#also he lost his sister it’s a miracle it didn’t just twist | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

silkling · 3 years ago

Note

I have the weird headcanon that TFRB Cody could adopt Lazerbeak brother, Buzzsaw. I haven't read a lot of TF comics so I don't know he's current status, still I always saw Cody as a typical animal owner, and I think it would be kind of cute too. Could you write some scenes of theme meeting and become friends

Come Home to Roost

Buzzsaw was tired. He was so, so tired. He missed Soundwave. He missed Laserbeak. Pit damn it, he also missed the those infernal twins and that Pit-spawned cat. They had been family for so long. Had been home. It had been them that he returned to every night to roost. It had been them that he had built his nest among. It had been them that he had come to call flock.

Now though…how could they be flock, when they had left him behind? Even his sister had left. He had thought Soundwave cared more than that. Apparently not, though. It had been a miracle that he’d made it off Centauri-12 after being abandoned. But he had, and he’d wandered the cosmos, stowing away on any ship he could find. He didn’t know what his goal was. To survive, he supposed. Find a new roost, though knowing how Primus had abandoned him thus far in his life, he doubted their “benevolent” Creator would have such kindness to direct towards him.

And perhaps he should not be surprised, really. He had been one of Soundwave’s most vicious Cassettes, after Ravage. But was that really something to be punished? He had had to be vicious. His sister had refused to be, and before Soundwave that meant he’d had to step up to keep her safe, to keep them both safe. Cybertron had not been kind to Cassettes, after all. Under Functionism, Cassettes had been viewed as little more than slaves, pets, property. He’d had to be vicious, then. It had been the only way they’d kept their lives, kept their freedom. After Soundwave, he’d had to continue to be vicious. Whereas Laserbeak had been the Host’s spy, Buzzsaw had been the attacker from above. Where Ravage had killed and torn from the ground, Buzzsaw had swooped in and brought death from the skies. After Soundwave, he’d been vicious because his new Host had needed him to be a protector still. And with Soundwave there had been Megatron, and he’d gone from protector to soldier.

Now though…now he wasn’t much of anything. Left behind on an uninhabited world that had drawn the War to it due to its energon mines, forgotten by the very one who had vowed to shelter and care for him, by his kin, by the family had come to call his own. He didn’t even feel them over the bond they’d shared anymore. They’d known he was alive when they’d left Centauri-12. He knew they had, the bond had told him as much. But they’d left anyway. And so he’d broken it. It had almost killed him. Cassettes were hard-coded for loyalty. It was part of their very core. To break the bond when he’d sworn his loyalty to Soundwave….it had made his spark burn with agony. But what other choice had he had? They’d left him behind, cast him aside, and left him with nothing.

He’d had to hitch a ride in the Autobot ship, which had left the planet later then his former allies. He’d been discovered when they’d landed again, and had had to flee. He’d continued like that, going from ship to ship, Neutral, Autobot, and even Decepticon, always fleeing when he was found. He’d even hidden away on the ships of organic species. It seemed his luck had finally run out, though. He’d been on the ship of a species called the Kaminoans, but after they’d found and attempted to capture him he’d been forced to flee into the vast expanse of space. It had almost killed him. He wasn’t space-faring. His armor couldn’t stand the pressure for long. Thankfully, his long-range sensors had detected a habitable planet in the nearest star system, and he’d fled as fast as his tired, starved frame could take him. The Kaminoans hadn’t given chase.

He remembered his first view of the planet. It was blue, with large green landmasses. Then he’d breached the atmosphere, and his systems hadn’t been able to handle the stress. He’d offlined, and come to surrounded by some sort of extremely salty liquid. He hadn’t been able to fly, and had had to go on foot, hoping to make his way to land. He didn’t want to rust on the floor of some massive salty pool of liquid. So he’d forced himself to move, and eventually he’d dragged himself onto some tiny, rocky shore. He’d only had the energy to cast out his sensors for one look around, enough to realize he had dragged himself onto some sort of island, and then his systems had dragged him into an emergency shutdown.

Blissfully, Buzzsaw knew no more.

——————————

When his systems pulled him from his forced recharge, Buzzsaw knew he was in trouble. His optics onlined with a dull glow, and his focused briefly on his HUD, taking in the messages flitting across it. After a moment, he chuffed and forced himself to stand. His self-repair had healed just enough damage to drag him from the edge of a stasis lock, but then the system had shut down in response to low energon. He was at 15% right now, which meant he had the rest of this orn to find fuel before his frame went into emergency stasis. After that..it would be too late for him.

The only way for a Cybertronian to be pulled out of emergency stasis was for another bot to fuel them enough that their systems kicked back online. Otherwise, the stasis would keep the bot in question under, only the bare essential systems running in order to keep the spark alight. Eventually, even those would give out, and the bot would die. Buzzsaw had heard claims that it was a peaceful way to go. That after entering stasis, you wouldn’t be aware of anything, which meant death was just like slipping under. You wouldn’t actually feel pain, wouldn’t feel your spark gutter.

Personally, Buzzsaw didn’t believe that. He thought dying like that was frightening. How could it not be? Feeling your systems fail and shut down, one by one, until you didn’t even have the strength to vent on your own. Your frame shutting down slowly, a klick at a time, until your awareness and consciousness was the last to go, but able to feel each and every one of your non-vital systems go offline. Your processor slipping under, your spark forced to still and shrink to conserve energy, your last thought either a prayer to be found or the grim knowledge you’d die where you lay.

No, Buzzsaw didn’t see the peace in a death like that. He looked around, taking in his surroundings, and then started walking. His wings were folded, and he made no attempt to fly. It would take too much of his energy. So he had to stay on the ground to conserve what precious little he had left. He only hoped he found an energon source. If he was extraordinarily lucky, this planet produced it. His best chances were at finding a underground mine. Liquid energon wells weren’t found anywhere but Cybertron. Other planets only produced the fuel in its crystalline form.

He hobbled along, and it wasn’t long before he was stumbling across a cave. He felt the faintest stirrings of hope as he hobbled in, sending out a faint ping of his sensors. Maybe he would find energon after all. Distracted as he was, he didn’t notice when the ground under him crumbled, and he fell into the deeper caverns below. He hit the ground hard, and his HUD threw up frantic damage warnings.

He dismissed them dispassionately, resignation settling in his spark. The fall had taken out his left leg, and his right wing was bent. He wouldn’t be able to move. This was it for him. He was going to slip into stasis lock and die here. As his systems started to shut down, he only had enough energy for one last action. Just before his consciousness was stolen away, he thought of the family he’d lost, and the life he would no longer be able to live.

Buzzsaw lifted his head and released a haunting cry, the caves all over the island echoing with his grief and regret. Then his optics went dark, and his helm fell to the dusty ground with a soft clang of metal on rock.

In the tunnels around him, his death knell echoed on.

——————————

Optimus shuttered his optics and tilted his head when the haunting cry floated from the tunnels leading out of the bunker. The Rescue Bots and their partners, who were also in the Lounge area, paused what they were doing and looked up. The Prime frowned, concerned. Young Cody was in the tunnels. Was he perhaps hurt?

“It must be a bird.” Graham said after a moment. “That’s what it sounds like, anyway. It might be lost in the tunnels and calling for its flock.”

That reassured Optimus. Now that he stopped to think, the cry HAD sounded more animal than human.

“Should we go help?” Boulder asked, clearly concerned.

“No.” Chief Burns said after a moment. “Let’s give it a bit. It might get out on it’s own. If it’s still crying like that in an hour, then we can help.”

“Got it, dad.” Graham agreed, and then he and his partner were returning to their previous task.

The other Bots and humans soon followed suit. Optimus was left staring at the tunnel entrance, lips twisted in a frown. Something was tugging at his processor. That call had definitely been animal in nature. But it had also sounded just faintly mechanical. His audials had barely even picked up on that aspect of the eerie wail, but he had heard it, he was certain of that.

The buzzing of the comm. system tore him from his thoughts. It was Cody.

“Uh, Dad? Guys?”

Chief Burns was answering in less than a minute. “We’re here, Cody. What is it? Do you need help?”

“No. Well, kind of. I don’t need help, but I found someone who might.”

Kade scoffed. “What, is a lost bird flying around in a panic? Just try and scare it back towards the entrance, it’ll be fine. We heard that call, I’m sure it was just calling for its friends.”

“Um, no.” Cody was blunt. “It’s not a bird. Not an Earth one, anyway.”

“Can you repeat that, son?”

“It’s not an Earth bird. I think it’s Cybertronian. And it looks like it’s hurt pretty bad.”

Optimus froze. A Cybertronian bird. That wasn’t possible. The only types of Cybertronian avians he knew of were Cassettes.

“Cody.” he cut in. “What color is it? Is it red and black?”

“No, Optimus. It’s black and…brown, I think? It’s really dirty. I can’t see what the other color is very clearly. It might not be brown.”

Not Laserbeak, then. But he didn’t know of any brown and black avian Cassette. Maybe one had escaped Cybertron on its own? It was extremely unlikely, but he supposed it wasn’t impossible. Cassettes were perfectly capable and intelligent.

��Oh, wait. I have a towel in my pack. I can see if I can clean some of the dirt.”

“Why do you have a towel in your bag?” Kade snarked. “You were just exploring the caves.”

“Sure, but I wanted to go to the beach right after. Hang on, I almost got it…” there was a pause. “There. It’s black and yellow. It’s still hard to tell because the grime is really caked in and the paint is old and fading, but I think the other color is yellow.”

Optimus froze. Black and yellow. But how? Buzzsaw had been lost on Centauri-12. Except…that wasn’t quite right either. He vaguely remembered a report that Jazz had found the Cassette stowing away on the Ark after the Autobots had left that planet, but that he’d been chased off before he could be captured when they’d been near a space docks. Had the little avian really survived on his own so long? It seemed almost ludicrous to even think it, yet he knew there was only one black and yellow Cybertronian bird who had left Cybertron.

“Hold on, Cody. I believe I may know who that is. Tell me, is he awake?”

“It’s a him? And no. I’m almost not sure if he’s even still…” Cody trailed off, but Optimus understood.

“I see. Stay where you are. I am coming now. And be wary. If I am correct, then that is Buzzsaw. He is a formidable foe, and if he wakes you must stay away from him.”

“Alright. I’ll be here.” the boy agreed, the the comm. cut off with a click.

“Wait, foe? Is this one of those Decepticons you mentioned, Optimus?” Chief Burns asked.

“He is indeed.” The Prime informed him.

“Then why should we help?” Kade asked. “If he’s one of the bad guys, shouldn’t we leave him there?”

“No.” Heatwave stood, crossing his arms. Glancing around, Optimus could see the same resolve the fire truck was showing in the rest of the Rescue Bots. “‘Con or not, we aren’t leaving him. We’re Rescue Bots, we save anyone who needs it, regardless of who they are. If you won’t help, we’ll do it on our own.”

“You are correct, Heatwave. It would be wrong to leave Buzzsaw to perish.” Optimus agreed. He looked down at the humans. “If he is truly as injured as Cody says, then he will be of little threat. So long as you are wary, he will likely be unable to cause you harm.”

“Are you certain, Optimus?” Chase asked.

“Yes. Buzzsaw is a Cassette. He is far smaller than any of you. He is also very young. I believe that he is the equivalent of a human teenager, if my memory is not mistaken.” The Prime soothed.

That was clearly the key to convince the Chief. “Go.” the human said. “If we can help, we will. It wouldn’t be right to leave him there.”

Optimus nodded, and then folded down into his alt-mode and drove. He had not told the humans, but he was certain that the call they had heard earlier had in fact been Buzzsaw himself. He had not wanted to mention it, to avoid distressing the others too much. But he was certain of it now.

That haunting cry hadn’t been a call for help, it had been a death song.

——————————

Optimus pulled up alongside Cody, shifting to root mood as his optics found the still form lying limp on the ground. Primus, it really was Buzzsaw. He crouched down, one large hand slipping under the too-light form of the downed Cassette. This wasn’t right. Cassettes were smaller and not as heavily armored as a normal mech, but the avian shouldn’t be this light. Looking at him now, the Prime was starting to realize that Buzzsaw had likely been on his own and in a state of gradual starvation ever since Centauri-12.

“Optimus? Is he going to be okay?” It was Cody, and the boy was frowning up at him.

He hesitated, then folded into his alt-mode, carefully ensuring that Buzzsaw ended up in his cab. He opened his door, letting the human climb in, and then he was driving back to the bunker. He was silent for a lone moment before he finally spoke.

“I will not lie, Cody Burns. Buzzsaw’s status is…not promising.” he said after a moment.

There was silence as he drove, and then-

“You said he was a foe. Does that mean he’s a Decepticon?”

“Yes.” He answered simply.

There was more silence.

“Optimus?”

“Yes?”

“Why did the Decepticons start the War?”

Optimus was silent for a long moment. The boy truly was perceptive. But how could he answer that?

“Cybertron…was not kind to all its children.” he said after a long moment. “There were many policies in place that kept those of high status in power, and left those of lower social classes struggling.” There. That should be a simple enough explanation.

“And the Decepticons were those lower class bots?”

“Many of them, yes.” Optimus paused. “You must understand, Cody. Cybertron was not the utopia some of my Autobots may believe it was. There were many who suffered greatly. However, while the Decepticons may have risen from a just cause, that does not justify the depths they have since fallen to.”

Cody hummed. “I get it.” he said softly.

Optimus relaxed. Good. He didn’t want to lie to Cody, but he didn’t want to boy to think that the Decepticons were harmless. He feared that if that were the case, the young human may do something foolish in the future. No, it was better he understood the War for what it was.

“Optimus?”

“Yes?”

“What’s going to happen to Buzzsaw?”

Ah. “I…do not know. If he is able to recover, I cannot allow him to go free. It would cause immense trouble for my team and my Autobots if he were to rejoin his Master.” he sighed.

“Master?”

“Buzzsaw is a Cassette. They do not often live their lives independently.”

“Why?”

“…perhaps that is a detail best explained with all the others.”

“Okay.” Cody tilted his head. “So you can’t let him go. Can you take him with you?”

Optimus winced. “That would not be wise. I am afraid my team would not understand. I am all too willing to give Buzzsaw a chance, but if I were to bring him to my base I fear the others would argue in favor of his…deactivation.”

“Deactivation.” A pause. “You mean they’d want to kill him.” he whispered.

“The Decepticons have caused my mechs a great deal of pain, Cody.” Optimus said softly. “They would not do it to be cruel, but I know there would be more than one among them who would believe such action justified. An eye for an eye, as the earth saying goes.”

“It doesn’t make it right.”

“No.” Optimus agreed. “But it is War, and those who suffer the effects of it long enough do not enough grasp right from wrong any longer, only what hurts have been inflicted and how best to return them.”

“It’s a cycle.” Cody said sadly.

“A cruel, bitter one.”

Optimus could see the light of the bunker up ahead. He drove towards it in silence, spark heavy.

“Optimus?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think…Buzzsaw could stay here? On Griffin Rock, I mean. Maybe I could help him. The team too. He looks like he’s been on his own a long time. At least, I think he has been. If he has a “Master” like you said, I don’t think they’d let him get this bad off.” There was a pause. “Maybe he’s tired enough to not want to go back to the War? It’s worth a try, right? I want to help him.”

And Optimus, for the first time since he realized who the downed Cybertronian was, felt the faintest stirrings of hope.

——————————

Buzzsaw was resting. Blades had prepared a large crate on which to treat the injured Cassette, and as soon as Optimus had released the avian the small copter bot was scanning him and bustling around to repair him. He’d gotten an energon line started already, and currently his digits were transformed into the medical tools he needed to repair the damage to the Cassette’s internals and armor. As Blades worked, Optimus shared everything he had told Cody in the tunnel with the others.

“So he can’t go with you because your team might kill him, and you can’t let him go because he’d go back to his Master and cause trouble for your team.” Heatwave sighed. “I suppose that means his Host is here on Earth?”

“Soundwave is here, yes.” Optimus hummed. “He is Megatron’s Third in Command and Chief Communications Officer.”

“Ah, yes. I can see how that would cause issues if such a mech were to regain access to his Cassette.” Chase said.

“Cassette.” Cody said slowly. “You called him that in the tunnel too. It’s important. Why?”

Optimus hummed. “First, you must understand that Cybertronians are divided by our frame-types. There are flight frames, and among them you have Helios, Jets, Shuttles, and Seekers. Among the ground frames, there are cars, two-wheelers, trucks, and even more. There are even aquatic frames, though they are few and far between. Beyond them, you have triple-changers, bots who naturally have two alt-forms rather than one. There are also those with non-vehicular alt-modes. And finally, you also have mini-bots, and alongside them there are Cassettes.”

The humans were staring, focused intently on the overly simplified lesson. The Rescue Bots didn’t pay it much mind, however.

“Among all those frame-types, barring Cassettes, it was not uncommon on for some bots to have additional abilities on top of the normal abilities granted to them by their frames. Host mech are one such example. They can be any frame-type, but they are set apart because of their ability to bind their sparks to those of Cassettes in order to form a symbiotic bond.”

Cody blinked. “What do they each get out of the bond?”

“The Cassettes gain protection. Cassettes were…not a well-regarded class. They were found on the streets or in the wilds, and often forced to struggle for their very survival. Most Cybertronians viewed them as simple-minded or feral. They were not thought of as having much intelligence, or even sentience.” Optimus forced himself to continue at the disturbed looks the humans wore. “So for Cassettes, a bond with a Host was a chance at safety. They relinquished their freedom to their Host, and in return they would be given fuel, shelter, care, and above all else, safety. In return, the Hosts received the obedience of their Cassettes, and the Cassettes would help them with any task, function, or job they required.”

Cody was sitting next to Buzzsaw, and the Prime saw him extend a hand to lay it on the avian’s head. “That…that doesn’t sound very fair, Optimus.”

“Perhaps.” he agreed. “But most Hosts treated their Cassettes well and were very fond of them. Such a bond was necessary for many. Cassettes get their name because they do not have an alt-mode capable of movement. Their alt-mode is always a cassette tape or something else very similar. When the bond is formed, a Cassette gains the ability to dock within the armor of their Host while they are in their alt-mode. It is an added degree of safety.”

Chief Burns hummed. “I think I get it. The important bits, anyway. The cultural stuff…” He trailed off. “That I have a harder time wrapping my head around, but I get why our guest being a Cassette matters.”

“Oh?” Optimus had little doubt he did. The Chief was an intelligent man.

“He’s going to want to return to his Host. Because Soundwave is synonymous with safety for him, right?”

“That is likely.” Optimus agreed.

“But you said Hosts usually care a lot about their Cassettes. If that’s true, how did Buzzsaw get like this?” Cody cut in.

The Prime tilted his head. “The last reports of Buzzsaw’s location are many years old. He was last seen on an uninhabited planet that briefly became a battlefield for the War. The Decepticons fled, and the last reports on Buzzsaw are from after Megatron took his army off Centauri-12. It is likely the damage he sustained is a result of him being on his own.”

“So he might have been abandoned?”

“That…seems the most likely scenario, yes. Though Soundwave’s fondness for his Cassettes has always been well known, so I am at a loss as to why he would be left behind thus.”

“Does it matter why?” Cody asked.

“What are you thinking, little brother?” Dani sounded amused.

“If Soundwave abandoned Buzzsaw when he was supposed to be caring for him, then would Buzzsaw really want to go back?”

Optimus reset his optics, startled. “I…had not considered that.” he said after a moment. “I do not know. That is something you will have to ask him yourself.”

Cody perked up. “So you think he would benefit from staying, then?”

Optimus turned to Chief Burns. “If your father agrees, then yes, I do believe so. I have seen the effect you have on bots, young Cody. I believe you can soften even the hardest of sparks. If you are willing to put forth the effort, then there is a chance that you maybe able to help Buzzsaw.”

Chief Burns crossed his arms. “Will he be dangerous in any way?”

Optimus turned to the copter bot still treating the avian. “Blades. Can you disable his weapons systems and battle protocols?”

“Already did.” The young bot sounded distracted. “I disconnected his turbines and anti-gravs too, so he won’t be able to fly. Though I don’t recommend keeping that second part a thing for long. He’s a avian, he needs flight as much as any other flyer.”

Optimus nodded, then turned back to the oldest human. “With those measures in place, I believe that he will be a minimal threat. If he turns out to be a greater risk than you are willing to take, you can always call me.”

Chief Burns considered it, then nodded. “Alright. He can stay. It’s only right to give him the chance.”

Kade frowned. “Is that really so smart? Optimus said it himself! He’s one of the bad guys!”

“But how much choice did he have, if he fought the War his Host joined?” Graham asked.

“Does it matter? The ‘Cons still hurt people!”

“Our War is not so black and white, Kade Burns.” Optimus warned.

“So some political policies and social perceptions sucked! That’s bad, but is it really a reason to start a war?” Kade demanded.

“The Senate used ritual disfigurement as a punishment.” Blades’s voice carried over, sounding distracted.

All heads snapped to him. Kade gaped, and the other humans looked horrified. Privately, Optimus winced. Perhaps that wasn’t the nicest detail to share, but it was too late now.

“What?” Kade sputtered.

“The Senate were the political rulers of Cybertron. They controlled pretty much everything.” Blades mumbled, still focused mostly on Buzzsaw. “When a bot went against them, even in a minor way, they’d use punishment called empurata that involved surgically removing the bot’s face and hands and replacing them with one large optic and a pair of claws.”

Kade swallowed. “Okay. So it was really, really bad. I guess I was wrong.” he said, sounding too sick to care that he’d just admitted to being wrong.

The other humans also looked horrified. Cody looked like his entire worldview had been shaken.

“Cybertron was not kind to all its children, before the War.” Optimus said quietly. “The Decepticons were more than justified in rising up to fight for their freedom. But they took things too far, and now their original cause has long been lost.”

Chief Burns was the first to recover. “That’s often the case, with wars.”

Optimus nodded solemnly.

“We’ll take care of Buzzsaw.” Cody’s voice carried over. Despite how horrified he’d seemed earlier, now he just looked determined. “We’ll show him there’s good in the world. Maybe he doesn’t want to fight anymore. I want to help him.”

The Prime smiled, them dipped his helm. “And so you shall.” he agreed. “When he wakes, tell him that I am leaving him here. I recommend you tell him that Soundwave is on this planet. If you withhold the information, and manage to befriend him, then he may feel betrayed if he learns you hid the fact from him and return to Soundwave on his own.” he warned.

Cody nodded. “I’ll tell him.”

Optimus hummed. “We cannot set him free at this moment. But if you feel it is right, you may also tell him that his other option is that he will remain a prisoner in the Autobot base, but that in that scenario I will have difficulty guaranteeing his safety.” he warned.

Cody tilted his chin up, clearly displeased. “That won’t happen.”

The large bot chuckled. “I hope you are right, Cody Burns.” he nodded at the other humans, flaring his field in a good-bye to the Rescue Bots, and then he was folding into his alt-mode and driving out through the tunnels. He’d get the mainland and call for a ground bridge from there.

He truly hoped Buzzsaw could find happiness. Primus knew the Cassette had earned it.

——————————

Awareness came to him slowly. At first, Buzzsaw was confused. He was fairly certain he’d slipped into emergency stasis. He hadn’t onlined his optics yet, but the messages blinking across his HUD didn’t help his confusion.

Fuel Level: 37%

Warning: Low energon

Movement not recommended

Energy Level: 12%

Warning: Energy rerouted to essential systems

Cause of Energy Drain: Starvation and damage

Recovery time necessary

Internal Communication System: Disabled

Sensor Array: Offline

External Spacial Sensors: Online

Transformation Cog: Offline

Weapons Systems: Disabled

Battle Protocols: Disabled

Self-Repair: Online

Fuel System: Online

Wing Turbines: Disabled

Anti-Gravs: Disabled

Warning: Unknown medical access to internal systems detected

Warning: Unauthorized medical access to combat systems and flight capabilities detected

Self Diagnostic Report: Severe damage and starvation

Low Fuel: Addressed

Armor Integrity: 49%

Fuel Pump: Functional

Fuel Tanks: Shrunken, functional

Intake: Minor rust detected, addressed

Fuel Lines: Damaged, patched

Wires: Damaged, patched

Conclusion: Frame in need of full recovery

Rest recommended

Strenuous activity not recommended

Warning: Presence of unknown Cybertronian and unknown organic life forms detected in proximity.

Well. That last warning certainly warranted some degree of alarm. Red optics snapped online and the avian lifted his helm. His gaze immediately found the aforementioned Cybertronian. It was a small orange and white copter bot, and immediately clear was the Autobot insignia on his chest. For a moment, Buzzsaw tense, his vocalizer releasing a sound halfway between a screech and a growl. He made to stand, to fight off the perceived threat, when the bot pressed him down with a hand between his wings.

“Easy, easy. You’re okay.” He soothed. “My name is Blades, of Rescue Team Sigma-17. You’re on a planet called Earth. My team and I just want to help you.”

His words made Buzzsaw pause and take another look. Huh. That was right. The badge on his chest wasn’t the Autobrand after all. But how? He was fairly certain that Megatron had destroyed the Rescue Force and killed all its Teams. How had this lone team survived? He cocked his head sharply, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“You’re Buzzsaw, right? Optimus Prime was here earlier. He told us about you.”

Well. There went his hopes of his Decepticon status going unknown. And the Prime was here, on this planet? That meant Megatron was doubtless here as well. But who else was?

Blades shifted under his gaze, then sighed. “Just stay still, okay? I patched up what I could. Now your self-repair needs to handle the rest. You need to rest if you want to recover.” He made to leave, then paused. “Also, Optimus told us to tell you your options. You’re on an island called Griffin Rock. You can stay here and stay out of the War, or he can return and keep you prisoner in his base. He said if you go with the second option he’d have a difficult time guaranteeing your safety.” Buzzsaw could see that the small mech was clearly uncomfortable with that last series of statements. He didn’t seem fond of the idea of violence or what amounted to keeping someone against their will.

After another beat, the bot nodded at someone else in the room. Buzzsaw snapped his helm in that direction and saw a small organic. He heard Blades leave, and then the organic was looking up at him. The small creature beamed, and them he was climbing up onto the crate that the avian found himself confined to.

“Hi! I’m the one who found you. My name is Cody.”

Buzzsaw stared, optics narrowed.

“I’m sorry about your choices here, I know they aren’t the best. Optimus doesn’t want you going back to Soundwave though.”

That made him freeze and perk up. Soundwave was on this planet too? A part of him was excited and wanted to seek out his Host. He remembered the kindness, the affection, the gentle treatment. He remembered the safety and security that had come from being bound to the spymaster.

He also remembered the abandonment. Remembered the years of fear and pain and hunger that had followed. Remembered the loss and betrayal, the desperation that his Host would return only to be forced to come to terms with the fact he’d been cast aside.

Buzzsaw clacked his beak, then looked away and forced down the sad coo that wanted to escape him. He felt something on his armor, and looked over to see the organic–Cody–pressing a small, soft hand to the plating of his neck.

“He left you, didn’t he? Optimus told us a little bit about Hosts and Cassettes, and about Centauri-12. You got like this because your Host left you.”

Buzzsaw stared, not knowing how to respond. A part of him, the part that was vicious and angry, wanted to rip off the organic’s limb. The larger part of him was just tired, though. After a long moment of staring, the avian sagged, optics dimming. What was the harm in telling this organic anyway? It wasn’t like he was really a Decepticon anymore. Not really. It also wasn’t like Cody would be able to cause him much harm, anyway.

He nodded, his beak clacking and his wings rustling as he let out a gust of air from his vents. That hand hadn’t left his neck, and it moved to stroke up and down the plating.

“I’m sorry.” Cody said softly. “No one deserves to be abandoned by their family.”

Buzzsaw stared for a moment. The organic had said they’d only been told a little bit about Hosts and Cassettes, yet it seemed he already understood the bond was fairly deep. Either he’d been told more than he let on, or he was just very perceptive. Either way, a part of Buzzsaw couldn’t help but be grateful for the understanding.

He knew he should be lashing out and trying to fight. But what was the point? His weapons systems and battle protocols were disabled, he couldn’t fly, he couldn’t walk, and his fuel levels were too low for him to have the energy to do anything significant. Even without all that, he was just tired of fighting. True, he’d always enjoyed a good, honest fight, but he’d only ever used his more excessive forms of violence because that was what had been demanded of him. He’d had to be violent to survive the wilds before Soundwave, and after he’d had to be violent to fight for his new Host. But he hadn’t wanted life as a fighter, as a soldier. And now, confronted with everything he’d learned, and the last few years of his abandonment…he was tired. He didn’t want to fight this organic. He just wanted rest. He could figure out everything else later.

Besides, the gentle contact didn’t feel so bad. It wasn’t heavy enough to hurt, and it was more reminiscent of the preening he’d used to do with his sister. His optics dimmed, and he let his head come to lay on the crate. Cody didn’t seem offended at his lack of responsiveness. Instead, he felt that small hand move up to stroke over the top of his helm.

“Get some rest, Buzzsaw. I’ll be here when you wake up. I want to help you get better.” the small organic murmured.

Buzzsaw didn’t know what to do with that sentiment. A part of him scoffed at the weakness of it. The other part was too tired and beaten down to care. He released another heavy vent of air, and let his optics slip offline. Moments later, he was slipping into recharge, even the brief moment of consciousness having drained what little energy he had.

——————————

Cody was indeed there when he woke up. It was only for a few moments though, because then the organic had to go to school. Apparently, this planet also has educational institutions. Buzzsaw didn’t have much of an opinion on that. While he was gone, the rest of the Rescue Bots introduced themselves, as did their own organic partners, and he was informed that the organics were called “humans”. Again, Buzzsaw didn’t particularly care. It was useful information, he supposed.

The others left him to himself throughout the day, except for the brief moment when Blades came to remove the energon line feeding fuel into his frame and replace it with a small cube of energon that was set in front of him. After that, he was left alone. Perhaps they sensed his mood, perhaps they were busy, perhaps they didn’t want to talk to him. He didn’t particularly care. It did give him time to think on his situation, though. Obviously, they wouldn’t let him go free. Even if he did promise to not return to Soundwave, he knew he would have difficulty hiding here. Since, apparently, it was very important that the human race didn’t learn about the Cybertronian presence on their planet. One would think they’d have figured it out when the alien war came to earth, but he wouldn’t question it. Still, it meant he couldn’t just be let loose on his own.

He also refused to be an Autobot prisoner. As for returning to his Host…he was torn. A part of him wanted to. But the larger part of him was still hurt. And after his distance from the Decepticons…he wasn’t sure he wanted to return to the faction itself. Pits, he didn’t even have his brand anymore. He’d come across a Neutral medic sometime after Centauri-12, and he’d offered up his services to locate energon in return for the medic’s services to remove the brand. It had been a thin sheet of metal painted purple and welded to his chest, so it had required the aid of a medic to remove without damaging his armor. But it had been done, and then they’d gone their separate ways. He hadn’t worn the Decepticon badge in years.

So where did that leave him? He couldn’t escape in his state, but even when he recovered, what then? What was there for him on this little island? What was there for him on this planet itself? Would it be worth staying?

He must have drifted into recharge at some point, because he was startled awake by Cody’s loud greeting to the others. He jerked, optics flashing on as he lifted his helm. The human blinked when he came around the corner, then smiled.

“Buzzsaw! You’re up!” he called out. He walked over, pulling himself up onto the crate beside the avian. “So, I had an idea! Blades told me you don’t have to be hooked up to anything anymore, and I noticed how your armor seems pretty dirty, so I was wondering if you’d like to get clean?”

Buzzsaw blinked at him. The human gestured to the corner, and he looked over to see a large tub and a bucket that hadn’t been there before. There were rags in the bucket.

“Boulder offered to help. I figured you might feel better if you can get the grime off?” He offered.

He stared for a moment, and then he dipped his head in a nod.

Cody grinned. “Great! I’ll get Boulder. I have to change clothes really quick.”

Buzzsaw cocked his head sharply at that. Clothes?

Cody interpreted the curious gesture for what it was. “Clothes are what humans wear!” he plucked at the colorful things clinging to his frame. “We don’t have metal armor like you guys, and we don’t need it, but we wear clothes to cover ourselves because it’s not considered decent to go without them.” He tapped his chin. “Chase once told me it would be like if a Cybertronian went around without any armor at all.”

Buzzsaw jerked his head back, optics shuttering. Ah. That, he understood. So human had their own version of a protoform underneath their clothing. He did not want to see a fully bare fleshy protoform, thank you very much. He lowered his helm, bumping his beak into Cody’s back to encourage him to go. The boy laughed, then jumped off the crate and trotted away.

A moment later, Boulder came around and smiled at him. “Hey, Buzzsaw. Cody said you accepted our offer to help you clean?” He nodded at the tub. “Is it okay if I carry you there? You shouldn’t be putting weight on your leg.”

Buzzsaw grumbled, but after a moment he nodded. He didn’t exactly want to be carried like a helpless sparkling, but he couldn’t get there on his own. Not in his state. Boulder paid no mind to his grumbles, and instead stepped forward to slip a large hand underneath his frame. The avian was lifted up, then carefully cradled in gentle hands. He was brought to the tub, then lowered into the liquid that filled it. He cooed in pleasure upon realizing it was warm, frame relaxing every so slightly.

Cody chose that moment to return, his lower half covered in something very colorful and the rest of his form bare. He climbed into the tub with Buzzsaw, then dragged the bucket in after himself. On the outside of the tub, Boulder grabbed a larger rag and dipped it into the liquid in the tub.

“Is the water okay? Not too hot?” Cody asked.

Oh, right. This was water. He recognized it now. Other planets had it too. He nodded, watching the Rescue Bot soak the rag in the warm water and hold it out towards him.

“Boulder is going to take care of your armor, and I thought I’d use my smaller size to get in between everything and get all the dust and muck out from your armor seams?” Cody suggested.

Buzzsaw stared for a long moment. That was…rather intimate. But he also hadn’t been able to have such an in depth cleaning since before Centauri-12. He could feel the dirt and grim in between and underneath his armor plates. Even if he didn’t trust these people, he did trust they wouldn’t hurt him. They’d have done so already if they were going to hurt him at all. He could bear some rather intimate grooming if it meant getting clean. He nodded.

Cody beamed, and then Buzzsaw felt the gentle pressure of Boulder wiping off the surface of his armor. While the bot worked at that, Cody chose a rag from the bucket that Buzzsaw now saw was full of cleaning cloths and brushes. The human soaked it in the water, then lifted it and started wiping it along the edges of his armor plates. The avian let himself relax into the warmth of the water, optics slipping offline. He didn’t know what to make of his situation, and he wasn’t sure he liked being forced to stay, but for now he’d enjoy the moment of comfort.

He didn’t realize when he slipped into a state of half-recharge. He was barely aware as the bath finished, and then Boulder transferred him to a large towel which was used to dry him off. Cody went to get blankets while Boulder did so, using the soft fabrics to make a comfier “nest” on the crate that Buzzsaw was returned to a moment later. The avian cooed as he was set into the soft nest, optics offlining fully as he rested his head in the fabrics.

Clean, warm, and comfortable for the first time in years, it didn’t take him long to slip into the most peaceful rest he’d had since he’d lost his flock.

——————————

A few days passed in much the same pattern. Cody would go to school, Buzzsaw would be left alone, and then the boy would return and spend the rest of the day talking with him. The avian never responded, content to listen and learn all he could about this world and the species that dominated it. Things fell into a routine, and he came to be comfortable in it. He even stopped minding the way Cody would touch him and stroke his plating as he talked.

And then the routine changed. Cody came to him after school one day and told him he wanted to have a “movie night”. Apparently, he believed that showing Buzzsaw human entertainment would be a good way for the Cassette to learn about human culture. The avian made no protest. Cody talked to him for the afternoon, then went to have his nightly meal with his family. After that though, he returned for the “movie night”, enlisting the aid of Boulder to move Buzzsaw’s crate in front of a large vid screen.

Cody then joined him on top of the crate, settling into the nest of blankets and wrapping himself in one of his own. He was dressed in clothing that he informed Buzzsaw was called “pajamas”. Then, the movie started and the avian let himself be distracted story unfolding on the screen.

The movie was about two humans under a curse, one who turned into a creature called a wolf by the day and the other who turned into a hawk by night. It was a fairly simple story, and while Buzzsaw certainly found some of the attitudes of the characters to be irritatingly soft he could understand the appeal. He might even say he enjoyed the movie. It was fun. Maybe human entertainment wasn’t as bad as he thought.

And then Cody put on a movie that he said was “animated”, and Buzzsaw was very quickly insulted. The movie was about living cars, except they had no other form to transform into. The main character was a cocky, irritating fool, the tow-truck was the most annoying creature he’d ever been forced to watch, and the mentor was a smug, pompous aft. Buzzsaw hated every character in the movie. If that wasn’t enough, even the setting was insulting.

“What the frag.” he hissed. “How is this garbage supposed to be entertaining? There’s no way those insufferable creatures would have successfully built a civilization. They lack any appendages that would allow them to hold, build, or invent anything. Temporary gripping attachments don’t count, those lack dexterity. Primus, those things would have all died out within the first few generations of their species existence. They certainly should have.”

The movie was paused, and Buzzsaw turned his help to Cody to find the reason. He saw the human grinning brightly, looking thrilled. His plating bristled, and he narrowed his optics.

“What.” he snapped.

“You finally talked.” Cody was beaming.

Buzzsaw shuttered his optics, tilting his helm. Ah. So he had. “Did you think I couldn’t?” he demanded.

“No.” Cody shook his head, smiling. “I knew you could. I didn’t want to push to make you talk to me before you were ready though.”

The avian paused, staring uncomprehendingly. That meant that Cody hadn’t actually thought of him as a simple minded beast. He’d known Buzzsaw was more than that. And he hadn’t tried to force his will on him to make him speak before he wanted to. He had been content to wait. Seemingly as long as he needed to, if Buzzsaw understood the subtext of this conversation correctly.

“Why?” he asked wearily.

“You deserve to be treated with respect.” Cody said seriously. “Just because you look like a bird and don’t have a vehicle mode doesn’t mean you aren’t deserving of being treated like an individual with your own thoughts and feelings. It would have been wrong to push my own wants on you. I want to help you get better. That means going at your pace.”

Buzzsaw twitched. “Many Cybertronians would not agree with you. They would argue I am little more than a beast and thus deserve to be treated as one.” he paused. “My pace?”

“Then it’s a good thing we aren’t on Cybertron, isn’t it?” Cody pointed out. “And yeah. Your pace. I want to help you recover from the things you’ve experienced and discover your own path, discover the things you want to do and the life you want to live. But I know that sort of recovery won’t be immediate, and it may not even be as fast as I want it to be. But that doesn’t matter, because it’s your recovery, not mine. So we go at your pace.”

Buzzsaw stared at the organic for a long moment. “…I don’t understand you.” he said.

Cody smiled. “That’s alright. As long as you understand I want to help.”

He stared for a beat longer, then grumbled and turned back to the movie. He needed to process this. Cody seemed to understand he was done talking, because the infernal movie started up again. Buzzsaw wasn’t paying attention, though. Instead, he was lost in thought, turning over the things he’d learned.

He didn’t notice as the movie ended, and another one started. He did feel it, however, when halfway through the next move is a slight weight settled against his side. He looked down to see Cody had fallen into his own recharge and had slumped against Buzzsaw’s side in the process. The avian didn’t move to wake him. He stared at the slumbering human for a long beat, then heaved a sigh and lowered his helm to rest it on the lip of his makeshift nest. He refocused his optics on the bid screen, paying half attention to the new movie playing. It was something about singing cats. Buzzsaw wouldn’t pretend to understand.

He relaxed, Cody’s warmth curled against his side, and his optics dimming slowly as recharge crept up on him. By the time the movie ended, it had claimed him completely, and he and his odd little companion both slept on peacefully as the credits rolled.

Neither of them woke as Chief Burns came down to retrieve Cody. He paused when he saw the scene, and he turned off the TV, dimmed the lights, and left the sleeping pair to their rest.

As Buzzsaw slept on, his hardened spark cracked just a little. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

——————————

Buzzsaw was watching Cody. He did that a lot as of late. The little human still talked to him a lot, though the avian didn’t always talk back. Most of the time he was content to listen. In the past few days, he’d learned a lot about the odd little organic. In that time, his legs had also fully healed, and his nest had been moved to the floor and tucked into a corner of the bunker so he could maneuver on his own. His wing was still injured, but even if it wasn’t his turbines and anti-gravs were still disabled.

Right now, Cody was quiet. The boy was sitting on a box a bit away from his nest, working one something he’d called “homework”. Judging by the frustrated expression he wore, he was having some degree of difficulty. His curiosity piqued, Buzzsaw stood and stepped out of his nest, walking over to see what the human was working on. He sidled up behind him, tilting his helm to peer over his shoulder.

Oh. It was math. Buzzsaw could work with this.

“You’re missing a two.” he grunted.

Cody paused. “What?” he asked, turning to look at the again standing over him.

“You’re missing a two.” he repeated. “In the third problem. You’re missing a two. That’s why the first part of your answer isn’t matching up with the second.”

Cody blinked, then turned back and looked over his work. He made a noise of triumph, perking up and correcting his work. Then he returned his attention to the Cassette.

“Thanks, Buzzsaw!”

He only grunted, helm cocking sharply.

Cody smiled, used to his non-verbal communication by now.

“So you know some math?” he asked.

“Sure.” he Buzzsaw grunted, folding his legs and settling down. “Laserbeak and I never received a formal education; Cassettes weren’t allowed to. But Soundwave taught us some things after he bound us to him. He wanted us to have a greater knowledge of a variety of fields.”

“Laserbeak? Is that another Cassette?”

“Yes.” Buzzsaw paused, his optics dimming. “My sister. My twin, actually.”

Cody sat up, eyes wide. “You guys can have siblings?”

“Yes. It’s a rare occurrence, but it happens. Though Soundwave did have another set of Cassette twins besides us, too.”

The human stared, then seemed to realize something. “She’s…gone, isn’t she?”

“No.” he huffed. “If she was, I would have felt her loss in my spark. But she left me when Soundwave did. I cannot entirely blame her. If he told her to leave, she would have had to obey. Still, it does sting.” Buzzsaw admitted, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice.

“I’m sorry.”

And Buzzsaw didn’t understand, but the human did seem genuinely upset on his behalf. He sighed, shaking his helm to get rid of the memories.

“It’s whatever.” he grunted. “It happened. I can’t change it. Gotta live with it.”

“You miss her.”

Buzzsaw froze, his optics snapping on to the human. He stared, then couldn’t stop himself from slumping. “I so. I miss all of them. Primus help me, but I really do miss them.” he hissed, hating himself for it.

Cody put a hand on his chest. “I’m sorry they left you. You didn’t deserve it.”

He went still, then jerked his gaze away and focused on the paper. “Yeah. I suppose. But you have work to finish, don’t you? I can help.”

He seemed to understand that the avian was done with that topic of conversation, because the human dropped his hand and nodded, returning his own attention to the paper. “Sure. Thanks!”

Buzzsaw scoffed. “Don’t thank me yet. Now, let me see those problems. Tell me how you think you need to solve them, I’ll say something if your approach needs an adjustment.”

——————————

Buzzsaw was alone when he woke up. That struck him as odd, especially since his chronometer cheerfully blinked up on his HUD to inform him that it was only midday. He’d checked twice. He dismissed the notice with a grumble, hopping out of his nest and wandering around the bunker. His wings were folded away, the damaged one finally having fully healed the day before. It was a relief to be able to relax it fully now.

He looked around, sending out a ping of his sensors, and picked up the signals of the Rescue Bots above him. He walked over to the large pad they used as an elevator, tapping the console with his beak and letting the platform lift him up. As soon as it stopped, he was walking out of the open doors of the building he’d been informed was called a “firehouse”. He picked up on some unidentifiable noises, following them to what ended up being a court for some sort of ball game. The Burns family and the Rescue Bots were all playing. After a moment of observation, Buzzsaw realized the objective of the game was to get the small ball into the small hoop that the opposite team was guarding. It reminded him just a little bit of Cube.

He made his way over to where a bench was sitting to the side of the court, hopping up onto it. It was just low enough he could manage that much without his wings. Then he turned his attention back to the game, watching curiously as the ball was tossed around. After a few minutes, a stray toss sent it in his direction. Buzzsaw tilted his helm up, catching the ball on the tip of his beak and bouncing it once, then he tipped his head, letting it roll to the top of his beak before he tossed his head to send the ball back towards the others.

Blades caught it, smiling when he saw the avian. “Good morning, Buzzsaw.” He greeted.

The Cassette nodded, turning his attention to Cody as the boy padded up to him.

“You’re awake!” he smiled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I didn’t expect you to wake up so soon from your nap.”

“It’s fine.” Buzzsaw dismissed. “What are you playing?”

“Burns Ball! It’s version of a popular earth game we adapted for our own rules!” Cody said brightly. “Do you want to play a game?”

“My legs aren’t as efficient as all of yours and I can’t use my talons to grip when I’m on them.” he answered dryly.

Cody frowned, considering. “What if you could fly?”

“Is that really a good idea?” Kade interrupted.

Cody shrugged, then turned back to the avian. “Are you going to leave if we give you back your flight?”

“Where would I go?” Buzzsaw scoffed. “I refuse to return to the Decepticons, and I’d sooner eat my own thrusters than join the Autobots.”

Cody blinked, then beamed. It as clear he understood what Buzzsaw was really saying. It made him want to groan. He was getting soft. When had he gotten so easy to read? And by a tiny organic, no less.

“You won’t leave.” he translated. Then he turned to Blades. “Can you do it?” he asked hopefully.

Blades hummed, already walking over. “Are you sure?

“I’m sure.” Cody confirmed.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Buzzsaw offered in a low drawl. “Cody wanted to fix me, so now he’s stuck with me.”

Blades and Cody both giggled, but then copter bot got to work. The Cassette didn’t move as his turbines and anti-gravs were reconnected with his main flight system, and then Blades was stepping back.

Buzzsaw stood, wings spreading fully. He crouched, then leapt up and activated his turbines. They roared to life, his anti-gravs clicking on, and he let out a victorious shriek as he flew in a wide circle around the ball court. After another few circles and dives, he glided down to land next to Cody.

“So.” he hummed. “How about a ride?”

Cody jerked in surprise, and grinned. “Seriously?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I lack hands. I have no way of holding on to the ball, and my talons and beak would pop it.” he sniffed. “You’d be doing me a favor, honestly.

“Noble!” Cody breathed.

Buzzsaw had learned what Cody meant with that odd phrase in the last few weeks. He lowered his helm and bent his legs, letting the human clamber in to his back. He had a set of thrusters lower down on his back, but unlike Seekers, Jets, or Shuttles his only served the purpose of granting him a speed boost in the air. He didn’t actually need them to get airborne.

Once Cody was seated securely at the base of his neck, Buzzsaw straightened and took to the air. He circled the court, and with a toss of the ball, the game began.

——————————

The rescue missions weren’t unusual. At least a couple times a week, something happened on the island that required the whole team to mobilize. Most of the time though, it was simple. An earth cat stuck in a tree, a lost hiker, a damaged traffic light. The type of thing that only required one or two of the Rescue Bots to handle. Today, it seemed, would not be one of those times.

It had started out peacefully. The Rescue Bots had been out of the bunker, taking care of various things around the island. Boulder was on a “nature walk” with Blades and their partners. Heatwave was with Kade at the school teaching a fire safety class. Chase and his partner were out on a patrol. Cody had remained behind, and he and Buzzsaw were seated on the couch of the lounge watching what the human had called “cable TV”. Buzzsaw didn’t get the point.

Then the program they’d been watching had been taken over by a news report. There was a massive landslide in the mountain that was threatening to bury the whole town. Immediately, the rescue alarm sounded and Cody was racing to the command center. Buzzsaw stayed where he was, as he usually did when an emergency occurred. On the screen, he watched the chaos unfold. Thankfully, the human reporter was there with his camera to record everything.

It didn’t take long for the Rescue Bots to get to the site. It seemed to be progressing well, from what the again observed. Then Blades flew too low, and a stray rock took out his tail rotor. He was forced to land, and the team lost their aerial view. Blades could still help the team on the ground, but without proper “eyes in the sky” as Cody had called it, they would doubtless miss things.

Buzzsaw didn’t really think before he hopped off the couch. He flew to the lift, tapping the console that raised it, and as soon as he had space he was flying up and out of the firehouse. He flew around to where he knew the command center was, noting that the main window was open. Good. He landed on the ledge, optics locking on the screens Cody was viewing. Yes, things were definitely going badly.

“Just hang on, everyone! I’ve called Optimus, he said he’ll be here as soon as he can!”

“Yo don’t need Prime. You need an aerial view. That’s why you’re missing things.”

Cody whirled around. “Buzzsaw!” he cried out. “That’s not possible. Blades is down and there’s no way he can fly with his tail rotor damaged.”

“I know.” the avian straightened. “I’ll go.”

Cody froze. “Buzzsaw, are you sure?”

Before the Cassette could respond, the comm. burst to life. Clearly the others had heard their discussion.

“There’s no time to debate this! Lives are at stake! Cody, do you trust Buzzsaw?” Chief Burns demanded.

“Yeah, Dad. I do.”

“Then give him a communicator and send him out here. He’s right. We need eyes in the sky.”

Cody looked up at him, then nodded. He dug around a drawer, then walked over to Buzzsaw with a comm. unit in hand. He let it magnetize itself to the side of the avian’s helm, and quickly returned to the command console. Buzzsaw would definitely need the comm. His internal comm. system was still disabled. He didn’t say anything to the human, and instead turned and took to the skies.

It didn’t take him long to reach the disaster site. Immediately, he could see where he was needed.

“Heatwave, around the corner from you there’s a boulder baring down on a human couple.” he said sharply.

The firetruck replied with an acknowledgment and went to take care of it. Buzzsaw didn’t pay any mind. He was already focusing on the next issue that needed addressing.

“Boulder, mud and stone are about to take out those houses behind you.”

The bulldozer quickly went to take care of it, digging a trench in front of the houses to keep them from being hit. Buzzsaw moved on.

“Chase, down the mountain from you there’s a human youngling trying to outrun the landslide.”

The police car was quick to move and save the child. Buzzsaw didn’t pay much more attention after that. He couldn’t afford to. He needed all his focus on finding the smaller emergencies within the larger landslide before they could happen. Cody trusted him. He was the first in many years to do so. Buzzsaw refused to let him down.

The boy had earned his loyalty, though damn him if he didn’t know when. He didn’t intend to disappoint the one who had so much faith that he could be more than what he had been. Failure here wasn’t an option.

It never was.

——————————

By the end of the whole ordeal, Buzzsaw was reeling. He’d been part of a team again, even if only temporarily. It had been…nice. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it. But now the job was done, and he was on his way back to the firehouse. The others had remained behind to do cleanup work, and apparently Chief Burns would also need to explain his presence to the political leader of the town with an excuse.

He made his way back to the firehouse, his processor starting to calm after the excitement. As he neared, his sensors picked a Cybertronian signal in the courtyard where the basketball court was. It only took a moment to realize who it was. Cody had called in the Prime for help, but that help was no longer needed. That didn’t mean the message had gotten to Prime in time, though.

Sure enough, when the firehouse came into view Buzzzsaw saw Optimus Prime standing in the courtyard. Cody was at his pedes. The avian flew down, alighting on the back of the hoop in front of the larger bot. He would ordinarily have landed next to Cody, but he’d spent too long seeing the Prime as an enemy to put himself on the ground in front of the large mech.

“Buzzsaw.” Prime greeted. “I was told you provided aid to the Rescue Bots.”

Buzzsaw didn’t say anything.

“Tell me, what would you do if you were able to leave?”

“I can.” he snapped. “I’ve got flight. I’ve had it for a while.”

Prime’s lips twitched. “So you have.” he agreed. “Then what are your intentions?”

“Cody decided to get into my business. As far as I’m concerned, he’s stuck with me now, whether he likes it or not.” he scoffed.

Prime’s lips twitched again. Clearly, he had been able to read between the lines to understand what Buzzsaw was saying.

“In that case,” he rumbled. “How would you like to join the Rescue Bots here on Griffin Rock?”

Buzzsaw shuttered his optics. “What.” he deadpanned.

“Would you like to become a Rescue Bot, Buzzsaw?”

“I don’t believe that’s up to me, Prime.” he pointed out. “Or you, for that matter. You don’t lead the team.” he sneered.

“Oh, for Primus’s sake.” Heatwave’s voice came over the comm.

Oh. That was right. Buzzsaw was still hooked into the team’s communications system. The Prime must have opened the previously silent comm. line to Heatewve for at least part of the conversation.

“Choose for yourself, Buzzsaw.” Heatwave continued. “If you want to, we’ll all be happy to have you. You proved to be a good teammate today. No one will have a problem with it. Pit, I’m the one who told Optimus to make the offer before you got there.” Then the comm. clicked off.

“Oh.” Buzzsaw said.

“Indeed.” Prime seemed amused, the fragger. Buzzsaw hoped he got slagged. “What Will it be, then?”

The avian cocked his head sharply. “Ugh.” he made a noise of disgust. “You know what? Fine. The soft idiots need all the help they can get.”

Prime chuckled, then lifted his hand. The armor in his palm shifted, and then a laser was shooting out and hitting Buzzsaw’s chest. There was no pain from it, and he watched as the Rescue Bot badge was put on his armor. The laser stopped, and the Cassette spent a moment staring at the new mark emblazoned on his chestplate.

He looked up when he heard Prime move. “I must leave now, I’m afraid. I am needed elsewhere.” the mech said, inclining his head towards them. Then he walked to the road, folded into his alt-mode, and drove off.

Buzzsaw stared after him, and after a moment he fluttered down to land next to Cody. The human smiled up at him, then lowered his gaze to the new badge on his chest. He lifted a hand to press it over the black lines, looking pleased.

“You’re sure?” he said softly.

Buzzsaw scoffed. “I wouldn’t have agreed if I wasn’t sure. Like I told Prime. You made the decision to get involved with me, so now you’re stuck with me. I’m not leaving, no matter how much you want me to.” he said, his sneer lacking all its usual bite. He paused. “Besides,” he continued, his voice just a notch softer. “You really aren’t all that bad.”

Cody blinked once, then beamed.

Buzzsaw had to look away, feeling almost embarrassed. He hadn’t dared to hope for so many years, but it seemed Primus had deigned to show him kindness after all.

He’d finally found a new roost.

———————————————————————————————————

Well. That’s done! That was long. It took me multiple days to write. But! It’s done!

I had fun with it. Buzzsaw is a grumpy asshole and Cody is very indulgent of his dramatics. And yes, I made him capable of speech. I know he and the Laserbeak can talk in the comics, so.

Also, please excuse my liberal use of headcanons for some of this. Anyway. I hope y’all liked it! I’m sorry it took so long to get out.

Until next time, folks!

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dangermousie · 4 years ago

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2020 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2020; if I had to make a post about all the cdramas I watched this year, I would still be doing it in three months...

Overall it’s been a fairly decent cdrama year (certainly better than the very lacklustre kdrama year.) It’s no miracle that 2019 was (so many excellent dramas!) but overall pretty solid.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

44 The Legend of Jing Yan - the worst cdrama I have seen this year, and possibly the worst drama of 2020, period. The hero and heroine were both uncharismatic, incapable of acting and saddled with such shrilly moronic characters, the only suspense was how they haven’t both perished long since from forgetting to breathe. Nor was anyone in the rest of the cast much better; the screenplay was written by a lower mammal and the cinematography was the best a third-rate wedding cinematographer could offer. Stay the HELL away from this one.

43 Unicorn Girl - the only unicorn about this bland yet irritating piece of pap was the fact that I was supposed to believe the leads are hockey players.

42 Autumn Cicada - I like spy stories, Allen Ren, and Republican Era settings. I can tune out Communist propaganda with the best of them. Yet, the propaganda ate the story to such a degree that there was nothing left; pre magic change Pinocchio was less wooden then this narrative.

41 You Complete Me - no you do not.

40 Skate into Love - the only positive thing I can say about this is that at least it’s better than Unicorn Girl, if for no other reason that only one of them is supposed to be a hockey player.

39 Irreplaceable Love - how do you make a story about fake siblings with a mad mother falling for each other boring? I don’t know, ask the makers of this.

38 Eternal Love Rain - I hate to rain on their parade, but these two actors cannot act, have about as much chemistry as a piece of bread, and are trapped in a story perfect for entertaining the mental abilities of the leads of Jin Yan.

37 For Married Doctoress - ummmm, you could do worse I guess. It only made me break out in mild hives. The sadistic ending did make me laugh though.

36 Dance of the Sky Empire - why you get Xu Kai and waste him in this insipid mess of a story is beyond me.

35 Love Designer - it’s inoffensive except to my sense of entertainment. There is nothing wrong with it but oh God is it bland.

34 Love a Lifetime - It felt like a lifetime watching this, but I didn’t love it. The story is incoherent, the actors have no chemistry and it’s all an epic waste of time.

33 Love is Sweet - so sweet it gave me diabetes. I like Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, but there is literally no plot. I don’t need to sink into a plotless morass to watch pretty people engage in PG-rated make-outs. I am an adult with access to stronger stuff if I am thus inclined, though to be fair they could get x-rated and I still wouldn’t be able to sit through so many episodes of plotlessness for that.

32 Fake Princess - I love Zhao Yi Qin, but the guy needs to pick better projects. The female lead in this one has the voice and personality that can strip paint but the story is also doing nobody any favors.

31 The Changan Youth - I lost my brain checking this out. I had to go and read a dense treatise on medieval coinage or Mayan farming to try to recover it.

30 My Dear Destiny - kinda cheesy fun. It honestly shouldn’t be as low except it really feels like community theater.

29 Handsome Siblings - why is the Nic Tse version so good and this one so bad? True mystery for the ages. Chen Zhe Yuan is the sole reason this isn’t lower, because that kid tries SO HARD to make this drama bearable and almost succeeds. I can’t wait to see him in Sha Po Lang which actually will give him something to do.

28 In a Class of Her Own - see my comment on The Changan Youth. But at least Song Weilong is gorgeous to look at.

27 General’s Lady - inoffensive, pretty and so utterly pointless.

26 The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion - those two leading actors are a no go to me but at least they considerately acted with each other instead of ruining two dramas for me. It’s very pretty though.

25 Jiu Liu Overlord - it’s a mess and I bailed, but I placed it this high merely due to the fact that Lai Yi finally gets a leading role and he’s sexy as fuck and I am shallow. Whoever styled Bai Lu should never work again except at a circus, however.

24 Cross Fire - not my genre and Luhan will always look too much like my cousin for comfort, but it’s a surprisingly gripping and dark drama. I liked it!

23 God of Lost Fantasy - if you want to watch a mediocre wuxia/xianxia, this is not a bad choice. Probably better than Legend of Fei actually, because at least it doesn’t have an A-list cast to waste and gives us Sheng Yilun himbo and shirtless.

22 Renascence - the insane cuts (it went from 70 eps to 36!!!) made a fairly cheesy story into a total mess. But I had a good time until I finally bailed mainly because of the male lead (Chen Zhe Yuan yet again carrying a not-good 2020 drama on his shoulders; the guy should be nicknamed Atlas) and the insane but in a fun way story. The female lead (both the character and the actress) were not up to par but oh well.

21 Legend of Fei - only this high because objectively there is nothing I disliked it. But there is nothing I liked either. The most uninspired drama on the list. If you could eat cardboard, this is what it would taste like.

20 Ever Night 2 - compared to EN1, it’s a waste of film. On its own merits, it’s not very good (the cast replacements are uniformly inferior and Dylan Wang is so wrong for Ning Que I cannot even put it into words; the script is useless.) But it had some parts I loved so very VERY much (all the shippy stuff was perfection) so I don’t feel too bitter.

19 Castle in the Sky 2 - a lovely if not too complex fairy tale. It is inferior to its prequel because it doesn’t have Zhang Ruo Yun who elevated it, but it’s still a solid bit of fun.

18 The Great Ruler - it’s very high fantasy, very pretty, and surprisingly involving.

17 (tie) Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos - the secondary couple steals the show but the rest is not too bad if not too involving.

17 Legend of Awakening - a solid bit of fun with a seriously BDSM streak (theme this year apparently - but come on, the lead’s powers only activate when he’s in extreme pain!) It’s a bit generic and the costuming is done by a blind person, not to mention the OTP is a NOTP, but the rest of relationships (romantic and platonic) are wonderful (I live for the found siblings story in this one) and I like most of the characters.

16 Consummation - a rare modern cdrama I liked; a sweet coming of age story (and love story) even if wrapped in a pretty weird virtual reality concept.

15 Oops the King is in Love - this is how you do a low budget, sweet, silly piece of fluff. Our heroine pretends to be a eunuch and crosses paths with a powerless young king and they are adorable, even more so than the drama.

14 Song of Glory - pretty solid, though draggy and I didn’t love the toothpaste filter. But A+ cast, excellent leading couple chemistry, Li Qin being a BAMF and a leading man (Qin Hao) who is actually an adult.

13 And the Winner is love - objectively kind of a mess (and the heroine has the brainpower of a gnat), but the OTP chemistry is excellent and Luo Yunxi fighting and flirting with a fan as finally a leading man is worth the price of admission.

12 Miss S - snazzy and snappy and stylish and whatever else starts with S.

11 Eternal Love of Dream - I don’t know if it would work for you as well if you weren’t a hardcore shipper for this OTP in Three Lives but I was and this was such a darling, wonderful, shippy delight; plus I love this type of high fantasy.

10 (tie) Maiden Holmes - solid and sweet and a wonderful OTP. Proves that functional doesn’t have to mean boring. If you watch one cross-dressing drama this year make it this one.

10 Qin Dynasty Epic - srs bsns history epic. I am not far into it but it’s so good and smart and visually stunning (if you love battles, this one is for you.)

9 Love Lasts Two Minds - I adored this so much more than I should objectively have, but it’s so beautiful (and no I am not just referring to Alan Yu’s face) and the OTP has wonderful chemistry and the story is solid, and the whole trope of her memory being wiped but falling for him all over again while he’s constantly and utterly devoted is a fave; plus he’s in pain and semi-dyng for most of it so sluuuurp (happy ending, don’t worry)

8 To Love - yes, a modern drama is this high! But it involves intensity, tragedy, genuine adults and sexiness that is Lin Gengxin. And there is an actual plot and darkness OMG!

7 Legend of Xiao Chuo - so beautiful, so fun, so full of gorgeousness of Shawn Dou. Plus, Liao is a rare setting for a cdrama and there are a lot of characters and stories I liked a LOT. Less ship content than I wanted but more than I expected.

6 The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so so delightful. I was literally laughing out loud. I have no idea if it will work as well if one isn’t a seasoned watcher of period cdrama/reader of web novels, with bonus for watching/reading Goodbye My Princess, but it was a complete delight for me (and yes, I shipped for real, as well. Best of both worlds.)

5 Twisted Fate of Love - Jin Han gets a leading period drama role! And he’s enjoying it to the hilt, excellent as a smart, twisty bastard who is also charming and so madly in love with heroine. Sun Yi is beautiful and tough and her chemistry with JH is on fire, the story never drags, and it’s so twisty and fun and just awesome.

4 Love In Between - the most underrated drama on this list. It has no big names or big budget, but it’s wuxia that’s clever, driven, tragic, hopeful and so beautifully shot. Three separate (amazing) OTPs, a leading man who is so not typical (a doctor who cannot fight and who never acquires this ability) and who is intense and smart and damaged, a heroine who puts her quest ahead of her emotions, an unhealthy degree of involvement by yours truly. This is a drama Fei should have been.

3 Love and Redemption - such a lovely, addictive, utterly romantic fairy tale. I was obsessed with it for a reason. All the tropes you love and some you didn’t know you did, a star-crossed OTP to the nth power (and a secondary OTP I hardcore love), a twisty yet coherent plot, some insane chemistry and so much whump and hurt/comfort they must have bought blood packets in bulk.

2 Go Ahead - yes, I can’t believe it either. A contemporary slice of life cdrama made it this high on my list. But the way it feels so real, the found family perfection, the characters I love and loathe, the perfect cherry of a wonderful OTP that hits my narrative kinks on top, and just a perfect storm of loveliness all around with this one.

1 The Wolf - is that any surprise to anyone who’s checked out this tumblr for the last couple of months? Tragic, intense and gorgeous; so romantic and angsty and passionate it made me lose my mind (though some of it was gone the moment the camera panned to Darren Wang) - all my favorite tropes and then some; this is a drama that may not be perfect but it is 100% and then beyond perfect for ME.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Wolf - I have seen objectively better cdramas; even this year. But it has been literal years since I have been this hardcore obsessed, this utterly pleased, this emotionally catered to and devastated at once. A beautiful dark fairy tale that manages to own me despite the storytelling gaps due to censorship, it took me for one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my drama watching career. Visually gorgeous, poetic, intense, and so romantic it took my breath away, this is not just my favorite cdrama of 2020, it’s my favorite drama this year period, and the one cdrama this year to make it into my permanent Top 10 cdramas list.

WORST DRAMA

Legend of Jin Yan - see my write up for it for why as I refuse to waste more time on this stupid mess.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Wolfie, The Wolf - he is such a haunted, tormented, complex, dark mess; loving and violent, severely damaged and with a hidden yearning softness, longing and aloof. And the amount of charisma and sheer masculine sex appeal Darren Wang brings to the role is insane and not something I see much of in a cdrama. Plus, that character arc with its rapid fall and slow painful redemption is A++++

Runner Up: Sifeng, Love and Redemption - has a male lead ever loved more utterly and selflessly, suffered more thoroughly and beautifully, and managed to have such chemistry with both his leading lady and his leading man (that his leading lady temporarily turned into) at once? The answer is no.

Almost made the cut - Feng Xi, Twisted Fate of Love, Han Shuo, The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Qing Ci, Love in Between.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Qian, The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so funny, so much the reason this drama was such a delight. I adore her beyond words.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Murder Daddy, The Wolf - I am sad the censors robbed us of seeing him die on screen. He was fully human but nonetheless managed to be the worst monster in a drama full of literal ones.

Ling Xiao’s Mom, Go Ahead - I hate her so much I don’t want to look up her name. She abused the kid, the disappeared and came back to abuse him some more. I mean she literally gave her child mental health issues. She is the WORST.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xing’er x Wolfie, The Wolf - are you kidding me? Who else could it ever be for me? They destroyed each other and saved each other, sworn enemies and childhood lovers, soulmates and epic messes, they couldn’t live with or without each other. The longing, the passion, the intensity, the angst, the epicness. LIKE THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Si Yuan, Shen Manqing, Love in Between - I loved them as much and often more than the main OTP. So much angst and passion and a happy ending! She is a seeming sect darling (except the sect is horrible and also sexist so her only worth is as a marriage candidate) and he’s an information broker who is actually one of the members of a destroyed sect that’s blamed for the massacre of her family. That chemistry and yearning is insane. The scene where she touches his face when he’s unconscious was in serious running for my favorite scene of 2020.

NOTP

Legend of Awakening - I have never seen a couple that didn’t just have no chemistry but exhibited actual revulsion towards each other before watching Chen Feiyu and Cheng Xiao try to act as lovers in this one. It was almost entertaining to be honest.

FAVORITE SCENE

It’s a tie and both are from The Wolf. One is a sequence where Wolfie marches to the walls alone, seeking death at Xing’er’s hands and the whole sequence with the battle and rescue follows. The other is the intercut between Xing’er going to her wedding and Wolfie going to his execution, and the auto-da-fe being intercut with her wedding.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Wolfie, The Wolf - Ummm have you seen this tumblr lately, it’s basically a drool shrine to the man.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yelü Yansage, The Legend of Xiao Chuo - I have loved this actor since The Myth and he continued to competently steal every scene he was in.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

To Love - come out of the coma, dammit!!!!!!!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

The Wolf - duh. It started out as 59 eps and got cut to 49. I reaiize some stuff is never gonna get put in due to censorship, but some of the stuff that got cut got for time reasons because they were deluded and hoping to get a TV broadcast so ep count had to be under 50. I mean I doubt the censors would care if they kept scenes of Wolfie building her a swing or whatever. I really really want a director’s cut the way Goodbye My Princess did even if like with GMP it’s only three extra eps. Hell, I will take extra three minutes, as long as those three minutes are Darren Wang shirtless or with a sword. Ahem.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

The Song of Glory - it’s a fairly solid drama but honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was and kind of got draggy and I got lost interest. (I could have gotten snarky and said all the dramas I didn’t like needed scissors taken to them in their entirety but decided to play nice.)

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

There are a number of dramas I could complain about with regard to this (hi there, darling The Wolf!) but this award goes to Renascence - poor Renascence was never going to be a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a bit of good cheesy fun until it had its run time cut by more than half and became an incoherent piece of insanity.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Dumb shrill innocent heroine who can’t tie her shoes - see basically all the cdramas I didn’t like this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Male lead torture - I mean it’s always open season on that in cdramas, but between Love and Redemption, The Wolf, Love Lasts Two Minds, Love in Between and so on, it was a banner year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Legend of Fei - what a waste of that cast; what a waste of our finite time on this Earth. What a waste of my intelligence to hope for something better and stick with it for a dozen eps. I have had stale wonderbread that had more personality than this drama.There is absolutely nothing that stands out about this drama in any way, from half-dimensional characters, to actors who are sleepwalking, to a plot that moves at the speed of an arthritic snail, to uninspired cinematography and direction, to lack of any chemistry between anyone in the cast. If paint-by-numbers was done by a group of particularly linear robots, it might come across the same way as this drama.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The Wolf - honestly, I did not expect it to come out AT ALL EVER let alone to become my favorite drama of 2020. I was not familiar with the leading man (hahah), I liked Li Qin but wasn’t yet obsessed with her, and Xiao Zhan was excellent in The Untamed but I was hardly going to follow him from drama to drama (and I don’t do SLS any way.) And the trailer was enjoyable but unlike seemingly everyone, I didn’t think it was going to be some epic masterpiece. And then it came out and while it wasn’t objectively an epic masterpiece, it pulled out all the favorite tropes, shippy and narrative kinks from the deepest darkest recesses of my id. And I fell harder than I have in years.

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

Novoland Eagle Flag and Joy of Life - they are in my Top 10 dramas from anywhere now. They are quite different except being smart and giving me protagonists to obsess over.

ETA: Also The Untamed because @idlewilds3 pointed out I actually watched it in 2020 even though I didn’t think so because this hellyear has lasted about three decades.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

I am gonna limit it to dozen and leaving out ones that aren’t necesarily supposed to air next year (Joy of Life 2, Love in Flames of War, Novoland Princess from Plateau.)

Monarch Industry, Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Silk Washing Stream, Dream of Changan, Sword Snow Stride, Wu Xing Shi Jia, Ancient Love Poetry, Immortality, The Long Ballad, Mirror Twin Cities, The Imperial Age, Fall In Love

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cosmiccandydreamer · 4 years ago

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Stability Chapter 14

*****The ending to Stability is here! Stay tuned for the ending in the finale coming "Tranquility" WARNING THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH CHILD LOSS. Sorry if it's a spoiler, but I wanted to warn y'all. *******

"Wake the fuck up, you piece of shit!" Otis was jerked awake by the loud sound of Wydell screaming in his face and kicking the foundation under him. He adjusted his eyes and found to his horror and he was tied to a chair. They were back at the house in Ruggsville. Looking to his side, he saw his sister and Spaulding in the same situation. Wydell backed away from him, taking a massive swig from his whisky bottle before slamming it back down on the table.

The trio was tried on chairs and shown other pictures of the victims that they had recovered. This was a small amount that you could not shove in the trunk of your car as evidence. Wydell was in a drunken haze and rage. Vengeance had overtaken him; the idea that he was the hand of God sent here to cleanse the earth has consumed him. He held up a picture in front of Baby's face asking her if she remembers the girl in the picture; he then turns to show Otis, "not so attractive after we pulled her out of your little torture shack.” Otis laughed darkly " I tried that bitch to my bed for a month, busted her wide open.”

Wydell spits on the ground next to him in disgust. "Well, he's a little memento for your time together" " that bitch was mine," Baby spat out, "stupid whore" Wydell suddenly grabbed the staple gun he had placed on the floor next to the table and, to Otis and Spalding's horror, stapled it to Baby's stomach. The men exchanged looks of anger, panic, and worry. The love for their daughter and sister and the fact they were helpless to her pain was torture in itself. "Which one did you say you busted open again? This one, right?!" Wydell then grabbed the second photo stapling it to Otis's chest. The sharp pain shot thru him, and he grew angrier.

"Alright, alright, now that I got everyone's attention, I have one more picture to show y'all, and now I'ma need y'all to make sure you take a good look, and I mean a good look…" he took another swig off his whiskey and reached down to grab another picture. "Now I've been looking for this little lady, and now I hear she goes by the name Kitty driftwood, which is a dumbass name if you ask me, but her government name is ( y/n y/last name )."

He held up a picture of you taken at the hotel as you were loading up the car. Otis froze in his seat, and his palms become sweaty and hot. He swallowed as his throat became tight; you looked scared in the picture.. lost and alone. He did this to you, and he made you go on without him; he thought it was the right thing to do now, he's not sure. "Ringing any bells for all of you? Hmm"? Wydell asked, holding your picture in front of Baby and Spaulding. "I've never seen that bitch before," Baby spat. "I don't know who she is.” " What about you, Otis? She seems to be going by your last name.. any idea about why that would be?" Otis silently cursed you for being so casual with his last name. He was glad you didn't use your real name, but any association with them was problematic. "She might have been some Stockholm syndrome bitch who got away, I don't fucking know," Otis replied, trying to steady in his voice.. "you expect me to remember every whore that comes thru the door," he scoffed. Wydell chuckled. "I would expect you to remember your wife, Otis" Otis straightened himself a bit more, looking at Wydell in the eyes but not responding. His heart was racing now.. how much did he know about you.. "now see, at first, I thought she was just some poor soul that got turned around and was lucky enough to escape your freak show. That was until my men started to see her more and more with you clowns. And one of the men overhead her introduced herself as Kitty driftwood. I did some digging, and that's not who she is at all. She's the only survivor of the San Diego massacre. You may not remember it's been a long time, but she seems to have started a life of some sort out here after the death of her family." Wydell shifted through the pictures clicking his tongue. Otis knew about your past; he got curious one day and dug into your public records years ago. He wanted to see if anyone besides your father would come looking for you if you were to join the family. He realized you didn't remember everything that had happened back then and didn't want to bring up those memories for you.

"Why are you telling us all this?" Spalding asked, "what you do with her? What are you going to do with us? Stop playing these games, goddammit!". "I'm so glad you asked," Wydell replied, taking another drink. "so when I got word of a girl matching this description, I had my men trail her; I met up with them close to the Mexican border and decided to go check out if this was the same Lil lady. Now I expected her to be a shit ball bag of ugly in person, if I’m honest. I mean running around you all one can only expect," he chuckled " So you can imagine my surprise when I pulled over her car and saw she was a pretty little thing," he whistles " I thought about taking her out of the car and doing a little strip search myself." Otis felt his face get hot; he was becoming angrier than he's ever been. He twisted his hands in the bound rope on the chair; his breathing became more erratic. "Oh, you don't like that, huh? The idea of someone taking your woman and just having their way with her? Ironic isn't it, so I pull up, and we have a little chat. I ask her to get out of the vehicle". Baby looked over at her and saw his eyes had become dilated with rage. "You better not of hurt my sister," she said, her own eyes stinging with the tears that started to fall, "you son of a bitch".

"Now see what I did here," Wydell said, pulling up the chair closer to Baby while she whined and tried to look away from him. Otis just stared at him, his rage building and building.. he wasn't one to get anxious, but this was causing him extreme anxiety. "I prayed, I asked God to tell me what to do next because when I saw her beautiful (y/e/c) with sadness and fear, I felt I had a choice to make, Well I decided to give her a chance to come to the righteous side of glory with God. so I asked her to step out of the car, she did slowly with her arms up as I asked. She looked warm in the face and asked if she was alright; she said she was fine, just the heat was getting to her and her baby.” “Baby? Is she with a child? Oh my god, OTIS!” Baby yelled, looking over at her brother and father. “Otis, did you hear? You’re going to be a daddy!” a giant smile appeared on her face despite the situation they were in. A child, what a miracle. Otis was quiet, and his expression blank; a baby? No wonder she was so sick, no wonder she looks so worried and so scared. He finally spoke with a calm and collected tone, “where are she and my child?”. He looked at Wydell in the eyes and waited for an answer.

He took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it before answering, blowing smoke in their faces.” when I saw she was with child, I knew it was your Otis, I saw it in her eyes when she looked at the picture I held up of you. This means this was a 50/50 chance of being a miracle baby, a child of God, or a spawn of the devil. I decided to give Mrs. driftwood a chance to renounce her sinful ways with your freak show; tell me everything I want to know, and I would provide safe passage for her and her unborn child.

"I'm not going to ask you again where she is." Otis said his patients running thin "where the hell is my wife and my child?"

"I'm the one telling the story here, so I'm going to need you to be patient," Wydell said. "She stood there in the blistering heat next to her car, her hands up in the air. I told her to relax, put him down by her side, and we're just going to have a chat. I couldn't get over how beautiful she was. I had it in my right mind to take her then in there just like you had taken all those innocent women at your disposal."

Otis flinched in his chair, attempting to reach towards the sheriff. "I swear to satan if you touched her"

"Or what?" Wydell laughed, "You're not in the position to make any threats but calm down. I didn't feed my devilish temptations." He took another drag of the cigarette. "No, what I did was I told her that at this very moment, the compound where your merry band of freaks was hiding was being raided and that there was no way out of this. I knew who she was. I knew what she'd been through, and I told her that she doesn't want a life where she's just running cooperate with us, and we'll see what we can do for her. The moment I looked into her eyes, I knew she was not going to give you freaks up. She shook her head. I don't know what you're talking about and bit her lower lip. I decided at that moment that I was going to leave it up to God. I asked her to turn around and put her hands on the car. She did, then I pulled my knife." He pulled out a giant hunting knife and laid it on the table. The trio didn't speak collectively, waiting for the following words out of his mouth. All three of them were frozen in fear. They all loved you and felt powerless in the situation for themselves and what possibly may come next. "See, I walked up to her, and I said that this seed you're carrying now if it's the spawn of the devil you know I can't allow that to pollute this world any further, but this could also be one of God's children who am I to make that decision? And she looked back at me and asked what I mean, And so I got my knife, And I showed it to her, and I said, you know whatever happens next is up to God, and I stabbed her in the stomach. " As soon as those words left his mouth, Baby started to scream, "liar, you didn't lie you wouldn't stab a pregnant woman, lies you're just trying to break us, Otis doesn’t listen he's lying" Spalding spat a bunch of insults at the sheriff. Otis remained catatonic in his rage. He was so angry that he couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He could barely breathe.

The sheriff then pulled out a photo and said, "now I'm not saying I killed her, and I'm not saying it killed the baby. All I'm saying is I used my hand to be an instrument of God, and if God wanted the baby to survive, then that means it was a child of God. If it passed away well, then it was the spawn of Satan; either way, that is what happened" He slowly slid a photo of you on the ground clenching your bleeding stomach. "You should have seen the surprise on her face when I put out the Polaroid and snapped the photo of her." Baby cried and screamed; giant tears were falling from her beautiful blue eyes, Spalding still angry, throwing insults at the sheriff. Otis finally looked up, and in the most profound, most demonic voice anyone had ever heard, he quietly said, "I will watch you die. I will tear your soul apart.” Wydell stood up and grabbed a large nail from the table. “Don’t know how you’re gonna do that with your hands nailed down!” suddenly, he slammed the nails into his hands, nailing him to the table. He screamed in horror and agony at what had just taken place. Baby looked over to her brother, feeling helpless to his pain, when suddenly she felt her ties being loosened and she was free, “ you’re free to go, Babygirl, now run along run!!!!”. Wydell screamed in her face laughing; she took off toward the door; she didn’t need to be told twice.

As she ran towards what she thought was freedom, he started to pour gasoline all over the house, engulfing the once wonderful home that you all shared. As the flames lifted around them, the two men struggled to get free. The sheriff went after her, shooting into the air and taunting her as he chased her. One of the bullets hitting her in the leg and causing her to fall, but just as he thought he would have her meet her maker, tiny appeared, saving the day by breaking his neck. If it weren’t for this gentle giant, everyone would have perished in the fire. He was able to save everyone. Unfortunately, he chose not to come with the trio.

Otis took off towards the highway. He knew in his heart that you weren't dead. He would have felt it. Your connection was too strong but still, in the back of his mind, what if you weren't what he would do? He knew that he would set the world on fire that much would be for sure, but he could not fathom a reality with you, not by his side. He drove fast and faster towards your designated meet point. Nothing could stop him now except for the mountain of the police officers blocking the highway entrance. He looked over at the trio, and with a collective nod, they raced toward the police guns blazing. They had come this far, and nothing would stop them. Nothing would keep Otis from you; he pictured your face in his mind as he drove, the smell of your shampoo when he buried his face in your hair, the sound of your laugh. He had to try and get to you. There was a rain of gunfire that engulfed the vehicle. They didn't get far. Eventually, they all were stopped from the blood loss and the bullet holes they were taken to the hospital. He had failed you again.

Otis is right, though. You survived the encounter; what the sheriff didn't know was the ritual, The ritual that you all had done every Halloween, the ritual that you sacrificed souls so you could live on and become immortal through luck. This meant that if you were faced with a situation such as this, the universe would conspire to assist you all. Unfortunately, you were not pregnant during your last ritual. As you clenched your bleeding stomach, you pulled yourself into the vehicle. You were able to pull yourself into the vehicle and speed off as soon as you saw Wydell in the distance. You drove and drove until eventually, your vision got blurry, and you passed out. Somehow your car has come to a stop and ended up in a small town just on the Mexican border. A sweet couple pulled you out of the car and patched you up. The idea that you lost your child destroyed you and broke your heart. The blood loss was too much, and you miscarried. Pulling yourself together, you searched through your items, found one of your fake IDs, and headed toward Mexico, not before stopping into Brownsville to check and see if a particular person was still here.

#rob zombie #three from hell #the devils rejects #house of 1000 corpses #bill moseley #otis driftwood x reader #otis driftwood #otis firefly #sherri moon zombie #thedevilsrejects #slashers #horror #horror movies #firefly trilogy #sid haig

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askaceattorney · 4 years ago

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Manfred Von Karma Character Essay

Dear Dakadondon,

I’m going to give it a go on a character essay on my favorite villain, Manfred Von Karma. I haven’t been able to find any on him and I feel like he’s often overlooked as the nothing-but-evil villain when there is so much more to him than meets the eye.

When we are first introduced to Manfred Von Karma, he both is the final boss of the game and a foil for both Phoenix Wright and his rival, Miles Edgeworth. He represents the karma brought down upon Miles Edgeworth’s shoulders by his actions in the first game, thus his name “karma” or “ Karuma,” which means “karma” in Japanese. This works in the same way with Franziska Von Karma representing Phoenix Wright’s karma in AA2. Since we are focusing on Manfred Von Karma, he will be our main focus.

We are introduced to Manfred Von Karma as Miles Edgeworth’s mentor, but it is in AA2 we find out he is much more than a mentor. He was also a father figure of sorts to Miles Edgeworth. This relationship is often overlooked, even by the game itself. We are told by Franziska Von Karma how Miles Edgeworth was like her little brother, but nowhere in the game does it ever mention or demonstrate how Miles Edgeworth would be the son of Manfred Von Karma. Even the anime never truly focuses on that portion. As a result, we, as the players, are like Godot in how we miss the obvious red on white part of the case, and instead focus on the mentor and student relationship. Like anyone, why would we believe someone as twisted and vindictive as Manfred Von Karma would consider Miles Edgeworth as a son? Yet, this same man considered him the student under Von Karma? If Sebastian Debeste’s relationship with his father could be father/son and mentor/student, why wouldn’t the same also apply to Manfred Von Karma and Miles Edgeworth?

To understand this father/son relationship Miles Edgeworth shares with Manfred Von Karma, we first need to understand why it is overlooked or taken out throughout the game. After losing his father, Miles Edgeworth practically lost everything. If we are to assume his father was the only family he ever had in his life, then this would mean he became an orphan. He was alone without anyone to care for or love him. All of a sudden, this Prosecutor, who had gone up against his father in court, takes him in under his wing. He gives Miles Edgeworth food, a home, a little sister, a family, education and training to become a Prosecutor. Before, Miles Edgeworth only had his father, now under the Von Karmas, he has a family. Manfred Von Karma gave Miles Edgeworth much more than his biological father ever did, when we take into account the mentioned family of Manfred Von Karma than just Franziska: a niece, a possible extra sibling(s) and a mother.

In the head of Miles Edgeworth, he is not deserving of this. He mentally believes he is responsible for the murder of his own father. He isn’t deserving of a family, a home or any of these things. This is a similar mentality he will eventually have with Phoenix later on after Turnabout Goodbyes. In turn, we have Manfred Von Karma, who is simply using Miles and his genius to have as his own. He knows of his crime of having murdered this boy’s father and yet is willing to provide this boy with a better life. It feels off for Manfred Von Karma, if we were to assume he’s your typical devilish bad guy with no moral compass. Though, if we were to take AAI2 into account in how he praises his wife’s cooking, despite being an amateur, and was willing to defend Delicia Scone’s innocence for no other reason other than, “she is innocent,” we can assume he does have some form of moral compass. At the very least, he is capable of love for those he considers family and will protect those he considers innocent. If we are to assume that he does love his family, or at least is capable of such, we can assume that there was a tiny bit of compassion he had in taking in Miles Edgeworth. Even if we were to reason that Manfred Von Karma was simply using Miles Edgeworth to cover up his own crime, no one can deny that Manfred Von Karma could’ve made him into a Cinderella or killed him under his care.

Of course, many would disagree this man would have a heart, if only because the game seems to imply that Manfred Von Karma took in Miles Edgeworth to beat the dead horse that was Gregory Edgeworth. Except, that would imply that Manfred Von Karma believes in spirits and was so passionate that he was willing to raise a child with severe trauma, nightmares and phobias. To put it simply, raising Miles Edgeworth, for Manfred Von Karma, would have been a nightmare in itself. Not only because he’d be having sleepless nights from a child, then teenager being up in the middle of the night because of nightmares, but also having to calm him down every time an earthquake hit, perhaps having to deal with Miles Edgeworth’s fear of elevators and there are the effects of DL-6 that took a toll on Miles Edgeworth. Anyone who knows anyone that deals with severe trauma will tell you that each day, minute and second that person is still living is a miracle. This is something Manfred Von Karma would be having to face every morning and night. For Miles Edgeworth, he believes he killed his own father and is not deserving of anything. Perhaps being a Prosecutor is his way of punishing himself, but it is also a goal he strives for that was placed upon him by Manfred Von Karma himself. You could say that Manfred Von Karma gave Miles Edgeworth a reason to live.

Knowing this, it makes sense why Manfred Von Karma framed Miles Edgeworth for the murder of Robert Hammond. This wasn’t about him ruining Miles Edgeworth’s life or revenge against Gregory Edgeworth. This was Manfred Von Karma running away from his problems, from his own guilt. We see in Turnabout Reminiscence how quickly Manfred Von Karma was willing to leave an investigation unfinished the moment he loses control. If you were to fail that game, before Manfred Von Karma demands Miles Edgeworth and young Franziska to no longer proceed in the investigation, he will stop the investigation right away or Franziska will win. It’s only after he demands there to be no more investigation that he no longer stops the investigation, but instead it is Calisto Yew or Tyrell Badd, who at one point sends his security to kick Miles Edgeworth and Franziska out. This means that the reason Manfred Von Karma wanted Miles Edgeworth to stop the investigation was because he no longer had control over the outcome. This makes sense for his character, who also left IS-7 after the events of DL-6. He’s the kind of man to run away from his troubles. If Miles Edgeworth’s trauma was trouble for Manfred Von Karma that he can’t ever get rid of, he will proceed to get rid of Miles Edgeworth instead.

The problem with Manfred Von Karma framing Miles Edgeworth for murder is that this adds another problem. Miles Edgeworth is now the supposed son of Manfred Von Karma. Keep in mind this is a man who obsesses over perfection. To frame his own son for murder goes against being the perfect father. Aside from his own personal problems, Manfred Von Karma has no reason to get rid of Miles Edgeworth. Miles Edgeworth, while did suffer a few losses, is a valuable asset to Manfred Von Karma. He is Manfred Von Karma’s proud disciple and, if we were to assume he only has daughters, the only son he’s got. He is willing to throw away Miles Edgeworth, for what? Because of his own personal problems? Because he knows all of Miles Edgeworth’s troubles are caused by him? Because the only way to fix Miles Edgeworth is to admit that he was and is a terrible murderer and a criminal?

Much like how Manfred Von Karma represented the karma built upon all the deeds Miles Edgeworth had done, the same can also be said in reverse. For Manfred Von Karma, Miles Edgeworth is the result of his own karma. That karma will never go away and, so long as Miles Edgeworth continues to live in the Prosecutor’s circle, the karma of Manfred Von Karma will haunt him for the rest of his life, unless he decides to find closure. Whether that closure be through death or reconnecting with Miles Edgeworth, unless it is met, Manfred Von Karma will always be troubled by the karma he’s placed upon himself.

To describe Manfred Von Karma is someone that is obsessed with being perfect in every way to a fault. He has family, friends, people he loves and cares about, but is also a coward to face whatever troubles come his way. He is the opposite of Phoenix Wright, who is willing to face what he’s faulted and try to make things right. Manfred Von Karma represents a side to humanity none of us want to admit. We are very narcissistic and strive to be better than everyone else. Then, the moment we run into trouble where our true colors are shown, we tend to hide or run away like Manfred Von Karma.

When you consider the events of IS-7, it’s clear Manfred Von Karma made many mistakes in how he approached the case. He refused help from his detective, he continually tried to fight against the Defense that he was right, he used threatening tactics to force the Defendant to confess to a crime he didn’t commit, he overlooked other crimes that happened such as the two missing boys, and he changed the case file to the Defendant being the culprit - even though he accused him of being an accomplice to the crime. While he didn’t forge the Autopsy Report, he placed the blame of the penalty he received from his boss on the Defense, who didn’t do anything wrong. To add insult to injury, he orphaned and traumatized a child that now is under his care. Manfred Von Karma continually ran away from his issues, the vile acts that he has done. As a result, he refuses to acknowledge Miles Edgeworth as his son. If he can’t acknowledge it, why should the game?

Manfred Von Karma is one of the most morally gray characters in the AA game. He represents the worst of all humanity. He’s definitely not one to sympathize with, but not because we can’t, but because we don’t want to. I consider the best villains as those you could become at any point in time. Someone like Kristoph Gavin or Dahlia Hawthorne would be much harder to see in ourselves, since their circumstances came from other bad circumstances. Manfred Von Karma, I can see in anyone no matter the circumstances or life they live. So long as you believe yourself to be better than anyone else, you will always become another Manfred Von Karma.

Ironically enough, I do see a redemption arc in Manfred Von Karma, if he was to ever live after Turnabout Goodbyes. The reason is because, believe it or not, I did have issues with Narcissism about ten or so years ago. Of course, I wasn’t as bad as Manfred Von Karma, but I can also relate to him. As such, I also know that it only takes seeing yourself as better than everyone else to void yourself of all empathy or compassion for others. This also includes thinking your opinions are correct or others’ opinions are problematic. All it takes for a redemption arc is realizing where you’re wrong, apologizing, and making things right. Of course, you can’t erase your history, but you can make a better future, especially for those you have hurt. Luckily, we have Franziska Von Karma and Miles Edgeworth to demonstrate what Manfred Von Karma could’ve been.

- Mod Edgeworth

#dakdondondon #Mod Post #Mod Edgeworth #Character Essay #Manfred Von Karma

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themarshmallownerd · 3 years ago

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New Chapter: Like Forty Dogs

Link: Chapter 5

Previous: Chapter 4

First: Chapter 1 (AO3)

A/N: I know I said I would try to update Miracle Empire next, but as you can see, I am clearly not the one in charge here, lmao

Preview: For the most part, it was one of their group’s tamer meetings. A majority of the time was spent being introduced to a newcomer. Another veteran, who had been discharged from active duty due to a serious injury taken to his spine. Some other attendees also shared their experience with trauma to make him feel more comfortable sharing, and they offered words of advice from previous meetings that had proven useful for them to cope.

The whole while, Wanda merely nodded along to the points she agreed with, never verbally offering anything of her own. She also fidgeted with her rings, trying everything in her power to not worry over whether or not James was watching her.

By the time the hour was up, Wanda’s fingers moved on to picking at the zipper of the jacket she had brought with her. Having momentarily forgotten about Sam’s request to talk to her, she made her way to the food table by sheer habit. Once she realized that she didn’t need to take anything back to Carol, she finally allowed herself to look around the room for James again.

Except he was gone.

Something sharp twisted in her stomach as the realization struck that she couldn’t see him amongst the other attendees, who had all hung around to visit with each other some more.

Just as she was taking a second glance over the room, Sam made his way over to stand beside her. He greeted her with a tip of his head and a simple, “Hey.”

“Hi,” Wanda returned politely, trying in earnest to focus on him despite her mind still being on James, and where he could have gone.

“So…” Sam started. “You and Barnes, huh?”

That actually got her attention on him.

“Yeah…” she said, feeling her cheeks flush a little again. She could hear Carol’s voice in the back of her memory, asking if there was some rule against that between group counseling attendees. A question she’d been sure she had the answer to until now. “Is that OK?”

“Well…” Sam sucked in a dramatic breath, slowly crossing his arms over his chest as it puffed out. “I’ll be honest with you. When I first noticed Buck acting all sweet on someone who wasn’t my sister, just to spite me, I was ecstatic. But then, when I realized it was you, I had this thought of, ‘well, now, hold on…there’s a dilemma here.’ ‘Cause, I mean…now who do I give the shovel talk to?”

Wanda released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. It left her in the form of a small, nervous laugh.

“And you know what’s funny?” Sam went on, still in that faux serious tone. “Yesterday, I saw your old Air Force buddy at the VA. Captain Danvers?”

“Carol, right.”

“Yeah. So, I chatted with her for a bit, and eventually got around to the topic of you guys. And I said to her, ‘hey, maybe we can help each other out. If you give the talk to Bucky, I can do the talk with Wanda.’ And do you know what she did?”

Wanda could only imagine. “Let me guess: she told you to not even bother?”

“Ah, no. No, nothing like that. She just laughed in my face.”

A snort escaped Wanda before she could stop it. She brought her hand up to cover her smile, as if that would take it back.

“Not gonna lie,” Sam continued, “the longer it went on, the more it actually started to hurt my feelings a little.”

“Oh, no!” Wanda said. Though, the sympathy was lost a little in the beginnings of another short chuckle.

Sam elbowed her for laughing, though it was still for show, as indicated by the fact that he was smiling too. It wasn’t until those gleaming eyes shifted downward, and his smile faltered a bit that he shifted to sincerity. “In all seriousness, though…how’re you feeling?”

“I’m alright,” Wanda assured. Then, knowing he wouldn’t accept anything more than the truth, she added in soft-spoken honesty, “I think the, uh…the general idea of dating intimidated me out, at first. But it didn’t have anything to do with him, as a person. And with James, I’m…I do want to give it a chance.”

Sam nodded in understanding. “I’m glad to hear it. And I’m glad he’s giving it a chance, too. You know, anything that gets him out of that vampire cave of his, I’m all for.”

Despite the jesting nature of his words, she could tell he was still being genuine about what was being said. Although, Wanda could feel her own smile slip a little as she glanced around the room again, still unable to actually find James.

As she searched, Sam went on, “And don’t even get me started on him actually asking for advice. From me! With no sarcasm intended! I thought I was having a stroke when that happened—you know, hearing things! But no, Nebula, heard it, too.”

“Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t that big a deal! He’s perfectly sweet.”

“Yeah, to you. But that’s just ‘cause nobody dislikes you.”

“Um…thanks?” Wanda said, pretending to be confused by the bitter tone in his voice as he said that.

“You’re welcome,” was his matter-of-fact sounding response.

Things fell silent between them for all of ten seconds before Sam started shifting the weight on his feet. “And, you know…”

The hesitancy in his voice was unlike anything Wanda had ever heard from him before. It earned him her full attention again, although he was now pointedly avoiding her gaze. “I mean, I know I probably don’t have to tell you this, but…he is still in that phase of readjusting to the civilian life. Given everything that, uh…came back with him, from his last tour—and it was his last. So, be patient with him, alright? And—again, I know you don’t gotta be told that. I’m sure you probably remember how it is.”

Wanda swallowed hard at the reminder. Sam may not have known everything about what brought her to Little Woods, but he did know some of the major points. He knew about her losing her parents, and escaping a city at the heart of her mother country’s civil war, and nearly losing her brother just after reuniting with him in a new country. They were things she had disclosed in brief with the grief group before. They were things that had uprooted her life and forced her to relearn how she lived, much like what happened to several of the battered soldiers returning home from combat in their group. Soldiers who must have been like James.

They were things you didn’t forget.

“Yeah. I remember.”

#WinterWitch #ScarletSoldier #Bucky Barnes x Wanda Maximoff #my stories #Bucky Barnes #Wanda Maximoff #Sam Wilson #Carol Danvers #this is one of those chapters #I would love to do in Bucky's POV too somehow someday

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stardust-walker · 4 years ago

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High Hopes

Chapter 1: The Highway

Synopsis: Dove Sawyer was more than happy going to her job, coming home, and maybe being able to talk to her sister if she was real lucky. None of that matters when the dead start to walk and she ended up in the woods with her older sister's family and a bunch of strangers. It's almost always been the two sisters but she never thought it would be so literal. Dove is sure in for a surprise when someone in the group starts to look after her family almost as much as she does.

Word: 1801

Author’s note: Ya girl is at it on tumblr now. The fic is also posted on AO3 here as well as on wattpad so I figured why not here as well since I’m posting Welcome Home mostly on here for now. I have 30 chapters up so I’ll be posting 2 or 3 a day until I’m all caught up! If anyone wants to be added to my taglist, just hmu.

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The young woman sat in the backseat of the Jeep Cherokee. She wished she'd had time to get her own car before her sister had panicked and basically dragged her out of the house with a half-packed suitcase, a few things already in her purse, and the clothes on her back. Ed was not happy about it and she could, for once, agree with him on that. It was a miracle they were both still alive 2 hours into a motionless traffic jam.

"Shouldn't they be saying something about this on the radio? What the hell is going on? Think you can change the station?" Dove finally spoke up for the first time in a half hour. The uncomfortable silence was broken by even more uncomfortable discussion. She could see the radio on but there was no noise coming from it since the emergency alert had stopped. She'd tried to be as delicate as she could with Sophia in the seat right next to her. Too bad her own father couldn't be so kind.

"Don't know. Guess a degree doesn't teach you everything." Ed snapped from the front seat and she noticed her sister tense up next to him.

"Jesus Christ, Ed. I was just asking you a question," Dove let out a heavy sigh as she pushed her door open.

"Where are you going," Carol's voice sounded slightly higher pitched than the last time she'd said anything.

"I'm just going to see if anyone else might know something. Maybe someone has a CB or heard from someone in the city. I'll be back. If I'm not back in a half hour, send a search party," she joked as she ruffled her niece's hair, not missing another snide comment about her being an uppity bitch from the man in the driver's seat. She hated leaving her family alone with Ed but right now she didn't really have a choice.

She felt like something was going on that someone else might know about and it was killing her not knowing. At least if no one else knew what was going on, she might be able to find someone actually intelligent to talk to. Anything was better than spending another minute inside the stuffy car in the Atlanta spring.

Part of her wished that she'd had time to change too. Damn Carol, she thought to herself as she pulled the fabric of her jean shorts back to their place an inch above her knee. Dove grabbed her sunglasses off the seat and slammed the car door shut as she started to meander her way down the freeway.

It wasn't weird to see an Interstate crowded or at a near standstill, but that was usually at rush hour with people going home or to work. Something about the way it was right now was eerie. It wasn't a feeling that was strange to her by any means, working in mental health will do that to you. Dove paused at the car up and over one from Carol's.

Her eyes lingered at the pistol on the man's hip before shifting upwards to his shirt. "Hey, officer. Any idea what's going on here?" She frowned slightly as she took a step forward, the man turned slightly to look over at her. A dark haired woman was sitting on the trunk of the car, a boy no older than Sophia perched up there next to her. The poor kid looked pale and stressed out. His mother didn't look much better.

"No clue. Maybe they're screening people on their way into the refugee center? Only thing that makes sense." The man looked concerned as he ran a hand through his hair. He seemed nervous. Dove nodded slowly and shifted her weight to her other foot.

"I hope you're right." She ran a hand across her forehead to wipe away the sweat. "I'm Dove, by the way. Dove Sawyer. Back there's my sister, Carol. She's got a little girl about your boy's age. Sure she wouldn't mind the company. Plus we might have some extra water in there if you're thirsty, bud." She smiled comfortingly in the direction of the little boy.

"Mom..." The little boy looked up at his mom. The poor thing looked so stressed out. She couldn't help but wonder what they'd been through before they decided to go to the refugee camp.

"We'll have to see, Carl." The dark-haired woman ruffled his hair before she kissed his forehead. "Thank you." Dove didn't miss the look she shot to the officer.

"Well, I'm Shane. That over there is Lori and the little man is Carl," Shane held his hand out and Dove shook it.

"Nice to meet you. I'm planning on trekking up ahead. Seeing if anyone's heard anything. People might have family in the city, you know? I'll probably circle back within the hour though. I'll be sure to let you know if I find anything out," she wished she could be a little more comforting especially with a little kid being involved. They did seem grateful for any information though. There was no doubt in her mind that the cop would try to figure something out just like she was.

With a quick wave, she bid Shane goodbye and started back off down the highway.

She'd definitely been gone longer than she told her sister and she'd gotten a quiet sort of hell for it when she got back to the car. Carol didn't want Ed to hear that she'd been worried about her. "Do you have idea how worried Sophia was?" Carol said through gritted teeth as the two women stood a few feet from the car. Dove frowned and shifted her gaze from the car to the ground. She was happy, at least, that Sophia seemed happy and distracted by Carl and his mother having joined them shortly after Dove had departed.

"Sorry, guess I just lost track of time," Dove couldn't shake the eerie feeling that still crept up her spine. The sun was had started to go down. "I didn't hear anything. From anyone else, I mean. Everyone's clueless. Something isn't right, Carol. People looked sick..." She trailed off as her brother-in-law glared in their direction. It was clear this conversation was over before Carol even took a step towards her husband.

Dove let out a heavy sigh. "Hey jellybean," she almost whispered as she walked up behind Sophia and ruffled her hair. Dove sat there with them for a while, Lori was pretty easy to talk to. She reminded Dove a little bit of Carol in that she could see the other woman was fiercely protective of her son just like Carol was with Sophia. "Shane hear anything?" She squinted her hazel eyes at the older woman who shook her head.

"No, they just keep playing the emergency alert over and over again now. Same one too. No updates or anything," Lori frowned as she leaned up against the car behind her son.

"Is that normal?"

"No it's not," Shane interrupted as he strolled up from the direction of his own car. Dove pursed her lips, any response lost as Shane pulled Lori away from the car. "We'll be back. I just want to go check something out."

Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. Dove's stomach twisted into a knot. She made a split second decision to pull the laces on her boots tighter before jumping off the trunk. "Where are you going now," Carol called after her as Dove started down the highway again. She needed to know what was going on. She had to.

Lori and Shane had disappeared behind the crowd of people that had started to fight on the highway before she even got within eyesight of them. "Hey!" Dove shouted as she came up closer to the fight. She stood up to her full height as she tried to get the attention of the group of men fighting. It happened fast, Dove had taken a step too close to the fight.

Next thing she knew was on the ground, her cheek throbbed where the stray punch had hit her. Dove pulled herself to her feet, a stream of curses ready to come out of her mouth when the bombs dropped. The sky lit up and buildings in the distance started to go down. There was no way this was happening.

A scream cut through the silence on the highway, followed by another. Cars were started up again, more fights were breaking out. Dove turned and started to run back to Carol's car. They had to go and they had to go now.

She caught a glimpse of something in a car she'd passed. The person who'd looked sick was leaned over the person in the driver's seat, their teeth digging into the neck of their partner as blood covered their face. The blood drained from her face and a feeling of intense panic made her blood run ice cold.

The rest of the run back to the car was so fast, she could've sworn she teleported. Lori and Shane were already back trying to wrangle everyone up. "Get in the car, Ed," was the first thing that Dove said as she ran right past the door to the backseat and attempted the trunk closed as Ed was looking through his things. Probably making sure the little boy hadn't taken any of his food.

The anger was evident in his eyes but she was powered by nothing but fear right now and that was a powerful thing. "You trying to tell me what to do, huh?" Ed was too close. She tensed up, ready to throw a punch if she had to when Shane called out over the chaos.

"Just get in the car, man. Shit's going down, bad!" There was something in the other man's voice that actually made the other man listen. He didn't look too happy about it but when a cop sounds scared, it's safe to say you should probably listen.

Dove practically jumped into the backseat and slammed the door behind her. Sophia scooted closer to her in the backseat and wrapped her arms around her aunt. "What's happening?"

Carol glanced back at them, a worried look on her face. Dove started to feel the pain on the side of her face as she stroked Sophia's hair, her hazel eyes locked with Carol's blue ones. "I don't know but don't you worry. You're gonna be just fine."

They'd ended up following Shane, there was no wonder about that in her mind. The line of cars following behind them made her feel a little bit safer too. People made it out but she had a feeling in her gut that there was no way this would be over soon. Life was going to be very different and she hoped she wasn't lying to Sophia when she said she would be fine.

_______

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@crossbowking

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angelkurenai · 5 years ago

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Imagine being part of the Black Widow movie with a character who is Bucky’s wife in the comics. Only you and Sebastian have a crush on each other so your costars try to set you up.

“Natasha, my sister. What brings you home?” Yelena only tilted her head when Nat rounded the corner with her gun raised. She frowned when she saw the blonde was only smiling at her, no gun of her own raised. And that was even more suspicious, or even scary and dangerous, than her having one pointed at her.

“We've unfi-” she started, the words having been on her mind from the very beginning and ready to be spoken after thinking about them too much. She stopped herself though, frowning deeply “Wait a second. Aren't you... going to fight back?” she put a smirk on her lips “Where's my welcome back party?”

“Oh there will be one. There will be.” the smile on Yelena's lips was even more worrying as the seconds ticked by, especially when Natasha watched her grab a chair and slowly move it to the side before taking a seat on it. And when she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back casually, it all clicked in her mind.

Natasha's eyes widened and a breath left her lips as she muttered “Well, fuck.”

She barely had time to let it all register before she swirled around and was met with very certainly a kick in the face. It wasn't strong only because the attacker was holding back but it managed to do the job of disorienting her, making her grasp on her gun loosen up. An arm quickly appeared, ready to take it from her but she quickly grasped it, pulling back only for the attacker to swing with to knocked on her hand while an elbow met her face. Taking advantage of the hand with a gun close to her, and after just having lost hers, she took hold of the arm and twisting forced it to drop it. Both parties jumped after the fallen guns, with a roll and twist, soon on their feet to face each other and point the swapped guns at each other.

Only two seconds of silence before “S'up sis.” you said with a wide smile that made Natasha laugh and shake her head a bit.

Glancing at Yelena from the corner of her eyes to notice the blonde had taken and poped a beer open, watching the show with interest. She looked back at you, gun still pointed and smiled even more “Figures you'd be here. Since she didn't even attempt to make a move.”

“I'd rather watch the show, thank you very much.” Yelena shrugged “It's been a long time. Oh and while we're on that-” she raised a finger “Twenty bucks on Red. Sorry, Natasha.”

“Only twenty? Come on, you drink like there's no tomorrow. How is Nat gonna buy for drinks later? That won't be enough. Unless Natasha has more on her?” you complained, looking at Yelena who pouted.

“But I only have twenty with me?” she raised the money in her hand, looking a bit more though her pockets but unable to find anything else.

“Fine.” you huffed “But you two keep it down on those damn drinks. I, as the winner, won't.”

“You two are literally the worst.” Natasha tried to say a bit more seriously but she only scoffed a laugh “Already so sure you'll win this, (Y/c/n)?”

“When have I not? Wait-” your shoulders relaxed a bit “Yelena, have I ever?”

“Absolutely not. I've kept count.” the blonde shook her head “And I doubt this will be an exception.”

“Thanks for the vote of faith you guys.” Natasha muttered with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey, I'm technically your opponent right here. Don't expect my vote of faith. Especially after so long. I'm kinda looking forward to see what new tricks those Avengers taught you.” you smirked, the both of you circling around each other. All Yelena did was lean forward in her seat to watch you both.

“It's been a long while. I'm pretty sure you've got a couple new ones yourself. Speaking of which-” her smiled turned into more of a teasing one and you prepared yourself for the worst “What has the great Red Widow been up to lately? Still saving, what was it, ah Red Sparrows from their fate?”

“Hardly. The new ones seem even less willing to be saved. I'm keeping my tabs on them but, you see, the world is a big place for only a handful of heroes. Never enough of them. Even more, ones willing to use all means necessary. You know how that is. So-” you shrugged “I've expanded my horizons.”

“Ah one would wonder why that is.” her smirk only grew, especially as she shared a look with Yelena, and you cursed at both yourself for your not careful words and your sisters “I suppose, there aren't any more Winter Soldiers to save from HYDRA anymore, are there? Oh it feels just like it was yesterday. There is that one in particular-”

“Alright-” you huffed, giving her and Yelena who was trying to stifle her laugh a glare “Is that how you're planning on winning this? That's a low move, Romanoff. And you- you stop laughing. That's not fair play.”

“Oh you've hit a spot there, Natasha. I might even have to reconsider my bet.” Yelena smirked and you shot her another glare.

“I mean, I kinda remember you always fell for the ones with the blue eyes, didn't you (Y/c/n)?” she insisted of course and you hated yourself for how easily you let it affect you, not that you really had any control over it “I've got a location, in case you're still interested.”

“Oh she is. I assure you of that. I've got enough proof.” Yelena smirked, taking a sip of her beer casually.

Natasha chuckled. You glared as hard as you could at her though you knew, you could practically feel it, that the heat had started traveling up your face “I hate you both so much right now. One more word and I give up on this.”

“Then, maybe, I shouldn't mention how he's asked me several times about you ever since he found out I knew you? Oh the questions he had and the times he brought you up.” the smirk clearly didn't leave her lips and you didn't even try to keep yourself from rolling your eyes.

“I'm never telling either of you a single thing again.” you sighed.

“Wow! What a scene!” the video cuts to Scarlett who is holding the phone – his phone Sebastian notes and he hardly can keep himself from wincing, preparing himself to do that later because nothing good could come out of this. And given how the woman uploaded the video in his own account and it has been up there for a good few hours now – because, let's hide his phone away that would be great too is what she must have thought of – there is no taking it back because far too many people have seen it. Now it's his turn. And, once more, given how he's aware of how well his friends know about his crush on you, based on all the endles teasing, he is prepared for the video to be the most embarrassing one of those moments.

“Red Widow, finally in the MCU, who's excited about that? I know I am! It's going to be amazing on the big screen, especially with such a wonderful actress as (Y/n)! I can't believe how I had managed to keep it a secret for so long. I know everyone is excited, I've been getting texts and calls from friends all these days, though the one that really has been more thrilled than anyone has kept quiet about it. As some would say. What I would say is-” he smirk was full of mischief “Has kept shy about it. Because trust me, if there is one reason I'm making this video for, it's Sebastian Stan. So this goes to Marvel... and possibly (Y/n) who is not sadly away these days filming but I have no doubt will see this.”

Oh no. Oh no. Goodness, he hoped not. He didn't dare take a look at the comments but he feared, after the countless notifications, that with all the attention this was getting you'd see it one way or another.

“And since I know you follow him and will be attentively watching everything he posts, I expect comments down below or like, definitely, a dm. You two either start texting each other or else I'm gonna smack you in the head because there is only so much mutual pining I can take.” she let out a small breath before grinning even more widely.

Mutual... what? Sebastian blinked twice or three or four times. He didn't know. He'd have to watch the video again and listen to that part just to make sure it was not his own wishful thinking. And definitely ask Scarlett about it. However, he had to watch the entire thing first to see for himself just how bad it was.

“Oh and don't think you're off the hook, Sebastian. This video is also about you, if not mainly about you. I'm doing you a favor, buddy, you'll thank me for this later. After, like, you dare come out of your house when you're done dying of embarrassment.”

So, actually never, if it was all going as bad as he imagined.

“See, as I've made very obvious, he's a great fan of hers. We all are, let's not kid ourselves. However, when he doesn't let his vast admiration for that great talent and possibly small- who am I kidding, big crush on her, take his mind away he has these brilliant ideas that I can't help but agree to. And even if he might be a bit too shy to admit it out loud, I'll go ahead and say this: Hey Marvel, give Bucky Barnes his wife in the MCU...” well, maybe not as bad as he feared. The crushing part had been mentioned more than plenty of times by the rest of his friends.

“Because Sebastian would totally love to share a kiss or two with (Y/n). And we want to see the most badass couple of the Marvel comics on the big screen too.”

Well, no, it was even worse apparently.

“As would her, but that's not the point here. I've been trying to figure out a way to get two idiots together and with all this distance and work, this is the best I could think of. Well-” Scarlett shrugged and it was then he noticed the laughing behind the camera “Chris Evans' really, but if it works, hey fine by me! He said something about being subtle but I ain't got enough patience for that anymore. So, there's that. Hopefully, Marvel and Kevin will listen, even more hopefully (Y/n) you'll see this and then even more hopefully as if by a miracle I won't have to listen to you two talk about each other, non-stop, ever again!”

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kawaiichibiart · 4 years ago

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After seeing the idea of Sun!Spirit/Prince Zuko, I've been wanting a Tangled AU. Zuko is Rapunzel, Ozai is Gothel, Iroh, Ursa and Azula are the King and Queen, the Gaang are Flynn/Eugene but Sokka is the one who ends up with Zuko. Mai and Ty Lee are the Stabington brothers but with the twist of not being criminals and the Kiyoshi warriors are the thugs from the Ugly Duckling.

Zuko is blessed by Agni the day of his birth, he has beautiful, golden, hair and he just...Glows. Ursa is happy with her child. Iroh and Lu Ten are happy with the new addition to their family.

But we need a bad guy in this. And who else but Ozai? Ala Gothel, he puts on a cloak, and a mask to cover up his face, and kidnaps Zuko and takes him away.

He planned for this. He said he had important meetings to attend to with certain people, like Zhao. Those people play alibi. So, when he returns to his distraught wife, brother and nephew, he acts distraught as well. His son was "taken" from him.

No one would ever know Zuko was hidden away, somewhere far away from the Fire Nation, locked away, because as Agni's chosen one, he needed the "protection." Zuko is special. People will want to kill him. Listen to your father, Zuko. Your father loves you, Zuko. Your father knows best, Zuko. You can't leave this place, Zuko. You don't know anything about the world, Zuko. Men are animals and women are either weak or don't care about you, Zuko. I mean, where is your mother, Zuko? She's not here, she doesn't care about you, Zuko. There was a war around them, Zuko. You can't take care of yourself, Zuko.

And we know Gothel was manipulative. We know she toyed with Rapunzel's emotions. Ozai would be the same, but we know he'd also be worse. The day he burned Zuko? He'd go off saying he's sorry. How it wasn't really his fault. Zuko was pushing him and he snapped. Zuko, how can you blame your poor father? So, of course Zuko thinks it was deserved. Of course he blames himself. He provoked his own father, the man who was "protecting" him from the dangers of the world.

Ozai would call Zuko his "Sun" much like Gothel referred to Rapunzel as her "Flower."

Zuko has a turtleduck as his only friend/pet. Not sure on names, but something ironic would be fun. Like, he doesn't know the name of his relatives, he doesn't even know he has a sister now. But he names the turtleduck Ursa, or Iroh, maybe even Lu or Lala (one of the nicknames for Azula). Ozai doesn't know about them. He doesn't know someone in his family shares a name with a turtleduck.

And who is the one who finds Zuko? Who gets knocked unconscious, is shoved into a wardrobe, gets tied up and made to take Zuko to see something he's always wanted to see? Sokka.

He's traveling with the rest of the Gaang. Will they be like Flynn/Eugene? Kinda. Toph and Sokka the prime criminals. Aang sometimes helps them, and Katara is just there to make sure they don't hurt themselves and to yell at them for being stupid and making her worry. They need a mom, so she stepped up.

What lead them to Zuko was that they learned of the Lost Prince, Prince Zuko, who was kidnapped as a baby.

In Tangled, we know the object that Flynn steals is Rapunzel's crown. I was thinking something else for Zuko. The crown would be a nice connection, but I think something else would be better. Something that connects him to either Ursa or to Iroh. If we go Ursa, they take the Blue Spirit mask. If we go Iroh, perhaps a Pai Sho tile that was turned into a necklace or a ring. We could even have both.

Sokka and Toph don't really get why these things matter. Like, it's not a crown or a nice blade. One is just wood and the other is part of a game. What's so special about them?

So, when Zuko puts on the mask, it feels oddly right, but also familiar. Before he was taken, Ursa would show him her masks. He was scared at first, but then curiosity won out and he would always reach out for the Blue Spirit mask. And Ursa was going to give it to him as soon as he was old enough to have it. When he holds the Pai Sho tile in his hand, it feels warm. Iroh, when he was around, would take care of Zuko and would often play Pai Sho while he did. Zuko would always reach for the white lotus piece. So, Iroh decided it would be his. But Zuko was only ever interested in that one tile. Never the game. So, he turned it into something he would and could wear.

Let's get back to the Gaang. Sokka hasn't reappeared. He hasn't called. He didn't come back to tell them that it was safe. So, one by one, they enter the tower (because I had to keep that element) and they just see Sokka, tied up, two blades against his neck and a boy who is glowing holding them.

The boy is looking at them wearily. He was told this place was safe. That he couldn't protect himself, but he caught a man, held him captive. But he was still yelled at. He didn't reveal his prisoner. His father had left, with the promise of bringing him some new inks and a play scroll for the celebration of the Solstice. But now he had three more people to fight. Three more people who would try to kill him. But they don't? They don't know who he is? Why he's special? Didn't they want to kill Agni's chosen one?

Cue to an awkward moment of the Gaang trying to convince a boy who was touched by the sun to let one of their members go and to join them. That they promised to not let anything happen to him. And he agrees, eventually.

And the journey plays out just like it did in Tangled. Zuko is conflicted. On the one hand, he's seeing the world. Yes, there's a war going on, but he's actually seeing it for the first time in his life. The world is so big and he's so curious about everything. His turtleduck quacks replies to his questions. It's kinda cute, kinda sad, and overall something the Gaang think should have been taken care of long ago. On the other hand, Zuko is paranoid. He's afraid. He's worried that his father would find out and be disappointed. That he really is a horrible son and human being. He can go from happy and curious about one thing to upset and stressed about the next.

And eventually, Sokka decides that maybe they should move on. He would take Mr. Sunshine back to his house. He'd get their stolen goods back. They'd depart as friends and be happy. But no, Mr. Sunshine wasn't backing down. He wanted this. He wanted to see the world and he was going to. Sokka is frustrated the most outta the Gaang. Toph enjoys Zuko's company, Aang gets along well with him and Katara has no real opinion of him. But Sokka? Yeah, he'd rather have Zuko go back so they can move on.

I want the Ugly Duckling to be the Jasmine Dragon. Iroh isn't in the day they arrive. But you know who is? Some of the Kyoshi warriors. Suki is amongst them. In this AU, she and her warriors weren't caught by Azula. When she learns that Zuko is living his dream, she reluctantly lets them go by. She brings up the war, and he knows, but he has so much to see, and if he can help people along the way, why would he turn his back?

Things start to look up, but then, Azula strikes with Mai and Ty Lee. She was told by her father of the boy with the golden hair. He was Agni's chosen one. He was more powerful than her. He would be a great addition to her court. So, she wanted to capture him. She didn't know he was her older brother (and yes, I'm aiming for this to have an Azula redemption).

Ozai stops them, knocking them all unconscious and takes a distraught Zuko away. And Zuko lets him. the Gaang abandoned him. They let the enemy take him. They let him think they cared.

He didn't know they were being held back. He didn't know that they tried to get to him. He didn't know that they were ambushed. That they had to retreat. Mai and Ty Lee are arrested earlier for attacking the Crown Princess. Azula wants to feel betrayed but can't. She's sure they didn't attack her, Ozai says she only believes that because they lied so well about being her friends. She takes his words to heart. Her friends lied to her and she let them.

Zuko eventually finds out EVERYTHING. He's the Lost Prince. Agni's chosen was the Fire Nation's Lost Prince. And he's seen what the war started by his own people a hundred years ago. He's met the avatar. He's made friends. He met people who actually care about him. He's done with his father. But Ozai wasn't letting him go. He leaves Zuko bound in the tower in order to fight the Avatar.

Who fights Azula? Mai, Ty Lee, who were broken out of prison by Iroh, and Katara. They weren't in the Boiling Rock. They don't have to fully defeat Azula, they just need to distract her enough for her to be caught. And some miracle, the trio succeed with little injury to either party.

Aang defeats Ozai and he, Sokka, Suki and Toph take Ozai to the palace where he would be taken away. But first, Sokka demands that Azula tell him where she took Zuko. She doesn't know. She never met her brother. So, when he tells her that the boy she was trying to capture was Zuko, she turns to her father in surprise.

The man who told her this boy who was their God's chosen one but never told her he was also her older brother. That he likely left out that detail to ensure she would capture him, bring him home now that Ursa was gone, so he could keep a better eye on him. It was never about making Azula a better court. It was never about giving her a powerful ally. It was just his want to ensure Agni's chosen was his and that he held him in a tight leash. He didn't care about either of them, and when she first met her older brother, she made sure he was afraid of her. That he knew she was above him. That he would know her word was final. Ozai made sure that she would. He told her that that was how she would succeed.

Ozai admits to it. How he was so sure he'd win. How they could ask, beg, torture him as much as they wanted, he would never tell them where Zuko was or if he was okay. So, he's taken away. And the Gaang begin a new search. Azula demands to go with them. She's messed up. She heard her mother grieve for her brother. Maybe, just maybe, bringing him home would make her come home someday.

They travel back to the tower and find Zuko. He's worn out from trying to get out of the chains Ozai put on him. There are burns on his wrists and hands. But the thing that surprises them the most, is the fact that his golden hair was now a deep black, but his eyes were brighter, more golden. His glow had died. Agni's chosen got hurt, he stood out and was hurt. So he was made to look relatively normal. Only those who looked for it, would see the signs that Zuko was his chosen child.

He and Azula have a strained relationship for a while, but they eventually bond and the day one is crowned Fire Lord, the other stands proudly by them.

Iroh returns from Ba Sing Se. His brother is in prison. His niece is okay. The war was over. But the day he returns, he goes to see Azula, to tell her he would help her run things until she could take care of everything herself, and he sees her with a boy. Something about him is familiar. The boy sits by her, fussing over her. The girl's mental and emotional health is a primary thing being seen to. And when Azula sees Iroh, she motions to the boy and asks if he knew Zuko.

Zuko.

Iroh looked at the boy and saw the White Lotus Pai Sho tile necklace around his neck. His hair is no longer its golden hue. His glow died down. But his eyes shouted Agni. This was his Zuko. And Iroh ran over and hugged him. His nephew was home. His nephew was safe. His family would get better.

Zuko is surprised that this old man hugged him. But, it felt nice. It felt right. But most of all, it felt familiar.

All of the Nations celebrate not only the end of the war, but the return of the Fire Nation Prince who was missing for 16, nearly 17, years. The Prince, who few knew as Agni's chosen. The Prince, who had told a few of the people he met when he traveled with the Gaang to call him Li. The Prince, Zuko, who was polite and curious and willing to learn. Zuko, who they hoped would take the throne, but who they were happy to have to ensure his sister didn't bring the war back.

One day, he and Azula would reunite with their Mother and her new family. One day they would meet their new sister, Kiyi. Kiyi, who would hear stories of her older brother, who her mother lost, of her older sister, who her mother had to leave behind.

Her older sister, who was jealous of her. Who struggled to see her mother didn't replace her. Her sister, who after a while, was so protective of her and did love her.

Her older brother, who got hurt for being who he was. Her older brother, who was taken by his own father. Her older brother, who was so kind to her, who played with her and answered her questions.

Ursa would see her children. Both raised by their father but not together. She would never forgive Ozai. For taking her son. For lying to her daughter. For hurting both.

She and Azula struggled to rebuild their relationship. But they do, eventually. The bond isn't as strong as it should have been, but it's there. And it's a start. And that's enough for her.

Zuko, on the other hand, is still in the process of learning everything Ozai told him was a lie. He thought for so long that Ursa didn't want him. That she left him. Abandoned him. So, when he encountered with the woman who was his mother, he didn't know what to think. With Iroh, well, he never knew about Iroh. He never knew he had a family besides his father, who lied and hurt him, and his mother, who supposedly abandoned him and didn't care about him. He never knew he had a sister until the day he was rescued. He never knew he had an uncle until he showed up and hugged him, saying how he was sorry he didn't look for him, that he should have looked harder, not given up. If he could forgive an old man. He never knew his cousin, who died in battle, who wanted to teach him everything he knew. And Ursa understands. She's sad about it, but she knows this is something she has to fix. She has to prove Ozai lied. That she cared about her son. That everyday he wasn't with her, she missed him. That, for as strong as he was, he still got hurt and she should have been there to help him. She sees the burns. The scars. And promises to never leave him again.

It takes time, but their family heals. And Ursa gets to do what she always wanted. She takes her family to see plays. She gives them play scrolls to read and they discuss them once a week. She and Azula talk over tea. They're civil. It's the most they can do at the moment. But both are happy with it. She and Zuko feed the turtleducks. His friend now lives among them.

If we go with he named them Ursa, she cries when she finds out. If we go the Iroh or Lu route, Iroh has tears in his eyes and he laughs with joy. If we go with La, Azula appears indifferent but she gives La a bit more food.

And we all know how it ends:

Sokka: And after years of asking and asking and asking...

Sokka: I finally said "yes."

Zuko: Sokka.

Sokka: Okay, okay, I asked him.

#atla #atla zuko #ozai atla #atla tangled au #sun spirit zuko #azula atla #avatar gaang #zukka #I know I kinda go off with these but like #once I get an idea #I need all the details to make it happen #like; I can adjust things #but I had to get everything down before I forgot

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streets-in-paradise · 4 years ago

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Let’s talk about the amazingly on spot social commentary on The Boys

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Season 1 and the first three episodes of season 2 of The Boys

Tags: @nehoymenyoy asked to be tagged. I don’t know if my tags are working well but if they don’t i will send you the link of the post.

I decided to make this post because i finished all the avaliable episodes of the series two days ago and, having a long talk with my sister about this topic, i tought this is too awesome to not discuss it here. We are both studying in careers of the social field, i'm in sociology and she is in social work. We watched the show together and talking with her inspired my own ideas i would like to share here.

This show was a wonderfull surprise in terms of social commentary. I haven't watched one with such a great commentary since American Gods. In that case i was expecting some degree of progressive commentary because i had read the book previously and i was aware the source material had some, the one added for the series is even better and it was great, but it wasn't a shock to find it. For The Boys i haven't read the comics first and , even when i loved the show for lots of reasons, the amazing on spot social commentary was a hell of a surprise. I have been frustrated lately in terms of the messages in entertaiment products because, even when there is a lot of intention for part of the makers to make more progressive points in their stuff, everything becomes bland marketing to me most of the time. I remember that some years ago media used to came out unintentionally with some really cool progressive messages ( like, for example, " a bug's life" and its anti capitalist message). That stuff seemed soo genuine and today i feel that everytime a product targets my demographic in that sense what they deliver it's soo bland and fake that the progressive intention of the message gets lost in the absolutely obvious intention of selling something to me using my ideals as catch. Precisely this is an important point of critic in this show. I didn't expected at all to get a genuine feeling in the social commentary of a superhero show. I'm not saying that this means i think the makers believe in this (after all, it's amazon), what i praise here is how good they did it. In a time when most productions claim to have a social commentary behind to come out as cool but result in shallow fake bullshit this series has provided me with something that feels autentic. Like American Gods, what i feel the show is trying to tell me actually gets me.

Before starting with the proper talk i want to dedicate a few línes to recommend a few scenes of the show i just mentioned. I was super dissapointed after finding out they will probably end up turning it into more bland fake bullshit for season 3 but, to anyone who likes well delivered social commentary, check on Orlando Jones's scenes as Anansi. He is my favourite character from the show and all his scenes are a blessing.

I would also want to clarify that this post and the opinions displayed on it are from an anti capitalist, intersectional feminist and latin american perspective. I know the show is very american, the issues it discusses are most of the time worlwide but it has particularities of the american context so i will try to talk only of what i feel i know enough to have a word. I'm argentinian and we have our local versions of some of this problems but i will stay in the series territory trying to be as faithfull as i can to the american reality it gets inspiration from. Also, forgive me for any mistakes on my writing and expresions. English is not my native language.

Superheros are modern mythology. How would this work in real life?

This is the basic premise of the show’s worldbuilding. The great thing is that this concept is not developed in an edgy, pretentious way. It is serious and painfully real because it’s not only a subversion of tropes, it says a lot of what superheros are to us as a modern times myth. In a superficial view, the world of The Boys feels like what the MCU could have become after the Sokovia accords if they would have been efficiently followed on a worldwide scale.

In that particular universe i use as reference, our superheros are noble and morally heroic individuals.State intervention is the factor threatening to corrupt their actions making them follow the interests of the system. The risk there, along with some very shady violations of human rights to powered people, is having superheros tied to something as unstable as political power. You can fear, for example, what a Trump-like president could do if he had power over the Avengers because, again, the heros are not corrupt, their line of command is. Now, if we strip away all the idealization we had putted on this bunch of powered persons and see them as what they truly are at the end of the day, people like everyone else. Why are we supposed to believe they are immune to corruption? If we also consider the phenomenon of strong privatization of security that has been growing worldwide . Wouldn’t they be more like security workers working for a private contractor? Less like heros and more like private military / security officers? Now, this is what we are talking about.

What feels so different from this show is that it assumes a surprisingly realistic point of view on a modern fantasy we are very used to consuming and still constructs a new power fantasy that empowers the viewer. I’ m saying this as an MCU fan, I had grown too comfortable with this optimistic fantasy and this twist from it is brilliant. To put some context on what i want to say here i will try to explain myself first on why i think that superhero fiction have this enormous popularity today and it has become such a huge thing in entertainment. Besides of the obvious reason of big companies producing big exciting action blockbusters for the genre, it’s curious to think on how much these stories gathered a lot of progressive audiences. In past decades action blockbusters didn’t felt progressive, today’s superhero blockbusters were embraced by progressive audiences and this was the start of a twist in general for the media. I think that there is a contextual social reason for this, not the only factor but one i feel is considerable.

Late Stage Capitalism crushed us, we are so used to injustice and the control the system has over us is so big that we have slowly stopped dreaming of changing it ourselves. Instead, the fantasy of a superhuman who has the power we don’t have saving us from oppression feels really comforting. Captain America becoming such a huge icon in the middle of a time where extreme facism is rising again all over the world, for example. I don’t know much about his comic counterpart but, at least from what i see in the movies, Steve’s ideals feel to me like all those aspects from French Revolution’s Enlightenment that capitalism dropped away once bourgeois defeated their feudal rivals and capitalism got consolidated, the freedom and equality that feudal lower classes fought for. Today, we feel too small to make a difference so we enjoy the fantasy of powerful persons leading the fight for us. Capitalism feels more unstoppable than ever, it is the only thing who seems strong to remain in a terribly chaotic world. The suffering this cruel system brings to this world is overwhelming, we feel only a miracle can save us now. This is what feeds the narrative of the superhero as modern myth and saviour of humanity.

The Boys tosses aside all our hopes and dreams, presenting us with the most realistic escenario. Superheros are not the miracle we are waiting for, they are humans like everyone else. They are not sacred entities existing beyond our societies, they are part of the system and they insert on it as part of the security industries. They can be corrupted and they work in corrupt institutions in benefit of the ruling class like every other security provider in capitalist societies. They become a new face of the security forces in constant tension with police and military because the myth of the superhero provides them with the public trust those other two forces lost. People lost their trust in cops but they trust sups because they are supposed to be this noble individuals mobilized by their personal feelings of injustice trying to make the world a better place … right? Police are the forces of the ruling class but superheros are supposed to be with us, or at least this is what common sense and propaganda claim, having our hopes as a base to work on.

For someone so used to the typical superhero fantasy this felt like a slap on my face back to reality. It soo accurate , the system tends to capture any revolutionary input and turn it into profit. Even if the sups could had been a revolutionary factor at the beginning, the most likely thing to happen is for them to become a profitable industry. If we add to this what we already know of the actions of police and military in our real world we have a combo for disaster. The realistic twist is so fresh and painfully real, i can totally see this happening in real life if superheros were a thing.

We have already introduced ourselves in the world of this story, let’s check on the first main character this series introduces to us. Hughie Campbell, a college age guy who works in an electronics store, lives with his dad and has the most boring average life you can imagine. This guy who is too afraid to ask his boss for a pay raise changes overnight when a superhero kills his girlfriend in front of him and the big corporation the asshole works for covers up the whole thing. The “average guy becomes a hero” trope is not new at all, but the use it has here feels fresh because it is not there only to feed the male geek power fantasy. Hughie is not a geeky average guy only so geeky average guys can identify with him in an action series full of geeky references,he is not there to be the nerdy guy from Robot Chicken. Hughie’s characterization makes a point for everyone. The smallest most unimportant person, the one who can't even stand up for themselves in everyday situations, can make a change. Remember Samwise Gamgee fighting Shelob in Lord of the Rings? Hughie killing Translucent gives me that vibe. If we consider the point i already stated about superheroes being there when we feel too small to fight back injustice, this is the exact opposite. This is a fantasy that gives us the power, makes us think in our own strengths. Hughie is standing up for himself for the first time in his life and he inspires us to fight for our rights.

Pharmaceutical,Security and Entertainment industries and their business system : Superheros as lab rats,elite security forces and celebrities.

This part of the post is the hardest to write and the most exquisite. There is so much to talk about about this system Vought shaped tying these three billionaire industries together. The first thing i want to mention, as a point to start, is Butcher’s ramble over the teddy bear with a camera inside in his meeting with Hughie. Perfect introduction for the character with a delightful moment of commentary. In our current societies people live in constant fear for hundreds of reasons. Fears over street crime had skyrocketed all over the world even when crime is not growing uniformly in every country and that accelerated the privatization of security, fears of parents over the strangers they leave they kids with when they are not home inspired products like the one mentioned in the series’s moment, fears on the effects of processed foods are an impulse for the diet industry and i could keep naming lots of other examples. Fears, and the emotional response they trigger , are the base of profitable businesses.

I had been reading some authors that describe this stage of capitalism as an emotional one. Capitalism preached science and rationality during the past century but today its base of support is an emotional one. To excite the sensations of the people as consumers, to eliminate rational criticism, to push anti popular agendas through emotional excitement and mass hysteria. To cite another example that you can consider bounded to the series, Right Realism in Criminology is now almost common sense and there are people who keep asking for harsher punitive systems. This ideology, with the help of media panic, goes straight after their feelings and fears of being victims of violent crimes. Rational thinking is not the area of discussion, the base of the argument is on fear and pain. Fear of being potential victims, pain shared with the victims thinking in solutions that sound more like revenge than justice.

Going back to my point, in the world of The Boys this type of punitivism seems to have succeeded even in a greater way than in our current world because it has superheros as backup. If real life harsh punitivism feeds on fear and a wish for social revenge, in this world it has the positive emotions supes inspire on people as a trust certificate for the persons who may not feel that way. They are loved and worshipped celebrities, their faces are everywhere, they have thousands of fans… who would see flaws in what they do? Can you imagine a world in which we worshipped cops and soldiers like we worship celebrities? This is it, people put their blind faith in them because most of them seem to be their fans. Even the people who are against brutality in the actions of security forces would end up trusting them because they are famous people. Our culture has taught us to make ourselves blind to the bullshit we see on the celebrities we love. Fans have a strong emotional attachment to their favourite celebs and this can turn into emotional manipulation in this context. If actors or singers in real life can have a fanbase that forgets to see them as human people how would these actual superhumans not end up being worshipped as gods?

There has always been military propaganda in entertainment but this marriage between the industries through superheros is far more sinister than that. It makes you think about the unfair amount of credibility we put in celebrities. The plane crash scene of Homelander and Maeve it’s even more devastating looking at it from that perspective. Those persons had their full trust in them and they were safer with the terrorists. Can you imagine being a Homelander fan and dying there? That’s horrible, the last thing you get in your life is the biggest disappointment ever from someone you trusted and stanned.

Speaking of Homelander, he is a right wing wet dream and one of the best villians i had ever seen, he makes me feel sick with how fucking despicable he is. His character is an excellent point to start the ramble on the third wheel of this corporate nightmare. Superheros are products of the pharmaceutical industry, injected with a drug since they were babies. In his particular case, he was raised like a lab rat and the series is realistic even in this detail. The lab rat kid with superpowers is another common trope that we see pretty often and here it also gets twisted. I’m thinking for example on Eleven from Stranger Things, she has been raised by abusive scientists who treated her as an experiment, yet she is this sweet kiddo who has a hard time socializing. Instead, Homelander is a monster without conscience or mercy and seems to be severely affected by his abnormal childhood. Brilliant, he is the ultimate product of this corporative triangle and depicts everything that's wrong with it.

The cycle is pretty clear: drugs create them, they play their role in security and their media notoriety justifies their actions. As it is shown in season one, the security aspect of the corporate complex represented mostly in Homelander’s actions craves to grow bigger and get supes into the military since, in the startpoint of the series, they only work with cops. Since the industry feeds on fear and Vought seems to have a monopoly in the production of powered persons there were no threats big enough to justify the intervention of superhumans in wars. Dismissing the importance of this monopoly for the company, Homelander suministrates the drug to terrorist groups in an attempt to create the first super villains. This is a perfect analogy of how the american war machine works. There is no way for terrorist groups from Third World countries to get access to sophisticated war technology without help from the ones who wield that power better than anyone. The first mentions of the supe terrorists reminded me of when i was in my course of worldwide history in college and i learned there how most of those famous names in middle eastern terrorism were actually friends with the CIA before at some point. Here in South America we have other history regarding the style of USA intervention, the Plan Condor dictatorships in the 70’s and early 80’s. I was just starting my career when I had a month of history classes about the Middle East and, being pretty ignorant on the matter, it shocked me the way in which the US villainized people they used to work with. I think the series makes a great point with this part of the plot because it hints something of this war mechanics.

Gender politics of the series: a surprisingly complex approach on the topic of sexual assault ,a realistic critic to bland white feminism and the empty cashgrabbing ways in which mainstream media adapts feminist discourse.

This topic was even a bigger surprise for me. I wasn't expecting such an interesting approach of gender issues, mostly because this is the area in which media wannabe woke messages had become more dissapointing to me lately. Specially in a show about superheros, i wasn't expecting to get very interesting points.

I will start talking of the portrayals of sexual assault. We have two sexually assaulted characters in the series, Starlight and Becca. First, i think it is great that they didn't used the "rape as character development" trope. Actually, it's cool how they mock this conceptions. When Starlight saves a woman from being raped on the streets or when she makes a public statement about her sexual assault it's the people behind her, building her public image as a character, the ones who push that trope. In the first time their great character development idea is to sexualize her outfit, after the second event mentioned they literally push her sexual assault as development. I love how the public relationships team acts oftenly in a men writing women way, serving as mirror for the most common mistakes of writers on pop culture products when they write female characters.

Going back to my point, i like the effort they putted into portraying differences in both cases. Homelander is the typical portrayal of a rapist, a narcisistic monster without remorse, a deranged son of a bitch. The Deep is also a piece of shit, but of a different kind. There is a phrase that feminists of my country had popularized " los violadores son hijos sanos del patriarcado" ( it means, the rapists are healthy sons of the patriarchy. It tries to explain they are not crazy individuals who act outside societal circunstancies), the Deep reminded me of that.

He is not crazy, he is an insecure guy with a super fragile ego who abuses women for power. Insecurity on men under patriarchy tends to become bashing of women. This is not a black and white portrayal of a sex criminal, it is surprisingly complex. Of course,his actions were unexcusable. He will never repay what he did to Starlight and other women before her but he has chances of working on his issues and, eventually if he trully wants to get better, stop being the scumbag he is. He is not a deranged criminal whose only fate is to be neutralized for the safety of others.

I think this is important because, at least in my country, i had seen people using sex offenders as an example of why countries without death penalty should implement it. I don't support extreme autoritarian security measures and it makes me sick to hear that there are people claiming those as solutions in the name of women's safety. I like the approach they took to portray The Deep as the piece of shit he is but still showing the complexity of this issue instead of going for a more traditional dichotomic way.

Back to the mocking of mainstream media's attempts of adopting a feminist approach i mentioned, the season two got even better at this commentary on the "Strong Female Character" trope with the introduction of Stormfront. She is the literal embodiment of what shitty marketing says an empowered female character must be and has the biggest "I'm not like other girls" complex ever. That interaction she had with Starlight in "pink = bad, pants = cool" mood was super annoying and blaming her for the assault?? Freaking disgusting.

Honestly, i hated her soo much even before she showed her true colours completely. Stormfront represents everything i hate in Hollywood's feminism and the crappy meaningless messages it's pushing lately. She reminds me to all the fake "woke" advertisements i had seen on tv, like a Carefree (pads brand) advertisement that pissed me off last week because with the slogan " self trust is beauty" it portrayed girls who wear make up as fake and insecure.

Now, speaking of that particular scene of her killing Kimiko's brother. I felt literally sick, even sicker than in every Homelander scene. This bitch is worst than Homelander because at least he gathers a public that serves to his views. If you ever need to provide someone with a proof of why intersectionality in feminism matters use this racist bitch. Horryfying racism hidden behind the progressive mask of a bullshit privileged version of feminism, the thing i hate the most. She has a strong nazi terf vibe. I think she absolutely applies as mirror of critic to stuff like Rowling's terf nonsense.

The introspective look this series has regarding the multiple issues on today’s attempts of gender approach on media entertainment surprised me. It’s everything i would had wished something to point out but nobody seemed to have the guts to make it happen because, as i already said, the current trend is what it’s being focus of critic here.

I will end this now, i feel there is plenty of more stuff to talk about but this post is getting very long and, if i get more ideas i want to discuss, i can always make a second post. As i said before, this expresses my humble opinions and i’m open to hear different interpretations that can enrich my views.

Thanks for reading this extra long ramble.

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 4 years ago

Text

Insight ~ J.M.

Request: “... jack morton x male reader and instead of Vera taking the potion to stop the sons of Prometheus from killing jack the reader takes it and he’s had a super hard life to (Vera son if you want because I totally agree with that other post) and while people are going through his pain and memories jack sees the readers crush on him and he teases him about it...” by anon

MASTERLIST

Two words.

All Y/n had to do was say two words, and the entire quart yard took a collective gasp. Even Vera slowly looked over to her son, eyes wide and watery.

Vera had always struggled to have kids. After she’d had her daughter, it had been a miracle. The relationship she’d had her from, Vera didn’t like to talk about, as most of her relationships were. So when her little girl had begged and begged and begged for a siblings, Vera’s only option had been adoption. The two had gone together to meet people and look into children. It had taken a while, because Vera’s daughter had been as picky and precise as Vera was. When they’d found Y/n though, there was an immediate connection. He was quiet and distant and reserved. The little girl had made a joke about how the little boy was just like her mommy, and then a few months later he was in their home and supposed to be part of their family.

Vera and Y/n had never talked about Y/n’s past. The boy had clammed up and shut down every time it was mentioned, so Vera had learned very quickly that it was off limits. She had allowed him to find the time to come to her if he ever wanted to, and allowed him to just be her son. His past didn’t matter - she was his family now. After her daughter and his sister died, they bonded over the lost and clung to each other even more. What were past hardships when they had things to worry about right in front of them? It just hadn’t mattered.

Until now.

The years before the Stones were the worst years. Vera had always thought herself a terrible mom, but when she looked into Y/n’s mind and saw the years before, she realized why he always thought so highly of her and defended her to his dying breath. She saw himself in his eyes. A savior.

One he had betrayed.

Vera still remembered the day her children had been playing without him, and Y/n had offered his sister food from his lunch because she was still hungry. He’d just started opening up, and was a very light hearted, pleasant child. He had just started to really soften and warm up and it was so nice to see it.

To be fair, he hadn’t known she was allergic to peanuts, and he hadn’t known about epi pens, let alone how to use one.

It wasn’t his fault.

He had still never forgiven himself.

All of these things roiled around in the minds of every single person who was in that courtyard and they all looked Y/n and for once each eye that met his saw past all of his guards and protections and through his carefully constructed mask to the boy underneath. The scared, lonely who had only ever hurt any person he’d gotten close to. The child who just wanted love and safety, but believed in his bones he was cursed to experience nothing but suffering. If he had to bring it, he would, because he was simply that bad. He never meant to, but he always would.

The guilt and self hate and hardships he’s endured an entire life time roiled inside each person, and one of the Sons of Prometheus looked at him and asked with a soft voice, “Hw do you bare it?”

He took an even breath. His eyes were watery and he fought tooth and nail to get the tears to go away. His heart was racing and his nails dug into his palm as he desperately tried to keep it together. “Because I have to,” was his response. And they all saw that in his mind, it was true. He had spent the last several years trying to make up for the struggle he brought wherever he went. Protecting Vera from all he could. Making everyone’s life as easy as he could. Working nearly to death to have everything in order and taken care of so everyone could depend on him. Even now he had taken the potion and said the spell that would shove all of the things he was most afraid to show anyone into the heads of the people whose opinion he most cared about. For Vera, so she wouldn’t have to.

But that wasn’t completely true was it?

“Jack’s in danger?” My voice came out much more even than I felt capable of delivering. Inside was a torrential storm. Hurricanes rammed against his skin from the inside, beating against his lungs and heart. tsunami of emotions pounded his stomach, making it twist and hurt. His entire body was aching, and all because he couldn’t get the image of Jack Morton being dead out of his head.

Who could stand the idea of the person they loved being in any kind of danger?

What would stop them from doing everything and anything necessary to save them?

He didn’t just have to do it because Vera needed him. He pushed himself harder so Alyssa was less stressed so that she and Jack could be together with more peace, and he did it because he loved Jack enough to sacrifice himself for their happiness.

He took the brunt of the memory wiping so the wolves would have someone to be mad at other than Vera and Alyssa. He did the hardest work and played the bad guy.

He played the bad guy so that everyone could so easily hate him, and he allowed it to happen to lessen hardship and conflict and struggle. He let his name be a curse and his existence be a regret because if you had someone to throw all your bad emotions at, then you could throw those emotions and be rid of them and move on.

Y/n took on every struggle to lessen the hardships of others, and he did it without complaint or hesitation or doubt.

Vera was the only person who really knew Y/n, and even she didn’t know this.

Turning attention from Y/n, Vera took charge. Y/n stood there, stone cold and put together on the outside as he always was even as he burned and screamed and thrashed on the inside. It didn’t matter that they all knew what he was feeling despite his efforts he was to afraid to SHOW how badly he felt. If he could look strong, people would respect him even more, especially knowing how much he hurt inside. Respect was all he had.

Other than disdain.

When it was over, Y/n didn’t wait for his mother, or the two students to catch up to him. Alyssa and Jack, of all people. The three people he probably cared about the most and hid the hardest from had just seen all of the things he had so long desperately tried to bury, and despite knowing he would have to face them eventually he got in his car and he drove. He had known that this would happen and had planned this by bringing his own ride, which had surprisingly been allowed with little problem.

He was determined to avoid every single person in that courtyard for as long as he could, even though he knew it wouldn’t be long until he had to face at least one of them.

Listen, he knew forever was out of the question, but he thought he’d get at least a day. A full 24 hours just maybe. Time to compose himself and for the spell to wear off and for him to push it all back down again and organize it like it usually was. Like he always did when he was upset, but this time with desperation because there were three people he was going to have to deal with regularly who knew he was lying through his teeth no matter how believably okay he looked.

He got ten hours before his mom found him.

Really, looking back, he shouldn’t have been surprised. She was the principal at his school. What did he expect?

“Y/n,” Vera began softly. She had a sort of edglessness to her in that moment, and it made Y/n shift. She was as guarded as he was, so to see her regret and pain and love written all over her face... maybe she only felt it fair since she’d seen all of him, that he was allowed to see all of her.

“You don’t have to do this,” Y/n rushed, wanting to bolt. “You really don’t have to. I know it wasn’t my fault. I know that you don’t approve of a lot of the things I do and feel and think. I know you see just how much I am exactly like you and you hate it because you wanted me to be so much happier. Better, for my own benefit. I know I could be an emotional mess and a failure and you’d be more relieved than seeing me be like this. I know how much that hurt you. I also know you hate being pitied, so I took that fall. Please, I hate being pitied too.”

She shook her head, approaching her son. “I don’t pity you, Y/n. I ache for you.” She pulled him into a hug and at first he just let her hug him, but then she didn’t pull away so he finally wrapped his arms around her. Once he hugged her, it was impossible not to melt into her touch. He felt the weight of years of hidden secrets melt off of him. He was glad that if he had to tell a bunch pf people the things he most wished to keep hidden, his mom was one of the people who had to be there. He was glad she knew. “I’m sorry. For your sake, I wished I’d been better at teaching you how to forgive yourself.”

That was fair. “You were too busy teaching me how to do everything else. And without you, I wouldn’t have made it very long.” He squeezed her, burying his face in her neck. “I’m so lucky to have you as a mom. I’m so, SO lucky. I’m... I’m sorry for- I know it’s not my fault but-” And there were the tears.

“It’s okay,” Vera soothed. “It’s okay.”

They stayed there for a while, until Y/ finally cried and then calmed down. They separated and Vera touched his cheek. She gave him the saddest smile and he returned a watery one back. They stayed in her office until Y/n was ready to face people again, and as he left the room he felt a lot better than he’d expected to.

Maybe he’d been wrong about this whole confessions and emotions thing.

His mind changed pretty quickly when two days later he was faced with Alyssa Drake. He expected her to hate him. After all, they’d never gotten along. Alyssa was one of the very many people who thought Y/n was a shitty person. She’d always been clear that she thought he was the worst the Order had to offer. After years of coming nowhere near even getting along or being civil, she had seen into his mind and saw that everything she knew about him was a lie, and that on top of all of that, he was in love with her boyfriend.

Despite all the reasons he was sure she had to loath him, what he got from her when they were stuck on the same duty together was a small smile and a warm greeting. “Hey.”

He treaded carefully. “Hello.”

After a moment, she casually continued, “How have you been?”

Y/n wasn’t about to shut her down. He had no reason to be a jackass to her, and now that Alyssa thought about it, he’d never actually been a rude person. He’d just taken the blame and never corrected assumptions. Even now, when she knew how terrified he was and how much he wanted to be anywhere but with her, having any sort of conversation, he was still considerate and polite enough to respond to her and respond to her in case she needed closure about anything.

“Well enough, considering,” was Y/n’s response.

Alyssa nodded. The conversation was almost between two friends, which was so incredibly bizarre that other members of the Order looked at the two and seemed to be absolutely bewildered. After all they’d seen and the impossible they’d faced, Alyssa Drake and Y/n Stone exchanging friendly small talk was the thing they couldn’t handle. Y/n noticed it and wondered what theories were going around in peoples’ heads. Alyssa just ingored them.

Instead, rather out of nowhere, she mentioned very lightly, “You’re supposed to ask how I’ve been now.” Her eyes twinkled with a sort of light teasing mood, and Y/n almost smiled.

Y/n Stone almost smiled.

“How have you been, Alyssa?”

“Very good, thank you for asking. Jack and I broke everything off officially, after a really long talk. That was hard. But it was a lot better for both of us in the long term. We’ve been struggling since the beginning, and after all we’ve been through it’s time to stop trying for something that’s only going to hurt us. you know?” She smiled at the way Y/n went rigid. “There are options out there for both of us. I think for now I just want to take some time for myself. I have a lot going on, and it’ll be nice to take a breather and not worry about what the hell is going wrong with me and Jack this time.”

Y/n nodded, trying to seem collected even as he was wound tightly. “Are you guys going to stay friends?”

“No,” Alyssa answered. “Not- for now, I mean. We actually both handled the whole break up a lot better than we thought, but we still need time to separate ourselves from each other before we could ever get to being just friends. We did talk about having like weekly check ins, maybe. Because we do still care for each other, and the idea of just disappearing from each others’ lives would suck. But I mean he’s got a lot of issues with me after the whole memory thing that he needs to come to terms with, and it’s been months where he didn’t even know who I was. Months that I had to see him with someone else every day. Eventually I got used to the idea that we weren’t together anymore. Trying to make it now is trying to put something far beyond fixing together again. It just doesn’t work anymore.”

This time when Y/n nodded, it was a lot smoother. “That makes sense.” He looked at her directly. “And you’re doing this because of those reasons and nothing else?”

She met his eyes without stepping down. Not many people could do that. “I’m not going to lie to you, Y/n. I told you, we both have better options for us out there. We had a long talk, and it didn’t come out of nowhere. It was triggered by something. But that’s all. Just because something starts something, doesn’t mean that something is the reason it ends.”

Fair enough. It was something he could accept. He had the opinion that they were bad for each other anyway, and they’d probably seen that. All the many hours Y/n had wondered why they even bothered after everything. The annoyances and doubts he’d had, not because he thought he had a chance with Jack, but because he saw how much they were both suffering and thought they deserved better. They’d both seen those thoughts and recognized them as having merit. Despite emotional idiocy, Y/n was very smart. His sense had been just what they needed to see that it really was pointless. At this point they were just hurting each other, and what was the point of love if it hurt?

Y/n wouldn’t argue with a decision he agreed with.

He would however argue if Jack tried to make a move on him, because he was absolutely not down to be a rebound or pity dated or whatever reason Jack Morton might find interest in Y/n Stone now that Y/n’s feelings were out in the open and Jack was single.

The rets of the night Y/n and Alyssa were silent. It was a comfortable silence, but Y/n had a lot on his mind and Alyssa seemed to sense that. He was appreciative for her not pressing her, and he was beginning to think she might know that better than he wanted her to.

Y/n saw Jack from a distance a few times for the next few weeks. He kept expecting Jack to approach him, but it never happened. It took a few times before Jack even acknowledged Y/n being there at all. When Y/n stopped immediately looking away and then looking back to see if Jack was still looking, or just running away altogether, Jack started smiling at him. When they found each other doing something together for any reason, Jack was perfectly polite and never seemed to flirt or mention Y/n’s feelings or his break up with Alyssa.

It was like Sons of Prometheus had never happened, aside from the fact that Jack and Alyssa were nice to him now and would shut people up if they talked bad about Y/n around them. Which was a major shock for everyone, including Y/n, but also had absolutely not been what Y/n had expected. He’d been gearing himself up for them to use it against him at first, getting revenge for all the things they were mad at him for. After the conversation with Alyssa, he’d expected to have to deal with Jack trying to use Y/n as a rebound. Neither happened.

A month later, Jack finally talked to Y/n. It was in a completely normal setting, where they’d both been getting lunch and Jack had asked to sit with him. Y/n had agreed, intrigued by what was going through Jack’s head. When the other man just made small talk, Y/n finally snapped. “What’s your deal?”

Jack rose an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Y/n thought about his words carefully. He rarely lost his cool or talked without meaning to. His anxiety was getting to him more than he’d realized. He didn’t know how to ask Jack about that day and his reaction to Y/n’s feelings for him without actually bringing up said feelings. His eyes fell to his food. He realized he was glaring, but couldn’t force his face to smooth out like he normally could. Finally he looked back up at Jack, who he realized had stilled, waiting patiently for Y/n to collect his thoughts. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Why you and Alyssa are being friends with me.”

“Why?” Jack asked casually, returning to his food. “Because you’re in love with me?”

Slamming his fork down, Y/n leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t say it out loud like it doesn’t mean anything.” He felt suddenly very vulnerable and defensive. For the first time since his sister had died, someone really knew how he felt. They knew the real him, past lies and what he wanted people to see when they looked at him. Except this time he didn’t know what they were feeling or thinking - not even in the slightest. He absolutely hated it.

Jack focused on his food for a few seconds, but he didn’t take a bite. “Y/n...” He looked up, but this time his face wasn’t a sort of detached amusement, it was full of conflict and hesitation. “Alyssa told me about what she said to you.”

Y/n’s jaw worked. “Has anything changed since then?” His voice was a lot more quiet and full of hope than he wanted it to be. Crap! He wasn’t supposed to be like this! He wasn’t supposed to be the one excited for this change. He was supposed to be strong and ready to turn down Jack, because Jack needed to think about himself before he just humped into a new relationship. And yet here they were, and Jack hadn’t mentioned any interest in Y/n once, and Y/n was the one who was still pining.

Shaking his head, Jack didn’t seem to pick up on Y/n’s silent, accidental plea. There was something he wasn’t saying though and Y/n shifted, suddenly very nervous. Was he about to get shot down? Was Jack about to make it so very clear that they could only ever be what they were now? Pleasant acquaintances, where one of them were in love with the other, but the other could never feel the same. Jack seemed to look into Y/n’s eyes and see those thoughts, and he seemed to... smile.

“You know, everyone always thinks that me and Alyssa were in love the first time we looked at each other.” His smile grew, amusement dancing across his features. “That we were each other’s first option, from the very beginning.”

That surprised Y/n. “You weren’t?”

Jack shook his head. “You were my first option.” Y/n went solid, his eyes widening. He looked like a shocked statue, frozen forever in perpetual stunned silence. When it didn’t seem he was going to recover anytime soon, Jack continued speaking. “I was on a tour with her when I saw you. Alyssa noticed the way I looked at you and laughed at me. AT the time, I knew a LOT more about the school than her because my grandpa had taught me about it, in preparation for getting into the Order. You remember the whole thing between me and Coventry.” Y/n nodded. “She made some comment about how I didn’t know EVERYTHING about this school, because I was showing her up and she wanted to knock me down a peg. Told me she dared me to ask you out, and had this really smug look on her face.” He chuckled at the memory. “Well, easy to say that when she was helpful and helped me join the Order - as much as she’ll refuse to admit it - it was a pretty easy pick between the pretty girl who had been so nice to me, and the really hot guy who seemed to be a total dick.”

Y/n blushed. “You’re so full of shit,” he accused.”

A grin light up Jack’s face. “I’m absolutely not.” An unsure smile rose to Y/n’s face as well. He picked up his fork, busying himself with his food as Jack picked up the story again. “I was becoming a tree that day.” His face turned odd, like a mix of horror and disbelief. Jack seemed to be having a hard time believing it had happened, even though he’d been there. “Me and Alyssa were already talking about breaking up. Things between us had already gotten so convoluted, and she had never really gotten over my attraction to you. Among with other things, of course. That day, she chose the Promethians instead of me. I would have been able to get over it if she hadn’t tried to destroy our entire relationship to get her magic back. Like I understand how much her magic means to her but...” His smile had vanished and Y/n hurt for the boy.

He’d never cared as much about magic as his mother did, but watching her had made him understand the worth of it to others. To prioritize that over someone you’re supposed to be in love with though... that had to hurt. “I’m sorry.”

Jack shrugged it off. “It’s fine. It just really proved to me that we were done, and had been for a while. We could have made it if my memory hadn’t been wiped, maybe. If we weren’t on two so very different paths. If no matter how hard I tried she was just ALWAYS out of my reach.” He looked at Y/n. “If she hadn’t been right about me still liking you after all this time.”

Y/n felt his heart begin to race. “How the hell do you like me? You said yourself, I was a total asshole.”

Nodding, Jack seemed to agree at first, even as a smile curved his lips upward again. “You’re a really good actor, Y/n. But every actor has their weak moments, and every person makes mistakes. You aren’t as rock solid as you think you are. I saw the way you looked at my friends. Like you wanted to protect them. And how you took credit for things that were absolutely not your fault. I kept saying it was just to move on and get it over with... I dismissed everything you did that showed how kind you are, until Vera said something when she called us out for having our memories back that caught my attention. He said that we couldn’t mess up. That more than our reputations were on the line. Randall replied about how we didn’t care about her reputation but she said it wasn’t hers she was worried about.” Y/n suddenly couldn’t look at Jack, and that seemed it was all that was needed to confirm whatever theory had been bouncing around. “I’ve only ever seen Vera Stone prioritize one thing over her own judgement. I know she liked us, but you said something to her to get her to be lenient with us, didn’t you?”

A shrug was all Jack got at first, but when the silence stretched, Y/n sighed and finally admitted, “Yeah, I did. I told her I trusted your capabilities. I-” He swallowed. “I told her that I couldn’t let you die.”

“You told her you were in love with me,” Jack added. Y/n nodded. Jack chuckled and Y/n rose an eyebrow. “I’m that irresistible, huh?”

The tension shattered and both of them started a soft giggle. “Look who’s talking, Mr. I Fell Because I Saw You Once.” Jack rolled his eyes at that, but both of them did grow into full laughter. They thought about the several times both of them could have been so much happier with each other but were too busy creating an image or fighting a losing battle or believing everything they heard instead of getting to know the other person instead. “I’m an idiot,” Y/n sighed when they calmed down.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “So am I. Wanna go on a date with me?”

Y/n grinned. “You free on Saturday?”

#Jack Morton #the order of the hermedic blue rose #the knights of saint Christopher #the order #male reader #Jack Morton imagine #jack morton x male reader #jack morton x reader #the order x reader #the order imagine #the order of the hermedic blue rose x reader #the knights of saint christopher x male reader #the knights of saint christopher imagine

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willsimpforazula · 4 years ago

Text

Sokkla Month Day 27/28: Angst/Fluff

A/N: Song is Oath Sign by LiSA, English translation from Amalee's cover.

PS: Fate has some killer OPs.

PPS: I blame my laziness on being too engrossed in Seiba fanfics.

Anywho...bone apple tea or somthing liek dats

------

繰り返す世界何度手を伸ばしたら

儚い涙は黒い心溶かすの?

芽生え出した思いが胸に響いたなら

君の隣でずっと変わらず護るだろう

Once again I reach my hand into a world, repeating on end

Though it's dark, could my tears carve a path and lead me right into your heart?

Like a rose it blooms and grows inside my chest you're name's all it knows

Is this fate, 'cuz every day I pray that by your side I can stay

The first time they met, it was in an abandoned town in some forgotten corner of the Earth Kingdom. From then on, they sought to find out everything and anything they could on each other.

Every piece of information, every scrap of rumours and sightings was held tightly to their chest, blooming and growing as each of them kept tabs on the other as best they could. When asked, they casually dismissed it as 'research on the enemy', though both of them knew they weren't fooling anyone. After all, research most certainly did not include figuring out each other's likes and dislikes, as if one were to be inviting the other over for some afternoon tea.

-------

堕ちた希望を拾って明日に繋いでゆけば

絡まった歪な願いだってほどける

I'll gather these fallen flowers, the hope discarded and broken

And join them where they can meet, my wish is to set them free

"Are you sure about this?"

"More than I've ever been."

"What if your sister…"

"If she wanted to, she would have done it a long time ago."

"Regardless, I don't like it one bit. Not after what she did to-to-"

"You were just itching for an excuse to bloodbend me no matter what I said or did, even after helping you track down your mother's killer. But yes, please lecture me on what your brother can and cannot do."

"That was different."

"I fail to see the differences."

"......"

"Everyone deserves a second chance. Killing her doesn't solve anything. Or taking her bending away. Your brother is the only one who can get through to her. Not me, not the therapists. I just want her to be whole again, free from Ozai's influences."

"If she ever so much as hurts a hair on him, she is dead, consequences be damned and you won't stop me. Understand?"

"Be my guest."

-----

光をかざして躊躇いを消した

あげたかったのは未来で

泣いてる夜抱いたまま嘆きを叫んで

踏み入れた足を遠くの理想がそっと癒してゆく

確かな絆を強く握り進もうどこまでも

穢れきった奇跡を背に

Holding up the light within and with no hesitation,

To give you a future is all I wanted

Hold me tight through the dark endless nights, as I scream till the morning' s light

All my broken down ideals, I know they will heal

With every step they'll form the future

I'll hold tightly to this special bond we share, I'll follow you anywhere

Carrying onwards bearing this miracle

"Why are you here?"

"I-well, I-"

"Answer me, brother of Katara. Why do you come day after day? Is it because you wish to rub my defeat in my face? Or are you here to make me feel comfortable with my executioner? Answer me."

"It's neither of these."

"Lies."

"I'm not lying, princess."

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"This. Pretending to be my friend, offering empty words. I don't need any of these."

"That's where you're wrong. Your brother-"

"Is weak and an imbecile for letting me live."

"Everyone deserves a second chance. Even you."

"If the roles were reversed you would have been executed on the spot, after a long torture session that would make death seem like a release."

"I doubt that."

"What would you know of my methods?"

"Because I know deep down inside there is still that spark inside of you. You are only the way that you are because frankly your parents were shit."

"You know nothing!"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Pulling out a dossier, he slid it across to her.

"What is this?"

"Know thy enemy, know thyself and you will win a hundred battles. Call it a hunch, call it a brother's intuition. Besides, if you really wanted me dead I would have been killed, I don't know, about twenty times over before we got to this point?"

"Fuck off Sokka, I don't want to see your face for the rest of the month."

"Keep telling yourself that missy." he smirked, even as a fireball whizzed dangerously close to his head.

"My my, someone's rusty."

"Fuck you you no good piece of shit savage!" she snarled, even as he moved out of earshot. Sometimes, she thought, it was better to not meet one's idol after all.

------

創られた想い触れればなによりも

温かくて現実が霞み始める

狂い出した世界に問いかけ続けても

答えなんて出ないってもう君は知っていたの?

泣いて滲んだ願いは決して揺るぎはしなくて

ただそっと痛みを終わりなく与える

Once again I hope I can regain the warmth that's ahead, and I pray these fake feelings will blur

As the world starts to fade away

Even if I lose my grip and set this question free from my lips,

I won't be surprised to know no answer will come from the light

This wish that was born from our tears, I know it'll never waver

I won't forget the pain even as we forge on ahead

"Crown Princess Azula, you are hereby relieved of all titles save your status as a princess and are forbidden from entering Caldera without prior permission from the Fire Lord himself. You are to be placed under house arrest on Ma'inka for the rest of your days. All communication will be vetted and censored and any attempt at inciting rebellion will result in your bending being stripped away as your only warning. The next attempt will result in public capital punishment. Do you understand?"

"I hear and obey."

"One question."

"Go ahead."

"Why spare me? Why let me live with my bending, knowing that it will be more trouble than it's worth?"

"It seems you have an advocate high in the system that petitioned on your behalf. Any more questions?"

"None."

"You have twenty four hours to prepare, starting now. I suggest you make full use of this time."

Why did you do it? Sokka you stupid fucking idiot, I'm a fucking liablity here. I really hope you don't regret it, she thought to herself.

---

Dear Suki,

I know what you're thinking. Believe me, sometimes I wonder if it's easier to just let her die or languish in some asylum for the rest of her days. But, well, I don't think I'll ever sleep easy at night knowing that perhaps I could have done something to save her.

I know with every sentence I write, I'm essentially digging my own grave. And frankly, I don't blame you. After all she did throw you into the Fire Nation's Supermax. I won't pretend her hands are clean, that she didn't know what she was doing but still, I think everyone deserves a second chance.

I'm sorry.

Sorry for leading you on all this while.

Sorry for making you think we had a future together.

Sorry for making you wait so long before I came to save you.

Most of all, sorry for giving what is rightfully yours to someone who probably doesn't deserve it.

I know that you'd most likely hop on the next boat and drag my corpse back to Caldera so you can beat the shit out of me one more time but please, whatever happens, your happiness isn't with me.

PS: Katara was just as livid when I told her about it. Also, I hear Zuko is single and ready to mingle (probably not the latter; spirits know he has the social skills of a turtleduck, which is to say none).

---------

哀しみを知って喜びを知った弱さは君を変えて

立ち止まった時剥がれすべてを壊した

Only knowing of sadness

Never thought I could feel this

But now I know what is pure happiness

Time stops still, taking your breath away

So rip from weakness and escape

Standing on the bridge, the glowing lights of Caldera grew ever fainter until it was a distant white speck on the horizon, before it finally sank beneath the horizon. Under the light of the stars and moon, the vessel was illuminated by the moonlight and the bioluminescent blue algae crashing against the bow of the ship. It seemed ironic that a vessel that carried her off two years with the promise of greatness and glory would now be carrying her off to obscurity and exile.

"Here, wear this. Wouldn't want you getting a cold now?"

"Why?" she whispered, a stray tear falling from her eyes as she felt a coat placed on her shoulders.

"Why what?"

"Why do all of this? For me? For someone who doesn't deserve this?"

"Because no one stood up for you when they should have."

"You shouldn't have. You deserve your happy ever after with Suki, not a lifetime of pain and regret with me."

"Maybe. Maybe it's all for nothing and I deserve a lifetime of pain and regret for being an idiot. But if I'm being honest, the times I sparred with you were the times I felt most alive. Like as if I finally found what I've been seeking for all this while."

"This is a massive gamble you're taking, betting it all like this."

"What can I say? It almost worked on the Day of the Black Sun. It worked out on the day of Sozin's Comet."

"What makes you think you can save me from myself? More to the point, why do you think I want to be saved to begin with? Until you can give me a satisfactory answer, don't come and look for me." she replied.

Just as she was about to disappear into the ship, she heard him mutter "Because you deserve to be happy too."

------

届くはずのない言葉を託して見えた瞳は

何を感じて遠ざけるの? 心隠すように

今ここにいる意味教えてくれたなら

強くいられる変わらずいつも

I keep screaming out to you though I may never reach you,

But still I can picture the light in your eyes

Tell me what makes you so afraid that you'd hide your heart away

If only you'd turn to to me and say the words that would give my life meaning

Then I would and will forever be strong enough

Ducking into her room, Azula cried into her pillow, as she asked if this was one of fate's twisted ironies dealing her a hand that seemed too good to be true. Monsters don't need saving, they need to be put down. You don't deserve him.

Shut up!

You know it's true.

What's stopping him from betraying you? Or has your adolescent heart fallen for him that you would excuse any of his actions?

Shut up!

I could go on. Do you want me to?

No, stop please!

Azula!

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands embracing her in a tight hug, making her gasp. It was warm, familiar and comforting. At once, the voices in her mind stilled, as the other person called out her name tenderly, like a parent with a lost child. Instinctively she knew it was Sokka, yet she kept her eyes screwed shut lest it all turn out to be a figment of her imagination.

After all, she had once hallucinated her mother talking to her on the day of Sozin's Comet when she was obviously nowhere near her room, much less Caldera or the Palace.

In a small still voice, she asked "Is-is it really you Sokka?", to which she felt a gentle pressure of his lips on her forehead and a response "Can hallucinations do this?"

"I don't know anymore. Please, don't lie to me."

"Open your eyes."

"No, what if it's all just my hallucinations?"

Another kiss.

"Still not convinced?"

"No."

Scooping up her hands in his, he pressed it against his chest and cheeks before asking her "Are you convinced now?"

In response, she buried her face in his shoulder, this time sobbing loudly as emotion overtook her senses. Meanwhile, Sokka just held her wordlessly, stroking her hair and back. When she finally stilled, he placed her on the bed and tucked her in. Before he left, she asked "Do you mean it?"

"?"

"What you said on the bridge, that I deserve to be happy too, even after all I've done?"

"Yes."

---------

光をかざして躊躇いを消した

あげたかったのは未来で

泣いてる夜抱いたまま嘆きを叫んで

踏み入れた足を遠くの理想がそっと癒してゆく

確かな絆を強く握り進もうどこまでも

迷いなんて目を開いて

振り払って手を伸ばそう

穢れきった奇跡を背に

Holding up the light within and with no hesitation,

To give you a future is all I wanted

Hold me tight through the dark endless nights, as I scream till the morning' s light

All my broken down ideals, I know they will heal

With every step they'll form the future

I'll hold tightly to this special bond we share, I'll follow you anywhere

No hesitating I'll open my eyes, though my heart's breaking

I'll reach out my hand and carry onwards

Bearing this miracle

15 years later….

"No no no Sokka you can't do this! You promised!" Azula screamed as she held his battered body in her hands.

"I-I'm sorry, firefly. I guess I was in over my head a little, huh?" he coughed, blood and spit staining the floor and her dress.

"I-we-don't have much time. There's someone else you need to protect."

"You're my only anchor to sanity Sokka! You can't."

Grabbing the nearest sheet of paper, Sokka wrote down a short message, before tearing off his necklace and dipping in it his blood, before pressing it into the paper like a seal.

"T-that should be enough, I think."

"Sokka please stop saying things like these! Our kid needs a father! She needs you! I need you!"

"Then I'm a terrible father if I can't protect those whom I love. Please, go now."

"Sokka!"

"Remember what I said on the bridge that night we left Caldera?"

"Yes, but don't you deserve happiness too?"

"Being with you these past fifteen years made me happy enough, so please, for the sake of yours and hers, go now while you still have the time."

"You're just one swordsman and a non-bender, how-"

"I have my ways. Seriously please, grab this and go! Every second we argue here is one second less you have to escape!"

"Alright, fine! But I better see you in Caldera, or else! I'll be damned if I let Risa grow up without a father."

"I'll try."

"No 'try', you will. Promise me Sokka."

"As you wish, firefly."

----

Present day

"Mommy, where are we going?"

"We're going to see daddy, Riri."

"Going to see daddy?"

"Yes, that's right." she replied as she stepped into the small shrine.

Turning her head and looking around, Risa could only see plaques with names and faces, but not a single person. Tugging on her mother's sleeve, she asked "Where's daddy? Why are we here?"

Scooping her up into her arms, she pointed at a plaque that bore his name and face, as well as a jet black sword encased in stone. "That-" she pointed, "is daddy."

At once, things clicked her mind and she asked the obvious "Is-is daddy gone?"

"No, no he isn't. Because he's in you and me. As long as someone remembers him, he will never be gone."

"Really?"

"Really."

Pulling out a handful of joss sticks, she asked Risa "Could you light this for me?" Nodding, she conjured a small green flame on her fingertips and lit the incense. Handing over three of the six sticks in her hands, both mother and daughter bowed twice, before placing it in the urn. Finally, Azula unwrapped a packet of seal jerky and placed it as an offering on the altar, before bowing again and taking her daughter by the hand to leave the place.

As they did, she could feel a burden being lifted from her shoulders as they crossed the threshold and just for a moment, she thought she could smell the ocean breeze and smoke, twin scents that reminded her so much of the boy, no, man who threw it all aside for her.

"I promise Sokka, I'll make sure Risa here grows up happy and healthy." she whispered to herself.

#sokkla #sokkla month #day27/28 #angst/fluff

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stxvercgersslut · 4 years ago

Text

Apologise

Description: Jake’s been ignoring Y/n for weeks and only spending time with his friends over his own girlfriend. But after while she had finally had enough. One day she decides to confront him.

A/n: I just had to write this😂 after rewatching the film a few days ago how could I resist? It just needed to be written 😂 (I also made it modern time btw just so it was easier to write for 😂) yeah I know that this is extremely angsty but I promise that there’s a whole lot a fluff at the end so the angsty part is definitely worth it 🥺💞 Jake is one of my ultimate loves that definitely needs some more loving then he got 🥺I didn’t plan on making this a fucking novel but here we are 😂

A/n: and okay yeah this is once again another submission for @stargazingfangirl18 and @navybrat817 writing challenge how could I not? 😂

Prompts: 2. “Can you just not right now?”and 14. “Did I...fall asleep on you??”

Warnings: Mentions of smut (nothing too descriptive), argument, being ignored, language, mentions of parents dying, mentions of weight loss, just a whole lot of angst, mentions of being poor and small bit of fluff at the end.

Temporary tag list: @jtargaryen18 & @et-lesailes

For weeks Jake has been neglecting you. Much rathering to play football with Reggie Ray and Austin then even hang out with you, his girlfriend of literally almost 1 year. How the hell did that even make sense? You were his girlfriend! Surely you were more important then some football game right? Well wrong! Apparently football was his only love. You’d always come in second to all of that.

Over the course of those insanely long 8 weeks that he’d been pushing you aside you had managed to keep your calm, just ignoring it. Thinking maybe he’d just been having a tough time studying for finals and training for football season. But as time continued to pass, still no texts, calls or even a FaceTime, you began to fear that your once loving relationship with Jake was steadily coming to a almighty close. Something that really did scare the life out of you. You loved Jake with all your heart and to lose him over the fact that he’d rather play football with his friends then hangout with you would send your heart into meltdown. No way could you let this happen to the both of you.

The pair of you were pretty much inseparable during the early stages of your relationship, always opting to spend time over at his house in the warmth then be at home where not even your heater worked. Obviously his sister still trying to fuck him was a huge problem for you, usually making you uncomfortable whenever you were ther but Jake had assured you that nothing was going on between them. Besides, he was just as uncomfortable (if more so) as you were with the immeture and disgusting way Catherin was acting around her BROTHER!

You came from a much poorer family then Jake did. But, surprisingly to you, Jake hadn’t actually seemed to care that you didn’t have any money. In fact he actually much preferred it sometimes since he had gotten to spoil you rotten with peculiar gifts and meals at fancy restaurants that almost 100% of the time just weren’t your style. Yeah he was a asshole sometimes but that didn’t mean that you didn’t love him. Most days you even struggled to pay your rent in your lonely one bedroom apartment that you’d moved into once your parents had past away last year. But no matter how many times Jake had attempted to lend you some of his inheritance in order to help pay rent, you never wanted to take it. Too afraid you’d have to pay it back somehow. There was even a time where Jake had offered for you to move in with him, not that his parents would have agreed with that, yet he didn’t seem to care. Food was hard to come by when you were at home, so whenever Jake had been able to, He’d make sure that you ate or at least tried to eat since he knew that you struggled a lost due to the fact that before you’d started dating him it was hard to get food. You mattered way more to him at the beginning. But right now it didn’t seem like he really seemed to care even a little. No more being at his house for warmth, no daily check ups, no food payed for and no offers to help pay for rent. It was like he’d retracted back to his old self. This wasn’t the Jake you had fallen in love him. He’d changed.

But nonetheless, the tenderness between the pair of you was irreplaceable. So of course you couldn’t just let this come between what the two of you had. But this was going to be a tough one to crack! Especially since you literally hadn’t talked to Jake for 8 WHOLE WEEKS!!! That’s right two months with barely any contact apart from when you were sitting at lunch listening to him blabber on about football or some damn movie he’s watching with his mates. Come on y/n think! It can’t be that hard to figure something out can it?

❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅

There it was again! That unnecessary tension rearing it’s ugly head once again at your usual table in the cafeteria. Jake, being the popular dick he was right now, had made himself comfortable next to you. Slowly taking one quick glance at you before once again completely ignoring you without a second thought. 8 weeks of this bullshit! It was a Miracle that you hadn’t murdered him already for neglecting you the way that he had been doing for 2 whole fucking months! So of course it was understandable that you snapped. Just listening to his smug laugh as he laughed and joked with Austin about the new hot chic was enough to set your entire body on fire.

With a stern look on your face you finally began to talk. Worth a shot right? “So I was won—“ you began as you attempted begin a normal conversation with you boyfriend, not really giving two shits about the fact that you were interrupting his dirty minded talk with Austin since you didn’t really care for the blonde. But before you could even get 10 words out Jake had already stopped you “y/n I’m in the middle of talking with my friend.” He cockily spoke with a shit eating grub appearing on his face for a millisecond before he turned back to his mates in hopes of continuing his ‘innocent’ conversation. Oh but that was not at all what happened. “Oh my bad! Didn’t realise that me literally about to invite you over for sex was me interrupting you. Silly me. I’m only your girlfriend!” You bit back, your glare completely fixed on Jake, not even caring that Austin, Reggie Ray and Malik all now has their mouths wide open in shock like they were having a fly collecting contest. You were half expecting Jake to nervously laugh it off and practically beg for you to forgive him, resulting in a quickie in the janitors closest. But that wasn’t what happened at all. In fact no amount of overthinking could prepare you for Jakes next choice of words.

“Can you just not right now?” The raven haired boy pressed with a insanely serious look on his face now. All thoughts that he might have just been joking had left your head completely. Hearing those words coming from Jakes mouth were like daggers pressing into your head and twisting Infinitely. Not only had it been a shock to you but it had also been a shock to everyone on the table. Jake Wyler, the most popular jock, refusing sex? Most importantly refusing you? What the hell was wrong with him? Oh you intended to find out. But for now you just stood up, shooting one more hurt glare towards your boyfriend before turning on your feet and leaving your spot at the table. Instead seating yourself on a table further away from them so that you didn’t risk another hurtful comment. Now this really was getting out of control.

❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅

Currently, for some unknown reason, YOU were sitting on the large length couch at some unknown douchbags house as you sipped from your red cup. Eyes scanning the room eagerly in an attempt to spot your dick head of a boyfriend. Even if you hadn’t Necessarily been accomanied by Jake to the party you knew for sure that he was a party animal. So why on earth would he miss this? Especially since the place was filled with doubly intoxicated high school students who most certainly were underage drinking. But then again so were you.

However, as you say there waiting for your raven haired beauty of a boyfriend to walk through those doors and unintentionally avoid you once again, you continued to run over your incredibly thought out plan in your head. Knowing with every bone in your body that this plan was most certainly going to get his attention, if not make him throw you over his shoulder, take you back to his place and fuck you until you can’t walk for at least a week. Yeah maybe you were secretly hoping for that second one.

6 drinks in Jake finally arrived at the party, accompanied by Reggie Ray and that stupid smug looking blonde ashole who you had conveniently forgotten the name of at this point. Only this time your raven haired boyfriend actually acknowledged that you were even there by letting his eyes scan over your perfectly curvy body. Which tonight was barely even covered by that incredibly revealing outfit that consisted of: a risky white vest like short with a very thin material that let your light pink bra peak out underneath the fabric, paired with a nude coloured leather skirt that barely covered your ass and some beautiful black boots to accompany the rest of your outfit. Of course this particular get up just so happened to be the only sexy outfit that you owned due to the fact that Jake had bought this for your birthday when you had only just started dating. You could definitely still remember him insisting that you wore this exact outfit to any party he took you to. So why waste it? After all it was just hanging up in your closet.

Even from 5 feet away from him you could still hear the cogs working away in his brain as your outfit caught his attention instantly. And in a matter of moments he was already sauntering over to you. Step one: Grab his attention complete. Oh but he wasn’t going to win that easy. No way was that going to happen! You hadn’t just come to this party wearing such a risky choice of clothing that was so out of your comfort zone to just let him win so easily.

“Hey baby, you wanna dance?” Jake asked with a slight smirk on his face, almost as if he was pretending like all of that god awful neglect hadn’t happened. Which you weren’t going to forget about. But this was operation get Jake jealous after all so you really did have to forget about what he’d been doing, at least for a few hours so that you could continue on with your plan.

Step two: dance with another hot jock who wasn’t Jake. After careful consideration you finally picked your target. Austin. Why? Because you knew for a fact that you dancing with Jakes asshole teenage playboy of a best friend was definitely going to make him jealous. “Sure” you teased, pausing for just the perfect amount of time for Jake to walk closer to you and almost grab your hand before you continued on “just not with you” there it was! Almost a millisecond after the last syllable had left your mouth! That gorgeous face of Jakes contorting into a look of pure jealousy just from those four simple words. “Not with me huh? If I’m not mistake I’m your boyfriend, so why won’t you dance with me?” Jake questioned whilst he still continued to attempt to grab at your waist, failing miserably every single time since you dodged him.

Those words in themselves were enough to light the fire in the pit of your stomach. Reminding you exactly why you had come up with this devious plan in the first place. Jake needed to learn a lesson and he needed to learn it now! Or else you’d most likely end up breaking up with him. “Because I don’t want to dance with my neglectful boyfriend.” You spat back before sauntering over to where Austin was standing, grabbing onto his hand and with no word of warning pulling him onto the makeshift dance floor.

Fiftheen minuets had dragged on by as Jakes eyes remained glued to your figure. Red hot anger coursing through him every time he watched your ass grind up against his friends crotch. Was this pay back for him treating you like your were worthless for 2 months? Because if it was then this was some carefully planned out payback that was not going to be working out in your favour later. “What the fuck!” Jake seethed. The sight of you now grinding against Austin’s very noticeable buldge was the fine straw! Causing him to leap out of his chair, rush over to the dance floor, throw you over his shoulder and walked out of the room with you kicking and screaming for him to put you down. Finally putting an end to your hideous plan all together. This most certainly hadn’t been how you had expected this to go but boy oh boy were you excited to see what happened next.

It wasn’t until Jake practically threw you onto a king sized bed and began yelling at you that you realised that this wasn’t going to end in sex. Or at least for the time being it wasn’t “Austin?? Of all fucking people you could have grinded up against you chose that bastard? What the fuck y/n?!” Jake spoke, anger clear in his tone as he fists clenched together in the dark room. “Do you really think that was the greatest of ideas huh? Embarrassing me infront of almost everyone? You really are a fucking bitch sometimes!” Oh how he wished he could turn back time and retract those words. Jake regretted those words as soon as they had left his mouth.

But unfortunately it was too late, he’d already hit a nerve inside of you that had been so desperate to appear this entire time! “You’re really asking me what the fuck all of that was about? Seriously Jake you don’t know? You don’t know that you’ve been ignoring me for the past 2 months for no fucking reason and doing god knows what?” Oh you were beyond finished at this point. “Embarrassing you? I embarrassed you? Really? That’s rich coming from the man who embarrassed me infront of our entire high school in the cafetière by practically telling me to shut up infront of everyone when I was actually going to invite you over for sex? You don’t need to know why I did what I did. But I deserve a ducking explanation as to why you’ve been neglecting me for two months and ignoring me any chance that you get! I’m the one that should be asking what the fuck! Have you fallen out of love with me Jake? Are you cheating on me? What is it? Why are you ignoring me whenever I try to talk to you? I’m your girlfriend don’t you think I deserve a explanation?” And with that the tears began to fall from your eyes. Oh no you’d released a damn. This definitely wasn’t going away anytime soon. Shit. Every single word that has been said was unfortunately true. Now all that was left to do was wait for Jakes reaction.

Every single one of your words were like tiny daggers sticking into his chest. But every tear that fell from your eyes was poison strong enough to kill him. How had he let this go on for so long? How had he not seen how disgusting he was being around you? How had he not realised he’d stopped treating you like his girlfriend and more like a slut? He really had destroyed the only perfect girl in his life and what for? Some stupid football game and some boring study sessions with his private tutor that his parents had provided? This wasn’t right! None of this was right. Oh god how could he fix this?

“Baby....I—“ the Raven haired boy began, swallowing thickly as he took large steps towards you. Once again scooping you into his arms. But this time once you were in his arms he laid back down with you. Ignoring your weak struggles to get out of his grin before you finally calmed down and relaxed into his touch. Still sniffling due to all of the tears that had been falling from your eyes.

For the rest of the party Jake made it his mission to give you bet might of your life. Ignoring his friends and instead focusing all of his attention onto you without a doubt trying to make it up to you. Of course every so often he’d whisper a apology in your ear or kiss you deeply in an attempt to mend his guilty conscience once and for all. But nothing seemed to help at all.

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By the time you woke up at exactly 12:04pm the next day, you’d found yourself wrapped up in Jakes arms as he began placing gentle kisses against the back of your neck and shoulder. Something he’d been doing for the last several minutes. “Morning beautiful” he mumbled upon noticing you were awake. “Hmmmm...morning Jake..” you hummed back blissfully as you turned round in his arms. Happily staring him in his beautoful baby blue eyes before kissing him deeply just enjoying the moment.

After a very tired Make out session your eyes seemed to widen in horror as you looked down at your almost completely nude body, a little confused as to why you weren’t completely naked or even wearing Jakes shirt. That just didn’t seem right. “Did....I fall asleep on you?” The words in itself causing you to cringe. But you never did receive a actual answer. Instead you were answered with a loud laugh before your boyfriends lips were back on yours. Instantly getting on top of you to finish what you had started the night before.

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