#I want to guess Birdcage kingdom | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

zaynahfrozenfrost · 1 year ago

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Enchanted To Meet You Part ||| (The Final Part)

Part ||

Part |

This is the last part of this series and I don’t know if this part's gonna be good but never mind. I'm really sorry for the long delay, I had exams and I had to find some wedding vows from Google but they weren’t good so, I had to delay it for that. I don’t know if these are Jewish vows but never mind.

Today's my wedding day and I felt scared at every single minute coming because I was coming a step closer to Edgar's dungeon. The wedding would start at 2pm and I had woken up at 9am. The maids, makeup girl and my stylist were dressing me up. It was a white strapless dress full of ruffles made of fine silk and I loved it. I had my hair in the back into a braided bun and my front into side swept bangs with my tiara and veil which was quite long. I had pearls on my dress unsystematically with some pearl earrings. I had my last conversation with Beth, Venus, Noelle and my best friend Freya. The wedding, it all felt too rushed for me.

I got into the carriage and we reached the cathedral 1 hour before the wedding. My parents were talking with Edgar's parents and they told us to go somewhere else. And so we did.

"How do you feel about the wedding? Or are just gonna run away from it like you do?" Edgar asked

"Please don't talk to me, Edgar. We both know what this marriage is for so, don't bother asking imbecile things" I said angrily

We both went silent as if we were strangers. Why did I have to see this day? Why am I marrying Edgar? Shouldn’t I be with Timothée? My mind had a lot to ask. Edgar's parents seemed like good people and most probably, they don't know about his tactics at all.

Then the guests started to come. I walked down the aisle with my father. It felt like I was going towards my birdcage.

"Dearly beloved, we gather here today to celebrate the union of Prince Edgar and Princess Y/n in marriage. In the Jewish tradition, marriage is considered a sacred covenant, and we are honored to witness this joyous occasion."

"STOP!" A voice shouted. And it was Timothée with my sister Sasha and her husband Rome. I talked with Sasha everyday so, how did Timothée know about all this?

"He's not a good man." Timothée said to everyone

"I don't understand" Edgar's father said

"What is he saying?" Edgar's mother asked

"How so? Do you have proof?" My father asked

"We do. You see, my dearest father in law, Y/n has told my wife about that man's disgusting behaviour towards her. You might ask, what happened to her left eye? He punched it and a few times, she called us and told Sasha about how he slapped her, forces her to do everything etc. Y/n never wanted to marry Edgar but because of your foolish, disgusting and greedy behaviour, she's putting herself into a bird cage. I hope this helped you" Rome said

"Edgar? How could you? You're our son and you go and do THIS?!?" Edgar's mother said

"Y/n, I never knew my son is such a sinister human being. My condolences and I deeply apologize for my son's behaviour" His mother said.

"Edgar, I guess it's time you get your dose of discipline because you were going to put another kingdom's princess in danger" His father said angrily

Then they took Edgar away and apologized to me a lot. I forgave them since they are not villainous like their son is. My father was raging with maroon on his face. My mother was shocked along with everyone.

"Y/n, what's going to happen to the ceremony? You might never be able to get married if we don’t get a groom." My mother told me

"I'll be her groom" Timothée said

Then Timothée got dressed up in his outfit. He looked so flawless and ethereal in it. Then I had to walk down the aisle again but this time, it felt safe because I knew I was walking to my soulmate. Music was playing as well.

"Dearly beloved, we gather here today to celebrate the union of Prince Timothée and Princess Y/n in marriage. In the Jewish tradition, marriage is considered a sacred covenant, and we are honored to witness this joyous occasion."

"Prince Timothée, do you take Princess Y/n to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor, and cherish? Do you promise to support her in times of joy and in times of sorrow, to be her partner in all of life's adventures?" Requested the priest

"I do." Said Timothée

Princess Y/n, do you take Prince Timothée to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish? Do you promise to support him in times of joy and in times of sorrow, to be his partner in all of life's adventures?

"I do." I said it and felt cathartic

"Do you both promise to create a home filled with love, kindness, and understanding? Will you build a life together based on mutual respect, compassion, and shared values?"

"We do." Timothée and I said together

"May your love be a guiding light as you embark on this sacred journey of marriage. May you find strength in each other, and may your union be a source of inspiration and blessings to all who know you. By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you as spouses. You may seal your vows with a kiss."

Then we sealed it with a kiss and I felt like I was in heaven, his kiss felt so appealing. Other than my father, everyone was clapping. In evening, we were going to have our first dance ball and I felt so adrenalized because, this was going to be our first dance as a married pair. I can't believe that I actually got married with the love of my life.

Evening came around. I was wearing a off-shoulder tea length dress which was a very light shade of lavender and I had my hair down with a floral head piece. Timothée looked so charming that I couldn’t help but stare at him. Other than my father, everyone was there. The evening was so breath-taking, it was the best day of my life and I'll never forget about it.

Sorry if the ending sucked lol, I didn’t know what else to put here.

#timotheé chalamet #timothee chalamet fanfiction #prince timothée scenario #timothee x reader #timothee chalamet x you #timothee x y/n #taylor swift fanfiction

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shiningdesignersreflections · 7 months ago

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Chapter 3: Memory and Hope

Narrated by Leo.

Narrator: One evening, it was raining outside.

Narrator: I saw Lord Ian gather a stack of music sheets from a drawer, pick up his bow, and proceed to play a sentimental tune.

Narrator: Attracted by the sound of the cello, Hoare stood silently behind Lord Ian, enthralled by the music.

Narrator: The old man was so absorbed in playing that he did not realize the boy was standing there until the song had finished.

Narrator: Hoare's eyes were resting on the musical score, as if he could understand it.

Lord Ian: Do you like the song? Would you like to try playing?

Narrator: Master stood up and passed the cello to Hoare.

Narrator: Hoare sat down on the chair, picked up the bow with his right hand.

Narrator: And held the neck in his left, and proceeded to play it note for note.

Narrator: I remember that night clearly, the sound of the cello filling the villa, like a dream riding on the wings of a memory.

Narrator: The empty birdcage beside the sofa had been decorated with roses made from silk.

Narrator: Much to my surprise, that summer, the birdcage also welcomed its first guest in many years.

Narrator: Finally, the rain stopped and the sunshine warmed the earth for the first time in days.

Narrator: Hoare had put aside his crutches and was able to walk unsupported again, albeit slowly.

Narrator: Under a tree, beside the house, he found an injured baby bird.

Narrator: After so many days of rain, the bird was completely soaked through, as the boy had been when he had first arrived.

Narrator: I found some herbs and bandages which Hoare used to bind the bird's injuries.

Narrator: The antique birdcage became its temporary home.

Narrator: Hoare didn't act like a regular child around the bird, petting it or trying to get it to sing.

Narrator: He fed the bird every day, changed its water, and watched over it very carefully.

Narrator: Like he was wishing it got better so that it could leave the cage.

Narrator: Perhaps the care he showed it was somehow a reflection of the care he needed himself.

Narrator: Day by day, the bird regained its strength. Fluffy down sprouted all over it. Hoare's ankle also regained its strength.

Narrator: The look in the boy's eyes seemed to say that it was time to go.

Narrator: It was a solitary flash of hope, in those serious eyes.

Narrator: I had seen that deep, troubled look somewhere else.

Narrator: That's right... when Lord Ian looked at the boy.

Narrator: A look of hidden expectation.

Narrator: I cut two roses by the terrace and put them into a vase in the drawing room.

Narrator: Summer was coming to an end, and these were the last two roses of the season.

Narrator: The baby bird in the cage had fully recovered and was hopping around, full of energy, flapping its wings, eager to fly.

Narrator: Just like the boy who tended to it.

Narrator: Hoare had remained at the villa all summer, and his foot was as good as new.

Narrator: He came down the stairs, wearing the clothes he arrived in and carrying his bag.

Narrator: Lord Ian got up from his seat on the sofa.

Lord Ian: It looks like you are ready to leave... Child, do you want me to tell you about this photo?

Narrator: I didn't know what made Lord Ian bring up the subject of that photo.

Narrator: Hoare stopped. There was a shift in the mists behind his eyes. Something about the photo pulled at him.

Lord Ian: Well, the young man in the photo is me. Like you, I come from the capital of Pigeon Kingdom.

Narrator: Lord Ian let out a quiet sigh.

Narrator: Hoare looked unmoved, as if he had guessed that much of the story long ago.

Narrator: I was astonished. So, the boy was from Pigeon Kingdom? But how did Master know he was from the capital?

Narrator: The old man gazed at the young couple in the picture for a long time.

Lord Ian: You are no stranger to such tragedy, are you, boy?

Narrator: The shadows covering Hoare's face were impenetrable.

Narrator: In that moment, he seemed lost in a memory... silent and still, as if struggling to control something deep within.

Narrator: Master looked into Hoare's eyes.

Lord Ian: Perhaps you are someone who thinks the world needs to change, child?

Choose either "Why did he ask that?" or "What a serious question."

If "why," ...

You: Why do you suppose he asked him that?

Narrator: These days I thought Master saw something special in him. That's why he spared no effort in caring for the boy.

If "serious," ...

You: Isn't that a very serious question to ask a ten-year-old boy?

Narrator: I thought the boy was no ordinary one. Perhaps that was why Master spared no effort in caring for him.

Narrator: I looked over at Hoare. There was a great disturbance behind his eyes, like a flash of ice-blue fire.

Narrator: He did not respond to Lord Ian's question, but picked up the birdcage, threw his bag over his shoulder, and walked out.

Narrator: I recalled the expectation in his eyes as he looked after the bird. Perhaps he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Narrator: But the sanctuary Lord Ian had provided followed the boy out into the world.

Lord Ian: It is time for the bird to return to the woods.

Narrator: Lord Ian watched the boy as he walked away.

Lord Ian: Who knows? Maybe one day he will return.

Narrator: Master said, turning to me.

Narrator: The roses on the table gave off the last fragrance of summer.

Narrator: The empty birdcage had been left at the threshold... where the boy had first stood all those months ago.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

#mercury #shining nikki #chapter 3 #transcript #ssr designer #memory and hope #bird #roses #cage #change #cello #loss #freedom

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callunavulgari · 1 year ago

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Scrapbook 2023 | Pt IV

NGL, a little heated that Tumblr's new editing bullshit has made it so I can't save more than a month at a time, so I guess I'll have monthly ones from now on.

For anyone that’s new to this, this is how I keep track of all of the things that I enjoy and/or create throughout the year. I have literally been doing this since I had a livejournal.

It’s a nice little snippet of my life and helps to organize my brain.

A reminder:

Normal font - Indifferent/Neutral Italicized font - Enjoyed bold font - Loved with an asterisk* - All time favorite (bracketed titles) - Re-watches/Re-reads strikethough - Disliked

Goals are: read 65 books, finish 4 video games, write more than 20 fics or something larger than 20k, and expand on your original novel outline to the point that you START WRITING.

Past Years

MOVIES

November

(Interstellar)

(Lotr: Fellowship)

(The Birdcage)

December

No Hard Feelings

The Muppet Christmas Carol

(Love Actually)

(Lotr: Fellowship)

Saltburn

(Everything Everywhere All At Once)

TV SHOWS

November

Loki, s2

Scavengers Reign s1

All the Light We Cannot See

December

Yu Yu Hakusho - Live Action

One Piece - Live Action

Percy Jackson & the Olympians

What If, s2

YOUTUBE CHANNELS

November

Watcher: Ghost Files

Watcher: Ghost Files Debrief

Watcher Podcast

Watcher: Food Files

Claire Saffitz Cooks

Gino's Italian Escape

Top 5 Beatdown

Inga Lam

December

Beryl!

Watcher: Too Many Spirits

Kimi

Imamu Room

BOOKS

November

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix [Fin]

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten [Fin]

(A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab)

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske [Fin]

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros [Fin]

The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec [Fin]

December

(A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab) [Fin]

The Only One Left by Riley Sager [Fin]

(A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab) [Fin]

(A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab) [Fin]

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin [Fin]

All Systems Red by Martha Wells [Fin]

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells [Fin]

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells [Fin]

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells [Fin]

Starling House by Alix Harrow [Fin]

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia [Fin]

Network Effect by Martha Wells [Fin]

PODCASTS

November

Watcher Podcast

December

Watcher Podcast

VIDEO GAMES

November

Baldur’s Gate 3

Hollow Knight

LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom

December

LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom

(Ghosts of Tsushima)

POSTED FIC

November

for years or for hours | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 1,677 words | “What the shit are you doing?” Mobius hisses, and Loki— Loki is tired.

touch-a, touch-a, touch-a, touch me | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 2220 words | “God,” Steve murmurs into Eddie’s mouth. “You look— I cannot deal with how you look right now.”

December

these, our bodies, possessed by light | Shades of Magic | Holland/Kell/Lila, Athos/Holland | 2,134 words | Holland tells her simply. “I want to go home.”

this house says your name like an elegy | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang | 6768 words | “Good night, ghost,” he says. “We can play tomorrow.”

WIPS | UNPUBLISHED | ORIGINAL

November

Eddie/Steve - Rocky Horror

Yuletide

December

N/A

Fanmixes/Spotify Playlists/Graphics

November

Holland Playlist - Lost

December

N/A

DELIGHTFUL FIC

November

The Water's Edge by entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 2k | In which Steve takes a walk in the rain, sees something he's not supposed to and has some thoughts he didn't expect.

The Shortest Straw by entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 4k | In which Steve gets to indulge in a bit of roughhousing with a friend and realizes how much he'd missed it.

Manacled by senlinyu | HP | Hermione/Draco | 370k | Harry Potter is dead.

Extra Fresh Cherry Flavor by entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | The cold, dry weather is not kind to Eddie's mouth, if only someone could offer a little help.

Faith, Faith, Faith by avocadomoon | Teen Wolf | Derek/Stiles | 21k | "Is there literally anywhere in the world you haven't been? Jesus fuck," Stiles said.

Crocodile Jock by entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 4k | When in doubt, Eddie figures you can never go wrong with a classic.

some version of you (that I might not have, but I did not lose) by PinkCanary | Loki | Loki/Sylvie | 4k | Mobius offers her the bedroom, but she insists on the couch.

come back. even as a shadow, even as a dream. by harleygirl2648 | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 6k | Dreams don’t happen in the TVA.

the earth from a distance by spqr | HP | Draco/Harry | 16k | “Really,” Malfoy drawled. “We’re stuck in the 16th century, with no idea how we got here or how we might go about getting back – pray tell, Potter, how could this situation possibly be worse?”

Five Stars by Dira Sudis (dsudis) | The Sandman | Dream/Hob | 3k | Robert G. who brings the groceries is one of the most-texted numbers in Dream's phone. This will surely never cause any problems.

A Sign of The Morning by ToEdenandBackAgain | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 86k | Vecna is dead. The Upside Down is cut off from Hawkins yet again. Steve is trying to go back to normal, whatever that is. He's also trying to figure out exactly how Eddie Munson has managed to fit so easily into his life.

(meet me tonight in atlantic city) by greatunironic | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 20k | Ten years on, in a town in Nova Scotia, on the edge of the Atlantic, Eddie finds Steve again, and also maybe himself.

Desperate Measures by Asidian | BG3 | Astarion/Karlach | 7k | "I think Scratch is coming down with something," says Karlach the next morning, and Astarion, who's in the midst of packing up for the day's travel, drops the pillow he's attempting to make space for.

Eye Of The Beholder by entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 22k | Eddie works himself up to ask Steve if he can borrow his instant camera, because the type of pictures he wants to take are…not the kind he can get developed in town.

In Our Blood by secretsalex | HP | Harry/Draco | 38k | Draco is an accomplished pure-blood curse breaker, and Harry is tasked with accompanying him on his latest job—cleaning up the Van Boer mansion, which has been under a devastating fertility curse for seven generations.

Terminus by RC_McLachlan | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 4k | "Keep me here," he begs against Mobius's lips. "You must keep me here."

What Made Milwaukee Famous by synthetica | Danny Phantom | Danny/Vlad | 31k | Ten years after establishing a tenuous truce, Danny crash-lands at Vlad's Milwaukee lakehouse with a particularly nasty wound, three days recovery time, and absolutely nothing to do but talk to his long-lost archnemesis.

December

then now and always by raisesomehale | Teen Wolf | Stiles/Derek | 14k | Stiles is stuck in the fucking snow in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere at night with a broken down car three days before Christmas, and the nearest tow truck company—over fifty miles away—doesn’t open until morning.

many times, many ways by spqr | Suits | Mike/Harvey | 15k | Soulmates are something that other people worry about, normal people, the masses, like marriage and kids and mortgages in the suburbs, and besides, Harvey’s not the sort of person who wants a life partner.

Damage Control by entanglednow | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 3k | When their meeting is unexpectedly interrupted by angels, Aziraphale and Crowley have very little time to do damage control.

the summer of '85 by ToEdenandBackAgain | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 20k | “Fuck The Man, Harrington. Gimme a taste.”

Handle Me with Care (I'm So Tired of Being Lonely) by thesurefireway | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 8k | “I’m a virgin.” Eddie figure’s he’ll just drop one unexpected revelation on Steve for now. He can only expose so many squishy, vulnerable parts of himself at a time.

Strawberry Fields by ParadimeShifts | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 19k | “No,” Steve had said three days prior. “Literally anyone else.”

i don't ask much (i just want you) by ToEdenandBackAgain | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 8k | "The fuck are you doing, Harrington?"

Deadwinter Warmth by Asidian | BG3 | Astarion/Karlach/Wyll | 4k | In the noble houses, Midwinter is a time of alliances, and Astarion knows better than anyone what that means.

Blood in the Snow by linaerys | Crimson Peak | Lucille/Thomas | 5k | Before the house, there was the earth, and the blood.

you gave up all the golden factories by evewithanapple | Anastasia | Anya/Dimitri | 3k | Two Petersburg childhoods.

A Private Room by 20thcenturyvole | The Goblin Emperor | Csethiro/Maia | 5k | One morning in late summer, ten months into the reign of Edrehasivar VII and four months into his marriage, the Emperor was apprised of a scandal brewing in his court when his wife upended her teacup at breakfast.

unintended consequence by itsmylifekay | One Piece | Zoro/Sanji | 8k | Imagine person A making person B a friendship bracelet, expecting person B to never wear it, but when it’s given to them person B puts it on and is rarely seen with it off.

our lady of zapovednik by magneticwave | Shadow and Bone | Darkling/Alina | 24k | Alina Oretsev owns a bookshop in a neighborhood in Os Alta that is escaping gentrification by the skin of its teeth and the sweat of its most notorious occupants, the Dregs.

just me against the sky by magneticwave | DC | Tim/Jason | 49k | Tim Drake stops stalking Gotham’s nocturnal wildlife when she goes to college. Unfortunately, they don’t return the favor.

DELIGHTFUL FANVIDS

November

Loki | God of The Multiverse

THE LAST OF US | Ellie Williams

Loki & Sylvie || Running Up That Hill (+2x06)

Spider-Gwen

The Beginning of the end. [COLLAB]

Loki || Glorious Purpose (God of Stories)

December

LOKI & SYLVIE | DYNASTY

Loki | The God of Stories

MARVEL || Believe in Me ft. Armanni Reign

DELIGHTFUL MUSIC

November

Now and Then - The Beatles

What Happens Tomorrow - Duran Duran

Vois sur ton chemin - BENNETT

could have been me - the struts

freya - christian reindl

history is now - natalie holt

purpose is glorious - natalie holt

have yourself a merry little christmas - mother mother

ice storm - lindsey stirling

December

my goodbye - jorge rivera-herrans

thus always to the tyrants - the oh hellos

a child's shadow - jessica curry

the power - borislav slavov

i believe - christina perry

dj play a christmas song- cher

paint it black - wednesday addams

my sails are set - sonya belousova

#heather says what #scrapbook #2023 #heather writes #recommendations

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irunaki · 1 year ago

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thank u for the tag :>

Last Song: rule #21- Momento Mori, Fish on a birdcage

Favourite Colour: i really like like yellowish green, but i love green and general, and all the other color in general xd

Currently watching: nothing

Last Movie: i think it was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End but im not sure

Currently readinng: just finished re-reading To Kill a Kingdom

Sweet/Spicy/Savoury: idk, i guess i like both sweet and savoury

Relationship Status: single since ive born

Current Obsession: My ocs, To Kill a Kindom (this will desapear fast), pirates and artemis fowl

Last Thing I Googled: "fancy old bathroom" for a drawing (yes, i use google for references instead of pinterest)

Currently Working On: My webcomic! :D

@ anyone who wants

nine people you’d like to get to know better

Tagged by ✨ @wingedarrows

Last Song: Song for my lost ghost friends, by Spellcasting

Favourite colour: Always a tricky one. Gold? Amber? Deep reddish purple? Amethyst? Carmine red? Opalescent? Beetle/magpie blue-green-purple is definitely up there.

Currently watching: A Surprising Amount Of Things

Last Movie: Not sure. An Indiana Jones movie but I don’t remember the title

Currently Reading: Starter Villain by John Scalzi. A lovely thing about an inherited supervillain business, super intelligent spy-cats, and unionised dolphins among other things!

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Sweet, definitely. Partial to savory otherwise, unfortunately weak to spice.

Relationship Status: Single Pringle baby! 🎉

Current Obsession: I Expect You To Die (video games) but like… specifically fan interpretations. Also my own characters on account of little scraps of affection thrown my way due to them

Last Thing I Googled: “libel”. ;)

Currently Working On: Procrastinating the Swedish project I shoulda finished already ✨ (as well as a variety of writings and bits and bobs of art that have yet to see the light of day)

Tagging: don’t feel it necessary to respond to this! @mantiswithlusciouslocks @cosmicandy525 @fourphoenixfeathers @lavalampstealer @flawnle @milkoftheflesh @wanderingstarghost and anyone else who wants to do it

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physicalturian · 4 years ago

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Why don’t you listen to me? Law x GN! Reader - Part 6

Spoilers for : Punk Hazard and Dressrosa arcs [No gender used for the reader, no physical description, everyone is +18] Words : 5386 Archive of our own Blood, exhaustion, fighting, violence, despair, blood, flirting, tension, hope If you feel like I should put more warnings, send me a DM or an ask

… Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Before hitting the ground, Luffy blew himself large enough for all of us to bounce on his belly but I was a bit off to the side. I tried to reach him, but couldn’t. In the seconds it took for me to reach the ground, I saw my life flashed before my eyes, I heard Law yell at Luffy who reacted in no time and enlarged his hand enough to grab me in time. I hit the pirate’s hand with a loud thud and apologized to him, quickly getting off of him, stumbling as I did so. My head was feeling dizzy but I couldn’t take a break, everything was only starting and I had to be there to help.

I could sit down for a bit, it wouldn’t hurt, right? As everyone debriefed, I walked up to Law and sat by him, in silence. He was the first to speak.

“Sometimes I think you’re deaf.” He stated.

“I’m not, if that’s any reassurance.” I told him off-handedly, licking my thumb to brush some dried blood from my arms. I looked like the main character of the movie Carrie after her prom, it was a real sight.

“Then it just means you’re an idiot-“

“Exactly, but guess what? I’m an idiot because you make poor choices, so I think it’s on you.” I said in a light tone. Being next to him alleviated some of the stress my body was feeling, it wasn’t a cure at all but a small part had left and it felt nice.

He was about to answer something witty, probably, when I saw pure fear in his eyes. “It’s started… the birdcage.” He said in a weak tone. I looked up at where he was looking and saw the strings, Doflamingo’s strings, reaching towards the sky only to fall back down somewhere far away. I listened carefully as he explained what was the Warlord planning and panic came rushing back in, I hated this. I hated him, this man was atrocious and we needed to get rid of him, I was not going to say no matter the cost… but considering what was going to happen if we did not take him down… I was willing to sacrifice a few things if it meant taking him down.

We started talking about what we should do, when we heard Doflamingo’s voice all across the country. I didn’t want to listen to him, I couldn’t bear to hear his stupid voice nor see his face, so I helped Law sit up off his seat and sat across from him. “If we lost the key, it’s on Luffy.” I stated as I rummaged through my pocket to find anything that could help unlocking the cuffs.

“You’re not going to be able to pick it, stop trying.” He said as a matter of fact, his hands tied behind his back.

“I’m starting to think you like being tied up, Law.” I said jokingly, grabbing his hands to take a look at the lock. I was surprised when his hands grabbed mine, but it wasn’t to stop me, it was to hold them.

I looked up at his back, confused. But didn’t let go, instead I smiled for a moment, tightening my grip on his hands. It must have made him realize what he was doing, because soon after, he let go and uttered my name in a scolding way.

“What? I’m checking the lock. Unlike you, I would rather have you free than chained up-“ I paused and moved back in front of him, grinning, “Or do I? You are much calmer like that, it’s also a sight really.” Stop talking, god stop talking. Is this what you call flirting? Why would you flirt with him? Stop it.

He raised a brow, the faintest smirk on his lips. “I’m only calm because I lost a lot of blood, but if you’d like I can start telling you how idiotic it is to be here when I told you countless times to get out of the Dressrosa.” His smug expression was replaced by some sort of disappointment, a tinge of frustration tainting his tone.

“Right, I’m the idiot, right. Remind me who got in a fight with a Warlord a lot earlier than planned-“

He frowned and leaned forward, his face closer to mine now, and gritted through his teeth, “For the information, I’m also a Warlord, I could have handled him- But you had to be there and make things worse.”

Tilting my head to the side, I quirked a brow, it was a bit painful to hear him say that if I hadn’t been there, he could have taken him down. I knew he wouldn’t have been able to, but part of me thought it was true. “I’m sorry to hear that, I’m sure the beating you took was for the show, right? That doesn’t look like handling well, to me. But I could be wrong.” I shrugged, giving him a deadly glare as I spoke.

He was taken aback and scoffed, “Why were you even there? Why did you not follow the plan? Are you trying to make me mad?” He asked.

“Uh, not everything revolves around you. I make mistakes, ever heard of that?” I said in a defensive tone before continuing in a lower one, “I lost Zoro and Luffy, so I thought I should find you at Green Bits.” I didn’t want to make him mad per say… All my actions just happened to not be what he wanted me to do. A loud sigh escaped his lips. For a moment he let his head hang low before lifting it once more and looking at me with what I could only describe as tenderness.

“How are your arms?” He asked.

“How are my- How are my arms? How is your stomach?! You got shot three times! Don’t mind me, how are you, let me-“ I ignored his complains and scooted closer, taking a look at his wounds. I was not professional, but it was a bit strange there wasn’t a lot of blood there. He told me he was fine, that he was managing it well and had a plan but I was still worried. “You look so bad, are you sure you’re fine?”

He nodded and explained how he had made it through, and what he was planning on doing to get rid of the bullets then paused and looked at me intently. “Show me yours arms, I can’t do anything right now but I have to know if it’s bad.” He explained in a gruffy tone.

Grumbling, I rolled up my sleeves and showed him my bloody arms. Most of it was dried blood, but some cuts were deeper than others, especially the knife wound. “It’s not that bad, it just a scratch really compared to what you’ve been through-“

“Press around the wounds, does it hurt?” He asked in all seriousness.

Chuckling, I said half-jokingly, “Well if I press it, of course it hurts-“ He gave me a deadly glare and said to just do it. So, I did, and winced, but hid it the best I could.

“You probably have an infection, just from looking at it it’s not good. You’re not going to lose an arm though. Go back to the Sunny and get it treated,” I saw what he was doing, but I was not going back to the Sunny until everyone was going back. This was not over.

“You almost had me there, but no. I’ll help Viola look for the key.” I said with a mischievous grin as I stood up. Law called out my name in a warning tone, and stood up too, he almost lost balance but caught himself and looked down at me with a frown.

I asked, “How does it feel to not have things go your way? I can see you’re a bit tensed there, Captain-“ I felt a tension built between us at the words, the small fight we had before coming here came rushing back to my mind but I tried my best to ignore it. Suddenly I felt a weight on my shoulder, Law was resting his head on it and let out a loud breath.

“Glad to know I’m still your Captain,” My breath hitched at the words, what did he mean by that? Hadn’t he told me to leave, was he regretting his words?

“As your Captain, I’ll ask but one thing…” I tensed at his words, was he going to tell me to go again? I didn’t want to leave, and I was not going to. “Since you don’t want to listen to me, then… Be careful, don’t try to come for me if things go to shit.”

I gasped and put a hand on his cheek to lift his head and look at him in confusion, “I wasn’t going to- more like, I… Hey it’s for Bepo and the team that I’m doing that. They don’t know that you’re being a complete idiot right now, you’re going to get killed-“ I shut up when he stared at me, not believing what I was saying. I felt my face heat up and looked askance, my hand falling back to my side.

“The only thing that can kill me is Luffy’s stupidity, not Doflamingo,” He paused. The silence made things a bit too intense to my taste. We both know he was wrong, but I played along, just this time.

Meeting his eyes once more, I couldn’t look away. The pull I’ve been feeling this whole time came back in a powerful way and I wanted to pull him down and kiss him, but I couldn’t. He seemed to be thinking of what to say, opening his mouth only to close it again. Instead of saying anything, he leaned in and pressed a kiss on my forehead before leaving and joining Luffy’s side. I stood there in shock, how come such a simple action could make me turn into such a mess? It did not alleviate my worry of him getting killed by Doflamingo, if he went to find him in such state, but it sent a weird feeling in my stomach.

I heard Luffy yell in determination, it was quickly followed by Law’s complaints and Zoro’s questioning. Turning around I saw the way he was carrying both men, like they were weightless, two bulky men under his shoulders. The sight was a funny one to see, even more so when I heard Law’s scream when Luffy threw himself, along with the others, towards the ground. Once they were out of sight, I exchanged a few words with Viola, offering her some help to find the key. She politely refused, saying she knew where to find it and she was going to bring it to them in time.

“Then, what do I do?” I asked her, pulling my sleeves down. Both her and the two other men made a thinking face, Kyros said he was going to help people in the centre of town and did just that. King Riku said he was going to join them but was told to stay here. According to Leo from the Tontatta, help was coming and since King Riku was there years ago when they were allies with the Tontatta Kingdom, Viola said he should stay, just for that. She then looked at me and gave me a small smile, “You should stay too-“

“Hey, I’m not royalty or anything like that, I don’t need to be put on the side.” I stated, straightening my back. For some reason the look she was giving me made me think of one of pity, I didn’t like it. So, I tried to look at confident as I could.

“Look at you, you’re bleeding all over. I see the way you wince when you move, you should rest.” She said politely. I didn’t need polite, I needed this to be over with. But being told I should rest, hit my pride, I didn’t know why. I wanted to be useful.

“Luffy and Law are in a state just as bad as mine, and they’re going for Joker.” I gritted through my teeth.

“But they’re fighters, from what I gathered your devil fruit is one of teleportation. Is that correct?” She asked softly.

“Yeah.” I simply replied. I had no idea where she was getting but I was willing to listen for now.

Humming she tore a part of her dress, there was an underskirt underneath which left her still fully dressed. Approaching me, she extended her arm, asking me to show my arms. And I did.

“Then we’ll need you to rest until the Tontattas arrive. Your power will be useful to evacuate the citizens.” She explained, all the while wrapping, the best she could, the fabric around my wounds. I don’t know if it was going to be of any help, but I let her do it. When she stopped, she held my arms and looked at me fondly.

“King Riku, my dad… He’ll need a lot of help; He cares for his people. He can lead them, but he can’t save them all on his own. Please help his people, our people- we’ll need all the help we can get.”

Sighing, I supposed it was all that I could do. I was not looking for greatness, I was not looking to take down Emperors and Warlords, I just wanted to stay alive. And maybe I wanted my Captain to stay alive… if only to tell him how I felt. How egotistical was that? Moving my arms to hold her hands just for a moment, I nodded.

“Alright, but please find the key. Bring the key back to Law, if he stays chained up, he won’t survive and- and I don’t know what I’d do if he…” I couldn’t even finish that sentence, my breath hitched at the mere thought of him dying and I couldn’t bare it.

A soft giggle left the woman’s lips and she tightened her hands around mine for a second before letting go. “I’ll bring him the key, but don’t worry, I’m sure he wants to stay alive just as much as you want him to be.” I’m sure she meant something more from those words, but I ignored it and laughed.

“No, no. You don’t get it… He’s ready to die out there, and that’s what worries me.” I let out a shaky breath, but grinned tiredly, “If you see him, tell him he’s a fucking idiot and I’ll be waiting for him to come back, that- the crew is waiting for us at Zou wait no that’s too much, just tell him he’s an idiot.” I closed my eyes a moment, reflection on what I had said.

Right, an idiot but an idiot I’m worried about. An idiot that had no sense of self-preservation. An idiot that was willing to go down swinging if it meant fulfilling someone else’s will. But fuck, it was an idiot I loved.

Looking back at the princess, I nodded, “Right, right. Well, good luck with the key.” She thanked me and took off the moment we were done. I was left in the company of an old King who was believed to be dead as we waited for the Tontattas to arrive.

I didn’t know him, he did not know me, it was fair to say the mood was very awkward up until other people arrived. Viola returned after a while, and Usopp from the Straw Hat arrived too. I think I may have dozed off at some point, I did not know how, because I did not hear him arrive. However, I heard him scream when he saw the two Samurais. Then chaos ensued. I couldn’t quite follow their conversation; They were worried about someone name Manshelly but I did not know who it was except that she was very important to the Tontattas.

I tried to close my eyes once more, to rest, but it didn’t sit right with me. I wanted to move, do something. Which is what I did when I heard Viola say that Sugar was awake and that she had seen how things would happen in two minutes if we didn’t do anything. Usopp said he knew what to do, but as much as my Captain trusted the Straw-Hat crew, I had not fought with them. They owed us nothing, I did not owe them anything either. And if both Captains’ fate depended on one man, I did not want to bet everything on it. So, I jumped off the platform we were on and started making my way towards the castle, my jumps weren’t as far as they could be from one point to another but I tried to get there as fast as I could.

When I left everyone, I think I heard Viola called out my name but I ignored it, or tried to, at least, she was pretty insistent.

It’s only when it was far too late for me to turn around, that I realized I wouldn’t get there in time. I stopped dead in my track and looked up at the castle, letting a frustrated groan escape my lips as I fell to my knees. I felt like all I was doing was running around, a pointless repetition of actions that lead me to nothing. I was fucking useless.

Still staring at the sky, I saw something fly through and crash through one of the castle’s window. I could only hope it was Usopp’s plan and that it had work because at this point, I was too disheartened to go on. But screams were echoing around me, people running around, for their lives even though nothing much was happening yet.

Swearing under my breath, I placed my hands on my knees to catch my breath and sighed before turning around and making my way towards the extremities of the birdcage. On my way there, I bumped into many people, most of them were running away from the deadly sharpness of the birdcage. I let the healthy people run and helped out the one who seemed to have a harder time, or those who tumbled. I couldn’t carry many people at once, at best two or three but I was going to make a difference no matter what. The idea was to steal as much time, while keeping as many people alive, right?

I didn’t have to do much else, but run around once more. “Oh, fucking hilarious.” I thought out loud as I helped an old lady who had tripped. She looked up at me, curious and I gave her a curt smile and apologized for swearing before dropping her at a far distance from the bars of the birdcage. I did that for a long time, I did not see time fly by, not that I had any way of keeping track of it.

At some point, people joined in and started helping putting others to safety, from what I overheard they were helping in the name of King Riku. I was grateful for the help, even more so when I heard a loud crash coming from the castle.

Looking towards the building, I made sure the person in my arms was stable and stared directly in the direction of the crash. Very, very slowly, the corner of the castle slid off. Then I saw, from afar, two forms in the air. Taking a good look, I couldn’t hide the fear on my face. Someone must have seen me and understood, since I heard them say that I should go, they were handling everything. I didn’t see who it was, I was too distraught by the sight of Law hanging in the air by Doflamingo’s hands, as I started running towards the castle. I bumped into someone who held me in place for a moment before scurrying off. Not paying them any mind, I thought, I was closer than before but it was never enough, was it?

Seeing the scene from afar I was wondering where was Luffy, why was Law alone against Doflamingo? Sure, both were warlords but there was clearly a different in level between them, not that Law would ever admit it. He was too stubborn for that. I was too low on the ground to see what was going on up there, I couldn’t run and stare at the sky at the same time but when I did one last time, I saw Doflamingo raise his foot just like he did when he was going to take down the soldier. Except he was doing it on Law this time, he did not hesitate to slam it down his arm.

My heart caught in my throat and I kept running forward, bumping into people as I did so and ignoring fights, I could not participate in. Don’t do it, don’t do it, please let him live. Don’t do it. My legs were starting to feel shaky, I had to yell at myself to keep going. Exhaustion was taking a toll on me, exhaustion and stress, pure panic too. I couldn’t read lips, and even if I did, I couldn’t see well enough what was being said but I think there was a scowl on Law’s face. Now is not the time to be bitter, I thought, but I didn’t think too long on it and kept running.

He was in no state to take a beating, he had bullet wounds that needed healing. He took a beating right on the bridge, he was locked with Prism stone cuffs not too long ago. If he was to take a hit as strong as Joker’s, he wouldn’t get out of it alive, I just knew it. If he- I did not have time to finish my thought that Doflamingo pushed his leg, he slammed it into Law’s arm as he held him high in the air.

Then they were both crashing down.

I was close enough to hear to agonizing screams of my Captain.

My heart broke. It felt like a physical pain so much it hurt. He could still be alive, right? I paid attention to the moans of pain but soon enough, they stopped. No, no, he’s still alive, right? “The vivre card! I need- I need to see, if- no, not if, he’s doing great, he’s okay, he’s alright.” Patting the outside of my pockets, I desperately tried to hear the scrunching noise of paper in it only to hear nothing. “Fuck off, don’t- it’s in there, I know it.” I muttered, and pulled my pockets out, they were now upside down and out. “No, no, come on!! Come! On!!!” I cried out, my voice was hoarse but I did not realize it, I couldn’t hear much. My head was filled with a mantra, a hopeless attempt to believe he was alive.

Everything was leading to him being gone. If I did not have his vivre card, it meant it was used up, it meant he was, “Dead…” falling to my knees, I hit the ground and starting hitting with my full strength, hurting the side of my fists in the process. “Fuck!” I didn’t stop until I felt content, repeating over and over that I should have told him it was madness, I kept swearing, letting out all my frustration. The dread of the birdcage was forgotten, all I could think about was his body lying on the ground, motionless.

I jumped when I heard gunshots and paused, staring at my bloody fists. This was it. This was the only remaining proof that I needed to be sure he was gone. I scoffed, feeling gross from the running tears on my cheeks and the dripping blood from my hands. I couldn’t feel anything and yet felt soreness all over my body. I couldn’t keep pushing on, I couldn’t do anything.

I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t be of use. I couldn’t even get a hold of myself. I couldn’t fight.

I tried to tell myself that it was not the time for self-pity. I tried to shove away in the depth of my mind what I had just seen, to erase that scene from my memory but I couldn’t. I was going to sneak off to some other place, quieter, where I could gather my thoughts when I felt myself being thrown away by an explosion.

The only thing that caught my fall was glass debris under myself, and onto my hands. The strength of the blow came from Luffy and Joker’s fight. I was going to get up when I heard a loud sound. Looking around, I gasped, squinting my eyes, “Is it… moving? You must be shitting me…” I uttered; my voice shaky as I looked at the birdcage. Observing long enough, I came to the conclusion that it was indeed moving and sighed. Seconds after, I remembered that if it was closing on itself, people might be in danger. My body was telling me to stop, to get away, but people needed help.

I had to ignore my own stupid feelings and help them, I couldn’t stay here, even less so considering the intensity of the fight that was happening up there.

But I couldn’t reason with how I felt. I felt heavy, not from fatigue but from knowing I had lost him. There was no going back, I would have to survive and go back to Zou to announce everyone I had failed. I had promised to look over him, I had promised to them and to myself, but I failed.

Dusting off everything off my form, I stumbled when trying to stand up but held my ground. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing but I could ignore it and hold back my sobs. Maybe I could replace this sadness when something helpful… like, anger, anger was nice.

Looking up I could see Luffy fighting and something sparked in my chest, it was because of him that Law was taken down. Where was he when my Captain was being held so high above the ground, he probably went rushing into danger as expected and ruined everything- “Everyone!! Get out of here!” I heard someone call out, it interrupted my inner monologue but perhaps was it for the good. I did not want to get mad at Luffy even though I still wanted to. Just a bit.

I looked around to see why did they want to move so desperately, but I did not have to wonder long. Fast enough, or was it fast? I don’t know how long I stood on that same spot, no one around me, but now I had to get moving. Fast enough, Doflamingo came crashing down somewhere in town. I almost lost balance at the quake it sent through the ground when his body smashed into the ground with full force from Luffy’s blow.

For a second I thought it was over, but as I approached the place where the Celestial Demon had fallen, I could see he was grinning. His fingers moving. Was it not enough? He looked so bad, he seemed in an ever worst state than I think I was and yet he was still up for more. Slowly, he stood up and I was not going to stay there long enough to see him standing, I couldn’t waste more time here.

As I ran away from the Celestial asshole, I almost got ran over my Luffy’s bouncing form. I used the little energy I had and teleported out of his collusion course. I could hear their fight going on, and hear it finish too. That’s when I stopped in my tracks and turned around, there lied on the floor the body of the Straw-Hat captain. Luffy, on the floor? Luffy, was defeated? I reacted out of instinct and teleported to his body, calling out his name.

“Luffy! Luffy get your ass back up, Mingo is still alive.” I shook him, at least tried to. His only response was to tell me he needed ten minutes. But we did not have ten minutes. I didn’t tell him that, fortunately someone had more trust in him than I did. He was dressed like a gladiator; I did not know where he came from but he helped Luffy onto his back and said we’d get him ten minutes.

Watching them go away, I called out, “I’ll-“ no it’s stupid, but stupid and improbable is what we need right now. “I’ll try to stall him! Even if I need to get him to the highest point and throw him off of it myself!!” I screamed from the top of my lungs.

Shuffling to my feet, I couldn’t teleport yet, I had no energy but I did start running to where Doflamingo was. He was a bit far away, but when I reached him, he was stumbling but still threateningly-so. In front of him, I could see the form Viola, she was standing right in front of him and took her cape off, showing her daggers.

I winced, highly doubting the damage she could do on a Warlord with simple daggers, then she started attacking. It was beautiful to watch, it was almost like she was dancing. When she went for his face, I smiled. The smile on my face did not stay long when Joker was now right behind her and he kicked her to the ground. I was surprised to hear a voice not far away and turned towards it. There was a girl with pink hair standing there, horrified to see Viola on the ground.

Looking back at the seer, she was rising from the floor, her hands behind her back. It was not from her free will that she was doing so, Doflamingo was pulling literal strings. “Hey asshole!!” Why did I call him out? He hadn’t seen me but now he knew I was there. Great way to use surprise as a way to get him. “You. You’re still alive. Ah, well, don’t worry. You’ll join Law soon enough,” He shrugged and moved his fingers, but I teleported out of his reach. I had to be able to get him one way or another, but since I got out of his reach, he attacked the pink-haired girl instead.

I heard Viola call her ‘Rebecca’, and calling her she did. She was trying to reassure the girl who now had her sword raised, I was confused at first until I saw the tears running down her face. She wasn’t in control; she was being manipulated by the blond fuck. I was trying to come up with a solution, anything, but I hardly believed those strings were cuttable nor did I have anything to cut them. But maybe by bringing his attention back on me, I could at least stall him or distract him.

So, I jumped from my spot, onto his back just like last time. He groaned and unlike last time, I did not have the strength the play rodeo and hold onto him for dear’s life. I was weakened, and couldn’t keep up with him. Grabbing me by the throat he lifted me, still manipulating the two women. “When will you learn to stay in your fucking place?” He grunted before slamming me into the ground.

A loud huff was all that escaped my lips, I couldn’t move anyway. The ground suddenly felt comfortable. The conversation that was happening in front of me was muffled, I couldn’t understand what they were saying but as Rebecca held back from making her way to Viola, Doflamingo was grinning. He was happy from all of this, but it didn’t last long.

The moment Rebecca was about to strike down Viola, the latter was replaced by Luffy- what? How did he get there? I was agape at what had been displayed in front of me, trying to comprehend. The only person I knew could do that was- “Law?” I sobbed in hope. Looking around to catch a glimpse of him, I felt desperate, I felt stupid. He was not here anymore, they somewhat managed to switched place- There he is. On the roof of that building.

[Part 7]

#trafalgar one piece #trafalgardwaterlaw #trafalgar law #one piece trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #one piece x reader #law one piece #law x reader #law x gn reader #why don't you listen to me #wdyltm #ao3 #writer #writings #fanfiction #ao3 writer #physicalturian #op x reader #reader

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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Hulu New Releases: June 2021

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Hulu’s list of new releases for June 2021 is highlighted by a host of useful library titles and one fascinating original film.

The original film in question is the one that lends its delightful photo of Pierce Brosnan delivering a baby to this post. False Positive stars and was written by Ilana Glazer (Broad City). It sounds like a really fun, creepy time with a synopsis that reads: “After months of trying and failing to get pregnant, Lucy (Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) finally find their dream fertility doctor in the illustrious Dr. Hindle (Pierce Brosnan). But after becoming pregnant with a healthy baby girl, Lucy begins to notice something sinister through Hindle’s gleaming charm, and she sets out to uncover the unsettling truth about him, and her own “birth story.” Cool!

Hulu’s other original offerings aren’t too inspiring this month. Only Love, Victor season 2 on June 11 moves the needle much. If you count “FX on Hulu” as Hulu then June 17 sees the arrival of Dave season 2. Dave was one of TV’s best surprises last year and it’s nice to have it back.

After those two, it’s just a bunch of library titles. Thankfully, those library titles are fairly intriguing. Arachnophobia, The Dark Knight, Kick-Ass, and Slumdog Millionaire all premiere on June 1. Willy’s Wonderland, featuring Nic Cage’s battle against animatronic puppets, arrives on June 13.

Here is everything else coming to Hulu this month.

Hulu New Releases – June 2021

June 1 CHANGING THE GAME: Documentary Premiere (Hulu Original) American Ninja Warrior: Season 13 Premiere (NBC) Housebroken: Series Premiere (FOX) Small Fortune: Complete Season 1 (NBC) 50/50 (2011) A Most Wanted Man (2014) A Perfect Day (2006) A Prayer For The Dying (1987) The Adventures of Tintin (2011) Across The Universe (2007) Alive (1993) Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (2004) Anaconda 3: Offspring (2008) Anacondas: Trail Of Blood (2009) Arachnophobia (1990) Batman Begins (2005) The Big Chill (1983) The Birdcage (1997) Black And White (2000) The Blair Witch Project (1999) The Blair Witch Project: Book of Shadows (2000) Bloody Sunday (2002) Blue Streak (1999) The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009) Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star (2011) Charlotte’s Web (1973) The Company You Keep (2013) Conviction (2010) Convicts (1991) Convoy (1978) The Cookout (2004) The Dark Knight (2008) Desperate Measures (1998) Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005) Dragonfly (2002) Driven (2001) El Dorado (1967) Face/Off (1997) The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) The Full Monty (1997) Fun in Acapulco (1963) Gamer (2009) Get Smart (2008) Hanging Up (2000) Hud (1963) The Hustler (1961) Jennifer 8 (1992) Jennifer’s Body (2009) Just Wright (2009) Kick-Ass (2010) Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2000) Last Chance Harvey (2008) The Last House on the Left (2009) Little Women (1994) The Long Goodbye (1973) The Love Letter (1999) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Once Upon A Crime… (1992) Ordinary People (1980) Places In The Heart (1984) Primary Colors (1998) Revolutionary Road (2008) Richie Rich (1994) Rules of Engagement (2000) Sabrina (1995) Savage State (2021) Saving Silverman (2001) Scorpio (1973) Silence (2016) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) The Soloist (2009) Some Girls (1988) Something’s Gotta Give (2003) Soul Survivors (2001) Still Waiting (2009) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) Switchback (1997) The Time Machine (2002) To Die For (1995) The Upside (2017) Vanity Fair (2004) Waiting… (2005) Walking Tall (1973) Wayne’s World 2 (1993) Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) Wilde (1998) Wings Of Courage (1995) Witless Protection (2008) Young Adult (2011) June 2 America’s Got Talent: Season 16 Premiere (NBC) June 3 MasterChef: Season 11 Premiere (FOX) A Glitch in the Matrix (2020) Night of the Kings (2021) June 4 The New York Times Presents: New Episode (FX on Hulu) Beat Shazam: Season 4 Premiere (FOX) June 5 Emergency Call: Season 2 Premiere (ABC) Rams (2021) June 7 Celebrity Family Feud: Season 7 Premiere (ABC) The Chase: Season 2 Premiere (ABC) To Tell the Truth: Season 7 Premiere (ABC) June 8 The Bachelorette: Season 17 Premiere (ABC) Legion Of Brothers (2017) June 9 The Croods: A New Age (2020) June 10 Trolls: TrollsTopia: Complete Season 3 (Hulu Original) Card Sharks: Season 3 Premiere (ABC) Trust (2021) Two of Us (2019) June 11 Love, Victor: Season 2 Premiere (Hulu Original) Real Housewives of Potomac: Complete Season 5 (Bravo) Come True (2021) June 13 Dragonheart (1996) Dragonheart: A New Beginning (2000) Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’S Curse (2014) Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire (2017) Not Fade Away (2012) Willy’s Wonderland (2021) June 14 Rūrangi: Complete Season 1 (The Yellow Affair)

June 15 Accused: Guilty or Innocent?: Complete Season 1 (A&E) Alone: Complete Season 7 (A&E) Alone: The Beast: Complete Season 1 America Our Defining Hours: Complete Season 1 (A&E) The Celebrity Dating Game: Complete Season 1 (ABC) Dance Moms: Complete Season 8 (A&E) Duck Dynasty: Complete Season 3 (A&E) Forged in Fire: Complete Season 7 (A&E) Hoarders: Complete Season 11 (A&E) Married at First Sight: Complete Season 11 (A&E) Mountain Men: Complete Season 6 (A&E) Swamp People: Complete Season 11 (A&E) The UnXplained with William Shatner: Complete Season 1B (A&E) Born to Play (2020) Gone Girl (2014) Her Deadly Sugar Daddy Her Name Is Chef (2020) Michael Smerconish: Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Talking (2020) Nasrin (2020) The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2020) The Outside Story (2021) Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate (2020) (Lifetime) June 17 DAVE: Season 2 Premiere (FX on Hulu) Phobias (2021) June 18 Holey Moley 3D in 2D: Season 3 Premiere (ABC) The Hustler: Season 2 Premiere (ABC) When Nature Calls: Series Premiere (ABC) June 20 The Guilt Trip (2012) June 21 Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Seasons 2 & 3 (Food Network) Worst Cooks In America: Complete Season 4 (Food Network) Backyard Builds: Complete Seasons 1 – 4 (Corus) Big Bucket Food List: Complete Season 1 – 2 (Corus) Family Home Overhaul: Complete Season 1 (Corus) Farmhouse Facelift: Complete Season 1 (Corus) Home to Win: Complete Seasons 1 – 3 (Corus) Home to Win for the Holidays: Complete Season 1 (Corus) Jr. Chef Showdown: Complete Seasons 1 – 2 (Corus) Save My Reno: Complete Seasons 1 – 4 (Corus) Hot Market: Complete Season 1 (Corus) Wall of Chefs: Complete Season 1 (Corus) Hostiles (2017) June 22 Monster Trucks (2017) June 23 College Bowl: Series Premiere (NBC) Motherland: Fort Salem: Season 2 Premiere (Freeform) June 24 An American Haunting (2006) June 25 FALSE POSITIVE (2021) (Hulu Original) Making It: Season 3 Premiere (NBC) June 26 The Choe Show: Series Premiere (FX) June 27 Safer at Home (2021) June 29 Bratz : The Movie (2007) Harvie & The Magic Museum (2021) June 30 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) Jack Reacher (2012) The Sweet Life (2016)

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Leaving Hulu – June 2021

June 4 Intrigo: Dear Agnes (2019) June 5 The Appearance (2018) June 11 Intrigo: Samaria (2019) LA 92 (2020) June 17 Identity (2003) June 30 28 Days Later (2003) 50 First Dates (2004) A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) A Night at the Roxbury (1998) A Prayer For The Dying (1987) A Simple Plan (1998) A Storks Journey (2017) The Birdcage (1997) Blue Streak (1999) Brooklyn’s Finest (2010) Bug (2007) Bulworth (1998) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) Changeling (2008) Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin’ (1983) Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009) Convicts (1991) Convoy (1978) The Core (2003) The Devil’s Double (2011) Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009) Die Hard (1988) Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000) Face/Off (1997) The Foot Fist Way (2008) Frankie & Alice (2014) The Full Monty (1997) Garden State (2004) Get Smart (2008) Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) Guess Who (2005) Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) I Am Legend (2007) Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000) Junior (1994) Knowing (2009) Little Women (1994) Live Free Or Die Hard (2007) The Long Goodbye (1973) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) Monster’s Ball (2001) Mystery Science Theatre (1996) Napoleon Dynamite (2004) New in Town (2009) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) The Ninth Gate (1999) Once Upon A Crime… (1992) Pandorum (2009) Paycheck (2003) The Polar Express (2004) The Preacher’s Wife (1996) The Princess Bride (1987) Ramona and Beezus (2009) Revolutionary Road (2008) Rio (2011) Salt (2010) The Sandlot (1993) Saving Silverman (2001) Scary Movie 4 (2006) Scorpio (1973) Sex And The City (2008) Sex And The City 2 (2010) Shirley Valentine (1989) Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) Some Girls (1988) Something’s Gotta Give (2003) Soul Plane (2004) The Sum of All Fears (2002) Thirst (2009) Vantage Point (2008) Vertical Limit (2000) Walking Tall (1973) War (2007) The Wedding Planner (2001) Where the Heart Is (2000)

The post Hulu New Releases: June 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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jarmes · 5 years ago

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Birdcage Chapter XIII

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Mistakes, or: the story told at dinner

A few days after the night we stood waiting for Camazotz to attack, the Knights gathered at the palace to receive a speech from the king. Only the bare minimum Knights were left guarding the wall. The Squads stood in lines in front of the castle. Our line was the shortest.

King Tasciovanus walked out onto a balcony overlooking the crowd. His two retainers, Johnson and Reynolds, stood behind him. The Knights bowed when we saw our King. He smiled and began his speech.

“A few nights ago marked the tenth anniversary of the great purge,” he said in a hollow voice. “Each and every one of you, I would wager, lost someone on that fateful day. I personally lost my dear wife Dietlinde. Our hearts, torn asunder by that fateful day, have beaten as one ever since.”

“We have spent much of the past decade cowering in fear, waiting for the next evil to threaten our great Kingdom,” the King continued. “Many of us feared the return of the vampire wars. But, the anniversary of his latest death passed without incident. Allies of ours in the Southern Seas have confirmed that the fortress on Mist Spire Island is empty. The Vampire King is dead, for good this time. Now we can start to move on.”

The King stepped back, and Firebrand Johnson took his place. “Okay, here’s the deal,” Johnson said as he took the stage. “After the Abrumian Crusade, we decided realized we didn’t have enough manpower to survive another large scale military operation. We’ve spent the last six years hidden behind these walls, stockpiling men and resources. In doing so, we made ensured Cieleta would survive in the event the Vampire King returned.”

“Holding back has come with its own problems,” Firebrand continued. “The treasury is nearly empty. Worse, we still haven’t reclaimed any of the land lost in the Purge. We don’t have enough farmland to provide for our citizens, and have been forced to buy food from other nations. At first, this wasn’t an issue; but, like I said, the treasury is empty now. We estimate that we can survive for another six months before we run out of food. Now that we know we Camazotz isn’t going to be a problem, we can use our military might to fix this problem”

“Enter the Reclamation Project, a plan to begin reclaiming the world outside these walls. Our first target is Stonecage, a mining town on the border of the Naitumon Mountains. The tunnels beneath Stonecage are rich in gold, iron, magic crystals, things that can save Cieleta. If we can reclaim Stonecage and set up a safe route between it and the Capital, our troubles will be over.”

“We’re sending a large expedition team, comprised of approximately half of the Knights, to Stonecage in three weeks. Captains will be informed in advance if their Squads will be needed. Preparations will begin immediately.”

We discussed development as soon as we returned to the barracks. “A journey outside the wall, to reclaim a fallen city and save the Kingdom,” Cas said. “It sounds-”

“Insanely dangerous,” Pollux interjected.

“I was going to say exciting, but I guess you aren’t wrong.”

“I’m not too worried about the Reclamation Project,” Sterling said. “Lest you forget, we’re considered by many to be the weakest Squad. Someone has to stay behind and handle wall duty. Don’t be surprised when that’s us.”

“We aren’t that pathetic,” I said. “We managed to put up a pretty good fight against that Eric guy.”

“Correction, we managed to survive long enough to watch that Eric guy run away,” Sterling said.

I strapped my sword to my back, preparing for a shift guarding the gate. “Hey Ernest, you up for a round of sparring tonight?” Pollux asked.

“Can’t. I have dinner with my grandfather once a month. Otherwise, he worries,” I said.

“Your grandfather, the vampire slayer?” Cas asked.

I shrugged. “I guess,” I said.

“It must be awesome, having someone so cool as a grandpa,” Cas said. “I bet he tells you all sort of cool stories.”

I rolled my eyes. “There’s a finite amount of stories Grandfather knows. I lived with him for ten years. It gets old after a while,” I said.

“Poor you, having a loving family member who wants to spend time with you,” Pollux snarked. “It sounds unbelievably horrible.”

“If you want, you guys can come along and meet him for yourself,” I said.

“I’d love to!” Cas said.

“Don’t be so intrusive,” Pollux shouted while elbowing in his brother in the ribs. “Ernest deserves to spend time alone with his family if he wants to.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t want to come,” Cas shot back.

“I mean, I do, but I’m not going to be pushy about it,” Pollux muttered.

“Really, it isn’t any trouble,” I said. “Sterling, do you want to come?”

“I mean, if everyone else is going, I suppose I could stop by,” he said.

That evening, the four of us showed up at Grandfather’s house. Anna answered the door. She eyed us over for a minute before turning and shouting. “Grandpa, Ernest and his friends are here!” she yelled.

“Distract our guests for a few minutes while I finish dinner!” Grandpa shouted back.

Anna stood in the doorway, not moving or saying anything. “I’m, uh, Castor,” Cas said. “It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

“Anna,” she replied.

“Can we come in?” Pollux asked.

“I don’t know, can you?” Anna asked.

I shoved past Anna, leading my friends into my old home. “Welcome to our house,” I said. “It isn’t much, but it’s home.”

Pollux and Castor looked side, at walls covered in hanging paintings of monsters. “Interesting interior decorating,” Pollux muttered.

“Grandpa paints a lot,” Ernest said. “It helps him with his nightmares.”

“Speaking of nightmares,” Anna said. “Ernest used to-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” I shouted.

“Ernest used to get really bad nightmares,” Anna said. “Like, wake up with soaking sheets every night level of bad nightmares.”

“Anna, you’re embarrassing me,” I muttered.

A few minutes later, Grandfather came out with several dishes full of food and a large bottle of ale. “Sorry if there isn’t enough food for you boys,” he said. “The prices have been a bit high recently.”

“It’s more than enough, sir,” Cas said.

We all sat down and dug into the food. Anna ate in her room. “Now, I know Ernest pretty well and I met MacDonald a few months ago, but I haven’t been properly introduced to you two,” Grandfather said while taking a sip of ale.

“I’m Pollux and my brother’s Cas,” Pollux said.

“I thought you two looked alike,” Grandfather said. “How do you like being a part of Squad V?”

“It’s great, sir,” Cas said.

“You know, I was the Captain of Squad V for a number of years. I could tell you a few stories from the good old days, if you’d like.”

“We would like that very much, sir.”

“Okay, here’s a good one for you,” Grandfather said, beginning a story I’d heard a dozen times before. “My Squad and I were traveling between the islands surrounding the Vampire King’s base, Mist Spire Island, when a magical fog surrounded our boat. We couldn’t see five feet in front of us. That’s when it struck.”

“A large bat-like creature, with massive black wings and pointed teeth, descended on our boat, picking us off one by one,” Grandfather continued. “Calvin did his best to keep us safe, but it wasn’t enough. The beast with too quick, and the fog kept us from seeing it as it flew by.”

“What did you do?” Cas asked.

“I closed my eyes and waited. As the beast drew close, I heard the sound its wings made as it glided through the air. With a single swing, I cleaved the beast in two, saving my Squad.”

“Wow, you’re so cool, Mr. Zuckerman,” Cas said. “I hope I can be like you when I’m older.”

“Don’t worry, kid, your story is just beginning. I’m sure there’re great things in your future” Grandfather said. “For example, I heard that Calvin hired you two after you helped Ernest and MacDonald fight off a dark mage.”

“I mean, Ernest and Sterling did most of the work,” Cas said.

Shortly afterward, we heard a knock on the door. We opened it to find Captain Cross, with a dark look on his face. “Hello Jim, might I come in and talk to my Squad?” Cross asked.

“Of course, Calvin. Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Grandfather said.

“I can stay, but I’m afraid I may ruin your meal with bad news,” Cross said. “I just finished up a meeting with the other officers about the Reclamation Project.”

“So, are we going to Stonecage?” Pollux asked.

“Firebrand Johnson requested that I personally go along, due to the defensive capabilities of my verse, while you four stay here and continue watching the gate,” Cross said. “Of course, I told them that I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my Squad alone, especially after what happened eight months ago.”

“So we aren’t going to Stonecage?” Pollux asked.

“Well, the thing is, Firebrand may have misinterpreted my request,” Cross said. “He decided to send all four of us to Stonecage.”

The reaction to this was mixed. Excitement from me and Cas, worry from Cross and Pollux, and a mix from Grandfather. Sterling stayed silent. “Don’t worry, James, I’ll ensure that these boys stay safe during the Stonecage mission,” Cross said. “Ernest, Castor, Pollux, and Sterling are under my protection.”

“Sterling, that’s MacDonald, right?” Grandfather asked. “You know, I must’ve heard someone call him Sterling sometime before now, but it only just clicked in my head. Your name is Sterling MacDonald, isn’t it?”

“It is, sir,” Sterling muttered.

“I’ve heard of a knight named Sterling MacDonald. You wouldn’t happen to be him, would you?” Grandfather asked.

“Depends on which Sterling MacDonald you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about the one that received a lot of attention ten years ago. The one that became a Captain at the age of nineteen.”

“Wait, Sterling was a Captain?” Cas asked.

“Are you the Sterling MacDonald I’m thinking of?” Grandfather asked.

“I am,” Sterling said quietly.

“I thought so. You’re the infamous traitor, aren’t you?” Grandfather said.

“That’s quite enough, James,” Cross said.

“What’s he talking about, Sterling?” Cas asked. “What does he mean, the infamous traitor?”

“If you’d stop interrupting, maybe we’d find out,” Pollux said.

Sterling stood up. “I think it would be best if I left, Mr. Zuckerman,” he said. “Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

“Sterling, wait,” I said.

Sterling walked away, ignoring me. The door slammed behind him. I turned back to Grandfather. “What was that?” I asked.

“Your friend never told you about his past, did he?” Grandfather asked.

“I don’t care about his past,” I said. “Sterling’s my friend. He’s saved my life on multiple occasions.”

“Doesn’t really wipe away the people he doomed though, does it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know you know a lot about the Purge, Ernest. Did you ever hear about the Dark Duo’s inside man who helped them pull it off? What if I were to tell you that Sterling was that inside man?”

Cross slammed his fist down on the table. “That is enough, Jim,” he said. “If you have problems with MacDonald, take them up with me. I hired him because I trust him and know he’s a good man. I don’t know what kind of rumors you’ve heard, but I assure you, they’re false.”

Grandfather glanced at his bottle of ale and sighed. “Maybe I’ve had a little too much to drink,” he muttered.

I left after that. I found Sterling sitting on top of the wall, looking out over the empty plains. “Hey,” I said as I climbed up.

“Hey,” Sterling said.

“When we first met, you said that you made some mistakes when you were younger and ruined your reputation,” I said.

Sterling sighed. “It’s a long story,” he said.

“I’ve got time.”

Sterling looked at the night sky for a moment. “It’s a full moon tonight,” he said. “That’s funny. It was a full moon on the night before the Purge, too.”

“Grandfather said you were responsible for the Purge. Is that true?”

“The magic, the planning, the execution, I wasn’t a part of that. But I played my roll in it, I suppose.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

“The purge didn’t begin as a hurricane. It started with the flapping of a single butterfly’s wings, that grew into a nightmare. The King’s dead wife, Dietlinde, she belonged to a bloodline containing powerful magic. Black and Darkholme sacrificed her to begin the Purge.”

“And your role in all this?”

“Back then, I was a novice Captain. The queen was doing a tour of the Kingdom, visiting various villages damaged by the raids. My Squad was put in charge of guarding her. The night before the Purge, a mercenary hired by Darkhomle attacked us on the open road. I was the only member of my Squad he spared.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered.

“After the Purge, the King didn’t take kindly to my survival,” Sterling said. “A lot of people thought I betrayed the Knights, that my survival was a gift from Darkholme for my cooperation. The King wanted to execute me for my crimes. Calvin, an old friend of mine, stopped him.”

“Did you betray the Knights?”

“Do you count failure as an act of betrayal?”

I placed my hand on Sterling’s. “Do you remember what I told you, when we woke up in the hospital? I told you that I’d help you restore your reputation,” I said. “I’m not about to break that pact because of a few mistakes.”

“You’re a good man, Ernest. You deserve better than me.”

#writing #fantasy

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hisoillu-prompts · 6 years ago

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Really long: Dragon AU

(sorry about paragraphs that seem rambly, this was me throwing ideas together. A fic that I was going to write but never got to it but it NEEDS to be made)

In which Hisoka is a dragon that terrorizes the kingdom of the Zoldycks, stealing livestock from farms, burning down towns, and killing all of their strongest warriors, including the ones sent to kill him. A truly fearsome beast indeed.

They try to arrange for like a meeting with him but he doesnt show up the first time. Of course, the Zoldycks get pissed and Kikyo would throw a fit because how dare that vile creature, but they would call him again and again and just out of one part boredom and one part annoyance, hisoka would show up. Of course, despite how irritated they are, the two heads(most Silva since Kikyo is still internally fuming) would try to negotiate. But although interested in the gold they offered, Hisoka declines everything(as he does what he does for entertainment).

They ask him what he wants. He seems to think for a bit before asking for the whole household to gather in front of him. After looking, he picks killuia(that white haired kid of yours) since he thought he'll be the strongest/have the most potential(so they can fight lol). He doesnt really notice Illumi because he was kinda in a corner and is basically a shadow(as always), but Kikyo offers up illumi instead(he's my oldest[son]) because of course Hisoka cant take the heir- and Hisoka is would just be like 'eh sure he should be pretty strong too' and decides to let killuia 'ripen'.

-a kinda transgression by having it sort of from the servants point of view? like 'the eldest prince, Illumi, was very...strange, even in his particularly weird family. (Mention how he was like robot, empty dark home eyes, almost no emotion, follows orders, has a terrible empty aura kinda feeling, and is creepily good at fighting and killing) i have no idea im sorry

But when he actually gets Illumi the next day or something he's kinda like 'oh u arent scared' and Illumis like 'nah. Now what do u wanna do with me like srsly'

Illumi really longs for his house at first and is sort of at a loss at what to do without any orders, so he kinda just sits around and misses his bed and waits for Hisoka to get back or something. He’s glad that he was taken in place of killuia, as long as his family(and heir) were safe.

-He eventually adjust, realizing that the silence in the cave really wasnt that new or different than in the castle

-Hisoka terrorizes a new town instead to make up his part of the bargain(although he goes back in his human form to see whats up sometimes) and its like most of the time he would just walk around in his human form as it was more convenient to fight people and yet not get him kicked out/ have to deal with the bother of people shouting at him for being a dragon and waving pitchforks and stuff, but he was kinda going for a chillaxing time when he decided to dragon form wreck Illumis kingdom. He had heard that it was a very strong kingdom of assassins, fairly famous, and he had decided to blow off some steam fighting, and he wasn't disappointed. Much.But anyway Illumi's kingdom was a little out of the way for him, he had to take longer time to reach there, the mountainous kingdom. Dragons all had one cave, unless they wanted to move their treasures to another one/ had another cave just for other treasures. His cave took almost 7/9 hours to fly to from the Zoldyck kingdom, and dragons flew pretty fast.

The Zoldyck family of assassins are basically a miniature kingdom, small with a town underneath their mountain that they protect. The town is relatively normal, with most everyone looking up to the deadly family looking after them. But there are some that try to train to become assassins with the zoldycks as inspiration(maybe they sponsor an assassin guild for the smaller kills they dont bother wasting time with).

-A random asshole villager dude saw illumi in town once with a disguise(as a female) and fell in ‘love’ and trains to be an assassin to rescue her(him) from the dragon. Inwardly he also wants to get into the zoldyck family as well, thinking he can if he impresses them with his rescue of illu and then marrying 'her'. Access to all that wealth and power made one considered untouchable. Illu is disgusted when he hears about this and claims that such a weakling wouldnt last a second in the presence of him nor his family.

-Anyway They both go to town together sometimes. In disguises of course, or if Illumi needs groceries

-eventually they just fall into an easy pattern and be friends and include a scene where Hisokas like 'alright Illu get ready another knight is here to rescue you(because they think you're a girl cough cough) and Illumis kinda just reading a book and letting out the occasional 'frightened(more like monotone) scream from his 'prison'(a giant birdcage cuz Hisoka is flashy as fuck) and the knight is kinda like 'ok that didnt sound like a very convincing scream/her voice isnt that great but i heard her beauty was astounding' -anyway so like Hisoka fuckin rekts him of course and one time a knight actually goes "RELEASE PRINCESS ILLUMI' and Hisoka smirks and Illumi twitches and after the knight is turned into crisps Hisoka turns to Illumi with a shit eating grin like "so i guess youre a princess. You never told me.."And Illumis just like fuck you

(very optional/not really fitting angst)

angst in how Kikyo gave up Illumi(the eldest. The strongest of the children. The one whos been with her the longest.) for Killuia, proving that she cared about him more. 'Or maybe it was because he was older, and this was just one of his responsibilities. But he couldn't help the foreign feeling of something shallowly sinking in his chest' Illumi still is kinda obsessed with Kil, but its more because he was suppose to be the heir and also Mil was kinda a bad child and Illumi actually was lonely so kil played with him a lot but their relationship slowly twisted into a sort of love hate for Illumi. Because even though he didnt care too much about the crown, he did care for his family. Although he wouldnt admit it; and his training refused to show a slip in his mask, Illumi did feel strangely empty when his family rained affection on Kil and only turned to him with orders on their lips. But no it couldnt be jealousy, no WAY would he be jealous of his younger bro! Hahaha! (Just keep telling yourself that, Ill)

(optional random angst end)

-Hisoka considers Illumi part of his 'treasure'/hoard and as all dragons are, he is fiercely protective of his hoard. Not that any thief could make it past Illumi, much less hurt him too much.

-when people describe illumi as 'beautiful and skilled' everyone always assumes that 1. Illu is a woman, and 2, 'skilled' meant as in embroidery or the such. Not in fighting/killing/assassinating. Not that he cant do embroidery because fuck yeah he can and frick yeah does it look good.So everyone is surprised when they see him decked out in armor with a blade pointed at their throat

-illumi like dies or almost dies and is turned into a dragon? Very rare, something about dragons being magical beings - anything can happen blah blah hisoka’s magic dragon magic infused into his body and now he’s filled with dragon magic that his strong will and body and mind turned into his own magic (i dont know where this idea came from, or really how else to explain it- just that past me had a good idea in mind that I now can’t remember)

-sleek, completely black dragon with blue gleam in scales if light hit them just right and sharp, wicked spines/spikes. All sharp angles and sharp lines, like any move can cut someone into ribbons. Deadly. He made hisoka, who was by no means a cuddly looking dragon, look almost soft-but despite misleading appearances, hisoka was definitely the more dangerous. What he lacked in looks he made up for in sheer brute strength and cunning.maybe stronger fire range too.

- illumi breathes blue flames, much much hotter. But small range. And could not stay in dragon form for long since originally human and originally not his dragon magic(it was like oxygen, reusable, but still limited). Both of them had hard scales

If you looked carefully, you could tell. Hisoka was taller, bigger, you could see muscles rippling through every limb. Illumi lurked more in the shadows, looking slightly bored. .

#hisoillu #hisoka #illumi #illumi zoldyck #hisoillu prompt #hisoillu prompts #hxh #hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter prompts #hxh writing prompts #dragon!au #dragon!hisoka #knight!illumi #this was my fav of all of my ideas #hopefully someone makes it #one day

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trinity-blood-translations · 7 years ago

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Trinity Blood RAM-series analysis

or: What the heck is happening in RAM 4?

This was the question I had all the time in my mind while reading RAM 4 of Trinity Blood. Since in Trinity Blood you can understand almost everybody’s motivations and goals but this time it was a mess. I couldn't understand why things are happening so I had to think a lot about it and made researches and as usual checked the other versions, because as you know as well the English as the Spanish version have many failures in translation and left out sentences.

The questions: --------------------

1) How came Catherina’s name on the list of the New Vatican Members and how the Vatican got that List?

2) Why on Earth does Helga helping the AX to get Cherubim due to exonerate Catherina?

3) Why does she still want to get Cherubim to the Vatican after her real identity was revealed by Antonio and Abel?

4) What are the consequences of the Vatican got Cherubim and some information.

5) Why didn't Isaak do anything when he knew well that Helga is plotting against him bringing danger for the whole RCO and Cain as well?

The Results of Research: -----------------------------------

1) How came Catherina’s name on the list of the New Vatican Members and how the Vatican got that List?

Well, how it begins, is showed already in RAM 3 in a little RCO-scene after the Brno-plan failed. Dialogue between Isaak and Dietrich:

(RAM 3, Know Faith): Dietrich: "Shall I guess what you intent to do next?" Isaak: "Do you know what I intend to do?" Dietrich: Of course I know. You'll do something quite terrible, right?" Isaak: As you say Puppeteer, I'm now going to do something quite terrible.

-->This “quite terrible “ is nothing else than playing a false list of the members of the New Vatican in the hands of the Inquisition - of course with the name of Catherina on the list. As we get to know in RAM 4, the list supposed to be false by the AX, but they can't prove it:

RAM 4, Lady Guilty Antonio: “There were duplicates but never a master copy. So the Inquisition Committee must have a fake.”

RAM 4, Lady Guilty Dietrich to Isaak: “They’ve managed to escape the Vatican’s surveillance net, and we don’t know where any of them (the AX) are. They are pretty clever, no? But this the end of Duchess of Milan. The list you made was perfect. Those feeble-minded idiots at the Vatican will never realize that it’s a fake.”

So Isaak was planning with this list to remove Catherina and the AX, the only enemy of the Orden who are able to stop the RCO. Probably he is hoping as further result to win Catherina for the RCO because if she is sentenced to death she will have nowhere to flee but to the RCO.

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2) Why on Earth does Helga helping the AX to get Cherubim due to exonerate Catherina?

The AX knows that Cherubim should have the original list of the members. But they have no chance to find Alfonso (who has Cherubim) till Helga (undercover) comes to them and tells where the New Vatican is hiding. But we get to know her true intensions just after Antonio ask her who the fuck she is, because she is not the person she pretend to be. Her answer:

RAM 4, Judgment Day Helga: "Hee hee....Idiot! I worked so hard on this miserable act, but you really are idiots. It will not be possible for you to succeed in your desire to rescue Sforza. I'll take Cherubim back to Rome for you. You can rest easy!"

--> So she wanted to get Cherubim to Rom to the Inquisition, but she doesn't intend to help in rescuing Catherina. It means she was only using the desperate AX to get Cherubim to Rom. So she want the Inquisition get some other information from Cherubim besides the original member list. But what information could it be?

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3) Why does she still want to get Cherubim to the Vatican after her real identity was revealed by Antonio and Abel?

After Cherubim is in Rome and Catherina is rescued Isaak makes Helga responsible for a big failure, because he never wanted Cherubim get to Rom it was Helga’s own plan not one of the RCO.

RAM 4, Judgment Day Helga: "What happened was a series of unfortunate coincidences." Isaak: "Do not be mistaken Countess. I am not trying to criticize you. It is just that these unfortunate coincidences have put us in a dangerous position....Cherubim reached the Vatican with information, due to these unfortunate coincidences. It is only a matter of time before they discover our locations-including this place."

--> It means the locations of the headquarters of the RCO, the one in Über-Brelin (Cain, Isaak, Dietrich, Susanne, Guderian) and the one in Vienna (Helga and the Neumann brothers) will be released for the Vatican. We know that Helga is deeply in love with Cain so she impossible wanted the Vatican discover Cain's hideout. Or she is certain that Cain would get away easily by a potential attack on the Berlin-headquarters. What does she really wanted? We get the answer in RAM 5 and RAM 6.

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4) What are the consequences of the Vatican got Cherubim and some information.

In RAM 5 (Birdcage) Helga manage to keep her plot running in order to reach her goals. She "invites" Isaak to Vienna where everything should get an end.

RAM 5, Birdcage Helga's thoughts after the video-conference with Isaak: "The next step was to continue to act in accordance with the pre-specified arrangements to complete the plan that was 'Operation Birdcage'. If it went as intended, everything would continue to develop according to the script that they had already laid forth. Now, Helga would have no need to dirty her hands. That meant that her mortal enemy- no, the two enemies whom she hated more than anyone, would both put an end each other, and finally die."

--> What does it mean?

“the script that THEY had laid forth”: Balthazar is helping her, because he is in love with Helga.

“ her mortal enemy”: Isaak (She truly hates Isaak, because he stands between her and Cain. RAM 4, Judgment Day. [Helga (while video chatting with Isaak:] "She internally cursed her bad luck that he was precisely the man whom she hated the most in the world for having total monopoly over her beloved and the one whom she had to explain now her failure.")

“the two enemies she hated more than anyone”: Abel and Isaak

“both will put an end each other”: In fact she wants Abel and Isaak killing each other in Vienna – just as it happens seemingly in RAM 6

--> There we have our answer: she wants the AX to get to know about the headquarter in Vienna, that's why she wants to get Cherubim to the AX. Proof:

RAM 5 (Bird Cage): Caspar: "Well, have you got answers to all of your questions now? What good do you think that you will get out of it, uncle? As you must know, I cannot stay here too long. I must return immediately to the 'Tower', otherwise I will be reprimanded by my brother." William: "'The Tower'? Well, now...is that your base of operations?" (bit later:) William: "Angel of Wisdom, 'Cherubim', I ask you! Where is this stronghold he called "The Tower'?" Cherubim: "In Vienna, Sir....City of Vienna, Germanic Kingdom, longitude 16 degrees north, and latitude 48 degrees."

--> Of course it had to look like the AX got this information on they own otherwise they could have sensed a trap. That's why Helga is going undercover to the AX in RAM 4 and helping them to get the Cherubim.

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5) Why didn't Isaak do anything when he knew well that Helga is plotting against him bringing danger for the whole RCO and Cain as well?

We get to know already in RAM 4 that the RCO isn't really a united big family:

RAM 4, Lady Guilty Dietrich to Isaak: “After all, there are so many people who would like to drag you down. And they could be anywhere.”

--> He means even within the RCO. But Isaak knows well, that Helga is plotting against him and he pretend not to suspect anything. Seemingly he walks easily into Helga's trap and comes to Vienna:

RAM 5, Birdcage Helga: "But aren't you very busy with your work....?" Isaak: "No, I can find someone else here to be responsible for my current project. As soon as I finish shifting over that responsibility, I will immediately rush to your side."… Helga’s thoughts: This fellow had totally taken the bait. - Ice Witch bowed deeply, bit her lip, and smiled smugly. She was convinced that she had already won.

That Isaak is already aware of her plot get we know in RAM 5 (Radio Head) where Isaak and Dietrich are already on the way to Vienna:

RAM 5, Radio Head Dietrich: "But you know it’s a trap, why do you go to Vienna?" Isaak: "Oh, you mean why I’m going there nonetheless? Anyway, after all, the countess said, that Balthasar asked for advice. You're a smart man, since you think I've been aware of their plot - this perception should not be wrong – but well, they rarely specially invited me, if I flatly refuses to do so, I'm afraid it's not polite."

--> It means he has his own plans already. In RAM 6 Isaak and Abel meet in Vienna but instead of fighting and killing each other Isaak surrenders himself to Abel and offers him help to stop the Silent Noise system of Vienna. However they work together, at the end it seems that Helga won: Abel and Isaak are dying after a big explosion at the Schönbrun Castle. But shortly thereafter it turns out, that both are alive and Isaak was pulling the strings all the time and everybody were dancing around after his plans, especially Abel. (to read more about RAM 6 check the Authors note in translation: http://trinity-blood-translations.tumblr.com/post/150707132743/apocalypse-now-yoshidas-notes-for-ending )

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you go enjoyed this little analysis and we got some clearness in the mess of plot. Please let me know if you have questions. @Trinity Blood by Sunao Yoshida, illustration by Thores Shibamoto

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brealityswift13 · 7 years ago

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Things Long Time Swifties get...

Ok if you’ve been a fan of @taylorswift for awhile then here is a breakdown of the LWYMMD VIDEO

1) opening scene Tay crawls out from her buried reputation wearing the OOTW dress that was her last video from 1989. A clap back to those who claimed she “was over”

2) As she shovels you see a tombstone engraved with Nils Sjoerberg… her s pseudonym for writing TIWYCF, no more hiding her writing talent

3) burying her Met Gala self which could represent either the beginning of the 1989 era or the legacy of Oscar DeLaRenta ( the designer of the dress that she wore) who will never be forgotten

4) Then as she sasses back, “ crying in her bathtub filled with pearls” ( a lyric from blank space and a well placed $1 from her victorious sexual assault case

5) highlights the fact that people have always questioned her rise to success however each album has been like a Phoenix rising from the ashes gaining more fans every time… embraces the snake reference and sips tea

6) crashing a Maserati (red ref) while paparazzi photograph her holding a Grammy and she’s always been quoted as the media just wanting her to mess up

7) The kingdom shows her in a birdcage, meaning her life was transparent, people watching her every moment and when she stepped away to take a break, Kimye pulled their bullsh*t , Calvin was photograph eating birthday cake with Kim K and the media continued to create crazy theories… you know like the one of her being carried out of her apt in a suitcase!!

8) The Cat bank heist Taylor flashes her claws to all that say she’s money hungry despite being one of the most charitable celebs year after year. Oh and no one missed the stream company in the background, Taylor stood up for ALL ARTISTS and you guessed it, more people missed and dissed the point before they got it

9) and just in case you missed it her sparkly cat shirt reads “blind for love” at the bottom. Clearly owning up to falling for people not to write songs about them but that she overlooked those big red flags because she genuinely fell in love… she believes in love!!

10) Squad sequences where queen Taylor rules over her squad of nothing but models with a cat in the background brainwashing them

11) Taylor bursts into a room in a demanding persona (one created by the media) and all 8 of her subjects (perhaps a reference to the 8 romantic relationships she’s had wearing their i ♥️ TSwift shirts) flock to her every move .. and what did we make her do..

12) Reflect on who she’s ever been. Her Rep standing on top of every iconic moment of herself people have trashed. Look closely and you will see fearless Taylor, speak now Taylor, red Taylor, blank space Taylor, billboard taylor, New Years taylor… all crawling to be a part of the person she is. And she still is all those people “I’ll never change but I’ll never stay the same”

13) She shook us via old school telephone that old Taylor was dead… only to make sure we were dead when she came in to a choreographed dance routine on our corpses in a fishnet outfit we would rise from the dead for

14) As all clips come together and the video comes to a close @taylorswift Shuts down all haters by literally hating on herself with their heartless words proving she is smarter, works harder and owns the narrative to her life

Slay Tay Slay can't wait to hear more!!

#slaylor #taylorswift #slaylor swift #lwymmd #lwymmd music video

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sineatcr-blog · 7 years ago

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MEMORIES 03 – LETTERS CARRIED BY BIRDS

| Five years after Memory 02. |

“…What do you mean, you won’t be coming back to the Citadel for a while?” Ardyn asked, bewildered. “Why not?”

Stella wrung her hands nervously, the thirteen year-old girl looking sad and upset, but also like she didn’t want to tell him. “Because…” She began slowly. “Mom found out. A-About our trips.”

Ardyn’s eyes widened. “How?!” He demanded, stepping forward. “We were really good at keeping them secret!”

Ever since their first excursion five years earlier, the two kids had been making regular trips out to the city proper, finding people who were sick and helping them. Ardyn couldn’t heal, but he had thrown himself happily into his combat training so he could protect Stella – and he’d gotten a lot better at his swordsmanship. The two children had made it a habit whenever Stella had visited the Citadel, slipping out and losing their guardians.

Ardyn had a pile of notebooks in his drawer, full of notes and sketches of daemons and the Scourge – his plan, his idea, was still growing and forming, and he’d even told Stella about it two years ago. She’d loved the idea. The two of them had been going out since then both to help heal people and to study the sickness as best they could, trying to figure out a way to cure it. There had to be something.

But now– Stella shook her head frantically. “I don’t know!” She said. “Maybe someone in the city saw us and told? It wasn’t me, Ardie, I swear!”

“I know,” Ardyn said, realizing he had yelled and reaching to grab her hand. “I know it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t me, either, Stel’. You’re right, someone probably told on us.” It made sense, didn’t it? Some worried citizen telling the guards that the Crown Prince and the Oracle’s daughter were out and about in the bad parts of the city. But…

He swallowed. “So you’re leaving…?” He asked.

Stella nodded. “Y-Yes,” she said sadly, looking down at their joined hands. “There’s– there’s a lot of new settlements out there lately, and Mom says as Oracle she needs to travel to all of them t-to heal people, and I have to come with her.”

“…So she’s basically trying to keep us apart,” Ardyn said bitterly. “I guess I’m a bad influence.”

Stella laughed. “The best bad influence.” She said fondly. “But yeah, I think so…we have to be together once you’re king and I’m Oracle, but I think until then she wants us to stay apart. Which is dumb, but…”

“But she’s your mom and Oracle, so she’s the boss of you,” Ardyn finished quietly. “It’s okay, Stel’ – I can’t heal yet, but I’ll keep studying. We’ll make this cure work, I promise. Even if we’re apart.”

Stella hugged him tightly and he returned the gesture. “I know,” she said fondly. “We’ll do it together no matter what. I won’t be leaving for a few days, though, so…let’s make those count.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, mind already hard t work trying to come up with any ideas to make this not happen, anything to help. “Let’s make it count.”

Though the two had tried desperately to be together as much as possible the last few days before Stella’s departure, the Oracle had done her own level best to keep them apart. It hurt, and it frustrated them both – Ardyn especially – but it did give him more time to come up with a plan. If he couldn’t stop her leaving, then the trick would be to find some way to stay in touch, right? So that’s what he had to do.

He’d worked hard, talking to everyone he could possibly think to ask, sneaking out and talking to the friends he’d made in the people the two had helped heal. Some idea, any idea, no matter how little – he was clever, everyone always told him that, told him he was smart and clever and good at coming up with things – and he knew he’d be able to work out a plan of action.

It was on this last trip, the afternoon before the Fleurets would leave, when he finally found something.

One of the people they’d healed was a merchant, and Ardyn entered her store to stop in surprise at the trill of songbirds.

“What are those?” He asked the older woman, looking around for the source of the sound. The woman chuckled, stepping into the back and bringing out a silver gilt cage, within which four birds in shades of gold, crimson, sapphire, and emerald hopped from perch to perch, singing cheerfully.

“Nebulawood Alcedines,” the woman said. “Clever little things, I’ve been told. Can find their way nearly anywhere, seeing as their native habitat’s almost always covered in thick fog. Pretty, too, all bright colors, and their song’s lovely. A cousin hunts in his spare time, and sent these to me as a gift.” She sighed. “Though I don’t know what to do with them, really…can’t afford pets.”

She paused, catching the look of awe on Ardyn’s face, and smiled. “That’s right…you like animals, don’t you, Your Highness?”

“Yeah,” Ardyn aid, reaching his hand through the cage bars. The golden alcedine fluttered down to land on his finger, twittering at him. “I love them.” It was true; though his interest had started with studying them to compare them with daemons, Ardyn had quickly discovered how fascinating the animal kingdom was, and how pretty – books on ecology and animals were slowly taking over his bookshelves, and he had to admit, birds were some of his favorites.

“Well, in that case, they’re yours,” the woman said, and Ardyn lit up.

“Really?” He asked, and the woman nodded.

“Really,” she said. “I know you’ll take good care of them.”

Ardyn stood on his tiptoes to pick up the cage, grinning as the birds chirped brightly, seeming to know they were going to a good home. “I will,” he promised, and an idea was already forming. They can find their way anywhere, huh…?

“Stella!” Ardyn nearly tripped, carefully carrying his surprise behind him as he hurried to meet her before she left. “Stella, wait!”

She turned, dropping her bags as her eyes lit up happily. “Ardie, you made it! I was worried you wouldn’t come see me off…”

“Of course I would, Stel’,” Ardyn said. “I was just getting something ready to give you.” He smiled at her crookedly, full of mischief, and Stella smiled back.

“A gift for me?” She asked. “What is it?”

Ardyn’s smile widened even more and he pulled the small birdcage from behind his back, where the crimson and gold alcedines sat placidly inside. “Rubri and Flavi,” he said proudly. “I have two more for me, those are Caeruli and Viridi.”

“Oh, they’re so pretty!” Stella said with a bright smile, taking the birdcage gently and whistling the song back at the birds. “I love them, Ardie, thank you!”

Ardyn grinned. “Oh, but that’s not all,” he said, pulling a little leather pouch from his pocket. “I was up all night figuring stuff out, and here. Write me letters and put them in here, and the birds will bring it to me. And I can do the same back.”

“We can keep in touch!” Stella realized, beaming. She set the cage down and threw her arms around him in a hug, squeezing tightly. “Oh, thank you, Ardie! I was scared we wouldn’t be able to talk again for years! But now we’ll never lose touch, and Mom can’t stop me! Wherever we go, they’ll find me, won’t they?”

Ardyn nodded. “Wherever you go, they’ll know the way there and back again,” he promised. “No matter where you are, my letters will find you.”

“Ardyn…” Stella repeated, and smiled shyly, her eyes glimmering with tears. “Thank you so much. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Stella,” Ardyn said softly, and reached out to give her hand a final squeeze. “But I’ll never forget you. Never.”

Stella sniffled, and leaned over to give Ardyn a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bags and the birdcage and running off.

Ardyn stood a moment, watching her go with his hand covering his cheek. “Bye,” he said softly, so quiet no one could hear. “See you again, Stella.”

#;prose: write til your ink be dry #;memories: what is past is prologue

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completeoveranalysis · 8 years ago

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The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom and FUN THEMES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

BUCKLE UP GUYS WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE ONE TIME I LIVEBLOGGED THAT MOVIE FOREVER

As with pretty much anything there are quite a number of themes running through the Birdcage Kindgom and quite a few fun things you could latch onto, but the one that stands out to me the most right now is the idea of SACRIFICE.

BECAUSE HELLO YES CLAMP HAS CALLED AND THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE GETTING A TASTE OF THE FULL TSUBASA EXPERIENCE

And when I say “sacrifice” in this context I mean it as shorthand for “being forced to part permanently with something extremely important to who you are as a person for the good of everyone”. This will lead to a “better” outcome than the one that would have happened otherwise, but not necessarily a completely good outcome. So like, better than oh god everything is terrible why is everything on fire but still not something you would have wanted to happen otherwise. Ever.

Because Tsubasa.

[Spoilers for The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom within, just in case you wanted to go watch that]

[Spoilers for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle NOT within, but guesses are made]

[But also like, do not confirm or deny said guesses]

[Okay cool]

SO. SACRIFICE.

The first place the idea shows up is right at the very start in the opening scene.

It’s a scene we’re all very familiar with, and I absolutely love how it works on an artistic level, but it also serves as an instant reminder/introduction of sacrifice and just how central it is to Tsubasa’s story as a whole. When paired with the movie’s ending, this bookends the entire experience with the inescapable vision of these characters needing to give up important parts of themselves in order to stop the world ending as they know it.

The inclusion of the scene at all is interesting. It frames the story within the narrative that we already know but it doesn’t present any new information if the viewer is even passingly familiar with the series they just walked into the theatre to watch. Moreover, for a viewer that WASN’T familiar with Tsubasa, would the scene make sense? Does it present any information they desperately need in order to make sense of the movie that follows?

The answer is no.

The importance of the deal made to Yuuko is never brought up again. The movie doesn’t play with the idea of Sakura’s missing memory, or Syaoran’s role in fixing it, or even the importance of the feather beyond the fact that they (probably) want it back. The film doesn’t need to explain the feather any further, so it doesn’t, and we don’t even see Sakura benefit from its retrieval. The film doesn’t even tell us what these shots mean:

We know if we’ve read the beginning of the manga already, and the movie banks on that, because it’s not immediately relevant to anything else they want to show you.

So, if you were new to the series, the scene probably wasn’t all that necessary.

But those things ARE still there regardless, so the scene quite deliberately establishes an idea of personal sacrifice that becomes quite important by the end of the film. Thematically, more than anything else, the scene paves the way towards what to expect from the storyline, and HOT DAMN DOES IT DELIVER.

AND LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT.

Here we are in the Birdcage Country, which is, perhaps unsurprisingly, nestled safely within a giant birdcage.

Notable unique features of this land include: said birdcage, small birds for every one, giant glowing birds, people dressed as birds, and also bird motifs.

Given the title of the movie, none of this is probably a surprise.

We sadly don’t get a lot of world building beyond what you can glimpse from a few establishing shots, but unsurprisingly, birds are important. They do, in fact, make a very big deal about the fact that the Terrible Awful Villain has been separating people from their birds and that this is a very, very bad thing (and also maybe brainwashing people too, but that isn’t actually mentioned ever again)

So when the ending happens and, in exchange for saving everyone’s souls from the forces of darkness (which, also, aren’t really established or explained and are very vague but are Bad ™) everyone in the country has to give up their bird companions, which means they lose everything that is unique to them. The lose their closest friends, their cultural identity, and end up ensuring the one thing they’ve been fighting against all this time.

Admittedly I was very pissed when this happened. Not just because I liked the birds, and that their sacrifice was handled very quickly and with little exploration of the emotional impact, but also because the threat this was supposed to counter was never properly explained to us. We don’t know WHY this is the only option, or why the price is worth it, what exactly this is supposed to solve, or why the birds would all just choose to leave like they do.

But on the other hand all of these questions come down to a question of time. There were answers to these questions that the storytellers just plain didn’t get the time to tell us, and given more time I’m sure the impact of the birds leaving would have been handled with more care.

So if we stray away from exactly what happens in the film and try to read what they wanted to happen, the sacrifice of the bird companions becomes an irreversible tragedy - but one that was necessary to save the lives of everyone in the kingdom. Despite the fact that the birds all leave “for some reason”, the fact remains that the humans and birds that used to live together happily were all in danger of losing their souls, and living permanently apart was the only way to prevent this. The lives of everyone involved are marred with loss and pain in the process, but their souls survive, and that is better than the alternative.

When paired with the movie’s introduction this kind of sacrifice isn’t anything new to us - especially within the main cast, and especially in regards to the deals they made with Yuuko. Syaoran and Sakura paid the price of their relationship in order to save Sakura’s soul – they can never live “together” in the way they were previously going to, but they’re both alive, and that is better than the alternative. Obviously I can’t say much about any parallel’s in Fai’s past, but in Kurogane’s at least we have a small mirror to this as well. The alternative to him going on this journey was (as far as Tomoyo was convinced) him losing his soul to the bloodlust (and poor manners?) that consumed him, and so again, they pay the price of their togetherness to avoid that fate. They all lose a large part of something important to how they define themselves, but they live on, and aim to improve the lives of their loved ones in the process.

The sacrifice that started the film inspires the sacrifice that ends it, but that’s not the end of the parallel altogether. While I can’t say for sure what happens in the rest of Tsubasa from this point onwards, the importance of this kind of sacrifice is an idea that will (PROBABLY?) be central to the way the plot develops . After all, even though Sakura’s feathers aren’t properly discussed in the film, we already have a mirror to her in Tomoyo.

(Are we really surprised that I found an excuse to talk about Tomoyo I mean come on)

We have a princess (Sakura/Tomoyo) of an isolated kingdom (Birdcage/Clow) with a strong feather motif (Soul feathers/Soul birds) which is then put in danger from some powerful dick (Evil Wolverine/Movie Villain) with a hunger for power and the ability to render the princess powerless (Sakura’s memory/Tomoyo’s voice) by separating them from their power source (Sakura’ feathers/Laifan) and reducing the princess to an object (Sakura’s Tsubasa Thing/Tomoyo becoming a literal key) so that they can claim that power for themselves and potentially rule the world/s. Regardless of how awkward that sentence is to read (I’m so sorry), there is enough of a pattern that the resolution of the plot could easily follow the same pattern. Even when/if the villain is gone the threat he began is still present and active and can only be reversed through another personal sacrifice of huge magnitude. In the film, Tomoyo is forced (I’m being generous with “forced”) to sacrifice the heart and soul of her kingdom in order to save everyone. In Tsubasa… well, who knows what will happen.

In this way the plotline of The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom almost becomes shorthand for the plot of Tsubasa as a whole, if condensed and minimalised. IMPORTANT things will happen, the safety of everyone will be put into danger, and our main characters will (again) sacrifice important things to keep it from happening. There is, after all, no guarantee that everyone will survive this journey, and more than one of our cast members has expressed their willingness to sacrifice their own well-being to save the people closest to them. After all, nothing worth doing is free of a heavy price.

But let’s backtrack to the villain of the film for a moment.

Because this villain guy is interesting, but not in his own right. He’s not characterised in any way that stands out and I’m still convinced that they never speak his actual name – which means that, either by design or coincidence, you’re not going to think about him much. How are you going to bring him up in conversation? How do you have lingering thoughts over an empty title with no particular traits or explainable motivations?

You don’t. Because you’re not really meant to.

The villain serves as a type of stand in for Evil Wolverine in the same way that the storyline of this movie stands as a parallel for the events of Tsubasa. The villain is always there. We are shown from the very start that he is watching our main cast, has vague yet undoubtedly terrible plans, is in a position of clear power, and is willing and able to send other characters in to influence events towards the outcome he desires (which he does at least three times). The movie villain isn’t as good at it as Evil Wolverine is in that last respect, but that’s to be expected. He only gets a few minutes to establish himself as a threat and then quickly die, when Evil Wolverine has years of our time to do the same thing. (Or at least, “years” if you were reading the series as it came out, or if you’re like me and are a ridiculous human being in all possible ways) In that vein of thought, Movie Villain accomplishes things on the micro level that we can probably expect Evil Wolverine to do on the macro level later; Movie Villain poses a powerful and evil threat to this one single kingdom, whereas Evil Wolverine is a threat to multiple worlds, if not the multiverse as a whole. Both have plans involving the feathers, both want to be in charge of whatever new world order they will usher in, and both have rather ridiculous facial hair.

(NB: no offence to anyone with similar facial hair. I’m sure it looks lovely on you! As long as you aren’t trying to rule the universe I will A+ guarantee that I adore your facial hair WELL DONE ON YOUR FACE IT’S AMAZING)

To further this, the ending of the final battle visually reminds us that Evil Wolverine is still a thing.

While Movie Villain is down for the count, the bat is a sign that we still exist within Evil Wolverine’s sphere of influence. He’s still out there in his position of power, he’s still watching us, and as long as the feather plot continues on its way things are still working towards his advantage. Again, this was a really interesting touch to the movie. Without those few seconds the narrative would have been more complete, a kind of standalone story that entirely wrapped itself up, but with Evil Wolverine’s influence directly referenced the story instead becomes part of the bigger picture. The story isn’t over yet, because Tsubasa isn’t over yet, and you are lured in to consider what happens after this.

Because what will happen after this? If the theme of the movie stands true, the pattern of sacrifice will be there waiting for us.

Evil Wolverine will aim to introduce a terrible fate to as much of the universe as he possibly can. Through the Tsubasa, his success is pretty much a guarantee unless the main cast do something about it.

And the “doing something” will cost them heavily. They will lose a lot to stop him. It will hurt them to stop him, and their lives will never quite be the same, but they will do it willingly because it means a better future for the people they’re leaving behind.

Like with Yuuko’s store at the beginning, everything has a price. The more important the exchange, the higher the price is. Stopping Evil Wolverine’s threat could quite possibly be the most important exchange of all – but our Tsubasa family has already proven themselves quite willing to pay extraordinary prices, and are willing sacrifice pieces of themselves (or themselves as whole) in the process of saving what they need to save.

#The only question is #who will it be?#Dun dun dunnnn #Liveblogging the Birdcage Chronicle #Tsubasa #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #SEE THERE WE GO #ONLY FIVE MONTHS LATE #I KNEW I WOULD GET THERE EVENTUALLY #No seriously I checked #It was August 21st when I was all 'Hey Im gonna post a thing in the next few days'#GUESS WHO DIDNT DO THAT THING #IT WAS ME #Evil WOlverine #Tomoyooo #And BIRBS #Tsubasa in review #Tsubasa in theory

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hot-tea-gardenparty · 5 years ago

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20 Questions

1. Any favourite tv shows? Too many to list...but as of right now: Killing Eve, Schitt's Creek, Supernatural, Bob's Burgers, The Haunting of Hill House 2. Fave songs at the moment? SSFWL - Oh My Girl, See Through - The Band CAMINO, Numb - Baker Grace, Painkillers - The Strike, Drive All Night - Joan, Violeta - IZ*ONE, SHA LA LA - PENTAGON, Human Condition - Parade of Lights, No - CLC 3. Favourite movies you’ve watched recently? The Birdcage, 21 Jump Street 4. Are you usually late or early to events/work? I am always early, it's how my momma raised me. Better early than late. 5. Favourite drink/foods? Coffee, tea (includes all types), Green Dakara (Japanese sports drink), Yuzu flavored anything....for foods, I adore miso soup, Pad See Ew (Thai dish with large rice noodles and vegetables),cherries, salt and vinegar cassava chips, cinnamon rolls 6. Movie title that best describes your life? Lost in Translation 7. City would you most like to live in? Osaka, Japan 8. What age do you wish you could permanently be? Oh god...I guess the age I am now...31...not too young, not too old...old enough to know better but with the energy to do whatever she might want. 9. Fictional place you would most like to go? Wakanda...or the Millineal Moon Kingdom (Sailor Moon) 10. How do you relax after a hard day of work? Cuddling on the couch with my husband and cat, watching television, talking about our respective days 11. Tv show or movie you refuse to watch? Anything that is overly gorey or disgusting, super fake...like Dr. Pimple Popper (seriously, why?!) 12. What are some small things that make your day better? Watching the cute little birds come eat out of our bird feeder. 13. What is the most impressive thing you know how to do? I know way too much about Japan, Japanese culture and Japanese history due to an obsession with the country and it's culture that hasn't died. I've been into Japan since before I can remember and been surrounded by it for over 20 years...lived in it...so yeah...I know a lot. I am not Japanese and I never will be, but I know quite a lot and I am proud of that fact. 14. Game or movie universe would you most like to live in? Harry Potter, hell yah! 15. If all jobs had the same pay and hours, what job would you like to have? Japanese/Korean media and pop culture blogger 16. What is something that is considered a luxury, but you don’t think you could live without? Internet access. 17. What do you have doubts about? Can I say everything? Uhm...probably what I worry about right now is my future career. 18. What irrational fear do you have? I am always afraid someone is following me or watching me. 19. What would be your spirit animal? A seal 20. Three interesting facts about you? I lived in Japan for 2.5 years, I really love photography, especially nature or scenic photography, and I have five auto-immune diseases/issues (three of which deal with my skin) so I have a special diet I follow to help in controling their flare-ups.

#20 questions #about me #me #personal #no one cares #but i am doing it anyways

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windycityparrot · 7 years ago

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The Truth Is You Are Not The Only Person Concerned About What Are The Pros And Cons Of Having A Pet Bird?

What are the pros and cons of having a pet bird? was asked on Quora. This answer motivated me to set the record straight. Pros If you do it right, you're going to have a loving companion animal for the next 60 years. Cons, If you do it wrong, you're going to have a very unhappy bird for the next 60 years. They can live sixty years or more. They're loud (a cockatoo’s scream has been measured at over 100db, compared to 130db for a jet engine at 100 feet). They throw food. They throw tantrums. They can inflict a very serious bite; I have the scars to prove it. These are not domesticated animals. They are only one generation from their cousins in the wild. They're wild animals that have adapted to captivity and unpredictability is to be expected. They aren't potty trained and shit anytime the need arises. They chew…everything! They are extremely intelligent and require constant interaction, 6-8 hours a day… minimum. Their cages need to be cleaned a minimum of once a day, preferably more, or you're going to have a very stinky bird. Their food and water dishes must be monitored several times a day and freshened up accordingly. They need annual check-ups by a qualified avian vet, not your garden variety dog and cat vet. These check ups often cost hundreds of dollars. They require roomy cages costing hundreds of dollars. They must constantly be supplied with a variety of expensive toys, around $20 each. They require specialized diets. If I think of any others, I'll make the necessary edits. You'll see the other answers I am "reacting" to on the Quora question here We need to look at this question rationally. Applying a list of bullet points to the term "pet bird" is naïve at best. Call me crazy (and many do) when I think of pet birds I think of all the types of birds that are kept in cages by humans. That's a lot of bird species, actually more than 500 species of birds and parrots. Some parrots do live 60 years or more. Smaller species like canaries and budgies live 10 to 20 years. When someone says a cockatoos scream has been measured at over 100 dB, to be clear that's an Umbrella or Moluccan cockatoo and it's actually 139 dB. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxUo2YZorNY The naïve part comes in that there are about 30 species of cockatoos. There's white cockatoos, salmon colored cockatoos (Galahs - Major Mitchells) and black cockatoos. Major Mitchell cockatoos don't make great pets I'm told but they're also not very noisy. Goffin cockatoos are actually very sweet. If you're a purist you know that cockatiel's were re-classified as the smallest cockatoo (see classification below). I've yet to hear a 100 dB cockatiel-too and I've heard a lot of cockatiel's. Scientific classification Cockatiel Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Psittaciformes Family: Cacatuidae Subfamily: Nymphicinae Genus: Nymphicus Wagler, 1832 Species: N. hollandicus Scientific classification - Cockatoo Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Psittaciformes Superfamily: Cacatuoidea Family: Cacatuidae G. R. Gray 1840 Genera Probosciger Callocephalon Nymphicus Calyptorhynchus Eolophus Lophochroa Cacatua https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIzm3oF8qsw We have a Senegal parrot - she's 111 g. On a good day her screeches might wake a child up - or not. She throws no food, she just drops on the floor because she chooses to forage all day long. She passes on her open feeder dishes of food for the most part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCxNFRSvVe4 In the mean time I'll stop here and shift gears for a moment. In a former life I raised dogs for 25 years. I've had dogs rip up houseplants, destroy couches and in my mushing days they would bite me until I bled and threw me from my sled causing broken ribs, new frostbit fingers and fractured bones. We, my dog sled racing partner, a veterinarian even clipped one of our dogs vocal cords because it wouldn't shut up 24/7. Nothing would work including bark collars. There's no ideal pet. Turning back to the subject of birds again, we have a good friend recently got a Timneh African grey as her first bird. When somebody says they have an African grey I always ask them what kind (along with macaws and cockatoos because of the multitude of species and sizes) Timey's are two thirds the size of Congo African Grey parrots. She's a good friend and we chatted about this for probably two years where I constantly injected doses of reality in the conversation. A few weeks ago she shows up with the bird. I smiled. She looked me in the eye and said "I thought a lot about what you told me. But you know that I run a world-class daycare and have been taking care of 10 to 20 toddler's every day for the past 20 years. I don't see the bird is a big challenge I see her as something to help bring more life into our home". 'nuff said I was recently at the Chicago Cage Bird Club rescue in Villa Park Illinois. They currently have 75 birds ranging from finches to Green wing macaws. I asked which ones with the problem birds? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtoQudLXhk8 The volunteer staffer said the biggest problem is plucking self-mutilation. I said what about the screamers? She said they all really keep each other entertained in a pretty calm day in and day out. If a pet bird bites you, it's your own damn fault. For some reason captive bird keepers feel that receiving a bite now and then is acceptable. It is not. Peaches our Senegal is a one-person bird, she's in love with me. We learned early on that when Catherine my wife walks by, Peaches will give me a warning peck if she's on my shoulder. Guess what? We learned to keep our separation when I was handling Peaches. We are now working to gently allow some sort of physical interaction between the two of them to reduce the biting. A biting parrot needs to be trained not to bite and done so with positive reinforcement usually starting with clicker training. Birds and parrots (as well as dogs) are morally agnostic do not understand "no" or "bad bird". The words were lost on them don't waste your breath Shifting gears if you really pay attention to your cage set up and I have set up hundreds of birdcages literally, you can create an environment where 100% of the poop lands on the floor of the cage. Feathered factoid: Most birds when in their comfort zone i.e. not traveling poop every 15 minutes. Try returning the bird back to it's cage or cage top during that cycle. We have four budgies, many weekends we leave on Friday evening and come back on Sunday evening. The cage doesn't get cleaned for two and half days - whoopdy do. The biggest issue is hulls from the two millet spray's we leave them for the weekend. editors note: you can not leave a dog alone for 2 days. I keep a small wet vac under the budgies cage and a Hoover not far from the Senegal's cage which also addresses the errant popcorn on the floor that I leave while watching TV at night. If you want to make cleaning cages a chore at your choice. Here's a video that I shot why cleaned to cages and six minutes. Don't let that hold you back from getting a bird. Birds poop is not very stinky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghkn57fQw_A Peaches sits in a swing that I've strung under a reading lamp in our bedroom. I keep a dozen pieces of newspaper layered on top of the nightstand. When she poops I toss where the top piece of paper. We do that in her cage too. A dozen layers of newspaper in every day or two we remove a layer of newspaper. No grate to clean. Peaches who is learning to fly at the ripe old age of eight does poop anywhere. So we control where anywhere is. She's always on her cage, a stand or accessory that has disposable paper under where she might poop so cleaning her poop isn't much of a chore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dB--06PA_4 Both cages get fresh commercial bird food every other day and topped off in between. Water dishes get changed twice a day and I keep a tub of backup dishes for both cages so that I always have dry dishes to offer fresh water in the mornings and evenings All the birds enjoy large romaine lettuce leaves daily The budgies have a water bottle that we fill with bottled water and replace that every 24 hours but it also ensures that they have freshwater the 48 hours we are gone over the weekend. The size of the cage is relative the lifestyle of the bird if the bird is out of the cage for many hours during the day it does need of the cage. A good-sized flight cage for budgies can be found for under $200 with the stand. I don't know anyone who interacts with the bird for 6-8 hours a day - minimum. What when I talk about with ta canary for six hours? Maybe play canary singing albums? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frI0HQYJXVg Peaches comes to work with me everyday weather permitting. She hass a cage for one there's open doors in the shop. She is a stand inches away from my left elbow and a very nice stand 6 feet in the air with gateways between the two and a swing in between. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDmD9aM1yZA Once you want some attention she climbs down or flies down to my desk and sidestepped slowly slipping her head underneath the palm of my hand forcing me to stop typing and provide scratches on demand. So this a few minutes several times a day but not hours. You can tell by her chortles - she's one happy little bird. editors note: A large cage filled with finches is like a living breathing floral arrangement require little time care https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Y40IzYIYA Parrots need toys for privacy and interaction. They like to chew. You can spend $20-$30 or more on a bird toy for a big parrot or you can give that bird a phonebook. The result will be the same. The bird wants to chew and is just looking for an opportunity. Your Job Is a bird keeper is to avoid allowing the bird to chew furniture or something valuable as they don't know the difference. Unlike dogs and cats birds do need specialized diets. We sell 26 brands bird and parrot food and can work with any Bird keeper I'm providing the proper nutrition to your pet bird. Not only that will teach you how to keep the waste down. A well bird checkup with a full blood panel with a qualified avian veterinarian will run between $200 and $300 which is what you'll spend on a dog or cat once a year with all the tests, treatments and required shots and licenses. The single biggest fact that is opaque to most people is house marked birds are. That's the biggest challenge along with people not taking the time to learn how to "speak bird." They are special. I called three dimensional pets because they can fly. Feeling Peaches feathers rub against my ear and neck gives me the chills because it's so soft and sweet. Teaching her how and where to land is enormously rewarding. If having a pet bird was easy everybody would be doing it. Pet birds even the small ones require a much broader learning curve the most mammalian pets. Feel free to message us on Windy City Parrot's Facebook page for any care information you need on any species of pet bird 24/7 written by mitch rezman approved by catherine tobsing your zygodactyl footnote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coVhwOC7_GI Click to Post

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sineatcr-archive-blog · 8 years ago

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MEMORIES 03 -- LETTERS CARRIED BY BIRDS

| Five years after Memory 02. |

“...What do you mean, you won’t be coming back to the Citadel for a while?” Ardyn asked, bewildered. “Why not?”

Stella wrung her hands nervously, the thirteen year-old girl looking sad and upset, but also like she didn’t want to tell him. “Because...” She began slowly. “Mom found out. A-About our trips.”

Ardyn’s eyes widened. “How?!” He demanded, stepping forward. “We were really good at keeping them secret!”

Ever since their first excursion five years earlier, the two kids had been making regular trips out to the city proper, finding people who were sick and helping them. Ardyn couldn’t heal, but he had thrown himself happily into his combat training so he could protect Stella -- and he’d gotten a lot better at his swordsmanship. The two children had made it a habit whenever Stella had visited the Citadel, slipping out and losing their guardians.

Ardyn had a pile of notebooks in his drawer, full of notes and sketches of daemons and the Scourge -- his plan, his idea, was still growing and forming, and he’d even told Stella about it two years ago. She’d loved the idea. The two of them had been going out since then both to help heal people and to study the sickness as best they could, trying to figure out a way to cure it. There had to be something.

But now-- Stella shook her head frantically. “I don’t know!” She said. “Maybe someone in the city saw us and told? It wasn’t me, Ardie, I swear!”

He swallowed. “So you’re leaving...?” He asked.

Stella nodded. “Y-Yes,” she said sadly, looking down at their joined hands. “There’s-- there’s a lot of new settlements out there lately, and Mom says as Oracle she needs to travel to all of them t-to heal people, and I have to come with her.”

“...So she’s basically trying to keep us apart,” Ardyn said bitterly. “I guess I’m a bad influence.”

Stella laughed. “The best bad influence.” She said fondly. “But yeah, I think so...we have to be together once you’re king and I’m Oracle, but I think until then she wants us to stay apart. Which is dumb, but...”

“But she’s your mom and Oracle, so she’s the boss of you,” Ardyn finished quietly. “It’s okay, Stel’ -- I can’t heal yet, but I’ll keep studying. We’ll make this cure work, I promise. Even if we’re apart.”

Stella hugged him tightly and he returned the gesture. “I know,” she said fondly. “We’ll do it together no matter what. I won’t be leaving for a few days, though, so...let’s make those count.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, mind already hard t work trying to come up with any ideas to make this not happen, anything to help. “Let’s make it count.”

Though the two had tried desperately to be together as much as possible the last few days before Stella’s departure, the Oracle had done her own level best to keep them apart. It hurt, and it frustrated them both -- Ardyn especially -- but it did give him more time to come up with a plan. If he couldn’t stop her leaving, then the trick would be to find some way to stay in touch, right? So that’s what he had to do.

He’d worked hard, talking to everyone he could possibly think to ask, sneaking out and talking to the friends he’d made in the people the two had helped heal. Some idea, any idea, no matter how little -- he was clever, everyone always told him that, told him he was smart and clever and good at coming up with things -- and he knew he’d be able to work out a plan of action.

It was on this last trip, the afternoon before the Fleurets would leave, when he finally found something.

One of the people they’d healed was a merchant, and Ardyn entered her store to stop in surprise at the trill of songbirds.

She paused, catching the look of awe on Ardyn’s face, and smiled. “That’s right...you like animals, don’t you, Your Highness?”

“Yeah,” Ardyn aid, reaching his hand through the cage bars. The golden alcedine fluttered down to land on his finger, twittering at him. “I love them.” It was true; though his interest had started with studying them to compare them with daemons, Ardyn had quickly discovered how fascinating the animal kingdom was, and how pretty -- books on ecology and animals were slowly taking over his bookshelves, and he had to admit, birds were some of his favorites.

“Well, in that case, they’re yours,” the woman said, and Ardyn lit up.

“Really?” He asked, and the woman nodded.

“Really,” she said. “I know you’ll take good care of them.”

“Stella!” Ardyn nearly tripped, carefully carrying his surprise behind him as he hurried to meet her before she left. “Stella, wait!”

She turned, dropping her bags as her eyes lit up happily. “Ardie, you made it! I was worried you wouldn’t come see me off...”

“Of course I would, Stel’,” Ardyn said. “I was just getting something ready to give you.” He smiled at her crookedly, full of mischief, and Stella smiled back.

“A gift for me?” She asked. “What is it?”

“Oh, they’re so pretty!” Stella said with a bright smile, taking the birdcage gently and whistling the song back at the birds. “I love them, Ardie, thank you!”

Ardyn nodded. “Wherever you go, they’ll know the way there and back again,” he promised. “No matter where you are, my letters will find you.”

“Ardyn...” Stella repeated, and smiled shyly, her eyes glimmering with tears. “Thank you so much. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Stella,” Ardyn said softly, and reached out to give her hand a final squeeze. “But I’ll never forget you. Never.”

Stella sniffled, and leaned over to give Ardyn a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bags and the birdcage and running off.

Ardyn stood a moment, watching her go with his hand covering his cheek. “Bye,” he said softly, so quiet no one could hear. “See you again, Stella.”

#;headcanon: we are such stuff as dreams are made on #;memories: what is past is prologue #;v: my crown is called content #;stella: the love of heaven makes one heavenly

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