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xalygatorx · 5 months

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Unbound | Chapter 6, "Dexterity Check"

Áine Ts'sambra—a wayward half-drow bard with a painful past—has her world upended when she's snatched up by a Nautiloid ship and furnished with a tadpole to the brain. In her journey to remove the infestation before it can turn her and her newfound companions illithid, she not only finds that their solution has more layers to parse through than she can count, but that a particular vampire in her party does as well.

Unbound is an ongoing generally SFW medium-burn romance based in the world of Baldur's Gate 3 between Astarion and a female OC. Any NSFW content will be marked in the Warnings section. Contains angst, fluff, explorations of trauma, spice, graphic fantasy violence, and a guaranteed happy ending.

For anything additional on what to expect (and not expect), check the preface post.

Summary: Astarion faces the party with the revelation that he’s a vampire. Áine comes to his aid. Astarion gives Áine a lesson in lockpicking. Áine’s past skill set comes to light while helping to save the group from some gnolls and Wyll confronts her about her claimed occupation. Astarion realizes with this new side of Áine coming to the forefront, he has some competition brewing among their companions.

Pairing: Astarion x Fem!OC

Warnings: Graphic fantasy violence and gore; blood; angst; suggestive descriptions and dialogue; Astarion being a cheeky shit; big sexual tension; potentially piss-poor description of picking a lock (fun fact, I know how to lockpick in practice, but I’ve never had to describe it); moments of mild fluff; lightly proofread

Word Count: 5.5k

Listening to: River - Bishop Briggs

Áine stirred the next morning with a bit of brain fog and a throbbing in her neck. She groaned and curled deeper into the pillows she’d padded her bedroll with. Even through slitted eyes, she could see the light infiltrating her tent through its sweeping mauve canvas walls and more directly through a sliver between the tent flaps.

She sighed and accepted that she needed to get up so they could keep moving, especially if they were going to make it through the gnoll-torn territory they’d been able to see across the way and also find somewhere safe to camp by nightfall. Áine stood up on slightly shaky legs and walked to the wooden trunk with her clothes, changing into the light armor she wore on the road and lacing the ties as she ducked through the tent door.

When she exited her tent and straightened back up, she found herself right in front of Astarion.

“Oh, good morning,” he said, seeming uncharacteristically startled.

Áine frowned. Either he was doing a bit or he’d been distracted enough by something else to not have heard her get up and move around while she dressed. She hadn’t exactly been quiet. “Tavern’s closed while I replenish stock,” she said, making a joke about how she felt after last night, trying to keep it light for both of them.

He scowled, but it held an edge of…embarrassment? “The sole reason I approach you henceforth isn’t just going to be because I’m thirsty,” he said sharply. It would be difficult for him to resist finding another occasion to take her blood in the future though—she was sinfully delicious and the pure euphoria that had either come from a thinking creature’s blood or just breaking Cazador’s rule in general was addictive. “I just—here.”

He thrust his hands out toward her and Áine realized belatedly that he was standing there holding something. Cradled in his palms were the water canteen from her bag, which she’d forgotten outside in her fatigue the night before, and a bowl containing raspberries and a sliced apple.

Áine’s face flushed as she took the offerings from his hands, her fingers brushing his in passing. “Thank you,” she said, a little overwhelmed by her emotional reaction to the gift of water and a bit of fruit but she knew it was the thoughtfulness that touched her so deeply. She smiled at him and instinctively took a step closer to hug him before remembering that he wasn’t one for that sort of thing. As if to confirm her recollection, she saw him tense. “Sorry, sorry, I remember, don’t worry.”

Astarion relaxed a little but felt a twinge of something unfamiliar, at least regarding his usual reactions to physical touch that he didn’t initiate himself, when she stepped back again. Was it disappointment? Because she didn’t hug him or do whatever she’d almost done?

“Did you cut this apple up, yourself?” Áine asked suddenly, breaking the surface of his brooding.

Caught off guard and flustered, Astarion just mumbled for her to hush as he started to stalk away, but when he turned around, he unexpectedly came face-to-face with everyone else in the camp.

“Áine, what happened to your neck?” Gale asked, but his hard tone indicated that he already knew and was just initiating the conversation.

Áine realized what was going on and shelved her silly little vision of Astarion sitting on his throw pillows and cutting up an apple for her with his dagger and the silly little sensation it caused in her stomach.

Astarion tensed. “I can at least be grateful to each of you for leaving the torches and pitchforks in your tents,” he said, fidgeting anxiously with his cuffs.

“Chk. There is yet time,” Lae’zel pointed out.

“So is this the truth of it?” Shadowheart asked. “Do we have a vampire in our traveling party?”

Astarion checked the cleric’s hands for a stake before he answered. “Alas, you do.”

Shadowheart’s gaze flickered to Áine, roaming between the bitemarks on her neck and the little bit of breakfast she held in her hands. “Are you alright?”

Áine nodded. “I’m fine,” she said.

“Fine?” Wyll exclaimed, looking between them. “Áine, he’s a vampire and he fed on you!”

Áine’s eyes caught on Wyll’s hand, now resting a bit too close to his rapier hilt for her liking. When her eyes met his again, her gaze was cooler and she took one step forward to shoulder her way around Astarion, standing between him and the rest of the party now. He didn’t move from standing directly behind her and she noted subconsciously why, in all the times he’d put himself physically close to her, he’d kept his chest at a distance—not a single beat from the heart against her back. The one time she could recall that this had not been the case was on the beach when he’d tackled her out of the way of the descending harpy, but her own heart had been too thunderous for her to notice that his was silent.

Astarion’s wary gaze had moved from their companions, wondering which would move to strike him first, down to Áine when she moved in front of him. In stark contrast to what she was currently experiencing, he felt her warmth and her heartbeat reverberate through his hollow chest. It was steady and strong, hardly elevated in the slightest. Once again, her confidence grounded him in his anxiety.

“And you’re defending him,” Wyll added incredulously. “Don’t you understand? He attacked you! He’s a monster!”

That cut Astarion a little more deeply than expected, but he didn’t show it. In front of him, he heard Áine say without hesitation, “He fed on me because I let him.”

Wyll was shaken by this and Astarion could only feel gratitude toward Áine that she’d opted to completely skip over the part where he’d opted out of asking permission and likely would’ve proceeded had she not awakened.

“Why would you let a vampire put its fangs in you?�� their resident monster hunter asked.

“For the same reason I’d give Gale magical artifacts to soothe his condition,” Áine said. “For the same reason I would help you if and when you needed it. We’re a team. And I’ll not tolerate anything less.”

Wyll was taken aback. Gale seemed to be in deep thought, eying Astarion with consideration. Shadowheart was the first to speak and her words shocked Astarion. “I suppose that does explain the pallor,” she said in a gentle jab before more seriously adding, “Given our group’s nature, I don’t see much harm. We’re each monsters in the making after all.”

Lae’zel hummed in agreement. “So be it,” she said simply. “But should I wake with so much as a drop of blood on my neck, I will end him.”

Astarion relaxed a bit—the three he’d feared retaliation from the most were on his side, or at least accepting of his presence. He’d been right to choose Áine to warm up to, he decided as he watched the group slowly fold beneath her ruling. At this rate, he wouldn’t even have to bed her to secure her loyalty.

There was that tinge of disappointment again.

“For the record, Astarion,” Gale said, seeming to be fighting a smirk. “I taste absolutely awful.”

Astarion smirked back and then all eyes fell to Wyll, who looked aghast at how the tables had turned. Cautiously, Astarion suggested, “She’s not wrong… We’re bound together. No matter what comes.”

Gale gave him a withering look. “You say all the right words, but I’m not so sure you mean all the right things.” Shit. Laid it on too thick. “Still, I will respect the decision that was made.”

The silence stretched uncomfortably until Wyll finally gave a defeated sigh. “Hunting with vampires…,” he mused. “Never thought I’d see the day. Very well, but I will be keeping an eye on you. And no wisecracks about having us for supper!”

“Where’s the fun in that?” he wondered sourly, receiving one of Áine’s elbows into his ribs.

“Then it’s settled,” Áine said, offering her companions a grateful smile. “Lovely. Let’s pack up and see where the road takes us today. Maybe the gnolls have cleared off.”

Except for a small sideglance from Wyll, the group did as requested and cleared off to get packed up. Because they were standing so close together, Astarion felt the faint tension that left Áine’s frame when she wasn’t met with further pushback.

His brows rose when she inclined her head back to look up at him, the crown of her head lightly bumping his sternum. “So you did cut this up yourself, then?” He tsked at her and stepped away, missing her warmth immediately and only superficially perturbed when she giggled at the effect her teasing had. “I’m sorry, it’s very sweet and appreciated,” Áine said, which was somehow worse than her just laughing at him. The flip his dead heart gave was alien and unwelcome. “I do need to know how we’ll be feeding you though from now on.”

“No innocents,” Astarion sighed. “You have my word. Only people we’re going to kill anyway because what’s the harm in that? I can fight with all my weapons now that you and the others know. Teeth included.” He flashed his fangs at her and her gaze dropped from his eyes to his Cheshire smile, a faint shiver going up her spine when she remembered that those had been buried in her neck just hours ago.

Áine nodded. “Makes complete sense to me,” she said, not having any moral quandaries with him feeding on the enemies they were going to fell in battle anyway. “For the record, I’m not opposed to helping you again in a pinch, just don’t sneak up on me next time.”

“That is more than reasonable,” he said, but she did see the way his eyes lit up with hunger when she suggested that she, herself, wasn’t off the table forever and all time. Áine wasn’t sure whether to be unsettled or flattered, so she opted for both. “No more unexpected visits. I’ll leave it to you to decide when we next dine together.”

She wrinkled her nose at his choice of words but left it at that. “Good. I’m assuming you’re feeling better after last night then? You seem to be more…happy, as you put it.”

Astarion nodded, pulling in a deep breath. “I genuinely do feel better. Drinking from thinking creatures is a wholly different experience. And, truth be told…you were my first,” he admitted, his tone adding a twist of innuendo to the words. Áine felt fairly certain that it was fully intentional on his part. “Before you, it was animals in these woods, and then before that…well, whatever rats and bugs Cazador allowed me.”

It was the first time he’d spoken the name aloud to Áine. The first time he’d spoken it at all since the Nautiloid sprung him from the bastard’s clutches. But she’d been inside his mind last night, even briefly. He knew she’d at least seen him.

Confirming his suspicion, Áine’s features darkened and she asked, “Was that who… You know, it’s not my place to ask. Tell me as much or as little as you want, but I don’t even like that I accidentally saw as much as I did.”

“Because it disconcerted you?” Astarion guessed, immediately assuming that she was upset about the visions she’d been subjected to being in her mind at all. Imagine being subjected to them in real-time over and over again, he thought caustically.

“Because it’s not my business unless you make it my business,” Áine said. That put him at a bit of a loss. “But whatever that was…whoever he was…seemed horrible. And I’m sorry.”

Astarion scoffed. “What are you sorry for?” he asked with a sneer Áine immediately saw through. “No, don’t answer that. I am not in the market for pity, but these tadpoles’ little intervention does work in the spirit of surfacing what we may be up against.”

Áine frowned. “You think you’re being hunted?”

“More than likely not,” Astarion said. “At least not outside of the city. But these mind flayers aren’t the only ones spinning a web for us. And they’re hardly the only threat out there.”

Áine gave a soft sigh that bordered on a humorless laugh. “I know. But it’s never a bad reminder, I suppose,” she allowed.

“Now drink. Eat. You look lightheaded,” Astarion muttered as he left to gather his things.

“Thanks,” Áine grumbled, the single word steeped in sarcasm. Astarion smirked to himself, only a few paces away when he heard her voice again. “One thing.”

“One more thing, you mean?” he asked, stopping and looking over his shoulder at her.

Áine gave him a scolding look. “When the parasites did whatever they did, did you see anything?”

“I saw what you saw, unfortunately,” Astarion said.

“I meant of mine,” Áine clarified.

A younger Áine flashed through his mind, her white locks cropped short and her supple body clad in armor as she stood before a mirror and adjusted a blade on her back. To the Áine before him, he said, “No.”

She nodded once and turned away, nibbling on an apple slice while she got her bag ready for the road. After having one slice of fruit, Áine’s stomach recognized she was hungry and she worked through the rest just as quickly, sipping from her canteen as well. It was almost funny how endearing she’d found his presentation of the fruit and water, especially considering that he was doing it purely because he was the one who’d caused her wooziness. Still though, she found it thoughtful and, loath as she was to admit it given the circumstances, quite cute.

Absently, she’d started humming while packing her bag and, upon slinging it over her shoulders and straightening up, realized she had an audience. Áine’s eyes found Gale’s as he lingered nearby with Shadowheart and Wyll, Astarion soon to join them while Lae’zel paced a bit ahead near the road beyond the trees. A bit smug, Gale said, “You know, simply part your lips doing that and you’re singing in front of us. Not so hard, hm?”

Perhaps Gale had meant to give her a whirlwind epiphany from that nugget of advice, but he swiftly realized he wouldn’t be achieving that when he took in the cool look she gave him and stopped her humming instead. Finding that look mirrored on Shadowheart and Astarion’s faces as well, the wizard exclaimed, “What?!”

“She’s surely cured of her nerves after that,” Shadowheart quipped lightly as the group moved to join an impatient Lae’zel at the roadside. “So, Astarion, how is it you’re able to be out in the sunlight with us, given your condition?”

Astarion replied, “I’m honestly unsure. It must be the parasite, although I know not why. Perhaps for the same reasons we’ve all not transformed—someone or something wants us all alive. They’re changing the rules.”

“I wish I’d managed as well as you with my own parasitic influence,” Gale sighed. “Instead it feels like I’ve lost the breadth of my ability while my condition worsens by the day.”

“Did that artifact not put you to rights?” Áine asked, frowning as she looked back at Gale.

“It did, but something still feels a bit off,” he hastened to reassure her while remaining transparent. “It could very well be simple fatigue if I’m honest. I sometimes attribute too much of my bad days to a symptom list.”

“We’ll keep looking for trinkets on the road to hold you over,” Shadowheart said with ease. “No chance you’ll tell us a bit more about what this condition actually is?”

“Let a wizard have his secrets,” Gale said, his tone good-natured with a sliver of something creeping toward anxiety imperceptibly beneath the surface. “All in due time.”

“Cutting into our treasure stash, I think, pares down some of the standard privacy privileges,” Astarion commented.

“Well, cutting into our leader does the same,” Gale suggested likewise.

“I already apologized and told the—literally—bloody truth,” Astarion groused. “What more do you want?”

“That’s not funny,” Gale said curtly.

“It was a little funny,” Shadowheart disagreed with a smirk.

“I thought you liked puns, Gale,” Áine pointed out with a similar expression to Shadowheart’s.

“When they don’t come back to bite me, sure,” Gale said, only realizing what he’d said in full when he had several sets of eyes on him, waiting for him to notice. “Oh, come on, that’s not what I meant!” As much as he protested, however, he finally cracked a smile.

Along the less bloodied path forking from the other side of the bridge were all manners of abandoned crates, barrels, and chests, including a pale blue cart that perhaps held even further spoils. The freshness of the abandoned wares was both worrisome and a godsend, and the group set to work picking through everything for useful supplies.

Áine had wandered further down the line of crates, finding a couple of chests toppled against each other at the end of the line. She set them both back upright, listening to the items shift inside and bringing a faint smile of anticipation to her face. The lock on one had busted open on impact and she started there, unlatching the chest and lifting the lid to peer inside. Given its size, she hadn’t expected anything substantial, but she did find a pouch of gold inside and some personal effects that included a Selunite rite, an emerald, a simple burnished necklace, and a half-used spool of gold thread.

She pocketed the gold and the gem, forgoing the necklace and the rite. Áine plucked the spool from the chest and thought back to Astarion’s cuff, how he’d evaluated it by the fire the other night and found it required some repair. She wasn’t sure if he had the means to do it already, but figured it couldn’t hurt to give it to him just in case. Even if he used it another time or gave her a hard time about bequeathing her find to him, she could at least make the effort.

Áine shifted the looted chest aside after pocketing the spool of thread, pulling the other toward her and trying to lift the lid just to find that this one’s lock had survived the crash. She sighed and glanced over her shoulder to see if Astarion was nearby. When she saw he was, she called his name to get his attention. “There’s a lock over here I could use your assistance with,” Áine added, standing up and starting to back away to give him room to work.

As she was brushing the dust off her hands, she felt him approach only to place the leather-wrapped picking tools in her already-raised hands. Áine looked down at the kit and then at him with some measure of horror that made him chuckle. “You asked me if I would teach you,” Astarion pointed out as he nodded toward the chest. “Welcome to Lockpicking 101.”

“I don’t know if I should, what if I break them?” Áine fretted even as he nudged her back toward the chest. “We only have a couple of kits left, don’t we?”

“They’re not terribly hard to come by,” Astarion said. “Plenty of forgetful or deceased criminals in these parts to inherit them from. Besides that, this one looks relatively straightforward.”

“You can tell that from up here?” Áine asked.

“Well, sure,” Astarion said, once more as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Áine grimaced at the chest, suddenly feeling as if it were a foe itself now that she was under (purely self-inflicted) pressure. “But are you sure you—”

She turned her face back to him just to end up with one cool fingertip against her lips, effectively shocking her into silence. Astarion’s vibrant red eyes bore into hers, his face nearly close enough that they could’ve touched foreheads if she’d leaned in. Bold of him after she’d developed a track record of headbutting him, she thought to try and shoo away the butterflies that hit her stomach.

“I will help you,” he murmured, nothing but confidence in his quiet tone. Briefly, before he removed his hand, his gaze fell to her lips and lingered for one painstaking moment. When he met her eyes again and placed his hand back at his side, Áine wondered if it could be possible or legal to feel so kissed without having been physically kissed. Astarion was proving dangerous, and primarily to her in ways he’d not voiced.

Áine remembered to breathe and cleared her throat as she looked down at the chest, remembering what they were discussing with some difficulty. How had he scrambled her mind so effectively with just a look and a light touch? This was embarrassing, and just a plain weakness to boot. She’d have to work on that—nothing good, in her experience, came from being so quickly and easily swayed. Maybe some power of suggestion came with being a vampire. Surely that was it.

She knelt and spread the kit open, her hesitant hands selecting the tools she’d seen him choose before, although when she eyed the lock she wasn’t so sure they were the right size. “You may want to start with something smaller on this one,” he said, confirming her concerns.

“Oh, you mean the ones that look even more breakable. Good, good,” she mused, hearing a deep chuckle behind her as she selected smaller tools from the leather.

“Now, you have your tools in the correct hands, so you’re halfway there,” Astarion said. “The one you have in your left hand will sit against the tumblers while you move the other deeper into the keyhole. If you feel an inordinate amount of tension, just ease your grip because it’s probably not aligned correctly. That’s how a pick snaps.”

Once Áine had the picks in the lock, her nerves eased a little and the part of her mind that loved to learn how things worked overrode her anxiety. It was like a puzzle and she took to it immediately with focus and determination. Astarion did note that she was being a little overcautious still, which was fine until it came to completing the last little bit.

Fretting again, now at losing her progress rather than at trying in the first place, Áine asked without taking her eyes off the lock, “What if I break it this far into the keyhole?”

Astarion laughed softly. “You’re not going to break it, you almost have it. Just a little further in.”

Áine’s jaw tightened and she incrementally adjusted her grip on the tools, but her right hand doing most of the work was starting to shake. She was talking herself up to try to calm her nerves when she saw Astarion’s alabaster hands move to cover hers, his sure grip steadying the tremors. Her gaze dropped to the circle of his strong arms around her and she felt the blood rush to her face. He’s just trying to help you, stop being weird, she told herself sternly as he used her hands to adjust the pins she held.

“Little known truth,” he purred right next to her ear, “lockpicking has a surprising amount of crossover with other, more tactile skill sets.”

Right, you’re no longer the only one being weird, carry on, her inner voice amended and she smirked and shook her head at his antics, the ridge of her ear brushing his jawline. She was surprised she didn’t cut herself on that exquisitely sharp line of his. “I have concerns if you’re using our lockpicking kits for anything but locks,” Áine bantered back, subconsciously following the guidance of his hands to adjust the pins a few degrees and reattempt the last tumbler.

She felt his chest vibrate against her back as he chuckled. “No need for a kit to coax open those more intimate places,” he murmured, “but similar care and dexterity apply… And while those activities have more intoxicating sounds to note progress…” The lock under both of their attentions suddenly clicked free. “...This one certainly never gets old.”

Áine was fighting the blush that threatened to deepen on her cheeks and ears as her pulse picked up the pace with his words and the pleasant bergamot and rosemary notes of his cologne wrapped around her when the lock clicked, and she was so shocked by the success that for a second she forgot all about the sudden, hot-blooded desire that had pooled in her stomach. Something else to decipher at a later moment.

“It worked!” she exclaimed, a new kind of excited as she carefully removed the pins and turned her head to look at him. He’d remained at her shoulder and their noses almost touched. Áine became self-aware again that he could probably, no definitely, hear how her heart was pounding and how it had been pounding for the past couple of minutes. “Thank you,” she said, offering him an embarrassed smile.

Astarion regarded her with slightly hooded red eyes and one of his rakish smirks, but one that held a hint of softness to it too. “Anytime, my dear,” he whispered, his cool breath caressing her face. Before he leaned back and stood up, he nudged his nose against hers, maybe just to acknowledge their proximity or make her acknowledge it with him.

Regardless of the reason, it was yet another cute small thing he’d done to add to her short, but growing list. Yes, this one was definitely dangerous in all kinds of heartrending ways. Some he very much knew and exploited, some she wasn’t so sure he did. Meanwhile, Astarion’s reaction to his own instinctual little nudge was to not only be utterly baffled at where that had come from in his vast repertoire of seductive flirtations but also to be embarrassed by its affectionate nature. He was congratulating himself on ruining a perfectly perfect moment to plant ideas of raw, uninhibited sex in her thoughts when she finished pilfering the chest and stood up, their eyes meeting again just for the span of a breath, but long enough for him to read her expression. Had he ruined it after all?

A shout down the road caused both of them to snap to attention. Áine was quicker than he to react, roughly handing him back his lockpicking kit as she dashed past him to get to the others. Astarion noted as he hastened to store the kit and follow that the shout had sounded like Shadowheart.

By the time Astarion arrived, Áine was already deftly dodging around a gnoll that she’d distracted away from the others. Lae’zel and Wyll were both grounded, the gith looking in awful shape with a sizable chunk taken from her shoulder. Shadowheart was bent over both of them, trying desperately to stabilize them both while Gale held a shield in front of them, another gnoll swiping at the conjuration while maniacal cackles erupted from its bloodied jaws. A blast of red light shot from Wyll’s fingertips in the direction of the beast, but he missed his target as he crumpled back into the dirt.

Quickly, Astarion drew his bow and shot an arrow through the throat of the gnoll attacking Gale’s forcefield. He could smell nothing but fresh blood, but it struck him how easily he was able to turn his more feral instincts away.

Because it’s the blood of your friends, a small voice in the back of his mind spoke honestly.

Astarion’s mouth warped into a grimace at his own thoughts’ betrayal even as he continued to loose arrows into the oncoming gnolls that threatened to overwhelm Gale and his protective stance over their downed companions. In his peripheral vision, Astarion searched for Áine, fearing—fearing?—the worst initially given how they were fairing. She’d sprinted up the hill to, he assumed, head them off at the pass to give Gale and Shadowheart some breathing room, but he couldn’t see her from his vantage point.

He’d no sooner thought it than he saw his—his?—little hellion tumble over the hillside in a full-on scrap with one of the great, mangy beasts.

Áine twisted and sprang from its hold, the both of them managing to land on their feet as they squared off. While the gnoll’s actual hackles were up, Áine’s proverbial hackles wrenched even higher, the sight of her companions so desperate and bloodied unhinging something in her she’d not tapped into in…

…well, a long time that would never be long ago enough.

She raised her scavenged wooden shield and a scimitar as the gnoll bore down on her. From the ledge above them, a hyena lunged out of some brush, attempting to take her down from an aerial jumping point. Without hesitation, Áine caught the hyena’s gut on her blade and in one cruel twist of her sword, disemboweled it and slammed it into the earth at its ally’s feet. She then set her sights back on the horrid creature she’d started with.

“Come on!” she challenged it, cracking the flat side of her bloody blade against her shield. The gnoll looked between her and the felled hyena, seeming to be reassessing who the real apex predator was. With its tail between its legs and a haunting hybrid sound somewhere between a cackle and a whimper, it loped back up the road.

When she was sure it had gone, she slowly straightened her posture, her breast noticeably rising and falling with each intake of breath. Áine looked down at the shield she held, her jaw tightening as she tossed it back to the ground, glad to be rid of it though it had proven useful in the moment. She kept the sword and turned to check on the others as she sheathed it, only to freeze in place when she found all five of her companions staring at her, some of them slackjawed. “What?” she asked, her voice coming out breathy.

“That was…,” Gale began, but his sentence tapered off as he found himself at a loss for words.

“Sublime,” Lae’zel said, seeming a bit more stable now after Shadowheart’s still somewhat reluctant efforts to heal her up. “I underestimated you.”

“Áine, you don’t fight like any bard I’ve ever seen,” Wyll interjected, his eyes both awed and suspicious. “When do you mean to tell us what you really are?”

“Mystra’s eyelashes, Wyll, she just saved your bloody life,” Gale said with exasperation, gently waving Shadowheart away from healing his own lacerations so she could focus on herself or Lae’zel and Wyll. “Perhaps a thank-you wouldn’t go amiss before you start an interrogation.”

“I’ll thank her plenty when I know who I’m thanking,” Wyll said as he unsteadily rose to his feet, meeting Áine’s eyes with a challenging look of his own.

“Of all the people to pick a fight with,” Gale was muttering under his breath, “sure, pick the sword maiden splattered in gnoll blood, that’ll end well for you…”

Were Astarion’s full attention not fixed on Wyll, he may have laughed at one of Gale’s jokes for once. He was absolutely right though—it was unclear whether Wyll thought he was doing a good thing by picking at Áine or if he was simply feeling emasculated after being saved by her, but regardless he was very wrong to be poking the bear. Áine looked the very portrait of a war hero standing there and if Astarion knew a thing about battle-born adrenaline, Wyll could’ve picked a better time to stir the pot.

Instead of snapping back, Áine smirked, her lip split from her scrap with the gnoll. Astarion had smelt her blood when she’d hit the ground nearby and he noticed now that she’d taken a scratch up her ribs where her light armor didn’t quite cover her tunic, but it didn’t seem to be deep enough to concern her at the moment. She nodded toward Wyll. “And you fight like no swordsman I’ve ever seen.”

Wyll was visibly unsettled at his accusation being upended. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, his teeth clenched.

Áine sniffed, rolling her shoulders as she said, “Humans can’t cast eldritch spells on their own. Add to that the fact that you’re hunting a devil and, well…” She smiled at him, her next words positively saccharine. “I’m just very glad that we both know what we’re doing.”

Astarion was admittedly disappointed when it didn’t come to blows. But it was fun to see the Blade of Frontiers back down and proverbially roll over to bear his belly to the acting alpha.

Not to mention the true crux of the confrontation, for him at least—angry, bloodied, battle-fresh Áine was hot.

His glance toward the rest of the group brought with it a faint wave of possessiveness. Based on every single inspired, lusty, or downright moony expression he saw lingering in the bunch—bleeding Hells, even Wyll’s—he was far from the only one who thought so.

Next chapter: Chapter 7, "Night Orchids & Wine"

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jonesy-squish · 2 months

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I've finally decided to do an intro post so here we go. (:

My name is Luigi(or that's at least what I'm going by right now),you can call me Luigi,Lui,Gi,Willard,Will,Willi,Bill,Jone,Jones,Jonesy,or you could come up with a nickname i dont mind that either ,I use He/They/It pronouns.<3

Some facts about me are:

•My favorite colors are:Black,Pastel pink,Pastel blue,and Pastel yellow

•I'm a cosplayer,I've been cosplaying since 2017 or 2018.Im currently working on making a Vox cosplay.

•My favorite music artist at the moment is Will Wood.<3

•I play a decent amount of video games.The most played game I've played is stardew valley.

•I love stuff animals.

•I always break the clips off of pens and mechanical pencils.

•I love bad movies(e.g. The velocipastor,inhumanwich,bloodsucking bastards,etc)

•My favorite animal is probably a biturong or a zebra shark

I used to have an older account but I lost access to it when I got my new phone lol.(It was basically just a dhmis blog, @geraldsverygerrythoughts if anyone is curious,(@im-gerry was one of my old accs sideblogs))

Currently,I'm really into Spooky month and Stardew valley(mainly spooky month rn lol),but I'm always willing to talk about the following: Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel,Undertale/Deltarune,Cuphead,Dhmis,The Stanley parable,Total Drama,TADC,Unicorn Wars,Ddlc,Animal Crossing,BATIM,Death and Taxes,mha(I'm not entirely caught up lol,nor do i especially like it anymore),eddsworld,the stanely parable,Jojo's bizarre adventure,Hellsing,BNA,She-ra,Centuarworld,Villianous.(There are probably more I can't think of lmao.if you arent sure if im i to something just me.)

Do not interact if:You are a homophobe,transphobe,aphobe rasict,pedophile,anti-furry,zoophile,ableist,zionist,an asshole,etc,etc,etc.Someone who ships problematic ships,eg:child× adult ships,incest ships,etc,etc.if you like Nazi characters

This blog is basically just for art and random shit I think of.Eventually,instead of just posting Fandom related stuff I wanna start posting stuff about my ocs and whatnot which I will do at somepoint.<3

Other blogs: @irritated-incendiary (an Ignacio from spooky month ask/rp blog), @uneasy-itto (a spooky month oc ask blog), @dexter-the-exterminator (a dexter from spooky month ask/rp blog) , @the-prophet-of-the-universe (a spooky month oc ask/rp blog)

Friends' blogs(go follow them): @blood-guts-goreeee , @father-gregors-guidance ,@alicethescenequeen @xachanimations

#luigi stuff<3 #luigidraws<3 #luigifisch

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betterbesttvshowbracket · 9 months

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current shows in each bracket so far (no particular order yet):

ask box and submissions open! all categories are up for debate. If you can make the case for moving a sitcom to cult classic or a misc. show to prestige, I'm open to hearing everyone out!

When each category has 32 shows locked in, I will seed them based on an average between viewership and ratings and open up the polls <3

CULT CATEGORY

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

X- Files

Columbo

MASH

Twin Peaks

Supernatural

Riverdale

Pushing Daisies

Firefly

Freaks and Geeks

Doctor Who (both)

Star Trek (original series)

Avatar the Last Airbender

Over the Garden Wall

Futurama

House MD

Sherlock

Dark Shadows

Hannibal

Fringe

Lost

Gilmore Girls

Roswell (og)

Skins UK

Midnight Gospel

Adventure Time

Angel

Eastbound and Down

Merlin

Twilight Zone

Dark

Charmed

Battlestar Galactica

"PRESTIGE" CATEGORY

Dirk Gently's

The Getdown

Succession

The Bear

Breaking Bad

Better Call Saul

Chernobyl

Game of Thrones

Boardwalk Empire

Atlanta

The Wire

Black Mirror

The Great

Big Little Lies

Justified

Mad Men

Yellowjackets

Interview with the Vampire

Black Sails

Fleabag

Yellowstone

Westworld

The Handmaid's Tale

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Foundation

The Borgias

West Wing

True Detective

Deadwood

Mr. Robot

Band of Brothers

Fargo

Sopranos

Bojack

Boondocks

Downtown Abbey

Mind Hunter

I Hate Suzie

The Last of Us

Barry

White Lotus

Watchmen

Orange is the New Black

The Crown

Ozark

Narcos

Maniac

Undone

The Missing

Leverage

Six Feet Under

SITCOM CATEGORY

Seinfeld

Girlfriends

Bob's Burgers

Archer

The Good Place

Arrested Development

The Simpsons

The Office

Parks and Rec

30 Rock

Sex in the City

New Girl

Psych

Elementary

Abott Elementary

Community

Letterkenny

Modern Family

Scrubs

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Derry Girls

Blackish

Our Flag Means Death

Miracle Workers

What We Do in the Shadows

King of the Hill

Man Seeking Woman

Full House

Trailer Park Boys

Friends

Ted Lasso

Wilfred

That 70s Show

Girls

Broad City

Veep

Curb your Enthusiasm

Flight of the Concords

IT Crowd

Monk

Shameless

Documentary Now

Better Off Ted

Weeds

OTHER CATEGORY

The Vampire Diaries

Pretty Little Liars

Grey's Anatomy

Stranger Things

Smallville

One Tree Hill

You

Criminal Minds

Gotham

The Flash

Legends of Tomorrow

The Mandalorian

Daredevil

The Umbrella Academy

Legion

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Blacklist

The 100

Midnight Mass

Haunting of Bly Manor

How to Get Away with Murder

Gossip Girl (og)

The OC

Young Pope

Haunting of Hill House

Euphoria

Walking Dead

Peaky Blinders

Vikings

Supergirl

Dawson's Creek

Bunheads

The Society

Prison Break

True Blood

Normal People

American Horror Story

Squid Games

Dexter

The Boys

Queen's Gambit

The OA

Spinning Out

#better best tv show bracket #bcs #iwtv #riverdale #spn #supernatural #marvel #breaking bad #pushing daisies #psych #house #btvs #succession #the bear #etc

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awalkoflife · 3 months

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRISON MORGAN ! 🤍

yes i'm a writer who celebrates fictional birthdays, get over it. <3 harrison morgan, the man that you are. i've been writing my own portrayal of harrison since august 2022 and it's truly been one of the most fun creative endeavours that i've embarked on. jack alcott, the actor who portrays harrison on dexter: new blood is so near and dear to my heart. he made me fall in love with harrison and i'll always think of him fondly but when it comes to my own vision.... jacob elordi needs to be acknowledged. there are actors whose work you're just able to devour and who you know would absolutely bring your portrayal of a muse to life and jacob was without a doubt that person for me. the image was so clear in my head. the strong yet sweet son of a serial killer. his darkness juxtaposed against his light. he is my harrison. i'd also like to take the opportunity to thank anyone who has ever written alongside him, who has plotted with me and who has helped me develop my own headcanons for harrison. thank you for allowing me to bring my boy to life! he belongs to jeff lindsay and the creators of dexter but i've loved him like my own oc for so long and will continue to do so.

#( ooc. )#some birthday love for my pisces angel sunshine soul. <3 #happy birthday har!

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ruvviks · 11 months

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Chapter >> 17 [x] Characters >> Cato Wu (oc), Eddie Wolfe (oc), Lauren Dimas (oc), Mikhail Koshechkin (oc), Panam Palmer, Rogue Amendiares, Viktor Vektor, Vincent Mayer (oc), Vitali Dobrynin (oc) Total >> 9.2k Warnings >> Blood, chess mention :/, death, injuries, irresponsible driving, violence

‘Hey- Get up. Can’t have you dying on me now.’

The constant, gentle beeping of a nearby heart monitor slowly woke Cato from her slumber, the noise reminiscent of her alarm yet she did not even have to open her eyes to know that this was anything but an ordinary morning; if it was even morning to begin with.

She inhaled deeply, eyes moving behind eyelids and head heavy on the questionable-quality pillow of the unfamiliar bed she found herself in; a weight pressing down on her chest, keeping her locked in position, even the slightest of movement burning painfully through her muscles.

Where the fuck am I?

Cato only remembered flashes.

A car chase- no, she had been on a motorcycle- a stolen one, no less, racing through the streets of Northside in the middle of the night after yet another failed attempt to get help, trying to-

Trying to-

She groaned, memories from seemingly another lifetime flooding back into her mind and her chest painfully tightened, sudden fear overtaking her. Had they finally captured her, now? After everything she’d done- every precaution she had taken to get them off her trail, all the cut ties, all the words left unspoken-

Another deep inhale. It did not smell like a hospital, wherever she was; it did not smell like any of their medbays, or a Trauma Team ambulance, or any other corporate location for that matter. The vague smell of blood and sweat lingered around her, mixed with bleach, some sort of disinfectant-

It stung a bit.

Finally Cato opened her eyes, squinting against the bright light of some lamp pointed directly at her face. She slowly let her gaze trail the room- oh, yeah, a ripperdoc, alright- past cold concrete walls, a surgery chair, makeshift medical equipment and a cluttered desk in the corner on her far right, until she found two figures; one sitting on a stool, the other leaning against the wall.

She did not recognize either of the two men; that was, until the one standing took a few steps closer upon noticing she was awake. Her heartbeat instantly spiked and she jolted up- but her vision faded instantly and with that she sank back down onto the surgery bed she was-

Handcuffed to?

‘Standard procedure,’ the man said, gesturing at Cato’s wrist before running his hand through his short, bleached hair. ‘My apologies. It is always tricky to determine if a merc is going to resort to violence once awake or not.’

‘I’ll fuck you up,’ Cato spat before she could stop herself, her voice hoarse as it left her lips- words scraping past raw throat and it caused her to cough, the raspy noise echoing through the room.

‘I don’t doubt that for a second.’ A pause, as Vitali Dobrynin reached into his pocket and took out a key, then reached for Cato’s wrist and- respectfully keeping his hands to himself- freed her from her restraints.

‘Cato Wu,’ he said, grabbing a chair from the side of the room and setting it down next to the surgery bed while Cato slowly sat up a second time, carefully now, allowing the dizziness to settle before she moved any further.

‘How’d you know my name?’

‘I have my ways.’

‘Right- fixer.’

‘Do I sense contempt?’

Cato sucked in her cheeks and raised her hand, mockingly putting her thumb and the tip of her index finger a mere millimeter apart. ‘Thiiis much. Pinky promise.’

Perhaps not her wisest decision- mocking a fixer like that only inches away from his face. And not just any fixer, either; a new face on the big stage in town, sure, and not nearly as famous- or infamous- as Rogue Amendiares or Dexter DeShawn, but one making his way to the major leagues quicker than anyone ever before.

Of course Cato had heard of him. She had gone looking for him to ask for his help, for fuck’s sake.

She watched carefully as Vitali’s eyes trailed over her face, scanning every little detail- reading her, and she slightly straightened her back in response. No one said anything; and instead it was merely the sound of the heart monitor filling the space around them, Cato’s heartbeat once more steady now that she had calmed down.

‘You have quite some history, from what I could gather,’ the fixer finally spoke, slowly leaning back in his chair as the corner of his mouth slightly pulled up. ‘Active in security since age 17- and now on the run from Kang Tao, no less.’

‘Nothin’ I can’t handle.’

‘I’ve sent some of my people after the squads. They won’t find you here.’

‘Wasn’t concerned.’

‘Of course not.’

Unbothered by her attitude, playing along- yet playfully so, and Cato finally relaxed a little bit as the other man in the small ripperdoc clinic wheeled himself over as well, moving around her to carefully unplug the medical equipment from the port in her neck.

‘Take it easy the next couple days, alright?’ he said. ‘Hit your head pretty hard in the fall. Your helmet caught most of the impact and took most of the damage, but-’

His voice trailed off and Cato immediately glanced into the rest of the room again, her eyes finding- well, what remained of her motorcycle helmet, sitting on top of the desk in the corner.

‘You got lucky, kid.’

Wouldn’t be the first time.

A sharp exhale left her nostrils as she redirected her attention to Vitali, who had not taken his eyes off her for even a second; alert, still, perhaps waiting for her to do something now that she was no longer held down by the handcuffs and the cord in her neck. Their gazes met in the middle, and he leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his knees as he tilted his head in a questioning manner.

‘You were calling out for me, when my mercs found you,’ he said and Cato instantly lowered her gaze again, glad the monitor beside her no longer showed her heartbeat. ‘Said you needed to speak with me.’

‘I need protection,’ she cut him off, turning on the bed to let her feet dangle down and she placed her hands on either side of her body, shoved underneath her thighs.

‘I can work. Do gigs for you, provide security- hell, you’ve done your homework. Seen my resume. Whatever you need, can get started whenever, just- I don’t think I can stay ahead of ‘em for much longer.’

Oh, how she hated to admit it.

Had done fine for months- but she was tired, slipping up left and right, and Kang Tao had not given up on her just yet for whatever fucking reason and it was driving her up the walls. She had no idea if her old squad was still out there, if they were even still alive; and had no way to check it either, each and any attempt to reach out a risk for all parties involved.

‘Endurance hunting,’ Vitali said, a sudden sharp edge to his voice that had not been there before. ‘Running you to exhaustion- minimal effort for them over a longer period of time, while your whole life falls apart around you until there’s nothing left and you are right for the taking. They’re good at that.’

‘Sounds like you know what you’re talkin’ about.’

‘Better than you can probably imagine.’ He paused, jaw slightly clenching as he straightened his back. ‘It’s a good thing you decided to reach out. I think we can help each other.’

Not the first fixer Cato had spoken to- but the first to not tell her no. His words slowly settled in her brain and the look on her face must have told him enough, because he merely smiled in return and slowly stood up again.

‘Go home, for now,’ he said, the rings around his irises lighting up bright blue as a location in the north of Wellsprings popped up in Cato’s view. ‘Get some rest. Visit my office when you are feeling better, and we will get you relocated to a safehouse and discuss business, yes? Vik- You can put the costs on my tab.’

‘One step ahead of you, Vito.’

‘Full price, this time, I hope?’

‘Eh- returning customer discount.’

‘I’ll…allow it this time.’

Cato was no longer listening to them, a strange sense of relief washing over her to the point she suddenly noticed just how exhausted she was. All her muscles were sore- and even with the painkillers she had probably already gotten she could still feel the heavy thrumming in the back of her head, constantly threatening to move closer.

Months of uncertainty, of being alone; and it was all finally going to change, and hopefully for the better. Cato did not know much about how Vitali Dobrynin worked, but his surprisingly charming attitude and his treatment of both her and the old ripperdoc were already a lot more promising than what she had seen from many others before him.

Perhaps it would all be over now. Perhaps Kang Tao would finally give up, finally leave her alone, perhaps she would no longer have to be scared to get taken back in- to get tortured, and killed, if they would even show her that kind of mercy after everything that had happened.

Perhaps she could finally be safe, now.

Cato had not felt safe in months.

She could no longer tell where it had gone wrong. Too much time had passed, too many parties involved; and frankly, at that point it mattered very little who was to blame. She understood why Vitali also didn’t know what to do anymore- he was grasping at straws, but so was everyone else.

But now things were starting to get seriously out of hand.

Hurried pace through the hallway, combat gear on and gun holstered and at the ready. Another day, another tragedy; another citywide mercenary attack traced back to the Broker, yet the man himself once more stayed out of the spotlights like he always did.

Yet something was wrong about it all.

Prior incidents had all had a clear purpose; taking away their resources, exhausting them, rising tensions in town and in the Council and attempting to frame Vitali as the big bad behind it all. Weeks of planning, carefully thought out moves- like some fucked up, intricate game of chess.

Man, the fucking irony.

Yet this time it had come entirely out of nowhere.

And Matvey’s mercenaries merely seemed to be out for blood.

‘Hey-! Cato, wait.’

Cato had almost reached the elevators, but she stopped in her tracks and turned around, heart skipping a beat upon spotting the source of the voice behind her; Lauren, running after her and easily catching up only to drag her in for a hug, arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders and hand on the back of her head.

‘Forgot to say goodbye, was in a hurry,’ Cato sheepishly said, Lauren’s hand gently running through her hair and moving to her face to cup her cheek. ‘You on runner duty today?’

‘W-What? I- Yeah, I am, but-’

Lauren’s voice got caught in her throat and she looked up again, a worried frown decorating her brow as her eyes trailed over Cato’s face and her thumb softly ran over her lips.

Cato didn’t know what to say.

Her brain was stuck in work mode; it left very little space for any distractions, and as much as Cato loved her girlfriend she found herself completely at a loss for words, eyes briefly wandering off as she slightly leaned in to Lauren’s touch and took a hesitant step closer to her.

And in response, Lauren leaned down and kissed her, the scent of her cologne mixed with a hint of coconut from her shampoo wrapping around Cato like a warm blanket, as if the two of them were safely at home rather than in the hallway of Vitali’s office, preparing to make dinner together instead of preparing to put their lives on the line once more in an attempt to regain control of the situation out in the streets.

Cato stood on her tiptoes and kissed Lauren back, grabbing the edges of her jacket to tug her closer and she could feel the corners of Lauren’s mouth turn up into a small smile.

Oh, how she had missed the quiet moments with her; they’d had some time, between all the chaos, but with both of them focused on work and the constant threat hanging above their heads it had been difficult to fully find some time for themselves.

They had wanted to move in together at the start of the year.

Cato still lived alone, now.

‘Be careful out there, okay?’ Lauren quietly said, her lips brushing past the bridge of Cato’s nose before she kissed her forehead, lips lingering on her skin a lot longer than necessary.

‘I’m- so good at that,’ Cato replied and wrapped her arms around Lauren’s waist. ‘Powerhouse. Unkillable, even.’

‘Holding you to that.’

‘As you should! As you fuckin’ should.’

She smiled when a quiet giggle left Lauren’s chest and she hid her face in Cato’s neck, carefully wrapping her arms around her again and nearly lifting her from the ground.

‘You be careful in there, too,’ Cato hummed in her ear and gently ran her hand through her girlfriend’s curls. ‘Wanna come home to you, ‘kay? Alive.’

‘And you will, baby. Alive and well.’

And with that, they finally parted ways, Cato glancing over her shoulder one last time and smiling at Lauren before quickly stepping into the elevator and mashing the button of the garage until the doors closed- but she kept going just a little longer, even when the elevator was already on the move, as if the action would keep the tears welling up in her eyes from rolling down her cheeks.

Cato knew like no one else their jobs came with risks.

She had always been a risk taker- largely calculated decisions but with an uncertainty or two that would make most mercs reconsider their options. Cato was too confident for that; or too stubborn perhaps, if you’d ask her friends, but either way she knew what she was doing and she knew how to clean up her messes like no one else.

She sucked in a deep breath and glanced at herself in the mirror of the elevator, quickly grabbing a hair tie from her wrist to pull her black and pink hair into a tight ponytail to get it out of her face. The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened- but she lingered inside just a little longer, expression blank and eyes fixed on her own reflection.

Hope I can get some sleep tonight. Looks like I fuckin’ need it.

The garage was surprisingly crowded, several squads getting ready to try and get a grip on the situation outside. Cato left the elevator and quickly pushed her way through the crowd to the other side, until she reached Mikhail, Eddie and Vincent, waiting for her next to one of their armored vehicles.

‘Everyone ready?’ she asked, hopping on her tiptoes and sinking back to her heels as she nodded at the car.

‘Almost,’ Mikhail responded and clicked his tongue, not moving away from his position against one of the pillars of the garage. ‘Waiting for one more.’

‘One more- seriously? Bit crowded for one car, don’t you think?’

‘Would you prefer for me to sit on the roof, then?’

The sudden voice from behind her caused Cato to freeze and Vitali walked around her, fastening the clip of his chest armor as he gave her a playful nudge with his elbow. A soft scoff left her lips in return and she quickly averted her gaze to the ground.

‘Alright, listen to me!’ Vitali shouted, causing silence to instantly wash over the room and everyone’s heads to turn in his direction.

‘We don’t know exactly what is going on, just got eyes on important locations they’re attacking,’ he continued. ‘Lauren is pinging you the hotspots, report back to her once everything is dealt with. Panam- I want you and your squad to follow us.’

‘Where to?’ Panam asked.

‘Afterlife. Rogue called.’

Well, that can’t be good.

Cato slowly wandered over to the passenger seat while everyone got on the move, head completely elsewhere. She did not know Rogue like Vitali did, or Vincent- but she knew her well enough to know she was not one to ask for help, more than capable enough to deal with situations such as this one herself.

‘It’s chaos out there,’ Eddie said as they climbed onto the backseat on the left side of the car, next to Vincent who was sat in the middle. ‘Bet they already got eyes on us.’

‘I do not doubt it.’ Vitali buckled his seatbelt and started the car, slightly adjusting the rearview mirror before starting to make his way outside the garage. ‘V- Are you alright?’

‘Yep,’ Vincent quickly answered, though Cato could hear how strained his voice was. ‘Peachy.’

Deafening silence washed over the car and Cato glanced in the side mirror to look at Mikhail, who merely stared straight out of the window with no readable expression on his face.

Trouble in paradise?

Not the right time to ask.

The sun already hung low on the horizon, leaving the city in warm orange and pink light; yet smoke lingered in the air from a nearby fire, rapidly threatening to get entirely out of control due to the heat and drought. Not an uncommon occurrence during Night City’s summers- despite the vastly different current circumstances- and Cato quickly took a mask out of the dashboard locker to cover her nose and mouth.

The streets were still busy, as they always were; though Vitali appeared unbothered by it as he swiftly maneuvered between all the other vehicles on the road, hands white-knuckled around the steering wheel.

He was stressed.

Of course he was- Cato was too, heartbeat like a drum in her chest and breathing shallow behind her mask. She let her gaze carefully trail their surroundings, looking for anything out of the ordinary-

Bingo.

Through the side mirror she could easily spot the heavily armored Arasaka SUVs closing in. Entirely out of place in the otherwise still relatively calm Wellsprings; and when someone leaned out of one of the windows, dressed in makeshift armor and holding some sort of customized assault rifle, Cato knew exactly who they were dealing with.

‘Behind us!’ she yelled over her shoulder and quickly reached for the control panel between herself and Vitali- grabbed the cord of the car’s systems while Eddie and Mikhail both opened their windows to lean out and shoot at their pursuers, and plugged it in the slot in her neck after a deep inhale.

She was never going to get used to it.

Vision going dark instantly, despite being wide awake and having her eyes open; it never failed to trigger her fight or flight response, body instinctively taking the sudden loss of vision as a direct attack, and nausea washed over her as she tightly gripped the edges of her seat to not lose her balance.

It settled quickly when her vision returned to her; though not in her own body but in a drone deployed from the underside of the car instead, and it slowly emerged from underneath as Cato gained control over its movement.

Mostly intuitive, but disorienting- Cato had done it enough times to no longer randomly lose control of the drone because of concentration loss, but it had happened one too many times in the past. Too worried about her surroundings, worried about getting killed, or getting disconnected too early; or she would think too hard about how to steer the drone, actions that would otherwise come naturally to her in her own body.

She relaxed in her chair as the drone flew up into the air and circled above their car, to assess the situation down below; three cars in pursuit, one of them trailing behind a little as it appeared to be in combat with Panam’s squad.

But the other two were closing in quickly, switching lanes to try and flank the car on either side. Cato dove down with the drone, her hands intuitively moving up as she readied the two small SMGs installed in the bot- and without wasting any time she began firing, quickly maneuvering around the side of the car so she could get a clear shot on the tires.

One of the mercs took notice of her and fired at the drone, knocking it out of its course. Cato hissed a quiet fuck and readjusted its alignment, instinctively leaning to the side in her seat as well as if that would help. She took another sharp turn with the drone and positioned it in front of the car instead- and shattered the windscreen with ease, hitting the driver in the shoulder and chest several times and causing them to lose control of the wheel.

The car rammed into the guardrail, causing Vitali to be forced to hit the brakes and swerve around it. An involuntary yelp left Cato’s lips as she nearly lost her balance, despite being sat down- hands desperately reaching around to find any support until Vitali suddenly grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, pulling it closer to the wheel so he could keep driving.

The drone had lingered behind a bit in the brief moment of panic and Cato quickly turned it around to get it back within shooting range. The second car was still close; now positioned slightly ahead of them on the driver’s side, and Eddie was attempting to get one of the tires to pop.

Cato activated the boosters on the underside of the drone to speed it up and dove down once more, positioning it underneath the Arasaka SUV. She carefully deployed an explosive and stuck it right between the two front tires- then slowed down and steered the drone back to their own car.

‘Turn right!’ she yelled, and the second she felt the motion of the car switching direction- and saw it happen through the camera attached to the drone- she detonated the explosive, causing the SUV to get blasted from the road and catch fire mid-air before landing on its side.

‘Preem work, Cato,’ Lauren’s voice suddenly popped up in Cato’s earpiece. ‘Taking control of the drone now- you can disconnect.’

‘Thanks, baby,’ Cato replied and quickly let go of Vitali’s hand again to disconnect the cord; she had to blink a few times to regain control of her vision, Kiroshis briefly struggling to focus on what was in front of her.

‘More of ‘em closing in as we speak,’ Lauren continued, and Cato rolled down her window to be able to lean out of it as well. ‘Four vehicles approaching from the east. Cato, Mish- get ready.’

She had not even finished her sentence when the vehicles in question skidded around the corner on Cato’s side of the car, one of them cutting the curb and nearly ramming into a food stand as the driver struggled to stay in control of the wheel. Cato drew her gun and charged up a power shot- released the trigger and the bolt of energy hit the front car right above the grill, sparks flying off the point of impact as the hood of the car flew open and obscured the windshield.

She charged up another shot as she let Mikhail deal with the now vulnerable and exposed car, a small smirk taking shape on her face when dark smoke followed by flames-

Followed by an explosion that knocked her back into her seat, seatbelt cutting into her skin and flesh and head forcefully snapping back causing a cry of pain to leave her lips. She released the trigger of her gun and the projectile got freely launched into the air, managing to hit one of the other cars’ side mirrors on its path.

‘Blyat- They’re flanking us!’ Vitali yelled from beside her and suddenly Cato’s gun was no longer in her hand, taken by the fixer as he leaned out of his own window to assist Eddie in taking down their pursuers. Cato cursed and grabbed the wheel, only just able to get the car back in its own lane- then cursed again when the cars in front of them slowed down for a traffic light and she swerved around them onto the lane on their right, grabbing the back of Vitali’s chest armor to make sure he wouldn’t fall out of the window.

‘This is a horrible fucking idea, boss!’ Cato screamed, wincing as the car rammed into a line of traffic cones, each of them flying over the windshield and landing somewhere behind them scattered all over the road. She took a sharp turn right, only vaguely remembering the route to the Afterlife- but with that cut off one of the other vehicles and it rammed their backside, causing the car to skid around and come to a full stop in the middle of the intersection.

‘Putting ‘er in reverse, hold on!’ Cato yelled and yanked on the steering wheel, slapping Vitali’s knee to make him put all his weight on the gas. Her eyes rapidly scanned the control panel again and she mashed some buttons- until she found the one that added an additional layer of bulletproof glass over the windshield.

She turned around on her seat, holding out her free hand to Vincent to pull him in; he quickly climbed over her and joined her in the passenger seat, leaning out of the window to shoot at the cars now all positioned right in front of them while Cato kept an eye on the road through the back window.

‘What the fuck are you guys doing?’ Lauren asked, genuine confusion audible in her voice.

‘Don’t even worry about it,’ Vitali replied, sitting back down in his seat to reload and wincing when some gunfire hit the side mirror and with that nearly his shoulder. ‘Cato is a fantastic driver.’

‘Cato would love to be in the fucking driver’s seat for that next time round!’ Cato roared in response, reaching over to drag both Eddie and Mikhail back into the car one by one before reaching back to grab Vincent by the arm and give the steering wheel another spin with all the strength left in her body, to position the car back in a forward position on the road.

Vitali hit the gas again and Cato reached up to adjust the rearview mirror, a sharp exhale leaving her body when she noticed two cars still in pursuit. Panam’s squad was no longer on sight- probably took another turn somewhere, to deal with more mercs, or to make use of a shortcut.

‘We have to get across bridge,’ Vitali said, nodding to the road up ahead. ‘Get back on highway and turn left- we get rid of them there.’

‘Yessir,’ Cato said, slightly relaxing against Vincent’s body. ‘Heads up, they’re closin’ in.’

Not her first car chase, by far- but Cato hated all of them, and for good reasons. Her breathing was shallow behind the mask, hairs on her arms standing up straight as she took the turn onto the highway, toward the bridge; a wide open space, both an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time.

Vitali accelerated and Cato repositioned herself on her seat, readying herself to maneuver between the vehicles up ahead. Eddie, Mikhail and Vincent leaned out of their windows again, opening fire on the Arasaka SUVs in pursuit; but Vitali seemed to be waiting for something, eyes carefully scanning the road before slowly but surely leaning out of his seat, aiming his gun at something ahead of them.

Cato instantly realized what he was going to do.

‘Is that a good idea?’ she asked, raising her voice a little to be audible over the gunfire as she steered around a few cars.

‘No,’ Vitali replied, ‘but when have I had any good ideas lately?’

And with that, he opened fire on the tires of an NCPD vehicle driving diagonally in front of them, effectively causing the driver to lose control of the wheel. Cato clenched her jaw and moved in, cutting the car off and causing them to swerve to the side- and both Arasaka SUVs rammed right into it, causing it to flip on its side and come to a stop in the middle of the road.

‘Easy,’ Vitali said, sitting back down and taking the wheel from Cato again. His voice was a few octaves higher than usual.

‘Well, that takes care of that,’ Lauren said. ‘Cut their communication, no backup en route currently. Dunno how long I can hold them off, though.’

‘Just do what you can,’ Vitali replied. ‘We will be arriving shortly anyway- NCPD would be stupid to try and enter Afterlife.’

‘They could send MaxTac.’

‘For the sake of this conversation, let’s pretend they don’t exist.’

Everyone remained quiet for the rest of the car ride. Vincent crawled back onto the backseat and Cato closed her window again, heartbeat settling down only a little bit as she took her gun back from Vitali and put the safety back on. She was waiting, still- waiting for more of them to show, or waiting for Lauren to warn for incoming backup-

But much to her relief, nothing else happened.

The silences after combat were always the worst to her.

Cato’s brain often needed a moment to catch up, body still alert and ready to jump back into the fight if necessary- but in those quiet moments it would often all come crashing down on her, realization kicking in to the point she would be more aware of the pain in her body and the taste of blood in her mouth than she would be of her own heartbeat.

She relaxed in her seat, eyes carefully trailing the roads surrounding them as Vitali continued their way to the club. It was getting darker and darker; street lights turning on around them and the neon lights and signs of Watson turned the streets into colorful hazes of distractions, marking the beginning of the city’s nightly life.

The entrance of the Afterlife was a mess.

Cato hopped out of the car before Vitali could even bring it to a full stop and she readied her weapon again while carefully scanning the parking lot. Cars stood scattered everywhere- two of them merely a chassis and still smoldering, dark smoke lingering in the stuffy evening air and obscuring her view.

She stayed low to the ground, biting the inside of her cheek as she stepped over a couple of bodies- no idea who they belonged to- until she reached the front entrance of the place that once used to be a morgue; and by the looks of it was now reduced to that very same earlier functionality.

Another car arrived at the scene and Cato instantly turned, raising her gun- but noticed Mikhail raising his hand at her from the corner of her eye and waited, realizing soon enough the car belonged to them and was simply Panam and her squad.

‘Mikhail, stay out here with Panam,’ Vitali said, the usual strictness to his voice Cato was used to; though she could hear his exhaustion, the slightly pleading undertone seeping through his words, as if he was no longer sure whether or not his authority was still in place.

‘V, on me!’ she immediately said, raising her voice a little as she pulled her mask off her face. ‘Eddie, stick with the boss, take the back entrance. We’ll meet in the middle.’

‘Copy that. Lauren, you got a visual?’

‘Nix plugged the whole network, you’re on your own from here. Bet Matvey’s runner is tryna poke some holes- I’m stayin’ out of that.’

Cato’s gaze met Vitali’s-

And for a brief moment she could barely recognize him.

The sudden defeated look in his eyes, a stark contrast with only minutes ago when they had been back on the road; demeanor similar to that of a kicked puppy and the gratitude and relief spilling from the expression on his face suddenly made her realize how vulnerable her friend was.

He had always been different from other fixers to her.

Had been the first one to open his doors to her, let her in- and he had offered her a safehouse, protection, things he did not have to do yet did anyway from the kindness of his heart.

‘We’ll figure this out,’ Cato said, loud enough for everyone on the parking lot to hear- yet she was talking to one person directly, eyes still fixed on his face as she spoke and he gave her a weak nod in response, rapidly blinking a couple times before looking away and following Eddie around the building.

Cato inhaled deeply, taking a moment to regain her composure as she pulled herself out of her head and turned to Vincent, who gave her an affirming nod in return. The two of them quickly entered the building through the main entrance, already able to hear gunfire coming from within while descending down the stairs. Security turrets snapped into their direction the moment they turned the corner- but did not fire upon seeing who was entering, and they both did a quick wave at one of the security cameras before quickly running inside.

The interior of the Afterlife was similar to its current exterior, bodies and debris scattered around- some sort of explosion, perhaps- and several tables had been overturned, used by mercs and clients as cover in what appeared to be the final moments of a gunfight.

Cato made a run for the bar and jumped over it with ease, taking cover behind it as she carefully assessed the situation; she recognized some of the mercs as Rogue’s and could easily tell the remainder of the Broker’s mercs apart from everyone else- makeshift armor, cobbled together from what they had been able to find at the abandoned Arasaka facility as well as their own supplies.

She steadied herself on the countertop and fired a few shots in their direction, most of them bouncing off the wood and metal of the tables and chairs- but it did what she was hoping for, getting the mercs agitated enough to attempt to fire back and with that exposing themselves to the lines of fire of everyone else in the club, soon enough leaving the ringing in Cato’s ears as the only noise filling the space around her.

‘Everyone still in one piece?’ Rogue’s voice echoed from the other side of the club. Cato slowly stood up and quickly glanced around until she found Vincent- not too far away from her, giving her a thumbs up the second she looked in his direction.

More gunshots sounded from the hallways further into the building. Cato turned and finally noticed Rogue- emerging from behind a pillar, hair tied back to keep it out of her face and some blood splattered across her cheek and jaw- and watched her march into the direction of one of the doors, only for it to bust open before she could reach it.

Vitali tumbled inside, two mercs attacking him at once and one of them attempting to slit his throat; Cato instantly lunged forward over the bar to close the distance between herself and the scuffle on the floor, but before she could do anything Rogue pulled out a gun and fired- two rapid, loud gunshots, two dead bodies, and Vitali yelped as he pushed them both off himself and scrambled back to his feet as fast as he could.

‘We clear?’ Rogue asked, glancing up when Eddie too entered through the door, and Vitali quickly nodded in response as he straightened his back and pushed back his shoulders while rapidly scanning the room- found Vincent and Cato, and he visibly relaxed again.

Thought Matvey didn’t want Vitali dead?

‘Nix says there’s more on the way,’ Rogue continued, speaking loud enough for everyone inside to hear as she took a few steps back to look around. ‘Including MaxTac. Which I can only describe as an unpleasant fucking surprise.’

‘Probably best if we delta,’ Vincent immediately said, hints of a grimace on his face as he shared a nervous look with Cato. ‘Let them- you know. Fight it out.’

‘Where to?’

‘Whe- Uh. Boss?’

‘Safehouse.’ Vitali paused to lick his lips. ‘Rancho Coronado, should be abandoned. Enough space for all of us, for now. Regroup there?’

‘Preem, lead the way. And, hey- you owe me an explanation, Dobrynin.’

‘Let’s get out of here alive first, yes?’

There was not much to explain, from Cato’s point of view. They hadn’t figured out what was going on still- did not know what Matvey was trying to achieve with any of this, and frankly, it had gotten to the point where trying to find an ulterior motive was more pointless than attempting to make sense out of his weird revenge fantasy in the first place.

She lingered behind a little with Vitali while everyone began making their way back outside, eyes once more trailing the interior of what remained of the Afterlife. It wouldn’t be the first time a gunfight had taken place inside- though she doubted it had ever gotten that bad before, and already feared for the consequences the Council would decide on were they to catch wind of all this.

Problem for later. Got more pressing matters at hand.

Reinforcements had shown up outside in the meantime and Cato instantly snapped back to reality, following Eddie and Vincent around the burnt out car chassis to put more distance between themselves and their enemies. She crouched down, moving around the both of them to get to Panam- kneeled next to one of their other mercs, bleeding from their shoulder.

‘Wound’s superficial!’ Panam yelled over the noises around them. ‘But we gotta get ‘em out of this heat!’

Cato glanced over the concrete road barrier they were sat behind; several vehicles blocked the only road out of the parking lot, and there was no way of safely getting past them without having to abandon their own cars in the process.

She turned back- eyes frantically scanning both Panam and the other merc until they landed on two grenades attached to their belt. She snatched them off and hopped over the barrier, trailing along the side of the parking lot to stay out of sight as she slowly moved closer to get a better angle.

And once she was close enough, she pulled the pins out of both grenades without hesitating and hurled them at the cars of the Broker’s mercs, covering her ears and withdrawing herself back behind the corner of the wall as the double explosion rattled her bones and caused the ground below her feet to shake.

She stayed in her position, waiting until her heartbeat had settled down; waiting for the pained screams and cries to die down, waiting for the gunfire to end, waiting for her nose to become used to the smell of burnt flesh- or for her brain to successfully convince her someone was simply throwing a barbecue just around the block, and there was nothing else to worry about.

‘Everyone, move out!’ Rogue yelled when Cato finally lowered her hands- and a humming noise somewhere above them instantly caught her attention, a sudden breeze picking up, and she turned her head to sky to-

Another explosion blasted her straight off her feet and she fell backwards, back hitting the wall and everything momentarily went black before she was suddenly face down on the ground. She tried to push herself back up on her elbows, grunting as the muscles on the left side of her body painfully protested-

And with that she was yanked back on her feet though not in the friendly manner she had been hoping for and a heavily armored figure appeared in her view, holding a heavy handgun firmly pressed against her forehead.

MaxTac.

But Cato was fast.

Smacked the weapon aside before they could pull the trigger on her and forcefully grabbed the helmet to yank it off their head, spinning 360 degrees before slamming it into the MaxTac agent’s face at full speed. Her arms were grabbed from behind and she was pulled back, one hand reaching up to grab a handful of her hair and drag her along, away from her friends-

But then she was on the ground again, a large boot kicking her in the face and her vision faded away once more for a couple of seconds. She blinked, coughing and wincing in pain as she noticed a tall figure hovering over her and they grabbed her hand to pull her back up on her feet.

‘Hey- Get up. Can’t have you dying on me now.’

Mikhail’s voice was soft, yet somehow the only thing Cato could hear as she suddenly struggled to realize where exactly she was; as if the two of them had been sent years back in time, back to when they used to work together- before Cato ran off with Kang Tao and Mikhail went to work for Arasaka instead-

Still difficult to believe, sometimes, that he had been part of the reason Kang Tao had started to hunt her and her squad down.

‘Wasn’t planning to,’ Cato quietly replied and gave him a small smile in return, allowing her friend to ruffle her hair before they both crossed the parking lot to get around the now empty MaxTac aircraft back to the car.

Let’s get the fuck out of here.

‘Get a medkit!’

‘Alright, sit down, careful-’

‘Misha? Catch.’

‘Someone bring me some towels!’

Vitali slowly followed the others inside the abandoned house in southern Rancho Coronado, lingering behind just a little longer as his gaze moved over the empty streets one final time. In the clear, for now- yet he remained alert, gun still in his slightly shaking hand as he dragged himself through the entrance hall and the living room to the other side of the house to sit down on a stool in the kitchen next to the large glass door leading to the backyard.

His leg and forearm were burning.

He’d forgotten to take any painkillers before departure.

The merc’s injuries were superficial and nothing Mikhail could not fix; just another day at work and one of the risks of their line of work. But the panicked sounds surrounding him, of his friends running around looking for more supplies, Panam nearly running right into him on her way to grab more towels, people getting weapons ready and sharing ammo with each other while preparing for yet another thorough perimeter check-

Vitali’s eyes fluttered shut.

And for a brief moment, it was entirely quiet around him.

The black void swallowing him whole was comforting, in a way; a cool patch of shade on a scorching hot summer day, a gentle breeze on a balcony overlooking the ocean, a wild river dragging him down by his feet until his entire body was submerged.

He often found himself standing there, in the dark- wondering. Wondering when it would end, when he would regain control again; wondering what else was left there for him; wondering what else he could say, if a half-assed apology would be enough to save him this time.

And all he would get in response was silence.

Strange, how that worked- to crave something he feared so deeply at the same time, to want something he knew he could not have without losing himself in the process.

And with that, the noise returned to him, panicked screams and cries and sobs and the feeling of hands grabbing his wrists and tearing at his clothes and clawing at his face, nails and teeth drawing blood, like hungry wolves feeding on a deer’s carcass-

He knew what dying felt like.

‘Hey.’

V’s voice had always been strangely soothing to him. Like a gentle kiss on a bruise- a voice that could cause his heartbeat to settle down even in the most stressful of moments.

But Vitali could not open his eyes.

Could not bear to look at him- what would he even say? After everything that had happened and everything that was happening around them now; he would only end up digging himself deeper into that hole, as stubborn as he was, unable to accept his defeat.

A quiet sigh left his lips when V gently cupped his cheeks, thumbs running over his skin as he gently tilted his head a little to the side.

‘You’re bleeding,’ he quietly said, and Vitali finally allowed himself to open his eyes, watching worry spilling from the expression on the merc’s face as he carefully moved his fingers to just behind Vitali’s ear.

‘It’s nothing serious,’ Vitali merely responded, holstering his gun and reaching up to push V’s hand away, but V dodged him and instead tried to tilt his head further.

‘I said-’

‘I heard you. Let me take a look.’

‘V-’

‘Vincent.’

A short pause, and Vitali sucked in a shallow breath.

‘Please.’

Vincent.

Vitali held his breath, heart skipping a beat as a weirdly comforting fog in his head blocked everything else out and caused him to only see what was right in front of him. He slowly scanned V’s face as his head was once more tilted to the side- no sign of sarcasm, no sign of discomfort, or hesitance.

Their gazes met; and V shot him a small, encouraging smile, lower lip trembling slightly as he did.

And with that, Vitali finally allowed Vincent to assess the damage, a wave of relief washing over him as he closed his eyes again and briefly pressed his lips against the bloodied palm of his boyfriend’s hand.

The carnage at the Afterlife had taken its toll on him, a lot more than he had initially expected. Something had caused the harsh reality of it all to fully kick in there- and they had learned nothing, other than the fact that apparently Matvey’s mercs were now taking a completely different approach.

Vitali involuntarily clenched his jaw and sucked in a deep breath, the memory of the two heavy bodies on top of him creeping back into his mind- the knife that had only been inches away from his throat- Ravager’s hands wrapped tightly around his neck-

‘Is anyone here gonna tell me what the fuck’s going on?’

Rogue had walked over to the two of them and stopped right next to Vitali the moment he looked up again, hands on her hips and a mostly unreadable expression on her face- though he did not need to ask to know she was fucking furious.

‘Genuinely wish I could,’ he answered, flinching lightly when Vincent dabbed the wound behind his ear with a wet towel. ‘Attack came out of nowhere, I don’t think any of it was planned. No pattern, no motive- they tried to kill me, as you saw. That’s new.’

‘So your- the Broker is changing their strategy?’

Vitali clenched his jaw again, but did not answer.

He didn’t know what his father was attempting to achieve with any of this. It made no sense- had their last encounter finally caused him to stop fucking around, to stop wasting time? Had this been part of his plan all along?

Vitali swallowed heavily and pushed the thought out of his head. Anything was possible at that point, but he decided to choose to believe his father had better backup plans at hand. Whatever had happened, whatever it was that had changed- there had to be a logical explanation to it all.

‘Just gotta figure out where they’re stayin’, then we can get this over with,’ Vincent quietly said, glancing in Rogue’s direction before looking back at Vitali. ‘Whatever happens, happens.’

He was right.

Vitali closed his eyes again and inhaled deeply, a strange knot settling deep within his stomach as he realized what that meant. Whatever happens, happens- no way around it anymore this time, nothing else left to do or say. No more grasping at straws; nothing left within his reach.

All he had wanted for himself, was a happy ending.

Selfish, in hindsight, to wish that for himself after getting so many other people caught up in the crossfire. Stupid of him to think that his father would stop, naive of him to think that he could get his family back after everything that had happened between them, after all their years apart.

Vincent cupped his cheeks with both hands and left a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth- I know, baby, I know- and it only then dawned on Vitali a tear had escaped his eye and was steadily rolling down his cheek, Vincent’s thumb softly running over his skin to wipe it away.

Oh, how Vitali had hoped it wouldn’t have had to get to this.

He opened his eyes again and slowly let his gaze trail through the room. Most people had sat themselves down in the living room, everyone a bit calmer now that the mercenary’s injury was being looked after by Mikhail and weapons had been reloaded. Rogue slowly wandered away again too, redoing her ponytail while quietly mumbling to herself- just too quiet for him to hear what she said.

‘Boss-? Someone’s approaching the house!’

Vitali’s head snapped up toward the front door, a rush of adrenaline instantly waking him up again. He grabbed the gun in his holster, dragging himself from the stool and pushing past Vincent to get to Cato, who had called out for him. She briefly glanced over her shoulder, then readied her own weapon and kicked open the door, both of them stepping outside and aiming at-

‘Wait, wait, wait- Don’t shoot!’

Dusty?

Vitali froze.

It was unmistakably his ex mercenary, hands up in the air while he stumbled back a few steps, wide eyes focused on the guns pointed at his head. Vitali instantly lowered his own- and so did Cato, though she also walked closer without hesitation and used the butt of her weapon to smack Dusty in the head- hard.

‘You fucking cunt of a traitor!’ she yelled, stuffing her gun in her holster while grabbing one of his arms and forcefully twisting it behind his back.

‘Cato-’ Vitali said and raised his hand, but other than that did nothing to stop her and just stood motionless to the ground while Dusty sputtered and cried out in pain as Cato dragged him off the street, closer to the house.

‘You got some serious balls showin’ your ugly face here after everything!’ she snarled, pushing Dusty into the outer wall of the house and aiming her gun at him again. ‘I should shoot you where you stand!’

Vitali’s brain struggled to catch up.

He walked a little further into the street, eyes carefully scanning each and every corner; it was too dark for him to be able to see very far but everything seemed clear from where he stood, the only movement he could see coming from the corner of his eye, some of the others emerging from the house to see what was going on.

‘Check the perimeter,’ he heard Rogue say, and turned around again just in time to see a few mercs scatter and vanish into the dark, weapons at the ready- and then he realized everyone who was still there was staring directly at him, even Cato, a questioning look on her face and her gun pointed directly at a still whimpering Dusty, her hand slightly swaying from side to side.

‘Why are you here?’ he asked, slightly raising his voice as he walked back and straightened his back, regaining his composure within mere milliseconds. ‘No fucking around- give me something to work with or I’ll let Cato do whatever she wants.’

‘Sanders is dead,’ Dusty promptly replied, and he dropped his arms past his body, carefully lifting his head from the wall. ‘Your old man killed him. His mercs are out of fuckin’ control- out for your blood, they don’t care about no contract anymore.’

Oh.

Vitali stopped in his tracks, mouth half open as the words got caught in his throat and he exchanged a look with Cato as a sudden location in Charter Hill popped up in the corner of his vision.

‘They locked him up,’ Dusty continued, his voice low. ‘Usin’ every little bit of the supplies he keeps in that building to burn this entire city to a fuckin’ crisp- and they’re not gonna stop any time soon by the looks of it.’

Dead silence fell over the dark street.

Well, as silent as it could be.

If you listened closely you could hear it in the distance- vaguely audible over the light breeze and some distant music- the noises of what was going on downtown, sirens howling through the night sky and heavy gunfire rattling through the streets, not uncommon at all but far heavier than it usually was.

Vitali felt light-headed.

Unsure what to think of it all- unsure if he could even trust Dusty’s word- but the sheer panic and fear in the merc’s eyes said enough and he bit the inside of his cheek, heart beating heavily inside his chest.

They locked him up.

This is not his doing.

He promptly walked back inside, past all his mercs, past Rogue- avoiding eye contact with each and every single one of them as he ran up the stairs as fast as he could to reach the safehouse’s weapon storage. His heart was once again racing in his chest, ramming itself into his ribcage as the pain in both his leg and forearm flared up again.

Painkillers can wait.

The small closet wasn’t nearly as impressive as back at home or at his office, but Vitali didn’t care. It was enough to stock up on ammo- and all he was looking for anyway was the box of explosives, tucked away in the far right corner and hidden behind some shotguns.

Nothing too powerful, of course- there was no need to level the whole thing to the ground, no need to potentially harm innocent people in the somewhat impulsive act of destruction he was carefully planning out in his head. Merely enough to get rid of what was inside; wipe out the threat and get rid of every and any tool used by the mercs to keep their citywide onslaught going.

He closed the door of the storage closet with his hip and nearly walked right into Vincent and Rogue, the both of them having followed him upstairs and giving him a puzzled look before glancing down at the box in his arms, realization kicking in for the both of them at once upon seeing the explosives and the dangerous shimmer in his eyes.

‘Get everyone together,’ Vitali said, and the corner of his mouth pulled up into a small smile.

‘Let’s go blow up a building.’

#nuclearwriting #rbs much appreciated :) <3 #it's all coming to a fucking end baybeeey #hope dusty doesn't feel like too much of a deus ex machina here. technically he's been relevant since chapter 1 so like. you know #was only a matter of time before his scrawny traitor ass would come running right back #ANYWAY. HEHE. much to think about much to yell about #lots of cato pov because i love my girl and also the way she observes situations is interesting to me #the car chase was so facking difficult to write. the rest of the action scenes too tbh but i was being very brave about it #the fact that the last sentence kind of implies that this will end similar to like. the canon in-game events #and also kinda similar to the end of the arasaka arc. and all of them being about arasaka in a way #idk it's interesting!!! it's like an endless cycle that the characters are stuck in. can you ever really get away from arasaka and all that #anyway let me know what you guys think of this one!! as always super excited to see everyone's thoughts >:^)#ch:the broker

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witchofinterest · 6 months

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Trying to spread some positivity in the OC community today, so: tell me ten random facts about Cal! Whatever fun little tidits you can think of, tell us about them!! <3

Hey Dolly!!! I love your new user! and your new theme is gorgeous!!!!!

Sure! Thank you!

1. Cal didn’t swear before she met Deb.

2. She’s very artisticly inclined! She’s really good at art, mostly drawing. And she sings when she’s happy, even though she’s not the best at it.

3. Cal’s born in blood moment was being strangled by her grandmother when she was a kid. It was suppressed till she was strangled again as an adult.

4. Cal used to do people’s homework for money back when she lived in the sorority house.

5. One of Cal’s favorite short-term jobs was running a bingo tournament.

6. Her best friend is Jamie Batista!

7. Despite being a fairly prolific serial killer, just behind Dexter, Cal never gets a moniker ala the bay harbor butcher.

8. During their second meeting Cal repeats something Rachel Lemar once said to Dexter and it’s part of why he spares her life.

9. The two loves of Cal’s life could not be more different! Cassie is a popular sorority girl and Zach is a weird off-putting guy who has no friends.

10. Cal was catholic growing up and lost her faith around age 14.

#oc cal knoll #oc rachel lemar #thank u!#i love cal a lot #strangulation tw #violence tw #murder mention tw

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melancholy-menagerie · 6 months

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(( In an attempt to write here more and w/ the aim of writing w/ more people, I'm leaving this here hoping to be able to start some new threads and interactions together! 0v0 ))

-- Muse Fandoms present: ●Game of Thrones (books) ●Hannibal (show) ●Terra Formars ●Hunter x Hunter ●07Ghost (manga) ●The Picture of Dorian Gray (book) ●Akame Ga Kill ●One Piece ●Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) ●Hellsing (Ultimate & manga) ●K project ●Psycho-Pass ●Black Clover ●Fire Force (Enen no Shouboutai) ●Trinity Blood (manga) ●Dexter (books) ●Kuroshitsuji (anime: season 1) ●Darker Than Black ●Yu-Gi-Oh! ●Juni Taisen: Zodiac War ●Beelzebub ●Trigun (manga) ●Tokyo Ghoul (divergent) ●Buddy Daddies ●Chainsaw Man ●Jujutsu Kaisen ●Tiger & Bunny ●Bungou Stray Dogs

check out the roster list ~ muse bios are here ~

ABOUT this blog: its a bit of a WIP / a mixed fandom multi / contains some canon divergence (depending on verse & muse) / highly HC-based / all muses (regardless of fandom) have been adapted for anime RP / OC & cross-over friendly / may contain dark or heavy content & subject matter / 18+ ages / & on a side-blog ~ Feel free to come interact with me on my other RP blogs too! ~They vary in activity, and feature Bleach fandom muses~ ● my (main) Tsukishima blog: bookofaion ● my Bleach multi: bleach-menagerie

check out my other blogs, and feel free to like this post if you want to discuss plotting/interactions in general on this blog (pls have at least a vague idea beforehand of which muse/s interest you)

-– Ane, the mun ))

#anime rp #anime roleplay #manga rp #multimuse rp #multifandom rp #multi muse rp #mumu rp #non-rp blogs dni pls #remade my old pinned post w/ some small tweaks :3 #i think its slightly (?) more coherent now #heads up: i specialize in slightly darker portrayals <.<

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justmoreocs-edits · 4 months

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Trust Your Instincts Story Introduction

Everleigh Howard had dreamed of being a reporter since she was younger. When most of her classmates played teachers or doctors, she was scribbling down nonsensical words and calling them stories. As she grew up, Everleigh’s determination to find her story was one that often had teachers complaining of daydreaming, and had part-time bosses sighing in frustration. But, when a true crime podcaster comes to town, and mysteries seem to rear their heads, suddenly people are trying to stop her digging for far different reasons. Reasons that seem to include her own safety.

#Made By Me #Story Introduction #Dexter: New Blood OCs #Trust Your Instincts #Everleigh Howard

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justmoreocs-writing · 11 months

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Trust Your Instincts Perspective Character Introduction: Everleigh

Name: Everleigh Lois Howard

Nickname(s): Ever

Birthday: 17th of December

Age: 16 years old

Height: 167cm / 5’5’’

Dominant Hand: Left

Occupation: High School Student/ Journalist Experience

Species: Human

Character Tag

Story Tag

#Made By Me #Perspective Character Introduction #Dexter: New Blood OCs #Trust Your Instincts #Everleigh Howard

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comidyye · 6 months

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HAIII HI IM ASH !!! im a TEENAGE brain surgeon FANARTIST whoo Also likes to make SH🥩Tposts and Edits here an theRRe !!!

they / He ★ minor ★ neurodivergent ★ excluusivly english Srry!!!

I USUALLY ONLLY REALY POST stuff about my CURENT HYPERFIXATION !!! My twitter IS pretty Dead rn And On tiktok (SAme @) I uslly post edits / memes!! CONTENT ⚠️ : ART MAY INCLUDE (TAGGED) GORE /BODY HORROR /BLOOD /EYESTRAIN .. anything suggestive is highly UNlikely However

ART: #doodle ★ RANDOM: #rambljngs

HERESSZ SOME OF my Strong Recent / curent fixations! ALSO : WHen i Fixate on a series i Usually have one character Im Obseszed w/.. I wil List them 2 !

★ resident evil ( rebecca, leon, hunk, stars wesker) ★ slashers/slasher adjacent (martin (77), billy lenz, leslie vernon, henry barrow)

★ spooky month ( bob / dexter) ★ yu-gi-oh [ s0 & dm ] ( ryou / s0 yami yugi) {reoccurring} ★ fnaf ( glitchtrap, vanny, funtimes, springbonnie) {reoccurring} ★ wii deleted you ( henry morris) {short} ★ kirby ( marx) {reoccurring} ★ animatronics - All kinds!! halloween/scary, old kids bands, theme parks ( rockafire explosion, circus playhouse band) ★ smile for me ( dr habit) ★ childs play franchise [ 1-2, 7] ★ super paper mario ( dimentio) {reoccurring} ★ welcome home - eeh... ( wally / eddie) ★ madness combat ( tricky)

"SO WHATS WITH THE CLOWNS">!>???????/

CLOWNS ARE PROALY MY BIGEST SPECIAL INTEREST! I KEEP A RUNNING LIST OF ALL THE FICTIONAL CLOWNS I KNOW. i have a google doc with MOST of them However the list is originally made/updated in Discord so the doc is likely an inaccurate count of the clowns. LAST CLOWN COUNT TOTAL: 178 CLOWN DOC If you know a clown not on the list send me their name thru The ask box Please! Fictional clowns from established series only - no ocs or anything !

OTHER INTERESTS NOT PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED CAUS holy moly thhrz a LOT

IN GENERAL : obscure, surreal, crreepy stuf !!! ... I <3 HORROR. ONE OF MY favorite things ever is cannibalism !!! Its super neat how versatile it is in media fiction-wise, and i like learning history and stuff around it too. i only think its a really cool thing in fiction though, dont.. im not weird <3

GAMEZ : DAY SHIFT AT FREDDYS(!), rhythm heaven, Klonoa, NiGHTS, um jammer lammy, splatoon, Omori, Balan wonderworld, undertale, deltarune, needy streamer overload, dropsy, FAITH: the unholy trinity, league of legends(ONLY FOR FIDDLESTICKS AS A CHARACTTR-I DONT PLAY), killer frequency, happy hills homicide, 1996 resident evil

SHOWS/SERIES : dont hug me im scared, the walten files, BUGBO, Ena, My little pony, kaiba(2008), tokyo mew mew, devilman ovas, milky way & the galaxy girls, the amazing digital circus, bee & puppycat, over the garden wall, infinity train, garfield & friends, gloomy bear, tokyo mew mew, wordgirl! MOVIES/MUSICALS: ride the cyclone, mean girls(musical), rocky horror picture show, trick r treat, re-animator, killer klowns from outer space, inu-oh, benny loves you, day of the dead(for bub), house of 1000 corpses, behind the mask: the rise of Leslie vernon, black christmas (1974), martin (1977), texas chainsaw franchise + chucky franchise CONTENT CREATORS: MARRKIPLIIER, JERMA! failboat, Dougdoug, dead meat, wicked masters, dawko, ANDY LAND, Itemlabel, CHRBRG, j-gems, lumpy touch, matt rose, planet clue, RTGAME, ooftroop, astralspiff, vernias MUSIC ARTISTS: WILL WOOD & LEMON DEMON . ... Chonny Jash, tally hall, CREATURE FEATURE, ROB ZOMBIE, KMFDM, icp, that handsome devil, oingo boingo, nero's day at disneyland, rusty cage, maretu, the stupendium, MSI(....Eeh..), duran duran, mcr, american murder song, s3rl, stolen babies(!). i am a hereditary connoisseur of 80s new wave/alt

DNI UHHH JUST DONT BE A BIGOT?!?! + FUCK PROSHIPPERS .. Dont piss on people 4 Their Interests n OH Sfw interactions Only Please SO nsfw dni Thannkz.. Just puting that out there Just in case.

BOUNDARIES:? Just Use common SEnse i would Think !! i dont think im crazy chronically online - school comes First Unfortunately . But if yurr that inntreseted in becoming Friends juuss lemme know howevrr You want .. Even with my own friedns I don't talk a lot however so dont expect full convos from me All the Time

ASK BOX..? anything related to me Just dump in there !! questions r whatevaa ... art requests about my fandoms r on the table, but dont expect me to do them!! low chance but still, shoot your shot COMMISIONS? if yur interested Ask and im sure we can work something out somehow : o)))! i do have a cashapp, but i dont have set pricing and i wont accept all requests SHIPS/OCS N SHIT? i generally dont really have any ocs n dont Really selfship unless like Platonic - I'm not a big shipper but may have a rarepair here and there - Real chill shit REPOSTS/USING ART? tell me if Yoou want to repost something somewherer - even if i do give the thumbs up Credit is required!!!! Feel free 2 use my stuff as a pfp just don't claim it as Your own -- Give Credit if someone Asks . Bare minimum Stuff

FUN BLINKIES/ STAMPS/GRAPHICS N SHIT

WOWOAOAOWA YOU MADE IT THIS FAR WHO EVEN ARR YOU >!>???!?>??

WELL thank You 4 Coming By < 3333333 SEE U AROUND!!!!!!!1

#blog intro #HAIIIIIIIIII #cw blood #cw blade

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thenexusofsouls · 1 year

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Private Muse: Nuada Bethmoora

[Bio and other information below the cut!]

Type of Character & Fandom/Source Material: Fantasy canon character from the movie Hellboy II: The Golden Army (I used to write him over at @fallxnprxnce).

Disclaimer: All the information in this post is a mashup of canon information and my own headcanons/fleshing-out/OCs, etc. I’m not going to bother to mention what’s what for most of it or I’ll be here all day, heh, so I’m just going to lay it all out as one narrative. If you have any questions on whether something is a headcanon or was actually in the movie, or you want further explanations about anything below, please don’t hesitate to ask. I have been developing Nuada, his friends, and his world for many years, so although this post is long, it is only a fraction of the info crammed in my brain about this muse, haha. So yes, feel free to ask about anything you wish. Please do. =)

What I Mean By “Private Muse”: This muse is only open to mutuals and people I already rp with, so no new partners with this one for now. I have my own mental health and time constraint reasons for limiting him, and I only want to write him in a limited capacity and on a trial basis right now. Anyone can send him or me informational asks (ones that aren’t starters or rps, but that just ask questions about him), but for actual rps I’m keeping this mutuals and regulars only until further notice. If you aren’t sure if I would be willing to write Nuada with your muse(s), you can always ask me through the inbox or messager.

FC: Luke Goss as Nuada

Species: High Elf (collectively refers to ancient lines of full-size, humanoid, bipedal Elven races; seen as sort of nobility among Elvenkind... as opposed to smaller, non-humanoid-shaped, quadrupedal, shapeshifting, cryptid, or aquatic races of elves)

Race / Ethnicity: Sun Elf (a race of High Elves associated with the sun, fire, heat, gold metal, gold and yellow and cream colors, and the growth of plants as nurtured by the sun; these elves are distinguishable by their cream skin, golden hair... unless white from age, ochre colored eyes, and ochre colored blood; they are known for their battle prowess, musical ability, intelligence, dexterity in many trades, and their resistance to fire)

Bloodline / House: Bethmoora (the longstanding ruling House of the Sun Elven race)

Age: Ancient (2K+) (Sun Elves are immortal but not invincible; they can still die of injury, illness, broken hearts, and they can “fade,” which is a graceful way of saying they lose the will to live and die of what they call “natural causes”; they consider fading to be nature’s way of returning them to the earth and allowing their spirits to rest when they have served their purpose in life; fading is cause for grief, to be sure, but it is also seen as something natural and better than living with bitterness, anger, or sadness in one’s heart, or outliving one’s usefulness in life)

Gender: Male

Romantic Orientation: Demi-biromantic

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Occupation: Prince; Warrior

Family: King Balor (canon father, deceased or not based on verse); Queen Elunae (OC mother, deceased, but her ghost still hangs around him, unbeknownst to him; I used to write her under the url “queenofbethmoora,” but the blog was deleted because of T.umb.lr derp); Princess Nuala (canon twin sister)

Potentially Triggering Material in Threads: Violence; g.enoc.idal tendencies (against humans as a race compared to elves); toxic thinking and relationships; sibling rivalry; patricide; sui.cidal ideation

Negative Personality Traits: Arrogance; anger; impulsivity; shortsightedness; stubbornness

Positive Personality Traits: Bravery; fierceness; loyalty; passion; perseverance; and a surprising amount of love even though it’s been tainted in some ways over the years

Important Personality/Nature Aspect - Nuada’s “Wild Heart”: This is something that I’ve spent a long time thinking about and detailing, and it is crucially important to Nuada as a person, as it influences his thinking and actions in many ways. I call it "croí fiáin," which in Nuada’s native language means “wild heart.” With Nuada, it’s not just a case of being hard to catch and hold onto, being a free spirit, or being a restless person with a lot of energy. It’s much more than that, and it is a condition that is so much a part of him that he cannot escape it. It functions almost like a medical or mental health condition. It’s the essence of the difference between a domesticated animal and a wild one, on a mental and spiritual level. In this post, I explain all about it and give links to other posts that go into some analyses or talk about it from Nuada’s point of view. There is a good chance it will come up in threads, so you may want to read some of it over. Or you can just ask me for a quick rundown, that’s fine too.

Nuala was not born with this same "croí fiáin" condition. Even though they are twins, Nuala is very much Nuada’s opposite in personality, demeanor, emotional/mental inclinations, and temperament. She balances him out. So in contrast to his wild heart, she is serene, calm, practical, and measured. Their people believe that they are very literally two halves of one soul. The two of them together make one whole person, so each of them are incomplete without the other. This is a rare but known phenomenon that occurs among Nuada’s people, and it is the reason why they are physically and mentally linked to each other as well. Their people believe such occurrences of this split-soul phenomenon are indicative of some kind of special destiny for one or both of them, and that they are both cursed and blessed.

Important RP Note: I DO NOT ship Nuada and Nuala romantically or sexually. I know this is canon, but I’m just not doing it at all, sorry. My twins have a very negative relationship, with each believing they have been wronged/neglected/unappreciated by the other. Nuada is possessive of Nuala, and he does get jealous if she takes romantic interest in others, but that doesn’t mean he’s in love with her or wants her for himself. His jealousy more stems from his desire to mean as much to her as their father and others have, since he believes he doesn’t. It’s... a whole big mess and a longstanding feud of resentment between them. Nuada was closer to their mother but she died when they were younger, and Nuala was closer to their father. He resents Nuala for being their father’s favorite while also being jealous of others she gives her attention to. But yeah... I absolutely don’t ship them with each other.

Important Potential Medical Condition, the “Iron Malady” (tw: depression and suicidal thoughts/actions): The Iron Malady is an illness I created for one of my fictional medieval fantasy worlds that afflicted my own original races of elves, the Silverwood and Purplewood Elves. But I’ve also developed it for Nuada’s people as well, and this is actually the illness his mother died of. You can read more about it here. At its core, it is a lot like dying of grief or a broken heart, but there are some very specific causes, symptoms, and cures for it.

Background and General Information: I... don’t even know where to begin with this, heh. I’ve fleshed out parts of his childhood, his mother and his relationship with her, how his mother died, his early relationship with Nuala, his interactions with magical creatures that are now extinct, what his adolescence was like... There’s just so much. I feel like things will come out as they come up in threads? I’m just way to lazy to write out everything I can think of, haha. Feel free to ask me anything you’d like about him, though.

But very generally speaking, Nuada was born a prince to King Balor and Queen Elunae, along with a younger twin sister, Nuala. He’s a Sun Elf, meaning elves that are associated with warmth, sunlight, plants, forests, dawn, and the color/metal gold. They are naturally resistant to fire, cannot be burned, and unaffected by high temperature climates, but vulnerable to injury from freezing and hindered by cold climates. They are one of the older and more major races of elves, and one of the few with surviving members in the present day. Bethmoora is a well-known and longstanding House within Elven culture, whether you’re a High/Sun Elf or not. It was also a well-respected House, but news of Nuada’s break from the family and self-imposed exile put a tarnish on his reputation, and partly on Balor’s as well.

I keep pretty much everything from the movie as canon, I just add in a lot more to fill in the blanks, so if you’ve seen the movie, you’ve already got a good jump on Nuada’s story. Anything in his past that needs explaining or that comes up in threads, I will try to give enough context to understand it.

As far as the story of the movie if you haven’t seen it, Nuada is angry at humans for destroying the earth and causing the dwindling and extinction of numerous races and species, most notably his own. Non-human races have been relegated to the dark corners and underbellies of the Earth, being forced to live in fear and confinement out of sight and with the safety of their own kind. Instead of living in vast forests, Nuada’s people live underneath human cities, among brick walls, dark sewers, and metal pipes instead of trees, lakes, and mountains. They’re dying off, giving into what they feel is their time to “fade,” but Nuada, as one of the last real warriors of his race, refuses to fade, refuses to abandon the earth to human destruction, and refuses to accept that the future has a strictly human face.

His cause and his arguments are just and sound, but from there, he embarks on a cruel and misguided campaign to eradicate all humans from the planet using a weapon called the Golden Army. It is an army of magical, indestructible clockwork soldiers of goblin make that can almost instantly repair and rebuild themselves the moment they are damaged or destroyed. They are deadly, possessing immense strength and sharp blades. Whoever has the gold crown that conveys ownership of the Army controls their agenda. Nuada sets out to obtain that crown, which has been thirded to prevent anyone from taking control of the Army for the wrong reasons.

One piece says with Balor, one with Nuala, and one was given to the humans as a gesture of peace. Over time, humans forgot the treaty and the story, allowing their Elven friends to fall to ruin and treating their crown piece as a trivial piece of art. Nuada kills his father to obtain his piece, crashes an auction at which the humans’ piece was to be sold, and then goes after his sister for her piece. Nuala does everything she can to keep Nuada from getting the piece and reassembling the crown, but he does anyway, gaining control of the Army. Hellboy challenges him for control, being demon royalty himself, and Nuada has no choice but to accept. They duel, and as Nuada is about to win in a rather underhanded way, Nuala stabs herself, kill herself and her brother, since they are linked. Hellboy, now in control of the Army, ponders all the power it could afford him, but his girlfriend Liz melts it, destroying it forever.

I usually write Nuada before he thinks about gaining the other crown pieces, or I write him as not being able to find the human piece, kindof to stall the canon story in the movie so I can have more time and freedom with him in threads. I keep his basic agenda and opinions, but just pause the main story of the movie for threads to happen, heh. But I’m open to whatever people might like to explore at any point in his timeline.

Magical and Supernatural Abilities:

Fire resistance and heat tolerance (e.g. holding the glowing hot map case without burning his hand)

Empathic and somatic link to his sister since birth (they are mentally linked over long distances, and their bodies mirror wounds and ailments between them)

Potential for empathic link creation with others by touching with his hands (Nuala and Abe created a link between them by touching their hands together, so Nuada can do this as well with other empathic individuals if an emotional connection is there)

Supernatural empathic capabilities: gleaning information from individuals, creatures, surfaces, or objects by touching them with his hands (e.g. knowing who touched an object last, learning someone’s name by touching them, or seeing what recently happened in a room by touching the walls)

Magical energy infusion: granting qualities, characteristics, or abilities to weapons or individuals by infusing them with magical energy (e.g. his spear lengthening and retracting; flawlessly regenerating the spear head)

Magical compulsion: compelling individuals and creatures to do something by lacing his speech with magic (e.g. whispering “kill him” to the forest god)

Friends: These are characters that tend to make somewhat regular appearances in threads with Nuada, depending on the location and nature of the thread. (See below for details and lots of links to posts with headcanons! Just be advised that these are from Nuada’s now-inactive blog and many of these posts are very old. Some of the info and links contained within them may be outdated.)

MR. WINK (a rock troll, also known as a rock ogre to some): Nuada’s righthand man, no pun intended. XD Also his close and dear friend. He is strong, brave, loyal, and shares Nuada’s hatred of human beings.

Appreciation post

How Mr. Wink met Nuada and how they became so close

Mr. Wink & sweets

Mr. Wink & tea

Mr. Wink hates sneezing

How Nuada sees Mr. Wink

THE BARK CHILDREN (small earth fae): The little two-headed creatures seen scampering all over the Troll Market. They act as messengers as well as eyes and ears for Nuada throughout the Market. They are innocent, intelligent, timid, playful, helpful, and curious.

Appreciation post

How Nuada sees the bark children

Nuada musing on the bark children’s treatment of him

Headcanons based on canon, part 1

Headcanons based on canon, part 2

Bark children and naming/identity

Jix & the bark children

TOOTH FAIRIES (small sky fae): Tiny, cute, but ravenous little fairies with an appetite for biological calcium, e.g. the calcium found in bones and especially teeth. They are one of the most intelligent types of fairies, able to speak and learn. They are playful and mischievous, as well as frenetic and talkative.

Pictures of the fairies

Gifs of the fairies

Nuada befriending a poisoned fairy

“CATHEDRAL HEAD”, A.K.A. THE ARCHIVIST: A wise old cartographer and archivist who makes and stores maps, scrolls, formal documents, and important letters in his library/shop. He lives and works in the specific Troll Market that is located underneath the human city of New York City, under the borough of Manhattan. He is well respected and trusted by many.

Appreciation post

The most interesting thing about this fellow is that his race are typically colonized by very tiny beings who build on top of their heads! They build from biological material (bone, keratin, sebaceous material), so the cathedral on his head is actually made of living material, an extension of his head. Tiny members of this wee race live inside the cathedral, and if you look closely, you might see lights going on and off in windows, or even the tiny creatures walking around on ledges and walkways.

The tiny race that lives on the Archivist’s head are actually involved in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with him. They gain nutrients and building materials from his body as well as protection from the outside world, and he gains a very valuable protective covering over his brain. Otherwise, his kind are born with very soft heads and frequently suffer brain injuries without the benefit of the hard, keratin-based (the same material that fingernails or horns are made of) material shielding them.

When someone of his race is born, tiny colonists from the diminutive race are introduced onto the baby’s head. As the individual grows, the colonists build and multiply, protecting the baby’s brain from harm. When an individual dies, their colonists are transferred to infants, very often within their same family/bloodline.

The relationship between the wee race and the Archivist’s race is considered a very sacred trust, with each race benefitting and protecting the welfare of the other. The Archivist loves his head colonists dearly and takes very good care of them. His race considers it a solemn honor to be colonized.

Potential Starter Ideas:

Maybe not a starter, but if you want to ask Nuada about his family, friends, life, etc., I have spent an inordinate amount of time fleshing him out over the years. I’ve expanded his family, detailed a lot of inhabitants and aspects of the Troll Market underneath which he makes his living space, and have elaborated on things like his fears, triggers, likes, dislikes, customs, habits etc. He’s my oldest T.um.blr muse that I really took seriously, and back when I wrote him (2015 to 2019) I had a lot more free time than I do now, so I had the time to spend delving into the minutia of his life and world. Feel free to ask him (or me) about anything, as I would love to get back into this muse I put so much work into in the past.

The bark children see Nuada as a protector of them, of their community, and in general someone to go to when something is... going down. They will inform him of threats, curious things they find, things that scare them, and intruders. Very often bark children will show up in threads with Nuada because they are such a part of his life. This presents a number of starter opportunities... A pair of bark children could be captured and put in a pet store, and your muse can set them free and let them lead them to their home. Or, your muse could be wandering near to a Troll Market entrance and encounter a pair, and decide to follow them. In other words, bark children can either directly or indirectly lead your muse to Nuada for various reasons.

If your muse is non-human or would be able to access the Troll Market with magic and gain entrance, they could hear about Nuada from the bark children or the Archivist. Maybe they go looking for him for some reason?

He could be injured and need help. If you’ve written with me at all, you know how I love the classic “I could die if you don’t help me” starters for threads, heh. Being shot by police in the city is a very likely thing that might happen to him. Or whatever injury situation we could think of is also fine. Fair warning that he would be grumpy in this situation. Or... your muse could be injured and if they’re of a race Nuada would be sympathetic toward, or he’s just having a bout of rare empathy for a human. He would likely take your muse to his home beneath the Market to watch them. He can’t heal, so he’d have to treat the wound and then just... wait. Makes for interesting conversation, heh.

Fun facts & Colorful Information:

Nuada’s and Nuala’s facial scars were given to them as infants. They designate them as royalty. Nuada was actually going to receive them first, since he is the eldest, but then they manifested on Nuala’s face automatically as a result of their supernatural somatic link. That was how Balor and Elunae found out their twins were two halves of one soul, or one soul split into two bodies. Them being born with this rare condition was seen as a potential curse or blessing from the gods, yet to be determined.

The darker coloration around Nuada’s eyes and lips compared to Nuala and others of his kind is indicative of the corruption that has taken hold of him. He is literally being poisoned by the negative energy of the dark path he’s chosen to go down. Negative emotions, evil, cruelty, a lack of mercy, and lapses in moral judgement are slowly poisoning him, both mentally and physically. This corruption affects his physical health as well as his personality and decisions, and is very similar to that experienced by Wanda Maximoff (1, 2) in the MCU.

Nuada was very close with his mother. When he left in exile, he took with him his mother’s wedding necklace, once a gift from his father to his mother on their wedding night.

Three reasons why Nuada might be pushed to violence.

I once did a rudimentary analysis of Nuada’s living space underneath the Troll Market, looking at everything he keeps/stores there. You can find it here.

If you want to know what Nuada thinks about fictional depictions of elves by humans in popular media, or his opinion on wandering about on Halloween, you can read about those topics here.

On the subject of human items being sold in the Troll Market and the general diversity to be found there: 1, 2

Nuada and Mr. Wink looking at human billboards

Nuada and Mr. Wink taking in the sight of the elves’ “home”

Muse Playlist: These are songs that I have used and turned to countless times for writing inspiration, many of which I’ve been associating with Nuada for many years. Some of them are related to the movie in some way or have had music videos set to clips of it that I’ve linked to, but most are just songs with lyrics that fit his mindset, the mood, or various situations perfectly.

Hellboy II Trailer Song / Reminds me of a quote from Nuada: “Let this remind you why you once feared the dark.”: “Mein Herz Brennt” - Rammstein (it’s in German, so here are the translated lyrics)

Main Theme Song: “Mordred’s Lullaby” - Heather Dale

The Golden Army: “Invincible” - Two Steps From Hell

Determination: “I Will Not Bow” - Breaking Benjamin / H320 dubstep cover version

Ancient Battles: “Heart of Courage” - Two Steps From Hell

Exile / Savior Complex: “Torn” - Creed

Pride: "Live Free or Let Me Die” - Skillet

Arrogance: “Fireproof” - Pillar

Anger At His Father and Sister: “Numb” - Linkin Park

Relaxed: “Kindred” - Jillian Goldin

Thinking/Meditation: “Nothing Else Matters” - Metallica

Pensiveness: “Winternight” - Visions of Atlantis

Sadness / Brokenhearted: The Old Ways - Loreena McKennitt

The Old Religions: All Souls Night - Loreena McKennitt

Heritage: “Ancestors” - Albannach

Wildness: “Beat the Speed of Sound” - Emmelie de Forest

United/Determined Twins: “Awake and Alive” - Skillet

Divided/Adversarial Twins: What Have You Done? - Within Temptation

Breakdown/Downward Spiral: “Let Go” - Frou Frou (Imogen Heap)

Failure/Defeat: “Failure” - Breaking Benjamin

Final Battle: “Blow Me Away” - Breaking Benjamin

#muse: nuada bethmoora #hellboy ii rp

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seancamerons · 10 months

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also for the favorites ask: favorite degrassi ship (besides semma), favorite show (besides degrassi), favorite song, favorite band, favorite food, favorite color, favorite Disney character, favorite book, favorite movie? <3

Thanks!💖 I have a lot of faves, and tbh I find it super hard narrowing things down to one here goes! Thanks for the ask!💌

Degrassi ships - djh or high era: jaitlin dtng era: sparcy, janny degrassi era: zaya and drianca

Shows - stranger things, the oc, breaking bad, one tree hill, mad men, never have I ever, ginny and georgia, queen charlotte, bridgerton, beverly hills 90210, julie and the phantoms, veronica mars, tim and eric awesome show great job, twin peaks, black mirror, euphoria, glee, on my block, freaks and geeks, cold case, full house/fuller house, skins, that 70s show, orange us the new black, this is us, dexter, parks and rec, true blood and sons of anarchy

Song - I don't think I have a single fave song. If I had to choose it would have to be something by britney spears I guess at the moment born to make you happy from baby one more time (1999) comes to mind. Always a comfort. 💕

Bands - I love boy bands backstreet boys, big time rush, nsync, boyz 2 men, Hanson. I used to love maroon 5 as a teen but I'm not so much a fan of their newer material. I like my chemical romance, the killers, blink 182, no doubt, fall out boy, and i used to listen to panic at the disco in their early years. I really love classic rock bands such as journey, guns and roses, and queen. I love a variety. Just don't talk about country I don't listen to it period.

Color - pink

Book - the great gatsby, the hunger games trilogy, currently getting into reading and of course fanfictions (if that counts) for degrassi which I write sometimes.

Movie - titanic (1997), crossroads (2002), et (1982), national lampoons vacation (1983), billy madison (1995), casper (1995), stepbrothers (2008), the breakfast club (1985), pretty in pink (1986), 10 things i hate about you (1999), the hunger games (2012), rent (2005), mean girls (2004), and grease (1978) probably forgetting something but here's some.

Disney character: male: dopey from snow white and the beast from beauty and the beast female: ariel from the little mermaid and cinderella

Feel free to ask me whatever, and I'll return the favor.

😊😊😊

#asks #malinastan #thank you for the ask 💌

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einarlokison · 2 years

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[Side blog run by: @wolfridds ]

✩ ATTENTION!! Anything NSFW please DNI, this place is strictly SFW and therefore minors are allowed to interact if they choose to do so. Crossover friendly!

You are welcome to interact with me or rp with my oc through DM otherwise asks or reblogs are welcome, I won’t keep them going to too long!

TW: There is mentions of death, near death experiences, torture, destruction of universes (if I missed anything plz let me know!)

Einar IC: Text be orange 🍊

A/N PLEASE READ: I do NOT ship Loki and Klaus, though apparently it’s a crossover crack ship idk. My OC is the making of a crossover of two of my favourite characters that happened to meet of pure randomness, nothing in this should be taken seriously! Please don’t attack me!

CHARACTER PROFILE

OK!! now that you’ve read that, introducing… ✩

Name: Einar Lokison/Mikaelson

Nickname(s): E, Ez, Ezzy, Narz, Narzzy

Species: Frost Giant, Triggered Evolved Werewolf, Vampire (Klaus’ Sireline), Triggered Mikaelson Witch (Tribrid)

Ethnicity/Race: Jotunn, Asgardian-Tribrid

Aliases: The Bastard Mutt, Wolf-Vamp Sorcerer, The Forbidden Tribrid, Magical Hybrid, The Illusionist Hybrid, An Immortal Mistake, Damned Mongrel, A parasite to all pureblood werewolves, Doggo Man, Pupper Man

Age: 29 - looks 19

Birthday: January 17th

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Height: 5’9”

Hair colour: Black

Eye colour: Originally blue, now steal grey - glow amber yellow when in wolf form

Pronouns: He/Him

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual

Accent: Quite British

Family:

AU Niklaus Mikaelson (father) [below are list of AU!The Originals family relating to Klaus!]

AU Freya Mikaelson (aunty), Finn Mikaelson (uncle), Elijah Mikaelson (uncle), Kol Mikaelson (uncle), Rebekah Mikaelson (aunty)

Marcel Gerard (adoptive brother, older)

Hope Mikaelson (biological half sister, younger)

OC Eira Mikaelson (multiversal half sister, younger)

AU Loki Laufeyson (mother/father) † [below are ocs and fam from ^^ side]

@wolfyocs Rúna Maximoff-Lokisdottir (biological half sister, younger)

Vera Maximoff-Lokisdottir (bio half sister, younger) †

Arne Maximoff-Lokison (bio half brother, younger) †

From alternate realities, mainly others from rps!

@inz-lokisdottir (multiversal half sister, younger)

@kaiduslokison (multiversal half brother, younger)

Powers/Skills/Abilities:

Illusions (Learning)

Shapeshifting (Werewolf only)

Super speed, super strength, dexterity, healing factor, agility, durability, speed, stamina, longetivity and other physical attributes

Cold immunity

Teleportation (Not learnt)

Dimensional Manipulation (short periods of time, drains most of not all of his energy)

Immortality

Blood Magick

Elemental Magick

Versed in various incantations

Asgardian Magic (Not learnt, unaware of)

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Personality Type (mbti): INTJ-T (Architect) hinting ENTJ (commander) at times.

Personality: In a way Einar takes after both his parents, but he is his own man in his own right. He is quiet and rational, known to be very independent, creative and self-motivated therefore strives to do things his own way. Unlike many, he does not rely on the status quo. He can be ambitious and won't stop until he's achieved his definition of success. Because of this he can be very stubborn. He is open to new ideas but can be skeptical by nature, often questioning things in order to properly understand a concept.

He is prone to being rather dismissive of emotions given his more rational side which often means he struggles to relate or understand others on an emotional level and can get frustrated. However, he can have great deal of self-control, particularly when it comes to thoughts and feelings, most of the time. There are certain times when he will loose his temper and become uncontrollably aggressive this is due to his werewolf nature. When the people in his life fail to match his level of restraint, he can appear scathingly critical and can get rather impatient. He sometimes gets caught up in arguing because he hates blindly following anything without understanding why. He has a kind demeanour and portrays himself as a gentle natured soul but despite that, Einar can sometimes be manipulative even when he doesn't realise he's doing it.

He isn’t a social butterfly, even though he seems like he can hold a conversation he is a difficult individual to get to know and can be a mysterious when it comes to revealing anything about himself. If forced into large gatherings he will often keep to himself or in the shadows, trying not to get too heavily involved. Getting to know people and making friends has never been Einar’s strong suit and he is okay with that. He enjoys his own company and is more than happy to discover life on his own.

Backstory:

Note: Nothing below is canon in anyway, shape or form! Do NOT take seriously!

Einar Lokison/Mikaelson, a name derived from Old Norse meaning ‘lone warrior’, the name given to him by his favourite uncle Elijah. He was born in New Orleans, USA Louisiana to the infamous Werewolf-Vampire hybrid Klaus Mikaelson who for a very brief period of time (literally a night) visited his favourite city and Loki Laufeyson—who at the time was in feminine form and went by the name Lotus—yes, the Norse God of Mischief. Being the firstborn, Einar was the heir to Asgard’s throne however Loki did not wish for his son to return with him to his respected universe because of his tainted blood as a werewolf-vampire hybrid instead he deemed him ‘An Immortal Mistake’ and claimed that he’d never be worthy to be called a Prince of Asgard and so Loki left Einar under the care and protection of the Mikaelsons.

Although, at this time Klaus never really cared for kids and was hell bent on creating a name for himself as the big bad therefore rarely spent time with his son. Despite that, he did care that his son never was properly influenced by his mad state and so trusted his siblings to care for Einar. Elijah, his uncle was the fill in, as was Rebekah, Einar’s aunty when Klaus was in one of his rampages. His time spent with the siblings was filled with learning about his family’s story and who they were. While his werewolf side lay dormant and his vampirism meant he’d have to die to turn he spent his time focusing on unlocking his magical side. Einar’s uncle Kol was skilled in the art and helped him to discover and harness his gift. As a firstborn his abilities came on stronger which caused bursts of rage. It took him a little while to properly control the Mikaelson witch inside of him. Aside from this he was fully unaware of his Jotunn genes or the Asgardian Magic he could of leant from Loki, only learning that he was more sensitive to heat than anyone else.

When Einar was about 8 he experienced his first time fleeing from Mikael, his grandfather and the ruthless vampire hunter that his father and the rest of the family had been running for centuries. Elijah, Rebekah and Niklaus argued on the best way to safely protect Einar, however they ended up hiding in a small town in Spain for the good part of an entire year. There the Mikaelson family hid in plain sight, blending into their environment and with the people there. Einar was able to learn Spanish for the most part. It was a year later that they returned to America, seeking shelter in Canada for a short span of time before Klaus and Elijah got into a massive disagreement that ended with Klaus leaving with Einar and moving once again to Norway in hopes of throwing Mikael off. He was around the age of 10 at the time. They spent about a year or so there meaning that Einar was about 11 when they returned home to America.

On their return, Klaus told his son that he was on some mission to find a special stone that would give him access to his wolf side. Naturally, Einar was curious and had no choice but to join his father in hunting for the Moonstone. They travelled all over the country in search of this stone. In this story, Einar was thrown into the real world of being a vampire. Despite Elijah’s efforts to keep him from the pain and torment that his younger brother was causing, Einar was exposed to the cruelty his father could bring. It around this time that he started to question, challenge and rebel against the rules that were often placed upon him in order to keep him safe.

It was when he was about 13 that Loki finally decided to show up in his life, returning to demand that Einar fall under his custody. Despite Elijah’s arguments and Niklaus’ threats, Loki wouldn’t take no as an answer and ripped Einar away from the Mikaelsons entirely and brought him back to his own earth. There he was forced into the life of being an older brother, helping to care for his apparent younger sisters, Vera who was 4 and Rúna (@wolfyocs) who was 2 at the time of his arrival. It took quite a bit of time but he adjusted to his situation and spent 4 whole years under Loki’s protection despite being rather distant and reluctant to build any connection with him. Einar grew rather close and adored his youngest sister, Rúna even though she was so young at the time.

After 4 reasonably peaceful years, it was unfortunately at the age of 17 that he got into an argument with Loki about how incredibly wrong it was for him to take him away from the Mikaelsons given in his eyes they were his actual family. This fight happened to break out of a trip to the park. He lost control of his temper and an unexpected burst of magic was released from him, accidentally killing several adults and sadly kids in the process. In doing so he triggered his werewolf curse.

Naturally, Einar felt terrible for what he had done and went into hiding with the help of Wanda and Pietro. However, during the full moon of that month Einar turned into a wolf for the first time. He almost killed Rúna and according to Loki had to be knocked out by magic to properly contain him. It was after that night that Loki made the decision and kicked him out of the house indefinitely saying he was a danger to his sisters and everyone around him and had proven to be the Immortal Mistake that he had been called the day he had been born.

Einar was forced to disappear from his sister’s lives and fend for himself. He spent that year of his life trying to figure out how to return to the universe he had come from previously. He wanted to go home. It wasn’t until late November in that year that he finally discovered the portal his father-mother had been using. Without hesitation he travelled through the portal and returned to New Orleans. He was welcomed back with open arms and tears, well at least from Rebekah. His father wasn’t the crying type. He learnt that time was a little different in that universe and meant that he was technically 18. Dimension jumping was weird. He was told of the problems surrounding the New Orleans witches and the threat they were to the soon to be newest member of the Mikaelson family. Einar of course by habit was determined to help protect the apparent ‘Miracle Baby’ that would be his sister. However, his efforts were stopped when the witches put a hex on him, or at least attempted to do so. He was a lot more powerful in his magic than they anticipated and he cast a protection spell, it wasn’t enough because it only managed to effect the colouring of his eyes which turned from blue to steal grey, his sight isn’t best but his werewolf side helps him with proper navigation.

As a result of his failure, Hayley Marshall was forced to give birth to a daughter. The witches took the baby and killed Hayley in the process in need for completing a sacrifice without interruption. They were not counting on Einar to storm in on them in a Mikaelson rage in revenge for them cutting off his efforts to fulfil the protection of his baby sister. In the mitts of his anger he killed 5 witches in total, ultimately upsetting the balance within the witch covens. His father wasn’t genuinely surprised by his burst of anger, but what did confuse him was the lack of remorse Einar felt towards the killings. He was surprised when his son claimed that the lives taken were worth it because Hope Mikaelson, his sister was safe. Of course in Klaus’ eyes he couldn’t disagree with that. However, Elijah pointed out the problem with that revelation and voiced his concerns.

After considerate thinking and analysing of his own actions, Einar made the decision to leave the protection of the Mikaelsons in order to try and ‘find himself’ and Although, on the day he left which was a week after his nineteenth birthday he was ambushed by an outsider pack of werewolves. They captured, tortured and killed him claiming that he was a parasite to the werewolf bloodlines. It was his father who found him lying dead a few hours later in a warehouse just outside of New Orleans. Einar awoke moments later, in transition, in order to complete his transition he needed to drink human blood. Klaus took him back to the New Orleans compound where he completed his transition and became the first Jotunn/Asgardian-Supernatural Tribrid.

The Mikaelsons taught Einar how to properly control his blood lust, however by the age of 20 his magic was growing stronger. With the arrival of Freya Mikaelson, Klaus’ lost older sister, together they learnt that he alone was becoming a beacon for a much greater threat than the Original Vampire family had ever faced, mulitversal bounty hunters. Much to Elijah and Klaus’ uncertainty and in order to protect his family, Einar finally left New Orleans, fleeing across the world to Norway in hopes that whatever or whoever was after him would be drawn away. His plan in fact did work because shortly after arriving in Norway he was faced with strange people who came in through portals and attempted to capture him. Being more prepared and having reasonably good control of his magic, Einar managed to fight off the hunters long enough to make an escape. It’s worth noting that he is basically self taught in a lot of his magic excluding the Mikaelson witch inside of him. In those three years, Loki never bothered to teach him Asgardian Magic. Anyway, he created his first tear in space and time, a portal that he had no choice but to dive into in order to survive.

For a good 2 years he hopped his way through different dimensions. Not on a regular basis because creating portals drained his abilities but enough times to avoid being noticed or tracked easily by hunters. He spent a lot of his time in wolf form or pulling a classic Mikaelson and constantly staying on the move once he’d settled on a universe to hid in. Those few years were tough especially being a novice to the entire concept of the multiverse. In his time learning how to navigate his portal openings Einar made errors, usually involving him landing in apocalyptic worlds or universes where chaos and destruction was the epicentre. He saw a lot of death and everything that came with it. Of course there are various side stories to be shared that happened within those years.

When he was about 23 he grew extremely exhausted from the constant paranoia, anxiety and ptsd and turned his humanity off, as a vampire he had that ability meaning exactly what it states. He pulled a switch on his emotions, basically having second to no feelings about anything whatsoever. His time as a vamp with no humanity lasted an entire year and a half (see side stories for better detail) and was not the really considered the highlight of his life either, like most vampires it was a time of darkness, a journey to find better light. Still, he powered forward, determined to continue to live the second life he had been given to him at least to the best of his ability.

Around the age of 25 Einar was one day unfortunately caught off guard and captured by The Vortex Society. (See side stories for more!) They experimented and ‘studied’ on him for 2 years before he finally escaped. He then spent the next couple of years hiding out, devising a plan to destroy the place that held him captive and made his life a living hell. Only one thing came back as a positive, Einar learnt of his sister Rúna’s whereabouts. Only recently he multiverse hopped into the earth where Rúna lives with the avengers and her other siblings. He made attempts to reach her before finally managing to land in that current universe.

Special side stories:

Extra(s)/Fun Facts:

• Unlike a lot of his siblings, he is not worthy to pick up Mjölnir despite not having any real malicious intent.

• Cannot properly shapeshift but can only shift into a wolf, because he is a hybrid he can do so voluntarily and willingly.

• Like any other vampire he does need human blood in order to survive.

• He loves animals, has always wanted a horse!

• Einar was actually named after his uncle Elijah’s favourite horse that he had when he was much younger.

• His wolf form is grey, with dark tones.

• He has a scar down his left eye, it’s evidence of the hex the New Orleans witches tried to put on him. Because of his healing factor, he possess no other physical scars.

• The only thing that can kill him is the one of the kind Red Oak that sprouted only in the New Orleans of his universe after Einar unlocked his full Tribrid self.

• Jazz music has a deep effect on him because of his connection with New Orleans. It’s the only way to calm his wolf when he becomes too aggressive.

Faceclaim: FaceSwap between Joseph Morgan and Tom Hiddleston! (Nothing to be taken seriously!!)

#einar lokison - mikaelson #marvel oc #the originals oc #son of f!loki laufeyson x niklaus mikaelson

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