#(Trying to Save the Embed on this one lets sEE IF IT CAN ACTUALLY WORK @ TUMBLR FIX THE VIDEO pLAYER---)
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izzyizumi · 6 months ago
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Some extra details under the 'read more's!
Notes: -This video’s embed may randomly not display at times, Showing like it’s “down”, but it’s not at this time! {It usually happens late at night[s] or seemingly when Tumblr and/or Vimeo is experiencing very high traffic} If that happens, please consider watching at the Direct link on Vimeo here!
(The concert/Source in question):
youtube
{YES singer is playing the actual song youre hearing–}
(Anyway, the next time someone asks me where I was before 2010, I just might show them this post…!!) {*Even then, even this location is hours+ away from places I’m more familiar with (no I am not local to Sunrise) It’s still a very personal event for me, so genuinely, please be kind if Interacting on this work.}
BONUS:
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{^ If I get a chance to add few more scenes, this one feat. Canon Adopted!Koushiro is definitely getting added somewhere too–}
[However, I am currently in the Process of Smoothing it Out; Any 'final’ updates will come later!]
{*Please acknowledge my banners+rules BEFORE INTERACTING or DO NOT RB/COMMENT, Thank you!!}
#The Beginning Spoilers #TheBeginningSpoilers #Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning Spoilers #Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning Spoilers #Kizuna Spoilers #Tri Spoilers #BNM Spoilers #Bokura no Mirai Spoilers #Our Future Spoilers #Digimon Adventure: Spoilers #Loudness Warning
Notes: -This video’s embed may randomly not display at times, Showing like it’s “down”, but it’s not at this time! {It usually happens late at night[s] or seemingly when Tumblr and/or Vimeo is experiencing very high traffic} If that happens, please consider watching at the direct link on Vimeo here!
-The 1080p option’s audio seems glitched up; (At least, on my end) I will see if I can Fix that on my 'finished version’ in the future. (For now, please watch in 720p!) {It’s possible any option may work for you regardless}
And Remember: Digimon {+FANDOM} is FOREVER
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Digimon Adventure+02/tri./Kizuna/(+Adventure:) {2020 Reboot} + Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (+minimal Kizuna) A.M.V x “Apologize” {David Archuleta} Live Concert Version Featuring Characters/Duos/Ships: + {+2020!}/{Kizuna!}KOUTAI, {02!}KENSUKE, (Implied/Former?/Un-requited??) YamaSoraTai/Yamachi, {briefly/+also from Yamato's end); Adventures Chosen; (Overall 02 Chosen-Leaning +Side KouxTai)
“I’m hearing 'what' you say…”
“Take a Fall {?}”–
“I Need you like a heart 'needs' a BEAT– … BUT that’s Nothing {N E W…}”
“{’XXXXX’} like the A N G E L…"
“IT’S TOO– (???)”
"...Ten feet..."
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Comment: If you think I'M not in this CROWD somewhere, {despite the fact my voice is really soft 'irl'} you might just be Mistaken,,,,, (Also - This is my overall personal 'final thesis' on The Beginning.) {If you watch, please genuinely try to FOLLOW the themes presented.}
{Note: Tri Pt. #6 Bokura no Mirai/"Our Future" Spoilers, Major The Beginning Spoilers, (select scenes from opening, final battle, FINAL Post-credits scene at very end clip) + middle part Big spoiler (Rui’s eye & Ukkomon) {Notes: Eye Trauma/Injury; Blood}
Original Song © O.n.e.R.e.p.u.b.l.i.c Archuleta cover from AUGUST 1st 2009’s Sunrise, Florida Concert {“Hey O.P., can you explain that GAP in your blogs' hISTORY of this fANDOM—???”} [Do you hear 'THEM' here???]
*Edited in about 5 hrs 10~ min overall (Preparing for this however took at least four days of off-and-on out-lining) {Any final fix's will come in the future...!!}
{*Slightly LOUD/Low quality audio at points!!} (*Contains cheering, as its LIVE Ver.)
by Me/Hikari M. Productions @hikari-m/@koushirouizumi/@izzyizumi {DO NOT Repost} {DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT Reproduce my Work/Video Edits Without my Permission Under any Circumstances}
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mynameisjessejk · 1 month ago
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Interlude: Failure, Discussed
Celyn could feel himself fading again, whatever herbcraft or magic Eleri had slowly losing headway against the curse.
Eleri clucked over his side and rubbed paste into the sutures and made him drink a terrible-tasting concoction, and her frown didn't fade. She fell still, hands resting lightly on Celyn's rebandaged side, staring into the middle distance.
"What is it?" Celyn asked, voice more of a croak than he might like to admit.
"Your Ayas," she said quietly. "He's going to fail."
Celyn nodded slightly. He'd never imagined Ayas could actually bring back the heart of a Hound of the Wild Hunt. "I know," he said.
Her gaze shifted to his. "I can't save you if he does," she said.
"I know," he repeated.
"It's not even that I don't want to any more," she said, sounding frustrated. "I can't. Without him upholding his end of the bargain, there's nothing I can do."
Celyn caught her gesturing hand. "It's all right," he said. "You tried. That isn't nothing. Ayas tried; that's important to him."
"And you're just all right with dying?" she demanded.
Celyn said ruefully, "I've been dying since I was five years old. Sometimes it's just been nearer than others."
Eleri bit her lip and turned her face away. "I gave him an impossible task," she admitted. "I didn't want to heal you, and now-" she broke off.
"Ayas has surprised me before," Celyn said carefully.
She shook her head. "He would have to be something other than what he is to succeed, I think."
Celyn chuckled. "I think we've firmly established I have no idea what he is. Four days isn't over yet. Don't despair now."
"You're resigned to death, but you also tell me not to despair?" she snapped.
Celyn huffed as much laugh as he could manage without pain. "Don't despair," he said again. "Even if I die, I'm not worth that."
"Would your Ayas agree?" Eleri asked sharply.
"I'm not sure he has a concept of hope or despair," Celyn said ruefully. "Look after him, would you? When I'm gone."
Eleri scowled at him. "As if he would let me."
"He latched onto me when I killed his last master. Perhaps I'm just hoping he'll pick you after me." He would regret leaving Ayas, even if he couldn't entirely regret dying, nor fear death.
"I've been scrying on him while you sleep," Eleri admitted. "He feels hope."
Celyn grimaced. "Don't let him despair either," he said.
"I don't understand you," Eleri grumbled.
"Death comes," Celyn said. "I'm not afraid, and I've done my best. I've tried to make up for my errors, and I've tried to do good wherever I can. What comes next, I'm not worried about that. I hate to leave Ayas," he added.
She shook her head slowly.
"I have things I wish I'd done, things I wish I hadn't, but I haven't the energy to rail against death." He shrugged one shoulder as best he could. "I knew I wouldn't get to choose how and when I went. But I'm glad to go peacefully, and I'm glad to go among friends."
"I hate that," Eleri said.
"My biggest concern right now isn't dying," Celyn said dryly. "It's worrying about Ayas after I'm gone."
"I'll try to look after him," Eleri said. "If he'll let me. If he goes back to Faerie I won't have any options."
Celyn shook his head. "He won't. The only thing he's more derisive about than my ability to look after myself is the Fae Courts."
Eleri finally smiled again at that. "Well," she said, "I haven't met many Fae, but I agree with his assessment of your self-preservation."
"How is he?" Celyn asked softly.
Eleri sighed. "He's hard on the trail of the Hunt," she answered. "I mostly just see him riding, or tending to your horse."
"Ember," Celyn said, smiling. "Gods, he hated Ayas when I first got him."
"They seem to be working out now," Eleri said carefully.
Celyn nodded. "It was a hard road, and involved a lot of apples, but Ember likes him well enough now. I think he likes the hound more than the man, though."
"Ember bolted from something," Eleri said. "My last glimpse showed Ayas untangling him from a tree and fixing a rein while Ember calmed down."
Celyn winced. "Not much startles Ember. He's wartrained, so mostly things that come at him he tries to fight."
"Something," Eleri said, shrugging.
Celyn nodded. "He looked all right, though?"
"Ember, or Ayas?" Eleri asked, and there was something teasing in the set of her mouth.
"Both," Celyn said.
Her face softened. "Ayas checked Ember over and mounted up once the rein was fixed, so I think Ember is fine." Then she tilted her head, frowning into the middle distance. "Ayas looked fine," she said. "I don't- there was something tense about his mouth, but I don't know him well enough to read it."
Celyn nodded. "Thank you," he said softly.
"You should rest," Eleri answered, patting his shoulder and standing again from his bedside.
Celyn was going to whether he wanted to or not, at this point, but he was glad to know Ayas was well.
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quietbluejay · 13 days ago
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Angel Exterminatus Take 2 #11
coming to you LIVE from double pneumonia purgatory!
featuring the most famous scene in this book
(though, really, I feel like Eidolon stuffing Fulgrim with jewels in the same manner one would embed garlic shards into a chicken was a more memorable scene. Angel Exterminatus is one of the most Horus Heresy books ever)
it's time to derail to talk about magnus
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what is the point of this if you don't leave something better behind you indeed note that the emperor doesn't actually answer this lol
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and then he joins the heresy lol perturabo also wonders if Fulgrim's meeting with the emperor keeps HIM up at night
Lore: I just realised that despite Perturabo being memed on about being bitter about Dorn he almost never shows up here.
Bluejay: i know, it was such a surprise to me he does think about Dorn a few times earlier in the book and he's fairly salty i mean his whole playing the wargame vs the palace and then being like "this is why im always better than you, brother" but overall it's fairly minor
next up is Soulaka who is still intrigued by the monsters and decided to go do first aid as an excuse to try and find them he's shocked and appalled by the general state of things he tries to help one EC who is dying but doesn't save him, so starts to harvest his geneseed unfortunately, he's caught in the middle by Fabius still unclear how he survived wait sorry i misread Lucius stops him
but fabius is right behind him! welp RIP Soulaka killed by fabius and had his geneseed stolen okay you all may know what's coming next Fulgrim is late for their meeting
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yes it's this scene but Fulgrim is finally here
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im sure they will manage this like mature adults
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Fulgrim decides to affect an interest in all the sketches and then he sees primarch anatomy Fulgrim is jealous and wants to know where he got them from Perturabo: you know well, I don't his database in his head?? self-vivisection??? they talk a bit about what Fabius is up to i feel like perturabo'd be a bit more upset if he knew he killed soulaka to steal his geneseed
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lmao Perturabo never said anything about meaning it was wrong in the moral sense he meant in the technical you're the one bringing morality and Nietzsche into things here (much like the emperor, and i'm gonna get into this later) there's a bit of discussion about the clockwork titan Vulkan built it Fulgrim is immediately bored lol Fulgrim: guess Vulkan's not as good as I heard if this one isn't working
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Perturabo's robots stop them, though RIP the clockwork warhound
also i love every time it gives a new adjective to describe Fulgrim's black eyes
I'm not being sarcastic, it's really fun
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Perturabo is Done (tm)
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Fulgrim: lmao I'm better than you in every way Perturabo: and yet I'm the one holding the hammer
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Perturabo puts down the hammer
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incidentally, Fulgrim is healing much faster than a normal primarch so, they have an agreement i remember the first time i read this i was like "this is NOT going to go the way perturabo thinks it is"
OKAY let's go back to what the emperor said last time
yes it's bluejay once again talking about consequentialism because that whole scene really does express the consequentialist mindset of the Emperor "it's fine when i do it, because I'm right"
which is now competing with Fulgrim's philosophy here of "it's fine when i do it, because it being right or wrong doesn't actually matter" because the first can lead into the second it's not such a huge jump this was also about the spot first time around where I was like "people talk like getting acknowledgement would have fixed Perturabo, but it really, really wouldn't"
Lore: I feel like Fulgrim's take on things is more nihilistic compared to the Emperor's, but their core argument is the same.
Bluejay: yeah that's my point, haha
i just didn't want to be like "consequentialism always leads into nihilism" im percolating ideas and i want to correct past me because there never really was any choice for Perturabo at all! in terms of a satisfying story all the choices are just the same choice because he needed to develop his own philosophy separate from the emperor/fulgrim i need to consider if i was right in my original reading about this being that conflict
Checkerheart: Basically Pert needed to make his own decision for once in his goddamned life
Bluejay: but he can't!! he falls victim to his flaws that's why he should die …i mean, from a narrative perspective
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huh, i thought i'd picked up on what was going on here first time around but rereading through things, i hadn't yet, lol
Forrix once again has a bad feeling about things
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and he's right, lmao
on a completely different topic i got reminded of the time someone called Perturabo a twink
Lore: He's more of a thwonk in feeling than a twink Will fall on you like a brick wall if you get too close
we're into part 3 now which means another interlude take a wiiiiild guess which character's past we're gonna see
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so there's a group of them out in the radiation-infested wastes on what may be a wild goose chase
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so despite all the dangers, they approach the comet… there's something glowing
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so Sullax wants to kill the baby because he's an orphan, and, well, that's what happens to orphans, rip they end up getting into a fight and Coryn and Ptolea kill Sullax
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TemplarWarden: After that description, presumably according to all of them, and really that's the conclusion? That's not fucked up at all.
Bluejay: yeppp also, mysterious, there's clean water flowing so that's how Fulgrim gets named because it apparently means "the water-bringer" hm i need to chew on this
TemplarWarden: That's a lot of very weird stuff, like I get that primarchs are odd but that seems the most blatant.
Bluejay: yeah this is levels of super-charisma beyond anything we've seen!
okay back to the present
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i've said before he's got gifted kid syndrome turned up to 11, and i stand by that also you know, i don't think Guilliman and Perturabo ever actually interact on page also this is like instance #6 or 7 or "take the metal to the stone" is this a perturabo original or an Olympian thing
Checkerheart: …huh That feels like a waste (Pert might have had a moderately-healthier mindset if he decided he wanted to copy Guil rather than Dorn)
Bluejay: (or if they had some kind of rivalry) actually, that probably would have been good for both of them
guilliman would have to actually confront his whole attitude of "woe is me, everyone doesn't like me because i'm better than them" though then again, given this is perturabo…
Checkerheart: It's not that Pert would do this healthily But it would be an improvement over how he is It would be more healthy And it would actually use Pert in the sort of role that he seems more suited for It would let us get more of a vision of what full potential Pert would be like while still letting him squander himself on petty bullshit
so what is he doing right now, you might ask? he's repairing the warhound titan he smashed fulgrim's face into "it would be the work of months to repair it" maybe i'm reading too much into this but remember "once a thing is broken, it will always be broken?"
is this repair symbolic of perturabo wanting to repair his life and relationships anyways, Perturabo doesn't regret beating up Fulgrim, but secretly thinks that Forrix was right
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HES SUCH A MORON
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Checkerheart: Pert quits all the wrong things
Bluejay: exactly in all ways but physical, i am biting his head like an angry anime child Perturabo is tired and his eyes feel gritty, like he didn't get enough sleep oh yeah last time when i read this i was like "get help…oh wait i forgot this is warhammer"
TemplarWarden: Ah thr gun is going to go off and shoot me anyway, might as well not try to avoid it or wear a bulletproof vest. Oh Perturabo.
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random magnus simping...
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this was also the spot where i figured out what was going on anyone else picked up on what's going on? also i felt like an idiot because there were hints before but in retrospect i didn't actually miss that much they're almost at their destination, Perturabo still has no idea what was up with that second ship or with their Eldar guide and it's a Forrix interrupt, they've arrived
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next time we're finally getting to the planet!
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Best Immigration Consultants in Delhi for Australia.
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chiruba · 4 years ago
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JJK BOYS' BEING SCARED TO CONFESS !
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an. thank u for 100 + followers!! <3 holy fuck inumaki’s was hard to write bc of the letter LOL also heres to hopin my tags actu work for this post
ft. gojo, inumaki x gn!reader
wc. 1.2k
genre. fluff, angst if u squint in gojo's
► MASTERLIST ► TAGLIST ►
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GOJO SATORU ►
— OK so usually i wouldn't imagine him as being scared to confess
— but,
— if he really likes you, i think his hidden insecurities will start comin out
— yes, gojo is the strongest sorcerer
— but even the strongest sorcerer can't save everyone
— he knows you'll be targeted if you're openly with him
— so gojo represses his feelings as best as he can
— which for some reason involves him -
— flirting with you one day
— and then completely ignoring your existence the next
— eventually you just get tired of it
"satoru!" you yell, surprising yourself from the sheer volume of your voice. it's clear he knew you were coming, but you still see the way his shoulders tense when you call his name. gojo at least has the decency to stop, and you're unsure if it's because he doesn't want to risk making you angrier, or if this is one of the days' he'll actually talk to you. you huff in anger before gripping his wrist to spin him around, and you can tell he's avoiding your eyes despite the black blindfold around his eyes.
"well?" you ask, tone cold and straightforward. gojo decides to take a glance at you, and sees you standing there with crossed arms, looking at him like a disappointed parent. "are you going to stop giving me the cold shoulder and tell me what's going on? i'm not in the mood to play some childish game, gojo." the use of his family name coming from you makes his heart ache, and he panics at the thought of you being genuinely angry and upset at him rather than mildly annoyed.
"i'm not playing some game," he says, and you feel yourself straighten up at the seriousness in his voice. your eyebrows furrow together in concern as you try to think of your last few interactions with gojo. he hadn't been acting this way with anyone else but you (you know because you'd asked nanami, and nanami knew all), and if this wasn't some game he was playing, had you done something to make him upset? the thought makes you feel guilty, remembering how you'd scolded him like a child just moments earlier. was it the joke about his forehead? surely he'd know you hadn't meant it, no matter how true it was-
"i love you-"
"your forehead isn't that small-"
...what?
you blinked at him once, then twice, then thrice, and then a fourth just to make sure you really weren't dreaming right now. your best friend of years, with his cocky attitude, cute dumb jokes and flirty remarks that made your face heat and heart race was in love with you? gojo lifted his blindfold suddenly, cocking an eyebrow up at you.
"hey! what about my forehead?-"
"i like you, too." you breathed out, voice shaky with either excitement or nervousness, you couldn't choose. gojo stared at you with those ocean coloured eyes of his, and then broke out into a grin.
"hmm?" you braced yourself, already knowing gojo's incessable adorable teasing was coming, "i don't exactly think i said like, did i?"
INUMAKI TOGE ►
— i def see inumaki being more scared to confess
— 1. because he can't think of a proper way to tell you his feelings
— a text just doesn't feel personal enough or embed his true feelings
— which leaves inumaki in a dilemma
— obviously, panda is quick to catch onto inumaki's feelings
— when he learns about inumaki's dilemma, he just bursts out laughing
— panda offers him the very simple solution - write a damn letter
— inumaki was so caught up in his feelings he literally just did not Think of it.
— spends hours writing the letter and tearing up it several times while also rehearsing how and where he would give it to you
— until the moment actually came, and all inumaki could do was shove the letter into your hands, yell tuna mayo, and run away.
— … yeah
your early sunday mornings had started consisting of heading down to the field every tokyo jujutsu school student used as early as your first week as a first-year, causing you to quickly develop a routine - get changed into your gym clothes, head down to the field earlier on to relax before maki kicked your ass, and then rush back to the dorms for a shower. except this time, you were pleasantly surprised to see that halfway through your routine, you were met with the familiar cute face of a fellow student, cursed speech user inumaki toge.
"inumaki?" you say, giving him a smile before slowing down your own steps to allow him time to catch up, watching as he sped to you. "you're up early for once," you teased, knowing how grumpy he can get without his allocated sleeping time. once inumaki catches up to you, you continue walking on, fully expecting inumaki to just continue alongside you. only for him to catch you off guard completely, gently spinning you around to face him once more.
seeing inumaki up close, you quickly take notice of the flush of red on his cheeks, popping out from under his collar, along with the sudden dark eye circles. inumaki's breathing is muffled, but loud enough for you to hear he's panting, the rapid rising and falling of his chest confirming it. you furrow your eyebrows in concern, also noting the way inumaki had practically sprinted to you moments before for no reason, along with the absence of his usual cheery - "kelp!"- greeting.
"inumaki?" you say once more, your tone both obviously worried and confused, "are you feeling okay?-" you have to practically plant your feet into the ground to stop from stumbling back when inumaki shoves something into your hand suddenly, only realising its a slip of paper when you feel it crinkle in your palm after an experimental squeeze. you look back at inumaki for even just a hint of an explanation, and instead all you get is -
"tuna mayo!" he yells, and then takes off running. you're left in a daze as you watch inumaki's figure become more and more distant, and only when you can no longer see him do you remember the paper currently crinkled up in your hands. the first thing you notice are the little onigiris drawn on the top of the paper, an inumaki staple as you'd like to call it. this time, the onigiris have blush streaks on their 'cheeks' as they hold hands, a single heart bouncing off their heads.
to you,
toge here! obviously i know it's not february anymore, as you (probably? lolol dumbas) know, but panda i'm tired of letting my chances slip past me.
there are so many things i want to say to you every day, but now that i'm here i don't even know where to start, so i'm just going to say it properly. i like you like a shitton. i wish i could say this to you properly, if i had the confidence if i could, i would scream my love for you to the world. i may not be your first date, kiss or love, but i want to be your last, just as i hope you'll be mine.
there are thousands of other things i want to say to you, but i'll save it until i get your reply. please don't feel pressured to accept me, no matter what, you'll always have a special place in my heart, my first love.
from hopefully yours,
toge inumaki. 🍙
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ill give u a kiss goodnight if u reblog <3 
©  2021 sinrinyoku — please do not repost, translate, modify or plagiarize my work! i will beat the shit out of u (maybe)
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gentrychild · 4 years ago
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I wish you would write a fic where Izuku is in Gen Ed and wrecks havoc.
(Sorry, you just get tired Gen Ed teacher.)
Kazuko’s phone was out of battery or it would at least be the excuse she would use to explain why she wasn’t answering the dozens of calls that were probably saturating her voicemail this very moment.
She didn’t want to know. She longed for the bliss of ignorance. And even if, rationally speaking, she knew that there was no proof that one of her students was connected to whatever had sent a dozen of heroes running/flying/driving at full speed to Tattooine, she simply knew that he had done something.
But it didn’t concern her before her first coffee. Every morning, she had fifteen blessed minutes where she could just relax at her desk, without anyone interrupting her, right before her students arrived.
She just had to walk through the hallways without being noticed… get in the teacher room… grab one of the coffees that Yagi-san, the new teacher, brought every morning… and then… just…
Something appeared as she was making a quick get-away and she screamed, her high-pitched-shriek echoing on every wall. Heroic heads popped up from every room in that specific hallway, only to disappear when they saw what had surprised her.
“Hello to you too, Kurosawa-san,” the principal cheerfully greeted her. “Would you mind accompanying me to my office?”
Kazuko was a nice person who didn’t deserve this but she still complied, pushing back her hair with one head and straightening her bag so it would stop hitting her hip every time she took a step.
They took the elevator reserved for Nedzu’s exclusive usage (which meant that she had to crouch a little) and discovered Aizawa-san already here, though his sleeping bag was crumpled on the ground. He had just gotten out of it.
“What did he do this time?” she sighed, because of course, this was about Midoriya Izuku.
Most of Gen Ed was made of students who had tried the entrance exam of the hero course and accepted that maybe becoming a hero simply wasn’t the right path for them. However, since Aizawa-san had arrived, she had met another kind of hero course rejects: those who had passed the exam only to be expelled on their very first day.
Midoriya had clearly ignored that this was an option and had been in the middle of a mental breakdown when she had met him, only to bounce in the most chaotic way possible.
Every year, Kazuko organized a visit to the USJ.
This year, a new group called the League of Villains had attacked the site, expecting to kill All Might while he was teaching a hero class.
Instead, they had met a class full of high schoolers literally ready to kill to get a place in the hero course. Somehow, this had ended with what was left of the League running for their lives and Midoriya keeping one of their most dangerous member as a class pet.
“Earlier this day, Midoriya encountered the villain Muscular during his morning run,” Aizawa-kun announced.
A violent headache started to throb inside Kazuko’s skull.
“Muscular was trying to kill Pro Hero Death Arms at the time. So Midoriya recruited about ten random civilians and quirk-engineered an explosion that embed Muscular into the side of a building.”
Kazuko drank her coffee. It was rude and inappropriate to drink it righ now but she needed it.
“No need to worry,” Nedzu gently patted her hand. “Midoriya’s bio enhanced weapon apparently sat on Muscular when he woke up so the police was able to apprehend him quickly.”
“We prefer to call him Ren,” Kazuko couldn’t help to say.
Her students were very attached to him. He kept following Midoriya around like a lost puppy so Nedzu had given the permission for him to live in UA. One of Aizawa’s students, Yaoyorozu, had even made him a uniform his size.
“Of course,” Nedzu nodded. “Ren it is. But what Aizawa-kun and I would like to talk to you about is that… we think that there is no need to wait how Midoriya will do at the Sport Festival to bring him to the hero course.”
Technically, it would be to bring him back. But Kazuko knew better than to say it out loud.
Just like she knew better than to clearly tell Nedzu and Aizawa that there was no way she was going to announce Midoriya that there was a chance he could go back to a situation where he could be expelled once again from the hero course.
She emptied her coffee cup in three gulps, letting the caffeine clear all her stress and replacing it by a lack of patience for nonsense.
“Apart from the USJ accident, Midoriya had met three villains since the beginning of the year but he has also been working closely with a student from the support course to equip Gen Ed students and he is trying to adopt the weapon made to kill the number 1 hero. Only the hero course can deal with such a student,” Aizawa declared.
Well, now that he was mentioning it.
“Oh, I agree,” Kazuko smiled. Well, showed her teeth but really, who could see the difference? “Midoriya shouldn’t be in gen ed. Instead, he should be in the hero course. Where he had applied. And where he was received, until he was expelled on his first day.”
“He couldn’t control his quirk. He was a danger to himself and to everyone else. I am far from opposed to him getting back in the hero course after the Sport Festival…”
“Sorry to interrupt you but Midoriya and his uncontrollable quirk were accepted in the hero course,” Kazuko reminded him. “I don’t think you’re realizing the effect it had on him. I mean, there is a reason why he doesn’t bother calling adults for help anymore. Which is why I am grateful that his second shadow/bodyguard is supposedly on All Might’s level.”
Midoriya wasn’t able to stop saving people. But now, he was convinced that he had to do this on his own.
So now, it was Kazuko’s job to do something about his self-esteem. Fortunately for her, All Might and Gran Torino (who she suspected to be his father and his grandfather but that was a story that could only be shared in front of the coffee machine in the teacher room) were already his quirk training.
“It was really nice to have this conversation with the both of you,” she smiled. “Unfortunately, I can’t advise one of my students to go back to 1-A. It seems premature. Especially when I am trying to build trust. I am actually hopefully optimistic that he would consider going to therapy.”
And as soon as she was done here, she would find out more about Aldera middle school.
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edenmemes · 4 years ago
Text
the witcher 3: wild hunt starters
including quotes from the dlcs hearts of stone & blood and wine
❝  you were always an unruly child. i adored that about you.  ❞ ❝  mmm. yes. of course. the excuse you resort to when you’d rather not talk about something.  ❞ ❝  how many have you killed? how many more might you still?  ❞ ❝  you know who i am. and why i’m here.  ❞ ❝  you're a madman and always have been. a cruel, cold-blooded killer.  ❞ ❝  a man should frame his wishes carefully. it forestalls disappointment.  ❞ ❝  no argument. you knew what you were signing up for.  ❞ ❝  maybe once, in a different time...i’d have helped.  ❞ ❝  don’t train alone, it only embeds your errors.  ❞ ❝  wanna get drunk off my ass. and it’s gotta be on cheap wine.  ❞ ❝  you’re a heartless bastard.  ❞ ❝  try to trick me anyway, anyhow, you won’t go anywhere, you know that. ‘cause i’ll take your head off right where it meets your neck.  ❞ ❝  sorry. i don’t want to talk about it. not now, at least.  ❞ ❝  we are more like a family.   we support each other and help each other survive tough moments.  ❞ ❝  so how’s it feel to be the village witch?  ❞ ❝  realize, please, that you were made for great things.  ❞ ❝  folks say a curse has fallen on that place, a dark power brought down by the bestiality of the murders it beheld.  ❞ ❝  so, now you’ve threatened me and all...are you in or are you not?  ❞ ❝  i know it must sound foolish, but in the dream - well, it was all too real...  ❞ ❝  we may not survive this. in fact, our chances are slim.  ❞ ❝  it’s always been about you. only you.  ❞ ❝  i remember finding your sense of humor both groan-worthy...and somehow endearing.  ❞ ❝  kings die, realms fall, but magic endures.  ❞ ❝  i detest banquets. vacuous conversation, food portions fit for a mouse, drinks that taste like piss...  ❞ ❝  despite what you’ve heard, i don’t lunge at every monster i see, sword in hand.  ❞ ❝  each day’s more dangerous than the last.  ❞ ❝  it’s folks like you that restore my faith in humankind.  ❞ ❝  my power lies in possessing knowledge, not sharing it.  ❞ ❝  the rotten smell brings back childhood memories.  ❞ ❝  awfully noble of you, showing so much concern for the needy.  ❞ ❝  no need to thank me. always glad to save your ass. you’re welcome.  ❞ ❝  i may be inhumanely beautiful, but i don’t have super human senses.  ❞ ❝  anyone can be made to talk, even a corpse. one must simply know how.  ❞ ❝  we’ve done the hardest part. only got the pleasant bits now.  ❞ ❝  there are few causes worth saving. even fewer men.  ❞ ❝  don’t treat me like a child.  ❞ ❝  there’s strange men lurking outside the house. watching me.  ❞ ❝  you must be careful what you wish for lest your wish be granted.    for there are consequences.  ❞ ❝  shall i be free of the suffering? the sadness?  ❞ ❝  i wish to gaze into those eyes, eyes the devil would be proud to have.  ❞ ❝  you were born with a great gift. and only you can decide how to use it.  ❞ ❝  any other words of wisdom? or can we go?  ❞ ❝  what i need is an ally. and something tells me i shall find none better than you.  ❞ ❝  i can see no row can occur here without your participation.  ❞ ❝  i and what concerns me have not been a concern of yours for some time now.  ❞ ❝  if you’d not arrived in time, things might have ended considerably worse.  ❞ ❝  if they can bleed, they can die.  ❞ ❝  a man must display some madness from time to time --- it helps him feel alive.  ❞ ❝  i was deeply troubled. you’ve no idea.  ❞ ❝  done that so many times, but...it felt like our first kiss to me.  ❞ ❝  don’t need to play tough on me.  ❞ ❝  i've lost too many mates already. i won’t risk it, i can't.  ❞ ❝  there’s just not enough of us. it’ll be a hard fight.  ❞ ❝  in lonely woods, screams carry long.  ❞ ❝  things used to be simpler.    monsters were bad, humans good.   now, everything’s all confused.  ❞ ❝  as for your missteps --- i don't rightly see why i shouldn't laugh if they're amusing..  ❞ ❝  i’ve no gold to offer you in reward...but i shall be ever so grateful.  ❞ ❝  if you’re scared, turn back. i’m gonna go on.  ❞ ❝  if anything happens, i’ll defend you.  ❞ ❝  once you say "i love you," a kiss has to taste differently.  ❞ ❝  maybe we should sit? you look a bit dazed...  ❞ ❝  drink it off, sleep it off, whatever it takes...just get yourself together and think things        through.  ❞ ❝  i shall join later, if it’s no trouble. i don’t yet feel strong enough to venture out.  ❞ ❝  awake at last. you writhed like a squirrel caught in a snare.  ❞ ❝  again you plan without even asking what i think!  ❞ ❝  come to see how i’m feelin'? thanks, not bad.  ❞ ❝  i remember that day quite well...there was a light drizzle, yet the cold tore right through you.  ❞ ❝  you gotta keep your eyes peeled wide open. someone’s taken an interest in your work.  ❞ ❝  oof...for a minute, i actually thought we were doomed.  ❞ ❝  you shouldn’t worry yourself --- it tarnishes your beauty.  ❞ ❝  i’d even embrace you...were you not covered in blood.  ❞ ❝  guess i could’ve been someone worse...just a shame i had no choice.  ❞ ❝  facts interest me. not fairytales.  ❞ ❝  hm, odd smell. blend of alcohol, blood and monster stench.  ❞ ❝  i’m old and i am wealthy. i may say what i please.  ❞ ❝  now, be so kind and leave me to my thoughts.  ❞ ❝  in your shoes i’d pack it up and go hide somewhere far away.  ❞ ❝  forgive me, but that's the blatherin' of someone who clearly can't snap out of it after a tragic loss.  ❞ ❝  that all you gotta say? i saved your life.  ❞ ❝  i swear on all that is holy: we shall be together forever.  ❞ ❝  think of me as part of the decor.  ❞ ❝  anyone who’s bold enough to fight is already a hero.  ❞ ❝  if this is a trap of some sort...  ❞ ❝  you can count on me, you know? always.  ❞ ❝  you don’t know how much it means...to have someone you can rely on in this fucking city.  ❞ ❝  i know you. you have no heart.  ❞ ❝  no room for friendship in this business.  ❞ ❝  evil is evil. lesser, greater, middling, makes no difference. the degree is arbitrary, the definitions blurred.  ❞ ❝  hands off, or i'll cut them off.  ❞ ❝  i’ll need to clear my head first. after those deranged dreams, i feel it’s full of cobwebs.  ❞ ❝  on your way? or will you stay longer? it’s far safer with you around...  ❞ ❝  really sad story, but something’s not right. got a feeling you’re not telling me everything.  ❞ ❝  gotta admit, there’s something about you. you’re...different.  ❞ ❝  with each arrow i shoot, i think of my dad. he’d be proud, i think.  ❞ ❝  i merely know when to indulge my pride, and when to swallow it.  ❞ ❝  you were born to greatness.  ❞ ❝  these’re dark, grim times. no room for knights pure of heart or happily-ever-afters.  ❞ ❝  a life without liquor’s like loving without licking.  ❞ ❝  my certainty i walk the right path grows strong as iron, firm as steel.  ❞ ❝  few make me feel awkward, but in your presence, i feel anxiety, discomfort.  ❞ ❝  some men have got good reason to fear their own shadows.  ❞ ❝  some men cannot admit defeat. some keep fighting from beyond the grave.  ❞ ❝  stare into their eyes, feast on their terror. then go in for the kill.  ❞ ❝  forget not that you are a person right and honorable, devoted to doing good.  ❞ ❝  ash shall fertilize the soil. by spring, the valley shall bloom once more.  ❞ ❝  there’s lots of wraiths here. i hear them whispering every night.  ❞ ❝  no one has the courage to face this threat! yet we must kill them, or sooner or later we will all die.  ❞ ❝  you are a step away from losing your head. speak the truth and you might yet keep it.  ❞ ❝  you carry within you the weight of a terrible tragedy. you are a good person, but lost. which is why you come across as grim.  ❞ ❝  if i understand you correctly, you would rather help a monster than kill it?  ❞ ❝  discouraged after a mere eight attempts?  ❞ ❝  easier to pat someone on the back and hope things will work out than it is to face the truth.  ❞ ❝  know that they can’t teach an old dog new tricks?  ❞ ❝  my, you’ve grown beautiful.  ❞ ❝  my swords a promise --- if i reach for it, heads will roll.  ❞ ❝  one condition: no one dies. that clear?  ❞ ❝  patience happens to be my weakness. so dispense with the dramatic pauses and talk.  ❞ ❝  you proved today you can take care of yourself.  ❞ ❝  you under the delusion you’ll complete your tasks, live happily ever after?  ❞ ❝  i will not sit and twiddle my thumbs. i'm sick of waiting, sick of hiding!  ❞ ❝  glad you know who i am. haven’t introduced yourself, though.  ❞ ❝  i’ve seen a great deal --- cruelty, cynicism, greed.  ❞ ❝  you tempt fate, because at heart you are unhappy.  ❞ ❝  we had our chance, but...let it go.  ❞ ❝  come now, you didn’t expect it to be that easy, did you?  ❞ ❝  promise me one thing --- you’ll stop risking your life for others.  ❞ ❝  instead of dwelling on the future, i’d rather live in the moment.  ❞ ❝  i adore love stories. especially the ones that end happily ever after.  ❞ ❝  we are drops of rain that together make a ferocious storm.  ❞ ❝  the path to freedom is paved in blood, not ink.  ❞ ❝  we’ll get our happy ending. one day.  ❞ ❝  i’ll never forget what you did for me...and what we had together.  ❞ ❝  don’t meddle in other people’s lives.  ❞ ❝  i don’t get attached to places. just people.  ❞ ❝  it’s dangerous, there are risks involved. understand that, don’t you?  ❞ ❝  and here i hoped someone would finally take pity on me.  ❞ ❝  seen a lot of dead in my time, but that must’ve been hard.  ❞ ❝  air is strange...like dropping into a deep cellar on a hot day...  ❞ ❝  wouldn’t carry a sword if i didn’t know how to use it.  ❞ ❝  take it you didn't summon me to reminisce about the good old days, so...  ❞ ❝  i was attacked --- had to defend myself.  ❞ ❝  guards have never stopped me, you know that.  ❞ ❝  treating the ill and wounded...it’s my calling.  ❞ ❝  you think it’s enchanted?  ❞ ❝  there are times when a woman should simply not explain her decision.  ❞ ❝  won’t find too many comforts, but try to feel at home.  ❞ ❝  i was looking for you...sometimes i thought you were just a step away. other times, i felt like i was going around in circles.  ❞ ❝  i’ll remember you. always with a smile.  ❞ ❝  i’d rather you not make anymore trouble --- for yourself, or us both.  ❞ ❝  got the stench of corpes on you.  ❞ ❝  you stood to gain --- that is why you saved me.  ❞ ❝  sages invariably have hidden agendas. altruism is simply not part of their constitution.  ❞ ❝  the gods have abandoned us. the mighty of this earth care not for our fate.  ❞ ❝  is that admiration i hear in your voice?  ❞ ❝  i started off heading in the opposite direction, but then turned around.  ❞ ❝  i’m fed up. i won’t have others deciding for me behind my back.  ❞ ❝  where’d you get this idea? what’s gotten into you?  ❞ ❝  i don't expect you to commit now. think it over, what you've heard, what you feel.  ❞ ❝  head torn clear off...takes incredible strength.  ❞ ❝  desperate fathers have been known to do a lot to find their daughters.  ❞ ❝  you cannot kill me. you know this...  ❞ ❝  "i give you my heart”? what kind of spell is that?  ❞ ❝  i’d go anywhere with you.  ❞ ❝  why? because i am a woman? in a frock, rather than plate? i can take care of myself, i assure you.  ❞ ❝  everything we discussed here, hope you’ll keep it to yourself. counting on it, in fact.  ❞ ❝  trusted you once. won’t make that mistake again.  ❞ ❝  shut up. i’ve heard enough of your bullshit. draw your weapon, let’s get this over with.  ❞ ❝  exaggerating for effect, right?  ❞ ❝  well, well...when cornered, you can bite.  ❞ ❝  you cannot win...even if you kill me.  ❞ ❝  you know i’m good at accomplishing the impossible.  ❞ ❝  it’s nothing, really. you’d have done the same for me.  ❞ ❝  you are not ready. you do not control your powers.  ❞ ❝  you’re a tool in their hands, even if you don’t see it.  ❞ ❝  i’d do anything for you, i would. you know that well.  ❞ ❝  this is a land where the fantastic is normal, and the impossible occurs daily...  ❞ ❝  know when a legend becomes a prophecy? when it gain believers.  ❞ ❝  i thought you’d become a stranger to me. that i’d look at you and not feel a thing. but it’s not like that at all. nothing’s changed.  ❞ ❝  to be honest, i just wanted to go on a walk with you.  ❞ ❝  what i really want is to be with you, to...to be together and...  ❞ ❝  this is not the kind of offer one refuses.  ❞ ❝  despair devours you like maggots devour a corpse.  ❞ ❝  before long every soul will kneel before you.  ❞ ❝  i run into dilemmas all the time. situations where it's hard to judge, hard to know what's right, make a decision. this is not one of them. you disgust me. and deserve to die.  ❞ ❝  you know me. i’m rare to praise, but when i do, it’s sincere.  ❞ ❝  i'm not a thug for hire.  ❞ ❝  i like being on adventures, sleeping under the stars, waking up with dew on my face.  ❞ ❝  the dream's within reach now. i’m not about to let it go.  ❞ ❝  unlike you, killing gives me no pleasure.  ❞ ❝  can't speak for the world you inhabit, but in mine, nothing is ever black and white.  ❞ ❝  you cannot possibly imagine how much i detest this place.  ❞ ❝  stones you’ve got. but i didn’t think you’d have the stomach for a massacre.  ❞ ❝  the dead man --- looked like a monster attacked him recently.  ❞ ❝  finish all your business before you die. bid loved ones farewell. write your will. apologize to those you’ve wronged. otherwise, you’ll never truly leave this world.  ❞ ❝  i've had nothing but nightmares lately. pretty horrible.  ❞ ❝  i was wandering through the forest, breathing deep the air, and then i heard a strange sound, unsettling.  ❞ ❝  had a few nice dreams. for example, in one we sat around a fire, drinking good wine, and all around people danced and laughed.  ❞ ❝  they’re all dead! mountains of corpses. yet here i stand alone. all alone.  ❞ ❝  this isn’t a game. men have died.  ❞ ❝  if you wanna listen, listen, if not --- i'd rather you spared me your wit and throw me out now.  ❞ ❝  you fed me, cared for me, had my wounds looked after. we're even now.  ❞ ❝  you’ll return, you shall. our fates are bound.  ❞ ❝  i’ve nothing left. not a fucking thing.  ❞ ❝  i don’t question your abilities. i simply don’t trust you.  ❞ ❝  what foolish things men sometimes do.  ❞ ❝  dare harm me, and against you will rise all the powers of nature.  ❞ ❝  did you destroy the evil powers? have you brought peace to my domain?  ❞ ❝  well, perhaps i shall tell you about it one day. one day, but not today..  ❞ ❝  times like these, you never know what tomorrow will bring.  ❞ ❝  you worry too much. what will be, will be.  ❞ ❝  have you gone completely mad? we must leave here at once!  ❞ ❝  time eats away at memories, distorts them. sometimes we only remember the good... sometimes only the bad.  ❞ ❝  you don’t need magic to strip men of their humanity. i’ve seen plenty of examples.  ❞ ❝  if i’m to choose between one evil and another, i’d rather not choose at all.  ❞ ❝  see what i’ve got on my back? wolves fear it. kings do, too.  ❞ ❝  i missed those awkward compliments of yours.  ❞ ❝  sometimes i think it’s all too lovely to be true…that something’s bound to happen, another war or some other horror.  ❞ ❝  took you a while. did you run into trouble?  ❞ ❝  i just travel a lot. and i don't always happen upon such good and civil company.  ❞ ❝  what can you know about saving the world, silly?  ❞ ❝  done my share of fighting. wouldn't carry a sword if i didn't know to use it.  ❞ ❝  all right, perhaps i wasn’t completely honest.  ❞ ❝  ever thought this day would come? me and you...peace and quiet...bees buzzing, birds chirping.  ❞ ❝  i detect a shadow of impatience in your face.  ❞ ❝  took me a long time to find you. wasn't an easy road to travel.  ❞ ❝  wipe that frown off your face, or i might think you don’t like me anymore.  ❞ ❝  always believed attack was the best defense.  ❞ ❝  once it’s all over, if we survive ... i wish to leave, go far away.   and i’d like you to come with me.  ❞ ❝  naturally, you suspect me of the worst. i don’t deserve that.  ❞ ❝  we can fight another time, in another place, where the walls have no ears.  ❞ ❝  once i was free...i shall be free once more.  ❞ ❝  believe me...a tavern, mulled wine, our boots drying by the fire --- i’d like nothing better.  ❞ ❝  prove it. kiss me.  ❞ ❝  the prophecies do not lie...you cannot survive this struggle.  ❞ ❝  i know you better than you think.  ❞ ❝  you know me. nothing i like more than breaking rules.  ❞ ❝  what’s happened? it’s so quiet, all of a sudden.  ❞ ❝  thank you, for coming with me.  ❞ ❝  i cannot do everything for you. use your head.  ❞ ❝  i'm angry and tired. had to kill a lot of people along the way.  ❞ ❝  we’ve come a long way, and i’d be damned if we’ve come to fail.  ❞ ❝  i sense your pain. i see your fear.  ❞ ❝  how’s this for an answer: kiss my ass.  ❞ ❝  how many have you already killed? how many more might you still?  ❞ ❝  i'm quite alive and extraordinarily well. better than i've ever been in this rotten life of mine.  ❞ ❝  i like it when you smile. come here. everything will be all right.  ❞ ❝  ugh. don’t fall in love with me.  ❞ ❝  i don’t like you. in fact, i feel like slapping you.  ❞ ❝  i'm too old to play the blushing bride...unless you ask nicely.  ❞ ❝  that bit of my life --- forgotten it already.  ❞ ❝  the world doesn’t need a hero. it needs a professional.  ❞ ❝  next time you wonder why i’m so bitter...well, there's your answer.  ❞ ❝  nothing wrong with having a drink in good company.  ❞ ❝  i want you behind those rocks. and keep your mouth shut.  ❞ ❝  nice of you to worry...but i've made my decision, and i won't change it.  ❞ ❝  this is my story, not yours. you must let me finish telling it.  ❞ ❝  after all that toil, i believe we deserve a bit of a rest.  ❞ ❝  i was afraid you were dead.  ❞ ❝  we’ve all some stain on our conscience.  ❞ ❝  leaving the castle walls means certain death.  ❞ ❝  right good jest. had us a laugh. now fuck off.  ❞ ❝  i’ve heard about you. you bring trouble, or thus far have, always.  ❞ ❝  ah, you’ve struck a raw nerve.    memories of a time long past to which i’d rather not return now.  ❞ ❝  we meet again. and it seems you need my help. again.  ❞ ❝  got a relative i can talk to? someone - how do i say this - a smidgen less irritating?  ❞ ❝  miss the target, you owe me fifty push-ups. hit it, you owe me twenty.  ❞ ❝  oh. serious talk coming.  ❞ ❝  i feel like one more lie'd be the last bitter drop in a chalice full of sorrow.  ❞ ❝  romantic? thought we came here as friends.  ❞ ❝  you’re hiding something. and that’s one thing i can’t stand.  ❞ ❝  tell me, how do you do it? always manage to pull yourself together, focus, no matter what’s happening?  ❞ ❝  i go wherever i please, whenever i please.  ❞ ❝  uh oh. i know that look.  ❞ ❝  sounds tempting. so tempting i don’t think i can refuse.  ❞ ❝  so, what do you say to a moonlight ride on horseback...and dinner?  ❞ ❝  perhaps...perhaps you’d stay just a bit longer?  ❞ ❝  how are you feeling? sleep well?  ❞ ❝  such a gloomy subject to broach...  simply shouldn’t have.  ❞
❝  such a gloomy subject to broach...i simply shouldn’t have --- not during our romantic dinner.  ❞ ❝  got it. a bit of blackmail --- just your style.  ❞ ❝  it’s the crack of dawn. where do you wanna go?  ❞ ❝  shut up before you wake someone. last thing we need is a crowd.  ❞ ❝  watch what you say. the trees have ears.  ❞ ❝  no bow at hand, no spear. my sword was all i had.  ❞ ❝  never expected you’d take such an interest in my private life.  ❞ ❝  i’m special. always was the rare beauty.  ❞ ❝  damn. been ages since we last saw each other.  ❞ ❝  some charming orchards nearby. in bloom, even, so you almost can't smell the corpses.  ❞ ❝  you know me. nothing i like more than breaking rules.  ❞ ❝  man spends his whole life learning.  ❞ ❝  if only i was as skilled with my words as i am with my blade.  ❞ ❝  i wished to know what was going on in that head of yours. i thought perhaps i could help.  ❞ ❝  i can tell something’s bothering you.  ❞ ❝  dangerous times. each thinks five times before sticking their neck out.   and i can’t blame them.  ❞ ❝  now i care not in the slightest how you think or feel.  ❞ ❝  i no longer know if i still hate you.  ❞ ❝  i see how you look at me, and i see you wither.  ❞ ❝  one last bit of advice --- find a new tavern. everyone here knows you.  ❞ ❝  you won. no point bothering with ‘what ifs’.  ❞ ❝  it’s time i took fate into my own hands. lived life anew...and truly, this time.  ❞ ❝  ahh, 'cause you thought you'd killed me that time. surprise, sur-fucking-prise.  ❞ ❝  who...who’s that? gods, i’m hallucinating.  ❞ ❝  it’s no exaggeration to say i’ve never met a warrior like you in my life. you’re lithe as an eel and strong as a bear.  ❞ ❝  i’ve a heart again, yet all it feels is grief, sadness and defeat. my life is a ruin.  ❞ ❝  sought only to protect myself. in doing so, i put you in harm’s way. forgive me.  ❞ ❝  there’s a charming grove nearby where  kisses  taste  sweeter than anywhere else in the world.  ❞ ❝  you’ve handled tougher situations. you’ll figure this one out.  ❞ ❝  who you are and why you’ve come matter little. for you’ll not leave this place alive.  ❞ ❝  i’m not panicking. just trying to be realistic.  ❞ ❝  hahahahaha...i can’t believe you fell for that!  ❞ ❝  i was actually going to recite an anthem praising your glory, but if you’re not in the mood...  ❞ ❝  lying didn’t always come so easily to you.  ❞ ❝  everyone wants to rule. i can do that better than any monarch.  ❞ ❝  tell me what you want already, and make it quick.  ❞ ❝  what a mess we made of it all...if i’d only known then how it would end...  ❞ ❝  seems a faded dream now, but there were a time where i was happy.  ❞ ❝  why’d you leave me? you claimed you loved me.  ❞ ❝  never liked boats. not one bit.  ❞ ❝  you must be mad. i’ve no intention to make things easier for you.  ❞ ❝  i don’t wish to look at your face any longer than i must.  ❞ ❝  please, no. i can’t stand spells.  ❞ ❝  we agreed not to keep any secrets from one another. we promised.  ❞ ❝  that i like! a man who boldly dares, damn the risks!  ❞ ❝  i thought you bowed before no man.  ❞ ❝  smile a bit wider. ...you were meant to smile, not bare your teeth.  ❞ ❝  is that blood? have you hurt yourself?  ❞ ❝  no reason to trouble the guards. i’ll go willingly.  ❞ ❝  look at me. promise you’ll stay out of it.  ❞ ❝  the minute we’re in trouble, you make me responsible for getting us out.  ❞ ❝  they say they don’t fear the wrath of the gods. and you, do you fear it?  ❞ ❝  i’ll let that pass. i know grief eats at your heart.  ❞ ❝  we all lie sometimes. but lying to yourself is running away, whereas there’s really nowhere to run.  ❞ ❝  don’t need your sympathy, just your help.  ❞ ❝  your loss -- it must hurt, bad. but there wasn't anything we could do.  ❞ ❝  i wish to leave, go far away. and i’d like you to come with me.  ❞ ❝  i trust you have an explanation for this. a very good one.  ❞ ❝  lot of bitterness in you.  ❞ ❝  i assure you, you’re excellent at covering your tracks --- though not terribly subtle. but i’m even better at uncovering them.  ❞ ❝  glad to see you happy...but i don’t think what we did was right.  ❞ ❝  i look at you, and...and feel like i am exactly where i am supposed to be. at long last.  ❞ ❝  i’m no coward. i'll not run this time.  ❞ ❝  yes, i know you’ve trained with swords. but you’re still shit with them.  ❞ ❝  how many innocents have you cut down?  ❞ ❝  problem is, you’re not ordinary. you were born to greatness.  ❞ ❝  not too late to surrender.  ❞ ❝  men turn honest when they feel a blade at their throat.  ❞ ❝  i'm not gonna drink. why dull my senses when i’m in such pleasant company?  ❞ ❝  it’s bound to come in handy, and each time it does, you’ll think of me.  ❞ ❝  lie still or you will bleed to death.  ❞ ❝  your life is yours, exclusively. you choose who you are.  ❞ ❝  for a minute there, was almost sure you’d leave me to die.  ❞ ❝  there is never a second opportunity to make a first impression.  ❞ ❝  it’s all because of that secretiveness of yours.  ❞ ❝  plead the gods spare us, for without their favor we shall most certainly perish.  ❞ ❝  i must say -- seen a lot, but nothing like this, never.  ❞ ❝  you don’t look like you can get home on your own. i’ll walk you.  ❞ ❝  all’s in the past, never to be restored.  ❞ ❝  you know full well i never hold a grudge. i forgive you.  ❞ ❝  the good gods sent you to me.  ❞ ❝  and the guilt, the responsibility of all this, lies with me.  ❞ ❝  you’ve only been here five minutes, and you’ve already managed to offend me twice.  ❞ ❝  you will certainly fetch me a higher bounty alive.  ❞ ❝  what's wrong with my beard? always thought it added to my dignity.  ❞ ❝  if i’m to die today, i wish to look smashing for the occasion.  ❞ ❝  i was stupid. stupidity costs a lot.  ❞ ❝  even your humblest requests seem like threats.  ❞ ❝  your motives do not interest me. only results.  ❞ ❝  and you laughed, oh, how sweetly, how brightly you laughed!  ❞ ❝  you don’t know how it is. to see someone you love die. because of you, for you.  ❞ ❝  to have a scapegoat --- that’s the key.  ❞ ❝  no need to fear me.  ❞ ❝  sorry, but -- your life story? just not interested.  ❞ ❝  with you...it was love at first sight.  ❞ ❝  gotta understand. you don’t betray people like me.  ❞ ❝  i struggled long to find a place where i’d feel safe, needed. until i finally arrived here.  ❞ ❝  just don’t faint on me.  ❞ ❝  could never be there for you everyday. but i’m happy to see you always. and today, i’m all yours.  ❞ ❝  what others think...your image...that’s all you care about.  ❞ ❝  in these foul times one must be wary, even of their friends.  ❞ ❝  come on, don’t get angry - it’s not good for you..  ❞ ❝  so, apart from the sword play, you know potions and all that?  ❞ ❝  i actually envy your sense of wonder --- common in children, and morons.  ❞ ❝  a lot of misfortune for a small village.  ❞ ❝  who are you? do you seek to hurt me as well?  ❞ ❝  the hand that feeds can also strike its wayward wards.  ❞ ❝  shh. eat now. we’ll speak once you’ve rested.  ❞ ❝  brother has turned against brother, the land is soaked in blood. evil reigns stronger than ever before.  ❞ ❝  good looking and clever. where’ve you been hiding?  ❞ ❝  doesn’t bother you, having monsters for neighbours?  ❞ ❝  stay here --- no matter what happens.  ❞ ❝  i never told you this, but i’ve always felt it: i love you.  ❞ ❝  listen to me this once -- don't take matters into your own hands.  ❞ ❝  love these moments. the air before a battle -- nothing smells as sweet.  ❞ ❝  they tried to get in through the main gate. i’m afraid they could succeed next time.  ❞ ❝  too many claim you’re evil.  ❞ ❝  why are you so eager to help strangers? sit your ass down or there’ll be misfortune.  ❞ ❝  you'd never have managed without me, would you? come, now, admit it.  ❞ ❝  for those who remain, death should never take precedence over life.  ❞ ❝  thanks for coming. thanks for risking your life for me.  ❞ ❝  don’t force me to speak of it. no more, please.  ❞ ❝  when doubt plagues your mind, follow your instincts. should they steer you wrong and land you in muck, you'll land at peace with yourself. and that's most important.  ❞ ❝   just know that i know you're here. one misstep, one error...you'll make a mistake, it's inevitable...i'll be the first to learn it.  ❞ ❝  i do not know you. i’ve done you no harm.  ❞ ❝  try not to panic...just doesn’t suit you.  ❞ ❝  we’ve come a long way, and i’ll be damned if we’ve come to fail.  ❞ ❝  had i known what would happen here, i'd never have come.  ❞ ❝  i can say i’ve seen it all now.  ❞ ❝  these scars have long yearned for your tender caress.  ❞ ❝  i don’t fall victim to curses. i cast them.  ❞ ❝  come outside. we can hold hands and stare at the sky.  ❞ ❝  we’ll work well together --- i can see that already.  ❞ ❝  from the first moment i set eyes upon you that fateful evening, my heart has only beaten for you.  ❞ ❝  i trust you as much as you trust me --- not at all.  ❞ ❝  you’ve gone all red in the face just for talking about it.  ❞ ❝  wake up. it’s just a dream. wake up!  ❞ ❝  i still don’t believe everything that happened.  ❞ ❝  i never miss twice.  ❞ ❝  bit too old to believe in bedtime stories, aren’t you?  ❞ ❝  you humans have...unusual tastes.  ❞ ❝  didn’t think it worthwhile to tell me, warn me of your plans?  ❞ ❝  i think you will not attack one unarmed.  ❞ ❝  the deeper i get into this, the more i gotta wonder...why’re you even helping me?  ❞ ❝  to live in peace, we first must kill.  ❞ ❝  at times fate muddles our path, and life turns toilsome, hard to bear.  ❞ ❝  i fight for whoever’s paying the best. or whoever’s easier to rob.  ❞ ❝  do not let my beauty distract your aim.  ❞ ❝  i’ve seen what is to come, i know destruction approaches.  ❞ ❝  the war awoke an ancient power. an evil one that feeds on bloodshed.  ❞ ❝  guess you’re no stranger to fury, either.  ❞ ❝  think i’m gonna fall for that? no chance, you’re wrong.  ❞ ❝  gotta admit --- you do pretty well with a sword.  ❞ ❝  you dare tell me to calm down?! you?!  ❞ ❝  let's say i go about my business, and when there's coin to be earned, i don't readily turn it down.  ❞ ❝  i wish to know the truth...be it sweet, be it painful, i wish to know.  ❞ ❝  men, the polite ones at least, would call me a monster.  ❞ ❝  even i grow ill at the sight of you.  ❞ ❝  i’m going on a walk. or is that not allowed either? because i could break my leg?  ❞ ❝  plan’s crazier than it is sane...but there’s an irrestistible charm to it.  ❞ ❝  unbelievable! you said something romantic! you!  ❞ ❝  we may not survive this. in fact, our chances are slim.  ❞ ❝  if anything should happen to you...  ❞ ❝  there’s not been a dark cloud yet that didn’t have a silver lining.  ❞ ❝  those are some fresh lookin’ scars you’ve got there.  ❞ ❝  no. no more about the battle. just hold me. and say something nice.  ❞ ❝  stay. this is the only home we’ve ever had.  ❞ ❝  you’re so charming when you try to be funny.  ❞ ❝  not proud of it...yet i considered all the options and found none better.  ❞ ❝  i look far different from when you last saw me.  ❞ ❝  i admire your optimism. wish i shared it.  ❞ ❝  and...try not to draw any attention to yourself.  ❞ ❝  nightmares haunt our nights and days. folk sleepwalk from their homes, never to return.  ❞ ❝  forgive me. it couldn’t be avoided. i truly am sorry.  ❞ ❝  well i’ve departed, escaped, been forced to flee so many times…yet i always returned. you ought to be used to it by now.  ❞ ❝  the human mind is as wild and unexplored a place as any land far beyond the sea.  ❞ ❝  you think you’ve won. you are wrong. i can’t die.  ❞ ❝  you’re something more. something more.  ❞ ❝  barely nicked me, i’ll be fine.  ❞ ❝  it’s just that i felt...stifled, in your shadow. i’d have suffocated had i stayed.  ❞ ❝  come, don’t just stand there. i want a hug.  ❞ ❝  it’s lovely here! i could stay forever.  ❞ ❝  do what you will, but leave me out of this.  ❞ ❝  we should end this discussion -- before i say something i'll regret.  ❞ ❝  you all right? you’re as pale as death.  ❞ ❝  let’s get back to the hut. i’ll protect you along the way.  ❞ ❝  not to keen on talking about it, are you?  ❞ ❝  it’s better to die than to live in the knowledge that you’ve done something that needs forgiveness.  ❞ ❝  i was afraid you were dead.  ❞ ❝  at times one must use reason, rather than blades.  ❞ ❝  need some peace. gotta prepare.  ❞ ❝  i suspected it might not be the best idea, but i was desperate, had no choice.  ❞ ❝  so tell me how it happened. step by step.  ❞ ❝  it was a bit of a lark, a jest. i meant to bring it all back, i swear.  ❞ ❝  if i wanted to kill you, you'd be long dead by now.  ❞ ❝  that is precisely one of the reasons why i abhor your world.    your senseless brutality.  ❞ ❝  i won’t let them take you, you know that?  ❞ ❝  magic...childish hocus-pocus. it’s just not interesting. what i find fascinating are true tales of true human lives.  ❞ ❝  save your praise for others. i couldn’t give a shit.  ❞ ❝  well, well, i am impressed. doubted you still had it in you, frankly.  ❞ ❝  i like you. don’t make me hurt you.  ❞ ❝  you know very little can hurt you being immortal, so you take wild risks, chase extreme sensations. there comes a point you’ve done it all, and all seems boring and monotonous.  ❞ ❝  with you i finally feel...harmony. a calm. feel like things are the way they're supposed to be.  ❞ ❝  i'm afraid the dishwater’s as good as it gets in this establishment.  ❞ ❝  sorry to take so long, but i had to deal with the guards.  ❞ ❝  i’d never miss a chance to spend a pleasant evening with you.  ❞ ❝  you know too much. yet one more reason why you must die.  ❞ ❝  or perhaps you seek to trick me.  ❞ ❝  if you acknowledge any gods...start praying, now.  ❞ ❝  it’s very simple. you either deceived me...or not.  ❞ ❝  i am known neither for my sense of humor nor for my patience.  ❞ ❝  naturally, it would be easier with your help, but...you irritate me.  ❞ ❝  love questions like that. am i holding up? what, my dick?  ❞ ❝  we never hunt in these woods. not even if it means the whole village starves.  ❞ ❝  we’re only ever the ones to know the truth about ourselves.  ❞ ❝  you’re insolent because you believe i cannot afford to hurt you. and you’re right.  ❞ ❝  i detest graveyards, especially wandering them alone.  ❞ ❝  you know too much. you impede me too often. and i find your arrogance an annoyance.  ❞ ❝  i know it’s wartime, but try not to be a hero, all right?  ❞ ❝  i don’t know that i’ll make for engaging company. in truth, i rarely talk to men.  ❞ ❝  you know...had a dream about you recently.  ❞ ❝  i thought i could at least count on you to treat me seriously.  ❞ ❝  don’t ask questions you know the answers to. it makes you look stupid.  ❞ ❝  you’re nosy. starting to piss me off, you know?  ❞ ❝  what did i do to deserve this? have i given you cause to doubt my intentions?  ❞ ❝  don’t fret about me. i always get by somehow, right?  ❞ ❝  i wanted to go with you --- that was my idea.  ❞ ❝  i shan’t stray a step from your side.  ❞ ❝  if that’s what it takes to save the world, it’s better to let that world die.  ❞ ❝  what’s that supposed to mean? that a threat?  ❞ ❝  i’m offering a great and true adventure, an experience like no other, the fate of only the chosen few.  ❞ ❝  that’s like choosing between pestilence and the plague.  ❞ ❝  what’s it matter? i only ever thought of you.  ❞ ❝  did you know you’ve gained twenty-seven new scars since we’ve last saw each other?  ❞ ❝  i need to know the details if you want me to get my hands dirty.  ❞ ❝  don’t know you. go away.  ❞ ❝  ever vigilant, even in your sleep. quite vampire-like, in fact.  ❞ ❝  gotten used to people treating me like a freak, an outcast.  ❞ ❝  we share a cause, then. just like the old days.  ❞ ❝  ever considered becoming a burglar? skill like that’d come in awful handy.  ❞ ❝  there’s never been a frown that couldn’t be turned upside down.  ❞ ❝  honesty's an attribute of the truly brave --- and thus the privilege of the very few.  ❞ ❝  you do not have a monopoly in altruism, my friend.  ❞ ❝  great love demands great sacrifices.  ❞ ❝  i believe it wise at times to share one’s secrets, unburden oneself to those one can trust.  ❞ ❝  it would be nice from time to time if you could sit back and enjoy life, instead of going around solving everyone’s problems.  ❞ ❝  we shall dance until the break of dawn!  ❞ ❝  a man could lose his head for a lass like you.  ❞ ❝  don’t have to come if you don’t want. wait here.  ❞ ❝  never seen this side of you.  ❞ ❝  i’m to kiss the ground you walk on, is that it? but you just did your duty.  ❞ ❝  the day you give me a smile...that moment, that’s what i’m waiting for.  ❞ ❝  i need a soul intelligent and clever, an individual who fears no dare. someone like you.  ❞ ❝  if i was you i’d catch some shut-eye, not go on flapping my tongue.  ❞ ❝  the plan is simple...which does not mean it will be easy to execute.  ❞ ❝  sometimes you really get on my nerves, you know.  ❞ ❝  you shall not turn on me, use what i say against me? you shall not tell anyone?  ❞ ❝  gave you a chance. should’ve taken it.  ❞ ❝  always better to do a bit more and even gain nothing by it,    than to do too little and face regret.  ❞ ❝  it’s lovely out here. the birds singing, the bees buzzing...blissful, really.  ❞ ❝  what a lovely dress. the color suits you exquisitely.  ❞ ❝  pretty fantastic tale. hard as hell to believe.  ❞ ❝  it’s time you discovered my romantic side.  ❞ ❝  you gotta understand the whole world doesn’t revolve around you.  ❞ ❝  can you not see i am out of my mind with worry?  ❞ ❝  every rose has its thorn, and there are no happy endings.  ❞ ❝  pretty quick to reject help. why is that?  ❞ ❝  don’t need to like each other. just gotta do our jobs.  ❞ ❝  frankly, if i can do something for you, i'll do it, willingly.  ❞ ❝  you were hired you kill me, were you not?  ❞ ❝  what’s it like, going toe to toe with a monster? knowing you’ve only two options --- to kill or be killed?  ❞ ❝  this place --- there’s evil here. death hangs in the air.  ❞ ❝  intellect counts as much as strength.  ❞ ❝  i run back inside, hasp the doors, and then i hear it --- someone whispering my name.  ❞ ❝  you know i like you. unlike the rest of this lot, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.  ❞ ❝  if you love somebody, set them free.  ❞ ❝  if you hate me so deeply, why don’t you tell me to my face?  ❞ ❝  i’m afraid you’d not realize which way the wind was blowing if you pissed straight into it.  ❞ ❝  that was courageous. i'd never expect it from you.  ❞ ❝  i am not easily impressed, but i must admit you have succeeded, my dear.  ❞ ❝  kill me if you must. i’ve nothing to live for anyway.  ❞ ❝  aren’t you an extraordinary beauty.  ❞ ❝  never suspected you believed such things.  ❞ ❝  wait...you want to go with me? out of the question.  ❞ ❝  used to it. not the first time i’ve been hunted.  ❞ ❝  enough of this hesitation, this fretting, these feelings of guilt!  ❞ ❝  strange working with you. strange, but great.  ❞ ❝  give me a moment. i must don something more appropiate and concealing.  ❞ ❝  killing comes as naturally to me as blowing my nose.  ❞ ❝  ......   another tale of a life compromised and ultimately claimed by greed and ambition.  ❞ ❝  in the future, though, remember this --- i can look after myself  ❞ ❝  you'd really worry about me if i went on alone?  ❞ ❝  you have many merits. you merely hide them from the world very diligently.  ❞ ❝  is it true virtue always trumps villainy?  ❞ ❝  watch my movements. i’m spry as a cat and sly as a fox.  ❞ ❝  ah, if only this could last forever.  ❞ ❝  few i can rely on like i can on you. kinda hoping you think the same of me.  ❞ ❝  you are angry at the whole world. you feel inferior, feel pain, though you mask this with confidence, arrogance, even.  ❞ ❝  there exist worries for which there quite simply is no other medicine.  ❞ ❝  your bones look thin, your breathing’s wheezy. afraid one punch might kill you.  ❞ ❝  to love is to build a house of cards, or play a game of chess, but one word or ill-thought move and you must start it all afresh.  ❞ ❝  i’m doing what i ever wanted to do, being who i wanted to be. i believe that’s one definition of happiness.  ❞ ❝  you’ve not an ounce of refinement in you, have you?  ❞ ❝  pain rules the body, but fear is born in the heart.  ❞ ❝  either i get burned, or i’ll burn all else down. no other options.  ❞ ❝  should you decide your sword is the sole solution, i shall not stand in your way.  ❞ ❝  c’mon, come closer.  ❞ ❝  would you prefer i treated you like the lying manipulater you are?  ❞ ❝  i regret nothing. one lives but once.  ❞ ❝  i just hope this tale has a happy ending. for me, for you. for everyone.  ❞ ❝  just gonna go our seperate ways? no parting words?  ❞ ❝  you still stand to be quite useful to me.  ❞ ❝  i suppose you wanted to frighten me...alas, you didn’t in the least. after all, i’m a monster too, am i not?  ❞ ❝  i trust no one. learned that long ago.  ❞ ❝  it cannot be! you actually have a sense of humor.  ❞ ❝  didn’t ask for a lecture on probability. need a simple answer --- yes or no.  ❞ ❝  another word, and i shall spill even more blood. yours.  ❞ ❝  you feel resentment, i understand, but we shall work through all the unfortunate matters of the past.  ❞ ❝  stop playing dumb. i know everything...your plan.  ❞ ❝  honestly can’t see what all those dames see in you --- you’re a stick in the mud.  ❞ ❝  not showy, lovely location...perfect for romantic getaways.  ❞ ❝  i hope you’re not upset i came like this, without warning...  ❞ ❝  i’m still a long way from mastering anything. but i am trying.  ❞ ❝  now i know how you do it. just annoy your opponents to death.  ❞ ❝  word on the street is there’s a hefty bounty on your head.  ❞ ❝  for a few days now i’ve been having dizzy spells.  ❞ ❝  i’ve always had a way with ostensibly dangerous types.  ❞ ❝  wound doesn’t look good.    patch that up quick if i were you, before it starts festering.  ❞ ❝  always seemed to me you were a very complicated creature, by nature. not one to resort to such simple methods like drinking your worries away.  ❞ ❝  may i be honest? yes, i’m nervous. i really would prefer to just run off.  ❞ ❝  father always said a wise man learns from others’ mistakes, so here i am, learning from his.  ❞ ❝  ever since that horrid night...everything has changed.  ❞ ❝  what’s wrong? afraid? gut feeling queasy?  ❞ ❝  used to bother me, all your secrets...now i know if you have something to tell me, you’ll tell me.  ❞ ❝  i so don’t feel like going anywhere. sit here a while longer?  ❞ ❝  there’s something i’d like to know...how can you be so damned calm?  ❞ ❝  my knees quake like a carnival rattle.  ❞ ❝  honestly didn’t think this’d work. doubted anything would happen.  ❞
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GAH, i am unwell, but -
in my current rewatch of only spn episodes that focus on reapers/death, I have unfortunately Come to a Notion, and I am going to share it with you because once again Nobody Asked.  
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Yes, this is about how we Can Still Win, even after 15x20. 
[other than of course reading my post-15x20 WIP, Angels Don’t Fear the Reaper, the first chapter of which can be found on AO3 here]
so this is an extension of the theory that 15x20 is not actually heaven (because of beers and lighting), and my particular addition to the “Dean is not yet in heaven in 15x20″ lore is - 
The Bobby that greets Dean in 15x20 is not Bobby - he is actually Dean’s reaper.
for the love of Chuck I truly cannot watch a single episode of spn like a normal person.  Put your clown nose on, buddies, and come bounce around the padded walls with me - after the cut!
Okay.  First, it’s important to note that SPN has a history of intentionally using lighting/camera work as part of the story, specifically in grounding location for the viewer, for example, to convey when characters are in an alternate universe (Purgatory, Apocalypse World, The Bad Place) or experiencing an alternate/altered reality such as a djinn dream - or, for purposes of this Essay - the limbo in between life and death whilst dying.  
That space is explored a few times in the show, but the first detailed expose occurs in 7x10: Death’s Door with Bobby, as he races through his memories trying to escape his own reaper -
an example of the lighting/blurred camera work from 7x01 can be found here -
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[please keep the image of Bobby’s outfit in your mind]
This lighting/blurred camera work appears again in 9x01, when Sam is dying, and is mentally here:
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where they have the audacity to make the “part of Sam’s mind that is ready to accept death” appear as Bobby.
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Bobby is literally used in the narrative to lead Sam towards Death, convincing Sam to accept dying.  Who usually has that job in SPN?  Reapers.
***and remember, from 2x01: In My Time of Dying, that reapers can change their form as well as a soul’s perception of surroundings -
!DEAN You know, you read the most interesting things. For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn't. Basically they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, uh, a pretty girl. You are much prettier than the last reaper I met.
TESSA/REAPER I was wondering when you would figure it out.
!DEAN
I should have known. That whole "accepting fate" rap of yours is far too laid back for a dead chick. But the mother, and the body, I'm still trying to figure that one out.
TESSA/REAPER It's my sandbox, I can make you see whatever I want.
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Compare this to Bobby’s dialogue with Sam in 9x01:
SAM 
I want to fight. I do. But I just feel like...
BOBBY  
Like you got nothing to swing at? Like you're punching at shadows? You got to let go of fightin' and scratchin' and lookin' for loopholes, 'cause that ain't happenin'.
SAM 
So – so, what? I - I - I just die?
BOBBY 
Just die? All the good you've done, all the people you've saved, all the sacrifices you've made? You've saved the world, son. How many people can say that? How many people can say that they have left this godforsaken hunk of dirt that much a better place? What you call dyin' I call leavin' a legacy.
**please hyperfixate on the word legacy for a minute and embed it in your brain for later
***what’s interesting is that this is very out of character for Bobby, and 9x01 actually reminds us of that in a prior scene ->
DEAN
Shut it, Sam. [to BOBBY] You – go. Oh, and, uh, before you throw me under the bus, you're welcome for the hell rescue.
BOBBY 
Hey, first of all, you didn't rescue jack, half-wit. Sam did. Second of all, Sam, you're in a coma. Now, suck as that may, sometimes that's just the way things go.
DEAN  
What are you talking about? There's always a way. You taught us that.
***this dialogue also contains a very specific callback to 8x19: Taxi Driver, where Bobby has this to say to Sam about accepting the finality of things-
BOBBY
Must have been hell on you not being able to get him out all that time. You did try?
SAM
Look, Bobby, Dean and I had an agreement, okay?
BOBBY I know that agreement. I taught you that agreement. That's a non-agreement. I get the feeling a lot must have happened while I was gone.
***keeping all of this in mind, let’s move on to 15x20: Carry On (sorry)-
where we have this lighting/blurred camera work 
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and the first person Dean sees in ‘Heaven’ is. . . Bobby
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[hmm; that outfit looks familiar]
It also drives me crazy that Bobby is just sitting here, relaxing on a rocking chair 
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since this was Bobby’s primary concern before heading to heaven in 8x19 after he was rescued from actual hell -
BOBBY
But if they give me a rocking chair up there, I'm raising hell. 
Consider Also the final scene in 10x17: Inside Man, after Bobby leaves his boring ass Chuck Heaven house to help Sam and Cas break Metatron out - and Bobby tells Sam “it's the happiest I've been in forever” after he assists him and Cas in Chaotic Causing of Problems.
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so, yeah - Bobby in a rocking chair as his perfect heaven is kind of. . .again, out of character.
Also I can’t ever discuss 10x17 without including this -
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you’re welcome.
Anyway, back to the Derogatory 15x20 - after Dean chats with “Bobby,” it’s time to drive around In The Car.
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hmm, remember Sam’s ‘dying mind limbo’ plot in 9x01?  
Also starts In The Car.
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incheresting.
The 15x20 drive, however, is spliced with the Sam’s Long Life Montage, and what would convince Dean to accept death more than if his staying dead meant Sam having a long, normal, happy(??) wig life.
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[had to.]
also -
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*** something something children are a legacy something ***
and look, more blurred camera work.
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oh, are they playing catch?
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that’s cute.
An interesting irl addition to all of this is that Jarpad is on record claiming that 15x20 is his favorite episode of spn, and his second favorite is - 8x23: Sacrifice.  You know, the one where Sam dies.  The one immediately preceding 9x01.
BONUS:
Potential Reaper Bobby to dying Sam in 9x01 ->
BOBBY 
Everything inside you need to help you on your way. Go on, son. I'll be waiting for you with a couple of cold ones.
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cool, cool, cool.
Anyway.  Hope this ruined your day as much as it did mine.  LYLAS
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tehrevving · 4 years ago
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Stop and Stall What’s Safe
When a stray bullet ricochets, Dante doesn't know how to save you. With a last ditch effort, he remembers how the bruises on your skin used to heal after sex, and just prays that it works.
Dante x Reader (Reader is neutral but can get pregnant), Gunshot wounds, Angst, Masturbation.
I had a little bit to drink, and was in mood. So this is like, angst but with a crack premise.
I don't know what to say about this apart from that Reader gets shot, Dante doesn't know what to do and ejaculates on the wound to try and heal it. That's it, That's the premise. Enjoy lol.
Dante’s heart is still racing, even though it’s been hours. You’ve been asleep on his chest for a while now and even though you’re breathing and warm and alive, his head just won’t stop spinning. It had been his fault. He’d almost lost you because he was too fucking stupid to think about the consequences of his own actions. He was terrified, lost in his own thoughts with no idea how to go about not making the same mistake again.
He’d never liked involving you in his line of work, even though of course sometimes he didn’t have a choice. It’s not like he could always keep his lives separate. Dangerous creatures often decided to try and invade his home that he shared with you, though luckily they never seemed to attack while he was away. They would always wait for him to appear before they made their move, he was never sure why, but he was thankful for it. 
In general though, in a fight, you knew what to do. You would hang back, away from the battle, arming yourself with one of the numerous weapons that were stored underneath his desk, or under your desk, or behind some of the artwork. So when a bunch of low tier fucking assholes decided to disturb the peace today, it had all gone according to plan. To start with anyway. 
He’d been fighting them, dispatching the weak ones easily. They were never a match for him anyway, but especially not when he was showing off for his mate. It had been easy, he hadn’t been concerned, or worried at all, until a Chaos had sauntered its way into the office. 
Dante knew that they were fast, far faster than you as a plain old human would be able to handle. So he’d focused his attention on it, trusting you to dispatch any of the small fry if they managed to get close. He’d tried the usual strategy, shoot to stun, and then tear it limb from limb once those sharp spikes were no longer a factor. 
He’d never had to consider the enclosed space before though, while fighting something so fast, so high powered. He’d aimed properly, got it in his sights right in between the eyes. He’d waited until he’d thought the timing had been perfect, but even though he liked to think so, Dante wasn’t perfect. 
He hadn’t been able to anticipate the way that the creature had moved, the way that it had shifted slightly and thrown his marksmanship off. That the piece of shit would shift slightly, throw off his aim, that the thing would start rolling, moving its spines so fast that no bullet would have a hope of reaching it. He never expected the angle at which his bullet would ricochet off it’s shining carapace at full speed. Dante never fucking anticpated that any devil hell bent on destroying him would be smart enough to deflect his weapons straight into your god damn body. 
He’d watched it happen in slow motion, the bullet deflect and start to turn in your direction. He’d seen your eyes widen, but he’d not been fast enough to do anything. Dante had watched as you crumpled to the floor as his stray bullet hit you, he’d watched it part your flesh, and embed itself deep within your abdomen. 
Fuck, he’d been overtaken by an all consuming rage, he’d never felt anything like it before. It was like he wasn’t himself anymore, like his subconscious was moving without permission from his physical body. The entire world around him slowed down as he lost control. He wouldn’t have been able to recall exactly what he had done if you’d asked him, but every single damn devil in the building had been destroyed by his hand within an instant. 
The Chaos was the last to go down, the ultimate subject of his rage. He moved faster than it could react to, his claws ripping it to absolute shreds. It didn’t even get a chance to shriek before it hit the ground, dead, and his entire focus shifted to you.
Dante was by your side seconds after you’d taken his deflected bullet, surrounded by the shrieks of dying devils around him. He grabbed your body before you hit the ground, lying you down carefully onto your back. You had looked up at him, with shock and horror and fear in your eyes, before immediately pressing your hand to the blood pouring from your abdomen. He’d expected to see disgust, or hatred, because he was the one that did this to you, but instead, you’d just been terrified. 
He hadn’t known what to do, he’d just panicked, his entire mind wiped blank. You’d started speaking, throwing him out of the haze that had threatened to overwhelm all of his senses. “Bandage,” you’d said to him, snapping him out of his stupor. “Dante. Pressure on the wound.”
So he had torn the shirt he was wearing to pieces, the fabric didn’t matter in the slightest. He’d ripped the material from his front, wrapping it around his hand. He didn’t know how much pressure to use, how much pressure humans needed, so when he pressed the fabric against your slick abdomen, it didn’t seem to do anymore. 
“Harder,” you’d barked at him, and so he pressed down with the sort of pressure that might have bruised you on a normal day. He didn’t know what to do, he could feel your blood pouring out from the wound, even through the layer of fabric bound around his palm. 
You were surprisingly calm, or maybe you were just in shock. He didn’t know how being in shock felt, or what this much pain might actually feel like. He could be cut in half and recover from it a trace of a scar of course, do he had no frame of reference. “Is it bad?” you had asked him, and he hadn’t known how to reply. 
“Did it hit any organs? I can’t feel anything,” you’d asked him, and in the moment he had ignored the way that a small amount of blood had bubbled up from your throat to your lips while you’d spoken, but now that it’s all over, he can’t help but imagine the whole fucking thing in vivid detail.
He’d tried to think. He knows when his own organs are compromised, it’s a slightly different feeling, but as he’d looked down at you, he’d realised he doesn’t know how to map his own experiences to your body. You’re so much smaller than he is, and you have more organs in your abdomen than he does, don’t you? “I don’t know,” is what he finally manages to say, because he doesn’t know how else to respond. 
“Call an ambulance,” is what you’d said next, but as he’d looked around the shop, and at the carnage his own enraged demon had caused, he knew there was no way anyone would be able to get to you. 
“I can’t. Fuck. I can carry you. I can fly,” he’d said, panicked, desperate. He’d tried to move you, but you had screamed in pain, a sound that he’d never heard before, a sound that tore him in half all the way down to his soul. He’d immediately put you back down, but even then, your screaming hadn’t stopped. 
His entire hand had been wet, your blood welling up around his crappy shirt. He was going to lose you, because he didn’t fucking know human first aid, because he hadn’t fucking thought about his actions and shot a firearm in an enclosed space, against something that could easily deflect bullets at insane speeds. “What do I do?” he’d asked you desperately, but you hadn’t replied. You’d been in shock, and Dante doesn’t think he’ll ever forget how pale your face was. He’d started crying and he hadn’t even noticed. He hadn’t known what to do. 
“I don’t know how to stop the bleeding.” He’d been distraught. He knows the basics, but not how to save you. The pitiful fabric of his shirt had been dyed completely red, and he knows it’s not absorbing your blood anymore, there’s just too much of it. 
He’d pulled his hand away, just to get a look at your wound. It had been bad. The blood wasn’t stopping, and he could see your insides, his bullets are much more powerful than a normal calibre, even a ricochet. He’d willed himself to think as he’d felt your breathing start to slow, and felt your life starting to drift away. Fuck. He wasn’t going to let that happen. 
His brain for some reason, had decided to fixate on when you’re first gotten together. When he hadn’t been able to control himself, and he’d left bruises on your skin. He’d noticed the bruises, felt guilty about them, but then suddenly they’d started disappearing once the two of you had decided to become exclusive, and stopped using condoms, and started pulling out and spilling himself on your belly instead. He remembered the bruises returning though, once you’d confirmed that birth control would still work on his half devil spunk, and he stopped pulling out. 
It had been stupid, and a fucking long shot. But he hadn’t known what else to do, and your lips had been turning blue right in front of his eyes. He hadn’t know how the fuck he’d planned to manage it, but as he’d pressed down on your abdomen with slick fingers, he’d started struggling to undo his fly with the other. 
It had felt wrong, so fucking wrong, as he’d pulled out his cock. He hadn’t been hard, but there had been no other options. He’d started stroking himself, and of course nothing had happened, arousal had been the last damn thing that his panicked mind was expecting. 
He couldn’t keep looking at you, watching the life drain from your face. He’d shut his eyes, imagined you teasing and encouraging him. He’d imagined the way you would bite your lip and look up at him through your lashes while egging him on.  
It had started to work eventually, but he was so worried it wasn’t fast enough. His dick had started to rise and for the first time in his life, as a virile and overeager half devil, he’d wondered if he could ejaculate at half mast.
He’d pulled out all the fucking stops, because he hadn’t known what else to do. He’d pressed down on your wound with one hand, trying to block out the feeling of your heartbeat starting to slow while he stroked himself.
He’d twisted his hand on the tip of his dick, stroking loosely and then putting pressure on the base, before moving back up. Of course he knows how to get off, but it’s completely different under pressure. 
It had been a struggle, but the longer that he had kept his eyes closed and pretended, the easier that it had gotten. It had become easier to convince his penis that this wasn’t a life or death situation, that he was just casually jerking off and not using it as a last ditch attempt to save your life. 
He’d gotten there eventually, though all of his progress had almost been ruined when he had to lift his sticky palm from your flesh. The wet sound had broken his heart. He hated the way that he could hear your laboured breathing start to bubble up from your lungs when he released the pressure. 
He’d just hoped that this would fucking work. 
Dante had taken his dick in hand, lined himself up, and with a terribly reluctant moan, shot his seed all over your wound. He’d tried his best to hold back tears as he watched the white settle over the red staining your skin, watching with bated breath, wishing for anything to happen. 
He’d been able to see it right in front of his damn eyes, that his cum was slowly disappearing, sinking into your wound and reducing the amount of red. He’d watched as the bleeding had gradually stopped, and as your skin began to knit itself back together. 
He’d waited with baited breath, watching as every trace of what had just happened disappeared from your skin, within moments there wasn’t even a scar on your abdomen. The only evidence remaining being your blood staining your skin, and his hands and the floor, and the tears streaming down his face. 
He’d pulled you to his chest, begging for you to wake up, wiping his eyes on your hair. The office had been a disgrace, was still a disgrace. There was blood everywhere, sticky stains from where he’d ripped the damn devils apart, and of course your own life essence, staining the floorboards by his desk. 
Eventually you had stirred though, eyes disorientated and unfocused. You had been in no state to do anything for yourself, but he didn’t care. He’d carried you against his chest, washed the blood off of your now healed skin, and off his own and then gotten you into bed. 
You’d been exhausted and incoherent, immediately curling up against his chest and falling asleep, but his mind couldn’t stop racing. He’d been so fucking close to losing you and he hadn’t even known what to do to give you a fighting chance. 
His last ditch effort had been disgusting, even though it had worked, and he’s horrified with himself. Repulsed by the fact that he’d even considered it, but horrified by the fact that he’d actually been able to get off to you dying. It makes him reconsider everything. 
Dante knows that he won’t sleep at all tonight, but that’s okay. He had to watch over you, and make sure that you don’t stop breathing, that nothing else happens to you. He cries again, his face pressed to the pillow to try and muffle the sounds so that he doesn’t wake you. He vows that he’s going to be better, that he’s going to learn how to save your goddamn life next time, no matter what it takes, and that he’s not going to let anything like this happen again.
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psalloacappella · 3 years ago
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SSM21 Day 2. Festival
Pairing:  SasuSaku  Prompt: Festival  Title:  sparks will fly, they ignite our bones Tags:  AU - Modern Setting; First Dates; Wooing Lips burning against his, mouthing soft words in the detonation din.
(In which Sakura has the better aim.)
Ao3 | twt | full series link | @ssskmonth
“It’sa real date this time.” Each word’s punctuated by Naruto’s fist punching his opposite palm, driving home the importance of this. This being:  Street stall smells rich and piquant, a smoky-savory blend; lights flickering in kaleidoscopic, neurotic brilliance; children wild as free foals escaping their parents, weaving in and out of adults’ legs clutching cheap prizes and sparklers —
and him, Sasuke, on an actual fucking date with a woman with cotton-candy-colored locks who has been besting him every game and measure of skill imaginable, and his dumb plus-one buffer, the best friend, now droning on about how he needs to win her something.
“Anything!” Naruto throws his arms up, dramatic and exasperated, the only gearsetting he seems to have. “Teddy bear, ugly fish, keychain — literally any shitty prize to show her yer not a complete waste of time.”
“Sasuke!” Both men snap to, pretending to have been watching the whole time as Sakura jumps up and down, pumping a fist in the air. “I won again!”
With shiny, wide eyes, she places both her palms out in giddy anticipation to receive a stuffed bear donning a baseball cap of the local (terrible) team from a surly booth operator with a permanent frown.
“She’s comin’ this way!”
“I can see that,” Sasuke hisses. “You useless idiot.”
“Did I hear ‘charming wingman?’ ‘Kay, I’m gonna find some food. Give you two some time—”
“Don’t say it—”
“Alone.” Some strange tone aiming for sensual manifests as choking pigeon, and Naruto skips away as Sakura bounds up to Sasuke, smiling so wide he can see every perfect tooth.
“Did you see?” So proud of herself, arms laden with prizes. Some she’s already given away to cute children passing by, perhaps the sole supplier of noisemakers and soft bears. For a doctor in pediatrics, the urge to make smiles comes second nature. “Where’s he going?”
“Food, or something,” Sasuke murmurs, trying not to look as constipated and irritated as he had ten minutes prior — another gem from Naruto’s unasked-for criticism. “He’s left us alone.”
“Finally.” Definitely slipped out by accident, and Sakura grumbles over her mistake, red prickling her cheeks and chest. “Not that I dislike him, of course—”
“I do,” Sasuke says, absolutely deadpan. It takes her a moment.
“Uchiha Sasuke, did you just make your first joke?”
Ears burning in the cool night air, it’s his turn to smother his embarrassment. In lieu of further slip ups, he awkwardly gathers the items in her arms, a mishmash of unidentified thingamajigs and whatnots that you only find in curio shops or carnivals, and gallantly takes on their burden.
“Walk with me?”
So sure his voicebox just sustained a hairline crack; he hates himself for being nervous.
Eyes, hers, brighter than all the psychedelic frenzy swirling around them both, caught up in the haze; she has the uncanny ability to fade the rest to black, toss the entirety of the world’s existence aside.
Seeking to link her arm with his amid the mess of wares won, she succeeds and presses closer.
“I thought I’d die waiting,” she whispers into his sleeve. “I’ve been wanting you to notice me properly all night.”
Meandering, conjoined, down the main road; carved out for the celebration, buffeted by snack scents and other couples, groups of friends, and plenty of pairs pretending they’re still just and only that. Along the way she unloads her many winnings, surreptitious, in part kindly trying to relieve his burden but also calculating the space in her single occupancy apartment.
She watches people and lights, and he watches her.
Sakura’s gaze snags on a particular booth, more specifically a particular prize. Of the stuffed variety.
“Did . . .  something catch your eye?” he asks. Immediately thinks he sounds like an idiot. You know how to woo ‘em, and why does his inner voice sound like Naruto’s on this date, goddamn it —
Burying her cheek into his shoulder, she giggles and it threads beautiful, stringed tension in his throat and spine, symphonic, testing its own flex to see if she can orchestrate the rest of him. He wishes he could spin her around, lift her high in some filmesque climax, kiss her in the closing credits.
“Don’t laugh,” she says, “but I love slugs. Adore them, really. Gross, I know!” She raises her free hand and points directly at a giant stuffed slug on a high shelf behind the booth’s counter. “And honestly, I’d likely keep it in my office; the kids would love it.”
Sasuke knows, from what she’s disclosed, that these are sick kids, too. This ancient, gendered mating ritual is unavoidable and he’ll have to rise to the challenge. He must provide. Stupid, because she outstrips his earnings and likely will the rest of their life.
Says it like a throwaway, like no big deal:  “I’ll have to win it for you, then.”
The game? Aim. Darts. Doable if he’s sober and with equally (un)talented friends; ranging from Shino the sharpshooter to drunk and stumbling Suigetsu, he’s decidedly somewhere in the middle, but it should be enough raw talent to beat a festival game.
Sakura’s eyes are on him, excited. She dances a little from foot to foot, ready to cheer him on.
Dropping the rest of the prizes on the ground and shoving a fistful of coins at the booth operator, he smirks. Born ready, all those forced childhood sports camps and instrument lessons finessing his hand-eye coordination finally stepping up to the plate.
Imagine failing miserably three rounds in a row, the last one bouncing off the dartboard so violently it narrowly misses the sleepy booth operator. Sasuke grinds his teeth, jaw tight, wishing it’d met its mark.
To Sakura’s credit, she’s completely unperturbed. Almost makes it worse.
She pecks him on the cheek, scoring him through hot and fevered where her lips touch.
“Performance anxiety,” she quips, but her smile isn’t unkind. “Let me give it a try.”
Each dart that lands in the board does so with gusto, embeds itself deep into the sisal cork. As each one hits, Sasuke reflects they might as well be piercing him. The most painful blow is watching her indicate the bluebacked slug, winning it outright without his help, and squeezing it half to death in her arms.
They’re walking again, sans the rest of her prizes — left them for the booth operator, and whatever kids wander his way wanting toys with which to annoy their parents.
“You’ve been so quiet,” she says, shifting her slug under one arm and linking up with him again.  Sasuke shrugs against her. “I’m not sure what’s next with us.”
 He stops, figures it’s better to rip that bandaid off now, give her an out so he can save some face. Of course they’ve stopped on some coquettishly romantic bridge, arched over the still summer pond, a popular viewing spot for the night’s end fireworks.
She watches him expectantly, searching him with her sharp green eyes.
“What do you mean?” Her question is slow, puzzled.
What he means to say is something gentile. Instead he says, “You’re great at darts.”
She seems to sway, a physical manifestation of being caught off guard. Laughs. “Surprised me too! But you gave my arms a rest, so they were ready to win.” Curls her arm to indicate muscle, grinning.
Steps closer, melting through an unseen veil of personal space. Cherry scent; smoke.
“Could be all the shots you administer.”
“I guess we can call jabbing kids with needles a calling.” Mirroring him, she steps in too, and there’s not so much space between them anymore. “Good practice. You could come around sometime, see my work.”
Another tiny shuffle.
It’s time to break this. Sasuke inhales deeply, letting it out in measured beats. “Sakura—”
“If you’re mad you couldn’t win this for me,” she interrupts, “you’re being silly. I don’t care about that, you know.”
He tilts his head, and in spite of himself his hand wanders, brushing a stray strand of pink out of her face. “Hm?”
“I don’t,” she repeats, and sets her slug down on the wooden bridge. Breathes deeply before saying in a low, threaded voice, “What I care about is all the waiting.”
Sasuke feels it all fall into place. Oh. Oh.
“So come on, Sasuke.”
And before she’s even finished saying his name he’s kissing her, the last vibrations of his name caught on their lips, locked, and though the timing is perfect and picturesque, film archetype material as the fireworks charge the air around them, each one set off drawing ripple designs in the water beneath them, this thrill is unmatched, the way she wraps her arm around his neck to taste him deeper, the way he lifts her up to rest him on his hips and there’s nothing, has never been anything, quite like this.
Real fireworks pale in comparison.
Lips burning against his, mouthing soft words in the detonation din.
“The perfect end,” she whispers, “to a festival.”
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viperbarnes · 4 years ago
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Hey, idk if your requests are open, but if they are, can I request one with Bucky Barnes? Something where the reader maybe had encountered the winter soldier in the past (but is now maybe working with Sam and has some unspoken feelings with Bucky) and in the scene in ep 3 where Zemo tells Bucky to fight at the bar it ends up bringing her some bad memories of the winter soldier? Later Bucky can tell she's not okay and is acting skittish around him, and when she finally tells him about it he feels extremely guilty but she comforts him? I just love angst with a happy ending :3
I don’t really take requests, but this little idea was kinda inspiring so here ya go boo!
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Gif belongs to @unearthlydust
Warnings for violence, blood, and being sick
You know he’s changed.
You know that he’s no longer the man he was when you first encountered him, you know the man he is now, a strange mix of conflicting outspokenness and quiet guilt. You know how he takes his coffee, and that even though he doesn’t necessarily feel the cold, he doesn’t like it all the same.
You know that he sleeps on the floor in his living room despite having a perfectly good bed, that from the moment he’d stepped foot into his apartment he’d had the best mode of escape clocked. You know that he has a secret soft spot for terrible action films, and gets misty-eyed at adverts with dogs in them.
You know all of this, and maybe that’s why it’s so terrifying.
Baron Helmut Zemo rubbed you all kinds of wrong ways, and you hadn’t even been present when he’d shown his face last. There was just something about him that made your skin crawl, but it wasn’t as if you could pull either one of your new partners aside and tell them that.
They already knew, already felt it too.
The feeling gets worse when he voices his plan, giving you all your roles to play, but again, it wasn’t as if you could pipe up and tell him to screw off. You all wanted to, but for now, you needed him and his stupid plan.
It’s how you wind up in too high heels and a little black dress that splits unnecessarily far up your thigh, how Sam ends up in a delightfully adventurous suit, and how Bucky is landed with pretending to still be a brainwashed assassin.
You can’t stop the scowl from taking up residence on your features as you move through the streets of Madripoor, glad that nobody really seems to pay attention to you, not when the Winter Soldier was around.
Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for everything to turn to shit, and you nearly hiss at the way Zemo commands Bucky to fight. For his part, Bucky seems completely unperturbed, but perhaps that was part of disturbed you so much.
He’s beautiful, it’s undeniable, even when he fights, it’s magnetic. There was nothing graceful about it by any means, he’s brutal and abrupt, near-mechanical in how he moves. You can’t seem to tear your eyes away, and suddenly, you’re no longer in Madripoor, no longer in your stupid little dress and heels.
You push the man you’re protecting into the back of the car with a mighty shove. The wheels might’ve blown, but it was still another obstacle between him and the attacker.
Smoke blows across the road ahead of you, the flipped car that had previously been part of your convoy crackling with flames from the IED. You’d half expected a group of insurgents, but you’re greeted with just one man, striding confidently through the smoke and right towards you.
He was tall, broad, and covered head to toe in black, only his eyes and hair visible. Sunlight glints off the metallic of his sleeve, but when you take a closer look, you realise it’s not a sleeve at all.
Mouth dry and heart racing, you palm your weapon and fire twice. The man lifts the metal limb and blocks like it’s nothing. He’s nearing now, and for the first time in your career, you feel anxiety overcome you.
He doesn’t even try to attack you until you throw the first punch. He ducks it easily, blocks the follow up blow by batting your wrist to the side. His eyes set on you then, blank and oddly calm, and blue as the sky above.
He pulls back his own fist, and somehow you manage to dodge, jumping back and raising your gun again. No way he’d fair this close. But you’re wrong. You get three shots off before he’s in your face again, hand grabbing the barrel of your gun and yanking it from your grasp. You hear the clatter of it when it hits the ground, but don’t have the chance to formulate your next move.
Your throat is grabbed hard, and you’re forcibly shoved back until you hit the wrecked car. You grasp in vein at the man’s hand as it tightens, and with your back now against something, manage to put all your years of training to use.
You get your foot up between you, planting it harshly in his center mass and kicking with all your might. It seems to take him off guard, because he stumbles back, releasing your throat. You take the moment to turn around, hands banging on the car window.
“Go! Run! I’ll distract him!” You scream at your ward, and watch as the man scrambles from the car, out the opposite door.
You’re about to turn around when the back of your neck is grabbed and thrust forward, connecting with the car window so hard it cracks. You gasp, calling out in pain as blood immediately begins dripping down your face. He pulls you back to do it again, but you drop, becoming dead weight and managing to slip under his legs and out of his hold.
Still, you’re dazed, and blood seeps into your vision making your disorientation even worse. You stumble, knees meeting the ground for a moment as you grab at your forehead and clench your eyes closed to try and clear your head.
The deafening sound of three quick gunshots opens a pit in your stomach, and you just know, without even seeing, that you’d failed.
You get your eyes open by the time the assassin is stalking back towards you, gun holstered now. He closes his fist around your throat again and lifts you clean off the ground, his other pulled back and raised to hit you. You fumble, finding your mark and pulling the gun from his hip, pressing it to his abdomen and firing. Again, he reels back, dropping you and keeling over.
You don’t even attempt to finish him off properly, your fight or flight activated. He was downed anyways, and there was no way he’d give chase with a wound to the center mass like that.
But you’re wrong. You make it barely to the end of the block before something embeds itself between your shoulder blades, the pain so sharp and sudden it makes you fall. Before you know it, a weight is pressing down hard against your shoulder, a boot, and the knife is ripped from your body mercilessly.
You cry out in pain, life flashing before your eyes when a fist harshly grips you by the hair and pulls back your head. You feel the blade, still slick with your own blood, press against your throat.
Sudden yelling makes the assassin freeze, and with your head still raised, you can see the approach of several heavily armoured men in black. The one who shouts is speaking Russian, but your brain was too frazzled to translate properly.
The knife is removed from your throat, and your head released. The weight on your body leaves and you’re left gasping on the asphalt. Spots dance in your vision, but before you pass out, you lift your head just enough to see the assassin join the other men, before they disappear into a dark vehicle.
The place between your shoulder blades aches with memory, and you can think of nothing else for the rest of the night.
Even when you’re taken to see Shelby, even when the fighting starts and you’re forced to run, even when Sharon saves your asses and lets you crash at her place.
You change into the first thing Sharon suggests for you, not even caring. You felt numb, and cold and sick. You position yourself on the couch with the view of all the room’s doors and windows and sit quietly as the others talk. It isn’t until Bucky comes out of nowhere and sits himself next to you that you finally make any noise.
Unfortunately, that noise is a frightened gasp.
Everyone stops to look at you, Sam’s features folded into concern, while Zemo just seemed mildly amused. Bucky looked nearly as surprised as you, his eyes turned up at you. That’s when you realise you’ve shot up, gun in your hands and aimed directly at him.
That same sickness becomes overwhelming then, and the weapon falls from your hands to the carpet with a thud.
“I-- I didn’t--” You swallow thickly, eyes never leaving the man in front of you.
“--I’m sorry…” You manage to blurt out but quickly fly from the room, desperately seeking a sink, or a bathroom of some sort.
You reach a toilet just in time, emptying the contents of your stomach inside. You wheeze and choke as the sick burns your throat and you struggle to breathe, your eyes stinging as you hack and heave.
Hands gently pull at your hair, gathering it out of your face and holding it back, a warmth dropping beside you in the tiny space. You half expect to find Sam or Sharon, but you’re not unsurprised to find Bucky crouched down, his features a mix of sympathy and concern.
“Breathe through your nose.” He instructs, free hand moving to rub over your back soothingly, unintentionally brushing over your long-healed stab wound.
“I’m sorry…” You rasp when it seems you’re finished.
“You alright?” Is all he asks, hand moving to steady your shoulder when you move back from the toilet. Your miserable nod allows him to stand, and he closes the lid and flushes, before staring down at you and offering you his hand.
You don’t hesitate before taking it. You know Bucky. You know he’s changed.
He hovers over you as you step into the bathroom, seeking mouthwash that you use three times before you feel actually refreshed, and splash some water on your hot and splotchy face.
“You alright?” He asks again, looking at you in the mirror.
“I…” You trail off, clearing your throat.
“I forgot how good you are with your fists.” You tell him, attempting a smile, but it just comes out pained.
Bucky frowns at first, blinking in confusion until his eyes flash with recognition and he sucks back a breath.
“I-- I can go. Or you can. You don’t have to--”
“-- No, Bucky, I’m not quitting this.” You say firmly, turning to face him properly. He seems to be pressing himself against the wall, attempting to make himself look small and unthreatening, which was hard to do when he was a six foot four super soldier built like a tank.
“It wasn’t real.” He says quietly, avoiding your eyes, and you smile tightly.
“I know. But you’re a good actor.”
His eyes flicker up to yours, pained, and you cough.
“Buck, it’s… it’s not your fault.” You tell him, but his chin only drops further.
“I nearly killed you.” He hisses, more anger in his voice than you’re expecting.
“But you didn’t. And my freak out was just--” You cut yourself off, humming.
“My freak out was because I haven’t seen you fight since then, but I’m not scared of you James.” You step forward then, close enough to draw his eye.
“You pulled a gun on me.” He says, the hints of a joke playing in his words.
“I’ve pulled guns on lots of people, doesn’t make me scared of them.” he lets you move closer still, and hesitantly you reach out, laying a hand on his arm.
“I don’t like to see you like that, Buck… it’s awful.” You admit, glad when his posture seems to relax some.
“It’s not you.” You go on, trying not to give too much away, but you’re sure you’re already seen through.
“If I can help it, it won’t happen again.” He tells you, and you finally lift your gaze to make eye contact.
Something sparks between you, something that had been subtle and unspoken up until now. Something that had been there, lurking under the surface ever since he’d shown up on your doorstep several months back, just to let you know he was in the city and going to therapy. It was there when you’d tentatively begun hanging out, neither of you really having anybody else, but not being too bothered by that either.
It’s something big and intimidating that draws you closer together, hearts beating quick and shallow under your skin. Bucky’s eyes flicker to your lips, and suddenly everything seems real.
“Hey, everything alright?” Sam appears in the open doorway, and you jump away from each other. The other man’s eyes travel between the two of you suspiciously, and you scramble to get a handle on the situation.
“Just had a bad shot at the bar.” You tell him, glancing sideways at Bucky who avoids all eye contact.
“... Right…” Sam draws out the word.
“Well, Sharon’s party is getting started, so…”
“Right! Yeah! I’ll… I’ll go… to that… the party. Now.” You stutter and stumble over words, quickly pushing past him and leaving the room.
Sam stays in the doorway, watching you leave, before his gaze swivels back to Bucky.
“Called it.” He says smugly, and Bucky’s eyes snap to him.
“What?”
“I called that you two had a thing.” He teases. Bucky glares and crosses his arms.
“We don’t have a thing. There is no thing.” He insists, but Sam only hums, shrugging.
“That’s why I walked in on the two of you about to eat each other’s faces off.”
Bucky scrunches up his nose.
“That’s… gross.” He tells the other man, who ignores him.
“You got time for that later. I’m sure Zemo’s plane has a stall big enough for two. For now, we gotta go.”
Bucky can only grumble in annoyance as he follows Sam from the bathroom, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of commentary he was set to receive from now on.
Still, as he watches you slip on those sleek black heels, he thinks there’s probably worse things to put up with.
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fatiguing-thoughts · 4 years ago
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“Natural” - Chapter 7 - Embry Call x Reader
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Graduation Party
I roll over in bed, waking up once again to an empty pillow to the side of me. 
I was getting used to Embry falling asleep with me, though I don’t think I would ever get used to him not being there when I woke up, the lonely feeling it left behind was quite intense. 
 I sit up, rubbing my eyes. I walk over to my desk to find the usual good morning note from Embry. 
I take the note and put it in a little box, with the others I’ve saved from him. 
I look over at the time, seeing it to be only a little before 8:00. I decided that I should probably join my dad downstairs for some cereal and chatting before he heads off to work on this fine Friday morning. 
“Hey dad.” I walk down the stairs and greet him in the kitchen. 
“Hey kid. Leah was here last night?” He asks, taking a bite of his frosted flakes. 
“Yeah, we watched some movies and talked, caught up a bit.” I grab a bowl to pour my own. 
I sit down at the table across from him, taking a bite of my cereal. 
“So what’s going on tonight, any big plans for the weekend?” He asks me. 
“Yeah, I’m actually going to Bella’s graduation party tonight.” I smile at him. 
“That sounds like fun, Billy mentioned that to me. The guys are going, too, right?” He asks me with a slight face of concern.
“Yes, dad. They’ll be there. What’re you worried about?” I laugh. 
“I worry about everything, I’m a dad.” He chuckles. 
“Alright there, dad. There’s nothing to worry about. Jacob, Quil, and Embry are going. I’m the tag along. Nothing usually gets past them.” I laugh. 
“No, not usually. They all really shot up since we left.” His eyes widen, soft laughter escaping his lips. 
“I know, it’s crazy. I can’t believe it.” 
“How tall is Jacob now? Him and Embry are really up there.” 
“Jake is 6’7 and Embry is 6’4.” I take another bite. 
“Wow. When’re you gonna grow?” He laughs. 
“Hey, relax there. Not all of us hit insane growth spurts.” I defend. 
“I know. Just messing with you.” 
“Yeah, I get it. Bully your daughter. Ha ha.” I smirk.
“Oh stop. You know I love you more than anything.” He gets up to put his bowl in the sink, nudging my shoulder on his way over. 
“I know, I love you, too.” 
“So how’s the Embry thing going on?” He asks. 
“Pretty good.” I felt the heat rushing to my cheeks. 
“I’m really glad it was Embry, honestly. He’s a good kid.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. 
“He is.” My cheeks still held that red tint. 
“Well, I should get going now. I’ll see you later, if not-- enjoy the party and keep in touch.” He kisses the top of my head before leaving. 
I finish my cereal and clean it up. 
Heading up the stairs I feel a little tired still from the night before. I lay back in bed to relax, maybe play on my phone for a bit. 
I unlock my phone and see some messages from the guys. 
“We’re gonna pick you up at 7. Be ready.” - Jake
“Good morning, bean. I love you and I can’t wait to see you today. Can I come over before the party?” - Embry
“(Y/N) important question. Do you think that snails are animals? Are slugs just homeless snails? I saw one on my porch last night and it’s keeping me up. Lmk what you think.” - Quil 
I shake my head, wondering why I even have a phone in the first place. I decide to text them all back. 
“You got it, chief.” 
“Good morning, Em. I love you, too. Come over whenever you can :)” 
“According to google, snails are basically octopuses. I don’t know about the slugs, though, bud. Do some research and keep me posted.” 
I laugh as I put my phone on my nightstand, walking over to my mirror. 
I look myself up and down, in my pajama shorts and a band t-shirt from a concert Embry and I went to three years ago in Port Angeles. I remember it like it was just yesterday. 
Embry and I walked around the venue after the show, passing by the merch table to take a peak. 
“Oh wow, that shirt’s pretty cool, look.” I point to him. 
“It is, why don’t you get it?” He asks. 
“I don’t know, I really shouldn’t buy it. My dad would get annoyed at me for buying another band tee.” I shrug my shoulders in disappointment, as I usually get a shirt at every show we went to. 
“Ah, that’s fair. Sorry, bean.” He pats me on the back. 
“It’s alright, I’m gonna head to the bathroom.” I let him know and he walks me over to the bathroom before entering the men’s room himself. 
I walk out a few moments later to see a smiling Embry, holding onto his backpack straps. 
“You ready to catch the train back?” I ask.
“Yeah, let’s go.” He smiles.
We make our way back to the train station and sit down, beginning our hour and a half journey. 
“Hey, (Y/N)? Can I tell you something?” 
“Yeah, what’s up?” I look up into his sweet brown eyes, filled with excitement. 
“So I got that shirt. I really liked it and I kinda wanted to add it to my collection. I just don’t want you to be upset with me.” He looks at me, pursing his lips. 
“No I’m not mad, Em. Why would I be mad at you? You’ll look great in it. You always get a shirt, we have our concert shirt collection going on.” I smile up at him, kinda kicking myself for not buying one to keep the tradition-- though not wanting to be lectured by my dad for it being a “waste of money.” 
“Great, I didn’t think you’d be mad. Especially because I got you one, too.” He smiles, reaching into his bag. 
“Embry! Why would you do that? Don’t spend your money on me.” I scold, trying to hide the blushing and insane smiling from appearing on my face. 
“Oh, shut up. You wanted the shirt, I wanted to get you the shirt. We both got what we wanted.” He smiles. 
“But, Emb-” 
“No, shh. Just say thank you and wear it.” He smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. 
“Thank you, Em.” I look up into his eyes, not even attempting to hide my severe blushing. 
“Anything for you, bean.” He smiles. 
I hold the shirt in my hands, clutching it excitedly. A yawn escapes my lips but I try to fight it back.
“You can lay on my shoulder, take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we get there.” He smiles. 
I nod, placing my head on his shoulder and falling asleep.
I observe how long it is for me, as he bought it in his size because “it’s just cuter that way” as he would say. 
Sitting down on my bed, I unlock my phone to see the responses from Embry and Quil, Jake only gave my message a thumbs up. 
“I’m on my way, should be there in a few minutes :)” - Embry 
“I’m on it.” - Quil 
I smirk before I make my bed and try to tidy up my room, just what I teased Embry about yesterday. 
A few minutes into me cleaning, I hear my phone going off. It was Embry texting me that he was here and to let him in. 
I jog down the stairs and open the door to see an excited Embry. 
“Good morning.” He picks me up in his arms and spins me around. 
“Hey there, Embry.” I giggle into his neck.
He places me back on the floor and I lead him upstairs. 
We get into my room and I notice his staring. 
“Is something wrong?” I ask him, eyes widening in nervousness. 
“No, no. God no. I just-- you look cute like that. I just, I like your outfit.” He stumbles upon his words. 
“Thank you, Em.” I blush. 
“I’m glad I got you it in my size. Maybe you should just switch over to my clothes completely. I think that would work.” He flirts, smiling like the goof that he is. 
“Hmm, maybe. I’ll steal some more of your hoodies soon.” I smirk.
“I can’t even complain.” He leans down kissing me softly. 
The kiss once again, as all the rest, felt like electricity shot through my entire body. I felt my knees going weak.
Emby’s hand on my hips felt like absolute heaven, making out with him was a rush, it felt like heaven on earth. 
He pulls away, placing his forehead on my own.
“Hi.” He breathes. 
“Hey.” I smile. 
“Wanna watch some Rick & Morty?” He asks.
“Sure.” I laugh. 
We always talked about Rick & Morty while I was gone, trying to watch it together. 
We situated ourselves in my bed, my head on his chest and my legs sprawled amongst his. 
The next few hours consisted of laughter as both he and I took turns falling in and out of sleep. 
At 5:30 I decided it was time I got up to begin getting ready to go. I put some mascara on, a little lip tint, style my hair and head over to my closet. 
“Whatcha doing, bean?” Embry asks, a yawn escaping his soft lips. 
“I’m trying to figure out what to wear to this party. Are you guys dressing up?” I turn around, and eye him up.
“T-shirt and jeans, all of us. Except maybe you. I’m sure the others will be dressed up but don’t feel pressured.” He smirks. 
“I see. I should have known.” I smirk. 
I search through my closet, feeling Embry’s hands find my waist behind me, pressing a kiss to the back of my head.
“You’ll look great in anything you wear.” He whispers.
“Thank you.” Thankfully he couldn’t see my blushing from behind my head. 
“Ya know, I’d say wear that. But I’d have a hard time controlling myself… And keeping you to myself.” He chuckles.
“Embry!” I laugh.
“I’m just saying, you look really cute.” He says, walking back over to my bed. 
It took me a while, but I decided on a black dressy-ish sweater, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black chelsea boots. 
I turn around to begin changing and I notice Embry covering his eyes, 
I giggle to myself as I change, thankful of his eye shielding-- I wasn’t ready for that just yet. 
“Thank you, Em.” I say as I finish pulling the jeans up my leg. 
“Of course.” He says, blush appearing across his cheeks. 
“You can open your eyes now.” I say when I finish, walking over to sit on his lap. 
“Hey, welcome.” He kisses my cheek.
“Look at you, the king of respecting women.” I laugh. 
“You know it, baby. Forever and always.” He laughs. 
It was true, though. Embry has always been one of the most respectful people I had ever met, especially with women-- including myself. 
“How long until Jake and Quil get here?” I ask, leaning my head into his chest. 
“Any minute now, time moves fast when I’m with you.” He presses a kiss onto my shoulder. 
“That it does, you’re my favorite way to spend my time.” I giggle. 
“You look beautiful, by the way.” He smiles into my neck, leaving a soft kiss at the nape. 
“How do you do that?” I ask. 
“Do what?” 
“Always have that effect on me? Everything you do… it just feels intense.” I admit. 
“I think that’s just because we’ve waited so long for this. You’re also my imprint, now.” He laughs softly. 
His phone begins vibrating, causing him to pull away and answer. 
“It’s Jake, they’re here.” He says hanging up the phone.
I nod and we get up, going downstairs. 
“Have fun! Be safe.” My dad smiles from the couch. 
“Thank you!” We call out in unison. 
“I’ll text you, dad. I love you.” I smile before we walk out the door and get into Jacob’s rabbit. 
“Let’s have some fun tonight.” I smile. 
“Too many leeches, but there might be pretty girls. So this could be good.” Quil chuckles from the front seat. 
“Ooh, Jacob. Pretty girls.” I say in a sing-song manner. 
“(Y/N), you know it doesn’t matter to me.” He laughs. 
“I know, but just try to have a good time. It’s my first party with you guys in like forever!” I grab the back of Quil and Jacob’s seats, bringing myself forward. 
“You’re right.” Quil agrees.
“Oh Quil, what’s the news?” I ask, referring to our conversation from this morning. 
“Oh. They’re cousins, not brothers.” He turns around to me, nodding.
“Oh damn, no way.” I smirk.
“Who?” Embry asks. 
“Snails and slugs. Ya know, the octopus things.” He shrugs. 
“I’m sorry, what?” Embry asks. 
“We’re here, please stop… whatever this is.” Jacob smirks getting out of the car. 
“I can explain later.” I grab onto Embry’s hand, following Jacob into the giant house that belonged to the Cullens. 
“Holy shit.” I mutter, walking through the enormous front door. 
“Right?” Quil agrees.
We walk up the stairs, finding the main area of the party. 
Embry stayed behind me, his hand on my lower back, guiding me up the stairs. 
“I’m not made out of glass, you know. I’ve done stairs before.” I turn around giggling. 
“Can’t risk an accident with you, bean. Especially in a house of leeches.” He reminds me. 
“Embry, stop it. I’m not that accident prone.” I defend. 
“Says the girl with five bruises just on her left leg.” He chuckles.
“Hey, don’t do this.” I laugh. 
Jacob soon finds Bella, greeting her.
“Hey, why are you here?” She asks. 
I felt strange, were we not invited?
“You invited me, remember?” Jacob responds. 
“I thought our argument and me calling you a dick was me uninviting you.” “Bella, I’m sorry. Look, I brought you a gift. I made you it.” He holds up the wolf charm bracelet that he spent hours carving. 
“You made this? It’s beautiful.” Her demeanor softened. 
“Of course.” He smiles, pulling her into a small hug. 
“Hey Bella. Congratulations.” I smile at her. 
“Oh, hey (Y/N). Thank you. I’m glad you came. Hopefully you can keep them under control.” She jokes. 
“Eh, maybe. Usually only Embry will listen to me, though. Fair warning.” I laugh. 
We sit around, listening to music for a little bit. Eating some snacks before we found our way to Bella again. As I was chatting with her and Jacob, Bella’s eyes frantically peered over to a very tiny woman on the stairs. 
“Alice. What did you see?” She asks, walking over.
“The decision has been made.” She answers, wide eyed. 
“What decision?” Jacob asks. 
We are all led into Carlisle’s office, me basically velcroed to Embry’s side, especially in such close proximity to the Cullens. 
“So they’re coming here?” Bella asks. 
“Yeah, in four days.” Alice responds. 
“We don’t have much time.” Carlisle says in a worried tone. 
“Who’s coming?” Jacob asks. 
“Newborn army. They’re coming for Bella.” Jasper says. 
We then got the whole rundown of what that actually entails, how scary of a situation this truly was.
“Wait, they’re after Bella?” Jacob asks. 
I look over at Embry, worried eyes. 
“Well, then the pack will fight.” Jacob agrees. 
Embry and Quil nod, my eyes wide with fear. 
“You think Sam would be willing to come to an understanding?” 
“Yeah.” 
“We’re going to have to train, this is a very dangerous fight. Lives could be lost. Jasper has the experience and knowledge we will need.” Carlisle explains. 
“We get to kick some ass.” The large one, Emmett, grins. 
“When do we start training?” Jacob asks. 
“Tomorrow.” Carlisle answers. 
“Okay, I’ll tell Sam tonight.” 
“Jacob, please.” Bella begs. 
“This is what you wanted, remember? We’re working together.” He really rubbed her face in it. 
“Newborns won’t even know they exist, they’ll be a great help to us. Plus we need the numbers, Bella.” Jasper reasons. 
I looked up at Embry with a worried face, feeling my heart begin to beat faster. I needed him to be okay, I needed all my friends to be okay. 
“Don’t worry, bean. Nothing is gonna happen, okay?” He whispers in my ear, leaning down to press a kiss to my temple. 
Quil looks at me, nodding in confirmation. 
“This is what we were made to do. At least we get to kill some vampires.” Jacob grins. 
Going back to the party wasn’t the same after that. I felt like I was in a constant state of nausea, like my heart was about to fly out of my chest. 
When it was time to leave, we went out and drove back to my house in complete silence. I bid Jacob and Quil a goodnight and Embry walked me to my door. 
“Did you have fun?” He asked. 
“Well I was, earlier in the night.” I admit. 
“I know, bean. But please don’t worry. Everything will be okay, this is our job. It’s in our blood, this is what we do.” He smiles, trying to comfort me as he pushes my hair behind my ear. 
“I know, I’m just scared.” I admit. 
“Don’t be, bean. I would never let anything happen to you.” His eyes stare deep into mine, seriousness completely taking over his face.
“No, I’m scared for you.” 
“Oh, don’t be. I never got hurt before, and now I have just another thing to fight for.” He softly smiles. 
“I want to come to practice.” I tell him. 
“Uh, I don’t know.” His voice trails off. 
“Embry, please. I need to know.” I plead.
“Okay, but you have to stay where it’s safe. Stay by me.” 
I nod and he pulls me into a tight hug. 
“Thank you.” I whisper. 
“I’d do anything for you.” He smiles. 
His arms find my waist before he gives me a sweet kiss goodnight. 
I manage to find the strength to go inside my house and separate from the warmth that Embry was.
Sleeping was something that seemed to be out of the question as I stared at my ceiling in complete silence for hours, mind racing with anxious thoughts. I don’t even know when I even fell asleep. 
__________________________________
Word Count: 3087
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actress4him · 4 years ago
Text
Whumptober 2020 - Day 24
I kinda got way too into writing this one. I just wanted to keep going and going, really could have added more than I did, and couldn't figure out where to end it...then I realized that tomorrow's prompt was perfect for a part 2. So that's what I did. Yay, our first ever part 2! Anyway, check the warnings if you don't mind some mild spoilers, this one does get a little rougher than some but ahh...I think it's one of my favorites. And it's a good thing so many of you said you love platonic Kidge because here it comes again!
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Day 24 - Forced Mutism/Blindfolds/Sensory Deprivation
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Warnings: restraints, torture, sensory deprivation, electric torture, dislocation, muzzle, broken bones, mild blood
Pidge was getting aggravated. Scratch that, she was way past the point of aggravation, she was ticked off. It had been four quiznaking days since the quiznaking Galra had captured her, and she had just been sitting in this quiznaking cell ever since, for no quiznaking reason. Nobody had even come to see her! No threats, no questions, no torture, nothing. What was the quiznaking point of capturing a Paladin of Voltron if you were gonna just ignore her?
Not that she was, like, dying to be tortured or anything. More than once since her arrival, screams had echoed down the hall, sending shivers down her spine and making her stomach turn somersaults. 
No, the thought of being tortured definitely terrified her. But she was getting pretty sick of sitting in an empty cell with her ankle chained to the wall. The only interaction she’d had so far was with the stupid sentries that brought her food, and they couldn’t carry on a conversation to save their precious Empire. She was lonely, okay? Yeah, she was an introvert who could spend days on end locked in her room, but that was on her terms, and she had her computer and projects to keep her company. 
At least being lonely meant that she didn’t have to worry about any of her teammates. They were out there, looking for her, she knew it, and that was the best place for them to be. If any of them had ended up in there with her and got hurt...she didn’t know what she’d do. They were her family. Yeah, she still believed Matt and Dad were out there, and she was bound and determined to find them. But this team was her family, too, in a weird and wonderful way, and she’d do anything to keep them safe. 
Finally, on the morning of day five, the cell door creaked open, and somebody who actually wasn’t a sentry stepped inside. 
“It’s about time,” Pidge snapped before the soldier even had time to speak. “You guys don’t get in a hurry around here, do ya?”
The Galra - a lieutenant by the design of his armor - was taken by surprise for an instant, but quickly recovered with a smirk. “My profuse apologies. We’ve had...other pressing matters to deal with. But rest assured, you have our full attention now.”
Pidge gulped. Well that wasn’t really what she wanted. But she wasn’t going to let him know that. She lifted her chin.  “Good.”
His smile grew. “Since you’re so eager to see me, should I assume that you’re ready to cooperate?”
Crossing her arms, Pidge narrowed her eyes. “Never. I don’t even care what it is you want from me.”
“A list of planets that have joined your Coalition,” he immediately replied. “See, nothing too complicated. Not even anything to do with your beloved Voltron.”
“Yeah right. I told you, it’s not happening.”
“Very well.” The lieutenant nodded amiably. “I had a feeling that would be your answer. That’s why I came prepared.” Leaning back, he knocked twice on the wall next to the door.
Pidge sneered. “It doesn’t matter what you bring in here, I’m not gonna -”
She cut off her own tirade as two grunt soldiers appeared, dragging and then harshly shoving something very person-looking onto the floor. It wasn’t until the something had tumbled a couple of times and came to a halt facing her that she was absolutely sure that it was a person. A very human-like person. A very battered person. 
He wore only a pair of tight black pants that reminded her of her own flight suit, and all his skin above that was painted with purple and blue and even black in some places. More disturbing than that, though, was what covered his entire face. A blindfold, for starters. And over his nose and mouth, a hideous metal contraption with thick straps holding it in place. 
It was a muzzle. 
Pidge was already feeling nauseous at seeing this guy’s state. But then she noticed the hair. And that’s when her stomach plummeted to her toes. 
“Keith?”
It couldn’t be him. He wasn’t supposed to be here. She would have known if he had been here the whole time, being... being hurt, being tortured...oh quiznak, it hadn’t been him she had heard screaming...had it?
“Ah, so you do recognize him.” The lieutenant chuckled, crossing over and nudging at Keith’s metal-covered chin with the toe of his boot. “It is a bit difficult with his... accessories.”
“What did you do to him? Keith!” She didn’t even care that the tears clogging up her throat were very much audible.
“Oh, don’t strain yourself trying to get his attention, dear. He won’t be able to hear you.” Crouching down, he grabbed a handful of that unmistakable black hair and yanked until Keith’s head and shoulders were up off the ground and his face was turned to the side. A muffled moan came from under the muzzle, and Pidge’s heart squeezed.
“You see this?” The Galra pointed to Keith’s ear, where she could just barely make out something purple. “Blocks all sound.” He released the hair, and Keith’s head dropped to the concrete floor with a crack that made her flinch. “Just like this blocks all light -” he ran a finger over the blindfold -“and this, of course, keeps him from speaking.” He grabbed the muzzle and shook it. “He can still make some quite delightful sounds, though. All of it works together to make doing things like this so much more entertaining.”
One of the soldiers stepped forward, producing a long stick from somewhere on his person and jabbing it into Keith’s ribs. It crackled with purple lightning, and he screamed, writhing on the floor.
Pidge lurched forward, despite already knowing that her leash wouldn’t let her reach him. “Stop! Stop it, don’t hurt him!”
The lieutenant laughed aloud. “It’s perfect, isn’t it? He has no idea what’s coming for him and when.”
The rod made contact again, at his waist this time. The sound that came out of him was awful, literally the worst thing that Pidge had ever heard. She glared at the lieutenant through tear-filled eyes.
“You’re a monster.”
He flashed her a brilliant, sharp-toothed smile. “Thank you. I do try. Now…” Standing, he strode a few steps in her direction. “Would you like to reconsider telling me about those planets, or should we continue?”
No! she screamed inwardly. No, you can’t make me choose. This is the fate of the universe we’re talking about here, but he’s...he’s my brother! A brother that maybe she didn’t know all that well, considering how they both sucked at social interactions, but that just meant she understood him more than the others. Besides, she knew enough. She knew he was brave, and painfully shy, and had a heart of gold beneath his tough-guy exterior. She knew he didn’t deserve this. 
But what could she do? As much as it killed her, she couldn’t throw away the safety of millions of people for him. There was no guarantee they’d actually stop hurting him, anyway. And if they did...he’d never forgive her. Keith always put the safety of others before his own.
“Well?”
Gritting her teeth, she kept her eyes on the terrified, trembling boy on the floor. “I can’t.”
“Very well, then.”
She expected the rod again, but instead both of the soldiers went at him with their heavy boots, pounding the toes into his already destroyed flesh over and over again. He made no noise after the first couple of strikes, only curled in on himself as best he could with his hands cuffed behind his back, instinctively trying to protect his organs. It didn’t matter, though, the sounds the boots made against his body were bad enough. She was pretty sure she heard the pop of ribs breaking. She thought she might puke.
Instead, she sank to the floor with weak legs, crawling forward until the chain was taut and she was as close to him as she could get. The tears that had flooded her eyes until then spilled over, streaming down her cheeks. 
Keith. She wanted so badly to be able to reach out, to comfort him, to let him know she was there. But he wouldn’t know it was her, even if she could. He’d probably flinch away, thinking she was yet another who meant him harm.
“I wonder what he’d think,” the lieutenant began, as if reading her thoughts, “if he knew you were here. If he realized that you had the power to make this stop, that all of this pain was your fault.”
The barb struck true, but Pidge clenched her fists and refused to let it embed itself any further. “Your fault,” she growled. “This is your fault, not mine. You’re the monster here.”
Rather than answering, he reached up and grabbed a chain from the ceiling, pulling it down with a deafening rattle and hooking it onto Keith’s manacles. Taking his cue, grunt soldier number one crossed to a crank on the wall and began to turn. The chain slowly retracted, taking Keith’s wrists with it. Pidge slapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a sob as she saw him realize what was happening and scramble to get his feet under him, slipping back onto his knees more than once before he succeeded, and swaying heavily once he finally stood.
The chain kept going. They weren’t satisfied once it was pulled taut, they kept cranking until he was forced to bend over forward with his arms straight out behind him, and Pidge was worried his shoulders were going to come out of their sockets.
“Stop. Stop it! That’s enough!”
The grinding of the crank halted, and the lieutenant turned to face her. “Yes? Was there something you’d like to share?”
Pidge deflated from where she had risen up on her knees. “N-no.”
“Hm.” He waved a hand at the soldier, and the crank was turned one more time. Keith’s head fell further down.
Grunt soldier number two took the rod and thrust it straight down into the center of his back. Keith almost fell, but somehow managed to lock his knees in the midst of shaking and screaming. 
Pidge’s fingernails bit into her palms and her teeth into her bottom lip. She couldn’t even imagine how that felt on his spine, not to mention the jarring on his overextended shoulders. 
She hated this. The names of the planets he wanted to know were right on the tip of her tongue, a whole list that she had memorized long ago. All she’d have to do is say one, and they’d at least give him a little bit of a break, right?
But just one name meant thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of people facing this kind of violence in retribution for joining the Coalition. 
It wouldn’t be the boy who she saw as a brother. 
But it would be equally as horrible for so many others. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for that, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to for this, either. 
And she was growing more uncertain by the minute that Keith would forgive her for this.
“Are you sure you have nothing to say?”
Pidge stared straight ahead, refusing to answer.
Circling to the other side of his prisoner, the lieutenant jerked Keith’s head up by his hair again, putting untold strain on his neck. A quiet whimper came from behind the muzzle. “You know, it is a bit of a pity that we can’t see his facial expressions. I just love seeing the pain in their eyes.” Drawing his fist back, he slammed it into the only exposed skin on Keith’s face, his cheekbone, snapping his entire head to the side. When he released his hair, letting his head drop back down toward the floor, there were multiple strands of black hair still stuck between his fingers. Pidge watched them flutter to the floor with a knot in her chest.
“Will you leave him alone? I’m not going to tell you anything!”
“Sorry, dear. No can do. You have to give me something if you want something in return.”
Grunt soldier number one suddenly came back to life, kicking Keith’s knee out from under him. The kick itself probably didn’t hurt. The subsequent stumble that dislocated his shoulder with a loud, sickening crack did.
“No!” Pidge cried, but it wasn’t loud enough to drown out his wail. “Keith!”
“Anything to say?”
“I hope you rot!” she shrieked, lunging forward as if she could get her hands around his throat. “When our team finds us, and they will, I will make sure that you die a slow and painful death!”
The lieutenant threw his head back and laughed. “You’re cute. Maybe once I’ve gotten what I want from you, I’ll just keep you for entertainment. My little pet.”
Keith was still trying to struggle back onto both feet. His breathing was ragged, audible even through the metal, and he trembled even harder than before.
Glancing at a screen on his wrist, the lieutenant sighed. “Unfortunately, I have other matters I must attend to. This seems like as good of a time as any to leave you two to think for a while. Rest assured, I will be back soon.”
With that, he was gone, leaving Pidge with a raw, bleeding ankle and tear-soaked face, and Keith still in a stress position with no senses, wondering when the next blow would come.
“Keith,” she whispered into the once again quiet cell. “I’m so sorry.”
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vivithefolle · 4 years ago
Note
Love isn’t a Deus Ex Machina thing, it’s literally the core theme of the series, hence why Love Magic exists
Love Magic is never a concept at any time in the series. It’s only about “Lily Potter’s spell”. But what’s so special about Lily Potter? What’s so great about her? She did the thing any halfway decent mother would do for their child: she gave her life for them. Molly would’ve done it for any of her sons. Narcissa would have done it for Draco. Mrs Granger the nonentity would have done it for her daughter had she not been lobotomized instead. Lily Potter’s sacrifice isn’t anything special. It’s only special because Rowling decided so, because the Plot needed it to be.
Love isn’t a Deus Ex Machina thing? Then how come Quirrel conveniently burned to death at Harry’s hands? How come Harry had to live at Privet Drive because reasons so he could be abused so naive readers like you could feel very sorry for the poor widdle orphan and pat themselves on the back because wow, aren’t you special for feeling sorry for the poor widdle orphan?
And I didn’t misunderstand Harry. I literally explained him to you
If you don’t like him, I don’t care. Just stop giving his uniqueness to other characters
And you literally showed me exactly why you don’t understand him.
Harry’s superpower isn’t teh special uniqueness of his luuuurve, or the absolute pure pureness of his heart, it’s that he has FRIENDS. Friends who’d die for him, friends who’d sacrifice themselves for him, friends who’d do anything for him. THAT’S the power of love, not some bullshit ~special pure pureness of the heart of Harry Christ our lord and savior~. Harry isn’’t unfailingly kind or uniquely loving or whatever the shit. Harry is a run-of-the-mill teenager who has such obscene luck I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he was conceived under the influence of Lucky Potion.
You just showed me you’re a member of the Church of Harry Christ and I’m not interested in joining. Dear God I thought I was too attached to fictional characters but wow am I glad I’m not at your level.
Also one more thing: “tortured” someone?
Sure. A painful stunner is DEF torture (that’s legit all his Crucio did; it acted as a painful stunner. It threw Carrow backwards and hurt him while it did. Crucio isn’t even close to that when performed properly)
............ you... you fucking little hypocrite.
You filthy, lying, little bitch cunt of a fucking hypocrite.
Remember when I said the next person who’d try to lie to me to pity poor wee widdle Hawwy would be sorry? You pathetic little piece of shit. If you’re so in luuurve with your precious cuntfuck of a camera archetype you’d accept EVERYTHING about him, wouldn’t you? Haha, but noooo. “Oh wee poor Hawwy only used a painful stunner :)))))))” you fucking little bitch. Oh you accuse ME of trying to “make Hawwy not special :(((” but you... YOU... Hahahaha sorry everyone. I have a slight aversion to people blatantly trying to gaslight me. You may find me getting a little bit angry if you happen to trod on this trigger of mine.
Let’s see that again shall we? Open your eyes and your chakras, bitch, we’re going for a ride.
“It’s not a case of what you’ll permit, Minerva McGonagall. You time’s over. It’s us what’s in charge here now, and you’ll back me up or you’ll pay the price.” And he spat in her face. Harry pulled the Cloak off himself, raised his wand, and said, “You shouldn’t have done that.” As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, “Crucio!” The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor. “I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, “you need to really mean it.” - Deathly Hallows
If I could reach through my screen to force you to look at the relevant bits, I would. And I’d also slap you in passing. Yknow, just so you think twice before being a stinking fucking hypocrite again in the future.
Now, let’s do some actual literary analysis that isn’t your ~wah hawwy puwe of heawt luuurrrve~ diarrhea you’re still trying to paint my poor innocent blog with.
Now let’s see that PaInFuL sTuNnEr in detail:
He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain 
In bold so you can see it very well. Admire the curve of each letter, the angles and the lines. And most of all, interpret the meaning of each and every word. Watch how he’s compared to “a drowning man”, do you know how excruciatingly painful and distressing it is to drown? How the air fills your lungs as you claw desperately for the surface, trying to find something to cling to, anything, the feeling of your lungs filling with this foreign substance you cannot spit back out? The feeling of fading away as all your oxygen is consumed by the futility of your hopeless flailing, your muscles losing their strength, your panic dulling as you slip into unconsciousness and water claims yet another victim...
Of course, drowning people don’t thrash and howl in pain. Because all they’re focused on is trying to BREATHE. But Amycus’ focus isn’t on trying to breathe. Amycus is only focus on Harry’s Crucio and the pain it’s bringing him.
But sure Anon. A pAiNfUl StUnNeR. Fuck you.
and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass 
Now I’m aware Dummywood has made you believe that glass can be traversed easy without any consequences but real glass doesn’t work like that. Real glass takes some force to shatter. Real glass shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces that embed themselves into your flesh and skin, kinda like... oh! Kinda like that glass chandelier that fell on Hermione, once. After she herself was Crucio’d if I remember well. Hmm, by whom exactly, I have it on the tip of my tongue...
“I see what Bellatrix meant,” 
Ah yes. By the woman who tortured to insanity Neville’s parents and whom Harry is literally acknowledging as having taught him this particular lesson.
Harry himself is TELLING US HE LISTENED TO BELLATRIX’S ADVICE. ON FUCKING TORTURING PEOPLE. But “a PaInFuL sTuNnEr He’S aN oRpHaN :’‘‘(((((”. Fuck off. Fuck off, Anon. Fuck off and learn to fucking read.
Ah but I got ahead of myself! We’re not even CLOSE to the point!
he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor 
So Amycus gets tortured - or, as Anon astutely put it, pAiNfUl StUnNeR - smashes through a sheet of glass, and gets knocked out.
Hmm. Now if Harry just took out a knife and brought it to Carrow’s neck, he’d be worthy of being called Bellatrix’s faithful apprentice.
And now I’m gonna quote one of my Quora answers again because my followers deserve better than to see me completely lose my mind at some anonymous cowardly cunt trying to lie to my fucking face.
On the topic of Harry’s Crucios:
This could mean that Harry is scarily proficient at casting Crucio, that Amycus has low pain tolerance or that he was knocked out when he fell, but regardless of the meaning, IT’S NOT GOOD. EVEN IF IT’S A DEATH EATER, EVEN IF HE PROBABLY DESERVES COMEUPPANCE - IT’S NOT HARRY’S JOB TO GIVE OUT SAID COMEUPPANCE.
(Like, can I please remind everyone that Harry is supposed to be the Jesus Christ of his story? In the Bible we never have Jesus Christ torturing the pharisees or any of those who didn’t believe in him. Just… you’re telling me Jesus “Peace and Love” Christ would torture people… what the hell, Joanne?)
“I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, “you need to really mean it.”
…………………….. Um. Harry, what the fuck are you doing???! He’s taken Bellatrix’s advice! He actually relates to the insane sadistic terrorist! He is capable of using a curse that literally requires sadism to work!
(Again, when someone tells me “Jesus Christ”, “sadism” isn’t the first word that would come to my mind.)
At least there’s some sort of reaction. “the blood thundering through his brain”. But that’s a very… nondescriptive reaction. Is it the “adrenaline pumping in my veins” blood? Is it the “holy shit what have I done” blood? Is it the “I could get used to this” blood?
We don’t know. We’ll never know.
Alright, skipping to the part that interests us -
She struggled to pull herself together. “Potter, that was foolish!”
Eh, I’d have said “tactically unsound” (what if Amycus wasn’t knocked out), “monstrous” (that’s Bellatrix’s favourite curse you’re using, Harry), “insane” (re: Bellatrix), but yeah, I guess “foolish” would also cover it.
“He spat at you,” said Harry.
Ever heard of Disproportionate Retribution, Harry? A few fascists regimes all over the world were especially fond of it.
Then I’m skipping over the one thing that causes the most outrage because I’ll go back to it soon, just let me finish with this:
“[…] but don’t you realize — ?” “Yeah, I do,” Harry assured her. Somehow her panic steadied him.
I guess we can imagine that McGee is saying “don’t you realize what you’ve just done?”
Harry “assures” her he realizes. Harry knows. Harry has just used the literal goddamn Torture Curse and he’s totally cool with it. Or, if he was uncool with it, now he’s cool with it. Because “her panic steadied him”. So seeing McGonagall panic makes Harry think “yeah, using Crucio was the right thing to do”.
Well then! Onwards then, Dark Lord Potter! First it’s just one Crucio, then it’s just three, then it’s just one little murder of one lowly little naysayer, then it’s only a little more murder…
And now we’ll go back a smidge, because how are we supposed to react?
How are we supposed to reconcile the idea of Harry, who’s supposed to save us all through his Power of Love, with the Harry that has just tortured a man into inconsciousness?
Even if that man was a Death Eater, Harry is supposed to be the Christ-like figure. He’s supposed to be love and forgiveness incarnate. Heck, not a hundred pages later he’ll offer forgiveness to freaking Voldemort! He forgives Draco Malfoy, he forgives Albus Dumbledore, he forgives Severus Snape!
So how do we reconcile Harry Potter The Forgiver with Harry Potter The Torturer? Tell us, O Author! Tell us how to navigate the murky, twisted depths of human morality!!
“Potter, I — that was very — very gallant of you — […]”
…………………
………………………………………………
That was… gallant?
Gallant?
Wait, doesn’t gallantry imply some form of honor?
As in, not taking your opponent by surprise -
Harry pulled the Cloak off himself, raised his wand…
As in, facing your opponent head-on instead of hitting them in the back -
As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted…
As in, not torturing your opponent???
He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain
That’s… unless the definition has changed, nothing about this is gallant…
Let me just -
(of a man) polite and kind towards women, especially when in public
showing no fear of dangerous or difficult things
Alright, so, Amycus isn’t a woman, so Harry can’t, by definition, be “gallant” to him.
Still, being “polite and kind” to a woman didn’t involve “torturing someone who disrespected her”, last time I checked. Punching an asshole harrassing her, definitely *pats Ron*, but torturing that asshole… no, just no.
And well, I guess casting Cruciatus is a difficult thing to do… and Harry didn’t seem very afraid to do it… that’s not supposed to be a good thing, but apparently, now it is…?
What made that
As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, “Crucio!”
more gallant than
“What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!”
After all, they’re the exact same thing. Torture. Inflicting tremendous pain upon someone for the heck of it.
Why do people lose their heads over Harry using Crucio, when they seem to neglect the fact that Draco Malfoy cast it?
Well, easy enough - Draco Malfoy is an evil little cockroach. The guy wished death upon people, he bragged about the fact that his Daddy dearest was a terrorist who killed people. It’s not too surprising that an evil little cockroach like him would find it acceptable to torture someone he considers “not human”, isn’t it?
What’s more surprising however, is that the hero, Harry Potter, who has been subjected to the Torture Curse, whose only use of the Torture Curse previously was when he felt distress and pain unlike any other, that Harry Potter whom is supposed to be a hero and some sort of role model, would actually manage to use said Torture Curse even though it requires real sadism to actually work.
And what’s even worse is that Harry Potter casts that curse, that literal Torture Curse, and instead of being rightly horrified, instead of being terrified by the boy’s use of such a heinous spell, instead of saying “alright Harry, you’re not doing this again, ever, right?”, instead…
Instead McGonagall calls Harry “gallant”, instead of telling him off for using such a curse. She briefly calls him “foolish”, but it doesn’t register, really, since she ends up calling him “gallant”.
That’s what angers people. That the Torture Curse is the most horrible, awful thing you can do to people… unless you’re Harry Potter, in which case it is a little “foolish”, but mostly “gallant”.
......................
But of course, little Anon over here isn’t angered. Because little Anon is a faithful devoted member of the Church of Harry Christ Our Lord And Saviour. Little Anon can say enormities like A pAiNfUl StUnNeR and believe it with the whole force of their little Anon heart, because uwu Hawwy speshul orphan pure lurve uwu.
Little Anon, please get the fuck out of my blog and never, ever come back. I’m sure this arrangement will be beneficial for everyone involved.
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thewatsonbeekeepers · 4 years ago
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Chapter 12: Three Men in a Boat [TFP 2/3]
[This was completely missing from my tumblr, via every search function and everything! So I’ve reuploaded - thanks anon for letting me know!!]
This section of the meta is going to deal with the events at Sherrinford – I’ve broken TFP up into three sections to try and get the most out of it. This isn’t just a read through like the first part of the meta, it has a specific structure, much like Eurus’s trials for the boys, so it’s really important to take this bit in one chapter. My hypothesis is thus – that each episode of s4 has been a different obstacle to be broken through in Sherlock’s mind, and that each of them is represented by one of the different Sherrinford tasks. It’s essentially an illumination of Sherlock’s progress through his mind – but it’s set up by Eurus, who is Sherlock’s mental barrier, so these are going to represent Sherlock’s darkest fears about each of the obstacles. Ready? Let’s go.
We take up the episode at the pirate hijacking, which is quite BAMF, but also illuminates a couple of things that we should bear in mind going into this episode. The first is that the transition from a blown up Baker Street to Sherlock and John hijacking a boat without a scratch on them is absolutely bizarre and leaves SO many questions – it’s dream-jumping of the most obvious kind. The second is that water has played a long role as a metaphor through the show, particularly in the EMP sequence, and it’s climaxing now – we are in the deepest waters of Sherlock’s mind.
Mycroft and John working together in the disguise sequence is metaphorically lovely – in the Oscar Wilde scene of the last part we saw Sherlock’s brain and heart finally coming together, and here for the first time they’re working together to give Sherlock the ability to go and confront Eurus. This is what makes Mycroft’s line so powerful. He says:
Say thank you to Doctor Watson. […] He talked me out of Lady Bracknell – this could have been very different.
Comic throwaway? Maybe. But given what we know about Lady Bracknell from the first part, this also has a more powerful meaning – heart!John finally stopped brain!Mycroft from being an obstructive force in Sherlock’s psyche, and they started working together instead to save him. This could have been very different is far more loaded than it sounds. All this whilst creating an image of Mark Gatiss as a Victorian aunt – wonderful.
When we first meet Eurus proper, her similarity to Sherlock is striking. She plays the violin – this isn’t a Holmes thing, because Mycroft doesn’t – it’s Sherlock’s motif throughout. Her hair is like a feminine Sherlock, her pallor and cheekbones match Cumberbatch. For reference, this is a picture of Sian Brooke and Benedict Cumberbatch together in real life.
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I’ve done a section on why I think Eurus is the most repressed part of Sherlock’s psyche, and his traumatic barrier to love and life – I sometimes glibly refer to this as gay trauma, but that’s its essence. The similarity between Brooke and Cumberbatch in this scene is really compelling, looking the same but lit and dressed in opposite colours. Similarity and difference both highlighted. Even nicer, the white of Sherlock’s shirt is the same notable brightness as Eurus’s uniform, but it’s hidden under his jacket – a visual metaphor for her being hidden inside him.
Eurus gives Sherlock a Stradivarius as a gift. This should set alarm bells ringing for anybody who has seen TPLoSH. If you haven’t seen The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, please do so immediately because my God you are missing out, but TLDR – a Russian ballerina offers Holmes a Stradivarius to have sex with her so she can have a brainy child, and he declines because he’s gay. (This is not just my interpretation, this is genuinely what happens, just to be clear.) Eurus giving Sherlock a Stradivarius is a deliberate callback to the film which Mofftiss cite as their biggest inspiration; just like the ballerina tempted Holmes to feign heterosexuality, so does Eurus – and both make clear that it’s not without its rewards, which is unfortunately true for real life as well. This moment in Sherlock’s psyche also recalls the desperate unrequitedness of Holmes’s love for Watson in TPLoSH, a reference to our Sherlock’s deepest fear at the moment – he has realised his importance but not John’s romantic/sexual love for him, as we’ll see. So here, trauma!Eurus isn’t just referencing closetedness, but is actively drawing on a history of character repression with which to torment Sherlock – metafictionality at its finest.
The Stradivarius is specifically associated with closetedness, but violins more generally in the show are used to show expressions of love that can’t be voiced out loud – think of John and Mary’s wedding, or the desperate bowing of ASiB. So Eurus, gay trauma that she is, telling Sherlock that she taught him to play is a moment of distinct pain – she is the reason he can’t speak his love aloud, but instead has to speak in signs.
When Sherlock plays ‘him’, rather than Bach, to Eurus (he has a big Bach thing with Moriarty in s2, take from that what you will because I don’t know!), he’s playing Irene Adler’s theme. As a fandom, we’ve generally agreed on associating Irene’s theme with sexual love, which ties in nicely with Eurus’s question – has Sherlock had sex? It’s unanswered. At the end of ASiB, Irene calls Sherlock the virgin, suggesting that he hasn’t.
My favourite moment in s4 without a doubt is Jim dancing to I Want To Break Free. I know it’s the most boring thing to say, but my two greatest loves are Andrew Scott and Freddie Mercury, so it was like Christmas. Here it is also Christmas, but there are two possible timelines. I hypothesise that this refers to Christmas 2010, but it’s absolutely conceivable that it could be Christmas 2009. If we acknowledge that Sherlock is in a coma in 2014, then five years ago is Christmas 2009; however, given that we’ve jumped to 2015 in dream time, I’m going to make the guess that Jim’s visit to Sherrinford is supposed to take place in 2010. This ties up with the idea that this is when Moriarty first started taking an interest in Sherlock, who had never heard of him before ASiP, particularly as this is all in the EMP.
I firmly believe that Jim represents the fear that John is in danger – I highlight this in the chapter on HLV, where you’ll recall we first encounter Jim in the EMP and he sends Sherlock on his journey through the EMP with the words John Watson is definitely in danger – a pretty big sign. Even without this, though, his biggest threat to Sherlock has always been hurting John, whether in TRF or with the idea of burning the heart out of him with Semtex. It’s not unreasonable then to assume that MP!Jim first getting inside Sherlock’s subconscious to represent this fear happens in 2010, when he first meets John. He slips in and stays there, and he melds with Eurus. We see this in the powerful visual of the two of them dancing in front of the glass as Jim’s image slowly becomes Eurus’s reflection – the fear of John dying embeds itself into the gay trauma that Sherlock has stored up, even without him realising it. This ties in nicely with the choice of I Want to Break Free, which is famous for its use of drag in the music video – Jim melding into Eurus is the dark side of queer genderbending that we hate to see. It’s also a pretty fitting song name for an intensifying of repressed gay trauma, even without the association with queer king Mercury.
[A side note to all of this – there were wonderful TEH metas about trains in tunnels being sexual, which isn’t just a tjlc thing but is a well-established idea in cinema – Moriarty’s consistent train noises here seem like a horrifyingly inverted version of that sexual longing.]
Task 1 – The Six Thatchers
The governor is set up as a mirror for John in this task, which provides some helpful context for the episode as a whole. Heart!John makes this comparison himself, by drawing out the similarity between the situation with the governor’s wife and his with Mary, though in this case the governor does kill himself because of his wife – or so it seems. The suicidal instinct matches with everything we’ve learned about John in s4, but I want to hypothesise, perhaps tenuously, that he’s more connected with Eurus than we might think. We know that Eurus has had control of the governor for quite some time, and one of the things we hear her saying to the governor in the background of the interrogations is that he shouldn’t trust his wife. This is an odd thing to pepper into the background when he’s about to commit suicide for her, and perhaps suggests that he’s more of Eurus’s pawn than he lets on, though I grant this may be spurious.
The idea that he distrusts his wife because of Eurus is important, however, because we’ve already seen John engage with Eurus in various forms, but this seems like an extension of E; Eurus, aka Sherlock’s hidden self, has been making John doubt Mary, even before she shoots Sherlock. John cannot know she’s a spy at this point, so it’s unlikely he’s doubting her goodwill; he’s simply doubting her.
Before we look at how the actual task impacts the governor and how that illustrates what’s really going on in TST, it’s worth pointing out that it is the governor’s engagement with Eurus which prompts the entire shutdown of Sherrinford and forces Sherlock (with brain!Mycroft and heart!John ever at his side, of course) to engage once and for all with Eurus. This points to everything that s4 has been telling us – that Sherlock’s understanding of the relationship between him and John, including his power to save him (we’re going to see the governor play the foil here) is what sends his brain into stay-alive-overdrive. Sherrinford is the peak of this.
Summary of the task, for those who hate TFP: Sherlock is given a gun and told he can pick either John or Mycroft to kill the governor, otherwise the governor’s wife will be killed by Eurus. As I’ve written about in its chapters, TST is about Sherlock trying to get to the bottom of Mary and why she tried to kill him – and, of course, the impact this will have on John. In brief, by displacing the shot onto Mary in his mind, he’s discounting his own importance and instead thinking about what it will mean for John to lose Mary. His greatest fear is that losing Mary will break John, and it isn’t until the end of TLD that he recognises that the return of John’s suicidal ideation isn’t over Mary, but over him. TFP presents the horror version, the version of TST that Sherlock’s trauma wants him to believe but which he has to overcome. In this case, Mycroft and John resolve to keep the governor alive in their passivity, but that passivity – Sherlock’s coma – is not enough to keep the governor from killing himself over Mary. This is the most feared outcome from Mary’s death that Sherlock can think of – his fear of losing John combined with John’s love of Mary, which in TST Sherlock is still taking as read.
Double naming in this show should never be neglected, and in this case we learn shortly before the governor dies that his name is David. Again, the dramatic manner in which we learn this (on the moment of execution) draws our attention to it – we know another David in this show.
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Yup – Mary's ex who’s still in love with her from TSoT. So even though Sherlock is experiencing the panic of John killing himself for loss of Mary, his subconscious is still pointing out to him that that’s not what’s happening here. This mirror version of John that he has set up, who is broken by the loss of Mary as Sherlock fears in TST, is actually the other man in Mary’s life – even with Eurus forcing the worst possible scenario onto him, this still can’t quite fit John’s character. And so we move onto the second task.
Task 2 – The Lying Detective
This section of the Sherrinford saga is the three Garridebs, the closest thing that the fandom has ever got to a collective trauma. I do think, however, that it’s fully reclaimable for tjlc and means the same as we always wanted it to; I also think that it’s possibly the most gutting part of Eurus’s metatfictional power play.
If you haven’t read The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, it’s quite short and the most johnlocky of the Holmes canon, so I’d thoroughly recommend. For the purposes of mapping bbc!verse onto acd!verse, however, here’s the incredibly short version. A man called Evans wants to burgle Nathan Garrideb, so he calls himself John Garrideb and writes an advertisement from a man called Alexander Hamilton Garrideb (make of that what you will, hamilstans) declaring that he wants to bequeath his fortune to three Garridebs. “John” gets someone to pretend to be a Howard Garrideb to get Nathan out of the house to meet him – he comes to burgle the house but Holmes and Watson are lying in wait. He shoots Watson, and Holmes thinks Watson is seriously injured and so we have this wonderful section:
“You’re not hurt, Watson? For God’s sake, say you are not hurt!”
It was worth a wound–it was worth many wounds–to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.
“It’s nothing, Holmes. It’s a mere scratch.”
He had ripped up my trousers with his pocket-knife.
“You are right,” he cried with an immense sigh of relief. “It is quite superficial.” His face set like flint as he glared at our prisoner, who was sitting up with a dazed face. “By the Lord, it is as well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive. Now, sir, what have you to say for yourself?”
Mofftiss have referenced this moment as being the greatest in the Holmes canon for them, the moment when we see the depth of Holmes’s affection for Watson, and so it seems odd to waste it on such a tiny moment in TFP. Many fans, myself included, were really upset to see Eurus drop all three Garridebs into the sea, the implication being that tjlc would never be real, and it was that moment that caused many (including me) to walk away. I came back, obviously, but I completely understand why you wouldn’t. However, I want to map one Garridebs story onto the other to show how they might match up.
The Garridebs that Eurus presents us with are not the three Garridebs from the story. In the story, there are three physically present Garridebs – Nathan, John and Howard – although admittedly only Nathan is an actual Garrideb. Alexander was completely invented by John and existed only in a newspaper advertisement. Evans, alias John Garrideb, is the criminal in the Garridebs story; Alexander is an invention.
So – what happens if we substitute John for Alex in bbc!verse, as in canon they are the same person? This is interesting, because double-naming means that John becomes the killer. Whilst it’s true that John Garrideb is known as Killer Evans for his murder of a counterfeiter back in America, in canon he is done for attempted murder – of John Watson, of course. Here we have a situation where a John is set up killing John. This is exacerbated by the victim in bbc!verse being called Evans; Roger Prescott, the counterfeiter, would have been a much more canonical nod to the books, so we can assume that the choice of Evans is therefore significant. It should be noted that Evans and John/Alex Garrideb are the same person in acd!canon - so killing Evans is a representation of suicide. But, in case we weren’t there yet, the reason that Evans took the name ‘John’ is acd!canon is very likely to be because Evan is Welsh for John – so whatever way you look at this situation, you have Sherlock deducing John killing John.
This is, of course, exactly what Sherlock deduces at the end of TLD, far too slow, when we see Eurus shoot John in an exact mirror of the shot from TST – I explained in a previous chapter why this means that John is suicidal without Sherlock. However, much like the passivity of Sherlock, John and Mycroft in the first task, here we see that Sherlock’s act of deduction is good, but can’t actually save anyone; Eurus kills off our Garridebs moment as Sherlock is left to watch, and it’s notable that heart!John is the most distressed about this. Remember, in the first task Eurus left Sherlock with an image of a John who was suicidally devoted to Mary, and although the Garridebs moment is one which metafictionally highlights the relationship between Sherlock and John, she’s still presenting him with a Garridebs moment in which he is fundamentally unable to save John. This is a direct result of the Redbeard trauma that Sherlock has experienced – helplessness is key to that, and this is what Eurus has come to represent in his psyche. But – Eurus isn’t real, Eurus is testing Sherlock, trauma trying to bring him down, and Sherlock’s job in TFP is to break through the walls that his consciousness has set up for him.
The power in Sherlock saying I condemn Alex Garrideb is heartbreaking, then, because it is Sherlock recognising that he is the reason that John is going to die. Eurus is there to make him confront that reality, which she explicitly makes him do. We get the split-second moment where he thinks he’s saved Alex, and then he’s plunged into the sea – but remember, this is Eurus taunting Sherlock, presenting him with worst-possible-scenarios. TFP is set up as a game for a reason – it is a series of hypotheses cast in Sherlock’s mind by his trauma that he has to break through one by one. Remember, although she’s ostensibly trying to hurt Sherlock, Eurus’s ‘extra’ murders in the first two tasks are aimed at hurting John, which wouldn’t make sense if he weren’t the mp version of Sherlock’s heart.
Task 3 – The Final Problem
Pretty much straight after this episode aired, people were pointing out that Molly is a clear John mirror and that pretty much all of the deductions Sherlock makes here could be about John. Again, we’re seeing Sherlock’s emotions being resolved in a heterosexual context – the presence of Eurus means that he’s unable to process them in their real, queer form. However, if we take Molly to be a stand-in for John in this scene, it may tell us what TFP is about – and the scenario that Eurus presents will be the worst one, the thing that is causing Sherlock the most pain.
TLD/the previous task have shown us that John is in imminent danger, so the transition to Molly Hooper’s flat being rigged with bombs is not a difficult one; we must assume this to be the suicidal ideation that we’ve just deduced. The time limit suggests that Sherlock is running out of time to save him (fucking right he fell into a coma SIX YEARS AGO). Putting Molly in a bad mood isn’t really necessary for this scene – they make her seem a lot more depressed than she would necessarily need to be, and they emphasise her aloneness and her ability to push people away, which isn’t something we know Molly to do. These traits are all much more important in the context of a suicidal John – they paint a much clearer picture of someone who is depressed and alone than we really need for this scene, where it’s not relevant to the surface plot.
Sherlock and the audience believe he has won this task, but of course he hasn’t - there were never any explosives rigged up in Molly’s flat, and it was a ruse to destroy his relationship with Molly. This is what he fears then – what if he’s wrong? What if coming back to life because he loves John won’t save him – it will destroy him and their relationship? The problem to be wrestled with is how to save John – according to the symmetry of these tasks, that is the final problem. We know that the scenario Eurus has presented isn’t real, but Sherlock doesn’t; he is being held up by his inability to cope with interpersonal relationships, and to get to the bottom of that we’re going to need to understand what he’s been repressing – part 3 of this meta.
There’s a wonderful shot just as Sherlock is destroying Molly’s coffin which zooms up and out through a ceiling window, all the way above Sherrinford, as though to emphasise not how remote Sherrinford is but just how deep inside it Sherlock is. Given what we know about the height metaphor as well as the water metaphor, this shot is a pretty clear way of telling us – this is as deep inside Sherlock’s mind as we go, this is the nub. But Sherlock smashing up the coffin has another powerful connotation – he's refusing death. In terms of metaphor, he’s refusing John’s death – there will be no small coffin, because he will not let it happen – but the visual of him smashing the coffin also suggests that he is rejecting his own death. The two are, of course, inextricably linked. Our boys’ lives are tied together.
Epilogue: The Hunger Games
I can’t watch this without thinking of The Hunger Games, I just can’t! But regardless of how much Sherlock seems like Katniss in this section, let’s press on. I don’t count this as one of the typical tasks, because this isn’t Eurus presenting a ‘haha I tricked you scenario’ - far from it. This is Sherlock’s way into unlocking his repression. The key takeaway from this scene, as we’ll see is that trauma has hurt Sherlock, and it’s going to try pretty hard here to mutilate him – but it can’t kill him.
We get a great line from Sherlock at the beginning of this, where he tells John that the way Eurus is treating him isn’t torture, it’s vivisection. Because it’s an experiment? Perhaps. But the more logical way to phrase this would be that it isn’t vivisection, it’s torture. Torture is much more emotionally charged than vivisection as a phrase – from a writer’s perspective, this phrasing is strange because it seems to negate rather than intensify the pain our characters are undergoing. Why, then, would vivisection be more important than torture? Well, put simply, vivisection is the act of cutting someone open and seeing what’s inside – and that’s what we’re doing. This isn’t just an analogy for experimenting on people, it’s an analogy for going literally inside somebody. In EMP world, then, these words are well chosen.
Sherlock is offered the choice – John or Mycroft? Heart or brain? We might initially think that this is Eurus pressuring Sherlock into death, but that’s not the case at all – we know from the early series that Sherlock has survived before (although very unhappily) with just one of these two dominating the other. It has taken his EMP journey to unite them into a functioning entity, and Eurus is bent on destroying that, mutilating either his emotional capacity or his reasoning, the two parts that make him human. This is a good sign, as well, that trauma has been acting on Sherlock through the first three series, when his psyche was dominated by brain!Mycroft - Eurus is keen to revert to that state, when trauma had control. It is touching, then, that brain!Mycroft is willing to relinquish that control and leave Sherlock with his heart, perhaps because this new unity allows him to recognise how damaged the Sherlock he created was. We should also note that this diminishing of Sherlock’s heart is compared to his Lady Bracknell, which we know to be his repression of all Sherlock’s romantic/sexual impulses – except this time it’s less convincing, because his brain doesn’t believe it anymore. What is also devastating is heart!John’s lack of self-esteem or knowledge, the sense that he isn’t useful to Sherlock, which of course will be proven wrong.
[if anyone has thoughts on the white rectangle on the floor, do let me know. It’s bugging me!]
Mycroft says that he acknowledges there is a heart somewhere inside of him – again, this is emotionally powerful in the context of the brain/heart wrangling that we’ve seen inside the EMP. Just as Sherlock’s psyche has tried to compartmentalise them all this time and they’re finally working together, now there’s an acknowledgement that the compartmentalisation into personae is maybe inaccurate as well – brain!Mycroft’s pretence to be emotionally detached is not in fact correct, as we’ve been suspecting for a long time.
Brain!Mycroft also states that it’s his fault that this has all happened because he let Eurus converse with Jim. If you spend any time thinking about the Eurus + Jim meeting, like many elements of this show it doesn’t make sense. There isn’t a feasible way this could have been planned, recorded etc in five minutes, and although it’s true that Jim could have come back to shoot the videos under the governor’s supervision, it’s not clear why he’s so important. Unless he takes on the metaphorical significance that we’ve assigned him, letting Jim see Eurus seems pretty unimportant – he is only the garnishing on Eurus’s plan. Instead, Mycroft is at fault for letting John be in danger – not only did Sherlock misdeduce Mary (although we can lay the blame for that at the feet of heart!John - see meta on TST), his reasoning was blinded and so he missed John’s suicidal urges and the danger to his life. Brain!Mycroft holds himself responsible – all of these EMP deductions are way late, comprised of things Sherlock should have noticed when his brain wasn’t letting his heart in.
Five minutes. It took her five minutes to do this to all of us.
The lighting is dramatic, so I can’t properly gauge Ben’s expression at this moment, but his eyes look crinkled in confusion, just like they are at the moments when a sense of unreality starts to set in in TAB. Indeed, these aren’t very appropriate words for when you’re about to kill your brother; it’s like he’s being distracted, like there’s something important that he’s missing. Mofftiss are drawing attention to the sheer impossibility of the situation – and Sherlock’s nearly there. His Katniss Everdeen move, threatening to kill himself, is the recognition that his trauma doesn’t have that power – it can hurt him and deform him by twisting his psyche into unbalance, like it has before and like Eurus is trying to here, but it cannot kill him. We can see that Sherlock has risen above the one-sided dominance that he began the entire show with when Eurus shouts at him that he doesn’t know about Redbeard yet – that’s not going to change his mind today, but it’s a direct throwback to the days when it would have, in ASiP with the cabbie. Character development, folks.
The shot of Sherlock falling backwards into the dark water links to two aspects of the EMP. One is the continued metaphor of water to represent sinking into the depths of his mind. The water is so dark it looks oily – it could be argued that this is the oil that is corrupting the waters of his mind as we finally cut to the repressed memories. I quite like this reading, though I have little other oil imagery to link it to in the show. The other notable point is the slow-motion fall backwards – instead of showing Sherlock, John and Mycroft all falling, we cut to Sherlock falling backwards exactly like he did in HLV when he was shot by Mary. This is a really clear visual callback. Even though we’re going deeper, we’re linking back to the original shooting, back in reality, suggesting that this depth is paradoxically going to lead us back to the start. To go back to the oil imagery, don’t forget that oil floats on water – although it looks like we’re sinking, there’s a real sense that these repressed memories are actually pulling us to the surface of Sherlock’s subconscious, quite unlike the deep zoom out we saw when Sherlock was destroying the coffin.
And that’s it for part 2 of the TFP meta! Part 3/3 will deal with such highlights as John not being able to recognise bones and presumably getting his feet pulled off by chains. Good thing this is just a dream. See you then!
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anime-lover-forever-1127 · 3 years ago
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The Sadist’s Nurse {Okita Sougo} - 1.This Is Only The First Chapter And I Can't Think Of A Title. How Am I Gonna Survive The Entire Fanfiction?!  Well Good Thing This Is A Gintama Fanfiction,  So I Can Do This
This Is Only The First Chapter And I Can't Think Of A Title. How Am I Gonna Survive The Entire Fanfiction?!
Well Good Thing This Is A Gintama Fanfiction,
So I Can Do This ^
Disclaimer - (Cause fanfiction is tricky ground and I hope not to offend the creator of the original story and get sued)
I do not own "Gintama", it belongs to its original creator Hideaki Sorachi - or as we may know him, the Gorilla (If you did not get that reference, then I'd like you to stop, and ask yourself - Are You A Real Gintama Fan?) . This is only a fanfiction that I was inspired to write by the original work. Please support the official release. Most of the media - such as the art and illustrations, gifs, video's, etc. used in this fanfiction - are from the web. Thus, most of them aren't mine (because I really, really can't draw) unless mentioned. To fit the story, images are also edited by various apps and websites. So they aren't mine, just edited.
Also if you own a picture or Video that I found online, and you either want your name added, or me to take it down. Please contact me and we can talk it out. P.s. I also ask that you do not copy my work and publish it onto any other website.
If you're gonna use my idea, please ask me (If you ask nicely, I for sure, will agree). If I don't contact you within a week, then just assume I'm giving you the all clear and go for it. Just remember to credit me.
I will be writing out scenes even if my Oc isn't in them. As long as she's mentioned, or influencing the characters in some way. Or maybe because it influences the story. This may seem a bit annoying. But that's just how I write. I like to embed my characters into the story line. Because of this, most of the dialogue/scenes will come from the original work.
I may not get all the references in the story - because I haven't watched all those anime - so sorry if I butchere those those ones. (It goes without saying that I don't own any of those as well)
*****
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Warnings: Spoilers for episode 5
Today's Special
Never let your best friends get lonely...
Keep disturbing them
~ Unknown
*****
Akira watched her brother mutter to himself as he spied out the window.
"Okita wake up." Hijita said, balling up Katsura's wanted poster up and hitting the sleeping man on the head with it. The main reason he did that being that he didn't like how at home he looked sleeping on his precious baby sisters lap.
Akira stopped running her hands through the man's soft locks as he got up.
"I'm surprised that you could sleep through that explosion." Hijikata said.
"Explosion?" Sougo questioned. "Did you let the terrorists attack again?" He asked, pulling down his sleeping mask. "What's your problem, Hijikata? You need to apply yourself. Take a page out of Akira's book."
"Me! You're the one who needs to take a page out of her book and stop sleeping on the job." Hijikata shouts, grabbing his sword's hilt. "They can blow up all the Amanto for all I care. I'll let those fishes swim for a bit before I'll reel 'em up… and cut their necks." He drew his sword, pushing his palm against the flat side of the blade. "It'll be a proud moment for the shinsengumi. I'm looking forward to this fight."
"If that's settled. Then let's head back to the base and we can decide what action to take there." Akira suggests.
*****
"Oh? So we finally found them?" Kondo asks.
Hijikata nods, "Yes. Yamazaki is following them right now. It's only a matter of time before we discover their base, Kondo-san."
"Yeah. But it wouldn't be the first time we've thought that. We gotta be careful or they'll slip right through our fingers again." says Akira, as she leans against the door frame.
"That's fine. We'll just have to be careful. Goodwork, Toshi."
"It's too soon to thank me." The vice-chief says, he turns around to look at their boss. "Save it for after we've killed them!"
"That is smart. You know it's just like the saying goes. It's never a good idea to count your chickens before they hatch." Akira nods.
"That's right." Konod agrees, "The Shinsengumi only give credit after distinguished military service. We, the Shinsengumi, belong in battle. " Kondo nods.
Hijikata smirks, "You're the chief. I'm only following orders."
"I'm counting on you, Toshi." Says the older man.
"We'll in that case. I better go check the medical stock and get the room ready." Akira says. "Someone around here, and by that I mean me, has to make sure you idiots don't bleed out and kill yourselves."
*****
Akira watches from the sidelines as a Shinsengumi unit charges forward, her brother and childhood friend at the helm. Leading the attack.
"You're under arrest!" yells Hijikata, kicking the door down. "Come quietly, you terrorist scum!"
"It's the Shinsengumi!"
"Oh no! Run away!"
And other similar shouts were heard from the room.
"Kill them all!" Hijikata shouted, pointing his sword forward.
"Actually Aniki. We should take some of them alive. I highly doubt that this is the entire army." says Akira, coming up to stand beside the two commanding officers.
"She's right you know Hijikata-san." Sougo says, and never one to miss out on an opportunity to annoy the older man, he adds, "I feel bad for Akira-chan. Always having to pick up her oniisan's slack."
"Why you-" Hijikata starts to growl, only to be cut off with a slap to the head.
"Hey. Why did you do that?" He asked, rubbing his head.
"Because well you two are here, bickering like children. The enemy is getting away." Akira answers, her hands on her hips. "Now go, before I decide to hit you with something a lot harder."
"Fine. Let's go Sougo."
*****
Within minutes there were injured Shinsengumi members coming to Akira to get their injuries looked at.
"You can continue to fight." She says to a member of the 2and squad. "Oh, and well you're out there. Can you please try to capture one of the Jouishishi members alive. We could use a bit more intel on their future operations. oK."
"Of course Akira-san." The man nodded, picking his sword up and running off into the battle again.
Seeing no more people, Akira poked her head around the corner to see all the members standing outside a barricaded door.
Seeing that the fight was practically over, she walked over to the group of men.
"This again? Where do they think they're gonna go?" Akira wonders, as one of her fingers tap against her cheek.
"Who knows what's ever going on inside those terrorists' heads." A Shinsengumi member answered.
"Hey, come out. We're really going to fire this time." Sougo shouted at the door. His thumb and pointer finger holds his chin, as his arm rests on the palm of his other hand. "Hijikata-san, our evening soap rerun is going to start soon."
"Did you remember to set our VCR?" Akira asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Geez. I forgot." He answers.
"Great. Note to self. Don't give you that job again." pouts Akira. She then turns around to the men and shouts, "Come on people. Let's wrap this up. We have 45 minutes to get back to the base. So let's finish this up today ladies."
"Dam. I didn't know she could be so mean." One of the newer members mumbles.
"Yeah. I thought she was known for being nice."
"She usually is. But since you two are new here, you don't really know her and you haven't seen anything yet either. Wait till her favorite store is selling strawberry cake. Then you realise how mean she can truly be. She'll tear you the shreds and then sew you back up together again. There are a couple of unwritten rules in the Shinsengumi. Ones that you'll have to learn if you intend to survive here." Another one answers.
Getting sick of the mutters, Hijikata shouted, "You heard the women. Let's get this over with. Prepare to fire!"
Just as the explosive was about to be launched, the barricade broke open from the other side as three people jumped out.
"Wh-what are you doing?! Stop them!" shouted Akira, surprised.
A puffy silver haired man continued to charge forward, holding something round in his hand. "If you want to stop something, then stop this bomb, please!" He said.
"You have a bomb squad, don't you?"
"He's got a bomb." Someone shouted.
As the group of men in black ran away from the trio, Akira simply grabbed the vice-chief and first division captain and pulled them to the side and let the group run right past them.
"Normally i'd say that we should stick around and help them out. But I'm dying to see who killed Gyuki. If we go now, we can make it right before the opening credits finish." Akira smirked.
"Don't we need to stick around?" Toshi asks.
Raising an eyebrow, Akira fires back, "Do you wanna stick around?"
"Hell no" The two men answer in unison.
*****
Legend/translation:
Aniki - Your own older brother, not to be confused with oniisan, which means someone else's older brother.
I also feel like I need to clear up the topic of her hair colour. It's mostly black, but under certain lighting, it looks brown.
I also understand the difference between a doctor and a nurse. And, yes, she really is a doctor. But let's all be honest, 'The Sadist's Nurse' has a much better ring to it then, 'The Sadist's Doctor'. It honestly just rolls off the tongue better.
You can read the other chapters of this story (in order) on Wattpad, Quotev, Fanfiction.Net, Ao3, or Webnovel - Under the username Animeloverforever1127 (Under the same title of course). Or you could shuffle around my tumbler, (I’ll try to keep my tags constant) but I’d go with the first - just seems like a lot less work.
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