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dailyadventureprompts · 1 year

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DM Tip: The Trouble With Treasure/ An Alternate Wealth System

If you’re a player or dungeonmaster who’s at all interested in game design you might’ve noticed D&D’s treasure and economy systems suck. You also might have noticed even if you’re not interested in game design, because the longer you play d&d the more it becomes glaringly obvious that the game doesn’t actually HAVE a treasure and economy system despite pretending otherwise. This is a major problem given that seeking riches is one of the default adventuring motivations, and largely stems from the fact that back in ye-olden days gold was directly related to experience points, so wealth accrued exponentially in line with the increasing cost of levelling up. This is why magic items cost to damn much despite being not only a staple of the genre but absolutely necessary to the long-term viability of certain classes (as I discuss here in my post about gear as class features).

After being cut lose however, nothing was really DONE with gold in d&d from a gameplay perspective: Treasure generation largely fell to dm discretion or random tables, and the useful things a party could buy steadily shrunk to the point where characters could be stuck with their starting equipment for an entire campaign. “Too much gold and nothing to spend it on” became one of the major criticisms of d&d 5e, but only touched on the problem that without something worthwhile to spend treasure on the party has less and less reason to venture into the dangerous unknown, take dodgy contracts, or perform any of a half dozen other plot beats that make up traditional adventuring.

The system likewise breaks down once you pass a certain threshold of wealth, or once you try to model larger economic activities: divvying up a lockbox full of dungeon plunder to reequip your heroes before launching out on the next mission works great for the first couple of levels, but completely falls apart when you're dealing common enough story tropes such as running a business, transporting cargo as merchants, or caring for the estates around a castle.

What I propose is splitting d&d’s economy into two halves: Wealth, which represents the piles of GP and other coins the party carries with them, and Resources, more abstract points which chart how plugged in the party is to local systems of production, trade, and patronage.

If you’d like an explanation of how these systems work, and how they can improve your game like they improved mine, I’ll explain both of these mechanics in detail below the cut, as well as subsystems that let your party open businesses, operate estates, build castles, and make a living as merchants.

Wealth: I wanted to limit the amount of money my players kept with them without instituting an encumbrance system that might drag things down. Instead I wanted to rely on a more “common sense” method of tracking wealth, and get them thinking about their stores of gold as a physical object rather than a nebulous point pool they can dip into.

Conveniently, every character starts play with a coin pouch, which can hold up to 300gp (about 6 pounds). I use this as a “soft cap” for how much money a character can be expected to be carrying around with them, not including jewellery or small valuables like gems.

Theoretically a person could have more than one coin pouch, carry their wealth around with them in a chest (15,000gp) or a cartoon sack with a dollar sign on it (1500gp), but this becomes increasingly cumbersome and provides a greater and greater chance that the party will be targeted by thieves. I don’t need to add any more mechanical crunch to this factor, I just inform the party “ hey, you look like you’re carrying a lot of money, better be careful going forward” and plan my encounters accordingly.

Instituting this cap likewise prevents gold from losing all meaning once the party is high enough level to have found their second or third treasure hoard. Sure, they might be living it up in an aristocratic lifestyle back home, but when it comes to set out into the wilderness they suddenly have to think of GP as a resource along with spellslots and hitdie. Getting robbed, forced to give bribes, or simply losing their coin pouch suddenly becomes an actual threat to them regardless of level.

Resources: The party has a pool refereed to as resources, representing their holdings, relationships with patrons, and personal enterprise. The party’s total resources are pooled, and are represented on a scale from 1-50.

Every week, provided they have contract with their economic network, each member of the party party receives earnings equal to 12.5 gp x (the party’s total resources) representing them drawing a living from the connections they’ve already made (working a trade, doing odd jobs, getting payouts from investments)

In order to obtain a new level of wealth, the party must either invest 500gp per point of wealth they which to obtain into a new or ongoing business project (either their own, or that of a trusted contact). Alternatively, the party can get their resource pool boosted by forming agreements with tradesfolk or wealthy patrons, who may grant the party such agreements out of friendship or as part of a reward for doing quests. Resources are recorded with a number beside them, representing how much of the party’s total resource pool they represent. This is so that if something happens to jeopardize that resource, the party knows exactly how much of their earnings are up in the air.

For example, a party that saves a merchant captain from pirates early on in their adventures might be rewarded with a share of her ship’s takings, gaining 1 point of resources. In the future, they may pour some of their adventuring loot into her business, increasing their total amount of holdings with her to 6, and their weekly payout to 75gp. If that captain and her ship were then lost in a storm, those resources would be frozen, halting the party’s payouts and encouraging them to discover just what it was happened to their friend as the base of a new adventurehook.

Buying against Resources: D&D is weird in that it prices magic items, ships and castles like they can be bought off the rack, when in any pre-industrial society most “new” things would have to be constructed from scratch with labours and artisans paid a steady amount over months or years until the thing was complete and then delivering it directly into the hands of the one who commissioned them. Sure a weaponsmith or apothecary would likely have a storeroom full of items to sell to clients walking in off the street, but shipyards aren't spending years churning out galleys to leave them waiting for a buyer like a used car lot.

Because plenty of games involve at least a section where a party might establish a fortress, fix up a ruined estate, or commission a magical artifact, it helps to have a guideline: Find the base price of the item, chop it in half if the party or one of their business contacts can source the resources (or if they’re fixing something that’s broken) Next they need to pay for labour, “reserving” points out of their own resource pool to hire on workers and supplementary materials, divide the item’s price by (500x the number of resource points the party is willing to spend) to find how many months it’ll take for the item to be finished. Note that during this time, the party’s effective resource score is reduced by the amount they’ve reserved. This makes it possible for a mid level party to start refurbishing their dream castle early, rather than having it simply poof into existence once they’re too high level to really get use out of it.

Ongoing Services: Rather than worry about keeping track of hirelings, or a number of other factors, I let my party reserve points off their resource pool indefinitly to retain the services of NPCs. Each “holding” the party has (buisness, ship, estate) likewise requires one resource kept in reservation for general maintenance, unless the party want to take a month off and maintain it themselves.

A party that owned a tavern then might reserve one resource to maintain their establishment , another to pay for the staff, and begin to think about hiring on some guards for a third as something is causing fights to break out more frequently.

Another party which owned a pirate ship, they’d reserve one resource to maintain the ship, another to pay the crew, and a third to bribe the harbormaster who looks the other way when they bring unsanctioned goods into harbor. After hearing about their big score however, their corrupt contact asks for yet another resource worth of bribes, potentially stretching the party’s resources a bit thin.

Using Resources to be a merchant: If pirates come up often in this post it’s because I drove myself half mad several years ago trying to run a skyship campaign, and the logistics of hullspace v supplies v the staggering price of trade goods v market demand drove me up the wall. I lacked a simple system that would let my party FEEL like they were high-risk traders without having to slow the game down with accounting. Here’s my Alternative: there’s a special type of resource called “goods” connected to caravans and trade vessels, which can be expanded like any other. At the end of every month who’s ever in charge of that venture (Player or npc) makes a mercantilism roll ( possibly charisma, possibly wisdom, + some relevant proficiency) for each of those goods based against a DC set by the dm regarding how good trade is doing in that region. If it’s a success, the markets are flowing, and the goods rating goes up by 1. If it’s a failure, they go nowhere, as no profit is made. If they fail by 10 or more, those goods loose one point due to bad investment, and if they succeed by 10 or more, the goods double. When the party receives their payment, they can chose to cash out for 500gp per point of good, possibly then reinvesting in the venture.

#dm tip #dm tips #dm tools #writing advice #Merchant #caravan #pirates #dm advice #the loot overhaul

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teyamsatan · 1 year

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Illicit Affairs | Chapter IV: Evermore

Pairing: Neteyam x Human/Avatar!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: You and Neteyam both have to navigate a lot of painful memories on your first day in a new body

Warnings: angst, mentions of death, descriptions of ptsd flashbacks, cursing

Word Count: 6,2k words

A/N: Chapter 4 is the longest chapter I have written so far. There's definitely some fluff in there and some light hearted, beautiful moments, but it's also the darkest chapter I have written so far. There's some heavy stuff in there, so please read with caution! I wanted my characters to be well rounded and for there to be a good reason for every action they take; why the reader is a recluse, why Neteyam behaves the way he does, and why he left. There's layers to their story that will be unveiled through memories from both the main characters, so I hope you stick around to see where I plan to take this story <3 I never expected people to like it so much, and I hope you guys like what I have planned!

"I replay my footsteps on each stepping stone Trying to find the one where I went wrong And I couldn't be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar That this pain would be for Evermore"

“Am I allowed to be here?” Neteyam says, carefully taking in the new environment that he’s never wondered through before. It was small and dark, his eyes needing a second to adjust to the contrast from the bright neon orbs that illuminated the hallways. His nose scrunched up, trying to assimilate the smell, and realised it just smells like you.

“Who is going to stop you?” you laugh, and the sounds reverberates through his body and settles deep in his soul. He’s heard this sounds countless times in the 14 years he’s known you. It never ceased to amaze him.

You take off your Converse shoes and throw them carelessly to the side, jump on the bed and reach for the light on the other side of it, sitting on the bedside table. The lamp turns on and Neteyam finds himself having to adjust to the brightness once more. He settles on the chair that was accompanying a small messy desk, filled with papers, books and electronic tablets that had something you called a graph on it. The words “cell viability” were written on top of it, but Neteyam didn’t know what that meant, so he turned his attention to the many, many books that were displayed on the shelves above the desk.

He’s seen some of them before, some of them multiple times, as you did seem to have your favourites. He picked one up he recognised. It was called Pride and Prejudice and Neteyam assumed it was written by a person named Jane Austen. He knew you loved this book, but he’s never asked why.

“I love that one…” you started.

“I know” he says in Na’vi. “I just don’t know why.”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. My mum read me paragraphs from it growing up, and it’s just a book that brings me comfort. I’ve read it so many times, I’ve memorised it, so it’s like a blanket. It makes me feel safe.”

“What is it about?” Neteyam probed further.

You thought about it for a second.

“It’s a story about two people who come from different worlds, and their journey of understanding each other and overcoming their feelings of, you guessed it, pride and prejudice towards one another and towards each other’s world.”

He sat with this new information for a while. “So like us?”

“Mmm, I don’t think it’s like us at all. I think it’s more about my mum and dad, or at least I think my mum thought of her and dad when reading it.”

Your words upset him, he realises in slight surprise. He looks at your figure sprawled over the bed looking up at the ceiling above you in contemplation and feels a pang of hurt as he considers the fact you didn’t think of him when reading a book so close to your heart.

“I have a quote from another book that reminds me of you, though.” Almost as if you read his mind, you turned your head towards him with a smirk and raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t look at you, a small pout erupting from his lips without meaning to. You laugh at him and smile endearingly, softly shaking your head.

You jump from the bed, slightly wincing when your left leg registers the action, and click your tongue at him so he can move from where he was sat. He obliged and found another spot on the bed, which was now emanating the warmth of your body, and he slowly touched the blanket as if trying to commit the feeling to memory. You climbed on the chair with another small wince and found a book on the uppermost shelf. You jumped from the chair straight on to the bed and fell next to him.

Patting the spot next to you, you signalled for him to lie down. He did, although his legs were completely off the bed, the tiny contraption barely able to accommodate his torso. You let out a small laugh, but seemed happy to have him so close.

You placed your head on his chest, and he prayed you couldn’t hear the way his heart felt like it was trying to escape his ribcage at your proximity and warmth. You opened the book and looked for the quote.

“Ah, there is it.” You cleared your throat, then continued. “He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

“Get the fuck out of my room, Neteyam.”

You had just finished washing the day off when you heard a small knock on the door. Still reeling from the fight, it was taking everything out of you to muster up the strength to open that door and deal with whatever was waiting on the other side. With a deep sigh, you did so anyway. It was surprising for you to find Jake peering at you from the other side of the open door, a curious look on his handsome face.

“Hey kid. We’re going to get going now. I just wanted to talk to you for a second before hand. Can I come in?”

You hesitated for a second, then moved so he could enter.

“So..” He started awkwardly. “I don’t really know how to do this.” You saw his left hand reaching behind his head and scratching his scalp with a small laugh.

His eyes drop to a little package he was holding, wrapped in the same sort of cloth as the other gifts had been. He didn’t look at you as he spoke.

“Your mum gave me this, a couple of weeks before she passed. She asked me to hold on to it and give it to your on your 18th birthday.”

Your breath stopped in your lungs. He peered at you with a sad look and handed you the little box. A small video camera, like the ones used to record the Avatar program video logs was now resting peacefully in between your hands.

“I hope whatever’s on there will give you some peace of mind, kid. I know life’s not been kind to you, but it’s time… time to move on, you know?”

He got up from his spot on the bed and silently made his way out of the room. “See you tomorrow?”

With your back to him, you gave him a nod, and with that, he was gone, closing the door behind him.

You stood like that, in the same position, with the camera in your hand for a long enough time that your left leg was starting to ache, an ache that eventually overtook the one in your soul and with that, you took the camera and the bracelet you removed from Neteyam’s hands and shoved them both in the bottom drawer of your desk. “Pandora’s box.”, you thought to yourself, with a bitter chuckle.

You woke up with a groan, and the meanest headache known to man. Yesterday felt like you did in fact have the biggest party this world has ever seen, and the hangover to match. You scrambled out of bed, still in the dark, and searched on top of your desk for the little bottle of Ibuprofen you keep for days just like this. Today’s the day…

Norm enters your room quietly, and is surprised to see you up already. “So nervous you couldn’t sleep?” He says with a tentative smile.

“Something like that.”

“Hey…you’re happy about this, right? Tell me we haven’t done this for almost a decade for no reason, cause you know, we can’t just give someone else the Avatar.” he says, with an uncomfortable chuckle.

“I’m happy, Norm. It’s just a lot to take in, you know? A lot is going to have to change, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t tend to do well with change.” you response, laughing to yourself.

“Yeah, me and Max worried about that, but, Ace… you have weathered every storm life’s thrown at you like a champ and I think beyond this great unknown lays a future so bright it will be able to make this planet shift on its axis.”

You throw your head back and laugh loudly, “Wow, that’s a lot of trust right there. I’ll try not to disappoint.”

If only Norm knew… knew how you have not been able to brave any storm, and how the storms, in time, turned to tornadoes and then hurricanes and then bigger hurricanes and all you’ve done your whole life is just move further in to the middle of the shelter hoping that someday they’ll just go away by themselves and when they do, there’s still some walls, any walls, surrounding you.

You put some of Grace’s old workout clothes on and made your way to the Avatar room and properly looked at it, probably for the first time in your life. You used to love coming here as a kid, looking at the scientists in their link pods, at your mum in hers, sitting in Max’s lap and watching the brain activity, bombarding him with questions with answers you couldn’t’ possibly comprehend yet. You’ve moved away from that fascination in time. Now here you stood, about to get your own linkpod and your own brain activity analysed. You peered in the room next to it, where on a big flat metal table lay a blue body, and you couldn’t help yourself from moving closer until your breath was so close to the window in was fogging up the glass. You placed a hand on the cold glass and stared at the new you, and a small smile appeared on your face. It was beautiful, more so than you ever thought your human form to be. Your heart picked up pace in your chest and you were shocked at the realisation that the nerves that you thought only reflected fear and anxiety, also reflected excitement.

“It’s time.” Max said from somewhere behind you.

You turned and made your way with timid steps towards the linkpod. You climbed on it and the feeling of the green malleable foam woke up a memory inside you, that you fought to push back to where it came from. Now’s not the time. It was cold on your arms and thighs as you lay in it, but weirdly comfortable, like what you would imagine water mattresses you saw in old Hollywood movies to feel.

Max placed a metal frame of sorts on top on your own and spoke slowly. “Okay, you know the drill, Ace. You have to relax and let your mind go blank. You will be disoriented when you wake up, so take your time in there and don’t rush. Please don’t do a Jake.”

You chuckled at the story you’ve heard one too many times, but never seemed to get tired of it.

“We will have to run tests to make sure everything is in order. This is new territory for all of us, and we don’t know how the Avatar will behave yet, so we will take our time and do it right.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

You did as you were told and found it hard to relax and let your mind go blank when it was running a million miles an hour with so many emotions, so many thoughts and worries. Still, with all your might, you sat there, and cleared your mind for a split second. It was enough.

You woke up like from a dream, feeling groggy and tired. Your muscles hurt, a lot. You winced slightly at the gentle touch of a hand, which felt like that time you touched the inside of an electrical socket and got slightly electrocuted. You felt clothes clinging to your body and hated the way the synthetic fabric felt against your skin. You took your first breath and your nose crinkled in disgust at the overbearing smell of alcohol and chloride.

“Ace? C’mon kid, there you go, you can do it.”

You finally opened your eyes and groaned at the intense light on the ceiling. Your eyes took a while to focus, but when they did, you saw Norm staring back at you with a smile.

“Hi.” you said, with a deep frown and groggy voice. This was overwhelming.

“Hi back! Take it easy, alright? Me and Claire will runs some tests to make sure everything’s a-okay. It will take about an hour, I know this whole experience can be a bit strange in the beginning, so hopefully this will ease you into it.”

Norm was a man of his word, and after about an hour of wiggling every part of your body, touching your fingers to your nose, remembering names of objects and repeating it to them, among other things, you were ready to go. You realise to your surprise that you’re excited about going outside. You couldn’t stand the sensation overload that came with being in this lab, in this body. You stood up gently and removed the chords that were still attached to you. You turned around to look at the glass that was reflecting your new figure back at you, and found yourself at a loss for words for the millionth time in 24 hours. It was such a strange feeling, and you knew it would take you a while to get used to looking in the mirror and be met with this. You smiled and waved, knowing Max would be watching you from behind the glass, even though you couldn’t see it.

Norm handed you a bag, and you peered inside to find a beige loincloth and the top Neytiri gifted you yesterday. “Go change, I think you’ll feel better in these.”

You did as you were told. Removing the white hospital garb you had on, you looked at yourself fore the first time, properly looked. You were tall. Very tall. And skinny, very skinny. Lean was probably a better word for it, as you couldn’t see an ounce of fat anywhere on your body. You started poking your body in different spots and let out a small laugh at the feeling: it felt like touching soft metal. You were strong. The thought made you happy. You looked again in the mirror at your face. Big yellow eyes looked at you curiously. They traced your nose, and your plump lips and your white freckles, beautiful like the night sky. Your eyes settled on your hair, long and soft and dark and your arm reached behind you to bring your braid into focus. You lifted it and looked in awe at the queue and the way the tendrils were moving on their own accord. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins like water breaking apart mountains to make a canyon of your mind.

Neteyam’s words suddenly broke through. “You’re not going to make it.”

Adrenaline turned into rage and you hated it, hated the boy in that moment. Hated the effect his words had on you, even after so much time. You dressed slowly and tried to make sense of the “top” Neytiri gave you. Once you put it on, you looked back in the mirror and loved the way it looked on you. You also had a newfound appreciation for the soft feel of the feathers and the beads, and took note of the contrast between it and the unnatural feeling hospital gown you were in a few minutes ago. If it wasn’t for your eyebrows and your five fingers and your soft, straight hair, you wondered if anyone could be fooled into thinking you are, in fact, Na’vi.

“You know nothing about the real world.”

Dropping the clothes in the bag provided, you took one last look at yourself and saw something in your eyes that wasn’t there before. Determination. The sick, stubborn determination that has always made you push out all reason as soon as someone tells you you can’t do something.

“Tell Norm no.”

You left the room smiling. You will make him eat his words, and you will enjoy every minute of it.

You reached for the mask packs by the entrance and dropped your hand. You will never have to wear that damn mask again, you thought with satisfaction. As you stood outside, it felt again like emerging in your avatar body for the first time. So many sounds, colours, sensations flooded your being and you couldn’t even register the voice yelling your name until the person that spoke it took you by the shoulders. You hissed at the sudden contact and it shocked you. Where did that come from?

“Angel, you there?”

“Give her a second, Lo’ak. This is bound to overwhelm her and you yelling at her isn’t going to speed up the process.”

“I can’t believe she just hissed at me.”

The world slowly seemed to settle around you, and you focused you sight on the boy in front of you… the boy who was now your height.

“Lo’ak?”

“Hey, you.” The younger Sully boy gave you a big smile and eyed you intently up and down a few times. “Damn, you’re hot this way, too. This is unfair, you know? But also somehow makes me feel better that it turns out I’m not into a different species altogether, just one girl.”

You laughed, really laughed. Lo’ak was a charmer, another one of the many many traits he inherited from his dad.

“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.”

“Ouch.” You knew he wasn’t really offended, so you blew a kiss towards him and shifted your attention to the world, that you realise you have never seen before. Not properly. Its beauty left you speechless. You don’t know how you were supposed to function when all you wanted to do is just walk around, smelling the flowers.

“We have to get going, you’re going to start your training today, and your new boss is not going to be happy if you’re late.”

“My new boss?”

“Yep. Neteyam has been given the tough job of taking your lab ass and turning it into a Na’vi warrior. I have to say, I don’t envy him, and I definitely don’t envy you.”

“Lo’ak, shut up.”

Well, this is going to be fun… You had a hunch Neteyam would have to train you, as Lo’ak is too young and restless and cares about the rules too little, or not at all, to do it, but hearing it as a fact made you shudder. You haven’t spent a whole day with Neteyam in years, and you didn’t particularly care for this new-and-improved version of himself. You wondered silently how this was going to go. If the last two interactions are anything to go by, you were not in for a happy time.

“Lo’ak should be here any second. I want you to start training her right away. Maybe start with the Pa’li first, and do bow training when that gets too much. You won’t really have to teach her the language, but try to make sure you talk in Na’vi more than in English, and this way you’ll see if there are any gaps in her knowledge and address them. Neteyam, are you listening?”

The oldest Sully sibling was only half paying attention to what his dad was telling him. In truth, he was scared half to death. He didn’t want to do any of this. This is not how any of this was supposed to go. He couldn’t be around you. He didn’t want to be around you and he most definitely didn’t want to have to teach you the ways of the Na’vi and have to put his own training and responsibilities aside for this. He has already had to teach Lo’ak whenever his parents had better things to do and he was getting so fucking tired of being used as soon as it was convenient for other people.

He pushed the bitter feelings aside. His parents relied on him for a reason, he tried to remember. They relied on him because they trusted him, and because he fought hard to be worthy of that trust. He had no right to complain, not when he knew how much worse it could be… for better or for worse, at least he had parents to rely on him. The thought made him sad, and he felt guilt at the words he spat at you yesterday. He knew they were for the greater good, but he also knew they crossed a line, a line that he might not be able to cross back from.

He didn’t have time to think about the consequences of his actions, as he heard a yell that pulled him out of his thoughts and he knew it was time to come face to face with his worst nightmare.

“We’re here!”, screamed Lo’ak, and Neteyam suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at his immature younger brother.

He made his way outside of the tent, picking up his knife and placing it on the sheath resting beneath his chest. He took a deep breath, one that got lodged in his throat.

Next to Lo’ak was a girl. The most beautiful girl he has ever laid his eyes on. Her stripes were somehow more accentuated than normal, and they reminded him of his own. It was something he was insecure about growing up, the deep contrast something his friends and even family teased him about relentlessly, but now, looking at it on her, he realised they were blind - he was blind - to have ever hated them. Her eyes were now yellow, a big departure from her human eyes, and although it was strange, just like the rest of her, they still felt familiar to him. Like no matter what body she inhabited, her soul would always shine through, always calling out to him like a moth to a flame. He knew then he’d always feel like this about her, for the rest of his life, no matter what she looked like. Fuck.

“Look at you, kid! You look like you belong already!”

Jake’s voice cut through the tension that you felt sitting here, being eyed at like you were a new cub at the zoo. The stares made you so uncomfortable you felt like you were going to explode, and could not wait until this was no longer a novelty to anyone, including yourself.

“Thank you, Jake. For everything. I cannot express how grateful I am that you and Neytiri, and the tribe, are so willing to accept me in the village.”

“No problem, kid. Anyway, we will have plenty of time to discuss everything tonight at dinner, but for now I think you and Neteyam should head off. There’s a lot to learn.”

“Right.” You turned around and gave a half-smile to Lo’ak, who looked at you like you were a deer in headlights. Maybe you did look how you felt.

You bid a small goodbye to everyone and suddenly found yourself face to face with the only person you didn’t want to see.

He started walking without saying a word, and you followed him. You refused to say anything to him, there was nothing to say to him after yesterday. Before yesterday, you might have demanded an explanation, you might have demanded he told you what happened to him in the year he abandoned you, what lead to him leaving without a single word, how dare he forget about what he meant to you and what you knew you meant to him, how could he just forsake you like you were nothing; you would have screamed at him and told him you hated him without meaning it and hoped he would just hug you and told you he’s sorry, that he was stupid and that he’ll never leave you again. None of that came out. You were past that. He crossed a line and you knew it in your mind that no explanation would be enough, no excuse would justify his behaviour enough to satisfy you and make you forget. Not anymore.

His back was to you as he was leading you away from the Sully tent, and for the first time in your life, you saw him for what he was. A leader, a warrior. He was lean and muscular, and his physique reminded you a lot more of Jake than a Na’vi man’s. His shoulders were broader and his arms were bigger, leading to a more accentuated contrast between them and his waist, and you hated yourself for how it made you feel, how your mouth filled with saliva you had to force yourself to swallow and how your pulse increased so rapidly it almost made you dizzy. He was taller than you, taller than Lo’ak and you knew that even in this body, he would still tower over you. You definitely hated how that made you feel.

He stopped at the entrance to a tent. He opened the flap of the entrance and motioned for you to enter. You obliged without a word. He followed you in and closed the flap behind him. You didn’t like being in such close proximity, but you knew you’d have to get used to it, so you let it go.

“This is now your tent. Mum and Dad thought you would feel more comfortable with your own space. They also thought you’d like my old training bow. There’s a pouch for your knife that you can put around your torso and I have the knife, but I won’t give it to you until I make sure you won’t kill me with it.”

As far as an attempt to diffuse an awkward situation goes, this wasn’t half bad. Still, not nearly good enough to matter. He sighed at the lack of response.

“Right. I think we have to get a few things straight.”

Your eyebrow raised, but you let him go on.

“I know you’re mad. I know you’re so mad you’re probably thinking of ways of sticking needles in my eyes. But I don’t care. I was given a responsibility to take care of you and to teach you. I know you think you know everything, but you don’t. I know you think you know this world, but you don’t. Not in the way you need to, to survive. There’s a reason no scientist living on Pandora has ever become one of the people. You can’t see. As my grandma always says, “you cannot fill a cup which is already full”. I know you. Your cup is overflowing. From now on, you do what I say. Pretend you don’t know me, pretend we’re not you and me.”

“I don’t know you, Neteyam.”

He winced inside at the words. “That’s enough!” He said, forcefully.

“You answer to me from now on and I want to make sure you understand that. Dad will skin me alive if anything happens to you. You will listen and you will do as I say. Whatever issues you have, you’re going to have to deal with them in your own time.”

Another blow below the belt, you thought, and reminded yourself that you were here for a reason, you were here to make him eat his words, and if he wanted to play his game this way, you were more than happy to beat him at it.

“Yes, Sir.”

You made your way out of the village and walked in silence through the woods. You were looking at the bow in your hand, and carefully traced every mark and scratch on its surface. You couldn’t help wonder about what events in Neteyam’s life lead to each and every one of them, and vowed to yourself that you would take care of this bow with your life, if not for anything else, for the still untarnished memory of that little boy you once loved so much. Once you reached a large clearing, with beautiful lush greenery and a majestic waterfall, you thought this was definitely a much better view for training than the reagent-filled benches of the lab. You saw about half a dozen Pa’li peacefully feeding off the sweet nectar of flowers in the distance, and smiled gently at the sight. You will never get used to it, you knew.

“First step to being a Na’vi, learning to form Tsaheylu and learning to ride the Pa’li.” Neteyam spoke in Na’vi over the soothing sounds of the forest.

“OK.” You answered shortly.

“In Na’vi. We speak Na’vi from now on.”

“Kurkung (asshole).” Neteyam shoots you a dirty look and you can’t help but smirk. “What? That’s Na’vi. Perfect pronunciation, by the way.”

His mouth tightened in a straight line and he left you, busying himself with a Pa’li he called over. He caressed it gently and held his hand next to his eye, whispering.

“Tam tam, Tirea, tam tam.”

“Get on.” He spoke to you still looking at the Pa’li.

Even in this body, the direhorse was significantly taller than you, and you shot Neteyam an incredulous look. Regardless, you made your way to the animal and with all of your might, willed yourself to get on top of it. It took a couple of tries, but you eventually succeeded. You were stronger than you realised, and you were excited to discover exactly how strong you could become in time.

Neteyam gently took the neural whip of the direhorse and guided it to you. You took it in your right hand and stared at it in amazement. You have heard so much about this, you have seen it firsthand with Neteyam’s Ikran, but to know you will now have to make your own Tsaheylu, experience this deep bond you knew everything and yet nothing about, it was terrifying. You left hand went behind your head and brought forward your own queue. This was it. Slowly, you brought the two together, and held tightly on to the Pa’li as the new sensation overwhelmed all of your senses. It felt like all of your neurons were firing at the same time. It felt like you were being electrocuted. As the feeling subsided, you felt a breath that was moving at the same time as your own, you felt a second heartbeat that was going much faster than yours possibly could, and you tried to calm yourself down as you knew the nervousness the animal felt was mirroring your own. Neteyam allowed you a second to experience this for yourself with no interruption, and you appreciated that. He trusted you enough to give you some space, and with everything, at least this hasn’t changed.

“This is Tsaheylu. The bond. Take some time to feel her, feel her heartbeat, her breath. Feel her strong legs. You can tell her what to do, inside your mind. Remember that as you can feel her, she can feel you, too. Your emotions impact her, your thoughts impact her, so you have to calm your mind.Easier said than done in your case, I fear.”

You felt your anger pick up and the Pa’li let out a scream and rose on its hind legs, throwing you straight in the dirt. Neteyam laughed, but came to help you get up. As you were removing mud from your face and hair and cursing all manners of profanities under you breath, you came to the bitter realisation this was going to be harder than you thought, especially with him as your teacher.

He still knew you too well. You slapped his hand away and got up by yourself, indignantly. You jumped back on the Pa’li and tried your very, very best, to calm yourself before making the bond. The horse didn’t react as violently as last time, so you figured you were off to a better start. You calmed your mind as much as you could, like you did in the linkpod, and imagined her slowly moving forward. You smiled when she did just that, no words needed. It was hard to be able to maintain your composure when you were LITERALLY mind controlling another living being, but despite it needing active continuous effort, you felt you were doing a good job. You managed to make her go, sprint, gallop and turn, and despite the direhorse’s best efforts, you were somehow still tightly attached to its back.

After a couple of hours, Neteyam told you to get off. He told you to follow him, and he took off, not sparing you a second glance. You followed him the best you could for a while, desperately trying to overlook how uncomfortable being barefoot made you feel. You didn’t like it at all, and more and more, you felt your heartbeat picking up in your chest and your knees shaking. You felt beads of sweat getting in your eyes and they stung, so you stopped. Your laboured breath became shallow, and your hands were shaking uncontrollably as you raised them to wipe your forehead. You felt your knees collapse under you, and you knew what was about to happen and that it was too late to stop it.

“Neteyam, wait up.” You called after the blue boy, slight panic in your voice.

“I thought we were supposed to be racing.”

“You win, alright? Don’t leave me alone in the woods.”

You saw Neteyam jogging back to where you stood with a guilty look on his face. “You know I’d never leave you alone.”

He picked you up and placed you on his back. “After 16 years, have I ever left you alone?”

“Well, you’ve been training a lot recently and I barely get to see you anymore, so I would say yes, you leave me alone plenty, more than I can say I care for.”

“Well, I want to be strong and capable so I can always protect you. I mean look at you, Tuk’s gonna be stronger than you soon.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” You pretended to ignore his first sentence and how it lit your entire body on fire.

You walked like this for a while. You placed your head on his shoulder and peered up at the tall trees. Prolimuris were swinging on them, picking up fruits as they went along. You saw two infants following their mother and stopping on the same branch as her, where she passed them what you were sure was a tasty afternoon snack. You smiled contently at the scene, and at the feeling of warmth Neteyam provided.

“Put me down, I want to walk! I came with you to exercise, not be carried like a tiny Pandoran baby.”

He did as you asked, huffing at your forever mercurial temper.

With your back still to him, you let out a laugh and started running. “Race you to the clearing in the distance?”

He rolled his eyes, and with a laugh, stopped himself. He always gave you a head start. “Fine, but you can’t get mad when I beat you again!”

You turned around to give him a smile as you were running and loved the feeling of the ground beneath your feet. The only place you could run around barefoot, the only time you still felt alive.

You came to an abrupt halt when your foot touched something strange, something unnatural. You slowly looked at your feet and froze in place as the smooth pale object made your blood run cold. It couldn’t be. You stepped away from it, not leaving it from your view and slowly, deliberately knelt down next to it. You heard Neteyam coming to a halt behind you, but couldn’t bring yourself to acknowledge his presence. Your hands started digging in the ground with morbid curiosity and the sounds around you became muffled as your erratic heartbeat was the only thing you could still hear. You removed the ground around it and tears formed in your eyes at the realisation that this was indeed what you feared it was: a human skull. A human skull you just stepped on. Before you knew it, your hands were reaching for a glimmer of silver shining in the shallow grave. You lifted it to your eye line and heard yourself scream, wail louder than you ever had before. The panic that overtook you was primal, but not unfamiliar and you threw the dog tag on the ground, with enough force you hoped would bury it further than anybody would ever be able to dig. You couldn’t see properly anymore, the tears and dizziness flooding your senses and you prayed you passed out, prayed to make this stop, prayed you were back in your room where your Xanax always lay by your bedside table. In a blind rage, you were clawing at your feet, trying to remove the dirt, remove the skin that stepped on your dad’s dead body like it was a gum wrapper on the pavement. Soon enough, you could taste the metal taste of blood that was lingering in the air and by the grace of whatever spirit was out there still looking after you, you felt yourself collapse in Neteyam’s arms.

Tag list: @nuhteyam @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi

#neteyam #neteyam x human!reader #neteyam x reader #neteyam fanfic #neteyam reader #neteyam sully #avatar #avatar twow #avatar fanfic #neteyam x avatar!reader #neteyam sully fanfiction #neteyam angst #awow #awow neteyam #loak reader #avatar loak

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luckyfrogtarot · 8 months

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Pick a Keroppi

How does this person feel about you ? This isn't a romance reading btw 🥲, I think only one of these piles has some romantic partner briefly mentioned in it lol.

Disclaimer: This is for entertainment purposes only. Sometimes piles won't resonate and that's okay the pile or reading might not be for you. If it's just the pile you can choose a different one if you'd like.

Pile 1: Generally this person feels safe and happy around you but to a degree. They feel as if you are fulfilling to them and there's lots they can enjoy with you. This isn't a facade, they do think you're lovely there's just more going on behind the scenes for them. That being said they have their fears and worries that they hide or try to hide. You might sense this or notice this, yet you feel that if you mention it they might pull away from you. It seems like both of you want to focus on the good things over the vulnerable parts. They avoid it because they are scared of vulnerability and you might avoid it because you're scared they'll leave. They might also worry that you might impart justice upon them. you could be someone who is righteous or have a certain moral compass or strong feelings about certain subjects. They worry you might judge them by those standards. They worry that their flaws are beyond justifying although you and others might not view it that way. If/when you find out their flaws you will take the time to digest it and truly understand how you feel about what they do. Pile 1 this person really cares about your opinion. They feel as if they'd like to slowly open up to you or repair things with you. They wish to have something balanced and they could feel as if they have to take action soon with you. They could worry about money or try to get you to like them with money because they feel as if money is all they have going for them. For those of you where this is a romantic partner then they might have their eyes on you because they feel as if "you'll quench their thirst" but you actually might be too much for them to handle mostly because they're not as emotionally mature as you are. If you're asking about any one else then whoever this is values the material more than the emotional. Romantic interest or not this person will try to fix things with money. You'll sense their lack of emotional viability and/or you'll notice the gifts they give you but in the end its up to you how you handle this person.

Pile 2: Lol New Rules by TXT is playing while I type this. This person could see you as a punk, someone who doesn't follow rules. They think that you go too fast, you're cutthroat, and ignore set rules that you feel don't make much sense anyway. Pile 2, on one side you're represented as someone optimistic, grounded, and looking for stability. You're someone who may have just started a journey to stability and things are going really well. It seems like in general you're a calm person, yet when you're up against who you're thinking about you might feel defensive about your choices. Not in a bad way, but more like you like to shine on all the good you have done, in a triumphant and proud way. Yet this person doesn't understand or see that, they could feel betrayed or anxious by your decisions. They're really stuck in their head and thoughts in worry about you and what you could do to them. They might fear that your sharp words could hurt them, even if you have no intention of hurting them. You could just be setting boundaries and being honest but this person sees this as you attacking me. This could cause them a lot of anguish, but it's really all their mindset, not you. They could think you're wasting all their hard work. While they don't realize that you're actually waiting for your hard work to kick in. This could be about a parent for some of you. You could be really smart or creative and they see this as a threat to them. As if you'll use that intelligence against them. I see this distortion through the fact that I saw a candle on a card and thought it was a knife. They could see your candle as a knife too. If you've read Oedipus, you'd be him and this person would be the dad. They're scared of what they created without realizing it and nothing will change if they don't change. And while they worry about all of this it seems like you are just continuing your life. Not because you're mean or don't care about them, but because there's nothing else for you to do there with them.

Pile 3: This person is confused by you, not in a bad way. They are just intrigued by you and your personality or what you present. This pile sees you as rather dual. You're someone who to them you "have nothing" or "very little" yet you are so compassionate and giving. You are also someone who might be really fun and outgoing but you're also intelligent and respect traditions and rules. You have a really fiery personality and you care a lot about others especially your friends. They could see that you have a really loud and/or big laugh. You're really warm literally or just personality wise. You have Princess Kaguya vibes. (One of my favorite Studio Ghibli movies) The princess was emotionally intelligent beyond her physical years and she had everything she could ask for. Even though she didn't need or want those things. She wanted a simple life and she was pretty humble. Which could be confusing because this person could see you as humble and royal-like at the same time. It's possible that they know or see that you were hurt before and while you might not have received justice for that you're trying your best to recover from this betrayal. This could sometimes make you seem spacey to this person, you could get lost in your own world as you try to figure out how you feel or as you navigate what happened to you. They do see all the progress you've made though. They see how you're optimistic that you'll recover from this difficult time and leave it all behind. I do think this was some type of mental hardship you're leaving behind. Something that at the moment blinded you to the work you did while you were in this. You could have still gone to work or done homework while enduring this, yet you might not realize all your efforts yet. This person could feel upset that you don't recognize this yet. They also see you as someone who could need protecting, they don't want to hold you back though so it seems like they just like to keep and eye on you instead.

#tarot #spirituality #pac #pick a card #pick a pile #tarot teading #tarotcommunity #tarotblr #luckyfrog #luckyfrogtarot #frog #divination #Spotify #keroppi

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i-will-say-what-i-believe · 6 days

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Okay. Fact time.

OS never cared about Buddie.

All he cared about was him getting importance over everyone else.

Its evident from all his interviews till s6. And now, that fact is just getting justified further.

Guy says he always played Buck as bi. But the fact is, he didn't.

That bi possibility ONLY came out when he was with Eddie & maybe TK. Not with any other man. AND OS was over the moon for mortalia being "THE couch" 🤢🤮 which completely eliminates the viability of his claim that he ALWAYS wanted Buck's sexuality explored.

Guy says the people who don't like Tommy & this plot are people who doesn't know how a story works.

And he does!? Because if he did, he wouldn't just dismiss the loyalty of one of the biggest fandoms after Destiel that kept the show in the forefront of social media all these years. If it was 1 person thinking so, it can be a mistake. There's LITERALLY tens of thousands of fans who have found Buddie on the show. Even when they had no idea about the ship before watching the show & realizing "wait....are they a thing!!??" out of the blue.

No wonder there are a lot of Buddie shippers who are hurt by his attitude, quitting the show. Not because they're h*moph*bic. But because he's been dismissing them & all the subtext that the show has thrown at them all these years without an inch of shame of taking advantage of it for all that time.

If he's so arrogant enough to think he alone can run the show, it won't be long until that ship sinks. Especially when the arrogance is directed to fans, the people who LITERALLY pay his bills, because if we don't watch his work, he'd be jobless.

People have been desperately grasping at straws with all the interviews he's been giving..."he knows something", "of course he can't straight up say he wants buddie... common", "that was a very good way of answering the question" etc etc.

Guess what... it WASN'T the best way to answer SUCH AN IMPORTANT question.

Of course he could say what he wanted. It wasn't like the interviewer asked what was going to happen.

I have always thought his quick answer of "I'm open to it" is SO ODD. Because THAT is not how someone who wants it will talk about it. I have felt it from the beginning. The first Ryliver live. That itself had sealed the deal that ALTHOUGH people desperately WANT Ryan to be the one OPPOSING Buddie (because that's the ONLY way that their h*te towards him will be justified), Ryan was the one who chose the ship name & talked about how Buddie is getting shipped every second. OS kept mum even then. His expressions & body language changed. As if he isn't so into it.

THAT has been going on every damn time Buddie was mentioned in interviews. As if he's not so keen to do it.

Let me say...his body language screams he didn't want to do the Timmy Turner kiss too. He's uncomfortable af. If you remove your "OMG OS is amazing" glasses off & view it as a critic, you'll get it in a second. He just seems to be in it because, again, his character is getting importance.

Among the 911 cast, there's no one MORE concerned about THEIR position, THEIR role, THEIR screen time etc as much as OS does. He'd promote the hell out of the lamest things if it meant he'll get attention . That's what happened in s6. Taking unethical advantage of the fandom's couch theory & promoting the mortalia track like a giddy kid & being over enthusiastic about "in another life"....all were the cry for attention. And the fandom fell for it.

THAT is what's happening now too. Plus he's copying words from other actors to make his "story" more interesting lol.

Anyway....guy has become more arrogant than he already was.

Arrogance NEVER ends well. History has it proved.

PS: People can try grasping at straws to support the guy & put him on a pedestal because he's a tantrum king. But don't @ me on this with your straws. Won't work. I don't like arguing with blind fans because you wouldn't EVER see sense even if it is ALL SHOVED ON YOUR FACE.

Truth is bitter & y'all are just proving it lol🤣

#911 on abc #oliver stark #oliver stark is not a saint #buddie #evan buckley #don't @ me on this #i won't respond

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theriverbeyond · 8 months

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hmm very interesting and good thoughts! while i think you're right that contraception exists in the tlt universe, id guess that necromancers might be discouraged from using it in a way that non-necromancers might not be--iirc, necro birth rates are much lower than those of non-necromancers, so using protection might seem counterintuitive to people who already struggle so much with conception

i think that necromantic aptitude is not neatly tied with genetics -- i forget specific quotes atm but i BELIEVE this is established in the book which means that there's not a specific reason for non-necromancers to be encouraged to have kids any less than necromancers.

i also think conceptually contraception might be viewed differently in the House System due to the viability of womb vats. I think the 9th is too poor for that iirc but it seems fairly common place on Houses such as the 4th (where they "need spares") and I'd be unsurprised if it was common on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th as well, aka houses that seem better off economically. The 4th at least we know often conceives its children uh, posthumous to the parents (as seen w Issac) so like, it seems entierly possible for someone to bank genetic material in service of creating more blood for the gears while at the same time choosing to never personally give birth.

on the 9th house especially, I can imagine back in the day before they became destitute and vat wombs were more economically viable to maintain, the cultural idea of an individual having a child could be completely alien! especially as "providing genetic material for a child" could be entirely divorced from the concept of birth, and with all children in the House being raised communally (i.e. in the creche) it is easy to imagine the culture on the whole just not really thinking of one specific child belonging only to a specific person/set of people (outside of like, the inherited Line Of Anastasia)

the only house i think would be personally against the use of contraception would be the 6th, which has TWO whole branches of its military specifically designed to fuck as much as possible. MUCH to think about

#ty for this ask anon im chewing #ask #anon #lyctoral reproduction #ish. not really. but it goes in the tag w the other post so

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skuaclan · 1 month

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I would love to hear about the SkuaClan pokemon teams 👀 especially Berrystripe and Sunstar!

sure! here are assigned pokemon teams for the skuaclan members, based purely on vibes and not any actual gameplay viability or type cohesion. i've given the younger characters less evolved teams, even though they're adults now, cause there's still a major generational divide between them + sun/fox/cinder that i feel in my soul. you can decide if this is "pokemon they would own as a trainer/gym leader", "pokemon they would be drawn to use in a playthrough" or "their favourite pokemon" because my choices are a mixture of all of those

sunstar:

(honourable mentions: rapidash, sceptile, ampharos, and serperior)

foxfern:

(honourable mentions: breloom, falinks, thievul, hitmonchan, escavalier, leavanny, klefki)

cinderplume:

(honourable mentions: empoleon, drapion, xatu, mabosstiff, camerupt, tropius, beartic)

berrystripe:

(honourable mentions: every fire type starter. berrystripe is the kind of person who always picks the fire starter, and tears through the gyms with them without bothering to level or catch others. this team is from shortly after bluefeather told her to stop playing the game like that so she started catching and using pokemon that she thinks are cool or funny as well. other honourable mentions are galarian meowth, makuhita, croagunk, darumaka, impidimp, and tyrunt)

bluefeather:

(bluefeather is the type of pokemon player who really enjoys team building and probably has a decent grasp on the competitive meta but also gets super emotionally attached to her pokemon and really just prefers to play with her favourites, which are more aligned to these.) (honourable mentions are luxio, dratini, and glaceon)

fogbloom:

(honourable mentions: timburr, roselia, swadloon, tangela, haunter, drifloon)

ravenpelt:

(honourable mentions: phanpy, shinx, cubchoo, anorith)

#ooc questions

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mllemaenad · 2 months

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The Magnus Protocol: Rolling with It

Well – the show is on the cusp of a mid-season break, so it is absolutely time for someone to do something rash and foolhardy. This will almost certainly lead to a frustrating cliffhanger next week, because that's how pacing works. I look forward to Sam, Alice and Gwen all screwing up royally on their respective excursions.

That said, I genuinely don't believe that sticking your head in the sand is an approach that works. It's all very well to say a person should stay clear of the supernatural, but there's nothing in that that guarantees that the supernatural will go along with that plan. Something quite clearly happened to Sam at The Magnus Institute. Providing he is cautious about it, working out what that was is probably a good idea. But Sam doesn't feel cautious.

It's interesting how traditional this one was, and yet how different – because it's in the differences that you can see how this world works.

This is a bona fide Magnus Institute statement read by, at least insofar as how it sounds, the Archivist himself. And, like others before him, the statement giver has turned up to get the Magnus Institute to deal with his weird supernatural problem.

But the thing is – in The Magnus Archives the statements were always about the people. Oh, there were plenty of weird artefacts in them, but the storyteller themselves was always the point of the whole thing. It was the terror of the individual that The Magnus Institute actively sought, and it was following the interconnecting threads of the various recurring characters that led John to his conclusions.

But The Magnus Institute: Manchester does not care about the people. It cares about the stuff.

There is a very distinct difference between this:

Archivist Statement of Nathan Watts, regarding an encounter on Old Fishmarket Close, Edinburgh. Original statement given April 22nd 2012. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London. – The Magnus Archives: Anglerfish

And this:

Chester Statement and Research assessment for artefact CD137 - Sam What the hell? Chester Magnus Institute – Manchester. Private and confidential. Viability as subject – none Viability as agent – low Viability as catalyst – medium. Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment applicability assessment. – The Magnus Protocol: Rolling with It

The statement giver is nameless, you can only infer he's probably male from an offhand remark:

Chester/Unknown Statement Giver And that brings us about up to date. They're yours now, and I never want to see them again. Don't get me wrong, it’s a blow but I’m just not the right guy to carry them. – The Magnus Protocol: Roll with It

And that's hardly definitive. The Magnus Institute is interested in him only insofar as his experience illustrates what the dice can do. And it intends to take these dice, enhance them in some way, and then use them to cause something. Their use twists fate in some sense – so you can see the logic up to a point. If you're trying to make something particular happen, you might be able to use the dice to do that.

But what the hell were they doing? Specifically, what the hell were they doing to those children?

It's been a thread, all the way through, that distance from people in The Magnus Protocol. The way the cases are gathered, without the knowledge or consent of the people to whom these things happened, the barrier between the protagonists and the stories as Chester, Norris and Augustus are the ones who actually read them ... and now this. The Magnus Institute was looking for "supernaturally active items", not people who had had supernatural experiences.

RedCanary also found an object in The Magnus Institute:

Chester/RedCanary Re: Magnus Institute Ruins By RedCanary on Saturday April 23 2022 12:17pm The photos from the spelunk seem properly gone, but I did find an old wooden thing with a bunch of similar symbols on. Some kinda empty box, not really sure what for, though. Gonna see if I can get the light right for a decent pic. Edit: No dice, I’m afraid. Must be something up with my phone camera. Really not helping the whole paranoia thing either. Anyone know anything about photographic distortion? Gonna see if I can borrow my dad’s SLR tomorrow. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

That didn't feel especially noteworthy at the time: The Magnus Institute always did have some weird crap in Artefact Storage. But I keep thinking about Mary Keay:

Mary Keay Often, during my studies, my mother would talk to me of the amazing arcane relics at your Institute. I’m sure you can imagine my disappointment when I finally got a look at the collection of mediocrity that you call your “Artefact Storage.” – The Magnus Archives: First Edition

Mary was ... quite a piece of work, obviously, and there's no doubt that some of the things in Artefact Storage were very dangerous indeed. But it does seem that The Magnus Institute of that universe only collected supernatural objects incidentally: usually because a statement giver happened to bring one in.

But here – well, the artefacts are the point. And RedCanary took one away. And – heh – "no dice". I wonder if that box ever held dice. I wonder if they had still come up snake eyes.

The rest of the point of the piece seems to be about the nature of choice. That's always been a question, of course:

Archivist/Annabelle Cane Of course, that’s not the real crux of the free will question that’s bothering you at the moment, is it? I think that one probably comes down to whether or not you’re choosing to continue reading this statement out loud. You didn’t mean to, did you? No, I’m sure you told Basira and Melanie that you were going to glance over it and report back; perhaps they asked you if you were going to record, and you shook your head: maybe later. That sounds like the sort of thing you’d say. But think about it, John; when’s the last time you were able to read a statement quietly to yourself without instinctively hitting record and speaking it aloud? Is it just instinct, habit? Or is it a compulsion, a string pulled by the Ceaseless Watcher or the Mother of Puppets? – The Magnus Archives: Weaver

You can say the characters are making free choices, sure. But if an evil god (for want of a better term) is leaning on you, that constrains your choices. If your access to pertinent information is limited, that constrains your choices. If you're in the presence of a hypnotic artefact, that constrains your choices.

The statement giver is clearly compelled, at least up to a point. He knows, and Gary knew before him, that rolling the dice was likely a fatal idea. But they both did it anyway. So did all the random people he presented with the dice.

But at the same time, there are hints of a gambling habit that was present before he took ownership to the dice:

Chester/Unknown Statement Giver It’s been a while since I played the tables but I’ve used enough dice to know they were too heavy… And there was something else too. From that point on I own those dice. And I know it. – The Magnus Protocol: Rolling with it

And he clearly took to the damn things in a way that Gary did not. Gary clearly rolled the dice and had both very good luck and very bad. And at a certain point he decided to make them this arsehole's problem (and as badly as that ended for him, I can see why). But our anonymous statement-giver was committed to becoming a dark agent of fate.

Chester/Unknown Statement Giver I started to enjoy that more than the luck. I was rolling for myself less and less, focusing more on being some mysterious stranger. I even began dressing for the part: I got hold of this long dark coat, a wide-brimmed hat, grew a proper goatee, the works. – The Magnus Protocol: Rolling with it

It's funny that he didn't like D&D, given how quickly he took to LARP-ing.

But there are other questions about compulsion, too. Nobody but Gary was hurt? Not true. What about the truck driver, whose life was likely ruined by this event? Were they compelled by the dice to fall asleep, or to plough into that building, even though they'd never touched the dice?

Sam clearly gets a prod toward a Magnus Institute-related case when he's muttering about giving him – but he's also pretty clearly committed, whatever he says to Celia. And he is explicitly in the middle of the world's longest and weirdest application process as he's having this conversation. Maybe Sam's being leaned on, a little, but he's not resisting it.

And then there's Teddy. It's not that anything he says is impossible, of course. It's just an odd string of luck. He gets that job just long enough to be replaced by Sam and Celia, and then it's gone again. And then he's back in Alice's orbit. Teddy's not around the OIAR any more than that truck driver was around the dice. But does he still fall under its influence?

"Gerry Keay's" behaviour in the previous episode was definitely odd, but at the time it was a little difficult to tell whether he was overdoing an act … or if he was actually like that, for some reason. I'm more inclined to think the latter, now. I'm more inclined to think something's leaning on him.

And last, but not at all least, is Sam's questionnaire. Sure, "Why?" might be the weirdest part in the generic sense, but this:

Celia Please list your earliest four negative memories associated with school or an equivalent childhood educational institution, then rate each from zero to seven with zero being neutral and seven being traumatic. – The Magnus Protocol: Rolling with it

It's an odd bit of luck, right, that Sam's paperwork lands on a question to which he is bound to have an interesting answer?

And Gwen – it sounds as though she's been sent out to visit some kind of incredibly irritating 90s television star (I want to strangle the man from the name "Prank Tank" alone). She is to deliver him a name and address, just as Sam previously received a name and address. The coincidence, however, lies most in the children.

What was playing on TV when Sam, Gerry and the unknown others were in The Magnus Institute?

#the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #the magnus archives

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nokingsonlyfooles · 3 months

Text

Oh God. David Heard There's Room Service In Hell!!

Once again, I am testing my drawing ability by NOT doing any of the MANY illustrations I need, but I would've been sad if I couldn't finish an illustration. And look! I made it! I CAN DRAW! (And collage, obvs not my suitcase or BG, but all Public Domain)!! Well, my stylus needs a new battery, BUT, IN THEORY, I CAN DRAW! It's low res like all my test images, and I don't think I'm gonna put Vivziepop out of business anytime soon, but I'm fond of it.

That's why I'm so sad that it'll NEVER EVER HAPPEN. As a storyteller (albeit an obscure one) let me elucidate...

Strictly in terms of narrative viability, David hails from an incompatible universe. For an Invisible, he's middling. The Compelling Voice he's so fond of seems to be standard-issue, he's just more of an asshole about using it. In Tin Soldier and Soldier On, he's not all that hard to beat. Some people even have a natural immunity! He's only a threat in the first place because nobody knows what he can do.

But the minute he rolls up to the Hazbin Hotel, not only does nobody know what he can do, nobody has that natural immunity, and it would be hard as hell (haha) to beat him with their combat-friendly magic system. David isn't doing that Capcom-esque "freeze the enemy for a few seconds while they're looking at it" hypnosis. He's issuing unbreakable commands. If you're not deaf, the only way to beat him is to forget what he said. And that seems like it would be difficult, if not impossible, for most of the cast. Alastor certainly won't stoop to inflicting head trauma or hypnosis or amnesiac-levels of liquor on himself.

And that MIGHT not be a problem, except as soon as Dave meets Al he's gonna go from zero to nemesis in about three seconds flat. "Hmm, let's see. Neat freak, carefully-curated personality, perma-smile, never a moment's weakness... That's a pathetic little traumatized man-baby and I'm going to pull him out of his shell if I need to use a crab fork!" And, canonically, Alastor is also willing to make enemies that quickly. David has a sense of humour and no sense of self preservation, combat tentacles and veiled threats ain't gonna do it. Round one, David's gonna mop the floor with the Radio Demon.

...And by that, I mean he'd stuff Alastor into one of Niffty's frilliest little outfits and literally make him mop the floor, and even Charlie encouraging him to be a better person wouldn't get him to quit. Also, he'd be ignoring her and bending over backwards to get Angel's attention.

"Oh, listen. The man is over one hundred years old with zero interest in one-night stands or whirlwind romances. Prohibition isn't a thing anymore, drinking and dancing just doesn't cut it. Give him a chance to develop a fetish for something a little bit taboo..."

"I̸̠̤̐̄̄ ̸͕̝͙̌A̸̪̅M̴̭̰̙̎̓ ̶͓̻̐̉L̷̹͕̍I̷̯͗T̷̫̄Ȩ̶̾̋R̴̝̥͒A̷͔̩͋̃̕Ļ̵͗͜L̶̘̈́Y̵͇̓͗̂ ̴̼̪̘͠Ā̷̠̽̆ ̶͍͓̊̉C̷̣͕̺͆̃͝A̵͙̾̅N̶̥̬̮̄N̴̤̯̬̒̉̚I̴̩̜̍B̷͈̪̩̄À̴̝̦L̶̪͂͛͗!̶̟̆"

"That's not a fun night out. It's barely even a meal, what with the garbage they're feeding people these days. I imagine everyone tastes like a fucking 'Cool Ranch Dorito.'" [while making quote marks with both hands] "Isn't he from Louisiana? They invented spicy! Tell me, my deer fellow, is the cross-dressing and domination lighting up any dials?"

"Ì̴̗ ̶̧̫͓͋W̵͜͝Í̸̗͋L̴͔͆̊̌L̴̨̜͚͂ ̸͈̤́Ḱ̵̳̩͜Í̷̘̾L̶̨̫̬̉͋̌Ļ̵̱̗͐͊ ̴̧̣͊̄̈́Y̴̛͖̺͓̓̐O̶̢̦̍̀U̷̠̞͇̎ ̷̨̛̮̭I̷̙̜̽N̸̘̣͙̆ ̵̞͑͝Y̷̰̭̽O̷̟̘̹̓Ủ̶̢̏R̷͉͑̄̀ ̷̧̧̤̎Ŝ̶̱͈̃L̵̰͋Ȅ̸̜̗̙̊̍E̷͇̦̒P̷͈̝̅̆͌.̴̡͈̅͑̓͜"

"My good man, I have unlimited access to drugs and a fun new activity, WHY WOULD I SLEEP? What shall we try next? Do you have any drugs, Angel? Oh, of course you do! Do you think he's more of an upper or a downer person? I think a few muscle relaxants might loosen up that permanent rictus of social anxiety, but God only knows. You must be smoking a crate of cigarettes a day! Do you even brush? Your teeth, I mean. Do you suppose those lovely people at Lourdes make a mouthwash...?"

And Charlie would say, clasping her little hands, "Okay! What if we make some popcorn and talk about our childhood traumas? Yaaaay!"

But David would, inevitably, pass out. Most likely after binging and doing untold damage with Angel. And Alastor would kill him... And that's where we have the biggest fucking plot problem of all. Alastor's go-to method of disposal is tearing people to pieces while broadcasting it on the radio. And it seems like their screaming continues for quite some time, perhaps eternally.

I have expressed this in song form, because I have a weird brain and I couldn't resist.

Wait, wait, nevermind the eternal torment. Can these little hellions hear me? Test, test, is this thing on? Pardon me, could you quiet down a bit? I have a few things I’d like to… Will you stop screaming? Ugh. EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND LISTEN RIGHT NOW! That’s better. I have a little message for my executive producer. Well! I say! Colour me startled, you fulfilled your vow Think you’ve won? But I’ve barely begun! I’m always looking for new fans to wow Can you hear me NOW? [aside] Will you screamers sing backup if I command it? Can I get a little harmony? (We… can’t help ourselves?) I am eternal, and guess who’s just boosted my signal So I can reach all of you lovely new people? (We can’t help ourselves!) It’s your own Radio Demon! What was he thinking? (We can’t help ourselves!) What was he drinking? Ha! His dial must be twisted! Now I’m serenading the damned for my infinite span All according to plan! Am I a madman or a genius? I’m a pianist! Take that, FCC I’m a wonder, your saviour Please excuse my rude behaviour, (but the demon sure done fucked up!) Think he did me a favour? Silence my vocals? A failure! I’m louder and I’m certainly braver So crank the signal to the noise, and enjoy my compelling voice It’s nice to have all these new toys, (but our deer friend is annoyed) A Spirit of Radio beats a demon blow for blow This Invisible is crackling on the air! Well, one does like to believe Though you’re stuck, I’m almost free! That’s what you think! Your weak signal can’t compare Though you’ve had a little fun Your broadcast is done, and it’s time for your payback I’m in control Too bad you atomized my soul! … Not this attention-starved, brandy-addled, overgrown twink Guilty! What could be more absurd? A plagiarist bird Tweety-pie can’t even sing, his theft is pitchy You call that bitchy? I’m afraid that’s not entertainment! You're looking for a new twist? Then let’s remix the arrangement! Is Al as stiff as he projects? What sorts of kinks do you suspect? I’ve seen lacy details with my very eyes! He lies! And if I Tiked a Tok or two Well, there’s nothing he can do! A V̷̰͖̉̂͝İ̶̙D̵̛̻̮̙͛̕E̴̼̱̕Ŏ̷͆ͅ?̷̗͎̞̏̅! If I did, you can’t delete it That's the truth! When I find you in here, Ÿ̴͕̚Õ̸̠̝̕Ů̵̩̹Ŕ̸͔ ̸̬̋̂̔͜T̸̮̙͌̕Ő̵͔͕̑̄R̵̩̣̅͌̌͜M̷̝̹̾̏Ĕ̶̦͕̟Ň̶̮͊Ṱ̷̲̈̔̈ ̵̡̹̟̑Ẅ̷̝́͝I̷͉͋ͅL̴͎̞̎L̶̯͓͑ ̵̬͐͐͝Ḅ̸͚̬̅Ẹ̴̎̿͠ ̴̻͉̲̐̈́͠N̵̖̟̤͑̽E̴͙͎͘V̸̡͕̦̾̕Ė̵̝͈̀Ŕ̴̺-̸̡̱̇̾̉E̴̠̣̊̐̋Ń̵͔̬̝̑D̴̡̬͙̓İ̴͔͋͊N̸̞̙͐̒Ĝ̷̼̺̐͆.̸̤̭́̐̅.̸̰̓͝.̷̤̬̌ #MaidioDemon is trending! Y̴̼̿͆O̶̟͇͊̏͜Ǔ̸͈ ̴̨̫͘I̷̡͓̜̍̈́̽N̸̜̩̉̄͝S̵͚͈̭̅̓Ĩ̸̢̯͇͘Ṗ̶̩̭̦I̴̱͑D̷̨͖̚ͅ,̴̥͕̌̈̾ ̸̛̳̈́Ṭ̶̢̠͒Ė̸̱̼̕C̸̙̥̈́H̵͓̠̔̀N̷̖͝Ǒ̶̬Ć̶͔̃͘Ř̶͙͍͠Ä̴̟́̊T̴̳̉̊͜I̶̞̓͝C̵̢̨̲͐̇̎.̵̼̏͋.̷͎̆ͅ.̸̘̜̒ Darling, please, you’re lost in static One thing’s clear! You must be wishing that you took the L, you poor deer Say farewell. I’m very grateful that you gave me Hell Oh, this will be swell! [Vivziepop, distantly:] Fuck!

"Stayed Gone" is a patter song and I can't keep up with it as I read it, but I think the lyrical parts scan, at least. A-heh. Please excuse my hubris, but it's doubtful anyone will see this.

Of course, I would never torment someone with arguably GNC-phobic revenge porn, but that guy IS NOT ME. Your only hope for dealing with David is if Vaggie decides he's more of a threat than an amusement and straight up kills him, and that's not a plot, that's a cul-de-sac. So this little not-a-fic is all you'll get from me about this unsustainable situation.

...Alright, I might put Alastor in a maid outfit if anyone cares, but I really should be illustrating. I have precisely 13 to do before I can post more story! Unless I decide to post it anyway!

All apologies to Vivziepop, whom I've name-checked as one of a few creators I'd sell out or saw off my leg to work with. But - although I am tempting fate - prrrobably no one will see this. I'm just doin' a little practice and amusing myself.

Right, Tumblr?

#tin soldier and soldier on #art #updates #art practice #hazbin hotel #alastor #and meet david valentine!#low rent noodle birb drawing #long post #fanfic #but not really #song parody #phoenixes i guess?#could've gone butterfly but i think there's enough moth people already #and that whole light/shadow dichotomy would've been fun #if it wouldn't destroy everything cool about david AND hazbin hotel #maybe the moth-to-a-flame thing is more appropriate...#but val and vox are already doing that so maybe not?

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sorryitisandy · 9 months

Text

It is crazy to me how there is a specific type of Persona fan that hasn't made peace with the cultural shift brought by Persona 5.

Most of the fan base were brought in with that game. "Persona 5 fans" are most of the fanbase. This has perturbed a certain number of the fanbase who concocted the archetype of the annoying "p5 fan". Olympic level hating. Coping mostly.

I wish I could say I was surprised. I've played every single title from launch (P1 and P2 duology included) and I remember certain members of the fanbase recoiling in horror at the bright aesthetics and upbeat soundtrack of Persona 4. This then became co-morbid with the resentment that Persona 4, in terms of popularity and attention, cast a shadow over Persona 3 (no shade here if p3 is your favorite. This isn't about anyone's subjective opinion, but p4 was milked for a reason).

Some of this resentment towards p4 was just the games finally becoming too distant from SMT for some's liking. Some of this was, and excuse my personal opinion here, some folk's conceptions of whether a narrative is "dark" and "mature" being entirely based a bit too much in aesthetic choices. But if you entered this fandom with p5, you likely wouldn't be aware that this discourse had happened for a long time. Because in terms of casting shadows on the series: Persona 5 is a giant over the villa blotting out the sun.

Persona 5 brought the series to a level of mainstream popularity that it hadn't seen before, and in a big way. The influx of fans that Persona 5 brought was staggering and a number of people in the fandom could NOT cope.

But we are better for it. Without Persona 5, we would not have seen the port of all the previous titles to all these other platforms. As a result, Persona 3 and 4 reached a bigger audience then it ever could on it's own. P5's popularity confirmed the viability of these moves financially for Atlus.

The biggest irony, given my earlier digression about Persona 4 when it launched, is that Persona 3 Reload is not a move that was viable prior to the existence of Persona 5. Thus far in this respect, Persona 3 has benefitted from the influx of new fans the most.

If you have legitimate criticisms of Persona 5, I'm not here to gripe with you. I do as well. But there is a difference between critique and resentment, which is a very different beast altogether. Personally I'm glad because I got to see my favorite series hit new heights, and also my beloved Persona 4 got to find new people to love it.

It will absolutely happen again when Persona 6 comes out. But fundamentally these are the pains that come with something somewhat obscure by comparison becoming mainstream. Though it is annoying.

#persona 4 #p4g #persona 5 #p3 #p4 #persona 3 #persona #atlus games #p5 #persona 6 #p6 #text #text post #jrpg #jrpg games

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ja3hwa · 2 years

Text

Fault | Yunho [Pt.2]

「Synopsis」 : Yunho Knew he was an idiot but was apologising to you going to be enough to get back the friendship he ruined?

「Word count」 : 2.5k

-> Genre: Angst, (Happy ending I swear)

Paring: Bestfriend!Yunho x GN!Reader

[Warnings] : A whole lot of tears, Insecurities, Mentions of cheating, if i missed something let me know

Note : Hi!! SO MANY OF YOU WANTED THIS! It's crazy this (and another series I'm doing eheh) have been my most requested. So I do hope you all enjoy this ♡♡

Part one

[REBLOG AND COMMENT FEEDBACK]

You thought the months being without Yunho were rough but the lone month after walking out on him at the dorm was torture. All your brain could think about was him. Every little detail of your life was designed and painfully filled with memories of him. You haven’t heard from him since that night, nor have you heard anything from his brothers either. It was like you were cut out completely, making you feel even more alone. Well except for one person. San. He was determined to check on you every day.

It became a routine throughout the month. Good morning texts, have you eaten or made sure to drink water. He rarely spoke about Yunho, and neither did you bring him up. He knew you were hurt because of him. But Like you, Yunho was hurt as well. He became mopey, avoiding everyone, not eating. Everything that you were doing he was doing. But you were slowly becoming better while he was just getting worse as the days went.

He fought with his fiance. Finding out she was not only cheating, but trying to bleed him dry for his money. News for her was his brothers cut her out before she could make him worse. He moved back into the dorms. But never left his room. The others were beginning to worry for him. And that’s what led to San, showing up. Slowly, and carefully into your life. Making sure you were okay before asking the big question.

“Hey, Do you know where San is?” Wooyoung purposely spoke in front of Yunho’s room, trying to get the male's attention. Maybe even drawing him out of his room.

“Hmm, I don’t know. The last time I saw him he was getting ready to go see y/n.” That’s it, Hongjoong spoke your name. Will that bring Yunho out? Before Wooyoung could speak again, the miracle happened.

“Why is he with them?” Yunho’s voice is groggy from not talking for so long. Luckily he did shower when everyone was asleep so he isn’t dirty, but he still looks it.

“San and y/n have been hanging out for a little bit now.” Wooyoung poked the bear with his words, viability seeing Yunho tense. All the members knew of his crush but none of them spoke up but now that he has royally and truly fucked up, they feel the need to push it. And since soft, careful pushing doesn’t seem to help, what about the latter?

Jealousy

“San!!” You scream, laughing as San tried to shield your view with his head. But you managed to snake your body away from him, until you jumped forward onto his lap, turning the tables in order to distract him. The finish line nearing, San leans on you, intensely staring at the screen trying his best to win. But to his surprise, you cross before him, taking his place as victor.

“HA! I WON!!” You cheer, turning onto your back while still laying on San's lap. He just laughed at you, looking like a kid, smiling widely. A smile he has been trying to get you to do for the past month. A real smile.

“Well, I guess I’m paying for food.” He laughs looking down at you. You suddenly stopped mid-laugh, your eyes growing big with glee. He leaned his head on the back of the couch as you jumped for your phone, throwing it to him making him fake wince in pain.

“Okay okay, what am I getti—” San’s voice softens as his mind travels off before his mouth could keep up. He sees your background on your phone. It was a picture of Yunho and you at the winter festival. It was the last time you saw Yunho before he disappeared. You were so happy. You were secretly planning to tell him that night, that you were in love with him. But when the time came and you asked him to meet you in the snowflake garden he never showed. It broke your heart and what was worse, San and all the members were there too. They saw your disappointment, your heartbreak. You left soon after that not bothering to say goodbye to the others. All they could do was watch as you walked away, lump in your throat and tears pouring down your cheeks.

“San? Are you okay?” You lent over looking at your phone screen to see what San got caught up looking at but you fell silent once you saw what it was. “Oh…That I… I ju—” Your sentence got entangled in your throat as a knock at your door echoed into the room. San and you both looked confused not expecting someone to be there. San immediately got up walking over with your phone still clutched into his hands. You follow him closely, gripping onto his shirt as he stopped at the front door.

“Yunho?” San's voice was snarky, surprised to say the least gripping your phone tightly. You hid your body behind San’s gripping him tighter as your heart starts to race. You’re shaking, scared. Why was he here, what did he want from you?

“San.” His voice was blunt, cutting through the tension in the air. You gulp down a ball of saliva, scared to even hear his voice. Yunho removed his anger-filled gaze from San to you, tilting his head slightly so he could see you hugging your face into San’s shirt. His anger rose, seeing you so close to San, like how he was with you before all this happened. Deep down he knew he had no right to be angry and no right to even be at your front door. This was his mess, but knowing you and San were hanging out, sparked something in him. Something feral.

Overthinking clouded his judgement. What if you were snuggling while watching a movie, just like how you and he would do whenever he was over. Or those knowing glances you would have with each other, he was so madly in love with you that he would crave to just trap you against the couch cushions and kiss you until his lips bled. He didn’t want San to have those feelings, to think what he thought. He didn’t want you to move from those memories and create new ones with another. He wants to be selfish with you. Have you all to himself, but he fucked up so much, that he is unsure how to gain you back.

The silence was clear that Yunho was here for you and only you, making San sigh in annoyance. He knew Wooyoung and the others were setting up this plan to see if they can get Yunho to finally at least try and apologies. You didn’t know of the plan but you were aware of him being back with the boys. San would bring him up every now and then, trying to see if you were interested in talking about him. You kept brushing it off, so San was always unsure about going ahead with this plan, not wanting to put you in a difficult situation.

“ I just remembered I got a text before…” San turned around so he could face his body to you. The grip on his shirt you had, now moved to you holding his arm tight. Your eyes were wide and glossy. They were filled with fear. You didn’t want him to leave you, not alone with him…

“Sannie please…” Your voice is croaked. A weak whisper is the only thing you can muster. You pleaded with wide doe eyes that fear to break into tears in any moment. Yunho internally cringed at the nickname you gave San. It was a cute name, something you and he would do for one another. He was YuYu and you were Tiny. No one else had a nickname, it was his and your thing, no one else. Guess what just another thing he fucked up on.

“If anything happens, and you need me. Call. But please…” He leans down to your ear so he could whisper his last words without Yunho hearing, causing the other male to become even more angry, feeling his blood boil with jealousy. Your eyes widen at his words, before nodding in response. San handed your phone back with a smile before turning to head out.

“Yunho,” Was the only thing he said to him before leaving your apartment, leaving you with him…

You didn’t speak, instead turning around and walking back into your apartment, heading towards the lounge room to clean up. Yunho invited himself in with your silence, walking soon after you once he removed his shoes. You sat down on the couch letting a sigh out before retching for a controller to switch the game off. Yunho watched you intensely, waiting for a moment to speak but worried about what might come out.

“Tiny I—Don’t call me that.” You cut him off sounding harsh, venom laced in your voice. He gulped, feeling tears gloss over his eyes. He stared down at the ground, choosing to let you talk first instead.

“First you stood me up at the festival, leave me wondering what I did wrong. Spent months trying to get a hold of you, thinking you might be dead. If it wasn’t for Seonghwa telling me that you called them I would have started a search party for you. Second, you come back with a fiance and break my heart all over again. Then I spend a month with San trying his hardest to be buddies with me but he is a terrible liar and so are the others and all they wanted from me was to talk to you again.” You stood up, facing him. Tears were running down your red cheeks but you gave up caring for tears. Yunho was also crying, looking at you with guilt smacked on his face.

“Why should I be the one to ask for you back? Was it all just a game? Was our friendship even real?” when you said that Yunho broke down, walking towards you, gripping your shoulders. You tried to push him off you but his firm grasp was no match.

“Please, Please don’t say that.” His voice croaked, saliva spitting out while hot tears smear on his face. He falls to his knees in front of you, hanging his head low. “Please, I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t want any other this. I’m so fucking stupid. I didn’t deserve someone like you, and I still don’t. But please. Please don’t think our friendship was anything but real.” He let out a sniffle, looking up at you with glossy eyes.

“You are my best friend.” Now it was your turn to burst into tears, hearing his words. You didn’t want to forgive him or even hear him out, but your heart is aching to just know his side of the story.

“Fine Yunho tell me… Why?” You whispered. You sat down on the couch while Yunho stayed on the floor, placing his hands on your knees before starting his side of all this. Turns out Wooyoung made a joke that night at the festival that Yunho should confess to you, and Yeosang remarked saying if you didn’t like him back that could ruin your friendship, and it scared him so he ran off. But what he didn’t expect was to run into his now ex-fiance while he was running. He offered to take her home cause of literally running into her and one thing lead to another she confessed and in his stupid mind, he thought this was fate giving him a way out. A way out to not ruin his friendship with you and to finally get rid of the feelings he has burred. But all it didn’t was make him realize how much love he had for you but by then it was too late. His ex made sure to only focus on her and so he didn’t see, speak or hear from you or any of his brothers. He was stupid., drunken by the hope of finally being able to make everyone happy but all he did was make it worse.

“I went home about a month ago to find her with someone else. I left and went back to the dorms and been there since. I’m so sorry y/n. I don’t expect you to forgive me or even see me as anything other than a friend but I am seriously stupid.” He looked down, pouring his heart out to you, crying his eyes out. Your silence was killing him. He didn’t know what you were thinking of but god sometimes he wishes he could read minds.

“Tiny…” You whisper making him look up at you confused.

“W-what?” He tilted his head.

“It’s Tiny to you Mr.” You smile through your tears, making his heart jump. Hugging your legs his head rests on your lap. You were going to forgive him but he needed to work for it. You can't live without him any longer but that doesn’t mean he is off the hook.

“You should just have told me, cause that night I was going to confess to you,” you said making Yunho sit straight up with a shocked expression.

“You were?” You nodded at his question making him whine, feeling even more like an idiot. Silence fell for a moment at you rubbed your fingers through his hair as he kept his head on your lap. He got up and sat next to you grabbing both of your hands he looks at you dead in the eyes.

“Tiny…W-would you doing me the honour of forgiving this idiot and let me take you on a date.” He asked running his thumbs on your palms. You pretend to think about it before saying a simple ‘yes’, making him tackle you in a tight hug, trapping you against the couch and his larger body. He was finally happy again and all he said to do was apologise. He is going to have to remember that just in case.

"By the way..." Yunho mumbles into your chest. "What did San say to you before he left?" You could help but chuckle at his words. Even though it wasn't necessary to tell him he was itching to know.

"What you jealous?" You laughed making him sit his head up, darting his eyes around the room.

"What!? No? I just I—Yuyu it's okay I'm just teasing." You cut his rambles off seeing his ears turn a bright, shade of pink.

"He said to give you a chance." You smile making Yunho grumble in annoyance. Of course, San was just trying to be a nice friend. He lays his head back down, holding you a little bit tighter, just in case. Cause in this moment he was never going to let you go.

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Taglist : @yunhofingers @softforqiankun @violetwinters @kpopmademygradesgodown @lmhmh01 @strangertides @purrhwa @1stray-kids-cb @joti17 @jess-1404 @pinki-minki @glossyeon @yesv01 @minkiflwr @seonghwarizon @rielleluvs @hwastoes @dilfjohhny @whatudowhennooneseesyou

Those who ask for a part 2 : @kpopnightingale @yunyunatz @arrowho @hwalysm @seonghwarizon

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