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milkandhwaney · 1 month ago

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CLAWS MASTERLIST | all my works can be found here

CLAWS

Chapter 4: Returned

Summary: when you started attending hogwarts university, you didn’t expect to immediately fit in with a group of guys who call themselves ‘ateez’. it’s only natural that as you grow closer, someone falls in love, becomes an enemy, and unravels the drama.

WC: 3.2k

Tags: nothing really, this is a pretty relaxed chapter - just some suggestive speech

Disclaimer: this is purely a work of fiction and in no way represents the members

You awoke to the sweet sound of birds chirping outside of the windows, a soft breeze crinkling the leaves as it grazed over. You don’t remember when you and Wooyoung moved upstairs to his room from the couch, your mind being distracted from the previous evening’s drama and the two of you making love. Wooyoung’s arm was lying across your chest as his nose nuzzled into your neck. Carefully, you reached your free arm over to retrieve your phone that was lying on his nightstand. You saw Yunho had messaged you, mentally facepalming yourself for forgetting to text him like you said you would. Not only that, but you also began to feel guilty about sleeping with Wooyoung, remembering that just hours before you and Yunho had agreed to give yourselves a try. Sighing, you ran your fingers through your hair.

Yu: hey, en! didn’t hear from u, assuming you got tied up in ur evening - hope ur doing okay, i look forward to seeing you thursday <3

You: sorry, yu, a lot happened and it slipped my mind. i am okay <3 talk soon xoxo

Wooyoung stirred beside you, a cat-like cry escaping from his lips as he shifted his position. You smiled, taking in how cute and carefree he looked when he was asleep. You wanted to stay there longer, just admiring him and cuddling, but when your ringer started blasting, that hope died quickly. I swore I turned that off, you groaned silently. Wooyoung shot up frantically as Yeosang’s name flashed across the screen.

“What the hell?” Wooyoung whined, groggily rubbing his eyes as you answered the call.

“Where are you? Class starts in five!” Yeosang yelled in a whisper.

You pulled the phone away from your ear for a moment to check the time. You weren’t paying attention when you had messaged Yunho earlier. “Shit,” you muttered, “I didn’t realise I overslept, I’m on my way.”

“You better get here quickly, En,” He warned, “you know how Professor Newton is,” then hung up the phone.

You jumped up, putting your clothes back on quickly. Wooyoung was whining your name from the bed, watching you as you checked yourself in the mirror.

“You should just skip,” he said, “and stay with me for the day.”

You turned and looked at him, giving him a small smile. “As amazing as that sounds, this class is very important to me.”

He nodded, not saying anything else. While you were situating yourself, you were thinking about how exactly to get to class in a timely manner. Obviously five minutes was impossible, but the quickest way…

“Could you teleport me to class, please?” You begged, walking over to Wooyoung.

“Is this why we had sex?” He joked, “to get a free ride to class?”

“What? No, Woo, I- ugh!" you slapped his shoulder playfully, “please just help me.”

“I’m not even dressed.”

“Woo,” you whined, “you can be so quick and stay in your pyjamas. No one will notice.”

He sighed, slowly standing up to his feet from the bed. “Alright.” He grabbed your hand, and in the matter of seconds you were standing outside of the classroom and Wooyoung was gone.

Professor Newton simply grunted as you entered and took your seat, continuing from where he left off.

“What were you doing?” Yeosang asked you quietly, “you’re never late for potions and you’re wearing the same clothes from yesterday. Didn’t you go straight home?”

“Just… a lot happened, as you know.” You responded.

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “He never came home last night. Jongho.” Your stomach sank from hearing those words. Truthfully, you thought that would be the case. But you hoped that, maybe, your hunch would be wrong. “Mingi’s been trying to get through to him all morning, but it’s no use.”

You couldn’t focus for the rest of the class, your mind clouded with worries and ideas on how to find him. You felt angry, scared, confused, and a million other emotions all at once.

“En, what are you doing?” Yeosang asked. You were so caught up in your feelings that you didn’t realise you had stood up from your chair, pushing the desk away from you loudly in the process. The entire class’ eyes were on you.

Feeling overwhelmed, you gave Yeosang a look that read ‘I need to get out of here right fucking now’, then grabbed your bag and ran out of the classroom. You kept running until you reached the river surrounding the premise, respectively a mile away from the building.

You hunched over, desperately trying to catch your breath. You let yourself fall to your knees, then justvsat there for a few moments, mind blank. It was trying to help you by numbing the pain through dissociation.

A few minutes passed before you heard somebody sit beside you in the lightly dewed grass. Yeosang had chased after you. “We’re going to find him,” he tried to comfort you, “I know we will.”

The next few days were a blur. Everyone tried to keep it together by continuing to do fun activities and attend to school requirements, but you’d be lying if you said any of it was helping. Though, maybe your date with Yunho would help a bit, at least you hoped so.

“Hey,” he exhaled, the warmth of his breath mixing with the crisp winter air, “it’s good to see you.”

He stood in the doorway of Gryffindor, hands stuffed in his pocket as he fidgeted to keep himself warm. You pulled him in for a hug, giving him a light squeeze before pulling away. “Have you been well?” You asked. With all the stress eating away at you, you had told Yunho you needed a bit of space, but still wanted to keep your date. You agreed not to talk for a few days until the date so you could get your heads straight.

“As well as I can be, I suppose,” he admitted, “but I think tonight will cheer me up a bit, don’t you think?”

Wooyoung walked past the archway of the kitchen a few feet away, eyeing the two of you as he made his way upstairs to his room. You felt history was about to repeat itself, the whole ‘you two fuck, then act like everything is normal’ situation. You knew this is something you’d have to talk to him about, but it would have to wait until after the date.

You smiled up at Yunho as he reached to brush off a loose strand of hair from your lips. “You look great,” he complimented.

“You do, too,” you replied, “this flannel suits you very well.” You played with his sleeve for a moment, causing a light blush to rise to his cheeks.

“Thank you.” He grabbed your hand gently as he began to guide you along with him towards the train station.

You were surprised to find the bowling alley to be as busy as it was on a Thursday night. Though, in a university town, ‘weekends’ fell differently for everyone. You and Yunho made small talk as you both put on your shoes and set up the lane, discussing things like the songs they were playing and how the hockey game went a few nights prior. Once the two of you began your match, it was made clear that Yunho was surprisingly good. You never actually went bowling together, but you told him all about your competitions when you’d hang out over the summer. Not a lot of people cared to hear you talk about the sport, but Yunho gave you all of his undivided attention.

“Damn, I have some competition,” you pestered, standing up for your turn. Yunho smirked at you as you switched places, sitting cross-armed with a hint of arrogance as he watched you take your shot. What a liar he was, claiming he didn’t have a competitive bone in his body.

Yunho made sure to tease you a lot when he won the game. You rolled your eyes, smacking his arm playfully as he continued to annoy you.

“Winner buys dinner,” you said, poking out your tongue.

He acted shocked that you’d ask such a thing, the two of you giggling as you walked over towards the dining area.

“So, tell me more about you,” Yunho said, taking a bite of his pepperoni pizza.

“What do you want to know?” You questioned. Though you and Yunho had gotten to know each other well over the summer, there was still plenty to discover about one another.

“Like,” he started, eyes furrowing in thought, “what’s your biggest fear?”

While you contemplated your answer, you began to remember the things the kids in school would say to you as they bullied you relentlessly. You surprised yourself when it dawned on you that their words had affected you more than you realised. Perhaps you became so numb to it all, it was never noticeable before. “It sounds cliche, but,” you began, “being alone.” Yunho watched you silently, waiting for you to continue. “Growing up, the kids at school treated me terribly, and they’d always tell me I’d end up alone.” Yunho frowned, reaching to grab your hand across the table, his lightly greased fingertips brushing against your knuckles. Your heartbeat began to quicken. “I didn’t realise it until now, but that actually affected me a lot,” you laughed, somewhat bitterly. “I always thought it didn’t bother me, but I was wrong.”

You felt a few tears run down your cheeks, tasting the salt on your lips. Yunho cupped your chin, wiping the rest away with his thumb before they reached them again. “En,” he said, gently, “I’m sorry that happened. You didn’t deserve that at all.” He was looking deep into your eyes now, as if he was searching for the pain so that he could reach through them to get inside and pull it out of you himself, “you are a beautiful person.”

“Thanks, Yu,” you whispered, placing your hand over his’ on your cheeks, “you are, too.”

As if a magnet was pulling the two of you closer together, in a matter of seconds you were both leaning over the table, lips hovering over one another’s. You allowed yourselves to fall into the moment, pressing them together with ease. He tasted sweet, plus the hint of saltiness from the pizza. He kept his hand steady resting on your face.

You looked at each other as you parted, blushing as if you were teenagers just experiencing their first kiss. Yunho, pecked your cheek before resting back into his seat.

You opened your mouth to say something, but Yunho’s ringtone interrupted you. That seemed to happen a lot these days. When you both saw it was Mingi calling, panic set in.

“Hello?” Yunho answered nervously. You tapped your foot anxiously as you waited to find out what was being discussed. “He’s back?” Yunho looked at you wide-eyed, your breath hitching in your throat as you pieced together that they were talking about Jongho. “We’re on our way.”

You glanced at your phone, only a moment passing since Yunho ended the call with Mingi. There was a text notification from Yeosang.

Yeo: im sorry to interrupt your date, but i wanted to let you know jongho is back. please come by slytherin asap

Yunho quickly grabbed your hand, pulled you up from the booth and said, “Jongho’s back,” before rushing you out of the bowling alley.

You heard a mixture of shouting and hushed speech as you approached the house.

“This is insane, Jjong, you had us worried sick!” Hongjoong yelled at Jongho as you and Yunho entered through the door. “I swear to god if this has anything to do with your beef with En…” He was in his face now, pointing his finger harshly at him.

“Why would this have anything to do with her?” Jongho pressed.

“She’s the last one who talked to you,” San chimed in, “and you’re not exactly subtle about your shitty feelings towards her.”

Something flashed across Jongho’s eyes you couldn’t quite make out when he saw you enter the room. It seemed like he was apologising for more than just disappearing, but you didn’t know what.

Sighing, Mingi stood up and walked over to him, offering a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Look,” he said, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m just glad you’re back.” Jongho flinched at his touch. He was clearly still shaken up from the whole ordeal.

Wooyoung eyed your hand in Yunho’s, an almost unnoticeable discomfort washing over his features. Yeah, we need to talk, you sighed to yourself.

“Jongho,” you said, approaching him sitting in the armchair. He almost looked nervous. What was going through his head? “I’m glad you're safe,” you said softly, offering a kind smile. He seemed to relax a bit at the gesture, but his stiffness was still evident.

“Thank you,” he muttered, face staying stoic.

After about fifteen minutes more of questions and frustrations being thrown around, everyone seemed to ease up a bit from the tension.

“Jongho,” Seonghwa said from the doorway, “don’t do this again,” he threatened, “talk to us next time,” before palliating. There was a series of goodbyes as he, Hongjoong, San, and Mingi made their way out of the house. You, Yeosang, Yunho, Wooyoung, and Jongho remained there.

Attempting to break through the silence, you offered to get drinks for everyone, “Does anyone want water?” Though, you really just needed an excuse to be in solitude for a few minutes.

Entering the kitchen, you released the breath you had been holding in for who knows how long, slowly filling the cups. You tried a few deep breathing exercises to relieve the anxiety that was pulsating in your throat.

“En,” Jongho’s voice came out soft as he slowly approached you by the counter, “I’m sorry.” You looked at him, pained. “I’m so, so sorry,” he repeated.

“If you’re hurting, please tell us,” you comforted him softly, reaching to rub his back, “we’re your friends. Well, I was once, anyway.”

“You shouldn’t trust others so easily.”

You furrowed your brows, unsure what he meant. “What does that mean?”

“Just know I’m extremely sorry for all of this,” is all he said, backing away from you and leaving the kitchen before your touch could reach him.

Once back in the living room, the five of you continued to chat, attempting to get things back to normal. Of course, it was only natural the tension would last past Jongho’s return, but sooner or later everyone would leave the situation in the past.

After another thirty minutes or so of mingling, Yunho stood up from the couch. “I should get going,” he announced.

You were sitting in a forrest green loveseat near the fireplace when you decided to see him off, as well as thinking that you should probably head home yourself. You arose from being seated. “I think I should, too. Woo, are you coming?”

Wooyoung nodded, joining the two of you. “I’m glad your back, man,” he said, pulling Jongho in for a hug on the way out. He didn’t return it.

“Be safe getting home,” Yeosang called after the three of you as you exited the house.

Once outside, the three of you stood awkwardly for a moment before you and Yunho moved towards the driveway, with Wooyoung staying behind on the front porch. You reached over to Yunho for a hug. “Text me when you get home, okay?” You said as you broke away from each other.

He nodded. “Sure.” He reached for your hand, pulling you gently closer to him. Wooyoung was watching the two of you from a distance, leaning against one of the front pillars. He didn’t want to get in the way of your little moment, despite how annoyed it made him.

When Yunho went in to kiss you, you turned away. Knowing Wooyoung was standing directly behind you and watching made you feel too uneasy and self-conscious to kiss him. He smiled awkwardly, dropping your hands back to your sides. When he glanced at Wooyoung, he understood. He saw the way he watched you nearly kiss another man and the red rising to your cheeks as you felt his eyes boring into your back. At that moment, Yunho knew it wasn’t going to be him, but he wouldn’t say anything yet. He needed you to admit it to yourself first.

“I’ll see you,” He said simply before patting your head and walking off.

Wooyoung emerged from the pillars to join your side, draping his arm over your shoulder. You rested up against him, gripping at the hem of his shirt to keep you steady on his chest.

“How did the date go?” He asked.

“Fine,” you answered, “Yunho’s a nice guy, and he-” you paused, “wait, how did you know there was a date?”

He laughed, squeezing your shoulder playfully. “It’s not hard to figure out, babe.”

You kept your eyes on him as he messed with your hair, teasing you a bit. You watched the way his dimples formed and his eyes crinkled as he smiled. You smelled the musk of his cologne while his body moved. “Woo, I like you,” you blurted out suddenly.

“I know.”

“And we need to talk about the other night.”

“I know.”

“And the night months ago.”

“I know.”

“I also like Yunho.”

“I know.”

“Can you stop saying that!?”

He laughed again. “I’m sorry. You’re just very easy to read.”

“I am not!”

“Okay, cherry.” He squeezed your blushed cheeks before pecking the top of your head. “Let’s talk about it, then.”

The two of you sat on a park bench not far from Gryffindor, pausing your walk home to chat. The night was chill, though surprisingly warm for being in the middle of December.

“I can’t act like things are normal.” you started, turning your body so you were facing him as you spoke. “You make me feel things, Woo, and I can’t ignore it anymore.”

“What about Yunho? Does he know?”

You nodded. “He wanted to give us a try despite that, and I agreed. I thought it'd be a good idea, but…”

“But?”

“He’s sweet, thoughtful,” Wooyoung held back a groan, “and has a lot going for him, but, I just can’t stop thinking about you.” He sat quietly, listening intently to your words. “After that night last term, I wanted to address it so badly. I just didn’t know how. I was afraid you’d act like it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It was always a big deal, En, and I wish I would have said something then.” Wooyoung frowned, his knee brushing against yours.

“Then why were you dating around all the time?” You asked.

“I thought I could fuck away the feelings,” he admitted. “I had never really liked anyone before, so when I started to feel that way about you, I panicked. I didn’t want to fuck things up. But, obviously pretending like it was nothing did exactly what I was trying to avoid.”

You understood, because your motivation for agreeing to date Yunho was for the same exact reason. It was true you had feelings towards Yunho, but they weren’t as deep as the one’s you felt for Wooyoung. You had to be honest with yourself. They weren’t going away any time soon. “Then let’s try not to fuck things up between us this time.”

#ateez #ateez fanfic #ateez fic #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez smut #ateez x reader #kpop smut #smut #ateez jongho #ateez san #ateez yeosang #ateez mingi #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez wooyoung #ateez yunho

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felassan · 2 years ago

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Some thoughts on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf leak on Reddit which included screenshots & a gif along with text, under a cut due to potential spoilers for DA:D -

first: the usual set of disclaimers that accompany all leaks apply - might not be real, unable to verify at present, games change a fair bit between development phases and final release, take with grain of salt etc

Screenshots:

Weisshaupt, headquarters of the Grey Wardens, as a location which we will travel to irl and not in the Fade.. ngl I have been dreaming of this since 2010 [yelling]. really hyped. we previously speculated these concepts were of Weisshaupt. (compare the blue-ish domes in those with the blue-ish dome structures in the screenshots.) in some of the screenshots, Weisshaupt looked badly damaged.

Weisshaupt Library is extensive and was noted in Last Flight to contain a glass sarcophagus decorated with the horns of Andoral that contains the arms and armor of Garahel. BioWare pls.. Iet's see it :D and what if by 9:52 the Library or Weisshaupt also contains some relics of or references to the Hero of Ferelden.. 🥺👉👈 or that there are some references to Hawke's presence in Weisshaupt at one time kicking around in codex or notes or something..

Seems to confirm that Davrin ("Nobody dies on my watch! For the Wardens!") is a companion who can join us in the field. I wonder if we start out with him or get him early in the game, like Alistair/Morrigan, Cassandra/Varric etc. obviously for later game missions you can choose anyone to come with you usually so it could just be that, but perhaps this storybeat we're seeing here is set near the start of the game? and with darkspawn attacking Weisshaupt (confirmed as well in the text), the very heart of the order, imagine how Davrin's feeling (since he seems to be a rather heroic or knightly Warden).. :[

The other named and voiced character from that previous trailer was Bellara. if Davrin is a companion like we may be seeing here, it wouldn't be wild to suggest that maybe Bellara is too, given they were both featured similarly at the time.

"There's worse than darkspawn on the way" / "And the walls won't hold it back" likely refers to the dragon said in the text to also be attacking Weisshaupt? it some of the screenshots in the background there looks to be the silhouette of a great beast, maybe the dragon. their head certainly looks draconic.

ROOK? :D NOW WHO ARE THEY? another companion like Davrin? this makes three new named DA:D characters (as in appearing in the game itself) that we know of. Davrin, Bellara and Rook. the other possibility is what if Rook is the PC? is "Rook" a surname, title or codename? it's catchy, cool/badass, snappy, short, Hawke-like.

"Rook" imagery (brought up by the name): birds (Hawke had a bird motif), corvids (Antivan Crows..), the Skyhold Rookery (what if they were an agent or former agent of Leliana's? "Rook" would be a good spy codename and it would fit in with stuff like 'Rector' and 'Charter'.. plus it seems we'll have some link to the Inquisition remnants going forwards per TN etc), chess pieces (games of strategy, tactics, trying to outwit Solas, Solas manipulating events), the Tower tarot card and its meanings, and most interestingly [yodels]: the Red Book, the front of which shows a wolf aflame above a rook/tower. the Red Book link makes me lean towards "Rook is the PC"

What on earth is a "Spawn Boil"? darkspawn-associated, and "boil" carries both unpleasant + dangerous/unhealthy imagery, it doesn't sound good at all.. the Children in Awakening spent time in cocoons, they had hatchlings, and there are fleshy sacks of the Taint in previous games.. maybe the pulsing red dark thing we saw previously is a Spawn Boil (a pulsing or cocoon-like thing always gives me the impression that something might hatch or burst out of it, and boils can burst or pop..), and red lyrium has something to do with it, especially considering the following point

Lots of red in some images. not good. not good at all (as in, I'm in-universe worried. u know). the text refers to red lyrium. Varric, don't look 😭 in the image which includes "Destroy the Spawn Boils", the darkspawn are fuzzy so I'm squinting and could just be seeing things but they remind me a lot of these guys. hello, red lyrium darkspawn creatures! (also confirmed in the text) I guess that could be why we need to hurry and destroy the Spawn Boils, because red lyrium darkspawn come out of them or are powered up by them or trying to spread them or somesuch

UI may change between now and release (UI is often one of the last things done or tweaked in a game iirc) I think so I'm leaving off focusing overmuch on it just now. I like the purple though

seems like this playtest was being done on a console?

menus and similar: Map, Character, Companions, Skills, Collections (what's Collections, stuff like mosaic pieces?). an inventory 'bag'. equipment slots. accessory slots. skill slots. currency. are the bits next to the money going to be resource piles, like for crafting? the Grappling Chain warrior skill returns. considering this character is a Warrior, maybe the punching arm icon is for Mighty Blow? the Guard mechanic returns. Items can't be changed during combat. looks like there's multiple slots on the shield itself (for runes and upgrades?)

Item description: "A shield emblazoned with the Templar's symbol. It's particularly effective at absorbing impacts. This one has been enchanted by the Mournwatch" [!!!] "to grant additional resistance against Spirits".

"Level [x] Grey Warden"? Is that this character's background/origin, class, spec? Can the PC become a Grey Warden? Any relation to the 'factions background' fan-theory? Also this character is an elf! in the text the leaker seemed to say that this was who they played. So the PC is an elf, or race selection returns?

The armor and equipment etc looks cool

Also what's with the crumbling stuff in the background on the character menu, do you see that? :D It's like the crumbling of the Dreadwolf logo and promo art assets on the website. Fadey stuff and realitywarping-theories senses tingling..

in the image where there's a character who isn't wearing a helmet, the hair looks decent. that's something which is also mentioned in the text.

also in that image, what's with the purpley fire[?] stuff? purple lyrium? (red+blue=....) purple roots? also there is a green tint to the lighting outside in this image. I think this whole segment we're seeing (darkspawn attack Weisshaupt and something?? is going on) is this scene from concept art being played out on-screen.

very Wardenny doors with the griffons and the chalice. the closing door scene reminds me of the 'party closes the doors to the Temple of Mythal' scene in DA:I. also like the variety of characters holding the door shut & shown in the level scene. humans, dwarves, elves, someone who looks like they're a Qunari. does one of the dwarves look like Harding to anyone else, or am I tripping?

hhh the Grey Wardens put griffon decorations on their big lever.

Gif:

Warriors seem to have have a kicking skill or move, as shown by the foot skill icon and move executed by the character (text describes this as being like a drop kick)

Dead bodies on the ground which don't yet have their textures (that's normal)

More darkspawn

"Resilience"

More purple stuff

It looks or 'feels' like the snippet we saw from the trailer (Grey Warden-armor character doing Shield Wall)

Hard to judge ofc from a very short snippet that we ourselves aren't playing, but yeah the combat looks action-y (action RPG) and from this snippet at least I don't personally see why I wouldn't enjoy it or find it fine (everyone's different tho ofc ^^)

Text (body of post):

"I was honestly shocked when we got no gameplay reveal at TGA, as I was sure we'd get something considering the timing this video was shared with me" - this is interesting

OP notes that what the playtester played was early Alpha. DA:D completed its Alpha milestone in October 2022

Some elements missing textures, missing audio etc tracks with what was said in Insider Gaming's report

Story details: the segment was set within Weisshaupt. the PC being played here is an elf (this was apparent from the screenshots but reading "the player character was an elf" sent me to another planet with hype ok). ((I hope this means race selection returns)) I could be wrong but I'd guess that "Knight" was like, general fantasy world language the playtester was using to try and describe what the character they played was like to their contact, rather than in-game text for the character (in the same way as how "mirrored portal" may be eluvians)? A warrior, armed and armored in gray/silver with a sword, shield and helmet, you know? I'd guess the "knight dude" party member is Davrin (Davin - Grey Warden warrior, confirmed?). Lady dwarf companion confirmed?? (Harding? or Bellara?)

I do hope three squadmates as in DAO, DAII and DA:I hasn't been reduced to only two as this suggests. It's like that in ME so it's not the end of the world, but three friends is always going to be more fun and engaging, especially in a series in which the companions are always the high point

More story details: Darkspawn attacking Weisshaupt (as we see in the screenshots) is a big deal hello?? This is the famous Warden stronghold, their very HQ, being attacked by the thing they exist to destroy/protect the world from. explains why Weisshaupt looks wrecked. Wtf is going on??? scared.. Where is the First Warden in all of this? this is so not good. Especially given the red lyrium spreading and the red lyrium darkspawn. That isn't a surprise as we saw something to that effect in concept art and a trailer, but still. we in danger. "some have red lyrium attacks" omg. is there any connection between this attack on Weisshaupt and whatever weird stuff was implied to be going on at Weisshaupt in the DA:I epilogue?

The dragon is also Concerning.. like. Darkspawn attacking, with a dragon involved. That sounds like a Blight and an Archdemon. Is this the Sixth Blight? is it a Red Lyrium Blight? I'm reminded of this concept art. also HELLO?

"The objective is to fight through the Darkspawn to get to the library, but as you are doing so there is also a big ass dragon attacking from above. And the dragon creates occasional environmental and traversal hazards. It ends once you reach the library, close the gates," [this will be the door shutting scene surely] "and then come face to face with the dragon. It appears you are then supposed to try and chain the dragon up, but it ends before the player completes that." I guess the big lever we see has something to do with trying to chain the dragon up. Why chain it up?? I'm reminded of Ataashi in Trespasser, the dragon in Dark Fortress and the dragon in Absolution. I guess if it was a normal Archdemon, why would we be chaining it up? so it's not or there's something weird or something else going on

"Basically, buildings and whatnot are all modeled and textured but the skybox itself is very dark and makes it seem as though the entire fortress is underground, although it is clearly not. I suspect the skybox could contain some giant world event, similar to the Breach, they hadn't finished." - this is interesting and I'm once again reminded of this piece of concept art where there's something wild going on in the sky or air outside Weisshaupt

OP was told about the God of War (2018) thing, which is what was said on ResetEra. they also mention about little to no party control (or none currently), which is what was said in the Insider Gaming article and iirc was said on ResetEra

Does "completely in real-time" imply no pause button or tactical cam in this build?

Since there's an 'Armor' bar, maybe 'Guard' is actually the special bar that builds up allowing you to pull off a musou special move?

"I don't really understand the comparison to FF15's wheel. It's standard Dragon Age ability wheel." - this contrasts with the bit about this in the Insider Gaming article

Animation quality has drastically improved, jumping returns, warriors can parry and counter

Player's hair "looked glorious", "flowing and bouncing" omg. don't need to say anything here other than [yodels]

Text (comments from OP):

OP elaborates in a comment that the screenshots/gif footage is from an "early build, years old", and that the game is now "way past this state"

On the dragon's environmental hazards, OP expands: "Like the dragon spews fire on the ground requiring you to go around an intended path or blocks off a path so you gotta go up a ladder"

OP describes the level shown as linear

OP mentions in a comment that "Red Templars" are what's invading Weisshaupt, but given the darkspawn they mention elsewhere and in the screenshot text, I'm assuming they meant "red lyrium darkspawn" here and got mixed up?

More references to the devs looking at Gears of War (2018) as a guide when making DA:D, in terms of things like combat/inspiration (it sounds like that anyway)

general feel/thoughts: no way of knowing for sure but looks/feels real/legit to me. also I like the look and feel of it, am excited :)

also I rambled in places in this post sry. :'>

[source]

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age the veilguard spoilers #bioware #video games #cassandra pentaghast #my lady paladin #morrigan #queen of my heart #long post #longpost #(i wont be posting the pics or gif here)#dragon age: absolution #dragon age: absolution spoilers #mass effect

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saneijeijei · 2 years ago

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[Careful! Strange theory]

In chapter 105-106, Penelope sees the very bird that Derrick wanted to give her.

When the bird sees Penelope, she perks up and starts spinning in the cage and yelling.

"So far, the bird has behaved extremely calmly. But as soon as I saw you, I perked up. Apparently, she recognized her mistress," Derrick said.

Don't you find it strange that a bird suddenly recognizes an outsider, whom it sees for the first time, as its owner? Also, pay attention to what Derrick said before:"This bird is not dangerous, it's just that now it's in a slight perplexity due to the fact that you are the same color with it (meaning the color of Penelope's hair)."

So… A bird that is similar in character (for me), color and interconnected with jewelry, suddenly begins to show interest in Penelope… Just like that? Sorry, I won't believe it.

And so, *drink all the coffee from the glass in one gulp* I have a theory.

If our main character is the real Penelope, even if she is a fragment of her soul, then it turns out that she had to repeat the chronological history of her life, right?

Both characters somehow repeat each other's fate. When were you born, in which family, when and why. In South Korea, she was the daughter of an influential businessman and a simple woman who did not have a well-paid job or social status (well, that is, she was an ordinary middle-class worker, let's say). But in the empire, being Penelope, we don't know who her father was.

By logic and comparing the appearance of Siyeon and Eckart brothers, we can say - oh, so Reynold and Derrick are her brothers. But I will tell you, alas, no. Yes, they are similar - but when reading the novel we see differences between them in motivation. But Siyeon's second brother call her a rat, just as Reynold mocked Penelope because of her background. Yes, but their motivation for this was different, as was their relationship. Reynold and Penelope, even after a quarrel, reconciled, unlike Siyeon with her brother.

That is why I think Penelope is not the duke's illegitimate daughter - I will not believe that the duke could cheat on his wife, even after death. All his actions and motivation, as well as arguments about Penelope's marriage, suggest the opposite. He wasn't looking for or trying to start a fleeting relationship. Therefore, Penelope is adopted, but not the blood or illegitimate daughter of the Eckart family.

She is the illegitimate daughter of another family.

Siyeon's father took her away because he knew that he was her father (corny, her mother could write him down on the birth certificate as the father of the child, and when she died, the guardianship authorities called him). But Penelope's father might not have known about her existence-remember those centuries. Or to know of she his illegitimate daughter, but not to know where to look for her, as it was with the Duke and Yvonne.

So, what I'm getting at. In chapter 106-105, a bird appears and quite interesting words slip between the lines, which may hint (consider that I'm looking for something that is not, this is just a theory) at the origin of Penelope. Namely, the words about Republic of Yehta. It is a small state that was defeated during Callisto's military campaign.

During the hunting competitions, we are told the meaning and significance of this event for the empire. Namely: The humiliation of defeated countries by destroying rare animals provided by these countries.

That is, this small country was defeated, and it handed over to the empire a special bird for hunting - Pelapopinyu.

"In the Republic of Yehta, Pelapopinyu is considered a messenger of God," Derrick said.

The bird is a national treasure, which means that a rich family (for example, aristocrats, barons, viscounts) could not keep such a bird at home, without the knowledge of the ruling family. It is likely that she could be a symbol of this country? And how interesting, this bird looks like Penelope.

"Why does she seem so familiar even though it's the first time I've seen her?" Penelope thought.

But what is most interesting is the method of reproduction of these birds and what remains after them. These birds can give offspring only once (does it mean that after that they die?), and unfertilized eggs turn into an eye-shaped shape and harden, turning into a hard stone.

And the most interesting thing… It was this stone that the original Penelope begged to give. Don't you find it too strange? Aren't there too many coincidences?

Is it possible that Penelope is from there? Wizards could live in different places (what if Penelope was excavating near those places?), is it possible that the father could be a member of the ruling family? Even if her father was looking for her, alas, he hardly already knows about Penelope's existence, since, most likely, after the defeat, he hardly remained alive.

#death is the only ending for a villainess #death is the only ending for the villainess #villains are destined to die #vadd #text #ditoeftv #penelope eckart #penelope eckhart

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teecupangel · 2 years ago

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Seeing so many animal Desmond tropes and I can't believe no one suggested the hooded pitohui. Some people thought pitohui!Desmond was being dumb when he didn't fly away but jokes on them when most people became paralyzed, some died, but no one believed it to be Desmond's fault except the Assassins he hangs around.

If the name sounds familiar, you might have heard of the hooded pitohui from this tumblr post.

As hooded pitohuis are mostly known for having black and orange plumage, just imagine Desmond to be more on the black and Assassin red plumage.

For this one, Desmond’s toxicity is a special case in the sense that he can amplify or weaken the poison he emits as there is some Isu Bullshit involved but in general…

We all know hooded pitohuis are toxic but Assassins (and Templars) before modern day didn’t so…

Altaïr: Definitely felt the numbness and the burning sensation when he handled Desmond for the first time. Instead of going “Oh, this is bad”, he definitely did experiments with Desmond which includes getting samples of Desmond’s feathers from various parts of his body and checking where the numbness originates from. Would definitely rub Desmond on his throwing knives and blades. Would absolutely get some poor crusader or guard to lick Desmond just to see how bad Desmond’s poison can get. (Desmond agrees to all of these ‘experiments’ because Altaïr also gives the best berries and shares his own food to Desmond)

Ezio: Didn’t know Desmond was poisonous until Leonardo told him. Leonardo also did experiments with Desmond and the poison blade is based on Desmond’s poison (thanks to Altaïr’s experiments). Definitely licked his hand after touching Desmond because Leonardo told him to.

Ratonhnhaké:ton: Learned Desmond is poisonous after observing him sitting on Haytham’s shoulder and rubbing his bird body against Haytham’s cheek. Also… Haytham was immobilized for hours. Hard not to understand that Desmond was poisonous after that. Doesn’t make Desmond poison his weapons nor ask for any poisoned feathers. On the other hand, Desmond makes a good hunting companion who can easily numb their prey enough that Ratonhnhaké:ton can take them down. They have a relationship similar to a wolf and a corvid. Absolutely never tried to lick his hands after touching Desmond, who the hell does that???

Edward: It is an unwritten rule not to shoot down seabirds in ships and some, like Edward, practice the whole ‘do not shoot birds EVER’ tradition that some sailors/pirates do. So when there’s this small black and red bird that starts flying near him, Edward just makes sure that he doesn’t shoot it. Edward never learns that Desmond is toxic. He consider the bird a sign that he was going to be lucky today, mostly believing the guards are groggy or sick because they’re still drunk. It’s only after he actually joined the Brotherhood that he learns of the poisonous bird of legends and went “Oooohhhh…”. He definitely licked his hands after touching Desmond and it was by accident and he just thought that the latest rum he drank was special.

Shay: Liam definitely dared him to lick his hand after touching Desmond. Hope told him not to do it. He absolutely did. He still sees the bird at times even after he defected but the bird never comes near him again. The only time it ever comes near is when it sits on Master Kenway’s shoulder. Shay had to help Master Kenway once more twice after being poisoned by the bird though.

Arno: The poison the Brotherhood uses is based on Desmond’s poison. They don’t normally interact though but Desmond had been kind enough to let Arno rub his blades against his feathers whenever he becomes low on poisoned ammo. No. Arno did not lick his hand after touching Desmond. He wasn’t stupid. (… he might have tried to rub his face on Desmond’s fur after Élise broke up with him but he was drunk so that shouldn’t count!)

Evie and Jacob: They both heard of the poisoned bird of legends, of course. Desmond likes to fly around them whenever they have a mission. Evie told Jacob not to lick his hand after holding Desmond. Jacob stared at Evie dead in the eye as he licked… Desmond himself. It was very traumatizing for everyone involved.

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quidcumque · 2 years ago

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GRAVEYARD KEEPER: FIRST THOUGHTS

I heard it compared to Stardew Valley and aside from the silly title screen, it's definitely visually there. Play through? There are a hell of a lot of cons, but they won't keep me from playing it

Con: no character customization, no choices at all. You ARE a heterosexual white male-presenting protagonist with a female-presenting white sweetheart. Any headcannon re either of you being 🏳️‍⚧️ remains headcannon

Hilarious: you are reading a text from your sweetheart when crossing a road and you get hit by a car. Keep track of your surroundings, kids

Con: the dialog writing starts out real clumsy. You do eventually get choices, but I prefer how SV makes you the strong silent type when you're not actively involved

WHICH REMINDS ME, CON: don't let the dialog bubbles cycle on their own without me clicking??? I missed so much unretrievable info because I was mulling over the first half smh

Plot: she swallowed the dog to catch the cat, she swallowed the cat to catch the bird, she swallowed the bird to catch the spider, she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly, maybe she died crossing the street and woke up in a shitty little medieval FLAT EARTHER village and she has to rube goldburg her way to and through a magic portal to get back to her sweetheart. Or something.

Pro: I don't play rpgs much so while I don't prefer this style over sv's do-whatever-and-you'll-suck-less-as-you-go gameplay, it's pretty awesome in and off itself BECAUSE it's so different. It also contributes heavily to the swallowed-the-spider-to-catch-the-fly effect because it's got EIGHT TABS OF TECH TREES and I started drawing graphs

Pro: you're on a derelict homestead/graveyard with a familiar need to clear rocks/trees/stuff and bring the area back to life. BUT doing things gives you different xp/knowledge points which is how you advance on the tech trees, so it's different from just a carbon copy SV feel

Con: Jesús Christ you can tell this was made by a dude. So was SV, but where it had nearly equal gender ratios (plus the aforementioned character choices), I've seen... not very many women thus far, and what we get is not exactly impressive. I have no problems with "ms charm" telling me to fuck off until I deserved to talk to her, as half the men I met said the same. But I've met two wives thus far, and uhhhhhhhhhhh one is straight up called sweet but stupid in her bio and the other opens EVERY SINGLE DIALOG with "you should talk to my husband, he's in charge" like jfc lady you're the one I need for recipes, calm down? Does he beat you? What the hell?

Con: let's set aside that I'm pretty sure the "medieval idiots thought world flat" thing has been debunked, because I found info but it didn't have good citations. Also maybe we're going for parody over historically accurate, fine whatever. But whyyyyyyyyyy do you have a guy named "G*psy Traveler" like I know I have an inflated sense of how widely it's known that that's a slur, but it on top of the flat earth thing and the WOW that's bad female-or-anything representation, it builds an image of the creator/creators as the really stereotypical basement dwelling head-up-ass dudes who have never ever looked outside their zone and never ever want to

Pro: like two steps into the tutorial you're slapped in the face with Soilent Green is People and you just live with that

Hilarious: I can tell when I have a first conversation with somebody I was supposed to have met already, because my pre-scripted side of the conversation suddenly backslides in terms of my acceptance of the situation

Pro: time is an illusion and represented only by the cycle of emoji-labeled days. Weeks are not counted, so I legitimately have no clue how many "weeks" I went through last night

Unsure??? I don't know how much I'm going to have to drink the church koolaid to progress? I saw an indication up the tech tree that suggested my good/evil choices MIGHT matter, but I've got no idea how. I told the inquisitor who'd just BURNED A PEOPLE ALIVE IN FRONT OF ME that sure I'd be his friend, and I don't know if the game allows for that to have been a choice made out of the fear that I'd be burned next if I said no

Pro: I still want to play it. The myriad cons will influence how I talk about it to my friends, but it's still giving me dopamine, and that's good enough

#graveyard keeper #stardew valley #game review #first thoughts

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zodarii-dae · 1 year ago

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Just finished watching 3rd Life!!!! I was a bit busy so I couldn't do it as quickly as I wanted to but I made it.

I watched Grian's pov as you suggested and holy fuck was that a ride. I have Thoughts.

Grian and Scar. Scar and Grian. Those two shared a braincell and Grian had it for most of the series.

Grian I think had the most kills out of anyone by the end of it??? Guy really thought he could use Scar as an excuse to satiate his bloodlust without losing any lives. He was 100% correct.

Scar had a lot of kills too, didn't he? Especially in the Dogwarts war. Even if he is the goofy boss to Grian's competent right-hand man, it was nice to see him get down to business as well.

"Your Honor, he pleads /j."

I'm focusing a lot on Scar and Grian here, but I would also like to give a shoutout to Jimmy for being the first person out. From what I hear it's pretty on-brand for him and it makes me think Scott was his Grian. For a second I thought it was Cleo tho.

The Battle of the Red Desert was painful to watch lmfao.... Scar pulled the lever, Grian. Wrong time tho.

Can't be good at building without being good at demolition. Grian really likes TNT, doesn't he. Just pray he never improves at redstone, I think it's best his traps stay broken.

I learned from a comment section that Impulse was killed for a clock that belonged to him in the first place. Rough going, buddy.

Scar's second death had me wheezing.... that's how you know he had some sort of plot armor on, no matter what Grian might say, cuz no way in hell did that guy become the first red name and stay alive for 2nd place.

That was the most Canadian fistfight I ever did see. Scar's muscles did not help.

Grian I see is associated with a bird sometimes? I don't know the reason for that but I find it interesting considering he killed himself by jumping off a cliff.

All in all....... yeah I really liked it!!! I have only watched Grian's pov tho, so if you recommend checking out any other POVs, I could do so. Not sure if I'll be able to watch any of the other Life seasons soon, as I might start dipping into, y'know, Hermitcraft/Empires (thanks to you, really!), but we'll see.

This was long. Yeah. Uhhhh Wings of Fire: A Guide To The Dragon World is coming out October I think I read the excerpt I'm excited ok bye-

nice! glad to see you again :D.

desert duo my beloved. absolutely they are two halves of a whole idiot. grian is the designated braincell holder.

grian kills and maims and we love him for it. i love his maniacal laugh whenever he gets a good kill. like a cartoon villain.

scar is goofy and silly and also bloodthirsty. he's so much fun. he can go from himbo to terrifying red life so fast.

yup, very on brand. poor jimmy. scott is kind of his grian? he's definitely the green to his red, and smart to his stupid, but their vibes are pretty different from grian and scar. they're husbands rather than boss and right hand.

i cannot physically express how disappointed i was when the explosion didn't kill anyone.

the real best duo, grian and tnt.

impulse's death... oh i feel so bad for him. you could hear him starting to say bdubs' name as he died. i had to stare at the wall for like five minutes after that scene.

the only reason scar lasted so long was because of grian. if they hadn't teamed up, he would have died much quicker lmao.

oh the fist fight. oh the cactus ring. oh god.

grian is usually depicted as a parrot hybrid. i'm not sure why, i think it started as a hermitcraft fandom thing that bled into his other stuff. people often fannonized as birds falling to death is one of my favorite things. i can't get enough of it.

if you want to watch more povs, i would recommend martyn or scott. martyn's is good if you want to understand the dogwarts side of things, and scott's is just one of my favorites.

i haven't watched any hermitcraft myself, but i plan to one of these days. empires is one of my favorite smps, and really what got me back into mcyt. if you ever do get around to watching the other life series, i think you'd enjoy them!

i'm also very excited for the guidebook! i haven't read the excerpt though.

#trafficblr #traffic smp #life series #life smp #3l smp #3rd life #3rd life smp #zdae speaks #eggnog asks

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sexysapphicshopowner · 1 year ago

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🤎 Context/AU (Alternate Universe): Long distance love birds, Stasi and King move in together after graduating college. Cue the ‘let’s christen this place’ jokes, but Kingsley has something a bit more heartfelt in mind.

🤎 Anastasia James: 21, travel blogger

🤎 Kingsley Mancini: 22, photographer

🤎 CW/TW: fluff, lesbians being lesbians, proposal, kissing, pet names, consensual groping, suggestive comments, hickeys, domestic activities, alcohol, swearing, romantic stuff, Italian and Spanish (translations provided), nsfwish, slight angst (only in the beginning for the most part), no google translate, proofread (but not really i need to be sleep rn)

🤎 A/N: Another piece for my love @certainlynotasimp enjoy sugarplum 🫶🏽 (reminder, requests for my tag list are open as well as in general) I was lazy and didn't feel like writing a description for the garden, nor the rings so...deal with it I guess. Enjoy !!

🤎 Notes:

Kingsley was raised by Afro Italian (Mumi) and Afro Spanish (Ma’) mothers so she grew up speaking both Spanish and Italian (born in Italy) 🇮🇹🇪🇸

Anastasia was raised by Afro Dominican parents and grew up speaking Spanish (born in London) 🇩🇴

Kingsley’s contact name for Anastasia is Italian and it means ‘my brown sugar honey’ 🥺

Anastasia is contact name for Kingsley is Spanish and it means ‘my cinnamon apple baby’ 🤎

🤎 Translations: (all translations were checked with the help of deepl translate)

Ma’, pensi davvero che dovrei farlo?- Mom, do you really think I should do this?

Guardami- Look at me

Bimbi- nickname meaning little one

Mumi- nickname meaning Mom

Mi nenita, toda crecida- My little girl, all grown up

Ti amo sempre di più piccola amore- I love you more and more, baby love

No más que yo- Not more than me

Cicchi- nickname meaning chocolate

Bichita- nickname meaning little bug

Merda- shit

Scusi? Non è così che parli davanti a tua madre- I beg your pardon? (Lit. Excuse me) That’s not how you speak in front of your mother

Mi dispiace, mamma- I’m sorry, mom

Cara mia- my dear

Mamme- moms

Buona fortuna- good luck

Buona serata- have a good evening

Ora- now

Madrine- godmothers

Sei proprio un romcompiglioni, Valé- You really are a pain in the ass, Valé

Picci- nickname meaning little or small one

Puttana- bitch

¡Ay Dios mío!- oh Lord or oh God

Paella- Spanish rice dish

Ricotta gnudi- Italian dumplings

È perfetto- it's perfect

Mis favoritos- my favorites

Muevete, por favor. Déjame ir para que podamos ir a casa, mi amor- move, please. Let me go so we can go home, my love

Darmi un bacio- give me a kiss

Su con la vita, amore mio. Ti darò tutti i baci che vuoi dopo cena- Cheer up, my love. I'll give you all the kisses you want after dinner

🤎 Word count: 3.6k

18 June 2017

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Kingsley

To say I was scared shitless that day was an understatement. I had no idea how she’d respond. Even though we were moving into a house together and had been together for 3 and a half years, I don’t think my anxiety has ever been worse. But I was in love. I still am in love. And I’m going to marry the love of my life.

I played with the ring, looking to my mother in question, “Ma’, pensi davvero che dovrei farlo? I mean…what if she thinks it’s too soon?”

She regarded me for a moment before she spoke, placing her hand over mine to stop me from fidgeting with the ring, “Guardami. I can’t tell you how she’ll respond, bimbi. Have you two ever discussed the idea of marriage?”

“I mean, yeah, we have. And we agreed we wanted to get married before we made it to 5 years together, but like…at first I figured with the house it’d be cute to propose to her now that we’re finally moving into it, but what if……what if it’s too much all at once?”

“Then I’m sure you guys will figure it out. Not being ready for marriage is nothing to break up over, I tell you that.”

“Were you and Mumi ready back then?”

My mumi poked her head in from the kitchen with a smile that ma’ shared, “I wasn’t. It was a different time back then, though. It was hard enough that we hadn’t come out our families yet. The thought of coming out and announcing an engagement? I was terrified.”

Ma kissed her cheek as she sat down next to her, “She helped me reevaluate my reason for wanting to marry right then in the first place. I thought that if we were married when we came out it would legitimize our relationship a little more in their eyes. Sure, I loved her, and yes I truly wanted to marry her it just wasn’t for the right reasons right then. In the end we just agreed that we’d wait to plan the wedding until we were both ready, and in the meantime, we’d grown even closer for it.”

“Very cute, you two but that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

Mumi reached across the table to rub my arm, “Well, why do you want to marry her, Mimi?”

The thought of my girlfriend was usually enough to turn me into a blushing and flustered mess, but sitting in front of my mothers, all I could do was gush about her and this time was no different.

I beamed as I took Mumi’s hand, “Because in all my years, though few they might be, I have never found anyone who sees me the way she does. Anastasia is the muse I had been in search for when I switched my studies abroad. She’s- she’s my everything, simply put. I love her with my entire being. And I want to marry her because she’s someone I don’t think I can live the rest of my life without.”

They shared a look as they both teared up, Ma rubbing Mumi’s shoulder, “Mi nenita, toda crecida.”

My phone lit up with her contact name on it and I held up a hand as I turned my chair around to check the message:

“Looks like someone just got a text from their girlfriend. Feeling better, Mimi?”

I nodded as I looked over my lock screen, “Sure did. Her flight is taking off soon. Which means I have 2 and a half hours to get my life together. Whew, okay……I’m doing this. I’m about to propose to my girlfriend. Merda-“

“Scusi? Non è così che parli davanti a tua madre,” Ma scolded me.

I rubbed the back of my neck, sheepish and apologetic, “Mi dispiace, mamma.”

“Cara mia, go easy on her. She’s stressing out right now,” Mumi defended, tossing me a wink.

I held back my smile as I spoke, “I am sorry, though. Should I…I don’t know, decorate the house a little bit? You know, candles, flowers? Maybe some balloons?”

“Did you show her the garden when you guys bought the place?”

“No, I wanted it to be…a surprise for when we moved in,” I finished, getting excited. I hopped from my seat, sticking the ring in my pocket as I rushed to my mothers, wrapping my arms around their shoulders and kissing both their cheeks, “Mwah, I love you both so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you, mamme. I’ll tell you how it goes tomorrow, I promise.”

“Be safe, bimbi.”

“Buona fortuna, Mimi.”

“Buona serata,” I called as I headed out the front door.

I all but sped off to the house, instantly palming my forehead at the sight of the mover’s truck parked at the end of the driveway, my best friend guiding the workers.

“Kingsley Allegra Vittoria Mancini. Get your ass over here and help! Ora!”

I bit my lip as I grabbed a box of Stasi’s things from the truck, “Wow, Valé. Happy to see you too.”

“Oh don’t act like you didn’t see me before you left to go stress out my madrine. Has the flight left yet?”

“Yeah, Bubbles text me like 30 minutes ago to let me know that they were preparing for take off. Say, I need you to pick some things up for me actually.”

“No.”

I smacked as I set the box on the couch, “You don’t even know what I want nor what for yet.”

“I’ll do it for 500 bucks,” she offered.

“Sei proprio un romcompiglioni, Valé. I don’t have 500 bucks. You know that.”

“Cap.”

“Okay, maybe I do, but dammit, will you just hear me out?”

She folded her arms, quirking a brow at me as she tapped her foot, “Alright. And it better be good or I’m only dropping to 250.”

I pulled the keys from my pocket, holding them out for her to take, “Here.”

She frowned as she took them, “And just what the h-“ she cut off with a gasp as she noticed the ring, inspecting it, “Oh, babes….she’s gonna love it. You’re proposing?”

“Yeah, and I don’t have long. I need you to get some things for me to set up the garden for it. I’m gonna put it all together, but I need you to go get it while I put all these boxes up and out of the way with the movers.”

She rolled her eyes as she handed the keys back, grabbing her car keys from the ledge over the fireplace, “Send me a list. I’ll try to hurry. I know that flight isn’t long and you’ve gotta shower and pick her up as well.”

“That I do. Thanks, Valéncia.”

“Uh-oh. Mimi’s nervous. Talk to me.”

“Do you think I’m moving too fast?”

“It’s been almost 4 years, picci. You guys have bought a house together, and didn’t you both agree that one of you should propose before you guys make 5 years?”

“Well, yeah, but-“

She placed a hand on my shoulder, shutting me up, “No buts. You’ve got this, babes. Hurry with that list, stop stressing yourself or you’ll chicken out.”

I pushed her off of me, rolling my eyes playfully, "Oh, shut it you old bat. I’ll tell you and the mamme how it goes in the morning, okay?”

“Alright, hop to it, asshole.”

I helped the movers take all the boxes into one of the many empty rooms of the house, thanking them for the help before retreating to the guest bathroom to shower and freshen myself up.

My brain couldn’t help but wander as I pulled on my clothes, anxiety twisting in my stomach like a storm brewing on the horizon.

I had a horrifying cacophony of ‘what ifs’ and questions. What if she says no? What if it makes her change her mind about us moving in together? What if I stutter? What if I fall into the lake? What if something catches fire with the candles? What if she doesn’t even answer? What if I lose the ring?

What if she doesn’t like the ring? What if everything that could possibly go wrong does?

What if?

“Puttana! You better not be up there bitchin’ in your head.”

I rolled my eyes as I made my way downstairs, “You got my shit?”

“Of course! I also have some food. You need to eat.”

I shook my head as I took the bags from her hands like a madwoman, rushing toward the back door, “Can’t eat. I think I’ll be sick.”

“¡Ay Dios mío! Please eat for me, Kingsley. Madrina Morgana said you didn’t eat with them and you didn’t eat with me this morning. Just a bite at least.”

“What did you bring?”

She beamed, holding the Tupperware from Ma, “Paella from your Ma and Mumi made ricotta gnudi.”

“Give me a dumpling so I can go set this up and get to the airport for my baby. You can put the rest in the car.”

“Kingsley.”

“Yes?”

“One more thing before I go?”

“What is it,” I asked impatiently as I turned back to her.

She rolled her eyes as she handed me a velvet box, grumbling, “Here, witcha angry ass.”

“Girl what the f-“

My voice died on my tongue as she turned to head out the front door with a smirk, “Mumi owes me 20 bucks.”

I whispered as I looked on at the ring, smiling, “È perfetto.”

Anastasia

Actual heart stop that day. Speechless isn’t even the word. I forgot what words even were. Yet here I am. Engaged to the love of my life.

I laughed softly to myself as my notifications started coming in:

I poked my lip out as she picked up the call, “You know how I feel about surprises, Mimi. Tell me~”

“No, Bubbles. You just have to wait and see. Besides, you said yourself that you like surprises that include blindfolds,” she mumbled, smirk evident in her tone.

I fought back a smile of my own, squeezing my legs together as I watched the carousel of luggage for my suitcase, “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t…but I still wanna know what you’re planning. What if I had something planned and your surprise interferes with it?”

“Well, do you have something planned,” she chimed as I made my way down the escalator. She pulled me into her arms the second I was close enough in reach as I hung up, placing my phone into my pocket.

“I mean, nothing too big, but….yeah I had a lil something-something planned,” I admitted, nibbling on my thumbnail as I thought about the package I’d asked Valé to slip into the house.

“I mean we still have time before it gets dark enough outside to do what I want,” she whispered against my skin as she pressed soft kisses along my jaw and cheek.

I couldn’t help but giggle as I squirmed in her arms, “Alright, alright! You got your one kiss, now muevete, por favor. Déjame ir para que podamos ir a casa, mi amor. I think we’ve given enough of a show in this lobby.”

She relented, letting go of me after one more kiss to my lips, “Alright, alright. I guess the longer we stand here the less time we have to lay up together.”

I prodded her with my elbow as she grabbed the handles for my suitcase and carry-on while I picked up the poster board, “Hey, at least you know.”

I studied the poster she had made as she dragged my luggage alongside her, poking my bottom lip out, “You know what, I might just let you have some tonight. I mean, you made me a proper poster this time around and everything.”

She scoffed at the accusation, “What do you mean “this time around”? My posters are always proper.”

“Yeah, proper jokes. Last time you picked me up after a flight the poster was welcoming me home from rehab. And the time before that it was prison,” I exclaimed.

“I stand by those. They were hilarious,” she shrugged, opening the trunk.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s ride.”

45 minutes later…

After a car ride full of Kingsley rubbing on my thigh like she’d never have a chance to hold it again, I was playing in her hair as she lay on my chest between my legs, kissing my chin.

I smiled, tilting my head down for our lips to meet, “Mm, should I get dressed up for this little dinner you’ve got planned?”

“Just a little bit. You know I know you look good in anything, but you’re gonna wanna be at least a little dressed up for this,” she mumbled before leaning into my kiss.

Kissing her always felt like everything, everywhere, all at once. Every place where our bodies met my skin blazed with heat, all sprouting from the pit of my belly. I could feel her smile against my lips as she moved higher over me, tongue lavishing mine before she sucked on it, coaxing a moan from my throat.

Breathless, I took two handfuls of her shirt as she pulled away slightly, forehead rested against mine, “Well damn, Kingsley. Tell me something good then.”

She chuckled, pressing soft kisses against my lips in between her words, “You have no idea how much I missed you.”

“Mm, I think I’ve got a pretty good one. I mean you haven’t stopped touching nor kissing me since I got here. I don’t mind though.”

Soft brushes with her lips turned hungry as hot, open-mouthed kisses scathed their way down my jaw, her mouth latching onto a pulse point as she sucked softly. I sucked air in through my teeth, a whimper escaping me as her teeth nibbled on the area, “Fuck…”

She let go, kissing the new bruise, “You alright up there?”

I huffed, caressing her cheek with my thumb, “Yeah, I’m okay. Darmi un bacio?”

She moved as if to oblige, lips ghosting over mine before she sat back, rubbing my thighs, “Later. Go get dressed, Bubbles.”

I pouted, folding my arms across my chest, whining, “Hey! You’ve been kissing me all this time, but now that I asked for one it’s a no? Meanie.”

She kissed my cheek quite audibly before pecking my bottom lip, “Su con la vita, amore mio. Ti darò tutti i baci che vuoi dopo cena.”

“Hmph,” I frowned harder, turning my face away from her.

“Stasi-“ she called in a sing song, pulling me into her with her arms around my waist, “The quicker you get ready, the sooner we can kiss.”

I rolled my eyes, leaning into her kiss on my cheek, “Fine. You’ve gotta look cute too, then. And dibs on upstairs. You’ve gotta get ready down here.”

“Whatever~” she rolled her eyes, pushing me up, “Get to it.”

I waited for her to take her clothes downstairs before locking the door, hopping on the sink counter, “Hello?”

“Stasi! How are you, love?”

“Doing quite alright, Ma. I had a question.”

“Yes?”

I nibbled my lip as I looked under the sink for the package, “Could you put me on speaker, actually? So Mumi could hear me?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Cara mia, Anastasia’s on the phone!”

“Ah, darling! How are you?”

I chuckled, “Well, I was hoping to ask you guys for something.”

“Anything,” they answered in unison before laughing together.

“So, you guys know that Kingsley and I have been together for almost 4 years now, and obviously we’re moving in together finally, but I was wondering if maybe-“

“Yes.”

“What?”

Ma giggled as Mumi responded, “Go ahead and ask her. I’m sure you guys will be great.”

My face flushed as I put the velvet bag on the counter, “Thanks guys. It means more than you know.”

“Oh trust us, we know. Go on, you have business to attend to,” Ma chimed.

It didn’t take me long to get ready. At least, I didn’t think it did until a knock sounded on the door, “Baby? I forgot you take forever and a day to get ready. Are you almost done?”

“Not even close,” I joked, putting on my lipgloss.

She groaned, “Ugh, I got myself into this.”

I opened the door, her jaw dropping as I did, “I’m just joking, my love. You ready?” She just eyed me appreciatively, mouth still agape. I closed it, smirking, “Don’t act like you’ve never seen me dressed up before. Come on, you have a surprise for me, don’t you?”

She cleared her throat, scratching her neck sheepishly, “Yeah um…right, right. C’mon, follow me, Bubs.”

I laced my fingers with hers, following her downstairs to the living room. As we reached the couch, she grabbed a strip of silk from the back of the couch, “Alright, time for my favorite part.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, get it over with, will you?”

She moved with the utmost delicacy and care, sweeping my hair behind my shoulders as she pulled the fabric over my eyes, securing it at the back of my head. She spoke softly in my ear, always with a flair for the dramatic, “Do you trust me?”

“With all of my being,” I whispered, a thrill running through my spine as she placed a kiss to the area behind my ear.

Her hand returned to mine and I followed quite blindly behind her as she led me through an unfamiliar feeling area and I tightened my hold on her hand, causing her to stroke her thumb over my knuckles, “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. It won’t take long at all, I promise.”

I felt her stop in front of me, taking my other hand into hers, “Okay so, before I untie your blindfold, I just want you to know that I promise I hid this place from you on purpose.”

“Will you just take this damned thing off of me?”

She reached around my head, untying the fabric, “Ready?”

Fighting the urge to reach up and snatch the blindfold off, I nodded, “Yes.” She pulled it away, my eyes taking a moment to focus on her before shifting to the scene behind her as I gasped, “What is that?”

She snickered, “It’s a garden, duh.”

And what a beautiful garden it was.

She led me closer to it, as I smiled, “Help- the fireflies?”

She grinned sheepishly, “I had nothing to do with that, but lucky us, I guess?”

I studied her shifty demeanor, noting how nervous she seemed, “Okay, what’s up with all this? What are you doing?”

She rolled her eyes, kissing the back of my knuckles, “You’re so impatient all the time, oh my God. Okay, okay…whew……I can do this.”

“Hey, eyes on me, loser. Breathe first,” I instructed.

She scrunched her nose in distaste, “Shut it. I’m getting to it, I swear. So, I know we’ve been together for 3 years, 9 months, and 13 days-“

“And why do you know that off the top of your head,” I questioned, half-shocked and half-enamored.

“Details, unimportant,” she responded, waving a hand as she continued, “Seeing that we’ve been together for almost 4 years now and are finally moving in together, I was nervous as hell, but I ultimately decided I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. With that being said,” she began, moving to get on her knee as she reached in her pocket.

I stopped her, shaking my head with a hand on her shoulder, “Wait, come here.”

She looked at me confused as she stood, hand still poised at her pocket, “Yeah?”

I reached for my own pocket with one hand, prompting her to continue with my other, “Nothing, go ahead.”

Things clicked as she pulled out a velvet box at the same time I pulled out a velvet bag and she palmed her forehead, chuckling softly, “God, and here I was worried that you’d have said no.”

I smiled, teasing, “Awww, you were stressing over little ole me? For the record not only am I saying yes, but it’s a hell yes times a bajillion.”

She took my free hand in hers, bringing it to her lips, “Well, I know that now, but can I ask properly? I did in fact have a proper speech in mind.”

“Who am I to deny you such a sweet request?”

She returned to her knee, stroking her thumb over my knuckles as she took a deep breath, looking up at me, “As I said earlier, I was nervous as hell, I spent the majority of the morning pulling out my hair back home about any and every worry under the sun, but talking to my moms reminded me why I want to ask you in the first place. I first switched to studying abroad in search of a greater muse than what I could find here in Italy. Luck would only have it that I ended up with you as my guide around London. You’ve been my inspiration, my best friend-don’t tell Valé I said that-my lover, and I want nothing more than to live the rest of my life with you by my side. With that all being said, yes I forgot half of what I wanted to say the second I saw you, I love you and it would do me a wonderful honor if you would marry me.”

I poked my lip out, “I would love to marry you, bichita. On one condition.”

“Yes,” she questioned, eyes still looking up at me full of love and hope.

I tugged her from her knee once more as I pulled out my mother’s engagement ring, “You have to agree to marry me as well.”

She smiled, eyes watering a bit as she opened the velvet box in her hand, revealing a ring I recognized all too well, “I do. Trust me, if nothing else, I will marry you, and start a family, and take care of you.”

I poked my lip out, chuckling through my tears, “Kingsley….is that…is that the ring from when your Ma proposed to Mumi?”

She nodded, “I had went and gotten a ring made for you but Mumi sent it over here by Valé earlier. So? You’re definitely saying 'yes' right now, right?”

I nodded as she took my hand, “Yes, baby. I’ll marry you.”

🤎©️ All work belongs to sexysapphicshopowner. Do not use or repost my content in any way without my consent or permission. Thank you! 🤎

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cathartes-aura-shitposting · 1 year ago

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THE ARGONIAN MYTHOS: a basic overview pt 1- in the beginning, the three gods & airplane religions

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[and an additional note: i'm not a particularly religious person and their may be some bias, so please feel free to scream at me in tags or whatever if i accidentally make a genuinely offensive remark]

So…

Argonus now officially has religion and mythology to it. I mean, I've been worldbuilding on the actual fauna and the elkinets themselves for a while. What better way to expand upon this universe than to give out the mythos they believe and worship? I think it’s time for it. And oh dear lord, it is LOOOOOOONG!!! Why? Because I wanted to get rid of some of the major myths which most mythologies/religions have, plus it’s really fun to worldbuild an entire mythos...

So, without further ado, here’s [PT1] the mythos in its entirety (or at least the somewhat “basics” of it…),

IN THE VERY BEGINNING…

So, like all other mythologies, there’s a story about how the world and universe was created. Our planet argonus is no exception here, having the creation of the planet, sun and moon.

Once up many, many, many eras ago, argonus started off as nothing more than a smooth, round pebble floating in the pitch black void. Then, all of a sudden, the pebble started to form and shape the mountains, valleys and hills, and cracks began to form, releasing out all of the water and lava on that planet. From the cracks, two beings appeared: out of the lava came a bright, blazing crow named duzliv (The sun), and from the waters came a blue, swirling owl named magmor (the moon).

From there, the two birds immediately got to work, dumping some of their feathers onto the planet. The shaft and veins of the feathers became the trees and shrubs, and the fluffy afterfeather became the grass and flowers. It wasn't just feathers that shaped life on the planet, either. On every single feathers were mites, fleas and ticks. Those tiny, insignificant creatures would become all of the fauna of the planet: wolves, deer, birds, fish, and snakes. The mites that came from duzliv became the beings of the day while the ones from magmor became the creatures of the night. The only animals absent where the aeronoids (don't worry, they’re coming soon).

Once argonus had all of the life it needed, magmor and duzliv took a well-deserved break, before figuring out what to do next. Since they had all of these newly-created beings, they needed a way to control them all. Not only that, but they needed a place for the animal’s souls once they died.

It was duzliv who suggested they have children. Magmor, whilst not too keen on creating more life, knew that their children will have their parent’s god-like abilities. So, the owl and the crow had three children, and each of them controlled a specific role: one for the sky and the newly-created afterlife, one for the ground and the life that lived on it, and one for the waterways and the underworld. It would be here that this is where we meet the three major deities….

THE THREE BIG GODS OF ARGONUS

(and their worshipers)

After laying her eggs, all three of them hatch out, and immediately go to work, fulfilling their roles on argonus. The three gods, all of which had the head of a bird that fairly represented them, went along as as followed:

OGRIN:

the first and strongest of the children to hatch. He’s represented as an white airliner with the head of a brown-colored eagle or hawk (commonly the former), and he’s the sort of zeus analog. He not only is in control of the weather, but he’s also in control of “Aethorna”, the heavenly places where all the “good souls” go.

Aethorna is held up by clouds that only the souls of the deceased can see. This afterlife looks similar to the overworld of argonus, except that all plants grow lush green all year around, and the stars are visible regardless of daylight or not. The souls don't just include elkinets, but also all the animals as well.

Ogrin himself is a rather happy, carefree person who absolutely loves to eat, party and drink. However, like all other deities, if he's angry he often creates havoc in the forms of tornados, lightning and floods. He’s also often a total casanova, and like Zeus he goes after various beings to make sweet, sweet love too and have children with. These beings were often either other deities, mythical creatures or even just a regular elkinet. However on rare occasions during thunderstorms ogrin will accidentally (or purposely) strike an animal which will create a monstrous being, either the animal itself turning into one or later giving birth to the beast.

DHETOS:

Dhetos was the second to hatch out of the clutch. Depicted as a green or camo prop aircraft with the head of a chicken, she’s the land goddess that's in control of the overworld as well as the ground and the life that lives there (both of air, land and sea). She lives in a lush land under the mountains (often just called dheto’s land) where you can find any animal living there in peace.

Dhetos is a more stern person that takes her job seriously. She not only is capable of controlling the plants and animals around her, but can also create lifeforms of her own. This not only includes normal animals, but also the beasts and monsters that roam the planet. While she is commonly praised for the upkeep of creating new life, she’s also capable of taking it as well. As such, it’s not uncommon for stories to have the hero call upon her to take care of a dangerous beast the hero themselves are incapable of defeating.

Dhetos, despite being an all-serious person, does have a soft side when it comes to cooking and music. If one can please her with their music or food, then she’ll let them into her home.

XORTAN:

The final child to hatch, Xortan is depicted as a black seaplane with the head of a waterfowl (Most commonly a mallard or some kind of duck), and is the god of all waterways as well as the Underabyss, which is essentially the argonian version of hell or the underworld. This underabyss is located in only the deepest, darkest pits of the ocean, where all of the “bad souls” would go.

[tumblr edit: in much of the mythos, xortan is often depicted as a "regular' aircraft with webbed/lobed feet, though in modern times he'll also be depicted as a true seaplane. regardless, he always has a waterfowl head]

Despite being the ruler of the underworld, xortan himselfs is not a horrible tourture-loving person, or at least in most versions. In his satchel he carries all of the destinies and fates of every soul presently on the planet, which are often in the shape of gemstones or orbs. What he does with the orbs once the soul has died will be the outcome. For example, if he destroys the rob, that soul goes to aethorna. Another outcome for one’s soul is for the orb to be tossed onto land so one can be reborn as an animal (note: not always Xortan’s doing, sometimes it’s Dhetos that’s in control of reincarnation). Reincarnation, in argonus, is often likened to purgatory, except it give the soul another chance to end up in aethorna. However, he can also come up with unique punishments for each and every person that has done things too horribly to be given second chances.

Xortan as a person is somewhere in between that of dhetos and ogrin. He’s not a super carefree person, but not a super serious one at that. If anything, he’s depicted as a rather apathetic but reasonable person.

While all elkinets believe in these three gods and most of the big mythos surrounding them, who they choose to worship can depend. In this case, there are five major “religions” on argonus. Here are these religion, in order by popularity/commonness:

Ogrinism:

one of the most popular of the religions, it has its roots in Ben Ital in eastern eroon, were it spread and became a mainstay in most of eroon, l’russ and the planet’s western/orthidox culture.

considered the christianinty of argonus, ogrinism is the worshiping of ogrin himself, and is very similar to christianity: above-cloud afterlife god good, below-earth underworld god bad. Therefore, you worship Ogrin so you have the chance to go to aethorna and avoid Xortan as much as possible. Dhetos, on the other hand, is more of a neutral character that’s neither 100% good nor 100% bad, but just does what she needs to do. Ogrinism has two major version: Light and Solid.

Light ogrinism:

the most common and widespread version, is the idea the ogrin, whilst a powerful being, is a flawed character. he makes frequent mistakes; sometimes he recognizes it almost immediately, othertimes he only realizes it later either on his own or whenever his sibling point it out. light ogrinist still sees Xortan as an important person when it comes to death and were the souls go. Thus, while nobody likes him, the light ogrinists still respect him for the job he does. in some stories, Xortan has even helped his brother out in fixing the mistakes he has made.

airplanes that are into light ogrinism tend to understand that everyone is flawed, but as long as one is able to fix the mistakes and let ogrin into their lives, they'll let said flaws and mistakes go by. they give some care to the animals, as they know that they could be the souls of the ones who messed up and must retry life. They believe that the most common animals are often wild animals like deer and bears, as well as common pets like stunnits, dogs and cats. They believe that most major crimes like murder, arson and buglury are sins. However, like mentioned, you can still end up in aethorna if you change your ways and let ogrin in your life. Even if he doesn't let you in, he’ll still have his brother reincarnate you to give you a second chance.

Solid ogrinism:

on the other hand, solid ogrinism is the older, more extremist version of ogrinism. here, ogrin is viewed as "flawless, perfect and all-knowing". instead of being viewed as being no better than a mortal, he is instead viewed as the idealistic being to look up to. And of course, because of this, anyone who DOESN'T follow that path is considered "unholy" and "a heathen". not surprisingly, in solid ogrinism Xortan is 100% bad guy, and all who ends up in the underabyss are all sinners that 100% deserved it.

What is considered a sin varies depending on the era and who you ask. A common joke/theme [in modern times] is “anything can be a sin if you try hard enough”, which can range from something major to something so small and trivial. The more common sins are some of the same as what we would expect from our world’s conservitive extremists: abortion, premarital sex, anything NOT heterosexual (gay marrage and such), and basically all other religion that aint ogrinism. Many have even claimed that things like veganism and animal right/welfare are against the religion because, of course, even just being reincarnated as an animal means you sinned, and therefore animal right/veganism is just giving sinners what they want. Solid ogrinist also believe that all sinner that get reincarnated turn into livestock and any other animals that are killed for their body parts. Solid ogrinism is often what gives the entire religion as a whole a bad reputation, which may also be the reason why few elkinets are solid ogrinist in modern times.

Omnyism:

while ogrinism is often touted as the most popular, omnism comes very close second, having almost the same amount of people if not possibly more due to how widespread it is. It is primarily practiced in most of northest amerigia, nylus and sonias (excluding l’russ). It’s believed to be the first religion, as it encopasess all three aspects of the argonian afterlife, that is aethorna, reincarnation and the underabyss.

Omnyist worship all three of the gods, because to them they are all important and vital to their ways of life. All three of them not only give you land, food, water and all other natural resources, but they also tend to choose how you spend your afterlife depending on what you did wrong in your living years. Examples for each god include the following:

-Dhetos: the goddess dhetos was in charge of reincarnation in this religion, and people were reborn into animals that she saw fit for what they did in life. People would often be reincarnated because they committed a crime against the natural world. Examples of said crimes include things like wasting resources (commonly food), bringing unnecessary harm to animals, destroying land for pure greed, ect. However, not all the time was a complete punishment; sometimes she’d take pity on certain individuals and reincarnate them into animals close to home like pets. In many of these stories, these people were often forced to do the crimes and in reality were actually good people.

-Ogrin: not surprisingly, if you were a very good person, it was ogrin who’d take your soul in. This is most commonly relegated to people who proved themselves to be worthy of a good ending. The gods can tell whether you’re genuine or just acting good, so simply just doing good things isn't enough. You need to show kindness, great leadership, compassion, empathy, and basically show that you are a good plane all around. If you succeed, ogrin will let you in into aethorna.

-xortan: if you ended up on xortan’s doorstep, you’ve obviously messed up in life. And by mess up, you REALLY did. Elkinets who ended up in the underabyss have done nothing but the most horrible of things, like murder, warcrimes, genocide, ect. However, people who weren't good nor bad also would go to the underabyss, and they can appease him by singing a song, giving him food/goods, or just making him a little happy. However, often this is just to make sure he’ll send you to aethorna, as xortan already knows you’re not guilty of anything and he just wants you to humor him.

When it comes to the hatred of non-ogrinistic religions, solid ogrinist sometimes consider omnyism the one true exceptions to this rule, since omyist do technically still worship ogrin and therefore are at least “on the right track”.

Dhetosism:

Dhetosism is the third most common religion on argonus. It is commonly worshiped throughout southest amerigia, astra and the amerigia-navaloon gulf.

Dhetosism, as the name would suggest, is the worship of the land goddess Dhetos. It is often confused for omnyism, mainly because of the similar beliefs for one’s outcome in the afterlife. Here, the goodest of elkinets go to aethorna and the worst of elkinets go to the underabyss. However, only the worst and best of people go to their respective places. The people who weren't those two extremes? Well, they’re in Dhetos’s hands [paws] now.

Like omyism, dhetos is the one in control of reincarnations, and not just that but is their ruler once reincarnated. Here, dhetosist believe that one starts their life as an elkinet, but when they pass on they begin the process of reincarnation after reincarnation. They go through several cycles of rebirth until eventually they become that very best/worst being and end up in aethorna or the underabyss. Every time they die and have to be reborn, they end up in Dheto’s land for a bit, often no more than a day.

Sometimes the souls get to choose what animal they get reborn as, others believe it’s up to Dhetos and her helpers to choose what animal one becomes. In either case, all animals are under the ruling wings of the bird-headed goddess, and must worship and respect her. Dhetotists believe that worshiping her while one’s still an elkinet gives them a headstart in the reincarnation process by being on her good side, and thus possibly being allowed to choose what animal they become. It’s often cited that, whether by your choice or Dhetos’s, the good (but not best) planes get to become wild birds so they still fly like they could when they were elkinets. Meanwhile the bad (but not worst) will get reincarnated into aquatic animals like fish and leeches.

It’s a common misconception that all dhetotists are vegetarian or vegan since to them, most if not all animals are the souls of elkinets. While true to some extent, whether dhetosist eat meat or not depends on the ability to obtain more plants than animals for food (aka where they’re living).

In places that make it difficult or impossible to grow or obtain sufficient amounts of plants, for example, dhetotists will still eat animals for food with the exception of birds. However, if they DO live in areas where they can gather/grow enough plants to sustain themselves, then they will avoid meat with the exception of certain holidays as well as scenarios where it’s unavoidable. In any case, all dhetotist will refuse to kill and eat any wild birds since those are the souls of good people on the path to reaching aethorna. They are, however, allowed to use poultry birds for their eggs since it’s a common belief throughout the argonian mythos that a life doesn't start until the egg hatches (though nowadays some dhetotist will also refuse to consume eggs or milk if they can).

A key thing people forget, particularly some of the more troublesome humans, is that simply going vegan isn't gonna appease dhetos (because like said, dhetotist do eat meat a whole lot). It is, instead, just simple common courtesy towards the reincarnated souls to abstain from meat whenever possible, allowing the soul a chance of dying from more natural causes. As a matter of fact, it’s considered an even worse crime against dhetos to go vegan for nothing more than personal gain and superiority (I can name a few of them on twitter and a certain former tiktok user). Dhetotist believe that if you’re horrible towards your own kind, you’re most likely horrible towards the animals you’re so called “protecting”.

Xortanism:

A much smaller religion, xortanism’s origins come from the islands of the indus island ocean, including the indus islands themselves.

Given that the underabyss is set in the deepest of oceans, it would make sense that in islands surrounded by water they’d worship the underabyss god himself. More accurately, though, xortanist believe that everybody is pre-destined to end up in the underabyss, as very few can really get up to aethornia. That is, unless you’re an animal, in which case ogrin will more than likely accept you in. Thus, instead of appeasing ogrin, they instead focus on xortan and making sure that he instead, give them that second chance in the form of rebirth so that they have a higher chance of going to aethorna when they die again.

It’s not just any animal that the elkinets get reincarnated as, though. Specifically, it’s the waterfowl or galliformes that xortanist believe to be the souls of the reincarnated. A Lot of people think that xortanist sacrifice these birds species just to get them to aethornia quicker, however that isn't true. Instead, the elkinets have a specific bird called the “rebirther”, as well as a male to make sure. They believe that, If a member of the village dies, the first chick to hatch from the rebirther is the soul of the deceased. Once the chick grows up, they get sent to the families of the deceased, where they are treated just like family, and are kept from being killed for food.

[tumblr edit: this act of avian rebirth is commonly done by the native villages of the indus islands. with xortanist outside of the indus island (and especially in first-world countries) it is not unheard of for the disease's family to be given a waterfowl-shaped object, such as a plushie, statue or figurine.]

This is also the only version where xortan doesn't have the head of a duck, but rather it's that of the xortan goose (aka xortan swan), a species of swan native to guinea centura.

Nullinism:

nullinism is a rather new kind of religion that’s particularly become evident in groups affected by religious extremism. It’s kinda unclear where or when it originates, but some suggest it comes from south n’gola from elkinet that have become exiled from their villages.

Nullinism can often be likened to agnosticism or sometimes atheisms, in that no one god is truly responsible for your outcome after death, and you're in control of your own destiny. It’s the opposite of omnyism, and that you don't worship any god, rather you go about life the best way possible and see what happens afterwards. After all, you don't know what happens until you’re dead. Most often, nullinist believe that life is nothing but a constant cycle of death and rebirth, until you eventually end up on either Ogrin’s or Xortan's doorstep. All that the gods do is make sure the planet is functioning so life can continue.

Although humans tend to call it the argonian version of atheism, it’s not actually that since, unlike atheism, they still do believe in the afterlife, just not in the ways others see it.

join me on pt2, were we discuss other facets of the argonian mythos..

#anthro airplane #anthro aircraft #airplane #worldbuilding #worldbuilder #aircraft #living airplane #living aircraft #religion #mythos #mythology #speculative fiction #fictional mythology #argonus #planet argonus

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vees-strangeworld-omniverse · 1 year ago

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THE ARGONIAN MYTHOS: a basic overview pt 1- in the beginning, the three gods & airplane religions

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

So…

So, without further ado, here’s [PT1] the mythos in its entirety (or at least the somewhat “basics” of it…),

IN THE VERY BEGINNING…

So, like all other mythologies, there’s a story about how the world and universe was created. Our planet argonus is no exception here, having the creation of the planet, sun and moon.

THE THREE BIG GODS OF ARGONUS

(and their worshipers)

OGRIN:

DHETOS:

Dhetos, despite being an all-serious person, does have a soft side when it comes to cooking and music. If one can please her with their music or food, then she’ll let them into her home.

XORTAN:

Ogrinism:

one of the most popular of the religions, it has its roots in Ben Ital in eastern eroon, were it spread and became a mainstay in most of eroon, l’russ and the planet’s western/orthidox culture.

Light ogrinism:

Solid ogrinism:

Omnyism:

Dhetosism:

Dhetosism is the third most common religion on argonus. It is commonly worshiped throughout southest amerigia, astra and the amerigia-navaloon gulf.

Xortanism:

A much smaller religion, xortanism’s origins come from the islands of the indus island ocean, including the indus islands themselves.

This is also the only version where xortan doesn't have the head of a duck, but rather it's that of the xortan goose (aka xortan swan), a species of swan native to guinea centura.

Nullinism:

Although humans tend to call it the argonian version of atheism, it’s not actually that since, unlike atheism, they still do believe in the afterlife, just not in the ways others see it.

join me on pt2, were we discuss other facets of the argonian mythos..

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gryfflepuffinthetardis · 1 month ago

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Unfinished Business

Season One Masterlist

Riding the Lightning

The Tribe

Summary: When "The Keystone Killer", a serial killer in Philadelphia, resurfaces after eighteen years of inactivity, the BAU works with now-retired FBI agent who worked on the original case to catch the killer.

Warning: Most likely incorrect symptoms of having too much morphine in system, Forced Drug use, Talk of Congenital Heart Disease, Mention of David Rossi

"Any obsession is dangerous." — Christina Ricci

February 25, 2006

There was always an Unsub that stayed with an agent more than others.

The man who killed Zelena for Alexander and then later the people who took Zoe and Zarah.

The UnSub who killed the parents of those three children, Connie, Georgie, and Alicia Galen for David Rossi.

The UnSub who started Gideon's obsession with birds for Jason Gideon.

The Boston Reaper for Hotch.

For Max Ryan, it was the Keystone Killer.

It was one of Zelena's last cases before she was forced back to Viriginia to work at her desk where she found the man who would end up killing her.

Ryan was giving his lecture about his book, House of Horror: The Hunt for the Keystone Killer in Washington DC

"At the end of his two-year killing spree, seven women were dead. He made a name for himself. Literally. He sent out written communication identifying himself as the Keystone Killer. These letters, all of which were accompanied by a word search puzzle, were part of his game Like Son of Sam, he taunted the police. He fueled the media's fascination with him. he left specific crime scene details in the word puzzles. And then, twenty years ago, he just stopped killing. Now, one of the Philadelphia PDs theories was that he was in jail on an unrelated charge. But this is a man who craves attention. He could not remain a faceless prisoner for so long. Another theory was that he had simply moved away and he continued killing in another city or another country. But the FBI's ViCAP program tracks murders and murderers all around the world and they turned up nothing."

He pushed a button on the slideshow he was showing, showing a close-up of hands knotted together. "This intricate knot was part of his signature. It's a signature we have never seen repeated. Another theory was that he had died, which is the only explanation for why a compulsive psychopath would stop killing. As you'll see in the book, But I never believed he was a psychopath who had to do this. I believe he is a narcissistic sociopath who chooses to."

He showed a young woman with short brown hair. "This is his last victim. Amy Jennings. She was twenty-three. Her infant son was in the next room when she was killed. So uh..." His memory briefly wandered to one of his former proteges... this was her last case in the field... "even if he thinks he's finished, he still has a debt to pay."

Ryan signed some copies of his book to a fan before turning to Gideon who he had taught everything he knew.

"You look comfortable up there. Why don't you come back to the BAU for a guest lecture?

"I'm retired, remember?

"Hell of a way to relax." Gideon said, the same thing he told Rossi when he started writing books after his retirement. "Three hundred and twenty-three pages on the one that got away."

"He hasn't gotten away. And you didn't count that eight-page prologue." Ryan said.

"What happened to Florida? Thirty-six holes a day?

"No, Florida's too humid. Zoe’s right. Florida… not for people like us.” Max Ryan said, “How’s she doing?”

“Just like Zelena and Alexander.” Gideon replied.

“So, stubborn, reckless, too smart for her own good, violent?”

Gideon shrugged.

"Anyway, I'd miss the seasons. So I'm in Philadelphia now."

You're in Philadelphia for the 'seasons'?" Gideon asked.

"You think I'm, what, dysfunctional? Obsessed?" Ryan asked.

"You want to eat where the killer eats, sleep where he sleeps?"

"Maybe I'm addicted to Pat's Steaks. Maybe I'm holding out hope that the Eagles will turn it around next season." Ryan suggested.

"Remember weapons of mass destruction?" Gideon asked.

"What are you saying? You think I'm chasing a ghost?"

"I'm saying sometimes we get it wrong. You ever consider that?"

"I've considered everything." Ryan said, sharply. "So, how are things at BAU? Anything changed since I left? Other than Zoe."

"Everything changes, everything stays the same. You know how it is." Gideon said, vaguely.

"Miss me?"

"No."

"Just here to buy a book, then, huh?"

"What can I say? Profilers, they fascinate me." Gideon said, sarcastically.

A guard came up to Ryan and handed him a piece of paper in an orange file, "Sorry to interrupt, but this is for you." Ryan took it and thanked him.

He opened the file as Gideon said, "Fan mail."

"Fan mail. How do you like that?" Ryan said and he unfolded the paper to find a familiar word puzzle. He got up and went back to the guard, "Wait a minute. Hey, who gave this to you?"

"I don't know. Guy in a blue jacket." The guard said.

Ryan then attacked the first guy he saw with a blue jacket but the guard was on him,

"That's not the guy. Hey, it's not the guy." And when Ryan let him go he escorted the guy out, "Sorry, sir. Misunderstanding."

Gideon took the paper from Ryan. "Who in his mind has not probed the black water? We're like two volumes of the same book, Max. Why don't we add a few more chapters?" He read aloud. "Is this from him? The Keystone Killer?"

"Son of a bitch was right here." Ryan snapped, handing Gideon two more things in the file—the IDs of two of the Keystone Killer's victims. "You still think I'm after a ghost?"

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe was trying to sleep. She had been trying to sleep for eight years. She had been having nightmares for years, just from the memories she did allow herself to remember… then her phone rang. She wasn’t complaining.

Norman Maclean wrote, "It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us."

Zoe, Spencer, Elle, and Hotch walked out of the elevator, it was late on a Saturday night but Zoe hadn't had plans. She hadn't had normal "going out" plans since she was fifteen.

"So they've been here all night?" Morgan asked, referring to Max Ryan, Alexander, and Gideon.

"Apparently."

"Where else would any of us be on a Saturday night?" Elle asked, sarcastically. It's not like we have lives or anything.

"Speak for yourself." Morgan scoffed.

"Guys, we are about to meet Max Ryan. The guy responsible for catching the Boise child killer." Spencer said, "Have you ever talked to him before?"

"I've been going on cases with him since I was a toddler." Zoe said.

"He's pretty intense, brusque. Not much of a bedside manner." Hotch commented.

"Sound like anyone else we know?

"He's basically older Gideon with less manners when it comes to crime." Zoe said.

"I heard he was forced into early retirement." Morgan said.

"No, he chose to retire." Hotch said.

"He's written a new book on the Keystone killer case." Spencer said.

"He moved to Philadelphia to be closer to the crime scenes." Hotch added.

"That's retirement?"

“BAU style.”

“David Rossi retired at forty even though he's a workaholic who hates taking vacation days and started writing books on his cases and getting divorced from Mrs. Rossi three to fourteen. I predict he’ll come back someday.” Zoe said.

Hotch didn't doubt that.

They entered the briefing room where the new puzzle was on the screen.

Spencer read the line at the top of the paper.

"'Who in his mind has not probed the black water'?" Spencer read aloud, "John Steinbeck, East of Eden."

Zoe took the

"A story of good and evil, love and hate. A recreation of the biblical Cain and Abel told through two generations of brothers who betray one another; teaches themes that man is flawed but can find forgiveness." Zoe said.

"There's been some new activity on the Keystone Killer case." Max said.

"New?" Elle asked.

"He was at Max's lecture last night." Gideon said.

"What?" Morgan asked, "He got away?"

"Would we have woken you up if we caught him?" Ryan asked

"Ryan." Zoe said, sternly, giving him a look, "I see you still didn't learn basic manners during retirement."

"He handed this letter to the security guard." Gideon said.

"And he included two driver's licenses with it." Ryan added.

"One is from his last victim."

"Last known victim." Ryan interrupted.

"Amy Jennings, strangled in 1985." Alexander recalled.

"His last victim." Zoe corrected and when Ryan opened his mouth to speak, she interrupted him. "He is an attention-seeking narcissist, if he continued killing he'd want you to know and he'd brag about it. He'd taunt you about it like with this."

Spencer was looking intently at the word search, catching the hidden words at a quick pace as he mumbled under his breath.

"You see something?" Gideon asked.

"Yeah. What is the significance of 'black bra' and 'grey wool socks'?" Spencer asked.

"That's what Amy Jennings was wearing when we found her." Ryan said.

"That's a lot of detail to remember for 20 years. The Green River Killer couldn't remember where the bodies were buried, much less what they were wearing." Morgan said.

"Well, some UnSubs take pictures. Print them themselves so they can manipulate the scene, bring it to life." Hotch pointed out.

"That would explain the level of detail."

Spencer was still muttering under his breath before asking, "Does 'no fight' and 'rear window' have anything to do with the Jennings case?"

"No. He entered in through the front door. There's ample evidence that Amy fought him very hard." Ryan said. "No, he's referring to a new victim there."

"The second driver's license?" Elle guessed.

"Carla Bromwell." Zoe said.

"Yeah, there's a 'C. Bromwell' here in the puzzle.

"Philly P.D. went to the address on the license a little while ago. Found her suffocated with a plastic bag."

Zoe looked at him. She remembered hearing the words from inside the womb. They were always strangled.

"Suffocated? His previous victims were strangled. His MO's different." Zoe said

"He hasn't been killing all along, has he?" Elle asked.

"It would've been difficult to tie these new murders to the Keystone Killer, what with the change of methodology and the time that's elapsed between kills." Hotch said.

"If he had been active, I would have known."

"It's not entirely impossible for an UnSub to switch his MO. The Zodiac Killer went from stabbing people to shooting them." Spencer explained.

"Yes, but he wanted to take the credit. This bastard didn't do anything in secret." Ryan said.

JJ entered, carrying a cup of coffee. "I'd say good morning, but it's still dark outside." She said and placed a picture of a woman in her forties with a plastic bag over her head,

"Who's this?"

"Carla Bromwell." JJ said, "Uh, Gideon, can you put on the news?"

Gideon switched on the TV, showing the news.

"The Philadelphia Police were notified late last night of a letter that was hand-delivered to this news station. Apparently, it was written by the infamous Keystone Killer, who's wanted in connection with the murders of seven women back in the mid-1980s. He also included a photograph of a woman. She appears to be dead in the photo, suffocated with a plastic bag. Now, subsequently, police discovered a body in the Overbrook area, but they are not confirming that it's the woman in this picture."

"He works fast." Hotch said.

"That's an understatement, huh?" Gideon said.

"Meet you on the plane in thirty minutes?" Hotch said, standing and walking already.

"I'm coming with you. I'm not asking, Jason." Ryan said.

——————————————————————————————————

They were in the plane when Garcia told them, "Philly P.D. confirmed that Carla Bromwell's been dead less than twelve hours. She was forty-seven."

"Victims are getting older." Hotch commented.

"That is unusual." Morgan said.

"Victimology rarely changes." Elle said.

"Her hands and feet were bound with Flex-cuffs." Garcia told them.

"Flex-cuffs? No ropes?" Ryan asked.

"That's what they said. They're waiting at the crime scene for you." Garcia said.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Morgan said.

"Here if you need me." Garcia saluted and Morgan hung up.

"So, older victims and a different mode of binding and killing." Hotch mused.

"Well, she would've been twenty-seven when he was first active. Maybe she was a potential victim he was stalking before he retired. Also, he's twenty years older now, presumably he's not as strong as he used to be, he may have suspected that he wouldn't be able to kidnap, restrain, and strangle them." Zoe suggested.

"Maybe the note just means we have a copycat on our hands." Morgan suggested.

"A copycat who just happens to have Amy Jennings' driver's license?" Ryan asked, skeptically. "No. No, it's the Keystone Killer."

"It's got to be him." Zoe agreed, determinedly.

"Why does it have to..." Morgan asked.

"This was my mom's last case." She interrupted him, silencing him as everyone but Max Ryan and Gideon looked at her.

"She died a few months into the investigation, We convinced her it was too dangerous for her to be working the case for the safety of Zarah and Zoe." Alexander explained, "And by convinced her, I mean, convinced her not to curse and attack Ryan when he demanded she go home."

"Three weeks later she was dead.” Zoe said, bluntly.

"Still but how are we supposed to work with him?" Morgan asked, referring to Ryan. "He's not even an active agent."

"He's here because Zelena isn't." Alexander said. "He's here because he knows this case better than any of us."

"We're leading the investigation. He's only consulting." Gideon said.

"Anyone tell him that?" Morgan asked.

"Old habits die hard, I guess." Zoe said, not looking up from the words of the profile that her mother had written twenty years ago.

"Zoe..." Morgan started but Zoe looked up at him, suddenly with a steeliness to her amber eyes.

“David Rossi helped create the BAU when he was twenty-seven. He was so ambitious that he ended his second marriage over his career and yet he was forty, he 'retired’,” She used sarcastic quotation marks, “and he’s spent those nine years of 'retirement’ writing about his cases. I doubt he’ll stay in retirement by the end of the decade. He used to read case files to me and Zarah because he couldn’t take himself away from it enough. There will always be cases that stay with you and they will. The BAU worked differently back then. The team wasn’t as big. There wasn’t even a jet. One, two, or three agents per case back then, plus two highly inquisitive kids too smart and hyperactive for their own good when Dad refused to leave Zarah and me behind. It wasn’t a group effort. Everyone had to take charge, not just the Unit Chief,” She nodded at Hotch, “Or a former Unit Chief-slash-Senior Supervisory Special Agent.” She nodded at Gideon, she held the steely gaze before going back to the profile as if she hadn’t scolded Morgan at all.

——————————————————————————————————

Elle, Alexander, and Gideon entered the bedroom where Carla was found.

"FBI?" The detective asked, "Detective Charles Santangelo, Philly P.D."

"Agents Gideon, Noble, and Greenaway." Gideon introduced.

"You actually think the Keystone Killer did this?" Santangelo asked.

"Yes, we do." Ryan said, entering the room, his tone said there was no room for arguments.

"Agent Ryan." Santangelo said in recognition.

"Detective." Ryan greeted.

"Should have guessed you'd show up sooner or later." Santangelo said.

"He's consulting with us." Gideon said.

"CSI's done processing the body?" Elle asked.

"Yeah. We'll get out of your way." Santangelo said.

"Thanks." Ryan said and he looked over the body of the latest victim as Elle examined the body. "This is his eighth victim."

"There's no bruising on the wrists, ankles or neck. Just a good-sized blunt force head wound." She noted.

"Yeah, probably a surprise attack." Ryan said.

"Well, the puzzle said 'no fight'." Elle frowned.

"I know what the puzzle said." Ryan said, sharply, coming off ruder than intended.

Alexander looked at him

"Head wound is extensive." Gideon said, moving on. "Level of violence is escalating."

"Yeah." Ryan agreed.

"Pent-up rage." Alexander deduced.

"This bedroom is in the front of the house, and the puzzle mentioned a rear window." Elle mused, "Maybe he left a print."

"No way." Ryan said, definitively.

Elle scoffed softly and said, "Well, I think I'm going to check it out anyway."

"You do what you want to do, but believe me, you're wasting your time." Ryan said.

Elle scoffed again and looked at Gideon and Alexander as she passed them to do what she said anyways.

"Elle's good at this, Max." Gideon told him when Elle left.

"Did I say she wasn't?" Ryan asked.

"It's more of your tone and constant attitude." Alexander said.

"I haven't had a feeling like this around a dead body in twenty years." Ryan said.

"I remember what you said to me on my first day." Gideon said and quoted him, "'Don't lose your objectivity. This isn't personal'."

"Yeah, well, maybe not for you." Ryan said.

"You're not the only one." Alexander said, sharply.

——————————————————————————————————

Spencer, Hotch, and Zoe walked up the stairs and into another room of the house as Spencer snapped the white gloves on his hands.

"What do you think of Ryan?" Spencer asked.

"He hasn't changed much." Hotch said.

"Still a buzzkill." Zoe deadpanned.

"I think we can learn a lot from him." Spencer remarked.

"What could you possibly learn that you don't already know?" Hotch asked.

"Hotch, repetitive thinking is a death knell for the brain." Spencer explained. "For complete brain usage, diverse stimulation is the key."

"Agent Valdez?" Santangelo asked, spotting her and recognizing the resemblance between Zoe and her mother.

“Doctor Zoe Noble-Valdez. I’m Zelena Valdez’s daughter.” Zoe said.

"Look at this." Spencer said, walking to what he spotted.

It was another word puzzle. Zoe refrained from making a remark that the killer might've run out of word search ideas.

Spencer placed the paper in a plastic bag as Hotch said, "Let's go show this to everyone."

They joined the rest of the team and Hotch said, "Found another note." And he handed it to Ryan.

"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present." Ryan read.

"He's quoting Sir Francis Bacon now." Zoe said with an annoyed sighed.

"Yeah. I use this specific quote in my..." Ryan started.

"In your book, on page one-eighty-four." Spencer finished. Ryan looked at him, confused, so Spencer stammered, "I-I read it on the plane.

"And you remember the page number of the quote?" Ryan asked.

"Don't ask." Morgan asked.

"You remember how Mom could read fast?" Zoe asked, "Spencer can read even faster."

"He says to expect another gift in two days." Hotch said.

"A gift?" Elle asked.

"Calls his victims gifts." Gideon said.

"Gifts for whom?" Elle asked.

"For me." Ryan said.

——————————————————————————————————

They were back at the Philadelphia police station and Hotch said to the team and Santangelo, "A lot of things have changed in 20 years, including the age of the Keystone Killer's victims.

"He's older. His victims are older." Santangelo said. "Makes sense to me."

"Most UnSubs have specific fantasies. It's as if they're killing the same person over and over again." Hotch explained. "This man clearly had a preference for young brunettes, and now he's switched to older women."

"Well, what does that mean?" Santangelo asked.

"Ted Bundy only killed women that looked like his fiancée. But then he devolved and he brutally attacked a house full of sorority sisters that looked nothing like his previous victims. He went off script." Spencer explained.

"Bundy's final victim was a twelve-year-old girl. When police found the van that he used to kill her, the amount of blood revealed that he had lost complete control." Zoe explained, "It was that de-evolution that eventually led to his capture." Santangelo looked at her and she summed up, "He could be de-evolving into a frenzy."

"So you mean he's about to mess up?"

"Maybe. Maybe not" Zoe shrugged, simply.

"The Keystone Killer's de-evolution is only a theory." Morgan said. "We need to be prepared for anything."

"And if he is in a frenzy, there's no telling how quickly he'll fall apart." Hotch added.

"Or how many more victims he'll take with him." Gideon said.

"So, we're going to go over everything we know, old and new, and hopefully find him before we find another body." Hotch said.

"We'll start with Agent Ryan and Agent Valdez's original profile." Gideon said, "Max, you want to present it?"

"No." Ryan said and walked off.

Zoe rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well, while he continues to brood and be helpful to absolutely no one, I guess, I'll give it. I remember hearing it."

"You weren't born yet." Morgan said.

"I had ears, didn't I?" She asked and gave out the profile, "We're looking for a white male in his late forties. The controlled crime scenes, the meticulousness and his collection of trophies suggests a possible military background. We believe he's been living in the same geographic area his entire adult life..."

Gideon had followed Ryan to speak to him while Zoe continued to give the profile.

"I thought you were going to present the profile." Ryan said.

"Team can handle it." Gideon dismissed.

"The team. We used to work solo or in duos or trios when this all started." Ryan said.

"Well, we were wrong." Gideon said.

"You don't worry about too many cooks?" Ryan asked.

"Nope. That's what Zelena always said, right?"

"He used a quote, Jason." Ryan blurted out, "He used a quote from my book."

"So? Maybe it's a coincidence." Gideon said, but didn't actually believe it.

"We've both been doing this too long to believe that." Ryan said and he went to turn back into the room when he came face to face to Zoe.

“He’s a narcissist who thinks he’s the best serial killer of his time because he was never caught. Of course, he was going to read your book. So stop moping around and criticizing the group’s dynamic and actually do what you came to do. Consult.” She said, bluntly and turned and went back to the team.

"All right, let's focus on the differences in the crimes." Hotch said to the team who were brainstorming, "What's he doing that's new?"

"Well, his latest victim was hit in the head. That's new." Elle said.

"In the word puzzle he said she didn't fight, so why hit her?" Morgan asked as Spencer drew circles around the word searchs that were tapes on the other side of the glass crime board. "Scare her? Show her he's in charge?"

"Well, he never did that before." Hotch said.

"A blow that hard wouldn't scare her. You see the bruising around the wound? It would just knock her unconscious." Zoe said, glancing at the photos on the board but she went back to what she was doing which was staring intently at the word puzzles.

"But why? In order to control her?" Hotch asked.

"Well, he switched from using rope to Flex-cuffs." Gideon said, staring at said photos, "The intricate knot was part of his signature."

"Flex-cuffs are easier. Probably saved him time." Morgan suggested.

"No, no, no, no. It's more than that. The rope was meticulously tied. It was intimate. Completely unnecessary." Gideon said.

"And he abandoned the rope and the use of his bare hands, which makes his kills less personal and less controlling." Elle said.

"Okay. Seriously, guys, let's just abandon all this. Let's just treat him like he's a new offender." Morgan suggested as Zoe was pointing and muttering to Spencer.

"He isn't." Gideon said.

"Guys, we have a name." Spencer said, circling the name.

"Nibrahs. That's a name? From what country?" Elle asked.

"It's backwards. S. Harbin." Zoe explained, "There's a Scott Harbin on the original suspect list."

"It's not Scott Harbin." Ryan interjected. Zoe sighed, very loudly and slowly, not turning around to look at him, clearly irritated but Ryan continued as Zoe continued to stare at the word search. "Harbin went to jail in 1988 for stabbing a guy while he was trying to escape during a home invasion. The guy later died. Harbin didn't even know there was anyone at home at the time he broke in."

"How long did he get?"

"Thirty years."

"So, that makes him a little more than halfway done." Gideon said.

"Unless he's been paroled." Hotch said, as he used to be a lawyer.

"No. No, that's too easy." Ryan said. "I interviewed Harbin, twice. He's a pervert. He's a small-time burglar with a fetish for lingerie. I mean, he's a creep, but he is not the Keystone Killer. Believe me, our guy has not been in jail all these years."

Zoe still didn't look away from the word search.

"All right, I'm going to call Garcia." Morgan said. "See what she can dig up on this guy."

"He's not the guy!" Ryan all but yelled, leaving the room in an awkward silence, broken only by Zoe's sarcasm.

"Well, if you think so. Let's just ignore the possible lead." Zoe said, sarcastically, finally turning to look at him with her arms crossed. Ryan stepped out of the room.

"Jason, what are we doing here?" Hotch asked.

"What do you mean?" Gideon asked.

"Well, is Ryan interested in catching the Keystone Killer or just proving he's right?" Hotch asked.

——————————————————————————————————

Scott Harbin had been paroled three months ago and missed his last appointment with his parole officer and they got his address from Garcia.

The SWAT team busted down the door.

"FBI! SWAT!"

Scott Harbin took off in a run towards his back door but the back door swung open, revealing Zoe in front of Harbin in his ill-advised run.

“Valdez…” He said before Elle tackled him to the ground. He looked up at Zoe, “Didn’t you die?”

“Doctor Zoe Noble-Valdez.” Zoe corrected. “Zelena Valdez was my mother.”

“Right, you’re the one who she said kicked whenever there was scumbag lying to her.” He said.

“I’ll still kick you if you lie.” She promised.

“At least, you’re pretty.” He said and tried to look her up and down.

Ryan grabbed Harbin and pulled him back, aggressively, bringing him face to face to Alexander who looked like he was about to murder him for his comment.

"Don't bloody look at my daughter like that."

"You missed an appointment, Scotty." Zoe said, not phased by the comment towards her.

"They send the FBI now for parole violations?" Harbin asked, sarcastically.

"Yeah, we were in the neighborhood." Alexander growled, pushing Harbin away from his daughter.

——————————————————————————————————

"You okay?" Spencer asked Zoe.

Zoe looked at him and chuckled bitterly, shaking her head, "Trust me, far from the first time a convicted pervert has hit on me."

"I'm sorry."

"Truth of being a woman." She remarked and she moved away to search the apartment.

"What do you think?" Gideon asked, nearby.

"I don't know." Ryan said, honestly.

"Zoe?" Alexander asked.

Zoe bit her lip for a few moments, deep in thought. “I don’t know. Obsessive, yes. Definitely someone who needs to be in control but… nothing that screams attention-seeking narcissist. And…” She chewed her lip, “I feel like we’re missing something that’s in plain sight.”

"Everything has its place." Gideon agreed. "Probably comes from years of solitude, huh?

"And a strict upbringing. I mean, this is a guy who likes to be alone." Elle added. "Sharing a jail cell must've been a nightmare."

"This place is a neat freak nightmare for me." Zoe remarked, not being as neat as her mother had been by a long shot.

"Are you finished?" Harbin asked.

Zoe turned to him, her eyes immediately flaring with anger at him.

Her tone was condescending and a thinly veiled anger was evident in her voice.

"What, did I make you angry? Did I upset you?" She walked closer to him, there was a swagger to her step that conveyed danger. "What, you're going to hurt me?"

I'm not stupid.

Zoe smiled patronizingly at him. “Sure, you’re not, Scotty. But I can read you like a book. You wouldn’t hurt me here. You’d wait. Sneak up behind me and hit me over the head just when I’m not looking. But that wouldn’t work on me. I’ve dealt with men like you my whole life. You’re not special. You’re not unique. You’re a dime-a-dozen misogynistic pervert. I’ve met men like you who are as unique as you think you are. That can strike fear into an entire city. That can get control over me. That can get control over FBI agents. Make them fear him. But that’s not you. You’re nothing, Scotty.” Scott could see a merciless coldness in her that Zelena hadn’t had. A brutality in her words. A craziness in her eyes. Like she was capable of striking that kind into someone. “What’s the matter, Scotty? Can’t deal with a woman who’s not afraid of you? Because I’ve looked pure evil in the face and didn’t show him fear. Now, you?” She scoffed like it wasn’t even worth trying to compare them. She hated the praise her words would actually give him. That was how much control he had forced upon her.

Zoe walked off and started to knock books off of shelves.

"You okay?" Spencer's voice asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked sharply and Spencer avoided her eyes. She softened, "Sorry."

"Got a little hot."

"Did I say anything that wasn't true?"

"No... and I don't know. I'm sorry."

"What?" She asked but she knew what.

"That whoever he was hurt you."

"It was a long time ago."

"Yes, it was."

"Well, then, I guess I'm fine."

"You know that's not how it works." Spencer told her.

"Hey! Little help!" Morgan's voice shouted

Scott Harbin had a woman tied up, hidden in a hollow storage under his bed and Zoe had run to her when Morgan shouted. She thought perhaps a woman's face may put the woman at a little more ease and checked on her until the ambulance arrived.

"Single, obsessive, military background." Gideon said to Ryan as the local police arrested Harbin. "Fits your profile."

"But he keeps his victim in his house? He's that far off script?"

"Am I a dime-a-dozen pervert?" Harbin called to Zoe.

"Yes. Now you're a dime-a-dozen kidnapper-rapist. Still nothing special." Zoe told him, barely looking at him like he was so common, she didn't even bother spending time on him.

"Ryan." Morgan said, picking up a piece of paper on the car window. "It's got your name on it."

Ryan read it aloud, "Isn't Scott Harbin an inelegant creature? A monster. There is no light with him. No balance. He is pure evil. Balance is what gives one mercy. You'll be reminded of my brand of mercy tomorrow, Max."

"What does that mean?" Morgan asked.

"Scott Harbin's a predator, just not the one we're looking for." Gideon responded and went to the closest officer, "Cordon off the area. At least a six-block radius. Someone must have seen this guy.

“He’s watching us.” Zoe said, looking around.

“Sweetheart, you okay?” Alexander asked, coming to her, speaking in a low tone.

“At least, it’s not Boston.” She muttered and walked to her motorcycle.

——————————————————————————————————

They entered the police station as Morgan said, "Well, that's got to be a first. A killer actually leading us to another killer."

"Come on, we all know they make the best profilers. They admire each other's work." Gideon said.

"Yeah, but usually from afar." Elle said.

"Well, at least we got Harbin off the street." Hotch said as they entered the room they had been using where Zoe already was. "All right. Let's review. What do we know about the Keystone Killer?"

"Well, we know that he's not dead or in jail." Elle said.

"Enjoys the taunting, the game." Gideon said.

"And he's in complete control." Morgan said.

"He strangled seven women in the 1980s, stopped for twenty years and then began again, suffocating them." Spencer said. "Ten percent of all violent crimes are caused by strangulation.

"It only takes eleven pounds of pressure to fully incapacitate your victim. And usually if you hang on for at least fifty seconds, they'll never recover." Zoe explained, gesturing by choking an imaginary neck.

"But when you suffocate someone you actually have less control over their death." Hotch said. "And it's actually more passive because the killer doesn't feel the life leaving the body.

"You know, he's changed almost everything that he does." Elle said.

"Why, why, why, why?" Gideon asked, "I mean, what's he getting out of this new MO? What is his payoff?"

Zoe had her eyes closed as she recreated each crime scene in her head. Seven women in their twenties, strangled. Then a forty-seven-year-old woman with a blow to the head and a plastic bag over her head.

"You got Carla Bromwell. She sustains a significant head injury. Blitz attacks suggest disorganization, no self-confidence." Gideon listed, " This is a guy who walks into seven victims' homes prior to this. There was no forced entry at any of the scenes. Where's the loss of confidence?"

Zoe suddenly heard a rattling sound in something hollow... plastic. A flicker of fleeting memory in the sea of her lost memories. Then she saw the blurry image of him standing over her in the mask, staring down at her. She wasn't sure if she could trust the strand of hope so if these were her last moments, he would have to look her in the eyes. She remembered feeling the blood flow out of her body as swiftly as the strength left her body. Only because she was losing blood.

She opened her eyes with the answer, not noticing how Spencer was looking at her.

"He would never change the way he kills by choice." She said.

"What?" Gideon asked.

"We've been operating under the assumption that he purposely changed his MO." Zoe explained.

"You say he changed because he had to change?" Alexander asked.

"When-when I was stabbed, the only time I stopped fighting when I was on the verge of blacking out from blood loss. It wasn't because I was choosing to stop but because I physically couldn't." Zoe explained.

"He knocked her unconscious, and it wasn't to scare her." Morgan realized.

"Because he couldn't control her physically while she's awake."

"He could be incapacitated." Ryan said.

"At least partially." Gideon said.

Zoe's memory flashed back to when he pistol-whipped her with his revolver.

"Maybe an injury. Or a stroke." Zoe suggested.

"Either way, you're going to have to have medical records. Agreed?" Gideon said.

"Yep." Zoe confirmed. "An injury that would've lasted twenty years would've required serious medical care."

"So what are we talking about? This had to have happened after the middle of 1985 in Philadelphia?" Morgan asked.

"Somebody who fits the rest of the profile." Gideon said.

"That's a lot of hospital records."

"Well, luckily, one of us is a medical doctor and one of us can read two thousand words per minute." Zoe said, she patted Spencer's leg and got up, not noticing how Spencer had flinched and blushed.

"You sure you can get access." Morgan asked.

"Medical records are often shared electronically between healthcare providers. This allows doctors to access a patient's most recent health info, which can help them provide better care." She recited, "But first, I need some caffeine. I'll be back in twenty minutes."

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe didn't return twenty minutes later.

Twenty minutes later, she had a to-go cup holder of coffees and a hot chocolate for her. She had requested extra sugar for Spencer and then added several sugar packets. She was cutting through an alley, the same one she had used to get to the cafe quicker but there was something different on her way back.

Zoe stopped walking when she passed a connecting alleyway that led to a dead-end. It had been bare bricks before but now there was a noticeable white object against the maroon bricks that she had spotted in her peripheral vision and having taken a moment to process it.

She stepped backwards a few times and looked down the attached alley and on the wall of the dead end was a word search.

She gulped; this was most likely a trap. She looked around and took her phone out and took a picture of it from afar. She opened her messenger bag and placed the cup holder in it so she could use both hands and she took out her butterfly knife from inside her jacket and put it between her teeth so she could draw her gun and approach it. She didn’t sense anyone behind her. She took a photo of the word search up close before putting her phone in her pocket. She took her knife out from between her teeth and pressed it against the paper as she examined the puzzle, the words lighting up for her convenience in her mind.

Beauty and brains are a dangerous combination in the hands of a woman—especially one so undeniably skilled with a sword as sharp as her wit.

No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.

Never underestimate the power of a Valdez woman’s intuition… Valdez women can recognize your game before you even start playing it.

Zelena had said that after one of her biggest cases.

Z. Valdez.

Denim.

Blouse.

Black undershirt.

Badge.

Waist.

Got away.

October, thirty-first.

Axe.

Chest.

Passionate.

Intelligent.

Brave.

Selfless.

“Mom.” She breathed out, her voice broke slightly.

"LOOK OUT!” She heard Zelena’s voice shout in her head and Zoe threw herself to the side, just missing being pistol-whipped in the head.

The cup holder tumbled on the ground, spilling everywhere from on Zoe's clothes to on the ground. She saw an ordinary-looking man but she knew there was no ordinary-looking man.

"You're as beautiful as your mother." Said the man. "

It's you." She gasped and in an impulse decision, she stabbed her knife into the wall through the blank sides of the paper, and turned to run to get some distance, the butt of the pistol hit her back, making her stumble before she tripped and fell.

She wasn't as vulnerable to a blow to the head as most people were.

She grabbed her gun; she wasn’t far from the police station, and she aimed it at a nearby wall and shot three times before the UnSub hit her upside the head.

——————————————————————————————————

Some of the team went to investigate the reports of hearing gunshots near the station while JJ did a press conference.

"There's another puzzle." Spencer noted but he was more concerned with the knife in the wall next to it. Why was that knife familiar? It was a unique knife. It was light blue with laser engraved flowers on the handle. His eyes went to the note that made his heart race but not in the way it did when Zoe was around.

“There are definitely signs of a struggle.” Gideon determined as Spencer looked at the note.

“Uh… has anyone managed to get a hold of Zoe?” Spencer’s voice wavered.

“Why?” Alexander asked, sharply.

“Valdez. Hispanic. Catholic-Pagan. PTSD." He read.

“It also describes Zelena.” Alexander noted, trying to stay calm.

“She had PTSD?” Spencer asked.

"Never mind that! I don't know where both my children are!" He shouted, taking out his phone.

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe's phone rang on the table but she couldn't reach it, she was tied to a chair with flex-cuffs. Zoe didn't even glance at it, she refused to break eye contact with the UnSub as he picked up the phone.

"Your dad's that other agent?"

Zoe didn't speak and not just because of the gag in her mouth. He had already tried to suffocate her but realized that she could hold her breath much longer than any of his other victims and she kept on mocking him, unafraid of pain, in fact, she barely registered it.

He held out her phone and took a picture of her in the chair and he sent it to Alexander.

——————————————————————————————————

"Oh my god!" Alexander gasped.

"What?"

He showed them his phone which had a picture of Zoe tied up to a chair with flex cuffs and a gag in her mouth, she was awake and utterly glaring at the man behind the camera.

"He took her. He took my baby!" He cried.

——————————————————————————————————

Carla Bromwell's brother confronted JJ who responded with sympathy, knowing what it was like to lose a sister.

The reporters blamed Max Ryan but JJ protested the accusation, stating to blame was to be put on one member.

Ryan watched the press conference from the station.

"I'd hate to be standing out there in front of those jackals." He said.

"Well, JJ, she can hold her own." Elle said.

"You're all better at the press thing than we ever were." Ryan stated.

"Well, we have a lot more of it to deal with now.

"Zelena used to do it but Valdez women tend to have a searing wit."

"I've noticed." Elle said, they had been informed that Zoe was missing now.

"They need someone to blame. I guess it's me.

"Are you okay with that?" Elle asked.

"Well, the fact is, I haven't been able to solve the case. Zelena died twenty years ago by another murderer who also got away. So I'm an easy target. But if I... If we do close it, that'll all go away."

"And you think you'll be able to? You know, just walk away?" Elle asked.

"Well, I won't have any choice."

"But don't you want to? I mean, don't you get to a certain point where you want to relax?" Elle asked, "Maybe spend some time with your family?"

"Family? I lost that a long time ago. I haven't even seen them in years. This job tends to ruin family. Not just mine. And if I hadn’t pulled Valdez off the case… maybe that UnSub wouldn’t have killed her.”

“There’s no way you could’ve know that.”

“You don’t know do you? Zoe was born a stillborn due to the stress Zelena was under in her final days. The doctors barely got her heart beating again, then we learned she had a heart defect because her heart rate was rapid, her pulse was weak, her breathing was fast, and her skin was blue because she wasn’t getting enough oxygen.”

Elle was shocked by this news. But it further explained Alexander's overprotectiveness of Zoe.

“She seems fine now.”

“Yeah, she got heart surgery a week later but… she’s not exactly lucky.” Ryan said, “Maybe I should’ve made Zelena take off…”

“She’s never mentioned that.” Elle said.

“The BAU also doesn’t employ people easily willing to admit their weaknesses or with the relaxing kind of mentality. I’ve known Zoe since her birth and she’s never been one to admit her weaknesses. She’s too smart for her own good. Zelena was the same way.”

"What was she like?"

"Smart. Ambitious but moral. Obsessive. Bookish. The type A sort. Zarah was more like her but there's a lot of her in Zoe. Selfless. Hyper-competent. Stronger than she knows. I had to force her to desk duty because she kept ignoring her pregnancy symptoms and shouting at people when they pointed it out."

"Sounds like Zoe." Elle said.

"Well, we've got some records to go through."

——————————————————————————————————

They had to have Garcia get the records and they all went through them to find their missing team member.

"Something debilitating enough to lose strength permanently." Hotch said, "I'm still thinking stroke."

What they needed was Zoe!

"You know, Ryan's profile puts the UnSub in his late twenties. Isn't that too young for a massive stroke?" Morgan asked.

"Technically, you're never too young for a stroke." Spencer explained. Eighty percent of strokes are ischemic. The other twenty percent are hemorrhagic, which usually result in death. Ischemic strokes occur when plaque builds up in the arteries, causing restricted vessels to be blocked by a blood clot."

"Okay, but doesn't it take years for that type of plaque to build up?" Morgan asked.

"Uh, typically." Spencer nodded.

"Well, then, like I said, he was too young."

"Did you know that stroke victims who play virtual reality games show significant advances in recovery than those who don't?" Spencer asked, but no one cared. Zoe wasn't there.

He looked past them where Alexander was pacing looking like he was going to have a stroke himself.

"Now, here's somebody. In 1987 he was thirty, single, dishonorable discharge." Hotch said.

"That's a good start. What was the injury?" Morgan asked.

"Broken neck. Intense physical therapy for nine years." Hotch read.

"What's he been doing since?"

-Oh, never mind. The guy moved to the Florida Keys. He's a scuba instructor." Hotch said and lowered the file. "He's got the right idea."

In the other room, Gideon tried to help Ryan lessen his guilt so Ryan confessed what Zoe had already deduced from the start.

"You see, Jason, somewhere, I think in my subconscious, I hoped that writing this book would draw him out. That he missed the attention. And maybe... Maybe I wanted to play his game." He confessed.

"You had no idea he'd kill again."

"No, but he did! And now there's another woman out there in danger and he took Zoe." Ryan said.

"Zoe knows how to survive. She's been doing it for a long time. She's been kidnapped and beat the statistics every time. That's why we taught her. She has memories from inside the womb. She knows this case not from the files but because she heard Zelena talking about it. And just like her, you know this man better than he knows himself. You always have. Now you've got an advantage. You got a team of the most incredible agents in the world out there. And you're standing here alone. If you let us, we'll help you find him."

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe had deduced what the team was about to come to as a conclusion.

"Car accident?" She asked once he had taken the gag out after she hadn't suffocated like he wanted for the fifth time now.

"What?"

"You were in a car accident and that's why you stopped killing... wasn't it?"

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a doctor and I'm damn good at it."

——————————————————————————————————

"Elle is running down injuries on college campuses." Hotch told the team, "The guy's well-read. He may have been a professor."

"There are just too many hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities. We'd be sifting through records for weeks." Spencer sighed.

"Oh, come on. There's got to be some way to narrow down the search, right?" Morgan asked.

"Well, we've ruled out a stroke and half the hospitals don't even say how the accident occurred." Hotch said.

"Accidents?" The word struck an idea in Spencer. "In America, someone's involved in a car accident once every ten seconds."

"Car accidents with injuries would all be reported by the police." Gideon said.

"We profiled him driving a late-model American-made sedan." Ryan said.

"All right, so how about I get Garcia to check Philly P.D. records for accidents involving American-made sedans and serious injury?" Morgan suggested.

"It's a long shot." Ryan sighed.

"It's a shot." Alexander said, sharply and turned to Morgan, "what are you waiting for?"

"Start with 1985. If it was an accident, it stopped him in his tracks." Gideon said.

They narrowed it down to an incident that happened on I-95 by the airport, near Anders street where Carla Bromwell had lived back then. His name was Walter Kern.

——————————————————————————————————

"Walter Kern had a military background. ROTC in high school. Four years in the Air Force." Morgan told the remaining team.

"Hospital records show that he lost mobility in his right side due to severed nerve damage to his spinal cord." Spencer observed, taking place of the well of medical knowledge with Zoe missing.

"He never got the strength back." Ryan noted.

"Kern's been a county worker, claims adjuster, and get this, he installed home alarms with Scott Harbin." Hotch read.

"Takes one to know one." Alexander said, bitterly.

"All those jobs allowed him access to people's homes." Spencer said.

"Explains why there's no sign of forced entry. He had a legitimate reason to knock on the door." Morgan pointed out.

"Women felt comfortable letting him inside."

"He got a degree in criminology from Villanova in 1985. I wonder if he murdered anyone on campus." Elle said.

"That certainly explains his knowledge of law enforcement." Gideon said.

"Great, so we're all agreed this is the guy? Please tell me there's a current address." Alexander said, hurriedly.

"575 Wight Street, Southeast Philadelphia." Ryan said and whispered, "I got you, you son of a bitch." Alexander snatched the paper from Ryan. "We got him. Let's go bring him in."

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe was doped up but unfortunately for her kidnapper, she had spent eight months being constantly drugged, so she had built up a tolerance, even five years later. A few weeks into her kidnapping, she had found that the drugs made her hallucinations… she didn’t quite know the word… it was like it enhanced her subconscious awareness, creating a sort of Mind Palace that stayed with her to this day, a way of thinking. It was either that or her subconscious was trying to tether her to reality in an odd way.

She looked up, she was lightheaded more so from the attempts to strangle her before the killer realized that was easier said than done, since he wasn’t strong enough to keep pressure around her neck and she apparently could hold her breathe for an extended period of time and unlike his other victims, she remained calm when the bag was over her head before he threatened to shoot her in which she sucked the bag in and bit through it before doing a simple breathing technique that stopped her heartbeat for just a few seconds, long enough for him to think she was dead. But she was still locked to the chair, staring at the ceiling, her mind fighting for a chance but she was stuck back when she was twelve, reliving what little she remembered.

As she came down from a flashback with a jolt. She tried to think, if only, she wasn’t in danger of an overdose and random thoughts wouldn’t keep popping up in her head like, it’d be easier to think if these jeans could breathe easier!

Then it hit her. Jeans! My belt!

She pulled her belt loose, she snaked it between her hand and the arm of the chair and she secured it to the other end of the belt in a full loop, she put her foot in it and kicked out, snapping the flex-cuff off, and then the same to the other and she pulled at the plastic bag over her head, ripping the small hole until it was big enough to fit her head through and she absent-mindedly left it around her neck as she staggered to the door... bumot she couldn't open it. She fell down, he dosed her with way more morphine than was safe. She may had a tolerance but it still affected her.

She laid next to the door as her eyes closed... just for a minute...

——————————————————————————————————

The team, SWAT, and the police officers got to Kern's address. Gideon rang the doorbell once. No answer. He rang it again. Still no answer. Ryan reached for his gun when a woman answered.

"How can I help you, gentlemen?" She asked, politely though confused.

"I'm Special Agent Jason Gideon. This is Special Agent Max Ryan and Special Agent Alexander Noble with the FBI." Gideon introduced them, "Can we speak with Walter Kern?"

"He's not here right now." The woman said.

"Do you know where he is?" Alexander asked, urgently.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Could we come inside?"

Walter's wife, Anne let them inside and she explained where he was, or where she thought he was. "Walter's at the Pinewood Community Center working with the Boy Scouts. He volunteers as one of the leaders."

Gideon took out his phone to call Hotch.

"Would it be possible for us to search the house, ma'am?" Ryan asked.

"Hotch, he's at the Pinewood Community Center." Gideon told Hotch through the phone.

"What for?" Anne asked.

"We've been called in to investigate the murders of several women here in Philadelphia." Ryan explained, "That's why we need to talk to him."

"That is the craziest thing I've ever heard." Anne scoffed and she looked at the faces of the three men, seeing they were all dead serious and she stood up, "And I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Now."

"Could you answer one question for us, Mrs. Kern?" Alexander asked, "Does your husband have an area here in the house that you're never supposed to go into? A place that you're not supposed to see?"

"Walter has a darkroom." Anne said.

"If he knew you were in there, would he become so angry that you fear he could hurt you?" Alexander asked.

"He... just doesn't want me to ruin his pictures, that's all." She tried to dismiss.

"Mrs. Kern, has your husband ever suffered from long periods of depression?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, after his car accident." She said, her voice becoming far away from anxiety of what this could mean.

"And did he suddenly just snap out of it, for no apparent reason?"

"What does all this mean?" She asked in a small voice, clearly fearful.

"Could you show us the room, Mrs. Kern?"

"Please. We suspect he may have kidnapped my daughter. She's only twenty." Alexander pleaded.

Anne nodded and went to show them the way.

——————————————————————————————————

The SWAT used a deadbolt cutter to cut open the lock and open the cellar door. They went down and came back up, "It's clear."

Alexander nearly knocked him down as he flew down the stairs.

The rest joined him and Ryan noticed at once clippings of newspaper.

"Looks like he collected every article written about him." He said, pointing.

Gideon seized a familiar-looking book and handed it to Ryan, "He's got your book."

Ryan opened the cover, "Damn it, I signed it."

"Hotch was entirely correct about the photography. This cellar's where he develops his photographs." Spencer said and then he spotted something. “He’s kept up on Zoe.” Spencer said as he found a clipping, detailing the murder of Zelena and the miraculous survival of Zoe.

“But why? Why? Zelena got off the case a month before she went into labor! Zoe!” Alexander cried, “What are you looking at!?”

He snatched another word search puzzle out of Spencer’s hand and paled even further.

The moon that’s missing her sun.

Z. Noble Valdez.

Black. Leather. Jacket.

Black. T Shirt.

Black. Plaid. Skirt.

Ripped tights.

Leather. Boots.

Mexican. Scottish. American.

ADHD.

PTSD.

Bipolar.

“Zoe. My baby.” Alexander breathed out and then he suddenly shouted, "Damn it, where is Zoe!? Where's my angel!?"

Behind the hidden door, Zoe jolted awake at the sound of her father's shout.

Daddy!

She started to smack the wall.

There was a soft thump. Thump. Thump.

Alexander was still for a moment before bolting to the other side of the room and tearing the articles off the wall, haphazardly before finding a lock that was covered by the articles and struggling to get a grip on it in his haste and pushed the door open, knocking Zoe over.

“Baby! Baby!” Alexander ran to his daughter’s side as she was clearly struggling; he was quickly joined by Gideon, Ryan, and Spencer.

She was sweating and pale, she had strangulation bruising around her neck, it was a darkish color from the broken blood vessels from beneath her skin, must’ve been at the most two hours ago. Her eyes were bloodshot, she had a black eye, a bruise next to her chin, and a bruise peeking out of her hairline.

“Are you… are you real…” She asked, her voice was a bit raspy from being strangled as she had pulled on Spencer’s suit.

“I’m here. We’re all here.” He said and he cupped the back of her head, “Let me see you. I think she was drugged.”

“Are her eyes pulsating? ARE HER EYES PULSATING!?” Alexander screamed.

“Uh, no?” Spencer said. “I mean, they’re a bit enlarged.”

“Med pack!” She breathed, “My med pack!”

Ryan grabbed her med pack and she slapped Spencer’s hand when he tried to take out the activated charcoal and took out the Naloxone instead and shrugged off her jacket, revealing track marks on her arm, confirming she was drugged and she injected it into herself.

She stayed still for a few moments before telling them she was fine.

“Morphine. It was only morphine. I’ve had worse. Go ahead.” She reassured them, lazily waving her hand.

"What, what happened?"

"Scrap-scrapbook." She said, standing up, she wobbled before taking a deep breath and walking... straight into the wall, she pushed off it and grabbed a scrapbook.

"My vision is still blurry." She said and handed it the book out to whoever

Gideon just barely grabbed it before it fell out of her hand.

"There's a chapter on every woman he's killed." Zoe said, looking fully past them.

Spencer took the scrapbook from Gideon and noted, "These entries are detailed enough to let him relive the kills for years."

"He has candid photographs of the victims at the park, grocery store, outside of church. Driver's license, clothing, jewelry." Gideon said.

"Those chapters in the back. They're not finished." Ryan noted.

"These photographs are at least twenty years old. I mean, look at the hairstyles, the clothing." Spencer noted and then he frowned, at first he thought it was Zoe but it couldn't have been. "Uh, Alexander..."

Alexander looked at a particularly unfinished chapter... of Zelena. She looked a lot like Zoe, only all of the pictures taken by Kern himself, Zelena was heavily pregnant but there weren't very many of her. She had done well to keep herself hidden. Zelena had a more feminine yet professional fashion sense and less of the need to radiate rebellion like Zoe did. She was wearing a denim shirt unbuttoned at the bottom to free her pregnant stomach from the denim restrictions with a black undershirt with two pairs of pink baby footprints in a heart, a denim skirt, and boots

Spencer looked up to find Zoe looking at him.

“Zelena was the same age as the victims back in the day. Then she went back to Virginia and she was killed by another killer.” Alexander said.

“Zelena could’ve been a target of his and if he followed the news on her daughters, he could easily find out that Zoe and Zarah look a lot like Zelena.”

“The one who got away.”

"His recent themes of communication have been about 'old friends', 'unfinished business.'. He said those exact things to me when he was drugging me and trying to strangle me before he realized he couldn't hang on long enough." Zoe explained.

"His car accident was in the Fairmount district of Philadelphia. That's exactly where Carla Bromwell lived." Spencer said.

"He was on the way to kill her when he had his accident." Gideon realized.

"It's not about finding a new type of victim. It's about a specific target. Zoe, you were right." Spencer said.

"Because he was such a perfectionist, and is a perfectionist, he had to finish what he started years ago." Ryan said.

"Oh, these aren't new victims, Max. They were already targeted. Right from day one." Gideon said.

"I was the only new one because Mom was killed by another killer. He thought he could get the same release by strangling me. He didn't realize I was trained to survive that. He only thought he succeeded when he threatened to shoot me with my own gun if I 'refused to die already'."

"How'd you do that?"

"I slowed my heart rate down, making him think I had suffocated when in actuality, I bit through the plastic bag and made a hole I pushed open after he left." She explained as if it were no big deal.

"Who's in that last chapter?" Ryan asked.

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe deduced she had about half an hour before the Naloxone wore off but they weren't sure when she explained it to Morgan and Elle, she had said, "He planned his victims back then, back to the future, and killed them now in Back to the Future two. He's not continuing, he's finishing what he started."

"What's wrong with you?" Morgan asked.

"I'm still a little high. It's sped up my processing speed but there's too many... too much noise." She shook her head, neurotically.

"You need to go to the hospital."

"No, what I need is to arrest this son of a bitch." She said like Morgan's reasoning was stupid.

"We believe Walter Kern is in Sylvia Gooden's home now. Hotch confirmed he left the community center hours ago and Kern's car's parked on the next block." Gideon got to the innocent life on the line.

"I want Walter Kern alive." Ryan said.

"I'll stand by for the word." A SWAT member said.

"Good. Let's move out." Gideon said. "I'll call you when we've secured Kern."

"But Zoe..."

"I'm fine!" Zoe shouted. "When I start falling down, that's when I should be pulled off the case."

Zoe was already at the door when the rest arrived, she had picked the lock and opened the door, giving Morgan a look.

When they heard screaming, Zoe took off running upstairs, drawing her gun, still her running steps were silent.

"It'll all be over soon." Kern told Slyvia.

"I agree!" Zoe's voice said before she yanked him back away from Slyvia. "The Keystone Killer's reign will be over soon."

She slammed him against the wall, stunning him enough for Morgan to grab him, pinning his arms behind his back as Zoe went to Sylvia, taking the plastic bag off her head.

"Ow! Watch my arm!" Kern shouted and kept on shouting like any of them cared.

Ryan joined Zoe in comforting the woman, "It's all right. We're the FBI."

"We got her. Sylvia Gooden's alive. We got her." Gideon said into the phone.

"Gideon! I need your cuffs, man." Morgan said, because for some reason he didn't have his.

"You're going to be fine. It's over. You're going to be fine." Zoe reassured Sylvia.

Gideon handed Ryan his handcuffs, "Why don't you do this?"

"I'll take care of her." Zoe agreed.

Morgan forced Kern up to his feet and to turn around as Zoe continued to comfort Slyvia.

Ryan turned Kern around, handcuffing him.

"You got him?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I got him." Ryan said.

"You know you've enjoyed this ride as much as I have, Max." Kern said.

"Well, I sure am enjoying this part of it." Ryan spat and forced him to turn around. "We are inseparable, you and me." Zoe clenched her fists. All of his notes were similar.

"Let's just test that theory, huh?" Ryam said and shoved him at an officer., "Get him out of here."

"Didn't I kill you?" Kern asked Zoe when he spotted her.

"I'm not as killable as I look." Zoe said, simply.

Zoe's naloxone started to wear off moments later as she tumbled down the stairs. Spencer helped her up and helped her towards the ambulance. The high was started to come back and her mind was starting to cloud.

They had to walk back to the ambulance because of the journalists were blocking up the street with their cars. Spencer offered to walk Zoe.

"I'm-I'm not used to morphine." She groaned after she vomited as Spencer held back her back, gently.

"It's perfectly normal to throw up after a morphine overdose. It's also normal to feel sleepy or sick or dizzy or spasms of pain in the stomach or intestinal tract."

"I've had stronger before." She muttered, wiping her mouth.

"Stronger?"

"He only dosed me to get me to stay still." She said and then chuckled, bitterly, "How else do you think it took me eight months to escape?"

"They drugged you?"

"Dilaudid."

"Dilaudid?"

"Yeah, about ten times stronger than morphine. Kept me out of it. I built up a tolerance and a life-long coping mechanism

"Stay..." She mumbled. "Please."

Spencer nodded, smiling politely and he climbed into the ambulance with Zoe as her mind got cloudier and cloudier.

"Is your hair curly?" She asked him, suddenly and he felt her hand touch his hair.

"Uh, yeah." He blushed, "don't tell anyone."

He supported her weight as they walked and she let him.

"I'm not used to morphine or walking while high." She slurred.

They finally reached the ambulance.

"Uh, please, help. My friend, she was overdosed on morphine. Her naxolone wore off. " He said and he helped her up in the back of the ambulance.

"Stay..." She said when Spencer went to leave. He nodded and sat back down to stay with her. "I hate drugs."

——————————————————————————————————

Abraham Lincoln once said, "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

By the end of the day, Zoe was better, the opioids were mostly out of her system, and she was allowed back on the plane... according to her personal "doctor's opinion" but none of the ones at the hospital.

"Did Jason ever tell you about the time that he found the Director's itinerary in a bomber's car?" Ryan asked.

"What? What?" Spencer asked.

"Max, come on. Come on." Gideon groaned, embarrassed.

"No, no, he never said anything, man." Morgan said.

"Well, let me fill you in, then." Ryan said, "We had this bomber case. It was one of Jason's first. So, we had him go over and search the bomber's car, which was in the Quantico garage. Except for me and the guys," Meaning Rossi, "had planted this piece of paper that had all these times and locations of where the FBI Director was going to be over the next forty-eight hours. Anyway, Jason takes one look at this piece of paper, and before we could stop him, he takes off, runs up twenty-five flights of stairs to the Director's office..."

"Get out of here." Morgan laughed.

"...barges in, interrupting a meeting with the Attorney General himself."

"The Director didn't find it very funny." Gideon deadpanned.

"He was the only one who didn't.

"Rossi said it was his idea." Zoe smiled

"It would be. He rubbed off on you." Gideon said.

Zoe knew what he was talking about. New York during a blizzard. Zoe grinned.

On the other side of the plane, Elle told Hotch, "You know he has no one? No family."

"Who's that?"

"Ryan. I mean, technically he's retired, but he hasn't seen his kids in years."

"Divorce is not uncommon in the BAU." Hotch said.

"You know the other night when you called? Saturday night? Did you think it was weird that we all just were able to drop everything and go to the office? That we're all available to you anytime you call, day or night?" Elle asked.

"No, not really." Hotch said.

"How do you do it? How do you do this job and still have a wife and a baby?" Elle asked.

"Well, when I'm with them, I try to focus a hundred percent of my attention there. And then when I'm with you guys, I try to do the same thing." Hotch explained. "It's about priorities, Elle. It's about setting them and keeping them."

"I'm just so scared I'm going to turn into that guy over there." Elle said, nodding towards Ryan. "Look up and see that my life has passed me by while I was chasing monsters."

"It's hard. This job will eat you up if you let it." Hotch admitted.

"So what do I do?"

"Find a way not to let it." Hotch said.

"He told me Zoe has a heart condition." Elle said after a moment.

Hotch looked at Elle. "I don't know much about it but apparently it was rare, she had the surgery but she still has small fits once in a while. She's perfectly fine. Gets regular checkups. Even has an inhaler to help when she feels off. But she doesn't want people to know. Doesn't want to appear weak."

"She got lucky a few times but there comes a time where you consider is it really luck when you have so much bad luck?"

*Once again, there was going to be a kiss but then as writing it, I made Zoe be more rational while high because she was used to it rather than fully loopy, there are some lines that bled through more for comedy. Sorry, if that's offensive to anyone or if I did it wrong. I decided I'll do the kiss later but definitely before Lila.*

Edited on October 23, 2024

#the eccedentiast #david tennant #selena gomez #criminal minds #spencer reid #valentía #zoe noble-valdez #aaron “hotch” hotchner #derek morgan #Elle Greenaway #Penelope Garcia #jennifer jj jareau #Alexander Noble #Zelena Noble-Valdez #Criminal Minds Rewrite #Scott Harbin #Walter Kern #February 2006 #Max Ryan

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pipparossi · 9 months ago

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tkobayashis:

“That’s ‘cause I’d give a dog a much cooler name, like—Sledgehammer or Reaper,” Taru started, his grin cutting, metaphorically side-stepping Pippa’s question for a second. Though the thought of a dog that looked like Kiko answering to a name like Siege or Beast was laughable. And besides, he never thought of himself as a dog person. His grandma once had a bird. A cockatiel, he was pretty sure, named Peppermint. Taru would sit on the faded overstuffed armchair in his grandparents’ living room, on his knees, and peek into her cage as she twittered about. Hina at the kitchen table with her back perfectly straight as she helped sort the mail or whatever, Minoru on the floor watching Richie Rich or Fraggle Rock. Peppermint was able to mimic bits and pieces from the theme songs of both shows.

After his grandma died, Peppermint started tearing out the feathers on her stomach and slowly stopped eating. And one day, the cage was empty. His grandpa had given her away, he said. Taru wondered if Earl had just snapped its neck like he would a chicken. Taru thought he could’ve taken pretty good care of Peppermint if he had been given the chance. “But my ex named her. You remember Steph Kent?” Steph was studious and serious and kind of mean in high school. And in a school that small, he figured they crossed paths.

West Virginia University. Seemed far away despite being well within state lines. “College parties sound like hell anyway,” he said dismissively. Most parties were hell actually. With too many people and the wrong kind of music, he’d always find himself in a corner with a beer as both Steph and Randy darted around making actual conversation. He snorted a laugh as she continued. “But a soft blanket and ice cream… Well now, who could ask for more? Staunch chocolate guy, myself,” he said wryly but with some genuine amusement. He tried to imagine it, tried to imagine taking steps out of Lockhorn and into a new kind of life. It was easy to see it for Pippa: poised and kind and smart. His brain recoiled at the thought of himself in that position, for more than one reason. It wasn’t like it was what he ever wanted. “But what I’m gettin’ is that college is about as mind-numbin’ and full of shit as I always thought,” he continued, the second half not something she offered up evidence of but what he still firmly believed anyway. He thought about how she mentioned working and actually felt curious enough to ask about it. “What kinda job you’d do? Said you worked.”

Hush you. Taru smiled, then stopped. He reached up to rub his palm against the center of his chest for a couple seconds, then dropped it to grip the steering wheel again. He and Pippa never talked all that much about anything more than the practicalities of wiping the trail of caked blood from his temple. They knew each other in the way that everyone seemed to know one another, then she moved next door at the tail-end of high school, and then she was gone again. He didn’t know why her laughter meant anything to him. His brow furrowed a second. “How far’s your cousin’s place from work?” he asked, tapping his thumb against the leather beneath it. “Sounds like a shit deal.”

What do you think I should get? she asked him. Nothing that’ll rip holes in my pocket. Taru let out a low, disappointed whistle. “Damn. I was gonna suggest we go in search of that hot pink Miata. Sounded like that’s what you’re secretly gunnin’ for.” He haphazardly knocked his hand against the indicator and turned right onto South Fayette Street. Slower than he’d usually take it as he thought. It sounded like Pippa needed something that would just get her from one place to another with minimal issues. “But yeah, lotta Fords do fit the bill,” he continued and lifted his right hand to count off on his fingers. “Versatile, practical, economical.” He paused, then added drolly: “Soulless.” He knew a guy in Beckley who was selling an ‘83 Ford Fiesta for cheap about a month ago. Taru wondered if someone took it off his hands yet. “But if you can’t drive stick that really limits me here.”

“Steph Kent?” It took Pippa a moment but a face eventually came to mind. “Oh yeah, I know her.” They never ran in the same circles but her sharp mind had quite the reputation. Especially in a school as small as theirs. A sort of relentless intelligence that couldn’t be ignored. Admirable, really. “I had no idea you guys were together,” she admitted. Then again, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. It wasn’t like Pippa paid much mind to anything outside Matt and their circle back then. She and Tyler may have known each other but it wasn’t like they were friends. Friendly, maybe. But it would be dishonest to claim they were anything more than that.

Her mouth curved upwards into a smile. “A timeless choice. Though I’m more a vanilla girl myself.” In more ways than one, much to her dismay. Pippa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her own predictability. “It’s... not for everyone.” After her years pursuing higher education, she could definitely admit that. “But it’s also what you make of it. I’m sure other people had a more enjoyable experience than I did.” To her, college wasn’t a time of self-discovery full memories to cherish. It was a stepping stone to get what she actually wanted. She was sure if there was less pressure on her shoulders, she might have enjoyed college as much as Matt did.

What kinda job you’d do? Said you worked. “I did a few things. I started with on-campus job opportunities. You know, Data Entry Clerk within the academic departments. I was Library Assistant for a while. Then later, I tutored. Sometimes I’d pick up a shift for a friend at one of the diners near school. Towards the end, I worked part time as a patient care technician. Really helped with the line of work I wanted to get into.” Listing it all out, it was no wonder why Pippa didn’t have much fun at college. She was always on the go. When she wasn’t, she was studying. Whatever time she had between that was split between recovering from the load she took on and Matt. “Riveting, right?” She said after a beat at her own expense.

“Not too far,” Pippa answered after thinking about it for a bit. “Maybe 10 or 15 minutes? Dom works at the Old Forge Sheriff’s Department.” He was the only one of her cousins who still lived in Lockhorn County. Not married. No kids keeping him here either. He just loved the place and couldn’t think of anywhere better to be. “It’s not an ideal situation but it’s what’s working right now. Once I get that car, I’m sure it’ll be a lot better.”

The mention of the hot pink Miata had Pippa letting out a soft laugh. “Hey, maybe one day, right? Never say never after all.” Even if getting a car like that was entirely out of character for her. It was far too exciting to belong to someone like Pippa. She watched Tyler closely as he worked through what options she had. At ‘soulless’, she gave his arm a playful whack. Then, as if she didn’t just assault him, gentle as she may have been, she proposed something. “I can’t drive stick... but I can learn?” She’s been learning all sorts of new things lately. How to make soap. How to press flowers. Crocheting. She was getting quite good at all these things too. Maybe learning to drive stick could be her new go-to. “You ever thought of imparting wisdom on others, Tyler Kobayashi?”

#thread / taru.#heyyy heyyyy <3 #i Do Not want to admit how long or often i looked at the sen gif

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 3 years ago

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Genuinely wondering, if you like S8 then what is it you like about it? I make an honest effort to see what you see but it's just trash. Trash everywhere. I challenge yoou to name 5 things you like about it.

Is this about Game of Thrones? I'm assuming it is, so this should be fun.

I'm not saying Season 8 is award-worthy television. It's one of the weaker seasons for sure. In general, I dislike that the decision to shorten it to six episodes, just as I disliked the choice to shorten Season 7. I also don't like how Doctor Who's seasons have been gradually shortening over time since the Capaldi Era. I just really wish shows would stop doing this. Why actively choose to give us less content? We like your shows! Let us have more! Take the time you need to tell your stories! Ah well, if only these seasons were a bit longer, I feel like they wouldn't be hated quite so much. Though some of the decisions in Season 8 were so universally despised that it might not matter. I'll get to a couple of them. But as you wish, I shall list five things about the eighth season that I unironically loved. Nah, I'll go you one better. Here's ten:

10: Varys' Death. We can talk for hours about all of the terrible events of S8E5, but I don't think this falls under the same category. It's easy to forget that Varys died in this episode because it happens right at the start and, let's be honest, most fans probably just remember this episode as the one where Dany spends 75% of the runtime torching King's Landing. This is the episode that "killed the show" for the general fandom. But Varys' death was perfectly handled. It was foreshadowed in Season 7 extremely well, and much like Littlefinger's death, it's a fitting end for his character. Varys played his games, and they caught up with him. Sure, he did so for noble reasons, but he was still playing with literal fire. I also don't think Daenerys was wrong to kill him, even if I wept to lose such a fine character and honorable man. She vowed to execute him if he betrayed her. In this episode, he spread secrets to undermine her and it's suggested that he tried to poison her. He would still have been a threat from a prison cell, as he has all of his "little birds" and what's more, if Dany doesn't honor her promise, then she's sending the message that her word as Queen means nothing. This was a powerful death, exactly what makes Game of Thrones so great.

9: The conclusion of Theon's character arc. Seriously, as much as I didn't want to lose him, I feel like he'd been marked for death for a while. Had he survived, I believe a small part of him would always have that self-sacrificial death wish, that belief that he didn't deserve to still be alive. He went down a hero, protecting The Starks. Protecting the same boy that he'd once betrayed. Well...not exactly the same person but close enough. Considering how a few other character arcs ultimately ended, I'd say Theon takes the cake for having the best one. He grew up uncertain of who he was, and then he thought he found himself, but he was wrong, so he lost himself - and how. But eventually, he emerged from the dark and reclaimed his identity and his true family. I don't even mind how easily he got defeated. He was never much of a warrior, the strength in his character always came from his emotional complexity. Much like Jaimie, he's the sort of person that initially, you despise and can't imagine yourself feeling for. And yet it creeps up on you, because these people are complex. They're not black and white. Well, some of them are, but not Jaime, (I'll...I'll get to him.) and not Theon.

8: Arya and Sandor's farewell. I'm gonna cheat a little bit for this one, because personally, I do not like Sandor's ending at all. I know everyone loved the Clegane Bowl but that was probably the worst ending he could have gotten. How does it service his character arc at all to fight his brother? To die fighting him? To die fighting him in fire? It doesn't even feel poetic like Jaime's death does. But! Enough about that. We need to talk about the positives. And seriously, few things get me as choked up as hearing Arya call Sandor by his first name. The acknowledgment of their bond. It's some weird blend between former enemies/rivals, big brother/sister, and father/daughter. It's hardly conventional but it's one of my favorite friendships in the entire series. Sandor was always ultimately good, but it took Arya (and Sansa, to a lesser extent) to bring out that side in him, and it took Ray and his friends for Sandor to start accepting it. He entrenched himself in hate for so long and he could see himself in Arya, which gave him pride, but also made him wary. He didn't want her to be like him, not completely. He tells her to save herself, and not inherit the bad parts of his legacy, and Arya finally lets go of her obsession with revenge after the literal embodiment of revenge tells her that it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

7: Jorah's Death. Hot damn, did he go out like a fucking hero. Saving Dany's life yet again, leading her to safety, and-is that Dany holding a sword? Oh hell yeah! Where has this been all my life? Jorah just protecting her to the last, wielding Heartsbane in Sam's stead, which I take as a symbol of their friendship and if you like, a sign that Sam doesn't have any hard feelings toward Jorah for serving Dany, despite what she did to his family. Jorah sustaining multiple fatal wounds throughout the fight, and yet - and yet! He friggin refuses to go down until the White Walkers collapse and he knows Dany's safe. And in the end, he can't even say anything? Oh, my heart. That's painful, and it's realistic too. Sometimes, if you've been stabbed in the chest and you're dying...you physically can't get any words out. Dany's expression, Jorah's expression...oh, it kills me. Drogon landing to shield Dany and mourn Jorah as well? I'm dead. Destroyed. I'd also be remiss not to mention the absolute badassery that is Lyanna. Consider this a shoutout to House Mormont in general, as I am a major fan of theirs. Lyanna, who's all of eleven years old, insists on fighting in the war. She dies, yes, but she takes out a fucking giant first. I'm sorry, y'all can call this kid a bored meme all you like, but your criticisms will be drowned out in the absolute earth-shattering thunder of her storm. She's too cool for you, she's too cool for me, she's too cool for anyone.

6: Tormund. Just, just Tormund. He never fails to make me smile and laugh, and say what you will about some of the other characters, but they didn't miss a single beat with Tormund on this cycle. Seriously, there wasn't any line he had, not a one, that was not perfect. When he tackled Jon in S8E2? "My little crow." God, they are such bros and it makes me so happy. In the first episode at the end, "I've always had blue eyes!" I've got to hand it to the actor, and yes, the writing, for how Tormund was an endless breath of fresh air, and he even got an emotional farewell with Jon in S8E4. Seriously, this character has such heart, and he's so funny. The scene where he's lamenting his woes and his heartbreak about Brienne choosing Jaime, and the camera pans out to reveal a pissed off Sandor being forced to listen to him blubber? I had to pause the damn thing because I cracked up so hard. But my favorite line of his? I'd have to go with his exchange with Jon about how they need to be celebrating. "Vomiting isn't celebrating." And then Tormund, with a straight face. "Yes it is." Seven hells, what a riot. And yeah, I know, I know, he drunkenly rambles on about how badass it is that Jon climbed onto a Dragon, and "kinda forgot" he'd also ridden one himself. Or, y'know, maybe he was referring to people who have actually "piloted" dragons rather than just being passengers, which only Jon, Dany, and the Night King have ever done. Or maybe he was just drunk, guys. That was quite clear during the scene...I swear, some of these complaints are just confusing...

5: Melisandre's death. That's it. Just, that it happened. Not as satisfying or cathartic a death as I would have hoped, but boy am I glad she's dead and I don't care if that's petty. Rest in peace, Shireen. You deserved so much better and you are at last avenged - well, sort of.

Alright, alright, the real #5: Jaime's Death. Okay, flame shields up, let me offer my disclaimer. This was not the ending I wanted for Jaime, not by a longshot. I'm a Braime shipper and I hate Cersei as much as the next fan, possibly more. Even so, as I alluded to earlier, there's a kind of poetry to Jaime and Cersei's death that I cannot ignore. I can somewhat defend the choice to have Jaime go back to her because, let's face it - that relationship is abusive. Jaime has resigned himself to this idea that he can never be a good person because he's done bad things, because he still cares about Cersei, who will always be a bad person. He knows she's never going to change, but he can't let go of her. It's a crying shame because he was on the road to recovery, and I can understand the idea that his character arc was thrown away. I'm not saying I disagree, but I still think of Jaime as a victim and his death as a circular tragedy. Just because the writers make a choice we disagree with or would have done differently, doesn't automatically mean it's bad writing. I don't understand the complaint that Cersei was killed by falling rocks. So? That final moment was unironically beautiful, and sad. The final shot of them being buried choked me up. It's telling that as much as I despise Cersei, I couldn't enjoy her death. How is it "lame" that she was killed by a collapsing building? Besides, Daenerys may not have swung a sword at them, but she's clearly the one who killed them? Besides, if it had never happened, we wouldn't have gotten that gut-wrenching scene of Tyrion unearthing the golden hand and sobbing, hitting the rock on the ground. Or the badass moment where he quits as Daenerys' Hand.

4: Sansa and Daenerys' rivalry. I'm not sure why people disliked this so much, when it's literally the same kind of conflict we've always had. Game of Thrones, for the most part, doesn't have heroes and villains. It has three dimensional people who all have their own political agendas, and Sansa and Dany's agendas were in serious conflict. This is like complaining that Renly and Stannis were at odds with each other. It's just always been a part of the show and I thought it was realized pretty well. Whether you side with the Starks, with Dany, or you think they're both being stupid, it's easy to understand where each of them is coming from. It's a well crafted debate and both sides have good points. And I love how it's not about Jon - it's literally about Northern independence. Sansa is in overprotective sister mode but she also just generally doesn't trust Dany, and Dany knows it. Sansa shows what she's learned from her mentors when she betrays Jon, and yet paradoxically she also proves how much she cares about him. Sansa's betrayal matters a lot, and while I know some fans hate her for it, there was no way she was ever going to do anything else. This response was exactly in character. As was Daenerys' begging Jon to keep his heritage secret and resenting him for not agreeing to. It's a hell of a thing to ask, but Dany's been working toward the throne for the last seven years - and what, all of a sudden it's going to be snatched away because some secret *male* relative shows up at the eleventh hour? Yeah, if I were her, I'd think that was some bullshit as well.

3: Jon's realization about his identity. Alright, I know the memes. Jon only has two lines throughout the season, "I dun want it" and "muh queen" (Frankly, those memes have become more annoying than the actual problems with Jon's character in the show. Seriously, that joke is more dead than Ned Stark, just let it rest.) I agree that not nearly as much was done with Jon's heritage and that his overall role in this season was a passive one - until the end, anyway. But that scene in S8E1 is an actual masterpiece. Jon and Sam reunited in the most wholesome hug, Jon learning the truth at last, not being able to cope with it, the question being raised of who would be better. The discussion about Ned. It's just a magnificent scene. Sam was the perfect person to tell him, and it helps that he also finds out about Dany killing Sam's family in the same scene. I absolutely love the line where Sam asks if Dany would give up a crown to save her people because for better or for worse, S8 kind of suggested that she was not, and would not. It really kicked the conflict of the season, the tension between Jon and Daenerys, into overdrive, and I appreciate that. I appreciate that the scene happened in the crypts as well, and how significant that location has been to this storyline. Hell, you could call this whole scene a narrative mirror to Robert and Ned's scene by Lyanna's statue all the way back in Episode 1.

2: Arya killing the Night King. Oh yeah, I said it, I love this. It blows my mind that there are fans who are genuinely devastated that it was Arya, based on fan reception I've seen. First of all, she makes perfect sense - she has the skillset to sneak up on the Night King. This gets into a bigger fallacy I've noticed where fans who hate Arya will simultaneously complain that she's overpowered, and that she never uses her face-changing abilities. Like, which is it, guys? Sometimes I just think people want to hate her, and for the life of me, I don't get why. She spent two whole seasons training to be a master assassin. People hate that storyline too, but they seem to forget it happened when they criticise Arya. (Though believe me, I'm right there with the folks who are mad about the final fight with the Waif. I can suspend my disbelief far enough to accept that she survives those wounds, but do not show her running the very next day, because no. That would not happen.) Second of all, am I the only one who thought that the Night King's death wasn't about who did it, but how it was done? The Catspaw Dagger, the weapon that was used to try and kill Bran all the way back in Episode 2, ultimately saved his life and ended The Long Night. The narrative thread that was resolved with this death wasn't the killer, it was the weapon. But that's just my two cents. I know a lot of people wanted it to be Jon, including Kit Harington himself, but the fact that it wasn't doesn't mean they were just trying to "subvert expectations."

1: Jaime Knighting Brienne. I said before that I was a Braime shipper, but you don't have to be one to appreciate this incredible scene. It was preceded by Jaime's trial, which I also enjoyed, and especially the moment where Brienne speaks out in his defense. It was so damn satisfying to see someone do so and Brienne was the perfect person. Their bond has been built up over the last five seasons and never mind romantic tension, there's a mutual respect going on here, and recurring themes about honor and loyalty and what it means to be a Knight. Jaime's own tricky relationship with all of these values, and how he carries the title anyway. Brienne being the picture perfect example of what a Knight should be and yet not having the rank, having always been held back. This moment is satisfying because holy fuck did Brienne earn this. And it warms my heart to see how happy it makes her, for however much she claimed she didn't want it. And not only did Jaime make logical sense for the person who would do it, narrative-wise, he is absolutely perfect and the only real choice. It just blows my mind how much I love this scene, and really this entire episode. The episode is even named for her, as damn well it should be. I've talked about this before but between Jaime and Brienne fighting together, the two pieces of Ice are reunited to defend Winterfell and that's kind of perfect. I'm gonna have to stop myself now because I could easily gush for another five minutes about this flawless scene and how Season 8 is honestly underrated. Far from perfect, but also far from the travesty that most make it out to be.

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uvobreakmylegs · 3 years ago

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Haze

i saw a meme and it made me want to write a Morel piece. then @ramwrites suggested making him a banshee and i loved it

i have definitely bastardized banshee lore but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for a story

Warnings: manipulation, mentions of death

A hiking trip up to a nearby mountain trail had been on a list of things to do for you and your friend group for a while. Your friend Denali had suggested it, and she assured you all that it wouldn't be anything too difficult; it was just a beginner's trail that would consist of a few hours of walking up the trail and back. And then maybe you all could grab some food after.

You were pretty excited for it, as the idea sounded refreshing to you. Another thing that added to the anticipation of the hike was the fact that it had also been a little while since everyone in the friend group had been able to hang out together.

Or more accurately, it had been a while since you were able to make it to one of these friend meetups.

Some kind of bad luck had been plaguing you recently; the last few times an outing for the four of you had been planned, something unexpected came up for you and you needed to cancel last minute. Be it work obligations, family emergencies or just you getting sick the night before, it had been a while since you hung out with them like you once had.

Aiden, Denali and Colton all seemed to take it well, but you swore you could sense a growing annoyance in them. They seemed to be shorter with you in texts, and there had been a few times now that you'd sent a picture or said something in the group chat and it had been ignored. You worried that they were starting to think you were making up excuses instead of genuinely being unable to see them, but every time you tried to talk with them privately, they told you that there wasn't anything wrong and that you were just overreacting.

That hadn't made you feel any better. You just felt like a bad friend.

But today would be different.

You made a point to ensure that you had the day completely cleared for the hike, getting the day off from your work well in advance and doing your best to stay away from anything that might make you sick. The morning of your friends had all confirmed that it was still on, and after a little while they were going to rendezvous at your place to pick you up before you all headed out to the trail.

Things were going to be different today, and you were excited for it.

And things were different.

But maybe not in a way that you had expected.

You didn't notice the second car that had pulled up behind Denali's initially when they stopped outside your place. You only noticed that something was different when you approached Denali's car and noticed that one of the seats in the back had been taken up by a pile of backpacks, leaving no room for you.

When Aiden stepped out of the first car as you came out to greet him, he explained the situation. Without your knowledge, Aiden had invited someone from his work, a woman named Fawn. Evidently during those times when you couldn't make it, your friends had been hanging out with her a lot, and they had figured that she should be invited on this trip as well.

That they were hanging out with other people didn't upset you; they had every right to spend their time with people that were able to show up. But you felt slightly hurt that you hadn't been asked or even given a heads-up that this was happening. You had been anticipating spending time with your old friend group for this trip and instead you would be trying to reconnect while also navigating a new group dynamic.

But you decided not to say anything about it. You just nodded and smiled when Aiden told you that you'd be riding with Fawn in her car. Although it was unexpected, you told yourself that new people wasn't necessarily a bad thing. You could probably make good friends with her while also berating yourself for your first reaction to her being disappointment. That sort of attitude was no good.

Despite all of that, you quickly came to feel that you didn't like Fawn very much.

For one thing, the woman was one of the most reckless drivers you had ever come across. Virtually blowing through stop signs, running several lights and swerving around drivers that she felt weren't going fast enough, there were several times during the trip that you felt she was going to cause an accident. She also passed by Denali's car for some reason, and when you asked her why, she said she thought it would be fun to see who could get to the mountain first. You didn't agree, but there was literally nothing you could do but hold onto the inside of the passenger side door for dear life. The motion sickness you'd gotten was so bad that by the time you made it to the parking lot next to the hiking trail, you'd needed to lean against the side of her car and take in deep breaths in an attempt to not throw up your breakfast.

At least she seemed pretty apologetic when she saw you like that, and she offered you a bottle of water which you gladly took. But the second Denali's car pulled up she seemed to switch her focus to that completely, going up to the rest of the group to greet them. She had something of a one-track mind, it seemed. It didn't make her a bad person, but you still wanted a bit of distance for now.

After recovering and making sure you had everything you needed in your backpack, you approached Aiden while the others were getting ready.

“Hey,” you said, “you think you and I could switch places for the car ride back?”

“Oh c'mon, it couldn't have been that bad,” he said, “you'll hurt her feelings if you do that. She really wants to know you.”

Fawn walked up right after, and since you weren't willing to criticize her driving right in front of her, you dropped it.

Meanwhile the mountain loomed above all of you. Tall and imposing with a rather dense white fog that almost obscured the very top of it. There were parts that were heavily forested, and you briefly wondered if you would need to worry about anything like bears or some other kind of large wild animal.

“How far up are we going?” you asked Denali.

“Not too far. We'll be sticking to the marked trail; there's a cool little observation deck at the end of it,” she told you, “I figure we'll head towards that and then come back the same way.”

You nodded, but before you could give any real response Colton called her over for something, and she left to help him. Aiden and Fawn were chatting about something, so you stood silent and at the ready, looking up once more at the mountain.

Despite the distance, you swore you saw something moving. You wanted to say it was some large kind of four-legged creature, though it was impossible to tell what exactly it was.

“Are there bears on the mountain?” you asked aloud.

“Nah.”

That was all the response you got.

For about ten minutes after the hike started, Fawn had stayed at the back with you, asking you some basic questions about yourself that you would in turn ask her once you had answered. You hoped that the interaction wasn't as awkward as it had felt to you. Maybe it was but she also didn't want to say anything about it.

Then when your group came across an old, crumbling well, Fawn had run up towards Aiden to get some better pictures of the structure, and when the group began to move again, she chose to stay there next to him.

Denali had taken the lead with Colton right behind. They were talking, though what they were talking about you couldn't be sure as you only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. A few steps behind them were Aiden and Fawn, talking about something that was going on at their workplace. And a few steps behind those two was you, trailing behind the group and unable to join either conversation. Although Aiden had said that Fawn wanted to know you, she hadn't said much of substance to you before she turned her attention back to him. Although maybe that was your fault. Maybe it really was obvious that you didn't care for her much. You thought that you were doing a decent job at being polite, but maybe she could tell that you were still a bit annoyed about her driving earlier.

Or maybe she just wanted to talk to Aiden right now and you were overreacting again.

You weren't sure.

It just felt like you were being excluded.

Of course. The first time in forever that you were able to make it to a meet-up with them, and it felt like you weren't wanted.

You sighed to yourself as you walked behind silently, trying to tell yourself that it was unreasonable to be thinking like that and that you wouldn't have been invited if they didn't want you there. The hike had just started; you couldn't decide that the whole thing would be bad just because of a rough beginning.

At least for now you could enjoy the scenery, and you looked about the woods as you walked along the trail, noting the different types of trees and plants and just how many of them surrounded you as you walked by on the trail. You stopped now and then to take a few pictures with your phone. Although you could hear the distinct chirping of birds in the distance, you didn't manage to see any, and despite the movement you thought you had seen while in the parking lot, it didn't seem like there were any other animals in the area. Denali had said this was an easy trail; maybe people frequented it enough that most animals avoided any areas close to it. That was too bad, but not that big of a deal. At least you were still getting nice pictures of the forest.

Your group came across a wide set of wooden stairs with a wooden barrier on either side after a bit, beginning a steeper ascent towards the higher parts of the mountain. Nothing had really changed within the group, though you noted that the conversations had mostly died down in an effort to appreciate the nature around you. Colton was also frequently looking behind to make sure everyone was still there. The two of you managed to lock eyes at one point, and you smiled at him. He gave back something of a half-smile before looking back in front of him. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but you noted that he didn't look back after that.

The walk continued, and all of you were quiet now, looking about the scenery. Some of them occasionally made remarks whenever they spotted something unusual, like an oddly shaped tree trunk or rock. You stayed silent, though, remembering your messages that had gone ignored and worried that if you said anything, that would be ignored as well.

Were you being too anxious about this? Probably. You sighed to yourself again as you tried to keep those kinds of thoughts from running amok.

Just distract yourself by looking around, you told yourself.

You paused when you glanced over to your right.

It looked like there was some sort of stone pillar standing in the distance. The dark rock was covered in moss and vines, but the shape was such that it couldn't have been a natural formation. Someone human had put it there some time ago. It also looked as though there was similar wreckage behind the pillar, and you wondered if it may have once been some kind of building.

Taking out your phone and pulling up the camera, you zoomed in on the the ruined structure. You briefly glanced over to your friends as you did, making sure they weren't leaving you too far behind.

But when you looked back to the phone, you let out a small sound of surprise.

There was a man standing by the pillar.

Your eyes immediately went back to the pillar as you wondered where this guy had come from.

The shadows over in that area made things a bit darker, but you were able to see a general shape that looked like a person. You squinted slightly as you looked at him, trying to make out any details. But strangely, you couldn't. It was just the shape of a rather broad man, and as you continued to look, you found that it looked almost wispy, like a few pieces of cloud had floated down and arranged themselves to imitate what a person might look like.

…. Why did it feel like it was looking back at you?

“What are you doing?”

Aiden's voice called to you, and you snapped out of your stupor to find that the whole group was standing there waiting on you.

Your mouth fell open to try and offer some explanation, to tell them about what you were looking at, but when you glanced back to where the shape had been-

He wasn't there.

And when you looked back to the camera, you found he was gone from there as well.

Had you imagined it?

The entire thing had happened within mere seconds. The pillar wasn't large enough that he could be hiding behind it, and no one could move that fast without making some bit of noise. Looking between the view from your camera and the pillar a few more times, you decided that you had imagined it. Though you were certain you had seen something standing there, there was no way that could have actually been the case. Maybe a shadow just looked weird within the lighting at that moment?

Aiden called out to you again.

“Sorry!” you called out, putting the phone away as you hurried up the stairs to rejoin them.

“What you were looking at?” Fawn asked you.

“Something back there,” you explained, “ it looked like there were some ruins of a building.”

“Oh, did you get a picture? Can I see?”

“Ah, sorry, I didn't.”

Fawn pouted, asking “why not?”

“I thought I saw someone.”

They both looked at you strangely.

“You couldn't get a picture because you thought you saw someone?” Aiden asked.

“I don't know. It was just weird,” you said, getting a bit flustered as you continued “I thought I saw a guy for a second – or something that looked like a guy – but then he was gone.”

“... 'Something' that 'looked' like a guy,” Aiden repeated.

“Oh wow, I didn't know you could see ghosts!” Fawn exclaimed, giggling a little, “we've got a coworker who swears that the printer room is haunted. Maybe we should bring her here and see if she also sees something.”

…. You weren't sure if she was making fun of you or not, so you stayed silent. Aiden was still looking at you like you had two heads while Fawn was pulling out her own phone, preparing to walk back down to take a look at the ruins herself. Then Denali called out to the three of you, asking what the hold-up was. That was enough to spur you to begin walking again.

“Aw, I wanted to get a picture,” Fawn said as you began climbing the stairs once more.

Fawn then looked to Aiden as he said to her “we can always snap a picture on the way back.”

“That's true.”

“And did Nell say that the printer room was haunted? I thought she said it was the third floor bathroom,” Aiden then said.

“It could've been both. According to her a lot of places are haunted. Something about weird energies,” Fawn responded.

They were talking about something from their work again, and since you still had no way to join in, you walked behind them in silence. As your group continued the ascent, you glanced behind to see if there was anything weird with the pillar from this angle. There was a nagging feeling at the back of your mind, and you felt as if there was someone watching you.

There was nothing, and though the feeling wasn't going away, you told yourself to forget about it.

Time passed as the clouds parted some to show how the sun had moved higher in the sky, and your group came to a wooden platform with benches and tables that were clearly meant as a rest stop for any hikers. The others decided that it was a good time to have lunch and settled themselves at a table. You, on the other hand, were still feeling some side effects from Fawn's driving earlier, and as you really didn't want to get sick in the middle of the hike, you opted not to eat. You sat with them at first, but when you once again felt like you couldn't contribute to the conversation, you stood up, the amateur photographer in you feeling fulfilled somewhat as you snapped a few more pictures of the scenery.

You wandered over to a different part of the platform, leaning your elbows on the wooden fencing as you looked out at the forest.

At the beginning of your trip it had been fairly overcast, and only after you had started this excursion had the clouds thinned and allowed the sun to shine through. But just as the weather started to clear up, it seemed to be turning overcast again as a mist began to fall, seemingly sliding from the top of the mountain and through the thick forest of trees. Was rain a possibility? Maybe, and of course you hadn't brought anything with you if that did happen. You had made a point to bring a first aid kit in case either you or someone else got hurt, but nothing to protect you in case the weather turned bad.

A flash of white caught your eye while you were caught up in your thoughts.

Glancing to your left, you found yourself staring at a white rabbit.

It was nice to finally see some wildlife for the first time since this hike had started and at first glance it seemed perfectly normal. But the more you looked at it, the more.... Odd it seemed.

It was sitting upright facing away from you, not moving at all. That didn't seem quite normal, since you thought most rabbits were inclined to hunker down and try to blend in with their surroundings if they encountered something they thought was a threat. This one didn't seem to be hiding, it just sat still, and the more you looked, the more it didn't seem like it was even breathing. It also seemed strange to find a pure white rabbit up in the mountains. The color was striking against the earthly tones of the forest, and presumably that should've meant that it would have been easy prey for any natural predators that roamed the area. In fact, it didn't look the slightest bit dirty, making you wonder if it was someone's pet that had escaped.

And the more you looked at it, the more something about it just seemed to be off. Like it had some kind of weird energy to it.

And yet you felt an urge to get closer to it.

The instant you moved closer it reacted by twisting it's head around to face you, and you saw it's face for the first time.

Or rather, it's lack of one.

No eyes, no nose, no mouth, no sort of features whatsoever. It's face, and the rest of it for that matter, was completely blank, and it seemed less and less like a living creature the longer you looked at it.

You stared at it, unsure of how you were supposed to react to such a thing.

“The rabbit doesn't have a face,” you said aloud.

Your friends didn't hear you. In their defense, you hadn't spoken all that loudly.

When you moved again it bolted, vanishing behind surrounding tree trunks.

Follow it

Maybe it was because of the shock you felt at seeing that thing that you didn't even question the thought. You just climbed over the fencing and headed out in the same direction you had seen it run off to.

It wasn't long before you caught sight of it again, and once more you were struck by how odd this thing was. It was sitting up again, staring at you. Almost like it was waiting for you.

Did you really want to follow a faceless rabbit into the woods? Apparently you did, because when you got close again it ran off, and the process repeated itself as it began to lead you through the forest, taking you further and further away from the hiking trail and down an unmarked path. The rabbit never got too far before it would stop and wait for you to catch up, and it stayed still during the few times that you would pause for a break. It really was waiting for you, and somehow, it didn't seem like it was running in any random direction. More like it was leading you somewhere.

A haze had seemed to form in your mind. Somehow, none of this seemed questionable to you, that you were running off in pursuit of a white rabbit like a heroine from a Lewis Carroll book. Or at least some darker version of that tale given the rabbit's lack of a face which you still weren't able to make sense of. There was no reason for you to be running off of the trail like this, into terrain that you weren't familiar with, but every time you caught sight of the rabbit, something inside you told you that you needed to go after it.

You did just that for some time until the haze finally broke.

In the midst of your pursuit, you happened to step on a hollow, rotted log, and the wood was weak enough that when you put your weight on it, your foot went right through. You shrieked, stumbling forward as you desperately pulled your foot out. To add to your panic, there had been a fair amount of bugs living inside of the log, some of which had attached themselves to your shoe, and you kicked your foot out rapidly to get them off of you. They scattered, and you stumbled back before landing awkwardly on your ankle. Pain shot through you, and you fell against the trunk of a tree where you sank to the forest floor, one hand steadying yourself while the other was over your chest as you tried to calm yourself down.

What the hell am I doing?

The thought struck you. Why had you gone off the trail like this? And for some weird rabbit creature, of all things? What was the point of this excursion? What if you got hurt?

You put some weight on the foot that had gone through the log and you hissed as another sharp bolt of pain hit you.

Scratch that. You'd already managed to hurt yourself.

It seemed like your ankle was sprained. Clearly you had landed on it wrong after getting your foot out of the log.

Ah, this was the worst.

You gingerly removed your shoe and tried to get a look at the damage. It didn't look too bad yet, but there was definitely something wrong with it as you only felt pain every time you moved it. How fast does the swelling set in? At least you'd had the forethought of bringing a few rolls of elastic bandage wraps, though you felt like you'd need some help to get it properly wrapped.

Which meant you'd need to find your way back to your friends.

How far away were you from the trail by now? You weren't even sure how much time had passed since you had left them. It was all so strange, that you had gotten such extreme tunnel vision like that and had run off. And because of that, you had gotten hurt and would have a hard time making your way back, or else they would need to come in to find you.

They'd be upset with you, wouldn't they?

You probably wouldn't be able to continue the hike, and you were sure there'd be some resentment if this outing was cut short because of you. Maybe you could just wait at the rest area? They'd be coming down the same path when they came back, so maybe they could continue the hike and you could rest up and join them on the return trip. It'd be boring for you but then at least the trip wouldn't be a waste for them.

You sighed as you began to shimmy your shoe back onto your foot. Today was a bust. First the thing with Fawn, then the way it seemed like you were being ignored, and now this.

They hadn't even said anything when you jumped the fence to chase after the rabbit, had they? Not that you'd really been paying attention, so maybe they had, but they sure hadn't gone after you.

… Not that it was on them to look after you. You were an adult and therefore not their responsibility. It was wrong to think like that.

You sighed again.

Everything that had happened today really had been your own fault, huh? It was all you could do to hope nothing else bad would happen.

You remembered some old superstitious saying about bad things happening in threes. If that was true, then maybe your bad luck was over for the day.

Trying to get off of that particular train of thought, you looked about for something that could work as a walking stick, something strong enough to hold your weight for when you made your way back to the path.

A voice called out from far away, and when you paused to listen, you heard the voices of your friends calling out your name.

That was actually really good.

A new creeping fear was that you would be lost in the woods and have a hard time finding the path, but as long as they were calling out to you, you could use the sounds of their voices to find your way back. As you were about to push yourself to your feet, you allowed yourself to be a little hopeful, feeling that the bad things were done for the day.

You heard something then, as though something had dropped onto the ground next to you.

In an automatic response, you turned your head towards the sound and found a pipe laying atop the dirt and fallen leaves.

Had that been there earlier?

It was moderately sized, a black stem with a little bit of intricate gold detailing on either end, while the bowl at the end of the pipe was more of a darker bronze.

Wouldn't you have noticed this earlier? Or had you been that distracted when you'd been desperately shaking all of the bugs off of your foot?

Without really thinking about why you reached out to grab it as you wondered to yourself if there were still people these days who smoked using pipes.

It was warm when your fingers made contact, and as you raised it up to inspect it more, you noted how clean it was. If it had been out here for a day or so there would've been more dirt on it, but with the state it was in, someone must have dropped it not too long ago.

At least it gave you some comfort knowing that you weren't the only one who had wandered off the trail, though you were probably still one of the dumbest to do so since you had gone off in chase of a freaky rabbit.

Should you take the pipe with you? Was there some sort of lost and found box down at the parking lot? Would the person who lost it even still be looking for it, or would they have already accepted that it was gone forever?

With those thoughts swirling around your head, you didn't notice the sound of footsteps that came closer until they stopped right next to you.

“Are you alright?”

A man's voice broke you from your thoughts, and when you turned your gaze upwards, you found an older man standing above you, leaning an arm against the same tree trunk you were resting against. White hair, a gray dress shirt with a red tie and wearing black sunglasses despite the clouds overhead, he looked down at you with a clear look of concern on his face.

“Ah – yes! Well, mostly,” you said once you realized he was waiting for an answer.

“Mostly?”

“I think I sprained my ankle.”

He knelt down next to you, asking “may I?” as he motioned to your aforementioned ankle. You nodded, and he inspected your ankle. He was gentle with you, looking over the injured area carefully and apologizing any time he caused you some discomfort.

“How bad is it?” you asked him after a moment.

“I'd say you were right. It looks sprained.”

You groaned a little, disappointed that you were correct.

“Do you have anything to wrap it with?” he asked.

“Yeah, in my backpack,” you answered, “I was gonna get my friends to help me with it once I got back to them.”

“Where are they?”

“Back by the path, I think. It sounded like they were looking for me just now.”

However, you could no longer hear them. In fact, the whole forest seemed oddly silent now, the only exception being the wind that would at times whistle through the trees. And had it gotten darker?

“That's weird,” you said more to yourself, “I know I heard them.”

The man who sat patiently before you, with your ankle still in his care, looked about for any sign of your friends before he spoke again.

“Well, I'm here now,” he told you, “care if I patch you up instead?”

“Um, as long as it isn't too much trouble?”

He smiled at you.

“It's no trouble at all.”

Saying that it would be easier for him to work on you, the man carefully picked you up and moved you so that you sat on a nearby boulder, kneeling down in front of you again as he waited for you to fish out the bandages from your pack.

“I'm Morel, by the way.”

You gave him a small smile in return, introducing yourself as well as you handed off the bandages.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked as he began to wrap up your ankle.

“Hiking with friends.”

“I figured that much,” he said, grinning a little, “but the trail is a good distance from here. How did you end up off of it?”

“Ah....”

Despite the pain in your ankle and the circumstances between you and your friends, it hadn't been lost on you that Morel was pretty handsome. A bit rugged, but in a good way. And though you knew nothing about this man – for all you knew he had a wife and child at home waiting for him – you didn't want to say something that might make him think you were an idiot. Telling him that you had gone chasing after a rabbit would definitely make him think you were an idiot.

And you didn't want to mention that you thought it had no face. Then he'd think you were crazy.

“I saw some ruins down at the base of the mountain; thought it'd be cool if I went exploring and see if I could find some more,” you lied.

“Unfortunately, any ruins would be down at the bottom. Nobody would've built anything this far up,” Morel explained.

“Ah, I see.”

You stayed quiet a moment, looking back in the direction where you'd heard your friends calling. You still couldn't hear them, and it worried you that something may have happened.

There was also that white mist from earlier that had grown thicker while Morel wrapped your ankle, slowly settling down around you and making the scene around you look more ethereal.

“Why did you wander out on your own? One of them should've come with you,” Morel said suddenly.

“Oh.... I kinda, um, ran off without telling them anything.”

So much for not sounding like an idiot.

Morel paused, glancing back up at you as he asked “did something happen?”

“... Not really? I mean, kind of, but...” you trailed off for a moment, “it's mostly my fault. I'm the one who isn't trying hard enough to talk it out with them. Ah, I really hope I haven't ruined this trip.”

“I doubt you running off could've ruined it.”

“I hope not. But still, I'll need to apologize, maybe take all of them out for a meal after to make up for it,” you said.

There was a sad expression on Morel's face when he looked up at you after you said that. Something in the way he frowned and his brows furrowed at your words made it seem like he knew something you didn't.

You didn't get a chance to question him on it as he finished up wrapping your ankle, handing the remaining bandages back to you as he announced “all done.”

“Ah – Thank you.”

He seemed a bit more cheerful now, though he looked off in the direction you had been looking in.

“Those friends of your still on the trail?” he asked.

“I'm not sure? It really did sound like they were looking for me earlier.”

“I see. Then if they're looking for you maybe we should stay put. Wait for them to get to us. It won't do any good if we all get lost trying to find each other.”

That made sense, and you nodded.

Morel sat down next to you, the boulder being large enough to fit both of you, though he did need to squeeze in a bit closer than you would normally be comfortable with a complete stranger. You found that you didn't mind much, though. Although for the sake of your friend group you wanted to be found soon, you didn't dislike the idea of spending more time alone with Morel. He seemed trustworthy, and being in such close contact more than made up for all the stuff from earlier.

…. Good lord. Were you really this weak for a random guy you found attractive?

The mist seemed to be growing thicker, but you could still make out most of the trees that surrounded you.

“What are you doing up here, Morel?” you asked, “it doesn't look like you're dressed for hiking.”

“I live here.”

“Really? On the mountain?”

He nodded.

“Wow. I didn't know anybody lived up here. Is it just you or are there others?”

“There's a few of us up here, though my neighbors tend to keep to themselves,” he told you, “a lot of them just want to be left alone.”

It seemed surprising to you that there was more than one person who lived up on a mountain like this. Especially since you had been under the impression that the area was part of a park. Maybe his place had been built beforehand and he was grandfathered in somehow?

The more you thought about it, the more you felt that didn't make a lot of sense. But before you could voice that opinion, it was like the thought was forcibly torn from your mind, and something within you encouraged you to try and learn more about him.

“Are you one who wants to be left alone?” you asked him instead.

“For the most part,” he answered, “but I don't mind people on occasion. My neighbors, not so much.”

“Would they have gotten mad at me?”

“Definitely.”

“Guess I'm lucky you found me and not them,” you said.

He smiled at that, but didn't say anything, and you continued.

“Although if your neighbors want isolation, isn't it inconvenient that the trail's been set up here? Don't you have to worry about people trespassing?”

“Most people know not to go off the path,” Morel said, “though I guess you're not one of them.”

“It wasn't my fault!” you insisted, “there was a rabbit, and I just - I don't know, needed to follow it.”

Why had you done that again? You'd been questioning it before Morel found you but you'd gotten distracted. It was strange. And did the rabbit really have no face? Maybe your mind was just tired and had made it up or something and you just ran off because you were an idiot.

Where had it even gone, anyway?

Morel tilted his head, smirking at you.

“I thought you said you were looking for more ruins? You mean you were actually chasing after rabbits?” he asked.

….. You forgot that you lied.

Your fingers fiddled with the hem of your shirt while you looked away in embarrassment.

“.... I didn't want you to think I was stupid,” you mumbled.

He laughed at that, and you felt worse about your lie, turning your head away further as you made a point to not look at him.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it,” he said, one of his hands coming up to playfully tousle your hair. You glanced back at him then, and the sour look on your face lessened a little when you saw how he smiled at you.

“I've also gone off wandering after random things,” he continued, “I've hurt myself a few times, too, so don't feel bad.”

That made you feel a bit better, and you relaxed a little more.

“What kind of things have you gone wandering after?” you asked him.

“Things that you probably wouldn't believe if I told you.”

That answer was oddly cryptic, though you supposed that made two of you, since you were still too nervous to divulge the fact about the rabbit lacking a face. Maybe Morel had seen freakier things up here. But since he didn't seem to want to go into that, maybe it'd be better to steer the conversation away from the potentially supernatural.

“Were you wandering after something when you found me?” was your next question.

“No, not today. I was in the middle of looking for something I had lost.”

“Oh. Sorry,” you said.

“For what?”

“Distracting you, and making you wait here with me.”

“It's not that important,” Morel said, “and what kind of guy would I be if I left you out here by yourself? Especially with that fog that's settling in.”

“I'd probably be okay. Oh. Unless there's bears. Then I might not be.”

You remembered the shape you had seen when you had first arrived, and you asked him “are there bears on this mountain?”

“I've never seen any.”

You hummed at that, thinking again about what you had seen and trying to figure out what it was.

“Did you see one?” asked Morel.

“I don't know. I saw something weird when I was in the parking lot, and I'm still not sure what it was,” you explained, “I've seen some other stuff, too. Some a bit more freaky than a bear.”

“Like what?”

“.... Do you promise not to laugh at me?”

“I promise, I'm done laughing at you,” Morel said, grinning a little.

Despite being unsure if you could trust him in that regard, you decided to speak anyway.

“So, the rabbit that I saw earlier – I'm not really sure why I followed it, but I noticed it back at the rest area. It seemed kinda weird when I saw it, because it didn't look like it was breathing? And when I got closer, I swear, it didn't have a face. No features at all. It was just blank.”

You prepared yourself for him to laugh at you again. When he didn't say anything, you looked back to him.

Morel looked surprisingly neutral.

“That does sound strange,” was his reply.

“.... Do you believe me?”

Morel looked away from you, leaning back on his hands as his gaze seemed to go to the cloudy sky above the trees that surrounded the two of you.

“You know, I think I do. Living up here, I've had my fair share of strange occurrences. Not quite like that, but maybe I just haven't encountered that before.”

It was a relief to hear that he wasn't mocking you, and it was even more of a relief that he actually believed you, as you had been worried that his reaction might resemble what had happened earlier with Aiden and Fawn. Him believing you spurred you to speak more.

“I saw something before, too,” you said, “down near the ruins, at one point I thought I saw a man standing next to them. But when I looked up from my camera he was gone.”

“What did he look like?”

“Not sure. I saw him, but I somehow didn't really see him? Or I just saw his general shape,” you continued, “the others were joking that it was a ghost.”

“Could've been,” said Morel, “this is ancient land with a lot of older things attached to it. There are probably more than a few wayward souls that have found a home here.”

“..... Do you think they could be dangerous?” you asked him.

“Maybe some of them. But most people should be safe if they stay on the path.”

He grinned again when he looked back at you.

“Who knows. You could've come across something bad,” he said jokingly.

“Don't you and your neighbors live up here? It can't be all that bad if that's the case,” you responded, “though I think I'll try to keep from chasing after anymore weird rabbits.”

“Probably a good idea.”

A comfortable silence settled over the two of you. The mist had expanded as you continued to wait for your friends, who you hadn't heard in some time now. It should've worried you more that you couldn't hear them – they hadn't given up on you, had they? Even if they were really annoyed with you they surely wouldn't go that far. Yet you found yourself thinking even if that was the case, it would be okay. Morel was so nice, he wouldn't just leave you here if they didn't show up, right? At the very least, he'd take you back to the trail.

If your friends had bailed on you, then maybe you should repay him by taking him out to dinner.

The tops of the trees were slowly becoming more obscured as the fog continued to drift down, and all you could think was that it looked pretty.

“Is it nice living up here?” you asked him.

“Yeah, pretty nice. Lots of good scenery.”

He seemed to be thinking about something, and you noticed that his shoulders sagged slightly.

“Being completely alone can get to you, though.”

There was a sadness in his voice. He did say that him wanting to be alone was just 'for the most part'. Unless that was a lie. What sort of circumstance could drive him to be living alone in the wilderness if he didn't actually want to be here? You wanted to know, but worried that might be crossing a boundary of some sort, and that made you hesitate to question him further.

“Do you not want to be here?” you asked him softly.

“No, I do,” said Morel, “but I also liked being around people. It just became hard to be around them after a while.”

“Hard to be around them?” you repeated.

“Yeah. It's.... It's just tough to explain,” he said.

“Sorry.”

He shook his head.

“Don't worry about it.”

It confused you, and while you wanted to ask a few more questions, you got a sense that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

You found yourself wondering if Morel suffered from some extreme form of anxiety or agoraphobia. He seemed like a pretty calm person, but maybe that was only because he was in an environment where he was comfortable. That could have made sense, although you mentally berated yourself shortly after for jumping to conclusions like that just because he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe you should try to move the topic to something else.

“Does anyone come up to visit you?” you asked.

“No.”

Ah. Okay then.

“Then...” you trailed off briefly as you tried to find the right words, “ as long as it isn't too hard to be around me, would you care if I came back to visit you? I could repay you with all you've done for me with a dinner. Maybe bring it by next week or something like that?”

Morel smiled at that, and yet to you it seemed forced. You got another sense that he knew something that you didn't, and that he was intentionally keeping that information from you.

What would he know that he'd be keeping from you?

The thought left your head just as quickly as it entered when he spoke again.

“I guess I could handle having you stop by,” he said jokingly, “you're pretty tolerable.”

“Ah, that's good. Glad to know I can at least be tolerated,” you answered back in a similar joking manner.

He chuckled at that.

“All jokes aside, it'll be nice to have some company up here,” he said softly.

It felt good that he accepted you so easily. Maybe he accepted you a little too easily given the short amount of time he had known you, but if he was living up here all by himself maybe he was just that desperate.

And the argument could also be made that you were similarly being too trusting of him. It was possible that this was just a facade of his that would drop the instant you were vulnerable. That'd probably be what Colton would tell you if he knew the thoughts going around your head.

Although you were already pretty vulnerable, weren't you? Alone in the wilderness with a man you just met and a sprained ankle, so you weren't even able to run if you needed to. Even with your friends that were hopefully close by, with Morel's size it would've been easy enough for him to drag you off if he wanted. Helping you, sitting down and waiting with you for your friends just to gain your trust seemed to be a bit too much effort if his ultimate goal was to take you away.

You forced down those silly, anxious thoughts of yours. Morel wouldn't hurt you, you were certain of it.

The mist around the two of you was growing thicker still, but you didn't pay it much mind as you looked back down to your lap.

Something was sticking out of the front pocket of your jacket, and then you remembered that you still had that pipe you had found this whole time, having absentmindedly stuck it into your pocket when Morel moved you earlier. A thought then occurred to you as you looked at it again.

“This wouldn't be yours, would it?” you asked him as you pulled it out to show him.

Looking down at it, you noted that he didn't seem too surprised as he said to you “it would, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That's what I was looking for when I came across you,” Morel said.

“Huh. That's some weird coincidence,” you said as you extended your hand out to give him the pipe.

“It happens,” he said. He thanked you as he took it from you, pocketing it before his hands went back to where they had been before.

There was no urgency within you as you continued to sit with Morel, the mist still swirling and settling around the two of you. The more the mist grew, the more the thoughts of your friends and the worries within you began to slip away.

You had nothing to worry about.

Had you been paying more attention to him, you would've seen Morel stiffen ever so slightly, maybe even heard him curse under his breath as he sensed something that was now in the general vicinity. But you only noticed when he stood up suddenly, hands on his hips as he turned to face you.

“Hate to say it, but this fog'll probably only get worse. I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep waiting here,” he told you.

It had seemed to become exponentially worse as soon as he spoke those words, the fog that had been fairly moderate now surprisingly thick, to the point that you had a hard time making out the trees that were closest to you. Somehow you hadn't noticed just how bad it was until now.

“Ah. Yeah, you're right,” you said, “I think I remember which direction the trail is in. I should be able to make it back on my own.”

“What – no, that's not...”

Morel was rather flustered now, a hand running through his hair as he continued “even if you can make it back there, I doubt you'll have an easy time going down those stairs with your ankle like that. And with how hard it is to see right now, there's a 100% chance that you'll end up falling.”

You nodded, though you weren't certain where he was going. It seemed like a lot to ask him to walk you back in such circumstances, and far, far too much to have him take you back down the mountain.

“Since we're not sure what happened with your friends, I think the best thing I can do is take you back to my place for the time being.”

That hadn't been what you were expecting, and you opened your mouth to second-guess that idea until he spoke again.

“Just until the fog clears,” he assured you, “and this way you can get some actual rest inside instead of sitting out in the cold like this.”

… Morel's proposal seemed a lot nicer, you had to admit.

“I guess,” you began, “as long as you're sure it isn't too much trouble.”

He smiled at you as he said “I promise, it isn't.”

Any worries that this may be overstepping some kind of boundary faded from your mind after his reassurance, and you looked about the forest again.

“I guess we should try to find something for me to use as a walking stick,” you said, squinting your eyes when the fog proved to be too thick to see clearly, “unless you're okay with me leaning on you.”

“I've got a better idea.”

With that, Morel turned around and knelt down, his arms stretched out behind his back as he said “I'll carry you.”

After assuring you that this way would be faster, it didn't take much for you to take him up on his offer. After you made sure not to put any weight on your ankle while you climbed onto his back, Morel slowly lifted you up after he had your legs secured around his waist and you loosely held on around his neck.

With the sensation of you being pressed against him, of your warmth and virtually feeling the way your heart was steadily beating against his back, Morel let out a quiet, relieved sigh as he began the trek back to his home. He was grateful that you hadn't questioned him or tried to insist that he take you back to the trail anyway. If he hadn't been able to convince you, he'd need to take you by force. Such a thing would have been easy for him to do, and it was probably more common for those like him to take their captured humans while they kicked and screamed.

But he didn't want to traumatize you during the journey to your new home.

Luckily his aura that had been slowly engulfing you was able to influence you enough that you weren't questioning him on much, so the trip would be a peaceful one, although it was marred by how dishonest he was being about all of this.

If only he could just sit you down and explain everything, why he was doing this. But he knew you wouldn't believe him.

No reasonable person would believe him if he told them he was a banshee.

Saying that would only make you feel unsafe, maybe try to run from him, and then you'd end up even more injured in the process, and even more upset when you found that you could no longer leave the mountain.

But even that would be better than the alternative.

Morel just didn't like seeing people die.

The role of a banshee was to warn when death was coming. To let out that unearthly wail so the human marked for death could prepare and make peace with their fate. For Morel, when he saw someone who was marked to die, it looked like a cloud had settled around them. An aura that grew darker and darker as the human came closer to the time of their death until the aura had blackened completely. Then Death came to collect that unfortunate's soul.

And Morel was unable to do anything but give a heads up.

It was depressing. Being part of that cycle, watching as human after human had that cloud around them turn black and vanish as it left their lifeless bodies behind. And during the last years he had spent in the heavily populated areas, he found that more and more people were panicking when they heard his warning as a fear of death had grown stronger as time had gone by. The people who feared for their lives did everything in their power to try and prevent their deaths, and more often than not their attempts to thwart death ended up being what caused it. All because they had heard his warning.

It began to feel as though he was the one responsible for those who had died that way, and that felt even more depressing, to know that they had died because of him. By the end, Morel had grown tired of it all.

So he left.

He left the areas that were overrun with humans and found a home on an ancient mountainside. And for a while, he found some peace.

But time moved forward as it always did, and evidently, people forgot what areas were meant to stay sacred when they put together the hiking trail. It had angered many of his neighbors, but most were compelled to stay away from it and leave the humans alone as long as they stayed on the path.

And yet some of them couldn't do that, and on occasion the ones that strayed would run into some of the more malevolent spirits that resided on the mountain alongside him. He could usually tell when someone would die to the supernatural. The aura about them just had a certain feel to it, but Morel chose to stay out of it completely, not wanting to cause problems with his neighbors.

Even after trying to get away, he was still forced to see that cloud of death.

It was no different when he saw you after you first arrived.

Morel had happened to be at the base of the mountain when he saw you, the death cloud around you one shade off of completely black. You'd be dead before the end of the day. Perhaps during your trip in the woods, he had thought to himself. Yet as he observed you more, he felt that wouldn't be the case. Something told him that you would make it through this hiking trip of yours, but you would die almost immediately after. You seemed pretty healthy, so illness didn't appear to be the cause. An accident, then? That would be more likely. While he couldn't determine what exactly was going to happen, whatever it was would be sudden and violent.

Looking at the rest of your group, he found that none of them were marked for death like you were. Whatever happened after you all left, you would be the only one to die.

Something compelled Morel to keep watch over you, and so he followed behind, listening in on the conversations your friends were having and waiting for you to speak up.

You weren't saying much, however, and when he moved off the trail to walk beside you so he could get a better look at your face, he was taken aback by how dejected you seemed.

Something was eating at you, but you were keeping quiet about it as you continued to follow behind, almost unnoticed by the others in your group.

Your last hours of life were going to be spent with you feeling ignored and lonely, and that depression Morel felt when it came to these things returned. You shouldn't need to die today; you should've had years left of your life, not a scant few hours. It wasn't right, but there was nothing he could do.

Or was there?

An idea came to Morel, and he became lost in his own thoughts as he found himself walking away from the trail as your group came closer to the stairs. He made his way towards what had been a chapel for some long-forgotten deity, mulling over the thought in his head.

There was something he could do to alter your fate, both him and the magic still in the mountain powerful enough to allow him to lay a claim on you. But was it worth angering Death itself to keep you safe?

As he contemplated what to do, he looked back to you.

You had taken your phone out, holding it in a way that made it clear you were aiming to get a picture of the ruins he just so happened to be standing next to.

It took less than a second for him to realize what had happened when you blinked in surprise and took your eyes off of your phone.

You could see him.

You may not have been aware of it, but your eyes met his in that moment. Based off how you looked him over, you weren't able to see him all that clearly, but he could still tell when your eyes met again as you tried to make out any features of his face.

Then one of the people from your group called out and you looked away, and Morel made himself vanish. The confusion was clear when your head turned back and found him to be gone, and you ended up following your group again with your brows furrowed.

It was something that happened on occasion with certain people, another confirmation that you were close to death: as your final hour drew near, the barrier between you and the spiritual realm was thinning and you were beginning to see things that you weren't meant to.

When you looked back one more time, you managed to look in the exact spot where he had been standing, though this time he made sure you couldn't see him. He felt the way your eyes met his again before you turned your head back, that black cloud of death still engulfing you.

Something about your situation and that sight made Morel snap.

Screw fate. He needed to save you.

As he made his decision and began to follow you in earnest, a part of him was aware that saving you wouldn't do anything for the countless people that died every day, but he felt that if he could save at least one person from an unfair and untimely death, he could live better with himself. If he could keep you alive and happy, it was worth it.

He'd been worried that luring you away with the rabbit wouldn't work. You were far enough along that you could see it for what it really was: a creation that he'd made out of mist and smoke. Yet during the time you had spent getting up to the rest area, he had expanded his aura around you for long enough that any reservations you may have had about the slightly horrifying thing before you were easily pushed to the side as he compelled you to go after his creation, to get you further into the woods and by yourself.

He hadn't planned on you getting injured in the process, and when he heard your friends calling for you sooner than he expected he threw his pipe next to you in an act of desperation and just hoped that you would grab it. As long as you picked up something that belonged to him of your own free will, then you would belong to him.

You had done just that. And therefore, he was now free to do whatever he pleased with you.

“Is there a reason why we need to get to your place fast?” you asked him as he carried you back.

“You see how thick the fog is, right? I need to get us there before I lose my way,” Morel said, “can't embarrass myself like that, can I?”

Actually he just wanted to get out of there because of the other being that had been approaching the two of you. As much as he was able to hold influence over you, you would no doubt panic if you saw a headless woman sitting astride a horse casually come up to you.

“That makes sense,” you said. Then you giggled a little to yourself.

“I'm still mad that you laughed at me earlier,” you told him, “so if you do get lost, then I'm allowed to laugh at you.”

“Fair enough. If I get us lost you can laugh at me,” he agreed.

You laughed a little bit more.

“I won't actually do that. If we do get lost I'll probably be more concerned with trying to keep calm.”

“Don't worry; I know this mountain like the back of my hand,” he assured you.

If you had really been thinking about it, you might have questioned him on that. If he knew his way around that well, why couldn't he take you back to the trail? Why was he insisting on taking you back to his home?

But with the way his aura was enveloping you completely, no such thoughts came to mind, and you instead softly rested your head against him, feeling content.

You were rather easy to influence, and that fact made Morel feel badly for manipulating you the way he was.

He'd make it up to you, he told himself. He'd done good by wrapping up your ankle, and now he'd take care of you.

Glancing back at you, he felt satisfied to see that the black cloud of death had vanished. You no longer needed to fear anything like that.

You belonged to him now, and Morel would keep you safe for the rest of eternity.

#reader insert #morel x reader #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere hxh #morel mackernasey #morel #yandere hunter x hunter #monster au

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