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#notes from mythical beasts
robinsceramics · 1 year
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masked fox!
[image descriptions: a red ceramic fox with three tails. Its face is covered by a dark fox-face mask. Lines are incised into its throat to suggest a "ruff". The fox's head is tilted and its front paws are set close together, as if the fox is looking intently at something.]
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goddess-of-graphite · 10 months
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The Great Notes App Exodus: Gothic Dragons
Gotham has always been protected by a Dragon, even before it was ever Gotham.
There was a way about the land Gotham stood upon, that was all twisted magics and darkness and feral energy that never quite fit in man’s modern world. America had but one Guardian Dragon - except for Gotham, which was near a law and country unto itself.
Gotham was a sanctuary for the supernatural, but it was not kind. Those non-humans who risked its dark streets were the brave, or the foolish, or the terribly desperate. Gotham was a dark city, and it’s people adapted or were driven out.
(But should a threat ever come for her, all of Gotham would rise up in response.)
So Gotham had its own Guardian, but the Dragon guarded the world outside from Gotham’s brutality just as much as it shielded Gotham from those that would rend her apart.
But, of course, Dragons were only so many, and new blood must be brought in - human blood, as it often was, and so the trend of Dragon blood “skipping” a generation emerged.
And the bloodline of the Guardian Dragons of Gotham withered, bit by bit, because it is far easier to kill a human of dragon blood than it is to kill a Dragon of human descent.
(And Bruce Wayne has never hated this truth of the world more - because his parents had been Skipped, human, and if they had been dragons, they’d still be there with him.
But they weren’t.
It was just Bruce, a fledgling Dragon, and the butler left to care for him.)
-
Although Gotham had only ever had one Guardian Dragon, it had at one time had a whole lineage of Dragons capable of taking up the mantle. As the Dragons intermarried, however, more and more lines broke off with human kin, occasionally producing dragons.
But the Guardian Line had been reduced to one untrained hatchling. And that hatchling didn’t much care if it was a Dragon or a dragon that was Guardian of the city, just that there was someone to Guard it.
The problem is, of course, that the hatchling needs training - but he cannot get that in Gotham.
So he leaves.
He comes back ready to pull his city back from the brink, by force if (when) necessary.
Here’s the thing - Bruce is no Dragon, because for all that he is the last of the Guardian line he doesn’t adhere to the rules of that duty.
A Guardian’s duty is to the supernatural beings they protect.
Bruce has already decided that that is not enough. Human or Magical Being, if no one else will step in, then he will.
Bruce might have been the Gotham Dragon, but that didn’t mean he was the only dragon in the city.
The thing about dragon blood is that it tended to turn up dragons unexpectedly in families that had been mostly human. A dragon ancestor could have human children, and their children have human children, and then a dragon. It was a recessive trait when introduced into human bloodlines, and especially if it was paired with yet more human lines, but it also was tellingly stubborn - a human may only have a single draconian ancestor hundreds of years back, but they could still unexpectedly turn up a dragon hatchling.
It was just sheer dumb luck that a bunch of said unexpected hatchlings turned up within the span of the same generation.
#The Great Notes App Exodus#graphite writes#american dragon was a show I held close to my heart the entire first season#and then they changed the art style and I Literally Could Not watch it#But the concept is so cool and I love dragons so here it is transplanted onto the batfam <3#I also considered a version where the rest of the batfam are all different mythical creatures or even just human#Dick would be a water-based siren because I love the thought of him longing for the sky like his bird-siren ancestors#the thought is that you have three variations of sirens: the nymph-like sirens who are the oldest and rarest version#The bird-based sirens who came after Demeter charged them with finding Persephone#And the most prevalent water-based sirens from when they threw themselves into the sea when they couldn’t lure in Odysseus or w/e#So ever since sirens long for the skies and it’s all very tragic <3#Jason would be a werewolf because I adore the image of this tiny floppy puppy coming back as this two-metre tall feral behemoth of a beast#and Tim as always gave me trouble so I decided he got turned into a vampire while wandering the streets alone one night with his camera#Babs had latent naga blood that activated when she lost the use of her legs so now if she wants she can spawn a snake tail instead#she can’t go out like that obvi but it’s nice being able to get around regardless of her injury#Cass is human because I thought it was funny that the most dangerous batfam member was the only one who wasn’t a mythical being <3#Fuck knows about Steph tho#Some kinda vocal mimic maybe??#Something subtle so that she seems human at first (and second) (and third) glance#It doesn’t help that her personality is so loud since it tends to distract people from any of her Otherness
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shiny-jr · 20 days
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not my world [ prologue ]
– Summary: One day you wake in a foreign world with nothing to your name except the clothes on your back. A talking cat named Grim, gives you your only lead to return home. Seek out the seven gods and pray they answer your plea.
– Warning: Yes, this series is a yandere thing, although this post really isn't. Gender-neutral reader.
– Characters: Grim.
– Note: Think of this like a test, just to see how it's received. Yes, this is based off that outlander post I made a while ago. I was thinking I could make this a long-lasting series. However, it really depends how y'all like it. There's not too much going on here, because I'm trying to set the scene and I wrote it all fairly quickly. However, it's just a small taste. So, let me know what y'all think.
– Pages: 11
“So… you’re saying that you woke up here on this beach with no explanation, but you’re from another world so you have no idea where you are? You fell asleep in your own bed, in your own home, and now you’re here, with no way to go back?” 
As far fetched as it sounded, you could only grimly nod. A dream, this should’ve just been a nightmare. But that was confirmed to be false when you pinched yourself multiple times and tried to splash yourself with the nearby ocean water. Everything felt so real, from the sand between your toes to the breeze in the air and the sunlight drying the water off the surface of your flesh. You wanted it to be nothing but a dream, especially when you found a talking cat with a forked tail and blue fire in his ears. 
This was your third attempt trying to explain things to this impish but rather harmless little furball, and each time he seemed more puzzled than the last. His little black nose twitched as he sat in front of you, his paws digging into the sand as those strange eyes of his studied you closely. His voice was grating, high-pitched, speaking with a tone of doubt. “You don’t look like you’re from any of the seven nations. No pointed ears, no beast features, not even a magestone to your name! Well, it makes sense. A nobody like you obviously wouldn’t have a magestone anyways.” 
That was probably meant to be an insult, but considering you didn’t even know what a magestone was, you didn’t really take any offense at all. Pointed ears, beast features, magestones, annoying talking cats– you really didn’t care about any of that. “Because I’m not from whatever seven nations there are. I already told you where I’m from.” 
“Yeah, well I never heard of wherever it was you said. So get lost, would you, human? I’ve claimed this beach alrea–” 
A low growl rang in the air. Swiftly you scanned your surroundings, fearful that you were about to be attacked by some mythical beast. However, when you looked back to the feline who now looked quite ashamed, you realized the noise came from his stomach. Actually, the little fellow seemed pretty scrawny, and you could just barely make out the shape of his ribs poking out of his sides. 
Standing up, you brushed off the sand clinging to the oversized t-shirt you fell asleep in. Thankfully, you at least had sandals, which was better than waking up here barefoot. With one look around, there didn’t appear to be anyone for miles, and no sign of civilization here. Leaving the cat as your only option to turn to, as jarring as it was to be speaking to a cat. “Er… Look, if you could at least help me find people, a shelter, a city, something– then I’ll see about getting you something to eat. Deal?” 
“I don’t need your help! But… I’m curious, so I’ll follow anyway.” 
“Great…” You sigh, as you decide to follow a path that leads away from the shoreline and into woodlands. At the very least, you were not completely alone. This would be much more terrifying if you had woken up and there was absolutely no one around. “So, do you have a name or are you, like, feral?” 
“I’m not feral!” It hissed as it walked in tandem beside you, keeping up with your steady pace. “Since I am so great, I will allow you to know my name. I am the all-mighty Grim! One-of-a-kind and destined to one day become strong, powerful enough to defeat even the seven gods!” 
“Seven gods…?” Was this some sort of fantasy setting? It had to be. First he mentioned pointed ears and beast-people, and you were having a conversation with a talking cat! Maybe seven gods were the least outlandish thing you’ve heard today. “Well, I’m (Y/n).” 
“You’ve never heard of The Seven? How stupid could you be?” 
You frowned at his toothy little grin as he ridiculed you for your knowledge on a place you just ended up in. “Well excuse me for not knowing anything about this place I just ended up in!” Tearing your gaze away, you saw a cabin up ahead. It appeared abandoned, so there wasn’t any hope of seeing another person yet. Still, there may be something useful inside, so you approach. 
Trying the knob, you found the lock jammed. The wood of the front door was rotting, some of it in splitters and the windows were shattered. With a few strong kicks, the door became dislodged and finally gave way beneath the pressure. 
“You’re excused– hey! Tuna!” You didn’t even bother stopping the feline when he rushed into the abandoned cabin, sprinting after the few cans of tuna he spotted on an old table. At least he would get to eat. 
You didn’t particularly care for canned fish that’s been sitting there for who knows how long. In practically a blink of the eye he had devoured three whole cans of the stuff and licked the remnants off of his whiskers. 
“Okay, okay, since I feel so bad for you, and because you found these tuna cans, I’ll be your guide. That way, I don’t owe you nothin’ after this! Maybe one day, if you’re still around, you’ll see me ascend to the ranks among the archons and you can brag like I knew him! Isn’t Grim so cool and praise worthy? I might even remember you and accept your prayers! You can thank me now.” 
At his smug expression, you squinted incredulously as he began walking down the path in the middle of the woods once more. Following hesitantly, thankful there was daylight and this seemed like a particularly nice forest, save for the very depths of it further away from the road that were dark due to the cover of leaves and branches above. However, the trees closest to you weren’t so dense, and the sunlight filtered through the thin foliage. The dirt road was wide, but slightly covered with scattered blades of grass and underbrush, as if no one had used it in a long while. Squirrel-like critters darted about in trees, strange fruits hung on low-branches, and foreign flowers sprouted alongside little ponds. 
“I’ll thank you after an explanation and a little help. So, what’s this about gods?” 
“Let’s see… I’ll put it so simple that even a baby can understand! There are seven nations, and each one has a god. These gods are super-powerful! I’m talking crazy-strong, like they can level mountains and raise the sea type of miracles!” 
As he strolled beside you, his forked-tail swished back and forth. For now it seemed like he knew where he was going, so hopefully that was a good sign. Right now, you had no idea what to do or how to get home. However, if magic existed in this realm, then surely there would be some way to get back. There had to be, for your own peace of mind. 
“Maybe if you pray to one, you’ll get an answer. But the chances of that are pretty much zero, because only idiots rely on the gods since they almost never answer. You’d have a better chance trying to actually meet one of them and try to talk to them in person, but good luck with that!” 
As the road neared a cliff, you caught a glimpse of the scenery. It was a kingdom, a whole city that began right at the edge of a vast meadow. The rolling valley ended at a river, across a wide stone bridge where the city began. Miles and miles of cobblestone roads lined with two to three-story buildings, and rising above it all was a white palace with red conical roofs that pierced the very sky. It looked fantastical, like something straight out of a peculiar little story book, especially considering how unnaturally bright the flowers were and how there was the occasional mushroom as tall as a tree. 
Never before in your entire life had you ever seen a single place like this. Some stupid naive little part of yourself had hoped that perhaps you were still in your world, but this was simply proof that tore that little shred of hope to bits. “What is this place…?” 
He paused to scratch a spot behind his ear. “That’s the capital city of Heartslabyul. You see that big palace all the way over there? That’s where the god of fire lives. One day, I’m gonna live in a place even bigger, grander, than that! My worshippers will build, brick by brick, a towering temple that reaches the very heavens! It’ll make that palace look puny in comparison!” 
Dumbfounded, you nearly get left behind in your stupor once the feline begins to walk down a rocky slope again. You follow, as Grim yammered on and on, “Fire is harsh, just like that place. Trust me, I tried staking a claim there, but I was kicked out! Can you believe it? Me! They just threw me out as if I were nothing! Anyways, I already forgot what you were looking for, but whatever it is, you’ll probably find something there––” 
“A way home?” You reminded him, a tiny bit irked that he seemed to forget so easily. For such a haughty little beast with nothing to his name, he was very conceited. 
“Ooh yeah, right. That. Gods have all this magic and wisdom from their years and stuff, so they gotta know something. But if I were a god, I wouldn’t answer you, to be honest.” 
Grumpily you point out the obvious. This cat-like creature was far from the divine that you were currently picturing. “You’re not a god.” 
Yowling in response, Grim shot back with irritation, “Yet! Not a god yet!” When he spat, a small puff of smoke and a spark of flames he tried to aim at the dirt caused his blue ear flames to flicker stronger until one stray flame popped like a hot scorching coal. It went flying directly at your face, and all you could do was react quickly enough to try and step back while your arms and hands covered your face. 
However, no pain ever came. “How are you doing that?!” 
“Doing what? And you need to watch it with––” When you began to lower your arms, you saw it. When you had shielded yourself, your knuckles had been against your cheek and so your palm was facing outward. Floating in your open palm, was that small spark that came from his ears and nearly burned you. Immediately your eyes widened, and the surprise didn’t end there. As if fluctuating with your shock, the fire became a small yet harsh monetary crackling burst that caused both you and the feline to yelp and stumble back in disbelief until your palms were normal once again. 
“You big fat liar! You do know magic! Where’s your magestone?” 
Seeing his gray fur stand on edge, you quickly answered, seemingly just as confused as he currently was. “I-I don’t, I swear! I don’t even have a wizardstone! That has never happened to me before! This, magic, stuff like that, talking cats, huge mushrooms, none of this is supposed to be real!” 
“Magestone! Not wizardstone! M-A-G-E!” 
“Same difference, what do I care?” You had to double-check your hands, wanting to trick yourself again into believing it was something that could be easily explained. Yet this didn't seem like that. This was something else entirely that didn’t make sense, it couldn't be explained. Not while you were still reeling and staring at your own two hands in utter disbelief. “What the hell was that…?” 
Sniffing the air around you, Grim paced slowly around you as his whiskers twitched with each sniff. After several rounds circling you, he plopped down in front of you and peered up at you quizzically. “I really don’t smell a magestone on you… but you used my fire! It was blue! Everyone knows you can’t use magic without one! Wait a moment… this is perfect!” Immediately brightening up, the little creature gave a toothy grin as he declared, “From now on, you will be my servant! One day when I am a god, I will make you a demi-god! Everyone knows the great gods have divine or mystic servants of some kind! So you will be my henchman! Count yourself blessed, human.” 
“What…?” For now you didn’t even want to touch anything, especially yourself. What if you just tapped something and it was set ablaze? Although you felt fine physically, you were not completely okay. Mentally your mind was scrambled with trying to comprehend everything going on and being said, and now you had the additional burden of accidentally burning everything you touched. 
“Maybe it has to do with the fact that you aren’t from here, so this world’s rules don’t even apply to you… yeah, that’s it! This is great! Does this mean you can wield other elements? We should try! If it storms tonight, we’ll stand at the highest cliff and wait for lightning to strike!” 
“Definitely not!” You screech in reply, currently trying to prevent yourself from panicking and having a destructive mental breakdown all at the same time. Keeping your arms away from your body and fingers spread apart, you tentatively try grabbing stones and sticks and blades of grass to test the ability and see if anything would be set ablaze. And yet, nothing happened, so you slowly began to relax, as much as was possible in that moment. 
Grim watched with great intrigue, hoping, wishing, to see you burn something straight with your hands. However, when he saw not a single spark or sign of smoke, he sighed, “Don’t you realize the possibilities! A small chosen few can wield magic like that, and even then, it’s only one element! This means that you might be able to do more! We’ll be legendary, beating every foe we come across!” 
“Woah, woah, woah, who said anything about beating foes?” Cutting off that idea right now before it would get out of hand. It had only been a few minutes, not even an hour, and even you could see that Grim was a handful. “I am no fighter. If I magically somehow have these weird abilities now, doesn’t mean I want to fight with them. Are you insane? The most I’ll do is like… instantly heat up my food or make a light in the dark. That’s it. Actually, that first one sounds pretty useful…” 
Angrily throwing his paws up in exasperation while falling back on some patches of grass, he groaned, “Ugh, but that’s so boringggg! Where’s your creativity? You could become a god among gods!” 
Choosing to ignore his less than enthusiastic response, you proceeded, drawing his attention back to something he recently mentioned. Awkwardly you grip your hands, twisting your wrist between your fingers, yet nothing hurts. Everything felt normal, as if you hadn’t just wielding fire a minute ago. “You said a god of fire resided over there in that city, right?” 
“Yeah, you’ll fit right in with all those hot-headed fire-breathers now that you have a bit of magic.” 
As the two of you neared the bottom of the cliff and approached a smaller section of the forest that would lead directly to the road that branched off into either a vast meadow or the gates of the kingdom, the world seemed to stop when a loud rumbling rang through the air. The birds ceased their singing songs and the squirrelish creatures paused their chittering chattering. The ground shook and in the far distance, miles and miles behind the palace where there looked to be nothing but untamed wilderness, balls of fire spewed forth from what you had thought were mountains but were actually volcanoes. Seeing the smoke pour out from the peak, you debated running right back to the beach which was in the opposite direction of the rupture in the earth. 
While initially startled, Grim quickly relaxed and began his walking again just as the sounds of nature resumed their tune. As if by some miraculous work of magic, the volcano stopped its rumbling just as quickly as it began, and the smoke receded as well. Like a pot popping on a stovetop and simmering over with water, but its vapor and contents contained by a top, that’s how rapidly it started and ended. Grim proceeded to walk in front of you to lead the way. Sensing your question before you even voiced it, he called out over his shoulder, 
“Don’t look so panicked, we’re not gonna die. That happens like once a week. It used to be more sparse but… well, like I said, all the humans in the kingdom are a buncha hotheads. Especially their king! Everyone knows the god of pyro has the worst temper of all the seven, that’s why the volcanoes go off when he’s all angry! All you gotta do is gather up the courage to ask him what you want to know, and pray that he doesn’t incinerate you where you stand.”
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yestrday · 7 months
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— BLUSH BLUSH ! anemo | hydro | geo
⤷ yan! hybrid! zhongli, itto, gorou, albedo
summary ! these land-dwelling hybrids have devotion as sturdy as stone and they’re ready to prove it anytime! if you’re feeling shackled by your father’s chain, do not worry, for you have your trusty hybrids to keep you company. should you have any concerns, just come to them anytime. after all, you are all bound by a contract that will never expire~
content ! possessive behavior; obsessive behavior; yandere behavior; mentions of violence; mentions of biting you; mentions of blood; mentions of drugs; sadism; thoughts of corruption
notes ! woah!!!! i have posted an actual full update!!! woah!!! applaud please!
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in the neighboring country of your very own, legends say that a great dragon protected their lands in a time of tumultuous peril. were it not for the great dragon general and his army of mythical beasts, the people of that land would have succumbed to war and famine. he built the broken country from the ground back up, and introduced many kinds of craft to help them prosper. the land and its people did indeed flourish,  thanks to the wisdom of the dragon. but wise as he is, he ultimately decided that the humans must learn to rely on themselves, and so he and his army of beasts hid away, till they faded into nothing more but myths and stories…
you stare blankly at the gentleman who is calmly sipping his tea while he tells you this story, and venti's squawking laughter as he dies in the background. having let go of his human form, he sits comfortably with his scaled tail and his golden antlers out, and his black and gold hands gingerly cup the ceramic teacup. aether is beside you giving the man a deadpan stare. all the surrounding hybrids, save for a few clueless ones, give him the side eye. yeah, ZHONGLI is not fooling anybody.
unlike your other hybrids, it was you who came to him. your father had summoned you, much to the anger of your caring hybrids, and your servants had you scrubbed with scented soaps and dressed you in elegant pieces. aether accompanies you all the way to your company's building and soothes your worries away as you ride the elevator going up. the man accompanying you shoots a condescending gaze— the forgotten heir and their hybrid pet— and backing down after receiving aether’s dark glare. when you step into his office, you’re greeted by the apathetic look on your father’s face… and the handsome man beside him.
“this is ZHONGLI,” your father tells you, sounding bored as he resumes to reading his documents. “i heard that you’ve amassed yourself a following of hybrids of some sort.” you tense when you hear that, knowing the positions hybrids hold in this world. “what you do there is of no concern to me. ZHONGLI is a good and efficient secretary– he can help you control those beasts of yours. after all, i cannot risk having so many sources of harm around my child without someone to properly control them.” aether snarls under his breath at the mere implication of them hurting you, but you squeeze his hand. and so off you leave to your isolated villa, your back turning on your neglectful father once more.
ZHONGLI quickly proves himself to be quite the skilled hybrid. he can easily identify from just a glance on what kind of animal they are, as well as the specifications of their behavior, preferred environment, diet, and whatnot. he also helps you sort through your treasures— the jewels and antiques you’ve accumulated over time and tell you stories of these. he entertains you with new knowledge, helping you have a good grasp on the world beyond these walls.
he’s also very, very gentle with you. for the kindness you’ve shown these hybrids, you’ve gained a special place in ZHONGLI’s heart. oftentimes, he will pat your hair down as he recounts an old eastern fable, and straightens out any wrinkles in your shirt when he sees them. it pleases him to know that you are nothing like your father, but he knows that you’re still his blood-related child. if you had to go through any of the trials that your father had, ZHONGLI fears that you may grow just as cold-hearted as he is. so he makes sure to take the utmost care of you, so that you’ll never have to change from your kind and soft self.
ZHONGLI quickly becomes a trustworthy pillar that everyone can rely on. the younger hybrids tend to come to him for advice, and he sometimes even replaces aether as a substitute butler. but when it comes to fights, he only watches in amusement and sips on his tea. youngsters should let out some steam once in a while, he reasons. oh, and aether absolutely forbids him from touching the mora. that’s one thing no one ever trusts him with.
ZHONGLI’s pride and ego as a dragon hybrid has long dissipated since the eras have changed, but even so, it has always irritated him that your father tricked him into a contract. sometimes, when he looks at you, a dark urge dwells in the dark recesses of his mind. it’s a feeling he hasn’t felt ever since he was a young bloodthirsty general— that bloodlust and sadism. he knows you’re not your father… but what he does know is that your father has a great amount of affection he refuses to show to you. so what would happen if ZHONGLI were to… say, ruin you? to push you past your breaking point and present it to your father? 
he knows it’s not right to think such things of you, but you can’t blame him. ZHONGLI is sure you’d understand, like how you understand your every hybrid’s troubles. he’s done so much for you, after all. surely you’ll allow him to take a bite of you, and maybe more. you are a treasure, hidden away where no one can hear you scream. it doesn’t help that ZHONGLI is a dragon, heralded by legends as the mightiest of them all, and he wants to possess every single inch of you until you’re not yourself anymore.
he loves you, and he isn’t afraid to tell you. you are kind, and you are everything your father isn’t. his heart swells when you look at him and his smile is unstoppable when you excitedly chatter on about trivial matters. he wants to give you everything and more but it is in his blood to be selfish, and there’s nothing he wants more than to ruin you and your father too.
RELATIONSHIPS: zhongli and venti often get into passive-aggressive fights by covering up their insults with very fake compliments. poor xiao and aether often find themselves in the middle of this verbal war, but the two old men actually get along more than they’re willing to admit.
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ITTO makes himself known by destroying a wall and a room. it was a nice and peaceful day, enjoying a cup of tea before another session of studying with zhongli. but soon enough, the entire manor shakes as a loud explosion comes from one of the outermost rooms, and everyone rushes to see what happened. in the middle of all the rubble and mess is a snorting bull, a stab wound in his side. when it looks up at you, it's eyes grow wide.
everyone covers your eyes when the bull morphs and reveals a naked muscular man with the stupidest grin ever. "hello, little one!" his voice nearly booms, but it stills sound faint as blood dribbles from his mouth. "uh, haha, i know it's awkward to ask this of ya since we just met, but ya look like the master of this house. care to help me out here?"
ITTO apparently has gotten himself injured thanks to a gang war. according to his story, his gang pissed off some of the local ones when they barged into their territory ("anywhere's arataki itto's territory!" he corrects zhongli, but is promptly ignored) and he split up from his gang while running away ("strategic retreat!"). the adrenaline must've gotten to him, because he was a long way off from where he originally came from.
ITTO is loud and childish, but you've never had a normal childhood, so his presence is greatly appreciated. he drags you into his silly games— catching beetles with you to raise them into fierce fighters, shouting out cringey finishing moves during your card games— it’s always a fun time whenever he’s around, and he even manages to wrangle other hybrids into playing with him. a lot of people are exasperated by him, but they do like how friendly and stupid he is, so he’s one of the more popular hybrids in town.
stupid ITTO knows how strong he is, but that doesn’t mean he stops to think before pulling you into one of his bone-crushing hugs. gorou often yelps and tries to pull him off, nagging the laughing bull about his strength and carelessness. when he does loosen his grip on you, he does make for a great cuddle buddy— a set of firm abs behind you, muscled biceps wrapped protectively around your hips, and his head atop yours. sometimes you’ll fall asleep in his arms, much to everyone’s dismay, because then itto would fall asleep with you and everyone knows he has a grip like death.
ITTO’s foolish, but he’s kind and surprisingly wise at times. he’s wise enough to know the dark leer in his fellow hybrids’ eyes, and strong enough to be able to whisk you away from potential danger without any consequences. he tends to move you away whenever territorial conflicts arise between the hybrids, distracting you with a game or two. itto knows all too well how hybrids are treated in this world… he doesn’t want you being scared of them either.
that’s why he doesn’t warn you about the dangers of the other hybrids either. one, because he doesn’t want to fill your head with scary thoughts about them and two, well, he becomes a hypocrite. he may try protecting you, but even that’s hard enough for him. when you smile at him so trustingly, it just breaks his heart in two… and stirs up something dark and possessive within his heart. 
ITTO wants to cradle you gently, continue to play these silly games with you and have fun with the others for your entire life, but sometimes, you make it hard for him to be a nice man. he’s a big, big man— so big, in fact, that you won’t be able to do anything when he wraps that meaty hand of his around your head and muffles your screams. once he pins you to the floor and starts nibbling at your soft flesh, you’ll be helpless and weak, and it’ll only take him a second before he draws blood. he hates himself for wanting to violate you like that, but the thought makes him salivate.
you don’t know the real world like ITTO and the others does, and he wishes to keep it that way. concepts like innocence and pure are too philosophical for the bull hybrid’s taste, but he wishes to keep you safe. he’s been ridiculed, scorned, and cursed at for simply existing. part of him knows its paranoia, part of him believes it, and a small part of him wishes that you continue to hide in the haven you’ve made for yourself.
RELATIONSHIPS: itto’s quite friendly with the entire inazuman group, ready to loop them in for some fun whether they like it or not. due to his outgoing nature, he’s also made friends with the others as well, especially xiao, and seems to be oblivious to his mythical status with his laments about his poor, small figure. aether keeps a tired yet amused smile at his tirades, but makes sure to keep you away from him to avoid his bad influence.
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GOROU joins your family after being wrangled by the neck by itto, who had loudly proclaimed that he had found dinner. when he bursts in the front doors, there’s a yipping dog digging its canines into his hand. someone briefly mentions that bulls are supposed to be herbivores, but all you can think about how cute the puppy is. slowly creeping to the shiba inu, you gently stretch out a hand and start petting its soft fur. the small thing flicks its eyes to you and bares its teeth to growl, but a particularly good scratch has it whimpering timidly.
GOROU just might be the only sane one from the inazuman hybrids, minus thoma, who’s more or less subservient to you and ayato. he’s usually frantically running back and forth keeping an eye on itto (“humans are not to be held like that!”) and heizou (“do not try to eat kazuha again!”). when he’s not trying to keep it all together, he likes training in the open field out back, and his night time routines are often spent with other fluffy tail boys, who sit in a circle to groom each others tails. you’re part of this too, often finding yourself groomed by the others too. 
he’s a respected warrior, and he likes to help out around the house too. GOROU is fairly amiable and gullible, so he often plays the straight man of many pranks. he’s strict with himself and with others, but not a lot of people take him seriously, especially with ears and tail as fluffy as that. it’s quite troubling for him, and he doesn’t appreciate it when people stroke his ears out of the blue or ruffle his preciously groomed tail.
although young, he likes to present himself as respectable and responsible. after all, he wants you to trust him, to come to him whenever you need help! but it doesn’t help that whenever GOROU is engaged in a duel, his more base instincts come out and the heat of the fight rushes in his head. he’s growling and scratching the floor, he shoots with a precise aim but doesn’t neglect the use of all four limbs. you find it endearing how embarrassed he becomes when he’s finally relaxed after the duel and you of all people had to see him like that. while you coo and comfort him about how cool he was, all the other hybrids exchange  a look— that wasn’t about being cool, it was a show of primal instincts.
GOROU values your approval and affection more than anything in this world. it’s why he works so tirelessly to become a man you can rely on. he doesn’t allow himself to be clingy, but with some encouragement, he’ll immediately melt in your touch and he won’t let go. he sees you like a being near to divinity– if not divinity itself. your touch cleanses him, your voice soothes him, and should you give him a command, he’ll carry it out with perfect execution. he’s been demeaned as a brainless dog by society, an animal instead of an equal, but for you, he’ll proudly carry that title with blood on its name.
if you’re looking to gain more than what you currently have, GOROU is the perfect lackey to have. it’s not to say that all your dear hybrids are more than happy to follow your pursuit of greatness, but they all have their underlying agendas when it comes to you. meanwhile, GOROU’s wants and needs are all based on yours. he doesn’t need to have any other agendas— all he wants is for you to hold him for the night, bloody mess and all.
RELATIONSHIPS: gorou is usually yelling and running after itto, mostly failing to get him wrangled and disciplined. he’s only ever relaxed around kazuha and aether, who both patiently listen to his grumbles and complaints. the three of them are part of the unofficial tail society of the manor, who along with the other fluffy tail-havers like to sit in a circle and groom each other’s tails.
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there was once a time when common household products mysteriously disappeared from your cabinets. it whipped the servants into quite a fright, and rumors of a ghost haunting the halls were popular for a time. it was only when a servant found a small cavern in the side of the hill’s landscape, where the said products were organized meticulously, did they find the culprit— a handsome boy sporting feline eyes and a pair of fluffy ears and tail to boot. when ALBEDO meets your eyes, the wildcat hybrid smiles in a way that would make any romantic’s heart flutter.
“apologies for the inconvenience i may have brought you,” he says in a voice like a fairytale prince’s. “i should have introduced myself sooner instead of stealing from your cabinets. but as you can see,” he poi kntedly stares at the dozen wary eyes behind your back. “... i may have gotten a bit shy in the presence of such… intimidating companions.” 
ALBEDO is almost immediately absolved of all sin. who can get mad at such a pretty face? even your head maid who had been angrily fuming and ranting these past weeks immediately quickly turned all sparkly-eyed and accommodating as soon as albedo sent a charming smile her way. he becomes a quick favorite among the staff, because oh, he’s so nice to talk to! all these scary hybrids are either brooding or scheming or scarily strong and here’s this angel from above come to give them a sense of normality! he’s not nicknamed prince for nothing!
you always feel at ease around ALBEDO, and you like how gentle he is with you. his words are soft-spoken and carefully chosen, and he listens to your insecurities with a patient ear. he shares with you advice and his own perspective of things (albeit a bit flat on the social aspects), and he draws you little doodles to cheer you up. you both have a little game that you play where he draws on his sketchpad and you try to guess what it is before he finishes it. he always finds a way to trick you though, so you never guess correctly. he laughs quietly when you declare that one day you’ll figure it out, and pout when he ruffles your hair like a big brother.
ALBEDO likes how… warm you feel next to him. a favorite past time of his is accompanying you on your strolls and observe the wildlife with you. his hands squeeze yours as you point out the funny cloud in the sky or when you ask about a specific type of flora. if you’re sleepy, you often nap on his lap under the shade of a tree. he can feel his heartbeat racing as his fingers stroke your chin and trace your eyelids, and his big fluffy tail wraps your torso protectively. all he hears is the skritches of his pencil against paper and your faint snoring.
ALBEDO is… passive. strangely so, amidst a harem of dangerous hybrids. he makes it a point to never admit his feelings out loud. to verbalize such fantasies about you, the one who keeps him sheltered, it feels disrespectful to you. you’re too naive of the outside world, too innocent of the darker recesses of the human, er, hybrid mind. he wants to protect this innocence, because there’s too much darkness already in the world.
he hides away in his study, pencil against paper scratching away as his eyes zero in this unfinished portrait. he plans to make a portrait of your likeness, but none of these copies can compare to the real deal. an eye is too off, the nose too thin, the smile not pretty enough. he doodles some little yous on the corner of his scrapped portraits… and blushes furiously. he tears up the indecency and throws them on the fire.
is it so terrible to want to play with you a little? he may put on the big brother act now, but that’s mostly because he likes seeing the expressions you make whenever he praises you. your expressions are so interesting, despite them being like any other human’s. exactly what makes him so drawn to you? it’s a research topic he must explore one day. but for now, ALBEDO is content to play house with you for a little while, and shut away his more sexual instincts for a little while longer. there’d be plenty of time to experiment on you later, once he’s reached his limits. for now, he’ll let the potion simmer for a little while longer ♡
RELATIONSHIPS: albedo often shuts himself away from everyone and stay inside his lil old lab conducting experiments and the like, but once in a while there are people who drag him out. he often experiments on a disgruntled aether, who he bribes with mora. cyno thinks of him as a like-minded friend, but tighnari thinks that the way albedo stares at the jackal is much like a scientist staring at microbes under a glass.
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clarenecessities · 7 months
Text
He-man.org will close in 5 days.
He-man.org has been a staple of the Masters of the Universe community since the early days, originating as an email list that worked to document episodes before anything (not footage, not lists, nothing) was available online. It grew into a sprawling, multi-faceted beast of a thing, including an encyclopedia (an in-house wiki), merch lists, a marketplace, forums, anything you could think of.
Several years ago now, the main site went down for updates/maintenance. For a few weeks, we were told, maybe months. The forums remained open for fans to communicate, and barring a period of downtime earlier this year things were going smoothly.
Yesterday, the owner of the site, Val Staples, announced the site would be closed on November 14th, 2023. Six days later. We are currently attempting to contact him, to see if he’s interested in selling, and if he means closed as in “no new posts” or closed as in deleted entirely. Regardless of its eventual fate, the archiving of these forums is essential to preserving the history of the franchise, the fandom, and the brand.
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TO SHE-RA (and MotU) FANS SPECIFICALLY: I have personally used these forums to answer questions that could be answered nowhere else. Had I not had access to them, I would never have been able to prove that Purrsia was fake, or found so much unpublished concept art, or discovered that Scott “Toyguru” Neitlich personally wrote Catra’s MOTUC bio (even if he’s put off answering my questions about it for over a year now). Forum members have conducted interviews with the likes of Jon Seisa, Cathy Larson, Janice Varney-Hamlin—essential figures in the very foundations of POP, and those interviews revealed and recorded priceless information for future generations (me! you! us!) to find. Did you know Cathy Larson named Adora? That she originally pushed for “Dorian”, after her own daughter? We cannot let this treasure trove disappear into the ether(ia).
TO THE UNAFFILIATED: Please help. Pretty please. If you’ve ever liked my art or my writing or my haphazard blogging, ever, at all, consider archiving just one board. Just one page. Literally anything helps. I am spiraling into madness & this is my library of Alexandria. The mythical one that was totally unique and persevered nowhere else and was destroyed in a single cataclysmic event. Pretty pretty please help.
HOW TO HELP:
Archive.org has several ways to upload shit but most of them are longer term than “a few days” so we’re focusing on two (which can be run simultaneously): Save Page Now, and browser extensions. From their help page:
1. Save Page Now
Put a URL into the form, press the button, and we save the page. You will instantly have a permanent URL for your page. Please note, this method only saves a single page, not the whole site.
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We want to keep outlinks and screenshots wherever possible. The Archive does not keep your IP address, so your submission is anonymous.
2. Browser extensions and add-ons
Install the Wayback Machine Chrome extension in your browser. Go to a page you want to archive, click the icon in your toolbar, and select Save Page Now. We will save the page and give you a permanent URL.
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One plus to installing the extension is that as you surf around, when you run into a missing page they will alert you if we have a saved copy.
More extensions, apps, and add-ons:
Firefox add-on
Safari Extension
iOS app
Android app
I strongly encourage you to use these tools even if you aren’t helping with this project/after it ends. Documenting and preserving information is essential in this day and age & The Internet Archive is at the heart of it. Please support them however you can.
I’m serious about paying you, though I may need more communication with folks I don’t know so we can coordinate/verify shit gets done. I think this is a worthwhile pursuit in itself but I recognize your time is valuable & like, people gotta eat. DM me if you’re interested and we’ll talk. I may need to adjust pay depending how many people bite but I’ll do what I can
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naffeclipse · 4 months
Note
What if Eclipse from AP was a naga? And this took place in the deep jungle of the amazon, where photographer y/n is trying to take pictures of the wildlife?
I'm vibrating at the speed of sound over this ask while also nudging my naga au
Naga Eclipse from AP would have the tail of a Green Anaconda, with an olive green scaly color dotted with black, framed by burning-like flares of orange along the length of his slithery body. He's also decorated with orange-yellow striping on either side of his long, slipper form. His upper half is scaley with a lithe deadliness to his musculature and decorated by frills surrounding his head with brighter orange-yellow colors, almost hypnotic in their gradient hues. One eye is deep emerald green, and one is midnight blue.
Lucky you—you're out on a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to explore a jungle closed off to the public, funded by Fazco, and occupied by two researchers who will be your bunkmates for the next few weeks. You're itching to take photos of the large river, including swamps, marshes and streams, and whatever wildlife is out there.
The few locals you did meet before you left to hike the rest of the way to what would be your new, isolated home warned you of a dangerous snake—a large, mythical beast. You take note of the local folklore. You understand the truth is hidden in there somewhere, and you are well aware of the dangers and diseases you could be met with in such a harsh environment, but you're determined.
It doesn't take long for you to feel eyes watching you when you first venture out by yourself. You take beautiful pictures of freshwater fish, big and beautiful, unlike any you have ever seen. Of course, you have hundreds of snapshots of the local flora, the trees, the floating meadows, the thick vines that drape each branch and hang thickly about the ground. You almost forget that you eerily don't feel alone.
But you swear something moves in the water—the ripples stop as soon as you look. The stillness is suddenly stiff, lifeless. Even the birds have stopped chirping.
You lower your camera and carefully put it away. A trickle of fear slips into your heart. You turn away from the river's edge only to be met by a low hiss and a creature, unlike anything you witnessed in your travels, spooling itself neatly out of the water, blocking your path to the base. An incredible creature with long arms and a great, serpentine tail that seems to stretch for yards and yards. You can hardly breathe in his presence—he's otherworldly with his frills and scales and fangs.
His eyes contain a mesmerizing shine as if staring into a fire as it burns or watching the ocean as it laps up against the beach, drawing your attention, demanding you don't look away. You couldn't anyway. Half-frozen, you struggle to keep from collapsing. He beckons with a sharp talon. He hisses softly for you to come closer, mouse. He wants to see you. You try to beg no without revealing how terribly you tremble. He doesn't let you go. He insists. His eyes flash with an allure. You almost step close when he murmurs that you need to be good.
But then your sense of survival kicks adrenaline into your heart, and you turn to run—
He strikes faster than your eyes can follow. Two loops of his green and orange tail surrounded you in an instant. You're dragged to the ground, your arms pinned under his mass, and the back of your head cradled by his large palm as powerful muscles squeeze you in the slightest—a gentle rebuke for thinking you could get away. You're hyper-aware of the terrifying bulk of muscles as you lie trapped in his coils. One strong twist and your eyes could pop out of your skull, and every bone protecting your heart and lungs would crumble to shards. You gasp. An urge to kick your legs and struggle erupts in your panic; a sinking feeling tells you it would only make things worse.
He coos over you, hissing and humming in an ancient song of the jungle you have no name for. When you whimper, he shushes you and strokes your cheek. He tells you how lovely you'll be. When you talk back to him, somehow finding your tongue amid your horror, you find out his name. Eclipse. He moves you more upright, resting you on his tail so you're not petrified by how vulnerable you feel lying down, but he never loosens his scaly bindings. He hovers over you. You gaze into his stunning frills of yellow-orange and wonder how a being like him came to exist. He studies you as you study him. He grins at how you shiver when he traces your collarbone with a sharp fingertip.
You remind yourself that you can still breathe. He hasn't crushed you—yet—but you don't like how wide his smile is. Sometimes, his jaw stretches a little too long as if dislocating from his skull, ready to devour you. His eyes gleam with a ravenousness as scales twist around you, holding you close enough to smell the slick green water he had been in and deep musk.
He tells you that he'll see you again very soon—away from other humans, lest you bring him a fine gift for a meal. You can only flex your fingers, silently pleading in your heart that he won't unhook his jaw and eat you alive.
Then, he unravels himself from your limbs. But before he lets you go entirely, he leans in close, his serpentine tongue flickering close to your neck and by your hair, tasting the air around you as you muster all your strength to not scream. He inhales deeply, pleased, before he murmurs, "Sweet mouse. You are mine. Say it."
You don't understand, but you echo his command, and when he taps your chin once in what might have been a loving gesture, you force your jelly legs to solidify before you run and run, all the way back to base. You slam the door to your room behind you. You touch your ribs, your arms, still caught in the heavy sensation of his loops as if he were upon you right now.
The stories are true—there is a giant snake in this jungle, and he wants you. You're afraid to discover if Eclipse's intrigue with you is only an exotic way to satisfy his hunger.
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lunarbreaksblog · 3 months
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*Crashing noise* *Glass shatters* *Rolls into ask box* A TF WRITER WITH OPEN REQUESTS? IN THIS ECONOMY? Ahem. Can I get hc's for how tfp team prime would react to human reader who can shapeshift into like a dragon (let's say like a light or night fury from httyd as kinda reference) and has secretly been sneaking away from the base at night to go destroy decepticon bases/get into minor scuffles.
Like reader wants to help the team, has feelings for a bot, but hides their abilities out of fear what they'd all think, and also has kept their feelings a secret. They feel like the team kinda dislikes the humans, so they try to help in secret this way, until their random small injuries and constant sleepiness give them away to everyone (Also I have a fem reader in mind but if you prefer gn that's fine too! Sorry if this is too much specifics lol but i like to give details to be helpful :> )
TFP!Autobots x Dragon!Human!Reader
Note: Bumblebee x reader-ish
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You are a mighty beast, you've lived for eons, seen kingdoms rise and fall. Now you've even seen other life not from your planet.
You take the appearance of human girl, one you knew once long ago. You even came to love the human girl but, she is long gone.
The robotic lifeforms notice you when you stand and watch them fight each other, you were intrigued by their weapons.it seemed like Dragon fire but more handable.
Soon, the Autobots took you in, the leader even made you want to fight for their side of their war. However, you couldn't help but notice the subtle way some of the robots would act around you and the others.
It made you angry to feel like you were underestimated.
Optimus prime
He knew something was up with you, had Ratchet do a scan on you when he first met you. The scan showed that you were human but some DNA of something was mixed with your own DNA.
When he sees new injuries littering your body with purple and yellow bruises as well as cuts. He immediately knows something is up.
When it comes clean that you've been destroying energon mines that the Decepticons had. It confuses him on how you do it until you reveal yourself.
Your dragon form towers from above his helm.
Everyone is freaked out until he steps in and asks that you don't put yourself in harm's way for the sake of his people and that he is proud of you for trying
Bumblebee
Is the one thats most freaked out but also so blown away. When you first 'transform', he wasn't expecting a scaly beast that towers over Optimus prime.
You did tell him your secret before, you trust him and he trust you. He'd just never imagined to see your other form. How your scales seem to reflect light, how mighty you looked and how beautiful you were.
Bulkhead
He won't admit it but he screamed a little since he was not expecting this on a Saturday night after you came back with more injuries.
He was concerned about you but now knew you could take care of yourself. You kinda scared him with those jagged teeth and spiked tail.
He loved you though, as a friend but respectfully you scared him
Arcee
Was ready to shoot you, she already went through the five stages of grief in a nanosecond as she aimed. Luckily the team took notice and stopped her before she could shoot.
She apologies for it but demands answers why you kept this form secret and that you cannot go hitting Decepticon bases all alone.
She scowled you like a mother
Ratchet
He knew you were different because of the scans, he just never thought this was it. That you were some so called mythic dragon from human stories.
He wants to laugh at but all that you see is him looking dead inside.
Accepts your form quite quickly, look he's seen things and will continue seeing weird things. This was quite tame
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mikavlcs · 1 year
Text
Rebels and Renegades
Pairing: Wednesday Addams x reader
Summary: Becoming best friends with a sentient hand brings many much-needed changes to your life, the biggest being the very girl he arrived at Nevermore with.
Warnings: this is so stupid, reader is incredibly unserious, many attempts at comedy, TERRIBLE pacing, bad writing, cursing, this doesn’t correlate properly with the timeline of the show but idc
Word count: 6.6k (sorry, this got very out of hand...get it?)
Notes: this is trash but it’s fun so who cares. this is entirely for @clexa-is-forever aka thing’s biggest fan. despite my writer’s block, i still had fun writing this. hope you enjoy!
Masterlist
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If someone told you at the beginning of the school year that your best friend would be a sentient disembodied limb, you would’ve laughed in their face.
Not because you thought it would be too ridiculous or nonsensical, but because in your mind, it was far too interesting for what Nevermore Academy had to offer.
See, you were initially excited to transfer to Nevermore. To get away from the shallow depths of normie public school and be around people like you. But alas, it was too good to be true—or, maybe, you had gotten your hopes up too high.
Because it turned out that fantastical mythical creatures like vampires, werewolves, and sirens actually weren’t too dissimilar from their normie counterparts. They didn’t care about excitement or adventure or fun, they cared about partying and drinking and dating.
This duality created an atmosphere of contradictions. There were people with literal snakes for hair but also those stupid cliques of popular kids that liked to pick on people for no reason. Werewolves transformed into energetic beasts and prowled the woods together every full moon, but students’ biggest concerns were whom they were gonna ask to the school dance.
It was all strange and supernatural yet shockingly normal. And extraordinarily boring.
The disappointment you felt upon this discovery was immeasurable. It appeared that no matter how far you ran, you could never escape the clutches of adolescent desires and drama.
But there was nowhere else for you to go. This was it, your parents told you that definitively. So you resigned yourself to your fate and settled into life at Nevermore.
Months passed at a snail’s pace. Around the middle of the semester, a new student transferred in. Because nothing of substance happens, she was the talk of the town for a solid two weeks before her scheduled arrival, but you didn’t care.
You would admit that after finally seeing her, your interest was piqued. She certainly fit the murderer vibe. With her pallid complexation and dark eyes, she looked straight out of a black & white horror film, even complete with a black uniform instead of the standard purple (which you were so jealous of).
Temptation pulled at your chest whenever you saw her, but you decided to leave her alone. This school had disappointed you enough, you weren’t sure how you’d be able to handle even more. The decision to keep your distance was made and instead, you let your imagination run wild without the probable barriers of reality to inhibit it. 
Little did you know that only one day after the new girl transferred in, she inadvertently changed the course of your life at Nevermore forever. 
Advanced Gorgon Sciences, your last class of the day, had just ended and you were wandering campus wondering what you were going to do with your free time. You were contemplating going into Jericho when something smacked your cheek.
Pausing, you glanced down and found the offending object to be a small pebble. You followed its rough trajectory up to a ledge on your left and saw something scurrying across it. Against, your nonexistent better judgment, you moved closer and…
You blinked once, then twice, narrowed your eyes.
It was a hand—literally just a hand, cut off at the wrist but still scuttling and scurrying around with no problem.
So, you were definitely losing your mind. Honestly, it was about damn time.
Having nothing better to do, you decided to lean into the madness and approach the hand. At the sound of your footsteps, it turned and…looked at you? You weren’t sure, but it acknowledged your presence with a friendly wave.
You waved back, a laugh bubbling up in your throat as you hoisted yourself up to sit on the ledge.
Once you were up, you saw that the hand was fiddling with a makeshift slingshot, struggling to simultaneously keep it upright while loading and aiming it. His plight was fairly obvious and considering his circumstance, you couldn’t help but feel for him.
Abandoning the slingshot, the hand crawled over to you and started tapping insistently. It took much more brain power than it ought to for you to realize that he was trying to speak to you.
“Sorry, I don’t understand…that,��� you apologized with a grimace. But an idea came to mind a moment later. “Can you write?”
The hand gave you a thumbs up. You dug around your backpack and pulled out a notebook along with a pen, flipping it open to an empty page and slid it over, setting the pen down on top. He picked up the pen and got to work, pushing the notebook back toward you a minute later.
Curious, you looked at the messy scrawl below.
Sorry, was aiming for the guy behind you.
You nodded understandingly. “It’s fine. Could I ask why you’re launching pebbles at students?”
You waited once more as he scribbled his answer and peered down when he pushed the paper over.
For fun.
Again, you nodded. You could respect that.
“Well, do you mind if I join you?” you asked, nodding toward the slingshot. “I’d imagine it would be a lot easier to aim with an extra pair of hands. And the accompanying body,” you added awkwardly at the end, hoping it wouldn’t offend the little guy.
Thankfully it didn’t. He gave you an excited thumbs up, scuttling back over to the slingshot while you scooted over. While he loaded another pebble into the pouch, you scanned the area below for your next victim.
Your eye snagged on a vampire for no real reason other than the fact that he just kinda looked like an asshole.
You pointed to him below. “How about him?”
Thing gave you another thumbs up. Nodding, you held the slingshot in place while Thing drew the pebble back and let it fly.
The shriek that came from your victim almost made you blow your cover. You grabbed Thing and hurriedly crawled back to where you were both out of sight, barely containing your giggles. Once the coast was clear, you cracked, pitching forward with your laughter as Thing drummed his fingers against your arm in what you assumed was amusement.
“That was amazing!” You looked down at him, smirked. “Wanna do another one?”
He tapped your hand enthusiastically, making your smile widen.
Thus was the beginning of an amazing friendship. Well, amazing for you and Thing—not for the rest of Nevermore.
The two of you were a match made in hell. Together you brainstormed a plethora of good pranks to pull on unsuspecting students and teachers.
Putting spiders (fake or otherwise) in students’ lockers. Setting glitter traps on top of classroom doors so whichever unlucky soul walks through first gets showered in glitter. Slipping mentos into people’s sodas. Setting trip wires to watch people faceplant around campus and many more.
It was glorious. Your own personal reign of terror, even.
Principal Weems had her suspicions, but no matter how many times she tried to catch you in the act, you slipped through her fingers. And without proof, her hands were tied. So you and your companion were free to keep enjoying your schemes so long as you were discreet.
For the first time since you enrolled, days passed by in what felt like minutes, the personification of the saying time flies when you’re having fun.
Through it all, you often wondered where the little guy was when he wasn’t with you. You hoped that he wasn’t causing too much mischief without you. He was your partner in crime, after all.
Two weeks in, you decided to ask him at breakfast.
The two of you were at your usual table in the corner of the cafeteria. You were ranting about an upcoming Lycanthrope History test while Thing was launching the grapes you gave him to play with at nearby tables. After your rant, you finally gave in to your curiosity.
“So, what exactly are you doing at Nevermore? I know this place houses some strange students but, something tells me you’re not here to learn.”
He flicked a grape with precise aim, nailing a gorgon right on the forehead before giving you a series of taps. Your face scrunched in confusion.
“Babysitting? Babysitting who?”
Nothing could have prepared you for his answer.
“Wednesday Addams?!”
Your voice came out much louder than intended, turning a few heads around the cafeteria and making Thing jump. You didn’t care, plowing forward in your questioning.
“You’re ‘babysitting’ the school’s homicidal maniac?”
His stance straightened, his nonverbal tone somehow indignant as he corrected you.
You gave him a pointed look. “Attempted homicide isn’t much better, buddy.”
He seemed to contemplate flicking another grape, but seeing Miss Thornhill looking around, he chose not to. Instead, he drummed his fingers inquisitively at you, teasingly waggling his fingers at the end. You gave him another sharp look, insulted by his implication.
“Scared? What, no! This is amazing news,” you exclaimed. Then, an idea arose. “Hey, do you think she’d let us borrow any of her stuff for pranks?”
Thing mournfully shook his wrist. You let out a deep sigh, slumping over again. “Yeah, I guess I should’ve expected that answer.”
Wednesday didn’t really come up in conversation after that. You asked a few more times about her willingness to let you borrow her things, but after receiving the same answer, you gave up. Your paths had yet to cross, and you assumed that it would stay that way. But the universe seemed to have other plans.
The first time you formally met her was about a month after she transferred.
It was an appropriately cloudy day and you and Thing had just successfully completed a heist. You were in the Weathervane, both gushing over the fact that you had managed to steal fifteen scented lotions from Jericho’s local Bed, Bath & Body Works when a sharp voice interrupted you.
“So this is who you’ve been running off with these past few weeks.”
Both you and Thing flinched, looking up to see the Wednesday Addams staring down at you and your partner.
Offering a wave, you said, “Hey, Wednesday. Want a scented lotion?”
She ignored you completely. Her eyes barely scanned your figure before she was turning her full attention to Thing, her arms crossing over her chest in vindication.
“I knew you had to have an accomplice. You’re nowhere near nimble enough to properly set a trip wire by yourself.”
Thing slumped, obviously disheartened by the statement, but before you could defend his honor, your mind caught on something else.
“Wait…” You looked over at Thing, offended. “Have you been taking full credit for our pranks this entire time?”
Sheepish, Thing bowed, giving your hand an apologetic pat. You moved it away, crossing your own arms over your chest.
“Since this is your first offense, I’ll forgive you. But do it again and I’m keeping all of the profits from our future heists, got it?”
Thing jumped in alarm, tapping urgently. You smiled. “Good.”
Wednesday looked between you both, clearly unimpressed. You decided to take your shot again.
“You know, the lotion offer still stands.” You rifled through the lotions, taking note of their scents, and glanced back up with an apologetic look. “Though, we don’t have one that smells like stage 4 human decomposition, sorry.”
Again, she just stared blankly. You swore you saw her eye twitch but still, she said nothing and glared at Thing.
“Be back at the dorm by 7.”
With that, she turned and marched out of the café, leaving everyone in her path to fearfully stumble out of her way. Both of you watched, rapt, as she slammed the café door open and nearly nailed an approaching customer in the face.
Once she was out of sight, you turned to Thing. “Y’know, I think that went well, buddy.”
Thing said nothing.
You thought that would be the end of it, and honestly, you would’ve been fine if it had been. You made a good first impression and she now knew you existed. A double win!
But again, it seemed that someone had other plans—though this time it wasn’t the universe, but Thing.
Now that you and Wednesday had been semi-acquainted, Thing began inviting you to their dorm for hangouts frequently (because it was “his dorm too” …you didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise). This set a few things in motion.
First, you met Wednesday’s roommate, Enid.
Enid was nice. A little hyper, like she was on a permanent sugar rush, but sweet, nonetheless. She gave you free manicures and skincare advice, and even let you borrow some things for pranks, so you hadn’t a single bad thing to say about her.
Second, you found out that you were very bad at scaling buildings.
Due to both curfew and Wednesday’s usual disapproval of your presence, Thing insisted on smuggling you in. By throwing a rope down to your balcony for you to climb. And…let’s just say that it’s a miracle you even survived the first time.
And finally, most importantly, you and Wednesday began to grow closer.
Only by about a centimeter, but progress was progress. And through sheer willpower and repeated exposure, you wormed your way into the tolerance stage, which is farther than most people who came into contact with Wednesday got, so you were proud.
She wasn’t warmer per se, but the sight of you in her dorm was no longer met with a throwing knife, just a death glare and some tentative (mostly one-sided) conversation if she was in a good mood. It was a big win.
Now that she wasn’t orchestrating any attempts on your life, you grew…not protective, but defensive of her, and Enid for that matter. Enid was your friend and Wednesday was…Wednesday. Willingly or not, they were part of your small circle.
So when a werewolf insulted Wednesday right to her face the day before the Poe Cup, well who could blame you for getting a little revenge?
You overheard him call Wednesday a frigid bitch, and he was right, but he didn’t have to say it like it was a bad thing. In retaliation, you and Thing gave him a special surprise involving shampoo and some of Enid’s hair dye that you were very excited to see the next day.
And it didn’t disappoint. Seeing the flash of bright pink amongst the Furs, and a matching flush of embarrassment that was nearly the same color was the highlight of your day.
At least it was until the Black Cats emerged from their tents.
Given your positioning, you were only able to see them once they started climbing into their canoe, and needless to say that the team’s roster shocked you. There were a few girls you didn’t recognize up front, then Enid and, as her co-pilot in the back, Wednesday.
Your jaw dropped. Because not only was she competing in the competition, but she was also wearing a skintight black catsuit, complete with ears and a tail.
The laugh you let out was so loud that it startled the surrounding crowd. You felt something poking your leg, and looking down, you found Thing standing by your feet. You bent down, glancing over to the Black Cat’s boat.
“Hey, you helping out Wednesday and Enid?”
He bowed in confirmation. Nodding, you stuck out a hand.
“Punch at least one siren for me, alright bud?”
He shook your hand firmly, a promise to fulfill your wish, and crawled off to the boat.
The event itself was rather dull. With the way Enid explained it, you were expecting something a bit more grandiose, but in reality, it was just standing around and watching for boats. Boring.
But hey, it gave you a half-day of classes, so who were you to complain?
The results though, were much more interesting.
For the first time in decades, the trophy went to Ophelia Hall. You were happy, not because you had any buried school spirit, but because you knew how much Enid wanted this. Seeing the fish get knocked down a peg was a nice bonus.
Afterward, you pushed through the crowd to try and find Enid so you could personally congratulate her, but before you could spot her, you bumped into her co-pilot. Literally.
Blindly, you steadied the smaller girl by the shoulders, a sorry on the tip of your tongue, but it got swallowed down as you were crudely reminded of her current state of dress. You tore your eyes from her outfit and dropped your hands back to your side, meeting her glare with what you prayed was a straight face.
“Hey, Wends. Congrats on the win! Love the outfit by the way,” you said, trying your absolute hardest not to crack a smile. The large ears were making that exceptionally hard, however.
She scowled. “Don’t call me that and for your information, I was forced to wear this.”
You nodded, not trusting yourself to say anything without laughing. Thankfully, it seemed Wednesday wasn’t finished speaking anyway.
“I noticed that werewolf’s hair is now a rather putrid shade of pink,” she said. “Did you perhaps have something to do with that?”
Once again, you found yourself unsuccessfully fighting off a smile. “I can neither confirm nor deny your suspicions. But it suits him, don’t you think?”
Before she could respond, a soaking wet Thing pulled on your pant leg and excitedly began recounting what happened. You bent down again, nodding along with his story, and beamed at him once he finished.
“Right in the eye?” you reiterated, and Thing confirmed. “That’s awesome. I knew I could count on you.” You gave him a quick high five then scooped him up, drying him off on your uniform and setting him on your shoulder.
You stood back up and saw that Wednesday was still there, staring at you so intently that you were sure she was somehow looking straight through you.
Cocking your head to the side, you went to ask if she was alright, but that must’ve knocked her from her stupor because, without another word, she spun on her heel and walked off, leaving you to stare at the spot she just occupied, thoroughly bewildered.
“That was weird,” you commented. Thing gave an agreeing pat.
Unfortunately, you couldn’t question her about it since you didn’t get the chance to speak with her again until exactly three days later.
It was just after dinner. Thing invited you over to help prepare a new scheme, and who were you to say no to the little guy?
Enid was visiting Yoko in the infirmary and Wednesday was nowhere to be seen, so it was just you and Thing, sitting by the window hard at work.
You tied the water balloon in your hand and held it in front of you, giving it a contemplative look. “You’re sure these will only give them bad rashes, right?”
The only response you received was a shrug, which was good enough for you, so you picked up the next one and got to filling it up. Not one to work in silence, you voiced a thought you’d been holding in for a while.
“So, do you breathe? Like, would be able to drown if you stayed under the water for too long?”
Thing shook his wrist matter of factly. You gasped.
“That’s so cool.” The flustered thuds you heard after made you chuckle.
Satisfied, you went back to filling balloons, but your head popped up only a minute later, another burning question on your mind. “If you can’t eat or drink, then what physically sustains you to keep you alive?”
Without missing a beat, Thing tapped out his answer.
“The misery of others?” You snorted. “Yeah, I guess that tracks.”
Conversation lapsed into quiet as you both focused on your tasks, and your mind wandered.
You wondered where Wednesday was. The hour just after dinner was her designated writing hour, and it was very unusual for her to be missing it.
You hoped that she’d be back soon, even if she only glared at you the rest of the night. Just seeing her would be enough to satisfy you.
Because in a somewhat cruel twist of irony, you were now falling victim to the very same feelings you mocked others for getting caught up in, and even more brutal was the fact that you didn’t mind all too much. Mostly because it was Wednesday.
Now, you were no poet or writer. You weren’t going to wax poetic and spew a thousand grandiose metaphors about how her eyes resembled that of a starless sky, no.
Wednesday was really pretty and genuinely interesting, and she looked at you like a predator wanting to tear apart its prey. And really, that’s all it took for you to dive right off that cliff’s edge into infatuation.
There was a certain excitement in knowing that she could dismember you with surgical precision if you ever went just a little too far, an irresistible thrill to be found in constantly toeing that line. Like walking a tightrope with life and death teetering on a knife’s edge—the perfect counterbalance to the endless loop of monotonous boredom your life had seemingly fallen into before her and Thing’s arrival.
The sound of the door opening interrupted your train of thought, and you whipped your head just in time to see Wednesday stride in with a book cradled in her arms and her usual annoyed expression adorning her features.
You perked up, and out the corner of your eye, you saw Thing do the same.
“Hey! How’s Nevermore’s resident tiny terror doing today?”
“Call me that again and I will disembowel you,” came her cheerful reply. You snorted.
“Uh-huh.” You finished tying the last balloon and looked back up, seeing Wednesday eyeing your prep work with distaste.
“Are those water balloons?” she asked, clearly unimpressed.
“Yep. They’re filled with holy water so we can throw them at the vampires who were teasing Enid last week for not being able to shift.” You grinned. Wednesday’s eyes widened a fraction.
“That’s insane,” she commented. Then after a beat, “Make sure to film it on your cellular device so I can watch as well.
“Of course,” you assured her, giving a dramatic bow as well. She rolled her eyes, and you watched her resign to her desk. Unable to contain your curiosity, you piped back up, “So what took you so long? I was expecting you to come in and kick me out hours ago.”
Her reply was instantaneous. “I discovered a secret passageway in the school, committed theft, and became the target of an attempted kidnapping.”
A twinge of jealousy pierced your gut. How come she always got to do the fun stuff? You quickly shook it off, focusing on the first thing she said.
“A secret passageway?” you asked, already thinking of ways to possibly utilize the space for you and Thing.
“Yes, I solved a riddle and uncovered a passageway hidden behind the Edgar Allen Poe statue in the quad.”
The Edgar Allen Poe statue… Recognition sparked, and the pieces slotted together, some of your prior jealousy abating.
“Ohh, you got kidnapped in the Nightshade’s Library?”
Finally, she looked at you, gaze so sharp it could’ve cut you in two. “How do you know about that?”
You and Thing shared an unsubtle sideways glance.
“Uh—”
“So what fingers do you do it with? Thumb and ring finger or thumb and middle finger?”
The pressing question was delivered in a whisper. It was late—at least an hour after lights out, but Thing promised to teach you how to snap before he left for his dorm.
So to avoid being caught, you and the appendage were tucked into the corner of a small hall that branched off from the quad. You were hunched against a tall Edgar Allen Poe statue while your companion stood next to you.
Thing waggled his fingers and pointedly put his thumb against his middle finger. You nodded and copied his movements, rubbing the fingers together to get a feel for it.
“So I just…”
You pressed the fingers together and made the snapping motion a few times in quick succession, beaming up at him when you managed to produce a few low sounds.
Suddenly, a deep rumble emanated from the ground beneath you as the statue you were seated on began to shift. You leapt to your feet, quickly grabbing Thing and placing him on your shoulder. You both watched, baffled, as the statue moved to reveal a long winding staircase.
Taking in a breath, you shared a look with Thing then looked back to the open pathway.
“Holy shit!”
“No reason,” you said far too quickly to be believable. Before she could question you further, you cleared your throat and moved on. “Did you have fun?”
“No. They were imbeciles that didn’t even know the basics of the art of abduction. It was pitiful.”
You frowned. “Oh. Sorry about that. I hope the next one is better.”
Wednesday shot you a strange look, studying you carefully before mumbling out a barely audible thank you, and turning back to her desk.
Since you were finished with the balloons, you slumped back against the window. There was nothing to do, so you couldn’t be blamed for the way your eyes drifted back to Wednesday’s hunched form. Nosiness tugged at you. You wanted to know more about what she stole and why, and a glance at Thing told you that he did too.
Extending your arm for him to climb, you waited until he rested securely on your shoulder before heading to Wednesday’s desk to see what she was up to.
Lying flat on the wood before her was the book, opened to an illustration. On the left page was what looked to be a pilgrim extending a staff toward the figure on the right, who somewhat resembled Wednesday. You squinted. Scratch that, the girl on the right looked exactly like Wednesday.
“Is this what you stole?”
“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t look over my shoulder like that.”
Her words went in one ear and out the other, your mind too busy trying to decipher the meaning of the drawing to actually listen. Finally, the identity of the mystery pilgrim clicked, and you asked, “Why’d someone draw you in a picture with Crackstone?”
Her head whipped over to you, all complaints of you being there gone. “You know who this is?”
“Yeah,” you answered, “Joseph Crackstone. He’s like, Jericho’s chief colonizer. Founded the whole town or something.”
She didn’t respond, seeming to take in the information, but you didn’t want the conversation to die quite yet, so you carried on.
“Outreach Day is next week, are you excited? I, for one, am pumped to do menial work for no pay.”
“No, I’m not,” she said, then appeared to rethink her answer. “Actually yes, but not because of the forced child labor. I already have plans to further my investigation in Jericho.”
You perked up, leaning forward to try and catch her eyes. “Can I come?”
She didn’t even bother looking back at you when she answered, hard and firm.
“No.”
-
“Thanks for letting me come along, Wends!”
Wednesday clenched her jaw, expelling a sharp breath through her nose. This was the third time you’d said that in the past four hours, and while she was able to ignore the other two, the addition of that stupid nickname made holding herself back a third time impossible.
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that? And you’re only here because someone,” she sent Thing a murderous glare, “refused to cooperate without your agonizing presence.”
Your eyes widened, darting over to the hand resting on your shoulder. “Really?”
Thing gave a shy wave. A wide smile spread across your cheeks in response.
“Well thanks for advocating for me, bud. It means a lot,” you said with a hand over your heart, sounding far too cheerful for someone that just chased a dangerous monster.
Wednesday didn’t bother dignifying you with any more responses, turning back to the woods ahead. But that got her thinking.
Why had she let you come anyways?
There was no good reason that came to mind. You were insufferable. The human embodiment of vexation and foolishness and petulance. You were, in essence, all the traits she disliked in the general human race given physical form.
And yet, she had allowed you to come along.
Yes, Thing asked her time and time again to permit your presence, but instead of threatening his life like she should have done, she gave in with the silent promise of revenge.
It made no sense. You pushed boundaries, disobeyed orders, and disregarded her threats and insults with a garish smile like they were no more than a joke heard in passing.
And only now did she realize that she found it far less irritating than she did when she first met you.
The answer to why was unclear, but Wednesday wasn’t sure if that was because she was genuinely unsure of the reasoning behind her decision or because she didn’t want to figure it out.
Your annoying voice thankfully halted her mind’s trajectory.
“Of course, you’re my favorite Addams. You’re my best friend, the only other five-fingered appendage I’ll ever need in my life. Plus, Wednesday hates me so there’s no competition.”
Wednesday was once again stunned by the inane conversations you and Thing have on a daily basis. Some of the talks she’d overheard in the past months could be unironically described as mind-numbing.
Deciding to have some fun to pass the time, she turned to fully face you, running her eyes over your form before speaking.
“I don’t hate you.”
She watched your eyes go wide and you looked at her with some odd form of hope. The corners of her lips twitched.
“I despise you. There’s a difference.”
Your head dropped exaggeratedly, but when you looked up again there was a smile on your face, making any notion of hers disappear.
She couldn’t stand that—the way you were never put off by anything she had to say.
Enid had the same tendency to shrug off her threats, but even she was unnerved when she first met Wednesday. But not you. Wednesday couldn’t think of a single time when anything she said, threat or otherwise, made you uncomfortable or fearful, and there was seldom anything that got under her skin more.
“That was mean, Wednesday. Really mean.” She noticed Thing say something on your shoulder and you gave a playful gasp in response. “Don’t laugh, Thing. That wasn’t funny,” you said, even though you were giggling yourself.
At the sight and sound of your laughter, something strange happened. Something combusted within her, and the flames spread, licking her sternum with an uncomfortable intensity. Like someone crudely lit a match and let it fall inside of her chest, allowing the fire to wreak havoc on her insides. It was unpleasant.
Even more unpleasant was the knowledge that this was not the first time this had happened. And that was but another in the long list of reasons why she shouldn’t have permitted your presence today.
She faced forward abruptly and kept walking, but you entered her peripheral moments later, no doubt ready to bother her with something.
As always, she was proven correct. “Hey, so you said that Crackstone was in that vision with your ancestor, right? And he killed a bunch of outcasts?”
“Correct.”
That mischievous smile she had come to recognize spread across your face, pulling your lips up at a slightly uneven angle.
“What do you say we get a little revenge?”
“And how exactly do you propose we get revenge on a pilgrim that died centuries ago?” she inquired skeptically.
You hummed. “Undecided but you go on ahead and just let the masterminds cook for a bit. I promise we’ll come up with something great.”
You and Thing flashed her a simultaneous thumbs-up, to which she just blinked. Not needing to be told twice, she started walking again, leaving you both to linger behind. Once there was a sufficient distance between you and her, she slowed slightly.
Though she had just made a vital discovery for her case, she figured this brief period of quiet would be better spent unpacking that persistent internal conflagration that flared whenever you were near.
Deigning to use her tried and true investigative process, she tried to start from the beginning, to gather all the information she had and prepare it for analysis, but she immediately got lost because truthfully, she couldn’t pinpoint the start of your assimilation into her daily routine.
Her…acquaintanceship with you made little sense, even to her. Especially to her. The same could also be said about her budding friendship? with Enid, but that was easier to parse.
Enid was her roommate; someone she quite literally couldn’t avoid since they lived together. But you weren’t. You were Thing’s friend, sure, but that didn’t answer the question of why Wednesday was becoming entangled with you as well.
However, looking at it from a logical perspective, it somewhat made sense.
A mutual penchant for mischief and practical jokes is what drew you and Thing together. In that same vein, she supposed that your insatiable appetite for adventure and her unquenchable thirst for triumph put you both on a collision course that neither of you could prevent. Especially in such a creatively stagnant climate as Nevermore.
A rebel and a renegade—two of a kind. You understood her and, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she understood you.
She just didn’t know how to interpret the unexpected side effects that came with that mutual understanding.
(That was a lie, she realized. Somewhere deep down she knew, but she didn’t want it to mean what she thought it might. After all, she couldn’t possibly be letting someone like you turn her into an apostate to her own beliefs and morals…right?
She thought back to what she said to her mother on her first day, how hypocritical her words looked in the face of this dilemma. God, how pitiful of a circumstance she found herself in.)
Either way, Wednesday had allowed the sparks to ignite, and she knew that any chance she had of tempering the subsequent wildfire it caused was lessening with every moment she knowingly spent with you in her space.
Part of her didn’t want to anyway.
Approaching voices behind her caught her attention. Focusing on the present once more, she listened in.
“That’s an awesome idea, right?” she heard you say lowly.
Wednesday rolled her eyes. Everything was either cool, awesome, or amazing to you. She desperately needed to expand your vocabulary if you were going to be sticking around. For her sanity.
Wet footsteps neared, and you ran ahead of Wednesday, turning to face her with a demeanor resembling that of an excitable puppy. She sped up her pace, but you matched it, even while walking backward.
“Ok, Wednesday, plan secured. You know what I need?”
“A thesaurus?”
You blinked, brows furrowed, then shrugged. “Yeah, probably but I was actually gonna say that I need gasoline, and matches.”
“Well, there’s a hardware store a block down from the Weathervane, you could get gasoline from there. I have the matches covered.”
“Oh?” Your eyebrow quirked, a grin appearing along with it. “You have matches on you?”
“Of course. I carry a box with me everywhere I go.”
Your smile widened.
Wednesday ignored the flames ravaging her organs and asked, “Are you going to tell me what this ‘plan’ is?”
“And ruin the surprise? No. All I’m gonna say is that you should have another song prepared for the unveiling.”
She narrowly avoided rolling her eyes again. Given the materials you needed, Wednesday had a good idea of what you were planning anyway, and thankfully, she had just the song in mind.
The three of you parted ways as you reentered the town proper, you and Thing running off to gather supplies, and Wednesday, after handing her matches over, headed into the square to prepare her cello.
Unsurprisingly, she was the first person there. She sat in the seat by her cello, languidly checking its strings more out of a need for something to do than because she needed to. Her cello was always perfectly tuned.
It didn’t take very long for you to follow, running into the square with a canister of gasoline and a bag of what looked to be gunpowder. She heard a low “let’s blow this fucker back to hell, Thing” before you split up, Thing pouring the gasoline in the base of the statue while you created a trail of black powder from the statue to behind the bleachers.
Wednesday watched you, the familiar feeling of being proven right tugging her lips upward. If nothing else, your flair for the dramatic was commendable.
You both finished and took refuge behind the bleachers just as people started filing in for the ceremony. As the normie high school band set up behind her, she took note of how nobody looked particularly enthused to be here (besides Enid, who would somehow find a way to be excited to watch paint dry).  
Soon, the ceremony was underway, and it was as underwhelming as Wednesday expected it to be. Just a plethora of fake smiles, stale claps, and off-key notes from the laughingstock of a “band” performing with her.
An explosion might not even be enough to resuscitate the audience at this point.
Once the fountain was turned on, Wednesday sent a sideways glance to you and you nodded, signaling something to Thing on the ground below. A trail of smoke and the telltale sound of burning gunpowder followed and Wednesday felt her dead heart begin to pick up pace at the thought of the coming anarchy.
Finally, the looming bronze figure burst into a brilliant ball of flame, the sound of the blast washing away the wretched off-key notes of the incompetent band behind her.
As the panic began to set in, her fingers moved on their own, relishing the familiar feel of the aching, discordant cords of Vivaldi’s Winter.
In moments, Jericho’s empty streets were flooded with people running in terror as sirens wailed in the distance. The harmonious screams that erupted from both outcasts and normies alike were almost more pleasant to her ears than the song that she was playing.
Principal Weems glared at her from afar, eyes narrowed in brewing suspicion, and Wednesday stared right back, lips coiling into a poisonous smile.
Tearing her eyes away from the principal, she peered through the haze of the smoke toward the bleachers. You were watching her with wide, awestruck eyes and a smile. You only looked away briefly to give Thing a fist bump before turning back toward her, but her gaze never faltered from you. Even with all of the glorious chaos happening around her.
That horrible, detestable feeling in her chest returned with a vengeance, blazing brighter than the raging fire to her right. But in this moment, she welcomed it, let it fuel her as the music reached its climax.
As the warm orange glow of the flames reflected off the raw excitement and amazement in your eyes and her treacherous song came to its end, Wednesday recognized that perhaps neither hatred nor disdain was quite the right word to describe how she felt for you after all.
And perhaps becoming a heretic and a hypocrite wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world after all (though it would certainly be close). 
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comicaurora · 9 months
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Have you ever notices the weird trait that a lot of the mytic Greek monsters are decendents, or otherwise related to posiden (all sea beasts, cyclops, medusa, minotaur ect) were mostly slain by children of zeus? The rest of the mytic Greek hero's mostly slayed children of typhon and echidna.
Do you think this is somthing to do with the fact that posiden used to the ruler of mychnain pantheon, and zuse took over, so the mytology reflected this by having posiden monster children slain by the heroic children of zeus?
Have you ever noticed any similar patters in mythology involving the chainge of the dominat god?
It's hard to say! The Mycenaean pantheon is very poorly understood since we don't have anything like the corpus of literature we have from Archaic Greece, and as far as I can tell it's mostly been reconstructed from ledgers and the equivalent of receipts - this many jars of stuff to the temple of this god in this region, etc etc. And the idea that Poseidon was central - while apparently widely accepted - doesn't really tell us how Poseidon was characterized back in those days, or how (or if) things shifted to be Zeus-centric later on.
And in the broad scale, it's hard to know for sure if a pantheon's myths reflect an actual shift in what the dominant/central god being worshipped was, or if something else was going on. Mythology rarely maps one-to-one to the historical events it was running in parallel to. There are lots of mythologies with god wars or former leaders of the gods being replaced - Tyr with Odin, Nuada with Lugh, Ra getting merged with a half-dozen different gods to give them his oomph and authority at various times - and it's not clear when a god conflict reflects a real religious shift in who's being worshipped and when it's something else. For instance, classical Greek mythology has loads of themes of sons usurping fathers, starting with Kronos usurping Ouranos and followed by Zeus usurping Kronos - but it doesn't seem like Kronos was historically worshipped in the time before Zeus or anything that simple and clean. Kronos doesn't seem to pre-exist that space of mythology at all.
However, there are tidbits in Greek mythology where a god kills a monster and takes up residence in their place of power, like Apollo killing Python - a monstrous child of Gaia that seems to have potentially been actually worshipped for oracular reasons before Apollo showed up and took over, which would make it a mythical parallel to a real shift in local religious practices. Although again, that is very hard to confirm (and some of the researchers who think that seem to wanna believe it because it very conveniently lets them tie it in with the bible)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
this kind of thing is why the deep-dives are my favorite kind of nightmare to subject myself to
So it's hard to say if a myth of a conflict between gods reflects a real-world conflict between religious practices, but all that said, that is a very interesting pattern to note - that Poseidon is more consistently a father of monsters, while Zeus is almost universally a father of heroes.
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summertimemusician · 8 months
Text
Linktober Day 9
Deity
*sneezes after downing coffee* Well irl stuff got in the way so I'm way behind my original schedule for these and for Linktober but here we go with another arguably short one, fuelled purely by self indulgence, headcanons, spite against my linguist essays that kept me from keeping to schedule, severe sleep deprivation, a shout out to the Ender Lilies soundtrack and Majora's Mask soundtrack, and Nintendo for not clarifying anything about the lore so I'm snatching what I can and making it my own lol. Look, when you fíxate so much on details the Zelda team doesn't elaborate on you have to fill in the gaps with what you can.
As always can be read as romantic or platonic, technically in a LU context but not explicitly in it by itself.
The Lord of the Mountain liked hearing people sing.
In a way, it wasn’t a surprise, Hylia and the Golden Three each had their ballads and symphonies and minuets, each splendid and with cuts of their divinity in it, Farore was fond of lightning and forest alive minuets, and you could swear Farosh sparked just a bit brighter when one would him the beginnings of the Minuet of the Forest near their spring, Din was fond of boleros, fiery and alive and howling with the echo of flame touching earth that made a shine run through Dinraal’s scales, Nayru, in contrast, was much fonder of blizzard and river quiet serenades, the songs of contemplation at first snow ringing clear when Naydra curled around it’s spring, content to be free of Malice.
And of course Hylia had her ballads and lullabies, perfectly fitting to her display of divinity, of honey days and vast bird like wings, of ambered summers to come and to pass and dazzling solar storms of starlight and sunlight sparking through the human form of her descendants and heroes. So in a way, you weren’t surprised at all that the Lord of the Mountain – Satori, with a familiar touch of londsleite divinity, the hunt of the woodland beasts and diamondscar adoration for the Hero of the Wilds, similar in glory to the Light Spirits petrichor and vermeil fondness for the Hero of the Twilight – liked to listen to people sing. What you were surprised was how it attempted to follow along, it’s head across your lap the second you sat down in the clearing, a gentle hum on back of it’s throat, an owl’s cry and a cicada’s humming and faintly, chirring purring as presses it’s faces into your hands, a gentle request for petting.
It was adorable, even with the faint notes of the chill of clear spring water on winter and the livewire feeling of magic, like holding your hand too close to a flame but not quite touching it.
A low chuckle brushes against the back of your mind, a feeling like biting on ice, the prowl of a wild beast and the build up of lightning and light used to create his blade, the amused affection of a warrior reconvening with their brother in arms, you think you see the bone ivory of the Deity’s hair on the side of your vision, though you know he’s not physically there, ‘He likes you.’
You hum, gently patting behind it’s ears, pushing through the chill, gracefully not mentioning the burning with a smile at the mythic being’s faint chirring, birdsong and the wind through cherry blossoms that sparkle like rose quartz, “Well I quite like him too, I can see where it’s gentleness comes from.”
The ghost of a touch over your hair, the caress of lightning striking over your skin and the hair on the back of your neck pricking up and the crisp cold of winter, the chill of the ending and the flame of a new dawn, of new days, the phantom of magnolias and spring water on your tongue. The fragrance of pine, daffodils and blood soaked lilies on ashen fields on your senses, gentle and careful, marking but not claiming, ‘Only because it’s you, beloved. It’s not something easily given.’
You sigh, shakily composing yourself, you let yourself relax into the phantom sensation. Of hopes and dreams and healed suffering, of the divinity of hunt turned into protection and lightning given form, of tangled timelines and crystalized memories, “I know. It does not change my opinion, either way.”
To be the subject of a god’s care and regard was dangerous, after all. For the human and the deity in question, you know the stories from your world well, of the effects of Hylia on First and Sky, of Twilight and the personification of the Twilight Realm and the spirits of his land, of Wild and clawing from death’s embrace into that of the wilderness.
Knew how the fact the Fierce Deity’s mere proximity causing pain on those who changed him into hunting for hunt’s sake into protection for the sake of someone else cut deeper than even the ever encroaching entropy all beings must one day face. It was no wonder the Song of Healing was his creation, to want to ease the burden.
You gladly grant him some peace, in turn, even if it wasn’t much. It’s the least you can do, for always having his ways of watching over your heroes.
“Join me? We can make a duet.”
You feel more than see him shift, ephemeral, fleeting, gentle against the edges of your existence, as foreign to Hyrule as your own, sparking over your spine as you feel ozone and rust on your teeth. Satori is humming again to match the rumble of thunder in the man’s voice, the heralding of songs of war and elegies for the dead, ‘Of course, though I’m afraid I do not know many songs, besides…’
“It’s alright,”, you smile faintly, there’s a white ocarina in his hands, as he leans, a spectre against your side, “I’ll teach you some of my own, though you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t remember all the lyrics.”
‘It would be my honor to learn.’
You think he smiles, from the fluttering of something ancient and long forgotten against your side.
You sing to Satori and the Chain, a small respite of familiar and forgotten tunes, the Lord of the Mountain hums along. The Fierce Deity’s song cutting through any nightmares that may ail your heroes for another night.
When the dawn of a new day comes, the feeling of divinity against your skin feels just a bit more obvious, sinking into every crack of your being like a shroud, falling over your boys like a veil, reflecting the breath of eternity over Hyrule.
(First gives you a look that’s half exasperation, half understanding. Sky pointedly sticks to your side as Time looks you over, markings deep with vibrant color. You shrug with a helpless smile as you feel the lightest brushes of Hylia’s fond days of gold and starlit summers days against the Lord of the Mountains warm, luminous affection and the Fierce Deity’s smug, but content lonsdaleite smile.)
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su-whisterfield · 24 days
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Logurt incoming in the new Wolverine series starting in September? Info from Marvel. Been looking forward to these two hooking up again.
“Just in time for the character’s 50th anniversary, the Wolverine legend begins anew! Following Krakoa’s tragic fall and the brutal “Sabretooth War” storyline currently unfolding in the final issues of Benjamin Percy’s Wolverine run, Logan will turn his back on humanity, mutantkind, and the X-Men in an all-new ongoing WOLVERINE series by acclaimed writer Saladin Ahmed (Daredevil) and Marvel Stormbreaker artist Martín Cóccolo (Immortal Thor).
Ahmed and Cóccolo’s new run begins deep in the Canadian wilderness where Wolverine reunites with his wolf pack and embraces the beast within! But Wolverine’s more than an animal—he’s a soldier. And a new war is brewing. As Nightcrawler struggles to remind Logan that he’s part of a family, Logan’s exile is violently disturbed by his most hated foes, and with each battle, a new existential threat gathers strength. This ancient villain has been bubbling under the surface of the Marvel Universe since the days of myth, and once unleashed, will dramatically alter the scope of Wolverine’s storied history and force him to prove himself a hero like never before.
There’s a killer in the woods – and as Wolverine’s attempt at peace is shattered, an old enemy will re-emerge as a new villain rises that will bring Logan to the brink of his berserker rage. But Nightcrawler knows his old friend is capable of doing what’s right, and before long, Logan will have to unleash his claws, push his healing factor to the limit and demonstrate he’s the best there is at what he does once and for all – nice be damned! Note to collectors: the new series kicks off with a key first appearance and a major addition to the lore of Wolverine!
“When I was a kid, Wolverine was the coolest character in comics,” Ahmed shared. “That hasn’t changed a whole lot for me, so when Marvel approached me about a new solo Logan book, it was an instant YES.”
“Logan is simultaneously a mythic hero, an abused animal, and a man of flesh, blood, and adamantium,” he continued. “Our story is about what happens when these parts of him all pull in opposite directions – and threaten to rip Logan to pieces that won’t come back together again.”
“I could talk for hours about why I decided to take this relaunch, but you want my real answer? It’s Wolverine. That’s it,” Cóccolo shared. “It’s a dream come true for me, and I can’t believe I get to tell my younger self every day that I’m drawing WOLVERINE. Saladin’s exploration of the character and the story is incredibly exciting as a concept as well as visually engaging, and I can’t wait for people to finally see it!”
On Sale 9/11
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Undying Legends - Achilles x Princess!Reader
Troy (2004) Oneshot
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Requested by Anon 
“Not sure if you're taking requests right now, but when you are...
An Achilles x princess!reader that was captured by a foreign kingdom to be married off and he goes with an army to save her. Forbidden love basically, and he is just smitten with her, and her with him. She has a kind personality, but firmly believes in her own freedom to love(cause they're not supposed to be together) and he admires her for it. Maybe for a dramatic ending, the readers father puts Achilles to death and he accepts it as they weren't supposed to be together, but she puts on a scene like clinging to him so nobody would hurt him. Sorry I have a lot of ideas.
You can think up different details for her capture, or the ending, if you want to. I wrote a lot, sorry."
( I loved to write this, anon. i sincerely hope that you will enjoy it because i loved it.) 
Word Count + 4K
Warnings: Mentions of an abduction to enforce marriage. No proofreading, possible mistakes on my part regarding greek geography. 
Summary: When a princess that fame threatens with turning into the new face of deathly desire gets kidnapped the greatest warrior of all times gets involved on the difficult task of bringing her back home. Historical remembrance of passed incidents regarding many other damisels in distress across the time of heroes seem to point out that fate would leave him no choice but to fall for her. However, unlike the remarkable men that came before him, Achilles is unfortunately aware that his is a woman far away from his reach and strictly forbbiden for him. 
Notes: This post by @creativepromptsforwriting​ served me as inspiration for the dialogue. 
         Prompts  2 -  "You’re so beautiful, it’s hard to directly look at you”. 
                          5 - “ I feel completely safe when I'm with you."
Tags: @mysticaldeanvoidhorse @helie-brain​ @spideyanakin​
Singular heroic works were always more rewarding than fighting for Agamemnon. Achilles found the rescue mission an interesting change that was also good for his image, since it had potentiality to soften the brutal undertones his legend was acquiring. To prove himself as more than the attack beast of that cruel king he needed to triumph on heroic tasks for better causes and the corinthians needed his help. Their city, one of the richest in the mycenaean region, was going through a hard time due to the suffering of their ruler. His most valued treasure was stolen from him, one he would do anything to get back: the splendid daughter that he adored. 
The news didn't surprise the greek world, since the victim was a heavily desired young maiden. The corinthian princess became the next great target once the mythical beauty of Helen got an official owner through her marriage to the spartan king. Before the herds of suitors could start to invade another country all over again one of the many interested men acted quicker than all the rest. The clever king of Athens found his way to kidnap her and refused to return her unless the father would legitimize his pretensions with a wedding officially celebrated at their comeback. Rage unleashed to the indignant details of the story, Achilles accepted the personal begging of the royals and was designated as commander of the corinthian army on the mission. However, not everyone around found that decision fitting. 
A council of the most powerful kings on the Peloponnesus took place in order to decide the common fate regarding a situation that, despite affecting one city, could always end up involving everyone else. Mycenae and Sparta were eager to declare full war, Pylos was calling for discretion while the argive king recalled on his well earned title of heroe to offer himself as leader of the operation alongside the corinthian soldiers. Careless as he was to hear the kings talking, Achilles ignored many warnings about some risks of the task. Most were doubtful, but the sons of Atreus had no self restrictions on openly judging him absolutely incapable of succeeding on his own. The observations,of course, had nothing to do with his skill. 
" The honor of your beautiful daughter is safer with the kidnapper than with this shameless bastard. " The mycenaean king advised the corinthian. " The best for your girl is us burning Athens to the ground. Go to war with me and I guarantee you will still benefit from the strength of his arms but someone will be keeping him under control. " 
" I have orders and I plan to stick to those. " Achilles defended himself, calm and composed as he was rarely seen. " I can stay loyal to my purpose."
" Since when? All you do is disobeying me in ways that are always impossible to predict." 
" Your impulsiveness goes against the requirements, Achilles." Menelaus followed from a less insulting standpoint. " Being impulsive is precisely what brought the athenian king into this madness. He lost his mind for that girl, she is almost as beautiful as my wife. Even my brother over here has reconsidered marriage for an instant the last time we saw her and you know him enough to understand how strange that is. " 
Agamemnon ignored the well intentioned tease to keep his persuasive speech. 
" My dear friend, don't let desperation take over your reason. Achilles is a weapon you can't wield, Diomedes would be a far better choice. If endangering your friends is what worries you because you don't want a king risking his life, take any other of my best warriors. The mighty army of Mycenae is at your disposition. " 
" I am not taking any risks. " The corinthian stated. " If Achilles says he can bring my dear daughter back to me, I take his word. Legends claim him the greatest warrior of our times and I have seen how wars are won or lost depending on his fighting inclinations. Losing is not an option to me, not this time. "
The matter was decided, but the end of the meeting didn't stop the repetition of similar warnings. Less as a king and more as a friend who was in touch with his perspective, Diomedes was the last trying to dissuade him. 
" It's said it took a one week visit for the athenian to decide he wanted to kidnap her, others claim he arrived here with the idea in mind. In either case, be careful. You can lose a lot if she gets under your skin. " 
" I will be like a herald and that girl is a package I'm supposed to carry. " Achilles calmly replied. " There are plenty of gorgeous women in Greece, she is just the one high nobility wants to fight over now." 
The demigod warlord was truly convinced of his position, reinforcing it over and over during the journey against the skepticism of the local soldiers he was meant to command. In the collective imagination formed by bards at the time of heroes there was no way for him to save that princess without ending up wanting to claim her his. As it happened to Perseus in the rescue of Andromeda, or Hercules after meeting Iole, Achilles was expected to develop an unstoppable passion for the captive girl. Not being found of prophecies that wouldn't come from his mother, Achilles simply discredited the claims until reaching Athens. 
The one single battle that was recklessly fought became a tragedy for the city. The king opted for staying trusting of the numerical advantage in his forces, commiting the terrible mistake of underestimating the rival. 
Hopes returned to you, but you weren't feeling entirely good about that. You knew your father and your city would never abandon you, but you couldn't help pitying the athenian men dying prisoners of their king's wishes. Escaping and never having to see him again was all you wanted, but you wouldn't wish death upon persons that were as powerless as you. The people couldn't be blamed for your captor's actions yet they were taking the worse part of the punishment. At first you thought that seeing their suffering was going to show that man his mistake, but whenever you would try to exhort him of doing the ríght thing he would accuse you of manipulations. 
All he achieved with that paranoid attitude was delaying the inevitable, the golden haired heroe found you and sent that king directly to his downfall.
Amazement happened on both sides. You couldn't believe how far the warrior had came for you, easily murdering the man who dragged you there against your will, but he neither could believe your initial reaction to that. You gave some cold comfort to the agonizing kidnapper in front of you. Achilles could tell it wasn't sympathy, just kindness shown to a dying man.
 It was not your beauty, as many men augured, the first of your traits that he found interesting. 
" That man kidnapped you and could have taken advantage of you in more severe ways, he doesn't deserve to die with a smile on his face. " He simply said, showing to have contextually recognized you. " He wouldn't have stopped for anything, you were lucky I am here to make him stop. " 
You glanced at his direction to deliver an answer, but felt unprepared for the encounter with his beautiful blue eyes. 
" His people claim he once was a great king, this unfortunate outcome comes from his previous loss of two wives. Pain blinded him, he wanted to be happy again and he didn't mind the cost to satisfy his wishes." You calmly explained. " I despise him as it is normal for a prisoner to hate the captor, but I can still show respect. " 
The warrior stared at you in silence, as curiously and intensely as you were doing with him. 
" May I know my savior's name? I shall honor it in the highest esteem." 
He couldn't help smiling for you. Even if it was brief, that reaction was the hardest to achieve from him in that sort of context. 
" Achilles, son of Peleus." Was his sweetly delivered introduction. " I'm at your service, princess. It was given to me the task of bringing you back home. "
Not self satisfied with the conflict's resolution, Achilles demanded a real retribution to be given to you before acceding to retree the troops. Formally accepting you as an abduction victim, the main protection mechanism for your honor, the city had to pay with gold to your father. Once all the arrangements were done, you finally abandoned Athens as a passenger on the myrmidon's chariot feeling safe and comfortable alongside him on the triumphant exit. 
Mutual curiosity developed immediately. You were guilty of demanding more resting stops than what was needed on the journey just because you wanted to get to know the mysterious man in a non controlled environment. On his part, he could have been blamed for indulging your requests a bit too often for the same reason. The unusual kindness perceived on his first impression of you amazed him for real and he couldn't stop himself from wanting to know you better. Achilles would show you his softer side with particular dedication given the horror you have faced before and in return you were giving him your trust. 
In the scarce time the travel provided he accomplished what the troubled king lost his life trying. You were spending most of your time with him willingly and happily, refusing to leave his side because of how well he made you feel. The otherwise rather silent traveler would talk for hours with you about anything you wanted. Among other things, you listened to some stories about his past adventures feeling in absolute awe. You even clapped your hands at the end of one, gesture so cute and pure that he began to understand why the ruler of a great city died willingly for you.  
" The humble feat of my rescue sounds boring in comparison. " You commented regarding what you heard. " Sorry for that, although I must admit I am relieved to know my father hired you and you are not part of some aid sent by Agamemnon of Mycenae. " 
The mention of his most hated superior in the chain of command brought to his mind the odd words of his brother. 
" Has he bothered you before?" 
" His generosity always comes with a price. In this case, it could have been me. " You replied, not an affirmation or denial. " Do you know why he wasn't a suitor of Helen? His brother wanted her first and he would never risk upsetting him. Horror tales are being told across the continent about the hate that grew between his father and uncle over his mother. The atrocities committed must haunt him. " 
The mere thought of that despicable old pig trying to get on the top of your suitors list was repulsive to him. 
" Your father is a smart man. " He comforted you. " Nobody sensed the wit past his pain, he rejected all involvement from other kings and sent a man who will never have any ríght to you. I can't ask to get you as payment when we will return to your kingdom, so you are safe with me. Don't expect second intentions. " 
" You have been shamelessly honest and for that I thank you." You answered, holding chuckles. " I can tell it's real, men who act nice for me as a performance think I don't notice... but I do. " 
"... And to think Oddyseus truly thought it was going to end once Helen would be married. It never ends, they just move on to bother someone else. " 
" Greece needs undying legends and she is the biggest in our times, at least after you. " You followed with some intentional praise. " A moving myth built on desire is a problem in so many perspectives. The flame inside those men wasn't ready to be extinguished with her marriage. She can no longer be openly wanted without it constituting an offense to a very powerful king, but Corinth is not that far from Sparta and I am not married yet. Someone has to fill that gap, they want me to be her because they need her but they fail to see i will never be Helen. "
" Being yourself was enough for the fool who thought kidnapping you was a good idea. " 
His casual comment made you chuckle and he internally cursed himself for enjoying it. 
" My father is not like Tyndareus, that's something he figured out quickly. As you know, the most common way to obtain a younger bride is to bribe the father by either buying his consent or threatening him. My captor knew that was impossible and that was why he stole me. The mycenaean king feels confident thinking that when the time comes my father will sell me to keep his scepter because that is what he would do in that position. He underestimate us, my father is not a coward and neither I am"
Achilles felt slightly prideful of your statement and that made him smile. 
" Glad to know I am not merely delivering you to someone worse." 
" I would never allow it, that's what I mean with men not realizing I will never be Helen. There is no man, mortal or divine, that would ever force me to endure a marriage like hers. I would rather die at the flower of youth than living a bitter life submitted to a despicable man I will never love. " 
The passion in your voice awakened something in him and his usual defense mechanism for that sort of feeling didn't help at all. 
" What does a man have to do in order to get your attention and not die trying?" He asked, a cheeky taunt to the whole situation. " Many young heroes, friends of mine that hold more political power than me, would love to know the secret." 
" Good conversation is an excellent start, especially if he manages to make me laugh. " Was your quick comeback. " Saving me from a fate I despise above anything also helps. "
The indirect was too obvious, typical behavior of a young girl who never had much chance of speaking to a man she truly likes. 
" Be careful, princess. I have been warned about this. You shouldn't be playing with fire..." 
" ... Says the man that could have burned the athenian palace by himself just to find me. " You teased back in a lovely tone. " You are an extraordinary man, the warriors of my father would have never gone that far. Your serenity outside of the battlefield is pleasant but intriguing and there is a soft light in your precious eyes that makes me never want to stop looking at you. " 
His glance followed you for an instant and you smirked, a gesture that came up more sweet than provocative because you delivered it with tenderness. 
" You are so beautiful, it is hard to directly look at you. " He complimented you through a confession. " I never had this problem with Helen, no matter how irresistible people say she is " 
The myrmidon did a pause and deviated his stare to concentrate in some random point of the horizon with a very contemplative expression, as if he needed to stop looking you to keep talking. 
" It's not only in your pretty smile, or your soft skin smelling like arabian esences that match perfectly with the sweet notes the breeze gets from your hair when it caresses it. Your courage is beautiful, your passion wasn't written on any warning I received and that must be because no other man has sensed it. I don't know you enough yet I am proud for what you have accomplished. Not only you kept yourself safe until my arrival, you forgave the man who caused you harm at his time of dying just because his people told you a sad story about how he used to be good to them. I would have never done that, kindness as yours would be out of the question if the choice would be given to me. I try to understand you and fail, but there is beauty on that. You are precious: not as a jewel up to be seen, but like a comeback embrace after a long war. " 
Acting on your feelings, you approached him for a surprising hug that he had no clue on how to interpret. Gratitude motivated comfort, perhaps, because it was too early to think of something else. 
Achilles was aware of the effect he had on women and the possibilities of it reaching you. The conversation was crossing dangerous territory because he liked you, but he wasn't expecting you would openly reciprocate so early. 
" Are you comfortable like this? Being so close to me? Doesn't it scare you that I could want to break my pact with your father to take you with me? That's what everyone thinks I am going to do. " The warrior joked as an indirect way to express a real doubt. " They fear that if we get too friendly I will not want to let you go. " 
It didn't bother you in the slightest. On the contrary, you intensified the closeness and laid your head against his chest. 
" I feel completely safe when I am with you. '' You replied almost immediately. ``Maybe I am the one who doesn't want to leave your side." 
Near the time of your arrival you were head over hills for him and he was smitten by you. Firm believer in your freedom to love, a belief that intensified after someone tried to take it away from you, you remained careless for some obvious opinions of the men around you. None of them had the courage to openly call out Achilles, but you could tell some noticed your peculiar favoritism for him. Some of them weren't even surprised, as if you would be following together a path to the most predictable outcome. 
Perhaps you were, but you didn't care because you were falling in love with a handsome hero who effortlessly stole your heart. It wasn't meant to happen, he wasn't planning to win you over. He wasn't there for the rumors, wanting you from before even meeting you like all the others, but only doing his work and you were the one desperate for his attention. 
On his part, Achilles had a personal battle with his impulsiveness. From time to time during the journey he would remember only of Diomedes's advice because it was the only sincere one and it pointed in the ríght direction. To a man so used to follow his heart's desires in any ocassion, hot headed and stubborn as he was, falling for you was torture. Aware of your own infatuation, if you would have been any other woman he wouldn't have tried to resist his crave for you. Biting his lip before daring to kiss you or being careful with his touch to avoid getting intimate were acts he wasn't used to performing, especially in a situation where the romantical tension was clearly mutual. You weren't shying away and that made things harder. Knowing you reciprocated him was the greatest obstacle for his titanic efforts to handle you back at Corinth as untouched as he found you. 
The King, your father, selected him as your rescuer precisely because you were strictly forbidden to him. He counted with his awareness on how impossible it was for him to be with you, but the comments that consistently reached his ears made that faith fade. He had a test prepared for your glorious return, a simple trial he was planning to make him go through in order to measure the danger he feared to have exposed you to.
After the emotive receivement in which your family encounter developed the palace was preparing for celebrations and the enlisting of payment for the leading hero. Your mother, happy as she was to have you back, begged to your father that anything Achilles would want would be conceded to him and he seemed to agree on that. However, he also had the small treasure destined to him ready. Gold, bronze and weapons were the first half of it, but he claimed he wanted to give him a gift that would feel more personal. Since giving him a horse would be pointless, because Achilles had the fastest in Greece, the corinthian king offered a woman.
 The most beautifull concubine slaves were presented in front of all of you so the myrmidon would pick his prize. Powerlessness and jealousy ruined your prior happiness for being back home, since there was nothing you could do against it. The payment was normal and perfectly valid, a common gift for men that want to seal friendship. Achilles realized it was a trap crafted by your father and he sensed some will of emulating the famous trick Odysseus pulled on him when he was a kid. 
If he would choose a woman, he would break your heart. If he wouldn't, he would be exposed. 
" I fought to free a woman, accepting to be paid with another one can be insulting to the suffering of your daughter. " He pointed out after barely looking at the line of girls, an observation he judged neutral enough to not sound incriminating. " Gold and weapons will be enough this time." 
You dissimulated a smile to avoid looking hopeful, but both of your parents knew you too well and the tension was escalating. 
" This is the least I can do for you. Take the one you find the prettiest to your home." Your father insisted. " I can't offer you a wife because the unwed daughters of my friends are beyond your possibilities, but nothing impeeds you from taking a slave girl to be the company keeping your bed warm. "
Your blood boiled to the implications of that comment. He spoke as if, because Achilles was a mercenary, that was all he could aspire to have. You loved your father but despised his attitude and were trying so hard not to confront him. He had no idea of who that man was for real or how insulting his words were. That foreigner he judged fitting only to mantain sexual unions with prisoners of war was the only man you have ever wanted to be with. 
" When I want company I seek it myself. " Achilles defended himself, way more careless than you were for the insults. " That isn't a problem that needs to be fixed. " 
" Don't take me for a fool, Achilles. You know that isn't of my concern. " The king prepared his last strike, revealing his true intentions. " It is my honest opinion that the sight of my daughter has numbed your perception and you can no longer find any other girl desirable. Your wish will never be indulged: even though I am grateful for your services, that is not something I can allow. "
To his signal the women were retired and the room was filled with men of his personal guard on prior orders of restraining the warrior. Achilles picked up his sword, but didn't throw himself immediately on a rageful combat to end with all of them as it would have been expected on other occasions. 
Instead, he looked at his main opponent at the eye with a deathly serious expression. 
" Your daughter is not my mere desire... I am in love with her. If you want to kill me for it, do it, but get at least the decency of fighting your own battle."   
Light peeked through the sorrow saddening your face. It would have been easy for Achilles to fight his way out of there and never come back, but he loved you and he dared to confess it in front of all those people that clearly wanted him dead for it. 
Careless for anything but his safety and eager to show him your love, you stepped in front to shield him with your own body before any of the soldiers could start the battle. 
" If you want to kill him you will have to kill me and all the blood splattered on my name would be in vain. How are you going to explain that to the families of the soldiers that lost their lives trying to save me ?" You called your father out from your secure position. " I will not allow this, father. If there is something the nightmare i endured showed me is that I never want to have my own will to choose be putted in question." 
Abandoning the reprobatory speech for an instant, you deviated your attention back to your beloved myrmidon. 
" Achilles, my heart has chosen you and that is the gift I want to give you. It's mine to give to whoever i want and it will be yours if you want it." 
The sweet confession amused him.
" Princess, I am ready to die for you ríght here and now... How dare you doubt that I want it?"
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davekat-sucks · 6 days
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I have my troll headcanons, and this is gonna be a long one, I’m doing all the Beta trolls. Also note these headcanons assume all characters survive and exist on Earth C.
Aradia Megido is trying to puck back up on the hobbies she abandoned when she became a ghost, and with her luck Earth has a vast archeological expanse of history and paleontology that Alternia destroyed to legitimize the Condesce’s rule, and to erase any mention of organized rebellion against the empire. Of course, history still existed, but is almost exclusively known by highbloods who have the class and age to study writing, own journals to write on, live long enough to document dozens of sweeps of their life history, and have less of a chance to get culled by drones controlling population growth. Reassembling Alternian history on Earth C is like finishing a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces hiding across the empty void of space. Aradia likes to search for fossils, but her interest in the dead and telekinetic connection with ghosts make her a professional paranormal investigator as well, she once snuck into a haunted house being filmed for a ghost hunters TV show, and was caught on camera. Her ripped clothes and ruffled hair from attempting a breaking and entering made her look like an undead troll.
Tavros thinks Pokémon is too simple and amateur for him, when in reality he’s mad he still loses in competitive matches in both card game and online game. He still likes the Pokémon anime! A boy who never grows up going on adventures against an organized crime syndicate trying to steal a powerful ally and nonverbal creature! Not to mention that the Ash character has friends to tag along on their perilous journey! When it comes to fighting with mythical magical monsters and complex bullshit with cards, Tavros has a soft spot for Yu-Gi-Oh, and Seto Kaiba reminds him of a troll that kept on meddling with him… and still does.
Sollux is possibly the best software technician on Earth C. He is an admin for a forum that discusses obscure desktop/master software. He obviously uses Linux and Gnu, and codes .ath viruses as practice for whitehat hackers to disarm. His Earth C hive is entirely themed by bifurcation. His curtains, his furniture, his goddamn toilet are themed by 2 colors. Karkat calls it ugly, Kanaya calls it creative. To cope with his psiionics and his loss of them, Sollux teamed up with Aradia, Karkat, and Feferi to code and design a walkie talkie that can talk to the recently deceased, this was also done so people could stop running specifically to him for predictions of armageddon.
Karkat is trying very hard to accustom himself to human culture, he has watched a lot of human film (mostly American, a few Fench and Soviet films and a bunch of Tokusatsu and Anime slop) to get why humans were like that, and if everyone was like Dave and Rose. He finds human film boring and generic, but continues to watch it anyway, to connect with the human way of life. He also follows John’s Youtube account… to leave hate comments, they don’t even attack John’s appearance or the points John makes about the film, it’s general allusions to how frustrated he gets watching John’s videos.
Nepeta has been banned from New York C’s central park zoo for scaring the bears at their enclosure and intimidating them into smashing the glass. Nepeta was allowed back in 2 years later when she promised she would not harm any animals because “it would be too easy to hunt them.” Nepeta is a professional huntress who is unique in that she doesn’t use firearms, she just catches the animal in her mouth and slices their neck if it’s big game like deer or wild boar. She meets her maximum bag capacity within a day. She is the scourge of human huntsmen and she is known as “the green lioness” to many.
Kanaya was able to pass on the duties of brooding cavern patrol once the first Jadebloods reached maturation after 9 sweeps. On Earth she was introduced to a new series of monsters and beasts after being accustomed to the animated corpses she’d hunt during the Alternian day and rainbow drinkers in her trashy teengrub erotica. Since she was always around Rose, a girlfriend and devout student of zoologically dubious, she became a cryptozoologist and eventually a bigfoot hunter. Her agility, strength, night vision, and rainbow drinker hearing made her perfect for hunting North America C’s most hidden animal. She would mostly stalk the rustling of leaves and moaning from the shadows of the forest to find it’s a human hiker or a bear, until she actually caught Bigfoot in an open Brush 30 miles West of Marquette C, Michigan C. Notably sightings were made days after Kanaya caught the creature, and after a week on news channels, talk shows, radio interviews, getting a nobel prize in biology and ecology, and getting a giant golden trophy called the “first big step” she now is treading westwards for possible other bigfoot sighted from California to Idaho. That is, when she can schedule it, she has a girlfriend she also wants to be there for. Of course, Rose has joined Kanaya on a few bigfoot searches to support her girlfriend.
Terezi IS the law. Professional trollcop and private investigator, she has her own TV show like that of Chris Hansen where she roleplays as different people, ranging from kids that pedophiles prey on to lone wolfs and depressed deadbeats that drug cartels search for to hire as peddlers and soldiers. Terezi’s strongest expertise is hunting down anti-troll hate groups, since she gets to be herself instead of roleplay as a human. She struggles the most catching anti-human troll groups and Neo-Condescites considering she has to fight against her own species, which have an easier time sniffing out if she’s faking her human archetype and some of them are super strong indigobloods.
Vriska haaaaaaaates how boring and fake human roleplaying games are. In FLARP you had real costumes, stat bats, real loot, month long continuous sessions, and dire consequences if you lose. To keep herself not bored she has become a practitioner of the extreme sport of rock climbing, since Vriska hated walking down and up all those stairs just to get to her lusus, and climbing a shear face would be more safe than slipping on those infernal steps! She also wanted one day for her lusus to watch her climb, as spidermom laud down in that pit of webs, too fat and loud to crawl up herself. Spidermom has been dead for sweeps now so Vriska still won. GET F8CKED FUSSYF8NGS!!!!!!!!
Equius was an unfortunate troll who got caught up in strange human subcultures, and that subculture was human hypermasculinity and “alpha” male mentality. He has a Youtube channel, Twitter, and Instagram dedicated to exercising routines, habits, and hobbies that make male trolls, humans, carapacians, and even denizens respected leaders in their community. Equius tried to co-opt My Little Pony as being masculine and sigma despite the protagonists being all colorful horses. Equius believes all of the protagonist ponies (the mane 6 as they’re called in fandom circles) each hold masculine traits that can correlate with the masculine archetypes in alpha men. Think how Twilight Sparkle exemplifies intelligence and planning, AppleJack has strength and stoicism, Rarity appreciates natural beauty and appearence, etc. Also they are horses, and Equius is frustrated that humans took the maned roarbeast (lions) and striped fangbeast (tigers) as the mascot of alpha males. Equius made his own personal gym in his hive because he was banned from all the gyms for excessive sweating and never cleaning up his station. He films fighting tutorials with his combat robots, but they all break in one punch, so Nepeta has to be invited for any successful demonstrations on how to demonstrate Equius’s fighting style and not break in one punch.
Gamzee is in a mental Asylum becaise of the whole murder thing and has only broken off from Lord English’s control for the first time in his life. He expresses himself by rhyming the GREGCLOUROIAN WICKED RHYTHMS for THE FROWNING MASSES to proselytize the NEW COMING OF THE DARKER CARNIVAL. After 5 sweeps in a straitjacket Gamzee was deemed sane and pacified, so he can finally start his real life. He immediately asked Tavros to start dueting some sick bars he wrote in the brig to bring forth the new prophesy of the evanjesters. Tavros agreed without hesitation. “Mike Club” and “Wild T” sell albums as the “UNHINGED PAGLIACCI TROUPE” and have gotten many a negative review as “the worst rappers in all paradox space” but in the end, built up a dedicated fanbase of clownfolk and followers of the true faith.
Eridan doesn’t go out much, if at all. He plays a lot of video games, grand strategy, roleplaying games, a few puzzle games. He feels mixed about First Person Shooters and asks for a good story in an FPS campaign. He sees himself as honorablenand only shoots with a reason, like how he killed lusii to feed G’bolg’lyb and stop the vast glub. He doesn’t want to shoot people because some authority tells him to! Honest! Ask Sollux and he’ll agree Eridan shot in self defense! And Sollux is still alive and happier that he doesn’t hear the boices ofbthe dead doesn’t he?! Maybe Sollux should THANK HIM FOR BEING CONSIDERATE. Sorry what was I talking about? Eridan does not regret a lot of things, but he will still talk about them when you bring them up to insist he does not regret anything, nope, he’s fine. He does hang around with the people, or rather, person he tolerates. Karkat. Everyone else are lowbloods that don’t like him because he’s better than them so they insult him and say he smells bad when that’s the natural smell of the ocean and they don’t understand how important he is, or Feferi who toyed with his emotions and left him for some bipolar mustardblood and avoided him after ALL HE DUD FOR HER AND WAS SO NICE TO HER AND SHE DIDN’T RECIPROCATE THOSE FEELINGS wait what was I talking about? Eridan insists he does not need help. He’s fine. He’s fine fine fine fine fin.
Feferi loves Spongebob Squarepants, it’s a match made in heaven, but she’s not obsessed with it. She still went far enough to paint her recuperacoon blue with the colorful flowers that dotted the oceans of Bikini Bottom. She is an advocate for saving all the coral reefs and has sued many companies with her nonprofit organization and vast personal wealth for spillover of hazardous chemicals into protected waters. Considering how often CrockerCorp gets into these environmentalist lawsuits, Feferi gets under Jane’s nerves. A lot.
Final thoughts. Eridan, Karkat, Nepeta, Vriska, Tavros, and Terezi (sometimes Sollux but he’s busy most of the time) all run a discord for roleplaying and video games. Eridan Karkat and Tavros like to play the Elder Scrolls series, Sollux likes to play the Fallout series, Vriska, Nepeta, and Terezi like both. Sollux tried to get Eridan to play Fallout: New Vegas once, but Eridan got bored after a few hours and thought the morality system was too simple. Between the organized disciplined and stable Caesar’s Legion or the corrupt incompetent bureaucrats of the New California Republic, or the selfish authoritarian Mr. House, or you thrusting the wasteland into chaos as you throw all 3 of the remaining lighthouses of civilization into collapse. Sollux has a let’s play channel but the only uploads on it are Nepeta’s playthrough of Postal 2 she shared on the discord server.
Karkat does a lot of human movie watchparties with his old friends to keep his trollian friends close enough that they don’t kill each other or wander off on this new weird alien world, and to his surprise they like some of the human films even though they are bottom of the barrel compared to peak alternian film. Each of the trolls favorite films are:
Aradia: Carrie (1976)
Tavros: Pokémon the First Movie (2000)
Sollux: The Matrix (1999)
Karkat: Con Air (1996)
Nepeta: The Lion King (1994)
Kanaya Maryam: Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
Terezi: Trolls (2016)
Vriska: Pirates of the Caribbean (2005)
Equius: Spirit (2003) and Fight Club (1999)
Gamzee: Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Eridan: Waterloo (1970)
Feferi: Atlantis the Lost Empire (2001)
Final fact: since films from the beta kids library still had a chronological year, the release year of films gets confusing, so to make up for it, films on Earth C are released on a separate calendar, the year on the Earth C Planetary Film Board is equal to current year (number of years after the original kids touched down on Earth C) plus 2009. Old Alternian films are hard to chronologically measure since they were made billions of years before April 2009.
This is a long one!
These are all amazing!
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whencyclopedia · 10 days
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Qilin (Chinese Unicorn)
The qilin (麒麟, or simply lin 麟) is a Chinese mythical creature, frequently translated as "Chinese unicorn." While this term may suggest a one-horned creature, the qilin is often depicted with two horns. However, like the Western unicorn, the qilin was considered pure and benevolent. A rarely seen auspicious omen, the qilin heralds virtue, future greatness, and just leadership.
Throughout history, the qilin can be found in Chinese literature, art, and accounts of day-to-day life. As one of the Four Auspicious Beasts – alongside the dragon, phoenix, and tortoise – the qilin also embodies prosperity and longevity and has a heavenly status. References to the qilin date back to ancient Chinese texts, where this revered creature is regarded as a sign of good fortune and an indicator of a virtuous ruler. Its association with the philosopher Confucius (l. c. 551 to c. 479 BCE) underscores its significance as an auspicious symbol. Qilin imagery was favoured across various Chinese dynasties, and its popularity extends across other Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
The Qilin in Classical Texts
In the classic The Book of Rites (also known as the Liji, date uncertain), the qilin is listed as one of the four intelligent creatures along with the phoenix, dragon, and tortoise, often referred to as the Four Auspicious Beasts. Each of these divine creatures symbolizes different virtues considered essential for successful and harmonious coexistence. Broadly, the dragon symbolizes power and strength, the phoenix renewal and grace, the tortoise longevity and stability, and the qilin prosperity and righteousness. Together, these beings convey a collective message of good fortune and balance.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas (the Shanhai jing, 4th century BCE), a proposed mythological geography of foreign lands, mentions several one-horned beasts, but none are specifically identified as the qilin. The earliest known reference to the qilin in ancient texts can be traced back to the Western Zhou period (1045-771 BCE), which is the first half of the Zhou dynasty, the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history. The qilin also appears in the Shijing, also called The Book of Odes or Classic of Poetry, said to have been compiled by Confucius in the 4th century BCE, making it the oldest extant poetry collection in China. The Shijing contains just over 300 poems and songs, with some thought to be written between c. 1000 to c. 500 BCE. The piece in question, "The Feet of the Lin", appears at the end of the section that captures the voices of the common people. From Bernhard Kalgren's translation, The Book of Odes (1950):
The feet of the lin! You majestic sons of the prince! Oh, the lin!
The forehead of the lin! You majestic kinsmen of the prince! Oh, the lin!
The horns of the lin! You majestic clansmen of the prince! Oh, the lin!
Here, lin refers to the qilin, and its defining physical features are likened to regal offspring and relations. Karlgren calls this "a simple hunting song, and an exclamation of joy" (7) and suggests it was originally about a real but rare animal, such as a type of deer, which became a fantastical legend later. In James Legge's translation of the same poem, he notes that the qilin had a deer's body, ox's tail, horse's hooves, a single horn, and fish scales. The qilin's feet are not used to harm any living thing, even grass; it never butts with its head, and does not attack with its horn. As a popular and freely available translation, these notes are frequently cited and show the qilin as supremely peaceful and benevolent by choice.
In the 5th century BCE, we find the qilin, again mentioned as the lin, in The Spring and Autumn Annals, a historical record of events occurring in the state of Lu. This chronicle records that a lin was captured in the 14th year of Lord Ai's rule, 481 BCE. Later scholars analyzed and attributed great significance to this event, as Confucius himself, the compiler of The Spring and Autumn Annals, might have done.
From James Legge's translation of The Chinese Classics, volume V, 1872, page 832, (translator's square brackets):
In the hunters in the west captured a lin.
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astrodances · 3 months
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Oooo for the drabble thing how's about
"Would you kill me if I sent you flowers?"
and you know this just oozes scroldie 😆
Yes, it most certainly does!! 😁 And thank you for the prompt!
Happy (belated) Valentine's Day, and I hope you enjoy this! 💜
AO3 link here
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The Love Language of Nature
Want to send a special message to your Valentine? Say it with flowers!
Goldie’s eye caught on the flier taped to the inside of the window in front of her. She’d been walking through downtown Duckburg, between errands, heist-planning, and errands for heist-planning, doing some window-browsing. Every window display was making her painfully aware of the upcoming holiday, yet she still took time to take note of things she couldn’t help but want to get for her special someone. Because of course she would.
The flower arrangements displayed before her were admittedly beautiful, and Goldie had seen plenty to compare around the world in her years. But these were close, were here, and the store offered free delivery with purchase if booked a week or more before the big day.
And the flier’s implications were making it all the more tempting. It listed a whole slew of flowers, and their special, hidden meanings.
She wasn’t the best with words, she knew that; maybe flowers were her love language?
Browsing through the list still, she pulled out her phone and asked Siri (Louie had given her a smartphone 101 walkthrough a while ago, insisting that she needed to “up her tech game to at least the basics, c’mon” if she was going to pull off schemes in the modern age, and especially with him) to call Scrooge. She couldn’t wait around for him to answer a text (which she was very good at, thank you very much) lest she lose her nerve.
It took him three rings to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sourdough. Would you kill me if I sent you flowers?”
“That depends, are they poisonous?” Scrooge asked, not missing a beat.
There was an elevator ding in the background on his end, then more of an open din, and Goldie knew he was at the Money Bin. She automatically turned to the behemoth structure in the distance, as if it would amplify their conversation, and her ensuing indignation.
She let out an offended squawk. “Hey! No they are not, thank you, but if you’re gonna be like that, then never mind!”
He laughed, and the sound reminded her why she did want to send the flowers, darn him. “Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time,” he unfortunately had to point out.
“Yeah, well...”
So sending him a bouquet of lilies, tulips, and lupine from a mythic beast’s wedding from the Underworld to rid herself of a curse hadn’t been her finest hour.
He lived.
“Would you kill me if I sent you flowers?” Scrooge asked, reversing the question.
A blush bloomed through her cheeks instantly. “I...n-no...” So much for not being cursed - her heart was getting softer by the second these days, it seemed.
“Then there’s your answer, dear. Look at you, being so thoughtful.”
Goldie’s brain was ready to self-combust at that, but she had to recover some of her dignity as this call came to a close. A quick, stabilizing breath, and- “Yeah, yeah, just try to forget this conversation ever happened, Sourdough. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sounds grand.” There was a squeak of his old desk chair as he sat down. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Despite the teasing, the warm smile was what remained as Goldie hung up and scanned over the flower list once more before strolling into the flower shop. The air was intoxicating with lovely, fresh scents - heck, all flowers were poisonous if they made her feel like this, this...light, giddy, and airy, and despicably drunk with love.
“Hey there, welcome to Rhoda’s Dendrons! Anything I can help you with today?” the young duck with curly black hair behind the front counter asked.
Goldie’s roving gaze snapped to her as she approached. She tapped a finger on an identical flier from the window that was laminated and taped to the counter’s glass top. “Yeah, I’d like to order some flowers for delivery...”
_____
On the evening of Valentine’s Day, an elaborate arrangement of flowers sat atop Scrooge’s dresser in a tall, multi-tiered golden vase. A pamphlet version of the store’s flower guide, with the bouquet’s choices checkmarked with hearts in a sugary pink ink, laid waiting on the floor next to the bed, its seal broken despite the bashful protests the sender had put up for its recipient to wait to read until the next day (or until her near-impossible death, thanks immortality).
(She had insisted that the pamphlet be included, on a whim of courage, because as embarrassed as she would be, she was also pretty sure he wouldn’t have a clue about the language of flowers, as far as she knew.)
And thankfully, he had read it (as she sat next to him on his bed in half-mortification, half-burning-desire, holding his hand and looking away, his own squeeze growing stronger by the second between sounds of amusement and adoration), because she had been immediately bombarded with hundreds of loving kisses when he finished reading, and now they laid entangled together, happily exhausted, utterly closer in heart, and basking in a symphony of floral aromas.
On the pamphlet, the following flowers were checked off:
Blue salvia - I think of you
Dahlia - good taste
Heliotrope - eternal love, devotion
Lady’s slipper - capricious beauty
Lilac - joy of youth
Pink rose - happiness
Red camellia - you’re a flame in my heart
Red carnation - I admire you and am missing you
Red rose - love, I love you
Red salvia - forever mine
White camellia - you’re adorable
White chrysanthemum - truth
White clover - think of me
Yarrow - everlasting love
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welcometoteyvat · 4 months
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fake ga-ming voicelines (prerelease, some more delusional, some less. please give more hcs about him)
edit: apparently voiceline leaks just dropped so PLEASE no spoilers <3 if these are wrong that's too bad they're canon in my heart!!!
About Yun Jin: Besides being a great opera performer, Sir Yun's taste in tea is impeccable! Although she keeps asking me to join her at Heyu Tea House... their tea just doesn't have the same flavor as the tieguanyin from Xinyue Kiosk. Speaking of her, one of our clients has just developed a new strain—I promised to bring some for her when I come back to Liyue Harbor!
About Xiao: You mean Senior Xiao! Hehe, so you know him too! Next time, can you bring him along with you to one of my performances in the harbor? I've been trying to get him to come for a long time, but he always refuses... oh, good idea! Next time I'll hold it at Wangshu Inn, just for him!
About Xiangling: That girl always by Guoba's side, right? Man Chai seems to like her a lot, especially the cornbread buns she makes! To be honest, some of the things she cooks are a little too spicy for me, but otherwise she’s an excellent chef with unmistakable talent. No wonder her companion is a minor deity… wait, what? A major deity?
About Keqing: Thanks to her invitation and sponsorship, our Mighty Mythical Beast performances have been getting more and more attention in the harbor! She's very straightforward and speaks her mind about everything, and always has novel ideas! Although we haven’t talked much, I really admire her mindset and determination. It’s not easy to forge your own path forward, especially for someone of her standing.
About Chongyun: I've run into him once or twice on the road to Liyue Harbor. He didn’t seem to like talking that much when we met, but I’ve heard he’s actually quite outgoing! He wields a greatsword too—maybe he can train with me as the suanni’s tail? Of course, I wouldn’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want; I'm sure he's already busy! It would just be nice to have a wushou partner for once.
About Xinyan: I managed to catch one of Xinyan's performances when I had some free time after work. There weren’t many people in the audience, but her music was so energetic it completely made up for the quieter atmosphere. Originally, I was thinking about asking her to join our lion dance troupe as a drummer, but I’m glad to hear she's made a name for herself since then! I should properly introduce myself sometime!
About Zhongli: He once asked me whether I've heard about the legend of the solitary suanni after one of Iron Tongue Tian's stories. When I said yes, he launched into a really detailed discussion of Chenyu Vale's local belief system, and even told me some stories I haven't heard about a carp adeptus. It's amazing that he has so much knowledge on all sorts of folklore, as a funeral consultant no less!
About Xianyun: ... Who? im sorry i was going to put something about the adepti here but gave up trying to think of something and now it's just a joke line. suggestions welcome tho 🫶
About Yelan: Ah, that lady—sometimes I see her lingering around Yanshang Teahouse. They place regular orders of tea leaves from Yilong Wharf. She's very polite and even petted Man Chai once or twice, although I feel like there's more to her than meets the eye... well, business is business, and they've never caused any trouble for Sword and Strongbox, so whatever she does isn't much of a concern to me.
very long notes:
generally i feel like what's mentioned in chara voicelines tend to have a lot less substance than the actual relationship, so in my head some of them are closer w gaming than i wrote.
always welcoming suggestions!!!!! PLEASE share the brainrot with me i'm dying here OTL please please.
i'd like to write an "about xingqiu" but i bully my richboy son and he's already had like 12 other people comment on him in canon it's fine if ga-ming doesn't know him
everything's just for fun etc etc. don't take it too seriously
watch all of these be completely wrong!!!
similarly if any of these end up being right, i will SCREAM
the only ones i really really want to happen are with yun jin and xiao if they don't have voicelines i'll die
senior xiao comes from my headcanon (copium) that they'll keep the mentor disciple relationship (?) from that one concept art if you know you know. it also comes from this absolutely delicious fic
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