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sergeantsporks · 10 months

Text

Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 30/?: Unfamiliar

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29

In which none of the previous golden guards or wittebro died, actually, they're all fine and living happily together as one big dysfunctional family

Ao3

Phoenix’s blanket had fallen off in the night; he could tell by the chill over his shoulders. However, something warm and solid pressed against his chest. The warm, solid thing pinned down one of his arms, and he blinked at a head of blonde hair pressed up against his chin, his head still too foggy from sleep to figure out what it was.

“Mrgh.” Phoenix reached up and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

His free hand.

His free flesh hand.

Phoenix sat up, abruptly waking the baby grimwalker that had been curled up against his chest. “Hey,” he spluttered, “It’s normal!” And, after a beat, “Why did someone give me the baby?!”

The little grimwalker grabbed his shirt for balance, speaking to him very seriously and completely incomprehensibly. They wore one long shirt that Phoenix was relatively certain belonged to Caleb and was much too big for them, the sleeves eating their little arms. Phoenix checked his own arms again—even the original wounds had vanished completely, leaving no sign of the mud underneath his skin.

Cherry poked his head out of the closet. “They wouldn’t quit fussing and reaching until I put them with you. Your arms were already back to normal, and I’ve been monitoring, it was fine.” He shook a shirt and a pair of overalls at Phoenix. “Achsah’s baby clothes. Hold them steady, they are. Very wriggly.”

“Hey—are you okay?”

Cherry tried to pull the new shirt over the grimwalker’s head, resulting in a head AND an arm poking out of the collar. “How did you—that had to have been harder than just putting your head through.” He struggled to pull the grimwalker’s arm back down into the sleeve, only breaking concentration to glance briefly at Phoenix. “I’m fine now. I was worried, of course, but it’s fine now. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to keep that secret for me. Especially not when you were already struggling.”

“Well. It worked out. You came back. You didn’t die of infection. You’re… are you okay? How are you feeling?”

“Cherry.”

Cherry let go of the shirt, leaving the little grimwalker a head sticking out of a sack. “It wasn’t good,” he said shortly, “I’m past being catatonic over it. I’d rather focus on something real and solvable, like getting this little guy into a pair of pants.” He managed to pull the grimwalker’s arms through the sleeves. “Can we just leave it?”

“Okay,” Phoenix said quietly, “We can leave it. If you’re sure you’re alright.”

“I am. You?”

Phoenix examined his arms, twisting his hands back and forth to check for any mud. “Better than yesterday.” His stomach growled. “Maybe a bit hungry,” he admitted. A lot hungry, if he was being totally honest. He’d been too exhausted yesterday to notice, but now his stomach snarled for food. When had he last eaten?

Cherry managed to half-wrestle the baby grimwalker into the overalls, getting their chubby legs through the leg holes but unable to buckle the straps over their shoulders. “We can fix that.”

The baby made grabby hands towards Phoenix, and Cherry held them out. “They want you.”

Phoenix didn’t reach to take the kid, instead checking his arms again. “Is that a good idea? I mean with…” he gestured to himself. “This.”

“They want you, Phoenix,” Cherry said quietly.

“Nee-Nee!” the grimwalker cheered, “Nee-nee!”

“They’re calling for my knees.”

“Sounds like it.”

Cherry didn’t make any move to pull the baby closer to himself, so Phoenix delicately took them, half expecting his arms to immediately collapse into mud at the touch. He held them out at arm’s length, wincing.

Nothing happened. His arms didn’t change. The little grimwalker kicked their legs in the air as if trying to scoot closer, and Phoenix gingerly balanced them on one hip. The baby grabbed his shoulder for balance, solemnly sucking on one hand.

Phoenix could feel their heartbeat against his ribs, small, but steady.

They’re so little. The little grimwalker fit so easily against him. He could probably dangle them off one arm with no effort. And they were so delicate; he could break them in half if he wanted to. Not that he ever would.

But what if someone did want to hurt them someday? They were so small and squishy; it wouldn’t be hard. Phoenix held the little grimwalker closer at the thought.

I’ll protect them. I’ll keep them safe.

A niggling worm of doubt whispered that he hadn’t managed it for Darius, or King, or Jason, or Hunter; what made him think that this time would be different?

I have to try.

I can do it this time

I can protect them.

The things that happened to us—I won’t let it happen to them.

“See?” Cherry said briskly, “They want you. Come on.”

The little grimwalker stared at everything around them with big, curious eyes, occasionally bracing their feet against Phoenix and pushing, their weight pulling Phoenix sideways towards whatever it was that had caught their interest. This mostly consisted of doors, but they did shriek in delight at the sight of a window and a bird that sat outside of it, kicking their legs and grabbing for it.

The low hum of conversation drifted out of the dining room, accompanied by the smell of cooked griffin eggs, and Phoenix’s stomach growled again. The toddler giggled and gurgled, imitating the sound.

The moment Phoenix walked into the dining room, conversation came to a screeching halt. Phoenix almost backed out, but his stomach growled again, and he pressed onwards, magenta eyes tracking every movement.

A squeal of excitement broke the heavy silence, and Clara shoved her chair back, dashing up to Phoenix. “They’re so cute! Can I hold them, can I hold them please?”

Muted conversation resumed. Phoenix slowly crouched down. “Are you sure?”

“I won’t drop them. I promise.”

Ram shuffled up next to Clara, giggling and whispering in her ear. She batted at her sibling lightly. “Be nice! They tried!”

She took the little grimwalker out of Phoenix’s arm, making a cheeks-puffed-out face at them and blowing a raspberry. The baby laughed, and Clara quickly buckled the overalls over their shoulders while they were distracted. “There you go, little guy.”

The baby held their arms out. “Nee-Nee.”

“Awwww, they know your name, Phoenix.”

How on the isles had she come to that conclusion? “What?”

“Nee-nee. PhoeNIx. They’re saying your name.” Clara blew another raspberry at them. “You’re learning words? Huh? Are you? Can you walk?”

“Walk?!” Cherry spluttered.

“Yeah, they’re big enough. I can teach them; I helped Ram learn to walk.” Clara cooed, bouncing the baby up and down. “Yeah! Let’s go practice walking. You want to practice walking?”

She wandered off with the baby, Ram at her side. Phoenix slowly stood up. “I’m… sure that’s fine?”

Cherry chuckled humorlessly. “She seems to know more about what she’s doing than we do.” He nodded to the table. “Breakfast?”

Phoenix slowly edged his way towards the table, taking a plate from the end. Eggs were still on the menu, and he spotted fruits and vegetables from the garden.

Phoenix’s stomach growled again, and he grabbed a plate, leaning over Venari to scoop eggs onto his plate.

“No,” Evelyn was telling Venari in an exasperated voice, “You, Meleager, Horus, and Hamlet may not go out on patrol on the west route until we’ve found the scouts. I know how you four get.”

The scouts. Maybe they’d tried to trap, kill, and eat him, but still, Phoenix’s stomach churned at the idea they might have been seriously injured. “You haven’t found them?”

“Probably means they scurried off,” Venari piped up, “Or the Collector found them. If you’d killed ‘em, there would have been a very easy-to-spot body. Unless you ate them, I guess. Belos never ate people, I’m betting you don’t eat people, right?”

“Venari,” Evelyn hissed.

“What?”

“I don’t. Eat people,” Phoenix replied slowly, “Can I please eat those eggs, though?”

Evelyn wordlessly passed him the bowl.

She wouldn’t look at him.

Phoenix scooped a small spoonful of eggs onto his plate, but before he could put the bowl back, Cherry took the spoon from him and added more. “You need to eat,” he insisted.

Phoenix flushed. He hadn’t missed the lack of toast on the table, and the absence of the butter that usually went with it. With the town’s people gone, they’d have to rely entirely on what they grew here, or whatever prey was left after the Collector’s sweep. And with extra mouths in the house, those resources wouldn’t go as far as they usually did. “I’m fine.”

His stomach unhelpfully chose that moment to rumble again.

Cherry added another scoop. “You’re not being a hero by not eating. The food’s already made. Eat it.”

A plate clattered to the floor behind Phoenix, making him flinch. His arms shuddered, rippling into green mud and back to flesh. He clutched his arms closer to himself, badly attempting to hide them under his plate.

Right. I guess it was too much to hope for that this would disappear with one good night’s sleep.

He slowly turned around. Ash scrambled for their dropped plate, eying him warily and squeaking when they noticed Phoenix looking. They scooted out of the dining room and into the safety of the kitchen, abandoning the plate.

“Ash,” Evelyn sighed.

Phoenix gestured after them. “I should… talk to them?” It didn’t sound appealing, but he’d have to figure out how to live with them eventually. They couldn’t just avoid each other forever.

“No.” Evelyn pushed her chair back. “I’ll go. You’ll just make them worse.” She stopped next to Phoenix for just a moment, still not looking at him. “It’s not your fault.”

The words seemed to ring hollow, and Phoenix couldn’t help remembering how hesitant she’d been to approach him last night, even to take Caleb. But Evelyn disappeared before he could quite process the thought.

“I need to control this.”

The words left Phoenix’s mouth almost of their own volition.

Cherry dumped a dragonfruit on his plate, already cored and no longer spewing fire. “Hm?”

“This.” Phoenix nodded to his arms. “I can’t—I’m scaring people.”

“You’re not scaring me.”

“I don’t want reassurances, Cherry. I want…” Phoenix shook his head helplessly. “I can’t help anyone like this. I don’t know anything about the curse, except what I saw from Belos, and that’s not exactly a great example to follow!”

“Yelling,” Cherry said quietly.

Phoenix glanced at the table. All of the grimwalkers immediately looked at their plates and away from him. “I just… need to get a handle on it. At the least, I want to keep myself from melting every time I get overwhelmed or mildly startled.”

“Okay. I hear you. Loud and clear. And I’m warning you in advance, you are not going to like what I have to say next.”

“Which is…?”

“Eat breakfast. Take a second to get something in your stomach so that you’re not running on empty.”

Right. Phoenix probably could have predicted that would be his advice. And, to be honest, the smell of food right now made him want to scarf down the eggs on his plate like a feral animal. Eating was definitely on his to-do list. “And then what?”

“How do you feel about a thousand needling questions and possibly actual real needles?”

xxx

Phoenix rapped on the door to Sam’s lab. Much as he hated to admit it, the problem of his new condition did seem much smaller now that he’d eaten. Still not manageable, but not as bad. He still had no idea what to do about Ash, though. And he wasn’t looking forward to Petro making snide comments while he struggled to control this.

But when Sam opened the door, Petro was nowhere to be seen. “I cleared him out of the lab so that he wouldn’t make things difficult,” Sam explained at his questioning look, “He’s being guarded by Lake and Locke right now. A cruel and unusual torture outlawed by the Latissa Convention, I know, but a necessary evil.”

“Did Cherry tell you I was coming?”

Sam snorted. “No. But, I mean, come on, really, who else were you going to go to? Come on, let’s get this thing figured out.”

He held the door open and Phoenix edged into the lab. Evelyn’s remaining explosive potions now sat on one of Sam’s tables, accompanied by Belos’ journal. A quick flip of the front pages showed that none had been ripped out.

I guess he decided it didn’t matter after all

Or he just thought there was no point.

Sam swept the bottles to the side. “I was playing with potion dosages,” he explained, “One drop can put a pretty good crater in stone. By the way. In case you were interested. She wasn’t playing around when she made these. Anyway. Let’s see it.”

“See what?”

Sam gestured impatiently at his arms. “The curse. Let’s see it. Come on, goop time. I’m assuming that’s why you’re here, right? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to figure it out?”

“Yes.” Phoenix hadn’t ever been more sure of anything in his life. He needed answers.

“Okay. Then show me.”

Phoenix held his arms closer to himself. “I can’t just turn it on whenever I want! That’s the problem, it just happens randomly!”

“Wrong.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t happen randomly. Curses aren’t random, they have very specific triggers.”

Phoenix looked away. “Fine, yes, it doesn’t happen ‘randomly.’ But the point is, I can’t control it. I can’t make it happen, and I can’t make it stop. I’m just… stuck whenever it happens.”

Sam tapped a pen against his chin. “Hm. Okay. No direct tests for now. Tell me more about it.”

Phoenix watched the back-and-forth movement of the pen. “Are you… recording what I say?”

“How else am I supposed to analyze and review your answers? Don’t even worry about it, just talk, ignore the writing. When did the symptoms start? What are the symptoms?”

“Yester…” Phoenix trailed off, thinking. When had it first started? He hadn’t ever checked under the bandages when he’d been with the Collector. But there had been some nightmares… “What counts as a symptom?”

“Well, the… oozing… is definitely a symptom, but I’m guessing you know a few more. Ones that you didn’t share with the class earlier.”

Phoenix winced at the reminder. Maybe they really could have caught this earlier. But would they have found the baby grimwalker if he had told them?

You’ll think yourself into circles. Just answer the question.

“I think it started with weird dreams. Nightmares.”

“Liiiiiiiike?”

“Um.” Phoenix scratched absently where the infected wounds had been only yesterday. “I started seeing—just remembering his attacks. But from his point of view.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And it was things I knew,” Phoenix continued, “It was things I was there for, experiences I had but flipped around, and then…”

Sam paused writing, peering at him over the journal. “I’m not a mindreader. I need you to tell me what happened.”

“I saw memories of other golden guards. Things only Belos would have seen.”

“Mmm. Makes sense.”

The calm, easy statement hit Phoenix right in the gut, and he completely forgot what he’d been about to say next. “It does?”

Sam rolled a hand. “Magic holds memories; each individual has their own unique magical signature. Perceptive enough people can tell who cast a spell just by looking at the aftereffects of the magic.”

“Really?”

“Oh, sure. And similarly, curses will hold parts of their past bearers. Records of hereditary curses often come with reports of residual memories, occasional strange bursts of emotion—why do you look like you’re going to be sick?”

Often? All of the memories, the strange feelings… “That’s—it’s normal?”

“Yeah?” Sam hissed in. “You didn’t know. Oh, boy, no wonder you freaked out.”

Sam was right; Phoenix felt sick to his stomach. “That’s normal?! It’s supposed to happen?!”

“Ehhhhh ‘supposed’ is a really odd term for it. Considering. Cursed. And all of that. But yes, it’s extremely common. That is, among curses that are passed from person to person.”

Phoenix wrung his hands, trying unsuccessfully to shake off that deep feeling that he’d irreversibly screwed up. “But Caleb said—we didn’t know why it was happening!”

“Caleb arrived in the isles long before the more extensive research into curses was conducted. And all his experience with a cursed individual comes from someone who was the original bearer of the curse. Of course he didn’t know.” Sam shook his head. “Even I don’t know everything about curses. Each one is different for each person, so they’re hard to pin down. But I looked into it enough. Almost every grimwalker here did. You didn’t?”

Phoenix shook his head. “Belos always shut down any questions, so I left it alone. It didn’t take a lot to set him off.”

“Mmm. Remind me to give you some pointers on general sneakery. Point is, I can’t tell you everything. I don’t know curse trajectory, I can’t tell you how or if this will spread, what the timeline is, etc. But we can get some answers. Mostly about what we’re dealing with and how it’s going to affect you in the present. Right now, seems like a standard infectious curse. Carries some memories, some emotions, similar end result to the last person who had it. And it’s triggered byyyyyy?”

“I don’t know what happened yesterday. It was slowly building up in my arms, spreading under my skin, and then it just sort of… took over.” Phoenix thought about how his arms had briefly relapsed at breakfast. “And it showed up again when I was startled.”

“Ah, okay, okay, startled, that makes s—BOO!” Sam lunged at Phoenix, throwing his arms up to make himself bigger. Phoenix instinctively flinched backwards, but his arms didn’t shift or even liquify a little.

“Huh. Worth a shot.” Sam jotted down a note. “Anything else?”

“It sort of… burns? Like it’s eating at the skin that isn’t already taken over. It’s exhausting when it happens, but I don’t know if that was from the curse, or from everything else that was going on. And… it got worse when I was worried. When I was trapped, and when I thought Caleb was going to get eaten, I couldn’t control it at all.”

“Emotion based. Got it. And you’re sure you can’t activate it on command?”

“Positive.”

“Any emotions, or just the more distressing ones?”

“Distressing ones.” Well. As far as he knew. Phoenix hadn’t exactly had enough exhilarating joy to know if that would trigger a change.

“Ehhhh okay. It would really be best if I could see it in action, but… I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Sam slipped out, leaving Phoenix on his own. He gingerly picked up one of the explosive potions, turning it over in his hands.

I wonder what Evelyn did with that mask she picked up.

“Planning on burning the house down with that?”

Phoenix jumped, the potion bottle slipping through his fingers. He fumbled, snatching for the bottle and returning it to its place on the table.

Dagger watched him. “Wow,” he said flatly, “That was hard to watch.”

Phoenix shifted to stand in front of the bottles, hiding the embarrassment from view. “Do you need something?”

Dagger shrugged, fluidly moving around him. “Just wanted to know if it was true.”

“What?”

“That you’re turning into Belos.”

“What?! No, I’m—” Phoenix took a deep breath. “I’m not turning into Belos. It’s just… his curse.”

“His curse? Oh, wait, you mean the thing that made him lash out and hurt us? The one that turned him into a raging monster? That curse? Not super comforting.”

“It’s not—I’m not—” Phoenix shrugged helplessly, “It’s not going to be like that. I’m not going to be like that.”

“Are you sure? Because Ash isn’t. They’ve got a special personal connection to that curse, and here you are flaunting it around. I thought they were going to puke all over the kitchen floor last night. And this morning. Seriously, they are terrified of you.”

“I’m not flaunting it,” Phoenix protested, “It’s—I can’t control—I know he said that, too, but I swear, I’m not going to hurt anyone if I can help it, I swear—”

“Yeah? Whatcha gonna do with those, then?”

Phoenix’s gaze slowly, slowly traveled down to his arms. His fingertips had turned to claws, and mud swirled lazily around his wrists and forearms. The mud wasn’t burning yet, so he hadn’t even noticed the change. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Nothing.”

“Aaaaaaand that’s enough.”

Sam stalked back into the lab, scooping up a jar, tweezers, and a swab. “Thanks, Dagger. You can get out, now.”

Dagger shrugged. “Have fun with… whatever it is you’re trying to do. That stuff is going to kill you, by the way.”

“Okay, thank you Dagger. Bye. Get out now.”

Dagger shrugged again and left. Phoenix gestured weakly after him. “What—he was—”

“Deliberately triggering the curse. No one can put someone in emotional distress like Dagger. Well, maybe Petro can, but he’s annoying and he probably wouldn’t do it on command. Sorry about that, but—” Sam scraped some of the mud off of Phoenix’s arm and into the jar. “—Like I said, it’s best if I see the curse in action. Get some samples.”

Phoenix gaped. “Are you serious?!”

“I was right outside. I would have stopped him if I thought he was going too far.”

“What if it lashed out on its own again?!” Phoenix sputtered, “Dagger could have gotten seriously injured! Also, hey! I’m not a test dummy!”

Sam sighed, closing the jar and setting it aside. The mud inside drifted around, squelching across the jar like a worm. “Phoenix. I’m sorry. I would have told you what I was up to, but then it probably wouldn’t have worked. I promise wouldn’t have gone that far if I thought I could gather data another way. But you said you were willing to do anything when I asked, and if that conversation was any indication, the biggest stressor that’s triggering your curse is the idea that you’ll turn into a monster. Finding out more about the curse is how we’ll stop that from happening, which will also eliminate the stressor, making attacks less likely. Information is our best chance against whatever is going on with you. This is how we get that information.” He tilted his head. “Can you… turn them back? Do you know how?”

“I just woke up with them normal. Short of going to sleep…” Phoenix shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Huh. Oh, there they go! Because you’re calming down?”

Phoenix held his hands up, examining his skin. Still scarred—but now a red gash marred his arm right where Sam had taken the mud from, dripping blood down his arm. “…Do you have a bandage?”

Sam seized his arm. “What. What. What.”

“What?” Phoenix echoed, “What’s the matter?”

“Why is your arm bleeding?!”

Phoenix tugged his arm out of Sam’s grasp. “Probably because there’s a chunk of it in your jar.”

Sam grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. “Belos didn’t do this!”

“What?” Phoenix tried to think back on any time Belos had gotten hurt, trying to think of ever seeing blood—but he’d foiled most assassination attempts, and his own run at killing Belos had been disappointingly unsuccessful.

“Belos didn’t do this!” Sam repeated, “He didn’t bleed after getting cut, it was just goop all the way down!” He examined the jar, still containing the mud. “You’ve got—okay, look, Belos is a goop sack in a humanoid form. It’s a disguise, it’s pretend. He’s got some human bones in there, I think, maybe, but he doesn’t bleed. You’re not goop in grimwalker form, this is—you’re actually transforming between mud and flesh!”

“…Thanks?”

“I think!” Sam amended, “I don’t. Actually. Know. For sure yet. Wait.” He shook the jar slightly. “Do you need this to fix your arm?”

“I don’t know. Do you need me, or can I go find something to cover this up before I get another curse infection and we have to wait and see which one wins?”

“Better idea! Third option! Let’s go find Mom!”

Phoenix balked, remembering how Evelyn wouldn’t look at him at breakfast. “I don’t know if that’s such a good id—”

“Go! I am not waiting for this to heal naturally to find out if you need the mud to heal!”

“We can’t do that. Evelyn has to keep the shield up, she can’t be wasting her energy healing a tiny cut.”

“Figuring this thing out. Need more information. Preventing further curse damage, making everyone’s lives better. Let’s go.” Sam pushed Phoenix out of the room. “It’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know about ‘fine’,” Phoenix mumbled.

“It. Will. Be. Fine. I’ll make sure of it.” Sam pushed Phoenix all the way to the temporary first aid station. “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mother. Mumsy. Mom.”

Evelyn set down a potion, this one a soothing blue, rather than the bright gold of her explosion potions. “Sam. Samuel. Samantha. Samara. Sammy. Sam. What.”

“Heyyyyyyyyy, how are you feeling? Good? Great? Well-rested? Up for a healing spell?”

“Nee-Nee!”

Before Evelyn could respond, the new baby grimwalker lurched into Phoenix’s knee, gripping his leg for balance. They babbled incoherently, occasionally punctuated with a delighted “lara” that Phoenix assumed referred to Clara. Phoenix reached down to pick them up.

“Wow. She really did teach you how to walk, huh?”

Evelyn twitched uneasily, her hands flexing like she wanted to grab the grimwalker, but she didn’t protest when Phoenix lifted them up. “Clara was very helpful,” she said shortly, “Sam, what did you need? A healing spell? What happened?” She eyed Phoenix a little too closely for comfort. “Who’s hurt?”

Sam held up Phoenix’s arm. “I know it’s not a big scratch! Hear me out!”

“Sam.”

“I know, I know, I know, but I’m testing regenerative aspects of the curse!”

“You didn’t scrape up your brother’s arm just to test if he could regenerate, did you?”

“Not intentionally. This was sort of a side effect. But Mom, this is important! Can we try?”

Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sam. Last time I tried to poke at Phoenix’s arms with magic, that… thing… ate my spell and drained my energy. I’m not eager for a repeat.” She swirled her potion around. “We can try this, though.”

Sam made grabbing hands at the bottle. “What is it?”

“Experimental potion,” Evelyn told him casually, “In theory, it mends minor wounds. I was thinking for Caleb… but we can try it out.”

Phoenix eyed the bottle, pushing down a pang of guilt at the reminder about Caleb. He needed to check on the ortet. Thank him for coming after him. And apologize for getting him hurt. “Experimental?”

“It won’t hurt you, Phoenix. Nothing in it is dangerous. Besides, even if it did blow your arm off, you could just…” Evelyn made a slurping noise and mimed molding something together. “Right?”

“I don’t know!”

“Relax. Like I said, it’s not dangerous, I just don’t know if it works.” Evelyn held up the bottle. “Trade you.”

Phoenix begrudgingly shifted the little grimwalker’s weight to Evelyn’s arms. The toddler gripped his shirt for a moment, but let go and nestled against Evelyn, watching him solemnly. Phoenix took the potion. “Do I drink it?”

“Pour it on the wound. Uh, it might feel… weird.”

The droplets were already splattering against his skin as she added the last statement, and Phoenix’s hand wobbled. “What?!”

“It’s fine, it’s just skin regrowing very quickly.”

Phoenix’s arm itched and crawled, like a thousand bugs were clambering around underneath the surface, stitching his skin back together. And it did stitch back together, new skin forming at lightning speed and staunching the bleeding. All that was left behind was a small reddish mark, one Phoenix recognized from countless nicks and scratches as a temporary scar that would disappear within a week.

“Yessssssssss,” Sam crowed, “Is that part of your cursed mud still around, or is it dead? Could you reabsorb it? Would it turn into a weird extra blob of flesh on your arm?”

Evelyn winced, taking the potion back. “Sam… please be careful. We’re trying to keep the curse from getting worse, not make it even bigger. Was that all?”

“What happened to the mask you took from the pit?” Phoenix blurted out.

Evelyn blinked, obviously taken aback by the question. “I suppose it’s still in my bag. Why?”

“I was just… wondering… if I could have it?”

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“I…” Phoenix struggled to find the right words. He had a vague idea of what he planned to do with it, but would Evelyn agree?

No more lying.

“I think… I know someone who might like to have it? Someone who isn’t me,” he clarified, “And… I don’t know, did you need it for something?”

Evelyn chewed her lip. “I suppose not,” she admitted, “I don’t know why I kept it, really.”

“Because you’re a magpie attracted to shiny objects,” Sam stated matter-of-factly.

Evelyn swatted at him without looking. “I suppose you can have it,” she said slowly, retrieving the mask, “Don’t let the baby have it. I don’t want them exposed to all of… that… just yet.”

“They’re not old enough to understand what it is.”

“Hm. Still. Make sure… whoever you plan on giving it to… knows.”

She definitely thinks I want to keep it.

What she thought Phoenix might want with it, he didn’t really want to know. He took the mask and followed Sam back to the lab without another word.

The mud in the jar was still… Phoenix didn’t know if ‘alive’ was really the best term for it, but the stuff was still moving around. He rubbed his arm where the healed gash had been.

“That’s… weird, right?”

Sam examined the mud. “I don’t know. Do you think you can still control it?”

“Sam, I can’t control it regularly.”

“Fair enough. Hm.” Sam rotated the jar. “It’s moving independent of you. But it usually responds to you, doesn’t it? What if…” Sam trailed off, moving the jar to the left of Phoenix.

The mud shifted its position to plaster the jar wall facing Phoenix.

“Ah.”

Sam moved the jar in front of Phoenix. It moved towards him again. And did the same when Sam moved it to the right, above his head, and behind him.

“Okay. So it knows it wants to go back to you. I guess because it’s technically a part of you. But… it’s not really, is it? You can generate the mud infinitely, as far as we can tell. Belos’ mass was finite, he had to break open more palisman when he started losing bits of himself, but…”

Phoenix shifted back and forth on his feet. “Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there a quick way we can fix this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I know you want to study the curse. You want to look for long term solutions, and I do, too, but… I need something now. You wanted to do thousands of flower tests to even THINK about reversing petrification.”

“I wish you’d let me,” Sam grumbled, “Would have saved us a lot of trouble.”

“Okay. Yes. But the point is, right now, I don’t need to know everything about the curse. Maybe when we have time. But for now, I just want to keep my arms from melting off. I just want to have some kind of warning. I just need something to keep it under control for now so that I can function well enough that we’re not in imminent danger. So that I can take care of people here, and… maybe some people I left behind.”

Sam’s eyes darted over him in quick, analytic movements. “A rescue mission? For who, your puppeted mentee?”

“Maybe? I don’t know what I’m doing yet.”

“That should be your motto.”

“Sam. Please. A quick solution. Something to just… keep me together until we can get the information we need to come up with a more long term plan.

Sam nodded up and down.

“…Okay?” Phoenix said slowly, “Do you have something?”

“Hm. Ah. No.” Sam bobbed his head up and down a couple more times. “I don’t have an easy fix for you. It’s going to take time. But! I do understand what you mean.”

“And?” Phoenix ventured.

“Hrm. Yes. Right. I can’t help you.”

Phoenix sighed. He supposed that was asking too much. Belos hadn’t been able to come up with a more effective fix than inhaling palisman over centuries; what was Sam going to find in a day? “So I just have to wait?”

“Eh. I didn’t say that. I can’t help you.” Sam heaved a long-suffering half-sigh, half-groan, setting the jar down. “But I think I know who can.”

#guys the amount of times i nearly accidentally wrote 'ghost' forgetting they don't have their name in fic yet...#toh #the owl house #gilded family au #evelyn clawthorne #golden guard oc #the golden guard #toh fanfiction #my writing

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spctlights · 2 years

Text

𝟕𝟑 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 — RONAN KELLY for VOGUE.

considering ronan shared a house with two other up - and - coming actors , hosting was not something he could do. so instead , with many thanks to his manager , they had agreed to not do the house - tour thing and instead went for a regular vogue photoshoot. this was still a massive deal and he had no clue what kind of strings they'd had to pull to get him this , but he was grateful. the shoot was at an indoor rainforest venue and he was dressed in bright pinks and yellows.

1. On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now?

" a solid 8 out of 10 and only going up! i’ve got lots of exciting projects on the horizon. ”

2. Describe yourself in a hashtag?

“ #blessed, ” ronan said sarcastically, with a shit-eating grin before shaking his head, “ honestly - no clue. ”

3. If you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be?

“ if i could do... that’s a good one. sandra bullock, maybe? julia roberts? one of the classic leading ladies would be phenomenal. ”

4. If your life was a musical, what would the marquee say?

“ i think it’d be a play before it was a musical –– but probably something along the lines of ‘subtitles will be provided’. ”

5. What’s one thing people don’t know about you?

“ that i had a very brief stint as gavroche in les mis on broadway - but then the cruel voice cracks of puberty came and took that away from me. ”

6. What’s your wakeup ritual?

“ i will wake up, check my phone for news, get some of the breakfast i prepared in the evening and then usually go to the gym. pretty standard there. ”

7. What’s your go to bed ritual?

“ honestly? most nights i’m too tired for much of a bedtime ritual ! it’s more of a case of trying to make it to bed and not falling asleep on the couch. ”

8. What’s your favorite time of day?

“ that time just before sunrise, when it’s at its darkest and quietest. ”

9. What is one thing no one knows about you?

“ didn’t i already ... oh wait –– no one, ” ronan considers for a moment and then shrugs the idea away, “ i think i’m an open book. ”

10. Dream country to visit?

“ australia. one of these days i will rent a camper and just drive around for a few months, exploring every inch. ”

11. What’s the biggest surprise you’ve had?

“ i think that’s got to be when i got the call that i got dawn of the dark. the audition had been ages before and i’d completely given up hope that i’d get that. ”

12. Comfy shoes or dress shoes?

“ comfy but fashionable, if i can help it. ”

13. Vintage or new?

“ i will always pick a vintage aesthetic over a new one, hands down. ”

13. Who do you want to write your obituary?

“ probably kenneth branagh, that man is a genius. ”

14. Style icon?

“ i couldn’t possibly name one person, but i like anyone who’s not afraid to use some colour. ”

15. What are three things you can’t live without?

“ my phone, chilli halloumi and green pesto pasta and time outside in the fresh air. ”

16. What’s one ingredient you put in everything?

“ cayenne pepper. just gives it all a nice kick. ”

17. What 3 people living or dead would you like to make dinner for?

“ make dinner for? i am not the best chef! though i’d do my best for sir ian mckellen, kristen stewart and janelle monae. ”

18. What’s your biggest fear in life?

“ not leaving a mark – being forgotten, i guess. ”

19. Window or aisle seat?

“ window, every single time. ”

20. What’s your current TV obsession?

“ fargo. i’m rewatching and it holds up so well. ”

21. Favorite app?

“ bloom. helps me keep track of the few house plants i’ve managed to keep alive. ”

22. Secret talent?

“ i would say singing, but now that i’ve given away the gavroche information... ”

23. Most adventurous thing you’ve done in your life?

“ breaking contact with my parents, ” the words are out of his mouth before he realises and looks around waiting for the next question, knowing that it’s too late to change it now.

24. How would you define yourself in three words?

“ ambitious, empathetic – i cry at anything – and disciplined. ”

25. Favorite piece of clothing you own?

“ the jeans i came here in –– i have owned them for years and they have become like second skin. the day i have to throw those away, i think i might swear off jeans altogether. ”

26. Must have clothing item everyone should have?

“ great fitting jeans! i swear to god, i could talk about those forever... ”

27. Superpower you would want?

“ the power to master any skill instantly. i’d never have to lie about knowing how to ride horses again. ”

28. What’s inspiring you in life right now?

“ momentum. keeping going and moving on up. ”

29. Best piece of advice you’ve received?

“ the most scary things are often the most rewarding. ”

30. Best advice you’d give your teenage self?

“ you do not need to be like everyone else. in fact, it’s better if you’re not. ”

31. A book that everyone should read?

“ mythos, by stephen fry. just because it’s a really good time and you learn something. ”

32. What would you like to be remembered for?

“ my acting. ”

33. How do you define beauty?

ronan thinks for a minute. “ how genuine someone is. ”

34. What do you love most about your body?

he’s not liking this line of questioning, but tries his best to hide it. “ my eyes. ”

35. Best way to take a rest/decompress?

“ going out to a pub – or bar, i guess. ”

36. Favorite place to view art?

“ the tate modern, they always have great stuff on. ”

37. If your life were a song, what would the title be?

“ wear my hat, phil collins. look it up. ”

38. If you could master one instrument, what would it be?

“ see, if i could have that super power, i could learn all of them. but really – i’d love to be able to play the piano well. ”

39. If you had a tattoo, where would it be?

“ i have one, ” ronan rolls up his sleeve and shows the tattoo of an outline of a cat on his bicep. “ this is olga. first pet i ever had. ”

40. What is your favorite animal?

“ surprisingly, maybe, dogs. especially any dog that thinks it’s smaller than it actually is. ”

41. What’s your spirit animal?

“ um, i’ve never actually thought of that. maybe a peacock? i guess acting is pretty close to showing off. ”

42. Best gift you’ve ever received?

“ a gamecube. i was obsessed. ”

43. Best gift you’ve ever give?

“ a signed beyonce album. it was very tempting to keep for myself. ”

44. What’s your favorite board game?

“ i’m not a massive board game player, but i like betrayal at the house on the hill. ”

45. What’s your favorite color?

“ yellow. it makes me happy. ”

46. Least favorite color?

“ the kind of pukey green-brown you see sometimes. ”

47. Where do you feel most at peace?

“ in the hands of a very good barber. ”

48. What’s your favorite thing to do in your time off?

“ is hiking too cliche of an answer? ”

49. What’s your hair-care routine?

“ i’ve got an adapted version of the ‘curly girl method’ that works like a charm for me. ”

50. Pilates or yoga?

“ neither, i prefer using weights. ”

51. Coffee or tea?

“ coffee, but only if it’s good. ”

52. What’s the weirdest word in the English language?

“ it’s not weird, it’s just one i can’t pronounce, ” ronan jokes, turning on his american accent before saying: “ mirror. ”

53. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

“ a combination of the two. ”

54. Stairs or elevator?

“ stairs for anything under 4 floors, lift for anything above. ”

55. Summer or winter?

“ spring. ” he watches one of the photographers roll their eyes and he adjusts, “ just kidding. summer. but to me, l.a. is always hot. ”

56. You are stuck on an island, you can have only three things with you. What are those things?

“ my phone, solar powered power bank, water filter... i’d not want to be stuck for long. ”

57. What are your phobias?

“ i don’t think i have any massive phobias, but i do not like the deep ocean. we know far too little about it. ”

58. A skill you’re working on mastering?

“ random one, maybe, but excel. i’ve been making loads of spreadsheets this year just to track my own habits and such. ”

59. Best thing to happen to you this year?

“ moving back out here. ”

60. Worst thing to happen to you this year?

“ my grandfather died this year. that was awful. not unexpected, but no less hard. ”

61. Best compliment you’ve ever received?

“ that someone wants me to play the next james bond. that was pretty cool. ”

62. Favorite smell?

“ petrichor. ”

63. Hugs or kisses?

“ hugs. more intimate. ”

64. If you made a documentary, what would it be about?

“ child stars, and where they are now. especially those that are no longer in the industry. ”

65. Last piece of content you consumed that made you cry?

“ i rewatched an old audition tape recently... that was so bad it did make me cry. ”

66. Going out or staying in?

“ going out. i love exploring new places. ”

67. Sweet or savory?

“ savory. ”

68. Celebrity crush?

“ emma d’arcy. their confidence is... everything. ”

69. How you know you’re in love?

“ i don’t know if i’ve ever truly been in love. i guess i’ll have to see i finally meet the right–– girl. ” person. he’d nearly said person. he wasn’t ready for that whole reveal yet, but he thought he’d gotten away with it.

70. If you could switch lives with someone for a day who would it be?

“ someone like steven spielberg, like a really accomplished director. i’d love to spend a day in their shoes. ”

71. What are you most excited about at this time in your life?

“ all the new opportunities that are coming up everywhere and all the chances that i’m grasping with both hands. ”

72. Your go to for having a good laugh?

“ any old robin williams movie... which is also where i go when i need a good cry. ”

73. Your affirmation for today?

“ take every opportunity you get. ”

#⸻ ✧ RONAN KELLY : ISMS ⧽#hillzhqstask

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queen-haq · 3 years

Text

Fic: A Woman Scorned - Part 13

Pairing: Billy Russo x Reader

Rating: R for language and smut.

Words: ~3000 words.

Summary: You’ve been sleeping with Billy Russo for a few months now. Knowing his aversion to emotional commitments, you’re satisfied with your clandestine arrangement until you catch him having dinner with Dinah Madani one night. Then it finally dawns on you. It’s not that he doesn’t want to commit, he just doesn’t want to commit to *you*.

Billy may think he knows you, but he has no idea what he’s just lost...

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

gif credit: @bilyrusso

Part 13

It was 8 in the evening and you were still in the office. You hadn’t accomplished much work today, your mind mostly focused on Billy. You were surprised by how quickly he’d been able to make the funeral arrangements for his mother. Yesterday you had driven over to the nursing home and by the time you reached there, Carla Russo’s body had already been picked up. You’d signed a few papers for Billy and picked up the remainder of Carla’s things before you returned home. Everything of hers was packed into a small suitcase and sitting in your living room. You wanted to call him, ask him how he was and offer your support, but he seemed determined to do everything on his own when you’d talked to him last and you didn’t want to intrude.

You gave yourself a mental shake, reminding yourself to concentrate. This workday had been a wash. When you weren’t distracted by thoughts of Billy, you were putting out fires in your team. At least the personnel conflicts have been temporarily resolved, but now you needed to work on a slide deck that you’d been tasked with presenting to the executive leadership committee later in the week.

An hour later you were halfway done with your presentation when your phone rang. You glanced down at your screen to find Billy’s name on the screen. “Hi.”

“Hey.” He sounded exhausted. “You still at work?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

There was a pause. “You give off the workaholic vibe.”

You smiled to yourself; at least he was okay enough to crack jokes. “How are you?”

“You mean am I grieving over a goddamn dead woman who preferred meth to her own fucking son?” He sighed. “No big loss. I’m fine.”

Anger and hurt saturated his voice despite his attempts to sound unaffected. Your heart hurt for him, you wished there was something you could do. “Do you need anything?”

“The funeral service is tomorrow.” A beat of silence followed. “Do you want to come?”

“Sure. What time?”

“2pm.”

“I’ll take the day off. Do you need my help with anything? Maybe I can call some of her friends?”

“When I found her she was living on the streets, barely alive but still hooked on meth. I doubt she’s got any friends.”

“What about the people in the nursing home? Maybe they want to come?”

“No, I don’t want anyone else there. Just you.”

Not liking the warmth that spread through you upon hearing his words, you reminded yourself he was probably feeling unusually vulnerable. This wasn’t typical of him.

“Do you want to come over?” he asked.

You exhaled a heavy sigh. “I would but I have so much work to do. I’ll be here for another hour at least.”

“Come over after you’re done.”

“It’ll be really late.”

“That’s fine. I can wait.”

“I can stop by my place to pick up your mom’s-.”

“No, it’s okay.”

You realized he wasn’t quite ready to go through Carla’s belongings yet.

“Bring your stuff with you.”

“Stuff?”

“Overnight bag, clothes for tomorrow, whatever.”

“Oh. You want me to stay over?”

“Yeah, might as well. We can drive over together for the service tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Despite the conversation coming to a natural end, he wasn’t hanging up. It seemed as if he was reluctant to be alone, probably because that meant dealing with the complicated emotions for his mother. You knew exactly how that felt. “If you want, I can leave now. I can work from your apartment instead of the office.”

“You’re not worried I’ll be tempted to spy on Valiant stuff?” he teased.

You smiled. “As if I’d let you see what I’m working on.”

“Guess no corporate espionage for me tonight.”

“Still going to keep you away from my laptop.”

He chuckled. “Just get here. I promise not to bug you while you work.”

“Okay. I’m leaving now.”

“See you soon.”

After you hung up, you started gathering your things together.

***

An hour later, you were at his place. When he opened the door, you immediately grew concerned at how tired he looked. Traveling back and forth from Vegas plus dealing with the news about Carla’s death within the last few hours meant he was absolutely exhausted.

“Hey,” he greeted you, smiling as he took the overnight bag from your hands.

You removed your heels while he took your bag inside his room and then made your way to his living room. While his penthouse suite was much bigger than yours, you actually didn’t like it very much. Despite the high-end finishes and the beautiful interiors - Billy had obviously hired a designer to make the place look good - it always felt very cool and inhospitable to you. It was too perfect and you always felt out of place inside the suite.

“You hungry?” he asked, coming up behind you. “I ordered dinner for you.” Arms encircling your waist, he dropped a kiss on the back of your head as he maneuvered you to the kitchen. He’d laid out the food for you on the dining table, and from the take-out containers you knew it was from one of your favourite Indian restaurants. The thoughtful gesture surprised you, you weren’t used to that from him. Noting that he’d only set the table for one, you turned around to look at him. “You’re not going to eat with me?”

“I ate already. I was starving. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” You cradled his face with one hand, your eyes roving over his beautiful face as he placed a kiss on the fleshy part of your palm. “You look exhausted. Did you even sleep?”

“No” He leaned back against the kitchen counter, weary. For a moment he closed his eyes, simply holding still, and you found yourself wrapping your arms around him in a hug. You didn’t understand why you’d even initiated the embrace – hugs were never your thing – but seeing him so beaten-down you were desperate to comfort him. He leaned into you, his body flushed against yours, and you held him tight. Stroking the nape of his neck, you placed a soft kiss on the center of his forehead. “Why don’t you take a nap while I work?”

“You don’t mind?”

You smiled up at him, running your fingers through his hair. “At least I don’t have to worry about you stealing my company secrets while you sleep.”

He smirked. “You’ll be here when I wake up?”

“Yup. Probably still working away.”

Billy grazed your temple softly before dropping a tender kiss on the tip of your nose. “Okay, but eat first.”

You nodded your head, watching after him as he sauntered out of the kitchen and disappeared down the hallway.

Sighing, you went to the sink to wash your hands before eating.

***

It was after midnight and you were still working on your slide deck when you heard Billy puttering around in the bathroom. Soon he slowly made his way towards you, dressed in a t-shirt and black boxers, his hair all messy. He yawned lazily, falling onto the other end of the couch.

“I thought you’d sleep through the night,” you remarked.

“Are you still working?” he asked.

“Almost done.” You saved the file and shut off the laptop before slipping it back inside your bag.

Suddenly he pulled you closer and you found yourself tucked underneath him on the couch as he glanced down at you from above. “You work too hard.”

You smiled up at him. “They don’t pay me the big bucks to sit there and look pretty.”

A slow, incandescent smile curved his lips. “I would. If I ran Valiant, you’d be my personal stress relief. You’d be in my office the entire time and do nothing but look pretty and service me.”

“That’s sexual harassment.”

Billy shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever. I’d make it worth your while.”

You laughed, angling up to kiss him. “Your breath is all minty fresh.”

“I brushed my teeth for you.”

“Wow. Be still my heart.”

A warm grin covered his face as he shifted down your body to nuzzle your neck. His weight was heavy as he rested atop you, but you liked the solid feel of him on you, the way you felt all safe and warm. You stroked his hair while he drew lazy circles on your chest, the silence between you two comforting.

“No one knows about her. Not Frank, not Curtis, no one.”

Those names were familiar to you because Billy had mentioned them in passing a few times. Of course he’d never shared any other info, but you being you, you’d dug around and found out more about them. You knew they’d served with Billy and he considered them his closest friends.

“When I found her three years ago, I put her in that home and forgot all about her.”

“You visited her every week,” you reminded him.

“Because I wanted her to regret abandoning me. I wanted her to see how far I’d come, I wanted to throw her mistakes in her face. But I don’t think she regretted safe-havening me, not even a bit.”

The bitter pain in his voice made your heart hurt for him.

“Maybe I should be happy she’s finally dead, or maybe I’m supposed to be sad or something.”

“How do you actually feel?”

“Nothing. I feel nothing.”

“Billy, I think that’s normal. There’s no right or wrong in this. All of your feelings are valid.”

“Even if her dying made me absolutely ecstatic? You wouldn’t think I was a fucking psychopath?”

“You are a psychopath but not because you have conflicting emotions about your terrible mother dying. You have the right to feel how you feel about her, whatever that might be.”

Eyes blazing with emotion, he hovered about you to meet your gaze. “Then what makes me a psychopath?”

You quirked your eyebrow. “The fact you want to torture my dates.”

“Not just torture, I want to kill them.” Eyes darkened, voice velvety-smooth, he covered your mouth with his and ravaged you with a kiss that left you thrumming and breathless.

“Only you’re allowed to touch me?” you asked through labored breaths.

“Yes.” His voice was a lustful rasp, his mouth leaving a heated trail as he sucked on the oh-so-sensitive corner of where your neck and shoulder intersected. Sparks of electricity ran down your spine. “Only me.”

You took his hand and guided it down your body, parting your thighs for him.

Like always, you were soon completely lost in the erotic pleasure of his mouth on you. Your legs hooked over his shoulders, your hands grabbed the back of the couch for support as he fucked you with his hands and mouth, sucking you, licking you, his tongue flicking over your clit until you were keening under him. Body arching off the couch, you moaned his name louder and louder until he drove you completely over the edge.

Then you felt a light slap on your cunt which immediately brought you back to reality. Opening your eyes, you found Billy perched between your legs, gracing you with the most wicked smile. “That’s one.” He slapped your pussy again, this time his long, lean fingers ever so slightly grazing your clit and your hips bucked, wanting more. “As promised.” His eyebrow quirked up. “Punishment.”

“Not fair,” you protested. “I’ll date who I want.”

He slapped you again, a little harder this time, but then he leaned down to place comforting kisses on the very spots he assaulted and you moaned with pleasure.

“All of you.” His tongue lapped over your clit, eyes locked with yours. “Belongs to me. I own you.”

“You don’t!” You squealed when he flipped you over unexpectedly, grabbing you by the hips so your ass was lifted of the couch. And then he squeezed your butt cheeks, biting them lightly before he started rimming you.

***

After sharing a shower the two of you were laying in his bed, your back pressed against his chest as you both stared up at the ceiling. His one hand was intertwined with yours, the other arm circled around your hips. The two of you didn’t have sex but you didn’t mind. You were both fatigued.

“I smell like you now,” you murmured, realizing the soap in his shower had left its scent on you.

“I know. I like it.” He squeezed your fingers. “I have a present for you.”

“I hope it’s not earrings again.”

He chuckled. “No, not earrings.”

“What is it then?”

“Jewelry.”

You turned back to look at him. “What? Like a necklace?”

“Something like that. Except I’m the only one who’ll see you wearing it.”

“Ah. And where is this gift?”

He kissed the top of your head. “Not here yet.”

You smiled to yourself. “People usually wait until they have the gift in hand before telling others about it.”

“I couldn’t wait. I’m excited to see you wear it.”

He stroked your hair, and your eyes grew heavy. Soon you started falling into deep slumber, feeling calm, comforted by Billy’s arms around you.

“What happened with your family?”

Your eyes flew open. Like always, any mention of your family unfurled anxiety within you. You didn’t like thinking about them letting alone discussing them. “They passed away.”

“They’re dead?”

“Yes.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes.”

He pulled you up so you were facing him now, his intoxicating gaze completely focused on you. “That day when I asked you about the pictures, you said you weren’t close to your family.”

“I meant my extended family. I don’t keep in touch with them,” you replied smoothly.

“What were your parents like?”

Irritation surged through you at his obtrusive questions but you had to remind yourself he just lost his mother. He was feeling out-of-sorts, working through his grief – even if he didn’t think so – and he was reaching out to the only person in his life that knew about his mother. “Normal.”

He simply stared at you for a long time, studying you, saying nothing. “Normal,” he repeated, finally breaking the strained silence.

You shrugged your shoulders, dropping your gaze to the base of his throat so you didn’t have to hold his piercing stare. “Yup.”

“How did they die?”

“Car accident.”

“You miss them?”

“Of course,” you lied.

He reached out to cup your face, his thumb stroking your cheek. “So you grew up with great parents, white picket fence and all that bullshit? Sounds like you had a fairytale childhood.”

“Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m really tired.”

“Sure. I’ll add this to the list of all the other shit we’ll talk about someday.”

He sounded almost angry with you and you weren’t sure why. Before you could question him, however, he pulled you close so you were snuggled against his chest and the warmth of his body was enough to silence your brain and lull you to sleep.

***

It was a cold, crisp autumn day in New York. The outdoor service, attended by only you and Billy, was short and quick. Throughout it, he’d gripped your hand even though he’d been outwardly calm and collected. Even now as he stood a few feet away from you, impeccably dressed in a black suit, his dark eyes hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses as he stared out at the pond, you sensed he was a complete mess inside. You didn’t know what to say to him so you simply sat on the bench, both of you in an isolated corner of the garden. Eventually he came to sit beside you, taking your hand in his.

“I’d have given her the whole world.” His voice was filled with pain and longing as he removed his sunglasses and tucked them in the upper pocket of his suit. “I would have given her anything she ever wanted.” Billy’s eyes met yours. “If she’d just wanted me.”

You scooted closer to wrap your arms around him, breathing him in as he sunk into you. His hands caressed your back, his grip on you so tight you almost couldn’t breathe. After a while he rested his forehead against yours, his eyes holding you prisoner in front of him.

“Swear to me you’ll never leave.”

“Billy-”

“Promise me!”

“I can’t.”

“It wasn’t a fucking request, Y/N.”

You tried to pull away from him but he fisted the back of your hair, holding you in place.

The raw urgency in his voice played havoc with your emotions. If you closed your eyes, just for a moment, you could shut out all the doubts in your head and simply believe him - but you could only live the fantasy for a short moment before reality forced its way back in. “You don’t mean those words, Billy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you don’t feel that strongly about me.”

His eyes narrowed, glaring at you with hostility. “You’re gonna tell me how I feel?”

“I’m not what you want.”

“And what do you think I want?”

You gave him a sad smile. “The best of everything. Best car, best clothes, the most beautiful women in your arms. You want all that because you need others to want what you have.”

“Is that so wrong?”

You shook your head. “No, there’s nothing wrong with that – except I don’t fit into any of those categories. You want a woman like Dinah Madani. I’m not her. So eventually this thing between us will end.”

His jaw was set in a grim line, eyes burning bright with rage. “So you have me all figured out, huh?”

“Don’t get mad. You know it’s the truth.”

He yanked you closer, crushing you against him. “It’s been me against the world for as long as I can remember. But when I look at you.” His eyes softened, mouth parting as his dark gaze roamed over your face. “I don’t feel alone anymore.”

Your heart melted. The tenuous handle you had on your self-control disintegrated completely. You closed your mouth over his, kissing him frantically as he picked you up and straddled you across his lap.

He pulled back to look at you. “You’re my home. You’re all I need.”

Part 14

A/N - As always, all of your feedback, comments, asks, likes and reblogs are deeply appreciated. They truly inspire me to keep writing, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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@yourfavoritefruitybitch @voyevoda-thejoy @adreamemporium @queenmalhinewahine @gubleryum @galaxyjane @xceafh@maralisa124@tomhollandisabae @daybleedsintonightfa11 @lil-baby-nor@all-art-is-quite-useless @tanyaherondale @nashibirne @dour-trash @thetallassgirl @athenamikaelson @agent-jbarnes @primadonnasdream @aleksanderwh0r3 @elisemockingbird @nihilismworld @archisur@nemesis729 @lysawayne@kaqua @ladyblablabla @lemasonda@advictedtohim @24-martie @tarkanelima-blog @shinebrightlikeafanbase @krystal-clear1 @damalseer@dontjinx-it@darkishx @wanderlusting-about-life @thatguppienamedbae @happypepperdog @bat-revival @sassygirl25 @consulting–heroes @the-celestial-kitsune @mackaywhore @ablxssm @competitive-dust @red-head011 @exo-1204 @sunsetenigma @millieb-3199 @chatnain @licensedcheek @tinkertailor1212 @vertesalope @safetyhtom @acourtofglassandroses @eliwinchester-barnes @finnismyoriginalsin @weallhaveadestiny @beananacake @beauty-and-the-beast97 @smurfelle @fire-treasure-iii @charly-0 @kestrafagnor @pigwidgeonxo @damagelove @allegra-writes @pensandthings @jad3djay @batshitbarnes @kashimayuki @secretsthathauntus @odetostep @awesome-eccia @mackaywhore @stories-you-wont-hear @vvsdiamond28 @supernaturalcat7 @arieltwvdtohamflash @iknownoqueenbutthequeeninme @devs-stufff @ticosas @moodacheeks @myakai13 @carlywhomever @fvckthisbxtchup @its-evita-here @papapapadumb @talesfrommycell @bat-luna-cat @fific7 @elluvians @dailydoseofchoices @everythinghappens-love @papapapadumb @mylife-love-and-other-things @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @ancientbeing10 @natty2245 @stuckysavedmylive @kasslucilfer @simp-for-ben-barners @originaldeputycalzoneegg @bdffkierenwalker @kimoranelson03 @sadbi-hours @haushinka27 @haushinka27 @caylaxwrites @extraneousred @agentmstark @crazywitchkitty @its-an-idea-not-a-blog @partypoison00 @fictional-hooman

#billy russo x reader #billy russo #ben barnes #the punisher #billy russo imagine

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itsmyartfam · 3 years

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Dadzawa fic rec list

So lately I’ve been reading a lot of Dadzawa fics so I thought I’d share them with you. I shortened down the summaries of some of the longer ones- I didn’t put them in my own words of course, but I just used the shortened snippets that authors sometimes put at the end of their own longer summaries. They’re in no particular order of greatness, and I tried to get a good blend of popular and less popular ones so here u go.

1) i. shaky hands- rexcorvidae

midoriya has chronic pain, and tries to hide it. aizawa deals with this, and learns something surprising along the way.

One-Shot. Honestly their whole whumptober collection is amazing I would totally read them all if you have the time, they’re pretty much all loaded with great Dadzawa content

2) Not all exits are made Equal- LunaLucrea

When a raid goes wrong, and Aizawa gets taken, he's hardly expecting to be found. He's a professional Underground Hero. He's seen situations like this play out before, and knows how the cards usually fall.

He's got people he'll miss of course, and he feels terrible about what this is going to do to Hizashi and Eri, but these are the types of risks he agreed to when he signed on the dotted line all those years ago. He's ready to accept his fate.

Too bad for him his former students are tenacious little shits.

Three chapters. I love seeing how Aizawa interacts with older Midoriya in the first chapter and how he thinks of all of his former students now that they’re pro heroes, he’s such a proud dad but he’s also so self-deprecating and he needs some love and class 1-A will force it on him. Wholesome, 10/10, but also warning for whump! on Aizawa’s part.

3) To the people we admire- The_ crownless_ queen

Eri learns about autographs, and how they're a way for fans to show they like their heroes. Naturally, she wants all of them — and especially Eraserhead's.

One-Shot. I don’t read many Eri fics but my god, this one is adorable. Eri learns about autographs and wants Aizawa’s but his students know that Aizawa doesn’t really give autographs so they devise a plan to get one out of him- basically by making him jealous of Eri getting autographs from every hero but him. It’s wholesome, Dadzawa is like ‘wtf Eri’, I love it.

4) Inhibitions- Thealmostrhetoricalquestion

Todoroki gets zapped by a Quirk that effectively lowers someone's inhibitions, and Aizawa deals with the strange, humorous, heart-breaking fallout.

The train ride back is something of a nightmare. Not because it goes badly, or because something awful happens, but because Aizawa can’t get rid of this feeling in his chest every time he sees Todoroki’s unusual, carefree smile. He looks like nothing has ever hurt him.

One-Shot. Lol, this one’s funny- Todoroki acts all loopy and carefree and Aizawa is frantically scrambling after him trying to make sure he doesn’t get himself into trouble, all while finding out more than he’d ever thought he’d learn about his student. Good shit, good comedy, good angst.

5) I consider myself lucky- alightintheshadows

For some of us, our teachers are the greatest role models we'll ever have.

One-Shot. Ugh, this is so sappy and kinda cheesy but I love it! Izuku gives his dads All Might and Aizawa gifts because he loves is grateful to them. WHOLESOME SHIT

6) Not in the Job Description- IidaRei98

A collection of drabbles revolving around the Dadazawa and Class 1A. Mostly fluff with some hurt/comfort - whatever pops into my head really!

Incomplete, 56/? Chapters. Solid collection of dadzawa drabbles. I didn’t finish reading them all because I get easily distracted away from long fics, but since it doesn’t follow a plot it’s easy to put down and pick back up when you wanna get your dadzawa fix.

7) passing through fire- achievingelysium

“What happened? A villain?”

“Ye- yeah,” Midoriya croaks. Shouta starts walking.

“I was there,” Shouta says, feeling through the words before he speaks, “but I don’t remember?”

Midoriya closes his eyes.

“No,” he agrees, “you wouldn’t. But- but you... were there. With... me.”

Aizawa finds himself in a street with little memory of how he got there. Then he discovers Midoriya, beaten and bruised, who claims Aizawa protected him—but as Aizawa regains pieces of his memory he realizes Midoriya may be lying, and he's the one who's done his own student harm.

One-Shot. OOH, OUCH, FUCKING LOVE THIS ONE! God I love the Dadzawa ANGST in this! I haven’t seen a dadzawa fic with a plot like this before, so I highly recommend checking this one out, especially if you like ANGST! Love it!

8) a penny for your thoughts- cassiopeia721

While visiting Eri at the hospital following her rescue from the Shie Hassaikai, Izuku and Aizawa-sensei both run into a nurse with a telepathy based quirk, and Izuku finds himself in a telepathic bond with his teacher. This is... somewhat worrying, considering how many secrets Izuku needs to keep.

Six chapters. Yet another Dadzawa fic with a unique concept that I have never come across before. Very good, much angst! My only complaint is I wish Izuku could’ve heard a bit more of Aizawa’s angsty thoughts, the whole thought-hearing did feel a bit one-sided at times, but overall it was a very good fic. The angst of Izuku struggling to keep his many secrets from Aizawa for a whole week was *chef’s kiss* Good dad-son bonding.

9) Geyser- spineless

Izuku faints during class when weeks of sleeping and eating poorly catch up with him. Aizawa, All Might, and his friends, remind him that no matter what he's going through, he doesn't have to do it alone.

Three Chapters. Good Dadzawa being all disapproving of his son Izuku pushing himself too hard and not taking care of himself like he can fucking talk lol. But also some angst cuz Izuku is a tormented boi who has been through too much and is Not OkayTM and his dads are there to help him.

10) The World on His Shoulders- baggytshirtsandtiredeyes

During their second year, Aizawa decides to take some of the students on patrol to give them a taste of the underground hero life. But of course, nothing goes as planned when UA's resident Problem Child is involved.

One-Shot. Izuku is a BAMF and Aizawa is like O.O. I can’t say anything more. This fic deserves more attention.

____________________________________________________

Okie dokie, that’s enough for now. If you guys like my recommendations, maybe I’ll make another list in the future!

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absolutebl · 3 years

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This Week In BL

April 2021 Part 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Close Friend Ep 2 (JaFirst) - First is a cat. No actually a cat. It was WEIRD. Cute, but creeping towards beastiality. It reminded me of that strange series out of China (@heretherebedork says Youth in the Breeze). The most amusing thing to me was that the cat used Thai formal linguistic register when of course cats would use informal rude guu mueng with EVERYONE. No cat would use pom. Don’t be ridiculous, Thailand.

Second Chance Ep 5 - still invested, things progressed for all 3 couples, in one direction or another. They cuties. I love them. Carry on.

Y-Destiny Ep 5 - the “virgin scoreboard” is gonna make the seme real hard to redeem with this pairing. If they bother. This might be a life lesson episode. What does it remind me of? Oh yes. Kids. *SHUDDER* Point of interest: did you notice Team uses ha with Mon? What a pushy flirt.

Lovely Writer Ep 10 - honestly I just love it when Poppy shows up in anything, why is he such a delightful screen presence? (Gene’s brother) Sorry, distracted. What happened in this one? Oh, ya know, stuff and things. Family drama. (It is just me or have they been giving us some long ass episodes lately?) Obligatory beach trip activated. (Result = dumb probability mathematics jokes.) Next week it looks like we have Keeping Actor’s Closeted 101. You know the Casting Couch? This is the Casting Closet.

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 4 - early stage confession, how fun. It’s not unprecedented it just usually means we are in 4 act structure, not 3, which means Fish might go more serious than I thought. Honestly? I’m losing interest mostly because I’ve gone from mild annoyance to active dislike of Pi. Happened to me with Tine too. They better redeem this obtuse tsundere uke soon or he’s not tsundere at all he’s just a jackwit.

Brothers Ep 13 fin - a kiss and the family finds out about the not-so-brotherly brothers, drama, graduation, THE END. My side-dish happy heart made thumps over Q + delivery boy, I’m sad they got so little screen time. My babies KhunKaow did get a tiny coming out sequence as such. I’m seriously considering doing myself a bootleg of just the KhunKaow plot, but that means I’d have to rewatch the whole darn series and I can’t STAND the idea. Which should give you insight into how not good this show it. Very NOT good. Must we get a season 2? Please stop now, Line.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 7 - Muren is the cutest peanut and anyone who says otherwise can fight me, although they probably have to go through Licheng first. I was NOT invested in these two at the beginning, but as a couple? They own my soul. The other storyline is still the dumpster fire that I can’t decide to roast marshmallows over (knowing they’ll get tinged with eu de trash) or flee from in horror clutching my pearls and my nose. H4 continues to provide the quality psyche torture I’ve come to expect from this franchise. *sarcastic thumbs up* *** A word on seeing Boxiang show up (side dish from H3:MODC). It was an unexpected pleasure, I loved his pairing (May/December is a winner for me *glares at Method*) but I do think it was a bone from the franchise telling us that we are never getting that spin-off or reboot that people yearn for. However, how AWESOME that Licheng has someone to go to and ask about topping properly. Otherwise he’s sure to have screwed it up. (Pun intended.)

Papa & Daddy (Tailwan) Ep 1-2 - this came out of nowhere and is ADORABLE. Applies a ton of BL tropes (cheek kiss, his closet, B&W stripes, drag baby around, boop) but what IS it? More slice of gay domesticity than romance. Like 2019′s Kinou Nani Tabeta? or currently airing Close Friend. I enjoy this style, very wholesome, but I’m not sure what to call it. (Bonus points for cutie lesbians.) A bit weird to have a kid with your partner and STILL not be out to your parents. I hope they aren’t going to throw in a break up for dramatic effect.

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 4 - I’m really enjoying this series. It’s unabashedly queer, although there’s some problematic stuff lurking under the wig. How it ends is gonna dictate if they handled this stylishly. But hot damn the leads ZING on screen together and their crackling prank-flirting is a joy to watch.

Word of Honor (China) Ep 31-33 - moving into the home stretch. Big rescue and the band is back together (presumably for the final slaughter). Then a death! *this is my shocked face* Did I tear up? Of course I did. 4 act structure is designed for maximum pathos during the final 1/4. Did we all faint from the symbolism of the love token hair stick being gently thrust into Ah Xu’s bun? Sure we did. All that and sill I’m flagging. This is a long-arse show. Save me, Korea, with your iItsy bitsy teenie weenie...

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 5-6 - I am getting such strong 12th Night vibes from this. Tae Hyung is now brigadier of BL’s historical himbo brigade. (To be deployed whenever you are in need of poetry or a cut sleeve.) This show is all ridiculous charm and I LOVE it. Although, five seconds of Lee Sang is not enough Lee Sang. I had to immediately rewatch Wish You.

Gossip

Nitiman gave us an actor intro BTS teaser.

Kang In Soo (AKA Kyang Insoo) posted a cute behind the photo shoot of Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding plus a silly interview with Jang Eui Soo on his YouTube channel (you should subscribe, it’s a fun channel, his fitness regime is both insane and inspiring).

My Engineer 2 dropped a couch interview with the boys but it feels like one that was filmed a while ago (oh and no subs).

STARTING SOON: Nitiman, Love Area, Top Secret Together, Be Loved in House, & I Promised You The Moon

Nitiman (Thai) May 7, One 31. University set, moons, engineering students, enemies to lovers, adapted. - Looks to be a solid 2 Moons knock off, I’m in.

Love Area (Thai) May 8, AIS Play, 10 eps total. Restaurant set, stars Pak Chavitpong (the only good thing about Cupid Coach) and the OST is sung by Jeff Satur (Ingredients). - It’s boys in love revolving around food = my kryptonite, try to stop me from watching this probable trash.

Top Secret Together (Thai) May 14, Line TV. 5 couples, one IRL (Newyear from I Am Your King), story arcs revolve around secrets. - I’m getting fatigued by these multi-couple sampler pack dramas, but I’ll try it for Newyear’s sake.

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan YES!) May 20, Viki. Office set, relationships prohibited at work by a new boss, one of the employees is determined to figure out why. Grumpy/tsundere pairing so loads of drama. - I am so flipping excited for this one. A 4th BL series from Taiwan in less than a year? That’s unprecedented. GO BABY ISLAND GO!

I Promised You the Moon (Thai) May 27, Line TV. Follow up to I Told Sunset About You with the boys now at university. - I won’t be watching this as I have yet to finish season 1.

Possibly Gameboys season 2. - Rumors are all over the place right now on this.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #145: Gilgamesh (Caster)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we bring you the long-suffering king, Gilgamesh (Caster)! Like all Gilgameshes, you’ll be able to throw things at people, but magic. And yes, you will be able to stay up for days on end without dying. Immediately.

This Gil is a War Magic Wizard to weave magical defenses and hold the line, as well as a Celestial Warlock so you can still have some magic after avoiding long rests for so long.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Snaby (Snake Baby)

Race and Background

You’re still 2/3s god, but you’re protecting a city this time around, so let’s call you a Protector Aasimar. This gives you +1 Constitution and +2 Charisma. You also get Darkvision to dunk on normal humans, Celestial Resistance against Radiant and Necrotic damage, the Light cantrip, and Healing Hands to keep yourself standing a bit longer.

Like always, Noble is a a disrespectful downplay of your station, but it’s the closest we can get, giving you History and Persuasion proficiency.

Ability Scores

Put your Charisma first and foremost, you’re still running a city, and that requires a force of personality, especially given current events. Second is Intelligence, running an all-out war for this long needs tactical skill. Your Constitution is pretty good too, we all know how long you can go without sleep. Your Dexterity isn’t amazing, if anything actually reaches the city you might have a problem. Your Wisdom is pretty low, despite everything, you’re still Gilgamesh. Finally, dump Strength. If you haven’t had time to sleep, you haven’t had time to work out.

Class Levels

1. Warlock 1: First level warlocks get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as two warlock skills. Arcana is an obvious pick for a caster, and Investigation will help you figure out what demonic beast left a gaping hole in the wall. You can’t fight something effectively until you know what it is.

You also gain Pact Magic, spells you can cast with your Charisma what recharge on short rests. As a celestial lock, you also get a Healing Light, 1+your warlock level d6s that you can spend as a bonus action to heal a nearby creature. The most you can use at once is your charisma modifier. This feature recharges on long rests, so don’t get too used to them.

For spells: Eldritch Blast because duh, Friends to run the town a bit more smoothly, Guiding Bolt to lead the way in battle, and Witch Bolt for longer-term damage.

2. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations to customize their features. Take Eldritch Mind right now for better concentration, and save the other for next level.

You also learn Distort Value so that meddlesome goddess doesn’t run off with your entire treasury.

3. Warlock 3: Third level Protector Aasimars get a Radiant Soul, giving you wings for a minute as a bonus action. They last for a minute, and while flying around you can add your level in radiant damage to one spell or attack per turn. This recharges... *sigh* on long rests.

You also get the Pact of the Tome, giving you a fancy lil book with three cantrips of your choice. I’d suggest Guidance to be better at everything, Vicious Mockery because... just look at him, and Thaumaturgy to get your volume cranked up. Those dramatic speeches aren’t going to make themselves, after all.

You also get the invocation Aspect of the Moon, removing your need to sleep entirely. To long rest, you spend eight hours doing light activity. We’ll get something later to cut long rests out entirely, but this’ll work for now.

You also learn how to cast Flock of Familiars. Every good king needs some advisors, after all.

4. Warlock 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Intelligence so we can start off our other class strong. You also learn Blade Ward, giving you resistance to physical attacks. Your AC really isn’t good right now, so this’ll come in handy. You also learn Enthrall, so you can make sure everyone keeps their eyes on you during your rousing speeches.

5. Wizard 1: First level Wizards learn Spells that you cast and prepare from your Intelligence modifier from a larger list in your spellbook. Your Arcane Recovery means that once per long rest you can get a couple of your spell slots back on a short rest as well, a total level equal to half your wizard level rounded up.

While we’re on the topic of spell slots, your wizard slots and warlock slots don’t mix like most multiclassing, but you can use one class’s slots for another’s spells just fine.

Wizards get a lot of spells, so we won’t go over all of them here, but Mage Armor is a must, as well as Shield. Putting metal around your hips and one hand does not count as armor.

6. Wizard 2: Second level wizards pick a school, and the school of War Magic will keep you in the fight for a long time. Arcane Deflection gives you either +2 to AC or +4 to a saving throw as a reaction, provided you’re okay only casting cantrips the next turn. You’ve spent four levels as a warlock, I’m sure you’ll manage somehow.

Your Tactical Wit adds your intelligence to your initiative, so you can start giving out orders faster.

7. Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells, like Augury for some early divination and Scorching Ray for some Uruk Brand Arrows.

8. Wizard 4: Use your second ASI to become an Inspiring Leader, letting you spend a couple minutes to give your party some free temporary HP. They’re.... they’re gonna need that.

9. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells, like Fly. Tactics require a top-down view. You also get the invocation Far Scribe, for free castings of Message. Now even the people in the back’ll be able to hear you!

10. Warlock 6: Sixth level celestlocks get a Radiant Soul, giving you extra fire/radiant damage equal to your charisma modifier when you cast a spell that deals fire/radiant damage. You also resist radiant damage. again.

You also learn the spell Intellect Fortress, giving a creature resistance on psychic damage and advantage on intelligence, wisdom, and charisma saves for up to an hour. Tiamat’s existence is probably a charisma save against being frightened, right?

11. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks learn how to make Guardians of Faith, giving you the ability to create a large glowing... thing... that hits hostile creatures who get too close.

You also learn the invocation Book of Ancient Secrets, giving you two 1st-level rituals from any spellcasting class now, and the ability to copy others when you see them.

12. Warlock 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger spells, like Sickening Radiance. Blow things up with real big magic arrows.

13. Warlock 9: Ninth level warlocks get fifth level spells, like Greater Restoration! This spell lets you remove one level of exhaustion, so now you can finally survive on nothing but short rests!

You also get the invocation Whispers of the Grave, which lets you cast Speak with Dead for free. Now you can finally stop and hear yourself think.

Wait...

14. Warlock 10: Tenth level celestlocks get Celestial Resistance, giving you and your party temporary HP at the end of each short or long rest. You get 10 plus your charisma modifier, the others get 5 plus your charisma modifier.

You also learn True Strike. It’s not a good spell, but it is a cheap way to keep concentration on something, which will be important later.

15. Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells... again, like Catnap to make your short rests even shorter and Melf’s Minute Meteors for some more arrows that you can fire off two at a time.

16. Wizard 6: Sixth level war mages learn the art of the Power Surge. You can store up to three surges at a time and gain one at the end of a short rest or when you use Dispel Magic or Counterspell. They also reset to one after a long rest, so your terrible sleep schedule is finally paying off! You can spend a power surge to add extra force damage to a wizard spell for one creature.

17. Wizard 7: Seventh level wizards get fourth level spells, like Divination to keep an eye on the demonic front.

18. Wizard 8: Use your last ASI to bump up your Intelligence for an extra Power Surge and stronger magic.

19. Wizard 9: Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells, like Legend Lore, which lets you compare legendary items to the ones in your treasury to figure out what they do.

20. Wizard 10: Tenth level wizards get Durable Magic. While concentrating on a spell, you get +2 to your AC and all saves. You can also use Hold Monster to slow Tiamat down a bit, and Commune with City to keep tabs on the people of Uruk during this crisis.

Pros:

You literally don’t have to sleep, ever, so long as you have 100 gold per day to pay for Greater Restoration. Keep watch! Catch up on that book series you’ve been putting off! The possibilities are endless!

You also come packing some solid magic defenses, with the ability to slap extra points onto any save you might need to, plus advantage from spells like Intellect Fortress.

Wizards get a ton of spells in general, but you take that variety to the next level. Features like Book of Ancient Secrets the wizard’s spellbook will expand your casting capabilities to new heights!

Cons:

Most people don’t like being woken up at 3am, so there’s not much point in not sleeping beyond the occasional crisis.

Physically, you’re very squishy. With only 133 HP at level 20 and an AC of 14-6 without destroying your ability to cast spells, distance is your best friend. You also don’t have a ton of movement options, so good luck against monks.

War mages are built around concentration at higher levels, which is fine, but it means you need a lot of concentration spells to get the most out of the class. That also means you have to plan your defense carefully, or you might get overwhelmed.

#fgo #Fate Grand Order #D&D 5e #Gilgamesh #Fate and Phantasms #Wizard #Warlock

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mira--mira · 3 years

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Ok so, questions for OoT: Do Hashi + Madara cheer when Rock Lee kicks Sasuke's ass? If that still happens. Do they save Lee from getting his leg + arm crushed by Gaara's sand? Do Kabuto + Hashirama ever fight one another? If so, does Hashi kick Kabuto's ass? What does Hashi think of Kabuto's regeneration ability? Do Tsuande + Hashirama ever team up + kick ass? Please, I need this so bad. Also maybe Hashi hugging Tsunade when she has her freak out over seeing blood? Please? Does Madara face off with Itachi after Hiruzen dies (if Hiruzen still does die)? Do Hashi + Madara manage to save Sasuke from getting beaten by Itachi when Itachi + Sasuke see one another again in canon, when Naruto is doing his training with Jiraiya? (Also please tell me Madara at least stabs Jiraiya for stealing all of Naruto's saving when Jiraiya had plenty of money himself, AND was supposed to financially support Naruto as Naruto's godfather. If Madara doesn't just outright steal/demand Jiraiya give Naruto his money back or pay him back. That bothered me so much in canon.) I haven't been able to keep up with out of fic stuff in a while because of irl stuff, so I'm sorry if you've already answered these. Just link me, please, if you have?

Hey no worries! OoT is a monster that takes most of my energy to manage, lol, I don't expect everyone to be able to keep up with everything so please don't feel bad or like you're bothering me by asking! I haven't answered most of these questions, I'll answer a few below the cut but not quite all because 1. got to keep a few secrets :P and 2. I don't have specific answers to all of them yet either lol!

Do Hashi + Madara cheer when Rock Lee kicks Sasuke's ass?

Doesn't quite progress to that point! All of Team 7 and Gai's team go out for Sasuke and Lee's fight (here with a slightly different set up and explanation for why Gai's team was outside of the room bc that scene still irritates me in canon lol) but Team 13 gets lost (read: Hashirama and Madara not used to big buildings like the school and Sai laughing as they stumble around) and wanders in right before the fight happens and interrupts it. Even if they had been watching and not interfering they wouldn't be cheering outright I'd say. Hashirama has nothing against Sasuke and neither really does Madara. He doesn't has a grudge from the clan head duel, but Sasuke is a walking trigger for his own trauma that he subconsciously avoids.

Do they save Lee from getting his leg + arm crushed by Gaara's sand?

😶 The Tenten v Gaara fight happens and she's pissed at him so...

Do Kabuto + Hashirama ever fight one another? If so, does Hashi kick Kabuto's ass?

Not in the chunin arc (maybe in search for Tsunade, but probably not? Honestly idk at this point). Kabuto has a very good sense of self-preservation and he pegged them almost immediately as weird kids that he does not want to get involved with.

What does Hashi think of Kabuto's regeneration ability?

Honestly idk. I'm still trying to figure out how to classify it in a way. It's not from the mokuton, that really wouldn't make sense with my lore, but I'm not sure what else it stems from. I'm open to ideas and reactions to this, if anyone wants to suggest something! Otherwise I might make it where Kabuto doesn't have a regeneration ability, but he's such a competent medic, it's like he mimics the ability.

Do Tsuande + Hashirama ever team up + kick ass? Please, I need this so bad. Also maybe Hashi hugging Tsunade when she has her freak out over seeing blood? Please?

Yes, eventually. Their meetings are...rough at first. Hashirama and Madara know how Madara dies at this point and Hashirama has a grudge the size of the five elemental countries against his edo self (which will also be revealed if it's him or a parallel version by this point 😉) and he connects Tsunade to that at first and it puts an initial strain on their relationship. Add in Hashirama is very different from the "god of shinobi" Tsunade grew up with, 5 imo is too young to recognize the flaws and humanity in parents/grandparents so she doesn't have that perspective, and it leads to a clash. Not to mention the giant elephant in the room, Madara, and well...it's just a tough family reunion. I will say though the longer the fic goes on the bigger the "ripples" and canon divergences will be. There's a big moment at the end of the chunin arc that impacts...pretty much everything else in drastic ways. Just be prepared for a pretty sharp diverge!

Does Madara face off with Itachi after Hiruzen dies (if Hiruzen still does die)?

Hiruzen does die but I'm going to be mum about the rest of this 😉 Note I do have plans though 👀

Do Hashi + Madara manage to save Sasuke from getting beaten by Itachi when Itachi + Sasuke see one another again in canon, when Naruto is doing his training with Jiraiya?

Another one that's a mix of I have ideas but not solid enough to commit yet lol. Also the big spoiler at the end of chunin will affect this as you'll see!

Also please tell me Madara at least stabs Jiraiya for stealing all of Naruto's saving when Jiraiya had plenty of money himself, AND was supposed to financially support Naruto as Naruto's godfather. If Madara doesn't just outright steal/demand Jiraiya give Naruto his money back or pay him back. That bothered me so much in canon.

Oh fam, let me just say Madara and Jiraiya do not get along and the hate is mutual. Madara is 12 and he's going to fight that old man for custody of another 12 y/o and win. The money issue will definitely be brought up and dealt with. He, and all of Team 13 really, has zero tolerance for Jiraiya. I try to avoid the cliche "bashing" fic style, but I'm not going to shy away from Jiraiya's shitty canonical behavior and the "heart of gold pervert" is a character archetype that I loathe with the passion of a thousand suns. He's not getting excused for that either. Tsunade and Jiraiya have a complicated relationship with two people (three with Orochimaru) have experienced war and some of the absolute worst that humanity has had to offer and only each other to depend on...but then that trusted friend betrayed you and your boundaries and treating you like an object not a person and suddenly your entire relationship can never be the same (ie the peeping in the bath and almost killing him scene isn't going to be treated like a cute little jokey-joke~ Top 10 things I hated in canon, I can write an entire long post about this alone lol.)

#naruto #asks #saiyanblood2 #madara uchiha #hashirama senju #tsunade #anti jiraiya #just in case #long post #out of time #out of time spoilers

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purrincess-chat · 3 years

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Cat’s Definitive Ranking of Every ML Episode as of 4/22/21

Are you guys ready for this? I did the thing. You’re all welcome. Don’t ever ask me for anything again. You can watch me get progressively more unhinged in real time.

Now, just to preface this, I did not give this too much thought. Most of these are just my gut feelings. I went through every episode and just made some snap judgments based off the lasting impressions I’ve been left with. These are my opinions. If you don’t like them, tough. And also I don’t care. Go spend 4 hours making your own damn ranking. And shut the hell up. Anyway, this is probably the longest post I’ve ever made, so I’m gonna put it all under a read more. Click on it if you have an hour to read it. Okay, here we go!

1. Origins II- Good starting point for our heroes. Good establishment of canon ships and character dynamics. Umbrella scene literally stole my wallet. Cannot emphasis enough that I am whipped for the umbrella scene. I wrote a whole ass AU just to say how whipped I am for the umbrella scene. In the Rain will play at my wedding. Jk. Weddings are for suckers. But dammit if I don’t want these kids to get married. 10/10

2. Origins I- Good introduction to lore. Good introduction to characters. Good establishment of status quoyo. Just good. 10/10

3. Simon Says- Listen, I am nothing if not a shipper at heart. This episode just sparks joy. And the whole series almost ended when Gabriel almost jumped off the roof. I was really rooting for this one. This was the episode where I saw Ladrien and went yes, ma’am, I’ll have one of those. 10/10

4. Evillustrator- Are you all surprised? Cat, the MC-skeptic ranked the pivotal MC episode so highly? Well, let me tell you all a thing, I started this fandom out a MC shipper because of this episode. Their first interaction is gold. I don’t deny that. I enjoy it. This is the MC dynamic I fell in love with. Yall toxic shippers ruined MC for me when you opened your mouths and spat in the face of Ladrien and baselessly declared MC the sin-ship. We all know it’s Ladrien. Stop kidding yourselves. Boy in leather catsuit? Please. Basic ass vanilla bitches. I’m getting off-topic. Solid episode 10/10. We love to see it.

5. Stormy Weather- Baby’s first Miraculous episode. It holds a special place in my heart. It’s a solid episode. Good establishment of what the show is. Fun villain. Good times. Fond memories. 10/10

6. Riposte- Listen, I know I’m an Adrinette stan, but hear me out: Ladrien. It’s just so good. And Kagami was compelling in this episode. It was just really solid. It’s my favorite s2 episode. If you ask me if I want to rewatch Riposte, the answer is always yes. 10/10. We stan.

7. Gorizilla- Okay, so this episode has some solid Adrinette in it, but the real reason it ranks so high is that fucking Ladrien trust fall. I stare at that scene for hours, you guys. HOURS. It is absolutely just *chefs kiss*. Sometimes when I need a pick-me-up, I just go watch gifs of that catch on loop. 10/10. Beautiful. Radiant. Carefree.

8. Gang of Secrets- I have been keeping most of my opinions to myself about s4 (mostly because I’ve backed way the hell out of this fandom), but GoS was pretty solid. Gotta say, it’s the first episode in a long time with this show that made me actually excited to see what happens next. Most other episodes I was like, okay, that was cute. The show is still meh overall. But GoS really got me like oh shit, is ML good again? 10/10 for making me feel things again.

9. Oblivio- Told you guys this one was probably rated higher than I thought. Oblivio is just really fun. There is good Adrinette. That “No wonder I fell in love with you” paired with the softest of Adrien smiles just sends me. And the kisses. The unquestionable trust. These two kids literally woke up together alone in an elevator with no memories and said welp, you’re my boyfriend/girlfriend obviously, I don’t make the rules. Honestly, how anyone could argue that these two dorks aren’t made for each other after that episode is beyond me. 9/10

10. Backwarder- Okay, I know I am weird and alone for this one, but I really liked this episode. It got a lot of shit for the constipation capsule thing at the end, but like who cares? We finally got some more backstory on Fu. He got a love-interest who is dope as hell. This episode is my favorite lucky charm use ever. Like that queen DID that. I like Backwarder, guys! Fuck off. 9/10.

11. Kwamibuster- We all know I am a Marinette-stan by this point, but our girl was SHINING this episode. This bitch said gimme all them and let me go whoop this bitch’s ass, and she DID. Hawkmoth could never. Multimouse is a gift, and Marinette is a boss ass queen. 9/10

12. Chat Blanc- Listen, this episode was very good. I enjoy the idea of my children being happy in another timeline somewhere very much. We got all 4 sides of the square in an episode. It’s just really solid. I know this is the fandom’s favorite, and everyone is gonna shit their pants because it didn’t make my top 10, but this is my list. So, I put it at number 12. It’s good. I like it. It just didn’t steal my wallet like other episodes did. Put the pitchforks down. It’s gonna be okay, you can still love it more than me. 8/10

13. New York Special- I know everyone felt some type of way about this special, but I wasn’t mad at it. My perception of it might be clouded because I watched it in Disney World where I was chilling and having a great time, but like this special really did somethings for me. The Adrinette was top tier. Tippy top tier. Even though they hurt us in the end, I am okay with it because it just means the children will grow and come out stronger. I don’t care if it’s not technically canon. Ask me if I give a fuck. I don’t. I had fun here. 8/10. Solid.

14. The Collector- This one might shock a lot of you, but let me paint you a scene. It’s the first episode of s2. We have just come off a 2 year hiatus. The fandom is thriving. We’re hungry for canon content. We have hopes and dreams and expectations. Everyone is going wild with theories. This episode confirmed something that was long since obvious (in my opinion) and ended the stupid arguments people had been having. It made Gabriel actually seem semi-competent. We got our first taste of how Chat/Adrien will react to his dad being Hawkmoth. We got a peek at their life. Adrien’s isolation and sadness. They were so close to figuring it out. The battle was epic. Like Collector really had them on the ropes there for a second. It’s a solid episode, yall. I’m not wrong. Hate me all you want, but this episode brought it. 8/10

15. Despair Bear- Is this episode up this high because of the Adrinette slow dance scene? YOU BET YOUR ASS IT IS. Okay, but fr though, shipping aside, this episode gave us hope that Chloe was actually gonna redeem herself. I mean, she didn’t but, we didn’t know that at the time. Seeing her run around trying to be nice was fun. And then she actually did something good, and we had a moment of okay, she’s capable. We’ll get there. We didn’t. But what a ride this episode was for making us think she would. 8/10

16. Startrain- Cat, you’re just ranking all the Adrinette episodes highest. And? What of it? Are you surprised? You clicked a blog that has simping for Adrinette in the description, and you’re surprised all my favorite episodes have Adrinette? I’m not wrong, you’re just an idiot. The Adrinette nap cuddles aside though, this was a pretty good episode. If you don’t think too hard about the whole space thing, we got a look at Max’s life, his mom is a driven, smart lady doing her best. Adrien rebels against papa for once. Alya stops a Lila scheme. Chloe gets to play the hero. Alya and Nino actually investigate like the heroes they are. Gabriel gets to realize what a dumbass bitch he is. I mean. Guys. Startrain is solid. 7.5/10

17. Sapotis- This one shot up in rank for me after GoS, but tbh it’s always been a solid episode. Alyanette sleepover? Check. Alya becoming a superhero? Check. It’s a fun episode. And looking back, it’s nicely called back to later in GoS. We love it. 7.5/10

18. Sandboy- Idk why I enjoy this episode as much as I do, but I do. Sandboy is a cute bean. I love his aesthetic. We also get hilarious looks at everyone’s nightmares. “Plagg, who turned you into a sock?” cracks me up cause like Adrien, bby, no XD And Chat Noir’s nightmare. I think it would have been interesting though if since Sandboy dusted the Agreste mansion, if we got a peek at Hawkmoth’s nightmares. It would have been a nice hint of plot to go along with Master Fu’s nightmare. Also Plagg giving the akuma the slip like the clever boy we know he is deep down? 7.5/10

19. Furious Fu- If you guys haven’t realized by now that I love Fu, idk what you’re doing. Pay attention. I know that some people don’t like him, but I’m just gonna say it, you’re wrong. Fu took care of the Miracle Box for over 100 years, and this episode kind of gives some insight to what the Order was like. Very strict. Lots of rules. And ya know what, Fu said fuck the police, I’m gonna befriend these little magical demigods, and fuck off! Like what an absolute legend. I was really happy to see him living his best life, and that he and Marianne got married because it’s what he deserves. We love to see it. 7.5/10

20. Gamer- People like to shit on Marinette in this episode, but like honestly, if I were in her shoes, I’d have probably done the same thing if I had the skill. Ain’t nothing wrong with a girl trying to spend time with the boy she likes. And Tom and Sabine being absolute shipping trash. I love them. And the awkward Adrinette. The introduction of the lucky charm that Adrien STILL carries. Wholesome. This was a good episode for their friendship, and we love to see it. 7.5/10

21. Christmaster- Okay, I know a lot of people hated this episode when it aired, but I thought it was really funny? Everyone skidding around in the ice rink was hilarious. If you don’t take this episode seriously, it’s really fun. Chris is pretty cute, and damn right Ladybug is the best kid in the world. Idk. This episode is fun. I’m not mad at it. Sue me. 7.5/10

22. Weredad- What? Another MC-heavy episode in Cat’s top 30? Listen, I don’t hate canon MC. The fans just annoy me. This episode was funny. The secondhand embarrassment and cringe was real. Plagg taunting Adrien because he knows the secret was great. Marinette being a self-saving queen was great. It’s a good episode. I like MC, you guys. I do. I swear! 7.5/10

23. Miraculer- This episode was interesting to me, and I think it’s still a good development episode. For one, Sabrina finally got her own akuma episode named after her. Secondly, because it’s a big step for Chloe, just not in the way we expected. It totally makes sense that Chloe can’t have her Miraculous back because literally everyone knows her identity. Can’t argue that logic. And she is the first person to ever refuse to become akumatized, so like mad respect. I know a lot of people had high hopes for redeemed Chloe (myself included), but I think watching a character fall from revering someone to hating them is also an interesting path. The friends to enemies arc as it were. Idk. I liked this episode. It was an opportunity for Chloe to grow, even if she didn’t in the end, but we’ll talk about that later. 7.5/10

24. Lady Wifi- I like Alya. I feel like I don’t say that much, and people make some assumptions because of MDCSP, but MDCSP is just a concept I wanted to explore. It doesn’t really reflect how I feel about any one character. Except maybe Lila. And Gabe. But every other spite fic I’ve written branching from Chameleon, the class has been fine. Alya has been fine. So, let it be known that I like Alya. Lady Wifi was a fun episode. Putting aside the fact that she thought Chloe was Ladybug for no reason, I like her akuma. I like the interactions we get with LadyNoir in this episode. After GoS, this episode gets a bit funnier. It’s solid. 7/10

25. Dark Cupid- I don’t have much to say about this one. LadyNoir. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Send it. 7/10

26. Volpina- So many things about this episode. It introduced a new antagonist who we didn’t exactly 100% know was going to be an antagonist at the time. This episode sparked a lot of fun fan theories for a while. Who was Lila? How was she going to shake things up? Not to mention this episode gave us a taste of plot and lore, and set up Marinette meeting Master Fu officially. Lots of intrigue sparked from this episode. And that LadyNoir door scene? OOOOOO 7/10

27. Hearthunter- One word: Adrigaminette. This episode was so cute for them! I loved seeing them all goofing and running around together. Adrien and Kagami being absolutely in love with Marinette when her hair is down. They both love her, I don’t make the rules. Not to mention, Marinette takes a big step by letting her friends be happy without her. Kagami not wanting to hurt Marinette. The drama!! Gabriel being a messy ass bitch to his friends. It loses points for the abomination of an akuma, but overall, I wasn’t too mad at it. Yet. 7/10

28. Glaciator- More MC in Cat’s top 30? It’s more likely than you think. Listen. Listen… Listen. MC is fine. This episode was the closest thing to fanfiction that we got. The balcony scene was really sweet. I was drinking the irony. We got introduced to Andre the icecream fraud. Andre the please just give me the flavor I asked for man. I could have done without Chat pouting, but the LadyNoir in the end was pretty good. I wish they’d done more with Ladybug’s feelings for Chat. Had her question herself a bit more after this one, but overall, it’s cute. 7/10

29. Zombizou- A lot of people started hating Mlle. Bustier after this episode, and like I can kind of see it, if I squint, but I did not draw that same conclusion from this episode. Mlle. Bustier just wants good things for all of her students. They’re 14 ffs, she just wants to be a good influence on all of her students and wants them all to be successful. But go off, I guess? Plus, this episode was basically just a spoof on zombie apocalypse movies. We got so many things. Julerose, Myvan, DJWifi. Chloe actually showing some depth and emotion. LadyNoir. We won this episode, babes. Sorry you didn’t get the memo. 7/10

30. Timetagger- Okay. This is the last episode in the ones that I’d venture to call “good.” Number 30. I enjoyed Timetagger. I know people have feelings about timey-wimey bullshit, and like I’m not gonna lie and say I’m thrilled with it either (I mean, I changed the rabbit’s power in MDCSP) but that being said, Timetagger was so sassy. Bunnix was cool as hell. We get to see that LB and CN are still doing the thing in the future. So many questions sparked from this episode. It was fun. Idk. I liked it. That’s all I got. 7/10

31. Malediktator- Okay, from this point on, less comments because this is the section that are more or less just meh to me. Like they’re fine. This episode was fine. Chloe was fine. Chat playing with the laser was cute. 6.5/10

32. Mayura- Adrien’s speech at the end. Nuff said 6.5/10

33. Ikari Gozen- Ryuko/Ryuuko. Gals being pals. 6.5/10

34. Reflekdoll- I talked about this earlier, but I don’t hate this episode. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be. Sue me. 6.5/10

35. Anansi- Nino is the goodest boy. Also I need more of the gang taking Adrien on adventures via Facetime. Stat. 6.5/10

36. Shanghai- This one is new, and tbh I still haven’t watched it with subs, but I had a good time. Fei was cute. The boy squad was cute. Adrien bonding with Great Uncle Cheng was cute. Hawkmoth getting literally dunked on was *chefs kiss* 6.5/10

37. Gigantitan- I love overly supportive, ride-or-die girl squad. 6.5/10

38. Party Crasher- Idk why this episode was funny to me. Kim is the purest bean. We don’t deserve him. 6.5/10

39. Desperada- This episode was an emotional roller coaster, and even though we all collectively hate Aspik’s stupid egghead, we love the Ladrien this episode provided us. 6/10

40. Oni-chan- Listen, I loved seeing Lila get a tiny bit of karma even if she made it up in the end. I loved Chat going off on her. I loved seeing her get outsmarted in the end. 6/10

41. Frightningale- My good lesbian Clara Nightingale. We stan. 6/10

42. Style Queen- I like Audrey in a “she’s the worst person I’ve ever met, I want to travel the world with her” kind of way. She’s funny to me. Idk. I love her firing everyone. She’s the one I love to hate. She’s the worst, but we love her for it. Plus this episode gave us Plagg’s adorable little Cataclysm that destroyed half the city. 6/10

43. Gamer 2.0- Chat confidently strutting in heels made this episode worth it. And we get to see the beginning of Marinette being overwhelmed. Plus it was the return of gamer!nette. 6/10

44. Troublemaker- I don’t hate this episode as much as the next person either. It was fine. Jagged is a manchild, but we love him for it. He’s a Marinette stan which like mood. The Adrinette at the end was cute. I wasn’t mad at it. Idk. It’s fine. 6/10

45. Reflekta- Where are all my Juleka stans at? I loved the LadyNoir banter in this ep. V. cute. 6/10

46. Dark Owl- This episode was fun. And it really shows their level of trust. Plus Plagg and Tikki interacted. 6/10

47. Timebreaker- Have I ever mentioned that I like Alix? I like Alix. 6/10

48. Silencer- I don’t hate this episode as much as you’d expect me to, and that is 100% because of the LadyNoir. 5.5/10

49. Prime Queen- Chat purrs. 5.5/10

50. Syren- I think the fish power-up is adorable. Ondine is a gem. Kim is a pure bean, but we been knew. 5.5/10

51. Befana- I like Gina, but this episode fell flat for me. Almost as flat as the animation. 5.5/10

52. Reverser- Another episode that everyone hates that I am actually fine with. This episode made me like Nathaniel more. Probably because I was previously indifferent toward him. Marc is cute too. 5.5/10

53. Mr. Pigeon- Marinette is one clever girl. And the Adrinette hand-touch. 5.5/10

54. Felix- Felix is a gremlin of chaos. A true chaotic neutral. He gives his uncle the finger, and I think that’s beautiful. 5.5/10

55. Truth- Bet you expected this episode to be higher. While I did enjoy watching toxic people’s world crumble, this episode still gets a meh from me dog. 5/10

56. Lies- The Adrigami was cute, and I respect Kagami as a character. The akuma could have been better tho. 5/10

57. Princess Fragrance- Not much to say here. 5/10

58. Copycat- 5/10

59. Bubbler- 5/10

60. Mime- 5/10

61. Animan- 5/10

62. Robostus- 5/10

63. Ladybug- This episode ranks this low purely because I don’t care about GabeNath, and I hate that Lila won something in the end. But Adrien saying I won’t hesitate, bitch! At the end was nice to see. 5/10

64. Catalyst- I know I ranked Mayura way higher, but Catalyst fell flat for me. Like it was fine. Wasn’t as into it though. 4.5/10

65. Puppeteer- One of my favorite lucky charm uses. 4.5/10

66. Pixelator- My favorite Cataclysm. 4.5/10

67. Horrificator- That almost-Adrinette kiss tho 4.5/10

68. Pharaoh- 4.5/10

69. Kung Food- 4.5/10

70. Rogercop- 4/10

71. Guitar Villain- 4/10

72. Dark Blade- 4/10

73. Bakerix- 4/10

74. Antibug- And now onto the bottom 10. To start us off, I will just say: UGH, this episode annoyed me. First of all, Sabrina didn’t even get her own episode. Chloe was a piece of shit. Idk why they made Ladybug the one in the wrong when Chloe was being obnoxious. Ugh. 3/10

75. Captain Hardrock- I’m gonna be honest. My apathy for this episode has grown into loathing. Toxic stans are 100% to blame. Birthday ruining, bitches. This is the reason I threw a breakup bash after Truth. Yall deserved it. 3/10

76. Christmas Special- I didn’t hate this episode as much as everyone, but it still wasn’t great. 2.5/10

77. Stormy Weather 2.0- This episode was really dumb. It didn’t need to exist. 2.0/10

78. Queen Wasp- Why did we give Chloe a Miraculous after this episode? 2/10

79. Animaestro- Did we really need a self-insert? Did we really? 2/10

80. Puppeteer 2.0- Listen, this episode would have made more sense in s1 or at the very latest early s2. Adrien gave a whole ass speech on how great Marinette is, then he turns around and is like idk if she likes me… Clean it up. 2/10

81. Miracle Queen- I could talk at length about how much I hate the ending of this episode and what they did with Chloe and Master Fu, but we’re just going to remain calm and give it a solid 1.5/10

82. Frozer- This episode made no goddamn sense. I call bullshit on so many things. Just ugh. 1/10

83. Chameleon- Surprisingly, even though this episode sparked many, many spite fics out of me, it’s not my least favorite because at least Ladybug semi-redeemed this episode. Still really dumb and ooc tho. 1/10

84. Feast- Okay, okay, okay, here we are. Bottom of the barrel. Cat’s most hated episode, and you wanna know why? You want to know why this episode fills me with the rage? Because we spent two fucking seasons building up all this mystery and lore and intrigue surrounding Fu’s big mistake, and they dropped the fucking ball! They did my mans so dirty! They could have really deepened his character, deepened the Order, deepened anything other than whatever fucking affair Gabriel and Nathalie have going on, but NO. They made it some stupid, bland-ass thing that got resolved magically in the end, then just ignored it for the rest of the season. I will never not be salty about how they did my boy Fu in this show. I’m happy he found his peace, but fuck if I’m not livid about how they did it. Whatever. Chat being done with Ladybug’s shit when they’re about to get eaten was funny I guess. .5/10

#cat speaks #cat spoils #episode ranking #long post #i'm tired now #i go to bed

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neonthewrite · 3 years

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Washed Up Winchesters 5

The team gets up to some investigating and stuff! It's time to figure out where to find their shipful of monsters.

Cowritten with @nightmares06, the writer behind the @brothersapart multiverse!

( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) -5- ( 6 ) ( 7 ) ( 8 )

Story Tag

Read Time ~10 minutes

~~~~~

Chase grinned as Jacob’s gait steadied out, and he looked out ahead of them. The gently rolling hills around the main city of Lilliput stretched before them, and it was almost like flying. “Cheer up, Dean, we’re gonna arrive in style no matter where we go this way!”

Dean put his head in his hands at that assurance, and there was a barely-audible reply, which, if anyone leaned in close enough to hear the mumble, they would have made out "Never living this down, ever."

Sam only smiled and gave Dean a confident pat on his head, the only part of Dean that was in reach while he slumped down.

Minnie slapped Chase’s arm with the back of her hand and gave him a warning look. He rolled his eyes dramatically, but didn’t say anything more to try to coax Dean out of his worries. Considering it was his first time ever getting a lift from a giant, he was doing just fine.

Jacob kept that in mind as he walked. He didn’t normally rush himself when walking around the city of miniature people. They would usually see him ambling along at a relaxed pace, one that wouldn’t get him anywhere fast if he was the right size around there. Even now, he could spot some people on the outskirts of town pausing to look over at him as he passed by. He tried to soften his steps a bit, but didn’t slow down.

At least, not until he’d rounded the edges of the city and the harbor was in sight. He had to watch his step much more closely, and he all but inched up to one of the docks at the very edge of all the bustling activity. People were keeping busy, and most of them hardly even thought to look up at the sign of his rumbling footsteps.

All in all, the walk couldn’t have taken much more than five minutes for him.

“Do you guys see the ship you were on? Would you recognize it from up here?” he asked, looking straight down at his hand. He was curious for their answer as much as for how well they were doing after their first (conscious) trip with a giant.

Sam leaned off the edge of the giant's hand, squinting slightly to try and make out the markings on the ship. It was hard to forget the ship that tossed him and his brother overboard to be lost at sea.

"That's it," Sam confirmed as soon as he spotted it. "Can you see if there's anyone still on the ship?"

Chase braced his hands on the base of one of Jacob's fingers so he could lean over and squint at the ship Sam was pointing to. It seemed nondescript to his eyes, and hardly stood out among the others; he'd never claimed a strong knowledge in telling the difference between boats. "I don't see anyone," he hedged, but his tone said he was unsure.

Jacob's mouth twisted into a disapproving frown as two of the people on his hand leaned so close to the edge. He wasn't about to nudge them back yet, but he was on alert.

"No one above deck, anyway," he observed.

Sam frowned as well, intently scanning the ship and surrounding landscape. "We need to find them..." he muttered. "There's no telling if they'll be looking for new victims once they're on solid ground."

"Can we get down yet?" Dean asked plaintively from where he was sitting with his legs crossed.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chase teased with a grin, patting a hand on Jacob’s palm. He looked up and pointed at an area of the shipyard more loaded with boxes than with bustling people. “Can ya let us off there? We can go investigate, and stuff!”

Jacob smirked. “Investigate and stuff? Can’t believe I’m missing out,” he teased right back, nudging at Chase’s side even as he knelt down carefully. He didn’t move his hand further away from his chest until he was as close to the ground as he could get without sitting down. It looked like Dean was too woozy for anything crazy.

While everyone disembarked, he braced his free hand on the ground to keep steady. “I’ll wait over here for you guys.”

~~~

After quite a bit of “investigating and stuff,” the group didn’t have many leads to go on. Surprisingly, Chase was the most outwardly disappointed by that fact. As they returned to meet up with Jacob and decide where to look next, Chase tilted his head back and frowned at the sky.

“Man, we coulda gotten so many more clues if someone hadn’t decided to argue with that fisherman so much,” he pointed out. “What kinda secret agenting can we do like that?”

Dean scowled at Chase's obvious diss towards their methods. "You want to be in charge, short stop?" he griped irritably.

"Most of our work is in Blefuscu," Sam reminded them to avoid Dean throwing another tantrum. "It's different over there. We're more likely to set off another war if we go pushing at the wrong people."

The pointed way Sam put we're left it in no uncertain terms that he thought it was likely that Dean would be the one most likely to step on toes, but he planned on sticking by his older brother's side no matter what. The two Blefuscans were out of place in the Lilliputian port, and the fact that they had some locals helping them out was nothing short of a miracle.

"Well, it's not like we didn't learn anything," Minnie supplied. "That one guy said they sold the boat as soon as they could, so there might be, like, a record of where they're gonna be next."

Chase nodded, but smirked. "I'm surprised you noticed anything after you found that livestock pen."

Minnie crossed her arms and her optimistic expression turned into a sullen one. "I never get to see the new lambs before the auctions start. So what? I listen just fine."

Chase rolled his eyes but spared her further teasing. "Riiight. So we at least know there's one guy who talked to the guys that were on that ship. That's something, right?" He turned to Sam and Dean to watch for their confirmation.

"It's not nothing," Sam agreed.

"It's not much," Dean interrupted obstinately.

Sam whirled around on Dean. "Can you try being helpful for once?" he demanded, crossing his arms. "So far, we've seen no sign of attack. So there's still time."

For a minute, it looked like Dean would keep arguing for the sake of arguing, but then he sighed and looked away. "Right, once we talk to that guy, we can see if he remembers where they went and why no one else in the area interacted with the people from the ship. They can't just vanish into thin air."

“That’s the spirit, Dean!” Chase chirped, still all too unbothered by the seriousness of the situation. At least outwardly, he didn’t show signs of worry. After all, they were doing what they could, which was more than most people would be able to do. Having two monster hunters just wash up on Lilliput after some monsters snuck in was good luck, in his opinion.

Even if they weren’t the most enthused about their main mode of transportation while visiting.

Jacob could be seen a bit beyond the cluttered area at the edge of the harbor. He couldn’t sit down too close by; even when he was trying to make himself seem smaller, the giant took up too much space. Some of the warehouses framing the bustling area were too little to hold him.

Chase lightly tapped Dean’s arm with the back of his hand. “Whatcha say, ready to fly in style again?”

Lips flattened into a straight line, Dean didn’t deign to glance Chase’s way. “Style is not what I’d call it,” he grumbled as he accepted that as long as they were working with the Lilliputians, they’d have to deal with the giant that came with them.

Sam slapped Dean on the back, nearly throwing him forward. “C’mon, just imagine the stories you’ll have when we get back!”

“They’ll never believe us.”

Chase snickered. “What, they seriously haven’t started spreading the rumor around Blefuscu yet? You guys are behind!” He stepped forward as he spoke, paying little mind to the others with a goal in mind. With both hands cupped around his mouth, he let out a yell much louder than it seemed like such a frail person could produce. “Hey, Jake!”

The giant, sitting peacefully and staring over the bay, perked up and turned his head at the sound of his name. At first, he didn’t find the group among the clutter. When he zeroed in on them, a smile appeared on his face, all too easy to see from their vantage point.

The ground rumbled under their feet as he pushed himself up so he could kneel closer to the shipyard again. “Hey, guys,” he greeted. “Chase letcha get any work done?”

Dean glared. "Some," he said testily. The terse reply combined with his stiff body language showed that he was still just as uncomfortable with the giant close by. Giants weren't something that Blefuscans had ever adjusted to, and the concept of a friendly one was outside of Dean's realm of normal.

Sam hid a grin. "Chase is lucky Dean didn't pitch him off the docks," he commented dryly to help break up the tension around them. "But aside from that, we have a lead."

If Jacob noticed Dean’s demeanor, he didn’t do anything to draw attention to it. He was used to people in Lilliput giving him the side eye at least, and some of them still didn’t trust him at all. While it might be common knowledge that he wasn’t going to go on a rampage or anything, he was too big to ignore.

He leaned down just a little more, intrigued. “A lead? That’s great!”

Chase nodded. “Yeah, they sold their ship to some businessman, so he might know where they were going next! Wanna give us a ride to him?”

Jacob paused. He couldn’t help a glance at Sam and Dean to gauge what they thought of the idea, but then he glanced past the whole group to the city of tiny folk arrayed behind them. “What, like, into the city? Is that allowed?”

“It’s not in the middle of town or anything,” Chase hedged. “And it’s way faster if you get us there.”

“You’ll take any excuse, won’t ya,” Jacob muttered. He addressed Sam, who seemed to be the de facto leader of the small group of investigators. “You guys cool with that? I don’t mind if you wanna wander in without me.”

"We need to avoid wasting time," Sam said, sending Dean a chiding look. "Your help is appreciated."

"Whatever," Dean said. He stomped closer to Jacob, drawing himself up. "Let's get this show on the road, Gulliver!"

~~~

It didn't take long for everyone to file onto Jacob's hand once again, and it didn't take much more than that for him to wander to the edge of town closest to their next goal. Chase seemed to know where to find anybody in that city, despite it being much bigger compared to him. He never minded pointing Jacob in a direction, either.

Jacob needed more time to work up the courage to just walk in. He stood near one of the buildings on the outskirts, an area not walled in like the front of the city. The road would be just wide enough to accommodate him, but he wouldn't leave much room for anything else.

"Jake, I think I can see the guy's building from up here," Chase noted.

“Cool,” Jacob muttered. He didn’t even bother to hide his concern for what he was about to do, but he took the hint well enough. He took the first step into the city, past the edge of that nearest building, and almost expected a swarm of Lilliputians to emerge from around corners to scold him.

They didn’t, and that was promising.

He inched his way further in, ever mindful of the buildings on either side as he passed. Some people did lean out their windows to stare incredulously at them, and Chase took on the task of waving at them. Any disapproving look was deflected before long.

He was only a block away when a sharp, authoritative voice down below called up to him and he drew up short. Jacob had to shuffle one careful step backwards to see the tiny cop down there, hands on his hips and looking stern. The little guy had to tilt his head all the way back just to see Jacob’s face, but he didn’t let any intimidation get in the way.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, giant? You’re too dangerous for the streets!”

#mywriting #collab #chase in lilliput au #washed up winchesters #jacob andris #chase lisong #minnie lisong #sam winchester #dean winchester #gullivers travels fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #g/t #g/t handheld

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yoshkeii · 4 years

Text

Bokuto Confession hcs!

࿐ character: Bokuto Koutarou

࿐ genre: fluff, soft, confessions!

࿐ requested by: GreenTheSimp on Ao3!

࿐ imagine/scenario: “some Bokuto headcannons on how he asks Khai out? Plus maybe him being a goof towards his s/o.”

A/N: fyi, most of these will be coming from my Ao3 since I started writing there first! it’s not much and i generally don’t proof read these so im sorry if there are small errors, this one is a bit longer since I made two chapters for it. im so bad at writing istg,,

≫ ──── ≪ Confession Time ≫ ──── ≪

❀ First, Bokuto would be oblivious to his crush and his feelings for you till it was brought up multiple times by his team, and eventually at the volleyball camp from the other schools. Most likely Kuroo nagging him about the certain someone, Khai, Bokuto talks about so much.

❀ You and Bokuto were friends for quite some time, maybe at least a year or so. And being in the same class as him, you guys had time to interact with each other and even plan hangouts whenever you could.

❀ And yes, this man talks 24/7 about you without even noticing- this varies from your interactions during the school day, your conversations during classes and lunch, stupid dumb texts you guys have once in a while, the answers you give him from the many of many questions he asked you... the list goes on and on. This makes it easy for his friends to identify his fucking crush on you. him being so oblivious about it hurts their brains istg

❀ He's extremely bubbly around you, super friendly and kind but you usually brush it off as his normal personality. ibetyou'llbeoblivioustooaboutit.

❀ Once Bokuto awakened to his crush and feelings for you he found it extremely difficult to act like it was normal before. The slight blush on his cheeks was a much solid shade. His heart skipping beats every time he saw you walk in the room. Your laugh, your smile, anything about you made him so nervous around you now. When you directly smile at him, hearing your laughs at his jokes or actions will make this man just seize to exist.

❀ Bokuto can't stop thinking about you after that thought, always finding his mind wandering to the dorkiest, sappy shit thing he would do with you.

❀ Sometimes he found himself avoiding you at some points just so he can keep himself in check and not be an embarrassment around you-

❀ He still craves your attention but he gets a lingering fear he might mess something up so he has an internal fight with himself and it just- hurts him sm- poor owl,,

❀ Akaashi finds himself trying to motivate and support emo Bokuto at these moments, usually through texts or calls when they aren't near each other etc.

❀ You would generally think he would just confess to you as soon as he had the chance but actually took this on a slow thoughtful ride. To the point, it did affect his skill at practice, which notified his teammates about it fairly quickly. Bokuto was so deep in thought about it all he was unsure how to process his confession, when, where, what would make you happy, if you liked him back and such.

❀ This eventually leads to him asking Akaashi, the team, and friends (from the other teams' ofc-), on how he should confess to you. All of the answers didn't seem to fit Bokuto in a comfortable way either, which is hella surprising. Before he decided to do something pretty simple.

❀ Earlier today, Bokuto asked you to wait for him a few minutes after class. Knowing you two had different club activities after school, him having volleyball and you have [Khai's favorite activity]. It was the best option to get your attention since your clubs ended at different times made it difficult. And so you did, meeting him outside of your classroom, just you and him.

❀ Bokuto felt anxious about being alone with you, especially like this.

❀ "Hey, Khai..?"

❀ "What is it, Bo?"

❀ That little nickname you gave him, always and I mean always made his heart skip 10 beats. The blush on his cheeks grew a shade darker.

❀ "Wanna walk home.. t-together...?" Bokuto quickly mustered out the words, knowing his throat would dry up sooner or later.

❀ Both of you actually took a similar route home after school, which you guys figured out on a rainy day.

❀ "Oh, sure! Don't you have practice though?" You tilted your head innocently, your hair moving as well revealing the smallest of details that made Bokuto swoon.

❀ "Coach said we should rest for our game tomorrow"

❀ "Ah- that makes sense, I forgot about that-" You giggled lightly before you took the lead of heading out of the building.

❀ Bokuto froze at your giggle before you dragged him behind you. Your hand softly around his wrist. "C'mon slowpoke," you teased.

❀ He smiled slightly before he caught up to you. Walking aside from you at the same pace.

❀ It was an awkward walk. Bokuto was oddly quiet which made you slightly worried.

❀ "Bokuto? You alright..?" You finally broke the silence, looking up at the Ace to your right.

❀ "P-perfectly fine!"

❀ "You stuttered."

❀ "Did... I..?"

❀ "Yes, dummy- What's wrong?"

❀ "I-... Damn it. Khai."

❀ Before you knew it, he pulled you into a kiss. His large hands cupping your face as he planted his lips softly onto yours, pulling away from a little with only a few inches from your lips. Bokuto looked straight into your brown eyes, staring back with his golden eyes. The blush on his cheeks flushed with shades of red.

❀ "I like you. Wait- No.. I love you." Bokuto muttered softly, feeling his breath on your lips made you shiver.

❀ You just giggled, before it grew into genuine laughter. He widened his eyes removing his hands from your face.

❀ "H-hey..!! What's so funny!?"

❀ "It was so obvious Bo~"

❀ "Was.. was it!? I-"

❀ You cut him off, "I love you too Koutarou."

❀ Him hearing you use his first name WITH you saying ily to him, made his day. A bright smile plastered on his face, he hugged you lifting you up and kissing your face all over.

❀ "HEY HEY HEYYYY!! Khai likes me back!! Actually, Khai LOVES me!" Bokuto exclaimed happily

❀ After that, Bokuto was back to his normal, loud, excited self throughout the walk. You guys began to have your simple conversations again, him poking you with questions trying to get to know you even more. Having the lingering doubt he had from rejection and negativity was lifted-off from him. He even mentioned having your first date so soon-

❀ He couldn't wait to bring the news to his team and friends.

❀ He can't wait to see you by his side every day.

≫ ──── ≪ Confession Aftermath ≫ ──── ≪

❀ After the confession, Bokuto would rarely ever leave your side. So he does get clingy to you as he does with Akaashi. He's not much for PDA but he's also not against the thought, he unconsciously hugs you, wrapping his arms around your torso, waist, arms, and sometimes around your neck at least- Sometimes light kisses and pecks but those are generally rare unless he's really excited about something.

❀ He gets really flustered sometimes when you addressed him as your boyfriend the first few days and maybe weeks after starting the relationship. He's just not used to it- It gives this hunk of a man butterflies in his stomach a lot.

❀ Whenever you guys had to leave each other for your designated classes, you tend to find cute notes in your locker whenever you open them. Having cute phrases, flirts, compliments, and silly pick-up lines. You already knew it was from Bokuto because you... sometimes catch him lurking around your locker- just never brought up to him knowing it would genuinely make him sad.

❀ Bokuto just finds it cool that you don't know at first okay-

❀ You always tried to go to his practices and even games when you guys were just friends. Knowing that if Bokuto saw any of his friends out in the stands made his confidence skyrocket so much-

❀ But since you guys are now in a relationship, it makes Bokuto smile so much every time he spots you in the stands of the crowds. Cheering him on boosts his confidence so fucking much- like if this man is in emo mode please cheer for him, it helps a ton (Akaashi and the team might thank you also-)

❀ Long-lasting phone calls that continue till like 3-4 am. Sometimes facetime/video calls if you both have the ability to! He loves seeing your face, he finds it so fucking adorable with all your smallest features and details.

❀ Bokuto probably changed your contact name on his phone to something like "baby owl" with like emojis or something- or literally, just nick (pet) names he has for you- "baby, bae, cloud, cutie, feather, angel, king/queen, prince/princess" and so on. He looooves having names for you because it makes him smile every time he finds things that remind him of you (which generally is how he figures some of them out-)

❀ Whenever this man finds you sad, upset, stressed, or literally in any negative emotion. He will try his damn hardest to make you feel better even if its the slightest, and if it is the slightest he'll keep going to you are perfectly fine and dandy.

❀ He'll even go out of his way to skip practice if needed to comfort your sad butt- He'll give you cuddles, so many cuddles. He's practically a cuddle monster so better prepare for how long you'll stay in his arms afterward-

❀ Whenever you guys are just cuddling in general, he loves to nuzzle his face into your hair, your neck, and shoulder. Just craving the touch and comfort of his lover. Even if it's the slightest of motion, he'll take whatever he can get!

❀ Continuing on the cuddling situation, one of the secret things he loves about you is how you smell. The shampoo you use for your hair, the body wash, perfume or cologne.

❀ Since it's fall season (as of I'm writing this ofc-), Bokuto will drag you around for some walks in the cool weather through parks. Honestly hoping to find leaves to pile and fall into with you! I'd think one of Bo's love language would be quality time (and words of affirmation.) So hanging out with him makes this owl the happiest man to walk on this planet.

❀ Whenever you are cold on these walks, he won't hesitate to wrap his arms around you. If it's a specific part of your body that is cold, for example, your hands. He'll definitely hold his hands over yours. Maybe planting a kiss on them afterward (accidentally getting flustered seconds later-)

❀ Bokuto might also just stare at your hands clasped together, noticing the size difference for the 100000000000000th time

❀ Honestly, he likes to use Instagram and Snapchat filters with you. It's really cute af,, he's such a dork for couple things

❀ Body issues? Bokuto will love every part of you no matter what, comforting that every part of your body is perfect as it is. He'll softly plant kisses wherever you feel insecure. He'll cuddle you till you agree with him that you are a perfect human being.

❀ Don't try to sneak out of it. He's hella stubborn with topics like these- He ain't that dense and dumb guys,,

A/N: I love me some Bokuto huuuuu

#at-dusk;- 🌆#folder 📁;- 𝙷𝚊𝚒𝚔𝚢𝚞𝚞 #bokuto x reader #bokuto x male reader #bokuto x gender neutral reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x male reader #haikyuu x gender neutral reader #x reader #x male reader #bokuto imagine #bokuto headcanons #bokuto koutarou #soft headcanons #fluff headcanons #confession headcanons

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goldenchan-fx2thepeacock · 3 years

Text

Don’t Go Running Off Into Danger, Even If I Do pt 3

Hek. I woke up today and found that my FNP phic has 41 notes and my DGROIDEIID phic is gaining attention and reblogs; holy shit. And I woke up at noon. It’s Saturday. I sleep in on such days. Anyways. Last I checked, Val and Danny were gonna go get Dani, but we need some Dip and Mabs action cause I forgot last night. I will probably develop an uploading schedule later. For now, just have random updates. I might even make a side blog for this shit.

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Chapter 3

Dipper stood off in the background as Danny got into an argument with a dracula ghost. By the amount of times he heard Plasmius, this must’ve been Vlad. Danny looked pissed when he finished. He still took Dipper and Mabel to their classes, but when they tried to find him at lunch, he was absent. “I wonder where he is?” Mabel pondered. “I’m sure he just had something to do,” Dipper replied. Some guy walked up to their table. “Hey, you’re the kids Fenton is touring. Listen, he’s Phantom and I have proof!” “And you are?” Mabel said patiently. “Wes Weston. Listen, you gotta believe me!” “We legit just moved here, we have no clue what you’re talking about. Leave us alone,” Dipper said. Wes looked taken aback. “Fine! Fenton better worry. I will expose him. I just need more proof,” Wes stalked off. Dipper and Mabel exchanged a look. “Should we be worried?” He asked Mabel. “He seems to have it under control,”

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Danny stared off into the daylight as they flew. Val set down. “Come on. She’s fine. Why are you losing it?” “Just a certain Wisconsin Ghost told me about you keeping her,” “Vlad?” “Wait, you know?” “I’ve known since I met Dani,” “Jeez. I’ve known since I met the guy during my parents college reunion. I’m still pissed at him for that whole invisble wall fiasco,” “That was him?” “Yeah. I mean, I started it, but he kept trying to get in my mom’s pants. I needed to put him down a peg,” “You made his wall invisble!?” “Yeah. But it’s not like being naked on camera is going to tell the public any secrets,” “I’m confused. Why do care so much?” “It’s nothing,” Danny grunted. They were headed to the basement. “It seems to be something,” “I have things I’d prefer not to reveal to the entire school,” “No one saw your dick. You managed to catch it in time,” Val was confused. Danny laughed. “Hey Val. Why would a guy have a female clone? Oh right. I forgot to tell you. Dani is more or less my clone because Vlad was being extra creepy,” “Weird. So she isn’t your cousin. Wait. OH MY GOD! Danny, I understand completely. If Dash knew, you’d be dead meat,” Val caught on quickly. Danny couldn’t but laugh at the dead meat. “Hey! What’s funny?” “I am dead meat Val!” “I’m an idiot. Anyways, we’re here,” She opened the basement door. Dani was sitting on the couch. “Danny? Val? What’re you guys doing here. Shit, sorry Danny,” “It’s fine. She knows,” “Who else knows anyways?” Val said. “You, Jazz, Tucker, Sam and literally all the ghosts,” “Vlad included?” “Vlad included,” “And Amity Park can’t connect the dots?” “No one knows Danny Phantom has a human life. I’d be seriously pissed if someone told the general public,” “That’s fair. Anyways. We’re here because a certain Dracula cosplayer told Danny you were in danger,” Val said. Danny snorted. “Dracula cosplayer? I have to use that on him,” “Why would anyone think that’s a good look?” “My ‘dad’,” Dani said. Thus causing both her and Danny to break out in laughter. “Where does the whole cousin thing come in?” Val asked. “My ‘Unkie Vlad’. It’s his way of making me family,” “Unkie?” Val looked lost. “I like being a little bitch to him,” “He deserves it! You should expose him,” “If I expose Plasmius, Masters exposes Phantom,” “Oh jeez,” “And there is a very good reason not to expose Phantom. And they wear way too much white,” Dani said quietly. “I’d prefer not to get dissected,” Danny said haughtily. “They already want to,” Val made a noise of disgust. “How could anyone with a set of morals do that?” “Heh. I’m a ghost. Not really real to most of the world. I don’t have feelings. Don’t feel pain,” Danny repeated what the ghost hunters had told him way too many times. “That sounds awful, but we should get back to school. Cya Dani!” Val waved and put on her helmet. “Hey, wanna leave the quick way?” “What do you mea- AAAAAAAH!” Val screamed as Danny made them both go intangible and up through the roof. “Never. Do that again,” “Hey, at least you didn’t end up going through the table and random floors and get banned from handling anything fragile,” “I’m confused,” “When these powers first came in, I was stuck dropping everything. From my pants to beakers,” “Oh jeez. So, why aren’t nerd and nerdette with you?” “Tucker had to go see a doctor out of town and Sam’s mom took her to this convention thing. They’ll be back tomorrow,” “No comment on the nicknames?” “They’ve been called worse,” Danny shrugged. “And I’ve been shoved in way too many lockers to care,” “I have one last question. Why on earth would you try to date me when I was trying to kill you? And why did you destroy the suit when I could’ve been inside?” “That’s two questions. But Fenton and Phantom needed a distinction, and I knew you weren’t inside. Technus was controlling the suit,” “You are a mystery,” “I’d like to keep it that way,” “You won’t tell anyone my secret if I don’t tell anyone both of yours?” “That makes it sound like you’re going to tell one of them,” “That’s not what I meant,” “We need to come up with an excuse as to why The Red Huntress suddenly has a truce with Phantom,” “Later. I need coffee,” “I couldn’t agree more,” The plume of blue air showed up. “OH COME ON!” “What,” “I have to deal with something,” Danny sped off.

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Dipper and Mabel looked at the chaos in the caf. “Students! Hide under tables! Ghost Hunters and/or Phantom will be here soon,” Mr Lancer yelled into a megaphone. “Already here!” Someone yelled. A flash of white said Phantom. There was blue ghost throwing boxes around. “I am the BOX GHOST!” It yelled. “Yeah, we know. Just say it already,” “I will win this fight with boxes of... spoons! BEWARE!” “Don’t you know not to bring a spoon to a knife fight?” “You do not have a knife!” “No, but I do have a thermos!” Phantom pulled out a green and grey thermos and flipped the lid. “I will not stay in your cylindrical object!” “Looks like you’re gonna have to,” Phantom pressed a button and a beam of light came out of the thermos and sucked the Box Ghost inside. “Is everyone okay?” Kids pushed out from under the tables. “Phantom! Will you sign my book?” Dash said. This must be a cruel joke. “Ghost boy! The Fenton Peeler is back in action,” “Whoops, gotta go!” Phantom dashed off as Jack and Maddie Fenton came rushing in. “Darn it. Missed him again,” They ran off. Danny walked into the caf and ran over to them. “You guys are lucky that your first ghost attack was the Box Ghost. Harmless,” “Doesn’t look very harmless to me! That’s gotta’ve been at least a level 5,” Dipper opened the journal. “Nah. Box is a solid 2. Hardly a step up from an ectopus. Might get concerned if Desiree shows up. She’s a level 5,” “What’re you?” “We more or less tested it. Pretty sure I’m a 7,” “That means they aren’t a big concern to you most days,” “Mmm. King Pariah was a level 10. That was terrifying. Vlad’s an 8. Convinced he’s a 9,” “Okay,” “Skulker gets to be a 6 on a technicality. Without the suit, he’s a 1. He can be an 8 on a bad day. I think Frostbite is a 9. He won’t bother you guys though. Dan must’ve been a 9, but I’m not going into that. Technus is an 8, but can be a 10 if he gets his hands on the right tech. Clockwork is an 11, which technically doesn’t exsist, but Clockwork breaks the mold. He won’t bother you unless you end up destroying the world in the future,” Danny shivered. “Who’s Dan?” Mabel looked confused. “Nobody. Just a horrible way to learn not to cheat on tests,” Danny shivered again. “But that’s not important. I didn’t cheat on the CAT,” “Your life seems more hectic than Gravity Falls sometimes,” Dipper said. “Where is that? I’ve never heard of it,” “Oregan. Never Mind All That,” He knew the rules. “You know, the way you say that is kinda creepy,” “We’d be breaking the law if we told you why,” “Jesus. Well, it’s not like we’ll get another Pariah unless an idiot thinks it’s a good idea. He’ll never get his hands on the crown of Fire,” “Time Out,” Dipper and Mabel looked around. “Umm, CW, why aren’t they out with everyone else?” “They’ve met Cipher. At this point, I cannot pause time for them,” “Eh, whatever. Mason, Mabel, this is Clockwork. What’d you need?” “I actually came to speak to you about the Crown of Fire. In defeating Pariah, you gained ownership,” “I, uh, did what now?” “Gained ownership of the Crown. Though in your case, it would be the Crown of Ice,” Clockwork repeated. Danny looked lost. “I don’t need to be the King of the Ghost Zone,” “Someone must take the place. It’s your duty,” Danny looked like he was about to have a full on panic attack. “Can it wait?” “Two years is a long wait as is,” “B-but it went thousands of years before!” “Because they failed to remove the crown and it wasn’t a singular person,” “What’s two years in the Ghost Zone? As far as I’m concerned, that doesn’t seem like a long time. Walker was gonna give me a thousand year prison sentence,” “You get some time, but I’ll tell you, if you take the crown, the Ghost Zone enters an era of peace unprecedented,” “Danny, what’s happening,” Mabel asked. Danny snapped and started hyperventilating. “I can’t. No. Why? I just wanted to keep the world safe! Is that too much to ask?” “Daniel, you do get time to think about it. Just remember, time can pass however fast or slow I want it too,” “Right, of course. Cya CW,” “Time In,”

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Danny trudged home. Exhaustion and anxiety gripped him. Mason and Mabel had been concerned, but he wasn’t about to explain everything. He’d talk to Sam and Tucker tomorrow. It didn’t help that he’d had gym after lunch. At least there wasn’t any more disappearing walls. “Danny! How was school?” Mom asked as he walked in the door. “Great!” Danny said and rushed upstairs. He’d deal with The Box Ghost in a minute. Jazz stood in his doorway. She didn’t know about Dan, but she did know about Pariah. “Danny, is everything okay?” “No, everything is not okay!” “What happened? Is it Dash again? We should report him,” “It’s not just that. You remember the Pariah incident?” “Yeah, you don’t just forget that,” “Well, turns out that by beating him, I ‘gained ownership’ to the crown,” “That doesn’t sound bad exactly,” “It’s horrible!” “How?” “I just wanna be a kid, ya know? It’s hard enough living a double life, but ruling the Ghost Zone? I’d have no chance to do anything remotely useful in the human world,” “You wouldn’t need to. If you ruled the Ghost Zone, ghosts wouldn’t come here anymore,” “The King can’t enforce rules in the Human World. It’s just scary,”

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Aight, that’s a chapter, I guess. The ideas tend to come from random places, and my brain is running out of ideas. I need to do another “planning session” which is coming up with scenarios in my head to make sure they make sense.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #maddie fenton #jack fenton #dipper pines #mabel pines #clockwork #crown of fire #gravity falls #crossover #trans!danny #trans!dipper #dash baxter #valerie gray #danielle (dani) phantom #bill cipher (mentioned)

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marshmallow-phd · 4 years

Text

Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue

Junmyeon stared at him for a few blinks. Awkwardness washed over Minseok as he ran a hand through his hair. Maybe saying it out loud was a mistake. Maybe he should have tried seeing you as a human first, just to make sure that the pull was real and not some weird effect of running for so long. Maybe the trees were giving off a weird perfume that messed with his head.

“Y-you think you found her?” Junmyeon stammered. “How? Where?”

“In the woods, just now when I was out with the others,” Minseok answered.

Junmyeon scratched the top of his head. “Wow. That’s, um… that’s convenient.”

Minseok scoffed. “Sure. It could be. Except that I was a wolf.

“Oh.”

Neither spoke for a minute or two. Minseok tapped his foot against the worn boards of his bedroom. He was tempted to tell Junmyeon never mind, to forget it and that he’d figure it out on his own – then go ask Jongdae for his advice. He was easier to talk to.

But a part of Minseok knew that wouldn’t be helpful. Given Jongdae’s reservations on the whole “mate” ordeal, his advice might not be the answer. “Ignore it” wasn’t exactly the best route to go down.

“So, you just need to meet her in person?”

Minseok looked over at the alpha, a bit surprised. Yeah, that would make sense. That would probably be the best way to solve all of this. You meet him in person, feel the pull yourself, problem solved. He nodded.

“Did she give you any hint of what her name is or any other clue as to how we can find her again?”

Minseok was unable to hold back the flinch at Junmyeon’s question. There was a moment’s hesitation before he reached under the pillow and pulled out your notebook. He really, really hoped this didn’t come across as creepy or inappropriate. “She accidentally left this behind,” he explained. He flipped open to the cover where what could only be your name was displayed.

“That’s a good start,” Junmyeon smiled encouragingly. Taking the notebook and securing it under the crook of his arm, he stood up from the bed. “It might be a long shot, but we can see if she’s a student at the university.”

Minseok jumped up. “Really?”

Junmyeon nodded, patting the older wolf on the back. “Being a professor has its privileges.”

Rolling his eyes, Minseok headed for the door. “Let’s just go and search the records, Professor Kim.”

“I really shouldn’t be doing this.”

“This was your own suggestion!” Minseok snapped. They were already in his office, Junmyeon in his chair with the registry search already pulled up on the screen. Now was when he decided to start questioning his own plan?

“I know, I know,” Junmyeon grumbled. “But now that I’m doing it, I feel like I’m crossing a line. I’m a brand new professor, I could get in serious trouble by using the registry for personal use.”

Minseok felt only a tiny bit of sympathy. Besides, a lie as to why he was looking up a particular student would be easy to make. “If the stories are true, then it’s worth it.”

Junmyeon’s hands hovered over the keyboard before he could type in the name. “You mean, the stories of what could happen after you find your mate?”

“Yeah…. Those ones scare me.”

“Hey.” Junmyeon turned in his chair and clapped a hand on Minseok’s shoulder. The latter looked over, anxiety more than apparent in his eyes. “It’ll be alright. Mates rarely ever reject their wolves. Besides, who would ever want to reject the smart and handsome Kim Minseok?”

To his horror, Minseok actually felt his face heat up from the compliment. He shoved Junmyeon’s hand away. “Stop it.”

Fairly pleased with himself, Junmyeon went back to typing in your name, snickering to himself.

“Alright,” Junmyeon sighed after clicking through several, somewhat unnecessary, search criteria. He hit the desk with his palm, very pleased indeed. “She is a student here. With the Fine Arts College.”

Minseok leaned in closer and confirmed with his own eyes that the ID photo on the school’s site matched who he saw in the clearing. By now, he was sure he’d know that smile anywhere. He just needed to learn about the rest of you. “That explains why she was out in the woods taking pictures.”

“Ah, a photographer.” Junmyeon smiled brightly with a twinge of mischief. “The others will have fun with that.”

“Can we not tell the others?” Minseok asked quietly. They’d already lied and said that they were headed to the university for “emergency meetings” with students. The pack hardly cared, murmuring “see you later”s as the two eldest members walked out the door. As much as the others would deny it, keeping secrets from them wasn’t as hard as they thought.

It wasn’t that they didn’t care. They were family. If something was wrong, they were there for each other. Despite what had happened in the past… well, they were a pack. They would listen and help - after a few jokes from the peanut gallery.

“They’ll figure it out eventually.”

Minseok nodded. “I know. But I’d rather have this whole thing figured out before they catch whiff of it. This is stressful enough without their antics.”

“That’s… accurate.” Junmyeon laughed a bit to himself at the thought. “Alright. I’ll keep it to myself. Besides, what harm could come from keeping this a secret?”

Relief helped Minseok relax his shoulders, the burden eased just a tiny bit. “Exactly. Now, though I’m sure I’ll regret it later because of how stalkerish it sounds, what’s her schedule?”

The next morning, Minseok was full of confidence. He was dressed much better than his normal laid back, might have just rolled out of bed, might have just come from the gym style. The guys always made fun of him for eighty percent of his closet being athletic wear, but he preferred being in clothes he could move in.

Today, well, he could still move in these jeans and the T-shirt was breathable, at least. Armed with the knowledge that you would have to cross this part of the campus to get to your morning class, Minseok leaned up against one of the trees littering the courtyard and waited. His watch slowly ticked the seconds by. Each little tock sent his heart racing faster. He was going to see you in person, as a human this time. Would the pull be different? Stronger? There wasn’t any other way to know until he saw you.

And there you were.

With slow, almost heavy steps, you made your way down the sidewalk. Your eyes were unfocused. Okay, that must mean you were preoccupied. Something was weighing you down. He almost chickened out, telling himself that maybe he should try another time when you didn’t seem so downcast.

The wolf in his chest, mostly dormant up until now, growled at him. That second part of his nature wasn’t usually pushy like this. Before the clearing, the wolf only showed up when Minseok’s frustration was getting the better of him. And that was usually Baekhyun’s fault. Right now, though, the wolf was pushing him to go forward with the plan, barking and clawing to get what it wanted. Because who knew when another good chance like this would happen?

Alright. Minseok gave in. After running his hands through his hair - a nervous fidget - he replaced his ball cap and strutted out to put his plan into action.

You were two seconds away from screaming. Or throwing something. Or a combination of the two.

Last night you hadn’t thought much about it, but this morning an idea came to you for an upcoming project in one of your classes and you wanted to write it down before it left you for good. Only problem? Your notebook was missing.

You tore through every pocket of your bag, became a tornado around your dorm, and even crawled around your car like a toddler to try and find it. But there was only one sorry conclusion you could come up with on its whereabouts: the clearing.

Whimpering, you sat down on the asphalt next to your open car door. Every possible scenario ran through your head. The dew from the grass ruined the pages and ran the ink, making every note illegible. A rabbit taking it back to use for its nest. That wolf making the leather binding its new favorite chew toy.

You laughed to yourself at that last thought. Do wild wolves even like chewing on things like their domesticated brethren? Then again, that wolf was an odd one. Given his behavior at coming across you in the clearing, you weren’t sure the ordinary rules of nature counted for him.

One last sigh and you picked yourself up from the ground. For now, you would have to put off going back to the clearing. Class started soon and you couldn’t really afford to miss it. You threw your bag over your shoulder and used your foot to shut the car door before clicking the fob and activating the locks. The beep-beep told you that all was secure so you headed towards the main campus.

The stress you were feeling seemed to be manifesting itself on the faces of the commuting students around you. Or, really, they were just as stressed as you were, since that was current college life. Though their own source of stress was probably vastly different from your own. How were you going to tell Erik that you’d lost your notebook? He was attentive about those kinds of things. Soon he would ask where it went or why you hadn’t used it in a while. Hopefully, it would still be in the clearing with only a minuscule amount of water damage and you wouldn’t have to come up with some lie as to how you lost it. The truth would only cause a fight that you would prefer to avoid.

“Oomph!”

Your shoulder suddenly crashed into a solid object, bringing you out of your thoughts. The sound of paper flopping through the air made you flinch.

“I am so sorry!” Still not looking at whatever poor soul you ran into, you crouched down and started to help shuffle together the insane amount of worksheets.

“It's alright, really.”

“No, I should have….” You looked up and nearly gasped.

Meeting the eyes of the person you’d ran into sent your head spinning. The world seemed to be tilting back and forth as if it were on a teeter-totter. Your breath caught in your throat. Never had you seen this person before. There was no rational explanation for why you were having this sort of reaction. Not even the handsome leads in the dramas you watched caused your heart to beat this fast.

Staring back at you were irises that were the deepest brown eyes you’d ever had the pleasure of connecting with. You were mere inches from the round yet straight nose and the wide, shining smile that revealed its owner’s pearly teeth. Though focused on the face, you could make out a fitted black tee and jeans snug tight.

“Been paying attention,” you finished lamely and awkwardly.

“No, I was in too much of a hurry,” the man countered. Or, boy? You weren’t entirely sure. He had a timeless face, the kind that could both easily make him a tenured professor or be asked for his ID at the liquor store.

“I’m sorry. Here.” You held out your poorly stacked papers out for him. “I don’t make you anymore late.”

“No! No, I-I’m not in a hurry!” he stammered. “I just… I just usually walk really fast. Having friends that are eighty-five percent legs created the habit.”

You laughed, nearly snorting out your nose between giggles at the joke. The muscles in your legs were screaming at you for how long you’d forced them to stay crouched, but you ignored them. To you, it was like time had momentarily paused. If you stood up or broke eye contact, then the clock would tick on again.

Guilt yanked you back into reality. You shouldn’t be reacting like this, thinking like this when you were committed to someone else. Clearing your throat, you pushed yourself up and broke the stare. Time started forward again.

“I, um, I should get going.” Yes. Yes, you should be getting to class. So, then, why were your feet refusing to comply?

The smile on his face didn’t dim as he, too, straightened up. “Right. You probably have class. I won’t keep you, but… I’m Minseok.” He held his hand out for you to take.

You hesitated a moment and then metaphorically shook your head. It was just a friendly handshake. Hardly cheating. Besides, you doubted you would see him again on this big campus. “(y/n).”

As soon as your palm met his, a strange heat or electricity ran up your arm, causing you to jump back in surprise. Minseok also seemed surprised by the charge.

Almost nervously, he laughed, “Static electricity is always a shock, isn’t it?”

“Ha!” You slammed a hand over your mouth as soon as the sound escaped. You should not have laughed at the pun. Trying but certainly failing, you covered the laugh with a pathetic cough. “It was nice to meet you, Minseok. I hope you have a good day.” You hurried down the sidewalk, barely catching his confused response.

“You… too.”

You didn’t stop until you made it inside the building, shuffling over to the side so you weren’t blocking the entrance. Back against the painted cement blocks that made up the wall, you forced your thoughts to cohesively straighten out.

This was a college. Funny, attractive boys were a dime a dozen here. Erik was one of them, no offense to him. You liked your funny and cute college boy. From your brief interaction, you didn’t see anything different or special about that Minseok. So why was your heart still refusing to calm down? You placed a hand over your chest as if that would put it back to normal. Taking the risk, you peeked out the glass doors, but the sidewalk you’d run into him was now empty.

Who was that boy?

A valid question, but one for which you were not going to actively pursue an answer for. Going forward, you were going to put the boy out of your head and move on with your life, leaving it nothing but a random encounter without consequence or side effects.

But as you headed down the hall to your classroom, something told you that this was nowhere near the end.

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #minseok x reader #xiumin #kim minseok #exo werewolf au #exo werewolf!au #exo supernatural au #exo series #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #untamed wolf universe #Catching Rain

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emy-loves-you · 4 years

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Wrong Numbers and Useless Gays Chapter 6

Who the F*ck’s Rebecca? OR How the 3 Gays got Together

Virgil learns about Roman’s childhood, specifically his sister and how he ended up dating Patton and Logan.

Warning: Misgendering of a character (but no one knows that the character is trans)

Yes, Roman and Remus are brothers. Explanations are listed at the bottom

Chapter 5 | Masterlist | Chapter 7

V- (2:07 PM) Let it Go was the best song in Frozen and you cannot convince me otherwise

R- (2:07 PM) I respect your opinion, but hear me out: Love is an Open Door

V- (2:08 PM) No

R- (2:08 PM) What about Fixer Upper?

V- (2:09 PM) Still no.

P- (2:09 PM) I really liked Olaf’s song about Summer!

L- (2:10 PM) I personally enjoyed the reprise of First Time in Forever.

R- (2:10 PM) You like almost any song with a reprise

L- (2:10 PM)I will not argue that, as successfully executed reprises are “lit.”

R- (2:11 PM) Ah, and who among us could forget the absolute BOP that is… that weird ice-cutting song.

P- (2:11 PM) I don’t know, Roman. I think that song is, pretty COOL

R- (2:11 PM) Oh, lookout

V- (2:12 PM) What? He’s just saying it’s a CHILLED out groove.

R- (2:12 PM) Ugh

L- (2:12 PM) We might need you two to leave this chat if you don’t stop.

Virgil laughed, throwing his phone on the bed and stripping out of his clothes. He just finished jogging home from Janus’ (he didn’t own a car right now, preferring to walk or have Janus pick him up). It was a lazy afternoon in late September, and all Virgil wanted to do was get out of these sweaty clothes and maybe take a nap. He heard his phone go off multiple times as he got dressed, probably Patton and Logan arguing about the purpose of puns. He flopped down onto his bed and grabbed his phone, checking the new messages.

P- (2:14 PM) Lo, the Princes are calling.

L- (2:14 PM) Tell Roman not to answer, Patton. We’ve been over this.

P- (2:14 PM) They’re asking about us, Lo.

L- (2:14 PM) Tell Roman to hang up. They’re not worth it.

P- (2:15 PM) They’re yelling now, L. They brought up Rebecca. What do I do?

L- (2:15 PM) Just walk into another room, Patton. Ignore them. Do you want me to call you?

P- (2:15 PM) No, I’m good. Just keep texting me. I need a distraction.

Now, Virgil had no idea about what the fuck was going on. But he knew how to distract someone. He’d just have to trust them to tell him later.

V- (2:16 PM) Did you know that octopi have 3 hearts?

L- (2:16 PM) What

P- (2:16 PM) That just means they have more love to give!

V- (2:17 PM) The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds

P- (2:17 PM) Such a good bird!

V- (2:17 PM) Babies do not regularly produce tears until they are 1-3 months old

L- (2:18 PM) Ah, I think I understand now

V- (2:18 PM) A ‘jiffy’ is an actual unit of time. It stands for 1/1000th of a second

L- (2:18 PM) Falsehood. A jiffy is 1/100th of a second

V- (2:19 PM) Sorry, my hand must’ve slipped.

L- (2:19 PM) You would be unable to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface.

L- (2:20 PM) An asteroid about the size of a car enters Earth’s atmosphere roughly once a year. However, it burns up before it can reach us.

L- (2:20 PM) The highest mountain known to man is on an asteroid called Vesta. It is approximately three times the height of Mount Everest.

P- (2:21 PM) I think they hung up. Thanks for keeping me company, Kiddos!

L- (2:21 PM) It was not an issue, Patton.

V- (2:21 PM) Yeah, no problem Pat. Now can someone explain what just happened?

L- (2:23 PM) As you can probably tell, I am not home at the moment. Apparently, Roman’s parents decided to call him and an argument broke out. The rest is not my place to say.

Virgil bit his lip, refusing to look at his phone screen. Did Virgil have the right to ask about that. It was obviously a very sensitive topic, and Virgil had only known Roman for about 3 months now. Virgil felt like he knew a lot about his 3 crushes (their quirks, their favorite sweets, their goals in life), but he knew very little about their lives before Virgil had met them. Which was fine; they knew very little about Virgil’s life, too. But he desperately wanted to help Roman; to make him feel happy and safe and loved. Virgil sighed, setting his phone on his nightstand. If Princey wants to tell me what’s going on, I’ll listen. If not, I’ll just have to deal with it.

Virgil woke up from his nap to the sound of his phone going off. He blindly felt around for it, his face still firmly planted in his pillow. He finally found it, turning it on before he lifted his head to read the text. It was a private message from Princey.

R- (3:02 PM) You’re probably wondering what happened today.

V- (3:02 PM) I am, but you don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable. I’ll respect your privacy.

R- (3:02 PM) As much as I appreciate that, you still deserve to know.

R- (3:03 PM) Do you mind if I call you? This doesn’t feel like a conversation to have over text.

Virgil thought about it for a moment. He originally never wanted to call Roman, simply because he might recognize Virgil’s voice as Anxiety’s. However, not only was Virgil 99% confident that Roman had never even heard of The Dark Sides, Virgil’s head was still foggy after his nap. Before he knew it, he was already calling Princey’s phone.

“Virgil?” Roman didn’t sound as… grand as Virgil expected. His voice was subdued and slightly hoarse, probably from the screaming match with his parents.

“Heya, Princey.” Virgil cringed at how gravelly his voice sounded. He’ll need to get some water after this conversation is over.

“You sound so tired. Oh my stars, did I wake you up? I’m so sorry. I’ll let you get back to sleep-”

“Princey, it’s okay. Just finished my nap. Might not talk much, but ‘m all ears.”

“Alright. Where do I even begin?”

“Take your time. ‘m not pressurin’ you or anythin’.”

“(sigh) You’re right. I guess I should start at the beginning. I grew up in a very... conservative household. My parents expected me and my sister, Rebecca, to be perfect. ReeRee was my partner in crime. We did everything together up until highschool. My parents expected me to get a football scholarship and date the hottest girl in school. I did those things, not because I wanted to, but because they wanted me to. ReeRee was a different story. When my parents signed her up for cheerleading, she tried to join the football team instead. When they told her she should wear her hair in a ponytail, she cut it off to match mine. I didn’t understand, and it made me angry. It was like looking in a funhouse mirror; she was starting to look more and more like me, and yet each change made my parents angrier. Why was looking and acting like me a problem? I thought they liked this version of me! One night in the summer before junior year I was really frustrated and I took it out on her. I told her to stop acting like me. I knew she didn’t deserve my anger, so I went to Patton’s place to cool down. By the time I came home, my parents refused to acknowledge that I even had a sister. I pushed her away, and now I’ll never get her back.

After that, things changed. I was so angry, and everything I saw reminded me of her. I quit the football team, because every time I went down to the field I expected to see her. I dyed my hair, because every time I looked in the mirror I saw her staring back. I stopped caring about what my parents thought, ‘cause it was their opinions that dragged me into this mess!

I had already been friends with Patton since Freshman year, but me and Logan had been at each other’s throats . We were always bickering about something, and sometimes I used our arguments to vent out my anger at whatever was wrong at the time. I didn’t even realize how much I had cared about Patton and Logan until I learned about the LGBTQ+ community. My parents were super strict, and Patton and Logan didn’t exactly flaunt their relationship. I had no idea that liking guys was even an option . Once I learned about it, my parents quickly tried to shut it down. Everyday, they’d start their day telling me that ‘homosexuality is a sin’ and ‘God made you to be the gender you were born with!’ If they had told me that before ReeRee left, I might’ve believed them. But by this point, I didn’t care about a single thing they told me.

So one day, I’m arguing with Logan about who knows what, and suddenly we’re inches apart, and I remember pa saying ‘ a boy should never kiss another boy.’ And just think, ‘Fuck it.’ And now me and Pocket Protector are suddenly making out behind the school building. Microsoft Nerd asks why the hell I decided to make out with him of all people, and I break down right there. He agreed to keep it a secret, but he refused to do anything more than a simple make-out session until he had Padre’s consent to do so. Which I understood, consent is important, cheating is bad.

Now we’re having these ‘sessions’ at least once a week for almost 4 months. Patton eventually walked in on us and he was understandably upset. I explained what had happened and that I’ve had a crush on both of them for a while. And they’re like ‘cool, we’re polyam.’ And now I’m starting senior year dating two men, which mom and pa were not okay with. I told ‘em to fuck off and we moved away as soon as we graduated. They still call occasionally, asking when I’m gonna get my life together and get over losing ReeRee. I haven’t blocked ‘em yet in case they find her or change their minds.”

Roman finally took a deep breath. “Sorry about the rant. Didn’t realise how badly I needed to get that off my chest.”

Virgil snorted. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. Told ya I’d be a good ear. And Princey?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t gotta do anything to impress someone else. You bein’ you is good enough. And if Rebecca could see you, I’m sure she’d be proud as hell. And don’t be ‘fraid to hit me up if you need someone other than your SOs to rant to; I’ll always be here for ya, Princey.”

“... Thank you, Virgil. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that until you said it.” He sighed, and Virgil could hear the sound of running water. “I’m gonna go drink some water. My throat burns like a bitch right now.”

“Same. Catch you later?”

He could hear Roman chuckle to himself. “I guess you shall. Farewell, Storm Cloud. And pleasant dreams!”

Virgil blushed. The way Roman said his nickname… it made Virgil’s gay heart nearly explode. He quickly hung up and buried his face back into his pillow. I’ll get water later. AFTER my heart stops racing.

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Now, for those of you wondering about why Virgil doesn't realize that Roman and Remus are brothers, I'm gonna put a quick explanation here, 'cause I don't know how to casually fit this into the story. 1.) Remus has never told Virgil his deadname or his last name. He's probably told Janus (since their pretty close) but Virgil doesn't know. 2.) Remus has never told Virgil that his brother's name is Roman. Additionally, when Virgil is talking about the 3 gays, he only calls them "Pat, Lo and Princey." 3.) Roman's parents didn't tell him that Remus transitioned, so he doesn't know that Rebecca now goes by Remus. Also, none of the characters have actually sent pictures of their faces, so none of them have any idea what the other looks like. 4.) It is a total coincidence that both twins moved to the same town. Remus believes that Roman still lives in their hometown, and Remus could be dead for all that Roman knows. There is no logical reason for them to think "maybe Virgil's friends with my long-lost sibling" 5.) Virgil would NEVER out his friends like that. He tells Janus and Remus everything, but he would NEVER betray Roman's trust like that. Same thing for telling Roman about Remus. Roman might know that Remus is trans, but he doesn't know about Remus' background. ONE LAST THING: Roman and Virgil will eventually see each other face-to-face but WON'T recognize each other's voices. This is because during the phone call Virgil is still groggy from waking up and Roman is still hoarse from screaming.

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Taglist: @bisexualdisaster106 @self-taught-mess @itawalrus @arodynamic-enby @sanderssides-angst

#useless gays #sanders sides fic #LAMP fic #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders

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radiantresplendence · 3 years

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The Dark Flier Class - Fire Emblem Three Houses

For our first DLC exclusive class, we’ll be focusing on Three Houses’ only flying spellcaster class. Because of how strong fliers are in the game and how versatile spellcasters are, there’s a very strong argument that the Dark Flier is the best of the DLC classes. Unfortunately, being a pegasus-rider, it’s exclusive to female units.

The class exam recommends you have a B+ rank in reason and a C rank in flying. These requirements for a 100% success rate are very reasonable. Taking into account the relative strength of the class and the requirements for other level 30 classes, I’d go even farther and say the requirements are overly generous in favor of the player.

Analysis

The Dark Flier’s bases are low. Really low. Like level 1 generic student low. Generally speaking, you won’t ever get a base stat boost for classing into Dark Flier. (They’re 6 magic, 7 dexterity, 8 speed and 8 luck at a minimum of level 30.) The stat boosts that they provide are a little more generous, if not really offensively stacked. For class-changing into Dark Flier, the class grants 3 dexterity and 2 speed with an additional 2 speed while mounted. Notably for reasons to-be-discussed below, it grants 3 resistance. The low passive offenses are indicative of the Bow Knight, if slightly more exaggerated, probably in the intention of balancing the class.

Dark Fliers have excellent mobility with 5 base movement and an additional 2 while mounted. This leaves them with 7 spaces of flight that can ignore most terrain, making them on-par with the high mobility mounted classes and only slightly behind the highest-mobility fliers.

The class has three Class Skills: Black Tomefaire, Canto and the very interesting Transmute. Upon mastery, the class gives you Transmute for use in other classes. These are good skills and about 40% of what makes Dark Flier a good class.

Black Tomefaire gives a weaker mage a little more kick and can put a more potent one in the kill range. It’s a very good skill, but it discourages a dark mage from entering into the class.

Canto is always good. I can’t understate how good the skill is. The ability to us your remaining move after taking an action does wonders for positioning.

Transmute is a really interesting skill. If you take a spell attack during enemy phase, you gain +3 to all stats until the end of your next turn. It may not be the best skill on a Dark Flier necessarily, but +3 to all stats is a huge buff that can potentially lead to doubling or can allow you to more effectively duel the mage or mages your were fighting. It may not be super good, per say, but I think it’s neat.

The Dark Flier’s growths are rather lackluster. The only meaningful boost to its growths is a 10% boon to speed growth. If you want to take advantage of Transmute, it additionally grants 10% resistance. Dark Flier definitely isn’t a class to level in, but it makes a really solid endgame class to work towards.

Good Dark Fliers

Constance makes a natural Dark Flier and her incredible magic makes her a force to be reckoned with in the class. However I wouldn’t put her in the class. It may be her canon class, but I personally think she makes a much better Warlock outside of Cindered Shadows due to doubling her casts of bolting and the better growths. Additionally, flight is antithetical to her budding talent in brawling.

Annette is my personal choice for the best Dark Flier in the game. Due to her rally prowess and magic specialization, the additional positioning benefits of Dark Flier are a considerable boon. The class also helps to shore up her unimpressive speed. The class may not do anything in favor of her axe abilities if you want to use her Hero’s Relic, however her Relic is locked to Blue Lions so outside of that, reasons to focus axes on Annette are fairly minimal. With that considered, if you want to use axes, the requirments to class Dark Flier are pretty easy, so you do have time to learn axes if you want to give her a Bolt Axe or something in a pinch. Dark Flier Annette is really good, she was a lot of help on my New Game maddening run, and I can’t recommend her enough in this role.

Marianne as a Dark Flier is something that I would recommend putting her in, at least for the Transmute mastery and the option to class her as a flier if you need to. The requirements are fairly lenient and it gives you a little more time to work up to the more intensive Holy Knight, where I think she works the best. Transmute works very well with Marianne’s high resistance and her Soulblade Combat Art, as well as Frozen Lance. Dark Fliers are even proficient in swords, if you want to make use of her Hero’s Relic. (Also Dark Flier is a really good class to put Marianne in for her paralogue.)

If you want to be cursed, Edelgard makes a notable Dark Flier. She has a budding talent in reason that gives Black Magic Crit +10 and her Personal Skill, Imperial Lineage+ gives her +4 resistance should she take the wait action. This pairs very well with Transmute. Like Annette, you can train her in Axes for use of a Bolt Axe, her Hero’s Relic or the Lightning Axe Combat Art. If you want to go mage Edelgard, your options are really only this or Gremory, and this is the much more interesting choice.

Flayn has the highest resistance growth in the game and is a potent mage in her own right, even if her spell list doesn’t quite pop the same way as the above options. For exploiting Transmute, she’s the best available option and on the turns that she isn’t, she can act as an excellent support mage. Her Sacred Weapon, the Caduceus Staff also increases the range of attack magic, which can grant her stupidly easy linked attacks due to the class’s mobility. (She also has a special linked bonus with Byleth and Seteth, which can grant a boost to damage.)

Conclusion

Dark Fliers should be deployed in limited quantity due to the lack of good magic flying battalions. Really the only good option is Constance’s Nuvelle Fliers Corps. Anna’s Secret Transport Force can work in a pinch as well, being a stride battalion. Due to these limitations, you should aim to get at much out as the class as possible with a limited number of deploys. To that end, I’d keep your strongest magic users out of this class, particularly Lysithea as she gains no benefit from Black Tomefaire and almost no benefit from Transmute.

I think the best Dark Fliers have good support abilities but lack warp in addition to their black magic abilities.

I’ve done more of these, check them out here.

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