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wordingg · 1 month ago

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Get Orbed, Losers

Little fic for Dead Boy Ween Day 4, prompt: orbs

Summary: Niko, Charles and Edwin are trapped inside a haunted house with an angry poltergeist when Charles and Edwin are poofed. Niko then has to save the day with only two chatty orbs for company.

London was very different from Port Townsend, not that Niko thought that was a bad thing. She had grown up in Tokyo, so it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to big cities. But, it was certainly a big change from the small relatively quiet town of Port Townsend.

Niko had expected that it would be hard to convince her mother to let her transfer to a school in London. But, she maybe underestimated how much her mother was willing to do to finally get a response back to her letters. If Niko thought about that for too long, it made her feel sad and guilty. So, she did her best to not think about it.

Reconnecting with her mother was hard. They were very different people and Niko didn’t feel like her mother understood her even a little bit, though it did seem like she was trying very hard to do so. Niko hadn’t even gotten close to broaching the subject of her new friends, living and dead, and her new interest in being a detective. Not only would her mother not understand, she probably wouldn’t believe her.

Admittedly, Niko thought most people wouldn’t believe that she spent most of her free time these days helping two dead boys solve mysteries for other dead people. But, she liked the new turn that her life had taken. Even if it ended up with her locked in a very haunted house by herself with only two floating orbs for companionship.

“Oh no!” Niko exclaimed. “How did this happen?” she asked, reaching out a hesitant finger toward the glowing bluish ball of light that she assumed was Edwin. He bumped into her finger and she was briefly assailed by the smell of old paper and a faint feeling of warmth, like warm buttery sunlight on a bright summer day.

“She dropped a piano on us,” Charles said in a wry tone, his own warm red orb sailing in circles around herself and Edwin.

Niko glanced over at the huge upright piano that was currently half embedded into the floor of the parlor.

“Wow,” Niko breathed, tilting her head a little to better see how deeply the piano had sunk into the next level of the house. “She must be a really strong ghost. I wonder what her work out routine is like…”

“I don’t believe her calisthenic habits have an effect on her ability to throw heavy objects,” Edwin said testily.

Charles’ little blush colored ball curled tighter on his next orbit around Niko and bumped affectionately into Edwin, knocking him a few inches to the left. There was a little burst of light when they hit that left sparkling afterimages on the back of Niko’s eyes.

“Oi, how do you know?” Charles asked with a laugh. “I don’t see you doing any squats. Maybe this calls for an experiment. We can work out every day and then see who can lift a piano easier.”

Even without a face Niko could tell that Edwin was rolling his eyes. “Really, Charles,” he said.

Charles laughed, his ball doing a little spin and then looping in a circle before he went back to orbiting Niko’s head. Edwin instead floated closer to Niko, getting close enough to her shoulder that she could feel a bit of the cold radiating off of him through her jacket.

“I suppose I’ll keep an eye out for falling furniture,” Niko said faintly as she turned back the way she came and started back toward the kitchen.

“Oh, shite. I keep forgetting you’re mortal,” Charles said. “We really need to get you of here. If this ghost can move pianos, then she’s too dangerous for you to be around.”

“So long as our poltergeist friend is holding all the doors and windows shut, I don’t think Niko will be able to make her exit,” Edwin muttered near her ear. He sounded like he was just right there, so it was strange to think he was just a little orb hiding behind her hair.

Niko put her fingers up to where Edwin’s voice had come from and he bumped against her fingers again in a friendly sort of way. This time she smelled kerosene and tasted some kind of very sweet candy. It was very pleasant.

“Don’t worry about me, guys,” she said. “You just focus on helping this poor ghost out. I know how to take care of myself.”

Charles scoffed, doing another little loop at the edge of Niko’s vision. “Yeah, well. I’d have said the same thing about us a few minutes ago and look where that got us.”

“Discorporation is just a small set back,” Edwin said stiffly. “Once we gather enough energy from the nearby surroundings we will be back to our normal selves. We can investigate just fine as is.”

It was handy having the boys as orbs for the time being. The servant corridors leading off the kitchen were narrow and had no wiring for electric lights, but their orbs cast enough light for Niko to see where she was going.

“What does it feel like to be an orb?” Niko asked curiously. Turning right, she found herself at the bottom of some very narrow, very steep stairs. They looked sort of dangerous. She imagined that it was probably really hard to navigate them when your hands were full of towels or a tea tray or whatever servants for fancy english nobles had to carry around these tight passageways.

“It’s sort of like if you had to sit in a little dark cramped room and like you have a controller with just a joystick to control your body and you can only see out of a little tiny window the size of your hand,” Charles explained, doing a few more flips in front of Niko’s face. It was distracting, but if that was what it felt like to be an orb, maybe Charles was feeling under stimulated. Doing flips might be the only way he could try and make his sensory input a little more interesting, poor thing.

“A very apt explanation, Charles,” Edwin said, sounding impressed.

Charles must have been happy with the compliment, because he started to spin in tight circles around Edwin, occasionally brushing against him in little flashes of light.

“Charles! Charles, enough! You’ll make yourself dizzy!” Edwin exclaimed, though it sounded to Niko like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

“I don’t think I’ve been dizzy a day of my afterlife, mate,” Charles said with a laugh, but did stop spinning around Edwin. “Can you get dizzy without an inner ear?”

They had reached the landing at the top of the stairs. Niko inched the door open slowly to reveal a very tastefully decorated sitting room on the second floor.

Charles dodged past her as she opened the door, his orb partially phasing through her neck as he did so. The flavor of hot spicy curry and thick fluffy rice exploded on her tongue as he did so.

“Mmm!” Niko hummed, pressing her fingers to her lips. The taste and the feel of the rice felt so real on her tongue that she almost thought there really was food in her mouth. “Oh, curry!” she exclaimed after a second. “I love curry,” she sighed.

“Me too!” Charles exclaimed. “There used to be this little place on the way home from school. God, they had the best curry. When I was a lad, it was so hot it almost burnt my tongue off, but I just couldn’t get enough!”

Niko smacked her lips a few times, savoring the lingering flavors that were quickly fading from her mouth and stepped into the room. “Well, you have excellent taste. I think I’d die for a whole plate of that,” she said very seriously to orb Charles.

Charles stopped his constant movement for a second.

“Wait. I’m sorry, did you just taste my favorite curry?” Charles asked.

“When you two bump into me I smell and taste all kinds of interesting things,” Niko explained.

“Whoah. That’s-”

Whatever Charles was about to say, it was cut off by Edwin talking over him. “Charles, Niko! Our ghost is here!”

When Niko turned to look she found that Edwin was right. There was a middle aged woman in a very tight and modest gray dress buttoned up to her chin was standing in the corner of the room glaring at her. The color had completely washed out of her, like she had stepped out of a grainy black and white film, and her eyes dark pits in her angular face.

“No one ever understands,” she said, her voice wobbling. Her hands were clenched in trembling fists by her side. “No one ever NOTICES!” she shouted, black tears overflowing and running down her face. “No one ever APPRECIATES all that I DO!”

“We’re not your family, lady! Give it a break!” Charles shouted, darting over to hover protectively between Edwin and Niko and the angry ghost crying in the corner.

“Charles, please do shut up!” Edwin shouted back, sounding stressed and more than a little scared.

“I’m sorry that nobody appreciates you,” Niko piped up, clasping her hands in front of her. “That must be really hard.”

Both of the orbs floated closer to Niko, but she kept her eyes trained on the crying woman. She looked so sad. It didn’t excuse her dropping a piano on her friends, but Niko still felt bad for her.

“It… It is hard,” the woman agreed after a long pregnant moment. She dashed her tears away with long delicate fingers and frowned out the window. “It is very hard when you work your hardest at something and never receive a single compliment or thank you.”

“You’re so right,” Niko nodded along. “One time I volunteered to make the collage for a group project in one of my classes. And, I spent all day gluing photos and glitter hearts and string to poster board. And the day of the presentation, none of my classmates even said thank you or said anything about my glitter hearts. That really hurt my feelings.”

The woman started to cry again, pressing her own elegant looking hands to her chest. “That’s just awful! I am not sure what ‘glitter hearts’ are, but I would have complimented you for the effort!”

“Thank you,” Niko said sincerely. “You seem like a really kind and thoughtful person.”

The woman started to cry harder. “Thank you,” she gasped.

“What is happening?” Charles whispered, though it was too loud to go unnoticed in the small room.

“Be quiet!” Edwin hissed.

“I know that it doesn’t feel nice when you have to point it out, but can I ask what you feel is going unappreciated?” Niko asked gently.

The woman threw her arms out wildly, tears still streaming down her face. “Everything!” she exclaimed. “I built this house from the ground up! I practically drew up the architectural plans myself, because James was just useless at it. I picked out all the furniture, saw it all delivered and arranged, picked out the rugs, the drapes, the decor! I built this home entirely by myself so that my family could live here and be happy and then I worked myself to death to make it so!” the woman sobbed loudly, the sound wracking her whole body and making her tremble. Faintly, the objects on the shelves began to vibrate. “All of that and now they’re just going to tear it down and turn it into-into-” she took another great gasping breath “a strip mall!” she shouted before collapsing into tears.

They all stood awkwardly for a while, avoiding each other’s eyes while the lady ghost in the corner cried and sobbed.

“The drapes are really very lovely,” Niko commented, reaching out a finger to carefully trace the line of a faded green stem woven into the heavy fabric.

“They really are,” Edwin agreed. “They draw the eye and really warm up the room.”

“Thank you,” the woman sobbed. She took a few steps forward and collapsed onto one of the nearby settees. The objects on the shelves stopped shaking. “I worked so hard while I was alive because I loved my family. But, all my work went ignored and now it’s been completely forgotten. It makes one feel rather unloved, doesn’t it?” she asked tearfully.

Niko walked over to sit beside her. She took her delicate hands and folded them between her own. The woman’s hands were ice cold, but they were also soft and small, like her own. These hands had worked tirelessly and she loved them just a little bit for that.

“I don’t believe for a second that you were unloved,” Niko says firmly. “Sometimes people get caught up in their own stuff and have a hard time seeing things. But, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t love you.”

The spectral hands she held in her own squeezed, sending a cold ache up Niko’s arms. The woman’s face was folded into bittersweet lines.

“You’re right,” she sighed. “Of course you’re right. Perhaps I’m the one who is ‘caught up’ as you said.”

“Maybe,” Niko agreed with a tilt of her head. “It happens to the best of us.”

“Quite,” the woman agreed with a wet sniff.

Then, the room was flooded with a soft blue light.

“Edwin!” Charles shouted, spinning around Edwin in the fastest circles that Niko had seen yet.

“Don’t wait for me! Just go!” Edwin shouted back, already speeding off through the wall in what Niko thought was probably the direction of the foyer.

“I have to go,” Niko said, turning back to the woman’s ghost. She was frowning in confusion at the wall that Charles and Edwin had just disappeared through. “But, a nice woman should be coming to talk to you soon. You should listen to what she has to say,” Niko explained, climbing back to her feet.

The woman nodded, turning toward where the blue light was strongest. She looked younger and happier, the light washing years off of her lined face.

“Yes, I will,” she said, not looking at Niko.

Niko gave the woman’s profile a smile. She would be okay. Niko had faith.

She exited through the door in the wall that Charles and Edwin had flown through. It lead to a hallway that took her back to the foyer with the piano in the floor.

“Niko! Thank God,” Edwin exclaimed, flying up to make his own nervous circles around her as Niko emerged at the top of the staircase.

“Hi, Edwin!” Niko said, happy to see him doing well. She cupped a hand around his orb and he obligingly settled into it, his touch giving her the scent of beeswax and the taste of honey. “I’m glad you two got away fast enough. I think our ghost friend will be okay now.”

“Glad you’re okay too, Niko,” Charles said warmly, settling his orb near Niko’s other shoulder. She cupped a gentle hand around him and smelled fresh cut grass and tasted sweet black tea.

The quiet moment was broken by Crystal slamming through the front door, her eyes wild, her hair a cloud of wayward curls flying around her head, and a huge pickaxe held in her hands. The outward facing side of the door had clearly seen the wrong end of said pickaxe, judging by the huge gouges in the ancient wood.

“Crystal!” Niko said happily, letting go of Edwin and Charles so that she could descend the stairs.

“Niko!” Crystal exclaimed, looking distinctly more ruffled than Niko herself. She threw the pickaxe to the side and then threw herself at Niko so hard that she nearly fell over backward. Crystal’s tears quickly soaked through the shoulder of Niko’s jacket and her thin strong arms were tacky with sweat. “God, don’t scare me like that! Do you have any idea what awful sounds that were coming from in here!?”

“Did it sound something like a piano falling through the floor?” Charles asked curiously.

His voice sounded much stronger than it had for the past two minutes, so Niko partially extracted herself from Crystal so she could look up at him. He and Edwin were both standing at the bottom of the stairs, now in their normal dead boy shapes.

“Oh. Yeah, it did,” Crystal said, turning from Niko to frown at the piano that was still partway through the floor a few feet from them.

“Aw,” Niko said, turning back toward Edwin and Charles. “No more orbs, huh? I’m going to miss Chorb and Orbwin.”

Charles’ eyes went huge with amusement while Edwin winced like he was in pain.

“Chorb!?” Charles shouted.

“No,” Edwin said faintly.

“And, Orbwin!?” Charles shouted.

“No, absolutely not,” Edwin said louder.

Charles turned to Edwin with a feral grin. “Chorb and Orbwin! Mate, that’s us. That’s our orb-sonas.”

Edwin squinted at him. “I don’t know what that is and I don’t want you to explain it to me this time.”

“Guys, this is cute and all, but can we please get out of here?” Crystal asked, looking frazzled. Niko reached out to hold her hand and felt blisters where the pickaxe handle must have rubbed her hands raw. Niko frowned and pressed Crystal’s hand tighter in her own.

“What an absolutely capital idea, Crystal,” Edwin said stiffly, walking across the foyer and toward the front door with long strides that made him look like he was gliding. Edwin had such a pretty way of moving. Niko really envied him that.

“We can get curry,” Niko suggested, giving Crystal’s hand a pat. “Charles knows a good place.”

“I’d like that,” Crystal sniffled, following Niko and Edwin out of the house.

“Oi, it’s been like forty years. The place probably isn’t still around,” Charles said doubtfully as he followed them out of the house.

But, Charles was wrong because the little curry place near his old school was still in business. Even though he couldn’t eat any of his favorite menu items, Niko was more than happy to order them and assure him that it was just as good now as it was back then. Charles looked a little misty eyed to hear that.

And Crystal fell asleep on her shoulder on the cab ride back into the heart of London. And Charles did eventually explain to Edwin what a -sona was, even if Edwin looked like he wanted to phase through the floor the whole time.

And, overall, it was another excellent investigation completed by the Dead Boy Detectives (plus psychic (plus Niko)) and another great day for Niko Sasaki and her friends.

#dead boy detectives #dbda #post canon #canon divergence au #cuz niko is there #i guess #even tho i think it was a given that she was coming back #prompt fic #humor #friendship #case fic #orbs #orbwin and chorb #niko pov #dead boy ween #deadboyween #fanfiction #wordinggwrites

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ohboyhowdybuckaroo · 18 days ago

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i'm standing on my box, tapping the mic, and saying loudly for the people in the back that six eyes would be a sensory nightmare. gojo is lucky he is the universe's baby girl or he would be having the worst time at all times. thank you and good night.

comes from frame pieces ch. 4 of the jigsaw soulmates au.

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diaphanous-singularity · 3 months ago

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*363 walks through the lobby, looking around in awe. it‘s so bright… brighter than anything meow has seen before.*

I can‘t wait to see everyone… especially 477!!! I just gotta figure out what a theory hole is supposed to be…

*She stops for a moment, thinking.*

I hope she still likes me when she meets me in purr-son…

*finally, they see the theory hole – well, they‘re not sure, but it‘s a hole, so it‘s probably right. She excitedly runs up to it.*

Hello!!! Hi!!!

#ask blog #rp blog #canon divergence au #parallel canon oc #side order #splatoon rp

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tumblerislovetumblerislife · 1 month ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland, Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne & Charles Rowland Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Charles Rowland (DCU), Night Nurse (DCU), Crystal Palace (DCU), Niko Sasaki Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, not so much a fix-it as breaking canon slightly to the left, Heavy Angst, Episode Related, Episode: s01e04 The Case of the Lighthouse Leapers (Dead Boy Detectives), Episode: s01e05 The Case of the Two Dead Dragons (Dead Boy Detectives), Pre-Relationship, a payneland pre-established fic by alex WITHOUT them getting together? groundbreaking, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort Summary:

“Everyone has a place. Don’t you want to know what yours is? It might be wonderful,” the Night Nurse told Charles, her voice soothing as a lullaby. Charles faltered at the Night Nurse’s words. His shoulders loosened; his cricket bat descended out of its ready position. Stood behind him, Edwin could not see his expression, but he could imagine it well enough: a slack expression, morphing slowly into wide-eyed wonder. Charles took a dazed step toward her. And, in the single most selfish act of his entire existence – Edwin darted after him, clutching handfuls of his coat, and tried to hold Charles back.

Or: The Night Nurse says a little less. Edwin does a little more. They all deal with the consequences.

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stainedglassthreads · 1 year ago

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AU in which everything is the same except Melus and Silver decide to just keep acting as Navia's bodyguards, since they technically haven't actually died or retired, just undergone an abrupt change in species. So now Navia just has two Oceanid bodyguards following her everywhere.

Things are certainly different, but Navia has to admit that even having them like this makes things much easier for her.

#genshin impact thoughts #genshin impact headcanon #genshin impact 4.2 spoilers #fontaine spoilers #genshin impact au #canon divergence au #navia #becoming an oceanid does seem to represent some loss in individuality #but that doesn't seem to have stopped them at all in protecting their boss in the trial #so i don't see why navia can't just be constantly tailed by two oceanids

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fortytworedvines · 1 month ago

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Audrey learns a little more about Mr Farnon.

#siegfried x audrey #acgas 2020 #canon divergence au #my fic

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jove999 · 5 months ago

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Kasspasia, But in Roman time (Back story : I borrowed my favorite headcanon from the fandom : Aspasia become immortal with kass, Plus a little vibe from This is How You Lose the Time War book? You guys know this book? I always think of protagonists as kasspasia). Kass come to kill aspasia, failed, and she gets killed (executed) instead. That was the story I originally thought while drawing.... yuh

#kassandraartspecial #ac art #canon divergence au #aspasia x kassandra #ac odyssey

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turbotastic-as-fuck · 2 months ago

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My Turbo redemption Headcanon & Alternate ending idea to the movie (with art examples):

Basically the movie ends the exact same way, except King Candy was never eaten by that cy-bug. Instead, he swerved as the track was being destroyed, shocked at all the cy-bugs destroying “his” game. He ends up driving away and back into the tunnel like the little coward he is, knowing Vanellope won’t be able to cross the finish line with all this mess.

Blah blah blah… Ralph succeeds in getting the vol-cola mountain to explode, Vanellope saves him on the kart, all the cy-bugs die, she crosses the finish line, happily ever after.

Then there’s King Candy. Right after it’s revealed that Vanellope is the rightful ruler and princess (president), he drives over and storms in. Ralph wants to curve stomp his little ass, but both Felix and Vanellope stop him.

King Candy starts cussing her (and pretty much everyone else) out, calling all of them names. His character model keeps glitching between King Candy and Turbo, as if the game is trying to erase all evidence of King Candy, but his own code is refusing and fighting to keep his goofy-ahh design.

At some point while he’s cussing everyone out kid-friendly style, both of the police characters walk up behind him with one of those giant cupcakes and slam it on top of King Candy, trapping him similar to how Ralph was before.

Dizzy and probably concussed, his character model finally settles on Turbo. For good this time.

Vanellope, finally having a moment to talk, she wonders aloud what they’re gonna do with him. Calhoun and Ralph raise their guns and fists. But Felix, fighting to keep things civil, walks up and looks at Turbo. “I have a suggestion, princess-president-ma’am”

Hard cut to Turbo sitting in a meeting room, surrounded by other characters, with a banner that says “Troubled-Anon”, or just something that insinuates the characters are problematic outside of their games but want (or NEED) to be better.

Yeah that’s my idea. Basically Turbo survives and is forced into group therapy. It’s not the most creative, but it’s an idea I like. Of course the canon outcome from the movie is much better, but I just want more Turbo.

But sadly my want for more Turbo comes at a cost… no King Candybug 💔

#art of fennecfics #traditional art #wreck it ralph #turbo wir #turbo wreck it ralph #turbotastic #wreck it ralph fanart #wreck it ralph turbo #Wynnchel and Duncan #canon divergence au #turbo lives au #turbo #wynnchel #duncan #sugar rush

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jeanbie · 2 years ago

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WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU #4 ★ masterlist.

pairing: jean x reader

genre: major canon divergence fic | warnings: scouting mission events, blood, gore, violence, character death, lance is fictional, decapitations | wc: 3.1k

note: emphasis on canon divergence! you've been warned :P

⏤ Imagine the way they say I love you. Imagine the words choked out as hands race over skin, checking for injuries and begging for reassurance.

Captain Levi told every recruit when they first joined the Survey Corps that one of the most important things to remember whilst being a cadet was not to pay attention, or remember to tighten your harnesses before leaving for breakfast, but instead, he preached that under absolutely zero circumstances should you ever, if you can try, ever fall in love within the ranks.

It hadn’t seemed obvious to the cadets at the time, because wasn’t love good? Wasn’t love what fuelled the motivation to return? Surely, Captain Levi, this was good. But, the Captain stared back at the crowd of novice cadets and frowned, a pinched irritation between his eyebrows.

“Imagine going into battle and becoming distracted because all you can care about is the safety of that person,” Captain Levi had said, gently resting his hands on his knees, speaking as though telling from experience. Perhaps he was. “Imagine putting all your love and time into this one person, and then having that person ripped from your hands.”

Nobody had said anything, and only sat there with dawning realisation as Captain Levi stood from his chair and tucked it under the table quietly. “None of you deserve that pain. Do as I say, and you’ll thank me when it’s all over.”

Jean had been there listening that day, sitting on a chair next to Lance, who had found himself a favourite of Squad Leader Hange. He had shifted uncomfortably under the judgemental gaze of the shorter captain, but as he walked away with his head tucked down and his chin on his torso, Jean suddenly felt a new wave of respect for his Captain. Watching as Captain Levi retreated out of the hall without another word, silently dismissing everybody present, Jean sucked in a breath when beside him, you nudged his elbow with a small smile.

Jean was not on your squad; despite joining the scouts together, Captain Levi had made the decision to split you, with Jean joining Captain Hange's squad and Squad Leader Mike taking yourself. As the gates lifted at a chillingly slow speed, Jean chanced a glance in your direction, and his heart paused when you looked right back at him.

Quietly he chuckled, the sight of a toothy smile hitting him in the face and then shyly retreating to look back towards the back of Mike’s head. Jean watched for a moment longer and then suddenly looked away, meeting the quick glance from Captain Levi. The Captain said nothing, because he didn’t need to say anything. Jean looked down quickly with a spreading feeling of shame at being caught, and frustration at being the first known cadet to break Captain Levi’s golden rule.

The city stood in spires of thick smoke, the distant growls of hungry and wandering titans filling the city as the squad rolled in, immediately falling into their formations. Nobody had ventured into this area since it had fallen, evident by the piles of chalky rubble and bodies and limbs littered like petals from a wedding, stained blood pools and flattened bodies underneath fallen boulders the size of small houses. Jean clenched the reigns of his horse tighter, the skin of his hands turning bone white- the city felt eerily silent towards the west side that Jean and the rest of his squad had moved towards. This time, and uncharacteristic of his Captain, Hange was wordless, looking at the damage quickly, missing nothing. Jean did the same, cowering as they passed the shadows cast by the passing buildings, jagged and reflecting like monsters teeth before the sun.

“Grumbling, east, Captain,” Monicka said, her hair framing her collarbones as she looked in that direction and then back at Hange, who nodded with a grunt and continued forward. “We should investigate that. It’s getting closer, Captain.”

“The surrounding squads will do their jobs,” Felix replied with a frown. “You should lower your voice.”

Monicka’s eyebrows furrowed. “But-”

Her words were cut short, following the thunderous stuttering of heavy footsteps both beyond and behind the small formation of horses. Jean’s stallion whinnied, standing up on two legs in protest and he quickly calmed him down, whispering hushed assurances as Hange looked behind them and towards two titans bounding towards them.

“Take those,” they said, already tightening their harness and adjusting their belt. Monicka clung onto the reigns of her horse and called out their name with horror as they stood up off their horse and projected towards the group of titans beyond the formation. A passing glance spread through the group as two other members followed their Captain, leaving Monicka, Jean and Franz to steer backwards, heading on horseback towards the two scurrying towards them, in an attempt to create a diversion.

“Left, Jean!” Monicka screamed over the noise of the wind and the hooves of the horses, pointing out as if it weren’t already obvious by her command. Jean paused and did as she said, making a movement left which alerted his horse to move in that direction, catching the attention of one of the titans. If he could just make it towards the end of this street, he’d be able to launch off and swing back around and-

As he planned his escape in his head, Jean had no time to retaliate at the sight of another titan jumping in front of his horse, startling them both. He attempted to grip for dear life on the reigns but when his horse again rose, he flung Jean up off his back and scampered between the legs of the titan, who crouched and ignored the mare to move towards Jean. He hissed out a string of curses and launched between the space of his legs, following his horse down the end of the street and turning up and out, landing on one of the sloped roofs of a nearby house, out of the titans scrawny reach.

From his stance on the roof, Jean could get a scope for the district; he paused to take it all in, the chaotic and destructive beauty of the fallen architecture and contrasting greens of nearby fields, spreading with dull flames and dry yellow grass dusted with brown and black. Jean rubbed at his thighs, feeling an ache and when he happened to look over in the direction of the nearby fields, he froze.

The characteristic sight of Commander Erwin’s blonde hair screamed out amongst the burnt landscape and immediately Jean’s body went cold, his eyes instinctively scanning the environment to look for you- for your hair, and your small frame, and the way your cape was too big due to sizes and stock being scarce. Your enrolment group had been larger than usual. He searched frantically, not even noticing his heartbeat increasing. Almost comically so, a large sigh escaped his lips when he spotted a retreating figure on foot, hair cut bluntly to their chin, the cape that had been pulled apart. Wait, on foot?

Jean launched himself down from the roof and towards the scene, passing the rest of his squad who had joined further down the street. He prayed that Captain Levi hadn’t noticed him whiz past from somewhere, but knowing Levi, he knew. In-fact, he watched with an almost pitiful look after having crossed paths with Hange's squad as Jean soared past, failing to mention it to the rest of Hange's squad who worried about Jean’s safety. Because Jean’s smart, Franz had said with a disbelieving smile, he knows how to get around, he’s fine. He could be punished later.

Down on the ground, Jean rushed past a pile of abandoned rubble and towards the meadow, however, he stopped dead in his tracks when the figure he had spotted rushed past him wearing a face entirely different to your own. His heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach, a sour taste in his mouth.

“Kirstein?!”

Jean turned suddenly, flinching when a senior cadet took down a titan near the river. Lance ran towards him with a worried expression. “Where the hell’s the rest of your squad? Is your captain okay?”

“I-I don’t know, a titan came and fuckin- look, have you seen Y/N?” Jean replied, straining his voice over the volume of the chaos. “Is she okay?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? I’m not on her squad!” Lance yelled, and before he left, he smacked Jean on his shoulder and pointed in a vague direction: “Saw Erwin’s head of fucking precious yellow hair go that way. Dunno about Mike. She could be down there? I don’t know, look, I ain’t got time for this, sorry!”

So suddenly, Jean didn’t even care, or care to bid Lance a mutual farewell. Instead, he hurried across the dried and barren grass in the direction Lance had gestured to, parting the smoke with his bare hands like curtains as he ran. As he ran, and occasionally joined other cadets and soldiers take down loitering titans, Jean couldn’t rid of Levi’s voice, taunting and judging and hissing and yelling, Jean Kirstein you’re a fucking failure, you couldn’t even follow the easiest instruction, and now look at you!

But he didn’t care. He couldn’t find it in him to care, as he ran towards where he noticed the body of Hans, another member of Mike’s squad. Jean’s pace quickened, bounding towards him, and as his mouth opened to call out his name, Jean stumbled back with a strangled cry when nearby rubble from a building came crashing down with the impact of an abnormal lunging at its structure, chunks of huge concrete and brick running down like a waterfall and suffocating Hans instantly, a halo of crimson running out from the underside of giant chunks of the nearby chapel.

All at once, Jean felt like he couldn’t breathe, like his lungs had taken in too much smoke for them to continue keeping him alive. As he began to fall back to the man made jungle of the district, to collect a horse who stood tied to a post, raging to leave in panic, Jean looked across the landscape one last time, about to give up. It was then when he noticed you- and it was you, there was no denying; you dragged a body from underneath a layer of stone towards a little shelter made behind a wagon, with two injured cowered underneath. Jean’s heart wanted to jump out of his chest and he set off on a run, although lengths away. He tried calling out, Y/N! My Y/N!, but his voice carried with the wind, lost in whispers. You couldn’t hear him. You couldn’t see him. Actually, you couldn’t hear or see anything.

Jean had never run so fast in his entire life. Still too far away, Jean couldn’t avoid looking at the landscape, observing collapses and wincing at roars of pain and victory, and exasperated deaths around him. When his bloodshot gaze fell back onto you, Jean’s eyebrows rose with horror when he noticed a titan creeping up behind you, an arm extending outwards with arthritic fingers curling near your cape. His voice rose in octaves in panic, and he was so close- so, so close-

Jean nearly fell over his own feet with devastation when the titan’s fingers curled around you, yanking you back like a ragdoll. He didn’t stop to marvel at the scene- he ran faster, launching a grappler into the shoulder of the titan and swinging up, choking in the wind and the smoke and the stale smell of blood and sweat and tears, and as he curved and dug his blade unapologetically into the nape of the titan, his face wrangled up in pain at the sound of your screams filling the air. For a moment he caught his balance on the shoulder, doing nothing but watching with horror at the way you fell to the floor in what looked like slow-motion, a chunk of your body missing.

“Y/N! Oh my God, oh my fucking God, Y/N-” Jean instantly moved to the ground next to you, his hands desperately scrambling at nothing- your left-side missing, blood pouring out like water between fingers. In haste, Jean flung off his cloak and wrapped it around you, choking back on his tears. “Oh my God, oh my fucking God, Y/N, I’m so sorry-”

“No-” Your voice broke off with a wince of pain, and you clung onto his hand tightly. “Jean-”

“Oh my God, no, please, come on, baby, you can do it, come on, let me help, come-” His voice trailed off as he hoisted you up by your armpits, dragging you with laboured breaths towards the wagon that had been splintered by the titan’s fall. Jean carefully laid you down, his eyes wide with panic. God knows how long you had left, your last few seconds hanging on by a breaking thread. He watched as your face paled and your soul struggling behind lips, fighting to be free. Jean let out a whine, his head falling to your intertwined hands: “Fuck, this is so fucking unfair. Why did it have to be you-?”

“Jean, please,” you forced your voice to speak. Perhaps he was imagining you tugging on his hands bringing him down, but he did so anyway, his forehead rested just above your breasts. “Jean. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

He shook his head. “No. No, come on, Levi can help you- he knows what to do, he always knows what to do, we can save you, you’re not dying today-”

“I am. I am.”

“No.”

“Please, Jean,” you wept. Was the sky getting lighter or was that your vision. “Jean.”

“No!” He exclaimed with fury. “You can’t leave me- you’re the only thing I have left!” After a loud and particularly painful sob left his mouth, Jean moved with his thighs and picked up your head, resting it in his lap with his hands threaded in your hair. “You’re all I have left,” he whispered. “Please. You’re okay, you’re okay. It’s okay, yeah? It’s okay. It’s gonna be over soon, we’ll get you fixed up.”

He had no idea what he was saying. Nothing was okay. Nothing was ever going to be okay.

“I love you,” you croaked, bringing one bloody hand to his cheek and letting it fall back down, leaving a mark of agony across his face, “More than anything in the world.”

Jean could feel the tears spilling down his face, his breaths becoming more uncontrollable as reality came down from the sky and sat on his shoulders, petting his hair. He cursed with his eyes closed and looked down at your missing left side, the blood that had soaked almost black with intensity, the grass painted with ruby. In his head, he dreamt ten thousand dreams; ones that included a recovery, one with a sunny future and front porch and cornfields and a baby, a little baby screaming Mommy and Daddy and a picture frame with the three of you, a snapshot from a wedding, oh a beautiful future he had with you-

When Jean opened his eyes to look back down at you, the three words on his lips, his lips trembled with denial. Your face had paused, your eyes half-lidded and staring up at the sky with a vacant and ghostly expression, and then, Jean’s heart sank, falling with a crash that shattered it into thousands of pieces.

With hands in your hair, on your face, running your body, begging for reassurance and screaming for a sign, Jean cradled your limp frame in his arms, his sobbing face buried into the crook of your neck. Your body pressed against his rumbling crying, silenced by the city and the ghosts surrounding him, crouching to your body to pull at your hair and bring you up from the floor to a hug, walking you away across the barrens towards a golden light. Jean watched nothing happen, cursing out the sky.

“Did you say everything you wanted to?”

Jean sat with his legs swung over the side of the roof, not bothering to move when he heard Captain Levi’s voice call out from behind him, followed by the window being propped open and his smaller body moving to join him on the ledge.

“How’d you find up here? I thought we closed off that corridor,” Levi said quietly, looking at Jean who stared ahead, wordless. Levi sighed. “Did you?”

Jean finally blinked back a tear. “No.”

A beat of silence passed.

“What would you have said?” Levi asked, not pushing but inquisitive. If there was anybody in the castle who could keep a secret, it would be him, and Jean knew that, carefully picking up his chin to look at the sinking pink sun.

“I-I would have told her what I wanted to,” Jean started. “I would have told her that I loved her. That I wanted it to be me and not her. I wanted to tell her that she was the best thing in my life. That she was my best friend. That it really was me who ate the last of the cake at dinner last weekend and I lied and blamed Connie instead. I just- I would have let her know that I cared. That I’d miss her.”

Levi averted his gaze, looking down at the forests surrounding the castle. Such a lovely venue for such a dull affair, he thought, and in his head, he thought of that day, filled with rain and blood and complete and utter agony.

Levi licked his lips, swallowing his own lump. “They’re never really gone,” he said finally. “Not really. They’re still with you, one way or another.” He hesitated before pressing a palm into Jean’s shoulder with a tucked in frown. “I think she heard you. I think she knows all of that.”

Jean hoped so. He hoped that Levi’s words- words that could have been scolding I told you so’s and judgemental comments about how Love Finds A Way To Break Your Heart- were true, and he hoped that somewhere, somehow, you knew what your loss meant to him.

Jean hoped under the sun, the palm on his shoulder, the pinks on his skin, and the bloody handprint on his cheek like a badge of disgraced honour.

#jean kirstein #jean kirstein x reader #jean x reader #jean kirschtein #jean kirschtein x reader #jean imagine #jean angst #attack on titan #aot #aot imagine #attack on titan imagine #aot canon divergence #canon divergence au #angst #magunes #mine #jeanbie

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atopvisenyashill · 9 months ago

Note

What if Laena Velaryon survived?

I'm addicted to bullet pointing my answers so let's goooo-

There's a few spots that Laena living really impacts the plot and the Dance overall:

Laenor potentially lives - if Qarl was in fact paid to kill Laenor by one of the blacks, the reasoning for this no longer makes sense because daemon and rhaenyra can't marry if laena is still alive. if qarl was genuinely just pissed laenor may have been cheating on him, or it was someone else that paid qarl, well, he's fucked i guess. but odds seem better!

Vhagar is still on tb's side - not only does she have the biggest and oldest dragon not chomping on her kids, but by the time Viserys dies, Rhaenyra has all but one (1) of the mature dragons on her side. that's HUGE. even otto, imo, is not stupid enough to decide to up against caraxes, meleys, syrax, vhagar, AND potentially even seasmoke, not to mention arrax and vermax. against what? ONLY sunfyre and dreamfyre? are they sending helaena out into the riverlands??

Aemond is defanged - outside of otto himself, aemond is the most war mongering, bloodthirsty on that side. it's not just killing luke, it's the mini genocide in the riverlands, it's taking out caraxes & meleys, it's his fascination with some superman v batman bullshit he wants to have with daemon, on and on. If Vhagar can't be claimed by him, he is only as capable as the army he is leading, and there's no dragons to worry about roaming Westeros except Tessarion, and Daeron can't really cover the Riverlands when he's so occupied in the Reach. Even if the war gets set off at the exact same time, getting rid of Vhagar/Aemond eliminates an entire front of the war.

Butterfly Effecting Away Aegon and Vis the Youngers - Daemon can't set Laena aside (they have clearly consummated), and they risk a complete rebellion by the faith if they do some bigamy stuff, and even if Daemon is stupid enough to pull that, Corlys and Rhaenys will kick his fucking ASS if he is married to Rhaenyra and Laena at the same time. Never mind someone paying Qarl to kill Laenor, Rhaenys won't even bother lighting Daemon on fire, she's just going to throttle him with her bare hands. This means that either Rhaenyra remarries who she wants as a political match (not a bad decision to make) or she simply remains unmarried (also, imo, not a bad decision to make since she's doubling down on the Velaryon boys being legitimate). In which case - if she has Daemon's kids, they will be publicly acclaimed as bastards OR they will be Laenor's legally, the same as Jace, Luke, and Joff.

There are some things I think might still happen - I think there's a chance Aemond makes a play for Vermithor if he can't have Vhagar, maybe Silverwing, but that's so much riskier because he'd have to travel alone as a child/teenager to Dragonstone, which is the seat of a political enemy, find where Vermithor has made his nest, get there safely, and then claim him without losing a limb. There's a lot of ifs there, vs Vhagar who was already hanging out nearby because of the funeral and very recently losing Laena. Laenor living is best case scenario for Rhaenyra because she keeps that cover for her sons - it's really hard to Vaemond, Alicent, or Otto to press on the Velaryon boys being illegitimate if Laenor is standing right there swearing they are his and fighting for their rights! But even if Laenor dies, Laena is not just going away - she's Rhaenys' last living child, she's Rhaenyra's girlfriend dear friend, she's the rider of Vhagar. Daemon cannot - and would not, in my opinion - just cast her aside the way he tries with Rhea Royce (and notable that his attempt to cast Rhea aside failed). Rhaenyra being single or politically married off would help her a lot just from a propaganda standpoint but she likely has more allies/has alienated less allies by the time Viserys dies.

Now, I think it's likely there's still a small war - Otto is in the capital and Rhaenyra is on dragonstone, so Otto will still attempt to take the capital but once she retakes it? With a war that is much less bloody, with her oldest sons likely still alive, without the loss of baby Visenya, she's not only mentally in a much better place, but politically as well. Hell, if she stays unmarried until she takes the throne, then dangles being Prince Consort in front of some lord's face, promising him that their children will marry Jace and Baela's child to sit the Iron Throne? Does Rhaenys even lose at Rook's Rest if she's only going up against Sunfyre, or going up against Sunfyre and Vermithor? I think in that case, Rhaenys & Meleys' experience and maturity trumps Aegon and Aemond's anger.

Anyways, I think Rhaenyra is just objectively better off with Laena around. Laena has a bit of reputation in fandom of being kind of useless narratively but the truth is, she has to die in order for Rhaenyra to lose so soundly. Laena is integral to Rhaenyra keeping her shit together because they are so close and because of Vhagar. If Rhaenyra keeps Laena as an ally, the war looks much different. Probably there's still a war, but I think it stays "a war of words and wings" for longer, and remains more or less bloodless. More similar to the third blackfyre rebellion, where the fighting isn't particularly bad and mostly localized, than the mess it winds up being.

#personally i think they should off daemon and then both remarry politically important matches but idt rhaenyra or laena would do that #laena velaryon #canon divergence au #the dance of the dragons #laenyra #sorry this took so long. we started on summer reading and i designed the whole log and it turned my brain to mush #you can only stare at cartoons of children for so long without losing your mind #asks #anons #this is an interesting au to think about i might revist it anon!!! if u have more questions about it feel free to ask!!! i love laena!!!!!!

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