#and trying to figure out how to keep things accessible and stay like alive

[talkfantasytome]

As You Wish - Part 1

Nesta has a small procedure and is stuck with Cassian being the one to drive her to and from. Little does she know he's planning on sticking around all day to take care of her.

Warnings: Fluff | Word Count: 2,418 | Read on AO3

Nessian Masterlist

a/n: Written for Day 4 of @sjmromanceweek - Little Things

Beep…beep…beep…

The incessant sound was music to Cassian's ears as he sat by Nesta's bed, the only sign that she was still alive, still breathing.

Her body was entirely motionless. Any movements spreading from the rising and falling of her chest were barely visible from where he was, her back to him. Apparently, the procedure called for her being laid on her side, and they didn't let visitors sit on that side of the bed. The nurses needed access there.

It had Cassian tapping his foot and rubbing his hands against his legs as he waited. She'd been out of the procedure room for over ten minutes now. How much longer was he expected to wait patiently? At what point was he allowed to worry?

He pulled out his phone and texted Az. She's still not awake.

Didn't she just go in? Az asked back, likely over the frequent updates Cassian's been giving. He wasn't allowed in the prep area initially. They'd made him stay in the waiting room until Nesta had gone into the procedure room. Only once she was back out after the procedure did they let him go back there. Likely checking to make sure Nesta felt safe with him.

It was good how the doctors would separate their patients from others and ask about their safety at home. How they'd find a way to ensure the patient had all the control over who was allowed to be with them when and where. He liked that they did that.

He liked even more that he'd been granted access to the prep room once she was back. That she'd allowed him in. Considering how hard Nesta had tried to find someone else to be her ride, he figured she would keep him as far away as possible for as long as possible.

She's been out for at least ten minutes, he typed into his phone. It was his best chance at distraction.

I'm not dignifying that with a response.

Dick.

Cassian rolled his eyes and shoved his phone back into his pocket. Fine, he would wait without any support from his brother. He'd just watch Nesta.

It was one of his favorite pastimes.

Her golden brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun, strands of hair poking out from her hairband. Cassian had nearly lost it when he showed up that morning, seeing Nesta in a hairstyle other than her pristine braided coronet. Her hair was always so immaculate. Even at the end of the day, the wisps of hair that had fallen out of her standard updo always looked purposeful. But this, this was disheveled and honest. It said, 'This procedure is far too early for me to do anything but brush my teeth and put on leggings,' and Cassian loved it. Almost as much as he imagined he'd love her hair down.

Maybe he'd get the chance to see that today, too.

A nurse came to stand at the computer in front of Nesta's bed, checking that and her monitor. "Should be any minute now," she said to Cassian, her eyes relaying the kind smile she was offering him behind her mask. "Remind me who you are? Her boyfriend?"

Cassian's heart fluttered at the comment, the possibility. And nearly broke as he answered honestly, "No, just a friend."

That's all he'd ever been. For years. Sure, he wanted more. He'd be an idiot not to. Nesta was everything he'd ever wanted. Sharp, funny, challenging, devastatingly beautiful. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. He'd been flirting his little heart out since the day he met her three years before. Sometimes she reciprocated, other times she may as well have kneed him in the balls with how she responded. And then there were the times when he showed her all he was, when he took off his funny-guy mask and let her see his true self. And every time she'd offer the same, revealing a soft filling within a shell of iron. It was gorgeous, and gave Cassian the hope everyone told him he was a fool for holding on to.

"I'm sure she's glad you're here," the nurse said in her soft voice. Cassian wasn't so positive. "When she wakes up, she'll likely be a bit disoriented, but she should come to relatively quickly. It wasn't general anesthesia, so her mind won't be too cloudy."

He nodded just as the monitor's beeping quickened slightly. And then her body stirred. It was barely a twitch, but it was some form of movement. A sign of life, of growing consciousness.

Cassian still couldn't see her face, but her head moved a bit, and then the nurse was speaking. "Hey there," she said gently.

Nesta must've opened her eyes to prompt that from the nurse. Right? Those storm cloud eyes that haunted every one of Cassian's dreams. Mother above, he wished she would turn and face him. That he would get to look into those eyes, that perfect face, make sure she was truly okay.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked after a long silence.

"Fine," Nesta replied in a sleepy, scratchy voice. "My throat…"

"Yes, it will likely be sore for a day or two," the nurse explained. "If it's still sore by Monday, please let us know. Would you like to try and sit up?"

Cassian watched Nesta's head move up and down. The nurse walked over to the other side of the bed and helped her, adjusting the bed so that the head would be propped up a bit. Nesta grunted softly, as if the movement took more effort than normal. But soon enough she was settled against the pillows and sitting up enough to be able to turn and see him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice remaining groggy.

He gave her a crooked grin as he said, "You let me in, sweetheart."

Nesta rolled those grey-blue eyes, shaking her head at him. A very Nesta reaction, which likely meant the sedative was wearing off quickly. It warmed Cassian's heart, even as she replied, "Next time, I'm taking the bus."

"Good luck with that," he chuckled. She didn't respond, switching her focus back on to the nurse who was now asking her if she'd like something to eat.

The nurse grabbed her the Cheez-Its Nesta requested after being given a list of the options, and then began chatting with her as she undid the wires and all that was attached to Nesta. "So remember, you'll need to take it easy today. No driving or operating machinery, and you shouldn't work. You should have mild side effects, maybe a bit of bloating. I'd suggest eating smaller meals today. You might feel some slight nausea, but if you can't keep anything down please let your doctor know immediately. But you should be okay, it's one of the reasons we give people some food after the procedure."

Nesta was nodding along, listening fairly intently, but her eyes kept darting to Cassian, who was watching her shamelessly. He didn't care what anyone thought, she was the one who just had the procedure. He could hear the nurse and keep his eyes on Nesta at the same time.

"Once you're ready to get up let me know, we'll leave the space so you can change," the nurse continued. "And then you can go into the office and wait for the doctor."

"I'm ready!" Nesta said, sitting up straighter. The nurse panicked slightly as Nesta started fidgeting with the railing on the bed, attempting to get it to go down.

"Hold on," the nurse sighed, rushing over. "Let me help you." She folded the railing down and then held out a hand for Nesta. At first, Nesta didn't accept the offer of help. But the second her feet were on the floor and she was putting weight on them, she was reaching out for that hand, for a steadying weight. "Sir, if you can wait on the other side of the curtain?"

Cassian let out a small chuckle, gaining Nesta's attention. "Sure you don't want my help, sweetheart?"

"Why don't you go warm up the car," Nesta spewed out, sounding more like a grumpy child than the ice queen she typically perfected.

"As you wish." He bowed his head slightly and then smirked over at her as her eyes narrowed at him. No doubt she was attempting to understand his meaning, to decide if the quote from one of her favorite movies was purposeful.

He was always purposeful with Nesta.

"What are you doing?" Nesta demanded as she saw Cassian turn off the car, remove his seatbelt, and open his door.

"Getting out of the car?" he said in more of a question than a statement. He shut his door again, cars flying past them faster than they should be going in her neighborhood. Philly drivers.

"Why?"

He cocked an eyebrow up at her. "To help you out and get you into your apartment."

"I'm fine Cassian. I don't need your help. I only needed the ride because it was required." And that was the truth. Nesta felt perfectly fine. Maybe a bit hazy. Enough that she could admit to herself she did need someone else driving her home, but she sure as hell wouldn't say that out loud. To Cassian.

She took off her own seatbelt as he shook his head and sighed, "Too bad, sweetheart."

Gods, he moved fast. Before Nesta could step out of the car he was already at her door, holding it open and offering a hand to her. One she certainly did not take. But damn it, she couldn't stop him from grabbing her bag out of his car before she could. He'd likely hold it hostage, force his way into her apartment just so he could annoy her all day.

"Are your keys in here?"

"Don't go through my bag!"

"I never would, Nes," he said as he closed the car door. He let out a mockingly offended scoff. "Without your permission. Though that reaction does make me more curious."

Nesta could've growled at him. Well, sadly, she couldn't, because that wasn't exactly a skill most humans had. But if she could… Perhaps her cat would. Instead, she just snatched the bag out of Cassian's hand, losing her balance for a second. But Cassian was there, a gentle hand at her arm, helping her stay upright. It had Nesta's face heating.

To keep him from seeing that, she fished her keys out of her bag and started toward the door, beginning the dance with her door. Did she get the right key for the right lock? She almost never got it right on the first try, with three identical keys used for the four locks she had to get through. Her landlord sure hadn't made it easy to access her second floor apartment in the converted townhouse.

He stopped her from closing the front door on him, making Nesta roll her eyes. "You really don't have to come in."

"I do," he disagreed. "Someone needs to make sure you get settled and are doing okay today. Make sure you drink enough water. All that."

"Cassian."

"Nesta," he countered. He held her gaze, matching her ice with the fire that was always sparkling in his eyes. Gold flakes danced in the sea of hazel, drawing her in, holding her stare captive.

She took a deep breath, steadying her mind before it danced off into the fantasies she tried to ignore. Then Nesta sighed a small, "Whatever," and turned to open the second door. She ignored the massive grin he put on at her response, already feeling the weight of the sleepiness beginning to build.

It took barely three minutes for Nesta to hang up her coat, remove her shoes, and find herself on her small sectional couch, nestling in to the chaise part. Her cat was even quicker to hop up and snuggle next to her.

Cassian was slower to make his way into the living room. After another few minutes he finally showed up, pillows from her bed in hand. "I thought you might like to have these," he explained, placing them next to Ataraxia, who started at the sudden wind rustling her silver fur.

Nesta nodded her agreement. They'd be useful if she actually decided to lie down.

Cassian walked in front of the couch and grabbed at the handle beneath the mid-section, pulling to bring out the pop-up part that turned the couch into a queen-sized bed. She lifted an eyebrow at him, making him chuckle as he said, "So you can spread out as needed. Are you comfortable? Warm enough?"

"I'm fine, Cassian," she breathed, even as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Sure you are." He lifted her legs to get the electric blanket from under her feet and then spread it across her. "What setting do you like, again? Four?" Nesta nodded softly, the throes of sleep already setting in. She could feel her eyelids beginning to fall as Cassian clicked the blanket on and fiddled with the settings. "I'm going to do a quick grocery run for you. Anything special you want?"

"I have food," Nesta mumbled.

Cassian let out a chuckle that sent a chill up Nesta's spine. "You have snacks and an absurd amount of chocolate."

It took nearly all her remaining strength to roll her eyes, but it was worth it to display just what she thought of his comments. She was fine on food. So what if she ate take out every night? That just meant she was eating good food every night. But whatever, she was too tired to bother trying to stop Cassian. Though, if he's really here to serve her, she started to realize, she might as well milk it. "Can you get my Comfy before you go?"

The grin on Cassian's face when he handed her the plush, light purple wearable blanket was almost too much for her. The way his eyes crinkled as his lips curled upward, how they seemed to sparkle even brighter. It was the last thing Nesta needed to see. It was the first thing she wanted to see every morning. Traitorous mind.

Nesta snatched the Comfy out of his hands, but his only reply was a soft and kind, "Get some rest. I'll be back before you wake." He really needed to stop doing that.

She'd barely gotten the blanket on before sleep completely took over.

@live-the-fangirl-life @generalnesta @secretlovelybeauty @julemmaes @boredserpent @autumnbabylon @moodymelanist @sv0430 @nesquik-arccheron @gwynrielsupremacy @katekatpattywack @moonstoneriver77 @swankii-art-teacher @lemonade-coolattas @emily-gsh @my-fan-side @champanheandluxxury @imsointobooks @sayosdreams @simpingfornestaarcheron @perseusannabeth @shinya-hiiragi @a-court-of-milkandhoney @pintas3107 @embersofwildfire @superspiritfestival @thewayshedreamed @lunabean @xstarlightsupremex @mis-lil-red @wannawriteyouabook @dealfea @bridgertononmymind @daydreamer-anst @chosenfamily-valkyriequeens @hiimheresworld @c-e-d-dreamer @kale-theteaqueen @charming-butt-insane @charliespringsleftconverse

a/n: Let me know if you want to be added to my tag list!

There will be a part 2 to this. This was meant to be just a one shot, but someone is bad at time management and she wanted to get something posted on the right day. XD

#sjm romance week #nessian #nesta x cassian #nesta archeron #cassian #acotar #acotar fanfiction #a court of thorns and roses #fluff #just fluff #acosf #acosf fanfiction #cassian x nesta #a court of silver flames #modern au

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home, Part 3

First, Previous

It’s been a while since I’ve shared anything from this fic. I’ve been working on it in the background, though. Might share something a bit longer in the upcoming week or so, even! Ended up reworking nearly everything I want to do for this fic, so it’s been a challenge.

This is the final segment from the first chapter I’ll share before posting to AO3. (There’s a lot more I haven’t shared, though.)

Fic Summary: Tim Drake and Danny Fenton come from very different backgrounds. But two things they have in common are neglectful parents and internet access. And so a friendship is born and secrets shared.

Word Count: 1.4k

----------

Danny’s hands shook as he held his phone. Then he cursed as it fell through his hands and clattered to the floor. He scrambled to retrieve it and his knees, rather than hit the floor, sunk through it. Eyes burning, he pushed himself up until he was kneeling on top of the floor and reached his phone again.

All of his focus was on staying solid as he dialed a number he’d memorized months ago but never saved. It rang twice and then Tim’s voice came through.

“Danny! It’s been too long since we’ve called each other! How’s it going?”

“Tim? I…” Danny’s voice caught in his throat. He hasn’t said the words yet. He tried to start again but couldn’t say a thing. Was he breathing? The phone fell through his hand again and he realized he was sinking into the floor. He choked back a sob and tried to pick up the phone, but his hands passed right through it.

He tried to take a breath, but it was shallow and shaky. He tried again and it was a little better. He focused and pushed up until he felt solid ground under his knees again. With the same determination, he picked up the phone. This time it didn’t fall.

“…ny? Danny! Are you there? What’s going on?”

“Tim?”

“Thank god, what’s happened? What’s wrong?”

His breathing was still rapid and shallow. “I… Tim, I….” He wiped away the tears he couldn’t stop.

“Danny, it’s okay. I’m here. Don’t force it. Can you breathe with me? In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.” Tim continued to count his breaths.

It took a few repetitions, but eventually Danny was able to follow the pattern. Even if his breath still hitched every few counts. He decided to try again. “Tim, I died,” he blurted out. He pulled his knees up and rested his forehead against them; this time he didn’t fight the tears. “I’m dead. Only…not.”

Tim’s sharp intake of breath was the only sound he heard through the phone speaker for a few too-loud beats of his heart. His heart was still beating. He was still alive. It would be okay. It had to be okay.

“What do you mean?” asked Tim after a moment.

“I told you my parent’s portal didn’t work.”

“Yeah…?”

“Sam and Tucker wanted to see it. And Mom and Dad were depressed and haven’t been in the lab for like a week. So we went down. I… I…” The words wouldn’t come and Danny almost lost himself in the memories, but Tim started counting his breaths again. Danny listened and after a minute was able to continue.

“I entered the portal. They put the ‘on’ button inside. Who does that? But I tripped and hit the button. The portal opened up on top of me. I died. I know I did. But it didn’t take. I came back, too. Only now… I think I’m a ghost. Or part ghost. I’m human. I have to be. I still bleed and I have a heartbeat and I need to breathe. Only… not all the time. Sometimes I change. Into something else. Something not human. That doesn’t have a heartbeat or blood or…”

“Danny, are you safe? I’ll come get you. We can figure this out.”

“No! My parents love me. They forget me sometimes, but they love me. When they’re around, they ask questions and mom makes dinner and we play games and its good. They have done the most amount of research on ghosts of anyone in the world. I need the information they have.” His phone fell through his hand again. “Shit!” he cursed as he grabbed for it again. “I keep turning intangible. It makes me drop everything.”

“When did this happen?” Tim was talking slowly, his voice deliberately steady in a way Danny wasn’t used to.

“A few days ago. Sam or Tucker have been with me constantly since. But both their families needed them tonight. I seem to be mostly stable now. If I can just keep myself solid.” Danny laughed and he ignored how close it sounded to a sob. How did his life end up like this?

“The Justice League can help you. Or the Teen Titans if you would rather people closer to our age. We’ve dealt with people with powers before. We can help you learn to control them.”

“No!” It came out sharper than Danny meant it to. “My parents would find out. And they love me. They’d be fine with it. They would. But…” he trailed off. He couldn’t finish that sentence. He wouldn’t. He would not give voice to the fear that was growing in the back of his head. The one that got stronger when he remembered how his parents reacted the minute they realized the portal had started working. He pushed the memories of his mom laughing gleefully as she grabbed an ecto-gun and his dad set up the ecto-line to try and catch a ghost so they could dissect it.

“Okay, okay. No league. You said you turn intangible? What else happens? Maybe we can talk through this. Figure out ways to help you learn to control your powers. Can you send me some of your parent’s research?”

Danny’s breath came a little stronger. A plan. Tim would help him and they could make a plan. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll send you everything. I’m not at the computer now, but I’ll get it to you as soon as I can. Um. I have two forms. My normal self but also a ghost self. I can turn invisible and intangible. In my ghost form, sometimes my legs disappear and I just have a tail-cloud thing. Like Casper.” He laughed at how ridiculous this sounded. “Sam and Tuck took some pictures to document everything. I’ll try and send you those as well.”

“Thank you. That would help. Not how I imagined our face reveal…”

Danny snorted. “No. Can’t say this is what I imagined either.”

“Can you control your transformations?” It seemed Tim was getting down to business. Danny appreciated that; he needed someone to help him figure out what to do next.

“Full transformation, yeah. I seem to be able to. It’s not perfect, but I’m getting there. It’s the bleed over powers. They’re easier to control in my ghost form than my human one.”

“Bleed over powers. You mean the invisibility and intangibility?”

“Yeah. I dropped like three beakers in Chemistry lab yesterday. I’m not allowed to touch any glassware for the rest of the year.”

Tim whistled. “That’s impressive. Short term, do you have plastic at home? Cups, plates, all of it. Use that for the time being. If you drop it, no big deal.”

“We do still have some stuff from when Jazz and I were younger. Good idea.”

“Next, pay close attention to what happens when you become intangible. What’s going on around you, how are you feeling? Carry a notebook and write down everything you can think of for each instance. Teachers won’t think twice about you writing in a notebook during class, so do it as soon as you possibly can. Also write down the circumstances and feelings surrounding intentional instances. It’s only been a few days. You’ll be able to get this under control, Danny. I know you can.”

Danny took a deep breath. This time it was steadier. He had a plan. “You’re right. That’s perfect. I know Jazz has extra notebooks, I’ll get one from her. Thanks Tim.”

“Keep me updated? I want to hear from you every day. I don’t know if I trust your parents.”

“Will do. I think I’ll be getting my own laptop soon, so that’ll make it easier.”

“Good. I’m not kidding—every day, Danny. And I think we need a failsafe from your end, too. You’ve got Alfred’s number if I ever stop responding so you can get updates on me. I want someone to contact, too.” Tim’s tone brokered no disagreements, and Danny realized he was smiling sincerely for the first time since the accident.

“I… yeah. That’s a good idea. Contact Tucker. He’s always got some sort of device on him and will respond the quickest.” Danny quickly listed off Tucker’s email and phone number. “Now, can we talk about something else? I need a distraction. What’s been going on in your life?”

Danny listened as Tim talked about a mission he and Batman had gone on recently. He really had the best friends.

So now they're both on the vigilante train! God, I miss writing scenes with just 2 characters. Looking over this for a final editing pass, it's so easy when there's only two characters. Nothing else that I'm working on at the moment has fewer than seven people actively in the scene. Seven plus people with strong personalities.

----------

Next

(I also like writing angst and think I'm pretty decent at it which also made this scene easier.)

Tag List

@gremlin-bot, @bonebrokebuddy, @britcision, @lady-time-lord-, @welcometosasakiworld, @akikkobara, @phoenixdemonqueen, @dolfay, @skulld3mort-1fan, @we-ezer, @markus209, @sjrose1216, @onyxlightdragon, @dragonsrequiem, @jesus-camp-the-sequel, @spidey29phangirl, @kyrianclawraith, @evilminji, @introvert-even-on-the-internet, @emergentpanda-blog, @lexdamo, @v-inari, @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit, @longlivethefallen, @undead-essence, @xye-chan, @liandrin, @seraphinedemort

#dpxdc #danny fenton #tim drake #dead tired #danny is struggling #but he's got some good friends #and tim won't let him suffer alone #danny just has to accept the help he has

[radiance1]

Ok new random au idea thing.

So, the basis of this au is that Danny isn't actually as ok as he could've been after the portal incident, yes, he still has ghost powers and yes, he can switch between the two but is core is unstable.

It's fully formed yet lacks some of the key features of a regular ghost core, one of them being wherein they pull ectoplasm from the surroundings to keep themselves going but Danny's does not.

So him going ghost has a timer.

His parents also find out his secret when he couldn't keep the ghost transformation for long, and they don't try to kill him or anything, but they do pull him down to their lab to figure out if there was any way to reverse what happened to him.

Which there wasn't. But they did find out something else.

Right under Danny's heart rested a fully formed core. Which is not something that should be possible, it makes him physically weaker, less aware of his surroundings and slow in his movements.

They blame it on how his core is actively pulling in the ectoplasm in his blood needed to keep him alive to sustain his ghost half probably, but even that is a stretch considering how his ghost half isn't all that stable either.

At least compared to other ghosts.

So, they made it mandatory that Danny take shots of ectoplasm into his bloodstream consistently so his core wouldn't begin to draw the ectoplasm from his own blood. And it worked, Danny no longer felt so fatigued and could stay in his ghost form for far longer than he could before.

But Vlad, unlike him. Didn't need to take any shots of ectoplasm or anything of the sort, he was proper, genuine halfa. With all the perks of being both human and ghost with none of the drawbacks of Danny.

Vlad wasn't obsessed with Maddie here, no. He hated the both of them, he blamed them for the accident he got into and losing all those years of his life withering away in a hospital. So when he found they had a son, a son who was basically a feeble, weaker version of him.

He decided to take away something like they took away from him.

Danny was left in a remote location for hours on end, his core starting suck away the ectoplasm in his bloodstream until barely anything was left, and then it started taking the blood.

He was barely even coherent when his parents finally found him, injecting him with a syringe of ectoplasm to keep him stable enough until they got back to their lab. Jack and Maddie then decided to dig out a big hole, single out the life-giving effects of ectoplasm until there was nothing but that and dump him in it.

They did have to cut open his chest, to give his core proper access to the pool. They pretended not to notice how barely any blood sprang from the cut.

When they finally placed him inside, two things happened.

Danny's core was energized, supercharged, even.

Such supercharged energy exploded.

His latent ice abilities expelled from his core, covering the lab and everything in it. Before the entirety of Amity Park as well and a good chunk of the surrounding forests. Vlad was relatively unaffected, his fire core melting through the ice easily until seeing how said ice creeped back up no matter how much he burned through it.

So he decided to just turn his back and leave, it wasn't any skin off of his back whatever happened. Jack and Maddie probably also died from all the frost so really it kinda just saved him the trouble.

Time went on, and the ice encased world of Amity Park did not. Years passed as the ice slowly spread, the ectoplasm from the (somehow still activated) portal leaking through to cover the ice covered town. The ice spread further out into the forest, absolutely consuming it along with everything in it, the mass amounts of ectoplasm helped formed multiple ghosts though.

It was many, many years later until life stepped into the city again.

One Ra's Al Ghul.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #danny phantom #ra's al ghul #jack fenton #maddie fenton #okay parents Jack and Maddie Fenton #made this before bed so yuh

[coldresolve]

Your post made me think, you said abuse is “slow burn” and torture is “explosion” but what about cases of months or even years of torture? What would that be classified as? Because it’s not the interrogation type.

Wouldnt there be a point where the person is so damaged mentally and physically from the repeated pain and psychological torment that they just give up entirely? If they see absolutely no end? Like they dont interrogate him but just hurt him, out of a vendetta or something like that.

Im asking because a lot of stories i see here on tumblr are not about interrogation but mostly like a… “passion” kinda thing? And although i personally dont really like this whole “pet whump” concent (even writing it down it looks dumb), keeping someone locked for years and conditioning him with torture could possibly grind down a person’s will to basically nothing. It’s my personal opinion and just thinking about it, i feel like it would happen to me if i was in that situation. Like not torture once or twice but for months or years (given the fact that he stays alive of course)

What are your thoughts on that? (And again not pet whump i know what you think of that and honestly, same hahaha)

it would be classified as torture. i'd see it as a very intense long-time burn with a bunch of explosions along the way, i guess, if we're sticking to that metaphor.

fair warning, heavy subject matter: i'm going to talk about a historical case of long-term imprisonment and torture, including some stuff about suicide, sexual assault and executions. im trying not to get too graphic in my descriptions to not sensationalize it, but these were real events and i don't want to take away from how horrific it was, so. idk i guess im still figuring out how to balance those two things.

in 1941, the allies started engaging in conflict with the japanese imperial army throughout the pacific, which, among other conflicts japan had going at the time, resulted in the capture of prisoners of war, especially from 1942-1945. these POWs were held in camps mostly located on japanese soil or in the philipines, but they shifted around quite a bit as the war progressed and the japanese war machine got more organized, so throughout the months or sometimes years of their imprisonment, POWs were constantly moved from camp to camp, with no warning or explanation.

the japanese imperial forces famously viewed surrender as beneath contempt. you can imagine how that belief influenced their treatment of POWs.

you'll read accounts from the survivors of these camps about how POWs were fed rice soup infested with enough worms to move on its own, usually as the only meal they recieved in a day. the kinda shit you're happy to eat because you're starving to death. this wasn't the result of a food shortage, either. it was deliberate, because someone who is starving is less capable of fighting back. as a result, a lot of POWs and political prisoners in japan died of starvation. or, alternatively, disease or infection as a result of sleeping in tight quarters in rooms infested with bugs and vermin, or not having access to clean drinking water. sanitation was nonexistent.

rape of POWs was common. beatings, stimulated drownings, stress positions and other forms of torture, either as an "interrogation" method, punishment, or just for the hell of it in a lot of cases, were common, and often resulted in death. executions were common. the remains of the deceased were often mutilated.

and there's this thing about the cycle of violence...

This added to the rising tide of hatred and racial discrimination of the Japanese people on the home front. Due to the assumed military threat and the inability to verify at this time, 110,000-120,000 Japanese Americans were interned in the western United States. While torture was expressly forbidden by the US government, loss of property and dignity changed the lives of many US citizens of Japanese descent. (x)

but i digress.

when you read about the japanese POW camps, or the concentration camps used throughout the holocaust, or the forced labor camps of the USSR, or any other account of long-term torture, survivors often talk a lot about the fact that the human ability to adapt to extreme conditions like these is staggering. defiance is the norm with torture, and it comes in the face of being treated like someone who is less than human, in every aspect of life. escape attempts, attacking the guards, obstructing forced labor, sabotage, sneaking aid to other prisoners in need, stealing food or other necessities, and the list goes on and on and on. all of these things, at least to me, speaks to a belief in life, in the face of the most morbid fucking conditions you could imagine. human beings are really, really resilient, that's the thing.

and they'll also describe how some people just "gave up". some committed suicide. some just deteriorated rapidly, physically, once they'd lost the hope and will to survive. some collapsed doing physical labor and just layed there waiting to get shot in the head. that happens, too, and erasing that part of reality isn't fair. i don't think anyone has the right to think any worse of these people, or to consider them "weak". despite me being passionate about suicide prevention, i think the decision to die in extreme circumstances like this is understandable, and it's not something i would ever consider a moral or personal failure. this is not a question of being "conditioned". its the conscious decision, sometimes as an act of defiance in and of itself, to avoid being subjected to more torture.

torture destroys. it cannot create anything. and there is no such thing as controlling how it will affect someone. if you're aiming for "conditioning" or "brainwashing" - you can try to break someone down, and if you're successful in making them give up on life, which there's a good chance you won't be, even after years - you're not gonna be able to "replace" that hopelessness with something else. they're not gonna do what you want them to do, or believe what you want them to believe. why would they? they've given up. congratulations, that's the literal only thing you've achieved. and you can enjoy that achievement for as long as it takes them to kill themselves or deteriorate and die.

the effects that torture has on victims vary greatly from person to person, that it's not something torturers can predict, or "direct", or otherwise have any control over whatsoever. it's not just that the list of neurocognitive changes and mental/physical health issues that can be caused by torture is diverse. victims of torture vary in how they conceptualize their trauma, and the people who caused it. they deal with moral injury in different ways. they come to different conclusions about it. and no wonder - fitting something like torture into your view of humanity in general isn't particularly straightforward. a common trend is that torture survivors generally don't tend to speak very positively about their torturers. they might reach a point of understanding, or even forgiveness, after years of processing what was done to them. but this isn't exactly the same as excusing it, yknow. it's part of them healing from their trauma.

if you're interesting on reading about more long-term imprisonment and torture like this, there's a plethora of books out there. unbroken by laura hillenbrand is a biography of louis zamperini, and it specifically deals with the japanese POW camps and the historical context that surrounded them. the gulag archipelago by aleksandr solzhienitsyn talks a lot about the political and philosophical ideas that go into the use of torture and labor camps. a book i think you'd find especially valuable here is man's search for meaning by viktor frankl. he was a jewish psychiatrist and a holocaust survivor. he goes into the psychology both of those who "give up" and those whose hope perserveres. it's a pretty harrowing read, but it's one of those books that can genuinely change your philosophy on life in a pretty deep way.

to answer your question, yes, some people do "give up", for lack of a better way to put it. that happens. suicidal ideation can happen as the result of torture. but it is also not as simple as "it makes you give up eventually", because even disregarding the people who went on to survive and tell their stories - most of the POW deaths i've mentioned in this post did not happen as a result of them "giving up" - they died of starvation, or disease, or torture, or they were executed. people who were just as defiant as the ones who ended up surviving, who still had the will and the want to survive, and who held on to that hope until their last breath. humans are tough. unbelievably tough.

i think it's also important to talk about the whole concept of being "broken" here, because it's a thing that comes up with discussions of people "giving up" because of torture. but this post is long, and you can probably imagine why i don't think it's a good idea to describe human beings as "broken", so.

in conclusion,

take a guess at how i view the ideas that underline the "pet whump" genre. lol just a take wild shot in the dark

#asks #torture discussions #torture cw #suicide cw

[sburbian-sage]

Native Witch of Breath here, also been a Witch of Might and Witch of Void, though currently a Heir of Hope. I gotta say, I personally put a lot of stock in familiar theory! I just don't think it applies to every Witch in every session, and the was that cherub was doing it was pretty crazy.

It can be part of the progression of a cryptical class, I think. Witches can be hard to understand, so they in turn get something that's usually not even the same species, or thinks very differently to them, that *they* have to deal with not being able to understand. (Not sure if Mages have an equivalent? Maybe they do and it's just not as obvious.)

It also ties into the whole "Witches usually prototype something terrible" thing. Often the sprite actually is the familiar- a familiar doesn't need to stay with you the entire game, just long enough for the game to try and get the point across.

My first session, I prototyped my pet bird that died. It was a very touching reunion, but it was SO eager to leave, and I had to keep convincing it to stay, until I eventually realized that sprites leaving was part of the game, and that as a Breath player I shouldn't be restricting something's freedom anyway, even if it was to much of a birdbrain to really explain itself.

In the session I was a Witch of Might, it was admittedly a little more metaphorical. I was going out of my skull trying to understand the "Might is water" thing, and so I took the glitch FAQ's advice, and went to stare at an ocean.

And then after doing that for an hour I lost it because I was under a lot of stress in general and this was the last straw and blew up the beach (bombkind FTW). But after I was done, I saw all the water, pooling in the craters I left, flowing together to join the whole, and suddenly something clicked. After that point, it was really hard to conceptualize water as NOT being alive, an ever-present being in the vapor around me, that I had to learn how to ask for help. Like how the water could only pool once I made the craters for it, I needed to figure out that same kinda stuff for other situations.

...And than as the Witch of Void, I didn't have one. Which, I guess makes sense, but I HAVE heard of Void Witches that do have a familiar, so whatever.

So yeah, I guess I don't have any solid proof here, I get that any of these things could have happened to any player- but my point is, it's how Witches RELATE to these things, that's different. Every player has a sprite that leaves them, but a Witch may find that it's oddly related to their aspect. Every player has to figure out their aspect and listen to it's whisperings, but as a Witch I practically saw it as another player in it's own right. And then sometimes maybe it just doesn't happen, I dunno.

Finally, I think this is a stretch, but it might even be part of why Witches get that weird crazy boost to gardening? Plants are also living things that are different from you, so a plant could be your familiar, and it would be bad if it died or never got planted before it could fulfill it's role?

Very interesting. Or because you discussed plants, intreesting.

If I'm interpreting this correctly, it seems like Familiar Theory doesn't relate to an actual game construct, so much as it refers to a sort of (para)psychological event, not unlike the Third Man Factor. It's not that Witch players somehow gain access to special pets when that's normally impossible, it's that the cryptical nature of Witches is isolating, being deliberately obtuse and interacting with the game in such a manner that no other player could relate to the Witch even if it wasn't mechanically penalized. So the Witch, in a way, conceptualizes a companion or other meaningful relationship who they can relate to (alleviating the isolation) and who communicates with them or otherwise imparts meaning in an obtuse, nonobvious, or cryptic manner (acting as a Witch to the Witch, as you said, or perhaps being a Class-analogue of the normally Aspect-oriented Whispers).

If anything, this seems somewhat comparable to the various SBURB mental disorders. Not to imply that you're a repeated sufferer of mental delusions, mind, only that it's a special psychological phenomenon that could only really be understood in the context of SBURB. Not to mention that the mental disorders are all deleterious in nature (hence "disorder"), while Familiar Theory seems mostly positive.

Emphasis on mostly, because as we know the Cherub Witch of Hope is off her rocker. With all of this in mind though, I wonder if it's possible to "diagnose" her, in a way. She called her brother "a beast to be tamed", said that "controlling him was [her] only hope", and that he was her "reward" for making it through the session. She's not currently a Witch of Hope, I think, that's her Native Title and I don't know what she is currently (her brother's Native Title is unknown but he's currently a Mage of Rage). A fair amount of this boils down to her believing that her brother is innately evil or destructive (even though he seems pretty pleasant), but how much of this relates to Familiar Theory? "Reward" implies a certain amount of possessiveness, less like she's the student and he's the teacher, more like she's the owner and he's the pet. As far as "Familiar Theory as the Third Man Factor" goes, SBURB is already stressful, and a duo session would be doubly stressful at least. Especially because only one "side" is active at a time, halving the rate at which progress is made, and depriving an already loney Witch of anyone she could possibly talk to. I think I have two theories now.

Theory #1 is that she underwent a sort of stress meltdown in her first session, and underwent "Familiar Theory" towards her brother as a coping mechanism. She ascribes negative intention to him, and felt like she was their only chance at survival, with him as a malicious millstone. As an active harbinger of complexification, wielding rejection, she began putting up a facade of saccharine disposition, and adopted a drive to sublimate her alter ego. A strengthening of willpower that let her fully embody active Hope, pushing against the odds and rejecting any undesired outcomes, including those of an unsuccessful session, and her brother achieving dominance (or equilibrium). Of course, abusers derive power from mistreating others, so she isn't letting her "Familiar" go unless she can be forced to. This theory accounts for everything, of course. His needing to be tamed (malicious intentions ascribed), controlling him is her only hope (internalizing rejection), her reward (someone she has power over), and the material conditions for a Witch to seek a Familiar.

Theory #2, of course, is that she isn't even understanding Familiar Theory correctly, and is instead interpreting it uber-literally. This theory accounts for her being a skeevy weirdo with a loose grip on reality, because she is the Cherub Pet Gal.

#sburb #replay value au #witch class #familiar theory #cherub #coplayer drama

[gabby-i-guess]

ADHD PSA #3: Bath time 🛀

So I just moved into a new house, and for whatever reason, the gremlins living in my brain have decided that the new shower has ‼️BAD VIBES‼️ and therefore will only agree to let me have a shower when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. I've been trying to figure out ways to bribe them into liking the shower, so here are a few ways I've tried to make my shower ADHD accessible.

1) DIY waterproof phone holder

Yes I know I sound like an iPad kid, but if having an audiobook/music/YouTube video playing while I shower lets me shower, I'm ok with that.

All you do is take a sturdy ziplock bag, pop your phone and a large bull clip inside, and zip it up tight (give it a lil squeeze to make sure there are no gaps). Now you can clip the bag onto your shower caddy from the inside, or another ledge or something (get creative), and voila - your phone stays totally dry and you stay entertained. You can even somewhat use your phone through the plastic, so you can change songs etc. When you're done, unclip the unopened bag, take it to a dry place, and you can open it and take your phone out there.

Here's a photo for demo:

2) Sort your shit out

Personally, I get super overwhelmed by all the steps in self-care tasks, including but not limited to showers. Routines like that involve like 10 steps that call on skills ADHDers really struggle with, like decisions, organisation, memory, executive functioning, and planning. So I've made things as simple as they can possibly be for me.

I have 4 little baskets in my cupboard for each of my regular routines:

morning (with makeup, sunscreen, moisturiser, and deoderant)

evening (with vitamin C serum, makeup wipes, pimple patches, and floss)

regular shower (with antibacterial soap, shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner, and a hair brush)

and ✨fancy shower✨ (with a razor, shaving cream, nice smelling soap, body moisturiser, curl cream, and a candle)

Now I can just yank out whatever basket I want and use whatever is in it on autopilot. Then, when I'm done, I can dump it all back into the basket and shove it all back into the cupboard. This method reduces how overwhelmed I get by so goddamn much that my fucking dentist commented on the noticeable improvement in my teeth, because I had actually consistently had the energy to floss. And when you're consistently flossing - well, it's only up from here baby 😎

3) DIY bath

The sensory experience of showering can be truly horrendous. And while I can't fix a lot of it, I can at least make it a little less... much. Yk?

So here's my solution:

Yup.

I got myself a blow up pool.

For my shower.

I am officially the coolest person alive.

This baby was $10 at Kmart, and is 80cm wide and 18cm deep - basically, cross your legs and it will not quite cover your thighs. To provide a little more insulation and some padding, I also popped an old towel under the pool. It's really not much, but it means I can sit down in comfortably warm water and splish-splosh myself clean. As opposed to showering, which (especially in a large bathroom/shower like I have now) is alternately way too cold and way too hot, way too loud, way too (I literally don't know how else to say it) "fast", way too out of control (so much splashing and water going everywhere, UGH), and just kinda generally way too much.

A bonus perk: I can finally use some nice pink bubble bath bombs from last Christmas 🥰🥰

I really hope one of these tips helps one of you out there. Keeping yourself clean is one of those "basics" that neurotypical/mentally well people don't realise is actually really hard.

You are doing a truly awesome job, and I'm truly, truly proud of you. Sending you love and warm, clean, sudsy thoughts ❤️

#my posts #mental health #adhd #neurodivergent #womenwithadhd #audhd #autism #burnout #adhd psa #ADHD PSA #life hacks #adhd hacks

[gunebuggieswriting]

̶Good Bad Habits Run In The Family: Chapter Eight

DPxDC Crossover, Jason Adopts Danny AU

[AO3] [FF.net] [Wattpad]

First Chapter || << Last Chapter || Next Chapter >>

Danny was starting to feel the effect of being mostly by himself for a week. His hair was starting to feel greasy and matted, making him cringe every time he went to run his fingers through the mess. He was hungry, and the bare amount of food he was finding wasn’t making him feel better, but he was lucky it wasn’t hurting worse than it did with his ghost side helping. He was exhausted and tired of venturing the city, when it was obviously bent on keeping him trapped. He had a feeling it was much more than him just simply being lost, there was no way he was just that hopeless.

Being alone also allowed his thoughts to grow whenever he wasn’t moving or distracting himself some other way. He wanted to turn his mind off, for it to stop replaying scenes that should have never happened. He didn’t want to forget Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and everybody else who was gone, but he also had left Amity behind for a reason, he didn’t want to remember how they became gone. It was conflicting and it hurt so damn bad that his eyes would begin to burn and he would furiously wipe at them to keep the water works at bay.

A few times he couldn’t stop the sobs that tore through his throat, or the tears that would fall down his face. Sometimes he would fly high up in the air and scream and curse out the world, the pain building up in his chest overflowing into his very being. The sky never judged him for it, and from up there the city looked distant, like he wasn’t stuck there. He tried leaving from high up in those endless skies, but he would either become distracted by the beautiful stars that he could see from above the smog, or simply become trapped once again in the city.

Danny knew something else was happening, and he had a feeling it was most likely supernatural. He knew he had felt the ectoplasm the city was baked in, but he never truly gave it more thought. Now he was wondering if he should’ve, as there was something keeping him here, and he was sure it had something to do with the ever present ectoplasm. It was almost like the city was alive, and not in the sense from the very active people residing in it.

Even if something supernatural was forcing him to stay, he didn’t know why. Why would something want him here? He could feel a tug in his core that subconsciously dragged him back to the very city he no longer wanted to be in. Did the thing want him to hurt? Did it want him to constantly worry and be stuck in his thoughts? Did it want him to be in this much pain caused by his own brain? The longer he was here, the more he had to stress about the GIW finding him or the city’s own vigilantes finally figuring him out and his past. He knew they were smart people, with capabilities to access a lot of his information, including the things that happened in his hometown.

His hometown…

Danny could never go back there. Fenton was no more there. Phantom was a problem there. He had no home town. Nowhere to go. No person to return to.

He was brought out of those thoughts by a drop on his hand that was clutching his shirt with so much pressure that it looked like he was trying to rip it off. It was then that he noticed he was crying, tears slowly streaming down his face as he stared down at his ragged figure. He was dirty and shaking, his stomach rumbling lowly, demanding for something.

Damn, he really was a mess, wasn’t he?

That was all it took for him to break down once again. He trembled and slumped over, sobs racking his whole body as he cried as quietly as he could get himself to at the moment. His calloused and filthy hands clenched his pants as he tugged his knees closer, trying to block out the world with his body alone.

How he wished he could turn back the time and to that day that everything that went wrong. He never should have indulged into his selfish wants and caused all of this mess. He should’ve saved his friends, his family, everybody he hurt. If he could go back in time maybe he should go back more to that fateful day that he acquired his powers and the curse that came with it. Then none of this could’ve happened in the first place. He wouldn’t have turned into the monster he never wanted to be.

Another loud heart wrenching sob escaped his wobbling lips, which tasted of grime and blood from him biting it to try and keep his cries in. He sucked in a breath that he wished didn’t belong to him, trying to fill his lungs that were beginning to ache.

He wished he had died with them, or the other day in the alley when Red Hood found him. Actually, dying completely in that portal is what should’ve happened in the first place. Instead he couldn’t even die right, and now he was stuck in the precarious teeter that was life and death, balancing on the thin rope like the freak he was. He didn’t want to be a halfa, or a ghost at all. He hated himself, for who he was, for the things he was capable of, for what he has done.

If his parents caught him or actually got rid of him with their ghost weapons, everybody would’ve been better off. They were right, ghosts really are heartless creatures, he was proof of that. Maybe he should turn himself into the GIW, afterall, he has truly committed something worthy of whatever punishment they deemed fit.

It wasn’t fair that he got to live, even if it was only half way, it wasn’t right. What was the point of anything anymore? What was driving him to continue his pitiful half life? To continue faking that he belonged in this world, that he wasn’t an imposter to what it truly meant to be human.

. . .

He didn’t mean that, he knew it, but he felt like he did as another cry threatened to come out of his mouth as he struggled to keep it down by worrying his lip and causing blood to drip down from his small fangs. Another thing that he hated of himself, another thing that reminded him of who he was.

After several minutes of continuous sobbing and similar thoughts running in his brain, the teen took a deep breath in. He held his breath for a few seconds before releasing it in a big huff. He did that repeatedly for a few minutes, his breathing slowly evening, only breaking from a few leftover sobs and trembles.

It took a bit, much more than he would’ve liked, but he eventually got himself to calm down. He has been dealing with these breakdowns for the entire week. They would start at random moments, or any time he thought of something that sparked a memory or a different dark thought he carefully tried to keep locked up tight in his head. He would always have to get himself to breathe, a tactic he learned, and focus on that solely. He was tired of these thoughts in his head that caused him to feel so bad that he wanted to bury himself and never come out to the world again.

Every time he got himself to stop with the useless crying, he felt so exhausted that he would go find somewhere to safely sleep it off. He found himself sleeping more and more, and now it felt like no matter how much he slept he could never get enough, always leaving him tired and hazily getting through the day. He felt like he didn’t have a purpose anymore, other than to cumbersomely drag his feet and delve into all of his heavy thoughts.

He didn’t want to live like this, to be forever stuck in this life of drifting from place to place, scavenging for whatever food he could find. He missed having a home, a place he felt somewhat safe at, somewhere he would never have to leave.

Not wanting to cry again after just getting himself to stop, he stood up on wobbly feet, his whole body and mind telling him to lay back down and never get up. He ignored it, pushing it all away as he began walking in a random direction to stop himself from thinking. He allowed his eyes to carelessly wander the streets, taking everything he saw in, but it was nothing he hadn’t really seen before. He was becoming familiar with Gotham, the city becoming less like a jumbled up maze, and more so a maze that had no exits. He had been moving from place to place for days now, never staying in one spot too long in fear that somebody would try to bother him.

Not like that worked, as he already had multiple people try to mug or harm him, which he usually dealt with by running or fighting back if he had to. Not to mention the fact that he had come in contact with a variety of vigilantes, some of them more worrisome than others. He didn’t know how to feel about half of them from what he knew at the moment about them.

The pressure he felt from Signal made him cautious, as he knew there was something off with the other, if he couldn’t already tell from the way he almost appeared to be a ghost. Red Robin was laced with almost as much death as Red Hood, but it was much less prominent than the older man. He was wary of Red Robin like he was of Signal, but it was for a different reason, mainly the whole closely following and documenting him. He felt the death radiating off of the teen for several days, at random times of the day, and every time he ran. Well, that was until the last time in which he finally confronted the other. After that he hasn’t felt the same feeling again, allowing him to breathe easier.

Robin on the other hand, was a vigilante he quite liked. Not only was the kid absolutely adorably defiant and feisty, but he was much easier to be around. His presence felt much more closer to Red Hood’s, giving a more comforting effect, as he was used to Red Hood. Thinking about Red Hood, Danny didn’t know what to do.

He felt awful for straight leaving the man with little to no explanation, only a terribly vague note. Their encounter the other day didn’t help either. The bittersweet farewell was something that he wasn’t expecting when he got close to the man, but it made his core and heart ache either way.

Not feeling any better, he stopped and finally allowed his eyes to process his surroundings. He hadn’t been paying attention to where he was walking, letting the city his feet go wherever they led him. Now that he was trying to decipher where he was at, he saw that he seemed to be in a more run down neighborhood. The buildings all seemed old, several crumbling in on themselves, and there was trash laying about, littering the road and alleys. Nobody but the homeless could be seen, even though the sun was still up in the sky somewhere. Danny has long lost his sense of time or direction, and he couldn’t track the sun anymore when the polluted air and constant clouds blocked every part of the sky.

Not wanting to stay standing there looking up at the sky like an idiot, Danny continued to walk. He really should be finding somewhere to rest, but a part of him insisted on walking, so he kept going. What was the harm in it at this point?

It wasn’t until he finally felt like stopping that he realized where he was. Right in front of him was the very warehouse he had left around a week ago. It felt like forever ago now, those days seeming more like distant memories from the gray colored world he stumbled through. He couldn’t help but remember the last thing that Red Hood told him.

“Fine then Danny, just know that you can always come to me if anything happens.”

The man’s words echoed in Danny’s mind, and his eyes teared up a bit once more. He thought about the past week since he’s been on his own. How much he craved for a shower, good food, and somebody to talk to. He had all that and more from Red Hood, who had offered it so carelessly. The man never asked for anything back, and let the teen leave just like that, without any grievances or problems. He even offered to take him back in again, to help him again, even though he knew nothing of Danny.

Danny wanted to take that offer right about now. He’s been feeling so hopeless without anybody there to guide him. How stupid was that? He couldn’t even take care of himself. He had all this power, yet he couldn’t do anything to help himself. He really was a mess.

He stared longingly at the warehouse, wanting to return to a few weeks ago, when it was just him and Red Hood. It was much easier then, when he wasn’t fighting to keep half of himself alive or all of his bottled up tears from spilling into the open air. He had liked reading for the first time in his life. He had liked the food that the anti-hero brought him, a lot of it seeming home made with so much effort that Danny sometimes felt guilty eating it as quickly as he did. He had liked having somebody to talk to, somebody who didn’t press for answers that he didn’t feel comfortable saying.

He liked staying with Red Hood.

He shouldn’t go back though, it would be selfish of him. To go back on his words and force the baggage that he came with onto another person. He couldn’t take advantage of another person he cared about again, continuously taking whatever they offered, never giving anything back.

Sighing with heavy lungs, he turned around to leave, his feet moving slowly. His chest became more and more compressed with every step he took. He wanted to turn back around and enter the warehouse, to look and see if he could find the man, tell him that he wanted to stay with him again. Though he wouldn’t let himself, already set on leaving the other alone, and, well, he was known for being stubborn.

“Danny?” He froze when he heard his name come out of a terrifyingly familiar modified voice. “What are you doing here? I thought you would’ve been gone by now.”

Danny slowly turned around to face Red Hood who was walking towards him, coming out of a building he had just passed. “I, well, I…” He began, his hands moving as he tried to explain himself. He couldn’t tell Red Hood that he was somehow stuck in the city, that no matter where he went he couldn’t leave. He also didn’t want to admit to the man that he wanted to return to his place with him. “I don’t know.” He gave up with a defeated sigh, slumping over and looking at the ground. He willed himself not to tear up again, already feeling his eyes starting to warm up.

“When’s the last time you ate, it’s only been a week and you already look more like a twig.” Red Hood commented, his accidental worried tone being covered by the modifier, which he was grateful for. Danny winced at the words, subconsciously wrapping his arms over his stomach as he twisted his body a bit in an attempt to hide his pitiful state. Red Hood immediately noticed and became worried, and a bit pissed, mainly at himself for both asking such an insensitive thing and not realizing that the teen probably hasn’t eaten much since he left. “Alright, we’re having dinner. I have food at my place, come on.”

He said turning and walking back to his apartment. He knew he probably shouldn’t allow anybody in his own personal apartment, but it was the only place that he kept a good amount of food he was certain wasn’t spoiled. He also didn’t want to overwhelm Danny by taking him somewhere with a group of people, which really limited it down to his apartment. It didn’t matter to him, he trusted that Danny wouldn’t try anything.

Danny, on the other hand, was completely surprised and it took a few seconds to realize what Red Hood had said and to catch up as the man walked. His mouth watered at the thought of food, and it was then he realized how dry his mouth felt as well. His lips were no longer bleeding, but they were cracked and dry from the frequent biting and lack of water. Hopefully he would be given some water too, as he doesn’t know if he could swallow much food with how closed and dry his throat felt. It was like a desert formed right inside his mouth.

Following Red Hood back to wherever he was taking him, Danny thought about how much he must trust the other to blindly follow him. He was extremely hungry and parched, maybe that was why he was so willing. Or he could be actually trusting Red Hood after everythings he’s done for him.

They got to Red Hood’s apartment, which was on the top floor of a renovated complex that he had fixed up. Danny walked inside, looking around the space he was now in, noticing how comfortable he immediately felt. It wasn’t too filled, or too empty, with just enough personality that somebody could tell that a person lived here. It didn’t look like what he had imagined the anti-hero’s place to be, he never thought it would be this homey. He liked it though.

They first walked into the small living room, which had a large opening to a small kitchen, and a hallway leading to a couple of rooms. Red Hood went straight to the kitchen, and Danny didn’t waste any time to enter right after him, as the teen didn’t know if he was allowed to be alone in the other’s living space. He felt like he was intruding, that he shouldn't be here.

“Welcome to my place. I know it isn’t much, but it’s home.” The man said as he rummaged through his cabinets and fridge, looking for something for the two of them to eat while Danny awkwardly stood to the side near the doorway. Then Hood froze, and tilted his head. It was like that for a minute, and he kept tossing his head back and forth, like he was arguing with himself, then quit and walked to the bar. He unbuckled his helmet and started taking it off, making Danny’s eyes widen with surprise, then he put the red item on the counter top. “I don’t really feel like eating with that on, plus, it was about time you saw my handsome face.”

Red Hood looked up, and Danny stared at his face, his eyes still wide. Red Hood, the well known crime lord, had just taken off his helmet in front of Danny, showing his face. He weirdly had a domino underneath, but still! It was something that Danny couldn’t believe the man trusted him with, on top of allowing him in his apartment.

“I know, I’m beautiful.” He said from Danny staring quietly for so long, before spinning around and going back to preparing what looked like was going to be a grilled cheese sandwich from the bread, cheese, and butter out. “You can sit down at the bar if you want, instead of quietly standing in the corner like a vampire.”

“Yeah, okay.” Danny awkwardly responded, quickly shuffling over to the bar seats and carefully sitting himself in one of them. Red Hood turned on the stove, plopping two slices of buttered bread on the pan and watched it. Danny didn’t want to sit in silence, stuck only with his thoughts and the sizzle of the pan, so he opened his mouth to talk. “Why are you so nice to me?”

“Hmm, well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be.” Red Hood said casually, shrugging his broad shoulders as he flipped over one of the sandwiches to toast the other side. “You seem like a good kid, I don’t want you to die on the streets.”

Only if Danny could die that way. “How are you so sure that I’m a good kid? For all you know I could be selling drugs and beating up others for money.”

“Oh yeah, like a twig like you could do anything like that. You’re not even from Gotham.” Red Hood replied with a flat tone, glad that his voice was no longer being modified anymore so he could speak properly. He knew that Danny could possibly do something if he wanted, but it’s been several weeks and the brat hasn’t tried anything, so he felt like he wouldn’t at this point. He had a gut feeling the teen never would.

Danny hummed noncommittally, thinking about how he could easily harm others if he wanted. He’s done it before. “So you making grilled cheeses?”

“No, I’m making pancakes, what does it fucking look like?” Red Hood said sarcastically as he flipped over the sandwiches again. “They’re about done by the way.”

“Good, because I’m hungry for some of your food.” Danny said honestly while laying his head on his arms on the bar top, his stomach growling at the perfect moment, driving his point home.

“I bet you are. What the hell were you thinking staying on the streets with nowhere to go? I already told you Gotham isn’t a good place to be, especially without a home.” The man scolded, taking the chance to try and talk some sense into the teen, and get some answers at the same time.

“I was trying to leave, but let’s just say that it seems that I need to stay here for a bit.” Danny said, his face turning red from embarrassment at his lack of good reasoning.

“And you decided that the best way to do that was to just wander around alone on the streets? You could’ve been kidnapped, or mugged, or hell, even killed!” Red Hood continued to reprimand the poor boy, pointing his spatula at the teen.

The not so funny thing was the fact that Danny had to deal with all of those things the entire last week he has been on the streets. “I know! But I just didn’t know what to do!”

“Well, you can’t stay on the streets. Especially if you’re not eating, can’t have you any more of a twig than you already are shortstack.” Red Hood said with finality, narrowing his eyes before going back to the food, which he was preparing to put on a couple of plates.

Danny chewed nervously on his lip again, sliding down his chair a bit as he looked away. Red Hood was right. No matter how much Danny wanted to deny it. He couldn’t stay on the streets if he was going to stay in Gotham. Could he stay with Red Hood then? He did already offer for him to stay with him, or was that offer off the table now? Did the man even want him to stay?

A delicious smell attacked Danny’s nose as a plate was set in front of him, his mouth watering even more as his eyes became glued to the food. “Here you go brat, enjoy.” Red Hood said before, also sitting down a glass of water and his own food and drink before sitting right next to Danny.

Danny didn’t hesitate to take a big gulp of water before picking up the sandwich and taking a massive bite out of it. He barely chewed before swallowing, his hunger spiking from the taste of food in his mouth as he craved for more. He quickly filled that craving by eating the rest of the sandwich and drinking the rest of the water. He sat back, pretty much fulfilled and more satisfied than he felt in a week. A plate was pushed towards him, and he noticed that it was Red Hood’s untouched sandwich.

“Eat it, I’m sure you’re still hungry. Plus I’m not that hungry at the moment since I ate lunch pretty late.” Red Hood said after watching the kid tear apart the grilled cheese much like he did when he first found him with that spaghetti. It was true that he ate lunch late with his commanders, as he’s been in meetings with them all day planning on how to forward his plan on fixing up Crime Alley. It was actually the reason he was able to catch Danny at the time he did.

“No, no, I’m good. Please, go ahead and eat it. I promise I’m not hungry!” Danny quickly denied, pushing back the plate. He didn’t want to take Red Hood’s food after already eating his own that the man made. That would just be rude and not very good guest courtesy.

“Brat, if you do not eat this right now, I will fight you.” When Danny looked like he was about to argue some more, Red continued. “I swear, I’m not hungry right now. Eat it.”

Danny tried his hardest to argue, to tell Red Hood that he didn’t want it, but he eventually gave in. He did still feel like eating more, and the first grilled cheese tasted so good. He took a bite out of the sandwich, more slowly this time, getting a better taste of the flavor instead of devouring it in mere seconds.

Red Hood had refilled the teen’s cup, who gratefully drank it again after finishing the second sandwich. It was then that Red Hood decided he couldn’t let Danny go back to the streets, to starve and dehydrate like he had been doing. He saw a bit of himself with Danny, a street kid with nowhere to go, and just like he would’ve wanted all that time ago, he wanted to give Danny a place to be at and be safe. “Stay with me.” He blurted out, not giving it any more thought.

Danny almost choked the third cup of water he was drinking, swallowing thickly before putting the cup down and looking up at Red Hood with wide eyes. “What?”

“Stay in this apartment with me. I have an extra room and plenty of food. You won’t have to be on the streets and I won’t have to go gray early.” Jason quickly added, trying his hardest not to scare Danny away again. He put on a teasing grin. “I promise I won't bite, unlike somebody.”

“Are you sure? What about your secret identity and everything else?” Danny asked, his eyes gleaming with barely restrained hope and happiness.

Jason, seeing that barely noticeable hope, becomes very sure. He took off his domino mask and looked Danny straight into his icy blue eyes that somehow grew wider. He put on another smile, and spoke with confidence. “The name’s Jason.”

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #dc x dp #dp x dc fic #dc x dp fic #dp x dc fanfic #dc x dp fanfic #dp x dc fanfiction #dc x dp fanfiction #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp crossover #dp x dc au #dc x dp au #dp dc crossover #my fic #mine #jason adopts danny au

[vivaciouscynner]

Angella

I've seen a lot of arguments against this idea of mine, but I would actually like Angella to be canonically immortal - as mentioned by Glimmer in Season 1. I think it would be a great continuation of the show to have Entrapta "pick up a signal" after being taken out of Despondos; after being returned to the "wider universe". Do you not understand how much I need this? No..., that's not right. Do you not understand how much YOU need this?

Consider this:

Entrapta, in all her glory, now has safe access to all of Prime's tech which apparently has portal technology. Combined with her knowledge of First One's portal tech, her research while activating the portal with Hordak, and the said new found access to even more advanced tech and basically an army of assistance (thanks clones), it would be logical to realize there's probably a weird anomaly floating between multiverses. And that anomaly? Yeah, it's Angella.

Before you go all, "SHE'S DEAD, LET HER BE DEAD IN PEACE!"

My answer: NO! Don't be a jerk face. It's really moving and BETTER if she's alive. And consider it's possible because even Razz got to twitch between TIME! That was never really explained and the Angella experience makes more sense, so let's continue on why.

First of all, think about how this could be the first big mission after the war. People start seeing weird glitchy behavior but just subtle enough that they thought it was in their heads. But Entrapta finds something and assembles everyone [important] to discuss it. After they argue about how dangerous and insane it is, Entrapta let's out a big and cheerful, "Oh well, if you don't find out what it is, realities will continue to become less stable in order correct itself by either destroying this world or something worse. The anomaly needs to be in SOME universe. At least that's the theory anyway. <Pause Pause Pause> ISN'T SCIENCE FUN!" Catra will have to stand in and wrap it up with, "So if we do nothing, we all die, if we do something maybe only some of us die?" Then Entrapta shrieks "YUP!"

The team assembles in micro teams, BFS, Princess Squad, Rehabilitated Clones (you have no idea how funny this would be). Everyone's assigned like a quadrant to investigate, but the longer they stay there, the faster the corruption and instability becomes.

When they get in some quadrant to investigate, things change like the crystal castle manipulating memories, except it's that we get a glimpse of the portal reality that Catra opened in S4. Catra is watching herself - her corrupted self - and she starts breaking down. Tail goes bushy, her heart races. Adora sees something else. Adora sees Catra just before she opens the portal. The moment where Shadow Weaver binds her with Glimmer's siphoned power. Moments where they hadn't talked about with each other. Everyone starts seeing different realities or past selves as these are all colliding. They're all linked to themselves and they can't get themselves out of it.

UNTIL

Razz - good ol' lady Razz - being her bat shit crazy self, she guides them along the way out of these realities. When they try to have a moment to look at each other filled with regret or guilt or both, Razz just interrupts, "THERE'S NO TIME! WE MUST MOVE QUICKLY!"

And Razz is now bouncing over weird magical cliffs and foliage and what not that randomly keep popping in and out. Everyone is having the hardest time trying to catch up all the while Razz is just, "maybe do some squats when you get home! I'm 1090 years old, move your ass!" Anyway, they all eventually get to some magical safe zone (why not) and Razz is like, the thing you need to fix is over there. She points in a direction and everyone looks, and then Razz just... disappears.

And everyone goes towards this figure and as they get closer they recognize her. Angella. And Glimmer is just like, WHAT THE FUCK! She's ready to bolt.

There's a bunch of different ways I could have this reunion, but lets skip that.

Angella's back but she's kinda maybe not in the best of minds. She's spaced out. A little underwhelmed. Probably thinking the team is not even real. Very calm demeanor, 1000 yard stare, the whole shebang.

To add to the drama, they're lost. Not just a little lost. There was no way to track where the hell they were going with Razz moving over random areas that kept popping in and out. They can either stay in the magical safe zone and wait for starvation or hope a miracle happens before that time.

Glimmer tries to take the opportunity to talk to her. To explain that, "Dad's not dead." And Angella just gives this dismissive, "Hm. What I wouldn't give to see my Glimmah and husband again." Adora's trying to make some connection with Swift Wind. Bow's hitting his tracker pad to no avail. It goes back to Gimmer just talking to her through tears because it's like talking to a wall. Catra's watching from a distance with tears of her own.

This is why it would be important to have Angella alive. Catra is forced to confront an action she wasn't even aware she was the direct cause of. It was never Catra's intent to specifically trap Angella because the only thing on her mind at the time was just "destroy everything, nothing matters." But here we are, she realizes it more than she ever had before. Catra confronts her. Tells Angella it was her. That she is the reason Angella was here, but she promises to make it up to her. To take her home. Angella just looks right back at her. Emotionless. She finally says, "A child of the horde. A face I recognize, but haven't seen in ages. That's strange." She huffs a laugh. "Maybe these illusions are becoming sentient."

Adora has to interrupt, she found swifty, but it's too dangerous for him to come to them for fear of getting lost. So she has to follow her strong bond with him to get back home. The path back is trecherous and Angella is barely humoring them by tagging along and stopping to quite literally smell the flowers of random environments as they walk back. Strange creatures aim to attack them. Members of the Princess squad start coming in one or two at a time to help as they get closer back. And finally they reach the exit.

We could add some more tension like, Angella still resisting but that's boring. So throw in the whole, well she pulled the sword, she really is trapped, but we can resolve that with She-Ra wooo. We can have Glimmer force teleport her through the exit. Whatever. Let's say they eventually make it through.

Then we gotta have a small main section where Angella is taking her time believing she's really home. This is hurting Glimmer because even though she has her mom back, she doesn't have her mom back. This is hurting Micah for the same reason. The fact he's even there is so hard to explain to Angella. It's hard on Catra because it's just a reminder of the huge fuck up that she was trying grow and move on from. Adora and Bow are both in disarray over their wives.

Anyway, lots of angsty stuff, but it CAN end happily. Angella gets better. Slowly believes that she's home. Maybe not her home but believing it's an alternate version of it at first. Things don't glitch into something else every short distance away.

Angella doesn't believe the war with the Horde is over. She's often found in the war room waiting for her General to give her updates but none come, none to give. Micah tries to explain what happened at Beast Island and how he was rescued.

Catra's been avoiding Glimmer whenever she comes into view until Glimmer teleports herself right in front of Catra and confronts her.

"Hey!" Glimmer shouts. "What?" Catra says looking away. "Why are you avoiding me?" "I-I'm not, I just- I'm busy" she tries to walk away but Glimmer teleports again. "Tell me what's going on with you!" "Nothing. Everything's fine!" tries to walk away. Teleports again. "STOP DOING THAT!" "Talk!" "I can't stand looking at your mother! Okay?! I can't stand I did that to her. To you! I can't stand who I was. I can't stand what's happened to me! What I became to do that! I- I- I hate that I was making progress and- and- all of that guilt and PAIN is BACK! AND YOU'RE MY FRIEND!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? JUST STAY AWAY!"

Glimmer just hugs her as Catra's struggling to get away and then breaks down sobbing.

Anyway, Catra's trying explain she's not trying to make this all about herself. She was avoiding glimmer to literally avoid making her own guilt a topic. She didn't want to add to Glimmer's troubles. She didn't want to be an added burden even though she is really just hanging on by a thread.

We resolve it all and this thread is getting huge but I could write a whole fic on this premise but I'd rather see it as a film from ND Stevenson

#spop #angella #sheraandtheprincessesofpower #she-ra

[bekandrew]

Laptop Necromancy

I'm running my whole art portfolio through Glaze. If you don't know, it's a program build by a group of uni students that's won awards and is designed to basically prevent AI libraries from being able to meaningfully "learn" anything from your art. It can be found here for free. It wouldn't run on my actually functional laptop (it tried rendering for 2 days straight and then got to something like "Time remaining: -200 minutes" and still never spat out anything completed). So, while waiting for the seemingly endless rendering to stop and a reply for access to their Web option, I decided to try something a little off the wall.

I ended up taking my largely non-functional old laptop (8+ yr old Dell Latitude i7) I hadn't figured out how to safely dispose of yet and see if I could give it new life. It was a mid-tier "gaming" laptop when I purchased it, though I needed the specs for heavy graphics work for work as an artist and as I was, for a time, still in uni for engineering before switching majors. It currently won't run most of the programs I need for work - it abjectly refuses to open Krita no mater what I do, and throws a fit and crashes with even GIMP sometimes. I even have to be careful with internet browsers now with that one. Its hard drive is pretty toast, hence why I needed to suck it up and get a new laptop. Something is damaged in a way I couldn't make a proper clone of the drive and something's fucked with the BIOS is fucked in a way I couldn't even run a recovery usb and it has no disk drive. It makes frightening noises from frequently trying to run its HDD at 100%. The casing itself is held together with duct tape and spite. This laptop survived several moves and homelessness before finally being too finicky to put up with after wife and I were rehoused. It literally requires support at all times to not be torn further apart by the weight of its own screen. It also needs to be elevated in a way to give the fans a little help. It's a technological senior citizen. Despite the hard drive being largely toast, the OS still works pretty fine. The RAM isn't high as I'd like, but it's not bad, either. It's main draw for this very specific purpose is the dual GPUs. There's a version of Glaze that you can force to run off a GPU instead of the CPU and make it go MUCH, MUCH (from my experience, literally 5-10 times or more faster).

I had a Solid State Drive lying around from when I'd attempted to keep the old laptop alive longer, so I stuck it in my external dock, installed Glaze on it, and filled it up with a folder of art to be Glazed. It then proceeded to take about a day and a half of fussing with graphics drivers - including uninstalling the one the uni students recommended and going back to my old one because the one they recommended was technically compatible but was borking things for some reason, and manually changing settings to force the computer to use the correct beefier GPU for the program. I also had to uninstall a ton of shit that was slowing my computer down and sometimes making it lock up entirely - things I used to need when I used that laptop for normal purposes but no longer needed there (things like Steam, Discord, Grammarly, etc).

So long as I don't run much of anything off of the internal HDD outside a couple Windows Explorer windows for viewing files and Task Manager to keep an eye on hardware status, it mostly stays nice and quiet now other than a few spikes here and there with low % usage. Glaze runs smoothly off the external SSD, the CPU and RAM usage remain pretty stable and manageable during rendering, with the GPU usage only at a little over half the computer's total capability. Despite being bested by much simpler daily usage, this old shell of a laptop now renders a resource-intensive program over in a corner and I can just check it every couple hours to see how it's doing.

#Glaze program #glaze ai #anti ai #glaze #long post #ramblings #playing with computers #weirdly proud of my laptop necromancy #laptop #bek speaks

[independentzaun]

💍 Arranged Marriage AU or 🔪 Serial Killer AU for Renata and Elise?

Send one of the following emojis, and I will give you one idea (or more) for our muses to interact in this setting: Still accepting

Interesting choices!

Arranged marriage AU

So with how Elise is set up (traveling, immortal, etc) I had to think for a moment but... COMPLETE AU set somewhere other than Zaun. I'm thinking a fantasy verse, but could be a cyberpunk corporation thing or something else. The core of it is that when Elise ends up in this particular universe something goes wrong for her on arrival, and she gets hurt so badly she actually gets amnesia for a while. However she keeps her magical abilities, and between those and her willingness to help people she gets adopted into a powerful family more because "we can't let someone else have access to her and it'd be a waste to kill her" than anything else. Renata could either be part of another family, or she could be the second in command for Silco (once again) whose been working at getting access to the family Elise gets adopted into and the family believing Silco wont stop makes a deal. His trusted second in command gets married to their adopted mage. If it's Renata being part of another family honestly I think she was raised to be some kind of Warlord basically, or a security specialist who takes a very aggressive route to ensuring her charges stay safe. Maybe her family has recently received a title or some kind of promotion or whatever so they need to ensure their power base whereas the family Elise is with needs money but has land or some other resource so joining the two families together makes sense. Renata probably wouldn't be the heir to the family, but something like the "most trusted cousin or third daughter" or something like that. Known, trusted, powerful, but not going to be the top person unless something strange happens.

Serial Killer AU

Okay so there's two ideas that came to mind. One of them pretty dark with an optional real dark path. Both of them set in a modern style world.

Idea one: Elise gets hired on as a doctor somewhere, but has been loosing her compassion and seeing a repeat of a specific kind of disease or something else decides it's worth it to just start hastening people's deaths so she can examine the bodies and get a better idea of what's going on. Renata is the security person at the hospital, and ends up finding Elise at the wrong time. Elise uses her blood magic to make Renata helpless, and it basically comes down to "you can help me, ignore me, or disappear" for all intents and purposes. Obviously Renata can't just disappear so she ends up lowkey helping. Maybe reluctantly and more due to showing up at the wrong time more than once at first but she ends up helping all the same.

Idea two: Under a cut cause length and cause dark stuff.

Renata as the serial killer and she abducts Elise. Absolutely believes she kills Elise, absolutely enjoys it, absolutely is shocked when Elise the next day is just "So can I leave now?" and is alive. After that Renata starts just... experimenting on Elise. Trying to figure out what will hurt the most, but heal faster or slower. If one thing seems to make Elise more afraid than other things. How far she can push the edge to actually killing Elise without just doing something like dissolving Elise in acid or tossing her through a wood chipper cause "that'd be boring and too easy". At the same time there's also days, or even weeks of just... Renata being friendly, giving Elise food, helping her with her wounds, and the like because she does want Elise to heal fully between "sessions" and she also starts making comments that if it wasn't for Elise she'd have killed at least six other people by now so isn't it lucky Elise is there to suffer in their place?

Optional dark path: Elise gets tired of the pain and suffering and maybe gets something close to stockholm syndrome and just... offers to help Renata. Starts talking about how Renata must be lonely with no one else understanding, or helping, or accepting but Elise can help. So Renata curious to see what happens starts bringing victims down, and getting Elise to help.

#munanswers #elisethetraveller #torture cw

[princess-of-the-corner]

what is avatar!ty Lee story?

Okay condensed version!

This AU kicked off from the idea that Ty Lee's family are descendants of the few Airbenders that managed to escape and got good at hiding, and then a separate thing I called the 'Split Avatar'.

The idea with the Split Avatar is that there are two people tied to the Avatar Spirit. One has the access to past lives and more Spirit-related powers, while the other is able to bend all four Elements. They need each other and to be in sync to properly be The Avatar and enter the Avatar State.

I use the Split Avatar concept a lot in various AUs and the like. So the reason for the Split tends to shift around.

In this specific version, things progress up to when Aang is frozen in the iceberg. The Avatar Spirit, Raava, knows that Aang will eventually wake up, but that it may be too late to help with what's currently going on.

So she sort of... hijacks the system. Instead of going into the next reincarnation, as Aang is still alive, she picks a new Host.

The new Host is able to bend all the Elements, but does not have access to past Avatars as it is not their Past Lives.

The people of the world believe that the Air Avatar must've been killed in the initial attack on the Temples. And over the next few decades, we go through Water and Earth Avatars.

We also go through a Fire Avatar. Who was probably willing to fight on the side of the Fire Nation, but Fire Lord Azulon didn't want to risk the Avatar's nature turning to 'balance between people' over their home country and had them executed and framed as a traitor.

Now, people think that the Cycle is broken. Because Air would be next, but there are no Airbenders, right?

Wrong!

There are people descended from those that escaped. Ones who have learned to hide. They know little, if any, of what their culture was or even how to properly Airbend. But they're there.

Ty Lee's family is like that. So when last Avatar is executed, they're reincarnated into a newborn Ty Lee.

From there she kinda. Figures out the Avatar thing but keeps it secret so things go normal until Zuko's banishment. Which I already talked on but basically Ty Lee, Azula and Mai all sneak on the ship. Zuko decides 'fuck regaining honor if it means killing a child who is basically another little sister to me'. Azula agrees, even if she's high-key scared of what would happen if her father finds out so ya know what she's staying on the boat.

They all kinda travel and try to look into other Airbenders(and along the way figure out that the Fire Nation is actually the bad guys in the War)

After a few years they end up in the South Pole just in time for Aang to get out of the iceberg. And now the whole group travels together to end the War.

#avatar!ty lee au

[fastenwick]

Aik vs. Iruz - Doomed Timeline (Part One)

(Featuring @aik-membrane and Gaz from @game-slavers, and mentions of @invader-d1b, @tallest-blue-nerd and @survivor-zim)

No sign of D1b for almost a month. No sign of aliens, nothing. And from the way Gaz was acting, D1b wasn’t communicating with her. Of course, Aik couldn't ask her, the girl still didn't know he existed. And D1b often left for long periods of time, especially without school to hold him back. But this was… different…

With D1b seemingly missing, Aik rarely left the Membrane house. He knew D1b had left Earth, the only thing Aik had to find him was D1b's ship. Even though Aik knew nothing about space travel in Irken tech, he had made up his mind to give it a try. Just to find his brother. Then he'd come back.

Membrane discovering him and his plan wasn't possible. Membrane didn't even know the bunker with the ship existed. Aik accessed the underground bunker easily and approached the Irken ship, formerly Tak's. He had seen D1b and Tak use the ship enough to figure out how to open the hatch and start the engine. He had brought several supplies and rations in case the journey took awhile, he packed it all up then sat in the pilot seat, preparing for takeoff.

The one thing that Aik hadn't considered was that Gaz would have had the same idea. And the unfamiliar noise of Irken tech covered up the sound of her entering the bunker behind him.

Before Aik had a chance to close the hatch, he sensed that someone was there.

"Who are you?" Gaz sounded exhausted and worried.

Aik quickly turned to her. "Gaz…"

"How do you know my name? How did you get in here?" Gaz stared blankly at him.

Horrible timing to have to explain this… "Look, I'm… I'm D1b’s brother. He doesn't know I'm alive, Membrane's existence has been forcing me to stay away for their own safety."

"You look like him… like Dad… You're a clone?" Gaz remained unmoving.

"I am. Aik. I'm the first clone attempt." Aik watched Gaz carefully. "I've been… watching you and D1b to keep you as safe as I can. That's how I know your name."

"Keeping D1b safe? Do you know where he is then?" Gaz sounded hopeful.

"I… no. That's where I'm going," Aik explained. "Try to find him. When did you last hear from him?"

"It's been three weeks…" Gaz muttered.

"That's too long," Aik said simply. 

"I was… going to try to find him with the ship," Gaz added.

"Do you want to come with me?" Aik offered his robotic hand to her.

Gaz stared at Aik's hand. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Aik lowered his hand as he thought. "Do you remember that time when Tak was still at large and D1b turned up unconscious after missing for three days, with a stitched head? And he didn't remember what happened?"

Gaz tilted her head. "That was you?"

"I kept Tak from killing him, yes," Aik said. "I could bring up other times if you wish. But enough time has passed, D1b could need help, so you need to decide fast."

Gaz looked to the ground. "Ugh, I'm not letting you go after him alone. I want to find him and I'm not waiting with Dad, unable to do anything."

Aik moved aside to leave room for Gaz in the ship. She climbed up and sat down next to him, crossing her arms. "I'm going to regret this… I'm going with a random stranger… who's been stalking us."

Aik chuckled slightly as he shut the hatch. "You're lucky I'm not a danger to you. Don't worry, I'll protect you too."

Gaz huffed. "I don't need protection."

"I'm sure you don't." Aik took the controls of the ship and opened the bunker doors remotely.

Gaz hit a button which turned on the ship's cloaking system, making them completely hidden from Earth tech.

"Ah, thanks for that." Aik piloted the ship out of the bunker and into the sky. Earth grew smaller behind them.

"How are we going to do this?" Gaz asked hesitantly.

Aik sighed. "Well, D1b would most likely be on the Massive, right?"

"Hopefully. Miyuki isn't responding either," Gaz huffed.

Aik slowly turned to Gaz. "She's not?"

Gaz shook her head. "I can't get a hold of anyone on the Massive…"

"That's… concerning," Aik said thoughtfully.

"You think???" Gaz snapped.

"Does D1b have a way of locating the Massive?" Aik asked.

"Not that I know of, he can't track it," Gaz said.

"To Irk then. They must know something. Maybe D1b is there." Aik started to search for a location in the navigation system, but quickly stopped. It was all in Irken on the dashboard. "Oh…"

Gaz huffed and clicked a button, everything translated to English.

Aik sighed. "Thanks." He plugged in Irk.

Gaz leaned back in the seat. "This… is going to take awhile. Good thing I brought my Game Slave…"

"I brought plenty of rations as well, there's enough for both of us to last probably close to four months," Aik added.

"I saw that." Gaz pulled out her Game Slave and turned it on, but didn't do anything with it.

"You alright?" Aik asked hesitantly.

"No…" Gaz muttered and put the Game Slave away. "My brother is missing, my mom stopped responding, she could be hurt, Dad doesn't even care, and I'm so desperate to find my family that I'm sitting with a creepy, stalker, adult man that looks like my dad, hoping he doesn't kill me or worse. For all I know, he could be an alien." She shoots Aik a glare. "Or even the reason D1b is missing in the first place."

Aik chuckled slightly. "Well, you trusted me enough to come, there must be a reason you did."

Gaz huffed and looked out the window.

"We'll be on Irk soon enough. Keep trying to contact Miyuki and D1b. It'll be fine," Aik encouraged her, setting the ship to autopilot. "In the meantime, we have plenty of time to talk about whatever you'd like."

—

"Sir, all communications from Irk have been cut off. The planet is under our control."

"Good. And Lard Nar?" Iruz stood in the control room of the Massive, watching his minions work.

"He took the bait," an Irken in an Invader uniform was speaking. "There's no way the Vortains can survive the attack. One by one, Irk's allies will fall for the same trap. The old ways of the control brains have been reinstated. No planet can stand against the might of the true Irken Empire."

"Not even two months and the galaxy is already failing," Iruz laughed. "Pathetic. Any sign of the former Tallest and her crew?"

"None, the explosion must have killed them," the Irken said.

"Do not stop watching, you never know for sure," Iruz hissed. "That idiot hybrid broke through your defences because you thought he was dead. Do not make the same mistake again."

"Yes sir." The Irken bowed slightly.

"What other planets are left untouched?" Iruz asked.

"Just Earth, sir."

"Perfect. Give the order to pack and leave Irk, then set a course for Earth. I've wanted to blow a hole in that planet for a long time," Iruz hissed with a wicked grin.

"Yes of course, sir."

—

After a while searching for the Massive, Gaz and Aik had managed to talk about quite a bit. Gaz found Aik's bluntness surprisingly comforting. He was similar to her adopted father in that way, he spoke his mind and didn't sugarcoat things. Aik actually paid attention to important things though. She caught him writing notes a few times during certain conversations. He was making an effort to remember. 

She also found his social awkwardness and complete misunderstanding of normal to be rather endearing. She didn't want to trust him fully, but she had no choice at this point.

There was no news from Miyuki, D1b, or Irk. And Gaz had gotten used to the silence of space. Aik had managed to avoid any encounters with other species, not that there was anyone around to run into. No sign of the Massive. Until they had spent two weeks of searching.

"I got something." Aik displayed the ship's scanners.

Gaz sat up excitedly. There was a ship heading towards them. It was almost definitely the Massive, the size alone was telling enough.

"It seems to be coming from Irk," Aik mused. "Headed right for us." He adjusted the controls of the ship to move them out of the path.

Gaz practically stood up, peering out the window to try to spot the ship. "I don't see it."

"It's a bit far away still," Aik explained. "You should be able to spot it in a few seconds."

Sure enough, very soon the Massive could be spotted far off in the distance. It almost looked like a star from there.

"Finally, this is almost over!" Gaz adjusted herself in her seat. "It's been forever."

"I'm looking forward to getting this over with too. At least your father has shown some interest in your whereabouts," Aik said. 

"It still took him too long to notice I was missing…" Gaz huffed.

Aik nodded. "We can agree there."

"Incoming transmission," the AI of the ship suddenly spoke and a screen with the call was displayed.

"What the!" Gaz yelped. "Who??"

"It's coming from the Massive," Aik said thoughtfully. "They must have seen us."

"Well what are we waiting for, hurry up and answer it!" Gaz pressed the answer button herself, not even waiting for Aik.

"Gaz!" Aik said quickly.

An Irken appeared on the screen. He looked familiar, Aik remembered that an Irken like this spent time at the Membrane house before.

"Wait, I know him, that's Survivor Zim!" Gaz said excitedly.

The Zim laughed darkly.

Gaz tensed. "Wait…"

"Gaz, hang up the call." Aik tried to press the button to end the call, but Gaz blocked him.

"No, this is Zim, he must know where Miyuki is. They're dating, he's gotta know…" Gaz sounded desperate.

"Oh I know," Zim chuckled. Aik would recognize that kind of chuckle anywhere. This Irken was not safe.

"Where is she! And where's D1b!" Gaz asked hurriedly.

"Gaz, don't," Aik warned. He didn't want to hurt her to turn off the call.

"They're on the Massive currently, come and see them for yourself," Zim said.

Gaz nodded. "Okay, we're coming. Ship, set a course for the Massive do—"

Aik shoved her out of the way and ended the call, then quickly took the ship controls to prevent it from correcting course. He also activated the cloaking technology so that the Massive couldn't locate them.

Gaz yelped. "Hey! D1b is there, what are you doing! Zim is a friend!"

"That wasn't Zim. Not the one that came to the Membrane house. He had a different look in his eye, a different sound in his voice. Plus Survivor Zim had a robotic arm," Aik explained. "He didn't. Explain that."

"Irken tech?" Gaz said hesitantly. "Come on, who else would it be, it's Zim! He's safe!"

"He may be a Zim, but he's not the one you know. This is a trap," Aik warned. "Don't you find it odd that he didn't offer you any information other than Miyuki and D1b were on the Massive and to come see them?"

"No?" Gaz sounded confused.

Aik sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry kid, but something isn't right."

"He could still have D1b and Miyuki, even if it isn't Zim. Maybe he has them as prisoners?" Gaz suggested cautiously.

"Possibly," Aik said.

"How do we know if we don't get on the ship?" Gaz said.

Aik sighed. "We are going to have to get on the ship eventually, but we can't let them know when or where we're entering. We'll keep our distance for a few hours, we'll follow the ship. If I can find a safe opening, we'll get inside then I'll inspect things while you wait in the ship for my signal."

"I'm not waiting in the ship for your dumb signal, I'm going to find my brother!" Gaz snapped.

"Gaz, this is serious. Have you ever tried to fight a fully armed Irken Invader?" Aik said sternly.

"I helped fight Tak."

"She wasn't an Invader, was she?"

"No…" Gaz huffed. "You haven't fought an Irken Invader either."

"I have not, but I have a better chance." Aik flexed the fingers of his robotic arm.

"Because of the arm?" Gaz asked.

"And training. I've been in an… interesting field of business," Aik said.

"Yeah well I'm coming," Gaz insisted. "And you'll have to shoot me to stop me."

#invader zim #irken empire #invader zim dib #iz #fan fiction #aik membrane #game slavers #survivor zim #invader d1b #tallest blue nerd #tls doomed timeline #d1im

[zonefahq]

ForsakenTale Lore

When humans banished the monsters to the mountain, they lived and thrived for years and years until mysteriously they just disappeared. When monsters escaped and went to the city they noticed how the land was taken over by the greenery and nature yet still no humans were in sight. So the monsters made the best of it, they just thought maybe the humans moved somewhere else and left this place behind, but that’s not exactly what happened. When evening came and a 13 year old skeleton named Sans was looking at a picture of him and his brother when he was born, papyrus, his brother, soon died after due to the failure of his soul. Sans was past all the stages of grief and learned to accept it. When night fell everyone was gathered around a large bonfire and eating while trying to stay warm. While some talked and made jokes about things others were eating and asking for seconds. But not sans, he felt something was off. Like why would the humans randomly just leave, and where would they go? These were all questions in his head until a type of snarling came from behind him in the darkness of the streets. He quickly stood up and looked around confused and frightened, what was that sound. Then as if everything went in slow motion something ran past sans and to the people around the fire, it moved so quickly that sans didn’t have time to look at it before everyone started screaming as the sound of flesh breaking came from every direction. They tried to run and hide but they weren’t fast enough. Sans managed to snap out of his trance and save the people that were still alive and teleported all of them to the top of a building. Looking down he could see maybe around 20 of those things running around killing off the monsters still moving. As Sans almost turned to look away to help the ones that survived he noticed that those creatures kinda have the same anatomy as humans as what he’s seen from books as a kid. So he finally figured it out humans didn’t move anywhere else they have been here but somehow they look infected with something on their forehead. Sans noticed this strange thing on their forehead and summoned a bone, sending it down and striking the head of one of the creatures and it stopped moving and ultimately fell over. So they can die from that. Sans was terrified and in shock still but he went to help the other monsters. A few weeks had passed since that incident and more things about these creatures were known. They can see but chose to keep their eyes closed for some reason and only awake at night so in the morning the monsters gather supplies and things they might need and go back on top of the building. For some odd reason the creatures won’t go up the tall buildings so it was a safe place to stay for a minute. One day while Sans was gathering supplies he noticed something in the dirt, it looked like a gun, or at least he thought it was a gun. He picked it up and held it close to his chest and suddenly it felt like some of his magic was being used by the thing to power up. Sans was fascinated and thought it could be a weapon so he fired it into a wall, and it made a giant hole. Perfect.

The monsters have thrived for a few months now, they have made bridges to each building to access it more easily. Each night monsters will take turns keeping watch over the creatures that they call now Disarrays. Sans caught a disarray once to test it and try to see what made them like this. Once the creature was paralized sans was finally able to get a closer look at it. Disarray has a seeming infection on their face that took up half the top of their heads, it was pulsing like it was its heartbeat, something Sans also studied about in human anatomy. Looking past the infection he saw its eyes, they looked like they hadn't been opened in a while like they didn’t want to see something. Sans slowly opened the eye lids on the Disarray and what shocked him the most wasn’t the fact that the creatures eyes looked human it was the fact that when he did open them the creature was unparalyzed and didn’t lash out at Sans but it it lashed out at itself and started to pulled off the infection on its forehead and when it did it collapsed on the ground leaking out what seemed to be a dark green. Disgusting. That day forward Sans vowed to find out what happened to these people and make sure it won't happen to what’s left of the monster race.

•Please tell me if you have any questions or ideas for my au and don’t be shy to draw them you don’t have to ask just make sure to give me credit! Tootles

#undertale #undertale au #sans au #alternative universe #sans undertale #sans the skeleton

[yami-the-outcast]

Atlas has been through a lot of shit in his life in the naga au. Taken as a smol and raised to play “guard dog” to a group of not-so-great people he knows basically nothing of being a naga or outside life in general. Which is kinda fun given he’s the size of a full-grown naga despite still being a kid when he’s finally broken out.  I’m bad at explanations, I’ll just share the story I wrote. 

Atlas Escapes

Time was weird.

It was a thing that had multiple ways to be measured… In the glimpses of light through the cracks of doors, portals to the outside he had long since grown too large to fit through.

Measured in the water that dripped from the roof on the days that were cool and damp.

Measured by the times he would see the humans scurry in past him, to the place he guarded.

Measured in the growls from his stomach and the times he would be fed and watered.

Measured in the odd aching he felt in his middle, even after he'd been fed and watered, hurting as his body demanded something the naga had no hope of figuring out.

Time was weird to Atlas…

How long he'd been here, he didn't know; it had been all he could ever remember.

Shackles had always been around his wrists, chain tight around a section of his tail, warped scars crossed over his scaly hide from where he'd been held before growing so much even his masters had no choice but to replace them.

Not that they were anything but symbolic now.. even without them they knew he'd never go anywhere.

He had tried when he was younger.. tried once.. the pain was still fresh in his mind, the way it tore through his torso, leaving scars that had since warped with his growth but would remain forever…..when he'd still tried to slither towards the light, towards freedom, his face was the next to be marred.. and though he could not see it he could feel the scar there too, it and the permanent blurriness in his left eye were constant reminders why he could never leave.. even the faintest thought of it was enough to send a chill through his body, panic quick to grip his heart.

Escape was not an option.

So Atlas waited… and watched, counted the time in his little ways.. tried to find amusement in his mind, recollecting the faces he'd see pass through, trying to think of what the humans did behind the door he'd never be able to access. 

People came in looking nervous, people in odd outfits that concealed them entirely, making him unable to smell them, and people with odd plants and chemicals. 

There would sometimes be more people, and those days were the ones that Atlas loved and despised all at once. The days those other doors, to the outside were opened, and he was made to stay curled in the corner as far away as possible from them as weird metal boxes were loaded with things that came from behind that small door.

He didn't have much problem with that, the light burned his eyes anyway, and he knew better than to make any sort of sudden movement towards a human.. plenty more scars to remind him of that…

But the smell of the fresh air… it smelled alive, full of things he couldn't even begin to identify. It was so wonderful and made his chest ache with something he couldn't name…..

This was his life.

This was all he knew.

Until.. it wasn't? 

Atlas didn't know what was different about these humans, why his eyes followed them as they walked across the room, but something was off…

They stared wide-eyed at him, like most others, but unlike the ones before it wasn't out of fear.. they didn't seem surprised because of him. They seemed almost.. sad? The taller was quick to keep walking, forcing the smaller to come along even as he stared at the naga with that odd expression. Atlas didn't know what feeling that was, but he'd never seen it on a human's face before.

A look from one of his masters had him quickly rolling over to ignore the humans, lest he find himself receiving another punishment, quick to forget about the odd outliers as he tried to find a position to rest.

The light shone through the gaps for as many fingers as he had on his hands before something happened that had never happened before.

His masters had been gone all day, he hadn't been fed, and the only water he had was from a growing puddle on the floor as it leaked from the outside.

Atlas had been trying to sleep to forget whatever he was feeling when the doors to the outside.. rattled…

Not like the wind did, no, this was like.. someone was purposefully doing it…

Someone was outside trying to get in.

The naga was no stranger to this, and in some cases welcomed it. The humans who came in without his masters weren't humans anymore, for him they were food…

As the doors opened however, he paused. 

These ones… he'd seen them before, he knew he had. They had looked at him oddly before.. and as he growled the larger was quick to put his hands up, "hey, hey, easy big guy! C'mon, don't you know a rescue party when you see one?"

Rescue? 

Seeing the way the big naga tensed, the smaller human spoke up, "w-we aren't going to hurt you.. we're here to help! We know a place you'll be safe, and you won't have to stay here anymore!"

Not.. here..? Escape? What were these humans saying?

They didn't care about what he guarded, they'd only come for him? 

Atlas trembled at this as the humans stepped closer, a third in a jacket with the hood up hanging by the door, "c'mon big guy, you don't really want to stay here, right? Might be a little wet out now, but it's a lot better than being in here!"

The taller human grinned, trying to assure him, but the more they stepped in, the more Atlas drew back until he was pressed against the far wall, curled up in a trembling ball like he was a child again.

Escape meant pain, escape meant he would be in trouble, he would be hurt again, the pain was not worth it!!

So consumed in his thoughts, Atlas didn't realize the humans had gotten so close until the small was prying at the chain on his tail, and he completely froze. 

Didn't the humans know? Didn't they realize how dangerous this would be? They could be hurt, and unlike him, he knew humans could not handle the weapons his masters had. Their flesh was soft and weak… After a bit the smaller left the larger one to try, the one who'd been hanging back drawing close to try and help his friend, the small human turning his attention to Atlas.

"D-don't worry, we made sure nobody's going to be around today.. it's..going to be fine," he offered a small smile, and Atlas had no idea how to respond to this. Fine? How could such little things promise that? Put themselves at risk for.. what? 

Him?

Some odd feeling stirred in him, and a loud grumble came from his middle, causing the as-of-now quiet third human's head to shoot up.

The small human didn't take notice, instead scrambling through his pockets, "ah, I should have brought something better, but uh, I might have something you can have if you're hungry?" 

The offering pulled out was small, though when the wrapping came off Atlas found himself enamored by the smell. Something so unlike the meals he'd been given before.. he hesitantly leaned forward to sniff at the offered food, quickly slurping it from the small human's hand before his nerves could get the better of him.

He didn't know what that flavor was, it was hardly enough for a proper taste, but what he did get was utterly amazing… something sweet like he'd never known before.

Atlas surprised himself as he gasped in wonder before looking down at the small human in awe.

"I.. guess that means you liked it?" The small human offered another smile, to which Atlas responded with a nod before, with a snap of metal, the chains on his tail fell away.

His eyes snapped to the two humans, who seemed pretty proud of themselves as they slapped hands together and grinned.

The small human couldn't help but chuckle a bit before looking up at Atlas, carefully going to rest a hand on the naga's wrist, "you know.. you can probably get these off yourself," he said quietly, not wanting to ruin his friend's fun, "why haven't you? Don't you want to be free?"

Again, the word made Atlas shiver as he looked down at his shackled wrists.

He could do it, the rational part of his brain knew that, but.. then what?

What came next?

"Nowhere.. but here.. all know..," his voice was rough, barely used in all his years here, his throat dry from lack of water.

The small human frowned at this, looking to his friends who'd gone quiet as the large naga had spoken and it was then the previously quiet of the trio who stepped forward, pulling his hood down to look the naga in the eye, "hey… I know it can be frightening, but.. you're not alone.. I promise, if you come with us we can take you somewhere else. I swear you're not going to be alone out there… There are plenty more nagas than you out there."

His words seemed genuine, and Atlas had never seen such friendly blue eyes before…

More? 

More out there?

Atlas didn't know what this feeling in his chest was, what this ache and warmth meant… 

But the word freedom.. it didn't feel quite so horrible now….

He wanted to meet more like him, he wanted to try another treat like the small human had given him, he wanted.. he wanted to go.

He was about to make his move, about to follow, when he heard shouting outside that sent a chill down his spine.

The humans were quick to whip around towards the door, the first two looking to the third who muttered a curse before huffing and looking at Atlas.

"If we're gonna go big guy, now's the time.. come on."

What happened next, the big naga never expected in his life.

The human.. changed.. he grew, shifted in ways he couldn't quite make out, and soon before him was another naga, not a human like he'd thought. 

Atlas didn't know what to make of this.. the sounds of shouting, the click of weapons he knew would hurt.. he was terrified of the idea of feeling their sting again, but the thought of freedom was like an ember in his chest.. it had been kicked and starved for so long he was sure it had almost burned out.

But that little bit of kindness, that promise.. the ember was flickering again, becoming an inferno as he watched the dark-haired naga bring his human friends up to his mouth to swallow them down before charging forward with a hiss to break down the wall that had separated him from freedom for so long. 

Atlas didn't even know he was moving until the chains on his Shackles snapped, until he felt the water from the sky on his skin… 

There was shouting behind him, the feeling of something plinking off his scales, but he didn't hear a word over the beating of his heart in his ears. 

A shot burned across his shoulder, and for the first time in ages he felt.. angry… 

He was angry, annoyed, and he wanted to go. He wanted to be free, and nothing was going to make him go back. He was stronger than them.. their weapons did nothing. He wasn't a child who would cower in the corner again!

He heard the other naga saying something as he turned, but he was cut off as Atlas lashed out with a hand, a wave of flame shooting from the pale naga's hand to burn a line between them and his former captors.

Atlas wanted more.. he wanted to see them burn, wanted to make sure they would never be around to harm him again.. but a hand on his shoulder had him turning to see the other naga looking panicked, and his words finally rang clear.

"We have to get going! Come on! Just leave them, they'll get what's coming to them!"

The fire of anger dwindled in Atlas's chest, and though he gave the place a backwards glance, he was quick to follow at the other naga's insistence.

--

How long it took was beyond Atlas's grasp of time, and he was too busy being amazed by the most simple things.. the sky was crying, he could see something shining through some wispy things high up.. 

He wanted to ask the other naga what it was, but he couldn't find the words…

He didn't know when they got to the big buildings, made for creatures like them.. though they'd been going through the big plants, with all the green things for what seemed like ages before they did.

The moment they arrived the other naga seemed to relax, his tension easing, though Atlas was the exact opposite with the odd combination of smells and sensations.

All so new, so… much..

He shivered again, a shudder that had the other naga looking at him in concern, "h-hey, it's okay big guy. You're alright, nothing's gonna hurt you here, though Jotaro might not be the most happy about this, I can't imagine he'd want us just leaving you there..," he mumbled that last part under his breath, though it didn't seem to help ease the pale naga's anxiety.

He paused, however, when the door opened to reveal a very pissed-off looking naga, older than either of them, who quickly locked eyes with the stranger.

"What the hell did you do?" He growled out, the smaller pink-scaled naga stuttering and sputtering through an explanation as Atlas started to draw back, shrinking away from those intimidating green eyes. 

This naga didn't react, but after giving this newcomer a once-over he hissed in annoyance and gestured for them to get inside. 

Atlas found himself escorted into an odd room, told to lay down beside a warm fire, while his rescuer got to talking with the other naga in a separate room.

All this slithering around, the fleeing, the anger, and all this stress.. Atlas didn't bother to fight or try to protest.

He curled up, relishing the feeling of warmth, of the soft floor under him, it was a far cry from the cold floor and the darkness he'd known all his life…

He didn't sleep, at least he didn't think he did, but a soft touch to his shoulder had him jerking to attention, eyes flying open to meet the concerned soft gaze of a female naga.

"So.. you're the one Josuke and his friends brought home..," her voice was soft and kind, her green eyes full of a warmth that made Atlas pause in wide-eyed confusion and awe.

"It's alright dear, my name is Holly. I think you've met my son, Jotaro, don't mind him too much, he's really a good boy. Just a bit protective."

She held out a cup full of something warm, "I think after everything you've been through, you more than deserve a little bit of sweetness."

She sat on the floor beside him, noting how Atlas gave the offered drink a confused look, "it's cocoa, go on, try it, I think you'll like it," she encouraged, smiling when the younger naga took a sip.

Atlas was.. amazed.. sweet.. sweet and warm, he'd never had something like this, that pooled in his tummy and made him feel all warm inside.. He was quick to gulp it all down, though as he went to set his cup down Holly's attention was drawn to the shackles still clinking on his wrists, the blonde naga gasping before going to take one of the younger's hands.

"Oh! You poor thing.. let's get those off of you right away!" She cooed, quick to start fiddling with the metal bindings as Atlas watched in amazed confusion.

How.. how could anyone feel so warm? So kind? He didn't know what this aura radiating off of her was, but.. it was nice..

Once his wrists were free, Atlas pulled back to give the scarred skin a rub with a sigh, the words he wanted to say finally escaping his worn throat, "th.. thank you..," he mumbled, bowing his head in embarrassment as heat rose to his face, freezing when her soft hand patted him on the head.

He didn't know a touch could be so soft..

"It's nothing dear, you just rest here for now. I'm sure you've had quite the exciting night."

She took the empty mug and left the room as Atlas curled up again to get comfortable, giving another soft smile that made the naga wonder.

Jotaro's mother?

Huh.. he thought.. he might've had one of those too once..

For the first time he could remember, Atlas felt.. warm.. not just outside, but inside as well. The ember in his chest was now a soft flame, a little bit of hope that he'd once thought he'd lost.

Freedom was scary, he didn't know what his future would hold or what that frightening naga would do later, but for now he didn't care.. he was free, and nobody was going to ever chain him up again.

#jj/ba naga au #anxiety pocket's naga au #Atlas is a good boy he just doesn't know how the world works #he's a big scarred baby but still a baby #got a lot of learning to do #got another story i'll be sharing tomorrow lol

[hinatastinygiant]

Chapter Eighteen

Dixie Cup

Pairing: Osamu x Fem!Reader

previous | next | missing heiress

After your meeting with your brother you've seen him but it's rare and always only a short conversation if any at all. But as time goes on you long for someone to talk to. Motoya is great, but he's typically busy watching the cameras surrounding the house or the street, on the phone with other members (probably Kita checking in), or holed up in his work room. And, as you already know, Kiyoomi doesn't talk too much.

More than ever you wish you could go back to Osamu, back to the time when you were able to stay with him. Sure, you're safer in your current location, but your heart felt more secure when he was around.

As time goes on, you wonder if he even remembers, if he even cares about the time you shared. Perhaps he's moved on to some other girl who isn't the daughter of his boss's boss's boss or a blood member of an important Yakuza family. It's only been a few weeks but he could have forgotten you altogether, too busy with his web development and bickering over who's older with Atsumu.

It hurts the more you think about it. You don't want to think but it comes to your head so often it's uncontrollable. Just looking out at the backyard, watching the pretty flowers swaying back and forth around Motoya's pound makes you think of the time you cooked for the two brothers, thanking them for their generosity.

You walk away from the window to the newest book Motoya gave you. You open it to the page you last left off by gently pulling on your bookmark, the same dandelion you had picked to give Osamu. Perhaps that is the worst reminder of them all. Of your failed chance to say with him. But no matter what, you decide to keep the flower beside you.

You flip your book upside down and carry the flower into your bathroom. You grab a small dixie cup, fill it about halfway with water, plop the flower in, and allow it to drink as you've done several times in the hopes of keeping it alive, prolonging its death, or, perhaps, your chance to see Osamu again.

Before you can dig any deeper into your quite lonesome thoughts, there's a knock on your bedroom door. You walk across the room and open the door to see Kiyoomi on the other side, his face covered by his black mask. He looks at your face and can instantly tell something is bothering you, but knows better than to bring it up right away.

"Are you busy?" he asks instead.

"No, come in," you reply with a smile, trying to cover your thoughts.

He then steps inside, his first visit to your corner of the house- and by his own will, nonetheless. 

"I'm sorry to bother you but I was just wondering, how did you get involved with the Yakuza if that's not too much to ask? I've been trying to figure it out, but I don't quite understand. I know Kita was trying to locate you, but it seems as though you found them first," he questions as he sits down in a nearby chair.

As you sit beside him, you begin to recall to him how you first met Osamu and the others. How your friends convinced you he was cheating on some other girl with you. How you nosily followed him into the casino. You can't tell if he frowns or smiles as you explain the somewhat funny series of coincidences and incidents to him. 

Then, once you're done, he thinks for a moment before asking a question. "Did you have feelings for Osamu this whole time? Or was it just that you happened to need to rely on him for your own safety?"

"I did," you admit, "but he stressed how unimportant it was in the grand scheme of things so it's completely over with now... obviously since, you know, we're here."

Kiyoomi shakes his head. "What does being here have to do with anything? I don't see why Osamu can't visit you. If he was planning on hurting you for Daisho's benefit I'm sure he would have done it by now. I don't think it would be unsafe to allow him access here."

Your whole face lights up like a child at an amusement park, overjoyed by the surprise, and it doesn't go unnoticed by Kiyoomi. 

"I'll talk to Motoya," he continues. "Since he is technically in charge right now it is his decision but I don't think it'll be too difficult to convince him. 'Samu could be here by tomorrow."

Your body tenses up at the word tomorrow. What if he doesn't want to see you? But, if he does, what are you even going to say? He could have moved on, wouldn't that make everything so awkward for him? Maybe inviting him isn't such a good idea.

Before you're able to open your mouth and object, Kiyoomi stands up. "Don't be too worried. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to see you again. We may be in the Yakuza but that doesn't stop gossip from spreading like wildfire, even while we're locked up in here."

As you wonder if maybe now he's finally smiling, he nods at you and turns to walk away. You sigh as you stand up and approach your mirror, checking out your face which seems to look different than you remember it. Your nailbeds, too, look a bit lighter than is typical for you. Would he really want to come see you after all that has happened? But maybe if he does come then you can finally give him that dandelion before it wilts away.

previous | next | missing heiress

Taglist: @thisbicc

want to join the taglist? Click here for more

#osamu x reader #osamu x you #osamu x y/n #osamu miya x y/n #osamu miya x you #osamu miya x reader #osamu miya #x fem!reader #x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu series #haikyuu self insert #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu x female reader #hinatastinygiant #fanfiction series #fanfiction #fanfic #missing heiress

[fractallogic]

Thinking some extremely uncharitable things about mom’s bf even though he’s the one who’s been a very diligent caretaker over the last. two and a half months???? How has it ONLY been that long

Namely like what the fuck is wrong with BOTH of them tbh for wanting to be in Pueblo and also with him specifically for thinking “yeah this is what she says she wants and I too think it’s a good idea to go somewhere with inferior medical care and where the closest family members are two hours away when she is two months away from dying, yep, that sounds great” and “yep seems like a fine idea to keep her in a house with steep-ass stairs that I can’t really carry her up and down too well and that I was just commenting on how incredibly fucking dusty and dirty it is” and “yes now seems like a great time to invite her kids to stay whenever and for however long they want in the house with ??? bedrooms and also an extremely sick person living in there. Oh this is the most she’s seen her semi-estranged daughter since she moved out at 17? Yeah this is fine, I don’t see any problems with that kind of situation”

But also, this is the guy who has NOT BEEN THE MOST COMMUNICATIVE through this whole thing and who has decided to delegate to me, the semi-estranged and also out-of-state child, the job of keeping the family informed

of the person I am at least a thousand miles away from at all times

who is in the hospital

with him by her side

interacting with the doctors

BUT NO I AM THE ONE WHO HAS TO FIELD ALL OF THE QUESTIONS?????? Dude are you fucking joking? Wow how amazing what a great opportunity for ME to be the one to tell my family and all of the various acquaintances that oh btw yeah she is dying. like, actively. But that’s all I know!!! Isn’t that fun!!! Because her boyfriend is too fucking weak to literally just text the group chat that I made, like I did, saying the exact same thing he said to me.

And now I get to say right so yeah, your family member/friend is moving back down to Pueblo, so good fucking luck getting down there ever to see her at any kind of convenient time, because NOT ALL OF US ARE FUCKING RETIRED, BF, AND CAN SPEND A FOUR-HOUR ROUND TRIP ON TOP OF WORK SEEING SOMEONE or can afford to schlep down for a weekend for a couple hours of visiting

ALL PEOPLE WANT TO FUCKING DO IS SEE HER WHILE SHE’S STILL ALIVE AND YOU ARE MAKING THAT INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT

When you are dying of brain cancer you get some say in what you do and where you are, sure, but if you’re at the point of not knowing where your children live, then maybe you’re also at the point of not really knowing where YOU live. Maybe instead of going in the car for two hours, you can live in one of the many residences that have been offered up for you that are more accessible for you, a person who can’t walk (and certainly not up stairs), and also closer to a very large hospital that doesn’t make people go “…why doesn’t she just go up to Denver though” and ALSO THE HOSPITAL THAT THE PUEBLO ONE WAS LIKE “yep we better transfer her up to Denver” last Friday when she had a fucking seizure

Like what’s the fucking point if you’re going to be in hospitals and in rehab and if literally anything goes wrong or you need to have some kind of treatment done, you need to go up to Denver anyway?? What about once we’re like, very much on death’s door instead of a couple months away from death (and still going “we might as well try some rehab so that maybe she can walk again”), THAT’S when you’re like “okie dokie well let’s go home and die in peace”

Seriously. What’s the fucking point of all this other bullshit. How often are you going to be up and back between Pueblo and Denver anyway. She’s almost died multiple times now because you fucking listened to HER and didn’t take her to a hospital. And I’m supposed to trust YOU and not fight YOU on this? You have got to be kidding.

I am just so fucking ANGRY and FRUSTRATED and EXHAUSTED that I have to figure out all this bullshit and have feelings for a person I don’t even LIKE very much, bUt ShE’s YoUr MoThEr and yes you’re right I will very much regret it if I don’t try to see her as much as possible right now, okay? Just can you PLEASE be fucking reasonable about this.

Also there’s no fucking way I am staying in the house with dying mom and bf. It will drive me insane. I will die. I spent most of high school suicidal and you think I should also spend my mom’s death days spiraling down too? L O FUCKING L I am not able to do that.