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deconstructthesoup · 6 months

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Thoughts on a Hatchetfield/Fantasy High crossover

So, I know the odds are good that I'm sending this into a very niche void, but I also know that these fandoms overlap, so... yeah. Basically, this is a world where the Bad Kids (and I guess pretty much every character in the world of Spyre, but the Bad Kids are who we're focusing on) are seemingly normal humans living in Hatchetfield, with all the weirdness and danger it entails.

Let's get into it.

Fabian: He's a rich kid living in Pinebrook, the star quarterback of the Nighthawks, and is one of the most popular kids in school due to being rich, good at sports, and surprisingly nice---and he's dating Ragh, though that's something that's a bit on the down-low due to them worrying they'll get kicked off the team and Ragh not being quite ready to come out. Honestly, Fabian really shouldn't be tied up into the spookiness, if you take him at face value... except for the fact that both of his parents are very much tied into it. Haleriel's family has been in Hatchetfield since the beginning, and while they're not tied with the Church of the Starry Children or the Hatchetmen, they do have some serious occult connections. And Bill... well, as far as everyone knows, he's an Irish fencer who got into the big leagues, retired, and took up pirate LARPing in his spare time. All of that is true, except for the fact that he is, in fact, an actual seventeenth-century pirate who got on Tinky's bad side and wound up in 2000s Hatchetfield. Fabian doesn't know about this yet, but he will.

Gorgug: The result of a secret relationship between two Abstinence Camp junior counselors, Gorgug was originally raised in secret in Witchwood Forest until he was three, when he was found and promptly put up for adoption. By then, he was already unusually large, strong, and angry for his age, but he still found a loving home with the proprietors of Thistlespring Mechanics. Gorgug thankfully never got to the monstrous level of Lil' Gerry, and he can pass for a normal kid if you ignore his height... however, he has been homeschooled for a good portion of his life due to constantly having manic outbursts that took years to learn how to keep under control. When he finally goes to Hatchetfield High, Fabian and Ragh take him under their wing---if only because they took one look at him and realized that he'd be perfect for the Nighthawks---and Gorgug definitely begins to shine due to having friends. Still, though... you can never really get rid of how Witchwood Forest changes you.

Riz: Now, he is very much aware of all the crazy, scary, and inexplicable things that go around in Hatchetfield, to the point of becoming a paranormal investigator---YouTube channel and all. His mom isn't really sure what to make of this, but she's a cop, she's busy, and it mostly keeps Riz out of trouble. As far as he knows, his dad worked for the military, and he assumes that he died in combat (in reality, though, Pok was a PIEP agent who got killed by Blinky). Riz has a part of his paranormal investigator business that's open to him taking on cases for others, but people don't tend to take him up on the offer, and he's usually investigating strange happenings by himself. That is, until...

Fig: Unlike in canon, Fig has always known that Gilear was her stepdad, not her real dad, but she still considers him her dad---mostly because that for a good deal of her life, she grew up thinking that her real dad was a deadbeat who left her. After Gilear and Sandra Lynn get divorced, however, Fig decides to finally start looking into her biological dad... and she discovers that he didn't skip town as she initially believed, but he went missing shortly before she was born. The case went cold, and all that's known is that he was attempting to stop the Honey Festival---specifically, the pageant---before he disappeared. Fig, who's recently developed an interest in the occult, realizes that there's something sinister going on there, and she hires Riz to help her find out the truth. (Vague spoilers: Gorthalax---or, well, Gordon T. Ax---is alive, but he's been trapped by Nibbly as punishment for successfully interfering and saving the Honey Queen)

Kristen: She's essentially the Grace Chastity of this universe, just without the crazy---church girl, teacher's pet, yet actually a nice person who doesn't really realize just how messed up her parents' beliefs are. Though she doesn't know the details about the Black & White, her parents are part of a group that are descended from the original Hatchetmen, and they've taught her that anybody who has The Gift is inherently evil. Of course, Kristen has always had the power to magically heal others, and she's kept this hidden from her parents her whole life---which becomes harder as her powers start getting stronger. And then she starts having a sexuality crisis and a crisis of faith, triggered when she befriends the niece of Hatchetfield High's new guidance counselor. So, yeah, Kristen's not having a good time.

Adaine: Her family recently moved to Hatchetfield from London, supposedly because her dad's job changed. In reality, her parents are devout followers of Wiggly and the other LiB, and they know that Hatchetfield is the focal point of their power (and no, Alewyn doesn't know about this, but she does know more about the spooky stuff than she's letting on). For her part, Adaine has psychic powers similar to Hannah, right down to having Webby as an imaginary friend, but she keeps this secret from her parents... mostly due to the time when she was little and told them about Webby, and the reaction was pretty negative. On top of her powers, she's also struggling with her anxiety disorder, her gifted kid complex, and the general stress of going to a new school in a new country... so, it helps when she gets adopted by Kristen and Fig at the same time, and Webby immediately takes a liking to them both. Through Fig, she meets Riz, and then she meets Fabian at one of her parents' awful functions, and he introduces her and everyone else to Gorgug... and the Bad Kids can begin.

I've got a lot more ideas about this---mostly involving Ayda, Arthur Aguefort, the O'Shaughnesseys, and some fleeting concepts about The Seven---but that's for another post, so... yeah.

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #hatchetfield #starkid #fabian seacaster #gorgug thistlespring #riz gukgak #fig faeth #kristen applebees #adaine abernant #the lords in black #webby hatchetfield #crossover au #ragh barkrock

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shame-is-a-wasted-emotion · 7 months

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Hello everyone! I'm back again and as promised, the fic is posted! Yaaay!

Who Could Be Next?

Rating:Mature

Archive Warning:Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories:F/F,F/M,M/M

Fandoms:Glee,glee-klaine,klaine fandom,Glee-Brittana,Glee-Tike

Relationships:Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel

Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce

Carole Hudson-Hummel/Burt Hummel

Mike Chang/Tina Cohen-Chang

Rachel Berry/Jesse St. James

Characters:Kurt Hummel ,Blaine Anderson,Santana Lopez,Brittany S. Pierce,Burt Hummel,Carole Hudson-Hummel,Rachel Berry,Jesse St. James,Mike Chang,Tina Cohen-Chang,Mercedes Jones,Sam Evans (Glee),Quinn Fabray,Artie Abrams

Additional Tags:

Halloween glee,spooky glee,husbands!klaine,Wives!brittana,dead or not dead,I am not gonna say,Jumpscare,a special spooky guest,Spooky,scary ending,Funeral,they have a funeral to attend,Pretending,game,Scary Game,life threatening scare,prank,that's a whole family involvement,cries and screams,Angst and laughter,Angst and Humor,Crack Fic,Please Don't Kill Me,Don't Judge Me,Burt hummel approves it,Santana lopez approves it,Angry mercedes jones,scared Rachel berry,a fanart attached,Angst with a Happy Ending,maybe not,funny halloween,weird way of inviting people,I wrote this instead of studying,a lot of crying

Language:English

Summary:

One surprise e-mail and everybody's heart stopped for a few minutes. Literally, in shock.

Nobody expected to get that email. Not when the couple was relatively new and they should have had more years to live together. Blaine Hummel-Anderson would have seen the end of the world by now. Nobody knew what to do or how they would console him. Honestly, who could read Blaine's feelings through a bland e-mail?

They had a funeral to attend!

Thank you @special-bc-ur-part-of-it for the wonderful banner

Enjoy my little spooky contribution and your comments/kudos can my day!

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adickaboutspoons · 1 year

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I used to be dancing with the madmen, now I'm just a dick about spoons

Masterlist of my contributions to fandom, both from this handle, and when I was @dancing-with-the-madmen.

Relationships Stede/Ed: The Art of Buggery

Speedrunning U-Haul Pirates

Stede: Stede and the Thanatos Drive*

cPTSD trauma responses in Ed and Stede

But Why Piracy?

Touchy-touchy

Talk it Through as a Crew (not for me, though, just for you)

Stede’s racism (“yes and”-ing in a tag novel)

Ed:

Spooky Scary Speculation (what if Ed thinks the reason Stede didn’t join him at the dock is because Stede is dead)

Scraps of Evidence, or the Maps that Lead to You

Fire Marshal Ed

When the Worksona Gets Co-Opted (“yes and”-ing in a tag novel)

Guilt and Struggling with Worthlessness (a “yes-and” reply)

Team Never A Plan (a “no but” reply)

Ed Knows about Mary (a “no but” reply)

Jim:

We Live in a State of Nature

Why The Kraken Kept Jim and Frenchie (and not anyone else): (a “yes and” reply)

Mary:

Mary is not without fault (and that’s a good thing) (“yes and”-ing in a tag novel)

S01ep06:

The Lamentable Tragedie of Hands-let

Why Are Fang and Ivan Backing up Izzy During the Doggy Heaven Scene?

S01ep8:

The Massive Aggression of Calico Jack

S01ep10:

The Significance of Ned

Set design: Ship-shaped, Part 1 - What We Know

Ship-shaped, Part 2 - Best Guesses

Ship-shaped Part 3 - Rampant Speculation and Vile Calumny

Ship-shaped Part 4 - A Proportional Response

Ship-shaped Part 5 - The Not-So-Secret Stairs

Ship-shaped: Part I Give Up

Ship-shaped: Part It’s Just A Tardis, Ya’ll

Ok, so I’m a dick about spoons

Gay Love on the Horizon

Costuming:

I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues (a response to and expansion upon weirdgirlcore’s meta on the use of blue in Stede’s wardrobe)

Orange (the conclusion to I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues. Brevity? I don’t know her)

Steal Ed’s Party Look: A Step-by-Step Hair Styling Tutorial with Pics

Playlists:

Swedes to the Swede: an all Swedish artists homage to our favorite nameless character

Izzy the trash goblin homophobic closet case (affectionate)

Wanna Do Something Weird? (an Ed/Stede falling-in-love playlist)

Ed & Stede's Big Dumb Sad Breakup Playlist

Fan-vids: I’ve Got a Crush On You - a Hornberry/Stede fanvid

Being A Pirate - a little silliness (and a lot of dick jokes)

The World if Full of Bastards - Ed gets to have an angry punk girl phase

Off With His Shirt

Oh My God I Think I Like You

Season 2 speculation Bingo:

self-sabotage through over-specificity

Fic:

Dearly Beloved (a comedy of errors based on this exchange)

Something Weird (a silly little ficlet in which Ed makes a proposition & Stede makes an assumption.)

Stede Sonnets (I have a problem. It’s everyone’s problem now. Based on this exchange)

Beautiful and Useless (Missing scene; wound care after the Stab Me scene)

Your Achilles (Ed’s perspective on the events of Beautiful and Useless. Longer and hornier)

Hook Head Man Tale (short one-shot resulting from an ofmd-daily challenge)

Put Your Kraken Arms Around Me (inspired by @wearfinethingsalltoowell: Imagine Stede not knowing bed-sharing etiquette and so he rolls over to the side to give Ed space, and then Ed is just like “nope. I’m getting a hug Stede no escape”)

#tumblr ate my pinned post #or I did something stupid #sorry to those who have already seen all this #ofmd #our flag means death

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klaine-a03-feed · 7 months

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Who Could Be Next?

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yMhilKc by ANNA_TIMBERLAKE One surprise e-mail and everybody's heart stopped for a few minutes. Literally, in shock. Nobody expected to get that email. Not when the couple was relatively new and they should have had more years to live together. Blaine Hummel-Anderson would have seen the end of the world by now. Nobody knew what to do or how they would console him. Honestly, who could read Blaine's feelings through a bland e-mail? They had a funeral to attend! Ps. A fanmade banner enclosed. Made by the lovely izwordsoup on ao3 Words: 3038, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Glee, glee-klaine, klaine fandom, Glee-Brittana, Glee-Tike Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Characters: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Santana Lopez, Brittany S. Pierce, Burt Hummel, Carole Hudson-Hummel, Rachel Berry, Jesse St. James, Mike Chang, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mercedes Jones, Sam Evans (Glee), Quinn Fabray, Artie Abrams Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce, Carole Hudson-Hummel/Burt Hummel, Mike Chang/Tina Cohen-Chang, Rachel Berry/Jesse St. James Additional Tags: Halloween glee, spooky glee, husbands!klaine, Wives!brittana, dead or not dead, I am not gonna say, Jumpscare, a special spooky guest, Spooky, scary ending, Funeral, they have a funeral to attend, Pretending, game, Scary Game, life threatening, prank, that's a whole family involvement, cries and screams, Angst and laughter, Angst and Humor, Crack Fic, Please Don't Kill Me, Don't Judge Me, Burt hummel approves it, Santana lopez approves it, Angry mercedes jones, scared Rachel berry, a fanart attached, Angst with a Happy Ending, maybe not, funny halloween, weird way of inviting people, I wrote this instead of studying, a lot of crying

#IFTTT #ao3feed #klaine #klaine fanfiction #klaine fic #klaine fanfic #kurt hummel #blaine anderson

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live-the-fangirl-life · 3 years

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Halloween Collection

Main Masterlist | Collections Masterlist

*All fics listed within a collection are also on my masterlist for their particular fandom. I am just a slut for organization, so I've categorized certain fics for easier navigation*

Halloween

Halloween Dialogue Prompts

🍁👻🍁🦇🍁🎃🍁🧛🏻‍♀️🍁💀🍁

Rowaelin

For the Aesthetic - Costume Mishaps

“I would love to kiss you right now it my lips are on fire.”

Monstrous Morning Brews - Halloween Lattes

Rowan keeps asking himself why he orders the same, overly-sweet, coffee every day when he prefers it black and bitter. Oh, the golden-haired barista—that’s why.

At Leaf You're Cute - Raking Leaves

“I was trying to rake leaves in the front yard but your dog just ran through all my piles and I want to be mad but you're both really cute.”

By the Light of the Moon - Ghostly Stroll

Walking through a graveyard on Halloween, what a cliché.

Lost in the Maize - Corn Maze

Getting lost in a corn maze is not Aelin’s idea of a good time. Maybe the helpful, silver-haired worker can help her find her way.

Trick or No Treat - Halloween Candy

“We’re all out of candy.” / “What do you mean we’re all out of candy?!”

Scaredy-Pup - Scares

“Accidentally scared a kid and their adult is angry.” but make it Fleetfoot and Aelin.

Divine Intervention - Fortune Teller

“The Ouija board says you’re a little shit.” / “Oh, my gods, I think the crystal ball is working. The spirits are telling me you’re a dumbass.”

Costume Count - Trick or Treaters Costumes

“You can’t withhold candy from the little kids just because you think their costume is ugly.”

A Haunting Halloween - Surprise Date

“If I die because of your dumb idea, I will haunt you so hard!”

Trust Me, it’ll be Fun - Haunted House

“It’s just a spooky clock chiming at the incorrect time while all the lights are off and strange footsteps are creeping up the stairs, in a house that won’t let us leave.”

🍁👻🍁🦇🍁🎃🍁🧛🏻‍♀️🍁💀🍁

Elorcan

Blood and Boos - Haunted House

Lorcan gets roped into doing a Haunted House. Elide tries her best to be supportive but she isn't a fan of jump-scares. What could go wrong?

You Better Beleaf It - Autumn Leaves

Elide drags Lorcan out to look at the changing leaves. He’ll deny it if you ask, but he enjoyed himself.

Tell Me S’more - Scary Stories

“The legend said it only goes after virgins…so sucks for you I guess.”

🍁👻🍁🦇🍁🎃🍁🧛🏻‍♀️🍁💀🍁

Nessian

Wing Woman - Trick-or-Treating

While Nesta is handing out candy on Halloween, Cassian shows up with a little extra help to ask her out.

Hey, Gourdgeous - Pumpkins

“Wait a minute, are you jealous?” Halloween Edition

Scared, Sweetheart? - Horror Movie

“I may or may not have stayed up to watch a horror movie and now I can’t sleep - don’t laugh at me! - can you please come over?”

🍁👻🍁🦇🍁🎃🍁🧛🏻‍♀️🍁💀🍁

Feysand

Please be More Carveful - Pumpkin Carving

After a disastrous pumpkin carving incident, Feyre’s case becomes the latest in a string of Halloween-related incidents at Rhys’ hospital

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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

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The Thief and the Tinker, Part 3: I See Fire

part 2

Part 3

Viren: Well how do you suggest we get him out?

Claudia: *grins, brandishes marshmallow on toasting fork* Unharmed is just another kind of harmed

Viren: Claudia no

Claudia: Claudia YES

I See Fire

Angst rating: 9/10

Viren is clever enough not to take the Silvergrove on alone, no matter how badly he wants Ethari to make him a magic key. Aaravos could be cooking in that pod for a while longer, but Viren still has a trustworthy and badass ally at his side.

Oh yeah, it's Claudia Time again!

Claudia is a powerful and imaginative dark mage, and she has the tainted Sun staff. So, you're the magefam, and you've made it to Xadia, to the edges of the Moonshadow Forest. And all you need to do to get the power of your dreams is to threaten one soft craftsman. But how do you find one specific Moonshadow elf in a hidden Moonshadow village somewhere in the middle of a giant spooky magical forest?

You burn him out.

Credit once again to@random-fandom-ramble for reminding me of this forest fire headcanon, because it fits so well. and so I don't get all the blame for this one, lol

Because see, that's not ordinary fire. Oh, no. That's dark magic fire. We've seen that before. It leaves permanent scars. Remember Sol Regem's eyes?

That's going to be the landscape when Claudia's fire gets through with the Moonshadow elves' home. Where I live on the US West Coast, they name forest fires, and if they combine, they get called complexes. So maybe we can name this fire the Dark Tragedy Complex? Because I do have to wonder... you could start a dark magic forest fire easily with a tainted Sun staff, but how do you put it out?

Two things are going to happen if these events should unfold. One is angsty. The other is also angsty but then amazing.

Firstly, Viren is going to get what he wants. He'll find Ethari, whose tree burned down :(. He'll show him the coins, and he'll offer a trade. Build what he wants and make it work, and Ethari can have his family back, uncoined and free.

And Ethari will say yes.

He'll say yes no matter what anyone else tries to persuade him to do, and I hope they do try, because see: Ethari has to make it look good. He has to make it look like he's all in on Viren's plan, to Viren. Even if that means turning his back on his people in their time of greatest need.

Secondly, the Moonshadow elves are going to be collectively homeless and bereft, hungry, injured, terrified, angry. They will have nowhere to go. They will be a people without a home. And no one else in Xadia will help them. Maybe they're too terrified to hide Ethari's people in case doing so brings Viren down on them, too. We've seen how ordinary elves flee in terror from dark magic. Maybe they're all fighting other issues, too. Viren knows all about stretching resources too far during times of crisis. Whatever the case, there will be no welcome anywhere in Xadia for the Moonshadow elves of the Moonshadow Forest.

But here's where it gets amazing. Because one hand will reach out. One small hand, from across the border. Good King Ezran will stand up on the seat of his throne and say, "You can stay here. I have forests. You're tired, you're hungry. You need medicine. Let me help."

And I'm gonna cry like a little baby.

How many cycles does this break, how many circles does it complete? Moonshadow elves used to live in Katolis before the border was created. When humans were under threat of total annihilation, the Moonshadow leader's daughter spoke up and asked for mercy. That mercy came in the form of land reassignment, and the Moonshadow elves had to give up their ancestral home, their Nexus, and travel east across the new Border. But that mercy got paired with justice, and the life-loving Moon Druids probably had to swear some kind of blood promise to keep an eye on the humans forevermore, and to kill any individuals who got out of hand, as if their sins were the Moonshadows' responsibility now.

That's got to breed a little resentment, a little superiority. "Look what we sacrificed for you, and this is how you act. Ungrateful." And maybe that was partially Luna Tenebris's goal: to hold to her vision of justice, she had to make the elves who shared her arcanum feel a little resentment. Moonshadows love life, but we can't have them being too soft to keep Xadia safe from dark mages, now, can we? I will never stop cackling over dragon politics okay, never

But the Moonshadow elves never figured on King Ezran. A soft boy who refused to let his father's assassination harden his heart, because every life is genuinely important to him. I've seen headcanons for Ezran getting the Sun, Earth, Ocean, and Stars arcanum. How about Moon, too? Because this is very Ethari of him, and if these stories of Viren's plan and the Moonshadow elves' displacement were actually to happen in tandem, the contrast between Ezran's soft choice and Ethari's hard one would be mindblowing.

Ezran completes the circle by inviting the Moonshadow elves to return to Katolis, to their ancestral home. They left long ago, paying the price for an act of mercy, but they were welcomed back by the mercy of humans, repaid after a thousand years, repaid in the face of tragedy. Tragedy on all sides. Tragedy Ezran wants to stop from happening, by being brave and caring and soft, and by being the first to break this thousand-year cycle between Katolis and the Moonshadow elves.

Rayla is his friend. And these are her people. It won't matter what they've done, only that they need help in a time of great desperation. And of course he'll help them. He's Ezran, and he's Katolis's greatest treasure.

Oh, what's that you say? Inviting the Moonshadow elves to settle in Katolis again would make it easier for Rayla to live with Callum in the future? Oh gosh, how about that? What a deal. *smug matchmaker noises*

And once the Moonshadow elves understand that they're safe and begin to trust Ezran--which could happen very quickly, because saving a Moonshadow elf's life when you didn't need to is a really fast way to prove you're trustworthy--maybe Ezran will be encouraged to take the next step toward peace, and eventually other elves and dragons will come to meet together to talk it over. And Ez will offer them jelly tarts, which they will love.

Back to Ethari, because we're not done with him yet. Ethari is soft, but he isn't weak. He won't be a willing pawn for Viren. He loves Runaan to the point of invention, and his devotion is more constant than the moon itself. He'll agree to do what Viren says, and he'll be Very Sad. But his spirit is in no way broken. Viren bribing him with the coins containing his family will only have the opposite effect. It'll give Ethari something to fight for.

We could get Focused Chaos Ethari. We could get Angery Trickster Ethari. We could get Rules, What Rules? Ethari. Let him try to steal the coins, try to break them, try to kill Viren, and be stymied at every turn, until he settles and seems cowed. And then all he does is craft his way out of the problem. What if we are gifted with Iron Man Ethari, who pretends to build a fake Key for Viren, but meanwhile he's really building a coinbuster with whatever he can get his hands on - primal stones, magically imbued gemstones, stolen artifacts, his own arcanum, his own reputation as the Master Craftsman of the Silvergrove. He'll use almost- almost - anything, to stop Viren and free his family.

Ethari may have to choose between those two things, though. And he's a hero, deep down, just like his family, just like his daughter. If he has to choose, he'll choose to stop Viren and save Xadia. He'll pay the same price as his family has if he must.

He'd let Viren think he was motivated purely by wanting his family back, but Ethari is far too steeped in the illusion and sacrifice for that to be all there is to his motives. It's a so-close-and-yet-so-far thing, how he and Viren almost embody the same ideals. Almost. Ethari would take one look at Viren, who just burnt down his whole Forest, he'd see the biggest threat in Xadia, and he'd say anything to get a chance to stop this juggernaut of destruction from getting his hands on whatever that ultimate power really is, locked behind that missing key. If he has to abandon his people and bawl his eyes out to convince Viren he's in, then he will.

And Viren wouldn't make it easy for him. He knows clever when he sees it. He went through all this trouble to persuade Ethari to work with him. He would need to keep Ethari as off-balance as possible to ensure that he keeps working as he should.

Angsty jewelry, anyone: Viren giving Ethari his husband in pendant form to remind him what he's working for, when Viren and Ethari both know full well that only dark magic can open the hellcoins. Ethari wearing another pendant of his love, except it's not a metaphor this time. It's literally his love, in a coin around his neck.

Viren would know that Ethari would have to stay close to Viren of his own free will if he ever hoped to free Runaan. And making people bind themselves to you is a big power flex. Remember that TDP stream future-season teaser note about Bait being in a creepy restraint in a future season?

This card is written on in all-caps, so that really could be "Bait" or "bait," or--knowing this show--both. Viren's been using Runaan as bait for Ethari all along. Putting his coin in a dark magic pendant casing for Ethari to wear would be a great parallel for that. Oh god. Oh man.

Maybe he'll stab the coin's scary casing right through that circle on Ethari's chest, right over his heart, make that Iron Man reference really obvious. Ethari also losing his shirt at some point, for angsty Viren-related reasons? It's more likely than you think. I mean... Ethari is literally involved in both forms of forging at this point. Shirt's gotta come off for uhhhh work reasons. And because he's hot. Because of all the forging. I mean how else are we finally going to discover what his markings look like

I mentioned that I liked god-tier villains, right? Yeah, this is amazing. I haven't wanted to die and ascend over an idea for quite a while, but Ethari vs Viren in a drawn-out battle of wills would kill me in the best way. Especially since, while it looks like they're essentially fighting for who gets Runaan, they're truly fighting a much larger battle with much higher stakes. They're fighting for the future itself. It's an epic struggle between the Narrative of Strength and the Narrative of Love. And we've seen what happens, over and over, when the Narrative of Strength gets to call the shots.

On a meta note: If Runaan and Ethari's story arc isn't a love letter from one trauma survivor to another, and on a broader scope to all survivors who see it, I don't know what is. Sometimes life just chews us up and spits us out and we can't stop it and it breaks us. But sometimes we can reach out and grasp the chance to help each other, even after that, even when it hurts a lot, because we know what it means to be loved, and to love, and to want a safer future for each other and for people we'll never meet. The future is worth standing together for, helping each other back up for, fighting side by side for, even if you can't see how it'll end, or even how to begin. We are stronger together, and sometimes we need to fight for our "together" before we can fight for anything else. And that's worth it, every time.

This is glorious, it's beautiful, it's tragic, it's amazing, it makes me want to dance, it makes me want to scream into the void, it makes me want to slap someone with a semi truck. No, someone specific, don't worry, and he super deserves it.

Because Ethari is going to win. He was always going to win. He's soft, and he's clever, and he hasn't forgotten what love means. It's what he's fighting for. Not power, not control. Love. He doesn't want to dictate Runaan's future, or anyone else's. He just wants his husband--and everyone else--to have one at all.

So he's going to win.

What beating Viren looks like, I can't guess yet. TDP is no stranger to angst, so there will probably be a high cost involved in thwarting the dark mage. Maybe not everyone can be rescued from the coins. Maybe Ethari will lose his life, or his soul, or his vision, or something else really angsty. Viren could even kill him and resurrect him as a smoky craftsman, or a zombie craftsman, or something equally biddable but horrible. The only thing I'm sure of is that Ethari would never willingly make a working Key of Aaravos Ethari as long as there's a chance Viren could possess it. But I do believe that if he gets the right opportunity while he's busy saving the world from Viren's dark intentions, he'll break his husband's hellcoin open somehow and set him free, even if he has to smile at the devil to do it.

part 4

#tdp #tdp theory #tdp speculation #tdp parallels #viren #ethari #laindrin #runaan #moonshadow elves #moonshadow assassins #hopepunk #tdp angst #heavy angst #tw trauma

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siren1song · 4 years

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Dating in Quarantine

Summary: The group is on video call, trying to decide the best dating strategy for quarantine.

Warnings: Quarantine, mildly suggestive language

Pairings: Anxceit, Logince, Intruality

Word Count: 878

Taglist: @acanvasofabillionsuns, @emo-disaster, @greenninjagal-blog, @jungle321jungle, @sleepy-sides, @gattonero17, @another-sandersidesblog, @strawberryjellystuff, @logic-with-a-pinch-of-deceit, @gr3ml1n-loser, @main-chive, @firey-alex, @spooky-scary-virgil, @yalltookmyurlideas, @sanderssidesweirdo, @stormypaint, @just-a-little-bit-gay-oops, @dying-is-a-hobby, @the-angry-ship, @rosesisupposes, @just-perhaps

Notes: I’m too tired to put my usual promotional stuff. Plus I gotta remake my commissions post to reflect new and updated information so just. Enjoy these dorks. Oh also I wrote this for @fandom-games!!

Ao3 Link!!

“You are not seriously suggesting that sending dick pics is a way to land a date in quarantine.”

“I am! And you’re too coward to admit it!”

Virgil sometimes wondered if Remus considered the words he said, or if he based every thought purely on how much it would annoy Roman.

“Uh… Remus, honey, explicit pictures are only good when they’re asked for by the person you wanna send them to,” Patton spoke up, his camera quality making him jump around the screen and his uncomfortable expression barely visible.

“See! Patton’s right. You can’t woo any man by sending pictures nobody wants to see!”

“Roman,” Logan interrupted, briefly turning on his own camera to give his boyfriend a look, despite the fact that Virgil could see Roman on his desktop in his background.

While Virgil watched them argue, he got a dm from his own boyfriend, who was technically downstairs but neither of them felt like bothering to move from their spots.

[Snake Boi] how long until they realize remus is basing his argument on experience?

Quickly muting himself, Virgil let out a loud snort. Patton narrowed his eyes at his screen (he thinks, the camera fuzz made it difficult to tell) and he typed a quick bullshit explanation of his allergies acting up or something.

[Bat-tle Axe] forever until patton admits he’s not as clueless as they all think

[Snake Boi] i still think we should coerce them into admitting their relationship to the others

[Bat-tle Axe] tricking patton into saying hes in love with remus isnt coercing snake bite

[Snake Boi] youre no fun

“Virgil? You’ve been muted for several minutes, are your allergies that bad?” Logan asked, making Virgil swear as he finally unmuted himself.

“Nah, I just forgot to unmute myself. What’s the verdict on dating in quarantine?” he asked, toying with the idea of turning on his camera before once again deciding against it.

He hasn’t done laundry in weeks, and was just in a hoodie and boxers, he’d rather not expose that to the world.

“Ya sure that’s all, kiddo?” Patton asked, his camera flickering into a rare moment of clarity to show Virgil his suspicious look.

[Bat-tle Axe] shit pat’s onto me

“Yeah, pops, I’m sure.”

Patton grinned at the fatherly nickname and his camera quality went right back down the shitter.

“Anyway, the verdict on dating in quarantine is none of you know how to make a man swoon,” Roman said, continuing the conversation and glaring at the screen.

Remus’ grin indicated that while Virgil was distracted, he’d said something to infuriate his brother.

“You don’t either, Roman,” Logan pointed out, though his voice was quieter and his account had left the call so Virgil was pretty sure he decided to do something productive.

Virgil let out another snort, covering his mouth with one hand even if his camera was off.

[Snake Boi] yOu DOnT eitHeR roMAn

[Snake Boi] logan stfu youre the one who didnt even realize roman was crushing on you for a whole year

A wheeze and a too fast rush to breathe later, Virgil was choking on air and pushing his laptop off his stomach so he could sit up and ease the coughing.

“You alright over there, Ursula?” Remus asked, and it took Virgil a moment but he eventually managed to send a thumbs up into the chat.

“Good! You must be over there choking on Jayjay’s d-”

“That’s enough, Remus!” Janus cut in, finally unmuting his mic in a frantic to not have his best friend bring the conversation to his sexual exploits.

Virgil tried to laugh again, but the scratchiness of his throat sent him into another coughing fit.

“If you guys kill Virgil, I’m killing you,” Roman said, crossing his arms and leaning against his desk to take his glare closer to the camera.

“I thought you had a rivalry with Virgil, dear,” Logan said, his voice louder.

Upon looking up, Virgil noticed he was hovering over Roman’s shoulder, looking at what was happening.

“Yes, but a rivalry means that if anyone is gonna ‘kill’ him, it’s gotta be me,” Roman explained, instinctively turning his head and pressing a kiss to Logan’s cheek, which in turned got a soft smile from Logan.

Gross.

“Nobody is killing anybody! Kiddo, you need to get some water,” Patton said, getting a ridiculously close to his own cam to show his concern.

“Way ahead of you,” Janus said, making Virgil yelp because the fucker was right in his room.

“Don’t-” he started, but was quickly interrupted by another round of coughing.

Janus raised an eyebrow and extended his hand with the glass of water.

“What happened, love bite?”

“Laughed too hard and spit went down the wrong pipe,” Virgil croaked, grabbing the water and drinking until half of it was gone.

While he shifted to put the glass of water on his desk, Janus got comfortable on Virgil’s bed and gestured for him to lay against his chest.

When he finally got his laptop back in his lap, Janus turned the camera on and they were met with a mixed chorus of delight and teasing.

“You all are aware that online dating apps exist, right?” Janus pointed out, and the conversation about dating in quarantine resumed.

#casper writes #ts virgil #ts janus #ts logan #ts patton #ts remus #ts roman #anxceit #logince #intruality #suggestive #quarantine fic #let me know if i need to tag anything else #this is so chaotic klfhdlf

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voiceless-terror · 4 years

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Only a Dream (The Magnus Archives)

Whumptober 2020 Day 15 Alternative Prompt: Nightmares

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Characters: Jonathan Sims, Tim Stoker, Sasha James (Mentioned), Martin Blackwood (Mentioned), Elias Bouchard (Mentioned)

CW: Blood, Injury

Summary:

In his first week as Archivist, Jon has a nightmare that feels like a vision. Tim tells him it’s nothing, so Jon lets it be nothing.

“You with me now boss?”

Jon blinks his eyes open, crusted as they are with sleep and tears. He does not understand where he is or where he came from; he only knows that something terrible has happened and it’s his fault.

“I don’t..” he mumbles, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to gain clarity. “...Tim? Why are you- how did you get in here?” He is in his bedroom, safe and sound. It hurts to look at Tim, it reminds him of a loss he’s never had. How can you grieve for someone standing right in front of you?

“You called Martin,” Tim sits at the edge of his bed, his eyes narrowing in concern. “You don’t remember? You must have been really out of it. He was all worked up, said I had to check on you. Good thing I did- you left your door unlocked.” Why would he call Martin? Martin’s not his friend. Martin’s not even good enough at his job to be considered a colleague. He feels like a thousand lifetimes have passed since he left the office earlier that day and Tim looks more concerned as the silence grows between them; he leans over and places a hand to Jon’s forehead.

“You’re burning up,” he murmurs. “Have you taken anything for that?” Burning up. There was fire in his dream, a lot of it. And Tim- Tim. He grabs at the arm that retreats from his face and holds it.

“Tim,” he whispers desperately. “I think I...I had a bad dream.” The words feel childish on his tongue but they are true. “But I think...I think it was i-important?” He needs to tell someone, needs to spill out the words so he doesn’t forget. He needs a witness.

“Uh, alright,” Tim says and he sits back at the edge of the bed. Good. “D’you...want to talk about it?”

“Yes. Yes!” Jon croaks as he sits up in bed a little too eagerly, head spinning with feverish need. “Will you...are you listening?” It’s very important that Tim listens.

“Course, boss,” the smile is just to humor him, he knows this. Tim finds this amusing. “Now tell me all about it.”

“There was...there was a house.”

It was a house in the sense that it housed something, but it was not an ordinary home and it was not for people. There was a tree in the yard, silhouetted against a perfect streak of lightning that was painted across the sky, frozen and wrong in every way. A woman hung from that tree once. A stained metal plate on it’s siding reads 105. He knocked at the door and it opened with an aching creak as if the house were moaning in pain. Jon saw something creep out of the corner of his eye.

“There were spiders everywhere. All over.”

“Spiders! Spooky. I know how you hate ‘em.”

Hate was an understatement. The house was full of shadows and he could only follow movement by their change in the light. There was a basement in this house but he wasn’t supposed to go in there. Not yet. Even though it called to him with answers spoken in his own voice. There was a hand at his arm, cold and unyielding and it led him in the right direction.

“It was Sasha, but it wasn’t. Not really.”

This Sasha was a blank canvas and a painted smile. She kept handing him statements, too many of them and they kept slipping through his fingers even though he knew they were important. His body was starting to ache like his bones were too much and not enough but she kept going and he kept walking, right into a dining room. The table was set but there was no food. Each plate held something incongruous- a bullet, a rib, a worm- and only one person sat at the head of the table, a small remote-looking device on their plate. It was Tim.

“But you were full of holes-”

“Gross! Why would you ruin a pretty face like mine?”

“And you were so angry.”

“Doesn’t sound like me.”

This Tim had a hollow voice and a feral laugh. He was mouthing words that Jon was glad he couldn’t hear for they looked to be filled with a ferocity and hate he wouldn’t be able to bear. He was staring at Jon’s face but wasn’t looking him in the eyes. It was then that he caught his reflection in a mirror above Tim- he was full of holes too. Bleeding and unhealed, unlike Tim’s scars. And he looked so very sad.

The room was getting too warm so he stepped back, closing the door on Tim and it felt like an end, like if he reopened it Tim would be gone. There was a coldness coming from the stairs and he knew somehow that Martin was up there. So he walked and walked and it got colder and colder and Martin was there but Jon couldn’t find him. It was important that he spoke to Martin. But Martin didn’t want to see Jon.

“Now I know this is a dream. Martin would never!”

So he kept going up and up and it hurt more and more but there was someone in the attic. Only it wasn’t an attic, it was a tower with too many windows and a warped floor. Elias was there, bathed in a green light and looking out the window but when Jon approached he turned to him. He had a gift and he placed it in his hands with a beatific smile. Told him he was doing a good job, and Jon smiled back.

He opened his hands and in his palms were two glowing, green eyes staring right back.

“That’s nasty. Where do you come up with these things?”

“I think I did something really, really bad, Tim.”

“Yeah, you did. You dreamed up this creepy little caper and you told me about it.”

“You don’t-” his mind struggles to find the words and he feels the dream slipping from him. He should have written it down or recorded it. “-you don’t get it.” Jon is tired and he feels himself slumping back down, teetering on the edge of consciousness. One week in the Archives and he’s already lost his mind. “What does it mean?”

He sees rather than feels Tim’s pat on his leg. “Stay put. I’ll grab some meds and you’ll be in la-la land momentarily. No scary dreams, I promise.” His tone is patronizing and Jon wants to scowl.

Tim leaves the room and Jon is alone. The clock on the wall ticks in a repeated, comforting manner that echoes in the silence. A spider creeps along the floor and he wants to yell at Tim to kill it but he can’t summon the energy. Best to let it be.

He asks Tim about the dream later that night but is waved off. “Just a run-of-the mill fever dream, don’t worry about it. Means nothing.”

Tomorrow he will come into work and stare at Martin and Sasha for a little too long. When Elias hands him a file he will flinch and Elias will stare. But his skin is smooth and he doesn’t hurt and the dream will fade to an itch and then to nothing.

You can’t live in nightmares, after all. Eventually you have to open your eyes.

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27025453

#whumptober2020 #nightmares #no.15 #blood cw #injury cw #altprompt #fic #tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #tim stoker #sasha james #elias bouchard #my writing #my creepiest yet honestly

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lavenderek · 4 years

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i have a thought to express, feel free to scroll past.

i’m gonna discuss rape and sexual abuse in this post. it’s also long because i don’t really have a conclusion, it’s just some thoughts.

so i was looking into that reality show that facilitated shane dawson’s horrible movie “not cool” and i stumbled across a reddit thread posted by someone who was a fan of his as a preteen. the OP alleged that shane’s content contributed to them developing some serious issues including body dysmorphia and the normalization of sexual behavior involving children.

some of the comments were in support and agreement, but a large amount of them were like, “where were your parents? it’s not shane’s job to police what you see online. it’s not his fault you were too young for his content.”

now, shane was well aware from the jump that his fans were mostly kids and teens - he talked about it multiple times - but that’s not what this post is about. this post is about that particular argument, which does not sit well with me.

it reminded me of a couple years ago when i made a very critical post about c*ptive prince.

pause: i want to make it crystal clear that i am not drawing a comparison between people who like cp and shane dawson. i’m not mad anymore, so i am not making this post making a value judgment on cp or fans of it, positive or negative.

specifically, i was really bothered by the way cp content was posted and shared with no mention of or reference to the actual material. people were calling it a queer romance. it was a little-known series by a little-known author, so there were no synopses anywhere online, only the summary you’d see on the back of the book. so people would seek out cp thinking it was a romance and be blindsided by the fact that, spoilers, the story is set in a fantasy world where child rape is a major tenet of society. the scenes are explicit, detailed, and many. it’s not a thing that happens once or twice and is a major plot point, it’s a thing that happens multiple times in every chapter and is just kind of a thing that’s going on. if you’ve ever read twilight, i would compare the presence of rape in cp to the presence of rain in twilight.

like, that’s how often it happened, that’s how it was treated. sometimes with indifference, sometimes with a negative opinion, sometimes it caused problems, bella talks about it every two pages. it is a very rapey series.

and people like, did not want to discuss this. they were like, “the characters decide the rape is bad in the end. and that’s not even what the story is about, it just happens in the story. i don’t know what to tell you.” like... people were not receptive to any kind of conversation about this topic lmfao, it was very touchy. they wanted to acknowledge that rape itself is bad, and then they wanted the subject closed.

now, why is this a problem? i read the books. there were parts i enjoyed, and there were parts i didn’t enjoy. i’m not gonna reread them, but i’m still game to talk about it. ultimately i wanted to be able to talk about books with a friend of mine, and while i was like, “yikes, this is a lot of rape, was not expecting the volume of rape,” it didn’t occur to me this would be a pervasive issue at all until a different friend of mine happened upon it. this other friend was a rape survivor, and i happened to know she would find this content very upsetting. when she said she was thinking of buying the book, i was like, “halt, you know what happens in it, right?”

nope! she didn’t. she saw cute fanart and a ficlet on her dash, somebody told her it was a queer romance. nowhere was there any indicator in summaries online or the posts she was seeing that the book would describe a person being drugged and sexually abused. she was pretty relieved that i’d warned her and shaken that that’s what happens in the books lmao. she would never have guessed. the cp fandom was made up of people who loved the main pairing, and they’d talk about them being in love and draw them being in love, and it felt like everybody was just acting like the rape wasn’t even present in the books lmao.

pause: i didn’t go in the tags. this is not representative of the fandom as a whole. this is just my and my friend’s experience of it as passive internetgoers.

people got uncomfortable and a little defensive if i brought it up. they’d agree to tag for cp, but if you don’t know what cp is about, that isn’t helpful information. like that post that’s like, “waterboarding at guantanamo bay sounds like a lot of fun if you don’t know what either of those things are” lmao. if you don’t know what cp is about, tagging for it just tells you what it’s called. and it very clearly ruined everyone’s fun if i talked about this.

so that’s what i was mad about, i was mad that i felt as though there was no recourse here, and i was mad because i felt like the cp fandom was the emperor’s new clothes. nobody was acting like it even existed and everybody got uncomfortable if i brought it up, like, i legitimately wondered at some point if i had somehow accidentally read a kinky rewrite of it, that the real version did not have rape in it and nobody knew what i was talking about. i felt like i was going crazy and i got shitty in the middle of the night one time, and wrote that post.

i ultimately deleted it, so i do not remember how it was worded; but i do recall that it was a venting post, it was not intended to reach a wider audience. i was not trying to convince anyone in that moment, i was just talking shit. so i can bet that it probably came across as very judgmental and unkind.

i made a bunch of people very angry with that post. somebody got thousands of notes by reblogging with an impassioned smackdown saying basically what those redditors were saying about shane - it’s not their job to police what people see online. it’s not their fault you were unprepared for cp.

i do not think this is a nuanced enough argument because i do not think it acknowledges that not all content is created equal.

i even got an anon ask in good faith saying, well, a huge trigger for me is body horror, and people will draw or reblog stuff with body horror in it, and i can’t hold that against them.

and like, no, you can’t, but body horror is not the same as rape or child sexual abuse. body horror isn’t the same as sex trafficking. right? like those things aren’t comparable in the way that i think the anon was wanting them to be. they were saying that both of these are common triggers that people would want tagged and be unable to move past in media, you know? and i get that, i got what they were saying.

kind of like that cartoonist who wrote a spooky horror comic a while ago and somebody sent them an ask being like, “that was really scary, you usually post fun comics, this was damaging, unfollowed :/” like obviously a stranger’s fear of spooky things is not something he should be expected to take on on his own blog lmao. i am deeply afraid of ghosts, by the way.

but according to rainn.org, 1 in 5 women experience rape in their lifetime. 1 in 5 women are not frightened by literal ghosts in their lifetime. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys aren’t body horrored. body horror and ghosts aren’t used on a global scale as tools to control and abuse people and they do not have the same connotations of shame, degradation, and control. the things are not the same.

i don’t have an easy answer. i can’t wave my magic wand and make people not enjoy the rape erotica, nor was that my goal in the first place. i wasn’t clutching my pearls like, “how dare you! do not draw this art! think of the children!” and i don’t know how else i would have solved the problem, aside from having a weird disclaimer under your art of two dudes cuddling that says “warning, these dudes are from a book that’s got several thousand words of explicit rape in it, and i know that, you’re not the only one seeing that,” like that’s a lot and i get it.

i don’t have an easy answer because there isn’t one. i felt like “well, that’s not my problem” was an easy answer.

as i get older, the more responsibility i have as an adult online to maintain boundaries between me and minors, for example. i am not responsible for their internet experience and they can’t get mad at me for cussing or writing about gay werewolves on my blog, but i do have to be mindful of that context if i’m interacting with someone online. that’s where the complexity comes in. you can’t wash your hands of the context of the things you say and do online.

just how to solve these problems, i did not know then and i do not know now. i guess we take it on a case by case basis.

if you’re curious about shane dawson and his horrible movie, by the way, this guy did a few funny videos about the horrible movie and this guy did a not funny but comprehensive breakdown of shane and his career.

and i tried to tint my eyebrows for the first time the other day, i have red hair and my eyebrows are darker than my hair for some reason, so i tried to use an eyebrow tint to lift my brows just like, a shade, so be closer to my hair? but in doing this i discovered that my eyebrows are a mixture of red and brown?

so the red hairs lifted to a sunny orange, and the brown hairs stayed brown. so my eyebrows are fully like, calico right now. boom, orange juice, that’s life

#diary post #long post

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lieutenantcharleslorem · 4 years

Link

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Julian Bashir & Elim Garak, Julian Bashir/Elim Garak Characters: Julian Bashir, Elim Garak, Jadzia Dax, Jake Sisko, Miles O'Brien, Molly O'Brien Summary:

When Garak asks what Halloween is, he ends up getting roped into a get together to carve pumpkins. Maybe it's more fun that he expected.

Some softness between Garak and Bashir, but nothing happens so could be read as friendship.

---

Garak sat down across from Dr. Bashir delicately, and placed his napkin in the neck of his shirt as he always did. They had opted for Quarks today as the replicators in the replimat had been acting up.

“Apologies for my lateness, Doctor. I was absorbed in a project.”

“Not at all, Garak, I’m afraid I’ve only been here a few minutes myself.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Garak taking a sip of water, and Julian putting some sort of sauce on his sandwich.

After a long pause Garak asked, “Doctor, what is Halloween?”

“Halloween?” The doctor asked almost incredulously.

“If its something private to humans forget I asked—”

“Oh, no, it’s not private at all. I was just surprised you want to know about such things.”

“I don’t even know if I want to know. I know nothing about it. Only that I am making a tail for Molly for Halloween. Normally I would have asked Mrs. O'Brien. She doesn’t mind a chat. But as her husband was with her, I assumed he wouldn’t want to sit through a long explanation.”

“I don’t think the chief’ould minded. It’s a holiday.”

“See, if it is sacred I would understand not wanting to share—”

“It’s not sacred at all. … Well, maybe it depends on your definition or sacred,” Bashir said with a smile. “Some people enjoy taking it very seriously.”

“It’s patriotic then?”

“No. Well no more than any other holiday from one’s own culture. It’s… spooky.”

“Spooky? If memory serve that’s your soft word for scary, correct. Almost playful?”

“Yeah, and that describes the holiday pretty well too.”

“So it is a holiday that is scary… but in a… fun way?”

“Exactly, couldn’t have put it better myself.”

“That sounds like something Klingons would come up with.”

“Not that kind of scary. I don’t think Klingons would even say the word spooky, probably think its undignified.”

“Right… I still have no idea what Halloween is.”

“Ugh, Garak.”

“Well, Doctor, you must admit you haven’t exactly painted me a picture.”

“Okay, okay, so I don’t know if anything I’m about to say is true—”

“What?”

“I’d have to ask the computer, but what I remember is 2 separate things that could just both be myths, but they were that people wanted to celebrate the people who had died that year so everyone went around to the families of people who’d died and exchanged gifts with them. The other thing is this idea that maybe people believed this was a night spirits were able to come to the tangible world, but if we all dressed like we were as scary as them… maybe they’d think we were one of them and leave us alone?”

“O…Kay….”

“But then as things do, it grows and changes, gets taken over by different people, and becomes this very secular cross culture holiday, where children and sometimes adults go around in costumes and knock on people’s doors. They say trick or treat, and the person gives them food or toys.”

“Trick or treat?”

“Yes, it used to mean that if the kids didn’t get something they would do something mean like scare the homeowner, or throw eggs at the house.”

“My goodness.”

“But nobody does that anymore. I think the last time something like that happened was something like 50 years ago when a bunch of teenagers replicated exorbitant amounts of toilet paper and covered the president’s house in it. Of course the president of the Federation was human at the time—” Garak nodded. “And if I remember correctly he wasn’t particularly angry. Just said something like, anyone who wanted to was welcome to take some of it home to recycle through their replicators.”

“So… Give me a treat… or get tricked?”

“Exactly.”

“Forgive me if this is a cynical question… but why provide the treats? Also what constitutes a treat?”

“Well, like I said I believe the tradition changed over time, probably having been more personal in the past, but why we still do is probably not just tradition but remembered tradition, childhood joy, you know? When you’re a kid, you go trick-or-treating, and then you start to get a little older, and even if you’re still going you might go later than you used to and you start opening the door to your house for the little kids who’s parents take them just before dark. And they’re sweet and cute, and you develop these 2 types of fond memories. And you do it as long as you can, and then you grow up, and you don’t think, why should I do this for other people? –you think, oh I can’t wait to see the little kids this year.”

“It sounds like you really like Halloween.”

“Eh… Do I? Maybe it’s just easy to wax poetic when you’re far from home. I haven’t celebrated Halloween since I was at the academy.”

“Cadets still trick-or-treat?”

“Ahaha, no, no at that age it’s usually big parties and bad hangovers.”

“I see…”

“Oh, but San Francisco does do the Spook Parade every year, and that’s what I usually did with Erit. There would be stalls, food and drink, a pumpkin carving contest, not to mention the thousands of people walking down the street dressed as zombies and ghosts and all manner of spooks.”

“That sounds like quite a gathering. If we did things like that on Cardassia one could certainly disappear into a crowd…”

“There’s a lot of commotion. I don’t know how much a spy could learn about anyone at a Halloween party.”

“What ever do you mean? I certainly wasn’t suggesting someone go on some sort of reconnaissance mission dressed as a ghost. I was merely observing that it sounds like bigger crowds than Cardassians are used to.”

“Of course.”

“Now, what was this you said about carving pumpkins?”

“You cut faces into them.”

“But… what’s a pumpkin?”

“It’s like, a gord. Like Bajoran spice yams.”

“… Ah, and you use them to make sculptures…”

“Sort of…”

“Why?”

“It’s spooky. And I don’t know, it’s fun.” Garak didn’t look convinced. “Jake,” Julian, said as he saw Jake walking by, “Tell Garak it’s fun to carve pumpkins.”

Jake stopped. “I haven’t carved pumpkins in ages! When are you doing it?” he asked leaning over and putting his elbows on their table.

“Oh, we weren’t actually planning on anything,” replied Bashir.

“Yes,” said Garak, “I would prefer not to be covered in yams.”

“Aw, but that’s half the fun,” said Jake.

The Chief and Dax walked down the steps from the upper level. Garak and Bashir weren’t sitting far from the stairs and they could hear, “What do you mean, off?”

“I don’t know, it just taste a little off,” replied Dax.

The chief sighed. “I’ll look at it tomorrow.”

“You know,” said Bashir, refocusing them, “Maybe we could make Jack O’ Lanterns together.”

“Did someone say something about Jack O’ Lanterns?” asked O’Brien. “You know my people invented pumpkin carving.”

“I see,” said Garak skeptically. He had heard many humans claim their ancestors did important things. He never understood why, wasn’t it enough that humans did it?

“That’s not just bluster,” said the doctor, seeing the look on Garak’s. “Pretty sure the Irish did start the tradition, but there were a lot of Irish immigrants in America.”

“You realize I don’t know what those words mean.”

“Uh… People who talk like Miles moved to where people talk like Jake.” Garak smiled cheekily, knowing Bashir was really dumbing it down for him. “And, back in the midst of capitalism, where Sisko lived had a lot of social influence, and if they were doing something fun, everyone wanted to do it.”

“What about where you’re from?”

“Well, I’ve heard Britain was a little late on the Halloween bandwagon, but by the time I was born not celebrating Halloween was sacrilege.”

“You said it wasn’t sacred.”

“You know what I mean.”

“It’d be cool to carve some pumpkins,” said Jake. “Not a lot of human activities on the station.”

“Oo! If you’re doing it, I want to come,” said Dax. “I like digging out the guts.”

“We could do it on Halloween, since it’s this weekend,” said Jake.

“Your quarters?” Jadzia asked Julian.

“My quarters? Yes, alright. What do you say, Garak?”

Garak paused. “I have no desire to get my hands dirty.”

“Wear gloves then,” said Jake cheerily as though Garak wasn’t just trying to get out of it.

“Yeah, Gar’ or we can do fake ones,” said Jadzia. Julian knew they didn’t care one way or the other if he came. They must’ve just been pushing him for Julian’s sake.

Or perhaps it was just worth it for the look on Garak’s face at the sound of Jadzia shortening his name. He stared at her incredulously, and she stared back, daring him to make a fuss over how she’d addressed him.

Finally he sighed and said, “Oh, well, if you insist.”

“Well if you all are havin’ a little Halloween party,” said O’Brien, “I’m bringing the kids by to trick or treat.”

“Oh, yeah, my dad has been working on some chocolate recipe of my grandpa’s,” said Jake.

“Ah, he’s gonna get the kids all sugared up.”

“I’ll do something non-edible,” said the doctor.

“Thanks, Julian,” O’Brien said patting Julian on the back. He started to walk away and Dax followed.

“Wait, Chief, also the circuits in the…”

They couldn’t hear anymore as they walked out of earshot.

When Garak showed up to Bashir’s quarters Halloween night, Dax and Jake were already there. He felt like he should have arrived earlier. But the good doctor seemed like he thought everything was going perfectly.

“Come in, come in!” He rushed.

‘He’s had sweets,’ Garak thought, as he watched Julian bounce up and down happily. He was relived to see that he had been right in his assumption about the dress code, which was simply spooky and not full uncomfortable costumes just to sit around in Bashir’s quarters. Jake was wearing a hideous orange tunic with a little black pumpkin pattern, Jadzia looked comfy in a loose black dress with a spiderweb print, and Bashir’s long-sleeved turtleneck had the outline of bones.

Garak didn’t have access to anything so kitschy, so he’d worn a normal red outfit but added a black cape. It actually kept him warmer than usual, so it was no inconvenience.

Julian had moved his table away from the wall so they could sit on all sides. It wasn’t as big as Sisko’s but it would fit the 4 of them.

“Well don’t you two look festive?” Garak said as he sat down across from Dax and Jake, trying to be polite.

Julian had disappeared somewhere, but suddenly he was back and pouring everyone a drink.

“It’s black,” said Jake.

“It’s witches brew,” said Julian as though it was the scariest thing in the alpha quadrant.

Jadzia to a sip. “It’s wine.”

“Oh, I shouldn’t…” Jake said sniffing his glass and then taking a taste. “Oh, it’s root beer.”

Garak tilted his glass of black liquid and saw it was a bit more viscous than the others. “Kanar?” he asked. Julian nodded as he placed a large pumpkin down on the table.

“So,” he said, “I ordered these from earth, they’re the genuine article. I also got some gourds from Bajor. And I replicated these little foam ones, so they have no guts, and if we wanted to keep them forever we could, or we can just throw them back in the replicator.”

“I’ll take a gourd,” said Jake, pulling a bright red fruit toward himself.

Julian grabbed him a bowl. “Save your guts,” he told him. “The major wants to make some sort of face mask with it.”

“What?” said Jadzia, “she hates that kind of stuff.”

“I don’t know, she only told me Bajorans think it’s good for the skin.”

Jadzia looked a little annoyed, but she let it go and started pulling the largest pumpkin over to her. “I’m gonna take this big boy.”

“How do you know it’s a boy?” Garak said with a practiced innocence.

“Because I decided he is, and gourds don’t seem to mind what gender you tell them they are. Not like cats.”

They stared at her for a moment waiting for further explanation, but she just picked up a knife and started cutting into the top.

Julian continued to get a few things as they started to work: different shaped knives, cookies shaped like bats, cheese and crackers.

He placed a little plate of chocolate next to Garak when he realized Garak wasn’t working.

“Garak, aren’t you going to carve a pumpkin?”

“That’s alright, I don’t want to take from anyone else.”

“Garak, that’s why you’re here. There’s plenty of pumpkins. Too many, in fact.”

“I don’t want to make a mess.”

“Use a foam one.”

“Well, it’s not entirely free of mess, is it? I—”

“Alright, we all know that you think this is silly, but just try to have fun, will you? Here, we’ll use this foam one,” Julian said, sitting close to Garak and pulling over a glitter covered fake pumpkin about the size of a basketball.

“I’ll do this eye,” he continued, “And you do that one.”

He started cutting into the pumpkin, and Garak felt as though he’d been left with no choice so he acquiesced and picked up a knife. He hadn’t been expecting that they would work on one together, and he tried desperately to hide his smile. They had to be close to work on the same pumpkin, so as they carved, their arms sat against each other. It was warm.

Sitting with the lights dimmed to see the glow from their pumpkins, Garak had to admit he was enjoying himself a bit more than 16:00 hours and one glass of Kanar would usually allow. Julian was just explaining what the Monster Mash was when there was a beep at the door.

“Yes?” Julian replied.

The sound of children singing, “Trick or treat!” came through the com.

Julian got up, a stack of something in his hand, and went to the door. Garak decided to follow.

“Happy Halloween!” Julian shouted as he opened the door. “Now what might you be?” he asked Molly.

There were 5 children standing at his feet, one other human besides Molly, two Bajorans and a Bolian. Miles stood next to them holding a tiny Kirayoshi in a bee costume.

“I’m a cat,” said Molly. “Look,” she turned around, “Mr. Garak made my tail stand up!” Garak smiled.

“That’s amazing, and what about the rest of you?” Julian asked. He looked to the Bolian.

“I’m a bizchin!” Julian believed that was a Bolian bearlike creature, but he wasn’t sure. The boy was covered in fake fur though.

“I’m a princess,” said the other human.

“What about you?” Julian asked a Bajoran in all black who seemed to be wearing red contacts.

“I’m a Pah Wraith,” he said shyly.

“Spooky,” said Garak. “And you?” he asked the other Bajoran.

The child seemed very embarrassed. His face was covered in gray make up and he seemed to have drawn some squares on his face but it was difficult to tell as they were smudged.

“Uh… Molly said that you… be something that scares you…”

“And what’s that?” asked Julian.

The child mumbled something.

“What did you say?” asked Garak, kneeling so he could get a better look at the boy.

“I’m a Cardassian…”

Julian winced. He looked at Garak, hoping this wasn’t going to start something.

“Excellent choice,” said Garak. “Your costume is quite scary. You remind me of some legates I know. Downright terrifying.”

The Bajoran smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Oh, no?”

“No, you’re just a tailor.”

“That’s right, just a tailor.”

“So,” said Julian, “Would any of you like a coloring book?”

They all nodded, and he handed them each one.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got something for you too, Yoshi,” said the doctor lifting up a little ghost. “BoOoOo,” he said to him quietly. “Can you say boo?”

“Bbbbbbbb,” Yoshi imitated, taking the toy and gumming its head.

“Straight in the mouth,” said Miles, “Everything straight in his mouth.”

“It’s clean,” said Julian with a smile, “It’s a teether.”

“Thanks, Julian. Always thinkin, you.”

One of the Bajoran children was still looking at Garak. “I wouldn’t think a Cardassian would want to celebrate a human holiday.”

Garak smiled. “I just like to have fun.”

“Me too,” said the Bolian.

“Come on, guys,” said Molly, “We still have to go to the Cap’in’s and he’ll have food,” said Molly.

“Alright,” said Miles, “Everyone say thank you to the Doctor and Mr. Garak, and let’s go.”

“Thank you, doctor, thank you, Garak,” came a mix of voices as they started to walk away.

“Happy Halloween,” said Molly, and everyone got the idea they should say it too.

“Happy Halloween, Dr. Bashir!”

“Happy Halloween, Garak!”

“Happy Halloween!” Garak called out after them. “…Such a charming group,” he said after the door had slid shut.

“You know you never mention how much you like children.”

“Like children? No more than any other age of humanoid.”

“You sure about that?” Julian asked joining the others in the living area. Jadzia had laid down on the couch and Jake had her feet in his lap so that he could fit on the couch too. The room was still only lit by Jack O’ Lanterns.

“I suppose I… like people whom the universe hasn’t ruined yet.” He glanced at him, and Julian could feel the underlying like you.

As much as Garak complained about Federation optimism, he did grow tired of people full of prejudice, jaded and beaten down. Julian, and children were still fresh.

“I had too much root beer,” Jake admitted.

“May have overindulged as well,” said Jadzia, hiding her face in her elbow.

“Well, if everyone needs to head out and get some sleep—”

“I didn’t say that,” said Jadzia.

“Yeah…” said Jake quietly “You know it’s kinda nice having a relaxed Halloween.”

“Yeah, Curson went to some crazy Halloween parties, but it’s nice to just be… chill?”

“Well, if you’re sticking around, we could watch a Halloween film. I can probably get it up on the computer screen,” said Julian.

“Okay,” said Jadzia, sitting up to make room for him. Jake scooted over too.

Julian sat down on the couch, fiddling with a pad to find something to watch. He patted the empty space next to him.

“Sit down, Garak.”

With 4 people on the same couch they all had to sit quite close, but the doctor didn’t seem to mind.

“Doctor…”

“Yes, Garak?”

“Thanks for… showing me your rituals. For you know, including me.”

“You’re always welcome.”

#ds9 #halloween #garashir #garak/bashir #fanfiction

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idonteat-idontsleep · 5 years

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Wyrmsrules: answer 17 questions and tag 17 people you wanna get to know better

Nickname: Babydoll, it’s tattooed on my knuckles. There are some who call me Papa because I once essentially started a cult. My rap name is Big Greezy, and on twitter I am eroticdeodorant and once I tried to change it and everyone I know got very angry with me so that has become my identity now.

Zodiac sign: Aquarius babey, and I’m the evil kind (:<

Hogwarts house: Slytherin babey, and I’m the evil kind (:<

Last thing I googled: how make clean water metal gear survive (this is gonna get me kicked out of the metal gear fandom)

Favorite musician: idk I guess Suburban Scum, The Sword, Fearless Flyers/Vulfpeck, Rotting Out, Knocked Loose, He is Legend?

Song stuck in my head: typing the phrase “in my head” got Zombie by The Cranberries stuck 😒 so thanks for that. But before that it was the drum solo from In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins because my work only plays 80s music.

Following: 649

Followers: 767

Amount of sleep I get: it depends on my mania I guess.

Lucky Numbers: 32, 69 (the universal lucky number) 420 (from Weed)

Dream Job: Aquarium Biologist (or!) Hard Boiled noir detective from the 40s

Wearing: all black everything because I’m edgy I guess

Favorite song: uhhhhhh right now it’s Black River by The Sword, but if I’m honest, Brought Here to Suffer by Napoleon (the original, black and gold cover, music video on YouTube, the new vocalist re-recording sounds like butthole) or maybe Swarm by Meshuggah?

Instruments: I play guitar, bass, drums, and I’ve been singing for 20 years. Hmu if you wanna hear a couple songs I recorded by myself on every instrument, I refuse to shamelessly self promote on here.

Random facts: aight so boom I can put my tongue inside my nose. I have scary witchcraft tattoos that make my coworkers leave me alone. I’ve been on tumblr for a god damn decade. I’m 6’4” and I am bisexual (hmu literally anyone hot and funny). I’ve written several songs about killing god and none of them were metal songs. I have a personality disorder (hystrionic but I may have spelled that wrong) and it *hits the woah* sucks. I would do anything for Zack Fox to make a full album, and I am prepared to back that up. I fantasize constantly about gaining superpowers and using them for evil!

Aesthetics: joth (jock goth) I love athletic wear, but I also hate gaudy color and the sun. I’m essentially a caricature of a 2006 mall goth combined with grainy youtube slavs.

Favorite Video Game: Metal Gear, full series. Half Life/portal. Resident Evil 4. God of War (especially the new one.) Metroid Fusion. Zelda: Twilight and Wild. Mega Man X6, Fallout series.

Well I got tagged by @lots-of-spooky-moments And I literally do not have that many mutual s so let’s just see who pops up when I press @

@admutual

@iguanamouth

@officialunitedstates

@pukicho

@hungwy

@vampireapologist

@rever-de-vous

@reverielagoon420

@brynnjaminfranklin

@bbloodflowrs

@churlishopossum

@excuse-my-disdain

@killapunk

@crimeshetyped

@stancine

@infalliblestars

@pickle-sickle

That was harder than it should have been. Good luck dorks

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dxmagedrose · 4 years

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GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER!

Tagged by: my lover @hammurabicomplex I’m tagging: anyone and everyone who wants to pick this one up! share with the class if you feel like it! tag me in it!!

PRESENTING. RANDOM DEEP DIVE WITH INDIGO-MUN AT 2AM ;

FIRST NAME Good fucking question… It’s (sort-of) currently Dylann! I was Kieran before that, though; it’s still used as one of my first names and I’m not used to Dylann quite yet bc I’ve just started using it.

Indigo is one of my middle names though, and I’ve used it as an online handle elsewhere forever so I use it here now! [ Fun etymology facts: Dylan(n) is a mythology name generally meaning “born of the wave” (aspiring diver & a water witch at heart). Kieran means “little dark one” bc of my love for horror, && I chose Indigo bc as a kid to be it was neither boy (blue) or purple (girl) and was both and neither as well as my absolute favorite color as this vibrant ass mystical color. ]

STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF hmmmmm…. I’m a horror lover at heart, so as a child (I wanna say 12), I was walking through an antique store (I have a few cool finds, I considered putting my other one as the fact tbh) and I turned the corner and I saw these two dolls staring back at me at the foot of the stairs of this antique building. my blood froze, and i felt my stomach drop. i got actual, physical goosebumps stumbling across these two creepy dolls staring back at me in the corner, and i couldn’t leave the store without them. perhaps the little painted porcelain boy would be somewhat spooky by himself if it wasn’t for the terrifying lidded gaze of the porcelain girl with the hairline fractures and slightly open lips. i cant look at her. i dont really find dolls scary, I like to find the spookier ones ones, and she makes me paranoid as hell. i keep her face covered and her up in my closet except for when i bring her out to show her off proudly as the spookiest thing I have but……. i dont really collect dolls anymore. even thinking about her brings a fearful tear to my eye. i don’t like to think about her for very long, but that’s why I’m so fucking proud to own her. ( YES — I’m THAT white person in the horror film )

TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON hhhhh a beardy jawline, high cheekbones, crooked canine teeth >:3c

A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF b.l.t.’s with avocado. ahhhh. my mouth is watering just thinking about it, oh my god. just a bit of salt and pepper???

A FOOD YOU HATE barbecue anything, i hate the taste of bbq sauce, you keep your nasty black goo to yourselves at the grill. twice in my life i have presented with barbecue pizza and both times i cried literal tears. why would you do such a horrible thing to a person? what kind of a monster are you? how do you sleep at night?!

GUILTY PLEASURE the sims. constantly. always. i’ve sunk thousands of hours into my households. oh also uhhhhhh i run two 80s horror blogs, one being a shitpost blog with occasional art of mine and one gremlin fanfic ship blog for horrible, terrible self indulgent fanfics i’ll get the courage to finish writing & post so i can be cancelled on tumblr for at some point. NO, i won’t link them. as i pretend they’re even all that hard to find, within a day i was found on both by someone i admire here a lot :’) ilu bby thnk u eternally for supporting ur local horrifying dumbass wtf

WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN the same clothes i’ve been wearing all day usually, my sweats & long sleeve raglans or my hoodies. i like being cozy day & and out. and ugh. efoort. just throw me in a blanket in a cool room and im out.

SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS serious relationships with some openness or poly. i wish i could fling! just not exactly easy for demisexual autistics lmao.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE I think I would be adopted by my grandma as a kid. It would save me some trauma but mostly I think it would get my autism diagnosed way earlier and save me angsting all these years of wondering why & thinking it’s my fault I’m struggling so much and so loud and affectionate and different in a world that i didnt fit in the same way.

ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON when i get drunk i text people how much they mean to me in my life. does that answer your question? ahhh. i’m sometimes a cuddle monster with friends, i message people with long texts about how much they mean to me, but I sometimes really don’t like to be touched at all.

A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN FLYPAPER. F L Y P A P E R. FLYPAPER. FLY, and, I can’t stress this enough, fucking PAPER. ( Though also Whole Nine Yards and both Re-Animator & Bride ). I have watched Flypaper already like, 5 times this week and I’m still not done, and the other movies have been on repeat for days in this household within the last year. In the past it has also been Donnie Darko & the new Nightmare on Elm Street. roast me.

FAVORITE BOOK White Fang by Jack London. Have I actually ever finished it? No. Do I still own a copy I’ve had since childhood thru multiple dogs eating it, taking it to and from school, and highlighting and circling all the best parts of chapter one ever since I was a kid and it was too hard of a book for me to read? You bet your ass. If I ever need inspiration I just reread chapter 1. Although one of my other favorites was Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes. But White Fang is like, a weirdly personal text. We stan London’s writing in this household.

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE FENNEC FOX!! I used to daydream about having my own named Shiloh when I was a lil kid. they’re adorable little things and i am obsessed. i mean, gimme any fox and im happy, marble foxes, red foxes… but I was obsessed with fennec foxes. Also tbh ferrets. I want a ferret.

TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL] Rosa & @ninetyscnds‘s Luke, Rosa & @iimpulsivity is already screaming my name, Rosa & Constantine, Jesse & Andrea from Breaking Bad, and the joker and harley of 80s sci-fi Dan & Herbert from Re-Ani. I am but a simple opossum.

PIE OR CAKE Pie! I’ll take both pumpkin & melty apple over cake. also, cheesecake is more pie than cake soooo, pie wins.

FAVORITE SCENT my dogs / my blanket. :’) It’s the most grounding smell in the world.

CELEBRITY CRUSH oliver jackson-cohen, i’m fucking GAY and im angry about it. there i was, minding my own business, and i saw that asshole in a certain SHIRTLESS GIF and it AWOKE SOMETHING IN ME. dont talk to me about it, holy shit im obsessed with beardy men now god fuckkdafjaask i hate him why did he make me this gay i was perfectly fine being into girls but NOOOOOO him and his dumb hairy chest and sweet rugged face and I—— I also am obsessed with the archaeologist & television personality Josh Gates and may or may not be considering making a fan blog for him bc idk if my anthropology docuseries host is Dad or Daddy but i love him lots

IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO I would go on a dive with anthropologists and archaeologists doing fieldwork research in the ancient cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula. My actual dream job, catch me crying & fantasizing about being underwater documenting Mayan skulls given as offerings. Fuckkkk, I love anthropology so much!! take me anywhere in the world to immerse myself into culture & archaeology.

INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT Introvert. I have a real life friend I see roughly once a month, and that’s it. Plenty of online relationships, I’m chatty, message me all day every day. but i dont do people well.

DO YOU SCARE EASILY I used to! Really bad. I don’t as much anymore. I do get paranoia a lot still. Having therapists telling you that the FBI could be outside your house watching you through your windows will kind of nervous. ( no google results for: yes hello fbi i am a writer please dont put me on watchlists i just have research i need to do for this idea im working on, would you like to try again? ) I have nightmares nightly but not they never make me afraid, they just make me feel like crap. jumpscares and loud noises and seeing people reaching into their pockets dont set off as many brain alarms anymore tho!! progress haha.

IPHONE OR ANDROID I like my android better bc of capabilities but meh

DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES My mom, her husband & I play COD for family game night, and Silent Hill is my life’s blood. I’ve sunken hours into Sims & Skyrim, and Norman Jayden from Heavy Rain is my #1 fictional character in existence, why do i love the druggie babies

DREAM JOB Oh… You’re asking me to pick? I’d love to be an anthropologist doing work out in the field. Underwater archaeology is peak, but I’m also heavily considering being a body recovery diver or police diver. I’d love to see myself in uniform someday, if possible. Just the thought makes me teary eyed & proud.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS fund my person creative & educational endeavors. get myself a spooky ass abandoned house to make my own home to create in, and travel to the world’s best dive sites. just live a mild life of education, creation & exploration. that’s the dream TM.

FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE dr. hill is a gross and whiny lil bitch this post brought to u by the miskatonic crew, how is everyone here an even worse bad guy than herbert west precious dan excluded talk shit get hit tho john winchester from spn and both walter white & todd from breaking bad are all in my crew of hated characters. i jusT… the reani novel is difficult to read because i have to deal with this old sack of shit.

FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER Supernatural :-)

… AND THIS CONCLUDES A DEEP DIVE WITH INDIGO!! //

#||: && the mundane ( ooc );#( get to know a bitch!! )#( this was... a lot of me rambling about weirdly personal shit at 2 am )

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franniebanana · 5 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Uraraka Ochako Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako, Kirishima Eijirou Additional Tags: Haunted Houses, Halloween, Fluff Series: Part 2 of Kacchaco Week 2019 Summary:

Somehow Bakugo gets talked into going to this ridiculous haunted house with the rest of Class 1-A.

Written for @kacchakoweek - Day 2 - Otherworldly

Katsuki Bakugo heard them as he approached: the unfettered murmurings of Class 1-A, all huddled together around a few desks. He dropped his backpack on the floor, staring at them as a few of the girls squealed delightedly. “What’s going on?” he grumbled as Kirishima sat down next to him.

“We’re all doing this haunted house thing tonight,” he said with a grin. “You in?”

Bakugo frowned. “That sounds stupid. Why would I want to do that?”

“Come on,” Kirishima said, shoving him. “It’ll be fun! Mina’s getting us all tickets, so it’s totally free.” Bakugo frowned more deeply, tapping his pencil as if he were thinking. He wasn’t. He had no intention of going to some dusty old house to get jump-scared by rubber bats on strings. “What d’you think?”

“Are you guys coming too?” Uraraka bounced over, her cheeks rosy and a broad smile on her face. “It sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” She looked directly at Bakugo. “I bet even you need to let down your hair once in a while,” she said. “Besides, it’ll be nice to be the one getting scared, since you’re always doing the scaring.”

“You think I’m gonna be scared?” he demanded.

“That’s kinda the point—it’s a haunted house,” she said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, a haunted house filled with flashing lights and toys,” he said dismissively.

Kirishima nudged Uraraka’s arm, then leaned in closer to him. “Are you saying you’re too scared to go?”

Bakugo perked up. “What are you talking about?”

Uraraka nodded sadly. “That’s what it sounds like to me. Guess you won’t be able to go after all.” They started to turn around when Bakugo jumped to his feet.

“Oh, I’m going!” he nearly shouted. “Just to prove it to you morons!” He thought he saw Uraraka smile, but he wasn’t sure. They were morons—morons if they thought he’d ever be scared from a couple of cheap parlor tricks and smoke machines. He’d show them.

There was a chill in the air as he made his way to the location of the old house. As it turned out, it was an old hotel that hadn’t been used in decades. As he walked up the drive, he could already hear screaming. He was a little late, so he wondered if everyone had gone in without him, but when he got to the top of the hill, everyone was there, waiting.

“Okay, everyone ready?” Mina bounced on her toes, waving her arms high above her head. “We’re going to go in pairs, so everyone pair up. Not my rules—that’s just how it works.” She grinned. “And for the record, anyone who isn’t here is a chicken!”

Bakugo had just settled in his mind that the idea of pairing up was idiotic when he realized that Uraraka was standing in front of him. She was looking around as everyone else paired up, her hands clutched at her breast. “Hey.” She whirled around. “I guess we’re partners.”

Her eyes looked nervous at first, but then she smiled. “Good, then I can see first-hand how big of a chicken you are.”

“Let’s get one thing straight, Round Face—”

She held up her hand. “I was kidding! Chill out, okay?”

It was a while before it was their turn to go in. In fact, it turned out they were the last ones. Uraraka was nervously biting her lip and fidgeting so much that Bakugo was actually slightly concerned for her. “You don’t have to go in, you know,” he said.

She glanced up at him, her eyes turning hard. “What do mean? I’m not flaking out now! Besides,” she said, sounding flustered, “I’m not in the least bit scared.”

“Tell that to your finger nails,” he said with a nod of his head.

She sighed, picking at a stray hangnail. “I guess I’m a little freaked out.” Her eyes widened as they were summoned inside the house. They were about cross the threshold when she paused.

He glanced down at her for a moment until their eyes met. “It’s just smoke and mirrors. It’s not real.” She gulped, nodding, and they both went inside.

It got dark—fast. The people who ran the event weren’t joking around. There were smoke machines, flashing lights, and jump-scares—of course, jump-scares. At one point, they both jumped at the same scare, grabbing each other’s hands in the process. Even though it was dark, they could both see each other’s red cheeks, and they quickly dropped their hands. After five minutes, Uraraka was clinging to him. He didn’t push her away. Admittedly, he didn’t mind being her thinking of him as her protector. But he wasn’t scared at all—he was totally fine. This was child’s play. It was so not scary that it was almost funny, and a couple of times, he actually chuckled under his breath. He was starting to feel pretty cocky as he passed a spooky vampire and a clown with fangs and fake blood dripping from its mouth.

“Nice makeup!” he called out, laughing.

“What are you doing?” she said, her teeth chattering. “Don’t antagonize them! They’ll just try to scare us harder!”

“I’d like to see them try.” He grinned devilishly. There wasn’t anything they could do at this point to scare him because nothing was more frightening than what he’d already encountered in real life. This was just fantasy—it was fake.

All of a sudden, there was a loud whooshing sound accompanied by a gust of wind, followed by the feeling that all the air and sound had been sucked out of the room. He stopped walking. It was so quiet, so eerily quiet. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. What was going on? And then he heard it: a slow, rattling breath, and heavy, dragging footsteps. They were getting closer. He felt himself moving in front of Uraraka without even realizing it. Her grip on his arm had relaxed, but that was only because she was now clutching his hand, and he was clutching hers just as tightly. The sounds continued, getting louder every second. And then, suddenly, they were behind them. They whirled around and he found he was frozen, unable to react, when he was faced with the one thing in the world that he feared: All for One.

“Bakugo..are you scared?” Uraraka whispered.

“Yes,” he breathed.

“GOT YOU!” His eyes widened as All for One removed his head—wait, removed his head?! The man under the mask was wearing a lot of dark makeup, but the red hair was unmistakable. “We got you so good!” Kirishima said, howling with laughter.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” Bakugo said quietly, his rage barely contained. He rounded on Uraraka, who was hiding a smile behind her hand. “And you—”

“I had fun tonight,” she said, interrupting him. “Let’s do it again next year!” Her smile faded as she shuffled towards him. “But, um, I still need to get out of here, so would you come with me the rest of the way?”

He wanted to be angry with her for creating this elaborate situation just to prank him, but he couldn’t. While his expression didn’t soften, he grumbled, “Fine. Let’s go.” She grinned and grabbed his hand.

“Hey, guys? Wait for me! Guys, wait! Don’t just leave!” Kirishima called after them.

Bakugo ignored him. He liked the feeling of Uraraka’s hand in his own. Maybe doing this next year wouldn’t be so terrible.

#my hero academia #kacchako #kacchaco #katsuki bakugo #ochaco uraraka #fanfic #writing

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manascoundrel · 7 years

Text

Trophy- Chapter 12

by Yarking Fandom: Dragon Age (general) Summery: Two troubled children meet at the Minrathous Circle. One is a magister’s heir, groomed to be the blood mage general of Seheron, without fear or mercy. Hopefully, that will keep people from noticing how very much an elf he is. The other is last born, least loved and most of his emotions involve academics and cadavers. They love each other, even if they’re not terribly good at it. Warnings for this chapter: references to past trauma (non-graphic) Special thanks beta, Autumn <3 AO3: here

Tertius pointed as the approached the stables, pride bubbling over. "That's her! That's her right there, they turned her out for the day already, it looks like."

Stardust grazed placidly in the open fields, ignoring a bay horse that seemed intent on getting her attention. At Tertius' voice, she raised her delicate head and trotted, the picture of elegance, to where Tertius and Cato stood at the pasture's fencing. As Stardust approached, Cato took a step back, face froggish as Stardust lifted her head over the fence and politely requested Tertius' attention.

"That's a pony?" Cato asked, unsure.

"Well it's not a dragon."

"No, I mean," Cato began, edging closer as he watched Stardust's whiskers tickle over the palm of Tertius' hand. "She's big. She's a pony, so I just... expected her to be smaller. Like those little ponies that pull the half-carts."

"Oh, no, those are Anderfel Mountain Ponies. Yeah, those do stay that small. But I couldn't ride those! Stardust is a Tevene Riding Pony. My mom's family made the breed, special. Aren't they pretty?"

"She sure is a pony," Cato said, evasively. When Tertius turned and frowned at him, hurt, he was pressed to continue. "Horses and ponies and things like that are a little spooky, aren't they? Look at their faces. They're so long. Why are their faces so darn long?"

Tertius snorted at his friend's suspicion. "Stardust is really nice, you don't have to worry about her."

"But she's so big, too! Bigger than me by lots. Bigger than you. You're not worried she'll step on you or anything?"

"She already stepped on me," Tertius said, enjoying Cato's alarm.

"Didn't that hurt?" he asked. He edged away more, putting Tertius between him and the pony.

"Well, yeah. She's a pony so she is pretty heavy, but it was just an accident and I pushed her off right away. It didn't even break my foot or anything; it was just sore for a couple of hours." Tertius looked over his shoulder at where Cato was very nearly cowering. His fear was losing some of its humor, though, and Tertius began to wish they could just get on with each other. "If you're really that scared, you don't have to be here. I can just meet up with you at the library at sundown."

"B-but, you really like Stardust. This is special," Cato argued, inching forward to the pony's soft grey muzzle.

"Yeah, but you don't have to really like her too, you just got to not be mean to her or rude or think she's bad," Tertius assured him. Even as he said it, he felt distantly sad that his two best friends might not get along.

Cato, however, seemed to take this as he often did- as a challenge. He tugged on Tertius' riding shirt and asked, "D'you have any more sugar cubes?"

"No, but there are carrots in the barn if you want to try giving her a treat," Tertius said, lighting up at the prospect. Cato nodded and scampered off, returning after a short while with two carrots, one in each hand while Stardust's eyes shut in peaceful contentment at Tertius' scritching. When she saw the carrots, she lifted her head and took a few slow paces closer to Cato, and when she was not immediately rewarded she gave a small nicker.

"Don't be spoiled," Tertius chided her, petting down her neck as Cato broke the carrot in half.

"So how do I do this?"

"Lay your hand real flat and just put in on your palm and reach out. But you have to keep your fingers flat, or she might accidentally chomp on them trying to get the carrot."

Cato made a distressed noise high in his throat even as he placed the carrot as he was instructed. He reached forward, mumbling, "So, do I tell her to- Oh!"

Stardust gobbled up the carrot without ceremony and nuzzled her velvety muzzle against Cato's palm afterwards, as if thanking him for the gift. Or, more likely for how pampered she was, asking for more.

"Aw, she likes you!" Tertius said, delighted. He knew she would, but it was still nice to be right.

"Did you see that? She just munched it right up, right out of my hand!" Cato crowed, beaming over to Tertius. "I didn't think she'd hork it up like that in one big bite, ha!"

Tertius stomped. "Stardust is a lady pony. She didn't 'hork' anything up. Ponies are just a lot bigger than us, so that was a regular normal bite-size handful of carrot for her."

"Alright, alright. That's fair, I'm sorry."

"Better be," Tertius mumbled, still pouting and sore from the insult to Stardust's honor. To think of her as anything less than a majestic princess!

"Your mom did a really good job breeding her," Cato said, carefully stroking over the soft skin over Stardust's nose. He smiled sheepishly, as if he realized Tertius was not pleased. "She's not nearly as scary as she first looks. She's real sweet."

"My mom didn't breed her, her family did. That was awhile ago. There are lots of Tevene Riding Ponies now; but they're still really special and pretty and good. Everyone wants one just like her, but they can't have her because she's mine!" Tertius asserted, patting Stardust's side. "And we make a really good team! My riding teacher is going to let me jump pretty soon."

"That sounds scary. Is she fast? Do they jump high?"

"Yes and yeah! But I've been riding for a really long time, as long as I can remember, so I'm ready. And Stardust won't let me fall, will you, Dusty?"

Stardust remained silent, her eyes closed in placid relaxation at all the attention and treats. "Did your mom teach you how to ride?" Cato asked.

Tertius smile faltered, twisting slightly bitter. "She did, a little. Before she got sick."

"Aw, sorry 'bout your mom," Cato commiserated, shoulders dropping. "I hope she gets better."

"She died."

"Oh." For some time, the two of them were silent. Cato seemed to sense beyond the wisdom of his years that there was nothing to say to that, no way to make it better, reading the stiff way Tertius braced for empty platitudes or unwelcome sympathy. Wanting to hear none of it. Then, with a lopsided smile, he asked, "Do you want to show me how you ride Stardust? I could run alongside you and see how much faster she is, because I bet she's really fast."

Tertius, heart aching and eyes stinging, managed to smile. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

It took some time for them to get Stardust out to the paddock. Cato was very curious, asking a constant stream of questions about the brush and blanket and saddle and bridle all throughout the process of getting Stardust ready to go out. Tertius was about half sure he was doing it to help keep his mind off his mother, but was grateful. Part of the reason he groomed her and put on her tack himself instead of just letting a slave do it was for the same reason, the other being that he liked spending the time with Stardust, and he liked answering Cato's questions. It made him feel good to be able to answer most of them and hear Cato's impressed hums.

Tertius mounted, checked his stirrups, and pressed his calves into Stardust's side gently. He loosened the reins, asking her forward into her sedated, elegant walk. Cato trailed alongside, giving Stardust a wide berth but loped along at a jog to keep up with her long legs.

"Wait until we get into the field to start running, okay?" Tertius asked. "I don't want you to scare her on accident running too close while we're still near the stables."

"Me? Scare her?" Cato wondered.

Stardust continued serenely, her pale eyelashes fluttering as she blinked. "Uh huh!" Tertius nodded. "Horses and ponies have a lot of animals that want to eat them in the wild, so they get scared really easily. I've heard of horses getting scared for lots of silly reasons, like seeing a leaf they didn't expect, or a bush rustling, or your hat falling off. Stardust is pretty calm most of the time, but I still don't want to make her upset, even if she is really brave."

Cato tilted his head, considering that. "What does a horse do if they're scared?"

"A lot of the time they can start running really, really fast. Faster than I'm allowed to go, and I'd probably fall off and get hurt. Stardust could get hurt too! It's really easy for them to hurt themselves when they go really fast because they're scared."

"So don't scare her on purpose as a joke, got it."

"Cato Fen'Rhea, if you even think about it, I'm gonna-!"

"I said I wouldn't! I don't want you or her to get hurt, that wouldn't be funny," Cato reassured, waving his hand in dismissal. "But if they really do scare that easy, you sure you're gonna be safe?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at riding. My teacher wouldn't let me start jumping if I wasn't, because that can be real dangerous too," Tertius explained.

Cato made a grumble of distress. "Okay. If you're sure. You gotta be careful though, because if something happened to my best friend I'd be really upset and angry. I would never, ever forgive Stardust, even if she is really nice and didn't mean to."

"I'll be okay," Tertius promised, privately bursting in joy that his best-best friend would be sad if something happened to him. Cato might be the only one who would.

Cato was, predictably, very impressed with Stardust's speed. Tertius only trotted when racing, not really supposed to go faster without someone there to chaperone, and the stablehands were keeping an eye out, but Tertius wasn't sure that counted, since they were just there to tell on him if he did go too fast or do something stupid.

They still had plenty of fun running over the grasses, Cato sprinting on foot and Stardust easily overtaking him until Cato was heaving for breath and ended up lying down, reminding Tertius constantly not to accidentally trample him while he stood with Stardust plenty of paces away.

After that, they ended up playing a game where Cato would sit and call directions, and Tertius would seamlessly follow them with Stardust, to Cato's simple delight.

"How are you doing that even? Is it magic?" he had asked, not being able to tell when Tertius pressed lightly on Stardust's side or noticing when he gently moved the reins. Cato's mystification equally delighted Tertius, amused by how his friend took his skill for wizardry.

Later, when Tertius had brought Stardust over to the pond to drink and take a break, Cato had uprooted one of the long, thin reeds near the pond's edge. He showed it to Tertius proudly.

"You wanna play cavalry?" he asked.

"I don't know how..." Tertius said, tilting his head at the reed. It ended in a little brown bulb- a cattail.

Cato puffed out his chest. "I just made it up! After Stardust is finished drinking, you get on her and try to hit me with the brown thing on this, like you're part of the cavalry and you're trying to stick me with your spear."

"Why do you always want to play games that hurt?" Tertius complained, but took the switch and inspected it further. When Cato made a noise of confusion, Tertius explained further. "When you wanted to play pretend, you wanted to pretend to eat me. You were gonna scare Stardust as a joke, and you want me to hit you with this now. You even joked about sending assassins when we were gonna play chess!"

"Hey, I was gonna send assassins for Sternhalma, not chess," Cato corrected him, but seeing Tertius' scrunched, displeased face, he dropped the teasing. "I... I dunno. I just think it's fun. I've always wrestled with Aun and pretended to spar with sticks and stuff. Tamas says it's good because it teaches me to not be afraid of fighting."

"Because Seheron?" Tertius asked.

"Because Seheron, yeah."

Tertius didn't understand. "You're not going to be able to go to Seheron for ages and ages though. That's years away! Why do you have to start fighting now?"

"Well," Cato mumbled, looking over to the surface of the pond. He folded his knees and sat, looking out as he picked the grass. Nearby, Stardust continued to graze. "Seheron is supposed to be really dangerous and scary. So I have to start now so I have the best shot of coming back, because I'm supposed to be a magister, too. And... it's not like Seheron's the only place I got to fight, anyway."

Tertius sat beside him, knees knocking as he pulled grass alongside him. "Where else do you got to fight?"

Cato looked at him, frowning. "If I was bigger and stronger, I could have maybe fought the apprentices who took me. Maybe I could have at least ran away, or said something back when they said things. Maybe if I was good enough they wouldn't have got me to begin with, maybe they'd be too scared."

"I don't know," Tertius said, skeptically, surprised and afraid now that Cato was talking about what happened. He didn't want to say the wrong thing. But he wasn't sure what the right thing to say would be, so he decided to just be honest. "There were a lot of them, and they were older, too. I don't think you could have scared them off or fought better. They've been at the Circle a long time, haven't they? They probably learned a lot of stuff from the enchanters that we haven't yet, stuff we can't know yet because we're just not as big."

"But I have to be able to do something!" Cato said in dismay. He picked up a rock and lobbed it into the water, watching it hit and sink with a 'plunk'. "There's got to be something I can do, so I can do it if they try to get me again. No one else will. I mean, you'll call for help, which is really nice, but I don't want you trying to fight them and getting hurt because of me."

"You have your knife," Tertius pointed out. He followed Cato's lead, picking out and throwing a rock. It landed short, plopping in the mud near the pond's edge.

"That's true, yeah."

They sat in the long grass for some time, Cato stretching out and soaking up the warm autumn sun and Tertius watching him bask and Stardust munch daintily on grass. After some time, Stardust wandered over to where they sat, her lips nibbling toothlessly at Tertius' ponytail. He scratched the spot on her forehead where her coat whorled, and the direction of the fur went in everywhere, and she gave a cute, blustery snort.

"Did you bring your knife out here?" Tertius asked, the thought just occurring to him.

"Nah," Cato said. He didn't open his eyes.

"Why not? You're not afraid?"

"Apprentices aren't allowed to use magic out here, like in the library. And yeah, they could just catch me and drag me someplace where they can," Cato said, before popping open one eye and giving a mischievous smile. "But first they'd have to catch me. I may not ride as well as you but I'd bet you'd let me ride away if I really needed to."

"I'm pretty sure Stardust could carry us both," Tertius agreed. She was very strong, after all. And, perhaps more to the point, they were very small. "We can try us both riding at the same time right now if you want. Just to practice your escape!"

"Uhh," Cato offered dimly, looking suddenly unsure. "That... er, uh. That's okay. I should really wear my boots when we do, unless it's a real emergency. Since that's how you use the dangly feet things, right?"

Tertius looked down at his friend, suspecting that his footwear wasn't really the issue. "The stirrups. And yeah, but we both can't use the stirrups at the same time anyway, so you can just hold on."

"Well... I mean, don't you think you should be the one who just holds on? You're a better rider than me, after all. That just seems to make sense," Cato reasoned, his voice pitched higher than normal.

"You can just say you're scared," Tertius teased.

"I'm not scared! I just don't want to get hurt, because I've only ever ridden those little cart ponies when I was smaller. And riding on Miss Stardust seems like it would take a... a very advanced rider, seeing how she's so fast, right?"

"You're scared."

"Am not!"

"You aren't even a little?" Tertius weedled. "Because I get scared sometimes when she goes faster than I expected, and I'm a really good rider, so it seems weird that you wouldn't be scared at all, not even a little."

"I'm... a little concerned," Cato said in compromise, eyes shut as he sat up with a dignified jut to his chin. "That there could be an accident. That's not the same as being scared. That's being smart."

"Well, we don't have to try it today. There's always next time." Tertius stood, brushing off the pulled up grass on his lap while Stardust huffed. He paused. "Well, if you want to come back."

"Yeah, this is nice! Even if I don't ride, we can always play games, like earlier. Or I can sit out here and read for the enchanters while you ride around; the willow looks like a really place to read or even just take a nap. I've got so much sleep I need to catch up on."

Tertius looked out past the still pond, trying to judge when the sky would start to go golden. That was when he really needed to bring Stardust in if he wanted to make it back before dark. It was getting late, but he didn't want to stop playing. It was so nice out here. He could hear Cato even better without the voices, and the details of his voice became apparent. Tertius liked it. He liked how it was a little scratchy, and he liked how his friend laughed.

"There's some daylight left. D'you want to try playing 'cavalry?'"

"Huh?" Cato asked, surprised and then delighted. "You want to try it? I didn't think you liked that stuff."

"I do! Just not all the time. Besides, it does kind of sound like it could be fun," Tertius said. It was a little bit of a fib- Tertius thought it still sounded needlessly mean when he could just as soon lean over and tag Cato- but he liked Cato, and he liked Stardust, and he especially liked being able to play with both of them together. Since he enjoyed it so much, he needed to do something to try and get Cato to come back again. Sure Cato said he liked it too, but just to be safe.

Cato leapt to his feet, pinwheeling his arms when the sudden jump made him almost lose his balance. He righted himself and beamed. "Alright! Mount up, commander!"

Tertius and Cato walked back to the Circle proper shoulder to shoulder, stopping only for Tertius to wave back at Stardust, who was rolling around in the pasture's dirt, seemingly pleased that her saddle was finally off. He turned back around, and checked Cato playfully.

Their attempts to pretend at being cavalry had failed pretty thoroughly. Whenever Stardust galloped (trotted) at full tilt towards the enemy (Cato, making grunting noises and pretending to have horns), she would always slow down, first to a walk, and then when she was close enough to nuzzle Cato, she stopped altogether, and no amount of kissy noises or flicking the reins would get her to budge forward and trample the nefarious Qunari threat (Cato's words).

That's not to say he didn't end up getting Cato. When he came up to Stardust's side to tell Tertius he didn't think this was going to work after all, Tertius had taken a risk and swatted Cato on his shoulder with the reed. Cato had gave a short, bitten-off scream and leapt back with such drama that Stardust took a few lazy steps away from him. Of course, Tertius panicked, worried that he'd gone too far and that this was it, this was the end. It was nice while it lasted.

Cato just inspected the welt, biting his lip, and after a long beat between the two of them, he gave a breathless laugh.

"Oh yeah, that was a nice one, you got me good!" he said cheerfully, inspecting the thin line of blood that began to bead up from where the long red stripe rose up highest. He poked at it gingerly, hissing and flinching when he pressed too hard.

Tertius hovered, hands pawed over his chest fretfully. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it that hard, I didn't think it would-"

"No, no, you did good!" Cato had assured him, before they decided to turn Stardust in for the evening, since she obviously didn't much care for this game. "That just surprised me. My tamas gets me worse when I'm playing where I'm not supposed to."

He had licked his fingers and wiped away the blood, and that was that, motioning for an unsure Tertius to bring Stardust in. Tertius had gathered the reins and lead Stardust behind him, watching the blood bead up again sluggishly from the cut.

"I got assessed for my magic," Tertius confessed as they neared the gate to the Circle's grounds.

"I can cast enough that I get to be in the class with all the other casters next semester."

"Really? That's great! We'll have it together then!"

"You think?"

"There's not enough other apprentices our age to split us all up. Nobody else in my group can cast yet, and I don't think they'll put us in with older kids. I hope they don't, at least," Cato added as an afterthought, his voice lowering with his mood.

Tertius agreed, "Yeah, they probably wouldn't. I just want to do it now. The break takes too long. I don't even want to go home."

"You don't miss your brothers or papa?" Cato asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

Tertius snorted. "My brothers are a lot older, so they're not usually around. Palermo is in the Navy, so he's never home. Hey, you know, you might like him since he's fighting the Qunari actually. Cyprian is working with someone from the circle a little north of Minrathous. I don't really understand what he does, but he only comes home to go with papa to the Magisterium. He was certified by the Circle before I was born, so he's not much fun, not like it sounds like... 'Aun' is. 'Aun', right? Is that his name?"

"His name's Aunny. Well, his name's really Aunnriel, but everyone but Tamas calls him Aunny, and I call him Aun," Cato explained.

"That sounds complicated."

"Your papa?"

"Huh? Oh... n-no, I don't really miss him. He's mostly busy anyway. Being a magister, right? I like reading and drawing and I can do that by myself."

"I guess."

"Honest? I'm glad he's not around a lot," Tertius confessed, throwing himself back to fight the fall winds that pinned the Circle's doors closed. "He's not fun, and he's honestly really scary. Maybe I should be like you and want him to be around more because he's scary, so I'll get better, but I don't think I'm brave like you."

"You think I'm brave?" Cato asked, looking at him with wonder.

"Well, yeah. You're going to go out and fight all the Qunari on Seheron. You said it was really dangerous and you could get hurt, but you're going to do it anyway."

"Yeah but that's ages from now, you said yourself!"

"And you wanted to play cavalry, which mean Stardust was supposed to come running at you-"

"But she didn't."

"But she was supposed to come running at you, and you were afraid of her already."

"Concerned," Cato corrected him, nose turned up. "I was concerned of her. Er, about her."

"Fine then," Tertius finally said, annoyed at Cato's constant rejection. "You're not brave. Happy?"

They reached the library just as Cato puffed his chest out in victory, and then deflated. "No?"

Tertius' laugh was cut off by a withering look from the librarian. He nodded his head in a bow, a silent apology, and ducked down his bookshelf aisle with Cato, waiting until they were certainly out of earshot before whispering again. "What about you?"

Cato shrugged. "I want to see Aun again, sure. I miss playing with him."

Tertius paused, worried that that was an indication that Cato wasn't happy just playing with him. He set the uneasy thought aside and asked, "Your tamas isn't around much either?"

"No, she is. And I do need to ask her about the knife. If she gave me the wrong one or it got enchanted wrong or something. But I'm afraid she's still mad at me for what happened."

"Wait, she's angry at you?"

"Yeah," Cato admitted, his voice cracking as his face crumpled. "I'm supposed to not, uh, not let that stuff happen. It makes my family look bad, and that can be really dangerous. Not just here but in the Senate too. If people think they can hurt me then they might threaten to do stuff to me to make Tamas vote their way or something. And just- it lets people know they can do that stuff, so they'll try it again."

"Oh," Tertius said, dimly. Tertius himself wasn't important enough in his family's hierarchy to worry about, he was pretty sure, but he wondered if this was something Cyprian had to worry about. Perhaps there were downsides to being the house heir. "Sorry. It's not like you wanted it to happen, though."

Cato just shrugged, looking a shade of miserable as they stopped in front of the bookshelf. "Doesn't matter. End's the same."

"I guess. Are you worried about them going after Aunny because of it?" Tertius asked offhand. He didn't notice Cato's reaction immediately as he focused on shifting his heavy bookbag to the ground.

When he didn't get a word either way from Cato, he looked up to check on him and realized his friend was not okay. His eyes were unblinking and looking at nothing, and his breathing was working up like how it had gone funny last time before he suddenly went to sleep.

"Cato?" Tertius asked nervously, not wanting his friend to sleep again. If he did, Tertius would have to pull him in their secret spot himself so he wasn't just lying in the middle of the library, since that sounded dangerous for an elf. That sounded like a lot of work, and they risked someone noticing and finding their spot. He poked his friend on the shoulder experimentally. "You should stop that, I think."

Cato started and looked at Tertius as if he just noticed him there. The little jump he gave in surprise made tears spill over onto his cheeks, and he hastily palmed them away. "Sorry. I was just thinking. I hadn't thought of that but now that you mention it, yeah. I have to figure out how to make sure he's going to be safe."

"Oh. Sorry," Tertius apologized, not wanting to make him worry.

"Naw, it's good that you reminded me. I can start figuring that stuff out now so by the time he's here it'll be okay," Cato assured him, looking the utmost serious and determined with his new plan. "And I think I know where I want to start."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh. You go ahead. I have someone I gotta talk to, but I'll be back soon, promise."

Tertius squinted at him suspiciously, but nodded and watched as he sprung off like a halla. He hoped he came back soon.

Calpernius looked down at Cato with narrowed eyes. "I thought I told you not to-"

"No. I don't want to play this game. This isn't funny. I need to talk to you."

At that, Calpernius reared his head in surprise before cackling. The laugh cut off abruptly, his face falling into flat irritation. When he spoke, his words were sharp, his teeth bare. "I don't think you get it. I'm not joking. I don't give a fuck about you-"

"No," Cato snapped. He stepped forward and, despite only reaching just past Calpernius' waist, matched the boy's vicious face and then some. Cato pointed his finger at Calpernius, jabbing it into his chest with the kind of authority only learned from a lineage of ruling. "You don't get it. This isn't about me. My brother is gonna come to the Circle next year, and I heard that... that the thing that happened to me might happen to him, too."

"My sympathies," Calpernius sneered. His lip curled as he swatted away Cato's finger, but he did not push past Cato like he had feared.

"How do I make it not happen?" Cato demanded.

Calpernius laughed again, this time less false and more helpless. "You can't. What happened to you? Happens to every elf that comes to the Minrathous Circle. Has for years. Happened to me. Happened to every poor fucking rat I've seen here. It's going to happen to you again, until you wise up and transfer to someplace less prestigious, or apply for remote classes."

"We can't do that. We got to go here."

"Then I'm so sorry for your miserable future. Best wishes that you manage not to kill yourself like the last rat that came through here," Calpernius said sarcastically.

"They killed themselves?" Cato asked. Something in him stilled, and his voice trembled- this was new. He didn't... he wasn't prepared for that. "People do that? How many... do that?"

"I don't fucking know," Calpernius grumbled, throwing his hand up. When pressed by Cato's sharp frown, he hissed. "Six- no, seven since I've been here, at least. There's been at a few dozen that's transferred since then, though."

"Seven?"

"Yeah, and it's as likely as not that I'm talking to number eight, so if you'll fuck off-"

"I need to help Aun."

Calpernius groaned, visibly grinding his teeth now in frustration. "This is why butchers don't name their beef cattle."

"Huh?"

"I don't want to know your brother's name! I don't want to know your name, I don't want to be your friend, I don't want to be your little mentor or whatever fantasy is running through your stupid little head. I can't believe I'm even entertaining you right now. You want my advice? Leave the Circle. I don't know why you haven't done that already! There are correspondence classes. I know your mother is a magister, so you could transfer to any other major Circle in the entire Imperium. Fuck, you could probably afford to hire tutors that would give you a better education if you really wanted to."

"I can't leave," Cato insisted.

"Well, then you're an idiot."

"If I'm an idiot for staying and it's so easy to transfer or do any of that other stuff, then why do you stay here, huh?"

Cato hadn't expected the reaction he got. Calpernius' mouth shut instantly and his head reared as if someone had yanked back his reins. Sensing something there, something with give, Cato persisted, his words coming careful as he puzzled them out. "Why are you staying? You don't want to be here, it's not about Minrathous being the best. 'Titus' isn't a magisterial name, so it's not because important magisters always come from the Minrathous Circle. It's not because it's close to the Senate either, so it's not about distance..."

"Rot in the Void," Calpurnius swore, but Cato could tell he was hitting something.

"Is it? If you have to be here- if you have to be in Minrathous... it has to be for some reason."

"Fuck off, this is none of your business."

Cato's voice cracked as he spoke. "I can find out, you know. I can ask my tamas to look you up and-"

"Fine! Fine, whatever you want. Ask away. Whatever the fuck you want to know, and then you leave me alone, right?" Calpernius wagered. The urgency in his voice piqued Cato's interest.

"Well, now I'm kind of curious."

"Do you want my help or not?" Calpernius asked. "I like my privacy; you have your offer. Keep your nose out of other people's fucking business and I'll help."

"I want to know everything."

"Fine."

"All your tricks. You've been here for years and-"

"I said fine! Meet me back here tomorrow, same time. I'll have everything written out for you."

"How do I know you aren't going to send them for me?"

This time, Calpernius recoiled not in fury but... offense? It was a moment before he replied, as if he had to find his words again. "I wouldn't do that," Calpernius said, face set. "Would you?"

#dragon age #trophy #yarking writes #abuse tw

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