

Text

Another Dutch Comic Con weekend, the Winter edition. I went as Ladybug on Saturday and as Mimi on Sunday.

Adding links etc later!

It was a bit of a sad weekend for me for reasons I prefer not to talk about because it’ll just make me more sad, but despite the events I still had fun and I don’t think I had my friends notice much I wasn’t feeling too good. I am still glad I went and cosplayed despite my mood. I will highlight the happier things!

Day one!

On Saturday I went with my two best friends which is obviously a treat. We wandered a lot at the con shopping and I actually saw a different Miraculous holder other than the usual Chat Noir and Ladybug!

The lighting wasn’t great, but I was happy to see her and we had a little chat. She liked my custom Ladybug look which was very nice, I explained that Ladybug is always someone else over time and they wear different outfits, so it’s not that odd for me to simply be another Ladybug of another era.

She was actually the only one I made a photo with, all the other Ladybug, Chat Noir, Adrien and Marinette.. they were all cosplayers I took photos with before. On Sunday I did see different cosplayers, even someone dressed as Luka, but I wasn’t wearing my Ladybug outfit then. Bummer!

I did get a fair bit of merchandise from the artist alley. Once again... okay, listen. Jonny Cruz, voice actor of Lucio from Overwatch, was visiting Comic Con. My hopes were high: there used to be a lot of Overwatch merchanise, but they rarely sell Lucio. They MUST have got Lucio now, right? Nope. Only new Lucio merchandise I found was a charm. I was a little sad about that, because I know he’s not exactly unpopular. I do very much like the charm though! Merchandise below, Lucio charm is the one bottom left.

When you flip him over he wears the yellow outfit instead of green.

I also have my millionth Patamon plushie. I was happy to see Digimon merchandise in the first place, but it’s always either Patamon or Agumon. I love Patamon anyway, so I bought it. The fox plushie... was pure impulse. He is extremely soft and foxes are by far my favourite animal. His name tag says his name is Fred, I wanted to name him myself, but I love Fred as well.

Those buttons are actually commissions of my Dungeons & Dragons hobbits halflings!

So button commissions are apparently a thing! And I also made another commission that I’d pick up the next day. These two ladies together were only 14 euros. If you want to know more about my girls just ask me. They are actually family, not siblings though.

Other than that I found an artist that sold Digimon stickers. She only had a couple, so naturally I bought every single one of them.

If you wonder why some look similar, they are appparently old and new versions. I absolutely love, LOVE how the bottom Agumon turned out. Look at that fireball. Amazing.

That already sums up Saturday, it was mostly shopping. I saw a Fire Emblem cosplay I really wanted to take a photo with, but after seeing her once, I never found her again. She was dressed as Elise, my favourite female character.

Onto;

Day two!

This day I only went with one of my two best friends. We went a little later than the day before, which is common when a whole weekend is visited. I went as Mimi from Digimon because I knew a Rosemon cosplay would be there, but I never found her. Since she was the sole reason I went as Mimi of course this was a bit of a letdown, especially after seeing all the Miraculous cosplay gathered together. I even saw a few cosplayers I hadn’t seen before. Maybe next time! I did make a photo of myself which I don’t usually do.

It’s not my best pic, but let’s be real, I was walking while I took it and still had my bag on and wasn’t in the best mood. Because it was the only photo I took, I decided to upload it. The mother of the lass who did my commission below actually thought I was wearing a wig cause when I explained I looked different yesterday she referred to probably having had a different haircut too. Not sure if that means my hair looks fake, hah.

The commission was my goblin from World of Warcraft and I honestly think this is the best part piece I’ve gotten of her yet, and that while it was a Comic Con commission! (I say this because commissions at an event are less flexible, you cannot discuss design choices well)

Does she not look absolutely amazing? She was worth being my most expensive button, and even then I’d say it could’ve been worth more (but I would’ve less likely been able to afford it). Let me show you what else I got on the Sunday.

It’s mostly small stuff:

On the left is a sticker my friend bought me without me noticing it, not really at least. It refers to the Dungeons & Dragons bard and it suits me as in D&D version 3.5 a bard does not get damaging spells until a high level, so I always feel like all I can do is inspire my allies. Inspiring allies is strong, but it feels silly to say every turn “yeah I’m still singing.”

The two dice are d3 dice, meaning they count from 1 to 3. They are often not included in dice sets, and with often I mean always. Some skills do use them though.

The button below my goblin is a commission of my hobbit in Lord of the Rings Online. I found said artist quite late sadly since she had the most affordable ones. I had a hard time explaining what exactly I wanted, so I told her I just wanted her to be smiling.

The last button is of Miraculous Ladybug. Not a commission, just one I found. I liked it cause of the akuma (the butterfly) floating there and her hands being like that. I don’t know. I just liked it.

Other than that my friend and I mostly just finished what she had not seen yet (she left early) and then rested mostly. We visited the Q&A of Jonny Cruz (Lucio from Overwatch) and Boris Hiestand (Sigma from Overwatch). As a Lucio main I was mostly there for Jonny, but it was a fun Q&A altogether. What was also fun was what came after the Q&A: they would play the game against each others and fans from the audience would have to carry them.

Jonny lost all three matches, but I am confident that’s because I think the poor lad does not realise he can heal... erm, let me explain. Lucio has two modes: heal mode and speed mode. Speed mode is actually not used much in combat. What did Jonny do? He left speed mode on fulltime, leaving his team with only one healer instead of two. I lowkey wished I was on stage to tell him he needs to hit Shift to heal, but I purposefully did not participate because I am a below decent player. At least now I know I at least play Lucio better than Lucio himself, haha. Boris was actually quite alright as his character, Sigma!

Some images I took.

It’s a shame I kind-of forgot the contents of the Q&A other than them saying each other’s voice lines in their own character’s voice, them trying to imitate the cowboy character (I always forget his name, needless to say I never play him), Boris actually killed it at that, Jonny not so much, haha. They also got Jonny to say “boop” and of course “can’t stop won’t stop” (which he referred to as his favourite quote at the time) and Boris of course talked about stroopwafels being lekker. He also said he wasn’t overly fond of a fan-favourite quote of Sigma because it opposes his own point of view, but he does understand where the liking comes from.

I also tried to take a photo during the match, but didn’t realise how silly I was holding my phone.

Both Jonny and Boris had some serious game faces on.

After the event my friend and I went to the Dunkin’ Donuts since we don’t have one in our town, grabbed a batch and left for the train.

All-in-all I had a good event despite events that aren’t mentioned. I really hope to see Rosemon next time though, I really was on the lookout for her. I actually just remembered I saw a group of Once Upon A Time cosplayers as well that I wanted to take a photo with... dang.

--- WDCC 2019 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) / Mimi (Digimon) ACC 2019 - no report, little happened

DCC 2019 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) / Mimi (Digimon) DCC 2018 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) ACC 2018 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) DCC 2018 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) RCC 2018 - Mimi (Digimon) WDCC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) ACC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) DCC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) RCC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) ACC 2016 - Hook (Once Upon A Time) DCC 2016 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) DCC 2015 - Sunday - Hobbit (Lord of the Rings) DCC 2015 - Saturday - Ellie (The Last of Us)

I have been to Elfia in 2015, but I cannot find this post. I was Donna Noble and I actually had a really bad day, which is why I have never returned to Elfia.

#mirika #mirikalj

3 notes · View notes

camomills · 5 years

Text

Title: Melting Point Pairing: Asuna/Lisbeth Fandom: Sword Art Online Word Count: 2,620 Summary: The one thing Asuna can’t forget from their first meeting was Lis’s smile. Notes: SAO Pride Week is officially here! This is the fic I made for Day 1's prompt, Virtual World VS Real World. This was an old WIP I revised for the event, so it’s a bit longer than some of the other stuff I’ll be posting in the coming days, and it doesn’t tackle the theme as directly. Thanks to @thegayfromrulid for beta-ing this.

AO3 Link

It doesn’t matter how much you fight here, you’re just changing on which floor you’ll die.

These were Asuna’s words.

While she thought differently nowadays, traces of such ideas still lingered in her thoughts. You’ll die here, something deep down whispered. This virtual castle will be your grave, and the ‘strong swordswoman’ you’ve nurtured over the past six months will shatter away, not even leaving a body to be honored.

For now, however, this ‘strong swordswoman’ was who she was. She carried on as the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, the stark general she needed to be.

She wondered, at times, if, perhaps, she didn’t take this position for the protection of others, but for herself. Maybe, without the burden of others’ lives draped over her back, her psyche would crumble down like a puny sand castle against crashing waves. This enormous pressure was the only thing holding her together; a single strand carrying limitless weight.

It’s hard remembering, sometimes, that she’s merely a girl.

Whenever Asuna strode down the corridors of her guild’s hall, a steely mask of fortitude resting upon her face, rounds of weary faces passed through her. Faces used to strife and loss.

Such faces were what she had grown used to.

As such, she couldn’t help but be taken aback when that brown-haired girl flashed her the most genuine smile she’d seen in her time in Aincrad.

“Welcome to Lisbeth’s Smith Shop!”

Asuna wandered through the merchant district of Ralberg in the 19th Floor in search of someone who could reinforce her new rapier. Before she knew it, she had been engulfed by the place, the bumping and rustling of moving cargo and the bustling voices of shoppers and vendors disorienting her until she was lost.

As she aimlessly roamed through one of the alleys within the district, darting her eyes through the passing figures and stray vendors in the narrow passage, she caught sight of this girl.

She seemed to be about Asuna’s age. She sat with her legs crossed, a short anvil and a petite hammer in front of her. Her face donned a hint of freckles, along with lively copper eyes adorned by an equally lively smile.

Approaching her, the swordswoman lowered her head towards her. Brushing some strands of brown hair behind her ear, the blacksmith raised hers in kind.

“How can I help you today?” the brown-haired girl asked, gesturing to the plain carpet in front of her, along with the diminutive hammer and anvil resting on top of it. Asuna wasn’t sure if that could be called a ‘shop’.

“Oh. Uh, yes,” she mumbled out in reply, instinctively forcing her voice into a lower pitch. Recovering her focus, Asuna unsheathed her rapier from its scabbard, a faint gleam reflecting from it. “I’m looking for someone who could reinforce this.”

The blacksmith raised her hand, and Asuna hesitantly rested her sword onto it. As per usual, she had grown oddly attached to a weapon.

The seated girl swiped her right index finger down and selected the Item Appraisal option, a small, semi-transparent window popping over the weapon with the action.

“I generally go to this other guy for reinforcing, but… it’s been hard to contact him lately.”

The implication in Asuna’s comment sent shivers down the blacksmith’s spine. Her voice cracked a bit, but she continued to smile regardless.

“Sure, that uh, that shouldn’t be a problem!”

The blacksmith started to perform the usual reinforcement procedure, and Asuna watched intently as she did, as if to inspire (or perhaps shame?) her own blade into succeeding.

The copper-haired girl struck the metal exactly ten times, and both sighed in relief as the sword was set back in Asuna’s hand, a small notification with a plus sign popping from it as the green light surrounding it faded. The swordswoman had to suppress the urge to flourish her improved weapon right then and there.

As she navigated the menus to transfer the necessary money and prepared to leave, Asuna remembered the shop’s name contained its owner’s as well.

“I’ll see you later… Lisbeth.”

“Please do!”

Lisbeth’s reply came out louder than intended, catching both of them off guard. The seated girl didn’t notice the words leaving her mouth until they were already blabbered away.

To be more precise, she hadn’t noticed how lonely she’d been.

“… I mean, if you need another enhancement, I’d be glad to have you as a customer again!”

Lisbeth positioned a proud hand over a thin bicep, as if to exude confidence.

Asuna had to hold back a chuckle at her words. She couldn’t help but relate to the brown-haired girl’s struggle.

She gave the blacksmith a curt nod before leaving. “Later.”

“Later.” Promising to come back to someone in Aincrad was rarely a good idea when you were stationed in the front lines. Asuna knew that. She didn’t know what came to her.

Yet, she did see her later.

She came back multiple times, in fact– whenever she had some extra Col for another enhancement, whenever she wanted to show the “shop” to a guildmate, whenever she could make up another excuse to go. Soon enough, she started coming just because, and most of the time not spent with the guild or the broody solo player she’s taken a liking to was allocated to Lisbeth.

Asuna couldn’t pinpoint what drew her to the blacksmith.

She had a cheerfulness that waltzed between genuine and forged, and a bluntness that rivaled a certain someone else she knew. Asuna’s rank as a member of one of the clearing guilds made people talk to her with a tone of reverence at times (the flashy title of Lightning didn’t suit her, she thinks), so having another person she could speak to so casually felt satisfying. Despite her first impressions, Lis could be… rather crude.

They stood there, conversation wasted away for hours now.

“Ah,” Lis sighs, crossing her arms, “I really thought I was done for then. His sword’s durability hit zero the moment my hammer touched it, and he thought that was my fault, somehow.” She tapped the surface of her Smith’s Carpet. “It’s a good thing no one can touch you while you’re on one of these things. He did say he was going to get back at me, though.”

She pshaws.

“People here love saying stuff like that to merchants. Guess they see us as NPCs, or something. Figure we’re not real people.”

Cities are safe zones, and as such no one should be in mortal danger inside them. Nonetheless, vengeful people can get crafty in here. A threat is no laughing matter.

“Lis, that sounds… dangerous. Are you sure you’re safe?”

Lis waves a hand dismissively, and forges an especially bright smile for Asuna. She pshaws again.

“Don’t worry about it, Asuna. It’s not like they’re real anything either.”

This wasn’t the first time she’s noticed Lis making light of awful happenings and players surrounding her; she does it with near death experiences and creepy customers and disastrous blacksmithing attempts that invalidated days of work looking for materials. She turned her tragedies into comedies, always forcing herself to smile doing so.

In fact, she doesn’t remember ever seeing Lis legitimately sad in their time together. She always wore her smiting smith grin, or some variation of smirk.

“I mean…”

Asuna paused, pensively.

Lis, are you really okay? is what she thought about asking, but perhaps that was Lisbeth’ way of dealing with all of… this. Aincrad and the constant threat of death and missing her family and even the people she might have lost here.

If this place isn’t real, then the people within it aren’t real.

By extension, her pain, too, was non-existent. That seemed to be Lis’s thought process.

Was it wrong, if it allowed her to smile?

Unlike me, she…

Perhaps a bit too forcefully, she choked out a chuckle for Lis’ reply.

“… Fine, fine,” she gave up, tapping the freckled girl’s shoulder, “but promise me you’ll let me help you look for a new base of operations for your business. I think it’s about time you got a better place.”

“Haha… there is this one place I’ve been eyeing in one of the upper floors,” Lis confessed, scratching the back of her neck, “but the price is pretty hefty.”

Asuna squinted her eyes, anguished hearing Lisbeth’s plea.

“… I’ll make my entire squadron to commission something from you if that’s what it takes.”

Lis couldn’t help but chortle out at Asuna’s uncharacteristic comment.

“What? I’m serious!”

“No, you’re not!” Lis retorted through jovial, watery eyes.

She patted Asuna’s head, which made her shoot a look Lis couldn’t tell was meant to be embarrassed or indignant.

“… But it’s really cute that you’d say something like that.”

The months go by and Asuna doesn’t think as much about dying.

She’s a general and she’s a swordswoman, but she’s also a mere girl– a fact a year of this death game forced her to forget. She thinks there’s nothing mere about being one now, however.

The pressure crushing her soul into moving forward, jaw clenched and nails digging into palms, is replaced with the warm push of her friends. With Kirito’s eyeroll-inducing antics. Argo’s impetuous comments. Lisbeth’s crude laughter. It surprises her, how this kindness motivates her far better than the looming anxiety. How she can live for the sake of living.

She doesn’t know when, but she knows.

She’s leaving this castle, and she’s taking those dear to her in tow.

The door creaked as Asuna slowly entered Lisbeth’s new shop. She was glad Lis managed to get this place without her having to resort to strong-arming her guildmates. Regardless of Lisbeth’s incredulity, she was serious about it… probably.

“Lisbeth!” She beckons, trying to warn the blacksmith of her presence. No response comes and she realizes why after a quick investigation: muffled clanks of steel meeting iron ring out from the backroom, and the spinning of the gigantic waterwheel resounds through the entire building. Lis must be hard at work.

She walks to the door behind the counter, whispering excuses under her breath as she ducks under the wooden seam. Surely enough, Lisbeth is hammering away at her anvil, the chime of weapons reverberating through the room.

Asuna barely caught sight of Lisbeth shivering as she approached.

“… Lis?”

Lisbeth turns to her, a grin on her lips and red on her eyes.

“Asuna!” she exclaims, voice sniffly, with a hint of surprise. It doesn’t sound how Asuna remembers. “Sorry, didn’t hear you coming in. Here for the materials?”

Asuna’s brow knits in worry. “Lis, were you crying?”

“I – what –” Lis stammers, then sets a hand to her eye. “Really? They programmed puffy eyes in this stupid game?”

Lis scoots her chair back as Asuna steps closer, her gloved hand brushing roughly against the corner of her eyes.

“Sorry, I’m–, I didn’t want you to have to see me like this. Don’t worry. I’m fine!”

“Lis…”

“I’m fine, I promise, just. Just give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be back to normal.”

“Lis, please.”

Asuna approaches slowly, hands outstretched. She offers them to Lis, who takes a step back before taking two forward.

She takes Asuna’s hands in hers, and the stream of tears she had stifled moments ago start racing down her cheeks again.

Lisbeth slumps over Asuna, her forehead resting over the swordswoman’s shoulder, her arms wrapping tightly around Asuna. Right now Lis feels so delicate, looks so frail, so unlike Asuna has ever seen her until now, and every part of her being wants to protect her.

A part of her knew Lis was keeping it in – who isn’t, in Aincrad? But seeing Lisbeth, her ever-cheery, best friend Lisbeth, crying in loneliness as she shakily continues to perform her work, clicks with Asuna. That’s what she was like, before meeting her.

Why wasn’t I there for her in the same way?

“I’m not sure how long I can keep doing this,” Lisbeth confesses. “Waking up every day and acting like this is normal. Like this is my job, like this is real, like my body isn’t wasting away outside.”

Lisbeth uses the forbidden word, outside, the one no one is meant to be using here to keep their sanity in check. In that moment Asuna realizes she is not simply talking to Lisbeth the Blacksmith, but to whoever Lisbeth is in the real world.

“I wish I was like you, Asuna. You’re so strong.”

It sends Asuna reeling. Lisbeth? Like her?

“What are you talking about? You are much stronger than me. You’ve kept smiling this whole time.”

She parts the locks of hair at Lis’ nape with her nails, and feels Lis’ grasp tighten.

“I’ve only been able to stand this long because I had people who reminded me I was still living in here. People like you, Lis. Your smile kept me going.”

For a moment, Lis simply digs her weight further into Asuna, the flutter of fanning eyelashes brushing against Asuna’s shoulder, streaming tears running down her arm.

When Lis’s crying subsides and she raises her head, Asuna sees that she’s smiling.

This one looks different, however. Time seems to stop as Asuna studies every inch of Lis’s face. She can tell as she sees the real thing in this moment, how Lisbeth’s winning smiles in the past were forged, a convincing replica fabricated by an expert craftswoman. This weary image in front of her now, with its displayed teeth and reddening skin and baggy eyes, is Lisbeth in her earnest, and it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Time runs once more as Asuna sees Lisbeth’s face shorten the gap between hers, eyes half-lidded, approach slow and pleading.

It only lasts a mere moment, a fraction of a second, when their lips meet, but Asuna’s heart bursts all the same. It was more of a peck than a kiss, and yet she’s burning and Lisbeth’s burning and she’s not sure what this means, so she goes for seconds to find out, a chaste first kiss shared between two friends, pure affection woven into action.

Lis sets her head back on Asuna’s shoulder once they part lips.

“Nothing here ever had felt real, you know,” Lis starts. “Until you started talking to me. Visiting me. Thank you, Asuna.”

She interweaves their hands together, and Asuna squeezes them in response.

She can’t believe she let Lisbeth feel this way, so lonely.

She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

She’s a general. She’s a swordswoman.

She’s a girl, young and wise, frail and powerful, and so, so real.

They share a bed, their combined warmth reminding them how genuine they are.

These bodies, countless shards of light interlinked through a virtual thread, are mere representations of themselves. But how can they be called fake, when it allows them to be like this, more intimate than they’ve ever been with any other person in the real world?

Lis fell asleep as soon as her body met the bed. How long has it been since she last had a night of sleep? How long has she been forging that smile that inspired her so many times? Asuna, however, cannot bring herself to drift off, not after the way she saw Lisbeth today.

She spent a long while wondering what she was fighting for, since her entrapment. Holding her friend delicately, caressing her head as she basks in Lis’s droopy, drowsy smile, Asuna thinks she found one of many answers to the question.

As she watched Lis shift in bed, murmuring something unintelligible, her steely resolve became something beyond a mask. An earnest, warm wish solidified itself over her heart.

She would protect that smile.

#SAO #Sword Art Online #AsuLis #saoprideweek2019 #Fili writes

26 notes · View notes

comicteaparty · 5 years

Text

July 8th-July 14th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 8th, 2019 to July 14th, 2019. The chat focused on Court of Roses by Kelsey Peterson.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Court of Roses by Kelsey Peterson~! (http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until July 14th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think is the story behind Merlow’s bad dreams? What demons is Merlow fighting exactly, and why do some of those “demons” want him to hurt others? What does it have to do with Merlow being triggered by Nocturne?

khkddn

1) hmm visually speaking I think my fave scene is when Diana shoots all those arrows http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/117/ it just looks so cool

But I also liked when merlow bonded with the kiddos who were curious about his bagpipes, that was a cute moment

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What do you think is the cause of Nocturne’s unfortunate circumstances that he mentions having to make due with? What might this have to do with his poor amount of stamina or immense magical gifts?

RebelVampire

1) Probably the scene where Nocturne and Merlow sleep in an alley under the rain. I am a sucker for rain, and I liked seeing Merlow's acknowledgement that he was kind of a dick but that Nocturne was still able to forgive him. Plus, the atmosphere the rain added was too perfect. Somehow a spot of warmth among the cold and bleak. 2) I see this going in one of two ways in terms of my current theories. Way 1 is that Merlow's dad wasn't just an elf, but like, ultra evil wizard elf. And his dad is trying to control Merlow and use him as a beautiful and dangerous pawn. Way 2 is that Merlow got possessed by a literal demon and that fighting the demon from taking control is a daily battle. I think in regards to hurting others, asides it just being that's what evil things do, having Merlow hurt others is a pretty quick way to break his spirit and just have him cave to the dark side. Nocturne kind of looks demon-y so there could be that connection. Or maybe whatever Merlow has within him just hates Nocturne's species since that seems to be a common theme in the world.

3) Nocturne. Nocturne is classy, powerful, but has that cute smidgen of vulnerability that makes him endearing. Also very classy, and how can you not like classy people? 4) Nocturne maybe had a fight that did not end well due to overconfidence maybe. And this left him permanently weakened with poor stamina. I also get the sense that there is some deeper emotional trauma hidden in this. Like the person that caused his weak stamina was someone super close who probably betrayed him. Cause every story needs a good betrayal? XD Alternatively, maybe he just had a poor dice roll to begin with for the game.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

Those theories with Merlow and Nocturne are really cool, Rebel! aaaaa it's so neat to see people speculating this stuff.

That alley scene came out so nice too, I was happy with it. My own favorite scene so far... it's hard to pick, but I think it was the whole sequence of the main bards fighting the bandits that stormed the festival. Getting to let everyone show off, from Sven's muscle, to Feliks' conjuring madness, to Diana's enchanted tidinit, to Nocturne's mysterious power saving Merlow.(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think the background stories are for Feliks and Sven? How might Merlow’s pre-established friendship with Feliks affect his interactions with the rest of the bards given they have more history?

Attila Polyák

I like had no time the entire week and could only read till the page where we see Sung from a distance. I didn't want to comment before I catch up, but now that I found a bit of time I get a server not found error. My luck is horrible. :( That said I do feel like my favourite scene will be the bit where Merlow performed and the cats came to listen. That was soo hear warming, but I'd like to read the rest before saying anything.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

Ugh, sorry, comicfury just, goes down sonetimes...

khkddn

3) merlow is my favorite character, he just seems so nice and sunshine-y! Diana is also cool too though, and I also like Feliks... decisions is Hard

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

I don't feel like I know any of the characters well enough to have a favorite yet! I know how they act on the surface -- so far Merlow is the most entertaining and Nocturne is the most aww-inducing -- but we haven't gotten into the depths yet. Anyone could become my official favorite with the right reveal.

Was Merlow actually "triggered" by Nocturne, or just upset? Important difference there! I took it as the standard fantasy trope of "these two species have a history of antagonism, but after fighting on the same side for a while they'll develop an Unlikely Bond, and discover that they are Not So Different After All."

Favorite scene so far, hands-down, this page. Perfect cinematic smash-cut, makes me laugh every time. http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/22

...no elaborate backstory theories from me, pretty sure Guilded Age permanently ruined me for theorizing about fantasy comics. Just looking forward to seeing where things go.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

That's a really popular page lol!!!

keii4ii

I have yet to catch up with the archive, but omg that is an awesome-tastic page (and now I wish Discord had a horrible bleeding music note emote to go with this)

snuffysam

real talk? my favorite scene in the comic was this: http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/ not even technically a scene, but the two panels side by side of merlow drinking alone, followed by merlow having a good time with all his friends, just got me right there in the feelings instantly. and the way the panels link to the first and latest page respectively is a stroke of genius. instant hook.

besides that, my favorite scene is the one of diana, sven, and feliks banding together to stop the bandits. these three were at each others' throats a second ago, but having to fight off those attackers brought them closer together. and we got to see them performing as a band while doing it. really makes me look forward to more things to come with the protagonist quintet working together.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

That makes me so, so happy, Sam, I was really excited to make those and code them properly, and I'm happy they have such an impact. :3

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Do you think Merlow will ever meet his father or open up regarding the subject? What about Diana and her mother? Will something regarding Diana’s enchanted instrument and the history behind it come to play in the story?

RebelVampire

5) Favorite illustration is definitely this place. http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/135/ I adore the particle effects, the change in colors and tone, and everything just works really well together. It's super awe inspiring to see Nocturne get a moment of badassery. <3 6) Feliks probably got banished for too many shenanigans. Since I'm pretty sure Feliks is a bit too comfy with spending nights in jail. As for Sven, I don't know. Maybe he's the one without some sort of tragic back story. Or maybe Sven has a tragic backstory but the tragedy of it all just flew over his head and he didn't notice. I do think there's gotta be at least something bad that drove his desire for justice. Like maybe he had a hero who died tragically or something. I don't know. But I do think Merlow and Feliks' past relationship is gonna drive some wedges. Cause Feliks seems like the type to go "well I've known Merlow longer than all you have" so ya know, everyone will be mad cause it can mean nothing while also being still true and itll just make everything awkward. And Merlow will make adorable faces and try to peace keep.

7) Merlow and Nocturne. They're both really different in terms of their relationship with being bards (or w/e Nocturne wants to call himself). And I think that their different viewpoints really bring out different sides to them that we wouldnt normally get to see. And theres no like bitter conflict either. Just two ppl filled with warm fuzzies trying to get to know each other and navigate the world. 8) Yes to both. The latter because I think he'll have to explain his past more in detail at some point, and that probably means telling everyone the circumstances of his birth. The former because wishful thinking cause there's nothing like meeting your long lost dad who went to get some milk and never came back. Diana too, of course, will probably have to talk about her mother who probably died tragically or, at the very least, when Diana was least prepared for it. I do think Diana's instrument will create conflict. In that someone will go, "Let's steal that enchanted weapon." And then it gets stolen and Diana freaks and everyone does bard battles to get it back for her.

Copper Mouflon

Been reading the comic and so far I'm really enjoying it! Didn't expect to as it's not what I usually read, but hey you kept me hooked and going for the next page! Absolutely loved http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/118/ made me laugh out lout. There's obviously a lot of backstory in these characters and I'm curious to see where this will go!

Copper Mouflon

NNNooooo! I reached the end! Job well done! It only gets better as the story goes along, by the way, Nocturne is BAD ASS, but most of all I love who they all seem rather normal (in the context of the story) yet they all turn out to ... well be so awesome.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

:D!!!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Besides getting hired for a murder investigation, what other consequences do you foresee for the group in regards to what happened at Saung? Will it gain them notoriety, or will it be swept under the rug?

RebelVampire

9) Honestly the detail I'm addicted to is Merlow's hair. Like I like the thought that goes into that colored bit of it, cause that seems like it'd be annoying to remember to include all the time. But more than that, I like seeing the fact that Merlow will actually undo the braid http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/70/ . Like there's several scenes like this where theres recognition that hair isn't plastic and displaces and people don't wear their more elaborate styles to bed usually. It's a nice realistic depiction of how hair works in everyday life. 10) I 100% think they're gonna have some notoriety from it. Cause what makes a better story than some bards who beat up bad guys at a festival. Plus, I'm sure other important people will sing their praises as well. Of course, this notoriety doesn't always mean good. Like sure maybe the king's 2nd cousin's butler will hire them for a job, but now bandit dude's secret twin brother can come and exact revenge on them. It's gonna be a dual edged sword where benefit and trouble will both come looking for them all.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Who do you think murdered the count and for what reason? Was there any specific reason the murder took place during the festival? Do you ultimately feel Merlow and company will be able to help?

Attila Polyák

Okay, so questions, yummy! 1, Definitely playing for the cats in the alley, buut the beginning of the bard festival was pretty cool as well. That said, I just feel like that scene grabs the essence of performance so well. I really liked it. 2, I feel like his demons are literal demons and they cause his nightmare, tho I have no idea how he met/got posessed by them. Connection to Nocturne? Probably looks, he is an infernal after all. 3, Torn between Merlow and Nocturne. Merlow is just an ultimate positive dude even tho his demons seem to be rather messed up and Nocturne. Well... He's just plain awesome. 4, I think Nocturne is in this state mostly because of his own decisions. While we do not know much about him, we do know that he is: Not a bard, Someone used to having money around but not in any fear of not being able to use it, Fond of music, Is, magically speaking, rather powerful, In general a sophisticated person, In possession of some rather unusual items. While these circumstances could mean a lot of things, my guess is that he's kindof an alchemist and he somehow traded his stamina for magical capabilities in pursue of another, probably greater, goal. 5, I think my favorite illustration is the middle panel on http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/134/ but really anything on this and the next to pages are. Just. Pure. Awesome. 6, I don't think Merlow's earlier friendship will influence the rest of his relationships as he seems to be generally friendly with almost literally everyone. 7, Merlow and Nocturne. I just find it to be a cool friendship, even though there are quite a few hints that there should be some friction between them for very real and serious reasons. Also Merlow "fanboying" about cool music is just adorable to see. 8, For Merlow... Yes, and I wouldn't be surprised if the topic was very eeply connected to his demons. Diana and her mother... I donno, maybe, but I'm more leaning towards no right now, but it could still happen.

10, I think that being part of the murder investigation will literally mean that they will be doing less bard stuff, which is obvious, but considering that they specifically came to town for the bard contest, it's still a shame. Now... beating the bandits already started them on an inevitable ride to notority, and being involved in the investigaton of such an inportant murder case. That will also boost them on their personal hype trains'. 11, Imo the greatest strength of the comic is the simple fact that even though a lot of not so great things happen to the characters (being thrown out to the streets for night, a murder case, bandit raid, inner demons, etc...) both the characters and the general tone of the story manages to be very positive. That's kinda odd, because this should be like... a bit of a dissonance. But the positive tone is just, simply there. I'd attribute that mostly to how Merlow reacts to everyone around him, but still since we see the story mostly from his perspective it just shines through a lot. Even when he is in pain, literally at times, he just somehow manages to feel positive. 12, I'm really unsure about the murderer, but I kinda feel like it's somehow directly connected to Merlow. Thus I ultimately think that the party will be able to help, one way or another, but the entire situation still feels a bit hazy.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Overall, do you think the new troupe of bards will be able to get along? What obstacles do you think there will be in them learning to cooperate with one another?

RebelVampire

11) While there are a lot of strengths, the one that stood out to me the most was the character designs. They're all so individualistic, yet each one is very specifically tailored to the character's personality. Like the minute I saw Merlow I was like "this is just a nice dude who maybe is a bit sensitive." and thats exactly what i feel like i got. and i always appreciate when the writing and visual design go hand in hand. 12) I think the count was murdered because nice counts disrupt the order of corruption and makes all the other nobles look back. As for the festival, yes. I actually think someone is trying to pin it on a bard. Especially if that bard's name is Merlow cause Merlow seems to have shitty luck. As for helping, I mean, I'm sure Merlow and company can find something. Although I personally feel like investigative wise Feliks and Nocturne are probably the best suited for the task. But hey the others can provide moral support?

13) I'm looking forward to just finding more out about Nocturne and why people seem to hate Nocturne's species. But just more Nocturne being fancy and classy is fine too. 14) I think the group will get along, but I think some relationships will fair better than others. Like I don't think Feliks and Sven are gonna become best pals anytime soon. And I kind of feel like Sven is gonna struggle fitting in cause he seems a lot more high energy than a lot of them can handle. Outside of that obstacle, I do also think that the biggest obstacle for them will be secrets. Cause they all seem to have something they want to hide, and hiding things from people who are supposed to be your allies can lead to bitter feelings. as everyone wonders why they arent trustworthy etc. etc. so i guess a better way to put it is trust will be their biggest obstacle, and that theyll have to accept a certain level of vulnerability.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Court of Roses this week! Please also give a special thank you to Kelsey Peterson for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Court of Roses, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/

Kelsey’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kelseynuttyp

Kelsey’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/kelseynutty

Kelsey’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/CourtofRosesCmc

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #court of roses #kelsey peterson

4 notes · View notes

leelee10898 · 6 years

Text

For you: Chapter 8- Take you home

Summary: The gang heads to Pennsylvania to Aria’s home town. Leo meets the parents, will he be greeted with open arms? Maxwell has a run in with a certain Baseball Mascot

Master list

Author Notes: This Chapter was part of a NSFW Prompt challenge. @bobasheebaby gave me “ I didn’t know you were so flexible.” the others are just random choices.

Rating: Mature, NSFW, Fluff

Chapter inspiration:

They walked hand in hand along the moon lit streets of Rome. They had just had a romantic dinner and truth be told the only thing on Aria’s mind was getting back to Leo’s hotel room. They had finally had sex the night of the fundraiser and she wanted more. The man was a sex god, somehow she felt like he was just getting started. “I really want to kiss you, right now.” Leo breathed into her hair. She felt the warmth tingle her body “then do it.” She muttered, breath caught in throat. He spun her around, lips crashing down on hers, their tongues tangle together, fighting for dominance. He walked her back, pushing her against the wall. His one hand extended pressed up against the wall, the other exploring her side. “Leo” she moaned. “Come here.” He pulled her into a dark alley. Capturing her lips again in a heated kiss, his hand stroking between her thighs. “Oh. Oh my god.” She moaned “You’re so fucking wet, and I haven’t even touched you yet.” He huskily whispered.

He hooked her panties sliding them down her legs. He un buttoned and un zipped his fly freeing his rock hard cock, grabbing her ass lifting her up against the wall. “Try to stay quiet, you understand. ” his bright blues met her chocolate brown, all she could do was gulp and nod yes. He lowered her down slowly onto his thick, long length. She gasped at the large intrusion. Once he felt her walls settle he pulled out slowly, then slamming into her. “Oh.” She moaned loud. “Shh love, I’m gonna make you cum, bite me if you have to. But don’t you dare make a noise.” He demanded as he pulled out slamming back into her again and again.

He lifted her ass up and down meeting his thrust. She lifted her leg up hooking it around his shoulders. Leo let out an appreciative growl. She bit down on her lips, trying to silence the screams of pleasure that were bubbling to the surface. She felt the coil tightening with each thrust, the urge to scream becoming to great, her nails digging into his back, silencing her moans as he pounded into her throbbing center. She silently begged for her release, the pleasure was overwhelming, the coil stretched dangerously. She could feel the strings snapping one by one, by one, until she bit down, screaming out onto his shoulder. Her eyes rolled back into her head as a gush of her sweet nectar flooded his cock dripping down his legs. A few pumps and Leo thrust deep into her spilling his creamy ropes of cum inside of her.

She gasped for air as he steadied her down to the ground, he had to hold her up, her legs like jello. “I didn’t know you were so flexible love.”H e leaned in kissing her forehead. “That was just the appetizer,love. You’ll get the main course when we get to the room.” Aria felt the fire ignite again. A sense of wild desire filled her body. She had never craved a man before nor did she want to. but Leo, he was like a Drug, and she was addicted.

"Aria, wake up Love we will be landing shortly.” Leo gently nudge her. she smirked as she woke up, pulling Leo in for a steamy kiss. He pulled back slightly and grinned “what was that for? Not that I mind.”

“I just had a great dream.” She sighed, still waking up. She wasn’t sure what brought that memory back, maybe it was the fact they were heading to Italy after a few days in Pennsylvania, or maybe it was the fact her sex drive was in high gear lately. The plane landed and the group gathered their luggage. They got separate cars since Aria and Leo would be staying with her parents. Liam,Drake, Maxwell, and Ellie would be staying at a near by hotel. Aria gave the group the address to her parents as they all planned to meet a little later.

“Keys Rhys.” She demanded. “Since when do you drive love?” He chuckled. “Since were on my turff, and I don’t need gps to get me where I am going. Now, keys.” She held her hand out. Leo reluctantly placed the keys in her hand and got in the car. He was always the one to drive if they were together, this was going to be interesting. Aria effortlessly maneuvered the twist and turns and hills of the back roads, Leo relaxed in the passenger seat, she was a good driver but he preferred to drive. They turned off pulled into a long driveway a large updated farm house sat at the end. “So this is where you grew up?” Leo asked as he took in everything. “Its no palace, But this was home.”

“Its nice, lots of land.” He grinned taking her hand.

The car rolled to a stop Aria turned to Leo. “My dad may still be bitter about the past. He’s really a softy. But just be prepared.” She warned. Leo cupped her face “I understand, but we are together now and I will do everything in my power to prove to him that I will never hurt you again.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips “ready?” He asked. She nodded. Just as they exited the car the front door to the house flew open. A short brown haired lady who looked exactly like Aria,came running out. “Oh my god, you’re here your really here.” She ran up hugging Aria, she placed her hands on her stomach “look at you. You’re glowing sweetheart.” “I missed you too mom.” Aria chuckled. “Mom this is L..” “Leo, nice to finally meet you.” Her mother cut her off, wrapping Leo in a hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you too Mrs Hale.” His voice like velvet. “Oh my god, that voice. No wonder my daughter is obsessed with you. And that face. Whew.” She cooed.

“Mom!"Aria blushed. "Enough of that Mrs Hale stuff, call me Linda. Come on you two.” She lead them into the house. Aria grabbed Leo’s hand as they walked into the living room. “Spunky.” A tall man, around Leo’s age came rushing out of the kitchen. “JJ.” Aria threw her hands around his neck. “Where are the kids?” She asked. “Out back with pops.” He answered Aria turned to Leo “JJ this is Leo, Leo my older brother John Jr. We call him JJ.” Leo held out his hand to shake it.“Nice to meet you.” JJ grabbed it and smirked. “You too, your’re practically family now, we hug around here.” He pulled Leo in for a hug, patting him on the back. So far so good Aria thought to herself. Her mom went to the sliding glass door calling for her husband. A tall stocky man entered with two young boys in tow. The boys came in hugging Aria. Johnny was 6, and Jacob was 4. “Princess.” A warm smile spread across the mans face. “Daddy.” Aria ran to hug her father.

“Daddy, I want to to meet Leo, Leo this is my dad John.” Leo extended his hand to John. “Oh yeah, the one who broke my little girls heart and now Knocked her up.” He shook Leo’s hand. “JOHN!” Linda shouted. “Daddy. That was a long time ago. I forgave Leo for that. Now its time you do too.” Aria cooed, trying to diffuse the situation. “I’m sorry pumpkin, Leo it’s good to finally meet you.” Her father gritted his teeth. They were interrupted by a knock at the door, and Ellies voice bellowing through the house “were heeeeere.” Aria introduced everyone to the group. John approached Liam. “So you’re the king? Such a proud, noble,brave man. I would have been proud to have you as a son in law.” John shook Liam’s hand his eyes never leaving Leo, as his words stung like salt on an open wound. “Well, we need to get going. Ellie and I are taking these guys to a Phillies game. They have never been to a baseball game.” Aria spoke up. They said their goodbyes and headed out.

Once they arrived at citizens bank park the found their seats and sat down. Aria was able to score amazing seats, being a Duchess now, and from the area had its perks. 1st base line, right behind the dugout. “This is amazing, thank you for bringing us here Aria.” Liam smiled. “You’re welcome. You know you can see the field from every part of this place.” She informed. “Well I don’t know about you but, there’s a tony Lukes cheese steak and some crabby fries with my name on it.” Ellie butted in. “Oh god yes, we cant even wait.” Aria rubbed her belly. “Whats a cheese steak?” Drake asked. “Leo chuckled "I have been to Philly a time or two. Trust me you will love it.” “Well some of us haven’t been all over the world pretty boy.” Drake grunted. “Well, I wanna go explore so I’m going with you guys.” Maxwell jumped up.

Aria, Ellie and Maxwell took off to get food. They ordered the crabby fries first “oh. My. God. These are amazing!” Maxwell looked like a kid in a candy store as he munched on his fries and then he spotted him. In all his fuzzy green glory. “What is that?” Maxwell’s eyes lit up pointing to the furry green alien? Monster?. “That’s the Phanatic babe.” Ellie grinned. “He’s the mascot.” Aria informed him as they watched the Phanatic jump on a 4 wheeler and take off on the field. They grabbed 5 cheese steaks, a few orders of crabby fries and a few beers for everyone but Aria, and made their way back to their seats. Drake eyed his sandwich suspiciously as Liam dug in. “Drake! fis is, you haf to try it.” Liam spoke with his mouth full. “Wow, slow down Li. What would Regina say if she seen you speaking with food in your mouth.” Leo chuckled. “Oh! How rude of me forgive me everyone.” Liam blushed. “Liam, he was just teasing. Here you’re just Liam.” Aria giggled.” You can speak with a mouth full of food and we won’t care.” “Well in that case” Liam bit a huge chuck from his sandwich chewing sloppily.

They enjoyed a few innings with Aria and Ellie getting into the game. Leo watched her, the way she jumped up and cheered when a home run was hit. They were having a great time, and then the Phanatic jumped up on the dugout. Thrusting his big belly and dancing, pointing to members in the crowd to copy him. Maxwell jumped up a determined gleam in his eye. “Hey, you Phanatic. Watch this” he hollered gaining the Phanatics attention as he busted out a few moves. The Phanatic shook his head bewildered and twirled around throwing his hands in the air, as he jumped into the stands heading straight for Maxwell. He pushed on Maxwells chest, tossing his hands about shaking his head like he was talking smack. Maxwell stood his ground “oh yeah? How about it Phanatic you and me, Dance off!” The Phanatic stopped instantly whipping bis head to Maxwell, stepping back as he shook his head in agreement. Maxwell was taken to the field, his face plastered on the Jumbotron. The Phanatic started moving his feet and swaying his body to the beat of the music pointing to Maxwell to take his turn. Maxwell started moving his feet, popping his arms, shoulders and body, gaining cheers from the crowd. The Phanatic threw his hands up in the air throwing himself on the ground into the worm. Maxwell laughed hysterically as he pop, locked and dropped into the worm before spinning on his head ending with a side ways pose. The crowed erupted in cheers as the Phanatic waved his hands to Maxwell, bowing down admitting defeat. Maxwell was given a free Phillies shirt and hat and sent back to his seat. “That was awesome Maxwell.” The group cheered as he sat down. “Tell me you got that petunia?” Maxwell turned to Ellie. “Of course babe, already uploaded to you tube.” She grinned. The rest of the game flew by, the Phillies won and Aria and Leo headed back to her parents, while their friends went to the hotel.

“So your dad hates me.” Leo broke the silence that had settled over the car. “He doesn’t have you, he just.. hes guarded. He came and got me from Paris, he seen everything I went through after, well you know.” Aria tried to beat around the bush. “I know, and I am so sorry love. I wish-” “No! It’s in the past. One thing I know about my dad is he can hold a grudge, but if someone owns up to their mistakes, it goes a long way with him.” She squeezed his hand.

Once they arrived back at the house they took their luggage inside since they never got around to doing so. Her parents were already in bed for the evening so Aria took Leo up to her old room. “Don’t laugh.” She said as she opened the door and flicked on the light. The room was a light purple, with trophies and metals, and various other awards all over. Photos of Ellie and Aria hung and framed. “Over achiever?” Leo joked. “You get a trophy for participating here in America.” She laughed. He walked around reading the different sports and events of the awards. “Baseball, softball, cheer leading, dance, Singing..”

“ok, ok that’s enough. How about I show you where the bathroom is so you don’t get lost and wander into my parents room in the middle of the night.” She giggled. Once they settled into bed Aria began running her fingers up Leos arm. “What are you doing love?” Leo murmered half asleep. “Well, I thought maybe you could put me to bed properly.” She cooed. Leo propped himself up on one arm looking at her. “Baby, you know I am always down for fucking you sensless. But we are at your parents house, and you don’t know how to be quiet. Plus, I am trying to get on your fathers good side.” He pleaded with her, it took everything in him not to take her right there. “You’re right. I do want you two to get along. I love you Leo.” She kissed him softly. “I love you too Aria. Now get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day, we find out what we are having.”

Tag list: @bobasheebaby @scarlettedragon @annekebbphotography@speedyoperarascalparty @greyeyedsmile14 @stopforamoment @mind-reader1 @xxrainbowprincessxx@hopefulmoonobject@alicars @katurrade @indiacater @bella-ca @blznbaby @blackwidow2721@liamxs-world @simsvetements @furiousherringoperatortoad@choicesfannatalie @crookedslimecreatorpasta @coldcollectornight08@laniquelovely @museofbooks @syltti78 @ao719 @3pawandme @blubutterflyy @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @liam-rhys-deactivated20180927 @riseandshinelittleblossom@wannabemc2 @gibbles82 @cocomaxley @gardeningourmet @zaffrenotes

#choices trr #trr fanfic #for you trr fan fic #trr #leo trr #leo x aria #prince leo #king liam #drake walker #maxwell beaumont #phillie phantic

33 notes · View notes