#❛ 07 . ( * main verse

[orangetintedglasses]

@forgivenpunishment replied to your post “He's looking a bit distracted today... and a bit...”:

"Hey, I've been lookin' all over for you... you didn't say anything when you left. Wasn't sure if you were pullin' a fast one on me." Wolfwood puts a hand on Vash's shoulder and shakes him playfully. He doesn't figure that Vash will run away from him again, but the distant way he's been acting is odd, to say the least.

"Ah...!"

The contact ripped through him like a shockwave, and it took every synapse in his brain to keep from crying out (in pain? In surprise? Something else?). Crap, r-right, he... should've said something, went back and said... but he hadn't been thinking...

The blond made himself perk up all the same, though, trying to ignore the way his stomach flipped and surged now that Wolfwood was close-- "s-sorry! Sorry-- n-no, just needed some air, and... kind of wandered off."

[winterreigned]

@mvndrvke asked: “You didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that.” rickon

𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓼𝓸 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓽, and she was not there to bare witness to it. the last time sansa saw her youngest brother, he was a mere pup, now this stark has evolved to a wolf. they often say children grow in the blink of an eye, though she was not even present to blink herself. the years were stripped of them, the time to bond and create a dynamic of their own given to the hands of captors, enemies and traitors. she hardly knows the young man before her, and cannot deny the twisting in her chest when grappling with this fact.

most of all, the challenge she faces, is acknowledging young rickon to be more than that. he is no longer bran's shadow, no longer attached to their mother's waist. there is no being asked to look over the baby, to fuss and care for. now, here he is, providing the comfort she, as eldest sister, should be offering him.

❝ those are burdens you need not bare. ❞ sansa replies, a soft expression on her face. he is a man now, though she struggles with this. she cannot baby him, he has experienced his own bout with hardship, yet all the same the instinct to protect and care does not vanish like the years lost between them. [ i look at you, brother, and my heart bursts. i look to you and i see robb, i see our mother. tully blue eyes, auburn locks. you are a spitting image to me, and i cannot bare it. it reminds me of what we have lost, what we could have had. yet, all the same, it provides me a deep comfort. we are home, we are together, we will reclaim what has been lost for our family once more. ]

❝ you must forgive me, rickon, for this is all bittersweet. i mourn for the time lost, and celebrate all at once. for so long i grieved you, and now here we are, and you're a man - ❞ there's a rarely delicate smile to grace the now stoic fixture that is sansa stark's face. she cuts herself off briefly, deciding for a better path to arrive on. ❝ mother and father would be proud. ❞

[muutosarchive]

🍭 @starywisteria . asked for kenny mccormick

"UGH, COME FUCKING ON, MAN..." kenny sighs to himself as he heaves himself onto the sidewalk, having seen the other without thinking too hard about it one way or the other. however, unfortunately kenny realizes that the fellow student seems dejected (one whom he's seen around for all the school he actually attends) . . . damn, she looks sad. he thinks to himself. fuck! sometimes he hates when his conscious kicks him in the ass. why does he have to be so goddamn, motherfucking . . . "uh, hey." shuffles up, kicking a bit of colorado snow with the tip of his boot. hands shoved into his pockets with hood thrown up around his head. cigarette break between classes, usually unaccompanied unless waiting for the bus. " -- are you okay? i mean what the fuck are you doing out here, anyway?" figured only the burnouts hang out back here, but not that he's complaining much about a female presence.

[118diazsarchive]

@resp0nders: " i'm tired of pretending everything's okay when it's clearly not. "

" then stop. " eddie is very familiar with pretending to be okay -- when he was a child because he couldn't be a burden to already busy parents who put the responsibility of helping his family on him or when he was an adult because he didn't have any other choice but to be okay and keep going for his son. he's familiar with pretending to be a lot of things, actually.

he knows that it's way more exhausting to pretend than to just be.

" you shouldn't have to pretend. " maybe he's speaking to a version of himself that needed to hear it. maybe he's just speaking to the scared girl in front of him that's like family to him now. but either way, he's saying it, saying something that he didn't fully believe years ago. and that's progress. " hey, if i can do it and get through it then anyone can. do you want to tell me about it ? "

[drekkavac-moving]

tag dump ... feel free to disregard.

║▌ verse. 01.  the spy who came in from the cold.    //    main. ║▌ verse. 02.  keep your friends close…but your enemies closer.    //    mafia. ║▌ verse. 03.  not your average jedi.    //    star wars. ║▌ verse. 04.  the world belongs to the dead.    //    zombies. ║▌ verse. 05.  daddy’s little girl hunting monsters.    //    supernatural. ║▌ verse. 06.  and then things got stranger.    //    stranger things. ║▌ verse. 07.  a modernized badass historical fantasy..    //    modern royalty. ║▌ verse. 08.  the rebellious princes…and the strong queen.    //    royalty. ║▌ verse. 09.  are you the hunter? or are you the prey?    //    yellowjackets. ║▌ verse. 10.  sink into the wasteland underneath.    //    fallout. ║▌ verse. 11.  straight outta brooklyn..    //    shameless. ║▌ verse. 12.  sharp blades cutting the ice like a dream.    //    figure skater. ║▌ verse. 13.  silver screen pipe dream.    //    actress. ║▌ verse. 14.  she’s a maniac in the ring.    //    boxer. ║▌ verse. 15.  the little russian firefighter.    //    911. ║▌ verse. 16.  i was hurt by bad men. now i hunt them down.    //    criminal minds.

[winterreigned]

@poweresides getting yet another thing for jaime from me

𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻 , the dead defeated ──── by the hands of her sister , no less. sansa is still not quite sure how it happened , though she will not tempt the fates to suddenly deem them unworthy , not when the north marches to king's landing at the dragon queen's command.

it is a bitter feeling , not being regarded. sansa had argued fiercely for her cause , feeling the siege too soon. their armies had suffered enormous losses , cersei would remain just as looming a threat in a month's time , though daenerys saw no reason to it. disgruntled feet carry her through the stoned walls of winterfell , stopping when they see jaime lannister.

they keep meeting this way , fleeting moments between consequential battles on the horizon. the lady of winterfell is uncertain of his plans , prior conversation leaving everything quite up in the air. there's a newfound respect she holds for him , subtle , not realized at first. but the more conversations they've had , the more she finds something 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 in jaime. this change emboldens her , allows her to find no issue in raising questions.

❝ battle plans drawn , men to begin their march come the morning. now is the time to make decisions , no longer can you hold it off , ser jaime. ❞ there's a relative flatness to her tone. displeasure could be obvious , but sansa is desperate not to appear treasonous to the queen her brother has knelt. ❝ where will you fall when historians tell our story? ❞ it's a recall to prior conversations , yet it gives sansa pause within her own mind. how it nauseates her to think they could be coined the starks who gave away the north for generations to come.

[muutosarchive]

🍭 @remnantbound ! (plotted starter)

her heart rate is through the roof. her face screwed up with narrowed brows in horror. she should have known. [...] should have known she would be here, &. it hurt more that she'd tried to shut out the memories of their friendship. because it was easier, somehow. her excuses felt so paper-thin. no matter how real they really are. "cassidy?" she asks, kneeling down to the girl's level, even as she stands there.

the suit is close behind, what she's tethered to. the officer's forehead has broken out in sweat, but still she can't take her eyes away. her mouth held slightly open despite holding her breath. "it's me -- i -" she pauses, shaking her head while finally looking away. if just for a moment. "but you probably already know that." vanessa nods now, swallowing. voice quivering. "cassidy, i am so sorry."

[118diazsarchive]

@serendpitous: " look, i'm okay! i've pulled all nighters before. "

" yeah sure, those nights usually end up in flames though. " eddie jokes because he will never not take the chance to mention it. he carries her bags in for her and sets them down where she wants them. " buck is working all night and my kids are with their mom so you'd really be doing a favor if you let me stay and help. "

[winterreigned]

❝ 𝗹𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 , ❞ sansa teases , guiding her shoulders into arya's playfully. she can try , even for a little , to pretend things were as they had been before. though the aging on both of their faces , the lines of grieving and trauma run too deep , it tells sansa it will never been the same , no matter how hard she tries to take on the role of optimistic big sister. it just wasn't them , it just wasn't how it was meant to be. ❝ where did you go , arya? where did you go when father ... ❞ eyes avert quickly from her sister to the floor. ❝ they thought you dead , maybe i did too. though part of me refused to believe death would find my stubborn sister so easily. ❞

"Considering I know you are fairly busy being Lady Stark, I'm the one who says you likely need a reason to find your sister" she countered, although she didn't particularly mind having Sansa join her. Maybe it was due to the fact that she couldn't readily let go of who Sansa had been, but she knew that this Sansa was vastly different to the one she'd last seen in Kings Landing. At Sansa's comment about hearing about her journey, she sighed as she realized that there was too much to share, and she wasn't entirely sure if she was prepared to share it. "I guess it depends on where you'd like me to start, my journey had many vastly different stops"

[winterreigned]

@poweresides hit the heart for jon !

𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐓𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒, for sansa had been riding north for days and days on end. her only company had been brienne and podrick, yet her words were seldom and far between. thoughts had been plagued with eager desperation to see her brother. despite all the anticipation, sansa still felt worry. yes, there was fear for ramsay's men finding them, but above all there was a perhaps, irrational, anxiety that ate away at her. the last time sansa saw jon, she declared loudly for all that he was her BASTARD brother. the young sansa had never taken ownership of her kin, had misaligned from him. it is now, all these years later, that suffering and longing had made her aware of her errors.

would he not receive her? she knows jon was never the sort to push his siblings away, and despite how awful she could be to him, they were still family after all. yet, all the same, sansa couldn't blame him if he refused to protect her. or maybe such thoughts could be attributed to time away from winterfell. from time watching family stab family in the back, whether it be lannisters, baratheons, or boltons. that wasn't the stark way, their father's memory assures her this. it is what keeps her trekking on through bitter snows and frigid air.

it is with wide blue eyes she takes in castle black. it is much like how uncle benjen described, not luxurious in the slightest. yet, to sansa, it was the most beautiful place in westeros in this very moment. it is the first time in years she can take a deep breath. all she has been doing is surviving, and in this moment, she wants to simply just ──── be. that is all she desires as she lowers herself off her steed, legs raw and sore from all the riding ( as well as the decorations ramsay cared to add to porcelain skin). men watch, surely intrigued. two women just had entered the gates, not a common occurrence on the wall. yet she ignores the stares, ears fall deaf to hushed whispers of curiosity. light hues search, almost frantically, hoping to spot locks of raven hair and grey eyes in the crowd. please, she thinks, please be here.

THERE - in an instant, they seem to spot each other. it seems as if some unknowing deity has come upon her, has lifted tons off worn out shoulders. it is like soaking into a warm bath after being left out in the frost for hours. it is an explosion of relief and shock, and for the first time in years, HAPPINESS. it all provides her with the will to run with all the energy of a child engaged in a game of tag. she gives her brother no opportunity to voice anything, to do or see, for her arms are thrown around him. it is a moment she has dreamt up of, fantasized about when prisoner to lannisters and boltons alike. it felt like wolves were howling around them, like snow would fall from the sky. for wolves of winterfell were reunited, the north and winter would celebrate with their kin.

❝ jon, ❞ she whispers into his furs, not daring to let go. fear he would vanish and sansa would find herself bound to ramsay's quarters once more. ❝ oh, jon. i've missed you terribly. ❞

[muutosarchive]

🍭 @braveburned !

there's a gentleness in the way the officer crouches down in front of the child. the dimness of her second home all around them. she's wearing an open-mouthed smile, a light placement of her hands on her knees while approaching the boy's height. "hey." she says. there's a sinking feeling in her gut at seeing a child inside freddy's so late. "i see you've found freddy's." she laughs a little, perhaps somewhat in nervousness. she's always had a way with kids. vanessa gives a tilt of her head in study. "different than places nowadays, huh?" she nods. skirting the point, as the danger has likely already presented itself.

[118diazsarchive]

eddie is going to buy a leash for this kid soon. he doesn't care that he'll be one of those parents that gets stared at in public because his kid is on a leash. he's tired of chasing after her when she runs after whatever shiny thing she spotted this time. eddie went to war, works hard and emotionally taxing 48 hour shifts as a firefighter and this is what's going to kill him. it's how he ended up out of breath in the cereal isle of the grocery store and he's not even sure how it's possible since she was in the shopping cart the entire time. " sorry we're working on training her. " he jokes while scooping his daughter up in his arms.

[winterreigned]

𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 , 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁. there were very few , if any , people sansa would put before robb. it had always been this way , in truth. blindly admiring her eldest brother , future lord of winterfell. in her eyes , robb could do no wrong. he was the hero in every one of their games , the noble knight who would rescue the damsel. in truth , even when a hostage in king's landing , when tongue lied viciously of his ' betrayal to the realm ' , sansa still had hope that her knight would come and rescue her. news of his demise was the first time sansa truly looked at robb as he was : HUMAN.

here he stood before her , his traumas forging him into the man he now was. yet all the same , she could still recognize her hero. maybe not physically , for the wars had taken tolls on all of them , had stolen the fresh faces youth promised. but his words , they echoed the same brotherly promise they had years ago. they carried the same warmth and protection , even if she had sworn shields now to remove that burden from him. sansa cannot help but smile at robb , despite the heaviness of such conversation , for it almost feels normal.

❝ i know it does , ❞ sansa agrees. she approaches robb , yet still maintaining a distance between them. ❝ i trust you more than anyone , i full-heartedly believe you'd only do right by me , by the north. as you always have strived to do. ❞ she cannot help the flashbacks that play in her mind of a young robb , barely three feet tall , jousting sloppily in the court yard with jon. the robb who would attend lessons with her , learn of all the ancient and noble houses. the goofy grin on his face as he'd try to get sansa to crack , her lady like exterior present even then. how she aches for those simple times , desperately tries to find room for them in their present.

as robb continues to jest , sansa closes the gap between them. her laughter echoes off chamber walls , a hand coming to ruffle his hair , almost as if they are back in their childhood. ❝ you are such a ninny. ❞ she chides , though admiration is only ever present on her face. ❝ a pity really , i had high expectations for our next feast's decor. ❞

her face sobers momentarily , knowing her next words may not be well received. sansa had only been queen two moons now , it was still a rather new scenario. northern lords had come from all over to pledge support and offer counsel , though the queen had yet to find the perfect advisor. ❝ what i'm to ask of you , do not refuse me immediately. i know you , i truly wish for you to think on this , robb. ❞ a pause , tully hues seeking out their matching pair. sansa releases a deep sigh , bracing herself for robb's response. ❝ would you consider acting as my hand? i see no one more suited for this job than you. i trust no one other than my own blood. ❞

Sansa's earnestness was a comfort like no other, and the guilt that gripped at Robb even with his changed demeanor still hung over him like a cloak. She was the sister who he had comforted once, a girl who loved knights and princesses and far off adventures from a perfect little story. They used to play in this snow as children, two innocent souls ripped asunder by what the harsh realities of life had thrown at them. He should still be the one to comfort her and yet her words reflected that of a queen, even if she wasn't so comfortable in the title as of yet.

He was thankful, happy that Sansa didn't fear him, that she didn't look upon him with dread or contempt. That even with his harsh proclamations of being a changed man, she still saw him as the same brother who danced with her at her name day celebrations or pulled merry jests on both her and Arya with Jon and Theon glued to either side of him. She didn't look upon him like she did Bran, whose changes were far worse. Robb would love Bran until his dying day, his beloved little brother was physically still there, but it was another guilt laced matter where the eldest Stark realized he didn't quite like his baby brother anymore. The creature that lived inside Bran wasn't something to be liked, not when he sat there, seeing any and all things. A terrifying prophet with no signs of the lively boy who used to cling to his legs.

" I'm not going anywhere. " He curtly declares , turning his face back upon her, the hint of a smile curving on his features despite the melancholy of their conversation. " But you needn't worry about my plight, you're a queen, and while I'm happy to help you discover what being queen means to you, that should be your focus. And I'll do anything in my power to make your reign as powerful yet fulfilling as it can be. If that means scaring off suitors with Arya or firmly keeping out of the way, nothing will stop me from doing right by your Queendom, I may be a different person, but that part of me still holds true. "

It was that conviction that had propelled him to survive his imprisonment and the war against the dead. Protecting his home, protecting his sisters and brothers and making up for the times he couldn't protect them from behind iron bars. His entire life now was to be devoted to his family, no worry over what befell him or what his future held. He could be the terrifying FALLEN KING of Winterfell, be the source of whispers and rumors for his trips to Winter Town, the northern people could find as much joy as they wanted tearing apart his very being and private social life.

If anything he was a wonderful buffer for Sansa's own life. Gossip of a former king was far less treasonous than that of a reigning Queen. " Just do not expect me to turn to less than favorable hobbies. Decorating, feast and joust planning are not things I excel at. I'll stick to terrifying your guards. "

[winterreigned]

❛  i'll always be here for you, no matter what. just please don't shut me out.  ❜ from jon @prodigum

𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲 , for so long , there was no one else to trust in this life but herself. sansa had grown cautious , untrusting. she had become accustom to keeping it all close to her chest: her hopes and dreams , fears and struggles , even plans of survival. it is a heavy burden , though one she is so used to carrying alone , she forgets she can now rely upon jon. have him carry some of this weight ( though in truth , as much as they offer one this to eachother , can they really add on the burdens of one another when both their shoulders already hang so low to the ground with the weight of their own problems ).

there's irony in this all , her bastard brother , the one she regarded as unequal in every way. who was the victim of her judgement and disapproval all of these years. how badly she wanted to be her lady mother , and in turn had grown to ice out her own kin for her approval. it wasn't until she turned flaming locks to brown and carried the name stone that she understood. it wasn't until snow was all she had left in this world that sansa felt the guilt. yet despite years of coldness , jon stands before her , willing to see past it all. she doesn't deserve this kindness from her brother , but she will live her life trying to earn it.

❝ i'm sorry i didn't tell you about the knight's of the vale. you had every right to know. ❞ her head dips for a moment , teeth worrying at her bottom lip. there's truly no explanation behind her choice , perhaps she didn't want littlefinger to pry his grimy hands into jon as he had their father. perhaps , she felt the element of surprise would be best. or , the darker truth , perhaps sansa has FORGOTTEN how to trust. even if it is her brother , even if she knows she can trust jon with everything and anything in this world. distrust is a hard shell to crack open , a tough skin to shed. but sansa is determined to do it. two starks have reclaimed winterfell , perhaps more will come home now. there will be more trust to give , and she has to learn to give it.

❝ blood is thicker than water. father would always tell me this , especially when i was being truly pompous to you. ❞ there's a slight laugh at the memories , how self important she truly thought she was. silly girl , foolish dreams and notions , how she wishes to go back and shake sense into her. still , it would do nothing. it wouldn't bring back robb , father , or mother. but it can help her and jon now. sansa learns , she's getting a lot better at no longer pretending she doesn't. ❝ if i've given you reason not to trust me after this , i understand. i just want you to know , jon , i truly do trust you. in fact , more so than anyone in this world. ❞ it's a heart breaking thought , but he is all that is left to their family ( though she longs for the day arya , bran , and rickon can perhaps reveal themselves ). still , that means little now. the two of them , jon and sansa , they were the last of the starks. stone and snow , stark and stark. together they had claimed back their home.

[muutosarchive]

🍭 @file-fnd ! (asked for officer shelly)

"what happened to him?" the hospital atmosphere is enough to make vanessa rip out her heart monitor. she's so sick to death of the incessant beeping. but her face is a little frightful as her eyes flicker over mike's visage. a little furrow in her brow. "after?" she swallows with a purse of her lips. still, she cannot process that he would do something like that to her. that he was capable of it. she wasn't like the others, was she? clearly something happened. after they'd gotten past the 'thank god he &. abby were okays,' &. the 'thank god your alive's'. she shook her head. "&. please don't lie to me. i know i deserve it, after everything. but --" she shakes her head &. looks down at white hospital gown. sterile. "i have to know." her eyes flicker upward.

[118diazsarchive]

@surviveds sent: " you're a bit out of it tonight. "

eddie feels like he's been out of it for years now. he can usually get it together long enough to get through a call on days like this. on the days where he feels like he has weights hanging from his body and he's a million miles away from his own head. but he keeps making little mistakes that he shouldn't be making at all because even the smallest mistake can cost everyone their lives. he's sitting against the engine, drinking a bottle of water and twisting the cap between his fingers. he feels called out, seen, and he wants to run away from it but there isn't really anywhere to go. " yeah, i uh -- i just haven't been sleeping much. "