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olympiansowl · 1 month ago

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I saw some people mad at Elendil bc he didn’t talk to Earien at the end of this ep but like…she isn’t a faithful and no harm would come to her bc of Pharazon’s politics. At the end of the ep, the only one in chains is Miriel, not Earien. Earien is also the love interest of the new prince who insulted her father, said he was nobody’s captain (and she was also present at that scene) and killed another faithful who happened to be her friend and her brother’s bestie, not to mention that she also has a huge role in all of the things they’re going through bc she was the one who gave the Palantiri to Pharazon…she literally helped him get his ass on that throne so no, she won’t need help or whatever to survive because she isn’t a faithful, she’s probably dating the prince and she helped the king get the damn scepter. And she also won’t be convinced to change her religion by her father bc if that was the case, she would’ve changed it after the sea trial. The only one who’s truly capable of getting something into her head is Isildur. And I want y’all to see the whole picture because Earien was mad at Miriel because of the southlands, but Miriel didn’t make anyone go. They volunteered. And I’m pretty sure that when someone agrees to go to war, they know that they might not come back alive, specially considering that 80% of them didn’t even knew how to fight properly. Miriel comes back and all of the things happens to her and now she’s a prisoner at her own city because of Pharazon AND Earien. Not to mention Valandil’s death and the orher things that happened to the faithfuls. Earien is a grown ass woman and she made her choice. She was, like Elendil said, promoted.

Do I agree with his parenting? Not really, I think sometimes he’s unnecessarily harsh, but his daughter helped usurp a Queen, who’s also his love interest, and placed power into the hands of the two craziest mf of that city. Kemen made a whole show out of the captain scene and she was still there, she also didn’t make anything to stop insults or whatever. She might try to help them out of some situations, but those situations wouldn’t be happening if she kept her mouth shut. And the “oh but he didn’t teach them how to be a faithful” doesn’t really work here because Valandil, one of their closest friends, was a faithful, and friends have a huge importance and influence on people when growing up because it’s when we get apart from our parents to build our own personality. Earien has hers. She isn’t a bad person, but she made dumb choices…and she might not know it because she doesn’t see the future, but her scheme is literally connected to the fall of Numenor. She gave Pharazon the palantiri, she helped him usurp Miriel, she made the others who were loyal to Miriel lose their jobs and swords, she’s probably dating that fucking devil (Kemen)…and she didn’t make it based on “my father doesn’t talk to me” and even if she did, I can assure y’all that it doesn’t justify her actions. Theo had a good mother and made shit choices. Isildur has the same father as Earien and isn’t out there trying to usurp anyone’s rightful throne. Tar Palantir had a shit father, a terrible one who forced his mom into marriage and shit talked him bc he was faithful, and yet Palantir was a sweet man who let people live in peace.

Also, at the top of the cake…Miriel wasn’t forced into marriage, but she might be on the next season since Cynthia said the civil war isn’t over. A civil war that is happening because someone thought it would be a good idea to usurp her. And another someone helped it. Pharazon accused Miriel of witchcraft and siding with the enemy because, guess what? Earien gave him the Palantiri! And she’s isn’t really questioning him on his new infos, which I find strange since Numenor is kinda of separated from the other places and doesn’t really get into their business. I’m sorry, but Earien has as much blame as any of the other two mf, with a difference that she isn’t yet corrupted. Which won’t take too long because in the appendix is said that only the remaining faithful weren’t corrupted by Sauron…Pharazon accused Miriel of witchcraft and siding with the enemy because, guess what? Earien gave him the Palantiri! And that caused him to exile everyone that follow this religion. And they should follow. I saw people saying that she shouldn’t be okay with her brother dying because of religions and magical things but like…it’s their world. They have that island because of that religion and at this point everybody knows that they will lose the same island because Pharazon decided that it was a brilliant idea to go and insult the gods even more than he already did. It’s because of this religion that her lineage, since she also came from house Elros, is able to live at least 200 years. She made shit choices and that’s on her. If someone pointed a gun at her head or threatened her or her loved ones, then I would understand her bad choices and feel more love towards her, but it wasn’t really the case. She made those choices because she thought it was a good path. And now everyone else is dealing with the consequences of hers, Pharazon’s and Kemen’s decisions.

#the rings of power #rings of power #lord of the rings #mirendil #elendil x miriel #elendil #miriel x elendil #miriel #numenor #tar miriel #earien #kemen #pharazon #elendil the tall #trop season 2 #rings of power spoilers #trop spoilers

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i-am-minty-fresh · 2 months ago

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To cope with the fact that I think Oda’s gonna kill Usopp, I will instead write it to, hopefully, lessen the blow. (Also happy birthday @certain-arcade-dinosaur!!!)

It’s all smoke and ash by the time the strawhats start meeting up again. The moments after war is never quite the time to celebrate, and that’s what this was…a war.

Enemies and Allies turn to piles of scorched flesh unless properly found, marked, and buried.

Luffy’s tired and after nearly 20 years of a good fight, now resting on the back of his helmsmen he should sleep quite soundly, but something keeps him fighting against the quiet of sleep.

They can’t find Usopp.

Granted they are without Robin’s Devil fruit, Zoro/Sanji’s observation Haki, and Luffy’s gravitational pull towards his nakama. The fight has left them all barely able to stand but, like always, the Strawhats have a hard time staying down even when it best suits them.

It ends up being Nami who finds him. Chopper follows the sound of Nami screaming to press a hoof to Usopp’s pulse and assure her that he is in fact alive. You wouldn’t guess that by the way that he looks.

Coated in blood, he looks sticky and uncomfortable. His face is clenched making his black eye look worse by comparison. Beside him lays the ever reliable Kabuto, matching the stubborn right to life its owner seems to have. He’s alive, but it’s bad.

By the time the rest of the crew gets to him he’s shaking, as thick tears fall down his face all while muttering something to Nami that makes her shake as well. Luffy worms his way to the ground from Jinbei’s back, and limps to his snipers side.

“Usopp! Usopp you did such a good job, I saw you taking on that guy with the big hat and it was so cool!” The pirate king places a hand on Usopp’s check so that they can meet eye to eye, “You had so many cool plants and explosions and I’m sorry I didn’t get to watch it all but you can tell me about it later, right?” There’s a waver to his voice making him sound much younger, a sound almost never heard before (dead brothers seem to draw something out of him).

Luffy looks over at Chopper, aided by Robin, who’s assessing the damage. The poor boy can barely keep himself up straight after the long fight, but something besides fatigue gets to him first causing him to collapse into Robin’s arms. He looks back at Usopp, “right?” This time it sounds even more desperate.

The crew erupts into arguments as everyone attempts to piece together what Chopper’s reaction might mean.

“We should take him back to the ship”

“If he’s really as hurt as chopper-bro is suggesting than movin’ him might not be a good idea”

“If his injuries surpass medical attention, bringing him to the Sunny might bring him comfort at the end-“

“What the hell, Boss?! You’re talking like he’s already dead! We don’t know that! We’ll find that Torao bastard fix whatever wrong! Until then, I’m with the mosshead, moving him to the Sunny has a better chance to stabilize him”

“If he’s too weak, which I think is what our young doctor is suggesting, calling Torao to our location might give him a better chance of success. I’ll see if I can locate him with my fruit-”

“luffy…”

All heads turn to Usopp, while Luffy’s foggy gaze clears up to meet his best friends eyes.

“luffy…”

His voice is scratchy, like he’s been screaming all day, and his hand shakes as it moves towards and onto of the hand against his cheek.

“luffy…”

It sounds like a prayer.

“luffy…was I a brave warrior of the sea?”

The crew’s eyes start to water, some of them looking away from the intimate moment to sob into the next closest cremate while others shake with their heads close to their chests. Nami and Sanji wail.

“Usopp-you-yes! You’ve always been so brave and I’m so happy we found you so you could have gone on all the adventures you told Kaya about and Yasopp was here too, I bet he saw how cool you were but my sniper has always been the coolest-“

“luffy…do you think I’ll see Merry?”

Zoro’s face sours as thick tears fall down his face.

“Cause…you know…she always-ways deserved a br-brave warrior to sail as her captain and you were too-o busy being king of the pi-rates-s” A bloody, shaky smile forms, “but n-n-now I can be th-tha-t for her! We’ll…find Gol. D. Rogers other treas-treasure now that this-this one has be-been found…thi-is time you…can-can be the sni-sniper, luffy! Don’t w-worry, I’ll teach you ever-every-everything I know!”

He looks over to the rest of his crew family.

“We’ll…mix it up thi-this time! Z-Zoro can navigate. Maybe we’ll-we’ll find a whole other b-blue! We’ll ca-call it the s-sword blue!”

The swordsman in question chuckles quietly. Tears still falling.

“Nami can be the-the helmsman…th-they are basic-basically the same job an-anyway”

Nami, who’s been holding his hand since she got to him, squeezes it playfully, “I outta charge you just for thinking that”

“But you won’t” He squeezes back.

She smiles fondly, “I won’t”

“Jinbei c-c-can be th-the historian…he’s old enough to ha-have lived th-through most of it anyway-“ a sharp cough cuts him off. The jostling of his injuries leaves him wincing as he settles.

“Rest, dear, help will be here shortly”

“Oh and Robin, you ca-can be the shipwright! All th-those hands you c-cou-could fix or b-build any-anything in no t-time!”

“What am I then, chopped liver?”

“Exactly! You can b-be the cook! All those mod-modif-mod-modifications you’ve got m-means you can be your o-own kitchen!“

Franky puts his big hand on Usopp’s calf, “on the go eatin’…that’s the way to live, brother”

“Don’t wor-worry, Sanji you’ll b-“ another harsh cough, this time followed by some awful wheezing.

“Usopp you have to rest, it’s not good for all your injuries” Chopper has finally calmed down enough to put one of his hooves onto the dying man’s chest. “Just wait till Torao arrives, okay?”

The hand, once covering Luffy’s own, travels towards the doctor, who moves a little closer so that Usopp doesn’t aggravate any injuries. A hand scarred with a harsh learning curve, and roughened by experience tucks itself so gently under the reindeer chin to lightly scratch at the soft fur there.

“Okay doc, you always…know what’s best…” his stuttering leaves just as quickly as his remaining energy. His body relaxes causing the hand under Chopper’s chin to fall into his lap. His eyes close.

“usopp…”

He did it. He completed his dream. He’s a brave warrior of the sea.

“usopp…”

He’s so thankful to have his crew with him. With Luffy as king, the rest of their dreams are finally in sight.

“usopp…”

He could see them all behind his eyelids. A map of the world covering the walls and floor of a house littered with tangerine trees. A bookshelf with skull and car detailing, that’s full of previously restricted history. A well-loved tome of healing whose cover is a pirate flag. A restaurant floats a top a clear blue sea, that glistens under the sun. A treaty from fishman island to the world government signed by a pink-haired admiral. Two swordsman beaten and bruised, while only one stands proud…smiling just like he used to. A whale chirping along to a conch shelf and an old friend.

“usopp…”

He wishes he could see Vivi again. He wishes he could see them all again. Vagapunk, the samurai of Wano, Leo and the Tontatto pirates, the G-5 marines, Hercules, the rolling pirates, The Franky Family, Mekao, Conis and her wacky father, Mont Blanc Cricket and the Saruyama Alliance, Laboon, the Usopp pirates, Kaya…

“usopp…”

A ring, carved by hand, sits on his desk in the Usopp factory…now left to collect dust. He hopes they’ll give it to her anyway. He’ll always love her, just like how he’ll always love them.

“usopp…”

Jinbei, Brook, Franky, Robin, Chopper, Sanji, Nami, Zoro, Luffy…

“usopp…”

Thank you for loving me

#one piece #minty musings #monkey d luffy #black leg sanji #roronoa zoro #god usopp #cat burglar nami #nico robin #cyborg franky #soul king brook #tony tony chopper #straw hat usopp #op usopp #sniper king usopp #usopp focused

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jogos-delulu-wife · 1 year ago

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I'm so so soft for Jogo and I don't know where else to talk about my cringe BUT 👉👈 I love the idea of grumpy old Jogo starting to fall for you because of how well you care for the only other people he's opened his heart to in his long long lifespan. Like you treat Hanami with awe and reverence and gently try to pull her into group conversation when she's withdrawn. You play with Dagon in tide pools, collecting shells, and looking for sea stars. All the while Jogo is puffing away at his pipe trying to pretend like his heart isn't MELTING for you.

I loce this :’) I had some ideas but this is really the start i needed 🥺

And not cringe here 🤭 we can cry and pour our hearts out together here 🧡🩶 this went from a short Drabble to me pouring my heart out 😤🥹

Backstory time 🎉

It all started the day Geto brought you home, ah yes, you remember minding your own business in an underground club your friend brought you along too, it was just a cover up for an underground curse fight club you knew too well, over all you joined along after she begged you to go support her boyfriend with her, going along you felt strange, maybe with the curse living inside of you festering and becoming aggressive in your chest and stomach when loud blares of music surrounded you as you walked through the club that smelt like the fog machine and people who needed to shower covering up with perfume or cologne.

Making it to a bouncer you and into the back rooms of 5 flights of stairs and into a caged rink, the fun began that night, because you friend didn’t tell you you were gonna support her boyfriend because he was putting you into battle, true friends right? There you were forced into the ring shaking from all eyes on you, nervous and you could feel it in your stomach, chest and throat. Unbeknownst to you the curse living inside you was a generational curse, one time your ancestor made a pact with a mad man who backs the strongest curse user of his time, and when he was killed the pact was completed, a hand full of cursed energy was implanted into your ancestors and was passed on to the next generation as the old holder passed, every user was able to refine and work the cursed energy building up its power and strength, when they passed the cursed enter would layer almost like taking a ball and wrapping it with tape, passing it so the next person could use it and when they were done they would wrap it with another layer of tape before passing it along, every unique technique and skill accumulated for the next holder to use freely. A special grade is what you could be considered had your family ever learned to coexist with the Jujutsu world, back to it, a man with a patchwork face entered the ring and shivered under his stare, you looked around panicked finding your friend screaming and banging on the glass dome making some kinda hand motion confused before you snapped around to the man lunging at you hand stretched out, making a quick hand motion you said “Curse Technique” stepping side ways so the man was almost passing you instead reaching your hand out to grab the man’s raised wrist “Dissolution” kicking you foot around you dragged his wrist down causing him to flip and go skidding across the floor, Dissolution, being able to dissolve or nullify an enemies curse technique for a temporary amount of time after making physical contact. The man jumped up racing at you and placing a hand on you, what his technique was you had no idea, but he couldn’t use it and that’s all that mattered, bringing two hands together, the tips of you thumb, pointer, and pinky finger touching, the first knuckle of your ring and middle fingers touched as they were folded down, “Domain Expansion Soul Prison” the glass dome was blacked out by one of your ancestors Domain’s there knelt the patch work man bound by chains and staffs pierced him holding him in place the more he moved the more the chains tightened and more staffs would pierce his body to restrict his movement

It was beautiful, someone so powerful that the battle didn’t even last five minutes before Patchwork was relenting, saying he’d surrender. Domain closing the gates were open to let you out of the ring, just as you exited where you came in you ran smack into a man with black robes and satisfied look on his face, “Looks like I found exactly what i need.”

That’s how you ended up being picked up by the hood of you sweater and dragged home like a kitten and its mom, you kicked and tried to protest only to cave and just dangle there, your friends boyfriend trying to protest only to be killed by the patchwork man who simply touched him, you blinked and stayed quiet until you were dropped and told to follow along, and like a good surprise adopted kitten you followed along for some odd reason

It didn’t take long on the beachy shore for you to get comfortable, you were playing with what you thought was an octopus in the tide pools, petting its little head as it just moved around the water following you and letting you stacks shells on rocks that you’d show him and he’d occasionally blow water bubbles and nudge you when he found an intact shell, you couldn’t fight the urge to pick him up and squeeze him in a greatful hug, the sounds he made while he nuzzled into you squeezed your heart more making you smile and coo at him. It took while but soon Jogo had told you his name was Dagon, not liking the sound of you just referring to Dagon as just “him, octo baby, or squishy baby” feeling it was degrading or lowering his value”💀 In all honesty Dagon loved being your Squishy Baby when you squeezed and hugged him.

You had become great friends with the sea curse and he loved to make himself much smaller if it meant you would hold onto him and cuddle him by the fire at night squeezing him in hugs at random times while talking with everyone else, which lead to you one day in the middle of a conversation turning to Hanami, she turned to look at you also at the same him, you smiled at her resting your cheek against Dagon’s round head and he made a cooing sound. The fire illuminated the sand around all three of you “Hanami, you don’t talk much but that’s okay, if you ever have something you wanna say or do I’d love to be the first.”

You watched as she did her best to smile, in a way it was endearing, without knowing you words to Hanami were endearing in a way she didn’t understand in that moment. But if you were really willing to listen to her maybe she’d take the chance, she remembers when Jogo once yelled at her to stop talking it’s weird even if they could understand. Then she only spoke when necessary. Until one day she found you messing with some flowers in the islands woodys parts, she watched how you pouted talking to the dying flowers, trying to water them. you jumped hearing her “Those flowers won’t live here, they’re not made for sandy soil, these would be better.” Form her finger a bloom raised and flowers started to over take the open space, you snapped back to look at her, “Hanami! That’s amazing! Can you show me more?” She looked at you a light blush on her skin, “Of course.”

The shock on Jogo’s dropped jaw was a sight Mahito couldn’t help but lose it at as Geri Chuckled, he had seen you laying in a plush flower bed holding up a bloom, the top of Hanami’s head met yours as she laid, she was explains her curses technique all while rising arches of different flowers over you like a canopy, you awed and complimented her on her ability and the choice of flowers, slowly it changed to you asking about her interests in foliage and flowers, you both talked for hours until the sky behind the open canopy turned dark and you fell asleep listening to her talk about floral meanings, waking up with a yellow rose in your hands and a soft smile

But It didn’t take long, it took FORVER for Jogo to realize maybe just maybe there could possibly maybe perhaps be a smaalll little bit of space he could offer… only if it’s absolutely necessary

😒 this is Jogo when he starts to think about it and catches himself

The day Geto brought you home he was so opposed to it saying humans are disgusting and indecisive incapable of understanding true emotion. He went on and one and to top it off saying they would never be able to trust you, if you were like other humans what made them think you wouldn’t turn on them?

A month passed of Jogo watching warily as you toyed and played with Dagon slowly he found himself smiling when you’d laugh and drop into the water to smother Dagon with affection, he noted how Dagon on ocasión would “find” a particularly shiny and perfect shell just to call you over to gift it to you, noting how Dagon would smile with closed eyes and hum when you’d lift him to squeeze him kissing his little head 🥹 Jogo almost forgetting you were human with how well you could exist within them, smiling faintly thinking, “what if… i ” before he’d quickly shake his head clear, no you were human after all, there was no guarantee you weren’t just trying to snake your way in… yet there he sat on his sun chair smoking from his pipe watching you, the thoughts in his brain scrambling as he lost thought on you again.

It didn’t take long for Jogo to notice how you’d trail after Hanami asking questions and talking and pointing out random things, suspicious of what you were doing he decided to casually follow along one day when you pulled Hanami with you into the forest. Hanami was listing “Orange Fascination, Yellow Friendship, White for New Love or Innocence, Peach for Gratitude or Sincerity, Cream for thoughtfulness..” Hanami Trailed off head turning a bit in Jogo’s “discreet” location, just as she was about so say something you nodded do you think.. you can help me than?” She turned back to you, “I would do anything to help…” there was a pause before she nodded “To help a friend.” Your smile and laugh had her attempting to smile also, it was endearing, a sight that had Jogo smiling faintly, he started his walk back thinking, feeling heat on his face.

The times you’d spent with him he thought nothing of, the times where he’d get hurt and was only able to wait for his body to fix its self, there you were using an advanced cursed technique that had been refined over generations. Enjoying the way you’d scold and argue with Mahito only to win when Mahito would start babbling on idiotically risking the entire operation. Greatfull the few times you’d recovered Sukuna’s fingers, even fearful when you came close to death on multiple occasions, there he was assisting you, liking the attention you’d often pretend you were to weak to heal yourself, and reluctantly after battling himself he’d use his over coat to wrap around you to keep you secure as he’d carry you bridal style or on his back all the way home to ensure you didn’t wear yourself out, always denying it if someone asked or poked. He stopped, watching Dagon float around in the water, bringing a hand to clench his chest he felt a hard thrum in his chest and throat. It was quick and unsettling.

“What is this?”he swallowed trying to calm his heart (idk if he actually has one but he does now) He sat down on the foot of a sun chair lost in thought, hand still holding his chest.

“Sincerity is impossible unless it pervades the whole being, and the pretense of it saps the very foundation of character ya know.” Your voice scared Jogo from the thoughts he was having.

“Sincerity,” Jogo didn’t look at you staring off, “What do you feel y/n? Is what you feel for Dagon and Hanami in sincerity?”

Sitting down next to him you squinted slightly where the sea met the sky. “No one can ever be convinced even if I explain every reason with sincerity, no one understands or takes seriously someone else’s sufferings until they die. As long as you live people can and maybe will only ever doubt you. The only right you have with anyone is to their distrust… but with Hanami and Dagon. They don’t have a reason to lie or put up fronts, speaking honestly, I do feel a sincerity for both of them. I wouldn’t lie to them and what i feel with them isn’t a lie or a front to pretend everything is alright. I like their company, it beats sitting with another person whose emotions are so complex you never know when they feel like lying when there’s sincerity behind their eyes or is it just a look of a deceiving man… it’s like you Jogo, I’ve never had a reason to lie or even try to get in your good graces. But your personality, even when you get a bit explosive with Mahito, I like seeing the raw emotion because it means you’re not hiding what you feel.” You looked down at the sand, Jogo turned to look at you, “These are for you.” You lifted a small bouquet of roses and he looked at them, “Peach Roses for sincerity and Cream for Thoughtfulness.” Was all you said, he took it reluctantly, was this why you wanted Hanami’s help?

No other words were said between the two of you, but the shift in the air was evident, you smiled and Jogo looked away, “wanna go for a walk with me?” You stood up, Jogo standing beside you, the flowers left behind on the chair as you both started to casually walk and talk of what could be. Of course Dagon who had a front row tide pool seat rushed to tell Hanami how Jogo and you went on to talk after giving him flowers~

🥹 sorry this went on so long but I really really got caught up in “if only~” 🤭

#jjk jogo #jogo #jogo jjk #jogos delulu wife #jujutsu kaisen #jjk jogo x reader #jjk x reader #jogo x reader #jujutsu kaisen jogo #reader x jogo

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nuri148 · 2 months ago

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Armin Week 2024

So, despite my best intentions, adulting got hard these past weels and I couldn't finish my contribution to Armin's Week 😭 I will, however. Promise. I'm pissed off bc I'm so close. Oh well.

Meanwhile, here is the first, unedited, part:

The ocean stretched for as far as Armin could see, the sun sparkling on the water surface like treasure. A hard thing his toe touched caught his attention. It was a snail. No, a snail shell, he realised as he picked it up from the brine-like water covering his feet. It was big, much bigger than the river snails he was used to seeing. And more rugged, too. The inside, though, was covered in mother-of-pearl, and the delicate iridiscence added to his sense of wonder, a knot forming in his throat.

“... Those enemies on the other side of here... if we kill them all... does that mean we’ll be free?”

What the fuck, Eren?

It was as though someone had come and turned off the sun, dulled the shimmer of the water and sent everyone to bed.

He’d paid little attention to Sasha and Connie’s shrieks in the background till that moment, but they were a welcome distraction now, after Eren had pooped all over the party. Jean was complaining about the other two splashing him, and Commander Hange told them to stop it in a kind of tone that suggested she didn’t really mean it.

“We should just take off our clothes and take a proper swim,” Sasha suggested. The idea was welcome enthusiastically by everyone, but specially Connie who, while the others were barely removing their shirts and pulling down their trousers, took off stark naked towards the breaking waves. “... I meant in our underwear,” she added to no one in particular. Jean placed a reasuring hand on her shoulder.

“We know,” he said.

Mikasa shook her head and, having already placed her clothes on a neat pile, goaded Eren to follow her into the water, with Armin’s help. Soon, everyone was having a blast in the newly discovered ocean, swimming, jumping off each other’s shoulders into the cool water, diving towards unsuspecting comrades, avoiding Connie’s privates... Captain Levi’s voice would remind them not to drown from time to time, in between pleas to Commander Hange not to pick unknown samples with her bare hands.

It was more than just good fun to Armin, though. It was the culmination of a dream, a dream that had begun before he even was born, with ancient knowledge from forbidden books passed on from his grandfather to his parents to himself. It was the beginning of a new world, one where oceans of sand and rivers of fire must also be waiting in some distant lands; one where other peoples, despite Eren’s doom and gloom, were to be discovered and made friends with.

It was huge. Armin immersed himself in the water and let his body float weightless, soundless, in the sea. It was elating and humbling at the same time. He felt strangely at peace, like he could stay like that forever, wrapped in the nothingness and the silence of the ocean cradling him like a primeval mother.

Alas, he was no ocean creature, and soon he had to come out for air. His feet found purchase on the soft sand and propelled his upper body back to the surface where it belonged. Armin drew breath and bent back into the water, pinching his nose, to get the hair out of his face before rejoining his friends. Jean was the first to welcome him into the pack and Eren patted him on the shoulder, while Sasha yelled at Connie to go put on his briefs.

“No one wants you dangling your junk at--!” she stopped mid sentence. “Wow, Armin!”

“Eren specially doesn’t want you to dangle your junk at Armin,” Jean’s teasing went mercifully unnoticed as Sasha walked towards Armin.

“What?” Armin asked, bemused as Sasha appraised him, hands on his shoulders and her huntress eyes trained on his face.

“You look hot!” she stated.

“What.”

“Doesn’t he, Mikasa?”

“Eh?!”

Mikasa’s off-guard exclamation made Armin panic a little. Why was Sasha asking her of all the squad?

“His hair. Like this,” she went on, matter-of-factly, her hands stirring Armin’s head in different directions for display. “Now tell me he doesn’t look smashing,” she added, gently tousling the water-licked locks to give them, Armin guessed, a modicum of volume.

“Er...”

Please, Mikasa, say something. Say I don’t.

“You should cut your hair short,” Sasha declared.

“I... should?” Armin wasn’t sure about her impreative tone. It wasn’t that he was completely averse to cut his hair, but... he’d worn his bob for as long as he could remember. It had never occurred to him to cut his hair anything different. He couldn’t imagine what he’d look like with a different style, hell, he didn’t even know what he looked like now—or why Sasha thought it was so ‘smashing’.

Keep tuned for the rest!

(you can subscribe to this post or leave me a comment to tag ypu when I post the rest)

Happy Armin's Week!

#arminweek2024 #armin week 2024 #aot fanfiction #armin arlert

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seriowan · 2 years ago

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by water and ice (crosshair x gn!reader)

“There is more to your story, Crosshair. Fight to live through it.”

summary: cold and hopeless, crosshair is struggling to continue fighting for his survival. as he considers the prospect of giving up, he is visited by a ghost of his past and is forced to rethink his entire future...

pairing: crosshair x gn!reader

warnings: spoilers for tbb s2ep12; discussions about death; angst

word count: 2.5k

a/n: this is me coping after episode 12. did i cry a lot? mmmaybe. will i ever be the same after watching episode 12? mmmmnoiamsufferingsomuchjustthinkingaboutcrosshair

In a sick way, he knows it is a punishment. He’s always been cold and unyielding, like the storm that seeks to bury him alive.

The grand peak of every choice brought him to this point; the point when he has nothing to do but drown in the snow with ice in his lungs. It is in this vast, white sea of consequence that he sits and wonders if he could have changed things in the past. It is in the face of death when he is forced to question what reality would have looked like if he didn’t utter the words that possessed and cursed his body…

Good. Soldiers. Follow. Orders.

He was once a good soldier. He did as he was supposed to do but now… it all had a weight to it that he didn't quite understand. He made the choices and he followed the orders given to him, but at what cost? Why is it that now, in this spotlessly white hell, he finally questions where he went wrong?

It's like a loop of his choices with Cody’s voice echoing in a narration of guilt.

“We make our own choices… and we have to live with them too.”

He isn’t living with them. Not anymore. He is going to die with them. Every single choice made since Kaller plays over and over like memories that were never his. Actions with consequences that he thought he could ignore or fight off because he was just following orders.

But he knows the truth.

Death often gives clarity to those who are lucky enough to have a moment of thought before it greets them. In his charcoal armor, shivering alongside a soldier in white and straps of cloth, Crosshair knows that he is the ink spot spilled across the white paper. The stain. His wretched heart has been cold since the beginning but now… now it feels like he has no heart. Like he is just a husk of helplessness, latching onto the one thing that could bring him a bit of purpose — if just for a brief moment.

Mayday’s breaths are shallow. The skin of his neck is hot. He burns from the inside out while Crosshair freezes little by little. They remain huddled together in the shelter of a jagged mountainside, sharing the smallest bit of comfort in dying beside a brother.

Crosshair finds himself hearing different voices with each one of Mayday’s pained noises. He hears Hunter, sporting a wound in his side from Felucia. He hears Tech, shot down by the training droids in the training facility. He hears Echo every time Mayday exhales with a tremble, cold and frail from the cryogenic chamber. He hears Wrecker, lying on a medical table with the side of his face bandaged beyond recognition.

He squeezes his eyes shut at a realization.

All he remembers is pain.

He tries to think back to the good times, but they feel stained by his own hand. He can’t think of their past time together, the good times, without remembering Hunter’s wounded look of betrayal when they first faced each other as enemies. Without thinking of Omega’s cry of panic when he shot Wrecker in the chest. He feels the resurging pain in his head like a reminder that he went far enough for them to nearly kill him in response.

And for what? False belief in an Empire that controls him and every other clone like a puppet on strings?

Meaning? Glory?

There is too much shame to call it glory. The only word that he can bring to the lips of his chattering mouth is regret.

Regret for it all.

Regret for what he’d already done.

Regret for what he will do.

“Crosshair.”

At first, he thinks he is hallucinating. Hours have passed since his last drink of water. Hours of trudging through snow and watching his limbs turn black from ice. His body is weak but his mind is brittle, holding onto the thin string of life from the man hunched over by his side.

Then he hears it again.

“Crosshair…”

There was one person who used to say his name so delicately. He remembers their hands — oh, the gentleness of their touch against his cheek. Or the sweetness on their lips that tasted like tea and honeydew. He can remember the softness of their skin and the cotton robes they once wore, scented of incense and pine and everything earthy. So unlike him in his heavy, charcoal armor.

But he remembers the pain. The striking grief in their eyes as they lay dying at his feet. A fatal shot to the chest, done with his very own hand. His brothers are unaware that he fired the first shot - the fatal shot - before the regs arrived. They assumed that the Jedi went down alongside Billaba because that is what he told them.

But Crosshair knows the truth. He knows that what he did was more than just following orders. It was a deliberate murder and he was the tool, now discarded among the blizzard and left to slowly rust and crumble.

“Crosshair…”

He forces his eyes open, snowflakes caked across his lashes. He squints, looking through the white gusts in search of their voice — that sweet song that pulled him so far from reality, reminding him of a life gone by.

When he sees the glowing blue silhouette walking toward him, Crosshair can’t help but sag his shoulders in relief. He doesn’t have the energy for questions, nor the capacity for fear. There is no reason to keep him grounded as he watches the figure walk peacefully through the blizzard, every little snowflake going right through it with ease.

The first thing he notices is your smile. Gentle and inviting, as it always was until your very last moment. Your eyes are different than when you died — peaceful, kind, so full of sympathy that made him feel so small.

When you crouch beside him, resting a gentle hand on his face, there is no sense of touch or warmth. Your image fizzes like static, lips suddenly flicking down in a soft frown.

“You look tired, my love.”

He huffs through his nose, shaking his head in disbelief. It almost feels normal, like you’re both picking up right where you left off — long before Kaller could even become a thought.

“C-Cyare,” he stutters, the corner of his mouth lifting as he trembles. “I-I m-missed y-you.”

"I know," your murmur, sympathy pooling in your eyes before falling down your cheeks. When the droplets fall off your chin, they make no impression in the snow.

When your gaze shifts down to Mayday, you give a gentle sigh.

“‘No point in carrying deadweight,’” you echo, causing him to look away. “What has changed since you said those words to him?”

“You’ve c-come from the J-Jedi afterlife to p-preach to me?” He chuckled humorlessly. “S-Some things don’t ch-change.”

You crack a small smile but it is short-lived.

“Crosshair… your thoughts have been a burden to you for too long. Speak to me. You know the dead tell no tales.”

“Stop.” Wounded eyes hold onto yours, bleeding guilt and anguish. “Stop it. I did this t-to you. I killed you. I c-can’t talk to y-you without picturing w-what h-happened-”

“If it wasn’t you,” you whisper, “It would have been someone else… and in truth, I wouldn’t have wanted to die by anyone’s hand except yours. My life was destined to end one way or another. Now, tell me... when did you change your mind?”

Crosshair spares a glance at Mayday before looking back at you.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do, my love. What did you feel when he was buried and you were alone again?”

The word bounces through his skull, causing him to grimace. Slowly, his lips move on their own accord.

“Fear.”

“Of being alone?”

He slowly nods. “He d-doesn’t deserve to d-die like this.”

“And you do?”

The question takes him by surprise. Crosshair has no choice but to stare at you, searching your pale eyes for the answer to why you were here in the first place. Still, he speaks.

“A-After everything I’ve d-done…” He palms his head in his hands, trembling when a gust of wind blows snow across his bare face. “I followed orders, cyare…”

You set a ghostly hand on his cheek once more, thumb caressing his cheekbone. “To be alone for such a long time is a heavy burden to bear. A consequence far greater than others. It's poison to the mind, my love, and you have been its victim for far too long."

“Everyone i-is gone a-anyway,” he murmurs, attempting to place his hand atop yours only to feel nothing. “I drove them a-all away.”

“And now you are alone.”

Crosshair grits his teeth but nods.

“Do you regret not fleeing with Cody?”

Again, he nods, shutting his eyes with a heavy exhale. You wait for him to speak and he finds the strength in his voice, low and raspy with grief.

“I-I’m so t-tired of this…”

“Of what, my love?”

“This,” he hisses, gesturing to his armor. “Of being here. I-I’m just s-so tired and c-cold… There is n-nothing left for me, c-cyare…”

“Do you want to die like this, Crosshair?” You ask him, cocking your head. He glances up, blank eyes latched onto yours with absolutely nothing in them. He seems to be a husk. “Besides a dying man in this blizzard? A victim of your anger and misguidance? You are wrought with regret, lost boy. A soul that dies with regret is a soul that has never truly lived. Has your life been so meaningless to you?”

You reach, placing your hand atop his when they settle in his lap. “You existed before this time, Crosshair, during which you had your brothers and me. You had a purpose and your spirit was strong within your family, no matter how flawed it may have been… Has it all been for nothing? Have you fought for nothing?”

He thinks of Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, even Echo and Omega. He thinks of the Jedis he worked with; the Jedi he tried killing - and the one he did kill. All of the battles and close deaths. All of the people saved and soldiers lost. Mayday. Cody. The decommissioned. The forcefully-retired.

Were they all suffering for nothing?

Was it really his purpose to be used like a blade until dulled? Discarded aside and replaced with another?

He thinks of Omega’s expression when she placed her hand on his shoulder, warning him about the chip influencing his actions. She tried to stop him from falling down this path and now…

Now the guilt burns him enough to feel warm in the icy storm.

His gaze is that of a broken man, kindling his fire with nothing but memories. Pained eyes flutter shut when you lean over, placing your lips against his cheek, then his temple.

“I d-don’t want to die,” he admits in a quiet rasp as he meets your solemn stare. “Not like this.”

He remembers the days when he imagined dying alongside his brothers. The end of the war was a distant dream that felt so far away, replaced by an expectation that one day, he would meet his final stand alongside those he grew up with.

Crosshair never dreamt of dying like this. He never thought that his end would be anything like this — beside a brother he’d known for a day, and buried by a blizzard of ice.

He already died once atop the water. Kamino, a planet of roaring blue waves and gray skies. He died when they strengthened the chip in his head. He died when he fired at his brothers and shot one of them. He died when he tried to bring them to the same fate as his own.

Now, realization strikes Crosshair as he faces another death among the ice; among the raging frozen waters that came down from the same gray skies of home.

The death of his body…

…or the death of him: CT-9904. The number, full of regret. The victim of the anger and hatred that bled from within. The product of the seed sown in his naivety. His ignorance.

His fear of change.

Again, you lower your head and hold his gaze, your voice soft as you repeat yourself.

“Do you want to die like this, Crosshair?”

Like this.

Not in the snow. Not beside Mayday. Not among the ice and gray skies.

Do you want to die without ever truly living?

He shakes his head with a bit more determination than before. You smile, nodding.

“Your story does not end here among the ice, my love,” you tell him softly, causing him to readjust his grip around Mayday’s waist. "It is here that it begins."

He glances around him, eyes trekking through the blizzard before he wills himself to stand, bringing Mayday up with him. Crosshair’s body trembles, legs quivering under the weight of two men, but he plants his feet atop the snow and looks at you with hopeful eyes.

“You will find what you seek if you search for it…” Your voice is beginning to fade and Crosshair begins to mourn it with the grief that was once smothered by the chip. “Redemption is not earned through death, my love. It is fought for, bled for, and it eagerly awaits you among her brothers. There is more to your story, Crosshair. Fight to live through it.”

He tightens his arm around Mayday’s side, adjusting the arm over his shoulders. When he looks up, you are hardly anything more than an impression. Nothing but your essence to remind him of the person you used to be before he lost you.

“W-Will I s-see you again?” He questions, his tone both hopeful yet cautious.

To his relief, you smile and nod.

“One day,” you say simply. “But know that I will be with you until then. You are not alone, Crosshair… and you never have been.”

To this, Crosshair turns, and with a step forward, he wills himself to continue. He does not want to see you fade for he already did once. He does not wish to say goodbye because, in the end, he knows that it would be pointless.

Crosshair says goodbye to something else instead. He leaves it behind, buried underneath the snow and frozen among the ice. He doesn’t mourn it, nor does he feel its loss. It sits among the white like a stain of black, sitting right alongside his lost helmet and his hopelessness. His helplessness. It is a fire of fury and anguish, born on the water and left to die among the snow.

A new fire burns in its place. A drive to fight for something once lost, something familiar. Kindled by the promise of life, a promise of redemption, the new fire roars as it searches. It crackles and sends embers in the air at the thought of his brothers. It grows with the notion that if he tried hard enough to live, he would see his family again.

'There is more to your story, Crosshair. Fight to live through it.'

CT-9904’s fight for the Empire was lost in the blizzard.

In its place, Crosshair began something new.

He began his fight to go home.

taglist form

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#crosshair x reader #crosshair #tbb crosshair #bad batch crosshair #crosshair bad batch #crosshair angst #tw death #the bad batch #crosshair the bad batch #the bad batch crosshair #crosshair tbb #angst #Spotify #tbb spoilers #bad batch spoilers #tbb s2e12

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ireadyabooks · 8 months ago

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Spring into Extraordinary Graphic Novels from I read YA! 🌷🎨

Graphic novels are one of our favorite reading formats here at I read YA! It’s always such a joy seeing an author bring their magnificent storytelling to life with their artwork or another artist adding their unique spin! The possibilities are endless when it comes to graphic novel styles, and that’s what makes them so perfect! There is something for everyone! We have compiled some of our recent favorite graphic novels below that you should absolutely check out as we welcome spring and warmer weather! Whether you’re looking for stories about an adorable daydreamer, a dark secret, or two boys simply falling in love, we have it all! Happy reading!

Rainbow! Volume 1 by Gloom & Sunny

From Tapas Media, the same webtoon platform that brought you Magical Boy, comes Rainbow!, a new LGBTQ+ YA graphic novel series!

Teenager Boo Meadows has pink hair and a very vivid imagination -- she has trouble separating from the real world. In her daydreams, she dances beautifully at balls or fights monsters as a magical girl. In reality, she has a complicated home life, work stress, school stress, and a wicked crush on the girl of her dreams. When a new student, Mimi, arrives at school, Boo starts exploring a side of herself that she never considered before. As she grows closer with Mimi, it may finally be time for Boo to face reality . . . Who is the real Mimi? The one in her dreams? Or the one in real life?

Rainbow! is perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Magical Boy, full of heart, adorable illustrations, and a storyline that any teenager can relate to!

Start reading Rainbow! Volume 1 now!

Escape From St. Hell by Lewis Hancox

In this sequel to the Indie bestseller Welcome to St. Hell, Lewis Hancox tells the hilarious, inspiring story of coming into his own as a trans man.

For Lew, figuring out he was a guy and wanted to live life as a guy was the end of our journey... and the start of a whole other journey. Escape From St. Hell charts all the changes that Lew wanted to be made in order for him to live as a young trans man -- changes not just to his own body and perspective, but to the perspectives of the family, friends, and enemies around him.

As he did in his bestselling graphic memoir Welcome to St. Hell, Lewis Hancox charts his journey with plenty of laughs, a good number of cringes, and an honesty that takes readers along for the ride of Lew's life.

Start reading Escape From St. Hell now!

The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

From Molly Knox Ostertag, writer-illustrator of the New York Times and Indie bestselling The Witch Boy trilogy and The Girl from the Sea, comes a darkly beautiful story of identity, family, love, loss, and magic.

Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth.

Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend. And then there’s her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out -- like it did once before.

So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, bringing vivid memories of the past, an intoxicating glimpse of the future, and a secret of her own. Mags won’t get attached, of course. She’s always been strong enough to survive without anyone’s help.

But when the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything... or having nothing left to lose.

Start reading The Deep Dark now!

Heartstopper 5 by Alice Oseman

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fifth volume of the much-loved HEARTSTOPPER series, featuring gorgeous two-color artwork.

Nick and Charlie are in love. They’ve finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick’s house. He wants to take their relationship to the next level... but can he find the confidence he needs? And with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Contains discussions around mental health and eating disorders, and sexual references.

Start reading Heartstopper 5 now!

Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aśka

In this lighthearted YA romance, Maisie and Ollie discover that nothing beats the feeling of falling in love for the first time.

Maisie is on her way to Fancon! She's looking forward to meeting her idol, Kara Bufano, the action hero from her favorite TV show, who has a lower-leg amputation, just like Maisie. But when Maisie and her mom arrive at the convention center, she is stopped in her tracks by Ollie, a cute volunteer working the show. They are kind, charming, and geek out about nerd culture just as much as Maisie does. And as the day wears on, Maisie notices feelings for Ollie that she's never had before. Is this what it feels like to fall in love?

Perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, this graphic novel debut is a fresh, one-of-a-kind story that celebrates the excitement of meeting someone special for the first time.

Start reading Stars in Their Eyes now!

The Good Neighbors by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh

From the bestselling author of The Cruel Prince, an astonishing graphic trilogy set in a faerie world, full of mystery, intrigue, and romance.

From the amazing imagination of bestselling author Holly Black and acclaimed illustrator Ted Naifeh, a mysterious and wonderful faerie saga, for the first time in one volume.

Rue Silver's mother has disappeared... and her father has been arrested, suspected of killing her. But it's not as straightforward as that. Because Rue is a faerie, like her mother was. And her father didn't kill her mother -- instead, he broke a promise to Rue's faerie king grandfather, which caused Rue's mother to be flung back to the faerie world. Now Rue must go to save her -- and defeat a dark faerie that threatens our very mortal world.

Start reading The Good Neighbors now!

#ireadya #yabooks #Rainbow!#Gloom & Sunny #Escape From St Hell #Lewis Hancox #The Deep Dark #Molly Knox Ostertag #Heartstopper #Alice Oseman #Stars in Their Eyes #Jessica Walton #Aśka #The Good Neighbors #Holly Black #Ted Naifeh #graphic novels

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hel-phoenyx · 22 days ago

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Matilda III belongs to @corneille-but-not-the-author

Some insight on a cycle of hate

I walk in the throne room, face blank and head low, like always since the crowning.

A second earlier I let Tyrfing go. The prince was there. Two years younger, a prodigy, and yet, still a child. We don't know who his father is, but I have my ideas. I simply know I won't ever expose my doubts to his mother.

My head would fall anyway.

Like many others before me.

I let go of my child and almost immediatly he ran towards hers. I don't like how close they seem to be, but I say nothing. He need to be integrated in the castle anyway. If it's next to the future king, then so be it. Keep your friends close ans your enemies closer. This is why I still go to the palace.

Harald is not with me. That's good. He always bows so low to her and I hate that. In another world, he would have been my king, or even just my prince, and she would be nothing.

She's there, sitting on the throne, her face dangerously calm. I don't like that calm. It is always presage of a storm. But now I have a child that can control them.

One day, he will erase that smile from your face.

"Your Majesty."

I bow down to her, like any noble would. I don't have my sword in, as any noble would. But I am not any noble. I am the heir of the af Mundir, and I am her biggest political threat while being in no position to fight.

She looks at me with the same expression on her face. Calm. But this is only a mask. I've gotten quite good reading other people's expressions. I saw Odin's before he plunged his sword in my father's back.

I never, ever, forgave him. But she is far, far worse.

"What brings you here, Karan ?"

She says my name with a hint of disgust. I disgust her. She disgusts me, too. We all know that, and we both know that contrary to her, I have to keep civil, or my family's heads are to be cut off.

I hate that so much.

"I'm here to bring you Harald's reports on his last raids."

"Why couldn't he tell me himself ?"

My jaw clenches. You know why. You sent him out again almost immediatly. He didn't have enough time to tell you about the Inkan progress on our sea. He could only give me his written records before sailing away. Again.

You don't want him near me. You want me all alone and helpless, me that never could learn how to fight. The only condition for my survival is that I would stay helpless.

I don't even know how to read because of what you embody.

"He's at sea again, fighting. But he give me the written records. Here they are."

"Read them to me."

That smile. That damned smile. You want to humiliate me, you want to push me over the edge, you want me to hate you so I could deal the first blow. I won't. This is a fight I'll lose. I know it far too well.

I don't mind playing the long game.

I want to curse you so badly. In place, I just give you the records.

"Here. he wanted them to be read by you only."

A good way to recover and not be insubordinate, even though we both know what it is really like. I held the records, she takes them, read them, while I'm standing in front of her throne I saw bloodied multiple times.

You still haven't killed me and I know that it is not from the misery of your heart. You killed all of my supports, but I'm still standing. And it is not because of Harald, strong enough to have earned his own name, or Brynhild, the only one from my father's government yours still listened to.

You want me dead. But you want me dead in a ditch. Humiliated except of a martyr. You too are playing the long game. I see it in the way you put your hands on your child's shoulders, that prince everyone says is a prodigy. This is not your prodigy. It's your weapon. You want to secure your place. I want to throw you out of it.

I have the power of Ocean on my side. You have War's.

Let's see which weapon is actually the strongest.

#lysara #lysara ibruael #hel ocs #hel stories #hel writing #not my ocs #you can't look at Tyr's history without looking at the family so have a little bit of insight on how the mothers were like #Both were playing 3D chess with a disparity among the pieces #and their queens were their own children #let's just say there's a lot of trauma to be broken on aforementionned children's side and it may be because the cycle carried on.#odyssey of the liberator

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blinddreams24 · 6 months ago

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Discover

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: far too much dialogue. Far too little action)

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Cross?”

Said siren looked up from sharpening one of his attacks with a rock. “Hm? Yes, y/n?”

“I… Can we talk for a minute?”

Concern flashed across his face. “Sure.” He set down the rock, dismissed the attack, and gave you his full attention. “You want to go somewhere more private?”

You nodded. It was… important. To you at least. You wanted answers to questions that weren’t solving themselves.

Cross nodded back and led you to a secluded spot just outside of the trench. The terrain was flat and blank so no one could hide and eavesdrop on the conversation. “What do you want to talk about?” He asked.

You hesitated but went for it. “Dream said he met you when you first entered the ocean and that you had just escaped captivity. And I already knew that you’ve at least been a siren for longer than that. So… What happened?”

Cross straightened and looked away. “Oh. He told you that. Uh.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit. Okay. Y’know, Dream is… how do I say this? …He’s not bad. He just wants to help. He helped you the other day. So when he first found me, starving and trying to figure out how currents worked, he helped me. Ink helped too but was about as much help as Killer when he needs to stay still.” Cross chuckled. “He did his best though.”

“Okay. But could you explain why you were in captivity? Last I checked, there was a ban against sirens in captivity unless absolutely necessary and that ‘absolutely necessary’ part was firm about it being a physical disability.” You put your hands on your hips.

Cross shrank at your tone. “I was there all my life. And before you ask, I wasn’t converted. I was and have always been a siren. I was just raised in a lab. The Doctor… he was not nice to me or my pod. He was trying to discover a way to control sirens like how we can control our prey with song. And I think he almost figured it out before……” His eyes flashed and he turned away. “He had to move the aquarium. I don’t remember why. I just remember them sedating us and shipping us across the sea.

“There was a storm, the ship was destroyed, and I made some poor decisions.” Cross looked at his hands as if he expected to find blood and dust on them. Maybe he did. “In my poor choices, I had accidentally forced myself into isolation. Everyone I knew was dead and I couldn’t go back. Not this time. Dream and Ink found me trying to catch fish a week later. They quickly invited me into their pod, Blue welcomed me just as happily, and started teaching me to survive in the oceans.

“And then we had to move, because Dream was tailing somebody. His brother. I decided it was my job to protect Dream and fought to get between him and Nightmare. Nightmare was… careful when he fought me, which I learned later. He could have launched me into the sky if he wanted to, but he didn’t.

“It was a few months later that Nightmare convinced me to join him. Dream was devastated when I left. He kept asking me what he did wrong. He didn’t. He didn’t do anything wrong. Nightmare was just… more prepared for me. Dream, at the time, wasn’t used to dealing with… mortals. Blue was a mortal, sure, but he took care of himself and was busy most of the time visiting his brother. So, since I didn’t know that I needed help, I didn’t learn very important skills. Like song, defense, hunting, and listening for an ambush. I was completely vulnerable.

“Killer caught on to that fact quickly when we first met. He would mess with me. I knew he didn’t like me, I was by Dream’s side just like he was by Nightmare’s, but he didn’t kill me when he could have. Not because he didn’t want to but because Nightmare would stop him every time.

“I didn’t understand. This leviathan, that attacked Dream with enough furiosity to destroy the mountains of the deep, didn’t want his lackey to hurt me, his enemy.

“I also sucked at tactics. I could fight and, in a normal combat situation, I had the upper hand on Killer but Killer was faster. Crueler. He would slip past my attacks and strike me where I was unprotected. He especially loved maiming my dorsal fin. When Dream and I would catch up to Nightmare, Killer would ambush and single me out quickly. Every fight ended either with Nightmare stopping Killer from ending me or Dream dragging me away in retreat.”

Cross sighed in a way that felt like remorse. “It took me far too long to learn how to spot an ambush. And by then, I was exhausted. Dream and Ink don’t need to sleep as much as we do and I didn’t sleep well anyways. They were always doing something, especially when Blue was visiting. Blue was very energetic. So if they weren’t tracking down Nightmare, they were helping other sirens or exercising or making something. Ink insisted that his coral monstrosities were art. They sucked. I don’t know what he was thinking.

“One day, when I could barely see straight, we attacked Nightmare. I tried to fight off Killer, I really did, but he was tearing me apart. And Killer wasn’t alone. Dust attacked me from behind. They restrained me in an embarrassingly short amount of time and Nightmare scooped me up and retreated with me in tow.

“…I woke up three days later, curled up in Nightmare’s tentacles, sleeping peacefully for the first time. He didn’t stop me when I swam away from him and back to Dream. He didn’t even seem to care. He just smiled and turned away as I fled.

“Dream was worried, Ink had already forgotten me, and I was confused. Nightmare hadn’t hurt me or stopped me he just… let me sleep. For days. I couldn’t understand.

“About a week later, we fought Nightmare again. I was tired again, because of how busy Ink and Dream were all week, and Killer approached me instead of ambushing me like before. He teased me about looking like I needed some sleep and jokingly invited me back to sleep with his pod.

“I considered it. And Killer saw me consider it. He laughed it off, we fought, and went home our separate ways. He didn’t tease me after that.

“Nightmare approached me the next fight. He offered, in front of Dream and everyone, to take me in and give me the rest I desperately needed. Dream tried to argue for me but I was so tired. I dismissed my attacks and just swam into Nightmare’s waiting hands.

“Dream was quiet as Nightmare and his pod retreated with me. I haven’t gone back since. Dream just wasn’t prepared for… me. He didn’t know how to take care of a new siren and definitely one like me. I was aggressive, scared, and untrusting. He was not used to dealing with negativity head on so he avoided it. It wasn’t until Nightmare took me in that he realized his mistake. He tried to get me to come back. But I was so tired. I couldn’t go back to that.” He looked so tired and guilty when he finished speaking.

You still had questions. “The… the Doctor. What did he do to you?”

The orca siren was tense, even as he smiled. “Nothing much. Kinda just let me and my pod exist most of the time. Tests were done, sure, but he never physically hurt us. Not our batch, at least.” He mumbled.

“Your batch? Were there others?”

Cross flinched. “Yeah, uh, don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t making eye contact. “It was a long time ago and the details are fuzzy so it doesn’t matter. What does matter, is what Dream and Ink told you.” He finally looked at you, completely serious.

“Uh, it was mostly confusing stuff. Dream said something about helping you out and practically raising you which is why I asked.” Your face twisted in disgust. “And then Ink called both of us useless sirens.”

Cross growled then immediately sighed, defeated. “Yeah, Ink says stuff like that. I can’t say he doesn’t mean it, he does mean it just in the most literal sense. He has no filter and means nothing by it. It’s just how he sees the world. He’ll still hang out with someone he calls useless but, as soon as you’ve heard it once, it’s hard to treat him the same way you used to. Dream and Nightmare understand that he doesn’t mean anything by it, since they can feel the few emotions he does have, but he’s never been able to make friends with anyone other than Blue.”

“Everyone keeps mentioning Blue. Who’s Blue?” You asked.

“Blue?” Cross smiled fondly. “He’s a dolphin siren, like you. Very excitable. He’s always moving, singing, and smiling. You’d like him. Everyone likes him. Stars! Even the destroyer likes him! And he kidnapped Blue!”

“Who what?!”

Cross shushed you. “It’s fine. Error gave him back. Blue had befriended the destroyer all on his own, something no one could even dream of doing. He’s the only siren anyone will allow close without much resistance. He really is magnificent.”

“…W- Was that a pun?” You asked, confused. “I don’t get it.”

“Ah, well,” Cross shrugged. “You’d have to meet him first. He’s awesome. But as I was saying, Ink is kind of an accidental jerk. So don’t take anything he says too seriously.”

“Okay.” You nodded slowly. “All that just opened up more questions than it answered…”

“Yeah…” Cross rubbed the back of his head. “But I don’t think you’ll really understand if I just tell you. It’d be better if you could meet everyone without aggression. Then you could get everyone’s perspective.”

“Why can’t I?” You raised a brow.

Cross hesitated with a guarded look. “Y/n. You can’t swim between two fighting sharks and not get bit. Talking to Dream or Ink right after they attacked you is a terrible idea too. They’ll just want you to leave with them and the guys will attack those Starfish sirens the second they see them. Everyone’s on edge. Don’t do anything stupid.”

You huffed and crossed your arms. “I wasn’t suggesting I go alone. I’m not that dumb.”

Drifting closer, Cross pulled you into a hug. “Just… be careful. We love you. If anything bad happened to you…… just be careful.”

“You already said that.” You pointed out.

“Do I need to say it again?” Cross teased.

You struggled to get out of the hug. “No. Cross don’t.”

“Just be careful.”

“Cross! Stop!” You laughed, trying and failing to stay mad at him.

“Be careful.” He nuzzled his nose into your hair.

“Cross!!”

#undertale #mermay 2024 #cross sans #dream sans #ink sans

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lyriquette · 2 months ago

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Vytal Festival 2024 Prompts Week! Day 2: History/Fairy Tales!

@remnants-of-rwby-events - Also, thank you for the wonderful event and the prompts. I get to write again. Aha. Happy Vytal Festival!

-----

Title: Chronicling:

A post-Grimm tale told in journal form.

—

Year 0 Day 22 A.G. ::

22 days ago, we put an end to a fairy tale that connected the distant past to our current present. Salem was defeated, and the Grimm were vanquished.

Only later did we realize that this was the start of a chaotic new world.

—

Year 0 Day 23 A.G. ::

Perhaps the only merit of the Grimm was that it prevented a lot of the infighting that we’re experiencing now. Everyone saw the Grimm as a common enemy, and whenever there was a War like the Great War, both sides would deal with the Grimm before going back to killing each other. The looming threat of the Grimm prevented Wars from going completely overboard, because what’s the point of winning when the Grimm would overrun you anyway?

One could argue that Salem contributed most to the unification of mankind because that’s what it took to survive.

Salem issued her ultimatum when we finally came back to Vale, which was essentially Surrender and Submit OR Confront and Die. And humanity chose the latter, believing we could finish this fight.

Vacuo, Mistral, and whatever remained of Mantle and Vale amassed an army of Huntsman to attack the Land of Darkness.

Note that Atlas is missing from that group and that becomes important later.

I’m still not sure why Salem chose to do things like that. The smarter thing would’ve been just to attack all the major cities and hold us at Grimm-point.

Perhaps she was getting bored of her immortal fight.

Or maybe she just wanted to do what the Gods did to her and her army a long time ago - wipe everyone out in one go - in a twisted role reversal. Eh. Who knows what goes through an immortal omnicidal maniac's head? And it's not like I can ask her anymore.

In any case, the major cities were almost all emptied out of Huntsman to fight this battle. Only the bare minimum remained to maintain the city’s defense, most of them Huntsman-in-Training.

People made the mistake thinking that Mantle and Atlas, being both from Solitas, were of one body and mind - and while many from Mantle were willing to see the end of this eternal fight - the big-wigs of Atlas held their strongest back, claiming they were needed to protect them from the Vacuoian rabble. Most people just treated this as rich people just being unreasonable and selfish - and that these folk could be handled after the war ended.

---

Year 0 Day 25 A.G. ::

Just getting the army to the continent was brutal. Grimm covered both the sea and the skies, and we took enormous casualties before even making landfall. And when we finally did, it was like introducing flesh to a meat grinder. Looking at the final casualties, over 40% of Huntsman died that day, and a whole many were left crippled or missing. All hoping to see the day where the fighting ends.

Ruby’s still in a coma after doing whatever she did. Weiss lost an eye and complained “why couldn’t it have been the scarred one.” I ended up being the unhanded to Yang’s unarmed.

Hmm. I just realized that Huntsman have a very terrible coping mechanism for debilitating injuries.

When we came to the Grimm continent, we believed we held the winning hand. We were confident that our army was proof that Humanity was United and that the Gods would answer our call. Therefore when we finally reached Evernight Castle, we used the power of the Relics to summon the Gods on Salem's doorstep.

And to our shock, the God of Light found humanity not United and therefore Unworthy. He didn’t bother giving an explanation to a species about to become extinct in the next few seconds. As we saw the same light show that was about to make humanity extinct for a second time - except now in the God of Light’s hands - we despaired.

That’s when Ruby, wielding all four Relics, did… Something. It’s hard to describe. It was like being in part of her Semblance, including the extreme nausea part, and then also not. The world exploded into red and white - a field of scattering petals instead of the desolate land we were at. And when everyone came to their senses, all of the Grimm around us were gone. Ruby was gone too. So was the God of Light.

The God of Darkness had a perturbed expression on his face, only to be surprised when Ruby reappeared from a gale of petals a couple seconds later and without his brother. Meanwhile, everyone ignored the half-dead Salem and focused on the other building-sized deity in this scenario.

Waiting for his decree.

Wondering if we needed to somehow procure another miracle to protect Humanity.

Now whereas the God of Light was willing to make humanity go extinct just to honor the letter of the agreement, the God of Darkness, who was now the only god around, was more flexible on the interpretation of the conditions.

Humanity was United as far as He could see, and He would honor the spirit of the promise. There’s a certain irony here that the God who had made humans nearly extinct a long time ago was also the one who gave its stay of execution, not that anyone who hasn't heard Jinn's revelation could appreciate it.

Salem, who was already half-disintegrated by just being in the proximity of Ruby’s Something, was unmade by the God of Darkness - disappearing into dust. It was a rather unfitting end for the immortal woman who had made our life hell - and if this were a book, I'd say the writer would've done Salem dirty. Unfortunately for her, this was real life, and I could only wish this happened sooner.

The only things that remained here were the Grimm Pools and the Castle and a small number of Grimm confined permanently to the Land of Darkness.

Year 0 Day 29 A.G.

After the God of Darkness left, some people stayed behind to turn Evernight into a livable city. Before the army set off for home, I saw someone chiseling out a statue in the God of Darkness’s image and a whole bunch of purple-robed clad followers praying.

Guess the God of Darkness finally got the worshipers He finally wanted. As for the God of Light, he still hasn’t reappeared, but the God of Darkness has reassured us that he is not in the position to do much of anything. More importantly to us though, Ruby will wake up eventually.

The end of our fairy tale.

The army eventually separated and went back to their respective continents, eager to see the friends and family they left behind.

But when the Vacuoian and Mantle Huntsman reached Vacuo’s borders, they were met instead with a united Atlasian army instead.

That was the start of the Atlas-Vacuo war.

#rwby au #rwby fic #blake belladonna #rwby #ruby rose #remnants of rwby: vytal festival #chronicling au #i had to rewrite this cause I didn't realize I had two draft tabs open and after i saved the updated one #the other one I didn't edit killed the updated one . /shriek #this is why i google doc now lol

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curlysgirl0202 · 1 year ago

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Writing a Damsel in Distress:

We all know this theme began before any other, and we also know this theme exists in every generation; the idea that a beautiful woman would call a man's name when his nemesis tries to mess with his girl. So a few things to consider about writing a damsel in distress:

* Our damsel should possess the ability to fight off enemies for the most part. So, if we're writing about a damsel, we must arm our character with certain skills that demonstrate an ability to hold ones own.

* Damsels don't need to be delicate. A damsel simply means that a woman needs assistance. However, just because she requires her hero to untie her, that doesn't equate that she cannot hold her own. She's just used to men behaving like men.

* Our damsel can become the hero. Sometimes our hero becomes the target of the antagonist and if this occurs upon her release, a truly grateful damsel would push back against the enemy.

* Remember that our male character desperately wants to save you so he can show you his soft and kind side and in addition, that our hero is patient.

* Damsels in distress are just so damn sexy! Women who fall victim to a known villain seem to have a certain vulnerability about them that comes across as sweet and endearing. So when they're kidnapped by the villain, of course our hero feels the need to come to her rescue. And why not? Our damsel will shower her hero with gratitude.

* A damsel in distress doesn't equate to a wimp! We all need assistance some time, right? Our damsel character can be the target of a kidnapping, but she can still hold her own! She may still require her male counterpart's intervention and so what? Look at what she's been through!

*Men love the damsel in distress. She's appreciative and responsive and allows the main protagonist to rescue her.

*Some memorable damsels:

**Remember when Perseus rescued Andromeda? She was a strong and capable woman, but was overwhelmed by a vengeful goddess. Andromeda couldn't defend herself against an angry goddess and a giant sea monster so she needed her hero, Perseus. To find a way to destroy the beast that includes killing Medusa would prove challenging to anyone. And Perseus had a group of several strong men to aid him. That doesn't mean Andromeda was a helpless victim.

**If you watched Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides, you'll recall how Syrena was abducted by Blue Beard. As a mermaid, her tears were powerful and could transform old into new. Syrena certainly could defend herself. She was surrounded by pirates who wanted to torture her so she would cry tears for them. When she's tied to a tree and left to drown, Philip comes to her rescue. She returns his devotion by saving him and even cries tears of joy just for him! Syrena didn't expect Philip to save her and didn't have a sense of entitlement about the matter. Sure, she was a damsel in distress, but still showed she was strong and brave.

**Ann Darrow from King Kong. One of the original damsels in distress. But she also could survive on her own and participate in the adventure of it all. Before being sacrificed to the overgrown ape, she sang and danced and entertained. She wasn't a delicate lady whining about needing a man. When she was tied to the altar, she was truly helpless and in need of rescue.

***It's ok to have a character who exhibits the signs of requiring rescue. A damsel in distress doesn't have to equate to an inept girl. We need more stories like this. Daring rescues of women who are already strong makes for a great story. Chivalrous men and women who appreciate the masculinity of their hero.

#romance stories #chivalry #heroes and damsels #damsel in distress stories #why men love damsels in distress #daring rescues #saving the damsel #damsels aren't weak #heroes

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finalgirlmoment · 10 months ago

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PJOTV Ep 4 + 5 (spoilers)

My brain is, and has been, rotted entirely! I feel like the TV show is such a treat because the new content adds layers to the story SO MUCH like the plot and character dynamics it makes me want to scream. Yes the differences are absolutely notable but the bottom line is that our main trio would find each other in any universe or storyline and would choose each other every time

-The opening scene of episode 4 broke me a bit: the lore that Percy actually did not take naturally to being in the water, he was actually afraid to be swimming! I feel like before we definitely characterized him as someone who felt at home in the water since he came out the womb but damn look how far he comes. How jarring it must be to later find out you're actually the son of the sea god :o

-Percy continually being angry about the system of the gods (not) interacting with their children, being so shocked that a parent wouldn't help or talk to their child. He's so sweet and I feel like his rage grows the more he gets to know Annabeth because he sees how amazing and loyal and cunning she is and wonders how her mother could ever ignore or abandon her

-Annabeth just in general, her badassery is so fucking perfect for this character, the way she draws her knife, her being so fucking in tune with Percy already....the way she knows exactly what Percy is going to do before he does it ((and the way he listens to her unconditionally i.e. cutting off Medusa's invisible head in episode 3 but I digress)), knowing he was alive and waiting for them somewhere at the beginning of episode 5. she is a LEGEND and she is LOCKED TF IN

-the hug <3 i won't make it weird if you won't <3 <3 we're like friends now <3<3<3 do u understand how i hurt

-trio walking down the side of the road like bums -_- i died lmfao. also them hiding when approached by some dude and just being like <3 we good ty tho!!

-Percy, again still acclimating to this fucking weird ass world where gods are real and can kill u easily, is shook when ares threatens to kill them. luckily, as a change of pace, grover is cool as a dang cucumber and saves the day af. this is what i mean like absolutely the characters are so different like yes grover has been nervous a lot but he also can turn it tf on and smooth talk when he needs to

-Annabeth has never seen a movie. Percy immediately insists that they watch one together. Look me in the fucking eyes and tell me that's not a date? Hello?

-The entirety of the tunnel scene/chair scene. Percy being the one to figure out the story illustrated Hephaestus' life. Percy ALREADY working to save Annabeth first and foremost! Percy continually sacrificing himself for her! Believing deep down she is capable of great, impossible things and being willing to set aside his life for her without question. Telling her she is better. "You just are. And you know it." Giving her Riptide, no second thoughts, no backing down.

-ANNABETH CHASE ALREADY ASSUMING PERCY'S PROMISE WOULD BE ABOUT HIS MOTHER. HIM BEING ASSURED SHE WILL SAVE HIS MOTHER, NO HESITATION. HIM ASKING HER TO COME BACK FOR HIM. HER BEING SURPRISED THAT HE THOUGHT HE HAD TO ASK. (THE ENEMY PHASE WAS SO SHORT LIVED. THEY HAVE BARELY GOTTEN IN THE BACK OF A TRUCK TRANSPORTING LIVE ANIMALS TOGETHER. WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT IN THERE NOW. I'M fine don't worry about me).

-On that note, the ending. Percy is like a loose cannon full of a deep rage and a lot (A LOT) of unrealized power; his problem is that he is not locked TF in like Annabeth (as of right now) and the ending really made me excited because it feels like he is finally catching on to what a big deal he actually is. All this anger he has inside him, all this rage at what he has lost and the suffering he has seen, .... i'm honestly beside myself at what is to come because this is already SO JUICY and I feel like we've barely started!

-side notes: the score is so amazing, I'm really enjoying it and I understand all the videos of the actors promoting the soundtrack!!! also my sister has never read the books but she loves the movies and we watch it together; she is very very excited for the casino scene so there is definitely hope for her in the near future. ((my nico loving ass will also be holding binoculars and twitching))

so yes a lot was changed but i am really liking the new content a lot because it just feels like added lore and, again, these guys can best the odds in any universe and help each other in every timeline. the most important plot points are there and i feel like they have already set up a lot of info for later on down the line. I do wish there was a bit more banter/conversation (because Percy is actually so quirky and I feel like this could be explored more) but the time we do have is amazing and feels super fresh! even when i've read the books to pieces! and again the convos they're having right now are setting shit up for later and maybe then they can play and have fun wit it. as always, i will be loyally sat, lurking, reblogging. kiss

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #pjotv #pjo #pjo tv show #pjo spoilers #percabeth #walker scobell #leah sava jeffries #aryan simhadri #tldr: delight!#dm me if u want to be brainrot twins #<3 #frothing at the mouth #lotus hotel #trust i will be looking for my guy

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drunkewok · 11 months ago

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Tiger Inside Chapter Twenty-Nine

Stray Kids Mafia (ongoing)

Masterlist

Likes, reblogs and feedback always greatly appreciated

WC: 3.9k

Pairing: Lee Know x reader

Genre: Series, Enemies to lovers, non-idol AU, Mafia AU

Warnings: 18+, Minors DNI, drinking, swearing, graphic depictions of violence, weapons

Disclaimer: Any portrayal of Stray Kids or any other idols in this story is purely fiction and do not at all reflect their own personalities or how I view them as a person, it is purely for the sake of the story.

Please do not copy or repost my work

The ringing echo of the shot reverberated against the walls, promptly followed by the screeching of chairs, and hollers of patrons as they clamored over each other toward the exits in a sea of panic.

Mingi only laughed, watching the chaos quickly ensue around him with a proud grin.

I pushed myself against the flow of patrons, my gaze falling on the now empty bar, void of Wooyoung, but also Seongho.

I stopped dead in my tracks, eyes scanning the lounge for any sign of the tall head of shaggy blonde hair. My gut twisted into knots as I tried to formulate my plan, still unable to truly take on anyone in a fight with my current physical abilities.

I felt powerless.

Three new figures entered the lounge as I tried to duck towards the bar for cover. Seonghwa stepped forward, stopping right behind Mingi with Yunho and Yeosang close on his tail.

I crouched low enough to conceal myself, trying to recount the details of each of their members shared with me by Minho. My focus needed to be pinned on any possible weakness each of them had, I needed whatever upper hand I could manage.

In the distance I could hear a door slam open from the direction of the VIP Room, releasing Chan, Minho, Changbin and all of Big Bang into the main room.

I whipped my head around at the sound of bottles clinking behind me, a brief wave of relief passing over me to see Seongho digging into the shelves for anything possible to be used as a weapon.

Grabbing his wrist, I tried to pull him closer to me and keep my voice low.

“Where the fuck did you go?”

“I had to take care of something.”

“What about Wooyoung?”

“I told you, I had to take care of something.” Seongho's eyes slowly met mine, a pointed and serious gaze that rarely crossed his face.

“You didn't… did you?”

“Calm down, I didn’t kill him.” He pulled his wrist from my grip, taking a moment to try and peek over the bar before settling back down beside me. “He's out for the night though, I can tell you that.”

“Good, then we need to get out of here.” I returned my hand to his wrist, tightening my grip as I crawled to the end of the bar, pulling him behind me.

I peered around the corner, ensuring the coast was clear before rounding the wall into the back hallway toward the employees only section.

“You’re crazy if you think you’re not going to let me help!” He protested as I struggled to pull him farther, the two of us now fully shielded and hidden away behind the wall. Only now do I see the blood that is running from his nose, his eyes dilated with the adrenaline pumping through his body.

“Can you please just trust me Seongho!? I don’t want you to get involved with this side of it!” He stood firm as I tried to shove him further, his feet turned into cement beneath him and strongly rooting him to the ground as shots started to ring out in the distance.

“Ah, there she is.” My muscles froze as an unfamiliar voice manifested behind us, hesitating for a moment before turning to see our new guest.

“It’s the fucking corn chip.” I sneered, turning to fully face the man with the defined physique as I forced myself to stand strong.

“The fuck did you just call me?” San's eyebrows furrowed as he slowly tilted his head, eyes sharply fixed on me.

“You heard me.” I spat back, feet planted firmly as I took my stance. While every bone and muscle in my body screamed at me to run, my mouth was operating on its own accord. A verbal wall of defense being built brick by brick without filter.

San slowly stepped forward, eyes narrowing like a predator closing in on its prey, each step building a painful tension between the two of us.

“The bitch has a bark, I see. But can her bite back it up?” His head tilted slowly, words laced with venom as he spit them. “How's that shoulder treating ya?” His eyes flicked down to my shoulder before meeting mine again, a grimey smirk growing on his lips.

“How sweet of you to ask. But there’s no need for concern, I can still break your nose if I want.”

“It’s cute that you think you could at all” He chuckled, hands settling in his pocket with a humored expression as he teased.

“How about you fight someone more your size.”

My hand shot out to the side, holding Seongho back as he tried to slip in front of me.

“Ohhh, she even has a guard dog!” A disgusting grin plastered his face with wide eyes as he mocked Seongho, the smile melting away in an instant as his eyes fell back on me as his voice dropped once more. “How cute.”

San tried to move around me, but I slid in place with him, keeping myself as the barrier between him and Seongho. He looked down at me, the corner of his lip pulling up in disgust.

“You know, Wooyoung has told us quite a bit about you Seongho.” San’s focus pinned back on him, words dripping with an apathetic tone. “It’s quite sad, actually. So blinded by charm that you didn’t even realize you were leading her straight to us.”

“This is between you and me, San. Leave him out of this.”

San now stood directly before me, finger barely grazing the underside of my chin as he tilted his head with another smile, his voice following being sickly sweet.

“Ya know, It’s quite sad that you don’t even realize the power you would have if you were playing for the correct team.”

Acting on impulse I spit in his face, the distance between us far too close for comfort. San’s eyes clamped shut as he wiped away at the moisture, slowly opening them to meet mine with a new darkness deep in them.

“You’re delusional if you think even for a minute that I would ever work with you. The whole lot of you are an embarrassment.”

San’s fist gripped the front of my shirt tightly, glaring down at me as he held me in place.

“You seem to never know when to shut up.” He growled through gritted teeth.

“My apologies, it was my understanding that a conversation happens when one person makes a statement, and the other formulates a response.”

“It’s no surprise that you’re a smartass, just like your father.”

I brought my fist up with a collision to San’s jaw, sending his smirk flying off his face as his grip loosening on me just enough for me to pull free. He lowered his head back to me slowly, a look of disbelief as he adjusted his jaw.

I’m grabbed tightly from behind as Seongho pulls me out of range of San’s following blow, sending me staggering backwards as Seongho pushed forward.

“SEONGHO NO!” His arm stayed just barely out of my reach as I attempted to grab him back, Seongho’s fist promptly blocked by San’s mid-air before he had a chance to strike.

In a swift second, San pinned his attacks on Seongho. I fumbled for my earpiece, activating the mic before leaving my frantic message.

“BACK HALLWAY! HELP! NOW!”

The two men before me were deep in fight before I had even a moment to breathe, the flying of fists and twisting of limbs as each man battled for dominance. Seongho lurched forward with a choked grunt as San’s fist delivered a particularly forceful blow to his gut.

Time fell into slow motion as I watched Changbin appear behind San, sweeping his legs out from under him and barring his arm behind his back.

My eyes fell immediately on what I already feared would be in his hand, a bloodied knife toppling to the ground as that sinister smile stretched across his face again

As I looked back, Seongho had already staggered back against the wall, clinging to his torso as he slowly started to cough up blood through ragged breathing, before sliding down the wall and crumpling up on the floor hunched over.

I quickly removed my apron as I ran over to Seongho, my fingers trembling as I fell to my knees and pressed the fabric into his abdomen. I frantically watched his eyes as they slowly struggled to scan the room around him, thoughts clearly trying to still process the turn of events.

“Seongho… Seongho. I need you to look at me.” My shaking voice was hoarse, fighting off the panic as I watched his face drain of color as his eyes slowly met mine. His mouth sat slightly parted, a tremble with each struggled breath and eyes wide in shock. My tears landed on my hands as I sobbed out begs for him to stay present, to stay coherent, to simply stay with me.

His head lolled as he tried to choke out words, his vocalizations coming out as a quiet garbled mess as he continued to quickly bleed out under my touch.

“Why would you do that you idiot…Why” I choked on my words as my hands fumbled over each other, slipping on the blood soaking through the apron and struggling to keep pressure on the wound. My hearing turned fuzzy, the world around me going quiet as my sobs and begs continued. “It’ll be fine-you’ll be fine…”

The screams of my name behind me never made it to my ears as arms wrapped around my body and pulled me off of Seongho as I screamed, kicking and fighting trying to free myself from their grasp. The grip on me tightened, pulling my back flush against the person’s chest as Seungmin took my place above Seongho, tending to his wounds.

“Let Seungmin help him” Chan’s voice in my ear forced itself to keep calm and level, his breathing heavy as my body went weak as he slowly lowered us to the floor in unison.

Falling to my knees, Chan’s arms stayed wrapped around my chest from behind as I sobbed, my fingers digging into his forearms as I gripped to them for any source of grounding. The voices around me were undetectable as the world started to slow, a garbled mess of words not being processed by my mind. The panic was leaving me lightheaded and weak, my body frozen in time and space

Seungmin stayed talking to Seongho in an attempt to keep him coherent as he kept pressure on his torso, his voice steady and collected as his gaze alternated between the wound and Seongo’s expressions.

The air was growing painfully thick, a suffocating darkness slowly crawling across the ceiling and invading my lungs, burning from my nostrils through my chest. The crackling and breaking coming from outside of the hall finally became apparent to me as my head snapped away for a brief second, the bright glow emanating from the main room growing.

“Chan” I hardly heard Minho’s voice as he ran into the hall to our side. “We need to get out of here, the place is on fire.” Chan released his grip on me, pushing me to my feet quickly as he rose beside me. Minho’s eyes snapped to Seongho collapsed on the floor, his lips parting in concern as he took in the sight before him. He slowly glanced back to Chan pained, watching as Chan only responded with a solemn nod.

“Leave with Minho, we’ll get Seongho out.” I refused to break my sight with Seongho, feet staying firmly planted in the spot I stood as my body refused to move. “I SAID GO Y/N! NOW!” Chan’s voice raised to a shout, pointing down the hall, snapping me out of my daze as I looked at him petrified.

I was pulled from behind as Minho grabbed my arm, dragging me to the exit as the sights of a burning lounge flashed by us, the quickly growing fire swallowing everything in its path.

My hyperventilation only became apparent to me as Minho pulled me into him, resting my head on his chest with his hand as his other arm wrapped tightly around me, whispering quietly in an attempt to calm me.

“I need you to breathe y/n, slow breaths. He’ll be okay.” I let my arms wrap around him in response, attempting to calm my breathing and focus on the warmth of his embrace, my tears soaking into his shirt.

“I can’t lose him Minho…”

His breath was shaky as he fell silent, his grip not leaving me as he dipped his head into mine before finally speaking again, voice barely above a whisper.

“I know… I know.”

I pulled back from him, the contact immediately starting to feel suffocating and my breathing increased again as my thoughts raced, only just now looking down to my bloodied hands causing my chest to tighten even further.

“Can I get a little help here!?” Hyunjin called out from the side of a building, supporting what looked to be a weak Jisung in his arms.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Minho quickly left a soft squeeze on my shoulder before he ran over to the two, slinging Jisung’s arm over his shoulder and hooking his other arm under his knees. He hustled toward one of the waiting vans, settling Jisung into the seat before frantically trying to identify where he had been hit.

“What happened?”

“Jongho,” Jisung grunted as he tried to settle himself into the seat, “they knew we were posted.”

My eyes painfully scanned the storefront of Blossom, the flames beginning to engulf the building as they billowed out every crevice. Fire gives no pity, a roaring and angry heat consuming all that comes in contact with it while it illuminates the night sky with its power. Swirling flames rising to the heavens in an assertive challenge, a mockery of those weaker than it.

The chaos around me began to muffle, my muscles stiff as my lungs started to get progressively tighter, restricting my airways. My reality around me began to fade, feeling nothing more than just a floating bystander, disconnected with those around me as I studied the glowing embers melting from the building.

Two hands cupped my cheeks, bringing me eye level with Changbin in front of me.

“Hey, look at me.” His voice was the immediate calm before me, ignoring the heavy breathing through his sentences. He slowly turned us in unison, directing my back to the building now behind me. “You’re okay. You’re out, it’s okay.”

His thumbs brushed away the tears I was unaware were flooding my cheeks past a blank expression, trying to hum soft words of reassurance.

“Seongho isn’t out.”

“Just focus on me, okay? Nothing else. They'll get him out, it's okay.” Only once the blur in my vision started to clear could I truly see his face, his busted lip, a clear black eye starting to form and a fresh cut across his cheek. My chest tried to cave in once more as I tried to steady myself, focusing on the man in front of me.

“Y/N!” Jiyong ran up beside us, hand quickly settling on my shoulder, eyes wide with worry. “We’ll get her out of here, help your men.”

With a quick nod exchanged between the two, Changbin ran to the van Jisung was in, letting Jiyong lead me farther away from the building.

As we neared the entrance of the alley, the distance between us and the source of heat was only now starting to affect me. The cold quickly enveloped me, pairing with the endorphins flooding my body leaving me shaking as I stood in place. Jiyong stayed close to me, but still tried to count for each of his own men, ensuring everyone had made it out okay. He pulled his jacket from his body, wrapping it around my own in an attempt to preserve my body heat.

“Everyone to the vans! We need to get out of here!” Chan commanded as he ushered the rest of the group towards us, pulling up the rear.

“Where is Seongho!?” I quickly stepped in front of Chan, hand tightly gripping his shirt, stopping him in his tracks as my eyes burned through his skin.

His pained, silent stare hurt more than any word he could have uttered. Instead, he broke his gaze with me and looked toward Minho.

“Take her in Jisung’s car, we’ll meet you back at the house.”

“WHERE IS SEONGHO, CHAN!?” Minho’s arm wraps around my torso as he peels me from Chan, further away as my screams go unanswered. My weak fight was easily overpowered, my flails paired with kicks and throwing arms abruptly halted as he settled me back on my feet.

“He’s in the other van.” Minho avoided my gaze as he pulled me toward the car, my feet still trying to drill themselves into the ground.

“Then I’m going in the van, you’re not taking me with you.”

“This isn’t the time for arguments, y/n. Chan wants you with me for a reason and we need to get out of here, now.” His hands gripped both of my shoulders from behind, pushing me forward and into the passenger seat of the car.

The streetlights felt abrasive as they flashed over the car periodically, the timing between lights closing in as the car quickly increased in speed.

My head snapped behind us as a flash of lights flew by, the ringing of sirens startling me as the emergency response sped off, already on their way to the burning inferno left in our wake. I tried to curl in towards the door, wanting to bury myself deep into Jiyong’s jacket and hide from the world. The air felt painfully heavy, weighing down on my shoulders and holding me firm in place.

Our car was the first to arrive back at the house. I had quickly hopped out, sitting on the front steps as I focused on every headlight that came into view in hopes of it being the vans. The passing time felt like it had stretched on for hours, the gut twisting wait being almost too much to bear.

“We should just head inside, it’s too cold out here.”

“No.” It was the only word I could muster in my current state, refusing to take my eyes from the darkened road.

I hopped to my feet the moment the first black van pulled into the driveway, watching as the first few members stepped out. Seungmin supported Jisung as they walked him up towards the house, attention pointed far away from me. I nervously picked at my cuticles in anticipation until the second van finally came into sight.

Chan was the first to hop out of the passenger seat, trying to grab my shoulders and turn me toward the home.

“Minho, please take her inside.”

I shook myself from his grasp, glaring at Chan in disbelief.

“I’m not going inside, where is he? Why wasn’t Seungmin with him?”

“Y/n.” Chan’s grip on my shoulders increased as he firmly held me in place, watching as the last few members filed past us and into the house.

I quickly glanced between the van and Chan, my head darting between the door in a panic as my eyes started to well with tears once more, blurring my vision.

“You didn’t…” The accusation needed no explanation, his solemn pained expression serving as my only silent answer. I finally pulled myself from his grip, shoving him away from me. “YOU LEFT HIM BEHIND!?”

“Y/n…” Minho tried to reach out, his voice gentle as his hand settled on my shoulder, quickly brushed away.

“Don’t you fucking dare.” I spat as my glare pointed in his direction, his hand quickly recoiled. My finger jabbed into his chest, emphasizing each word “You told me he was in the van. YOU drove me away from there knowing HE WAS STILL INSIDE!” Minho showed no effort to deflect, letting my anger boil as he allowed himself to take the brunt of it.

“Y/n, there’s nothing we could do for him.”

“Bullshit!” My head quickly snapped back to Chan, closing in on him. “Would you have left him if it was Changbin? What about Jeongin? Or Hyunjin? We all know damn well you’d do it for Jisung because he sure as hell got to come home.”

My hands shook, unable to settle myself as my heart raced, the world spinning around me. I held my hand out to Minho, voice firm with my demand.

“Give me the keys.”

“You know you can’t go back there.”

“Give me the fucking keys, Minho.”

“He was gone before we even left y/n…” Chan cut in softly, the two of them trying to stay as gentle with their words as possible. “If there was even the smallest chance of a different outcome…”

“But you still left him…” The tears falling down my cheeks burned, the fire in my blood extinguishing itself by releasing its heat through the salt. “He was all I had… and you left him.”

My arms ached to reach out, searching for comfort in a warm embrace, yet my legs fought against the draw, pulling me away from Chan as I stepped back.

I was unbalanced climbing the stairs, vision foggy as I gripped the handrail to distract from my spinning surroundings.

Inside, the house was eerily quiet, lights all shut off and plunging the home into darkness besides the soft glow coming from the medical bay down the hall. Yet the silhouette of a single person could be seen in the front room. Standing in front of the window, watching down on the driveway and barely illuminated by the moonlight outside.

Felix turned to me slowly, the light reflecting off his tear stained face and bloodshot eyes.

“Y/n…”

I needed away from all of them. My mind and body were weak, and searched for the absolute smallest bit of solace in the privacy and the darkness of my own room. I wasn’t present in my own body, my feet acting on their own accord as I turned away from Felix and started the climb up the stairs in silence.

I slowly pushed my door shut behind me, any exertion of energy feeling like running a marathon. Only now, that I glance down without any overwhelming surroundings am I reminded of my hands stained crimson.

My tears blended with the running water, aggressive scrubbing leaving my skin raw as I tried to wash the last visual remnants of the painful night down the drain. The swirl in the sink that of dripping paint into water, a vibrate red contrasting against the white porcelain.

The strain put upon my mind and soul collapsed in finally, leaving me gripping the edge of the sink through gasps as my pillars caved in, white knuckles breaking through the reddened skin.

With the click of the lock, I left my door glued shut.

I fell into my bed, wishing for nothing more than the Sandman to crawl out from the confines under my bed, mocking me with an excruciating nightmare and nothing more.

For at least in that parallel universe, I’d be waking up under the same roof as Seongho.

Next Chapter

Taglist:

@leagreenly @venusmoonxnight @jamlessstars @moonlight-the-writer @ishz @minbinboo @felixslostfreckle

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aita-blorbos · 4 months ago

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AITA for doing my job and protecting the Earth, even if it meant killing someone?

(Minor headcanons involved, namely that all parties are sapient when it is ambiguous in canon. I posted this here before but suspect it got ganked for length, so I trimmed it down).

Alright. I (Unknown but very old, M), am the guardian and protector of Earth. I do my best to keep it’s ecosystems and inhabitants- humans, nonsapient flora and fauna, and my kind- in balance, and to defend it from outside threats. Sometimes I have assistance in this role from who I’ll call M (Unknown but very old, F), who is my closest friend and confidant, especially since the rest of my species went extinct. However, she is frequently not around, leaving me alone. Recently, I have quarreled with another member of my kind (Unknown but young for our kind, M) who I’ll call K. He helped me defeat an archenemy of mine, though, so I decided to drop our quarrel provided he sticks to his territory and stays out of my way.

M and all the others I call “my kind” all are different species from me and each other, but all have certain similarities as well, which are very important for how we interact with the rest of the world. We are all terminarchs as well- “no more after me” and all that.

I know this is a lot of backstory (I’ve lived a very very long time and seen a lot of things), I do think all this is important for prior context, but bear with me here, we’re coming up on the important part.

Now, an ancient emergency beacon was activated (from an area now in K’s territory). This beacon indicates the imminent escape of another ancient enemy of mine from the area where I imprisoned him, said area being accessible only through K’s territory. Said ancient enemy, who we will call R (Unknown, M, related species to K) has S (Unknown but elderly, F) a former semi-close friend of mine, mind-controlled as his weapon. R also has an army of the same species as himself, but they are younger and weaker than him. R wants to conquer/enslave all of the Earth. To my knowledge, he also abuses younglings, S, and his other slaves. I do not know if that’s important to mention here?

M is still gone and I don’t know if she’ll be back in time, I don’t know if I can rely on K’s help here but don’t expect to (We still aren’t on speaking terms, it’s possible K may side with those who are similar to his species. I know being a terminarch is hard and lonely). I also know I cannot fight R, mind-controlled S, and his army by myself. However, in the cold north seas there exists a repository of energy from the sun which my kind may use to make themselves stronger. I traveled there with due haste, and arrived to find another of my kind, T (unknown, F), already there and absorbing the energy (said source is finite and takes a long time to replenish once it’s used up). Now that the background context and current situation has been sufficiently explained, here, finally, is where I might be TA.

Me and T have never really gotten along. We get in territorial scraps with some frequency (I kicked her out of one of my old dens that she had since claimed a few years ago), we fill somewhat similar niches in our kind’s ecosystem (or what remains of it). And, personality-wise, we just don’t mix- I find her argumentative, contrarian, pugnacious, and irritating. We try to avoid each other whenever possible. I have yet another crisis to deal with, I don’t have time to fight T over this energy, and as protector, I shouldn’t need to explain why I need it more.

I fired a warning shot into the iceberg where T is currently absorbing the energy. T responds by emerging from the iceberg and engaging me in combat, attempting to constrict me. I bite a chunk out of her side and roar- second warning. T does not back down or flee, and tries to smother me with her frills. At this point she’s trying to kill me, so I have no choice- I fire a point-blank shot at her head/face and kill her.

Reasons why I might not be TA:

I needed that energy to stop R and protect the world, as is my job.

I don’t know what T was planning to do with that energy, she could have been getting stronger to try and usurp me (there was a similar minor incident like that with another of my kind, SC, recently).

I fired warning shots and gave T ample opportunity to back down, she tried to kill me anyway.

Nobody involved here is human and therefore cannot be judged by human moral or social standards (heard this before).

Reasons why I might be TA:

I don’t know what T was planning, it could have been totally innocuous, given her prior conduct I doubt it but still.

T was a terminarch like me and all the others, her species is now extinct.

I didn’t try to communicate why I needed the energy, from T’s perspective I may have just been coming to claim her territory/kick her out of her den again like in our previous scraps.

T’s ecological niche is now empty and that could possibly cause problems down the line. As keeping the ecosystem healthy and balanced is one of my job descriptions, I kinda feel like this is my fault.

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality #i believe this has been published before BTW? we never delete things for length + ik weve received smthn like this before

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