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hyuckshaze · 3 years ago

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Drowning in the Distance | Chapter V

✩‌ haechan ‌x‌ ‌fem!reader‌ ‌|‌ terminal illness au! series ✩

SUMMARY‌ ‌⇾‌ confined to a life of detachment from the only people on earth who understand them, the patients of saint evangeline’s can only watch as those around them drown in themselves, in more ways than one, while they themselves drown, in a much more literal sense. haechan is tired, tired of moving from place to place with no real chance of getting better. y/n is tired too, tired of living solely for the purpose of staying alive. maybe, just maybe, despite the space that separates them, they can guide each other to a life worth living.

WARNINGS‌ ‌⇾‌ ongoing theme of terminal illness (cystic fibrosis); talk of christianity, the afterlife, heaven/hell, death; ongoing mention of surgeries, scars, medications, drug trials etc.

CHAPTER WORD COUNT ⇾‌ 3.42k

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

V | Y/N

✩‌

I slam open the door to the stairwell, buttoning my jacket as I sprint up the steps to the roof. Third to the fourth. My heart is pounding so loud in my ears, the taste of metal upon my tongue; I can barely hear my footsteps underneath me as I run up the steps. He has to be crazy. Fucking insane. With every close of my eyes, every blink, I see him standing there at the edge of the roof, about to plummet seven stories to his death, fear painted onto every feature of his face. Nothing like his previous confident smirk; his eyes wide in terror, lips parted in shock, eyebrows furrowed and skin sickly pale. Wheezing and spluttering, I make it past the fifth floor, stopping still for just a moment to try and catch my breath, my sweaty palms grabbing at the cool metal railing to keep myself from falling weakly to the floor. I peer up the stairwell to the top floor, my head spinning, my sore throat burning, my chest aching. I didn’t even have time to grab my portable oxygen before my legs carried me out from my room and down the hall. What an idiot. Anybody else would say that he must have a death wish. And yet, the fear-stricken face that I’d seen from my bedroom window on the third floor told me otherwise. He didn’t want to die. I could see it in his face, in his eyes, even from four stories below. Just two more stories. Two more. I force myself to keep climbing, my feet moving on command: left, right, left, right, left, right. Finally, thank God, the door to the roof is in sight, cracked open under a bright red alarm just ready to go off. I hesitate for a second, looking from the alarm to the door and back again. How didn’t Haechan set it off? Is it broken? Then I see it. A tightly folded bill holding down the switch, stopping the alarm from blaring and letting everyone in the hospital know some crazy guy with cystic fibrosis and self-destructive tendencies is hanging out on the very edge of the roof. I shake my head. He might be crazy, but that’s clever. I can’t believe I’d never thought of it, being here so long. The door is propped open with a wallet, and I push through it as quickly as I can, making sure the dollar bill stays securely in place over the switch. I stop dead, taking a real breath for the first time in four flights of stairs.

Looking across the roof, I’m reassured to see that he’s moved a safe distance away from the edge and hasn’t fallen to his death. At least he had enough sense to move. Not that he had the sense to not be there in the first place. He turns to look at me as I rattle and rasp, a surprised expression on his face. I pull my black and white scarf closer as the cold air bites at my face and neck, looking down to see if his wallet is still wedged in the gap between the door and the metal before turning and storming over to him, irritation seeping beneath my skin.

“Do you have a death wish or something?” I shout, stopping a more-than-safe eight feet away from him. I want to know what his response will be to the question. He may or may not have one, but I definitely don’t. His cheeks and nose are tinged red from the cold, and a thin layer of snow has collected on his wavy brown hair and the hood of his burgundy sweatshirt. When he looks like that, I can almost pretend he’s not such an idiot, such a stupid fucking idiot. But then he starts talking again. Never mind. He shrugs at me, casually, motioning over the edge of the roof to the ground seven stories below.

“My lungs are toast. So I’m going to enjoy the view while I can.” How poetic. Why did I expect anything different? I peer past him to see the twinkling city skyline far, far in the distance, the holiday lights covering every inch of every tree, brighter now than I’ve ever seen them as they bring the park below back to life. Some are even strung across the trees, creating this magical pathway you could walk under, head back, mouth agape. It’s beautiful. In all my years here I’ve never been on the roof but the view, God, it makes me wish I’d have known. I’ve been missing out on this for ten years? It’s only when I hear Donghyuck’s feet scuff on the floor that I remember that he’s here. Shivering, I pull my jacket tighter around me, wrapping my arms around my body to give me further warmth as I move my eyes from the lights in the distance back to him.

“Good view or not, why would you, or anyone for that matter, want to risk falling seven stories?” I ask him, genuinely wondering what would possess someone with defective lungs, not to mention the B. cepacia, to take a trip onto the hospital roof in the dead of winter, on the coldest day of the year so far. His honey brown eyes light up in a way that makes my stomach twist, the distant lights reflecting off of his orbs and glinting under the moonlight.

“Have you ever seen Brazil from the rooftops, Y/N? Or Rome? Or here, even? It’s the only thing that makes all this treatment bullshit seem small. It’s about perspective, you see.” He turns back to look over the ledge, resting his palms against the cold stone.

“‘Treatment bullshit?” I ask, taking two steps toward him, until we’re about six feet away from each other. The limit. “This treatment bullshit is the only thing that keeps us alive.” He snorts at my words, rolling his eyes, sparing me a glance before looking back out at the city.

“That treatment bullshit is the only thing that stops us from being down there and actually living.” Is he serious? My blood begins to boil, fists clenching tighter around my scarf. I fight back a laugh, settling for a huff of disbelief. He can’t be serious.

“Do you know how fucking lucky you are to be in this drug trial? There are so many people out there who wanted this more than anything, who wanted these treatments, who wanted to live. But, no, not you. You just take it for granted, clearly. That treatment bullshit is the difference between life or death and even though you might not give a fuck, there are others that do.” My anger grows as his face remains impassive. How insufferable could he be? I suppose a lifetime of excessive money makes people underappreciate the value of life, of living. “I don’t know what else I expected. You’re clearly a spoiled, privileged brat.” A smirk peeks at the corner of his lips as he turns to look at me.

“Wait, how do you know about the trial? You been asking around about me, shorty?” I ignore his questions, resisting the urge to bite back at his mocking words. He clearly hasn’t thought about this and he clearly doesn’t want to, but I push on.

“If you don’t care, then leave,” I fire back, watching as his eyes flash with curiosity. “Let someone else take your spot in the trial. Someone who wants to live.” I stare him, not daring to shift my gaze, watching as the snow falls in the space between us, glittering like diamonds under the moonlight, disappearing as it lands upon the thin layer under our feet. We stare at each other in silence, and then he shrugs, his expression unreadable. He takes a step backward, closer to the edge again. He steps up on the ledge.

“You’re right. I mean, I’m dying anyway.” I narrow my eyes at him. He wouldn’t. I saw the look in his eyes before, the genuine terror. He didn’t want to die. Right? He takes another tiny step back, his footsteps crunching in the freshly fallen snow that had formed a thin blanket upon the ledge. His eyes are locked on mine, daring me to say something, to stop him. Challenging me to call out to him. Closer. Almost to the edge. I inhale sharply, the cold scraping at the inside of my lungs. He dangles one foot off the end, and the open, frosty air makes my throat tighten up. No. He’s gonna do it, he’s going to jump, to free-fall. He’s going to… He can’t-

“No! Stop!” I cry out, taking a step closer to him, my heart pounding in my ears and my hands shaking in anxiety. He pauses, turning his head towards me, leg hanging over the edge. One more step and he would fall. Fall all seven stories down to the courtyard. One more step and he would…

We stare at each other in silence, his glittering eyes questioning, interested. And then he starts to laugh, loud and high-pitched and wild, in a way so familiar, it feels like pressing on a nasty bruise. Like the feeling of my first IV line being inserted. Like the weightlessness of my first time going under anaesthesia for surgery. Like… “Oh my god. The look on your face was priceless.” He imitates my voice, “No! Stop!” My mouth falls open, lips parted in shock. In only a few short seconds, the disbelief turns to anger.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Why would you do that? Falling to your death isn’t a fucking joke!” I can feel my whole body shaking. I dig my fingernails into my palm, ignoring the stinging feeling of breaking skin, trying to stop the trembling as I turn my back to him and storm across the roof. If I could get close, I’d have punched him, as hard as I could, right in his smug little face. Even if it broke the fragile bones of my wrist, It’d be worth it.

“Oh, come on, Y/N!” he calls after me. “I was only messing.” I ignore him, pulling open the rooftop door and stepping over the wallet, wanting to put as much space as possible between us. Why did I even bother? Why did I exert myself like that, climbing four stories to see if he was okay? I start running down the first couple of steps, reaching up to adjust my nose cannula when I realize… I forgot to put on my face mask. I never forget that. I slow down, already out of breath, and then stop completely as an idea pops into my head. Climbing quickly back up to the door, I slowly pull the compact note away from the alarm switch, pocketing it as I fly back down to the third floor. Resting against the brick wall beside the door to the ward, I catch my breath for a few minutes before pulling off my coat and scarf, opening the door, and strolling to my room, as if I’m coming back from a visit to the NICU. Somewhere in the distance, the roof alarm goes off as Lee Donghyuck opens the door to get back inside, obscure but blaring as it resonates throughout the stairwell, reverberating in the hallway and echoing down to the floors below it. A smug smile, a grin filled with mirth, tugs at the corner of my lips. Irene tosses a blue patient folder onto the countertop behind the nurses’ station, shaking her head and murmuring to herself.

“The roof, Haechan? Really?” It’s somewhat of a relief to know that I’m not the only one he’s driving crazy.

I gaze out of the window, watching the snow fall in the fluorescent luminosity of the courtyard lights, the hallway finally dead silent after Haechan’s nearly hour-long reprimanding. Glancing over at the clock, I see it’s only eight p.m., which gives me plenty of time to work on number 16 on my to-do list, “Prepare app for beta testing,” and number 15, “Complete dosage table for diabetes,” before I go to bed tonight. I check my Facebook quickly before getting started, a small red notification for an invite to a ‘Senior Trip Beach Blast in Hawaii’ for this Friday night popping up. I click on the page and see that they used the description that I’d drafted back when I was still organizing this, before the actual trip, and I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse. I scroll through the list of people going, seeing Tzuyu’s and Karina’s pictures, and Chan’s, followed by pictures of a half dozen other people from my year who have already clicked the little green tick with a yes. My phone begins to ring, and I see a FaceTime call coming in from Tzuyu. It’s like they knew I was thinking about them, they always had an uncanny ability to call or text whenever I was. I smile and swipe right to accept the call, almost getting blinded when the bright sunlight of whatever pristine beach they’re sitting on bursts through the screen of my phone.

“Okay, I’m officially jealous!” I say as Tzuyu’s sunburnt face comes into view. Karina lunges to stick her face over the elder’s shoulder, her curly hair bouncing into the frame. She’s wearing the polka-dot one piece I helped her pick out, but she clearly doesn’t have time for pleasantries. She looks at me, squinting her observant eyes at Tzuyu’s phone.

“Are there any cute guys there? And don’t you dare say-” I bite back a laugh, knowing exactly what she’s going to say.

“Just Jaemin.” We say at the same time. Karina huffs at me while Tzuyu shrugs, adjusting her sunglasses on her nose.

“Jaemin counts. He’s cute!” Karina snorts, nudging Tzuyu. They both know that he was dating Jeno, and was much happier than ever before with said boy. I don’t really have the heart to tell them.

“Na Jaemin is a thousand percent not interested in you, Tzuyu.” The elder punches Karina playfully in the arm at her words, and then freezes, moving in closer to the screen and narrowing her eyes at me.

“Oh my god. Is there actually? Y/N, is there a cute guy there?” I roll my eyes. Of course they would notice. It was a toss-up each and every day whether their creepily accurate observance skills would be a blessing or a curse. Today, I think, it’s a curse.

“He is not cute.” I protest, staring them down. Maybe he’s attractive and handsome and looks like he just hopped off the front of a magazine cover, but that does not mean he’s cute. His personality certainly isn’t.

“‘He’!” The two of them squeal in delight, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. As I watch, I can sense the waterfall of questions that are about to pour over me, the dam that’s about to burst, unless I make my exit.

“I’ve gotta go! I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow!” I say while they chorus their complaints, chuckling at their pouted lips and desperate eyes before hanging up. I know they’ll text all of the questions that they’d hoped to ask, but the longer I can delay a response, the better. The moment on the roof with said not-cute boy is still a little too fresh and weird to talk about. It took the best part of half an hour to get my hands to stop shaking. The Facebook page for the Hawaii beach party comes back into view as I look from my phone to my laptop. I move my finger along the trackpad to hover over “Not Going” but I can’t bring myself to click on it just yet, so instead I just close the page and load up Visual Studio. I double-click to open the project I’ve been working on and begin to sort through the lines and lines of code, already feeling my muscles loosen as I do. My friends always found it weird when we were younger, how completing my to-do list made me relax, made me feel less stressed. When I’d been diagnosed with OCD, they’d recognised the behaviours and accepted them. I couldn’t really have asked for better friends. They no longer commented on it, and if they could do anything to help then they’d always offer, which I appreciated. Not only that, but they stuck around throughout all of the surgeries and illnesses and treatments and missed meet-ups. Mindlessly singing as I scan through the open project, I find an error in line 29, where I put a c instead of an x for a variable, and a missing equals sign in line 193, but aside from that, the app finally looks ready to go for beta. I almost can’t believe it. I’ll celebrate with a pudding cup, or five, later. I try to move on to completing the dosage table for diabetes in my spreadsheet of the most prevalent chronic conditions, sorting through varying ages and weights and medications. But I soon find myself staring at the blank columns, my fingertips tapping away at the edge of my laptop instead, my mind a million miles away, wandering amongst thousands of distant thoughts and memories. I shake my head. Focus.

I reach over to grab my notebook, crossing off number 16 on the to-do list and trying to get the feeling of calm that usually comes from finishing to-do list items, but it doesn’t come. I freeze as my pencil hovers over number 15, looking from the blank columns and rows on my spreadsheet back down to “Complete dosage table for diabetes.” Unfinished. Shit. I chuck the notebook onto my bed, restlessness and unease filling my stomach. Standing up, I walk over to the window, my hand pushing back the blinds. My eyes travel to the roof, to the spot where Haechan was standing earlier. I know he was his usual self when I got up there, but I didn’t imagine the coughing, and teetering. Or the fear. Mr. “Death Comes for Us All” didn’t want to die. On edge, I walk over to my med cart, hoping that moving on to number 18: “Before-bed meds” on my to-do list will help calm me down. My fingers tap away on the metal of the cart as I look at the ocean of bottles, and then out the window again at the roof, and then back at the bottles. Is he even doing his treatments? Haechan, I mean. Doyoung can probably force him to take most of his meds, but he can’t be there for every single dose. He can strap him into his AffloVest, but he can’t ensure he keeps it on for the full half hour. He’s probably not doing all his treatments. My mind wanders back to when he referred to it all as ‘treatment bullshit’. He’s definitely not doing all of his treatments. I shake my head, unclenching my hands and ignoring the blood that pools around the crescent moon shaped indents in my palm, trying to go over the meds in order of when I take them, shuffling them around on the cart, the names all blurring together. Instead of feeling calm, I feel more and more frustration, the anger climbing up my spine and wrapping around my throat until it feels like I can’t breathe. I struggle with the tight cap on a new bottle of mucus thinner, pressing down on it with all my strength and trying to twist it off. I don’t want him to die. Why don’t I want him to die? Why do I care? The thought climbs on top of the mountain of frustration and sticks a flagpole in the peak, crystal clear, deafeningly loud and so surprising to me that even I don’t understand it. Both when my eyes are open and closed, I’m faced with the image of him walking back to the edge of that roof. The sight of his leg dangling, seven stories of open air beneath it. And even though he’s the most insufferable boy I’ve ever met… I don’t want him to die. I twist the lid sharply and it comes flying off, pills showering down onto my previously perfectly clean and organised med cart. Heatedly, I slam the bottle down onto the cart, the pills jumping from the metal with the force of my hand.

“Fucks sake!”

12 notes · View notes

snkpolls · 4 years ago

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SnK Chapter 130 Results

The chapter poll closed with 1775 responses. This month’s poll results were brought to you by u/staraves, Crunchwrap, Luna, Momtaku and Giovata! Thank you to everyone for your support!

RATE THE CHAPTER

Maybe it was finally getting Eren’s POV, or maybe it was finally seeing the rumbling in nine glorious double page spreads. Either way “Dawn for Humanity” was very well received with close to 70% giving it the highest possible rating, marking this the most acclaimed chapter since chapter 123.

Beautifully drawn and written. I like the teasing of Eren's PoV

Good to see some Eren and Historia (finally!!) but the lack of answers is really hurting my heart, cmon yama!!

Epic chapter, amazing artwork. And astonishingly, with 5-6-7 chapters left i still don't know where this is going.

Definitely in my top ten best chapters. The ending was gloriously horrifying to read. Also, we finally got some Historia content, which is a big plus.

Cool as hell chapter.

I feel like this chapter wasn’t that great. It kind of gave way to more speculation without giving many concrete answers. The things that it DID answer felt like stating the obvious.

Tease me more, daddy Isayama

This chapter most likely is the best i've ever seen. So many answers and sooo many questions left behind. This chapter directs us to think about the previous chapters and obviously ISAYAMA'S THOUGHTS. That thing makes me happy. I'm very grateful.

Death is on its way, ladies and gents. Also the end is almost here. What the fuck is going on? I just want some answers about E V E R Y T H I N G (especially about Eren's psyche).

Is there a singular word for the feeling of a mosquito bite?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

“The revelation of Eren’s freaky final boss form” was our favorite moment (22.7%) followed by “Eren’s POV finally! Sort of?” (15.8%) and “The rumbling! At last!” (13.4%). “Historia and Eren’s tense discussion on the farm” came in fourth (11.6%).

Fuck yes! Erens back!

Our Queen has finally returned!

The whole chapter was building up to the reveal of Eren's titan form, and I enjoyed it.

Finally back at our one and only true hero Eren.

SWIMMER TITANS ARE NOW THE GOLD MEDALIST FOR THE SWIMMING CATEGORY IN OLYMPICS 2020 special edition

FINNALY HISU POV, even if it’s just a flashback. Honestly I’m just happy to see her again, becuase she’s my favorite character, and even if the flashback gives more questions than answers.

loved zeke-eren bro talk

everyone who thought that Floch was lying in charter 125 are 🤡🤡🤡

reiner tiddies

WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER'S MVP?

“The colossal synchronized swim team” made an impressive showing (28.5%) but their majestic moves across the ocean were not enough to topple Eren (53.6%) for chapter MVP. Historia (8.1%), Zeke (5%), and Annie (3.5%) also received some love.

EREN IS THE GOAT

Eren is the worst boy in the world.

EREN JAEGER GENOCIDAL MANIAC

I really missed Historia, so it was nice to see her.

can the rumbling start a synchronized aquatic dance?

WHAT DOES THE CHAPTER TITLE "DAWN FOR HUMANITY" REFER TO?

I thought of it as some sort of "End of the world" titling.

Dunno; but it doesn't really work if the rest of the world gets rumbled, does it?

I want to see the japanese title to decide

Eren wants to kill “animals” to give a new life to “humanity”

A dawn, or a beginning of a new day, has arrived. Whether this new day is a good or a bad one for humanity, we do not yet know. Everything is still possible, but once this day is over, the world as we know it is no longer here, for better or worse.

A new age for humanity is incoming. The story will end as a tragedy with Eren achieving his goal.

Dawn means the start of the day. So I think the start of the rumbling will be the start of humanity for this world. I think we started to see this with the world fleet being there to try stop eren. I believe every country is helping people flee regardless of race. Maybe I'm just too idealistic.

Ce chapitre fait reference au fait qu’eren est pret a tout pour sauver ses amis

Eren will achieve his goal (end the cycle of hatred)

Hope for humanity outside the walls. Dawn for me is something like hope, even if today was a bad day, tomorrow, after dawn, things might get better. Maybe the Warriors-Paradis alliance will somehow reach Eren and stop the Rumbling?

dunno but got the vibes of ‘it’s darkest before the dawn’ might be a tip for a change coming

Eren has now officially started eradicating the world and also it's dark ideas against people on paradise and conquering freedom for his people and that is why this moment onwards is "the dawn of humanity "

Dawn for Eldians to be exact. Dusk for Marleyans.

Finally defeating Eren, ending the curse of Ymir and freeing everyone from the shadow of Titan powers.

Dawn of Terror? Dawn of "What The FUCK Is That??" Dawning that the remaining places of humanity are to be trampled?

It could refer to a ""dawn"" for the alliance, who intend for neither side of the conflict to be eradicated, as they believe everyone is part of ""humanity"". Despite their deliberation at the beginning of the chapter, the fact that they're finally setting sail to stop Eren is testament that they've not lost their hope in the pursuit of this ideal, hence they can be interpreted to be the ""dawn"".

Eldians in Paradis Island being free from the wrath of outsiders and being avenged

I think it refers to a new beginning a new start for the eldians living on the island or it can be used as an ironic way that the humanity outside the walls is going to end so it's complete destruction hence the beginning of the new cycle

The Rumbling & Historia's child, humanity's destruction and its rebirth

Continuation of "End's Eve" as this is the dawn of the day where humanity fights for its continued existence

"Dawn" refers to Humanity's realisation of many things. Eg: how Eldia is not a weak nation, how the Rumbling wasn't a lie, how people are people and they are all the same - wanting to live and shedding the same blood no matter what nationality they have. "Humanity" refers to those still alive and realizing these things.

Dawn of the final day - 24 hours remain

WHAT ARE THE FUTURE IMPLICATIONS OF ANNIE DECIDING SHE'S TIRED OF FIGHTING AND NO LONGER WANTS TO STOP EREN?

Despite learning that her hometown is doomed, just over half of respondents feel confident Annie will stay the course and continue to work with the alliance. Among the rest of responses, 27.4% think this will trigger Annie’s exodus, selecting “Annie will leave the alliance and try to be with her father,” 16.9% believe this will cause Annie to do something stupid resulting in her death, and lastly 4% of the fandom believe this bad news will trigger Annie’s homicidal instincts causing her to switch sides and join Eren.

Annie saying she didn't want to have to be prepared to fight mikasa, Connie, armin, jean, Reiner and eren again made me feel sad for her ;-;

I just wanna say that it wouldn't make any sense for Isayana to bring Annie back and then write her out so it's obvious she will continue in the alliance lol (but I don't really agree with any of the options offered, I think she will decide by herself to stay)

Poor Annie's breakdown made me feel terrible for her. I still think she wants to leave but I think there are chances of the Warriors and/or Armin convincing her to stay and fight. As one of the nine shifters, she kinda has the responsibility to fight, even if she doesn't want to, and I get completely why she doesn't want to, poor thing. I have a sneaky suspicion that she might choose Porco's way out and we might yet see a new holder of the Female Titan power. :(

WHAT WILL BE THE FATES OF THE ELDIANS IN LIBERIO, SPECIFICALLY THE WARRIORS' FAMILIES?

When asked about the residents of Liberio and the fate of the Warriors’ families, a combined 58% believe that they are alive for the moment selecting that they were evacuated (39.3%) or else managed to escape (18.4%). Close to 30% aren’t so optimistic, believing Liberio is flattened and they are dead. We also had plenty of write in responses:

They are going to die, but I can see Annie meeting her father and die together in each others arm by the rumbling. It's sad I know, but it would be a fitting end for both of them :(

They are probably arrive. Either they overcame the Marleyan authorities that tried to surpress, or The Rumbling avoided Liberio entirely. I just doubt they would kill off Mr. Leonhardt offscreen.

They may have started to fight the Marleyans and then ended up flattened by the titans since they didn't escape earlier.

They took a ship to the south and we will meet them including Reiner's family and Mr. Leonhart.

Am I supposed to feel sorry for these people? I don't. The Warriors don't deserve happy endings for everything they have done.

Bands of survivors have made it out but Annie will meet her dad when he is dead or dying

some died while revolting, some are alive, annie's dad is wounded

They're currently fineish because Eren didn't go where Hange was expecting, hence why all their estimations have been off

I mean, they must be alive somehow. It seemed that there were only soldiers in Liberio and the others evacuated so I'm hopeful that at least Annie's father survived

I want to have hope ;-;

I just want Annie to see her father again, and for Reiner to get what he wants.

What if the city Eren attacked isn't Liberio? I feel like it's too important to be flattened just like that (thematical resonance + too many side-characters like Eren's own grandfather are there) and we're being misled about the place Eren is attacking.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT HISTORIA'S STANCE ON THE RUMBLING?

Many of us had expectations about Historia going into this chapter. Her initially disagreeing outright with the rumbling but seemingly giving in was a surprise to 8.4% who thought she would have been all for it all along, and 19.9% who never expected her to agree with it at all. 6.4% of you expected her to do the opposite of what is implied, with agreeing at first but changing her mind in the conversation, while 23.3% reported expecting the exact turn of events. However, a huge 41.5% of you aren’t taking everything at face value and do not believe Historia does or has ever supported the rumbling.

DO YOU BELIEVE EREN IS THE FATHER?

After almost 2 years of the fandom fighting over the identity of Historia’s baby daddy, this chapter has finally definitively proven that… we still know nothing. Nonetheless, the narrowly winning belief (37%) is that Eren is the father, closely followed by those who believe he is not the father (34.4%). Some are unsure what to make of the situation (18.2%), and some of you don’t care enough to speculate (10.4%).

there is a TON of hints, him being the father makes prefect sense.

i will bet on my freedom that eren is the father

Historia x Eren ftw!

Eren being the father would be the most meaningful for both the story, as well as for Eren and Historia and their chemistry together if you ask me, though I can accept otherwise.

Whoever disagrees eren is the father doesn't read the manga seriously

I have not any positive thoughts about Eren-Historia's flashback. Just pain, I feel pain for her. I don't get the point to destroy her character like that.

I really hope Eren isn’t the father — it just doesn’t seem right.

I don't believe Eren is the father since it will contradict what he said to Zeke: "I'm only left with 4 years"

Sorry shippers, I don't think we'll ever get a straight answer about who's the father. But I kinda prefer it that way, because then we'll each get to decide what we thinks is correct.

IF YOU DONT STOP THIS I WANNA MAKE BABIES WITH YOU

Still don't care about who's the father

Who is the father?

HOW HAVE YOUR FEELINGS ON THIS CHANGED DUE TO THIS CHAPTER?

35% went into the chapter thinking Eren was not the father and 30% believing he was, with this chapter doing nothing to change their minds. For those who were affected, this chapter influenced 14.2% to join the team #DaddyEren and 5.6% to burn their membership card. The remaining 15% don’t care enough to speculate.

If Eren is the father, I think it's possible Historia wanted his baby to keep a part of him with her after the rumbling is over, or perhaps it was an attempt to make him want to come back when he's done or even not commit genocide.

why does everyone keep saying Eren is the Father confirmed? There is literally no evidence to support that, and it actually contradicts Erens statement when Zeke discusses Mikasas feelings towards him.

I just want Eren to be the father

Historia's pregnancy smacks of her own plan but I'm not sure Eren is on board with it.

I want confirmation on the father cause if it's not eren ima be pissed off

don't care who the father is, whole world is ending.

I can't stand the mystery surrounding Historia's pregnancy anymore, this is worse than serum bowl.

WHO THE FUCK IS THE FATHER

SO THEN WHAT'S THE REAL DEAL WITH HISTORIA'S PREGNANCY?

“What’s the deal with Historia’s pregnancy?” Jerry Seinfeld asks. But we cannot answer – we can only sustain ourselves on memes and ship wars. Despite Eren and Historia’s somewhat uneasy conversation, a solid third of you are still pretty sure that Eren is the baby’s father. A little over a fifth of you think she did the dirty with Farmer-kun instead. And another fifth is convinced something else is going on (watermelon baby?), but aren’t sure what. Some of you scream to the sky, sick of all the drama. And a few of you wouldn’t rule out a baby created through PATHS. It might be Ymir’s doing! No, not that Ymir. THAT Ymir.

Historia is playing 5d chess I just know it. I just don't know how yet

Why'd Historia act like that if Eren wasn't the father?

ymir is the father

Eren has to be the father for the good dev of eren & historia characters

I really hope the pregnancy thing is just a red herring, but it wouldn't be the first-time Isayama appealed to fan-service if not.

If I see more speculation on whether Eren is the father I'm gonna puke. I mean how about focus on the real story? Like how the world is about to be destroyed??

We need more Historia. We literally need her POV for the story to make sense right now. I can't believe that with ""5% of the plot"" left Isayama is *still* pulling this all this time? There *has* to be more.

I always knew Mikasa was the father

WHY DO YOU THINK HISTORIA IS PROPOSING A PREGNANCY?

Despite a majority of respondents believing the pregnancy is authentic, there is no consensus as to why Historia would propose it. The most popular answer when asked was “I don’t know” (32.2%). The remainder of the fandom is split between Historia proposing the pregnancy in support of Eren (23.1%), as part of an alternative plan (21%) or as an act of defiance against Eren (17.6%). Only a small percentage (6.1%) believe she actually wants a child.

What the hell is the pregnancy for? It doesnt make any sense for Historia to suggest that all of a sudden

How did getting eren and historia's conversation make things more confusing😔Like what went through historia's mind when she thought of having a baby i-

What if the "what if I have a child" scene with Historia actually happened EARLIER than the rest of the conversation? It would explain why they switched places, and if Eren really is the father, would explain why he feels he has such a say in Historia's child's future ("even if you agree, I don't" ) , and why when he spoke about the MPs he said "WE have two options: fight or run". It would also give him a motivation to oppose his friends, since they are trying to stop him.

I don't see his conversation with Historia in romantic light. She was scared of him and Eren was trying to manipulate her with her own words about being ""the worst girl on the world"". We still miss some important parts of their conversation, but if she agreed to help him because he reminded her how ""the worst girl"" she was, then I would be very disappointed. I saw her as strong woman and I hope she will not turn to be a mild sheep who isn't brave enough to follow Ymir's wish and ""live her life with pride"" (or ""live sticking her chest out"").

I have no idea for which purpose Historia want to become pregnant, but I'm glad that I was right that she decide it for herself and doesn't get forced at all!

Historia has a trick up her sleeve and I can't wait to see what it is.

WE LEARNED WHAT ZEKE REALLY TOLD EREN ABOUT THE ACKERBOND. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE ACKERMAN CLAN?

75% of the fandom wants more resolution to the Ackermysteries with 38.4% wanting MOAR and 32.3% wanting at least a little more. Only 22.3% are satisfied with the ackercrumbs we’ve been tossed and 7% have no opinion.

love guru zook

ackerman bond means LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! sweet for all ackerman related shippers ohhhh

I'm satisfied to see yet another example of people trying to pin eren's BS onto zeke (with the ackerman theories) be proven completely wrong

Mikasa's charachter wouldve been a lot more interesting if her ackerman genes had an effect on her decision making and her trying to overcome them would be a lot more intriguing to see. Instead it turned out to be some lovey dovey pancake bullshit. I mean what would Zeke even know about Mikasa??

WHAT IS UP WITH HISTORIAS PREGNANCY AND ACKERMANS BLOOD AHHHHH

I think the fact that the Ackermans can access the Paths without being shifters is going to be super relevant. My pet theory is that Mikasa will be able to cross into the Paths dimension to kill Eren and truly free Ymir Fritz, but let's see how that goes.

HOW ACCURATE WAS ZEKE'S ASSESSMENT OF MIKASA'S FEELINGS TOWARD EREN?

One of the few areas of agreement in this chapter was with Zeke’s assessment of Mikasa’s feelings towards Eren. Close to 80% think that despite having never met Mikasa in person, Zeke correctly understands that Mikasa’s concern for Eren has little to do with genetics and everything to do with reasons of the heart. However, the majority of people who took the option of writing in their answer cited both as a factor in Mikasa’s bond.

Eren, when your sadistic and bloodthirsty big bro can see how much Mikasa loves you, you probably should take it seriously lol

Zeke. Is. Big. Bro

He's a lying liar who lies.

usually when panels sway to the right, they are true, so I believe this is the case.

Did anybody honestly not already know this? We learned nothing new from this as far as I'm concerned.

Mikasa really cares for Eren but the Ackerman genes amplify her love for him.

Everybody's emotional attachments have some basis in biology. It doesn't make them any less real or meaningful

we learn Zeke ships eremika 🤔unexpected but naice

The ackerman blood does boost her physical abilities but i believe it doesn't affect her mentally (she probably has ptsd and seperation anxiety)

What is between Eren and Mikasa?There is something we still Dont know.I wish for more Mikasa....

I think the bond itself is clearly related to her trauma but the intensity of it probably has more to do with her Ackerman genes

Both ? Even tho Ackerman genes could have a big part in it

I think Mikasa loves Eren but it's not JUST romantic or JUST familial.

Her devotion is strong on its own- but her Ackerman abilities definitely have played a role in her saving his ass all these years.

Very accurate, he is Love Master Zook.

Only a fool believe that shit regarding Ackerman bonds and so on. [...] The hate speech I believe is some kind of Eren pathetic attempt to release her of her feelings towards himself, just in case the worst scenario is coming up in not too far future.

The Ackerman instincts amplified her love towards Eren.

Zeke was right [...] As much as Mikasa being ready to snap titans necks in two for Eren is due to her love for him, Eren being willing to go through with a world genocide to prevent Historia's sacrifice definitely results from his love for her.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PLACEMENT OF FLASHBACKS DURING THIS CHAPTER?

The majority of the fandom really enjoyed the inception-like flashbacks, but 1/5th just found it confusing as all hell. A sixth of the fandom is just fed up with Isayama blue-balling us. We’ve been in this relationship 10+ years, Yams, it’s time for you to give it up!

Loved the interwoven flashbacks, and made sense considering a lot of the "unknown" conversations(Eren with Yelena, Floch, Historia....) all tie into each other. Made sense to them like this, and plus there is still some mystery from his talk with Historia.

E-H convo should've been shown months ago; now is not the time for flashbacks.

Just Yams trolling the shippers

The confusing flashbacks also reflect Eren's state of mind. The placement was well done.

I don't mind it, but i feel Isayama was, to a certain degree, struggling to work all of this information organically into the story, so he was forced to choose this flashback method to get it out there.

The juxtaposition is very purposeful, while I don’t necessarily like what it implies, it is indeed impactful.

The way the flashbacks were placed would look amazing in the anime, but in manga format it looks a lot more confusing!

People might say this is Isayama being mysterious and showing us everything but revealing nothing as he always does, and yeah and if this was 10 chapters ago I might see that as a positive, but this late into the series it feels like it was just a waste of a chapter.

They were good because they connected with each-other; though I had to reread the chapter several times to distinguish who was talking because it flipped so much.

These kinds of chapters are slightly annoying in the moment, but are more than worth it in the long run.

The Historia flashbacks are confusing af

WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND EREN IMPLYING HE "WANTED THIS", REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THE RUMBLING?

Continuing Eren’s ongoing theme of the question of free will and determinism, this chapter presented us with the possibility that Eren wanted everything that has happened from the start. Depending on your interpretation, of course. The majority of respondents to this question (54.7%) believe that Eren has been convincing himself there was no other possible future due to seeing said future play out in front of his very eyes, and 17.1% somewhat similarly believe Eren did not want this in the conventional sense, and he is an unreliable narrator. A smaller 12% believe this is confirmation that Eren’s vengeful nature caused this, closely followed by 9.5% of you who just think he is a lunatic.

Despite him talking as if this future was fated to happen he still seems aware enough that his own decisions still led to this outcome. From his perspective all of this was meant to happen because he already saw his future memories, but he doesnt deny that the path he took was still by his own will.

Eren said from the start he would, "destroy them all." He hated being a slave. I think he *does want this. He wants whatever will guarantee freedom.

Both future can't be changed AND Eren is a fucking lunatic

Even if the future could be changed Eren preferred the full rumbling

He literally had no option from the very beginning , his actions is definitely justified .

it's probably all the attack titan's will, not his.

he's trying to fool himself into thinking he never changed

Eren has accepted that the future cannot be changed, and has realized that the unchangeable future is the future that he has always wanted

Eren is so close-minded & immature

I've given up trying to understand Eren's logic. It's just too bizarre. I will wait until the story is finished to form any opinion about him.

Eren was bored in his original universe and wanted humanity to have a threat so he made the aot universe via Ymir and became that threat himself.

Even if a significant part of Eren wants to eradicate his enemies out of rage/revenge, really deep down it’s been shown he wishes there was another solution but right now he doesn’t want to admit he’s surrendered to his destiny. So Isayama’s going to come back to this by having Eren admit to himself he isn’t really free/this isn't what he wants, which will be the culmination of his character arc (what will he do then?…).

Eren kinda forgot about the mothers

THIS BURST OF PANELS SHOWS A VARIETY OF SCENES FROM EREN'S POV, BUT SOME SCENES APPEAR TO BE FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OR ENTIRELY NEW SCENES. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Nearly 45% of the people who voted, thought it was a deus ex machina move from Founding Titan by Proxy, which granted Eren a glimpse at all Eldians’ memories. Almost a third think that Eren was actually able to control their memories. 14% of all voters are just “wtf…? I dunno” at all the Pathsnanigans.

I don't know and I don't like it. Hope it isn't another pathsfuckery while all I want in life is KRUEGER'S POV.

Eren's path shit also implies the story has always been bending to that moment too. From the pigs, to even Dina from that Bert shard. If it's ever revealed he orchestrated Carla's death to stimulate Grisha and Eren's hatred, the whole demonisation of RBA gets turned on his head.

I don't like the idea that Eren controlled the Smiling Titan but it's starting to feel more and more likely...

The second one except it WILL come up again cause it’s fucking Isayama like tf do you expect lmao

The new POV scenes are definitely intentional but I hope the explanation isn't some magical PATHS stuff where he orchestrated characters (like Dina's) actions or is suddenly an all-seeing almighty being. Grisha was enough pls.

DUDE, THIS MEANS THAT BIRD HAS P A T H S!

dumb answer choice

FT/Ymir lets Eren see the memories of all Eldians. It will come up again. I don't get some of the angles/perspectives though.

It's possible some of these things haven't happened yet, or that Eren has access to the memories of more shifters somehow. For example, Berthold might be a memory Annie or Reiner have and Eren will receive if he eats one of them while they try to stop him.

I have absolutely no idea what the deal is with the Falco and Bertolt memories but I'm sure they're not inconsistency errors considering the care that went into showing that the Mikasa/Grisha/Levi etc. panels are clearly from Eren's POV. I expect answers really soon (and no, I do not think he controlled Dina’s titan to kill Carla, that would be pure character assassination). Hange's panel looks like it's from the future, as well as Mikasa's unfamous 'see you later'. The geese are also interesting but I have no mindblowing theories about them unfortunately..

Excited to see from where Hange without glasses memories from though.

Eren is the air, the trees, the birbs, everything

Marcel is more like to come back from the dead before I ever understand half the shit inside Eren’s head.

If Eren somehow got his mother killed that'll be the ultimate bruh moment

THIS CHAPTER SHOWED US ANOTHER MEMORY OF FEZ-KUN, FINDING HIMSELF IN TROUBLE AGAIN. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MEANING BEHIND HIS HIDDEN STORY?

The mystery of the Fez persists once again, with this being the tenth chapter since he was first shown. Though by a small margin, the consensus is that the purpose of his story is to reaffirm Eren’s determination to wipe out the world at 44.8%, with 33.4% of respondents believing he will be a tie to Eren’s compassion and remorse for what he is doing, and 17.1% believing it highlights Eren’s inherent hypocrisy for caring for him even though he will die by his actions later. Many write-in options expressed confusion at who this kid is.

Eren believes that suffering and oppression of minorities will never end just by small acts of kindness and simular "passive" acts, like what Levi did, it does not provide a long term solution or prevent Fez-kun'sfrom furder torments, which is why Eren feels like the extreme solution of the rumbling is his only option

Eren gave a mission to Fez-kun

Eren using another kid to get his way without caring about his life. What else is new.

He's the "even someone on the street" part of Kruger's advice to love someone to break the cycle of tragedy.

He’s showing that little boy he has to fight to survive, like he did with Mikasa when they were kids.

I think he found himself in trouble again (he looks to be bruised on the cheek in 120) and Eren will come to his rescue. However I think Eren will not just save him by beating up or killing the Marleyans, but inspiring the Fez kid to take action and "fight" just like he did with Mikasa. This arc has had a lot of focus on the almost inhumane level of violence Eren showed as a kid when killing those kidnappers, so I can see that being for the purpose of a direct parallel where Eren pressured the kid with the fez to stand up for himself.

I think Eren saved Fez-kun of those guys, but then he will kill him later, showing his own hypocrisy (those guys can't do bad to a child but I can).

I expect his shard(s) to contrast the other previously unknown panel from 120: Historia’s shard was revealed to be yet another instance of Eren manipulating a friend by putting his desires above her own, thus robbing her of her free-will. I hope that Fez-kun symbolizes the "beauty in a cruel world"

It show that Eren just have an other plan and not just kill everyone for no reason???? Lest not be that blind :) what esle u want to understund thats an option too? you want isayama to told u?

maybe eren intends for some people to escape when he announced the rumbling which allows people to prepare themselves, idk.

Eren will save their family and he told Fez to lead his family to a certain location that the rumbling won't reach?

What are all these crappy options? He represents Eren’s journey to changing his viewpoint about everyone being an enemy, as he told Reiner.

Just thought he was part of the collage of events, no further meaning.

Who’s Fez-kun

SWIMMING TITANS?

88% of you welcome your Swimming Titan overlords, but 12% aren’t so convinced - there’s a pretty even chance it��s because the image is just too absurd, too terrifying, or a pants-wetting combination of both.

SWIMMING TITANS

swimming titans

Seeing those colossal titans was crazy

The panel of the titan swimming underneath that ship haunts me in my dreams.

HELL YEAH FUCKING SWIMMING TITANS

WHEN THE MILITARY SIGHTS ERENSAURUS AT THE END, RATHER THAN CALLING IT THE FOUNDING TITAN OR EREN JAEGER, THEY RECOGNISE IT AS THE ATTACK TITAN. WHY?

Despite the threat of Eren Jaeger previously being referred to by name or as “the Founding Titan”, this chapter encapsulated the horror of the allied forces as they recognised it as the Attack Titan. The plurality (40.3%) is that this was just for the purpose of Isayama being able to drop a “Shingeki no Kyojin” in this climactic chapter, though a close second option (34%) is that there is historical information to distinguish the Attack Titan from the others. 15.2% of you believe the Attack Titan is the Titan Bogeyman for Marleyans, and 10.4% attribute the naming to the fact that it’s attacking them, duh.

I think the Maryleans/World Forces knew it was the Attack Titan bc of the Eldians in Marley (like Annie's dad) warning them ahead of time. I think once they realized The Rumbling was happening, they asked for more deets from the folks who heard Eren's message in the Path's Realm.

I wonder why the rest of the world was only using Mikasa ships instead of various ships lol

IT CAN'T BE STOPPED ANYMORE

NOW THAT WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE EREN'S SPINE-CHILLING (BADUM-TSS) FORM, WHAT DID YOU THINK?

This manga has turned into a horror show, and y’all seem to be loving it, according to over fifty percent. Thirty percent are aghast at the sight before them, and nearly a tenth of you don’t really know what to think of the Grim Reaper titan yet. Some of you wanted something more fully formed, but this creepy crawly is freaky enough, isn’t it? Let’s just be glad none of us live in Marley right now.

My jaw dropped when I saw Eren’s titan form. Horrific.

I love Erensaurus a lot. This chapter gave the same level of anxiety that Zeke's attack in Shiganshina gave me. Good

YEAH EREN IS SCARY AS FUCK I LOVE IT MORE FREEDOM MORE FREEDOM MORE FREEDOM

Eren's titan looks a little like the earth devil

Did Eren pick the design of his new Titan or did Ymir just give it to him?

Really interested in where it is going especially because Eren's Titan got lips which could be an indicator for it to have the ability to speak

Eren’s Founding Titan form looks like something out of Silent Hill

I'm not saying anything about Eren's titan. What even the actual fuck, Yams

Oh lawd he comin

WHY IS EREN'S CURRENT TITAN FORM A SKELETON WITH NO FLESH?

Eren is looking awfully spooky right now. That’s a good sign, isn’t it? I guess looking like a death metal album cover is better than looking like whatever Rod Reiss was supposed to be. 34.9% figure that as this is probably the largest titan ever, it’s just too big for flesh. It’s not like PATHS sand is infinite, after all. 34.6% think that the form is incomplete because of the missing titan powers; this is only a third of his potential scariness! 23% think there’s no real reason he looks like this. Not an in-story reason anyway. Finally, 7.6% think Eren is still not done forming this devilish beast.

Eren's upper skeleton body thing looks like wings of freedom...

The reason Eren's body was like this, if he was muscular, he would radiate a lot of heat, so the Allience's couldn't reach him. But now, no muscle, no heat. They can reach easily.

Eren's form is creepy as hell! I also think he might be dead/dying/the titan now.

Seriously, how the fuck does Eren's Titan move?

When a shifter generates a titan body, they need to have a special task or purpose in mind. Is Eren's titan meant to be a bridge between Paradis Island and the continent?

WHAT IS ISAYAMA TRYING TO SAY WITH THE PUPPET-LIKE MOTIF OF EREN'S TITAN?

Many have noticed the puppet-like strings connecting Eren’s torso and head to his stegosaurus spikes in the final panel (though not in the first shot we get of Eren -- we’ll just ignore that), but what does it mean? Him being a slave to himself (38%) just edged out him being a slave to fate (36.7%), with a slim minority (3.3%) believing Ymir could be the true puppeteer. Of course, there are the 21.9% of you who are remaining steadfast in the belief that Eren is NOT a slave, he is FREE.

He is a slave to the future memories and instead of trying to find a different way, he is convincing himself that this is what he wants from the start to compensate for how little freedom he has.

He's trying to justify to himself that he isn't a slave

Eren is a slave to that sweet sweet feeling of self-righteous rage.

Ymir might be acting through Eren.

I think eren has become a vessel for ymir and it's ymirs will that we're hearing.

WHERE IS EREN'S HUMAN BODY MOST LIKELY RESIDING?

The results for this are a mixed bag, with the three most popular answers extremely close in votes. It’s most agreed upon (29.1%) that Eren has no human form, and has merged with the Titan on some level, with a close second (28.8%) being him being separated from the Titan but not in the conventional sense, and using the Warhammer Titan power to operate it from the ocean. 27.9% of you believe he is in the standard position of the nape, and only 14.2% of you believe the head of the Attack Titan could be his true location.

So, does Eren now only have his head left or was he fully healed thanks to Ymir?

where is Eren (No,not his titan)? There is no nape on that thing, just bone

I NEED TO KNOW HOW EREN IS TRANSPORTING HIMSELF

THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH CHILD EREN'S DETERMINATION TO "DESTROY THEM" OVERLAPPING WITH ADULT EREN COMMANDING THE RUMBLING. WHICH STATEMENT IS THE MOST ACCURATE REGARDING THIS COMPARISON?

This curious panelling choice ends the chapter, giving us a peek at Eren’s inner monologue – but in true Isayama fashion it’s not clear exactly what it means. 45.6% believe it shows that Eren hasn’t fundamentally changed the way he views the world, his will and titan powers giving him the means to influence it. 26.4% think it’s a reminder of Eren’s tragic tendency to believe that peace cannot exist without the complete elimination of an opposing force. 16.8% think it demonstrates Eren’s willing or unwilling continuation of the cycle of hatred and revenge. Finally, 9.1% think there’s a hint here that Eren’s childhood self was cursed with thoughts from his future mind.

ALL OF THE ABOVE

All of the above, minus the P A T H S.

I hate eren do the same thing as what he had been through

It's Eren's tendency to lose himself to the desire for vengeance, which in the mange is always depicted as leading to a catastrophe in the end.

His childhood trauma comes back to him when he sees a loved one die / about to die and feels the powerlessness of having been unable to do anything because of being weak. Then pain and anger return for this reason

It's a parallel showing his determination to fight back against those who would deny he and his comrades their freedom.

It is once again Eren reassuring himself he's doing what's right, by telling himself that the cycle of hatred is what's causing this and that he needs to break it

The thoughts are child Eren, simply overlapping with the current situation. It may not be adult Eren’s thoughts.

THIS BITCH CRAZY.

I just want to say that the history is repeating its self . What we thought it was the past it's actually the future

He is using this memory of his mother being eaten to motivate himself, like a main drive. It's not the first time. Anger/Rage was always the main drive that he used to keep fighting/seeking for freedom

This is already similar to some of the options presented, but I like the idea that this is showing deep down he is driven by his childlike rage, and as much as he tries to convince himself it's for his friends, he really just wants to revel in violence because he's broken and he thinks wiping everyone out is the only way he will be at peace.

THIS CHAPTER ALSO PRESENTED US WITH TWO ALMOST DICHOTOMIC MOTIVATIONS FOR EREN, BETWEEN LOVE FOR HIS FRIENDS AND HATE FOR THE ENEMY, BUT WHICH DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE STRONGER DRIVING FORCE?

The two most powerful and conflicting emotions driving Eren right now have the fanbase somewhat split over what pushes him further. It seems that most are optimistic about Eren’s prime motivation being the wellbeing of his friends at 59.7%. Meanwhile 40.3% believe that Eren’s love for his friends has been eclipsed by the roiling hatred and thirst for vengeance within him. Even at this point in the story, it’s hard to be absolutely certain – safe to say Eren is a real menace when he feels this strongly about anything.

I feel like I finally fully understand Eren's mindset, even though there is probably still more to his POV. He just wants his friends to be happy and live long lives, so he had to push them away especially after Sasha's death.

This chapter Eren can't disentangle love from fear/hate/loss due to what happened to his mother, which is why his feelings about his friends now manifest so destructively.

Eren's memory chain went from remembering his friends smiling, to Sasha's death and Fez-kun being beat up, and eventually to his mother's death and his vow to kill all titans, showing that deep down he knows his motivation to protect his friends is bullshit and that his "enemies" are mostly innocents, but he keeps moving forward due to hatred and revenge.

Eren has never healed his trauma. It was "eating" him slowly and turned him into this he hated the most - a devilish monster.

I think the chapter settled very well that revenge surpass even his wish of protect his friends

The transition to Eren's pov and the fact we didn't learn anything new beside some basic confirmations, is really strange. And if Eren ends killing the friends he wanted to protect, he will be a complete disappointment. I really am afraid of SnK's ending.

"I want my friends to live long happy lives" he says after treating them like shit, breaking their spirit, and partially ruining their home island with millions of titans. I hope he doesn't act surprised when they show up to stop him (assuming they can catch up of course).

I don't believe the word "animals" align with Eren's current perspective, nor how he sees his "enemies". He holds the same ideals as he did as a child, but realises the nuance of his enemies and how people on both sides are ultimately the same. He just believes this radical action is the only necessary way to end an unstoppable inter-generational conflict in his lifetime so these problems aren't handed down to future generations anymore.

he's being driven both by hatred and love, but right now his rage is winning and he's using the safety of his friends and Eldia as an excuse to appease his conscience.

ON A SCALE FROM "SECRET PLAN" TO "KILL 'EM ALL", WHERE DO YOU STAND ON EREN'S TRUE INTENTIONS?

This chapter all but confirmed that Eren indeed plans to wipe out the entire outside world for most of the fandom. The majority are skewed towards the opinion of Eren definitely rumbling everything, with less and less respondents holding onto hope that Eren has an alternate plan.

Eren wants this rumbling and he's ready to sacrifice others to get what he wants, even his friends.

I gotta say, I thought Eren would've had a real plan that wasn't just massacring everyone else on the planet. I was already against the plan, but I suspected he'd walk the other side of the ocean and then announce to the world that the existence of titans was no more and destroy all the titans as proof, and all the shifters would just be normal people again.

His goal is to wipe the titans out of this world, and not to flatten it.

I support the rumbling, cause Marley deserved this by trying to eliminate Paradis, but at the same time there are so many good people there(including eldians themselves) that haven't done anything wrong. Military and leaders of marley should be eliminated, but not the poor people that had no choice.

This hateful world is needed to be purged and I support Eren for this. And when Rumbling is over that beast piece of sh** must die by Levi's hand.

I thought eren had a secret plan for the rumbling but after getting his pov this chapter looks like he really is going for it

Somehow, I can't shake off the feeling that we still haven't seen 100% of Eren's plan, there is still some twist waiting. I am not trying to justify Eren's current actions, it's more like ""if there is something that will throw this whole scenario upside down it better come up soon, because right now IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD"".

I want to believe thtat Eren has a secret plan in the rumbling but the chapter says that this is what he wanted, he had always been like this, he was always “free” sadly, he’s enslaved by his beliefs of freedom that he resorts to these drastic measures.

I think that this chapter confirms two things: one, the Rumbling is Eren's true plan [...] BUT two, there is "something beyond that hell", which is the "scenery" Eren says he saw in ch. 121. I think it's the endgame after the Rumbling is stopped (no way is it going to be completed), and it's what caused both Grisha and Historia to go along with his plan in the end even though they didn't agree with it and thought it was awful. Eren's "everything is still ahead" and the weird cut in Historia's flashback are too... strange and seem to point to this being a game changer and the final plot point of the series.

If the rumble will succeed, then I've spent 7 chapters seeing characters do nothing to accomplish nothing. I don't wanna feel my time wasted.

I unironically want Eren to kill everyone outside the walls. Nuff said.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE REPEATED BIRD IMAGERY?

Birds are a focal point of this chapter, with the combination of a four-panel tracking of a soaring seagull and a flash of a memory of some nearby geese. The majority of respondents (62.5%) believe the birds simply tie into the theme of, and likely Eren’s motivation of freedom. In a distant second (20.9%) is the answer that it relates to the idea of everyone being connected under the same sky, a fitting motif amidst this chapter’s exploration of the conflict as well as unity of different groups. 12.7% of you are hopping on board the “Eren is a bird now” train, and 4% of you just really don’t like birds.

The two birds from the Paths panels appear in episode 1 of the anime iirc, not sure about the manga though.

Eren is bird confirmed thank <°^°>

I like the Bird Theory that says he’s transferring his consciousness to a bird. yeah it sounds a bit odd but it’s interesting and I’m willing to accept anything at this point

The birds are secret surveillance cameras

I like birds

idk man this shit is confusing as hell.as for falco thing i think eren has become the bird. anything can happen at this point.

Eren is the Eagle we see in the chapter 91 that Falco says to fly away lmao

THIS CHAPTER HAD SOME AMAZING ART, SHOWCASED IN THE MANY DOUBLE SPREADS (EXACTLY 9... OH GOD WHAT DOES IT MEAN ISAYAMA??) WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE DOUBLE SPREAD?

Whether it was the break back in May, or Isayama’s dedication to highlighting this chapter’s importance, the art has definitely taken a step up and blown us all away. Though it is very split, the final double spread showcasing the commencing of the rumbling garnered the most votes (18.2%). At second (15.7%) was the imposing silhouettes of colossal titans rising from the ocean, and at a very close third (15.5%) was the very next spread, of these titans wiping out the battleships as casually as if they were wading through seaweed. If there’s one thing to make of this from what the winners have in common, we have all definitely been waiting to see the rumbling for a while.

Isayama's improvement as an artist it's inspirational.

the art is god tier

Those Rumbling pages are so gorgeous they make me wanna say "Kill them all, Eren ! Destroy the fucking world !"

Mappa has their work cut out for themselves

MAPPA's fucked lol I hope they're up to the task.

That Attack Titan spread has the single GREATEST bit of shading in this entire manga.

Solid Art, phenomenal design and usage of double spreads

I just wanted to add that this is visually one of the most beautiful chapters I've seen in a while. The colossals, holy shit. I can't wait to see this animated. All of those double-page spreads were pretty fantastic but I have to say there's nothing quite like the chill that runs down your spine when you see all those colossals emerging from the smoke and the mist, where you see for the first time how huge and terrible they are (and also when you realise the first line of defense is already down). I had legit goosebumps.

CHAPTER 130 MARKS THE END OF A VOLUME, WHICH HAS BEEN FILLED WITH ALLIANCE-FOCUSED CHAPTERS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS NOW THAT WE'VE FINALLY RETURNED TO EREN?

After six consecutive chapters focusing on the alliance with no Eren, the majority of you (57.6%) are relieved to finally move beyond the alliance, though have enjoyed the recent chapters, with 20.4% being completely over the alliance. 7.4% say they were originally sceptical but the chapters did well to make the alliance likeable to them, and 14.6% are open to more chapters just focused on the alliance.

Please for the love of God more of this and less of the alliance, the alliance was so rushed and as it's continued it hasn't been developed much further beyond plot convenience. The less of that I have to read before I get to read amazing stuff like 130 the better

i wanted more on the alliance, not flashbacks smh

it was something enjoyable after a while. Especially 126 made me grimace all over the volume till 130 came up. Not saying I was waiting for Eren but it was so cheesy.

Eren chapters are written worse than Alliance ones

This chapter single handedly made up for the below average, cringe-inducing chapters 126-129 Alliance bullshit. I have faith Isayama will create a very satisfying ending for this series now.

This chapter was legit a great way to end the volume off, it truly feels like its really the beginning of the end

DESCRIBE THIS CHAPTER IN ONE WORD

The top 5 write-ins are below, followed by the average chapter score for each description. This months’ average chapter score was 4.59.

Amazing [4.89]

Epic [4.84]

Eren/Ereh [4.69]

Rumbling [4.46]

Confusing [3.88]

Honorable mention: Ragnarok

We’d also like to mention that there were a lot of write-ins related to genitals and coitus… seems like y’all were really hyped up by that first fanlation >.>

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER?

Despite this chapter theoretically giving us everything we had hoped for in a while, the responses show that we still want to have WAY MORE answers (34.6%), MORE Historia (16.9%) and MORE rumbling action (14.5%). We’d also like to know where on earth Zeke is and if Floch is going to be the little troublemaker that we know and have strong feelings about. Will the boat make it to Odiha? Will Levi do a thing? Stay tuned!

There's still some mystery that have yet to answer and I want answers

Where the fuck is Zeke

WHERE. IS. LEVI.

i want more eren, historia and zeke. They're interesting. I don't care about the alliance.

"Zekey-dekey-doo, where are you?" ...I'm so done with you guys.

need update on zeke and historia's situation.

I want it to end soon #TeamEren

I expect in the next chapter something more around the alliance and maybe (hopefully) Floch's comeback!

Enough of Hisu, she is just a side character.

Want more Rumbling

All I can say is, I'm beyond anxious to see how the series ends, and it's eating me up inside.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES?

Most of our lovely respondents are rambunctious Redditors as usual, followed by a fair few from the flock on Twitter, distinguished Discorders, and discussors who want for nothing. Then there are some ravishing real-lifers, titillating Tumblrites, ...aaaand the rest (you’re all great). We’re still side-eyeing you Snapchatters though.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

Honestly I just wanna let it out, but not on google Poll for obvious reasons

Not about the chapter... but you guys always come up with funny answers that I feel compelled to chose even if it’s not really what I think. I love to answer this. Thank you!

Zeke the relationship expert, huh?

This chapter went through far too many dodgy translations for its own good, and even the official typeset had one big mistake in it even though it conveyed the mood of the convo between Eren and Historia far better than all the others.

this is all so confusing I miss erwin

I don't want genocide to be how this ends. I believe Isayama doesn't intend a story this complex to send a message that genocide is great. Considering some of the mindscrews he's already pulled via Paths, I'm hoping the best mindscrew is yet to come.

Reiner was a snacc

Historia the Antifascist Queen

This is the best chapter

this series is so great man

This whole chapter was a certified Bruh moment (in a good way)

This whole chapter was about Eren dehumanising. And he killed his mom. I wouldn't be surprised if he'll eventually want to kill all Eldians and his friends either.

Loved everything except for Historian's forced reluctant pregnancy.

Here's to 3 more weeks

I hope Eren doesn’t love anyone from the series.

I feel like Isayama is still increasing the pressure to help his final plot twist, I’m still lost as I really don’t agree with Eren’s actions while I see the fandom going crazy over him. Maybe I missed something, maybe I’m wrong, maybe I don’t fully understand Eren. This chapter felt good, I don’t hate the Alliance because they’re part of what I think is the right choice for humanity, but we all honestly wanted to know Eren’s thoughts or a bit of it, as we didn’t see him for a while. English isn’t my first language I’m sorry in advance, loved your poll

I honestly have no idea what's going to happen and the whole time I was reading it I was internally screaming.

Ok I know Ymir (the lesbian) has been dead for years but I miss her so much. She was the dad. Forget Farmer-kun, forget Eren, it was all Ymir.

okay no offense but where’s Levi ☹️

One big tease of erens pov and who the father is

One of the best chapter I ever read! Love it!

Didn't expect the Eren POV but welcomed it anyway. We now have confirmation he wanted everything that happened to happen and even the implication he orchestrated the death of his own mother. That's very tasty

Eren's pov has been hidden for too long and right now I don't think the payoff is worth it

eren exhibits bird behavior & he killed his mom 😕

Eren is a bird confirmed or some shit

Eren later takes Ymir's place in Paths as a sacrifice for many years to fix everything, learning everything he needs by traveling around as, say, birds, as needed to send to his past self to guarantee "that scenery"

Eren is in control of more than we previously thought and this shows evidence of a timeloop scenario

Eren can see the future and can probably manipulate the pure titans at different points in time like the Founder does. It's also likely he's gonna fuse with more shifters to visit other pieces of memory.

Eren is able to use the full power of the FT, that why he can see not only his own memories, but also the memories of other Eldians. All of them are connected to him after all.

He will turn into a bird in the end

So exited that we finally got to see Eren in his Founding Titan-like form!!!! Can’t wait for next month (AoT fan from Japan)

Enjoyed the chapter due to a return to debating the morality of the Rumbling, and seeing it in progress. Also tend to enjoy interaction between Eren and Historia. However, I think the chapter is slightly let down by being cryptic. It's hard to tell what is going on with Eren due to how scenes from this issue and others can be interpreted.

nah mate do people actually read this?

This chapter marks something that has changed everyone's thoughts. Not just about Eren, but Annie, Historia, Zeke, etc. We heard them speak differently, and got a few answers to our questions. We got to see that Annie does indeed have emotions. That Historia did not want this. That Annie never really wanted to kill, nor does she want to anymore. That Zeke actually cared for Eren. That the father is most likely farmer-kun. It's one of the best chapters we've had. Each chapter we get, we get closer to the end of this wonderful story. I can't wait to see what Isayama has planned for in the final chapters. Truly hoping for the best!

reiner's tits dammit

Despite the devastation, I now feel like there is meaning hidden beneath the madness

Creepy and interesting chapter. The official translation confirms further that Eren is going to destroy the world. I’m hoping that the next volume shifts focus to Reiner a little more. I’m also excited for more loose ends to be cleared up.

Damn, only 5 more to go before the end of the greatest story of all time

Enjoyed it but I’m really hoping for some more insight into what’s going on with both eren and historia, I’m not a huge fan of the pregnancy subplot

eren just wants to see if marleyans are made of cake

Eren makes the most amazing villain ever. Will go down as one of my favorite characters ever if the story ends how I hope it will.

Everyone forgets Historia saw her dad’s memories without eating him, without being a shifter, and without touching Eren. We’re still waiting for the payoff...

Fantastic chapter, though it felt really short

Floch was Eren's lieutenant all along, he was his representative, and his actions are therefore Eren's responsability all the same. Get fucked those who didn't want to believe that Eren would consciously choose Floch, believe in him or to set things up for Eren in Paradis.

I'd like it if the Ackerbond was not as supernatural as it was claimed before. Not because of EreMika, MikaHisu would be much better than both options of this chapter. Now we know that Levi or Kenny's loyalty were real, and it warms my heart. Also, my bastard wasn't lying! He knew about the plan.

It confirmed everything we already knew: Historia didn't support Eren's plan, Ackerman weren't slaves, Mikasa's feelings for Eren doesn't have to do with the fact she's an Ackerman and the fandom is stupid for still believing Eren is the father despite him literally telling Zeke that he can't answer Mikasa's feelings, because he only has 4 years left to live.

My heart was beating so hard during Eren and Historia's conversation because I just couldn't believe we were actually seeing her again, it had been 2 years since we got anything this relevant from her and I also just really wanted Isayama to get on with it and tell us who the damm father was so that we could finally move on to other things. I still don't believe it's Eren, but I'm done with that theory, man. No more teasing, please. Two years is far more than enough.

Chapters like this one, which perfectly captures the culmination of Eren's entire journey, make me glad to be alive at this moment in time to experience Isayama's masterpiece. I'm not ready for this story to end in just one more volume.

The ending of this story will not be a gentle tapping of the brakes but a screeching halt followed by hydroplaning and crashing into a ditch

What if the rumbling is all one big sex reveal party for Historia's baby and the Colossal Titans are arranging all the corpses into a female symbol or something.

For 8 months I have been waiting for Eren Jaeger. My favorite fictional character ever. He comes back in best way possible, wow.

Great chapter, too bad half of this dumb fandom misunderstood it and are falsely claiming it confirmed Eren as the father. *facepalm*

Obligatory mention that eren is a manipulative bastard and is a little too far gone in his goal

Ambiguity: The chapter. More questions than answers, no way this ends in 4 chapters. Overall we are all going "Wuh?" like Historia after this chapter.

We are being fucked with.

I cry, eren has been one of my favourite characters in the AoT universe

I didn't think it was possible for Eren to get any worse, but he always manages to surprise me.

I don't care about eremika or erehisu. I just need my rivaere (: haha

i don't care for the alliance and the ship-baiting was making me weary. I just want more eren, zeke and historia. They're the interesting ones.

‏I don't know what the end will be but i know it will be sad ending!..We all suffer and I mean the world of AOT and the fans who read manga... I will accept all probabilities and the death of heroes, but please do not make Mikasa kill Eren..I mean after all this love that will kill him .. I read many analyzes of the possibility of this happening and I see it as a very bad and irrational end..It is not logical at all..If you did it, the AOT would be one of the worst deeds and to the landfill..Isayama If you have suffered a lot in your life and childhood, we have also suffered in our lives, but please do not bring this suffering into the AOT world

I dont want this to end @ isayama

I hated what direction this story was taking, now I really hate it.

I just feel Isayama hasn't answered so much stuff yet and has also raised the stakes so high that I can't possibly imagine how the story will end. I believe Mikasa's slowly been established as the character who will defeat Eren, but I have no idea how she'll do it... But at least there were beautiful Mikannie crumbs, so I'm happy af and hope they'll have more scenes together now that Annie's about to give up (I mean, there are parallels™ everywhere when it comes to our wonderful lost girls...)

I just hope it's building up to a really good ending.

i just wanna know what's gona happen next man this shit be driving me crazy

I love everything! I hope floch dies though

I love you eren

I need answers!!!

I need Zook back

I really hope this series doesn’t end with a message like “genocide is necessary for peace” I hope someone stops Eren

I really loved the art and double spreads, and seeing Eren's POV after a while

I think it's the 2nd best chapter we've gotten this arc. The 1st being 123. I loved it. I also think it's putting to rest the secret plan theories regarding Eren. I've made my final prediction for the series. I think it's a tragedy that will end in Eren destroying the world & manipulating everyone's memories except for Historia & Mikasa & a new age for humanity will begin.

I'm so glad my girl's back, but I'm confused as hell. There's definitly more to her meeting with Eren and her choosing to be pregnant, we'll see. Also Zook being a love conselor and having a Ackerman phd was hilarious, I love him even more. Erefloch canon.

If he wanted to protect his friends why didn’t he just forge some Marleyan passport/citizenships for them, god wtf

If you think about it we actually didn’t learn anything that wasn’t already heavily implied

im shook

Isayama gave more than i wanted my heart can't take it.

it was very good thank you for asking

It's finally moving forward (as isayama likes to say)

It’s a good chapter but I still with doubts.

JUST DO IT EREN

Just wanna see ZEKE

Kiyoger Theory!!!!!

l'm glad we got to see a bit from Eren's POV. But I still need more answers ;_; why choose rumbling, Eren??? not looking for justification for his actions here but i just want to know /why/ he did it. Still feel like theres a missing link somewhere tbh.. I just hope the ending of snk wont be a disaster like game of thrones where Daenerys' switch came out of nowhere. At this point I just want the series to end asap, the tension build up is killing me lol.

Leaks for 131 when?

Let’s get rrready to RUMBLEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Loved seeing the rumbling but I wish we could have gotten more character driven moments

Loved this chapter! I'm glad we finally got to learn more of Eren's POV and finally learn what was Historia's role in all of this (or at least beginning to learn her involvement in the plan). Seeing him initiate the Rumbling was epic. The destruction is about to begin!

my brain is too small to understand some of these theories

Now we know that Eren and Floch just pretending to follow Zeke's plan ever since from the beginning but I want to gain more explanations of Eren's secret plan

Oddly placed Eren flashback, but I'll take it

Something's up. I'm still not convinced we can take any of this at face value.

So many flashbacks were a bit hard to follow, but it really seems like the series is gonna end soon and I’m a bit nervous about how well any ending will play out

thank you Isayama for this masterpiece

THE ART IS JUST AMAZING but for me its so short 😭😭😭

That Eren with mid long hair is baby

the alliance has come together way too fast and theyve only really had 1 dispute so far. there needs to be more conflict to make it more realisitic. I think annie saying that they won't be able to/don't want to kill eren is foreshadowing this.

the Art is amazing but flashback scenes were a little mess

The chapter was full of messy memories, so it symbolized Eren's brain well :)

I think that now I understand Eren better. I used to believe he had some secret plan, but the true was always there - Eren is not any master mind. His plan was simple - destroy the whole world. The trauma he had after losing his mother has never been healed. It was always in him, growing bigger and bigger. He still cares about his friends, but he is also lying to himself saying that ""he is doing the rumbling because he wants to see them having long, happy life"". He is doing it because his hatred to the ones who are responsible for Carla's death took control over his heart. Eren is adult, young man but deep down he is still the same, hurt crying child who bears painful memories of losing his mother.

The cycle of war and hatred is saddening. This ain't something fictional, it's something we have always been observing from the earliest human consciousness :(

We all got a big storm comin

We are NOT ready for this shit

we need annie to live longer pls

Well here’s our proof eren is actually going through with the rumbling.

What it would feel like to be Eren right now

what kind of eva BULLSHIT

what the hell is going ON

Where is Floch

where is LEVI

Wheres zeke?

Yams, you're so diabolic. You just want to make the real-life's rumbling with all that "confusing' ship tease xD

Yooooo, we need more explanation about maybe, everything? But amazing and bomb ass chapter though

#snk polls #snk poll #snk poll results #snk chapter 130 #snk 130

56 notes · View notes

join-the-joywrite · 4 years ago

Text

Hamish & Vera soulmate au headcannons

Lil headcannons for a colours soulmate au in which the S1 finale wasn't the first time Hamish had been hit in the face with the powder. Because why not? This version of the colours is the one where you can only see varying shades of the colour of your soulmate's eyes. Because why not?

Here is part two, as promised

To everyone who knows Vera on any level, she hasn't changed a bit. Okay, maybe she's a little bit more sharp now and then and she gets a little testy whenever it rains. But maybe that's just the stress of being Grand Magus, and Temple Magus, and Chancellor of Belgrave setting in.

When she's alone at home, Vera stays up late into the night, wondering if she made the right decisions. She falls asleep in Hamish's jacket often.

The jacket is completely worn through now, the suede verging on ruined again. But she doesn't want to make back to brand new again nor does she ever want to get rid of it. It's quite literally that last bit of Hamish -- her Hamish -- that she has left.

She tells herself that it's for the best. If the Knights remained active, the Order would pursue them to the ends of the earth. But you have a seat of power almost all disciples would die for, that inner voice says, you can turn the Order around.

"They're our enemies." "But they don't know that." Well ok fine but I'm also deathly afraid of seeing Hamish's face again so let's not talk about this ever.

Eventually, logic trumps all else and Vera agrees to induct the Knights.

When Alyssa returns their memories, Jack is consumed by rage and hatred. Hamish wants to feel the same, he wants to be burned bitter by the betrayal, but he can't.

"Secrets are terrible things. They ruin the best of things and can break down nearly everything."

"I love you."

Hamish understands Randall's apprehension, Lilith's disgust and Jack's rage. He wants to say he feels the same. But all he feels his confusion. All he thinks about is the day he watched Vera leave.

Who's jacket had she been wearing?

Hamish runs his thumb over the letter hanging from the chain before tucking it under his new Order robes.

Did the necklace belong ..... to Vera? Because he knows it isn't his and he found it right where he'd fallen.

What the fuck is in Hamish's head on repeat for the entire evening.

"If you're going to stand there, at least make yourself useful." While Vera congratulates herself on her ability to appear as normal in front of Hamish, Hamish studies Vera as he passes her a drink. The same drink he'd watched her make back in the den.

Vera is momentarily distracted by the taste of the drink in her hand.

"Drinks are an art form, V, which means I can make whatever I want with justifiable reasoning." Laughter echoes. "And what are you calling this drink? It's a bit . . . harsh for all your old suggestions." "I'm thinking something along the lines of Vera."

"Are you calling me harsh?!" "I would never!" Pure, unfiltered joy echoes through the entire apartment.

"Magus?" Hamish's voice brings Vera back to the present. "Mingle, Acolyte. It's your party, after all."

Hamish reluctantly leaves the bar. He wants to stand there longer and study Vera -- maybe some of his questions will get answered.

"Drink it all in one go or your brain will shrivel up to the size of a raisin." "Bottoms up."

Suddenly, Hamish can recall his high school locker combination. Lilith is talking about some childhood fear, Randall's complaining about a retainer, Jack's crying about a tattoo -- frankly, that part scared Hamish a little -- and then he's stunned into silence with the flood of memories.

And then he's as angry as Jack was. He's furious. But not at Vera for what she did. He's furious at her for not waiting. Waiting for him to respond, waiting to see if they could have made it work.

He's furious because now he'll never know if they could have avoided all the deaths between then and now. Maybe the Knights could have allied with the Order. Maybe the Knights could have weeded out all the bad magic in the Order. Maybe he and Vera could have done it together, made the Order what she said it could be, a secret society of magic practitioners that is dedicated to preserving and passing on the art of magic. So many maybes, so many what ifs.

A part of him wants to storm into the temple, into the reliquary and demand that Vera confess. The more rational part of him keeps him grounded to protect the fact that they have their memories.

He'd feel a little bad about planning to rob the Order blind if he wasn't so pissed at them for raiding the den. Thanks to Lilith's potion, Hamish is slowly developing burning rage at the idea of being betrayed by his own goddamn soulmate. As time passes, he's starting to forget that he used to understand her circumstances, her choices being bad or worse.

So when they come across Zecchia, he's ready for it without any hesitation.

"Bring me something in a tall glass." Okay maybe a little hesitance. Just a little.

Hamish thinks it might have been a mistake when the news about Rogwan is delivered. He realises he's gone and royally fucked up on a Jack Morton level when they find out Zecchia robbed them.

"So, what's all this talk about wolves?"

Vera's too pissed with them to register the fact that Hamish has his memories (not all, though, right?) "Where is my inventory?"

"It was . . . stolen from us." "For fuck's sake, Hamish, can't you keep track of anything in that fucking apartment?" Randall: ( ͡° ʖ ͡°) (ಠ_ಠ) what the fuck is happening here 🙃 "I am seriously considering killing both of you." "Please don't." "SHUT UP"

Rogwan taking Hamish's fear could have been incredibly catastrophic if Vera had had her phone on her around the same time Hamish got his hands on money and a phone booth, even worse if she had answered any of those calls (though to be honest, she might just have been incredibly confused about it or more accurately, Hamish might not have even dialled her number properly)

Hamish standing at the phone booth with the dial tone while Randall repeatedly tries to climb a nearby tree: I know what you did, Vera Stone. You wicked witch with a cute butt. You jacket thief, alcohol thief, heart thief-- vest thief! + stupider and stupider things until Randall eventually gets his attention again.

"I give my life to the cause to protect the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose from threats both inside and out." "So . . . we're supposed to babysit the Grand Magus aka you?" Both Vera and Hamish shoot Jack a withering glare. Randall finds it funny and Jack is grateful for Randall.

"Is everyone okay?" Awww she cares. Stop smirking at her -- stop -- STOP IT, FACE!

As much as Hamish was internally laughing at Vera for her still harbouring her old feelings, Hamish realises that he hasn't forgotten his own instincts when it comes to Vera when he sees the Magistratus, Angus, charge at Vera.

He may have fucked several things up, but no one is allowed to harm Vera. Tundra is a Knight of the Blue Rose, but Hamish is Vera's -- it's not as if he'd have it any other way anyway.

Vera's pretty stressed, what with the impending end of the world. Hamish is waiting for Vera in the reliquary, having discovered something ... interesting about the Tartarus explosions.

"I got your text." Hamish stands, book in hand. "Yeah, I found -- . . . is wearing three different shades of black a conscious decision or--" "Shut up."

Hamish happily complies. Who cares what colours she's wearing when he's got her in his arms? For someone who doesn't like anyone kissing in the reliquary, Vera seems to be very unopposed to the idea when she and Hamish are the ones doing all the kissing.

Not that Hamish is complaining. He wouldn't ever want to stop Vera. "Wait -- wait, this isn't why I'm here." "Your text specifically said you had something big to show me." "I ... see how that can be misconstrued."

Vera glares. "Make it quick, I'm busy."

"Tease," Hamish mutters with a grin before delving into the very solid fact that the world is going to end.

"The council wouldn't listen to reason so . . . I gave them fear. Stopping Praxis is the only way to stopping these eruptions." "Or is it the only option you'll consider?" The glass hits the table hard. Hamish is beyond pissed, but he's not sure at what. Vera is clearly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Perhaps he should let her know about his first clash with pulveris memoria

"They're asking for something I can't give them." "Or won't." He knows he's being difficult but he doesn't feel guilty about it at all. He's still mildly miffed that Vera didn't think he could make the choice for himself on whether or not he wanted anything to do with the Order.

Of course, his entire demeanour changes when Alyssa shows up in the reliquary. He may be pissed and a little disappointed in Vera but that doesn't mean he's willing to let her stand in harm's way. And of course, Alyssa knocks him straight the fuck out. (I mean personally I don't like her but I have to admit, that was a smart move)

I can't fucking remember how the scene goes word-for-word but you all know it.

Hamish wakes with the gripping fear that Vera is hurt or worse, dead. As soon as he sees Vera though, he's incredibly calmer. She seems okay. She's alive.

"She took your magic." Honestly, it could have been worse. It really could have been a lot worse. But he doesn't say so because he knows magic is something that is important to Vera and he knows that she's fucking terrified -- even if she won't say.

"I imagine she, like you, finds me a selfish woman." "Vera, I don't think you're selfish. You're demanding and ... weirdly ticklish, but not selfish."

Vera thinks about all that she's put Hamish alone through. She has very many a regret in her life, but Hamish somehow seems to dominate that lost. "How can you be so sure?" "Because of all the times you could have killed the Knights but you didn't, because you wanted th-- us to live. To learn."

It's a little hard to separate Vera's soulmate from Tundra's champion, but Hamish does it. He's still a Knight, despite whatever feelings he and Vera might share. Both of them are him but not together. Not just yet.

"It's all right to let someone care about you, V." "You--" "You dropped this." Vera stands still as Hamish puts the chain over her own head. How long had he had all his memories? Said nothing? All this time, he'd kept his mouth shut -- was it for her sake? Old guilt creeps back into her.

"Maybe you are selfish, V, but not for all the reasons you think. Your selfish acts are always about protecting other people. Me, Jack, Alyssa, the Knights, the Order. Selfish doesn't mean evil."

"What's he doing here?" "We're not staying." "Yes, we are."

"No, you're not." "It's not safe." "I'm no threat to her."

Hamish really doesn't want to leave Vera alone with Alyssa. But she trusts herself so he'll trust her. Besides that, he still has to save Lilith.

When Hamish returns to the temple, chasing Midnight, Alyssa is dead and Vera is shaking.

"V, it's not your fault." How does he know exactly what she's thinking?

Hamish sets a drink, Vera's drink, in front of her and turns to leave. To give her space. To give her the choice. He drags his hand over hers. Do you want me to stay?

Vera makes no movement other than wrapping her fingers around Hamish's hand and holding fast. Yes.

And as he stands there and the doors to the reliquary closes, he glances down at Vera and realises that bad as things are, they could be worse. Vera tried so many times to push him away, but she's failed every time. And he's incredibly thankful for that.

Vera doesn't have her magic, but she's got all the colours in the world because of Hamish and somehow, that's so much more important to her.

Someone help me I'm Sad™ I wanna write this but like ,,,,, not as a full book because that would make me cry ,,,,, maybe like a nice collection of scenes 0.0 what do you think?

Take a look at other soulmate aus I've chosen to torment myself with

#hamish x vera #hamish duke #vera stone #vermish #the order #netflix #the hermetic order of the blue rose #the knights of st christopher #the knights of the blue rose #the knights of saint christopher #soulmate #soulmates au #soulmate au #please just give me the soulmate au i want #mara-writes

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fencesandfrogs · 4 years ago

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cloudtail’s daughter: cinderheart

alright well third character: cinderheart.

i'm going to be honest, i don't care enough about cinderheart to have a lot to say about this. i'm finishing it in the morning, and i'm starting it in night, so watch this be longer than dovewing's (fat chance i wrote like 4k words about dovewing because, and i can't say this enough, i lovewing dovewing), but i'm not feeling particularly inspired at the moment.

ohhh wait i changed my mind this is the one where i get to talk about cinderpelt again, isn't it? yeessss i take it all back i've been waiting to write this since i first wrote cinder back in dovewing's character

anyway as per usual, this is part of an au where dovekit and ivykit are born to brightheart and cloudtail. go ahead and click the cloudtail's daughter tag if you want to see more about this. this is probably pretty dependent on knowing what happens to dovewing in the au, but i'd say compared to lionblaze, its still more self standing because it's significantly more verbose, so it's not reliant on filling in the gaps as much, because this is filling in the gaps.

[3k words, 10 minute read. section headers. a little bit jumpy.]

section one: cinderpelt and cinderkit --- an exposé on reincarnation

you don't need me to tell you warriors reincarnation is weird. to make my life easy, here is how it works:

true reincarnations -- jay's wing/jayfeather, dove's wing/dovewing, lion's roar/lionblaze. only one soul exists. half moon will reunite with jayfeather. or ig he can decide to go by jay's wing. dovewing and lionblaze may or may not regain their memories on death; it's not important to this story so i'm not decided

starclan induced reincarnations -- cinderpelt's soul gets shoved into cinderkit. they now share. this was, ah, very dangerous, because cinderkit and/or cinderkit's soul could have died. but she didn't. as cinderkit grows into her own person, she and cinderpelt will grow either increasingly intertwined (i.e., cinderpelt weaves into cinderheart, and is never fully awakened.) when they die, idk what happens. it's not very nice.

luckily, that didn't happen. instead, cinderheart grows apart and cinderpelt basically is a voice in her head. eventually, at some point, idk, cinderpelt frees herself. i'm sure i'll figure that out in this post, but i don't know yet.

so that's their deal.

section two: cinderheart and lionblaze

alright, cinderheart and lionblaze are not going to be a conflict thing, because of destiny. i'm just, that's. well it's a step up from the standard romance drama, but i still hated it. so anyway, cinderheart knows lionblaze is in L-O-V-E with her, but she's kind of holding out until he's more mature/responsible.

she's also not ready for kits, and that's the only way a warriors romance can be officially codified.

jk, but in seriousness, they're already close, similar to sandstorm and fireheart in books 2-4 or so of TPB. she's just not ready to take him as a mate yet, and he's kind of funny as a bumbling fool. that said, she does care a lot about him and if he pushed her, or circumstances pushed her, she'd be willing to be upfront about it.

cinderpelt is happy cinderheart is finding love, but she does kind of wish it wasn't with lionblaze. not because he's an idiot, after all, cinderpelt had a crush on fireheart before he finished growing a brain, but because she is worried about the prophecy. and lionblaze dying and leaving cinderheart alone. so cinderheart has some internal conflict about this, but she has internal conflict over whether she wants thrush or mouse some days. side effect of having two souls in one body. she keeps it wrapped up because she's pretty sure she's into lionblaze and cinderpelt is unsure, and she doesn't need to confuse the situation anymore.

yeah, by the time this series begins, cinderheart and cinderpelt are really two separate entities, and cinderpelt is getting ready to leave. she's just sort of waiting. it's until cinderheart and lionblaze confirm they're mates. why? because that's when it happens in the original and i can't think of a better time. also, it kind of completes cinderpelt's small crush on fireheart.

(it really wasn't that big. sandstorm just made a big deal out of it because she was jealous.)

section three: dovepaw

right, so cinderheart is hype for dovepaw. the dovepaw is real sweet and quiet and cinderheart feels good about that. so they're excited.

cinderheart and dovepaw go out for territory and cinderheart is like "she's on top of shit this dovepaw" and dovepaw catches a mouse or two and cinderheart is super proud and supportive and everyone is happy.

and then cinderheart starts to feel like she's failing dovepaw, because dovepaw just can't get anything else down. lionblaze and ivypaw, on the other hand, are having basically no issues. so she feels like she's failing dovepaw, and she's a little insecure about that, so cinderheart and dovepaw tag along with lionblaze and ivypaw a lot.

as you can guess, this makes everything worse.

cinderheart realizes dovepaw is sneaking out at night and is like "well this is a problem i'm not equipped to deal with" and frets over it for a while, unsure of who to talk to without geting dovepaw in trouble. (lionblaze also snuck out as an apprentice, he's an unreliable source.)

so she doesn't tell anyone at first, just makes sure dovepaw is still getting sufficient rest for a young cat. (she isn't.) eventually, she lets it slip to hollyleaf who talks about it with lionblaze who ivypaw overhears, but ivypaw is the last character i'm covering in this set of essays.

dovepaw gets trapped in the tunnels for three days, and cinderheart feels like she's failed her charge. also, brightheart is kind of mad at cinderheart because she feels that cinderheart didn't really do anything to stop dovepaw from feeling like she needed to prove herself and like, brightheart's not wrong, but it's also unfair to cinderheart. so cinderheart blames herself a whole lot because dovepaw is dead now and it's her fault.

when dovepaw gets back cinderheart only barely punishes her, and dovepaw has had enough exploration, so being confined to camp is only barely a punishment anyway. cinderheart vows that she's going to do better, do right, by dovepaw (although she's really been doing pretty okay no one is really blaming cinderheart, even brightheart has gotten over it now that dovepaw is back and safe and alive.)

section four: can you hear what i hear?

so when dovepaw gets back, cinderheart takes her out once she's recovered, and dovepaw is like "so where are the creatures with the clicky-clackies?" and cinderheart has no idea what's going on.

but cinderheart, despite being lumped in the "two braincells" category that the first three pov characters have (seriously if you haven't read my breakdown of this au as a whole you may want to because i've written so much for it that i'm definitely skipping details. now that my pace has slowed from "about 10k words in one weekend" to "2k words a day" it's better but still), is not an idiot. she's seen the lake get smaller. times are getting hard. there was a gathering while dovepaw was in the tunnels that cinderheart went to and it was real rough. so she's like. hm. maybe. dovepaw is starclan chosen or something? it would explain why she's spacy all the time.

cinderheart gets all the info she can from dovepaw and then has to figure out whether she's taking this to firestar or jayfeather.

i'm not 100% how this resolves, but eventually, cinderheart and dovepaw go to firestar to discuss the beavers. cinderheart does most of the talking, dovepaw is just kind of there nodding along.

so the standard canon thing happens and they all get ready for the trip. i feel like i've done a pretty in-depth breakdown of this for dovewing, and hollyleaf will get one too, so i'm just going to say, other than hollyleaf also coming, it's pretty much canon.

section five: the tribe

oh man it's the cinderheart book and whoo boy am i excited for this one.

alright alright alright so dovepaw is doing the Late Nights again, but its to see tigerheart. so cinderheart is uh, not very aware of it this time?

dovepaw is older and smarter (barely) and more importantly knows she can’t get caught again.

so dovepaw real tired, real close to tigerheart at gatherings, and cinderheart is like “hm maybe something is up” and cinderpelt is like “yeah keep an eye on that”

(an aside: so cinderpelt’s presence is kind of a nagging one in cinderheart’s life. it’s not that she’s not the same cinderpelt we know and love, but she’s a kind of omnipresent authority figure, so she reads a bit differently. but she’s still our wonderful cinderpelt. no fear.)

and ivypaw tells lionblaze that dovepaw is sneaking out (see here for lionblaze, literally 0 awareness) and he tells cinderheart and cinderheart is like “well that checks” and cinderpelt is like “hm remember fernpaw and dustpelt”

“ferncloud is like a second mother to me no i don’t know the details of her romance”

“yea well...”

you know, cinderheart's almost worried dovepaw is going to have kits real soon after becoming a warrior and there are approximately 0 thunderclan toms she's close enough with for that to be applicable.

(for the record, they are not that close. cinderpelt is concerned not just because forbidden romance, but also because of how young leafpool was. not impossibly young by any means, but still fairly young.)

so then through uhhh who knows memory? convenient stormfur is convenient? haven't decided yet, but anyway, cinderheart decides the tribe can help them. (the real reason is because i want the tribe to solve a clan problem for once. the stated reason is probably something like "dovepaw feels too much pressure after the beavers" or "long journeys are good for apprentices" i mean look brambestar dgaf about where warriors are going so why should i?)

lionblaze and ivypaw come along and cinderheart is like "great i just told this guy that i don't want to change anything between us until i'm done mentoring dovepaw and now he's tagging along with this? where's a hollyleaf when you need her?"

(hollyleaf is living with her ghost boyfriend, cinderheart, she is no longer a reliable source of buffering between you and lionblaze. also, cinderheart, this isn't coming up in this au because again ending in step with canon but please consider: lesbians.)

anyway, the four of them set out and dovepaw and ivypaw still aren't talking which is getting really old, really fast.

eventually, after a day or two of travelling in basically silence, ivypaw and dovepaw do start to talk again. one goal down. (my conviction that travelling books are good, actually, remains untested, but i'm determined to prove it.)

okay, so i've been reading all my notes in detail as i start actually drafting this, which means my essay content is morphing further into writing notes. you can tell because i'm skipping bigger sections, or adding notes about purpose in story, etc. this is just a warning that since i last worked on this, i've actually begun writing the book this stuff takes place in (the first book only matters if you're dovekit or ivykit, so the fact that i'm writing it doesn't really have an effect. i just wanted to start with something low-stakes.) so like, on one hand, i should have more figured out, but on the other hand, my comments are going to be a lot looser and i wouldn't be surprised if i just straight up contradict something i already said (i do edit my posts but not heavily and only if i think they're something i'm going to point people back towards. i'd rather point people to my archive once i start posting, so.) anyway, this is just a warning for this and anything else in the CTD essay series (hollyleaf, jayfeather, ivypool, as well as the books, growing shadows, fading echoes, distant whispers, and whatever the canon names are but switch book 4 and 5), that it's going to be less "here's a summary of what i'm going to do" and more "here are my thoughts about what i'm doing"

right that note aside, the travelling party makes it to the mountains. there's drama, probably? none of them have been to the mountains IIRC? i know jayfeather has but i don't think the others went with him (bramble did? hm i'll have to research) but okay so the point is, they make it to the tribe as the mountain is getting colder and this is where i have to deviate from my trend of realism the most because they're going to stay on the tribe for much longer than they should. my timeline has ivy/dove born in leafbare at the beginning of the season (easier math), so this is early-mid leaf fall, and the mountain would be unpassable really soon. but i don't want that, so we're going to pretend they have 2-3 moons before it's truly impassable, or the story flows a lot worse because i really want the drought to be in green leaf because it just sets up a hard hitting winter which is a good tension/drama fodder machine.

unfortunately, i'm limited in who i can kill off, but what can you do?

right so anyway, they're in the tribe and cinderheart present dovepaw and stoneteller is like "huh ig this could work sure why not" and dovepaw is enlisted to be a tribe to-be. she's not given an offiical whatever the tribe word for mentor is, (does the tribe have individual mentors? i can't remember off the top of my head), but she's more or less the same as any othet tribe to-be. the fact that she's so fluffy is a bonus. keeps her warm.

cinderheart is less at-home in the tribe, but she works with the prey hunters and generally gets along. i'm not sure. maybe she makes friends? (this is literally her book she definitely does interesting things i just don't know who lives in the tribe off the top of my head. her life does not revolve around dovepaw like 100%. she has to sort out some cinderpelt stuff in this book it's just very internal and i'm not entirely sure how it goes yet.)

so cinderheart and dovepaw are doing their thing for a bit. they get a good chance to explore tribe culture. it's good. everything is good. cinderheart is still definitely mentoring dovepaw, but what that means right now is a lot of modeling how to be a good learner, rather than explicitly teaching. cinderheart herself is preparing and thinking about how to transfer these skills to thunderclan.

uh yeah so anyway it's getting close to winter so they gotta head out, and the tribe is like "off u go food is tight in leafbare/whatever-they-call-winter" and the four of them set out.

okay so i'm going to skip to cinderheart's second book, because honestly, arc one narrators all get thrown in BGCH until they're needed in arc 2. (i mean, tbf, jayfeather has done literally nothing in all of arc one. nothing. he's just there, occasionally being like "no firestar, don't make dovepaw my apprentice!" and that's pretty much it.)

and basically so while jayfeather and hollyleaf are off having ghost romances (that's the entire plot of their book it's ghost romance), cinderheart and lionblaze are just having a relationship. dovewing and ivypool are warriors now, so cinderheart does have background drama of being worried because dovewing is still seeing tigerheart ("we took her on a whole mountain vacation and she's still obsessed with him?"), but like, it's very chill for a while.

and then sol comes back.

oh man, sol comes back and it's gonna be a big deal. yeah. it's a big deal for cinderheart, and hopefully this will be an interesting section, because cinderheart is a very different character from the OG oots crew, and she's going to handle problems in a different way, and this is the first chance we get to see that. the beavers don't count she was j chilling with whatever dovepaw said and the tribe is certainly a good example of her character (caring, resourceful, outside the box), but that's the set up. sol is the pay off.

so cinderheart is pleased by sol, but also generally wary. you gotta remember, cinderheart has been on a lot of extra curricular field trips. she's met a lot of cats. (note to self: include more loners.) she's a quick judge of character. and sol, you know, he's a lot.

so she keeps an eye on him, and she expresses her concern to hollyleaf, and hollyleaf is like, yeah, sure, i'll help.

so hollyleaf is like "so by the way, sol is in the tunnels." and cinderheart is like "this is going to be a problem" and cinderpelt who is now in starclan is like "oh she's finally learning."

so i'm not entirely sure on the details here because i haven't plotted out the ending three books in nearly as much detail (i mean on the blog i have but in my head where i keep all the plot lines i haven't) but cinderheart is going to solve the problem and she'll do it in a different way.

thunderclan definitely still learns to fight in the tunnels because they need to for battle purposes. (oh, to be a windclan tunnler, looking down in sadness from starclan about what my clan has lost.)

and yeah leaving cinderheart here because she retreats to BGCH after completing her duty of being a meanful character.

cinderheart? done.

#lionblaze #dovewing #ivypool #hollyleaf #cinderheart #cloudtail's daughter #mine #q #txt #27th #February #2021 #February 27th 2021 #essay #long #lovewing dovewing #not really but also yes #28th #February 28th 2021

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nimsajlove · 4 years ago

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Brothers VI

Done! Now I can die in piece, I have posted my first complete fanfic in english and it was kinda hard. But hey, thats what I was asking for I guess...

Brothers-AU Ao3

Part I , Part V

*~*

How did they got into this situation? When had the Separatist army gained such strength and why the hell had the Chancellor suddenly turned against the Jedi? And how could there be Jedi, who had sided with him? She stood in the hangar of her cruiser and looked at the remnants of her troops, they had just escaped the lost battle and were now fleeing across hyperspace, jumping from one point to the next and trying to cover as much distance as possible. In her hand was a datapad, a list of the Jedi who might still be alive. But who should she rush to, to help? "Let's take care of the wounded... and Kix!" The clone looked at her again as he left. "Be prepared that we won’t get reinforcements.", she said softly and he nodded, his face darkened and she turned around and hurried to the bridge. Before she and the men could make a decision, she had a few things to check of on her list.

At her destination, Fives was already under one of the control units, Echo was sitting next to him and had fixed his gaze on a datapad. "Do you already have deleted the identification number?“, he asked his brother and she could hear the annoyed snort from Fives, as she came closer and crouched down next to Echo. "I'll take that as a no?", she joined in the conversation and Fives startled, wanted to sit up and rammed his head into the control console. "Please announce yourself!", he cursed and rubbed his head, Ahsoka had to laugh and Echo couldn't suppress a smile either, despite the current situation. Since their hasty escape she had thrown the protocol overboard; the close bond between them all might be of use to them today. She didn't want to suppress these feelings. “Of course I haven't done that yet! I'm still at the controls, I'm trying to reduce the number of men we need up here.”, Fives growled and disappeared again, into the tangle of cables. Ahsoka nodded, that was good. They still had enough men to manage the cruiser, but it was better if they could reduce the number of men on the vulnerable bridge. "Good, then I'll delete the other data.", she announced and patted Echo on the shoulder, before getting to work.

After a few hours, a lot of caffeine and two outbursts, thanks to the well-encrypted technology, Ahsoka was sitting cross-legged on the bridge on the floor, another coffee in one hand and the datapad in the other. She had tried to contact other Jedi. Cody had been able to reach her, he was lucky. Master Kenobi had defeated General Grievous and they hadn't noticed much, except that most of the communication channels had been blocked. From the Chancellor! “Unsettling. How is Master Kenobi?“, she asked and Cody laughed. “Oh great. He can’t stop cursing, so it can’t be that bad.", he joked, in the background she could hear the voice of the Jedi, his accent more harsch then ever, and it conjured a smile on her face! "That‘s good. You should move as soon as possible, who knows what else they'll be sending to you.”, she adviced and Cody promised to heed it. He would send her a message, when they reached a new location.

Aayla Secura she had actually reached personally, the Jedi Master and her Commander Bly did not hesitate to believe her. "Are you safe?", asked the Jedi after giving the order to the men, to move out. Ahsoka shrugged at this. "As safe as we can be right now, we're heading for the next stop and let's see where we are going then.", she said, without wanting to reveal too much about her position. Because who could she really trust? And the connection wasn't the safest either. There was one thing Aayla doubted. "And you are sure that there are Jedi who..." Ahsoka nodded firmly and knitted her eyebrows. “Yes, we escaped from one ourselves. I don't know who, but clearly faster than me. We lost a lot of men before we got out of there.”, she sighed and the Jedi Master's face turned pitying. "Then we'll hurry up, good luck Ahsoka. May the Force be with you."

Since saying goodbye to Master Secura, she sat there and stared at the information available, she would probably have to change course... The door behind her slid open and steps came towards her. Jesse, Fives, and Echo sat down next to her. Rex stopped and looked over her shoulder, she knew that he would not be able to sit down in such a situation. "I want to make a suggestion to you.", she began and immediately had the undivided attention of her brothers. "Where do you want to go?", asked Fives, glancing at the datapad. Ahsoka willingly passed the information around and looked, once again, at her missing fingers. “I would like to search for Master Plo on Cato Neimoidia, the last known signal came from him and Wolffe. They reported a crash and have since disappeared from the scene, but I can't imagine they're dead.” She scratched the back of her head and sighed. "I hope, I would have felt that.", she mumbled and got goose bumps, in the last few hours she had become colder and colder. Whenever she felt a Jedi fall silent, the temperature seemed to drop. She had known some voices personally, and had never consciously perceived others.

It was hard not to succumb to her debilitating effects, but somehow it helped her to know that there were still men to fight with.

She hadn't been able to establish contact with Anakin, but as long as Obi-Wan Kenobi was still conscious he would look for his former padawan. "Then let's look for them.", Echo smiled and Ahsoka breathed a sigh of relief, Jesse nodded in agreement and she began to get up. Then she looked at Rex, he looked worried. "That could be full of Seperatists and maybe some other Jedi.", he pointed out, but didn't cancel the plan. "I already know something.", she smiled and began to enter the new data.

They jumped out of hyperspace and Ahsoka took a deep breath, there were no separatist ships over this part of the planet. "We have to get as close to the surface as possible, maybe clouds and atmosphere can hide us.", she smiled and the men obeyed, even if Rex rolled his eyes. "Lucky kid.", he muttered and she nudged his shoulder, grinning softly.

* ~ *

It was so warm and wet! Puffing, Ahsoka fanned herself some air and looked around, everywhere water and rocks. And yet her gut feeling pulled her further in that direction. "And, already discovered something?", she called upwards and watched, as one of the men stood on one of the rocks and searched the area. “The enemy doesn't seem to be here either… But there is something over there!", he reported and pointed with his arm to the east. Her instinct also pointed in that direction and she quickened her pace.

Her little squadron followed her, the Chaos Troop and her other brothers had stayed on the cruiser. They protested, except for Rex. He understood, that she needed someone in charge if the cruiser had to flee.

It wasn't long, before she saw a small group of people on one of the stone arches fighting their way across the rough terrain. She screwed up her eyes and searched the group, then spotted Plo Koon at their end and formed her hands into a funnel at her mouth. "Master Plo!", she yelled over and the group stopped, looked around. Ahsoka immediately found a path to get to the stone arch. But when she finally got there, the guns turned on her. Behind her she could hear her men bringing their weapons up too and she raised her hands reassuringly. "Master Plo, I'm so glad you and your men are still alive.", she said with an honest smile and Plo Koon looked at her for a few seconds, then he gestured for the men to lower their weapons and Ahsoka smiled reassuringly at her squadron, the men relaxed again. The Jedi Master came over to her and looked as calm as ever, although his robes were a bit charred and stank of smoke. “Ahsoka, how nice. Forgive my men. We got into a somewhat… unexpected situation.” Ahsoka started to laugh, it wasn't really funny, but the joy of seeing the Jedi and the clones on their feet whitewashed any fear. "Who do you tell that? This is not the first time for me today.“, she sighed happily and called the gunships.

* ~ *

The grief was immense, none of the Jedi had endured near her any longer after the funeral. With slightly trembling hands and heavily pounding heart, she sat on one of the terraces of the temple and stretched her face into the warm sunlight, tried to take in some strength and get up again. The image of those terrifying eyes still danced in front of her closed eyelids, one look into them was enough to burn them into her memory forever. She had seen with her own eyes, the path that bonds might lead. But there was more, that soft stinging in her chest...

"Don't blame yourself.", it rang out from behind her and she opened her eyes, but did not turn her head. Only when the other Jedi sat down next to her with a deep sigh, she dared a look to the side, he looked so old. As if the last few hours had aged him by decades. Of course it wasn't gray or anything, but the line around Obi-Wan Kenobi's eyes gave her that impression and made her even sadder. “I should have kept closer contact with him. Maybe, if the Chancellor did not have had such a big influence on him, then…", she revealed her thoughts and then looked at the arms of the Jedi Master. Two tiny, sleeping bundles lay there and despite the sadness that took her breath away, she smiled. They were so cute…

“Neither of us could have helped him where he was going. And you had to help yourself, your path has not been particularly gentle so far.", Obi-Wan pointed out and although she wanted to protest, she had to agree with him. Lost in thought, she stretched out her left hand and the little boy wrapped his around her little finger, she was a little surprised by the strength in the tiny fingers.

"Maybe, I should have talked him out of all of this with...", Obi-Wan began, but now Ahsoka shook her head. “None of us can get away of bonding with someone. I think it's our choice, how we want to cherish it.", she muttered. She didn't mean to think badly of Anakin, but the loss of so many Jedi and clones ran deep. She had realized, that every being came to such a point, at some point. Where you would lose someone and learn to live with it. Anakin had decided to let his fear and anger over the unfair fate win. She wouldn't, even if his death and the one of Padme had certainly not been fair! She would try to honor him as the kind and ambitious Master in her mind and not let the more terrible thoughts cover this image.

It was her, who stormed into the temple with the Jedi she had picked up, and found a trace of destruction. It was her strong, emphatic talent that led her to the crime scene only a few seconds late. She hadn't been able to save the children, but she had redeemed her Master after Padme had stood in the way. At least that was how Plo Koon had put it. The wording didn't really match what she had done and she picked up her weapons, looked at them for a while and then pressed them into Obi-Wan's hand, he now clasped the two swords and the children.

"I don't want to wield the murder weapon any longer, there is too much blood on it.", she sighed and suddenly a knot in her stomach, that she hadn't known about until then, loosened. "Are you sure?", the experienced Jedi asked suspiciously, but she nodded. “Yes, it's a good thing. I don't deserve them any longer.", she sighed and looked up at the sun again, her heart was a little lighter. "And what are you going to do without a weapon?" She shrugged. "Time will tell."

After saying this, Obi Wan waited a few seconds before he got up and left her alone. She just sat there for hours. Only at sunset did company join her again. Rex dropped down next to her with a grunt, she sensed that a few others were waiting at the entrance. "Here, eat.", he said, handing her a meal. She looked at it and gave a short laugh, that let the others come closer and sit down next to her. "But that's not from the temple!", she grinned and pushed the bottle of alcohol into Heavy's hand to open it for her. Then she went to work on the ration from the clone canteen, her brothers laughed. "No, we figured that you might be able to do without that little bit of what they call food.", Jesse grinned and she nodded with a sigh, before devouring the rest in record time. She hadn't realized she was hungry at all. "What's next?", Rex asked after she had finished eating and leaned back with a sigh, her back hitting Echo's side. She closed her eyes. "No idea, but we will know soon.", she mumbled, her stomach twitched in confirmation and then she heard a throat clearing behind her, she recognized Plo Koon immediately and looked over at him. His face was friendly, but Master Windu wasn't. Even though she and the Jedi got along, they would never be able to bring their views to the same level.

"The other members of the council have made a decision and I hope you will accept it.", Plo Koon announced and she got to her feet after all, it seemed to be more important than initially assumed. "And that would be?", she asked, her tone lurking. Had the Jedi Masters decided to start a conflict again? "We want to learn from your point of view and we offer you a seat.", Windu contributed and she could actually see the hint of a smile as he held out a lightsaber towards her. She hesitated before grabbing it, there was a tingling in her fingers. She activated it and was blinded when it lit up white, and seemed to be singing.

* ~ *

She watched the child. The boy jumped around excitedly and she smiled, even though her heart contracted painfully. She missed him so much... "You really want to train the little one?", asked it from behind her and she looked over her shoulder at her brothers. They were all no longer on Coruscant.

On a small moon, in a poorly populated temple, she had gathered her family around her and every day let a little more light into her heart. "But yeah, I can't leave it up to you guys. Or do you want to try it?", she teased and Jesse shook his head, laughing. When Rex came up tot hem, the younglings rushed over to them to grab lunch, she could hear the laugh of the clones and closed her eyes. It was not all good or the best, but it was okay. They were fine.

#brothers-au #star wars #clone wars #ahsoka tano #no order 66? Okay #have some fallen Jedi instead #the end #at least kinda #clone trooper hevy #clone trooper droidbait #clone trooper echo #clone trooper cutup #clone trooper fives #clone trooper jesse #clone trooper kix #clone trooper rex

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hello-robin-goodfellow · 4 years ago

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FICTIONAL CHARACTER ASK: ROMEO MONTAGUE

TAGGED BY: @princesssarisa

@ardenrosegarden @giuliettaluce @gravedangerahead

Favorite thing about them: Oh my sweet boy, he is a sensitive poet that only wants to distance himself of violence and to share his love (for Juliet and for love itself) with the world.

Least favorite thing about them: That fact that when Tybalt kills Mercucio, he blames Juliet for “turning him affeminate” (weak) and decides to kill Tybalt in relation, believing this will prove that he is “man enough”. This obviously is the biggest mistake he ever commited.

Three things i have in common with them:

-His melancholy.

-I also can sometimes find dificult to communicate my true feelings to friends and relatives.

-I also love Juliet Capulet.

Three things i don’t have in common with them:

-Nobility status.

-Training to fight with a sword.

-I can’t improvise poetic dialogue the way he can. And i don’t have his french.

Favorite line:

“I fear, too early: for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night's revels and expire the term Of a despised life closed in my breast By some vile forfeit of untimely death”.

“What lady is that, which doth enrich the hand Of yonder knight?

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night”.

“ If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss”.

“But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night. See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek”!

“She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head As is a winged messenger of heaven Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds And sails upon the bosom of the air”.

“ Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this”?

“Amen, amen! but come what sorrow can, It cannot countervail the exchange of joy That one short minute gives me in her sight: Do thou but close our hands with holy words, Then love-devouring death do what he dare; It is enough I may but call her mine”.

“Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy Be heap'd like mine and that thy skill be more To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue Unfold the imagined happiness that both Receive in either by this dear encounter”.

“This gentleman, the prince's near ally, My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt In my behalf; my reputation stain'd With Tybalt's slander,—Tybalt, that an hour Hath been my kinsman! O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate And in my temper soften'd valour's steel”!

“ This day's black fate on more days doth depend; This but begins the woe, others must end”.

“Alive, in triumph! and Mercutio slain! Away to heaven, respective lenity, And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now”!

“O, I am fortune's fool”!

“Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel: Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, An hour but married, Tybalt murdered, Doting like me and like me banished, Then mightst thou speak, then mightst thou tear thy hair, And fall upon the ground, as I do now, Taking the measure of an unmade grave”.

“ It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east: Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and live, or stay and die”.

“ Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death; I am content, so thou wilt have it so. I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye, 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow; Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat The vaulty heaven so high above our heads: I have more care to stay than will to go: Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so. How is't, my soul? let's talk; it is not day”.

“Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor: Hold, there is forty ducats: let me have A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear As will disperse itself through all the veins That the life-weary taker may fall dead And that the trunk may be discharged of breath As violently as hasty powder fired Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb”.

“Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness, And fear'st to die? famine is in thy cheeks, Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes, Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back; The world is not thy friend nor the world's law; The world affords no law to make thee rich; Then be not poor, but break it, and take this”.

“I pay thy poverty, and not thy will”.

“There is thy gold, worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murders in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell. I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none. Farewell: buy food, and get thyself in flesh. Come, cordial and not poison, go with me To Juliet's grave; for there must I use thee”.

“How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry! which their keepers call A lightning before death: O, how may I Call this a lightning? O my love! my wife! Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet3040 Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, And death's pale flag is not advanced there. Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet? O, what more favour can I do to thee, Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain To sunder his that was thine enemy? Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet, Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe That unsubstantial death is amorous, And that the lean abhorred monster keeps Thee here in dark to be his paramour? For fear of that, I still will stay with thee; And never from this palace of dim night Depart again: here, here will I remain With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here Will I set up my everlasting rest, And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss A dateless bargain to engrossing death! Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide! Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark! Here's to my love”!

“O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die”.

brOTP: With Mercucio and Benvolio.

OTP: With Juliet.

nOTP: With Rosaline, Benvolio, Mercucio and Tybalt.

Random Headcanon:

-His favorite colors are: blue, green, white and silver.

-His favorite fairy tale is Rapunzel.

-His favorite greek myth is the love story of Orpheus and Euridice.

-In a Modern Day Everybody Lives AU i made in collab with @giuliettaluce, he becomes an English Lit and Poetry professor. To know more about it, read it here:

https://giuliettaluce.tumblr.com/post/617050378210590720/modern-headcanon-romeo-and-juliet

Unpopular Opinion: Yes, Leonard Whiting is a good actor and he was a very good casting choice for the role of Romeo in the 1968 movie. But the cuts of many of his lines, like the one where he thinks that killing Tybalt as a regaining of honor and his dialogue with the apotecary, tones the characters actual complexity and intelligence way, way down, and is the cause of the popular misconception that Romeo is an impulsive bratty teenager.

Song i associate with them:

Flor, Minha Flor (Grupo Galpão), wich is the theme of Grupo Galpão’s montage of Romeo and Juliet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koIO15cI-8Y

Favorite picture of them:

Sir Ian Holm, 1967

Dolhai Attila, 2001

Adetomiwa Edun, 2010

Eduardo Moreira, 2012/13

Lucien Laviscount in the Still Star-Crossed series, 2017

#romeo and juliet #answered asks #princesssarisa #fictional character ask #bardolatry #shakespeare

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badchoicesposts · 4 years ago

Text

In A Land of Myth...

Chapter 11

Summary: When Selene, a young sorceress, arrived in Stormholt she had every intention of remaining anonymous. King Constantine Rys had strict rules on sorcery. The act itself was punishable by death, and she had no desire to be burnt at the stake for her “crimes”. However, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to remain unseen when she becomes Prince Liam’s personal maidservant, and it seems that it’s her job to protect him from everyone that wants to kill him.

Disclaimer: This AU is a cross between TRR, The Crown and The Flame, and BBC’s Merlin. Merlin follows the tale of King Arthur and the sorcerer Merlin. Merlin comes to Camelot where magic is outlawed and is made Prince Arthur’s servant. You do not have to watch the show to understand this fic, but it is based on the BBC show Merlin so the story line will be similar. I don’t own the plot to Merlin or any of the TRR characters.

Word Count: 2,394

Author’s Note: This series is finally back and with a new mood board! Thanks so much for being so patient with the fact that it took so long!

Taglist: @flowerpowell, @bobasheebaby, @alexintheskyy, @slytherincursebreaker, @kingliam2019, @furiousherringoperatortoad, @goldenbirdcrystalcage, @burnsoslow, @zilch3, @desiree-0816, @sanchita012

Let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the taglist!

Catch Up: Masterlist

“An afanc,” Constantine said, “I’ve never heard of such a creature.”

Bastien stood before him, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He was holding the avanc shell behind his back as he thought about the best way to tell his king the news he had just discovered.

“It’s a creature made of clay conjured only by the most powerful of sorcerers. Prince Liam defeated the creature, so all of those currently afflicted are expected to make a full recovery. The prince is in the dungeons releasing Drake Walker as we speak,” he said, refusing to make eye contact with the man in front of him.

“That’s great news,” Constantine responded happily. “So why do you seem troubled?”

“Sire, this was found at the water reserve. It is the afanc’s shell. It bears the mark of Lucretia,” he said slowly, watching as Constantine’s face paled.

“No,” Constantine breathed out, his breath coming in heavy pants. “Will I never be rid of her?”

“Sire,” Bastien began.

“No,” he said, raising his hand to silence his most trusted knight. “Leave me.”

~~~

Liam unlocked the door to Drake’s cell, and Selene threw herself into his arms before he even had a chance to step out.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered in his ear, as he chuckled softly.

“Looks like you saved my life too,” he responded, wrapping his arms around her as well.

“After being the one to put you in danger in the first place,” she said softly, pulling away from the hug and allowing her hands to slip down from around his shoulders and to his chest.

“Everything worked out fine,” he replied, squeezing her hips gently and pulling a small smile from her.

Liam cleared his throat loudly behind them, causing them to finally move away from each other. Drake moved forward and pulled him into a hug as well, clapping his good naturedly on the back.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’d be dead without you.”

“You were an innocent man,” Liam responded. “There’s no way I would have let that happen.”

“I should get home and see Savannah,” Drake said, beginning to make his way out of the dungeons.

“Sleep easy tonight,” Liam said as they began to part ways. “You deserve it.”

“Do you mind if I walk home with you?” Selene asked, looking to him hopefully.

He nodded and the two of them made their way to his small dwelling in a comfortable silence.

“Drake!” Savannah called, throwing herself into her brother’s arms as soon as they walked through the front door.

Selene stayed back and smiled as she watched the two of them interact, as Drake squeezed his sister to his body tightly. They were the only family the other had, and in that moment it was painfully obvious how much they cared for and needed each other. Another surge of guilt bubbled up in Selene’s chest, and she forced herself to push it away, trying to remember that he was safe now. He was still alive.

“Sav, can you give us a minute?” he asked, nodding towards where Selene was standing by the door.

The woman nodded and retired to her bedroom, giving the two of them some privacy.

“Drake,” she began, wanting to apologize once again.

“Don’t, Selene,” he said. “You don’t have to keep apologizing.”

She looked at him for a moment, biting her lip anxiously. She finally nodded and began to address the other elephant in the room.

“About my… magic. You can’t,” she began to say, struggling to find the right words.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone,” he said, crossing the room to stand in front of her.

“Bas would kill me if he knew you found out,” she said, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “He keeps telling me that I’ll die if anyone finds out. Which I guess he’s not completely wrong about.”

“I won’t tell him.”

Selene was caught off guard at how close they seemed to be standing to each other. Her breath hitched as she remembered the kiss they almost shared in this same room two days earlier. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the thought of his lips on hers. She bit her lip again and decided to throw caution to the wind. She pushed herself onto the tips of her toes and grabbed onto his shoulders to steady herself.

Selene crashed her lips onto his, his eyes going wide for a moment, before reciprocating her actions. Drake grabbed onto her hips and pulled her body closer to his, making sure there was no space between them. She moaned softly as she felt his tongue across her bottom lip and moved her hands up to softly tug the hair at the nape of his neck. They parted briefly to catch their breath, and Selene looked up at him in a mixture of both hopefulness and desperation. She made to pull his lips back to hers but was stopped by his strong hands gripping tightly onto her shoulders. The butterflies that were in her stomach just moments before suddenly disappeared as she took in the confused look on his face.

“We can’t,” he breathed out, pulling her close to him and resting his forehead against hers. “We can’t do this.”

“Why not?” she asked, the hurt evident in her voice as she gripped onto the front of his shirt.

“Liam.”

“What?” she asked,moving away from him.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“Why does that matter?” she asked. “I’m here with you, Drake.”

“It matters because you look at him the same way,” he said, with a pained expression.

“Drake, I care about you,” she practically pleaded with him.

“I know you do. But, you care about him too,” he said, smiling softly at her. “It’s okay.”

Selene wrestled with his words for a few moments. She hated herself because he was right. Leo and Maxwell were right. She cared for Drake, so much so that she didn’t know what to do herself. But, deep down she did have feelings for Liam as well. She had been trying to tell herself that it didn’t matter because he was a prince and she was his servant, and maybe because of that it didn’t. But it wouldn’t be fair to Drake to pursue a relationship with him if her heart wasn’t completely in it.

The feeling of guilt she had become so accustomed to over the past few days once again bubbled up in her stomach.

“I’m sorry. I should go,” she said, turning on the spot and running out the door as tears gathered in her eyes.

She could hear him calling after her as she ran back to the castle, her cloak blowing in the wind behind her as she angrily wiped at her eyes. She slipped into her and Bastien’s chambers keeping her head down so that he couldn’t see her red rimmed eyes.

“Selene, we need to talk,” he said, as she made a beeline towards her room.

She took a deep breath and wiped her face before turning back to him.

“What is it?” she asked, looking over to where he was sitting at the table with the afanc shell.

“What’s happened?” he asked, sitting up straighter in his chair and beckoning her closer when he noticed her puffy eyes.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“I may not have much experience dealing with… young women,” he said uncomfortably “But, if something was bothering you, you could speak to me.”

Selene smiled at his words and sniffled softly.

“I know. Thank you, but I’ll be fine. What did you need to speak to me about?” she asked, sitting down beside him.

He pointed to a small mark on the eggshell. Two “v’s” intersected in the middle to form a diamond with a small dot in the center.

“This is the mark of Lucretia,” he said.

“Lucretia?”

“She’s a High Priestess of the Old Religion,” he said, fidgeting with the shell. “Extremely powerful and extremely dangerous.”

“How do you know her?” she asked, noticing the shadow that crossed his face at her question.

“We… were friends before The Great Purge. She barely escaped Stormholt with her life, and he’s intent on getting revenge. She loathes Constantine and anyone who willingly associates with him,” he responded.

“What are you keeping from me?” she asked knowingly.

There was something he wasn’t saying, something he was holding back.

“I can’t fully know the extent of what we’re dealing with unless you’re completely honest with me,” she pushed, causing Bastien to sigh.

He looked at her intently for a moment before taking a breath.

“Selene, when I tell you this, I need you to promise that you’ll keep this information entirely to yourself. I need your word.”

“I promise.”

“Before the Great Purge, before Liam was born, there was a group of people that lived in the Blackspine Mountains. They possessed the power to command fire and heat, and had the ability to transition back and forth between dragon and human form.”

“Dragons? So, The Great Dragon that Constantine captured,” she began to ask.

“He was a fire-user.”

“If they have the power to transform back and forth between human and dragon form, how did he get stuck in dragon form?” she asked.

“The chain he uses to keep him tied in the caves is bewitched to stop him from transforming back to his human form,” Bastien explained, causing Selene to rise from her seat angrily.

“That’s unbelievable! That’s inhumane! And of course it’s just like Constantine to use magic when it’s convenient to him, but to kill anyone else who does it!” she continued pacing angrily.

“It’s actually interesting that you would say that,” Bastien mumbled under his breath causing her to stop.

“What do you mean?” she asked, sitting down when Bastien motioned for her to.

“Lucretia had spent some time studying with the the fire-users. She didn’t have the same abilities as they did, but she still wanted to learn from them. They told her of a prophecy that was popular amongst their people,” he said, causing Selene’s heart rate to speed up. She had a feeling she already knew what he was going to say. “Constantine would have a second son that would lead Stormholt into a new age. An age of peace and prosperity. She told Constantine about it, and he became obsessed with having a new heir. He was desperate for it, but Liam’s mother, Queen Eleanor, couldn’t get pregnant.”

“He used magic didn’t he?” she whispered.

Suddenly all of it made sense. Constantine’s hatred for magic, why he persecuted sorcerers, and why anyone who had ever been suspected was murdered for it. This is what Bastien had been holding back the day they first met.

“Lucretia said that she could help Eleanor get pregnant, but it came with a price. It would disrupt the balance of the worlds to create a life with magic without ending a previous one.”

“A life for a life. Constantine actually agreed to have his wife murdered so he could have another son?” she asked incredulously.

“No, he thought it would be someone else,” Bastien said quietly.

This caused Selene to stir angrily once again.

“Really? He was willing to let someone else randomly die just so that he could get what he wanted?” she said harshly.

“Yes,” Bastien said simply. “The prophecy spoke of peace, a new land where everyone was happy. He believed that the good of having another son would outweigh the loss of one life.”

“That’s terrible,” she said, staring at the floor. “But, I guess it didn’t work out the way he expected it to.”

“Eleanor died in childbirth, and Constantine was furious. He accused Lucretia of tricking him, and he started The Great Purge,” Bastien concluded. “He confessed all of this to me on the tenth anniversary of Eleanor’s death. He had drank too much wine at Liam’s birthday celebration, and I had to carry him back up to his chambers.”

“Getting drunk at your ten year old son’s birthday celebration? Father of the year,” she said sarcastically, picking at the skin at the side of her nail as she tried to take in all of the information he had just given her.

“Selene, Lucretia is angry, and she’s dangerous. She isn’t going to stop,” Bastien warned.

“What should I be expecting?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But, you should expect something.”

~~~

Madeleine jolted awake, Liam’s name falling from her lips as she frantically looked around the room. Images of Liam’s body sinking to the bottom of a lake filled her head. There was a tall woman with long black hair and brown skin standing over him, smiling down at his drowning form. Madeleine groaned as she climbed out of bed.

This was starting to become a pattern. First with Neville and now with this mysterious, dark haired woman. She had no idea why she kept seeing these images, images of Liam dying horrible deaths. However, what unsettled her more than anything was that they seemed to come true. Or at least to some extent. Even though Neville had tried to kill Liam, he hadn’t succeeded. As Penelope began fastening the back of her gown she pondered what to do with this new information. It’s not like this woman actually existed. It’s not like she really had to worry about it.

“Have you heard about the woman Liam saved in the forest last night?” Penelope asked as she finished the fastening.

“Woman? What woman?” Madeleine asked, feeling her chest tighten at her maid’s words.

“Liam and Selene were coming back from a patrol last night when they saw a woman and her father being attacked. They brought them back to the palace. They’re meeting with the king in the council chambers right now,” Penelope said.

Madeleine took off down the hall immediately. She pushed open the door to the council chambers in time to hear a tall man carrying a long staff with a blue crystal on top of it thank Constantine for his hospitality before pulling his daughter into a deep bow. Madeleine watched as Selene began to lead them out of the council chambers, and held back a gasp of horror when she noticed that it was the same woman from her nightmares.

#the royal romance #the royal heir #trr #trh #liam x mc #liam #king liam #drake walker #drake x mc #drake walker x mc #bastien lykel #bastien #trr bastien #bastien x mc #my fics #choices #playchoices #choices fics #playchoices fics

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presumenothing · 4 years ago

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one more light

ALRIGHT SO this isn’t a new fic but i just realised i somehow never did post this to tumblr, so here it is: 2k worth of atla zombie apocalypse non-au.

no archive warning content beyond the fact of. y’know. zombies

(AO3)

“It’s not your fault, Aang,” Katara says after they beat back the latest siege, and only his sister could still sound sincere even in something they’ve all said at least a dozen times by now.

Sokka feels so proud of her that his heart is almost bursting… or maybe that’s just the effort of hacking his way through dozens of actual damned zombies. A bit of both, really.

Not that the rest of them don’t believe what she’s saying. This whole mess is Sozin and maybe Roku’s fault if it’s anyone’s, and Sokka would gladly repeat that until he went hoarse if he thought Aang would listen.

But Katara is the one who’s always believed in Aang before any of them did, and that sort of thing made a difference.

Or it used to, at least, but today there’s no brightening in Aang’s expression as he stands up, glider having never left his hands. “I’ll take first watch.”

Biting her lower lip, Katara meets Sokka’s gaze as Aang flies off without waiting for any response, and Sokka shakes his head slightly: let him be.

“Twinkletoes fly off again?”

“Yeah.” When Sokka looks over, Toph’s eyebrows are furrowed in what he would’ve called concern if it hadn’t been on someone who could still fling him off the cliff even after a whole day of fighting. “He’s… not doing too well.”

Not that any of them really are, by this point. Toph doesn’t even call him out for stating the obvious, only crosses her arms. “I wish Sparky was here.”

“You and me both,” he admits – and fine, yes, it’s already enough of a lucky coincidence that the four of them had been travelling together when the sudden case of apocalypse broke out, so asking for more would just be tempting fate, but…

Sokka sighs. “I’m sure he’s fine. Jerkbender doesn’t know how to lose.”

Toph’s punch on his shoulder is far lighter than her usual. “You’re a real shitty liar, Snoozles.”

“Doesn’t make me wrong,” Sokka retorts, and he really really hopes he isn’t wrong. Because Zuko has his firebending and his dual swords and a whole palace full of scarily armed guards plus Suki hellbent on protecting the first sane Fire Lord, so there isn’t any reason why he shouldn’t be okay except that there is.

A century of war dead, in every corner of their world. Legion doesn’t even begin to cover it.

ii.

Aang had still tried to be careful, at first – dodging blows from shambling corpses is easier than usual, if anything, and he could call up enough water or earth to freeze a half-dozen bodies in one sweep even if it wouldn’t be fatal (insofar as that applied to the undead).

Not that they really had any other option besides stopping them permanently; Katara had tried healing once, on someone who’d just been turned an hour before, and the way her entire face had gone grey answered that well enough.

But Aang is still their most powerful fighter, and after everything with Ozai none of them had been willing to say anything until they almost lost three people to a too-quick thaw. Toph had been the one to react, a flying shard of rock decapacitating the half-frozen zombie with extreme prejudice right before it could lurch onto the cowering villagers, and later she’d also been the one to say it.

“They’re already dead, Aang! Someone’s going to die if you keep this up, and it’s gonna be one of us still alive!” Toph had shouted, eyes glimmering even as Aang stood too quiet and too still, and even now Sokka isn’t sure which had been the worse sight.

iii.

In a way, taking down zombies as a non-bender is – well, maybe not easier, but at least a sword thrust clean through the throat works just the same on everything.

It wouldn’t have been Sokka’s first choice of target before, but at least he hadn’t needed to change strategies as much as the benders had: internal injuries from blunt force rock don’t slow down an opponent who lacked working organs to start with, and getting frozen in ice probably ranked as a minor inconvenience compared to literally being dead.

Toph had begun hoarding metal after their first fight, and now could bend and fire wickedly-sharp blades in a manner scarily reminiscent of Mai except she never ran out. Katara’s ice missiles aim for the head instead, and Sokka doesn’t need a closer look to know that her ice had gotten denser, heavier somehow, even if he doesn’t quite know how.

At least air still works the same in clearing a swathe through the hordes when they need it, which is just as well – Aang fights almost solely as an airbender, now.

It had taken Sokka a while to realise, since he’d initially sorta assumed that Aang had just been avoiding any use of fire (because the stench of rotten flesh burning is really enough to make anyone consider joining Aang in vegetarianism).

But then he’d paid more attention, and confirmed it with Katara and Toph: Aang really doesn’t fight with anything but air unless he’s forced to. Like he’s not the Avatar at all.

And that makes its own sense, in a twisty sort of way – even after they’d ended the war and brought some sort of peace Sokka knows that Aang still blames himself for having let things get that far, and being the bridge to the spirits doesn’t help this situation at all because it had nothing to do with the spirits to begin with as far as they could tell, so what good is the Avatar?

…just because it makes sense doesn’t mean that Sokka has to like it, and he is going to confront Aang about it one of these days as soon as he’s figured out what to say. Just like how he still needs to talk to Katara about what the heck happened during that fight in the desert.

(All Sokka knows for sure is that Katara had run out of water to bend even though they still had far too many zombies to take down, so instead she had reached and–

Empty bodies had fallen like cut marionettes in a half-circle around her, in the same moment that Katara had turned to the side and thrown up, and if Sokka’s being honest with himself he thinks he can figure out what happened there too even without asking Katara about it.)

(There are many things they don’t talk about, these days.)

iv.

At least it’s a blessing in disguise that Aang and Zuko had already gone through the Air Temples to perform the appropriate rites, because they’ve proved to be the current best option for evacuating people and keeping them safe.

Not that the temples are invulnerable, not by a long shot – but it’s better than staying on flat ground, and definitely way better than it would’ve been if there’d still been century-old corpses scattered around.

Also, it turns out zombies aren’t really keen on higher altitudes. Who could’ve guessed?

Admittedly the temples were never built to host that many people, especially not after standing vacant for this long, but it’s the best they can do for now. Iroh had told them about the White Lotus safehouses, of course, just in case everything went wrong during the comet and they needed some place to regroup, but Sokka has to wonder if those are fortified enough.

He tries to imagine Master Piandao preparing for the zombie apocalypse and can’t help a snicker.

Aang, staring straight ahead, doesn’t notice.

It’s just the two of them on Appa now as they make their way back down from ferrying more people up to the temple, so Sokka isn’t expecting it when Aang shoots upright from his seat on Appa’s head, turning wide-eyed to shout in the direction of the saddle. “Take the reins, I have to get down there!”

Sokka almost yelps in alarm when Aang barely waits for his glider to open before throwing himself out mid-air, but then he looks down and does swear a dozen things that would have Gran-Gran washing his mouth out if she heard, because there’s no mistaking those bursts of blue fire.

He urges Appa down at top speed and scrambles off once they touch land to see Katara facing off squarely against Azula, Aang by her side and Toph a few paces behind.

There’s at least a dozen ice daggers hanging in the air around Katara, but Azula doesn’t even seem bothered. “Zuzu? Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I took you down once, Azula.” Katara’s voice is scarily level as Sokka slows to a stop beside Toph. “I can do it again. For the last time: where is Zuko?”

Azula doesn’t even bother to answer now, only throws her head back with a laugh, and Sokka can see Aang tensing up in preparation to redirect lightning–

–can see Toph twitch in something like surprise, opening her mouth to say something just as another voice roars: “Hold your fire!”

A grin spreads across Toph’s face even as Sokka turns, and there they are: Zuko supporting Suki as she limps up to them, both looking worse for wear but still safe.

Suki waves at them with her free hand, smile a little wan. “Hey. Sorry we’re late?”

Sokka volunteers for first watch before anyone else can.

He’s only just gotten settled in when Zuko comes over to sit beside him, and if Zuko notices that this position conveniently lets Sokka keep a lookout while still being able to see Suki – screw it, okay, he hasn’t seen his girlfriend in ages and he’s missed her like hell.

They’d gotten the chance to talk earlier while Katara had been healing Suki’s twisted ankle, but even now that Sokka knows she’s okay, it’s still good to have the visual reminder.

Zuko doesn’t comment on it, though, so it’s up to Sokka to point out the obvious. “You can rest, y’know. Katara will wake you when it’s your turn.”

“In a while, maybe. I’m not sleepy yet.” Zuko shakes his head even as Sokka gives him (or more accurately the dark smudges beneath his eyes) a dubious look – but then again, none of them are strangers to being exhausted but sleepless, whether from adrenaline or something else. “Suki has been taking more than her share of night watches, anyway, she’s the one who really needs the rest.”

Sokka almost snorts but stops himself. Honestly he might’ve done the same, if he had been sharing a camp with Azula. “So how are things in Firetown?”

“Still standing when we left,” Zuko answers, which Sokka takes to mean possibly overrun and definitely on fire. “I gave the decree to open the imperial bunkers to anyone who needed shelter, right before the Fire Sages burst into the hall and demanded I immediately leave and seek out the Avatar to end this blight upon our world.”

Sokka raises an eyebrow. “That a direct quote?”

“Yeah. I don’t even think I’ve ever seen the Sages literally running, but apparently there’s a first time for everything.”

Like mostly-ending the war only for the walking dead to happen, Sokka’s pretty sure they’re both thinking. “Don’t suppose they might’ve mentioned what exactly Aang is supposed to do?”

“That would’ve been too easy,” Zuko says dryly, before sobering. “Aang hasn’t figured anything out?”

“He doesn’t even think there’s a spirit behind this.” Which had all sorts of disturbing implications that Sokka refuses to consider right now. “So Suki decided to come with you?”

Zuko doesn’t say anything about the blatant change of topic. “Insisted, more like.”

Sokka grins – that’s Suki, all right – before he looks over at the other addition to their group. “And Azula?” he asks quietly.

“She’s my sister. I–” Zuko scrubs a hand roughly over his face, shakes his head. “I couldn’t just leave her behind. She’s my sister.”

And if Sokka hadn’t already noticed how tired Zuko looks, that would’ve been clue enough. Yeah, they’ve all made their fair share of jokes about Zuko being a broken record about honour and capturing the Avatar way back when but really, he’s never been one to repeat himself. Sokka isn’t even sure Zuko realises that he’s doing it.

He takes a page from Toph’s book and punches Zuko on the shoulder. “Get some sleep, hotman,” he says over Zuko’s splutter. “We’ll still be here in the morning.”

“You better be,” Zuko grumbles as he heads off to bed, but when he flops down to sleep it’s right between Suki and anything that might come at them.

Sokka turns back away with a smile.

hell yeah sokka pov

also my other atla fics are here and here if you need a pick-me-up after that, i swear they’re actually like. my usual funny fare

#i feel like this is..... considerably more grim of a take on a zombie apocalypse than you'd expect from me...??#but then again. i did just turn al into a house so yeah #atla #avatar the last airbender #fanfiction #mine

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spiritmaiden23 · 4 years ago

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OK!!! AU TIME!! I’m a lil sleepy bc I took some sleeping pills ;v; by accident. Excuse the errors in this post, you will def see why I always log out once I take them for work hweoh ;v; let’s get going. Today I bring you, Priestess Zel in Dark Fantasy... tomorrow? Who knows?

The time period of the verse doesn’t really matter, it’s very flexible in that it can take place during modern era or somewhere else down the timeline... considering Zel is an immortal goddess time has no meaning to her as such she doesn’t understand a lot of things pertaining to the outside world considering she spends most of her time in Faron Woods! Wondering around the area and trying to pick up the shattered pieces of her for you see, Zelda has lost her memories and her heart dun dun duuuuun!!!

She’s a here goddess, namely goddess of the lost souls Hylia who’s supposed to look after the souls of those tied to mortal realm and guide them to the other side. She collects these poor souls, purifies them, and grants them rest and reincarnation by sending them off to that world. An incident, however occurred after fighting against the demon lord Demise who wants the souls to eat as a means of gaining power, as such he steals souls of the dead and living. Here, he in fact wins the battle against her and it ends with her defeat. He shattered her heart into pieces and Hylia has lost her identity, powers, and divinity. She had no name and she wonders around as a priestess due to the rare healing and sealing magic she possesses, a remnant of her powers ;v; she goes by the name Zelda and believes herself to be human! She is mortal, technically, and in her current state can die.

She’s actually lost and more than likely sealed away in Faron Woods which is at the heart of The Lost Woods, which is why she doesn’t really have any of her memories despite spending hundreds of thousands of years in the woods. Time doesn’t really exist for her so she has no clue what’s going on outside the woods. Faron Woods and The Lost Woods are both actually sentient! There’s a rule to everyone in the lands of Hyrule that no one is to entire the forest on the account that it may be alive along with dangerous creatures residing in there. The woods is a lot like underwater where there are large creatures floating around the place.

Besties with the Deku Tree and koroks along with the Kokiris and fairies!

Doesn’t come across humans that often, in fact never does!! She’d be excited to meet another human!

The gods are actually looking for her since the world outside of Faron Woods is, for the lack of a better term, fucked without their goddess guiding the hundreds of lost souls. And Demise be out here eating them all because of course he does. Each soul carries an essence of life, if one were to eat the soul they can gain powers and are that much closer to immortality the more they consume.

And of course, spooky dark fantasy elements are here... this is all I can type up I am sorry that’s the extent I will come back to this post tomorrow.

Doodle doodly doo! She has a flower in the center of her dress!! And and!! A skull in the center of the flower as well as on her chocker because we need vague goth elements in her, although she wears super simple clothing. She does wear a flower crown with a veil behind it but I can’t draw that, it’s a gift from the children of the forest aka the koroks and kokiri!! She carries a knife around just in case ;v; The dress is two layers, with one being down to her hands.. maybe wrist area while the other layer goes around the the ankles!! It’s white, as a call back to her spirit maiden dress ;v;

#strippy sock is because i feel like it adds to the vague goth i tried to go here #her design is very simple tho ;v;#| amber doodles.#one knee sock tho bc asymmetrical designs are cool ;v; so ;v;#i will... fix this for now good night i can't keep my eyes open aaaa

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telesthisia · 4 years ago

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HANDY DANDY RP PLOTTING CHEAT-SHEET FOR PRINCESS ZELDA (A Link to the Past)!

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

mun name: Amber!! ooc contact: My DMs are always open for mutuals and non-mutuals alike (I think at least, if not don’t be afraid to send in asks either I try my best to get to them ;v;)! I do have a personal blog but weeps.... me no longer active on there. And a twitter but weeps once again, it’s an oc twitter despite my yellings of off topic things. MY DISCORD TOO!! Though my activity is very inconsistent somedays I’ll be on others not so much! Don’t be afraid to ask for that uvu

who the heck is my muse anyway?

HOHO!!! For those who never touched The Legend of Zelda in their lives, I’m sure it’s pretty dang confusing to see more than one design of both Zelda and Link, I’ll try my best to explain this! The series follows a very, very convoluted timeline filled with plotholes, as such the Links and Zeldas we see throughout different titles of the game are actually reincarnations who are destined to seal away whatever darkness may threaten the lands known as Hyrule.

The Zelda I play as is the princess of Hyrule during a point in the timeline known as “Downfall Era” where the Hero of Time in OOT lost against Ganondorf in the final battle; Ocarina of Time is the reason for why there’s multiple timelines with each having their unique era depending on the choices in that game. The Downfall Era is known for having games known as A Link to The Past, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Time, Link’s Awakening, A Link Between Worlds, Triforce Heroes, The OG Legend of Zelda, Annnnd Adventure of Link! The Zelda I play as comes from A Link to The Past as well as the Oracle series and I guess Link’s Awakening despite having no appearance. The events of A Link to The Past and Oracle Series has deeply affected my Zellie in that she suffers from unspoken traumas as well depression. See, before the events of ALTTP there was a war known as the Imprisoning War, that war ended where the seven sages seal away Ganon. Peace reigned for a while until a series of plagues and droughts struck which affected the kingdom. It wasn’t until the antagonist of the game, a wizard by the name of Agahnim, would put an end to the misfortunate blighting Hyrule with his magic, gaining favor with the king. He was able to worm his way into court and from there act on his plans in breaking the seal to the sacred realm where the triforce and Ganon rest. Doing so, he must capture the seven maidens who are descendants of the seven sages and sacrifice them in order to break the seal and well, guess which princess happens to be one of those seven maidens? Suffice to say, he was successful in breaking the seal with Zelda being the final sacrifice. Here we find out that he’s actual the alter ego of Ganon (don’t question it too hard) and we also find out she’s not dead! Hooray! But she is trapped in a plane known as The Dark World, once the sacred realm corrupted by Ganon’s greed. So as all LOZ stories goes, Link saves the day. Happily ever after, right? Well... no, see unlike in the game where the ending is happy and everyone who died is alive I follow both the 90s comics and Himekawa manga where those who died in the games did not come back to life. This includes Zelda’s father, Link’s uncle and some of the maidens. It’s very bittersweet in that, the day is saved and Ganon is gone forever but at the cost of loved ones no longer coming back.

Well... Ganon comes back! In the oracle series! Two years after ALTTP, Twinrova tries to resurrect him by using the blood and body of Princess Zelda, meaning she can actually die this time around. But Link saves the day once again. Which leads us today, the main verse of the blog which is a year after Oracles and three years after ALTTP! NOTE: That my smash verse more or less follows this timeline I have in place for this blog.

things you should know

I sound like a broken record but. She’s a glass canon of sorts. Where she’s very powerful thanks to blood of the seven sages, the light force, and having hylia’s blood in her veins. As such, she’s very powerful and her magic super potent which is why so many people wanna sacrifice for dark rituals... BUT!! She has super power health issues that affects her magical stamina and body as such she can’t even use half her powerful magic and this upsets her greatly. It’s a small headcanon of mine because in the games and manga, she doesn’t really do much despite being a powerful magical princess. Keep in mind that ALTTP came out before the retcon that is Skyward Sword and before they decided to add more to Zelda’s abilities throughout the course of the series... so my brain went to: she’s powerful but can’t use magic too much due to poor health. It worked!! Before smash came along but I swear I’m not at all salty. To be fair, it was my fault for assuming things but imagine: glass canon Zelda. It sounded super cool at the time!

She represses a lot if only for the sake of her nation and to appear as a good leader for her people. As such, she’s almost always calm and has a gentle smile on her face despite radio static sounds resounding in her thoughts. Give her time, she’ll open up and show you her playful side!

She’s been surrounded by death considering before ALTTP, during ALTTP and kinda with Oracles if you count Twinrova, as well as having a connection with the spirit realm due to freaky PSI powers. So, she doesn’t really have a negative view on death and has actually gained that edgy romanticist view as the result of her life experiences. She’s very much someone who likes to live life to her fullest as the result... and well, it doesn’t help that she’s aware of her short life span thanks to her future vision. Something she won’t reveal to anyone more than likely as to not worry them. She’s more or less accepted her fate... speaking of which

She hates fate/destiny/etc but accepts whatever happens because again clairvoyance has proven that there’s no changing what’s been planned. So, she doesn’t bother fighting against it. But, what impresses her are those who manage to overcome destiny, something that Link does sometimes which is why she looks up to him. He’s that variable that the future can’t keep track of due to how ever changing he is.

She loves exploring creepy places, ruins, caves, and dungeons that are scattered throughout her kingdom, for both history and the spooky aesthetics of it! So if you see her outside the castle she’s more than likely getting ready to explore some spooky place. She’s almost always wearing her cloak but there are rare moments where she’s not either ;v; she’ll always go by the name Elle... worth mention she doesn’t bother hiding the mark of the triforce on her right hand.

Speaking of which, only people from the capital known as Castle Town and even some from Kakariko village as well know of the princess’ appearance. Various small towns throughout the land of Hyrule however, only remember her appearance from ALTTP where her hair was a more golden blonde rather than the platinum color that it’s taken from the various fear and stresses from her life. And also, she’s more freckly due to not wearing coverup when outside the castle. Ok well,,,,, here’s the best side by side comparison I have...

If you ask her what the light arrows are, she’ll look at you funny. She comes from a time where silver arrows are a thing :’) the few things that can defeat Ganon

Closet romantic, as in she loves love and wishes for a romance of her own but when it comes to her own feelings she’s an idiot due to repressing feelings.

what she’s been up to:

main verse: Which is during the events of Skyward Sword, as such she’s no longer in Skyloft nor does she have the full knowledge that she’s Hylia but Zelda is suspecting that there’s a connection there. She does not know how to wield her magic as it comes and goes in spurts. She’s seen throughout the Surface so she can be anywhere! Even in other timelines due to using the Gate of Time, we can just say that something screwed up causing for her to end up in another time period or even verse! LOZ series is pretty flexible in time travel.

where to find her:

Graveyard + Sanctuary: It’s a soothing place to visit and also to pay respects to the fallen in ALTTP.

One of the three provinces (my rendition of Hyrule is a little bigger than the in game map so don’t be afraid to add places that aren’t in ALTTP but in other titles, I know I tend to do): aka anywhere in the fields, she’s a woman plagued with wanderlust and doesn’t like being confined to one place

Kakariko: the villagers who know her true identity are hella nice to pretend that it’s not the princess but Elle! Guards tend to be here after a certain time though, so to avoid them she always avoids going to the village when it’s nearly sundown

Ruins, catacombs, abandon shrines etc: again she likes creepy or historical places or both!

Haunted Grove: Well... it’s haunted! So :’)

Castle: it’s possible to meet her here too! Whether as princess or someone sneaking either out of the castle or back into it.

current plans:

Lead her kingdom to the Golden Age, something her father tried to do before his demise. While wishing to see Link once more.

desired interactions:

I would love the usual adventure threads!!!

FRIENDSHIP!! She needs friends, pls!!

ENEMIES!! It’d be fun to write a more angry Zel who doesn’t get along with someone!

ROMANCE!! I’m a sucker for cuteness ;v; and slow burn ;v;

HORROR AU!! HORROR AU!!!

Creepy gothic threads of Zelda running into a creepy cryptid in a gothic castle on a stormy night.... this is very specific but listen, cries...

Comfort thread ;v;

things that bother me:

People who know she’s the princess right off the bat ticks me off ngl. A-ok if you muse is unaware of her otherwise!

PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT SHE’S FROM A BLOODLINE OF A GODDESS AND SAGES DHSJAKJADB no one really knows that the royal family actually did descend from gods, unless your muse is an immortal and is aware of the events that goes on they shouldn’t know this fact. The only thing the public is aware of is how the royal family have mystical powers different from the population.

uhhhh that’s about it? Mostly metagaming pft, not too much bothers me now that I think about.

tagged by: i pirated it ;v; from myself!

tagging: whomst ever! i recommend doing this since it’ll help a ton with those who still are unsure with your muse but feel too nervous to ask questions.

#dash games.#ah yes.... where amber spews a bunch of words #i will add to this but eyyyy partners check it out if you wanna know some things #anyway uhhh writings coming out soon uvu

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sjjms · 4 years ago

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a hundred times

pairing: jacksonxreader length: 2.3k words genre: romance & mentions of the supernatural warnings: reference to suicide summary: based on Jackson Wang’s 100 Ways. If you had to reunite with your soulmate each and every one of the hundred lifetimes you lived for eternal love and peace, would you do it? This follows one of those times... notes: this was a requested fic “can i request like a jackson au based off his 100 ways m/v?”

The wind grew gently in strength as you knelt beneath the tree, you glance to the solemn moon above you, the tree branches intercepted your vision. You take a deep breath filling your lungs with the night’s air and finally pick up the candle beside you. A rustle in the leaves causes you to turn around. Your maid was here.

“My lady, it’s time we leave.” Her words spoke with caution.

“Just a few more moments, please,” You say, you don’t hear another peep out of her allowing you to carry on.

“Are you watching over me?” Your voice becomes a whisper placing the candle into your lap. Your maid was aware of who you were talking about, but still, it didn’t feel right for another person to overhear these words.

Casting your eyes downwards away from the light brought by the lantern your maid held, your eyes begin to fill with tears as you say, “You made a promise to return to me… you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Twice. The number of times you said goodbye to the man you were in love with two times, each one more painful than the last. Those two moments would be vividly staining your heart for as long as your spirit ventured in this world.

“Do not go.” You capture his fingers before he could escape from you. Whether he had planned to leave without saying goodbye to soften the blow is one thing you did not want to discover, but you ask anyway.

“Were you planning on leaving without saying goodbye?” You muse with a soft tone hoping he would turn around and face you.

His head dips down towards his chest, and after a moment of composure, he faces you. There was no need for you to hear his words his sorrowful eyes said them for him. Jackson curls his fingers around yours and presses a delicate kiss to your hand.

“I’ll come back... I always do,” A weak smile forms on his lips, it doesn’t appease either of you.

“How many times will I have to say goodbye to you before you realise I don’t want to leave my side… ever,” Your voice becomes a strained whisper. Soon, the tears held back by your own sense of grace, as a woman, a part of a family who held honour over emotions would no longer remain silent. His eyes clenched shut in an attempt to speed up the parting, if he stayed, he feared he would never be able to take his leave.

He slowly opened his eyes, his hand brushing against your cheek one last time, he took his time cherishing you. The two of you may have been able to have married for love, but you had suffered bruises and batterings that would cling onto the retelling of your love story for years to come.

"I'll return to you before the leaves hit the ground." The promises you two made each other throughout the years, you were able to keep through pure luck or coincidence. You took those words pledging your new life to them.

“Let him leave,” Your father’s dominant voice surfaces at the entrance. With no hesitation, his fingers let go of yours as he turned away. Trying to rebel against your father’s orders, you grasp the ends of his fingertips.

You allow your fingers to run against his harsh hands, all the wars he'd fought as a brave soldier had done this to his hands. His fingers were once the softest things you'd had touched, but time and multiple wars get the better of people.

“The leaves are starting to fall…” You continue to murmur in a reminiscent tone. You couldn't help it if this was your only way of communication. Wasn't it better to look back on all the moments you did share? Despite your last moments together being of sorrow, you at least had the chance to say your farewell to one another.

“I forgive you.”

A shift in the wind sends cold shivers through your body, you tug on the shawl covering your shoulders and pull it closer to your heart.

“My lady, we should head inside, it is growing colder.” Your maid’s voice gains in sound as her footsteps come closer toward you. You let out a quiet sigh, if you were to linger any longer, you feared either your father and mother would chase you back to your quarters.

“I won’t keep you waiting much longer. We’ll meet each other soon,” You whisper into the candle. You light the candle from the nearby lantern. The flame flutters with the wind, despite its growing strength, the light was still there.

A good omen.

You lift the bottom of your dress as you grew in height before the candle. You were never much one for fairy tales and fables, but you wished the guidance of the candle would bring Jackson back home to you in his new form.

"Let us go back inside," You smile and lead the way across the courtyard to your quarters.

“Do you think it worked?” The soldier pesters the group of soldiers gathered, the four of them hover over the general. Bruised, battered and bloody were most of the likes of these four soldiers and the bodies that surrounded them on the battlefield.

“If you’ll just be quiet!” The leader of this newly assembled group spoke through his gritted teeth. His focus returns on the general’s body below just below his feet. “Let’s try one more time,” He says, holding on to those words like it was the only hope he still had.

Once again, the four men lifted their hands up, focused all their energy into awaking the body below. Jackson awoke before them. His eyes took a few moments to adjust as he glances to the figures overshadowing him.

“General!”

“I can’t believe this actually works,” One of the soldiers mutters.

“What did you do?” Jackson asks. He stands up, only to start patting himself down excessively.

“General. It’s time to go home,” The interim leader of the group proudly announces. He mentally had resigned himself as leader of the group because the true leader had risen.

“Has the battle ended?” Jackson was curious about so many things that his mind began to spin in loops. Until he found his focus. You. He wondered whether you were alright, whether the news of his death had reached the household yet and whether he would be able to go home.

He steadily looks beside him, enveloped by the bodies of fallen men, hundreds all dead because of a measly war. Some of them he had killed himself and others were his men, but the men beneath him all had equally fought with bravery until their own demise.

“If we were to talk of the truth, you fought until your last breath and died from the injuries you sustained. You’re alive because we performed the Lovers Resurrection, the power of love is keeping you alive right now until you are able to reunite with your wife." Jackson’s mind began to whirl again, the what?

Cultivation was known and practiced in this world. However, the families that did usually were in hiding. There was an outcry of fear towards what danger the cultivation world would be able to do to the people. Regardless of the secrecy, cultivation practices were still spoken about and performed when there was a willing cultivator. And yet, four of them stood before Jackson.

“The Lovers Resurrection?” He mutters to himself, scrabbling through his thoughts to find any piece of information that he might have heard or read about.

“Yes… There’s one downside to this though.” Jackson meets the soldier’s eyes waiting for the answer, “The connection that you and your wife have is crucial. Her love for you is what brought you back to life.”

“How long do I have…?” Jackson’s words stained the back of his throat as they struggled to go down.

“That’s the thing… we don’t know. If she’s alive and her love for you burns strong, you’ll stay alive until you can meet again. But..” The soldier hesitates.

“But?”

“If your wife is dead… you’ll die when her spirit leaves this world. This could either be a day from now, a week or even a month from now.” Time was ticking away as sand was falling through an hourglass. A question still on his mind is what would happen you were alive and you could reunite, wouldn’t it be cruel to die in your arms? The unnecessary pain he was about to bring you…

“Let’s go,” Jackson whispers. How could he be thankful for the soldiers in front of him right now? They should have just left him for dead and let his wife grieve for him.

Walking through the forest was just as treacherous as the battlefield littered with dead bodies. Foliage at their feet rustled and would stir at the slightest movement. If bandits were on the same trail they were, the men would stand no chance of making it safely through. The soldiers heard movement that didn’t belong to their group in a close perimeter. The leaves couldn’t quiet themselves down as the men used trees for cover.

Jackson’s fingers graze the rough bark clinging on to it in silence, his breath caught in his throat as he brashly glances between the branches. He squinted into the distance locating the source of enemy noise. A bird is found where Jackson’s vision takes him, he passes a silent sigh before signalling to the other soldiers of his findings. The sooner they were out of this forest, the percentage of dying would significantly reduce.

A sharp pain swiftly tore through his heart. He grabbed the fabric of his clothing, tugging it while he struggled to breathe. His fingernails dug deep into the tree. What was happening? Was this the side effect of the resurrection? Was this the way the world was trying to rebalance itself out by trying to kill him again. The pain bit by bit began to falter, allowing Jackson and his men to reach the end of the forest. However, it still lingered enough to cause him discomfort.

As night fell upon the courtyard, Jackson’s laborious footsteps dragged along the cobblestones. His men followed equally as tired as he was behind him. He spotted candlelight burning brightly in front of the oak tree, his eyes settling onto the leaves that had yet to fall, he’d kept most of his promise.

A startling gasp along with a crash led to Jackson turning his head to the side. The poor maid had let the pot she was carrying fall from her grasp.

“My lord…” She whispers in horror. Was Jackson that terrifying to look at? He didn’t have the chance to glance at his appearance when they had stopped off at a nearby river during their journey. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

Ah.

“Where is my wife?” The wait was over, he could finally say the question that had consumed his thoughts.

The maid hesitates, her eyes lower from Jackson's piercing gaze. She composes herself, she begins to recall the last week to him until reaching the most vital part. She had not been sworn to secrecy, but her lips fail to move when prompted to say the words.

“Tell me, is she alive?” Jackson dryly swallows.

The maid shakes her head with reluctance, her words start to tumble out, “I found her this morning… a bottle of poison was discovered in her room not too long ago.”

“She’s dead.” He whispers, trying to accept the hard truth. The maid nods and starts to carry on with her duties for fear she would be caught for the mess she had made.

Jackson’s eyes slowly close as his knees smack onto the cobbles. He was too late. A thought never crossed his mind during this journey home that his wife could have died. Yet, he had been the cause of her death. She wasn’t able to cope living in this world without him.

"The two of you can still reunite, you just need to call upon her spirit," He gladly took the guidance from his men and thanked them for their service. Jackson wasn't a cultivator himself, however, his men taught him the necessary gestures that any human could perform to summon a spirit.

Jackson sent away his men. He questions whether they would lend their cultivation skills to another person, or would they also depart from each other? The leaves began to fall as he raised his hands and used up the last bit of strength he had within him. Summoning your spirit here would be the right place. It was the last time you saw each other and Jackson knew you were the one that had left the candle out, to guide his own spirit home.

You appear in front of the tree, you open your eyes slowly and find the man who called you. “You’re here.” You mutter quietly, unsure of the strength of your voice. Jackson’s eyes soften as you approach him.

“I’m home,” Jackson muses. Both voices gently speak to one another, welcoming each other home from the torments of their sufferings.

"How lucky we must be that fate took pity us," You share a small smile with him. Not being able to hold back any longer, your arms and his, wrap around each other.

A mutual promise was made.

Jackson’s thumb runs across your cheek despite the rough texture; to you, it was the most delicate touch he’d ever laid upon your skin. You clasp your eyes shut leaning your head against his chest. The drum of his heartbeat lulls your own, at last, the brewing storm settles into a wave of peace.

Jackson brushes his lips against your head and takes a last look at his surroundings. If he had to go through a hundred lifetimes, each time getting to fall in love with you all over again, he would choose you. His eyes close, and finally, your spirits descend from this world, ready to reunite in the next one...

#i hope it's okay!#jackson #jackson wang #got7 #got7 au #got7 fanfic #got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #imagines #scenarios #fanfic #au #request

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littlemisskookie · 5 years ago

Text

Loveless: Chapter 3

Loveless: Index Ship: Reader | OT7 Description: Spy/Men in Black!AU | You worked at an institution that dealt with aliens- aliens that were the fictional creatures we were told were from fairy tales. The job entailed love only for it, and nothing else. That’d all change when a mission goes wrong. Warnings: Future Smut, Comedy, Torture, Lots of Manipulation, I promise the next chapter will be farrrr more light-hearted, Angst, general guilt it’s pretty intense Word Count: 5,003

You opened your eyes, adjusting ever so slowly to the blinding white of the walls and lights. You blink, slowly processing the machinery around you, busybodies in scrubs or suits. Beside you sat Jungkook, dark circles beneath his eyes, seeming more corpse than human. As soon as he sees your waking form, he sits up abruptly, as though the 5-hour energy drink was finally beginning to kick in.

You felt sore, as though every muscle, even those you didn't even know you had, was aching. You groan, sitting up slowly, noting the fact you were in a hospital bed, an IV attached to your arm. Ah, were you sick? Injured? You felt a bit tired and drained along with the sore ache of your body. You also felt very hungry. But for what you weren't sure.

"What's up, Agent Z? Mind filling me-"

Your sentence is cut off abruptly as you he tangles his long fingers in your hair at the base of your neck, pulling you forward to bring your lips against his. Your eyes widen at that, taken off guard by what was happening.

Since when did Jungkook like you?

He presses his lips firmly against yours, as though trying to make sure you were real. His eyes are screwed shut, almost as if he were trying to embed this moment into his memory. If you weren't trying to figure out exactly what was going on, you would've seen it as more endearing.

He lets go, breath heavy as he shakes, almost collapsing into your arms. He wraps himself around you like ivy, using you for support despite how much bigger and stronger he was in comparison. It takes you a moment to comprehend the fact that he's shaking.

"Jungkook?" You decide to use his real name now, too perplexed to think first about his code name. What was going on? You had never seen the younger boy so shaken, so broken. It was just everything an agent was supposed to keep hidden.

"I'm sorry, I just- I thought you were dead, and you were all hurt because of me, and I'm so so so sorry," he sobs. You feel some of his tears on your skin, but you console him nevertheless, hugging him tightly. "You got hurt because of me. It was all my fault. I should've done better, I should've done anything else. You tried to stop me, you tried to warn me, but I was so stupid that I let my overconfidence get the better of me."

"Agent Z, give her a minute to at least gather herself, will you? I'm sure you can kiss her to your heart's content when she's at least out of bed."

You hear somebody else grumble beneath their breath. "No doubt she's got morning's breath, anyway."

You look up to see Jin walking forward beside Yoongi, both shocked, despite how they were trying to compose themselves. You had a feeling it wasn't because of the kiss, either. They weren't as good at hiding feelings as you were, however.

"I'm glad you're ok, Agent Q," Yoongi says gruffly, aloof as always. You could sense the sincerity in his voice, however, and it warms you to the pit of your core.

"Oh? Is the infamous Agent D admitting he cares about me?" You wag your brows up and down to tease him.

"Never mind, I change my mind."

"How do you feel? How much do you remember?" Jin questions, sitting at the foot of the bed.

You slowly piece together what had happened, blurry fragments coming to mind. "We were meeting the new species, trying to ally ourselves with them..."

"And their leader attacked you. Bite into your jugular and ripped it out," Yoongi finishes. "You were dead before you hit the ground, no doubt about it."

"How am I still alive then?" you question, eyes wide, hands flying to your neck. It felt completely fine.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Jin says, hands ghosting along your neck to examine it. "You've got a bit of scarring where the bite mark was. But of white but nothing that you can feel. I'm going to leave for a bit and bring the others, ok? Stay here. Not like you have much of a choice." He chuckles a little at that before departing.

"How'd the paramedics even fix me or revive me?" There was one power no one was able to have, as it was the way of life. No one could bring anyone back to the living from the realm of the dead. Any misconceptions were brought upon by hopeful humans and no one else. If what they said was true, how on Earth were you still alive? "I should really thank them."

"That's the thing- they didn't do anything. You began healing on your own," Jungkook explained. "Flesh and skin just began to grow where it was before. We have no clue what happened. You were about to be brought to the morgue and we were setting up a funeral. Instead, you began breathing again, and all the... emptiness began to be filled. We couldn't believe it."

"They wanted to wait for you to wake up before they began to question you," Jin confirms. "This one here's been waiting beside you every day for the past week. Refused to leave your side. Of course, we all took shifts to look over you, but the kid decided sleep wasn't a necessity."

You give Jungkook a soft look, stroking his cheek fondly. "You didn't have to do that, Kook."

His eyes water up again with tears. "I did, though. It's my fault that you were injured. That you were killed. If I weren't so stupid-"

"Shh, don't say that. Ok? I'm alright, see?" You stretch your neck for emphasis, tilting it from side to side. "Next mission we'll just be more careful, don't worry. Live and learn."

"Next mission? You're going to have bed rest, no way we're letting you out yet. We don't even know what really happened to you or your body," Yoongi reminds you.

"I'm not going to just sit here while you guys are out-"

"Actually all seven of us have refused to begin any missions until you woke up. Part of the whole staying next to you and keeping watch." Jungkook looks a bit nervous, pink dust covering his cheeks.

You give him a warm look, pulling him into your arms once again. "I really appreciate you staying by my side, Jungkook, coma or not. It was kind of you to do."

Yoongi coughed, interrupting the moment. "You know the rest of us looked over you as well."

You quirked your brow at him, a cocky smile pulling at your lips. "Oh? Do you want a hug too, Agent Dick?"

Yoongi scoffed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "You wish."

You laugh at that, outright and easy. "Tsundere as always."

Jin arrives, the other four boys traveling behind him.

Hoseok seems to be in a state of shock, frozen. It was as though he were paralyzed at the very sight of you. "Oh my god, you're actually awake."

You smile back at him, beaming. "You doing alright there, Agent A? You look scared of me."

He shakes his head, walking forward. "No, no of course not. I just can't believe it, you know? I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead. I'm just... I'm really happy you're ok."

"It's definitely assuring, for sure," Namjoon says, pulling your hair over your shoulder. "May I?"

"Go ahead," you say, twisting it around and tilting your head back. You try not to shudder at the feeling of his fingers against your neck, tracing the scars.

"And all this time I had been trying to convince myself it was just a bad dream," he whispers softly to himself, disbelief lacing his words.

"I can't be more ecstatic!" Jimin says, hugging you tightly and giving you a kiss on the head, holding you close as though trying to imprint the feeling of you in his arms into his brain, like a new tattoo that would never fade away. "It's a dream come true!"

You smile, hugging him tightly too, despite how it hurt your aching body. "I missed you too, Agent P."

You look over to Taehyung, confused as to why he hadn't greeted you yet. He catches your eye, and with a shaky hand reaches forward, as though to touch you, make sure you were alive and well. His hand shakes, however, and he pulls it back.

"Agent V? What's wrong?" You give him a worried look, wondering if everything was alright.

"Nothing. I'm very happy, it's just..." He trails off. "I need to go to the restroom."

"Oh, alright." You don't bother to cover your expression of disappointment, watching as he walked out of the ER room. You look to the boys, all of them wearing the same look as they tried to avoid your eye. "What happened?"

"Agent V is doing worst off, admittedly," Jimin tells you. "When you died, he took it the hardest. He had a panic attack, and ever since he's been a bit like a ghost. I don't blame him. It's confusing going through the stages of grief, and in the middle of it what you're grieving over changes? He's scared he's going to break you or hurt you, and by extension, him."

Your face crumples at that. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. I want him to know that he shouldn't be scared of that. I can handle myself."

"Of course he knows. He's just worried, that's all. It really shook him up. All of us," Namjoon explains. "It was traumatic."

You chuckle, shrugging it off as you try to joke. "The traumatizing part is when I tried to heal, I bet. You thought you finally got rid of me."

"Y/N, this is no joking matter," Yoongi tells you seriously.

"Yeah, we were all pretty shaken up over it. We might be coping better than Agent V, but we weren't handling it hot ourselves," Hoseok assures you. "If you had seen what it was like after you died... the moment right after... It was like our world came crashing down. For all of us."

"It was the worst pain any of us could've felt. And that's saying a lot for agents like us," Jungkook tells you.

"Oh." Your face softens at that. "Why are you so shaken up by my death, though? We've seen agents die. We've seen friends die. We've gone through traumatizing experiences, all of us. I would've figured this would just be another day."

"You don't get it, do you?" Jin says, sighing.

"Don't get what?"

Jimin chuckles, ruffling your hair fondly. "For such a smart agent, you sure can be dense sometimes."

"Just explain to me already, then."

"Don't you see? You're... we..." For once Namjoon seems to be at a loss of words, unable to even finish the sentence. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, mouth dry.

"We care about you and we aren't complete psychopaths," Yoongi finished. "Simple as that. We know you better than we knew the others who died, it's only natural you're the one we're going to be affected by."

"Oh, alright." You felt too tired to pry, but sensed something was up. You couldn't quite put your finger on it, though, still a bit disoriented.

"I'm going to check on Agent V," Jungkook says. "He's been gone for a while. He just needs to compose himself."

The boys watch as he leaves, and Jin turns to you with a questioning look. "Why'd the kid kiss you anyway?

"Wait, Jungkook kissed Y/N?" Jimin questioned, eyes wide.

"Yeah, walked in and he was shoving his tongue down her throat. It was the moment she woke up, too." Jin laughed a bit at that.

"Alright, he didn't shove his tongue down my throat or anything. I think he was just happy to see me, alive and all." Besides, Jimin, you've done more than just kiss me. You shouldn't be so shocked."

"We were all happy to see you. Even if some of us have a harder time of expressing that," Hoseok bluntly says.

You soak in his words and wear a sorrowful face. "I'm really sorry about Taehyung. I know there's not much I can do but... I don't know. I feel bad."

"You just need to assure him you'll be ok. For the first time, we really saw the mortality of you and how fragile human life is. None of us had really taken much consideration in losing you. We'd figure you'd last long when we were all in perhaps our thirties and experienced. We didn't think it'd be in front of us in one of the most vicious ways possible. So... young. We knew you could take care of yourself, but another part of it was the fact that we couldn't protect you. We all felt... useless. And I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we would've traded places with you in a heartbeat," Namjoon explains.

"Don't say stuff like that," you tell him. "I'll talk to Taehyung. I don't know how much I can do, but I do what him to be able to look me in the eye and heal. I'm sure he's expecting me to drop dead in front of him any moment."

"Just give the kid time. You've always meant a lot to him. Losing you was a reality of his worst fear. Healing doesn't happen in just a day, and getting over a death takes a while, whether the person ends up alright or not."

For a moment you think back to your family, who you faked your death to. Would they feel that way if you suddenly showed up at their front door? Would they react the same way Taehyung did? Did they grieve your death? Did they get over it? Would they see a walking corpse before them?

"Ah, gentlemen, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave Agent Q with me a bit. I'm the head doctor at this institution, and it'd be best if I examine the patient alone. Even with her lovers here."

You turn to look at the woman, a doctor who matched the cold, distant, and cleanly atmosphere of the ER. The boys didn't comment further, instead shuffling out to join Taehyung and Jungkook.

You smiled up at the woman, smoothing over your bedsheets as you stood up a bit straighter. "So, when will I be able to leave and get back to kicking butt, doc?"

She didn't seem humored by your enthusiasm, instead looking through her clipboard, flipping over papers.

"Never, I'm afraid."

Your expression turned blank with disbelief. "I'm sorry- what?"

"Never," she repeats, looking up at you. "Please look at this, Agent Q."

She hands you the clipboard, the page turned to a picture. In it were red blood cells, though some of them looked... different. Tiny patches of the universe in the shape of the blood cells, as though a virus had infected some of them. You began to look throguh the other pages. It detailed your own background, as well as other papers that detailed all known information about the species that had attacked you and your group. The other papers described the healing process, as well as day by day photographs of your healing neck. You winced seeing your corpse, the bloody and gruesome death tangible past the ink.

"What is this?"

"It appears that you've been injected with the Anancite's DNA, and it's becoming intermingled with your own. It explains why you were able to heal so quickly and be brought to the death practically, and this sort of thing we can't simply have running around the country, disarming bombs in South Africa or flying aircrafts."

"What else am I supposed to do? I'm an agent! I'm supposed to be on the field with my fellow men defending my country! I'm supposed to be out there creating harmony for humans and aliens alike! I can't just sit here in a bed and let some goddamn DNA get in the way of that. I earned my position just like anyone else, and the only way I'm leaving it would be through death."

The woman sighed as though both agitated and expecting your answer. She seemed prepared to counter it, however. "You signed up to protect your planet, no? Well, sometimes it isn't always chit chat or karate with aliens. A lot goes behind the scenes. Who do you think makes your weapons? Your jets? Your goddamn suits. Who do you think takes care of all of you and gathers enough intel for you to carry out your missions? There's a lot more that can be accomplished besides running off to the middle of nowhere. One of those things is through data and research and science."

You open your mouth to argue, but she holds up a finger, indicating she wasn't done.

"I don't think you realize just how special all of this is. Never before have we seen this species, and never before have we had half human half alien. Try as some might, the most we could get would be full alien spawn from incubi and succubi, and full vampires from the vampires who infect humans. However, yours seems to be mingling enough where you still have human characteristics. We don't know what else will be brought to you by the alien DNA, but looking at how fast you healed, I think it's a safe bet to assume there's more. Now, tell me, are you really going to let this pristine opportunity of doing something no one else has accomplished, to discover something that's never been done, all for your own selfish qualms of running around with your boy toys?"

You're quiet at that. She continues.

"As a woman, I would assume you'd want more for us. Contributing to science, a field so many men occupy. Finally, we have something for ourselves. Think about how many will look up to you for your noble sacrifice. How much knowledge this will bring the world. And all because of a woman. You'd be doing the world a great justice. You said you'd give your life to serve this planet, and you won't even have to do that. You said you'd do anything for this planet though and now is your chance to prove it. I ask you, Y/N, as two women who are trying to make our mark on the world, are you really going to give up all of this opportunity, for not only yourself but for billions all over the world?"

"No," you confirm. She had brought up many great points. Were you really going to be so selfish when you had signed up offering much more? You put your life on the table. You should've suspected at some point they were going to take it. Still, you didn't expect it to be so... soon.

She gives a victorious smile taking the clipboard back from you. "I knew we could trust in you, Agent Q. Your name will be remembered for generations to come."

She turns to a tray of tools, rolling a small bottle between her fingertips before plunging the needle inside, filling it all the way. She held it up, some of the liquid spilling from the tip, which was long and intimidating. She reached inside your mouth, her rubber covered thumb pressing down on your tongue as she forced your mouth open.

"Now, say 'ah'."

You lost time of how long it was since they started doing experiments on you.

Most of the time you were kept in a solitary room, bound to a hospital bed as though you were in an asylum. They claimed it was for the doctor's safety and your own. After all, they didn't know what you were capable of. Truth be told you suspected that it was because you were slowly becoming the creature that attacked you.

You had to face the facts. You were no longer human to them.

The experiments were closer to torture in your opinion. Every day they would draw blood. Every day they would poke and prod you. Every day they would push you to your limits pain wise and psychologically wise, trying to see how far they could go before they got an unnatural reaction. Sometimes things would happen, little or big, and they'd get excited, talking amongst themselves and repeating the process a dozen time more before they figured out another way of bringing you misery.

It wasn't long until you broke, crying and sobbing for them to let you go. You'd thrash about, demanding they'd let you go, lest they wished for each torture session they indulged in to be brought upon them times three. They'd never listen, however, looking at you as you pathetically pulled at your bindings, only sedating you when you began to hurt yourself, letting the leather burn or cut into your skin.

You wanted this, they said.

You asked for this, they said.

You agreed to this, they said.

No matter how much you begged for it to stop, they insisted that ever since you agreed to the process, you were no more than agency property now. You had been reduced to nothing more than furniture, or a pet.

You belong to the agency now.

You can't hurt yourself. That's destruction of EAA property.

Property. Property. Property.

After a while, you began to believe it.

And by god, you were tired. No matter how much they fed you or gave you, you felt completely drained. Your face had sunken in, dark circles beneath your eyes no matter how much sleep you got. You actually looked like a walking corpse now, and it wasn't pretty. You were becoming no more than a skeleton, withering away before their very eyes, becoming a skeleton with skin. They were trying to fix it, though. Couldn't have their favorite guinea pig die on them.

You wondered to yourself how you let it get to this. You were one of the most esteemed and respected agents in the field, at the top of the world, and you crashed to the bottom as nothing more than a lab pet. You hadn't seen any of your friends since you got locked away. Did they think you abandoned them? Did they miss you?

You felt abandoned. The worst moments were after all the experiments, when you were just left alone in the dark, bound and unable to move. You were alone with just your thoughts.

You got a lot of thinking done during that time, not all of it pleasant.

You thought a bit about the boys, and all the fun adventures they were going on without you.

You thought about the new Agent Q they inevitably got to replace you. Was it a boy or a girl? Did the boys like them better than you? Were they glad you were gone? Despite how frazzled they had seemed after your death, your mind wandered to dark places with your isolation.

You thought a bit about your family. You wanted to apologize to your mother for leaving her. You thought about your little sister. She'd be a grown up by now. How much you had missed in her life. You missed her getting her license, her graduation, her getting into college. You wondered how many birthday parties, love interests, and more you had missed.

If you knew things would've gone like this, you would've never left.

But you couldn't repeat the past. You couldn't rewind that clock and change what would happen.

You were glad for one thing, though. That it was you that got bitten rather than Jungkook or one of the boys, as originally intended. It was better for you to be here enduring this fate, rather than any of your friends. If one of them had to go through this, you didn't think you'd be able to handle it. You'd go mad on your own.

You deserve this.

It's your fault.

No one will even notice you're gone.

You squeeze your hands into fists, tugging against your bindings.

Fuck the paramedics.

Fuck the aliens.

Fuck everybody.

You hear a rattling above you, and strain to listen in. Finally, you hear it.

"Agent Q?"

"Yes?"

"It's me, Hoseok. Where've you been? What're you doing here?"

Figures he couldn't see in the dark. You had no doubt he was in the ventilation system, but none of it entered your room. He wouldn't be able to get in that way, but the most he could do was hear you.

"Oh, y' know, getting experimented on. Apparently, I'm part alien which has never happened before. Who knew, right?" It felt good to finally talk to a friend. Even if you couldn't see him, you knew that listening to his voice would be enough to get you through at least a few more days of torture. It felt good to quip again. "Other than that, pretty standard. How's your day been?"

"Wait- did she say she was getting experimented on?"

"Ah, Agent P, is that you?"

"Agent Q, what's going on? What're they doing to you down there."

You chuckle, leaning back into your bed. "Better me than you, Jimin. Better me than you."

"Are you alright at least?"

"Never been better!" The sarcasm drips out of your voice like honey, slow and sweet.

"Is this why you've been gone so long? Have they taken you away from us because..."

It was hard for Hoseok to wrap his head around this, evidently. You didn't blame him in the slightest.

"Well apparently I was injected with some of that alien's DNA, and now it's spreading throughout me to the point I'm half alien. I've got some superpowers or whatever, which I'd say is neat if I were able to use them. But hey, beggars can't be choosers, am I right?"

"Jesus Christ- are they ever going to let you out?"

Your face sours, and you can hear the worry in his voice. "No."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm afraid that for once I'm completely serious. Apparently, this is a 'divine opportunity' for our planet that can't be compared. If I were to leave it'd be a disaster. A stolen opportunity to get information and research and data- I'm the first of my kind."

"This... This is inhumane!" Jimin sputters, guffawing.

"Well, I'm reminded often I'm officially property of the EAA. I wouldn't say they still see me as human."

There's a moment of silence between all three of us.

you take a deep breath, as much as it pains you to say the following. "Guys, I know what you're thinking. It's going to be harder than you think it is because they also know what you're thinking. I don't advise it, it'll cause more trouble than it's worth. And... And as much as I hate to admit it, it might not be safe for me to even be around you. I can do things now that I was never able to do before. I can't even control it because they just keep me bound and locked away. The last thing I'd want is to hurt you in the process."

"To hell with that!" Hoseok spits. "I don't care if you're part alien or full alien or whatever! This is wrong and we're getting you out of there no matter what, you hear me?"

"Agent A...."

"Don't 'Agent A' me. This is non-negotiable. "

"It's a bad idea. You'd have to be on the run for the rest of your life. There'd be nowhere to hide. They'd find us and they'd kill us. I'll just be brought back here at square one."

"Agent A is right, though. We can't just leave you here," Jimin protests.

"Guys, it's alright, really. I... I agreed to this."

"You... agreed to this?"

"Not necessarily the torture part but... yeah. I agreed to this."

"Why?"

"Is it important? The point is what's done is done. They probably wouldn't have given me a choice anyway. It'd be best to leave me here. It'd cause way more trouble to try and rescue me and I've sealed myself to this fate. Better me than you, as I said."

"No, it's not. You don't deserve this, Agent Q. Any of this. We're getting you out of here," Hoseok insisted.

"No. Please, don't that's not what I want. Maybe just... Just talk to me once in a while, like this, y' know? It helps. It gets so negative, being here... all alone with my own thoughts. The paramedics don't exactly help. But I feel a bit more like myself when I'm with you guys, even just listening to your voice. I think I can get through this if you guys just talk to me once in a while. I hate to admit it but... it's lonely. I'm so tired now... So drained, I guess? I feel like I'm slowly withering away so my last moments, and I don't think I'll last long. They don't even know what's wrong with me. So please... I don't want to ask for too much or impose, but just talk to me a bit in these last moments, ok? It's ok to say no, but I'd appreciate it. I feel a little bit stronger, more human, with you guys. Makes me feel like I can last at least another day in this hell hole."

There's a moment of silence.

"We'll talk to the others about it," Jimin promises.

You close your eyes, nodding despite the fact they can't even see you. "That's all you can do, I suppose."

"We'll be back, though. We promise," Hoseok assures you. You can hear a bit of rustling above you, and before you knew it they were gone.

No one came to talk to you again.

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saint-patrice · 5 years ago

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Tbh I would like to have the 34 *other* Bergy pics on your shortlist, complete with commentary lolol. And then (if you’re still waiting that is) any other Marchy pics with commentary? xD xD

oh my godddd you are my favourite person anon - ask and ye shall receive 😎 i should maybe warn that while this doesn’t have actual nsfw content you probably wouldn’t want to read this to your kids as a bedtime story. anyway, here we go:

this was very close to making the original list. i like the soft lighting and the kind of floofy hair, yet he still looks like he could absolutely fuck me up (both like in a fight and various other ways). this photo gets me thinking some thoughts ™ if i am being honest

a literal saint and god amongst men right here. his brown eyes are so soft and his little smile puts me at ease. this is a man who would treat me right (fact). this photo is also from quite deep into the playoffs so the beard is going a little wild, and whilst i’m glad it isn’t like this all of the time, i very much appreciate it when it’s around.

O CAP’N MY CAP’N (sorry zee). nah for real this exudes some real sexy alternate energy. if i were on the opposing team and i saw this formidable man just skating around looking like that i think i’d just go back down the tunnel and hide in the locker room. this man will fucking kneecap you for the sake of a goal if that’s what it takes. and then i remember that it’s patrice and he’s the nicest man alive and he would literally never, but that’s still the energy this image has. and i ain’t saying i don’t like it.

okay this is just cute. they look like 2 dads who aren’t entirely sure how to take a selfie but are willing to try. the outfits lend this a slightly chaotic energy - i can’t commend zee’s colour combo if i’m honest, and when juxtaposed with the plaid shirt it kind of hurts my head. but it adds to the dad energy so i still love it. also this is from chara’s ig and the caption is super sweet.

DADS WITH THEIR KIDS ALWAYS GETS ME. i don’t even want kids, nor do i particularly like them, but seeing a man with his child is the cutest thing in the world and this, predictably, is no exception. patrice’s son 100% has his eyes which is really cute. speaking of patrice’s eyes, he may be smiling here but if you look into his eyes all you will see is fear - that child does not appear too bothered about remaining upright on the ice, and i suspect thay bergy is concerned about this. it would be criminal for me to not comment on the jeans. bergy has some exceptional thighs as these jeans do an excellent job of highlighting that.

this is Hot, and i’m not accepting criticism on that opinion. the crisp white shirt w no jacket or tie, and the top buttons undone???? i need a lie down. the hands are also making a nice appearance which i can always appreciate. basically what i’m saying is that i’m jealous of that snake this is an excellent photo and i owe the bruins instagram person a drink for posting it.

do you remember when i said bergy had marvellous thighs? well take a fucking sip babes - they’re like tree trunks carved out of carrara marble. if i have to die i want it to be because they crushed my skull. this is also one of the clearest photos i’ve seen of his tattoo, so it has that going for it too ( sidenote if anyone has an image with literally a pixel of his tattoo pls send it my way, i’m getting desperate at this point). i also think men in jewellery is a good look so i’m digging his beaded bracelets and silver chain. fantastic picture all round.

yeah okay there’s no escaping that the main reason this one made the list is 🍑. it’s exquisite. those pants also do a great job on the thighs too. the hair, socked feet (no i dont have a fetish i just think ppl in their socks with no shoes is kind of funny), and hands get an honourable mention

is this the only picture that has ever mattered? i’d believe it. patrice just lovingly gazing down at his son giving his hockey husband a handshake? you just can’t beat it. i have also been emotionally ruined by that tiny #37 jersey oh my

in the interest of being polite, i will describe this look as rugged. he has probably objectively looked better but i just like this photo and awful lot.

i don’t think i can give any commentary on this without saying something genuinely not suitable for public eyes. the 2 things i will say are: the only thing keeping me going completely feral horny looking at this is those pants,, if they were black or navy i’d be dead; and patrice i am begging you to do up a few more buttons on your shirt or remove it completely or i’m not going to live much longer.

oh man i just love this??? i can’t even explain why. the lack of much beard and the expression in his eyes just makes him look massively soft - i would give him a kiss on the nose and a cuddle in this photo

(gif via @gaudreau) i am slightly loathe to admit this bc it sounds weird but cuts and bruises can sometimes be a real look so this checks that box for me. his smile when he talks truly is one of the finer things in life too. also the lil shrug. i love you mr pikachu

a** fantastic **angle. this is just prime beautiful bergy. excellent level of beard imo, the lighting shows off his v nice bone structure, and the nose is looking fab as always. weird observation of the day is that his neck looks nice in this

i mean obviously this had to go in - lord knows it’s fucking iconic. i have so many questions about how this situation came to be (aside from the fact that alcohol was involved. did brad initiate it? or patrice? why are they spinning? what the fuck? how the fuck? why was i not invited?) but anyway, this photo increased my thirst for a shirtless bergy photo at least two-hundredfold. at this point it’s a need not a want. i don’t think i can continue to comment on this without straying into nsfw territory so we’ll leave it at that. oh the things i would do

classic humble patrice making an appearance here, reminding us that he is not only the most handsome bastard to ever walk planet earth, but he’s a great guy too. just can’t hate him. and boy is he handsome in this gif. excellent stubble (im really invested in his facial hair if you hadn’t noticed), and the smile that could melt even my cold heart on display here. also bonus points for the previously mentioned thing about cuts/bruises. (sorry). i love this one

in contrast to some of the prior ones, this picture is so cute that i can make nothing but pg comments about it. this is exactly the same face we all make when someone points a camera at us and says “cheese!” and i love that. the man looks good in white. good, wholesome content right here.

(gif via @weekendatbergysblog) okay the baby is cute but the fucking headband is what gets me in this. i’m able to make no further comment because this short circuits my brain.

(gif via @davidpastrnut)when i first saw this gif i had to go find the source video because i didn’t believe he actually said that but i’m here to tell you: he did. i love these hockey husbands so much. also i saw this tagged as “# hot waiter” one time and i still haven’t got over how accurate that is. someone more talented than me, i’m begging you for that fucking au

(gif via @gaudreau) can patrice please stop looking up ??? it’s unfair that someone can look so good just looking in a direction what the fucK. he’s so stunning.

i love this one. brad pulling his hoodie down like that looks like he’s... soliciting and honestly who could blame him. bergy looks very cute, if a bit edgy in the all black. the hand is a treat in this one hooooooooooooooooo yes

this one show’s off patrice’s dark features very well. it’s amazing how he has such dark hair, dark eyes, big dark eyebrows, and dark facial hair, yet it doesn’t overcrowd or shadow his face ( except occasionally in awful lighting) ??? does anyone actually know how that works?? he’s looking very pensive here, and that hoodie looks oh-so-cosy. absolutely would cuddle.

**how cute is this y’all. **in case you thought you were just missing something, no, patrice is not sitting on a chair. he’s just maintaining that deep squat like a champ. maybe that’s the secret to his sublime thighs... the navy/deep red is an excellent look on him, and we get a rare glimpse of bergy with his wedding ring, which i find to be oddly cute. bonus points for him being beside a very cute kid too :)

(gif via @jakedebrask) this, i, ummmmm. i- uhh. just. um. yeah. so like. uhhhh... swiftly moving on

(gif via @davidpastrnut) this motherfucker and his handsome fucking face even looks good in that god-awful wooly patriots hat. honestly it looks like he’s about to go out and have a snowball fight (presumably with brad). decidedly rather domestic and i love it

(gif via @davidpastrnut) intense media patrice is intense. this is such a classic bergy face though, i love it. every time some media person asks him some big long question he puts on this exact very-invested-and-slightly-concerned face, its iconic. looking cosy in a hoodie once again. stop it.

nice polo, dude

(gif via @davidpastrnut) that tshirt looks like its fighting for its life to contain those biceps. a dark, brooding patrice that has some sort of slow burn au stirring deep in my mind. from other angles in this interview the tattoo is fairly visible also.

this has such a strong energy it almost knocked me off my feet. again, i can see this being some sort of business or maybe criminal masterminds au. but fuck me, does that man looking something beautiful in a suit. the one hand in the pocket is quite frankly BDE too. i’m glad i’m not into dadkes or esle i think this whole picture would be too much for me.

he is literally the kind of man you’d want to bring home to your parents. i’m glad he seems to have cashed in on the navy/deep red combo because it really does suit him. he looks so fucking dapper here i may be very much in love

another excellent on-ice shot of him, albeit his slightly concerned expression. the beard is looking fucking crisp here hello sir. not much else to say on this, just a handsome, handsome boy.

(gif via @jeffsamardzija) another one that gives me Thoughts. he’s literally so beautiful. hair is cut a little shorter than usual on the sides and on anyone else it would scream fuckboy but i’m kind of digging it on bergy, at least on this one occasion. if i say anything else we’ll go down the rabbit hole

oof this is_ intense. _bergy aside, this is just an incredible shot tbh. rare that we get to see mr perfect not completely level-headed and playing it cool so it feels like a treat when we do. lowkey hot ngl

last but very certainly not least, mr patrice bergeron, four-time bergeron award winner, holding the award itself. this photo honestly just makes my heart swell a little with pride - it’s what he deserves!!!! just absolutely dapper in a beautiful suit as always, and a smile that could topple a nation to round it all off.

thank you so much for this anon!!! it was rather self-indulgent but i hope you like it :) also i will absolutely do another one with marchy, although my nails have been dry for about 2 hours now so i’ll probably do it tomorrow or friday, but it’s on its way :)

#i will credit gifs in a minute #im on desktop so i need to look them up #i'm sorry this turned into a literal essay holy mother of fuck #its literally 2k words #answered #bruins #Anonymous #bruins photos compilations #bergeron

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unfortunate-stranger-losers · 5 years ago

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Six Baudelaires AU, Part Two {AO3} {Masterlist} {Part One}

Chapter Twenty-Eight → in which the Baudelaires visit a Carnival

Once again, nobody was sure if Nick slept at all. When they all awoke, still in the trunk, Nick was still softly crying, and Lilac held him and sung a little. He leaned against her, shaking and muttering, “I need out. Let me out. Let me out.”

“Soon. Really soon.” Lilac promised, starting to cry herself. “You’re not trapped anymore. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

Nick didn’t respond, even when Solitude hugged him and let out a comforting hum, prompting Lilac to sing again, trying to soothe him a little.

Violet and Klaus were curled up together, Sunny inbetween them. When Lilac paused, Violet said, “How are we getting out of here?”

“We’ll have to hope they don’t open the trunk right away.” Lilac sighed.

“Where are we going?” Soli asked.

“I don’t know.” Lilac said. “I don’t know anything. This… this was a bad plan.”

“It wasn’t.” Violet said, still shaking. “Soon as- fuck.”

The car parked, and the siblings all huddled together. Solitude patted her pocket to make sure Babbitt was still there, and Sunny growled, prepared to throw herself at someone and bite them should they open the trunk. Nick tried to quiet his crying, but he didn’t succeed very well.

“Does this mean we’re here?” the Hook-Handed Man asked.

“Of course we’re here!” Olaf snapped. “Look outside, this is clearly Caligari Carnival!”

The Baudelaires heard doors opening, and the Bald Man said, “Do you think she can tell us where the Baudelaires are now?”

“She knows every time we ask.” Olaf said.

“I don’t know, Olaf.” Esme sighed. “I don’t like her.”

“You don’t like any woman I talk to.”

“Where is she, anyway? Shouldn’t she come to greet us?”

“She’ll be in her caravan, Esme. Like always.”

“Should we get the wine out of the trunk, boss?” one of the white-faced women asked, and the Baudelaires froze.

“No,” Count Olaf said, “Madame Lulu always has something for us. Hurry it up, we haven’t got all night.”

The Baudelaires remained very quiet, listening to Olaf’s troupe walk away. When they stopped hearing footsteps, Sunny said, “Merrill,” which meant something like, “We’d better get out of this trunk.”

Lilac nodded and pushed it open, and Nick immediately scrambled out, running a little ways past the car and hugging himself, taking deep breaths and staring up at the sky. The other Baudelaires slowly emerged, with Lilac and Klaus stopping to help Solitude and Sunny onto the floor, and Solitude quickly placing Babbitt on the ground so the frog could go pee somewhere.

Babbitt hopped away, and the siblings glanced around. They were parked beside a faded sign that read Caligari Carnival, and behind the sign was an abandoned ticket booth and a small telephone booth, beyond which was just the endless stretch of the Hinterlands. In the distance was a large but broken-looking roller coaster, and several caravans, with one large tent in the middle.

To their surprise, the closest caravan had the Eye painted onto the side.

“VFD.” Nick said nervously, and Solitude walked over to him, holding up her arms so he could pick him up.

“What?” Klaus asked.

“The Eye. VFD.” Nick said.

“What do you mean,” Violet said, “The Eye is VFD?”

“Look.” Nick walked slightly towards the caravan, and his siblings quickly followed. He held out a finger, tracing lines. “See the slope here? That’s the V. Here’s the F-”

“D.” Sunny said, pointing to the pupil.

“The Eye is VFD?” Violet asked.

Nick nodded, and then he completely froze over as they heard a burst of laughter from the caravan.

“Well.” Lilac said shakily. “We found the troupe.”

Without another word, Violet and Klaus crept to the caravan door, kneeling down to listen. Sunny quickly followed, and soon their siblings joined them, though Nick really wished he was anywhere else.

“I am thrilled, please, to see you, my Olaf.” said a woman’s voice. “Welcome to the caravan of mine. How is life for you?”

“We’ve been swamped at work, Madame Lulu.” the Hook-Handed Man said. “Those orphans have been very difficult to keep in one place for a long time.”

“Well, one time, we got that one boy to stop running and backtalking,” Esme said with a wicked laugh, and Nick slowly started to back away, “Didn’t take long to break him, did it?”

“Yes,” said Olaf, “If it wasn’t for his bratty siblings, the Baudelaire fortune would be as good as ours.”

“Oh, do not worry, my Olaf,” said the woman who must have been Madame Lulu. “My crystal ball tells me that my Olaf will prevail.”

“And when exactly is that?” Esme asked sharply.

“Very soon, please.” replied Madame Lulu. “What gifts have you brought me, my Olaf?”

Violet shivered in the cold air, wrapping her arms around herself; she still only wore the hospital gown. Klaus quickly took his jacket, wrapping it over her shoulders.

“Well,” Olaf said, “You can have this pearl necklace I stole from a nurse at Heimlich Hospital.”

“Very good!” Lulu said. “More wine, my Olaf?”

“Of course.” Olaf said. “But we need your skills right now, Lulu.”

“The Baudelaire brats slipped away again,” said the Bald Man, “And the boss was hoping you’d be able to tell us where they went.”

“And where the Sugar Bowl is,” Esme said, and Nick flinched and backed away more.

“And, just as importantly,” Olaf said, “We need to know if one of the Baudelaire parents survived the fire.”

“You know the rules of crystal ball, my Olaf.” Lulu said, in almost a whine. “At night, the crystal ball must be sleeping in the fortune-telling tent, and at sunrise you may ask one question.”

“Then I’ll ask my first question in the morning,” Olaf said, “And we’ll stay until all our questions are answered.”

“Oh, my Olaf,” Madame Lulu said, “Times are very hard for Caligari Carnival. Not many people come to see Madame Lulu or crystal ball, the gift caravan has lousy souvenirs, and there are not enough freaks, please, in the House of Freaks. Madame Lulu has no money, please, and it is hard to do fortune-telling when Madame Lulu is so poor.”

“Once we get the Baudelaire fortune,” Olaf said, “You’ll have plenty of money.”

“You said that about the Quagmire fortune, my Olaf,” Madame Lulu sighed, “And the Snicket fortune, and the-”

“Yes, we get it.” Esme groaned.

“We must think, please,” Lulu said, “Of something to make Caligari Carnival more popular. Madame Lulu was hoping that the troupe of my Olaf could put on a big show. Many people would come to see.”

“The boss can’t get up on stage.” said a white-faced woman. “He’s supposed to be dead.”

“Yes, and Lulu,” Olaf said, “Surely money isn’t important for fortune-telling.”

“Surely it is, my Olaf.”

“Oh, but Madame Lulu, what if we told you-”

Nick leapt to his feet and ran.

His siblings quickly jumped up and followed him, with Violet pulling Klaus’s coat over herself. Nick stopped by the phone booth, leaning against it and shutting his eyes, trying to steady his breathing.

“Nick, are you alright?” Lilac asked.

Nick shook his head, looking on the verge of a panic attack.

“We need to leave.” Klaus said. “But I don’t know where we can go in the Hinterlands. There’s nothing for miles, we could die of thirst or get attacked by wild animals.”

“Steal Olaf’s car.” suggested Solitude.

“I’ll drive!” Sunny cheered.

“No, we’d run out of gas eventually.” Violet said. “And even if we go anywhere, we’re murderers, remember?”

“And Madame Lulu said she’d help him find us.” Lilac said.

“I don’t know.” Klaus said. “I’ve never read any evidence that fortune-telling is real.”

“But if Madame Lulu keeps knowing where we are…” Violet said.

Slowly, Nick pulled away from his siblings, and said, “We could try calling someone.”

“Who would we call?” Lilac asked.

“Mr Poe?” Violet suggested. “Jerome?”

“Jerome might listen to us.” Klaus agreed.

Lilac moved into the phone booth, picking it up. “Operator?” she asked, and her siblings crept closer to listen. “Can you connect me to Jerome Squalor?”

They heard a distant, bored voice say, “Please put proper money into the machine.”

“We haven’t got money.” Lilac said. “But it’s an emergency.”

“Please state the nature of your emergency.”

“I’m trapped in the Hinterlands with my siblings and a man who wants to torture and kill us,” Lilac said, “But he faked his own death and blamed us so that everyone would think we were criminals and we wouldn’t have anyone to go to for help. He’s already tried to kidnap my brother and sister, and he’s tried to hypnotize my brother and locked my baby sisters in a cage. We need someone to help us, before he finds out we’re here and does something worse. Please, help us.”

There was no response. Lilac waited a long moment, and then screamed with frustration and slammed the phone back into the receiver.

“Li?” Sunny asked.

Lilac took a few breaths, and then said, “We’re on our own. We can steal the car, I’ll figure out how to make it move without gas, if we run out.”

“But, Li,” Violet said quietly.

“What?”

Violet bit her lip. “If she can find out if one of our parents is alive…”

They fell silent, and then Solitude said, “We stay.”

“Where could we hide all night?” Lilac asked. “The people in those other caravans work for Madame Lulu, they probably wouldn’t help us.”

Nick clenched his fists, and then said, “We could steal Olaf’s disguises.”

“What?” Lilac jumped.

“All his costumes are in the trunk.” Nick said. “That’s what we were sitting on. She… she said she needed more… more freaks. We can be freaks.”

“Gabrowha?” Sunny asked.

“Why wouldn’t it work?” Violet replied to her, nodding at Nick. “Olaf fools everyone with his disguises, and if Madame Lulu thinks we’re somebody else, we can stay and find some answers.”

“It seems risky,” Klaus said, “But we do need to stay.”

Solitude hugged Nick’s leg. “I’m in.” she said.

Lilac glanced between her siblings, and then sighed. “Alright. What does he have?”

They moved over to the trunk, opening it. Klaus and Violet started digging though, their faces falling whenever they noticed a costume they recognized. But there were plenty of items they’d never seen before, as well.

“We could try to be a clown.” Violet said, picking up a wig.

“You know any tricks?” Lilac asked. Violet shook her head.

“I found a makeup kit.” Klaus said. “That’ll be useful.”

“Look at how big this robe is.” Lilac said, picking it up. “Two people could fit in that.”

Klaus considered. “Not a bad idea, Li.”

“What?”

Klaus turned to Nick, who was staring out into the distance of the Hinterlands, almost as if he recognized it. “I, um, know you’re not doing great with small spaces, but what if we both wore the robe and said we were a two-headed person?”

Nick considered, and then shrugged.

“And then, well,” Klaus said, “If you… if you get scared in front of them, I’ll be right here.”

Nick slowly nodded, and then Klaus took the robe from Lilac.

Solitude peered into the trunk, and asked, “What do freaks do?”

“Well,” Lilac said carefully, “Sometimes people are born different, and rude people think it’s fun to pay money to go stare at them.”

“Awful.” Solitude said.

“It is.” Lilac nodded. “But we’re going to have to deal with it until we get our answers, and then we’ll figure out what to do.”

“I could use the makeup on myself.” Violet said. “Mother taught me how to apply fake scars to myself, when she appeared in that play about the murderer. And she taught me how to apply burn scars, and-”

“Scales?” Solitude asked, looking up at her.

“Yes, actually.” Violet said.

Solitude pulled a box from the trunk, opening it to see a lot of very real-looking rubber snakes- probably intended to use to scare anyone who was scared of such things- and said, “Medusa.”

“You want to be a gorgon?” Klaus asked. “You can’t turn things to stone.”

“We could say she’s defective.” Nick said carefully, once again turning towards the Hinterlands in confusion. “She’s a freak even to the other gorgons.”

Sunny pulled another wig out, and said, “Lupa,” which meant, “I could probably wrap this around myself and look like a baby wolf.”

“You could be a werewolf.” Klaus suggested.

Sunny considered. “Half-wolf?”

“I mean, sure.” Klaus said.

“I found some talcum powder.” Lilac said, pulling a can out of the trunk. “For those of us who don’t use wigs, we could whiten our hair.”

“Oh,” Violet said, “I think I see a ginger wig, I could use…” she froze, then, staring down into the bottom of the trunk.

“Vi?” Lilac asked. “Are you okay?”

Slowly, Violet reached into the trunk, and pulled out her ribbon.

They all stared for a while, and then Violet said, “He must’ve… he must’ve kept this. When he was… was prepping me for surgery. I… I wonder if my clothes are here, too.”

Lilac and Nick shared a look, and then Lilac picked up a small doll and said, “This dress is about Soli’s size, she could fit if she keeps her clothes on underneath. Klaus, can you help the girls into their costumes while… while the rest of us get what we need?”

Klaus hesitated, and then nodded. Soli took the doll and grabbed Sunny’s hand, and they followed Klaus over to the phonebooth, where he sat with them to help.

As soon as the toddlers were out of earshot, Lilac said, “Vi? Listen, I… I need you to be completely honest with me, no judgement, I won’t cry if-”

Violet, still staring at her ribbon, said, “No.”

“What?”

Violet shook her head. “No, he didn’t… they didn’t… I was unconscious a lot, yes, but I would know, right? And… I was awake when they put the hospital gown on, I tried to kick him and one of the henchpeople shoved it on, so… no. I don’t think… I don’t think that happened.”

“Vi, are you sure?”

Violet nodded, glancing at Nick, who was staring very hard at the ground and hugging himself. “I wouldn’t lie about… this. He didn’t-”

“It’s just…” Lilac said. “He’s threatened to- to do that to you before.”

“I am aware.” Violet growled, and she carefully tied her ribbon around her wrist. “Okay, I’ll take this wig and this long black dress. I can put burn scars on my face, say I got my face burned off in an accident.”

Lilac bit her lip and nodded, slowly pulling out a big, dark blue shirt. “I could wear this over my dress, if I tie up my skirts, so this’ll just look like a short dress. I know how to make fake tattoos, we can do that all over my skin.”

“That’ll work, I guess.” Violet said.

Then, carefully, Nick said, “Vi?”

“Yeah?”

Nick opened his mouth, as if to say something, but instead he started to cry again. Violet ran over and hugged him very tight.

“I’ll be fine.” she whispered. “They didn’t do anything too bad.”

Nick nodded.

“Will you be okay? Facing them?”

Nick didn’t answer for a while, as Lilac pretended to ignore them and gathered the last of what they’d need, and then he said, “I’ll be in disguise. And I’ll be with you all.”

Violet pulled away, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tight. “Come on.” she said. “Let’s go play with makeup.”

#asoue #asoue netflix #asoue movie #a series of unfortunate events #six baudelaires au #six baudelaires official fic #the carnivorous carnival #mine #my fanfic

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