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nataliaphantomhivesblog · 4 years ago

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Corruption & Trust

Stormbringer and bsd spoilers in general ahead so read at your own risk!!

So in this post I will be listing all the times Chuuya used corruption and all the times Dazai was there to stop it. I will also go into depth as to why Chuuya trusts Dazai when it comes to having to use corruption and I will also emphazise on Dazai's care and how he takes corruption seriously.

1. First time using corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old

"Isn't it an unpleasant sight, Chuuya."

It was a young boy. This young boy casually caught hold of Chuuya's arm and lifted it up. With this movement, the gravitational field which had occured around them disappered immediatly. As well as Chuuya’s agony.

"Y...You..."

"You can't even die gracefully can you?" the young boy said in a raspy voice as he heaved Chuuya on his shoulders. He set off to walk.

Alright so this was the first time Chuuya's corruption was ever activated, after Dazai nullifies it and carries Chuuya on his back, he drops him off outside the bar were Chuuya's friends lay dead. He took him there instead of taking him directly to the port mafia quarters.

Why did he do that exactly? If Dazai doesn't care for Chuuya, then why did he give Chuuya the opportunity to pay farewell to his dying friends?

It's actually sort of funny because I don't really think Dazai really realizes or accepts that he feels a certain connection with Chuuya and therefore looks after him.

2. Second time using Corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old (obviously, its still the same light novel lol)

After losing his strength, Chuuya drifted in the air for a few seconds, then lost the black wings on his back and slowly fell.

Dazai caught his body.

From the spot where Dazai touched, the nulification skill was activated.

The self-contradictory skill that supports the energy of the singular point receded, and the output of the singular point decreased. Eventually, it converged and the "gate" closed. The red imprints disappeared from Chuya's whole body. Eventually, the gravitational field disappeared and the complete silence was restored.

“Good job, Chuuya." Dazai chuckled, looking at Chuuya he was holding in his arms. "I forgot to bring my ink pen, so I'll spare you from having your face scribbled."

As much as it looks like this is from a fanfiction, I can assure you that it's an actual passage from stormbringer.

I can't really say much except the fact that Dazai is being extremely soft here.

And this was the conversation Dazai and Chuuya shared beforehand:

"There is one problem." Dazai cut off his sentence hesitantly. "It has nothing to do with the sucess rate of the plan. It is a matter we have to overcome in the end but... It may require some time to decide."

"What's with you?" Chuuya raised his eyebrows at Dazai. "Stop dramatizing it. Just hurry up and say it."

"I said earlier about this control spell to open the 'gate' that is used to reset the command inside Chuuya, right?" Dazai spoke with a strangely restrained voice. "If we use that, the logs of the command formula that were written in the past will be erased. That means...even if the memory erasure was used on Chuuya in the past, the traces of that will be erased as well."

"What?"

"I told you before right? the memory erasure command. The only way we can confirm if Chuuya is human or not is to check the history to see if the memory erasure command was ever used. It means..." Dazai looked at Chuuya with eyes that he had never looked at him before. Those eyes were serious. "If we use that control spell, the method to confirm if Chuuya is an artificial personality created by a string of code, or just a normal human being, will be lost. For good."

The time had stopped.

Chuuya opened his eyes and looked towards Dazai but his eyes were not seeing anything. The wind blew between the two of them. Even so, Chuuya did not blink.

"Verlaine became like that because he was tormented by the curse that he was not human. That only is enough of a big problem. The matter of being human or not." Dazai looked at his pocket watch, gave it a glance and continued. "I can delay the time until the plan starts for about two minutes. I will send an order for my men to wait... You can think about it alone for a while. Cuz I guess its hard for you to collect your thoughts with me around."

Having said so, Dazai turned away and walked down the stairs, leaving Chuuya alone.

Dazai fixated in his pocket watch. Two more minutes. Too short for a life decision. But he couldn't afford more than that.

Inside Dazai's head, he was planning a procedure to swith to an alternative plan in case Chuuya refused, at a tremendous speed.

After this exchange, Chuuya does decide on using corruption. I have talked about this section on a previous post of mine, and I just love it so much. For starters, I think this conversation that these two shared is very important to their characters.

For Chuuya, it shows us how undeniably selfless he is. He would rather save the people of Yokahama instead of finding out something that meant a lot to him. He sacrificed his own desires to save the people he cares about.

For Dazai its a completely different story, in this exchange Dazai was able to openly express genuine concern for his partner. He also understands the gravity of the decision Chuuya has to take and therefore leaves the decision up to him.

Third time using corruption: Dragon's Head Conflict

Chuuya and Dazai' s age: 16 yrs old

During this one, Chuuya demands to know where his friends are, and Shibusawa says all six of them killed themselves after being caught. Enraged, Chuuya activates Corruption which ultimatley ended the 88 day conflict.

There isn't much to say about Dazai and Chuuya here since there isn't really an aftermath on this occasion but I bealive this picture is enough.

Before reading the DA manga, I genuienly thought that the only time Chuuya ever rested on Dazai's lap was when they were 22 but this proved me wrong.

I mean this is a minimal thing to point out but if Dazai disregarded Chuuya he would've just left him there, right? But instead he remained with Chuuya and allowed him to rest on his lap, in the picture you can also see he is putting Chuuya's hat back on. It's such a simple gesture but it shows us how caring Dazai can be when it comes to Chuuya using corruption.

Fourth time using corruption: Lovecraft Battle, Double Black reunion

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22 yrs old

This is personally one of my favorite times in which Chuuya uses corruption. The fact that these two had not been working together for 4 years yet they still managed to not only accomplish their mission, but mantain their trust for one another.

I find what Chuuya says here extremely ironic because if anything, the choice has always been up to him. Dazai always uses corruption as a last-resort trick and its always Chuuya who makes the final decision of using it or not, even in a life or death situation Dazai won't take it upon himself to force Chuuya to make the decision if they will be using it or not, and hes always willing to come up with an alternative plan in case Chuuya refuses. (an example of this is when Chuuya used corruption for the 2nd time in SB).

I think the reason as to why Dazai takes corruption extremely seriously is because during stormbringer he was the first person to even see Chuuya use corruption and also the person who understood how corruption will always be sort of like a burden to Chuuya, since it was thanks to corruption that his "am I human?" question stayed unanswered.

He knows how it feels to struggle with your own humanity and he doesn't want for Chuuya (who he literally sees as human), to hold that inner conflict with himself because of corruption.

Anyways, Chuuya decides to go through corruption trusting that Dazai will be there to nullify it.

And of course, Dazai does nullify it.

And after Dazai nullifies corruption, we get this very touching moment between both of them.

This is the first time Chuuya openly admits to trusting Dazai, although it was always evident that he trusts him, I just love how open he is being here.

Also the light punch he gives to Dazai's chest is such a sweet gesture, I see it as a silent way for Chuuya to say "I trust you because after all this time I still see you as my partner."

Dazai's smile in that small pannel is one of the most genuine expression we have gotten out of him. What he says is also a very sweet, I love that he calls him partner. The fact that these two are literally in rival organizations yet Dazai still calls him partner, it shows us that even after all these years he still can't help but see him the same way as he has always done.

Actually in Japanese he calls him "Aibou" and from my understanding, when you use the term Aibou it's for someone who you consider yourself to be close with. It means "partner" like in english but it holds a deeper meaning. If Dazai used the word "nakama" it would have been a very diffrent story since it means partner as well but it isn't used for someone you share a significant connection with. Asagiri's play with words here says a lot.

Fifth time using corruption: Dead Apple

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22yrs old.

Of course I have to talk about one of the most iconic moments in the history of Soukoku.

Chuuya uses corruption to save Dazai, even if Ango says that he's dead for sure. Something I find very intresting here though is that Chuuya screams for Dazai while he is on corruption, he is obviously not supposed to be self concious about the whole situation, while on Corruption clearly he is not supposed to be in sane state of mind, as we all here know, Chuuya loses control and does not have the track of reality while under his own ability but this time, while using corruption, the one and only thing that was on his mind was "Dazai."

It wasn't only Chuuya who entrusted his life to Dazai, Dazai too entrusted his life in Chuuya's hands. When Dazai came up with this plan, he was more than certain that Chuuya was going to save him. And I think a tumblr blog pointed this out but when Chuuya uses curroption, he cannot control his strength, but when he had to punch Dazai he did it lightly, which is strange considering he was using curroption and it would've made a lot more sence if Dazai ended up decapitated due to being punched by a literal god. Dazai had to have faith in the fact that Chuuya will somehow be able to control corruption, even if its just a little bit.

Afterwards when Chuuya manages to rescue Dazai, Dazai gently touches his cheek to nullify corruption and greets him with, "You used Corruption believing in me? I am so touched I could cry." Chuuya groans, and replies that yes he did, that he believed in his disgusting vitality and craftiness.

When they both fall to the ground, Dazai forces Chuuya to rest in his lap because he didn't want to have to protect him from this situation since the fog is still up and Chuuya himself is all worn out and wouldn't be able to fight. But heres the thing, both Chuuya and Dazai's abilities can't be seperated by the fog. I mean Dazai's ability is nulification so it basically cancels out, and Chuuya hosts a literal god inside him so it isn't really an ability if you know what I mean.

So in reality, Dazai just wanted Chuuya to rest. Dazai could've literally just left Chuuya in the fog if he was only using him for his goals, but he was genuienly appreciating Chuuya's trust in him. The way Dazai's hand is resting on Chuuya's hair is a nice gesture too, he is greatful for him and he is moved that someone trusts him, it is shown throughout the Fifthteen and SB light novel that no one trusted Dazai and how most were afraid to even approach him. And in the ADA, everyone is somewhat warry around him (excluding Atsushi ofc). But Chuuya literally puts his life on the line trusting that Dazai will always be there to save him. He trusts him greatly and Dazai knows that, and I think its pretty clear to us that he would never want to break that trust.

The fact that Chuuya trusts Dazai even after he left the Port Mafia without an explanation or goodbye shows us how strong their bond is. Chuuya most likely trusts Dazai because deep down he knows that he isn't using Chuuya's ability out of his own selifshness, a part of him is aware that Dazai uses corruption as a last resort but he just doesn't want to admit it, and I feel like he also trusts him subconciously because of how gentle Dazai is after Chuuya uses corruption.

I really hope we get to see more of these "corruption moments" because in all honesty, these moments are the ones that bring out the most vulenrability for both characters. The moment corruption is used, we see the inmeasurable amount of trust and care these two have for each other that they won't show in other situations. During these times it always shines a very open and bittersweet light on their bond and I love it so much.

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twomoonstwosuns · 5 years ago

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friends.

back to you [series masterlist]

previous part · next part

pairing: professor!poe dameron x reader

warnings: mentions of alcohol, swearing, sweet fluff for the entire thing, age gap (reader over 18)

word count: 4.0k

a/n: feeling kinda meh about this chapter, i apologize if it’s not my best. enjoy the fluff, because we’re about to dive into some drama.

*updated masterlist with info about the number of remaining chapters! (but give me like 10 minutes so I can find the post and link things)

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

“Is the Wi-Fi working for you?”

Poe looked up from his computer when you didn’t answer. Your head was propped up against your hand as you stared at the screen. “Y/N?”

You hummed, tearing your eyes away from the screen. “Sorry, what?”

He gave you a humorous smile. “Are you connected to the Wi-Fi?”

You glanced down at the bars at the top of your screen. “Um…oh, I guess not.”

Poe got up from the table to reset the router. You leaned back in your chair, head hanging over the back so your hair cascaded down the back of it, and groaned quietly. It was a late Sunday afternoon and you were sitting at Poe’s kitchen table doing homework. He had his computer open too, though you weren’t entirely sure what he was doing. A comfortable silence accompanied by soft music fell over you, interrupted only by the clacking of the keyboard. Beebs was off being Beebs. He had been bouncing between you and Poe, demanding attention until you finally caved. After a game of fetch with the purple dragon you bought for him that allowed you to procrastinate for all of two minutes, Beebs trotted off towards Poe’s bedroom to chew on his new favorite toy. Then you were stuck working again. You were quickly losing the will to concentrate, your head throbbing with exhaustion.

“What’s eatin’ you?” You lifted your head to see Poe back in his spot, arms crossed over his chest and an observant look on his face.

“This business marketing paper. The boring part of marketing,” you said, shutting your computer and pushing it away from you. “I need a break. What’re you working on?”

Poe just sighed heavily. You walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and peering at his laptop. There were multiple documents and webpages up.

“What’s eating you?”

Poe looked stressed. He grabbed your hand, bringing you around to perch on his lap. Your arm rested around his neck as his went around your waist to secure you in place.

“I’m…looking at Snoke’s dissertations, his research, the department head job…anything to give me an advantage.”

“Any word on when the interview is?”

“Not yet, but I got the names of some of the people interviewing for the position.”

“Anyone I know?”

“Armitage Hux?”

You narrowed your eyes as you thought. The name sounded familiar so you figured he was someone who taught at the university, but you didn’t know him personally. “I think I’ve heard the name before. If he’s a professor here, I haven’t had him.”

“Consider yourself lucky. He’s a pretentious jackass who thinks he’s above everyone else. Takes after Snoke.”

“Tell me how you really feel about him,” Poe snickered and gave your waist a squeeze. “Well, you’re the complete opposite of him, so I’d say that’s an advantage already. If there’s anything I can do to help you, let me know.”

Poe rubbed his eyes with his free hand. Resting your head against his, you ran your hand through his hair, lightly massaging his scalp.

“Sweetheart, you’re going to make me fall asleep,” he said, leaning into your touch. You smiled at the pet name, a warm feeling settling in your chest.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No.”

Poe rested his head on your shoulder, his nose nuzzling your collarbone. You continued running your fingers through his hair, a content groan coming from him as he completely relaxed. Moments like these were few and far between and greatly cherished, when you could just relax in each other’s embrace. There was no sneaking around, no pretending like you weren’t a couple in a room full of people. You could just be together.

Beebs suddenly barked loudly from Poe’s bedroom, startling the both of you out of your peaceful state. You looked towards the noise. “What’s gotten into him?”

Poe reluctantly unwound his arms from your waist, looking towards the room as Beebs’ barks turned to huffs.

“Maybe he found a mouse,” Poe said, smirking when you glared at him.

“That’s not funny!” You yelled after him.

A loud knock on the door startled you again. You could hear Poe talking to Beebs, which meant he hadn’t heard the door. You tiptoed over to the door to peak through the peephole when you heard a loud, booming voice.

“Poe Dameron, I know you’re alive in there!”

Yanking the door open, you immediately recognized the man and woman on the other side, but their faces showed confusion as they looked at you.

“You are not Poe,” the man said with a joking tone to his voice. You laughed.

“No, but I know you,” you pointed between the two visitors. “You’re Finn, and you’re Rey.” You recognized them from the pictures Poe had around his apartment and on his office desk.

“Is Poe here?” Rey asked kindly, and you snapped out of your thoughts.

“Oh my god, yeah, I’m sorry.” You stood aside, letting them in. “Poe!”

Poe came out of his room with Beebs hot on his heels and you saw his face light up when he saw Finn.

“Buddy!” He engulfed Finn in a giant hug, patting him on the back. It had been far too long since they’d seen each other, and the reunion of two best friends made you smile. “What’re you doing here?!”

“I’m on leave for two weeks, had to come say hi. And I managed to steal Peanut from Florida for a few days.”

Poe found Rey from over Finn’s shoulder and grabbed her in a bear hug, lifting her from the ground. They both leaned down to say hi to Beebs, the happy dog hungry for their affection, as he laid on the ground with his belly open for scratches.

“Guys,” Poe beckoned you over to him. “This is Y/N. Y/N, this is—“

“Finn and Rey, I know,” you smiled, shaking both of his friends’ hands. “It’s so great to meet you, I’ve heard so many good things about the both of you.”

“Oh god, now I have to know what he said.” Finn joked. “Are you sticking around a bit longer?”

You grabbed the phone out of your pocket and grimaced at the time. “Another time, I actually have to head out.”

Beebs grabbed Finn and Rey’s attention once again, showing off a toy in hopes they’d play with him.

“You know you can stay, right?” Poe questioned quietly as you packed up your belongings.

“I know, but Karé’s expecting me home to help her study and if I’m not there soon, she will kill me,” you explained, really wishing you hadn’t made the promise to your friend so you could stay. “Besides, it’s not everyday you get a surprise visit from your best friends. You haven’t seen them in months; you need to catch up with them. I’ll see you later.”

Poe smiled appreciatively and pressed a lingering kiss to your lips. You whispered a goodbye to him before politely waving to Finn and Rey.

“So that’s your girl, huh?” Rey asked as the front door clicked shut, elbowing Poe in the ribs and wiggling her eyebrows. Poe looked from the door to his friends and back, a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, that’s her.”

》》》

The nerves were back in your belly.

Finn and Rey still wanted to get to know you, so they suggested drinks. This felt as big as meeting the parents. Finn and Rey were important and if they didn’t like you…you didn’t want to think about it.

You drove over to Poe’s apartment and he intercepted you before you could head inside, instead getting into his waiting car. Your phone rang and you pressed a finger to your lips as Poe opened his mouth to say hi.

“Hi, mom.”

“You will never guess who’s back in town.”

“I know Ben is, but who else?”

“Ben told you, good! Well his father’s back, too. They want to know if we want to have dinner with them and his mother, and they want you and Tallie to come too. Are you available Wednesday night?”

“You’re going to make me drive an hour home just for that?”

“Please, honey? They really want to see you. If it’ll get you here, I’ll pay for your gas.”

You threw your head back against the seat of the car, groaning inaudibly in discontent.

“If it’ll make you happy, fine. But you’re paying me back for gas.”

“Thank you, honey. I’ll let them know and I’ll text you when we settle on a time and place.”

“Sounds good, unfortunately I gotta go, I’m actually a little busy right now.”

Bidding your mother goodbye, you hung up and tossed your phone into your bag. Poe raised his eyebrows. “Everything ok?”

“Yeah, apparently I get to drive all the way home to go out to dinner with some family friends who just got back to town,” you said, still confused as to why it was so imperative that you attend. “So…we’re not going inside?”

“Finn found a place an hour away. He figured we might like that since we’re always at my apartment.”

“Wow,” you said softly, awed at the sweetness of the gesture of someone who was still practically a stranger. “That’s so nice of him.”

“He likes you.”

“He doesn’t know me.”

“I’ve told him enough.”

“Oh yeah? What have you told him about me?”

“All the good stuff. Like how you snore.”

“I do not!” You swatted his arm. Poe grabbed your hand, intertwining your fingers with his and kissing your knuckles. He didn’t let go for the entire hour-long drive.

When you got to the bar, Poe grabbed your hand outside of the car and kissed you in the parking lot. Because there was no one around who could tell on you.

Finn and Rey had already arrived, commandeering a booth in the corner that wasn’t hiding from the action in the bar but a little out of the way to ensure some privacy. You sat down nervously as Finn joined Poe at the bar to get drinks.

“Can I just clarify something before Poe comes back?” You blurted as soon as Rey opened her mouth to speak. She nodded. “I’m not using Poe to get a good grade or whatever.”

“Relax,” Rey laughed. You blushed, muttering an apology and wondering where Poe was with drinks. “We never thought you were. Poe’s told us enough where we never even considered it.”

You felt your shoulders relax. “Ok, now I have to know what he said.”

Rey eyed the guys coming back to the table and gave you a look that said you’d talk about it later. You took a long swig of your beer, bursting into giggles with Rey at the reason why. Poe shook his head.

“Do I want to know?” He asked as he put his arm around the back of the booth and you shook your head as you patted his knee.

“Nope. Our secret.” You clinked your bottle against Rey’s and Poe felt excitement in his veins that you and Rey were already getting along.

“All right Y/N, there’s a few things Poe didn’t tell us about you,” Finn said. “What’s your major?”

“Marketing, which will let me do pretty much anything.”

“Do you know what you’re doing after school?”

“Not even in the slightest. I probably should start setting up job interviews though.”

“Family?”

“Mom, older sister, brother-in-law.”

“Is this twenty questions? Because if it is, it’s totally one-sided.” Poe interrupted.

“We’re doing a crash course on Y/N. Pun intended.” Finn said, making Poe roll his eyes.

“Ok fine, but let me sneak in a question or two.” You said. “Family?”

Poe’s eyes flickered between his two friends as he tensed beside you. You froze, realizing you might’ve struck a nerve but not knowing how. Your nerves were back in full force, a warm uncomfortable feeling settling in your chest.

“We were foster kids,” Finn said. “I never knew my birth parents.”

“And my parents died when I was five.” Rey added. They sounded so nonchalant about it, like they’ve said it a million times. A sorrowful look crossed your face.

“Don’t be sorry.” Rey shook her head, placing her hand on yours. “We got lucky with loving families and it made us who we are.”

“And we’re awesome, so…”

You admired their perspective. You weren’t very familiar with the foster system, knowing only what you know through word-of-mouth and poor TV portrayal, but you knew enough to know that kids sometimes ended up in bad situations when they all deserved good situations. And you were grateful that Finn and Rey ended up with good families.

“My dad walked out on my family six months ago to be with his mistress and we didn’t hear from him for two weeks,” you admitted, breaking the tense silence. Poe squeezed your hand. “Since we’re swapping family stories.”

Finn and Rey were silent before bursting out laughing, which caused you to laugh, and then Poe laughed. Uncomfortable family situations you had no control over whatsoever wouldn’t ruin a good time.

You learned that Rey was incredibly gifted and the youngest engineer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, working between engine maintenance on planes and shuttles to computer data processing. She had two rescue cats named Ochi and Deo and hated the humidity of Florida but loved the ocean and the lush green of the Everglades.

Finn was a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force based in California, quickly rising through the ranks with his skill and natural leadership abilities. He had just been assigned to the base in California and he was still getting used to all the sun. He and Poe met in high school first and made a plan to join the Air Force together until Poe’s father got sick. The band had been Finn’s idea, having spent three weeks holding auditions until he found his bandmates.

“Your friends are cooler than mine,” you said quietly to Poe before turning back to Finn and Rey. “So NASA engineer and Air Force pilot/sergeant. Definitely cooler than a famous musician.”

“Poe told you about that?” Finn asked. “Did he tell you about Skywalker Records?”

“Only that they were interested in you.”

“Well, we actually sat down with the founder Luke and Poe was so nervous that he tripped over his own feet and broke one of his Grammy’s.”

You wanted to feel bad for your boyfriend, but instead you busted out laughing. Poe groaned in embarrassment and you leaned into him, patting his stomach. You and Poe were probably a little touchy feely given that you with his friends, but if they had a problem with it they didn’t seem to care. You never got to act like a couple in public and you were taking full advantage of it.

“So, are you excited to graduate?” Rey asked. You nodded, but deep in the back of your mind you didn’t want to think about graduating, entering the real world and leaving the comfort of a daily school routine. And, ultimately, the possibility of leaving Poe.

“It’s been a long ride and sometimes I think I’ll forget everything I learned,” you vented. “And sometimes I feel like all college has done for me is teach me how to function on very little sleep and how to get really good at Mario Kart, like those skills are going to take me far.”

“Depending on what you end up doing, working on no sleep can help you.” Rey answered. Poe shot her a look.

“Don’t encourage it, it’s not healthy.”

“But it’s true.”

“You any good?” Finn interrupted, looking directly at you.

“At not sleeping? Very.”

“No, at Mario Kart.”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Finn huffed and you furrowed your brow. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Finn said, giving you a challenging look. “I just so happen to be the King of Mario Kart.”

You arched your eyebrow. Poe and Rey were looking at the both of you humorously.

“How good?”

And that’s how you found yourself back in Poe’s apartment, moving the coffee table out of the way while Poe hooked up the gaming system.

“How do you want to do this? No matter how good you think you are, your thumb is going to cramp after a couple of races. We’re going to need a break.”

“You don’t think you’re playing alone, do you?” Poe asked, looking between you and Finn. “You’re my girlfriend and all, Y/N, but I’m going to kick your ass.”

A smirk grew on your face. “Is that a challenge?”

“If you want it to be.” Poe stalked towards you, leaning down to your ear. “Just remember that I always win.”

Undoubtedly a little turned on, you had never been more determined to beat someone for. And Poe knew it.

“Fine. Finn and Poe against me and Y/N,” Rey said. “I hope you’re both prepared to get your ass kicked by a couple of girls.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Finn said, handing over a controller. Poe came back into the living room with a piece of paper and a pen.

“We’ll keep track of the points from each set of races. Whoever tallies the most at the end wins.”

As you picked your characters, Mario and Luigi respectively, Rey pulled you aside. “I think they’re strategizing,” she whispered, looking at Finn and Poe, who were huddled up together. Beebs just lay in the middle of the floor with his tail wagging, just wanting to be included.

“What is there to strategize on? You just race,” you said.

“I have an idea. Go for the speeder.” Rey said. “Finn will most likely go with something flashy that has better acceleration but the speeder is easier to control, which will give you the advantage when you get to the harder courses.”

You pointed at her with a smirk. “Good thinking.”

It was back and forth, round after round. You’d win a couple. Finn would win a couple. Then Rey, then Poe. Both teams took to over-the-top celebrations. The guys danced, you and Rey chest bumped. Celebratory shots after each round made their way into the game.

You were having the time of your life.

Entering the final race, the score was incredibly close, the guys leading you by six points. You needed to finish at least fifth in order to beat them. It was you and Finn, battling it out over who’d be crowned the best at Mario Kart. You had just gained the lead when you felt Poe’s hands on your hips. You tried to shake them off, but he wouldn’t budge. You ignored him, but he suddenly wrapped one arm around your waist and started pulling backwards away from the TV.

“Oh hell no! Poe!” you laughed, fighting against the pull, but it was useless. “Rey!”

You grabbed your partner’s attention and tossed her the remote as Poe pulled you back by the couch. You cheered victoriously when Rey got back on course and managed to pull back just behind Finn. You stopped fighting against Poe and rested your arms on top of his, hip-checking him as he buried his face in your neck and wrapped his other arm around you.

“You are such a cheater!” You were giggling uncontrollably as Poe placed kisses wherever he could. He kissed up your neck to your cheek.

“I’m sorry you didn’t think of it,” Poe said against your cheek, with humor in his voice. His lips moved all over your cheek. You turned your face and caught his lips, which he kissed multiple times as you laughed. The joyful crinkles by your eyes matched his.

Finn and Rey glanced at each other with knowing smirks. Their best friend was completely smitten.

Poe rested his chin on your shoulder as you both watched your partners finish the race. He subconsciously tightened his grip around you as Finn and Rey became neck and neck, you cheering as Rey crossed the finish line. She didn’t finish first, but she did beat Finn. Poe released you as you went to high-five Rey, picking up the pad of paper and writing down the scores. You waited anxiously as they tallied up the results.

“We win!”

You and Rey protested, grabbing the paper to double check the math. They had indeed won, and you knew Poe wasn’t going to let you live it down.

“A worthy competitor,” you stuck your hand out to Finn, who shook it. Poe stuck out his hand and you shook your head. “Not happening.”

He gently grabbed your wrist and pulled you into him. “That’s not very friendly.”

“You and me: rematch.”

“It’s a date.”

He pecked your lips and grabbed the bottles of alcohol to put away. “It’s late, do you guys just want to crash here? I’ve got the guest room and the couch.”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” Rey said, looking at Finn who nodded. “Go take Beebs out, we know where your extra blankets and pillows are.”

While Poe took Beebs out, you helped Finn and Rey get the couch set up, turned off lights, and shut things down for the night. You met them in the middle of the living room, not quite ready to say good night.

“You know, I really admire how strong you’ve kept your friendship after all these years while being thousands of miles apart,” you commented. “I’m terrified of what’s going to happen with my friends here and my friends from high school.”

“Sometimes you just find people in your life who are worth the effort. Rey and Poe are that for me. And you seem to be that way for Poe.”

“So, does that mean I’ve got your approval?”

Finn and Rey glanced at each other before looking back at you. You gave them a knowing look in return.

“Damn, she’s observant,” Finn whispered loudly.

“Not that we should have any say over who Poe chooses to date,” Rey stated. “But yes.”

You gave them a small smile, whispering your thanks that was interrupted with a loud yawn from Finn.

“Sorry, it’s exhausting kicking ass,” Finn said. Both you and Rey rolled your eyes.

“I’ll get better by beating Poe and the next time you come up, we’ll play.”

“Deal.”

It was your turn to yawn, the sleepy ambiance of the apartment practically pushing you towards bed.

“Go to bed, we’ll talk in the morning.” Rey said, hugging you. You were surprised by the action, but hugged her back nonetheless. Finn tapped you on the shoulder as you pulled away from Rey.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do with friends in the next room over.” Finn warned, pulling you into a hug. You chuckled.

“Poe’s gonna gloat all night, so don’t worry. It’s not happening.”

You caught Poe’s eye as he came in the door and seeing you hugging his friend. You expected him to give you a look for talking about him while he was gone, but instead you saw him carefully watching you with a smile on his face as he took off his coat. After just a couple of hours, you were getting along with two of the most important people in his life.

He couldn’t help but be happy.

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#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron #poe dameron fluff #poe dameron x y/n #poe dameron x reader insert #modern au #modern poe dameron #poe dameron fanfiction #back to you series

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tev-the-random · 4 years ago

Text

What it Ursa took her children with her? - Pt.2

As we were saying:

Little over year has passed since the family arrived in Hira’a, and fateful news gets to them: Ozai remarried. His new wife is someone who is honoured to marry the Firelord and doesn’t mind the fact that his head is so deep up his own arse- anyway, and they are expecting a child, who is to be the Firelord’s legitimate heir.

Azula’s hopes and dreams are shattered. At age ten, she is quite literally being replaced in her beloved father’s life. It’s like she’s never even existed, and she can’t help but wonder what she did wrong.

Zuko is also upset, of course. All those years when Ozai told him he was unfit and worthless come flooding back. But somehow, he already expected things to turn out like this. Unlike Azula, he wasn’t so deeply feeding on hopes that things would go back to normal. He sees it more as a situation that was out of everyone’s control.

He convinces Azula it’s not her fault, and these kids will still be trying to understand and defend their father later down the road. There must be a reason for all of this, right? They start thinking of a reasonable scenario…

Ursa just feels sorry for the poor woman who has to deal with Ozai now.

So we get a timeskip: about three years came and went. Zuko and Azula – treated as kids and not as weapons – lead a peaceful and happy life whenever they’re not thinking of their father and everything they could be doing out there.

They have become known local troublemakers in their spare time. Kids know better than to challenge them, people know not to leave flammable goods out in the open – a strict policy regarding fireworks has been established after a chaotic incident – and failure to keep an eye on them this one time led to… well, let’s just say that the town is still unsure of whether or not they’re is being haunted by evil spirits.

They aren’t allowed anywhere near Forgetful Valley, but bold of you to assume they never tried. In-jokes arise.

‘No, I’m serious: that tree’s face looked exactly like yours, Zuzu. You really should befriend it,’ Azula mocks, remembering a particularly ugly tree they encountered in their adventure.

‘Sorry, I wasn’t looking at it. I was busy looking for whoever it was that asked you,’ Zuko retorts. ‘Since Forgetful Valley has all the kinds of crazy stuff.’

‘Maybe we should go back and look for your impulse control, then.’

‘None of you are going back in there,’ Ursa reprehends. ‘It was very irresponsible of you. Forgetful Valley is a dangerous place, you could have gotten hurt!’

‘Your mother is right, you know?’ Noren comments. ‘I’ve been to that jungle before, and it’s definitely not a playground. But I swear…’ He makes a dramatic pause. ‘I once saw Ursa’s sense of humour in there.’

The kids burst out laughing while Ursa sighs. ‘Since you can find such amazing things in the valley, dear, why don’t you go back there and find yourself actual funny jokes? I’m sure my sense of humour will be around the same corner.’

*More laughter*

(IDK, I write crappy comedy, ok?)

They still have a bit of a hard time making friends. I wouldn’t say they are shy, but they definitely have a talent to say the wrong things at the wrong times, and it’s hard to make deep connections. Sure, they would play with other kids from time to time, but in the end, Zuko and Azula are each other’s best friend.

They’ve cleared an area by the beach that any Hira’a resident knows to stay away from when they’re training.

Azula discovered a great passion for theatre. Not only are her acting skills fantastic, she also seems to be naturally aware of what makes a good scene. People say she’s Noren’s Little Assistant.

She hates being called Noren’s Little Assistant. She would much rather be called Ursa’s Little Star, because goddamn is she a good actress and she needs everyone to know that.

Zuko is more of a plant-lover guy. Unfortunately, he hasn’t inherited his grandmother’s green thumb, and despite Ursa’s best efforts to teach him, it seems like everything he touches dies.

He has grown to show a way with animals, however. Any variety of frogs and toads love him; lizards of all kinds are attracted to him like he’s a magnet; furry animals big and small adore him and any type of bird-like creature seems to think he is the best human being in existence. But his favourite animals are still the turtleducks.

Back in the palace, Iroh eventually learns of Ozai’s bullshit and how he got the throne in the first place. And you know what? The time has come for Iroh to draw a line in the sand. He confronts his little brother, who confronts him back by telling him that, should he try to tell anyone in the Fire Nation the truth – that Ozai was a top-grade traitor who actually had no right to the throne –, no one would believe him. Since his brother won’t be sensible, Iroh decides that’s it: he’s fucking out.

Now a fugitive from the Fire Nation, he somehow winds up owning a lovely traveling tea shop called the Jasmin Dragon. Most people don’t even suspect he is the fearful Dragon of the West, because he’s just so nice?

You can bet he serves blends of tea from all across the nations.

The tea shop is also a good cover up for his exchanges with the Order of the White Lotus. He gives and receives information, and does his best to help villages to either defend themselves or evacuate during Fire Nation attacks.

One day a member of the White Lotus travels to Hira’a for one reason or another and finds Zuko and Azula. This person then sends a letter to Iroh.

Iroh comes to Hira’a to visit the family. He’s glad to see they’re ok, even if he can’t stay for too long. But long enough for some Quality Time – these kids have grown so much!

Iroh doesn’t know of Ursa’s part in Azulon’s assassination, and only assumes she knew of Ozai’s plan. But now, it’s time that her children learned a couple of things, and he is willing to teach them, so that when the time arrives for them to meet their destiny, they should be able to choose wisely and face whatever comes their way. So he asks the children to accompany him in his travels.

Ursa doesn’t want to let them go. They’re children, they should be here living a peaceful life, not meeting some grand, dangerous destiny! What if something horrible happened to them?

Iroh understands the pain of losing a child. He doesn’t want to make Ursa spend her time worrying about losing two, so he respects her decision and soon leaves the town.

But the siblings are not about to just sit here when they know they’re destined for something greater. What incredible knowledge did their uncle hold? Did their father have something to do with this? They always knew there was more to their fate than just living in Hira’a for the rest of their lives, and this is their chance; it’s now or never.

Zuko and Azula are about to sneak out and follow Iroh when Noren spots them. But instead of trying to stop them – he is well aware that he can’t – he gives them two masks and some advice about never forgetting who they were.

Why yes, I am saying that they eventually take the masks and become partners in crime, Zuko as the Blue Spirit and Azula as the Red Spirit, because parallels.

They catch up with their uncle and adventures and shenanigans issue as Zuko, Azula and Iroh cross the Earth Kingdom.

Now imagine this trio: two of the most awkward firebending teenagers travelling with their old tea-loving uncle, who spits proverbs like he’s made of them. The possibilities for both hilarious and heart-warming moments are endless.

Iroh thinks himself a matchmaker. Whenever he thinks he sees some romance going on, he encourages his nephew or niece to make a move. His flaming cupid arrows do more damage than good, yet he only has good intentions at heart. Teens all around the kingdom encourage you to stop, sir.

Their new life is even more humbling than in Hira’a, since they are constantly travelling. But they manage, and they know their uncle is nothing but wise… even if Azula is still quite arrogant and manipulative, and Zuko is impatient and hot-headed, which can lead to a lot of conflict.

Iroh teaches them both how to create and redirect lightning. Zuko is better at redirecting than Azula. Creating it, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated, and both of them get their fair share of explosions while learning. Neither of them really gets a hang of it – although Azula is better at it than Zuko, that’s not saying much – for they still have a lot of identity-related turmoil inside them that won’t let them grasp the energy.

Guess who else teaches them? Other members of the White Lotus. Both Zuko and Azula get some swordsmanship Skills™ from Piandao, some different (and somewhat unwillingly taught) firebending technics from Jeong-Jeong and a lot of things from Bumi, including but not limited to: creative thinking, the art of patience, strategic planning, dealing with pirates and a surprising amount of rocks-related knowledge.

Bumi adopted Zuko and Azula and gave himself the role of Second Uncle. You cannot convince me otherwise.

So one day, little over a year after the siblings joined Iroh, they wind up in a city where this big circus is performing. Uncle Iroh decides to take his niece and nephew to see it. And oh, aren’t they surprised by who they see performing?

Even though Ty Lee was essentially the only one between her sisters to befriend Azula – and consequentially, the only one to periodically spend time in the palace with her –, Zuko and Iroh still have a hard time distinguishing her from the six other girls who look exactly like her, uncertainly calling her all different names before Azula snaps ‘you idiots, that’s Ty Lee!’.

The acrobat is so glad to see her friend again, because damn: it’s been nearly four years since they last saw or even heard from each other! And Zuko, I thought you were dead? This is such a neat reunion, there’s so much for them to talk about! And sure, the circus has to leave soon and so do the siblings, but Ty Lee reassures them that, if they ever needed her, she wasn’t hard to find. This isn’t the last we’ll see of Ty Lee.

Azula doesn’t let it show, but she resents Ty Lee a little bit for choosing to abandon her noble life. She really wishes she could have had a choice.

Uncle Iroh tells the siblings stories about the war that would have some day mesmerized them. But now, his opinions about those events and what he did as a prince general have changed; that, along with what the family sees in their journey – all the horrors brought to innocent people – gives Zuko and Azula a new perspective on what they used to think was a greater good. It will still take a while for Azula to understand that no, these people are no lesser than her and for Zuko to understand why any of that matters.

Iroh eventually tells them the truth about Azulon’s death. Or at least, what he knows of it: their father killed Azulon, banished them, took the throne by force and planned to gain more power at the expense of everyone. This is a lot to take in, and the siblings don’t quite believe it.

After four years thinking about it, Zuko and Azula decided to take their mother’s early words – they went to Hira’a to be safe – and formulate what for them was a reasonable scenario. They believe that Ozai never actually wanted any of this to happen. The whole family had to have been in danger, be it due to some political, social or personal threat, and Ozai wanted to take it all by himself to protect them. So he sent his wife and children away, concocted a plan with Azulon to cover for them and, once Azulon died and left him the throne, remarried to keep appearances. To Zuko and Azula, this makes perfect sense. And they thoroughly convince themselves of that.

They initiate an argument, thinking that Iroh is jealous of Ozai.

Their uncle sees these children are starting to stray from their path, but he knows this is a necessary journey for them. They will never be able to deal with reality unless they face it.

The siblings leave Iroh, planning to head straight to the Fire Nation capital and find out what really happened. Maybe now that they are older, it would be a perfect time to come back home; they surely could defend themselves from any threats.

Of course, they’ll be very disappointed to know that Ozai was just a bitch and never actually cared for any of them.

I don’t have a full formed idea about how their reencounter with their father would go down, but I say Ozai would officially banish both his children from the Fire Nation for trying to cause a commotion – which could easily be perceived as a threat. Not only that, but Zuko and Azula are the children of a traitor; cue for Ozai revealing what happened that night four years ago, confirming that he was the one to kill Azulon with Ursa’s help.

I also think that, after that day, the Firelord would have discreetly helped spread rumours about Ursa that would drag her name through the mud in the Capital – was she cheating on Ozai? Was she selling Fire Nation information to the Earth Kingdom? Was she planning a coup against the Firelord? Her crimes change from mouth to mouth. In the end, no one would take Zuko or Azula back unless Ozai wanted it. But he doesn’t. Not now, at least…

But Ozai also decides to play with his options: he plants a seed of doubt in his children’s minds; should they prove themselves useful later on, it would only take pulling a few strings for them to come crawling back to him. So he tells them that they needed to prove themselves for everyone to see that they weren’t traitors like their mother. They needed to prove their worth so that he could accept them.

Ozai goes a step further with Azula and tells her that, before his demise, Firelord Azulon had a plan. A plan to bring her back and put her in the leading, prestigious role she was always meant to get. But they needed to wait for the right time. There is a right time, Princess Azula. Your hopes were right all along, they will come for you eventually if you prove yourself.

The siblings have a lot to think about while they’re leaving the Fire Nation. They idolized Ozai so much all these years. But the undeniable truth came crashing down on their heads, spoken by the man himself. What would they do now? They didn’t think it possible, but their harsh actions made things so much worse: they couldn’t come back to their mother, they didn’t have many hopes of running into Iroh again, they can’t even set foot in their homeland anymore; Zuko and Azula are all on their own.

Maybe it’s time to turn a new leaf. It starts with them being fairly neutral, not completely loyal to either the Fire Nation or to the rest of the world. During this period, they would argue a lot about what to do or where to go next, getting separated and going their own ways before destiny makes them stick together again, over and over.

They manage to get a few deals and own a few favours here and there, become known thieves as the Spirits, and maybe meet up with Ty Lee’s circus every now and again. Life is hard.

But there is one thing that is about to be a beacon in their darkness…

Time to catch up to the show. Oh, you thought I wouldn’t go there?

Part 3 coming right up!

(I know I said this would be a two-parter, but it got ridiculously long, so I split it again. Three-parter now.)

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lilacmoon83 · 5 years ago

Text

A Darker Curse

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 28: Broken

Snow's blood curdling still echoed in his ears, as he held their dying daughter in his arms. Emma's muffled scream, as Whale cauterized her wound, further shattered him and he felt more helpless than he ever had, even on his worst days with Kathryn. He gently rocked her, as Snow cried against him uncontrollably.

"My baby...I can't lose my baby…" she kept repeating, as August knelt on her other side, also crying.

"Come on Em...fight…" he pleaded, but her eyes remained glassy and he saw Whale check for her pulse.

"She's not breathing…" he said gravely, as David laid her flat and Whale began to pump her chest.

"Breath for her!" he called, as David did as instructed.

"Emma...please, I can't lose you now," he cried, as Whale pumped her chest furiously and David breathed for her again. But a wave of rainbow colored light erupted from Emma's very being and washed over the entire town. Recognition flashed in people's eyes, as memories were returned, but it brought no joy.

"What...what was that?" Snow asked.

"The curse...it's broken," August said, as he looked at his sister.

"No...no…" he uttered.

"Emma…" Regina said, as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Why did you stop!?" David screamed at Whale.

"I'm sorry...she's gone," he said apologetically and Snow let out a cry of anguish, as Regina crashed to her knees beside her, trying to hold her inconsolable sister.

"Emma's the Savior. She can break the curse with true love's kiss...but if she dies, it also breaks. Cora knew she was done, so she killed Emma in her final revenge," August said, in anguish.

"No...no!" David cried, as he cradled his little girl in his arms and cried over her. Snow crawled to him and kissed their daughter's forehead.

"Emma...you have to wake up, baby...you have to," she sobbed, as David put his free arm around her and they cried together with their heads pressed together, until she froze and spotted something over his shoulder.

"David…" she uttered and he turned to see what she was looking at.

"What is that?" she asked, noticing the ominous pink cloud.

"Magic…" Regina gasped, as the cloud barreled toward them and swept over them all, just as Rumple appeared with Lacey, though they realized that she probably wasn't Lacey anymore.

"Was that really magic?" Regina asked desperately.

"Yes...but it's different here, as you are probably discovering. Fortunately, I've already figured it out," Rumple said, as he approached.

"Papa...can you save her!?" Neal asked desperately, as he cradled their son and his tears pained him.

"I hope so...I hope it's not too late," he said, as he held up the cork that had been on the bottle.

"Long ago...I bottled true love from the hairs I collected from you both. That potion has brought magic here and the final drop is on this cork. It may be her only chance...your love created her and it is the only thing that can save her," he said, as he dropped the final drop into Emma's mouth. Rumple then used his returned magic to heal her wound, before stepping back into Belle's arms.

"Did it work?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied, as moments passed and nothing happened. Hope began to dwindle in Snow and Charming, as they began to quietly cry together again. And just when Whale was about to gently tell them that they needed to call the time of death, Emma took a starved breath of air and opened her eyes. Snow and Charming looked down at her in amazement and began crying over her again, only this time in joy.

"What's going on?" Emma asked in confusion.

"You're okay...that's what matters the most," David replied.

"He's right, sweetheart," Snow cried.

"Hey Mom...you look younger again," Emma mentioned, as David looked up and noticed it too. Snow looked at her hand and noticed those subtle lines of aging were gone and put a hand to her face, instantly noticing that the lines around her eyes that were perhaps one sign that she was older than she looked were gone. Regina grinned at her and nodded.

"It would seem the breaking of the curse has returned the time that was lost to you," Rumple declared. August smiled at her and then felt something in his pocket. His eyes widened, as he pulled out the pen.

"Guess that's not all the curse breaking has returned," he said, as she hugged him tightly. Emma sat up with her father's help and looked around at all the smiling people.

"Uh...what's going on?" she asked.

"The curse is broken," Snow told her with a bright smile.

"And Cora?" she asked.

"Dead," Maleficent said, as she transformed from her dragon form to her human one.

"Well...no one is going to mourn her," Emma said, as she realized that Regina might not feel that way and looked at her.

"Oh...sorry Regina," she said, but the other woman shook her head.

"My mother was evil to her core...there was no redemption for her, especially after she almost took you from us. Trust me...I won't be mourning her either," Regina replied, as Robin sided up to her and she kissed him tenderly. David helped Emma to her feet and he and Snow hugged her tightly.

"Wow...so it's really over," she said, as Neal brought their son to her and she took him in her arms.

"It is...we can finally just be the family we always wanted to be," Snow said, as she saw Marco approach.

"My boy…" he said tearfully and August frowned.

"Geppetto…" August addressed him coldly.

"My boy...look at the man you have become," he said in awe.

"Well...what did you expect? For me to still be that little boy you shoved through a wardrobe all alone?" he retorted.

"But...Princess Snow took care of you for me. I knew she would," he said, as he regarded her with a bow.

"She raised me! And after you lied to her about the wardrobe!" August raged.

"But I am your father!" Marco protested.

"Technically you made me and technically she gave me life, but that's not saying much since she has a history of screwing people over," August said, as he drew attention to the Blue Fairy.

"Excuse me?" she questioned.

"I'm the author...trust me, I know all your dirty little secrets," he replied cryptically.

"But her…" he said, as he turned to Snow.

"She's my Mom and I love her. She, Emma, David, and little David are my real family," he said.

"Pinocchio…" Marco started to say.

"August...my name is August now," he corrected.

"My boy...please, can we just talk? You should come home with me! You belong with me!" Marco insisted.

"No…I'm going home with my mother and I'm not saying we can't talk, but you can't expect everything to just go back to how it was before you put me in that wardrobe. I'm a man now and I'm the man I am, because she raised me. Snow raised me and Emma by herself, because you lied to them and took David's chance to raise his daughter away," he said.

"I was trying to protect you!" Marco insisted.

"You two told me to never lie and then you did exactly that to my mom and David!" August snapped.

"And as a result, David ended up in a really bad situation and my mom struggled to raise two children in a really unforgiving world," he added.

"You have turned him against me," Marco accused Snow, but that set August off even more.

"No! She encouraged me to mend things with you when the time came! But if you attack her...that will never be possible. She is my mother and you will show her respect," he said. Snow was about to speak to him to tell him to give August some time, but they were all interrupted when Frederick came running over.

"Frederick...what is it?" David asked.

"It's Abigail...we had a brief reunion when the curse broke, but then she just shut down and got this haunted look on her face, before she ran off," he said frantically.

"This is about me...we need to find her," David said.

"I can track her if you have something of hers," Red interjected and he gave her a scarf that she had left behind.

"This isn't her fault...I need to convince her of that," David said. Snow nodded.

"And we will," she said, as they joined hands and turned to Emma.

"We'll stay around here in case she comes back," Emma said, as they hugged her.

"Meanwhile...if you can get a handle on your magic, we can repair this mess of a town," Rumple said to Regina, as she felt the magic finally coming to her.

"Looks like I'm getting it," she said.

"I can help too," Maleficent said, while Snow and David followed Red and Frederick.

~*~

Kathryn looked on with confusion, not quite comprehending what her eyes were seeing. There was a literal dragon before her eyes and Cora had just stabbed that bitch, Mary Margaret's daughter. She got some satisfaction out of that since both Mary Margaret and David seemed destroyed now. But just like that, the satisfaction was gone when Cora was killed. By a creature that wasn't supposed to exist and she couldn't believe she was actually seeing, no less. Peculiarly, a wave of rainbow light washed over them all, but it might as well have been a ton of bricks hitting her, because that's what it felt like having her memories returned. She felt a tightness in her chest and she looked up to see Frederick running toward her.

"Abigail…" he uttered.

"Frederick…" she said, as tears began to slip down her cheeks. They looked on though, as Snow and David sobbed over their daughter and heard Whale declare that she was gone.

"No…" Abigail said, as she realized her part on all of this. It hit her and every monstrous thing she had done to David hit her like a freight train. She held her head in her hands and felt like dying for all the pain she had caused them.

"Abigail…" Frederick started to say.

"I...I'm a monster…" she cried.

"No...that wasn't you," he assured.

"It doesn't matter...their daughter is dead and I had a hand in it! I tortured David! The things I did to him…" she uttered, as she started to back away.

"Abigail...this isn't your fault and they know that," Frederick reasoned.

"I can't…" she said, as she ran off, despite his protests and missed Emma's revival.

"This way," Red called, as she led them through the woods. David could feel the ground inclining ever so slightly and started to worry about what that meant.

"She ran off before Emma was healed. She thinks she's responsible for all of this," Frederick lamented.

"We'll find her and make sure she knows that's not true. This is all on Cora," David replied.

"I know, but you'd be well within your right to not want anything to do with her," he said.

"You're right...but we can't let her punish herself for Cora's crimes," Snow reasoned, as David led her up the ridge, until they finally spotted her looking over a ledge at the raging river below.

"Abigail!" Frederick called, as she turned and looked back.

"Stop...don't come any closer!" she called back.

"Abigail…" David said, as he cautiously stepped forward.

"I'm sorry David...I'm so sorry…" she sobbed.

"I know...it's not your fault. It's Cora's," he admonished.

"I...I still did those things to you! I did them!" she cried.

"It was the curse...Cora's curse," he insisted.

"It doesn't matter! I still abused you! I...I raped you…" she said in horror, as she turned toward the ledge.

"No...no...don't!" David pleaded, as she held her head in her hands and sobbed.

"Abigail please...if you end your life, then Cora wins once more. Please...don't let her ruin another family," Snow begged.

"You should want me to jump more than anyone. I tortured the man you love," she muttered.

"But I don't. The only person I'm interested in dying was Cora and she did. She did horrible, unspeakable things to all of us. She controlled you...don't let her keep doing so from beyond the grave," Snow pleaded.

"But your daughter is dead!? Why are you here trying to save me when I had a part in it!?" Abigail demanded to know.

"No...Emma is alive. True love saved her, as it has always saved us. Emma is alive and she's fine now," David promised.

"She's alive?" Abigail asked. Snow nodded with a smile.

"She's alive," the raven haired beauty confirmed with joy.

"But I was so cruel…" she lamented.

"That was Cora's curse. We're both victims of it, but we can move on. I have Snow again and you have Frederick now," David told her, as she looked at her husband.

"How can you even stand to look at me?" she asked. He smiled gently.

"Because I love you and I know the person you truly are. Please Abby...don't let that witch win," he pleaded, as he slowly walked toward her.

"Dr. Hopper can help and we can be happy again. All you have to do is take my hand," he said, as he held it out to her. She shook her head.

"But what I did...I don't deserve to be happy," she refuted.

"Yes you do. Cora is the one that doesn't deserve happiness and she got exactly what she deserved. But the only way we really win is if we find a way to take our lives back and be happy," Snow implored, as the blonde continued to cry.

"Please Abby…" Frederick pleaded. She choked back another sob, but her shaky hand in his and allowed him to pull her into a tight hug. Snow and David sighed in relief and he pulled her into his arms, before pressing a kiss to her head. They nodded to Frederick, as he led her away. Red smiled and followed them, giving her friends a moment alone.

"Is it really over?" she asked. He smiled down at her.

"It is...she's gone, Snow," he replied, as he caught her in his arms and their lips crashed together. He gently spun her around and they were breathless when their lips parted. She pressed her forehead against his and their eyes spoke, for words were never needed to convey the depths of their love. A mere look or gesture between them had always had an intimacy that was awe-inspiring. She smiled up at him, as he finally lowered her feet back to the ground.

"Looks like we're the same age again," she mentioned. He smiled back.

"I'm glad you got those years back. It means we'll have more time together, but you still took my breath away, even older," he promised. She kissed him again, as they spent a few more quiet moments together atop the mountain.

~*~

With no small effort or amount of magic, the town was repaired from the damage caused by Cora's trigger.

"Much better…" Regina said, as she surveyed their completed work.

"So...since the diner is fixed, what are the chances of getting some food?" Emma asked.

"Pancakes!" little David called, making Neal chuckled.

"I have some amazing admiration for your Mom. Keeping you two fed is not going to be easy," he joked, as she nudged him.

"Well, if our new Mayor fixed my fryers, then we should be able to whip something up," Granny agreed.

"Good, because I almost died and that means I need onion rings," Emma replied, as Red returned with Abigail and Frederick.

"Hey...is everything okay?" she asked. Red nodded and surprised her with a hug.

"It's long past time that I got to properly meet my Goddaughter," Red replied. Emma smiled and hugged her back.

"As for Abigail...she's dealing with a lot of guilt right now, but I think Dr. Hopper can help her. It will be a long road though. I know guilt and it can be crippling, especially in her case," she added.

"Come on...let's get you those onion rings," Red said.

"Wait...where are Mom and Dad?" Emma asked.

"They needed a few minutes. They'll be along," she assured.

~*~

Tamara crossed the town line that read "Welcome to Storybrooke," with her mission clear in her mind. Neither Greg nor Tia had completed their mission, which meant that she had to intervene. She looked around curiously, as she arrived on Main Street. It was getting late and it was fairly quiet, which seemed typical for a small town such as this. Honestly, she didn't know why the Home Office was so interested in this town, but she was never one to ask questions. All that mattered was the mission. She pulled up to the Inn and spotted both Greg and Tia talking to another man. She saw Tia walk back to the diner with the man, as Greg went into the Inn. Tamara got out and followed him inside.

~*~

"I can't believe all this...but I guess I should have known the Home Office was a bad thing," Greg said, as Tia finished explaining her story.

"Never would have pegged you as Tinkerbell though," he lightly teased. Tink rolled her eyes.

"Funny...but I'm just glad you're willing to abandon the mission and leave the Home Office," she said.

"Well, to be fair, I don't really even know what the mission is. They never tell me anything and just give orders as we go. I was just so desperate to find out who was responsible for my father's death that I let it cloud my judgement," Greg said sadly.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss. Cora hurt a lot of people," August replied.

"Yeah...sounds like you know that better than anyone," Greg said.

"She put my Mom and David through hell, but she's finally dead. This is a fresh start for everyone," August replied.

"Except the little problem of the curse being broken now," Tink reminded him.

"You said Pan can't get here and you two have abandoned that cause," August said.

"There's more than just us though," she warned.

"This is Storybrooke though and without an enchanted object, they're not getting in," he said, as he flashed the map that they had confiscated from Detective Bishop.

"Maybe...but we still have to make sure Detective Bishop finds his way out of Storybrooke and preferably without any memory of any of this," Tink said.

"Neal said his father can probably help with the memory part," August replied.

"Well...if he can, then I can probably see that he gets back to Portland," Greg said.

"Then you're leaving?" August asked curiously, as they exited the diner.

"Yeah…I finally have justice for my father and now I don't really know what to do with myself, but I think I need to find out," he replied.

"Let me know when he's ready to go, but for tonight I think I'll turn in," Greg said, as he waved to them and went into the Inn, as Tink and August turned away.

"What about you? You plan on sticking around?" August asked. She smirked.

"I don't know...I haven't decided if this is the right place for me yet," Tink replied.

"But…you're from there like us. I mean...this is where you belong," he argued. She smiled.

"So you want me to stick around?" she teased and he shook his head.

"Okay...you got me. Up for a walk?" he asked. She smiled and took his hand, as he offered it.

"Thought you'd never ask," she replied, as they headed off down the street.

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #Emma Swan #Neal Cassidy #Swanfire #August W. Booth #Tinkerbell #Wooden Fairy #Rumbelle #regina mills #evil cora #CORA cast the curse #romance #angst #family #adventure #a darker curse

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laurasinele · 5 years ago

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Aaaand it’s done. I missed some days and published some of the prompts out of deadline but I had them finished before the end of October, which makes me really really really happy given the creative draught that’s gotten over me since 2017.

Here’s prompt 31 for this year’s fictober: “Scared, me?”. It begged to be a Drarry, thus it made the final chapter of the little fic inspired by previous prompts. I’m not as happy with chapters 3 and 4 as I am with 1 and 2, but I hope you like it.

Tags: sort of a reunion, drarry, ewe, consent

Warnings: can’t think of any

Agnes Appleworm arrived early that morning. She had been granted special permission to visit the Manor once a month after leaving Draco’s case and the Ministry. She came bearing homemade food and cleaning spells for the reading room, in which things were going to happen that afternoon. The Thing, actually. The formal procedure of lifting the house arrest and making Draco Malfoy a free man once again.

After lunch, she wrapped Draco in a tight embrace. Despite Draco’s above average height, Agnes was still a good foot taller than him, this contributing to her tendency to mother every person she met, no matter their age or background. Draco had to admit he owed her his sanity because of that.

“You’ve done great, love. I am very proud of you”

“It was all thanks to you, Agnes”

She made a conspiratory face.

“Well, I wouldn’t take the merit off Harry now, would I?”

Draco rolled his eyes and Mrs Appleworm burst out laughing good-humoredly.

“Potter’s been around for the last two years, you were the one who did the heavy lifting”

Mrs Appleworm looked at Draco with a tender smile, hands on his shoulders. She gave him a noisy kiss on the cheek and arranged his hair.

“I have to go now. Do come to visit, you’re always welcome”

“Thank you, Agnes. For everything, I mean it”

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand and walked off, waving right before appareting away.

Draco was just turning his back to the open door of the reading room and vanishing the lunch dishes away when a series of whipping noises told him the Ministry officers had arrived. He turned around to greet them but he found himself freezed by the sight of several photographers, a wireless reporter, two writers, Minister Shacklebot, Hermione Granger with Martha O’Sea attached to her arm, four aurors, an unspeakable, a healer and a clerk from the Wizengamot. And no sign of Harry Potter.

Hermione and Martha approached him first, used to the Manor after months of working with Draco in their magical mental health proposal, and eager to greet him in such an eventful date. Then the Minister, not before having the aurors position the journalist and warn them against any wrong-footed move towards their host. Draco was mildly shocked, since nobody told him there would be press, and somebody did tell him he was going to be there and wasn’t. Hermione stood on her toes to whisper in Draco’s ear:

“I know you don’t like this, but we need to make a good impression if we want the bill to be approved. Relax, it’ll be over in a minute”.

Draco exhaled and nodded, eyes closed in resignation. There was a speech about the war, and memory and reconstruction. Then Hermione and Martha talked about their work, emphasizing Draco’s help. Draco answered a few expectedly uncomfortable questions, but nobody was a prick to him, following the Minister’s demands. Hermione was wrong: it took way longer than a minute, and it felt forever. Finally, the healer gave him a quick check, the clerk produced the paperwork and many pictures were taken of him and the Minister signing his release and probation, shaking hands, and taking a copy of the magical mind healing project’s first draft with great ceremony.

Draco felt all the wards and inhibition spells fall, and the Manor’s ancient magic stretch out and reach to the furthest corners of its grounds. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to contain all his magical energy pleading to shoot fireworks from his fingertips, to fly, to explode and set things on cold green fire, like a gigantic puppy after too much time locked in the kennel.

The Minister shook his hand and gave him an earnest smile before asking if using his floo was okay. The press left on his wake, and so did the aurors, and Hermione and Martha after setting a work meeting at the Ministry. Just like that he was alone again, in his reading room, door closed, not a living soul in the house. The magical thrumming inside him was now just a pleasant vibration all over his body, and now that he wasn’t overwhelmed by it, he was free to wonder where on earth was Harry.

He looked at his feet, sighed through his nose and told himself he should have seen it coming. There was nothing now that would make Harry come back. He wasn’t bound by his job anymore, and so he was able to avoid him. After all, they had never talked again about that Halloween night. Nothing else, not even a handshake, had happened between them. And yet Draco thought they at least were friends now.

This nine years had taught him nothing if not acceptance. You can’t make someone stay against their will, so be it. He shook the disappointment away and picked a book from his to read pile. A fantasy muggle novel, since Martha and Hermione had him overworking on the draft the weeks prior his release and he was done with medical and magical theory. He sat on his favourite armchair, by the window, trying to avoid the memory of all the Friday afternoons, and sometimes evenings, in which Harry sat opposite him.

Not many pages in the world of a mysterious and undoubtedly hot witch-hunter, the window beside him rattled, making him jump. Outside, perched on the windowsill, a magpie held his gaze with human-like annoyance. Amused, Draco opened the window and the bird flew in, cawing impatiently at Draco from the seat in front of him, jumping on one leg, with a rolled note tied in the other.

Wasn’t allowed to join the party. I’m at the front door. Wards won’t let me in. Guess they’re back to how they were before the war. Lift them for me? H. J. P.

Draco smiled softly and then he found he could not stop it. With his smile turned a wide grin, he flicked his wand to let Harry in and went to meet him at the entrance hall. When he got there, he was panting slightly, but the sight of a fidgeting Harry in civilian clothes, holding a bunch of books, a bouquet of white roses and a box of chocolates took his breath away. Still, he managed to play it aristocratically cool. He stopped on his tracks, straightened his pose and put his hands in his pockets.

“Afternoon, Potter. May I ask what are all those for?”, he greeted calmly, pointing at the presents with his chin.

“Well, I’ve been meaning to give the guy I like some sort of present, as in a first date, because we haven’t had one. One proper date, I mean. But I couldn’t decide between any of these books, because he loves to read, or the chocolates, because he does love chocolates, or the roses because I felt like an idiot passing by the florist every friday on my way to see him and thinking white roses remind me of him, but not getting the nerve to give him a bouquet just because. So here we are”.

“Here we are”, repeated Draco with the stupid, unstoppable smile back on his face.

Harry sighed and looked around, as if inspiration was going to appear there any minute. He was smiling too, albeit shyly, and kept changing his weight from one foot to the other.

“So”, he mumbled, “I believe we’ve got a conversation on pause”.

Draco looked at his feet. When he looked up, Harry was a couple of steps closer, offering him the bouquet as if he was offering a token of peace to a dragon. Draco took them carefully, smelled them, and summoned a jar with water and a small side table where he set them.

“Your hands are trembling”, pointed Draco taking the books and the chocolate and putting them next to the roses. “Scared, Potter?”

Harry laughed, fully aware this wasn’t the first time Draco had made that question. This time, though, the taunt in it wasn’t irritating. It felt like feathers up his breastbone. He closed the distance between them, his eyes set on Draco’s. He took Draco’s face between his hands and Draco, breathing heavily, put his arms around Harry, resting his hands in the middle of his back.

“Scared, me?”, said Harry, voice trembling. “Go ahead, you were asking something”.

“I’m impressed by your good memory”, said Draco coolly.

“I haven’t thought of anything else in the last two years”, he breathed.

With a smirk, noses already touching, eyes hooded and brisk heartbeats, Draco whispered:

“Would it be wrong if I kissed you right now?”

#fictober19 #drarry #drarry fanfic #drarry fanfiction #drarry fic #Draco Malfoy #Harry Potter #harry potter fandom #harry/draco #Draco/Harry

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howtowhumpyourhiccup · 5 years ago

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His Only Death

Summary: HICCUP WHUMP. Minor major character death. After all of Hiccup's close encounters, after all the times Hiccup survived that which should've killed him, that he would live a long life despite everything seemed like a given.

Rating: Mature

Words: 3 915

Author’s Notes: This fic was actually part of a multi-chaptered fic, but I felt like this chapter, if edited a little, could be its own thing as well. So have this.

Also, I'm a slut for mysterious revivals, okay? And I am disappointed with the lack of revival fics in the Httyd fandom. It's honestly a surprise I haven't filled my account only with fanfics of characters being revived by some mysterious force.

Freedom and death came from the ocean.

For two whole weeks Hiccup had been stuck on that ship.

Far away from Toothless, from family and from Berk, the young Chief had spend the past fourteen days surrounded by nothing but enemies of his tribe on a single boat in the middle of the Barbaric Ocean.

An ambush had been staged on an island Hiccup once thought belonged to allies. He'd gone there with a handful of Berk's best, Snotlout and Eret included, to sign a peace treaty like his father had done for decades before him. He'd gone there without dragons to show his trust and goodwill.

Astrid, meanwhile, kept watch over their home as acting Chief in his stead with the rest of the Dragon Riders.

Their group had been ambushed the same night they'd arrived. When most of them were drunk from the feast thrown in their honour, their fighting spirit only lasted for so long and there were too many for Hiccup, one of the few still remaining sober, to take on alone.

Though smart and skilled with a sword, he hadn't been able to put up much of a fight.

The Berkians send home with the longboat they travelled all this way on and a message, their Chief shipped off with the men of a different tribe, but who were also a part of the surprise attack.

It was a conspiracy apparently. Two or three tribes had conspired together to separate Berk from their famous "Dragon Chief" for reasons unknown.

Was it mistrust? Did they hold the same motive as Alvin the Treacherous once did when he was a boy?

Hiccup wasn't sure why or how many were involved yet.

Without food, with barely any water, exposed to the salty air and the surprisingly scorching sun, he found he could hardly think at all.

This entire time he'd been chained outside on the deck by his wrists, left to face the elements with no relief. His clothes, though torn from the battle, still did their job and kept the cold of the Archipelago out. But all day in the sun, sweat made sure it clung to him.

Perhaps their plan all along was to get rid of him. They cared little for his health and well-being to prove otherwise.

During these endlessly long weeks, he'd been spat on, kicked, beaten, dragged by the hair, insulted, degraded, starved... The list was much longer than Hiccup would ever admit to any of his friends and certainly not to his mother or Gobber. And he was pretty sure the fight in which he'd been captured had left him with a dislocated shoulder and bruised ribs.

Something wasn't quite right with his right forearm either. It had been hit by a mace. His armbrace had been lost before it could protect that limb.

Physically, Hiccup was at the end of his rope. Mentally and emotionally, he still held out hope to hear the shrill cry of his Night Fury before raining down fire and death on this ship and these men. But they, too, were not far behind.

It shouldn't take much longer now. The longboat must have returned days ago, the Dragon Riders must be on their way. Dragons were so much faster than ships.

He wanted to be home. He was exhausted.

His eyes were closed. His skin was so burned from the sun, his lips were dry.

"Hey, Runt."

A kick to his ribs left him breathless and send him to the floor, but Hiccup didn't make a single sound or move besides his gasps for air. There was no more fight left in his body. He was pretty sure he'd lost weight already. He'd been surviving solely on water.

And his ribs, did one of them crack just then? He wasn't sure, but the pain was there all the same. They've been through a lot of abuse, he wouldn't be surprised if they were, at the very least, terribly bruised.

Words were being said, but Hiccup teetered on the line between conscious- and unconsciousness. There was a haze over his mind, a thick mist. He understood nothing.

"Hey, RUNT!"

Though Hiccup's mind was dazed and cloudy, whoever was talking managed to draw his attention again with a devastating kick to the groin, followed by one more to the face.

It hurt so bad. Whines and whimpers were the first sounds Hiccup's parched throat made in hours and even those hurt. His lip was now split and blood came trickling out of his nose. Existence was pain. The tears that sprung into his eyes were of what little fluid left in him.

He wanted to glare up to his captors, spit his spilt blood in their faces and make them call him by his real name.

It was a first, but Hiccup missed hearing his own name.

Spirit with a dying fire, body well past drained, there was little he could do besides stare up at the three people gathered around him, curled up onto his side with his legs pressed firmly together.

They were talking, he didn't understand a word they were saying. He saw their lips move, but nothing of what they said registered properly in his mind. To him, from this distance, they were nonsensical sounds.

And his eyes were slipping closed again.

"Hey. Hey!"

Someone grabbed him by his ruined tunic, his vest missing, and lifted him up, but his aching form remained limp in his hold. The strength to stand was lost to him.

His joints screamed, they were stiff from the lack of movement. Everything screamed. The friction of the chains around his chafed wrists made his naked skin burn.

He saw angry grey eyes and then his own drooped once more.

It was so hard to stay awake. He realized he didn't want to fight it either.

"Hey! Hey!" Someone kept shouting, apparently trying really hard to be heard, but they sounded so far away.

"Shit, you think he's dying?" But at least now, because of their close proximity, Hiccup could somewhat make out what they were saying.

"Did the Chief say anything about keeping the Dragon Runt alive?" A different voice, but still male.

"No, he didn't." Another. By now Hiccup felt like it weren't just the three of them surrounding him anymore. The original number of the crew escaped him, but there were so many faceless things around him.

"So I guess," It was the first one who began once more, the same one who'd been kicking him. The places hit were still in pain.

"If we were to throw him overboard, it wouldn't matter much, would it?" Hiccup tried to open his eyes, he wanted to look them in the eye and tell them that he wasn't dying on that ship, but once more his will burned brighter than the fire of his physical being and it, too, was waning.

What was the point of being stubborn, if he was imprisoned in his own unmoving body?

"Toothless..." The Night Fury's name rolled off his tongue, but it was barely audible even to himself. It was softer than a whisper.

"What do we tell the Chief?"

"He fought back. The idiot threw himself overboard trying to reach his fellows and drowned."

Hiccup couldn't follow the rest of the conversation.

He slipped, he fell unconscious.

And then he fell for real.

Hiccup never felt the wood of the ship or chains be released, but the salty water of the ocean taking him into its freezing cold embrace and filling his nostrils and lungs cruelly ripped him out of the comforting darkness he'd only spend the past few moments in.

The chill was too harsh on skin reddened by the sun.

His mind clearer than it had been in hours, an instinct to survive no matter what kicked in. One final act to save himself.

Wrists still bound, metal leg gone, ignoring the shouts for rest, Hiccup tried and tried to breach the surface.

He couldn't even reach it.

Legs kicking, arms flailing, hands grabbing, but he was tired and he wasn't getting very far. He wasn't getting anywhere at all. Instead of rising higher, he sank deeper and deeper. Try as he might, Hiccup could not reach the surface of the water.

Fresh air wasn't his to have, the sun he'd disliked for the past fourteen days told him a mournful goodbye and everything that hurt began to hurt even more.

His lungs burned. His eyes burned. His heart yearned.

For Toothless, for Astrid, for his mother, for dad.

After all this time, after all his close encounters, water would be his grave in the end.

It became dark, his movements ceased. Surrounded by the enclosing shadows of the deep ocean and all that lived within, his body stopped moving for the last time and he continued his descend.

It was calm, peaceful, once the pain eventually stopped.

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A tearful reunion was found on the shores.

And it was Toothless who found him.

After the Hooligan longboat returned to Berk, it were a panicked Snotlout and a distressed Eret who told the rest of the Dragon Riders, Valka, Gobber and the village what had happened to their Chief of only three years.

It was difficult to make sense of what they were trying to tell them, even Eret had a hard time keeping his sanity. The duty to protect the Dragon Rider, even if it cost him his life, had been his since Hiccup had first taken up the mantle at the much too young age of twenty. And he'd failed miserably.

But sense was made of their jumbled words and contradicting stories. The lost details mattered little. What truly mattered was that Hiccup had been captured, there was a conspiracy and the ambush had taken place a week prior to their return.

A rescue was urgent and nobody had any idea where the ship holding Hiccup hostage had gone to.

But Toothless was given his automatic tailfin, allowing him to search independently, and off he went.

He refused to wait for the other Dragons and their Riders. Hiccup needed him. He wasn't about to be slowed down by careful planning and preparing.

The ocean would keep him fed, water he could find on other islands, local dragons could tell him where they'd last seen a certain known human dragon, scents he knew by memory would lead him straight to Hiccup. He needed nothing else.

It was a Scauldron, local to the area, that ended up telling him that someone had washed ashore on an island almost an hour by flight away.

Toothless wasted no time.

He knew Hiccup never should've left without him. He also knew why his Rider had left without him, but as noble as his intentions were, something inside of Toothless had always told him this would go horribly wrong.

He hated how his protective nature was once again in the right.

But Hiccup had to be close now. He's been searching for days, Hiccup should be close.

Then Toothless arrived at the island the Scauldron told him about and he saw something lying on the beach, just like he'd said.

Gliding downwards, the closer he came, the stiller his heart became.

That lanky figure he could recognize from anywhere.

Hiccup.

With a worried roar Toothless folded his wings and fell down the rest of the way, still landing gracefully on his feet.

Hiccup, his beloved Rider, lied there in the sand. Head turned away from him, arms to his side, clothes torn, leg gone, hair dry and body still wet from his hands down due to the calm waves washing over him.

And pale. So ghostly pale.

Despite being right next to him, Toothless almost didn't dare touch him. He was afraid of what he might find.

But the Night Fury forced himself to move. He needed to know. Hesitantly, with legs filled with lead, he stood over him.

And found Hiccup's eyes to be closed. If anything, he looked quite calm. Not angry, not sad, nor agonized.

At least he wasn't staring at nothing.

Carefully lifting up a paw, Toothless nudged his Rider's shoulder and felt an unpleasant chill run up his spine from how freezing cold the body before him felt.

The distressing realization that this was exactly what was lying on the sand in front of him nearly made Toothless lose it.

But no, that was impossible. This was Hiccup and he was a fighter.

And yet, besides the breeze of the beach blowing through his hair, there was no movement.

Deciding that he needed to be more daring, Toothless rumbled a greeting and began nudging his Rider's back, really pushing his snout and the flat top of his head into him. He tried not to let the deathly chill get to him.

It wasn't his intention to roll Hiccup onto his back, but it was what ended up happening. At least he wasn't stiff yet. Dead bodies, real dead bodies, they grew stiff after some time.

Standing over him, like he'd done countless of times before while they playfought, Toothless held his face right in front of his Rider's.

His heart shattered, his sprinting thoughts halted, when he noticed no warm breaths of life coming from his nose or his parted lips. No breaths at all.

Hiccup wasn't breathing.

He was freezing and he wasn't breathing.

Pressing an earfin to his chest like he'd seen Vikings do to their fallen companions before, he listened desperately for a heartbeat, no matter how soft.

And found nothing but silence.

Toothless crashed.

Losing all feeling in his body, his limbs caving in beneath him, heart bleeding, he crashed into the sand next to his Rider and crooned mournfully over the loss of his soulmate.

Gone. His Hiccup, his clever boy, was gone.

He should've noticed.

He had noticed.

There was a gaping hole in his chest and mind. It's been there for days, but he'd ignored it, telling himself it was worry and fright slowing him down.

But what if it had been his Rider leaving this world? Though it should've been impossible, Toothless had always known he'd feel it one day. He and Hiccup were just too inexplicably close not too.

He never could've imagined that day would come so soon.

Closing his eyes, he settled his head and nearest foreleg on Hiccup's torso, still crying. Each time his lungs ran out of breath, he'd start over. He hoped Hiccup could hear him wherever he was now. He knew Vikings believed in Valhalla.

He didn't have the strength or the will to do much else.

If he were to mysteriously perish right here by his side, he would be thankful.

He wanted to be up there in the golden halls with him, not here on Midgard without him.

There were dragons.

Tiny Terrible Terrors who caught sight of them and came over to see what was wrong with the mighty Night Fury that seemed to be mourning a human. Proud Monstrous Nightmares who saw it their duty to see what was the matter. Kind Gronckles who simply wanted to lend a hand to the distressed being. Toothless chased them all away. Even the tiny crabs living on the beach, they risked death by plasma blast just for coming too close.

It was a maddening sight, but even in death Toothless would protect Hiccup.

Every creature that dared to come, it enraged him further.

Hiccup had been hurt. Toothless didn't know by who or how, but he would be hurt no more.

Roaring, firing, intimidation, he used all he could. Growing angrier and angrier until he crashed down once more with a long and pained roar. Finally, he was alone with Hiccup again. Hours must've passed by already. They were both an eternity and yet much too short to have been real.

The unfamiliar dragons who inhabited this island, they kept their distance at long last. That is all Toothless wanted.

To be left alone.

With a paw he held Hiccup closer to himself, gently, carefully, he barely moved him. He needed him close.

And then.

A noise.

It was a wheezing sound, new, recent. Just soft enough to be blamed on a broken mind's imagination, but as a Night Fury Toothless possessed sensitive hearing.

And his ears picked it up from within his Rider's chest.

It wasn't there before and entire hours had passed since his arrival. Midday had already turned to midnight.

And now somebody or something must be playing tricks on him, because it sounded like Hiccup was breathing.

Lifting his head up, heaving his weighty physique up, Toothless looked down and saw Hiccup gazing back at him.

Still blueishly pale, brows knitted together, purple lips trembling, Hiccup stared back him through grey, dead eyes. They looked almost like that of a felled fish.

A corpse's eyes. And they were filled with such intense suffering.

Though having absolutely no idea what was going on, Toothless spurred himself into action and rubbed his cheek against Hiccup's.

Sharing his warmth was all he could think about.

He noticed the human's fingers twitching as if he wanted to move, but couldn't. He heard scared whimpers and pained moans. Soft, but heartbreaking nonetheless.

Neither knew what was going on. Hiccup was confused, he was in pain, he was scared. And all Toothless could do was be there for him.

Lying down next to him, Toothless recreated his previous position, draconic head and foreleg on human torso. He hoped Hiccup knew he was telling him "I'm here. I'm right here."

Perking an earfin and pressing it to his chest, he also heard the soft thumping of a heartbeat that wasn't there before either.

And he was no longer unnervingly still. Hiccup couldn't move, that much was clear to the Night Fury, but now he trembled so awfully.

Toothless wasn't sure how long it would take for the other Dragon Riders to find them, he wasn't sure of a lot of things. Like how his Viking could be dead for hours one moment and then alive the next.

But until the others came, he'd keep Hiccup safe. He couldn't just fly them home, Fishlegs needed to take a look at him first, lest he loses him again.

But he shouldn't wait for them here.

It was night, the breeze was cold and Hiccup was still partially submerged in water, he wouldn't be warming up here and Toothless didn't want to risk anything.

Raising his head, Toothless began his search for shelter. There wasn't much he could see from his position, but at the same time, he refused to leave Hiccup's side.

Just then a Nightmare came over. It wasn't Hookfang, it was one of the dragons that had been bothering him before, one of those who'd been watching for a distance.

Also a male, he was taken aback by the human's sudden revival as well. It creeped him out to stare into those lifeless eyes, but saddened him as well. He could see the agony inside.

Hiccup's lips moved, he attempted to form words, but nothing coherent left. Nothing left at all. And moving, no matter how hard he tried, was still beyond him.

Hushing him, Toothless rumbled reassurances and pressed their noses and then their cheeks together. Hiccup gasped, closing his eyes. At least he knew his dragon was here for him. He couldn't see a thing, but he knew.

It wasn't until Hiccup calmed a little that Toothless could face the Nightmare.

There was a cave not too far away, that is what he told him. A safe cave protected from the wind where the Night Fury and the human could rest.

He helped the Night Fury get him on his back, Hiccup found that his body still didn't listen to him. And he hated it.

His memory was blurry, he could barely see, his thoughts were a frantic and jumbled mess, he was both numb and in pain, he couldn't speak. He wanted to cry out of pure fright and frustration, but nothing happened.

And then Toothless was bringing him to a cave.

He was so confused. He just wanted to be home where he was safe and where everything made sense.

The trip to the cave didn't last for too long, the Nightmare had led them to one that wasn't far from the beach, and having no cold winds assaulting his body already did miracles for the human.

Then the dragons lowered him again. They were careful, but even so his frozen joints protested. Hiccup curled onto his side once he could feel the stone ground beneath him again and Toothless settled around him.

They didn't need a fire, the Night Fury's heat would warm him up slowly.

The Monstrous Nightmare left. Hiccup wasn't sure where he was going, but he took off into the night sky.

He took it upon himself to find their packmates.

Toothless hid him from the world after the kind dragon disappeared from sight. Hiccup still felt bone-chilling against his warm hide, but he didn't dare pull away.

He shivered and Hiccup couldn't lean in as close as he wanted to, but Toothless was there. He felt like he missed him, though he didn't quite know why.

"Ssss-"

"Tss-"

"Hmm... Too-ooth?"

They weren't stutters, Hiccup was straining himself, trying to force his unwilling tongue and lips to form the only word that mattered to him at the moment.

The dragon didn't want him to strain himself, he crooned comfortingly as if telling him to wait, telling him that it was okay. Neither understood what was happening, but time would tell.

Hiccup shook his head, shivering.

"Tooth-less?" Hiccup looked up to him and the other gazed down at him. He moved a hand, settled it on the Night Fury's underjaw.

His Viking's eyes were still so very wrong, but there was little bit of green in them, a little bit of life. They were, quite literally, returning from the dead.

Toothless licked his cheek and Hiccup's face pulled into a grimace. Not out of disgust like he usually would, but out of discomfort. That tongue was too hot for his cold skin. And as his pale complexion regained a bit of colour, he noticed that the Dragon Rider's cheeks showed signs of severe sunburn.

There were other things he could now take note off as well, now that his thoughts were no longer solely focussed on Hiccup's apparent passing.

How Hiccup's shoulder was stuck in one certain awkward position, how the fingers of his right hand remained limp, how his breathing was a wheezy rattling, how he actually looked much thinner than he normally already did.

Gods, he needed to see Gothi. Urgently. He needed a warm bed, he needed food and proper water. He needed home.

But until then...

Toothless wasn't sure what was going on, whether the Viking Gods were behind this miracle or the dragons of old were to be thanked for this gift, but he wasn't about to question Hiccup's return.

He was in pain, he was cold, he was confused and scared, but he was also alive. That is what truly mattered to the Night Fury. So instead of questioning whoever or whatever was behind his Rider's revival or what it meant, Toothless embraced Hiccup with his forelegs and with his wings. And Hiccup, as a result, curled up within the warmth that he craved.

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duhragonball · 5 years ago

Text

Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn (3/6)

So Janemba’s messing with King Yemma, cutting off his authority over the boundary between the living and dead. Yemma knew this would have dire consequences for the universe, and we see that manifest on Earth, where dead people are suddenly back from the grave. For example, this family is at a cemetary to visit their grandfather’s grave, only to find him alive and well in his burial clothes no less. He’s not a ghost or any other sort of apparition either; he has feet and everything.

Elsewhere, an older man named Romeo has a similar experience at the grave of his deceased lover, Juliano. Or Julianne? I don’t know. You’d think they would have called her “Juliet” to play in with Romeo, except in the play they both died young. Here, Romeo survived, and he’s and old man.

But Julianne hasn’t aged at all in the past sixty years since her death. It kind of makes for an awkward reunion.

Incidentally, Romeo has a crucifix, so this marks the first official appearance of Jesus Christ in Dragon Ball. We’ve seen crosses and the name “Jesus Christ”, but this is an actual image of the Son of God Himself. “But Lord, why are there no footprints in the sand during the most difficult parts of the journey?” “Because that was when I Instant Transmissioned you, lol.”

Speaking of crosses, here’s Dracula, and I guess he was dead, until he came back today. But he still has a wooden stake in his heart, which... okay why does he want it removed if it’s not killing him? Why can’t he just take it out himself? Also, if Janemba’s powers are causing dead people to come back to life, shouldn’t Dracula turn back into a human?

Meanwhile, some horde of invaders on horseback marches through traffic. I think these are supposed to be Mongols, but I dunno.

They kind of get their thunder stolen when a second army of tanks shows up, let by Adolf Hitler. I mean, it’s not quite Hitler. His uniform is bright purple, and the real Hitler wouldn’t be leading a battalion of tanks into action. But this movie never bothers to give him a satirical name, like “Dunkoff Shitler” or “Adenoid Hynkel” or whatever. So I just refer to this guy as Hitler. Same as that vampire from a minute ago.

In any event, this guy’s obvious resemblance to Hitler is why his scenes were edited out in several countries, which have laws against depicting Nazi imagery. For what it’s worth, the movie doesn’t really lose much with these scenes taken out.

Also, there’s just straight up zombies running around, which I don’t really understand, since Hitler and Julianne are fully alive. But that’s the chaos of Janemba for you. He’s not purposely doing any of this. This is just the result of him cutting off King Yemma’s power to regulate the dead.

But don’t worry, folks, Gohan’s here and he’ll save the day, right after he finishes eating.

Goku may be dead, but his legacy lives on in his sons, Gohan and Goten. Chi-Chi doesn’t mind doing all the dishes from the boys’ meals, but she does miss her husband at times like these.

So Videl offers to help with the dishes, but Chi-Chi’s like, no way, you’re a guest in this house.

But somehow we end up with Videl doing the dishes in the next scene. This is one of my favorite animations in this movie. With the sound effects, I could watch a loop of this all day.

Chi-Chi is impressed, so she tells Videl that she’ll make a fine wife.

And Videl’s all “Marriage? Gawrsh!” This is adorable. She’s so worked up that she drops a dish.

But Chi-Chi doesn’t mind, because she still thinks Videl is cut out for married life. In the manga, Chi-Chi wants Videl to marry Gohan so she can get a chunk of that sweet, sweet Mr. Satan fortune, but in this movie, I almost feel like she’s proposing to marry Videl herself. “Marry me, Videl, so I may never have to wash a dish again!” “Wh-what about Gohan?” “What about Gohan?”

Then Videl breaks more dishes, but before she can clean them up, she gets a call from the Satan City Police, who inform her that the dead have risen and are overrunning the town. Also, they ask her to contact Great Saiyaman. Videl’s like “No problem, I’m at his house now. I think his mom is coming on to me.”

“Stay away from my mom, Videl.”

Meanwhile, in Otherworld, Goku and Pikkon’s championship match is interrupted when a giant crystal sprouts out of the ring.

The Grand Kai believes the disturbance is coming from King Yemma’s domain, and he sends Pikkon to investigate. But Goku doesn’t want him to go, since that would mean he’d win the tournament by forfeit. So the Grand Kai orders Goku to go with Pikkon, and that works out, since Goku can teleport there.

When they arrive, they find everything all messed up.

Yemma somehow contacts them from within the barrier around his domain, and he points out Janemba on the roof.

Pikkon tries to ask Janemba to cut the shit, but Janemba either won’t cooperarte or he can’t understand him. When Pikkon loses his patience, Big J flicks him into one of those floating jellybeans he made.

This catches Goku’s interest, and now he’s happy that they left the tournament for this, since Janemba seems like an even greater challenge.

Janemba seems to agree to tangling with Goku, so he suggests that Pikkon see to Yemma while Goku lures Janemba to hell, where he’ll be out of the way.

I’m not sure if there were already jellybeans in hell, or if Janemba brought a bunch down with him.

Otherwise, Hell has experienced its own bizarre changes. I’m not entirely sure what’s changed, since we only saw it twice in the entire run of the anime up until now, but I’m pretty sure all those humanoid-looking figures weren’t there before.

Janemba grabs a few and turns them into mini-clones of himself.

Goku thinks they look cute until they all start ganging up on him.

Fortunately, Goku can just beat them away with a few roundhouse kicks, and they all vanish. The bad news is that the big Janemba won’t be that easy.

Back on Earth, Gohan’s having tons of fun clobbering zombies.

Videl’s doing pretty well against them too, but the real question is: Why is this happening, and how do they stop it? Gohan isn’t sure, but he’s confident that it’ll all work out with the two of them together.

Videl’s charmed by his answer, but then--

Some jagoff intrudes on their moment.

Oh look, it’s this asshole. Yeah, Frieza’s back and he’s in this movie too, along with Dracula, Hitler, and Jesus. For those of you keeping score, that means Steel Ball Run, Hellsing, and Resurrection F were all inspired by this movie.

Frieza is surprised that anyone on Earth knows him by name, so Gohan unmasks to reveal that he was the kid with the bowl-haircut on Namek.

Videl’s completely smitten here. “Wow, he’s wayyy dreamier than his mom!”

So Frieza’s decided to kill Gohan as revenge for Goku defeating him. You’d think he’d be mad about Future Trunks killing him, but he was friends with Gohan too, so it still works. The part that doesn’t work is this punk-ass bitch running around in Movie 12 like it’s still Movie 3.

So Frieza sics a surprise army of henchmen on Gohan to soften him up. Of course, it makes perfect sense that all the top Frieza soldiers would be here, and that they’d still be loyal to Frieza, but there’s also a lot of Movie 1-5 henchmen too, and most of them don’t even know Frieza. Still it’s not hard to believe that they could be persuaded to join his side.

But Bojack seems pretty hard to swallow. Out of everyone in this scene, he’s definitely stronger than Frieza ever was, so why isn’t he calling the shots here?

Anyway, waves of henchmen, Frieza’s invincible, what will Gohan do now?

FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA

Hadou ooana GALAXY Yudan wana PARASITE

FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA FREE-ZA

Obienaku wa warera min

DIE!DIE!DIE!

So yeah, everyone sees Gohan END Frieza with one fraggin’ punch, and they all turn chickenshit and run away. Even Bjoack, I guess, which only makes sense, because Gohan punched a hole through him in Movie 9.

Videl’s like “Wow, it’s kind of weird how all of these dead people came back to life, and presumably we can’t kill them again because they’d just come back, and yet Frieza was the only jerk in this whole movie who got exploded and stayed dead from all of this.”

Then Gohan does his victory poses, and Videl swoons off-screen. In the dub, they changed the ending dialogue to suggest that Gohan and Videl made out shortly after this scene, and Goten and Trunks saw it. It’s not in the Japanese script, but come on. How was Videl not al over this dude after this? We know it happened.

Meanwhile, Mr. Satan is punching zombies someplace else, and he’s pretty pleased with how well he’s doing, except there’s no one around to watch him in action, so he moves on to find his grateful public.

Fortunately, he won’t run out of zombies anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Goten and Trunks are helping out by gathering the Dragon Balls, They find the seventh one on a golf course.

But Goten gets hit with a golf ball while he’s there. Irritated, he decides to hide the ball to get payback on whoever sent it his way.

But he hides it in the hole, so the golfer thinks he made a hole-in-one and he’s sobbing with joy. This doesn’t have much to do with the movie, but what’s great about Fusion Reborn is that you can expand on almost any scene and make it part of the wider story. Maybe this guy’s a dead Frieza Soldier who got the call to mobilize and he said “Fuck that, if I’m alive, I’m gonna hit the links one last time.” Or maybe he’s just a regular dude, but the lady there is his dead wife, who’s come back to tell him that the accident wasn’t his fault, and it’s okay for him to move on with his life. Or they’re both alive, but the golf course gets destroyed by Cell during his epic battle with Tiencha.

Back at Capsule Corp. Gohan summons Shenron. For some reason, in the dub, she tells him he’s “the only one who can,” and I’ve never understood that. Maybe she means that Gohan’s the only one who understands the crisis well enough to make the right wish to Shenron, but she could still call the Dragon. She’s done it before several times.

It’s funny how this is the first time Goten and Trunks have seen Shenron, even though the plot of Movie 10 was them gathering Dragon Balls specifically to see Shenron. That’s how big a disappointment Movie 10 was. Meanwhile, Movie 12 is so awesome that it pays off ideas from other movies.

Videl might have wished for a handsome BMF with cool shades...

But Shenron can’t grant a wish that’s already come true. Let’s just pause here to drink in this majestic shot of Casual Friday Great Saiyaman.

...

Nice.

I’m just gonna put it here again. It’s great.

So Gohan explains the situation to Shenron and asks him to put all the dead people back where they belong, which Shenron says is a simple task.

But then he says he can’t do it after all. Goten complains, and Trunks silences him before Shenron can take offense.

Now, in the dub, Shenron gives a more thorough explanation. He can move the dead back where they belong, but with King Yemma out of commission, there’s nothing to stop them from simply coming back. I think that logic is strongly implied in the subtitles, but it’s not quite so clear. In any case, this is beyond Shenron’s power. It wouldn’t be if Yemma were on the board, but if that were the case, there’d be no need to involve Shenron in the first place.

So that leaves everyone feeling pretty dejected. The problem lies in Otherworld, and if Shenron and Gohan can’t fix it, then they’re out of options.

And while they ponder what to do next...

...Shenron awkwardly asks if there’s anything else he could do for them while he’s here.

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thedarkestdragonknight · 5 years ago

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At Home and Into Their Arms

Content Warning: This story makes mentions of Character Death and Violent Acts. It is not as graphic as the precious chapters but note that this makes mention of skinning and dismemberment. Please stay safe and view at your own discretion folks :)

Here we have it, the final Chapter for this mini-series, finally home and with his new family. While he doesn’t have his name officially yet with this story, Jac’s adopted son will be known as Suigetsu in future stories with him. This one got SUPER long because I was working with everything and then I think it falls a bit short towards the end but it sets up the opening for people to create a thread as a response to this and leaves it open for RP as well for those who want to do so. Hopefully this makes sense and flows right, I did my best but I’m feeling a bit rusty with the writing OTL

This is continued from the last chapter “Fatherhood, His New Chapter” which links to the first part of this story “Blood on the Steppe” please note that these stories contain very mature content so please view and read them at your own discretion since they contain graphic scenes of Violence, Character Death and Dismemberment.

Jacques kept his arm gently around the boy as they were gliding over the plains of the Steppe back towards Reunion, the boy himself was looking around and watching things as they passed by since Yukiko was taking it slow as to not scare him. The man would sometimes hear him squeal a bit before he buried his face against the Au Ra's stomach to hide... likely scared by a flying Yol or perhaps the clouds. Thankfully the large snowy canine knew well to fly in and actually land a safe distance from the village before approaching, she had surprised many of the inhabitants before by just dropping in with Jacques unexpectedly in the past and she wasn't going to do that again on them having learned her lesson in the past. As they came to a landing the large pale blue canine shook her head some and stretched a bit before she plotted along towards the gates of the village. For the most part none really or truly paid them any mind as they entered, some of the guards gave the Au Ra a confused look since he had only recently left and more so because they could see the small figure that was clinging onto his form... and Jacques could see some looks of concern coming from the Qestir who had seen the youth. No doubt wondering where the boy had come from, especially since the Au Ra hadn't had anyone with him when he had left.

Carefully Jacques was sliding his way down and off Yukiko's back making sure that he wouldn't drop the boy and also that he was stable on his feet once he got off since he really only had one free hand. And once his feet were well planted he carefully moved to settle the child so that he could cling to his side while resting on his hip... and he could already feel the child starting to shake. The poor thing was scared and absolutely terrified, no doubt because of the various people who were now looking at him with a mixture of confused looks and looks of concern. Especially since the boy had some dried blood stains on his clothing which Jacques hadn't quite had the chance to wash out completely, he tried but he knew how hard it was to clean off blood stains after all.

At least familiar faces saw him and the young Xaelan woman who was always greeting those as they entered the village and offering up Buuz had come over to him when she saw the boy that was clinging to his side. She looked a bit hesitant at first before looking up towards Jacques <"Is he okay?"> The man had picked up on her likely wanting to keep it more private, thus her choice in speaking their native language... thankfully Jacques had spent plenty of time actually working to learn it as many of the Xaela he met outside of the Steppe who had come from it usually spoke it and it made... conversing sometimes fairly difficult and he wanted to be able to better understand their language so it just fell into place. His attention turned to the boy as he buried his face into his chest and whimpered out softly... <"Okay in the sense that he only got a bad cut on his face..."> he let out softly for a frown, he'd actually worked to tend the wound that he'd found when he was looking the boy over <"He's scared obviously..."> Chambui frowned ever so slightly as she took in what Jacques said, something bad had happened... it would explain why the boy was quiet and not really talking, then again he could have likely spoken to Jacques when they were alone but if things were as bad as she was suspecting... <"Very scared yes..."> she let out with a bit of sadness in her eyes <"Since... he is with you... I am guessing that his parents...?"> Jacques lowered his gaze ever so slightly <"Gone... his father and brother have been given a proper rest. I could not find his mother so I fear the worst for her as well..."> there was a grimace on his face as he brought his other hand up to rest on the back of the boys head as he said that <"I don't know if he has other family out there but I... am worried given what I... saw..."> he gave Chambui a look as he said that <"Which is I will be speaking with Iturgen Khan before I leave..."> he saw the look of concern that crossed her face as her hands jerked up to her chest <"Word will need to be spread quickly... and I know that you and the rest of Reunion will see to it that it does."> <"Has he had anything to eat...?"> The dragons tail swayed for a moment as he looked down to the child who was cautiously peeking out from being pressed to Jacques' chest... he watched the boy carefully before shaking his head <"I don't know if he had anything to eat before I found him but he likely hasn't had any food since I found him."> he responded <"Another reason why I came this way, to pick up something for him to eat for the trip back to Limsa."> Chambui gave a simple nod before she turned and was making her way back to her stall... she heard as Jacques followed behind her and she was carefully working on putting together a basket of the various Buuz that she sold. Though it was more evident that what she was picking out was likely better for a child of the boys age. She was also gathering up a few other things that she had in her supplies and packing them as well before she turned to look back to Jacques offering him the Basket <"This should help... and hopefully will be enough to last your trip home."> her attention turned to the boy as he was nestling back in against Jacques <"If you need more please do not hesitate to ask..."> Jacques smiled as he took the basket and he gave a nod <"Thank you..."> he let out softly <"This is a big help and it's appreciated."> the smile stayed as he looked to Yukiko who had come up beside him and was sniffing at the basket <"This isn't for you girl..."> he added before shifting slightly as he looked towards the main Yurt where the Khan was... he was going to have to actually go and speak with Iturgen soon before leaving... which was going to be interesting. He let out a low sigh as he thought about the situation... at least he could talk to the Qestir and they understood, but he knew well their ways. Hopefully having the boy with him would prove that his words were not lies. His tail swayed behind him as he thought about it and he looked over to Chambui who had followed his gaze <"I'm sure you'll be fine with the Khan... and whatever warning you have to give will be spread fast once the situation is explained. Especially since a child is so precious..."> she looked back to Jacques offering him a smile <"I will keep an eye on your companion while you speak with Iturgen Khan."> His attention turned as the Xaelan woman was helping to get Yukiko's attention, of course that wasn't hard with a nice good smelling food item being offered. Jacques shook his head before he turned so that he could make his way to the yurt, time to go and get this started. Of course... he had to take a deep breath since he had a couple looks being thrown his way before he'd finally made his way inside. And more looks of course, some shocked and others looking more than a little confused... naturally the clans knew of him and his... strange appearance to say the least but it was still jarring all the same even for those who knew him better than others. Glancing up Jacques looked towards where the Khan was seated before he gave a bow of his head in greeting... he could not only feel Iturgen's eyes on him but that of his guard as well. Khaishan was always cautious with him and he couldn't blame the other Au Ra for being that way... though the times where the Qestiri man had been pushed to the verge of speaking were... unsettling really. Carefully however Jacques approached the Khan and offered him a warm smile <"I hope I am not disturbing anything by coming to speak with you..."> he knew well that the way of the Qestir but it was easiest for him... and the two had gotten by with him speaking and him learning the other Au Ra's body language and tells. His attention turned down to the boy who was shifting in his hold, he'd also seen just where the Khan's eyes had went... those eyes were burning with questions... and he could see there was a look of concern on Iturgen's features as he was looking the boy over <"Observant as ever... he is the reason why I wanted to speak with you. It... comes with how he came to be in my care."> Jacques let out softly before his eyes met with the Qestir's again <"It wasn't because of the harsh wildlife of the Steppe..."> those words were followed with a grimace as Jacques lowered his gaze ever so slightly. His own body language betraying just how much what he had seen had gotten to him... and it was easy to see that Iturgen was picking up on the fact that it was a... grave matter. <"After I had left to go to the spot that I often seek out I found a trail of blood that lead in from the cavern which leads into Yanxia. Bloodied footprints were also present, someone had been injured and I wanted to make sure they were alright."> it was easier to start with that and lead up to the more disturbing part of the story next <"What... I happened to find was... not the most pleasant of things... the boys father and older brother had been killed. Whether by accident or on purpose I cannot say but they were killed by another person..."> there was a pause as he noticed how Iturgen's eyes furrowed with that and he could see the anger in them... not towards him but towards the hunter... <"They were purposely hunted down..."> Slowly Jacques' tail fell still as he frowned and he gently rubbed the boys back... he could feel him starting to cry again <"Hunted down for their scales and their tails."> Jacques looked to Iturgen again, and he could see the pain in those eyes... the mixture of emotions because of just what he was saying <"I read through the Hunters journal... it's some thought that by mixing a Au Ra's scales into certain medicines it will bring about regenerative properties. In most cases they just knock them out and carve off the scales but..."> the boys family had been killed... likely because of a fight and resistance <"Not in this case."> The dragon had to take in a deep breath and let it out before he looked towards Iturgen again <"Reunion is a place where many travelers come and where the tribes can all gather peacefully. That is why I wished to bring this up with you Iturgen Khan..."> another bow of the head as he said that... he'd noted how Khaishan had pretty much looked horrified with the entire tale and looked as though he was ready to go off to warn the entire Steppe, but his duties kept him at Iturgen's side <"I will speak with others in Reunion before I leave to make sure that those here know and can spread the word. I don't want this to happen to anyone else..."> Of course, Jacques paused some <"I don't know where his mother is, I can only assume the same happened to her. But the hunter who was with the boys family was... dealt with..."> in the most brutal way possible because Jacques was livid with what he'd found... though he looked up to see Iturgen had gotten up and made his way over to stand in front of him... the Khan brought a hand over to gently stroke the boys head some, there was sadness in his eyes but he was doing his best to comfort the child who was starting to sob again <"I'm going to be taking him back with me... where he'll be safe. If you... happen to see any who might know about his mother or looks like she could be... you can send word to me..."> There was a simple nod that came from the Qestiri Khan, Jacques could only hope really that the boys mother lived... he still had his doubts and was prepared for the worst obviously after finding his father and brother in their condition <"Thank you again..."> a soft smile formed before he gave the other Au Ra a gentle pat on the shoulder with his free hand which earned a bit of a mock laugh out of the Khan before he went to return to his seat <"I'll make sure to let others know again about this. I know word travels fast through the Steppe..."> With that all being said and done, Jacques was quick to follow through with what he said he was going to do. He'd go throughout Reunion to inform the various clan members of what he had told Iturgen and then he was on his way to return to Kugane where he could catch a ship back to Limsa. By the time he'd arrived at Kugane the moon was already high in the sky and the boy had finally fallen asleep again while they were on the boat... which meant he could also try and get some sleep in before they arrived back in the Mists. Gently Jacques shifted the boy so he was laying against his chest and stomach while he went to lean back and settle in to get some sleep himself, which was rare for the Au Ra. For once he actually had a peaceful rest... perhaps it was from having the young child resting against him and giving him something to ground him to the world. Or maybe it was his mind demons being kind to him for once... whatever the case, Jacques slept through the entire trip and only woke up when he felt movement on him and he cracked open his eyes to see the boy staring at him... no doubt trying to figure things out because of how he looked. Though he did let out a low chuckle "Well good morning to you..." he let out with a smile before he carefully sat up. It felt like the ship had made it to port... it wasn't moving as though it was sailing anymore, finally... home. A low sound came out of Jacques as he felt the boy reach up to grab those horns that stuck out from the top of his head above his eyes... a tug coming and getting him to chuckle out as he moved his head a bit "I know... weird looking thing aren't I?" he let out with a laugh before he got up to his feet allowing for the young child to continue and well... investigate him. He was worried that the boy wasn't talking but he was understanding... trauma was trauma and after what the boy suffered he wasn't going to blame him for not talking at all. And then he heard the light grumbling coming out of his little bundles stomach and he saw how the boy was quick to jerk down in embarrassment really... a low chuckle and smile coming from him as he grabbed the basket that Chambui packed for them and he grabbed one of the small buuz to offer to the boy. Thankfully he was quick to take it and while he was cautious at first once he took a bite he was quick to start eating "Right... let's get you home now..." Jacques let out softly before he went to make his way to the upper deck so he could get onto the docks and start to make his way to the house. There was a nice ocean breeze blowing as the Au Ra made his way on out and he could see Yukiko had already bolted... he saw her running up the stairs in the distance and he had to shake his head. Of course she would take off without him... but he didn't mind the walk, plus it meant his little companion would be able to look at the new area and take it all in. Already he noted that the boy was looking around with wide, curious eyes as he was making his way down to the dock... it was a whole new world for him here. Hopefully the others were home... That thought really came rushing forward and Jacques had to take in a breath before letting it out... time to make his way to the house and see who was there... and to hopefully have someone there so he could explain the entire situation and figure out what to do. He was already here... and no doubt once P'shali and the others heard about the boys story... well he knew well what would happen. From losing a family to gaining one... and a rather large one at that.

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sakumodoesstuff · 6 years ago

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Today on “SakuMo’s Fire Emblem Headcanons That No One Asked For”...

Lesbian Lucina

This will mostly be a stream of consciousness for future fanfic purposes. Basically I was toying around with the idea of this in the background of my Corrin x Owain fics, and I figured I’d throw out what I’m mulling over for giggles.

Before the rise of Grima and General Notes

As per usual, I run on Chrobin power (F!Robin x Chrom)

Growing up, she was quite the tomboy. When she, Owain, and Morgan (Male, her younger brother) played together, she would refuse to play the princess in need of rescue, instead insisting on being the hero. Owain (the mastermind behind the stories in their games) would only relent if he got to be the villain. This left Morgan as the princess.

She’s not necessarily “butch,” but she’s definitely not feminine, either. She struggles with things like makeup and fashion. It’s why her style choices are “eclectic.”

In ballroom dancing lessons, she insisted on being the lead.

Enjoyed sword training with her father more than anything else.

It became more obvious she was interested in girls around age 9 when she started asking her mother why the princesses in fairy tales always had to marry a prince.

It became common knowledge within their family and was accepted with love. None of the other children outside of the family really know about it, though. It’s not something she broadcasts, given what happens to them. In short, only Morgan and Owain know.

After Chrom’s Death and Robin’s Change to Grima

Happened when she was ~12 years old. Things went to shit fast.

After Chrom died, there really wasn’t an Exalt, though Lissa did her best to hold things together in the 6 years before her death.

Understandably, gave up entirely on romance during this time period. It didn’t stop her from noticing cute maids or soldiers, though.

Grima eventually seduced Morgan through their Fell Dragon blood. This was a hard blow for her, because before her parents left on the day things went to hell, she had promised to keep her brother safe.

Remarks to Owain at some point that she’s counting on him to survive, because with Morgan gone, he’s the only one who can carry on the Exalt bloodline. Owain remarks that any adopted child raised by Lucina and her “lady of choice” would be blessed regardless.

She and Owain have a close relationship. With their parents gone and Morgan lost, they’re the only family each of them has left. Because of this, people start making side-eye comments about how it isn’t uncommon for royals to marry cousins. Owain shuts it down by commenting he could never marry a woman with a cooler sword than him.

The decision to return to the past is a last resort. After an incomplete Awakening (minus the shield and 1 gem), they’ve exhausted all of their options. Lucina, the eldest of the group, is 20 at this point, the rest of the kids falling in around 17-18, with Morgan (though absent) at the youngest at 16.

To the Past

All the kids came out at different time points, but she, Owain, Inigo, Cynthia, and Severa came out within a few months of each other, at the starting point of Awakening (roughly 2 years before they join the group and defeat Grima). They all agree to go into hiding and keep an eye on things, with Lucina taking the most active role to change fate.

The Morgan who joins the group (the one with amnesia) is her actual brother. Grima sent him after the kids, but he lost his memories in the process, effectively breaking Grima’s hold on him. Lucina burst into tears at their reunion. (I’ve mentioned this one in a previous headcanon.)

She develops a bit of a “crush” on Cynthia, who often hangs out with her, Owain, and Morgan (since they are the Justice Cabal). Morgan notices it first and teases her about it.

After Grima’s Defeat

It takes roughly 2 months for them to find Robin after she vanished. After that, Lucina tells her parents she’s going to leave to “fall into obscurity,” but both Robin and Chrom refuse to allow it, insisting that she didn’t have to stay with them forever, but if she leaves, she had best come back to visit.

By this point, Lucina is 22, most of the other kids are 20, Morgan is 18.

With the war over, lots of the kids start coupling up. Morgan and Owain take this as a challenge to help Lucina find a girlfriend, much to her dismay. They dub it an official mission of the Justice Cabal, “Operation: Find Lucina a Lady.”

They take her out to a bar one night with intentions of being her wingmen. Owain does a fair job at it, but Morgan is terrible. (*from across the bar* “Heyyyy, Lucina! How about this one, she’s cute!) Lucina wishes for death the whole night.

Not long after this, Owain, Inigo, and Severa leave on a trip and don’t return (Fates).

Wow, this became a lot. 😧 Whoops. Oh well. Enjoy, I guess? 😂

#sakumo says stuff #sakumo writes stuff #fire emblem headcanon #fire emblem awakening #fire emblem fates #fe lucina #robin!lucina #chrobin #fe morgan #chrom!morgan #fe owain #lesbian lucina #future fanfiction ideas

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serene-gale · 4 years ago

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Reunion Part 2: The Third Chakra

The next day.

The hamlet of Tailfeather was ablaze, both with the sounds of busywork and activity and quite literally, fires were still being put out.

Serene, having been caught dead centre in the chaos, was among the first to provide humanitarian efforts in the wake of the Gnath’s raid and subsequent Wyvern attack. The blood spilled from the wound she had sustained had dried but was not treated, the Roegadyn simply ignoring the pain in favour of saving more people in much worse shape than her, regardless, the shot didn’t hit deep, her leather coverings dealt with the brunt of the blast.

The works to save everyone still trapped and recover as many buildings as possible took the better part of both morning and afternoon, and it was approaching dusk by the time everyone had been accounted for, and the town was back to a state of quiet. A gathering not long after works had finished assembled, in order to discuss what next steps where.

“So, what the hell happened?! We got bombarded by the Gnath, then a bloody dragon came in and...”

“Wyvern.”, Esbyrne, who had since recovered from his injuries, piped up.

“Who the hell cares!?”, the Elezen hunter shouted, “It’s a god damn scalekin come to ruin our lives again! Probably saw the Gnath and figured it was a good time to...”, the Hunter was interrupted again, but this time by a Serene, who was in the process of finishing off a Bandersnatch skewer.

“Not exactly!”, Serene excalimed, rather chipper in spite of the general mood of the village, she bit and tore off a chunk of her skewer, wincing a little at it’s toughness, she turned to Esbyrne, “You was not kiddin’ about Bandersnatch mean huh? Oh well, meat is meat.”, she smiled at the old man, who just stared blankly back at her.

“Why the hell are you so happy huh!? Our village is ruined and you think it’s time to crack wise?”, the aggravated hunter yelled at Serene, who shook her head.

“No, I’m not, no way for you to know but my home town was annihilated by the calamity five years ago, not unlike what just happened. I know urgency is key but losing yourself in negativity ain’t gonna help either, just be glad everyone was safe in the end, even if your livelihoods were harmed.”, Serene replied calmly to the man, who put himself back in line at the Roegadyn’s explanation.

“I...right, I’m heated, how can’t I be...but at the very least I’ll keep a lid on it, but we ‘need’ to do something about the Gnath, we can’t have them raid us again.”, he added, with Serene nodding.

“They could attack again, but I don’t think they’re the cause of this. Did you hear that Wyvern just before it left? It was complaining about the constant noise driving it mad.And the Gnath...well they have guns and are constantly chattering...I think the Wyvern is lashing out at anything it’s hearing at the minute. Why? Dunno, but that’s my guess.”, Serene proposed, causing the congregation of men to huddle around thinking, only for Esbyrne to speak up next.

“The lass may be onto something. My grandpa told me stories of dragons when I was but a boy, and he would always tell me one before bed, about a Wyvern who’s hearing was so keen he could pick up the song of his forefather from malms away, as clear as crystal. If that dragon is hearing everything going on in the forelands, maybe it has been driven mad by it?”, Esbyrne proposed further, causing more discussion in the group, only to be asked by the frustrated hunter from before.

“So you’re saying we kill a Wyvern? Are you mad old man?”, he said, shaking his head, only for him to jump at Serene patting his shoulder, beaming at him.

“Naaah, you guys can focus on defending this place from further attack and recovering, ‘I’ll’ go fight the big scary dragon, uh...Wyvern.”, she said, her confidence wavering at her misnomer. The hunter, and Esbyrne too, scoffed a bit.

“Lass, you’re tough, but not tough enough for that.”, Esbyrne told her while the Hunter walked away, mouthing something about Serene’s sanity that she couldn’t quite hear. Regardless, the Roegadyn shrugged.

“Well, as a member of the Adventurer’s Guid, I can’t simply turn away from this, and I am not defenceless, not by a long shot, I promise you, on my honour as a Guildmember of the Adventurer’s Guild, that I will vanquish that dragon, and put both you and it out of it’s mysery.”, Serene declared, winking at Esbyrne before turning on her heel and walking towards the gate entrance

“Lass wait...”, Esbyrne called out, unable to properly stand due to his injuries, the hunter who had introduced Serene to the vilalge held him back, while the annoyed hunter from before rejoined the conversation, looking at the woman’s back as she left.

“Idiot’s gonna get herself killed, then again, she has the confidence of someone convinced that they can do anything...fool.”, he said, only for the fellow hunter to calm him down.

“Settle down, she helped us a lot over the course of this, as much of a suicide mission as it is, I trust her to do her job...though at the same time...”, he motioned to a group of healthy looking trapper, who moved out after the girl, “I’m gonna set up a contingency just in case she’s in over her head, I’d rather she not die for our sake.”

---

A few hours later,

Serene had made it to a massive waterfall that lead up to a giant ruined structure, what the structure was for she didn’t know, but judging from the numerous claw marks and destroyed trees that led her here, the Martial Artist could only assume it was the lair of her quarry.

“Am I seriously gonna have to climb? Is there...”, she looked around a little before sighing, “There isn’t, climb it is.”, Serene hopped in the river leading to the waterfall, the current not impeding her too much as she found a relatively stable rockface to start climbing from.

The climb didn’t take too long, much to the Roegadyn’s surprise, what she thought would be smooth stone from the water constantly barraging it was actually jagged and quite capable of giving her footholds to use. The Wyvern must have used the waterfall as a way of drowning out the noise and lashing out in rage when it couldn’t do so.

As she reached the top, Serene cursed the fact that she was now soaked, trying in vain to dry her hair before entering the ruins of ‘The Iron Feast’, a building built long ago for dragonkind, having been left to ruin in the current age. There Serene saw what she had expected, the Wyvern, sleeping, though it’s tail lashed out wildly, The moment she took but a step into the Feast, the Wyvern’s eyes shot open and a roar followed.

*MORE DISTRUBANCES, NEED QUIET*, a voice bellowed in turn with the Wyvern’s roar, ringing Serene’s ears as she winced while keeping her pace towards the Wyvern, who turned to look at her.

*You...you’re the reason for this noise, stop...stop now*, the Wyvern spoke to Serene, it’s voice somewhat calm, if not angered, in the presence of the noise that caused it so much discomfort.

“No...not unless you stop wildly attacking the colonies of living beings down below.”, Serene demanded, which caused another roar to echo from the Wyvern.

*I wish...for quiet...and will...destroy all...who ruin it*, it spoke slowly before taking off to the skies and breathing a plume of flame at Serene, who backflipped out of the way of what was now boiling water on the floor of the Iron Feast.

“Guess negotiations are off...”, Serene muttered to herself before leaping out of the way of the Wyvern’s plunge, as she spun to face the beast again, she drew out various components of a pole from her carry sack, assembling it quickly as the Wyvern made for another strafe of her location.

This time, instead of breathing fire, the Wyvern extended it’s claws and slashed at Serene as she blocked with both of her arms, however, instead of drawing blood, the Wyvern’s claws dug into the hardwood of Serene’s staff, lifting the Roegadyn off the ground as he flew back up into the air.

Deftly, Serene used her momentum to vault from the claws of the Wyvern to one of it’s wings, ripping her staff from it and causing it to stagger in the air as she steadied herself and began unleasing a pummeling on the Wyvern’s back, causing it to jerk and thrash in an attempt to get her off it.

The two soared though the skies, Serene managing to inflict damage upon the scales of the creature with each crushing blow her staff dealt, however, infuriated, the Wyvern flew into a wall, slamming the Roegadyn into it and throwing her off it’s back and down back into the waterlogged floor below.

Thinking fast Serene grasped tight onto her staff and before she hit the ground thrust it into the stone wall next to her, breaking though and, despite her being unable to hold onto the staff now embedded in the wall, broke her fall, only winding herself a little as she landed, soaked and how with a mane of hair in her eyes as her ponytail came undone.

“Are you kidding me?!”, she shouted as the wing of the Wyvern smacked her from the side, sending her further into the centre of the ruin. Dazed from the surprise attack. She clambered up and shook her hair out of her face, the red locks reaching down past her lower back as she made sure she had her sights on the Wyvern, who had since landed a small distance from her and was now charging at her with malice in it’s eyes.

A flash of gold pulsed from Serene as she pulled back her fist and threw a punch that connected directly on the snout of the Wyvern, dazing it and sending it crashing to the ground, taking Serene with it. The two of them continued on for a fair few metres before Serene sprung up, and delivered a swift kick to the Wyvern’s head, causing it to howl and knock her back with the use of one of it’s wings.

“Augh...”, Serene gasped as she landed, staggering up as the Wyvern followed suit, “It’s so damn fast...I can hardly keep up...”, the Roegadyn closed her eyes and relaxed her stance, “No, no no, gotta remember, focus, be calm as the wind, that’s how I can see.”, she began to meditate as the Wyvern charged at her on the ground, fire pouring from it’s mouth as it readied more fire breath.

However, for Serene, her senses where elsewhere, she was back in a place like the Iron Feast, but pristine, or at least it was. Dragons and Elezen fighting to the death in it’s space, a grand battle, but through it all Serene kept her cool and continued her meditation, a blue glow, one she’d seen before enveloping her as the Wyvern she was fighting suddendly appeared in her minds eye, as clear as day.

The Roegadyn’s eyes shot open as she leapt above the fireball that had just been shot toward her, landing squarely on her feet before rushing the Wyvern, who had started to try taking to the skies. Instead, it found it’s legs being grappled on by Serene who spun the beast around with a force new to her and sending it back down to the ground, howling in pain.

Serene turned to faced the Wyvern, massaging her shoulder as she chuckled, “Right, okay, warm up’s done, I’m ready to fight now.”

#FFXIV #the guiding winds #reunion #Serene Gale #Roegadyn

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akiharashizuka · 7 years ago

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Cardfight Vanguard G: Next turn 52 thoughts

Return

We’ve reached the finale...All in all, I think the episode did a great job at finishing up the U20, as well as making connections to the upcoming Z.

Also, this post will be very long...

For a moment, I thought they were going to replay the last scene from episode 51, but then this small part played out. This wasn’t in the previous episode. I was trying to decipher what Kazuma must have been thinking at that moment...Frustration that he couldn’t defeat Shiranui himself? Hope that the attack goes through? A mix of both?

The part where the hairband falls seems to be there just to make the moment more dramatic...And show us how Kazumi looks like with his hair down. Unless Chrono used his ability to summon Units from Cray (kinda like how Chronojet punched Kanzaki for real), but I highly doubt that was it. Or the new fighting system is almost as great as the GIRS.

Ok, enough nitpicking. What followed was a very beautiful moment. Kazumi and Shiranui finally have a proper interaction, having a better understanding of each other.

Also, that background is gorgeous.

I think that was a bit exaggerated. I’m surprised they didn’t fall off that platform. Still, it’s not like I can’t feel their joy :)

Why is the symbol purple? It was red up until this episode...It makes sense to be red, since that’s the color for Dragon Empire. Purple is for Dark Zone >_>

Anyway, we have a namedrop. Gastille was indeed the Unit he was talking to in that flashback. Well, the Weekly Bites kind of confirmed that too.

It seems he is starting to understand that his hatred was misplaced. I liked that he also thanked his comrades, as the cards are shown disappearing one by one, then the board (?) turns off. I never realized that the field was a giant board...

The brothers’ reunion (this time with the real Kazumi) was very heartfelt. I guess Kazumi wanted to pet his brother’s head, but then Kazuma says the “Don’t say you’ll disappear”. I simply liked that line. It shows how much he loves his brother and that he won’t be happier if Kazumi was out of picture.

Chrono and Kazuma seem so awkward xD Kazuma even seems kind of uncomfortable. Taiyou is the only one who looks natural.

Thought Rummy Labyrinth and Saya won’t appear again. It was nice seeing them hand the trophy and flowers.

It’s been a whole year since Mikuru appeared in the anime. It’s good to know that she wasn’t forgotten. I guess she didn’t have much of a role to play this time, but she’s still Chrono’s legal guardian.

I found it strange that they decided to insert the ending here. For a moment, I even thought the episode was over, even though it was way too soon xD

Ah...the usual DE Branch shenanigans xD

Before that, seeing how the U20 inspired the younger players was a nice addition. All of them were going on with Dominate, Gear Chronicle, Nubatama, GB8, even Ritual and Gold Paladin xD But...what about Genesis and Kagero?

Of course, with everyone so enthusiastic, Team Striders gets a few challenges xD

With Chrono’s newfound dream of travelling to Cray, it makes sense to ask Aichi for advice. Not only because he studies astrophysics, but also because that dream was most likely inspired by him. It’s also the idea of the old protagonist helping the new one.

It sure is a lot of work. For English, it’s not only about being able to hold a conversation and understand stuff, but also know the scientific terminology. Which isn’t that easy for someone whose first language isn’t English. Especially with Japanese being so different from it. There’s also the fact that in schools, English is taught in a very theoretical way (at least that’s what I heard...), which is far from being an efficient way. Math and physics also have to be studied at a very high level and these particular subjects get way too abstract and hard to understand. Well, if explained properly and if Chrono has a knack for science (rather than humanities like history or literature), it might be achievable. As for physical training...well, he’s going to deal with zero gravity. Astronauts have to go through special training for that, so I’m guessing it’s something similar to that. Hang in there Chrono.

Trinity Dragon also has gotten the enthusiasm. The next U20 is mentioned again, which makes me want at least a mention of how it went in the future xD

Of course, it’s the training style is typical for Kamui xD

Looks like they got the old high-tech clubroom back. I expected some students to come and say that they want to join, or, at least, Shion and Hayao having some application papers...Guess they’ll have to wait a bit until Fukuhara regains interest in Vanguard. Maybe with the new students that will enroll...

But for now, they got to deal with Rin. Well, I guess she wants to help them practice and maintain a high level, which is sort of nice of her. The way she put it wasn’t very nice. Hang in there Hayao.

Not sure how many of you got the “2nd semester of the 3rd year” part, so I’m going to explain a bit. So, after the 1st semester, 3rd year students retire from club activities in order to focus on the university entry exams (which are very difficult in Japan, it seems). That’s the usual case, but not all students want to attend university. This is also Rin’s case, so they can still participate in club activities. Whether they retire, or not, is their choice after all.

I’m glad they showed what Verno is up to as well. Definitely, her tone is different from Amaruda, which hints towards different personalities. From this scene, it seems Verno is more outgoing (guess that’s the right word).

Speaking of Amaruda, she did say that she will inform her comrades about Shiranui’s plans. Well, he dropped off, but the plan is still in action. I hope this part gets touched on in Z. It might lead to something interesting, which I’ll talk about a bit later.

Looks like Kumi joined Tokoha in Paris for a trip, probably. And, I guess this sort of confirms that Tokoha had developed romantic feelings for Miguel, but I feel like it’s still left ambiguous, so each viewer can interpret the scene in whatever way they want.

What’s I’m more concerned about is that Miguel, and, at the same time, Antero remain dead. You’d think that the writers would come up with a way to bring him back, or pull a “he wasn’t really dead”, but nope. I mean, that happens a lot in shounen anime, and those focus on card games aren’t exceptions. I don’t think it’s a bad idea though. Miguel’s death was an unfortunate and sad incident, which happens in real life quite often.

Well...Enishi returns to be the Dark Zone branch chief. I don’t know how to feel about this, since he left because he felt guilty of his actions while in Company and therefore deemed himself unworthy of that position. This season was also about him finding something he can do. I didn’t think that something will turn out to be the same thing he resigned from.

Looking from another perspective, I guess I can see why that is the thing he can do. He wasn’t named branch chief at age 18 for nothing. He most likely has the necessary qualities to manage the DZ branch. And, I think those were reflected in the G Quest. Dark Zone was one of the most unique ones (alongside DE and Zoo), which also fit the theme of the Nation it represents very well. With what he had learned during the U20, maybe he can do things even better now.

Wow...they are behaving like normal siblings xD I wanted to hear Kazuma call him “onii-chan” xD

Something I was slightly worried about is whether Kazuma’s mother is supportive of him or not...Him mentioning that they are doing fine the way they are makes me believe that she actually is, which is a relief.

Hmm, Kazumi becoming the head in the future might give him the chance to change the Onimaru family for the better. Though, I don’t know how the others will react to that...They might not be very cooperative. On the other hand, if he doesn’t become the head, Kazumi will be free to do as he pleases, for the most part.

I had a huge deja vu feeling here. It seems Chrono did too. The only thing missing was Shiranui’s creepiness.

Speaking of Chrono, the way his lines were translated is rather misleading. Here’s how I think it should be: “It’s the same as when you first came here...So that Shiranui was properly acting the whole time.”

Kazumi’s memories being fuzzy after the diffride was canceled makes sense, especially when you think that it was a forced one. Another being took over him, and Kazumi’s consciousness was suppressed. But they still shared the same body and mind, so it’s only natural for him to remember what Shiranui did, or what was he thinking about.

So, he properly explains what exactly happened to Shiranui and brought up Gastille and the Apostles. They were revealed in the Weekly Bites almost 2 weeks ago. I’ll cover this subject towards the end, when they appear.

For now, let’s talk a bit about Shiranui’s missions. Not much to say about bringing Chaos Breaker...I just wonder if there is a reason why him specifically had to be summoned. As for the 2nd one, as expected, the reason he joined U20 was to find a vessel for the master. It looks like he set his eyes on Chrono, which worries me...It’s also a matter of whether the Apostles will find him an appropriate candidate. Maybe some other possible candidates will appear...

Yes! Kai is training them! Hope Makoto and Arata will play an important role in Z. Noa is their friend after all. I would prefer them to bring him back.

Now, for the master, or, better said, Gyze. His clan is currently unknown. If I have to speculate, I’d go for Link Joker...but I’m highly unsure. From the way he is described, I’m guessing he is sort of like the Satan of Cray. Messiah already has christian references, so I couldn’t think of another comparison.

One thing that caught my attention was that he rules the void. The weekly bites translated the word as “nihility”, but it’s the same idea of nothingness. What’s interesting here is that for the first 4 seasons, the antagonist was an evil force called Void. Unlike this time, they used the English word, but considering that Gyze tried to destroy Cray before, I’m guessing that’s when it happened. It might be something else entirely, but this is when the events in the original series can be connected to those in G and I kind of want that...Plus, there were a few moments in Next that reminded me of the Link Joker arc. Not sure if they were intentional though.

And after this, the opening plays. Ok, it’s a unique idea, but it made things slightly confusing.

I’ve wanted to see this for so long! It was short, but it wasn’t disappointing. Who would have guessed that the real Saori is kind of the opposite of Dumjid...And that he looked up to him. I feel so bad for him, especially that now he gets involved in something he doesn’t want to. technically it’s Dumjid doing all the stuff, but they still share the same body and mind. Also, since it was a normal diffride, Saori’s consciousness is still around. Though, it doesn’t look like Dumjid wants to let him say anything.

The fact that he became so bitter that he chooses the antagonists’ side is intriguing to me. It’s also character evolution, but in a negative way. Which spices things up. It makes me look forward to what kind of character development is he going to have. Also, I would love to see a background story for Saori.

Here we have Gastille. he is indeed voiced by Yuuki Ono, who also voiced Kiryu in 5D’s. Hopefully his performance will be as great as that one. so far it looks promising.

There’s something that has been bugging me. He is supposedly possessing a human...Then where is his clan symbol? It was revealed that he is from Dark Irregulars so, that symbol should be very visible since he isn’t wearing any gloves. I thought it was weird when the design was revealed, but not it’s really bothering me...Especially that if you take a look at the other Apostles, all have something to cover the back of their right hand, when the clan symbol is. Noa only has his very long sleeves though...

Six G-Zone cards, so I’m assuming these are the Zeroth Dragons. These were also mentioned in the Weekly Bites. Their deal is that every single clan in a specific Nation can be used with the corresponding Zeroth Dragon. For example, the Dragon Empire one, Drakuma can only be used if the player uses Kagero, Narukami, Nubatama, Murakumo or Tachikaze. So far only two have been revealed, the one for Dragon Empire I just mentioned, and the one for Megallanica.

I like their designs, but I kind of wished they had elements from each clan of their respective Nation. I guess it’s a hard thing to achieve, but Drakuma looks like a Kagero unit, maybe a Narukami as well if you stretch it a bit. Sure, Dumjid is going to use it, but what if Shiranui was still around, for example? It would have looked very out of place in his deck, even though it’s 100% usable. Same for Megiddo. It looks like an Aqua Force unit. I guess it can fit in a granblue deck, but in a Bermuda Triangle one....Yeah...Kind of difficult. Actually, it’s pretty hard to fit a dragon in Bermuda, now that I think of it...

Now for the other Apostles. Here’s the link for the Weekly Bites that mention them, so it would be easier to follow me.

I don’t have much to say about Chaos Breaker, for now. And I’ve already talked about Dumjid. so, moving on...

It seems we have 2 Units representing Megacolony, which is peculiar. And one of them looks very familiar. I’ve also checked the VA, just to be sure and, it is indeed Wakamizu, the eccentric scientist from Company. At the end of Stride Gate, him and Handa were recruited by Chris to work at his company. That company is most likely in Singapore, where Chris and his team are from. Kai and New Nippon were shown in Singapore in the episode with Kanzaki. So, I guess the mystery of what was Noa doing there is solved. I saw a theory at some point that Wakamizu was already diffriden in Stride Gate, probably due to his quirky behavior, like him adding a lot of sugar in the coffee. Honestly, when I watched that episode I was wondering when is he gonna stop. The logic behind it is that insects are attracted to sweet stuff. And Megacolony is a clan based on mutant insects. However, I think that’s just how Wakamizu is. Also, diffriding became possible after the Stride Gate incident. And it wouldn’t have made much sense for chaos Breaker to travel to Singapore if Darkface was already around. I have one more reason, but because of Gastille I don’t know how much it counts...He had nothing to cover the back of his right hand. But now he does. So, I think I debunked that theory.

Now for the new one, Gredora. It’s a new Unit, which will be introduced in a later set, most likely. Something I noticed when I first started watching vanguard is that there were quite a few voice actors from Naruto and Bleach. Morikawa is Sasuke and Uryu, Miwa is Shikamaru and Tensa Zangetsu, there was a character who had the same voice as Keigo (Bleach), Tetsu is Komamura-you get the idea. That was only for the first season though. And now it’s happening again xD Gredora is voiced by the same person as Tenten. It’s been a while since I heard Yukari Tamura in an anime...She was quite a high-pitched voice, but I doubt Gredora is the type to speak like that, so I guess she will tone down a bit. One thing G did was make me interested in clans I wasn’t before, at least a tiny bit, as well as regain interest in some that I stopped caring about. Maybe they’ll do the same with Megacolony by introducing her... Oh, and the fact that there are 2 Megacolony Units might mean that one of them will get undiffriden. Since she is nowhere to be seen, Darkface might be the first to be taken out. Though, I’m also thinking of the possibility of both sticking around, but the one who will ultimately use the Zeroth Dragon will be Gredora.

Next up is Valeos. The details about him made me wonder if by any chance Aqua Force got sealed when he tried to defeat Gyze and, after that, for some reason he joined hands with him. It could have been out of spite, or he wants to defeat him from the inside. not sure about the holy sword. the only one I can think of is the artifact from Shion’s family, but that belonged to another Unit. Continuing the “Naruto tradition”, he has the same VA as Darui. Though, I believe he will be voice more similarly to Ushiwaka from Haikyuu. It seems to fit him better, just based on design.

The last one is Gastille, which I’ve already talked about..

Let’s not forget that they are possessing humans. I’m curious about them, how they feel about the mission and how they relate to the Units.

I guess everyone noticed that there is no one from United Sanctuary. That has to be because Claret Sword’s diffride failed. He might try again, or a replacement will be found. I’ve been considering one, and it seems I’m not the only one who wants that to happen (@floakingaround ). Remember what I said about Amaruda telling her comrades about Shiranui’s mission? What if this reaches the ears of a specific Genesis Unit...Yep, Fenrir diffriding Shinonome and becoming the user of the US Zeroth Dragon. I would love if that happened. I think he fits in very well. If you read his lore, you would see that he doesn’t have a very good reputation and is quite cold-blooded. So, I don’t think he will have any objections in joining hands with the Apostles.

There’s one last thing, concerning the Apostles, I’d like to mention. I’ve seen once a comment which highlighted that each Nation has sort of a villainous clan:

United Sanctuary: Shadow Paladin

Star Gate: Link Joker

Zoo: Megacolony

Megallanica: Granblue

Dark Zone: Dark Irregulars

Dragon Empire: Nubatama

I guess I remember them correctly. I saw that way before Next started. Surprisingly, the Apostles are from these clans, with the exception of Valeos. However, the antagonist from the Asia Circuit arc was Leon, who uses Aqua Force. So, even though Aqua Force doesn’t seem evil, it was used by an arc villain. Dunjid is also an exception, but he replaces Shiranui, who is from Nubatama. The DZ one is also questionable, since the whole Nation seems villainous. It is described as “lawless” after all. If I think about it, Gear Chronicle is the odd one, since it’s more heroic than the other 3. Though, I see why the author of that comment chose DI. It’s a bunch of vampires, demons, elves, and so on who kind of do what they feel like. Pale Moon is a circus, Spike Brothers is an American football team, and Gear Chronicle is a group of time travelers.

Lastly, the preview for Z’s first episode. It seems things start off strong, with a Chaos Breaker vs Chrono fight. It is to be expected, since Next served as the build-up for Z. The fact that the episode is titles “Stolen Chrono” worries me...I don’t want it to go the Legion Mate route and have the protagonist become the antagonist. Seeing that he is on the promotional poster gives me hope that it might not be the case. Aichi was present on the Legion Mate poster, but he was positioned at the back and looking in the opposite direction as the protagonist, Kai. Chrono stands close to Kazuma, Ibuki and Aichi, Gyze being in the back. Maybe Chrono just gets kidnapped, but he gets rescued in time.

So, see you next Sunday with Z.

#that took a lot of time...#cardfight vanguard g next #cardfight vanguard g next spoilers #Akihara's random opinion thing

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immortalpramheda · 7 years ago

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Game of Thrones ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’

This is going to be a very long post, but there is just so much to process.

We have come to the end of another season. Wow that went by fast. I loved the episode! I thought it was a fantastic way to end the season! There were so many great moments between characters. So many satisfying scenes. And the ending was epic and terrifying!

We finally see Grey Worm again. Last we saw of him and the Unsullied they had just taken Casterly Rock, when Euron’s ships came and attacked them. Well, they made it to King’s Landing and are standing out front, when the Dothraki come riding through. Jaime and Bronn look on, but they’re safe behind the castle walls, for now.

The rest of them arrive at King’s Landing. Jon has never been before, and he’s surprised that more people live in the city than live in all of the North. This is all so new to him. All he’s ever known is the North. The Hound checks on their dead prisoner. Yep, he’s still very much alive (dead alive?).

Cersei gets the Dragonpit ready for their guests, and tells The Mountain to kill all of them if anything goes wrong.

The crew all walk to the gates and are met by Bronn and some others to escort them. Brienne and Podrick are there too. There were all these mini reunions, which was great! Tyrion and Podrick! Bronn mentions something about Pod’s magic cock, which reminded me that we still don’t know what happened to those girls in the brothel way back in S3. Good to see they haven’t forgotten about that!

The Hound and Brienne. They haven't seen each other since their brutal fight, and Brienne thought he was dead. She tells him that Arya is alive. He’s happy to hear that she’s safe, and that she can take care of herself. All both of them were trying to do was protect her. He seems genuinely happy to hear that about her, and doesn’t plan on getting in her way. I need them to reunite!!

We get a proper reunion between Tyrion and Bronn! He tries to get Bronn to switch alliances, but he refuses. He’s convinced that Cersei is going to pay him for bringing her traitors. Honestly, I’d love for him to ally with Daenerys, but Cersei probably does have more gold than Dany. I guess he’ll just ally with whoever will pay him more.

The Dragonpit is incredible! It’s basically a ruin now, and unused. But it’s where the Targaryen’s used to house their dragons. Incredible! Such a cool set, and a part of King’s Landing we’ve never seen before.

Bronn takes Pod off to get a drink, leaving the others alone in the Dragonpit. They’re confused as to what is going on. And Dany wasn’t there either, because we all know she’ll wait for the perfect time to arrive.

Cersei and co finally arrive. Lots of looks and stares. Tyrion and Cersei, Euron and Theon, Jaime and Brienne, The Hound and The Mountain. All these characters together who have history, and that was just perfect! The Hound goes over to his brother and tells him how ugly he is, and that he’s eventually going to kill him. (Cleganebowl hype!!) Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this episode, but I’m still holding out hope that it will happen.

They’re not happy that Daenerys isn’t there yet. She’s late. But then she flies in on Drogon, in complete epic style! She had Rhaegal with her too, which was stupid because now they’ll know she’s lost one dragon. Drogon intimidates them. She’s showing how powerful she is, and telling them not to cross her. That was epic!

Jon tells them why they’re meeting, which is the threat of the army of the dead. Cersei just rolls her eyes and doesn’t believe them. She thinks it’s all a joke. But then comes the proof. In comes The Hound single handedly carrying the crate. He opens it up and they're all watching. For a second I was worried that it was dead. I mean, dead dead. If that’s even possible? But it wasn’t. It was still undead and it runs out at Cersei.

I wasn’t sure how Cersei was going to take it. I didn’t think she’d be convinced. But when the wight ran at her, she genuinely looked scared. For the first time ever, she looked terrified. I’ve never seen her look like that before.

The Hound chops it in half and it still keeps moving, proving to them that they’re not easily killed. Qyburn picks up it’s hand and is fascinated by it. He’s intrigued with how it’s possible. This is his type of thing.

Jon shows them the ways to kill them. By burning them, and with dragonglass. It was like he was giving a presentation. How to kill wights 101 or something like that. But he did a really great job! Jaime seems to believe it, and thinks that they need to help. Euron, on the other hand, decides to run off back to the Iron Islands. The army of the dead can’t swim, so he'll be safe there. He is such a coward. Or is he?

Cersei accepts the truce, and agrees to help fight. Which was surprisingly easy, and I didn’t buy it. It wasn’t that easy, she wants Jon to stay in the North and not take sides. She believes in the word of Ned Stark’s son. Just like his father, he is honourable and keeps his word. Ned was stupid and made stupid decisions, and Cersei decides to take advantage of that.

Jon should have just agreed, but he’s Jon Snow so of course he doesn’t. He tells her that he has pledged his allegiance to Dany. You idiot Jon! They came all the way here to call a truce, and Jon ruins it by telling the truth. Cersei retracts her offer. The North will be attacked first after all, which is not her concern.

Brienne tries to get Jaime to see reason. To get Cersei to fight for them, but he says he can’t because of loyalty. Well, Brienne tell shim to fuck loyalty. This is about life and death.

“We’re fucked.”

It's obvious that Dany was grateful for Jon pledging his allegiance to him, but he was so fucking stupid for saying it to Cersei. They’re frustrated that he can't just learn how to lie. But Jon, being the honourable person he is, says he can’t swear an oath he can’t keep. He can’t pledge his allegiance to two queens. He can't lie. It's not who he is. Yeah, and telling the truth is what got Ned killed. Please don’t make the same mistakes that he did. I know that your heart is pure and you’re one of the most honest people in the world, but you could you not be sometimes? Please.

Tyrion decides to go talk to his sister. Jaime says his goodbyes, because he knows that she will probably kill him. But the meeting actually goes reasonably well actually. Well, Cersei does tell him that he killed her children. It’s true that because he killed their father, they ended up getting killed. If Tywin were still alive, none of it would have happened. But he loved Myrcella and Tommen. Cersei knows he did. Tyrion tells her that he doesn’t hate their family, and that he advised Dany against attacking King’s Landing. But still Cersei hates him, and she almost gives the Mountain the order to kill him, but she can’t do it.

She softens. Possibly the first time we’ve ever seen her so vulnerable. She says that when the wight was charging at her, all she cared about was protecting her family. Tryion figures out she’s pregnant. Maybe Tryion got though to her, or maybe it's the pregnancy hormones (if she even is really pregnant because I'm not completely convinced).

“You’re not like everyone else.”

Jon and Dany have a conversation about how the dragons used to be locked in the Dragonpit and wouldn’t grow because of being confined in a small space. There is this tiny dragon skull on the ground. They didn't grow very much at all, which saddens Dany. She can’t imagine locking her children up like that. Because of being confined, the dragons eventually all wasted away and the Targaryen’s became like everyone else. But Jon tells her she’s different.

Then once again, Dany brings up that she can’t have children. Jon asks her who told her that. And she says, “The witch who murdered my husband.” And then Jon asks her if she's sure they were telling the truth. Very smooth pick up line Jon. He was basically asking her to try to get pregnant. With him.

Tyrion returns and it appears that him talking to Cersei changed her mind. She comes and says that she will fight alongside them. She will send her armies north to help fight. That seemed…. surprisingly easy. Did she really agree to to it that easily? Has being pregnant made her change that much? Well, not quite.

Meanwhile in Winterfell, Littlefinger is still trying to manipulate Sansa. She’s annoyed that Jon pledged his allegiance to Daenerys without telling her. And Littlefinger suspects that he wants to marry her. Well, he’s not wrong. They would be incredibly powerful together. He suggests that Jon could be unnamed King, and Sansa seems to consider it. But she says that Arya would probably try to kill her if she did that. Jon was always her favourite sibling. And she’s a Faceless Man now.

He then goes on to tell her that he plays a little game when trying to figure out someone. He assumes the worst of everyone. He tells her to apply that to Arya. The worst that she could do is murder Sansa and become Lady of Winterfell. There is no fucking way that Sansa was buying that. Arya has said countless times that she is not, nor does she ever want to be, a lady. But Sansa looks freaked out, and Littlefinger thinks he’s won. Oh boy, he has no idea whats coming. From that conversation it was obvious that Sansa was up to something.

Sansa asks for her sister to be bought to the Great Hall. Sansa and Bran sit at the table, while the other Lords watch as Arya is brought in. Littlefinger has a smirk on his face, This is exactly what he wanted. And just when I thought the Stark sisters were possibly going to destroy each other, Sansa said the greatest thing possible.

“You stand accused of murder. You stand accused of treason. How do you answer these charges... Lord Baelish.”

And she glances over at him. YES!!!! It was all their plan! The fighting, the pretending to be against each other. It was all a ploy. They wanted Littlefinger to think that his plan had worked. That he had turned them against each other! But the Stark's know what they’re doing. He is so fucking shocked! His face! Sansa accuses him of murdering their Aunt Lysa, and get getting their father murdered. He tries to deny it, saying they have no porrof. But nope, Bran sees everything. He saw what Littlefinger did. That's all the proof they need. So, I guess Bran told Sansa and Arya everything off screen and they came up with this plan?

Littlefinger then gets on his knees and begs Sansa. That is a sight I never thought I’d see. Petyr Baelish on his knees begging. Begging for his life. He speaks directly to Sansa, and says he loved her mother, and he loves her. But Sansa retorts and says he turned their mother and Lysa against each other, and tried to do the same thing to Sansa and Arya.

Then Arya comes and slashes his throat, with the Valyrian steel dagger. FUCK YES!!! Littlefinger is finally dead!! That scene was so satisfying!!! Yes!! I am so happy that Sansa came to her senses. It seemed like she was continually being manipulated by him and didn’t realise. But fuck yes! That Valyrian steel dagger is what started a whole lot of events back in S1. It was the dagger that almost killed Bran. It’s the reason that Catelyn captured Tyrion. And it was Littlefinger’s all along. What a poetic and satisfying end for his character. Littlefinger always used words to manipulate people, and even when his throat had been slit, he was still trying to talk his way out of fit.

The Arya/Sansa dynamic has been annoying me a bit the last few episodes, but this pay off was definitely worth it! I am so happy with the way they worked together to end Littlefinger.

Jon, Dany and co arrived back at Draonstone. I’m not that mad about the travel times, because Dragonstone is actually quite close to King’s Landing. It wouldn’t take too long to get back there. They discuss a strategy, and Dany agrees that it would be best for her to travel with Jon to Winterfell. Yeah, or she just wants to be close to Jon on a boat…

“You’re a Greyjoy, and you’re a Stark.”

We got a great scene between Jon and Theon. They grew up together. They both grew up as Stark’s, even though neither of them were. Ned was a father to both of them. And Theon betrayed them. It’s no secret that Jon doesn’t like him. But Theon basically bares his soul and apologises for all the things he’s done. He regrets so much. It pains me to see him like this. Yes, he’s done horrible things, but everybody makes mistakes. And he’s been through so much torture and so much pain. Jon forgives him for what he can, and tells him he will always be a Stark and a Greyjoy. His words give Theon the push he needs to go save his sister.

Those words could also be applied to Jon. Although he doesn’t know yet, he is both a Stark and a Targaryen.

Theon approaches the Greyjoy men, the ones who survived Euron’s attack, which isn’t many. He gives a speech, asking them to come help him save Yara. But they call him a coward for leaving her behind. They blame him for her getting captured. The main guy proceeds to beat him up. Theon isn’t very strong. After all the shit he’s been through, he’s become so weak. But he tries to fight back. Oh he tries. And then the guy kicks him between his legs, and he feels nothing. That was hilarious!! That's usually a mans weakness, but not for a eunuch. That gives him the upper hand and he beats the guy to death and rallies the rest of his men to go save his sister. Now it seems that Reek is completely dead, and Theon has been reborn. Finally!

Back in King’s Landing, Jaime has started calling their soldiers and sending them North. Cersei comes and accuses him of treason. Jaime is confused. She says he is stupid for believing she’d send their armies to fight for their enemies. I knew that her agreeing was too easy. But fuck this?? She’s not not even telling her brother these things now. Jaime knows that that’s the stupidest idea ever because they are betraying so many people. He is so fucking done with her. I can tell.

Oh, and she sent Euron to the Iron Bank. She's purchased the Golden Company, a huge army of sellswords. So Euron didn’t just run, he was in on Cersei’s plan.

Jaime does not agree with her at all. Cersei accuses him of treason again. Then she gives The Mountain the order to kill him. For a second I was so scared that Jaime was going to die. I legit thought he would. The finale hadn’t had much death yet and I legit thought Jaime was going to die.

“No one walks away from me.”

But Jaime doesn’t believe her. He calls her bluff and walks away. Cersei now has no one. Except for unborn child, who I’m guessing won’t ever be born. She’s just lost the last piece of family she had left.

Jaime rides away. He’s leaving King’s Landing. He’s leaving Cersei. He’s finally going to be free of her! I am so happy for him! He’s been wanting to get away from her for a while now, and I'm so happy he now finally is!

Then it starts snowing in King’s Landing. It never snows this far south, so this is huge. Winter has come. Daenerys’ vision in S2 is starting to come true.

Back in Winterfell, Sam shows up! He says he came to help Jon fight the White Walkers and army of the dead. But of course, Jon is still not back. And I’m guessing he still probably doesn’t know what happened to his father and brother. It’s going to be a bit awkward when he meets Daenerys, considering she burnt them alive.

He went to see Bran. He members when Sam let him through the Wall. Bran seemed a little more like himself in that scene. Maybe as he gets better control of his powers, he becomes more like his old self. He gives the speech about how he’s the Three Eyed Raven and Sam just nods and acts like he understands. Bran tells him that Jon is coming home soon, with Daenerys. And Sam asks, “Did you see that in a vision?” And Bran holds up a scroll. Lol.

Then Bran reveals to Sam that Jon’s parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and he was born in Dorne, meaning his name should be Jon Sand. And then Sam suddenly does remember what Gilly told him a few episodes ago. That prince ‘Ragger’ had his marriage annulled and married someone else in Dorne. Bran, who supposedly knows everything, had no idea. I guess that maybe he has all the information in his head, but he just can’t access it all at the same time. So he needs some sort of key words or something and can then conjure up a flashback maybe?

He sees a flashback of Rhaegar and Lyanna getting married. The first time we’ve seen Rhaegar (who legit looks exactly like Viserys) on the show. I actually had chills during this scene. It was so short, but so beautiful and so satisfying to actually get confirmation of all this. Bran pieces it all together. He remembers that Lyanna told Ned that Jon’s real name is Aegon Targaryen!! Aegon (eighth of his name I believe) is Jon’s real name!

“Robert’s Rebellion was built on a lie.”

Rhaegar didn’t kidnap or rape Lyanna, he loved her and she loved him. Lyanna’s supposed kidnapping is what started all the events that led up to Robert’s Rebellion. Jon was never a bastard. He is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. I was bawling my eyes out that this point. the Tower of Joy last season was so satisfying and this just added onto that. The truth its out there now. Jon just needs to know.

While Bran was piecing this all together, it flashed to the boat. Jon goes to Dany’s cabin, closes the door, and they have sex. Which was hot, don’t get me wrong. But Tyrion was listening, which was a little creepy. (And was Jorah on the boat too?? That’s a bit rude if he was. #friendzoned) And it was happening as Bran was narrating the truth about Jon. While he was telling us that they are definitely related, they were having sex, which was a bit of a turn off. But, Kit Harington’s butt right? And with all the talk about Dany not being able to get pregnant, I’m guessing that next season she will be pregnant with Jon’s baby.

“The lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”

Back at Winterfell Arya and Sansa have a nice chat, bonding over taking Littlefinger down. And they talk about their father. They were really getting along. Plus there was some sisterly teasing. That scene made me smile. I was worried that they really were turning against each other. But they’re on good terms now. That was a great way for them to end the season. Now we just need Jon to come back and reunite with Arya (which will be the most emotional reunion) and all the Stark’s will be back together!

Then the final scene of the season. Bran is warging into some ravens, as he does. We see Eastwatch. Tormund and Beric are there, and they see some White Walkers and army of the dead show up. And then along comes the Night King riding on an undead Viserion, and he breathes out blue fire (or ice-fire? not sure exactly how that works?). AND HE DESTROYS THE WALL!! Well, part of it. Eastwatch is basically destroyed. But, we didn’t see Tormund die, so I believe he’s still alive. He still needs to make babies with Brienne. He can’t die before he’s achieved that.

That ending was epic! I guessed it, because I knew that would be an incredible way to end penultimate season. The visuals, and just the scope of the ending scene were incredible. The last shot of the army of the dead heading south led by the Night King on a dragon was breathtaking and terrifying.

Amazing end to the season! Personally, I loved the whole season. Sure, it was very fast paced and the travelling times didn’t really make sense. But I’d prefer this than episodes of characters just travelling. And this is a fantasy show, of course it’s not going to be entirely realistic. So much happened on each episode, and it was overall an incredible season. I can’t believe there are only 6 episodes left, and we might have to wait 2 years to see it. I’m on such a high from this seson. So damn much happened, and honestly I probably need a year (or two) to process it all anyway. And I can always rewatch the show, and hope the next book comes out before then. This season has been a wild ride.

So, I have a few questions. Where was Gendry? He wasn't in King’s Landing, and we didn’t see him at Eastwatch. He only just came back so he better not be dead.

I wonder how Edd is going at Castle Black? Only the Wall at Eastwatch seemed to be destroyed, so hopefully Edd has everything under control at his end.

Where is Ghost? We haven’t seen him all season. I know it’s mainly because of budget reasons, but it still would have been nice to see him at least once. Or even get a mention of him. It seems that Jon just completely forgot about him.

Jon’s real name is Aegon, but Rhaegar had a son with Elia named Aegon. It seems a bit odd to have two sons with the same name. But, I guess Jon was born after Rhaegar, Elia and their kids were killed. So maybe Lyanna wanted to pass on the name?? I’m not sure. Or, I guess because Young Griff (fake Aegon Targaryen) in the books is not in the TV show they wanted to include the name somehow.

I’m still a bit conflicted about Jon and Dany’s relationship. They have undeniable chemistry, and that boat sex was hot. But I wish would see more of them getting closer. So far they’ve just been staring longingly at each other, and only talk about alliances and war. I want to see them actually talk and get to know each other. I think that’s why it’s lacking a bit for me. They have so much that they could talk about.

They are both actually quite similar. They both started with nothing, and look where they are now. Jon grew up as a bastard and is now the King in the North. Daenerys was sold off to the Dothraki by her brother, and now she has three dragons and a huge army. They both lost their first loves in tragic ways. Jon lost Ygritte, and hasn’t been with anyone else since. Dany lost Drogo, and hasn’t loved anyone else since. There was Daario, but we all know she never loved him. He was just a comfort for her. Someone who took a liking to her. I wish they would talk to each other about their first loves.

Jon didn’t want to open his heart to anyone after Ygritte died, but now he has allowed himself to fall in love again. That is huge for him. I know Jon is not one to talk about his feelings, but I wish he would feel comfortable enough to. And, Ygritte was kissed by fire because of her red hair, and Dany literally has fire within her.

Same with Dany. After Drogo, her sun and stars, died, she’s been reluctant to open her heart to anyone else. But now she has to Jon.

My point being, they’ve both only ever been in love once, and now the second time they truly fall in love is with each other.

Dany is definitely going to get pregnant. There have been so many hints that she will. The witch told her only death can pay for life. Now that one of her dragons has died, maybe she can have a baby. How are they going to act when they find out they’re related? It’ll be a bit awkward. I don’t think Dany will have much of a problem with it, considering she is a product of incest herself. But Jon might be a bit grossed out.

Some predictions for next season:

Now that the White Walkers and army of the dead can get through the Wall, they are first going to attack the north. With the way time has been going, they’re going to arrive at Winterfell fairly soon, I hope they’re ready to fight. They were training everyone right? Lyanna Mormont is going to be a hero I bet.

Theon is going to save Yara, and hopefully kill Euron.

Jon will ride Rhaegal.

Cleganebowl will happen. It’s got to happen right? They were just teasing us this episode.

Jaime will kill Cersei. Or, one of my favourite theories, Arya will kill Cersei wearing Jaime’s face. Either way, Cersei will die.

The Iron Throne will be destroyed, and there will no one on the throne. I think the show will end with a whole new democracy. Kings, Queens, succession, highborn, lowborn etc. None of that will matter. It will be a whole new and better world. That’s how I think the show will end.

This whole mess could have been prevented if Rhaegar and Lyanna just told people that they were in love. Robert’s Rebellion never would have happened if they'd just told everyone the truth. The war started because of Rhaegar and Lyanna. Jon, their son, and Daenerys, Rhaegar’s sister, are going to end it. Which will be poetic end.

What an episode and what a season! Now for the dreaded long hiatus.

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imperox · 7 years ago

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Reunion.

[ Written to be in first person for Kašpar, this is a bit of canon of Kas & his age old friend, Kagami Mori ( who I rp on my multimuse ) meeting after several years and one hell of a history together. It’s super long so it’s under a read more for the sake of the dashboard!! And will probably be reblogged on my multimuse as well after this. ]

Plucked away from my life on Earth, even with the ( eventual ) ability granted to me by Kalarah to return as I pleased, her brother had thrown me into the midst of a realm I’d only read about in the books. One that Aurel had known about since his spark had erupted within him, and one that I’d always feared -- even if I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime.

A few things off of that? Didn’t think I’d live as long as I have, for one. And two? I feared it for being burned. Seared and turned to ash for the fun of Slayne’s goddess, Kalarah. It was like reading a horror novel, her crusades into realms just like my father’s. Only instead of fiction, they were textbooks by the dozens. She’d been doing it practically since birth and the last thing I ever wanted was to watch the few people I cared about melted & burned.

When I was younger? It even caused a nightmare or two; waking up in a cold sweat.

Faced with the realm and the goddess herself sparring with a familiar glint of gold, I was thrown into Slayne in nothing more than my Terran clothing and the idea that “I had someone to meet.”

Standing in what I could only assume was her throne room, I was doing my best to keep my lunch down. Watching her stand, she was nearly as tall as my father, depending on his mood that day. My heart leaped into my throat and my stomach practically fell out of me.

That is, until she stood before me. Towered over me. I fought her tooth & nail in argument, but kept my hands to myself. Last thing I needed was to be spirited away somewhere only to be killed off without a second word. The pink hair and cackle were enough to realize she had a human guise. One where she was a bit shorter and void of her scales..

“Rayan.”

My trainer from back on Earth was the Goddess of Anarchy. Equally surprising to her was the fact that her student was the Prince of Thorns. The only child of Aurel, God-King of Control. Needless to say, I was scowling. Furious, all until from behind her were a pair of green eyes staring at me with lips pouted & slightly parted.

“Kagami..?” Gods, when was the last time I’d seen her..? Earth years, it was a few, at least. Not since we decided that being separate would be a good idea. The urge to vomit had me by the throat all over again. And from the blank stare she was giving me, it looked like she might’ve been in the same boat. Then came the dragon’s howling about “Go on! Give each other a hug, don’t just stand there! I know it’s been a while since you’ve seen each other, right?” And her hands shoved us closer. With my blood pumping and eyes stinging, I resisted the urge to yell and held her in my arms. Just a quick hug, nothing too big, but even the touch alone was leaving me shaking. When was the last time I’d let someone do that? It hadn’t been since her, had it..?

Silence fell on us both after that. How little had I ever been silent around Rayan? No. Kalarah now. Her old name is dead to me at this point. If she’s the goddess she never fessed up to be, then she can own up to her true name instead of hiding behind some earthling alias. Barking at her to bring about the noise after the deafening silence, it was all I could do to fight back whatever breakdown might happen around Mori. She didn’t need to see me like this. Neither of them did. It wasn’t their right.

Huffing, Kagami finally spoke up, asking for time to explain everything. Goddess of Anarchy agreed, saying we probably had catching up to do. That’s when Mori led me off to gardens full of flowers from the textbooks. Things that they probably hadn’t even written about -- considering that they always spoke on how fickle time and life were on Slayne. The idea of flowers withering in the matter of days.. I wonder if this realm would do that to me. Free me of the burden on my shoulders and make me extinct.

Didn’t feel likely.

Staring at the petals and sticking to the paths as to keep off of the garden, her warnings about the lethality of them fell on deaf ears. It wasn’t until she spoke my name did her words break me from the trance of a new realm.

“Kassie?” I choked. Other than Kalarah ( used for nothing more than a way to degrade me in a fight or push me down as a child ), no one had called me that in years. Not since she last did it herself. My eyes widened and met with hers in silence.

“I ah.. Know it’s been a lot. I’m sorry -- if I had known they’d be taking you off of Earth so soon, I would’ve done more to prepare.” A nervous laughter left her. All I could do was nod and murmur a reply. This all seemed too surreal to register. Am I losing it?

“--So you knew?” My voice didn’t feel all there, but it was better than leaving her in the dark.

“Yeah. I requested it, in fact. Tried to pull a few strings.” She’d nod. I could see it in her eyes. She hadn’t thought this through. Didn’t think it’d be this.. Weird to see each other again. “She’s a good person. Has some questionable ways to get things done, but it’s better here than in Imperox.” Her hands were in her hair.

“--Nervous?”

“Yeah.” She sighed.

“I could tell.”

More silence. She wasn’t sure what to say, but neither was I. How could we be? Nothing could’ve prepared us for this, and with her next words came the truths of the matter.

“I’m with her now.”

All I could do was nod again. “Gotcha.” Couldn’t do anything more than that..? Stupid. Think of something.. “I ah. Probably could’ve guessed eventually. Thanks for.. Getting it out of the way, I guess.”

I could watch her shoulders tense. She was trying not to cry, I think. Just keeping it bottled up for later. We’d lost it. Couldn’t be weak around each other anymore. I could get that, but it made my heart sink. Stupid, STUPID. I fucked up and now I was paying for my sins.

She just nodded to my gratitude. And her next words held more heft than I would’ve expected. “--She wants to wage war on Imperox. She wants your dad dead.”

I didn’t even call him that anymore. Father, maybe. Formal enough for some detachment. But the personal word had my body flinching away in disgust. It was just how I had wired myself. The less I felt about him other than rage & desire to kill, the better. I had lived in fear far too long.

“Fine then. So be it.” I could feel the rage boil up at the mention of him. I couldn’t help it, and she knew that. Tolerated it.

“Until then, she has a room for you to stay if you need one. The whole place is a bunch of fugitives. No one can tell you what to do here.. There’s no control over anything really. Took me a while to get used to but, it’s nice now.” Her words were soft. Softer than I would’ve thought, especially if she was being here. And for how long we were apart, she was right by my side again. Her hips to mine on the bench. What did I do to deserve this..?

“Alright. I still have a home back on Earth.” She blinked at me as though she didn’t understand. How could she? “--A roommate. With someone I actually don’t mind. Rent’s free. I’ll be in and out. I don’t want him to worry about me if I’m gone too long.” She gave me a slow nod, a bit in disbelief on the topic. I couldn’t stand the look and my gaze retreated to the flowers. Despite being alien, the familiarity of them kept my attention better than dealing with her judgements.

“Um.. Okay.” She nodded, just taking what I said for face value. “Just know it’s safer here.. Rayan has power here. People can’t be scried. He can’t get you here..” Her words fell off and I didn’t have the heart to talk again. For how much I yelled at Kalarah just before this, words were escaping me.

“I know.” Was all I could muster up. And as I said it, I could feel one of her hands raise to rest on my knee. Every muscle tensed in me. Was I scared of her or myself..? I didn’t want a repeat. I didn’t want to hurt her.

“I can’t make you do anything. Never have, never will.” She sighed. Something was going through her head, but I couldn’t figure it out. All I could feel was my frown curving my lips downwards. “But it’s there as an option. I can go show you.” She nodded at me as she stood up and off of the bench, offering a hand for me to use to get up. “Be careful of the plants too. I guess if you trip and bleed or something, they get hungry? Kinda weird.” She tried to laugh, but it was half - hearted. Just an attempt to get me to smile or feel better. It didn’t work. I stared at her hand for a bit, unsure as to if I should take it or not. I could feel my shoulders begin to shake as my eyes stung from the air again. My hand rose to meet her and I could feel her nails press gently into my wrist as she pulled me up.

“Thanks.” I nodded, and she smiled again. A bit more genuine this time, but it had hurt behind it. She didn’t let go of my hand as she led me off through halls and stairs. Down, down, down.. Until there was a hallway of rooms, all with different names. Some I couldn’t even pronounce, and one that stuck out. “Miloš.” I stared. What were the chances..?

“Huh? Yeah. Rayan has a few lovers she keeps around. Me, him, and an elf? I forget her name. But Milos is annoying. Has power and knows it. Don’t bother with him, trust me. Better to not waste your energy on a dickhead like that.” Her free hand waved me off as I listened. Seeing her come to life about someone she loathed had my frown fading though, and for the first time since talking to Kalarah, I could feel myself coming back.

“Yeah, right. Bet he’s better than you in bed or some shit.” It hurt to talk about, but it was better to get it in the air. Felt like maybe, an old wound could heal. Gods, please. If you could let it heal. “Something’s good enough about him to get him a room down here too. What is he, a human? Elf?”

“Something else. Kinda human though. It’s hard to explain. Looks human but when he fights? I guess it’s something else from what I’ve heard, which isn’t much.” She’d shrug as she looked at all of the names on the doors until she stopped in front of one. “This is it.”

Loosely holding her hand, I caught up to her and looked at what was catching her eye. Lo and behold, my name was on the plaque on the door instead of a number. “Sticks to the personalization thing down to the end, huh?” I retorted under my breath only to be met with her giggling and nodding.

“She goes all out. No cut corners.”

“It’ll be interesting seeing her go headfirst at Imperox then.”

The idea being spoken aloud perhaps wasn’t my best idea, but it was in the air. I couldn’t get rid of it now, this was the price I paid. I saw her pause only for a moment before opening the door for me and letting me in. Taking steps in, I let go of her hand and heard the click of the door behind me before manicured nails curled their way around my waist. I froze. Nothing I could do could’ve prepared me for this. For contact. My legs locked up and my hands rose -- hovering over hers as they rested around my waist.

“--You’re warm.” My voice was detached again. Low. Barely a murmur. I couldn’t figure out what to say except for what I was feeling. Shivering in her arms, my hands barely got to rest on hers before she slipped away from me. Just as I turned around, I heard the click of the doorknob opening once again, and she was in the doorway.

“Kagami, I--” She cut me off.

“I’m gonna go. Let you get used to things, I know it’s a lot to take in. Lemme know if you need anything. I’ll try and get you some food soon too. The cook is particularly.. Nasty, so it’s better if someone who knows about what he does deals with him. Still cooks one hell of a meal though.”

Despite her words, tears streamed down her cheeks. I could feel it, my heart breaking. How little I cared for so many people.. And the one I did care about, I couldn’t do anything to comfort. If anything, my presence was hurting her more than I could’ve imagined. She asked for this, but didn’t know what it’d do to either of us. She just cared.

“Kagami..” I was just about to reach out. I could feel my fingers curl as I rose my arm to get to her, but she had stepped out of the room. Her tails were twirling around and her ears fell flat to her head.

“I’m gonna go now. I’ll see you in a bit.” And with the words, she left. Shut the door on me, leaving me here. Alone. If there was one thing I’d learned, it was that I couldn’t catch her. Couldn’t before, couldn’t now. She’d come back when she was better. My eyes stung with my own tears as I wandered deeper into the living quarters assigned to me. With a bed in one of the rooms, I curled up on the pre-made bed and wept. I hadn’t sobbed in such a long time. Screaming into the pillow, curled into a ball. I couldn’t take it. All I remember are tears, pain, and then the pitch of sleep. Life could wait until after slumber took me for a while.

I would beg for her in my mind and deal with the pain and biting my tongue all over again.

As long as she had safety here, I knew I would make it. She would make it. We were anything and it didn’t matter.

For the first time since leaving Imperox, we were both sheltered. Unharmed.

Free.

#v. main #‹ ☾ three tailed freedom fighter; set me free. › kagami.#meta tag #canon tag #drabble #it's a bit over 2500 words lmao i've been working on it all day #actually kILL ME #‹ ☾ realm of control & birthplace of chains; return is far from a plan. › imperox.#slayne tag #kalarah tag

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pikespendragon67 · 8 years ago

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Late Birthday Present for writer-of-worlds!

Beginning Commentary: SO, my writing friend, @writer-of-worlds, had a birthday in April. I, however, was too caught up with schoolwork to do anything for them at that time. But now I have a few days off before summer school, I decided to make up for that. Happy late birthday~!

This is a modern AU I came up with a while ago…which was developed because I thought Kaze would look nice in a short-sleeved dress shirt and glasses. If this is interesting enough, I can elaborate more on this.

“You know, Kaze, you seem to be quite distracted today,” the older man with his teal hair in a messy ponytail commented, placing a pile of books down on the closest surface he could approach.

The younger man with the clean-cut yet still relatively long (for a man, that is) green hair, aged to be around his college years, blinked and freed himself from his daydreaming pose.

“Ah, my apologies, Sir,” Kaze quickly spoke, immediately snapping his attention to his boss. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“Come now, Kaze. I may be your employer, but I’ve also known you since you were a boy. If something troubles you, I’m open to chat with you. I’ve yet to reach the level of heartless CEO, after all.”

True, Yukimura’s book shop was still in its mom-and-pop phase of business; he only managed to open it around four years ago. How it was being slightly successful in the digital area is up to anyone’s guess, though.

“Very well,” Kaze sighed. “Corrin’s birthday is soon approaching and I still have no idea what to do for her. I tried buying tickets for one of her favorite bands, but they sold out the second they were released to the general public.”

“Ah, I see. Are there any other performances she might be interested in?”

“Unfortunately, no. …Unless she were somehow into polka music.”

Yukimura chuckled slightly before clearing his throat.

“And I’m certain you’re far past the phase of giving each other gift cards, correct?”

“If it were just a gift card, I feel she’d think I would break up with her. No, I want this to be special, Sir. We’ve been together for a few months now, with this being the first birthday of hers where we’re a couple.”

“In that case, don’t go too overboard so that you don’t scare her off. If you show too much dedication, she’ll think you’re obsessed with her. I’d say hold off on the very expensive gifts after a few years have passed, such as jewelry.”

“Well noted. Do you have any other suggestions?”

“Hm… How about a trip to the observatory run by Professor Izana? I’ve heard he’s quite a romantic, so a tale such as yours could easily get you in.”

Now it was Kaze’s turn to chuckle, a warm smile staying on his face afterward.

“That might actually work. Thank you so very much.”

“Not a problem. …Though, could you please return to work? I know this might be a slow day, but I still want us to be ready for customers.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Once work had finished, Kaze returned to his apartment complex building. Before he entered his own, though, a thought occurred to him.

Would the observatory be enough for her? I feel she should also get a material gift. …But what?

Kaze thinned his lips, but then decided to go three doors down to hear other opinions on the matter.

He gently knocked on the door, to which he was greeted by his four-year-old nephew Asugi.

“Hi, Uncle Kaze!” Asugi exclaimed.

Kaze smiled and got to the boy’s eye level, soon ruffling his black hair.

“Hello to you, too, Asugi.”

“Asugi, I told you not to open the door without asking who’s at it!” A woman with her long, black hair in a ponytail and bangs covering her face gently scolded him.

“I’m sorry, Mom…” Asugi pouted.

She sighed, but then paid attention to the man in question. “Oh, hello Kaze. Saizo won’t be home from the restaurant until later tonight.”

“Sorry to bother you, Kagero. I was actually hoping you could help me come up with a present for Corrin’s birthday.”

“Get her a bunch of candy!” Asugi exclaimed.

“Now now, we don’t want her to get cavities like you would,” Kagero smiled. “How about you go play in your room while I help your uncle?”

“Okay, but I hope I get candy for my birthday.”

With that, the boy closed the door, and Kagero offered Kaze a place to sit on the couch.

“Can I get you anything?” She asked in the small kitchen.

“No thank you, I’m fine,” Kaze replied.

And so, they sat opposite of each other.

“So, what do you need my help in?” Kagero asked.

“Has Corrin told you about anything she’s had her eye on? I assume Orochi must gossip about these sorts of things and you are her closest friend.”

“Then why not approach her?”

“She drains too much energy from me, if I’m being honest…”

“Yes, she does tend to do that. Let’s see… I believe last Tuesday she told me that she saw Corrin walk into Oboro’s boutique during her lunch break.”

“Interesting. …It’s not too expensive there, correct?”

Kagero held a laugh in.

“Fear not, Kaze. I’m sure you can afford her wares on your salary. After all, you don’t have to buy her a complete outfit.”

“Ah…yes. Good to know…”

“…You were planning on that, weren’t you?”

“N-no, of course not.”

He soon looked away from her to hide his embarrassment.

Kaze made note to thank his lucky stars, as the observatory was only fifteen minutes away from town. Professor Izana, although busy with his work, was surprisingly approachable and…quite eccentric.

He’s almost an exact clone of Orochi… Kaze remarked to himself.

As he told his story the good astronomer, Izana looked at him as if he were telling the juiciest gossip, and gasped at the end. He wholeheartedly agreed that Corrin should be treated to a night under the stars, and told Kaze he would clear everything up by next Saturday.

Kaze thanked him, but before he could leave, Izana asked him to go over whether he wanted a laser show or not.

At first, Kaze was confused as he entered the boutique. It was clearly made for women, and he had no idea which item Corrin solely focused on. What if he got her something she would think was ugly by accident? He was half tempted to call Kagero and ask her to go with him so she could give him her input, or to at least get Orochi’s number so he could talk with her about this.

The store’s owner, Oboro, herself eventually walked out to see what was wrong, and he explained his woes to the blue haired woman. She snickered, saying that men tended to be clueless about these sorts of things, but still offered her help. Oboro apparently recalled Corrin looking at a new black and white scarf, but told her that she couldn’t afford it yet.

Ah, now I see. This would match with her hair and favorite headband, Kaze thought.

Fortunately, Kaze actually had the money to purchase said scarf.

Corrin was the kind of girl who preferred sleeping in on the weekend, which made being a light sleeper sensitive to light and sound quite annoying. Such as the case when her phone buzzed on the nearby nightstand. She groaned and pulled her sheets over her head, further messing up her long, white hair, until she remembered:

OH, RIGHT! Today’s my birthday!

Birthday texts began flooding since last night at midnight, with the first sender being her mother of all people. With all the texts, though, Kaze had yet to message her. She was starting to get worried until she got a buzz.

you are free tonight yes?

Corrin squeaked. He was always so formal with her and she thought it was adorable.

yep~! ;3

Perfect. i’ll pick you up at 6. :-)

She had to remember that her cousin and roommate, Azura, was sleeping in the next room and to prevent screaming on the top of her lungs, she buried her head in her pillow and squealed. Corrin couldn’t really explain why she was as excitable as she was now. Normally, she felt more of a mature bond with her boyfriend of seven months, as she did her best to act her age around him, but today she felt like a high schooler all over again.

Azura had given Corrin an iTunes gift card for $50 along with a cute little card with an iguana on it before she had to head off for rehearsals. She received a Facetime chat with her “siblings” (family friend’s children) all the way in Nohr (in order: Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise) all wishing her a happy birthday before Xander had to leave for a business meeting. A few hours after breakfast and a quick shower, her stepsiblings of Hoshido (in order: Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura) had coerced her to eating lunch with them and spending most of the afternoon in the local square.

“We wanted to plan a surprise party, but our restaurant has another party planned tonight,” Corrin’s red-headed older sister Hinoka sighed.

“Yes, one of our shareholders Anna decided to have a family reunion,” the man with the long, spiky black hair named Ryoma added.

“Nothing wrong with that, I’m glad I can spend time with you at all!” Corrin smiled.

Ryoma gave Corrin a commissioned painting of flowers, saying that Kagero had quite an eye when she was serious about her artwork. Hinoka presented a model aircraft, which at first confused everyone until Corrin told them that the two of them bonded over flight shows. Takumi did his best to act like he didn’t care when he gave his older half-sister a copy of the fourth book in The Illusionary Mages saga, one of their favorite series. And Sakura timidly gave Corrin a little pink plush dragon.

After doing some window shopping, Corrin had returned home to relax and continue reading birthday messages as she snacked away on her hidden junk food stash. Azura was a complete health nut, so she had to make sure she wouldn’t get any crazy ideas.

…Speaking of crazy ideas…

babe are we going to a fancy restaurant tonight? Corrin typed.

After a few minutes, a response appeared.

oh no i’m sorry :-(

Whew, I can eat before we go, then.

dont worry i still love you <3 we can hang out after this?

i would like that very much :-)

Corrin laughed to herself, he started typing with emoticons not too long after the two started dating and even after all this time, he was still doing the basics. She couldn’t wait to see how he would react to emojis.

A knock on the door was soon to be heard, and after doing some last minute touch-ups, Corrin took a deep breath and opened the door.

“HEY!” She exclaimed, soon launching herself into her boyfriend’s arms. Fortunately, Kaze was grounded well enough to not fall backward in this surprise attack.

“Happy birthday, dear,” Kaze said after sharing a short kiss and pressing his forehead against hers. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep, let me just lock the door behind me. So, what do you have planned for tonight, hm?”

“That’s a surprise.”

“Ooh, this is gonna be good.”

Corrin bounced a little, which Kaze found utterly adorable.

Kaze once again made note to thank his lucky stars, as his roommate Silas had agreed to let him borrow the car for this occasion. Silas was a pleasant guy in general, but he was serious about his car. One time, someone scratched it and it took all of Silas’ willpower not to yell at the one responsible.

“Saizo wanted me to tell you happy birthday as well, as he’s busy at the restaurant tonight,” Kaze said as he opened Corrin’s door for her.

“Ah, okay. For a second there I thought he disliked me,” Corrin joked. “After all, Kagero and Asugi actually sent me a video with him not there.”

“He’s never been one for celebrations, if I’m to be honest.”

Because it was her birthday, Kaze allowed Corrin to listen to her favorite station. However, he still preferred a quiet car so he could focus more and be able to speak clearly without talking over whatever music Corrin was listening to.

“We’re heading out of town?” Corrin asked. “Oh gosh, oh gosh.”

Kaze chuckled a bit.

“Don’t worry, dear, I’m not planning anything malicious.”

“Kaze, you’re too sweet to do anything malicious. I’m just getting excited is all.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Plus you have to remember I’ve been taking that self-defense class.”

“I remember, poor Jakob had his back out for nearly three days when you demonstrated your prowess to me.”

Kaze made sure to park a little distance away from the observatory, as he wanted to surprise Corrin as much as he could. He wanted to have her eyes closed until they approached it, but anyone could see the observatory nearly a mile away with how big it was.

“I haven’t seen this place before,” Corrin said. “Is it new?”

Whew, the surprise isn’t completely ruined.

“It is for you,” Kaze smiled, once again opening Corrin’s door for her and holding his hand out for her to hold onto.

They approached the normal-looking doorway and into a slightly dark hallway. Kaze made sure to help Corrin up a spiral staircase, and they soon approached Professor Izana standing in front of his desk and a telescope.

“Welcome, welcome! I’m Professor Izana, but please call me Izana!” He eagerly shook Corrin’s hand.

“Oh, hello. I’m Corrin,” she laughed awkwardly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Very lovely to meet you, as well. Your boyfriend here wanted to make tonight extra special, so you must be quite the special little lady.”

“Uh, thank you…”

Kaze cleared his throat.

“Oh, right! We’re in for a real treat tonight, so please, head back downstairs and follow the light filled hallway to find your seats.”

“He sure is spontaneous,” Corrin whispered.

“Indeed,” Kaze remarked quietly. “Still a nice fellow, though. I promise.”

The two found their seats, which Corrin remarked was like a movie theater, and the dome ceiling slowly opened itself up. Corrin gasped as the night sky revealed itself, a very nice shade of navy blue mixed with a few lighter shades, clear of any clouds, and thanks to the lack of city lights, the stars could actually be seen.

“There’s so many,” Corrin said under her breath.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Kaze grinned as he held onto Corrin’s hand.

“They’re incredible!”

Corrin gasped once more when she noticed a shooting star. The first shooting star of that night, as it were.

“A meteor shower?! I can’t believe that the sky decided to give me a meteor shower for my birthday!”

Kaze was stunned, he certainly hadn’t planned for that to happen. He looked over to the window above him and noticed Izana giving him a thumb’s up.

Is this a special effect, then? Kaze thought.

“Oh, Kaze, this is wonderful!” Corrin exclaimed, soon wrapping her arms around Kaze’s shoulders and kissing his cheek in rapid succession.

“Well, I actually had another gift that I found the other day…” Kaze said as he tried to reach for the gift. Corrin halted after he spoke, and he managed to give her a small pink box with a black ribbon tied on it.

Corrin once again gasped (this must be a new record) as the black and white scarf appeared.

“OH MY… HOW DID YOU KNOW!?” Corrin squeaked.

“Let’s just say I had a friend to help.” Kaze pressed a small kiss on Corrin’s cheek this time. “Happy birthday, my love.”

Corrin felt like her heart could burst right out of her chest with how sweet Kaze was being. She immediately stood out of her seat and sat right on Kaze’s lap to wrap her arms around his shoulders once more and kiss him this time on the lips. …And repeated that action for a few minutes or so.

“Well now I have to find a way to make your birthday as special as this one,” Corrin spoke as she attempted to catch her breath.

“Honestly, you don’t have to…” Kaze blushed.

“But babe, you’re always such a sweetheart to me! Can’t I be a sweetheart to you?”

She gave him a big pair of puppy dog eyes and an overdramatic quivering lip. Kaze couldn’t help himself from laughing softly.

“Alright, I’ll let you do that. But just to let you know, I’ve always thought you were a sweetheart.”

#pikes writes #fire emblem fates #kaze #corrin #mint chip ship #happy late birthdaaaaaaaaaay~!#kaze x corrin #writer-of-worlds

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