#at least i feel as though people are more willing to dual support but if youre tank youre on your own

[xxplastic-cubexx]

just want 2 say abt the marvel rivals post u made... big mood bc that's me every game getting banished to Magneto, Strange, or Adam bc these ppl wont stop picking Punisher (?) and feeding like crazy… like maybe i want to play (idk any of the dps chars bc I never play them but imagine one here)... but noooo give the 2k dmg guy MVP and not me with 35k damage blocked/healing done..... smh -poro anon

do you really want to play dps when you dont know any of the dps tho ……… much to consider …….

[liketheinferno2]

in talking about ffxvi you made the point that clive is a good DRK, from the standpoint of the emotional thing that that class's narrative does. this makes me curious, what's your take on What A Gunbreaker Is For, in an emotional narrative sense? i have my own thoughts but i'm not as good at organizing them, i feel like the major GNB characters we meet (squall, seifer, the bozjan queensguard) are serving in different kinds of bodyguard/knight roles but specifically invested in conceptualizing themselves as bodyguard/knight. it's like embodying a very specific masculinity (gender-neutral)

I haven't played gunbreaker or ff8 so you'll forgive me if I have very little idea of what the defining qualities of the class are beyond ffxiv's NPCS though this has made me interested. Gunbreaker as a bodyguard == finding their sense of self and duty in service to another person definitely tracks with Thancred and the Queensguard. I can talk to you about dragoon, paladin, dark knight and summoner more readily at least.... but it's hard to talk about any tanks without the originals? A lot of classic final fantasy jobs are story relevant in one iteration and just a weapon you hold in the next.

Dark Knight vs Paladin is a peculiar one to me because the first time you see either of them it's DRK that is a military force and PLD that is an independent self acceptance renegade with Cecil Harvey, but that positioning flips back and forth throughout the series. Less that holiness is good and darkness is bad and more that Paladins are (at least trying to be) noble protectors of people at large, chivalrous, willing to take blows for their friends or their cause. Can become a very negative set of traits with characters whose cause is unjust -- Beatrix or the Heavens Ward come to mind.

Dark Knight's defining traits are like... exchanging self preservation for power, turning the worst parts of yourself into strength, almost like spiritually impure outcast class even when they're backed by an official body in the setting? Like Clive is definitely a dark knight because he can't access any of his strength until he's ready to accept that the worst parts of him are still part of him (Cloud Strife is also like this!!!) but you also come up against a squadron of like Sanbrequois Imperial Dark Knights With A Capital D who are sectioned off and despised even within their own organisation because they do the things too horrible for the rest of them.

An aside but I think Clive is quietly dual classing because as I get through the crafting unlocks late in the game when he's turned into someone who's protecting his entire community and pushed forward by love of those people it's all classic Paladin arms. Dark Knight Paladin Summoner Blue Mage McSpecial Boy.

But anyway most of my thoughts on Gunbreaker is that assigning yourself bodyguard can easily turn into kind of a tragic codependent dynamic and Thancred in Shadowbringers is almost entirely about that. It's a lot more personal than Paladin -- this isn't someone motivated by what they think is the greater good but the good of their charge -- yet less self absorbed than Dark Knights burning themselves up for power? Shadowbringers Thancred is dependent on his loved ones to even function as a GNB because fun fact if you can't bring Ryne or Urianger into Trusts with him he won't have any of his kit that requires their magic to use. .. I suppose Gunbreaker at least in FF14 is about partnerships and a subjective personal sense of duty.

Also you're right about the masculinity thing lmao I don't feel butch enough unless I'm supportive and helpful to the people around me and I'm sure that's true of a lot of people. It's emotionally rewarding to be a pillar to lean on but you risk suffering in silence if you can't get out of that self-prescribed role when you need to.

[haunted-creations]

Different Friend Types HC's Pt. 1

I wanted to do some platonic friendship hc's so I picked characters that fit certain types of friends. ^-^

💚 The Doting Parent – Makoto Tachibana (Free!)

Makoto is totally the type to fuss and care for you much like a doting parent regardless of how competent you are. He’s always looking out for you and wants to make sure you’re doing well.

If you’re not very good at taking care of yourself, Makoto will step in and help. He already has some experience with his own siblings and Haruka after all, what's one more? He’ll make sure you’re on time for whatever you have to do, he’ll kindly fuss and try to get you to go outside if you don’t get out enough, make sure you're not skipping meals, drinking enough liquids, keep you on task and help you with anything you need to get done. If you’re feeling down or upset about anything, he’s right there with a kind smile and asking what you need from him.

Makoto gets embarrassed if you try to take care of him and if he's unable to take care of himself for whatever reason, he'll constantly apologize for it because he doesn't want to inconvenience you. But when he's able, he'll definitely either get you a thank you gift or return that care two fold. It's not often anybody takes care of him so he appreciates it greatly and will let you know that.

If you're the type to become a dual parent friend with Makoto, you two are gonna be quite the pair. Sometimes you'll both become almost overwhelmed with how much you two take on to help your friends, but you two will always be in sync catching wherever the other falls short. It's a lot of work for sure but you guys easily become an essential core to your friend group and really make it feel like a family. Outside of your friend group though, you and Makoto definitely at least take one day every week to do a spa day or have a chill lazy hangout day together to refresh yourselves.

"Hey, how've you been? Are you eating and drinking enough? How's your sleep? Ah don't call me mom, I just want to make sure you're ok, you know...?"

☀️ Your #1 Fan – Mirio Togata (BNHA)

Mirio is the best cheerleader you’ll ever have in your corner. He's all about bringing out people's greatest potential and any buddy of his is guaranteed to feel supported and self-assured.

Even though Mirio's an overall high energy optimist, he understands that everybody can have different preferences for what they want in encouragement. He also understands that sometimes people just need general support and he's more than willing to provide just that. He'll never push you to do anything you don't want to do or force optimism on you. He just wants you to know he's got your back.

Mirio’s favorite kind of motivation is to hype people up! Compliments and praises left and right, motivational talks all over the place if needed, he’ll make sure you won’t leave without at least some upgrade in your confidence. He’ll even chant his encouragement to you with enough energy for a whole crowd. He believes in you 1000% even if you don’t, and by no means do mistakes or failures mean you’re any less of an amazing person in his eyes because it's all part of the process of progress. You're trying and that's what really matters!

If you’re one of those people that aren’t quite that high energy and have trouble with motivation, he’s got you. He’ll listen to what troubles you and gives calmer words of encouragement. If you need help with doing things that are too overwhelming for you, he’s ready to assist in any way he can to make it easier. If you need a little push to do something that scares you, he’s there to be your safety net and express how proud he is that you had the courage to try. If you feel like you can’t do anything because life is just too hard, he’ll tell you that that’s ok. He’s proud of you for trying to push through because it takes a lot of strength to endure what you’re going through. If you ever need anything, he’ll always be there for you.

“There’s my awesome buddy! How’s being the best person in the world going for ya? Nah it’s not an exaggeration, it’s the truth! Honest!”

💀 Partner in Crime – Guzma (Pokémon)

Guzma’s that type of friend that’s fun to get in trouble with and may or may not be a bad influence on you. Parents hate him lol.

Despite Guzma’s delinquent ways he has a moral compass in there. He wouldn’t go as far as to do anything truly heinous, he’s just here to let loose and have fun. His kind of misfit fun is pranking people (especially assholes), maybe a little vandalizing and stealing things from said assholes, graffiti, trespassing to explore abandoned places, hitting up underground parties or clubs, etc. If there’s anything you haven’t tried that you weren’t sure about or didn’t want to do alone, he’s totally down for it. If anything, he might be the safest person to have around for whatever it is because he always makes sure to look out for you when you guys get up to stuff.

Guzma would never snitch on you for anything, momma didn’t raise no snitch. You won’t realize it until he does this or if you guys start playing with hypotheticals, but Guzma will give himself up or take the blame to protect you if needed. He’s aware that the way he lives isn’t a good lifestyle and he’ll partially blame himself for letting you almost get in trouble. But it hardly gets up to that point because he’s pretty good at getting you guys out of trouble whether it be through clever street smarts or intimidation. Also you know, he's got a whole gang/family to back him up and by extension back you up.

FOR LEGAL REASONS, I DO NOT CONDONE THIS AND IT’S A JOKE-: Assuming you and Guzma are thick as thieves, he’d help you get away with murder. There will be no questions. The less he knows, the better, but you're gonna be handling the majority of taking care of the body. He'll put up with a lot, but the dead gives him the jeebies.

“You and me? We're like chaos and destruction in human form. The world's gonna be shakin' at the mention of us, just you wait!”

😏 Are Y'all Dating or...? (The Bestie) – Oikawa Tooru (HQ)

Oikawa’s that type of friend to be so close with you that people wonder and ask if you two are dating. The answer is always no…uNLESS…!!

Oikawa wants to do ALL the things with you and you two never truly get tired of each other. There will be many sleepovers, shopping trips, gossip, spa days, trying new things together, road trips. Each of your families and friends will be well acquainted with you two to the point that it’s almost annoying how much you two bring each other up to people. His other good friend Iwa-chan is kind of relieved at first that there’s someone else to take on Oikawa’s antics, but soon realizes that it’s become double trouble for him as a result.

For Oikawa it’s like he’s found his platonic soulmate and he couldn’t imagine his life without you. Which is why he’s also pretty protective of you and becomes suspicious of any newcomers, though he knows how to respect your boundaries and let you live your life how you want. If you have a crush that he gets good enough vibes from, he will hype you up and try to figure out a plan to help you two get together. If anyone hurts you, he will get them back for it in a crafty yet subtle way that will simultaneously make it obvious to only that person that he’s the source of their torment.

At first people thought you guys were like siblings but with the amount of joking you guys do about cuddling and how excessively you compliment each other, people’s perceptions quickly turned. Some people might even want you two to get together, but you guys aren’t into each other like that. You’re both just platonically comfortable and close enough to make those kinds of jokes and find it amusing that people even think you two are romantically involved.

“Bestie!! I found this new café that just opened up, we gotta go try it! And tell me all about this new person you’ve got your eye on~”

👿😈The Chaotic Gremlin(s) – Denji & Power (CSM)

Denji and Power are about the same type of gremlin with slightly different quirks and might as well be a packaged deal, so here we are.

What could go wrong with these two? Literally everything. If you choose to hang out with these two you know exactly what you signed up for. You’re going to constantly get in trouble with them for destroying large amounts of property. You will be dragged into devil fights and often become the damsel in distress if you don’t have a way to protect yourself, but at least these two will literally rip the devil to shreds or be ripped to shreds to protect you. While this is nice, you’ll more than likely end up with broken bones anyways because Denji accidentally drops you from a considerable height or Power flings you out of the way without considering what the impact could do to you, much less looking where she flings you. You better be durable.

Denji and Power are constantly bickering and since you’re a third addition to this now group, they’re gonna fight over you. They come up with strange and nonsensical ways to compete in spending time with you or even just getting your attention. You’ve basically become the older sibling that the younger siblings will do anything to gain your favor and praises. Whether you use this to your advantage or not is up to you, but I have a sneaking suspicion you get these two into trouble in doing so and quickly make your escape before they can blame you for it.

On a more wholesome side of things, Denji and Power would be like a brother and sister for you. If they do anything they find personally impressive, they want you to witness it and praise them. As mentioned before they always want to win you over: Denji trying to be genuinely considerate of you and make you laugh while Power will sabotage him and even go as far as to cause trouble on purpose and accuse him of being the culprit. They’re basically your feral guard dogs, so if anybody ever harasses you these two will be threatening them with things worse than death. Whenever they want to play games or go out, you’re always dragged along. Sure their constant quarreling and grapple for your attention can get annoying, but that comes with the territory and you wouldn't have it any other way with these dummies.

Power: “The great Power demands your presence! Let’s go. Leave stinky Denji.” Denji: “Hey no fair, it’s my turn to hang out with them! And you stink worse!!”

[booksandwords]

Killing Gravity by Corey J. White

Series: Voidwitch Saga, #1 Read time: 1 Day Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Quote: I'm a spacewitch, I'm a goddess of death and destruction, and I start to laugh thinking of the look on Brigg's face. You think you know what you did to me? You don't know the half of it. — Mars

I picked up Killing Gravity on impulse at my local library while looking for a book to fit the adventure prompt for a reading challenge. I'm so glad I did. I personally found Mariam 'Mars' Xi to be a protagonist. She is angry, ruthless and powerful loyal while maintaining some traditionally feminine caring and empathetic characteristics. Honestly, I got strong Wu Zetian (Iron Widow) vibes at times. I found the plot to be an engaging and enjoyable ride. I wanted to know where it was going. I wanted to know what happened to these characters. The included violence and vengeance feels right. The universe Corey J. White has created for his characters is brutal. Especially the situations Mars came from.

The support cast is larger than I was expecting for a novella, it's not huge but there is diversity. It's queer and quirky and I adore it. Props to White for giving women the strength and control though. Because one of the other support characters, Trix, an amputee who we first meet in an exoskeleton and the Nova's main defender. The Nova is the ship that saves Mars from her critically damaged ship. The captain of that ship is so endearing to me. Squid is an enby but they feel like a bit of an anomaly. They are all soft power, meditation, near anti-gun and yet the captain, respected with ease by both Trix and Mookie. I get the feeling there is a terrifying spine to Squid we are yet to see. Mookie and Trix are poly or at least more than willing to share their bed. I can't really explain Mookie, he makes me smile. You'll get it if you read Killing Gravity. I really like computer AIs Waren and Einri. I looked up the name Einri, dual meanings Intelligent (from the Teutonic) and Rules the home (from the Irish). Can we acknowledge that Eirni is one of the best names for ship AI? Waren means Loyal (from the German). Given the arrangement Mars has with Waren that is important. Probably should mention Seven. Seven is Mars's pet (?), companion (?). From the descriptions, she kind of feels like part cat, part sugar glider. But she was a science experiment that Mars has had for most of her life. Loyal almost to a fault and but so, so adorable.

A random dump of thoughts and quotes.

I appreciate the explanation of the Wormhole physics. Fairly standard but it's nice to have a reminder now and then.

Mars talks to the reader, not breaking the fourth wall, she isn't aware she is fictional, but something close.

Ring One is where my people live. Well, not my people, but the closest thing I want to find: the freaks, the runaways, the perpetual wanderers, the organized crime, the genehackers, the bodychoppers, the digital-wannabes, the loose, the inebreated, the ones with the no common sense, no career and no desire for one, the fed up the fucked up and flamed out. The whole place is like a dangerous chemical concoction. You never know what might set off a reaction, and the threat of violence hangs in the air thick as the smell. — I just find this an appealing description of a group of people, the downtrodden and it definitely tells you whom Mars has lines herself with. That she is a survivor through and through, you don't get to consider these your people without that kind of survival trait. (Mars, p.37-8)

His chest is covered in tattoos—maroon and black ink, the tragically loyal fuck — You can almost hear the tone that belongs here. Okay, and I like the phrase tragically loyal fuck. (Mars, p.59)

"Smart-ass." "I thought Einri was sans personality." "No, just sans voice mod. I don't want some artificial voice construct convincing me Einri is a person. It's not a person, it's a ship. Without a voice mod it sounds like a ship I like things to be clear, you see?" — I find this quote interesting. I appreciate Squid's idea of delineation (because Einri really does have a personality). But that last line is kinda counter to part of their personality. They respected Mas' privacy and didn't push her to give answers. They have more sides than they admit. (Squid and Mars, p.70)

Euphemisms gain strength by hiding truth. Nothing is truth, nothing is reality, my mind contains multitudes, it contains universes, I contain multitudes. I am Mariam, I am Sera, I am every caretaker that ever had a hand in molding me, I am mold growing across every surface of Ergot. — I'm not sure why this appeals to me so much it's part of a whole section that has some really pretty phrasing that suits Mars' state at the time. (Mars, p.106)

[marjansmarwani]

maybe, I’m afraid 

3.8k || ao3

Episode 2x06, but with Carlos (as it should have been)

Just me here again to give Carlos the screen time he should have had. 

A little late to the party maybe (I have no idea how you all manage to get fics up within 24 hours of the episode, I am in awe of that ability) but I still felt the need to make my contribution.

--------

Most days Carlos was pretty sure that after 7 years on the force he had seen everything there was to see. 

Other days he got a call to respond to two teenagers trapped in a homemade minefield and he was forced to reevaluate that sentiment. 

It doesn’t take long to figure out all there is to know, including just how bad it really is, and by the time the familiar ladder truck pulled up (because of course it was the 126) he was waiting outside the passenger door to give Owen the rundown. 

“Officer Reyes,” he greeted when he saw him, “I’m surprised to see you. I thought this would be a little out of your jurisdiction.” 

Carlos shook his head, “Just barely within it, another half-mile and the sheriffs would be handling the call.”

“But you managed to snag it, lucky you.”

“Can’t say I would have been too upset if I had missed out on this one,” Carlos agreed drily. 

Owen hummed in agreement as he surveyed the scene, “What are we looking at, exactly?”  

It was a bleak picture: two brothers, trapped. One injured, both scared and stuck in an active minefield without a map. And the bomb squad was at least 40 minutes out. He saw his concern reflected on Owen’s face as he considered the situation and all the implications. If they waited, the boy would die. If they went in, he would be possibly sending some of his people to die too. 

And yet Carlos knew what choice he was going to make before he even opened his mouth. He had learned so many things during his time with TK, and one of them was that in so many ways he and his dad were a lot alike. If it were his call, TK wouldn’t have been able to leave those boys in there either. So when the instruction came, he wasn’t surprised. 

“We’re going to need the heaviest duffel we can find and spray paint - the brighter the better.”

Carlos locked eyes with TK briefly as he and the rest of his team turned to start gathering supplies, giving him a smile and hoping that it conveyed everything he wanted him to know: it would be alright, no matter what. 

He almost believed it too. 

All was calm at the start, the 126 functioning like the well-oiled machine they were. In no time they were prepped and Owen was striding back towards the ambulance, asking the new guy if he was ready to go. The discussion quickly transformed into an argument and Carlos couldn’t help but glance back over at the minefield and the brothers. Every moment they argued was one less moment these boys had. Carlos was considering stepping in when a new voice entered the discussion, effectively bringing the escalating argument to a halt. 

“I’ll go.” 

And Carlos froze because he knew that voice. He would know it anywhere, it drew him like a moth to a flame in any room. He turned slowly to find TK standing slightly apart from his crew, stance relaxed but jaw set in determination. 

“I was a dual function FD medic in New York,” he explained, voice calm and firm, “all my certifications are up to date. I can do this.” 

Carlos didn’t need to be looking at him, didn’t need to see where his gaze shifted to know that those last words were directed at his dad. The knowledge made Carlos’s heart ache. The fact that his boyfriend still felt the need to prove himself to his dad after all this time and all he had accomplished killed him, but the thought of TK willingly walking into the minefield killed him even more. 

But it wasn’t his choice to make and when Owen nodded, he felt a cold dread spread throughout his body. This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. Today was not supposed to be the day he watched his boyfriend walk into an active minefield. That day was never supposed to come, and yet here it was. 

He walked over to where TK was switching out his gear, struggling with a strap that was twisting over his shoulder. He reached out for the strap without a word, smoothing it out and snapping it in place. They didn’t speak as Carlos stepped back, surveying the harness and gear for any other twists or issues. 

“It’s going to be fine, Carlos.” 

TK’s voice, soft and reassuring, broke the silence and Carlos met his eyes sharply. He wanted so desperately to believe him, but there was a field filled with explosives that had already claimed one life today behind them and he was finding it hard to be optimistic. 

“Are you sure about this?” he asked instead. 

TK pulled his helmet on, his steady gaze never leaving Carlos, “Of course I’m sure, the kid’s going to die if we don’t go out there, Carlos. I need to help if I can.” 

Carlos reached down to grab his medical bag and held it out to him. He didn’t like the thought of the man he loved purposefully putting himself in harm’s way, but he also knew TK. As much as he might hate it sometimes, this was TK: always ready to help, always willing to put himself at risk if it meant saving someone else, and there was nothing Carlos could do to change that. And he wouldn’t want to - it was a part of TK that made him who he was: someone that Carlos loved with all his heart. 

When TK reached out to take the bag from him, he didn’t release it immediately. He let his grip linger for an extra moment as he studied TK, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Just, be careful,” he told him softly. TK gave him a small smile, and Carlos released his grip on the bag, allowing TK to walk away, towards the minefield. He was still watching as he ascended the ladder that would drop him out onto the minefield when he felt the presence of others appearing at his side. 

“He’ll be okay kid,” Judd said quietly, eyes never leaving the sight of the two Strands climbing to the end of the ladder. 

“You don’t know that Judd,” Carlos responded just as quietly, already feeling his fingernails digging into his palm as he clenched his hands at his side. 

“No,” the older man agreed softly, “I don’t. But I do know they’ll be as careful as they can.” 

Carlos nodded, eyes tracking every movement desperately. They had reached the edge of the ladder now and he watched as Owen tossed down the duffel, as they both reeled back in preparation for an explosion. He could feel his heart skip a beat and his breath catch in his throat as they waited, but there was only silence and after a moment, he allowed himself to breathe again. 

“I don’t know if my heart can take this,” Paul lamented from his left, “that was nerve-wracking and they still have a long way to go.” 

Carlos nodded wearily, but caught his retort before it slipped out of his mouth: if they made it that far. He didn’t need to release that idea into the universe and the others didn’t need to hear it. So he swallowed it and continued watching. Each and every movement they made was agonizing to watch, but each and every thud of them landing unharmed gave him a moment to catch his breath, a brief reprieve for his heart to beat normally. They had settled into a rhythm, and everything was going smoothly. 

Until it wasn’t. 

The sound of the mine exploding filled the air around them and worked its way into Carlos’s soul. It sent shockwaves through his body as he watched, desperately trying to see through the haze of smoke and debris. He couldn’t see him, he didn’t know if he was okay. 

That fact was more than enough to bring on the fear. It attacked him with a vengeance, freezing him to the spot. He felt as if the whole world froze in that moment; suspending him in the terror of not knowing, trapping him with doubt and fear. 

And then he heard TK’s voice, and he could breathe again. It might just be the most wonderful thing he had ever heard. 

When Owen’s voice sounded across the radios, confirming that they were both in one piece, time picked back up at its usual pace. He felt himself sag in relief, grateful for the knowing and supportive hand on his shoulder from Judd. He spared a glance at the others, seeing his relief reflected on their faces and in their stances. 

Marjan let out a long breath, “That was…” 

“Intense,” Paul agreed grimly, “let’s never do that again.” 

They all nodded, and Carlos couldn’t agree more. 

If there was an upside to that moment it was that the path forward was now clear and the two Strands made quick work of the rest of the journey, closing the distance between them and the boys in seconds. Carlos watched in awe as TK slipped into medic mode the moment he reached the boys’ sides, calmly managing the scene and taking care of the patient. It was a wonder to watch. He handled it all with focus and compassion, quietly reassuring the boys even as he gave instructions to his dad and administered care. He was cool and steady even as he delivered the lifesaving compressions, forcing the teen’s blood to pump through his veins with his own hands. It was only minutes before his voice sounded over the radio, announcing that the injured boy was stable and no amount of fear or worry could have stopped the intense pride Carlos felt in that moment. 

“Kid’s got some skills,” Judd observed with a fond smile and Carlos could only grin. 

Paul nodded, “Looks like someone’s been holding out on us, that was pretty impressive I must admit.” 

“Badass is more like it!” Mateo exclaimed and Marjan, standing next to him, laughed even as she placed a hand on his arm. 

“Steady Probie,” she reminded him, “they still have to get out of there. Let’s not jinx anything.”

Her words tempered the celebratory mood of the group, but even though Carlos had never let go of that fear (he knew he wouldn’t until TK was out of the minefield and at least 2 miles away) it felt different from before. It was wrapped in that pride now, and even as Carlos watched them prep to move and the bomb squad moved out to locate and detonate any mines along the path, he couldn’t shake that. It was almost stronger than the fear now, this pride he felt for TK. That was his boyfriend; the person who had just saved two young brothers in the middle of a minefield was the man he loved. Just when he thought that he had come to know every bit of his body and soul, he managed to surprise him all over again. 

It took every ounce of restraint and professionalism Carlos had to not rush over to TK the moment he cleared the edge of the minefield. He forced himself to wait, focusing on his own job while keeping a watchful eye on TK as he reported back to Captain Vega, as he got an exam from the new paramedic. It wasn’t until he headed back to the ladder truck that Carlos broke away from the crowd, meeting him at the side of the engine. TK looked up as he approached, a smile on his face and a greeting on his lips, but Carlos pulled him into his arms before he even had a chance to speak. 

He held him tightly, savoring the feeling of his breath on his collar and the faint sound of the beating of his heart. His familiar scent filled Carlos’s head with each breath and he closed his eyes. He would have been happy to stand there forever, feeling this and just being them and while he knew they couldn’t, he was determined to have at least a few moments more before the world interrupted. If nothing else, the universe at least owed him this. 

“I’m okay Carlos,” TK said evenly, his voice muffled against Carlos’s shoulder. 

But you almost weren’t. The words rang through his head, but he didn’t speak them. Instead he pulled away just enough to see TK’s face as he asked, “Are you sure?” 

“Yes,” TK assured him firmly, placing a steady hand on his chest, “the new medic looked me over but I could have told you anyway, I’m fine. Not injured, my dad and I both made it out and so did the boys. This was a win Carlos, I’m more than okay.” 

And he was, Carlos saw as he studied him. He was beaming; enthusiasm pouring out of him. His eyes were alight with something Carlos couldn’t name and he was practically vibrating. Despite everything, Carlos couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He was still worried, still terrified by all the ‘what ifs,” but seeing TK like this gave him a lightness he couldn’t have imagined feeling even a few minutes before. 

He shook his head, trying to mask his smile with little success, “I am glad you’re so pleased with yourself, considering you almost gave the rest of us a heart attack.” 

He had been going for a joke but he instantly regretted it when TK dimmed, “I’m sorry,” he told him sincerely, “I didn’t mean to scare you guys, especially you. I just knew I could help…” 

Carlos interrupted him, moving his hands so they were on each of TK’s shoulders, “You have nothing to apologize for Ty,” he assured him firmly, “you did the right thing. You saved a kid’s life and you did amazing. I am so proud of you.” 

TK’s smile returned, softer than before but still glowing with pride, “You are, are you?” 

Carlos leaned down to place a soft and tender kiss on his forehead, “I am. So incredibly proud. You’re a pretty impressive guy, you know that?”

TK’s smile could have lit up the world and Carlos would have been happy to let it. But they were both still on the job and decidedly not alone, as they were suddenly reminded when Paul peaked around the side of the engine. He smirked at them before calling over his shoulder, “Yeah, they’re decent back here, you guys can come around.” 

Carlos rolled his eyes at his friend while TK casually flipped him off. Paul crossed towards them, completely unfazed before reaching out and pulling TK into a hug of his own. “You can’t keep scaring me like that man,” he told TK when they pulled apart, “I’m getting too old for that crap.” 

TK rolled his eyes at his teammate and Carlos chuckled. He looked behind him to see the rest of the team materializing. 

“That’s my cue,” he told TK, “I need to get back to work and get this scene wrapped up anyways. I’ll see you at home later?” 

TK nodded, reaching out to squeeze his hand, “I’ll be there right after my shift.” 

“Think you can make it until then without nearly dying on me again?” 

“I’ll do my best,” TK assured him and Carlos smiled. 

“That’s all I ask,” he responded, “I love you.” 

“Love you too, Carlos.” 

Carlos smiled at that, the warmth he felt every time he heard those words from TK rushing through him. With one last squeeze of the hand holding his own, he stepped away, letting TK’s team get in their time. As he reached the corner of the engine he looked back, still feeling the whirlwind of emotions deep in his chest. 

But TK was safe and happy - he couldn’t ask for anything more. So he turned the corner and returned to the task at hand. 

----------

“You know, that call today? It felt good, really good.” 

Carlos looked up from his dinner sharply to see TK idly playing with his, his focus clearly elsewhere. “Please don’t tell me this means you have decided to become a real-life minesweeper, I am going to have some objections to that,” Carlos deadpanned. 

TK laughed lightly, shaking his head, “No, not quite.” 

“Thank god, I don’t think my heart could handle that.” 

TK shook his head fondly at Carlos before his expression grew more pensive, “I didn’t mean the minefield, or even the danger or adrenaline. I meant the saving the boy part. I know I do that all the time as a firefighter, but there’s something different about doing it as a medic. I haven’t had the chance to really do any medical calls since moving to Austin, with the way the department is structured.” 

“You’ve never really talked about it before,” Carlos noted, “I’ve seen you do medical stuff in the field, but before today I didn’t even know you were dual certified.” 

TK shrugged, “It just never really came up, I guess. It’s pretty typical in New York, but their firehouses are structured differently. I guess once I made my peace with being down here I never really thought about it again. It’s not like I could do both the same way I used to.” 

His tone was almost wistful as he turned his gaze down to his plate, but Carlos had a feeling he wasn’t really seeing the food on it. “Sounds like you miss it,” he ventured after a few more moments of silence. 

“Sometimes I do.” 

“So why not go for it?” 

TK looked at him sharply, but Carlos just shrugged, “What? You’ve spent most of the past hour talking about it and you mentioned how the new guy quit and there’s an opening on the paramedic team within your first 10 minutes of showing up tonight. I know you and I know you’re already thinking about it, so why not try it?” 

“Even if I applied, there are so many other candidates. There’s no saying she’d pick me.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. She knows you and how dedicated you are to your job. She saw you in action today, willing to take the risk that someone else wasn’t in order to save a patient. You did the job well and you did it under insane pressure after months of not doing it. If I were her, I’d be wondering what you’d be capable of on an average day.”  

TK looked startled at the efficient takedown of his doubts, but Carlos just raised an eyebrow, “Next?” 

He would dismantle his boyfriend’s doubts with logic one by one if need be. Whatever it took for him to start believing in himself the way Carlos did. 

“I’d have to leave the team,” he said softly, “I wouldn’t be working with them anymore. We’re like a family, I can’t just leave them.” 

Carlos reached across the table to take TK’s hand in his own, “It’s not like you’d be leaving the station,” he reminded him, “you’d still be in the same building and on the same schedule. And they’re not going to feel like you abandoned them, Ty, they’ll still be right there. And right here,” he added with a laugh, gesturing towards his living room, “we’ve fed them, I don’t think we are ever going to get rid of them now.” 

That pulled a smile out of TK, but there was still so much doubt in his eyes that it hurt Carlos to see it. 

“What do you think they would say, if you told them it was something you wanted?” he asked instead, “Do you think they would tell you to forget about it? To stay with them because it was more comfortable?” 

“No,” TK said quickly, “of course they wouldn’t.” 

“So why are you worried about them? They want what’s best for you and they always will. Unless,” he hedged when TK’s expression didn’t clear, “they’re not the ones you’re worried about.” TK pulled his gaze up from the table and Carlos saw all the confirmation in them that he needed, “Your dad?” 

TK nodded, and Carlos sighed. “TK…”

“It would be a big change Carlos,” he said softly. “Except for my probationary period, I have always worked with my dad. I don’t want him to take it personally.” 

“But it is a little personal, isn’t it?” 

He was careful to keep his tone even, non-judgemental and he watched TK closely, waiting for his response. 

“Maybe a little, yeah,” TK admitted. “I feel like this would be a way for me to really see who I am without him right there. It’s not like this is a reaction to him or any news he may have shared recently,” he added hastily, “I would hope I’m past the ‘blowing my life up to piss off my dad’ point, but it is something to consider. And…” 

He trailed off, but Carlos had a feeling he knew what was going to come next, “And you’re worried he might take it personally?” he suggested. 

TK nodded and Carlos sighed and set down his fork, reaching across the table again to pull both of TK’s hands into his own, “Look,” he began, “what’s important is why you’re thinking about this. So, what is it? Why are you thinking about becoming a paramedic?” 

“Because I think I’d love it,” TK said without any hesitation, “because I feel like it’s the best way I can help people.” 

Carlos smiled at him, squeezing the hands in his grasp softly, “Then I think you have your answer. You should do this because it is what you want and because it is right for you. That’s all that matters. Everything else - and everyone else - will fall into place.” 

“And if they don’t?” TK asked softly, and Carlos felt a pang in his heart at the sound of so much doubt in the other man’s voice. 

“They will,” Carlos assured him. “Nothing ever stays the same, remember? And your dad knows that. We all know that. And,” he added, leaning forward in his seat to close some of the distance between them, “I will be here for you, every step of the way. No matter what.”  

The smile TK gave him warmed every inch of his body. They sat in companionable silence for a while, intertwined hands connecting them across the table until TK spoke again. 

“If you really mean that,” he began with a grin, “I could probably use some help with my resume.” 

“Anything for you,” Carlos quipped back, but even as he said the words he squeezed their clasped hands. He meant that, in every way possible. He would be here for resumes and job interviews and everything in between, as long as TK wanted him to be. 

Judging by the way TK met his eyes, and the soft ‘thank you’ that fell from his lips, he had a feeling he felt the same way too. 

[clownao]

AU where Civil War is about Kayano

It never made sense to me why the class forgave Kayano so easily. It was as if she was forced to be evil for five minutes, not that she had voluntarily injected herself with the tentacles. Didn't the class feel betrayed that Kayano had basically blindsiding them? That they were interacting with a fake person the whole time?

It feels like they were invalidating Kayano's Akari identity and her entire revenge arc- it felt like it had no consequences. The class never treated it seriously. They saw her as sweet Kayano who had an angry episode, not as vengeful Akari who had acting for almost an entire year.

And this AU would make sense too- after Kayano's arc in December, the class would be divided on whether to trust her or not, resulting in the Civil War in Janurary. (In addition, it makes me ill to think some of them might actually want to kill their beloved mentor figure, so I think it would be nice to reimagine Civil War.)

Here are the “teams”:

Team Trust- let Kayano stay in 3-E

Members: Nagisa, Sugino, Kanzaki, Hara, Itona, Terasaka, Muramatsu, Takebayashi, Kataoka, Kurahashi, Yada, Okajima, Sugaya (13 members)

Team Distrust- kick Kayano out of 3-E

Members: Karma, Okuda, Nakamura, Mimura, Isogai, Chiba, Hayami, Kimura, Maehara, Okano, Yoshida, Hazama, Fuwa (13 members)

(Note: characters’ views are not my views. Because this post deals with trust issues, some characters’ reasoning may seem offensive and even dismissive. Remember they’re all just teenagers trying to solve a difficult and sensitive problem.)

(Also note: characters’ views are not solely based on canon implications, they’re also based my own headcanons :D)

TEAM NEUTRAL

Kayano- She knows she’s done a terrible thing, and she sincerely apologizes. She admits she stopped wanting to kill Korosensei months ago, but her bloodlust forced her to continue. She also states she was pretending to be nice in the first few months, but claims she started to be genuinely nice afterwards. She understands how some people might refuse to forgive her, and while she is saddened, she totally understands and respects their opinion. She is glad for her friends’ support, but ultimately decides to leave the matter to the class. She doesn’t want to destroy the class’ bond further.

The teachers- They understand both sides of the debate and want to help everyone in the class. If Team Trust wins, so be it. They’re perfectly fine with students requesting to avoid Kayano for projects and assassinations. If Team Distrust wins, they’ll make sure to keep in contact with Kayano even after she leaves 3-E. After all, despite everything, she’s still their student. (And Korosensei’s NEVER going to let Aguri’s little sister go.)

Ritsu- Like in canon, she does not fully understand the human emotions involved, and hence decides not to interfere. She helps to coordinate the war.

TEAM TRUST

Nagisa- He believes even if Kayano was “acting”, she still gave them fun memories, and it “wasn’t entirely an act”. He is inclined to believe people can change, and his friend Kayano deserves a second chance. In addition, Kayano helped to make Nagisa feel comfortable with his long hair (she gave him his pigtails), and Nagisa can never forget that.

Sugino- Like Nagisa, he believes Kayano deserves a second chance. He’s a bit shaken by her “betrayal”, but thinks the entire class (Kayano included) should get along and work towards their goal together. He’s also a bit of an optimist and thinks it’ll all get better eventually.

Kanzaki- She understands the need to have dual identities, and thus emphasizes with Kayano. She believes communication can solve the problem and Kayano should be accepted in 3-E. After all, Kayano, with her traumatic past, needs friends and support too. 

Hara- She staunchly believes kicking Kayano away will do no good. Communication is the only way out, and if Kayano’s gone, how will the class and Kayano effectively communicate? In her opinion, they can’t just ignore the problem by banishing Kayano. Besides, she sort of sympathizes with Kayano, plus Kayano’s her friend, so she’s a little biased. Most importantly, Hara is genuinely sweet and kind- she can never hate or “abandon” anyone.

Itona- He’s a little complicated. He hates being used as a pawn, but he understands the tentacles’ influences. He can’t excuse how she voluntarily injected the tentacles for revenge, but he emphasizes with her. And he thinks it would be cruel of him to leave her alone when a) they both understand the painful and manipulative quality of the tentacles and b) the class accepted him even though he nearly killed them. He keeps his distance around her, but in the end, he stands with Team Trust. He thinks it’s the least he can do for a fellow ex-tentacle user.

Terasaka- Originally, he’s SUPER mad. Like, he just wanted to PUNCH Kayano. But after thinking about it for weeks, he realizes the class forgave a) him b) Itona and c) Irina when all three of them put the class in danger. He thinks it would be hypocritical for him to yeet Kayano out of the class. While he doesn’t want to forgive Kayano immediately, he admits she deserves a second chance like he, Itona, and Irina had been kindly given by 3-E. Terasaka has a strong sense of morals (especially after he was manipulated by Shiro), and would hate to be hypocritical. He joins Team Trust mostly due to his beliefs and morals, not because of Kayano.

Muramatsu- He used to totally support Team Distrust, but after talking to Itona and Terasaka, he started to see things in a new light. It’s not peer pressure, but Muramatsu has to admit kicking Kayano out doesn’t solve ANYTHING- it just adds to miscommunication and people will just continue to suffer. Besides, like Itona and Terasaka, he understands the class has forgiven others before, so it doesn’t seem fair they’re so willing to exclude Kayano from their trademark generosity. 

Takebayashi- He used to be neutral, but like the other members of the Terasaka Gang, he realizes 3-E is actually a forgiving class. After all, they forgave Takebayashi after he betrayed them and joined 3-A, and Takebayashi is immensely grateful for their support. Hence, he thinks Kayano doesn’t deserve being kicked out of 3-E.

Kataoka- She doesn't believe in “abandoning” Kayano- she’s a leader, and leaders don’t abandon anyone. She totally understands how some cannot forgive Kayano, but somehow, kicking Kayano out of 3-E doesn’t sit well with her. Hence, she joins Team Trust.

Kurahashi- She continues to deeply care for Kayano and believes she needs support. Plus, being kicked out of a class Kayano enjoyed/enjoys being in would just hurt her even more, and Kurahashi doesn’t want that.

Yada- Like Kurahashi, she just wants to help Kayano, even if it means getting to know her from square one. Yada is kind- she doesn’t want to abandon Kayano or make her feel even worse.

Okajima- He’s actually a loyal person who deeply enjoys the bond 3-E shares- or used to share. He foolishly wants it to go back to the way it was, but he knows it’s impossible. But if everyone works towards it, they can surely achieve something close to it, right? Maybe it’s a bit idealistic, but Okajima believes in that hope.

Sugaya- He doesn’t believe in kicking Kayano out of 3-E. He’s receptive and understands Team Distrust’s point of view, but he also believes the other team should be a little more open minded. 

TEAM DISTRUST

Karma- He despises manipulation. He hates how Kayano pretended to be innocent and harmless when she was in fact a skilled assassin. Karma cannot trust and forgive Kayano immediately; he wants nothing to do with her. He is also pissed off by Nagisa and thinks he’s selfish. Just because Kayano gave Nagisa happy memories doesn’t mean she should be allowed in the class- there are a lot of people who don’t feel happy about her at all.

Okuda- She trusted and loved Kayano, and was horribly shaken by her identity reveal. Okuda ends up with serious trust issues, to the point thinking about Kayano makes her physically ill. She has panic attacks and struggles with sleeping. She still wishes the best for Kayano, but doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore. She also oesn’t want Kayano’s apologies. In addition, it sickens her to see her other friends (eg. Nagisa, Kanzaki) stick up for Kayano, so she avoids them and sticks to Karma and other Team Distrust members.

Nakamura- Similar to Karma, she cannot forgive Kayano immediately. She might seem casual and chill about it, but she actually spent several nights thinking about it. She’s a little shaken, but in the end, she coolly decides Kayano leaving would be the best option.

Mimura- He personally wants to give Kayano a second chance, but he values class harmony above all. Letting Kayano stay would cause a lot of problems, and if she left, her friends could contact her without involving the entire class (including people who were deeply hurt by Kayano). So, logically, with the class’ best interests in mind, he decides to go for Team Distrust.

Isogai- His reason is similar to Mimura’s. He genuinely likes Kayano and would like her to be redeemed, but he’s the class leader. He wants to make sure everyone is happy and comfortable in 3-E. And if letting Kayano stay in 3-E makes other people uncomfortable and panicked, it’s not a good choice. As painful as it is, he joins Team Distrust for 3-E.

Chiba and Hayami- They value trust immensely, so they feel betrayed and blindsided. However, they continue to be professional, and unlike Okuda, they can work smoothly with Kayano. Personally, they think it’s best if Kayano leaves the class. Surprisingly (or not), Hayami is the more hesitant one. Her family has never been around much and so she emphasizes with Kayano a little bit, but not enough for her to leave Team Distrust.

Kimura- He wants justice. To him, letting Kayano stay implies she doesn’t have to deal with serious consequences. Consequences are needed, or else it isn’t fair- it isn’t fair to Kayano, isn’t fair to the class. Besides, he sees how his other classmates are hurting because of Kayano, so he believes Kayano should leave 3-E for the greater good.

Maehara- At first, he tries to forgive Kayano. He truly does. But the more he thinks about it, the more he finds the idea of manipulation and pretending to be someone else unsettling. Like VERY unsettling (even if he knows it's due to the tentacles). Maybe he's especially sensitive due to his (failed) romantic relationships, but he cannot really trust Kayano anymore. He's hesitant to say it at first, but after discovering a couple of his friends feel the same, he joins Team Distrust.

Okano- Similar to Maehara, she tries to forgive Kayano, but the more she thinks about it, the weirder she feels. And she hates it because she just wants things to be simple, but it's not simple and she doesn't know what to do, so maybe Kayano should just leave and give the class peace and quiet to sort things out. She knows she'll learn to forgive Kayano someday and be friends with her again, but she cannot do it now, so ultimately, she currently stands with Team Distrust.

Yoshida- At first, he and Terasaka and Muramastu were on Team Distrust, but then they changed sides. Suddenly, Yoshida feels like he’s alone in his beliefs (he is, in fact, Not). Yoshida might not speak much, but he is actually rather disturbed and scared by the entire Kayano incident. And because most of his friends appear to be “pro-Kayano”, Yoshida wonders if he’s the bad guy. In reality, he doesn’t want any harm to come upon Kayano, he’s just... scared. And confused. The other Team Distrust members validates his feelings, leading Yoshida to trust Team Distrust (ha) and ends up joining the team.

Hazama- She is disturbed by Kayano’s betrayal, and while she doesn’t hate or fear Kayano, she doesn’t want to deal with Kayano. She’s a little complicated, because while Hazama understands Kayano’s dark ideas of revenge, Kayano has hurt and scarred other people, and Hazama cannot excuse that and pretend it never happened. Besides, she knows Yoshida is feeling like shit, and decides to join Team Distrust due to personal beliefs and to make her friend Yoshida feel better. 

Fuwa- At first she’s fine with the whole thing, and she believes proper communication can help to ease tensions. Plus, Kayano’s her friend! Again, Fuwa’s a little complicated. But after a while, her overactive imagination (which may or may not have been encouraged by reading manga) causes her to wonder if EVERYONE in her life is lying. Obviously, she knows this isn’t the case, but it causes her so much fear, she starts to subconsciously avoid Kayano (the source of her trust issues). While she seeks to mend relations with Kayano, she ultimately decides it’s best if she takes a break from Kayano at the moment. 

Phew! This was a rather long post, and it turned into a character study midway :P If anyone has their own interpretations/thoughts, feel free to reblog and add! :D

(Thanks to Discord friends for discussing with me :D)

(Course of the war now here!)

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Resol’nare - Part Eight

A/N: *posts this chapter and runs away before anyone realizes its a week late* oh... well that didn’t work. Anyway... sorry about last week y’all. I don’t know why an atheist married to a jewish man picked easter weekend to fall off the schedule but that’s life i suppose. we’re back! we are...back. 

*this story will regularly be using words in Mando’a. for a good list of references click here.* 

Summary: A trip to Corellia to offload their stolen speeders takes Navina and Firo through some of the shiftier parts of Coronet City before ending their trip with a visit to Firo’s family. Navina learns some shocking new information about her quest... and also misses something very important. 

Warnings: Ummmmmm i think this one’s fine actually.

Word Count: 4.3k

Corellia. 

Navina stuck close to Firo’s side as he expertly navigated the crowded streets of Coronet City. I hate it here. What remained of her armor after her encounter with the Mandalorian shifted in her bag as she walked, the pieces clanging together with each step. She noticed at least three pairs of eyes dart in her direction, the distinct metallic sound of beskar easily discernible to those who knew it’s exact value on the black market. Try it. Her grip tightened on the strap over her shoulder, her other hand casually hovering near the blaster on her thigh, conveniently concealed by her gray shawl. 

Lucky for them, the shifty looking Twi’lek and the two heavily tattooed Czerialan women he was with didn’t start any trouble, presumably keeping their eyes peeled for softer targets. And they’ll find them. With a population in the billions, Corellia had gained quite the reputation for being overrun with pickpockets, thieves, smugglers and desperate people willing to do desperate things. Which is why we’re here but…  She frowned, looking over at her friend. Next to her, Firo walked confidently, head held high and shoulders back, his stride deliberate and meaningful. I cannot believe he grew up here.  

Technically, Firo and his brother Leph had grown up in a smaller town just outside the city limits, their parents wanting them to have room to run and find the kind of trouble that wasn’t looking for them first. Between the Black Sun and the White Worms, the city was becoming less and less of a desirable place to raise children, both organizations known for recruiting their scrumrats young. Their parents both worked in the city, though, so staying close enough for a reasonable commute was necessary. Their mother, a brilliant woman, worked as a translator at the welcome center in Diadem Square, and their father had been a test pilot for one of the only Corellian shipyards that had been able to resist being converted into a TIE Fighter factory during the Empire’s reign. It was because of him that Firo had learned to fly. The man would occasionally take Firo and Leph up for a spin once he’d deemed the ships safe and in good working order. Leph had always been more interested in the engineering that powered them, eventually getting a job at the same facility, but Firo had fallen in love with flight from the first time he took off. 

Despite the fact that they had just turned the corner and crossed into Black Sun territory, Navina smiled to herself. She liked knowing things like that about Firo. Her own past wasn’t entirely without bright spots, but she found Firo’s anecdotes to be much warmer than most of her own. Aside from the memories she had of the few years she and her family were together on Yavin, her perception of what it was like to grow up in a domestic household had been built by her friend and his stories of having two parents and a bunk bed to share with his brother and a home that had a roof with four walls. She didn’t envy him, just enjoyed imagining what it might have been like to live that way. 

The buildings in that sector of the city rose higher than those just a few blocks over, their shadows darkening the street level enough that artificial lighting was necessary even during the day, and the warm feeling she got from wrapping herself in Firo’s stories left, taking her smile with it. There were fewer people bustling about, but that only made Navina grow more alert, more aware of the ones that were. Like him. In the corner of her vision she noticed a tall Duros man leaning in a darkened doorway, his deep red eyes following her footsteps, a casual smirk on his gaunt purple cheeks. She narrowed her eyes, upper lip curling from the way being watched made her feel.    

“Tell me again why we’re going this way instead of walking through the industrial sector?” Her grip tightened even further around the strap on her bag, until she could feel her fingernails digging into her palm. 

Firo flinched, clenching his teeth before sucking a breath through them as he slung his arm around her shoulder. Oh, here we go. “Well, it’s kind of a long story, Nav.” It always is. “Suffice it to say that one thing led to another and I may or may not have,” -so, you did  “made a bet that I had no business making, and I-” 

Navina groaned. “Firo, you have no business making any bets, ever. You’re terrible at Sabacc, and-”

“Hey!” He dropped his arm and shot her a defensive glare. “I’m not terrible at Sabacc… I just...need practice.” He blew out a breath and ran his hand through his hair, the tips of his fingers disappearing into his unruly locks. “A lot of practice, and I’m not… ready for a rematch just yet.” 

Navina was still aware of the Duros lurking in the shadows, his long fingers lifting a lit cigarra to his lipless mouth. The end of it glowed to match the color of his eyes as he inhaled. He hadn’t moved to follow them though, simply shifting his weight as he allowed the smoke to swirl around his face. She felt his gaze on her back as they continued down the street, but she shook it off and turned back to Firo. “How much practice is a lot of practice?” 

Pausing at the corner as a line of land speeders barrelled through the intersection, he kicked the curb and inspected a loose thread at one of the seams in his gloves. “Um… ten or… eleven, something like that.” 

She nudged his boot with her own, eyes going wide. “Ten or eleven… thousand? Firo...are you telling me that you owe some card shark in this kriffing city eleven thousand credits?” The last three words came out in a hiss. 

The traffic signal flashed and they stepped off of the curb to cross. “Don’t worry, Nav, I’ve got it all figured out.” He waved a hand in front of him as they reached the opposite side of the street.

“Yeah,” Navina grumbled, “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Your plans are never any better than mine. She sighed. “How much more do you need to get them off your case?” 

Firo cocked his head to the side, doing some quick arithmetic. “After what we just made selling those speeders…” He trailed off. 

They had arranged a meeting with a buyer in a secluded hangar in Coronet spaceport before taking off from Nevarro. The individual was reluctant to give them their name, which wasn’t abnormal when it came to the type of transactions that they typically took part in. Usually they dealt with other smugglers and traders, people who wanted their name used as little as possible to avoid getting thrown in prison or hunted down and frozen in a cold slab of carbonite. 

This buyer though, had another reason to maintain their anonymity. Rumors and whispers of Imperial remnants gathering strength and support had prompted the reemergence of rebel cells across the galaxy, and those militias needed munitions and vehicles and other supplies that Firo and Navina were happy to procure for them as it served a dual purpose: filling their pockets, and taking tools away from the enemy to put them in the hands of the good guys. Only once had one of their rebel customers complained, trying to guilt them into dropping their price for the good of the cause. The good of the cause won’t put fuel in my ship, Navina had answered with a shrug, letting the would-be haggler know that they were free to try their luck elsewhere and that there was no shortage of buyers that would pay double what they were asking. It was a bluff, of course, but the customer had not only begrudgingly agreed, but had become one of their most frequent buyers. It was who they had sold the stolen bikes to for a total of eight thousand credits, four thousand for each of them. 

Firo finally finished his calculations as they turned another corner, the shadows lightening and the buildings becoming shorter again as they reached the perimeter of Black Sun territory. They were almost at the nearest mag-lev station, and Navina was eager to get on the train and out of the city. “Probably another three?” He shrugged. 

Another three. And then what? He goes back into debt to pay for food and fuel? No. “Firo,” she let out a long huff and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You have to pay these guys off before you leave Corellia.” 

Shooting him a sharp glance, she knew that he understood the subtext to what she was saying: take care of it before they come after you or your family. It had happened once before, not over gambling debt but over Leph clashing with one of the White Worm underlings when they tried to recruit the man’s daughter, Firo’s niece, for their organization. Leph had obviously refused, and when he couldn’t pay the gangster off, they had come after his family. Luckily, Navina and Firo had been making a trip back to Corellia at that time to see his mother, so they were there when the assassin had been sent. There was still a visible patch covering the round hole through the kitchen wall from where Navina had shot her blaster straight through it to eliminate the threat. But I can’t be there all the time and neither can you, Firo. 

“Yeah,” he let out the word in a rush of air. “I know.” He frowned and scratched his nose.  

As the mag-lev station came into view, Navina blew out another breath. “Okay. Sell the ship.” 

The train rumbled along the tracks and pulled up to the platform, the two of them picking up their pace so they would have time to hop on before it left again. “What?” Navina didn’t need to look up at him to know that his face was scrunched into a scoff. “Nav, that’s supposed to be you-”

“My ship, yeah, I know.” She rolled her eyes. “Sell it. Pay off the rest of the debt.” They climbed the few steps up to the platform, weaving through the crowd of passengers that had just gotten off of the train. A young boy, face smudged with dirt and grease, bumped Navina’s hip and crashed noisily into her bag. He apologized profusely and Navina waved him off, no harm done. 

“But you need that ship to get back to Nevarro, that’s why we-” 

Navina closed her eyes as she reached for the handle to step up onto the train. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” she mumbled, words running together, “but I’ll…” she took a deep breath as though preparing herself for something truly unpleasant. “Dank farrik, I’ll take The Flare.” 

Firo gave her back an incredulous look as he grabbed the handle and climbed up behind her. “Nav, you flew The Flare here and you complained the entire time. You hate that ship.” 

“Yes, well that’s because it’s a rusted bucket of bolts and you know it, but if you sell the new ship- my ship- you can settle up and no one gets hurt… aside from my pride…” 

Firo’s mouth dropped open as the two of them dropped into one of the train’s window seats. “Navina-” 

She turned to cut him off as soon as her name was out of his mouth. “Okay, one, lose the full name nonsense. It’s weird coming from you. And two, don’t try to talk me out of it. Your family is my family, Firo, so your stupid debts are my stupid debts.” I have to teach him how to bluff better if he’s going to keep playing cards. Now, do I like flying The Flare? Not even a little bit. But that’s what I’m going to do...assuming it doesn’t spontaneously combust when I jump into hyperspace.” 

He knew better than to argue with her at this point. They’d both learned by now when they’d lost. Instead, he bumped her with his shoulder.  “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Harsa.” 

She bumped him back. “Yeah, that makes two of us, Ottabok.” The train let out a long, loud blast of it’s whistle to let passengers know that they only had a few more seconds to board. 

“Hey maybe your new Mando friend can help you out with some repairs for The Flare when you head back to Nevarro next week,” Firo suggested. 

Navina laughed. “Yeah, doubtful.” She had told Firo everything about her encounter with the man encased in beskar, from fighting the reptavians with him to the way they traded off answering questions to the Mandalorian’s reaction to her pendant and its mysterious purple glow. “He’s… intense. Doesn’t strike me as the type to just offer to help with repairs, and I’m not quite sure I’m ready to ask him for another favor.” But I hope he made some headway on the first one. She chewed her bottom lip and sent out another silent wish that the man would return to her with information on her father. Even if it’s just… She swallowed. At this point, even the knowledge that he was no longer alive would be something more concrete than the floating hope of finding him. She shook those thoughts from her head and shifted her bag into her lap to cross her arms over the top of it. “Anyway, that’s next week’s news.” Hopefully.  “Is Leph gonna be at your Mom’s tonight? I want him to take a look at this kriffing pauldron to see if he can tell me how to fix it where Mando decided to slice it from my shoulder.” 

Firo gave her a quizzical look and scratched his head. “He...what? I thought you said he didn’t take you prisoner?”  

Navina laughed again and shrugged, recalling the weight of the blade resting on her shoulder and the sound of his beskad carving through the thin durasteel plate. “I told you, he’s intense.” 

Firo sat quietly for a few seconds just staring at the seat in front of him before he spoke again. Spit it out, Firo. “Do you really think he’ll be able to help you find your family, Nav? Or…” He frowned. 

“Or what?” She turned in her seat and furrowed her brow. 

“Or are you… do you want to meet with him to find out about your father and…” he shook his head, his hair flopping around his ears. “Or is this still about the Darksaber?” 

There it is. Navina dropped her gaze to her lap and toyed with the end of her braid where it lay on her shoulder, the blue strands shining in the harsh overhead lighting of the train car. “Why can’t it be both?” She couldn’t lie to Firo, and she didn’t want to. He has to understand.  “Until that thing is destroyed, Mandalorian families will be. Families like mine, and…”

She didn’t finish nor did she need to. “Okay.” Firo nodded and smoothed his hair back before fixing the strap of his bandolier which had fallen into the crook of his arm, and didn’t say another word about the Darksaber or the Mandalorian or Navina’s plan to meet with him. 

Navina nodded, too, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Okay.” She didn’t know much about other people and their relationships, but she was fairly certain that her friendship with Firo was one of a kind. They weren’t afraid to speak their minds to one another. Certainly not.  But they respected each other’s decisions and always did whatever they could to help make sure that those decisions, whatever they may be, didn’t come back to hurt them. She knew that friends like Firo didn’t just drop out of the sky. 

The train began to pull out of the station and Navina switched the topic of conversation to the types of tools she was hoping that Leph would have on him to fix her armor with. Neither she nor Firo saw the dirty faced scrum rat that had collided with her on the platform speaking to the Duros that had been lurking in the shadows, the purple skinned bounty hunter slipping a few credits into the kid’s hand before shoving him away. 

-- -- -- -- -- 

Staying with the Ottaboks was always something to look forward to for Navina. As much as she disliked Corellia and its cities in particular, she loved Firo’s family and they adored her, so she never truly minded when their travels brought them to the crowded, corrupt planet. She knew that there was at least one place there that was worth visiting. Millea, Leph’s six year old daughter, launched herself at Navina from the top of the stoop the second the girl saw her and Firo heading up the drive, her father right behind to clap a large hand on his brother’s arm before leaning in to kiss Navina’s cheek and untangle his child from her limbs. Ma waited near the door like she always did, waving a dish towel before slinging it over her shoulder to reach for Firo’s face and tell him how skinny he was getting. Navina took several mental snapshots and stuck them in the box in her memory with Firo’s stories, and followed the family inside. 

After dinner, Ma finally content that everyone had eaten enough, Navina sat on the floor with Millea while Leph and Firo sat at the table with a couple bottles of ale, catching each other up on the past few months. Navina bit the inside of her cheek as she listened to her friend skate over all of the details that his family wouldn’t approve of, shooting Firo a smirk as he winked at her and took a swig of his drink. 

“Navi, do the song you taught me last time!” Millea suddenly plopped into her lap, her small hands bracing on Navina’s shoulders. 

She smiled as Ma continued to clean up the remains of dinner, packing leftovers in tins that would travel well for Navina’s journey back to Nevarro. “Which one, Mills? Three little loth-caths?”  

“Uh uh,” she answered, swinging her head from side to side so that the braid she’d begged Navina to put in her hair smacked her cheeks. “The other one.” 

“The other one?” Navina asked, still smiling at the girl but mind flashing back to the foundling that she sang the children’s rhyme to all those years ago. “You sure, Mills?” 

“Yeah, Gramma helped me practice it since you were here last time so I know it- all the words!” She beamed with pride, cheeks going round as she showed off a grin, a gap small gap between her two front teeth just like the one her uncle had.

Navina caught Ma’s eye again, and the woman wiped her hands on her pants with an apologetic look. Firo’s mother was fluent in many languages from a life-long career as a galactic translator, and while Mando’a wasn’t one of them, the woman knew enough about the pronunciation to help her granddaughter work on whatever she remembered from Navina’s last visit.  “Millea, don’t pester Nav now.” 

“No, no,” Navina shook her head. She knew that she hadn’t hid the way that her emotion flashed in her eyes from Firo’s mother. She knows me almost as well as he does.  “It’s fine, Ma.” She turned back to Millea and tapped her nose. “I’m impressed you remembered! It’s not an easy one. Alright, little one.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat as she used the same phrase she would have used with their little one, his enormous eyes watching her as she tried to teach him the Rhyme of the Resol’nare. He never followed along with the words himself, but he would clap his small hands and sway from side to side in a way that made Navina, even at 11 years old, think that he must’ve known what she was singing. “Let’s hear it.” Millea smiled again before launching into the rhyme, first in basic and then in Mando’a. 

Education and armor,

Self-defense, our tribe,

Our language and our leader—

All help us survive.

Ba'jur bal beskar'gam,

Ara'nov, aliit,

Mando'a bal Mand'alor—

An vencuyan mhi.

She stumbled more than a few times on the second iteration, but Navina helped her through it, finishing the last line with her. LIke it did since she last saw her father and the little one, the last line made her chest ache. Our leader… the Mand’alor. Wielder of the Darksaber. The sword I’m trying to- 

She pulled herself out of those thoughts though as Millea’s small arms wound around her neck in a giddy hug with Firo, Leph and Ma giving the girl a round of applause. Giving her a squeeze in return, she whispered “Good job, Mill’ika,” before Leph stood and announced that it was time for them to get back home. He offered Navina a few tools that she’s asked for from the kit in his speeder, reminding her of what he told her she’d need to do to repair her armor. And hopefully I’ll be able to use something here to open my pendant and see about that stone. Thanking him, she gave the man a hug and told them both that she hoped she’d see them soon. 

Firo walked them out, and the moment that the door shut behind them, Ma spoke. “I need to tell you something, Nav.” 

Navina took in the serious expression on the woman’s face and stood, immediately joining her at the table. “Sure,” she pulled out a chair and sunk into it, eyes still on the woman across from her. “Is everything alright?” 

“Oh,” she waved one hand, curling her wrist fluidly. “Oh, yes. No, nothing’s wrong, but I… I overheard something at work the other day that I think you should know.” 

What? She tilted her head. “What is it, Ma?” What could it… She didn’t look upset or worried or scared, simply… sincere.  

She took a short breath and let it out through her nose. “Well, I know about your… mission. For your family, and for, well… Firo’s told me things and so have you so, I know that you’re…” 

“Ma?” Navina reached across the table and placed her hand over the woman’s. “It’s okay, just tell me.” 

She nodded. “Alright, well, you know I’m only passable with Mando’a. Huttese, Rodian, even Dathomiri and I’m-” she blew air through her lips. Yeah, I know. “But a few weeks back? Maybe… five or six now, I… well I heard two women speaking Mando’a in Diadem Square.” What? Ma shook her head. “And aside from you, Nav, I have never known Mando’a to be spoken on Corellia. Not in public, anyway.” 

Navina hadn’t realized it, but she had leaned forward in her seat. “W-well, what… did they say?” 

Ma shook her head. “I really… I only caught a few words that I know, so I’m not entirely sure, but I heard ‘aliit’ and then ‘Mudhorn’, a few words I couldn’t decipher, and then...then one that I knew and another in Basic.” 

Navina’s eyes widened at the mention of the Mudhorn, the signet on the Mandalorian’s armor seeming to glow in her memory. “What words, Ma?” 

The woman sighed. “I heard the word ‘Mand’alor’,” Navina stiffened, “and then I heard one of them say ‘Darksaber’.” 

“What? Are...are you sure that’s what you heard?” Her heart pounded as the woman nodded. “Why are you telling me now?” Her eyes flicked to the door and she knew that Ma would understand her unasked question- why was she telling her while Firo was out of the room? 

“I know Firo worries about you, Navi. Dank farrik so do I. I never had a daughter and I never imagined I’d be lucky enough to have you in my life but I am so, so glad that I do. You’re a good, fierce friend, Navina Harsa, and that is a rare thing in this life.” She felt her chest tighten, sending the same sentiment silently back. I’m the lucky one, Ma. The woman narrowed her eyes. “But I know that you need to do things for yourself. So I wanted you to know this.” 

The door opened and Firo walked in, closing it behind him to make the world spin inside of Navina’s head. “Well I had to promise Mills that I’d pick her up from school tomorrow before she would agree to leave but-” 

The rest of his sentence was drowned out in her mind as she thought about what she’d just learned. The Mandalorian. Clan Mudhorn, the Darksaber… the Mand’alor. She’d be leaving for Nevarro in two days, but suddenly with all the new questions that just cropped up, that felt like two lifetimes. 

“Um,” she cleared her throat and pushed her chair back. “Um, I think I’m going to head upstairs and… and get cleaned up if that’s…” she trailed off questioningly and Ma assured her that it was fine, shushing Firo’s attempts to try to get Navina to have another ale with him first. 

Thanking Ma and smacking Firo on the arm, she grabbed her bag from the bench by the front door, dropping the tools that Leph had lent her into it, and shouldered it to head for the staircase. She hadn’t seen the small device that the scrum rat working with that Duros in Coronet City had slipped in there when he bumped her.

 It didn’t beep or blink, and it was small enough to become hidden in the fabric of the bag’s inner lining. And it was sending her location to its receiver, wherever- or more accurately, whoever that may be.     

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Thank you for reading! Please feel free to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the tags! :)

tags: @something-tofightfor @alraedesigns @pheedraws @valkblue @malionnes @gollyderek​ @fific7​

[reveliohq]

welcome back to hogwarts, KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT. ! enclosed here you will find all the necessary equipment for the upcoming school year. we await your owl by no later than twenty-four hours from now, or else you will lose your spot ! daniel ezra is now taken.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎.

(   *  💀  /  daniel ezra, cis male, he/him  )  —  is that kingsley shacklebolt i just saw rushing down the corridor? i hear they’re a twenty two year old gryffindor, returning for their seventh school year, but their friends would tell you that they are grounded & commanding as well as opinionated & strong-willed. if you want to know more about them, i guess i could tell you that they’re pureblood, and from what I hear, they’re currently allying with the order. when our divination professor looks into their crystal ball, they see: the calming presence in the back of the room, muggle records hidden in drawers, steaming mugs of tea, the warmth of a hug, the burn of quiet fury.  —  ( ellie, she/her, 21, gmt, yk them  )

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

his parents used to say he was born for diplomacy. that’s what they’d drilled into him since he was born: fight the good fight, be honest and good and stay calm, always. they can only catch you off guard when you aren’t. he’d always been somewhat of a natural diplomat — the oldest child, expectations hung from his shoulders as if they were coats and he, a coat rack. he’d always been a quiet child, somewhat unassuming, almost shy, content to play and be alone, often found even as a baby, simply amusing himself with his fist over crying, wailing for attention. when they attended the galas and balls befitting of a family part of the sacred 28, little changed. in fact, he was praised for it — how level-headed he was, even when all he wanted to do was scream and shout and set fire to the curtains by the window to stop them yammering on about the importance of blood purity and their precious, precious privilege, how he smiled politely and shook hands and never, ever made a scene. he hated them. he hated every last one of them. their fake smiles and empty eyes, how they hated for no reason and believed themselves to be superior — a kernel of a fallacy that kingsley, even as a child, could never subscribe to.

but kingsley was nothing if not a good man, and a good son, and so, he stayed silent — at least, to everyone who never crossed the boundaries of their home. to them, kingsley was a young wizard who showed particular promise in their circle, but to those who saw him at home, his internal torture over it was obvious. he had muggle neighbours, even muggle friends, people who made him laugh and gave his parents presents when his beloved baby sister was born, and he could not abide the dual life his parents were living. when they were home, they were tolerant — amused, even, by the muggles they surrounded themselves with, something his mother always said was to keep them grounded, because she’d already lost one sibling to pureblood mania and refused to lose herself, or her husband, or either of her children. when they were at the galas, they were cold, a little aloof, they laughed along with jokes at muggles expenses, they shook hands, ate appetisers, danced and never seemed to show any remorse for the roles they had to play those nights, though he knew they had to feel guilty (he hoped they felt guilty.) he knew they felt they had to do it to survive — to thrive, even, in a world in which they weren’t always welcome, but he hates it.

he loves his family. kingsley loves them with every part of him, loves his younger sister with his entire heart, is never not seen at home without her practically hanging off his ankles, and then his knees, and then his hips, until she’s too tall and too old for that, he loves his mother and relishes her hugs and the way she always knows what to say to make him feel better, he loves his father and that deep, slow river of calm that seems to run through him, the same river kingsley has always felt took root in him, but he hates their legacy. he hates their part in the sacred twenty eight. he hates every part of it. he hates that they agreed to this — to what feels like a mortal lock, an unbreakable vow, tying themselves to this until the end of time. he hates that he understands why — their blood runs pure, he knows, in other wizards standards, but knowing what the sacred twenty eight stands for? what it really represents? kingsley thinks that their blood is the blood that’s dirty, that they’re the ones who ought to be ashamed of themselves for their existence, that they’re the ones who value opulence and power over people’s lives and that makes them wrong and evil and undeserving of their magic. it’s the first time — the only time — his parents have ever seen him truly angry — he remembers it well, being fourteen and all uncontrolled fury for the first time, how the quiet anger had burned and swelled under his skin until he couldn’t hold it in anymore, and how he’d made all the glass windows in the dining room shatter, the glass raining like sand when his father waved it away with a swish of his wand, kingsley’s chest heaving as he yells, raging against their indifference, feeling oddly soothed when his mother pulls him into his arms and whispers that she’s sorry. she’s sorry. she knows, she knows. he wishes that were enough — that apology, that acknowledgement that they were — are — hypocrites.

even still, his love for his family, flaws and all, remains, though he’s slowly pulled back from any engagement with the pureblood world over the years. he’s very proud to be his father’s son — the son of an auror, recipient of the order of merlin second class — and his mother’s. he’s proud to be his sister’s big brother, her protector. he’s even more proud when he gets his letter to hogwarts, confirming what they all already knew — magic is strong in the shacklebolt family. he picks up the family wand, purchased in america in the early 1920s — alder with cherry trailed over the front like the path of a river, or a lightning bolt, white river monster spine core, fourteen and a quarter inches, solid — and he feels a piece of himself slots firmly into place. hogwarts is where his father went, where his father’s father went (over ilvermorny), and though he can no longer pretend to be complacent to their every whim in regards to the sacred twenty eight (something which both his parents have since begun to shun), he knows getting sorted into gryffindor would make them both proud, and that’s what he wants, so that’s what be did — the bat barely touched his head before declaring him a gryffindor. even now, as a twenty two year old seventh year on the brink of graduating into a fully fledged war, he wants to make them proud. he wants to be a pillar of strength, safety, tolerance, love, support, he wants to be the friendly face ushering people to safety, he wants to be the one raining hellfire down on the prejudiced idiots who think that they’re any different to anyone else, with magic or without, on this planet, that they’re superior in any way because of their blood.

[scribbling-stiks]

Puppets Extras - Just a Bit of World Building

-Giving a creature a name gives it more power, hence why many of the creatures go unnamed

-Everyone's face is the flag of the country or state they are a resident of or were a resident of.

-If someone is not a resident of any country, they are blank until they become residents. ie. if they are born on a plane.

-If a person has dual citizenship, their flag will change based on which country they are in or stayed in most recently.

-The main visual difference between personifications and citizens is the eyes. Personifications have eyes that have a slight yellow glow, and the citizen's eyes are plain white.

-A second visual difference is that, for personifications, their flag's design can extend past their face.

-Simpler, color-based flags show up more vividly than the more complicated, picture-based ones.

-First-generation immigrants often, but don't always, keep their original flag. Second generations have fewer ethnic flags and third generations are completely based on their current citizenship.

-English is the language of international policies, hence why countries without a large  population of English speakers can still communicate in fluent English

-Personifications and citizens alike can have the ability to do magic. The ability is not common.

-Personifications have stronger magic/more potential strength than citizens

-The states all have their own homes in their respective state. They only stay at the main house together during holidays or emergencies.

-The nickname "Mass-hole" came about during Thanksgiving when Massachusetts insisted on calling Pennsylvania "Penny." Eventually, Penn had enough and he shouted, "Shut the f*** up, Mass-hole!" It stuck and the states have used it ever since.

-All states know how to cook their regional food, and America knows how to cook any American based dish or popular dish that the states make.

-Some states are fluent in more than one language and America is as well. This is based on two reasons

               >The current languages spoken by their citizens

               >Any past mass immigration of foreign people

-Australia and New Zealand have met the states, but because of distance, they do not visit much

-The states call Australia "Spider-Man"

-Most countries have scars from a history of violence in their land. Russia keeps his arms covered because the scars on them are sensitive to touch. Most of the time, long sleeves are good enough, but if unavailable, he'll wrap them in dry, clean bandages.

-New York has a prosthetic leg. He lost his right leg and nearly lost the other during the events of 9/11/2001. His leg ends just below the knee and both legs are heavily scared. His prosthetic is life-like, and you wouldn't notice it was a prosthetic unless he exposes his legs.

-America made sure that all the states know how to swim. Hawaii is the best, closely followed by California and Florida.

-The monsters seen attacking Russia are not necessarily doing it for the same reasons.

-While America is gone, Dixie has attempted to take over his duties. Unfortunately, New York often has to get involved because of the arguments Dixie's involvement has caused with some of the other countries.

-Monsters can not perfectly imitate a person. The ones that are the most accurate at copying faces can not do it for long, and the mimicking cries of others always have strange distortions. Most of the monsters are imitating things to lure people toward them, but only have the intelligence of a wild animal.

-Most of the monsters that roam the North American continent are monitored by the personifications representing the different Native American tribes recognized by the Federal Government. These personifications do not typically interact with America or the states, but if worse comes to worst, they are willing to help.

-New York and New Jersey have the strangest relationship out of the states. The two are opposites but act as best friends. They will go from insulting each other to defending each other if anyone else tried to insult one of them. Jersey's more obnoxious tendencies are only tolerated by New York because he's New Jersey. If any of the other states tried blasting music into New York's office or room when he was on the phone, they would get a much larger reaction than just an annoyed look.

-Wisconsin is in charge of getting cheese, end of story.

-Most midwestern states know how to ride horses, and the southern states know how to grow produce and hunt.

-If someone finds a snake in the Big House, its Florida's problem to get rid of it.

                   >Alligators go to either Louisiana or Florida.

-During Hurricane season, the states that are heavily hit(Like Louisiana) get sick and are often bedridden until the damages begin to be fixed.

-New York handles most of the logistical things for his family.

-Florida was terrified the world was ending the first time he saw snow.

AND SOME MORE

America's magic runs on the same logic as Massachusetts, just to a lesser extent.

Nations heal the fastest, followed by states, and regular people heal the slowest.        Sidenote: Texas, California, and Hawaii heal faster than the other states.

Alabama owns and modifies old cars. Most end up with rocket boosters attached. Indiana occasionally helps.

Countries(and states) all have at least one home in their country, but many have family homes centered between relatives. The larger the country, the more homes they own.

The idea that the USSR crumbled because of new freedoms giving to citizens is where I get my interpretation of Soviet. I read it as he was controlling when his kids were little, but once he realized his kids weren't happy, he backed off, and the USSR fell apart.

America was severely neglected as a child, so when he started finding states(small children) as a young teenager, he wanted to get rid of them. He didn't want them. But when he turns his back on Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, their cries draw him back. They sounded so much like his own.

-"Daddy! Come back! Please." -"Where are you going? Why can't I come with you!" -"Daddy, wait!"

He vowed from then on to raise these kids as best as possible, and he made it a goal to do better than UK or England ever had. He likes to think he succeeded.

If a personification dies, their country crumbles. If the country crumbles, but the personification is still alive, they will become less powerful, but still amortal(meaning unable to die of disease or age).

Nevada and New Mexico are NEVER to be left alone together. Chaos ensues.

Florida has several pet alligators that live in a moat around his house in FL. His siblings don't visit often.

Georgia and North Carolina make Moonshine and fight over whose is better.

California is the worst driver.

New York has an attitude that demands respect, even if he's in pjs.

Colorado, Florida, and California do parkour. Texas won't admit that he does too because he doesn't want to have anything in common with Florida and California.

New York and New Jersey like to race each other across rooftops in NYC. New York normally wins, even with his prosthetic. Jersey always demands a rematch.

Louisiana and Georgia can tap dance. New Jersey can breakdance.

Florida can play the grand piano, but his siblings say he can't play any "good music." Even still, he insists that "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "All Star" are perfectly reasonable choices of music.

West Virginia always has a few marbles in his pocket. Always.

Instead of faces, different people have different face shapes, eye sizes, and slight alterations to their flags, mostly colors. Flags keep the same shape.

Extra Facts:

-Had a horrible childhood full of neglect. He was left to fend for himself in brutal winters of the northeast or the brutal heat and humidity in the south east. UK does not know how to be a parent and didn't want to learn.

-America doesn't ever want any of the states to feel the same kind of doubt about themselves he felt, so he showers them with affection as much as he can. Unconditional love.

-The states, though they are a big group, are one of the most functional family units. They can work as a (sometimes) well-oiled machine.

-Philippines was taken in and treated like a state for a while, so he fits right in.

-America allows his states to do as they please, but insists that they have nothing to do with international affairs.

-He knows the states can handle themselves, but if they need help, he'll run in behind them, guns blazing, no questions asked. And he knows the rest of the states will follow him in the same fashion.

-He doesn't really remember birthdays. Instead he will just randomly mail them gifts that remind him of them. So it's like surprise birthday presents.

-The states love him, and will support him no matter what. His asking is the only reason they haven't mobbed a nations' meeting to beat the crap out of the people making fun of their dad.

-America is hyperactive and forgetful. New York took on the logistics early on because he saw that though his dad wouldn't mean to, America would often forget important meetings and dates in time.

-Texas was scared to join another family, but found himself in a group that looked up to him and laughed with him and he was happy. He doesn't care that he was a country(unless it's to tease his siblings), his is one of the states and will deal with anyone who messes with his family.

~

Table of Contents

[randomnameless]

Heroes characterisation analysis time again, with Seiros bcs i’m trash and I was wondering maybe Seiros’d reveal some stuff about the WoH

Inoue!Seiros wise, Seiros is genki!Rhea

I pointed out in a different post, but I’ll forever regret not being able to have a dual audio. Someone on redshit pointed out how Inoue feels too soft and feminine (?) for Seiros, but for me, it’s the contrary. Leigh!Seiros sounds so monotone.

@ultrakatua​ : you said something about directions given to the VA, and I’m pretty sure Inoue got a different one from Leigh, just by looking at the lvl 40 quote localised Seiros goes :

OG!Seiros?

Your kind are frail, ignorant creatures, incapable of accomplishing anything without the guidance of the goddess.

...Or so I had thought. But I have been forced to realize, meeting the Heroes here, that I was wrong.

You in particular stand apart as well... You are different from the rest. Special in some way.

My instincts are not often wrong...

If you continue to fight for this world, I will fight by your side, as a warrior. As an equal.

And I know the goddess will be watching over you as well. 

Through Google Translate (i know) the localised “my instincts are not often wrong” was originally “ Fufu ... My intuition is right, right?” OG!Seiros sounds more playful than localised!Seiros.

人の子など、 主のお導きなくしては何もできぬ、 脆弱で蒙昧な存在…

…と、思っていましたが、あなたや、 この世界に集った英雄たちを見るにつけ、 その考えが誤りであったと気づかされます。

とりわけ、あなたは他の誰とも異なる 特別な存在に思えてなりません。 ふふ…私の直感は当たるのですよ？

この世界で、あなたがこれからも 戦い続けるならば、私もあなたと対等な 一人の戦士として共に戦うつもりです。

天上におわす女神も、 きっとあなたのことを 見守っていてくださることでしょう…。 

Anyways, back to the dialogue, since I’ve already talked about this, let’s talk about this monstruosity of a Lv 40 Support - remember, in heroes or modern!FEs, if it has an avatar, it must be worshipped “you are so special” “i was lonely before you” *war flashbacks of the Loki-Aversa Forging bonds*.

Also, while FEH can be surprisingly astute with characterisation sometimes, some other times it just fail hard (remember Arvis and his “Hellfire” when Fjalar is seen as a symbol of justice and something to be proud of? Or whatever the fuck were Saias’s lines.)

Back on topic :

“Your kind are frail, ignorant creatures, incapable of accomplishing anything without the guidance of the goddess.”

Funny how I posted “recently” something about Macuil and Indech who have interesting staggering blow’s lines, deriding humans, thinking they’re children or “insignificant creatures”.

Post Zanado she might have shared her bros’s views on humans. And yet it feels odd, because we know Seiros built the canal in Enbarr and apparently accomplished “miracles” so randoms wanted to follow her. Was she sneering at humans while helping them because she thought she had to help them like Sothis did? Or did she help them because it was something she genuinely wanted to do? Or because she was planning to build her army of “frail and ignorant creatures”? Still, this is something she used to believe but she revised her opinion.

“...Or so I had thought. But I have been forced to realize, meeting the Heroes here, that I was wrong.“

Bleh - but point is, Seiros realised she was wrong, even in the canon FE16 gave us. Rhea is legit saddened to fight her loser’s descendant, whatever Willy was, even if he needed her help to create his Empire, he was not a “frail and ignorant creature, incapable of accomplishing anything without the guidance of the goddess” anymore. I won’t bank on every legacy golem being named after a human ally, but you’re not naming uh... guardians after creatures you don’t care at least a little about. if she was saved by a frail, ignorant creature unable to do anything without the goddess’s guidance, then what is she?

So if this is the canon FEH gives us “Seiros sneered at humans before meeting Summoner-chan and the heroes here” I’ll die by my own headcanon that Seiros used to think humans were nothing, then meeting the humans from Enbarr she started to grow fond of them and made that canal and then when she met Wilhelm and his pals (randoms creating her church ?) she grew fond of them as kind of equals.

ZZZ

“You in particular stand apart as well... You are different from the rest. Special in some way.

My instincts are not often wrong... “

There is nothing to extract from this bar “you’re so awesome summoner-chan!” Cruel nod though, now that I think of it : If Seiros trusted her instincts to side with Wilhelm I because dude was, apparently, a good guy, her instincts didn’t warn her 1000 years later Wilhelm’s descendant would turn against her.

If you continue to fight for this world, I will fight by your side, as a warrior. As an equal.

Seiros wishes to fight for the world with someone who fights for the world as well. I don’t know what she means by “fight for the world”, is she talking about someone who has ambitions or it’s the traditionnal “I will fight for the sake of this world” stuff? If they both want to fight for the world, to her, they’re equals.

Also, Seiros sees herself as a warrior. When she retakes this name in CF, it’s because she’s in her “warrior mode”, she’s not the leader of the church anymore.

“And I know the goddess will be watching over you as well.”

Seiros still believes her mom is watching over her :’( But her mom dgaf about anything save for her meatsuit. I was curious so I checked the og script (again, OG!Seiros was given an ellipse, but Localised!Seiros affirms stuff), OG!Seiros is much more reserved about Sothis watching over the summoner.

Status page quotes :

(again, it is jarring to compare just the tone of Inoue!Seiros and Leigh!Seiros, Inoue!Seiros talks much faster, even faster than Inoue!Rhea. Seiros is genki!Rhea confirmed)

Do not be afraid. You may speak openly with me. 

The first thing I thought of reading the “do not be afraid” is how the Bible’s angels often start with “do not be afraid” to the human they’re speaking to, but hey, they look freaky, not like Seiros who, right now, looks like a human with a failed hair dye.

What are you doing? Do you require my assistance? 

ZZZ

Do the teachings of the Church of Seiros hold interest for you? 

Seiros wonder if people are interested in her stuff. I don’t know from what time period this Seiros is, but if she’s from a post war of heroes, why is she asking if people are interested in her Church if it’s apparently the leading dogma in the continent?

If you humbly devote yourself to prayer, even you may receive the blessing of the goddess. 

Leigh!Seiros emphasises the “even you”. I know I’m just a lowly human dude, no need to hammer it! What kind of payer Willy the loser did to receive the blessing of the goddess, hm?

If something precious is stolen from you, you must do whatever it takes to recover it. 

Inoue!Seiros marks a definite change in tone here, she’s not playful or enthusiastic anymore, but pissed. Bar that, the “whatever it takes” part is... something Rhea doesn’t endorse anymore (except when Billy becomes Nemesis 2).

Mother... I wish I could see you again, just once more... 

In FE16 Rhea’s mom is just a gremlin chilling in Billy’s head, never giving a fuck about her even when she recovered her memories (bar the unseen scene where Rhea tells us she talked to her mom and immediately wonders if she should die). But maybe in the FeH verse Sothis can give some fucks about her children? Lol, who am I kidding.

I shall never abandon you. Even if it means staining my hands with blood… 

While this sounds like usual player worship, again it shows Seiros’s willing to do “whatever it takes” sometimes. She’s a bit of an extremist, but became wiser with time.

Tl; Dr :

1/ Seiros is Genki!Rhea

2/ Seiros used to think humans were useless, like her brothers (bar Cichol) until a certain point.

3/ As every young and impressionable person who survived the extermination of her village full of dragons to a man who used her mother’s spine as a sword and douches using other body parts of other silbings as weapons, Seiros is willing to do “whatever it takes” hinting at extremist tendencies, when Rhea, older and wiser, is apparently more willing to compromise, except when someone tries to destroy her home and take away her siblings using her mother’s spine as a weapon

4/ Inoue!Rhea/Seiros >>> Leigh!Rhea/Seiros

[shadow-sovereign]

1. So, here is another idea: The relationship between South Korea and Japan are bad, so one of the politicans comes up with an idea: a hunter exchange programm between Korea and Japan. Some hunters from Korea stay with the Drawn Sword Guild and some hunters form Japan stay with one of their guilds. Each hunter has a "mentor" in the guild they are staying. Jin-Woo is among the hunters who go to Japan and his mentor is Goto Ryuji who is not happy playing babysitter for an E-Rank hunter.

2. But he has to play nice because of politics. So Jin-Woo is living with Ryuji. Ryuji’s first impression of the Korean is: "weak but kind of cute" and "looks like a puppy". Of course Jin-Woo still goes into Gates (with other D and E rank hunters) and one day the dual-dungeon-incident happens. They suspect that he experienced a double awakening, but their magical power detector says otherwise. Ryuji is still suspicious because Jin-Woo feels different to his senses.

3. As if something about him has changed so he watches him. And every day he feels stronger than before, and suddenly he grows muscles over night. He is like a puzzle Ryuji can not resist solving. They get closer every day. But Jin-Woo’s time in Japan runs out and he has to return to Korea.

This would be a very interesting dynamic. Ryuji as a general rule does not respect Hunters that are weak. He would not have a very high opinion of Jin-Woo at first. Even his reasons for being a Hunter would just be baffling to him.

Putting his life on the line to keep his mother on life support? It would be one thing if it was for life-saving treatment, to actually make his mother better. He could understand making that kind of sacrifice for a parent if it would actually save the person. But to make an indefinite sacrifice for a parent that’s always going to be in a coma?

I see Ryuji as maybe being a dutiful son, but not being particularly close to them. Maybe they were the kind of parents who worked a lot and thought the way to make your kid happy was through material goods. He always had food, nice clothes, and plenty of gifts on his birthday and holidays. Did it really matter if they weren’t always home on time for dinner?

This has led to Ryuji to being distant in general and very self-sufficient. He doesn’t feel comfortable opening up to others or forming attachments to them. That distance from humanity led to feeling superiority to humanity. He convinced himself that he doesn’t need others, so he must be better than them.

Watching Jin-Woo constantly getting hurt for someone else’s sake doesn’t really change his mind, either. Maybe he’ll even try to talk Jin-Woo out of it, as an odd form of pity. He can at least respect how persist Jin-Woo is at working towards his goals, even if he thinks said goals are pointless.

The conversation doesn’t really go over well. E-rank Jin-Woo is kind of timid, but he’s absolutely livid at this self-absorbed rich asshole telling him to let his mother die….because it doesn’t benefit him?? Maybe he goes on a rant about all that his mother has done for him growing up and not wanting her to die is reason enough for his sacrifice.

It could possibly lead to them discussing different philosophies later, assuming I can figure out how to write that. At the very least, I want them to have a discussion about the inherent value of human lives and how people don’t have to be “useful”. It’ll at least make Ryuji introspective, but I don’t think he’s going to have a big change of heart right away. He’ll eventually learn how to care about people, but he’s always going to be a bit selfish.

Now, winding back to the start – how does Jin-Woo get selected for the exchange program? He’s the weakest Hunter there is. ‘Wouldn’t it look bad on Korea for me to get sent over?’, he asks. But the fact that he keeps working as a Hunter despite his weakness is exactly why they chose him.

Unlike Ryuji, other people are quite moved by his story. About how he risks his life every time he steps through a gate to pay his mother’s hospital bills. How he raised his sister after their mother fell into a coma, their father presumed killed in a gate. And how he’s raising money to put her through university.

In addition to what they normally pay him to go through Gates, they give him extra for every day he’s in Japan, plus they pay for his travel expenses. Plane ticket and a decent budget for food. With him staying with Ryuji, he at least doesn’t have to pay for housing in Japan, which is useful since he still has to pay the bills for his sister in Korea.

It’s difficult for him to be separated from her for so long. Perhaps the exchange program could be about a year long. In the beginning, Jin-Woo video calls her every day, but that gradually shifts into 2-3 times a week as they get used to the separation.

Ryuji’s not happy about having someone in his space, but he’s playing along with this situation for political reasons. He understands that public opinion is its own type of power, especially when it’ll determine who’s willing to do business with you.

When he gets Jin-Woo home, he lays out some basic ground rules. Like, no eating outside of the kitchen/dining area. He owns his own apartment on the top floor of some tall building. He doesn’t want his carpets getting stained or food spilled on his couches. But he doesn’t have expensive vases and statues laying around, waiting to give Jin-Woo a heart attack with one wrong move. (He does have some fancy artwork, but you’re a lot less likely to knock that off the wall than an expensive vase off a shelf.)

Basically, Ryuji is reasonable in the house rules he sets. He doesn’t try to intimidate Jin-Woo, but he’s not particularly friendly either. In the beginning, he’ll probably ignore Jin-Woo for the most part. But he keeps getting reports of how Jin-Woo was injured in this raid and that raid (healed before he gets back to Ryuji’s apartment. He’s going on raids with Ryuji’s guild and Ryuji always insists on a healer with every raid, low ranked or not. The healer fees are less expensive than the insurance payouts.)

Eventually, Ryuji gets curious about the way Jin-Woo thinks. How he can keep going on dangerous raids to pay for the hospital bills of a mother who’s never going to wake up. That’s when they start having more regular conversations, trying to understand the other’s point of view.

They’re not quite friends by the time Jin-Woo encounters the Double Dungeon, but they’re close enough that Ryuji visits him in the hospital. Maybe Ryuji realizes that he would be at least briefly upset if the kid died, which is more than he can say for most people.

He notices pretty quickly when Jin-Woo starts changing. Not only is he suddenly doing exercise every day, but he’s gaining muscles and height. The muscles could be hidden by clothes, but he’s not going to miss that the kid he’s been living with for months is suddenly taller.

They start spending more time together as Ryuji tries to figure out what’s going on. Jin-Woo deflects some of the questions, but doesn’t outright tell Ryuji it’s none of his business. Maybe Jin-Woo likes that he’s got more of Ryuji’s attention now. (Though if Ryuji had completely ignored him when he was weaker, he’d be ignoring Ryuji now. He won’t get closer to someone who’s only interested in him now that he’s stronger.)

As Jin-Woo becomes stronger, he becomes more confident as well. He’s more bold in how he states his opinion, no more stuttering or nervous fidgeting. The change makes a remarkable difference. Add that to his changing body and Ryuji realizes he’s starting to become attracted to Jin-Woo. (The real question is whether Jin-Woo will notice on his own. I headcanon him as not having much experience with romance before the Double Dungeon incident. He was too busy going on raids and taking care of his sister.)

Perhaps he and Ryuji spar a few times before Jin-Woo has to go back to Korea? Ryuji obviously notices that Jin-Woo is stronger every time, wondering how this is possible and when Jin-Woo’s growth will stop. He’s both relieved and disappointed that he didn’t get to see Jin-Woo reach his own strength before he had to return home, almost looking forward to sparring with him as an equal.

I’m not sure about the timeline of everything. Perhaps Jin-Woo is in Japan for another two months after the Double Dungeon incident. He doesn’t go on raids during that time, focusing on getting stronger. He’s trying to avoid having his increased strength be noticed until he reaches S-rank.

Ryuji would probably help cover for him, saying that Jin-Woo is recovering from the trauma or something. He doesn’t have anything to gain by selling Jin-Woo out, especially not compared to having an S-rank Hunter as an ally.

So, Jin-Woo goes back to Korea, perhaps in time to save Yoo Jin-Ho’s life? The timeline’s probably going to be slightly off from canon to make everything work, but I’m not sure the Novel ever explained how fast things were happening anyway.

I think I’ll stop here. When I get around to writing this, then I’ll do more brainstorming. (Thank you for this suggestion, by the way. It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me to have E-rank Jin-Woo interacting with Ryuji at all without this idea. But this Hunter Exchange program means that Ryuji will have no choice but to pay attention to him, when he would have otherwise ignored such a low level Hunter.)

And a reminder to my followers, feel free to send in any of your fic ideas! I’d love to see them. ^_^

[presumenothing]

one more light

ALRIGHT SO this isn’t a new fic but i just realised i somehow never did post this to tumblr, so here it is: 2k worth of atla zombie apocalypse non-au. 

no archive warning content beyond the fact of. y’know. zombies

(AO3)

i.

“It’s not your fault, Aang,” Katara says after they beat back the latest siege, and only his sister could still sound sincere even in something they’ve all said at least a dozen times by now.

Sokka feels so proud of her that his heart is almost bursting… or maybe that’s just the effort of hacking his way through dozens of actual damned zombies. A bit of both, really.

Not that the rest of them don’t believe what she’s saying. This whole mess is Sozin and maybe Roku’s fault if it’s anyone’s, and Sokka would gladly repeat that until he went hoarse if he thought Aang would listen.

But Katara is the one who’s always believed in Aang before any of them did, and that sort of thing made a difference.

Or it used to, at least, but today there’s no brightening in Aang’s expression as he stands up, glider having never left his hands. “I’ll take first watch.”

Biting her lower lip, Katara meets Sokka’s gaze as Aang flies off without waiting for any response, and Sokka shakes his head slightly: let him be.

“Twinkletoes fly off again?”

“Yeah.” When Sokka looks over, Toph’s eyebrows are furrowed in what he would’ve called concern if it hadn’t been on someone who could still fling him off the cliff even after a whole day of fighting. “He’s… not doing too well.”

Not that any of them really are, by this point. Toph doesn’t even call him out for stating the obvious, only crosses her arms. “I wish Sparky was here.”

“You and me both,” he admits – and fine, yes, it’s already enough of a lucky coincidence that the four of them had been travelling together when the sudden case of apocalypse broke out, so asking for more would just be tempting fate, but…

Sokka sighs. “I’m sure he’s fine. Jerkbender doesn’t know how to lose.”

Toph’s punch on his shoulder is far lighter than her usual. “You’re a real shitty liar, Snoozles.”

“Doesn’t make me wrong,” Sokka retorts, and he really really hopes he isn’t wrong. Because Zuko has his firebending and his dual swords and a whole palace full of scarily armed guards plus Suki hellbent on protecting the first sane Fire Lord, so there isn’t any reason why he shouldn’t be okay except that there is.

A century of war dead, in every corner of their world. Legion doesn’t even begin to cover it.

.

.

ii.

Aang had still tried to be careful, at first – dodging blows from shambling corpses is easier than usual, if anything, and he could call up enough water or earth to freeze a half-dozen bodies in one sweep even if it wouldn’t be fatal (insofar as that applied to the undead).

Not that they really had any other option besides stopping them permanently; Katara had tried healing once, on someone who’d just been turned an hour before, and the way her entire face had gone grey answered that well enough.

But Aang is still their most powerful fighter, and after everything with Ozai none of them had been willing to say anything until they almost lost three people to a too-quick thaw. Toph had been the one to react, a flying shard of rock decapacitating the half-frozen zombie with extreme prejudice right before it could lurch onto the cowering villagers, and later she’d also been the one to say it.

“They’re already dead, Aang! Someone’s going to die if you keep this up, and it’s gonna be one of us still alive!” Toph had shouted, eyes glimmering even as Aang stood too quiet and too still, and even now Sokka isn’t sure which had been the worse sight.

.

.

iii.

In a way, taking down zombies as a non-bender is – well, maybe not easier, but at least a sword thrust clean through the throat works just the same on everything.

It wouldn’t have been Sokka’s first choice of target before, but at least he hadn’t needed to change strategies as much as the benders had: internal injuries from blunt force rock don’t slow down an opponent who lacked working organs to start with, and getting frozen in ice probably ranked as a minor inconvenience compared to literally being dead.

Toph had begun hoarding metal after their first fight, and now could bend and fire wickedly-sharp blades in a manner scarily reminiscent of Mai except she never ran out. Katara’s ice missiles aim for the head instead, and Sokka doesn’t need a closer look to know that her ice had gotten denser, heavier somehow, even if he doesn’t quite know how.

At least air still works the same in clearing a swathe through the hordes when they need it, which is just as well – Aang fights almost solely as an airbender, now.

It had taken Sokka a while to realise, since he’d initially sorta assumed that Aang had just been avoiding any use of fire (because the stench of rotten flesh burning is really enough to make anyone consider joining Aang in vegetarianism).

But then he’d paid more attention, and confirmed it with Katara and Toph: Aang really doesn’t fight with anything but air unless he’s forced to. Like he’s not the Avatar at all.

And that makes its own sense, in a twisty sort of way – even after they’d ended the war and brought some sort of peace Sokka knows that Aang still blames himself for having let things get that far, and being the bridge to the spirits doesn’t help this situation at all because it had nothing to do with the spirits to begin with as far as they could tell, so what good is the Avatar?

…just because it makes sense doesn’t mean that Sokka has to like it, and he is going to confront Aang about it one of these days as soon as he’s figured out what to say. Just like how he still needs to talk to Katara about what the heck happened during that fight in the desert.

(All Sokka knows for sure is that Katara had run out of water to bend even though they still had far too many zombies to take down, so instead she had reached and–

Empty bodies had fallen like cut marionettes in a half-circle around her, in the same moment that Katara had turned to the side and thrown up, and if Sokka’s being honest with himself he thinks he can figure out what happened there too even without asking Katara about it.)

(There are many things they don’t talk about, these days.)

.

.

iv.

At least it’s a blessing in disguise that Aang and Zuko had already gone through the Air Temples to perform the appropriate rites, because they’ve proved to be the current best option for evacuating people and keeping them safe.

Not that the temples are invulnerable, not by a long shot – but it’s better than staying on flat ground, and definitely way better than it would’ve been if there’d still been century-old corpses scattered around.

Also, it turns out zombies aren’t really keen on higher altitudes. Who could’ve guessed?

Admittedly the temples were never built to host that many people, especially not after standing vacant for this long, but it’s the best they can do for now. Iroh had told them about the White Lotus safehouses, of course, just in case everything went wrong during the comet and they needed some place to regroup, but Sokka has to wonder if those are fortified enough.

He tries to imagine Master Piandao preparing for the zombie apocalypse and can’t help a snicker.

Aang, staring straight ahead, doesn’t notice.

It’s just the two of them on Appa now as they make their way back down from ferrying more people up to the temple, so Sokka isn’t expecting it when Aang shoots upright from his seat on Appa’s head, turning wide-eyed to shout in the direction of the saddle. “Take the reins, I have to get down there!”

Sokka almost yelps in alarm when Aang barely waits for his glider to open before throwing himself out mid-air, but then he looks down and does swear a dozen things that would have Gran-Gran washing his mouth out if she heard, because there’s no mistaking those bursts of blue fire.

He urges Appa down at top speed and scrambles off once they touch land to see Katara facing off squarely against Azula, Aang by her side and Toph a few paces behind.

There’s at least a dozen ice daggers hanging in the air around Katara, but Azula doesn’t even seem bothered. “Zuzu? Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I took you down once, Azula.” Katara’s voice is scarily level as Sokka slows to a stop beside Toph. “I can do it again. For the last time: where is Zuko?”

Azula doesn’t even bother to answer now, only throws her head back with a laugh, and Sokka can see Aang tensing up in preparation to redirect lightning–

–can see Toph twitch in something like surprise, opening her mouth to say something just as another voice roars: “Hold your fire!”

A grin spreads across Toph’s face even as Sokka turns, and there they are: Zuko supporting Suki as she limps up to them, both looking worse for wear but still safe.

Suki waves at them with her free hand, smile a little wan. “Hey. Sorry we’re late?”

.

.

v.

Sokka volunteers for first watch before anyone else can.

He’s only just gotten settled in when Zuko comes over to sit beside him, and if Zuko notices that this position conveniently lets Sokka keep a lookout while still being able to see Suki – screw it, okay, he hasn’t seen his girlfriend in ages and he’s missed her like hell.

They’d gotten the chance to talk earlier while Katara had been healing Suki’s twisted ankle, but even now that Sokka knows she’s okay, it’s still good to have the visual reminder.

Zuko doesn’t comment on it, though, so it’s up to Sokka to point out the obvious. “You can rest, y’know. Katara will wake you when it’s your turn.”

“In a while, maybe. I’m not sleepy yet.” Zuko shakes his head even as Sokka gives him (or more accurately the dark smudges beneath his eyes) a dubious look – but then again, none of them are strangers to being exhausted but sleepless, whether from adrenaline or something else. “Suki has been taking more than her share of night watches, anyway, she’s the one who really needs the rest.”

Sokka almost snorts but stops himself. Honestly he might’ve done the same, if he had been sharing a camp with Azula. “So how are things in Firetown?”

“Still standing when we left,” Zuko answers, which Sokka takes to mean possibly overrun and definitely on fire. “I gave the decree to open the imperial bunkers to anyone who needed shelter, right before the Fire Sages burst into the hall and demanded I immediately leave and seek out the Avatar to end this blight upon our world.”

Sokka raises an eyebrow. “That a direct quote?”

“Yeah. I don’t even think I’ve ever seen the Sages literally running, but apparently there’s a first time for everything.”

Like mostly-ending the war only for the walking dead to happen, Sokka’s pretty sure they’re both thinking. “Don’t suppose they might’ve mentioned what exactly Aang is supposed to do?”

“That would’ve been too easy,” Zuko says dryly, before sobering. “Aang hasn’t figured anything out?”

“He doesn’t even think there’s a spirit behind this.” Which had all sorts of disturbing implications that Sokka refuses to consider right now. “So Suki decided to come with you?”

Zuko doesn’t say anything about the blatant change of topic. “Insisted, more like.”

Sokka grins – that’s Suki, all right – before he looks over at the other addition to their group. “And Azula?” he asks quietly.

“She’s my sister. I–” Zuko scrubs a hand roughly over his face, shakes his head. “I couldn’t just leave her behind. She’s my sister.”

And if Sokka hadn’t already noticed how tired Zuko looks, that would’ve been clue enough. Yeah, they’ve all made their fair share of jokes about Zuko being a broken record about honour and capturing the Avatar way back when but really, he’s never been one to repeat himself. Sokka isn’t even sure Zuko realises that he’s doing it.

He takes a page from Toph’s book and punches Zuko on the shoulder. “Get some sleep, hotman,” he says over Zuko’s splutter. “We’ll still be here in the morning.”

“You better be,” Zuko grumbles as he heads off to bed, but when he flops down to sleep it’s right between Suki and anything that might come at them.

Sokka turns back away with a smile.

.

.

.

.

hell yeah sokka pov

also my other atla fics are here and here if you need a pick-me-up after that, i swear they’re actually like. my usual funny fare

[tigerkirby215]

5e Yone, the Unforgotten build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

A YouTube comment on “The Path“ cinematic:

I can’t top this. This comment is fucking gold.

GOALS

Asakana - Trust me as a Kayn main I’m salty that we have another half-demon anime boy who isn’t even Darkin. But we still need a mask of many demonic faces.

Three swift strikes... - “Brother, why did Elder Souma let you have two swords?” Regardless we’ll need two swords for many slashes.

Death is like the wind - Yone is dead except not really, but he’s still capable of some astral projection to fight his foes from a distance.

RACE

Yone may have been human but with a demon fusing to him that gives him just enough infernal blood to be a Tiefling! As a Tiefling your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1. Your Hellish Resistance grants you resistance to fire damage, and Infernal Legacy grants you a few innate spells which I’ll cover in the build.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an anime sword boy who was second best only to your brother who is the most anime sword boy who ever did swing an anime sword.

14; CHARISMA - As the more level-headed brother you had to do most of the talking. Remember that Charisma is strength of personality; not raw attractiveness. (Though you certainly have that going for you too.)

13; INTELLIGENCE - A master swordsman needs to study the art of war, which is more theory and less art. (Feel free to set your CON higher instead if you want more health.)

12; WISDOM - Yasuo’s the hothead and you’re the calm one. Not calm enough not to try to kill your brother, and definitely not calm enough to not be a target for Asakana.

10; CONSTITUTION - You died before, and dying generally means you weren’t that sturdy to begin with.

8; STRENGTH - Being cut down by the legendary wind technique and then brought back from the dead doesn’t spell a good workout routine. Yeah Yone has big pecs but put simply we need everything else more.

BACKGROUND

You had a background before, but unfortunately dead men tell no tales. You are a Haunted One brought back to life to hunt the creatures of the night. You can choose two skills from the Haunted One list to be proficient in: Investigation will help you find any stray Asakana, and depending on if your definition of emotional demons are Religion or Arcana you can pick either of those for your second skill. (Arcana is probably going to be more useful though.)

As a Haunted One people can easily see into your Heart of Darkness, easily telling that you’ve faced unimaginable horrors in your past. No shit you have a demon mask permanently attached to your face. Regardless commoners will be willing to aid you as much as possible unless you’ve shown yourself to be openly hostile, such as throwing their promo games.

You also learn two languages of your choice: one of which must be Exotic but since you already know Infernal as a Tiefling Sylvan would be good to talk to the spirits in a dating sim. For your other language Elvish seems fitting for Ionia.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE PATH BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Perhaps not the most fitting for the honorable brother, but being a Rogue will give us the skill to strike swiftly. As well as more skills in general! Take Perception and Insight to find Asakana, Acrobatics to fight them, and Intimidation to strike fear into their hearts. You also get Expertise in two skills your proficient in: Investigation and Perception would help further with finding Asakana.

When you find the Asakana you can strike it down with Sneak Attack. If you have Advantage on an attack roll or are attacking an enemy within 5 feet of an ally you can do an extra d6 of damage. Despite the name “sneak attack” you don’t actually have to sneak, but you do need to use a Finesse weapon such as a short sword. Yes your swords aren’t exactly “short” but for the purposes of dual wielding it’s the best you’ll get.

And after striking the demon down you might need to speak its true name in Thieves’ Cant. That’s not what Thieves’ Cant is? Well regardless it’s a code language shared among rogues; perhaps you picked it up from the Navori? At least you can shout the demon’s name loud and proud as you seal it away thanks to Tiefling Thaumaturgy, along with all other sorts of little supernatural effects I suggest reading into.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

At level 2 Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action. Hiding isn’t very in-character but being able to move swiftly across the battlefield is key for the twin blade technique. Unfortunately attacking with a twin blade also requires your bonus action, so pace your movements accordingly.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Level 3 Rogues get to choose their Martial Archetype and in order to strike swift and true you’re going to want to play a Swashbuckler. Swashbucklers get Fancy Footwork to be able to slip away from enemies they attacked without provoking opportunity attacks, even if they miss.

Additionally they get Rakish Audacity which ironically provides two benefits: for one you get to add your Charisma modifier to your initiate, but you can also activate your sneak attack if you strike an enemy in melee with no other enemies nearby. Single the demon out and cut them down now that your Sneak Attack does 2d6 damage!

And finally you can cast Hellish Rebuke at second level as a reaction once per long rest thanks to Infernal Legacy. Strike a ganking lust demon with a big burst of “BEGONE THOT” damage!

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 1

Adding a quick level in Fighter because Yone was professionally trained, so a Fighting Style would be good to have. Naturally we’ll be going for Two-Weapon Fighting to fight with twin blades. You also get Second Wind to heal for a d10 plus your Fighter level once per short rest for a quick Corrupting Pot in lane.

But unfortunately now we’re going to have to die...

(Artwory by KAIZERS02 on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 1

Just kidding of course because it’s ya boii coming back with the WARLOCK LEVELS! You can choose your Warlock Patron straight at level 1 and as someone who came back from the dead you may think we’ll be going for the Undying patron right? Well that’s where you’re dead wrong because we’re going for a pact with a Fiend.

Why Fiend Patron? - Along with the lore reasons (not all Warlock pacts have to be made on good terms) Pact of the Fiend gives us Dark One’s Blessing to recreate the shield from Spirit Cleave (W), and Burning Hands also gives us an easy-to-use cone spell to recreate a cone-shaped cleave.

Why not Undying? - Undying has a pseudo-support role and a heavy focus on not dying, neither of which Yone does in-game.

Why not Hexblade? - We need at least 12 levels in Warlock for an invocation, and that means we’d be getting Accursed Specter from Hexblade. Yone doesn’t summon spirits to fight for him and while I could normally get past that bit of flavor fail (as both Hexblade’s Curse and Armor of Hexes actually make a lot of sense for Yone) Fiend made a lot more sense given that he literally gets his powers from a demon. A DEX build also allows you to be shirtless in Ionia.

Pact of the Fiend Warlocks have the Dark One’s Blessing, granting them temporary hitpoints equal to their Charisma modifier and their Warlock level when they down an enemy for some spiritual shielding.

Additionally Warlocks gain access to Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list: Minor Illusion creates a sound or small visual you can use to trick an Asakana into falling for a trap. And Toll the Dead isn’t Eldritch Blast! Excluding the war crimes I just committed by not putting Eldritch Blast on a Warlock (you’re going to be using your swords most of the time anyways get over it it’s one spell) Toll the Dead forces the enemy to make a Wisdom save or take a d8 Necrotic damage, or a d12 Necrotic if they’re injured, making it a great finishing blow after using Soul Unbound.

You can also learn two first level spells: Burning Hands forces enemies to make a Dexterity saving throw or be Spirit Cleaved for 3d6 fire damage. If you want to mark an enemy for Soul Unbound however Hex will let you do an extra d6 of necrotic damage every hit, and give an enemy disadvantage on skill checks related to an ability score of your choice. You can also cast the Darkness spell once per long rest as a Tiefling, blinding everyone in the 20 foot sphere of darkness. If only you could see through it...

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations and we actually won’t be taking the one that helps us see in the dark. We will however be taking Armor of Shadows to let us cast Mage Armor at will and go shirtless in Ionia. Your second invocation will remain empty for now.

You can also add another spell to your repertoire and Protection from Evil and Good will help a lot with fighting Asakana. A creature blessed by the spell is attacked with disadvantage by aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. Additionally they can’t be charmed, frightened, or possessed by them. If they’re already debuffed by these types of enemies they have advantage on future saving throws against them. Once you know the truth of Asakana there is no reason to fear them... or some other edgy one liner.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get their Pact Boon and hey look it’s Pact of the Blade. You can create a magic weapon in your hand as an action. The weapon counts as being magical to overcome armadillos who say “okay” a lot. And you know that Invocation I told you to hold off on? Improved Pact Weapon will let you do more damage with the blade of the Asakana. If you want to remain in character I’d suggest only attacking with your pact weapon in your offhand, but remember that Two-Weapon Fighting takes your Bonus Action so feel free to hit hard and then run if needed.

You can also now cast second level spells like Misty Step for some sick plays with Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 4

Fourth level Warlocks finally get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Dexterity by 2 for swifter and deadlier strikes with your twin blades. Could we take a feat? Yeah, but we won’t.

You also learn another cantrip at this level on top of another spell. For your cantrip Prestidigitation will further your ability to cast small spiritual magic, and for your spell of choice we already got flash so how about Ray of Enfeeblement for Exhaust? There’s a lot of other great options though: Blindness / Deafness from the Fiend list is also a great choice.

LEVEL 9 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters get Action Surge, allowing them to take one additional action on their turn. Right now that only means one extra sword swing but you can cast a spell after you attack!

LEVEL 10 - FIGHTER 3

At level 3 Fighters can choose their Martial Archetype and to unbind one’s soul you must travel to the world of Wildemount for the Echo Knight subclass. I’ve already made a few Echo Knights before on this sub so I’m going to give the cliffnotes version of a class that has quite a long ability description at level 3 for Manifest Echo:

You can summon your soul within 15 feet of you as a bonus action.

You can move your soul up to 30 feet for free on your turn.

Your soul can’t be more than 30 feet away from you by the end of your turn, or else it disappears. (Goes back to your body)

Your soul has an AC of 14 + proficiency and 1 hitpoint.

It’s immune to all conditions and uses your saving throws.

You can swap places with your soul using 15 feet of movement (regardless of the distance between you two.)

When you attack you can make the attack come from your soul instead.

Your soul can opportunity attack (using your reaction.)

Additionally Unleash Incarnation will let you attack an extra time from your soul’s location on your turn. You can use it a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier but your CON mod is currently zero. Thankfully you can use it a minimum of one time before finishing a long rest.

(Artwork by Valkhar on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 11 - FIGHTER 4

Fourth level Fighters get an Ability Score Improvement: invest further in Dexterity for 19 DEX and all the benefits that provides.

LEVEL 12 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters get an Extra Attack, letting them attack twice with their main action. This means that with your bonus action you can attack three times in a round! Now would also probably be a good time to put the Asakana’s blade in your main hand instead of trying to work around your fancy passive.

LEVEL 13 - WARLOCK 5

It’s straight down Warlock now to become one with the Asakana we wear as a mask. Level 5 Warlocks get another Invocation and it wouldn’t be Pact of the Blade if we didn’t take both Improved Pact Weapon and Eldritch Smite! Pretend to be a Paladin by turning a spell slot into more sword damage and pretend to be your brother by knocking people over when you do so!

You can also learn another spell like Gaseous Form to turn into petals on the wind. Additionally Hex is probably wearing away its welcome by this point so I’d suggest taking Hold Person instead to CC-chain a foe to death.

LEVEL 14 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Own Luck, letting them add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per short or long rest. I consider this less you being “lucky” and more you going all out just this once.

You can also learn another spell from the Warlock list such as Spirit Shroud from Unearthed Arcana to give nearby enemies a Randuin's Omen while you cut them down.

LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks get another Invocation and while there are plenty to choose from it’s only fair for the man who collects masks of many faces to get a Mask of Many Faces, allowing you to cast Disguise Self at will! Is this mostly done for flavor and is it a bit late to get Disguise Self? Yes but it’s still a very good spell to have.

And you can learn a 4th level spell like Fire Shield from the Fiend List. You can make a Fire Shield for resistance to Cold damage or a Cold Shield to resist Fire damage which you already resist. But regardless of your choice anyone who hits you with a melee attack for the duration will take 2d8 damage of either Fire (if you chose the Fire Shield) or Cold (if you chose the other.)

Also I’d perhaps suggest replacing Misty Step with Dimension Door? Sure Dimension Door takes a full action (while Misty Step takes a bonus action) but Dimension Door has a 500 foot range which will never not be useful! Teleport can be just as useful as Flash you know.

LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement: put one into Dexterity and the other one into... yeah Charisma. You also could learn another spell but none of these really interest me so I suggest holding off on it for now.

(Artwork by MizuriOfficial on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get another Invocation, and while again there’s plenty to choose from we strive for accuracy here so how about some spiritual levitation? Ascendant Step lets you cast Levitate on yourself without using a spell slot or material components, so you can float towards a wise old man who definitely isn’t an Asakana in disguise.

But most importantly you now gain access to 5th level spells! Hallow is a big spell with a lot of effects, a 1000 gold cost, and a 24 hour casting time but it’s the ultimate way to protect an area from Asakana! To seal the fate of your foes  Synaptic Static forces an intelligence saving throw on all enemies in an AoE to try to avoid massive damage along with a disorientation effect that tends to come with being knocked up into the air by a tornado.

LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks get Fiendish Resilience, allowing them to resist one type of damage of their choosing. They can swap the resistance out on a short or long rest but damage from magic weapons or silvered weapons ignores this resistance, so probably better just to resist wind magic (Thunder damage) in general instead of specifically resisting a magic wind sword.

Additionally while you won’t learn any more Warlock spells you do get your final cantrip: for some more minor spirit projection how about Mage Hand to grab things within 30 feet and bring them to you?

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 11

11th level Warlocks get Mystic Arcanum, which are like regular spell slots which only come back after a long rest because you’re no longer special. Regardless if you want to harness the wind technique look no further than Investiture of Wind Stone, because the rock spell actually lets you knock people over.

Regardless until the spell ends you have resistance to nonmagical slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning, you can move across difficult terrain without spending additional movement, you can move through terrain without spending extra movement (but can’t end your turn there), and you can spend your action to try to knock everyone near you over with some basic wind techniques.

Yes there are better spells to take (even in the Investiture spell line, such as the genuine Investiture of Wind which would let you fly as well as block projectiles with a wind wall of your own) but you’re not your brother. You’re a simple, practical stone who gets the job done. Or you can be a wandering poet: make your own Yone - you don’t follow this build point-for-point.

You also apparently get another spell because Mystic Arcanum doesn’t count as a spell? Hold Monster is like Hold Person but it works against everything at the mere cost of a much higher spell slot, meaning that you can only affect one creature with parallelization but that should be more than enough for your little brother to get the job done and flash his fancy blue crest afterwards. You do have three spell slots now after all.

LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 12

12th level Warlocks get our final Ability Score Improvement and... ugh. As much as I want to do something fun I have to accept the fact that Charisma will help us more, so you may as well grab the Resilient Feat with Charisma for better saving throws and a higher Charisma mod.

But that Charisma mod is going to get a lot of use since now you can take the Lifedrinker invocation which grants the Asakana’s blade Necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier! That’s a lot of damage? How much damage? Well...

FINAL BUILD

PROS

One to cut, one to seal - Let’s do the math for how much damage you do with your swords every round: two strikes from the Asakana’s blade (d6 + 6 slashing + 4 necrotic), one from your regular sword (d6 + 5), and sneak attack damage (2d6) for a total of... 5d6 + 25 damage (8 of it being Necrotic and the rest being Slashing) every round. Not to mention Eldritch Smites in a pinch and a large assortment of spells.

Fear, once named, controls no one - You are also incredibly elusive with 18 AC and strong saving throws. Swashbuckler lets you get into the fight fast and get out before your enemy has a chance to react, and cunning actions let you weave around the battlefield as you see fit. To top it off Echo Knight levels let you attack your foes without even being near them! "Cross the veil!"

Wear a mask long enough, and you forget the face beneath - You have a great deal of out-of-combat utility too. Language proficiencies (along with Thieves’ Cant), skill proficiencies (including expertise in two very important skills 23 passive perception, anyone?) Thieves’ Tools, several utility spells which you can cast pretty much at will, not to mention the utility of near-infinite teleportation and flat out infinite levitation.

CONS

Blink, and you'll miss your own death - Between two-weapon fighting, cunning action, and interactions with your echo there’s such a thing as too many bonus actions.

Do not wish to hide behind masks - There’s also such a thing as being too elusive. Swashbuckler gives you plenty of mobility as does Echo Knight, but putting them together means that you’ll be everywhere at once.

Are you here to usher me back? - Multiclassing a spellsword means that you miss out on some vital ability score increases. This means your Charisma isn’t topped off, the saving throws you aren’t proficient in are subpar at best, and your health is just barely over the Power Word Kill threshold.

But a hunter with many weapons will always have the right one to catch its prey. Lure out the Asakana and strike them down. Just remember that even if you alone can stop the demonic plague you don’t have to work alone. Your brother may have struck you down but if you learn to forgive the Asakana will be a lot weaker. "Long before blades and sorcery are needed, words... can save a soul."

(Artwork by @ThatwasforZED on Twitter)

[razorblade180]

Skirmish pt2

“Seriously!? We can fight?” Nick’s entire mood brightened, but then immediately turned to nerves. “What’s the angle?”

Carmine lightly chuckled. She pulled off her scarf and wrapped it around her torso. “No angle, just an apology. I might not have said the kindest words to you. Also I shouldn’t ask for training help then turn someone down. So yes, I’ll fight you.”

“Simple as that huh? Okay, let me know when you’re ready to-”

“Now.”

“NOW!?” They all screamed. Carmine looked at them as if they were the weird ones and nodded. It takes a lot to actually keep her down. Lucas definitely shaved some aura off of her but she had more than enough in the tank to have another skirmish. Carmine gave them a thumbs up.

“Everything is already healed up and fighting below a hundred percent is sorta my thing.

“...”

“Not that I’m underestimating you, honest!” Carmine tried explaining. It was days like these she wished Kovu was around. He typically understood her words.

“Anyways let’s apply the same rules. Swords, semblances, and hand to hand of course. You challenged me so I picked the spot this time.”

“That’s fair. Do me a favor though and choose a place that doesn’t feel like an oven?”

“Actually, I have the perfect place in mind. You might know it.” Carmine snaps her fingers and once again The Void is engulfed by light.

When it eventually fades, the group finds themselves in castle ruins. The walls crumbled slowly and a shattered mosaic scattered light across the room.

“Mom’s battle sight.” Summer said, roaming around. “From when she killed the Arma Gigas.”

“That’s right. In my world Weiss comes here sometimes to get away from it all. Her secret stage is what Weiss calls it. Fitting place for a fight.”

Nick scanned the area. Open space, nice temperature, a certain spiritual charm to it; indeed it was a fitting spot. The others must’ve agreed because the others wasted no time moving towards the broken ceiling, taking a bird’s eye view of the fighters. “Truly a stage fit for our match.”

“I gotta say I’m starting to grow fond of that charisma of yours pretty boy. Nicholas Schnee…”

Carmine pulled out her blade and stabbed it right into the ground. Her hands rested on the hilt and she stood confidently in the middle of the room, letting her crimson aura shine brightly. “Do your best.”

He was scared. Nick didn’t want to admit it but he was actually a bit scared of Carmine at this moment. Was it because she was so calm? So unnervingly confident to the point of choosing a place familiar to his family? Nick drew his blade and looked at it.

A battle of skill huh? Let’s see what I’m made of. To be honest, I might lose instant-

“Hey stupid!”

Nick looked up to see Summer standing up on a broken support pillar. She took her sword and pointed it right at his face. “I’m watching, better not blunder or you’ll never hear the end of it!” Summer stuck out her tongue then smiled. “Kick her butt.”

As far as siblings pep talks go, that one was easily top notch. Carmine could tell Summer was calming his nerves and it had worked. Nicholas slicked his hair back and took his stance. Eyes looked ahead, chin down, back straight, right foot forward, but not too far forward. Mort Froid pointed right at her chest. Carmine couldn’t help but imagine Weiss standing before her.

Nick took one final deep breath. “Little siblings am I right? Once they want something...you gotta give it to them!”

Carmine didn’t see him move. She didn’t even see a glyph, and yet she knew deep down to raise her sword straight in front of her body. Though Carmine didn’t see him, Nick was already in front of her and crashed his blade right where she had raised it. Carmine pushed him off but Nick came right back at her with serious intent to harm. He can’t afford to play nice with an opponent like her.

Nick thrusted his blade at the tip of Carmine’s, then slashed along the middle to knock it away. He followed through the swing by aiming for her face and barely scratching her face before Carmine jumped back. Nick’s left hand flexed and created a glyph behind Carmine that stopped her escape, making her wince the moment the back of her head hit it.

Nick went to sweep her legs from the right but Carmine raised her foot and stopped it dead in its tracks. She raised her blade to return the slash to the face.

He’s open.

Nicholas made a glyph in his left hand and brought it over to the right side of his face. The glyph created the arma gigas blade and blocked Carmine’s strike. He then thrusted it forward and struck right in the middle of her chest. The force of it was enough to send her flying through the glyph that was still behind her.

Nick can’t see my movements like Lucas but he’s faster. Also he seems a bit more experienced; if I knew about the dual wielding then I might’ve asked if I could use my nightstick. But then it wouldn’t be a sword much, and I’d be too tempted to use my scythe.

Carmine manages to flip herself around midair and lands on the stained glass. She kicks off of it, right back towards him with one hand on the hilt and the other on the inside of the curved blade.

Nick crossed his swords together and blocked the attack head on, getting pushed backwards as Carmine’s body forced herself forward against his blade. They kept sliding until Nick’s body hit a wall. He gritted his teeth painfully as he tried to push Carmine back.

Pain shot through his arms and sparks came off their clash. “Damn it! Why are you so..gaaah!” Nick put a glyph under Carmine’s feet and yanked it out from under her like a rug. Carmine lost her balance. Her feet went backwards and Nick slashed upwards to send her sword flying out of her hands. “My turn…”

Nick kneed Carmine in the chin then swung both blades down against her shoulders, earning another wince. His left blade went right while the other went the opposite direction across her body, then did it again in vice versa. The others watched in amazement, except for Summer and Valerie who expected no less.

“Six hits in two seconds. Nick is stepping up his game.” Summer said, a little surprised. Her palms got sweaty and feet started to fidget. “He’s matching my speed now, that jerk. It’s like the only thing I have on him!”

Valerie wanted to comment on the numerous things Summer had over Nick when it comes to fighting but she was too fixated on the boy as well. Unlike with Lucas, Carmine was more on the defensive. Whenever she blocked one sword it meant the other was free to find an opening, and there’s always going to be an opening in a fight. Nick’s greatest strength never came from his swordsmanship, but the ways he mixed up his attacks. Even so, Carmine’s mind seemed to follow a similar thread of logic.

Nick used Mort Froid to swing down at Carmine’s body in order to force her to block, which she did right on time. He then used the gigas sword to strike right at her ribs to expend more air. A failed plan, Carmine quickly grabbed the other sword. Both simultaneously slid their right foot forward and behind each other’s left foot to sweep it but Carmine’s strength edged out Nick’s easily, sending him to the ground and ending up with the older girl’s knee on his chest.

Carmine places the sword lightly against his neck as he turns away from her. Carmine looked a little puzzled. His face was getting red. Was he upset that they did the same thing, or maybe she was heavier than she realized.

“Hey, this doesn’t hurt too bad right? Still breathing fine?”

“Yeah it’s just uhhh, your shirt.” He said, clearly his throat.

“My shirt?” Carmine looked down and realized it was hanging loosely before the way she pinned him. Nick no doubt could see straight down it. Carmine looked back at the blushing boy. He was so calm moments earlier but this seriously froze him up!? Yeah, he was definitely an Arc.

Carmine shook her head out of amazement and disbelief. “I hope you don’t get this distracted in an actual battle?” She chuckled. Carmine didn’t know why but seeing people flustered over things about her like this was always strangely adorable and interesting.

Nick pouted, “I’m way more serious when it matters! I’m even serious now in case you hadn’t noticed.” He motioned his head towards her. Carmine looked over her shoulder to see a glyph with a summoning sword aimed right at her back.

When did he-I didn’t even notice! I don’t remember seeing his hands move at all either. Even in the midst of combat it looked like Nick was always moving towards another step towards getting the edge. His parents must be proud for sure.

“You know….” Carmine bit her lip. “I’m willing to call this a draw if you don’t wanna continue?”

“Regretting not resting up?” He was a bit bitter she chose that option.

“No, I am just satisfied with things I’ve learned today and being able to fight such a unique opponent.”

“But I didn’t even get to see you use your semblance yet.”

Carmine leaned down lower and whispered in his ear so quietly that not even Veronica could hear. All of them watched curiously until Carmine finally got off of Nick and helped him up. He looked a little conflicted.

“Do we have a deal?” Carmine asked, almost pleadingly.

Nick rubbed his hand through his hair and sighed, “fine, we can put this test of swords on hold. On one condition! Show us a glimpse of what you’re really made of.”

Carmine thought about it for a moment. It would be the least of what she could do since he’s cooperating. “Okay, sure.”

“Uhh excuse me!?” Sienna chimed in. “What’s going on?

“Nick has been kind enough to let this fight be on pause in return that I get serious for a moment. Honestly the next time we fight, maybe we’ll both be able to cut loose without restrictions. I’d be honored to have a true grudge match against you.”

“I might just take you up on that. We’ll consider this the warm up then.” Nick summoned the gigas sword to his hand and picked up his actual blade. He then gave Yujin a nod that signaled the girl to pull out Carmine’s nightstick that she was still holding onto for safe keeping. Reluctantly, Yujin tossed the intriguing weapon down to its rightful owner.

“Thank you Yujin. I’m surprised you weren’t tinkering with it.”

“Could you reward my restraint by letting us know what exactly you whispered to Nick?” Her eyes got big with anticipation.

“Sorry, our little secret for now. I promise you’ll all know eventually though.”

Carmine gave her a wink before turning back to Nick; he was already back in his fighting stance. This time with a second sword pointed downwards by his left side.

“Ready when you are Carmine.”

Carmine extended the nightstick and switched her sword to her left hand. She stood up straight with her left side facing more towards him than her right. Carmine had a bit of mixed feelings about this. In now way did she actually want to have a serious fight. It was goofing around, experimenting with new ideas was interesting to say the least. Above all, Carmine didn’t want to hurt Nick in any way. Even if he only remembers this fight while in The Void, she still wanted him to continue growing. He really was starting to grow on her.

“Nick I just want you to know, after eight moves I’ll stop and ask if you want to continue. You’re a good swordsman, a great one actually. I would actually feel bad discouraging you.”

Nick could tell she wasn’t trying to belittle him in anyway, but hearing that was a bit shocking. Was there a specific reason for eight moves only? Why warn him? Did having both weapons really change things that much. This was Carmine, the girl he was actually able to hit several times.

Still he knew better than to let that go to his head. Clearly this would be a different fight. He could already tell her belief in being the strongest wasn’t all talk.

“Okay.” He nodded, slowly. “I appreciate the heads up.”

Carmine’s small smile soon faded. All that was left was near blank expression and eyes as intense as the moon behind her. Nicholas knew in that moment he wasn’t prepared, but he wasn’t about to be scared off so easily. Nothing ventured, nothing gained after all.

No one said a word, or even breathed it seemed. They were too invested in what would happen next. They wanted to know the young woman known as Carmine Arc-Rose, and what made her so different. She put her finger on the trigger of her nightstick and rubbed it slowly. The last thing Nick saw was Carmine point it behind her before a BANG!

It felt like the sound reached his ears after she did. Nick had virtually no time to even blink before those silver eyes were staring into his just a fraction of an inch away. It should’ve been over then. His body should’ve felt some sort of pain anywhere but yet it didn’t. Carmine, she didn’t attack. She only stared at him then calmly walked back to where she stood. Finally she spoke.

“The first move is free. Now then, are your nerves gone?”

Gone!? Nick felt like he might have a heart attack! Using recoil to propel movement wasn’t new in the slightest but was stupidly fast, yet she stopped right in front of him. Still, Nick had a mission. He wanted to see the other seven. He shook his body out and retook his stance.

“Seven more, right?” His voice wavered, yet his eyes held firmly to his desire. Carmine found another reason to like him. With any luck, Garnet would have half of Nick’s spirit.

“Get ready Nick…” she pointed her gun behind her again. This time he didn’t let his nerves get him and crossed his swords right in front of himself as another gunshot went off. He could only see the red tips of Carmine’s hair and her tan scarf turn into a blurry streak that went right at him.

Carmine’s sword crashed right into the guard and left a thunderous noise. She pointed her gun slightly outward from behind her and fired another shot that forced her into a spin. Her blade knocked Mort Froid away and cut right through the gigas sword, making it vanish. The momentum of the spin kept going for another three spins that slashed Nick’s chest, shoulders and then chest again. All faster than he could react to and hadn’t even begun to recover from.

Carmine didn’t give him the chance anyways. Her nightstick connected to the bottom of her sword and the actual entire blade curved down further and locked into place to form her scythe. Carmine swung it past Nick’s legs then pulled the trigger again to pull it against the back of his knees and sweep both legs into the air. Carmine quickly twirled to the right and let the scythe do a full swing tilted up that slammed into his back midair and sent him upward towards the moon.

Seven moves, just like that. Nick wasn’t sure what he was feeling right now as he stared at the moon. Time itself seemed to be in slow motion. He knew it wasn’t and yet everything Carmine just did was so fast that he might as well have been stuck in slow motion. Nick never blinked as he stared upwards, nor did he look at anyone else. His view was eclipsed however in what must’ve been a second. Carmine somehow got above him with her scythe poised to strike as she was silhouetted by the shattered celestial body behind her. Those silver eyes being the only source of light on her in this moment. So this was the difference between them, between her and everyone supposedly. This was Carmine Arc-Rose.

It wasn’t infuriating being outclassed, not like this. They were in a sense, literally worlds apart. Whatever made her this strong was unique to her in every way and yet, Nick knew that wasn’t any excuse. He was an Arc just like her, and would not falter or give in without trying his damndest!

Carmine swung straight down, aiming for the middle of his torso. An easy blow that should’ve connected, but was blocked perfectly by a glyph in that exact spot. Eight strikes, he made it through.

Carmine let out a silent gasp. Huh, he blocked me. Their eyes locked for a moment.

“Should’ve saved your free move.” Nick barely said, before finally starting to fall. Carmine grabbed the edge of the glyph and launched herself downward, catching Nick on the way down. She did a flip to readjust and gently landed on the ground. Carmine couldn’t help but look down into her arms happily to see Nick completely knocked out from exhaustion. A big ol smile right on his face.

“Not bad Nicholas Schnee. Not bad at all.”

Part 1

[sworntoprotect]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all had witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat. Long post!

MUN NAME: Pie     AGE: +25       CONTACT: IM, Ask, Discord (mutuals only, by request)

CHARACTER(S): Cullen

CURRENT FANDOM(S): Dragon Age

FANDOM(S) YOU HAVE AN AU FOR:  I have a modern verse for everything not Dragon Age, but I might add some actual alt verses for other fandoms

MY LANGUAGE(S): English (native), Spanish (intermediate), Korean (baby lol beginner), bits and bobs of other languages (namely French and French Patois)

THEMES I’M INTERESTED IN FOR RP: FANTASY / SCIENCE FICTION / HORROR / WESTERN / ROMANCE / THRILLER / MYSTERY / DYSTOPIA / ADVENTURE / MODERN / EROTIC / CRIME / MYTHOLOGY / CLASSIC / HISTORY / RENAISSANCE / MEDIEVAL / ANCIENT / WAR / FAMILY / POLITICS / RELIGION / SCHOOL / ADULTHOOD / CHILDHOOD / APOCALYPTIC / GODS / SPORT / MUSIC / SCIENCE / FIGHTS / ANGST / SMUT / DRAMA / ETC. (I started this and realised I’d be bolding almost everything, so: EVERYTHING)

PREFERRED THREAD LENGTH: ONE-LINER / 1 PARA / 2 PARA / 3+ PARA / NOVELLA. / ALL

ASKS CAN BE SEND BY: MUTUALS / NON-MUTUALS / PERSONALS / ANONS.

CAN ASKS BE CONTINUED?: YES / NO / OCCASIONALLY   - only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO

PREFERRED THREAD TYPE: CRACK / CASUAL / SERIOUS / DEEP AS HECK. / ALL

IS REALISM / RESEARCH IMPORTANT FOR YOU IN CERTAIN THEMES?:   YES / NO.

ARE YOU ATM OPEN FOR NEW PLOTS?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. (after my paper is submitted, yeah sure)

DO YOU HANDLE YOUR DRAFT / ASK - COUNT WELL?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. (irl makes coping difficult sometimes)

HOW LONG DO YOU USUALLY TAKE TO REPLY?: 24H / 1 WEEK / 2 WEEKS / 3+ WEEKS / MONTHS / YEARS. / DEPENDS ON MOOD AND INSPIRATION, AND IF I’M BUSY 

I’M OKAY INTERACTING WITH: ORIGINAL CHARACTERS / A RELATIVE OF MY CHARACTER (AN OC) / DUPLICATES / CROSSOVERS / MULTI-MUSES / SELF-INSERTS / PEOPLE WITH NO AU VERSE FOR MY FANDOM / CANON-DIVERGENT PORTRAYALS / AU-VERSIONS.

DO YOU POST MORE IC OR OOC?: IC / OOC. (I strive for more IC over OOC, but my queue does a lot of work too)

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WITH FOLLOWING OTHERS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

BEST WAYS TO APPROACH YOU FOR RP/PLOTTING:  Talk with me over IM, asks, or Disco. I’m down for almost anything as long as I see it’s feasible.

WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HOLD TOWARDS YOUR PLOTTING PARTNER:  Transparency. If you have an idea, let me know! If you’re stuck, let me know! If you want to start something new or scrap something or whatever...LET ME KNOW! I promise I don’t bite and I understand.

WHEN YOU NOTICE THE PLOTTING IS RATHER ONE-SIDED, WHAT DO YOU DO?:  I’m not very good with coming up with plots myself, so I’m typically the weak link when it comes to that. Sorry! But you bet I’ll pull up a plot generator and start throwing things down to see what sticks haha.

HOW DO YOU USUALLY PLOT WITH OTHERS, DO YOU GIVE INPUT OR LEAVE MOST WORK TOWARDS YOUR PARTNER?:  I’m all about equal opportunity, so I try not to leave the plotting work to my partner. Let’s negotiate and find something that makes both of us happy. That’s the point after all.

WHEN A PARTNER DROPS THE THREAD, DO YOU WISH TO KNOW?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - AND WHY?: If you want to drop a thread, I’m completely fine with it. I want to know so that I don’t end up replying to something you have no interest in anymore. Saves both of us the time.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY LEAD YOU TO DROP A THREAD?:  If drafts eat it (as they are wont to do these days) or if I feel it has reached a natural conclusion. I rarely, if ever, drop a thread in the middle. I’ll just let you know I’m going to finish it on my side and allow you a chance to finish on yours if you’d like.

WILL YOU TELL YOUR PARTNER?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS.

IS COMMUNICATION IN THE RPC IMPORTANT TO YOU? YES / NO. - AND WHY?: You don’t need to chat with me every minute of every day, but I like knowing the people I’m writing with. Discerning your personality and your approach to your muse gives me a much stronger understanding of how to write with you, and what vibes between us. Plus, it’s easier to remember different people’s boundaries if I talk with them a lot, too.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH ABSOLUTE HONESTY, EVEN IF IT MAY MEANS HEARING SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT YOU AND/OR PORTRAYAL?: I am all for constructive criticism. Even if you think it’s nitpicky, it’s going to be a great help. Good crit allows us grow as writers and as people in general. However, I am not for baseless accusations, childish name-calling, or outright insults under the name of “constructive crit”. Remember the “constructive” part: we need to build each other up. 

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE SUCH SITUATION IN A MATURE WAY? YES / NO.

WHY DO YOU RP AGAIN, IS THERE A GOAL?: I love a good story. While I don’t agree with everything Cullen does (and no one should, for anyone real or imagined), his story is intriguing. He’s a deeply flawed, deeply broken man. I love to take on a character, toss them in every situation I can think of, and watch them evolve and grow.

WISHLIST, BE IT PLOTS OR SCENARIOS:  A real redemption arc, for one. A realistic struggle with substance abuse and recovery. A future of happiness.

THEMES I WON’T EVER RP / EXPLORE:   Rape or sexual assault, unless being spoken about as a past event (as I truly believe that Cullen was sexually assaulted at Kinloch along with the other psychological and physical torture he endured). In-game racism is baked in, unfortunately, but it’s not something I seek out to roleplay as a PoC myself. Finally, while I play Cullen as canon-straight, I will not play out homophobia and most definitely not transphobia. If he rejects your muse for hitting on him, it’s not because he’s being homophobic: he’s just not interested. That also doesn’t mean he’ll never be interested; people can and do change, and I ship chemistry overall. He doesn’t hate your muse for their gender, orientation, or sexual preferences. I feel like I really have to spell this out for people who don’t understand. If you feel personally insulted by this somehow, feel free to address me directly, off anon. It’s probably an issue of fuzzy wording that I’m 500% willing to fix and talk about.

WHAT TYPE OF STARTERS DO YOU PREFER / DISLIKE, CAN’T WORK WITH?: I love starters that set the scene and provide plenty to work with, be it in terms of interacting with the environment or with the other person. If your muse shows immediate disinterest in communicating (and I don’t mean argumentative, which is perfectly fine), I am not going to respond. I might politely ask for more if I feel like it’s a salvageable interaction.

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE MOST?:  Stoic soldier types, bubbly short girls, and semi-mad scientists.

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE LEAST?:  Characters that come across as Mary-Sue / Gary-Stu types. No flaws and barely any room to grow. 

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONG ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: I'm very easy-going and I have an unearthly level of tolerance for almost everything. I try to provide partners with as much to work with as possible IC, and will pretty much support your very existence OOC. I believe in open communication so you’ll know what’s going on with me and/or our threads. Also, I typically reply within a week or two. Currently I’m tethered to finishing a big paper so I’m not a good example of that right now.

WHAT ARE YOUR WEAK ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: I can get overwhelmed by too much which slows my pace down considerably. I’m also a bit distant and do shut down on occasion; that’s usually no fault of my partners, though. Just my brain being a dick.

DO YOU RP SMUT?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. (the closer we are OOC, the easier getting here will be)

DO YOU PREFER TO GO INTO DETAIL?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. (it’s not going to be XXX but it will be descriptive)

ARE YOU OKAY WITH BLACK CURTAIN, FADE TO BLACK?: YES / NO.

WHEN DO YOU RP SMUT? MORE OUT OF FUN OR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?: I prefer to write smut for character development and to mark a progression in a relationship. Plus Cullen is not a “one and done” guy so getting to the smut stage will take a bit of build-up.

ANYTHING YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO RP THERE?:  Hmmm things that he personally wouldn’t go for I guess? Honestly I don’t know. And obviously, no rape/animal abuse/predator nonsense.

ARE SHIPS IMPORTANT TO YOU?:   YES / NO Ships are a great way to further explore a character and their motivations. People do not exist in pure isolation, so I don’t believe characters should, either.

WOULD YOU SAY YOUR BLOG IS SHIP-FOCUSED?: YES / NO. I bolded both because the focus of the blog isn’t ships, but this thirst trap guy is really easy to ship with other people I tell ya hwat. I am severely picky with romantic ships for Reasons, but I don’t eschew any other types of ships. I encourage them!

DO YOU USE READ MORE?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES WHEN I WRITE LONG STUFF.

ARE YOU:  MULTI-SHIP / SINGLE-SHIP / DUAL-SHIP  —  MULTIVERSE / SINGLEVERSE.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO EXPLORE THE MOST IN YOUR SHIPS?: Characters who challenge Cullen into revising his point of view and force him to be a better person. Also, characters who understand his past and they are in no ways obligated to forgive it, but do recognise that he’s struggling very hard to mend whatever mistakes he can and is willing to pay the price for his decisions.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.  - Be a good salesperson and I might buy it.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOUR MUSE INTERESTING TOWARDS OTHERS, WHY SHOULD THEY RP WITH THIS PARTICULAR CHARACTER OF YOURS NOW, WHAT POSSIBLE PLOTS DO THEY OFFER?: Cullen is a massive stick in the mud, which means it’s incredibly easy to taunt him and get him flustered all at the same time. He’s loyal, he’s intelligent, and he’s largely self-aware. He likes swords and using them. Anything your character hates about him, he most likely hates about himself 100 times more.

WITH WHAT TYPE OF MUSES DO YOU USUALLY STRUGGLE TO RP WITH?:  Those from the start that show absolutely no interest in speaking with/interacting with him. Mun and muse are going to struggle to stick around. I’m not going to fight for attention and neither is he.

WHAT DO THEY DESIRE, WHAT IS THEIR GOAL?:  Redemption. He wants to be a better person and make up for the past as much as he can.

WHAT CATCHES THEIR INTEREST FIRST WHEN MEETING SOMEONE NEW?:  He can sniff out a fellow Templar a mile away (or several miles, in the case of Samson). 

WHAT DO THEY VALUE IN A PERSON?:  Honesty, a strong will, devotion (not necessarily to the Maker or the Chantry, but to a just cause that focuses on protecting others).

WHAT THEMES DO THEY LIKE TALKING ABOUT?:  War stuff, chess, books, trebuchets, dogs.

WHICH THEMES BORE THEM?:  Lectures about anything. He did his time in Azkaban in the Circles. No more. Please no more.

DID THEY EVER WENT THROUGH SOMETHING TRAUMATIC?:  His parents died trying to escape the Blight, he was tortured for weeks/months on end by blood mages, almost all of his friends died because of it, he was manipulated and brainwashed by his superior, he was forced into a near-debilitating substance addiction by his workplace... yeah just a few things.

WHAT COULD LEAD TO AN INSTANT KILL?:  Darkspawn and abominations. 

IS THERE SOMEONE /-THING THEY HATE?:  Darkspawn and abominations. Blood mages on principle. Regular mages (but he’s working hard to remedy this extremely bad and prejudiced thinking). Himself.

IS YOUR MUSE EASY TO APPROACH?: YES / NO.    - BEST WAY TO APPROACH THEM?:  Just be polite and he won’t turn you away. He’s guarded, yes, but not impossible to talk to.

SOMETHING YOU MAY STILL WANT TO POINT OUT ABOUT YOUR MUSE?: You’ll find out by writing together! ;D

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

tagged by: pirated tagging: anyone who actually read this

[serendipitybutterfly]

Well... Haha... Finally I'm going to post Hobi's birthday tarot reading. In my defence... It's been crazy for everyone since at least late February so... Yeah. But we're here to do this now and cheer for our sunshine Hobi! ☀ 💜

Okay... So let's look at these cards. I got a really interesting dual meaning coming through. The same cards are telling me about two separate areas of his life being his main concerns this year. Unsurprisingly, based on what I've seen since I started doing readings on Hobi, those areas are Love and Career.

If we look at the signifiers for this reading at the top, the reversed 6 of wands and reversed chariot, we can see that both areas are likely to be kind of disappointing in some way this year (the goals he has set seem further and further away... The things he wants to achieve and show the public seem impossible or he is told he can't do them)... Again, reversals are set backs, delays, blocked energy... So it's not that success isn't possible, but that events conspire this year to cause him some disappointments in these areas which will cause him concern. Getting through these disappointments with a positive mindset will be his challenge this year.

I will try to talk about these two main areas of concern concurrently because I believe the same cards are telling me about these two things at the same time. It also will hopefully stop me rambling on too much like I usually do (haha... 😭).

To start off with, the reversed 6 of pentacles and the 4 of wands are speaking to me of not being able to give his all to maintain a solid structure to something. An equal give and take is difficult or impossible and can lead to a break down of bonds or stability in relationships. Looking at the next two cards, the reversed 2 of cups and reversed Magician, the relationship and partnerships he wants are unable to manifest at the moment. The energy is blocked due to his current circumstances. I believe strongly that this refers to both his career (for example in terms of collabs with other artists falling through) and also in terms of his personal life and not being able to maintain romantic relationships... I am definitely feeling it's romantic relationships that are the main problem rather than friendships.

With the Star shining in the centre of it all and the 8 of pentacles reversed beneath it, I see two things. Firstly that he has a beautiful big dream and ideal when it comes to both his career and his love life but seems unable to work to reconcile them with each other so that both can materialise and coexist and secondly, that work itself, namely overworking or taking on too much obsessively, is the problem.

He needs to be more balanced in working towards both dreams because they're actually both just as important to him. This is already beginning to, or will soon, cause him more stress this year because the things he wants from his life don't seem to be working out in the time he wants them to and there's a sense of running out of time or losing time and wondering about his fate or destiny and missing the timing (despite the fact that he's still so young...). So he needs to be willing to also put in the work for his personal life.

With the 3 of cups and 4 of cups in reverse, I'm seeing that he needs to not let disappointments and worries about these things cause him to withdraw from his friends and offers to hang out, have some drinks, go to gatherings etc (obviously the corona virus is already proving to be a major influence here overall, right?). His friendships and being around other people will be a huge support and help cheer him up. It's also possible that through accepting offers to go have drinks or go to parties or celebrations he can make some of the connections he desires later this year. That's why he needs to be positive and not withdraw.

Lastly, the reversed 9 of cups and 3 of swords sets a pretty clear picture of the emotional and mental state he needs to work hard to get through this year. His dreams and wishes seeming to be blocked and getting disappointed at every turn is heartbreaking and he really needs to be strong to get through this. I also feel, and I've mentioned this before in previous readings on Hobi, that there is some strong energy of heartbreak (I literally can feel my heart aching with hurt feelings and sadness, as I look at the cards) that he needs to work through and get over before he'll be able to manifest the relationship he desires. He's still holding onto to that past too much... Letting it go is the key to unblocking this aspect of his life.

I also pulled two Oracle cards, one from my Angels and Ancestors deck, Heart Guardian, and one from my Earth Magic deck, Milky Way: Perspective. The message of the Heart Guardian card is 'Love and let yourself be loved'. That's pretty self explanatory and emphasises the message I got from the tarot that he needs to concentrate on healing his heart at the present. His heart is so guarded and defensive that he is actually blocking the love he wants from coming to him himself. He needs to let the past go and look forward with an open heart.

With Milky Way: Perspective, I get the message that he literally needs to have some perspective... He's a young man and he still has a lot of time to work and meet people and eventually meet 'The One' and get married, start a family... Etc. Because things seem stagnant at the moment, it worries him. But with some perspective, as if if looking at his life from a more distant, less emotional, point of view, he would see that this year is but a blink in the eye in the grander scheme of things and the things he wants from life can and will come with faith, hard work and patience. Actually, I do also get the feeling from this card and The Star that getting an astrology reading of his chart would actually be really interesting and useful for him so... Next time Hobi does vlive, can someone who can speak Korean suggest it? 😆

I also wanted to pull a romance angel card after all this because it seemed appropriate, but unfortunately I did not take a picture. I got the card 'Reconciliation', which says 'someone from your past is returning to your life'. Rather than going back to an ex though, the message I picked up is more that he needs to reconcile with his ex, forgive, make peace and move on... I'm not trying to pry into what happened, I make that very clear when I do these readings, so purely from the pov of his feelings alone he needs to get the closure he needs and put it behind him.

All in all, although this year may present some challenges and disappointments, by sharing and being open to help from friends, as well as being willing to let go and move on with a positive mindset, Hobi will be fine and look back on this as a year of learning and growing within himself. Let's send him all our love and support! 💜 💜 💜

Thank you for reading. May you all also be blessed with love and light wherever you go. 🙏 😘💕