I just realized that I do have Tumblr so why not share my little passion project that single-handedly carried me though exam session, my little baby that grew well over what it was supposed to - man, I haven't been that inspired in actual years now.
If you like Askeladd and Vinland Saga, you'll hopefully like this. If you do not know Vinland Saga, I invite you to try and watch it - it's not everyone's cup of tea but once it is you fall DEEP.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
"He raises his hand and sets the skies ablaze with arrows - but even his strongest, furious flames can never burn the ideal image of king Artorius, the valiant sacrifice of the grandest man Askeladd will probably ever know.
True warrior dies standing, unaffected by Askeladd's depravity and fire.
Thors' kid screams his anguish and Askeladd mourns among the ashes."
OR
Askeladd hates the fire and yet can't help but burn until the day he dies.
So that's not the update for Blue of her Eyes but well, it is a one-shot about Sevika, check it out if you're in a mood.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
"And then it hits her, once again.
Isha is gone.
She won't smile again. She won't eat the half-burnt pancakes, pull at Sevika’s sleeve when she wants to grab her attention, won't scribble down in her notebook and then shove it into her face anymore.
Won't ever give Sevika the reason of why she even fucking tries.
Because Isha is dead.
And there’s nothing she can do about it.
Her breath grows laboured, her fingers shaking as if she just went off Shimmer when she ruffles around her coat for the smokes, she knows she still had some, damnit, but she only finds the lighter, that last gift Silco ever gave her from Finn’s corpse and–
The lighter clatters to the ground and Sevika can't help but follow.
Isha is dead.
And Sevika screams."
OR
Sevika cleaned up many messes in the name of her dream. Some are much harder than others.
"Nothing in the world is more precious than one’s life, and sometimes, we have to deal with forces that threaten to cut it short. Ghosts, monsters, and sometimes, even people. This fear prevents us from enjoying our short time in this world.
"But what if I tell you that you don’t have to worry about your life falling into danger? What if I tell you that there are people willing to let go of their lives so you don’t have to?
"Ghost busting? Monster journalism? Creature Handling? Cryptid hunting? Property retrieval in ominous places and planets? There is no job we can’t handle!
"Throw your worries away and let GIGGS handle your dangerous affairs. Give a grand to GIGGS and your life will be nothing but grand."
aka A GIGGS AU where the five of them are broke immortals trying to capitalize on their inability to die by taking on life-threatening jobs.
more under the cut!
Impulse and Skizz founded the company. Skizz had the idea and persuaded Impulse to pursue it. Impulse has extensive experience in ghost hunting and prioritizes on-site jobs, while Skizz’s expertise is in handling clients and paperwork. They started as a duo and received mostly ghost-busting jobs. Years into their business, the jobs became more demanding and dangerous, and despite their immortality, it was still a bit much for two people to handle.
Their first recruit was Scar. They never talked to the man, but they often saw him in the city; each time they saw him, he always sat near the lake with a journal and pen in his hands, and a cane rested on his chair. They have been working as IMP n’ SKIZZ for a few decades at this point, and Skizz pointed out to Impulse that the man doesn’t seem to age despite seeing him every week or month. When they talked to him, they found out that Scar was an immortal as well. He agreed to join the company, and although he was clumsy most times and he died so often, it helped out the duo’s workload a ton. Especially with clients. It felt like they accidentally hired themselves a top salesman and a PR guy.
Their next recruit was Grian… well, more like their first applicant. He suddenly showed up one day in their company building asking they need one more employee. Impulse thought it was a good idea as they started to receive jobs that required them to go off-country, or even off-planet. Grian served as a great addition to their team with the way he strategizes and how quick he get things done. Though he’s a very unsettling person. They’re not even sure if he’s human. Each time he died, his corpse stayed on the ground, and he suddenly pops up somewhere.
Their last official member is Gem, who was neither a recruit nor an applicant. She was a hitman paid to kill Scar. She sabotaged a lot of their jobs just to get a swing at Scar, who never seemed to die even when she ripped his heart out. When Grian tried to kill her to get rid of her, her wounds instantly healed. After a while, she realized that her attempts at killing the old conman were futile. Skizz and Impulse tried to recruit her, seeing that her abilities can help the company, but she refused. They didn’t see her for a few years, and she showed up one day saying she’s sick of killing people for money and wants to go on (creepy) adventures.
The five of them made a perfect team, and thus IMP n’ SKIZZ was renamed to GIGGS after a few years.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
IMPULSE
When he dies, his body tries to repair itself back together, and if his important organs are still intact, he goes back into consciousness.
The cause of his immortality is unknown.
Before falling into an existential crisis and state of depression and hopelessness thanks to his immortality, he was a ghost hunter.
SKIZZLEMAN “SKIZZ”
His immortality is the same as Impulse’s, but his consciousness never leaves his body.
The cause of his immortality is unknown.
A few hundred years ago, he was a radio host who was known for his ghost stories segment. The station eventually fell into obscurity before it completely stopped its operation.
He joined a ghost hunter services company a year later, and that’s where he met impulse.
MR. GOODTIMES "SCAR"
He gets scars and can bleed, but doesn’t feel pain. He can also get his heart ripped off and still be able to live. No part of his body can die, and even though he can’t regenerate a whole new organ, his organs can live apart from him.
However, once his body parts or organs reattach to him, it connects with gooey gold which harden after a while, making it harder to remove the next time. Though, this also causes problems sometimes and makes it harder for Scar to move. This is why he uses a cane for his leg.
He gained immortality from a golden cat statue after he repaired it. Some of its shards are missing, so he’s unsure whether this immortality was a blessing or a curse.
He used to be a con artist. He once tricked a billionaire into investing in his fake business. After he got some hundred million, he booked it and lived comfortably in hiding.
GRIAN
His corpses stay dead, but he pops back into existence randomly.
Beneath his glasses, his eyes are hollow and hold a deep abyss inside them.
Sometimes, his new body doesn't express emotions well, so the team rely on his voice and actions to tell how he’s feeling.
The cause of his immortality is unknown. It’s also unknown what kind of creature he is.
AGENT GEMINI "GEM"
She can die, but only if every single one of the cells explodes. She can grow old, but her regeneration is so fast that her aging is incredibly slowed down. She calls herself a “Pseudo Immortal”. Her skin is difficult to slice apart with how fast it connects back together.
it's not exactly the same every time. it's altered by what they went through, and why they’re asking, and how it all ended. but it's always close enough that it may as well be the same.
100% inspired by this incredible post by @thirdtimed! it had me by a chokehold i had to do something about it
it's not exactly the same every time. it's altered by what they went through, and why they’re asking, and how it all ended. but it's always close enough that it may as well be the same.
the first time, it was unprecedented.
blood on his hands, tears in his eyes, we expected it to be over—a failed experiment, one that only he would ever remember to save the others the pain. too much grief wracked his body for him to even choke out the words for a long while, but we waited. it isn't an unusual thing for us to do, to wait.
smearing sand on his sunburned face, he wiped away his tears and said,
"give me another chance."
the second time, we were curious.
shaken and silent, he stared into our face for a long while, as if trying to decipher what in void we were. the crown of crystals were still and a kind of grey that isn’t truly grey, but every colour at once, and his breathing was shallow. the bloodlust drained from his eyes, leaving them as grey as the crown.
we asked, because he would not have thought to answer otherwise. he flinched, and hesitated.
"i.. can i see them again?"
the third time, it was almost expected.
still smoking from the explosion, she sunk to her knees, sobbing and clutching herself as if she feared literally falling apart. it took a long while for her screams of grief subsided, and longer still for the weeping to fade into sniffing and hiccups. she hadn't looked at us once, as if she didn't know we were there, but we did not wish to interrupt—she was entitled to her unraveling in private.
wiping her eyes, she didn’t bother to compose herself much more. she lifted her face, littered with gashes and scars, and with agony in her voice-
"i want my friends."
the fourth time.. well, it was a little surprising.
a victor had not yet arrived so high on adrenaline and confidence, and the blood that stained even his mouth seemed to be a trophy. the sword had not left his hand, and still dripped with what remained of the last two, the drops vanishing into the abyss below. he was grinning, and this was the most surprising part.
not needing any persuasion or suggestion, he looked us right in the eye—as none had done before, crowing,
"come on, give us another go!"
the fifth time, it wasn't the request that was new.
alone in a field of sunflowers is where we eventually found him, after waiting fruitlessly for his arrival. he startled a little as he realised we were there, but soon calmed at the understanding of what we meant for him. after all, it had been almost a year since he became stranded—and stranded was the word for it. the shawl was still the red and purple of the flowers he had once given to his partner, and we suppose one could say they started this whole chain of events.
setting aside his gardening tools, he smiled almost sadly. perhaps he would miss what had become his prison, despite everything it signified. he sighed,
"i think i’d like a better try at companionship."
the sixth time.. it almost didn’t count.
surprised to have even been considered for a crown, they laughed in delight when the paper version settled on her head, clearly pleased with our creative flair. we were pleased as well—it isn’t often creative flair ends up being a positive part of our abilities. they looked around, as if deciding whether or not the place was real, and seemingly settled on an answer. we didn’t ask what the answer was.
adjusting the paper crown, she laughed, clearly finding the whole situation amusing. when we asked, they seemed to be even more surprised.
"i get to choose? well- let's do it again!"
the seventh time, it became amusing. they did know they could choose something else, did they not?
whooping and throwing his arms around in celebration, came the second victor to be genuinely pleased by his victory and subsequent death. he spent a considerable amount of time pretending he was at an awards show, thanking his family, his wife, his best friend and so on. it was refreshing, after all that misery we witnessed at the beginning of the games, to see the tides changing. especially with him; rage used to be his fuel. now it seemed to be love.
grinning up at us, he waited for something. perhaps one of the others had mentioned it, but he did not seem surprised when we asked.
"what do i want? of course i want more!"
the eighth time, we don’t have to even introduce ourselves.
considerably more pleased than he had been the first time, he seems to think that taking his own life was the ultimate show of power against us. of course, we have changed our ways since his game, but he is not to know that. like his predecessor, he too seems amused by the paper crown.
cracking his knuckles, and stretching his neck, we already know what he’s going to say, but we let him ask it.
Okay, I don't know if this is every going to go anywhere, but I feel like I need to put the idea for this fic out there because I found some Merle POV brainstorming I did and need to share it.
Fic Concept: Sophia Time Loop
The general idea of the fic itself is that it wouldn't have been super long or detailed or anything--a season a chapter at a push--and all chapters would have been an outsiders POV of the whole debacle because I anything time travel related is so interesting when you're not the one time travelling.
So, Chapter 1 would be Carol's POV, detailing how "There is something wrong with her daughter" and starting a couple days pre-apocalypse where Sophia outright kills Ed in their house. From there, Carol would get dragged to King's County to pick up Morgan and Duane, and shack up in the hospital Rick is staying in so they're there for when he wakes up.
Season 1 would go as normal, relatively speaking, with Morgan and Carol helping Rick get acquainted with the new world while Sophia is practically acting on a schedule no one else is, nudging people in directions they need to go without using words because she's been quiet since the Ed thing and Carol doesn't know how to help her (or reconcile with the fact her twelve-year-old murdered her shitty husband and didn't cry about it).
Sophia gets Morgan and Duane to come with them to Atlanta, and she leads them up to the Quarry camp before they even reach the city, letting reunions occur earlier. Without Rick kicking up a bunch of noise, everyone from Atlanta comes back in one, slightly bruised piece, and the camp has all the guns (RIP the Vatos but Carol doesn't know about them and they never make it anyway).
They'd still leave the quarry after the incident, but they'd have significantly less casualties, and they wouldn't go to the CDC.
Chapter 2 is where Merle's POV comes in. His whole thing makes it clear Sophia's weirdness is noticed by others, but, as he is Merle, he's very Merle about it.
Carol's daughter is weird as fuck.
See, here's the thing, Merle has met his fair share of strange people, she's not even the first person he's met who doesn't like talking like a normal fucking person. But it's not just the talking thing--she has a voice, soft as shit and raspy like she'd stolen a pack of cigs of someone, but she's got one--it's the fact that she's freaky as fuck.
I think his POV as a complete juxtaposition from Carol's soft, uncertain rationalising through S1 is very funny.
Season 2 still kicks off as normal with Sophia going off into the woods, Carl getting shot, and everyone being involved in the search party. Merle is, reluctantly involved, mostly helping because Daryl has moon eyes for Carol and keeps glaring at Merle when he says Sophia's dead or as good as. Plus, it gets him away from everyone else.
Naturally, he finds her. Or, well, she finds him.
I have two different sort of conversations brainstormed in a note, and I don't know if they're supposed to go together, but you sort of get the picture of the vibes of the conversation.
Snippet #1 - I imagine Sophia is sitting in a tree when he stumbles upon her
"You shouldn't be out here."
It's the most words she's said in one go and, honestly, it's a little jarring.
Still, he scoffs.
"Look who's talking."
Snippet #2 - probably picking up after a "we should get back" sort of sentiment
"Not yet."
"The fuck you mean not yet?"
She levels him with a look and, okay, what-the-fuck-ever, she said what she said.
"Fine. Die out here."
"Been there, done that." Of course, how could he forget the freaky as fuck part. "Did you find the farm?"
"The hell are you talkin' about? How d'you even know about that?"
She shrugs, "'cause that's where you always go when Carl gets shot."
Right. Merle has decided she's not only freaky, but crazy as shit too, wonderful. Why does he always get stuck with the fucking weird ones?
(This isn't even mentioning that this is probably the first real, verbal conversation this girl has had in months, and it's with him. It's not the kind of thing he'd normally give a shit about but, hey: freaky.)
"There's somethin' seriously wrong with you, kid."
"Sure," she offers with a nod, "but I figure that's pretty normal now."
"Oh yeah? How's that?"
And then there was the tiniest little exchange I just thought really solidified their dynamic in my mind which was:
"No one's ever going to believe you."
That little shit.
I'm not entirely sure what she's referring to (either her being weird, her talking to him, or him going back to the others to tell them he found her but she didn't want to come back with him) but either way Merle and Sophia to me are always chaos.
Thank you for your time, I know this isn't really the kind of thing I post but omg I needed these snippets to go somewhere that wasn't an actual fic I had to put thought into, especially because I genuinely haven't thought past Merle and Sophia being assholes to each other in the woods of Season 2.
