#when thaddeus fell | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

deaf-solitude · 4 months

Text

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 2 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings/Tags: Future graphic violence, injury and blood, branding, stitching, no use of Y/N, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” a lot too, reader is also a bit of an asshole but dw they soften up

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was assigned to be your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) I’m back!!! I’m having a lot of fun writing this, so this might turn out longer than I initially intended lol. Also I hope that I’m not too inconsistent with lore/game mechanics, I just started playing Fallout 4 last week and I haven’t gotten very far yet ToT. Anyway, enjoy!!

———

Maybe you wouldn’t kill him. Not before something else did, at least.

You were still on the path of your mission, trying to gain a bit more ground before night fell. However, a pack of sleeping junkyard dogs currently stood between you and a viable camping spot underneath a rocky outcrop, and you were not in the mood to fend them off of both you and Thaddeus. You were both crouched down behind some nearly-dead bushes, trying to figure out how to get around them without waking them up.

God, this would’ve been so much easier without having to worry about the well-being of a squire. You’d rather not be two for two for dead squires in one day.

“What do we do?” Thaddeus whispered noisily, causing some of the dogs’ ears to twitch. You whipped your head around in a manner that meant ‘shut up’, but the pneumatics of your armour made more noise than you intended. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see a few of the dogs quickly lift their heads, on high alert. You and Thaddeus stared at each other, frozen in place in hopes that the dogs just… wouldn’t see you behind the bare bushes.

That unfortunately did not happen, and the feral growling of the hounds spotting you quickly spurred you into action. You pushed Thaddeus further into the brush and stepped out into the clearing, drawing your gun and beginning to take shots at the pack of dogs. A couple dropped, but the rest were eager to get a bite in on you.

“My lord, w-wait!” Thaddeus yelped, stumbling back due to the weight of his pack and falling onto his ass. He struggled to get back up, to help you as a good squire should, but he was having trouble getting the strap of his bag off from where he lay on the ground. Good, that’s what you intended.

“Fuckin’ mutts,” you grumbled, hastily blocking a lunging dog and throwing it to the floor. That didn’t deter it in the slightest, recovering before it lunged for you again. It got a good grip on a protruding piece of your armour, and you spun around trying to hit it off. “Fuck! Motherfucker, get off!”

Thaddeus became more panicked as he heard you shouting, finally slipping out of the strap and aiming his gun at the dog latched onto you. “I’ve got you, my lord!” He yelled, before blindly firing off a shot in hopes he’d hit the dog. The bullet missed, ricocheting off of your armour and startling Thaddeus further as it whizzed by his head.

“Thaddeus!” You yelled in warning, trying to prevent him from getting in harm's way. You weren’t known for things going your way, though.

One of the dogs had split off from you when Thaddeus fired his gun, now set on getting a chunk out of the unprotected human. You saw the prowling animal before Thaddeus did, but in trying to get rid of the one on you, you were too slow to react in time.

Thaddeus screamed as the dog lunged for him, quickly turning his head away and firing blindly again in the direction of his attacker. Every shot missed, and the dog caught hold of Thaddeus’ arm, trying to drag him to the ground.

“Fuck! Knight Mire! Help me!” Thaddeus screamed in alarm, wincing as the dog’s teeth tore through his jacket sleeve and into the flesh of his arm. He cursed loudly again, trying to play tug of war with a feral dog and his arm.

You promptly threw the dog on you to the ground when you heard Thaddeus’ screams, landing a solid stomp on it before rushing to your squire. With the dog preoccupied and trying to maul him, it was easy to get close and restrain it. When it refused to let go of him, you hesitated only slightly before resorting to putting your hands on its head, pressing them together and effectively crushing the dog’s skull. Its body went limp, and Thaddeus was able to rip his arm out of its loosened jaws with a whimper.

You didn’t have any time to check in on him before another dog jumped on your back, trying to rip at the back of your neck.

“Son of a bitch!” You shouted, trying to reach back and grab the dog, but your armour limited your mobility and you were unable to reach it. Thaddeus floundered where he stood, gripping his bleeding arm while trying to decide if he should help you or not.

“Uhm, m-my lord! Would y-you like me to-“

“Don’t fucking move!” You shouted at him, finally getting a shot in on the dog as you blasted it with your arm jet. It yowled, toppling off of you and attempting to limp away from the major burns you’d just given it. You shot it before it had the chance to escape, god forbid if it came back to bite you in the ass. There were only a few left now, and with some well-aimed shots from your gun, they fell quickly too.

You and Thaddeus stood still for a moment, still processing what had just happened while trying to catch your breaths. You carefully holstered your weapon while you stared at the bodies lying around, taking a breath before turning around to assess Thaddeus.

With your helmet facing towards him, he jumped, almost trying to hide his torn arm behind him. “A-ah! Am-amazing job, my lord! You-you really showed those m-mutts!” He exclaimed, a strained smile strewn across his face. You huffed, brushing past him to carry the pack instead. “O-oh you don’t h-have to do that-“

“Come on,” you beckoned, cutting him off and moving toward the outcrop you fought for with the pack slung over your shoulder. God, this thing was heavy. Thaddeus hesitated before following behind, his forced smile dropping as an anxious frown replaced it.

You threw the pack down against a nearby rock, assessing the small area. There were a few stray rocks scattered in a shape that looked like a circle, so you figured you’d get a small fire going in the middle of them once you’d dealt with Thaddeus. Speaking of Thaddeus, when you turned back around to rummage through the pack, he was already digging through it.

“You good?” You questioned, your scrambled voice causing the man to jump again. He whipped around, still trying to hide his arm behind him with a feigned smile.

“Yep! Never been better! Don’t you worry about me,” he rambled, beads of sweat welling up on his temple while he gripped a roll of bandages in his hand. You sighed, crossing your arms.

“Let me see it,” you ordered, making Thaddeus frown in panic.

“N-no!”

You raised your brow, which he couldn’t see, but he still sputtered at your silence from his sudden outburst.

“I-I mean- I’m fine, my lord, really. I-it’s nothing I can’t handle!” He reassured you, getting more nervous by the minute. You were not taking that for an answer. You carefully but firmly placed your hands on his shoulders, turning him sharply so you could get a look at his arm. Thaddeus whimpered in embarrassment, casting his eyes away from you while you inspected the wound.

It didn’t look good, that’s for sure. The dog had gotten a good grip on his arm, and the bite marks were deep. He was at least lucky enough that the dog didn’t thrash, as his flesh didn’t look too torn. It was still bleeding pretty bad, and you were sure it would be infected come the morning if it wasn’t properly looked after.

If you remembered anything from your time at the airbase, you knew Thaddeus was absolutely horrible at first aid. He’d stick a shitty expired stimpack in it and call it a day, which wouldn’t stave away any infection if he left it uncovered. But if you wanted to make sure it healed correctly, you’d need to get out of your power armour and help him. You hesitated but quickly thought of a way to keep your face hidden as you stepped back from Thaddeus.

“Wh-what are you doing?” He questioned you as you backed up against the outcrop wall, giving yourself just enough room to be able to get out from behind it. You hit the release of your armour once you were in position, scrambling to remove your arms so that you could fish a handkerchief out of your breast pocket before Thaddeus got too curious.

Tying it quickly around the lower half of your face, you stepped down and out from behind the armour, walking back over to Thaddeus.

“Give me that,” you muttered, hoping he wouldn’t recognize your eyes or voice while you held your hand out for the roll of bandage.

He just… stared at you for a good couple of seconds, his brain lagging to process that you’d just gotten out of your power armour to tend to him. After a little while, you started to worry that your cover had been blown until he seemed to come back to life, stuttering like a fool.

“I-I- My lord! R-really, it’s-it’s alright, I-“

You snatched the roll from his hands as he stammered, effectively shutting him up as you pushed him down to sit on the rock behind him.

“Take your jacket off,” you commanded, tucking the roll under your arm while you went to retrieve a stimpack from the pack that was next to Thaddeus. He was practically shaking at this odd behaviour from you, not understanding why you were doing this, but he complied anyway. He shrugged the jacket off quickly, along with the red button-up shirt underneath, leaving him in a white tank top.

You turned back to Thaddeus with a water bottle, rag, and stimpack in hand, positioning yourself in front of him to look at his arm. He looked up at you with that pathetic face you knew all too well: the one he’d pull when he would get yelled at by whoever he pissed off at the airbase. Though, you weren’t quite sure why he was making it now. It had been a miracle, but so far, you hadn’t degraded him too much.

“This is gonna sting a bit,” you admitted while unscrewing the cap of the water bottle. Thaddeus seemed surprised again, uneasily grasping at his pant legs.

“You-you’re gonna use clean water for a measly little bite? I’ve lived through worse,” he laughed nervously, unable to hide the twitches of pain that occasionally crossed his face.

You raised a brow, pausing. ”Would you rather die of infection? Because you and I both know the cheap ass stimpacks they give us aren’t very good at sterilizing wounds.”

Thaddeus visibly faltered at your words, not expecting such an argument from you. You were right, of course—he could remember plenty of times when an aspirant would get extremely sick from an improperly treated wound, and in the worst cases, they would die—but it didn't make him feel any better about wasting supplies on him.

“B-but why should we waste the water? I-I’m… just a squire, it’s my fault I was bit anyway. I got in the way,” he mumbled, his eyes downcast and his posture hunched like he was trying to make himself disappear. You sighed, carefully grabbing his arm to inspect one last time.

“Well, it’s a good thing I get to decide what we waste supplies on,” you quipped, unable to stop yourself from smiling a little. It seemed to have reached your eyes, though, since Thaddeus looked up and gave you a small, but grateful smile back.

“I just… didn't expect a knight to care so much,” he disclosed, wringing his hands out. That made you stop for a moment.

You hadn’t realized how much you softened up in the past few hours since you were so hell-bent on hating him when he was first dropped off. Well, it was understandable that you’d wanted to hate him. He was a bully, as far as you remembered. But this man in front of you? You hardly recognized this obedient and meek facade he put on, but his ramblings and blind loyalty were still the same.

That was it, you realized: he was familiar. You didn't get much of that in the wasteland, save for some worn-down landmarks, so you’d covet it where you could. Even if you had once hated each other, it was better than nothing. Besides, maybe having an acquaintance out here wouldn’t be too bad. You would never admit it, but you kind of missed having someone to look after, even if he was supposed to be looking after you. You never did like accepting help, though, even when you so readily handed it out.

“I care about protecting people, even if the Brotherhood has more or less lost sight of that with their tech bullshit,” you offered, beginning to pour some water on the wound to wash away the partially dried blood. Thaddeus winced at the feeling, but he perked up at your comment.

“The Brotherhood does protect people, though. I mean, if we let everyone run around all willy-nilly with post-war technology all the time, there’d be no one left to protect after they all kill each other,” Thaddeus interjected nonchalantly, causing your expression to harden slightly.

He was wrong. With what you’ve seen at the airbase and out here in the field, the Brotherhood had completely lost its way. You had seen how your fellow knights gave no regard for anyone other than themselves, looting and killing where they deemed fit, pushing people around for their own benefit. You were unsure of what they had been like before your time, but now? It felt like you were part of a band of technologically scavenging warmongers.

You were one of the few who hadn’t bought into it, and Thaddeus was one of the many who did.

You bit your tongue while you focused on Thaddeus’ arm because God forbid you said something out of line and he reported it back to the officers. They’d have your head on a stick before dawn. You simply nodded, your brows furrowed as you inspected his now clean wound. The bleeding had slowed, but not stopped, and you could now see just how deep the dog had gotten.

“I’m gonna have to stitch some of this up,” you concluded, not missing the way Thaddeus started shaking as you switched out the bottle of water for the stimpack you’d retrieved earlier.

“Wh-what? Stitches? N-no. No, no, no, just the stimpack will be fine,” he squeaked, attempting to reel his arm back in. You held him in a firm grip, though, readying the stimpack in your other hand.

You gave him a frustrated glare. “It’ll heal faster if we stitch it.”

He shrunk back under your gaze, wanting to protest, but he knew that was a losing battle with you. You took his silence as compliance, and while he was looking away, you quickly jabbed his arm with the stimpack. He yelped, nearly jumping to his feet, but you expected that reaction and held him down.

“What the hell, man!” He squawked, his voice cracking from the pitch it was at. “Give a man a warning, Jesus!”

“I find it’s worse if you know it’s coming,” you shrugged, discarding the empty stimpack and digging in the pack again for some needle and thread. You could’ve sworn you heard Thaddeus whimper in fear while you were practically shoulder-deep in the big ass bag he brought with him. For someone who you thought would’ve seen much worse, he was very squeamish.

That proved stitching his wound to be difficult.

The process was arduous with Thaddeus twitching and shrieking every time you made a new stitch, and he needed quite a few of them. You were just about ready to take back everything you’d previously thought about, one complaint away from hitting him over the head and leaving him here.

“There, you big baby. We’re done,” you grumbled, cutting the extra thread with your pocket knife and quickly bandaging up his arm. He loudly sighed in relief, slumping over with exhaustion.

“Oh, thank God,” he whined, sounding like he was on the verge of tears, “that was horrible.” He snatched his arm back when you were finally done, running his fingers along the starchy fabric as if it would stop the stinging sensation below it

You rolled your eyes at his theatrics, putting all of the supplies you had used back in the pack, and marched off to start a fire. Thaddeus watched you go, chewing on the inside of his cheek before rising to his feet to follow you.

The fire wasn’t hard to start up on your own—you’d done so hundreds of times before—but Thaddeus’ eyes burning into the back of your head had you on edge. A simple glare up at him had him scrambling, averting his gaze as he turned his body around altogether. It wasn’t long before you had a fire going, and had cooked some of the rations packed in Thaddeus’ bag.

The two of you sat down on opposite rocks with food in hand, the fire between you and illuminating your faces. Thaddeus fiddled with his utensil as silence fell over the two of you, seeming to mull something over in his mind before piping up: “Um… so… how long have you been working with the Brotherhood?”

You debated indulging in his questions as you carefully maneuvered a spoonful of corn under your makeshift mask and into your mouth. “Since I was a kid.” You relented, your voice quiet but firm. “Some knights picked me up off the side of the road when I was twelve or so,”

Thaddeus perked up at the new information. “Oh? I’ve-I’ve been with them for a long time, too, but I… don’t ever recall hearing about you. You… were stationed at the airbase, right?”

You paused, intently staring down at your rations. Should you tell him? The last thing you wanted was to spook him off, and you were not in the mood to warm up to another squire. Your gaze flickered back up to Thaddeus, who was staring at you with a tentative expression of fear that he’d yet again pushed his questions too far.

“I was. Maybe we just never crossed paths. I tended to keep to myself.” You shrugged, shovelling another spoonful of corn into your mouth. “I also didn't stick around for very long. I was maybe… sixteen when the Elder Cleric sent me off-base to train for knighthood.”

That part was mostly true, aside from the fact that you’d just blatantly lied about the two of you not knowing each other. Apparently, the Elder Cleric had seen “promise” in you after your altercation with Thaddeus, keeping a close eye on you until he decided you were cut out to be a knight a couple of years later.

“What? How come you didn’t get a ceremony? Or-or a send-off?” Thaddeus questioned, and now you were kicking yourself for saying anything.

“I did get a ceremony, it just wasn't public,” you grumbled, trying so hard to keep him off of your trail.

Thaddeus furrowed his brows. ”That’s weird.”

“You’re weird,” you fired back nonchalantly.

Thaddeus scrunched up his nose at your response before huffing out a laugh, shaking his head as he prodded at his food. “That makes two of us, then.”

It was your turn to snicker, the sound abrupt and quiet as you tried to hold it back the best you could. Thaddeus still heard it, though, and the giant grin on his face was enough to tell you that.

“I-I’m not weird.” You fumbled to recover, but you knew you weren’t wiping that smug smile off of Thaddeus’ face anytime soon.

“Suure,” Thaddeus hummed, finally taking his first bite of food, “That’s why you insisted on patching up my arm even though you could’ve just stuck a stimpak into it and called it a day.”

You huffed, shaking your head. “Oh, God forbid I take care of someone’s wounds. I didn’t know that giving medical aid was illegal now,” you joked, pulling another giddy laugh from Thaddeus.

You settled into a comfortable silence this time, and that soft smile lingered on your face as you stared down at your rations. This felt… nice. It had been so long since the last time you opened up like this with anyone. The back-and-forth banter was something you missed about being friendly with people, especially when everyone you’d met since taking up the knight mantle either ran in terror or tried to attack you.

As if on cue, Thaddeus jolted as he remembered something. “Oh! You should brand me!” He exclaimed excitedly, causing you to immediately lose any peace you had just gained as you frowned behind your handkerchief.

“Oh, fuck no. Do you even know how bad it hurts?” You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose at the suggestion. Your last squire had insisted on being branded, too. When you had finally relented and gone through with it, he screamed like a little girl and wouldn’t stop complaining about how much it hurt for at least three days afterwards.

Thaddeus put on his best pouty face at your denial. “Come on, it's tradition! To show my devotion to you!” He whined, and an odd feeling holed up in your chest from him saying he was devoted to you. “And I-I’m not officially your squire until you brand me!” Well, at least it was a better reason than your previous squire’s: he had just wanted to show it off to his friends the next time he was on base.

You pushed that worming feeling in your chest aside and glared at Thaddeus, but he didn’t shrink back this time. In fact, it almost encouraged him as he leaned forward with his hands linked together in a pleading gesture. “Please?”

You sighed heavily, unable to say no to his big blue puppy-dog eyes. You set your rations down and dragged your hands down your face before begrudgingly rising to your feet and trudging back over to your power armour. Thaddeus whooped obnoxiously behind you, putting a slight smile back on your face as you stepped into your armour. It whirred back to life as the back hatch closed, and you tested out the arms before walking back over to the fire.

Thaddeus watched intently as you stuck the tip of your hand guard into the hot flames, the metal ‘M’ and the area surrounding it heating up and turning a dangerous red. Once you started to feel the heat through your gauntlet, you pulled your hand back and turned to Thaddeus, who had immediately swivelled around so that you had access to his back.

Your hand wavered as you tried to recall the words of the declaration used for branding. You got it, mostly, and recited the words plainly: ”Thaddeus, it is your most sacred duty to protect the Brotherhood. After which, it is your most sacred duty to protect… me, Knight Mire.” You paused briefly while speaking, feeling like you were forgetting another sacred duty. After a moment of thinking, you still couldn’t recall what it could’ve been. Ah, forget it. If you couldn’t remember it, it was probably dumb anyway. You continued: “Do you accept?”

“Oh, yeah. You bet I do,” Thaddeus chuckled, showing no sign of discomfort or fear. You shrugged at this; maybe it would go better than you thought.

“Okay, hold still,” you concluded before pressing the back of your hot gauntlet to Thaddeus’ back. You jolted when he suddenly let out the most high-pitched scream you think you’d ever heard from him, but you made sure to keep your gauntlet still to prevent fucking up the brand. Shouts and groans spilled from Thaddeus’ lips as his skin continued to sizzle, but he miraculously kept still with deep breaths between each pained noise. You were almost worried he’d pass out from whatever pain he was feeling to have him react this strongly.

“Hold on, hold on, it’s almost done,” you quickly reassured, your stomach starting to flip at the sight and sound of this whole process. Branding was never something you particularly liked to witness. After another second or two, you pulled back your hand, causing Thaddeus to loudly sigh in relief as he fell forward onto his knees. He continued to heave and groan, shakily crawling over to one of the rocks and sitting up against it, careful not to aggravate his fresh brand. He laughed a bit, and when you could finally catch a glimpse of his face, he had the biggest grin stretched across it, which surprised you. It seemed like he… enjoyed it.

Thaddeus reached a hand back to hover over the brand, but he quickly reeled it back when he felt heat still radiating off of it. “Woo, still pretty hot,” he noted, his hand falling back into his lap. He glanced back over to you, his smile never faltering. “Thank you, Knight Mire.”

You were a bit perplexed at Thaddeus’ joyous mood, freezing you in place as you tried to process the fact that he was talking to you. Any squire you had branded previously—in a ceremony or otherwise—would either be still reeling in pain, giving you a death stare, or complaining about how much it hurt. “Um, you’re… welcome? I guess?” You answered hesitantly, stepping back to exit your armour again.

“Man, we need a duo name now!” Thaddeus exclaimed, and before you could protest the dumbest idea you’d heard in months, he had already started thinking aloud. “Thaddeus and Mire, the- umm,” Thaddeus put a shaky finger to his lips, attempting to conjure up a name for the two of you. You promptly rolled your eyes, sitting down and running the idea over in your head before you blurted out:

“Trademark. We’re trademarked.”

Thaddeus paused, looking at you with a puzzled expression before it clicked. “Oh my god, you’re right! TM! We’re the trademark boys, yeah!” He shouted happily, throwing his fists up in the air with a gleeful expression.

You couldn’t help the snort that escaped you at his exclamation. It sounded much more ridiculous coming from him, especially with how excited he was about it.

“What, so we’re like… The Trademark Boys with a TM on top of it? The Trademark Boys trademarked?” You jested, deciding to entertain the incredibly ridiculous thought.

Thaddeus pointed a finger at you, glad that you were catching on. “Exactly!”

“That’s… that's so stupid,” you sighed with a small laugh, shaking your head and pinching the bridge of your nose again.

“No, it’s genius,” Thaddeus corrected with a smirk, shrugging his red button-up shirt back on while making sure it didn't drag against his brand.

You rolled your eyes at him, returning to your half finished rations in a more joyful mood than you think you'd ever been in.

“Whatever you say, Thaddeus.”

27 notes · View notes

themetaphorgirl · 2 months

Text

some days I wanna raise a little something more than heaven

Written for Locklye Week 2024 Day #5: high school AU

AU. Lucy was desperate to get out of the trailer park and when she was offered a full ride art scholarship to a prestigious boarding school in Tennessee she couldn’t say no. She also couldn’t say no to Anthony Lockwood, a rich day student with a monogrammed backpack and the biggest puppy dog eyes she’s ever seen.

aka the southern prep school AU that nobody asked for.

A boy around her own age with dark curly hair and a St. Thaddeus School chess team shirt answered. He frowned at the sight of her. “You’re not DoorDash.”

“No, um…are you Anthony Lockwood?” she asked hesitantly.

The frown intensified. “Me? No.”

Lucy shifted her weight. “Is…is he here?” she said. “I’ve got his history book and I think he has mine.”

The boy heaved a long suffering sigh. “Yeah, that sounds like he would do. He’s here, come on in.”

She stepped carefully into the room. It was larger than her dorm and nicely decorated and organized- orange comforter, stacks of comic books, posters from superhero and sci-fi movies, framed family photos. Another boy lounged halfway off the bed, still in the St. Thaddeus uniform of khaki pants, white button down, and green tie, although his navy blazer was tossed over a chair. He didn’t look up from his phone as they walked in. “Is our food here?” he asked.

“No, Lockwood, I think you stole this girl’s book.”

The boy scrambled up, nearly dropping his phone, and Lucy gulped as his big dark eyes met hers. “Hi,” he said. He raked his dark hair back and it fell right back in place, flopping softly over his forehead. “I’m Anthony Lockwood.”

#lockwood and co #lockwood and co fanfiction #Caitlin writes things #anthony lockwood #locklyle week 2024 #locklyle #lucy carlyle #george karim #jessica lockwood #Celia Lockwood #Donald Lockwood #quill Kipps #quillica #yes I sent them to st. Thaddeus yes I am absolutely bonkers

22 notes · View notes

nickstarking · 3 months

Text

(Slytherin boys random quotes)

Thaddeus Nott: (entering the room holding a candle so he can be seen) Ah, young people! How little shame is this?! I don't want that kind of thing in my house. I'm blind, not deaf.

Theo Nott and Y/N: *are startled when he appears out of nowhere and quickly cover up*

Y/N: Good evening, Mr. Nott! *tries to hide it and then whispers to herself* it's a good thing he's blind and didn't see anything.

Thaddeus Nott: (sits down next to them) You know, today is the anniversary of a very special story that I experienced. (pauses dramatically)

Theo Nott: (trying to be polite) Dad, we're kind of busy here...

Thaddeus Nott: Oh yes! It was in the summer of 1948. There was me and my friend Avery, the one who ended up becoming Voldemort's Death Eater along with me, remember, Theo? (without waiting for a response) Well, we were on an adventure in search of hidden treasure.

Y/N: (interested) Treasure? Cool!

Thaddeus Nott: Ah, but it was no ordinary treasure. They said that whoever found him would have the ability to dance salsa like no one else. Of course, Avery and I wanted to impress the girls at the party, you know?

Theo Nott: Oh, Dad, now is not a good time...

Thaddeus Nott: So, we ended up in a weird cave, full of bats! One of the bats, I remember well, had a little white spot on its chest, it looked like a broken heart. Poor guy, he must have been dumped by a little bat... (sad expression very dramatically and almost crying)

Y/N: (Still curious) and then?

Thaddeus Nott: Then we were about to give up when Avery tripped over a rock and fell into a mud puddle. Then a little man appeared, looking like he knew everything about treasures and Salsa dances. He looked at my friend Alexi and said, "Young man, you're looking for the dancing treasure, aren't you?"

Theo Nott: (bored)

Thaddeus Nott: He said the secret to the treasure was in a lost shoe! A dancing shoe! He told us to follow the stars... but not the ones in the sky, the ones on the ground! And there we went, crawling, looking at the ground like two idiots...

(Several hours later)

Thaddeus Nott: Just a little more, son! So, we followed the imaginary sound of the bells until we found an abandoned cabin. We decided to spend the night there. When we woke up, we realized we had been on the balcony of our own house the whole time! His mother was so angry that she threw all the cookies away. What a waste!

Y/N and Theo Nott: *sleeping soundly*

(A few more hours later)

Thaddeus Nott: And that's what happened. Exciting isn't it?

Y/N: *wakes up abruptly and nudges Theodore to wake up too* it was the best story I've ever heard!

Theo Nott: Yes, wow, exciting.

#harry potter fanfiction #slytherin #slytherin boys #random quotes #nott riddle era #thaddeus nott (theodore nott father)#theo nott #theodore nott

38 notes · View notes

slayerchick303 · 1 year

Text

*SECRET INVASION FINALE SPOILERS*

I just finished Home, and I have some thoughts:

Rhodey was in a hospital gown when he got out of the pod! I swear to all that is holy, if they have him been replaced by a skrull after his injury in Civil War, I will march on Disney headquarters! That would cheapen Tony's death, funeral, and Rhodey's amazing conversation with Sam in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I said I'd freak out if they made the swap previous to FATWS, and I meant it!

Gravik's human face was a man he killed, so I'm assuming the same is true for G'iah. If she is indeed going to be Abigail Brand as leaks have suggested (meaning Abigail Brand is dead), I'm going to be mad! Like legitimately disappointed. Brand is one of my favorite parts of the Astonishing X-Men comics run. I ship her and Beast so hard.

When was Everett Ross swapped? It has to have been after Black Panther because he would've reverted to his skrull form after being shot and/or Shuri would've noticed while healing him. Has a skrull infiltrated Wakandan leadership?! How many? For how long? Because that's BAD. Imagine the havoc skrulls could wreak with Wakanda's resources.

The CGI in this was pretty good. Especially compared to other recent Disney+ titles. That being said, I hate a lot of how they used it. Giving G'iah a huge Drax arm?! Bad choices in multiple ways: A.) the big Drax arm looked so weird as did other things. B.) do they think Marvel fans are too stupid to get what they were doing if they didn't make her arm huge? They should've kept Emilia's arm the same size, only given her Drax's tattoos and skin color at most. We would've understood. C.) the clothing changed too! How does that make sense?

Is Gravik really dead, though? Is Raava? We don't know if Raava has super skrull powers, but Gravik had like EVERYTHING. That seems like it should make him pretty invincible.

How did people not clock how off Rhodey was? There was like an enormous change in his personality. Raava was a jerk!

So, Fury and Sonya only tranqed those secret service members at the hospital. That wouldn't automatically make them revert, right, or every skrull would be outed when they fell asleep. If all those guards were humans, they were legitimately the worst security detail ever. That one guy literally listened to SkrullRhodey pretty much out herself and did nothing. He didn't even warn the president Rhodey was acting uncharacteristically. Every member of White House personale will have to be tested somehow. Maybe check for purple blood?

I really thought Ritson would die at the end. I guess he's just awful (which is unsurprising). I'm glad he won't be president much longer, as Harrison Ford is taking over the role of President Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Brave New World. That being said, part of me worries that President Ross might be even worse than Ritson.

I kind of loved Varra and Fury's ending. It redeemed the awful, "I guess we'll never know moment."

****EDIT:**** I didn't think about this at the time, but I saw someone else bring it up. G'iah has Captain Marvel powers now! Doesn't that mean she should be caught up in the entanglement mess Captain Marvel, Photon, and Miss Marvel are dealing with in The Marvels?! That's an ENORMOUS plot hole. Not to mention, G'iah is ridiculously overpowered now. People complain about how powerful Superman is, and G'iah is so much worse.

I enjoyed Secret Invasion, even if it wasn't the best Disney+ show. The comics are still WAY better. Regardless, I'm looking forward to The Marvels even more now.

110 notes · View notes

dementedspeedster · 5 months

Text

The Thawne family really has such continual issues with love (romantic and familial)/that when it comes to love they continually face issues. It's almost like they're cursed in some way .

A lack of familial love is an issue seen with three Thawnes: Malcom (Cobalt Blue), Eobard (Professor Zoom), and Thad (Inertia). All three of them felt unloved and unappreciated by their own family. And these are three Thawnes of three completely different eras. (Malcolm - 20th/21st Century, Eobard - 25th Century, Thad - 30th/31st Century).

Familial relationships and familial love in the Thawne family also tends to be complicated when you look at Meloni and her relationship with her father, President Thaddeus Thawne. There's clearly a controlling aspect to President Thawne's relationship with his daughter, but it also seems like he does love his daughter.

Also Meloni's relationship with her son, Bart, is also complicated. There's not a lack of love between them as a mother and son, but at the same time the two barely know each other/their complicated situation doesn't exactly allow for them to really have an opportunity to develop their relationship with one another.

Eobard's relationship with his family is bad (he's viewed as a disappointment). He also makes it so his brother Robern never existed.

Romantic relationships/Romantic love for Thawnes don't end up well either considering how Meloni's husband ends up killed. And that in part is due to the fact she fell in love with and Allen.

It might have been a first love/first relationship for Bart, but Carol ending up having to stay in the future after Bart fully realizes his feelings for her is another example of romantic relationship/romantic love not working out for a Thawne.

The same version of Eobard also falls in love, but continual even as he rewrites his life and the life of the women he falls in love with (She starts out with a fiance, Eobard then makes it so her fiance has disappeared, she still doesn't want him, he makes it so she never dated him, she still doesn't want him, he makes it so she has never dated in her entire lief to the point it's like she's cursed (that's the actual word used there), and she still has no interest in him), and he ends rewriting his life to the point he narrates that he has never been in love.

Also to a lesser degree Thad ends up abandoning his first girlfriend and first relationship ever, so chalk up another one to love being complicated for the Thawnes.

There are just so many instances of love not working out for Thawnes. Romantic love and familial love is so complicated and messy for them.

#thawne family #thad thawne #meloni thawne #bart allen #eobard thawne #malcolm thawne #president thawne #thaddeus thawne #Me: It's so interesting when you look at them all.#Thawnes and the theme of love #There's SOMETHING here i think #Hmmmm no full thoughts just a pattern here.#Me: This family is MESSED UP. It's so FASCINATING.#Why are they like this -shakes this whole family tree-#ooc #robern thawne

41 notes · View notes

imaginesmai · 1 year

Text

Once upon a fairy tale - Ubbe Ragnarson (8)

Other parts: Once Upon A Fairy Tale Masterlist

Plot: tragedy strikes when you least expect it.

Warnings: death, blood, detailed descriptions of bodies and killing.

Your body lost all the warmth when you heard the servant, and suddenly you were aware of the storm and the sounds of the castle. Too many people were moving at once, and you didn’t have to think about it twice – Ubbe turned away and you followed him, your dress falling back onto your legs. You left the door open and ran behind Ubbe, quickly overtaking the servant that was screaming the news all over again.

In every hall you passed, there were servants, soldiers and courtiers running or whispering, some of them looking lost.

Everything was blurry around you as you tried to keep up with Ubbe. Even if you were fast, he had longer legs, and you had trouble following him. Only then you noticed the smoke coming from the forest.

“My prince” a soldier with his armor on was in the great hall, kneeling in front of a man with drenched clothes. Something darker than water stained them. “He arrived just moments ago. He claims the hunting raid was ambushed and…”

“What have you seen?” Ubbe grabbed the man by his clothes, getting him on his feet.

The same Ubbe who had beaten that soldier to death was back, you could see it in his eyes. You were as worried as him, and in your stomach, there was a cold stone making its way to your throat, threatening to carry with it any food you had inside.

But, from the both of you, you had always been more reasonable.

So you managed to tear him away from the man, that fell once more to the ground with a broken expression, his eyes full of tears and terror.

“Ubbe” you warned him. Once he was behind you, you knelt down and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “What happened? Where is the king?”

“Dead” he whispered, not meeting your eyes. “The king is – “

“But why? Where is the hunting raid?” you pressed, until he was looking at you and you had his attention. “You can’t storm in here and tell us the king is dead. Were you in the hunting raid? What have you seen?”

“We… the carriage didn’t arrive to the clearing, so Justin and I tried to find them. There was no one there. No one” the man broke into another sob, and you finally saw recognition in his eyes, breaking free from whatever shock he was in. “Someone ambushed the royal carriage and killed them all. At the second intersection. Next to the small hill”

“Are you – Ubbe!”

Before you finished your question, before you could wrap your mind around what he had said, Ubbe turned around and started running again towards the stables. Leaving the broken man and confused guard behind, you followed him.

Something screamed inside you but you couldn’t identify what. Too afraid to think about what he had said, you ran. You managed to match Ubbe’s pace, or he slowed it to yours, and you made your way together to the stables.

It could be true, or it could be the tale of a mad man. If you thought coldly about it, if anyone else had a saying in your next movements, they could warn you about being a real ambush. It wouldn’t be the first or last attempts over any of your heads, heirs of two wealthy kingdoms. Only last year your father had been almost poisoned by a peddler at the market.

But any rational thought was left at the castle when you reached the stables and saw soldiers coming together in a small expedition group. Some of them were yours, other from Mercia. Without an official order from any of the kings, they looked lost.

Briefly, it occurred to you that you didn’t know how to handle an expedition group, let alone a whole army. You could understand matters of wars, could have an opinion, but even if they listened to you, you had no idea.

Thankfully, Ubbe was already trained for that.

“The royal carriage has been described at the hill next to the second intersection, close to the river’s spring” he proclaimed. Every man fell silent and listened. “Sir Thaddeus will lead the first group, follow the town’s path. Sir Jorah, search the forest for any outsiders, take the archers with you. Shoot first. The rest of us will go for the hill”

“Why is she – “

You guessed what he was going to say, but he didn’t finish, because his head left his body before he could finish. The soldier’s head rolled silently and stopped when it hit a horse’s leg, who only kicked it back. Ubbe’s sword, now dripping blood, went back to its shelter as quickly as he had dragged it out.

No one said anything else as their prince moved, taking two black horses and handing you one in silence. He didn’t meet your eyes, and you were glad. If he did, you might had break down right there. Because every second that passed was another unanswered question.

What about king Ecbert? Was he there?

Have you seen my father?

Where is my dad?

Strong rain greeted you when the doors were opened, and now the wet land was being torn to pieces by the horses’ quick strides. Once you exited the castles’ door, two groups of soldiers parted ways. One of them headed to the village, and the other between the tall, dark trees that framed the path your father had taken.

Blinking the first tear away, you ran past Ubbe’s horse.

The forest was wide and dark, even during the summer. People in Mercia only ventured far enough to chase some preys and follow the river, but nothing more. Deep inside the forest, wild animals could end with any man within seconds, and some tribes were rumored to live in the trees.

If those were only tales for bedtime or a real story, Ubbe would never know.

He tried to keep himself focused. After years of assuming responsibilities, he knew how to lead and act without his father. First, he needed to convince himself that it wasn’t his father who was presumed dead. Maybe a patrol, a carriage from another kingdom. Thinking about the royal carriage, his brother Sigurd and his father made him dizzy.

So he rode.

The rest of the horses followed him, but his horse was slowly leaving them behind. The only rider who didn’t disappear from sight were you, always a few steps ahead.

You knew the forest as well as him, having played and climbed its trees many times before. There were two paths to take. The one that lead to the village, that was being searched by other group, and the shorter one, taken by the carriage that morning.

It wasn’t that much of a path, only a clear of trees with many stones and roots to trip on.

“The smoke” you said, your voice swallowed by the rain and wind. “Ubbe, the smoke! It’s coming from the hill!”

“Don’t stop” was his only answer.

As you got closer, you started to notice things that didn’t belong to the forest. A broken, wood wheel. A boot without its pair. A horse trying to breath its last breath, hidden in the bushes. Swords.

A body impaled on a sword.

Then, you reached the second intersection, next to the hill.

Ubbe didn’t let his horse stop before jumping off him, running up the small hill from where parts of a carriage peaked. The royal carriage was filled with silver and gold embodiments, one of the most prized possessions his family had. In that moment, only parts and pieces of it were left.

The rain made it difficult to see and move, but he managed to climb up the small distance between the road and the broken parts of wood and steel. Something scratched his left knee and tore through his pants, drawing blood. He lost his footing and, for a second, he thought he would fall.

Before he could, your hand caught his arm and he balanced against a root, silently thanking you with his head. For a second, you stared at each other.

“Ubbe”

“I know” he whispered, seeing his own fear reflected in your face. “I know”

Ubbe couldn’t distinguish your tears from the rain, and couldn’t tell if he was crying too. He felt as if his heart had stopped beating, his lungs stopped working. Only a few steps separated you from the hill, where something else than wood was burning. Something that he had smelt only a few times, that he didn’t want to remember.

“Don’t stop” he repeated.

Instead of climbing past you or letting your hand go, he gripped your elbow and pushed you forwards.

Ubbe reached the clearing seconds after you, and some twisted, dark part of him would have wanted to be a worse rider, a slower runner. He regretted training his horse to be fast and not falling on his butt while climbing.

Because if he weren’t that good at climbing or hadn’t held any hope of finding survivors, he wouldn’t have been the first one along you to see what was left of your fathers’ carriage.

“Oh, god” he heard you say. From his left, he saw you fall to your knees. “Oh, god”

People always said he looked just like his father, that from all his brothers, he was the most similar. The first body, or what was left of it, was just like his. Wide shoulders, strong arms, long legs. The family bracelet, a silver snake that tried to bite its tail, was attached to the person’s arm, and that was how Ubbe recognized his father.

Not because he could see his face, because where it was supposed to be, was a mess of blood and brains. The warrior, strategic part of him told him a horse had stepped on him. The other part could barely hold it together.

Your sobs and screams were background noise, as well as the rain. There was a fire in the middle of the clearing, bodies and clothes burning.

He stared at his brother’s body, once more, only recognizing him for the bracelet. It wasn’t a horse; it was a man’s doing. On his back with a dozen of arrows in his body, Sigurd started at him with his only eye, the other one gone.

King Ecbert had managed to leave the carriage, or so it seemed. With a sword in hand, he had almost made it to the hill. Only to be beheaded.

The fastest soldiers finished climbing the hill, some of them joining you on your knees, crying and begging. Others were frozen in place. For a long minutes, no one moved, just stared at slaughter of the two kingdoms’ heads.

Want to read more? Check out my side blog @imaginesmaimasterlists, where I keep all the masterlists! Feedback is always appreciated

Taglist:

@66vikings

55 notes · View notes

blueshistorysims · 4 months

Text

July 17th, 1925, New York, New York

The wedding was delightful. It was nice to see people he’d been friendly with years ago. Samson even entertained the crowd with his saxophone. And Thaddeus had not lied about Stella being heavily pregnant. She looked rather uncomfortable—or perhaps she was uncomfortable by the presence of her ex-husband and his new fiancée. As the happy crowd watched the newlyweds slowly dance to the lull of a trumpet and piano, Byron watched the balcony where his former wife stood, staring off into the evening sky.

“I never thought you would be a mother,” Byron said quietly, standing next to her.

Stella barely glanced at him. “I hear you’re a Jew now.”

“You heard right.”

“Then we’re both unlikely things we thought we’d end up.”

He snorted, not in disagreement.

“...Why are you here?”

“Thaddeus invited me.”

“No, I mean—why are you talking to me?”

“I don’t like how we ended things, Stella.”

She laughed without humor. “We have moved on, have we not?”

“I don’t harbor bad feelings toward you or Campbell. …Anymore. And… I want… I would like us to be friends. If you weren’t so close to having a child, I would beg you to be at my wedding.”

Stella swallowed and licked her lips. “You should be resentful. You should harbor bad feelings.” She scoffed. “I was with child when Thomas Walsh died. I had an abortion.”

Byron froze, and everything he had meant to stay fell from his head. “...I beg your pardon?”

“I was pregnant with your child, and I chose to get rid of it. I didn’t want it.”

He couldn’t help his anger and shock, trying to make sense of the information she’d given him. “But you are willing to have a child with Campbell?”

“To have a child in your world? A society where she would be rejected in the spaces of her father’s culture and her mother’s? What cruelty would a child deserve to go through that? Yes, it is true I hadn’t wanted children, but with Campbell…” She sighed. “I’m happy, Byron. I’m happier than I ever was with you. And I think it is the same for you and Miss Balass. We can’t be friends. You lied about your past, and I lied about my love for you. You may have forgiven me, but I have not forgiven you. You forced me into a world I did not want to be in.”

He looked down. “May we at least part as acquaintances?”

Stella was quiet for another minute. “I think so.”

Byron nodded, turning toward the night sky as they stood together in the simmering silence, watching the stars.

19 notes · View notes

coyoteworks · 8 months

Text

#body horror #facial horror #altair #when thaddeus fell #sketches #oc

104 notes · View notes

queeniecook · 5 months

Text

Liberty Lee

Career: Astronaut - Module Cleaner

Romantic Life: Dated Caleb Vatore when she was human. Married to James. Had a huge crush on Travis Scott until he started dating Summer Holiday.

Children: None

Parents: While Liberty is a EA premade sim, She actually has a Mother - Linh Lee.

Other family: Half sister - Annalise Blake.

Interesting Tidbits: Was best friends with Ciara Scott's parents, Travis and Summer Scott. Liberty was there when Ciara was born and was named her Godmother. Despite this, she felt it was better not to go back to them after she was turned. She feared she would kill the family due to her blood lust.

Liberty was a vampire and existing in Asia with Asa and James by the time Travis and Summer were murdered by Thaddeus Laws.

Liberty fell for James as he cared for her and helped her manage being a vampire. Their marriage had been good until they moved to Forgotten Hollow. Now Liberty has realized there's a lot James hasn't told her.

Until recently, she downright hated Caleb. She was the key in James' plan against Caleb. After a talk with him, she's softened towards him slightly.

Liberty finally got to meet her younger half-sister, Annalise. By the time Annalise was born, Liberty was presumed dead. Liberty is making every effort to bond with her little sister.

Having to dress in all black for years, due to James asking her too, Liberty is finally letting some of her own personality back into her wardrobe. She also finally went back to the career she loves.

Life State: Vampire, turned by Caleb Vatore and Asa Blake.

#the grant legacy #generation 2 #sims4 #sims 4 #thesims4 #ts4 #ts4 character profile #liberty lee

10 notes · View notes

seaoftales · 9 months

Note

Thaddeus looked at Shanks for a moment and back at his mother, Kanrya, before speaking "Grandpa Shanks? Is Uncle Ben your sleeping buddy? Like how Papa was Mama or how Kitty is for Mama?". The Ship was silent as those around took in the questions, Kanrya blanched upon realizing what her son just asked while the rest of assembled pirates reacted, Thaddeus remained oblivious to why everyone reacted as they did to his simple question.

Nobody saw that question coming. The entirety of the ship fell completely silent after a plethora of rather interesting reactions.

Benn looked absolutely mortified, the lit cigarette in his mouth falling to the ground, Shanks promptly spitting out the sip of saké he had taken moments prior. Lucky Roux stopped eating, Hongo stared at the boy wide eyed before looking between the captain and his first mate, meanwhile Yasopp, Rockstar and Bonk were wheezing in the background, trying their best not to make a sound while dying from silent laughter. The rest either looked at Shanks, expecting an answer, or looked away, pretending that the sails and floorboards of the main deck were much more interesting than whatever just had happened.

Now Shanks in his day had a lot of sleeping buddies, as Thaddeus had called it, not that he needed to know that, now or ever for that matter, but Beck was most decidedly not one of them.

"I..." There weren't many things that had him reconsider his words several times before speaking. Hell, he never had such questions pop up when Luffy or Uta were Thaddeus' age, and the red hair was rather puzzled as to how to answer or even go about it.

"No. Uncle Benn's not my sleeping buddy. He's my best buddy. He'll always have my back, and I'll always have his, but we're nothing like your Mama and Papa. Or like Mama and--" Oh. There was that, too.

Grey eyes focused on Rya. "Who's Kitty?"

@ryathenaughtykitsune

#ryathenaughtykitsune #𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞 ― red haired shanks #𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤 ― red haired shanks #𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢 ― answered asks

14 notes · View notes

deaf-solitude · 2 months

Text

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 3 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings/Tags: future graphic violence, no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” sometimes too, gun use?, not a whole lot going on in this one

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) SO sorry for how long this took, I was so stumped the second half of this all week, so I just split it in half for now ToT. A bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I figured I’d get something posted. Also shout out to wiki how for teaching me how to teach someone how to shoot a handgun lmao. If it’s inaccurate im sorry, I’ve never handled a gun in my life

That night went well, as far as you were concerned. Once it got late, Thaddeus insisted on taking the first watch, and while you were hesitant, you eventually relented after he started going on a spiel about having to prove himself to you. You slept buried in your sleeping bag and with your face covering on, and were happy to see it was still there when you woke up to take over the watch. Hopefully, he hadn’t gotten curious while you were sleeping.

What you weren’t too happy to find, however, was that you woke up on your own. After a bit of investigation, you found Thaddeus fast asleep on the outskirts of the camp, having slumped over when he drifted off. You didn't know how long he’d been asleep, and you debated waking the man up and scolding him, but you’d rather do that in the morning when he was more or less coherent. So instead, you settled down next to him and kept watch for the rest of the night and early morning.

When he finally awoke as the sun was rising, he almost didn’t realize where he was. It wasn't until he sat up, groggily rubbed his face, and then caught you staring at him out of the corner of his eye did it finally register in his sleep-fogged mind.

He nearly shrieked as he did, stumbling back and nearly falling over again. “Jesus, what the fuck! What are you doing?” Thaddeus exclaimed, putting a hand over his chest to calm his beating heart. You continued to stare at him, and a quirk of your brow finally got the gears turning his head as he deeply frowned.

“Don’t tell me I fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep,” you echoed, crossing your arms as an amused look shone through in your eyes. It was your turn to be the one jumping back when Thaddeus suddenly lurched forward, getting on his hands and knees to bow to you.

“I-I’m so sorry, Knight Mire! It-it won’t happen again, I-I swear!” He cried, squeezing his eyes shut as he expected some sort of scolding or punishment. All you did was grimace, scooting away from him a bit.

“God, dude, don't do that,” you groaned, not sure how to feel about Thaddeus begging for your forgiveness at your feet, “get up, it’s fine. Just… don’t do it again.”

Thaddeus’ head snapped up at your uncharacteristic reassurance, his eyes wide and unsure. “Wh-what?”

You sighed, pushing yourself up from where you were sitting and dusting yourself off. “I said get up. We have shit to do,” you instructed, refusing to repeat what little kindness had peeked through in your words. You stalked off to gather your stuff before Thaddeus could question you further, leaving your flabbergasted squire in your wake. He was frozen in place for a moment, the rocks on the ground still biting painfully into his knees as he watched you start to pack up camp.

You hadn’t punished him. Hell, you’d hardly even raised your voice at him. Thaddeus couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face, and although he was still a little confused at your behaviour, he jumped to his feet once he realized he should probably be helping you.

The two of you ate quickly and packed up camp easily enough, but you stopped Thaddeus before he lugged that pack back onto his shoulder.

“You need this,” you mused, holding up a spare pipe pistol for Thaddeus since it seemed like he had misplaced his other gun in the fight with the dogs yesterday. You saw the rejection on his face before he had even opened his mouth with how he was nervously wringing his hands out.

“Uh, I… I don’t want it,” Thaddeus mumbled, refusing to meet your eye.

Your gaze hardened. “You need a gun, Thaddeus. It’s not a suggestion.”

Thaddeus seemed to get more nervous—or flustered if the pink tint of his cheeks was any indicator—by the minute. “Yeah, well it won't do me much good. I’m a terrible shot…” He mumbled, his brows furrowing. He hadn’t been so averse to using a gun yesterday, so you could only assume he was nervous he would completely miss again in front of you, his knight. You huffed an amused breath out of your nose at the thought.

“You better get practicing, then,” you chirped, shoving the pistol into Thaddeus’ unwilling hands. You were already stepping into your power armour by the time he decided to open his mouth to protest again. He instinctively shrunk back from your seven-foot metal frame as it powered up, his jaw clicking shut as his desire to argue swiftly left him.

You tilted your head at him, a bit surprised at the sudden change in demeanour. Was the armour really that intimidating? You supposed you wouldn’t know since you were usually the one wearing it. He was turning away to grab the pack before you had a chance to tease him about it.

Once the two of you had gathered everything, you were on your way again. You kept your eye on Thaddeus, making sure he could still carry the pack with his injured arm. He seemed to be doing alright as far as you could tell, as chatty as ever, but a quick check-in wouldn’t hurt.

“How’s that arm feeling?”

Thaddeus perked up at your sudden question, a confused expression falling across his face.

“Huh?”

You nodded at his bandaged arm, and he had to look down at it before he even seemed to remember what had happened to it.

“Oh! Pshh, yeah, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” he waved you off, acting as if the injury never bothered him to begin with. You skeptically nodded, trying to pick out any irregularities in his behaviour. It was difficult to discern what was normal for him now since he had been acting so differently compared to when the two of you were younger. After a few minutes, you gave up on figuring out if his arm was still bothering him as he continued to talk your ear off.

Suddenly, Thaddeus hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he debated what he was going to say next. Eventually, he spit it out, nervously stumbling over his words.

“So… um- where are we going?”

He seemed reluctant to bring it up again, seeing as the last time he did, you had basically threatened his life over it. You bit the inside of your cheek, debating if it was worth telling him.

…Fuck, you might as well.

You explained that the Brotherhood had sent you to scout some raider group rumoured to be using post-war tech for… less than moral reasons. The Brotherhood wasn’t exactly sure what they were up to, so that's where the two of you came in.

Thaddeus’ face screwed up in confusion: this is the information you’d withheld from him? “It’s just a scouting mission?”

“You make it sound simple. We have no idea what we’re going up against,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at Thaddeus’ underestimation of your task. “We don’t know how many of them there are, and we don’t know the extent of their tech supply or their knowledge of it…”

Thaddeus seemed to be getting more nervous the more you talked.

“So there’s a chance this could end up being a… a suicide mission?”

You glanced at Thaddeus, furrowing your brows at his immediate thought of death.

“Well the plan is to make it out alive with useful information, so I hope not,” you snorted, “all we have to do is get close enough to scope out exactly what we’re up against, and then we’re out of there. In and out, quiet as hell, that’s it. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Your words seemed to soothe Thaddeus’ nerves, but they had the opposite effect on your own: it would be a problem with Thaddeus bumbling around like a newborn brahmin. You spared another glance at him, watching as he fiddled around with the spare pipe pistol you’d given him. The weapon looked alien in his hands, and he handled it as such, his grip on the gun unsure and stiff. He claimed he was a terrible shot—you’d seen him yesterday with the hounds, you didn't doubt his claim—and it had your stomach churning with worry.

You stopped abruptly in place, Thaddeus immediately on alert as his head swivelled to try and spot danger. “What? What is it? Are there more mutts?” He cried, instinctively backing up so that he was closer to you.

You furrowed your brows, looking down at Thaddeus’ panicked face. “What? No,” you promptly answered, opening up your power armour again to step out. You made sure your face covering was still in place as you stood before Thaddeus, who looked at you with a puzzled expression.

“You said you were a terrible shot, right?” You questioned bluntly, causing Thaddeus’ face to flush.

“U-uh, yeah…”

You nodded, brushing past Thaddeus and unholstering the gun from his belt in the process. Your eyes searched for an easy target out in the barren wasteland, where there happened to be a convenient road sign a little ways back.

“Have you ever even been taught to use a gun properly?” You prodded, turning back around to stare at Thaddeus. He shrunk back under your gaze, a bead of sweat welling up on his temple.

“Of course! I just… um- didn’t pay attention all that much…” Thaddeus practically mumbled the last bit, clearing his throat to try and cover up his confession, but you’d heard it loud and clear. You rolled your eyes; of course, that was one of the lessons he skipped out on in favour of bullying Maximus.

“Great. Today’s your lucky day then,” you muttered, stepping back over to Thaddeus and putting the gun back in his hand. “We’re only spending one bullet on this.”

Thaddeus quickly nodded, still feeling a bit embarrassed that they even had to do this right now. He shrugged the pack off and let it drop to the floor with a thud, stretching his shoulder as it and his back were relieved from the strain of the weight.

You suddenly came up behind Thaddeus, and once he realized what you were doing, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He couldn’t stop his trembling as you took his hands in yours, your chest pressed against his back as you brought his hands up in front of him.

”Relax,” you huffed, but the close proximity of your voice to his ear had the exact opposite effect on Thaddeus. His arms were stiff, his breathing was shallow, and he was trying to keep his face from burning red. You chalked it up to embarrassment, paying Thaddeus no mind as you fiddled with his hands around the gun.

“Make sure your fingers aren’t near the slide,” you chided, moving his fingers down the grip a bit so they wouldn’t get nipped by the slide going back, “and don’t hold on so tight.” You sighed, noting how Thaddeus’ knuckles were practically turning white as the gun shook in his hands.

“S-sorry,” he breathed quietly, audibly swallowing as he loosened his hold a bit and tried to stop his quivering. Aside from the slight shake, he was holding the gun pretty well. That was a good start.

A glance down had you frowning again: his stance was totally off, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he were to fall to his ass from the gun’s recoil. You were quick to knock Thaddeus’ legs further apart with your knee, causing the man’s breath to hitch. You paid him no mind, nudging his non-dominant foot forward a bit too. Thaddeus nearly lost all composure when you slid your hands down his arms, a shiver running down his spine as you adjusted them to give him proper support. This was all seeming far too intimate for him, and much too annoying for you.

“I assume you know how to aim?” You quipped, pulling a scoff from Thaddeus’ lips.

“Of course I do!” He snapped, but you could only chuckle as you watched his ears turn red. Thaddeus proceeded to look down his sights with a determined expression, which was quickly undermined by your hand nudging his up just a touch higher. He glanced back at you with a glare that you were incapable of taking to heart when you saw how red his face was.

Despite this, you were quick to take your hands off of him, backing up with them halfheartedly thrown in the air. “Sorry, sorry,” you mumbled out, an amused smile hidden by your face cover. You crossed your arms as you watched Thaddeus relax a bit now that you weren’t pressed up against his back.

“Remember to breathe,” you reminded him, “and follow through when you fire.”

“What does that even mean?” Thaddeus whined, attempting to slow his breathing now that he had some space.

You rolled your eyes again. “Keep holding the trigger back after you shoot and don’t move your arms an inch. Gives you a more accurate shot.”

“Okay, okay, geez,” Thaddeus muttered, trying to keep all of your tips in order.

“I thought you wanted my help?” You mused, entertained by how frustrated Thaddeus was getting at your nitpicking.

He sucked in a shaky breath, ignoring your remark, before calling out, “C-can I shoot now?”

“Yeah, whenever you’re ready,” you shrugged, sidestepping so that you weren’t behind Thaddeus anymore and could see the street sign. A few tense seconds ticked by before Thaddeus pulled the trigger, a loud bang emanating out and echoing in the wide-open wasteland. Thaddeus’ shoulders jumped at the sound, slightly throwing off his shot, but the quick pinging sound that followed had both of you blinking in surprise.

He hit it.

Just the edge of it, but he hit it.

Thaddeus turned back to you with a grin so wide it genuinely warmed your heart.

“I did it! I actually did it!” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air and obnoxiously whooping in excitement. A display that would’ve originally had you agitated now brought a smile to your covered face, laughing at Thaddeus’ elation.

“You sure did, bud,” you quipped, crossing your arms as a sense of pride welled up in your chest, “really showed that sign who’s boss.” Thaddeus stuck his tongue out at you, blowing a raspberry at your remark and pulling another warm laugh from your throat.

“Alright, alright,” you chuckled, waving Thaddeus off and turning to get back in your power armour, “let’s get a move on. We’ve still got quite a bit of ground to cover.”

Thaddeus holstered his gun once he saw you getting back in your armour, his smile stuck to his face as he watched you. He was trying hard to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that were caused by your laugh; a sound he’d scarcely heard but had already grown attached to. He cursed at himself, his eyes darting away from you as his face flushed softly again. He couldn’t be thinking of you like that, not when he was your squire.

Your garbled voice pulled him out of his stupor, “You coming?”

Thaddeus’ head snapped up like that of a puppy’s, the reddening of his face obvious as he fumbled to get the pack back onto his shoulder.

“Y-yeah, obviously,” he scoffed sarcastically, pulling another chuckle from you. This time he simply couldn’t ignore the fluttering in his chest or the way a smile threatened to break out into his face just from the sound.

You tilted your head as if motioning him to follow you. “Hurry up then, slowpoke.”

7 notes · View notes

neonshrike · 10 months

Text

✍️ WIP Wednesday ✍️

Here’s part of the holiday fic with Brenna where she meets the rest of her paternal family and where I include Bruce’s tragic childhood from the comics.

Tagging @captastra @socially-awkward-skeleton @jillvalentinesday @perpetuagf @shellibisshe @the-laridian @the-lastcall @marivenah @corvosattano @nightbloodbix and anyone else who would like to share!

“Brenna, would you be a dear and get the Christmas tins from the attic?” Elaine asked, rummaging through the pantry for ingredients to bake gingerbread cookies with. “They should just be on one of the shelves.” Brenna nodded her head and went upstairs to the attic, turning on the dim light as she started to rummage through the shelves. The attic was full of all sorts of things, and when she tried to reach the tins, something fell behind her. Brenna turned around to see a small photo album with pictures spilled out, and bent down to pick them up. It was just a few Polaroid photos of a stern-looking man with a mustache, but one picture in particular caught her eye. It was from a previous Christmas, dated 1970. Against a decorated tree, the man stood with the same look on her face next to a woman who strangely resembled Brenna holding a baby. Brenna started putting the pictures back in the album, the front was labeled Brian. She left the picture she was looking at for last, and stared down at it in thought, curious to know who these people were and why they were hidden up here. She had the slightest idea who the baby was in the picture, but wanted to know for sure. Brenna put away the album, then folded the picture and put it in her pocket. She grabbed the tins and left the attic, deciding to get some answers about what she found later. When Elaine and Morris went to bed, Brenna softly knocked on the door of the guest room Bruce was staying in. He told her to come in, and she opened it to see him reading in bed. “Hey, Brenna,” he greeted with a warm smile. “Can I talk to you?” she cautiously asked, a little nervous to show him what she found earlier. He looked at her with concern, wondering if there was anything wrong. “Of course, sweetheart. Are you okay?” he asked, motioning for her to sit next to him. Brenna nodded, sitting front of him on the bed. As she pulled out the picture, Bruce raised an eyebrow, puzzled to see where she was going with this. “I found this earlier. Who are these people?” Brenna asked, unfolding it for him to see. Bruce’s pulse immediately quickened when he looked down, he let out a sigh before speaking. “That’s me as a baby, and those were your grandparents.” Her eyes widened a little and she looked back down at the picture, then back to her father to compare the resemblance between them. “Why were they hidden up in the attic then?” she asked innocently, and Bruce frowned. Part of him knew this day was coming, when she would ask about his side of the family, but it wasn’t easy to explain. “Brenna, that is a very long and very painful story,” he sighed. “But they’re my grandparents, I deserve to know!” she retorted. Bruce was about to try and shut down this conversation, but realized she was old enough and mature to hear about it. She already had to deal with her father being the Hulk, spending half her life without him because of it. “It can’t be any worse than what Grandpa Thaddeus did to you,” Brenna shrugged, and he gave her an unsure expression, those were wildly different experiences but they were both terrible. “Come here, I’ll tell you everything.” Bruce moved over in bed, and Brenna laid next to him, still holding the picture. He looked down at her, softly stroking her hair with a sad smile. “Before I start, you know I love you and I would never, ever hurt you, right?”

#wip wednesday #oc: brenna ross #kyberinfinityocs

13 notes · View notes

the-chosen-fanfiction · 2 years

Text

Jesus | Eyes On Me | Platonic

Dialogue prompt: “The only thing that matters is who you are in Me.”

Requested: Yes

You have always felt like an outcast amongst Jesus’ followers. Jesus reassures you that it does not matter what others think of you, and that perfection is the last thing He requires.

Note: I’m not on the spectrum myself but tried my very best to display it respectfully. If there is anything you think I should change, please let me know!

Laughter reaches you across camp, but you remain in your tent, hunched over your bowl of beads. The necklace you’ve started stringing ever since daybreak is long past its required length and could be looped over five, six, seven times, but you don’t feel like stopping. The familiar wooden texture is comforting to you, and even though you do not see the colours anymore in the low light of the few torches around camp, which causes everything to be a blur of grey and black at this point, you have settled upon a pattern in shape – one big bead, then three small ones, a medium sized one, three small ones again, and another big one.

You continue like that for a while, the bowl becoming more and more empty as you work in silence. Every so often, talking and laughter streams from the fire towards your place, but you do not pay it any mind.

Joining them would make you feel uncomfortable. They already seem to have a great time without you, so you reckon they weren’t missing you to begin with. You’ve learnt to have peace with it. You maintain your distance, not seeing yourself in any position within that group.

Everyone has a close friend they hang out with often. The brothers of Thunder have one another, Simon and Andrew, Nathanael and Thaddeus. Even Matthew has managed to grow close to Philip, despite his social anxiety.

And you? Where does that leave you?

You know that you’re different from them. You’ve always heard it from the children in your village. You’ve always heard it from your parents, from your father, who had you help out in his shop from a young age. And when he passed away and your mother couldn’t keep it up and running, eventually forced to shut it down, you fell into a dark pit, feeling utterly lost within society and within life.

Somewhere in the distance, Andrew barks a laugh as Simon Zee shouts something, earning a cheer from Philip in turn. You jolt at the unexpected sound. With a heavy sigh, you halt in your actions.

Will you ever belong?

A knock on the frame of your tent nearly makes you jump out of your skin. “(Y/n)?” a familiar voice sounds close to the opening flap. It contains no pressure nor hurry, yet Jesus’ voice is always so disarming and warm that you can’t do anything else but respond.

“Yeah?”

“May I come in?”

You are silent for a second. “Yes.” you then say, even though you were more than content in your loneliness this evening. If there was anyone to come and keep you company, you are glad that it is Him.

He moves aside the flap and light streams inside from the fire and the lantern that He is holding in front of His face, a kind smile on his features. “I was already wondering where you were.” He muses, stepping in and closing the tent again to give the two of you some privacy. “Are you alright?”

You shrug and twirl the necklace you’ve been working on around your fingers, fiddling with it so that you don’t need to look Him in the eye. Jesus patiently sits next to you, placing down the lantern before clearing His throat.

“So, I missed you during dinner and now you’re sitting here whilst the rest is at the fire. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

With a small shake of your head, you sigh. “I… I’m not much of a talker.”

“Oh, I know. But sometimes it is necessary to get to the root of things.”

Brow furrowing, you tilt your head slightly to the side so that you can see Jesus from the corner of your eye. “What do You mean by that?”

Jesus hums and takes a moment to formulate a reply. “Something is weighing heavy on your heart. Do not be afraid to share that burden with Me.”

Nothing ever stays hidden from Jesus, you are fully aware of that, and you do not like lying, especially to Him, so you swallow thickly and open your mouth to speak, better to reveal it now than to delay the inevitable.

“I don’t think the others miss me.” The words sounds alarmingly cool.

“Hm. What makes you think that way?”

“Because I’m… Different.”

“Different how?”

Turning your head, you finally dare to look at Jesus, who is giving you an expectant look.

“I think You know that,” you say with a tone that remains respectful. “That I’m different.”

Suddenly, tears sting behind your eyes. You have never cried about this. You never cry in the first place. But Jesus is smiling so understandingly that it almost lures said reaction from you. You avert your gaze, rubbing your neck. A few tears slip out regardless of your battle against them.

“Different how?” Jesus repeats. It is not that He hasn’t heard you, or that He hasn’t understood you. He wants another response than the one you had just given Him.

You think over your answer for a moment. “My mind works in another way,” you state, “They don’t understand me and I don’t understand them. It’s like… We’re speaking different languages. As if we’re not from the same country. I-It’s nothing new, even my mum has just… Given up on me? She doesn’t say it outright, but I know that… That I’m just… I feel like a burden.”

Silently crying, you find Jesus’ gaze.

“And how does that make you feel?” His question stings, for you’re not fond of talking about such emotions. With a dry sob, you take up the necklace you had draped into the bowl and start playing with it again, wrapping and unwrapping it around your fingers, the thin fishing line you had found amongst the supplies digging into your skin.

“It makes me feel sad,” you say through the blur of your tears, “I-I don’t like to talk about it. Can we talk about something else?” You rapidly blink to force back your tears.

Jesus is quiet and stares at you for a minute or so, making you squirm on your spot under his scrutiny. You sniffle.

“I think it is good that you empty your heart to Me. You’re being very brave, (Y/n). I’m going to put my hand on your shoulder, okay?” He queries. You nod, but flinch anyways, although you relax after a moment. “How much do you think this matters in the Kingdom of God?”

Puzzled, you frown, your cheeks feeling raw. “What do You mean, Rabbi?”

“Let me tell you something. Everyone has different talents, different things they are good at. For example… What is Philip good at?”

You bite the inside of your cheek and rub your runny nose on your sleeve. “Hm… He’s good at reciting Scripture. He’s very well-read, very knowledgeable.”

“Right. How about Nathanael?”

You shrug but can’t fight the watery smile. “He’s always brutally honest. It does get him in trouble from time to time, though.” Jesus chuckles at that.

“Right. And Simon?”

“He’s a good leader.” you reply.

Jesus smiles. “And you ?”

Silence. Fresh tears well up in your eyes.

“Do you trust Me, (Y/n)?” Jesus asks.

“Of course I do, Rabbi,” you immediately tell Him without an ounce of doubt in your being. Your voice quivers. “More than anyone.”

He gives a friendly nod. “I know, my Daughter. You know very well who you are in Me. So, I will ask you again. What are you good at?”

“I…” you squint, shoulders slumping. “I… Don’t know.”

“Do you want to know what I see?”

You nod meekly, rubbing your raw cheeks with the back of your hand. Jesus cups your face carefully and inhales. “I see someone who focuses on the differences compared to the others in the group, but that is not what determines who you are. I know you struggle to find a true connection to the others in the group. Trust me when I say that these people will become your friends, but you should first see your own worth. The Kingdom of God requires many different people. If they were all the same, how uninspiring would that be? It would be but a shell of what love could be. No, the Father can use anyone, no matter the circumstances.”

His words make you emotional, so your voice wavers when you ask for clarification: “But what does that have to do with me ?”

There is never reprimand behind His eyes yet you shrink. He thumbs away your tears.

“You’re someone who is unswervingly loyal to Me.” Jesus says, “Your faith is so strong that it will withstand any storm. You are also very honest. That is very admirable about you. ”

Your cheeks turn red and you look at your lap, where your hands are still wrapped up in the necklace.

“What matters is not who you are as an individual, (Y/n),” Jesus says. The words sound odd and you’re about to ask what He means with that, when you realise there is another part to that sentence: “ The only thing that matters is who you are in Me. You find your identity in Me, as do the others. That is what connects you, what brings you together. Try to hold onto that when you go out there to speak to them. You may not understand it yet, but a firm foundation built on Me will bring people together, no matter their differences.”

“I still don’t completely understand,” you say in all fairness.

“That’s okay,” Jesus replies. “The Spirit will eventually guide you there. You will understand with time. You always belong if you trust in Me - you belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. Even if you don’t always feel like it, I will never forsake you. Do not forget that.”

You smile at Him, a bit more at ease. Your fingers relax and the necklace slips back into the bowl of beads.

“Thank you, Rabbi,” you state. “That was very kind of You to say.”

Jesus laughs and opens His arms. “May I give you a hug?”

You accept Jesus’ embrace without hesitation, burying your face into the crook of His neck, whilst He smiles softly. You weep, shoulders shaking, and He holds you through it as you let your pent up sorrow go. It makes place for hope, patience and trust, for it relieves your heart. Jesus doesn’t pressure you and holds you for as long as He needs to, not letting go.

You are the first one to pull away and wipe your face dry, sniffling a few times. “I feel so much better already. I really needed that.”

When Jesus smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkle up slightly.

“Now, on that note, shall we both head to the fire? I believe that Mary has kept some fruits apart for you and Thomas wanted to show you a trick he has learnt.”

Your eyes widen. “They’ve asked about me? I-I mean, okay.”

Jesus stands and takes the lantern before holding out His hand to you so that He can help you up. You follow Him out of the tent, towards the fire, where warmth and careful company welcome you.

#jesus #reader insert #the chosen #the chosen x reader #x reader #fanfiction #chosen x reader #chosen fanfiction #platonic #jesus x reader

89 notes · View notes