#as far as they know an engine magically appeared out of the ether and it's because she did

[nickywhoisi]

My Thomas and Friends humanized robot ideas omg yes it is

YOOOOO IT’S FINALLY HERE, NEW RELEASE, GET HYPE GROOP

It’s been a stupidly long time coming, I know, and I wish I could include some new art with it, but eh what’re ya gonna do. Since first coming on to tumblr, I’ve been loving the whole fandom’s many versions of the cast, and it did not take long for me to throw my hat into the ring and join the fun! I already loved making designs on their own just for the sake of experimenting. But if I was gonna make my own human!Engines, then it was only inevitable that I give them a proper universe to reside in and give context if I wanted to make some original skits or comics (and lemme tell ya I have really wanted to make some comics wiTH ANTICS). And I hated having so much putting off my creativity! I had to focus on  everything except what I really needed to make something really good, but there were a few lucky glimmers where I was able to settle down with my laptop and get some pieces churned out. So without further ado, insert drumroll, as I have just checked that I apparently have 30 +1 followers so far...which, considering what I have been posting so far...oh my god, I love you all. For real? I am amazed. You’re all troopers sticking around with me, through the pleasantness and the badness. I am so happy you guys put so much faith in me. Time for that to pay off. This is all for you guys first and foremost, along with the choo choo groop, the TTTE fandom.

-This rendition of Sodor Island has similar trappings to the TV series timeline, but with humanoids as the main focus, and with a very different overall trajectory. The entire island's culture is set in an amber-state of the 1910's-40's, but slowly there are some pieces of other decades that have made their way to the small country. In the most recent period, fluorescent lights have made their way to Sudrian homes, but the bulbs are made custom to have a warm glow of an old fashioned gas light, so it doesn't look too modern. Sometimes fashion trends of recent decades appear on the island, but these are mostly worn by foreigners or visitors to the island, and rarely are seen on locals. A lot of things like this are repurposed, or reconfigured in this way, as that is what the Island of Sodor seems to prefer best. -The entire land pulses with a giant amount of otherworldly energy, which the Sudrians know as "magic dust". It is shown to take on the form of powder carried on the winds most often. But unlike the movie's depiction of "gold dust", this universe's magic dust has an even more ethereal colour. It's prismatic, a "light rainbow" colouration, and gold is just one of the colours that it can display. Some say it is like watching a fog of powdered diamonds pass by, on occasion. It's always a delight for the engines to see wafts of magic dust come in, as they get to enjoy a special boost of energy that comes from it. -The main cast originate as normal, faceless trains when they are first built. With the intended use of being average trains, pulling passengers and cargo and all that. But due to the magic dust, most of them develop a soul/consciousness, and without mouths or faces, they come alive and start talking. The very first to be granted life, of course, is Lady. Proteus and all the rest come after her soon enough, though there are rare cases where an engine is unaffected by the magic dust, and never comes to life at all. It is otherwise a mystery how this occurs, but old Sudrian researchers have discovered that the engines have the magic dust that grants them life condensed right in the core of their chassis - they just opened a slot to take a peek; it wasn't a full dissection. They would not dare harm one of their trains, especially now that they were alive and could react to whatever they did! - This core essentially looks like a giant glowing column inside, the dust becoming a solid cylinder-esque shape that fills in whatever gaps inside the engine were empty. A large cylinder with branching points, to be more precise. Even more of a mystery is how exactly the engine's voices are heard at all; the only working, plausible theory at present is it's a mass psychic mental link of some kind, allowing the trains to speak, be heard, and be understood by humans on Sodor. When a living train was brought out of Sodor, as a speculative experiment, the core seemed to stay intact, yet it was impossible for a human outside of Sodor to ever hear the train. More alarmingly, the engine's core magic was decreasing in potency the longer they were kept off of Sudrian land. No changes within a person who worked with them were ever found, so it was considered ultimately benign, though somewhat harmful to the poor trains. The local Sudrians who remained by the train's side were still able to keep their mental connection to the magic engine, and were equally perplexed as to how this was possible while being off-island. In the beginning, the average humans who worked alongside their steamies and diesels were getting quite used to their new active connections with eachother, and were having a lot of fun bonding over nearly everything. From discussing work schedules and how to improve them, to tooting whistles and enjoying music together, to getting huffy over having food cooked in their fuelboxes sometimes, and so on. The passengers would also get to share special connections with the engines who were always delighted to greet them. Then...out of nowhere, a truck suddenly formed a face and voice of its own, and began to cause trouble for everyone. And just a short moment after that, an engine transformed and became humanoid; likely Proteus. There was almost an incident in which the drivers were caught in his very first transformation, or "morph" as it would later be dubbed, but they got out by the skin of their teeth before then. Ever since, the people got decidedly more nervous about boarding the engines, and some passengers were beginning to worry about the carriages; if it would be safe to use the railways at all if the trains themselves were transmogrifying without any warning. The stations needed to make sure this wouldn't become an economic crisis, or even worse...be the cause of bizarre casualties. So, Fat Controller I drummed up with the stations a haphazard plan of building tons of new cars and trucks for passengers and businesses to use. But they did so annually; after a week of use, the cart would be decommissioned for a while and replaced with a new, freshly built one to ensure there would be no sudden morphing on the job. The previous cart would be waited on for a month to see if it would decide to come to life. If it didn't, it would be considered "safe" and brought back into use again, but still only for a week. There would be a great amount of shifting cars around and checking carefully to make sure there would be nothing springing to life at the wrong time. This caused a lot of very difficult work for everyone, and there was still no assurance to be made about the trains, but the safety of the people was ensured to the best of their ability. Suddenly, though, it happened. Not only did a passenger car come to life, though thankfully it was not a harmful incident at all, a few rare vehicles were beginning to come to life as well! Entirely unaccounted for! It seemed as if nothing was safe from the magic dust! This was the cause of humans being less enthused about the magic dust fogs rolling in than the engines...as for them it means life and health, but for the average human means an unstable chance event of a device coming alive before any preparation can be made. It leaves the people in a certain state of anxiety for a long time, though they still need to use their vehicles and trains. It's been a miracle that nobody has gotten killed, yet there have indeed been accidents and daredevil moments caused by a car springing to life and not understanding where it is yet, or a train screeching to a halt and making the passengers lurch forward as it's frozen in confusion. Fat Controller I and his workforce, after many years of doing damage control, finally decide they're tired of fighting against the uncertainty and try to encourage the island to "go with the flow" a bit more. Over time, with Fat Controller II taking position as head of the Stations, they all acknowledge that this is just what will happen from here on out. They accept the risks however begrudgingly, and everyone starts learning and practicing what to do to minimize the risk however they can...and things turn out pretty alright from here on out. It's nobody's fault except that durn magic dust.

-Toby, Edward, Thomas and Gordon were the first four of the present period to be observed morphing from talking train forms to humanoid for the beginning of their individual “stories”. The human forms are not really considered by the humans as the same, for a number of reasons. A small, barely invasive surgery was once done on a past engine to dissect and understand the engine’s miraculous changes, and these findings applies to the whole cast; steamie, diesel, etc. The trains essentially have a complex system of innerworkings that are reminiscent of human anatomy, but the “organs” that they carry are closer to the systems of their original engine forms. Much of these are placed around to fit the humanoid casing in the best way, and much of it makes sense; the steam pipes are connected near exactly like a set of lungs, trachea and nasal passages for releasing  pressure...but they are also connected to the ear holes and unique vent holes found passing down through their ankles, so not everything matches up as we might understand. The human forms seem to have a special compartment within the legs that store the most unique addition; retractable wheels that allow them to use their original tracks without any issue, though they can now step off the tracks and walk where they please. These wheels are connected by sturdy joints that bend in unobtrusive ways. Of  course, there is also the colouration of their skin, which is a soft matted but still metallic grey. These are the most direct indicators that, though they look human, these “robots” have indisputably originated from the engines they were. The magic cylinder they have also appears to change shape with them, forming into a bust shape; the engine’s brains and “heart” appear to be located closely at the head and torso. It makes for very tough necks, certainly. But this would also mean that any blows to these areas too severe would be fatal to them, and if not treated in time, may lead to the poor engines death.

-Toby first morphed on his tracks, not in anyone’s way, with no passengers with him or anything. His driver was mentally ready each day for just this event. It was a very easygoing time, thank goodness. 

Edward was next, and his morph was quite safe as well. Though he absentmindedly turned his new body before his cargo was uncoupled, which caused the load to get spilled. At least it was only one cart... 

Thomas morphed at a pretty inopportune time, during a passenger ride on Tidmouth. He was so enamoured by his first beautiful sunny day that he drifted off to Toryreck, which was not on the proper path! He didn’t realize what had happened until everybody was practically yelling at him to get his attention, especially his drivers who had chased him down.

Gordon morphed at a fairly bad time too, but he handled it expertly for someone who only got used to having legs for a split second. He of course was on his expressline, going very fast down his track. And so when he morphed without expecting it, he had to think very quickly for the sake of his passengers and drivers’ safety, and get accustomed to having limbs even quicker. He did it, and everyone at the next station were pleasantly surprised, but he was frozen in discomfort. He probably needed some time to...register what happened, or fear what had almost happened. Immediately afterward, he studied the Sudrian Locomotive Owner’s Manuals which went over all known information about his new form. That way he would never be so thrown off again. Also, yes, he’s autistic headcannon’d. ;3

James’ first morph was expected by his drivers and himself, but sadly it did not go as James had planned it to. He considered it like a special “coming out at a debutante ball” sorta deal, and was always daydreaming about the ideal moment and how he would carry himself. When it actually happened, however, he was in the middle of dealing with the troublesome trucks. He has a brief moment to enjoy his new form, but the trucks decide to take advantage of the distraction and push James along towards the crash he suffers in canon. In this version, he’s all alone to suffer the crash, as the drivers had to leap off of James when morphing! And it seemed that James’ wheelframes and breaks were actually wooden instead of metal as well. Nobody was aware of what it would be like for a wooden-braked train to morph and be like that, but James’ brakes were already burned away in the incident. Luckily, just like in canon, Thomas is there to help James up and collect his separated wheelset. And this time, they can at least walk back without trouble. James is very depressed because his first morph was so cruelly disrupted, and he can barely remember the small moment he was happy about it...but he’s quickly cheered up by Thomas’ idea to cover James before everyone at Steamworks sees him yet...so he can still have his debutante entrance after all!

-Henry’s first morph was almost a really dangerous situation. Henry was in an awful condition in his engine form, and this made him and the rest of the station worried about how well he would function period. Henry was far too scared to ever look forward to morphing while like this, as he learned that once an engine morphs, they don’t go back. Ever. That would mean that whatever illness he had, he’d be keeping forever as a “human”. This left all of his actual human friends at the station frantically preparing a special reconstructive surgery for him, while they still had the chance. Retooling an entire train is hard enough engineering work on its own, but it’s even trickier to make sure the “patient” is put to sleep well enough to go through such a demanding process. Even worse still when the patient is essentially a ticking time bomb, with having no way to be  sure if he would suddenly morph IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OPERATION. Then he would either be lost forever, or be in such a horrifying state that it would surely be better...to decomission him. Absolutely no one wanted that! And thank goodness nobody got that, as it took a few days to finish Henry’s new locomotive body but he was still finished in time, for when he did form within a few weeks. Henry was all better, and more than happy with how he was now.

And that’s what we’ve got so far! Had  to edit Henry’s bit in post because my laptop almost ran out of battery. Oops XD But I hope you all enjoy the blurbs!

#not to toot my own horn too soon but... #I am very proud of myself for forming plausible transition points for the engine's transformations #and the ripple effects that come from it happening for the first time #I really got into thinking about how everybody would actually take to these happenings in a believable way #like how would sodor actually feel about this and this what would they do #this was super fun and I am gonna try to make more! #ttte #choo choo groop #my writings #this makes the happy

[cosmic-hearts]

castles in the air | lee donghyuck | three

lee donghyuck x female reader

genre; enemies-to-lovers, friendship, romance, fluff, angst

warnings; none

foreword; in which you might be a real-life princess with a prince promised to you right from the start, but you won’t be getting your happy ever after. 

<< previous chapter | next chapter >>

Over the next couple of dates, it’s like a switch has been flicked in your relationship with Donghyuck. You could finally say with confidence that he’s a friend, and you’re grateful for this time with him; it feels like you’re both catching up on all the lost years. 

Sure, he made fun of you constantly for that obnoxious heart-shaped Prada Odette Heart Bag you always carried around with you for casual dates, and for wearing Dior sneakers on the rare days you weren’t in heels. God, that bag looks like it’s for a twelve-year old. And who the hell wears Dior sneakers? I didn’t even know freaking Dior sold sneakers. You tried explaining to him that it was an AF1xDior collaboration special but that didn’t soften his judgement in any way, so you settled for calling him an uncultured jerk. And there was the time he got gravy on your prized pink bag and you nearly stabbed him with your butter knife.

But there were sweeter times too. When he was feeling generous and perhaps more than a little sentimental, he sang you songs as you two sat on the hood of his car, soaking up the moonlight. These days were rare and therefore exceedingly precious, and though you’d never tell him, you cherished them deeply. His voice whisked you away from this sublunary world, to a place filled with the breath of angels and flights of fancy, a place where you could build castles in the air and wonder what it would be like if what you had with Donghyuck was real. 

You love every second with him. 

That said, you’re already regretting your decision to go with Donghyuck to his senior high prom. Even your coveted Sadek Majed Summer Spring Couture gown (literally woven with all the blessings of spring) isn’t enough to keep anxiety from clawing its way through the perfectly fitted waistline. It might have something to do with the fact that you’ve never actually been to a prom before. 

It doesn’t get any better when you step into his school and all eyes are on you. Perhaps it’s your gown; you had a feeling you’d overdone it this time. You knew it from the moment you got into Donghyuck’s car and his jaw literally dropped. When you asked him what was wrong, he looked away, cleared his throat and gripped the steering wheel unnecessarily hard without bothering to reply. You knew maybe you’d taken it a little too far, but you didn’t think you looked that bad. 

Donghyuck brings you to the auditorium, then promptly abandons you in search of Jaemin. You’d expected as much—Lee Donghyuck may have the voice of an angel, but he most certainly isn’t one. 

You sip your glass of punch, and when you set it down you see someone’s come to sit opposite you. 

“Hi,” she says, eyes curving into crescents, “I think we’ve met before.”

You take a good look at the girl; she’s dressed in a baby blue rafaela dress, obsidian locks tumbling across her shoulders, a sharp contrast to her alabaster complexion. 

“Oh, that’s right,” you say, eyes widening in recognition, “Sohui, right? Donghyuck’s girlfriend?”

“Yup,” she says, “I just wanted to say thank you for that day. When you spoke up for me… I really appreciated it.”

You smile. “It’s no problem. Don’t worry about it.”

Sohui scoots over to sit next to you. “I absolutely love your dress. It’s so pretty.”

“Thanks. I really like yours too.”

Silence ensues for a moment, then she says, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure, what is it?” “It’s about Donghyuck.” 

Your grip on your glass tightens just the slightest. Of course it would be about Donghyuck. 

“I just wanted to ask, when will this whole fake dating thing end? I know I might seem like a really jealous girlfriend right now, but… I’m actually asking for Donghyuck.”

For Donghyuck? “I’m not sure,” you reply truthfully, “but I can try to speed things up. I’m sorry about having to hog him like this; I know it’s not easy for you both.”

Her perfect face almost melts with relief. “Thank you,” she says, “that would be great. Donghyuck’s just been really stressed lately and I’m worried about him.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why has he been stressed? Did he say something?”

Sohui sighs, her shoulders falling into a slump. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to him if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Okay then. I don’t know how to put this any other way, but… it might be because of you.”

And then she tells you. She finally tells you the reason why Donghyuck had spent the majority of his life hating you. 

Your expression never once falters, not even a bit. Not even when Donghyuck returns and you witness his face light up at the sight of his real girlfriend.

You will not falter. 

—

“Hey,” Donghyuck says, his voice filling the silence that had been permeating the car all the way back. “You’re being unusually quiet today.” 

You fiddle with the embroidered flowers sewn into your dress, iridescent in the shaft of moonlight streaming through the car window. Tonight, even the beautiful artistry of fashion fails to make you smile.

“I’m just tired.”

Donghyuck laughs. “I didn’t ever think you could run out of energy at events like these. You always looked so perfectly put together at every single social function. Unlike me. God, I always found it all so tiring. I could never understand how you did it.”

You didn’t know me, you bite back the urge to say, just like how I still don’t know you. 

It seems like years pass before he reaches your house, and for once, you can’t wait to bolt out of the car, to run as far away from him as possible.

“By the way, I wanted to tell you something.”

You respond with a questioning glance. Donghyuck’s gaze darts away from you and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“When I first saw you just now… I didn’t think you looked bad at all. Really.”

Your heart stills for a moment. 

“I thought you looked... really pretty. I mean, you still look… really pretty, of course.”

You give him a polite smile, say thank you and goodnight, step out of the car and walk away until you hear the sound of the engine revving. 

It is then that you finally fall apart. 

“His hatred for you… it’s because he feels that you’re tying him down. Holding him back from all the things he wants to achieve. He told me that he hated you because he was made to marry you from the start and he viewed this marriage as a prison. He feels that you’re taking his freedom away from him.”

Your head spins.

“So you can probably see… having to spend all this time with you… it’s taking a toll on him. I think for his sake, you should end it soon.”

You let out a bitter chuckle at your own hypocrisy—you wanted to help him reach for the stars, but you’re the one who’s chaining him to the ground. 

Your house stands before you like a castle gleaming in the starlight. You sigh, a soft sound that escapes immediately into the darkness.

All this time, you were merely building castles in the air. How naive of you to believe that what you and Donghyuck had could ever be real. 

But you’re strong and you don’t need anyone, you tell yourself. You close your eyes, imagining the moonlight washing away the pain, the starlight making you new and whole again. You’ll be ready to make things right; it’s the least you can do for Donghyuck.

And you? You’ll be okay. You always are. 

—

“Darling, you look absolutely fabulous.”

You won’t demur or say otherwise, not when you actually do think you look ready to rule the goddamn universe tonight. 

You decided on a dress from POEM Couture’s autumn-winter collection, and you really do think you look like a dream, ethereal almost. Your hair is put up in a low tendril twist bun with curled wisps escaping from the knot, framing the sides of your face. 

You’re about to head downstairs to check in on the decorations when your phone screen lights up with a message. 

From: hyuck

happy birthday, see u later ;) mayhaps i got u a present

Jaw tightening, you put your phone facedown on your desk.

Don’t ruin your makeup, you say sternly to yourself, swallowing harshly to get rid of the sudden thickness in your throat. 

You just need to get through this night and everything will be okay again. 

—

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being here to celebrate my daughter’s 18th birthday with us today.”

Donghyuck looks out at the sea of people in stiff suits and designer dresses, and pulls uncomfortably at his necktie. How many of these people do you actually know, he wonders? They’re probably your parents’ colleagues, friends, rivals, people they wanted to show you off to. They’re milling about at your birthday celebration, making polite, small talk and pretending like they actually want to be here. 

“Y/N has always been the most perfect child,” your mother coos into the mic, “and we’re so lucky to have her as our daughter. Today is a very special day; our daughter has grown up into a beautiful young lady, with a beautiful mind of her own. And I’m so happy that she has finally found the one for her to blossom through her eighteenth year with.” She sends a wink in Donghyuck’s direction, and he offers back a weak smile while his own parents look proudly on. 

He wonders where you are, and why you haven’t replied to his text. Then again, he imagines that you must be absolutely swamped with preparations for today. He makes a mental note to go find you later so he can pass you your present in private. 

“All right, I won’t delay this anymore. After all, this is my daughter’s night, not mine. Everyone, I present to you, Y/N!”

Like magic, you appear from the shadows of the upper wing and all goes quiet. 

Donghyuck’s eyes widen. 

He doesn’t know much about fashion, but it doesn’t take much to realize that you’re dressed to kill tonight. The midnight purple bodice of your gown fades out into a lush pink in a glorious ombre, like twilight melding with a rosy sunrise. Your hair is delicately tied in a low bun, curly wisps gently kissing the sides of your face. Under the luminous light of the chandelier above, your skin is aglow with radiance, eyes aflame with a sparkle that takes his breath away. 

As you descend the grand staircase, a hand on the gold rail, a regal aura is composed around you and time seems to stop. Donghyuck swears he can hear several sharp intakes of breath.

You look just like a princess. 

You look like you have the blood of a royal running through your veins. If Donghyuck has the ability to command and captivate with his voice, you too have that same ability, but with your mere presence. 

“Oh, my darling daughter,” your mother gushes, arms extended towards you. She raises a hand towards Donghyuck, signalling him to come over. 

“I’m so glad you two are finally together. I mean, we knew it would happen all along, but now that it’s finalized, I can rest assured,” she announces, and Donghyuck finds that he can scarcely lift his eyes to meet yours; you’re simply too dazzling.

The crowd erupts into applause, and at first it is low, quiet him, but it soon morphs into a collective cheer, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

You cast a despairing glance at your mother, trying to convey to her the sheer impropriety of such a notion, but she merely winks at you and whispers, “Don’t worry, we’re not all that old-fashioned.”

Unconsciously, you grab a fistful of your dress as your heart begins to race. You simply cannot kiss Donghyuck, that would literally be the end of you. Donghyuck would hate it with every fibre of his being, and you don’t want to force him into doing this; he would hate you even more than he already does. You absolutely cannot bear the thought of tasting the disgust on his lips—

A warm hand closes around yours, the one that’s nervously clutching onto the folds of your dress. Your fist uncurls and your relaxes as Donghyuck threads his fingers through yours, his grip firm but gentle. He places his other hand on your cheek and whispers so softly that you know it is meant for your ears alone,

“Can I kiss you?”

You look up into his eyes, expecting to find reluctance and discomfort, but instead, his eyes are burning with a sort of—you wouldn’t call it desire, not exactly, but more of determination to see this moment through, because he too knows that there’s no way out of this. 

So you let your eyelids flutter shut to indicate your assent; you might as well get this done and over with, it’s all meaningless anyway and Donghyuck knows it too. 

But the moment his lips meet yours, a shower of sparks explodes in your chest and you can feel your heart sing. Your grip on his hand tightens as you attempt to hold him close and you will this moment to last forever so that you can memorize the sweet taste of his lips on yours, the heat of his hand against your cheek, handling you with such gentleness and care you almost believe this charade you’re both playing is real. He presses his lips against yours just a little deeper, draws you closer to him ever so slightly, thumb stroking your flushed cheek, and a shiver of electricity jolts through your veins, sending a chill down your spine—maybe the castles you’d been building in the air can be real after all. 

But this isn’t a fairytale, and your happy ever after won’t come by so easily.

Donghyuck’s lips leave yours. As quickly as it had begun, it was over, and the castles crumble right before you. You can’t hear the whoops and cheers arising from all around—in that moment, all you are aware of is Lee Donghyuck, gazing down at you with the darkness of midnight in his eyes and stardust streaked across his face. 

You’re suddenly transported back to a cramped, dimly-lit closet, where a boy huddled so close to you you could feel his breath on the shell of your ear and see the beauty spots that speckled his skin. Like stardust.

“... if I kiss you, you might just fall in love with me. Can’t risk that now, can we?” 

How right he is. You almost let out a sardonic laugh right then and there. 

You’re royally screwed, and all it took was a single kiss. 

—

You gaze out at the cityscape below you, breathing in the cool night air on the balcony and watching the twinkling nightlife of the rest of the world. You hope the chilly winds will cool the warmth in your cheeks and restore your former composure, so you won’t look like you’ve just been wrecked apart with the mere sensation of Donghyuck’s lips on yours. 

That would be too humiliating. 

You’re about to turn around and go back to the party, back to where you should be, when you feel a soft tug on your bun. Your hair escapes free from its tight hold and falls down your back, a long and lustrous stream illuminated by moonlight. 

You turn to the side and see Donghyuck, eyes gleaming with mischief. The familiarity of this action makes your heart swell; it’s like he’s reminding you of the memories he made with you. It’s like he’s deliberately making this so damn difficult for you.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten that you haven’t returned me my Scrunchie,” you say, and Donghyuck lets out a loud guffaw. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it back soon.”

Then his gaze suddenly drops away from yours, towards the floor. He rubs the back of his neck, cheeks blazing. “About just now—,”

“Thank you for that. I really appreciated it, and I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“N-No,” Donghyuck says, a little too quickly, “it was fine for me.. Really. I was actually wondering if you were okay with it.”

Oh, he had no idea.

“We did what we had to do, and that’s all that matters,” you reply, turning away from him to face the night. 

You two stand in silence for a moment, your heart hammering in your chest as you gather up the courage let Donghyuck go. 

Now. 

“Y/N,” Donghyuck starts, right at the exact moment you say, “I think it’s time.”

Donghyuck tilts his head to the side, eyes focused on you. “You go first.”

You take a deep breath and plough forth. No turning back now. “I think it’s time to stop this. Tomorrow I’ll tell my parents that I want to cancel the engagement.” 

Donghyuck freezes, eyes wide, and for a moment you think you saw a glimpse of hurt flash across his eyes. But you must be deluding yourself. 

“Why?” 

You raise an eyebrow in feigned incredulity. “What do you mean why? We were supposed to end all of this after we tried it out for a while, just to show our parents that we were putting in the effort. I’ll let them know tomorrow that I want to break up with you. I think we’ve fake dated for long enough and it should be enough to convince our parents. It’s time we both moved on, don’t you think?” you say, doing your best to keep your tone light while twirling a lock of hair around your finger and hoping you were a picture-perfect portrait of absolute indifference. And not a shaking mess. 

Donghyuck’s eyes are glassy, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he looked crushed.

“I just have one question,” he says, eyes boring into you, “well, two, actually.”

You lift your chin to meet his gaze, a defiant shine in your eyes and a coy smile on your lips. “Go ahead.”

“Did you feel anything when we kissed?”

It is your turn to freeze. Why would he ask this? And how can you possibly tell him that when he kissed you it was like a thousand angels were singing in unison, and you felt your heart soaring to places it had never been before? That if you could, you would grab his collar, pull him towards you and claim his lips just once more—

“Are you drunk right now, Lee Donghyuck? That’s literally the craziest thing to ask. Of course I didn’t.”

His eyes harden. “Great. Just… one more question then.” 

You cross your arms over your chest because your hands are shaking visibly and you’re unable to stop them. 

“Is this what you really want?”

Again, you’re assaulted by a wave of deja-vu—the same cold, starlit night on a different balcony, where he’d asked you the same question in all earnestness. Previously you weren’t sure if he really cared what you wanted, but now that you know he truly cares, it makes it all the more painful. 

“I don’t want a model answer, Y/N. I’m asking you what you really want.”

You bite down hard on your lip, suppressing the wildness in you that screams no. 

“Again, that’s a stupid question. Of course it’s what I want. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s what we both want, isn’t it? You wanted so much to break our marriage contract because you hate me. That’s why we’re doing all this in the first place.”

A film descends over his eyes at that moment and your heart breaks. 

“You’re right,” he says after what seems like an eternity, voice barely above a whisper, “we should have ended this long ago. I’m sorry. For wasting your time.” 

Your heart breaks at his words, even though you’d seen them coming from a mile away and you really don’t have the right to expect anything else. Your heart breaks at the way he’s already slipping away from you. 

Even though he was never yours to begin with. 

He steps closer to you and takes your wrist. You feel a prickle of electricity course through your bones, but he merely hands you a large shopping bag.

“Happy birthday, Y/N,” he says, with a smile that appears forced and yet genuine all at once. Like he really wants to smile at you but he can’t bring himself to. 

And with that, he turns and leaves. You grip tightly onto the bag, fingernails digging into the skin of your palm as his silhouette fades back into the glow of the ballroom. 

You don’t even have it in you to cry, to regret, to yell for him to come back. 

Because the moment he left a gaping hole tore through you and now you are just too filled up with empty to feel anything.

— 

Hey Y/N,

Happy birthday! I can’t believe it’s been so long since we started hanging out. Honestly, I’d long forgotten about our contract, and now that I think about it, it’s actually so stupid—how did we even come up with that bullshit? Then again, I guess I’m glad we did, because it gave us the opportunity to hang out and without it, I would never have known what a great person you are. 

Here’s your Scrunchie (did you really think I wouldn’t give it back lol) and your birthday present, because I’m sorry I got gravy on your ugly ass Prada bag. Don’t worry, this one’s also from Prada, and I think it’s SO much nicer—my mum helped me get it custom made. I personally chose all the colors and the design, and it has your name inscribed inside so you’d better not lose it. Don’t you dare get gravy on this one or else I’ll literally come for your ass. 

All right, now that that’s out of the way, it’s confession time. You’re right, I did hate you before (and it’s not because I hate pink, I swear), but I realized that it wasn’t personal. I just hated having to marry you, not because of you, but I just didn’t want to be in an arranged marriage. I thought that would take all my freedom away and I really didn’t want that. I’m sorry for hating you so much—that was just plain stupid of me. 

But in a funny way, even though I saw you as killing my freedom, you were the one who gave it back to me—you were the one who rekindled my love for singing at a time when everyone around me was telling me I should give it up. I can’t believe you still remembered that I sing, by the way. I didn’t even know that you knew, so that was pretty cool of you. So yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for that, you have no idea how much it meant to me. How important it was to me. If you look inside the Prada bag you’ll find a USB drive. I’d actually been working on a song for you for a couple months just to say thank you. It’s called “Beautiful Time”, and I really hope you’ll like it.

I hope that whatever happens next, we’ll always be friends, because you’re seriously one of the coolest and strongest people I know. Sometimes I wish I had your strength; I don’t know if you know this, but you’re so strong it makes me jealous sometimes. It’s crazy how we’re the same age but you’re just so much more mature and stronger. You’re just… so amazing sometimes.

All right, before I puke writing this, let’s just end it here. Here’s to many more memories and great times, have a great birthday  Y/N <3

Love, Donghyuck

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[written-beyond-the-grave]

Wonder

They say we live in the moment, that the past is always gone, and each day is something new, a stepping stone into a future we dream of even in the cold. For you, that was snow, those wintry days of bluster and ice. You see the earth of yesterday covered as white as any new page and the toddler in me rises as if armed with a rainbow of crayons, eager to set that right. Yet today, you were happy to simply walk in it, create a few footprints of your own. You watched them tumble, those feathered crystals, their chaotic flight to form a blanket that could not be more uniform, more orderly. Yet for some their destination is to come to your hand, to alight upon those ungloved fingers and let your warmth be their spring melt: and to also toss a snowball at the unsuspecting yeti.

You barked out a laugh as you caught an oblivious Phil in the face with the snow, it was all short run due to Phil making a large snowball that’d definitely cause some damage if it hit a human. Making a sprint to dodge, your snow boots crunched under the fresh now to behind a forgotten sled. The impact of the snowball caused the sled to push you first face into the snow, though muffled you could hear the chucking Phil and the other Yeti’s made. Pushing yourself up from the sled with your mitten protected hands you made a show to shake the snow from off your wool coat and black braids that cascaded down from under an aviator hat.

“Nice job Phil,” your frozen lips mumbled, “Now back into the Kremlin I go.” You made a short walk back to the entrance of the Pole, well, one of its many entrances. As per usual the Pole was covered in ice, but not as much due to it being mid July. The bottom half of the workshop that was commonly encased in a block of ice was now sporting a thin layer. That also meant that there was danger of falling icicles as one narrowly missed you by a hair. You froze and stared at it for a minor moment, “That’s nice,” before going in. 

The absurdly pulsing heat in the workshop was a rude awakening to your nearly frozen lungs and somehow turned your lips number the they already were. Leaving you winter gear at the door on their respective hooks and cubbies you made your way to your favorite place: the kitchen. Now matter how many times you’ve been in the workshop, it still amazed you. The various tall columns of sturdy wood, the signature red accents with hints of silver and cold. All questionably mixed in with architecture made of solid ice that did not melt in the sweltering heat of the Pole. A feat for the ages, you called it. Your feet in thick socks took a stroll to the kitchen, looking every which way of everyone's hard work. Since Christmas was a little more than halfway there the yetis and elves had cranked up their work ethic, you could tell by the madness going on. Fighter planes were taking test drives under the skylight, zooming past bubbles carrying nuts and bolts, and a few fairy dolls. The floor was littered with a toy army reenacting what could be the Siege of Yorktown, red coats versus blue.

Choooooooo. Choooooooo.

“Woah!” you yelped as a train almost tripped you up. It left an impressive cloud of steam as it went by. Madness indeed. Stopping in front of a worktable full of Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots there were two elves that decided to micic the fight going on. You let out a small cackle as Steven got knocked off the table from a right hook by Susan, the nearby watching elves erupting in cheers and another half looking disappointed as they turned to Sal and started to pass him off coins. Gambling Christmas elves, also a regular off the books occurrence. 

Pushing past the kitchen door you greeted Gretchen, a yeti who was head honcho of fit for a Yeti, or North when he came in for a late night snack. The appliances were a bit too large for you to utilize without a stepping stool of some sort.

“What’s on the menu for today?” You quipped as you took a seat on a tall stool, it had extra foot rests so you could climb. Gretchen made a series of hand motions and grunts, then turned around and pulled out a bowl of soup with grilled cheese on the side.

“Ah, your famous three sister’s tomato soup and grilled cheese supreme, huh? You always know the way to my heart.”

Gretchen looked away abashed and shrugged.

You took a big spoonful of your soup and promptly started to puff out your cheeks and blow, it was hot. But then again you never did like waiting for food to cool down. Gretchen gave you a low look and shook her head in amusement letting you enjoy your lunch she went back to meal prepping. Dipping your grilled cheese into your soup you looked around the kitchen admiring its trimming. Black marble table tops with deep redwood cabinets that had white oval patterns on the edges and snowflake embellished wall edges gave a sort of shine to the atmosphere. That and the floating crystalline chandeliers, each piece was somehow connected to all the others and moves in a circular motion around the ceiling. 

Another bowl of soup and a tray was put beside you.

“Again?”

Gretchen gave a nod.

Of course.

You finished up your soup, “Guess I’m off for delivery.” You got off the stool and took the tray and went on your merry way. Although the Pole was incredibly large there was always a shortcut, out in the corridor was a large pulley system that could take a package out almost anywhere in the house. Pushing the tray into the box and climbing in you pressed a hammer symbol button on the wall and watched as the door closed and felt it surge. While on the short ride you pulled out your watch and checked the time, the north star was on the bottom right hand corner. Dinner would be soon.

The elevator staggered to a halt and slowly opened out to a blindingly lit floor from the direct sunlight. You cautiously stepped out, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d seen a fraction of the floor in this place. Taking the tray out into your hands you marvelled around. There were beakers, some empty, some filled with liquids and concoctions, bubbling or sparkling in the light. There were crystal balls, wands, staffs, wrenches, gears, tools of both magic and technological trades both jumbled together across the tables. Books were crammed nearly to the ceiling as space had ran out long ago on the floor to ceiling bookshelves. Row after row of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outward, colour coded with dots, advanced engineering section arranged in alphabetical order, mythos section, folk magic section with low shelves and floor cushions, comfortable leather arm chairs, tables for quiet study, muffled stillness.  Prototypes of planes, wooden cars, and train parts stood as if trophies on the ledges of the room. Even an old record player with a horn, a mini piano, matryoshka dolls, and a glass case of some floating shadow made an appearance 

And in the middle of it all, crouched over a desk in his signature red sweater, was North, looking completely in his element in this mix of science and magic. Where color-coded wires formed their own abstract meaning, mathematics meets craft, form meets function. Where technology erupts from the hands of artists and the minds of philosophers, the heart of the truest believer, or the eyes that saw wonder in everything. In his huge hand was a tiny bottle with a single black diamond, which he was frowning at thoughtfully.

You’d met North, or Nik, as you’d like to call him about a year ago in a small cafe in Paris. It wasn’t too hard to spot a 7’2” densely built man in a small coffee shop, nor ignore his French with a Russian accent. Meeting, well, being in the presence of father Christmas was a complete accident. But, what wasn’t was him taking notice of the river chapel you were beginning to sketch that was right next to the cafe. It was tall, spiky, and completely gothic. One of France’s oldest architectural structures you had heard. With a half eaten croissant by your side and a cup of cold espresso you had settled down. All until North looked around for a moment and took in your character. 

His first thoughts, you looked dainty: the white layered romper added to that effect and the sunlight on you directly made you look ethereal. Like liquid gold in the most conventional of places, or a sunflower bathing in the sunrays. Your hair was put into two puffs on your head with a braiding pattern in the back to keep your curls from going a stray. 

“Maybe try tilting pencil to the left, yes?” You paused for a second and put your hand on your chest looking up. There stood a tree of a many, an absurdly long white beard that was an accent to largely innocent looking deep blue eyes and bushy graying eyebrows. The mystery man’s hair was put into a bun and across his arms there were two things tatted as far as you could tell with his long sleeve rolled up.

Naughty.

And on the other arm: Nice.

“I’m sorry, what?” Who was this man, and what gave him the audacity to talk to you? Couldn’t you mind your business in peace?

“Your sketch.” He gestured with a large meaty hand, “Maybe it would do good to tilt pencil to get desired effect, no?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” You picked up a Russian accent, what was a Kremlin doing this far near the equator? He pulled out a seat, but before he could sit he gave you the silent question. You nodded and North went ahead and sat down.

“May I?”

You wordlessly handed the pencil and watched the man go to work, he looked concentrated as he started back out the window and cobblestone walkway to the chapel. You watched his big hangs engulfing the pencil work, he made some quick strokes and shaded in some parts lightly as he went. 

“Like so.” Finished he pushed the sketchbook back to you. It was well timed since at that moment he was called up for his order. You should see what he meant by tilting the pencil, the slanted edge gave the sketch depth and made the lines bulky and gray enough to seem like bricks. You looked back outside to the warm light, he even got the gargoyle statue in the corners correct.

He came back with this beverage and sat down, “You like?”

“It’s alright.”

He almost spit out his, from what you could tell, a frappuccino with peppermint. Who does that?

“I’m sure you could do better.” He bit out in a laugh, “What brings you to Paris?”

“I got tired of the winter of the big apple.”

“Ah, a New Yorker I presume? Should be used to the cold?”

You leaned forward and grabbed your forgotten cup with your hand and took a long drink. “I could say the same for the Russian. What? Get tired of the frosty frosty?”

He shrugged. “Something of the sort.”

“Something of the sort,” you repeated, “You don’t strike me as sitting in a small cafe and enjoying the pending sunset type.”

He leaned forward and took the candy cane out of his drink and munched on it, “Then what do I strike you as?”

You did a quick analysis, “You seem a little too jolly to be out here, you’re a little far from home, hmmm?” You mused, “You’re… big, I assume a worker of sorts. Maybe a factory? But then again you do a grandfather type fatherly vibe going on. But I think I’ll stick with the private manufacturer owner… What do I strike you as?”

North was surprised you deduced that much in such little time, you almost had the right idea. Almost. “Depends,” he huffed and pulled his arms across his chest and gave you a deep gaze, “Are you naughty, or nice?”

The air was thick and suffocating, you had only been there for a good forty minutes and a husky Russian was giving you quite a plight. You went through the checklist in your head: tattoos, a gold ring on his thumb that made him look like a pimp, man-bun, thick accent, eyes that looked too genuine, and a soft interior that didn’t match his exterior. An oddity that conflicted with your scheduled time in Paris before you hit Germany, an oddity that you had no time or desire for… However, when in Paris, do as the Parisians do. 

You stared at him for a moment, “Name’s (y/n).” You held out your hand.

He shook your hand, you could feel the warmth and the calcoususes that graced his hand. The greeting was surprisingly gentle for a man of his size.

“Nikolai.”

“Delivery from the polar express.” You walked up behind him and placed the tray far off from his papers and creative process going on his desk. You pushed up your tippy toes and kissed his cheek, you felt the hairs on his long white beard tickle your nose.

He leaned into your touch and you felt his cheek heat up slightly. “Sunflower!” North snaked an arm around you and pulled you into a hug, you giggled.

 “What’s on the schedule today Nik?”

“Djinn is stuck in diamond, may have been a few thousand years old.” He turned around fully to show you the tiny bottle, “Have yet to find place of storage.”

You stared at the bottle for a moment, “You cease to surprise me with you always bring in here. Last week a seemingly cursed puppet, and the week before that was an actual cursed clown doll that kept switching places around the shop.” You shuddered at the memory, never in your life had you felt violated by a clown doll barely two feet suddenly appearing behind you in a mirror. A bellowing laughter pulled you out from your thoughts, North slapped his belly.

“Clown is gone now,” he paused and wrinkled his eyebrows, “hopefully.” 

At that you tilted your head and narrowed your eyes questionably, how the hell did you end up here?

“Hilarious.”

Another chuckle erupted. You turned around and walked closely to the window formed by ice, actually, more than half the floor in North’s special experiment room was made of ice. Looking outside the yeti were still out there this time talking the reindeer for walks, hard to believe but Blitzen was giving them a hard time. 

“Almost forgot to mention, guardians will be over for dinner and game night. Been a while seen we last met.”

“Game night?” You turned around to face North and leaned against the cold ice. “You mean… Bunny will be there?”

You stifled a smile as you saw North’s shoulders freeze.

“Sunflower－”

“Say less!” With an enthusiastic voice you bounded up back to North’s desk, and this time slowly pushed the tray towards him that he ignored the first time around. “Eat… you’ll need energy for game night.”

His big blue eyes met your chocolate ones, in opposition for whatever your voice signalled for the night. He didn’t like it, game night was fine. However, you and the Easter Bunny were not a good mix. Last game night ended up with paint splattered everywhere at the Bob Ross themed night and a hopping mad Aussie. In your defence, color theory had no place in abstract design when art had no meaning but to be consumed by an audience… a philosophical approach of course. And this sparked a mini passive aggressive argument between you and the Pooka, one thing led to another and what was previously a nice community den turned into a colorbomb of curses, laughter, and acrylic. After that it became known not to leave you and Bunny alone on artistic matters. Civil was not a word in your vocabulary. 

Sighing, he dug into his soup not wanting to know what you had planned for this night. He’d hold Sandy on standby if anything occurred. Grinning in success you gave the hulking man a quick hug and bounced off.

North shook his head in, whatever fire you were prepping for, he didn’t want the smoke.

  Dinner had been a success, you had gotten Gretchen to whip up some Americanized Chinese food. Not the healthiest, but when working with ancient spirits it was important to introduce them to average human delicacies. Thus the table had a large bowl or lobster fried rice, egg rolls, sweet and sour lo mein with bourbon chicken. MSG had never tasted so good.

“So, how are Mr. and Mrs. Claus doing?” Jack teased conventionally sitting in a chair for once, slouching back he took a sip of his cider. “All is well in paradise? And the master bedroom?”

Tooth dug her elbow into Jack’s ribs.

North put his hands above his head and smiled with glee, “Jack, why would not all be well? Has new evil come? But, eh, why would something be wrong in bedroom?” He tossed a confused glance to you, while you were busy stuffing an egg roll in your already filled mouth. It was no surprise that the innuendo went over North’s head, he wasn’t very adept in sarcasm either. 

Swallowing down your food you answered. “Amazing, it’s like a white Christmas. Every. Night,” then gave Jack a wide toothy smile as Tooth choked on her drink and Sandman made a series of symbols summing up that Jack got owned. You’ve never seen a three hundred and some spirit go as red as a strawberry before. 

“Nice going show pony,” Bunny piped up after having a taste of the vegan egg rolls. “Now, dinner was amazing, but we came here for game night.”

North cleared his throat, “And you’re right Bunny.” North let you take it away.

You smirked and pulled out a larger than normal deck of cards, “I present to you all… Uno.”

“So, a card came?” Jack reasoned.

If your smile got a tad bit more malicious showing off your pearly whites. “Not just a card came. Total warfare. Us humans have been playing this for years, its broken up friendships, marriages, and sacred barber companionships. The true test of skill.” You seemed to have mistified Sandy, he was leaning over the table staring at the box in your hand with heightened curiosity. “So lets play!”

Was it just a game of Uno? Yes, but did you find some way to spice things up? Indeed. You had taken the liberty to write down a few options on the special cards in uno. With the help of a sharpie marker you marked down two options on every card, either do as the card said or do the dare. In your reasoning Uno was already too much of an easy game the guardians could figure out, so why not cause more calamity? During the dinner you watched Sandy and Jack go ham with the cider you accidentally spiked with North’s peach flavored Vodka.

“... And then, Man in Moon decided to replace my fear with wonder, and hope an－”

“Uno.”

“What? You were all playing without me!”

“Well, you looked pretty involved in that story,” you shuffled some cards around in your hand and glanced back up, “now draw four.” You got comfortable on the red velvet carpet and crossed your ankles. Everyone was spread out on the rug, Jack Frost sat himself criss-cross while Sandman lazily lounged on him. The tooth fairy, or Toothiana was more invested in the cup of steaming hot chocolate than the game before her while the Easter Bunny was slowly gaining a steady hand of cards. 

North grumbled into his beard and retrieved the additional cards. He glanced down at his hand and huffed, this game had been going on for about thirty minutes, it was time to put things into motion.

You put down a draw four card and it was Jack’s turn.

Draw the whole deck or streak down the hall naked.

“Wait… wait.” It was a minute before Jack could catch up. “I think this card is defective.” Wanting to see what Jack was going on about, Bunny took a look and his ears stood up at attention, already knowing why he turned to look at you all cozy.

“Shiela, what is this?”

“A draw four card.”

“But, what’s on it?”

“Options, I know you both can read.”

He gave you a flat look.

You rolled your eyes and sat up straight, “I took the liberty of making Uno interesting, besides spiking the punch, I may have redacted some of the rules of Uno for my own purposes.” You felt North shift beside you, “And I may have used Nik’s high grade bottle to do so, but that isn’t the point.” You shuffled around and pulled out a small stack of cards and passed five randomly to each player. Taking the rests and shuffling them to the deck in the middle, while doing do, “So Jack, you make your choice?”

He shared a look with everyone.

And ten seconds later he was down the corridor screaming. Huh, you really thought he would’ve taken the whole deck. Stunned into silence the group recounted what they just tried to not see. Everyone could only assume the horror the yeti and elves were witnessing as you heard echoing alarmed yells from the yeti and falling items. You’d have to apologize to North later.

“Bloody show pony.” Bunny sighed.

“So who’s next?” North questioned trying to move things along. “Sandy?”

Sandy glowed a lazy gold and pulled out a skip card that Toothiana could get herself skipped or prank call an ex. She chose to skip.

Up next was Bunny, considering you all were playing stacksies he got rid of more than half his cards and put down a draw four on top of a skip leading it to North.

“Take 34 cards or finish… the whole bottle of alcohol. Bloody hell, Sheila you’ve gone mad.”

North could only stare at the card intently and close his eyes in prayer, of course it had to be you. 

You nudged the bottle, or what was left of one of his favorite bottles. “Drink up big guy.” You know he needed it with what was left to come in the game.

Wordlessly he unscrewed the bottle and downed it.

Oh, it was going to be quite a game.

You know how people say ‘wow last night was totally a blur’ after a trip from Vegas, or one night from Miami? Or when people sing along to Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night as she recounts the questionable teenage acts she’s done before she hits her midlife crisis? Or possible a disaster remake of The Hangover. You never really got that sentiment until now because last night really was a blur. You tried to rock and bring my what happened last night but all you can come up with Jack stripping, Bunny’s explaining how breeding worked between two Pookas, Sandman projecting one of the most erotic dancing you seen to date via sand, tooth knocking out from a complete sugar rush, and North’s tribute to Rick Roll. You're so somehow got back into your bed and you can only assume North had something to do with that as he usually always does. 

Rolling over in the heavenly plush mattress you scooted over to your side of the nightstand. A cup of coffee, it was still steaming and an advil. Definitely North. You smiled at the thought and popped the pill then the coffee, he even remembered you loved vanilla bean. As you continued to drink your coffee you began to feel the pounding headache leave you, but the room was still somewhat spinning. Putting the empty cup back on the nightstand you stretched forward and felt your shoulders pop.

“Jesus Christ.” You yawned and pulled off your bonnet. You surveyed the room for any signs of north. His red robe laid on the armchair of his study desk, and his side of the bed was cold. Crawling over to check if his slippers were gone, there were still there. Huh. Knowing North, he could drink so a hangover wasn’t an actual thing for him.

What time was it? You hopped out of bed and shimmied to the curtains, preparing yourself for the sunlight to harass you. But that never came, either meaning that you slept into the night or it was some ungodly hour before dawn. “You’ve got to be kidding.” Trudging into the bathroom to brush your teeth and check the time, you noted that it was approximately six in the morning. This early, and North was already gone? You slipped a silk robe over your shoulders and headed out in search of the big man himself. After questioning a few yeti and stopping for a breakfast burrito you found North. All the way in one of the Pole’s lower compartments, the training room.

North was practicing with his sabers when you arrived. You had to stop for a moment to appreciate it. Every time you thought you’d seen everything the Pole had to offer, there was something new to find.

The room was large, probably so the guardians could all practice in it at once if they had to, to get used to fighting together. Something you’d seen them do from time to time. The walls could have been anything, under all the padding. The floor was covered in a thick layer of something that gave underfoot, and you weren't sure what it was beyond gentler on someone taking a tumble than wood or stone would have been.

One section of the wall near the doors was full of hanging weaponry. You pictured the fabled “ole Saint Nick”, a jolly man that was all about the children versus the reality of the man who owned all those weapons. 

At the moment, North was the only one in the room. He had his sabers in hand – blunted practice ones, you wondered if they were as heavy as the real thing, from where you were standing they seemed just as heavy. But North made it look easy – and he was going through a strenuous routine.

It was on North had been doing for awhile, if the sheen of sweat was anything to go by. After all, North was built more like a  bear or barbarian weightlifter than the 'bowl full of jelly' he was called; he was husky for sure, but was still muscle. There was strength under that layer of fat, stronger than people gave North credit for.

At some point North had taken off his shirt, full torso on view and honestly you did not mind. You got a nice view of his back muscles and a large intricate compass tattoo in the middle of his back. It was large, in the middle of the compass lay a crest of some sort with two sabers meeting in the middle. Outside of that harsh black ink spread into eight points, each facing north, south, east and west and everything in between. The main arrows were in the same thorn-like pattern as the rim of the inner compass. And above the north pointing arrow laid a phrase I am the master of my own fate, and under that were words written in perfect cursive calligraphy I am the captain of my soul. The true words of a bandit. Your eyes roamed farther up his back and saw a tiny almost ignorable detail, a small star to the right, well ,the second star to the right. The north star that always pointed to home. All of that shining by the sweat pouring down North, pulling your eyes back down you caught a small peak of the bandit tramp stamp he had gotten one drunken night. You stifled a laugh, you remembered the story behind that one. 

Watching as North continued his routine, this time going ballistic on a wooden dummy. You took an easy walk behind him and viewed him up close. 

“Hey big red,” you greeted.

 North staggered quickly and turned around in the same motion to point his wooden saber directly at your face almost touching you. If it was anyone else your face would have been bashed in but, looking into his startled eyes you probably should stop sneaking up on him. Last victim was a bowl of cereal. North was still breathing hard as he awaited for his mind to catch up to what just happened.

“Sunflower.” He heaved out as his chest dropped, “Did not see you!” He opened his arms wide and you got a good look at his chest. As broad as it was, it was equally covered in curly as white as his beard, there were some hints of black. Before you could veto his hug, you were already wrapped up in his arms. You listened to his heart race.

“Good to see you this morning.” You muffled, and tried to pry his hands away from you, man was this guy a space heater.

He let you go. “After game night, I send guardians home and take you to bed. You fell asleep after Jack’s 8 mile reenactment.” He looked at you closely and pushed a stray braid behind your ear, “Was an interesting game night.” The bottle of vodka North had gulped down earlier did not help erase his memories of what happened a couple hours before. 

“I could tell by the hangover, thank you for the bedside assist.”

North nodded and went to put his sabers back in the armory, you followed.

“So, I gotta ask you, big guy… Come ‘ere often?” Your eyes raked down his back, and you saw his muscles tense as he shuffled away from your view. This was new. You blinked for a few seconds in surprise. You would’ve never thought of North as being body shy or ashamed of anything for as long as you knew him. He was always fearless, impulsive, and more of a ‘think things later’ type of guy if the occasion called for it, but never… self conscious. If anybody was, you always figured it would be you, comparing yourself to North's friends. All completely exceptional people who keep the world safe, with seas sof stories and accomplishments to achieve, places they’ve been, or...the list was cut off abruptly as you realized how long North had been quiet.

“Hey,” You said moving closer to North, “You know I didn’t mean any harm.” You put a hand on his back to help alleviate some pain, but it only made the man a bit more tense. “Um...” you paused, searching for the words. The right ones were refusing to come to you, and you didn't want to make this worse, especially if he was reading things wrong.

Fuck it.

“You know I love you, right? All of you.” you said.

You were rewarded with a blush spreading across the parts of North's face you could see and the tops of his shoulders. 

He began to turn around. “Is very nice, what you say,” North said, one hand hovering over his belly. “But...” North wouldn’t meet your gaze, knowing better you dropped the subject and moved back to give him some space. Mumbling out an apology you took your leave. Making a few turns you found one of the dumbwaiters and crawled in. North would be in the training room for a while mulling off his thoughts, or his private study. Pushing the hammer symbol you were now back at his magic lab. You wouldn’t just skip over what happened with North just a minute ago. 

Taking a seat at his work desk you let out a deep sigh and leaned your face on your palms. Santa Clause, you were dating Santa Clause. Also known as Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel, St. Nikolai, and formerly known as the Bandit King. All multiple names for the same face, same body, and same soul. All affiliates to a man who brought joy to the world once a year, operated a toy making syndicate for hundreds of years, fought evil on a regular basis, and tinkered with magic and science on a borderline mad scientist type of way. A being who had a laugh as loud as lions and spread happiness everywhere, that never understood sarcasm, and was hard on himself and unsure at times if the toys that he did make were even worth while.

You closed your eyes in thought. Why haven’t you ever peaced together than North ever had issues himself? Sure you helped him out of toy slumps, but what you witnessed today was far beyond that. The jolly giant himself wouldn’t even look at you.

North was, and is, the Guardian of Wonder. By definition he literally saw wonder in everything around him and puts that into his toys and other creations. The lights in trees, the magic in the air, a diamond in the rough, and any tough situation he found something redeeming.

You didn’t know when you started to walk around, but your legs led you to a particular item. A snowglobe. You tentatively reached out and gave it a closer look, it was of Hunley’s Circus, one of your first official dates.

But, how does one see wonder in everything but themselves? Better yet, how do you make the guardian of wonder who's ever really cared and loved others, give a little love to himself? You rolled the snowglobe in your hands a little more, deep in thought. 

Lightbulb.

As quick as the idea came, it flashed away. But you knew exactly what it was. With one final look at the globe you put it back into its rightful place and headed out the room. What you had planned would take all day to execute correctly, but you knew it’d be worth it by tonight. But, all you had was time. And time was your new best friend.

 Twas the night to a long day, and as predicted North had been avoiding you. North couldn’t draw his eyes away from the mirror. His shirt tossed aside, he locked his eyes onto the expanse of skin splayed out in front of him. North bit his lip and focused in on the extra fat accumulated around his middle, his fingers deftly trying to flatten it out to no avail. Deciding to take a break from the self torture North put back in his white night shirt, he was sporting a reindeer themed onsie with the top half wrapped around his waist like a jacket. 

Making his way to your shared bedroom where he was sure you were asleep by this hour, he stepped in and immediately felt sus. There you were, braids down giving you an innocent look and one of his white shirts that contrasted nicely with your skin. The only source of light was from the lamp on your side of the bed. You closed the book and placed a bookmark to come back to it later.

“Hey, Sunflower.” You smiled brightly at his greeting and motioned for him to come to bed. The bed dipped under his weight as he pulled his legs over the bed to rest properly. You crawled over  to him and gave a quick peck on his cheek then went back to your side and slipped under the covers as North did, not forgetting to turn off the lights. In the dark you shifted around in bed to face North back, it was now or never.

“You never answered me,” you began as a whisper, “You know I love you, right?”

North didn’t bother to answer, but you continued.

“You wanna know how I knew? It was Germany, at the circus. Some kids couldn’t afford tickets to get into the circus and were sitting outside listening to what was going on inside. Their eyes were shut so tightly. We were on our way to that circus when you stopped for those kids, you were so concerned about why they were out there on their own…”

“Why long faces?”

“Sir, w- we don’t have enough to buy tickets so we’re doing the next best thing.” A young boy with fiery red hair supplied holding his sister by his side. They were twins.

North got up from his squat and looked around for a second and then spotted a balloon cart. “Wait here.” Leaving for a few minutes to purchase some balloons, North came back with a smile. “You’re just in luck,” he took out an orange balloon, “the real show has just started.” He began to inflate the balloon and when it was a decent size he molded it into a poodle, and handed it to the little girl who stared at him in awe.

He then took a green balloon and white balloon and molded it into a turtle for the young boy, “Here!” With a laugh he handed the boy his turtle. “Do you want to know what’s special about these creatures?”

“N-no,” the boy answered and his sister shook her head as well.

North eyed them both, “They fly for the heart’s of the truest believers.”

The boy gave him a skeptical look, “No way mister.”

“Ahhh, but am telling truth? See,” he pointed his head to the girl’s poodle and saw it begin to take flight around her and stop to nuzzle her nose. This elicted a gasp from the young boy and an inaudible ‘no way’.

“How do I make mine’s float?” Desperately looking to North for answers.

“Believe.” It was a simple command, but the boy looked in distress as he tried. North slapped his belly and chuckled.

“Looks like you did it.” And he did, the turtle was swimming through the air and doing a figure eight. 

You smiled from the sidelines watching the interaction, this was far better than a circus. North stepped back and placed a hand on the small of your back ready to lead you to the circus, but you stopped him.

“I think we have a little time before the show actually starts.” You reasoned with him as you maneuvered yourself back to the kids. 

You never knew the look North was giving you that moment, but it turned to be one of his most treasured memories.

“No, please look at me.” You began to sit up straight in the sheets, “You know I love you. And I’m not talking about you when you’re happy, but when you’re sad, angry, and down right depressed… ya know?” At that he slowly shifted up, but facing away from you in bed, at that you slowly moved closer and sat behind him and leaned your head against his back, “but, I don’t think I ever showed you how much I love you.” 

With that you reached up and quietly took North’s shirt off you to reveal a mustard yellow lingerie set and slowly moved yourself up North’s back and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Let me show you,” you whispered in his ear and hoped he'd allow it. 

“Please.”

North slowly turned around to meet your gaze, slowly pulling him back onto the bed you moved to straddle his torso as you ran your hands slowly up his arms. 

“You know what I love the most about you?” You questioned while your focus was still on his arms, rubbing them gently. You could feel the muscle tense and jump at your ministrations. “Your hands,” you slip your hand into his and played with his, “it's created so many marvelous things.” You brought it up to your lips for a quick kiss and held it near your chest. “Its punched through who knows what, fought so many battles, and sustained so much damage, and yet it can still be gentle. Drying tears, or holding me tight when I need it.”

You were looking at him, taking your free hand you tilted his head to have your eyes meet. “They’re calcoused, but know passion when you trace my face when I’m asleep, or rub circles on my back when I can’t sleep.” You leaned in closer and got quieter, “They’re hands that love.”

And then kissed him, North’s lips were slightly chapped in contrast to your soft ones. He kissed you back and squeezed your hand, pulling back you put his hand next to your face and held it there. Pulling your hands down, you toyed with the bottom of his shirt and nonverbally asked permission. He didn’t make a move to stop you, so you slipped it off as he lifted his hands to aid you. Placing your hands back on his chest you raked your hands through his hair and kissed him once again.

Gradually you moved your kisses down his neck and past his stomach and over his thighs. As you made your journey, you gave his nipple a little suck and nip, and you took his onesie down too. You slowly spread his legs and got between them, without breaking eye contact you began to kiss between his thighs. You could feel him tense again.

The room was suddenly illuminated, North quickly looked up and saw that the usual wooden ceiling was temporarily changed to a night sky. Looking at you he searched your eyes for an answer. You gave no tells. It seemed as if the sky was truly in your joined presence, North stared a little more and noticed the one star shining brightly than the rest. The second star to the left.

“I love your thighs,” you gave his thick thighs a squeeze, “You're so sexy." you half moaned, half sighing you kissed a lazy, open mouthed trail along the curve of North’s thigh as your hands smoothed up and down his flesh. You stopped to grope gently at the supple skin of his thighs, quivering with tension as North struggled not to instinctively shy away.

“Trust me.”

You continued up and body and splayed yourself over his belly and laid a soft kiss on it. He was burning up and you could tell. 

“I-I trust you.” Came a breathy whisper. He couldn’t believe you were doing this just for him, North’s eyes moved up your body and slowly relaxed at the attention.

You took a point to admire his belly, as round as it was and decorated with stretch marks that were shades of pink and purple. 

“You talk down on yourself, and don’t even see the wonder of yourself.” You began and slowly traced a stray mark that curved onto his back. “You don’t even realize how you carry the autonomy of the universe within your skin. The holy bodies that made you the way you are decided to leave a mark, a reminder of where you come from.” You laid another kiss as you began to make your way back up, “A place of infinancy, a place of wonder, and place were the north star guides you home from way up above.” You wrapped both arms around him, “A plac- no, kingdom of beauty that I refuse to let you crumble.”

North’s eyes began to water, but you continued, “A perfectly constructed man, who has a heart purer than gold or the untouched waters of the amazons, with the spirit of unbridled fire, and voice as loud as thunder.” You slowly wiped his tears away as you felt his arms come to circle around you. 

“A man worthy of love.”

You stared directly into his eyes, even while crying he still looked heavenly.

“You’re beautiful.”

You breathlessly whispered and watched North crumble completely into cries and whimpers. Holding him close you ran your hands through his hair and massaged his scalp, you kissed his temple and let him let it out. You let him know what he was, not his body, but his hands, his mind, his own north star.

His own piece of wonder.

#rise of the guardians #north x reader #poc reader #poc!reader #black reader #black!reader #black! reader #african american reader #rise of the guardians imagine #rise of the guardians x reader #jack frost #nicholas st. north #nigga it's nikolai foh #toothfairy #toothania #sandy #sandman #i did it to em #angst #tmnt x reader #elijah mikaelson x reader #tvd x reader #all yall getting tagged frfr

[theguardiansofredland]

Could we hear some more about your rad wizard au

Sure! There are many cities in the kingdom of Lairyon that I’ve fleshed out actually.

Milliara Capital: A wonderful city home to many. Especially merchants and immigrants. A circular city with high walls surrounding it. There are 8 pillars around the city representing the country’s values. Strength, loyalty, wisdom, courage, cooperation, kindness, determination, and empathy/understanding.

Alphasgard: Home to the country’s best training. For both magic and physical combat. Blacksmiths, bladesmiths, gunsmiths, and all types of smiths are prevalent in Alphasgard. This is the best stop if you want armor, weapons or training advice. Many of the military generals of Lairyon often stop by to brush up on their training, teach classes, or purchase new weapons.

* As a result of many military officials visiting, the police and security is top notch.

* Many shops offer their services to imbue weapons with magic and magical properties.

Riveria: A thriving fishing city home to many of the more aquatic inclined people of Lairyon. Water magic specialists hail from this city. With their neighboring city of Watercrest, they supply the country with high quality fish and sea artifacts.

* Riveria is more focused on the fish side of things. With kiplings being the most prevalent race there.

Watercrest: An aquatic city that specializes in water magic and support items. This is the best place to find magic charms, artifacts, and curios.

* Watercrest is also a great place for potions and alchemy. But it is only second to Redland

* A hotspot for artists and artisans to sell their wares. Jewelry especially being a main export.

Redland: The magic capital as it’s called. The best place for mages of all kinds. Many magic schools, and shops reside here. And is home to the best alchemists and potions in Lairyon

* The shops sell all sorts of magical wares. Materials for potions, as well as magical edibles. Such as small more portable versions of potions which come in small gummy form. However the downside to this is that the gummies usually aren’t as strong as the regular potions.

* Also trinkets for wizards like amulets, wands, bags of holding, etc.

* There is a very prestigious academy of magic there. Some of the best mages studied there

Asheborn: Trade and merchant central babyyyyyy. The most popular spot for merchants from all over the world to set up shop. As such, you can find a variety of wares from all over the world here, as well as the largest variety of races.

* The city is separated by its main hub, and then different districts surrounding it. Each district representing some part of the world. Such as the north, south, eastern, western, and central.

* While the city is mainly made up of good, honest businesspeople. There are also the shadier parts of the city. Scammers and con artists like to make there rounds there

* There is also a very large black market underneath the city called the Midnight Market. More rare, and controversial wares are sold here. Such as illegal magical items, and some very powerful but also questionable magic items. Like, a good 45 percent of everything here is cursed in some way.

Addows: A quieter but not really city home to many guilds and other creeds (assassination). The city is always surrounded in a misty thick fog. It is home to the more affordable homes in the country.

* It’s more affordable because this is ghost city.

* Many seers, and clairvoyants live here and offer their services.

* The final resting place of lots of Lairyon’s heroes over history. Having the largest national graveyard and memorials.

* It houses the largest library in all of Lairyon, and is the best place for gathering knowledge.

Cadence: A joyous city that many travelers rest at. It the most inviting city, with the most inns and most hospitable people you’ll ever meet. It’s a peaceful and quiet city, meant to be a moment of peace for adventurers. Hey also have free therapy! For anyone who might be traumatized.

* Lots of former adventurers live here and love to tell tales of their past quests. They also can provide some knowledge that the books don’t write about.

Edenswell: A city amongst the clouds, home to the winged people of Lairyon. The clouds are dense enough for non flighted people to walk on. The city embodies the term spiritual, and is home to lots of spas and relaxation houses. Many religious houses of worship are here, allowing people far from home or a temple to offer thanks and praises to their chosen gods.

* Full of priests and religious people. Like monks. Warrior monks.

* Everyone here is very kind, offering help and advice to lost souls

* Clerics love to stop here to purchase a new artifact if their old one broke.

* This is the best spot if you wanna get healed.

Towns

Kiltón: A shipping town near Addows. The most haunted place in Lairyon. But the people there don’t mind. “Don’t poke it and you’ll be fine.”

Anamola: Mainly a town full of researchers and scientists to study magic and anomalies.

Kittonbrow: A sleepy little town in the flower fruit fields. The know the most about the fields, and hold festivals honoring the nature spirit they say resides in the old and large oak tree in the center of town.

Fielville: A town made up of misfits and druids. They love tradition and know the most about the forest of memories.

Dwarveil: A town deep in the heart of the mountains. Home to many skilled miners and blacksmiths. They offer help and guides to those wanting to head deeper into the mountains.

Mellolín: A town made up of people from all around the world. Many of them knowing how to speak multiple languages. Also home to many who love a good mystery and code to crack. They’ll decipher anything for you as well as translate stuff.

Grandháll: A mining town home to mainly dwarves. Very hospitable and cheery. They know how to throw a good tavern party. But other than that it’s a great place for buying raw ores and crystals.

Crystalla: A happy town that knows the secrets of the rivers and the properties they hold.

Shellor: Ninja town. N I N J A. T O W N

Coral Shores: A town that is supposedly home to Mermaids that learned how to take the form of humans.

Elstara: An elven town home to many libraries and curio shops.

Marinhall: A town known for their bakeries and sweets! Many cooks come here to learn pastry.

Darlón: A town populated by engineers! Redstone central.

Mollenhale: Do you want a magic pet? Come here it’s man’s best friend 24/7 here

Freedana: Mainly a supply town where you can stock up for long journeys

Overture: A town full of music and musicians. A very lively town.

Areas

Ashioll Fjords: Fjords that legends say house Lairyon’s ancient heroes. Waiting for the day their country needs them the most. Elders say they’ll come thundering down the fjords and mountains like spectral ghosts of light. Aiding the land.

Evernight Forest: A large forest that is always blanketed in darkness. The sun never shines and it always appears to be night in these woods. Lots of nocturnal and light sensitive creatures find their home here. They do not like having light brought to their homes. The people of Foresta when venturing into the forest have night vision potions to aid them. (Beasts in here include ROUS rodents of unusual size. And basilisks.)

Evershade Mountains: Tales say this mountain pass is the gate to the underworld. Thus many believe souls make their journey to their final resting place there and it is bad luck to wander the roads at night or to block the roads. For that is when they are making their trek. If you disturb the dead who want to head home, you’ll be cursed. Or so they say.

Forest of Memories: This forest is like a parasite. Feeding off of your emotions. It particularly likes the negative ones. Showing visitors memories of the past. Good if they’re in a good mood, or bad if they are not. It amplifies these emotions and makes the visitors spiral out of control until the forest claims them completely. It’s nickname is the Hangman Playground. For many poor souls often take their life there.

Lionheart Mountains: Where the S class trials are held. Mainly for their extreme difficulty to climb and many dangerous creatures making their homes there. Lots of cliffs and ravines dot the mountains, gravel and loose soil ready to fall beneath your feet. Beware the chimeras and manticores and gryphons. They are plentiful here.

Flowerfruit Fields: A large open peaceful field that is under spring’s protection. Thus it is always spring here. Lots of magical fruit trees and many herbs used in alchemy and medicine can be found here. It is the best place to scavenge for them. Fairies love to play tricks on those who mess with the terrain too much. And legends say that if you pick a flower and give it to your love, you’ll have eternal happiness.

Heartbreak Trench: A large ravine between two of the smaller main islands of Lairyon. Although this place has a mystical property. Adventurers say once they enter, they are transported to a labyrinth of sorts. Some say it’s the work of the Fey who inhabit the area. For they love to see people be fooled. However if you make it to the center of the labyrinth, a treasure tailored to the person exploring lies wait. Once you claim your prize you are transported out of the ravine and labyrinth.

Crystal Mines: Also called the Treasury of the Mountain God, this mine is plentiful of crystals and minerals. It rests at the heart of the Lionheart Mountains. Some say it’s the ruins of an ancient city that used to live in the mountains.

Golden Hearth Mines: Mines blanketed in a ethereal mist (think the tears of light trials from skyward sword). Many workers of Lairyon go here to mine out the ores the Kingdom needs. However there are places belonging to the ancients. Guarded by automaton guardians who will strike you down if you trespass onto their sacred land.

#red rambles #minecraft #hermitcraft #mcyt #wizard au #light of lairyon #lol

[jaegertango]

Contract

I return to Tumblr after almost two years because fuck learning how to do Ao3 and Twitter puts me in a rancid mood. Have some OC writing with a goblin.

Quel'thalas, home of the High Elves, was a region of legendary beauty and stupendous magics. Its radiant forests and mana-filled skies made it a haven to all spellcasters, as well as made sure every child of the Quel'dorei bore the boon of magical prowess. Being such an effervescent garden of study and bastion of delight made it most of everyone in Azeroth's number one wish to visit – but it was not so easy to travel towards. The High Elves, massively proud of their homeland, were also infamous for their xenophobia, and barred all outsiders from “defiling” their blessed region and taking what was theirs. Not one member of the Alliance, traveler of the Horde, even splendorous mages from Dalaran, were allowed passage to the golden land. For many years, only a scant few outsiders were given permission to enter the borders of Quel'thalas, and even fewer returned back from those woods.

And their xenophobic ways only grew more paranoid after the assault of the Scourge.

Arthas' crusade to the Sunwell, the crown gem and source of power for the Quel'dorei, had left the capital of Silvermoon and much of Quel'thalas in ruin. Their eternal font of magic had been corrupted into an amalgamation, capable only of poison, and the city had been sundered into two razed sides. Most of the Quel'dorei perished horrendously, only to be brought back as wretched shadows of their former selves, seeking only to appease their baser instincts. Only in the recent years, with the arrival of the Alliance and Horde banding together against the greater evils of the Scourge and Legion, could the newly dubbed Sin'dorei – the Blood Elves - attempt to heal their devastated lands and rebuild their ruined city. Despite their fears of outsiders, they demanded help, desperate for even the aid of “barbarians” to return themselves to their former glory once more.

“Mister” Jashuo Blasternut knew better, but he also understood their plight. As he sat in his Shredder, the Goblin was amazed at the sheer magnificence of the city of Silvermoon. He had seen plenty of tall buildings before in his time, but never could he have expected the spires of the Quel'dorei to lance the heavens so proudly, nor enjoy the tidy stone of the streets. Gadgetzan prided itself on its own technology and access to buildings made of metal and stone over wood and mud, but in comparison to how Silvermoon stood, he would've been breathless – were it not for the literal black scar ripped into the capital of utopia. It was the most obscene comparison, as the pilot gazed from extravagant splendor in the shapes of gold, scarlet and emerald – to a twisted artwork of unholy soil and desecrated treasure. It was almost laughable how obvious the comparison was: Jashuo could see a Magister walking in his silk robes of glorious azure, promptly ignoring the wicked burn lashes scorched into the streets not far from his right. Rather than try to admit that their city had been sacked, they instead hid away in what remained of the city, and refused to look at what had been destroyed. Perhaps it was too traumatizing, or perhaps it was an eyesore; perhaps it was both. Mister Blasternut would've understood either one, but that was why he was there: to make sure that Silvermoon City got the supplies it needed to repair itself.

So he waited on the streets in his Shredder, which was continuously coughing out smoke from its double exhausts thickly. Combined with the meaty grumble of its engine, every single Blood Elf in the city was giving Jashuo a wide berth. He definitely stood out among all of the glitz and glamour, and they refused to give such an obnoxious blemish to their amazing city. The Goblin frankly didn't care, though he was annoyed that they weren't giving his crisp suit the time of day. He dressed up for this! The least that the Sin'dorei could do was accept that he was there to help them and not “embarrass” them. At the same time though, it didn't matter. All that did matter was that his contact showed up and recognized that he was there to plot this contract with them properly. Being a benefactor still demanded the proper respect, and the pilot could only hope that the pride of a noble would not get in the way. It certainly would not be the first time...

Eventually though, he was greeted with a small contingent of Sin'dorei riding upon their daintily-decorated hawkstriders. The only reason that Mister Blasternut recognized them from any other clique of elves was due to them walking straight *at* him, definitely showing that they recognized his presence. The Goblin counted five of them – four guards surrounding a fifth. Too many for him to fight; rather, too many for him to fight and get out alive. His Shredder was equipped with enough state-of-the-art weaponry and thick armor to get him out of (and into) any scrap comfortably, but fighting five well-trained Mages would take too much time for him to make a victorious escape. At the same time, this was making the Goblin somewhat nervous: he had neglected to hire any goons himself. The Blood Elves might have been affiliated with the Horde, but he had a hard time trusting uneven numbers. Regardless, he was there to do a job, and all he could hope was that these Sin'dorei weren't trigger happy. Keeping his sidearm pistol tucked into the back of his pants, Jashuo smoothed out the front of his suit and tie, swept his brown hair back and adjusted his aviator glasses. With an easy step, he moved forward to make the drop from his Shredder-

-only to hastily dart to the right as a fireball exploded a foot in front of him. Even if he hadn't made the dodge, the sparks wouldn't have touched him, but the Goblin still yelped and made the effort to move away.

“Not another step, greenskin!” One of the guards growled, his staff held aloft. “Where you stand is already close enough to the Magistrix.”

“Close eno-  I'm twenty feet away!” Jashuo hissed, his hand behind his back in a clumsy attempt to snatch at his hidden weapon. He was unable to do so, and now it was obvious that he was reaching for something without actually drawing it. This only made the Sin'dorei more irked, and the other three were now drawing their respective staves and swords. With every second, the Goblin was highly regretting this meeting: these guys were thirstier for blood than Orcs!

“Perhaps once you've tossed away your weapon, we can assume you can be closer,” the first spoke again, his gaze tempered on Mister Blasternut. The woman in the middle merely sat silent, her eyes clearly concerned as she leered at Jashuo. It was not an argument that the Goblin wanted to lose, but he didn't have much of a choice. If it got bad, all he could hope for now was to scramble back to his Shredder before he got too ablaze. Surely they wouldn't do something so brazen though, right? Despite his instinct demanding that he not be that stupid, Jashuo once more paid them no heed, sighing as he pulled out the pistol and set it onto the ground. He held his hands up, trying to pass off his face as stoic, but he could feel his brows knitting together.

“Ya know, ya ain't makin' the best first 'mpression here!” He retorted back, flipping his hands back and forth to show he had nothing in his sleeves either. “I'm just a businessman here!”

The captain of the guard scoffed, but nonetheless nodded as he looked towards the Magistrix. She nodded in turn and began to dismount, her guardians following suit and forming up around her. While they all wore the garb of Spellbreakers, clad in intricate platemail, their lady wore a brilliant yellow dress definitely not for combat's usage. The fabric fluttered and glittered in any ray of light that touched it, giving it an ethereal appearance like that of the sun. She wore a mask in the shape of a phoenix's beak, but Jashuo could easily recognize she was a woman. Her hair was long and brown, a definite mane of well-kept locks in comparison to the Goblin's scruff. The two could not have been more different, the Blood Elf's tall and graceful to Jashuo's short and sleazy.

“Pray forgive the aggression,” she spoke in a polite, but curt tone, keeping her hands folded in front of her. “It is hard for anyone to trust outsiders, especially after our Ranger-General has seemingly returned from the dead.”

“...Seemingly?” Mister Blasternut grunted, and was luckily able to bite back any more sarcasm he had. He didn't need to give these Sin'dorei any more ammo to use on him. “I'm guessin' you're uh... Lady D'anthius then?”

“Indeed – and you hadn't even butchered the name! Consider me impressed,” the Lady D'anthius spoke, and even though she claimed it a compliment, the Goblin was somewhat annoyed at her words. Her tone could have sounded as pleasant as she wanted: it did not change the toxin her words meant.

“Yeah yeah yeah, I'm honored. Let's cut to the chase: you need metal for your city, aye?” Jashuo grunted, folding his arms over his chest. His bluntness seemed to take the Magistrix aback, for she visibly recoiled and responded quickly.

“Yes well I... ahem,” the woman spoke, and instantly the Goblin knew something was wrong. Those three words, combined with how she cleared her throat, wasn't like her previous tone. It sounded unsure and hasty, as if quickly being taken off-guard. Mister Blasternut was oh-so familiar with such a state of being, and even that cough was reminiscent of the many times he had to clear his head to properly talk. Yet, what most astounded him was how natural it sounded, as if the Lady's voice had only just started to make its arrival. When she spoke again though, it was with that same level volume and politeness.

“Indeed. The Scourge brought forth nightmares that have devastated our homes and left our people divided – but not broken,” she spoke firmly, keeping her eyes on Jashuo. “To that end, we need only the supply to return our people to grandeur once more.”

That tone returned, and the Goblin wasn't sure what to make of it. Now that he heard it again, something about her voice didn't sound correct. The words made sense, and they were definitely admirable, but now her tone sounded wrong. The Goblin kept quiet for a handful of seconds, trying to process what he could make of her statement to no avail. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

“Right... so metal for buildings and weapons and all that. Well, bulk's what I specialize in, so ya came to the right Goblin,” Jashuo replied finally, looking towards the destruction of the city to his left. “So uh... how much are we lookin' to buy here then?”

“Buy...?” the woman murmured blankly, though she instantly lit herself up to try and hide that question. “Oh! Well, that is what the contract is for, pray tell!”

There it was again. That tone of voice. It was striking the pilot in such a bizarre way that he couldn't put his finger on. Despite Lady D'anthius having spoke three times the amount of words in that “usual” tone of voice, hearing these other words was ringing in Jashuo's mind. Something was “off” about this woman, like she was putting on a different face and attitude. For some reason, this was gnashing hard against the Goblin, strongly enough that it was only when one of the guards cleared his throat that the pilot finally realized what the Magistrix had said.

“Aye, contract – y'know. Usually has cash to it. Ya are plannin' to pay for this, right?” Jashuo grunted, unable to stop himself from being somewhat snarky towards the Blood Elf as he raised an eyebrow at her. However, despite his own aggression, the woman nodded easily, and motioned for one of her protectors.

“Indeed! This legally-binding contract will confirm that, in exchange for your goods and partnership, Silvermoon shall pay you warmly for your services. The parchment requires only your signature!” Lady D'anthius spoke up as the guardian walked towards the Goblin with a roll of paper and a quill. After reaching upward quite a bit to actually snatch the contract, Jashuo unfurled it, and instantly heard a murmur through the Sin'dorei. He ignored it, quickly scanning the document.

“Er... that is to say, at the bottom,” the Magistrix continued, and it was only when she spoke that the Goblin looked up curiously at the group. They quickly silenced, and it was because of that sudden quiet that Mister Blasternut felt the disturbance in persona once more. This time though, he could see flashes of concern in all of their faces, namely the protectors, and a cruel thought entered his mind. Did they not think he was going to read it?... or did they not think he knew how?

“...Seems all in order,” Jashuo answered lamely, and he could feel a plan forming in his head as he read more of the contract. Any of his former cowardice was quickly being melted out in favor of spite. If there was any way to give him the bravery to do something, it was entirely out of implication that he couldn't. He raised the quill to sign, and now that he was more aware, could sense the tension as thick as the smog belching from his Shredder.

“Yannow, actually...,” the Goblin spoke up as the quill touched the paper, and he looked up just in time to see one of the protectors inhale slightly. Instantly, that reaction made it worth being shot at. “I gotta quick question here, Lady D'anthius.”

“You... do?” She asked, at first trying to keep up that air of significance, but quickly deteriorating back into that gentler tone. Now there was no denying that false attitude, and it brought a genuine grin to Jashuo's face, full of shining, sharp teeth.

“Ayup! Ya'see, I ain't just a goblin of fortune here – I do what I do for a good cause, ya'hear me?” He spoke idly, gauging their reactions curiously. Lady D'anthius seemed unsure of what to make of him right now, but seemed to be agreeing with his words.  “When I heard that I could be helpin' rebuild one of the greatest empires ever been 'round Azeroth, I knew what I had to do, see?”

“...Indeed?” The woman replied uncertainly, that fake tone trying to return, but the smugness of the guardians already coming back in full force. She seemed to be catching on that Jashuo was plotting something. He had to admire her thinking so quickly on her feet.

“Aye! So I'm here to help, I'm even here to take you tryin' to hose me with this cheap payment of a 'contract.' But here's the thing, Lady D'anthius,” Jashuo continued idly, then coldly insulted just quickly enough for him to segue into the next part of his explanation. The guardians instantly looked angered at the statement, but the Magistrix kept steady, seeming to predict the Goblin's tone as he kept talking.

“I ain't here to bullshit ya, so I'll make ya a deal. I'll leave ya this supply as goodwill, not a gold piece charged! But it ain't gonna be 'nough to fix even a tenth of what's busted here, or any of that crap I had to pass just gettin' here!” Mister Blasternut stated firmly, his bespectacled gaze now burning into Lady D'anthius' mask. “So I'll be here next week, with more metal for what ya need, and if ya play ya cards right, ya'll be back here next week with an actual contract that assumes I'll read it. I ain't here to bullshit, babe, so ya better not bullshit me back. 'Cause ya should know the first rule of business, Lady D'anthius:”

Jashuo took off his shades, his crimson eyes boiling into the Magistrix's mask as he leered at her.

“If we don't see eye-to-eye, there ain't even a copper to be made here outta yer Silvermoon.”

It was deathly silent as the Goblin glared at Lady D'anthius, and he was surprised in himself that he wasn't fidgeting or squirming under the collective gazes of all five Sin'dorei. Yet he managed to hold on, keeping his eyes fiercely on the woman as he waited for her response. She seemed to be scrutinizing him carefully, as if debating whether to even bother replying to him or simply sending her guards after him. Finally, after what seemed like months, she reached up to her mask to take it off softly, revealing her extremely attractive face, and very piercing green eyes burning back into Jashuo with laser focus as he was somewhat taken aback by her reaction. When she spoke, it was in a capable, natural tone of voice:

“Very well. I... graciously accept your donation, Mister...?”

“Blastanut! Mista Blastanut, please,” Jashuo smirked toothily, getting over himself as nodded in return. “I think we'll be getting 'long just fine, Lady D'anthius!”

“Then I hope that next week marks the... proper start of our agreement,” Lady D'anthius paused, then smiled as she bowed her head politely. Jashuo managed a short bow of his own back before clambering back into his Shredder and closing the lid. With a loud sigh, he felt his nerves instantly relax, but not nearly enough to stop him from making as quick of an exit as he possibly could from the city. It was only when the Shredder had turned the corner that Lady D'anthius shook her head, her captain gazing at her.

“It was probably wiser to detain him, milady,” he grunted, looking supremely tired suddenly.

“He caught our ploy. It was a mistake on our own parts, and thus should I pay the price,” the Magistrix replied, that “familiar” tone of curt politeness returning once more. “These Goblins have proven more cunning than expected: we will be smarter for next time.”

The captain looked satisfied with the answer, but as the woman placed her phoenix mask about her face, she looked back in the direction of where the Shredder had departed, and felt a soft twinge in her chest.

He was a curious one, that Blasternut...

#jaegerwrites

[petrolstationflowers]

Happy World Building Wednesday! What's your favourite legend, fairytale, story or prophecy from one of your worlds or from this one?

@justahufflepuffnerd​ Oooh, this may be a good time to break out the summary for Fates:

“In Vilandra, everything’s already fated for you. Your job, your spouse, your family – a prophetic timeline all neatly distilled by the gods into one handy dandy crystal, bestowed from the earth whenever a child is born. There’s no super special person who’s born without one, and there’s no getting round what the crystal tells you. The Fates, twin sisters supreme, gods long ago faded back into the ether of folklore and legend, reign over their populace, and like all benevolent gods, they know what’s best for their lesser beings. Everything – down to your hair colour and how many freckles you have – is already predetermined for you. 

Even, apparently, the end of the world. 

You see, their powers come in cycles, and every generation or so, your next batch of heroes is born. Why they appear varies; sometimes it’s to fix a specific wrong, sometimes it’s to end a war, and sometimes it’s just to remind the general public that yes there are gods around and yes, we can do whatever we like. With each rebirth cycle, their powers renew, and The Fates live on, blessed, beautiful twins without a care in the universe.

But even in this one, there’s things you don’t talk about, like the fey war that nearly decimated the entire country, or beautiful girls disappearing down in Luminyr. There are the ugly looks that half bloods get, new religions springing up that are nowhere even close to their original origins. Then there’s also the third sister. Supposedly. The ugly one, the spare one, the fraternal one. 

(because what good is a set that doesn’t match?)

The Dark One. 

The unwanted child, the disowned god, the shunned one, mostly forgotten in favour of her younger sisters. But it’s time for a new cycle of Chosen to rise, and this time The Fates have decided they’re going to do something very particular – whittle three goddesses down to two. Permanently. 

Only this time, something is different, and very, very wrong (besides the proposed sororicide and cataclysm that could wipe out the universe). Sure, the Chosen are here, but their powers are being corrupted, weakening, crumbling into ashes of their former selves, almost like they’ve been cursed. 

Because what good is a seer who can only see the past, a siren with no song, and a faerie with wings of feathers and bone? Not a lot, but they’ll make do with what they have. But things devolve into politics, as they always do, and each part of the country is desperately searching for the leader, with little success. So they decide to make an artificial one instead, because they’re sick of waiting for the magic and science marches on, to the displeasure of those following the old ways. 

Enter Jude, lab grown monstrosity of science who’s been perfectly engineered to be the Chosen One since they grew her in a vat. She’s been far too used to being the best at everything in her life, so this leadership stuff should come naturally, right? Because it’s gods ordained and has nothing to do with the fact her handlers have no idea where the other five Chosen are. But this is the easy part of the job; find her teammates. The hard part is trekking off round the country to round them all up, fixing the severe problems that come with being a Chosen, oh, and to stop the apocalypse like the hero she’s been built to be. 

Besides, it’s all pre-ordained and nice and neat and simple and The Fates definitely know what they’re doing. 

… Right?”

#tldr screwed up prophecies are best prophecies #viki writes #fates above #one day I have to outline this monstrosity and I do not look forward to it #worldbuilding wednesday

[cozycryptidcorner]

This is a monster match for an intrepid anonymous user!

So I'm pan, but vaguely have a preference for men, but like specifically cute, non-threatening ones. I'm infp-t for mbti. I read a lot, and I love games. I have ADHD and i have trouble doing work because of it but it's also the reason I can figure out random plot twists or do well at guessing games. My friends and I joke that I have a high passive charisma, because I'm just oblivious and talk a lot. I have a lot of stuffed animals, many of them I got specifically because they're wonky in some way. I have too many books. I really like soft things, and soft people. Thank you.

You have been matched with an elf! Well, the name humans call his kind changes over the years, älva, elverfolk, álfur, and so on, but it seems that rather modern writers and historians have decided on the term ‘elf’ when talking about his kind. Doesn’t really matter to him, though, because his people have their own word for themselves, one that humans couldn’t even pronounce, much less would they dare say, even if they could. While his kind considered more advanced than yours, he will admit, it’s rather remarkable what giant leaps of technology have been made in such a short amount of time.

While his people haven’t really had much need for objects such as cell phones or computers, they do depend on a mysterious source of magic they call the Æther. Things like medicine, communication, teleportation, the works, all can be achieved by tapping into it, so you suppose the need for something like cars or vaccines aren’t a necessity for them as they are for those on this plane of reality. Your elf doesn’t really go into much detail about the mystical otherworld, though hints that most of his kind are sworn against revealing any secrets to anyone on the outside about their mystical abilities. You don’t much mind, though sometimes the thought of an untapped, seemingly eternal energy source does keep you up at night.

He is ethereally beautiful, you would never dare lie about that, and very clearly inhuman to anyone with well-seeing eyes. There is a blue tinge to his skin, where any red tones might be on a human. It’s probably because his blood has a purplish navy tinge. If it was red, he most likely would look just like any other human being, albeit with vividly green, slightly upturned eyes, and cheekbones that can cut through glass. His hair is a long, glossy blond, like spun gold, and he enjoys braiding it down in seemingly thousands of different ways. You don’t think you’ve seen him wear the same hairstyle twice, though, at the seemingly endless variants he’s done, you don’t believe you would even recognize it if he did repeat one or two.

Oh, and he’s tall, much taller than the average human. It’s very easy to pick him out in a crowd- he’s the blond standing at least a head higher than everyone else. It’s rather convenient for you because you don’t ever lose him whenever you are out in public. Maybe his blueish skin would be easy to pick out as well, but he usually glamors himself whenever he’s mingling with other humans, as to not draw too much attention. If that were the case, though, maybe he should shave a few inches off his height, also, because damn, even without the blueness, he still draws plenty of stares.

Your elf seems offended if anyone mixes him up with the fae, because the faeries and the elves are very different, thank you very much. When asked how, he usually just goes spluttering about how they don’t respect magic barriers, or how they just ‘make up’ rules about the use of magic which has absolutely nothing to do with anything factual, mind you, and besides, they have no sense of propriety, have you even heard about that white-haired slut who quite literally fucked himself into a curse? It’s their fault they’re dying off, they have no respect for anyone but themselves, etcetera, etcetera, until your elf would wear himself out.

But of course, you mean biologically, as in, what separates the two as species from each other. Which, after a long while of getting talked around in circles, you realize that there really isn’t a difference? Besides their core values and use of the Æther, it seems to you that they are basically the same, sort of like how Catholics might claim they differ significantly from the Lutherans, but seem basically the same from a far off distance. The same source of magic, able to handle it well enough like their bodies evolved to do so, just a very, very different outlook on what it should be used for. The elves, then, you gather, are a vaguely distant parental figure to the human race who only show up when things are fucked royally. In contrast, the faeries are more like that weird crack-addicted cousin who no one invites to get-togethers but still shows up anyway, taking their pranks a little too far.

Oh, and if you think he’s venomously pissed at being mistaken for a faery, don’t even think about mentioning Santa’s little helpers to him, either. He practically starts frothing at the mouth.

Elves have longer than human lifespans, yes, but they also don’t live for a thousand millennia, like modern stories might have you believe. Sure, they live for about two, maybe three hundred years, and that most certainly is much longer than a human, but your elf hasn’t been around since the dawn of time. He did live through the space race, though, and witnessed the moon landing with his own two eyes, just over yonder from where the plucky crew of the Apollo 12 landed. Maybe all those crackpot conspiracy theories about ‘aliens on the moon’ are about him? Who knows, definitely not him.

He does have his place in elven society as a sort of sentinel, or watcher, someone who keeps an eye on the human race and makes sure they don’t do anything particularly stupid. Given the fact he can just walk into places he most certainly should not be, it’s rather easy for him to do so. Though he’s not allowed to interfere unless there is immediate danger of annihilation, he just reports what he’s seen or found to a council of elders, and they decide what should be done with it. He rarely ever participates in whatever direction the council chooses, citing something about the fact that watchers might try to take advantage of such protocols. So, there will be times where he can relax at home while a bunch of other elves take care of the problem... or problems.

When he’s not being constantly vigilant against the top one percent of humanity that seems to want to ultimately doom the other ninety nine percent, he has some hobbies he likes to fall back to. At first, you weren’t sure what to make of his favorite, because pottery? An elf who can call forth a god-like amount of power from some alternate dimension made only from pure energy likes to make little clay things? But yes, actually, he does, and it’s probably because he can harness such power.

Unlike humans, the elves have always been able to snap things into existence. Oh, you need something to hold that ambrosia? Just think really hard about it, and a bowl will appear from seemingly thin air, pulled from its point in time to where you are today. Humans, though, clearly don’t have that kind of liberty, so they were forced to get creative with simple necessities that an elf wouldn’t think twice about. Pottery stems from one of those needs, using clay to create things to eat and drink out of, and your elf finds it just fascinating at the skill and engineering it takes to merely make something look… functional.

Sure, his stuff used to be crazy-lopsided and uneven, but he’s getting better at it, steadily, slowly, under the guidance of a local ceramics professor. Yes, he goes to a university class to advance his skill, isn’t it what humans do, too? He might not actually pay for it, per se, he kind of just… charmed the staff to slide him into the class, and doesn’t have any intention of actually graduating or anything, so he runs free on the campus while disguised to the teeth with a more human appearance, letting his artistic side run free.

Maybe also more of a side note, but he loves animals. Loves them. Animals have such a fundamentally innocent nature about them, yet domesticated creatures like dogs have such a love for their masters that it almost physically hurts him to think about. Even though he can’t really have a dog at the moment- his current human landlord has a very strict pet policy because of her and a few other tenants’ allergies. Though your elf seems satisfied with cutting corners elsewhere, he doesn’t feel like making some humans permanently ill just because he’d like a dog to be around.

#exophilia #ko-fi monster matches #elf

[notwhelmedyet]

Dratchtember Day 5

Prompt: In the Circle Ratchet decides to make a demon-summoning circle to prove to his roommate that demons don’t exist.

(also on ao3 here)

The door slammed and Ratchet resisted the urge to yell something after Trefacto. That was one way to get out of a losing argument; wait till you were losing then announce you had to go to class. Honestly Trefacto wasn't a bad roommate. He was no Thunderclash, but nobody was, except Thunders himself. So it was probably better to not dig any deeper in this argument and escalate it from a serious philosophical difference into some sort of feud. But seriously. Demons? Ratchet was willing to tolerate people who believed in Primus or the Guiding Hand - there was at least cultural conditioning to dig them into those beliefs. Demons were like weird fringe conspiracy stuff. And Trefacto's argument that the only reason there hadn't been a verified demon summoning yet was that nobody had perfectly duplicated the required summoning circles out of his demonology book was beyond absurd. Ratchet picked up the book and flipped to a random page. It didn't even look that difficult. He skimmed the list of required materials, a plan forming in his mind. If he made an indisputably incorrect circle he could use that as proof that this was all bogus. He got up and checked Trefacto's schedule to make sure he had time, then got to work. The wire was laid out in a spiraling circle that looked three times before being knotted along the outer ring into he curves demonstrated in the diagrams. Easier than knotting up a sensornet tear. Next there were the mirrors, which Ratchet did have to run out to the store to get, and the laser that was wired into the electrical circuit and pointed at the inner circle of mirrors. It looked like an electrical engineer's first circuitry project gone wrong, but with more elegant symmetry. It certainly wouldn't do anything except very inefficiently power a laser pointer. The book didn't require he say any magic words or light any candles or other gobbledygook, thankfully. Ratchet considered waiting till Trefacto was back to do his demonstration. But it'd be embarrassing if there was something wrong with his wiring and it lit on fire or something. Better to test it. Ratchet went to his room first to get a snack, then a fire extinguisher. He powered on his contraption and sat down on the one of the chairs, fire extinguisher at the ready. The light bouncing between the mirrors did look cool, Ratchet decided, but there wasn't otherwise much of a show. He checked the book and it said that a demon was supposed to be summoned "once the light of the wires sinks down into their lower dimension and drags them up into Being Once More." Ratchet wasn't sure how long that was going to take, but after ten minutes he was going to - There was a thumping sound from inside the circle. Ratchet jumped. The circle was empty. Ratchet extended his wrist light and climbed to his feet, sweeping the light over that empty space. Nothing. "Would you put that down," a voice spoke. Ratchet jumped, then swept the light over the space again. Still nothing there. If this was an elaborate prank, he had really underestimated Trefacto's ingenuity... "Are you doing a summoning in your living room?" the voice continued. "Are you eating...are those energon crisps? I don't feel like you're taking this very seriously." "Where are you?" Ratchet asked, walking closer. "Don't step on the - be careful!" they hissed. "If you break the circle I get to come out, do you know anything about summoning." Ratchet took a step back from the circle. "Are you a demon, then?" They snorted. "Is that what they're calling it these days? Last I heard I was called a Sliver. Equal and opposite to the Silvers. They get to be dappled light and ethereal grace, we get to be...this." "So you're invisible?" Ratchet asked. "Walk around the circle." Frowning, Ratchet did so. As he walked there was a blip in his vision. Ratchet paused and slowly moved backwards again, nothingness transforming into a silhouette that appeared to be made of pure shadow, except for two golden optics. The demon - sliver, whatever - waved. "Hello there." "I'm pretty sure demons aren't supposed to say 'hello there'," Ratchet said. "I'm pretty sure you have no idea what you're doing," they shot back. "You haven't even asked my name." "What's your name?" Ratchet asked. They laughed. "What's yours?" He didn't get the joke. "Ratchet." They didn't need to know the rest. "Ratchet, tell me, why did you decide to summon yourself a sliver? Do you have enemies that need dispatching? Scores to be settled? Do you wish for power and wealth?" "I was trying to prove you don't exist," Ratchet said with a shrug. "My roommate is obnoxiously credulous, I was getting sick of him blabbing on about magic and demons and Primus and healing crystals." They cocked their head at him curiously. "That sounds...just stupid enough to be true. So you have no idea what I am or what you could have me do?" "I don't believe in the divine," Ratchet said. "I don't want you to do anything." They laughed again, the sound making a shiver run down his spine. "Ratchet. Ratchet. I think I like you." Delicately, they settled down to sit on the ground within the circle, propping their chin on their hands. It was eerie - they weren't like a shadow across the ground. They were like a complete absense of light, a visual void. "Do you have any questions?" They asked. "What's your name?" Ratchet asked again. "Or what can I call you?" "Drift," they said. "Call me Drift." "Okay, Drift. Cool. So, uh, how are you...like this? Were you always a sliver? Or is this some sort of, I don't know, divine punishment." "You don't ask easy questions, do you?" Drift said softly. Ratchet hadn't expected soft. "I don't remember. According to the mythology I must have been a mech who, upon death, had committed such great evil that I was forbidden entrance to the Afterspark. But I don't remember that. I was not, and then I was." Ratchet nodded. "That sounds unpleasant. Wait, so do you actually have to do anything I say? Like, if I asked you to embarrass my faculty mentor would you have to do it? Or do people make bargains with you?" "There's very little one could offer a sliver - I'm either between spaces or I'm bound into service. Most people that have summoned me have either given me orders or died in the attempt. It's possible to give me an order I cannot refuse. But the inexperienced summoner tends to release the circle without having done so." "You've killed people who've summoned you?" Ratchet asked, sitting down on the ground so he would feel less anxious about tripping over thin air and ending up in the summoning circle. "I've killed for my summoners. I've stolen sparks and poisoned conjunxes. I've slaughtered newframes in the dead of the night during a supposed armistice. People who summon slivers are not nice people. Yourself excluded, I suppose. If I see a chance to get out of unpleasant work, I take it. And I'm bound until my summoner releases me or they die." "Wait, so just powering off the circle won't send you back?" Ratchet asked, glancing over at Trefacto's book. "I can't leave the circle with it powered on and I am generally called upon for tasks that can't be carried out inside of one. No, powering off the circle doesn't de-materialize me. The circle holds me, the binding keeps me in this dimension." "Okay, well how do I send you back? My roommate is going to be out of class soon and I need to get this whole set-up gone before he gets back or he's going to know he was right about demons. And he'll be insufferable if he knows he's right." "You want me to go?" Drift asked, voice full of mock-offense. "I didn't actually want you to show up in the first place," Ratchet pointed out. "Yeah, you probably have things to do, I've got a presentation to prepare before tomorrow. It was fascinating meeting you but I don't have any interest in being a professional demon summoner. So how do I send you back?" Drift folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not telling you." "What?" "This is fine, I like it here," Drift said. "I appreciate the...attempts? At interior decorating. It's very homey. I've never been to university - so far as I know - it'd be nice to soak in the ambiance." "I'm actually in residency to become a doctor," Ratchet said. "My roommate's a student. But - more importantly - you can't stay here! I need to clean all this up so he doesn't realize I made a working summoning circle." "I can't believe your university student roommate has a book with working summoning diagrams," Drift said, shaking his head. "If you want to break the circle, be my guest. But you clearly don't know how to dismiss me or order me, so that'd be rather..." Ratchet would have swore Drift smiled, "...daring." "What, you're just going to live in a circle in my living room?" "I don't think what I do counts as 'living'," Drift said. "Oh fine, be a smartass," Ratchet said. He got up to grab Trefacto's book and flopped onto the chair to read. Most of the book was taken up by the summoning circles...and now that he looked a little closer there were captions. "Oh hey, the book has a little caption for you. Want to hear it?" "I would love to." "Bet you would," Ratchet said, flipping back to the opening section. What kind of instruction book would tell you how to invite a super-powered serial killer into your house but not how to get rid of them? Ratchet had gotten damned good at speedreading in medical school, but he had *not** practiced reading this kind of nonsense. "So do most folks who summon you dismiss you?" Ratchet asked, casually. "Not many," Drift said. "And certainly none of them without requesting a single thing. No, most summoners have no interest in making me go away when they could leave me bound to their will. I drift back between when they die and the binding releases." This fragging useless book. Did nobody who summoned demons get buyer's remorse? Of course, it was the first book that Trefacto had managed to find in the throes of his new occultist passion, they might have just gotten lucky with Drift's summoning circle. Maybe everything else in it was rubbish. Maybe you weren't supposed to follow the instructions until you knew what to do with a demon after it materialized... He was running out of time. Ratchet flipped to the end, in hopes of an index, and then flipped back to the front of the book to skim from the beginning again. ‘Once you have bound the sliver to your word as well as your being by use of their Name, be careful in your commands. They may interpret your words to allow more freedoms than you had intended, sometimes to fatal consequence.’ "Is your name actually Drift, Drift?" Ratchet asked. "No," Drift said, delighted. "Can you lie to me?" Ratchet asked. "Why wouldn't I be able to?" From here the circle looked entirely empty but Ratchet could imagine the obnoxious faux-innocence of Drift's posture. He wondered what determined the angle from which Drift was visible - was it a factor of the environment or of Drift himself? He didn't have time to mess with this, Trefacto would be back soon. "Hey Drift, if I opened the circle, would you kill me?" Ratchet asked. "I might," Drift said. Ratchet observed, "You don't seem very excited about the proposition." "I might be leading you on so that you open the circle. No way to know," Drift said. "You're not going to kill me," Ratchet announced. He put down the book and went to the power supply for his experiment. "Really, Ratchet - " Ratchet turned it off. There was a rush of air that made him stagger backwards and Drift appeared again, his optics inches away from Ratchet's face. Now that he was closer, Ratchet could see that it wasn't just his optics that were visible through the inky darkness. There were also fangs. "You're an idiot," Drift hissed. Ratchet smiled. "I want to make a deal. It's going to take me awhile to figure out how to release you and I don't particularly want to learn how to order you around. Which I can't do anyway, because I don't know your name. But I really really need my roommate to not find out you're here. So what would I have to offer for you to promise to make that happen? I know you said there's not much people can offer you, but is there something?" "I cannot believe that I am right here and you still care more about what your roommate is going to think." "You haven't met him. He's insufferable. Really." "You should have a better roommate," Drift said suddenly. "A bargain....a bargain...I'm willing to accept your bargain, Ratchet, if in exchange you will hold me." "Like, lift you?" "No! Like - " Drift fluttered his arms helplessly and then wrapped them around his chest and squeezed. "Like that." "You want me to hug you?" "Yesss," Drift hissed. Hesitantly, Ratchet reached out touched Drift's shoulder. It felt cold, like the frame of an empty who'd been outside during an ice storm, but solid. Real. Ratchet had been thinking of Drift as some sort of spectre, but he definitely had substance. "It's a deal," Ratchet said. That settled, Ratchet shuttered his optics for a moment and put his arms around Drift, hands seeing out the middle of his back where the hug could seem comforting, but not too intimate. Drift shuddered, then looped his arms around Ratchet's waist and pulled him close. ...to be continued?

#dratchtember #dratchet #ficlets #my fics #oh god this is too long #wht have i done

[elsewhereuniversity]

there is a demon in her closet, and she really isn’t sure what she wants to do about it.

the first time she opens the door to see horns and an ethereal face with slit-pupiled eyes staring back, she unceremoniously slams it back shut and walks out of her dorm room.

she does not come back for three days, witch prepared for an exorcism in tow, and doesn’t open the closet door save to put in some smoking sage for another week after that.

the demon reappears the very next evening.

she moves her dresser in front of the closet door. he (they?) places it right back where it came from. she supposes she should be grateful it wasn’t thrown out the window, and nails the door shut.

that protection lasts perhaps a week, before the door is ripped off and thrown out the window.

this is her fault, probably, and she makes a mental note that from then on she should refrain from giving the demon ideas. she probably should have known that from the beginning, but better late than never, as the saying goes.

the demon doesn’t appear to actually do anything other than loom and occasionally steal her clothes— well, borrow her clothes; they come back weeks later, pressed and smelling of honeysuckle, of all things— so she allows herself to ignore it for a while during exams, puts up a canopy to shield her bed, scatters some boobytraps for good measure. her roommate— a very loud, busy girl who apparently can’t or won’t see the demon— grouses every now and then about eccentric bookworms and their flights of fancy, but she doesn’t formally complain and leaves the traps alone, so that’s fine. other than the times when paranoia slips past the routine of working around the only-possibly-malevolent presence in their room, they get along fine.

once exams are over she contemplates trying to get someone better-versed in the paranormal— there are clubs, or something, she knows there are people other than her classmate the witch she could run to, if the rumors she’s heard are anything to go by— but….. well. she’s kind of used to it, by then. it’s never broken her traps, exactly, but whenever it manages to get past them she wakes to a small, glittering pin on her canopy, and she’s started collecting them. setting up her nightly obstacle course for it has become both a fun game and a test of her engineering skills, and somewhat against her will she’s become impressed by the demon’s cleverness. several of the nights it got past her lines of defense dawned to mornings where she couldn’t even safely disassemble her traps.

it’s how college goes, she figures; everyone’s got that weird story to tell. one night, during a party where she drinks too much and doesn’t care quite enough, she shares a few of the funnier moments of her closet’s occupation, not particularly expecting anyone to believe her.

but someone does. several people do. and that night, drunk off her ass, a pale sophomore pulls her aside and tells her of the Other side of their university. “you have one of Them,” she says, “in your closet.”

even sober, a fairy isn’t incredibly different from a demon by most accounts, so that’s. okay, she guesses, pats the worried sophomore on the head, and steals a bottle of vodka for her fairy friend.

this is ostensibly not the reaction that the sophomore wanted, but there were no traps set out that night; if the demon— or, wait, the fairy— is also drunk off his ass, at the very least he might feel less inclined to kill her in your sleep.

not that she thinks he will, at this point, but better safe than sorry. the bottle is drained in the morning (the afternoon. she does not drag herself from the safety of her canopy until far past afternoon).

other people catch wind of her third unofficial roommate from channels that she was previously unaware of, and she receive warnings and questions and stories in droves, bringing her suddenly into a world of magic and danger that she still felt, despite everything, was a little far-fetched.

but that’s irrelevant, really. she thanks them all, ultimately ignoring every word, and continues happily building her gadgets, buying new and increasingly ridiculous clothes to see what the fairy won’t wear, and grinning at her roommate’s exasperated looks. she butters up enough of the right people to get that same room, year after year, and the creature in the closet is the only bit of strangeness she encounters, still, somehow. she graduates. she leaves (and leaves many, many gifts, including some outfits she noticed it wore most often— and some they both avoided completely).

years later, when she is grown and even-keeled and settled, she meats an oddly-dressed stranger with clever eyes and a too-sharp smile, and she can’t help but walk over to start a conversation. they talk, and talk, and talk, and keep talking, keep meeting, until one day they leave for a trip and do not come back.

there are whispers, if you know how to listen, of a girl and her partner who might help you, if you can find them. if you have made friends with someone or something that is perhaps unwise to associate with despite yourself.

they are safe enough, probably, and neutral enough, and the stories say that you will know them by their well-pressed clothes, smelling always, of all things, like honeysuckle.

x

#a-bunch-of-garbage #stories #long post #i love this #student life #submission

[tcshearts]

Session 2, Chapter 5 - Secrets

Content warning: Violence, Extreme use of fire, Car accidents

It takes me all of ten seconds to enter The Cinder State and find my way in through the trailer door. What the fuck did she do? We gave her pretty simple orders, so how did she fuck it up? I scan the trailer as soon as I’m inside, ten soldiers with rifles stand in a tight formation in the middle of the trailer. Behind and to the side of them are crates, they were thrown roughly around the trailer when Chimera tore it off, but most of the stuff still looks to be intact. I glance over at Unicorn, she has her hands in the air, detranscended. She’s wearing a bright green cloak and a cheap white mask with clear lenses. Two darts are sticking out of her shoulder and neck.

The darts, you idiot, remove the darts! The longer they stay in you, the longer they cut your powers off! Pull out the darts! The soldiers have their guns trained on her, and if I dropped out of the Cinder State right now, they’d have a pretty easy shot at me. I stay in my incorporeal form and circle around them, this is pretty standard procedure, so I know just the signal to wait for. I start to channel my rage and call on my power while in The Cinder State.

Chimera should pull these doors open any minute. We’ve done this before a million times and she’ll do it any second now. I’m sure of it.

Okay, maybe she isn’t coming.

Ten soldiers, I could probably take them, but I’m not sure I could do it without getting a dart. That’s why I need some backup. It would be better if Unicorn didn’t get shot like an idiot, but I have to work with the cards I’m dealt. I can’t just sit here thinking about it forever. I position myself behind the furthest right guard on the back line and ready all the flame I’ve gathered.

Come on Chimera, where are you?

I drop out of the Cinder State and launch fire at the backs of the men in the backline, grabbing the one I was standing closest to and putting him between me and the other five. The man screams in pain and drops his gun as darts pepper his burning back. The smell of burning flesh is one I’ll never get used to smelling. I use the human shield to drop back into The Cinder State and disappear again.

“Anchor.” One of the soldiers says to the other four still standing as I gather my fire. I see the bottom of their boots glow blue and seem to magnetize to the floor. The leader of these soldiers sets a small blue and white orb on the ground, which instantly attaches itself to the floor.

Without warning, the soldier presses a button on his wrist and I feel myself being torn apart and entirely disrupted. My vision, all of my senses actually, fail me momentarily and seem to come back to me one at a time. My airy, ethereal form is positioned by a corner near the door in the shipping container. I glance around and see Sarah was blown back against the far door of the container and the five injured guards were blown wildly around.

What the hell was that thing? It felt like it tried to rip me apart. I know that I’m technically some form of air when I’m in the Cinder State, so that thing must have been able to blow the air in the shipping container around wildly. The lead soldier turns towards me, his visor has a red-orange tint that I didn’t notice before. He points to my exact location the second his head turns towards me.

“She’s there!” He says, raising his weapon. The other guards follow suit. I start to move again, his head quickly follows me and with another press of his wrist I feel the same awful, painful sensation ripping at me and find my form huddled at the back of the shipping container a few seconds later.

Chimera, any time now would be fucking awesome.

“Don’t try it Phoenix. Just come out with your hands up and we won’t hurt you.” The man says. I don’t believe him, and I doubt he cares.

That visor has to be able to see heat signatures. When I’m in the Cinder State, I register as slightly warmer air. My cousin, Cori, had a special ability that let her see heat and I was never able to hide from her in The Cinder State. If he wants to see heat, I’ll give him heat.

I call fire to myself, as much as I can muster, the entire time I’m terrified that he’s going to use his device again, but he doesn’t. I drop out of the Cinder State and unleash all the gathered flame in as wide an area as possible. The entire back half of the trailer is engulfed in flame. I would have hit the whole trailer, but I can’t risk accidentally killing Sarah. Even an incompetent ally is better than no ally.

I hear the lead soldier groan as he covers the visor of his mask. The first two soldiers, as well as a few of the injured ones, are completely turned to ash. I don’t like killing, I hate it actually. My aspect may be anger, but I’m still a goddamn human. My power isn’t exactly one that “wounds” or “hurts” all I can do is destroy and kill. I wish I could knock out soldier the way Chimera does, or I could at least kill as ruthlessly as Kitsune does. I breathe and get my composure together, these soldiers stopped being people the second they joined the regime. That’s what I have to remind myself.

The other three guards were burned and knocked off balance. The lead guard lost his gun, while the other two aren’t exactly ready to shoot. I call the fire, pulling it from the burning crates and metal and covering my body in it. The sensation of flame covering me, but not burning me is such an unusual feeling. It almost feels like I’m wearing a glove over my entire body, but it moves in such a strange and almost uncomfortable way. When I see the looks on the faces of the guards, I know I got exactly the effect I was going for.

I hear a click as one of the soldiers panics and pulls the trigger of his gun. I watch the dart hit the flaming armor around me and burn up before making contact with my skin, it got close, way closer than I would have liked, but I stopped it. I don’t let the worry show at all as I walk slowly towards the three soldiers. I look at Sarah, she’s mostly unharmed, just some searing on her cloak, but she looks like she’s been knocked out pretty bad from that device that blew the air in here around.

“Drop your weapons,” I say through crackling flame. The soldiers recoil slightly and the back two drop their weapons when I raise my hands.

“Helmets, wrist pads, phones, boots, gloves, and anything else you have with tech or weaponry, take it off,” I order, the guards hesitate for a moment before finally doing so. It takes two or three minutes, and I have to double and triple check them, sending my fire away from the hands I was using to check them, but they’re clear.

“Go sit in the front corner of the trailer,” I say, indicating to the corner by the door. “If any of you make moves for your weapons, it’s not going to end well for you.” I’m not nearly as sure of myself as I pretend to be in that moment, but it works. The men relent and go to the corner. I’m beyond relieved that worked and relieved that I finally have a trick that may slow down the darts. Now, I need to find out what the hell happened to my backup.

I use the fire around my body and send it as one large wave towards the door, forcing it open with a loud thud. I ignite my wings and start gathering more fire around me as I look at the scene. It’s not what I was hoping for.

Chimera is the first person I notice, she’s holding her shoulder, blood running down from it. Her body is shaking and her face bears a clear expression of pain. Well, there goes my backup. Dragon is standing directly in front of her, her teeth and claws are bared, her wings and tail are fully extended, she’s guarding her and making sure she doesn’t get hit by whatever got her previously.

Kitsune is covered entirely in white carbon, her fans drawn to protect herself. She’s frozen completely, a look of hatred on her face. The bodies of soldiers with dart guns, four of them, lay sprawled around the road near Kitsune. While two Paladins lay in heaps, their engines torn directly out of their bodies. If I had to guess, Chimera did that. A third Paladin stands a few feet from Dragon, it’s black metal body appears to be mostly unharmed. A jeep is parked next to the Paladin, a man in the driver’s seat holds a handgun, pointed at Chimera in the few moments when she’s not being covered by Dragon. A woman sits in the passenger seat. She’s clad in a blue and white dress, holding a large hunting rifle, trained on Dragon. Her entire face excluding the eyes and mouth, is covered by a white mask, while the rest of her head is covered by a blue hood. She’s short, maybe about 5’2, but she’s clearly in control of the situation. Oracle.

“Phoenix!” Oracle says in a sickeningly sweet voice. “I was wondering when you’d be joining us.”

“Fuck off. You’re outnumbered here, leave.” I say, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“Don’t try that shit with me Phoenix. Chimera’s not getting up anytime soon, the Fox is a human popsicle, and your new friend is out like a light. Besides, Technician is directly controlling this Paladin. We’ve got you beat.”

Fuck, Chimera doesn’t look to be in any state to fight. She looks like she’s barely aware of where she even is right now. Even worse, I barely have any power left and I can’t image Dragon is exactly fresh. I glance at Dragon and she gives me a very brief look, one that makes me feel like she’s working on a plan.

“Quite right.” A woman’s voice with a thick German accent comes from the Paladin, there’s no doubt that’s Technician. “I’m not especially interested in further harming children, so the smartest thing you can do is turn yourselves over to us.”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a no.” I mutter, stepping to Dragon’s side.

“Oh, Phoenix, so much of your father in you.” Oracle says with a devilish grin on her face. I growl slightly at the comment and feel the rage inside me start to build. I need to keep calm, Oracle has the power to gather information based on the smallest clue. She has her magic rifle and the boosts that being a spirit touched gives everyone, but her ability isn’t a combat one, she’s just extremely adept at information gathering and knows how to use that information to get to people.

“Tell me Phoenix, do you know? Do you know who you’ve been working alongside? Do you know who’s been in your midsts, who you thought were allies? Can you really trust them?” Technician’s voice says, Oracle seems to grimace slightly, almost like Technician saying that irked her.

Can I trust my team? I trust Dragon completely, and I trust Chimera to never join the Archduke. Kitsune is a wild card, but if there’s one thing I don’t doubt it’s her commitment to the fight. I barely know Sarah, but I doubt she’d be willing to sell us out to the regime. Even if I didn’t trust my team, I know I have to show that I do against these two, especially Oracle.

“Yes, there’s not a thing you could tell me about them that could make me distrust them. They’re my team, I trust them fully.” I answer. Oracle’s eyes light up like she’s struck paydirt.

“That angle’s not gonna work Techy,” she says almost laughing. “She’s gay, and she doesn’t give a shit about her team’s personal lives.”

Oracle pauses and locks her eyes on Dragon.

“However, Dragon, you really are smarter than Techy gives you credit for. You know, don’t you? You’ve known for a while. You probably could have fixed it. And you didn’t tell Phoenix? Don’t you claim to be the good guys? That’s really fucking harsh.” Oracle says.

“I don’t know what you’re ta-” Dragon starts.

“Oh sure, you weren’t one-hundred percent sure, but I just confirmed it. So? You gonna tell her now?”

An awkward silence hangs over the standoff. Dragon exhales slightly and glances at me with one of her reptilian eyes. I glance back. What does Oracle mean? Dragon’s keeping something from me? What? Does she know who I am? I’d be mad at myself, but if Kitsune knows, it doesn’t bother me a ton that Dragon does. Is she straight? As disappointed as I’d be, I wouldn’t be crushed. I could deal with it. No, Oracle said she could have stopped ‘it’, stop what? What else would she possibly hide from me?

“You think you know everything, don’t you Oracle?” Dragon says.

“Unlike you, no I don’t. I know people, Techy knows machines.” Oracle says.

“So then who’s fault was not noticing that you didn’t freeze me in carbon?” Kitsune says, leaping from behind the trailer onto the top of it. Oracle’s eyes go wide as she stares at Kitsune, and points her rifle at her. I glance at the Kitsune frozen in carbon and see it’s still there. How the fuck did she do that?

“Shoot! Dart Dragon! Now!” Oracle orders her soldier. The man’s arm moves roughly, violently jerking to the side. He points his gun at Oracle instead.

“Edward Millner, former army general, cheating on his wife with a young recruit who’s only sleeping with him out of fear of losing her position. Please, I do my homework and I know faces, don’t tell me you’re that much of an amateur Oracle.” Kitsune taunts. Before Kitsune can make the man pull the trigger, Oracle rips the gun from his hand and fires at Dragon.

Dragon wastes no time getting out of the way, pouncing on the Paladin and trying to rip through their shell. The Paladin uses their size advantage to throw Dragon back a bit and turns to face her. It would have hit Chimera, but I burn it to ash before it gets there.

Oracle drops the dart pistol, aims her rifle at Kitsune, and forces her soldier out of the driver’s seat. She takes a shot at Kitsune, who dodges with an athletic flip. She starts her car and takes another shot at Kitsune, who blocks it with her fan this time. Oracle presses a button on the dash and engages some sort of auto-drive function. She takes a few shots at Kitsune and myself before hitting Dragon squarely in the back, the purple energy from the gun doesn’t even break her scales.

Dragon and the Paladin are locked in combat. Dragon has managed to dislodge the stun turret, while the Paladin is keeping a solid hold on Dragon’s claws. I briefly consider helping her, before setting my eyes on Oracle’s jeep.

“Kitsune, watch Chimera and Unicorn.” I say, looking at the shivering, bleeding superhero on the ground and the barely conscious borderline-civilian.

“Yup.” Kitsune says, hopping down to ground level and extending both her fans fully.

I fly forward, landing on the hood of Oracle’s jeep. I start to melt through the hood and into the engine, but she quickly bashes me in the face with the butt of her rifle. Okay, that hurt, maybe I need a different approach. I lock my eyes on Oracle.

“Alright Phoenix, you caught me, come take me.” She says, disengaging the auto-drive and slowing the jeep slightly. I don’t trust this.

“Or we could make a deal.” She says with a devilish grin.

“No. I don’t make deals with people like you.”

“Oh, but you could. Your team would never know, I’d give you a good, non-fatal shot to the gut and drive away. You fake like you’re too hurt to follow.”

“Kitsune’s a human lie detector and Dragon’s a super genius, I’m not an idiot. Besides, you don’t have anything I want.”

“Don’t I? You wanna know what Dragon’s hiding from you? You wanna know what Kitsune’s weakness is? Ooh ooh, do you wanna know why your dad turned on you?”

Why am I even entertaining her? I have fucking Oracle in my sights, I should either burn her to a crisp or restrain her for Dragon to question. At the moment, I’m leaning towards burning her.

“No.” I growl under my mask.

“Oh, yes you do.” She says with a smirk. “But if my offer doesn’t intrigue you, go ahead. Capture me. You’ll just never know why your daddy had such a change of heart.”

Oracle holds her hands out for me. I glare at her. Come on, do it. I beg my hands to grab her, to restrain her and pull her out of the vehicle, but they won’t budge.

“You can’t possibly know that.” I spit.

“Sweetie,” Oracle starts with a laugh. “I was there.”

She could give me answers, closure, she could give me something I never thought I’d have. It would mean letting my team down. It would mean letting Chimera down when she took a bullet for our cause. It would mean letting Dragon down. I can’t do that. I want to know, I want it more than anything, but…

“No…” I force the word out of my throat. Saying no was hard, but saying yes was somehow harder. Before I can change my mind, I reach forward and wrench her hands, putting her in a wrist lock.

“That’s fine. My offer was sincere, but you weren’t even the first priority. I was just stalling.” Oracle says calmly, letting out a sharp whistle.

Oracle’s soldier, apparently free of Kitsune’s control and laying on the ground, has the dart pistol. On Oracle’s signal, he points it at Dragon. Dragon is still locked in her fight with the Paladin, neither side making headway. Dragon will probably win a one-on-one fight with a Paladin, even one controlled by Technician, but if she gets darted, this fight is over before it can even start.

“Kitsune!” I shout, pulling Oracle tight against my body and trying to kick her rifle away. “The dart gun!”

Kitsune doesn’t take more than a second to react, making the man throw his hand backwards and fire the gun far away from Dragon. It’s okay. It’s safe. It didn’t work, we’re going to win.

The next thing I hear is an ear-splitting, high pitched noise that shakes the road, the car, and the sand around us. I hit the ground and cover my ears, so do Oracle, Kitsune, Dragon, and the Soldier. The Paladin stalls. It takes me a few seconds to realize what’s happening, Chimera is screaming, a visceral howl of pain that sounds like it’s echoing from the spirit world. Every inch of Chimera is radiating blue light. It’s at this moment that I realize the errant dart hit Chimera. She stands and pulls the dart out of her neck with her telekinetic powers, her eyes glowing bright blue.

She didn’t detranscend. The dart didn’t make her fucking detranscend. I know that Chimeras are usually fucking weird, and work a little differently than normal spirit touched, but the dart didn’t cut off her powers, it just made her mad.

The sand and rocks on the roadside begin to glow blue, Forming swiftly into massive rock golems. The sand starts to twist around Chimera, forming a shield as she begins to float into the air. Chimera is telekinetic, she struggles with “loose” things like sand or water because she has to control every grain or drop. I’ve also never even seen her try to make a golem out of rocks, or anything else, before. Controlling one loose object is standard for her, but controlling a few objects at a time makes her basically a sitting duck. Making all the rocks move in tandem? I can’t imagine how much focus that takes. I know other Chimeras have gotten stronger over time, maybe some of the ones that survived for a long time could do this, but this is an incredible spike in a matter of seconds.

Chimera launches a wave of sand over the roadway at high speeds. The sandstorm hits the jeep hard, sending me off of it and tumbling across the road back to the trailer. When I look back up, I see the Paladin torn apart to nothing but scrap metal and spare parts. Dragon is looking around her wings to try to get a clear look at Chimera through the sand. Her reptilian eyes probably give her a better chance than Kitsune or I.

The jeep is also in pieces. I don’t even see the soldier anymore, he’s probably buried beneath the sand. Oracle is laying a few feet back from the jeep, scrambling backward and grabbing her rifle. She fires it at Chimera, purple energy exploding from the muzzle. The beams hit Chimera’s shield of sand and immediately disperse. Through coughs and panicked breaths, I hear Oracle speak into some sort of wrist communicator.

“Dodger, I need evac. Now.” She says.

Chimera’s stone golems begin to make their way towards Oracle, a few of them walk past me and seem to ignore me. I can’t find Kitsune, but no doubt she was agile enough to slip into or behind the trailer. Chimera slowly begins to advance herself, picking up more sand along the way.

“Oracle!” The voice comes from Chimera’s lips, but it’s not her own. It sounds like a mix of voices, hundreds of them, along with some spectral, celestial force boosting their volume ten times above what they would be. “Your hubris and malice have put this world at grave risk. Your Archduke attempts to make a pantheon here on earth, I fled the spirit world because I saw what a pantheon does to those who are not at the top of it. I will not let this world become the one I left. Your structures will fall, and I will bring them down. Heed my warning Oracle, abandon your leaders’ foolish ploy, or I will not hesitate to end your life along with his.”

Oracle shakes like a leaf and desperately tries to shoot the Rock golems, who don’t even slow down. I’ve never seen someone like Oracle be this genuinely afraid, for fuck’s sake, Chimera’s on my side and I’m terrified of her. How is she doing this? What’s gotten into her? What is she? I know that Chimera said she “bonded” with the spirit, instead of receiving a fraction of their powers as a blessing like most of us did, but does that mean that she could be as powerful as a full-blown spirit?

A short girl in a small white and blue costume appears right next to Oracle, the costume is a one piece body glove with a small blue eye mask, her blonde hair is up in a ponytail. Her name is Dodger, I don’t know much about her except that she’s a teleporter. She grabs Oracle just before the golems get to her and teleports away. Chimera floats still in the air for a few moments before landing on the ground with force. Sand and rocks go flying as her shield and golems disperse.

“Maybe next time you won’t underestimate me.” Chimera says to the spot where Oracle was. She turns and looks in the direction of Dragon and I, the blue glow of her eyes slowly starts to fade as her breathing becomes more labored. She grabs her head and leans against the trailer as her eyes return to normal.

What the fuck was that? How did Chimera do that? Why didn’t the dart work? Did Chimera just declare official war on the Archduke? Did we just get pushed into a full-blown war? I have so many questions, but I can’t even begin to ask them. I just watch Dragon fly to Chimera to check on her as I sit on the ground slack-jawed.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Kitsune says, walking out of the trailer and over to me. I nod in response.

“Yeah, uh, I’m curious how she-”

“No shit. I am too.” Kitsune cuts me off and rolls her eyes.

“How did you not get frozen?” I ask, I shouldn’t care, but it’s been bugging me since I saw her come from behind the trailer.

“A little misdirection with an assist from Dragon. She gave me this thing.” Kitsune indicates to a large metal triangle attached to her forearm. “Some sort of 3D printer that works at high speeds. As soon as the Paladin fired their carbon at me, Dragon told me to hit the button on it and it sent a plastic copy of me to take the carbon. Then I just hid behind my… ‘carbon copy’ until nobody was paying attention to where I was. That’s probably not something that’s going to work twice, at least not as well, but it was extremely satisfying to pull one over on Oracle and Technician that way.”

“I mean, you pulled one over on her, but Chimer-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, Chimera is awesome, she’s probably a legit spirit or something, but can we at least focus on the cool thing I did for like a second.”

“That sounds like it was mostly Dragon.” I say with a shrug.

“You would think that. Whatever, go check on your girlfriend and her sister, I’ve got some collecting to do.” Kitsune says, fishing through the pockets of the soldier corpses that line the street.

I glance at Dragon and sigh. Oracle is a liar, but from the way Dragon reacted, I doubt she was lying here. Dragon is supposed to be our leader, she’s someone I trust, someone I care about a lot, and she’s been hiding something from me, and from the tone Oracle used, it must be something bad. What could she not want me to know that badly? Can I still trust Dragon? I hope so, I need to be able to trust her. Please let this be nothing.

Dragon has detranscended and is carefully applying something from a clear bottle to Chimera’s gunshot wound.

“I need to take you back to my lab to work on this.” Dragon says, her breath heavy.

“I know, thank you for doing what you can here.” Chimera answers in a weak and sheepish voice.

“Hey Chi.” I say, trying my best to look soft and welcoming despite being basically a fire demon.

“Hey, I didn’t hurt you did I?” she asks.

“No, I’m fine. Can I ask you something?”

Dragon starts to open her mouth, but Chimera raises her good arm.

“Sis, it’s fine. What is it Phoenix?” She says.

“What was that?” I ask, alluding to the sand covering the roadway.

“Honestly, you would know better than I do. I don’t even remember anything. I just remember feeling the dart go in, and then I was leaning against this trailer. It was a lot like what happened against Heatstroke. I just blacked out.” She says, not looking me in the eye.

She blacked out? Does Chimera have some sort of failsafe built into her powers? It would make sense if it saved her in life or death situations, but it triggered after she was darted.

“Dragon?” I ask.

“Working on a theory. Been working on one since our fight with Heatstroke. Best case scenario, it’s a well-hidden secret power that Chimera has. It’s possible that it’s an alternate state, or maybe that the spirit itself is taking control of her, that would account for the extreme rise in her power.” Dragon says, still busily working on Chimera’s wound.

“Worst case scenario?” I ask, I almost immediately regret doing so.

“Multiple personality disorder or mind control by something much stronger.”

“I don’t think it’s either of those.” Chimera says, shaking her head.

“I’m just examining all the possibilities.” Dragon adds, raising her hands slightly.

“Um, hi” A voice says to the left of us, it’s Sarah.

“Hey.” Chimera says giving her a warm smile.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’ll be fine. How are you holding up?”

“Alright, I guess. Getting shot at was… was…” Sarah starts to trail off, Chimera places her good hand on her shoulder.

“I know. It gets easier after the first few times.” Chimera says.

“I’m sorry, I fucked up really bad.” Sarah says, not wanting to look at Dragon or I.

“It’s alright. What happened in there?”

“I thought they were out of darts. They baited me. I made myself tangible and they gor me. I fucked up.”

“Yeah, you did.” I answer before Chimera can. I want to leave it there, but the way her eyes look beneath the mask forces me to say “It’s okay, we’ve all fucked up from time to time.” I feel the bullet wound on my arm as a still clear reminder of that.

“I… thank you.”

“If you’ll excuse me.” Chimera starts. “I need to meditate. I want to commune with the other Chimeras, I have questions.”

“Of course, let me know what you find out?” Dragon says.

“I promise.”

“Could I watch?” Sarah asks, picking her head up slightly.

“Sure. Just don’t touch me. It would break my focus.”

“Of course.”

I get up to leave Chimera and indicate for Dragon to follow me. She hesitates, but as soon as Chimera enters her trance she comes to join me off to the side.

“Hey.” I say.

“Hey. Everything good?” She asks.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Kitsune told me what you did, that was a pretty cool trick.”

“I actually have Technician to think for that, her power lets her produce near impossible tech, mine doesn’t. I took a miniature 3D printer from one of her warehouses a few months back and have been trying to engineer something like that. It’s not ideal, the device needs to be on the body for a while, can only make plastic duplicates of whoever it’s attached to, and only has enough material for one duplicate. It also needs time to grow, the duplicate was a little smaller than Kitsune, we were lucky that they never picked up on that.”

It’s funny to hear her talk about this. Science and her projects, it’s cute in a way. She’s not a person who’s especially good at letting her walls down, I know a thing or two about that. But when she starts to talk about her experiments or projects, it’s almost impossible to stop her. I smile slightly behind my mask.

“Well, I’m glad it worked. I’m glad we escaped. So what’s our next move?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Things are moving fast. The regime sends Exodus, Oracle, and Technician after us all in the span of a few days? I don’t like this.” Dragon says.

“So, the Fort McCord job? I take it you don’t want to push it back?”

“Phoenix, I think we have to move it up.”

“Move it up? But we were going to hit it tomorrow.”

“I know, and with Chimera hurt, and Unicorn shaken up, we should be taking more time off, not less. But if we don’t strike now, we aren’t going to have a chance. They’re making their play. Right now. We need to slow it down, and getting into that base can buy us at least a few days. We don’t have a matter of days anymore, we probably have hours.”

“You’re right. So we do it tonight?”

“Yeah, eight. That gives us a little over twelve hours to rest and prepare. Meet at the hideout. I’m going to patch Chimera up and make sure she’s okay to go. Kit’s not coming with us, she has people she needs to take care of, they’re her first priority. So we need all the rest of us able to go.”

“Yeah. Sounds like a plan.”

Silence hangs over us for a few seconds. I want to ask her, badly, I can feel the words forming in my mouth, but they refuse to come out. “What was Oracle talking about?” that’s all I need to say, I just need to say that one thing and I can put this to bed. I can tell Dragon is thinking about it too. Neither of us wants to bring it up.

So we don’t.

“You’re getting better, your tech is evolving. It’s really cool actually.” I say.

“Thanks. You’re damn good with your powers. I’m amazed by all the clever things you do with them. You’re more than just a flamethrower. You’re really good at this job, better than you give yourself credit for.” She says, her smile audible.

“You’re really good at this. I’m-”

“Shh, no. We’re both really good at being heroes. Agreed?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. We’re a team. We’re partners.”

That word hangs there for what feels like ten minutes, partners. God, I want that so desperately. In one sense of the word we are. I’m not sure how she meant it. Is it a hint that she would want to be with me? Is it just phrasing she didn’t put thought into? But Dragon’s so smart, doesn’t she put thought into eve- Rachel, calm down, she said partners. Just relax.

“Yeah. we’re partners.” I say.

“Good, well, then I’ll see you tonight.”

Dragon walks back to her sister. What Oracle said echoes through my mind again. Dragon is keeping something from me. We both know it, even if neither of us wants to acknowledge it. I don’t care. Whatever she’s keeping for me, I don’t need to know. It’s her business, not mine. If we’re gonna win this, I need to trust her. I don’t need to know, not till this is over.

I trust her.

#Dark Hearts #Magical Girl #Web Serial #Original Fiction #Phoenix #Chimera #Dragon #Kitsune #Chapter 2-5 #Sci-fi #Dystopian #Web original #Superhero #Magic #supernatural #LGBTQ #Trans #Lesbian #Queer

[jakkosisle]

The Battle For Lordaeron: Part VI - Psychology

Spritzie slammed another trio of shells into her triple-barred shotgun before unloading another volley into the approaching Alliance.  She growled in frustration - for every humans she shot down, two more took their place.  There was no end to them.

Fine.  Let them come.  She’ll turn every single one of them into swiss cheese for what they did to her baby!  She lunged at a nearby worgen, who was seemingly caught off-guard by the fact that such a tiny goblin would be brave enough to take him head-on.  She relished the look on his face as she unloaded a round into his chest.  She heard a rumor that only a silver bullet can kill a worgen, but the corpse before her told her that lead worked just as well.  She reloaded as she scanned the battlefield for her next victim…

And spotted a very familiar-looking draenei.

Crystal and Verde’s murderer!

She whistled for her wolf, Scruffy, and her wasp, Gigi, and ordered them to charge at the draenei.

“Gah!” Roniaar gasped as a large wolf nearly tackled him to the ground, but his natural strength and tall stature allowed him to stand his ground.  The wolf growled and slobbered as it gnawed on his arm.  He spotted a wasp hovering overhead, stinger at the ready.  The shaman had to time this right…

As the wasp lunged, he swung out the arm with the wolf hanging onto it and fired off a lightning bolt with his other arm.  Bullseye!  He then grabbed one of his wind-axes and brought it down onto the wolf, who whimpered as it let go and let out a death rattle.

“NOOOO!” a goblin shrieked as she charged forward, shotgun at the ready.  Roniaar recognized her as the goblin from before.  “STOP MURDERING MY BABIES!”

Thinking quick, Roniaar summoned a slab of earth from the ground just in time to block the incoming bullets.  “I would if they’d stop trying to maul me to death!”

As he hid from the goblin’s barrage, he looked around, trying to spot Marbelma.  He saw her run off toward a collapsed battlement before he lost track of her.  Oh Light, please let her be-

There!

Roniaar spotted Marbelma up on the battlements, locked in a heated dual with a troll that had two large swords.  It looked like she needed backup.  He transformed into a ghost wolf and tried to make a break for the collapsed battlements.

It was then that he was hit by something hard, like a kodo just ran him over.  It tossed him several yards, knocking him out of wolf form as he tumbled across the ground.  He looked up and saw the source - a big, angry direhorn.  Perched on top of it was a rylak, both heads hissing at the draenei.  To the direhorn’s left was a jade quilen and to its right was a riverbeast.

And standing off to the side was a goblin with a whistle in her mouth, leering at the draenei.

How many pets does this goblin have?!

Alright, fine.  If that’s the way this goblin wants to play it…

Roniaar muttered a few words in Kalimag as wind, water vapor, clumps of dirt, and embers all swirled around his hands.  When he first landed here, he felt that the elements of this land were in anguish - no doubt the result of years of Forsaken polluting the land with their blight.  He beseeched their aid, telling of how the Alliance sought to free this land from the Forsaken’s undead grip, and if they saw this cause as a righteous one, please, help.

The elements answered.

An air elemental swirled into being out of the very air itself.  A water elemental did so as well, swirling into existence out of the water vapor in the air.  A rumbling earth elemental clawed its way up from beneath the soil.  And a fire elemental seemed to erupt from a simple spark.  The goblin’s beasts all growled at the draenei’s elementals.

“As you can see, you’re not the only one with little friends.” Roniaar boasted.

“I RAISED my beasts for combat practically from infancy!” the goblin shouted.  “All you’re doing is hiring local help to do your dirty work for you!”

“We shall see…” Roniaar said before he and his elementals charged, clashing with the goblin and her beasts.

“Ah-ha!” Soozee triumphantly cried out as he finally grabbed that slippery void elf.  He tried to struggle, but it was no use - her mech’s claws could squeeze him at 2000 PSI, enough to break every bone in the elf’s body!

And that’s when the elf poofed again.  “SON OF GNOMEREGAN WHORE WHERE DID YOU GO?!?!” Soozee shrieked, getting sick and tired of this cat-and-mouse bullshit.

She heard a whistle.  She looked over her shoulder and saw the void elf sitting on the mech’s shoulders.  “Question.” he asked as he held out a bunch of wires.  “Were these important?”

That’s when the void-buster started to shake and spark.  “YOU IDIOT!!!” Soozee said as she checked the mech’s readings.  “THOSE WERE CONNECTED TO THE VOID BUSTER’S INTERNAL STABILIZERS!!!  IT’S ABOUT TO GO INTO MELT DOWN!!!”

“That’s what I thought.  Bye!”  And just like that, the void elf disappeared into another spatial rift.

“SHIT!” Soozee swore as she pulled on a red lever that activated the mech’s ejector seat, activating a rocket that shot high into the air.  Unable to contain the power of the void core, the mech imploded, sucked into the small black hole that had opened inside its engine compartment.  The Void-Buster was no more, as though it never even existed.

It occurred to Soozee that the ejector seat might’ve had a touch too much rocket fuel, as she was now so high that she could see ALL of the Ruins of Lordaeron and the surrounding Tirisfal Glades.  From up here, the battle resembled a large, very elaborate diorama.

When the parachute automatically deployed, the winds took her slightly away from the battle, which was just as well.  With her Void Buster gone, she wasn’t quite as confidant in her odds of surviving a battle of this scale.  Furthermore, as she squinted through her goggles, she could see that the Alliance was slowly but surely pushing the Horde out of the courtyard.  The Horde was losing this battle.

That’s when Soozee remembered that she still had family down there.  Jakko and Spritzie.

“…Curse my familial obligations.” Soozee muttered as she took manual control of the parachute and steered it back toward the battle.  She landed on top of the far southern wall - quite a distance away from most of the fighting, but not so far that she couldn’t help out her siblings if she needed to.

“Nice landing.”

“Thank you.” Soozee replied to the void elf.

…The Void Elf!

Tendalel couldn’t resist a healthy chuckle as the goblin freaked out at his presence.  He knew he shouldn’t be so far from the battle, but A: The Alliance was pushing through and at this point, it’s only a matter of time before the city falls.  And B:  After all the trouble this goblin had put him through, he was feeling just petty enough to come over and rub his victory in her face for a bit before going back and helping out.

“So yeah - a void-powered mech.  Gotta admit, that’s a new one.” Tendalel said.  “Course, leave it to a goblin to think using the void as a power source is a good idea.”

“Oh hi Pot, name’s Kettle, have we met?” the goblin replied as she stood up and glared at the elf through her goggles.

“Hey, I didn’t ask for this little dye job.” he said, pointing to his purple hair.  “Hell, I wasn’t even one of Umbric’s followers.  I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It’s kind of a long story.”

“You void elves…” the goblin growled.  “I’ve been studying the Void for YEARS!  I’ve had to WORK to get to where I am today!  But you….you had all the secrets and power of the Void just DROPPED into your LAP!”

“Clearly, you’ve never had a crazy ethereal try to forcibly change you into a void abomination.  For the record, it’s not fun.” Tendalel said.  An explosion was heard in the distance, rising over the din of the battle.  “As much as I’d love to stay and chat, it sounds like I’m needed elsewhere.  Ciao.”

And with that, he leapt through another spatial rift…

…But was dragged back?

Tendalel turned around and saw that a void tentacle had wrapped around his ankle and pulled him back through the rift.  He looked up and saw that the tentacle was attached to the goblin’s shoulder -a goblin now shrouded in shadow magic.  “You are NOT escaping me again…” she growled.

“A shadow priest…” Tendalel said.  “That explains a lot.”

“I am NOT a shadow priest!” the goblin shrieked.  “I’m not some cultist or hack theologian!  I am an Ebonologist!  I do not worship or revere the Void, I study it!  I harness its power and I make it mine!”

“You don’t say.” Tendalel deadpanned before swiping at the tendril with one of his daggers, cutting it off.  As he stood up, he smirked underneath his mask.  “Fun fact…”

Several void tendrils appeared from his own shoulder.  “I can do the tentacle thing too.” he said.

“Then we shall see who handles a tentacle better!” the goblin shouted.

Tendalel snickered.

“…Wha-THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT!”

The clang of metal against metal continually rang in Jakko’s ears as he blocked and parried the dwarf’s hammer strikes, dodging whatever he couldn’t block.  He had to admit though, the dwarf was pretty good in a fight.  She was likewise quick to dodge, block and parry every attack he made.

He’d probably respect her for her skill if he wasn’t getting increasingly frustrated by this dwarf’s stubborn refusal to piss off.

He crossed his blades in the air, blocking an overhead hammer strike, just like he did during their first duel on the bombing run.  “Yeesh, kid.” he panted - battle fatigue was finally catching up to him.  “Where’d you even learn to fight like this?”

“The paladin who saved me from you?” the dwarf asked.  “She took me in.  Trained me in the ways of the Light.  Every day since, I’ve been training twelve hours a day, honing my body, mind and even my very soul into weapons of the Light!”

“You need to go on a date, kid.” the troll quipped.

The dwarf roared.  Apparently, that made her angry.  She pulled her hammer back and swung it horizontally at the troll, but he hopped back out of the way.  He jumped and delivered a roundhouse kick to her face.

Spritzie loaded multi-shot ammo into her shotgun before firing another round at the elementals, looking to help her pets however she could.  It faintly reminded her of a Hearthstone match - beast hunter vs. elemental shaman.  Except this wasn’t a friendly card match and the stakes were much, MUCH higher than who pays for the next round.

She spotted the draenei beyond who was….trying to run away?  Oh no he won’t!  She clicked together her heels, activating her rocket boots and jumping forward, landing on the draenei’s back and wrapping her arms around his neck.  He gagged and, using his race’s natural strength, pried her arms off and bucked her off.  Not sparing her a second thought however, he continued running, towards a collapsed section of the battlements.

“Hold on, Marbles!  I’m coming!” he shouted.  Spritzie then noticed Jakko and some dwarf with a big hammer dueling on the battlements above, where the draenei was climbing up to.  Now she understood - the dwarf must’ve been his buddy, and he’s trying to lend her a hand.

Not on her watch.

Spritzie pulled out a hand grenade, something no self-respecting goblin ever left home without, pulled the pin, and threw it up at the pile of debris the shaman was scaling.  A second later, it exploded, triggering an avalanche and burying him.  She grinned in satisfaction.

A grin that disappeared however, as the shaman emerged from the rubble, completely unscathed.  Indeed, it was as though the rocks seemed to protect him more than-

Oh.  Right.  Shaman.

“Just walk away.” the draenei said.  “I do not wish to fight you.”

“Well I do.” Spritzie said as she spat on the ground.  “After today, they won’t find enough of you to fill the nut sack of an ant.”  On that colorful note, she raised her gun and fired.

Tendalel had been on the run for several minutes, dodging void bolt after void bolt.  He had leapt down from the battlements was now running through a network of overgrown alleyways, the goblin in hot pursuit.

“Stop your resisting.” the goblin said, her voice seemingly coming from everywhere.  No doubt a void trick.  He wondered if he could do that.  “I will find you.”

“Yeah, you’re not the first clingy girl to say that, and you probably won’t be the last.” Tendalel said as he ducked around a corner.

“Damn it, stop wasting my time!” she ranted.  “I’ve already wasted enough time just SHOWING UP to this pointless battle and fight in this pointless war!  I’m not going home empty-handed - mama needs some ren’dorei organs!”

“Yeah, I’d rather not end up as some crazy goblin’s science experiment, so no.” Tendalel quipped.  “Though I gotta ask, if this battle is pointless, why are you even here?”

“First of all, personal reasons.” the goblin said.  “Secondly, I came here in the hopes of acquiring fresh ren’dorei bodies for my research.  Your bodies are conduits for the Void, and yet you seem capable of resisting its whispers.  I must understand why.”

“Oh, must you?” Tendalel asked.  “What’s wrong?  Are the whispers getting to you?  Or maybe the nightmares?”

The goblin only growled in reply.  “Sorry baby, but if you’re thinking that the key to your salvation lies somewhere in my small intestines or whatever, you are sorely mistaken.”

“…Let’s test that hypothesis, shall we?”

It was then that Tendalel felt multiple void tendrils wrap themselves around him and pull him through some kind of void portal - and not one that he made.

Marbelma ignored the protests of her arching arm muscles as she swung her hammer for what felt like the fiftieth time at the troll, once again to no avail.  She should’ve known.  She should’ve known that the monster who’d been haunting her nightmares for the last ten years wouldn’t die so easily.  But she wasn’t going to give up.  Not after everything she’d been through.

After catching her hammer again, the troll pushed her back and away, thought not by much.  She snarled as she once again raised her hammer over her head and tried to bring it down on the troll.  She missed entirely this time.  She was getting tired.  And judging from the smirk on the troll’s face, he knew it too.

“Think it might be time to call it a day, kid.” he said.

“Fuck you.” she spat.

The troll paused.  Then sighed.  “I’m sorry.” he said.

Marbelma must be getting tired.  She could’ve sworn he said….  “What?” she asked.

“I’m sorry.” the troll repeated.  “For killing your family.  For ruining your life.  Back in those days, I was a real piece of work.  It’s why I became a druid.  Felt like I needed to make up for all the bad I’ve done.”

Marbelma looked at him, more dumbfounded than anything.  He looked back down at the courtyard below, where the skirmish raged on.  He turned back to her.  “Look, I can see the writing on the wall.” he said as he sheathed his swords.  “The Alliance just keeps comin’ and with Jaina Proudmoore leadin’ the way, it’s only a matter of time before the Horde loses this battle.  Now, I’ve still got family down there and at this point, I just wanna grab ‘em and get outta here while I still can.”

The dwarf panted.  It was only now that she realized just how tired she really was.  “…You’re sorry?” she asked.

The troll nodded.

The dwarf roared in fury, swinging her hammer at his torso while his guard was down, finally knocking him down.  She snarled as she tossed the hammer aside and straddled him.  Grabbing a fistful of hair with her right hand, she started punching him in the face with her left.

“SORRY DOESN’T BRING BACK GILNEAS!!!”

Wham.

“SORRY DOESN’T BRING BACK THERAMORE!!!”

Wham!

“SORRY DOESN’T BRING BACK TELDRASSIL!!!”

WHAM!

She paused.  Her left fist opened up, fingers spread, and the hand glowed with Holy Light.  “Sorry doesn’t bring back my family.” she hissed.  She planted the glowing hand on the side of the troll’s face and burned him with the Light.

“Just walk away!” Roniaar shouted as he tossed another bolt of lightning at the piece of rubble the goblin was hiding behind.  “I have more elemental power than you have bullets!”

The goblin wouldn’t relent though, and would occasionally blind-fire at the shaman, and come uncomfortably close to missing.  He checked on the elementals and found that they were winning - without their mistress to lend them aid, the beasts stood little chance against the fury of the elements.  The direhorn was being pulled beneath the earth, the rylak was being blown out of the sky, the riverbeast was being drowned and even the quilen’s stone hide was melting under the heat.  “Give it up!  You cannot win this fight!” he bellowed.

“I’ve still got one ace up my sleeve.” she growled before letting out a sharp whistle.

Roniaar felt the ground shake.  And not from the earth elemental he summoned to his aid earlier.  He turned around and saw a truly massive blue hydra galloping towards the shaman, biting and hissing as it charged towards him, trampling several Alliance soldiers underfoot.  It skidded to a halt and roared at the draenei, its hide crackling with electrical energy.

“Say hello to Rilla!” Spritzie shouted.  “My strongest, most feared beast!”

“Most feared beast, eh?” Roniaar asked.  “I should say so.  It seems downright…electrifying!  Hahahahaa!”

The hyrdra roared.

“Hahaha…..ha….Oh, I’m going to die.”

The hydra lunged.

Soozee grinned maniacally as she finally had the slippery elf right where she wanted him - with her void tentacles tying him down against a wall.  “You know…normally, I’ve got to buy a girl dinner before they tie me up like this…” he wheezed as he strained against his bindings.

As she pulled out her dagger, she made a mental note to start by slitting his throat.

“Normally, I do most of my dissections in my lab.” Soozee said as she pulled some plastic bags from her belt.  “But I don’t mind a bit of field work from time to time…”

It was then that she noticed a void tendril wrapping itself around her arm.  Followed by another around her other arm and even one around her neck, all seeming to be coming from the floor.  “I can do the tentacle thing too, remember?” he wheezed.

“I can see that…” Soozee wheezed back.  “It seems we’ve reached an impasse…”

The two void users spent the next several minutes staring each other down, tangled and strangled by each other’s tendrils.

Pain.  That was all Jakko’s world was for a good thirty seconds - blinding, burning pain.  The dwarf was searing her handprint into his face with the raw, burning fury of the Holy Light.  Finally, she took his hand off his face, dismounted, and threw him to the floor hard enough to make him see spots.  At least the headache he had now helped to take his mind off the burning, smoking flesh on the right side of his face.

“You’re just like the rest of the Horde, when all’s said and done.” she snarled.  “You talk about redemption and atonement, thinking that cleans yer plate of all yer crimes.  Well lemme tell ye a dirty little secret - nobody fucking cares about your redemption.”

She walked back over to where she dropped her hammer and picked it up.  “When you commit acts of evil, you’re not the one who decides how you should be punished for it.”

“…And you are?” Jakko grunted.

“Who better?” the dwarf shot back as she walked over to the disfigured troll with murderous intent.

Welp.  Guess this is it. Jakko thought to himself for the second time that day.  He gave it his all, but this paladin beat him fair and square.  An ‘honorable death’ as the orcs would call it.  It was better than hacking up a lung in a cloud of blight, at least.  Hell, this was downright poetic.  A part of him always knew that it would be someone from his past that would finally kill him, but he always figured it would be someone from his old assassin’s guild, none too pleased that he left.  Maybe even the guild leader…

But no.  Turns out he wasn’t that important.  No, the sins of his past had come in the form of someone he had well and truly hurt.  Someone with fire and rage in her soul and, honestly, Jakko couldn’t very well blame her.  As he heard the dwarf approach, he closed his eyes and hoped the final blow wouldn’t hurt too much.

…But then he thought about Spritzie.  Lately she had been getting wilder.  More rebellious.  With the death of several of her beloved pets in this battle, he feared she was only gonna get worse.  Who was gonna be there to keep her from doing something stupid at a critical moment?

What about Soozee?  Her research was driving her to look at things no mortal should look at.  Who was gonna be there to help her from diving straight into the abyss?  She’s already on the edge as it is.

…And Vorz’ka.  There’s a name Jakko had been trying to forget the last few weeks.  His last meeting with his girlfriend didn’t end on great terms.  Would she grieve?  Would she miss him?  Would she regret that their very last meeting ended in an argument.

The thoughts whizzed through his mind over the course of seconds.  Names of old friends, estranged family, business left unfinished.  He suddenly arrived at a conclusion.

I can’t die now.  I still got shit to do!

He rolled out of the way, just as the dwarf’s hammer met the floor.

He quickly morphed into a tiger and, able to catch the dwarf off guard and swiped at her with his right paw, delivering a savage claw swipe right to her face.  She screamed as she gripped the three gashes on her face, gushing blood.  Now was his chance.  He lowered his head and performed a skull bash so hard it dented her armor - Spritzie always said he had a thick head.

Morphing back into troll form, he punted the dwarf to the other end of the battlement.  Using his most powerful druidic magic, he commanded the roots that had grown over the long-ruined walls to ensnare and entangle the paladin.  The dwarf snarled as she struggled against the vines.  “YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!” she cursed.  “WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE?!?!”

“Because I decided I wasn’t gonna roll over and die just so you can vent your teenage angst.” Jakko replied before spitting on the ground.  “I’m still sorry for what I did to your family, but I’ve got my own family to think about.” On that note, he turned around and walked away.

“THIS ISN’T OVER YOU BASTARD!!!” the dwarf shrieked.  “I’LL HUNT YOU TO THE ENDS OF AZEROTH!!!  DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!”  Jakko couldn’t really hear, as he had already leapt off the wall.

Spritzie watched in delight as Rilla threw the draenei around like a big rag doll, her acidic saliva melting parts of his armor.  “Spritz!” she heard Jakko cry as he sprinted over in tiger form.  “You okay?”

“Watching my babies’ murderer get used as a chew toy?  Never better!” Spritzie replied.  She winced as she looked at Jakko.  “Shit, Jakko.  What happened to your face?”

Jakko pawed the right side of his face, where there seemed to be a hand print literally burned into his skin like a brand.  “Close encounter with a paladin.” he briefly explained.

Meanwhile, Rilla had finally let the draenei go, sending him flying into a wall.  He hit the stone wall hard and collapsed on the ground, spitting out some blue blood.  Spritzie giggled evilly as she approached the draenei with murderous intent.  “Spritz, we don’t have time for this, we need to find Soo-“

“Shut it!” Spritzie snapped.  “This’ll only take a minute anyways…” she said as she lined up her shotgun on the draenei’s head, getting ready for the execution shot.  The draenei was on all fours, muttering something the goblin couldn’t quite hear.  “Pray all you want - your Naa’ru ain’t gonna save you from a bunch of lead pellets tearing through your flesh.”

That’s when his body started to crackle with electrical energy.  “Spritz…I don’t think he’s prayin’ to the naa’ru….” Jakko said.

In a flash of light, a bolt of lightning had seemingly struck the draenei from the sky, and enveloping him in a tornado.  His form began to change.  His flesh gave way to raw, elemental energy.  Spritzie tried to unload her ammo on him, but it the lead seemed to just bounce off of some electrical barrier that now surrounded the shaman.  “What’s happening?!” Spritzie demanded.

“He ascended!” Jakko said.

“What the fuck does THAT mean?!” Spritzie asked.

“COWER BEFORE THE TEMPEST STORM!” the no-longer-draenei shouted as it conjured a massive bolt of lightning that nearly missed the two of them.

“We need to get out of here!” Jakko said before grabbing Spritzie by the collar of her shirt in his mouth, like an unruly cub, and throwing her onto his back and running off.  She cursed before whistling for Rilla to follow them, which the every-loyal hydra did.  The ascendant gave chase however, as a literal tornado chased the two of them across the courtyard.

“Where’s Soozee?!” Jakko yelled.

“I saw her eject before her mech blew up!” Spritzie shouted.  “I think she landed somewhere on the Southern Wall!”

“WINDS!  OBEY MY COMMANDS!” the ascendent shouted and suddenly the winds around them shifted.  The wind was blowing Jakko, Spritzie and Rilla away from the Southern Wall they had been running to, and towards the ascendent’s electrifying grasp.

As they struggled against the winds pulling them towards certain doom, one of Rilla’s heads turned to Spritzie and made eye contact with her.  It flicked out her tongue, and nodded.  Spritzie gasped.

“Rilla!  No!” she shouted too late, as the hydra turned on its heels and lunged at the ascendent.  The panicked elemental flew up into his tornado with the hydra hanging on, bolts of lightning flying from both of them.  It had distracted the elemental enough that the winds were no longer pulling Jakko and Spritzie towards it.

“Come on!” Jakko said as he morphed into a bat and carried Spritzie over the wall.  “We gotta find Soozee!”

“But what about Rilla?!” Spritzie asked.  “Jakko, all my other pets died in this battle!  Rilla’s all I got left!”

“…Rilla attacked that thing to give us a chance to get away.” Jakko said.  “Best way to honor that sacrifice is to take that chance.”

Spritzie had to fight back tears.  She couldn’t cry.  Not yet, at least.  The battle wasn’t over.

But as the Alliance continued to push against the Horde, it sure as hell looked like the battle was over.

“Okay.” Tendalel wheezed, the tentacle still having a firm grip on his neck.  His own tentacles, however, were still wrapped around the goblin’s throat and arms.  “We both agree this is stupid, right?  I mean, if we snap each other’s necks at the same time, than nobody gains anything.”

“Correct.” the goblin said.

“Okay then.  So on the count of three, we both let go.  Ready?”

“Ready.”

“One….Two…..Three!”

Neither of them let go of the other.

“…Okay, see?  Now I’m just disappointed in both of us.”

“You were trying to trick me!” the goblin shrieked.

“So were you!”

“No, I was trying to counter-trick your trick!”

“Counter-tricking is not a real term!”

“Well, it SHOULD BE!”

Tendalel and the goblin stared each other down for a few seconds.  “…You know, I just realized.  This situation is a perfect micro-chasm of the Horde and Alliance’s current conundrum.” the goblin said.

“How’s that?” the rogue asked.

“We are two opposing forces, ready to kill each other in a heartbeat.” she elaborated.  “Neither of us are willing to lower our guard, for fear of destruction from the other.  Thus, we are locked in an eternal struggle that will likely end with both of our deaths.”

“Are you seriously giving me that age-old ‘Alliance and Horde aren’t so different’ speech?” Tendalel asked.  “Cuz A:  I’ve heard it before.  And B:  It’s kind of inaccurate.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Horde is WAY worse than the Alliance.”

“You’re invading one of our cities!”

“Only because you literally burned down one of ours!”

“What about Camp Tau-“

“I will snap your neck if you bring up Camp Taurajo.” Tendalel threatened.  “Raiding a dinky little tauren village in the middle of nowhere is NOT the same as destroying cities and razing kingdoms.”

“Oh, why all the patriotic fervor anyway?” the goblin demanded.  “Just a year ago, you were a blood elf!  You were as Horde as I am!  Why the sudden Alliance enthusiasm?”

“Because I kinda have to!” Tendalel replied.

“What are you talking about now?” the goblin groaned.

“Look, before I went Void, yeah, I was a regular old blood elf.” Tendalel said.  “And like most blood elves, I wasn’t exactly an Alliance fan boy back then.  But I knew that if things didn’t work out Horde-side, all I had to do was pop in some blue contact lenses and voila - I’m a High Elf!  Yes, High King, I’ve been with the Silver Covenant all my life, never sided with those dirty blood elves, no sir.  And if shit hits the fan in Stormwind?  Out come the lenses and back to the Horde I go!”

He paused for a breath, which the tentacle only barely allowed him.  “But after I started growing tentacles in places I shouldn’t, all of a sudden, I’m exiled from the Horde and I can’t exactly put in green contact lenses and blend in.  Thanks to Umbric and his pack of crazies, I actually have a dog in this fight now!  If the Horde wins this war, I’m screwed.”

“What are you expecting?  Sympathy?” the goblin demanded.  “I’ve got a lab back in Kalimdor that contains crucial research on the Old Gods, the ones we should REALLY be fighting!  But if the Alliance get their way, the entirety of the Horde will be ejected from Kalimdor and my lab would be!  If the Alliance wins this war, I’M screwed!”

That’s when another goblin showed up, riding atop a large bat.  “Soozee!” the bat said.  That bat talks now?  “There you are!  We gotta get outta here!”

“I’d love to, but I’m a little pre-occupied at the moment!” the goblin, Soozee was apparently her name, shouted back.

“On it!” the goblin on top of the bat said as she pointed her shotgun at Tendalel.

“Woah there!” Ten shouted.  “Lower the shotgun or I snap your friend’s neck!”  Just to prove he wasn’t joking around, his tentacle tightened its grip on Soozee’s throat.

“Lower your gun, Spritz!” Soozee wheezed and gouged.

“But-“

“Just do it!”

The other goblin, Spritzie obeyed and lowered her shotgun, giving the void elf a withering look.

“Okay…so here’s what’s gonna happen.” Ten said.  “It sounds like you guys just wanna get outta here.  So do I.  So on the count of three, both me and…Soozee, was it?  We let go of each other.  Okay….one…..two…..three!”

Tendalel let Soozee go - a risky move on his part, but he didn’t have much of a choice.  He had to meet the goblin half-way at least, otherwise they’d still be stuck in this stalemate and nothing gets accomplished.  It was a calculated risk.

And as he let go of Soozee, he realized that he wasn’t too good at math, because while he let her go, she didn’t return the favor.  “Okay….Soozee…..we had a deal….” Ten wheezed.

“A deal that I never officially agreed to.” Soozee said.  “You just said you were gonna let me go, did so, and foolishly presumed I would reciprocate when I’d have no reason to.”

She calmly approached the void elf and removed a dagger from her belt.  “Now…give me a reason why I shouldn’t dissect you right here and now…”

“RETREAT!”

All ears turned to the Southern Courtyard, where the unmistakable booming voice of High Chieftain Baine Bloodhoof echoed through the halls of the city.  “RETREAT!”

“…Because you’re out of time.” Ten wheezed.  “You’ve got two choices now - stay here and torture little old me until the Alliance overrun the city, find you here, and they probably won’t take too kindly to you chopping up one of their top guys.  Or, you can do the smart thing, and follow the rest of your Horde to fight another day.  Your call.”

Even though Ten couldn’t see Soozee’s eyes through those ridiculous goggles, he could FEEL her hateful gaze punch through them.  Finally, her tentacles allowed Ten to drop to the ground.  “Good choice, Soo.” Ten said before he disappeared into a spatial rift.

#Jakko #Marbelma #Spritzie #Roniaar #Soozee #Tendalel #World of Warcraft #Wyrmrest Accord

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 10)

… And when Weiss woke up again, she was warm, tucked into soft and silky blankets, and laying on something exceptionally comfortable, like one of the top of the line mattresses she’d had back in Manor Schnee, only better.

She also felt like complete, absolute shit.

“Ugh...” Weiss groaned, trying to shift around, found herself unable to move her limbs, her muscles too weak, the ebb and flow of the magic inside her so faint she could barely feel it.

“I would advise you not to exert yourself in any way, shape, or form for quite a while, Weiss,” Penny said, from somewhere beside her.

Weiss tried to turn to her, found she couldn’t—there was something sturdy wrapped around her neck, keeping her from turning more than a few degrees to either side. “Penny…?” she asked, her voice hoarse, “where are you…?”

“Right beside you, Weiss.” Penny replied. “Here, this should help.”

There was a series of whirring, stretching, and crawling sounds beside her; a fast-growing vine soon hovered above Weiss, sections of it wrapped around wooden rods for structural integrity. At its end was a projector, whose holo showed her an almost golden ball of various minerals, the grooves and runes on it faintly pulsing a familiar green.

“Penny…?” Weiss whispered.

A still image of Penny’s smiling face appeared in a corner of the holo. “Hello Weiss!”

Weiss’ face fell. “Oh, sweet Shepherd, I am SO sorry…!”

“Do not feel guilty, Weiss, and know I do not hold anything against you, either,” Penny replied, her image still smiling. “As the Keeper’s personal mender, and one of her watcher supports, the destruction of my body in the line of duty is a very likely hazard, and one that carries little consequence.

“Rest assured: a new, better body is being designed and manufactured as we speak.”

“What about the others?” Weiss asked. “How are they...?”

“First, please calm down, Weiss, excessive excitement and stress will not be good on your already fragile state.” Penny replied. “Second, they are all healthy and back at the Grove, in stable conditions, or well on their way to full recoveries. Is their anyone whose state you would like to know about specifically?”

“How’s Fireki?”

“Stable, if still unconscious," Penny said. “The staff are concerned about how deep the damage was, but Fireki has quite the record of surviving worse injuries in less ideal circumstances as this.”

“What about Feroki? What happened to him?”

“I don’t have much information on him, unfortunately,” Penny replied, her avatar now looking apologetic. “He was here visiting Fireki earlier, but aside from that, I’ve received no news from him; I had inquired with Bee, but she has no leads, and Primal Aeilana is too occupied with the clean-up for such a minor inquiry.”

“So what about Bee and the others, then? Are they okay?”

“They all are,” Penny replied, her avatar smiling again. “Though we will require regular, long-term check-ins to be sure of Nami’s psychological health, Cheska’s rig is the only real casualty among them. Speaking of which, she would still appreciate some form of assistance with its repairs.”

“Remind me when I get discharged...” Weiss said. “What about Blake? And Ruby? How are they?”

“Blake is back at the Grove, resting,” Penny said. “She was suffering from severe chills and a very bad landing beside, but as you destroyed the titan soon after, we could immediately evacuate her and treat her here.

“As for Ruby…” she hesitated for a moment “… she’s uninjured physically, as you would expect by now, but emotionally, she’s in a fragile state. Rest assured that both Yang and Taiyang have and are continuing to give her the support and comfort that she needs.”

Weiss paused. “… Did I die back there…?”

“You did,” Penny said, back to the sheepish image. “Ruby was the one that extracted you from the water and attempted first aid, before the rest of the menders caught up with her."

“… Oh.” Weiss said. “How bad was it?”

“You can access the other chroniclers’ records of it if you really wish to see, but it was extremely bad, and I do not think there’s much to be gained from learning the exact details."

"I suppose I’ll take your word for it...” Weiss muttered. “Wait, have you told her I’m okay?”

“I sent a message with chronicle evidence to her, alongside the medical staff!” Penny said, her avatar now looking especially pleased with herself. “It was not the most flattering images of you I’ve recorded so far, but I think we can both agree she will not mind, especially with how long you’ve been unconscious. 8 hours, 12 minutes, and 43 seconds, beginning from the time the menders in the operating room declared you stable, by the way.”

Weiss’ eyes widened.

“The injuries you sustained were VERY serious, and recovering from excessive exposure to water magic is an inherently slow process,” Penny said. “Among other treatments, you needed to be slowly defrosted over the course of several hours for safety reasons.”

“So where am I now?” Weiss asked, looking past the holo and at the shimmering shield above around her, just like the one post-Eve of the Ether. “Back at the high-security ward?”

“Oh no, you’re actually at the weaver’s ward, alongside Winter—she’s recovering well from her injuries in the battle with Qrow, as is he, and also Jaune with his accident.”

“Can I speak to her?” Weiss asked. “Can you call her up on your comms?”

“One: she is currently asleep, and I believe I would need to request another mender to wake her, which might take some time,” Penny replied. “The Weaver’s ward requires very specialized training and qualifications that not many menders have, or are willing to work to, so their numbers are relatively small.

“Two: I am unable to use my regular comms—the barrier that is around us is blocking any incoming or outgoing magic, including the signals used by most comm-crystals.”

Weiss frowned.

“And three: we actually set-up a device that would bypass that and allow you to communicate still, if we can wake her.” Penny continued. “It’s audio only, however. Would you like me to continue still?”

“Yes please!” Weiss replied. “I’m sorry, I just… I really need to talk to her right now.”

“Attempting to establish a line of communication now!” Penny chirped, before her holo went dark, she retracted her vine-arm, the glow of her core fading in and out like a loading icon as jazz music began to play softly.

Weiss frowned, waited, and fidgeted, unable to do much but listen to the music, and stare up at the ceiling and watch the currents of magic gently shifting and dancing across its surface.

Then, Penny made a sound like a bell. “Contact successfully established!” she chirped as she grew a second vine-arm, pushed it through the barrier, and came back with the device she’d mentioned.

“Is that a fucking can on a string?!” Weiss snapped.

“A professionally engineered and designed can on a string!” Penny replied as she brought it over to Weiss’ mouth.

“Are you sure you’re not shitting me right now?” Weiss asked, eyeing it with annoyance.

“She most definitely is not, little sister.” Winter’s voice came through the can.

Weiss’ eyes widened. “Winter!”

“Hello there, Weiss!” Winter said warmly. “How are you feeling? I heard your first day at your new class didn’t go so well...”

“No, no it did not!” Weiss cried. “I caused who-knows-how-much in property damage and cost in munitions and supplies; injured and almost directly, or indirectly killed several folks; and I died, got revived, and possibly traumatized my girlfriend, too.

“I can’t move or feel much of anything, I’m trapped in another magic bubble and these blankets beside, and I feel like complete and absolute shit in general, but I am so glad to be talking to you again! Sorry for waking you up, by the way.”

“Weiss, if anyone should be sorry right now, it’s me,” Winter said. “Challenging Qrow to a duel was a poorly thought out idea, and I’m ashamed that I went through with it, especially because it kept me from joining you at the Terrace today like I was supposed to.”

Weiss relieved smile faded. “Oh yeah... I’d forgotten all about that…”

“I’m not surprised,” Winter said. “Anyway: I was acting stupidly and impulsively, and more from leftover resentment for my and Qrow’s first tango than the nobler reason I had in my mind. I promise to be more cool and level-headed from here on out, and if I do get into any new fights, I swear they will be for much better motivations.”

“And what was that ‘nobler reason?’” Weiss asked. “I also remember you didn’t explain why you decided Qrow and you just had to go tearing at each other’s throats.”

Winter sighed. “Well, I had wanted to keep this secret, but given recent events and how my plans are no longer feasible, to say the least, I may as well tell you over this unencrypted channel: I was trying to gauge how strong he was, and how much of a chance I’d have against him, or any of the other senior watchers if ever I had need to face them in combat.”

“Why for?” Weiss asked. “Are you planning to become one of the sparring watchers at the Roost?”

“No, it was if we’d ever need to resort to violence during an escape from the Viridian Valley.”

Weiss blinked. “Pardon…?”

“Again, it was if we’d ever need to resort to violence during an escape from the Viridian Valley.” Winter said. “As you might have guessed, I don’t really trust the Eldan Council and what they say, their care and treatment of you, and the genuineness of your friends and…” she struggled for a while “… your girlfriend’s fondness for you aside. Just the whole… Keeper thing… was enough to make me want to investigate the feasibility of an escape plan, as Taiyang had attempted long ago.

"But, it seems that trying to go AWOL on the Eldan Council never ends well, as even Fate seems to be conspiring against us.”

“Winter, I’m here in the Valley because of my own free will.” Weiss said.

“I know that, Weiss, but just because you chose to do something by your own volition doesn’t mean it’s automatically the right, or the ideal thing to do—not to mention the fact that the best, most successful manipulation is when you make your target believe they’re acting of their own agency.”

“Ruby promised me that they’d let me go if we don’t work out!”

“And what exactly would that entail on the Council’s end?” Winter asked. “I don’t blame you for not thinking of these things—protecting intelligence assets in covert operations never really comes up in even the most prestigious curricula—but, really think about it: will they really just turn us loose in the human territories again under new identities, probably with an allowance and support network for the first few months, before they stop dealing with us entirely, trust we’ll keep their secret and manage by our own devices?”

Weiss was silent.

“This WAS originally the part that I was going to try to convince you to make an escape plan with me, just in case, but honestly, with both our powers and how out-of-control yours are, there’s only one thing we can do right now: stay here, enjoy the free food, lodgings, and opportunities; try to get a handle on our powers with the help of the Fae; and just make an entirely new life for ourselves.”

Weiss tried to nod. “This is a real mess I’ve gotten ourselves into, huh…?”

“Yes it is indeed, sister.” Winter replied. “However, Weiss, know that I love you, and that there is no fate I won’t endure, if it means that you can be safe and we can be together. I mean, I’ve been trying to look at the bright side of all this: we can see each other every day than every couple of months, and we’re both free from Father’s control!

"I could do without the threats to the realm and our lives targeting and hounding us both at the same time, but I suppose soon enough, we’ll be learning how to defend ourselves and then some, and we’ve got plenty of allies willing to come to our defense beside. I also doubt the motivations and intentions of many of them are entirely altruistic, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers...”

Winter chuckled. “Sort of like Grandpa, Grandma, and their original expedition team, now that I’m saying it out loud.”

“I wonder what they would have to say if they saw us here now...” Weiss muttered.

“Well, we can’t know for sure, but I’ve certainly got a few guesses...” Winter said.

#the viridian vanguard #rwby #fanfic #au #white rose

[loveandknowledge]

No one was out on the water but me. It was a moonless night, and quiet. The only sound I could hear was the soft churning of the engine of my boat. Far from the distracting lights of the mainland, the sky vibrated with stars. Taking a chance, I turned off my running lights, and it got even darker. Then I turned off my engine. I lay down in the boat and looked up. A very dark night sky seen from the ocean is a mystical experience. After a few minutes, my world had dissolved into that star-littered sky. The boat disappeared. My body disappeared. And I found myself falling into infinity. A feeling came over me I’d not experienced before… I felt an overwhelming connection to the stars, as if I were part of them. And the vast expanse of time — extending from the far distant past long before I was born and then into the far distant future long after I will die — seemed compressed to a dot. I felt connected not only to the stars but to all of nature, and to the entire cosmos. I felt a merging with something far larger than myself, a grand and eternal unity, a hint of something absolute. After a time, I sat up and started the engine again. I had no idea how long I’d been lying there looking up. [...] I have worked as a physicist for many years, and I have always held a purely scientific view of the world. By that, I mean that the universe is made of material and nothing more, that the universe is governed exclusively by a small number of fundamental forces and laws, and that all composite things in the world, including humans and stars, eventually disintegrate and return to their component parts. Even at the age of twelve or thirteen, I was impressed by the logic and materiality of the world. I built my own laboratory and stocked it with test tubes and petri dishes, Bunsen burners, resistors and capacitors, coils of electrical wire. Among other projects, I began making pendulums by tying a fishing weight to the end of a string. I’d read in Popular Science or some similar magazine that the time for a pendulum to make a complete swing was proportional to the square root of the length of the string. With the help of a stopwatch and ruler, I verified this wonderful law. Logic and pattern. Cause and effect. As far as I could tell, everything was subject to numerical analysis and quantitative test. I saw no reason to believe in God, or in any other unprovable hypotheses. Yet after my experience in that boat many years later… I understood the powerful allure of the Absolutes — ethereal things that are all-encompassing, unchangeable, eternal, sacred. At the same time, and perhaps paradoxically, I remained a scientist. I remained committed to the material world. [...] From all the physical and sociological evidence, the world appears to run not on absolutes but on relatives, context, change, impermanence, and multiplicity. Nothing is fixed. All is in flux. [...] On the one hand, such an onslaught of discovery presents a cause for celebration… Is it not a testament to our minds that we little human beings with our limited sensory apparatus and brief lifespans, stuck on our one planet in space, have been able to uncover so much of the workings of nature? On the other hand, we have found no physical evidence for the Absolutes. And just the opposite. All of the new findings suggest that we live in a world of multiplicities, relativities, change, and impermanence. In the physical realm, nothing persists. Nothing lasts. Nothing is indivisible. Even the subatomic particles found in the twentieth century are now thought to be made of even smaller “strings” of energy, in a continuing regression of subatomic Russian dolls. Nothing is a whole. Nothing is indestructible. Nothing is still. If the physical world were a novel, with the business of examining evil and good, it would not have the clear lines of Dickens but the shadowy ambiguities of Dostoevsky. [...] As did Thoreau in Concord, I’ve traveled far and wide on Lute Island. I know each cedar and poplar, each clump of beach rose, Rosa rugosa, each patch of blueberry bushes and raspberry brambles and woody stems of hydrangeas, all the soft mounds of moss, some of which I touch on my ramblings today. The tart scent of raspberries blends with the salty sea air. Early this morning, a fog enveloped the island so completely that I felt as if I were in a spaceship afloat in outer space — white space. But the surreal fog, made of minuscule water droplets too tiny to see, eventually evaporated and disappeared. It’s all material, even the magical fog — like the bioluminescence I first saw as a child. It’s all atoms and molecules. The materiality of the world is a fact, but facts don’t explain the experience. Shining sea water, fog, sunsets, stars. All material. So grand is the material that we find it hard to accept it as merely material… Surely, there must be more. “Nature,” wrote Emily Dickinson, “is what we see / The Hill — the Afternoon / Squirrel — Eclipse — the Bumble bee / Nay — Nature is Heaven.” In the last line, the poet leaps from the finite to infinity, to the realm of the Absolutes. It is almost as if Nature in her glory wants us to believe in a heaven, something divine and immaterial beyond nature itself. In other words, Nature tempts us to believe in the supernatural. But then again, Nature has also given us big brains, allowing us to build microscopes and telescopes and ultimately, for some of us, to conclude that it’s all just atoms and molecules. It’s a paradox.

#Alan lightman #searching for stars on an island in maine #absolute #eternal #connection #unity #logic #materiality #flux #impermanence #discovery #fyodor dostoevsky #thoreau #nature

[aloverof8]

Every 8th Doctor Appearance brought to you the good people of Tumblr (I didn’t do all this I’ll admit) but ya know what?... i̩͚̭̦̜̅ͤͮͩ̽̀t̢̹͖͈̰̜͌ͮ͑ͯ̏̋̾ͅṡ̯̘̪̮͉͓̟̋ͧ͐ͧ̑̌ s͈̞̼̰ͧ̄͑̆̚t͋͌ͫ͛ͦ̒͐͠ï̥̋ͭ̓͑͌̎ĺ̜̂̈l̯̳̃̄͒̋̍̏ ̝͍̠̣̦̹ͤͪn̳͉͔̖̺̿͑ͫ̽̄̾̋͜o̵̼̘͆ͬͩṯ̙̫͍̦̭̰̔͆̌ͤ̽͠ ȩ͕̹̺͔͐̾ͧ̆͑n̡͇̝͈͉͋̎ͧ͗ͯ̾̅ŏ̰͇̝̔̚u̺̰̪̫͛͑ͬǵ̩̰̳͙͐ḥ̮͔̘̰̩̼ͦ̏ͨ

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#8th Doctor #doctor who #big finish #doctor Who novels #iris wildthyme #faction paradox #charley pollard #c'rizz #oh you know the rest

[themeatlife]

The List - the Meat Life Reviews the Avengers: Infinity Saga

It’s back!  the Meat Life’s The List returns to rank all of the MCU Infinity Saga movies from Iron Man all the way to Spider-Man: Far From Home.

With the home release of Avengers: Endgame, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Two summers ago, after I had watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and about a month before I got to watch Spider-Man: Homecoming, I ranked the MCU movies.  You can find that ranking here.  Now that I have watched what Kevin Feige describes as the final installment in Marvel’s Infinity Saga, I go through the movies again and rank all 23 installments including the last two --- Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. For the ones I ranked in the first one, I have included their old ranking in parentheses. And since Tumblr now limits pictures in entries to ten, I will include pictures of the new reviews.

#23 (15) - The Incredible Hulk (2008)

This is the second film in the first phase of the MCU.  The movie is mostly forgotten in the MCU, including by me.  It wasn’t a bad movie (certainly a marked improvement from 2003′s Hulk), but it felt like something was missing from it.  Of course, there is only so much you can do with a character in its own movie.  We find Bruce Banner (played by Edward Norton in this movie) being chased by General Ross, the man who spearheaded the project to create super soldiers that created the Hulk. Ross will become an important figure 8 years later in Civil War. And of course at the end of the movie we have a Tony Stark-building a team cameo and this was the intro of OG Avenger Bruce Banner/Hulk. Was the worse MCU movie in my initial ranking, and it remains there.

#22 (14) - Iron Man 2 (2010)

The weakest of the Iron Man movies.  They replace Terrence Howard’s Rhodey with Don Cheadle, who in the long run has better chemistry with Robert Downey Jr, but in this movie is just weird to see instead of Howard.  The villains are also probably the weakest of the MCU, with Ivan Vanko looking to exact revenge against the Stark family and Justin Hammer as the head of rival weapons manufacturer looking to take down Tony Stark. Totally didn’t notice the Elon Musk cameo until about the fourth time I watched it, a big inspiration for the Tony Stark movie character. The biggest contribution to the MCU/Infinity Saga is the introduction of OG Avenger Black Widow.

#21 (10) - Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Loki is one of the better villains of the MCU, and in The Dark World he is on full display. Is he good? Is he bad? In this installment, Thor must work with Loki to defeat the Dark Elves who are going after Jane Foster because she has the Ether within her. The cliff-hanger style ending makes it almost unfulfilling. The plot isn’t really as important as the introduction of the Ether, later known as the Reality Stone and the movie’s use in Avengers: Endgame.

#20 (9) - Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Although Age of Ultron was seen as a step back from the first Avengers, it is still a very solid film especially after knowing the full picture of the Infinity Saga. This is very much a set up movie, though.  We see Tony Stark accidentally create Ultron out of feeling the need to further protect the world (and also created Vision to counter). We see Hawkeye with a family and a Romanov-Banner romance.  We see the introduction of the Maximov kids, with Quicksilver’s death toward the end and Scarlet Witch joining the Avengers. And whilst on the run we also see some of the seeds of tension between Stark and Rogers as well as the leveling of the Sokovia that are important later in Captain America: Civil War. I also didn’t notice that much when I first watched but they introduced Wakanda as the source of vibranium and the vibranium poacher Ulysses Klaue.

#19 (13) - Thor (2011)

I did enjoy the movie, although I will say that this is one of the weaker entries in the MCU.  As the heir to the throne of Asgard, the arrogant Thor loses his hammer and must prove his worthiness before getting it back.  He bumps into scientist Jane Foster played by Natalie Portman (yes!).  He humbles himself and eventually earns back his hammer and has to fight the forces of his brother Loki. We see the first appearance of Hawkeye who will become one of the OG Avengers.

#18 (11) - Doctor Strange (2016)

Arrogant doctor Stephen Strange travels to Nepal in search of a treatment for his hands that were devastated from a car accident.  He gets trained by the Ancient One to reveal powers in how to access different dimensions and wield mystical weapons.  He has to harness these powers to fight Kaecilius, who has stolen pages of an ancient handbook to access the Dark Dimension.  Some of the mystical stuff might not be for everyone and I only stuck with it because I like Benedict Cumberbatch and I’m glad I did. I’ve heard Doctor Strange described as Iron Man but with magic, and that’s not wrong.

#17 - Captain Marvel (2019)

We see Carol Danvers, who has lost her memory of her origin and has an unrealized power, think she’s Kree, a sort of police warrior race. She eventually goes against them when she figures out they exiled Krulls and lied to her about her human origin. Along the way she goes to Earth in the 1990’s and does sort of a buddy cop detective case with the SHIELD agent Nick Fury to figure out who she is. It was cool to see how Fury loses his eye and seeing the old Tesseract/Space Stone. While Captain Marvel is not a bad movie, in my opinion this would have been a much stronger movie if they leaned more into her backstory of being held down and knocked down a lot more. Unintentionally, but in my mind this will always be measured against Wonder Woman, about the only thing in the MCU era that DC did better than Marvel.

#16 (6) - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) 

I had this ranked higher in my initial ranking but I must say after a while I liked some of the other titles better than this one. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 picks up where the last left off, mixing the right amount of humor and action and pulling on just enough heartstrings for you to be pulled right in.  The Guardians have to face against someone they never expected: Peter Quill’s dad.  We see the introduction of Mantis and her addition to the Guardians.

#15 (8) - Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man grew on me.  Marvel may well have a formula now with the mix of humor and superhero action, but it’s a formula that works.  Here we follow unlikely hero Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd, a former engineer turned petty criminal, training to break into Pym Technologies using Hank Pym’s old shrinking suit to take down the corrupted Pym protege Darren Cross.  Rudd’s humor, chemistry with Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne, along with humorous sidekicks played by Michael Pena and T.I. are the glue to this movie.

#14 (7) - Iron Man 3 (2013)

I think most don’t give the final installment of the Iron Man trilogy much credit.  We are reminded of why we love the Tony Stark character.  In spite of his arrogance there is a tremendous heart, and we see both on full display here.  Set after the events of the first Avengers, Stark is going through PTSD.  He tries to navigate through that while being attacked by new threats. And it was good after the large scale of the first Avengers movie to get something more down to Earth.

#13 - Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

We pick up after the events of Captain America: Civil War, where Scott Lang is serving the back end of a two-year house arrest for breaking the Sokovia Accords. Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne are underground and developed a quantum accelerator in the hopes of getting Hank’s wife Janet van Dyne out of the quantum realm. Arms dealer Sonny Burch and unstable phasing Ghost are after the accelerator. After the heaviness of Avengers: Infinity War, it was nice to have a little relief on a smaller scale. And Paul Rudd doing Paul Rudd things is always pleasant.

#12 - Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Picking up after the events of Captain America: Civil War (and apparently “eight years” after the first Avengers movie), we see Peter Parker filling his time being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man under the distant watchful eye of Happy Hogan and Tony Stark. That is, until he finds The Vulture’s henchmen Shocker one and two selling weapons infused with alien tech from the Invasion of New York. We get a great sequence where Peter learns the night of homecoming that his love interest Liz is actually the Vulture’s daughter and all the tension that follows. With all due respect to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland fits the Spider-Man/Peter Parker role the very best. And at the end, we get something that rarely happens with Marvel villains...the Vulture lives and goes to jail.

#11 (12) - Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

This movie has aged very well over time. Steve Rogers, a scrawny kid from New York, wanted to serve his country in the middle of World War II.  He was selected for experimental super soldier program and became the face of the US military, spending time raising money for the USO.  Then he starts hunting down Nazi science division Hydra and its leader Red Skull.  It ends with Rogers downing a Hydra bomber and crashing it in ice, preserving him until modern time. It also heartbreakingly separates Rogers from love interest Peggy Carter, SSR Agent who helped him through his WWII missions and promised a dance. This pays off later.

#10 (5) -  Iron Man (2008)

The film that kick started the entire MCU.  Here we follow Tony Stark and the origin of Iron Man, birthed from Stark being captured by a mercenary terror group and called to action after seeing his company’s weapons in the wrong hands.  This was a role ready-made for Robert Downey Jr, a great mix of arrogance, empathy, and quick wit.  And there’s plenty of action. And with that first movie we get the first post-credit scene, a now trademark Marvel touch, introducing Nick Fury the Director of SHIELD recruiting Stark into a “bigger universe.”

#9 (4) - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

I’ll admit, when Marvel announced Guardians of the Galaxy, I had planned on skipping out.  I knew nothing of the comic and it looked cheesy.  So yes, I had my doubts about a group that included a talking raccoon and a fighting tree.  But I gave it a chance and Guardians ended up being one of the stronger movies of the MCU.  We see the origin of Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord and how the Guardians came together.  This has that right mix of humor, action, chemistry, and 80s mix tape. And we see the introduction of the Orb containing the Power Stone.

#8 - Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Eight months following the events of Avengers: Endgame, we get to see some of the aftermath of the world after “The Blip,” including a hilarious school news tribute video of our fallen heroes set to Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You.” We see Nick Fury commandeer Peter’s summer class trip to Europe to initially help Mysterio battle what looks to be Elementals from another dimension set to destroy Earth. Little do we know that it’s all an illusion that Mysterio and a crew of technicians in an effort to destroy Tony Stark’s legacy and become the biggest savior of the world. That’s about as in depth I’ll go since this movie is still in theaters so I won’t spoil the fun. But I will say that this is probably the best version of a Spider-Man movie with all the awkward teen moments, his heavy weight of responsibility of being in line to be the next Tony Stark, and the sweet interplay between Parker and Zendaya’s MJ as well as bestie Jacob Batalon’s Ned. The MCU is in good hands post-Infinity Saga with Spider-Man on board. And there is a great surprise in the end credit scene.

#7 - Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

This Thor. Marvel finally figured out how to use Thor and Chris Hemsworth’s comedic timing. Right from the opening monologue you get that this is a different movie from the other two Thor’s. After Odin’s death, Thor’s half-sister Hela takes over Asgard as Thor and Loki disappear to the planet Sakaar. Thor is imprisoned as a gladiator-style fighter where he bumps into his “friend from work” Hulk. They all link up with Valkyrie, a former Asgardian warrior to escape Sakaar and save the Asgardian people from destruction. We see great comedy and chemistry between all the main characters, Idris Elba’s Heimdall get a lot of screen time protecting and hiding the Asgardian people from Hela, and hilarious performances from Karl Urban’s Skurge and Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster. In the end credit scene we see Thanos’ ship coming in for the events directly preceding Avengers: Infinity War.

#6 (3) - The Avengers (2012)

Director Joss Whedon pulled off what people once thought impossible...a superhero team-up movie. We see Nick Fury pull together Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and later Hawkeye for the first time to figure out and stop Loki’s plan to use the Chitauri warriors to take over Earth. The Avengers definitely is an action movie with some dramatic elements but the thing that sticks out about this is even with New York City in peril, the ride is great!  The chemistry of the entire ensemble is on full display.  Before Thanos, Loki makes for probably the strongest villain in the series.  When this came out, it was hard to see Marvel top this. And we see a glimpse of Thanos for the first time in a post-credits scene.

#5 - Black Panther (2018)

Marvel never stops amazing world building, a vibrant look at the fictional nation of Wakanda included. Black Panther picks up after the events of Captain America: Civil War, but to open we get a flashback of Oakland, California in 1992 that will impact the entire plot that follows. We then see Prince T’Challa get crowned king upon his return to Wakanda, following the death of his father T’Chaka in Civil War. Mysterious American Killmonger works with vibranium poacher Ulysses Klaue at first seemingly to steal more vibranium. As the movie progresses it is revealed that Killmonger is actually Wakandan whose father was killed in the opening scene in Oakland and is after the throne. Upon several viewings, there are multiple layers as there are in Ryan Coogler directed movies. This movie is part James Bond (with T’Challa’s sister Shuri playing the Q role), part family drama, part political thriller, and of course part Marvel movie. Black Panther tries to tackle political issues like inclusion, globalization, and immigration while also addressing how a family’s mistakes from the past can haunt and impact a family’s future. Michael B Jordan’s Killmonger is a top three MCU villain and there are wonderful performances from Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross, and Andy Serkis’ Klaue. The end credit scene shows a relaxed Bucky talking to Shuri about his recovery.

#4 (2) - Captain America: Civil War (2016)

In this installment, the Avengers find themselves under hot water after an accident on a mission.  The UN votes to approve the Sokovia Accords that limits the Avengers decision making, splitting the team between those who support it who stand with Iron Man and those who oppose it who stand with Captain America. During the signing, we see an attack that initially looked like it was done by the Winter Soldier but is really carried out by a former Sokovian special forces soldier who is seeking to destroy the Avengers for indirectly killing his family. Civil War has probably the coolest fight scene of the series at a German airport.  The newbies Black Panther and Spider-Man are a sight to see.  And there is a twist ending that’s really heart wrenching that splits our two main Avengers in Iron Man and Captain America. 

#3 - Avengers: Endgame (2019)

I reviewed this a few months ago, so I’ll provide the link to my review here. What I will discuss here is how great this movie is. I almost put this at number 1. The storytelling and the conclusion to many of the main characters is so satisfying as a fan. It just felt so good to watch. I may rank this higher if I ever revisit the Infinity Saga, but for now I think top three at the very least is very very good. And it is the most satisfying ending to a movie series since The Dark Knight Rises. But I placed the other two above it for the reasons I will outline.

#2 (1) - Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Wow. For so long this has been my favorite MCU movie and probably still is. We see Cap and Black Widow running from SHIELD, out to hunt down the Winter Soldier for the assassination of Nick Fury. Out of all the MCU, this movie had a modern real world feel with its questions about how to determine whether or not someone is a threat. It kind of revisits a concept dealt with in Minority Report, whether someone’s free will determines their criminality or their preconceived conditions. It had great action sequences. And it defined the direction of the MCU with its revelation that Hydra was secretly controlling SHIELD for all those years. In this installment in the MCU, we see the possibility of how these movies can be dealt. There can be genre movies within the comic book genre. This was the political spy thriller of the MCU, in the same vein as some of those political thrillers of the 1970s. And as it pertains to the bigger Infinity Saga story, we find out Steve Roger’s old buddy Bucky is the infamous assassin The Winter Soldier. And we get the introduction of Sam Wilson, the Falcon.

#1 - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

I never got to review this when it initially came out. This is basically a Thanos movie disguised and named as an Avengers movie. The best MCU villains have the most fleshed out backstories, and in Infinity War we get Thanos’ background, how his world collapsed and how he came about his reasoning behind wanting to eliminate half of the universe’s inhabitants. You see his rational, and even though he goes about things the wrong way (I mean, he is a villain), you get to see his reasoning and motivation behind his quest. For this alone, I felt compelled to rank it number one just because of how different the approach was and how effective the execution turned out.

Then, inter-spliced with Thanos’ story is the present day struggle. The beginning of the movie we see the destroyed Asgardian ship with Thanos and his disciples taking out most of the leadership, but not before Heimdall uses the Bifrost to get Hulk back to Earth. We see Heimdall and Loki die and Thor left for dead before Thanos moves on with the Space Stone and already in possession of the Power Stone.

The story builds toward two separate teams. The space team with Iron Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Nebula, and the Guardians minus Rocket and Groot defend the Time Stone with the ultimate face off with Thanos on the collapsed planet Titan. Before that, Thanos had a skirmish with the Guardians on Knowhere before ultimately obtaining the Reality Stone from the Collector, kidnapping Gamora in the process. Thanos killed Gamora on the planet Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone. Before the fight on Titan, Dr. Strange looks into the future and sees 14 million possible outcomes and only one where they win. The Earth team with Captain America, Falcon, Black Widow, War Machine, Bruce Banner, Scarlett Witch, Vision, Black Panther, and the Wakandan military protect Vision while Shuri tries to unlink the Mind Stone to destroy without harming Vision while battling the Chitauri and some of Thanos’ disciples in Wakanda with Thor, Rocket, and Groot dropping in toward the end.

The space team almost grabs the gauntlet from Thanos but ultimately fail (partly due to Peter Quill’s temper after finding out Gamora was killed by Thanos). Thanos then descends to Earth into Wakanda and some of the Earth team, in particular Captain America holds him off long enough for Scarlett Witch to destroy the Mind Stone, killing her love Vision. But Thanos uses the Time Stone to turn Vision back long enough to restore the Mind Stone and obtain the last stone he was searching for. Right before he is able to snap his gauntlet fingers, Thor drops down with his new ax Stormbreaker, thrusting the ax into Thanos’ chest. But Thanos is still able to snap his fingers, dusting half the population of the universe including some of our heroes: in particular Black Panther, most of the Guardians, Dr. Strange, and, in probably the most emotional scene outside of Endgame, Spider-Man.

If you were a moviegoer in a previous era and didn’t know they were already shooting Spider-Man: Far From Home, the impact of The Snap would have resonated so much more. Even in this era, though, the ending of the film was sharp, jarring, and effective.

—————

That’s my list! I may revisit years down the line, and some of these movies may age better than others. But I feel pretty comfortable about where these movies ended up. Let me know what you think! And enjoy the home release of Avengers: Endgame!

[topazshadowwolf]

Dadster (Chapter 7)

The Great and Wonderful Dr. W.D. Dadster

With the best story title, ever, if he must say so himself. Clearly it will go down in his-story

An Undertale Fanfiction by: Topaz Shadowwolf Undertale is owned by: Toby Fox Rating: Teen for mild cursing, violence and to give me some wiggle room for later down the road Heads up: Cursing, violence … not all sure, still in development AO3 Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6

Random notes:   Hey! I know it’s been awhile since I posted a chapter of this story. I just was feeling a little discouraged. Anyway, I’ll try to get back to writing this story more often because I really love it.

Chapter 6: I... I wasn’t expecting that, honestly...

Gaster doubted it was over. He won a battle but not the war. Chara knew about his son and his secret lab. How long did he have? That would depend on Chara. In all truth, he didn't know if she would try anything else, or if he was just being paranoid. But he felt he needed to move from this lab and hide all sensitive documents.

As far as he knew, he still had a few locations in his lab that the human child knew nothing about. They were nothing but simple closet like spaces to store equipment and documents. Is it suspicious? Oh yes! Had he known another scientist with a lab like this he would wonder what they were up to. But Gaster trusted himself.

Well, yes, he did somehow beat the odds, create a life with the intent on turning said life into an instrument of war. But he clearly had enough moral fiber to turn back from that project. Thus, he reasoned, he should be allowed to have a work space like this. A shame it might no longer be so private

He gathered every note he had on Sans and opened the top drawer of the filing cabinet. Lifting the false bottom, he stored all that precious data away. Burning it might be a better option later, but right now he would have no means to cover up the smell of smoke or reasonable place to hide the ashes.

(Besides, there is always the off chance he might want another.)

Picking Sans up, his ethereal hands grabbed up all the baby items and shoved them into the hidden closet spaces. He would have to hide everything for now, and hope to move it to his new location later. Luckily Sans is easy to entertain and sleeps a lot. A few hours without toys should pass fairly well.

There was nothing he could do for the makeshift crib or children’s bookcase. He will just have to think of a reasonable lie for both if Chara leads Asgore here. Luckily for him, the king will believe nearly anything he tells him. If all the children's books and blankets are hidden away there won't be any evidence against his claim. Now he had a new problem. Moving Sans through the facility unseen, and (more importantly) where to move him.

After some thought he decided on wing A. No one used that lab wing anymore. It was the first wing of the true lab, after the decision to not expand the upper level. It wasn't until he justified the need for more space that the other wings added. So, all the equipment was old, and the offices were small, compared to the newest ones.

Destination decided, he then bundled the small skeleton up and placed him in a box. Perhaps it wasn’t the most dignified way to move his son; but, feeling rushed, it was the only answer he had. Sans, luckily, was ready for a nap now that his dad is here and whatever trauma he went through was over.

The two made their way through the facility, mostly unbothered. Gaster was happy for this. It appears his mood from earlier left an impact. Unfortunately, this was not to last, a bird looking monster in a lab coat approached with a feline, dress in CORE engineer uniform.

“Sir,” she trilled, “I know you are busy, but you need to see these numbers.”

“It can wait,” he said, walking passed.

“No, it can’t,” snapped the engineer. He quickly moved in front of Gaster and waved the papers in his face. “Now, ya might have this lot bowing to ya as if yer the king, but that ain't going to work with me!”

Gaster was taken aback by this, “Clearly. Make your point, but lower your voice, if you would so kind. I have a skull ache.” In truth, he felt Sans move in the box. Last thing he needed was his son waking and crying.

“I don't care if yer head pops off! My workers are in danger, have been in danger. The CORE is overheatin’ and anytime I ask if ya know, they turn me away.”

“Let me see those,” Gaster said, handing the box he was holding over to the bird monster. He took the papers and read them over. He was surprised by the readings. “There seems to be more strain on it.”

“There's more monsters than there used ta be,” the engineer said, “more things usin’ energy too. We are maintainin’ her well, but she can't keep this up. And I don't think I need to tell you what could happen if she broke.”

“No, you don't,” he thought for a moment, “for now we will have to limit energy use. Shorter day cycles too. I won't kill monster kind to have less light for a while, considering we nearly spent a year in the dark.” Gaster then looked at the Head Engineer of The CORE, “I will look for solutions in the meantime.”

“Thank ya,” the feline nodded and turned away, mumbling, “‘bout flippin’ time, gotta do everthin’ m’self.”

Gaster started to make his way again, looking over The CORE’s recent temperatures and maintenance reports. He was sure he had developed a strong enough coolant. Were they using a bad batch? Nope. The engineer's report states they not only check the quality of the coolant, but switch it as well.

“Sir, your box?” The bird monster called out to him.

Box?

SANS!

The speed at which he turned nearly left him dizzy as he all but ran back to retrieve his son. Sans must have made a sound or moved as the bird monster started to lift a flap. Before she could see in, he placed the reports and his hand on the top of the box.

With an empty socket stare, he said slowly, “Thank you, for bringing these concerns to my attention. And thank you, also, for holding my box.” The bird hesitated, “I believe this is when you say, ‘you’re welcome.’”

“Oh, uh, you’re welcome, Doctor,” she said, surrendering the box to Gaster.

He looked at her for a moment, not wanting to leave it at this. After all, she did make sure that this was brought to his attention. The safety of monster kind is more important to him than providing them with energy. If no solution is found, he’d rather shut The CORE down than have it break.

He lit his eye sockets, giving her two white dots to look at verses empty darkness. “I have a task for you. Find everyone who turned the engineer away. I have made myself available, and by no means would I be too busy to deal with any problems with The CORE.”

Having lights in his eyes again seemed to relax her, “Of course, Doctor. I’ll get on that right away.” With an approving nod, Gaster turned to resume moving Sans to the A wing.

Just as he was rounding the corner a voice called out from behind him, “Doctor, you have a, uh, royal visitor.”

“AS EXPECTED!” Gaster called back, “tell our king that I will be there right away!”

“D-doctor, about that-”

“Just tell him,” he said picking up his pace. He needed to stash his son somewhere, stat. Luckily, King Asgore was not an impatient monster.

He was most of the way down the hall when there was a loud pop. From above green, shimmering, magic bullets, in the shape of stars and planets with rings, filter down before fizzling out of existence. With Gaster’s health already at full, any that touched him did nothing.

A black banner unfurled before him, the words “Welcome To The Space” was written in large, white, painted letters. (Squeezed in at the end was “Department”. Gaster didn't see it till later). Around the words was an almost accurate depiction of the night sky.

“Welcome, Doctor Gaster!” A dark blue, monitor lizard monster with bright green stripes said. “My name is Doctor M. R., the current head of the Space Department by default. Since, you know, you never assigned anyone else here.”

Space Department? When did his lab have a Space Department? He thought hard as she continued talking. And then he remembered the day he assigned someone to a nonexistent department. (You know, back at the beginning of the project to make a weapon) The information he gathered, about the social requirements for a young monster to grow up stable, was hers.

Before now, he didn’t notice she was leading him down the hall to lab A-1. In it was a few interesting inventions. As he looked around he started listening again, “Now, I know I have been fudging the numbers. Claiming there are 3 people in this department, but that is the least amount of people required for a department to be valid. It is annoying trying to collect the check though, as each time they have no idea I’m working here. Which is fine by me, really, I don’t mind working alone. But, moving on, I only take my pay and use the rest to fund my experiments. Making this, over all, the cheapest but among the more useful departments. Seeing has how space travel is currently out of the question, I feel I have enough time to fully explore how space travel would be possible. Also, how we could potentially colonize a new planet.” She waved a hand over to a variety of plants, “Those are some surface plants that were brought down as seeds. As you can see I cultivated-”

“How much of this does Asgore know about?” Gaster asked, sure that Asgore never would have funded this “department.”

“Uh… well, not much. I keep my reports to him very vague. And use…,” she hummed a soft tone before continuing, “words that may go over his kingly head. Not an easy task, mind you. On paper this is the ‘Astro-exploratory, Quantum Physics and Mechanics Department for a Brighter Tomorrow.’ I thought the end part added a nice flare.”

“How did you know I was coming?” Gaster looked at Doctor M. R.

She waved her hand to a screen, on it was several views of the hall, rooms, and even the lab they were in, “my monitors. I have the entire wing under surveillance for just this moment.”

“For… just the moment I might walk down here?”

“I have to make sure to give you a proper welcome,” she smiled big, humming to herself in contentment. As Gaster continued thinking in silence the lizard fidgeted nervously.

“If Asgore were to walk in now, what wouldn't you show him?” Gaster said and watched for her reaction.

She pointed her index fingers at him as if they were guns, in a playful manner, while she smirked, “don't you mean: what would I show him?” When Gaster was slow to respond, she cleared her throat, “I mean, I have a few things that don't fall in the more… theoretical… it is hard to prove this departments worth, but I assure you, Doctor, if you don't shut this de-”

“Who said anything about shutting this down? I CLEARLY had reason for creating this department,” Gaster bluffed his way through. He then handed the box containing Sans to her. “Keep him safe and make sure no one knows about him, or I will shut this down. Understand?”

“Yeeeees?” She looked a little confused, then looked at the box as he started to walk away.

“Give away my secret and I will do the same to you.” Gaster added, loudly, as he walked down the hall.

“Your secret is safe with me!” She called back, almost singing it. She said something more, but he didn't have time. Asgore may be a patient king, but he won't wait forever.

  Doctor Melody Of The River (or M. R. or just Dr. R. as she often signs her name) had poked her head out of the lab and said, “Wait! Did you say him?” But Doctor Gaster obviously didn't hear her or cared. With a sigh, she walked over to a table to set the box down.

On her way there, she could have sworn she a sound… a very distinct sound. The kind of sound that anyone with a strong paternal instinct reacts to. Setting the box on the table she opened it, and, despite knowing what she heard, was surprised.

Two, half opened eye sockets looked up at her with two fuzzy eye lights. The small skeleton wiggled, as if trying to stretch, but the blanket he was wrapped in was preventing such movement. In the effort, he made a few small grunts before sighing and giving up.

“Who puts a baby in a box? Come here, you,” River reached in and picked the child up. Last she heard, Gaster never remarried after his wife died. To top that off, there was no rumor of a lover of any kind, and she was certain she heard he was the last skeleton alive.

So then… where did this one come from?

(In truth, she had an idea. After all, she worked with theatrical science. She knew something can’t just appear from nothing, and she heard the rumors of Gaster hurting his hand doing something no one knew anything about. Still, even to her, it seemed farfetched.)

A light and a beep let Doctor R. know someone was walking down the hall. Glancing up, she saw the human child of the royal family on the monitors running this way. Well, it is a good thing Doctor R. had researched many different monster types. She knew the perfect hiding spot.

  Gaster hurried to the upper lab, and what he saw was not King Asgore. No, that was, definitely, not the King. But it was indeed a “royal visitor.” A very annoyed and angry one. One that he would not have kept waiting for this long had he known.

“Your Majesty,” Gaster said as he walked forward, keeping a calm demeanor.

Queen Toriel’s burgundy eyes, like two garnets, looked right at him with a glare that nearly made him recoil. Chara chose well in picking this boss monster to confront Gaster. Asgore was not a bad ruler, but he was very tolerant. Toriel, on the other hand, was the type who won’t stand for nonsense, and was a mother bear when it came to defending her children.

“Cut the crap,” she said with a snarl. She bent over slightly to stare Gaster right in the eye sockets. She made sure she wasn’t looming over him as she glared with a flame in her eyes, that he knew not to ignore. Gaster respected that about her, when it came to matters like this, she didn’t use her position and height to intimidate. As if she needed those to threaten someone, especially someone who knew her before being underground. “Right now, I want to talk like we did back during the war. No titles, no obligatory niceties, and none of that sugar coating or dropping of relevant details you do for my husband.”

Well, this is happening…

Placing his hands in his lab coat pockets, Gaster looked back at Toriel. “Then, Toriel, what can I do for you?”

“Why did my child come home, crying, saying you threatened them,” Toriel stood back to her full height and looked down at him, most likely to spare her back.

She wanted him to be straight forward with her, then that’s what she’ll get. With a casual shrug he said, “What was your child doing unsupervised in my lab?”

“That doesn’t give you the right to terrorize them!” Toriel snapped, “They came home, looking as pale as a ghost!”

So, Chara made the transition from ‘her’ to ‘them.’ Fine, he’ll respect that. “You’re lucky they didn’t come home just a soul.” Toriel snarled and Gaster continued, giving her a deadpan stare, “My lab is not safe for children.”

“They said you threatened them,” Toriel’s fangs gleamed as she exposed more of them when her lips curled back. As a skeleton, he tends to notice teeth, horns, and other bits of bone that protrudes from his, more fleshy, fellow monsters. Yet, before this moment, he never considered how sharp Toriel's fangs appeared.

(Despite Toriel's and Asgore being “goat monsters” and having some resemblance to the herbivore; calling them as such can result in a short sightedness. After all, what goat has large paws? Or fangs? This is something Gaster is learning.)

“L-Lady, I mean,” Everyone who wasn't watching with interest now was. Not only did Gaster, the proud, self-secured, skeleton he was just stutter, but he took a hesitant half step backwards while holding out his hand defensively; clearly wanting to escape.

But that notion was denied, as Toriel reach out and grabbed him by his coat, holding him in place. “Why, old friend,” she uttered venomously, “are you trying to flee? Perhaps you are guilty of something?”

‘This is how I die,’ Gaster thought, ‘surrounded by backstabbers who’d rather gawk than help. All the while Sans, my son… Sans!’

What would happen to his son if he died here? (Not that Toriel would actually kill him. Well, she might have, had she wittiness what occurred earlier.) He didn't want Sans to be orphaned. What would they do if they figured out his secret? Would they treat him as the child he is? Or as the thing he was originally going to be?

Gaster narrowed his eye sockets, glaring back at Toriel, “Are you insinuating something? Is there a crime you think I am guilty of?”

“According to Chara, you have a child locked up in a secret lab downstairs,” Toriel’s hand was trembling with pent up rage.

“Nonsense! While I will confess to having my own private section of this facility, I would never lock up a child! Monster or human, at that.”

Toriel watched his face carefully, looking for any hints of lying. Not seeing anything she released him, “It didn’t seem like something that Chara would just make up. Children have their imaginations, but that is beyond what I’ve normally heard from them.”

Gaster straightened his jacket, calming his nerves further in the process. “Well, if I had to guess,” he started, looking down at himself before looking back up at the Queen, “your child misunderstood what it is I am working on.”

“Is that so?” She folded her arms, face relaxing slightly, but the anger was still present. “Well, then, why don’t you show me what it is you are working on? And this ‘private section.’”

“Of course, if you would follow me,” Gaster turned, his gut instincts were right about moving labs. Toriel will be more skeptical, and thus, harder to convince than Asgore, but she can be reasoned with.

As they descend into the lab, Gaster ignored the stares as he passed by his workers. Let them gawk. This was a make or break moment, and his son remaining hidden would depend all on a monster he knew nothing about.

  “Hello there, Chara,” Dr. R. sang out more than spoke, “It is an honor-”

“Where is it?” Chara snapped.

This was intriguing to the lizard monster, and she tilted her head, “Where is what?” Dr. R hummed, “Wouldn’t have happened to hear of my latest project? And here I thought it was kept a secret.”

“I’m talking about the thing Gaster brought you,” Chara huffed.

The lizard monster brightened up, “Oooh that! Well, I’m surprised you would find interest in it. But if that is what you want to see, if you would just follow me~”

With a simple wave of a claw like hand, she gestured for the human child to follow. They walked together from the lab and down the hall a short way. Dr. R lead the human to a room with filing cabinets, “Now, I put that box in one of these….” She hummed, “but I can’t remember which.”

“He was just here, how did you forget?” Chara sighed, “Look, I don’t want to hurt it, I just want to see what it can do.”

“Not sure I understand,” Dr. R. frowned, “But the box is somewhere in here… Shall we look?” She smiled brightly, and the human sighed and started opening drawers. All the while Dr. R. hummed an unheard song, sometimes singing a lyric or two.

Just Chara’s luck, the box was in the last cabinet checked. It was time wasted, but there was something that needed to be confirmed, and only by interacting with the thing would Chara know. Taking a deep breath, eager to relax, Chara reached over to lift the box flaps.

#Undertale #Fanfiction #Gaster #Sans #Toriel #Random Characters #Chara #One character that might seem like an OC but really isn't #Kinda is now #but that wont always be #Asgore was supposed to show up #But he had kingly things to do #Random tag #another random tag that has nothing to do with the story #Not sure what I'm doing with my life #The Door's next chapter is almost done #And I hope to finish up False Hope soon