#;; loyalty and unity | maia

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

The Umbrella Academy

The Longest Roads Lead to Home by assaily (twistedskys)

Five raised his glass to the rafters. “I’m home,” he said simply. “I’d like to take the time to enjoy that, y’know.”

Diego watched him pour another drink, suddenly understanding him. He’d been gone a long time, lost in a really terrible place that probably never felt like home unless he could somehow forget he was the last soul on Earth. ‘Home’ meant a lot to him.

When Five’s glass was ready again, Diego raised his own, still half-full. “To being home,” he said.

That earned him a smile, a real one that managed to soothe the crease in Five’s brow and make him look so incredibly young in its sincerity, and so incredibly old in its deep gratitude. He raised his glass and clinked it against Diego’s. “To finally being home.”

Or: Five gets kidnapped and it goes wrong (for the kidnapper).

SVSSS

two golden lilies float in silence in cool pond waters by texturralize

After watching one's own life bleed away into something entirely unrecognizable- a denigration, an affront, a massacre of everything one believed in- and yet, something happy, something contented, something so easily attained, a soul grows wearied. Cracked, wearied, hurt. A broken man could only live a broken life, something Shen Jiu had seen proven to him. His martial siblings preferred the other "him" - the kind one, the palatable one. The one that was not Shen Jiu.

In death, he can only wrestle with the intersection of his own wrongs and the sins committed towards him that left him such a spiteful and angered person in life. Can being reborn, into the days when he had only just attained his status as Peak Lord, give him another chance to live a life that is happy, contented, easily attained? Can he do what the other Shen Qingqiu had managed to do? Can he make the miserable wretch he considers himself to be into a better person?

Shen Jiu does not think so. He will make a mockery of the spark of something deep inside him that hopes so to try. Perhaps...at least...this time, he can watch over his disciples and live quietly with the music in Qing Jing Peak.

The Favourite by x_los

Demonic Emperor Luo Binghe's reputation precedes him. It's just not very accurate.

The Owl House

unexpected turns by kathkin

If I go back there, he’ll kill me. it had been nagging at him all day, the certainty in the kid’s voice. But if it wasn’t the Day of Unity, then what? What could he have seen in the emperor’s mind that was worse?

What could Belos possibly have been hiding that had the power to so utterly break the loyalty of his perfect little lapdog.

Clone Wars

The inability to accept No by BitterChocolateStars

One man's inability to accept No as an answer saves the galaxy.

Or: Obi-wan turns down Palpatine's date invite. Sheev gets obsessed and salty about it.

The Goblin Emperor

Snowdrops and Bridges by Orockthro

"Serenity,” Csevet says, and his voice is flat and stoney. Maia’s hands feel clammy in his lap. “There’s been an accident at the Istandaärtha Bridge.”

Or: One accident, one flower, one kiss. Not in that order."

[tojixzenins]

MAIA ROBERTS • The Shadowhunter Chronicles by @cassandraclare

Strength is loyalty and unity, not dividing people with lies.

[theresaherondalecarstairss]

idrisnnet’s Halloween Event: Week 2 Day 3: Favourite Werewolves ↳ Maia Roberts

“Strength is loyalty and unity, not dividing people with lies,” Maia snapped.

[juliettecxi]

“@literatureladies mission 09 : minor characters”

Maia Roberts

Strength is loyalty and unity, not dividing people with lies.

[spookydru]

Maia Roberts 

“Strength is loyalty and unity, not dividing people with lies.”

[simeonlews]

the mortal instruments girls: popular quotes

isabelle lightwood: “hearts are breakable and i think even when you heal you are never what you were before.”

clarissa fairchild: “heroes aren’t always the ones who win. they’re the ones who lose, sometimes. but they keep fighting, they keep coming back. they don’t give up. that’s what makes them heroes.”

maia roberts: “strength is loyalty and unity, not dividing people with lies.”

[cfaiirchild]

tag dump

[shadowedvoices]

tag dump: 6/?

lonan, phil, sky, and dante’s characters

[luminenwalker]

Ascendancy: World (Notable Locations)

Agerra - A mythical land once held by humans of the first age, their civilization fell with the first gods of the land. It is said their descendants were wiped out by the Ray-Das save a few which found refuge within Ajivha and even later their within the Aetherial Collective and the Ajivhan Khanate, a few within them claiming their ancient blood. No one knows exactly where this land is but it's said to be to the West of Grand Ajivha. The Ajivhan Wastes - The ancient home of the Ajivhan people, the Ajivhan waste is a desert overrun with marauding bands of spirits and machines nearly devoid of life now as the sands and wild magics blow with the wind. Balaenic Archipelago - An archipelago once controlled by Aurora consisting of the isles of Balaena, Emico, Ferrum, Ovum, Pectora, Polus, and Salma. It's controlled by the Empire of Aurora, held together as a republic by tenuous treaties between the Auroran and Ray Das inhabitants. Cytundeb - A small island formed off the coast by the pactbreaker during the early days of the third age. It's Luug inhabitants swear loyalty to the Empire of Aurora. The Dead Isles - The Dead Isles are what were once the Auroran Archipelago, the center and glory of the Auroran Empire it is now a scarred and dead place populated only by the undead and immortals and their 'Dead Republic.' Hit first and hardest during the war and the subsequent cataclysms, it remains a cursed place where none but the cursed live. It is formed of the isle of Maia, the largest of the isles and the capital of old Aurora remembered as Nova Verde, the isle of Pesh, the isle of Samosa, the isle of Tian, the isle of Toro, the isle of Verde, and the Kaigarde and Kashim isles. Ekaki - A tall and ancient mountain which Ajivha was constructed around during the early days of the first or second age. Sacred and scarred the mountain sits in the center of the ruins of the grand and ancient city. The Ghost Marshes - The once home of the Yish and the Aetherial Collective, the Ghost Marshes are a strange land covered in a jungle-like swamp marsh that once housed the most technologically and magically advanced civilization of the third age. Fully under the sway of the spores and plants of Gangari, the Marsh from a distance would appear to be the most hospitable place in the world. Mow unfortunately if one were to enter it they would find it is home to aberrations and other strange creatures as well as highly corruptive wild magics. If one walked far enough in one would begin to find the ruins of the collective's cities relatively intact, massive and elegant structures formed of silvery living metals now having gone strange, rooting into the ground and sprouting branches and leaves, malfunctioning automated security systems firing off without cause. These cities, cursed as most believe, are filled with untouched magical treasures and artifacts, things that any sane person would go to war over to possess. Gokvahar - The ancient capital of the Aetherial Collective, Gokvahar was a metropolis capable of flying through the sky. Forged by the hands of both man and god, Gokvahar was a wonder of magic and technology and the height of the Aetherial Collective's efforts. During the cataclysms Gokvahar was irrevocably damaged and fell into the ocean to the south of the Ghost Marshes, sinking deep to the bottom where it now rests. Though it would hold vast amounts of priceless artifacts of magic and technology, few have tried to search for it's wealth. The danger of the sea is seen as too great a risk for most who would be capable. Grand Ajivha - The first city according to the Ajivhan People, the center of the Sammah Ajivha Tahna as well as the beliefs of the Ajivhan people. In it's time it was heavily fortified, ordered in society and construction, and Grand. Once a bastion of civilization it was sacked and burned five times during the third age and the events that caused and resulted from the fifth burning marked the end of the third age and the fall of both man and god in the world. The city now sits as a ruin and monument to the end of the world surrounding the mountain Ekaki, burning in endless fire as an eternal war is fought within between those trapped within the city by it's new strange nature. Surrounded by a wasteland patrolled by marauding hordes of decaying Zalya and maddened aberrations few have tried to plunder the riches of the city and none who have made it inside have returned, believed to have become one with the endless cycle of bloodshed within. Highcrag - The tunneled chambers at the center of the mountains the Luug call home and the old Capital of the Luug peoples. It is considered sacred to the Luug by those who remember the old ways as it is where the Pale One sacrificed himself to ensure unity. Isle of Avagarde - A mythical island formed by Lysei to protect lost and abused children, found by any who seek it. To children the island is a paradise where one never grows old and all seems beautiful and simple. To mortal adults and the particularly wicked the island is a nightmare, where one is tormented by visions of their fears until they die. The spirit guardians of the place are said to occasionally take pity upon those seeking a loved one, occasionally releasing them and their child from the enchantments of the place and returning them to shore. Isle of Lyseria - A small island once held by an order dedicated to Lysei, Lyseria was taken over during the latter days of the third age by Katalia and repurposed to her desires as a prison, something that was later destroyed by the cataclysms. It is again an island ruled over by Aurora and the reforged order of Lyseria. Isle of Xule - A small island off the coast once controlled by Aurora, and populated by diplomats of the various nations. Xule was a place supposedly of peace, run with the intent to standardize trade and find better methods of dealing with problems other than war. It is currently the capital of the Empire of Aurora. The Jugaan Mountain - The Jugaan mountain is said in myth to have been a Luug known as Juugan, cursed by Gangari with immortality, tortured, and bound in a pit for her part in Cyth'raul's treachery, Jugaan was left to go mad and grow as she aged. Now the size of a mountain it's said by some they can still hear her screams of anguish and moans, begging to die on the winds. Which mountain she is exactly in the range she was bound is a matter of some debate however amongst the Luug. Lot-Vos - The name of an ancient citadel constructed by the Ray-das during their brief attempt at forming a civilization during the third age. Lot-vos was sacked and burned by Aurora and repurposed as fortress to enforce their will upon the halflings. Little but rubble remains of it now, but it's said by some the halflings are trying again to rebuild it in some corner of the world. The Navasti Isles - The ancestral home of the modern Navasti League, the Navasti Isles were overrun by Aberrations over 700 years ago. The Northern Wastes - A frozen wasteland in the far north populated by few, aside from a few herds of Shrage. Nova Verde - The once capital of the Auroran empire and now the center of the Dead Republic. What remains is rubble and ruin, but a fleck of it's opulence perhaps remains in the artifacts within. Oileán Uisce - A circular island off the coast formed by Jashiki during the third age to act as his domain. Within the center is a village once held by his favoured, now a land cut off from the world by a malfunctioning enchantment upon it intended to keep those not blessed by him from entering. Onchesmos (New Ajivha) - Built through the combined efforts of the Driders, as well as Gangari and Lysei, Onchesmos was the capital of the Drider nation of Saranda. Constructed of flawless and unnaturally tough obsidian, Onchesmos became a center of conflict three times in it's history before the cataclysms. Twice burned in battle by Aurora the Driders were conquered and pressed into service against it's allies in the Aetherial Collective before being gassed and driven out in the opening of the great war. After the first of the cataclysms the nascent Ajivhan Khaganate was founded within it's walls and began to fortify it against the outside world in an attempt to weather the storm. After centuries as the Khaganate began to expand outwards it was renamed New Ajivha and became their capital. Qartog's Manor - A stony and Gothic Mansion constructed by the divine hand of Qartog during the early days of the third age. The Manor is thin spot in the veil between the Aetherial Sea and the Material Plane, within which the spirits of the dead can appear. During the cataclysms the thin spot was torn open and aberrations poured through into the lands surrounding it and further out as time went on. Though the hole remains still in the fifth age, few aberrations exist within the manor, most of it's occupants now being revenants from the dead republic looking for a way into the Aetherial Sea and shades acting as strangely as they always do. Silver-root - The ancient university of Grand Ajivha, Silver-root was a massive tree-like structure formed of polished silver living metal which housed and acted as a university for Ajivha and a temple for Gangari worshipers. Housing the largest library and runeworks in the known world Silver-root became the center of learning for most of the world in it's time. Little is known of it's fate by the fifth age aside from it being trapped in the endless war burning Ajivha since the end beginning of the fourth age. Silver-root was the first incarnation of the goddess know as Ashlif and it was through this building that she took human form and then divinity. The Temple of Khalorean - The first temple of the divinity Khalorean, once dedicated to Drya it was taken over by his priesthood and creations until it resembled a nest or hive. It was occupied by the Khaloric Swarm, functioning as a capital, before their leaving the world. It is now currently controlled by the Empire of Aurora. Valthee - The capital of the Empire of the Basalt Obelisk, formed over a thousand years ago around appropriately a massive Basalt Obelisk. The Silverplume Isle - The previous home of the Silverplume Confederacy, the Silverplume isle is a corrupt and now overrun land where its inhabitants fought for a living for hundreds of years with tooth and nail. The Whispering Forest - The forests of the Grat long ago took on an unnatural will during the third age. The plants have seemingly become intelligent, communicating with eachother, and through the strange and almost weaponized flora of the forests capable of fighting and killing those they decide threaten the forest. Aside from small pockets of wild magic little has changed in the whispering forest by 1900 AD.