#doomed siblings or whatever they say

[cishetlou]

the only finn

[blooming-cecilia]

// 4.7 archon quest spoilers

i hate doomed siblings. why the fuck would you give me this. im sad and its both of your fucking FAULTS!!!!!!!!!!

can you both just follow big bro caribert and get along already im sick and tired of being sad cuz of yall!!!!!

[todayisafridaynight]

smthing i rlly hate abt rgg is that they’re so like against the idea of villains having a redemption arc for some reason???? it’s rlly annoying how they were hinting towards the fact that mine would redeem himself at the end of y3 then THAT happened. Not to mention what happens with aoki at the end of 7 like just throw him in jail why do they gotta kill off all their villains 😭 would’ve been such a breath of fresh air to have them or even ryuji come back and redeem themselves like it’s so weird

yever hear of a lil entry called dead souls

[supershot73199]

Dpxdc demon siblings au prompt

So standard demon twin/sibling setup where after dying for dissapointing Ras Danny is thrown into the pit where he doesn't surface. Damian mourns his brother but never tells the bat's at first because it's to painful but then because he doesn't want to cause his family pain with the knowledge that they have a brother/son/grandson respectively. (I personally like Danny being the older one in this whether it's just the first born twin or he's a couple years older is up to you all)

The rest under a read more.

So we cut to an older Damian as Robin and the batfam are fighting a exiled member of the League of assassins who wants revenge on something Ras did and decide that they will hurt Damian to hurt Ras.

So this exile uses a magical ritual to summon the ghosts of every assassin Ras turned on and killed (its a lot of them) so the bat's are not able to stop the ritual in time because they couldn't get a skilled enough magic user to Gotham in time (is there some other threat? Just out of contact? Performing at little Jimmy's birthday party? Who knows.)

So the bat's are getting what anti ghost gear they can (nth metal weapons magic doodads whatever) when the last and most powerful ghost is pulled through. Damian freezes because he knows that face, he's older and he has an unnatural glow, but Damian will never forget his brother.

The exile is laughing taunting the Bats about the dead son come for revenge on his brother who betrayed him Damian is emotionally distraught crying, apologizing, telling his brother that they tried to bring him back but the pit took him from them.

The other bat's are freaking out in their own way because holy shit this is true?! Meanwhile Danny is staring silently at Damian face completely blank. While the feral ghosts of the assassins are trying to break out of the summoning circle.

One ghost manages to find a crack from where it was weakening from the thousands of ghosts trying to break it and rushes to attack Damian who is too distracted and too far from the others to react. He throws himself back scrambling for his sword as the assassins lunges forward to rip his heart out with his bare hands.

Yet as is seems he's about to meet his doom the assassin jerks to a stop before his momentum is reversed and he's thrown back into the circle. Everything is silent because the one who saved Damian was his own brother who was not even slowed by the magical protection (because he's half ghost not that anyone knows this but him)

The insane assassin starts going on about clearly his betrayed brother has decided that only he is worthy of striking down the heir to the demon. Except as he's mid monolog a ice knife is thrown into his leg missing all the arteries but causing a lot of pain. Then Danny speaks.

"I never blamed you little brother. Now dry those tears and Al-Ghul never shows weakness to an enemy."

As he says this for the first time since he's summoned Danny no longer has that blank face instead he has the most affection filled smile you can imagine while he wipes his brothers tears before he turns to the massive swarm of ghosts.

"Any who would seek to hurt my brother must first go through me, The Phantom, Pariah's bane, keeper of Balance and guardian of the mortal realms, but if you think you can take me by all means just do me a favor, let some other poor sap try first."

Now if the ghosts heed his warning or not is up to you if they do then Danny just opens a portal to the ghost zone for them to flee into, if not then he proceeds to beat the unliving shit out of them before tossing them through a portal anyway.

After everything is said and done Danny goes over to Damian talking about how proud he is to see him growing into such a good person and how it's so wonderful to see him again after all these years. Just really heartwarming stuff there's hugs Dick is crying into Jason's shoulder everything.

Then Danny says it's time for him to go he can't stay forever. Damian is upset saying he can't lose him right after he gets him back. Danny then laughs and says..

"This isn't a goodbye Damian it's just a see you later, I promise we'll see each other again before you know it."

And the batfamily are all crying thinking this is him saying that he'll be waiting in the after life for Damian. Before he goes through the portal closing it behind him

The bat's all handle the clean up and police for the crime scene before returning to the manor and getting explanations from Damian.

After all that the family come together to make a shrine to their departed brother with Damian being the last one to walk away to get some sleep.

The next morning everyone feels lighter with this secret no longer between them as they chat and laugh as they get ready for breakfast.

As they are all sat together ready to eat one of Damians siblings asks if there are any pleasant memories about Danyal Damian wants to share and Damain decides to tell a carefully edited version of one of their escapades (conveniently leaving out that he was responsible for the situation in the first place) only right as he finishes a voice chimes in.

"That's not how I remember it little brother." And standing there leaning against a wall is Danny himself.

[jellitchi]

hello friends heres some more artist au ,,, i have A huge infodump under the cut ... u were warned

uhm mumbo is a tattoo artist in this au, hes the towns electrician primarily but he does tattoo work too. hes terrified of needles on his own skin but really enjoys the process of tattooing. i think he mostly does geometric stuff. probably hrm.

gem runs and owns the fishing dock/bait shop. shes born and raised in this town so shes been here her whole life. shes okay at painting but her real passion is with clay- specifically sculpting. shes taking a pottery workshop w grian but she like the freedom sculpting has that the wheel cant really give her...? if that makes sense.. she still likes it. when she paints she gravitates towards gouache and watercolors, she likes the fluidity she can achieve w em. also is very fond of how gouache lets u set it down then return and reactivate it w water again lol

pearl is a relatively successful artist, shes constantly traveling for art shows and also to host workshops/look for inspiration. she used to paint a lot, thats how she kinda got her fame... she used to paint this one girl a lot idk she has curly orange hair and freckles and shes always painted really beautifully. then stuff happened and now pearl mostly sculpts now. she still paints and her paintings are her most popular works but shes more into working w clay.

hm more abt this au, pearl and grian are siblings and both grew up learning oil painting. jimmy is also in this au im still figuring out a role but hes their cousin— basically brother— i was thinking pearls manager js coz i think itd b funny lol.

the setting is a small coastal town hrmm havent thought too much else abt it, was mostly pulling from coastal norcal ish...

in this au scar and grian are really really tight and have been living w each other for like 5/6 ish years. i dont think they officially get tgt... they think theyre woke asf n say they dont like labels (kinda kidding) the real reason is just timing. whenever grian is sick of running circles and works up the courage, scar usually has some complications hes working through and grian feels like hed just be another stressor added to his plate so he just wills it away... then when scar is like Im gonna do it. Im gonna tell him. Grian is experiencing sum kinda dilemma and is rly stressed so then scar is like well it can wait... (this goes on forEver.) whenever they do sync up, usually theyre far too scared about ruining their friendship and having to find a new roommate or something. they both r very important to each other and if bottling up their feelings means they can hold onto each other and keep each other around then thats what theyll do...! yeah theyre doomed🤦‍♂️.... they still basically do romantic activities tgt- they just think its normal coz its them.... also everyone around them thinks theyre secretly dating or smth anyways Yeah this is the au in a nutshell im such a sucker for long term pinning friends to lovers or whatever😭😭😭😭😭...

[betweenlands]

Jimmy Solidarity's Guide To Dying First

Congratulations and/or sorry that happened! Dying first in a series is always really rough, and people are probably going to feel bad they ended your series early. Unless you're me. They don't feel bad about killing ME off first, which is probably why I beef it a lot.

Anyway, here's some specific ways you might have your death invalidated or made about me:

Are you new to this series? Oh my god I am so sorry. The Watchers are about to be SO weird about you and I honestly hope I die next so I can take some of the heat off you.

Did we die in the same incident? Expect the Watchers to say I died first anyway.

Are you Lizzie? Expect the Watchers to say it's because of our ~sibling bond~.

Are you Scott or Tango? Expect the Watchers to make up something about our whirlwind romance dooming us both.

Were you TEAMED with Scott or Tango? See above, except it's actually because my "curse" is super contagious or something.

Were you teamed with ME? See previous two points.

Are you Pearl or Grian? Expect the Watchers to say it was totally, definitely because of wanting to ensure the same person didn't win twice, even at the cost of the canary curse being broken.

Are you Martyn? Same as above but also -- Lol. Nerd.

What else should you expect?

You're going to start growing feathers. Sorry! The Watchers are going to try to "canary-code" you too, so they don't have to stop being weird about me.

The Watchers loooove to take credit for things that were barely even them. If anything happened involving the two of us for five or more seconds, it's a sign that I "cursed" you to die first.

If you're really lucky, the Watchers will make up some nonsense about toxic fumes or something that ensures I still get the brunt of their weirdness.

See you soon, probably, because for some reason Martyn has decided to cater directly to the Watchers and make it his sole goal in life to ensure I permadie as soon as humanly possible!

Love or whatever, Jimmy Solidarity

[radioisntdead]

Hi can I request alastor x Vox's sister reader? Reader isn't a tech demon like Vox and kinda the opposite of when it comes to technology.

Basically the equivalent of someone who's so bad at cooking they could burn water except with technology. And maybe Vox didn't know they were down in hell and only found out well spying on Alastor and reader accidently does that destroys a tech thing.

You dont have to do it if you'd dint want to and sorry its so long I hope it's not to weird or specific.

Good evening My dear! I may have gone slightly overboard, I had fun with this request!

You know where to find me, I know where to look.

Alastor x female reader, Vox & sister reader

Warnings!!

Vox being a creepy lil tv creeper, implied Radiosilence, Alastor plots to take out the reader at one point, both reader and Alastor are on the Aroace spectrum, Am I projecting a little? Yes

Reader has beef with microwaves, not proof read apologies for any spelling mistakes, Leaning into fanon territory here! Ending a little scrambled because it's 7 am and I am supposed to be up in three hours.

Vox's sister was something he didn't talk about often or at all, maybe a brief whisper of "[Name] would like this"

when he saw something she would like but nothing more, while Vox had managed to live up until the 50's you had died before him, a unspecified illness had taken your life, he suspected it was from you over working yourself but he couldn't prove it, all he knew was that you were more then likely in heaven with the angels, probably doing whatever you please.

He'd like to see his sister again after all the two of you were little troublemakers growing up, sneakily stealing the freshly baked cookies your mother made, spraying the neighbors son with the hose when he shoved Vox onto the ground or throwing rotten eggs at the neighbors other son who tried to pull your pigtails, although you did fight a fair amount, with you chasing him down with a baseball bat after he had broken the head off of your doll one time.

When the war took the life of your father and heartbreak took your mother's years after, when the two of you were in the middle of your teenage years, the two of you only had each other, you had each other's backs, even if you disapproved of your brothers obsession with the up and coming TV technology, it worked in his favor once he landed a job working with it, managing to scramble up the connections to get you a nice job as some guys secretary, it paid well and the guy wasn't stupid enough to mess around with Vox's sister.

To his knowledge you didn't get involved in the field politics like he did, where he trampled over the weak ones, stealing ideas and parading them off as his own when his own ideas were rejected, And the other things he did to get to the top, you were a decent person, a woman far beyond her time one would say.

However unknown to him his sister was causing up trouble in her own right, finding the weak spots of her bosses and exploiting them via blackmail or something amongst those lines, and if they refused to be blackmailed by her? Not even giving her a pretty penny to keep her mouth shut about their affairs? Their deals? Their tax fraud? Well the newspaper would have a field day with the scoop she anonymously dropped off.

Both siblings were doomed to fall below, maybe if they had perished around the same time they wouldn't had been separated, maybe she would've even joined the Vee's!

But they perished separately, years apart.

You met Alastor not long after dying, the deer radio host befriending you rather quickly.

Deer were ironically one of your favorite animals, and you always did prefer the radio as opposed to your brothers television, maybe that's why you foolishly put your trust in a friendship with Alastor, that was repaid with the Radio demon reluctantly falling for your charms, you falling for his,and not with him trying to eat you or making a deal with him and taking your soul.

Vox similarly had met Alastor after he had perished, and they were on friendly terms up until Alastor had, to be blunt rejected Vox's proposal, and then vanished for seven years.

Not once in those years of supposed friendship did Vox learn about you, he didn't even know the radio demon had a spouse, let alone that it was his own sister,

It's not that Alastor was ashamed of you or anything, he simply didn't think Vox was important enough to introduce you too, even when you were considered just a good friend and not his spouse, he considered Vox a supposed, one friend but not to the level of Rosie for example,

Rosie was the first person to know about you

Most types of modern technology would fizzle out or explode in your hands, you learned this the hard way after purchasing a flip phone and it exploded in your hands once you turned it on.

Alastor did NOT let you live that down, saying that it was your fault for trusting in faulty modern technology, eventually after some experimenting with random technology it was discovered that anything from the 2000's forward were practically expensive bombs for you,

Alastor took great joy in snatching up modern electronics and placing them in your hands to be rid of them before taking care of the unfortunate sinner that owned them, either making a snack out of them or taking their soul in a deal.

You didn't mind it much, was it somewhat inconvenient? Yes without a doubt, everyone kept their electronics away from you, you could be talking to Angel and he'd slide his phone far away from you, was that a bit much? Probably but if he pissed you off enough for whatever reason you could just reach over and BOOM no more phone!

Vox being the nosey control freak he was, used his devices to lurk around the hotel, and for plot related reasons managed to sneak into the hotel undetected with a remote control car with a camera the size of a hot wheels, at first he didn't see much, The princess and her girlfriend having a little date, The cat bartender and Angel Dust chatting while drinking, Niffty traumatizing baby bugs, blah blah boring stuff to him,

However he perked up as he spotted the radio demon, in the kitchen for whatever reason, cooking away, coat put to the side, sleeves rolled up, tail exposed, chopping up celery, bell peppers, garlic and onions while humming a tune,

Vox watched in stalkerish excitement as Alastor chopped the vegetables to prep for the meal he was making, it wasn't anything to be excited about but he was anyway,

Vox's expression changed from excitement to displeasure as someone walked into the kitchen, Joyfully calling out for Alastor while holding up a bag of what looked to be groceries,

Alastor turned, tail moving swiftly back and forth at the sight of his beloved spouse you moved forwards, just barely brushing against Vox's little spy car causing it to burst into flames.

Simultaneously causing Vox to break out in a sting of curses while you and Alastor looked at each other in confusion, before your face twisted into one of frustration, assuming you had bumped into some type of kitchen gizmo

"Can I NOT touch kitchen appliances anymore?!"

"Settle down dearest, and put down the produce please."

Vox came back at later date with another hot wheel camera, managing to sneak into the hotel when Angel dust opened the hotel doors to leave, this time Vox was determined to avoid whatever had caused the first device to explode,

There wasn't anything worth wild for him, The princess was scrambling with papers, the king of hell surrounded himself with ducks for some apparent reason?? Alastor was nowhere to be seen, but the person he was with in the kitchen was, sat at the bar listening to Niffty explain fanfiction while the bartender nursed a drink muttering something about being too sober for that.

Vox squinted as he zoomed closer to you, he stared for a few minutes before recognizing you as his sister, you looked different then when you were alive but it was without a doubt you.

Why the fuck were you down here?! And why were you in the hotel?! Did you know he was here?! Probably not considering he had a TV for a head now and went by Vox instead of whatever normal human name he had before.

Vox observed for the next couple of days, catching on that you and most modern technology did NOT mix, you had taken down twenty-five of his hot wheel cameras just by nicking them, you also had weird beef with Microwaves, sometimes they worked for you, and others times they fizzled down and refuses to work for you,

It annoyed you to no end especially when you were trying to eat a microwaved meal behind Alastor's back.

He wondered what would happen if you touched his head at all, would he explode? He didn't want to find out.

You hadn't changed much from when the two of you were alive, maybe more outgoing and confident but you were still the sister he grew up with, he debated on whether he should reach out, what would he say?

'hey sister, it's been a couple of decades I've been watching you? Join the Vees!'

that's not a normal thing to say, Not to mention Alastor more then likely wouldn't let him get near you

He found that you and Alastor were close, too close for his liking, cooking together, the two of you would dance together, Alastor would bite you when the two of you were allegedly alone, and the two of you even shared a room!

Was Vox in denial about the obvious? Yes, yes he was.

On one side there was that sibling protectiveness on the other he was jealous because why didn't Alastor treat him like he did you when they were on good terms?! Why didn't he? Was this why he turned him down on joining the Vee's?

Was it because of you? How long have the two of you known each other? Why didn't Alastor mention you to him? Did Alastor not trust him during their friendship? Of course he didn't, he was a heartless cannibalistic deer with gross deer hooves,

Clearly you were being held hostage or something, maybe you sold your soul to Alastor?

Alastor was clearly using you for his own entertainment like he had with Vox during their friendship, after All Alastor could never love another person, he was incapable of it.

But he wasn't incapable of it, you weren't an exception to Alastor's Alastory-ness, and he wasn't an exception to your you-ness

Neither you or Alastor were big on the whole romance thing,

You, in life didn't care much for it preferring to focus your time and energy on blackmailing folks and saving enough money to do whatever your heart desired and Alastor was similar, only instead of blackmail and money it was his radioshow and murder.

And that didn't change after death, even after you met Alastor.

You honestly couldn't pinpoint when you and Alastor fell for each other, it came slow like a horror movie where a serial killer was coming up behind the victim, no one noticing the killer until it was too late,

It got you first, at first you thought he just got bumped up from a good friend to a close friend, then a best friend and that's why you were so fond of him,

Until you started wishing to do unholy things,

Like holding hands, or petting his ears!

The minute you figured out what the budding feelings that had begun to weave themselves inside you,

you resulted to shoving them down, hopefully hiding them away until they disappeared completely, or until you gaslit yourself enough that they never existed in the first place, that it was just heartburn or something,

but that didn't happen, they just got stronger up until the point where it hurt, until you had to physically distance yourself from Alastor in hopes they subsided.

Alastor on the other hand, had it slightly worse,

For him it didn't hit him in small gaps like it did for you, it hit him all at once,

he legitimately thought he had somehow gotten deathly ill, perhaps he had gotten cursed? Maybe he wasn't as fond of you as he thought and instead hated your guts for whatever reason?

But if that was the case why did he yearn for your presence? Especially after you for some reason distanced yourself from him?

Why did he desire to chat with you? Why did he wish to cook you a meal and have a lovely dinner with just the two of you??

He eventually went to Rosie, his most trusted friend with this problem

his smile was strained when Rosie laughed at his troubles and told him he was, shockingly more then likely in love.

He acted like he was just told he had an incurable disease, like rabies.

Eventually he got to the point where he decided he should just take you out, in a murder way he couldn't afford a weak spot that he couldn't control,

However he couldn't go through with it when you showed up unannounced to his home, a frown present on your lovely face, you acted like a guilty child who had just stolen a batch of freshly baked cookies, you carried two folders and a board, and you asked him to hear you out as he let you inside,

You began to set up what one can only describe as one of those conspiracy theory boards, only instead of a conspiracy it was explaining how you managed to fall for Alastor, that he didn't necessarily have to return those feelings, and why he should let you live after knowing this information.

Thankfully before you could begin setting anything other then the board up and a few skeins of different colored yarn out, Alastor grabbed you by your shoulders and reluctantly told you that he adored you for some forshaken reason.

And that was that, nothing was ever officially labeled until a ring was put onto your finger many many years later, but it was comfortable, you stayed true to each other, you never went further then a light kiss or a cuddle, the two of you would be deemed odd for a couple, sometimes invalidated by folks who didn't know how to mind their own business, but they were usually dealt with quickly.

You adored Alastor, and He adored you in return.

And that was evident as he twirled you around his radio tower, Vox's hotwheel mini camera watching from the corner.

Soft jazz played as you were pulled back into Alastor's arms, a laugh escaping your throat as you smiled at him, taking a quick moment to reach your hand out and hold Alastor's face, planting a soft smooch on him before pulling away.

At that point Vox was disturbed and a peng of jealousy ran through him, one, because no one wants to see their sister doing that to their ARCH NEMESIS, and second of all, Out of everyone in hell, why did he have to choose you?

Yes you were nice, he guessed, but he's seen you be a feral little menace when the two of you were young, Alastor could do better [No he couldn't]

What did you have that Vox DIDN'T? Sure you didn't have a giant tv for a head but you also weren't an overlord like he was, you didn't have the connections he did, you didn't have a whole company that dominated the tech industry, you didn't HAVE what he did.

But you did have what he desperately wanted

You have Alastor's heart,

You get the adoring looks, you get the whispers of pure affection, you get to dance with him, you get Alastor.

No matter what Vox did, Alastor would never look at him the way he did you, he would never give him the look of pure affection, he would never ask him to dance, he would never give him his heart.

And that tore Vox apart.

So If he couldn't have Alastor, Neither could you.

To him, You either needed to get redeemed quickly and go up above or you were going to be joining the Vee's, whether you liked it or not.

Good evening folks! Thank you for tuning in! I know I said Rosie headcanons where supposed to be up next but I ran into some technical difficulties [my writing app crashed and a big chunk of it got deleted so I am not happy about that] anywho, Vox is a funky TV dude and I like the implications that he's lovesick about Alastor,

I need to finish my Vox fic because he's toxic there.

[ollycohens]

oh no you guys. i’m going to spew things i’ve realized while rewatching umbrella academy. I’m realizing were all being too sucked into fanon things after being stuck without canon content for so long. We have convinced ourselves Five acts like a mean mean dude to everyone but rewatching, i’ve realized he’s only stressed and is saying things out of panicked anger, especially in s1 with the apocalypse dooming over them. he acts soft to his siblings multiple times, he’s really not as mean as we write him in fanfiction. he is a little crap though, that’s for sure, and i love him for that <3

also realizing that the siblings don’t hate five. they just literally don’t know him at all. he came back a completely different person after 17 years for the siblings, they don’t know five, he’s a stranger so of course they’re gonna be cold to him. it’s like, “i don’t know you well, but you’re always going to be my brother in the end”.

ALSO. for those who ship some of the siblings, uhm… i’ve seen a lot of you guys try to prove that they don’t see eachother as siblings and more like academy students, but they very much say in just about every episode that they see eachother as siblings. they don’t actually SAY that word by word but they say things like “she’s our sister”, or “our dad”. if they say OUR dad… bro. i’m not even going to continue, you can put it together yourself. But, i do realize why people ship the siblings. I am not defending incest shippers but with umbrella academy i can see why people have resorted to it. only 3 of the characters in the main sibling cast has romantic partners. people like shipping people, people love writing romantic relationships, but with only diego/lila, dave/klaus, and sissy/viktor, (i’m not going to count five/dolores for now) people are desperate with the need to ship the rest of the siblings with someone, and since there are only a few actual canon characters in the show that interact with our main 7, people start shipping them together… yikes. anywho, that’s all for that peice. i blame the show writers as well for shipping luther/allison, they did not have to do that, but i’m hoping it was only to convey the severity of what childhood trauma does to people.

ALSO THIS HERE SHOOK ME. I actually think Reginald cares for the siblings. i hate to say it, but it’s true. caring for them does not mean being good, though. he was a horrible father, and person, but he genuinely did care for the siblings, in a like, “being the best is the best thing for you, i will make you better, for your sake, even if you don’t know it now, you will see that i am right” kind of way.

also why has NOBODY MENTIONED THIS. in season 2 when diego first reunites with five in the asylum, while he’s walking into the visitors room, he’s staring at five with this heartfelt, soft look, and then says “five…” in the most soft spoken voice ever 😭 your honor i love them

ALSO UGHHH THIS. IM GOING TO FREAK OUT ABOUT CAMERAWORK AND METAPHORS HERE SO BARE WITH ME. we as a fandom complain about the lack of flashbacks five has due to his ptsd. we’ve seen his first flashback since getting back to his family in s1 during the van scene when he gets triggered by those kids playing and starts thinking about his own childhood, i’m guessing. i ate that scene up, and was sad to see that be one of the only deeply vulnerable scenes he has in the season, and during my first watch i thought they’d never bring it back up. but they do!! i may be stupid for not realizing but whatever. in season 2, when five is trying to explain at elliot’s with all his siblings around that another apocalypse is coming, everyone starts talking about each other. as someone who studies film and camerawork, i love this scene. we see the camera focus on five as it slowly zooms in. it doesn’t switch scenes at all as the siblings voices overlap and echo over eachother. this whole scene conveys him getting overwhelmed and he starts to zone out, starting to think of the nuclear war he saw his siblings in. the scenes of the war start quickly switching through, showing many different scenes of it before it switches back to five, who says “guys, you all die. i want to forget it but i can’t” which just UGH its so well done there. if you think about it, he was starting to slip into another flashback. he was triggered by talking about their deaths in the war but was handling it well until the siblings started fighting, where we see the overlapping voices happen. it portrays him losing control and being unable to pull it back together with too much going on for him to focus on grounding himself. we DO however, see that five was able to pull himself out before he fell too deep into the flashback. i love how they show this through them still having the scene showing the war, but then fives voice starts talking over the scene which is still focusing on the war as if he was pushing it back and forcing himself to come back to the present.

thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far, i will continue to freak out another time <3

[gravityglitch-blog]

I'll shut up about the Ark siblings soon (maybe)

When writing about her, I tend to focus on Maria as a gentle and kind personality.

What I'd like to bring some attention to here is her strength. She's not a physical fighter, not like her brother. But it takes a great deal of strength to cope with an illness like hers, while not allowing herself to be consumed by despair.

Always she holds on to hope.

Then there's this cutscene from the game.

I'll be real, Black Doom would be horrifying to look at in real life. If I saw this thing, I would faint, no question.

Black Doom: "The promised time is nigh upon us, Shadow. Soon you will be mine."

The moment he threatens Shadow, Maria basically tells this creature that looks like it crawled straight out of hell to shut up.

Maria: "Shadow will never serve you! He's nothing like you!"

Black Doom: "Gerald may have given him this unassuming form, but the blood of the Black Arms flows in his veins."

Nothing that this monster says can make Maria think badly of Shadow, not even when his rage starts to surface.

Her words break through to him. (And this is how I learn, officially, that she named him? That's adorable!)

She believes in him with all her heart. She always has.

And as if my heart weren't in enough pain, we then get this.

The horror on his face when he realizes time is about to reset is painful to see. All he wants to do is keep his family.

But Maria's strength shines through again. She'd rather face her future, and allow Shadow to be free, than live in a single moment forever.

Maria: "Shadow, no. We don't want to be frozen in one place in time. Besides, your friends need your help."

Shadow: "But you don't know what's going to happen!"

No, she doesn't. And judging by his reaction, she must know it isn't anything good. But she's still willing to confront it.

Whatever fear she might be feeling over the unknown that lies ahead of her, she doesn't show it. She instead uses these last few seconds to comfort Shadow.

The Ark siblings have courage and strength woven right into their souls.

[soap-ify]

nsfw below , minors dni.

obsessed!ghost with lack of self awareness worms are invading my head.

tw : kidnapping, breeding kink, simon is insane.

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You were supposedly the younger sibling of one of the men Ghost was assigned to capture for interrogation, and since he only found you, he captured you instead, believing that you would have some important information for him.

He was really the bad cop, taunting you throughout while you were helplessly restrained on a chair, fat tears running down your cheek, shivering under his harsh words and demands.

Though he never raised his hand on you for some reason, not hurting you in any way besides his words. and soon enough, he came to the realisation that you truly were innocent, not having know what atrocities your fucked up brother and his group were commiting around the world. You were just a poor sibling that happened to get caught in this mess. A lost lamb.

And Ghost couldn’t help but feel infatuated, relishing the faint glimmer of hope in your teary eyes once he calmed down and begin to undo your restraints, only for you to black out once he injected something on your neck swiftly, causing you to fall unconscious.

The next thing you knew was that you were in a bedroom you had never seen before in your life, waking up with a faint headache, your head spinning while your vision tried to adjust itself to the surroundings.

You were even wearing some different clothes now — a cozy pair of oversized shirt alongside some sweats that were clearly big on you too.

“Looks like you woke up, love.”

A gruff, terrifying familiar voice snapped you out of your momentarily curious state as you whipped your head to meet those stern brown eyes that made your skin crawl, your breath hitching anxiously.

Ghost. Though instead of his skull mask, he wore a simple balaclava, and also some casual attire.

It was almost as if you both lived together.

“W-Why am i here?!” Your first instinct was to shriek out, your body going into the flight mode as you tried to get off the bed in haste, only to be stopped by a pair of strong arms wrapping around your chest, trapping you.

“I am protecting you…” He growled, an unintentional waver in his voice while his eyes took in the way you were so scared of him. It made his heart ache.

Why would you be so scared of him? He was literally trying to protect you from the rest of the team that would probably find you through the connections of your brother. Ghost could never have that happen. Especially to a pretty thing like you who was clearly innocent. He wanted to save you from the ultimate doom, and what better way was there other than to keep you all to himself?

Why couldn’t you see that?

Also since he had taken such a liking to you, a feeling no one had ignited in his cold lonely heart. And now he was fully commited to you. Insanely and devotedly.

The next weeks flew by and you were still reluctant on warming up to him, flinching away from every little touch he tried to make, quietly obeying whatever he would ask you to do. All you could remember was the scary lieutenant who harshly tried to get information out of you that day.

But this Ghost was so different, and you couldn’t help but feel confused. No, you can’t even trust him. All you want to do is go home and sleep on your bed. But he had said that you would be in severe danger if you would get out of his house.

Was he saying the truth?

Though Simon felt as if you were actually beginning to trust him now, blissfully unaware of the raging storm in your head. After all, why wouldn’t you trust him? He was giving you food, shelter, even care. He was so kind to you, so it was only fair for you to be kind to him as well, yeah?

All he wished now was to knock you up, breed you with his babies so you would be stuck with him forever, being his lovely little spouse. That'd be the best way to keep you safe and happy.

[cephalofrog]

been playing rain world and thinking about saint again recently

full rain world spoilers below

I hate the "saint is the triple affirmative" interpretation. hate even more how it appears to have become the accepted truth in the fandom

first off, my dislike for this interpretation is not logical. it isn't something I can be convinced out of using canon evidence, because my reason for not interpreting the story this way is not evidence-based, it's because I don't find it to be a satisfying conclusion to the entire story of rain world.

but here's some rambling about logical reasons why it doesn't make sense anyway

if saint was created as the triple affirmative by sliver, that makes them extremely old - they came into existence LONG before spearmaster's campaign even started. if they came into existence with the purpose of ascending iterators, they sure took a long time to ascend any iterators - like okay, travel time and whatever, but you'd think they'd get at least one or two more before all the iterator comms break down entirely post-spearmaster. SM and hunter managed to get from SRS and NSH to the pebbs/moon area pretty quickly.

they also have fur, which seems to be an adaptation for the cold judging by the lizards in the campaign, despite the world not being cold at the point at which they were created. this could be easily explained by sliver just being very forward-thinking, but...

if sliver created saint, their entire triple affirmative thing comes across as incredibly thoughtless, which imo contrasts with sliver being forward-thinking enough to make saint immune to cold. like they finally created the magical rat that will ascend them all but didn't even think to send out a message beforehand like "hey guys I'm trying something new if I send out the triple affirmative and die right after this it worked and you should be visited by a flying green dude with an ascension beam at some point in the future"

there's also the thing of... wait so how does this whole iterator ascension work again? cause saint's timeline loops. after they ascend, they end up back in sky islands, with the iterators back where they were. this could be explained by "later playthrough loops aren't canon and pebbs and moon are ascended if you got em" but there's literally a specific gameplay mechanic - carrying stuff in your stomach between campaigns - meant to make it clear that the campaign is a loop.

anyway. the real reason I hate the theory isn't related to any of this - it's that it absolutely destroys pebbles and moon's story, thematically speaking.

sliver of straw's triple affirmative/death is a random event that could mean basically anything. the futility pebbles felt around trying to solve the great problem caused him to assign meaning to sliver's death that wasn't necessarily there - they found the solution, and it was self-destruction. that's what they were trying to tell everyone. it wasn't a random event, the triple affirmative was real. one of the bugs in the maze found the way out, and he's going to prove it to everyone by following them and escaping.

and that's what leads to the events of the main story. this random event - this horrible tragedy, the death of someone who seemed to mean so much to so many people - was assigned meaning by someone desperate to prove that his entire existence, and the existences of everyone around him, are not futile. the ancients created the iterators without knowing whether the answer to the great problem could ever be found, and this is the result of that.

a nihilistic, hopeless person, abandoned by his creators to work forever on an unsolvable problem, assigns meaning to a random tragedy, and tunnel visions on what he has to believe is what he's been looking for - because it is an unimaginable understatement to say that the alternative would be worse than death. and then, in his self-destructive desperation, he kills his sibling* and dooms himself to the slowest, most painful death imaginable. this is the legacy of the ancients' dead society, the result of all of their stupid ideals and obsession with karmic perfection. (*as far as he knows)

but saint being the triple affirmative undermines all of that. not only does it make sliver's death less of a tragedy and more of a noble sacrifice - like yeah, sure, they were loved, but solving the great problem was far more important - but it also makes pebbles look less desperate and more just kinda stupid. like you thought that the solution was self-destruction? nah, it's a magical flying rat. in this version of the story, pebbles wasn't striving for something that didn't exist, he was just not smart enough to figure out the real solution.

even outside of canon evidence, that sucks. it causes pebbles' story to go from being about how you should value the people around you over the impossible striving that life always seems to expect from you or you're gonna end up hurting them and yourself to how you should just be smarter to find the right solution to all of your problems.

anyway as for my own interpretation of saint, I think that the campaign is just a representation of what it's like to be an echo. reliving the moments that led up to your failed ascension over and over, reaching maximum karma and gaining superpowers because you're just that karmically pure - you are a saint, after all - and then letting your ego consume you at the crucial moment of ascension, over and over again, cycling into infinity. (I don't think they actually had superpowers prior to ascending, I just think that they kinda thought of themselves so highly that they thought they should have those powers.) then contrast this with the world as the age of the iterators and the rain finally ends, and you have an unchanging echo reliving the same few cycles over and over contrasted with a world that is, at last, changing and moving on.

yeah it doesn't make sense with the joint iterator dialogue in rubicon (at least, the final line doesn't make sense). I don't care. it's what makes me happy as an interpretation. you can pry my morally dubious hypocritical ego-driven saint from my cold dead hands

[ianthewife]

im a liar that lies so okay here it is by popular demand of like one and a half people

Ranking the silt verses characters that i find attractive and why (nobody look at me insane addition):

1. Val — every time she talks or does anything at all, all the blood rushes away from my brain and i fall unconscious hitting my head on the way down that’s honestly probably why i am this way. the gruesome mess and utter devastating tragedy of her existence is so hot to me. she can turn me into a chair whenever she wants to. all this to say: Val please please please please just one chance—

2. Mercer — a nasty obsessed honestly insane woman with zero hinges? ummm yes please? the way she says “mine” before a kill is doing some certain things to me but i shan’t say. love when she is cackling wildly going insane and murdering people. which means always. mercer call me back

3. Sibling Rane — always smiling when i think of them, their laughter has saved my life. cultist of the month the year the life and my heart. fuck it, ill convert to the Trawler-man bullshit even, im down. we are having a spring outdoor wedding with shrimp cocktail bar and everyone is invited. the ceremony will be wonderful and if they want to drown some people during it well whatever my beautiful spouse says

4. Carpenter — no explanation needed i think. she is everything to me on every single level, my love for her is vast and endless and soaring high in the sky. she has never and i say NEVER done anything that i would think is unattractive. i will forever and ever hold her in my heart. also DAMN her voice-

5. The Saint Electric — id fuck her. straight up. please don’t ask me why she is so high on the list

6. Hayward — when he is extremely pathetic or extremely goofy. he makes me laugh that’s all i need from a fictional man. also that one occasion in the end of s1 when he was screaming wildly i think that’s was hot i mean who said that-

7. Paige — putting fucking hayward over paige feels like blasphemy but i can’t help the way i feel. Fighting against doom is so hot. Yes baby quit your marketing job to birth a god. Can i run away with you? Also when she is angry and determined and her voice is sharp with frustration and- well you get it

8. Faulkner — when he is being insane or using that ridiculous goofy ass evil cult leader voice. i said what i said.

9. Shrue — when they are in the middle of a mental breakdown or beating the shit out of Carson. i love how they sound when they are distressed and at the end of their fucking rope<3

10. Cross — yep. you heard me. i won’t even apologize or deny this. baby, are you perchance looking for a 4th ex-wife? tbh would love to ruin this man even further. he is 1. hilarious (big time) 2. pathetic (BIG time) and that’s all i need to like a fictional man

11. Charity — idk i think we could have fun, she’d chase me through the woods and then… well, i digress

12. Carson — now NOW everyone STEP BACK and put your rifles down let me explain— this poisonous slug of a man is the most disgusting, sinister, sleazy, inhuman, heartless, cruel, reprehensible thing i have ever witnessed. i want to garrote the living shit out of him and smash his head through a concrete wall. and maybe in this unrepentant desire for violence against this man there is something slightly sexually charged?.. i… honestly don’t know and i will not examine it. also he talks as if he is constantly whimsically kicking his feet which makes me want to kill both him and myself.

[mintjuliee]

Lin and Suyin - On Why Sometimes Love Means Saying "No"

In cases where you are raising a child, caring about them can often mean saying "no" or presenting as the opposition. This is particularly true when the child in question is displaying harmful behaviors.

The most blatant example of this between the Beifong sisters is the flashback in Old Wounds, wherein you see Suyin skipping school with a couple of other kids— a bag of items that they have likely stolen spilling over on a coffee table.

Teenage Lin confronts Suyin with a blatant look of disproval. Her inquires are met with:

"Oh no, are you going to tell mom? It's not like she is going to care."

ERRRT. Back up. What is really going on here?

A cry for attention.

It is not normal for a twelve year-old child to say that their mom is not going to care about them engaging in dangerous behaviors. I would even argue that the most important sentiment behind that statement is "she isn't going to care."

And what we see in the next flashback a few years later proves that Suyin was and is, in fact, testing the waters. She is now driving a getaway vehicle after a robbery. Her behavior is doomed to escalate, because it is not being met with any parental opposition.

How far can I take it? When will it matter?

This is the part where a parent should be stepping in to intervene. They should be trying to figure out what is lacking in the child's life or what they are seeking. However, what we witness instead is that this burden/role has fallen to Lin.

Mind you, in the first flashback Lin herself is a teenager. She lacks the experience or maturity to be dealing with a child displaying these behaviors, which is shown when she escalates the situation by insulting the two boys. And yet, she still tells Suyin :

"Su stop. You have so much potential. You're ruining your life."

In the second flashback, her words are:

"I'm not letting you get away with this." "So, once again, Su gets to do whatever she wants, and there are no consequences."

Lin is acting as a psuedo-parent in the absence of Toph. She cares about her younger sister and is attempting to show this by drawing a line. Suyin is lashing out against Lin like she would an authority figure.

Toph in this situation, I believe, would not be that concerned with Suyin's behavior, because she herself engaged in rebellious behavior as a kid. The key difference— and what I think Toph failed to realize in raising Suyin— is that she herself grew up with extremely strict parents from the get go. In Toph's case, breaking away from them and finding her independence was key to her growth. It was a good thing.

This is completely different from a kid being raised and allowed to do what they want from the beginning like Suyin. The lack of parental guidance and attention as a foundation produced an entirely different issue than what Toph faced.

"We didn't have a normal childhood. Neither of us knew our fathers, and Toph was always busy being Chief of Police. Because mom grew up in such a strict house, she gave us all the freedom in the world, hoping we'd figure out our own paths."

"That sounds like a good thing."

"And in a way, it was. But we both ended up fighting for mom's attention. Lin followed in her footsteps and became a cop. I was more of a rebel."

Bingo. Here we have Suyin admitting her rebellious behavior was attention-seeking towards her mom. Unfortunately, due to Toph being often absent due to her job, it would seem this behavior often went most noticed by Lin.

An older/younger sibling tale as old as time.

Lin and Suyin were both acting in accordance with the hands they were dealt. They were young. Mistakes were made. Lin should never have had to act as an opposition to her sister's behavior as a teenager; she should have been able to act like a kid herself. Suyin should not have been left to her own devices to the point where she is acting out to seek attention.

So, what do we arrive at? Compelling backstory for two middle-aged women, who present as awesome, strong characters 😎 Something rare in media, animation being more scarce. I love them so much. Almost as much as they love each other.

[your-gracelyn]

I think Rhaenyra gets a tiny bit too much hate for having bastards when she wasn’t really given much of a choice.

To be fair to Rhaenyra, Alicent has redish brown hair and brown eyes and her kids still have the Targ silver hair. So, it’s not super unreasonable that her kids could have also favoured her.

She couldn’t really help loving Harwin and not someone else who could have looked more like Laenor. Her and Laenor did try to have children, she says to Daemon, but it just didn’t work. Rhaenyra obviously doesn’t want to force her gay cousin, who she was forced to marry, to keep trying. Also, It’s a bit weird to expect her to sleep with someone she potentially doesn’t know or trust, just to have kids that look a bit more like Laenor.

I don’t think it’s as simple as “she’s dooming Jace’s title as heir by going with the Dragonseeds plan” because if Rhaenyra doesn’t win the war Jace has no claim at all. Aegon and Aemond would never let her or her children live now, even if they surrendered, so I really think this was her last resort. For her claim and Jace’s after her.

As I said, at the time her choice was have bastards or have no children at all. However, there would be talk about why she didn’t have children yet, that there’s something wrong with her, that the Gods had chosen not to give her heirs because they don’t want a woman ruler etc. I don’t think it’s just pure selfishness that she has bastards, and that she isn’t concerned for them at all, or whatever. I think she assumed she’d be queen after Viserys died, and so she’d have the power to protect her children until it was their turn after her.

After all, the only real threat to Rhaenyra’s children was Alicent’s children. If any other Lord didn’t like a bastard being heir they’d have to go to war against dragons. The only thing that could tear down the house of the dragon was itself. It seems clear to me that Rhaenyra’s children love each other, so I personally don’t think her kids with Daemon would start the dance part two. (Spoiler: Jace literally dies trying to save Aegon the younger and Viserys.) but I understand the argument. Aegon and Aemond are turning on each other and they’re full siblings. Having more than one kid, legitimate for not, has the potential for some usurping, unfortunately.

[elvestoneanzelote1]

Hi!! Can you write doom x fem! or gn! reader?

𝘈:𝘯- 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴... 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺... 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘬𝘪.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴... 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦...𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘠𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘹 𝘨/𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦: 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴

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Doom, the eldest son of Innocent Zero.

He is wary of his younger brother Famine, that what Cell war said.

Beside the point. He doesn't like picking up fights on the weaks ...

How you and Doom met was through Innocent Zero who also revised you through a corpse.

You remember your past life leading things to be complicated for you.

Unlike you, Cell war proclaimed you as his sibling.

Because you both were brought from death through Innocent zero blood. And the fact you were revived latter then Cell war which led him to take the elder brother role for you.

You were practically weary of the brothers but somehow Doom made a very impactful impression on you.

At least he was calm and barely get angry

Compared to his brothers.

You would rather not be the fact of his anger.

He is ruthless in battle after all.

Both you and him took time to get along as your sole purpose was to serve innocent zero that is what your life purpose is.

"...do you know where..." His words paused as you blink twice.

"Are you searching for your sword?"

"Yes..."

"..."

"..."

"I will find it and bring it to you"

With a nod of approval from Doom, you left the room.

Personally, you don't tag along with Doom he was the one who called you out to tag along with him.

And with out per notice you literally act like his maid of sort.

You let out an audible sighed while dragging yourself in search of his sword of where he kept or perhaps someone have misplace it.

"...oh, Y/n~" a voice called out to you as you stopped on your way taking notice of familiar purple eyes male with jester clothing.

You bowed and greeted him as he waved his hand off.

"Bleh~! No need to bow! Either way I need your help on chaining some victims I found!"

"Apologise... Sir Famin... I am searching for Sir Doom sword"

His eyes narrowed as he towered you.

"Are you rejecting to help me hmm??" His words held malice as you shook your head quickly.

"I... I will help you after I find Sir Doom Sword"

"His swords doesn't cost a ton shouldn't he get a new one? It is getting rusty after all! And I don't often need your help so you gotta obey it!" He said pulling you through your arm before you protest you felt someone kept a hand on your shoulder as you gaze up to see Doom.

"Famin do not disturb them while they are given the task" Doom said as Famin chuckle.

"Brother! You often take their time it is no fun! They are meant to serve all of us when needed you shouldn't always take them!" Famin argued as Doom shook his head slightly.

Been calm as possible but.

You knew it was soon going to turn chaos as their hold on you tightens.

'Why am I stuck with the siblings quarrel' you thought to self.

Thankfully it ended quickly by whatever force came to let them leave you alone.

Well it was innocent Zero who bailed them off.

You bowed lower to him as his eyes focus on you with a hint of amusement.

"It is good to see you getting along with my sons"

"..."

"I hope everything is going well?" He asked as you don't know what to say as you nod mildly

He hummed in thought as he smile slightly.

"Come with me after you do my sons task by 30 minutes... I need a massage after all" he said as he left as you bowed saying you will.

'Damn it... Why am I even task in this stuff! Like a maid/butler!!! Whereas Cell wars is enjoying delicious food from The Academy cafeteria.' You were so jealous of Cell wars who is likely taking vacation in your eye as you are suffering with doing innocent zero sons task and even his task like their servant.

'Ah I wish I was never revived in the first place!' Your thoughts halted as you walk on the halls as you took notice of Doom sword.

You heavily dragged it with you as it was heavy.

You curse into your head as you finally reach his room huffing.

"Oh your back"

"Yea... I mean yes Sir doom"

He approaches you as you were glad you finally not going to hold the giant sword only to felt his hand hold on your free one.

"Have you try to find out who have hurt tour hand in the past?" He asked as his traced on the visible scar which was deep. Perhaps some flesh was missing from the scar itself.

"I... Did"

His hold tighten slightly as he asked who it was.

"...well it was just an accident during childhood an old bully did it... Beside it they must have been death too"

Doom frown slightly as his other hand was on top of your head.

Your eyes widen slightly as he pat your head.

"Those who have hurt you... Their generations will face the wrath"

"Huh?"

You didn't understand what he meant... You were too afraid to asked him.

His aura says it all after all... He was anrgy.

And for the first time... He was angry for you.

You want to argue that the generation of the old bully has nothing to do with you now.

But for now you keep your mouth shut.

As you don't want to be directed of his anger on you.

Until he calm down.

You have to keep your mouth shut.

Because even if you died once... Who wants to die again gruesomely?.

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A:n- that's all! Take care good night/morning.

[sparrowsarus]

At ten years old, Wyll Ravengard brings a pale, skinny little girl home, claiming she's an orphan. Ulder takes one long look at her-- And. Well.

Ulder’s first impression is that Orin is small.

Silent, next to Wyll’s excited chatter; pale as new bone, squinting in even the low light of a Baldur’s Gate Autumn. A darkness in those strange, pale eyes—like this slip of a child had seen horrors beyond reckoning, and thought they were simply how the world was.

Where did she come from? He asks his son. I found her in the sewers. I told her she could stay with us. Please?

Ulder couldn’t say no to those eyes—Francesca’s eyes, in a small, pleading face. Couldn’t abandon a child to whatever terrors she had seen, to give her that look, the curious question of When does the ritual begin? My father requires his sacrifice echoing at the dinner table.

She’s missing a tooth, Ulder notices, the thought incongruous with the monstrousness inherent in that innocently asked question.

There are few reasons for a child to insist their father will be displeased by a lack of ritual murder, and Ulder hates them all. He takes his suspicions, and Orin, to the Marshal--praying he’s wrong.

But the Marshal, Abdel Adrian, rumoured son of Bhaal, looks at the little girl, and gently tells her she is no sibling of his. Just a normal little girl: neither doomed, nor destined.

Orin cries. But within her sobs is a confession; the temple hiding under the city, the bloody rituals of violent death, the rotting corpses.

A temple of Bhaal, lurking under the city. Sacrifices made in the name of an evil god.

Sarevok, yet living—Adrian’s failure. Adrian’s responsibility.

Ulder is told to take Orin home, and prepare the troops for battle.

A scout is sent to verify the child’s story; a mere formality, a sop to convention. The child was not lying, and the scout confirms it.

For the first time in many years, Abdel Adrian takes the field, with nearly the entire complement of Fist in the city, Jaheira and her Harpers, and a handful of good-aligned clerics.

He doesn’t bother speaking to the Council, letting Portyr waffle about what to do. This is war, and that is Adrian’s business.

The Temple of Bhaal reeks of death and blood. The Bhaalites take no quarter, though the Fist are expected to try. Properly, there should be a trial. For many of them, there will be.

Justice should be done in the light.

The Fist are ordered to arrest, rather than kill. The clerics subdue; the Harpers trap; the Fist do their best. Abdel Adrian will not have sacrifices in the house of his father.

He can’t quite manage it, when faced with Sarevok and his daughter. They are cut down by Adrian’s sword, and Ulder sees the shadow of the monster the Marshal nearly was.

Their bodies are burned, turned to char and ash. Adrian will not risk his half-brother escaping death a second time.

The temple is purged and cleansed; the bodies systemically identified, to inform their families. Riches counted, and Adrian insists it all be given to the families of the deceased, or donated to the temples.

There is already so much blood on the wealth of the Fist.

And Ulder goes home to see to his children.