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dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt · 4 years

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TAG GAME!

I was tagged by @lotsoffandomimagines, @cactiem, @myriadimagines and @connerkennt!!! THANK U SO MUCH GUYS 💖💖💖💖💖💖

rules: answer ten 10 questions, ask 10, and tag 10 people

Ace’s questions:

What’s your favourite thing about yourself? Why? That my friends like me :D

Do you prefer tea, coffee, or hot chocolate? Tea all day every day bahbahy

Where do you live? If you could live anywhere else where would it be? I’m actually happy where I am in Oz. I’m just waiting to get a job + get money to re-do the little place attached to the house so I can live there.

What are your top 5 celebrity crushes? I honestly... don’t think I have any celebrity crushes lmao

If you won a million dollars what would you do with it? Save it. Get more money. Make sure me, my friends and family are comfortable. Give the rest of it away to everybody who needs a bit of help. Randomly dump a thousand dollars into somebody’s Gofundme. Hire assassins to murder people I don’t like. The normal type of thing :D

What’s your favourite type of snack food? D... do carrots count?? If not chili+lime potato chips!! :D

If you could live in any fictional universe which one would it be? Probably Middle Earth or Marvel.

Do you have three book recommendations? P L E A S E READ THE MURDERBOT DIARIES Y”ALL I AM ACTUALLY BEGGING I NEED SOMEBODY I CAN TALK TO ABOUT IT. YOU WON’T REGRET IT. Murderbot is my all-time favourite character 11/10 PLEASE. READ IT. PLEASE. Also Six of Crows (and Crooked Kingdom, its sequel), and Bird by Crystal Chan. also MURDERBOT.

Put your playlist on shuffle and tell us the first five songs that play I Miss You by Adele, Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys, Electric Feel by MGMT

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be and why? My brain. No more anxiety and depression and weird attention lapses. Get rid of that shit.

Em’s questions:

Do you have any pets? If so what do you have? If not would you like any? I do!! Two chickens, two ducks, and three dogs!! They are all my Babies and I Love Them More Than Life Itself even tho the ducks hate my guts lmao

What’s your go to song to listen to that makes you happy? Mr Blue Sky, but honestly like 99% of my music is ridiculously happy because I mostly cannot handle sad music

Have you travelled anywhere? If not where’d you like to go? I’ve been to America when I was like, 10, and my and my family have traveled through a bit of Australia. I’d really like to see all my friends around the globe :’)

If you could speak any languages, what three would you choose (on top of the ones you can speak now)? Spanish, Russian, and Ancient Greek lmao

If you could have a superpower what would you choose and why? Shape shifting. I would say so I can get my ideal body and yeah that’s part of it but the other part is I really wanna be able to turn into a pigeon and surprise @alex--blue :D

If you could only save three things what would you save (in this scenario your family/friends/pets are already out)? A teeny tiny box I got from my dad where I keep small special things, a few of my stuffed animals bc they’re the only things I have left from my childhood, and a box of letters because I know they’re important to my parents

What’s your favourite decade and why? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What’s your favourite season and why? Autumn. Used to be winter, but it hurts my lungs too much. Autumn’s just. cozy, y’know??

Do you prefer going to the cinema or watching films at home? At home normally, BUT I see going to the cinema as more of a social thing so if I can go with somebody I like than cinema!!

What’s your favourite meal? Pizza :D

Sam’s questions:

What’s something you’re looking forward to? Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, getting my own place will be nice??

If you could have any animal in the world as a talking companion (like in His Dark Materials), what animal would you choose? Hen :D (PLEASE don’t remind me of how much I love HDM!!!!!)

What was the last movie you cried to? John Wick. You know exactly why.

What’s a song you’ve had on repeat lately? Blinding Lights by the Weeknds, I vibe SO HARD to this song it’s unreal XD <3

If you could bring one fictional character that’s been killed off back to life, who would it be? Manchee from The Knife of Never Letting Go. If you’ve read the book, you know what I mean. I’m still not recovered from that and I never will be. also I know there’s a ton but I can’t think of on the spot aAA

Can you play any instruments? If not, what instruments have you always wanted to play? ALL OF THEM

If you could give yourself another name, what name would you choose? HA

What’s a skill you wish you could instantly master Speaking a language fluently or learning a musical instrument!! I am Impatient!!!! :D

What would you rather explore, the deep sea or outer space? NEITHER THANK YOU V MUCH THEY’RE BOTH MY WORST NIGHTMARES

Despite 2020 being a shitshow so far, what’s one good thing that’s happened to you this year? I got to finish the end of the Murderbot Diaries and I am now content XD

Enna’s questions:

What is your biggest irrational fear and why? Falling backward from a high place. Not heights, but specifically falling backward. I climb trees a lot but I can never sit down on a branch because I feel too unsteady and it can paralyze me so I’m stuck in the tree till I can calm tf down lmao

Do you like to dance? Yes, don’t mean I’m good at it tho XD

Who is one person who can always make you laugh? (Friend, family, comedian, etc.) A few of my favourite YouTubers (like RTgame and Doug Doug ALWAYS GET ME X’D)

Who is your favorite disney sidekick and why? Mushu because... Mushu XD

What’s one thing that you do/like that people wouldn’t expect? UhhhHHh I have no idea what conception people have of me so I don’t really know

Favorite move genre? Comedy, I think

What was your favorite animal as a kid? Spider!! Same as now p much :D

Do you like to bake/cook? If so, what’s your favorite recipe? I do!! And listen. Listen. listen listen listen. I make a mean apple crumble.

Where do you go when you need to de-stress/relax? My room or the backyard to play with the babies :’)

Do you look up to anyone? If so, who and why? Nah, I’ve found that to be a recipe for disaster.

My questions:

What is the song you Vibe With the most?

If you could be any mythical/supernatural creature, what would you be?

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Do you have any tattoos? If so, what are they? If not, would you like to get some and what would you like to get?

What time do you usually go to sleep?

If you could summon any one item in the world to you what would it be?

What food do you you hate with your entire soul?

Are you more of a sentimental/nostalgic person or do you prefer to look forward instead?

Describe yourself in 3 words

Are you one of the superhuman people who can keep a consistent diary?

I tag @biscottibitch, @lielith, @tiannawashere, @philthepegacorn, @supervalcsi, @fairylightsandthings and anybody else who would like to do this!! :D

#I am so sorry this took so long oof #I forgot till Enna's reminded me #:')#<3 #tag #THANK Y'ALL I LOVE YOU SO MUCH #long post

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theres-no-protocol-for-this · 3 years

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Art Meets a Familiar

An alternative universe where Art is a wizard living quietly in their tower, and suddenly a familiar shows up. The idea is based loosely on Murderbot and ART, but it will deviate.

I had a pretty good idea of the cause of the noise outside.

The guards weren’t exactly being stealthy in their search for the intruder, though they had enough sense to stay away from my front yard and the external door. For now.

They were, however, loud enough that I could hear them stomping around from the top of the mage tower.

I came down the winding stairs and was surprised to discover that there was an actual intruder in the living space at the bottom of the tower. I didn’t spend very much time down here. Guests were uncommon, uninvited ones doubly so, and I lived among the library stacks whenever I wasn’t eating or sleeping.

So the newcomer was… unexpected.

How the construct had slipped past my magical defenses was a mystery, but it was in fact a magical being, likely carved from wood and clay in the shape of a person. A tall being with close-cropped dark hair and unreadable blue eyes. I had never seen anything like it before.

It was staring at me from the couch, partially obscured by the shadows in that area of the room. From where I stood, I could easily feel its magical energies — it was brimming full of power. Which meant it was probably someone’s familiar. Or had been at one time, though whether it was still enslaved remained to be seen.

“I take it the morons are looking for you,” I said and walked over, back held high.

I could protect myself from the familiar, probably. For all that it had more power than me, it couldn’t actually use it. Only a mage or wizard could do that. Somehow, I didn’t feel the need to protect myself — whoever and whatever this creature might be, it didn’t appear to mean me harm.

It was dressed in ragged, dirty clothing that barely deserved to be called patched-up. Someone had injured it recently enough that the cuts along its arms were still healing. Constructs capable of knitting together wounds were rare, even among the most powerful and prestigious mages. Which only added to the mystery.

The being shrugged. “Probably.”

“Ah, well, let me tell them to stop them. Before they crush one of the wards, or something else equally frustrating.”

The familiar sighed and stood up. “As you wish.”

“You were expecting the tower to be empty?”

It looked somewhere left of my shoulder for a few seconds before nodding. “There had been rumors… that the mage was… away.”

“Dead, you mean? The locals don’t understand how long mages live, and well…” I gestured in the direction of the door. “Though no one’s come to check in months.”

I provided a number of services to the local towns, mostly centered around weather and crop growth. Most of the magic worked automatically with minimal input from me, though I checked on the spells several times every year. As long as I didn’t have to talk to any of the locals, I was content to give them what they needed to survive.

Existence out here was a harsh mistress and I saw no reason to add to their troubles. Their faulty assumptions came and went, and I couldn’t care less about what they thought about me. So long as they lived and thrived — as much as the latter was possible — they didn’t trouble me and I didn’t trouble them.

Shrugging, I nodded to the couch. “You may as well rest a while longer. I don’t plan on telling the guards where to find you. Even if I did, they didn't dare enter the tower. Which is probably good self-preservation on their parts, honestly.”

The familiar gave a small, almost imperceptible nod but didn’t move. I suspected that it was frightened of me. It hadn’t expected to run into a mage, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine its life with its previous master. Mages weren’t known for kindness to their familiars, unfortunately.

Sighing, I headed for the door.

The familiar stayed close. At some point, it had materialized a small dagger and held it easily in one hand. Its gaze lingered on the wooden door, and its shoulders tensed.

“Don’t worry,” I said and then shook my head.

I couldn’t expect the familiar to trust me. Not when I didn’t know its name — and it wouldn’t likely share it with me — and it had no reason to assume anything good about me.

I pulled open the door and stuck my head outside.

A young soldier, barely more than a kid, had clearly drawn the short straw and was checking around the front lawn for the familiar. I don’t think he totally understood that he was looking for a person a head taller than himself, but oh well.

“Jacob, isn’t it?” I said, startling the kid.

Watery green eyes stared at me as the soldier stuttered a greeting. Or tried to anyway. “My lord.”

“Yeah, no, just Art. Or Artem, if you’re picky. Anyway, can you tell what’s going on?”

The kid straightened and tried to look professional. I thought the behavior adorable and the eighteen-year old, too young to be swinging the sword strapped to his hip. I could see the construct standing near me, near the wall where the young guard couldn’t see it. It was still holding the knife, ready to strike should the kid do something stupid.

I had no idea why it was even considering my safety. Wouldn’t it be better off letting something terrible happen?

Before I could think about it too hard, the kid finally remembered he could talk. “We’re looking for a runaway, my lord. A visiting mage told us that a dangerous construct escapes her care and would rampage through the town should it not be apprehended immediately.”

A visiting mage… that was the second surprise in a matter of minutes. I suppose mages could travel — nothing kept me from leaving the comfort of my tower — but the idea of going somewhere that didn’t have my books was entirely unappealing. That the mage had lost control of her own creation, that was even more interesting.

I was tempted to pay Ashen Oaks a visit to meet the magic user in person. But one problem at a time.

“My wards have been undisturbed,” I told the soldier, “which means that no magical beings have been near them recently. I don’t believe the construct is anywhere on my property.”

The young soldier visibly paled. “Of course, my lord. My apologies. For my mates, also. The visiting mage thought the construct might know how to manipulate magical creations and would hide somewhere like the tower.”

That raised more questions. I still had no idea how the construct had gotten into my house, but the wards were intact, so it was a question for a completely different time.

“It’s not here,” I said with a shrug. “And I’d like to ask you and your men to leave. As soon as possible. I’m in the middle of a complicated ritual, and all the noise is liable to disrupt the process.”

Before the kid could talk again, I added, “And the last thing anyone in town wants is for this ritual to fail. Trust me on that.”

“Yes, magus. Our apologies. We’ll leave at once.”

I nodded and offered a half-smile. “Perfect, thank you. As always, the harvest will be bountiful this year.”

The kid practically ran out of my line of sight, and I closed the door before anyone else got any ideas. “Idiots,” I muttered under my breath.

The familiar stared at the floor. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, and you can put away the knife.” I shook my head and leaned back against said door. “My name’s Art, and this tower’s my home. It’s weird to see anyone else here, but you’re more than welcome to stick around for as long as you need or want to.”

The familiar lowered its weapon but didn’t put it away entirely. “You’re a wizard?”

“Wizard, mage, magus… the words are interchangeable. I can control magical energies and fashion them into useful things. Presumably much like the person you escaped from.”

The dark-haired being stiffened and nodded.

“I won’t hurt you. I promise. That’s not… I live out here and practice weather magic. It’s something I can do with my own two hands and I’m proud of that. And I like my research more than I like most people… barring a few.”

The local witch’s daughter was an exception, as were her two wandering dads — who kept the forest free of monsters — and their group of friends. She came by occasionally and spent time here, but Iris was an exception and there were plenty of townsfolk I preferred not to deal with.

“I don’t believe you,” the familiar said bluntly, “but OK.”

“Yeah, you probably have no reason to. If I were in your shoes, I might not believe me either.”

I didn’t exactly look trustworthy, not the way I was dressed. Hair sticking up all over the place and currently in all the colors of the rainbow thanks to a stray spell gone pleasantly wrong. And my clothes were worn, though not terribly so. Iris had made the hideous woolen sweater from scratch a few winters ago, and I was unreasonably attached to it.

And frankly, I was still dressed nicer than the familiar, so there was that.

I shrugged and pushed away from the door. The sound of guards leaving the property was reassuring, at least. “You’re probably hungry. And honestly, so am I. I’m going to make some food, and you’re welcome to have some, if you want.”

The familiar muttered something about weird people under its breath and headed back to the couch.

“Don’t sulk,” I grumbled, feeling exasperated and a bit annoyed about the whole situation. And I hadn’t been lying to the soldier, either. I was working on a spell, though it wasn’t going anywhere without more prodding on my part.

“Familiars don’t sulk,” the creature told me plainly, its voice soft and calm given the next three sentences. “If I tried, Cam would activate the governor spell she wove and shock bits and pieces of my soul until I couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t pleasant. So, I didn’t sulk.”

I sucked in a horrified breath. “Cam would be your creator?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s…” My brain short circuited because the word ‘horrifying’ didn’t even come close to describing what Cam had done. In fact, I wasn’t sure there were appropriate words.

“I’m sorry,” I said instead, feeling guilty and angry, and goodness knows what else. “I didn’t mean to imply that I would hurt you in some way. I’m just… tired and upset, and it’s been a frustrating few hours, even before I knew someone else was here.”

The familiar shrugged and settled back down on the couch, but I could tell it was shivering. Maybe from the chill in the air, but I wasn’t sure. Deciding that if I kept talking I would just stick my foot further in my mouth, I headed for the kitchen and the promise of dinner.

#murderbot #alternate universe #fanfiction #my writing #familiar

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