Tumgik
#they’re just more interested/ worried about what he’s going to do with the ax
driftingvoid-155 · 5 months
Text
Jeremy, stumbling upon scooped Michael: “Why are you carrying around an ax?”
Michael, working off the idea that if you can’t hide something, distract it with something else: “So people don’t notice the fact that I’m literally decomposing. Interestingly enough, they’re always too busy looking at the ax.”
Jeremy, skeptical: “That actually works?”
Michael, shrugging: “I’ve yet to be asked about being purple. However, I have been asked about the ax.”
173 notes · View notes
captain-mj · 5 months
Text
Boyfriend Dungeon
This is more of a prologue as I mostly wanted to set it up and explain how the weapons and wielders work.
Roach excitedly packed, ready to spend the summer with his cousin Rocket. Mostly he was excited about just getting out of the area. He had never been to his cousin’s city and it sounded exciting. 
Roach was well aware of people that could turn into weapons, but he knew next to nothing about them. No one in his family was one nor was anyone else in his hometown that he knew about. That was fine, it just meant he was a little out of his element when it came to those kinds of talks. Apparently the new city was full of weapons. He couldn’t wait to meet one of them. 
Rocket picked him up from the airport, holding a giant sign and bouncing up and down. He pulled Roach right into a tight hug with a smile. 
“Gary!! It’s so nice to see you again.”
Roach squeezed him back before pulling back so he could sign. “Nice to see you too. Ready to go?”
Rocket nodded and helped him with his bags. “Thank you so much for coming. I really needed some help get everything moved.” The two departed with Rocket filling him in on a few things. He wasn’t normally so talkative but he was clearly glad to have Roach around. 
They spent a few hours unpacking Roach’s bags and putting everything away. Roach occasionally asked Rocket questions but he was trying to not make his interest in weapons too clear. He apparently was not subtle enough because Rocket caught on. 
“I’m glad you brought that up actually! I have someone I’d like you to meet!” Rocket seemed to almost buzz with anticipation. 
Roach tilted his head, indicating Rocket should continue. “He’s a guy I know. He’s a weapon. When I mentioned you’d be coming, he offered to show you how to wield.”
Roach jerked up with excitement, bouncing on his feet. He quickly finished everything as Rocket told him the details. 
The next morning, he actually got to meet Price. 
Price smiled at him immediately. “It’s very nice to meet you, Roach.” He offered his hand and Roach quickly shook back. 
Rocket smiled. “Most people here speak sign, it’s taught in the local school. It’s helpful for weapons to communicate whenever they’re shifted”
Price nodded and signed to Roach. “So we can communicate however you’re comfortable.”
Roach nodded and responded. “I’m fine with people talking to me. Just don’t like talking to others.” Don’t like did not quite match his situation, but Price seemed to understand that just fine. 
“That’s alright. We’ll work through it. It’s pretty simple. I shift into an double sided ax and you simply pick me up and start fighting.”
“....fighting?”
“Oh. Yes. There’s dungeons nearby that we’d be fighting in.”
Roach nodded. “What happens if you get hurt?”
“I won’t, don’t worry. If you get hurt, I’ll simply take you out.”
Roach nodded and motioned for Price to continue.
“So, it’s pretty simple. I turn into a weapon and you wield me. You’ll feel the connection pretty instantly. It’s better for friends and partners, but I’m used to showing younger wielders how to do this. It’s common for first time wielders to get hurt because they’re inexperienced, especially if they’re weapon is also inexperienced. My husband does the same thing for young weapons.”
Roach pushed down his disappointment that Price was married. The man was a clear dilf. He wasn’t wearing a ring, but he was probably nervous about losing it in a dungeon. 
“Once you find someone else you want to wield or even just want to stop, we can. But Rocket thought it would be good for you. Dungeons are really helpful because they help you face your fears.” 
Roach glanced at Rocket, glaring just a touch. “Whatever he said was probably a gross exaggeration.”
Rocket huffed a little. “I was trying my best! I just thought you could use a hobby and to talk to people. My aunt has told me all ab-”
Roach covered Rocket’s mouth and glared at Price who laughed. “Don’t worry. If you want to go now we can?”
Roach thought about it before nodding and getting up. “Meet you at the dungeon.”
Despite it being explained to him, it was still shocking to see Price disappear. He was just a beam of light for a moment before Rocket grabbed Roach’s hand and lifted it up. 
An axe formed in his hand. Beautiful and ornate. Something about him reminded Roach of old whiskey commercials. Something about the aesthetic. The gorgeous wood handling, gold etching along the blade itself.
Roach almost felt bad he would be using him to fight. 
Price spoke and it was a bit odd. It was like he was whispering in both of his ears. 
Roach didn’t respond, unable to really understand the words anyway. He slowly swung the axe to get a feeling for it. 
It took a while for him to get used to the way Price spoke to him. It sounded garbled at first but he eventually got used to it. 
Roach was surprised by how light Price felt. 
He stepped in to the dungeon now. It looked like an old mall. 
Monsters. Some looked like bundles of yarn. Others looked more like rings. 
The first one lunged at him and it was like Roach just understood something. He swung out immediately. The weapon went straight through them, splitting them and they fell to pieces. 
A grin spread across his face. 
This was going to be fun. 
They fell in to a bit of rhythm. It felt off, not quite in a lock step yet. 
Roach found himself forgetting he had a person in his hands. Each monster would bare it’s teeth and he’d cut straight through them. 
A weight was lifting off his chest. Though he didn’t understand what the fear these things were supposed to be, it felt good to slash at them. 
There was a rest area so Roach got himself a drink. He was right about to ask Price if he wanted one when he paused, seeing a dagger on the ground. It had a chunk missing out of the handle. 
He tapped along Price’s handle and Price shifted back immediately. He looked very concerned as he moved closer to the dagger. Unlike Price, there was no… ornateness. No beauty. It felt… dark. Like the person inside was sleeping.  
“Roach, pick him up for me.”
Roach wondered how he knew it was a guy as he picked the dagger up. 
A shock ran through him. Visceral and powerful. 
It wrapped through his veins. His head pounding. Nerves lighting up at the almost instant connection.
Not a weapon. Or even the weapon. 
His weapon. 
It wasn’t like Price’s voice where it was simply close to his ears. It was directly in his heads.
“Who are you?”
Just as quickly, the feeling was shredded from him. Ripped out in a way that almost felt painful. 
The man that appeared from the smoke. He was strange. Tall and masked and even without seeing him, he knew he was beautiful. 
Dark brown eyes looked at him. “How da-”
Price stepped between them. “Ghost, are you alright? Did your wielder leave you down here? That’s very irresponsible, I’d like their name to report them as soon as possible.”
“I…” Mystery man looked around. “I didn’t go in a dungeon. I was at home… I need to go.” He left as quickly as he appeared. 
Roach was already enamored and he knew without a doubt that he wanted to wield him and him specifically. 
Price glanced at him. “No. don’t even think about it. He is not going to be good for you.” 
73 notes · View notes
lobsessed-fanl · 2 months
Text
Turn Signals
I am adding my one shots here as well!
Or read here on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54131074
Summary:
Ingo was allowed to return home, now he just needs to find out where that is. Aka: Ingo and Emmet reunion. There is never too many.
ENJOY!
It’s dark.
Why is it so dark ?
He was told that he would be brought home, not to an extremely dark cave.
… or tunnel ?
He needs to move, his eyes will adjust. 
How are these walls so smooth?
… that looked like a dangerous pokemon, luckily he hid quick enough. If the pokemon found him he would be breakfast. Why did it have axes on it’s face? 
They’re are a lot more pokemon now. They look like they're looking for something.
He’s glad he packed extra berries. He was getting hungry.
The pokemon all seemed to leave at once. Someone -a familiar voice- said something, then all the pokemon left.
He found a solid place to rest. It’s not the best but it will work. He didn’t sleep for long, he needed to escape before the pokemon come back.
Some people in green uniforms are now walking through the tunnel. (Should he talk to them? Maybe they’re nice?)
He took off his coat and tied it around his waist. A pokemon could easily grab it, it would be dangerous. 
A pokemon with purple flames is now flying through the tunnels. He is glad he hid in a small crack. His uniform almost matches the tunnel walls, so that’s good.
He was almost found. Luckily before the strange, rainbow star-raptor found him he threw a berry to the side. He made sure to throw it from an angle to make sure it thought he was on the other side and not where he was.
He is running low on berries. He needs to get out soon. He regrets not talking to one of the people in uniform. 
The pokemon with flames came back. It rushed down the tunnels. It looked worried. Perhaps he could help it? 
The pokemon left again, so did the people in uniform. 
He decided to search the tunnels a bit more.
He found a strange… shrine ? It looked like it was for a younger version of him. Did these people and pokemon know him?
He found a place to rest for the night. He didn’t know how long he rested. 
The people were back. They had lanterns again. He didn’t know if he should risk going up to them.
… one of them found him first. They had poofy red hair like Captain Zizu. 
“… Hey? Who are you? We have been looking for someone in the tunnels for a couple days now. How have you been avoiding us?” The woman said.
“I- I apologise. It seemed dangerous. The pokemon seemed extremely powerful and I didn’t know who to trust. There was a lot going on before I got here. I was told though, before arriving here, that I would be sent home. Do you know how to get out of these tunnels, ma’am?” Ingo asked the Woman in uniform.
“Well, that is an… interesting story. But I can help you out. You sound…a-lot like our missing subway boss. You even kinda look like him, minus the beard, and strange hoodie. Let me get my boss to tell him that I found ya. Come with me.” The woman said, then gestured for him to follow her down the tunnel.
“… What is your name, ma’am?” Ingo asked, following her.
“Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I am depot agent Cloud! At your service! What is your name, sir?” Cloud asked.
“Oh… I am Warden Ingo of th-” 
“INGO! Holy dragons! Y- you’re back! Boss Ingo, your actually back! Wh-where were you?” Cloud said, turning around and grabbing his shoulders.
“Uhm, it is a long story… I may have lost most of my memories unfortunately.” Ingo said nervously.
“… What?!? Okay, okay, what do you remember?” Cloud asked, shocked, then taking a couple deep breaths.
“Well, I remember a man in white who I would talk to about pokemon and battle with. A pokemon that wielded flames with mastery. And the words ‘I like winning more than anything else’. But that’s it.” Ingo answered.
“… So basically Boss Emmet and your partner, Chandelure? Emmet is your twin, by the way. I- I won’t force you to tell me too much though. I am guessing you hardly remember me, or the other Depot Agents. But I will tell you. You were, and kinda are, a Subway boss here with Emmet. You founded the Battle Subway with him, you did single battles and he did doubles. Then you both worked together on the multi-battles. I was one of the first Depot agents on the Battle Subway, by the way! You, you did a lot for the Subway, before you and Emmet got in charge, it was in shambles. You were the main designer for the battle subway cars. Emmet was in charge of most of the paperwork and hires. It was funny, you wouldn’t hire anyone for the Battle Subway unless they could defeat you or Emmet in a 1v1 or a 2v2. You made sure to respect your workers, so did Emmet. You both made us all love our job the same, if not more, than being at home.” Cloud reminisced, and continued guiding Ingo towards the door. Suddenly the pokemon with flames started charging at them. Cloud stepped to the side but gave Ingo a gentle smile, seeming to be calm that this pokemon was chasing him. 
“Channnn!” The pokemon chimed as it ran into Ingo. Picking him off the ground with its arm-like wires. The flames weren’t hot, they were actually cool, and gentle. He, he recognized this pokemon. It was his pokemon. 
“Well! I was going to suggest looking for Lavender, your Chandelure, but it looks like she found us first! Anyways, Ingo, this is your first partner, Lavender. She is very protective of you, she nearly went insane with you gone.” Cloud said with a small laugh. 
“Lavender… yes. My Lavender. I- I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to disappear. I hope you can forgive me, dear.” Ingo said, still in the air, gently patting the pokemons glass globe. 
“Chan! Lur de!” Lavender cried out, spinning Ingo around before gently placing him on the ground. Then she gave him a concerned look.
“I- I will explain myself later, Lavender, I promise. But, a lot of things happened.” Ingo said, rubbing near the top of her crown. 
“… chan. Lure lure…” Lavender chimed worriedly, nudging into Ingo’s chest. He remembered that she could sense souls and bonds, perhaps that is what she was concerned about. 
“Well, I am going to bring you to yours and Emmet’s office, then I will tell Emmet to go there. Come with me.” Cloud said, heading towards the door. 
He followed Cloud, eventually they reached a room that said ‘Subway Bosses Office’ on it. Cloud opened the door and gestured for him to follow her inside.
“Go and sit down on the couch right there. I will get you something to eat, what do you want? I think we have some pizza in the break room.” Cloud asked. Ingo sat down on the couch. It was surprisingly soft, much softer than the ones in Hisui. 
“Oh, sure, I can’t really remember pizza completely but it sounds good.” Ingo answered.
“You have been without pizza this whole time? You have been deprived of life, I am so sorry for you. I will be going to grab a slice for you. One moment.” Cloud said in an oddly concerned voice as she left the room for a moment to go grab the pizza. She came back quickly though, with a plate of triangular slices of what he assumed was ‘pizza’. She quickly handed it to him. 
“Okay! This, is Unova’s greatest accomplishment, Pizza! It is just a cheese pizza because we were all out of the others. Enjoy!” Cloud said. Ushering him to eat it. Ingo tried it, it was better than he could have ever imagined. It was soft but crunchy at the same time. It was amazing , for lack of better words. 
“Wow… this, this is amazing. Super Bravo, Cloud. Super Bravo!” Ingo praised, his usual frown curling up at the ends to form a cat-like smile. 
“Good! Glad you still like it! Now, I am going to go get Emmet to tell the other Depot Agents and pokemon that we found you and to tell Emmet that he had something in his office. Emmet should be here soon! Stay safe, don’t disappear again. Lavender, keep an eye on him, okay?” Cloud directed before she headed off, closing the door behind her. Lavender kept above Ingo’s shoulders, making sure never to leave his side. Ingo continued to eat his pizza, finishing it off. It was amazingly good. Was this what Jubilife thought of Beni’s potato mochi? Because he could eat this all day, every day. After he finished, he used the napkins that Cloud had supplied him with on his hands. He then put his jacket back on, it was a bit more chilly in the office.
He heard a jostle at the door. He looked at it expectantly, he wondered if it would be Emmet, the presumed ‘Man in white’. Soon, the door opened and he came in. He looked just like Ingo, but without a beard and with an intact coat and hat. As well as a nice, collared shirt with a tie. 
“I am Emmet, I was told that you were the person in the Tunnels, what is your na- me” Emmet said, staring at Ingo as he pushed the door gently, barely closing it. Emmet looked shocked. He stared at Ingo intensely, seeming scared to blink or look away. 
Ingo opened his arms as if to offer a hug. “I- I am back, little brother. I am home.” Ingo said. That seemed to be what Emmet needed as he rushed to hug tightly to Ingo. As Emmet rushed over his hat fell off. Emmet cried a bit on Ingo, but he wouldn’t mention it.
“I-if this is a dream, I swear on Reshiram's flame that I will kill something.” Emmet said, holding tightly to Ingo like a Sneasel would a Sneaseler. 
“Emmet, please don’t kill anyone, or anything, unless they do something to deserve it.” Ingo said, patting his brother’s back.
“Wh- Ingo, where were you? Wh- what happened?” Emmet asked, pulling back a little to look at him, still clutching tightly to him however. 
“I- It’s a long story, Emmet. I promise I will explain it to you soon however. But I, I lost most of my memories. I had glimpses, but Agent Cloud reminded me recently of most of it now.” Ingo said, nervous it would ruin their reunion.
“… what? Wh- why? How? What. I- I am Emmet and I wish to know what you did remember.” Emmet asked, seemingly upset upon hearing this news.
“Well… I remembered a man in white, a pokemon that wielded flames with mastery, and the words ‘I like winning more than anything else’. But now I know that those are both you, and Lavender.” Ingo said, ruffling Emmet’s hair at that last part. 
“H-hey! I am Emmet. At least you had small glimpses, I suppose. But I will need you to tell me about where you were. I looked everywhere for you. I couldn’t find a single hint at where you went. We can talk about it at home. I suppose while we go, you should take off your coat and hat. We are verrrry recognizable! Also, what is that strange hoodie?” Emmet said, standing up and pointing to his tunic.
“Hoodie? Oh, this isn’t a hoodie, this is the pearl clans tunic. It’s like a uniform.” Ingo replied, taking off his coat. Emmet took Ingo’s hat and placed it in a bag, then grabbed his own hat off the floor and dusted it off before placing it on his head. 
“I am Emmet, we don’t have a car but one of our agents lives nearby. He can drive us there. I am going to call out for the day as well.” Emmet said, walking next to Ingo before guiding him down the halls towards what Ingo recognized as the break room. The depot agents looked shocked. 
“I am Emmet! Please do not over crowd Ingo! I will be taking leave for a few weeks, I have the vacation days! Also, Isadore, we would like it if you could give us a ride back! Also, the battle subway can be called off for the rest of the day, you may all go home early, unless you wish to stay to work on the regular trains.” Emmet said, pointing to the more serious looking Depot agent. Emmet still held Ingo’s hand, making sure not to loose all physical contact with him. Most of the depot agents just talked amongst themselves for a moment before heading out in different ways. 
“Uh- yes! Yes sirs! I will gladly drive you over to your housing!” Isadore responded quickly. Heading over to a nearby exit. Emmet followed, gently pulling Ingo along as well. 
They soon got into a strange, metal vehicle that Emmet said was a car. Isadore got in a seat behind a wheel, Ingo and Emmet sat in the back, next to each other.
The car started to move. It was strange, it felt very weird. He held onto Emmet’s hand a little tighter. Emmet’s thumb rubbed the back of Ingo’s hand in a circular motion.
“Okay! Here is your apartment building. Enjoy your time off!” Isadore said, stopping outside of a tall building.
“I am Emmet! Thank you verrrry much Isadore! I owe you one!” Emmet said. Getting out of the vehicle, then helping Ingo out.
“No need, it was on the way. Plus, I already owed you one from before, so this was me repaying you. Now, take a break, please.” Isadore said, sighing but then giving them both a small smile before driving off. 
They headed inside of the building and walked up quite a few stairs before reaching what Ingo assumed was their apartment. Emmet had a key that opened the door and gestured for Ingo to head inside. 
“I am Emmet, this is our home. Please sit down and tell me what happened.” Emmet said, sitting down on a couch and pulling Ingo down with him.
“Alright, alright. Well. I woke up in a place called Hisui, soon the pearl clan found me —” Ingo said, starting the story.
“I am Emmet. That was a verrrry long story. I feel bad for that kid. Far too much pressure for someone their age. But! At least your back! Also, that sounds a lot like ancient Sinnoh. Weird. Well… I think we should get something to eat for dinner and sleep. What do you want?” Emmet asked, his face still a bit shocked by the story.
“Hmm… I am not sure. What do you think we should have, Emmet?” Ingo asked.
“… Fine, then I’m going to surprise you.” Emmet said with a huff, getting up and heading toward the kitchen. 
They ended up ordering some sushi. They then proceeded to go to bed. They could handle reunions with their other friends tomorrow. They could handle the other pokemon tomorrow. But right now it was just them. Two brothers, finally reunited.
26 notes · View notes
ser-rctslcyer · 2 years
Note
💥, 🌟, 😳 for billy!!! the boy!!
my sweet baby 🥺 (this is post s3 au where he lives and (much to his grief) he joins the gang)
[light angst-- well cause it’s billy]
Tumblr media
💥 : A fighting headcanon
Tanky + Quick
Look, Billy is tanky. His broad stature does a lot to intimidate most other boys who think they can mess with him. It’s also very good for shoulder checking Demo’s whenever things get really bad. He will throw his full body weight into anyone and anything; it does not matter to him. He’s sturdy and strong; put an axe in his hands and he’ll be knocking heads in no time.  
Most people don’t expect it from him, but Billy is incredibly fast too. It comes as a surprise to most just how quick he can be; like you can be upright one second then he’s got you tackled and on the ground in another. I think track and field would’ve been an interests of his (more so than basketball) but due  to his issues with Neil, I personally don’t see him being a huge person about sports. 
🌟 : A secret wish headcanon
Love
There’s a lot of things Billy has wished for in his life and it all boiled down to his troubles disappearing; for everything to be better. The one thing he wished for more than anything was to be genuinely loved again. A long period of his life was filled with faux familial love and short relationships that meant nothing more than sex. His last real anything were the few friends in Callie but now they’re all moving onward in their lives-- while he’s stuck and alone, again. 
That all changed when the two of you both fell in love-- genuine bright love. At first, it was overwhelming having someone who truly cared about him. He’s be a bit of a mess, worrying about pushing you away but all you did was plant your feet and Billy has been grateful for you ever since. You take care of him like no one has and he for once feels happy again. While it’s still a rocky road for him, you’ve made it clear you’ll be there every step of the way. 
There are somedays he looks at you and thinks how you might be his wish come true. 
😳 : A confessing headcanon
Heartfelt/Sincere
It took him a long while to confess to you; in fact he was sure he never was going to. He spends months in turmoil once he realizes he’s in love with you. He worries himself sick, fearing what your answer could be or how he could ruin it all if you were to be. Every time he saw you, it shook him to his core because he only ended up falling harder. He denies it first, desperately shoving his heart away into a box; trying to do anything not to admit it to himself. When he realizes its not his feelings aren’t changing, he tries coming up with some sort of romantic way to tell you but he couldn’t find commit to an idea you’d like.
So he settled, by writing his feelings out on a piece of paper; keeping it tucked in his back jean pocket. It was one normal night between you two, chatting and having a good time when he decided to tell you. His whispers carrying off in the night’s sky, paper tucked tightly between his thumbs as he reads it out to you. He pauses every so often just to gauge your reaction, desperately wanting a cigarette to cool his nerves until he finally finishes. He tucks the note back in and tries not to look like a hurt puppy as you speak. With all his adrenaline going, it takes him a second to realize that you’re saying you feel the same way-- until it does register and he cracks a smile. You launch at him, giving him the warmest hug known to man and its in that moment, Billy thinks it’s all going to be all right. 
69 notes · View notes
treesap-blogs · 1 year
Text
“Scout’s Honor” by Lily Anderson review!
Hello, Tumblrians! As you know, my reading queue had to be cleared for a period of time (which is difficult when measuring only with my Tumblr account, as I stopped uploading reviews as soon as I finished a book), but–sometimes, goals don’t quite work out, and what happened was that I was annoyed enough by the existence of a reading void that I suddenly had to fill it. Which brings us to today’s case, Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson! (P.S., for a clearer idea of my reading schedule and what books I go through at what exact time, go to my Goodreads! I’m seasalted.citrus on there :D! Sometimes I publish short little blurb-y reviews on there, but they’re just summarizations of what I write on here.)
We follow our protagonist, 16 year-old Prudence, who’s a Legacy Ladybird: she was born with the ability to See monsters who feed off of human emotions called Milligrubs (Critters= black eyes, nuisances that can be eradicated with just mint, Carnivores = white eyes, bloodthirsty and..require a bit more than just mint leaves or spray to defeat). Ladybirds themselves are Girl Scouts if they fought with pink-colored knives and axes, but they masquerade as a fancy-schmancy group that specializes in stereotypically feminine stuff(tea parties, baking, etc). But Prudence hasn’t been a Scout in three years; not after the death of her best friend in a fight with a Carnivorous Milligrub, and she’s been left with PTSD and anxiety since. Her mom ropes her into training a group of new Scouts, however, and after some unusual attacks in her town realizes she’ll have to fight not just the usual six-legged(or more) foes, but her past as well.
Tumblr media
Like The Belles, I have a nostalgic connection with a somewhat similar piece of media, that being the Lumberjanes comics! It also had that “Girl Scouts if they fought” premise to it, which is what made me add Scout’s Honor to my TBR! And to be honest, Scout’s Honor felt just as fun to read as Lumberjanes (although the latter is more of an ensemble thingie and we have more of a genuine friend group than one with an added mentor-mentees dynamic). Hacking at monsters and stuff, whilst trying to balance it out with teen life? Absolutely!
As you can tell from the summary though, this book does deal a lot with trauma and the effects of it. I thought that it was respectfully and realistically written; Prudence experiences a few panic attacks in the book, we deal with her trying to tell her mother about her mental health and the struggle of having that be recognized by her(relatable, as someone with a dad who’d get mad at me for being upset or “ungrateful” when I didn’t have a life “as bad as his”), and although with the premise including monsters feeding off of negative emotions you’d worry about stigmatization, it doesn’t do that with Prudence, thankfully. (It does add an interesting layer to that, though, because how do you properly deal with your emotions then?? Gotta get all the therapy and mindfulness exercises you can get, I guess.) 
Adding some more feedback in the Spoiler Section! Not that much though.
SPOILER SECTION!!! It’ll be brief but still.
Dudes. During the cemetery fight in the end of the book, I thought that based on the dialogue from Prudence’s boyfriend, after all this time of the grubs being these hostile, bloodthirsty things, they’d be pitied or given a kind of “but they’re living beings too and we’ve been lied to and they’re not that bad so we don’t have to kill them!!” kind of approach. AND THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, HE WAS JUST NAIVE AFTER BEING A SEER FOR LESS THAN AN HOUR🥳🥳🥳!! Seriously though I was gonna be so annoyed, I’ve read 2 other books that did that, which..both happen to be favorites of mine (one I might have to reread though, I’ve seen a lot of reviews complaining about the dialogue?), but if there was a third one it’d just be a cliché within my reading history and I’d get tired of that very quickly. (So many things are redeemed in a rushed way in recent media, anyhow. I don’t need to see another thing do that.)
Another topic! While I was sort of mixed about Prudence’s friends attempting to be Scouts, I thought Sasha made a very entertaining one. She was a great contrast to the younger members, who are more lax/nice in their demeanor. She definitely became my favorite! I just wish that we could’ve had a bit more time with the Scouts as a friend group and not just a teacher-mentees thing, because whilst the latter was Prudence’s actual role, it was clear that the four of them ended up fitting into the first category the more attached she became to them(and, well, one of her actual friends from the beginning was part of her trainee group).
I remember being a little annoyed at the third act conflict, but it was resolved relatively quickly. To think that Sasha would hear the true story about Prudence’s old friend being killed, and be angry at her for not telling her the true reason when it very well could’ve been dangerous for her to say?! Come on, I get that she can be harsh and sometimes impulsive but they’d known each other for years, I’d think she’d be more sad than angry. (Disappointed, definitely, but why flip out on her? It was written pretty poorly, in my opinion.)
That’s all! Back to our scheduled programming.
END OF SPOILER SECTION!! Yippee!
To summarize my thoughts, and conclude this review: Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely! It was fun, action-packed with a good mix of teen angst and monster-slashing, although there were a few issues with pacing and I thought the third act conflict between Prudence and Sasha was a little convoluted. But I’d definitely recommend this, perhaps I’ll compile my own list of stories within the “Girl Scout-adjacent groups kicking ass” subgenre ^^. (P.S., anyone who’s got some recs hit me up!)
Paz, signing off! ^^
(Book content/trigger warnings: Violence, PTSD, on-page panic attacks and discussions around declining mental health.)
4 notes · View notes
elias-code · 3 years
Text
The Swine’s Scribe
Characters: c!Technoblade x gn!reader, an appearance by Philza
Background: You're in Techno's cabin after getting the rest of his wolves from L’Manburg after the second war. You were originally rescued by Techno from a blizzard after running from the first L'Manburg explosion (your house was among those destroyed.)
Summary: When Techno gets back from the second L'Manburg war, he lets go of a lot of emotions by ranting to you. You, being concerned about his mental wellbeing, ask if you can do anything for him, and eventually, he kisses you, which leads to some close-calls with Phil and a whole lot of smut and fluff.
Wordcount: 3291 (according to google docs lmao)
Warnings: NSFW, swearing, blood/wounds, biting, getting caught
I REPEAT NSFW, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT
-------------------------------- Enjoy :) ----------------------------------
Ever since Techno brought you in from the cold months ago, you've been doing little chores for him in a way to repay his kindness. Even though he was the one who summoned the withers after the initial explosions, you felt safe around him. It had been hard to get used to at first, but now you felt comforted by his presence.
For the past week, you've been writing his journal for him after he broke his hand sparring with Phil. His hand has since healed, but you insisted that you do it for him, and he put up little protest.
"It was stressful, seeing your friends leave like that, in the blink of an eye. I don't trust anyone anymore, not after Tommy betrayed me. I gave him a roof over his head, hid him from Dream, one of the most powerful people on the server, AND I trusted him with my Axe of Peace." Technoblade's tone was strained and he let out a huff.
"Techno," you empathised, "are you sure you're okay after today?"
"I'm fine, please keep writing." He only ever said please when he was really serious, clearly, he was not interested in talking.
"Now, I refuse to bow to the voices. They want blood and I won't let them. Too many allies have died for me or have disappeared onto the other side, only to reemerge when they need ME, never when I need THEM."
Again, you piped in, "Techno, you're clearly not ok," his pale skin was flushed red and his eyebrows knit together into a grimace, "If there's anything I can do to help, please tell me."
He went silent.
"You don't have to talk about it if it's really getting to you... Or you could let it out. Either way, I'm here to help," You said.
"I'll think about it. For now, keep writing,"
For another half hour, he ranted about the destruction of L'Manburg and his dramatic reenactment was accented by occasional yelling and hand gestures. Suddenly, he stops speaking and gets a puzzled look on his face, "Um, what- what's the correct phrasing for - I guess - 'horny for violence'?" The tips of his ears were bright red, matching the blush now forming on his cheeks.
You chuckle, "I think it's hungry for violence..."
"Ah, that's it," Techno states, and then he completed his recounting of events. There's a bubble of silence in the air and he bursts it by asking, "Do you have any thoughts?"
"You know my thoughts, Techno..."
"I think I know, but give me words, I can't read minds."
"You're not healthy, you need help. You need better friends and a proper support system. Right now you really only have Phil, and I guess me if I even count."
"You count."
Now it was your turn to blush, but you continue, "Either way, that's not enough! You deserve more than you're getting. I can tell that even without the things you've had me write down. You're carrying so much weight, Tech."
"I didn't know you cared," he seems touched by your words, "I suppose I don't know a whole lot about you."
"And yet, you trust me with your deepest, darkest secrets, Technoblade."
"One thing I can trust you to do is help me with my armour."
He was still wearing the enchanted netherite chestplate and pants, both of which you started fumbling with. The leather straps were clasped tightly, as to not come off in battle, but you managed to manoeuvre them enough to get them to let go.
As the chestplate was lifted off of him, he hissed and then grunted. You look at the spot his hand flew to on his back, where his shirt had torn to reveal a big gash in his shoulder. It ran from his shoulder blade to his left pec, one of the only places where he was unarmoured.
"Holy shit Tech, why didn't you tell me this was here?!"
"I didn't want to worry you," He chuckled and then hissed again, "I guess that plan failed."
You did not find it funny. You immediately went to get the supplies Phil kept in his house, knowing that Techno didn't keep anything but healing potions in his chests. Phil was eager to help and he handed some bandages and rubbing alcohol to you so you could clean the wound. You also grabbed a spare scrap of leather for him to bite down on.
When you returned, Techno had moved to sit on his bed where he had already removed the greaves and discarded them beside him. You came to his side, putting down the alcohol, rag, and bandage.
"This is probably going to hurt, so I need you to bite down on this," you said, handing him the leather scrap.
"Ok," he said, watching you grab the alcohol and rag from the floor, "Just- just tell me when,"
"Alright," He put the leather in between his teeth, biting lightly, "you ready?"
He nodded, you put the alcohol rag onto the blood-crusted gash. He let out a sharp, low hiss, tightening his jaw on the leather to release some of the pain. You cleaned up quickly to minimise the pain and then wrapped it in the bandage, leaving some so you could clean and replace it later.
"All done, you ok?" You looked at him, one of his eyes was watering.
"Yeah, the pain's much worse when you're not pumped full of adrenaline."
"You better not be hiding any more gashes under all of those clothes,"
"Wanna find out?" He flashed you a smirk, amused by his own confidence.
"I'll take your word for it, but you're going to need to change that shirt, it's covered in blood."
"At least it's not my blood," you shivered a bit at that remark and helped him take his shirt off, careful not to remove the fresh bandages along with it.
For the first time, you saw him without a shirt off. He seemed surprisingly slender for being as strong as he is. There were numerous scars that etched every battle and lesson learned into his skin. Lots of them looked older than you expected and you suddenly realised that he must have been fighting for a long time before coming to the server.
"Like what you see?" he asked, and you rushed to put the shirt down and find an excuse.
"Um, I- I was just looking at your scars, I'll bring this downstairs,"
You rushed away, turning bright red, embarrassed that he had noticed your stares. You absent-mindedly tossed the shirt into the 'wash pile' and then you remembered, in your rush, you had forgotten his greaves. With a huff, you climbed the ladder back to his room.
Techno sat in front of the fireplace, now roaring with renewed vigour from the log he'd tossed in. His pink hair had been undone from the messy braid he had put in that morning. It was almost dyed red and black by the blood and soot in it. He was playing with it, picking out debris and running his fingers through the more knotted bits.
“Tech?”
“Hmm?” he looked up at you, still fiddling with the hair in his hands.
You sat down next to him and he relaxed into a cross-legged position, with one knee tucked under his chin. His free hand is right next to yours and he doesn’t look at you. His face is red, probably from the fire.
“You looked like you were in a trance? Are you ok?”
Silence filled the room again,"
“You don’t have to tell me but just know I’m here if you need to talk. Obviously, I haven’t tattled about anything yet or Tommy and the Butchers would be knocking your door down by now.”
“The voices are quieter than normal. I can hear myself think.”
You try to be encouraging “So? What are you thinking about?”
He looks you in the eyes, they’re deep, his pupils adjusting makes you feel like he’s looking into your soul.
“Um, I’m not sure you’d want to know.”
You frown and protest since you’re now more curious than ever but still a bit freaked out. "C'mon now you've got me curious,"
Techno looked away, solemnly gazing at the fire “I meant what I said about you being a trusted friend. I don't get many of those so, thanks. As for why this is coming up now, well, I guess I’m lonely.”
You hesitated, “Me too, Tech. You're kind of the only one I trust, and I guess Phil, too, but I'd trust you with my life.”
He blushes, looks away, and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear before turning back to you and putting his hand on yours.
You immediately flush and you see a grin seep onto his face.
"I'm not really talking about friends anymore. I want... someone..." he almost whispers
"You mean?" he nods, "I guess I've never had anyone before. I think it'd be nice to see what it'd be like."
“I think we can kill two birds with one stone here, don’t you?”
Now you're both bright red, nervous, schoolkids who gingerly lean into each other's faces, gaze fixed on the other's lips. Your hearts beat hard while your brains rush to make sure you feel insecure, the voices in Techno's mind screaming excitedly.
“You good up there Techno? Your light is still on, it's far past midnight, mate!” Phil shouts from the bottom of the ladder.
“I’m fine, just," He pulls away from you, "reading. Goodnight Phil,”
Techno's ears perk up to listen to the receding footsteps. You’re both standing now, he's standing over the trapdoor, making sure Phil had gone. Once he was sure, he comes over and kisses you hard.
“Tech-"
“Is this ok? I’m not doing anything wrong am I?”
You think He’s clearly never done this before, as you respond "Yeah, I like it..." you continue, stumbling towards his bed where you’re initially just kissing like two teenagers as if it were your first time, desperate, but awkward.
Your hand was pressing against his chest as you laid next to him, tasting each other's spit, learning the ropes since neither of you had ever done this before.
The light from the fire made your shadows dance across the wall, arms moving to hold each other closer, legs wrapping around Techno's, bodies shifting so he's on top of you. Only the roar and crackle of the fire and the occasional grunt or gasp from you or Techno could be heard.
--- Smut begins here ---
As you both part to take a breath, he pulls your shirt over his head. When he leans into the crook of your neck, you notice the tent in his pants pressing against your inner thigh. In between your own legs, there was a pool of slick forming.
You moan, loud, fully knowing that would send Techno wild. He pushes further towards you and holds your arms above your head so he could press his mouth against your neck, leaving red, hot, sticky marks leading from your collarbone to your abdomen.
You're both panting as he lets go of your arms and you wrap them around his neck, pulling his head in for a long, deep kiss. His hot breath warms your cheeks as he repositions himself.
"Hey, is this still ok?" He asks between breaths.
"Abso-fucking-lutely,"
He fully loses himself, taking his hand from your cheek and moving it to your pants, never losing eye contact. You nod and he pushes his hand into the spot between your legs which was now drenched in slick. He found his way to your hole and pushed his index finger into it, creating a sensation you'd never felt before.
Instinctually, you gasp and then moan, harder than before. You rock your hips to his rhythm while he continues to press bruises into your torso. Eventually, he brings his face back to yours and kisses you. You let out another moan into his mouth. He grunts and then chuckles, kissing your cheek before pulling his finger out and then going back in with two.
Now, you're whining, pulling on his long, pink hair. You notice everything in those moments, his rhythmic breaths into your neck and pumping of his finger in and out of your sex, his other hand holding your waist, pushing upwards to caress you, his soft hair in your hand.
"Is it my turn now?" He gruffs.
You hum in affirmation as he pulls away and you kick off your pants as he undoes his own. You immediately notice his size. Compared to his fingers, which were pretty long and thick, to begin with, due to his big hands, his member was a giant. His hand that had previously been half inside of you was now working his dick, its head coated in pre-cum.
While you had seen other penises before, mostly in study, you had never seen one up close, and you'd only seen ones on humans. The hybrid piglin-shapeshifter was sporting a human-like head and shaft, 9 inches (at least) all the way down to a knot... he had a knot...
He notices you gaping at his dick and grins, leaning into you again. "Wanna help me with this, or... should I help m'self?"
Eager to please, you lightly push him forward so you're both sitting up while your hand inspects the new acquaintance. You look up at Techno for guidance. He nods and pushes your hand down with his own. He guides your hand up and down the shaft until he’s no longer guiding you and you’re doing it all yourself.
He does the same with you. The space between your legs was now, simply put, slippery. He did his best to please you, eventually managing three fingers easily.
The pants and gasps were syncing, the knot in your stomach growing stronger while you danced your mouth on the head of his member. He lets out a particularly loud grunt and removes his fingers from your sex. You suddenly feel empty, and he pushes you over onto your stomach.
He puts himself under you, his dick under your mouth. You lick the ever-present pre-cum off of the head of his dick once again and then begin to bob your head up and down, managing to fit him halfway before choking on him. His groans were now louder than yours, becoming more frequent.
"Ughh- fuck," he moans.
Now he holds your head and gently begins to fuck your mouth. Your bobbing was no longer enough, he wanted more. He thrust his hips into you, managing to get a third of the way into you and then it turns into deepthroating after every thrust.
You gag, unable to take him all the way, and so he decides enough is enough and you both rush to get him inside of you. He gets up, moving to position himself above you. You continue to stay in the position he left you in, on your hands and knees.
"Turn around," Techno says.
And so you do, you lay on your back, full of anticipation and covered in juices. He puts his hand on your stomach, leaning in to kiss you lightly, pressing more red marks into your sides, slowly turning you so you face the wall.
He pulls away and holds your leg away from the other, practically putting you into the splits.
"Techno..." You whisper.
"Hmm?"
"Is this gonna hurt?"
"Dunno, darlin'," He leans in again, "let me know if it gets too hard, ok? I'll stop if you say so."
You nod and kiss for confirmation, reaching to hold your own leg up to give him full access.
He inserts the head and you can already feel the stretch, slightly painful but you push on, your fingers grasping the sheets to keep yourself grounded. He’s pushing into you slowly, making sure you're not getting in over your head. You hold the sheet tighter, groaning from the stretch.
He pulls out slightly and the pressure releases. You moan hard, making sure Techno knows that you like what you feel. He pushes in again and begins to thrust into you. Techno is getting further and further with every thrust, and you moan between every breath. He's three-fifths of the way in and he's only getting harder.
Techno's hand replaces yours, keeping your leg raised as you move your hand to work yourself along with him. Your heart beats faster and he picks up the pace. He can get all the way to the knot before pulling out and thrusting in again.
"Tech... Fuck, it's so gooood..."
Now he's becoming sparattic and his face goes into your neck, biting softly, barely enough for blood to form. The knot in your stomach tightens and you scream into the pillow as he pushes all the way in, his skin hitting yours as his knot slips into you.
He moans and thrusts lightly into you, coming inside of you. You feel the pressure inside of you release as you come with him. You're being filled with his sperm, eventually spilling out along with your own come onto the sheet.
He continues to work you with his hand, breathing heavily into your neck. Your heartbeats are in sync and his juices continue to spill out of you, soaking everything below you. You try to look him in the eye as he shakes slightly, somehow still coming.
"Tech? You're still..." you gasp. "I know, sorry... it might be a while..." He grunts out.
Techno's ears perk up and he shoves you under the blanket, still stuck inside of you with the knot.
"What-"
He puts a hand over your mouth as you quiver underneath him, overstimulated by the pressure and his hand which still rested in between your thighs. What the hell is he doing?! The non-stop cum is weird enough, what-
Soon enough, your questions were answered when you heard the footsteps downstairs.
“Do you have my hat?” Phil's voice yells from the base of the ladder.
“Can't you-" he breathes, "you get it in the morning?”
“No, I'm going out super early tomorrow to scout out and make sure we haven’t been followed back.”
“Uh," fuck "it’s on the chair next to my desk up here? I’m in bed…”
Phil comes up the ladder and opens the hatch, eventually finding his hat while techno covers your mouth and lays belly to belly with you, he’s still dribbling a bit, so are you. You’re whimpering slightly.
Phil stops at the trapdoor. “Did you mean to leave the fire on mate?”
“Uh, yeah I was gonna let it burn… I was cold”
“Where’s your friend, loverboy?”
You feel Techno blush above you, his warmth suddenly radiating out from him.
“Um. They went to trade with some piglins since we’re almost out of spectral arrows.”
“Alright let me know when they get back, I just want to make sure they’re ok. Ever since you found them in the snow you’ve been doing better, it seems. Almost like you two are a... thing?”
The question lingered momentarily and you could almost hear Phil's eyebrow raise before Techno answered.
“Hmm, thank you, Phil. Close the trapdoor when you leave, I don’t want the warmth to leave.”
“Alright.”
Finally, the footsteps were gone. He pulls the blanket off of them and he takes his hand off of your mouth. You gasp for dramatic effect, laughing quietly to yourselves at the close call.
"Can I tell you something?" Techno whispers into your ear.
"Yes, you're literally deep inside of me, I'm guaranteed to be interested in what you have to say,"
"I love you"
"I love you, too..."
994 notes · View notes
hakasims · 3 years
Text
Shitty Luca Movie Recap, Episode 6
Ok, so I’m not sure how many of you will even be interested in this post because this movie is obscure and not a lot of people have seen it, but here goes nothing. Today’s episode of SLMR is about
The Old Guard
Guys, where do I even start with this one? First of all, it’s based on a comic book... that claims it isn’t a superhero story. Who does that? And yet it’s about this group of people who are immortal. See, they pretend it’s not a superhero comic but these guys literally never die and can heal any wound. Show me a character who can heal but isn’t a superhero. You literally can’t because they don’t exist.
What’s extra weird about The Old Guard is that it has, like, faces you might recognize. Besides Luca’s, of course. Though that dude who looked like Putin in The Danish Girl I actually didn’t recognize because he doesn’t look like Putin in this movie. The Hot Jafar from the Aladdin remake also looks different here. Still hot, though.
I didn’t bother with the character names for this one because they’re mostly pretty generic, so I picked very accurate nicknames for everybody:
Tumblr media
Sadgirl
Tumblr media
Mood
Tumblr media
Cinnamon Roll
Tumblr media
Luca
Tumblr media
Luca’s Hot Husband (Hot Hubby for short)
Tumblr media
COPley (I know he’s a spy not a cop but I don’t care and also sorry his name isn’t James Spyder or whatever it’s called subtlety look it up)
Tumblr media
Drugley (’cause he’s Dudley but also a pharma dude, get it?)
Tumblr media
Manmeat
Tumblr media
Dr. Evil
So what’s the story? Well, these immortals are all warriors from different time periods. You can tell because they use old-school weapons: Sadgirl has her lesbian axe, and The Hubbies are sword bros. In more ways than one if you know what I’m saying ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Oh, and Mood is from the time period after gunpowder was invented, so he just uses modern firearms. They all use modern firearms, but those three are also gays, so blades, drama, aesthetics - you get it. And they use their weapons and superpowers to fight the good fight. What is the good fight? Whatever they decide it is.
Sadgirl is sad because she thinks they’re wasting their efforts, and also her wifey was drowned by the Inquisition. (Whatever, it’s not like that plot point is coming back.) Sadgirl is so sad she even loses her immortality at some point, but by the end of the movie she starts to believe again! And while she’s having her character arc, Mood is just being mood:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Another plotline is about Cinnamon Roll learning she’s immortal after getting killed and coming back to life. The immortals can all see each other in a dream, which is convenient because it allows Sadgirl to go fetch Cinnamon Roll and add her to the team.
Meanwhile, Drugley learns about The Squad’s immortality from COPley, who’s like a history buff and a fanboy, apparently, and orders him and his boyfriend Manmeat to get him The Squad because he wants Dr. Evil to extract immortality from them so he could sell it or whatever.
None of that is important. What’s important is Luca and his Hot Hubby. They’re so cute, you guys. Like, disgustingly cute. They spoon:
Tumblr media
They touch:
Tumblr media
They kiss:
Tumblr media
They kill homophobes together:
Tumblr media
They headbutt:
Tumblr media
They have this annoying eye contact:
Tumblr media
Their only role in the movie is to be #RelationshipGoals and get kidnapped by Drugley’s Manmeat while Sadgirl and Cinnamon Roll are out. Mood is left behind though because Manmeat’s people decide he’ll be too much of a bummer on the way back. Poor bastards, they didn’t know he would have been the least of their problems.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
So anyway, The Hubbies kill everyone in the van, give COPley a stinkeye and finally get to meet Drugley, who decides to show off his sick Shakespeare knowledge unaware that soliloquies are Hot Hubby’s thing:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
This hurts Drugley’s feelings, so he orders Dr. Evil to torture The Hubbies, which she does. But that’s okay, you might think, the rest of The Squad are gonna burst in and save them, right? Think again.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Did I mention Mood was the one who ratted them out to COPley? It’s true. And he confesses, what a sucker! He’s now in deep shit.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Don’t worry about Mood, though. He’s saved by the plot.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Seriously, how did they survive before without Cinnamon Roll? Oh, right, they can’t die. Though clearly not for the lack of trying. Thankfully, she’s here to save everybody.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Cinnamon Roll? More like What Would You Do Without Me-nnamon Roll. Nailed it.
So she strolls into Drugley’s lair, stirs some shit, gets everyone out, and Kite’s Drugley off this plane of existence. She’s now officially part of The Squad, but here’s a problem: because The Squad has consisted of four people for so long, all their safehouses only have three beds (The Hubbies share one, obviously), and also, like, five people with all that bulky weapon in the same sedan... so uncomfortable. Ask any sword lover, it’s like a whole thing. Long story short, they kick Mood out. He was too much of a bummer anyway and also yeah, he’s a traitor. Hot Hubby will never stop judging:
Tumblr media
So that’s The Old Guard. Do I recommend it? I don’t know, guys, I guess? It’s definitely not as bad as the other movies I’ve reviewed, though it should have been a lot gayer. That’s my main complaint. But sure, check it out if you have two hours to kill.
And let me know which movie I should do next!
425 notes · View notes
stellocchia · 3 years
Text
This is part 3 of the Comprehensive Analysis of c!Tommy and c!Dream’s relationship during the Exile Arc
Part 1 -  Part 2
Here we go again! When I started this I did NOT think it would be this long or take this much time, that said the Exile Arc is very nice to rewatch. There are a lot of little moments I didn’t notice on first watch. 
Anyway, as always from here on out it’ll all be about the characters and we will be discussing some heavy topics so do keep that in mind!
We are now onte the 4th proper Exile stream: Tommy Is Holding It Together in Exile with Dream
This one peculiarly enough does not start with Tommy drowning. Also I want to mention that this is the second time during exile where Tommy mentions that he thinks he is allucinating. The first time it was in regard to seeing a group of mobs, this time it was in regard to Tubbo being on-line. Also at the beginning of the stream he finds a present left from HBomb consisting of 1 fire resistance potion 1 strenght II potion, Wait and a photo of the Queen, Tubbo and Vikkstar.
“We need to do something and quick today. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but every single day at the start of my stream Dream logs on uh... and I’m starting... *sigh* he said that Technoblade was over there” (moment when he decides to go scout out Techno’s cabin)
“Okay, what if- just- just to investigate it because I know- I know that big man Dream wouldn’t be too happy if he knew so...” (the manipulation is turning out to be quite effective)
By the way, the reason Tommy states for wanting to see Techno at this point is literally just too feel again like there was someone near (he did say “to smell” someone near, which does tie in with him saying he could “almost smell” Dream when he was searching Techno’s cabin when only Ghostbur and Tommy were there, which I’m sure we could analize further, but I won’t), not to team with him. Once again, :t no point was it Tommy’s intention for them to team up. 
“I’m very lonely out here heh, I’m very lonely back home” (casual use of “home” to referr to Logstedshire)
“I wanna go back, I wanna go back. I don’t like this no I don’t like this now we’ve been away for too long” (panicked speach patterns get worse the longer he is away)
“Friend??? No, horse” (Lmao)
“Dream wouldn’t want me going in here...” “Dream wouldn’t like it if I was here! Dream wouldn’t like it if I stole! He’d loose his shit, he’d loose his shit. Surely not...” *Dream joins the game* “oh Oh OH NO! I’m in deep fried shit!”
I want to point out that I personally think a bit of time has passed since last stream, mainly because of this progression. At this point it’s not only fear of physical pain prompting him to act a certain way, it’s also Dream’s conditioning: suddenly what Dream wants it’s extremely important and the same goes with what he would and wouldn’t approve of. And, if I remember correctly, this particular scene was quite the eye opener for a lot of the audience at the time. 
“Okay we run back we run back we run back we run back *screams* okay which way’s back? which way’s back? which way’s back? He [Dream] can’t know he can’t know” (panicked speach patterns once again, getting worse)
“I knew I shouldn’t have gone there, that was stupid that was stupid that was stupid” (self-loathing)
“Now how do I get home?” “No no, chat, we should just get home!” “We should probably get home quick” “Is anyone at home? Maybe Wilbur came home” (Logsteshire has now the title of “home”, but it’s definitely not safe)
“No!” *creeper blows up* “*sigh* I deserve that” (self-loathing)
“You know let’s clean up our land. What we need to do before... before He arrives. Maybe we should make a little safe spot, nah, there isn’t enough time today. You know I reckon after last night He is gonna be okay with us, He is gonna be much more...” (hard time speaking or thinking about Dream)
Tommy proceeds to seat down with the compass listening to Far and looking towards L’Manburg for a while. Then Tubbo (hallucination, which is quite worrying) comes out of the portal with the compass in hand and they stare at each other for a bit, after that he keeps seeing Tubbo (always hallucination) throughout the stream. 
“I actually just woke up Tommy and I came straight here, to visit you” “Why would you go stra- straight here?” “Because I wanted to see you~” “Why?” “Uh, because we’re friends” “Oh yeah... hi Dream!” “Hello”
Dream arrives and blows up Tommy’s armour and weapons (I actually did not remember about Dream taking the weapons every time as well, but it does make sense in Dream’s f*cked up way considering that his intent was leaving Tommy entirely defenceless so that he would be more dependent on him). This time though, Dream makes Tommy light up the tnt, with minimal resistance from Tommy at this point (he just says: “I don’t really want to”, but he can’t bring himself to resist more then that). 
I do find quite interesting that every time they seem to have the blowing up and insecurities part of the conversation at first and then basically re-start all over. It happened last stream as well. Also, Dream keeps accentuating 2 points to Tommy: how everything back in L’Manburg is better without him there and how, while it is basically effortless to come visit Tommy, he is the only one making the effort (even going as far as going to visit first thing in the morning). 
“I’ve had a little idea by the way, I want to know what you think” “Okay” “And also if I’m allowed” “Okay” “*sigh* Basically, I’ve been thinking, you know how we made our Big Path to get home?” “Yes, it’s been a little while” “Yeah yeah, I’m thinking: I throw a party!”
So, couple of things to talk about here: Tommy feels the need to constantly ask Dream for permission (because Dream just puts so many rules to this supposed “exile”), another indication of some time having passed since the last stream for them, considering that the last stream was literally the day before irl (I’m talking about the “it’s been a little while” part) and also this is when we are introduced to the idea of the party.
“I’m allowed? I’m allowed?” “Yeah, can I come?” “Of co- uh- yeah” “Okay, they’re allowed to come” (talking about the party)
“Well Dream, is it me or is it you that’s been left by themselves for about 13 days now?” (irl it’s been 4-5 days, though at least now we have a bit of a timeframe for them as well)
Ghostbur arrives with Phil (who gifts Tommy the Tommy Slippers, which are a pair of diamond boots, a stack of black wool, 8 iron blocks and a Friendship Emerald) 
“Guys are you- are you real?” “Am I real?” “Because I keep fucking seeing... I keep seeing Tubbo” (Tommy finally mentioning the hallucination to others, also Ghostbur pretends to see him, though it was confirmed later on that he wasn’t there)
“Dream’s here by the way, Dream’s always here” (now that’s kinda ominous)
“Dream, Dream I swear to Christ I think I just kept seeing Tubbo” “I didn’t see him, I never saw him once. Phil didn’t see him either, it was only you and Wilbur. Pretty sure he wasn’t here~” “My eyes are not the most reliable, I see lots of things” 
I’d say from here on out is when Tommy starts trusting Dream over his and Ghostbur’s perceptions of reality. After all, as I said at the start, this is not the first, nor the last time where he questions his own perception of reality and, as we talked about in the last analysis, it’s not the first time that Dream tries to assert himself as his main source of information (callback to him negating having ever destroyed any of Tommy’s belongings). Also Fundy came to visit giving Tommy an efficiency II fortune I diamond axe (may I point out now how Fundy is literally the one person, aside from Dream and Ghostbur, visiting the most and how he is the only one aside from Ghostbur always saying “hi” whenever Tommy logs on? Their friendship is so underrated). 
“I’m going- I’m going crackers...” “Hi Tommy! I think- I think I saw Tubbo as well” “Dream was Tubbo here?” “I did not ever see Tubbo, but I don’t know, I haven’t seen him” (confirmation of what I said before)
“Dream, now that you showed up everyone started to visit me again!” “Well I think it’s just because the- well, to be fair, are they here with you right now? They’re just running around, like, I don’t think they are here visiting you, they’re just visiting Logstedshire” “Oh” (Dream enhancing Tommy’s feeling of loneliness)
“He [Tubbo] told me he missed you” “Really?” “Well-” “Yeah! I gave him a compass that pointed towards you at all times and he siad ‘I really miss him'“ “Really?” “Yeah” (...) “I thought I saw the compass in a chest, like he threw it in a chest in the Community House, but I’m not- maybe it was a different compass, I’m not sure”
Ghostbur was actually a great support during Tommy’s exile. From pointing out the holes in Dream’s rules, to trying and reassure and support Tommy when he is feeling down, often going directly against Dream’s narrative, even going as far as creating a physical connection between Tommy and Tubbo through the compasses. It’s no surprise then that Dream tried to get rid of him right after this stream. Tommy builds his first girlfrend, “hot girl”.
“Hey Tommy, don’t you worry, I’ll be at the beach party!” (Ghostbur said, like a liar...)
“Wilbur did you burn my hit novel?” “No!” “I heard you did” “No!” “Did you know that that was the only book in history that sold better then the Bible?” “No! No! No! Didn’t do it!” (Ghostbur said again, like a liar...)
“Wilbur we need a chest room” “No I don’t really need one, I just go to L’manburg” “Low blow ghost” (Ghost [derogatory])
“I’m sleep deprived” (we’re back into character after the 20 minutes of them bullying Brand)
“I have a gift for you Tommy” *gives Tommy iron helmet, chestplate and pants* “Armour? For me?” “Yeah” “Oh thank you, thank you!” “You’re welcome”
Remember this part because Dream will use this as a point against Tommy when destroying Logstedshire, just like Techno does later on. In case anyone was wondering: if you give something freely to someone as a gift you have literally no right to then hold it over their head at a later date. That’s just manipulative as shit. 
This neds with Phil, Dream and Tommy making a cake for the beach party and deciding on the last few details, and:
“We’re getting better everyone. We’re getting- are we- we’re getting better. I guess- I guess we’re bonding... *sigh* I guess...”
I’ll leave this off by reminding everyone that Dream and Tommy called Dream blowing up Tommy’s armour and weapons “bonding”. 
172 notes · View notes
dr3amofagame · 3 years
Text
vegas team 2.0 lets go !!
vegas team au 2.0 my beloved !!! 
if you don’t know what the vegas team au 2.0 is, it’s an au that a couple of my twitter friends and i developed (notably, @stabbysideblog and @dreamsclock) as a post-canon version of sparrow’s vegas team au, which had c!dream, a post-revival c!wilbur, and c!quackity working together at las nevadas. 
this au exists much in the same vein, but exists post-canon (and therefore, post torture from c!quackity) and adds c!sam to the crew - it’s essentially four really, really messed up people screwing things up in las nevadas and being completely AWFUL to each other. it’s a very messed up group dynamic, 50% angst 50% crack 0% fluff or healing (...unless ;) ) and it’s absolutely one of my favorite aus at the moment. 
anyway, have this ficlet for the au i wrote a little bit ago that basically goes into how these four end up working together !! 
tw: implied torture, unhealthy relationships (SO many unhealthy relationships), manipulation, threats, emotional distress, mental instability
When Sam first sees the two figures standing on top of the roof of Las Nevadas, the first thing that comes to his mind is oh no, I have a bad feeling about this.
The feeling is far from foreign; a "bad feeling" has been his life for the past week ever since Dream and Wilbur had disappeared from Pandora's Vault seemingly without a trace. He's tried to keep the knowledge under wraps, only telling Bad and Ant to send them on a manhunt to find the prisoner (a lost cause if he's ever seen one; the two have hunted Dream before, and all of them know that there is no way they're finding the man if he doesn't want to be found) while he and Quackity plan for the coming storm. And there will be a coming storm, he's sure - he's heard enough of Dream's desperate, deranged plans of revenge voiced in near incoherent screams through bubbling lava to think that he will come out of the cell with anything close to mercy in his heart.
Unfortunately, there's been little to nothing from the pair of fugitives running around the server, his communicator chat still buzzing with Tommy's usual shouting and Puffy's usual invitations to tea and Technoblade's usual cryptic "technoblade" messages sporadically throughout the day. It's frustratingly, maddeningly normal, and each day of waiting for the other shoe to drop only leaves him even closer to snapping completely. In a twisted, bitter sort of way, he's almost relieved at the sight of the people standing on the polished quartz roof of the casino; at least now he'll finally get some answers.
Next to him, Quackity narrows his eyes. "Nobody should know about this place," he says, lips twisting into a tight frown.
Sam shrugs, shoulders heavy and tense under netherite. "Do you think-"
"-that it's our dynamic fuckin' duo? Yeah," he breathes out, short and quick through his teeth, and his wings stretch and flutter behind him, "I think it might be."
The figures become clearer as they step closer, silhouettes dark and thrown into harsh relief against the backlighting of the sun behind them. One of them is definitely wearing armor - netherite, from the looks of it - and both are very clearly armed. Wonderful.
The taller turns towards them, gestures with a wide sweep of their arm. "Big Q!"
Sam jumps at the voice; Quackity smiles humorlessly. "Wilbur."
Wilbur turns towards the other figure - Dream, for sure then - and they seem to talk, though they are far too far away for Sam to make out anything they say. Dream seems to hand something to Wilbur, and seconds later twin dots of bluish-green arc smoothly towards the ground in front of Sam's feet. He steps back, watching from the corner of his eye as Quackity does the same, and sure enough Wilbur, and then Dream, land on the grass where their enderpearls hit the ground.
"It's been a long time, Big Q, Sam," Wilbur smiles, tight-lipped, confident, tipping his head at each of them as he says their names. He's not wearing any armor save for a crossbow - enchanted - slung loosely over his hip and a netherite sword hanging off of his belt. "How have things been?"
"Cut the crap, Wilbur." The smile stays on Quackity's face, but his eye is dark and cold and dangerous. He's changed - of course he has, you can't do what he's done in Pandora without changing, but the sight of his expression still sends a disturbed shiver down Sam's spine. "You want something."
Wilbur, to his credit, doesn't seem fazed at all. "We've been doing pretty well - I think we've made quite some progress, considering how little time it's been since we've escaped that prison - nice build, by the way, Sam." His voice is lilting, almost sincere, and he looks over at Sam with a laughing light in his eyes like they're sharing an inside joke. "It's really quite impressive - what do you think, Dream?"
Dream doesn't seem to respond; he's all decked out again, netherite covering him from head to toe, the enchanted metal plates completely dwarfing the man hidden within them. His hands clutch at a golden apple, knuckles white against the golden skin, and a plain shield is strapped over his left arm as well a hulking enchanted axe on his back. They've been busy, it seems, and Sam's teeth grind against each other; he's not sure, if it comes down to it, that this is a fight that he and Quackity can win.
"Wilbur," Quackity repeats, impatience creeping into his tone, "What do you want?"
Wilbur smiles wider; it makes Sam uneasy, like Wilbur had been waiting for this, waiting for their desperation to send them at the devil's table with paper in one hand and a pen in the other.
"You're a businessman, aren't you, Big Q? You know how business deals work - so let's talk business. I think we can come up with something agreeable, what do you think?"
Quackity huffs a short laugh- "And what's stopping me and Sam from putting a sword through your gut?"
Wilbur smiles, sharp-edged. "Well, Big Q. Resurrection magic- it's quite interesting, really. Dream was explaining it to me, you know. And here's the thing; how many lives do you think I have right now?"
What- oh. "You have all of your lives back."
"Oh, no, Sam, I'm not saying that, exactly," Wilbur waves his hand flippantly, "I'm just saying you don't know, you know? And if I were to- say, have more than one life, and you were to kill me, well," he shrugs, a thoughtful look on his face. "We were smart enough to set our beds far away from the prison, of course. It would be an awful shame if people were to find out about what the perfect, responsible Warden was allowing in his inescapable prison, wouldn't it?"
No, no, no-
"So you're blackmailing us," Quackity's eyebrows are furrowed, jaw clenched tightly. Wilbur tips his head back and laughs.
"Oh, this isn't a threat, Big Q! Just a few- let's just call them hypotheticals." He begins to pace back and forth, gait smooth and unburdened, "I'm just saying that you two are powerful right now, you know? And it's great! I love this- what was it, Las Nevadas, you're calling it? It's great. It's absolutely magnificent. I'm just saying that you might want to be careful about what people end up finding out; you know people can be about power, on this server, and it would be such a shame to see this place burned to the ground."
Quackity's wings tense, and Sam can already see the younger's mouth opening and his fingers beginning to glow white with him reaching into his inventory, and oh prime if things escalate here then they're so, so screwed-
"Business!" He shouts louder than he wants, Quackity's head snapping towards him, lips still slightly parted from the words that he never got to say, and Sam ignores him to focus his attention on Wilbur, still staring at them with a smile playing on his lips. "You said you would be willing to talk business, right, Wilbur?"
"Yes, of course! Let's talk business. What do you think, Quackity?" Wilbur pauses, looks Quackity in the eye, and the younger glares but doesn't say anything. "Oh, don't worry too much, Big Q. I honestly think that it'll be good for all of us - a mutually beneficial arrangement, if you will."
"Wilbur, just," Sam sighs, fights against the incoming headache. "Can you please just get to the point?"
"Of course, Sam," Wilbur all but chirps, "So- we have something you want, and you have something we want. I say we pool our resources- our knowledge, Dream's combat prowess, your protection and items - and make something better."
"Pool our resources- wait wait wait, you mean you want to fuckin'-"
"I don't know how much Dream has told you, but I've been dead for a pretty long time; there really isn't all that much to do in the Void, you know. I've gotten pretty bloody good at cards, if I do say so myself." Wilbur grabs Dream, ignoring the way he flinches as he slings an arm around his shoulders, "What do you say? Have room in Las Nevadas for two more, Big Q?"
Sam blinks. Prime, give him strength. "What?"
Quackity hisses quietly, "You want to help with Las Nevadas? Both of you?" Sam watches as he turns his glare from Wilbur to Dream, and oh, so that's what this is about. He points his thumb jerkily in the direction of the masked man, watching, as Dream ducks his head down, unable to back away too far with Wilbur's arm still braced behind his neck. "And why should I work with him?"
"Two in one deal, Quackity, you have both of us or nothing at all," Wilbur drawls, "Besides, I know you've wanted the power of the resurrection book - and done quite a lot to get it! I'm really very impressed. Of course, we couldn't simply give it to you, but with us on your side, there's hardly even a difference." Quackity opens his mouth, looking like he's about to protest- "And, really, it would be nice to have Dream on your side in case the Blade comes for your other eye, no?"
His mouth shuts with an audible click, one-eyed glare meeting Wilbur's all-too easy expression, before finally nodding jerkily. "Fine. As long as he doesn't cause too much trouble."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Wilbur claps Dream on the back, and he curls into himself more, arms raising up to his head. "You've done more than enough to keep him obedient."
"We'll have to write out the terms later," Quackity presses on. "Don't want either of you trying anything. I've put so much fuckin' time into this place, I'm not letting you fuck it up, you hear?"
"Of course, Big Q," Wilbur's smile is jagged, all teeth, as he holds his arm out between them. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Quackity breathes in, out, looks over at Sam. There's a question written in the tight edge of his shoulders, in the way his wings are braced and held to his sides - are we sure about this?
Sam tips his head in a shallow nod. Do we really have a choice?
Quackity takes Wilbur's hand, shakes it. "Then welcome to the team."
Wilbur laughs, and it sounds like flames and explosions and the ground shaking beneath your feet, burns with the cold heat of smoke and ash - and Sam knows, with a bitter, searing certainty, that this is going to collapse around them in a blaze of glory, that they've all but signed their death warrants, have nothing left but to wait for the countdown timer to hit zero and blow this place up to kingdom come. Wilbur meets his eyes - dark, dead, grey like cinders and gunpowder - and he knows that the other man is thinking the same thing.
"I think this is the start to something beautiful," Wilbur says, and Sam grits his teeth as he steps into the building.
Something beautiful, indeed.
128 notes · View notes
Text
I wonder what people think of the NSMP so far, and how they think of it at the end of the chapter, and just what people think in general
@petrichormeraki the hermit Tommy people and @helleborusangel the online friendo with great rambles!
“So, how are things with Grian?” Grifter looked up as someone sat at the table he was working at.
“Surprisingly well.” Grifter replied. “It took about a day to get him used to standard weapons again, which isn’t too bad. He’s still worried about respawning, which is an obvious fear. Oh, and I’m hoping he’ll be able to hang out with Flora today!”
“Oh, that sounds like a great idea. I know there aren’t many young hermits, so if he’s able to hang with anyone his age- hey maybe I should end lessons early.”
Grifter looked up at the other Listener. “End lessons early? You mean for just one, or both of the kids?”
The Listener shrugged. “Both obviously. Vee probably wants a break as much as their sister, so wouldn’t be fair to give one a break and not the other.”
“You’re not sending Vee to the NSMP, right?” Grifter asked, trying not to have any worry in his voice, and if there was, he quickly tried covering it up. “I mean, I haven’t gotten everything over there fixed. They’re all still used to how Nightmare ran it. And I haven’t gotten around one of the things he put in there.”
The Listener chuckled. “No! Of course not. If I could keep Astrid from wanting to visit, I would. I mean, it sounds like you’d like her to come over for Grian. I could try keeping her out if you want but-”
Grifter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, rebellious teen who’s also got magic. Been there, done that. Speaking of, how long have they been training?”
The Listener perked up at that. “Astrid’s been going for one year and twelve days, and yesterday was Vee’s mark for one year. I got each of them a present of course since it’s pretty much like a birthday and all.”
“Well then, if that’s the case, I think I have a little present for them as well. In the middle of everything yesterday, a Watcher was having a one year party.”
.
.
.
Though Grian found it easiest to learn and use a sword for pretty obvious reasons. Instead, he kept an axe out. Apparently it could be as powerful or even more dangerous than a sword to the point that a number of people used it as a preferred weapon. It was a bit heavy for him, but to be honest, all of the tools felt a bit heavy in his hands. Gym class didn’t really have the best setup for using stuff like this.
He set his axe down for a few moments to let his arms rest as he pulled out his communicator. Sense apparently needed to fix it up so it would work in this time or something. Seeing as how it was working and even looked upgraded, it looked like the man had succeeded. Grian checked his coordinates, moving it from side to side to figure out which way was which as the numbers changed in real time. He was pretty sure at this point he was very lost, since he was used to streets and maps and not open land and coordinates. The only real street was near the castle, and it didn’t even last that long until it turned into what was practically rubble.
While Grian knew he could just stay in the castle since rooms were offered, part of him wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having to be stuck with what would essentially be roommates again. Especially if he could live elsewhere without having to pay rent. He would have to build his own place and gather the materials for it himself, but he had been interested in architecture and was thinking about going to college for it, and it seemed like it was easier to get the stuff he would need here.
He found a nice small tree to start with and pushed leaves out of the way for a good place to start chopping. When he did, Grian was surprised to find his axe chopping through the wood like it was warm butter, taking a chunk out of it in two swings. After that, he nearly fell over in surprise when he realized the tree was still standing, but after getting back up and feeling the tree to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, Grian could feel a hint of magic there, keeping the tree floating in the air.
Not wanting to leave it there, Grian started to tear down the rest of the tree, glad to see that the leaves were falling on their own since he didn’t want to deal with them too. Since one tree had been easy enough, Grian started on another, and then another. He took breaks between every few trees, not used to the amount of work even if the axe made it easy. But he was too busy during those breaks to catch the fiery orange color darting about in the shadows.
As Grian began to chop down another tree, he was stopped again as he was tackled from the side. In a panic, he swung his axe wildly, managing to hit whatever was attacking him by the sounds they made, but couldn’t be completely sure because he had his eyes closed. Finally, something grabbed his axe and yanked it away, pinning his arms down before he could grab anything else.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.” A voice hissed from above him, and Grian nervously opened his eyes. He immediately focused on the person’s ears, which were definitely not human, but he sighed as he realized they didn’t belong to a rabbit. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to amuse the hybrid as they let go of his one arm and instead pressed their forearm against his neck. “What are you? A hunter?!”
Grian quickly shook his head. He would say something, but talking was pretty hard when being choked. He saw a tree out of the corner of his eye and then looked back and forth between the tree and the hybrid, hoping they would understand what he meant. While it seemed like they didn’t, they at least eased up on his neck, letting him breathe better and speak. “I was just getting supplies.” He wheezed out, taking a break to catch his breath. “Grifter said-”
“Grifter?” The hybrid asked in surprise, then let Grian go for a moment before grabbing him again. “Wait, explain why you look so much like him. How do I know you’re not lying about him. Are you even on his good side?”
“We’re relat-” Was all Grian got out before the arm was against his neck again. “Right, sure you are. How come I haven’t heard of you before? I mean, I know my family pretty well.”
Grian wracked his brain for some way, any way to get this person to leave him alone. He at the very least had access to one hand, since the arm trapping it before was now on his neck, but he had no way of knowing if the person would understand him. He used his pointer finger to point to the side, then crossed his fingers, put his hands into a fist with his pinky out, then a fist with his thumb to the side, then finally put his thumb between his middle and ring fingers while it was in a fist. He repeated that a few times before the arm on his neck pulled back slightly
“Gry-an?” The hybrid asked, and Grian winced, but nodded, pointing to himself. “Alright, and what about Grifter? Who is he to you?” And he was glad his arm was left free. He pointed to himself again, then brushed the side of his cheek twice with the back of his hand, then had his hand go forward, palm down. “Or really? Then where are your wings?” And grian shook his hand like he slammed it in something. “Oh.”
Finally the hybrid moved away, freeing Grian from the ground. He rubbed his neck, coughing a little. “I see what he said about me needing to train…”
“So Gryan, what are you doing around my place?” The hybrid asked, standing up, not offering a hand to Grian.
“It’s Grian, and I was just trying to gather supplies. Grifter said I could stay in the castle, but to be honest, I’d like a place of my own. I went looking and found this place, so I was going to collect some wood. I didn’t realize this place belonged to you. But I’m glad you know BSL.”
The hybrid raised an eyebrow. “BSL? You mean sign language?”
“Uh, yeah. Your accent didn’t quite sound British, so I was worried you might have used ASL, or something else.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A lot. There’s also the two handed alphabet, and I'm pretty sure the sign for future is different if hurt isn’t.” Grian explained, finally pushing himself up to his feet.
“I just used what I was taught by my Grandma.” the hybrid shrugged. “She said something like it was bonzel? Or something like that.”
“BANZSL?” Grian said, fingerspelling it at the same time. “I mean, essentially the same thing. It’s just easier to say BSL.”
“I don’t understand anything you just said, I just know I understand the way your hands move.”
“Good enough.” Grian nodded. “So, your forest? I guess I cut down too many trees, huh?”
The hybrid shook their head. “Pfft, no. I can just replant them. You were just in what I think of as my place, and I’m not a fan of unfamiliar people showing up.”
“And Grifter is… is he allowed or not?”
“Oh he’s definitely allowed.” The hybrid smiled. “Coolest uncle around and now the admin, why wouldn’t I want him hanging at my place?”
“Cool.” Grian smiled, but then his eyes widened. “Wait so I’m an uncle?!”
The hybrid shrugged. “I dunno. You’re from the past, right? I doubt I’m born yet for you- how old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“What the fuck, I’m older than you!” The hybrid exclaimed “Sort of. Long story. Short version is the old admin was a bitch.”
“So, does that mean you were born at that point?”
They rubbed their chin. “No, not yet. I’m trying to remember how old I was and how old dad was when I was adopted.”
“Oh, you were adopted?”
“I think. It’s easier than saying my real dad ran out on my mom and then she dated and married this new guy who’s now my dad.”
“Yeah, that does sound easier.”
“So, I don’t think I gave my name. I’m Fleur.”
Grian smiled and shook their hand. “Nice to meet you.”
.
.
.
Mumbo wanted to find Grian and leave right now. He was pretty sure the others thought the same, but right now they were all split up. They had started to explore before EX had caught up to them. Before he could say why, they were soon attacked by a creeper hybrid going by the name Euro. Mumbo could tell it was obviously the same one that was Techno’s Hels version based on the way they fought, managing to go hand to hand with the piglin hybrid.
Even with that, Euro had been strong enough to keep them split up, and now Mumbo was worried about Grian and Grum. He was especially worried from the fact that they had been there for about a day and he hadn’t seen any sign of Grian or his hels copy. It also didn’t help that the mobs here seemed to be more powerful than the ones on hermitcraft, which caused even more problems. Even in the day, he was getting trouble from zombies and skeletons that were wearing helmets, protecting them from the sun.
An arrow nearly hit Mumbo, breaking him out of his thoughts and making him start to run so he could find new cover. He barely got a shield up in time to block an arrow before he dove into a cave and pulled out a spare redstone torch for some semblance of light. The redstoner backed up, hoping for a bit more cover, but then he bumped into something that was unmistakably someone else. He was about to scream, but then his mouth was covered by a hand, so he struggled instead.
“Calm down, it’s just me!” A voice spoke that was just a little too cheerful for the situation they were in. Mumbo stopped struggling and was let go, able to turn around and see Wilbur was in the cave with him.
“Oh thank goodness. I was worried I wasn’t going to find anyone else.” He looked Wilbur over. “How are you doing?”
“Well, once you’ve died once, the fear of dying again isn’t that bad, especially since we get respawns here.” Wilbur replied, not as chipper as before.
“Yes, but that’s only with respawn anchors, and last I checked, we weren’t linked up to any of those. And if we are, we don’t know where it is and if it's broken or not.”
“Hmm, that’s true.” Wilbur replied, tilting his head slightly in thought. “Well, I’m sure there’s something for if you die and don’t have one yet. I’m sure they wouldn’t make it that easy to actually die.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Mumbo conceded. “But we should still be careful.”
The pair prepared themselves to move out of the cave and get through the landscape, not as worried now that neither of them were completely alone. They were just about to leave when Wilbur grabbed Mumbo’s shoulder and pulled him back. “Wait, there was something I wanted to tell you.”
“What was that?” Mumbo asked, turning back to look at the other man, who seemed to currently be struggling with trying to remember. He remembered at the party hearing mention that Wilbur had still been struggling with his memory after officially being revived, so Mumbo was patient with the man.
“Techno… he mentioned something about when Grifter was in the Dream SMP. About Euro.”
“I think I remember overhearing a tad bit of that when you were both over for Grum’s party.” Mumbo replied. “Something about Grifter talking about his family.”
Wilbur nodded. “Yeah, it was… That’s what it was!” And he smiled, finally remembering, before frowning again at whatever he remembered. “That was Euro who attacked us, but from what I heard, Grifter bragged about him being some sort of coward. That seemed like the opposite of what we saw. Do you think it was a lie? Or maybe that was someone else.”
“I’m not sure.” Mumbo replied. “Maybe he was just using the element of surprise. If we see him again and attack, it could scare him.”
“You’re right, that’s probably it.” Wilbur agreed. “If we see him again, I’ll try attacking and he’ll run off, letting us look for the others.”
“You think they’re alright?”
Wilbur shrugged. “Depends on if any of them are with someone else or by themselves.”
“I guess that’s true. So, what can you tell me about the people from your world? It might help us know what to expect.”
.
.
.
Grum smiled as he cut down another zombie, getting approval from Techno. The two of them had quickly found each other again after Euro split them up, mainly since Techno stayed behind to fight the hels smp’er, and Grum hid nearby. Since then, they fortunately hadn’t run into anyone else, but the longer they went without seeing anyone at all, the more suspicious it became.
“Do you think they’re planning an ambush?” Grum suggested, making Techno shrug.
“If it were me, I’d probably try that. But this isn’t the SMP I’m used to.”
“Yeah, but it also looks like this place is still pretty dangerous. Nightmare was just as bad as Dream… and Theseus wasn’t that nice either.”
“Could also be that the rest of them are just idiots and cowards.” Techno said, hoping to lighten the mood. “They see us out here slaying monsters left and right and know not to deal with us.” That seemed to work as Grum giggled a little. “They’ve seen true terror! A pig and a child, truly a force to be reckoned with.”
They were able to keep the mood up for a bit longer, but then Grum was feeling sad again. “I really hope my dad is okay. He got really hurt last time we saw Grifter. I did too…” And his screen flickered a little.
Techno noticed Grum’s distress and picked the bot up, putting him on his shoulders and trying to ignore chat’s cooing. “Yeah, well now you’ve got me, and Phil’s around here somewhere, so we can take him on.”
“Yeah, and we also have Paul.”
“Still not sure what his deal is, but chat seems to know something about him. They’re just shouting all over each other so I can’t tell what they’re talking about other than it being him.”
Grum nodded, quiet as they walked a bit, then he leaned down and looked at Techno. “Hey, maybe we can find out. He’s supposed to be a king, right?”
“Unfortunately, yeah.” Techno replied. “Why?”
Grum sat back up and crossed his arms, Techno lifting his own arms up worried that Grum was about to fall off his shoulders. “It’s more of a fortunately. I’ve got extra diamonds and you can use those so I can get access to my mayoral reservoirs.”
Techno stopped walking. “You sure that’s a good idea? How do we know it’ll even work for him? Or, you know, even work for you?”
“Well,” Grum conceded. “We don’t really know. I mean, we’re in a hels dimension, so I might not be able to access anything. Or it might crash again, though I think that was just your old admin’s fault.”
“Then let’s not risk it just yet. We don’t need to know about that and if it goes wrong, it will go really wrong and leave you out of commission.” Techno explained, starting to walk again, but then immediately stopped, only moving to bend down and set Grum down on the ground and grab his weapon.
Seeing what he did, Grum grabbed his own sword, ready to attack whatever Techno noticed. For a few moments, everything was completely quiet. Then, before either of them could react, both Grum and Techno were suddenly trapped in bedrock.
.
.
.
Paul sliced through another group of mobs in the way, then helped Tommy up to the ledge he was on. Tommy had yet to even swing his sword with Paul tearing through anything in the way. At the very least he had been able to use a bow to shoot things down from afar, but Tommy prefered melee to ranged. The teen wouldn’t have been too frustrated if it weren’t also for the fact that the man was going out of his way to kill any chicken they saw as well.
“I still don’t fucking get why you keep killing chickens. Why do they matter?” Tommy asked, picking up some feathers left behind.
“All chickens are spies, or at least a good enough portion that it’s best to get rid of any you see.” Paul explained, suddenly swinging at a creeper that had snuck up on them. “They’ve been a problem for as long as I can remember. At first, I had know clue why, it was just a sort of gut feeling. Like I knew when I didn’t actually know.”
“Alright, and so you just took it as fact?” Tommy asked, rolling his eyes.
“Not, of course not.” Paul replied. “I mean, only dumb people would do that, and there’s three types of people in this world, those who can do math, and those who can’t.”
“Bitch that’s two types of people.”
Paul sighed and looked back at Tommy. “Yeah, that’s the joke.”
“Oh…”
“Anyway, one time I found one messing with my things. I thought it was just a fluke until it happened again. At this point, I was already in the show biz a bit, so I played along. I trapped the chicken and then started jokingly interrogating it. When it actually started writing its chicken scratch on a sign, I thought I was going crazy at first.”
“So, it was actually a spy?” Tommy asked, not fully believing him.
“Yeah, it was. And from there things started unravelling until I finally met Punch.”
Tommy frowned. “And Punch is your hels version?”
“As far as I can tell, yeah.” Paul affirmed. “Pablo Punchwood, god of unwilling death. Most people think of ravens, crows and vultures as birds signalling death, but chickens can be ruthless. Whoever thought of calling cowards chickens did not meet a real chicken.”
“Really? What harm could they do?” But Paul didn’t answer Tommy verbally. Instead, he pulled out a book bound with black leather and opened it, following along with a page. A moment later, a rift of a sort of camo green color opened in the air next to the pair, and Paul reached his hand in, pulling out what looked like a dead mouse. “What the fuck was that?!”
“Think of it like a sort of multiworld enderchest.” Paul explained, though still not answering Tommy’s question about the chicken. When they next encountered some monsters, Paul had them take a more covert route, hiding instead of fighting.  Finally, they reached a pair of chickens while the pair of them crouched in the grass. Paul pulled the rat out again, then bit at the inside of his cheek a bit before using the blood from the wound he caused to put blood on the rat.
Tommy watched as the man then threw the animal towards the chickens, surprised by how quietly it went through the air. Then it landed and caught the attention of the chickens, who then started pecking at the creature. After a few seconds, Tommy looked away, not able to stomach what he saw.
“So, that’s chickens for you. Anything about that size that’s injured, and they’ll tear it to shreds. Sometimes there are even chickens that are confident enough to go after people, but bluckers are the ones you need to look out for. They really like to bite.”
“So chickens have been dangerous spies this entire time?!” Tommy asked as they started to move, looking back to see only the bones of the rat were left behind.
“Sure have been. It’s part of why avians are a class all of their own when talking about hybrids.” Paul explained, getting them through another rough patch of monsters. “See, ages ago, there were dinosaurs, and those eventually found their way to being various birds. Technically, there’s a longer explanation, but that’s all you really need to know right now.”
“So avian hybrid people are technically part dinosaur?” Tommy asked, surprised.
“Sort of. See, when you get into the nitty gritty of it all, part of the reason avians are called that and not bird hybrids is because of the fact that they tend to be more shifter than hybrid.”
“More what?”
“Shifter. There’s different classes of what most people generally call hybrids. There’s standard humans, hybrids, shifters, and naturals. Of course, technically humans count as naturals, but the categories were made by a human so it’s a bit of prejudice there.”
“Can you fucking cut to the chase?” Tommy asked, not wanting a lecture.
“Sure.” Paul shrugged. “Punchwood is my evil version, he’s got a thing with chickens, even though he should be staying in this dimension, he’s messed with things, avians are some sort of descendant deity now, and that makes categorizing them odd.”
Tommy was completely silent for a few moments, even stopping in place as Paul continued walking. Then, he came to his senses and ran to catch up. “What the fuck? None of that made any sense! Where do dinosaurs come into that? Why the fuck are there avians here then if he’s hels? Why isn’t it just fucking chickens then?”
Tommy didn’t have a chance to answer as suddenly Paul dodged an attack. Tommy himself barely pushed away, just in time to dodge an attack from a woman wielding a pink axe. He swung his netherite sword at the woman, which hit the blade of her axe, sending sparks into the air. “Hey! Are you going to help me fight or what?”
With those words, Paul attacked the woman as well, looking much sloppier than he had fighting the monsters. Though Tommy couldn’t do much about that right then, he still filed it away for later. After they dealt with whoever this was.
.
.
.
Doc tried to hold back another hiss. When he first ended up finding Phil, he was just glad to have someone else on his side. The monsters were a slight hassle, but between the two of them, they were getting through them well. So well that they actually had enough time to just walk and chat. Doc was even the one to suggest Phil come up with a topic to talk about. And he decided to ask about Doc’s interaction with gods.
Though the hybrid wanted to yell at Phil, he knew that was more the fault of Theseus, Paul and himself for opening things up to that conversation. So reluctantly Doc answered the questions Phil had.
“So why are you just calling it the Perd now?”
Doc rolled his eye a little. “Yeah. Easier to mishear and harder to search for. It’s not like we really want anyone releasing Notch into the world again.”
“Why would anyone want to let him out?” Phil asked incredulously. “He was a tyrant god. People were looking for a way to trap him for years.”
“Yeah, people were, but other people continued to worship him before and even after he was finally imprisoned. God apples being called that is still a recent change.” They paused the conversation to deal with some mobs before Doc continued the answer. “Not everyone is so long lived to remember those days. Heck, some people think Herobrine’s still not a nice dude because of that old propaganda that always got put out. I mean, he can be violent if need be, but you saw how tame he tends to be.”
“I have?”
“That’s Joe. The guy hanging with Cleo and wearing glasses. Eret’s dad.”
“Really? Wouldn’t have guessed.” Phil replied, and Doc was glad for the slightly lighter subject. But that took both of them off guard, meaning neither of them was ready when they were suddenly attacked by an enderman.
Phil was the first one attacked, the monster sending him a few meters back with the amount of force behind the attack. It swung at Doc next, hitting his right arm and leaving a dent in the prosthetic. When it tried to swing at Doc again, Phil had jumped back to his feet and swung his axe, the blade hitting the monster and making them teleport a few blocks away.
With the short break in fighting, Phil and Doc were able to get a good look at their foe. The enderman stood there, slouched over a bit, yet still taller than a regular enderman. Their normally small paw like hands were now large enough that Doc was pretty sure just one could wrap around his head, and that wasn’t counting that the monster had four arms instead of just two.
The last things of note was the fact that half of the enderman was a pale lavender instead of being all black, and they were also wearing a hawaiian shirt of all things. But that was enough for Phil to realize that they were dealing with Ranboo’s hels version.
.
.
.
Xisuma sighed as he got back to his feet. While he was glad to not have ended up completely alone in an unfamiliar world and dimension, he wasn’t the biggest fan of having only found his brother. X had tried a casual discussion, but EX always found a way to turn it into a fight.
And that also didn’t mention the trouble they were already having from mobs. Xisuma was defending the both of them while his brother refused to help, leaving the monsters with the upper hand. Xisuma could usually keep his cool fairly well, but at this point, Xannes was starting to get on his nerves.
“Could you move faster? You’re slowing us down.” EX said, making his point by walking faster than he was before.
“We would be making more progress if you were fighting the monsters instead of me.” Xisuma grumbled, making his point by shooting a nearby spider.
“Oh, I’m sure you wouldn’t want me getting in the way.” EX replied smugly. “I’m sure you’d rather ban me again than have me sticking around. Who knows, maybe it would stick this time.”
“At this point, it would probably help.” Xisuma replied, though under his breath, not wanting his brother to hear him, then spoke in a more audible tone. “I’m sure you’d find a way around it.”
Xannes just chuckled, slowing down and finally letting Xisuma catch up again before tripping the admin with a laugh. Xisuma looked up in frustration at his brother before just lying on the ground for a moment to calm down, not wanting to fight back. And then Xisuma was suddenly dragged back with a yell as something grabbed his ankle.
Xannes turned around to see why X had yelled, only to find a trail in the ground and his brother missing. “What? Oh, ha ha. Very funny, brother. I’m sure even with my setbacks, us sticking together is still a better option.” He was quiet, waiting for a response, but none came. “Oh alright, I’ll be a bit nicer. Just come back.” But there was still no answer.
Now more worried, EX took his sword out, the blade a tad shaky in his hands. “Brother, I get your point now. My little jokes aren’t actually funny. Is that what you want right now?” Yet again, there was still no answer, except this time, there was the snap of a branch or something in the nearby area, leaving Xannes whirling around, weapon at the ready. “Br-Xisuma! Where are you?! Stop messing around!”
All that happened was another sound from nearby, making Xannes flinch, but with few other options he moved towards it. He needed to push through a bit of foliage, but then he finally saw his brother. The admin was tied up and hanging upside down, a very tall person standing next to him in a light blue cloak with gold accents, two pairs of wings on their back and a golden circlet on their head over the hood of their cloak.
Xannes crept forward, trying to make as little noise as possible. His eyes connected with Xisuma’s, who was trying to signal something, but the hels admin couldn't piece it out in time. Xannes looked back at the figure, only to see them turning back towards him. He tried to hide again, only to have his shoulder grabbed at the last moment and be yanked back.
EX got a glimpse of the person’s face, them similar enough to the demon from the DSMP that he made the connection. “Oh, and I can get a matching set out of this.”
Xannes kicked at the angel demon thing. “Let go of me you bastard! Or I promise you will regret it!”
“Oh, is that so?” They asked, tilting their head. “Well, I guess you’ll have to show me.” And they started to tie Xannes up as well.
When he was hanging next to Xisuma, the admin wriggled a bit to turn himself towards Xannes. “Why didn’t you do anything? I’m sure lightning could take down even an angel.” But Xannes just grumbled. “Look, I can’t get us out of this one, you can’t make me do everything.”
“Oh shut up!”
“Why? I’m not an admin here. I can only get us in and out of worlds, and at the very least I need to stay for the others. I can’t do anything to get us out, so you have to instead.”
“Well sure! Let me just, I don’t know, pull up my kill aura to attack him, hmm? Oh wait, I-”
And then Xannes stopped talking as suddenly the angel was attacked by an invisible force. The pair of admins watched as their captor was attacked until they finally died from damage, and a few moments later, Xannes and Xisuma were both freed from their bindings. “Took you long enough.”
Xannes picked himself off the ground. “That wasn’t you?”
“I told you I can’t do anything since I’m not the admin here. You were the one just talking about kill auras.”
“Well… I can’t actually… access any of my hacks here.” Xannes hesitantly admitted. “And I never got to go to any of the fancy schools you got to go to, so I’m always relying on them for combat.”
“You’re saying you can’t actually fight? Is that why you weren’t helping?” Xisuma asked, taking his brother crossing his arms and looking away as a yes. “Well, we have ample time while making our way through this world looking through the others. I’m sure active experience would help.”
“I don’t want your help.” Xannes replied defensively. He started to walk off in a huff, then paused, looking back. “Why not pretend to teach your viewers or whatever you record things for? Pretend like you’re doing something useful.”
Xisuma chuckled and followed behind his brother. That was probably the best he was going to get from EX, but it was better than nothing. The two of them continued through the world, Xisuma defending against monsters they encountered. And if there were a few less, the pair didn’t notice, just as they didn’t notice the person in a frowning mask following behind them.
59 notes · View notes
hermitdyke · 3 years
Note
Please do go off about metanarratives and colaborative storytelling in LL if you want king, my analisys loving heart is curious and interested
Anon thank you so much I was really unsure to share this. Warning for 3L and LL spoilers.
3rd Life and by extension, Last Life is a great example of a Metanarrative and an Emergent Narrative. The definition used of metanarrative for this is “An overarching account or interpretation of events and circumstances that provides a pattern or structure for people’s beliefs and gives meaning to their experiences”. An Emergent Narrative is “any video game storyline that is not written into the game by its developers, but emerges from the player’s interactions with various gameplay subsystems”.
Taking these definitions and placing it in the context of a collaborative Lets-Play series with multiple creators recording and taking part, allows us to analyze a complete storyline and find relevancy and meaning to the things the characters do/say/own, even if seemingly inconsequential from the start.
Multiple Perspectives and Metanarrative
The collaboration of 14 and 17 creators for each series is crucial in understanding how the story functions as it does. The individual’s viewing of a single point of view or POV of any single player reveals an amount of new information, interactions, and conflicts. The viewer’s knowledge of the single character’s experiences is about the same. When viewing multiple perspectives, the story expands significantly, showing different relationships between everyone and provides context to events that one may not have seen in the single POV.
For example, in viewing Impulse’s finale episode for 3rd Life, viewers may be confused or lost on why Bdubs attacked and took Impulse’s final life over a clock that Scar had given him. If the viewer had not seen Bdub’s first episode, they would not have realized the relevance between Bdubs and Scar with a clock, being that one was given to him at the very beginning from Scar during an early mining session. Viewers would also not know unless they had viewed Scar’s finale that the clock that was given to Bdubs was taken off of Impulse after losing his yellow life.
Immediately, the lack of viewership on multiple perspectives limits the scope on why the event is relevant, and the viewer may find the story ending dissatisfying, when in fact it is incredibly false. The cross-analysis of perspectives and events gives meaning to this otherwise simple event and forms a narrative from a simple item in the game- an Emergent Narrative.
Emergent Narratives, Lives, and Boogeymen
The term “subsystems” in the definition of Emergent Narratives is another way of describing a game’s mechanics. 3rd Life and Last Life differs from vanilla Minecraft in that they’re playing in a limited life, hardcore system, with the random threat of the Boogeyman and a proximity voice-mod. Without these, the narrative would be dramatically different, although it is possible to form an Emergent Narrative using vanilla Minecraft (DSMP!Eret’s Betrayal is a popular example). Because of these features and players interacting using these features, a narrative emerges from what in any casual Lets Play, could be considered a “bit”. This is what makes 3rd Life and Last Life stand out.
In 3rd Life, an emergent narrative is formed when Ren asks Martyn to kill him, despite Martyn being green and him being yellow. Ren’s use of the red life mechanic provided him a way to protect Renchanting under the threat and pressure of Scar. Ren (the player) judged being able to attack anyone at will overruled the safety of having multiple lives, and that he now poses as a new threat to the server. They also use a vanilla mechanic in renaming the Red Winter axe so all members could recognize their newfound power and creating a desirable item in their alliance. In “proving his loyalty”, Martyn and Ren’s storyline really kicks off and starts to conflict with the other members as a new power on the server.
A recent example in Last Life is from Scar’s perspective and goes to show just how possible it is that Last Life can/will follow a similar route as its counterpart. Bdubs in his first episode asks Etho, “if you were the Boogeyman and I died to a mob in here, would you be like, ‘man”, is that a consideration you’d make?”, “..like I missed my chance, should’ve taken them when I could. (Timestamp: Bdubs Last Life Episode 1, 17:20-17:38)
This is ironic, considering that Bdubs at the time was the Boogeyman. An episode later, one of the two boogeymen of the session, Joel leads Lizzie into a trap, getting in a few hits, only to fail and lose a life himself. The damage that he dealt to Lizzie weakened her was only after killed by a mob, and brings the scenario Bdubs suggested into reality.
Without the use of the limited lives, Boogeyman system, and the limited Enchanting table resource, this narrative thread would not have worked. And in the Metanarrative of the story, unless the viewers both viewed Bdub’s and Joel/Lizzie’s perspectives, they would not have found relevancy in this scenario.
Lack of Script
The most important part of the Metanarrative and Emergent Narrative is that no one knows that these events are important or are going to amount to something in the end. It is the viewer’s knowledge and creators’ forethought of the series to see the narrative emerge from just a couple of friends playing a video game and starting a war, to developed characters with an overarching storyline in a limited episode run. At the start, none of the stories was intentional. The individual’s interpretation of the events and forming these connections between one or more perspectives is the real storyline, and if the creator wants to support this discovered story, they can (Martyn and Scott’s 3L endings).
A great example of this inability to script events is in Bdubs’ 3rd Lift perspective. In his first episode, he passes by a cliff face with a pond below. As he approaches and looks down the cliff, he says, “Nobodies against each other, y’know, it’s just kinda hanging out.” As he passes by and down the hill, “Eventually, once we get down lower, like once you’re on your third life, I think then its vengeance time.” (Timestamp: Bdubs 3L Episode 1, 12:41- 12:51)
Because of his experiences and the events unfolding in 3rd Life, the irony is not lost when he is killed just at the bottom of the exact same cliff by Grian and Scar as revenge. These seemingly irrelevant events in the moment form patterns across the entire series, with some underdeveloped locations, suddenly becoming relevant. A seemingly irrelevant moment is now much darker and holds so much more meaning to the character.
What does this mean for Last Life’s story? Is there an Emerging Metanarrative?
Narratives can be found anywhere, and in collaboratively playing an open-world sandbox game, there’s almost no avoiding it. With the start of Last Life, any of these seemingly casual conversations or collected items could have any sort of meaning in the future. This happened in Scar’s episode this week where he worries that he’ll drop from 5 to 1 life and get boogeyman “Oh no- we’re gonna lose all of our lives, aren’t we? We have five lives and by the end of this I’m gonna be a red life.”(Timestamp: Scars LL Episode 2, 4:54-4:59)
Only in the end, for both him and Joel to be Boogeymen, and for Joel to drop to red and lose his alliance with Scar. The catastrophe of the episode essentially avoided Scar, even though he was constantly at the forefront of the conflict. These small off comments, seemingly inconsequential are now made relevant and active conflicts between the characters.
And there’s plenty more of these events across 3rd Life, and predicting what is to come is nearly impossible (though I do have my own ideas).
-Comments made towards Etho’s tree and wool base, only for both to be burned multiple times, and all of Etho’s deaths being related to fire.
-Martyn to BigB in early episodes, wanting to track down Ren and their relationship and building of Renchanting/Dogwarts
(Personal theory- there are currently 3 wither skulls on the last life server, belonging to Grian, Etho, and Pearl/Scott. Currently, they are irrelevant, but there are THREE WITHER SKULLS, with the entire server having easy access to soulsand.)
29 notes · View notes
give-grian-rights · 3 years
Text
Bets Against The Void c7
ok i really like validation so its back again this week
crossposted on ao3
Whitelist AU by @petrichormeraki​
next chapter
last chapter
first chapter
They never quite fell back to sleep.
It took only three hours for them to start rolling out of their makeshift bed, and back to scrambling around the hobbit hole and making the most of the resources.
The two teens didn’t really talk, after how their last conversation finished.
Tommy peaked down into what looked like a not-so-hidden stripmine, before Tubbo’s head perked up.
“Someone’s at the door,” The brunett chimed, carefully striding their way over.
It was once again Grian, with a shulkerbox in tow.
“Sorry to bother you guys again,” Grian gave a sheepish wave while balancing the box against one arm and his chest. “I remembered last night that I didn’t leave any cooking supplies, or open up where the kitchen is.”
“It’s not just you,” Tommy decided to add, turning back towards where the entrance was. “That fuckin’ bird showed up again this mornin’. Woke us up.”
At that, Grian groaned. “Yeah..He does his own thing in the early mornings and at night. The hobbithole was basically his house. I’ll enclose him tonight, sorry for that.”
Moving the box under an arm, Grian tilted his head. “Can I go back and show you where the kitchen’s hidden?”
Tommy merely raised a brow. “It’s your house, ain’t it, dickhead?”
Tubbo lightly jabbed Tommy’s side.
“I made it, yeah, but you two are staying in it. As long as you’d like it, it’s yours and I won't come in without your explicit permission.”
With a second of baffled confusion, Tubbo cleared their throat and nodded.
“Yeah! Uh. Come in, I guess..?”
It took only a few minutes for Grian to expose the tucked away room by the super smelter setup Tubbo and Tommy were yet to investigate.
“I didn’t feel like decorating a kitchen since I already had so many plans with my megabase..If I had it my way I wouldn’t have made a kitchen at all, but the Jungle Gang of Hermits would’ve been severely disappointed if I was only having menu-crafted food.” He’d casually explain, pulling out a paper towel roll from the shulkerbox as he swiped down the tops and barren counters.
“How many Hermits are in the jungle?” Tubbo asked, brows furrowed. Their tablet’s visual narration was muted, as it repeatedly described Grian wiping off the dust from the counters.
“Ehh..Five? Including me? There’s also Ren, but he’s right on the edge, down in a masa. Beautiful setup he’s got going on.” He’d breezily explain.
Nodding along, Tommy glanced around the room.
“This is cool ‘n all but we don’t have to use this space. You left.. Shitloads of stuff, in the chests.” The blond had pointed out, turning back towards Grian.
With a shrug, Grian hummed dismissively. “Real food’s a much better idea, and i’m fairly certain steak’s most of what I got left, down here. Maybe for dinner but..Not really for breakfast, or anything.”
Tubbo shrugged. “Fair enough, yeah..We don’t exactly..Cook much? I mean- I know I certainly haven’t had the time to get much in me, other than coffee.” 
“Ooh, yeah, definitely a good traditional-prepped item.. Other than tea on occasion, I don't tend to stray from crafted food. Even on the days I sit down and eat it like a proper meal.” Grian nodded along, glancing off as he dropped the paper towels he had been using to clean into a little bin.
Tommy sighed, leaning against the wall. His head was pounding from the lack of sleep. “What’s the d-”
He was cut off  by a not-so-distant firework bang.
Tubbo flinched and ducked their head down, throwing their arms over their head. Tommy, on the otherhand, lowered to the ground, eyes sealed shut with his hands slammed against his ears.
“Hey! Hey, it’s okay, they’re duds, they’re fireworks! No firework stars, either, just a puff of smoke. You’re both okay. You’re in the hobbit hole. It’s fine, everything’s good.” Grian hushed, giving exaggerated movements as he demonstrated slow breathing.
The blond boy growled, turning to snap at Grian- “We’re not babies!  We’re fine.”
Grian nodded, stepping back to give them both more space. “Okay. It’s okay. And it’s alright if it’s not okay. That was probably just Scar. He’s gonna be in and out of there. He’s the closest neighbor.” He had calmly explained to the pair.
Tubbo had deflated, taking a breath. “Thank you. Sorry. Uh. Y-Yeah.” They nodded numbly.
Tommy raised, folded his arms and didn’t meet the gaze of Grian. His face was twisted as he glared down at the floor. He felt weak.
Taking a small breath, Grian tentatively stepped back towards the door. “I’m going to head out and let you guys cool down, okay? You’re both free to go anywhere you want.”
With that, he departed, leaving the two teens alone.
A brief, tense silence fell between them.
“..That was fucking stupid.” Tommy scoffed.
Tubbo’s brows furrowed, turning towards him.
 “Excuse you?” They spoke, voice edging towards accusatory.
“They’re gonna fuckin’ think we’re weak, Tubbo-”
“I’m sorry that i’m not a fan of explosions! Yeah- that- that one’s my bad, Tommy.” Tubbo growled, going to step away.
Tommy grabbed their arm with a loose grip. “That doesn't matter, Tubbo, we’re- we’re supposed to be able to do better than that! We look like kids to him. We look like cowards-”
“I’m not a coward, Tommy! Oh, void, can’t you just drop it?” They hissed out, yanking their arm free.
“For the love of Prime- Tubbo. Tubbo, I'm not mad at you! So I need you not to be mad at me-”
“Too late for that!” They spat, rushing themself out the door with a slam.
Left behind was Tommy, tense and red in the face with a growing pit of guilt.
...
The people slowly started to pour back into the server. With everything going as expected, the admin breezily flicked and dismissed his communication screen, leaning back as he rested atop the incomprehensible mess of community chests.
Frequent pings and beeps ran through his ears as the comms went off, mixed with alerts and chatting as people settled back down.
He hadn’t bothered to check the messages until an hour in, when a high-pitched chirp emitted. A private message.
Summoning his screen back, he read over it.
ItsFundy: Hey Dre? My messages aren’t reaching Tubbo. Why aren’t the two back yet?
Dream quietly laughed. The server could use a quick break from them. 
It only took a quick flick of the wrist to pull up Tommy and Tubbo’s info. They were both in a world. With the MCC servers closed to the public for maintenance at night, Dream could only assume the two had scampered off to Hypixel or something of the like.
Upon a brief investigation, the servers were left as unlisted.
...Nonetheless, Dream will allow himself to revel in some peace for now. Let them get a little scared. A little more respect for the server-
Dream sneered.
They’re lucky they’re as tolerated as they are, here.
...And without them present, well- that sure will leave L’manburg in an interesting situation…
Dream: Can’t say I know. Sorry. They probably ran off, dont worry too much about them.
Making up his mind, Dream scrolled back to the Player information.
“It would be a shame if they went M.I.A, especially with how fresh the wound on L’manburg is..” He mused.
A click or two on the screen and it was done. They were locked from the server. 
“Enjoy yourselves, idiots.” He yawned, kicking his legs off the chests and onto the floor.
His axe was summoned to his hand, and he stalked off, a chill running through the air.
53 notes · View notes
elvish-sky · 3 years
Text
Just Kiss Already {Legolas x Reader}
Anon Request from Tumblr: hi! Can I request a legolas x elf reader where the reader is Aragorn's best friend? They grew up together in rivendell, maybe they’re just relaxing after one of the battles, I just need a fluffy wholesome shot to take my mind off things. thank you so much 🤍🤍
A.N: So the title just popped into my head at like 2 am when I woke up, so I just started writing. It’s short, but I kinda like it. Thank you, Anon for the request and I hope you like it!
Word Count: 858
Pairing: Legolas x Elf!Reader
Summary: Aragorn gets fed up with you and Legolas after the battle at the Black gate.
Warnings: Some fluff, fighting/battle…
****
Just Kiss Already
You wiped your blades on your tunic, not caring about the blood of orcs they were covered in, as you were already caked in it. You couldn’t believe what you had just witnessed. The fortress of Barad-Dur had collapsed, and the armies of Mordor had sunk into the earth, leaving you and the soldiers of Rohan and Gondor standing in the middle of a wasteland. You made your way through the battlefield alongside Legolas, who had stayed beside you the whole fight, seeking Aragorn. Your childhood friend had led the charge, and you worried for his safety. 
“Aragorn!” Upon spotting his figure you raced toward him through the carnage, glad to see him alive. You threw your arms around him, not caring that you were wounded and he probably was too. “Y/N, Legolas. You’re alive.” “Lass!” came a shout from your elbow. “You made it! Quick, tell me Legolas’ final count before he tries to lie about it.” “Fifty-six” you crouched and whispered to Gimli, knowing that Legolas had in fact killed many more.  “Ah, Legolas!” the dwarf sidled up to him. “I hear you scored fifty-six. A respectable number, but nothing compared to my sixty-eight.” “What?! I killed seventy-two!” the elf spluttered, looking indignant. He walked off with Gimli, arguing all the way. Aragorn came to stand next to you as you watched them go. “Y/N. What did you do?” “Oh, nothing.” You answered airily. “Just a bit of lighthearted fun.” “Y/N! You know how serious those two are about beating each other. I’m going to have to deal with that later.” 
Among the battered soldiers returning from the battle, you streamed through the gates of Minas Tirith, Legolas and Gimli alongside you on Arod. Dismounting once inside, you handed your reins off and made your way among the other soldiers, checking on them after the battle. You could see Legolas and Aragorn doing the same thing, and heard Gimli’s gruff tones comforting a man near you. It was good for the men to see their king taking an interest in their well-being, especially after a battle no one had thought they would return from. You, with your meager healing knowledge, doled out herbs and kind words to the soldiers as you wound through them. Most knew of you by now, the king’s childhood friend, and one of the famous Fellowship. Your help was met with words of thanks from all. 
Later, you finally relaxed in a small room at the height of the citadel. Legolas and Aragorn sat on either side of you. You were waiting for Frodo and Sam to wake up, having been carried in by the eagles, and were recounting the battle at the Black Gate. “... and there I was! Slicing and chopping my way through the armies. If the ground hadn’t collapsed I daresay I would have made it all the way to Barad-Dur single-handedly!” Gimli finished his reenactment with a few more swipes of his axe for good measure. “Impressive, master dwarf.” Aragorn continued to tell of his part in the battle after that first insane charge. “Well, I spent most of the battle making sure Y/N didn’t get herself killed.” Legolas pronounced this with a smug look on his face. “Excuse you, but I did not need any help. I was fine on my own. You were quick to counter, even though you knew that things might have gone badly if you had not had the other elf at your side. “There was one point where you would have taken a knife in the shoulder if I had not blocked it.” Your mind went back to that moment on the field when you heard the clang of metal blocking metal behind you. You had spun to see Legolas’ dagger finish an arc behind your back, and a knife flying through the air next to it, as he stabbed the orc who had thrown it at you. You hadn’t had time to thank him then, but you did now. 
“Thank you, Legolas.” “You’re very welcome, Y/N, although I’m sure someone with your talents would have patched it up quickly and been back up in no time.” Legolas blushed a little as he said this, and you decided to have some fun. “Well, I’m glad I had someone as strong and skilled as you guarding my back,” and you gently squeezed one of his biceps as you spoke. At this Aragorn sighed in exasperation and stood, causing the rest of you to stand with him. “By the Valar, you two, just kiss already.” With that Aragorn grabbed Gimli, pushed you into Legolas’ arms, and walked away. Embarrassed, you looked up at the elf. He shrugged, “Why not?” and leaned down to gently press his lips to yours. When he pulled away you raised your hands and pulled his face back down to yours. You kissed him fiercely, the pent up passion pouring out in a fountain of emotions. You broke apart and whispered “Gi Mellin (I love you)” in his ear. “Meleth nin” he whispered in yours and dipped you down for another swoon-worthy kiss.
Everything tag💗: @boyruins @entishramblings @itgetsatadhazy @anjhope1
199 notes · View notes
ajbwasntwriting · 3 years
Text
Daughter!Reader X Negan, Reader x Daryl: Chapter 12. Shots Fired
First | Previous | Next
Tumblr media
I’ll only post more chapters if previous chapters get a good reaction so if you enjoy this please heart it, reblog it, and/or reply to it. Interaction inspires.
if you wish to be added to the tag list please dm me. All chapters can be found under the tag AJ’s Negan’s Daughter AU
Everything had started so perfect.
You slept in the tent next to the infirmary in Daryl’s arms through the night and in the morning you helped the crew make breakfast. Rick had rode home to Alexandria and there was news on the walkie that food was coming from the hilltop. You grabbed food for yourself and Aaron and headed back to the infirmary.
Aaron was sitting up and talking with Daryl.
“Morning” You announced as you strode into the tent.
“Morning” Daryl said with a smile.
“I’m not looking,” Aaron joked, covering his eyes with his hand.
“Very funny,” You shoved the plate against Aaron and he took it, setting it down on his lap. “So what’s got you bothering my patient, Mr Dixon.”
“Wanted to see how he was doing before I head out for the day” Daryl spoke.
“You get breakfast yet?” You asked
“I don’t need-” Before he could finish you thrust your plate into his hands.
“Eat up. You’ll need it” You said turning back and leaving the tent to get yourself a new plate.
“You sure know how to pick ‘em” Aaron said through a mouthful of food.
“Yeah” Daryl said, getting into his food.
“How’d you meet?” Aaron pressed. Daryl glanced at him in question. “C’mon everyone’s heard how she appeared from thin air and you jumped to her defence.”
“Ya make it sound like a fairy tale” Daryl commented.
“It is.” Aaron replied. Aaron took a bite of some bread and kept staring at Daryl “C’mon you can tell me.”
Daryl thought back on it for a moment. ‘I tried to kill her’ he thought. Now he couldn’t think of hurting you. “Before the winter, me, Tara, and Rick went into DC. I got hurt. We had to camp for the night in this bank.” Daryl spoke through his food. “She walked in, started pulling the place apart. We said stop. She seen I was hurt and offered to help me.” He lost interest in his food for a moment, thinking back to that little apartment in DC that you had fixed up and made a home for yourself. “She was starving. I couldn’t sit by and do nothing, not after she helped me. At first I just brought her the surplus but she insisted on giving me stuff in return. ‘Not gonna leave you short’ she said.” Daryl stopped when he realised how long he had been talking about you, and the soft look Aaron had listening to him. Daryl went back to his food “Can’t let good people suffer”
“She is good.” Aaron spoke, “You should have brought her home sooner.”
“I tried. She wouldn’t come.” Daryl put down his now empty plate. “She don’t like camps or nothin’”
“So she was somewhere bad before” Aaron mused
“She deserves something good.” Daryl spoke “We all do.”
A sudden unrest erupted outside the tent. Daryl got onto his feet and went to investigate, finding the camp filled with angry saviours
“Guess they're gonna execute every last one of us!” a man yelled out “Just like Justin!”
“Not if we have guns, too.” a women called out
“Hey, hey, you guys!” Laura was in the middle of the crowd trying to calm people. “No no no no! No!”
“Come on guys!” Arat yelled trying to make herself heard.
“Hey knock it off!” You yelled from the front of the group trying to calm them down.
All the calls fell on deaf ears and you found yourself trying to push saviours and members of the other community away from each other. Aldin quickly made a dent in the condensing crowd.
“Hey! Hey! Stop this shit! Stop it! Stop it!” He yelled, the two sides coming apart around him “We're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna make sure it never happens to us again, all right?”
“Us?” Jed stood out from the crowd of saviours. “You're not one of us anymore.”
“‘Us’ means all of us” Aldin spoke, turning his back on the saviours to speak to the rest. Jed immediately grabbed Aldin, spinned him around and punched”
“Go shovel that horse shit to whoever killed Justin!” He pulled back his fist to go for another hit when Carol stepped in front of him, hand on his chest to stop him and the other on her gun ready to pull it out. You felt yourself hold your breath. “I thought you were supposed to be our leader.” he remarked.
“Enough” Carol spoke firm. “Turn around, all of you.”
“No can do, Cee.” He replied, “Why don't you go ahead and yank that roscoe, pop me right here? It's better than worrying about getting it in the back.”
At that Carol pulled out her gun, as did the others standing behind her. You stepped forward and put yourself between the man and Carol.
“There’s no need for that.” You said, hands up defensively.
“We don't want this.” Laura spoke, rallying to your side. “Hey, we just need to protect ourselves.”
“No guns!” Dary yelled. Everyone turned to look at him standing on top of a hill looking over everything that was happening.
“That 'cause you're the one took out Justin?” DJ yelled out. He was a saviour with long hair and a beard.
“Nah.” Another saviour said lower, eyeing up a woman near the front of the opposing crowd. “My money's on garbage lady.”
“Revenge for Simon's play, sure.” Regina said, stirring more trouble.
“No.” DJ replied, not taking his eyes off Daryl. “It's him. Finishing what he started.” He stepped past you and towards a tree, picking up the axe that sat there. Another man followed after him. A woman went to walk past you to them but you put your hand against her chest, whispering “Don’t” in the most intimidating voice you could muster, making her fall back into line.
Arat ran up and step in front of DJ “Hey, stop. It's gonna go too far.”
“Nah.” Daryl spoke “It won't.” He raised his crossbow and pointed it at DJ. You felt your breath catch in your lungs. You had seen how dangerous Daryl was with that bow and weren’t interested in being at it’s business end.
“Maybe it's both of them. Come on.” The long haired man rallied the saviours around him. You tried to hold them back but you were quickly pushed to the back of the group and landed on the ground. The saviours moved forward with only the priest meeting them halfway, ready for the fight. In the last moment Rick came riding in on horseback and the crowd divided.
“Everyone back off! Right now!” He yelled from atop the animal, waving his revolver over the crowd. Arat moved to disarm one of the saviours and Laura took to the martyr.
“All right, we are not doing this.” She spoke firm to Jed then brought her attention to the wider crowd. “Let it go.”
“I'll talk to Rick.” You heard Aldin speak “I'll try and find a way to make everybody feel safe, all right?” The crowd slowly dispersed.
“Start the redirect.” Rick ordered. “Pair off to work the grid.”
In the moments past you pulled yourself off the ground and started dusting yourself off. Laura came to you and pat your back.
“Thanks for trying to hold them back.” She said, Arat arriving behind her shortly after.
“Didn’t help much.” You replied
“No, it helped.” Arat insisted. “These hot heads need to see more of us working with the others.” Arat let out a sigh, then leaned in close to you “If they knew who you were-” she spoke low.
“No.” You interrupted. “They won’t trust me. Someone needs to be on good terms.”
“They got Aldin for that,” Laura commented. “He’s been playing goodie two shoes since the war.”
“Enough gossip,” Arat said. “Boss says the grid needs work. Later.” She patted your back as she took off.
“What’s on your plate?” Laura asked you.
“Get Aaron on the first trip back to Alexandria. He’s just filling a bed here. You?”
Laura looked around at the grumbling saviours, waving to a small group. “Keeping the peace.” You nodded in acknowledgement and you two parted silently.
After setting Aaron up with a small group that would be journeying back and his bed had been cleared you set out looking for Daryl. He had gotten riled up and you wanted to see how he was. A hilltop man pointed you in the direction he’d taken off in.
When you found him he was talking to Rick. Or rather Rick was talking to him.
“Daryl, I know you don't agree with everything we're doing here. All I ask is that you try. Do it. Let people see it. And maybe everyone moves past what's happened to what could happen and maybe, just maybe, it'd be one of the best decisions you ever made.”
“Like not killing a guy who left your brother on a rooftop to die.” Rick walked past you with a nod. He looked so tired yet determined. You walked up to Daryl, who seemed to be caught a little off guard.
“How much of that did you hear?” He asked nervously.
“About the tail end of what seemed like a speech,  if I’m honest.” You stood in front of him, gently placing your hands to his face to make him look at you. “How are you?”
“I didn’t do it,” he uttered, resting a hand atop of yours.
“I know you didn’t.” You reassured him. His arms came around you so naturally and your hands rested on his shoulders.
“I’m sorry you were in the middle of all that.” he continued, low enough that only you heard. “This crap ain’t your problem.”
“It is now.” you said. “‘Sides, your not the first boyfriend to hold a weapon on me.” You chuckled. He paled drastically.
“I am so sor-” you cut him off with a kiss. He held you as close as he could as he kissed you back. You pulled back and smiled at him sweetly.
“We’ll have plenty of time for sorry later. You have grid work to do”
“Wish I didn’t” he said pulling you into him, making you giggle at the implications.
“Go,” you laughed, punctuating it with a kiss and coming away. “I’ll be here”
Daryl left with the group to check the grid and you returned to camp. Being the doctor everyone wanted you nearby at all times. You mainly cleaned up the areas, helped with food, tended to the occasional cut or burn. You found it all delightfully mundane. It was nearing sunset when Enid showed her face.
“You’re late for work.” You said mockingly.
“Sorry” Enid apologised with a yawning, appearing from the tent next to the infirmary. It was promoted from ‘Saddiq’s Tent’ to ‘Doctor’s Tent’ as you and Enid started working in shifts. “I’m not used to the night shifts yet.”
That made you smirk “Hopefully you never have too” You teased with a laugh. She looked away embarrassed. You patted the spot next to you on the boards the infirmary was built on. “Sit down. We’re not exactly burdened with work.”
“What’re ya doing?” Enid sat down next to you, her leg tucked under her.
“People watching.” You explained. “Me and my old man used to do it all the time.”
Enid looked out at the campsite, “Seems kinda dull,”
“You’re doing it wrong then.” You said then pointed to Regina, a female saviour helping unload a recent delivery. “What do you think her deal is?”
“She’s a saviour” Enid spoke plainly. “Who’s unloading tomatoes”
“Nah, nah.” You leaned back on your elbows “You’re not meant to think about the truth. You’re meant to come up with a story of some kind.”
“A story?” Enid questioned. “Sounds childish”
“That’s what makes it fun.” You reply. You pointed at a table of people playing cards. “What about them. What’s their deal?”
“They’re playing cards.” Enid spoke plainly. So it was up to you to make things interesting.
“Ya see the girl with short hair and the tank top?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s Madam De Tank.” You spoke in a theatrical voice, “She owns most of the land and she’s put it on the table against the guy in the chequer.”
“What’s his name?” Enid pressed
“You tell me.” You shot back
She thought for a moment “Joey...Banks”
“Okay.” you said tongue in cheek. “What’s he put on the table?” Enid sat in silence a moment, then turned to you with a childish smile.
“His first born child!” She announced, equally theatrical. You both chuckled at the absurdity. Laura appeared, dirty from work.
“What’s all the fun?” She asked, taking a seat next to Enid.
“People watching.” Enid replied. “The third guy?”
“That’s Joey Banks’ assistant. He does all the things Joey doesn’t want to do. Like open doors or hold his cup.” You jested
“I hate to break this up but we need to talk.” Laura said to you. Enid went to excuse herself but you sat up and beckoned her to stay.
“Anything you gotta say to me, you can say to Enid.” You said. ‘Because you approached me in front of here and we need to keep a low profile’ you thought.
Laura looked from you to Enid and backed to you, a little unsure. “It’s the saviours,” she ultimately said. “We can’t find Arat.”
You sat forward and turned your body to face Laura, tucking your leg in, “What do you mean? She’s out checking the grids”
“The grid team came back.-”
“Where are they?” You interrupted. Afterall, Daryl and Arat were with the grid team.
“They left again, all quiet like.” Laura explained.
“They’re probably doing the night watch.” Enid interjected. You backed her up, saying it would be logical.
“That’s what I was saying but,” Laura explained then went quiet for a moment. “They think something might have happened. There’s talk of abandoning camp.”
“You can’t do that!” Enid panicked.
“They’re scared, Enid.” You said, her attention flicking back to you. “We have no guns and saviours have been going missing for a month now. At least at sanctuary there’s walls and they know each other.” You looked to Laura seriously “But that’s all we have. There’s no food. No real security and most of the building has been abandoned. It’s a prison.” The last sentence rolled off your tongue before you realised it, but it was no less the truth. “We need this bridge”
“I know,” Laura sighed. “I’m tryna talk to them but…”
The tension hung tight in the air among the three of you. “Sunset’s beautiful” Enid finally broke the silence. You looked over the trees seeing the warm hues sink behind them.
As the last few rays dimmed you stood up. “Guess we just gotta hope.” You said, sounding helpless. You turned to Enid in that moment. “Enid, umm...maybe”
“Not a word,” Enid stood up as the dinner bell rang. “I know.”
“Let’s eat!” Laura announced as she stood up. “I heard we got fresh tomatoes tonight.”
Later that evening Carol and Rick brought back a stabbed man who you stitched up. When questioned how it happened the man gave no reply. You stitched him up in silence then Rick took him out. You stopped Carol before she could leave, pressing for what had happened.
Carol turned back to you. It was just the two of you in the tent and you’d already developed a history together. She sighed through her nose before speaking. “We got jumped. They wanted our guns and were ready to kill us to get them,”
“Maybe if you gave them a couple-” you began
“That’s not happening now.” Carol replied. She turned to leave again and you grabbed her by the arm to stop her.
“Why were you out there?” you questioned. You released her arm once she stopped. “You’re not on night watch and checking the grid doesn’t take all day.”
“Why do you care?” Carol questioned, seeming already tired of the conversation. This did little but anger you.
“Cause these are our people!” You bit back “Remember?”
Carol nodded solemnly. “You know?”
“There’s suspicion.” You explained. “I just wanna know whether or not it’s founded.”
“Arat is missing” Carol finally said. You stepped back, struggling to process this information. You turned away and leaned on a nearby table, your head reeling. “She and Beatrice got jumped and we’re looking for her.”
This was it. The saviours were going to abandon camp. A few weeks ago you wouldn’t have cared but between working in the sanctuary and working out here you’re heart broke. If they left then the deal would be broken and everyone would suffer. But something didn’t sit right though
“Who’s Beatrice?” You asked.
“She’s from Oceanside.” Carol replied.
“And she was fine? When you found her” You asked.
“Yes. Why?” Carol asked, stepping closer to you.
“It’s weird.” You admit, facing Carol. “All the other saviours went missing all together. The first one who isn’t a saviour is left perfectly fine?”
“A lot happened before you showed up, Y/N.” Carol explained. Sounded like pure excuses to you. Through out the entire conversation she had been staring at you with feigned worry, making your blood boil.
“Get out.” You snapped. “I need you out.” Your voice trembled, showing your upset.
That night you could hardly sleep, your mind was reeling. ‘How did dad deal with this bullshit’ you thought to yourself. You quickly stopped that train of thought when you remembered ‘murder’ was the answer.
That morning you were woken by one of the saviours. “C’mon Doc, we’re leaving!” She shook you. You groggily got out of your bed and went to investigate. Outside was the saviours, with half the camp packed up. You locked eyes with Laura across the camp who just shook her head with defeat.
Jed walked up to you and handed you an empty rucksack. “Grab your shit we’re leaving” he said.
“No,” You replied, pushing the bag back. “I’m not.”
Jed looked at you incredulously, then threw the bag to the ground with temper. “You’re gonna stand by these fucking murderers!”
‘Look who’s talking’ you thought to yourself. “We need this deal, Jed!” You yelled back. “We need the food that the other settlements can provide!” Your yelling caught the attention of a couple of saviours. “I ain’t going back to The Sanctuary until that bridge is done!”
Jed pulled a face then spat at your feet. “Suit yourself.” He retorted then left. In about twenty minutes they had all packed up and were marching out.
~Tag List~
@felicismor @bodeckersbitch​ @lauren-novak​ @aestthete
72 notes · View notes
goddessofmischief · 3 years
Text
Blue Monday, Chapter Four - Loki x T.V.A.! Reader
Chapter Four... ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’
You almost wanted to step outside and freeze again. Better that, than to be faced with this - on your first-ever mission with a partner, no less. In a matter of hours, you had almost frozen to death. You had pretended to be a goddess - one that uncomfortably resembled you. And, worst of all, there was only one bed. Yeah. Really.
“We-ell,” you said, awkwardly, untangling your hand from Loki’s. Now that you were finally left alone, you didn’t have to keep pretending. But you did have to sleep somewhere.
“Let’s not pretend that this isn’t... difficult,” said Loki, “...Because it is. But don’t worry. I don’t share.”
You laughed. “Really? Kicking me out onto the floor, Odinson?”
“It would seem so. Alternatively, you can make peace with the fact that nothing is happening here, and allow it to be nothing.” “Oh, you think I’m the problem?”
“I truly do.”
“I’m the problem? Not the guy who pretended I was his wife though, right? There’s no way that maybe you’re the one who’s got some issue?” Loki crossed his arms, chuckling, and sat down on the bed. “If you’re implying that I feel anything for... a mortal like yourself, you’re wrong.” “Prove it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Prove it. Keep me warm.”
You cuddled up to him, and Loki sighed, covering you both up with a warm, woolen knit blanket. “You’re not really as warm as you thought I’d be,” you whispered, your breath hot against his freezing collarbone. “Loki, maybe you should take all the blanket-”
“I’m fine.”
He spoke like he didn’t want to go any further into the matter, so you didn’t push it. Simply closed your eyes, tried to breathe. “G’night.” Loki doesn’t respond. But you both fall asleep smiling. ... “Get up.”
You hadn’t woken up next to another person for forty years. And Loki was not making the experience any easier. Apparently, the God of Mischief is an early riser. “We lose light in four hours.”
“Don’t we want to lose light?” you muttered, yawning, rubbing at your eyes. “Well... yes. But we have to be at the fortress where they’re keeping the tesseract much before then. Remember, you don’t hold up in the cold, darling. We’ll need to make the trek before night falls.” “Which means...”
“Which means we leave now.”
Neither of you had changed out of your clothes, so you didn’t have to get ready. Loki looked as if he hardly needed sleep at all. You, however, felt like a mess. You were a mess. Your hair was untidy and unstyled, your skin still sore and red from the cold the night before. These things had never mattered to you before - really, they hadn’t. When you were at home, on Earth... even then. In the 1970s, most people weren’t wearing makeup, anyway. Most of them barely wore clothes.
You tugged your pant leg down, uncomfortably, attempting to ignore your appearance in the mirror. “You’re not honestly self conscious, are you?”
Jerk.
“No,” you said, smoothing down your jacket. “No, why would I feel self-conscious in front of a... well, whatever the hell you are.” “If you do, love, you shouldn’t.” Loki leaned back, seemingly pleased with himself. “You look...”
“Professional,” you interrupted, reaching over and brushing one of your stray hairs from his coat. “Professional, always.” ... The trek was actually kind of... nice.
Long, and exhausting. And filled with melting, slippery roads, still wet from the snow before. But nice. And shockingly silent, for a man who infamously loved to talk. But you couldn’t be mad at him for it. You liked Loki quiet. “Careful,” Loki said, reaching over to you, offering his hand to help you over a puddle. “I’m fine - oh!”
To the surprise of neither of you, you had slipped - and Loki had swept you off your feet, literally. “Are you going to carry me all the way, or-”
He unceremoniously dropped you. “Ow!” “I wouldn’t want to humiliate you, sweet.” “How considerate, darling.”
For the first time, you’d hurled one of his venomous compliments back at him - and it felt pretty damn good. He became completely stiff, still managing to walk, but no emotion or expression crossed his face. “You okay there, ‘Oki?”
He nodded, a little more quickly that most people would.
“Yes,” Loki said. “It’s just, that was spoken like-” 
“Spoken like what?” 
“Spoken like her,” he said. “And yet...”
...
Loki was continuing to make your existence a joyless one.
For one... you’d just arrived at the fortress.
A fortress Loki seemed to have no interest in helping you get into.
"Damn it!” you shouted, rushing up against the gates. “They’re... they’re locked.”
Loki was sensing your frustration. He knew it, and you knew it. And you could practically see the little gears turning in his mind. He was trying to wind you up, and you just wouldn’t let him.
“Just use your powers.”
“I don’t have any powers!”
You were on the edge. Loki was determined to make you fall off.
Well... not today. 
“Alright,” you said, finally.
“Alright... Loki. You stay here. I’m going to go around the side.”
“What? Why?” He sounded panicked, and for all the wrong reasons.
You shrugged.
“They might have left it open. Or... maybe, there’s a key under the mat.”
“You must be joking.”
“You must know that I’m not.”
“Never mind that. I’ll use my powers, and... they’ll surely hand the Tesseract over when they see who is demanding it. You saw that town back there. Even if they’re not quite as zealous as the others, these people must adore me.”
“Or.... maybe not.”
“Come again?”
You gestured at a wooden sign, trying to contain your laughter.
Törvedalen.
Which, if the simple Norse you learned had not failed you, translated to the Valley of Thor.
“Maybe that’s why they took the tesseract from the other town,” you managed, gulping as you watched Loki’s briefly irritated, then furiously incensed expression. “Maybe... there’s a little bit of a war going on here, over who they like best. You gotta admit, Loki, that statue in town was pretty oversized.”
“It was exactly adequate - whose side are you on, anyway? Are you not my partner?”
You shrugged.
“I’m just trying to help.”
Loki saw your worried expression and softened, slightly, his hands unclenching.
“Alright,” he said. “So we’ll go in - together. I’ll talk to them. I’ll make them understand - and they’ll get exactly what they bargain for, one way or another.”
“Do I have to be Amora again?”
You sounded pathetic, admittedly - you felt pathetic.
Luckily for you, Loki shook his head.  “No, love. Just be Y/N L/N. That should do it.”
...
“Hello!” called Loki, having strolled through the front gate - it turned out his magic was completely effective at undoing non-magical locks, and he could’ve opened the gate the whole time. He was just toying with you.
As usual.
“Hello!”
“Y’know,” you said, trying to keep your voice low, “Y’know, we don’t really have to shout, if we stay quiet we might be able to get the tesseract and sneak-”
“Don’t pester me. I could use a little Amora right now.”
Well, that stung.
“Well, she isn’t in,” you muttered, holding a dimly lit torch up to another sign. “She’s not here. She’s not even real.”
“Really, this again, darling? You’ve forgotten so easily the art we saw in the village. That didn't look real to you? Would you prefer, perhaps, a larger painting?”
“That doesn’t mean anything, and you know it. How do I know you’re not just screwing with me? You trick people. It’s sort of... what you do.”
You knew you were being mean - well, mean for you. He was your partner, shouldn’t you be kind and tolerate his little... eccentricities?
Then again, Loki was sort of wrecking you, mentally. The last time someone did that... you’d just let it happen.
Well. Not this time.
“Guilty,” Loki admitted, his voice lowering. It wasn’t threatening, instead, it was actually sort of... nice?
Kind of nice. Almost sweet.
“But this isn’t a trick, I’ll promise you that. It means just as much to me that I learn to understand this - because for once, I know as much as you do, love. So it's up to us. To figure it out, together-”
Just then, a group of Nordic warriors stormed in.
Holding axes.
“They’re holding axes,” you whispered, tugging on Loki’s sleeve. “Loki, they’re-”
“I noticed - gentlemen, what can we do for you?”  He repeated the last sentence again, this time in Old Norse.
The group shouted something back at him.
“What’d they say?”
“Something about 'a light cube.’ Our light cube, I presume, unless there happen to be others.”
“Ask them if they can give it to us.”
“Sweet, you have to know they won’t.”
But he translated your request, all the same.
“He said that they can’t,” said Loki. “Because... of their leader?”
“Do you know who leads them? Is it Thor?”
“No... this is... an alternate Earth. It wouldn’t be my Thor... it could be someone else...”
“Tell them to take us to the leader.”
“My, aren't you bold? What makes you think this leader won't just kill us?”
“I don’t know! But it’s worth a try, yeah?”
Loki rolled his eyes, attempting to translate again, and one of the Vikings responded.
“They’ve agreed. To take us to... who is it, again?”
The Viking shouted something out, and Loki’s face paled.
"What did he say?”
“He said,” said Loki, clearing his throat, “That... he’d bring us to the leader. Their leader, the new ruler of Törvedalen ... Lady Loki.”
Taglist: gorgeourrific-nerd @suwupremeleader​ @sserpente @tripleyeeet 
158 notes · View notes
heyheydidjaknow · 3 years
Note
Hiya! I have a request for an x reader songfic. Snap out of it by the Arctic monkeys gives me so many 2012 Donnie vibes. Maybe one where the reader is in love with Donnie but he likes April and the reader wants Donnie to, you know, "snap out of it" and notice that maybe April isn't the best person towards him. It can end in unrequited love or with a happy ending, that's for you to decide but I just really want to see this concept. Thanks! :>
(feel free to ignore this request if you want 👁️👁️)
Oh, I’m not about to turn away a chance to be pushed out into foreign territory. I admittedly hadn’t known what a songfic was until wikipedia and @kunimikat saved my ass, so this was fun-- and a bit scary-- to write. I hope you like it, even if it might not have been exactly what you were expecting.
April was your friend. She had been for a while, now, since she had moved to NYC. The two of you had come even closer after her kidnapping and initiation into the “Hamato Clusterfuck” as you had affectionately called it at first—you had wisely made a conscious effort to only get involved with them as far as you could throw them, sticking solidly to offering emotional support and half-decent food. At the beginning, you had, on multiple occasions, even begged her to stay out of it, trying to reason with her that getting herself killed by a psychotic armored man with an axe to grind for the crime of hanging out with four teenage shut-ins was an incredibly bad idea. When your logical arguments fell on deaf ears—her owing them apparently being her ball and chain—you had designated yourself as her supervisor to make sure she did not do something overly impulsive. She was reckless, overly trusting, immature, but you loved her like a sister. You balanced each other out.
One of the benefits of knowing someone for so long is that you learn things about them that they do not know about themselves. In April’s case, it had been that she was terrible at making up her mind
 What's been happenin' in your world?
You had borne witness to the love triangle transpiring between Donatello Hamato, Casey Jones and her for the better part of a year now. You were relieved that the two boys had backed off each other’s throats somewhat over the period, but it was as infuriating as it was fascinating to watch them fight over her like a chew toy. Of course, April had her preference between the two, favoring the hockey player mainly for his general normalcy, which was a decision you could approve of, but she had hesitated until recently to make that obvious to the other point because, in her words, “The last thing I want is to deal with is all of that awkwardness.” You could hardly blame her for her hesitation, but you thought it almost cruel not to make her feelings apparent to her lovestruck puppy.
 What have you been up to?
Donnie was the most tolerable of the five, the most normal in your opinion. He was an infatuated, insecure teenage boy with more an affinity towards machines and, best of all, seemed concerned for your friend, all things that you could get on board with. In your opinion, overbearingness is preferable to negligence in this case, and you were just happy that someone physically capable had her back. As such, when you were stuck at the lair for hours waiting for her lessons with Splinter to be over—you were her ride—you found yourself spending the most time around him, and as time went on, you started going out of your way to do so.
Seeing as April and Casey were your only other friends, it was natural you would get romantically attached. They—a couple by high school standards—approved of your crush, and all you told your guardian(s) was that they were smart, fit, and financially responsible, so they asked few questions.
You knew, logically, this was not a competition and that April had little interest in him.
But something about the way he gazed at her made you burn green with envy.
 I heard that you fell in love, or near enough.
His eyes were just so… wistfully longing. He watched as the redhead and her boyfriend played against Michelangelo and Raphael in a game of charades. His expression was just so soft, lips pursing and popping silently as he grieved from his seat in his lab.
It had been a downhill spiral on your end from there, and as your own attachment grew for him, his own depression worsened. Your eyes drifted from your friend as you tried to make him see that, no, the world was not ending because his first crush did not like him back. You would make subtle comments about how happy his brothers were, how happy she and Casey were together, how smart he was and how many people would die for a kind, loving, smart guy to come around and sweep them off their feet. This, again, fell on deaf ears; he would always comment on how, if he were such a catch, April would not have chosen Casey, like It is his fault for her having more of a taste in cocky, fun-loving guys than intelligent ones. Half of it was probably your lack of experience in subtlety, but no matter what you would try to say, whenever romance came up in conversation, his words turned sharp and bitter.
On that day, you just cracked.
 I gotta tell you the truth.
You walked over to the lab door, closing it in a single fluid motion. ‘I’m better at being blunt, anyways.’
He blinked; his trance was interrupted by the small slam.
“She’s not into you.”
“Huh?”
You crossed the room and placed your hand on the desk, expression stern and stone cold. “April,” you repeat. “She’s not interested.”
He did not meet your gaze. “You don’t know that.”
“I do, actually.” You leaned down to look him in the eye. “You aren’t her type. You’re supposed to be smart.” You placed the other on the back of his chair, arms cagging him in, almost. “ She has a boyfriend,” you continued, softer. “You know that, right?”
“I do.” He tapped the side of his thumb against the table absently, throat tight. “But what else do you suppose I do? Submit to the fact that I’ll be alone forever?” He looked up at you. “I know this may be hard for you to believe,” he continued, easily slipping out from under your arms, “but I don’t exactly have a ton of options. She’s the only person who’s ever looked at me like that; how am I supposed to move on from the only person who’s ever even given me a chance?”
 I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake, baby.
 You rolled your eyes, turning to watch him as he crossed to the other side of the room. “That is some blatant bullshit,” you glared curtly.
“Is it, though?” His back was to you as he crouched down in front of his centrifuge, fiddling with it. “As someone who’s never—”
“So help me, if you go off about me not understanding being rejected and feeling like they’d die alone, I’ll rip your tongue out.” You stood back up properly.
“What would you know about it?” He followed suit, eyes locking on yours. “You have other people to choose from.”
“And you don’t?” You crossed your arms, smiling incredulously. “How do we differ, exactly?”
“Besides the obvious?”
You scoffed. “You’ve seen your brothers. Never stopped them.”
“And I’m happy for them, that they’re so charismatic as to be able to find partners so easily.” You could taste the bitterness in his words. “But I’m not them, in case you didn’t notice. That girl out there?” He pointed to the door. “She’s the first and only person in the universe who’s ever given me a second glance.”
“So you’re just fucking blind, now?” You heard your voice rise without your input.
“What’re you talking about?” His voice grew with yours.
“You’re lovesick,” you spat. “Snap out of it.”
 Snap out of it.
You ran your fingers through your hair. “Or maybe you’re just dense.” You felt a laugh rise in your throat. “I mean,” you gestured, “clearly picking up on verbal subtext isn’t your forte.”
You gave him five seconds. “What,” you continued, rubbing your face with your hands, “Are you—” You stopped. “You are, aren’t you?”
Nothing.
You took a slow breath, hearing your heartbeat in your ears. “Let me put it in simple, plain English for you.”
 I get the feelin' I left it too late, but baby—
 “As her friend? You’re a fucking creep.” You crossed your arms across your chest. “Following her the way you did—wait your turn—” A finger interrupted his defense. “Following her the way you did? Objectively creepy. Staring at her all the time? Also fucking creepy.” You felt your nails dig into your skin. “Any person would call it as it is.”
He opened his mouth again to argue. You did not interrupt him this time, but he did not argue, the silence falling like a weighted blanket over the two of you.
“As your friend,” you continued, voice lowered, “as someone who cares about you, I know April, and she can’t give you what you want. It’s not her; she needs to be free, and I love her, but you’re looking for something that’s just not there.” Your voice was certain. “You’re looking for someone to spend your life with. I’m right, aren’t I?”
 Snap out of it.
 He was still for a moment, looking off into the ether. He nodded, face melancholy.
You walked over, resting a hand on his shoulder tentatively. “I’m not saying it’s stupid of you to not be over her. Again, I love her to bits, so I see the appeal.” You broke eye contact, trying to articulate exactly what you meant. “But I’m worried,” you explained slowly, “you’re only hung up on her because you’re scared of being alone. That’s not fair to her or yourself.”
“Do you know that?”
“No,” you admitted easily, “but you and I are the same way, and trust me, I’ve been around the heartbreak block.” You smiled, trying to relieve the tension.
That earned a chuckle. A small one, but a chuckle none the less.
You reached up, cupping his cheek in your hand. “There are seven billion people on this planet. Any one of them—myself included—would be lucky to have a life with you.”
 If that watch don’t continue to swing—
 A pause.
“Do you honestly believe that?”
You nodded, your thumb running along the line of his eye socket. “I do.”
 —or the fat lady fancies havin' a sing—
 You leaned forward, pressing your lips against his cheek gently.
 —I'll be here, waitin' ever so patiently—
 “Y/N!” You pulled back as you heard April calling your name. “We need a moderator!”
You started back towards the door, waving gently. “I wish you good tidings, Donatello.” You smiled quietly, serenity itself standing in the doorway. “May whoever is fortunate enough to call you their own bring you happiness. You deserve it.” You slipped out of his lab, running over to break them up.
Donatello rested his fingers on where your mouth had lit his skin. He felt a bittersweet smile fade onto his face.
—for you to snap out of it.
And that was when it began.
List of Works
141 notes · View notes