#but whatever is left is nigh gone

[tryagainstarlight]

Are you sure there wasn't a different craft in your country?

💫: Im... Going... To stop thinking about it.... I don't want my head to explode... owwww....

[spacebaby1]

Ghost of you (Law Trafalgar x Reader. ft Cora-San) Part 3

It was a sunny afternoon, and most of the crew members were on the deck except your captain. He was locked in his room working on something. You kicked on the door before hearing his voice asking you to enter.

'Captain, why aren't you outside? Everyone is out in the deck.' He looked behind you out of the door and then went back to whatever he was writing, 'I'm busy. Did you need anything?'

'Actually, yeah,' you begin playing with your hand, 'I need a favour to ask for, Captain.' He raised a brow turning to you, 'a favour? What for?'

You nervously chuckled, 'uh, I want to go somewhere, an island.'

'An island? Is it where we need to be heading, you mean? I ch-'

'No, it's for my research, the Minion island.' You saw his face change experience in a matter of seconds before he took a deep breath and spoke, 'W-what for? I can help you if it's med-'

'No! It's uhm, well, it's personal research, and I was wondering if you could let me go there for a few weeks?'

He stood up, 'alone?' You nodded. He sighed, 'I don't know, I don't want you to get in danger. Let me come with you, or we can stop by Mi-m- that island for as long as you want, and we can leave when your research is over? Hum? That's okay with you?'

You smiled wide and jumped to hug him, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, Captain! I promise I will try to finish the work as fast as I can.' You let go of him, and he watched you leave with a small smile on his face that dropped the moment he realised he's been smiling.

The crew didn't mind the few weeks break from the sailing. However, the cold is what they minded, and you were only excited to start your search for that devil fruit that will bring Cora-San back. You had figured out the spell that goes with the powers of the devil fruit to revive someone back from dead; it was a hard job, but you wanted to do it for your captain.

You have arrived by nigh time, luckily finding a small Inn to crash for the night away from the cold. You were still reading a book when you noticed that Law left his room and was heading somewhere. You decided to follow your captain and where he was going in the middle of the night without him knowing you were following him and followed him till he reached a tree with a small headstone under the tree. He sat there for a long while, then left as you hid behind one of the walls.

After he was gone, you walked towards the headstone and read the name on it, "Rosinante Donquixote (Cora-San)." It's been few days since you saw Cora-San and you couldn't stop thinking how much Law missed him, it was heartbreaking to you that he couldn't see him when you can even though you didn't even know him as much as Law does, a cold hand rested on your head, patting your hair, 'You'll catch cold out here.' You smiled at the voice, 'Then give me your fur coat. It looks comfy.'

Cora-San chuckled at that, taking the seat next to you. He wished he could share his coat with you so you won't catch cold, 'what do dead people do when we visit their graves? Do they see us? Or are they long gone, and it's just a body resting there?'

Cora-San raised a brow, 'you've got a huge mind there, Crybaby. I per-are you crying?'

You were. 'No, I'm not.' You whipped your tears with the back of your sleeves. And Cora-San ruffled your hair, making you chuckle. 'Come on, kiddo, let's go. I don't want you to catch cold and worry my Law.' You nodded and followed after him, 'Your Law, that's so cute!' Cora-San laughed at your comment.

[redrandomposts]

WEEPING BC I READ YOUR RESPONSE WHILE I WAS ON THE WAY HOME FROM AN ERRAND LMAO

imagine hyuna manages to catch ivan before he runs away, but she doesnt stop him bc she saw how miserable he was while he was at base and maybe he can find another human settlement where he can be happy at least ? so she provides him w a radio for emergencies and some provisions and makes him promise her that he'll at least send a message every once in a while so she'll know he's safe.

ivan was long gone when till finds hyuna standing by that one window facing the rising sun. till looks a lot more frazzled than hyuna has ever seen him, and thats saying something.

(he just remembered the end of r6 and theres two lifetimes fighting for dominance in till's mind)

till asks hyuna if she has seen ivan.

hyuna remembers the ever-present broken look on ivan's face every time he sees till and every time till pushes him away with cruel words and even crueler fists.

hyuna tells him no.

----

of course hyuna does tell the adults in charge of ivan's departure. they inform the other human settlements to look out for ivan and they move on with their lives.

while theyre saddened by ivan's departure and wish they couldve gone with the kid (he was twenty, barely an adult !), theyre at least comforted by the fact that he wasnt chaining himself down by his guilt anymore.

----

as days go by, hyuna notices the changes in mizi, sua, and till.

she never personally told them that ivan left but someone mustve told them nonetheless.

theres a new tension between the formerly-inseparable mizi and sua.

(mizi remembers the moment sua lost her life in front of her and, knowing what she knows now, wonders why sua kept her ignorant until the very last moment.

"i wanted to preserve your happiness."

"by making me lose you?"

"...")

till ... hyuna doesnt know what goes on with that kid. one moment hes watching both his friends like hes afraid theyll disappear in the blink of an eye, the next moment hes writing lyrics and music like a madman and searching for ivan like a man starved.

hyuna doesnt get it. with how much sua and till practically shoved ivan away, they shouldnt be this affected by his departure, right ?

ah, whatever. that's their problem now.

----

at first, ivan sent her check-in messages maybe once or twice a week. the most he's gone without any contact has been two weeks and that was because he had trouble finding batteries.

and then his last message came in.

the first thing she hears is static and gunshots.

finally, ivan's voice comes in. he doesn't sound so good.

"--oona, noona im sorry--"

"ivan, what-"

"--n't know how but -- found m--"

static. gunshots. a pained noise. more static.

then, silence.

hyuna needs to get a rescue team out there as soon as possible. she has his coordinates, she can-

"was that ivan ?"

fuck. how long has till been standing there ?

"hyuna... was that ivan ?"

----

anyways :> hyuna gets a rescue team for ivan and they manage to get him back to base in one piece but hes hanging on for dear life lol. imagine he got shot in the same damn places he was in the past life and bleeding out from the mouth too.

till sees and is immediately gut punched into a harrowing flashback and panic attack and hyuna wonders just how she was saddled with such troublesome juniors.

i, too, got possessed it seems LMAOOOO

— 🌦️

do u need a tissue for your tears, 🌦️?

imagine there's a spy rebel that was promised a lot from the aliens and sent ivan's signal to them, so the aliens are able to track him...

till is beside ivan's bed, sifting through hastily-drawn sketches from the middle of the night, lyrics that seem more like chicken scrath, and melodies that's played repeat in his head.

ivan looked the exact same as he had in round six. blood spilled, a slight smile when he caught sight of till—till didn't deserve it. he didn't deserve the heartfelt smile, the bleeding heart ivan gave to him, the all the ivan put to him but never got back.

he painfully remembers the night of their escape, too. ivan was stressed beyond relief, and when they made it out, he looked to the sky as if expecting something. till hadn't recognized it then, but he does now; the look in ivan's eyes resembled heartbreak, sorrow, grief, mourning.

till looks down at ivan. in the past decade since they've escaped, he's never seen him so relaxed.

[conundrumoftime]

Galadriel and Celeborn in earlier drafts of LOTR (part 2)

Previous: here

Starting off with a passage that exists in LOTR but not in the earlier drafts, because I think it's really interesting in the context of even later developments. This is the section where Galadriel is telling Celeborn off for snapping at Gimli:

Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlorien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, thought it had become an abode of dragons?

Because Tolkien changed Galadriel and Celeborn's story and particularly Celeborn's origin so much (thoughts and prayers for Christopher dealing with that when you can practically hear the sighs in his editorial notes), I don't know whether Tolkien was thinking of him as the Sindar prince-of-Doriath Celeborn that he became later. But if he was - and even if he wasn't, just viewing this in the light of that version of Celeborn - this feels like quite a surprising thing for Galadriel to say, since his folk have been exiled long and far from their kingdom and his ancient home is now ruins beneath the sea.

From one of the Unfinished Tales 'History of Galadriel and Celeborn' versions:

In Doriath she met Celeborn, grandson of Elmo the brother of Thingol. For love of Celeborn, who would not leave Middle-earth (and probably with some pride of her own, for she had been one of those eager to adventure there), she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor, but crossed Ered Lindon with Celeborn and came into Eriador. [...] Celeborn and Galadriel therefore went eastwards, about the year 700 or so of the Second Age, and established the (primarily but by no means solely) Noldorin region of Eregion. It may be that Galadriel chose it because she knew of the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm (Moria). [...] Celeborn had no liking for Dwarves of any race (as he showed to Gimli in Lothlorien), and never forgave them for their part in the destruction of Doriath; but it was only the host of Nogrod that took part in that assault [...] In any case, Galadriel was more far-sighted in this than Celeborn; and she perceived from the beginning that Middle-earth could not be saved from 'the residue of evil' that Morgoth had left behind him save by a union of all the peoples who were in their way and in their measure opposed to him. She looked upon the Dwarves also with the eyes of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the orcs.

There's a brief addition to this in The War of the Jewels where Tolkien goes even further on that to say that in blaming the Dwarves, Celeborn was 'passing over Morgoth's part in this (by angering of Húrin), and Thingol's own faults'. Not mentioned, but definitely also prominent in the list of People Who Have Wronged Doriath: Galadriel's own cousins, who invaded and burnt it and murdered a lot of its people. Blaming unrelated dwarves by association when your Noldor wife is standing right there is well goodness quite an approach; but I'm also intrigued by the suggestion that he refused to blame any of it on Thingol.

Anyway my point for this post is that with Celeborn's Dwarf Issues being very firmly placed (definitely later on if not at the time Tolkien was writing FOTR) as because of Doriath, then it's an interesting choice on her part to ask him to empathise with dwarves wanting to return to their once-glorious kingdom that had fallen into ruin just to look upon it once again. (This is something I've played around with in fic before, the idea that while Galadriel is torn between 'home' as Valinor where she grew up and 'home' as Middle-earth where she spent most of her life, Celeborn can't ever go home to the place where he grew up - it's as gone as Númenor is.

Anyway! Back to the early LOTR draft, and Galadriel tempting the Fellowship/testing their loyalty/whatever you want to see her as doing here:

She looked at each in turn, but none blenched. Only Sam blushed and hung his head before the Lady's glance left him. I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on,' he explained afterwards. 'I didn't like it - she seemed to be looking inside me, and asking me whether I would like to fly back to the Shire.' Each of them had a similar experience, and had felt as if he had been presented with a choice between death and something which he desired greatly, peace, ease [written above: freedom], wealth, or lordship. "I suppose it was just a test," said Boromir. "It felt almost like a temptation."

LOTR version:

And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance. Sam quickly bushed and turned away. [...] "What did you blush for, Sam?" said Pippin. "You soon broke down. Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets." "I never thought no such thing," answered Sam, in no mood for jest. "If you want to know, I felt as though I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like it. She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the choice of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole with - with a bit of garden of my own." All of them, it seemed, had fared alike; each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others. [...] "To me it seemed exceedingly strange," said Boromir. "Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to give."

Gardens as Sam's temptation is also what the One Ring offers him, although that temptation is about Samwise the Great with a whole realm of gardens.

Which brings me to Nenya and the Three Rings for the Elven-kings.

This point in writing LOTR is also where Tolkien starts sketching out an origin for the Rings of Power and Sauron's connection to them. Origin stories considered include this one in which the elves made them but under Sauron's guidance:

In Ancient Days Sauron the Great contrived many things of wonder. For a time his purpose was not turned wholly to evil, or was concealed; and he went much among the Elves of Middle-earth and knew their secret counsels [...] [T]he Rings of Power were made by Elven-smiths, but Sauron was present at their making: his was the thought and theirs the skill

And this one in which Fëanor made them

In Ancient Days, the Rings of Power were made long ago in the lands beyond the Sea. It is said that they were first contrived by Fëanor, the greatest of all the makers among the Elves. His purpose was not evil, yet in it was the Great Enemy But they were stolen by the Great Enemy and brought to Middle-earth.

Christopher describes this as his father 'revolving the mode by which he should withdraw the Three Rings of the Elves from inherent evil and derivation from the Enemy', and talks about this in connection with this line of Boromir's from the first version of an earlier chapter:

"The Three Rings remain still. They have conferred great power on the Elves, but they have never yet availed themselves in their strife with Sauron. For they came from Sauron himself, and can give no skill or knowledge that he did not already possess."

But then back to Lothlorien, and a quickly drafted version of Galadriel's words to Frodo in which she says the Three were not made by Sauron:

Frodo offers Galadriel the Ring. She laughs. Says he is revenged for her temptation. Confesses that the thought had occurred to her. But she will only retain the unsullied Ring. Too much evil lay in the Ruling Ring. It is not permitted to use anything that Sauron has made.

OK I'm going to leave this one at that for now. Next time: Mirror, 'Many Partings', and the epilogue.

[minotaur-asterion]

A couple Warped AU designs and doodles. Featured here is Savior (Hero, huge god and savior complex), Heretic (Contrarian, weird fucking mouth), Lovesick (wails like a banshee so he’s usually muzzled), and Unfeeling (mostly immaterial unless he’s in his active form)

Notes under the cut (spoilers for a game ending):

Savior considers themselves the rightful ruler of the expanse left behind when The Long Quiet slew The Shifting Mound, and the voices in turn slew The Long Quiet (so post-A New And Unending Dawn And Everyone Hates You). They intend to keep all the other voices under their thumb to keep any potential uprisings from happening. Savior is ruthless; they’ll break bones if they sense disrespect. Despite this, they like to put up a facade of grace and holy generosity, and they just love when someone’s worshipping the ground they stand on

Heretic is a direct antithesis to everything Savior stands for, hence the naming theme. He often pushes Savior’s buttons, heckling and interrupting, but since he’s squishy and boneless there’s nothing of his to break. Nobody’s quite sure why Savior hasn’t just killed him already, but hey, whatever Savior wants, they get…

Lovesick is kept under nigh-constant surveillance by Savior, because if left to his own devices who knows what he might do? He’s often chained to a balcony above the entrance to Savior’s throne room, often muzzled or gagged to keep him quiet. He’s especially unstable now that the Princess is gone- and unpredictably powerful

Unfeeling is sort of there. Savior has tried to trap him in a bottle when he’s in his passive form, but he’s so untethered to the world that he’s immaterial unless he manifests an active form. Nevertheless, Savior likes him for much of the same mysterious reasons they like Heretic. Maybe he’s just a pretty toy to them

[ryxiez]

Forgetful

Mammon x gn!Reader

Angst?/Fluff

1.2k words

I’m not rly happy with this one but I hope it works for y’all. I don’t have motivation to edit it so let’s pray for no spelling mistakes

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Mammon snuck out. Again. It was no surprise that he went out to the casino, his drawer he kept his money in was wide open along with a window. Everything looked like he almost left in a rush.

You sighed as you sunk deeper into the couch he had in his in his room while simultaneously scrolling through your phone. Just earlier that day you made plans with Mammon for a movie night, as a date, but when you arrived to his room he was gone.

Now it’s been over two hours and you were almost at your breaking point. Filled with anger and resentment, you still scrolled through social media.

You then got an alert on your phone, "Check out TheGreatMammons new post on Devilgram!"

'This is so fucking great' you sarcastically said to yourself as you clicked on the notification, brining you to the post.

Not to your surprise, it was of course a picture of him at the casino, letting his greed get the best of him. Like normal he was posting about how he just won huge game or whatever with a bunch of people surrounding him, including women latching onto his arms.

You didn't know how to feel, everything was so confusing at the moment. Should you feel hurt, sad, angry, sympathetic, or remain neutral in this situation?

You couldn't decide as your face reminded blank but a heavy feeling was building in your chest. You shoved your phone into your pocket.

Finally deciding to make your way to the bathroom, you thought it would be the best to wash of the makeup you applied for the date. A bath wouldn’t hurt either. (if you don't wear makeup forget that part ;p)

You knocked on the door and without hearing any response signifying that someone may already be occupying the space, you turned the knob and made your way inside.

You grabbed some new soap Asmo bought for you just the other day. He said it was just the right thing to use after a long day, and let’s just say you definitely needed that right now.

You sat in the tub for god knows how long, you only realized that it was time to get out when your fingers became too pruny.

You left the bathroom in your bathrobe after drying off and drying your hair.

Yet your mind was still filled with thoughts of how to confront Mammon. You couldn’t act like nothing happened but you didn’t want to seem too clingy. It seemed the soap didn’t work as well as you hoped.

You changed into your favorite pair of pajamas and were about to curl into bed until you heard a knock at your bedroom door.

You groaned in annoyance, "What do you want?"

"Open up its ya favorite" a deep voice called from the other side of the door that was oddly chipper for how late it now was during the nigh.

"Mhm, come in." You said. You didn't want to get up from your bed just to let him in, you were already tried.

"Hey~, the Great Mammon is back from a grand night out at casino!" He exclaimed as he entered your room all boisterous.

You rolled your eyes at his ignorance, "Wow great, anything else?" You asked him to see if he would even remember about your date.

"Uhhh, nothing other than money. What do ya mean?" He asked as he placed his finger to his chin thinking while also tilting his head a tad to the side.

"What I mean is, are you forgetting anything?" You asked again but got no response as he other looked at you with confusion written all over his face.

"Forgetting anything that you planned instead of sneaking out?" You asked again and at this point you were astounded at how clueless he could be. He's lived centuries longer than you and still couldn't take a hint.

"You missed our date, idiot." You let him know coldly as you looked away from him.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed as he ran over to your side on the bed.

"Y/n I completely forgot, I’m sorry." He grumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. “I’m so so sorry.”

Mammon felt terrible, he was supposed to be your first and he let his greediness get in the way of you. That was the last thing he ever wanted to happen, but it now did, and he knew he had to make it right somehow.

There was no way he planned on letting you down again.

"Y/n, please look at me for a second." He pleaded as you still had your back turned to the demon.

You didn't move for a while, contemplating on actully giving him a chance.

However, inside your heart you knew you couldn't stay mad at him forever. The greed he had was truly a part of him, he was one of the seven deadly sins.

With a sigh you scooted around to face him him with a look of impatience on your face. Mammon gulped and shuffled around to grab something from his pocket. It was a black velvet box that was most definitely had a ring inside.

“I swear to god Mammon if your proposing now-“ you started to say before he interrupted you.

“NO! I mean uhh not yet. Please just listen.” He exclaimed and you couldn’t help but smile a little. To be honest you wouldn’t put it past him.

"I planned on saving this for a later date, but I guess now is the best time to give this to you." He paused as he opened the box to reveal a yellow saphire ring. (feel free to look up and pick the one you like the most)

"I just ran to the jeweler after going to the casino with the money I won... but now definitely seems like the right time to help me apologize instead of saving it." He explained as he looked away with a flushed face.

"Aww, Mammon you're so sweet." You cooed after placing the ring on your finger, a hint of teasing was laced in between your words.

Then you pulled him into a hug knowing it would only fluster him more.

"I- I am not sweet! I am the Great Mammon and I shouldn’t have let you down" He exclaimed as he tried to pry you off his body. However, he didn't try very hard because he knew deep down he loved the affection.

"I guess I can forgive you for now, but only if we can make up for lost time." You said as you pulled away from the hug smirking slightly.

"Wait, wait, w- what do you mean by that?" He asked as you pushed him down onto your bed, tossing the velvet box onto your nightstand as I could get in the way.

"How about I show you what I mean instead."

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Maybe pt.2 if enough people want it!

[zarry-ot5]

Love You Goodbye

This will be discussing March 2015 and include whatever I can find on all of the boys in that timeframe. I believe Truth lives in the middle. I don't want to spread opinions, so these will contain facts only. If there are pictures I will indicate, but due to limitations of Tumblr can't post them all. There is a 6-7 hour time difference between Asia and London.

Another thing of interest, at this time, Dan Wooton is over The Sun and The Daily Mail. Simon Jones is the Publicist in charge of the image of all the boys in One Direction. Simon Jones is still the active publicist for Perrie Edwards, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan.

March 10, 2015:

Lou Teasdale, Lux, Gemma Styles and Lottie Tomlinson arrive at Changi Airport in Singapore. Pictures with fans.

Niall tweet

H pictured leaving LAX on private jet

March 11, 2015:

H pictured arriving at Changi airport wearing Red Velvet Star Jacket.

Louis is pictured with fans in Changi airport.

Z pictured on private jet with cousin Jawaad. Upon landing in Singapore takes pictures with fans.

One Direction performs at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Gemma is seen at Singapore show with Lou Teasdale and Baby Lux.

March 12, 2015:

H arrives in Bangkok. Pictures exist of Harry at Nightclub with Gemma.

(Pictured Jawaad Malik, Zayn Malik, Martina Olsson, and her friend). Notice his and Jawaad shirts are the same night he's pictured with Laura.

Of note, Seduction Nightclub is an adult themed night club, with scantily clad women dancing on tables. It is not a strip club, just adult themed. This Nigh Club permanently closed in 2019.

According to The Daily Mail, Maria Olsson says Zayn and Louis went to Seduction Night Club where she met and left with Zayn, had a one night stand, and met up with him again the next morning after Lauren had left.

March 13, 2015:

I do need to make a side note, the distance from Smalls to the Sukhothai Hotel, where everyone stayed, is 3 min in a car. Literally just around the corner and up the street. The distance from the hotel to the stadium where they performed is 22 miles in a car.

Smalls is a 3 story building with a restaurant in the lower floor, where they have live music and a DJ booth. The upper two floors consist of an enclosed bar and a covered outdoor bar.

According to my research, Harry had gone to Smalls Live Music Nightclub.

Gemma pictured in Bangkok with Lou Teasdale and a fan.

Pictures also exist of Gemma and Harry at a Nightclub together, which I am going to assume was Smalls.

Zayn went to Seduction Night Club with Louis and cousin Jawaad, to watch DJ Examples set. This is where he met and was photographed with Lauren Richardson. She later stated she was invited to a Villa at a Hotel that Louis and Zayn we're renting in Phuket.

March 14, 2015:  

Louis Tomlinson photos kissing Lucy Julian were reportedly taken at the same all-night pool party at Bangkok’s Sukhothai Hotel at 6:30am on the morning of their March 14 concert, The Daily Mail reported.

There are pictures of Louis exiting the pool and returning to the lobby of the hotel.

H is photographed with DJ Buddha and DJ ONO before the show

The band played in Bangkok, Thailand at the Rajamangala Stadium.  

H photographed with Model at dinner.

Gemma and Lou Teasdale photographed with with a fan in Bangkok at a restaurant.

According to Joe Cummings, after their concert, Harry came back to Smalls and was told by Harry he and Zayn had a falling out.  

The timing of this is the concert started at 8:00 pm local time. Their set was 20 songs and and encore of 3. Their opening act was DJ ONO, and DJ Buddha was his promoter at the time. So 1D would have gone on by 8:30-9:30 pm. 1D set would have been about 1.5 - 2 hour set...they would have been done by 11:30 pm. 25 min drive back to the hotel, gets them back close to midnight. Which is when Joe says he started talking to H. There's some wiggle room in there for showers and what nots.

My Assumption - The argument has have been before the concert and before H was photographed with DJ Buddha and DJ ONO. DJ Buddha is the one who told H about Smalls and made introductions to Joe.

March 15, 2015:

Louis, Ollie Nightclub in Phuket, Thailand

March 16, 2015:

March 17, 2015: 

Harry tweets

Cheating rumors run in media as pictures of Zayn and Lauren Richardsons are published. Richardson will later say nothing happened between them, they met and enjoyed each other's company while together, then went their separate ways. Richardson eventually lands a role in June 2015 on Love Island. For years she is attacked online as the reason One Direction broke up.

March 18, 2015: 

Pictures exist of Lou Teasdale, Lux, Gemma Styles, and Lottie Tomlinson in airport in Hong Kong.

Picture of Lottie, Gemma, and Sophia taken at 1D concert.

Zayn tweet

Band plays last performance with Zayn in Hong Kong

March 19, 2015: 

Zayn is photographed in Heathrow airport in London, England at 5:00 am, Perrie is the one who picks Zayn up from the airport. The flight from Bangkok to London is 14 hours and 15 min.

Gemma and Sophia drinking a glass of wine posted on Gemma's IG.

News of Zayn's departure runs through media. Cited as stress, assumptions made about drug use.

March 20, 2015:

March 21, 2015:

Perform in Manila, Philippines

March 22, 2015:

Perform in Manila, Philippines

March 23, 2015:

Louis Tomlinson pictures published kissing Lucy Julian. 1D publicist indicates E and Louis have been broken-up for 2 weeks.

March 24, 2015:

March 25, 2015: 

Performance in Jakarta Indonesia

Statement released via Facebook that Zayn has left 1D.

Perform

March 26, 2015:

Media starts reporting Harry wants to branch out in his own solo projects, Harry crying on stage during March 25 concert.

H tweets: All the love as always. H

Liam: So glad to hear in bed after a strange 24 hours.

Niall: Been a mad few days and your support has been incredible as per usual ! This in turn Spurs us on to make the best music we possibly can

Louis: Been a crazy couple of days but know that we are going to work harder than ever to deliver the best album we've ever made for you guys !

March 27, 2015:

March 28, 2015:

Pictures of Harry in Johannesburg airport carrying guitar case

Perform at Johannesburg, South Africa

March 29, 2015:

Perform at Johannesburg, South Africa

March 30, 2015:

Pictured with Perrie in London, house hunting with Tricia Malik.

[icycoldninja]

Will you miss me when I'm gone? (Kuja x Reader angst/fluff)

Summary: Kuja's thanatophobia gets the better of him in the middle of the night, so you go and help him out.

——————————————————————————————————

You lay in your bed, smothered with blankets, asleep.

Or at least you were asleep, until you realized something was missing from your cocoon of warmth. After opening one eye and blearily looking around, you realized that your boyfriend Kuja wasn't draped across your abdomen, fast asleep like he normally was. In fact, he wasn't anywhere in the room.

"Kuja?" You called, clearing your raspy throat a few times. "Where'd you go?"

There was no response, making you fear whether or not Kuja had left the house. Worried for his safety, you leapt from the bed and headed for the living room, blinking sleepily in the darkness until you caught sight of his slender frame curled up in the corner, shivering like he was outside during wintertime.

"Kuja?" You called again, this time softer. "What's wrong, baby?"

Kuja wouldn't answer you, and remained silent, his thin arms wrapped tightly around his even thinner body, eyes wide and bulging, lips blue and quivering. He looked more terrified than you'd ever seen in your life, and it broke your heart to see him like this. Scrambling to his side, you threw your arms around his shoulder, and pulled his shaking form into a tight embrace, running your hands up and down his back in an attempt to calm him.

"I'm going to die," You heard him whimper, after some time. These words were nigh inaudible, but you managed to hear them since you were so close.

"No, you're not," You replied, chuckling. "You're not going anywhere. I won't let you."

"B-but I had a dream--" Kuja began, before you cut him off with a kiss.

"A dream is just that, Kuja, a dream," You told him, dragging a hand through his hair fondly. "It's a figment of your imagination, nothing more. It doesn't tell the future. You're not gonna die."

"Yes, I will," Kuja insisted, looking up at you with wide, teary eyes. "My time is running out. They told me in my dream. I...I don't have long...."

"You most certainly do," You assured him, squeezing him gently. "You really think I'm gonna sit here and watch you kick the bucket?"

Kuja was silent after this remark, but at least his shivering had stopped and he wasn't breathing as heavily as before. You decided to stay there with him, soothingly rubbing whatever parts of him you could reach before he finally spoke again.

"Will you miss me when I'm gone?"

You had to admit, you didn't expect that.

"Of course I will," You finally managed to reply. "But like I said, you're not going anywhere. Not if I can help it."

"I just....need to hear that..." Kuja whined, snaking his arms around your waist and holding onto you as tightly as he could. "Tell me you'll miss me. It makes me feel better."

Such a narcissist, you thought to yourself as you repeated your words, punctuating your sentence with several kisses. This seemed to cheer Kuja up substantially, as he had completely ceased his sobbing and was now quietly leaning against you, his head pressed against your chest; your fingers busy playing with his hair.

"Happy now, my little peacock?" You asked, playfully.

"Somewhat," Was his flippant reply.

"Ready to go back to bed?"

"Only if you'll carry me, for I feel too weak to walk."

"Fine."

[thornsofrosesdumps]

The choice the crown showed Tai (if he has it) (mentioned suicide trigger warning)

If Tai has the crown I think the choice it gave him is killing whatever is left of summer, this is hinged on two theory’s the Tai has the crown, and the Summer was turned into something similar to the hound theory. One it’ll make Tai so so so much worse of mentally, which in RWBY means he’s getting character development and it’ll also tie into the poem summer is partly based off of. For the uninitiated that’s the poem “the last flower of summer” by Thomas Moore which is essentially about someone or something preparing to mercy kill a summer rose Because it’s alone,

'Tis the last rose of summer,     Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions     Are faded and gone; No flower of her kindred,     No rose-bud is nigh, To reflect back her blushes     Or give sigh for sigh!

this tied into the fact that here teammates are scattered to the winds and as a Grimm monster she is alone. she also had no other sliver eyes warriors with here, she had no other roses. Apart from Ruby but she was just a kid and not someone who she could genuinely share her woes with, someone to give Sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one.     To pine on the stem; Since the lovely are sleeping,     Go, sleep thou with them; Thus kindly I scatter     Thy leaves o'er the bed, Where thy mates of the garden     Lie scentless and dead.

her fellow sliver eyed warriors (minus Ruby) are all presumably dead, and her teammates are scattered to the wind. “Thus kindly I scatter” Is tai rationalizing killing what’s left of summer. And taking down the Grimm beast that she is now.

So soon may I follow,     When friendships decay, And from love's shining circle     The gems drop away! When true hearts lie withered,     And fond ones are flown, Oh! who would inhabit     This bleak world alone?

So soon I may follow-I’m guessing Tai isn’t aware his kids are alive so he’s prepping to Kill himself because his family is dead and he’s just killed what was left of his wife. when friendships decay: Team STRQ falling apart, leaving tai alone.

And from love's shining circle The gems drop away!: Loves shining circle is his family and the gems are the people dropping and dieing and leaving.

When true hearts lie withered and fond ones are flown: True hearts are summer and Tai, summer rose withering from the Grimm curse and Tai drowning in his depression, the fond ones flown? Yeah that’s the Branwen twins baby! flying away from there problems, specifically Raven.

oh who would Inhabit this bleak world alone?: man’s family and friends are gone, he’s alone and patch is probably going downhill-He’s scarred so in a act of despair after killing what was left of summer he goes to kill himself-Which either ends in him succeeding or his friends/family showing up to show him he’s not alone.

also I really want to talk to my mutes but social anxiety exists even online ):

(IF ITS BAD ID LIKE TO MENTION I WROTE THIS IN MATH CLASS)

[cloudbattrolls]

Breadcrumbs

Jameth Abnale | Present Night

Jamie tapped his fingers against the warm metal of his laptop, thinking.

It had been a few nights since the attack, and now he felt able to think more objectively about it. Now he wanted to start dissecting everything that had happened - Thudan disappearing was the least of it, and it hadn't been like he'd wanted the cyborg to begin with; he'd told Sombra and Saori to oh, he didn't know, see what they could turn up by studying him.

Honestly, it had been a bit of a hassle.

A shapeshifting machine was far more interesting, if threatening.

He knew who he'd like to talk to about it.

But how to talk to Jastes? He hadn’t heard or seen from the yellowblood in a while.

He was genuinely curious how the cyborg was doing, but knew he was, understandably, not someone who could expect answers from the man he had nearly captured.

If Process was still here he could ask it for help, but the damn AI - troll - whatever, was long gone and hadn’t left any contact information.

Think, Jamie, think.

Then he remembered something: a brief news story that the Spine helm generator (though bereft of all its helms, thanks to him and Jastes) had blown up some time ago. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time - except a resentful ‘good riddance’ - but now he wondered if there wasn’t more to the explosion.

Jamie searched around the internet, looking for more information, sending his bots out to perform keyword queries and scan civic reports.

His eyes widened as he sent them into databases and caste-restricted news sites.

An abandoned cavern discovered deep underground? Defunct for over five hundred sweeps, if not more? Most of it caved in already? 

Well, even if it had nothing to do with the cyborg, this was worth looking into.

There were apparently survey drones down there now according to one report - perfect. If only he could hack into their feeds…but he would need far more information than he currently had to do so.

Then he snorted at his own slowness. Obviously, he could just send his own cloaked robots down to latch onto them and run their own investigations. It would likely take at least a night to modify them, send them out, and have them make the trip, but it would potentially be quite intriguing.

Besides. He needed something to do besides work to take his mind off what had happened while he also planned to move.

—

It took a night and a half, but his robots finally found the survey drones and latched on, leeching a bit of power to sustain themselves. 

Yet he found the livestream from their cameras rather boring - the drones were clearing through the rubble and collecting scraps of what had once been the Spine.

But why did it blow up? It hadn’t even had any power connected to it at the time. He and Jastes had made sure of that.

So who could have done so and why? 

He searched around the reports instead. Ancient cavern…there before Civitrecce, from an earlier settlement, but there were traces that it had been used by someone after that, around the four hundred and sixty sweeps ago, right before the city had become part of the empire.

Well, that was fun trivia, but hardly useful. 

Except…

No. That would be too coincidental, wouldn’t it?

Perhaps. Yet he felt compelled to check.

He ran searches for Torvah Verdan, Jastes’s ancestor, the one Process had told him about.

He found almost nothing.

Except a few short snippets and theories that supposedly, they had been a psiionic of great power, but no one from the empire had actually seen them. Some people even assumed the original city trolls had made them up, especially with talk of their “nigh-unbelievable” powers.

A few trolls had even claimed…

His eyes widened.

A few trolls claimed Verdan had made a sort of thinking security system to protect them and were angry that it had vanished along with the psiionic. We encountered no such thing. It seems to be another of the lowbloods’ fabrications, or perhaps their leader lied to them. 

He could find nothing else. It was just that one brief mention.

Jamie’s thoughts ran wild.

He forced himself to calm down, well aware he might be drawing connections where there were none. 

He knew, beyond a doubt, that he had to talk to Jastes.

At the very least, he had to warn him.

Jamie looked at the starry ceiling of his apartment, remembering that before he had lived here, he’d had his small hive in the suburbs.

He’d left it after Tetrao had come and broken his spine, unable to stand remaining there.

Now a different sort of Spine had been broken, and he feared…

He feared what might have been set free.

[finch-the-foolish]

@pixiemage hey uh saw that ask, wrote some stuff, here ya go mate idk how good the quality is but here's some prophet Jimmy James because why the hell not.

An omen and a prophet, knower of the dead

Warnings for themes of death (like a lot), mentions of blood & weapons, it's a bit heavy but yknow this is the life series we're talking about

As far as he was concerned, Jimmy was already one with the dead. He hadn't perished yet—no, of course not, they wouldn't kill him off this early—but he knew. From the moment he'd awakened in this damned world, he could feel his coming death. The grasses beneath him seemed to wither slightly, animals shying away at his presence.. the world knew.

The first time, he'd been confused, hopeful, not yet having seen Their wrath. The coming war haunted his nightmares even before it blossomed, a feeling of anxiety which refused to leave him, no matter what his dear Scott did. And soon enough, the arrows which had flickered in his mind every time he saw them had made a lovely home in his chest.

He was wise to their wants, now, wise to his fate. Nigh on resigned to it, a canary of clipped wings and struggling breaths and that ever present feeling of demise. The wings seemed to follow him, once the second was through, growing even as he escaped to other worlds, a constant reminder of what is to come.

So, as far as he cared, he was the dead. They were the dead. He could hear the voices echoing now: you are the dead, and we shall see you perish.

Still, he awoke, made whatever shell of a life he could before it was stripped away once more. Sure, he had to ignore the dutiful gaze of his elder brother, watching as he always did, had to ignore the echoes of swords and arrows and broken clocks. Gods, those clocks. They haunted his nightmares, counting down, drowning out every last hope of life.

It didn't take long for him to see it, by the fourth run. Alone on the bridges, alone in his thoughts, he watched the world end. A bucket of lava, a bloodstained sword. Betrayal by that which is left unrestrained. Not all of it made sense to him, horrific as it was, though he knew someday it would come to pass.

Jimmy lived as he always had in these games of death, doing what he could with his allies, hearing that damn clock tick, tick, tick- He'd never been able to pry it open, look at the face; sometimes he wondered if he was hallucinating the sound. Perhaps it was already stopped. Perhaps he was already dead.

Still, he lived, for those fleeting moments, built up bridges and happiness and foolish hope that he knew deep down would collapse. These deaths meant little, at first, a comfort to him. Perhaps he would survive. Perhaps he could win. The dreams showed otherwise, they always did. He knew the curse would come for him eventually, no matter what he did in these precious hours of life.

Death came later than he'd thought, swift and horrible though it was. False hands pushing at his back, one misplaced step, a step which had lived in his mind for weeks, and he was gone. A bird with clipped wings, a dead canary warning his miners of the horror to come.

Eventually, he awoke again, back in a familiar town, gilded wings still hanging at his back. He'd said nothing of it to the old sheriff, merely downing half a dozen drinks before meandering off to one of the town's many empty buildings. Joel had shown up soon after, the madness still lingering in his now deific gaze. He knew the deaths often lingered—he could still feel the lightning striking his form, a refusal to even let him have a death of his own.

He slowly recovered, as they all did, going back to life as he knew it and trying to ignore those damned nightmares. That, he couldn't seem to escape, another lingering echo of a past he hated. The flickers, moments before someone would be harmed, the nightmares and visions, all warding something he no longer needs to prophesize.

It had always unsettled the others, how he'd always had a knack for knowing what's going to happen, what hole in a plot will go terribly wrong. They'd never questioned it, though, Joel's few stories enough for most. Still, after Jim had happened to notice a rather distant stalactite on the verge of collapse, after he'd happened to get both himself and Fwhip out of the way, after he'd happened to know before Lizzie damn near fell off a roof, after he'd happened to know a dozen different things he had no right to know- people were growing suspicious. Concerned, in a few cases.

Confrontations led nowhere, though, most questions merely eliciting a nervous chuckle and a "I suppose I've got a knack for safety, y'know?" or whatever half baked explanation he'd think up in the moment. He couldn't just tell them—no, he knew these people. They'd use it against him, abuse this sorry excuse for a power, as they had every other card he'd dropped. Thus, he continued on, ignoring the nightmares and humming to himself and steering clear of the old gold mines.

Sometimes he wondered just how far his curse would go, how far off the limits of escape were. He could still feel it, always, the decay of his presence, drying up what little plant life he'd managed to cultivate in the desert. He supposed it was a good place for him, a place of death, as it had been before. Old mines and rings of cactus and no flowers, no lovely little homes, nothing he could pray for in sight. Just him and his omen, his curse, his knowledge that even here They could reach him.

After all, he was the dead.

[strange-eorzean-tales]

A cool breeze blew through Sharlayan, causing boughs of the tree above her to sway. Normally, the desert raised miqo'te would find herself shivering, but she was so lost in thought, her body was numb to the world around her. The only movement from her was an idle thumb tracing the outline of a faint scar on her wrist. It was hardly noticeable unless you were scrutinizing her, but to her the cause was still fresh. Her eyes closed, and soon she found herself drifting off.

A voice called out to her, the words garbled behind the fog of sleep.

"Livia? Livia!" It was her brother's voice calling out, and finally she shot up, alert and present looking around. Just spotting the outline of a figure coming her way with long purposeful strides.

"Livia? Liv! there you are...I was worried when you left without saying anything. Why in the hells are you out here?"

The brown haired miqo'te finally made his way to her, looking her over, checking to see if she was wounded.

The girl turned her head towards him, rolling her eyes.

"Mikh'a, I'm fine. Quit your fussin'."

He heaved a sigh and sat near her, back pressed against the same tree, he glanced up to the foliage as leaves danced in the wind.

"You sneak off a lot. Why?" The question was blunt, and quite unexpected. Livia didn't know how to react at first.

"You hole yourself inside your lab all day, and you're questionin' me on seekin' solitude?" Her lips pursed as she thought, finally she turned her head towards him. "Sometimes I just need to clear m'head. Lots of stuff happens an' ...I just need time t'process it...I guess."

He nodded, "I... Suppose I understand that. I'm sorry."

"Why are you really out here, Mikh'a?"

He was quiet for some time. "The ship gets stuffy. I wanted fresh air."

"...You're hidin' somethin'..."

"Maybe, but it's not anything you need to concern yourself with."

Silence filled the air, though only briefly, as Livia finally spoke up,

"Y'used t'tell me everythin'. We used t'tell each other everythin'....What happened?"

Mikh'a gave a sigh, shrugging a shoulder. "We went our separate ways. Grew apart, endured.....different battles that changed us."

Her brow furrowed at that answer. Not quite satisfied.

"I don't think I changed. You did....th' others....they say things 'bout you. Things I don't want t'believe but....they've b'come m'family. I trust them."

"You don't trust me?" He asked,

"....Not like I used to...how could I? You've been gone for long, with nary a letter 'bout your whereabouts."

There was more silence, both miqo'te anxiously waiting for the other to speak.

Mikh'a sighed and looked over to Livia, who stared back with those wide green eyes, filled with hurt.

"Shit... Liv... I couldn't. Everything I've done was... I wanted to. My studies were....arduous and the situation I was in...the man that took me away he...he wasn't a good man. His true colours exposed once he knew I couldn't get away. He used my attachments against me. Used *you* against me."

Livia's ears folded back and she shifted from her spot, turning to face Mikh'a.

"What... What do y'mean?"

His eyes narrowed and he looked off to the distance, "It's... Not really something I want to talk about, but...just know what I've done...*everything* I have done was just to give you a better life. I don't think I've succeeded."

"Y'can only control so much, Mikh'a."

He fell silent, shaking his head in disagreement.

"I'm sorry for failing you, Livia. I'm sorry for continuously failing you...."

The girl shook her head. "Don't do that. I'm th'one that pushed for you t'go away. We can stay here all nigh' jus' blamin' ourselves but... Maybe... Maybe it's time we jus' move forward...yeah?"

He cast his sister a look from the corner of his eye. "...Aye....I can try that..."

Livia pushed herself up from the ground, quickly dusting her pants off. "Good. Let's get outta here. M'freezin'."

He sighed and followed along, "If you took better care of yourself..."

"Yeah, yeah...whatever."

With that, the siblings returned to the airship.... Playfully bickering the rest of the way.

[liightbringr]

𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

@generalzelgius asked: “ i like spending time with you. it's nice. ”

𝐔𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘, 𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓'𝐕𝐄 filled the space between them. A quirky remark that could've garnered a laugh or two doesn't come. There's a sweet smile && the shine of enamel as she looks upon him, but words don't seem applicable here. It's in the way her heart seems to beat a little faster being so near to him. Or the way her hands itch to touch in even the most innocent of ways. How her heart wishes to be closer, closer, && closer still yet. Part of her wonders if the thoughts waging war in her mind might overcome her newfound timidness with her chin propped in her hand sitting next to him. The day's been a simple one, at least. Lounging on the couch in her living room in an array of pastels && soft beiges. && whatever could possibly be playing on the tv has long since gone unnoticed. Moreover when he utters these words, telling of his delight. Voice comes finally, but it's nigh a whisper. More a breath than anything truly coherent. "It is, isn't it..?" && perhaps it is the true source to the way she moves almost in second nature. A reflexive adjustment that sees the slender digits of a lithe left cradle the corresponding line of his jaw. Coaxing him closer, fingertips pressing into the nape of his neck---almost pleadingly---until supple tiers capture his own in so tender a kiss. Genuine, sincere; emotions at the forefront of her mind when following through with her impulsiveness. Even if only for a mere moment. Reduced to silence, gauging the situation. Nearly cursing herself, even, for being so forward so suddenly. But she could hardly help herself.

[defiedlife]

@haereses asked: Like a raven amongst carnage, he stands in the blackened doorframe. The structure behind him is all but unrecognizable - eroded by the intimate heat of a raging inferno already cooled, its skeleton of crumbling pillars and struts dusted with the fine beginnings of snowfall. " What a shame," He says with his hands tucked casually into his pockets. The hooked beak of his mask swings to attention. " I did warn you. MUST you only learn your lessons after punishment and consequence have been meted out? "

Childe's world crumbles.

Mother... Father... Anthon, Tonia, Teucer...

Their vision blurs and warps, and for a precious moment, they remember the home as it once was.

It was a structure mainly of dark wood, with a cozy kitchen, a fireplace in the living room, and snow lining each ledge and windowsill. Icicles would often hang off the roof, and their siblings would squabble over who got the biggest one to spar with against the rest. Their father would scold them lovingly after returning from fishing, and their mother would round everyone up for dinner with a harsh look that dared any to defy her, yet there was always a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Ajax had gotten that from her.

Their family was safe. They were all happy; all well-fed and able to have plenty of warm clothes to weather the harsh Snezhnayan climate. In their mind's eye, they could still imagine the smiles of their siblings, especially Teucer, who adored them so. They could still hear his sweet, innocent laughter as they would hoist him up onto their shoulders to reach that largest icicle off the roof.

But now Teucer is gone, and so is the rest of their family. So too is their childhood home.

That lovely vision in their mind's eye cruelly fades away, leaving them with an unbearable reality. It's a loss too great for them to fully comprehend, and something within them cracks, then shatters apart as tears freeze on their cheeks.

No. No!

Static. Voices. Silence—suffocating and heart-stopping, and then the screaming starts, and no one can hear it but them.

What's left of their childhood home is all ash and ruined, broken wood; charred bits of stone and a doorframe mockingly held erect as if for the sole purpose of putting the remains behind it on display. But Childe's eyes are blank, devoid of light and as dark as the unfathomable depths of the sea.

They want to scream and cry—but oh, the voices in their head are already so loud; louder than their own voice could ever be, even now. They are deaf to the howling of the wind, and Dottore's words are muffled and muddled as if heard from far beneath the waves. Nothing the Second says could possibly matter anymore anyway; not when he'll soon be an unrecognizable corpse.

This time, they spare not a moment for any taunting or scornful words. Childe's capacity for speech is but a fleeting memory, and Dottore doesn't deserve the satisfaction of hearing their anguish and rage put into words.

What follows is instantaneous from the Second's perspective, but practically a lifetime for the Eleventh.

More voices, more whispers, more screaming—it's a deluge of agony and fury, of sorrow and desperation and hatred all at once, and they accept and listen to all of it, drinking it in. There's no thought given to the consequences, but whatever happens after this is no longer their concern. A sense of pure void blossoms within, and rather than suppressing it or outright ignoring it, as they've done countless times before, they carve away at the opening it creates, deliberately widening it, and let their consciousness dive right in. A world without their home, without their family, is not a world in which they need to cling to the barest threads of their humanity any longer.

It's dark in the void, they notice; so dark that they can't see their hands in front of their face, and every step draws them deeper and deeper into the inky depths. The shadows that latch onto them are nigh invisible, but the presence of them is felt nonetheless. But that doesn't matter; none of it does. There's a voice, a call, and it needs them. It's power incarnate, something ancient beyond human comprehension and older than the stars in the sky, and it's offering itself to them if only they'll listen.

A nod, a wordless and utterly broken plea, an offer of themselves down to the very last speck of their entire existence, and a new thread wraps itself around their wrist in response. This is not a thread of humanity, but of power.

It guides them onward, deeper and deeper still until...

...it's too late to return to the surface anymore, but the stars of the true sky are oh so beautiful. What a lovely sight to see if they should die soon, but such a thought is so simple and innately human that it doesn't last long. A mournful call resonates in their ears, drowning out all the other voices, and as the voices fade, so too does their humanity.

White-hot shocks of electro and a wave of hydro engulf them in a flash, though the water itself isn't the usual pure, clear blue. It's different; a kind of water drawn from amongst the stars themselves, from centuries and millennia long past, from before the world itself was last reset. When the elemental energy recedes, there stands something more than Foul Legacy. The Eleventh is gone, and in their place stands an entity that could bring all of Teyvat to ruin if left unchecked.

...And it's out for blood.

That sorrowful call sounds again, but this time, it's audible in the snowy expanse of reality, serving as a warning.

It's the death knell of the universe.

[ffxivbabey]

"Go, go! Save yourself! I'll buy you some time!"

The Light came borne on the wings of beasts that looked an awful lot like marble. The residents of Il Mheg had heard tales of such things, of course, but never truly believed them. It was just too fantastical, wasn't it?

It was a myth, until it wasn't. The first was an oddly-coloured wolf prowling out of the woods, jaws slavering the liquid Light.

"Looks like it just gave good head," Alin joked over its corpse, carefully retrieving his arrow from its side. Anden sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Even at the end times," said Anden, shaking his head.

"You know it," Alin grinned, and, wiping off his arrow, returned it to its quiver.

"Rak'tika has fallen, then," said Anden. All of Alin's good humour faded away as he turned to really look at his boyfriend, hands on his shoulders.

"No... Twelve, not them, they have to be okay," Alin fretted, blond ears folding back. "They're warriors, they're strong, they'll be okay."

"I have to believe that." Anden squeezed his eyes shut, though it did little to stop the tears. "I couldn't protect them, but I can protect the flock."

With no more words spoken, Anden started forward, first striding, then running through the forest, breaking into a sprint to get back to his flock.

Alin found him with his arms around one of the woolly creatures, squeezing it tightly as sobs wracked his body. The sheep, meanwhile, looked confused, though allowed itself to be hugged.

"What if I'm the only one left, Alin?" he wept, turning his tear-streaked face towards the other viera. Or viis, as Alin was called here.

"It'll be okay," Alin tried to soothe him, but Anden would have none of it.

"How?" Anden demanded. "The warriors of darkness are gone, Alin, they're dead! Nobody has seen them since they started all this."

"Titania," Alin offered. "They'll protect us, surely."

"But the sheep are not the fae," said Anden. "I'm not fae, Alin, you're not even of this world!" It was true, neither of them knew how Alin had come from Eorzea to whatever this world was.

Before Alin could even search for a reply, the sound of heavy marble wings alerted him. They had come. Anden growled, fetching his shepherd's crook from his back and running towards the fell beast that descended from the sky. It looked like a woman.

"You will not harm my sheep!" Anden declared, holding the crook like a mage might wield a staff.

The woman laughed.

Her blade flashed, Light cascading from it as it carved a shallow gash in Anden's left arm.

But that was enough.

"No!" Alin cried, stepping forward, but his voice got through to Anden even as the Light began to bleach his tanned skin.

"Go, go!" Anden urged him, making a stand in front of his lover. "Save yourself! I'll buy you some time!"

"I can't just leave you!" Alin protested.

"You have to," said Anden, his face twisted in pain. The Sin Eater watched him. Grinning. Waiting. "Please, Alin. Get help."

"New friends! Over here, over here!" Alin looked up, a nigh-hysterical laugh bubbling up. It was them. The faery king. Titania. Come to save them.

The beasts turned, now, looking at the bigger threat to them, massing around the biggest Sin Eater. A Lightwarden, Alin was sure. But he only looked for a moment, kneeling at Anden's side as the viis collapsed to the ground, his crook falling from his hand, writhing in agony.

"Anden? Anden, hey, look at me," said Alin. "It's going to be alright." Tears blurred his vision, but Anden was blinding to look at.

"Of course it is," said Anden, his voice sounding far away. "Titania is here now. They will protect my flock."

"And you too!" Alin declared, looking around. He spied a pixie, a glimmer of hope. "Hey, you! Over here! Please!" He couldn't speak fae, not like Anden could, yet they understood him anyway.

"Now, now, what's all this crying about?" the pixie asked, and Alin sobbed aloud.

"He's hurt," said Alin. "Turning. Can you... can you save him?"

"For his love and care towards our sheep," said the pixie, and there was a spark of something as they touched Anden's forehead. "Now, he may stand guard over them always."

It was a topiary now, in Alin's arms. A leafman, the fae called them. It appeared to be smiling as Alin righted it.

"When all this is over," Alin said to it, unsure if it could hear him, "I'll watch over your sheep for you. I promise." He kissed what he supposed was the leafman's forehead.

And then, as the faery king returned to their castle to lock the doors for one hundred years, Alin made for Lakeland on the back of an amaro, the skies safe for a time with the Lightwarden vanquished. He would return. He promised.

[princess-of-the-corner]

ask Ariel: Hey all, Vox here again. So, update on that making-the-High-Council-of-Gods-piss-their-collective-pants thing: most of the gods have either been gone or silent.

Like, we haven't heard stuff from the Greek or Roman pantheons, the Heavenly Domain's nigh-deserted, and don't get me started on the Sins. Even the other Horsemen have disappeared. The only ones left are me, Tia, and the old crones on the High Court.

Obviously, none of them wanna do anything about it - High Court's too scared and Tia's too busy getting piss-drunk and screwing with mortals - so I'm officially raising the alarm. Thankfully, whatever's coming after the Gods aren't out for Witches or demons, but still - keep your guard up and watch yourself.

Ariel: "Oh that's so many kinds of not good."