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liltaz-asatreat · 2 years

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17 for the writer ask game thingy?

From this ask game here! <- Feel free to send some in!! :D

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Okay, so I basically wrote down all of the notes I have for The Man Who Became The Hunger in this ask here, so I'm just gonna talk about the Julia Survives Ravens Roost AU! :D

So, that first link that has the information about The Man Who Became the Hunger also has information about the Julia fic further down, and in that one, I talk about Julia possibly meeting Lich Barry before the Wonderland mission. Then this ask talks about Julia’s relationship with Leon and the story behind my decision to make her Fighter then multiclass into artificing after Petals to the Metal. I don’t think I’ve made any other posts going in depth talking about it, so some new stuff!!

(I almost wrote down everything I have planned so far that is definitely going to end up in the text, and I can’t give all my secrets away, plus I realized that wasn’t the prompt lol :3 )

I’m not sure of what things are and are not going to end up being in the text, but some details that I do want to point out is that whenever Magnus used to talk about his past or tries to think about it, he would get this far away look in his eyes and just stay silent for a while before someone brought him back to the present, and that happened less and less the more time he spends on Faerun, but since meeting Merle and Taako again and then getting on with the rest of the adventure, Julia notices he starts getting that far away look more often again, and that it happens to Merle, Taako, and Davenport too.

Also, Julia had two childhood best friends whom, during the Relic Wars, Kalen had sent out with a couple of other people to find the Oculus, and she never heard from them again. I had names for them, but I guess I didn’t save them, so now I have to pick new names lol But one of them is a tiefling girl and the other one is a dwarven boy. I don’t have an idea of how exactly they died, but I do know that they did die, and Julia’s never going to know what happened to them. I do know they never actually got a hold of the Oculus though.

Julia’s mother died when she was a kid, and Steven never really dated anyone else, but they were really close to the other people in the Craftsmen Corridor, so while it was just the two of them, Julia grew up with a lot of people which is going to make turning down the Chalice’s offer to stop Kalen and save her dad and her town a lot harder. I’m also going to keep the characters I made up that are residents in Ravens Roost that I either referenced or wrote about in other fics the same.

I still don’t know what the Chalice is going to offer Magnus. It might also be saving Ravens Roost because he did grow close to the people living there and that’s the last place he felt like he was home, plus it would mean a lot to Julia, but I don’t know if I necessarily want to give them the same offer. I don’t know what else I’d offer Magnus though, so we’ll see.

Maurcretia is canon, and the reason Lucretia and Maureen stopped talking is because they had an argument about the ethics of erasing someone’s entire life from their friends and family the first time someone in the Bureau dies, and people started asking questions and Lucretia decided that erasing them had to become a thing. This is definitely probably not going to show up in the story except Maureen does ask Julia to tell Lucretia that she’s sorry and she loves her before she leaves with Kravitz.

Magnus, Merle, and Taako all speak a version of Common that only exists in their plane, and Julia only knew that Magnus spoke it which he remembers he knows it from where he grew up, but not much past that. Tres horny bois found out they all speak it at some point when Julia’s not there, so when they’re fighting Trent the treant in Petals to the Metal, and Merle tells Magnus to chop Trent, he says it in their version of Common, which is how Julia finds out that they speak it too. Everyone says they know it from their home town. No one has the capability of making the connection that they are all from the same place.

I can’t think of any other details right now that aren’t exclusively going to end up happening in the text, but I know that a lot of my ideas that I have now and in the future are going to end up getting written because this fic is basically my play box that I’m eventually going to let people watch me play in lmao I know I need to get the campaign part of the fic written first, but I’m debating whether or not I want to continue it after Story and Song and whether it’s going to be in the same fic or if I’m just going to make it a series on AO3 lol

Edit: I forgot, Lucretia tells them that there’s only 6 relics instead of 7 because that way when they collect the animus bell, they think that’s the last one and that Taako’s argument for going through with breaking into Lucretia’s vault about how they were out of a job actually makes sense. While I was listening the through the podcast the first time around, I was mentally screaming at them that just because Griffin said it was the last arc didn’t mean that there wasn’t still a seventh object and that while I agreed that they needed to figure out what was in the vault, saying they were out of a job wasn’t a valid argument alsdkhgdlhg

It still really bothers me, so I fixed it lmao

#Thank you for sending this in; Duck!!#Gab gabs #answering the asks #Julia Burnsides vs Canon Lore

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huey-jet-duck · 3 days

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Hi!! Are you still enemies with Mark Beaks? Or are you all like a frienemy? Just wondering :)

Say hi to Dewey and Louie for me k? *Gives you a red Jolly Rancher*

Eh... I don't really look up to him so... Enemies? I will tell my brothers you said hi!

Also, thank for the jolly rancher!!

I will cherish it!

#ducktales fan art #ducktales 2017 #ducktales #duckblr #ducktales fandom #ducktales reboot #huey duck #thank you for sending my first ask

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lyrelyrepantsonfiree · 11 months

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Duck trans!!! And also aspec

duck trans real!!!

#also thank you for sending in so many you are so cool for that and i’ll try to do as many as I can im so excited now #the zone cast #taz amnesty #duck newton #pride icons #my art <3

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usareiis · 2 months

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List 5 things that make you happy and send this to the last 10 people who liked/reblogged something from you. Get to know your followers and mutuals!

Hiiiii!!!! Sorry it took me so long to answer this I have had several things going on but!!

1. April hummingbird comeback April TXT comeback April Ciel comeback all of my favorite things are coming back soon

2. The Black Butler musicals!! I have been watching the Yuta Furukawa ones on a loop and you can tell that so much love and hard work went into them

3. It's almost time to plant flowers! I have all kinds of seeds I am excited to plant. I got some cupcake cosmos seeds!!

4. I'm on spring break now so I should finally have time to hang out with Toni Morrison <3

5. Uhh I bought some Sailor Moon socks so I can have a different sailor scout on every day

#ty for sending this!!! also! thanks for tagging me in the duck pictures the other day #i am always happy to see animal pics so you can send them my way #asks

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s3v3r3dh3ad · 3 months

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give me your opinions and headcanons and ships (if you have them) of king hippo !!! :3

OH EM GEE HELLO OHSHY.🕺💃

I LOVE KING HIPPO HE'S SO CUTIE PATOOTIE LIKE HE JUST SEEMS SO SWEET AND GENUINELY NICE IT'S SO ADORABLE 😭 He's really grown on me overtime tbh like I didn't have super strong feelings about him when I was little but now I think he's such a cute silly guy I love him 😭❤️ AND HIS LITTLE VICTORY ANIMATION IS FUCKING FZHUDRUGXT IT'S SO CUTE LIKE THE WAY HE BANGS ON HIS TUMMY AND SMILES ❤️ on the other hand I ACTUALLY WANT TO CRY WHENEVER I SEE THE MANHOLE COVER FALL ON HIS FOOT IT MAKES ME SO SAD POOR THING 😭

ON THE TOPIC OF HEADCANONS, I DON'T KNOW WHO SAID IT BUT ONE TIME I SAW SOMEONE SAY THAT THEY THINK KING HIPPO LISTENS TO DEATH METAL AND I LITERALLY HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT THAT SINCE LIKE THAT'S JUST SO WEIRDLY FITTING LIKE IT'S ALWAYS THE SWEETEST MFS WHO LIKE THE EXTREME SHIT 💀😭 Also we could totally be besties in that regard cause bitch I love me some death metal 🛐 And in terms of my own headcanons KING HIPPO COLLECTS RUBBER DUCKS I WILL NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE'S OBJECTIONS THANK YOU VERY MUCH 🗣

AND SORRY TO DISAPPOINT EVERYONE AGAIN BUT I LITERALLY DON'T HAVE ANY SHIPS FOR ANY CHARACTERS I'M SORRY GOD PLEASE FORGIVE ME 😭🙏

#punch out #punch out wii #king hippo #that rubber duck collecting headcanon totally isn't me self projecting by the way 💀#SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU KNOW WHO SAID KING HIPPO LISTENS TO DEATH METAL BECAUSE I WANT TO THANK THEM FOR PUTTING THAT IDEA IN MY HEAD #punch out headcanons #send asks

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chanstopher · 1 year

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small announcement: i’m only making content for a bit, i can’t social rn my battery is dead and i need to go buy a new one but they don’t have my kind so it’s on backtsock. might be a while 🤙🏻

also i won’t be checking my tag much either so i’m sorry if i miss things

#you can sends asks or whatever but i’m not gonna answer them #and i’m gonna shut off my dms for a bit and be a little ghost i think #thanks for understanding 🖤#and thanks to tay and duck for convincing me to actually do this and not just be a dumbass and suffer 🌸🍕

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glacierruler · 1 year

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For ur trans umbrella ask game, 1, 2, and 5 :))

What's your label?

I'm genderfluid/genderqueer. Feel free to ask about either of those terms! :)

2. How did you figure it out?

Mostly I figured it out because I had a few friends under the trans umbrella, and what they were saying they felt, I also felt, but only some of the time. It took a while for me to figure out I was genderfluid/genderqueer.

5. Favorite trans creator?

Jammidodger. He is just cute and wholesome.

Feel free to send me an ask about being under the trans umbrella!

#trans #genderfluid #genderqueer #lgbtq #asks #my asks #ask game #thank you for the ask #duck-in-a-spaceship #feel free to send as many asks as you want #even if they're the same ask #i might just answer the repeated ones in more detail

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chiropteracupola · 1 year

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Leviathan groom, please?

this (this being the tattoos-and-superstition story I've spoken about a few times before) is probably one of my favorite Hornblower fics, to the point where I've been working backward and forward on it for over a year as I try and fail to get it to be Just Perfect. trying to find the balance of exposition to explain the fantasy worldbuilding and actual plot has been very tricky with this one, especially as I haven't quite figured out just how either of those things works yet.

so right now, even though I like a lot of the current stuff I've written, I'm probably going to start over from the bones up, patching in the bits I liked from the first version as I go.

[SCRAPING SOUND AS A BIG CURTAIN IS DRAWN BACK]

basically, the structure that I have so far is 'too much exposition' -> [BIG HOLE] -> 'Bush wandering around in the snow' -> [SPOOKY DESCRIPTION I'VE NOT COME UP WITH YET] -> 'Bush having a long talk with a creepy thing' -> 'slapdash ending that's a little too goofy'

so the main points that need to get worked on are going to be streamlining the magic system and integrating the function behind it into the actual story (probably through some kind of opening Sailing Scenes), redesigning the creepy thing to fit better with the tone of the story overall, and of course, ironing the plot until it's nice and smooth.

I've had some difficulty managing stories with a larger cast in the past, and I think I'd like to push myself with this one and try harder to make the settings feel populated and living, which I think will be more compatible with the eventual redesign of the antagonist. I do think a face-stealing shapeshifter still meshes very nicely with Hornblower's Issues™️, but doesn't really work with the rest of the setting that I'm devising here. so it's back to the drawing board on the creepy thing, and I'm going to do a little research for inspiration before I settle on anything this time. rather than the face-stealer, I think a more standard Endless Barrow Party to get lost in/feel deeply uncomfortable at/charge boldly into on an ill-advised rescue mission will suit the two of them better.

and I'll probably have to pick a new title, as changing up the fairy-folk rules will mean that I lose the double meaning that made this particular one work so well. (it was always meant to be ambiguous whether it referred to Hornblower himself or to the face-stealer, since they're both hanging out somewhere in the middle of the sliding scale between husband and sea monster.) while it'll be a little said to break up my Boreas-lyrics tradition for Hornblower writing, I've been trying to switch to a snappier and more memorable titling system for some time anyway.

and if you're still here after reading all that, how about a scrap of the Exposition Brick that probably won't be coming back in the rewrite:

Entering the navy young had many its disadvantages, but one solid point in its favor was getting the ink-workings on you. They worked the best when they were drawn in as early as possible, it was said, and Bush had had his since he was barely eleven.

With so many ways a boy could die aboard ship, there was at least one surely preventable, if the right precautions were taken. The right knot in the right place, and they’d be tied down tight to the mortal world as well as human art could make them. There were other charms of much the same theory, hold-fast and love-stay-true and safe-at-sea, all with their own mark and their own meaning, but the faith men put in those, though strong, wasn’t nearly so hardy. Bush had seen nearly every other form of ink-workings fail at one time or another, but never these two, the sort given to the youngest and most likely to be stolen away.

He’d even heard the discussions among the hands, the boastful tales of a man claiming he’d nearly been spirited off as a lad, and would have been, too, if not for the marks on the backs of his hands. Sadder stories as well, for as he passed by on his rounds, he’d noted whispers of someone’s sister’s son stolen away, nephews and cousins and brothers gone under the hills never to be seen again. Why don’t they just put the protections on them proper-like, one man would say, and the other would shake his head, and mutter that such people couldn’t be reasoned with.

Whether it was that the ink-workings simply didn’t work on shore, or that the minds of those dwelling on land couldn’t wrap around a too-permanent way to keep their children safe, it still was that those on land went without the marks. Bush wasn’t sure quite why, nor did he himself understand exactly how the tattoos on the backs of his hands kept him safe. He was a plain sailor, not an artist or a witch, and he was content to trust rather than to make an attempt at unpicking the workings of the art.

#em writes stuff #I need a casual hornblower tag #disclaimer that I said I would Talk About my fics! which is a promise that this technically does fulfill!#thank you for sending me the sort of ask that I can so easily use for rubber duck debugging a story!#hope the look behind the curtain was not too incomprehensible - this one has been bouncing around in my head for too long for sense #and also my tendency to Categorize Cryptids and Creatures has (I think) caused me to invent some terms again #for the full visual experience you should also note that the curtain is in fact a shark-patterned shower curtain.

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lady-of-glass-and-bone · 1 year

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Currently working on 2 monster matches and will hopefully get them out later today or tomorrow depending on how stubborn my brain is being.

But please send in some more, this is actually helping my writing brain get stronger.

#ducksmonstermatchevent #thank you so much for sending in requests #i love y'all so much #duck quacks

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calamitydaze · 1 year

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are there any other c!quackity fans on here that won’t reblog posts about why im a horrible person 5x a day for liking a guy that their favorite streamers are BFFs with?

yes! my good friends jules gogtopia and iny quackybara :] sorry i know that's not a lot we are a very... very small subsection but they exist!

#thank you for sending me this btw i love you. i got such a kick out of it #q.uackblr (most of m.cytblr really) is balls deep in cognitive dissonance rn but just let it be water off a duck's back #<- haha ^__^#also very sorry if this wasn't helpful and you follow them already but if there's anybody i forgot to mention who fits this bill #feel free to make urselves known #bella answers #anon

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jeoseungsaja · 2 years

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alex!! ….I got a question for you: is this an accurate representation of hyuk around patrick?

SORRY I JUST….I SAW THIS AND LIKE ITS A MANDARIN DUCK SO OF COURSE IM GONNA THINK OF HYUK ( did I mention that your hc about the mandarin duck being Hyuk’s favorite bc it’s the plushie da-eun gave him has me in PIECES 😭😭😭 ) 🥲 but also pls just imagine, hyuk as a mandarin duck in Patrick’s lap and Patrick is just stroking its head and feathers the way he would cup Hyuk’s cheek and run his fingers thru his hair and I-😭😭😭 I hope it’s okay to send this Alex and pls have a WONDERFUL DAY 🥰

@ofgentleresolve ♚ 🦆🧡💚

♔ ———–

OKAY BUT CAN I MENTION HOW??? HAPPY AND PEACEFUL THE LITTLE DUCK LOOKS??? (POINTS) LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL DUCK FLOATING JOYFULLY, LOOKING LIKE THERE ISN’T A SINGLE THING TO WORRY ABOUT, IF YOU LEAN IN (LIKE I DID) YOU CAN ALMOST SEE A SORT OF SMILE THERE (I’M NOT SURE IF MANDARIN DUCKS HAVE BENDY BEAKS BUT--), IT’S SO WHOLESOME AND PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT YES, YES IT IS, IT IS A SUPER DUPER ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF HYUK AROUND PATRICK BECAUSE:

🟢 Hyuk is content just by seeing his best friend exist 🟢 Patrick stands there and he’s already at ease 🟢 Chances are Hyuk’s hiding a little smile over all those layers of grump 🟢 But also Patrick is one of the few people who’s seen Hyuk genuinely smile/laugh 🟢 He do be a floaty, happy duck alongside his dear friend

ALSO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR!!! Remembering Hyuk through this, for remembering that headcanon of the plushie (that Patrick has seen ;W;) Da-Eun gave him, BUT IF THAT HAS YOU IN PIECES Y’KNOW WHAT HAS ME IN PIECES RIGHT NOW?? THAT IMAGINE, PATRICK BEING SO GENTLE AND CAREFUL WITH THE DUCK BECAUSE HE CONNECTS IT WITH HYUK 😭 (also the comment you made about Patrick cradling the plushie like he would Hyuk’s cheek plEASE IF YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF SOMETHING AKIN TO FIRECRACKERS, IT’S JUST MY HEART EXPLODING--), but also pls imagine Hyuk’s resting his head on Patrick’s lap instead of the duck as a way to lowkey request hair strokes---I mEAN WIEUDHWEUIDH

I’d also like to contribute to the mandarin duck pictures with:

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS IN, IT WAS SO LOVELY TO SEE IN MY INBOX ;W; !!! HAVE A GREAT DAY & WEEKEND, FERRE !!! ❤️

———– ♔

#♔ || ooc.#but I'm also putting it in Patrick's tag I IWHEDIUEDH #♔ || the puzzle of our friendship is the most comforting (patrick).#FUN FACT: Did you know mandarin ducks are a symbol of love and fidelity because they mate for life #Apparently they always try to find their way back to the same mate no matter what UwU #I sense a pattern here with the pigeons finding their way back and now tHIS WIEUDHAKSHDUWHED #ANYWAY WIEDHWIDU THANK YOU AGAIN FOR SENDING THIS IN FERRE <3 #Me when I saw the message and the duck picture: :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD #♔ || queue.

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yellowpuppet · 2 years

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✧*̥ a teacher*̥ dialed ˚✧: What do you love most about your friends?

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

⋆ ★ ❝ Ooo! Good question...❞ Be patient with him this will take a while. He gnaws on his own fingertip a little as he contemplates. It wasn’t that it was a hard question it was just that picking one thing to love most of all about his friends was very hard.

⋆ ★ ❝ The biggest one is nice to me sometimes, he washes the plates and gives them me to dry and he says things that sound nice to hear and sometimes tells me I did a good job and that makes me - huh - happy! And he has a very good singing voice! ❞

He rocks back and forth from heel to toe. ❝ And the other, whiny one. He talks at me about his interests like the military and gets me out of bed so I don’t oversleep and miss out on one of them guys who tells us all the stuff! Sometimes he makes fun of me because - because I pick my skin and it leaves marks! And we have a laugh. ❞

⋆ ★ ❝ The thing I love about my friends most of all is that I love them! I love being with around them because they make me m’happy!...❞ Having nothing else to finish on he adds. ❝ Yay! ❞

#─── ･heart for brains ｡ﾟ☆ ic #⋘ called for help...⋙ | answered #he adores them #also thank you for sending more asks for fullcharge green eyed boi doi i'll get onto that asap after work he's such a cryptic #i love both doi's so much #i just love doi in general #and him love red and duck beyond belief because he's actually happy with them they are flawed but he feels like living with them is home.

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loving-ricciardo · 2 years

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🌼 These mood boards are amazing - K

I’m happy to hear that you like them! I’m definitely having fun with how random they are but they still low-key work 😄

send me a 🌼and i will refresh my pinterest and give u my first four pics as a random moodboard

#Pinterest dash explanation: Daniel + quote - moodboard aesthetic that I often search for on Pinterest #cow- my beloved Katie that I keep sending to Egg #random duck pic- again. i often send pics like these to Egg #ask thingie #ask game #thank you for the ask 🤩

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skywitchmaja · 2 years

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ty so much for the duck content as a gesture of gratefulness this is the duck couple that hangs around my uni accommodation - we've named them geronimo and geraldine

GERONIMO AND GERALDINE I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!! 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹❤️♥️💗🦆🦆❣️💙❤️🌈💗🦆💕💗💕💖❤️🧡💚💘💗💜🤎🤎💖💛💗🤎❣️💖🤍💗💗💓🤎🤍❤️❤️💖💖💞💕❣️💓

#thank you so much for sending me ducks when i opened this ask i smiled like this 😆

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leatherforhell · 11 months

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does your muse know how to fight? describe their fighting style. if someone was threatening them and about to attack, how would they respond?

I’m ngl I left this one for last because. I’m. it’s a lot. and I don’t know how to start.

I think the most important thing to understand about Clara’s fighting style is that it is much more about everything around her than it is her own body. She will fling bricks up to run on so she has a height advantage, throw herself off of buildings, or peel up parts of the floor so that it pushes her forward and every hit is much harder than it should be. it leaves her with a lot of bruises, but since she’s so aware of her surroundings, she’s never gonna get seriously hurt doing that stuff.

in my head, it’s like… a constantly moving environment. Clara can’t lose her balance because something will appear to prop her up. The floor can be in chunks of cracked concrete jutting up and she will never have uneven footing because it moves to accommodate her.

none of this has much to do with her actually hitting people, though, because I think Clara mostly… doesn’t??? she’s slow to violence anyway, but it’s even harder to get her to actually go at somebody. generally she’ll try to subdue them in some way using the environment first, by catching them in a trap or locking them somewhere.

she’s a very flighty sort of fighter. honestly, think aang from atla if it was less about not harming the other person and more about keeping herself safe. Clara is very squishy. she’s not a trained fighter. she’s not a trained anything. all her muscles are from daily exercise. she is very human and very easy to hurt once exposed, which she is once she’s within punching distance. very very difficult to hit but once you do, she’s kinda out for the count.

now, the FUN stuff is when she’s like… lost control for some reason. villain origin story, etc. or if the city has control of her. because there’s a lot of fucked up stuff you can do when the environment itself wants you dead, y’know? sucking people into the ground like the quicksand we thought about as kids. using razor wire to slither down and catch someone’s ankle before hauling them up. lamp posts reaching down like tentacles as you pass, trying to pluck you off the ground. the ground itself sticking to your shoes and trying to drag you to your knees.

I think by fun, I meant horror. anyway. I think that’s the end of the brain jumble, thank you for reading this far if you managed it

#firemourn #ooc.#headcanon.#answered.#meme response.#thank you for sending this I really liked this one!!#Clara in theory: terrifying. the city is a beast and you are writhing in its maw. where do you go when the fog itself wants you dead #Clara in reality: i am going to use my very special powers to make a Batman themed rubber duck appear at an opportune time for a joke

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peachesofteal · 6 months

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Light On - single mom/neighbors fic Simon Riley/female reader

You're early.

Your little knock on the door sends him into a spiral of panic, brain splitting in half, trying to figure out if he can hide his mortifying failure from you and still save dinner.

You knock again.

"Hey, sorry, I know we're early but-" You peel off with a sniff, nose wrinkling slightly, lips tucking together. You're wearing a lip stick, or a lip gloss, or something? And your hair is done. "Is something burning?"

"No!" He blurts. "No, uh. I'm just... cooking. Come in, come in."

He did actually, burn dinner. He burnt it so bad he had to order delivery, Thai on the fly, much to your excitement, and he files the knowledge of one of your favorite foods away for the future. The two of you eat together, little bits and pieces being given to Emmaline from your finger, and by the time you're finished, he's nearly worked up the nerve to start talking.

"So..." your voice trails, awkwardly, and you glance at him before looking away, finding a spot on the wall to study. Here goes nothing.

"I ah, wanted to explain, my behavior... from the other night." He starts, rubbing the nape of his neck. You watch him expectantly, Emmaline on your lap, and when he falters, you give him an encouraging nod.

"I'm listening."

"How I reacted, how I spoke to you was... unfair. It was cruel and I never want to make you upset, like that." You nod. "What I do- my job- it's... it can be dangerous. Stressful. Our last mission was difficult and I... operate in a different headspace at work. It's what keeps me alive. Makes me good at what I do." Skip the killing part, LT, Soap's voice reminds him, and he pushes on. "I was still decompressing, when you came to the door and I didn't want you to see me... like that."

"With your war paint." You quip, and he pauses, head cocked. "You had black stuff, around your eyes?"

"Yes, with my war paint. I didn't want you to..." He loses it for a second, flailing in the wind, mind scrambling as he tries to put the words together. Just say it. Tell the truth. "I didn't want you to be afraid of me. I don't think I could stand it. It's no excuse but, I guess, I thought you deserved an explanation."

"You're right." You say slowly. "It's not an excuse." You sigh, twirling a fork through the last of your noodles. "I'm not mad at you, not anymore. I just... it's hard you know. To put yourself out there, when you're a single mom. And a widow. I thought, maybe... you didn't-"

"I do." He cuts you off. "I... you and Emmaline, you're the best things that have happened in a long time. I-"

"Oh my god!" you gasp, and he instinctually startles, muscles going stiff as he surveys the flat.

"What?"

"It's snowing! Sorry, just uh..." You're already standing, hand half reaching towards him, excited smile on your face. "Emmaline's never seen snow before, can we... this is her first winter." You explain, and then move towards the balcony, fidgeting with his door lock, huffing in frustration when you can't figure it out.

"I got it." He says, not mentioning that it's custom, and slides it free, pushing the door wide so you can go outside. You're vibrating with joy, smile wide and big, and even Emmaline feels it, watching her mum, little face lit up the same as yours.

"Look, baby. Look!" You point, and then cup your palm, letting fat white flakes fall into your hand, tilting to show Emma, and she cackles with excitement, pudgy hand slapping against yours, bringing the melting snow to her mouth. You laugh with her, staring back up at the sky before glancing over to where he stands in the doorway, enraptured. The snow is caught in your hair, on your nose, in your eyelashes, the same as the baby, both of you glowing on his fucking balcony like angels on earth, sent to him from someone up there who might love him.

"Thanks, mum." he whispers to himself, to her, ducking inside to grab the blanket from the couch so he can wrap the two of you up in it to keep you at least a little warm and protected from the elements. "I wish you could have met them."

When he reappears, you're still catching flakes, this time with your tongue, hardly paying attention until he's settling the blanket on your shoulders and stepping back to watch, content to try to memorize every single second.

"Come here." You call, extending a hand, wiggling your fingers. "Try to catch one on your tongue." But he can't move.... he's too stunned, standing there before you, staring, and it gives you pause. "Simon." You whisper, head tipped back. The balcony lamp reflects in your eyes, snowflakes and yellow shine glowing back at him, the entire world lit up inside them, and his hand finds your cheek, cupping it with his bare palm, thumb stroking across the velvet that is your skin.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. So, so sorry." His voice sounds thick, fractured, and you smile, leaning into him, Emmaline's warm weight between your bodies.

"I know... I... I understand now." You look away, for a second, taking a deep breath before blinking rapidly, tears just barely there on your waterline. "I can't... losing Emma's dad, before she was even born I- I can't... I don't want to go through anything like that again, Simon. I'm scared." It's a confession, horrifying and real, terrified and heartbreaking. All he can do is tell you the truth. Tell you what he feels. What he knows.

"You don't have to be scared." He murmurs, low and soft, other hand coming to gently support Emmaline's back. "Not with me. I promise you." What is he doing, what is he doing, what is he- what is he promising? To live forever? To never hurt you? To never let either of you be hurt? To claw his way back to you, even in death?

He looks down at you, at Emma, and the world freezes. He sees everything so clearly, the image of his future, of yours- a little house with a yard, another baby. Emmaline a big sister, so proud and excited. All of you tucked away somewhere secret and safe.

He takes a deep breath, exhale crystalizing in the air, water vapor falling like a halo around you, and his confession comes unbidden, so easily given to you. "I want to kiss you."

"Okay." You answer, and then he moves, closing the gap, slowly pressing his lips to the warmth of yours, blood pooling beneath his skin, heat flowing between your bodies. You taste like heaven, mouth sweet and easy for him, parting with a tiny gasp, and it overpowers him to the point where he thinks his knees might give out. He can't help but hold your closer, arm tightening around your back, finger stroking down the length of your spine-

Emma cries. It's not really a cry, more like a little shout, and you pull away abruptly, giggly expression on your face.

"What's wrong baby girl." He hums, patting her back, tucking the blanket tighter around your arm and her body.

"I think she's upset she's going to have to share you. You're her favorite nowadays, you know." You tease, and his grin is so heavy on his face, but so light at the same time, something completely foreign and wild, the breadth of happiness something he hasn't felt in so many years. "And she's probably cold."

"Should we go inside?" He motions, somewhat relieved to get both of you out of the cold, and when you nod, you take his hand, intertwining your fingers with his, squeezing gently.

"We should."

#peaches writes #simon riley #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley #simon ghost riley x reader #light on

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