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viiisenyas · 20 days

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I really liked your analysis on Rhaenyra and Laenor's dynamic for ep 6. Do you think that you could do one for ep 7? c:

Oh boy, you are trying to give me an aneurysm lol. Listen, I have a lot to say about this. So get some tea and have a seat, anon.

Let's start with the funeral.

Rhaenyra was looking for Laenor when she pulled Jacaerys aside, that much is certain, and I am painfully aware that they were both mourning their losses, as Jacaerys so tactfully put it /s

In response to Baela and Rhaena losing their mother:

[Jacaerys:] I have an equal claim to sympathy. We should be at Harrenhal, mourning Lord Lyonel and Ser Harwin.

Little fucking bastard.

If Rhaenyra and Laena were truly as close as some show watchers believe, do we truly think that Jacaerys would be so comfortable saying that openly? I think not.

Not to mention, that whole conversation between Rhaenyra and Jacaerys earns some iconic questionable looks from Alicent and Criston.

Moving on before I get off topic.

A few minutes later in the episode, you can actually hear Seasmoke crying out, which kind of alerts Daemon and Aemond that something is amiss, then the camera cuts to this.

A very distraught Laenor standing in the water (likely where his sister was buried) which brings up the question: If Rhaenyra was intent on keeping up appearances, why did she spend the last few minutes openly eye-fucking Daemon? Why didn't she continue her search for her husband who was prone to drinking? If they had such a close friendship as some of the fandom believes, her first thought would have been to ensure that he was all right. But... she didn't.

And it doesn't help the situation that Corlys has an outburst towards Ser Qarl to retrieve Laenor, but even when that does draw in attention, Rhaenyra doesn't even bother asking what happened. Instead, she continues eye-fucking Daemon while he's talking to Viserys.

And after Daemon leaves the balcony, she walks straight towards her children to send them to bed, and proceeds to follow Daemon. She didn't even bother waiting for Laenor to come back up and ask if he was okay or even offer him an ounce of comfort, which earns this look from Otto.

She... is a horrible and selfish friend.

Moving on, let's break down the conversation she had with Daemon about Laenor.

It begins with this:

[Rhaenyra]: Laenor has been restless for years, but now, he will be useless. Or worse. I know better than anyone that our marriage is a farce. But I at least make the effort to maintain appearances.

Did she? Clearly not, if Otto, Criston, and Alicent were all giving her the bombastic side eye. And that's not even mentioning the visible bastards she brought to Laena's funeral. Her lack of empathy towards Laenor was blatant during that entire funeral, and believe me, everyone fucking noticed.

[Rhaenyra:] We did try to conceive a child. We performed our duty as best we could. But to no avail.

Again, clearly not. Especially if we take into account the canonical age of Jacaerys and compare it to the date they wed. (Yes I am referencing book canon, but it still drives my point)

Rhaenyra and Laenor wed in 114 AC, and Jacaerys was born the same year.

I could understand if the boy was born like two, maybe three years after the wedding, but nope. In my opinion, I would have assumed that "performing your duty" would have meant being monogamous for at least a year to get it over with, but I digress. What's done is done.

And here is where we get to the root of the issue, and where she tells on herself a little bit.

[Rhaenyra:] There was no joy in it. I found that elsewhere. It felt good to be desired.

Well of course there wouldn't be any joy in it, he's a gay man, and you knew this when you agreed to marry him (mind you, when she had the full pick of the litter - a privilege that nobody else was granted.) However, there were several fucking ways that they could have attempted to conceive a child - hell, even Margaery had solutions to the situation with Renly. But clearly Rhaenyra wasn't as intelligent as she thought she was.

Now, glossing over the blatant disrespect towards her grieving husband and his dead sister by sleeping with Laena's widower, let's get to the aftermath of the shitshow between her and Alicent.

After she sends the children out to have a private word with Laenor the conversation goes like this:

[Laenor:] I should have been there. [Rhaenyra, begrudgingly:] Those should be our house words.

If you pay attention to Laenor's face after she says that, he looks like he doesn't want to deal with this, yet he stays, and proceeds to provide an explanation.

[Laenor:] I have fought dreadful enemies, but I could not defend my dear sister, far from home and in agony. I could not defend you... [Rhaenyra:] Sit down.

To me, this feels like he's attempting to gauge a semblance of understanding from Rhaenyra as to why he wasn't present during the climax of this episode. And believe it or not, it is VALID. As I have said in the previous analysis of episode 6, those children were NOT his obligation, and he was grieving his own flesh and blood.

However, Rhaenyra continued to act indifferent and dismissive to his loss, and proceeded to bring up her bastards as if that was the bigger problem. Not once did she ask how he was feeling this entire episode, which again, made me believe that they were never truly friends. (I'd wager IF they were, that friendship quickly crumbled after Joffrey Lonmouth was murdered, and I think it's safe to assume that Rhaenyra has behaved similarly to how she is behaving now.)

[Laenor:] I have failed you, Rhaenyra. Our marriage... I tried. Our boys... I do love them. Deeply. But I have not, mayhaps... loved them enough.

Now as Laenor is speaking, you can see the apathy she has so plainly displayed on her face while he is quite literally pleading with her yet again, so much that he has resorted to self-deprecating language in spite of the fact that he stayed by her side for ten straight years, playing his part as a loving husband and father, possibly being berated by other lords and ladies at court. He is not afforded the same protections that Rhaenyra has, and mind you, he was alone.

Laenor's entire family had been away from King's Landing, so he had to navigate this by himself, all while getting comments against his ability to sire children, and against his sexuality as so wonderfully displayed by Alicent. /s

[Alicent, Episode 6:] Do keep trying, Ser Laenor. Soon or late you'll have one that looks like you. [Alicent, Episode 7:] Where is Ser Laenor, I wonder? The boys' father? Perhaps he will have something to say in the matter... Entertaining his squires, I'll wager.

I fully believe if the Queen was comfortable saying this so openly, everyone else was more than comfortable with saying things like this to his face, too.

Now, back to the point, Rhaenyra continues the conversation with this:

[Rhaenyra:] I had hoped to bear your children. The few times we lay together. Things might've been different. [Laenor:] I hate the gods for making me as they did. [Rhaenyra:] I do not.

Hm. Are you sure about that, Rhaenyra? Because your dialogue with him in the previous episode had quite a few microaggressions against his homosexuality. But I digress.

[Rhaenyra:] You are an honourable man with a good heart. It's a rare thing.

Yet, she called him useless behind his back about twenty minutes ago, which tells me that she's being disingenuous, and Laenor seemed to catch it, too because he makes this face right after she says it.

[Laenor:] We made an arrangement all those years ago to do our duty, and yet explore happiness. [Rhaenyra:] *chuckles* [Laenor:] But there are times I think when these things cannot mutually exist.

Now I found that a bit interesting. She starts laughing at the little contract they drew up ten years ago. Now sure, this can be taken as a bit of levity, or it can be taken as her actually laughing at him in a condescending way. Pick your poison. However, given everything I've presented above, my opinion leans towards the latter.

Sure we can argue that he did smile with her, but is that a genuine smile, or is that a "I hope she's taking me seriously," smile? I'll let you decide.

Now to address his next statement, he was absolutely correct, and I'll wager that he probably had been thinking about this for a very long time. Maybe I'm reading into it, but his expression grows serious after he says it.

[Laenor:] Ser Qarl will return soon to the fighting in the Stepstones. But I recommit myself to you. And to strengthening our house as we prepare you for your ascension. I will raise our sons to be princes of the realm. You deserve better than what I have been. You deserve a husband. (emphasis mine)

And this is the final frame we have of Laenor before his death is staged. His entire expression is pleading.

This right here was a final cry for recognition in his longstanding efforts. His last words to her really drove the point home that he does want to try, despite the fact that he has been all along. Perhaps it's just me, but Laenor seems like he is actually on his last leg if he is going so far as to put himself down in an attempt to receive some semblance of acknowledgement from Rhaenyra in hopes that she wouldn't cast him aside like she has done these last few years.

#laenor velaryon #rhaenyra targaryen #rhaenyra critical #long post #anonymous #answered #laenor velaryon defence squad #hbo house of the dragon

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youaremysunshine-court · 2 years

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Okay okay okay I've had maybe 8 hours of sleep over 3 days but an aftg hc will fix me thus I present

The foxes' fav podcasts

Aaron

the beef and dairy podcast

he's a basic bitch - listens to it on the way to work/ college

refuses to argue about it, clearly his opinions are the only right ones

he will occasionally listen to a podcast on exy if it covers on of the foxes

Andrew

welcome to nightvale

he started listening in high-school and never stopped

like Aaron, he knows his opinions are the only right ones, but he will not hesitate to verbally decimate someone who disagrees

(yes it helped him accept his sexuality)

Kevin

tends to jump podcasts depending on his current obsession

also tends to listen to podcasts in random order, again according to what interests him most, but it annoys everyone around him

doesn't listen to fiction, mostly talk shows, exy players interviews, and history podcasts (Loves Revolutions, will pull out his socialist trousers at any time)

Nicky

listened to one (1) dnd podcast bc he thought it would draw him and Andrew together

normally listens to Crime Junkie and then calls Erik bc he can't sleep

loves the new watcher podcast, but will always be a buzzfeed unsolved fangirl at heart

(like Kevin, he jumps around but prefers to be caught up on a podcast beforehand)

Neil

he doesn't care for podcasts as a whole, but strangely he's the one who enjoys dnd podcasts

he found one (1) he liked his last year of college

binges them at the gym and on running days

he is SO picky, the vibes have to be just right or he will not listen

(he once dropped a podcast bc one of the players' characters 'gave him bad vibes')

Dan

bechdel cast fan all the way down

sometime she renee and allison will lie around in the dark with an episode playing

goes down the list in chronological order, until she catches up and then listens to each episode the day it drops

writes up a detailed review of each episode and posts it once she's finished

Allison

again a bechdel cast fan, listens to them with dan

on her own, she listens to Mabel

devoted fan, even when they dropped off the planet for YEARS, she stayed there listening to old episodes

absolutely overjoyed at the new episodes, she can't wait for them to meet

(shipping them may have tipped her off to her own bisexuality)

Renee

true crime/horror fan

not podcasts, but she goes down the strangest wormholes trying to find 'real paranormal experiences'

listens to slightly unreal podcasts like Alice isn't dead, welcome to nightvale (her and Andrews first bonding experience), and the magnus archives

she has so much lore on the undead, the fae, vampires - it's not even funny bc sometimes she points out people in cafes and goes 'he looks...' before allison shushes her

Matt

behind the bastards fan (sometimes he drives Kevin around while they both listen to Robert Evans smooth voice)

will punch a nazi despite the podcasts repeated pleas to fight them in more official ways

Renee introduced him to horror, but he prefers subtly unsettling to outright horror - he listens to 12:37, folxlore, and middle:below

he likes listening to mabel with Allison, but sometimes can't deal with the raw emotion

Seth

Didn't listen to podcasts

He couldn't process words by themselves, if there was a transcript sometimes he'd listen to a podcast at x1.5 speed

huge buzzfeed unsolved fan (not the supernatural ones, just the true crime ones)

pretty into american history, but not in a frat boy way, more like oh yeah the appalachias used to be covered by water there could be pirate ghosts there

fucking loved old gods of appalachia, but was too scared to listen to more than one episode a month

And that's that! (Buzzfeed unsolved is an honorary podcast I will fight you)(all these podcasts are from ym personal curated list bc im picker than neil) :)

#aftg #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #kevin day #aaron minyard #nicky hemmick #dan wilds #matt boyd #allison reynolds #renee walker #renison #fandom

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votederpycausemufins · 2 years

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I head back to college in a day-ish, so one last chapter before then (which i actually meant to post like a day ago. whoops!)

idk what else to say, so hermit tommy au by @petrichormeraki

Jrum glared over at Vee. She was currently sitting in a corner alone and not bothering anyone, but he knew that was only going to last so long. After explaining the issue, Stress had been the first to arrive and help carry Vee, mainly since she seemed like the least threatening non-hybrid. When joining back with the others, Jrum and Ren gave a summary of what happened and then the hermits made a plan on what to do next. A plan Jrum wasn’t a fan of.

Reluctantly, Jrum approached Vee. As he got closer, he could vaguely hear the music coming from the headphones she was currently wearing. Well, that and she was also humming along. So when Jrum tried to get her attention, Vee didn’t respond until Jrum tapped her shoulder, making her jump. “Oh! S-sorry. Did you need something?”

Jrum didn’t respond right away, looking back at the hermits and glaring at them. Vee also looked at them too before Jrum looked at her and sighed. “What… were you listening to?”

Vee immediately lit up at the question. “Oh! So my dad really really likes music ‘n stuff so some of his friends are the same. One of them even does some music stuff of his own. It’s a little weird sometimes because he’s done work with my dad’s ex, but they’re kinda a celebrity, so it makes sense too. And dad chooses all my songs, so I’m sure he’s fine with it since they’re on here. Oh! Speaking of my dad, he also gave me these headphones! Technically I have my own since, you know, Listener stuff, but those don’t let me listen to fun songs! I always prefer stuff like Pancake Robot and not the secrets of the world or whatever. It’s weird.”

Jrum was left reeling from all the information Vee was giving him, but when his mind finally caught up enough to realize she had mentioned Listeners, Jrum tried to steer the topic that way. “So, Listeners? You said your dad is one, but I’m still not really sure what those are.”

“Oh yeah!” Vee replied excitedly, giving Jrum a second to brace himself for the incoming barrage. “So Listeners are like the opposite but also mirror and also pair for Watchers. Every Watcher is paired with a Listener and vice versa. Then each pair is assigned to a world. Sometimes more than one pair is assigned to a world, like this place for example! There’s two pairs here!”

“And I guess one of those is my dad and yours?” Jrum asked before clarifying. “You said they were a pair before.”

“Yeah, they’re a pair.” Vee started to agree, but then continued with a correction. “But they’re a pair for a world called Wynncraft, not here. The two Listeners are Lyarrah and Ely and then the Watchers are… Zloy and Pixel I think. I don’t see those two as often.”

“What else do you know about Listeners then?”

“Well they can use magic.” Vee answered, making her hand glow green for a second while waving it in their air. “Papa’s still training me an’ Astrid, so I’m not really really good at it or anything. You might be better than me.”

Jrum crossed his arms, not confirming or denying. “Alright, but I was hoping to know about fully trained Listeners.”

“Oh okay! Right! Well… I know that they normally have a little more of a hands off approach compared to Watchers. Because of the half of the source we’re drawing from, our magic is green and not purple like Watchers.”

“Source? What source?” Jrum asked, which actually managed to make Vee pause and not say anything for a few minutes. “Are you okay?”

“How do you not know about the sources?!” Vee asked, grabbing Jrum by the shoulders and shaking him. “Each dimension has its own source which fuels the magic belonging to it. Sure, the magic can be influenced a bit by the person using it, but usually color depends on the source. Sorta like when Papa sets up a fireplace, it’s orangey, but then he’s got some special pinecones that make it blue ‘n green!”

“You’re getting off topic.” Jrum spoke up, making Vee look at him and put her hands on her hips.

“Well, it’s not my fault that you didn’t pay attention to the basics!”

“What are you talking about?” Jrum asked, feeling a bit frustrated. “About magic? Why would I know anything about that?!”

“Not know any- What have you been doing the past year?!” And Vee grabbed Jrum by the shoulders again, shaking him more violently than before that Jrum was actually worried about being shaken apart.

“Uh, mainly existing!” Jrum replied as he managed to shove Vee away and take a few steps away. “More specific is that I like to sell stuff and do redstone?”

“You’re using magic for that?”

“I don’t know any magic!”

“You’ve had magic for a year and you don’t know how to use it?!”

“I’ve only existed for a year!” Jrum finished the argument, shouting as loudly as he could, which rattled the room. “I’m a robot! I was built a year ago as a shop and given a body a bunch of months later. My dad’s the one with magic, not me!” But then Jrum paused, thinking it over. When they had been dealing with Theseus and Nightmare and Grifter, a lot of things had happened, some of which did imply that he and Grum both had magic of some sort. “And if I do, I guess you’re right and I don’t know how to use it.”

Vee was quiet, apparently not knowing how to respond. Jrum looked at her, but she just looked away and started chewing on her thumbnail. “Um… I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“I know you didn’t. You haven’t been around.” Jrum said, not feeling as angry at Vee as he had recently. “I just thought since you knew Grifter and all.”

“Well, my dad knows him more. He was sort of the first Listener my dad became friends with.”

With that comment, Jrum’s interest was piqued. “Really? Can you tell me more?”

That brought a little bit more of a smile to Vee’s face. “Yeah. See, Grifter was a Listener before my dad. He’s also the hels copy of your dad, who’s my dad’s partner.” Jrum raised a finger to interject, but Vee shushed him. “I’ll get to that! Because of that, they kinda became friends and so I’ve seen Grifter a number of times and he’s kinda like an uncle along with Perfect Sense. I don’t really see that guy much, and Grifter doesn’t stay around much himself, oh! But last time he helped braid my hair, see?” And she showed off her nicely braided pink hair that had a few black feathers decorating it. “He said he killed some birds for me for these!”

“Right…” Jrum weakly agreed, knowing that definitely wasn’t the case.

“I know he wasn’t around for a while for some reason for like two years, before Papa let me learn to use magic. But he did manage to send lots of messages to Flora!”

“And who exactly is Flora?” Jrum asked, recognizing the name from Vee’s call earlier.

“Well, I kinda have a sister named Astrid. She’s adopted like me. And Flora is her girlfriend. You’re not allowed to call her Flora though. Only people she gives permission to, so you have to call her Fleur!”

“Right. And you said her uncle was Grifter?” Jrum asked, double checking what he heard earlier.

“Yeah!” Vee agreed. “Her dad is Wile, who’s one of Grifter’s brothers! The others are Theseus and Euro. And then Wile is married to Sadie who’s Flora’s mom. Oh and Grifter has two kids named-”

“I know. We’ve met.” Jrum replied, not hiding the saltiness of his tone. “I’m not the happiest with one of them.” Jrum then shook his head. “Now, two questions. One, are you going to clarify the partner thing?”

“Oh! Yes! Okay, so there’s sorta like two main dimensions known commonly as Wels and Hels over time. There’s other names, but those rhyme and are short so ye! A lot of stuff gets balanced between them, one of which being Watchers and Listeners. While not every Watcher is Wels and not every Listener is Hels - like my dad actually - they still get paired up cause the sources originate from the different main dimensions sub dimensions!”

“...What?” Jrum asked, not understanding the last bit.

“Uh, do you want me to just maybe teach you what I know about magic?” Vee asked, and Jrum nodded.

“That was actually going to be part of my second question. The other part of it was that since we have some magic users here, they might be able to help out.”

Vee lit up at that. “Oh! That’s a great idea! Let’s go!” and Vee grabbed Jrum’s hand before rushing back towards the hermits.

As they moved, Jrum quickly sent a message to warn the hermits that she was on her way, but then he went to planning. When everything had happened, it was clear that Scar and Hoodie as well as his dad had been involved with their magic, then based on what happened after, it seemed Grifter was involved too. If Vee helped them, intentionally or not, they could figure out what exactly happened to Grian, and possibly also learn how to reverse it.

Xannes jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly, hands crackling with electricity before actually realizing who was there, that being his brother as well as Philza. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. Especially when I’m so close to… this.”

EX gestured towards a warning covering for a hole to the void. As opposed to Xisuma and Mumbo who found themselves in their own bases, Xannes didn’t have one and instead found himself a replica of Zedaph’s base.

The other two paused to look at the void hole as Xannes backed away. “Didn’t know what was going on, so before you showed up, I wondered if that was connected. Might have been me that this was for and all.”

That comment made Xisuma take another look at the void hole, his helmet hiding any expression he was giving. At the same time, Phil walked away from it and over to Xannes. “Well, doesn’t look like you are. We’re rounding people up, so whoever we can’t find must be dealing with all this.”

“And if we do find everyone?” EX asked, which made Phil shrug.

“Then we figure it out from there. It’s already narrowed down by who’s dealt with all this already.”

“Assuming that last thing really was meant for you and your brother at the same time.”

“Who knows, maybe it’ll happen for you and Xisuma too?” Phil suggested, which got EX to roll his eyes.

“Oh sure, why? Just because we’re related? It would have happened to your kids as well if that were the case.” And then Xannes grabbed some elytra set up on an armor stand and put it on. “Let’s just find everyone else and finish this all up.”

The other two followed EX along in the sky over to the next base, which Xisuma recognized as TFC’s base. Knowing TFC and his base, Xisuma explained they had three areas to check out, the strip mine at the bottom, the sorting system up top, and the main base on the ground itself. Xannes was the one to take the main floor since Xisuma knew the way down to the strip mine and Philza could easily fly up to the storage above. And of course, that’s where Paul was, making Xannes immediately roll his eyes and walk away, not wanting any sort of argument with the survivalist.

Unfortunately, Paul jogged to catch up to him. “Hey, slow down. Is it just you here?”

“Why? Because then it’s just so strange you find me first. Or if not, then it’s so worrying that you chose to look where I am.”

Paul stopped following at that. “I really meant it before. It wasn’t just me trying to get us through everything.”

“Sure you weren’t.” Xannes spat at Paul, making the survivor put his hands up defensively.

“I’m actually sorry. I shouldn’t let what happened there be the only time I confront it. I have trouble trusting people. So I didn’t trust you. I didn’t trust my brother or some of his kids either. Part of the reason I didn’t stick with the Hermits when they invited me to join is because I have trouble trusting them too. The person I see most often outside of my family and Hoodie is Bub, and he always tries to eat my brains.”

“Get some better friends then.”

“What I’m trying to say is I’m used to going it alone and easily wary. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Xannes was quiet for a bit before shrugging. “Fine, but let’s just say you owe me or something. We’ll get it in writing later. My brother and yours are both looking around the other pieces of this base for you.”

“There’s more to this place? Huh, it already seemed pretty big.”

“It looks like everything is pretty big right now. You got an elytra?”

“Not really.”

“Well that’s just great.”

Tommy tried blocking everything out. Closing his eyes, he could pretend that he wasn’t stuck back in exile all alone. Technically, Tommy knew that was the worst thing to be doing right now, but he wasn’t really in the mood for caring. The only way he was escaping from exile or whatever round of nightmares they were on is if someone showed up. Well, if someone real showed up.

In addition to being trapped in exile, Tommy was seeing things, mainly of people. Hallucinations of people from both the smp and Hermitcraft kept showing up, usually claiming he belonged there. Tommy wanted to just get rid of them, but at the same time, he was worried that some of them might be real. Like it had been with Jack.

Anyone who wasn’t on the trip here was obviously fake. Tubbo, Ranboo, Grian, Fundy …Dream. Plus Ghostbur himself kept showing up, and Tommy was fifty percent sure that wasn’t real since Wilbur had been obviously revived. Based on right now though, he wasn’t sure.

“Please Tommy I am going to cry. You are in the lava.”

“Fuck off Ghostbur, I’m not in lava.”

“But you are.” The fake insisted and tried grabbing Tommy, only to have their arms go through the teen. “Please I just want to help you.”

“Just go the fuck away!” Tommy swatted at the hallucination. “I don’t want you here mocking me, I just want to get out of here!”

“Then just climb out, it’s not hard.”

“Shut up!” And Tommy waved his arms through Ghostbur until he dissolved into nothing, the image finally disappearing.

“It took you long enough to get rid of him.” A new voice spoke. It wasn’t one that Tommy could immediately rule out as fake, but the fact that the tone didn’t match the person made the teen assume it wasn’t real. “Oh don’t worry. I’m just here to check that everything is all in order around here. I’m not seeing much shelter other than your tent, so that’s fine. You’re looking a little hungry, so I should be able to spare you some food, as long as you still don’t have any gear.”

Hearing everything that was said, Tommy was sure it wasn’t real. The tone… the inflection everything was said with as well as what exactly was said all matched Dream to a tee, but the voice’s owner wouldn’t… probably wouldn’t ever say it for real. Probably. But even knowing that, Tommy couldn’t help but worry it was real as he looked over at Xisuma, the hermit admin observing the conditions of exile and Tommy himself to make sure it was all up to his standards, whatever those were.

“Can’t I just go back to my base?” Tommy asked, at this point feeling done enough with the whole situation to talk back a little, which he immediately regretted.

“Tommy, that place doesn’t belong to you. With Grian gone, no one wants you around anymore so of course the other hermits were all too glad to have more space to build with how big everything is.” And as that was said, it almost seemed like the bases in the distance got larger and made the island Tommy was stuck in seem smaller. “We made an exception before because you were still a kid and hurt, but now that we know what you’re like? If you really want to say you’re a man, act like one and suck it up.”

For a little bit, Tommy was quiet, only giving the quietest thank you he could manage as the probably fake Xisuma gave him a beetroot. Because of course the hermits farmed everything they could, including the worst vegetable ever just to feed Tommy. After eating, Tommy gained enough confidence to say something more, but Xisuma was gone, in his place was Ghostbur again. “Fine, better than Xisuma sticking around.”

“Xisuma? Is he nearby?” Ghostbur asked, looking around. “Is that why everything moved? Oh, that’s right, Tommy are you okay after that everything moving?”

“You’re not making any fucking sense. Maybe I actually want Xisuma back.”

“Well maybe if you climb out of that pit, you can come along?”

That confused Tommy a bit more, but also intrigued him. “Come along where? Do you know a way off this place?”

“Um, I don’t. Everything’s really jumbled up. I know there was a bunch of giant animals, and now there’s only really part of a house.”

“With a pit next to it? And the house is made of dark oak?” Tommy asked, jumping up and pretty sure he knew what Ghostbur was talking about.”

“Yeah… it’s right…” But before Ghostbur could say more, he was gone again, leaving Tommy to try and get him to come back, eventually sitting on the ground next to where the ghost had been and digging at the dirt as if the ghost had fallen into the ground and hoping to dig him up just so Tommy wasn’t alone again.

Living in a castle was a wonderful change of pace from all the random buildings that had been strewn about before from the old civilization. At least, Aven was pretty sure it was a nice change. It did come with actual residents, like the bird person named Grifter that seemed to replace Nightmare and the two miniature golems that also appeared. And the fox person that Aven never remembered the name of because it was always changing, but knew was Wile’s kid. Plus they seemed to like the mini yellow version of Nightmare.

And now more recently there were a few more people, like the person that liked the bird person and had glowing red eyes, and also two more bird people, though one Aven was pretty sure was related to Toob somehow and the other looked enough like Grifter that they kept calling them that as well.

Now all that was already pretty hard to keep track of, but now there was yet another person who was new in the castle, them being yet another bird person. Well, at the very least everyone was easy to keep track of since their wings were all different colors.

“Oh, hello there.” Aven was surprised that this bird person was looking at them and talking to them. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Oh, my name is Aven. You look like another Grifter.” Aven’s voice echoed, not having a physical form to make it sound clear.

“I suppose that’s true.” The new person spoke. “I hope this isn’t too insensitive, but can I ask where your body is?”

“Oh, I believe it was destroyed.” Aven answered easily. “That was part of the punishment.”

That seemed to interest the third Grifter. “Oh? Punishment for what?”

“Well, I know it involved Cerus. And also The Warrior. But other than that, I’m not sure. It’s okay though. I’m used to being dead.”

“Right, well, I don’t suppose you know a way to talk with this warrior person, do you?”

Aven paused to think it over. “I remember something about birds. There was this one bird he really liked.” Aven went quiet, thinking it over more, but then eventually their train of thought went off track and they realized something else. “Oh, I’m still thinking of you as Grifter three. What’s your name? I might remember it. Maybe.”

“Well, I suppose you can just call me Spore.”

“Alright. I think I might remember that. Oh, have you-” But before Aven could say more, Grifter three turned around. “Oh are you leaving?”

“Yes, those two uncorruptibles are probably still looking for Grian. So I should take him back before someone more powerful gets involved.”

“Alright then, have fun.” Aven replied, waving Grifter three off and then walking away on their own, only pausing for a moment to wonder what a Greean was.

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ollieofthebeholder · 3 years

Text

leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall): a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr | Also on AO3

Chapter 59: Statement of what comes now.

[CLICK]

[PANTING BREATHS, ECHOING SLIGHTLY, THAT SLOWLY EVEN OUT]

JON

Wh-what…what…?

Martin! Martin, where—where are you? I can’t—oh, God, I can’t see anything, I can’t—did that—

(in a different tone of voice) Martin? Are you here?

[ECHOING SILENCE]

JON

…Okay. Okay, this—this isn’t reality. This isn’t—he’d be here if I was—

Right. Okay.

(more loudly) Hello? Hello, is anyone out there?

[MORE SILENCE]

JON

W-wait…wait, is that—there’s something—okay, okay, I’m not blind, it’s just…dark. I can cope with that.

Right, okay. Think, Jon. After what you just did…if you’re not in the Institute, if you’re not in the world you’re used to, then you’re probably…somewhere else. So things are going to follow dream logic, right?

Right. Dream logic. (sigh) So I suppose I go looking for a switch.

[ODD CHITTERING, BUZZING NOISE THAT SUDDENLY STOPS]

JON

Oh, for—there has got to be away around this. No light switch, no walls, and I don’t trust the floors, so…

What am I supposed to do, say “Let there be light”?

[LOUD THUNKING NOISE, LIKE SOMEONE SWITCHING ON STAGE LIGHTS, OR AT LEAST A SPOTLIGHT]

JON

Seriously?

(frustrated sigh) Well, at least I can see now. I—wait. What in the—who’s there?

[A VOICE BEGINS SINGING SLOWLY, FAINTLY AT FIRST BUT SLOWLY GETTING LOUDER]

ANNABELLE

One elephant went out to play Upon a spider’s web one day She had such enormous fun She called for another elephant to come…

JON

You have got to be kidding me.

(resigned sigh) Right, here we go…

[ODD NOISE STARTS UP AGAIN, PUNCTUATED BY STICKY RIPPING SOUNDS, FADING IN AND OUT AS IF RESPONDING TO PRESSURE…OR FOOTSTEPS]

ANNABELLE

Hello, Jon.

JON

Annabelle Cane. Why am I not surprised?

ANNABELLE

You don’t sound pleased to see me.

JON

Let’s just say yours is not the first face I wanted to see when I woke up.

ANNABELLE

I have good news for you, then. It isn’t. You’re not awake.

JON

Oh, you can invade dreams now too, can you?

ANNABELLE

You aren’t asleep, either. And I think you already knew that.

JON

Oh, goddammit.

[A MOMENT OF SILENCE, SAVE THE FAINT ODD CHITTERING NOISE]

JON

…Wait. That noise, that’s—

And it gets louder every time we—

[CHITTERING SUDDENLY GETS LOUDER, WITH A FEW CLEAR WORDS HERE AND THERE, THEN FADES AGAIN]

JON

Are these tapes?

ANNABELLE

A fine material to spin a web with, don’t you think?

JON

It’s you.

A-all this time, all these—the recorders, the, the tapes…it’s all been you?

ANNABELLE

Well, not all me. Not all of it, anyway.

The Mother of Puppets has always collected stories. There are more reasons than one it’s called spinning a tale, you know. And spiders…it’s so hard to keep them out of places. People don’t generally call exterminators for them. Not for only one or two, and not if they don’t seem dangerous.

So yes. The Web has been lurking about the Magnus Institute, and the Archives, nearly as long as there has been an Institute. Listening. Drawing from the stories. Weaving a tapestry that tells the history of the world…and its future.

But this web? This one is mine.

JON

The tapes I recorded…

ANNABELLE

Oh, yes. All the tapes since you became the Archivist are here. Listen to this!

[A SQUEAL, THEN A CLEAR PLAY OF THE TAPE FROM MAG 000.2 - PRE-LAUNCH TRAILER]

ARCHIVIST ON TAPE

It’ll get you too. You can stare all you want, make your notes and your inquiries, but all your beholding will come to nothing. When the time arrives, and all is darkness and butchery, you’ll wish you had stopped listening and run.

[ANOTHER STICKY SOUND, LIKE SOMEONE PULLING OFF AN ADHESIVE BANDAGE]

JON

(shocked) That—that was—I only did that one as a test, to—to see if the recorders would work…

ANNABELLE

And they did. Admirably.

Go on. Try one.

JON

Look, I don’t—

ANNABELLE

You’re curious, aren’t you? You want to know.

There is no time here. Not really. No hurry. No pain. Nothing can hurt you if you indulge your curiosity a little bit. And it might not be so easy to believe once you leave.

Pick a strand. All you have to do is touch it, like so—

[ANOTHER SQUEAL, AND THEN ANOTHER RECORDING BEGINS TO PLAY FROM MAG 22 - COLONY]

MARTIN ON TAPE

—wasn’t anything to do with spiders that ended up after me. Almost wish it had been. (nervous laugh) I like spiders. Big ones, at least—

[RECORDING CUTS OFF WITH STICKY SOUND AGAIN]

ANNABELLE

—and you can hear them.

JON

He doesn’t anymore, you know.

ANNABELLE

Like spiders? Oh, believe me, I know.

I don’t think he’s liked them since he found out what happened to you. Not that I can blame him, of course. How do you feel about clowns these days? Or being alone?

JON

I—

ANNABELLE

Go on, Jon. Touch one. It doesn’t have to be…fresh.

JON

Why are some of these—

Is that…ash?

ANNABELLE

Dust, mostly.

(considers) Well, some of it might be ash. It depends on why that section of web isn’t used anymore.

JON

(tartly) I didn’t know being obscure and mysterious was in the Web’s domain.

ANNABELLE

It is if you want to manipulate somebody who’s addicted to knowledge.

Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not trying to manipulate you. It’s just a habit at this point, really.

JON

…Fine.

[A COUPLE OF CAREFUL STICKY, CHITTERING FOOTSTEPS, THEN A SOFT SQUEAL BEFORE A RECORDING SHARPENS IN, FROM MAG 134 - TIME OF REVELATION]

PETER ON TAPE

What does—puzzle me though, and I mean that genuinely, is—why you were piling tape recorders onto the coffin while Jon was in there. (brief pause) It’s a question, Martin, it’s—it’s not an accusation.

MARTIN ON TAPE

I don’t know. And I just – felt like it might help. He’s always recording, and I thought it—it might help him…find his way out.

PETER ON TAPE

Interesting. Were you compelled?

MARTIN ON TAPE

I don’t know. Maybe? I-I, I definitely wanted to do it.

[RECORDING FADES OUT ON THE LAST WORD]

JON

(shocked) Th-that, that was—that hasn’t happened, that didn’t happen…

ANNABELLE

This time.

JON

You knew? When, when I met you at Hill Top Road, when you…you knew I’d come back from the future.

ANNABELLE

Of course.

You and Martin, your Martin, you came back after Jonah Magnus made you end the world. The Keeper of the Light led you to a door, that led you through some halls, that led you to another door, that led you…back. To get—

JON

—a second chance.

ANNABELLE

A second chance? Hardly.

JON

And just what is that supposed to mean, exactly?

ANNABELLE

Only that.

JON

…Fine. F-fine. Be mysterious and vague. See if I care.

[ANNABELLE LAUGHS KNOWINGLY]

JON

How do you know…the tapes. You just told me you’ve been listening to the tapes. Martin made his statement about those halls—

ANNABELLE

But you didn’t.

You haven’t talked about what your journey was like to anyone, have you? Not even Martin. He knows you came through the same halls, but not what you saw. He doesn’t know that for you, there were no colors and no changes, that every hallway was the same and there was no way to tell when you were getting closer, until you reached that long tunnel.

The one with the glass walls and ceiling, like an underwater aquarium. With dark shapes you couldn’t make out pressing against the outside, trying to get your attention. With thousands of whispering voices, over one another, so hard to make out, pleading, promising, coaxing. Offering you anything you desired if you would only make it stop, blaming you for their suffering, demanding how you could just walk on by as if—

JON

Stop.

ANNABELLE

You didn’t know you were recording, either. You’ve grown so used to those recorders that you didn’t even notice them anymore. And yet, I was listening.

JON

You were—what?

Y-you—you’re from the future, too!

ANNABELLE

Mm. That’s more complicated than you think it is.

JON

How did you know what we were doing?

ANNABELLE

Because I set it in motion.

JON

…You…you what? Those halls, that—that portrait gallery, that—

ANNABELLE

Which one?

JON

Which—both of them. The ones that—that Martin had to face.

You said you listened to the tapes, you—

ANNABELLE

I did. And I was…shadowing you both, I suppose.

You never wondered how I was at Salesa’s, did you? Not why I was there, how I was there.

JON

I…to be honest, I don’t remember much about those days.

ANNABELLE

I don’t mean while you were there. I mean after. You never thought about how I could have ended up outside my own domain, let alone outside the Apocalypse altogether.

JON

I tried to think about you as little as possible.

ANNABELLE

(heh) I’d be hurt if I didn’t understand completely. I suppose if I’d been lucky enough to escape the Spinner of Webs, I’d want nothing to do with any of her children either.

But you know the rules of the Apocalypse, Jon. It never occurred to you to wonder how a Watcher could stray from their domain?

JON

Martin did. And Helen. They both—

[STATIC CRACKLES; IT’S THE ARCHIVIST’S STATIC, BUT IT SOUNDS UNUSUAL IN A WAY THAT’S DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT]

JON

The Distortion never truly left its domain. Never went far from its doors. And while the domains we saw Helen in were seemingly those of other fears, they all had at least an element of the Spiral in them.

Martin was in the unique position of being both Watcher and Watched. He had the domain he oversaw, small though it was, but he was also, perhaps, the only sufferer in a domain that belonged to me as me and not me as the Eye itself. He could walk the world unharmed because what hurt him was watching my pain and power grow in equal measure, the suffering of not knowing what I would choose in the end.

And you…

Your domain was like Daisy’s. It was the other domains, woven through them like a silken thread, a subtle tug of manipulation. It was the tapes that kept recording our journey and the tugs that led us to people we tried to help or conquer and a thousand tiny maneuverings to keep us moving ahead.

[STATIC FADES; JON GASPS SLIGHTLY]

JON

That…that shouldn’t have felt like that.

ANNABELLE

You’re a bit far from the Eye here. But to be fair, so am I.

JON

We’re in the middle of your fucking web!

ANNABELLE

But my web. Not the Web.

Any power the Mother of Puppets has here is residual, and comes through me. Any power the Ceaseless Watcher has here is residual, and comes through you. I brought the web to show you, to help you understand, but it doesn’t belong here any more than we do.

JON

You were—you were manipulating those tunnels. To…what? Slow us down?

ANNABELLE

To help. Well, you didn’t need it, but Martin…

JON

Martin is stronger than you think.

ANNABELLE

Do you know whose domain that was?

JON

The Spiral’s. Of course.

ANNABELLE

And the Eye. Together.

Together they hung that gallery of accusation, the paintings that all seemed to hold Martin responsible for their deaths. His friends, his family…strangers he never met but felt responsible for. Its purpose was to keep Martin lost—disorientated and in crippling pain and anguish. Forever.

If he had kept going down that corridor, he would never have found the door to the past. And the Keeper would never have been able to find him. Both of them had too much of the Lonely in them—just enough to keep them both isolated and searching. If they didn’t know where to meet.

JON

(whispers) My God.

They—they knew what we were trying to do. Of course they did. And they didn’t—

ANNABELLE

It’s not about foresight. Neither of them really have that. That domain was a mix of the Spiral and the Eye. It’s just what it was designed for, that’s all.

JON

That’s all? It was more than enough.

So which did you—

(with horrified realization) The paintings of me. You did that.

ANNABELLE

To remind him.

JON

Of what, for God’s sake?

ANNABELLE

In part, of what he had to prevent—what he had to stop from happening. What you’d been through and he had to make sure didn’t happen. In part, it was letting him experience your pain. He’d heard what you went through, of course, but to actually see it…in so many ways, that would make it worse, and make his determination stronger.

And, of course, part of it was just putting you back in his mind over everyone else. It was the last little…anchor tethering the two of you together, to the past. Something to keep him present so the Keeper could find him.

JON

And show him that last painting. Thankfully.

Did you know about that one?

ANNABELLE

I put that one there, too.

Surely you didn’t think the Keeper knew enough to have done it.

JON

I—n-no, no, but—

Why?

ANNABELLE

Why show it to him?

JON

Why that moment?

ANNABELLE

Because it wasn’t on tape.

I left you alone while you were in Scotland, up until the end. You two deserved a few weeks…unobserved. Alone together. To figure out what you are to one another.

Actually, I had quite a job keeping the Distortion distracted so it wouldn’t pop in and interrupt. It was something of a challenge.

The first time, anyway.

JON

The first time?

ANNABELLE

Oh, we’ve done this dance before. In its fashion.

JON

What dance?

ANNABELLE

The Apocalyptic Tango, I think Martin called it once.

[JON SIGHS IN EXASPERATION]

JON

Do you ever give a straight answer? Or tell the truth?

ANNABELLE

I’m hurt! I’ve been nothing but honest with you this whole time.

JON

(dry as the Sahara) And the other times?

ANNABELLE

Mostly you wouldn’t have believed me.

I did try a time or two. You always insisted it wasn’t possible, or that there must be some sort of catch. You only believed me once, and even then, I don’t think you believed. You simply wanted it to be true.

JON

Are you trying to get me to compel the truth out of you?

ANNABELLE

The way you did Peter Lukas? Or…which one was it? Breekon?

You don’t need to force it, you know. All you have to do is…ask nicely, and I will spin you the tale.

JON

…

Statement of Annabelle Cane, regarding the Web’s plan. Recorded direct from subject…ah…

ANNABELLE

At the end.

JON

…Statement begins.

ANNABELLE

This is the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

These are the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the hand that pulled the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the Mistress that bore the hand that pulled the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the web that cradled the Mistress that bore the hand that pulled the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the blade that cut the web that cradled the Mistress that bore the hand that pulled the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the hero that wielded the blade that cut the web that cradled the Mistress that bore the hand that pulled the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

This is the story that begged to be told of the hero that wielded the blade that cut the web that cradled the Mistress that bore the hand that pulled the strings that moved the spider that peered at the truth that lurked in the hole that lay in the crack beneath the house at Hill Top Road.

Again, and again, and again, and again.

So few of the things that are Fear are gifted with foresight. The End, of course, knows what will come, because the End is inevitable. All things end, sooner or later. The Web cannot see the future but it can see…patterns. The threads of a story, and what they will be when they weave together.

When the Mother of Puppets first saw the crack beneath Hill Top Road, she thought she understood what it was. A hole in reality, a portal between universes. Places where fear had not touched, where it was not known. But then she saw it for what it was. A crack, not in space, but in time. A way to move between moments. And she began to plan For she saw the threads, and she knew that someday, someone would end the world. And when that happened…eventually, all would end. Even fear cannot last forever, in a world where nothing new is born. Eventually, all must end.

Her plan has been the same, for years. Generations. Choose a champion, mark them young. Put them in the path of a fear, and wait. Then, should the world end at the hands of that fear, tug that champion to cut the strings of fate and send all bound up in it through the crack…and back in time. Back in time enough that they could stop it.

And really, it should have worked.

To a point, it did work. Again, and again, and again, and again. Jonah Magnus sent you his ritual, you read it, the world came to an end. You tried to repair it. You walked to London…and there it got complicated.

The trouble is the Spinner’s plan depended, in the end, on your choice. We told you that you would have had to simultaneously blow up the Archives and stab Jonah Magnus, and then all would have been thrown back in time. In truth, that would not have worked—not if Jonah was still the Eye’s Pupil. It had to be you. You had to choose to take his place…and then have the tethers cut. Then, and only then, would you be sent back with the knowledge to alter things.

Sometimes I told you the original story, that it was a crack in reality and would send all the fears somewhere else, or scatter them across worlds. Once or twice I told you the truth. As I said, it was so hard for you to believe me, regardless of what I spun. Mostly you thought I was manipulating you, lying to you, trying to get you to doom a thousand other worlds. Occasionally you thought it would end the world faster. Only once did you believe me—in a time when I came to you in a cabin in what was once Scotland, a time when I knew you would not act if you did not know you could turn back time, a time when the man you loved turned back for his umbrella and understood what he was hearing and tried to save you and the world.

JON

No…

ANNABELLE

It never quite worked, in the end. Time and again, the strings would be cut, the world would snap back…and time and again, we would retread the same paths. Over and over. So little I could change, so little I could do differently before the Apocalypse and I tried to find a new way to get you to be in position to be dragged back.

Finally, finally, it happened. You tried to take Jonah Magnus’ place, to hasten the end and starve the fears…it would never have worked, of course, but you tried. Martin anticipated it, though, he tried to stop you before you killed Jonah, to delay you while the others lit the fuse. You were faster than he thought, though, and had already become the Pupil of the Eye. You told him to go. To save himself. But Martin would not leave you, despite the danger. Rather than watch him die for nothing, you told him to cut the tether. And he did.

It worked the way the Web intended, of course it did. But for you to remember and be able to fix it, you would have both had to be alive when you came through at the other side. Even one of you would have been enough. But when I woke again and plucked the strand of the Web, I could hear that neither of you remembered.

Neither of you had survived.

[JON MAKES A PAINED NOISE OF DISTRESS]

ANNABELLE

It was then that I realized that Mother’s plan depended too heavily on precise timing. She wanted me to try again, of course. Strangely enough, the Fears never knew it had happened, not even the Web. But she reminded me, again and again, about her plan, told me what strings to pull.

This time, though…this time I thought I’d try something a bit different.

I did what I have done every other time. I stayed with Salesa, I spoke to you both. I followed your progress through the tapes, and when you disappeared beneath the tunnels…I acted. As I promised him, I killed him, and I took his camera. I brought it to London, to the Institute…to the Panopticon. But this time, I brought it up to the belly of the beast. I took it to the office of Jonah Magnus.

The camera wasn’t strong enough to dispel the entire Apocalypse there, of course. But it created enough of a hole to break Jonah free of the Eye’s hold.

He was as pleased to see me as you might expect. Demanded to know what I was doing there. And I told him. I told him I had come to warn him.

JON

What?!

ANNABELLE

I told him that his precious Archivist was far from resigned to this new world he had brought about, that he was coming to stop it. To stop him. I said that you were bringing Martin with you and that you had a plan, and if he wanted to continue his reign, he’d best do something to stop it.

JON

Did you have any idea what that something would be?

ANNABELLE

Patterns. Of course I knew.

Jonah would never have harmed you, even if he could have; he still hoped to get you on his side. As you learned tonight. On the other hand, he would have known, or at least guessed, that the only thing stopping you from joining him was Martin. And even if he couldn’t hope to win you over by separating you…he would at least have found a way to use that bond against you.

JON

(shouting) Martin could have died because of you!

ANNABELLE

Perish the thought! My dear Jon, do you know know how many times I’ve been through this loop?

Even when I filled him with spiders, there has never been a time you could bring yourself to harm him in the slightest, let alone kill him. Faced with a choice between letting him die or getting revenge, I knew you would save him. Of course he wouldn’t have died.

[JON SPUTTERS INDIGNANTLY]

ANNABELLE

And I made sure you had somewhere to recover. I had already nudged the Keeper towards that door.

He couldn’t have done it, of course; he was too tightly bound to the Light—not the Lonely, not the fear he watched over, but the Light itself. If it fell, so would he, and he cannot leave it for long. Even if he had come back, he would have been unable to make a difference in anyone’s past. But of course he thought of the Archivist. His godson. And when you thought Martin might be taken from you, you experienced the precise fear that summoned one of his doors—the fear of being forever separated from the one you love.

Perhaps the original plan would have worked eventually. Perhaps someday you, or Martin, or both of you, would have survived long enough to awaken in the past and remember. But I think it’s better this way, don’t you? Much more…direct.

And look how much you’ve spared the others from.

JON

The others—G-Georgie, Melanie, Basira—in, in that timeline, the one Martin and I left. Did they…what happened to them?

ANNABELLE

The Keeper and I took care of that. Don’t worry.

After he saw you safely through, I introduced myself to him and told him what needed to happen. He fetched Basira and took her to the tunnels beneath the Institute, and then I came myself. I told them what Jonah had done, what you had done, and what they needed to do.

I gave them the choice. The same one I often gave you. I told them they could either…let things stay as they were, allow things to die out in time, and keep apart from it, or end it. Take out Jonah Magnus and blow up the Institute simultaneously, and send all the Fears back in time as well—the Fears, and any of us too tightly bound up in them to survive without them.

I know you won’t believe me, Jon, but I never influenced them to make the choice they did. Basira did ask me what they usually chose, and I did tell her that I had never known them to choose anything other than one option, but I didn’t tell her what it was. I knew it would be important for you to know that, whatever they chose, it was their decision and their decision alone.

JON

(heh) I can’t imagine Melanie not choosing the option that allows her to kill Elias.

[ANNABELLE LAUGHS]

ANNABELLE

Neither can I. And she didn’t choose differently.

As I understand it, Melanie made her way up alone—being blind, of course, the fearful things on those stairs could not affect her—while Basira provided a distraction and Georgie lit the gas aflame. Melanie took the camera and aimed it at Jonah Magnus to bring him down, and then while he tried to belittle her, she stabbed him, just as the building blew.

JON

And then what happened? Did they survive?

ANNABELLE

I don’t know. But they succeeded, or I wouldn’t be here.

JON

…

How many others has the Web done this to? Tried to—manipulate into a savior?

ANNABELLE

Oh, I don’t know. Hundreds?

Most of them would have failed. Many never made it beyond her. I was one of them, actually, a child tested out but ultimately found lacking, although I was the only one I think she would have trusted with this. But you…the Mother of Puppets saw the threads of your life. So many Fears noticed you as a child that you were bound to fall afoul of one of them eventually. And as soon as she realized where Jonah Magnus’ thoughts were trending, and where they would eventually lead, she knew that you would be a perfect candidate to complete the ritual in the end.

So she chose you. She lured you in. And you resisted her pull. She knew then that you would be the only one strong enough to succeed.

JON

I only survived because someone else took my place! I would have died if he hadn’t—

ANNABELLE

My dear Jon. Has anyone meant to be claimed by a power ever actually handed away a book or an artifact willingly?

Had you been meant to be the Spinner’s in the end, Mitchell Hopkins would never have been able to take that book from you, let alone read it. Mister Spider was a test, a test that you passed.

A test I never would have.

JON

…

…Was that his name? Mitchell?

ANNABELLE

It was.

It is.

And now you know everything.

[A FEW MOMENTS OF SILENCE, SAVE THE TAPES CHITTERING IN THE BACKGROUND]

JON

I—I suppose I should be grateful that we don’t remember all of…these. All these…cobwebs.

I’m damned grateful I don’t remember—

ANNABELLE

I must admit, that was a bad one.

JON

Getting through that…it was hard enough with Martin. I don’t—I don’t see how I did it alone.

Especially after—especially knowing I—

Did I know?

ANNABELLE

…

You spent far longer at Salesa’s that time than you did any other time. In the end, I had to go with you almost all the way to London.

…Yes. You knew.

Not at the time. Not when it happened. But the Eye made sure you Knew the details in the end. You ran into Basira and she asked where Martin was—

JON

—and the Beholder forced me to describe it.

ANNABELLE

You said yourself, more than once. None of this has ever been to the benefit of humanity. Or any individual human.

JON

Or whatever I—whatever we are.

ANNABELLE

What defines a human, anyway? The limitations, or the abilities?

We can do more than what an ordinary human can. But we can still do all the things that an ordinary human can, too. We think. We feel. We love, Jon.

As far as I’m concerned, that makes us human.

JON

…Who do you love, Annabelle?

ANNABELLE

I was the first to hold him. Did you know that? I was staying with Harry and his wife while I was at university, just before I took part in that study. They wanted someone to read to him before he was born, so he would learn the stories. Harry worked late, trying to make a better life for them all, and Elizabeth…well, she was blind, so she could tell stories fine, but she wanted him to hear books too. Every night, after dinner, I’d sit and read to her belly. He came early and Harry didn’t get to the hospital in time, so after Elizabeth, I was the first one to hold him.

Harry picked out his first name because he knew I hated that book. Elizabeth softened it by picking a middle name after me, but…she always called him Charlie. I think she knew, even then.

A couple years after I became part of the Web, the Desolation took Harry, probably to spite me, but…Harry was never the one I cared about. Elizabeth, at least, died as peacefully as anybody can. It may not have been pleasant, or timely, but at least it wasn’t to serve a power. Just bad luck.

…

Get him away from that grandmother of his if you can, will you?

JON

One of us will.

ANNABELLE

That’s all I ask.

JON

Well, I—I suppose, in light of all that’s happened…it’s the least I can do.

ANNABELLE

You believe me, then?

JON

It happened. It’s over.

Whether once or a hundred times…it happened the way you said at least once. And we won. That’s enough for me.

…Yes, Annabelle Cane, I believe you.

ANNABELLE

For what it’s worth, Jon, you did all the hard work on your own. You and Martin, and…the others. In your time and this. All I did was get you here.

JON

The others…

(sharp intake of breath) Oh, God. The Unknowing. Has it—have they—I-I can’t, even if we were in the Panopticon, I couldn’t See it. But you—there, there were tapes.

Are they…?

ANNABELLE

That one. I think.

JON

You think?

ANNABELLE

It added itself to the web just before you got here. It’s either theirs or yours.

[BRIEF PAUSE, THEN THE SQUEAL OF TAPE BEFORE A RECORDING PICKS UP - FAINT CIRCUS MUSIC, THUMPS AND TAPS THAT MIGHT BE SOME KIND OF FOOTSTEP, FLOORBOARDS CREAKING, SHALLOW BREATHING, FABRIC RUSTLES]

PRESENT ARCHIVIST ON TAPE

I love you.

PRESENT MARTIN ON TAPE

I love you.

TIM ON TAPE

I love you.

Tell me when.

[DEEP BREATH]

PRESENT ARCHIVIST ON TAPE

Three…two…one…

[MORE FABRIC RUSTLES, DETONATOR CLICKS, EXPLOSION BEGINS BEFORE ABRUPTLY CUTTING OFF]

JON

Oh, God.

ANNABELLE

And to think I thought you had a terrible sense of timing.

JON

At least they said something before—

O-oh, God, Tim. Tim—you know as well as I do that in my time, he—and I—were they all in the middle of that?

ANNABELLE

More or less.

They didn’t walk into the Unknowing, at least. Martin listened to what you told him and wouldn’t let them open any doors. But it had to be blown up from the inside to be sure of getting all the charges. Your counterpart and Martin’s wouldn’t leave Tim behind, however much he tried to make them.

JON

What happened after that?

ANNABELLE

I don’t know if there is an after that yet.

JON

And we’re back to the cryptic bullshit.

ANNABELLE

On the contrary. I said exactly what I meant.

We aren’t exactly anywhere right now, or any when. This…place…I wouldn’t call it a domain, but it exists outside of both time and space. The rules are different here. Time, if it passes at all, passes differently.

They might have just pressed the detonator. They might have pressed it hours ago, or days ago.

JON

(dismayed) Days?

ANNABELLE

All I can say is that wherever, whenever they are, they are out of reach of my tapes. And your sight.

Fortunately…I know someone who can give us those answers, even from here. Maybe especially from here.

JON

Who else is here, for God’s sake?

[ANNABELLE SINGS THE NEXT LINE IN THE SAME SLOW, MEASURED VOICE AS BEFORE]

ANNABELLE

Two elephants went out to play Upon a spider’s web one day They had such enormous fun They called for another elephant to come…

[STICKY FOOTSTEPS APPROACH OVER THE TAPE WEB]

OLIVER

Hello, Jon. It is all right if I call you Jon?

JON

…Oliver? Oliver Banks?

OLIVER

In the…well. In the manifestation, I suppose. I don’t know if any of us is here in the flesh.

JON

(disbelieving laugh) You’re…not quite what I expected.

OLIVER

Is that an invitation for me to comment about how Death so rarely is what we expect, or a manifestation of you wondering why Martin would possibly be jealous of someone like me?

ANNABELLE

If you knew either of them a little better, you’d know Martin’s reasons for being jealous are almost entirely in his head.

Also, he’s never met you.

OLIVER

Mm, true. We always seemed to miss one another.

JON

You—hold on. You’re from the future as well?

OLIVER

Like you and Annabelle. Well, more like Annabelle, I suppose. You had to be the Pupil of the Eye before you were tangled enough to get dragged back with the Fears. Me? Without Terminus, I’m just…dead. And we’ve already established that that’s not where I want to be.

JON

…Did you know? When you came to the hospital?

OLIVER

That we’d done this before? Of course. I long ago stopped being surprised at what you would choose.

JON

Then for God’s sake, why—

OLIVER

Because you had to choose, Jon. It was always your choice.

Think of it as a crossroads. You stood at a fork in the road, where one path would take you back to life and the other would take you on to, well, whatever came next. The trouble was that the signposts were covered.

You could have chosen without knowing which path was which, but that’s not your way. Not when you know enough to know that one was…mm, wrong, shall we say? One would have led you where you wanted to be, one where you didn’t.

JON

I didn’t want to die.

OLIVER

There’s a difference between not wanting to die and having something to live for.

JON

(deep breath) Right, well, I definitely have something to live for, so I’ll be going now.

Uh, how do I get out of here?

OLIVER

Ordinarily? You don’t.

JON

What?!

OLIVER

This is Terminus’s realm. Well, sort of. A little pocket on the outside edge of it.

JON

Another crossroads.

OLIVER

Mm, not so much. More that you’re standing in the middle of the path.

JON

So which way is back?

OLIVER

Life is a journey traveled in one direction only.

JON

(tartly) Yes, well, so is time, but here we all are.

I’ve already chosen to live, Oliver. (with slight malice) Can I call you Oliver?

OLIVER

(not rising to the bait) This isn’t a place where you get to choose.

JON

…So you’re saying that’s it.

After all that, after everything I—everything we did…this is the end. There’s nowhere else for me to go.

ANNABELLE

How many times have you walked out of another entity’s domain? Not counting the Apocalypse. We’ve already talked about how that doesn’t count.

JON

I…twice. The Buried and the Lonely.

Three, I suppose, if that crossroads counts.

OLIVER

That was a metaphor. You were close to Death, but not its realm. If that makes sense.

JON

Not really.

ANNABELLE

The Buried and the Lonely, then.

What brought you out?

JON

From the Buried, it was the—the tapes…it was Martin putting those tapes on top of the coffin. W-weaving me a rope…or a ladder.

The Lonely was simple enough to leave. The way out was together.

ANNABELLE

With Martin.

JON

…Yes.

ANNABELLE

Exactly.

Not all strands of a spider’s web are to capture or to control, you know. Sometimes, they are simply…to anchor.

JON

…

…That’s why you offered to bind me to Martin. It wasn’t about—it wasn’t for strength or power at all.

ANNABELLE

Not to defeat Jonah Magnus, no. There’s more than one kind of strength, more than one kind of power. I did tell you that you would need it to survive what was coming.

JON

It brought Martin back when Peter Lukas visited the Archives and he almost got swallowed by the Lonely again. It—it grounded me, kept me from losing control while I was taking down Jonah.

And now…

ANNABELLE

It can guide you home.

[OLIVER LAUGHS]

OLIVER

You know, people always talk about some legendary “red string of fate”, but I’ve never actually seen a real one before.

Let alone one woven from cassette tape.

JON

You knew I had that tether from the beginning.

OLIVER

Truthfully, I didn’t think it would work. Plenty of people have things they think are tying them to life, but they aren’t strong enough to resist the pull. Most threads snap.

JON

Not this one.

I made Martin a promise. And I never break my word.

OLIVER

A good thing, when your tether is almost literally made out of your words.

JON

Ha, ha.

…Wait. B-before I go…the Unknowing. Are they—she said you would know.

OLIVER

It’s over. It worked. They brought the house down.

A lot of tormented souls set free, all at once. Quite the rush, really.

JON

The three of them—my counterpart and Martin’s and Tim. What happened to them?

[OLIVER SIGHS]

OLIVER

Two of them will be fine. Some cuts and bruises, but they’ll be up and about sooner rather than later. They might already be up and about. Time’s difficult to discern here.

The other…I suspect I’m going to need to pay a visit at some point. Clean off those signposts.

JON

Don’t wait six months.

OLIVER

I shouldn’t be more than a couple weeks behind you.

JON

…That’s less comforting than you think it is.

OLIVER

Then it must be terrifying, because I was definitely going for ominous.

[JON SIGHS…AND LAUGHS RELUCTANTLY; ANNABELLE AND OLIVER LAUGH TOO]

JON

I suppose we’ll meet again, Annabelle.

ANNABELLE

…No. No, I don’t think we will.

JON

Tired of me already?

ANNABELLE

I was watching them for you. Not just through the tapes. I was lurking in a corner of that room.

I don’t know that I made it out.

OLIVER

(gently) You didn’t, I’m afraid.

Your choices are more limited. Stay here with your web…or see what comes next.

[A SHORT PAUSE]

JON

We’ll keep the recorders going.

In case you’re still listening.

ANNABELLE

…Tell Charlie his aunt loves him very much.

JON

I will.

Oliver…don’t take this the wrong way, but if I ever see you again, it will be too soon.

OLIVER

Death always comes too soon.

JON

That was definitely not meant for that aspect of you.

OLIVER

Fair.

ANNABELLE

Have a good life, Jon.

You and Martin deserve it.

JON

If I may borrow from another…may you find your rest where no shadows are cast, and no eyes may see you slumber.

ANNABELLE

(audibly smiling) From you, Jon, that is a true blessing.

[DEEP BREATH]

JON

Right. Hold on, Martin.

I’m coming home.

[CLICK]

#ollie writes fanfic #leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall)#tma #the magnus archives #unreality tw #darkness tw #blindness tw (kinda)#manipulation tw #violence tw #explosions tw #death tw #implied mental torture tw #just...this chapter might be a Lot #the formatting's better on AO3 #holy shit I can't believe I'm almost finished

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skyechaser · 4 years

Text

Korra The Vampire Slayer

I wrote this a long time ago and I’m probably never going to finish it but I like the premise. If only I could draw jajaja.

------------------------

Light fell on her face as she looked through the car window. The sun shone bright on the light blue sky, barely a cloud in sight. They moved slowly towards their destiny, even if they were running a little bit late. Kya looked at the road with light blue eyes with a forced smile on her lips that she wore from the moment they had left the house. Korra glanced at her from time to time during their trip and felt she was mustering the courage to say something. She waited patiently to hear the woman’s voice but, even as the school came into sight, she remained silent.

Korra could feel her own pulse in her eyes. The only other time she had been this nervous had been the night they told her she was the Vampire Slayer. However, killing demons came as a second nature to her, unlike socializing with people. That had always been somewhat of a challenge. Now, in a new town, she was pretty sure her limitations in interacting with other people were going to pose a problem in enjoying the whole high school experience. The car stopped and the girl swallowed hard, somehow feeling it in her shoulders. The woman next to her placed a hand on her leg and turned around to look at her with loving eyes.

“Okay, Korra” she said with a motherly voice “Things work a little bit differently here than in Alaska. It took me quite a while to get used to it all, you know, school here is…”

“Kya… I can do this“ the younger one said with a grin “It’s not that different from home I mean… I bet I won’t see a moose around here though” she laughed even though deep down she was shivering with fear. She didn’t want to freak Kya out so she did her best to look calm.

“I may be overreacting I know but…” the driver sighted “I promised your parents AND Tenzin I would take care of you and…”

“Kya” Korra screeched “I am going to be okay” she smiled.

I’m so not going to be okay, Korra told herself as she walked the hallways without knowing where she was going. She had chemistry, she knew that, but where the lab was it was still a mystery to her. Everyone stared at her, probably noticing the fact that she was the new girl. Sunnydale was, after all, a very small town. She held the straps of her backpack tightly, wondering if people could listen the wood moving inside of it. Taking stakes to school was part of her routine and not even a new school would change that. Especially after what happened… She was about to give up and ask someone when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around quickly and held someone by the arms.

“Hey, hey! Calm down! I’m a friend” a boy with green eyes said waving his hands in front of his face. Korra let him go immediately.

“I’m so sorry!” she said “I didn’t mean to go all crazy on you I’m just… I’m just nervous” she tried to laugh but it came out as the sound a seal makes when it’s dying.

“It’s okay, no harm done” the boy smiled “I’m Bolin, hello. You are new”

“Hey… Ehm, yeah” Korra smiled “I’m Korra from Alaska. I mean I am Korra and I transferred from Alaska where it is cold and… Feel free to interrupt me when I am done making a fool of myself”

“I was actually enjoying that” he laughed “What class do you have?”

“Chemistry”

“That is just awesome” he replied and jumped on one feet.

“You really like chemistry?” the girl asked confused.

“Not really” Bolin laughed “But I have chemistry too”

***

“So, Korra, this is the cafeteria” Bolin said as they entered the room. It was considerably bigger than the one back home, but Korra easily recognized most social groups on the tables.

“Impressive” she smiled.

“So this…” the boy said pointing at the table in front of them “Is where all the cool people sit” Korra looked at the three people sitting and tried her best to smile. She was pretty sure she looked like an idiot. They all stared at her, as if they were expecting her to say something.

“Hi, I’m Korra” she managed to say “I just moved here from Alaska and I am very socially anxious because I grew in a very small town and I had never left that town and all the people I knew and now well I have issues and please Bolin I thought we agreed you would stop me if this happened”

“She’s funny, isn’t she?” he laughed a bit and the newcomer elbowed him in the ribs.

“Bolin don’t be mean” a brunette girl said, sternly “Nice to meet you, I’m Opal”

“I’m Mako” a boy with reddish eyes said “I’m Bolin’s brother”

“Korra? Is it really you?” the last person at the table said, standing up and embracing her. Korra was pretty confused.

“Ehm… Do I know you?” the Alaskan asked.

“It’s me” the girl replied “Jinora” Korra smiled as she finally recognized Tenzin’s daughter.

“JINORA!” she said, almost in a laugh “What the heck are you doing in high school? I didn’t recognize you!”

”Skipped a few grades” she winked. It made sense, she was always so darn smart. The year Tenzin lived in Alaska with his family, Korra had taken care of his kids several times. Meelo and Ikki, the younger ones, were lovely, but she and Jinora had bonded like sisters. Lunch was a blast and Korra felt she could fit in that group. Even is she was the Slayer and her mission in life was to kill vampires and demons.

Besides, in all honesty, Bolin’s brother was kinda hot.

***

“Tenzin?” she said, walking into the library. The man was nowhere in sight but she soon heard his voice from behind a pile of books.

“Korra?” the alluded one called “I’m so glad you are finally here”

“Me too” she said, walking towards him and giving him a light hug.

“How are you liking it here in Sunnydale?” he asked.

“It’s…” she pondered “Colorful” the man laughed and asked a few more questions before the two of them sat down at the table.

“So, I have something very important to tell you” he finally said with a serious tone ”It is no coincidence you are here in Sunnydale”

“I figured as much…” she replied “After what happened back home I…”

“It was not your fault” Tenzin interrupted as he placed a hand on her shoulder “You did your best”

“Still…” Korra looked down as she spoke “Katara…”

“It’s in the past, okay?” he removed his hand from her shoulder and coughed “I have good news. After negotiating with the council we have found a new Watcher for you”

“Really?” she asked, feeling guilty and excited at the same time.

“Me”

***

The Bronze was nice, Korra could not deny it, but she still felt uncomfortable. She wanted to talk to Mako, but she didn’t really know what she could say. He stood, tall and handsome, in the middle of the dance floor, with some girl he had just met revolving around him. Bolin was dancing with Opal and Jinora was not even allowed to go. She sat on the table alone, looking at the soft drink in her hand. The bubbles sparkled as the lights of the dance floor reflected on the glass. It was her second week in Sunnydale and she still felt as an outcast, in spite of the nice group of friends she had wound up in. They had a dynamic of which she still was not completely part of.

“You bored?” a gentle voice made its way to her ears and took her attention away from the glass in front of her. The Slayer looked up and found herself lost in the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.

“Wha...What?” she ended up saying.

“I asked if you were bored” the owner of the beautiful eyes said “You are new in town, aren’t you?”

“I… Well… I am… Yes” she answered. There was no way she could create a coherent answer. The human being in front of her was stunning. She had long black hair that cascaded gently over her shoulders, a perfect smile, a delicate face and the body of a model. Korra tried her best to look cool but as soon as the woman laughed she knew she had failed miserably. “I’m sorry. I suck at being a person” she said, hiding her face in her hands.

“It’s okay” the beauty replied “Me too” she gently pulled the chair next to Korra and sat down, never breaking eye contact. “I’m Asami”

“Korra” the Slayer managed to say. She internally congratulated herself for remembering her own name. Why was she so nervous around this woman?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you” Asami said with a smile that made Korra wonder is she was hiding something. Still, she spent the entire night talking with her, completely forgetting about the boy she had a crush on.

She started going to the club regularly and, after six nights spent hanging out with Asami, it became clear she was developing feelings for her. She had never been attracted to a woman before and it was really confusing to her. But she was the Slayer, and she killed vampires and demons almost daily. She could handle it. Or so she thought.

***

“You mean to tell me you do this every day?” Bolin asked. Korra nodded.

“While we are sleeping at home you are…” Mako said. She interrupted him.

“Killing vampires and demons. Yes” she completed the sentence with a defeated sigh. Well, that was it for keeping it a secret. She got up, still clutching the stake in her right hand.

***

“Be careful, Korra” Asami said, eerily appearing from the shadows behind her. Korra’s heart skipped a beat.

“Asami?” she asked. She hadn’t seen the other woman for about a week and now she showed up just as she was... “What are you doing here?”

“I just came to tell you that. Please, be careful” she walked towards the Slayer and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Korra was confused. What did Asami know that made her worry?

“I… I… Will…” she managed to say before taking a step back. She had to hurry if she was going to fight The First.

“Please don’t be afraid of me” the other woman said with a voice that made Korra shiver. “I just…”

“SLAYER!” the yell caught her off guard and she turned around to see three vampires charging at her. She couldn’t let them hurt Asami.

“Oh, you want a piece of me then you’re…” she could not finish the sentence. Asami had ran towards the attackers and kicked two of them on the face. The third one punched Korra on the side and she quickly grabbed the stake from her pocket and stabbed him in the chest. The vampire exploded on front of her and, through the dust, she saw the other woman snapping the neck of one of her opponents and pushing the other one into a broken pipe. When they were all gone, Korra was speechless. Asami’s back was turned to her and she walked towards her slowly.

“Asami… How in the…” the alluded one turned around abruptly and Korra found herself jumping back and clasping the stake on her hand as hard as she could. Her eyes were bright yellow and her forehead was unmistakably bumpy. That was the face of a vampire. Asami was a vampire.

“Korra please let me…” before she could say anything else the Slayer ran away as fast as she could.

***

“It’s a curse” Asami said “That is why have a soul”

“It doesn’t sound much like a curse to me” Korra replied, moving closer to Asami in the couch. The vampire moved back.

“It is” she said “I did horrible things in my past. I killed, tortured, massacred… It was easy when I had no conscience, but now that I do I feel all the guilt, Korra... I can see them when I close my eyes… Every single one of them…”

“I… I’m sorry” the slayer said “I didn’t think of it that way”

“Its okay” she smiled “When I am around you its better. Almost quiet”

“I’m glad”

***

“Sukidesu. Tsukiattekudasai” Asami said with a smile as she looked into Korra’s eyes. The slayer had only one word to say.

“What?” Korra asked, visibly confused. The vampire laughed.

“It means I like you… Can we start being in a relationship?

“I sometimes forget you are a 215 year old japanese vampire” Korra said.

“Half-japanese, actually” she replied ”And was that a yes?”

”No” the slayer said ”This is a yes” and with that she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Asami’s. The vampire smiled into the gesture and held the girl’s waist firmly. She forgot, for a second, how she was supposed to stay away from happiness of the curse would break. The would all be reminded of it pretty soon.

***

“ASAMI!” the slayer yelped as she ran to hug her girlfriend “You are okay” she said reassuringly as she held her tightly over the shoulders. The vampire held her waist firmly and purred as their lips crashed together in a hurried kiss.

“Yeah, I’m okay” she said calmly “I just had to get some things done”

“I was worried” Korra said, loosening her grip on the other woman’s shoulders and looking her in the eyes “I thought something had happened to you”.

“I’m okay, Korra” Asami laughed “Is this how it's going to be now that we slept together?”

“What?” Korra asked, hurt and confused at the question. She let Asami’s neck go and her arms fell at her sides heavily.

“Are you going to freak out everytime I leave?” she said, evidently bothered “Because if that is the case then it wasn’t worth it I mean… You weren’t even that good”

“Why are you talking to me like this?” Korra asked, clenching her fists. This didn’t make sense. The day before Asami had said she loved her and now this was happening?

“Come on, Korra!” Asami exclaimed, walking away from the slayer “It wasn’t such a big deal I mean… I’ve done it lots of times before and believe me, our little thing didn’t even make to the top 20”

“I hadn’t...” Korra whispered.

“You hadn’t what?” Asami asked with a tone of voice Korra had never heard in her before.

“I hadn’t… It was my first time”

“That makes a lot of sense…” the vampire laughed and Korra felt tears on her eyes. She wanted to ask her girlfriend what was happening, if she had done something wrong, but she was frozen in place, too shocked to react reasonably.

“Asami…” the slayer said weakly.

“Yes, dear?” the vampire replied as she walked towards the door.

”I love you” she said. The other woman half smiled.

”Love you too, sweetie” and with that she was gone, slamming the door shut. Korra sat on the bed and remained motionless for about ten minutes.

***

”Asami?” Tay Lee asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula raised her hands in a defensive stance. The woman laughed.

“That’s what they call me these days” she said ”But I really prefer Azael”

“AZAEL!” Azula yelled ”Is it really you?” the alluded one walked towards her and held her collar firmly wit her right hand, her face contorted into its vampire form. She smiled and kissed her hard on the lips.

“It is, dear” she said “Mommy’s home”

***

“Get away from him” Korra said and Asami turned around, still holding Bolin in her grip.

“Oh, sweetie” Asami smiled “You ruined the surprise”

“Get away from him” Korra repeated as she raised her hand, which tightly gripped a stake.

“But what about the fun…” the vampire replied, shifting her face and tracing the outline of Bolin’s neck with her fangs.

“Korra…” the boy cried.

“Asami leave my brother alone” Mako said between gritted teeth.

“What are you gonna do, lover boy?” she laughed “And it's Azael now, by the way”

“I am not going to say it one more time, Asami” the Slayer said “Get away from Bolin”

“I guess the surprise is ruined either way” the vampire replied as she threw the boy towards Korra.

****

“Pema” Azael said as she walked towards the gypsy. The woman looked up, absolutely terrified.

“Azael” she whispered as she got up from her chair.

“Finally someone gets it right” she said with a cruel voice ”You know I always suspected you were up to something but well, dear old Asami was actually glad to have you around… She knew you would try to stop me if I came back and yet now that I am here you are useless” she walked towards the computer with a raised a fist, hitting the machine and breaking it in half. Pema jumped back and began running as fast as she could. Asami’s face went full vampire as she murmured between her fangs “Old lady can run…”

Her kids, her husband, her students, her town, her life… She had to make it, the memory stick was on her pocket and it was all she needed to bring Asami back and send Azael back to hell for good. She had to do it. She could hear the vampire, running behind her, not making any effort to catch up. Pema knew she was being played. She stopped, and pushed a cleaning kart towards Azael. She fell loudly to the ground and the computer teacher ran up the stairs. If only she could make it to the library she could lock herself there. Azael would not be able to get in there, for Tenzin had it vampire sealed.

She could see the door. She could almost feel the knob in her hand. But the last thing Pema actually felt were the ice cold hands of the demon on her neck, and the last thing she saw were her yellow eyes looking into her green ones, and the last thing she heard was the sound of her own neck cracking and then… There was nothing.

***

“Pema?” Tenzin called as he walked into his house “Dear? Are you home?” he asked and then saw the pair of shoes next to the door “Did the kids call?”

No answer. As he made it to the living room he saw a bucket with ice and champagne. Pema was such a romantic. He smiled as he took the bottle and began walking up the stairs. There were rose petals on them.

“Pema you are so lovely” he said as he looked towards the bedroom door “You are really the best wife in the…” he let the bottle hit the ground and break, the only sound louder than the glass exploding was the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. Pema was there, her beautiful green eyes open looking at him, but there was no life in them and a little strain of blood came out of her nose and mouth.

“Pema?” he said as he took a step forward “Dear?” he fell to his knees and saw a yellow envelope at his side. Absentmindedly he took it and even if he knew what was going to be inside it he could still feel the burning in his heart as he saw the portrait of Pema signed with an A on the right lower corner of the paper

****

“Korra…” Asami said and she knew it was Asami and not Azael the moment her name left the demon’s lips “What’s going on?”

****

“Asami” she said and let the stake fall to the floor.

“Tenzin, we have a problem” Bolin rushed through the door, almost falling. The watcher raised his face quickly “It’s Korra”

“Bolin, please do calm down” the man said standing up “What is going on?”

“I saw her... I saw her with Asami. Asami is alive. I saw her with her… With Asami” the boy said, almost hyperventilating.

“What?” Tenzin asked, his eyelids so open the almost disappeared into his skull.

***

“So, guys I have some very good news. The best Slayer ever, also known as me, has found the glove of whateversome and why are you all looking at me like this?” Korra asked, looking at her friends with a puzzled look.

“We know” Mako said, frowning.

“Know what?” the Slayer asked, taking a seat in the table with everyone else.

“First of all” Opal said with a calm voice “I would like to make it clear that we are not here to judge and…”

“How could you do this, Korra?” Kai said, slamming the desk with his fist.

“Okay, some of us are here to judge but…”

“What the hell is going on guys? I don’t…”

“We know that Asami is alive” Mako finally said and Korra fell silent “Bolin saw you with her”

***

“Tenzin, thanks a lot for standing up for me I really…”

“I am not going to remind you how the future of the world falls in the hands of the Slayer” the older man said with a straight face “I am not even going to remind you how many people Asami murdered or the fact that she killed my wife and the mother of my children. I am not even going to mention that she tortured me for hours… I am just going to say that you lied to me and I am disappointed in you. Please, leave”.

“But…”

“Leave, please” Korra looked down, clenched her fists and stepped back. She could feel Tenzin crying as she went out the door.

#fanfic #buffy the vampire slayer #korra #legend of korra #korrasami #asami sato #asami #fanfiction #skyechaser

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whycraft · 5 years

Text

The Three Body Problem: Chapter 8

A/N: Possible tw for this chapter? The Watcher has some flashbacks to a war (nothing graphic, but they think Grian is one of their old brothers in arms (that’s not the right term but I can’t remember the right one))

The war progressed quite quickly after that. Flags were stolen, lives were lost, and both teams were a bit on edge - but no one was as on edge as Watcher. Frankly, it was giving Grian a bit of a headache.

It was for this reason that he suggested having a final battle; first to his own teammates, then to Team STAR. The war had been dragging on for a while, so everyone was pretty open to the idea.

On the day of the battle, Grian and the Watcher watched as Cub and Scar set up their cameras on the head platform, preparing to report on the battle.

I can’t believe they’re not going to fight, said the Watcher scornfully. Cowards, the both of them.

There’s a lot of people who aren’t fighting. They’re not cowards, they just don’t want to participate.

Cowards.

Grian sighed. Are you ready?

Yes.

Let’s go, then.

They joined up with the rest of G-Team in their meeting room. Grian gave a quick peptalk, then they talked strategy, then split into smaller teams and began gearing up.

Several communicators beeped at once. It was Cub: [Go!!]

The battle had begun.

Grian and Jevin immediately headed out of their base and towards Team STAR’s. Their task was to distract the archers and the ghast canon while Joe built a bridge over the moat. By that point in time, the moat was deadly - magma blocks and Guardians were scattered every few feet. In order to steal Team STAR’s final flag, G-Team had to be able to make it across the moat.

“I think I’m gonna try to blow a hole in their wall,” said Grian, inching as close as he could and pulling out his TNT.

“I’m going to try to draw their fire over here,” said Jevin. “Stay safe.”

Grian lit off the TNT, but it didn’t cause any substantial damage.

“Oh my gosh,” said Jevin. “Dude, I’ve gotta get out of here, there’s TNT everywhere -”

A ghast ball flew over Grian’s head and landed somewhere behind him. Next thing he knew, he was flying into the air with the sounds of explosions in his ears. He landed close to the water, unharmed save for fall damage.

“I’m guessing that was the TNT you were talking about?” he said, struggling to get the breath back into his chest. “Jevin? You okay?”

“No, man, I need to get some regen. Hang on -” Jevin tossed a regen potion at his feet. “I think we’ve got a successful bridge, by the way.”

The Watcher cheered inside his head, but Grian was too busy watching Doc and Ren. “Are they putting llamas in - I can’t believe my eyes, what are they doing?”

“Grian, we need more gear.”

Grian tore himself away from Doc and Ren’s llama machine. “Right. Quick retreat, then.”

They scampered back to G-Team’s base only to find that the front was overrun by witches. They backtracked to one of Jevin’s potion outposts and took turns pressing the button.

Grian and Jevin’s communicators beeped at the same time. It was ConCorp: [STAR 9, G 5]

We’re running out of lives, we need a new strategy! We need to take initiative!

Wels ran past them, leaping over the hill like some sort of bizarre gazelle.

Watcher took control and grabbed Cleo, who was running in the opposite direction. “Gang up on Wels, gang up on Wels!”

Watcher, you’ve got to warn me before you do that!

“I’ve only got a stone sword!” she said, but chased after Wels alongside Jevin nonetheless.

“It doesn’t matter, keep going,” said the Watcher, aiming his bow and releasing an arrow. Wels dodged it easily. “No, don’t let him - don’t let him get away!”

But Wels was too quick, and made it safely back to Team STAR’s base.

“Oh, he’s gone,” said the Watcher dispiritedly.

Grian took back control. “I’m going in with an invisibility potion. Jevin, Cleo, distract them.”

Between the invisibility potion and the darkness of night, it was easy to cross the battlefield and then Joe’s bridge unnoticed. He slipped into the labyrinth and closed the door behind him. He didn’t have to worry about phantoms; they’d all been killed by that point.

“Alright,” he said, “let’s do this.”

But that was easier said than done. A labyrinth was a labyrinth, after all, and it was not exactly easy to find one’s way in a labyrinth, much less in a barely-lit one. Each time they were met with a cave or a blank wall instead of a flag room, the Watcher became increasingly angrier.

It’s not in here!

No, wait, I think I see something.

It was the flag! It was in a long, thin room hidden behind iron bars. Grian broke the iron bars without hesitation and rushed towards the flag.

If it hadn’t been for the noise, he probably would have kept running. But there had been a noise. Grian knew a pufferfish when he heard one, and even he knew enough about redstone to realise that he’d probably set off a trap.

At the opposite end of the room, only a few blocks from the flag, there was an explosion. Then another - closer, this time - and another - and another - Grian turned back to go the way he’d come from, but there were explosions coming from that end, too. There was nowhere to go. Grian closed his eyes.

No! We’re going to lose!

We’re going to die!

But just before the explosions were about to reach them, they ceased. Grian cracked one eye open, then the other. Were they safe?

“Of course,” he realised. “They can’t blow up the pufferfish.”

In no time at all, they’d grabbed the flag and made their way to the top of the labyrinth. Unfortunately, they’d spent too long searching for the flag: their invisibility potion had run out.

We’re going to have to run for it, said the Watcher. Don’t stop until we’ve reached the meeting room. Are you ready?

As I’ll ever be. Grian peeked his head out of the door, then darted out of the labyrinth and across the bridge.

Almost immediately, the archers on top of the wall called out and started shooting at him. They jumped down from the wall and started chasing him before he could get out of range.

All the noise got the attention of just about every other Hermit in the battle, and friend and foe alike started following Grian - Team STAR to reclaim their flag, G-Team to protect Grian from Team STAR.

Faster, faster, they’re just behind us!

Watcher, I can’t go any -

Oh, go away! They wrestled control of the body away from Grian and ran faster. There were a few surprised yells from their Team STAR pursuers, who also began to run faster.

The Watcher’s fingers tightened around the flag pole, knuckles white against the wood. Their breathing hitched and stuttered.

Watcher? You good?

No, I’m not good, ∴ᔑℸ ᓵ⍑ᒷ ∷! We’re in the middle of a war!

What’d you call me?

This is no time for jokes! Shut up and cover me!

Watcher, I’m inside your head, I can’t run.

But the Watcher didn’t listen, only ran faster. They were at the back entrance of the G-Team base, and scrambled to press the button and get through the door with the flag in hand. They’d only just made it to the bubblevator when the door opened again and a group of Hermits poured in. The Watcher jumped into the bubblevator and shot upwards.

They’re going to catch me, the Watcher said hysterically. ∴ᔑℸ ᓵ⍑ᒷ ∷, do something!

Watcher, snap out of it!

The rest of the hermits were right on their tail. The bubblevator dragged them past the meeting room and spat them out on the roof of the G-Team base. Their foot caught on the rim of the bubblevator, causing them to crash onto the ground. They let out a low cry, holding the flag close to their chest as they slid a few blocks.

“Grian? Grian? Guys, I think something’s wrong.” It was Joe; the rest of the hermits had arrived.

“Grian?” Ren put a hand on the Watcher’s shoulder, but the Watcher grabbed his wrist in a vice-like grip, causing him to cry out in pain.

They stood up, and through gritted teeth, growled out, “I am not Grian.”

Ren yanked his arm away from the Watcher and backed away towards the other Hermits, who were warily readying their weapons.

“...Grian?” said Mumbo tentatively.

“I am not Grian!” Ignoring the many alarmed shouts, they turned tail and leapt off the roof.

#grian #grianmc #hermitcraft au #hermitcraft #evo #minecraft evo #minecraft evolution #watcher!grian #watcher grian #poultry man #minecraft fic #ttbp #whycraft writes #my post #:)

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just-under-lucid · 4 years

Text

A Little Catch Up

Oh boy. I haven’t actually written here in a while, have I? Well, a lot has happened. A whole lot. But I guess I’ll start at the beginning while I still remember it.

Hunter? Him? Yeah, he murdered Dance-For-Us. He flat out killed her. Gone. Dead. Nothing more. Maddie was really shaken up about it, and... I’m pretty sure I had another breakdown. I don’t remember most of it... I just remember waking up, covered in bandages, and getting told I was an idiot and to take care of myself. I don’t really... know what I’ll do to myself anymore. I know that I scratched my arms real badly... I can’t let that happen again. I’m just... so scared he’s going to get into us. And when he does, he’ll be in me too, and I don’t want him there. He needs to stay FAR AWAY FROM ME. I just need to keep my head down, like Ryder said. That’s it.

He has a name too. HTS. Hunt-The-Strong. ... Does writing it count. It better not. I... I can’t say it. I can’t say it again. I already told Speak-As-One but I won’t say it again. I can’t let him get stronger. The one who found it, she said he laughed. He laughed. And it was... blood-curdling. Terrifying. Like... he got more power from us learning it.

Oh god. He got more power from us learning it. Nonononono....

...

Okay. I’m back. Everything is fine. Perfectly fine. My entire life’s just falling apart at the seams, it’s fine.

Speak-As-One’s been having issues too. The Voice won’t talk to us. They’re keeping silent, they’re lying to us. They said that HTS was in containment. That he couldn’t get out. But here he is! Terrorizing us! It’s almost like something’s actually happening! My Watcher... they’re scared. They’re scared because the Voice is scared and they’re getting watched. Processed. Observed. They need results, and I can’t get them. I don’t know how long I have! I don’t know how much information I need! And I don’t know if I can get it! Tanith’s back, so she’s helping me, but... but...

They’re just so broken. They almost killed someone, they’re not listening to us, they’re hiding things, entire archives even! Measure said so. He helped build them. The Voice is hiding everything! They’re not acting and taking action without explaining themselves! God... I even yelled at them again. I think... it might be bad this time. I think... I accused them. Of letting HTS run amok. Letting him, when they could stop it. That’s sure what it fucking feels like! They’re doing nothing, they’re explaining nothing, what am I supposed to do? Not suspect something fishy? Not fill in the gaps myself? God, our Voice is an idiot! They need to do something!

... I started sending Rituals to others again. To try and... protect us. To gather information. To try and convince them to help find the missing kids Seed was talking about. ... To try to help the others myself. It’s stupid. They have no reason to talk to me. They all know who I follow already, right? But... it’s worth a try. And... I guess... I owe In-Her-Teeth the same respect I gave the others. I asked her again, why she thinks voiding Stalkers is okay. I guess I’ll have to wait and see. I can almost feel Krystal smirking at me.

Oh yeah. That. That’s also a thing. I’m an idiot. We all know this, but I’m an idiot. My brain thought that as soon as I was feeling alright again from leaving Knox to keep him safe, that APPARENTLY the local TOOTH FOLLOWER was cute. I barely even remember when the switch flicked! One minute I was doing a mission, and the next they were shaking me out of an apparently hormoNE DRVEN STUPOR.

They’re basically living with me now. .......... oh. theyre living with me now. its. okay. okay. ive read this before. i.

Okay back again after screaming into a pillow.

Apparently we’re on holding hand terms now. It’s kinda really nice. I guess I missed it... I don’t know what to do though. Speak-As-One doesn’t... like relationships... and Krystal’s... definitely not on our side... I don’t know what to do with this information. I... I like them a lot... even though they’re kind of scary... This is fine. Perfectly fine. ... I hate their restrictions...

At least I’m not doodling again... I still don’t think I know how to draw that correctly.... and i dont really wanna practice in case they find it... I should probably hide my notebooks better...

As long as they don’t find this journal it’s fine. Right? Those are secreted anyway. You can’t read them without my pen. It’ll be fine.

I... I think that’s everything... I’ll need to keep up with this better... For my own sake...

#ic #journals #tbc rp

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jennycalendar · 6 years

Text

s2e13: surprise

synopsis: jenny’s responsibilities start mixing and mingling with the people she’s starting to love, and she struggles to handle the fallout before it spins out of her control.

INT. COMPUTER LAB — DAY

Buffy sticks her head into the classroom, and sees Jenny sitting on the edge of her desk, staring pensively ahead.

BUFFY

Hey, Ms. Calendar, Giles told me to tell you — what’s going on?

JENNY

(distant)

What? Oh, um, nothing. Nothing.

BUFFY

(drawing out the word)

Okaaaay.

(careful)

Listen, you talked to Giles for me that one time. You sure I can’t help with whatever this is?

JENNY

Pretty solidly certain.

BUFFY

So it’s grown-up stuff?

JENNY

I think that that term sounds a little patronizing, and I don’t know if it’s a good way to describe the situation. It’s not strictly—

BUFFY

Ugh, I’m starting to get why Giles likes you so much. Seriously, what’s wrong?

Jenny bites her lip, then turns to Buffy.

JENNY

Remember when we had that talk about duty and destiny and all that fun stuff?

BUFFY

Like it was yesterday.

JENNY

I have — a responsibility of my own. Kind of. It’s not something I can share freely, and it’s something I’ve been trying to avoid, because I have a life here now and I don’t want that life to go away. But—

BUFFY

But the responsibility showed up again to bite you in the ass?

JENNY

(smiling)

Little bit.

Buffy considers this, sitting down next to Jenny on the desk. Then:

BUFFY

Is your responsibility gonna hurt anyone any time soon?

JENNY

I’m a little bit worried that it might.

BUFFY

Well, I’m the Slayer. So I can totally slay your duty if that’s what needs slaying.

Jenny smiles slightly.

JENNY

I’m gonna hold you to that.

BUFFY

Just as long as it’s not on my birthday, because — you know. That day’s all about me.

Buffy bumps Jenny’s shoulder in a friendly sort of way. Jenny doesn’t look quite as tense anymore.

BUFFY

Hey, you’re getting me a birthday present, right?

JENNY

What?

BUFFY

It’s a Scooby responsibility. All those who fight vamps with the Slayer must get the Slayer cute shoes on her birthday to show their appreciation.

JENNY

You try that line on Giles yet?

BUFFY

Giles doesn’t know what cute shoes are, Ms. Calendar. If I asked him I’d end up wearing something tweedy that smells like mothballs.

JENNY

He doesn’t smell like mothballs, he smells like—

Jenny immediately stops talking, looking suddenly mortified. Buffy’s grinning widely.

BUFFY

(singsong)

Someone’s been smelling Gi-iles.

Jenny buries her face in her hands.

BUFFY

What does he smell like, Ms. Calendar?

JENNY

Tell anyone about this and I’m not getting you anything for your birthday.

BUFFY

If you and Giles got married, would I be your Slayer-in-law?

JENNY

Nothing. Not even one shoe.

INT. JENNY’S CAR – NIGHT

Buffy, Angel, and Jenny are driving in a miserable silence. Buffy’s staring out the window, lower lip trembling.

JENNY

(awkwardly)

Um, I got you those shoes.

Buffy doesn’t answer. She reaches out to take Angel’s hand.

JENNY

Pink, little strappy things, completely impractical for a Vampire Slayer…they’ll look great with that dress you were telling me about.

BUFFY

Can I have them when we get back?

JENNY

(startled)

What?

BUFFY

The shoes.

JENNY

Of course.

Buffy leans on Angel’s shoulder. Jenny keeps driving, looking genuinely sad.

INT. JENNY’S CAR (AGAIN) — NIGHT

Angel, now soaking wet from the lake water, is in the backseat, looking extremely wrung-out. Jenny looks tense too.

ANGEL

My apartment’s this way.

JENNY

I know. I’ve got it covered.

ANGEL

We really need to speed this up. If Spike’s piecing together the Judge—

JENNY

Angel, if Spike’s piecing together the Judge, we’re all going to die no matter how fast I drive this car, so can you please just—

Jenny takes a breath, swallows hard.

JENNY

Sorry. I’m sorry.

ANGEL

It’s okay. Tonight hasn’t exactly been what any of us were hoping for.

JENNY

(helplessly)

It’s Buffy’s birthday.

ANGEL

(heavy)

I know.

JENNY

Doesn’t she get a day off from saving the world? Just one day where she gets to be happy and responsibility-free?

ANGEL

I don’t think it works like that.

JENNY

It should.

ANGEL

Won’t argue with that.

They drive in silence for a while. Jenny’s biting her lip; she looks like she wants to say something but doesn’t know how.

ANGEL

Ms. Calendar?

Jenny doesn’t answer.

ANGEL

It was nice of you to get Buffy those shoes. She’s lucky she’s got someone watching out for her.

Jenny’s hands tighten around the steering wheel a little.

INT. ANGEL’S APARTMENT — NIGHT

Angel opens the door, letting Jenny enter first. He follows, crossing to the armoire.

JENNY

(awkward)

Should I just—

Angel starts taking off his shirt.

JENNY

(averting her eyes)

Okay. Not awkward at all.

ANGEL

It’s a one-room apartment, and I don’t generally have people over.

JENNY

So I’m special?

ANGEL

Well, you did drive.

Jenny smiles a little sadly and looks down at her hands as Angel steps off-camera to change.

JENNY

You’re a stand-up guy, Angel.

ANGEL (O.S.)

I don’t know if I’d say that.

JENNY

Trust me. Coming from me, that really does mean a lot.

Silence. We can hear the rustle of clothing off-camera. Jenny takes her necklace out from under her shirt, plays with it idly.

ANGEL (O.S.)

Am I overstepping if I ask what’s going on with you and Giles?

JENNY

Not really.

ANGEL (O.S.)

Because last time I asked—

JENNY

Last time you asked, I was in a dumpster and my skirt got caught on a human hand.

ANGEL (O.S.)

Fair enough.

JENNY

And it’s not like I can talk to Rupert about what’s going on between him and me. That sort of defeats the purpose.

ANGEL (O.S.)

So there is something going on.

JENNY

Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, we’re friends. Good friends.

ANGEL (O.S.)

Best friends, according to Buffy.

JENNY

That’s—

(stops)

pretty accurate. Fair enough.

Angel, now fully dressed and mostly dry, crosses the room to sit down next to Jenny.

ANGEL

A word of advice: if you’re not sure whether or not there’s something going on, odds are there might be a hint of something going on.

JENNY

(distant)

He has a really nice mouth.

ANGEL

(uncomfortable)

Yeah, uh, that — that’s probably something.

INT. LIBRARY — NIGHT

Angel and Jenny enter. Buffy looks somewhat comforted by their return, and as Angel moves to greet her, Giles crosses to Jenny.

GILES

Are you all right? You’ve seemed a bit off as of late.

Jenny hesitates, then smiles a little exhaustedly.

JENNY

Doing better, I think. I talked to Angel.

GILES

Oh?

JENNY

He’s surprisingly good with advice. Put a lot of things into perspective.

GILES

Well. Perspective is always good.

Giles reaches out, squeezes Jenny’s shoulder, hurries past her to get back to research. Jenny stays still, taking in the moment.

JENNY

(slowly)

Perspective is always good.

Jenny wavers for a moment, then crosses the room, grabbing Giles’s shoulder to pull him down and kiss him on the cheek. Without waiting to see his reaction, she lets go of him, hurrying out of the library.

JENNY

(over her shoulder)

I’ll be right back!

Giles reels, grinning like an idiot.

WILLOW

(teasing)

So, Giles! Ready to get researching?

GILES

(dazed)

The — research — what?

BUFFY

Great. Ms. Calendar broke my Watcher.

XANDER

Well, we all knew the day was coming.

INT. HOTEL ROOM — NIGHT

Jenny bursts into the room, looking nervous but determined.

JENNY

Listen—

ENYOS

I refuse to let you pontificate about how Angelus has changed because of a soul we cursed him with.

JENNY

Uncle—

ENYOS

You forget so easily: the soul is a punishment. He is not a new man just because—

JENNY

Angel and I have been alone countless times and he hasn’t once tried to kill me. I’d say that that makes him a pretty new man in comparison to Angelus.

ENYOS

Janna, you know what you were sent here to do.

JENNY

We can’t punish Angelus by making him Angel, Uncle, it doesn’t — it doesn’t make sense. He’s a different man, he cares, he tries—

ENYOS

His soul is a curse. It is not something created to change him, to make him a new man, it is something meant to place the burdens of his guilt upon him. He will never be anyone but Angelus, and Angelus must be made to pay—

JENNY

But what about Buffy?

ENYOS

The Slayer is irrelevant.

JENNY

Buffy loves him. That has to count for something.

ENYOS

You are not here to protect the Slayer, Janna, you are here to honor your family.

JENNY

Wow, when you frame it like that, it really sounds like something good.

ENYOS

(tired)

What are your values, then? You with your determination to fix everything in this world just by virtue of knowledge and courage — do you know how many good people have died going down the road you are choosing to take? Avenge those who we have lost, Janna. Do not become a footnote in our family history.

Jenny looks at him for a long time.

JENNY

There are people who I love who are going to be devastated if I act against Angel. There are people who trust me implicitly and don’t hand out that trust to just anyone.

ENYOS

Then you are at a crossroads.

JENNY

Uncle—

ENYOS

We have told you, time and time again, what Angelus has done, what he deserves—

JENNY

And I agree with you. Completely. But Angel isn’t Angelus.

ENYOS

Remember that when your choice puts the ones you claim to love in danger.

Enyos gets up from his chair, looks expectantly at Jenny.

ENYOS

Now. Was there anything else you wished to barge in and tell me?

Jenny stares at him, furious but biting it back. After a moment, she turns on her heel and storms out.

INT. LIBRARY — NIGHT

Buffy and Angel have left, and the children are asleep around the classroom when Jenny steps back into the library, looking more sad than angry. She steps up to Giles, who’s paging through a book.

GILES

Jenny—

Without a word, Jenny steps into his arms, hugging him.

JENNY

(definitively)

You’re important to me. That’s what’s going on between us right now.

Giles sort of pats Jenny’s head.

GILES

That’s, um, good. Are you sure you’re all right?

JENNY

Not really. But I will be.

#fic #calendiles day #maybe i'm in love #shdfdlsk this fic really is a lot of canon inspired bitterness

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dailyserperior · 7 years

Note

Have any tips for starting a daily pokemon blog?

Ahhh i’m not sure if I’m a good person to ask but I can try to give some tips! (I think I’ve been asked this in the past too but my nets not really letting me go look right now)

Also this got a little long so I’m sorry ;v; Also i’d take everything I say with a grain of salt, I’m just a nervous person who loves serperior

But if you want to start a pokemon blog, defs pick a pokemon you not only love but love to draw! Doesn’t matter if it’s been done before, it hasn’t been done in your style! Everyone will add their own touch to how they draw. Like no lie one of my fav things is seeing how various people interpret a pokemon, heck even when they interpret YOUR pokemon (I may or may not have several things saved of people drawing Ex in their style cuz its so COOOLLLLLLL, let alone my serp folder)

Sometimes though the pokemon may be hard to draw and you may get frustrated. Like I know I could never run a sceptile blog like my friend does. ( @weekly-megasceptile ) I’ve drawn her sceptile a few times and hoo boy it wasn’t really that fun for me. I give Mint mad props for drawing that thing. My sister ( @occasionallymew ) has come to me a few times because she needed help drawing a pokemon or wasn’t sure on what a pokemon was. in her own words

“It’s why i have the bean [bean is how she and I refer to her mew Jesus]”

So if your favorite pokemon isn’t fun to draw for you you may end up just not having fun. And then you won’t want to run the blog.

That being said if your design is hard don’t think you can’t do it! draw it a bit before starting your blog to see how you like it and it’ll also get easier the more you do it.

Funny enough before I started drawing daily serperior I actually wasn’t that great at drawing snakes. I rarely did. I mostly draw humanoids and monsters and gore. So drawing a snake each day was interesting, more so because I like to draw Serperior closer to a python than how it canonically look (this is kinda the reason they are much rounder how I draw them)

But after drawing it for over 400 posts, I’ve gotten pretty good at it, I don’t really need to look at refs as much for how noodles curl, I can normally just figure it out on my own. I also no longer need to look at pictures of serperior when I’m drawing because I’ve just gotten so used to it. Like I know where to put the yellow curls, I know the husks.

That’s another thing though! this is more a general art tip than daily related, but don’t be afraid of using refs!! Don’t trace or copy directly but using a reference is a wonderful thing if you are unsure of something or the like. Like I have a folder on my laptop that is literally filled with pythons. Just lots and lots of snoots.

Another thing is a bit harder because I can get how discouraging it can be, but don’t feel down if you don’t get a lot of asks or interactions right off. And this may seem a bit mean, but don’t rely on asks to give you content for the blog. The internet can be a fickle place so you may not get the asks you want or many asks. When i started off I didn’t have too many asks if any so I just drew Serperior (this was before I decided to make it my character of excalibur) doing whatever, mostly it was related to Christmas because when I started I was in the middle of finals right before winter break. I was using this as a way to decompress each day after classes, and slowly i started to get some asks.

Depending on your frequency of update, the time you update, how you tag, and your sense of humor or the like, can affect if you get more asks. It also depends on how you interact with your asks.

Sometimes a post will sky rocket and then you get flooded. That’s kinda what happened with Daily Serperior, I can’t remember if it was the Gengar Plush post or the pizza post or even the move in post I had made, but something set off and I got asks a lot.

And don’t be afraid to turn your inbox off if you need to!! I know I’ve had to a few times, actually I had it off for a while, i had it reopened for the giveaway in case people had questions about it. I’ll be closing it again for a bit once I’ve finished the giveaway, because I get overwhelmed easily and it can lead to stress.

Also on the subject of asks, don’t be afraid to delete an ask that makes you nervous or uncomfortable!! Sadly not everyone is super chill, and occasionally you get some weird or bad asks. God am I no stranger to that. Honestly that’s the reason I’ve closed the ask box a few times, some people don’t like listening if you ask them to not send a specific thing. And sometimes it’ll get bad enough you want to quit (I’ve actually had a friend stop their daily blog because she got so tired of a certain type of ask). And if one person keeps sending don’t be afraid to block. I hate blocking but I’ve had to block a few blogs because they would send me asks time and time again on a subject I explicitly asked to not be sent because it makes me highly uncomfortable.

Now to get away from the negative,

All and all a daily blog is mostly about having fun. Interact with the community, send asks to other blogs ect.

Oh that reminds me, but depending on you, if you want to send in character asks it may be good to make a separate account not just a side blog.

With dailyserp i can’t actually follow back or ask as this account it’s a side blog. I do all my following and asks from my main @abunnydreamingofkisses

(so if you see that name in your notes or watcher list it’s me!) Or i send asks on Anon. I typically send anons to other blogs because I’m pretty shy. I’m always terrified to talk to people. I’m also just really bad at holding a conversation because I just have issues coming up with things to talk about. or I’m drawing and I’m hyperfocused. So if you plan to interact more it may be best to have a separate blog. I never expected to actually get any followers I just wanted to draw a doofy noodle, so I made it a side blog and I sometimes regret that but at the end of the day it’s easier for me.

Another thing is I know there are a number of discord chats you can potentially join! I personally don’t join group chats because it actually will spike my anxiety, I love people and I like to chat and makes jokes but due to a few poor experiences with group chats in the past I have to avoid them to keep from having panic attacks. But if you are able to maybe ask around see if you can’t join some. you’ll make friends most likely and memes are kinda a good way to get followers oddly enough (people like to laugh haha)

If Humor isn’t your thing maybe go for plot. I Know I follow a few plot based blogs and man it’s killer waiting for an update. Like over at @daily-poppy-primarina I adore the Brutus story line. I’ve got a thing for monstrous characters so learning about the dark primarina is really fun.

I know on serp I focus mainly on humor with a sprinkling of plot, but that’s mostly because almost all my asks are humor based. I actually do have a plot all written out in a notebook on this noodles past, and I even have a comic I keep meaning to finish up after I lost the original but lifes been in my way (hence my multi week hiatus)

also never be afraid to take a break. I think that has to be my last tip. I hate taking breaks but sometimes it’s needed. Sometimes you’ll get burnt out, sometimes you are over whelmed, sometimes you just feel like getting away. It happens. But don’t let it control you to the point you hate your blog. Take a step back take a breather. It’ll be okay.

At the end of the day it’s about you having fun creating a thing you want. Draw, Write, send memes to ect.

So I guess that’s all i have to say ;v; sorry for the length I’m really bad with being concise haha

#anonymous #ask #sorta snek #Mun rambles

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omzeehangover-blog · 6 years

Text

Bandage knights

It was about a decade in the kingdom of elkia that the "great war" ended. There were six heroes saved the whole kingdom from the brink of destruction. After the battle the heroes disbanded their group called "bandage knights". The great war was an oiled battle, many people lost their lives for just some coup de tat, the villains are powerful to be defeated but the heroes has managed somehow.

Years and months passes not a single one of the heroes has been seen. The villains called "the dark knights" arised from imprisonment with the help of traitorous guards. The heroes knows that the prophecy that Janice the prophet said " if there is light there's always shadows that hides"

It was a sunny day like any other day at Lancelot's place between the river of death and the valley of light. While he was chopping woods right beside his wife benivere who's cooking outside. Lancelot said off the bat.

Lancelot - I think somethings missing my love

Benivere - what is it dear?

Lancelot - I feel empty but you always makes my day full. Not that I lack of love but some adventure.

Benivere - I'll support your decisions my dear. But if you leave promise me that live until you came back here* kiss him in the forehead"

Lancelot - *hugged her* yes my love I'll be back for you.

It was the start of the new chapter of the heroes

While Lancelot is on a journey the Dark Knights hides on the academy of knights(underground hide out) while walking inside their lair they've sensed someone.

Arthur - I feel someone's here

Black ox - hmm *looked up* who are you!?

The person jumped in front of them

Ninja - *lands in front of the* as I expected from the dark knights.

Janice - haha some obvious hiding spot you got. Well what do you need from us?

Ninja - I'm here to help you to track down those new heroes down but. Can you give me information about the secret weapon.

Janice - what do you do prove that we can trust you?

Ninja - I'll give you the information about them. Deal?

Janice - okay its a fair trade I guess. Cuz we want revenge from those party poopers.

They've exchange information and they've agreed that ninja will take care of the heroes and they'll prepare the weapon for an another attack on the kingdom

After a while Lancelot arrived at the nearest village, while buying some equipment he overheard that the dark knights escaped from prison. The walking and saw some villagers gathering at the fountain, Lancelot tooks closer look to see who's been getting the attention, he suddenly surprised that it was an old friend

Lancelot - hey Brocky!

Brocky - oh hey Lancelot long time no see. See my muscles here. Let's talk on a cafe because it noisy here

They've looked for a cafe and entered, they've called for a waitress and she was a familiar face. She was sachi the waitress.

Sachi - what are your oder sir? Wait do I know you two?

Lancelot - huh? Brocky do you know her?

Sachi - Brocky! Is that really you and you, are you Lancelot?

Lancelot - uhm yeah. And you are?

Sachi - well if grown some oppai.

Lancelot - sachi?

Sachi - bingo! Ding ding ding. How are you two going?

Brocky - well I have a job at a construction site and the pay is decent.

Lancelot -*serious* guys I have to discuss about and great timing that you two are here so let's get to it.

Sachi - wait wait what are you gonna do again

Lancelot - gonna go the the castle and find the truth about the war

Sachi - where are we gonna find a person who knows what really happened?

Lancelot - some information leaked that there's a wizard prisoned on the castle that knows everything.

Sachi - I'm listening.

Brocky - well that's interesting.

Lancelot - let's plan it tonight are you guys in?

Sachi - yeah yeah I'm in*cute face*

Brocky - okay count me in too.

. They planned on what to bring and discuss everything tomorrow.The night passed and dawn arises, Sachi woke early then wandered at the back of the tavern.

Sachi - *yawn* those two sleep's like a rock, gonna start my day with a little warm up.

She draws a short sword with a crest of the Schwi(family crest), pointing at a tree then slash it with speed like a thunder strike, the tree shook. The loud bang woke the two up with a shocked face.

Lancelot - woah! What was that?

Brocky - I don't know, let's check it out. I think it's at the back of the tavern.

The two run immediately and seen a burned tree while the half of it were at flames. While the two standing in the balcony, Sachi jumped in front of them with a scary but cute face.

Sachi - boo! Haha did I scare you guys.

Brocky - did she scare us lance?

Lancelot - nope not single bit. By the way what are you doing?

Sachi - tsk I thought I had you two, well I'm just having a little warm up, let's head to you room for our plan.

Lancelot put a map and opened it then started discussing their destination. Brocky points out the capital village of the half elves.

Brocky - hmm I think that this way is the nearest route to the kingdom.

Sachi - what are we even doing in the kingdom lance?

Lancelot - huh? Ohh just some questions about the war, let's get on with it guys!

Brocky and Sachi - okay!!

They started talking about their past life like what have been doing in those past years and what happened to the others. Excitement overwhelmed the three to cast out early in the afternoon.

Lancelot - everythings ready guys?

Sachi - hmm I think I forgot my bag in my room, I'll be right back.

Then Sachi walk with speed.

Brocky - is it okay to let Sachi joins us in our journey?

Lancelot - what's wrong Brock? Are you against it or something?

Brocky - it's just like that I feel uneasy about women.

Lancelot - am I missing something?

Brocky - well you see it started about a year ago, I saving the neighboring village from the raiding bandits. While I was busy fighting the leader of the bandits named "sahadi" the women and children was slaughtered right in front of my face *sighs*. I couldn't even save them. So I feel uneasy protecting women and children.

Lancelot - ohh I'm sorry Brock. About what happened I'm very sorry.

Brocky - it's not your fault but I'm okay now or a little bit. I'm still recovering from what happened, let's just forget about that okay?

Lancelot - okay Brock.

Suddenly Sachi arrived beside them with her bag

Sachi - what's with the long faces guys? You two are scared or something?

Lancelot - nah this f-face it's our journey face, hehe

Brock - y-yeah i-it's nothing

Sachi - uhmm okay? Just forget it, we are gonna be all day chit-chatting, let's go guys

So the journey continues, they ride through the dusty road with a little wagon that they rented at the merchant's guild, while Sachi is sleeping inside Lancelot guards the backside of the wagon while Brocky droves the wagon.

Brocky - hail ho!!! We're almost at the "sneaky forest"

Sachi - keep your voice down! I'm sleeping here and we're not even in a ship

Brocky - ohh my bad. Haha

Lancelot - hey. What's going on there!?

Sachi - nothing don't mind us. Teehee

While entering the forest lancelot sensed somethings watching them. But lancelot never minds the watcher but keeps his guards up.

Someone jumped in front of the wagon and blocked the road while yelling

Bandit 1 - get out of the wagon and hand over your properties!

Bandit 2 - ohh i think we hit the jackpot, we got a beauty in the back

Bandit 3 - hahaha she'll be our hostage and will be wife

Sachi - what's with that worm talking? He thinks he got things under control.

Lancelot - just don't go all out sachi

Sachi - I'll use 10% of my strength

She pulls out her short sword and dashed with haste and slashed the ground that the ground shook for a second. Bandits were terrified that they're feet were shaking.

Sachi - boo! Get out of here!

Bandit 1 - let's scram

Bandit 2 - okay let's go

Bandit 3 - I'm gonna tell boss about this

The bandits fleed in the tall bushes and suddenly disappeared.

Next page is in the upper post

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

God i love the trope of people who have animal traits going feral. So writing Grian is fun. I just realized that one time Grian said ‘I am the embodiment of twitch chat’ could imply those voices. i meant, it’s a stretch, but eh, whatever.

@petrichormeraki

Tommy hated how soon they were already gathered, preparing for another war. Hermitcraft was safe, the only wars were simply fun between friends. But now it was just like back on the smp. “I’ve got my disc box ready.” Tommy put the shulker in his inventory, looking over at Mumbo. “What about you?”

“I’m not really the best at these fights, so I’m just geared up and hoping I don’t die helping people out of here.”

“Help people out? What, are some of the hermits chickening out?” Tommy joked to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help.

“No. No one is going to just run off during all this. Grian’s our friend, practically family. But plenty of the people from your old world have been visiting. And with how you’ve talked about them, I doubt all of them will leave even though they should. And… Xisuma isn’t here. I don’t know how its supposed to work, but if he’s not here, we might not respawn.”

Tommy felt his blood run cold. He hadn’t thought of that. He could actually die. It had been so long since he was worried, having only one canon life left. He remembered Xisuma telling him he had ten, and every time he asked if a death counted, the admin said it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t until election 2 that he thought it had to be canon when he finally realized that he was never going to run out of lives. No one was. But now he could.

“Well, I know them best. I should probably help with that.”

“You’re a better fighter, if either of us is going after Grian, it should be you.”

“Look, how about we just both fly over there now and help get people out, and when the fighting starts, we fly back to give whoever was already fighting a break.” Tommy suggested, and Mumbo reluctantly agreed.

Grian was flying towards a new island, one he knew was going to have everyone that wasn’t supposed to be there. Maybe Tommy will be there too. No way, he’ll be after Grian. But some of those people were his friends, right? Don’t you remember, Tommy said they abandoned him, exiled him. He forgave Tubbo easily. That’s different. How? Oh shit what’s that. Did Grian build that? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

Grian stopped listening and actually focused on the portal that had appeared in front of him. He hadn’t made it, especially since he didn’t have anyone to put there. So he tried to fly around it. It disappeared thankfully, but another appeared. Tubbo did say that cat was Tommy’s friend too. That was a cat? We could go and bring her back out. She might know where Tommy is! Oh that’s true! Grian dived into the portal.

“Oh look who finally dragged themselves home. It’s Xelqua.” Grian looked for the voice, then glared at them.

“You know I haven’t used that name since I was in your world Lynn.” Grian ruffled his feathers before preening them.

“Duck meat.”

“Mystic bitch.”

“Seed breath.”

“Rabbit freak.”

“Feather fart.”

“Pa-” “Grian, Lynn. Calm yourselves.” Grian stopped his insult to look at who approached.

“Sorry Zloy.” Grian said, rolling his eyes and then sticking his tongue out at Lynn.

“I saw that.”

“I know you did! What don’t we see?” Grian crossed his arms. Can he really boss you around like that? That dude is big. Bet you could- Grian shook his head to get those pesky voices to shut up. “Why am I here?”

“Pin was really upset that you left so early. Noah’s the only one that didn’t mind, but obviously you should have stayed longer.” Zloy spoke in a disapproving tone.

“Hey, Tommy is my brother. If Gxrgeous didn’t let things get this bad-” Grian started to complain, but Zloy cut him off.

“She doesn’t want to interfere like the rest of us.”

“Oh but Noah, Goof and Pin can? I’m a watcher because they interfered. You get more watchers by interfering.”

“And what, did you want Tommy to be one too?”

Grian felt his feathers puff up with agitation. “No! Of course not. I’m just saying she could have stopped things before they got to children being put in wars!”

“And here you are making more.” Lynn taunted Grian, making him even angrier.

“They started it by showing up in the first place to take Tommy! I only broke my promise to save him!”

“And what about now?” Zloy asked, drawing Grian’s attention back to him. “Why continue it?”

“Contin- What are you talking about? What, is Gxrgeous upset I’m helping out where she failed?”

“Pixlriffs, did you open up a window yet?” There was an answer of affirmation and suddenly Grian was staring into a watcher portal.

“And den we went to space! And dere were impastas and I got ta be one wit my dad, and we killed everyone and Sprinklez was so happy!” Crumb explained to Xisuma. The admin nodded along, half paying attention as he tried once more to access his admin panels and get them out of there.

“X! Where are we?!” Xisuma looked up and then around until he saw Iskall getting closer, falling from above with one of their other guests, Hbomb.

“I have no clue. I’m not getting any readings and I can’t access any admin panels to get us out of here.”

“Hey! You guys are my dad’s friends!” Crumb recognized Iskall, though she had only briefly seen him, and the other guy looked familiar, so that must have been who Sparklez said they just found. “We’ve been falling forever and it, well it was getting a little lonely but now we can share more stories!”

“Well, based on what was going on, might be something to do with Watchers with how Grian was looking. Though he was going to kill me when we saw him.”

“I have absolutely no clue what’s going on.” Hbomb spoke up, hoping the other three would have some explanation for him. Okay maybe just the two hermits, he wasn’t completely sure how much he would get out of Crumb.

“What does he mean with how I was looking? I’m just trying to hang out with my family!” Grian argued, making Zloy look a little confused.

“Grian, you started using your watcher powers to attack people. You threw those four in a Watcher portal, but as there is no new world prepared yet, they’re stuck in a place where no world exists.”

“What? But, I mean while I have trouble controlling myself when I’m using my watcher powers, I can remember everything once I’m a little more lucid. I mean, you remember the explosion.”

“Of course, Pixlriffs ran to me as soon as he noticed it was happening. Do you really not remember this going on?” Grian shook his head. “That’s not good. And we can’t look into it much if you’re here, so we’ll have to send you back.”

“Zloy, if you have to interfere, don’t let people get hurt.” Grian suddenly felt small and nervous, scared for his friends' safety. “And please, try not to let me go too haywire.”

“We can try, but until we know what’s going on…”

“I get it. But you better get Gxrgeous’ help too since this involves them now.”

“We will.”

Another portal appeared and Grian recognized the world of Hermitcraft on the other side. He didn’t want to go through, but if he didn’t now, he might never get to return. So he stepped through. Do you really think they know what they’re doing? Yoooo it was Zloy. Are you new, we’ve seen him before. We still need to keep Tommy safe, right? Hey Philza logged in. The dadza! Dadzaaaaaa. Guys, now I want pizza. What if he takes Tommy? Oh yeah, he shouldn’t be here either. Infinity portal time guys.

Grian sped up his flying, more determined to reach the island now.

Tommy was surprised to see a familiar avian as he and Mumbo landed on the island. “Phil? What are you doing here?”

The hardcore player looked surprised to see Tommy so soon. “I’m actually here for you Tommy. What’s going on?”

“Grian’s gone crazy and is apparently attacking people. I’m here to help get people back to the smp with Mumbo.” He moved to push Philza back through the portal. “So now is like the worst time for a visit.”

“Feels like it’s more of a perfect time to bring you back.”

Tommy, who was more focused on helping everyone else, suddenly looked over at Philza. “What? No, I’m staying! I’m staying right here! You should understand that! I’m going to help Grian! Just because you didn’t have him for like 15 years or something, doesn’t mean he’s not family!”

Philza grabbed Tommy’s arm. “And that’s exactly why you should come back. I saw him start going on a rampage because of you. What if this is just some of the same?”

Tommy shook his head. “That could just mean me leaving could make it worse.”

“Guys! I know your argument must be very fascinating, but I’m pretty sure that’s Grian flying towards us!” Mumbo yelled to get their attention and Philza and Tommy looked up to where the redstoner was pointing, Grian indeed flying towards them.

Tommy yanked his arm away and started to pull out his shulker box when purple energy formed around the watcher avian and suddenly he was gone. Tommy’s eyes scanned the sky until a yell came from right behind him. When the blond turned, he had to crane his neck up to see the form Grian had taken. He looked like something out of stories he heard from one of the hermits. Angels with multiple wings and eyes covering them. Tommy could tell it was Grian, but at the same time, he didn’t.

“Dear lord.” Tommy heard Mumbo mumble. Grian was holding Philza in talons as a portal slowly formed made mostly of bedrock. Though Tommy was upset at his dad, he still didn’t want anything to happen to him. Fortunately the hardcore player could handle himself and stabbed Grian. He dropped to the ground and lost his health, but not knowing where that portal would lead, it was a better option.

Tommy ran to his dad, ready to defend him, but the Watcher’s attention was drawn by another smp member who was trying to get to the infinity portal. With a swipe of a wing, Grian pushed the smp member into his own portal. A moment later he was going after someone else.

“Tommy, He’s after people from the smp.” Philza realized. “He’s going to go after you.”

Tommy didn’t want to believe it, but he knew the communicators didn’t work between worlds. That’s why they couldn’t find Xisuma or Tubbo. “Then let him, Tubbo’s gone. He’s got to be in there too.”

“No Tommy. If he’s after us, he won’t stop until we’re all gone. If you want to help Grian, you have to come home!” Tommy was pulled to look his father in the eyes. He hadn’t seen Philza look this scared in ages. And he was probably right.

“Okay fine. Let’s go back.” Tommy nodded, and then followed his dad towards the infinity portal. Right before they could reach it, Grian noticed and dropped the person he was holding to go after Tommy, but before he could reach them, they had gone through.

The moment they got to the other side, Tommy regretted his decision. “What’s Dream doing here? Why isn’t he in the vault.”

“Tommy, come on, don’t be so harsh.” Dream spoke, trying to seem like no threat, but Tommy knew better and drew his weapon. “You came back with your dad, so as promised I won’t be too harsh on you.”

Tommy inhaled sharply, turning to look at Phil. “You were working with him?! Grian’s back there and you thought that bringing me back to Dream was going to be better than me helping my brother?!”

“Tommy, he-”

“I don’t want to hear it! I’m sick of trusting you! You always say you’re going to be there for me, but then you turn around and work with someone who’s going to hurt me.”

“Tommy, I’m your friend, I won’t-”

“Shut up green bitch. I’m going back!”

“No, you’re not going back Tommy. Once everyone comes back from visiting that little vacation world of yours, we can close the portal.” Dream spoke, sounding much too confident on something that wouldn’t be happening.

“Then we’ll have to close it now. If they haven’t come in now, they’re not coming through.”

Dream chuckled. “Oh I’m sure they’ll come through. I’ve got someone over there to bring them to the portal.”

“Kinda hard if Grian already got to them.” Tommy crossed his arms. “He’s tossing them in some weird bedrock portal and they’re disappearing. Unless Tubbo came back here.”

Dream stopped. That wasn’t supposed to be happening. “No, they were supposed to be put back through the infinity portal.”

It took a bit for Tommy’s mind to comprehend what Dream meant before he jumped to attack the former admin. “What the fuck did you do to Grian?! This is your fault, isn’t it?! Tubbo’s gone because of you!”

“It’s fine.” Dream gritted out. “He… the watcher messed with you. Saving you when you were falling. Ranboo didn’t have enough of his signature on him, but you. You’ve got to be around him all the time. I can use that.” Tommy tried to run, but Dream anticipated it. “Philza, grab him.”

Raven wings trapped Tommy. He turned around to yell at his dad, but there was just a blank look on his face. “What the fuck are you doing to my family?!” Tommy yelled, trying to escape the wings on his own with little luck.

“I’m just going to make sure everyone comes home and then we can go back to how things were before you ran away. And what better way to do that then to use the power of a Watcher.” Tommy wanted to argue again, but the handle of an axe crashed against his head, and the world went dark.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #tommyinnit #grian #grian xelqua #watcher!grian #avian!grian #mumbo jumbo #xisumavoid #the watchers #crumbl #cuptoast #philza #dreamwastaken #still not a fan of how dream's persona eminates someone... problematic

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

I finally know how this thing is going to end, but it might go over 30 chapters. Whoops! This chapter could also be longer, but I wanted a bit of a cliffhanger.

@petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

“That isn’t fair! I found him so you have to keep up your end of the deal!” Grifter yelled at Death, but he barely reacted.

“That wasn’t the agreement.”

“The agreement was I was supposed to find out what happened to Theseus, and I did that! He kidnapped the wels version of his admin and revived Nightmare and it backfired. He screwed up and you wanted to know how he was doing, so I brought him here so he wouldn’t fucking die without you around. So, now you know what happened, how he’s doing, and I kept him safe. That’s like, three times what you wanted. Now uncurse my husband or you won’t be death anymore.”

Death glared at Grifter. “I thought you said you weren’t after that.”

“I said I wasn’t going to try and kill you for your power because now I have Sense, but if you cursed him so I can’t easily be around him, that’s gone. If you’re not planning to reverse the curse, then I’m going to get something out of it.” Grifter smiled at then pulled out a crossbow. “Now, you’re going to uncurse Sense, or you won’t be around much longer.”

“You still need to finish your end of the bargain.”

Grifter froze, his brain trying to comprehend what had been said before he growled in anger. “We just fucking covered I already did and more! I don’t need to do anything more!”

“Part of it was making sure Theseus was safe. You haven’t done that. He may have moved to a new dimension, but he refuses to officially unlink himself from Nightmare’s world. Nightmare, in his hubris, has decided to try and claim his wels dimension world in his current revived state. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if he fails, and at this point, he will.”

“So I need to keep the bastards alive, sure. Is that all?” Grifter sneered, crossing his arms.

“Not quite.I would prefer Nightmare dead, but no one will take his title, so Theseus will just try again with no one stopping him.” Death explained. “Listeners are quite powerful on their own and can link worlds, so you wouldn’t lose Sense, but I’m sure your kids would love to meet their family.”

Grifter rolled his eyes. “Like they would want to meet Wile and Euro. They’re only still alive since you keep them from dying. They’re too cowardly to do anything right.” Death glared at Grifter, who scoffed. “Fine, whatever. I guess they might like Fleur and Sadie. At the very least trying setting it up for me while I’m gone. I’m gonna be busy backing up the wels world before I do anything.”

“I can agree to that.”

“Oh, and can you pause the curse while I deal with Nightmare? It might be the only chance for us to do something so fun and I don’t want to miss out on that opportunity.”

Death glared before answering. “If you stop on your job, it’ll kill him, but sure, I can do that.”

“That’s great!” Grifter smiled, bouncing a little. “I’ll just make a little stop and then I’ll start! See you soon enough!” He started to walk off, but then paused to turn back to death slightly. “Oh, and remember to warn Euro. We don’t want him exploding again!”

The moment Grian was in the SMP, he started using his Watcher magic to look around. At the very least, it didn’t look like Grifter was around. It should have been obvious with his name not on the comms list, but if he had messed with the list before, he could have done it again. Fortunately that wasn’t the case.

Next he did what he could to find Grum, which was pretty easy. Grian already had a bit of tracking for Grum on his comm, and while before it wouldn’t have been enough to really help in another world, the fact that he could also track Watcher energy made it work. He was a little concerned that it felt weak, but he hadn’t really noticed it in the past, so likely Grum didn’t have much in the first place.

Either way, he knew where Grum was now, so he started flying that way. Grian wasn’t sure exactly what he would find there, so he got his sword ready for the worst case scenario. When he landed at the quartz mansion, he tried to be as quiet as possible. Peeking through a window, he couldn’t see anyone around, which was concerning. At least the demon should have still been there. This was his home, wasn’t it?

“Hey, what are we doing at the window?” someone spoke as they stood behind Grian, making the avian’s wings puff up before he whirled around and pointed the sword at.

“Wil? Is that you?”

“Hi Xel! I haven’t seen you in ages. Though other than Phil and Techno, I haven’t really seen anyone for a while. I was sort of trapped in Te-” Wilbur started rambling before Grian clamped a hand over his mouth.

“I don’t need to hear all of that. Where is everyone?” Grian asked before slowly pulling his hand away.

“Right! Well Dream showed up again, though he’s a bit different. Dad went after him along with the others and they haven’t shown back up yet. Well, I mean, Tommy and Techno are still here.”

Grian looked at the building. “Techno’s here?! But Grum’s supposed to be here!”

“You mean the robot kid? He’s okay. I’ve barely seen him, even as a ghost.”

Grian didn’t bother to keep listening, moving into the house. Techno was supposed to be a great fighter, so the only upperhand Grian might get is taking him by surprise, which was pretty much all he had the last two times. But those two times might have been enough for the warrior to get his tells. That would make it risky and-

“I’m not his unc- did you just take a picture.”

“Yeah, say that again when I don’t have this photo.”

“Delete it before I make you delete it.”

“Whoops, too late. I already sent it to Tubbo! Maybe now you’ll be able to watch Michael.”

“Why would I want that?”

“Cause he’s a piglin too? And not like it’ll ruin your image now Technosoft.”

“Tommy…”

“Ah ah ah, you might wake Grum up!”

Grian slowly opened the door to find Tommy awake and chilling on his bed, just messing around with his comm. Techno was standing nearby with Grum asleep in his arms, plugged into the charger. Grian wanted to rush in, but his first thought was that if he did anything, it would be easy for Techno to do something to Grum.

“You think I would care about that?” Techno asked after rolling his eyes.

“Bitch, this kid might affectionately beat the anarchy out of you. You’re gonna be the favorite uncle whether you like it or not.”

Techno grumbled, but didn’t actively try to refute it, especially when Grum stirred slightly, snuggling up closer to the piglin. It made Grian hesitate. They had gone through a lot these past few days. And for Grum it had been around a month. While he wasn’t a fan of Grum being near Techno right now, he didn’t really want to disturb him while he looked so peaceful.

Tommy and Techno both looked up when Grian lightly knocked on the door. “Hey Tommy. How’d you get here before me?”

“Heeey Big G. Pretty sure Grum fixed whatever was wrong with me and that brought me here. He did the same for Wilbur and he’s outside.”

“He acts a bit more like Ghostbur did if you ask me.” Techno huffed, adjusting Grum in his arms.

Grian shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen him in ages. Did see him outside though.” He then sighed and looked to Techno. “You haven’t done anything to Grum, have you?”

Techno managed not to flinch when the eyes glaring at him glinted a dangerous purple color. “Of course not. I even helped him out earlier.” He answered, kicking Tommy when he whispered another ‘Technosoft’ at that.

Grum whined a little when the piglin moved, and Grian took that as an opportunity to take Grum into his own arms. The bot stirred a little, but still stayed asleep, making Grian furrow his brows. “He’s asleep…”

“Yeah, and?” Techno asked, crossing his arms. He didn’t know what was so surprising about that, but next to him, Tommy did.

“Grum doesn’t sleep. Neither of the boys do. I mean not really. They have a sleep mode, but that’s not really like actual sleeping.” Grian explained. “Here… let me test something.” He checked Grum’s power reading before unplugging the bot. They all waited a few minutes in silence before Grian checked again, eyes widening. “He’s charging himself.”

“What the fuck?! Really?!” Tommy shouted, though not loud enough to wake Grum. “How did that happen?!”

Grian shrugged, almost at a loss for words. “I… I don’t know. I didn’t think something like this was possible. I mean… I’ll look into it more later… but now really isn’t the best time.”

“You know, I wonder if it’s got something to do with their hels versions. When I was still stuck over there with Grifter, he said their versions of the bots weren’t built.”

“How does-” “Fundy.” “Right, nevermind.” Techno huffed, finally pulling a chair over and sitting down. “Well I have no clue how that place works, so for all we know, that’s what did it.”

Grian shook his head. “No, I doubt it. Normally hels is affected by us, not the other way around. The Listeners developed after the Watchers, Helscraft has fewer seasons than us. Theseus wasn’t in Helscraft until a while after Tommy joined us.”

“Yeah, but they had their kids back when they were in their previous season.” Tommy piped up. “There was no way for them to make them after you build Grum and Jrum since Grifter was stuck in their season four. For all we know, it works both ways.” Grian rubbed his chin, thinking about it, but then he suddenly started looking around, wings flared out.

“What’s wrong?” Techno piped up, but the most he got in terms of an answer was Grum being handed to him again. The bot stirred a bit more, actually waking up this time. Before anyone could say something more, the world shuddered and a wave of green light suddenly passed through them. “What was that?”

“World backup. Watchers will do that sometimes, but it’s never noticeable.” Grian quickly explained, drawing his weapon.

“Then why the fuck did we notice that?” Tommy asked, a bit concerned.

“Because.” Grian turned around, wings shifting colors. “Green magic is what Listeners use.”

The_Grifter joined the world

PerfectSense joined the world

Grifter pulled Sense in close to him before sending out a ring of lit tnt that exploded around them. It was powerful enough it made the ground shake and rumble which just made the Listener smile more. “Oh Seesee! Look over there! A castle! Let’s go over there!”

“That sounds good to me.” Sense replied, picking Grifter up bridal style and walking towards Pride Palace. He had a little trouble getting through the newly formed rubble, but before long they were at the gates. Someone in a crown and sunglasses tried to approach them, but Sense quickly pulled out a death ray and shot them with it.

They reached the throne room and Sense set Grifter down. The Listener ran over to the throne and stood on it, a giant smile on his face. “I’m king of the castle! I’m king of the castle! Oh! Do you think there’s one just like this in the hels world?”

Sense chuckled. “Probably not exactly like this. And that’s if it isn’t rubble.”

Grifter pouted and fell down onto the throne to sit. “I guess that’s true. Well, when we leave I can throw some puzzle blocks together for this place to bring it over. Then we can make some improvements.”

“Why not start with them now?” Sense asked, shrugging with a little smile, which Grifter matched with his own grin. Sense tossed an axe to Grifter, who turned the pink metal more of a viridian. “Now, I suppose I’ll have to find someplace to sit.”

“While I would love to offer you a lovely seat up here, the throne will unfortunately have to do. I need to make sure Nightmare comes here.” And Grifter got up, summoning a communicator made entirely out of magic. “But I’m sure he won’t want to waste time, so you won’t need to wait too long.”

Sense moved to stand behind Grifter, putting his head on the Listener’s shoulder and looking at the comm. “Hmm, looks like Tommy’s here. He was the other version of Theseus, right?”

“Oh yes he was. I’m sure Nightmare would be much more convinced if we had him with us. He wouldn’t want Theseus dying by proxy, now would he? And it’s not like he knows I need bitch boy alive.”

“Have I ever told you how hot you are when you scheme like this?”

“Mmm, tell me again.” Grifter leaned back before a noise from his comm made him look back. “Hmm, seems we have a slight change of plans. Looks like Grian’s trying to interfere. Can you hold down the fort while I make a mess of things?”

“Of course. Have fun my darling.” Sense replied before letting Grifter go, the Listener using magic to quickly shift back to looking exactly like Grian, even changing the appearance of his wings. Sense held out a bucket filled with water and lined with soul sand which Grifter tossed an enderpearl into. The scientist put the bucket next to the throne before sitting down on it, watching as Grifter created an exit for himself and flew off.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #helsmits #helscraft #hels!grian #hels!Philza #grian #watcher!grian #grian xelqua #avian!Grian #tommyinnit #technoblade #wilbur soot #ghostbur #grumbot #hels!Mumbo

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

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Well, so far Grifter’s just been playing around. Now he’s going to start showing just what he can do and why he was locked up by the helsmits. ‘spoiler’: it involves tearing up the DSMP

@petrichormeraki and @helleborusangel (plz it’s been a week and a half, where are youuuuuu i worry)

“Where are you going?” Techno asked as Tommy put on his borrowed gear. It had still been left in a nearby chest when it was taken off, so it was easy to find.

“I’m going to help Grian.” Tommy answered, adjusting his elytra. “The more help he gets, the better.”

“What makes you think you can help? Or at least help out better than me.”

Tommy half shrugged, more focused on getting ready. “I probably can’t help better than you, but Grian’s out there so he can’t make a portal back to Hermitcraft. Meanwhile you managed to get there on your own. If Grifter is as bad as he sounds, we’ll need more help. I mean, we had some trouble taking you down, and he’s apparently worse.”

“So I’m just supposed to leave and get help?”

Tommy stood up, all his gear ready. “Yeah. One thing I learned from the hermits is that even if you’re good at one thing, you should try other shit. You’re good at combat, so now it’s time to try something else.”

“That’s stupid.” Techno huffed.

“Yeah, but it’s still a good lesson.”

Grum wriggled and escaped Techno’s arms. “I’m helping to!”

“No, you’re still damaged and also a fucking kid.” Tommy argued, but that just made Grum cross his arms.

“I have an advanced combat program plus a ‘chat’ that should be able to assist me. If Techno is getting help, he doesn’t need help getting help. So I’m helping my dad!”

Tommy tried to complain, but Techno stopped him. “I saw him in action. I’m pretty sure he’s better than you. Besides, you’re still technically a kid too.”

“”Hey! I’m a big man!”

“Sure, sure. Here.” Techno pulled out a netherite sword and axe, then handed them to Grum. “I’d give you my armor too, but I doubt it fits.”

“Someone’s got a favorite nephew~”

“Oh shut up.”

“We’ve got a plan! Let’s go!” Grum grabbed Tommy’s arm and started dragging him away in the direction Grian had gone. They only got a few steps before the ground shook from a large explosion. It made Tommy freeze before making sure Grum and Techno were okay, glad to see they were fine. At least, as fine as they had been.

“Okay maybe this is a bad idea.” Tommy tried once more to stop Grum, but the bot just pushed forward.

“Then I’ll just ask for an upper hand on the way there. But you are not changing my mind.” The bot crossed his arms, making Tommy sigh.

“Fine, but try not to get killed. You’re the one that can revive people.”

“If that is a concern, then here.” Grum tossed the revival book to Techno. “Keep that with you, and should I die and not be able to respawn, it can be used on me. The same goes for anyone else who may end up with the same problem.”

Techno hesitated before answering. “Alright fine, just don’t get Phil killed.”

“Not planning on it.” Tommy replied for Grum, and then the two of them were off.

Grifter twirled a finger and a spike of bedrock erupted from the ground, joining the others he had created. He frowned at how much energy it was taking, but at the very least, though it was slow, he was making a wall around the place. “There’s no way he can ignore this, right? Ugh, who am I kidding, I need Tommy first. Well, that should at least draw everyone else nearby so I should start to divide and conquer.”

Grifter pulled his wings in close, letting him start diving towards the ground. He kept his eyes out for anyone and then smiled as something caught his eye. Double checking that he still had enough magic disguising himself, Grifter changed his course and aimed for the elder avian he had spotted.

“Now let’s see, would he call him Dadza? Hmm, unlikely. Just Dad? Or maybe Phil? Nah, let’s just go with… Dad!” Grifter landed, making sure to be panting. “Are you alright? I saw those spikes appearing, and then saw you and-”

“I’m fine, just got split up from everyone else when one showed up underneath us. Tommy and Techno are with your kid, so you should probably go after them.”

Grifter held in a smile. Now he could find Tommy. “Where are they?”

“Bad’s mansion. At least assuming the place is still standing. It doesn’t look like these things have gotten that far but-”

“They haven’t, don’t worry!” Grifter smiled sweetly. “And thank you very much for the information! I’ll come back for you later I think!”

Before Phil could react, Grifter’s illusion disappeared as he used the magic to make a sphere of bedrock, trapping the avian within it. The Listener almost flew away right then, but then snapped his fingers. “There, now you shouldn’t try to get out.”

Inside the sphere, four end crystals had appeared. With the close quarters, Phil could barely move without setting one of them off, so he hugged the wall of his new prison, doing his best not to move.

Grifter flew up into the air and started looking around. “Mansion, mansion. Ugh, nothing looks mansion-y enough. Why can’t they make things bigger h- oh hello~” Grifter spotted the bright pink metal of Tommy’s sword from a mile away. Looking around more, it didn’t look like Grian was anywhere nearby, but he didn’t quite have the magic to spend yet. Instead, he circled high in the sky, watching the pair below him until he could disguise himself again.

It took a could of minutes, but finally Grifter had enough magic. The act he would put on would be easy of course, he just needed to act like a concerned parent, and he had seen Wile do that plenty. “What are you two doing?!”

“We came to help you out G.” Tommy replied, having nearly fallen over at the avian’s sudden arrival. “I would've thought you’d have gotten further.”

“He’s been using a lot of magic. There are these giant spikes of bedrock everywhere. I can’t get around safely with them showing up.” Grifter turned to look at Grum. “And what about you? You’re still hurt. You-” He didn’t have time to react as a sword sliced into him, hitting his arm.

“You’ll have to try better than that.” Grumbot looked up, revealing his screen which was picturing the symbol of the watchers, making Grifter take a step back. “You’ve still got scarlet wings. They’d be purple at this point.”

Grifter glanced back. His wings looked like Grian’s but he hadn’t realized that he ever changed how they look. Well, now that he needed the extra magic, Grifter let the illusion fade away. “Hmm, good eye. Well, I’ll just have to make this quick.”

The ground rumbled, and while he couldn’t make another spike, a sheet of bedrock divided Tommy and Eyes, splitting them up. Grifter grabbed Tommy’s arm and pulled him closer, ready to fly away with him when the bedrock broke. “Tsk, right. Watchers use bedrock too.”

“Watchers? So then-” Tommy started looking around for Grian, but instead, all he saw was Grumbot. “Wait, but- And he-? But how?”

“Who cares! I don’t need him.” Grifter shrugged, putting a sword to Tommy’s neck. “Let me leave and he won’t d-”

Eyes just threw a piece of bedrock at Grifter. “You want him alive, you’re not gonna kill him.”

Grifter frowned for a moment before smiling. “And you either don’t have magic or can’t use it. Hah, I didn’t even need to threaten him.” He spread his wings and held onto Tommy, Eyes running to try and grab them. But before the bot could reach them, Grifter was back in the air.

“Holy fuck! No no no no! This is so much worse than when Grian does it!”

“Oh shut up, I’m not going to drop you. Unless you keep struggling that is.” After Grifter had said that, Tommy froze up, leaving the Listener laughing. “Sooo… I’m hoping Nightmare will want to come after you, but others might as well. Who should I be looking out for?”

“Like I’d fucking tell yo- AHHHH!” Tommy started to say before he was falling, Grifter having let go of him. He was getting close to the ground when he was caught again, Grifter giving a chirping laugh. “Don’t fucking do that!”

“Then tell me what I want to know. It’s not that hard to comply, is it?” Grifter asked, threatening to drop Tommy again. “Oh, but that does remind me, I already took care of Dadza, or at least the one here.”

“You killed Phil?!” Tommy shouted. He would attack Grifter if he didn’t want to fall again.”

“Oh no, if he dies, it’s his own fault. I just trapped him for a bit.” Grifter explained, dipping just enough in their flight for the point of a bedrock spike to hit Tommy’s leg, making it bleed and Grifter laugh. “There, now you won’t be running away.”

“You’re a goddamn fucking bitch.”

“I know!” Grifter replied cheerily, a big smile on his face. “Oh look, we’re here!”

Tommy looked down to see Eret’s castle which was in the middle of the wall of bedrock spikes. The flag on top had been torn down and in place of the flagpole was some sort of giant redstone machine.

They landed nearby, Tommy being dropped before they touched down. It wasn’t enough of a fall to kill him, but it still hurt. Getting up also wasn’t the best because he couldn’t put much pressure on his leg, and even though he should be regening health, nothing was healing.

“You look tired.” Tommy recognized what was almost Mumbo’s voice. “Do you need help down to the throne?”

“I think your arms are the best throne for me~” Tommy tried not to gag at the flirting. “But I wouldn’t mind it. He’ll probably only believe what he sees with his own eyes and Tommy is definitely not Theseus. And I used so much magic making the wall.” Grifter pouted before Sense picked him up.

“Spare a little bit for a cuff for him and I can carry you down. The former king is currently occupying the cell I made. He’s much tougher than he looks. Related to Jhost of all people, or whatever he’s called here.”

Grifter frowned. “Aww, but that means we can’t kill him. That’s not fair.” He crossed his arms. “Okay, fine. I can still do that.” And then with a quick wave of his hand, some chains appeared and Tommy's good leg was trapped. He watched as the hels pair left, leaving him to try and break the metal, but he had no luck.

As soon as Grifter had gotten into the air with Tommy, Eyes started running behind them. They were slowly losing ground due to the uneven terrain tripping them up and the fact that Grifter had a clear path from flying. Eventually they lost the pair when they tripped and fell into a large crater, likely a creeper hole.

Eyes winced, holding the new crack on their body. It had formed right over the trident holes since they were already a weak point, and now that place was even more vulnerable. “Ah crap. Oh buzz off, last I checked it wasn’t a-” Eyes sharply inhaled as they stood up. “Fine, if you want to complain, you can come out here. Who cares if it isn’t healthy? We are currently in a life or death situation.” Eyes pulled themselves out of the hole, looking around. “He made a backup of the world, and those spikes in the distance definitely weren’t there a week ago. Grifter’s gonna destroy this place. We need to get Tommy and everyone else out of here before that happens. ...Oh shut up! I’m the one in charge of the Watcher powers. Well now I do know!!!”

Eyes huffed and kept walking towards the spikes. They were still a good number of chunks away, but at the very least they were good landmarks. They still had some redstone and quartz in their pockets to snack on, so running for a while wouldn’t be too much of an issue. It was still a little tough to get through the terrain. The closer they got to the spikes, the rougher it was. The place was already littered with bits of destruction, but there was more debris from the spikes bursting out of the ground, scattering dirt and rocks around the landscape. It also didn’t help that the spikes were casting large shadows. While the darkness didn’t reach them at this point, Eyes still had to be wary of creepers or any mobs that spawned with helmets.

They slowed down to munch on some quartz, using that as an opportunity to look at their surrounding. They were getting closer to the spikes, likely close enough they wouldn’t need to stop again before reaching them. Looking for a way through the spikes would be difficult though. Theoretically they could be climbed or have a gap between them, but that could still be difficult. And then breaking through wouldn’t be an option. The wall that split them from Tommy hadn’t even been a full block thick and had been tough to break. There was no way they could get through that much.

When Eyes got to the shadows, they froze from seeing just how many monsters were around. There was a larger group than should be normal. Normally the natural world magic that spawned monsters split equally around occupants of the world. If there were so many here, that meant plenty of people had died and didn’t respawn, which was unlikely, the only death message they had seen so far was for Eret. The other option was there were more people around, and likely people who could help get Tommy back.

Fighting through the monsters, Eyes looked around for who else could be around. When moving in one direction there were less monsters around, so they moved in the opposite direction, glad to see it was closer to the spikes and closer to their destination.

After a bit of searching, Eyes finally spotted someone. They sliced down a nearby skeleton before shouting to the other person and running towards them. “Heeeeey! Over here! Do you need some-” Eyes tried to jump over something, but midway through the jump, they started buffering, causing them to fall on their face as they landed.

The person they called out to immediately came over, fighting off the nearby mobs. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

“Uh… yeah.” Grum took the person’s hand and got up. “Um, I need some help. It’s about Tommy.”

Grian carefully snuck through the castle that was the center of all the magic. He was pretty sure it was a trap, there was no way someone like him would make something so obvious and not make it a trap, but it wasn’t like he had a better place to look.

There was also the problem of not knowing where he was going. Technically he could use some Watcher magic for the answer, but that wasn’t really an option. He hadn’t been a Watcher long before joining Hermitcraft, meaning he was inexperienced. It was why using his magic often left him with side effects other than just being tired. But his hels copy was using so much, it was obvious he was better trained.

Grian took a few more hesitant steps forward before stopping from a sound. It didn’t sound like someone walking or flying, but it did at the very least sound like someone was moving around. He took out a sword and slowly moved towards the noise, ready to attack whoever was there, when a head popped out of a newly made hole in the wall with a small oink.

The avian was stunned, not really moving as the baby ziglin pulled himself the rest of the way out of the hole before turning to look back inside it. A few minutes later, another head popped out as someone squeezed their way through the hole.

Grian ducked back when they started looking around. He of course recognized Tubbo since he was Tommy’s friend, but he wasn’t sure if Grifter had done anything to them. He had already seen what happened to Grum as well as that enderman hybrid. What was his name?

“Okay Ranboo, the coast is clear. Send it through.” Tubbo spoke into the hole, and a moment later, an ender pearl was thrown through, teleporting the enderman hybrid inside. Once he was in, Tubbo reached his arm through. “Okay, we’re through, take my hand and I’ll pull you in.”

Grian’s eyes widened as he watched Grum get pulled through the hole. His grip on his sword tightened as he could immediately tell the bot was in a worse condition than the last time he had seen him. He wanted to rush in there, but Grum was too close to the others as well as the ziglin, so he couldn’t really attack without harming the kids.

“Okay, so, I’m not sure where he’s gonna be. Does this place have a prison or something?” Grum asked, looking between Tubbo and Ranboo.

“Not as far as I’m aware.” Tubbo answered. “You probably would know better than me. I mean, I’ve technically been gone a month or something.”

“And my memory is too bad.” Ranboo replied with a shrug.

“Alright, I guess we’re going in blind…” Grum spoke timidly. “Do you at least sort of know what the place is like? I never really even got a chance to visit it.”

Tubbo looked around before pointing in Grian’s direction. “I think maybe we go this way?”

“No, entrance is that way.” Grian spoke up. He was almost completely sure that the group was safe, though he was still concerned about Grum having more injuries. That being said, the bot quickly ran over and gave him a hug when he showed himself. “Are you doing okay Grum?”

“Well, I got a little more hurt on the way here while fighting monsters, but I’m okay.”

“Yeah, none of us are regenerating health naturally.” Ranboo spoke up. “And I’ve tried to give him a golden apple, but he’s refused them.”

“Because I can’t eat them! I’m a robot, not a person.”

Grian frowned. “You are too a person. Just a robotic one. Doc and Biffa are people too.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s just different…”

Grian picked Grum up in his arms. “Well, we can talk about that more when you’re not in danger.” Then he looked up at the rest of the group. “Now, why are you all here?”

“Apparently Grum and Tommy were on their way to find and help you, but the fake you kidnapped him.” Tubbo explained, which made Grian angry.

“That’s going to make things tougher if he’s got a hostage. Especially if it’s Tommy.” Grian ruffled his wings and shifted Grum so he could rub his chin. “I would say split up to cover more ground, but Grifter seems to be a powerful magic user. I mean, he’s the one who summoned those spikes. It also looks like he brought Sense along and from what Jrum’s told me, he’s almost as dangerous with his redstone. If any of us ran into even one of them alone, it would be bad news, so we’ll have to stick together.”

The rest of the group nodded and Grian started to lead them down the hall. With a whole group, he could probably use a little bit of magic, at least to see where Tommy was. It wouldn’t tell him how to get there, but a general idea of which direction to go would help. For a moment, another pair of eyes appeared, and then the world faded slightly, only the outlines of objects showing themselves. Grian looked around, not seeing Tommy, but then he looked up.

“It looks like Tommy’s on the roof or the floor below it. It looks like Sense is nearby while Grifter is elsewhere. There’s also a fourth person around, but they’re not someone I recognize.”

“Well then, let’s start heading up.” Ranboo said, Tubbo nodding as he picked up Michael, and then the group continued on to find Tommy.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #tommyinnit #technoblade #grumbot #hels!grian #hels!mumbo #philza #DID!Grum #yesss i can officially tag it #grian #watcher!grian #grian xelqua #avian!Grian #michael_beloved #tubbo #ranboo

21 notes · View notes

votederpycausemufins · 3 years

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and you thought we would have less angst~! lol nope!

@petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

Grifter left briefly and returned with Sefter and Grifect, taking them over to where Grian and Mumbo had taken Jrum. “Oh I had the best idea! Since you have your kids and Sense and I have ours, they could be best friends! I’m sure they can get along great!”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea right now.” Mumbo said, keeping Jrum close to him. “Jrum is very vulnerable right now and-”

“I kinda do want to play.” Jurm spoke up, tugging on Mumbo’s pant leg. “It was something nice I got to do when I was with d- uh… Bad.”

Mumbo hesitated, but then nodded. “I guess it probably wouldn’t hurt. But if anything happens to Jrum-!”

“Oh calm down, I won’t do anything to him.” Grifter replied. “Besides, I’m sure he wouldn’t let me.” And he pointed behind him to a doorway where Xannes was just coming in, followed by NPG.

“Jrum’s okay!” NPG smiled, before moving behind Xannes when he locked eyes with Grifter, the hels admin crossing his arms.

“You’re out of prison.”

Grifter smiled and pulled himself close to Sense. “Of course. Wouldn’t want to leave this hot stud alone for too long, now would I?”

“Well, You’ve had time with him, now it’s time for you to go back.”

Grifter pouted. “But my kids are having a playdate with Jrum. You wouldn’t want to upset a child, would you?” Grifter’s pout turned into a sly smile and he moved closer to whisper to Xannes. “And Sense has said you’re such a softie when it comes to kids. Before you can do anything to me, I could do whatever I want to that robot. I could create a fun little feedback loop and break them like that. And you couldn’t do anything about it because you decided NPG is better to protect, hmm?”

Xannes wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t cause some problem, so he just glared. Grifter’s evil smile quickly turned to one that was much sweeter, and he pulled Grifect over, letting the child talk to Xannes. “Hi Mistew Xannes! Awe uwu weawwy the best hackew evew?”

“I… am known as the best hacker, yes.” Xannes gritted out after another smirk from Grifter.

“Wow! Thawt's so coow! Cawn uwu teach me how tuwu duwu stuff wike thawt?”

“Don’t you want to play with… whatever Jrum would be considered to you? Cousin or some shit?”

“Yeah! But cawn uwu teach me watew?”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Xannes growled, rolling his eyes. Grifect went back over to Jrum and Grifter tried pushing Sefter to play as well, but the older sibling refused to join in.

“Hmm, it looks like Sefter doesn’t want to play. I guess I should take him back to Prof. Sense, you can watch Grifect, right dear?” The evil scientist nodded and Grifter gave him a kiss. “Now Grifect, remember what I told you.”

“I wemembew!” The young bot replied, getting a pat on his head from his dad. Grifter left with Sefter after that, but Grian and Mumbo watcher where they had been.

“You’ve got a bad feeling about that too, right?”

Mumbo nodded. “After what we’ve heard about him, of course I do.”

Sefter twirled a sword in one hand while holding an axe in the other. Behind him, Tommy was tied up and stuffed in a large chest, muffled sounds being the only thing to escape the box.

On the other side of the room, Grifter dragged Grum along, who was doing his best to resist. “P-please. I d-don’t w-want to g-go.”

“I don’t care! I need you for this, so you’re coming with me. No one will even notice!”

“N-no. I w-want to s-stay with T-Tommy. P-Please!”

“Stop complaining or I’ll rewire you for what I need. I’m sure it can’t be much worse than a lobotomy.” Grifter threatened in a cheerful voice. “Now let’s go!”

Grum was scared by the threat and then stopped resisting. Grifter found it much easier to move the robot now, though the screen changing to a smiley face confused him. He hefted the bot onto his shoulder, quickly sent a message to Grifect, and then they were gone.

The_Grifter left the world

Sefter left the world

The_Grifter joined the world

Grumbot_System joined the world

When they arrived in the SMP, Grumbot jumped off of Grifter’s shoulder and pulled out a sword. “Alright, I’m guessing that means you can also find Theseus from here, right?”

“Theseus is likely to be with the admin. The admin also has a needed item. That item must be retrieved.”

“Good.” Grifter smiled. “Take us there!”

Grumbot hesitated, buffering for a few moments. “Console commands have been disabled. Locating Theseus is not available. Reinstate programs before trying again.”

“Ugh, well how do I do that?” Grifter huffed, smiled gone.

Coordinates appeared on Grumbot’s face for a few moments before it spoke again. “If it has not been moved, those should be the coordinates. There will be people around it.”

“And they know my ‘good’ copy?” Grifter asked, using air quotes.

“Correct.”

Grifter sighed and pulled on his new outfit, replacing it with a standard red sweater. He cleaned up his hair a bit, resisting the urge to mess it up again and then showed himself off. “How do I look?”

“You look like bzzt.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Grifter asked. Had the robot just censored a word. “I look like what?!”

“Was that not the goal? To look like bzzt? You did change into what looks like bzzt sweater.”

Grifter calmed down. “Oh, you were trying to say Grian’s name hmm? And people say I’m the bad one. He won’t let you say his name.”

“Incorrect. That is a recent addition as protection against the Admin and Dream.”

That got Grifter’s attention. “Oh really? So it’s something you’re doing on purpose?”

“Also incorrect. It has not been turned off and knowledge about the program is recent. It also cannot currently be turned off.” Grumbot explained in a deadpan voice, starting to walk to the quartz mansion, leaving Grifter to follow behind.

“Well now I’m curious. Why can’t you turn it off?”

“Another component controls that program.”

“Hmm, I see.” The helsmit nodded. “So, where are we headed?” He paused as Grumbot pointed to a building in the distance, far enough that Grifter needed to squint. “Over there? Pfft, why walk. I can get us there quicker.”

He grabbed Grumbot, and greenish magic swirled around them, teleporting them next to the building. “If you are attempting to mimic bzzt, that is not helpful for the image.”

“Pfft, it’s fine. No one saw. And if they did, I would deal with it. Now let’s go inside. I already know what I’m going with. Oh, and you better play along, or else.”

Grumbot nodded, making Grifter frown about that fact that it didn’t seem even a little scared from his threat. The helsmit picked Grumbot up before walking into the building, putting on a smile. “Hey, we’re back. Mumbo’s still back in Hermitcraft with Jrum keeping Tommy company.”

“Did you not figure out how to help him out? His body’s still here and obviously he didn’t come with you.” Philza spoke, having returned and Techno gone once again.

The helsmit didn’t need to worry about figuring out an answer because Grumbot quickly answered. “The revival process for those from this world requires an extra step in the form of an item that the admin was in possession of. He will need to be found.”

Those there glanced at each other, which obviously didn’t mean anything good. “What’s wrong?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Fundy held out his communicator, letting Grifter look at it before showing Grumbot. Grifter held in a smile when he saw that Theseus was here, and it looked like his old admin was here too. The errored message was interesting though.

“Obviously it isn’t good news. Dream was bad enough, I don’t want to see what an evil version of him is like. Unless of course it’s an opposite version and he’s nicer.” Phil spoke again.

“From what I’ve heard? He’s not really that nice.” Grifter replied. Not nice to most people that is, at the very least. But he wondered if this Nightmare person would want to be on the good side of a Listener. In fact, he had already lost his server, hadn’t he? So what more could he possibly lose from some sort of partnership. “And while it probably isn’t a good idea to go near him, it looks like we’ll have to.”

“I’m not sure how long it would take to gather people up to help with that.” The hardcore player said. “A lot of people are still injured from the banquet and-”

Grifter cut Philza off. Grian would probably be concerned for his faaamily~. Ugh. “I’m sure I can do fine on my own. Even an admin can’t do much against a Watcher. And while extra help would be nice, you getting close could just end up being more harm than good if you end up in the crossfire. I don’t want to need to revive anyone else just trying to get this thing.”

“He will also be getting some assistance already.” Grumbot spoke up, and Grifter held in the urge to roll his eyes.

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea.” Grifter tried his best to sound genuine. He’s pretty sure calling the robot by its name would be more effective, but to be completely honest, he had forgotten it at this point.

“There is to be no discussion on this matter. You will be getting assistance.” Grumbot replied, pulling out an axe. “And the sooner travel is started towards the new admin, the better.”

Grifter looked over the people in the room. Obviously getting Philza to look after the robot wouldn’t be a good idea. Even if he wasn’t like his own dad, the helsmit was sure he would be equally as experienced. The demon was off the table too. No way the robot would escape from that. The enderman thing could just teleport around.The fox hybrid might also be too quick on the draw, though he did look young. But no, the fluffy haired boy with little nubs of horns poking out, he seemed like the best option. He even already had a kid attached at his leg, so adding another would make things tougher on him.

Grifter took Grumbot over to Tubbo and put the robot in the teen’s arms. “Here, try to keep him occupied. I’m sure those two could even play together.” Though Grumbot didn’t react, it looked like the ziglin liked that idea, making it even more likely for the teen to respond positively. And that he did.

The helsmit sent a little wink to Grumbot before giving it a hug and leaving the building. As soon as he was outside, Grifter leaned against a wall and waited for the robot to come out. In a few seconds, there was a commotion from inside and then Grumbot rushed out of the building. Grifter immediately pulled the robot into his arms and teleported them away before anyone could follow outside. “I’m hoping you got what you needed?”

“That could not be obtained.”

“Well then what the fuck was all that noise?”

“Attempting to reconnect programs followed by a necessary escape.”

“Ugh, well I’m sure everyone’s out looking for you now. I’ll take us back and you can do whatever the hell you need to.”

“That would be a good idea.”

Grifter teleported them back. The Fox hybrid unfortunately stayed behind, but the helsmit quickly bashed him over the head, letting him fall to the floor unconscious. “Hmm, I think I could have gone a little harder without killing him. Normally there’s more blood. Maybe I’m just out of practice?”

Grumbot didn’t respond to the banter, just staring at the replacement console. It didn’t need all the programs, but it would be so easy to just add them all back. Its arm reached to plug itself in, but the other arm’s hand stopped the first. Its screen flickered for a moment, and then it released its arm and plugged in. Just a copy of the coordinated program. That’s all that was needed.

When Grumbot unplugged again, Grifter picked it up. “I’m guessing that means you’re ready. Where are we headed to?”

Coordinates appeared on Grumbot’s screen and Grifter smiled before teleporting them there. They reappeared in a large field of snow, the helsmit glad he had changed back into a sweater. “You’re not going to freeze in this, right?”

“Correct.”

Grifter nodded and then looked around. “I’m not seeing them. Are you sure these are the right coordinates?”

“The coordinates were altered slightly based on movement, positioning and terrain. They will be four chunks in that direction in a number of ticks.” Grumbot answered, pointing towards a hill.

“Alright, sounds good enough!” Grifter shrugged and then started dragging Grumbot along in the pointed direction. When they reached the top of the hill, the helsmit looked around, smiling when he saw the people he was looking for. Theseus was following behind what was presumably Nightmare. Then the helsmit’s gaze drifted to a few blocks behind them and the extra set of footprints following the pair. It looked like someone was using an invisibility potion.

Grifter pulled out a bow and arrow, attaching his signature TNT to the end of his arrow, and then fired it so it would land in front of the pair. Not enough to hurt either of them, but enough to startle them at the very least.

When it exploded, Grifter teleported closer, leaving Grumbot behind. “Hi there. I don’t really want you going much further.”

“Who the hell are you?” Nightmare spoke as Theseus glared.

“Mmm… I’m sure you’ve heard of me. I’m a Listener. Grifter to be precise. I’m sure Theseus has talked about his much better older brother. If not, well I guess he’s just more of a little shit than I thought.”

“Nope, he never mentioned you. But I’ve heard of your kind.”

“Aww, that’s too bad.” Grifter pouted, pulling back another arrow and firing it at the invisible figure. “Anyway, nasty tail you’ve got there.”

Nightmare and Theseus turned around to see an arrow floating in midair, footprints being created in the snow with nothing visible making them. Immediately the invisible figure was pulling armor on, ready to fight. “Thanks for the tip.”

“Anytime! Anyway, I need Theseus. Apparently Dadza really likes him still and is upset he’s gone. I wouldn’t do anything, but he kinda cursed someone that I actually care about, so if I don’t do this, it’ll end badly for me.”

“Well tell him Theseus is staying with me. There’s still some training he never finished.”

Grifter’s eyes lit up briefly and the implications, but he still frowned. “Can I at least have him long enough to take back to Dadza? It’ll take five minutes, ten tops. If he doesn’t let me bring bitch boy back, I can just try killing him.”

“Try killing death?” Nightmare asked, sounding skeptical.

Grifter nodded. “Yeah, we’re pretty sure I’m the only one who can actually do it. It’s why people really prefer being on my side.” The helsmit’s smile shifted to something darker. “Which is why you should probably… you know… Listen. Besides, being on my side has plenty of perks!”

Grifter couldn’t see Nightmare’s expression because of his mask, but eventually he nodded. “Fine. But you better be back before those ten minutes.”

Grifter nodded, giving a beaming smile before grabbing Theseus and disappearing. Nightmare put his arms behind his head, acting bored, before pulling out an axe and shield at the last second, blocking an attack. “I know you’re still here idiot.”

The invisible figure didn’t respond, so Nightmare just threw their axe at the person, the blade digging into the armor, deep enough to break through it. “I guess the durability was low.” Was all Nightmare said as he popped his arm back into place, having dislocated from the amount of force he used in the attack. “So, got a na-” Nightmare continued before being cut off as he was grabbed from behind.

“You are in the possession of a needed item. It must be handed over.”

“And what are you supposed to be?”

Grumbot buffered for a moment before answering. “Console. The admin used a console for various jobs before he was taken away and replaced by you. You likely still have an Item needed for the revival process of this world in your possession. The surrendering of that item would be appreciated.”

Nightmare kicked Grumbot away. “Not a chance.” He then pulled out a sword, hitting away the invisible figure. “Not like I can do it with this person fighting me.”

“Then they will be eliminated.” Grumbot replied, booting up its combat program. It pulled out a sword, ready to attack, but then was pushed to the ground.

“Nah, you might be useful later. Get out of the way.” Nightmare said before pulling out a trident and stabbing it into the ground, impaling Grumbot’s arm and nailing it to the ground.

As Nightmare and the invisible person fought, Grumbot looked at the trident. Fortunately it only injured one arm, and as a robot, it was ambidextrous. It pulled the trident out and held it in its hand. With the combat program active, Grumbot angled the throw, adjusting for movement from the other combat, and then threw the weapon.

In a moment, Nightmare was the one stuck to the ground. The invisible person tried to take advantage of the situation, but Grumbot managed to push them aside. The face flickered and then changed to its normal self, though even then it still flickered a bit. “Look, I’m just after my book. Give it here and you can be on your way.”

No one moved, Nightmare wasn’t even struggling, so Grum pressed his foot into Nightmare’s chest. “Give it up, or we could just stay here.”

“Who are you?”

“I think you know.”

There was quiet for a bit, but then Nightmare pulled out a book. “Fine, but I’ll be getting answers.”

“No you won’t.” And Grum pulled the trident out again before smashing it down on Nightmare’s face, shattering the mask he wore before the body disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Immediately Grum closed his combat program and curled into a ball. He started crying at what had just happened, everything quickly catching up with him. But the danger was gone now, right?

The sound of armor moving drew Grum’s attention to the now formerly invisible person, the piglin now looking down at Grum. The bot immediately regretted closing his combat program and tried to boot it up again, shakily drawing his sword. He didn’t want to die again, especially now he had the- the book! Grum dropped his sword and grabbed the book, shoving it into one of his extra inventory slots. It was just in time too as Techno grabbed him.

“D-d-don’t kuh-kill m-me ple-please!” Grum stuttered out. He was lifted up, which he thought was a curious way to kill him, but he also didn’t expect fireworks as a weapon, so anything was on the table with him.

Instead, Techno just moved Grum onto his back before leaning down and grabbing the dropped sword. “Already made the mistake of killing you once. Besides, you’ll get rid of my ghost problem.” And then he started walking. Grum was still a bit scared of getting killed, thinking the piglin could be lying, but he was also tired. He was glad he still had the trident, which was channeling at the very least, so he wouldn’t necessarily need his charger, but conserving power would be good right now, so he went to sleep.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #grian #hels!grian #watcher!grian #grian xelqua #avian!Grian #mumbo jumbo #jrumbot #hels!jrumbot #tommyinnit #hels!Grumbot #grumbot #hels!tommy #dreamwastaken #technoblade #philza #still not a fan of how dream's persona eminates someone... problematic

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jennycalendar · 6 years

Text

s2e15: phases

synopsis: jenny and giles, who have been arguing nonstop since jenny’s secret came out, are sent on something of a team-building exercise by buffy, where “team-building exercise” means “looking for a werewolf.”

INT. LIBRARY — DAY

Buffy enters with a pastry bag and a cup of coffee, sticking her head in a little warily. Jenny’s the only one there, passed out amidst ancient texts and printouts. Buffy smiles a little, looking almost sad, and crosses the room, placing the cup carefully down next to Jenny.

BUFFY

Hey, sleepy, class starts in half an hour. Might wanna get some coffee in before then.

Jenny doesn’t stir. Buffy rolls her eyes a little and shoves Jenny’s arm.

JENNY

(mumbling)

…conjugating Latin if you’re not using Sumerian…

BUFFY

Ms. Calendar. I made coffee. If you don’t wake up, it’ll get cold, and then all my hard work will have been totally wasted.

Jenny groans, then pulls herself up.

JENNY

How much time do I have?

BUFFY

Like I said, half an hour.

(hesitates)

Any luck finding the curse? Or, you know, a curse?

JENNY

None so far, but I’m doing my absolute best.

BUFFY

Hence the coffee.

Jenny gives Buffy a grateful smile and picks up the coffee, taking a long sip. She winces a little.

BUFFY

Did I put in too much sugar? My mom always likes it with cream and sugar—

JENNY

No, this is — it’s great. Thanks.

Buffy sits down next to Jenny, very clearly thinking about her next words carefully.

BUFFY

(finally)

Have you and Giles talked things out?

Jenny suddenly looks very sad. She doesn’t answer.

BUFFY

Oh.

(reassuring)

Well, he’ll come around.

JENNY

Can we change the subject?

BUFFY

To what? My murdery boyfriend? Hate to break it to you, Ms. Calendar, but there aren’t a lot of great conversation options as of right now.

JENNY

(nods)

Fair point.

Buffy fishes in the pastry bag and pulls out a scone, starting to eat it. After her first bite, she scoots her chair a little closer to Jenny.

BUFFY

You’re his best friend. He’s not gonna keep being mad at you till the end of time, especially since you guys work together to save the world through the power of books or whatever.

JENNY

Computers.

BUFFY

Hence the “or whatever,” obviously.

JENNY

(smiles)

Obviously.

Giles enters the library, looking very purposefully detached.

GILES

Ms. Calendar, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to clear out. Class starts in thirty minutes and I need the library tidy when students start using it.

JENNY

Ah, yes, because so many people use the library so often.

Buffy giggles at this. Giles looks a little affronted (why is Buffy on Jenny’s side?).

GILES

Be that as it may—

JENNY

I gotcha. I’ll be out of here when I’m done with my coffee.

BUFFY

I can help with the tidying up, Giles! I could use the busy work.

Jenny and Giles exchange a worried look without thinking about it, both of them concerned about Buffy. It takes them both a moment to remember that Giles is mad at Jenny, and another moment to recalibrate. Giles is looking very annoyed with himself. Jenny has started smiling.

GILES

Thank you, but Ms. Calendar has created enough havoc in my library that I think I would prefer to sort through this round of chaos alone. Better chance of fixing all the damage she’s done.

Jenny stops smiling. Without a word, she puts the coffee down and leaves, not looking back.

BUFFY

(reproving)

Giles, that was cold. She doesn’t deserve that.

GILES

I really couldn’t care less.

BUFFY

Okay, so you all of a sudden don’t care about Ms. Calendar. I’ll pretend for a second that I buy that. But can you at least not act like a five-year-old about it? I need my Watcher here.

Giles looks surprised by this, then touched, then guilty.

GILES

(finally)

I’ll do my best.

BUFFY

Good.

Buffy starts picking up books and placing them in random stacks. Giles winces a little — he’s got a system, and Buffy’s not following it — but realizes that maybe she really does need some busy work. He starts helping her stack.

INT. LIBRARY — DAY (LATER)

The library’s still a mess. Giles is sort of staring at the random stacks of books, looking very sad for a reason that probably isn’t disorganization. Behind him, Jenny opens the door and slips in.

JENNY

Hey, Buffy said you needed me for research purposes?

At Jenny’s voice, Giles composes himself.

GILES

(not looking at her)

Yes, I do. Do you have any articles on werewolves? My books aren’t very detailed regarding tracking them down.

Jenny looks visibly hurt.

JENNY

So just research, then.

GILES

That would be best.

Jenny crosses the room to the computer, sitting down amidst the books and turning it on. Giles goes back to staring at the stacks.

JENNY

(concerned)

Are you okay? You usually live for vigorous research.

GILES

I really don’t want to have this conversation, Jenny.

JENNY

I just—

GILES

There are a few books set aside regarding werewolves, and I’ve marked pages of interest. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d prefer you to do the briefing.

JENNY

(upset)

You love doing the briefing. You get all dorky and giggly and you draw a bunch of weird diagrams on that whiteboard you keep specifically for briefings.

GILES

Jen—Ms. Calendar, I-I don’t want to have this conversation right now, and I would appreciate it if you respected that request, all right?

Jenny really does look up at Giles at that, initially indignant. She sobers upon seeing the genuine hurt on his face, though he still isn’t looking at her.

JENNY

(quiet)

All right.

INT. LIBRARY — DAY (BRIEFING)

The kids look a mixture of confused and unnerved. Jenny’s standing in front of a haphazardly drawn chart with a few stick figures, and Giles is standing behind her with a blank expression on his face.

JENNY

(helpless)

Okay, um, that’s — the moon, I think, and that’s — a person turning into a wolf.

XANDER

You think? Didn’t you draw this?

JENNY

No heckling. I’m pretty sure I’m running on like two hours of sleep right now. Anyway, um, research—research shows that moons impact our psyche, even though scientists say—

GILES

(terse)

“The moon.” Not “moons.” There’s only one moon.

JENNY

(borderline shrieky)

You’re the one who wanted me to do this, Rupert, so either let me do this or sit down and shut up!

Buffy and Willow exchange extremely worried looks.

BUFFY

Um, guys? We’re all friends here, okay? Just — Giles, don’t you want to say something about werewolves or something?

GILES

(blackly)

Werewolves turn into werewolves three nights in a row and cannot control themselves, and we need to subdue and capture this one before it causes any more harm to Sunnydale.

(to Jenny)

And that is how you do a briefing, Ms. Calendar.

JENNY

No, usually you do a briefing with lots of ridiculous diagrams that no one can make sense of and spend fifteen minutes talking about what could be explained in basically two seconds. Isn’t that how you do it, Mr. Giles?

BUFFY

(to Willow)

This is really bad.

WILLOW

This is worse than when they actually hated each other.

JENNY

(to Giles)

If you’re going to behave like a little kid when I am genuinely trying here—

GILES

I am not having this conversation.

JENNY

You’re never having this conversation!

XANDER

(loudly)

Giles, Ms. Calendar, don’t we have actually serious business to deal with right now?

WILLOW

(anxious)

We already have a werewolf ripping people to shreds. You two don’t need to start on each other.

Buffy’s watching Giles and Jenny argue with a strange expression on her face.

BUFFY

I think Giles and Ms. Calendar should go track down the werewolf tonight.

That shuts Giles and Jenny up.

JENNY

No way.

GILES

Out of the question.

BUFFY

Look, you guys obviously need to learn how to work as a team even when you’re mad at each other. I’m going to scope out Lovers’ Lane, and I think you should go up there too and search together.

WILLOW

Buffy, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.

XANDER

You’re pretty much setting them up to kill each other. You do know that, right?

BUFFY

(sardonic)

Well, maybe they’ll take down the werewolf while they’re at it.

JENNY

Buffy, I know you want—

GILES

Don’t presume you know what she wants—

XANDER

They really are going to kill each other, aren’t they?

WILLOW

I’m not a betting girl, but I think the odds on that are pretty high.

BUFFY

Listen! We don’t just have the werewolf to deal with, we have Angelus and we have vampires and we have God knows what else, and now is not the time for our team to be falling to pieces just because you two can’t keep it together! So either you work things out right now or you work them out looking for that werewolf, because—

Buffy’s voice catches. For a moment, she looks very small, very afraid.

BUFFY

I need to know everyone’s behind me. Not at each other’s throats.

Giles and Jenny look abashed. Willow reaches out and places a hand on Buffy’s shoulder.

JENNY

(soft)

Okay.

GILES

I — suppose I can manage one night.

BUFFY

Good. You’re going to have to.

EXT. MAKEOUT PARK — NIGHT

Giles and Jenny meet in between two cars. There’s an incredibly awkward silence.

JENNY

Anything yet?

GILES

No.

JENNY

Are you going to start being nit-picky and awful like you were during that briefing?

GILES

(scoffs)

Now you’re just trying to provoke me.

JENNY

Rupert, I—

(swallows)

I don’t like not being friends with you. It’s a lot worse the second time around, and it’s even harder when you won’t even talk to me.

GILES

I’m talking to you right now, aren’t I?

Jenny presses her lips together, then nods.

JENNY

Fine. Okay. Let’s just get back to searching, then.

BUFFY (O.C.)

Giles!!

Giles’s eyes widen and he takes off towards Buffy’s voice, leaving Jenny in the dust. She stares, indignant, then sprints to follow, grabbing his arm so that she can keep up.

GILES

Stop that!

JENNY

Your legs are longer than mine, you can’t just run off and leave me in the dark—

GILES

Seems as though you’ve kept me in the dark for a good long time, Jenny, I’m simply evening things out a bit.

Jenny stops, pulling Giles to a stop with her.

JENNY

You cannot possibly be serious.

Giles pauses, as though he’s about to say something. Then he takes advantage of Jenny’s distraction, shaking her arm off and running in Buffy’s direction.

JENNY

Ugh!

Jenny runs after him, skidding to a stop in the middle of a clearing. She collides with Giles, who has his hands in the air and his eyes on Cain and Buffy, the latter of whom is up in a net.

GILES

Buffy’s in a net and there’s a man with a gun, so—

JENNY

Wow, thanks for the warning.

BUFFY

Can you two cool it for one solitary second?

JENNY

Wait, who’s that guy?

CAIN

The name's Cain. I'm the one with the gun. Which means I'm the one who gets to do the interviewing.

BUFFY

You know, before we get all chummy, could we do something about this 'me being in a net' thing?

Cain looks up at Buffy, takes a knife from his belt and slices through a rope, dropping Buffy and the net to the ground. Jenny moves to help, but Giles sort of shoves her out of the way in a bid to get to Buffy first.

GILES

(to Buffy)

Are you all right?

BUFFY

I could have done without the poking.

CAIN

So what’s the deal here?

JENNY

I’m sorry?

CAIN

Is it you and him, him and the girl, or you and the girl?

JENNY

(matter-of-fact)

You’re disgusting.

BUFFY

And totally off the mark. We’re hunting down a werewolf.

A beat. Cain breaks into laughter.

BUFFY

Sure, it's funny if you don't believe in werewolves…

CAIN

No, it's funny thinking about you three catching one!

(re: Giles)

This guy looks like he's auditioning to be a librarian. The lady is about your size. And you, well, you're a girl.

GILES

I assure you, Buffy’s quite capable.

JENNY

(snippy)

And I’m not?

GILES

(sarcastic)

Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.

Buffy, sensing another argument, gives Giles and Jenny an annoyed look. They shut up.

CAIN

(to Buffy)

Let me ask you something, sweetheart. Exactly how many of these animals have you taken out?

BUFFY

(hedging)

As of today?

Cain shows the collection of teeth on his necklace.

CAIN

I tore a tooth from the mouth of every werewolf that I killed. This next one will bring the total to an even dozen.

JENNY

You're just going to kill it?

CAIN

Well, see, that's the thing. Their pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka, and it's a little hard to skin 'em when they're alive.

GILES

(incredulous)

You hunt werewolves for sport?

CAIN

Oh, no. I'm in it purely for the money.

BUFFY

And it doesn't bother you that a werewolf is a person 28 days out of the month?

CAIN

That's why I only hunt them the other three.

Cain smiles and starts to pack up his gear.

CAIN

I'd really love to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Any idea where else the boys and girls like to get together in this town?

BUFFY

You looking for a party?

CAIN

No, but the werewolf is. They're suckers for that whole 'sexual heat' thing. Sense it miles away. But since the little doggie ain't here, it must have found another place.

BUFFY

(covering)

Sorry. Wish we could help you.

CAIN

But you don't know squat? Gee, what a surprise.

He goes off. Buffy grabs the bag of hunting supplies out of Giles' hand and starts away. Giles moves with her.

GILES

Where are we going?

BUFFY

I think I know where to look. I just have to make it there before Mein Furrier. You two stay here and keep an eye on Lovers’ Lane in case the werewolf comes back for seconds.

JENNY

I don’t think that’s—

GILES

Buffy, I can—

BUFFY

Just do some staking out. Maybe talk. Either way, you guys need to work out all that weird tension, because I was up in that net for way too long.

Buffy leaves. Jenny looks apprehensively up at Giles.

JENNY

She does have a point.

GILES

Yes, she’s rather good at that.

JENNY

We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, Rupert. We can just stake things out in silence. Practice the whole teamwork thing.

GILES

I think I’d like that.

Giles starts walking back towards the car. Jenny watches him for a moment, then follows.

INT. GILES’S CAR — NIGHT

Jenny buckles herself in.

GILES

We aren’t driving.

JENNY

We might have to start if the werewolf shows up. I’m just planning ahead.

GILES

Good to know you’ve started doing that.

JENNY

And what’s that supposed to mean?

GILES

Did you even consider telling me why you were here? It was such a small thing, and if you’d given it even the slightest amount of consideration, you might have—

JENNY

Maybe I don’t tell you everything exactly when you want to hear it, but I did tell you. Doesn’t that count for something?

GILES

You told me because you had to.

JENNY

I told you because I thought the whole damn thing was my fault, Rupert! I told you because Angel was gone, and he’d been nothing but kind to me, and I was so scared and so sad and you’re my best friend. I wanted you to tell me that things were going to be okay, and instead you just—

Jenny’s voice breaks and she scrubs at her face. Giles is staring at her with wide eyes, shocked.

JENNY

You just shut me out. And I know I shouldn’t be asking you for your forgiveness, I know that’s your decision to make, I, I—

Giles places a hand on Jenny’s shoulder and kisses her. Hard.

Jenny gasps, then kisses him back, grabbing his jacket as he pulls her into his arms. Her seatbelt catches and she unbuckles it, letting Giles tug her on top of him and into the driver’s seat.

They’re kissing passionately for a good few seconds before there’s a noise outside, and then the werewolf lands on top of the car. Giles and Jenny don’t even notice until there’s the screech of claws on metal.

Slowly, they pull apart. They both look completely stunned. Jenny’s lipstick is all over Giles’s mouth.

GILES

(strangled)

That’d be the werewolf on the roof, wouldn’t it?

JENNY

(weak)

Um, yep. Probably. Yes.

Giles honks the horn.

JENNY

What are you doing?

GILES

Trying to scare it off. Maybe it’ll get startled and fall off the roof.

JENNY

What is wrong with you? Just drive. Just drive, Rupert. Just drive.

GILES

(panicked)

Stop telling me to drive!

JENNY

(high-pitched)

A lot just happened to me in a short amount of time, I have very reasonable grounds to start getting very hysterical—

Giles floors the gas. The werewolf is thrown off the car as it peels out of Lover’s Lane.

JENNY

(awkward)

I’m still on your lap.

GILES

Yes, I’m aware of that.

JENNY

Can you stop so I can get off?

GILES

Priorities, Jenny.

JENNY

Oh my god, sexual energy. Oh my god. Oh my god.

GILES

(not even close to convincing)

I was — trying to attract the werewolf, all right? I panicked, and, and it seemed like a good idea—

JENNY

(shouting)

How is that a good idea? That is objectively the worst idea I’ve heard all night!

GILES

Don’t yell, Jenny, I’m driving and you’re still on my lap—

JENNY

And whose fault is that?

GILES

You kissed me back, so I wouldn’t say I’m completely responsible for this situation—

(realizes)

You kissed me back.

JENNY

Let’s just get back to Buffy.

GILES

(reeling)

You kissed me back.

JENNY

(voice catching)

I don’t want to talk about this.

Giles takes this in. Both of them look extremely upset and uncertain.

GILES

I’m sorry.

JENNY

It’s fine. It’s fine. Friends kiss friends all the time and they bounce back and anyway, we’re not mad at each other anymore, right?

GILES

(quiet)

No. Not, um, not really.

JENNY

So that’s good. That’s great.

GILES

Excellent.

As Giles drives, Jenny climbs off his lap and buckles herself back into the passenger seat.

JENNY

(weakly)

Should’ve buckled this thing tighter, huh?

Giles tries to smile.

INT. HALLWAY — DAY

Buffy and Giles are walking down the hall, Giles holding a large stack of books and papers. Buffy’s briefing Giles about the werewolf situation.

BUFFY

—and I had the chain around its neck, I was this close to getting—

Jenny rounds the corner. She stops walking when she sees Giles, who nearly drops all his papers as they stare at each other.

BUFFY

Hey, Ms. Calendar—

(noticing)

You guys okay?

GILES

(high-pitched)

Fine, yes, completely normal—

JENNY

(nervous, laughing)

Yeah, totally. Why wouldn’t we be?

Buffy looks between them, frowning a little.

BUFFY

Look, even if you guys didn’t kiss and make up, I’m fine. I just really need you both to act like adults, even if you’re still mad at each other—

GILES

(too loudly)

No one said anything about kissing!

Jenny buries her face in her hands.

BUFFY

You know what? I think I’m going to choose to ignore that one.

(pats Giles’s shoulder)

See you in a bit, Giles.

Buffy heads into the library, leaving Giles and Jenny still standing there, staring uncomfortably at each other.

GILES

(breaking the silence)

In, in college, I kissed a friend of mine and the friendship never really recovered. I don’t want that to be the case here.

JENNY

Me neither. It’s just—

(nervous laugh)

It was a good kiss.

GILES

It was.

They both smile a little shyly.

GILES

Jenny, I’ve never been as honest with anyone before as I have been with you. It was upsetting to know that my honesty wasn’t completely reciprocated, and I overlooked the fact that I shouldn’t feel entitled to know everything I want to know about you. I acted childishly in shutting you out. I’m sorry.

JENNY

I told you the truth about everything that mattered to me. You know that, right?

GILES

I think so.

JENNY

Just so happens that my priorities aren’t always all that great, I guess.

GILES

I’d argue that your priorities are one hell of a lot better than mine, at times.

There’s still a lingering awkwardness, but then Jenny steps forward and places her hand on Giles’s shoulder.

JENNY

My priorities are relatively okay because I have a really great friend to talk things

through with. Okay?

Giles is smiling, but he looks a little sad.

GILES

Okay.

#fic #calendiles day #maybe i'm in love

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