#Mostly because it's been a while since I drew her with her lantern... and because I wanted to show how far I've come! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

factual-fantasy · 2 months

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25 ASKS!! THANKS U GUYS!! 🤶

@elegysonnet (In response to this post)

Ok so to explain Lolbit, you'll need a little background--

In my sister location AU I was thinking that William uses the circus as a front to go from town to town killing kids. He takes the remnant of his victims and puts them in the animatronics. This remnant is making the animatronics more "human". Its giving them the ability to feel things like love, hate.. and fear..

Another detail is my animatronics do not move their face plates to appear more life like. The face plates are there for easy access to the endo skeleton and for easy make up changes and replacement. While the animatronic is in use, the faceplates are clamped shut. They are never meant to open them and are not supposed to see each other with them open.

This then leads us to Funtime Foxy. He went into a parts and service tent he wasn't supposed to go in.. and on a table he saw a set of purple and orange Foxy faceplates. But having been programmed to never remove the faceplates and having the remnant in his system.. he just.. couldn't understand what he saw.

It was his face.. but.. also not him? It had no eyes, no teeth, its jaw sat at a bizarre angle. It was.. horrifying. The remnant is really messing with Foxy's head after seeing that. He cant understand what he saw and is basically having "nightmares" about it. Seeing himself in the mirror as this "other Foxy" with missing eyes and a black mouth. With black sludge dripping from his eye sockets..

So "Lolbit" doesn't.. really exist..? Its more like a nightmare concept that Foxy created in his own head. And he just doesn't have the means to understand what he saw.

Yendo has a very similar story..

Oh yeah.. I'm aware.😔 Remember folks, all reposted artwork is stolen. All.

(Also thank you! I'm glad you liked my FNAF stuff! :}} )

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD As for the fusion idea, I love those names!! :DD And I was leaning towards it being a separate AU of sorts. Since the ability to fuse would change A LOT about my characters stories and personalities--

XD And don't worry, that was a good read! Though I believe I had already planned an encounter with King Boo.? Well, "encounter", they never saw him face to face--

I couldn't find the original post talking about this, but if I remember correctly..

Mario and Luigi had found the mansion on one of their adventures and went inside. In which the boos locked the doors and turned out all the lanterns. The boos then proceeded to play tricks on the bros and got them separated. I think King Boo was watching the other boos from the shadows..?

Now Mario had gone into one of the rooms and there was a fire flower in a plant pot. Mario grabbed the flower and created a fireball in his hands so he could see. Immediately after that the entire mansion went completely silent. The Boos were all stunned. Someone absorbing a power up was so foreign, so terrifying... so.. so impossible, that all the boos were immediately terrified of them.

All the lights leading to the front doors lit up and the doors swung open. Mario and Luigi followed the lights, reunited and left the mansion. As soon as they stepped out, the doors and windows all slammed shut. Basically saying "DO NOT COME BACK IN HERE-"

Then the bros went home! Shaken, but safe and sound <XDD

(Referencing this post)

XDD Not exactly, my sona comes in all shapes and sizes. I just drew myself looking more human/"put together" in that post because I was resting on the couch XDD

Plus its only 1 drawing! I tend to put a lot more details into the characters I draw if I'm only drawing them once. :0

@2006-stupid-thatsme (Referencing this post)

Oooo I've never heard of empanadas until now! They look delicious!! :DD

(Referencing this post)

"What's a stomach ache??"

XD Ah don't worry about her! Lucky for Cici, her and the gang cannot get stomach aches. Mostly becuase I've dealt with them enough to know that they are the worst things ever! And I would never wish stomach aches upon even my worst enemy. :')💔

Sooo since I have full control over this universe, I have decided that there will never be any consequences to eating food! They can eat as much as they want, whenever they want, however they want, and they will never suffer any ill effects! No stomach aches, no gas, no uncomfortable fullness, no weight gain- no mess?? Once Cici is done chowing down on that cake the frosting will suddenly vanish from her face and hands. Cuz who likes to clean up after eating??

So don't worry bout her, anyone in the factual fam could eat that entire cake and come out absolutely thriving XDD

..Lucky aren't they.. :/

Yes! Though its only really a moustache-

I pictured that they're basically just straight up tentacles and there's a set number of how many can grown out of his head at once.

He can grab things with them too! And I imagined that they can fully grow back if cut off and the longest they can grow is down to Octo's knees. Once they get that long they kind'a stop growing.

Though Octo has never grown them out that long before <XDD

WAAAATHANK YOIUUUU SO MUSHCHCH!!!!! 💖💖😭💖😭😭💖

@tmelvinborg31

I DIDN'T KNOW THEY COULD BE SO LARG??

@minnesotamedic186 (Post in question)

These past few weeks/months(??) have not been my best

"The Jar".. how can a name be so haunting and creepy yet so funny at the same time? XD

Thank you, <:} I'm sure that I'll peek into the fandom every now and again.. becuase I cant escape my love for Octonauts. But I'm rethinking how I'll approach the fandom next time around-

<XD What can I say, I'm a wizard ✨✨ Though some parts have been spoiled but that's my own fault tbh.

As for why I haven't watched it, its just really hard for me to switch gears for some reason. All I gotta do is sit down, and watch the movie. But my brain just cannot seem to do that, it makes it seem like its this huge task/activity that will be a drag to go through. Its really hard to explain.. I guess I'd much rather just sit in my room an draw and not interrupt the usual flow/pattern of my day-

(In response to this post)

:DD Thank you so much!! And yeah Luigi could probably use a hug or at least a friendly pat on the shoulder <XDD 💔

@whereismycupofcoffee

XDD Not just when I wanna draw. This is my mood like 75% of the time-

For ME??? THANK YOU!! :))))) 💖💖💖

@blade-liger-4ever

Its all ups and downs, not quite sure where I am rn but it don't feel great so it must be a down :(

I don't know much about those characters or the relationship they have.. but Blue and Seafoam have been compared to them in the past. They must be really similar! :0

OH! <:DD Whelp I guess they're not saying there long!!- <XD

@whateverdraws1008

Tucked away deeeep within my brain goo. Its a rarity that I have the motivation to return to that fandom :( the characters are just so hard to draw! 💔💔

@beryl-shade

Ooooo this is so clever!! :D I can totally see this being apart of the actual games too!

YOO I LOVE SURFACE PRESSURE!! :DD I'll have to look into the other songs too! :00

@beryl-shade

I cant remember much of Chef Saltbaker.. he's from the Cuphead DLC right? I imagine he's giant to them, maybe they'd be afraid? DD:

(Related to this post) (I cant find the ask post- but this is in response to someone saying "what about Cici?" And I commented that the mic simply wasn't offered to her-)

Bibi picks up an absolutely miniscule Cici and she squeaks out a tiny;

" ᴵ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵃᶜᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᶦˢʰ ᵃⁿʸᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ >:³ "

#my response #fnaf sister location #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run ocs #my ocs #super mario bros #octonauts #factual fam #sorry for the late reply on the last one! <:D #also yooo 1900 post les goo

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ragingbookdragon · 3 years

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You Light The Spark In My Bonfire Heart

Kyle Rayner x Batbro One-Shot

Word Count: 2.7K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: I HAVEN'T HAD ANY WIFI ALL DAY BUT NOW I DO AND this is my new obsession and pair and you can tear it from my cold dead hands. Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

Kyle had an easy morning routine: get up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, workout, shower, drink protein shake, and draw. It was simple and effective, and helped him maintain a sense of normalcy that he didn’t always have when he was up in space. He typically started out with sketching small things, mostly faces and limbs from memory, the occasional suit redesign, then he’d get into the bigger works, drawing comic panels and the commissions he had. And while Kyle loved to be up in space, to be a Green Lantern, drawing felt like coming home to him, like it was the natural state. That being said, he didn’t love being interrupted when he was in the middle of something important—it was bad for the groove.

***

As the second round of knocking sounded on his door, Kyle grunted and stood from his desk, padding through the hallway to his front door; he flicked the lock and pulled open the door, surprise etching across his face when he saw the eldest Wayne leaning against the door frame—rather cockily, Kyle added, because the soldier’s arm was propped on the frame, the other stuck in the side-pocket of his dark tactical bomber jacket.

“Good morning, Kyle,” he greeted with a smirk. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

The Lantern blinked, shaking his head. “Uh, no, you’re not, (Y/N).” he looked at him. “What are you doing here?”

(Y/N) shrugged. “Had some business to take care of for my dad, and since I was in the area, I figured I’d drop by and see if you wanted to get some lunch with me.”

Kyle took a moment to lean out the doorway slightly, looking down the stretched hallway. “How’d you know where I live?”

“Please, a magician never reveals his secrets,” he deflected coolly, gazing at Kyle. “What do you say? Wanna get some lunch? I know a really good sports bar that serves great food.”

He looked back at (Y/N) and smiled. “Yeah. Let me go get dressed.”

The soldier merely winked in return and with fumbling hands, Kyle managed to shut the door before his cheeks burst into flames, hurrying back to his bedroom to pull together an outfit that would impress the man.

***

Kyle almost dropped to his knees when he saw the car parked outside his apartment building, and (Y/N) knew it too, because he chirped, “Gorgeous, isn’t she?”

He nodded dumbly. “Is this a McLaren 720S?”

“Mhm.” He opened the doors and slid into the driver’s seat, looking through the passenger door. “Coming?”

“Am I ever,” Kyle breathed, climbing into the seat, immediately running his hands along the dashboard and seat. “I’m in love.”

“Wait till you hear her purr,” (Y/N) said, closing the doors, and pushing the ignition. The sports car roared to life and he grinned at the way Kyle’s face melted. “Yeah, she’s a beauty.” He put the car in drive and looked through the side mirror, then pulled out onto the street.

“Is this one of your dad’s cars?”

“Nah, I bought this for myself a couple months ago.” He pulled the sunglasses from his t-shirt and put them on. “This and an Audi TT.”

Kyle huffed a laugh. “Jesus, you billionaires live it up, don’t you?”

(Y/N) smiled. “Hey, I live life in the fast lane. Might as well drive in it too.” He pushed a button on the touch screen and music filtered through the speakers, and Kyle’s face pinched in confusion. “What?”

“This isn’t—James Blunt isn’t the music I figured you’d play.”

“What’d you think I’d be listening too? Rock?” he chuckled, turning the volume down a bit. “Don’t get me wrong, I listen to all kinds of rock music, but I figured you’d want something easy rather than head-bang your brains out rock.” (Y/N) stopped at a red light and glanced over. “You can look through the artists on my phone if you want.”

Kyle shook his head, relaxing into the seat as the melody flowed through him. “No, I like this artist.” The soldier merely smiled in return, pressing the gas pedal again, and Kyle suddenly remembered something. “Speaking of artist, I saw the canvas in your bedroom the other day. Do you draw?”

(Y/N) hummed. “Not like you. It’s more of a pastime than a lifestyle.”

“You’re good at it. You’re painting your family in their suits. Details and designs included.” The artist regarded him with impression. “That takes skill.”

“I’d like to think I just have a steady hand and a lot of patience for stressful tasks.” (Y/N) turned the wheel, coming up behind a line of cars. “It’s an easy way for me to relax and mentally run through past events.”

“Like what?” Kyle questioned curiously.

(Y/N)’s eyes narrowed, but not in a loathing way, more of a thoughtful one. “Missions, conversations, things I could’ve done differently, things I will do differently.” He shrugged again. “Painting for me is just a time when I think about everything and nothing.”

“Well, you’re great at it, (Y/N).”

He snorted. “It’s just a bunch of paintings of my family and friends and military shit.”

Kyle blinked and leaned over. “Wait, is that painting in the den—”

“The one of the F-18 Super Hornet?”

“Yeah. You painted that?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Yep. I got Hal Jordan to take me up in one a few years ago and decided to commemorate the trip.”

“Wow,” the Lantern breathed. “I stared at that canvas for at least an hour the first time I saw it. I was just so blown away by how amazing it was.” He chuckled and shook his head. “And to find out, you drew it and not some world-famous painter.”

“Hey, I could be world famous if I wanted.” (Y/N) shot back, turning onto a less busy backstreet. “I just choose to retain my talents for family and friends.”

“Because of your job?”

“That too.” He agreed. “My squad and I take careful precautions to avoid our faces being seen during any missions for the safety of our families.” His face turned as solemn as his voice. “We do what we do to make the world safer. To keep our families and friends safe. It’s imperative that we’re not seen.”

Kyle cocked a brow. “But you’re Bruce Wayne’s son?”

“I am,” he nodded. “But I’m not as…out as the rest of my siblings. You’d be able to recognize them from press photos, but me not so much.” (Y/N) pulled into a parking spot outside the bar. “People only recognize me when they see the name on the credit cards. And I prefer to keep it that way.” A goofy smile crossed his lips. “The high life isn’t for me.”

“Says the man that drives a 710 horsepower sports car.” Kyle shot back with a grin of his own and (Y/N) stuck his tongue out as he turned the car off and opened the doors.

“Okay, I’m not actively in the high life but that doesn’t mean I don’t like luxury.” He closed the car doors and opened the front door to the bar for Kyle. “After you.”

“Thank you.” He replied, and walked inside, only stopping to turn and ask, “Do you want to sit at the bar or a table?”

(Y/N) tipped his head to the side. “I’m down with both, but I like the bar more.”

“Bar it is,” Kyle said and slid into one of the chairs, (Y/N) the other, and an older man wandered over.

“Well, I’ll be damned, is that (Y/N) Wayne I see?”

He turned, expression morphing into joy as he reached out and shook the older man’s hand. “Jack, it’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you son. How’ve you been?”

“Ah, you know me, sir. Nothin’ changing but the weather.”

Jack snorted. “And the desert where you dig sand outta your ass.”

(Y/N) chuckled. “Damn straight.” He looked at Kyle. “Kyle, I’d like you to meet Jack Dagher. He’s an old CO of mine.”

Kyle shook the man’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“It’s all mine,” Jack replied. “It’s been a while since (Y/N) brought anybody here.”

At that, Kyle turned to the soldier who was busy looking anywhere but his face. “Is that so?”

“Oh yeah. Sonovabitch doesn’t bring his dates here unless he really likes ‘em.”

(Y/N) coughed, glaring at the man. “Alright, we get it. Aren’t you supposed to be taking orders?”

Jack gave him a smug look in return. “What can I get you boys to drink?”

“I’ll take a beer,” Kyle said, and Jack rolled his eyes.

“No shit, kid. What kind?”

(Y/N) snickered as Kyle flushed. “Uh, a Heineken.”

Jack sighed. “And he had such potential. (Y/N)?”

“Gimme a strawberry daiquiri then water after.”

“Still ordering fruity drinks, huh?”

“Hey, they get you drunk faster than horse piss does, you old fart.” He shot back and the old man chuckled.

“Touché.” He slapped the bar. “I’ll bring those to you with an order of chili fries.”

“Thanks Jack,” (Y/N) smiled, watching the man walk off before turning to Kyle who was watching one of the baseball games. “You like sports?”

He tipped his head side to side. “I don’t not like them. I was never a sporty kid in school, but I like watching them.” He looked at the solider. “What were you like in school? Jock or prep?”

“Probably a bit of both,” he answered. “I played sports and had the highest grades.” Shrugging, he added, “And being a Wayne boosted me into the top tier of schools, so, there’s that. To be honest, I think all of us Wayne kids were and are a mixture of every stereotypical category.”

“I can see that,” Kyle laughed. “Especially with Jason and Dick.”

“Shit, I was talking about Timmy.” (Y/N) said. “That kid’s a grade A nerd.”

“He is, isn’t he?”

The two of them laughed and a woman placed their drinks in front of them, both giving their thanks as they took sips.

“Can I ask you something, (Y/N)?”

“My muscles are one hundred percent real. Especially my abs. Which you’re allowed to feel on in envy if you want.”

Kyle snorted into his beer, wiping his mouth. “No!” a few more chuckles passed his lips as he wiped the bar. “Are you…you know…?”

“A Leo?” (Y/N) offered with a smile, but his eyes told Kyle he knew exactly what the Lantern was asking, and he said, “I like the liquor, but I don’t care what label it has on it.”

The other man smiled. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“But if you want the technical term, I am pansexual.” He regarded Kyle a moment. “You?”

“Bisexual.”

His lips pulled in an impressed fashion. “Pretty fly for a bi guy.”

Kyle gaped at him for a moment, then shoved (Y/N) in the side as he buried his face in his arms and laughed. “You’re so stupid.”

“Ah thank you,” he grinned. “I get it from my old man.”

“You,” he cut himself off with a cackle. “do not get that from him.”

“Look, you know the big man in the suit. You don’t know the complete goober we live with,” (Y/N) chuckled, smiling at the waitress who placed menus in front of them; he picked his up and flipped through it.

“What do you recommend?”

“Hmm…anything with bacon on it.” He showed the menu. “If you like salads, get the steak and blue cheese one, it’s fantastic. Or if you’re more into tacos, they’ve got these awesome shrimp carnitas with chili peppers.”

Kyle’s brows furrowed as he looked the menu over. “What are you gonna get?”

“My usual. Tomahawk steak with garlic butter and mashed potatoes.” (Y/N) groaned and rested his head back. “I haven’t had a good steak in months, and I can just taste it already.”

“So, you’re a meat and potatoes kind of man?”

He grinned, keeping his eyes closed. “Unlike the cup noodle and Hawaiian roll man beside me.”

“Ouch. Hit me where it hurts.”

“C’mon Kyle, hit me with your best shot.”

“Better watch it, (Y/N),” he grinned. “You might be the next notch in my pencil case.”

“You’re such a nerd.”

***

“Holy crap,” Kyle breathed, hands resting lightly on his stomach. “I’m stuffed.”

(Y/N) moaned. “Stick a fork in me. I’m done.”

“Done?” their waitress laughed. “You haven’t even finished your desserts yet!”

“Oh God, don’t make me,” the Lantern whined. “I’ll explode.” He looked over. “(Y/N), take one for the team.”

“Pass,” he replied. “I think I’ve gained ten pounds just looking at the rest of the cheesecake.”

The woman laughed. “I’ll wrap the leftovers for you boys.” She wandered off, leaving them alone, and a blaring ringtone filled the space between.

(Y/N) jumped a little, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Do you mind if I get this really quick?”

Kyle shook his head. “Go ahead.”

He slid his thumb along the bottom and rested the phone on the bar. “This is Wayne.”

Captain! Finally. I’ve been texting you all afternoon.

“I know,” he snorted. “I’ve been ignoring it.”

Yeah well, the longer you ignore me the slower it takes for the radar dish to get replaced.

“What are you talking about?” (Y/N) asked. “I thought you’d procured one.”

I did. Then the buyer told me I wasn’t registered for official military hardware.

He frowned. “That’s odd. You did contact Thomas, right?”

Yeah. Beady eyed looking motherfucker who serves on the George Washington, right?

“That’s him.” (Y/N) hummed. “Tell you what, I’ll call him later this evening and get it all sorted out, yeah?”

Sounds good. Hey, did you take that guy out yet? Your little brother won’t stop texting me about some twinkie you’re into.”

(Y/N) froze as he felt Kyle’s eyes drilling into the side of his head and he stuttered, “Uh, Nadeen, now’s not the best time.”

What do you mean best—oh…ohhhhhh. I, uh, I gotta go, Captain.

“Yep. Bye.” He locked the phone and shoved it back into his pocket, refusing to meet Kyle’s eyes. “So…you catch the baseball game?”

“Which one of your brother’s thinks I’m a twink?” Kyle asked. “Wait, don’t tell me. It’s Jason, isn’t it?” he grunted in his throat, deadpanning, “I can’t believe my best friend thinks I’m a twink.”

“It’s Dick, actually.” (Y/N) grinned, turning to face him and he reached over, pinching Kyle’s cheek. “It’s just ‘cause you’re so cute and perky.”

The Lantern merely glared at him, griping, “I’m not as strong as you, put I can punch pretty hard.”

“Ooo, those are fighting words,” he shot back with a smirk, letting Kyle go. “Careful, I’m ticklish.”

“I feel like I’m talking to Hal.”

(Y/N) whined, all but collapsing onto Kyle who started snickering. “I’ve just been murdered.” He buried his face in Kyle’s shoulder. “Can’t believe I was just compared to Highball. The world must be coming to an end.”

“Oh, come on, you big baby. You’re not dying.”

“I am!” he turned his head, gazing at Kyle. “You’ll have to carry me to safety.”

“I don’t think I’m strong enough to carry you.”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“I did not say that.”

“You did, but in more words.”

“Alright, now I’m talking to Guy.”

“THAT’S SO MUCH WORSE!”

***

He leaned against the door frame as Kyle unlocked his front door and pushed it open, turning to look at him. “I had a lot of fun today, (Y/N).” he murmured. “Thanks.”

Winking, he replied, “I’m glad you did. I’d like to do it again soon if you want.”

Kyle nodded. “I’d like that.”

They stared at each other for a few moments and (Y/N) smiled, patting the door frame. “Well, I’d better be heading out. Have to get home in time for dinner.” He paused, giving the man a warm look. “Thanks for having lunch with me, Kyle.”

He’d not gotten two feet from the door when Kyle’s hand wrapped around his wrist. “Wait.” He turned and the Lantern leaned forward, pressing his lips to (Y/N)’s cheek. “Be careful on your way back.”

“I will,” he murmured, watching Kyle wave and disappear into his apartment, the door shutting behind him.

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obsidian-chika · 3 years

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Zhongli x Male Reader

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝘄𝗼

┲━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┱

𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

┺━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┹

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

A few days have pasted since the male's last visit to the Golden House. The weather didn't show any signs of sun. The ceremony drew nearer and nearer. Soon, the events to pick the bride or groom would commence.

No exorcist could even come close to the place. There were many stubborn and overly confident ones that have tried, but to no avail.

Which family would it be? Who will be the one to get sent off to the Golden House, as the bride or groom?

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

Liyue had events that would take place.

One, was the well known lantern festival for Lunar New Years. People would spend time with their family and friends. Games, food stalls, filled with happiness. Joyful times for the people that took part in the celebration. As well as releasing lanterns at night.

Two, would be the choosing and wedding ceremony for the spirit attached to the Golden House. These were mostly filled with grief. Families fearing for the life of their children, hoping that it won't have their family name on the slip of paper being picked.

About a two weeks before the choosing and a month before the marriage ceremony, people would start to planning of the event. Listing out everything that was needed. Having traditional clothing for the marriage on hand, the timing for both parts, times to use as offerings, the host(s), along with ideas of foods and drinks getting made for the event.

(M/n)'s family usually took part in the clothing, jewelry, and any other accessories. Helping to provide fabrics for the male or female wedding gown, fresh make up supplies, jewelry, any type of hair piece, along with anything else to prepare the bridge or groom. Also, having fabric out for a male wedding gown to get burned off in place for the ghost.

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

Soon, the choosing began. The people of Liyue gathered. Names of the different families have been craved onto sticks and placed in a jar. There was a table set up, with variety of foods, incenses, flowers, and other Liyue specialties. Red and gold decorated the area, everything was falling into place. Soon a family would be chosen for the wedding.

Not long after everyone has gathered, Liyue's leader stepped forward to start the ceremony. There were lots of people in the crowd, praying that they didn't have to give their kid away to the cursed spirit.

"We are here today, to find out who will be the chosen one for this traditional wedding. When the family name is acquired, may I ask for the head of the family to step forward to retrieve some items, along with announcing which child within the family it will be. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻."

There was a large can of sticks, each stick being engraved with a family's name. The can was shaken up and down, which ever stick fell out, the family who's name is engraved will be the one providing the second part of the pairing. The crowd was silent as their Leader raised the can you and down in front of her. A group of sticks raised above the rest, but one remained up and out while the others fell back, and it dropped to the ground. The sound moving through the crowd.

She picked it up, raising to her feet, "the (l/n) family was chosen, the head of the family please come up for the items and to announce the partner of the marriage."

The boy stood in the far back to the crowd froze apron hearing his family's name being spoken out as the chosen. He hoped he wouldn't have to go, there were many things he still wanted to do. Seeing the beautiful of the world and acquiring any new type of knowledge he could because he had a passion for learning what he didn't know. He wasn't focusing on the speech his father was giving the crowd, he just wanted to go somewhere far away from what seemed like his home. Not catching much of the conversation, his father's words snapped him out of his inner thoughts.

"— as much as it hurts me to say, the son, (M/n), will be the one becoming the groom for this occasion."

The crowd was silent. Great. He knew it, nothing would change how he was viewed by his parents. He knew what his father said about his was a lie, his father and mother would gladly jump at the chance to remove him. His fate was now sealed, he was going to get married off in about one month. No one to save him, he could run away from it all, but it wouldn't feel right to push what he had to do onto someone else.

He didn't know what else to say beside replying with, "I accept my fate. I accept the responsibility that was placed onto myself. I will do my best."

No one smiled. No one was clapping. He was like a small sunshine around the harbor, but now his fate was decided. The only ones happy were his parents, the smirk of victory they felt when they no longer have to house that child they find horrid.

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

He had about 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 before he would be married off. It was quite ironic to him, the place he found comfort in would also be the last thing he would be seeing in this life time. His time was now limited, so he wanted to make the most out of it. He traveled to places he loved, manipulating his hydro vision to teleport during some of his travels.

He now about 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 of time left after traveling to some and most of his favorite places. He wanted to spend the time he had left around the harbor. Helping people, petting the dogs, cats, along with spending a bit of time here and there relaxing in the Golden House.

There wasn't much to do or even say to his family. He knew his parents were quite delighted to get rid of him for good, while his siblings were a hit or miss. He also wanted to visit a few more people before completely departing from Liyue. He never had any friends his age so there wasn't anything for him to say either. He wished he had at least a few friends to hang out with, but the kinds never talked too him.

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

During the two weeks he had left, he would vividly remember dreams from the night before. Dreaming about things that was hard to understand, yet it seemed like all the dreams were related.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

There was a table, surrounded by seven people. Their faces being a blur, but one figure stood out. A small pony tail of gold and brown hair through the back of the hood worn. The conversation was also a blur, not many words were heard.

❝ 𝙤𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙚 ❞

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

A large rock dragon, next to it was a standing man figure. With the same hair colors and hood, staring out at Liyue.

❝ 𝙖𝙯𝙝𝙙𝙖𝙝𝙖 ❞

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

It seemed to be the archon war. Rock like spear formations were falling from the sky. There was a figure in the sky. That same exact figure, again.

❝ 𝙞 𝙖𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 ❞

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

There was a female figure standing beside a male figure. Beautiful as the night sky. Bright as the sun. The male figure gazed at her.

❝ 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙯𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜 ❞

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

The male figure looked a bit different. The hood was gone, now dresses in most black, gold, and brown. The hair color was beautiful as always. Plus, there were three other people a what seemed like a flying pixie.

❝ 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠 ❞

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

There were three others along with the same male. There was a blond male that seemed to have appeared before. The other two figures seemed to be the yin and yang of each other.

❝ 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 ❞

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𒆙 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

The man now stood there. Staring at who knows what. Time seemed to slow around him, he was in deep thought about the what he had just overheard.

❝ 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 ❞

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

There was one week of times left. The (M/n) could fit some of the visions together, but he was never truest sure of what they meant. He wanted to find out more. So, he decided to spend his remaining time learning about what happened in the past, and more about the archon that once ruled one of the seven nations, who was the geo archon.

Books, stories, tales, anything he could find on the geo archon. His room soon filled with multiple books relating to Morax, or Rex Lapis. He was learning to much. The geo archon never failed to surprise him with his actions. Sure the geo archon could have been merciless at times, but there were things he also agreed with.

He understood quite a lot to his surprise. He also looked for first person stories when he ran into a few adeptus with his time left. He wanted to learn so much more, yet his time was so limited.

"My time is almost up, yet I want to learn so much more about you. I wonder, would I be able to talk to your spirit, or would I have an instant death. A heart is stone is still a heart, is it not?"

The boy closed his eyes, with those as his final thoughts about Rex Lapis, along with what might happen to him as he was the one to get married off.

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

It's finally done. Hope you enjoyed it, and I

also want to thank you for the support.

#zhongli x male reader #zhongli #genshin impact x male reader #genshin impact #male reader

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indianamoonshine · 3 years

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c h a p t e r | i

summary: every summer you work on your father's strawberry farm with your three sisters. it's a way to take a break from the big city but summers in the midwest are hot and they linger. this year, your father's old and mysterious friend shows up to stay on your land for a reason yet to be determined. din djarin seems dangerous, but kind enough, and the two of you quickly become...well, let's fact it...smitten.

rating: m (18+) for future and explicit sexual content.

author's note: reader is well over eighteen for obvious reasons. i won't ever go into physical detail about the reader's appearance because we include everyone. this fic is pretty much a mix between pride & prejudice and call me by your name except without the und*rage crap we do not condone. so, without further ado, here's an aesthetically pleasing fanfic.

the moment din djarin laid eyes on you he knew he was a dead man.

at first, his view of you had been obstructed because you'd opened every door and window in the house. june in the midwest sometimes required such nuisances, so all of the curtains billowing in the breeze prevented him from looking upon you.

you were also on the couch, but he hadn't known that until you lifted a hand - soft as a dove's - from the back of the sofa. you played with the light between your fingers, shielding its dazzling rays from your eyes, just before setting it down again. your hands were so small (smaller than his anyway) and gentle. he imagined how foreign your skin would feel in warm contrast to his; how your fingers would feel intertwined with his calloused ones, which had done enough work throughout the years to be mistaken for a beggar’s. within the first moment, he saw you as flawless.

your father had not stopped for breath since din arrived, lamenting about the farm or discussing the layout of the home with an eagerness din had yet to match. he would've initially been interested in the history of the farm or how many sprawling acres rolled endlessly before them, but his eyes couldn't leave your hand.

you must've been asleep - napping in the embrace of the sun - because as soon as your father drew breath upon entering the living room, your voice tickled din's ears for the first time. sweet as music.

"dad? is that you?"

din couldn't help but blink at the sound of your voice. it seemed unnatural, like one hears in dreams or spiritual awakenings. he manages to compose himself at your father's side, straightening his posture to err on the side of caution.

your father exclaims with a joyful "ah!" and then introduces you by name.

"my daughter. one of them, anyway. she and the three eldest help during the summer," he had said, and then turned to the bay windows to go on about the view.

but you meet din's eyes, rested and glimmering with curiosity, while your father droned on in the background. you reach out a hand - the one he'd thought of holding - to shake.

he does. and it's every bit as beautiful as he knew it'd be.

"how do you do?" you give him a polite and pretty smile. if he hadn't known any better, you bat your eyelashes for good measure.

your father's tour continues but din can't stop thinking about the way your skirt rose to your thighs as you stretched awake.

|||

you were lying if you said you didn't think about him for the rest of the day.

you weren't the only one. your sisters - all three of them - had also met the mysterious din djarin.

"who is he?" charlotte asked while you congregated at the nearby pond. it was a lovely place, nestled within the thick of the woods and bursting with greenery. flowers of every kind blossomed around you and scents the air with a sweetness.

rhea lays in the shade of a peach tree. "one of dad's old friends," she says. she waves herself with a floral paper fan she'd gotten from chinatown while visiting you in new york.

"but why is he here?"

madeline, who paints with her watercolors, pipes in. "i heard he got into some trouble with the law and now he's in hiding."

you roll your eyes with a scoff, lounging in the grass and watching the clouds in the bright, blue sky. "madeline, that's absurd."

rhea (who is the oldest and most pragmatic) surprises you when she shrugs her shoulders. "i don't know. he looks likes a bad boy..."

you recall the way his jaw clenched as you introduced yourself - his neck was tempting. his skin glowed with a radiant hue in the sunlight and his eyes shone with an aura of broodiness. he was very austenian.

"boy is hardly the word," you correct.

charlotte, being the flirt, wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. she swims in the pond, hair wet and fanning against the water. she sinks lowly for dramatic effect. "how right you are."

"trouble or not, he was a perfect gentleman." rhea sighs and skims the water with her forefinger. "either way, he's easy on the eyes so i don't mind having him around."

easy on the eyes was putting it mildly. you wouldn't say that to the girls though; they had a habit of teasing when you showed interest in anyone attainable let alone a man decades older than you.

"don't do anything stupid, charlotte." madeline dips her paintbrush into her mason jar full of pond water.

charlotte huffs and flips her hair from her shoulder. it makes a splash, rippling the water as a result. "why not? we're all of legal age."

"he's dad's friend and a guest," you remind her, tearing your gaze away from the clouds.

the middle child lets out a pathetic whimper. "you guys are no fun," she groans.

|||

it was a busy season on the farm.

strawberries were ready to be picked by mid june and there was a three week window to do it. harvesting wasn't easy and it took a lot of man work. hands went numb, skin grew calloused. the sun that beat down on the fields was only manageable by the sprinklers that went off every blessed-ed fifteen minutes. during a drought, it was even worse.

the employees picked from seven in the morning until five in the evening. your father was adamant that breaks be plenty and pay be as prosperous as he could afford, but a strawberry farm wasn't a fortune five hundred company. he did what he could to provide the families with some semblance worthy enough to continue, and so every year he threw a dinner party.

it was always a lovely occasion, brimming with delectable treats and savory entrees. candles were aflame, lanterns lit up the pathway that lead to the entrance of the home and then the land leading into the woods. as a child, the dinner party was as exciting as a birthday. it was a night to look forward to all year long, sharing time with family and friends and gorging yourself on food you wouldn't eat any other friday of the week.

your sisters loved it too, mostly because they enjoyed the promise of gossip that poured from the mouths of guests like the wine served. and now that din djarin - a stranger, in all respects of the word - was attending an annual dinner that's managed to keep as tradition for years, gossip would surely be abundant as the wine itself.

guests arrived by the hour until the clock struck seven. the evening was crisp but warm enough to be comfortable without a blanket wrapped around your shoulders. the rock doves sung loudly to declare that sunset had begun, a few rogue and early lightning bugs blinking rhythmically. children of the employees ran throughout the fields bare footed and chanting taunts to their friends as their parents chattered among themselves.

home. here is home.

while the party had already begun (officially, at least), dinner hadn't yet been served. admittingly, you were a bit behind schedule, but you worked quickly to finish setting the tables. the theme was simple; linen napkins and wildflowers in random antique vases you found in your basement. the lilacs you'd picked from their bushes were already beginning to limp but you hoped no one would notice.

you hum when you work. whether it be intentional or not you find your lips buzzing with a tune plucked subconsciously from your brain as your hands busy themselves. you straighten the tablecloths, fill the vases with water, and set the silverware in their particular order. needless to say, you had a tendency to get lost in your own little world. so when a hand gently tapped you on the shoulder, you spun around with a shriek.

din djarin - man of the hour - is smirking handsomely at you, hands fiddling with a depressed looking lilac. you place a palm against your heart and count its beats. too many.

"mister djarin," you sigh out. "you scared me."

he lets out a breathy chuckle, hands running through his wavy locks. "i see that. i'm sorry, but i was just wondering if you'd like some help."

his voice...oh, stars and garters. it was so rough but tender - like a steak. you cock an eyebrow at how strange the comparison is but convince yourself it didn't matter. still, you're blushing from the jump so you duck your head from his gaze.

"there's not much left to do," you admit, turning back to the table. you spread your hands against the tablecloth to ward off any wrinkles. "you can double check if i missed any forks, i suppose. i have a tendency to do that."

din hums in his throat and nods a little. "sure," he says, moving to the first setting. his eyes scan along the silverware carefully. "where are your sisters? they don't help, huh?"

"they're better at entertaining," you say truthfully. "i volunteer to take care of the dinner part...as long as i don't have to socialize as much i'm content."

it was true. it's not that you had an aversion to people in general, but you tried to avoid conversation whenever possible - it wasn't your strong suit. you could get away with it when need be but you found it took too much energy to pretend to enjoy conversation about the weather or politics.

"i understand," din nods. he straightens a spoon with the nudge of his finger. "i find myself to be the same way."

there's an awkward silence between the two of you. you didn't know how to respond. while you weren't good at social situations in general, you found it natural to feign interest in subjects bland enough to circumvent discomfort...but you felt the need to impress him.

"so you'll be staying with us this summer then?" you decide, falling short. how stupid.

din nods swiftly. "yeah. in one of the cabins."

the cabins were located at various points of the land your father owned. in order to get there, one usually took an ATV or walked if the going gets tough. you preferred to stroll along the river, but your sisters liked riding the four wheelers or their bikes.

"which one?" you ask, tone mindless.

din's finished with double checking your work. he pulls out a chair - an old, wooden antique - and sits down upon it with caution. you stifle a laugh and, if he notices, he doesn't say anything. he'd soon learn that everything here was old but sturdier than they looked. you wish you could say it was for aesthetic purposes but it was more convenient than anything.

"the one closest to the pond," din replies lowly.

you notice how his eyes survey your form and how intimate it was. he was studying you but for whatever reason you couldn't be sure. you try to shake away the idea that he could be (dare you say?) pining over you. how silly. like you told charlotte: din djarin was off limis.

that was the end of it.

you find yourself blushing again so you hide your face. "that's my favorite one," you tell him honestly. "i like the view."

din smiles in agreement. "so do i."

if you weren't so heated with frustration, you would've called him out on the implication (as out of character for you it may be). then again, you found yourself weakened by the mere presence of this man. it wasn't unlike you, per say; you were naturally timid but there was an eagerness to his charm that you weren't familiar with. guys your age were so sure of themselves but it was almost always under false pretenses. this man however...well, he was a man and that was intimidating.

fine. it was hot.

you clear your throat in an effort to regain a semblance of poise. this summer had already proven to be laborious in a way you hadn't expected.

#DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THIS TOOK TO TYPE OUT #din djarin x reader #din x reader #the mandalorian x reader #mando x reader #mw1 #strawberryfic

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ordinarytalk · 2 years

Text

My granny was just admitted to the hospital for end-of-life care, and she is expected to pass in a few days. She died just before I typed this.

Cut for me just...processing this, I guess. Writing things down so I don't forget.

Last night, for no particular reason, I did a tarot reading. I do those every once in a while, not particularly seriously. I treat it about as seriously as I treat horoscopes or palm readings - a fun what-if kind of exercise. Grandpa was a dowser, Mom sometimes has dreams that come true, maybe these cards can talk. Nothing serious, it was mostly just me delaying going to bed.

I've been using my Normal Tarot deck, mostly because it's pretty, and partially because it seems to make a little more sense to me than traditional tarot decks. My last few readings told me that I should embrace the urge to create and that this was a good time to buckle down on projects, which made sense seeing as how I've finally started drawing again and am trying to learn front-end web development. I only ever do a four-card spread, because I'm lazy and I like it simple.

Last night, I drew the Fourth of Autumn (a spiritual and physical cleaning), The Charred King (tragedy and metamorphosis), The Lantern and the Well (temptation, giving in to despair and fear by inflicting it on others, and the capacity for evil in all people), and The Lost King (tragedy and lack of closure).

I was a little upset, and a little annoyed. I'd never drawn so many major cards, let alone so many overtly negative ones. The only one that seemed to apply to my life was the Fourth of Autumn, because I need to clean my apartment. But it's just cards, it's probably made up, so I put them away and went to bed.

Today, at 9:13 am, Mom texted the family that Granny was in the hospital with sepsis. Granny had been slowly fading from leukemia for years, and she refused aggressive treatment. Granny's been horrifically depressed since Grandfather died nine years ago.

I last saw her in December of 2019. I last communicated with her in a letter I wrote her last year. I agreed with her last letter that yes, it was a shame no one was learning cursive anymore, and talked about maybe meeting up for Easter (it never happened). She wanted me to write more. I kept putting it off. She sent me a news clipping showing they needed 911 dispatchers in Green Bay. She wanted me to come back home. I don't remember the last time I heard her voice. I don't know if I ever called her.

Granny was the grandparent I was closest with. Grandpa died when I was three. From stories about him, and the fact that Mom takes after him the strongest, I probably would have liked him a lot. Grandma had the most amazing house, and multiple greenhouses, and woods full of cousins and giant rocks to climb and maple trees to tap and muddy ponds to get your boots stuck in, and I loved visiting Grandma's house, but Grandma herself almost never talked to me. Grandfather only ever really wanted to talk with me when I was small and cute, and didn't seem to know how to interact with me once I hit puberty, same as my dad.

Granny, though, always talked to me. She didn't always understand the things I was interested in, but she was willing to listen. When I started preparing for Confirmation, I asked her to be my sponsor, and she was thrilled beyond belief. We wrote letters back and forth, and I probably overshared a little too much about my depression (I wasn't allowed to talk about it at home), and she was an incredibly supportive force in my life. Growing up as the mortician's daughter in a small town, she knew how cruel bullies could be. We didn't have any interests in common, really, but she was willing to make space for me in a way most other adults weren't.

I kind of fell away from communicating with her, and communicating with the rest of my extended family, once I started college. The person I became as an adult was so incredibly different from the person I was as a kid that it was uncomfortable and difficult to reconcile the two even when I was talking with my immediate family, let alone my extended family.

My mom is the oldest of 10 and my dad is the oldest of 8, and all of them got married and all of them had kids, and I and my sisters were some of the very last cousins to be born, so the cousins were already having kids of their own by the time I was in high school. You get lost in a crowd. There isn't room for people to remember you.

I saw Granny on Christmas and Easter. Sometimes phone calls. We never really had much to talk about. I still loved her. Love her.

When Trump was elected, a bandage was peeled off my dad's whole side of the family, revealing a festering infection that I hadn't even known was there. I never knew any of this was in my family (my family!) until the 2016 election. There were the occasional hurtful or tone-deaf comments common among white people who grew up around people who mostly looked and thought like them, but nothing pointed, nothing that seemed purposeful. Then, in 2016, I saw half of the people in my family take off their masks and show me who they'd grown to be.

Granny is quiet, gentle, kind, loving, and so incredibly hospitable it took two aunts and an uncle to convince her to let someone else make lunch when we visited before we knew she had the flu. Granny is also horrifically racist. She doesn't believe in climate change, vaccines, science, or treating other people the way they want to be treated. Granny thinks that all Hispanic people are inherently inferior, that any migrants are job-stealers and criminals and barely human, and that a brown child is worth less than a white one. Granny thinks antifa is real, a terrorist organization, evil for the sake of being evil, and every member should be gunned down. Granny is homophobic, and thinks that all trans people are pedophiles who should never be allowed near children, abominations to God and humanity that they are. Granny believes that women are women and men are men, and that women's job is to marry a man, bear his children, care for them and him, and never get ideas above her station.

Granny's the reason I never came out to my parents.

When I told two of my sisters, they agreed that I shouldn't even try to come out as long as she was alive, because it would break her heart. She kicked one of my sisters out of her house for marrying a Lutheran, I don't know how deep the hole would have to be to bury a trans bisexual.

In her last letter to me, she called me a good Christian, one of the last in the family. I still go to church regularly, and my faith is important to me. Granny believes, with all of her heart, that I belong in hell. She doesn't know she believes that about me, and I never want her to know.

I'm not sure what emotion I was feeling today. I couldn't name it. I was in a Zoom meeting almost all day today, being trained on how to do plan reviews with the FDA. We had to have our cameras on at all times. I kept on trying to focus, but apparently even new ADHD meds can't do a thing against your world rocking. I didn't feel anything, but I kept on catching myself breathing very hard and fast, getting lightheaded. I had to snap a rubber band against my wrist all day long to stop from scratching. My legs were bouncing so hard my screen was visibly vibrating, but I couldn't make myself stop. I learned how to calculate the estimated required refrigeration capacity of a food facility, and the seals of the various ANSI-accredited programs, and that beverage coolers are not approved for use with TCS foods. I learned I can still dissociate hard enough that I'll suddenly be in a different room, with no memory of how or why I'm there.

I don't think I'll be able to say goodbye. I don't know if I want to. She had no signs of declining, leukemia diagnosis or no, and I was thinking that maybe COVID would be little enough of a threat that I could visit her this summer when I'm going home for a week. I don't know if I'll be allowed to go to her funeral. I wasn't allowed to go to Grandfather's.

...

I just saved this as a draft. I didn't post it. I wanted to sit and think for a minute. I grabbed the stupid Tarot deck because...I don't know, maybe it would say something? I had it in my hands, and I saw my phone on the charger, and decided to check the family chat, just in case there was an update. I hadn't heard any notification sounds because I still had it on mute from work.

Granny died at 4:10pm today, about 30 minutes before I started typing this.

#I don't know how to feel #I'm just writing because that's what I do when I'm feeling emotions I can't process #I don't want to forget things #personal stuff

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whumpster-fire · 3 years

Text

Athanasia Part 1: The Creature In the Cage

Re-posting this story that started out as a Whumptober 2020 entry because I’ve made a few edits and also I have more content for this OC planned so I want to give her a proper re-introduction.

The character featured here is Tansy, currently anonymous because she hasn’t gotten her name yet in-universe. Link to her refsheet here

CONTENT WARNINGS: Monster whumpee, Animal Whump, Animal Cruelty, Animal Death Mention, Mention of predators being predators, Gore, Infected Wounds, Vomit

The cage is much too small for the little creature trapped inside it. Much too small to leave her in it this long, at least. How long has it been? She doesn’t know anymore, but it has been many, many days, and many, many nights. She is not sure she remembers what grass feels like anymore. It is just barely big enough to turn around in, but she cannot sit up without hitting her head on the ceiling, or stretch her tail out. It is far too small to pace back and forth from one end to the other like she could in the last cage. Her legs are weak from lack of use.

The first night she came to the village, she only hunted the rats and mice and other small vermin. She looked longingly into the windows of the houses, wishing she could be in there with the warmth. But the people didn’t want her. They threw her out long ago. It seemed like the family had loved her at first, but then the preacher told them what she was, and they got rid of her. She came back to the old village once, to see if the children had grown, but a plague had swept across the land and everybody had either left or joined the pits of bones.

For a long time she lived out in the woods, in the wild, but there was less of it with every turn of the seasons, and something drew her to the new village, with its cobbled main street and windows of real glass in the houses, and she thought she could live in humanity’s shadow again.

But the people hadn’t changed. Not at all. She lived off the mice and rats for a while, but one day the hunting horns sounded and hooves thundered and hounds bayed. She wasn’t what the men were looking for, but they set the dogs on her all the same, chasing her down and digging out her burrow and tearing and biting until there was nothing but scraps of fur and bone, which they left in a ditch to rot.

The next night the creature came to the village, she left the mice and rats alone. Let them eat the people’s grain and spread disease among them, she thought. If they hated her, hunted her for sport, then why should she help them? That night, she went to the henhouse, and she came again every night for a fortnight until the dogs caught her. The people hunted her down again, and chased her up a tree. A man brought out a new weapon that hadn’t existed when she first knew the people, an iron tube that exploded with fire and smoke, and knocked her from the tree. They took her back to the village by force, and strung her up on a gamekeeper’s gibbet with the rotting carcasses of the foxes and stoats and all the other creatures they called vermin.

The night after she chewed through the wires binding her, the creature came to the henhouse again. She ate her fill, and then painted the walls with blood. She left the village alone after that. She didn’t want anything to do with the people anymore. But they hunted her, they searched for weeks before they finally caught her. And they must have figured out that there was only one of her, because that was when they put her in the cage.

She has been in the cage for a long time now. She was a curiosity to them at first, but they never loved her. At first it amused them to hurt her, to shoot her or drown her or build a fire under the cage, but now she is only a nuisance. They moved the cage out of the cellar to the barn after her screeching kept them up at night, and out of there too when she frightened the horses. So they put her in this smaller cage, barely big enough to turn around in. She hangs from a post in the town square, which is really on the edge of the village by the old dirt road leading to other places. The grass is so close, just a man’s height below her, but she can never reach it.

She cannot get out. She cannot get out. The cage is rusty, but the iron bars are thick, and she has broken her teeth and claws trying to gnaw through them. Her paws are always bloody and scabbed from the rough iron under them. She has been out here for so long, with nowhere to hide from the rain and the cold and the heat of the sun.

People used to come by and feed the creature in the cage and give her water, but they have fed her less and less as time went on. It has been many days since anyone has bothered to do it at all. Her body is weak from starvation. Her ribs stick out, and her skin is loose on her bones. Her coat is dull, and the fur is matted with grime: blood, and the rotten fruit and eggs visitors sometimes throw, and the dust and dirt kicked up from the road, and rust from the bars above her, and the many, many times she has been sick in the cage. It falls through the bars of the floor, but they still get dirty, and there is nowhere else to lie.

The people she hates most are the children. The adults have mostly stopped paying attention to her, except when they are drunk, which is admittedly quite often. But the children think it is funny to poke her with sticks through the bars, or rattle her cage around so it sways, or tease her by holding food just out of her reach. The gaps in the bars are just big enough to fit her paws through, and many days ago she clawed angrily at one of the boys and cut his finger. But he dropped the piece of meat he was taunting her with, and he hit her foreleg with a heavy stick before she could get it back through the bars.

That leg is broken now. It was broken so badly the bone came out through the skin, and she is so weak and hungry that it hasn’t healed. Instead, it is slowly rotting. For many days there has been another cage nearby with a man in it, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to die by being hung in the cage and not fed. For a while he was company, and tried to talk to her. But many days ago he died, and the creature in the cage envies him for it. His rotting body has driven most of the people from the square with its stench, but she cannot get away from it. It has brought more company in the form of kites and crows that pick at his flesh. They try to pick at hers too, but their beaks cannot reach through the bars, except for small wounds they have given her. The body has also brought swarms of flies, buzzing and biting and laying eggs in the creature’s wounds, including where her leg is broken. There is no way to escape from the cruel maggots in the tiny cage. But they are the only thing she has eaten for a long, long time.

Today, they took the dead man away. He was little more than bones and dried-out skin anyway. It is not night yet, but the sky is dark. Thunder rolls and lightning flashes. The creature cowers in her cage, her little heart racing. She has always been afraid of lightning, and there is no escape from it. She flinches with every bolt, afraid it will strike the gibbet. No one is outside in the village but her.

Rain pours down, finally washing her fur. She wants to be clean again, but it is so cold, so terribly cruelly cold. There is nowhere in the cage to get away from the driving rain, and she is soaked to the skin. She wants to drink the rain, because she has had no water for days, but she is shivering, so hard her teeth clatter together, and she is afraid she will bite her tongue and it won’t heal. The shivering is taking all her strength. She curls into a sodden ball of fur, whimpering and begging the storm to go away. The howling wind makes the cage sway violently, tossing her around inside it and beating her against the bars. Lightning flashes off the church steeple, so close that her ears ring.

The wind gets worse, and worse. The rain is going sideways now. The cage sways, and the gibbet creaks. Then, suddenly, it gives way. The cage is falling, and she is falling with it. She splays her paws out and braces herself for the landing. But one of her paws goes through the bars in the cage, and it snaps.

She is hurt, she is broken, but so is the cage. The heavy wooden beam of the gibbet has fallen on it and smashed the iron bars open, nearly crushing her. Freedom is so close. She drags herself through the gap which is really too narrow for her, crying out as the jagged edges catch and tear her skin. She collapses onto the ground, but there is no grass under her. There is only the cold, deep mud the heavy rain has turned the dirt road into. She drags herself through the mud for a few paces, but that is all her starved body can manage before her strength fails her. All she can do is keep shivering, and breathing, and holding her head out of the mud and rainwater, but even those will not last long.

The creature waits for death to claim her there in the cold mud. But then, she hears heavy boots splashing in the puddles, slowly getting closer. She looks up, astonished. Someone is out here after all. A figure in a cloak stands over her, sheltering his lantern from the wind. It is dim, but lightning flashes and illuminates a weathered, bearded face lined with confusion, then sympathy. Pity. He reaches down. The creature hisses, and screams, and snaps at his wool glove. What would a human ever do but hurt her?

“What in God’s Green Earth are you?” the traveler wonders aloud. Then: “What in hellfire did they do to you?”

Lightning flashes again. The wind puts out the man’s lantern as he reaches for her again, but his eyes glow with their own yellow light.

Just like hers.

The creature that was in the cage begins to cry, but she doesn’t stop the traveler from picking her up and bundling her into his cloak. She just shivers, and cries against his chest, pressing herself into the first warmth she has known for many, many years.

#whump #my writing #Tansy (OC)#monster whumpee #animal whump tw #immortal whumpee #animal cruelty tw #starvation #vomit tw #broken bones tw #hurt no comfort #(yet)

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your-kpopmama · 3 years

Text

Happy Valentine’s Day, Kiss My Ass!!

Words: 5,390 Drama, slight angst, a good ending A/N: it’s me! back again with a holiday special.

If you asked anyone to describe Jeon Jungkook in one word, it would always be “loyal”. He was loyal to his friends, his family, and most especially his girlfriend of 7 years, Elodie. Jungkook had met Elodie on a trip with his family when he was 18. Both of their families had seemingly booked the same tour package of Paris. So for a week straight, Elodie and Jungkook were quite literally inseparable.

Both being freshly 18, they had quite a lot in common, even if Jungkook’s english wasn’t amazing. They still managed to communicate and enjoy each other’s company while their parents enjoyed the wine at every destination.

Somewhere between The Louvre and Versailles, they found an indescribable attraction.

Now, most would say distance would ruin a friendship or relationship, considering Jungkook lived in Busan, South Korea and Elodie lived in some midwestern town in Michigan whose claim to fame was the worlds largest Cherry Pie. However, both of them being determined to form a friendship, made it seem as easy as that cherry pie her hometown was known for.

It didn’t take more than a year for them to realize they both wanted more than friendship, thus they began their journey of a life together. There were many flights between the two, Michigan to Seoul; Seoul to Michigan. Late night phone calls from someone just waking up. Conflicting schedules and many times where they wondered if it would work.

It only took Elodie two years to decide she couldn’t handle the distance. So she packed her life up, said goodbye to the folks, and moved clear across the world to be with the love of her life. Unbeknownst to him, since he had just entered his military service to get it out of the way. With the help of his parents, Elodie found a nice apartment not far from their house.

When Jungkook was discharged, the first face he saw upon leaving was hers. The love that surged through him struck him almost breathless. He loved her with his whole being.

It took one year for them to officially move in together once Jungkook finished school.

One more year before Jungkook popped the big question during the Jinju Lantern Festival that Elodie had begged him to take her to. Of course, Elodie said yes.

Six more months to plan a move to Seoul for a job that Elodie had gotten at an entertainment company as a translator - Jungkook was the best teacher.

And one more year for Elodie to gain some of her closest friends and Jungkook to score his dream job as a physical therapist.

It’s obvious to anyone that Jungkook is loyal.

—————————

“Elodie!” A shout from across the cafeteria pulled Elodie’s attention from the book in her hand to the small blonde boy bounding towards her with a tall red headed woman in tow.

“Jimin! Lani!” Elodie greeted, marking her page before setting her book aside.

Jimin and Lani were two of the people closest to Elodie at work, and two of her very good friends. They had taken Elodie under their wings so to say when she arrived at Big Hit. Jimin and Lani worked as stylists but were on the same team for a boy group called Wild, that had just debuted when she started. Jimin had already been there for two years and Lani was finishing up her first year. If it weren’t for those two, Elodie was almost certain she wouldn’t have survived the hectic schedules.

Jimin sat across from Elodie as Lani took the spot beside her closest friend. “Today has been crazy!” Jimin whined, reaching for Elodie’s untouched coffee.

“Tell me about it, Wild is getting a bit...wild these days. It’s hard to keep up with them in interviews.” Elodie laughed, pushing the cup into Jimin’s searching hand.

“Girl, do not get me started!” Lani chimed in, shaking her head, “if I get one more fan complaint about them all wearing the same clothes I may scream. I can’t just go to the dorms everyday and dress them.” She scoffed and reached for the cup too, “they act like don’t own a thousand and a half outfits.” She finished.

“I wonder where they get it from.” Jimin mused, reaching once again for the now community cup of coffee the three of them were sharing.

Elodie had to suppress a laugh because she knew exactly where they got their bad habit from. The three of them often shared food, drinks, and Jimin and Elodie shared clothes here and there when they were out on long schedules.

That was always something that amused Jungkook to no end, Elodie coming home in a borrowed shirt or pants from Jimin if there were unforeseen circumstances at work. The most recent one being Daniel and Hyun were arguing over who got the last strawberry milk and when Elodie stepped in to hand them one she had found in the cooler, Hyun had swung his arms out and slapped the open milk container and covered her from head to toe in the pink milk. A story Jungkook spent half an hour laughing about as he helped Elodie clean the dry milk from her hair.

Lani’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out with a groan, “what did those troublemakers do now?” She said mostly to herself. Her expression changed from annoyed to something Elodie couldn’t quite place. “Ah, I have to take this call.” She said and got up and all but ran from the table.

“Geez, what’s her problem these days?” Jimin huffed, his attention now on the half eaten cinnamon roll in front of Elodie.

Elodie shrugged and pushed the plate to Jimin, offering him the rest of the delicious pastry. “Who knows. I think she might be seeing someone. I caught her talking in the women’s room the other day and she got all flustered and ran from the room.” Elodie wasn’t one to gossip, but whoever has the red heads attention, has to be one hell of a guy and Elodie was curious.

Jimin frowned into the cinnamon roll and didn’t speak anymore until their allotted lunch hour was over.

Elodie made a note that she hadn’t seen Lani for the rest of the day.

—————————

If you asked anyone, they would tell you Jungkook would go to the moon and back for his fiancée.

So on this particular afternoon, when Elodie was running late because of a translation mishap with Wild, she had to call her fiancé for a favor. Nothing major, something seemingly harmless.

“Hello?” Elodie spoke into the phone when she heard someone pick up. A beat passed before Jungkook’s voice rang through.

“Elodie? What’s up? Aren’t you at work?” His voice sounded worried.

“Yeah, I have a quick favor. And before you say no, please just hear me out.” She rushed.

Jungkook urged her to continue, “can you pick Lani up from the train station for me? I’m gonna be running behind and I told her I would pick her up when she got back.” The other end of the phone was silent until Jungkook drew in a breath.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can pick her up.” He agreed easily than Elodie had planned.

“I know you two don’t get along very well, but I can’t get out of work. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to.” Elodie murmured.

“Love, it’s okay. I don’t mind. I had to head that way anyway for a few errands so I don’t mind since it’s for you.” He said sweetly.

Elodie felt her love for Jungkook grow a little bigger as they said their goodbyes and she got back to work.

“You’re awfully brave.” a voice called from behind her.

Elodie turned her head and saw the oldest member of Wild standing in the doorway. “Thank you, Wooyoung. I think?” Elodie seemed unsure of how she was to take that statement.

Crossing the floor and plopping down on the overstuffed chair next to Elodie’s, Wooyoung watched her for a moment before speaking up again, “Do you really trust Lani with your fiancée?” He questioned.

Elodie’s head snapped in his direction and started laughing, “Wooyoung! Of course I do. She’s my best friend and Jungkook is my fiancé. Why wouldn’t I trust them?” She thought the idea was absolutely ridiculous that she wouldn’t.

“I’ve seen a lot of unloyal dogs in my day, even the most loyal can change if a nice pair of tits walk by.” Wooyoung explained, dead serious.

“Who has nice tits?” Jimin called walking into the room with Hyun and Daniel behind him.

Elodie caught the three up on the short conversation between her and Wooyoung. “He’s not wrong, Miss Elodie.” Daniel chimed in. “Men are dogs.”

Elodie exchanged a look with Jimin before the two burst out laughing, “honestly, where do you boys come up with this stuff?” Elodie questioned.

“Don’t say we didn’t warn you.” Hyun said before heading out with the rest of the boys, leaving Jimin alone with Elodie. The two sat in a thoughtful silence for a while as Elodie went over the notes she had on the last interview with the boys to figure out what she had messed up.

“How long have you and Jungkook been together?” Jimin asked.

“Seven years or so,” Elodie answered absentmindedly, her eyes staying on the paper.

She didn’t see the pained look Jimin had on his face, mixed with guilt.

————————————

Elodie and Lani’s friendship didn’t start out easy. Granted even if Lani had been the one to show Elodie the ropes, they had conflicting personalities and interests. Elodie was quiet and soft spoken and enjoyed reading and coffee. Lani was loud and outgoing and enjoyed drinking on weeknights and hooking up with anyone who caught her eye.

Of course, Elodie had been jealous of Lani at first, wishing she had the body or the confidence the red head had to live life to the max. But it had also been Lani who told her that even Elodie’s way of living was living brightly. There was no wrong way to live your life as long as you were doing what you enjoyed.

So when Elodie had brought Lani home to meet Jungkook, she was shocked that the two didn’t get along at all. Jungkook was the first to outright say it, that Lani wasn’t a good person. No explanation. And Lani had glared daggers at Jungkook all night. No explanation.

Elodie felt torn because she didn’t want to be in a position where she had to pick, because at the end of the day it would always be Jungkook; and the two knew that. Quietly accepting her defeat, Lani had told Elodie that she would never force her into a situation where she would have to tell Lani to hit the road. The only thing Jungkook and Lani could agree upon was that they would put up with one another, for Elodie’s sake.

Now, Elodie gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror of her apartment. Her black hair hung straight over her shoulders, and her once vibrant green eyes seemed dull in the soft yellow lighting of the tiny room. Her cheeks were smaller than they had been just six months ago, and her skin seemed paler than usual. One thing she knew for sure was that she needed some sleep. She would worry about her beauty later.

Returning to the living room she found Jungkook and Lani in an intense discussion over the coffee table where Elodie had left them. Upon hearing her return the two sat back and easy smiles replaced the tense looks that they sported moments ago.

“Everything okay?” Elodie asked cautiously while returning to her seat next to Jungkook.

“Peachy.” her fiancé gritted between his teeth.

Lani gave Elodie a sad smile and went back to picking at her slice of pizza.

Elodie knew everything wasn’t peachy.

————————————

If you were to ask anyone to describe Elodie, you would get several answers. Answers that ranged from “sweet” to “caring” all the way to “saintly”. Elodie had a big heart, and an even bigger heart for those she held most dear.

Lani and Jimin trailed behind Elodie as she browsed the racks of clothes in the department store. One of them offering fashion advice here or there in her endeavor to pick out the perfect gift for Jungkook for Valentine’s Day.

He had basically everything he could ever want, but Elodie still wanted to get him something nice; something special. Jimin had advised getting him a fancy new coat. Lani had suggested getting something more spicy for the bedroom. Both were good ideas, and Elodie was currently shopping for them.

Since she was too embarrassed to shop for the “something spicy” with her friends, she asked if they would tag along and help her pick out the coat.

“Does he truly deserve this though?” Jimin said out of the blue, his brown eyes never leaving the rack of coats he was currently picking through.

“What do you mean?”, Elodie laughed, “of course he does. He’s been so solid through this last six months in my hectic schedule. He’s been practically a saint.”

“A saint is what I would call you, Elodie, not your fiancé.” Jimin grumbled.

Lani elbowed him in the side and gave him a look Elodie couldn’t quite place. Jimin looked at her and spoke a mumbled apology before moving onto the next rack.

“Pay him no attention, girl. He’s just a little pent up.” Lani giggled into Elodie’s ear. “Oh! What about this one?” Lani picked up a long wool coat. It was black and had gold buttons down the front and at the cuffs of the sleeves. It wasn’t flashy but by no means was it plain; it was exactly Jungkook’s style.

“God! That would be perfect!” Elodie grabbed the coat and held it up to look at it closer, marveling at the quality. She knew she had to get it.

Lani tried to hide the proud smile behind her hand, but Jimin saw it and she rushed to Elodie’s side and out of Jimin’s eyesight.

————————————

If you asked anyone he worked with, they would say Jimin was hopelessly in love with Elodie. Everyone knew it. Except Elodie.

She was too wrapped up in her loving and loyal fiancé to notice the longing stares of one Park Jimin. He wasn’t shy about his distaste for Jungkook and he definitely wasn’t shy to show his feelings for Elodie, but he would never outright say it. See, Jimin had fallen for Elodie when she started at the company; love at first sight. Ever since then he made it his goal to bend over backwards for the petite girl.

When he found out she was engaged, it may have caused a falter in his step on his quest to make his way into her heart; but by no means did it stop him. He wasn’t pushy. He didn’t overstep boundaries. And he definitely didn’t make anything awkward. But he did make it a point to always be there when Elodie needed someone to talk to.

His love for her however, has caused him great misfortune. A while back, Jimin saw something he shouldn’t have seen. God, why did it have to be him? Why did he have to be the one to see it? He had information that could seal the deal and be in Elodie’s heart - but that information was a double edged sword. It could bring him and Elodie closer, or it could put her farther away.

Jimin was selfish, and he knew that. So for now, he sat with this information. Whether or not he chooses to use it has remained to be seen.

————————————

Elodie was busy at work as usual. Her phone constantly going off as she answered calls in regards to certain interviews Wild had lined up. She hadn’t been able to go home in almost 48 hours, and it was starting to get to her.

Despite the crazy schedule happening, she kept note of how many times Lani would sneak off with her own phone, a smirk plastered to her face, to return ten minutes later looking a little dazed. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by Jimin either.

A deep frown was set into his features when Lani came back to the dressing room after twenty-two minutes (Jimin had timed it). “Jesus, Lani. Get it together will you? We have fifteen minutes before the boys go live and you’ve hardly been present! Get their outfits and help them dress.” Jimin barked at her, pausing his movements so he didn’t burn Wooyoung with the flat iron.

Lani’s head snapped in his direction, a retort on the tip of her tongue before she decided better of it. Elodie watched as she sat her phone on the vanity and disappeared in the racks of clothes, angrily picking out the appropriate outfits.

Elodie tried to help Jimin as best as she could, but the most she was qualified for was adding a light gloss to the boys’ lips.

Lani handed each boy their clothes and dressed them quickly before they were called to the stage for the interview. Everyone filed from the room and made a beeline to be on standby.

“Shoot! I forgot the mics! I’ll be quick!” Elodie shouted, waving down Jimin who gave a thumbs up and hurried off the everyone else.

Elodie made her way through the dressing room until she found the box she was looking for. Lani’s phone was ringing and Elodie glanced at it. “My Baby🥵💋” flashed across the screen.

Without thinking, she answered the phone, “hello?”

“Baby girl, you’ve kept me waiting too long.” A voice rang through.

Elodie’s heart dropped to her stomach, “what?” She breathed out.

“Come over after work tomorrow. Elodie won’t be here, she’s working over time. We can spend our first Valentine’s Day together.”

That was Jungkook. No doubt about it. Panicked, Elodie tried to disguise her voice as best as possible, “Sorry, Lani is busy. She left her phone.”

“Oh?! Oh, god. I’m sorry.” Jungkook hurried and hung up. Elodie stood still for a few seconds, her head reeling and her heart pounding.

“Elodie? Hey, are you okay?” Jimin ran through the room to Elodie’s side. He glanced at her hand and saw Lani’s phone and the grief and confusion on her face.

Jimin knew that Elodie had probably figured it out, but now was not the time to touch base on it. They had work to do.

Gently prying the phone from her hands and guiding her to the stage, Jimin sent up a silent prayer that she would never know that he knew.

————————————

Elodie’s next three hours flashed by in a mere second. She couldn’t concentrate on the interview and Jimin had to save her a couple of times in her headset to keep her focused. Her mind never wavering from the phone call.

Her eyes never leaving an anxious looking Lani, who kept checking the time on her wrist watch and visibly getting more agitated as the interviews went on.

When they barely managed to finish, Elodie dropped all of her things into Jimin’s arms and took off for the dressing room. Quickly gathering her purse and coat, she made haste to get home. A quick phone call to her boss asking for tomorrow off since she wasn’t “feeling well” and a shabby plan in place, Elodie headed into her apartment.

“Baby, is that you?” Jungkook called from the bedroom.

“Who else would it be?” Elodie snapped back. Ten seconds passed before Jungkook poked his head out from the bedroom doorway, confusion written on his face.

“You okay?”

Elodie couldn’t help but think that his concern was fake, but a part of her still believed that he would never do something as heinous as she thought he was doing even if the evidence so far said so.

“Peachy.” She kicked off her shoes and made a beeline for the bathroom. Running a steaming bath she allowed herself to emerge herself into the water, letting her body relax.

She laid there for several minutes before the sound of the doorbell chiming broke her from her thoughts. Listening she could hear Jungkook talking to someone in a rushed tone. Curious she got out and grabbed a towel, wrapping it tightly around herself and walked into the hallway.

At the front door was Lani, looking at Jungkook like he was something to be eaten. Elodie felt anger surge through her body. Holding her head high, she walked behind Jungkook.

Lani noticed her presence first, her sultry stare turning into shock and then to fear. Jungkook turned around and saw Elodie standing there with a puzzled look on her face. “Jungkook, I’ve been waiting for you forever in the shower.” Elodie said sweetly.

“O-oh? Oh! I’m sorry. The doorbell...” he trailed off unsure of how to reply.

“Lani? Is everything okay? Did I leave something at work?” She feigned ignorance.

“Uh, yeah! Actually. But I was just telling Jungkook that I forgot it with my stuff and just remembered when I got here. I’m so sorry to disturb you guys. I know you haven’t been home in over two days and probably want some alone time with Kook.” Lani sheepishly said.

Kook.

She called him Kook.

“What was it?” Elodie pressed.

“Hm?” Lani asked.

“What was it that I left at work?”

Lani’s cheeks turned bright red and had the decency to looked ashamed, “a-anyway look I need to go. You guys enjoy each other tonight.” just as quickly as she showed up, she was gone.

Elodie watched Jungkook close the door in silence, marveling at the boldness of her best friend. Showing up here while Elodie was home to try and flirt with her fiancé. Jungkook’s eyes met hers and guilt was laid in them so deep, Elodie felt herself drowning in it.

Without another word, Elodie returned to her bath.

————————————

Elodie didn’t like to lie, she didn’t like to create a fuss. She liked to be straightforward and get problems out of the way. In this situation however, she felt she had no other choice but to lie. She still couldn’t believe the facts that were laid out in front of her, so she devised a plan to make sure once and for all.

She left for “work” at her normal time and headed to the cafe a few shops down from her and Jungkook’s apartment. It gave her the perfect view of the entrance so she could keep watch for Lani.

What she hadn’t anticipated was the long wait time. She entered the cafe at 8:15 AM and it was now nearing 11:54AM. She didn’t know how much longer she could wait it out or if she even had to wait. She was starting to feel ridiculous.

Another twenty minutes of waiting produced something interesting, Jimin had stepped into the cafe. He didn’t spot her at first as he made his way toward the counter, but it was peculiar to Elodie that he was here; this cafe was on the other side of town from his apartment.

Elodie watched him and waited for him to turn around and she waved him down. To say the least, the shock on his face was genuine. Their eyes held each other’s gaze for a solid five seconds before a smile dropped onto his lips and he made his way to Elodie’s table.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Elodie stated, taking a long sip of her boba.

“I was in the neighborhood.” Jimin said cautiously.

Silence hung between them like a thick curtain, both lost in their own thoughts. Jimin broke the silence first. “Listen, Elodie. I have something to confess.”

Her eyes met his and she gave a slight nod to continue. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you. It pains me to say that, please believe me, considering what the secret entails.” He took a long pause to gather his thoughts and Elodie waited for him patiently, still keeping an eye on the front entrance of her apartment building.

“I actually came here today to work up the courage to tell you what I’m about to say. I wasn’t in the neighborhood.” He confessed.

“I figured that much out so far..” Elodie mumbled.

Jimin huffed a sigh and steeled his nerves, “I caught Lani and -“

Before Jimin could finish, Elodie caught the red hair of the current topic heading for the front doors of the apartment building across the street. Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt her stomach recoil. “Sorry, Jimin, I have to go.” she rushed the words from her mouth as she took off out of the cafe.

Jimin watched her run down the sidewalk and disappear into her building. “Oh, for fucks sake.” He whispered and took off after her.

————————————

Elodie wasn’t sure what she was going to walk into. She was hoping Lani just magically had a friend in this same building, on the same floor as her and Jungkook. But as she looked at what floor the elevator had stopped on, she couldn’t convince herself of anything anymore.

Slamming her hand onto the call button, she began to panic. Her breathing became erratic, and her vision slightly blurry. Once the doors opened she stumbled in and hit the button she needed and leaned against the wall trying to catch her breath.

“Elodie!”

Elodie’s head snapped up and saw Jimin rushing towards her. She pressed herself further into the wall as he came crashing into the elevator as the doors were closing.

“Jimin? What the hell?” She felt all the air leave her lungs in shock.

“Elodie, please do not go upstairs. I am begging you.” Jimin gathered her own shaking hands into his, holding tightly and pleading with his eyes.

“No, I have to.” She reasoned.

Jimin shook his head and groaned in frustration, “Elodie we both know what’s waiting up there.”

It was then she realized what Jimin had to confess to her earlier. He knew about Lani and Jungkook. But for how long? How long had he known? Surely just as recent as her, because Jimin would have told her. He’s a good friend.

So was Lani.

Elodie pulled her hands from his and stood up tall, throwing up her guard. “We can discuss how you knew and when you found out later, but right now I need to confirm it with my own two eyes. So if you are here to warn Lani or stop me, then please do not get off this elevator once it stops.”

Jimin’s hands fell to his side and nodded in compliance. He had to make this up to her somehow, and he would start by doing as she said.

The bell dinged signifying they arrived. Elodie gave Jimin an odd look before walking off the elevator. He followed behind her silently and prayed Lani had enough sense to not make this difficult.

————————————

The loud moans and the soft grunting beyond her bedroom door clued Elodie in quickly to her worst nightmare. Lani’s shoes by the front door and their clothes dropped precariously throughout the house just set her sense of dread deeper into her chest. Jimin had decided to stay in the living room at her request, but she wondered if she should have kept him by her side for support.

Her hand lay gently on the door handle, pausing quickly before pushing it down and sliding the door open to a dimly lit room. Her presence wasn’t yet discovered, luckily for her.

Elodie’s heart thrummed inside her ribcage, her stomach dropped and her knees felt weak - her head remained clear. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the jacket she bought for Jungkook laid sloppily on the floor amongst the wrapping paper it was in.

“Ah, Kook! That feels so fucking good!” Lani’s shrill moans brought Elodie’s attention back to them. Before she could even make a coherent thought she spoke,

“Oh yeah, Lani? Does it feel good? Does my fiancé MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD?!” Her hand flew to the wall to slap the light switch, illuminating the room.

Jungkook’s head whipped around so fast Elodie was sure it would snap. Shock and horror reflected on Lani and Jungkook’s faces as they scrambled to move away from each other.

“Babe..” Jungkook choked out, stumbling towards Elodie’s stilled body.

Ignoring Jungkook entirely, she made her way to the bed where Lani sat covered in the sheets. Ripping them off and tossing them to the floor, Elodie pointed her finger to the bedroom door, “Get the fuck out, bitch.”

Lani’s jaw dropped and Elodie screamed, “NOW!” and sent her into motion. She ran from the room and Elodie could hear the surprise from her when she saw Jimin in the living room - she would deal with that later.

“Get some fucking clothes on.” She spat at Jungkook and walked into the living room to see Lani struggling to get dressed. “Don’t even think of trying to leave when you finish.”

Lani slipped her dress on and sat meekly on the couch next to Jimin, both wearing guilty faces. When Jungkook finally emerged from the bedroom, she nodded at the space beside Lani and he sat down quickly.

Elodie just stood in the middle of the living room trying to collect her thoughts. Jungkook started to speak and she snapped, “Shut the fuck up, Jeon Jungkook.” she seethed, “are you three having fun? Huh? Is it fun for you to do shady shit behind my back and think I would never find out? HUH?!”

Three pairs of eyes were on her and she felt like suffocating, “Lani, I never want to see you again.” She continued.

“Jimin, I need to know how long you have known.” She pressed, her eyes boring into his.

“Four months.” He answered honestly. “I wanted to tell you, Elodie, I-“

“Then you should have.” She said bluntly. “And you, of all fucking people, Jungkook.”

He had the decency to look ashamed, and had the smarts to keep his mouth shut. “I want all of you out. Get the hell out of my apartment and the hell out of my life.”

Jimin and Lani didn’t need to be told twice, the two jumped up and ran towards the door, but Jungkook remained seated. “This is my apartment too, Elodie.” He mumbled.

“Fine, then I will leave.” She decided, but Jungkook grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Can we please talk this out? I’m so sorry, Elodie. Please let me make this up to you. I never wanted to hurt you.”

“When did you stop loving me? Hm? Before or after you started fucking my best friend?” She questioned.

“I still love you, with all of my heart. Baby please understand that.” his desperate pleas had no effect on Elodie, “it’s Valentine’s Day.” He whined.

“Oh! Oh my god you’re right!” Elodie gently smacked her forehead in feign shock, “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby,” Jungkook grinned up at her, “kiss my ass!”

Elodie pulled loose from his grip and strode towards the front door, Jungkook shouting after her. Ignoring him she stepped out into the hall and slammed the door.

Breaking into tears, she leaned against the front door letting them fall down her face. “Elodie?”

Jimin walked slowly towards her, looking defeated, “I know you don’t want to ever see me or Lani again, but I just wanted to let you know we both called the agency and requested transfers. You shouldn’t have to quit your job or move on from the boys, you have done so much for them and they would be more said if you left than us.”

Elodie nodded gently and stood up straight, “Thank you, Jimin. And you are right, I don’t think I can ever be friends with you or Lani again, but I do hope you both find success and happiness.”

Jimin felt his heart clench at her words as they both headed towards the elevator. They rode down in silence and went different directions once outside.

“I’m strong. I can do this.” Elodie whispered to herself. And she was - and she could.

#jeon jungkook #jungkook #park jimin #jimin #bts #bts au #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts valentines day #valentines day fic #original character fic #angst #drama #angst fic #drama fic #holiday fic

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vera-invenire · 4 years

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For the character ask meme I can't not ask for: Lan WangJi

For this meme!

- FIRST IMPRESSION

From gifs on my dash – “So this guy’s the fantasy!China version of Spock? I guess? He seems a lot like Spock.”

- IMPRESSION NOW

Oh my god, I love him. He is the best. The best.

- FAVORITE MOMENT

????? Oh boy.

How pissy and outraged he got over the porn in the library.

How three seconds before that^ he said “Boring” while delicately, carefully putting the drawing WWX made of him aside because he doesn’t know how to handle feelings yet that are outside the spectrum of Meditation >> FIGHT ME.

Every time his brother teased him in a roundabout way about WWX

“Did you find out who was lurking in the back hills?” *drawn out pause full of teenaged drama* “Wei Ying.”

“Do you like MianMian?” That LOOK.

No, but actually, how he followed Mianmian out after she defected.

His FACE when he sees Wei Ying in Yiling

…when he cut off JGY’s arm, like. That was actually kinda of alarming, ngl.

The way he Cannot. Stand. Jiang Cheng, ahahahaha.

The way he smiled at the bunny lantern WWX drew and then IMMEDIATELY pulled his sword when he was caught.

Chickens. CHICKENS.

He just. Throws WWX’s arm around his shoulders and kicks open NHS’s door. Why? Because he wanted to.

Drunk!LWJ? Drunk!LWj.

Taking WWX to the same inn they stayed at when they were younger because it was a MEMORY and it MADE AN IMPRESSION.

Going to the inn in Yiling and listening to gossip (From whom did he learn to sit in inns and listen to gossip? Yeah.)

In Cloud Recesses, that little step back he did when they were looking at the sword and WWX was leaning on him and Lan Sizhui was like, delighted, because that’s what LWJ is like when he’s messing with people.

Bringing Emperor’s Smile into the Cloud Recesses IN FRONT OF HIS BROTHER with HIS HAIR MOSTLY DOWN, oh my goodness.

Putting the Silence spell on Su She.

When WWX was going to start guessing the name of the song and LWJ just jerked Lil Apple in a new direction to change the subject, ahaha.

The approximately 5 million times he cradles WWX in his arms.

…he’s my favorite, alright, it is what it is.

- IDEA FOR A STORY

LWJ has been passive aggressively avoiding an arranged marriage ever since he got out of his three year seclusion, but now that he’s Chief Cultivator, the pressure (and offers/negotiations) to get married have gone up 1000%.

But unlike his predecessors who liked their thrones too well, LWJ travels around a lot and so everywhere he runs goes people are trailing after him and trying to lock him into matrimony. (Possibly there are even very foolish attempts to *entrap* him into matrimony.)

Alas, somehow it seems that every time LWJ goes somewhere and the matchmakers and the husband-hunters come out, all their efforts are derailed by – well, it changes. Sometimes it’s a dusty rogue cultivator with a rude donkey; sometimes it’s a young master with a dizi who doesn’t reveal his name but seems to know the Chief Cultivator quite well; or sometimes, when the big guns are needed, it’s the Yiling Patriarch himself, here to wreck a party.

Really, it’s all Wei Wuxian who keeps showing up where he knows Lan Zhan is going to be and is either accidentally or on purpose (or accidentally on purpose) derailing every courting/matchmaking attempt that looks like it’s making Lan Zhan even a smidgen uncomfortable. (Shades of Jiang Yanli’s situation, even if WWX knows the motivation this time around is very different.)

(Featuring: hunted!LWJ, trickster!WWX, jealous/sad!WWX, someone (maybe Jiang Cheng) asking WWX pointed questions on what the hell he thinks he’s doing, mutual pining for days, ‘so then… what kind of person would you want to marry’ and That Look from the Cave you know the one I’m talking about, and then Wei Ying proposes, fin.)

- UNPOPULAR OPINION

(this is getting long, so let’s continue it under a cut)

I dunno, I think making him Chief Cultivator is going to lead a coup d'etat. I’m not even joking. It is close to being the *worst* job for him, and that’s not even considering the mess of secrets and politics and social engineering JGY left behind. You think LWJ’s gonna deal with that well? Nah nah nah.

I used to think Lan Xichen would be the best choice after getting out of seclusion since he’s moderate and a peace-maker, but honestly? Give the job to Nie Huaisang. He might need some time to, like, recenter himself, though. Figure out what else he wants to do with his life now that all the revenge has been sorted. Maybe after things start unraveling a bit it’s WWX who starts nudging NHS in that direction in order to free up LWJ for roaming the world like they both clearly want, hm. So LWJ as Chief Cultivator for 1-3 years, then it’s Nie Huaisang.

- FAVORITE RELATIONSHIP

??? Wangxian????

Also, his relationship with his brother during the flashback.

And the hateship between him and Jiang Chen because it honestly gives me life.

- FAVORITE HEADCANON

He kept in sporadic touch with MianMian over the years which is why he was like, ‘let’s stop for water here’ and looked very at ease at her house. The little girl already has a spot saved for her in GusuLan should she wish to train in cultivation.

#the untamed #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei wuxian #wei ying #this got a titch long #he's my favorite okay #meme #replies

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xparadisexlostx · 4 years

Text

So yesterday I was mindin my own business, writing something else, and @graunblida and I got on our gay shit. So I stopped all of that to write a 3.5k drabble about the fact that Beck wakes Lexa up in the middle of the night to do stupid witchy shit like catch moonbeams.

This could definitely use some editing and another draft. I’ve never really written Lexa before and idk why I chose to try for this but... For some reason all of my drabbles seem to be like this??? Why do I do this to myself???

She couldn’t remember ever having someone shake her awake. Ever since she’d been brought to Polis, Lexa had been a perpetually light sleeper. That had only gotten worse after she’d become commander. After she’d lost the woman she loved to Nia’s sadism. Perhaps that was why she didn’t react with immediate murderous intent to the hand on her shoulder gently rocking her back into consciousness.

Lexa jolted upright so quickly that she nearly headbutted the little woman standing above her. She took a breath to steady herself. “What are you doing?”

She wasn’t sure what else to ask. Beck didn’t appear to be distressed, and the streets outside her window were quiet. Nothing seemed to be in disarray. Except for the fact that the moon was still high in the sky over Polis, and that her door had been locked and guarded, and that the the witch was supposed to still be on bed rest unless absolutely necessary, but there she was, her unbound hand still lingering on her shoulder, barely illuminated by the light of a candle she’d forgotten to extinguish.

“Come with me.” The witch whispered. The witch’s fingers trailed down her arm to grasp her wrist and gently tug her forward.

Lexa, who was still blinking away sleep and confusion, allowed herself to be coaxed up from the comfort of her furs and into the cool night air. She wasn’t dressed to go anywhere, and she needed her sword. Were they under attack? What was happening?

Beck kept gently leading her along until she was awake enough to feel the irritation growing inside her.

“Tell me the meaning of this.” She demanded. A cold breeze blew her nightgown flush against her body and Lexa crossed her arms. The chill wasn’t that bad, but it’d been a long time since anyone had seen her in this state, and she felt exposed. “Are we in danger?”

Beck gave her a bewildered look, “Of course not. I need your help with something.”

Another tug on her hand, and Beck was wearing that ridiculously unapologetic smile that lit up her whole face. Lexa felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach, and some of her annoyance waned. It couldn’t hurt to help the witch, right? Surely her task was important if it warranted being out of bed at this hour, especially with her injury. And it wasn’t safe for her to wander the woods around Polis alone; the witch was no warrior. It was better than returning to her fitful dreams and frequent nightmares.

“Wait.” She demanded as the witch began to head for the door. She went to her dresser and rifled through the drawers to find something more suitable to wear. Beck was bouncing impatiently on her heels, but to Lexa’s surprise she was at least listening. She strapped her hunting knife to the thigh and while she was fastening the sword on her hip she looked back to her guest. “What is it I’m helping with, exactly?”

“I’m going to catch moonbeams.” The witch replied. Lexa waited for a long moment for her to break out into a laugh or to roll her eyes to show that she was being sarcastic. That moment never came. Beck was looking at her with utter sincerity and enthusiasm, still smiling, rocking back and forth on the ball of her feet with thinly bridled anticipation.

Beck was a creature in constant motion. She buzzed with a persistent energy that threatened to spill over into action at any moment. The witch would sway back and forth in conversation, or swing her legs while sitting in a chair, and the guards had found her sleep walking twice since she’d come to Polis. Sometimes Lexa found herself resisting the urge to lay her hands on the woman’s shoulders to see if it would quiet her, but she never did.

“You want to catch---the moon?” Lexa said slowly.

Beck nodded eagerly. “Not all of her. Just a few rays. She doesn’t mind. I promise.”

She could only stare in bewilderment. If this was a jest... The irritation started to come back to her.

“Beck-”

The witch must have heard the tension in her voice, because she cut her off. “Please? You need two hands to hold the bowl. I’ve only got the one. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

Lexa looked at the witch’s arm, still tightly splinted from where the healer had reset it only days ago. There was probably still a nasty arrow wound in her leg as well, and a menagerie of bruises on her skin beneath her clothes. Azgeda had not been kind to her when they transported her to the capital. She needed to be in bed.

But short of dragging her there forcefully, there wasn’t much she could do to stop Beck from wandering off on her own. It was well within her ability to do that, but she wouldn’t. The witch was not her captive, and if she wished to leave, so be it.

She let out a soft sigh. “Very well.”

When she turned to follow, Beck had already bent down and picked up a basket sitting by the door that Lexa had not noticed. She precariously lodged it between her hip and her good arm as she slipped out the door into the dark hall. Lexa followed silently, unsure what she could even say to fill the silence if she’d have wanted to. In the light of a torch at the end of the hall, she could see the witch was still limping slightly, but she was still walking quickly.

“My healers said your leg was still injured.” She said, broaching the subject carefully. In her short time of knowing Beck, she had learned the witch didn’t take kindly to being told what to do.

Beck shrugged, and Lexa’s eyes lingered on the way her golden curls glinted in the light of the torch for just a little too long. “It’s doing just fine.”

She was certain if Beck lifted up her long skirt the arrow wound would still be red and swollen, that if the healer assessed the injury he’d send her back to bed to rest, but she didn’t argue. If she were injured she’d do the same. Weakness was not a luxury she could afford. Did witches also value strength? Were they made to cover up their pain for fear their own people would judge them for it? Beck seemed so open and carefree, but was that persona just a mask to hide behind?

The guards by the Tower door stood stiff with confusion as they saw the pair rounding the corner, and Lexa raised her hand to dismiss them. They would tell Titus, and he’d be irritated with her, but as much as she didn’t want to listen to his constant complaints come sunrise, she didn’t like the way Beck tensed and drew back away from her guards. It was obvious that they made the witch nervous, and Lexa hardly blamed her after Azgeda had dragged her across the coalition lands, beaten, filthy, and half-starved. After that if Beck didn’t assume that all of her people were brutish and cruel it’d be nothing short of a miracle. Her trust would be hard earned, as Lexa’s would have been if she were in her shoes.

They stepped out into the night air, and Lexa scanned the quiet streets for threats while Beck hobbled forward without a second thought. She couldn’t afford to hesitate. If she blinked Beck was likely to be gone by the time she opened her eyes.

“The city is so quiet here at night.” Beck said. A trail of silver breath trickled from her lips in the chill of the evening. It was too late for even the seediest mead hall to be serving patrons. Perhaps somewhere in the depths of the city where she could not see, there were a few people lingering by a candle, but they would be few and far between. Despite living in the city, most people still rose early to hunt or fish. Soldiers weren’t afforded the luxury of sleeping in. Craftsmen had to rise with the sun to get their wares in order in their stalls. Spending the evening wandering the streets in the light of the full moon was a senseless waste of energy.

“Do witches not sleep?” She asked, mostly joking. Though that was hardly clear from her tone. But Beck let out a soft, musical laugh and tossed a bit of hair behind her shoulder as they walked, and Lexa felt that jittery sensation flicker to life again at the sound.

“Eventually everything has to sleep.” She was looking off into the distance with a wistful smile on her lips. “But it’s not like this. Some witches prefer the night. Some even specialize in spellcraft that is most powerful under the moon. Others get up to collect spell materials and alchemical supplies that aren’t there during the day or they fight off sleep to finish working on a project. There’s always folks singing around fires and dancing to the tune. Night markets pop up somewhere new every evening, and you have to find your way there by the smell of street food and the glow of crystal lanterns.”

Lexa felt both an intense curiosity and a pang of sorrow at the wonders the witch described. “Polis must bore you.”

The witch leaned her weight off of her bad leg and spun in a circle, looking up at the night sky and then around to the quiet city. If Lexa hadn’t seen her when she’d first been brought to the capital, she’d wonder if the smile ever left Beck’s face. Moonlight shimmered off of her hair as she twirled, and glowed silver along her cheeks.

“Not at all. Everything here is different.” She began to walk once more, headed for the woods behind the city. “I can feel them all dreaming here. All at once. And when I dream with them I feel their power in the dream realm spread out like a beacon. Power they aren’t even aware they wield. It’s---harmonious. Beautiful. Foreign. Peaceful. How could it possibly bore me?”

Lexa couldn’t be sure what any of that meant. She had received visions before, dreams from the previous commanders showing her wisdom, but she knew nothing of a realm of dreams. But as the witch described it, quiet, breathy, and reverent, Lexa felt as if their emotions were bleeding together, and that even if she did not have a rational explanation of the witch’s words, she understood by feeling.

They walked out of the city and into the woods in silence after that. Something peaceful had settled inside her chest, and Lexa clung to that rare feeling desperately. She focused on the sound of their muffled footfalls on the dirt path and the whisper of the wind gently stirring the brush. Animals wandered the forest unperturbed by their presence. An owl preening itself on a branch right above her that did not fly away as they passed, and a small herd of deer grazing on the tender grass at the edge of the path walked alongside them for several moments with no fear for their speckled fawns. It felt like a dream, and Lexa feared that if she spoke, it would be shattered and she’d wake in her bed---warm, comfortable, but terribly alone.

Beck gasped and drew her back to reality. Lexa found her hand gripping her sword handle and searching the forest for threats. The woods were shrouded in darkness, and she couldn’t hear anything. When she looked back to the witch, she was kneeling by a cluster of flowers that were glowing faintly. Her fingers gently lifted the petals without breaking them from their stems, and her thumb tenderly stroked their edges.

“What are these?”

“We call them natshana yongon.” She explained. The little bell shaped flowers grew all over her lands. She remembered being young and sneaking out of the tower with the other nightbloods to gather armfuls of them. She remembered Luna’s hands over hers teaching her how to grind them into a paste, and painting glowing pictures on the tower wall that would fade before Titus ever had the chance to see them. That was so far behind her now that it felt like a different world. They were all gone, all but Luna. Luna who had ran. Luna who had at one time been her closest friend. Luna who hated her so much that she couldn’t bear the sight of her now. But even if the memory had turned bittersweet in her mouth, she still cherished it.

“Natshana---yo-gun?”

“Yongon.” She corrected gently. “Moon children in the Maunon tongue. They only bloom at night.”

“Can I take some of them?” Beck asked, looking up at her with an unnecessary plea in her eyes.

Lexa nodded. “They will fade not long after you pick them.

Beck began to gently pluck the flowers and tuck them away into an apron she was wearing over her skirt until it was puffed and full. She looked up at Lexa and held out her hand. “Will you help me up?”

It was such a small request, but the flutter in her stomach was back. It was a cold night, but the witch seemed to radiate a warmth. Her gaze gentle and unguarded, her smile soft and ever present. Lexa took her hand and felt a shiver rush down her spine that she desperately tried to cover up as she helped Beck back up. The witch rocked unsteadily and Lexa instinctively reached out and gently grasped her hip when she stumbled forward. Unable to steady herself with her broken arm, Beck couldn’t stop herself from swaying into Lexa’s chest.

The world came to a crashing halt around her. She could smell the perfume of freshly picked flowers, and feel the tickle of golden curls brush against her neck. Beck was all soft curves and warmth, a refuge from the bite of the evening air around them. She could feel her chest shaking and hear the sound of laughter bubbling through the air.

“I’m so sorry.” The witch said, and as she pulled away Lexa could see her face was flushed. Lexa couldn’t bring herself to laugh. Her heart was racing like a spooked horse, and it was all she could do to keep her breathing steady. She felt Beck squeeze her fingers and then step out of her grasp entirely. “I can’t even stand on my own two feet anymore.”

“It’s fine.” She finally managed, her voice gentler than usual. To give herself something to do other than stare stupidly at the witch, Lexa bent down and scooped up the basket that Beck had dropped while picking flowers.

“You’re sweet.” Beck reached out and took back her things. “Thank you.”

The sincerity of the complement took her off guard. She’d been called many things in her life---but no one had ever called her sweet. No one other than Costia.

This was going too far. She needed to get back to the tower. Away from the woods, away from the wild eyed witch. But Beck was already headed down the path again, humming softly as she went. There would be no coaxing her back to the Tower, and she couldn’t bring herself to leave her out in the woods alone. She would just have to control herself.

Beck stopped them by a large pond where the surface was quiet and the reflection of the full more was undisturbed. She sat her basket on a rock and pulled a large bowl and a few small glass bottles. After handing the bowl to Lexa, she removed her apron and reached up to unbutton several of the buttons on her shirt, revealing two large flat crystals hanging from a leather cord on her neck. She tugged on them until they came free, and with careful fingers she took them off her necklace and placed one in the bottom of the bowl. Lexa bit down on the inside of her cheek and fought to keep the stony expression on her face while Beck rearranged the little crystal to her liking. The top of her shirt remained unbuttoned, and Lexa was trying to look anywhere but the dark stain of the tattoo between the witch’s breasts.

Her voice was barely more than a whisper when she spoke, “What do you want me to do?”

Beck poured the contents of one bottle into the bowl and then took hold of Lexa’s wrist. She wanted to say that this was unnecessary, that if the witch would just give her direction she’d follow, that they shouldn’t be doing---whatever this was. But the words never left her throat. She allowed herself to be pulled out into the cold water until it was up to her hips.

“All you have to do is hold the bowl still. I’ll pass the crystal over it.”

Was it her imagination or were her fingers lingering again?

Beck lifted the crystal above her head and passed it directly over the reflection of the moon in her bowl. A tingling sensation went up through her fingers, and Lexa furrowed her brows. Beck had begun to sing a strange, unintelligible song in a high, breathy tone. Once more she passed the crystal over the bowl and this time the vibration was stronger. The bowl felt---lighter somehow, and it was getting hard to keep her breathing even. Her eyes were locked onto the witch, whose head was tilted up toward the sky as she sang out her spell. She rocked with every slow swing of the crystal, and the water rippled and whispered with the movement of her body. Was all magic so---entrancing to witness?

As far as Lexa knew this was the first intentional magic she’d seen the witch do. She’d seen---something on the day of Beck’s arrival when they had visited her healer, but it had been brought on by fear. There had been no purpose to it. And Lexa had felt like an outsider merely observing the phenomenon. Now she felt the effects of the spell merging with her, running through her body as she held the bowl in her hand.

When the witch finished her song she continued to silently sway for several minutes, soaking up the light of the full moon until the magic waned and she came back to herself. Her lashes fluttered as she blinked the trance away from her eyes and returned to herself. And then the warm smile returned to her face and she looked down into the bowl.

“That should be more than enough.” She said, fishing her crystal from the bottom of the vessel and returning both of them to the leather cord they came from. “Here, help me pour it into the bottles.”

Lexa followed her carefully back to the shore. She wasn’t sure what if anything would happen should she spill the bowl of freshly gathered “moonbeams” and she didn’t intend on finding out. Beck carefully collected the water in her bottles and corked them, then put everything back in her basket. They had just turned to leave when a soft glow caught her eye.

“Wait.” She scooped down to pick up the apron and shook the debris from it before placing it in the basket as well.”

The walk back was quiet. Beck didn’t bombard her with questions or ramble on about something that she didn’t understand like Lexa was used to. She was content to hum softly as they made their way out of the woods and back to the tower.

“I’m glad you came with me.” Beck said once they had crossed the threshold and entered into the city proper.

“I…” Lexa wasn’t sure what she should say. There was a knot of confusing emotions sitting in her stomach. Desire, longing, loneliness, and fear were all fighting for her attention, and she wasn’t sure which to give into. “I owed you as much, after what the Azgedan forces did to your arm.”

“Well then consider your debt paid in full.” The witch teased, and then she held Lexa’s gaze, her playful expression giving way to something else. Something sincere and hopeful. “Maybe next time you’ll tag along just for fun.”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell the witch that she had no time for fun. That every part of her was meant to belong to her duty. Titus would say it later, once he found out about their midnight tryst. He’d tell her that if she truly cared for the witch that she’d send her home. It would be better just to accept that now. To put an end to her hopeless desire before it truly began. And yet…

Lexa gave the witch a slight nod and turned back to the Tower. “Goodnight, Beck.”

That playful air seeped back into her tone. “That wasn’t a no.”

It was still dark when she woke the next morning, but a faint glow greeted her as she opened her eyes. Sitting in a small glass bottle on her bedside table, brilliantly and impossibly shimmering with life, as a twine-bound bundle of the natshana yongon. She propped herself up on an arm and reached out to stroke a shimmering petal, and she felt the magic dance along her fingertips just as she had the night before. And in the privacy of her quarters, she allowed herself a smile.

#I post all of my drabbles to this account bc the theme is more accessible #this theme isn't great for reading long shit #i need to make a bexa tag on this blog tho

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friendshipcampaign · 4 years

Text

Session Recap 12/1/20: But If I Had To Perish Twice

Amaranth took the first watch of the night, kept alert by the sounds of rain outside, followed by Ditto. By the time Erwyn awoke for the last watch, the rain had stopped, and his was instead unnaturally quiet. Nothing manifested, however, and the night passed without incident.

In the morning, once everyone was awake, Kriv checked the Infinite Library and retrieved a message from Hubris. She had written that she would keep looking into the mystery goddess, but her guess, given the remnant of Conjuration magic they’d found in the tomb, was that some kind of wishing magic may have been involved in erasing the deity. She also mentioned she’d gotten Amaranth’s message and was glad the tiefling had enjoyed her tavern recommendation in Wayspell -- and also, of course, that she’d passed on the news of the breaches to the others. Palava, apparently, had wanted to head out to Veritas immediately, but Violetta convinced him they needed to do some more preparation. She said that some contingent of the Gatekeepers would teleport out to the nearby city of Sconz, which had the closest teleportation circle, and that they would need to communicate with the party about where to meet them in the city.

The party made their plans for the day, discussing what options they still had in the city for trying to gather more information. Hoping to talk to Thodri later, they nonetheless decided the first thing to do was still to keep their appointment with Tress. As soon as they stepped outside, though, the demonic pigeons began following them again. A particularly large one flew down in front of them, clutching what looked like the tail of a small creature in its claws. The ruff of its neck lifted up to reveal a humanoid mouth, and it fixed its many visible eyes on Erwyn before speaking in Abyssal:

“Let us know if you require help. We’ll be waiting.”

The pigeon flew away and Erwyn stepped forward to investigate the tail, which it had left behind. It proved to have belonged to an imp. He translated what the pigeon had said for the group, and they continued onward. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky as they walked, seeming to forebode that a storm was on its way.

The little lantern outside of Tress’ shop was not on, but the door wasn’t locked and movement could be heard inside. She opened the door to greet them, wearing the same clothes she’d had the night before, and commented that the quasits really weren’t letting up. Tress asked Kriv if he would keep watch for them while she worked with the others, since she had a demonstration she wanted to try, but only needed one blood sample from each race. He cautiously used his Divine Sense to see if anything was amiss, but nothing came back, and was persuaded when she mentioned that she’d noticed there always seemed to be more of the quasits around when the party stopped by and she would feel safer if he kept an eye out.

Tress took the others to the back and told them that she’d gotten the same reaction from mixing the tiefling blood sample with the tinctures as she had in her earlier tests with her own blood. She expanded on that, however, saying that she had an idea for an antidote to the petrification process that involved basilisk venom, a substance often used for similar cures. She said she wanted to actually test it on humanoids, if the party was willing.

“Did you drink any of it?” Voski asked.

There was no response.

“Tress,” she said.

“I like to be certain of things!” Tress said.

“Tress!”

Voski started scolding her for being so reckless with herself, especially since she wasn’t sure of her antidote yet. Tress argued back that she had needed to try her theories. She added that if the party members present were willing to help, she could get four more data points from them and try to refine them. They agreed, Voski perhaps more begrudgingly than the other three, and all drank the vials they were presented with.

As they waited for Tress to be able to gather her data, Voski asked her where her dog was. Tress replied that Palette was in the back with some minor mechanical troubles. Continuing to make conversation, Voski asked her about her clients for the Guildhall Gala that year and Tress said that the Papermaker’s Guild had been working with her on something rather grand. Cautiously, Erywn asked if, since she tended to work with fairly wealthy and important clients, she had any business with some of the out-of-town philanthropists in the city currently.

“Mostly I’m asking,” he said, “Because if a woman named Esmeralda Vilar asks for anything from you, please be careful.��

“Really? I’ll take it under advisement,” Tress said. Then she turned to the back. “What do you think?”

At that moment Erwyn, Voski, and Ditto were all struck with the effects of the “antidote” they had just drunk -- which had actually been poison. Amaranth managed to shake off similar effects. The door to the back room opened, and a scowling, red-skinned tiefling, a human woman in an elaborate dress of red and black silk, and a fire genasi man emerged. Amaranth drew her weapon and shouted for Kriv, but the woman -- Esmeralda Vilar herself -- snapped her fingers and three bolts of crackling red-and-black energy (that matched her dress) shot towards her, all of which hit.

Voski had been keeping her eyes on Tress the entire time and noted that, as the three newcomers appeared, she seemed to go entirely vacant, eyes staring into the distance.

Amaranth charged forward and went to attack Esmeralda, but the tiefling woman at her side stepped forward and took the damage instead. From behind the curtain to the back, a few more figures stepped forward. They looked off, in a blank way, similar to Tress. One was a tabaxi and the other two tieflings -- one of whom was Creed. Erwyn, reeling from these developments, suddenly took an onslaught of psychic damage from an unknown source

Tress went and tried to backhand Amaranth, with a strength that seemed unnatural for her, but she was able to dodge it. Then the genasi man raised an arm, on which he was wearing a complicated-looking bracer, and shot a bolt of ice towards the doorway. It exploded and expanded, creating a sheer wall of ice that cut the back room off from the storefront -- where Kriv had been waiting. When he ran to towards Amaranth’s call, he found the door completely blocked and started to try to cut into it with his sword.

“What’s going on?” he shouted. “What the fuck!”

“We’ve got company!” Amaranth shouted back.

Ditto, finding that she couldn’t move thanks to the poison, told Tiktik to get to safety. They bolted past everyone and ran into the back room. Whatever they found back there seemed to distress them. Erwyn addressed Esmeralda and told her to let everyone go, asking what they had done to her. She replied that they’d cared too much about her business. Her tiefling bodyguard pulled out a spiked chain and whipped it at Amaranth, causing it to wrap around her and pin her arms to her sides.

Voski, looking incredibly angry, looked directly at Esmeralda and said, “It makes sense you’d have to control her. You couldn’t afford her.”

Esmeralda smiled back and said. “Oh no. But I know someone who can.”

At that, the woman took out a small book from a pouch at her side and held it open in front of Amaranth, grabbing her hair to pull her close and force her to look at it. She felt a strange tugging and her form flickered. Suddenly, from the rest of the party’s point of view she vanished. From Amaranth’s, she found herself in a strange, featureless room with high walls and what looked like a strange, stylized vine curling down one of them.

Voski felt a tugging at her mind but managed to lock down in anger, ending the effect. At that moment, however, Tress hit her and she found that it caused her to take psychic damage anyway. Voski noted, however, that when “Tress” brought her arm back, there was a strange unnatural wrinkle in her skin. Across the room, the genasi man adjusted some kind of setting on his armband contraption.

Kriv, having heard Erwyn shout in distress when Amaranth disappeared and frustrated due to not being able to break through the ice, decided it was time for another plan. He dashed outside and spotted one of the pigeon quasits that had been following the party around, looked at it, and said if it could understand Common, the party was in need of help. He then ran back inside and started hacking at the wall of ice again. This time, he managed to break through. He ran towards the back room to join the others and the genasi man fired some kind of a corrosive liquid at him, but the attack missed as Kriv skidded on the leftover ice.

Ditto managed to force herself to move, combating the effects of the poison. She tried to run towards the exit of the room and ran into Kriv in the hall. On seeing him, she shouted, “Everything’s really really bad!” and cast haste on him. Telepathically, she also told Tiktik to hide, and her familiar replied that there was some kind of a giant ooze thing in the back.

Forcing his way through the poison as well, Erwyn again addressed Esmeralda and told her to bring Amaranth back. The woman laughed, saying that she couldn’t do that, since Amaranth was going to be very useful to her.

“What else are you going to do, then?” Erwyn said. “You’ve already proven that you’re not very good at killing people!”

It was at this point that Esmeralda’s bodyguard stepped forward and stabbed Erwyn twice with her knives. At the second blow, he fell to the ground, unconscious.

At around the same time, Voski forced her way through the effects of the poison as well. First, she turned to Tress and told her, “Snap out of it! You’re better than this!” in an attempt to inspire her. She then whirled to face Esmeralda and cast Heat Metal on the particularly opulent gold necklace the woman was wearing. Esmeralda shrieked, tearing it off.

From behind him, Kriv heard a rushing of wings. He went to duck his head and a stream of demonic pigeons flew past him and into the room. They started to attack everyone other than the party members -- who they recognized, having been stalking them for so long -- with their talons. Esmeralda stepped back and cast a Hellish Rebuke, immolating one of the pigeons, but their numbers were overwhelming. She, her bodyguard, and the genasi man, however, seemed to be the only ones actually fighting back. Where the pigeons’ talons cut through the other figures in the room -- “Tress” included” -- they didn’t bleed, instead spilling a viscous, jelly-like substance.

Reaching up through all the quasits, Esmeralda extended her hand and snapped her fingers. A red bead shot towards the top of the doorway, causing a red dot to appear and blossom into a Fireball. Ditto tried to Counterspell it, but was unable to stop the casting, and the room filled with fire, hitting the party members inside -- including the still-unconscious Erwyn -- as well as Esmeralda’s own bodyguard.

Meanwhile, inside the book she’d been contained in, Amaranth tried grabbing at the strange vine. She was unable to climb it, however, and when she pulled her hand away it seemed to be covered in a substance like paint.

In Tress’ shop and in the aftermath of the powerful Fireball spell, all the pigeons had been immolated. The oddly-vacant figures (“Tress” included) all turned to Esmeralda and pointed at the deathly-still Erwyn on the floor.

“We can’t get any information from that one,” they intoned in unison.

Voski then felt a powerful tugging at her mind and a blast of psychic damage. She also fell unconscious. In the aftermath, another one of the figures hit her for more damage. They then all went to link hands, one of them grabbing the hand of the tiefling bodyguard, who also was in pretty poor shape after getting caught in the Fireball. The genasi man took a decorative fork from his belt and linked arms with Esmeralda. The group then all vanished.

Kriv burst into the room just as they disappeared. He rushed over to Erwyn and tried to use his Lay on Hands ability on him.

Nothing happened. Erwyn was still beneath his hands. Esmeralda’s spell had killed him.

Ditto followed Kriv into the room. She rushed over to Voski and gave her a Greater Healing Potion. The dragonborn was roused, although everything still hurt and she found she had a strange splitting headache. Seeing Erwyn near her, she went to go heal him herself. Kriv grabbed her wrist with his free hand, the other still resting on Erwyn’s chest. She turned the spell back on herself so that the healing at least wouldn’t be wasted.

“Shit,” she said.

Suddenly, a strange dark patch appeared on the wall. The humanoid shadow demon that the party had fought at the inn materialized. It extended a hand, and spoke in halting Common.

“Give him to me,” it said.

“You were late,” Kriv replied.

“I can still help, if he will come with us. There is not much time.”

Slowly, Kriv scooped up Erwyn and stepped forward. The shadow creature placed its hand on his chest and sent a pulse of energy into him. After an agonizing moment of waiting, the elf drew in a breath.

The demon had brought him back to life.

#session recap

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srprincess · 5 years

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Fictober prompt 4 - “I know you didn’t ask for this.”

Fandom - check please

- part two of the SpookydooAU, now a wip on Ao3 (still without a decent title, sorry?

Will led them to the cemetery. Just as well he was leading them, because, tucked away behind the trees like it was, there was a fair chance they’d have passed it and looped back around to him again.

Once parked, they all climbed out of the vehicle and spread out - honestly how did they fit in that thing? He was watching and still couldn’t figure it out.

He took the map from Man-Bun and Short Woman when they brought it over and marked it as promised. Circled a couple of the public open lighthouses. Made sure to put a circle with a line through on his own place. Even drew a little gravestone and wrote ‘you are here’ at the graveyard, and a big star around the visitors center.

“Great, thanks man!” Man-Bun said as he slapped Will on the back. “I know you didn’t ask for this, us basically showing up on your doorstep, but we’d be lost without you. For real. We’re normally much more prepared than this-“

“Normally? So you do this a lot, ummm,” Will searched his head for the name. He couldn’t just call him Man-Bun out loud. Had any of the others called him something?

Picking up on the reason for the pause, he helped, “Shitty Knight.”

Confusing subject change, Will thought. “Night? It’s day. Barely started, and not that bad a one. Fair seasonal, really.” God, these people were odd.

“No, my name. It’s Shitty. Well, nickname. Because my actual name is ... well, shitty. Hey! You need a nickname! Let me think -“

“Please. Don’t.” Will said under his breath as ‘Shitty’ - and he had thought calling him Man-Bun would have been too rude? - wandered off butchering his name in a variety of new and creative ways.

Short Woman stepped up, “Larissa, or Lardo to my fellow heathens here, and to answer your question - because we’ve lost Shits for a while - we go ghost hunting as a group every year. We normally shoot for a week in April, but a couple of us were busy this year. And then summer started late for Jack sooooo,“

Will frowned, how could summer be late? And for one person? It was a season. Weirder and weirder.

“Lucky we all managed to match up a few free days here in fall though. We waited too long and couldn’t get rooms at our planned spot, but then we heard about this place and so we threw this trip together and here we are. Late, lost and in your debt.”

“Don’t think of it. Ummm it seems like you’re all set now, so I’m gonna head back?”

She gave him a thumbs up and joined the rest who were checking names on all the stones.

He could have told them they were looking in the wrong area. Between the pamphlet, their interest in this particular cemetery and his particular lighthouse, the stories they could be chasing were limited. Most of those people came nosing around towards December, but scheduling was a thing from what they said so - yeah. He was pretty sure he knew who they were looking for. As sure as he could be without a name.

It was the typical story, from the time of his great grandparents. Lone woman from away seen walking along the road at night disappears under mysterious circumstances, never to be heard from again. Other than ghostly sightings of a shadowy figure along the harbor roads and beaches at night that is. There was a little more to it in this case, main thing being that this one’s body had actually been found later. Stone’s throw from the lighthouse, in fact. Such a sad story, no one had even come to claim her.

He tried not to think about it too much. Knowing he was the last of his family made things like that hit a little harder as the years passed.

There had been talk years back about giving her a proper stone, but many of the residents didn’t want to attract any more of this exact kind of attention. They wanted to be known more for their spectacular views than mysterious probably murders from a century earlier. And so she continued her rest under the trees at the edge of the cemetery, her grave simply marked by plain stones. Mostly safe from the looky loos, unless they were really into the area history. With no real family to mourn her, the village felt the best they could offer was to give her the peace of anonymity at this point.

Any matter, he didn’t want to seem too helpful to this group and make them feel welcome to asking more of him. So he kept his mouth shut, and let them search in all the wrong spots. It was kind of uncomfortable for him, watching them traipse all over the graves. He couldn’t help but think of his own family’s site and be glad it was in an entirely different cemetery. All this only made him miss the quiet of his home even more, so he slipped away while the group continued their search.

—

When Will got back home, he climbed back up to the lantern room of the lighthouse. Time to get back to work. He didn’t like getting so late a start, but since he kept things in generally good order he knew it would be fine.

So much of the works were run on automated timers these days. His dad had been happy to get all that put in so that, barring storms, he wouldn’t have to go up and do it all manual. Sometimes Will wondered what it had been like in the old days, and thought he would have enjoyed the hard work of it all. Of course, that was easy to say when not actually facing the reality of cold stair climbs in the dark and restless nights.

Not that the modernizing made for an easy life either. Seemed like there was always something needing doing. Keeping the windows clean of sea spray seemed like a full job in itself as the weather got rougher each fall.

He noted one of the bolts was starting to get stripped after he tightened it. He’d need to pick up some spares before next month.

Everything else checked out, and he updated the log.

Finally finished, he pulled the binoculars out of the pouch he kept inside the door before heading out in the ‘walk for one last look around before darkness fell.

Oh great, there was someone taking pictures from the scenic lookout with one of those damned giant lens aimed his way. He flipped off their general direction and muttered “frame that” and kept scanning the shoreline.

One of the regular beachcombers waved. Will could never remember her name, but, thanks to a conversation they’d had while she waited for the tide to change one day, he knew she made wind chimes to sell with the shells she collected.

He was wondered if she’d seen his response to the tourists. It should have been hard from the distance, but she appeared to be laughing.

Sometimes he wondered if he should be nicer to the tourists. Or at least ignore them better. After all, the majority of the village did need them bringing money in to keep afloat in the off seasons. But, nah. Not like he went to their houses and aimed giant cameras in their windows. Hardly his fault if they found his place so interesting. It was still rude. And if a nice person like her found him ruining their photos funny, it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

Looking further down he saw another tourist group taking shore line pictures. With a normal camera. Like normal people. People who weren’t treating him like some sort of animal at the zoo and snapping HD pics of him in his ‘enclosure’.

When he had made it around to the view of his drive he saw the clown car of an SUV approaching again.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, NO.”

#fictober19 #omgcp #fic #spookydoo au #dex #so much dex right now #don't worry #i haven't forgotten the rest of the crew #especially nursey #but this is a large number of people i've saddled myself with #they need to take turns being important!#will i ever update at a decent time of day?#all signs point to no

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dailydoseofcolor · 4 years

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Taking Stock of Units in Fire Emblem Heroes, Part 2

Next! Let’s take a look at the merged heroes I have and feel some sort of affinity for:

My 5*+10s:

Nowi (+Atk): She still puts in WORK. My first 5*+10 and she is an evergreen feature on any Grand Conquest teams, first runs of Lunatic maps, etc. She deserves a kit upgrade sometime soon, but somehow LB/Aether/SB/QR/Threaten Res/Distant Def still get the job done almost every time. Sothe (+Spd): Sothe is one of the first characters I ever really fell in love with from Radiant Dawn. He was an easy +10 decision. Again, I need to upgrade his kit soon, I have Broadleaf Dagger+ fodder....I just feel like I have to choose between him and Matthew, and I adore Matthew’s personality and I feel like I just need to bite the bullet and just raise both. Ross (+Spd): I literally yelped when he was released. Favorite character from the first game I actually beat (played FE7 first but beat it after beating SS). Every major decision in summoning since his release was clouded by “but I should still summon on Green for Ross merges.” But he’s done! This little dude runs so many builds and is also a main staple on teams. The Almosts (Most of these I actually have the resources to +10 but have been holding off because of a need to keep resources on hand to remain competitive):

Lyon, +7: My sweet boy. Major staple on most teams for a while before he just...couldn’t keep up. He needs a refine BADLY. Sophia literally takes him behind the woodshed and beats him within an inch of his life. We all know he likes it. He was the first person I sacked a Counter skill to. I love him and I want the best for him...but not until I know what his refine is.

Mordecai, +7 (+Atk): Another soft boy. Honestly, I merged him up because I had them available and got drunk while playing PoR. He functions very well at this merge level. I’ll get him up one day, but he really can’t be a focus right now, given he serves a very similar combat function to Nowi.

Shigure, +6 (+Atk): This is one of those scenarios where the voice actor really drew me to the character. Matt Mercer kills Shigure’s voice lines and also I got pitybroken by him a LOT. He’s got a pretty balanced stat-line, but performs better as a player phase duelist....except I want to eventually use Valter instead. That’s 99% the only reason I’ve held off, the other is having Harmonic Lance+ fodder just in case. I have the merges for Shigure, but I have a feeling this is as far as he goes.

Micaiah, +5 (+Atk): Best girl from RD (we all know this). Honestly, I haven’t ever sniped for merges on her, these are all organic, which is impressive. But she deserves the +10 and I think I would rank her pretty high in terms of trying to achieve that. Too bad I just missed several good opportunities to do so. This is why I should have done this a while ago.

Nino, +5 (+Spd): I have uncovered a not-so-secret trend. I have a major bias towards characters from Blazing Blade, Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn and, to an extent, Awakening. These were the games I played growing up, so it makes sense that they stayed. ANYWAY. Nino, adorable and punches through everything. I find I don’t really have a ton of space for her on teams, though...she was easy to merge and offers no fodder. I have all the materials, but she’ll honestly have to wait, like Mordecai.

Now, I think I should list out every character with at least +1 merge, to sort through who should be a priority. So this will go in descending order:

Mia, +3 (+Res): One of the only speedy sword girls I actually give a shit about (unsurprisingly). I would love a +10 eventually. Masked Marth, +3: A product of a bygone age. I never spent any real fodder on her, so I’ll chalk this one up to *meh*. OG Eliwood, +3 (+Atk): I have all the resources to +10 him. He’s my favorite Lord. He’s incredible in combat. He has amazing Resplendent Art. Why the fuck have I not finished him. I’ve failed my boy. Forgive me Eliwood. He’s clearly a high level priority. What have I been doing. Astram, +2: He’s a strong unit and has a great niche but I just....don’t care about him. I built him for this week’s Arena needs. His cost is just way too high as a Grail unit. He’ll stay at +2 for now. Joshua, +2: He was almost my first grail merge project and I...held off. Idk, his cost is so high. but I love his personality and he’s near the top of the grail pile that deserves a refine. I might wait until then?? Idk, I’m torn. I think he could put in good work if I took the time to kit him properly. I need to put more thought into him. Eldigan, +2 (+Def): Multiple pitybreakers that have been merged. Garbage. Next. Donnel, +2 (+Atk): Donnel’s another character I’ve always really liked, but held off, because my Blue Enemy Phase Infantry slot remains filled. His new refine gives him an interesting niche, but is he worth the resources? I have the merges and feathers, but I’m hesitant to pull the trigger. Hawkeye, +2 (+Def): Another random decision I made months and months ago for...no particular reason? He’s got a great refine, but there’s nothing he can do that Ross or Brave Ike can’t. Brave Ike, +2 (+Atk): Speaking of...amazing typing, amazing refine, I sacked my only Nailah to him in order to finally make it to T21 in AR. I have one more waiting in the wings, because I worry that I might need Steady Breath for someone in the future. But I think the ship has sailed on SB’s hey-day. An extra merge for survivability is likely better. Rath, +2 (+Spd): I love Rath so much. His personality, his art, all great. He got SHAFTED stat line wise but....we shall prevail. I have a +Atk waiting in the wings, but I think I’ll keep the +Spd. Speed is king and will remain king until something drastic changes in the meta. He could be +7 with the copies I have, so I’ll likely up his merges soon. Lissa, +2 (+Res): I love Lissa. She’s so cute and she was the first true defensive healer, and I LOVE healers...but she’s incredibly outclassed at this point. Resplendent Lissa when??? I don’t see this going forward without some kind of refine/Resplendent. Adult Tiki, +2 (+Atk): Tiki has the misfortune of just not appearing as fast as Nowi did in terms of merges. I don’t love all dragon teams, and Nowi has the better color. Plus her refine isn’t amazing. She’ll remain here for now. Y!Marth, +1 (+Atk): I am on the fence about whether I feel regret for not pulling more for Y!Marth. His weapon is so strong, he’s got great stats, and not great fodder. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I decided +1 was better than trying for the +10 and getting mad when I spent money on orbs. But he puts in work. I love him as a unit. OG Alm, +1 (+HP): Funnily enough, as an almost day-one player, I didn’t pull an OG Alm until halfway through his availability as a Limited-Time Divine Code option. He was a free pull on some random banner and obviously got a merge afterwards. I like his character, but I don’t know if I will ever make an effort to +10. Saber, +1 (+Atk): One of my absolute favorite units. One of the characters I had Summoner Supported for a period of time. His refine is very interesting and allows for some really interesting builds. I might need to make more of an effort for him in the future. Ayra, +1 (+HP): I’ll be honest, I don’t love Ayra. I don’t like the speed arms race she kicked off, and I’m bummed I didn’t just use her as Swift Sparrow fodder. Whatever. Black Knight, +1: Big surprise here: I love the Black Knight. I think he still holds up as a viable option for Red Armors. His cost remains high as a Grail unit, but I think it might be worth it, given how many armor skills exist now. Elincia, +1 (+Atk): The trend continues: character from PoR and RD that I love. She’s got amazing player phase capabilities, and eventually she’d be a great +10. Lukas, +1 (+Atk): The OG physical tank. Great personality and solid niche, but I have others who do the same thing. Nephenee, +1 (+Spd): The Halberdier class in PoR still ranks as one of my all time favorite character ranks. Nephenee languished as -Spd for a long time before I snagged another merge. I love her character and need to prioritize her builds. I’d love for her to demote one day (lol), but she’ll go on the list of 5* exclusive merge desires. OG Azura, +1 (Neutral): I feel like OG Azura is still outclassed, even with her Resplendent stats. Although she has a strong niche as a triple Chill support unit. I need to actually build her and deploy her before I sink any real assets into her. Legendary Ephraim, +1 (+Res): I pulled Legendary Ephraim long before I ever pulled OG Ephraim. He finds use mostly as a Grand Conquests lead. Which makes me realize that I don’t have a ton of lance cavaliers....or really any that I would really love to build. I’ll look into this. Altena, +1 (+Def): I adore Altena. She’s one of those characters that FEH really introduced me to and I fell in love with her personality, and she’s got a great kit. I’d love for her to be 3*/4*, but I find myself thinking I should pull for Blue on random banners, just in case I pull extras. She’s a high priority merge project. Halloween Dorcas, +1: Another case of a strange decision made without any real thought. Especially since Hack-o’-Lantern+ is a solid axe to have in a unit’s back pocket. I’m suddenly mad at myself for doing this. Minerva, +1 (+Atk): You know, Minerva was the third 5* I ever pulled in this game, and I never really found a use for her somehow. I suppose I avoided flying units for a long time, just because they were always physical, and usually less useful than infantry or cavalry units (what a time). She’s merged because of a pity breaker. Young Minerva, +1: Ironic, I know. Y!Minerva is near the top of my list for Grail projects. She’ll likely get a +10 eventually, it’s hard to top the skills she has available. And I’m weirdly a sucker for tiny children who destroy enemies. I love this unit. Legendary Alm, +1 (+Def): My first pull of L!Alm was -Spd, which was a major fucking bummer. I ultimately decided I needed to fix that when I pulled one a while back, it was a good decision. I am never going to have the resources to pump more into him, though. So his base kit will do for now. Matthew, +1 (+Atk): Let’s talk briefly about how fucking bad Matthew’s attack stat is. At lvl 41 with a 14 mt dagger equipped and attack boon he has 43 attack. Literal garbage. His refine makes him useable and I want to +10 him so badly because I love his character, but again, it clashes directly with the Sothe I already built, who only loses out on the defense that Matthew’s packing. It’s hard to justify, ngl. Kagero, +1 (+Atk): I am only human. Every once in a while, I am susceptible to the pull of a waifu or two. Cool refine, solid niche, but hard to justify when I have characters that do the work better. Julia, +1 (+Def): Another character I didn’t have for literal years, and got in back to back banners long after she had a hey-day. Crystalelemental on Tumblr loves Julia and, honestly, that love kinda rubbed off. She doesn’t even have skills equipped, but I’ve been on the lookout for a way to deploy her. She’ll get a good kit eventually. Legendary Female Fallen Robin, +1 (+Spd): Describing some of these characters becomes a mouthful. Solid niche, and she got a merge because she kept pitybreaking me on the road to Bramimond. The rest were sacked for Res Smoke fodder. She’s useful from time to time, but not a favorite. Lethe, +1 (+Def): I always liked Mordecai more than Lethe, but she hits a lot of criteria for me. Her typing holds her back a little bit, though. I also don’t run all beast teams very often, and that’s where she really shines. It also doesn’t help that her first appearance was as -Atk. Sometimes heroes with bad IVs that you love kinda lose their luster, which is sad. Kaden, +1 (Neutral): Both times a pitybreaker. Great niche as a unit, sees plenty of use when I’m running Bonus Doubler shenanigans. Doesn’t see a ton of use outside of that.

Phew. That was a lot to write. If you read through that....I am deeply impressed. I think next is taking stock of what I actually want in terms of unit niches, and which ones would fill those roles that I could target.

#ddc talks FEH #ddc talks #fire emblem heroes #part 2 #fire emblem

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missnight0wl · 5 years

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A night to remember

Summary: It’s finally time for the Winter Ball, and the whole curse-breaking gang is having fun. They deserved it.

Note: You can also read about Helena’s “Ups and downs” on the day when Charlie asked her to be his date.

Words: 2780

December 24, 1988

“Come on already, Helen!” called Andre, leaning on one of the chairs in the Ravenclaw Common Room. He was waiting for his friend for some time now. When he hoped she’s finally getting down, the girl decided she didn’t want to go to the ball at all.

“I feel stupid!” she whined.

“You’re overdramatic. I’m sure it’s fine.”

There was another moment of silence, and then Helena eventually appeared in the door, stepping a bit shakily. She was wearing a light blue dress made of tulle, finishing a little below the knee. Her hair was twisted in a bun with soft curls framing her face. She spread out her arms presenting herself.

“Lovely,” remarked Andre contently.

Helena stared at him sceptically. “For real, or you’re only saying that so I won’t cry and ruin my make-up?”

“It’s kind of both if I’m being honest,” he replied and thought for a second. “Just try not to frown so much, and keep your back straight…” he added, adjusting his own posture. “Oh no, why are you crying anyway? It’s really good, I’m telling you!”

The girl’s eyes indeed glistened with tears. She was breathing deeply in an attempt to hold them back. Andre approached her quickly and held her shoulders in a supportive gesture.

“It’s…” Helena stuttered out. “It’s just so normal, y’know…”

“What do you mean?”

“Just… just getting ready to a party, instead of curse-breaking…” Her voice started to tremble.

The fellow Ravenclaw seemed to be surprised by those words, but almost immediately this look was replaced by compassion. “Oh my. Oh… Come here,” he said, hugging his friend affectionately while also being careful to not wrinkle her outfit. After a while, he glanced again at her now slightly embarrassed face. He reached for a tissue to fix some mascara smears. “Tonight, you’re the most extraordinary normal girl at Hogwarts,” he continued comfortingly. “There will be no curses, no mysteries, and no tears, all right? We’re gonna have fun, I promise you.”

Helena sniffled. “Thanks, Andre,” she said quietly.

“Now, I believe you’re missing one more thing.”

The girl’s hand automatically went to her neck, as Helena was mostly worried that she could’ve forgotten her necklace. But grandma Queenie’s pearls were in their place. “What is it? I took everything you told me.”

Andre was watching her carefully. “I’m not sure… Like, one redhead by your side maybe,” he concluded, trying very hard to stay serious. Helena rolled her eyes, yet she couldn’t help but beam. “Really though, don’t hold him any longer. I believe most people went to the Entrance Hall by now.”

“What about you? Will you be ready in time?”

Andre threw his Pride of Portee scarf over the shoulder. “Darling, I’m always ready.”

“But you’re not going like that, right…?”

“Of course not. But don’t worry. I’m good at being fashionably late as well,” he said, winking at her. “Just go now! I’ll see you there.”

Helena embraced him once more and obediently left. Charlie was waiting for her on the fifth floor, near the staircase leading to the Ravenclaw Tower. They had decided to meet there so they wouldn’t have to search for each other in the crowd. The Seeker’s eyes were wandering around the corridor until he noticed her.

“I hope you didn’t wait much,” she greeted him.

He grinned instantly, his eyes twinkling. “You look amazing, Nell.”

“Why, thank you! And you look very handsome.”

Charlie blushed a little hearing the compliment, but then he apparently remembered something causing his enthusiasm. “Oh, check it out!” He turned around, glancing back over his shoulder. On his dark pewter robes, there was a silhouette of an icy blue dragon. The picture was glittering in the warm light of torches. “Isn’t it brilliant?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” Helena replied with a mysterious smile, focusing more on Charlie’s face than a dragon.

The redhead eyed her with the sudden understanding. “You did it, didn’t you?”

“Perhaps…”

“I thought that maybe it was Ben.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the ground. “But I just realised how well it matches your dress...”

“Ben helped, actually,” Helena hurried with an explanation. “And Badeea. She told me she’s not sure if it’s permanent because of the fabric, though it should survive the night.”

“Well, I love it anyway. And I love your dress,” he said, bringing back his excited expression. “Shall we now?” He approached nearer and bent his arm so his date could grab him.

By the time they went down the ground floor, the Front Hall was full of students in beautiful formal robes: boys looking around nervously, girls shrieking with laughter. Seeing that, Helena felt even happier that she already had her Gryffindor besides when they stepped among the people. The first pair they spotted was Penny and Ben. The Hufflepuff had decided that she’d rather spend that event with a friend, rejecting the same invitations from a good few boys she barely knew.

“We don’t have to dance, Ben, if you don’t want to,” they heard Penny saying when they got closer, still remaining unnoticed themselves.

The boy smiled diffidently. “Actually, I was taking some classes back in Muggle school. My teacher claimed I was quite good…”

“Really? You’ve never talked about it!” said surprised Penny. “I guess we all needed this ball, even if only to learn more about each other.”

They both cheered up even more, finally seeing Helena and Charlie. Their group was getting bigger and shortly after everyone gathered, the door to the Great Hall opened. The room looked really breath-taking, decorated in the winter theme. Frosty ornaments were shimmering thanks to many floating lanterns, and the centre of the Hall had been cleared to create a dance floor. Along one of the walls, there was a stage with the instruments ready for the band.

After Dumbledore’s short speech, it was time for the opening waltz. The musicians started to play a pleasant, quite ceremonial melody, and the first couples proceeded to step forward. Charlie turned out to be a better dancer than Helena expected. He was steering quite confidently, and even though his hand on her waist felt awkward for a very short moment, the girl could tell they both were becoming more comfortable with each song. She wondered if the Gryffindor looked more mature thanks to the formal outfit, or she simply missed that change in him recently.

When they had finally decided to rest, they found the table occupied by their four friends: Penny, Ben, Tonks, and Tulip. It wasn’t long before Andre also joined them.

“No way. You’re disappointing me,” he said dramatically, taking one of the chairs. “Did you really come here to sit?”

“Don’t worry, we’re only taking a break,” Penny explained on the group’s behalf.

Andre rolled his eyes jokingly. “We’ll have all the holidays for that, though. By the way, Penny. I hope you’re staying till the end of the ball.”

“Of course I am! I mean, I miss Bea terribly, but you all were so engaged in saving her that I couldn’t leave without spending this time with my friends. She’s safe, and we’ll still be together on Christmas Day…” The Hufflepuff paused abruptly because apparently, something near the entrance drew her attention. “Wait, is that Talbott? He told me he’s not coming!”

They all looked in the same direction, where indeed was standing the quietest Ravenclaw boy. He seemed to feel rather lost, yet he was very elegant. He was searching for familiar faces in the crowd and brightened up as soon as he saw their group. Helena might have something to do with his appearance, nevertheless, she kept it to herself.

“Would you mind if I go to him for a moment?” asked Penny. Not hearing any objections, she smiled at Ben and said before going away: “I’ll be right back.”

Andre decided that it’s a good moment to make the company move. “In that case, it’s time for me too. Tulip Karasu, will you do me an honour to accompany your fellow Ravenclaw?” he asked, reaching out to his classmate.

“Well, Andre Egwu, how could I say no to that?” replied the red-haired girl, taking his hand.

Tonks wasn’t exactly pleased with that. “Hey, and you’ll leave me alone?”

“You could dance with me,” Charlie suggested playfully.

“I don’t know, Weasley…”

“Oh, c’mon! You won’t dance with your best mate?”

“It’s nothing personal, Charlie. I’m just worried about your feet,” clarified the Metamorphmagus. “I don’t think you use them much in Quidditch, but I’d hate to damage Helen’s dance partner.”

The Seeker glanced at his companion, maybe making sure she’s fine with that, so she answered him with a grin. “I think I should be fine.”

“She’s not that terrible!” Tulip shouted over her shoulder before disappearing with Andre.

Charlie and Tonks stood up as well, the boy briefly touched Helena’s shoulder, and soon she was left alone with Ben. The Gryffindor appeared absent. Something was clearly on his mind.

“How’s it going, Benny?” she asked solicitously.

Her question woke him up. “I’m fine, actually. Really,” he added, seeing her worried expression. “I was just thinking how much has happened since I got to Hogwarts, how much has changed.”

“Like, you abandoned your hobbies?”

“Yeah, among other things,” he said with a pensive smile.

“Do you still feel you don’t belong here?”

“You mean at Hogwarts? I don’t know, maybe less often. A little. To this world though?” Ben pressed his lips and shook the head. “I don’t even know what I could do after school. Maybe I’ll stick to Astronomy…”

“Oh no, my dear, you’re not gonna waste your talents like that,” Helena stated with determination. “Come on, who did you want to be as a child?”

The boy frowned in the silence at first but quickly gave in. “I wanted to be a doctor,” he mumbled.

“Brilliant! You’d be a great healer!”

“Helen, I’m scared of blood…”

“Yeah, but you’ve proven me more than once that helping others is more important than your fears,” the Ravenclaw said cheerfully. “I mean, it’s just a suggestion, but maybe you’d like to think about it. Just… You can do whatever you want, Ben.”

“You know, Charlie told me pretty much the same thing some time ago.” He took a deep breath. “All right, I can think about it.”

“Well then, it’s a good place to end that serious talk,” the girl summed up. “So, are you going to invite me to dance now? For the sake of following the past passions,” she added encouragingly.

Ben blinked blankly. “Oh! Of course! Um… Shall we dance?”

Helena chuckled. “I’d like it very much.”

Even if Ben wouldn’t take her career advice, it was good to see him on the floor. He seemed way more relaxed, and actually self-assured. Before the girl noticed, though, Andre showed up nearby, asking politely for a change, and even later, Helena found herself in a pair with Barnaby. Finally, she switched with Rowan to dance with Bill while her best friend returned to her original partner. After one or two other pieces, Head Boy made a bow, so the girl tried to curtsey gracefully. She was expecting that Weasley would escort her to the table, however, he leant towards her instead.

“I think someone is missing you already,” he said, indicating direction behind her back.

She turned around. Charlie was sitting alone, drumming his fingers on the tabletop, though his red cheeks suggested he hadn’t spent there much time. He beamed when their eyes met. For the rest of the night, the two of them were inseparable.

They danced a lot, fooled around, and simply enjoyed themselves. Helena was grasping each moment of that, when she was looking in Charlie’s bright brown eyes, laughing at his jokes, smelling that unique scent of grass and honeysuckles – and something new - whenever they got closer during slower songs. And although the redhead was clearly giving her his full attention, his sense of duty overtook at some point – in a way, at least.

“Don’t you think they have a little too much fun?” the Seeker asked, embracing Helena after the spin. He actually looked quite amused himself.

“What now? Who are you talking about?” The girl followed his sight.

“The mischievous trio.”

At one of the tables, Tonks, Tulip, and Jae were having the time of their lives. They were also partially influencing Rowan and Barnaby sitting next to them. “I don’t know. Aren’t they always like that?”

Charlie drew nearer. “Wanna sit down for a bit?” he proposed, smiling softly. She nodded, intrigued by the situation.

When they approached their friends, Tulip was chatting with Rowan.

“You’re just so smart, and I’m proud you’re in our house, Rowan Khanna,” the first girl proclaimed. “We’re making a great intellectual duet, don’t you think?”

The other Ravenclaw exchanged looks with Helena, holding back a laugh. “Yes. Yes, we are, Tulip.”

“And you have such a great impact on Barnaby! He advanced so much with you!”

“I know, right?” Barnaby joined the conversation. “I could be a prefect if I met Rowan earlier.”

Rowan flushed with a shy grin. While Helena was thinking how adorable this short exchange was, Charlie apparently focused on something else.

“Hey guys, what are you drinking?” he asked, glancing at the glasses in front of his suspects. The three of them fell silent.

“Just drinks,” replied Tulip, regaining her focus.

“Oh yeah? Can I try some?”

Tonks jumped on her feet immediately. “Sure, I’ll bring you some! Do you want too, Helen?”

The girl didn’t get a chance to respond. “There’s no need, I’ll only take a sip,” the prefect interrupted.

“No, really, I’ll get some…” Nymphadora insisted.

“It’s alcohol, isn’t it?”

The Hufflepuff bit her lips and the Ravenclaw peeked nervously at her associates. The Gryffindor, however, tried to act cool.

“You can’t prove it,” he said with a serious face.

“Really, Jae?” Charlie leaned back, resting his hand on the back of Helena’s chair. “I was starting to have some hope for you.”

“Hey,” his roommate protested. “Why you assume I’m behind it?!”

Tulip chuckled, patting Jae’s shoulder as if she just heard a very good joke.

Tonks stared at Weasley with innocent eyes. “So are we in trouble?”

“No, you’re not. Yet,” he answered grimly, although his expression sort of ruined the effect. “Just, be responsible, okay? Do you know what this word means? And try to not be too happy about it around Bill.”

“Happy about what?” Head Boy emerged out of nowhere and took one of the seats. “Are you talking about booze?” He didn’t get any answer, so he went on. “Oh, I know about that. I keep an eye on Jae longer than you, brother.”

“Oi! Maybe it was the girls’ idea, huh?”

“Oi!” the girls barked at Kim, clearly not appreciating his suggestion.

The boy seemed to be defeated. “Great. So why I’m even hiding?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure the teachers still don’t realise, so you know…” Bill put his finger to the lips.

Helena raised her eyebrows. “William! What happened to you? Have you been drinking yourself?”

“Of course not!” he replied with a weird gleam in his eye. “I’m simply in a good mood.”

“Is it because of that dance with Rakepick?” Charlie teased his sibling.

“She’s a great dancer if that’s what you’re asking about. Not as good as McGonagall, but still,” Bill said with a smug smirk. “Besides, I’m just glad to see my friends happy for a change. It’s like all the stress from the past months was left somewhere outside the castle. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not planning on changing that at least until the end of tomorrow.”

Bill often put into words what his fellow Curse-Breaker in the making had in mind. Yet at that point, the girl felt his words were especially accurate. Until the end of the event, Helena was watching all those people so important in her life. Rowan, Penny, and Chiara chatting at the table. Ben trying to stop Barnaby from making a deal with Jae. Badeea marvelling at the decorations and explaining something to Talbott. Tonks and Tulip acting suspiciously, surprisingly accompanied by Merula. The eldest Weasley looking conflicted after he noticed the said trio. Andre being very proud of the stylisations he had helped create. And… was it Diego dancing with Ismelda?

Penny was right, they all needed this ball. For one night, to forget their sorrows and worries. For one night, to just be teenagers.

Charlie perhaps needed it the most - just so he could finally steal Helena’s very first kiss.

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #helena ellis #charlie weasley #charlie x mc #andre egwu #ben copper #penny haywood #nymphadora tonks #tulip karasu #jae kim #bill weasley #rowan khanna #barnaby lee #year 5 #the winter ball au #my writing

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poison-shark · 5 years

Text

Noa’s Siblings

[[MORE]]

Mateu Eduardo Ramires

Is 7 years older than Noa

Is Atlantean/ Portuguese/ Amazonian/ Japanese

Only exhibits the human and Atlantean sides

25 in season 3

ADHD

Has a deep resentment for his parents for being addicts, alcoholics, sub par parents, and also dying

Deeply respects Noa and treats her like an equal, despite the age gap, but still sees Aya as a newborn

Is very overprotective of both of them

Got mad at Aya for going to study on Themyscira and Noa for allowing it

Thinks Obachan is just a crazy old lady

His personality is a lot like their mom’s, but his morals are closer to their dad’s

Basically looks like he could kill you, but is actually a cinnamon roll

Looks a lot like their dad, but has their mom’s eyes

They’re a deep brown almost black

Noa is jealous of them, she hates her hazel eyes because they remind her of Ren

His hair is always a tangled mess

Is studying magic in Atlantis

Cried when he met Aquaman

Managed a way to get surface tv channels underwater and never misses a Coast City Clippers game or one of Noa’s concerts

Is frustratingly straight and sometimes forgets his sisters are not

“So meet any cute boys at school? If so, who is he? Where does he live? Who are his parents? What’s his number? I just wanna talk!”

“Noooooooo?”- Noa

*blank lesbian stare*- Aya

Is still super supportive and apologizes everytime

Even though she’s younger than him, Noa raised him

He didn’t realize at the time what was happening and how it was affecting her

Called Noa for every little thing his first year in Atlantis

But when he realized his little sister had taken care of him for the past 5 years of his life, including 1 year of adulthood, and he didn’t know how to do anything

He regrets putting her through so much pressure

Was not the person who realized this

That was brought about in a conversation with Queen Mera and Aqualad that turned awkward

Has not stopped apologizing since

It’s been 5 years

Still has not stopped

Reminds her he’s sorry once a FaceTime

Bonds with his sisters through surfing and basketball

Hates all lanterns of the emotional spectrum, but green

Especially red and blue

Has gotten really good at magic

Has always been good at magic, but like Atlantean party tricks his dad taught him

They used to cheer the girls up

Their dad had only begun teaching him serious magic a year before he died

When he got to Atlantis he realized just how far behind he was

Got specialized training from Queen Mera

Faced Atlantean “Purist” discrimination for his skin and fins

Caught up on five years worth of magic in a year

Is now training to be an Atlantean Ambassador under Garth

Is a social activist in Atlantis

No longer cries when he sees King Orin

Actually babysits the little prince every once in a while

Is protective of Queen Mera a views her as a second mother

Would never tell her that

She already knows and has already mentally accepted him as her other son

Is trained in combat

Not only by Mera, but also their parents

They were paranoid and knew their kids would be in danger, so they all knew some form of self defense, except for Aya

Dislikes superheroes in general except for Aquaman, Tempest, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern Corps

Loyal to his country, his heritage, and views green lanterns as space cops

Ren Elpídio Ramires

Dead

Died at age 7

Was best friends with Noa

Even though he and Noa can’t be identical twins they looked almost the exact same

But y’know with scales

Looks takes after all sides of his heritage

Shy boi

Also anxious

Like all the time

Despite the super strength and speed he was always super gentle and liked to take his time and enjoy life

Dyslexic

Always had trouble reading and writing, but loved stories

Noa used to read him to sleep from the top bunk

He was a really good storyteller and had just as much imagination as his sister

They would come up with grand adventures and Noa would write them down while he drew the pictures

They were comic books

Ren loved comic books

And superheroes

Specifically Aquaman and Wonder Woman

And of course the mighty and brave blue, red, and green lanterns of Sector 2814

Had trouble making friends in school so Noa made them for him

He had a really bad stutter

Got picked on a lot for a lot of different reasons so Noa got into a lot of fights

Loved insects

He cried when Mateu tried to force Noa into killing a spider (I know spiders aren’t insects don’t come for me)

Noa set it free outside

A cuddler and a hugger

No one is safe not even the mailman who he knows by name

Hides behind Noa whenever yelling happens

Yelling happened a lot some months, none others

Was terrified of Aya

Had never seen a baby before

She looked like an alien

Freaked him out a little that’s all

Warmed up to her soon enough

Cried when she cried

Her crying used to wake up both him and Noa at 2 am, who would attempt to wake up their parents to deal with it

Their attempts were waved off

“Let her cry it out”

They did not

Noa would remove the newborn from the crib and rock her while he fixed her bottle

He was too scared to drop her to hold her

Noa would burp and change her and they’d both sing to her until she fell asleep

Was the only other person in the house other than their mother who could handle Aya’s grip

I like to think if he hadn’t died he’d have joined the Indigo Tribe (lanterns of compassion)

Now for the sad part

Their parents had dropped them all off at Obachan’s house as she was their closest relative

All the little ones knew was that they had to go on a ‘work trip’

Thought Obachan was silly and old and reminded him of his mom

The first day was great

She fed them ice cream for breakfast and pizza for lunch and sushi for dinner and let them stay up late and eat wasabi candies for dessert

The next day was not so great

The twins woke up at 1 am puking their brains out and running high fevers

Obachan panicked and didn’t know what to do

She was drunk and didn’t want Akari to never see her grandkids again

The other day she didn’t know she had grandkids

She wanted her daughters trust back

Even if Akari did live Obachan would not have earned her trust

She decided she would drive them to the hospital like a good grandmother and left Mateu to clean up and look after Aya

She was uber drunk and exhausted bc even kind of dealing with two barfing 7 year olds is the most parenting she’d ever done

They came to an intersection

She ignored the red light

She didn’t see the flat-bed

The truck couldn’t stop

It t-boned the tail end of the car

The crash caused Obachan and Noa to fall unconscious and gave Obachan some serious neck and back issues

But the impact snapped Ren’s neck instantly and his limp body fell onto the middle car seat

Hazel eyes wide

The twins were still loosely holding each other’s hands when the paramedics came after another driver passed by and found them

The other driver involved in the crash was flung through his windshield bc he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt

Noa came to briefly while being carried into an ambulance

She looked at the lady carrying her and asked, “Ren?” Before passing out again

At the hospital when she had been treated for everything she woke up again with a start calling for Ren, her parents, Mateu, anyone, but mostly Ren

Obachan hadn’t woken up yet

The nurse who came in asked her for as much information as Noa knew or could remember

She answered every one and asked a thousand in return

The nurse finally told her that her brother had died

She threw a fit

They couldn’t calm her down she screamed and cried so much she puked again

They had to sedate her

When they told Obachan her first thought was of how Akari would never speak to her again

He was buried with his parents in the Coastville Cemetery

Noa visits by herself every Sunday and lays flowers down and talks to no one

Aya Emi Ramires

Well, that was depressing now here’s the baby!!!

Aya was 3 months old when everybody died

In season 3 she’s 11

She takes after her Amazonian heritage

Dyslexic and ADHD

Sees Noa as basically her mom

Doesn’t agree with Mateu a lot, but respects him

Also has their mother’s eyes which tortures Noa

Generally reminds both of her siblings of their mom and of Ren

She doesn’t know that, but that’s part of the reason they’re so overprotective

Noa raised her to have fun and enjoy life and not take shit from anyone

Is really good at sports

This is encouraged by Noa who is literally the captain of the cheer squad

Gets made fun of and picked on by a lot of kids both boys and girls for her strength and speed, her learning disabilities, being Japanese, and being gay

Yeah

Aya gets into fights a lot

Noa shows up to the elementary school with Obachan who pretends she can’t speak English

Noa’s former principal is now afraid of her

Aya’s outlet for anger is sculpting believe it or not

She’s pretty talented too

Isn’t really into superheroes except for green lanterns and Wonder Woman, Troia, and Wondergirl

Gets bad grades even though she’s incredibly wise beyond her years

Doesn’t get along with kids her own age

They bore her

Figured out she wasn’t straight pretty early on with a crush on Molly from Bubble Guppies when she was four

Noa also kinda normalized girlfriends with her sister talking about girls and boys at school she had crushes on

Realized she was probably a lesbian in 3rd grade when she realized she wasn’t growing out of her boys are icky phase like her sister had

Confirmed 5th grade lesbian

Does not like being treated like a baby

Eventually the question came up about what happened to their parents at family dinner

Obachan steered herself out of the kitchen right when she was about to enter it

Mateu curtly and accurately responded with, “They died.” Before tossing the dishes into the sink and sulking off to his room, slamming his door shut

Noa explained the best she could to the 5 year old, but it was hard for a 12 year old to form the right words

Also informed her of Ren in a very watered down way

Aya knows Ren existed and was Noa’s twin, but doesn’t know exactly how he died

She’s seen their comics though

Noa used to read them to her

Mateu used to stand outside the door secretly listening and trying not to cry

Is very affectionate with Noa

Will hug and cuddle her until she falls asleep

Noa forgot how rib-cracking Amazon hugs were

She’s glad Aya’s there to remind her

Aya mildly resents Mateu for leaving for Atlantis

More for leaving Noa to handle her alone

Is just as protective of her siblings as they are of her

Worries about them constantly

Especially Noa bc she’s human

When she turns ten she decides she wants to study in Themyscira where she’d be better accepted than her normal school

She was right

A lot of thought went into that on her part

Noa’s music career was skyrocketing, she had school to think about, extracurriculars, scholarships, taking care of Aya, taking care of Obachan, taking care of the cats, handling the shop, putting out new music, new videos, photo shoots, socializing with her friends, charity benefits

It took accidentally overhearing Noa have a breakdown to actually set her mind on the Themyscira decision

She brought it up to her sister who was heartbroken and the idea brought up a lot of Noa’s insecurities, but in the end Noa said yes

Noa set the whole thing up through her new friend, Garfield Logan, who was more than happy to help

Aya lives with their great-grandmothers on Themyscira

She was happy to see that they were 10x more stable than Obachan

She studies all the classics, receives combat training, has been learning Ancient Greek, and her skill with dealing with her learning disabilities has improved and even aided her in some subjects

She FaceTimes her sister everyday and Mateu every month when he checks in

She watches every one of her sister’s concerts even during training, and which she gets reprimanded for

Has asked her sister if she can meet celebrities

Noa says next time she visits she can meet whoever she wants

Her hair has lightened to a lighter brown from being out in the sun all of the time

Has entered both the dreaded horse phase and dolphin phase

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newgin-clever-title-goes-here · 6 years

Text

The Night Shift Ch 2: Tending Wounds

Gravity Falls

Summary:

Grunkle Stan finds his Great Nephew in poor shape.

Mabel does her best to ease her brother’s worries but it’s no easy task, not that

it will stop her.

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Stan carried Dipper quickly inside as Soos carried Mabel. Stan cradled

Dipper close to him as he was bleeding heavily; these kids went out for fireflies,

what happened? It looked like an animal attacked the kids and Dipper got the

worst of it from what Stan saw…he hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was…

most likely wasn’t, he shouldn’t rely on a film he saw earlier today on TV, it’s

giving him (Stan) ideas…and yet...he couldn’t shake the feeling…

If Ford were here, he would probably make sense of what attacked him…and

punch Stan’s lights out for letting the kid get mauled. Honestly, he thought they

would be ok in that part of the woods; it was nowhere near the part of the woods

where Ford told them to stay away from. Stan felt like kicking himself for letting

such a thing happen, should have given the kids pepper spray and air horns to

scare big creatures off.

The boy was all messed up, covered in cuts, bruises and his right arm was

chewed up; his wounds were nasty looking for a kid. He hasn’t woken up since

he found him; Stan almost had a heart attack when he discovered the kid, he

thought he was dead at first; he was still breathing but barely.

Mabel only suffered some small cuts and a sore ankle; she was pretty

shaken though. She was by Dipper’s side when the two found the twins; Mabel

tried telling them about what happened, but she spoke incoherently, mixing up

the details of what happened and asking if Dipper will be alright and some other

things. Stan had to tell her to calm down till they got to the shack where they

could fix the twins up; he would ask her to talk about it later where they were

safe and relaxed. She stayed quiet after Stan told her that, shivering in Soos’

arms and trying to get a look at Dipper in Stan’s arms. Soos’ tried asking Mabel

what happened, but she only whimpered and muttered and looked sadly up at

him with tearful eyes. She leaned on him and Soos’ held on to her tighter to

comfort her.

Stan cleared the table by just shoving everything off it, regardless of the

messy plates and food; this kid needed urgent help before it was too late.

Dipper’s breathing was starting to slow down, this wasn’t a good sign.

“Soos, grab some towels for the kids…ugh, grab two or three for Dipper, I

need to stop his bleeding, and get the medical stuff too.”

“What about Mabel Mr. Pines?”

“Keep her here for a while; I need to ask her some things about tonight. Then I

want you to get Mabel to her room when you fix her up.”

“I want to help Dipper too, let me stay-”

“NO! Not when we fix him up…You can see him after.” Stan snapped; he

seemed to recoil from how he raised his voice.

Mabel flinched; she just wanted to help her injured brother.

Soos set Mabel down gently on the floor, surprised by Stan’s reaction as well.

Soos left with a silent nod.

Mabel scrunched up and hugged her knees, stressed from the events that

unfolded tonight. Mabel looked at the limp Dipper, who was still in Grunkle

Stan’s arms.

Stan eyed Mabel sadly and looked away for a second before looking back at her.

“Hey uh…Mabel look, I’m not mad at you two or anything, I just…” Stan sighed “I

just don’t want you to feel like this is your fault or see him in this state; also we

might have to stitch him up and clean his bites which is pretty disgusting. You

look like you’ve been through a lot tonight and I think you need a break from…all

this.”

Mabel looked away for a moment, she kind of understood but she still wanted to

help him in any shape or form. Dipper just looked so helpless lying like that.

“Gr-Grunkle Stan, Dipper won’t die will he?”

“What? No, course he won’t, Dipper’s a tough kid! He’ll get through this, don’t

worry pumpkin. We just need to fix him up first.” Stan reassured. He adjusted the

wounded child in his arms, he didn’t want to tell Mabel that Dipper seemed to be

getting worse, but Stan had hope that he could save the kid.

Stan caught a whiff of something nasty in the air and cringed.

“Ugh, you know what? We’re giving your brother a bath as well and get his

clothes washed while we’re at it. Kid smells like trash, no wonder that animal

could track him down. We’ll be able get the blood stains out his clothes and keep

his wounds from getting infected that way as well…he won’t complain while he’s

out…You know how to fix up holes like this right?”

“Yeah…”Mabel was out of it, she wasn’t as cheery as she usually was. Stan

disliked seeing her feel this way; the poor girl was worried sick about her brother.

“Hey, cheer up; you’ll be able to be with him after we’re done with him…he’s

going to need some spare clothes…”

“I’ll make him something…” Mabel said quietly, she chewed a strand of her hair

out of stress.

“By the way, I know I should have asked this earlier; but what happened to get

you two attacked by an animal?”

Mabel was quiet for a while before answering in a quiet voice.

“Well…we were on our way back when we heard something following us. It tried

going after me but Dipper defended me and then it ran away…he saved me

Grunkle Stan… It didn’t seem that scary after it left. He was helping me walk

back to the shack when it came back…It grabbed him and ran off, it happened

so fast. One minute he’s near me and then the next…he’s gone. I had to go after

my bro; I thought it was going to snack on him. I fought the wolf with the lantern

Dipper was using…and uh well…I dropped it and started a fire which scared it

off…and then I found Dipper and talked to him for a while before he passed out,

then you guys found me just a few minutes later.”

Stan looked regretfully in the other direction with a frown.

“I take back the idiot part…” Stan muttered under his breath.

“Huh?” Mabel’s head tilted.

“N-nothing…So your brother was awake when you found him, well that’s good

news…we found him in time then…wait a minute…What did you say the animal

was again?” Stan asked with concern.

Mabel hesitated.

“A…a wolf…”

Stan’s eyes seemed to grow big; he leaned back a bit, shoulders sagging. He

looked down at Dipper in a sad way and cradled him tighter. He noticed the dry

tears on his great nephew’s face, probably from crying after the attack, Stan

assumed. He gave Dipper a look of sympathy.

Mabel noticed this and felt uneasy.

“Grunkle Stan, you don’t think it was a werewolf too, do you?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Dipper thinks he was attacked by one…He kept telling me to leave him before

he passed out.”

Stan looked away and stayed silent for a moment before putting on a stern

expression and turned back to her.

“No, there isn’t a full moon tonight, he’s probably in shock or hysterical from

being brutally attacked. He’s probably been getting ideas of what mauled him

being so freaked out and all. He’s gonna be fine, he’s not going to turn into some

monster; he’s just being his paranoid self. Just relax Mabel.”

Mabel felt a little more relieved but she still could not help but worry about

Dipper.

Soos then bursted into the kitchen with the supplies.

“Sorry I took so long dudes;I had to find big enough towels and grab enough

medical stuff.”

“That’s fine Soos, you got here in time. Here, place one on the table, wrap Mabel

up with the other and put everything else on the side. Get Mabel to bed.”

Soos covered the table with the large towel and set everything else on the

counter.

Soos then scooped up Mabel and wrapped her in a towel.

“It’s going to be ok hambone, Dipper will be better in no time!”

“Wait…” Stan said calmly.

“Mr. Pines?”

Stan removed Dipper’s hat.

“Mabel, hang on to this, I promise Dipper will make it through.”

Mabel nodded silently as Grunkle Stan handed her Dipper’s blue pine hat. She

clutched onto it tightly and held it against her chest.

“Fix her up quick Soos, I’m gonna need help with patching Dipper up.”

“Yes sir!” Soos left quickly.

Mabel kept her eyes on Dipper as Soos’ exited the kitchen, he actually looked

worse than earlier. Right now all she could do was keep her hopes up and wish

that Dipper would make it through the night.

“Alright now, I know the next part might stink, no wait, it is gonna stink. I

have to put that disinfecting stuff on your cuts. This is going to sting…”

Mabel winced as he put it on her cuts.

“Ow…why does this stuff have to hurt?”

“Something about killing the germs…”

“I know, but why does it have to hurt me too, just hurt the germs.”

“I don’t know; it feels like some things that help also hurt as well.” Soos started

bandaging her injured ankle.

“Yeah…” She muttered, thinking of her brother.

“There you go Mabel!” Soos finished wrapping up Mabel’s ankle. Even though

she only needed the bandage on for one day, Soos doodled on it a bit.

He wrote ‘Cheer up hambone’ and drew various images on it; Mabel eventually

joined in and added her own designs, mostly adding cute animals.

“Thanks Soos.” She said, feeling a bit more hopeful about the situation.

“No problem…You gonna be ok Mabel?”

“I think…hey Soos? I want to ask you something…something about what Dipper

told me before he fell asleep.”

Soos expression was filled with concern.

“What is it hambone?”

“Well…Dipper told me something, like how I shouldn’t have saved him; he just

wanted me to leave him there.”

“Wow, maybe he felt guilty or something…wait that doesn’t make sense. Why

would he say that? Not unless he thought he would cause more trouble by being

saved, which doesn’t make sense either.”

“No that’s right; he didn’t want to be saved because Dipper thought he would

become a monster.”

Soos eyes grew big, he was catching on.

“You mean like a…”

“Werewolf…that’s what he told me…He thinks he’ll hurt people but I think he’s

just being weird. He won’t turn into some monster right?”

Soos eyed the floor worriedly.

“Soos? You’re not scared of him are you? I mean even if he does change he

won’t be scary or dangerous right?”

“Um, I’m not sure Mabel…I mean in the movies that curse has crazy ways of

turning someone nasty.”

Mabel frowned.

“He’ll still be my brother; I won’t leave him because of some dumb curse. Dipper

will be just some cute puppy.”

“Mabel…werewolves are pretty nasty guys, they maul anything in sight, Dipper

might not even be Dipper after he changes.”

“Soos, you really think he’ll become a monster?”

“No...maybe…yes.” Soos answered nervously.

Mabel gave him sad eyes.

“I-I don’t know Mabel, just keep an eye on him in case he changes. Just

remember, he might not recognize you and he might not even be Dipper

anymore.”

She looked down.

“Hey hey I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I want Dipper to recover too, don’t

cry!”

Soos hugged the heartbroken Mabel and patted her back.

“Soos is here for ya too, just hang in there…”

“Soos…” Mabel whispered. “No matter what I’ll stay with Dipper, he’ll never

become a monster, even if he does turn into a werewolf. Trust me.” A tiny

hopeful smile formed on her lips.

“I hope you’re right hambone…” Soos said nervously with a mix of sadness. He

let go of her and kept his attention on Mabel as he left the room…and nearly fell

down the stairs by keeping his eyes on her.

“Don’t worry I’m ok!” He reassuringly yelled. Stan could be heard calling Soos

and asking him what the heck that crash was.

Mabel giggled to herself.

“Hey you can count on me Soos…Just believe in me!” She shouted cheerfully.

She frowned again as she thought to herself.

“Like I believe in Dipper…” she whispered to herself.

It didn’t take that long for Stan to fix Dipper up, he didn’t actually need

stitches thankfully, but that’s what worried Stan. The bite lower on his right arm

was bad looking and bleeding quite a lot, but thankfully there were no broken

bones but the wound did have bruises around it. It could heal fine by itself

without the stitches, though the kid’s arm will be very sore for a while, which was

normal. All he and Soos had to do was to disinfect it, wipe the blood off and

bandage it.

His shoulder however, was the exact thing that worried him. While cleaning it, he

discovered the wound healed quite a bit, it had already stopped bleeding and the

open areas had already closed up. It still looked pretty bad though. It should

have taken weeks for a wound to heal to that point. An hour had passed by now

after finding him, it should not have healed that fast! This was a bad sign. He

told Soos to start the bath immediately after discovering it like that, not wanting

Soos getting any more ideas. Stan had made out a little of Mabel and Soos

conversation from upstairs, and when he got down to help clean and disinfect

the boy’s wounds, Soos was worrying the whole time and asking what if Dipper

was right about being attacked by a werewolf. Stan ignored these and gave

Soos no response.

Stan leaned against the table as soon as Soos left, feeling stressed. Maybe he

should calm down; maybe Dipper was attacked by something else other than a

werewolf, thankfully it wasn’t a vampire or zombie from the looks it. He just

hoped it wasn’t a werewolf or…this kid is going to be miserable.

“Come on Stan.” He told himself “The kid is going to be fine…he’s not gonna

turn into a mutt or anything else, he would have changed by now right? And

besides, the kid wouldn’t even hurt or scare a fly as a wolf. He’ll just be a

harmless pup, just like when he’s human…a harmless kid…” He looked at the

sleeping Dipper, he sighed.

“Kid what am I gonna do with you?”

Dipper was already crawling out of bed, he didn’t understand why though.

Actually he didn’t even know what was going on, everything felt hazy. He just

suddenly woke up and took a few steps towards Mabel’s bed; Dipper didn’t even

feel like he was in control of his own body. He just stood there at the side of

Mabel’s bed, looking down at her as she slept, facing away from Dipper. All of

this was creeping him out, why was he even doing this? Dipper wanted to go

back to bed, but…he just wouldn’t move; he really wasn’t in control of his body!

Fear began to set in, he tried to speak but only strange growling came out. Wait

a minute…growling? Oh no, it can’t be…

He tried to scream for Mabel to wake up and tried to regain control of his body,

but to no avail.

He continued to growl and he felt his now strangely shaped jaws, slowly open.

Mabel turned over and slowly opened her eyes.

She looked up at Dipper; her expression was confused at first, then it gradually

changed into horror.

“Dipper?”

He did not respond; he just kept staring at her in a creepy manner.

“Mabel, run!” he screamed.

But a growl came out instead; his growl evolved into a roar.

He lunged at Mabel with his mouth wide open.

Mabel screamed.

Dipper sprang up in bed, with a loud “No!”

He looked around the area, breathing quickly; it was still night out. It was mostly

quiet and calm, undisturbed as if the previous events never happened, was he

dreaming? Dipper stayed where he was as he tried catching his breath, he was

still shaking all over from his nightmare...was it just a nightmare? He looked

down and held his hands out in front of him. He was still human and there were

no signs that he ever transformed yet, no dirt or blood under his nails, he sighed

in relief. Dipper rubbed his hands around his face to double check, no fur or

anything else, and no sign of him going out and eating an animal. He picked his

teeth, digging his nail between them. He thankfully didn’t feel a trace of food or

flesh stuck in his mouth.

He rubbed his right arm as he thought to himself…and felt a soft texture.

He freaked out for that moment believing he was starting to grow fur; he

squeezed it and turned his attention quickly to his right arm.

Though instead of fur, Dipper saw…wool?

Actually, it was a dark blue sleeve of a sweater…that he was wearing; he looked

at himself, pulling down on what appears to be his own sweater.

It had writing on it which said “Hang in there bro!” with stars around it. Mabel

made this for him, there’s no mistaking it. Dipper was impressed on how fast she

made it, must be a new record for her.

‘Mabel!’ He exclaimed in his head. How was she since he passed out? He

hoped he didn’t maul her in his sleep.

He looked over at Mabel’s bed, but she wasn’t there. Her bed was neatly made

and it didn’t look like anyone was using it recently.

He didn’t eat her, did he?

“Mabel?”

Something brushed against Dipper’s left hand; he jumped a little and withdrew

his hand. But Dipper’s worries vanished when looked down beside him.

Unaware Dipper had awakened; Mabel was sleeping next to him in his bed, as

well as Waddles who was resting on the floor next to her. He was panicking so

much about the dream he did not even notice that Mabel was visibly right next to

him, he felt a bit stupid not noticing her instantly after waking up.

Mabel was lying awfully close to Dipper, almost cuddling up next to him while in

a curled up like position. Mabel’s arms rested near her head; she was facing to

the right, which was towards where Dipper was sleeping. She clung on to the

blanket tightly in a stressed manner. Right next to Dipper’s bed was a small

wooden crate with a bottle of water, the hat he received from Wendy and

Mabel’s jar of fireflies on top of it, his blue cap resting on the side of the jar.

Mabel drew her limbs in closer to her body, scrunching up even tighter. Her

expression was pained to the point Dipper thought she was going to start crying

in her sleep; he felt guilty and heartbroken to see her like this. Mabel was really

worried about him while he was out. She probably thought once again there was

a chance he would never wake up. She was still by his side even after he

warned Mabel the possibility of him turning into a monster; rather harshly in fact.

Mabel’s reaction to him telling her to leave him out in woods still hurt Dipper

emotionally. Telling someone that cares about you to just give up on you, all

because you’re afraid you’ll hurt them if they try to help…how do you do that?

Mabel was putting herself in danger by sleeping next to him, but…he had not

changed at all tonight. So maybe she was safe with him, just for tonight. Still, he

had that nightmare…did it mean anything, was it a warning? Dipper knew he

had to inform Mabel that there was still some chance he might change into a

werewolf, but he also knew Mabel would not easily leave his side at this point,

especially with his current condition.

He frowned a little and looked sadly at Mabel; he didn’t want to break her heart

again but he had to keep her safe.

He sunk in his bed and inched a bit closer to Mabel; trying to enjoy the time he

had now.

Even though she was in a deep sleep; unconsciously, Mabel’s hand found

Dipper’s and she gripped onto it tightly. Dipper was taken aback by this but he

did not dislike it. Dipper found reassurance from this, maybe things might turn

out ok…though to him, it felt like a very slim chance of things being ok.

He nudged Mabel slightly in a playful way as he tried getting comfy, closing his

eyes.

Mabel woke up from his nudge; she opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

The first thing she saw was her brother half asleep.

“Dipper…?” she asked quietly.

Dipper opened his eyes slightly and formed a comforting smile.

“Hey Mabel…”

She responded instantly by hugging him. She cuddled against him and buried

her head; both were still lying down during Mabel’s hug.

“You’re awake…again!”

“Y-Yep, ow Mabel, be careful my arm is still sore.”

She loosened her hug.

“Sorry bro bro, I’m just glad you’re gonna be ok.” She snuggled in her blankets

giggling happily; the twins looked at each other with smiles.

Dipper wasn’t so sure yet, his smiled faded.

“Well kinda, sorta…I don’t think I’m going to be completely ok…”

Mabel frowned.

“You still think you’re gonna turn into something?”

“Um, uh…well yeah, I had…a bad dream.”

Mabel seemed puzzled.

“A bad dream, what does a bad dream have to do with you turning into

anything?”

“Because…y-you know how in the movies when someone gets bitten or cursed

by a werewolf, the victims start having nightmares before their first

transformation?”

Mabel laughed nervously.

“You’re relying on movies too? Maybe you’re thinking too much about this

Dipper.”

“No it’s not just that, the stray pages also mentioned something about the

nightmares being related to the curse.”

Mabel squeezed his hand.

“I still don’t think you’ll become a monster when you change.”

“I know…h-hey, that reminds me, how bad was my arm?”

Mabel hesitated; she knew what answer he was looking for.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, um, you didn’t need stitches, so you didn’t get any painful needles in you.”

“I’m healing too fast aren’t I?” Dipper looked troubled by this.

“…Well, your shoulder is, your other bite is still pretty bad.”

Letting go of Mabel’s hand, Dipper sat up slowly and rolled up his right sleeve

and then pulled down on the right side of his sweaters’ collar. He had two

bandages on his arm; the lower bite had a little smear of blood while his

shoulder was white. He rubbed and slightly squeezed his shoulder, it wasn’t

even sore. He sighed glumly as he fixed his sweater.

Dipper closed his eyes sadly and pulled the blanket over his head as lied back

down on his side, he sunk deeper into his bed.

“Dipper?” she sat up.

No response.

She shook her blanket covered brother gently.

“Dipper, I know you’re really freaked out about this…but come on, you gotta be

hopeful that everything will be ok.”

“I’m…”Dipper’s voice was slightly muffled under the sheets but not by much. “I

told you earlier, I’m just scared I might-”

“Hurt someone?”

“Yeah…or worse...”

“Eat someone?”

“Yeah…or curse them.”

“Well, do you feel hungry?” Mabel asked, seeming livelier or at least attempting

to be.

“No…not right now.”

“Not even for…human flesh?”

Dipper cringed and gave her a disgusted look as he poked his head out before

covering himself again.

“Ew Mabel, come on this is serious!”

“I’m not kidding with you, do you honestly feel like eating anyone or meat?”

“…No, I’m not even hungry…”

“Then you’re gonna be ok! Werewolves like to eat meat all the time right? Then

that might mean you won’t hurt people.” Mabel said cheerfully.

“Mabel, not all werewolves work like that according to the stray pages. And

again, I still don’t know what type I was attacked by, and those pages don’t even

give enough information…I might have to leave tomorrow and camp somewhere

safe in the woods where I can’t hurt anyone.”

“Don’t…”Mabel’s tone was sad and quiet.

“Mabel it’s just for one night so I don’t attack anyone…don’t worry.”

“Why can’t you just stay at the shack?”

“I told you earlier I-”

“I know it’s to keep us safe, but you could just try…I’ll be there to help you out if

things go wrong.”

“Mabel, I’m not really sure about this…wait, do they know; Grunkle Stan and

Soos?”

Mabel adjusted herself in place before answering.

“Well Grunkle Stan says you won’t turn into anything…Soos is…kind of freaked

out by you.”

“So he thinks I’ll become a monster…and Grunkle Stan might not even believe it

was a werewolf…” Dipper curled up tighter.

“Hey, even if everyone is scared of you, I’ll be by your side…please trust me, I

don’t want you all alone because of this dumb mess.”

“I…I don’t want to either, I’m just…really scared by all this, I won’t forgive myself

if I attack someone.”

“Dipper you’re always too paranoid, I promise you I’ll help you through this.”

Dipper thought to himself under the darkness of his blanket. Should he give her

suggestion a chance? He was deathly afraid of becoming a vicious monster and

attacking his friends, but he also didn’t want to be completely alone…he felt torn

by this decision.

“Dipper, I’ll keep watch on you, I’ll…I’ll lock you in the closet if you get out of

control.”

“I’ll just break through the door…werewolves are strong you know.”

“Then I’ll block it with…something heavy? I’ll tie you up too. I’ll get Soos and

Grunkle Stan to help if I can.”

“I’m kind of uncomfortable about that…what will they do with me? What if Stan

makes an exhibit out of me? What if-”

“Dipper, stop worrying so much and being a dumb poop head!” Mabel snapped.

Dipper stayed silent in shock, she sounded hurt and desperate.

She crawled closer to him.

“Just stay here, no matter what happens, no matter how things get stupid or bad

about this werewolf curse, just stay with us…Please, you can trust me, right?”

Dipper felt a strange chill as his heart sank…she was right, he could not reject

her help, especially after hearing that from her.

Mabel adjusted herself in Dipper’s bed and lied on her stomach over Dipper’s

blanket covered body.

“Please?” She asked in a sweet tone.

Dipper pulled the blanket down from his face; he had a tired smile mixed with a

smirk.

“Ok…I’ll give it a try, I’m still really nervous about this…Just don’t tell anyone

else about this, as in anyone outside the shack.”

Mabel wrapped her arms around her brother in relief and excitement.

“Yay, thank you thank you. I’ll promise to help and take care of you as much I

can!”

Dipper felt himself choke a bit as Mabel hugged him tightly.

“Ok ok, I got it!” Dipper playfully tried pushing her away. “Haha…ow OW, Mabel,

remember my arm!”

“Hehe…”Mabel let go of him with a big grin on her face. She lied back down and

curled up, snuggling up against Dipper again.

He gave an awkward smile to Mabel, he didn’t mind her but this felt…sort of

weird.

“So…um…why are you sleeping with me in my bed? Your bed is right next to

mine…”

“Because I was worried about you silly, and you don’t smell bad for once.”

“Hey, that never bothered you those other times.”

“You smelled like trash earlier tonight.”

Dipper gave her a slight glare.

“Heh…and well…the other reason I was worried…” her tone changed to a calm

and quiet one.

“What?”

“Well, when you were out, Grunkle Stan said you had a fever or something after

he gave you a bath…I wanted to make sure you would be ok while you were

sleeping. You looked like you were getting worse…There’s a bottle of water on

the box next to me if you need it.”

“Thanks Mabel, though I don’t feel like I’m sick now, I actually feel fine-wait a

minute, Grunkle Stan gave me a bath?” Dipper sounded freaked.

“Yep! He said you were really stinky, so they cleaned you up good Dipper until

you ‘smelled like roses’...or was it ‘lady perfume’? Anyway, they also took your

clothes and washed them too. They got your shorts done first, so I made you a

comfort sweater so you can have something to wear for now.” Mabel giggled.

“I wouldn’t have mind if they just told me I smelled that bad or tell me to take one

when I wake up.” Dipper grumbled. He scratched his head; they washed his hair

too.

Mabel snickered at him.

“They gave me a bath while I was unconscious…ugh, gross!” Dipper cringed.

Mabel laughed at him; she stayed quiet for a few seconds before asking him

another question.

“So do you like it?”

“Like what?”

“Your sweater!”

“Oh…oh!” Dipper stuttered, he hoped he didn’t accidentally offend Mabel; he

pulled down his blanket to look down at his sweater again. “Yeah I do…It’s cool I

like the star designs…oh that’s the Big Dipper…”

Mabel laughed as Dipper covered himself with the blanket again.

“It’s pretty comfy…and itchy.” Dipper scratched his left arm.

“Hehe, you want some water? Grunkle Stan says you’re going to need a lot.”

“Yeah I am feeling thirsty, can you hand me that bottle?”

“Here you go!” she reached over to the wooden crate. “I have the fireflies here

too so they can watch over us.”

Dipper chuckled as Mabel handed him the still cold water bottle, he rolled onto

his back and sat up as he tried to open it. Though when opening it, he ended up

spilling just a bit to Mabel’s annoyance, she inched away.

“Ugh Dipper be careful, don’t spill! You bed wetter!”

“Heh my bad…” he took a sip.

Mabel thought to herself for a moment as Dipper chugged down his water.

“Dipper?”

“Hm?”

“What was your bad dream about anyway?”

Dipper choked on his water and put the lid back on as he coughed. He was

hoping she wouldn’t ask what it was exactly about and forget about it, he should

have seen this coming though.

“You ok?” She sat up and patted his back.

Dipper allowed himself to catch his breath as he handed the water back to

Mabel.

“It wasn’t that scary was it?”

“Ma-Mabel!” He wiped his mouth. “I…” he cleared his throat. “I rather not

describe what happened in it, just that I had a bad werewolf related dream, let’s

just drop it.”

“Well you brought it up earlier, and why not, if you share it you won’t have the

same nightmare again, at least that’s what I heard somewhere, I forgot where

though.”

Dipper scratched his neck uneasily.

“I don’t think sharing it will help.”

“You’re not sure about a lot of things tonight. Come on, I’m helping you out here

bro! You don’t have to be shy about sharing anything right now.”

“Mabel, it was pretty disturbing, I think it’s best if I don’t share.”

“I can handle it.”

“Well…the dream involved you.”

Mabel’s smile faded.

“What happened?”

Dipper had a look of regret and remorse before blurting it out.

“I transformed and attacked you.” He said bluntly. “I woke up before I did

anything to you.”

Mabel stared silently at him with a blank expression.

Dipper sighed and looked away.

“Mabel I’m sorry…”

“It’s ok, it doesn’t bother me.”

“It doesn’t? But Mabel I attacked you!”

“Dipper, it doesn’t actually mean you’re going to do something like that. It’s just a

bad dream, don’t let it bother you. Just relax bro.” Mabel lied back down.

“Yeah, maybe…I’m sorry if I’m repeating things a lot tonight.”

“You’re not; you’re just freaking out because this of werewolf stuff. Now just go to

sleep bro.”

Dipper agreed with her silently as lied back down as well, he was freaking out

too much and needed some rest. Though one more question lingered in his

head.

“…I wonder what type I’ll turn into tomorrow night.”

“Nothing dangerous maybe...” Mabel muttered.

“You seem really ok with me becoming a werewolf…”

“Because I know you will turn out to be some cute puppy…You can’t scare

anyone with your looks. Not even in a Halloween costume.”

“Shut up Mabel…”He whispered playfully.

“You can’t even hurt anyone with those noodle arms of yours.”

“Better watch what you say or I might end up eating you as a wolf.”

She snickered.

“You’re way too nice to hurt anyone anyway. You’re the most harmless guy I

know.” She sounded very sincere.

“Mabel you know that’s not completely true, you’ve seen some of the things I’ve

done and they weren’t all harmless.” He still felt bad for some of the things he’s

done in the past.

“I know…that's ok.” She giggled. “You’re still pretty nice to me.”

She smiled with sad eyes.

“Dipper even if you turn into something, you’ll still be you. Besides, how scary

and dangerous can you be?”

Dipper gave her no response but Mabel did not need one. She snuggled close to

him as she got comfy in her spot.

“You’ll keep me safe and I’ll do the same, like we always do…we’ll find a cure

night.”

Dipper blinked as she fell asleep with a large smile on her face, believing now

that everything will be alright; she was really confident that Dipper will not bring

harm with his curse; she had so much faith in him. He admitted his talk with

Mabel cheered him up and made him feel a bit more optimistic about his

situation, but he still was afraid he might attack someone; and the

transformation…that was something he was certainly not looking forward to. At

least he had friends that can restrain him if things went wrong. Yet while unsure

about all this, he found himself believing and finding comfort from Mabel’s

words. Maybe, hopefully she was right.

He wanted her to be right…he just hope things would be alright tomorrow.

He heard a wolf howl outside and grimaced, that werewolf was still out there,

Dipper hoped it would not curse someone else.

Dipper moved closer to Mabel, almost lying next to her in a protective manner,

should that monster break into the shack.

He closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep, and whispered

“I promise…I won’t hurt anyone…especially you.”

#fanfiction #fanfic #fan fic #gravity falls #dipper pines #dipper #mabel pines #mabel #the night shift #werewolf #curse #soos #grunkle stan #stanley pines #stan pines #pines family #please don't tag as ship

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