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huffle-dork · 3 months ago

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Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 11: SepticPirates

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

There's slight movement all throughout the night, as the crew of a pirate ship never really falls asleep. But as morning dawns, movement picks up. The crew is getting up, getting ready to cast off. Some of them grumble and hold their heads, and there's a steady stream of people heading towards the doctor's office.

The Brody brothers slowly start to wake up, groggily taking in the sight of the crew moving.

Alt groans and covers his face with his arm, curling back up in the hammock. “…fucking hell-“

Bro on the other hand seems perfectly chipper as finishes waking up and hops out of his hammock. He ties the slash back on his head and grins down at Alt. “Morning bro!”

“Shhhhh-“ Alt groans, waving a hand his way.

Bro laughs quietly. “Went a little too hard huh?”

“Shush up ‘fore I blast that smug look of yer face-“ Alt mumbles in the hammock’s fabric.

Bro just laughs again and lightly pats his head. “I’ll get you some water-“ Bro then hurries onto deck, squinting but smiling at the morning sun.

The early morning has dawned bright blue. There's a lot of rope tying and cargo storing happening up on deck, a surprising amount of movement.

"Ah, me! Or, uh—other me!" The speaker is Chase himself, standing up at the helm, speaking with the same woman who'd been manning it last night. Chase's hat is pulled low over his eyes as he waves at Bro. "How are you feeling? And your brother?"

Bro looks around for a bit then turns around and grins up at Chase, heading over to them. “Oh I feel grand, honestly.” He laughs, “Alt’s having a hard go at it though.”

"Really?" Chase looks at Bro in surprise. "Grand, hmm? Your witchcraft must be very special." He laughs.

“Eh yeah my powers help me recover from stuff pretty quick- sucks ass when I wanna be drunk though.” Bro laughs.

"Well. Does your glass eye tell you where to go?"

Bro blinks and digs around in his pockets finding the tracker. “Oh right!”

The tracker tells him that they’ll have to head due southwest. “Due… southwest-“ Bro says slowly and looks back at Chase, “Is that enough?”

"Aye, that's perfect!" Chase nods.

Next to him, the helmswoman takes out a compass, turning in place for a moment before finding their direction. "Everyone! Get ready to cast off! Loose the sails! Hoist the anchor! We're heading southwest!"

Activity on the deck immediately kicks up. A handful of crew swarm the center and start pushing some sort of massive dial in the center: hoisting the anchor. Others start climbing the rigging up towards the sails.

Bro looks around at everyone rushing around and grins, thinking of his last adventure on a ship. He didn’t really get to enjoy it last time since he was so worried about Alt.

Below deck, Marvin walks up to Alt's hammock, leaning down and waving for attention. "Headache? Easy to overindulge, isn't it? Here." He holds out a wooden tankard for Alt. "Water mixed with some lemon and tri-weed. The texture isn't the greatest but it works wonders for this."

Alt makes a grumbling noise and peeks his eye out from under his arm, squinting at Marvin. He fumbles for a second for a good way to hold it before carefully sipping at the water. He makes a face and sticks out his tongue. “Bleh-“

"I know, I know." Marvin nods. "But it does really help. I'd go to Henrik and get a tonic, but uh..." He glances over towards the doctor's office. "Looks like he'll be busy handing those out for a while. We're lucky they're really easy to make."

Alt grumbles and drinks some more, getting a bit more clarity. He looks at the line and makes a face, “Mm yeah- I wanna avoid that if I can…”

“Yep.” Marvin grins. “Well… when you’re feeling up to moving, head on up to the deck. Or don’t. You can stay down here if you want, I’m not your captain.”

Alt nods and leans back to nurse the tankard some more, “I’ll be up in a minute…” he slurs sleepily.

Marvin laughs and nods. "Alright. Sounds like things are picking up the pace up there, I'll go help. Be seeing you later." And he turns away, heading up towards the top deck.

Alt watches Marvin leave and then picks up on all the noise and curiously turns towards the sound. He looks down at the tankard and downs the rest of it before glitching up to the top of the stairs, watching everyone rush around with a bit of awe.

"Where the lock is Jackie?!" Chase shouts, climbing down the stairs from the helm deck to the top deck.

"I'm here." Jackie walks up from the stairs leading below, stopping next to Alt. He's squinting a bit. "Gods, it's bright out here."

"We're heading southwest, d'you still have that map?" Chase asks.

"Of course I do." Jackie reaches into a pocket and pulls out a square of paper. Or, well, it looks more like cloth than paper, some sort of yellowish material that's in between the two states. "Southwest, you said?" He unfolds the map. Looks like this is a miniature, less-detailed version of the world map in the captain's cabin.

Alt glitches up to look at the map next to Jackie, curiously tilting his head.

Bro hears the sounds of Alt’s glitching and grins, hoping onto the railing of the helm and then hanging off it upside down so his face is right by Jackie and Alt, “GOOD MORNING!” He greets brightly.

Alt yells in surprise and falls back on the stairs.

Bro winces, “ah- oops.”

"Damn fucking locker!" Jackie jumps backwards, teetering on the edge of the staircase, barely managing to keep his balance. "Gods. Good morning, Chase--other Chase." He shakes his head. "Going to send me off the side of the boat like that."

“Sorry! Thought it’d be funny!” Bro snickers.

Alt glitches back up and glares at Bro who just grins at him sheepishly before pulling himself back up onto the helm.

"Jackie!" Chase approaches him. "What's to the southwest?"

"Ah, right." Jackie checks the map. "The Jungle Islands, looks like. They're the nearest ports."

"Hmm. That's still pretty far."

"But that makes sense, doesn't it?" Marvin suddenly appears, Jameson beside him. "Ghost ships aren't exactly known for getting close to land. Oh Jackie, if we stop by Rojagua you can see the sweetheart you have in that direction."

"Wh--we are not sweethearts!" Jackie protests.

It's on and off again, Jameson says jokingly. If you get close to someone you like you become sweethearts while you're within range.

"There's one for each cardinal direction," Marvin adds in a teasing tone.

Alt blinks at Jackie and tilts his head with a smirk. “You have that many sweethearts?”

"I do not!" Jackie protests.

"Do we want to count out every one of them?" Marvin asks. "There's Rama in Rojagua, of course, that's the nearest one."

And that dark haired woman from Nordømme, JJ adds. Sigrun, or some such.

"Guys!" Jackie protests. "Don't forget Captain Chiu," Chase says. "Oh no you leave Fengge out of this! Leave all of them out of this!"

Alt glitches to sit up on the helm’s rail- and him and Bro share glances as they recognize some of those names.

Marvin laughs and looks at Alt. "Every time we get on land he finds someone to court for a moment, and then when it's time to leave he says something like 'sorry my first love is the sea' and they cut things off. Then we arrive in the area again and he says 'I wonder what they're up to' and ends up starting the whole thing over again."

"I'm open about my love life!" Jackie folds his arms. "If any of them had a problem with it, I wouldn't ask about it when I saw them again!"

Bro laughs, “No judgment here bro! I bet being on the sea can be like- lonely in the love department way.”

“That would explain why our Jackie doesn’t want to be disturbed when Zara gets home,” Alt smirks.

Bro laughs harder.

Oh, Zara? Jameson repeats, grinning. Jackie knows someone by that name, too. I believe she does research on ocean creatures--

Jackie shoves him lightly. "Oh shut your hand-mouths 'fore I smack you upset the head."

Jameson laughs.

Jackie rolls his eyes. "What about you and that Moizone guy, hmm? That Romitan commodore from the Inlet Sea?"

See, the difference is that I don't get all defensive with my love like you and Henrik do, Jameson says smugly.

Alt and Bro gasp in delight. “yo! That’s just like our Jackie’s wife!!”

“Oh he’s not gonna believe this at all.” Alt laughs.

“He’s gonna kill us for going on an adventure like this without him,” Bro shakes his head with a laugh.

Alt chuckles at Jameson’s comment, “I’ve noticed that! No matter what world the Jackies and Henriks get super flustered about their partners-“

“Well so do you, Alt,” Bro grins, “Should I tell them all about your tearful goodbye to Oliver?”

Alt’s face turns bright red and he slams his hands over bros mouth in a quick glitch, “No! No t-that’s okay!”

"Oliver?" Chase repeats, blinking. "Huh. you know, our captain, Jack, has a friend from Hangal who runs another crew, I think one of them was named something like that..."

"Really?" Jackie says, looking surprised.

"Oh yes, one of those four siblings who were the stewards," Marvin agrees.

Alt blinks and makes a face as he thinks- then he imagines Oli dressed as a pirate and he starts to blush more.

Bro gets tired of Alt’s hands on his mouth so- “Ack! Fucker did you lick me?!” Alt glitches back and shakes off his hand. “What are you, five?!”

Bro just giggles.

Suddenly, the sails unfurl, billowing white canvas rolling down and catching the wind. "We're underway, mate!" the helmswoman says. "Perfect!" Chase shouts back.

The brothers both look out as the sails unfurl. Alt watches with starry eyes.

The deck starts to sway more noticeably as the ship pulls away from the dock.

Alt feels the sway and yelps a bit, stumbling and holding out his arms to balance.

Bro grabs his arm to help and laughs. “It’s kinda weird to adjust to, huh?”

“It’s… so weird-“ Alt comments, wobbling along with the ship. He goes to the rail and clings to it.

"Prepare for about face!" Chase shouts. "Hard to starboard!"

"Aye, mate!" The helmswoman turns the wheel.

"Marvin, can you check the weather?" Chase asks.

"Of course." Marvin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of eight-sided dice made of ivory. They don't have numbers on their faces, but instead strange pictographs. He walks over to a section of the deck that's clear of crew and rolls them, his eyes briefly turning green--not glowing green, as Alt and Bro are used to seeing, but a more natural shift in the color of his irises. "Looking clear!"

Alt curiously watches Marvin use his dice. “Oh woah- are those.. divination dice…?”

Marvin looks back at him and grins. "Exactly! A set of divining dice for seeing the current fate." He scoops them up. "Here, hold them if you want." He then reaches into his pocket. "I also have these." He pulls out a set of 12-sided dice in different colors: green, white, red, black, and blue. "More powerful dice, if you want to see farther, or even try to influence circumstances a bit. You have no idea how expensive these are."

"Didn't you take those from that witch on Isla de Espada?" Jackie calls.

"She tried to kill us, it cancels out," Marvin shouts back. "I also have divining cards, too." He takes out a deck of cards. Their backs are dark blue, with intricate silver patterns forming waves, crystals, and an eye-like pattern in the center.

Alt’s eyes light up and he grins holding the dice in his hands. “Oh sweet- I gotta get more into divining… it’s really fascinating I just- usually work with more… combat related spells.”

"Hmm. Rare to get that sort of direct magic in this world," Marvin says, nodding slowly. "Witches here find more indirect ways easier, usually. Subtly changing the ways of the world. Forms of divination are my specialty, actually."

“Oh really? How does that work?” Alt asks, looking fascinated.

Bro makes a face, showing his disinterest at the magic talk to the others before he looks around and starts to climb the rigging again.

Jackie and Chase also seem to disperse with the sound of magic talk on the horizon, though Jameson lingers. Sam lands on a rope nearby and he feeds them a cracker.

"Lots of knowing what the symbols mean," Marvin says. "Here." He holds out the green jade d12. "Look at this. Sun, compass rose, lock, key, wave, cloud, and fish. Those are on the eight-sided ones, too. These twelve-sides also have skull, gem, lightning, and hourglass. Each can mean different things. Many people can memorize the meanings, but witches like us often know in our gut what they're meant to say. You roll, thinking of your question, willing the answer, and the dice will respond. There are other methods too, like the cards, like mirror-gazing, but you'll find most people like using the dice."

Alt leans in closely and tilts his head at the dice, looking them over. Then he grins. “That’s so cool! I know my mentor talks a lot about more subtle magic like this… stuff like- human witches do back at home. Focusing on gut feelings and using stuff like these… I haven’t been really good at them but the art of it is really fascinating!”

Marvin grins. "It can be hard to learn at first. How do you know that you're not seeing what you want to see? It takes a lot of practice. Here, do you want to try? Think of a question. The more vague it is, the more dice will give you results. The compass rose is a zero result you can ignore any dice that land on those."

Alt hums at this then nods. What should he ask? …there’s the biggest question on his mind- if his magic will be enough to stop the red Anti that’s hunting them down. Seems kinda like a serious question but… maybe this will help him. He keeps his question on his mind as he rolls.

There are seven dice in the set. They roll across the deck with a satisfying clacking sound. The pattern they land in is surprisingly regular, with one in the center surrounded by all the others in a circle. The center one has a key. The others alternate between wave and cloud.

Marvin whistles. "You must have asked a big question. Not a rose in sight. Of course, I don't know what you could have asked, but the clouds and waves together usually mean a time of difficulty--stormy weather, you know? The key is usually interpreted as a 'yes,' or generally an answer or solution."

Alt seems to relax and smiles to himself with a nod. “Okay… so… it’ll be difficult but- I… I can do it.” He looks up at Marvin and laughs, “Guess it was kinda a big question… we’ve been on a… kinda intense journey so far.”

Marvin raises an eyebrow. "Really? Oh! Let me see if I can figure it out." He reaches for the dice, then hesitates and takes out his cards instead. "I'm sensing these will be better."

Alt blinks a bit in surprise but he’s pretty curious how accurate Marvin will be. He perks up at the sight of the cards. “Oh! Are those… crystal eye? I’ve seen those before!”

"Crystaleye...? That sounds familiar, but I'm not sure where I've heard it," Marvin mutters.

“Oh, well… I’ve seen cards similar to these then,” Alt says sheepishly.

Marvin pulls out three cards and lays them down on the deck in a line, flipping them over. Each one has a name and illustration... tarot of some sort. The Shadow: Someone dressed in white standing against a wall, a black shadow cast behind them in a mirror image. This card is upside down. The Star: An eight-pointed star shining bright in the night sky. Time: An illustration of a clock space, stars swirling around it, the background whirls of purple and blue.

"Ah... so your journey has brought you in contact with some dark mirror of yourself," Marvin says. "And yet, there have been times of rest and rejuvenation. Even so, you've been forced to continue forward."

As Marvin reads out the cards, Alt winces a bit at the mention of the dark mirror, holding his arm and curling up some. “…yeah that’s… pretty spot on, actually.”

Marvin looks at him, a bit concerned. "Do you want... a card reading for the future of your journey? That might... assure you?"

Alt is quiet for a second before looking back at Marvin with a vulnerable expression. “…if you… wouldn’t mind-“ he says quietly.

Marvin nods. "Not at all. Here." He puts the three cards back into the deck and shuffles it, then draws three more and places them down in a line, turning them over one by one. Fracture: A colorful background split by a black, shattered, cracks. The Artist: A blue-haired woman sits at a blank easel, turned away so that only her back is visible. Aeon: A humanoid figure floating in the center of the card, their form glowing yellow and surrounded by waves of bright color.

"...huh. That's... not what the Artist illustration usually looks like," Marvin says slowly. "Normally it's a person with short red hair."

Alt furrows his eyebrows together, looking at the Artist card. “Huh… I… I know an artist with blue hair, she’s my friend… god it’s been ages though.”

Marvin shakes his head. "But in any case. It looks like you'll face a great disaster, yet with the help of something--creation, or a new idea, or some great swell of emotion--your journey will be fulfilled. Aeon often means a new dawn of some sort. The start of something new."

Alt nods to the prediction, humming to himself. “….creation or emotion huh…? I mean… I knew this journey was gonna be important but… damn. A-At least the cards seem to think we’ll win, that’s good.” He tries to laugh.

Marvin smiles encouragingly. "Exactly. The cards aren't perfect, of course. But if you reach for this future, I'm sure you have the power to make it happen."

Sam the bird suddenly swoops over, landing nearby and blowing away some of the cards with the wind from their wings. "Avast!" They squawk. "Swab the deck!"

"Sam!" Marvin quickly gathers up the cards and dice.

"Swab the deck!"

Jameson chuckles. Sounds like Sam wants you two to chip in.

Marvin jerks his head back towards the masts. "Alt's brother is just climbing around, does that count as chipping in?"

Bro is indeed, just climbing to the top of the rigging and looking out at the ocean with a big smile.

Alt rolls his eyes, “Feel free to tell him to find something to do.” He glitches to his feet and looks around, feeling a bit wobbly again. “…I dunno how to help out though…”

"I never do, either," Marvin says. "Jameson and Henrik get official positions, they don't have to help."

Jameson raises an eyebrow. I do try to pitch in where I can.

Marvin gets to his feet. "Chase?!"

"Aye?" Chase leans over from the deck above. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Ah, Alt doesn't have to, being a passenger, but if you can scrub the deck--"

Marvin groans.

"You asked!"

Alt hides a laugh behind his hand. “Oof- bad luck, mate.” He laughs. He then looks up above at Bro. He grins at Marvin then gives him a little salute. “Thanks for your help, dude- I’ll go check on my brother then~” he giggles before glitching away- up into the riggings with Bro. He fumbles for a second to get a good hold on them but Bro shouts and quickly helps to right him. “hey Alt! Didn’t expect ya to come up here!”

“Wanted to see what all the fuss was about-“ Alt grumbles, clinging onto the ropes and trying to sit like Bro was.

The older brother laughs. “Never thought you’d be one for heights~ but isn’t it great up here? The wind is nice and the view is…” He trails off as he sees Alt staring out at the open sea with wide starry eyes, the wind tousling his hair.

Bro smiles warmly.

The rigging jostles nearby and Jackie appears, climbing up to the crow's nest. "You got up here fast!" he comments, looking at Alt and chuckling. "Enjoying the view?"

It's nothing but endless blue wave all around. Up here, there's a slight breeze as the ship travels through the water.

Alt slowly nods, “I’ve… never seen anything like it.” He closes his eyes to feel the breeze.

There is also a faint image of a ship in the distance, with strange sails. Jackie squints into the distance. "Looks like a Zhongu ship over there. Can't see the colors from here."

Bro leans forward and squints at the ship. “I’m guessing that’s another country, right?” He asks Jackie.

"Mm-hmm. They have very distinctive sails." Jackie takes his map out again. It flaps a little in the wind. "Here, it's on Donfang continent, right there." He gestures awkwardly. There are only about three continents in this world, none of them bigger than Australia on Earth. Most of it is water and islands. "Fengge and Zara, who you heard everyone talking to me about earlier, are from Zhongu."

Bro hasn’t seen the map yet so he balks when he sees how much water there is. “Yo what the hell?! There’s like- barely any land at all on there?? Is your map broken?!”

Alt bursts into laughter.

Jackie blinks. "No? Well, it is a simpler version, but it's pretty accurate." He pauses. "Are you saying there's more land where you're from? Really?" He sounds just as incredulous about that as Bro is about how much water there is.

“Yeah dude! Where we’re from we have like- 7 huge continents! Most of them are bigger than these guys! And even so our world is like 70% water or some shit-“ Bro explains.

"Huh???" Jackie blinks. "Seven continents?! And even then it's still seven parts water?!" He looks down at his map again. "Well I'm sure some islands are missing... I think our world is eight parts water? Don't listen to me about that, though, I'm not good with numbers, that's why Jameson's the purser and not me." He laughs.

“That’s insane-“ Bro laughs. “But- I guess not every world would be made the same way… Alt I wonder if Glasuil was this different over all! Country wise at least-“

Alt shrugs, “Who knows? Maybe we can ask next time we go.”

Jackie shrugs too. "Well, everywhere has maps, you'll just need to find one of this ah... Glasúil place... What an unusual name. Reminds me of home, of Éire."

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were pretty similar,” Bro smiles.

Jackie points to an island on the east half of the map. "There, right next to Anglice. That's home. for me, at least. We have a whole bunch of crew members from different places. This is where Cutlass Cove, by the way." He indicates an even smaller island in the west, barely a dot. "You won't find that on many maps, believe you me. Trade secret."

“Seemed pretty bustling for somewhere that’s hidden on a map,” Alt observes.

Jackie laughs. "Every buccaneer this side of the Peridot Sea knows where Cutlass Cove is. It's a safe haven for us to trade goods and such. A bit closed to outsiders, though. But that's for good reason. Don't want a nation's navy or the Iris Armada to find it and take back all the things we've... liberated."

Alt and Bro pick up on that name, Iris, and give each other a look. That name seems to be everywhere.

“So full of pirates-“ Alt grins, “Pretty sick.”

"I'll assume that means 'good' in your world." Jackie grins right back.

“Yeah it does.” Alt laughs.

"Now. Would to like to see around the ship? the Septic Eye is a fine vessel, more than just these riggings--though they're the best part if you ask me." Jackie continues.

“Ohh a tour??” Bro asks excitedly, hanging a bit more on the ropes.

Alt makes a face then eventually shrugs, “Yeah- why not? Might as well explore.”

Jackie grins. "Back down to the deck, then!" He folds his map up and scrambles down the rigging. Like a little monkey.Bro laughs and climbs down a bit before jumping down and rolling like a parkourist onto the deck. Alt rolls his eyes at his brother’s antics and glitches down to the others.

"This is the main deck," Jackie says, gesturing around at everything. "In the center here, this is the mainmast, over in front is the foremast and in the back is the mizzenmast. The deck above the captain's cabin is called the quarterdeck, but we often call it the helm deck, since that's where the helm is. Do you know the directions of a ship? Port and starboard and all that?"

Bro nods along, repeating what Jackie says under his breath.

“Uh… vaguely,” Alt says sheepishly.

Jackie grins. "Bow, stern." He points towards the front of the boat and the back. "Port, starboard." Left and right, relative to the front of the ship. Alt points and repeats before nodding.

"We're going below now, heading down into the ship." He goes over to the staircase in the center, talking as he goes. "The hammocks are on the gun deck--you probably noticed the cannons. Or maybe you didn't, given your state last night."

They follow after Jackie and Alt blushes as he looks around, “yeah I… didn’t… notice…” Bro giggles.

"Ha!" Jackie giggles. "We're in the middle of the boat right now--amidships. The cannons line up towards the bow." He goes over to the side and pushes open a wooden trapdoor on the side, opening up a window that you can push the cannons out of.

Bro and Alt both comically peek their heads out of the cannon’s trapdoor.

"Over towards the stern are all the offices. For the officers, of course, though Chase doesn't use the first mate's place so we keep water and rum in there.”

“Huh- why doesn’t other me use the first mate’s place?” Bro wonders.

“There's also the--"

"Doctor's office?" Henrik appears out of nowhere.

Jackie jumps and spins around, closing the trapdoor. "Among other things. Hey, Hen! Good to see you finally got some time."

Bro also jumps and Alt glitches a bit in surprise. Then, Bro laughs. “morning Doc!”

"Hello." Henrik waves. He jerks his head back towards the stern. "Want to see the doctor's office? I have two headache tonics if you need them."

Alt blinks then laughs quietly, “…I wouldn’t mind one.” He doesn’t feel too super bad thanks to the drink Marvin gave him- but he can still feel one nagging at his skull.

Henrik chuckles. "Follow me, then." The group heads towards the back, where there are wooden doors that slide open. The doctor's office is the closest one, and Henrik pulls the door open, revealing a small wooden room with a desk and a bunch of trunks.

Bro blinks at the room, “Tiny-“ He comments lightly.

"And ah, the size is normal. Not much space on any ship. Why do you think we all sleep in hammocks and only the officers get rooms?" Henrik explains.

“That makes sense!” Bro laughs.

Henrik walks inside the office, "Did I hear you ask why Chase doesn't use the first mate's office? I think it is hard for him to get used to it. He started as a regular crew member, you know.”

“Oh really? Huh! Guess that would take some getting used to. How long have all of you been around?” Bro asks.

As Henrik opens up one of the trunks and reaches in for a tonic, Jackie talks. "I've been on the longest, for going on four years now? Henrik joined shortly after, about three and a half years now. Then Chase, and then Marvin, right around the same time. Jameson is the most recent, been here for about two years. I'm assuming that's all you mean by 'all of us.'"

Bro listens to Jackie and smiles nodding, “Yeah! So you guys all know each other pretty well then!”

"For sure!" Jackie smiles.

Henrik hands Alt a small, roughly-made glass bottle, about two inches tall. The creamy liquid inside is a pale pink. "You can mix that in with water if you want, or simply drink it, though some find the taste too strong."

Alt takes the bottle and looks at it with a raised eyebrow. …he should listen to Henrik and just find some water… but he’s so curious. He opens up the bottle and takes a small sip of the tonic.

The taste is remarkably close to the artificial grape taste that a lot of modern cough medicines come in. But it's clearly not that, at the same time.

Alt blinks in surprise at the taste then chuckles, “This tastes like the medicine I used to get as a boy.”

He takes a bit more then smiles at Henrik, “Thanks Schneep!”

"It does?" Henrik blinks, then laughs. "Schneep? What an unusual nickname."

Alt flushes a bit and grins timidly, “Uh- oops… that’s a nickname some if the others yous use-“

"I love it, I'm going to use it," Jackie says cheerfully. "Now, besides the doctor's office, we have the officer's quarters and the purser's office. That's where Jameson spends a lot of time."

"You know... I just realized, they probably do not know what a purser is," Henrik says. "That is the man who handles the money. Very important."

“Ooooh! That’s why he needs to be good at math!” Bro laughs, “Makes way more sense now!”

"Exactly." Jackie grins. "If I have to be honest with ye--not many of the crew know maths that well. Jameson's probably our best man for that."

“Oh huh- given the time and spending most of days at sea, guess you wouldn’t really need much maths.” Bro comments.

"Should I be offended, Jackie?" Henrik says jokingly.

"And Henrik. Oh--Schneep." Jackie laughs. Henrik chuckles as well. "So. You are giving them a tour? To the galley next, I am guessing?"

"The hold and the galley, yes." Jackie looks at Alt and Bro. "If you've seen everything here."

Alt stuffs the rest of the tonic in his pocket and nods, “I think we’re good! Lead on-“

"Alright!" Jackie grins. "Henrik, want to come with?"

Henrik shrugs. "Might as well."

The group heads down another set of stairs. "This is the orlop deck, it's where the galley is, as well as one of our cargo holds. Below that is the brig, another cargo hold for less essential cargo, and the bilge, where any excess water gets drained."

“Orlop~” Bro repeats and giggles, “That’s fun to say!” Then he blinks at the mention of the brig, “Ohhh the brig- those always sound so ominous.” He makes spooky fingers at Alt, “Imma send you to the brig, Alt!”

Alt scoffs and shoves at him, “You’re being a dork-“

Jackie laughs, but Henrik is serious. "The brig is no laughing matter. It is not a comfortable place."

"Oh come on, Henrik, don't be so serious," Jackie says, nudging him. "The word is funny, isn't it?"

"All Anglish words are funny to my ears."

"Oh, don't tell me Deutz words are not funny at all, either." Jackie laughs a little.

Bro straightens up and blinks, “Oh uh- sorry.”

"No, really, don't think about it too much," Jackie insists. "Henrik is really serious all the time, he has a stick up his--ow!" Henrik smacks the back of his head.

Jackie rubs his head. "In any case, here's all the cargo."

They are currently surrounded by stacks and stacks of barrels and crates. "This is mostly food and water... but we have the occasional something more exciting, too." He grins. "One time, we dug up a chest full of all these rubies. I'm not sure why people bury their treasure so much."

“Ooh that’s so cool!” Bro says, then he thinks, “…yeah why do they bury stuff? I swear I’d just forget-“

"That's what the maps are for, I guess," Jackie chuckles.

"They bury it so that others won't find the, ah, stash," Henrik says. "After all, they worked hard for that treasure, it would be terrible if their ship was sunk and all the treasure was lost."

Bro nods, “Ah right- cuz if something happened on the boat- it’d get lost to the sea. Damn… wonder how much treasure is just floating around down there.” He muses.

Alt glitches around a bit to look, peeking inside anything that’s open like a curious cat. He mostly sees food, like salted meat and flour for bread and the occasional crate of whole oranges. But there is one stack of boxes that is open and full of gold pieces of eight, along with smaller silver pieces, round bits of polished jade, and tiny gold coins with holes in the center.

"Hey, careful!" Jackie says as Alt looks into that one. "That's our spending coin."

Alt startles and glitches back up to look back at Jackie. He rubs his head and grins sheepishly, “S-sorry I was just curious-“

“Damn! That’s a lotta coin!” Bro whistles.

"Much like those people who bury treasure, not all of our coin is on the ship," Henrik says. "But yes, it's a lot. After all, there are many of us on this crew who needs shares of their own."

"Our most important stuff is--ah, well, that's probably not at liberty to be shared." Jackie chuckles.

Yeah keep that to yourselves,” Bro laughs.

"Want to see the brig?"

Bro perks up, “Sure! Gotta see if it’s as spooky as ya think!” Alt glitches back over to join back up with them.

They go down one more staircase. It's a bit dimmer down here, and the areas are separated by wooden walls, as opposed to the orlop deck where everything was open. There's a set of barred walls--four cells. No doubt that's the brig.

“…yeah it’s kinda spooky, not gonna lie.” Bro says with a nod. “Def would hate to be down here.”

"Yep, not a pleasant stay," Jackie says. "But luckily people don't stay down here that often. Jack didn't believe in it."

Henrik chuckles. "Though occasionally we did have to throw you in here to sober up when you went too far."

"Hey—I don't do that anymore! I know restraint!"

Henrik grins at the other two. "He used to be very wild."

“Ha! I can imagine that!” Bro snickers.

“How far is too far? Like- so drunk he’s gonna fall off the boat?” Alt asks with a laugh.

"Exactly." Henrik nods.

"That's in the past, I'm more careful now," Jackie says, waving it off. "In any case, it's around noon now. We should grab some food from the galley before it gets swarmed."

“Oh yeah! God I didn’t even realize I was hungry-“ Bro says with a laugh.

Alt nods in agreement, “Food is good.”

Jackie grins. "Let's go on up then! Cook won't be making an actual meal until dinnertime but we can grab things from the counters." He rushes up the staircase, Henrik right behind him. Alt and Bro trail after Henrik. "Hm... what are you wanting? We have just about everything, though I can't promise it'll be the best."

Bro hums and puts a finger to his chin, “hmmm I dunno! I don’t really know what to expect on a ship!”

Alt shrugs, “I’m not particularly picky. Whatever you all have is fine.”

"Let's see what's in store, then!" Jackie says.

The galley is towards the stern of the ship, built into one side with a small island of counters nearby. An older man is busy looking through the cupboards.

"Hello, Cook," Henrik says.

"Hello boys," the man says.

Bro waves at the Cook with a big smile. Alt nods politely.

"What can I do you for?" Cook asks.

"Lunch before the rush," Jackie says.

"Look around, then."

There's a variety of foods in the galley. Bread with crunchy crusts, cured and salted meats, some dried fruits and berries, a variety of nuts--and some fresh oranges and lemons. There are also bottles of rum.

"Ah, don't worry, these aren't strong," Jackie says, picking one up. "Mostly water, in fact, the rum is for taste."

“Oh that’s like us getting those flavor packets so Jackie would drink more water!” Bro snickers to Alt who laughs. They both look around and grab some of the bread and meat, Alt grabbing some of the dried berries and Bro grabbing an orange. He tries to play catch with it for a second.

Jackie grins. He grabs an orange as well, tossing it around. Bro grins back. Alt snorts at their antics.

"Idiots," Henrik mutters fondly, taking some bread for himself. "What is for dinner, Cook?"

"Using some of the veg to make a good stew for our guests," Cook says, nodding at Alt and Bro.

The brothers blink at the cook. “Fuck yeah, stew!” Bro says cheerfully. Alt tries not to laugh.

"You should be honored, we don't have stew often," Jackie says. "Gets stuck on the decks, can cause difficulties."

"This is a special occasion," Cook says.

“Daw- you’re gonna make us blush,” Bro laughs.

"And we'll probably have to have a hearty meal if something's coming up."

"Ah, yes, has your glass eye changed at all in direction?" Henrik says, looking at Alt and Bro.

Alt digs into his coat for his tracker and touches the pupil. “Oh yeah lemme see-“ The tracker says they must veer ten degrees to the south—pretty specific for directions.

Alt furrows his eyebrows in confusion and looks up at Jackie and Henrik, “it says… we need to steer 10 degrees to the south…?”

Jackie immediately takes his map out. "Hm... don't see anything in that bearing. But we're looking for a ship, so we shouldn't count on getting to an island."

"Well, I will go alert Kilani that we need to shift heading a little," Henrik says, tossing a couple berries into his mouth.

“Does 10 degrees even make much of a difference?” Bro asks, biting into some of his bread.

"When you're out in the open ocean? Yes." Henrik nods. "But I will admit, not too much. Still, we will take what we can get when dealing with a fucking ghost ship.”

“Huh- neat.” Bro says.

“I'm heading topside, want to come with?"

Alt nods to Henrik, “Yeah- think it’ll be nicer to eat up there.”

"Oh wait, good idea, I'm coming too." Jackie had been leaning against the counter, and he now stands up straight and follows the group.

The sun is beating down hard on the deck. It's actually noticeably hot for the first time in their journey. But luckily their outfits seem to have been designed for hot weather. Even Alt's longer coat is surprisingly breathable.

Henrik heads up to the helm and tells the helmswoman--Kilani, apparently--that they need to shift course a little. She nods and turns the wheel accordingly, checking her compass afterwards.

Alt shields his eyes a bit then goes to find a good place to sit and eat. Bro flops next to him, digging into his orange. He hums, “I didn’t expect it to be so warm! But I guess that makes sense when it’s just the sun beating down on you-“

"You guessed it!" Chase shows up from out of nowhere, leaning against the ship wall besides them. "Out on the sea, it's usually either hot from the sun or cold from the spray of water. Though it... probably doesn't help matters that we're close to the center of the world. That's where it's hottest, you know."

"I am sure they know what the word 'equator' is, Chase," Henrik says. "Their world cannot be that different."

“Oh yeah we know that word!” Bro laughs.

“We don’t live anywhere near it though, in our world,” Alt adds, “we live more up north. So it’s colder there- lots of rain.”

"Sounds like my home," Chase mutters. "Hen, does Deutsreich get a lot of rain?"

Henrik shakes his head. "We are not known for it. But it does get cold. There are some mountains, they get beautiful snow. Though not as much snow as up north in Rosstvo and Nordømme, I'm sure."

"Well, home doesn't get much snow at all, so you're winning in that race."

“Oh yeah it sometimes snows for us but not for long,” Bro says.

“The sea must be such a difference experience for all of you then,” Alt comments in between bites of his lunch.

"Oh yes, but it's a good difference," Chase says. "It's rare that someone will commit to spending so much time at sea and not enjoy it."

Henrik nods. "I became a ship's doctor to get away from home at first, but I stayed a ship's doctor because I love the journeys."

“I hear that! This seems like great fun!” Bro grins.

Alt chuckles, “I’m sure it has its hardships… but the adventures you all have must be more than worth it.”

Chase grins. "Aye, I think so too. Not everyone's made for it, but if you are, there's nothing better."

"Though I won't lie, there is a lot of downtime," Henrik says.

"Maybe you need more to do," Chase says. "Do you want to help swab the deck?"

"Booooo."

Alt and Bro laugh. “Yeah guess there’s not much to entertain you out here.” Alt says.

“Why do you guys always say that huh? Swab the deck- such a pirate saying!” Bro laughs.

"Well you have to keep the deck clear," Chase says, shrugging. "Don't want anyone to trip over something. And the water helps keep the ship in... shipshape." He bursts into laughter.

Henrik rolls his eyes.

Bro also bursts into laughter, “Ayy! Good one!” Alt snorts slightly but also rolls his eyes.

Chase calms down. "Well, we'll still be sailing for some time, it seems like. Keep a hand on your glass eyes, tell us if we need to adjust our bearings again. Until then--hope you enjoy the ship!"

The day passes, and the sun gradually moves through the sky, until it approaches the horizon and turns the sky orange and pink again. With everything set and the ship underway, the crew has some free time. They seem to really enjoy their instruments, as a group forms around the foremast to play.

As the others bring out their instruments, Alt moves close to listen. He doesn’t know how to play anything they’re playing but the music is infectious. He doesn’t like big crowds though so he gets up somewhere high and brings out his iPad to draw people on the ship.

Another group forms around the mizzenmast. Are they taking turns telling stories? Huh. Bro goes to the mizzenmast to hear the stories- unlike his brother he’s all for being in a big crowd and trying to act like one of the crew.

The sun's halfway below the horizon when one of the crew members comes up onto the top deck and shouts that stew is ready. Everyone cheers, Bro being one of the loudest. Alt laughs at everyone’s excitement but stays where he is, watching as everyone goes to file in for food.

Down in the galley, Cook and another crew member spoon stew into bowls, handing them out to anyone who comes by. The stew is thick and creamy-looking, with bits of meat and chunks of vegetables mixed in. There are also crackers, and to drink, water and rum, of course.

Bro hurries down to the gallery and grabs stuff for him and also some for Alt. With arms full he comes back topside and looks around, finally finding Alt hanging up on one of the masts, tucked against the middle beam and out of the way.

Bro looks around then bursts up into the air to Alt’s side and grins, “You still being a loner, baby bro?”

Alt startles slightly and then gives Bro a look before perking up at the smell of dinner.

“Hurry dude imma drop this!”

Alt hurriedly takes the bowl and rum bottle from Bro and the hero zips up to sit next to Alt, trying to balance. Alt sticks his iPad in his coat and digs in, relishing in the delicious stew.

Bro watches him with a smile before sitting crossed legged and digging in too. “I wonder if you would have been this reclusive on the other ship- the one in Glasúil.” Bro comments after a bit.

Alt shrugs, “Probably? You know I don’t like being around a lot of people.”

“You like being around us though-“ “For the most part,” Alt smirks. He looks out at the sunset and darkening sky, “…I just like the view.”

The two eat together, enjoying the moment and the beautiful ocean around them.

#swap beyond the crystalverse #SBTCV #SBTCV Pirates #septicpirates #this one is a bit more tame- just the boys having fun with pirate-y things and learning about the world :D #which i think is fun but its def not an action packed chapter agjahbk #tomorrow will be though!

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angelasscribbles · 1 year ago

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Reunited (A Bad Romance AU)

Series: What If

Original Series: Bad Romance

More: Bad Romance Continues

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings for chapter: Riley x Max (past), Riley x Drake, Riley x Liam

Word Count: 1,333

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: Mature themes

A/N: This is for the @choicesprompts Rewrite Challenge. This clip came up on Facebook and it reminded me of Who Said Anything About Divorce? One of my Bad Romance AU's. So here's another. What if Liam had gotten his shit together much sooner? Also, in the original it's Max she enters with and here I've made it Drake.

Mashup: TRR x Friends

My other stuff: Master List.

Fydelia, the night the Engagement Tour kicked off….

Riley Brooks entered the estate at Fydelia on the arm of Drake Walker, the man who had just spent the last three weeks with her at Ramsford. He had wiped her tears, soothed her anger, and warmed her bed.

Much to Maxwell’s chagrin. It was bad enough she had dumped him for Liam. Once that went south, he’d had to watch her fall into Drake’s arms.

He parted ways the moment they were announced, slinking off to the bar to busy himself with tonight’s objective: Getting shit-faced drunk.

Riley ignored the whispers and gasps as they moved through the ballroom. She wasn’t sure which was causing more of a stir. That she had the gall to show herself after those pictures of her and Max had been leaked to the Cordonian Star or that she was there with the king’s best friend, the other commoner outcast.

She swiped a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and held it up in a toast to the gawkers with a brilliant smile, “Lovely to see you all again!”

Soon enough, Riley and Drake came face to face with Liam and Madeleine. Riley was taken aback by the pain and longing she saw clearly etched on Liam’s face. His voice was full of desperation as he uttered her name, “Riley…”

She blinked back her tears and straightened her spine, “Liam.”

One look at Drake’s arm wrapped possessively around her waist and Liam’s eyes filled with fury. “What the hell is this?”

“Come on, darling,” Madeleine started to walk away, pulling Liam with her but he yanked out of her grasp and spun back to the other couple, “Riley, please! We need to talk!”

“I can’t imagine what about,” she ran a finger down Drake’s chest while her eyes stayed locked on her former lover.

Liam’s voice held a warning note, “Riley…”

“Yes, Liam?”

“I…” his mouth opened and closed as he fought an internal battle.

Madeleine moved back to his side, sinking her nails into his arm as she hissed quietly in his ear, “People are starting to stare, come on!”

“Yes, Liam,” Riley made a shooing motion, “Go on, you have your perfect little noblewoman and you’ve knuckled under to the pressures of the court beautifully. Go make Daddy proud and leave me alone. I don’t need you anymore, I have Drake now.”

Liam’s eyes darted from Riley to Madeleine to the crowd around them that was growing every moment as people came to watch the drama unfold.

At that moment, he saw two futures stretching out before him. He realized with sudden clarity that one of those futures was rapidly expiring.

He drew in a deep breath. Desperate times called for desperate measures, “It’s true, I behaved horribly but it’s only because I love you. There are things you don’t know, reasons I had to pretend to reject you-“

“Oh, that wasn’t pretend Your Majesty! That was very real! I was there, remember?”

Shoving Madeleine carelessly aside, his voice rose, and he didn’t care who heard, “I was wrong, Riley! Okay? Is that what you want to hear? I was wrong and I would do anything to have you back in my life!”

“Too little, too late, Li!” Drake interjected, tugging her closer to him, “She’s moved on.”

Liam’s eyes never left Riley as he asked, “Has she?”

Riley shook her head, “I can’t believe this!”

“I never should have broken up with you!”

“Broken up with me? You didn’t break up with me, Liam, you got engaged to another woman five minutes after fucking me in the hedge maze and you did it without giving me so much as a heads up!”

Liam ignored the gasps from the onlookers and Madeleine’s yelp of surprised fury as he defended himself, “I know! But I can explain all that! Riley, I think about you all the time! You’re all I can think about, I’m fucking lost without you! Do you…do you ever think about me?”

“No!” Drake scoffed.

“Yes,” Riley said softly.

“What?” Drake’s head snapped from Liam to Riley in shock and disbelief.

“I don’t know what to say, Liam,” Riley glanced around the room. Dancing had stopped, the room had gone silent, and every eye was locked on the two of them. Here was the man she loved not giving two fucks what the court thought…finally.

“Say something,” he implored her, “anything!”

“This is all so….romantic…”

Drake’s mouth fell open, “Or….” Because come on. The man had dumped her, very publicly, while he had picked up the pieces. “Too little too late, maybe?”

Liam ignored Drake as he plunged on, “I understand I may be way out of bounds here but is there any chance you would take me back?”

Riley considered his offer. Part of her wanted to say no, to punish him for what he had put her through and part of her just wanted him back, wanted the aching hole his absence had left filled again. And yes, there was a small part of her that wanted to rip him away from Madeleine in vindication. What better way to send a big fuck you to the nobility than to take, and marry, their newly minted king right out from under all of them? Especially the simpering evil countess of cruelty that was currently turning six shades of purple as Penelope and Kiara held her at bay.

The pleading in his eyes is what finally pulled a simple, “Maybe,” from her lips.

“Riley, sweetie,” Drake pulled on her arm in an attempt to turn her attention back to him, “This conversation is starting to make me a little uncomfortable.”

Riley turned to him as if just remembering he was there. She placed one hand on her chest and the other on his face, “Oh, God. I am so sorry but…” her eyes flicked to Liam and then back to Drake as she gestured toward the king, “I mean, there’s so much history between us, you know?”

“I’ve known you exactly as long as he has!” Drake protested.

“I’m sorry too,” Liam clapped him on the shoulder, “but Riley and I belong together, and I was a fool to think I could pull off this charade.”

A charade Drake had been fully aware of but apparently chosen not to tell Riley about. He’d deal with his errant best friend later. Right now, he knew he needed a grand romantic gesture to win her back.

Liam turned and held out his hand to his fiancé, “Madeleine?”

She reached back, “Liam-“

“I’m sorry,” he told her as he pulled the engagement ring from her finger, “But I made a huge mistake proposing to you.”

Madeleine gasped and fell back in shock. Bertrand, who had appeared from nowhere, caught her in his arms, “Maddie!”

“What the fuck?” Savannah watched him in confusion.

From across the room, Godfrey was spluttering and insisting Liam couldn’t do this, but two guardsmen held him at bay easily.

Liam dropped to his knees in front of the woman he actually loved, “I love you and I’m so sorry I let the protocols of court get in the way of that. Marry me, Riley, please. I can’t live without you, and I don’t care who knows it!”

“Oh, Liam, I love you too!” She let him place the ring on her finger. When he retook his feet, she flung herself into his arms.

There was a smattering of applause and a mixture of noises ranging from outrage to approval from the crowd.

“Ok, guess we’re seeing other people,” Drake grumbled as he made his way to the bar, “Whiskey, neat, and keep them coming!”

Max turned to him with a gloat, “Welcome to the club. I told you it wouldn’t last.”

“Shut up, Beaumont,” Drake threw back the first shot, “I don’t care what just happened out there, this isn’t over!”

“No,” Max agreed as he gave Drake an appraising look, “It isn’t.”

#choicesprompts #rewrite challenge #trr au #trr poly #trr #bad romance au #what if #bad romance #angelasscribbles #the royal romance #drake walker #liam rys #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #the royal romance fanfic #choices #choices stories you play

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imtooscaredforthis · 2 years ago

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Antagonist

Chapter Fifteen: Future Plans

Mentions of: Drugs, Slight Angst, Feelings, Feelings, Lots of Feelings, Lots of Banter, etc.

A/N: This is probably one of my all time favorite chapters I’ve ever written oh my god

Tags: @vandeaad @mama-miya @dead-bxxxtch-walking @prettycutebunny @froegis

It’s been a long while since you talked with Susie. You don’t want to talk to her, and if you do see her again by chance anytime soon, you’ll apologize. You weren’t a good friend to her, and you used her as a placeholder for your sister. But she’s not your sister, and she never will be.

You realized that you were grieving, that you accepted the fact that you’re going to spend eternity here. But why do you have to? Maybe there’s a way out and the others just don’t know about it yet. Maybe you can escape.

You asked around, and none of the survivors knew anything, but maybe they just gave up too quickly. But you’re not going to give up, you’re going to find a way out of here if it’s the last thing you do. You’ll die trying if you have to.

And now, here you stand, in your cabin, staring down at the notes you’ve written on The Entity, blunt in hand, listening to your music. Smoking gives you clarity and helps you think of new things.

It also helps with the anxiety you’ve been suffering from. Talking with survivors like Bill, Leon and Kate helps too, but it can only do so much. Plus, you’ve been very irritable lately, and you don’t want to ruin anymore of the friendships you already have. It’s better to distance yourself, so you won’t miss them when you escape. But you know no matter what, you probably will.

As you stared down at the drawings in your journal, you listened closely to the music playing.

The door was open and the wind appeared, The candles blew and then disappeared,

The curtains flew and then he appeared, saying “don’t be afraid”

You were so consumed in the song that you hadn’t even realized someone was waiting at your door.

She had become like they are, She had taken his hand,

She had become like they are, Come on baby, Don’t fear the Reaper

As the song ended, you heard the loud banging against the door, making you jump. Pulling off your headphones and pausing your tape, you walked over and answered it, shocked by who was standing there.

“Frank?” How did he get here? How does he know your cabin? Has he been here before? What does he want? The last thing you need right now is another Legion member at your place and in your buisness.

Before any of those questions could be answered, he pushed past you, letting out an annoyed huff and walking inside. “Finally, it took you long enough.”

“Jeez, make yourself comfortable, why don’t you?” You growled in annoyance, watching as he plopped down on your bean bag chair, removing his mask and tossing it onto your bed.

“Listen, Toots, I’m not in the mood to play this game right now. I spared you and gave you my weed. You let me stay here for a bit, and we’ll call it even.” He told you.

“Wait, I owe you for not killing me when it’s basic human decency? Seriously?” You remarked snarkily.

“You know killers get punished if they don’t kill anyone. We don’t get a choice. Now, I know you’ve been smoking, I can smell it. So can you please pass the blunt here?” He asked.

You snickered at that, picking up the blunt and handing it to him. “So you do have manners.”

“Sometimes. But just like most people, I only have manners when I really want things.” He admitted with a smirk, making you chuckle.

You decided to take a little break from your research, sitting down on the bed beside him. If you weren’t so baked right now, you’d probably be yelling at him and kicking him out. But you’re relaxed and you don’t care, since you’re going to be gone soon. You might as well just stop giving a fuck and let go for a bit.

“So why are you here?” Frank just shrugged in response. If he’s being honest, he doesn’t know the answer to that himself.

He was just pissed. He and Julie got into yet another fight and he just can’t deal right now. He couldn’t stay at the lodge, he just had to leave, and the next thing he knew, he was standing at your door, knocking.

He didn’t even know if you would answer or if he could even come into your lodge, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to talk to The Legion or some other killer. He just wanted to see you. And he has no idea why.

“What were you doing before I got here?” He replied, taking a hit from the blunt and glancing over at your journal on the table. “You didn’t answer my question, why should I answer yours?”

“Fine. You don’t have to answer it. I guess I’ll just figure it out on my own.” He jumped up from the beanbag chair, running over to your desk. Catching on to what he was doing, you followed after, trying to stop him. But he was too fast.

Using one hand to hold you back and the other to flip through your journal, he read it, ignoring all your yelling and swearing, and clawing at him to get your journal back. Finally, you managed to push him away, snatching it from his grip.

Angrily, you threw it into your drawer, slamming it shut. “Fuck you! Get out! Get out now!”

“Okay, okay, no, I’m sorry, alright? I’ll stop.” He laughed at your attempts to push him out of the cabin, before becoming sincere. That’s the first time you've ever heard an apology from him, and for some reason, a small part of you likes seeing this side of him. So you let him stay.

“Those drawings you did were good. Those sketches were The Entity, right? And that girl…is she your-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You mumbled, picking up the blunt that had fallen on the floor during the struggle, taking a long drag.

You sat back on your bed, leaning against the wall, while Frank returned to the bean bag. “Do you ever want to leave this place?”

“Of course. I mean, it does have its perks, but it’s also a shithole. Believe it or not, I miss the real world, no matter how horrible and corrupt the people are in it. I miss feeling things, besides just rage and blood lust.” He confessed.

“Well you do feel things other than bloodlust and anger, otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting like this.” You told him, passing him the blunt.

He grinned at you. “I guess so, but those feelings are muted. It’s like I’m forgetting how to feel them.”

You nodded, feeling a similar way. You suppose since you’ve been here for a shorter period of time, you’re more intact with your feelings, feeling anger, depression, but also hope. Still, your feelings of fear and despair can be much stronger at times.

“What about you?” He asked.

“More than anything. I miss my sister so much. She was my whole world. Sometimes, she was the only thing that kept me going, and now, I lost her, and I can’t- fuck. Sorry, this sounds so cheesy.” You admitted, cringing at your words. You tried your best to swallow the lump in your throat, holding back tears.

It was silent for a couple of minutes, before Frank spoke again. “Well, if you did get back, what do you think you’d do?”

“Probably make up for lost time with my sister, and work as a tattoo artist.” You replied with a shrug.

“Tattoo artist, that's cool. Do you have any tattoos?” He questioned, intrigued by this new side of you. You gave him a sly smirk. “A few. My Father hated tattoos, so I just had to get some and hide them from him.”

You turned your back to him, showing the sparrow tattooed on your left shoulder blade. Most of the time it’s hidden with the flannel you wear, but you’re just in your tank top right now, so he can see. “Of course you’d get a bird tattoo.”

You whipped your head when you heard that, glaring at him. “What do you mean, ‘of course?’ You’re the one who has a flaming skull tattoo. That just screams angsty teen wannabe bad boy.”

“Fuck you.” He spat with a chuckle and you laughed with him. His laughter sounded so warm and genuine, not like the bitter and menacing laughter you heard before.

His smile faded and suddenly, he got to his feet. He must’ve been called to a trial. “I gotta go. But I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.” You waved, watching as he left.

Maybe Frank isn’t so bad, after all.

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mixsethaddams · 2 years ago

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Rope Burns (Alt Prompt)

Day 5 for @febuwhump. (Yes I know I'm late I'm catching up. I'll add all these to ao3 soon too.)

Eddie Munson

Words: 1210.

Warnings for a mob murdering Eddie 🤷🏻‍♀️

Eddie should have known it wouldn’t be so easy.

Well, easy might have been an over-simplification. But in comparison to dragging yourself out of hell and fighting to clear your name of all those pesky murder charges, not to mention the most intense physical therapy known to man, yeah, maybe Eddie thought things might eventually get a little easier.

He never thought he’d find himself wishing that Jason Carver survived being torn in half, but here he was. According to Lucas, Jason had seen just enough before he died to turn him into a believer. In the very last moment of his life he supposedly had a look of total clarity on his face. Lucas swears that he would have switched sides if he made it. That would have stopped Eddie from getting jumped twice a week by everyone who knew Jason, Chrissy, and Patrick. Even people who had ostracised Fred after the car crash were on his ass. Eddie wondered if Jason would appreciate the irony of being his saviour.

It looked like he was about to find out.

The jeers from the ground below him snapped Eddie back to the present. He was kneeling on top of his own van, ambushed in the woods by a bunch of fucking teenagers wearing Hawkins High sports jackets. One quick kick to the back of his head was all it took to get him pliant enough to be dragged onto the roof and tied up. Hands firmly behind his back with zip ties and ankles swiftly broken with a golf club. The rope around his neck was flung up over a nearby branch. It was cutting into his skin now, getting tighter every time it was pulled by whoever was taking their turn yanking on the other end.

He had long since stopped trying to reason with them. It was obvious now how this would end. Eddie had originally started off with his usual sarcastic quips, trying to frustrate them enough to leave him alone, and moved onto yelling for help when that didn’t work. No one heard him. There was a reason he came so far into the woods. It was private, people never came around here. Realising that the group must have tracked him the entire time he was out of the house today was when it clicked with him that this was a plan. They weren’t just the usual band of small town bastards out to mess with him. No. They were here to kill him.

Eddie hissed in pain as a knife slide over his inner arm, elbow to wrist.

“How’s that feel, Freak?” crowed the boy standing behind him.

“Feels great,” mumbled Eddie, his airways straining against the rope now, vision starting to blur.

The rush of blood from his arm down over his hands was making his stomach turn. Eddie hated blood. The smell of it cut through the scent of wet leaves around them. He was glad at least that he didn’t have to see it.

Eddie yelled as the boy kicked at his feet, right into his broken ankles. He swayed off to the side but the rope stopped him from falling. He gasped for air and felt his lungs start to burn before he was righted by a rough hand grabbing his hair.

“Let’s just fucking do this,” someone on the ground called. “I don’t want to get caught out here,”

“Yeah!” agreed another voice. “Just push him off the edge and let’s go,”

The hand in Eddie’s hair wrenched his head back so the person could look down into his face. The kid didn’t look more than seventeen.

“You know,” he told Eddie. “I think they’re right. I’m getting bored,”

For a split second Eddie had a naïve flash of hope that maybe they might leave him alone. It was snuffed out as soon as it appeared though, when his head was steered down so he could watch as two of the spectators tired the end of the rope around the base of a tree.

“Any last words, Freak?” he was asked.

Eddie wanted to say yes. He wanted to plead his case and say that he’d tried to save Chrissy, he never touched Jason or Patrick or Fred, he would never dream of hurting Max. He wanted to tell them all about his uncle and how hard his death would hit the man. They would be murdering Wayne too because he wouldn’t survive another heartbreak this big. Eddie wanted to talk about the kids from Hellfire and if they could just speak to them they’d see that he was a dork with no badness in him at all. He wanted to ask to see his bloody arms, and hope that maybe fainting at the sight of his own blood would prove he didn’t have it in him to be a murderer.

Eddie said nothing. He knew nothing would work. He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. Eddie thought of all the good memories he could muster. He thought of winter nights in the trailer with Wayne, watching black and white Westerns on their small TV. He thought of belly laughs during DnD sessions. He thought of Steve Harrington and the stolen smiles and glances of the last few months. Soft brushes of fingertips on the couch when no one else was paying attention. He thought of everything that could have been.

Eddie wondered if his Momma would be waiting for him when it happened. If he’d feel her arms around him as he cried for the life that he left behind. The thought that he might hear her laugh again made him brave. She always called him her Little Soldier. If he skimmed his knee or hurt himself she would coo in his ear while she tended to him, promising that he was doing so well. She called him fearless and made him feel like he could do anything. He was a coward without her, and it was only her memory that helped Eddie hold his ground against the bats. He would have courage now too. For her.

“Well?”

Eddie shook his head and kept his eyes closed. Tears were falling freely down his face now. He wasn’t ready to die. He had no choice.

Eddie felt a shoe rest between his shoulder blades and a cheer came from the group on the ground. The boy behind him kicked hard, and Eddie tumbled over the edge of the van’s roof.

His instinct was to open his eyes to find an escape route but he kept them screwed shut. He didn’t want any of these people to be the last thing he saw. His feet weren’t quite touching the forest floor but even if they were, his broken ankles would have stopped him getting any purchase against it. His legs flailed against his will, the momentum from the fall causing them to swing.

Eddie felt his eyes roll into the back of his head and the pain in his chest screamed for relief. The tell-tale sounds of people running away through twigs and bushes went quiet quickly, their squeals of delight fading away. Or maybe that was just him.

Eddie’s legs stopped kicking long before he was found.

#febuwhumpday5 #febuwhump #febuwhump2023 #seth writes #eddie munson #stranger things #eddie stranger things #warnings apply #tw murder

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mysteries-uncovered · 1 year ago

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a transcript

"[BEGINNING RECORDING]", "SPEAKER 1: What the hell do you mean you wanna merge 'em?", "SPEAKER 2: You heard what I said, ________...", "SPEAKER 1: Have you lost your mind? This kind of thing-- this doesn't happen! You can't just roll 'em over like it's nothing! What makes you think they would rather be a small fish in some other squeeze? You're Oliver fuckin' Twist showing up with your supper bowl!", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: See, this is what I mean. Y'think you're a wizkid, but there's no love a pappa can have for his boy that will get 'im to put his foot in his mouth for you. And that's a fat ass fuckin' foot you're lookin' to swallow.", "SPEAKER 2: That's true.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 2: Check.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: Something tells me you ain't done.", "SPEAKER 2: Of course I'm not.", "SPEAKER 1: Okay, then. [snorts] What, you hired one of those snake-people that are showin' up now, to bind them up? 'Fraid I don't think they're into that.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 2: You're gonna laugh.", "SPEAKER 1: Cut the crap, ________... What is it?", "SPEAKER 2: Got the killer on the payroll.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: [in a half-whisper] So what if you got another guy? Like that's a problem, you fuckin' monkey. What, you plannin' to burst into their house with twenty or so fellas and start--", "SPEAKER 2: I mean the Eye Killer.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: The bitch that got caught?", "SPEAKER 2: [sighs] That same one, yeah.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: [still whispering, now aggressively] ________.., have you ACTUALLY gone fuckin' crazy? Point one still stands, but what's the first rule? You can't have a girl who's on national fuckin' television whack one of 'em and not have every single fuckin pig in the country stick their fuckin' head in! What's the fuckin' deal, huh? You want another RICO?", "SPEAKER 2: There's not gonna be another RICO. No one is going to die. Sit your ass down and fuckin' listen to me, here.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: ...alright.", "SPEAKER 2: Good. You got a lighter?", "SPEAKER 1: Thought y'didn't smoke.", "SPEAKER 2: You thought wrong.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 2: Let's start from the top. I've been talking to their kid. Fella tipped me off to his folks; good guy, terrible at his job. He's helping me set an arrangement with his folks. They know I'm going there, I know they're going there. We both get our friends to bring along, y'know, for clarity's sake. Two precious little rats in the nest.", "SPEAKER 1: Ah. So whoever decides to get a little too friendly...", "SPEAKER 2: Lets every other wiseguy in all of the States know that shit's going down. Once word's out, the others are going to smell blood in the water. Then we're both gone. [mumbling] We'd be damn lucky to just get caught.", "SPEAKER 1: Okay, fine. Let's say that works. What's that girl meant to do in all of this?", "SPEAKER 2: The guarantee that the word gets out if shit goes south. Besides, that murderer, she... has an interest. On both of us.", "SPEAKER 1: You an' the don?", "SPEAKER 2: No, the kid and I. Think she likes him more than me, frankly. Either way, even if I wanted to wet those sons of bitches, I don't think she'd take it very well. ", "SPEAKER 1: Right. I mean, it sounds like this girl's more trouble than she's worth. We could just--", "SPEAKER 2: Don't--!", "SPEAKER 2: Say that. About her. Or anything. Aloud. Say it in your own house if you want, but don't say that shit near me.", "SPEAKER 1: Ah. [laughs] Nearly got me there, thought it was serious. You went pale as a baby's bum, though, what's the catch? Check, by the way. ", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 2: It's not funny. Fucking... listen. I don't know what she is, but whatever she is, she isn't human. You've seen the trial, you've seen her change. And that monster, demon, whatever you want to call it-- any other man in the garbage biz can be bought. You know that. Everyone's kicking up to someone. Her? She's fucking unshakeable, that's the one thing I can guarantee you. She wants us. The moment any of us even think about fucking with her, we're dead. But. But... if we get her to work with us, it would change... everything.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 1: Hey, now, you know I'm no fucking rat, but you have to know that what you're saying sounds crazy, right? Even if it works, what the fuck does any of that mean? I'd take a bullet for you, but it sounds more like you're trying to curse me, or someshit. I can't be a part of that.", "SPEAKER 2: Fine, then.", "[clack]", "SPEAKER 2: So what are you going to do?", "SPEAKER 1: I'm... you're not slidin' this one past the Don.", "SPEAKER 2: [wryly] So much for not being a rat.", "SPEAKER 1: I'm in here like everyone else to make some fuckin' money, not to sell my soul or whatever the fuck you're plannin'!", "SPEAKER 2: [sigh] I like you, you know? You're a good man. So I'm giving you five seconds to reconsider, ________. Plenty of time to think about where you stand in all this.", "SPEAKER 1: At least look at me in the eye when you're threatenin' me, asshole.", "SPEAKER 2: Five...", "SPEAKER 1: What the fuck are you lookin' at?", "SPEAKER 2: Four...", "SPEAKER 1: You fuckin'-- I'm leaving!", "SPEAKER 2: Three...", "SPEAKER 2: Two..."

#eye killer #killer #rico #goldmine #zampanio

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thessalian · 2 years ago

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Thess vs Old Fandoms

One of my longer-time friends happened to remember an old fandom I was a part of at one point, and tagged me into a post about merch from that fandom on Facebook. Ironically, he’s one of the few people I check Facebook for, so ... y’know, it’s nice that he remembers my interests from that far back. (I think he post-dates my involvement in that fandom, actually - I seem to recall him being a friend from my forum-and-chat Mage: The Ascension days. So seriously, that’s archaeological level knowledge of my fandoms.)

Thing is ... my reaction to that fandom these days is ... kind of not great. I don’t like to think about it. I mean, I really don’t. I kept some of the friends I met along the way, and am grateful beyond measure for them (particularly a certain bestie who I met out of a Six Degrees of Fandom Friend situation and a breakdown-related road trip of epic proportions). I got practice at storytelling, which gave me confidence (and honestly helped me figure out that while I can write, I am a much better storyteller than I am a writer, and I excel at the “Yes, okay, and then what?” game - hence being perfectly happy to Forever DM). But so much else happened in that fandom that, looking back ... I didn’t hate it, and the piece of media itself was what I needed at the time, but there is no going back to that.

I mean, it doesn’t help that it gives me active flashbacks to the ... I can’t even say ‘despair’, exactly, but absolute desperation for everything to just ... stop. I mean, I was depressed, sure, but at the end of the day, what manifested was me alternating between wanting everything to just shut up, go away, and stop hurting me already ... and finding something, anything to hang onto long enough for that “I want it all to stop” feeling to settle back to a level that wasn’t going to involve self-harm or worse. I made some very poor decisions. I misconstrued an awful lot. There was a great deal going on in my head about who I was supposed to be versus who I actually was (and that latter ... well, I didn’t have the vocabulary for half of it) and nothing was helping me figure any of it out so I vacillated between “Maybe this’ll help” and “Fuck this - stop the world, I want to get off”.

I have clarity on a lot of it now - I mean, it’s been two decades - and honestly, even the good times contained a lot of individuals and situations that were not healthy in any way, shape, or form. Cliques formed and I didn’t necessarily want there to be but once you were considered by a certain section of the fandom to be a Big Name Fan for some reason, trying to get out of it was impossible. I didn’t want that; I just wanted people to enjoy what I was writing. And a lot of people did! Unfortunately, a vocal minority of that “lot of people” felt within their rights to nag me about when the next chapter / episode / whatever of what I was writing was going to come out and I felt beholden to those people. Then there were the ones who just hated the entire concept of my writing and put me on blast repeatedly. So on one hand I’ve got people pressuring me about getting things out NOW NOW NOW on top of the stupid BNF label, and on the other I’ve got rejection sensitivity dysphoria working overtime because of bullying ... and I burned out. I mean, none of that is healthy for anybody, but when you’re already neurodivergent in ways you don’t entirely understand, it’s a mess.

I developed some unhealthy friendships. I can’t blame some of them, or even most of them. At that time, they were mostly in the category of, “I want to help you get better but I don’t even know how to help myself get better so...” Which, again, not anybody’s fault. But that kind of thing kicks off my instinct, borne of a lot of what I have to concede is emotional abuse, to set aside my emotional needs in favour of the needs of others. I am in a place now where I can set boundaries in that regard, which is good because it saves my spoons for cases where I can actually help instead of doing all the emotional labour. I differentiate between friends who are trying and maybe failing to get better, and need a bit of support, and those who simply won’t put in the emotional effort and expect people to deal with them on their emotionally unhealthy terms. At the time, though, both were more of a drain than I realised at the time, so it’s probably no wonder that I felt like everything was falling apart, when so many of my friends were.

Long story short - I am not that angry, confused, miserable person who needed that piece of entertainment media anymore. Now I see it as something that I actively don’t need, just because of some of the mental and emotional states it exemplifies. Don’t get me wrong - I’m still angry, confused, and miserable a lot of the time. However, I am angry, confused, and miserable about actual things now, not about how “no one gets me”. I don’t have to hide behind a cynical attitude and a book. I can and will be my own advocate. I will not exemplify what is effectively apathy, or at best grudging, minimal-effort rebellion. Hell, I didn’t even exemplify that in my fan works at the time. Now? Thank you, but no thank you. I would prefer not to have merchandise that reminds me of a time when I glorified showing as little emotion and genuine engagement in the world as possible, and was fighting a war with my own damn death wish most of the time, and clinging to really unhealthy shit as the only weapons I had available to fight off the “Fuck this; I’m done” urge. I have way, way healthier ways of beating that shit off now, even on the worst of days. More fun, too.

Sometimes we outgrow things. I’m really proud to have outgrown that. And am also very happy that it’s been a few years since the last “Are you ever finishing that series?” email. I mean, it was still long after I left the fandom for good, but I’m grateful to have finally managed obscurity and for my old username to be relegated to the “Whatever Happened To...?” wall.

#Thess has issues #Thess has opinions

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dvcte · 1 year ago

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Hey Everyone, Here’s a brief list why I think it would have been so very fun if Preston had died in GG6?

By fun I mean ouchie but this has always been one of my favourite AUs.

It’s been awhile since I read book 6, so these are just some quick thoughts

Firstly: Why kill Preston in book 6? And that's because he did in earlier edits of the book. Like all the “Who won’t make it to Graduation” promo back in the day, that was Preston dying. Ally took it out sometime before the final draft obviously but I think it was pretty late and she implied it was a messy death.

I don’t think most of this matters when Preston dies, but the most obvious place is when escaping the prison, where instead of Bex taking a bullet and being alright, Preston takes a bullet and isn’t alright. And so for clarity, this list assumes he dies then

Macey - A nice and obvious one but with lots of layers. Macey has known Preston for years, he pre-dates her spy lifestyle, but he keeps getting drawn into this life, it doesn’t suit him and it’s dangerous. The other girls at Gallagher ‘see’ Macey, as one of their own, a sister. Bex/Liz see her as a best friend, someone to trust. Cam sees Macey as someone struggling with a legacy and her own expectations. But Preston sees Macey as who she really is; Not what she can’t do, Not what she can do, Not what she looks like, Not who she wants to be, Not who she expects to be, Not who she wishes to be but who she really is And one of Macey’s main motivation in books 5 and 6 is keeping Preston safe. She’s trusting these girls, trusting these adults and trusting all this training to be able to do this.

Cammie - Our main girl Cammie probably knows her runaway summer would have been so much worse if she hadn’t found Preston. He saw her kick a few adult men and recognised what he saw changing and growing in Macey, she already had. She doesn’t remember him saving her, he won’t remember saving him because she didn’t, he died. Cammie also see’s both father and son die, couldn’t save either. But at least Preston doesn’t have to experience the pain of losing a parent (she knows how that feels)

Failure & it’s consequences - honestly the main point here The girls have had missions go wrong before but its always been recoverable. In fact, let’s take an aside and remember the first time we see them fail in LYKY - the bottle/josh meet lesson, at the end of that Joe gives a very clear warning, if shit goes wrong, people can die. Now isn’t that fun. You can’t work out another plan once someone's dead. This is a real life changing impact and consequence of them messing up. The rescue mission was unsanctioned by the adults (as this is a quick list, we’re not touching implications for them) so its on the girls. They didn’t ask for help to get him out of Italy and it got him in prison, they didn’t ask for help getting him out and he’s dead, they risked their own lives for nothing, nothing else came out of that mission it was just rescue Preston. It’s also going to kill moral, a massive failure right as we climb into the climax. And there is the unknown, they changed fate, if he’d stayed in the prison the circle may have never have come for him, he might have been fine. But they chose to try and rescue him, and sealed his future, into a coffin.

The Circle & Preston as earnestness Its very likely, if Preston died, he would died before ever fulling clearing his name, people would have never known if he had a connection to the circle. And I think that's important, because Preston is such a good character. In political situations we see him follow the flow in dances, but he is kind to the old lady votes with an extra layer of sincerity that most wouldn’t expect from him. He worries about Charlie and Cammie and Macey because he sees and cares for people. He is such a sincere, kind, open hearted person, who would die with a stain on his name he did not deserve.

... trust me those are quick thoughts

#Also sorry I'm not very good at writing down my thoughts #like i dont even know if this makes sense #prestons death would have been deliciously angsty #however i totally understand why it was cut its a massive tone changer #gallagher girls #ally carter #united we spy #cammie morgan #preston winters #macey mchenry #gallagher girls AU

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evilasiangenius · 2 years ago

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Two demons took to the air, black wings gleaming darkly in the bright sunlight. Below them, animals that crossed their shadows shivered, briefly affixed to the ground in terror or scurrying away in fear.

Crawley pointed to some flying geese, whose large outstretched wings wobbled as they tried to keep up with the two demons, but were quickly left behind.

“This place is very strange. Kind of disturbing,” Legion said, pointing up to the sky. “Why does the light keep changing? It seems to be constantly changing, and not just because something is broken. Or is something broken? Something’s always broken Downstairs...”

“Oh, you know, rotation of the planet around a star. Makes the light shift all the time. Even when things are dark.”

“So we’re on a planet? For reals?” Legion gasped. “Is that what the Earth is?”

“Yeah, it’s really a planet. Not a very big one either. I went up to check it myself when I was first here. Strange, isn’t it? Used to be that this kind of place was no more than gathered dust around a star, and we’d only care about the layout of big clusters of stars. Brightness, color, clarity, intensity... Never thought I’d spend so much time on a planet, much less have to care about what’s going on on the planet.”

“But all this fuss for a planet, doesn’t that seem a bit...much?” Legion wondered.

“Don’t ask me, I’ve never been anywhere close to the planning committee people.”

“Oh, so Lord Asmodeus doesn’t tell you-”

“Nope, not a word,” Crawley sighed. “Doesn’t even ask me my opinion, if you really want to know. Not about anything actually important."

“Oh. I thought…Erm, never mind, I don’t know what I thought. You won’t tell him, will you?” the higher-ranked demon asked, anxious. “You won’t tell him I was inquiring into his business…”

“Course not. Not your fault for asking. Won’t...erm, I wouldn’t hold it against you. Never.”

“Thanks, Crawley. You’ve always been good to me.” Legion’s smile was sweet but held an edge of nervousness.

“So erm, you might be wondering what’s on Earth that’s worth seeing. Well, lots of things are. But this, this is very impressive indeed!” Crawley landed, black wings stirring the dust of the earth.

“Oh, wow. The ground really is very different up here, isn’t it?” Legion said, stirring the dust with a gentle exploratory flap of black wings. “Look, everything moves! Even those things on the ground, what is that?”

“I think it’s called grass. Quite nice, isn’t it? Feels nice to touch, kind of soft, you should try it. But it’s not always soft, sometimes it’s scratchy and can draw blood... But that’s not what I was talking about, it’s- Oh.” Crawley’s brow furrowed as he looked over the plain. “That’s odd, I thought…isn’t there supposed to be a big migration here?”

“Migration? What’s that?”

“Well, every year around this time of year – I think – hundreds, thousands of these big shaggy beasts roam through here…”

“Big shaggy beasts. You mean like that thing? With the four legs?”

A solitary camel glared and made a rude noise at the two demons, before turning slightly so that it could keep the two within sight as it chewed mouthfuls of grass.

“Not quite, they’re more...well, less hump-ish. Oh, I think I’m in the wrong place. Or it’s the wrong time of year?” Crawley frowned. “For a small planet, Earth is a bigger place than you’d think-”

“It’s very large. Impressive. I didn’t think I’d ever see something bigger than a Hell-hound. What do you do with a beast so large?”

Crawley shrugged. “I don’t know. But we should stay away from it.”

“Why?”

“This beast – a camel – is one that kicks and bites. And spits. Best to stay out of spitting range, it’s a beast with a terrible humor.”

“Maybe it just doesn’t like your jokes.”

Crawley grinned. “Well, you try telling it one and see if it likes it.”

“Nah, I’ll take your word for it. What else is there to do on Earth? Other than look at the changing quality of light and the creatures?”

“Well, there are things you can eat here.”

“They’ve got food here too?”

“Sure, like fruits. Erm, some examples, uh, apples, pears. Cherries. Fruits are sweet.” Crawley paused. “Wait, unless they aren’t sweet. Like avocados, those aren’t sweet.”

“An avocado? What does it advocate?”

“Clean living,” Crawley said. “I think.”

#crowley #crawley #good omens #disposable demon #good omens demons #eric the disposable demon #who is named legion here #mistakes were made #3333 B.C.

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praphit · 2 years ago

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Infinity Pool: I once was lost, but now I’m filthy.

You're a writer. You wrote a book, but it's been about six years since then, and you've been bone dry for inspiration. You're beginning to question whether you ever had any talent at all. You decide that the best way to kick writer's block is to go to a resort in a foreign country, engage with murderers and other degenerates, get shot at, soak yourself in a world of clones and death, and maybe have an orgy or two with some strangers. Sound like a good idea?

It's a great idea if you're Alexander Skarsgard (playing James, our writer).

He even dragged his lovely wife (played by Cleopatra Coleman) along. He married rich; she's funding this crazy plot. Nothing quite like murder to clear the sinuses and creative struggles.

James meets a couple (Gabi and Alban) who after helping him out of a serious situation (sort of), then lead him into the craziness I described above.

Look, the casual moviegoer has probably not even heard of this movie. And honestly, there are plenty of reasons for you not to watch this smut. So, let me save you the time. I watched this smut so that you don't have to :) But, as far as the horror movie fans... well, yeah, still good reasons not to watch this smut.

Maybe you've heard that this movie is STRANGE, GORY, and SEXY. Two out of three ain't bad. Idk about sexy. I mean, if you call an orgy between mostly middle-aged people, who are simultaneously splattered with all kinds of bodily fluids (it's a juicy movie:) including blood, and also wearing creepy masks, sexy... then maybe some of these scenes will do it for you.

Some might say "What about Mia Goth? Sexy, right?!"

I think those people are confusing "sexy" with crazy and manipulative.

I've been there, especially when you get a few drinks in you; you'll start seeing "sexy" all over the place, but... nope, it's just crazy.

This movie IS gory though, but not as much blood as I thought it would have. Movies like "Saw" and "TC Massacre" are way worse/better in that dept.

And, STRANGE? Oh, yeah... I feel comfortable saying that it's one of the strangest movies you'll see all year.

These masks

This pool

Whatever the hell this is

My buried lede of clones

At times, naseating directing style

punching and stabbing people to literal pulp

Freaky, unneccessary images

And I loved all of it!

All of the above! I could have done without the orgy stuff, but maybe that's gonna be Brandon Cronenberg's (the director) signature. Random, Nasty, Horror Movie Porno. So, maybe we should just get used to it. Perhaps it'll be the new trend. I can see it now - Leatherface pauses (mid-kill), puts down the chainsaw, and takes off all of his clothes, slowly, to Sam Smith’s “Unholy”.

The violence is gross, but artistic (somehow).

People rave about Mia Goth's performance (and it's excellent), but I was also impressed by Skarsgard. Well, as much as one can be impressed by the acting in a horror film:) He was good though!

There's a group of rich people who Gabi (Goth) introduces James to, and they are horrible. I loved hating them! They're the type of people in horror movies that you can't wait for the monster to get to, but then you realize, they ARE the monsters. It is a purposely uncomfortable movie.

I loved the character of James. He doesn't quite belong anywhere in this movie. He never really has any clarity of what's happening to him. And neither does the audience. The only thing that's clear is that he's getting pulled closer and closer towards a dark place.

The ending will have you staring at the screen trying to figure out what the hell you just watched. Let me help you:

There's no mystery. No hidden meaning. No layers. You'll have to accept that what you watched is all that there is. It's dissatisfying on purpose. Sure, I guess you could derive some social commentary if you wanted to, but... meh. You want a lesson? - I'll give you one.

When you get lost in life, and lose your sense of self, don't stay there long or you will be taken advangetage of... and sure as hell don't go to some foreign land with weird laws.

Instead:

Frequent a bar. Go to church. Go to Disneyland. Buy a sports car. Have sex with people 20 years younger than you (legally:). Join that cult you’ve been thinking about.

Do something different with your hair.

Normal stuff, you know??

No Mia Goths and no clone orgies.

Did I have any problems with the movie? Not really. I've heard the complaints from others, and they're mostly valid, but I'd counter by saying that that's why I loved it!

I'm proudly in the minority, but... Grade: A+* from me.

(asterisk* - AGAIN, it’s weirdf AF, but that’s right up my alley)

Have you ever gone on a trip outdoors and gotten dirty? You're bothered at first, but then you get more dirty? And after that. you just don't care anymore. You're all in.

Afterwards, you could say to yourself "Wow, I'm a filthy and disgusting human being. What's wrong with me?" OR say to yourself "Wow, that was fun and thrilling." and take a shower. It's up to you.

#InfinityPoolMovie #johnpraphit #Moviereviews #smut #praphitproductions.com #AlexanderSkarsgard #MiaGoth #HorrorMovies #BrandonCronenberg #Praphit #Monsters #richpeople #artsy #violence

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dendrite-blues · 3 years ago

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For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki.

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself.

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back.

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others.

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him.

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief.

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves?

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again.

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities?

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief.

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!)

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention.

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

#loki spoilers #loki #mcu #mobius #meta #discussion #discourse #scene study #long post #sif #time loop #tva #character study

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stardustprompts · 2 years ago

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dragon reborn ( the wheel of time book three ) - robert jordan sentence starters change tenses/pronouns as needed !! some lines have been edited for clarity / length / ease of roleplaying tw : death , violence

‘a corpse is not dangerous to anyone.’

‘it is not treason to do what must be done. and even blasphemy can be tolerated for a cause.’

‘it is possible to oppose evil without doing violence.’

‘violence harms the doer as much as the victim.’

‘what is wrong with wanting to live your life without all this upheaval?’

‘death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.’

‘just because fate has chosen something for you instead of you choosing it for yourself doesn’t mean it has to be bad.’

‘there are ways to change things. ways to avoid even fate.’

‘I will fight the best I can. because there’s no one else, and it has to be done, and the duty is mine.’

‘i’ll fight, but I do not have to like what I have become.’

‘men! too blind to see what a stone could see, and too stubborn to be trusted to think for themselves.’

‘you must learn there is a time to speak all of the truth, and a time to govern your tongue.’

‘the world is strange, and all things change.’

‘should and would build no bridges.’

‘I hope you realize you’ve climbed into a pickling cauldron with me, and the fire may be lit.’

‘nobody is threatened by someone they can order about.’

‘of course I am afraid. I am not a fool. but not afraid enough to quit before I have even started.’

‘a flapping tongue has killed more men than sudden storms ever did.’

‘most of those we call heroes only did what they had to do.’

‘once you decide to gut a fish, there’s no use waiting till it rots.’

‘this is what I want! why can’t I have this, too?’

‘I have built a bridge out of straw. worse than straw. wishes.’

‘who’s out there? you’ve rustled enough leaves to wake the dead, so you might as well show yourself.’

‘you are even ruder than I remembered, (name).’

‘if a woman does need a hero, she needs him today, not tomorrow.’

‘two chances I’ve had, more than most, and I threw them both away.’

‘I don’t know anything. I suspect more than is healthy for me, but I know nothing.’

‘kill a man who needs killing, and sometimes others pay for it.’

‘nimble fingers and nimble wits will take you a good deal farther than a sword and muscles.’

‘do not question me. you do know know what questions to ask, and you would comprehend less than half the answers if I have them. which I will not.’

‘death comes for us all. we can only choose how to face it when it comes.’

‘what you say comes near truth, yet misses it entirely.’

‘for the young, death is an enemy they wish to try their strength against.’

‘for those of us a little older, death is an old lover, but one we are not eager to meet again soon.’

‘i’ll help anyone who can pay. only fools in stories do something for nothing.’

‘if I ever look like acting the hero again, you kick me.’

‘you speak as if you are already dead.’

‘times change. people change. too much change for me.’

‘what is said in anger is often repented.’

‘men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.’

‘we must live together, or we will surely die together!’

‘is this a story I want to be in?’

‘if I live through this, I will make you pay.’

‘this time we do not run. we dare not run. this time, we fight.’

‘I will not pretend I am not afraid. but I swore I would be one of you, and I will.’

‘perhaps you are too stupid to know when you are defeated.’

‘it is a tight roll of the dice any way you look at it, but my luck runs good. you could do worse than betting on my luck.’

‘you were ever a fool, ever ready to follow your heart before power.’

‘I thought you were neatly out of the way. no matter. you were only an annoyance’

‘you have come to the point now, and there is no further time for learning.’

‘I came to bloody rescue you.’

‘you can explain why you look as though you’d been fighting bears later, if you want.’

‘perhaps you are not entirely to blame. we can apportion guilt later.’

‘until you do understand, I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.’

‘as much as it pain me to say it, (name), you are right.’

‘I saw what speaking earned you. I am no fool.’

‘nothing is done for you, yet.’

#rp memes #rp sentence starters #rp prompts #literature prompts #literature sentence starters #the wheel of time series sentence starters #the wheel of time series prompts #the dragon reborn sentence starters #the dragon reborn prompts

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nebulablakemurphy · 3 years ago

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Miss American Pie

Chapter Five: This Will Be The Day (Finale)

Warning: this series features a romantic Yelena Belova x Fem!Reader pairing.

Summary: Everyone has returned but the battle for humanity against Thanos wages on.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

You wake in a coughing fit, the rubble surrounding you sears your lungs. “Natasha.” You call into the rocks and flickering lights. Clearing your throat, you try again. “Natasha!”

“Here, I’m here.” Her voice is rough, pained.

You push yourself toward the sound, through the dust you can make out her hair. “You ok?”

“Mostly.” She’s laying face up, a few scratches visible.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I can’t move.” She nods at the piece of collapsed cement. “My leg is broken, you should go.” Nat says, staring up at the sky.

“I should’ve never let you go to Vormir. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” You try uselessly to budge the blockage over her leg.

“What is Vormir?” She asks.

“Doesn’t matter.” You swallow the lump in your throat. “How much do you remember?”

“The red room.”

“Do you remember getting out?”

“No one gets out.” She shakes her head.

“We did.” You inform her. “Yelena did.”

“Yelena?” Her gaze finds yours. “You know Yelena? Is she here?”

“Yes, I know her.” You press your lips together. “She’s not here though.”

“The rest of this building is coming down. If you were really trained in the red room you have to know that.” Natasha frowns. “You need to leave.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Don’t be a hero.” She whispers. “Let me go, it’s ok.”

“No, it’s not.” You argue. “I won’t do it again.”

“What about Yelena?” Natasha gives you a pointed look.

“She’ll understand.” This is what she would do.

“Hey,” Natasha pushes herself up on her elbows. “Would it be a good thing or a bad thing if a giant man in a metal suit carrying a smaller man and a raccoon appeared behind your head?”

You turn toward the man in question. Scott Lang. “It would be a good thing.”

———————————————————————

Natasha is taken somewhere safe. She can’t fight.

As the strange doctor and his disciples start opening portals you see that you’re not alone. Through one comes Alexei, Melina and Yelena.

Her white suit is pristine, dirty blonde hair held away from her face in ponytails.

On shaky legs you move toward her, taking your rightful place at her side. Facing what lies ahead together.

Yelena catches your hand, “this isn’t much of a welcome home.”

You can’t help but laugh, “pretty cool way to die though.”

“Very,” she agrees. “Natasha?”

“She is a little worse for wear.” You warn her, “but alive…and safe.”

Yelena gives you a watery smile, squeezing your fingers. “And you?”

“A tower fell on me.”

“Of course it did.”

Thanos’ army is nothing to scoff at. Giant airborne creatures hover over his troops. Larger monsters stand in their ranks, space ship overhead ready to destroy.

Steve is almost unrecognizable, covered in dirt, his shield battered and broken. But you know it is time when he gives the order. “Avengers, assemble.”

Fighting is easy, it’s what you know. What you were trained to do. Fight to stay alive, fight for what you believe in, fight with Yelena; for Yelena.

The two of you move together like a well oiled machine. Like riding a bike, even after all this time you could never forget.

“We’ve got company to the left.” Yelena says through gritted teeth, kicking at the alien creature beside her. Dropping an empty cartridge to the ground and reloading her gun seamlessly, firing several shots.

Despite everyone’s best efforts they just keep coming. “Do we have a plan here?”

“Getting there,” Steve replies. “Anybody have eyes on the gauntlet?”

“Yeah!” Clint rushes past you with the glove in hand. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

“Get it out of here!” Tony insists.

“What’s happening?” Alexei shouts over the chaos. “I still don’t have ear piece.”

“Just keep their army away from that guy in the tank top.” You grunt, falling backwards from the force of one of Thanos’ soldiers colliding with you.

“We have to get the stones back where they came from.” Rhodey reminds everyone.

“The time space tunnel is completely collapsed.” Tony points out.

“That isn’t our only time machine.” Lang cuts in.

“Does anyone see an ugly brown van out there?” Captain America’s voice hums through the ear bud.

“I do,” a female voice chimes in. “But you’re not going to like where it’s parked.”

After grappling for far too long, you manage to knock the creature from you. Using your knife to dismember it.

“Next time, we get the cool laser guns.” Yelena yells loud enough to be heard by everyone on the network, as she hauls you to your feet.

“Friday, please add laser guns for the ballerinas to my grocery list.” Stark gives his smart ass remark.

“What’s the word on the van?” Rhodey wonders.

“Working on it now.”

The ship at Thanos’ disposal begins raining fire, no regard for their own troops.

“We’ve got people going down!” Rocket hollers.

“Clint,” you call into the microphone. “How’s that gauntlet?”

“Moving down the field.” The archer replies, “I’m alright too, thanks for asking.”

“Good.” You bite back a smile.

Hell continues breaking loose around you. Glowing circular orbs unfold in the air above, providing coverage from the missiles. You’re not sure if this is winning or losing. It feels like a bit of both.

———————————————————————- Thanos and his army are dusted away. Leaving you surprised and still swinging as the shock wears off.

You won. You. Won.

And you lost.

You lost Tony Stark. The man you’d barely known, but offered you clarity that will stay with you forever.

You lost the Natasha you’d come to know over the five years that Yelena was gone. Some parts of the redhead stripped away for the price of the stone.

But she’s still here. Waiting in the wings to be greeted by Yelena and their little makeshift family. You share a look of understanding when your eyes meet over the blonde’s shoulder.

Others come, Banner refuses to leave her side. Despite the fact that Natasha doesn’t remember him.

Clint falls to the ground at her feet. Breaking down at the sight of his friend, his family alive and well. She doesn’t remember him either, but welcomes him into her arms somewhat awkwardly.

Her expressions flicker from happy to overwhelmed. Hesitant to open herself up to the possibility that she is wanted, needed and loved.

Too confusing for the girl who only remembers the red room. Adjusting to this life will take time.

Everyone begins clearing out, their jobs finished. Rushing home to reunite with their loved ones. Tomorrow will bring about new challenges. The world is in shambles, and so are you.

Steve decides that he should be the one to return the stones. His goodbye tells you that he has a bit more in mind. But this is his life. His choices, not yours.

“Well, I guess we should head out too.” You say after a while. Your car is gone, lost in the wreckage from the explosion.

The setting sun is eclipsed, causing all of you to turn your gaze upwards just in time to see the ship’s door open.

“Is that a raccoon?” Melina asks, pointing toward Rocket.

“Do you want a ride or not?” Rocket shoots back.

“Not the avenger’s super jet, but it will do huh?” Alexei smiles, this is his dream.

“This is better!” A man’s voice carries down from the interior.

“Well,” Yelena shrugs, “if you say so.” She leads the pack up the ramp and onto the ship.

“Fanny and the pigs will be expecting dinner soon.”

“How are they?” Melina asks, “have you been taking care of them.”

“That was me!” Alexei says proudly, bending at the waist to gather Natasha into his arms. “Aye honey,” he grunts, hoisting her up. “You are only little girl in my heart.”

Nat pushes against his chest in retaliation.

“Do you mind if I hitch a ride too?” Clint asks.

“The extra stop will cost you,” Nebula stares blankly at him from her seat.

“They always do.” He remarks, trotting up the ramp.

Bruce paces at the foot of the metal grate, watching the rest of you load up. “I gotta hang back, make sure Steve gets there in one piece.”

“After what happened with Scott the first time I’d say that’s probably the best bet.” You agree, standing near the entrance.

“Yeah,” he smiles, kindly. “Keep me posted on Nat, will ya?”

“I will,” you return the smile.

“I’ll see you around.”

You nod, “I’ll see you.”

The captain of the ship introduces himself as Star-lord, and after a moment without response, Quill.

“Any requests?” He asks, finger hovering over the control panel.

Alexei creeps over to the younger man, quietly relaying a message.

“Alright,” Quill nods. Stroking the keys until a familiar set of notes ring out.

“A long, long time ago-“ The singer croons.

You let out a chuckle.

“I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance. And maybe they'd be happy for a while.”

“We’re really doing this?” Yelena puts a hand to her head, the corners of her mouth turning upward.

“But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step.” The melody carries on.

“It’s your song.” Natasha turns to her sister.

“I can't remember if I cried. When I read about his widowed bride.” Melina’s eyes are far away, carried back to their years in Ohio. Before the world had been so cruel.

“Something touched me deep inside, the day the music-“

“Died.” Yelena joins in, lulling her head to the side to gage your reaction.

You sigh, all of this beyond surreal. But you allow yourself to live in this moment, because you might not get another. “So bye, bye Miss American Pie…”

“Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.” The roaring chorus of voices fills the silence you’ve grown used to. Fills the parts of you that were empty for so long. “And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye. Singin', “this’ll be the day that I die.”

“This’ll be the day that I die.” Yelena sings, her face alight with a childlike glee.

——————————————————————-

Melina, Natasha and Alexei stay with you for a while. A few weeks as Natasha heals and becomes acclimated to her life.

She claims to hate the attention, but deep down you know she’s full of it.

The Ohio house is bursting at the seams with five adults, nine pigs and one dog.

That isn’t enough to keep visitors at bay. Namely Clint, his wife Laura and their three children.

Things feel a bit off when everyone begins moving out. Alexei, Melina, and their pigs return to the farm outside of Saint Petersburg.

Natasha finds herself drawn to New York, with Bruce and the makeshift building he’s using as a lab.

You adjust to the steady thrum that is daily life, with Fanny and Yelena.

After dinner you load the dishwasher, drying your hands on the nearby tea towel before selecting a cycle.

“So how does it feel?” Yelena asks, leaning against the doorframe.

“Hmm?” You turn to face her.

“Being a hero.” She clarifies, a smile playing at her lips.

“I’m not-“

“Oh cut the crap, Y/N. You saved the world.” Yelena narrows her eyes at you.

“I did it for you.” You say simply, because it’s true.

Yelena closes the space between you, “why?”

“You know why.” You whisper as she cups your face in her hands, gently stroking her thumb over your cheek. “It’s ok if you wouldn’t have done the same.”

“I’d do more for you, and worse.” She assures you. “But do you really want to spend the rest of your life fumbling around feelings in the dark when you could have someone who-“

“I want you. I only ever want you.” You beckon her closer. “Anyway I can have you, that will be enough for me.”

Sometimes wires get crossed and you want things you never have before. And she provides them before you have a chance to ask. You give back to her tenfold, so that neither glass is ever empty. That is love. True love, the only way you’ve ever known it.

“I am yours…in every way a person can belong to another.” Yelena breathes, “and then some.”

Series taglist: @jeyramarie @freeshavocadoooo @ilovewinter101 @3and30aresoultwins @yelenabelovv @miphas-trident @1800-fight-me

If you loved this series as much as I did, you can check out the prequel here!

#yelena belova x reader #yelena belova #marvel fanfiction #black widow fanfiction #black widow #yelena belova fanfiction #yelena belova imagine #yelena belova x y/n #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff fanfic #natasha romanoff imagine #yelena belova x you #yelena belova x female reader

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thebadbatch · 3 years ago

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Hunter X Unwell Reader

Plot: Hunter takes care of the reader as they've fallen ill.

Warnings: Detailed description of being unwell accompanied by a lot of fluff.

--------------------------

Loved

Upon waking, you realized how quickly your heart was beating and how hot you felt. Everything seemed to hit you at the same time, the temperature you appeared to be running made you feel like you were on Tatooine wearing all of the gear you usually wear during missions on Hoth. Your head alone made you wince, shutting your eyes as it grew sharper and more tense - your entire body felt fragile and weak and you were certain that you wouldn't be able to get yourself out of bed without falling. Then again it must be worth a try? Your throat felt dry and coarse, the feeling making you feel like you could die without it. Attempting to sit up, you pulled your legs out of bed and placed them upon the floor - that previous pain you felt really kicking in now as if it hadn't already.

"Kriff." Your voice mumbled, a sharp pain accompanying it. Pushing yourself up with what remained left of your energy, your body threw itself against the closest wall to keep your body from falling. Quickly Pressing a button on the doors control panel, they finally opened so you could drag yourself into the Havoc Marauders hallway. Your legs began to shake as they held you up and you knew that you wouldn't be able to hold yourself up much longer. "Hunter?" Your gentle-toned voice rang out, worry and fear coating it. Being unwell has always been a struggle for you due to constant thoughts filling your head saying that you'd only get worse and end up dying. Heath anxiety was always a nightmare to deal with and you lay all your thanks to Kamino for giving that to you. Rapid footsteps come closer and closer toward you, completely grateful for the sound as your legs give out resulting in you falling in what felt like slow-motion. Waiting for the hard floor to greet your body, which strangely never came, your eyes opened to see Hunter's worried gaze as you realised you were now in his arms completely vulnerable and weak. They had never seen you like this before, you had never called out for help as you were always making sure that their reckless selves didn't get injured or hurt.

"Y/N!" Hunter spoke, "What's wrong?" Closing your eyes, you hesitantly laid your head against his shoulder with your breaths completely ragged.

"Not well." You managed to croak out, whimpering a little at the wave of pain that engulfed your body. Hunter nodded and began to rush back with you to the cockpit where all of the other members were working on their own individual projects. You had definitely woken up late as all of the others never woke up as early as you did, at the sight of them you knew it was early into the afternoon.

"Tech," Hunter breathed, "Run a med scan for y/n stat." Tech turned in his seat at the never-before heard request for you, the others staring at you completely terrified. He soon stood, running the device over you before gazing at the information he had received.

"They have the flu." Everyone turned to him with puzzled and worried looks that intertwined. They were clones, they rarely got sick but when they did it was absolute hell. "The flu is a common Illness among humans which features a fever, aching body, exhaustion, cough, sore throat, headaches, loss of appetite, stomach Pain and being sick." He took a deep breath in, "It's a short term illness that will resolve itself in all due time, about five to seven days. Since y/n grew up on Kamino though, this may be one of the first times they're unwell, meaning that everything will feel one hundred times worse. Hunter gently sat down, keeping you against him as he used his fingertips to thread through your hair something you were usually too proud to let him do but you really needed this right now. Whilst leaning into his touch much to his joy, you attempted to speak.

"No... No tests." Echo looked over at you completely sympathetic, knowing how Kamino must have poked you with every needle available to see how illness affected you. You used to be an experiment for them to see how they could Improve their clones and if anything it just damaged you instead rather then improving them.

"No tests, Mesh'la." Hunter reassured you continuing to thread his fingertips through your hair, feeling your forehead against your burning temperature. "I promise." His gentle promise seemed to soothe and calm you straight away as you hid your face against his neck.

"How can we help her?" You heard Wreckers voice pipe up, he was always so sweet and fun to be around so when that serious tone drained away his usual laughs you couldn't help but pout.

"Plenty of liquid and food, especially rest and medicine which we will have to retrieve from Ord Mantell." Echo nodded, gazing over at Hunter who couldn't look away from your fragile form clinging to his body for any kind of comfort. "We need to do a Supply run anyway so we can collect it with ease."

"Would you mind staying, Hunter?" Echo questioned as he stood to gather any necessities for the supply run they decided to go on. "I think it's best for one of us to ensure they're safe." Within a heartbeat, Hunter had agreed as the others left to gather everything needed. Now it was just the two of you, leaving Hunter who was more than happy to take care of you. Lifting you up, he carried you to his bunk to softly lay you down under blankets and placed a cold cloth on your forehead that he retrieved from the fresher for you.

"Don't go." He had heard you whisper, a moment of clarity washing over you as you shifted a little to turn to him clinging to the pillow that smelt like him. A chuckle left his lips as he sat on the bed with you.

"I won't go anywhere, y/n." Those words alone gave out immense comfort before you pulled back the blankets for him to cuddle with until things stopped hurting as badly. Once he had cuddled back down with you, holding you delicately in his arms he began rubbing soft Circles against your back. "When they get back I want you to take the medicine and make Sure You drink plenty of water and have a little something to eat. Understood?" His words were more like soldier-talk, but you understood he did that when he was stressed or worried. A simple nod was returned by you before you hid against the warmth of his chest beginning to get some well-needed rest.

"Y/n…" A softer voice spoke which made you wince and furtherly hide against Hunter's chest, gripping his blacks. "Mesh'la, you need to take your medicine…" Opening your eyes, you Peeked above the comfort and safety of Hunter's blankets and his body - clearly not impressed that you were awoken by them.

"They seem angry..." Wrecker spoke, a little spooked at your angered expression.

"They will be." Hunter chuckled, his thumb running across your cheek causing you to melt into his touch with a smile.

"They've woken up to us needing them to take medicine, waking them from what relief sleep offered from y/n's flu." Tech gently crouched so he could see you clearly, Showing you a glass of water and a tablet. "Please take this, Cyar'ika." Nodding at his gentle tone, you took the tablet and water much to their glee.

"Good job, Mesh'la." Echo spoke with a Smile, "We will leave you both be. Shout for us if you need us okay?" Hunter thanked his brothers before turning back to face you, wiping some water away from your mouth.

"Why don't you sleep now y/n?" He smiled, pressing a kiss to your forehead as your eyes began to shut - excited for some relief from your aching body. "You'll feel better soon, I won't leave your side." His Previous kiss soon moved to your cheek as he held you even closer, protecting you from everything and anything. "I love you." With that, you finally drifted off with a smile, entirely in love with everything about The Bad Batch. Despite being unwell, you knew that you were free from the past and got to enjoy a well deserved future filled with people you loved and people who loved you too.

#the bad batch #bad batch #star wars #Hunter #Oneshot #x reader #The bad batch x reader

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xiyao-feels · 3 years ago

Note

i've seen takes that jgy started playing turmoil before the staircase, aka wwx comments that it would take 3months for turmoil to kill nmj (ch64) so obviously jgy started playing it a long time ago, causing all of nmj's anger, all of that was his fault.

but also the novel says that jgy made a decision on the stairs or gave something up then a few days later played for nmj (ch 49) and like...idk what that could be except for killing nmj, is there something else this could be?

is wwx right? is mxtx bad at timelines? is nmj kick 3 months in the past, what is the time between 49 and 50 (when nmj dies in 2mo)

idk this whole thing is fuzzy and if you have any clarification or insight i'd like to hear it

-🦊

Fox anon! I'm glad to hear from you, and I hope you're doing well. I'm sorry I took so long to answer this—I was trying to be thorough, you all can judge whether I succeeded.

Now, I think the first thing to note here is that WWX actually and explicitly observes the Song of Clarity working when JGY is playing for NMJ before the stairs (ch 49):

Since then, Jin GuangYao would travel from Lanling to Qinghe every few days, playing Sound of Lucidity to help quell Nie MingJue rage. He tried his hardest, without speaking even a single word of complaint. Sound of Lucidity was indeed effective. Wei WuXian could clearly feel that the hostile energy within Nie MingJue was being suppressed. And, when playing the guqin, the way that the two conversed and got along even had a hint of the peace they had before they fell out. He began to think that maybe the so-called busy reestablishing the Cloud Recesses was just an excuse. Perhaps Lan XiChen simply wanted to give Nie MingJue and Jin GuangYao a chance to ease their tension.

(emphasis mine)

I think this is pretty conclusive. WWX's observations on the spot override his conclusions after a) being extensively soaked in NMJ's anger/resentment (ch 48-50) b) the entire drama afterwards at Jinlintai including being stabbed through by Jin Ling (ch 50) and c) resting and recovering for four days (ch 63).

Moreover, let's look at what WWX actually says in chapter 63:

Wei WuXian, “Jin GuangYao’s spiritual energy isn’t high. He wouldn’t have been able to take someone’s life with just seven notes. And killing him this way would’ve been too obvious. He definitely wouldn’t have chosen a song so powerful. But, if he could use the reason of playing the Song of Clarity for ChiFeng-Zun to calm his temper and continued to play it for three months, would the song be able to act as a slow poison and catalyse ChiFeng-Zun’s outburst?”

He's asking LXC questions about Turmoil, because it's new to him and he doesn't understand everything about it. I think it's pretty clear here that he's starting from how long he saw JGY play for NMJ, and asking if that would be long enough, rather than definitively stating that it would have to take three months; nor is there anything in LXC's response ("… Yes") that suggests three months is any kind of necessary minimum.

So those are the facts at hand. And imho if you look at the text in the later Empathy, there's a great deal of supporting evidence as well. There's the moment you mention, where JGY seems to be making a decision:

Nie MingJue, “Then why don’t you sacrifice yourself? Are you any nobler than them? Are you any different from them?”

Jin GuangYao stared at him. A moment later, as though he had finally either decided on something or given up on something, he replied calmly, “Yes.”

He looked up. In his expression were some of pride, some of calmness, and some of a faint insanity, “I and they, of course we are different!”

I agree with you, he's deciding to give up on NMJ—and if it's something else, what is it? If JGY isn't giving up on getting through to NMJ here, what function does this line serve in the text?

And I think it's worth noting here, as I've noted before—when JGY is talking about how different his and NMJ's positions are, he says "Your background is noble and your cultivation is high"; and the "Your background is noble" part is 你出身高贵, with the 高贵 being the "noble" part. When NMJ is asking him "Are you any nobler than them? Are you any different from them?" the "Are you any nobler than them?" is 你比他们高贵吗—so the "noble" part is, again, the same word, 高贵. Given that JGY has just spent a great deal of breath explaining that he is different from NMJ precisely because of his less-noble background, this is very much a pair of questions that might quite justifiably make JGY feel like NMJ is just completely not understanding anything he is saying here at all.

Besides that moment, there is the way he approaches or interacts with NMJ, which is quite noticeably different after the stairs. If you look at the beginning of the stairs, he's trying to convince NMJ to let the XY thing go: he says that if XY is locked up for life and can't hurt people, this isn't too different from him being executed, and then when NMJ does not accept this, points out that it's JGY's father's command and he cannot simply go against it as NMJ wishes. Once JGY loses his temper, he is still presenting arguments for his position—which granted is now approximately "you're being a hypocrite and you don't understand things", but he is still arguing for it—that is, he is still trying to reach NMJ; he is acting as though on some level he believes he can get through to him.

But in attempting to convince NMJ about XY, he is not acting like someone who expects that NMJ is right about to die; because if he were expecting that, he could simply say whatever he likes to put NMJ off, knowing that he won't actually have to pay up. Similarly, in attempting to get through to NMJ via argument, however angrily, he is not treating NMJ as purely an object to be manipulated; NMJ's beliefs matter to JGY separately (I am not saying /only/ separately) from what those beliefs lead NMJ to do. To put it another way: he cares about what NMJ thinks. This too is something that prevents JGY from simply telling NMJ whatever he wishes to hear, and this, too, is lost at the stairs.

For after the stairs, telling NMJ what he wants to hear, and just telling NMJ something that will put him off because he knows or hopes he won't have to pay up, are exactly what JGY does. When he shows up at the Unclean Realm a few days later, he tells NMJ he's here to acknowledge his mistakes and that he's realized NMJ is "doing this" for him; he promises to bring NMJ XY's head in two months, and tells NMJ he can do whatever he likes with him if JGY does not. This is a significant change in behaviour from before the stairs, and in consideration with all the other evidence it seems to me that this is because, post-stairs, he no longer values what NMJ thinks of him, and he is now gambling on his killing NMJ before NMJ kills him.

The only area where he does push back now is NMJ's treatment of NHS, I suspect because he worries about what NMJ might do or continue to do to NHS in his remaining two months of life.

So: I really do think the evidence is pretty clear that JGY starts with Turmoil after the stairs, in that it is directly signalled by the text and in that all the evidence around it backs this up.

That said, I have seen other objections raised by various anti-JGY folk, and while some of them have more merit than others I think it's worth taking the time to go over them.

-JGY couldn't possibly have prepared the Turmoil music in the few days between the stairs and him starting to play for NMJ after.

Yes, I agree; he must have had it prepared earlier. But that only means that he had it prepared, not that he was using it, and while there are certainly people who will only prepare a weapon if they are sure they will use it, I really don't think JGY is among them. He might also have prepared it as evidence for his father that he was working on solving the problem.

-WWX didn't notice a difference between the music JGY was playing before the stairs and the music he was playing after; therefore, it must be the same music.

Honestly, I think that WWX just didn't notice. It's explicitly described as very subtle, and indeed he can't tell the difference between the altered passage and the rest of the song (ch 63):

Wei WuXian withdrew the flute from his lips, “It really is this section? But I don’t find this section different at all.”

And he again observes how similar they are in chapter 64:

And he combined them so well. They sound as though there were the same. His musical talent is indeed excellent.

His repeated observation that they sound just the same suggests that he could very well have failed to notice, I think, and indeed he would have heard the altered version more often.

There is also another explanation, entirely compatible with JGY only using Turmoil after the stairs. WWX says of JGY playing Turmoil that he must have "used little spiritual power" during the Clarity sections, and "only exerted power" during the Turmoil section (ch 64). So if we think WWX would definitely have noticed the difference, there is an explanation for how he nevertheless very clearly observed NMJ's hostile energy suppressed by the music; JGY might have been using his power during the (much longer) Clarity part, and only used a very little during Turmoil. Personally, I think that it fits better with the overall emotional arc if JGY didn't change the music he was playing until after the stairs; but I accept this isn't ruled out as a possibility.

I feel obliged to note that at one point, after I was challenged on the issue of JGY changing the music after the stairs and pointed out WWX noticing NMJ's hostile energy being suppressed, as above, I was offered as an explanation for the passage that JGY couldn't possibly have abruptly switched to Turmoil right away when he started playing for NMJ, because NMJ would have noticed that he was suddenly feeling worse; and that therefore WWX clearly feeling NMJ's hostile energy being suppressed was not really evidence that JGY was playing Clarity and not Turmoil before the stairs. But I disagree with this, on two counts.

First, it is not clear to me that NMJ would in fact notice. He does not seem to be very self-aware about the effects of the sabre curse. He explicitly denies it at the stairs, for example: "I am not [in turmoil]. I know what I'm doing" (ch 49). After he burns NHS' things, when JGY asks him if he's told NHS about the sabre curse yet, NMJ asks "Why would I tell him so soon?" even though at this point he is quite clearly being affected (ch 50). And when he kicks open the door to kill JGY in chapter 50, he seems not to think about the curse at all. Of course this last is moments before he qi deviates and dies and is therefore perhaps not representative, but it fits with the general pattern; I don't believe we ever see him consider whether his anger might be because of the sabre curse, and indeed he is hardly given to questioning the righteousness of his anger in general.

Secondly, and more abstractly...WWX observing the hostile energy being suppressed—"clearly feel[ing]" it being suppressed (ch 49)—may not be /literally/ incompatible with the idea that JGY changed music after the stairs. But a story isn't just a collection of facts, and I think by far the most natural interpretation of this, in context, is that JGY is playing Clarity and not Turmoil. Which is not of course to say you can't have a resistant reading here, but I think it's generally good practice to acknowledge when your readings are resistant readings, and especially if you have a resistant reading not to say it is the only possible reading of the facts.

-JGY has no motive for playing for NMJ other than wanting him dead.

If we assume rather that he doesn't want him dead, he pretty clearly has a motive to help keep NMJ's temper under control, both on a personal level (so NMJ doesn't attack or embarrass him) and on a political level (so NMJ doesn't lose it and embarrass JGS). I would also like to note that although it was some time ago, and it seems likely that even before the stairs JGY's feelings about NMJ are not as positive as once they were, we have seen JGY go to quite heroic lengths to save NMJ's life before, when he saves him from Wen Ruohan by misdirection and assassination then drag/carries his unconscious body rather than leave him there and make good his own escape.

-The stairs and the fan burning both happen before JGY starts playing for NMJ after the stairs; NMJ wouldn't do either of those things in his right mind…

I agree; the Nie have to deal with the sabre curse. I think it's worth pointing out, too, that aside from Clarity we don't see NMJ take any measures to try to deal with the curse, either directly in addressing the curse itself, or by preventing himself from acting excessively under the influence of the curse; it shouldn't be surprising, then, that the curse can cause such drastic incidents.

-…and the sabre curse wouldn't be strong enough.

This one really confuses me as an objection, I'm going to be honest. We can be pretty sure NMJ would have qi deviated eventually, Turmoil or no. NHS says this in chapter 26:

"The sabers of our past sect leaders were all heavy with hostile energy and killing intent. Almost every single sect leader met a sudden death from a qi deviation explosion. Their irritable tempers also had a lot to do with this."

(As a side note: the missing paragraph in the ER translation right after this has I think occasionally led people to the conclusion that it is the qi deviation and such that WWX suggests is similar to demonic cultivation, as opposed to the sabres turning murderous after the deaths of their owners—you can see the Taming Wangxian and the MDZS Translation versions for the full context of the exchange.)

So NMJ was almost sure to qi deviate eventually! Moreover, he would have greatly strengthened the sabre spirit through his extensive use of Baxia during Sunshot, and after the war he continues to pursue cultivating with the sabre, without, I think, any sign of moderation. And it seems likely that he is already showing recognizable symptoms of the curse by the time JGY starts playing for him alone, as Clarity seems intended to slow the progression of the curse and also like something relatively newly introduced—they don't seem to have been doing this since Sunshot just in case, or anything. So how then could we be sure that the sabre curse on its own would be insufficient?

-NMJ wasn't at all violent before JGY started playing for him

This is simply not true. Unfortunately we don't see much of him outside of Empathy, but looking exclusively at things that happen before JGY starts playing for him:

His reputation in Sunshot is about his destroying the Wen, contrasted with LXC's which is about saving people (ch 48):

During the Sunshot Campaign, stories of praise were told about all three of the Venerated Triad. The ones of ChiFeng-Zun were about how he swept over all obstacles, leaving not even a trace of the Wen-dogs after he finished. ZeWu-Jun—Lan XiChen—however, was different from him. After the situation of the Gusu area had settled down, Lan QiRen was able to defend it with great tenacity. Thus, Lan XiChen often travelled to aid others, saving lives from danger. In all of the Sunshot Campaign, he had countless times recovered lost territory and assisted narrow escapes. This was why people were ecstatic whenever they heard his name, as though they gained a ray of hope, a powerful trump card.

The description of his reaction to seeing MY kill the Jin captain pretty strongly suggests his initial reaction was to attack MY on the spot (ch 48):

Nie MingJue saw all of the scene. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his saber by an inch. A sharp ring pierced through the air.

Hearing the familiar sound of unsheathing, Meng Yao immediately trembled. He spun around, his soul almost evaporating, “… Sect Leader Nie?”

Nie MingJue pulled all of his saber out of its sheath. The body of the sword glared brightly, yet the blade itself vaguely glinted in the red shade of blood. Wei WuXian could feel the billowing anger from him, along with emotions of disappointment and hatred.

Meng Yao knew Nie MingJue’s character more than anyone else. He dropped the sword with a clang, “Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie! Please wait, please wait! I can explain!”

Even after he's listening, he ends up grabbing MY by the collar and lifting him up (ch 48).

When he's explaining what happened with MY to LXC, he announces his intention to kill MY if he ever sees him again (ch 48), and after MY kills WRH, saving NMJ's life in doing so, and is carrying him out afterwards, he grabs his sabre from MY's hand and tries to kill MY again (ch 49). He only stops when LXC physically blocks him, and changes his mind after LXC explains that MY was in fact a spy, and I think it's worth noting that WWX believes that MY would probably have died under NMJ's attacks before LXC arrived if NMJ hadn't been heavily injured (ch 49). We're also told the brotherhood oath 3zun swear is unusually violent, in a way JGY suggests, and which LXC notably does not refute, was decided by NMJ (ch 50). Finally, while this summary of NMJ's interests is arguably from WWX's perspective, it is still notable that the only two things he's apparently interested in are "training his saberwork and killing Wen-dogs" (ch 49)—which is to say, the study of violence, and a particular and fatal application thereof.

(Totally unrelated fun fact: I was looking at the entrance to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt for this too and apparently NMJ is seventh on the young cultivators list (ch 69). The more you know!)

I want to be very clear that I am not saying that all of NMJ's violence is unreasonable or not understandable. But that it can be reasonable and understandable does not mean that it is not violent; and it is certainly not the only reaction a person could have to the events he's reacting to. Contrast LXC, as someone rather on the other end of the spectrum.

-If NMJ were violent, JGY wouldn't risk his life killing him via Turmoil (and therefore NMJ must not be violent)

Even aside from the extensive textual evidence for NMJ's violence, I don't think this holds together. As shown above, I think it's quite clear that NMJ was in fact always a violent man, but there is absolutely no question that he's violent to JGY in his last months of life, and if you think JGY started playing Turmoil for NMJ before the stairs, then it's really extremely clear that JGY was willing to risk NMJ's violence in killing him! I think the clash between JGY's desire to live and the evident risk to his life from killing NMJ with Turmoil actually supports the position I am arguing here. Assuming we are agreed that JGY is attached to his own life, and as it's clear that as NMJ approached his end he was a danger to JGY (regardless of how that end was induced!), why was JGY playing him Turmoil?

I think the stairs make it clear to JGY that his life is not safe while NMJ is still alive. Using Turmoil, therefore, becomes a gamble he is willing to take, though still an enormously risky one: on the one hand, it appeases his father and enables him to promise NMJ he can do whatever he likes with JGY if he doesn't kill XY in two months (ch 50), a promise he obviously and understandably has no intention of keeping. But on the other hand, if NMJ doesn't die within the two months, he probably will simply kill JGY—and more than that, given his focus on JGY, he may kill JGY anyway, for some much more trivial reason. Indeed, this is exactly what almost happens just before NMJ's death, when he kicks open a door and attempts to kill JGY on the spot because JGY was complaining to LXC about NMJ's treatment of him; if LXC hadn't blocked NMJ's sabre, JGY would almost certainly have died (ch 50). But as risky as this gamble is, it is still a better bet than waiting around and hoping LXC always saves him when NMJ tries to kill him—especially taking into account the risk from his father should he do so.

-The stairs incident was good for JGY and bad for NMJ, which is evidence that JGY arranged it on purpose

...I have a lot of things to say about this position. None of them are very nice. However, as I am in fact trying to argue in good faith, I will attempt to address it as an argument.

I think this comes from a confusion of the fandom reaction to the stairs with the in-universe reaction to it. To people now, yes, looking at this makes NMJ look bad, and inspires sympathy for JGY. In-universe, however—when NMJ publically assaults JGY and tries to kill him, when he calls him Meng Yao, when he shouts he's the son of a prostitute, it's not /NMJ/ who looks bad. NMJ of course is righteous in his anger; really he's only putting that boy in his place, don't you think? I knew Chifeng-zun didn't really accept him. Etcetera. It /weakens/ JGY's position, because the cultivation world does not have the same beliefs and priorities and value judgements that we do!

Certainly if he'd actually managed to kill JGY he would suddenly have found that he had killed JGS's beloved son, the only remaining son of the Jin, a war hero, his own sworn brother who had saved NMJ's life etc etc etc. But only because then there would have been political advantage in it for JGS, and quite substantial political advantage too, and he wouldn't have to deal with JGY being around anymore. As it stands, all NMJ's actions at the stairs do for JGY is tell the world that he is vulnerable and weak and disgusting. The only significant person in-world who would find JGY more sympathetic after this incident is LXC, and frankly a) he is already deeply in sympathy with JGY and b) we don't see JGY playing it up—after LXC's appearance at the stairs rather he minimizes and soothes things, and even when we overhear his complaints to LXC around two months later he is talking about what NMJ thinks of him, and not the physical danger NMJ poses.

I will also observe that while JGY does end up losing his temper, he starts off soothing even through NMJ's first attempted assault, and only loses it after NMJ calls him Meng Yao and says "your whole thing stopped working on me since a long time ago" in front of everyone; this attempted conciliation seems an odd thing to do were he in fact trying to manipulate NMJ into assaulting him, trying to kill him, embarrassing him and weakening his position in public. You could argue that NMJ would be more angered by JGY's attempts to be soothing than he would by JGY's directness, and thus the soothing could be read as provocative, but this simply isn't backed up by the text; while NMJ was obviously already angry before JGY lost his temper, he nevertheless escalates significantly after JGY talks back.

Moreover...I think what NMJ actually does and tries to do at the stairs, in terms of violence, is sometimes not fully grasped.

The first thing he does once they're properly outside is try to hit JGY, though fortunately JGY manages to dodge. When NMJ kicks him down the stairs, even aside from calling JGY the son of a prostitute, JGY ends up rolling down more than fifty steps and acquiring a head wound—/another/ head wound, because he already had one, apparently from the physical abuse he receives at Jinlintai from Madam Jin. And finally, NMJ actually /unsheathes his sabre/ and, after LXC approaches, announces his intention to kill JGY:

Lan XiChen, “Brother, sheath your saber first—your mind is in turmoil!”

Nie MingJue, “I am not. I know what I’m doing. He’s beyond hope. If these keeps on going, he’ll do the world harm for sure. The earlier he’s killed, the earlier we can relax!”

(ch 49)

When I say that NMJ almost killed JGY at the stairs, I am not just talking about kicking him down the stairs, although that certainly could have killed JGY. I am talking about drawing his sabre on JGY with the intention of killing him. JGY would very likely have died if LXC hadn't thought they were taking too long and come to see.

JGY can certainly take enormous risks when it's necessary—but for a risk like this he would have to be gaining something extremely significant, and I remain unconvinced he was gaining anything at all, let alone anything worth the cost.

-NMJ's actions at the stairs and his burning NHS' things are completely unrelated to any of his previous actions and motivations.

In fact, although they're certainly both significant escalations, I think that in both cases NMJ's motivations and actions draw extensively from preceding characterization.

Consider the stairs. The direct classism is certainly new, but there are several other elements that have already been established as part of NMJ's characterization: the tendency to violence, the investment in JGY behaving correctly even while ignoring incorrect behaviour around him, the approach to justice both in his particular and frequently-retributive idea of it and in his commitment to that idea, and a failure to understand the realities of JGY's position.

The violence I discussed above, and the failure to understand JGY's position has I think been discussed sufficiently elsewhere and besides would be a full post in its own right. As to NMJ's approach to justice, you can see both idea and commitment to it in his anger to the men speaking badly of MY (ch 48) and his appreciation and promotion of MY for his accomplishments (ch 48); his initial intention to kill MY after he catches him killing the Jin captain (ch 48), his subsequent insistence that MY turn himself in to the Jin (ch 48) and his intention to kill MY for his betrayal after MY tricks him and escapes (ch 48); his initial insistence that MY should pay for killing the Nie cultivators, even as he acknowledges that MY saved his life and says he will kill himself after he kills MY (ch 49); and of course in his insistence that WQ and WN should pay for their complicity with WRH, even in the face of LXC and JC's defense of them (ch 73). And in describing LWJ as "absolutely [unable to] stand wrongdoings, possibly even more than Nie HuaiSang’s brother" (ch 30), WWX implies a great deal about the extent of NMJ's inability to stand wrongdoings. Of course, not all of these instances involve NMJ seeking violent retribution as justice, but a significant portion do—about half—and it is certainly a recurring theme. This approach to justice, I should add, is certainly involved in attempting to punish JGY for his misdeeds by killing him, but it is also part of why he is so upset in the first place: in NMJ's view of things, holding XY in prison instead of executing him for his crimes is failing to see justice properly done.

The investment in JGY behaving correctly, even while caring less about the behaviour of other people around him doing the same, is likewise an established character note. WWX concludes that NMJ's desire to guide JGY is one of the main reasons he agrees to the brotherhood (ch 49); we see his disapproval of JGY associating with XY, who already has something of a bad reputation, at the Flower Banquet (ch 49); at the conference after WWX rescues the Wen, when JGY backs up his father's lie about what WWX said about JC, NMJ seems to mark it more heavily than JGS' initial lie (ch 73). And then, of course, there is this, from the scene just before JGY starts playing for NMJ (ch 49):

In reality, it wasn’t that Jin GuangYao could calm Nie MingJue’s anger, but that since Jin GuangYao came, all of Nie MingJue’s anger would be directed at him alone, having no time to scold others. Thus, there was nothing wrong with saying that he was Nie HuaiSang’s knight in shining armor.

While NMJ's actions at the stairs are certainly not something he'd have done without the sabre curse, and again the direct classism is new, it nevertheless very much ties in to his preexisting characterization.

What about the burning of NHS' things? Again, many elements of the situation derive from NMJ's preexisting characterization; in this case, his tendency to release his anger on physical objects, his desire for NHS to be a strong cultivator and his angry displeasure with NHS' actual interests and capabilities, and his threatening to burn NHS' things.

Although prior to the burning of NHS' things it seems to be usually a momentary lashing out, NMJ definitely has a history of releasing his anger on physical objects. When he is annoyed at the men speaking badly about MY, he knocks down (or carves up? the English is unclear) a boulder at the front of the cave (ch 48); when he decides not to kill MY after LXC explains MY was their spy, he carves a boulder in half (ch 49); and he cracks the top of a table by bringing his palm down on it in the scene just before JGY starts playing for him (ch 49).

As to NMJ's desire for his brother to focus on and do well at cultivation, and his displeasure at NHS' actual areas of focus, this is perhaps one of his most consistent beats of characterization. We see it in our introduction to NHS at the Cloud Recesses lectures (ch 13); in NHS' plea for WWX's help with the test (ch 14); in LXC's message to NHS from NMJ and NHS' reason for staying in CR instead of going to Caiyi Town (ch 16); in WWX's reminiscences about NHS after discussing the "Man-Eating Ridge" with the "know-it-all of Qinghe" (ch 21); in NMJ and LXC's discussion when NMJ brings LXC NHS' sabre during in Sunshot (ch 48); and of course in the scene just before JGY starts playing for NMJ, both in his initial anger at NHS' preoccupation with the fans and uncertainty about his sabre's location, and in his dismissal of NHS as a "good-for-nothing" even after his temper had faded (ch 49).

The threatening to burn NHS' things, on the other hand, I believe we only see once, and really in the form of "instructing NHS to burn certain specific things of his"; but it is in the very scene before JGY starts playing for NMJ, as NMJ tells NHS to burn the fans he has just been going over tenderly before JGY interrupts (ch 49).

Indeed, I think that scene in general is very much worth a look here, for what it has and for what it doesn't. On the one hand, we do see NHS' fear of NMJ—he literally falls to his knees in terror, and stutters even after getting up! But he also seems fairly comfortable after the worst of NMJ's anger passes, and when NMJ sends him off he goes not to his room as instructed, but to the living room for the gifts JGY has brought him. Yet many of the elements of NMJ's later destruction of NHS' things are present here, and to my mind one of the most important things about the scene is its illustration of what prevents NMJ from carrying out the threats he made in his anger. It's not that he's convinced he's being unreasonable—indeed, he doesn't seem to consciously change his mind at all. Instead it is simply that repeated interruptions and NHS's ridiculous appearance as he greets JGY end up draining his temper, and with his temper drained he no longer pursues punishing NHS. But this has obvious implications for what might happen if NMJ's anger did not diminish, and I think it's quite clear how the behaviour NMJ exhibits in this scene could lead to NMJ burning NHS' things simply by giving him a more sustained burst of temper, even as it is not something NHS ever expected to happen, or something that would happen had NMJ's temper not been worsened by the sabre curse.

To conclude this section—while NMJ's actions at the stairs and in burning NHS' things are certainly unprecedented in themselves, they are nevertheless solidly rooted in NMJ's preexisting characterization, and it's easy to see how the sabre curse could lead to these extreme escalations.

To conclude the post, I think the direct evidence is quite clear that JGY was playing Clarity before the stairs, and I think the indirect evidence also significantly supports it; nor am I convinced by various objections I have seen, for reasons I hope I have conveyed.

#more than one tag could contain #anger burned in his heart #we can't change places #long meta #and thank you very much to confusion-and-more for looking it over + their extremely helpful suggestions and revisions #this post would not be the same without them

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