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dalgursbate · 1 year ago

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Dame Aylin's Home for Wayward Girls (6/?)

Summary: Isobel swears she didn’t mean to start a commune. She’s not so sure about Aylin, though. Or, how a celestial and her reanimated girlfriend help the heroes of Baldur’s Gate process their trauma.

Rating: E WC: 20,515 Pairing: F/F/F, Isobel/Aylin/Shadowheart

part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5

Shadowheart knows a thing or two about complicated pasts. She also knows a thing or two about complicated presents.

Behind her stretches a yawning void, an expanse of blackness interrupted only by the teachings she has now forsaken. They slide around in her mind still, slimy and unwelcome like the illithid tadpole that foretells her complicated future. When she reaches into that abyss to grasp at what lies hidden within it she comes up empty-handed. Or worse, her fingers brush against something sharp and brutal but undefined, leaving her with no concept of its shape except the knowledge that it is painful.

Her past didn’t always feel complicated. Before recently, it was blissfully simple. She was given a directive and she sought to fulfill it. Then, there was a firm hand tugging at her leash. To reward her when she proved her worth and to punish her when she did not. There was never a need to question what to do, what to think. Someone had already made those decisions for her.

But there is no leash to tug anymore. When she began to serve Selûne, a part of her expected that it would merely change hands, that she might serve a different mission but there would still be a lead compelling her to follow. Instead, she feels aimless, set free for the first time to do what she pleases. Not abandoned, mind; Isobel had mentioned once that the Moonmaiden’s love was a constant companion, and Shadowheart believed her but had not been able to anticipate how that would actually feel.

If she is being perfectly honest, it is strange. There is warmth humming under her skin where she is used to absence, and it is almost overwhelming. Overwhelming in a good way, she thinks, but overwhelming nonetheless. And now there is also an absence where she is used to guidance, and the way she feels about that is, well, complicated.

Because somehow, she has come to bear the responsibility of leading a party of desperate, doomed adventurers to what will almost certainly be a gruesome and bloody death. And the deaths of everyone, everyone, her cruel mind reminds her in a familiar, mocking sing-song, and it will all be your fault when you fail.

She did not mind taking charge of their group when she felt like she knew her purpose. But these days she almost suspects she is under some sort of Fear spell, paralyzed as she is by doubt and anxiety. It is hard enough to have to make these decisions for herself, let alone for the whole party and the rest of the Sword Coast besides. Holding the reins scares her because she doesn't know what sort of leader she is on her own. She doesn’t even really know what sort of woman she is. After she turned her back on Shar, Shadowheart had told Karlach that she did not understand herself anymore. She was wrong then; she hadn’t known who she truly was as a Sharran, either. All she knew was what they had made.

Now, she is struggling to forge an identity, to find out what it means to be Shadowheart. She thinks she owes herself that before the ceremorphosis wipes who she could have been from existence entirely. Before she becomes nothing more than a girl who never really was. More than anything, Shadowheart is desperate to no longer be a stranger to herself; she is tired of inhabiting a body she feels so disconnected from. For once, she wants to see her reflection and feel like it belongs to her.

She is getting there, she thinks. Because in throwing that spear into the abyss of the Shadowfell, she learned the first true, untainted thing about herself she had ever known: that she would rather be a failure than a monster.

It isn’t much, but it is something. Something that, in the immediate aftermath, made her feel cowardly. It made her hate herself in a way she didn’t know was possible. But she saw the way Gale, Wyll, and Karlach looked at her as Aylin’s wings unfurled – their expressions of relief and gratitude. Their expressions of pride. People she respected and cared for, all telling her she made the right choice, the hard choice, the choice that needed to be made. Her self-hatred began to dissipate, though the terror and uncertainty only grew as she was abandoned by Shar. It felt like waking up underwater, the dark and fathomless sea stretching endlessly to every side of her.

But thankfully, though her leash may be gone, there are still hands to guide her. Softer hands, kinder hands, the sort of hands that caress instead of crush. Hands that point out the path instead of pushing her down it. Hands that are currently holding her as she feigns sleep in a brothel, lying in the space between their century-long love story.

Shadowheart keeps her eyes closed and listens for a moment to their sounds of sleep. Isobel makes hardly any noise besides the gentle, steady rhythm of her breath, while Aylin snores lightly and occasionally mumbles nonsense words.

And lo, she thinks, yet another thing that’s complicated.

Witnessing their reunion in Moonrise Towers, Shadowheart had not known what to make of them. But Aylin seemed to know what to make of her when they met in the Shadowfell, piercing her armor with her words more fiercely than any spell or arrow.

“Much has been promised to you, hasn’t it? But what has been taken from you? What do you know of your own heart – your own life?”

Shadowheart was shaken, then, by how easily the aasimar dismantled the surety of her convictions. With just a few words, Aylin forced her to think of herself as someone with an identity of her own for the first time. She made Shadowheart question what such a thing would mean and offered no indication as to the answer.

Shadowheart resented her for that, at first. Aylin may have been shoving Shadowheart into the light, but the shock of it after spending so many years swallowed in blackness hurt. She could see herself no more clearly than she could before, blinded and bewildered by the knowledge Aylin thrust upon her.

Then Aylin told her about her parents, and it was like her eyes began to adjust. It wasn't just the knowledge that her parents lived; it was that Aylin gave her back something Shar had stolen from her. A piece of Shadowheart’s past became hers again, because of Aylin. It still feels too big to think about, like her mind can't fully carry the weight of it. But in that moment, she immediately understood how much recovering what she lost matters to her. Not just her memories, but the person she used to be. The person she would have become.

And as she opened her mind to allow Isobel in, she also realized how afraid she is to be alone.

Learning herself has come more easily since then. She always knew that she had a ruthless wit (and something in her mind recites an old creed: Your mind and tongue must be as sharp as your sword. To be a disciple of Lady Shar is to make yourself entirely into Her weapon). Lately, she has realized with surprised delight that she can be playful and sarcastic as well. She has also learned – or was told, rather, by Gale and Karlach – that she is quite stubborn.

And as she has gotten closer with Aylin and Isobel, she has been discovering who she is and what she wants at a pace that almost leaves her breathless.

She thinks first of Isobel, carefully explaining her faith to Selûne as they sat together in her and Aylin's tent. The way she talked about forgiveness then had made something heavy knot in Shadowheart’s gut, the idea of being allowed to doubt, to question, to falter filling her with an unbecoming desperation. When Isobel told her that she was already absolved, Shadowheart realized that she was not merely talking about Selûne; Isobel was speaking for herself, too. Shadowheart hadn't realized how badly she needed to hear that.

Then, Shadowheart thinks of all the conversations she has shared with Aylin around the campfire. Sometimes they talk about faith and redemption and sometimes they talk about nothing at all. But Aylin never talks down to her, never treats her as though she cannot be trusted to make up her own mind. And every time they talk, Shadowheart feels herself getting closer to understanding.

“I have no doubt that you will choose to bask in Her candescence,” Aylin had said once. “For too long have you been skulking in the shadows like a wretch when your courage and mettle betray you as one of the righteous.” At the time, Shadowheart had not been entirely certain she agreed with Aylin’s assessment of her (truthfully, she still isn’t), but she found she liked that vision of herself – someone brave, strong, good. It gave her something to work toward. It also gave her more questions to answer: What did it mean to be good? How could she know what was right?

She expressed those thoughts to Aylin, and Aylin responded, “That is for you and for you alone to decide. Whether or not you elect to stand in the effulgence of Selûne, you are free now to determine what it means to you to live well, and what it means to you to live at all.”

The way Aylin sees it, the uncertainty of existence is beautiful. The uncertainty of existence means that no god, no tyrant, no bard can author her story for her. Through her, Shadowheart has come to understand that the other side of uncertainty is freedom. Now, she feels less like taking the helm of her own life is a burden that she did not ask for. She has not yet come to think of it as a blessing, but it is not as fraught a prospect as it once was. If identity is not a prophecy, but an act of discovery, then there is no way for Shadowheart to fail at it. The thought of that is comforting.

Together, Aylin and Isobel have given Shadowheart a gift that she can never truly repay.

Though, if she is being very honest, she has had more than a few thoughts about how she’d like to try.

She isn’t sure when it started, the desire she feels. She thinks it might have been there from the moment she watched them reunite. She swallows thinking about it now, about the way they kissed like they were starving, or like the only thing in the world that could save them was the touch of each others’ tongues. To be wanted like that, to want like that. To be allowed those things – rather, Shadowheart corrects herself mentally, to allow herself those things. The mere thought of it is intoxicating.

She realized her attraction to Aylin first, though she initially assumed it went no deeper than mere lust. Of course, Aylin is gorgeous. Strong, powerful. Hells, she's a literal demigod. And so voraciously horny, at that. Shadowheart is a perfectly healthy young half-elf; it is no surprise that she has had the occasional lecherous thought.

It was her attraction to Isobel that made her realize she craves something deeper.

When they sat mending clothing together, Shadowheart discovered that the taunting voice inside her head – the one that sounds so remarkably like Shar – is quiet in the other cleric’s presence. At the time, Shadowheart had assumed that the same protective aura Isobel projected around Last Light Inn still emanated off of her to some extent, silencing the influence of her former Lady. Now, she wonders whether the voice is Shar at all, and whether being near Isobel simply quiets the cruelty of her own mind. Regardless of the cause, it has driven Shadowheart to long for her nearness. Ever since she defected from her faith, Shadowheart’s head has been so full of contradicting thoughts and impulses, so unrelentingly chaotic, that the only reprieve from it has been to busy herself with constant distraction. But in Isobel’s company, silence does not feel quite so loud.

And Gods help her, but that night she kept noticing Isobel’s hands – there was something so deft and intentional about how she darned Aylin’s shirts, something tender in the act and something enticing in the quick and clever movements of her fingers. Later, after she returned to her own tent, Shadowheart brought herself to completion imagining that the fingers touching her were Isobel’s, picturing Aylin’s breath tickling her neck as she whispered filthily into Shadowheart’s ear.

Shame, hot and vicious, had licked up her insides at her own depravity. It didn’t help that she could hear the couple a few tents over, that the whole camp could hear. The revelation that she craves to have some place in their relationship made her feel disgusting, then, like a perverted voyeur into a love she does not deserve.

She still feels like that, even (especially) as her relationship with them has grown more intimate. But the way they’ve held her, the way they have cared for her — Shadowheart thinks maybe they would let her in, if she asked. Maybe they already have.

She struggles to find any other explanation for their invitation to stay with them last night, but her cautious mind is still too wary to allow her to get her hopes up. Even as she lies between them, even as their arms are wrapped around her, Shadowheart feels like she is one wrong step from losing this. It feels too fragile, too perfect, to last.

Shadowheart senses it as Isobel awakens, and she forces herself to stay still and continue pretending to sleep. She wants this moment for as long as she can have it. She isn’t ready for this interlude from the three-act tragedy that is her life to end.

But then she hears Aylin and Isobel kissing, just above her head while they are pressed to either side of her, all three of them entwined like a complicated knot. The thought of it sends a bolt of lightning through her, from the crown of her head to where her toes are pressed against Isobel's skin. It feels like someone Banished her rational mind and replaced it with nothing but pure, animal want.

Soon, she is kissing Aylin because she cannot help herself, and for a nonsensical moment she wants nothing more than to have two mouths so she can taste them both at once. She wants to devour them, please them, make them say her name until it feels real, until she believes that they want her, too.

But they don’t let her, instead focusing all of their energy on her. They touch her like she is rare, like she is cherished, and Shadowheart falls apart as white-hot pleasure erupts in every synapse. They take care of her before they touch one another, as though Shadowheart is their priority. As though she deserves to be their priority.

It makes her cum so hard she blacks out for a second.

As her senses return to her and she is treated to the sight of them pleasing each other, she expects to once again feel like a pervert intruding into this portrait of love everlasting. But instead, she imagines painting herself into it. She imagines that she might fit there, in some way. She does not know how, yet, but she thinks she will take whatever they give her and thank them for it.

Once again, she is overcome by the need to touch them. She thinks she could face the Absolute by herself if it means getting to hear them scream for her. Isobel says they still have an hour before sunrise.

Shadowheart intends to make the most of it.

#bg3 shadowheart #bg3 isobel #bg3 aylin #nightsong #moonmaidens #moon lesbians #my fic #isobel/dame aylin #bg3

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revolversandlace · 2 years ago

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Our Pretty Little Condemned Souls | Chapter One - The War Was Never Really Won

Harry Potter | Hermione POV

Explicit Rating - 5.2k Words

Chapter Tags & TW - Minors DNI, Alternate Timeline, Psychological & Physical Torture, PTSD, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, DDDNE, Attempted SA.

Summary - The war was lost. Hermione does her best to survive the camps and the debasement around her when she is reunited with an old friend.

Hermione could never have said which turn of events would take place, either during the war or the aftermath that would follow.

Harry Potter, their saviour, was to live or die—either of which would change the course of history forever. However, no one predicted his disappearance, nor did anyone know the reason as to why.

Speculation spread across all those who turned an ear to care, each time the stories grew more elaborate. Some said he had fled through cowardice, some said he was strengthening forces in Bulgaria.

Yet none of the fabrications mattered to anyone anymore. Most just thought that their enemies had killed him, along with everyone else. Hermione meanwhile could only deny the betrayal and assume that one day he would rise again to claim peace.

Peace. A word Hermione thought about often, yet she could never make sense of the obsolete word. They defined it as freedom of disturbance; so far that privilege did not reach her currently doomed experience. She scoffed at the idea of freedom. After all, no liberties remained for the former Gryffindor Princess.

The war itself was traumatic enough for anyone involved and none were expected to remain as they once were; but this... whatever this was, it was different. It was hell.

The environment in which she had been hurled into, lashed its menacing shadows and sounds around her. Darkened veils slithered along the walls of the confined and sullied tent. All was bare besides the varying degrees of samples left from the previous occupier. The red hues of blood smeared across the panelling shone over her, like the sun rising over their new world.

The flooring of the tent wasn’t much of an improvement either, shamefully playing host to too many unwanted guests. Several carcasses from rats and birds disintegrated in the corner with little thought from Hermione. All she could do was to wait. After all, she had been incarcerated for months now and luck could only carry her so far before they would commit the inevitable.

They ran riot, did as they pleased, committing monstrous crimes as they did so. Screams, yells, laughter... Hermione heard all the sounds that could possibly be emitted by humans, from every possible hideous act. Yet it was the laughter, the deep cackles of men signalling to their comrades the damage was once again done that etched itself under her skin. Many countless nights she spent listening to the cries, wondering who it was tonight. Cho? Katie? Hannah? First Years? Little Gabrielle? Was it her turn tonight?

Regardless of their evident pain a relief swirled darkly within her. After all, if their screams could have been heard, at least the Death Eaters were too busy with them rather than with Hermione. This wasn’t the time to play the hero, that much had already been made clear to them. Any chance of salvation had been lost amongst the rubble that once was the glorious Hogwarts. Now was the time for survival.

Eight months she had spent like this, allowing dark circles to engorge her eyes that seemed to sink deeper within her, as if protecting her from the sights that were bestowed to her so frequently. The strain of them was unbelievable; so many tears had been rinsed out of them that no moisture could possibly remain. Even the involuntary reaction of blinking had become a painful process.

Her bright eyes were now bloodshot from various damaged vessels from various damaging beatings. The windows to her soul held the helplessness she felt and her whole being had been transformed into an exhibition of her suffering.

Her lips were cracked and stained with dried, crusty blood. Time after time Hermione brutalised the inside of her mouth for the sake of silence, the unwilling force to somehow survive the torment. Her emotions had overtaken her appearance even before her arrival, however now, the evidence of misery was all too apparent. Her hair, once bushy, lively and thick now draped like broken straw across her shoulders.

She was lucky, in small ways. Before Hermione had been placed in the camps, all of those that had been snatched prior were forced into having their heads shaven – male or female. The mystery of the revoked procedure ignited an ounce of happiness for some, until it was discovered that without hair, it became much easier to perform a wandless spell, thus protecting the last dignity she had left.

Her weight too had demised terribly, leaving the prominent lines of her skeleton up and down her. Around her joints a painful fluid sack compassed around them, reducing her ability to move even in the smallest of ways. However, this didn’t affect Hermione too much as she always assumed a particular position for hours on end, cradling her knees in an attempt to obtain some kind of solace.

Her nails were the worst - those that remained were dirty, split and coated in blood which filled every morsel of her, corrupting, excavating, creeping into soul. Her own blood, Death Eaters, friends... Ron’s...

The war was never really won. Harry did not die. This was the thought that carried Hermione on. Out of all the suffering, she needed something to hold on to. She had been degraded so much in the past months she didn’t even feel human anymore. So many horrific things had happened. Some she bore witness to and others were too unbearable to think about. Haunting memories filled her with terror as the ghostly faces manifested around her.

The rain fell heavily, cutting through the air as it was propelled by the wind. Every drop felt like a knife against Hermione’s exposed skin - ricocheting against her already shivering body. All had been given crude, discoloured and ripped robes to wear regardless of age or size. Her legs were painful and the thought of sitting down would not leave her mind. Hours she stood standing, standing, standing, nothing else.

The heavens above them had opened, releasing the torrential conditions of what Hermione could only assume was an April downpour. Her feet were bare, suctioning her even further into the thick, sticky mud and at least twice their guard had been changed.

However, she was like so many others. Another thirty girls stood around her, identical in their soaked rags. The only one identifiable was that of Susan Bones and already she too, had become a picture of the persecution they had been sentenced to.

It wasn’t just about Mudbloods and the purity of magic anymore; it was anyone who dared to speak, act, or fight for themselves and others. However, it was only Mudbloods and Half-bloods that were sent to camps. Most Purebloods were trapped in the castle with Lord Voldemort and his most trusted servants or sent as personal slave to those with the Dark Mark.

Her knees had begun to shake, a sure sign that she could not stand for much longer. This time nobody had collapsed so far, but Hermione wasn’t prepared to be the first. Anyone who did faint or refused to stand was taken away for the Death Eaters’ entertainment.

The biting cold and lashing rain stapled the now transparent and wet material to her bruised skin. After being exposed to the elements; blisters formed a raw graze across her visible body. She had been in this situation so many times the embarrassment of exposure was a meagre complaint compared to the never ending torture of standing for hours.

The sheer terror of knowing that any movement could cause a Cruciatus curse to any of those who didn’t obey was constantly mounted around the prisoners. There was no purpose to the standing, only the sanctioning of their creed.

A violent spasm shot through Hermione’s core, pushing her mass to the sludge beneath her. Her hands vacuumed into the mud, followed by her knees and face. A soul etching howl was freed from her pathetic form on the ground. Nobody dared to look at her as they too would incur the same discipline. With the crashing of the downpour surrounding her, two Death Eaters worked their way through the group until they reached Hermione.

Her being was so encased in the weather ridden ground all movement was impossible. She wanted to kick, to punch, to bite, anything to stop her being dragged with the men. Refusing to look at either of the wizards, two large hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her up from the ground. As they did so, the surrounding deluge sucked her back down, creating a tug of war between the two forces. Hermione continued to wail, begging incoherently the same as all the others that she had seen being yanked so unsympathetically.

A loud high pitch conch signalled throughout the camp, informing the captives that they no longer had to stand. Hermione’s soul broke in two as all she needed to do was to poise herself a minute longer. However, now it was too late. A small stone hut resided just in front of her, with a looming black door. She didn’t dare look behind as her entrance to hell crawled ever closer.

Closing her eyes tight in terror, she could find no fight left in her, and the eruptive bang of the Death Eater to her right kicking open the door before her, only increased the horror of what was to come.

Hermione continued to stare at the sheathing, reliving the memories that flowed through her mind like a carousel. When she first arrived, every night she would cry not only for herself but for everyone else who had endured anything near what she had. Now she couldn’t even care for herself and as far as she was concerned, it was always better to happen to somebody else rather than herself.

It seemed impossible to believe that her life had become this, an eternity of pain, humiliation and misery. She felt like an animal, dehumanised by those who were spawned from evil. They were built for it, designed flawlessly to not only torture with magic but to take away every civilized right. It seemed that they enjoyed that particular torment the most as it proved to be highly effective.

No longer could she identify herself as a witch, a Gryffindor, as Hermione. They had made her feel lower than a Mudblood, more unworthy than any other creature. She wasn’t even sure if she was still alive. How could she be?

Everything had spiralled so deeply out of control; after all, it was believed that victory was theirs until six months before her capture.

Against all odds, they had managed to escape the battlefield with Harry. It was surely just a matter of time before they were found. So many had died in order to defeat Lord Voldemort and so much had been put at risk. They had been so close to victory and Hermione cursed herself silently for her stupidity and naivety.

But he promised me!

His last words to her danced through her mind as the image of Harry faded away. She rolled awkwardly onto her back, resembling a broken Muggle doll. All of her was bent and creaked painfully, as most of her joints had fused at a certain degree.

Stones and lumps of dried mud dug into her back and she could feel the blood rushing around her head. Her fists collided with the canvas flooring, impacting with what lay beneath her. Hermione stared above her, searching for something. Perhaps in an attempt to dwell on another awful memory, perhaps in hope of an epiphany or saviour.

Nothing would ever appear apart from maybe a foreboding shadow. Yet somehow every day, she laid waiting for whatever was to come, as there was no fight left. Sleep would not come either, her mind and body were impossible to rest. If she was awake, if she had some warning, there might be a chance to survive.

The emptiness didn’t aid her sleep either; god knows how long it had been since she ate. Although her starved frame longed for food, she could not bring herself to digest the stale rations she was given. It was enough to keep her alive, but in no way nutritious or easy to chew.

The sun had slowly begun to sink, encouraging the cool air, a contrast to the suffocating heat of the day. It whistled through the tent softly, mildly soothing her constant discomforts. The blue of the sky started to roll into its bright tones of pink and orange, with the night lingering not too far away.

Unfortunately, the tent had started to paint a foul divergence to the outside world as the combinations of odours became sulphuric around her. Thankfully, it was so foul whenever a Death Eater did decide to come her way; they assumed no living thing could possibly stay in such a terrible squalor. Even a Mudblood.

As the night had begun to commence and crawled past slowly, it teased Hermione with sounds of the monstrosities that seemed to occur once the sun had fallen. Everybody became far more vulnerable at night as the Death Eaters drowned themselves in Firewhisky and gratified whatever needs they had. Eventually, the screams would die down, and at some point, the camp would rest.

As she lay there, she wondered how many did the same routine, replaying the self torture over and over in an identical fashion. All had been committed to the same abyss of nonexistent hope. It was foolish to still think, but Hermione was convinced of the one hope that still perhaps remained. Yet what good was he now?

Each day the hope grew less and less, but she needed something. At no point could she explain why she tried so desperately to grip on something. After all, he left without hesitation, abandoning his two best friends with a slither of an empty promise.

‘Coward!’

She spat ferociously at her hollow surroundings with only the stench to hear her. A bomb of frustration had begun to build under her ribcage. Out of all that had happened, this was the ultimate treachery.

Her throat was exceedingly dry, creating harshness at the back of her mouth. It was not often she spoke, yet each time she did, it always resulted in regret. It was always wise to make as little noise as possible, especially around twilight, yet the anger was undeniably justified. However, before she could reflect on her actions, a looming silhouette crept at the front of her tent.

The smears of blood and earth over the covering distorted the presence, but not enough for Hermione to know it was her turn. She glanced around as fast as her stiffened neck would allow. A shot of adrenaline rose through her, biting at her sides.

As useless as it was, it was instinctual to not give up the fight. What fight?

She had no choice. She was theirs for the taking, and all she could do was to wait. Yet whatever they were to condemn her to, she would not cry and she would not scream. That they did not deserve.

As the shadow increased its size with louder footsteps to accompany it, a low growl released itself from the wizard outside. It sounded so animalistic and barbaric it could only prove one thing - that this was not a man.

Hermione breathed in, suppressing a sharp squeal from the fear that she felt for the monster that lurked beyond her sights. In the months she had spent there, she had managed to avoid the claws that would indeed tear her apart. His oppressive stature only preceded his reputation, which was increased greatly by the black shapes sprawled over the tent. Once he was about to enter, her life would surely end. And painfully.

‘What the fuck have you been told, Greyback?’

Her heart burst rapidly inside her with her worst fears confirmed. Yet the other man, one she could not see but became perfectly audible, made her freeze her to the floor, rendering her impossibly stiff.

‘You filthy dog, you really want something that’s been fucked about by the Lestrange whore? You make me feel fucking sick.’

Her stomach churned at the reminder of her most torturous encounter. The pearlescent trails remained on her skin - even in the darkness, the scars up and down her body were unmistakable. Her legs lay bare from the vulgar rag that she had claimed as clothing and the contamination - with endless amounts of unhygienic bodily samples - irritated her open wounds. It barely covered what it needed it to but did provide the most amount of dignity possible - at least she wasn’t in the freezing rain.

Echoes of curses and hexes embossed her skin, leaving no escape from that horrendous day. Her arms were no better, the word Mudblood tattooed into her from a dagger, from the same evil being. It was clear she deserved no identity, no individuality, only to be herded like cattle and wait for her unquestionable fate. The unknown man’s voice broke through her silent thoughts.

‘We’re throwing this little bitch in there before you get any ideas.’ He allowed a pause to pass between them.

‘They’re off limits Fenrir, The Dark Lord specified. I don’t see why you give such a shit about these with all the choices you’ve got. Anyway, we’ve got a new batch coming in, picked up a mile outside Hogwarts. Fucking idiots. It’s like they wanted to get caught. Mind you, half of them were part of Dumbledore’s Army. Ballsy little fucks, I’ll give them that...’

He pulled open the tent door without even acknowledging the girl stationed in the centre. Throwing someone in, the flap fell back down as quickly as it was opened. The shadows left with no exchange, leaving both girls to their shared torment.

Much like Hermione, the girl was without a doubt neglected and defeated. Her hair, once so vivacious and startlingly bright, lay limp and dull. An apparent black eye began to present itself, manipulating her features. However, it was clear this girl was once very beautiful.

Her hands were a mess, and she shook violently like an animal that had been caged up for so long it had forgotten how to live. This was not the girl that Hermione remembered.

Hermione attempted slowly to hoist herself to her, as sat where she was thrown. If she did indeed recognise Hermione, she made little inclination towards that thought.

This was exactly what it looked like to give up, to allow the evil deeds to continue. Crawling pathetically towards her friend, she examined the newly found bruises across the girl’s body. Their clothing was not too dissimilar, both designed to show as much as possible, which, of course, it did triumphantly.

‘Ginny... Who did this to you?’

Her speech, no more than a whisper, was hoarse and cracked. Words seemed so unfamiliar, like everyone else cries of distress and misfortune were the only thing to leave her lips - as well as a tooth, if she was lucky enough.

Hermione wanted nothing more than to be united with one of her friends again. She would even happily have taken one of the Patil twins for the sake of a familiar face. Now the situation had presented itself and Hermione wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

However, this wasn’t just anyone. It was Ginny whom she had fought side by side with, whose hand she had held as they watched loved ones ridiculed and persecuted. Yet neither of the girls were the same. How was it possible to rekindle a friendship made by two entirely different people?

Shame rose to her face. No longer did she feel the innocence she once took for granted, the kind hearted spirit, nor the strength required by Ginny to fix this mess.

Unfortunately, the mess was so much more than that. Hundreds had been imprisoned indiscriminately, the boys were mainly executed in the first instance and some came to the camps for Death Eaters with an acquired taste.

Mostly they were surrounded by girls around the same age, some were drastically younger. Like so many others, Ginny and Hermione fought through the aftermath of war, hunting down as many of the Dark Lord’s followers as they could find. Of course, it never proved that easy. Six months was all it took for the evil to triumph once more. That was the last day she saw Ginny before this moment.

A strange feeling crept over her. Exhaustion was present, to say the least, yet this was different. Suddenly, the numbness edged away, releasing the vast amounts of suppressed emotions. Now she was given the opportunity to share the hate, the anger, all the pain. She never realised how truly lonely she was and now to be joined by one of her best friends sparked a hope that had been lost.

Maybe it isn’t over, maybe there’s a way...

Yet all the emotion drained whatever feeble amounts of energy she had left. It was not long before the darkness consumed her into the realms of unforgiving dreams.

Hermione awoke early that morning as usual, greeted by the heavy smell of damp. However, it was never very wise to have a few extra hours of sleep while the Death Eaters took their morning patrol. The hazy days and humid nights caused the tent material to be terrorised by condensation. A thick smog had apparently built up over the night, restricting Hermione’s breathing.

The familiar pain that belonged to her head, among other parts of her body, forced her to leave her half conscious state. Not that this bothered her too much. It’s not like she ever had a decent night's sleep, anyway. Yet who would in such circumstances?

The horrors of war had plagued her mind all night, the never ending screams of the innocent and the stench of blood was singed into her nostrils for all eternity, bitterly stinging her senses.

When her misty amber eyes finally opened to her reality, it was to the surreal frozen sight of Ginny. Whom she, in all honesty, wished that she was a fragment of her distorted dreams. Hermione rose awkwardly from the floor - the mornings were always difficult.

Lack of nutrition, hydration and civilised toileting left her dizzy most of the time. She nursed the constant soft thump on her right temple, pacing herself gingerly. Her stomach growled within her, clenching at her torso she submitted to its punishment as she bent over. Food... No, I mustn’t... It’s not like I’ll be getting it anytime soon.

Ginny made little response to Hermione’s actions, as she remained cross legged, eyes closed and fought with her own demons. The pain continued down Hermione’s knees, crippling them dramatically, forcing her to the floor. The memories of forbidden thoughts came to her with little warning. Before she had time to think, her eyes were flooded with tears. A rush of panic engulfed Hermione back to that day as their long ago surrender was all she saw.

She cackled, with her wand raised high as utter glee was painted on her condemned face. Bellatrix stood on a fallen pillar subsequent to the battle, twisting her wand as her feet pranced like a spoilt child’s. Harry was suspended in midair, his arms stretched out on either side of him, his already beaten body on display.

The blood began to trickle more freely as his features contorted to the pain, his once strong green eyes full of tears. His yells reverberated throughout the grounds, showcasing the torture that was bestowed to him as they all watched their Messiah reduced to the victimisation of the evil. His rounded glasses had been bent and shattered like the souls of the forsaken as the Dark Lord clutched them sickeningly in his long, grey fingers.

Bellatrix moved the wand in her fingers as if it was a ribbon.

‘Crucio!’ her laughter chased into every ear present. Harry screamed, thrashing in the air, his body almost giving up hope. Bellatrix spun him slowly on his invisible pedestal for all to see. He was being tortured in front of the whole school, the DA, the Order. The Death Eaters at last finally had their long awaited prize.

Voldemort stood by, casually laughing in rhythm to Harry’s screams, merely exhibiting his success.

‘Make the Potter boy dance for his Lord!’

His cold high pitch demeanour threatened the sanity of most. Bellatrix flicked her tongue across her thin lips in excitement. Voldemort, with little hesitation, had his wish granted. Hermione stopped watching the disgusting sceptical before her by this point, soaking her tears into Ron’s woollen jumper.

Nobody moved.

Not only had they taken Harry, but they had taken their hope along with it. His screams surged towards Hermione. Her best friend, nothing short of a brother, an innocent boy thrown willingly to a fate worse than death.

He was a celebrated hero, now dancing for the Dark Lord. It was an insult to his life, a sham to the memories of his parting. Humiliation and torture. In one swift flick of the wand, Harry’s body dropped unforgivingly to the ground, leaving only the echoes of his screams in his wake.

The tears continued to stream, staining her face. Hermione fell to her side with a thud, gripping onto the tent flooring as if it would bring her strength. Her hands possessed her hair, clutching at the dull strands forcing the emotional anguish out of her. It brought nothing apart from more despair.

‘Harry...’ she whispered between her rasped breaths. Hermione fell into a silent cry. If Ginny noticed, she gave little inclination.

Both girls were wrapped up in their own torment. No amount of comfort Ginny could bring would rectify the death of those she loved, her would-be consoling was far from Hermione’s mind, however. She at least had comfort in Ron’s death. She knew he was trying to do the right thing. Harry merely disapparated when he had the chance.

It had been a long while since Hermione had a sense of time. Upon her arrival, her existence was to not end up like so many others. The only time that was distinguished was that of the movements of the sun. So how long Hermione lay there with her inner turmoil running wild, she could not say. She squeezed at the flooring as she rocked herself, hoping it might relinquish some emotion, that maybe it would materialise either of the boys in front of her. Eventually, she drifted off into the realms of past antipathy.

She was awoken by the intense midday heat of the summer. The flap was pulled back, spilling the brightness into the girl’s tent. Ginny had not moved from her previous position and Hermione reacted unnaturally slowly to the intrusion, prying her face from the canvas flooring, her cheeks sticky from the incessant crying.

Her eyes felt chapped, as though they were made of glass. She had little idea why her body decided to cry. It only did more harm than good. She raised her head slowly to the entrance, only to find someone she really did not wish to see. Greyback stood there with hunger in his eyes and blood on his breath. His filthy claw-like nails ran down the side of the sheathing before he decided to enter.

‘Well, well, well. What do we have here? Two little beauties, fit for lunch...’ His eyes traced down the barely covered thighs of Hermione, licking his lips in anticipation. ‘Among other things...’

He smirked a wicked grin, advancing towards her. She had little time to shuffle herself backwards into the corner of the tent, even if she wasn’t any safer.

‘I like to make the meat tender before I eat it. Pound it in.’ He growled in a long and low frequency, baring his serrated teeth at Hermione with the stench of her dead friends still lingering in his mouth.

He slowly reached for his belt buckle, allowing the metal to harshly clasp against itself. Before Hermione could prevent the forcible penetration that was about to be committed to her, a loud bang erupted just outside the tent.

‘Fenrir! Get the fuck out of that tent!’ A man nearly as tall as Greyback and nearly as broad pointed his wand directly at the werewolf. Judging from his voice, it was the same man as last night. He entered the appalling conditions, refusing to lower his wand. Greyback froze, not even attempting to hide the scenario.

None of them ever would. It was their world now.

The Death Eater Hermione recognised as Dolohov held his silence and his gaze. The last time she had seen him was during the chase for the prophecy at the Ministry.

Although her first memory of Dolohov was him digging his hands into her scalp, the thoughts somehow warmed her. A place where all of her friends had been together, surviving, with hope.

‘You know the fucking rules, you mangy piece of shit!’ Dolohov continued. ‘We got their request this morning.’

The werewolf appeared very unconvinced, expressing something very disagreeable on his disfigured face. Dolohov, in one final attempt, began once again, ‘besides it’s that Malfoy prick who owns them now. There’s fuck all you can do about it.’

Dolohov inclined his head to leave, inviting the werewolf along with him. Greyback did so reluctantly, but not without saying goodbye.

‘I’m sure I’ll be seeing you two in good time. Have fun being fucked by Malfoy. You’ll wish you had me instead.’ He leant forward, snarling his teeth in Hermione’s stunned face. He left without another word, kicking the tent upon his exit. One last fright while he could...

Ironically, the fear of what could have happened dissolved like sugar, barely registering with her. It was what Dolohov said that chilled her very core regardless of the exotic temperatures.

Malfoy.

Of all the people they were to be sent to, nobody made her skin crawl the way he did. How could he so easily have betrayed them? How could he so easily walk into the open arms of Voldemort without so much as looking back?

Yet it wasn’t a simple coincidence they were sent to him, he requested them, both her and Ginny. He wanted them as his slaves, more than likely as a sickening trophy - the best friend and the girlfriend. What could be better for a disgraceful ferret like him?

What could she do? Escape? That would not be an option, for those who tried were delivered a fate worse than they could ever imagine. It was a horrific thought, considering the worst had already happened to most.

For attempting to runaway, was one very sure way to end at the merciless hands of the Dark Lord, who was known for his patience in torture. The only reason they were kept alive for so long was to be as condemned to the devil as much as possible. Not like anyone had actually managed to escape, anyway.

Now she was being sent to the jaws of someone she never even believed had the capability of being a Death Eater. Yet that was a long time ago and now a new dawn engulfed the horizon, painting the blood of even more of the innocent.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfic #draco x ginny #hp fanfic #fanfic #dddne

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djuvlipen · 1 year ago

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I thought about it again while I was at the gym.

Death and grief are the driving force of the HP books. The first book starts with the mention of Harry's parents' death and with a conversation of how hard Harry's life will be because of this grief. The last book ends with Harry having found happiness and a stable, happy family life; he has overcome this grief and accepted death (his and that of his loved ones') as a part of life.

Each book individually starts and ends with a discussion on death and grief. Those themes are what drives the action.

As fantasy books, the HP books use allegory to discuss those themes. The Death Eaters and Voldemort represent the most extreme of what happens when you try and usurp the power of life and death and claim it as your own. This allegory is made blatant by the names giving to the villains; "death eaters"; "voldemort" (french for "flight from death" or "steal away from death"). Trying to take over Death leads to disaster and pain and chaos and it is also doomed to failure, examplified by Voldemort's defeat.

(sideline: in HP, the power of death is overarching and looms over everyone, but it's the men who try to take control of it but ultimately fail; meanwhile, the power of life is seen as a female prerogative, it is most and foremost associated with Lily; the way JKR handles the theme of life and death and claiming power over Death shows similarity with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein where a man also tries and fails to claim life and death as his own.)

The reflection on fascism and political oppression works within a greater narrative that is about death and grief. In each book, we hear about grief before we hear about Voldemort or fascism. In HP, the political theme serves as a means to explore the themes of death as something natural and inevitable, life and love as the things that must be most treasured, and grief as the most moving and life-changing thing someone can experience. The (child) reader knows the Death Eaters are bad because we see how they contradict all of these values (they kill people, they hate people, and they make grief a daily life thing).

But in the movies, the fight between Harry and Voldemort isn't a part of the bigger reflection on death and grief. In fact, the movies reverse that relationship, and fighting the Death Eaters becomes the driving force of the action. They did so by cutting out some of the most well-written scenes of the books, such as:

the reoccuring apparition of Harry's family pictures book (it stops appearing in the movies after CoS, iirc)

The mirror Sirius gives him (it just randomly shows up in movie 7 without any backstory)

Harry dealing with PTSD in book 5

Harry destroying Dumbledore's office after Sirius' death

Harry talking about Sirius in the Weasleys' garden shack with Dumbledore at the beginning of book 6

Harry lying down in Dumbledore's office in book 7 as he realizes he is meant to die and accepts that necessity

Voldemort dying as a human

(to name just a few)

and by erasing one of the most interesting storyline in the books, which is Harry's slow realization that his dad wasn't the hero he worshipped, that Sirius or Remus worshipped, nor was he the man he wanted him to be. Because it is, in fact, impossible for him to get to know the man his dad actually was, because he is dead, and all the accounts people give of James are not completely accurate as they are tainted by either love (in the case of Sirius) or hatred (in the case of Snape).

Instead, the movies got rid of these themes and instead turned the story into a bad guy vs good guy scenario, which is why the movies feel more superficial than the books ever did

"Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living and, above all, those who live without love" is such a fucking raw line. Miss Rowling obliterated Emil Cioran Soren Kierkegaard and Jean-Paul Sartre with it. All those male pessimist or existentialist philosophers who are worshipped in academia because they jerked off in their bourgeois appartment saying life sucks are made to make you feel bleak. But the way JKRowling talks about life, death, grief and love, which are the main themes in all of her main books (Harry Potter, The Casual Vacancy, Cormoran Strike) is so human and moving and comforting, but of course, because she is a children book writer and, even more awful, a "TERF bitch", she isn't heralded the same way male philosophers are. There's a reason so many people find solace in Harry Potter, it's because it doesn't shelter you from the awfulness of death while, at the same time, it brings you an optimist perspective on life and offers positive values. As such, JKRowling's philosophy is counter cultural in that it challenges the existentialist worldview that has been embraced by the arts and academia. In this essay, I will-

#HP meta #harry potter

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modgirlyreposts-revamped · 2 years ago

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Kamiko and Minori are kind of this fangan's naegiri or maybe kuzuhina the way Rian and Alice are its saimatsu, in terms of personalities (Kamiko is cold, calculating and mean, Minori is determined and hardworking but not naively positive, Rian is uncertain of himself, though he's more emotional than Shuichi, and Alice, while more emotionally distant than Kaede, is kind and positive)

Kamiko is basically the cold, shielded person I've told you about before, but I don't think I've explained Minori, so a quick rundown: she has a very "driven by sheer force of will" personality. She's brave, outgoing and analytical, but also compassionate and always willing to help. She basically felt as though everyone around her was just letting things go to shit without closure or justice, so she got her start as a detective by solving a missing person case in her area, successfully proving the victim had been kidnapped by his abusive girlfriend but may have still been alive, and giving the police her findings saved the boy. Minori was renowned as a massive hero, especially for the way she promised the boy he didn't owe her anything for saving him but that she couldn't stand the refusal to "dwell on the bad" like that wasn't almost all there was. She isn't an optimist, really, but she wants to believe she can fix things, and she fears being helpless more than anything, even death.

Minori's hardworking personality endears her to Kamiko, who challenges her to push herself harder as Minori does to her. They develop a mutually beneficial relationship that grows into infatuation, as Minori is either really bad at hiding her attraction to Kamiko or just doesn't care (she's bad at it.) Kamiko, however, feels like she can't grow attached to someone else, because focusing on anything but her academic talent will cause her to stumble and fall and lose everything. Minori thinks if anything, anything at all, she deserves to have the one normal teenage experience of falling in love, which kind of drives a rift in their relationship that comes through in Minori's frustration with those around her, as after chapter 2 she has a completely justified meltdown, screaming at everyone that they're all idiots dooming themselves to their own deaths with their selfishness, which is especially directed at Kamiko and Heiran. With a proper understanding of Minori's character, that whole sequence becomes really upsetting. Especially with the notion that the stress of it all literally makes her physically ill as she's later found in one of the bathrooms throwing up. It's literally so much, she puts herself through so fucking much trying to save everyone else.

The real tragedy is, though, after chapter 2, she realizes how deep this whole thing runs. It makes it apparent that she is not going to find the mastermind and make it out alive, and she has to tread carefully to make sure the others don't die because of her. She withdraws and is unsure, just trying to get from day to day without telling anyone she's on the verge of giving up. The fear of giving up is her only driving force, and she wants to make sure she does something, anything- it's the only reason she can survive. If she ever stopped moving, if she ever stopped trying, she may as well die- and she probably would. It would be a slow and painful death on so many levels, so she keeps pressing forward, keeps searching, keeps fighting, keeps watching over everyone. She's quick to forgive Kamiko after she's apologized to Masumi for her behavior, not wanting to hold grudges. She doesn't want to be complicit in anything bad happening to Kamiko because she didn't care enough. She has to help everyone, she tells herself. She has to save them. Is she supposed to just look away from the bad? She fucking can't. She has to save them.

The last three nights before her death, she sleeps with Kamiko. Not in a suggestive sense, in a literal one. It happens simply- Minori knocks on her door gently just before nighttime, and despite Kamiko's hesitation to attachment, she agrees to let Minori share a room with her. One night, then the next, then the next, and then on the fourth she's gone. They find her floating in a water heater.

Kamiko burns her hands trying to fish her corpse out of the 130 degree water. She barely manages to grab her coat, but her clothes and hair are so waterlogged she can barely lift her at all, and can't get her out of the water. She only tries once before the pain is too much to bear. She's devastated, but can't show it. She refuses to show it. She can't give up. She can't stop moving. She can't stumble and fall now. She's already lost Minori, she can't risk figuring out what else she could possible have left to lose.

The nighttime announcement has gone off. They aren't allowed to investigate. Kamiko is a panicked mess, trying to figure out how to fix it. Every instinct in her body is telling her to retreat.

When she gives in to it, Rian walks her to her dorm. She loved Minori, she loved her so fucking much, but it wasn't enough. Minori's determination wasn't enough, Kamiko's love wasn't enough, it wasn't enough. It devastates Kamiko. All she fucking wants is to get Minori back.

Even years later in the sequel, Kamiko is suspected by other characters of being the mastermind looking to avenge Minori's death at the hands of everyone who failed to save her, leading to a scene that has lowkey crushed me to write where Kamiko, still emotionally repressed and just trying to move forward and live a better life, breaks down being reminded of it all, and admits she would have done anything she could to save her. Looking back on it, she wishes with everything in her that she'd just let her hands burn to useless wrecks to get Minori's corpse out of the water heater, or gone with her when she left early in the morning to help her, or just grabbed her by the arm and asked her to stay, but nothing, nothing will ever be enough, nothing will bring her back- Kamiko failed her, and nothing she could do would or could ever avenge her because Minori's death was her failure. She sees it as a failure, and she has held it against herself from the moment they opened the lid of that tank and found her body inside.

The devastation it causes her literally makes her contemplate suicide out of sheer grief. When Rian goes after Alice, she sees for a moment in the heat waves and the terror in Rian's eyes the night they found Minori dead. She sees herself in Rian's desperation, and sees Minori in the burning heat he runs back into to save Alice. It's why she stays. She can't run anymore. She can't evade and just try to survive. She has to be there. She'll wish for the rest of her life that she could have done that for Minori, her first real love, but she follows what Minori would have done in that moment.

In her future design, she wears a blue jacket similar to the green one Minori always wore. The loss weighs on her constantly. The memory hurts, but it comforts her. She knows she's lucky her hands weren't damaged by that one moment of stupidity she dodged out of- Alice and Rian, bearing possibly permanent burn scars, weren't as fortunate. She will forever wish she did. She doesn't want Minori to just be a memory, not yet. Sometimes it feels like she'll forever be that sixteen year old girl with braided hair, her face burning bright red an avoiding eye contact as Minori laughed, gently clasping Kamiko's hand in her own. Minori was everything to her. She has to move on, but she'll love her forever.

She watches the fire, begging to herself that Rian at least will come out. She can't leave. Her own bare-bones survival has taken backseat. She needs them.

I went from 😀 to 😦 so quickly, since I apparently forgot that this is a fan made Danganronpa-

I relate to Kamiko a lot, so that’s most likely why Minori’s body discovery got me fucked up, since if that happened to someone I loved that much, I would react almost exactly like Kamiko

#asks #answered #valleyfthdolls

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endeaavorr · 4 years ago

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PAPA!ENJI AU CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

hello ! this is some new content idea that i thought would help everyone understand their dynamic better, and if this turns out well i’d turn this into an event too, i hope you enjoy. with love, moon. cw : mentions of death, violence, suicide, slight yandere tendencies.

“if you (have to) choose between the fate of your partner or the fate of the world, what will you choose ?”

y/n’s answer : them

y/n is very selfish when it comes to her relationship with enji. there’s something with the way she thinks, that’s just different and not even i, her creator can fathom or tell if it’s good or not. she’s so emotionally intelligent it boosts her and even enji’s publicity. but at the same time, to her nothing matters other than enji and her brothers. she would gladly knock on devil’s door and put a bargain on things no one wants to know what is just to get her way.

enji’s answer : the world

this is pretty obvious. enji is officially japan’s number one hero, with a successful agency to lead aside from it. it naturally makes him a leader that will have no choice but to put others first, it’s his responsibility, it’s his fate.

“will you sacrifice yourself for the other person ?”

y/n’s answer : will

after all the todoroki discourse, y/n considers enji her life and death. she vowed to herself to do everything in her power and beyond to make sure enji can be happy with her. to her, death is painless. it is life that brings misery.

enji’s answer : will

this is self explanatory. even if their relationship remained platonic, enji’s parental love would still let him give up his life for her.

“can you kill your partner if they become a monster ?”

y/n’s answer : can not

as i stated previously, y/n is selfish when it comes to enji. she would rather sit back and watch the world gets consumed by hellfire if it means she can be with enji.

enji’s answer : can

he has his responsibilities as a hero, and sacrificing personal matters is at the top of the list. he knew what it’s like to lose a child, so he can have a better judgement of what he would do. it’d crush him though. he’d be on distraught for a long time.

“will you take revenge if your partner is killed ?”

y/n’s answer : will

enji is a hard man to kill, if he somehow got killed it would be because he was distracted like when dabi revealed himself as touya, or it would be because reinforcement came late. the latter would be worse though, there’s no limit to how far she would go.

enji’s answer : will

unlike y/n’s egocentric temper, enji wouldn’t blame it on reinforcement or other survivors. he’d use all his connections and power as the number one to find whoever’s responsible. i haven’t thought this enough but it’s possible that the grief gets too much for enji to handle, it completely dulls his hero tendencies. he not only will let your killer die a slow and painful death, but also their kid too. an eye for an eye.

“will you follow your partner to death ?”

y/n’s answer : will

there are two scenarios where i thought about this possibility may occur. scenario one would be if enji��s sacrificing himself to save everyone like fighting a villain or gets trapped etc, if that’s the case she’ll stay and let life play whatever joke it has on them, as long as she has him, it doesn’t matter. scenario two would be if enji died without her like for example in a hospital or a battleground where she’s not present, if that’s the case she wouldn’t straight up kill herself, she’ll see what happens after like if it was accidental or planned or anything, but im not disclosing anything though, she can be unpredictable when it comes to enji.

enji’s answer : will not

if the conditions are like as i stated with y/n, on scenario one enji would sacrifice himself with y/n so ‘she at least won’t be alone in her last moments’. meanwhile on scenario two, he’s gonna prompt for revenge, and maybe find a way to bring her back.

“possibility of marriage ?”

y/n’s answer : there is not

enji’s answer : there is not

enji is legally still married to rei in this au. even if their marriage wasn’t built on love and it’s practically ended, a divorce will stain his and his family’s name. they had a talk about this about two years after both of them became a thing, and there’s a mutual agreement on this matter. the todoroki legacy that has been built is way too valuable to taint. enji feels bad though, y/n has sacrificed way too much, even more than rei did. so enji did give her a promise ring, making it clear that he’s not messing with her feelings or taking her for granted. he wears that ring in place of his first one that he got with rei. on a more simple answer, i’m sure incest marriage is illegal. (too bad)

“at the end of the world will you be with your partner ?”

y/n’s answer : will

enji’s answer : will

there’s no need to elaborate further on y/n’s answer. however enji’s a bit tricky since he should be trying to save people, right ? but no. he’s still a person with his own desires before he is a hero. it’s not like the world ever sacrificed its life for him anyways. enji would stop by rei’s place where natsuo and shoto lives to give a last apology, then go somewhere nice with y/n to watch the skies darken for the last time.

“will you tell lies to your partner ?”

y/n’s answer : will

enji’s answer : will

both of them are similar in this. i guess this is where the todoroki genes take place. she would only do harmless lies like birthday surprises and when she’s hiding her struggles or something because really there’s nothing for her to lie about, while enji would lie to protect her from the harsh knowledge of the grown up’s world. he thinks you’re still too innocent for the world, and he’d like to keep it that way.

“your partner has been killed to end their hellish suffering, will you revive them ?”

y/n’s answer : will

by now, it’s clearing up that she has some yandere tendencies. it’s not to the extent that she beheads any woman breathing the same air as enji, but it’s enough to be delusional at times. in this case, if enji was killed then she’d go into a craze frenzy. it’s even worse because people will come up to her and say shit like “he’s happy now.” she’d think “he was happy with me too” and mutter it lots of times. kinda scary to the people around her, and if given the chance to revive him, she’d take it in a heartbeat. she’s sure she can make him happy.

enji’s answer : will not

well, how do i say it. enji do loves her, but the years difference in life experience between him and y/n makes all the difference. he thinks rationally, like a normal person do. he’s not that confident in making y/n happy in the first place either, it’s not like she was free from his shitty jerk behaviour back then, if not she even sometimes took the hit for his brothers too. he’s not sure if he ever really made you happy despite trying his best. thus if given such situation, his insecure ass would consider it best if he lets what has happened, happened.

“can you live your position and responsibility for your partner ?”

y/n’s answer : can

y/n’s still quite young, only a few years in her hero career. she doesn’t really have a lot to stake on to be frank. especially with her pesonality, it won’t be a hard choice. hell if enji asks her to be a homemaker she’d be delighted to resign.

enji’s answer : can not

he has too much responsibility, having achieved that much in such a young age means he has a lot in stake. it’s unprofessional too, it irks him to be anything other than that.

“what are the last words you will say to your partner before you part ways forever ?”

y/n’s answer : i will care for you always, that was my part of the deal.

enji’s answer : i’m sorry.

in my au, i only consider this possible to happen if rei wanted to get back together and enji had no choice but to agree. it would be a long shot though, it’s canon in my au that y/n despises her mother, she’d be on her neck the moment she got off the hospital, keeping her away from enji as much as possible. but if this scenario did somehow happen, i think y/n would give in. he’d do anything for enji at the end of the day. (as long as they still fuck regularly tho)

“would they want to meet each other again if they were reborn ?”

y/n’s answer : i want to

enji’s answer : i want to

maybe this time, he won’t be so insecure and flawed. maybe this time, she would fight harder for him.

“finally, one word to describe their relationship ?”

moon’s answer : romantic.

maybe they were doomed from the very start, but they loved each other with all they had. maybe it was wrong, and ugly at times, but still they were two romantics yearning for each other.

this is the end of the character breakdown, thank you so much for making it this far and enjoying my papa!enji au. i appreciate all of you so much.

#papa!enji #endeavor x reader smut #endeavor x reader fluff #enji todoroki #enji todoroki x reader #enji todoroki x reader fluff #endeavor headcanons #enji todoroki headcanons #mha headcanons #bnha headcanons

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mister-supernova · 4 years ago

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This Isn’t Goodbye

Pairing: Hope Mikaelson x Reader

No one expected today to escalate the way it did. The Salvatore School had its fair share of chaos this entire year, and having a group of grown adults barge onto school grounds with guns and bark orders while treating supernatural kids like the scum of the Earth surprisingly wasn’t the worst thing that was going to happen to you today.

Without the ability to access your powers, none of the students could defend themselves and there was no one else around to protect any of you. The members of the triad were ruthless and especially dangerous with their Malivore mud bullets that could poison any student who crossed the line.

Unfortunately, you and Josie bit the end of one of those bullets. It wasn’t even supposed to hit you, but a shard managed to bounce off the floor and dig into your leg.

At first, you didn’t know you were hit until you could feel your energy escaping you with every minute that passed. You thought that maybe you were just dehydrated, then you looked down and noticed the blood seeping through your jeans--your blood.

Part of you didn’t know how you were able to stay on your feet while you, Hope, Lizzie, and Jo were forced to go into the werewolf holding cells in the basement. Lizzie was tending to Josie on one side of the cell on a cot while you and Hope were sat up against the wall on the other side of the room.

“You’re going to be okay, Y/n. I swear. Once we find a way to figure out what’s blocking our magic, we’ll get that out of you as quickly as possible.” Hope says, her voice wavering ever so slightly. It made you smile, hearing the big, brave, tribrid worry for you.

When you first met Hope, you weren’t sure that she had any interest in you once so ever. She was the mysterious, martyr-complex heroine trying to find her purpose in the world. She never let herself get too close to anyone because of her fear of losing them.

Like MG, you were Dr. Saltzman’s student assistant when it came to taming the out of control werewolves of the school, so you saw Hope more often than the other students did. It was probably two years ago--about a year after meeting Hope--that you guys spoke more than three words to each other.

You made yourself comfortable around Hope fairly quickly after becoming friends. She would never say that you two became friends so fast, but you believe otherwise.

Unlike the many other students who tried befriending Hope and ended up backing down on her due to the fact that she was very stubborn, you never gave up on her.

Instead, you continued to be your usual goofball self around her. You’d tell her one terrible joke every day and even though she acted like she loathed it, she always looked forward to hearing them.

Sometimes you would catch her sitting alone at one of the tables in the library either reading for one of your classes or studying for an exam. You’d pull up a chair and sit right beside her, nearly talking her ear off for half an hour while she pretended not to listen when really she was taking in every detail. You knew this because you’d notice her smile softly from behind her book.

The two of you grew close, but you never expected yourself to develop feelings for Hope that were deeper than friendship. You believe they started when she let herself really smile and laugh at your dumb jokes. Something about the way her eyes crinkled when she was really happy made your heart grow three sizes.

You’ve made it a point throughout your friendship to tease Hope anytime you saw her show concern for you and your friends.

“Is this the Hope Mikaelson worrying about someone?” Your voice was already starting to sound groggy and you could feel the poison spreading up your body at a painfully slow pace, “You sure you weren’t shot, too?” You ask, feeling her head with the back of your hand which she quickly removes with her own, “You’re cute when you’re worried, Mikaelson.”

“I can’t believe you're making a joke of this right now.” She tells you, not letting go of your hand.

“Sorry. Would you prefer that I act out the excruciating pain this Malivore bullet is making me feel, instead? I could also make a list of every body part that feels like it’s on fire if you have the time.” The serious look in her eyes only made you smile more. You never let your sense of humor falter, even in your possible last moments.

“Why do you always do that?” Hope wonders with a half-hearted chuckle as she shakes her head at you.

“Do what? Be unbelievably hilarious even though I’m on my way to my impending doom?” You hush your voice as low as possible so that Lizzie and Josie couldn’t hear you from the other side of the cell. As much as you enjoyed making a joke of this situation, you weren’t sure the twins would feel the same way.

“You just smile and act like everything is okay. Like you aren’t in any pain.”

You in fact were in the worst pain of your life, but the last thing you were going to do was let her see that. The infection of the bullet had made its way to your lower back at this point and it felt worse than any other sort of pain you’d ever felt prior to this moment.

Seriously, you’d rather shift into your werewolf form for the rest of the day than feel this bullet destroying you from the inside out.

“Well, maybe--let’s say this situation goes sour and we can’t figure out how to get the evil mud out of my body--I don’t want you to see me in absolute agony and I don’t want that to be the last thing you remember about me.”

Hope squeezes your hand, not even wanting to imagine how you must be feeling right now.

You squeeze hers back, “But I know with you here, I’ll be okay no matter what happens.”

Tears began to fill the bottom of her eyelids, making the usual spark in her blue eyes--that you also started to fall for--go dull. Seeing her on the verge of crying caused your smile to fade.

She had lost so many people she cared about because of her and she didn’t want you to be the next. The thought of that hadn’t crossed your mind until now.

“Hope, it’s going to be okay.” You tell her with the most assurance you could. You knew that the chances of you surviving this weren’t certain, but the last thing you wanted to see was Hope cry. The sight of that would be more painful than the bullet.

She nods silently before leaning her forehead against your shoulder and squeezing your hand with all the strength she could muster. You squeezed back, assuring her that you still had a good amount of your own strength left.

Then you pressed a kiss to the top of Hope’s head, “I’m not going anywhere,” you whisper into her hair, “There isn’t anyone else I want listening to my stupid rants and laughing at my dumb jokes. Come to think of it, I don’t think anyone else would.”

A small chuckle manages to escape the tribrid and when she looks back up at you, you can’t tell if she thinks you're the biggest idiot in the world or the greatest person to exist. You decided to go with the second one judging by the faint smile she was giving you.

It wasn’t until a few seconds passed that you realized how close her face was to yours. Her nose could practically touch yours if you were to slightly rotate your head to the right.

Super hearing or not, you were sure that everyone in the cell could hear how fast your heart was beating right now and it wasn’t because of the Malivore bullet.

You glanced down at her lips for less than a second and that was all you needed to do to know that you really wanted to kiss Hope Mikaelson. It wasn’t like you haven’t wanted to in the past, but in this moment you thought that this could be your last chance.

“Hope, I-”

The moment vanished at the sound of a familiar vampire running towards your cell--MG. Josie remained on the bed while you, Lizzie and Hope talked with him from behind the bars that he had now unlocked.

After being caught up on how his mother is an agent working for Triad and that there’s a terrifying bloody skull sculpture in the school tunnels that’s blocking off the witches’ magic, you looked over at Hope.

“Looks like that’s your cue,” she looks at you and Josie, who is looking a lot paler than earlier, “The school needs you and so does Landon. Go be a hero, Mikaelson.”

Hope gives you one last awed smile before taking a confident step towards you and gently pulling your neck down to meet her lips with yours. To catch yourself from falling forward in surprise, your hands find her waist and you let out a content sigh.

For a moment, the pain from the Malivore bullet was long forgotten and all you had to focus on was the beautiful woman in front of you. You couldn’t care less that Lizzie, Josie, and MG were witnessing your first kiss with the tribrid. In your mind, they weren’t even there. For all you knew, it was just you and Hope in the world.

The kiss didn’t last nearly as long as you wanted it to, but given that some of you were in a life or death situation, you thought maybe it was for the best. When Hope pulled away, she leaned her forehead against yours while her fingers still traced along the back of your neck.

“Now, you really better come back.” You say breathlessly, feeling another smile grow on your face.

“You better be here when I do,” she whispers with a hint of seriousness in her voice.

“Will I get another one of those if I am?”

She smiles, taking a small step away from you, “We’ll see.”

this is my first time posting an imagine like this, so i hope you guys like it ;) i’m making this a little mini series (idk how many parts yet) but part 2 will be coming very soon!

#hope mikaelson #hope mikaelson imagine #hope mikaelson x reader #legacies imagine #legacies #legacies cw

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vanserraseris · 4 years ago

Note

END OF PART XIII - Eris and his mother talk. I love the Lady of Autumn, and I really hope we see a lot more of her in the next books. Just a warning that there are mentions of character death. Thank you to everyone who reads.

ash stop making me cry

Prince of Ashes. Part XIII.

masterlist.

“Pity you had not been with them.”

His father’s words from earlier that morning rang clear in Eris’s ears as he stood outside the door to his mother’s chambers. What if his mother thought the same? Eris did not want to see the Lady of Autumn, he breathed in deeply through his nose as he stood in the hall outside her room.

He could not bear to face her, not after he’d seen her fall to her knees, her hands fisted in her hair, the anguished cry that had left her lips nothing short of horrible. Eris found himself wishing he could hide under his covers like he’d done as a youngling and wait for this storm to pass, all the others had.

Since Maddox had returned, Cato’s and Owain’s bodies with him, the entire Autumn Court had been thrown into chaos. The territory bordering Winter was left without a leader, the Royal Guard was left without a captain, the people were all left shocked. - Maddox had been quick to put the blame on Eris — for not being there, for spoiling Lucien, for fighting to keep the runt alive the day he’d been born. Eris didn’t blame Maddox for being angry, he’d been angry as well.

Eris had broken the arm of a rich lord for expressing his “sincerest apologies,” Eris was positively certain that he had never been sincere about anything in his entirely too long and worthless life. Eris had also attacked his father’s favourite adviser like some wild beast for suggesting he’d planned the whole thing, that he’d wanted Cato and Owain dead. Eris had nearly strangled him, would have killed him, if Priam and Rufus hadn’t been there to intervene.

Eris felt like everything was falling apart.

With one last exhale, Eris knocked softly on his mother’s door. Rufus had begged him to speak to her, tears in his eyes. She’d gone to the courtyard to see the funerary pyres earlier that day and hadn’t spoken to anyone since. His mother did not answer. Eris had not been expecting her to. He pushed the door open slowly, trying to steady his shaking hand.

His mother was sitting on the edge of her large bed, staring at the wall, her russett eyes emptier than he’d ever seen them before. Eris had seen corpses that looked more alive.

“Mother?” Eris noticed that there were no flames in the fireplace. The constant crackling and snapping sounds of a roaring fire usually set his mind at ease, so with half a thought, Eris lit some of the small candles in the room, the fireplace coming alive with the slight lift of his fingers.

Her voice was void of any emotion as she responded. “I did not ask for you.”

Eris flinched as he walked towards her, “I know.” He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to muster his softer side, he’d been angry and rude all day. Eris was going to be like Rufus, he was going to be kind and loving, he could be kind and loving if he tried. He decided to get on his knees by the edge of his mother’s bed, thinking it would be better if he wasn’t looking down at her as he spoke.

“I did not want children,” his mother whispered, her eyes still staring at the wall. “Not with him.”

“I know.” It was no secret that his mother was sold into marriage with Beron against her will. Sometimes Eris forgot how young she had been when she’d married the High Lord of the Autumn Court, how young she’d been when she’d had her first child.

“I would pray to the Mother, beg her not to bring a child into this home, every night. It scared me, thinking about what he might do to my children. I had thought the Mother was deaf to my prayers when I learned that I was pregnant with you.” The Lady of Autumn turned to face her eldest son, an unreadable emotion in her eyes, “But you were born, and you were small, and precious and I loved you more than anything, loved each of your brothers the same.”

She looked at Eris as tears filled her eyes, “I tried so hard, Eris. You know that I tried?”

His mother had sounded so uncertain, so unsure of herself. Eris nodded, “We all know that you did your best.” Eris didn’t know if he could actually speak for the rest of his brothers, but even if none of them cared about anything else, Eris knew they cared about their mother.

She took a shaky breath, “I fear that the Mother remembers those prayers, Eris, that she is punishing me for them, and I will be doomed to watch all my sons die.” Eris did not respond, not knowing what to say. On his knees in front of her, Eris felt like he was about to beg for her forgiveness. Perhaps he should. Eris stiffened when his mother lifted her hand. It hovered between them for a moment before she put her hand back to her lap, the black skirts of her dress rustling. “You always did that,” she mumbled. “The only child I'd ever seen flinch away from his mother’s touch.”

He would have rather she hit him. “I’m sorry.” The words coming from his mouth sounded hollow, unused, but he meant them.

She shook her head, red curls bouncing, “It’s hardly your fault.” She turned both her hands, palms up, a silent offering. Eris knew his mother wouldn’t hold it against him if he didn’t reach out to take them. “Have you been to the courtyard?”

Eris placed one of his hands into hers, “No.” Eris didn’t know if he wanted to go, even if all the others had gone.

She traced his knuckles with her thumb, “You should, they look at peace.” She tightened her hold on his hand, her voice dropping to a whisper again. “I didn’t know it would hurt this much, Eris, like someone’s ripped out my heart.” Tears streamed down her face, and she actually looked like she might have been in physical pain.

She shook her head, “You know, Cato sounded a bit like Rufus when he laughed.” Eris didn't know that, didn’t know what Cato sounded like when he’d laughed, didn’t think he’d heard him before. Eris was finding it hard to breathe. His mother’s grip on his hand tightened even more, “My little boys, Eris, I’ve failed them.” Eris was going to burn the house to the ground. He didn’t think their mother had failed them, he didn’t think if he said it to her it’d make anything better.

“Tell me what to do,” Eris almost begged, “Tell me what I can do to help.”

She took another shaky breath, voice wavering as she said, “I don’t want him to light the pyres, Eris.”

“I'll do it,” he could convince his father to let him do it.

She nodded once, letting go of his hand, “Thank you.”

Eris took that as the dismissal it was, getting back to his feet.

“Eris?” She reached out for the black sleeve of his embroidered jacket, holding it tightly.

He froze, waiting a moment before he asked, “Mother?”

“I love you very much.”

Eris thought he could feel something in him crack, thought he felt something inside him break. Eris didn’t remember the last time someone had told him that and he’d believed it. Eris wasn’t even sure if he believed it now. He leaned down, kissing her cheek as he mumbled, “Love you.”

She let go of his sleeve, nodding once. Eris glanced back to his mother one final time before he left the room. She’d gone back to staring at the wall, unmoving. Eris had never noticed how small she was, how the large skirts of her dress seemed to swallow her whole.

As soon as he’d shut the door behind him, Eris winnowed to the courtyard. It was cool out, the breeze slow and lazy.

In Autumn, funerals started right as the last rays of the sun were disappearing over the horizon, right at the start of the day’s death. The pyres would burn all night — until there was nothing left but ash. He’d have to speak to his father about lighting them, wanting to grant his mother’s wish.

He stood between the two pyres now. Someone had washed away the blood from their faces, had brushed their hair, had placed golden crowns on their heads. His mother was right, they did look at peace. If Eris didn’t know any better, he’d have thought his brothers were sleeping.

Eris looked closely at Cato. Lucien’s kill, a cruel sort of irony that Lucien had thrown one of Cato’s own knives at him. Eris remembered when Cato had been born. His father had put a heavy hand on his shoulder, leaned in close and had told him in a low voice that he was expendable. Eris had been sent to a war camp the next day. It was no surprise that they had resented each other, that they grew more bitter year by year. But Cato had warned him about Beron, and Eris was grateful.

Eris turned to face Owain. He’d been a hero in Autumn, born before the War and grown up to fight in it. Everywhere, people told tales of his victories in battle. It was almost impossible for Eris to believe what Maddox had told them all. Owain dropping his sword as Tamlin lunged at him didn’t seem like a mistake he would have made. Maddox had also made sure to tell Eris that Owain wouldn’t have killed Lucien, wouldn’t have let Cato do it either. For whatever reason, Eris believed it.

Eris awkwardly stood there, well aware that he couldn’t really mourn them, he barely knew them. Eris was certain about one thing — he should have been there, Eris would have been able to stop this from happening.

Eris felt ancient.

With a long sigh, he sat on the ground between his dead brothers. They’d been his greatest rivals, his strongest opponents. There was no other way in the Autumn Court. Eris made a promise to himself that when he became High Lord, he’d change it.

Cauldron, Eris thought, they were all so fucked up. He wondered when Beron had stopped pulling their strings, when the sharp words and harsh actions were no longer dictated by their father, when cruelty had become a part of them. He wondered when they had stopped seeing each other as brothers and started seeing each other as obstacles.

When Eris had been very young, he’d liked sneaking out of the Forest House. He couldn’t do anything, couldn’t really go anywhere, but he sometimes found himself lying on the ground, staring up at the sky. He did the same thing now. Sprawled on his back, Eris stared up at the blue sky, noticing that there wasn’t a single cloud in sight. If anyone walked by and saw him on the cold, hard ground between his brothers’ funeral pyres, surely they would think he’d gone mad, but Eris didn’t care.

Eris figured this would be his last chance to say something to his brothers, but he was old, and he’d seen many die, and he felt as though the dead couldn’t hear him anyway. It occurred to Eris that he could apologize for never being there when they’d needed him, but Eris didn’t think apologies meant much if you weren’t forgiven. Eris took a deep breath, his chest aching, he couldn’t very well say nothing — it didn’t seem right.

His voice wavered as he said, “Cauldron save you,” words he remembered his mother speaking at the pyres of her dead sisters. “Mother hold you. Pass through the gates, and smell that immortal land of milk and honey. Fear no evil. Feel no pain.” They’d felt enough while they’d been alive, Eris thought, Eris understood. He took a shaky breath as he whispered the last words of the short prayer, the wind carrying them. “Go, and enter eternity.”

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holdmyowos · 4 years ago

Text

Little Bird (Hawks x Yandre Reader)

Includes: Non con, yandre reader

Quirk: Swallow (the type of bird): you have a pair of wings and two long tail feathers.

Your first day at the hero agency. You were looking forward to this. The number two and number five heroes working together? It would make news halfway across Japan. The crime rate would be next to none in the city you two resided in. Last week, you had interviewed to be a partner to Hawks, in the business sense, of course. His real name was Keigo Takami. He was a handsome guy, perhaps the hottest dude you had ever seen, and you were instantly infatuated. Luckily, he had taken a shine to you as well, though perhaps not in the way you liked. “Birds of a feather have to stick together, right?” He had joked. How many times had you heard that? All your life people had thrown bird jokes and insults your way. He had to have the same experience, but here he was, dishing it out. You rolled your eyes. On your way out of the interview, one of his secretaries remarked quietly to her friend, “Oh, great, another bird brain.” Hawks did not care, and just went up to her and struck up a conversation about some random thing. She was in your way. You would need to take care of her.

The first week went by, and as you expected, crime rates were near nothing, so you had nothing to do but greet fans and make public appearances with Hawks. Since he was so outgoing, next to him you seemed timid, shy, and kind. Slowly, you flirt with him a bit, until it becomes nearly obvious. He seemed perhaps uninterested in you, or more focused in his work. Either way, he never makes any comment that could lead that he likes you back, other than things that he says to all. One thing you had noticed, was that every time you called him sir, he would become flustered. “You have wings, but can’t use them? That’s odd. How did you even get to the fifth hero spot like that?” He asked. “Sir, I never really needed them, with my eyesight and hearing, not to mention my fast reflexes. Besides, what if I tried and fell?” You looked up to him for guidance. He cleared his throat, blushing. “Well, first of all, please don’t call me sir. Second of all,” he took a step away from you. “Don’t look at me like that. And third, I’ll show you how to use your wings,” he decided for you, letting your feathers from your wing stretch between his fingers. It felt odd, almost intimate. No one ever touched them. You stiffened up.

“Hawks, not like this! I’m not ready!” You wailed from the roof of the skyscraper. How had he dragged you up here, again? It was just after your hero agency had closed, at nine. It was dark out. “You’ll be fine! Just jump and spread your wings like a little birdie!” He made dumb flapping motions with his hands. You sighed, clinging to the pole as if it was a raft in the ocean. He came over and pried you off of the metal. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll catch you. You know of my trademark speed, obviously.” He flashed you a smile with a winking eye. That guy was sure something. What, exactly, you did not know. Caught up in your thought, he took the chance to push you off the roof. Time seemed to stand still as you saw him practically push you to your death, the traitor. You gave him a murdorous look and gave out a very undignified screech as you plummeted to your certain doom. “Spread your wings!” Hawks reminded you, shouting. The ground was coming up at you too fast. You were going to be nothing but a splat on the ground. You curled into a ball, as if a cannonball on concrete. Surprisingly, there was no pain. You slowly lifted your wings’ feathers off your eyes to see what was going on. You were… flying? No, your wings were still curled up. Hawks’ strong arms were carrying you, his wings beating and flying in a way you were sure yours never could. Seeing that you were okay, he flew up higher than the building. “Are you ready to try again?” You nodded, and he dropped you. This time, you knew he would catch you. You took in a few deep breaths, caught in free fall, and let your wings unfurl. At least you were trying instead of chickening out. Sadly, you just kept tumbling, unable to angle your wings like a real bird. As you got closer to the ground, you started panicking, and spread your wings out as far as possible. It slowed your fall, but it was not enough. Hawks soared under you and caught you, not even taking a heavy breath as he simply continued flying, leaving you at the entrance of the building. “You almost had it! Next time, try using those tail feathers for balance. Or perhaps try off a takeoff from the ground a few times before doing that again? I don’t want to scare you again.” The next words out of his mouth sent shivers down your spine as he leaned in close, golden eyes staring at you, his lips ghosting over yours. “...unless you’re into that type of thing?” All too quickly, he had put your feet back down on the ground, and had flown away into the dark sky.

Everyone in the office seemed pretty upset the next day. Apparently, a villain had killed one of your secretaries. Sure, your popularity had dropped, since you could not even keep someone that worked in the same building as you safe, but things happen. Thankfully, everyone forgot about her and got over it.

Hawks invited you over to his house. It was so out of the blue, you had almost declined, but you could not say no to the chance to be with him. He did not name a specific occasion, nor did he say it was for a date. Now you stood next to your closet, trying to figure out what was appropriate to wear. You decided to wear your favorite outfit, hoping it would be okay.

When you got to his house, you realized how rich the man was. It was ginormous. Being the second most popular hero has its perks. You, on the other hand, had no clue how much you had since most of it went directly to savings. Perhaps you should check it out. You pressed the button on the large black iron gate, hoping it was a doorbell of sorts. The spiked on the top of the gate seemed intimidating, and there were many security cameras. The gates swung inwards quickly with a snap. You walked in, and Hawks greeted you with an open door. The inside of his house was quite odd. He looked up to what you were staring at. “This used to be an old firehouse, before I renovated it. As you can see, I took out the fire pole.” You saw what he meant. When you stood under it, you saw that the hole still went up through all five floors of his house, with each floor being about fifteen feet high. “How do you get up to the other floors?” You asked, feeling dumb as soon as the words were out of your mouth. He looked at you as if you might be stupid too. “I fly. And the only other person that I bring here sometimes; her name’s Mirko, can jump that high.” Wow. What type of quirk could make someone jump that high? Too bad that you could not fly like that. The two of you ‘hung out’ as Hawks would have put it, not really doing anything but staying on the bottom floor and talking. The next week, he had invited you again. You noticed that he had just put in an elevator. How rich could he be to put in an elevator in a week? When you asked him about it, he mumbled snippets of answers, like “Well I would have needed to get one eventually.” That day he let you explore his big house. He even had a pool on the roof. That seemed a bit structurally iffy, but it seemed to work. He even let you see his bedroom.

You had stalked Hawks for about a month now, and you were ready to go on with your plan. You knew you were insanely in love with him, but it could not be helped. You needed him, but you did not have the courage to tell him that you liked him. What if that ruined your friendship? No. Instead, you had come up with a better way to see him. You knew that it was weird, but you felt the need to do it.

Since you had already been there twice before, you easily avoided the numerous cameras and security measures, keeping your wings tucked in close. You climbed silently up his terrace, feeling like the Romeo to his Juliet, or the prince to his Rapunzel. Sadly, his room was on the fifth floor, and the trellis only reached the third floor. You would have to fly from here, and carefully.

You had secretly trained your wings since Hawks had helped you realize that perhaps they were for something better than just being pretty. You were only able to go short distances, built you could fly. Doing a straight line upwards would still be too hard. You started having doubts about how well your plan was going to work. You decided to fly in a diagonal pattern up to the floor, hoping that it would work. You beat your wings hard to get the momentum to propel yourself upwards. There was no wind to help you either.

You land silently on his balcony, wings spread wide to balance. You pick the lock easily, and you hope the hinge does not squeal. You shut the door slowly, and sigh in relief. The hard part was over. You turned to see Hawks. His feathers practically shone in the moonlight, his breaths light and quick. He never awoke once. When you realized what a heavy sleeper he was, you returned a few times.

One night, you took your normal position kneeling next to his bed, and realized something. To your delight, he was not wearing any clothes. Your hungry eyes roved over his naked body, studying the way his muscles moved as he breathed. Since he had never awoken before, touching him could not do anything, right? You gently placed your hand on his beautiful chest, and slowly trailed it down to his abs, your hand landing slightly on his v-line. Would you dare peek? Your curiosity got the better of you, and you looked down. Oh. He must be having a wet dream, because on the top of his length there was a wet pool of moisture. Surprisingly, the handsome guy never brought any pretty girls home, so you would have to help him out. You were more than happy to do just that, reaching down and squeezing him. From then on, almost every other night you ‘help him out’, sometimes even letting him inside of you.

Sadly, this took a toll on your body. During the day, you were tired, unable to concentrate well. If it pleased him, why would a little sleeplessness matter, you told yourself. Every day after you had slept with him your eyelids would fall in the middle of the workday, no matter what you were doing. Frequently, you found your assistant shaking you awake to deal with a villain. Your trips to his house were much less frequent.

“Hey, Y/N. We need to talk.” Hawks said. He laced his fingers together, as if gathering his thoughts, wondering what to say. “What’s disturbing you?” You said in your sweetest voice. He ruffled his hair. “It’s just that… you seem tired and unfocused lately. I can try and help. I’m here for you, you know.” You nodded. “Thanks, but it appears something is bothering you, not me. Out with it, Hawks.” He seemed hesitant. When was he ever hesitant? When you gave him a small smile, he cracked. “Well, I suppose it is a bit weird to talk about around another person, but for some reason, I feel better this month than I ever have. I’ve been having this dream that this angel of the night comes into my room and… well…” he struggled for words. “...sleeps in my bed. I’ve been having this dream for awhile. It’s was just so realistic. I didn’t even long for my ex anymore, they felt so real. Nothing like that could happen in real life, right? I mean, all my security and stuff, not to mention I sleep on the top floor. It used to happen almost every night, and after the dream was done, I would wake up feeling better than I ever had. But now, it’s gone, and the night is dreamless.” He flopped down onto his swivel chair.

Not wanting him to get suspicious, but happy he confided in you, you say, “Well, with all the security you have, I’m sure, there is no way that anyone could possibly get into your bedroom without you knowing, sir.” He nods and dismisses you. At least you knew that he enjoyed what you did. Once you had gotten well rested, you went back over to his house for another night of ‘fun’. As you get on top of him, he moans. “Songbird please.” You freeze, but realize that he is still asleep, his breath even. He never said that before. How cute. You continue to pleasure him, unaware of the black orb camera hidden in the corner that has been watching you every time you came into his room or left.

With an ending like that, I’m thinking of making a part two. Let me know in the comments!

Part 2: https://holdmyowos.tumblr.com/post/649615062271688704/escape-hawks-x-reader

#Hawks #bnha #bnha x reader #bnhaxreader #hawks bnha #hawks x reader

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shenanigans-and-imagines · 4 years ago

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Tell us about your bottled up OC lore

Everything below the cut. I’m serious when I say it’s long.

Loki x Sigyn (Logyn)

Incredibles AU: Sigyn is a superhero and Loki is her sworn arch nemesis. They’re flirted, fought, and occasionally teamed up to take on bigger threats. But, when an act passes forcing all superheroes to go into hiding, Loki finds it’s not fun being a villian without a hero. He finds Sigyn and the pair of them eventually fall in love, get married, and settle down with a couple of kids. But even if Loki can’t deny the happiness his new life brings him, are part of him longs for the adventure and excitement of yesteryear. He’s given an opportunity when a package arrives asking him for his “unique insight” on an upcoming project. How can he resist?

Look, I just want an opportunity to write them both as parents and also have some awkward PTA meetings between him and Sigyn’s fellow hero co-workers.

Just a big ol’ Hunger Games AU that I literally forgot about until just now: Start of the revolution against President Doom lead by survivors of the Hunger Games with Steve Rogers and their new symbol. It’s just two random kids in this universe not one boy one girl.

Tony Stark: Stark is a favorite of the capitol and builds a lot of their tech. He was taken into the games at 15. During the games he was blasted with some shrapnel and had to hide out in a cave. There he met Yinsen and he took pity on Tony. He helped Tony build a makeshift arch reactor to survive the games. Yinsen was killed and Tony survived by inventing weapons and blasting his way out.

Bruce Banner: Bruce is more of a hermit to the public eye, but still close friends with Tony. He was forced into the games at 13. Starting out as a rather timid and quiet boy he spent most of the game simply trying to stay out of everyone’s way, hiding in caves, trees and so on. It came down to the last handful of kids and none of them were particularly motivated to kill the others since all of them had done what Bruce had done and hid. To spice things up the game masters sprayed aggression toxin into the air. All the kids were susceptible to it, but Bruce was the worst. He ended up killing all the kids himself with his bare hands. Although the toxins did wear off Bruce still fears that anger inside of himself. He suffers from PTSD and when he is angry he does become violent.

Thor Odinson: Thor is another one of the capitols darlings. He and Loki entered the games together during an anniversary game in which if one was chosen and had a sibling that sibling must enter the game as well if they are at age. If by the end of the game both siblings are left standing, they can both live. He was 16 at the time. Thor relied on his strength with his preferred weapon being a large hammer. He was also one to form alliances with other members while Loki remained wary. In the end there was Thor, Loki, and two other members of their alliance. Thor wanted to be fair and give the two other survivors a chance. Loki took the opportunity to poison the water they stole from him and Thor in the night. Thor was at first disgusted with what his brother did, but over the years accepted that Loki did it to save both of them.

Loki Odinson: Along with Thor he is a capitol favorite. While Thor plays up the honorable warrior persona, Loki relies on the charming scoundrel. He entered the games with his brother at 15. Loki relied heavily on his wits and traps to survive. Once the alliance was broken he knew the other team would not kill him and Thor in their sleep, but they would steal some of their supplies. Loki made sure to leave food and water in the open for them to take, all of it poisoned. He does not regret anything he did in the games since it lead to Thor and his survival. What he hasn’t told Thor, or anyone, was that he knew that if Thor got in his way of living, he would have let Thor die.

Natasha Romanov: Game master for the reunion Hunger Games, Natasha is actually working for the rebellion as a double agent.

Clint Barton: He is one of the less praised winners; he makes less of a secret in his distaste with the capitol. He doesn’t have any family for the capitol to threaten, so he sometimes says things he shouldn’t. Clint entered the games when he was 14. His brother Barney was chosen as well. For most of the games Barney watched after Clint, both of them were skilled archers and shot at opponents from the trees. Towards the end of the game Barney went down to get some food while Clint waited for him. Barney was captured and tortured by some of the other kids to find out where Clint was, but he didn’t spill. That night Clint heard a boom in the sky and he woke up to see that Barney was dead. Clint spent the rest of the games looking for the rest of the kids and killed them all. Clint is more than ready to fight the capitol and shows it enough for people to catch on it, but not enough for the capitol to kill him.

Juliet Holden: Juliet remains out of the public eye if she can avoid it and spends as much time as she can with her family. She was forced into the games at 17 along with a girl named Beth who as 16. They stuck together throughout the games. Juliet used more hand to hand combat and hiding while Beth was more of an inventor. During an attack Juliet got shocked and Beth helped her through it. Juliet got out alright, but she lost a lot of her pain censors meaning she could take a hit longer. Beth took inspiration and made some make shift gloves that could shock opponents to death. Beth was eventually killed leaving Juliet the winner. Juliet still feels survivor’s guilt about Beth since she was the smarter one between the two of them. She hates the capitol with a burning passion, but unlike Clint has a very large family she needs to protect and care for.

Sigyn Odinson: Wife to Loki, their wedding was shown throughout the capitol making Sigyn as much as a capitol darling as Loki. This was planned by both Loki and Thor to keep Sigyn and Jane safe. If they were capitol favorites the capitol would be less likely to hurt either of them. As a result she became one of the few non-winners to be invited to the capitol. She knows how to be charming and play the role of the dutiful wife. Unfortunately with this new found confidence Thor started speaking more freely his dislike of the capitol. President Doom knew he couldn’t hurt Thor or Loki or their wives so he turned to their children. Jane couldn’t have kids so Loki and Sigyn’s children were forced into the games. Both boys died leaving Sigyn devastated. She no longer went to the capitol with Loki and was an adamant planner in taking down the capitol.

Poe Dameron x Lana Solo (Polo)

Modern AU: I wrote a sum up of it here

Bodhi Rook x Sera Darros

YouTuber AU: Linked Here

Coffee Shop/College AU: Linked Here

10 Things I Hate About You AU:

Jyn: Kat

Sera: Bianca

Bodhi: Cameron

Cassian: Patrick

K-2SO: Michael

Baze: Mrs. Perkey

Chirrut: Mr. Morgan

Draven: Dad

Male OC: Joey

Roadtrip AU:

Sera is going off the college and her adopted brother Cassian and his best friend Kay are helping her move across country.

Along the way they spot a woman having trouble with her car and offer her a ride to the nearest gas station to call a tow. The woman reveals herself to be Jyn Erso. She’s going cross country to meet her father who she hadn’t seen since she was about eight. When she calls the tow they say they can’t get if fixed for a few days. Sera then offers for her to join them on the trip since they’re going in the same direction. Jyn agrees and they’re off.

They travel for about a day when the car breaks down and they have to get it fixed. They go to a local mechanic where Bodhi is working. As he fixes the car he and Sera strike up a conversation where she tells them where they’re going. Bodhi says that he’s going to the same school she is, transferring from junior college. Sera then offers that he come with them since she wants to know someone when she gets there and it would be fun. Cassian begrudgingly agrees since the car isn’t at it’s best and having a mechanic on hand would be helpful.

They travel for another couple of days before eventually reaching a small camp sight. They had been driving all day and all need some rest. The nearest motel is miles always so they decide to camp out. Sera pulls what she can out of the car and makes up a camp using her blankets and sheets. They all have a nice night bonding and fall asleep under the stars.

When they wake up the next morning they find that the car has been stolen and the only things they have left are what they took out of the car the night before. Luckily, a couple, Baze and Chirrut, overheard they’re plight and offer them to ride in their RV. Chirrut and Baze are both former priest road tripping across the country to see what they can see.

Hawkeye Pierce x Elizabeth “Doc” O’Neil

Soulmate AU: Linked Here

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vannahfanfics · 4 years ago

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congrats vannah!!! your lists were amazing and it seems like so much effort, im so proud of you! could i please get aizawa and white please? thank you!

Hey! Thank you so much for requesting for the event, and I’m sorry it took so long! Medical school was very tough for me, so I ended up putting requests on the backburner for a very long time… But finally, it’s here! White symbolizes hospitals, death, and sadness, so… I’m sorry to inflict this upon you, but here’s Aizawa in the wake of the war with the Paranormal Liberation Front. Spoilers for the recent manga chapters!

Drinks on Me

“Hey, this weekend, let’s all go out and get drinks on me!” Nemuri smiled prettily, her long legs crossed as she swiveled back and forth in her chair across from Shota. “It’s been so long since we’ve all been out together. You never know, it could be our last chance!” she grinned while sticking out her tongue and winking playfully. She always said things like that, portents of doom and gloom hidden behind a winning smile, to rope Shota into joining her and Hizashi at clubs and bars.

He should have regarded those for what they really were— omens.

Shota jerked awake, snorting as his muscles spasmed. He laid there for a moment as he clumsily acclimated to the waking world, staring blearily at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above his head. When he finally realized that he was in bed, he exhaled deeply and reached up to rub his eyes with the heels of his palms. In the midst of his fitful sleep, he’d kicked the sheets off himself; the layer of nervous sweat on his skin absorbed the cold wind pushed down by the fan, coating him in a chill. Too exhausted to even bother pulling the covers back over himself, he flopped his arm back down to stare listlessly at the ceiling.

The stump where his leg used to be throbbed painfully, almost as if it were aware he was awake now. He still hadn’t accustomed to the loss of his limb, nor the phantom pains plaguing his nervous system. Even now, he found himself groping for his calf, trying to ease the ache; but he couldn’t massage empty air, so it continued to burn dully, seeping down all the way into his sawed bone.

Groaning, he pulled himself up into a sitting position, grasping the headboard as he hauled himself up. The rest of his body had endured a beating as well, making pain thrum through his nerves to shoot to his spine. He winced and grasped his shoulder, massaging the inflamed flesh until it quieted. He felt like an old man, much older than he ought to— tired, achy, defeated. He inhaled deeply, gathering the will to put on his prosthetic leg. His muscles tweaked in protest as he did, but as he gradually woke up his body and fastened the prosthetic to the stump below his knee, the pain faded into the background.

He limped across his room to his closet, stumbling a little and using the dresser to catch himself. He hadn’t mastered navigating with his new leg, either. He took a moment to catch his breath, sweat already blooming on his clammy forehead, before tottering his way to the closet. He couldn’t tolerate dressing normally— not that he had impeccable fashion sense anyway— so he eased himself into a pair of black sweats and a gray tee and some sneakers. He tied his hair in a loose bun before shambling out the door.

The dorm was alive with activity, but not the normal kind that Shota had become accustomed to. The air hummed with nervous energy as the students— and their parents, who were moving in to keep them safe— flitted about. Most of his pupils still sported injuries from the massive battle several days ago, bandages peeking out from beneath their clothes. But the worst injuries were the ones you couldn’t see, the ones on their hearts still oozing blood and bursting through the stitches at the slightest insult. They would be scars someday, an afterthought until the phantom pains struck when they least expected it.

Theirs would, but not Shota’s. No, Shota’s inner wounds never really healed— and this newest one definitely would bleed for the rest of his life.

A few of them greeted Shota quietly as he limped down the hall heading for the front door. Momo came up to him, asking if she could help him with anything— she had always been such a considerate girl, that one. He smiled and ruffled her poofy black hair, telling her that he was quite all right but thanks anyway. Shota could sure use some help, but there was no aid that any of his students could provide for him. He could feel Momo’s watery eyes boring into his back as he toddled out of the building.

There were so many things that people took for granted every day. The ability to walk down steps without falling flat on your ass was one of them. Shota grimaced as he inched down the steps of the dorm, holding out one arm to seek purchase though there was nothing to grip onto. Somehow, he made it down to the sidewalk without eating shit, but the effort still left sweat beading in the crease lines of his forehead. He blew an irritated breath through his lips and raked his hand over his wavy black hair, taking a moment to let the pain pass before moving on.

Though this region of the city had been spared the carnage of the war with the Paranormal Liberation Front, its effects reached even the city around U.A. There weren’t nearly as many people on the street; Shota was alone most of his commute to the business district, save for the occasional person rushing down the street with suspicious eyes and fearful breaths. Shota could feel eyes on him everywhere, though; nervous onlookers peering out their curtains and blinds, suspicious of everyone in sight. They were all waiting for the inevitable pin to drop, for the next piece in this godawful chess game to move and tell them their next poor fortune. Things would get worse before they got better; everyone knew it, the hapless civilians most of all. Their hope in heroes was teetering on the edge of a knife; if they strayed but a little, everything would fall into ruin.

Many small business owners had closed up shop to skip town, but the liquor store was still open. A pleasant bell chimed as Shota opened the door. The cashier apparently still wasn’t getting much business, as he leaned back in a chair with his feet propped up on the counter, reading the newspaper. As Shota began to walk through the aisles searching for a particular brand of rum, the cashier decided that apparently the news was too dismal to read because he crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash bin.

“Warmongers, the lot of them journalists,” he spat at Shota, who raised his eyebrows at him over the top of the rum bottles he was surveying. “All they’re doin’ is makin’ things worse.”

“Do you have faith in heroes?” Shota asked and looked back down, fingers skimming over the glass bottles emblazoned with coconut trees and beach zines. He smirked when the old cashier snorted derisively.

“Sonny, I been around a long time. This ain’t the first time some upstart has whipped everyone up in a frenzy. The heroes always come out on top because that’s what they do.”

“That’s some unshakable faith you have there,” Shota remarked while plucking his chosen bottle from the rack. He rounded the rack while the cashier hopped up from his chair so he could check Shota out.

“Eh, it comes with age. Nothing rattles ya anymore,” he shrugged, grabbing the bottle to scan it. He put it in a brown paper bag and punched a few of the keys into the cash register. “O’course, a little liquid courage always helps, eh?” he added with a wink. Shota smirked at that, sliding over his credit card. He took the bottle by the neck, crinkling the paper around it.

“Thanks for the advice. Do I need to pay you for that too?” Shota joked.

“Nah, it’s on me this time,” the man responded with a chortle, sliding Shota’s card back. Shota took it and slid it back into his wallet, then bid him a good night. When he walked out, the sun had risen into the sky and was blessing the earth with its warm rays. Yet they didn’t kiss Shota’s skin; a lingering chill wafted around him, blocking out all the warmth to leave him cold. Eventually, he’d feel the sun again, he knew that— but he had a while to go.

It was a short walk to the graveyard. The iron was hot under his fingers as he pushed the unlocked gate open, and it creaked loudly as if to protest. The small gravel marking the winding, meandering path through the various headstones crunched under his feet as he made his way down, counting the rows. At row seven, he turned and walked down until he found a clean headstone above a freshly-turned patch of dirt, a rectangle the size of a person.

Sighing, Shota eased himself down onto his knees, his prosthetic leg stretching out beside him— it was easier on his hip that way. He pulled the brown paper bag off the bottle of rum and then broke the faux gold foil seal. He stared down at it a second, just stared, and then exhaled quietly.

“Hey, Nem,” he murmured. He reached up with his free hand to stroke the top of the stone, which was warmed by the bright spring sun. He fell silent again, throat bobbing as the emotions he’d been surprising for days welled up inside of him. The tears bubbled up and spilled over his eyes, carving through the layer of nightsweat and grime coating his unwashed face to bead in his beard. “I miss you, Nem,” he said finally, voice cracking. “So much.”

His hand shook as it continued to run over the unblemished stone, down over the carved letters reading Kayama Nemuri. He leaned forward to press his forehead against the rock, closing his eyes and squeezing out more of the salty tears. “I never did take you up on that offer for drinks,” he said with a wan smile despite the despair tearing his heart apart. “So I brought you your favorite, on me.” He leaned back, then lifted the bottle to spill the alcohol over the gravestone. The light gray rock darkened as the clear liquid gushed over it, spilling over the smooth surface in rivers. It streamed down to soak into the grass at its base, soaking up the earth down, down, down to Nemuri’s casket six feet under. Shota didn’t drink a drop of the rum; he poured every bit of it over her gravemarker for her to enjoy.

He sat there for a while, even after the hot sun had begun to evaporate the alcohol absorbed by the porous stone. Somehow, sitting there watching the color fade back to normal was cathartic. Like Nemuri was there, enjoying that rum. He could see the smile playing over her lips as she stirred a straw around a piña colada— and that’s when Shota felt the kiss of the sun, warming up his skin. He looked up to squint at the bubbling circle in the sky, then back down at the gravestone. Smirking, he patted the slightly damp rock before using it as leverage to push himself up.

“Thanks, Nem. I’ll be back sometime, with drinks on me, of course,” he chuckled. He couldn’t linger here all day; he had work to do. Some upstart was out there whipping everyone up in a frenzy, and it was up to the heroes to bring him to justice. When they did, Shota would be sure to bring Nemuri a whole liquor store’s worth of rum— on him, of course.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#aizawa shota #aizawa shouta #shouta aizawa #shota aizawa #my hero academia #mha #boku no hero academia #bnha

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ghostinthebau · 5 years ago

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Super Fanfic Rec List -- Iron Dad Edition (because I just wanna share the love)

I’ve had such a blast reading fanfic of the IronDad and SpiderSon variety over the last 6 months or so, and I thought I’d just make a rec list of some of my favorite stories. Most of them are angsty, with whump and hurt/comfort because that’s what I live for.

This is in no particular order or in any way complete because there’s just way too many amazing fics/authors in the Iron Dad fandom, but it will still be hella long, so....here goes!

First off, @yellowdistress:

What We Are series - Bio-dad Tony series that goes all the way through Infinity War. Endgame AU.

Someday I’ll Make it Out of Here series - Adoption AU! It’s so good.

The Missing 92 Days - A take on HYDRA Peter that destroyed me emotionally.

Reviving Peter Parker - This about killed me. Peter actually died during his fight with Toomes and SHIELD brings him back a la the TAHITI project like they did with Phil Coulson.

A Sailor Went to Sea - Gut-wrenching Endgame fix it.

Double, Double

@losingmymindtonight:

Webcams and Webshooters series

I Never Lived ‘Til I Lived In Your Light series - !!! TISSUE WARNING !!! Peter dies, but there’s another one shot with a happier ending if you need it.

And You’ll Blow Us All Away - Adoption fic! A lovely one at that.

5 Times Peter’s Mental Illness Made Him Stumble And The 1 Time He Refused To Falter - I really love a well-depicted take on mental illness, and losingmymindtonight delivered 100%.

If You Can’t Catch A Breath (You Can Take The Oxygen Straight Out Of My Own Chest)

Cyanide? In My Shawarma?

@justme--emily:

The Guardian - Adoption AU with a lovely Loki and Peter friendship!

Radioactive - Peter endures the after effects of the spider bite, and scares bio-dad Tony to death. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

The Good Fight - Peter gets hurt at the airport in Germany instead of Rhodey.

@iron--spider:

ever in your favor - Hunger Games AU and an epic work of art!

Lazarus, come forth - The Endgame fix it before Endgame. Peter will break your heart.

dear mr. fantasy

this isn’t a game - Highly underrated fic based off the PS4 Spider-Man game. I’ve never even played the game, and I loved this story.

what if there is no tomorrow? - This story actually made me kinda like Justin Hammer, if you can believe it.

blindness

@tempestaurora:

hydra’s not a home series - HYDRA Peter, and also bio-dad Tony and bio-mom Pepper!

i’ll find you in the drift - Pacific Rim AU, and I have never seen PR, but I adored this so much.

it’s okay, we’re okay [whumpvember 2018] series

@jolinarjackson:

Lights To Guide You Home series - Another adoption AU. They are my weakness, and this is one of the best out there.

... and when you can’t crawl ...

Damaged At Best (Like You’ve Already Figured Out)

@blondsak:

No Life But This

come morning light (you and I’ll be safe and sound)

Burying Grounds - Eeeek! Tony has to choose between saving Peter or Pepper and it hurts.

hold on, hold on

Something the Soul Needs

@madasthesea:

turn back the clock (and I’ll try again in the morning)

when my body won’t hold me anymore (where will I go)

They have so many other lovely looking fics--including an adoption au series (which I, of course, love), but I just haven’t gotten around to reading them yet. I’m pretty sure anything they write is golden. :)

@signofuncertainty:

It’s Always the Little Things

I’m sure their other fic, The Third Option, is fantastic and I really, really wanna read it but I’m trying so hard to wait until it’s complete! It’s really difficult to wait, though, tbh....I may give in soon.

@upcamethesun:

Twelve Days Of Peter Parker - So cute and fluffy, and then it kills you at the end.

5 Times Peter Made Tony Laugh Out Loud

5 Times Tony Didn’t Need To Worry About Peter

5 Times Peter Pretended To Be Tougher Than He Was

@frostysunflowers:

Between how it is and how it should be - This story made me love a Peter and Bucky friendship.

@kitcat992:

Identity Theft - This was one of the very first Iron Dad fics I read, and it was a doozy. Full of whump, medical accuracy, and hurt/comfort! The author is posting a sequel now, too: Identity Crisis. :D

For Pete’s Sake!

@camelot-queen:

Goner - A perfectly heartbreaking kidnapping fic, but heed the warnings!

Who Saves The Hero

Never Meet Your Heroes

i’m the satellite (and you’re the sky) - Tony is Peter’s bio-dad but Peter doesn’t know it. I haven’t actually finished this yet, but it’s good. So, so good.

@peter-stank:

built from scraps - YOU GUYS, this is one of the best fics I’ve read on AO3. It’s a ‘Tony gets dusted instead of Peter’ AU, and it’s got such an amazing dynamic between Peter, Pepper, and Morgan. It’ll also make you tear up a few times, at least.

@geekymoviemom:

Sins of the Fathers - So, I’ve only read the first 5 chapters of this epic length (303k words@) adoption AU so far, but I’m LOVING it so I wanted to add it here. They also have an even longer bio-dad Tony with added Stony bonus series, Pieces of Echoes, that they’re posting the 3rd installment to right now. I’ll definitely be checking it out!

@too-many-bees:

let’s kick it

like a bridge over troubled water

@jbsforever:

it’ll be over (and I’ll still be asking when)

@tnyystark:

where the memories reside

@whumphoarder:

Quieting the Void series - Peter kinda has an eating disorder due to the spider bite, so take care if you read!

Poison Apple - Loved how medically accurate this was, and Ned’s reaction to Peter’s condition was heartbreaking.

@seek-rest:

It Hurts to Become

Someday We’ll Know - This is a Walk to Remember AU, so there’s MCD. I’ve gotten about halfway through, but I can only read it when I’m in the right mindset. But it’s lovely and so well done.

This author has so many fics that I’m sure are amazing, and they’re on my ‘to read’ list when I’m in the mood for beautiful Spideychelle stories.

@caraminha:

The Primary Reason Tony Stark Would Throw Down With an Anti-Vaxxer in the Street - Hella scary depiction of Peter with tetanus, and it’s SO GOOD.

@tonystarkstan:

it all comes back to this

skeletons series

to build a home series - I love recovery fics, and this was a beautiful story of Peter dealing with the aftermath of being snapped and coming back.

lay your weary head to rest

@foolscapper:

Exploding Head Syndrome - Everyone comes back when the snap is reversed, but Peter is sort of catatonic--stuck between the living world and the soul stone where he’s with Gamora. It’s such a lovely fic.

@alice-in-ink:

It’s a Little Bit We Do

Danger Pizza

@legalassie:

oh, darling - Peter’s kidnapped and Tony frantically searches for him--one of my favorite things. Peter uses his smarts to help him get out of the situation, too, which is also one of my favorite things.

don’t think about tomorrow.

@blackwatchandromeda:

Broken Thoughts (I Remember Everything)

Leave Me to Dream

A Nightmare to Remember

@emma--anacortes:

Accepting the Tides - Here I am with another adoption AU. Can you see a pattern yet? I love them, and this one has danger and whump and comfort as well.

@ardenskyedarcy221b:

they are standing in the garden - This hurt. Several times the author had me tearing up and there’s a few lines that will stay with me forever. It was just immensely lovely to read.

@iamallyetnotatall:

At the Start of the Universe - This was so much better than I was expecting! Peter is an Angel, and he knows Tony from the very beginning of the universe. It’s different, but absolutely gorgeous.

@starktowr:

somewhere outside my life - I don’t wanna say too much, but just read this. It’ll break you and you’ll love it.

@jessicagoddamnjones:

too bad (but it’s the life you lead)

@silver-bubbles:

The Fire’s Out (But Still It Burns)

@day-dreamer176:

Like A Strike of Lightning - I kinda took this as a demonic possession a la Supernatural, but I don’t think it actually was. Either way, it was fantastic.

fifty-four

five, tops

The World Stopped

@ambivalentmarvel:

Into His Fold series - Where Thanos brings Peter back from the ashes to make him into his new son (a la Nebula and Gamora).

@notaparty-trick:

Doom and Gloom - A ‘Peter doesn’t get dusted’ AU, filled with whump and Iron Dad and an awesome Carol Danvers. Angst!!!

Dust and Blood - Peter is hurt much worse when Toomes drops the building on him. More angst!!!! This author does angst very well.

@ema--vee:

You don’t have to hold your head up high - Peter can’t thermoregulate! I love that trope.

@forensicleaf:

All the Things We’ve Lost (And All the Things We’ve Gained) - This one gutted me, and then made it better. But there’s pain to be had before the comfort!

They just posted the first chapter of a new WIP that looks AMAZING, too: Can’t Part the Sea, Can’t Reach the Shore.

@plnkblue:

foolish, fragile spine - Peter’s severely injured in his fight with Adrian Toomes and Tony finds him.

@helloitisiafellowgay:

god did not craft us as altars, but as dying gods - Okay, guys. This one is heavy. It deals with Skip coming back into Peter’s life, and it’s not pretty but it’s handled superbly. It’s a tough read, but one I definitely recommend if you can handle it. Take care of yourselves first and foremost, though. <3

~ ~ ~ I’m not sure if the following authors have a tumblr, so I just linked their AO3 pages ~ ~ ~

eccentric_artist_221b:

Only for a Little While - This is a Titanic AU, and it’s AMAZING. There’s several scenes that just took my breath away and brought me to tears (not an easy feat). They’re also working on a WWI sequel!!!!

tiaylasglass:

the one who made it out - Short, simple in a gorgeous way, and poignant.

And finally, I thought I’d humbly add my own little contribution to the fandom. So far, I’ve only written the one fic, but I hope to write more in the future!

@ghostinthebau:

For Want of a Dad (in need of a son) - There’s a bit of blood, and a very distraught Tony at one point, so warning for angst and injury!

Again, this list is probably severely lacking, and if someone has a rec that’s not on here please please please reblog this and let me know! I’m always in the mood for more fics.

And I hope anyone reading this finds something they enjoy!

I’m sure you will.

ilu 3,000

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kittyilana046 · 4 years ago

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A Short Analysis of Themes in Batman Beings and The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan is interested in philosophy; he is fascinated with the fragileness of human nature. Through Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark knight (2008), he asks how fear affects human nature. Nolan takes two characters that believe in the power of symbolism, believe in goodness, and examines the darkest part of their psyche.

In Batman Begins (2005), Nolan explores themes of revenge and fear (common themes in his movies). The theme of fear gets presented from the beginning of the movie. Bruce Wayne is afraid of the bats in the cave, he experiences fear when his parents are killed, Joe Chill is fearful when robbing Bruce’s parents. As an adult, Bruce does not want to be consumed by fear. He does not want to be the helpless child unable to save his parents. His fear transforms into vengeance, to which he dedicates his life. Bruce was going to kill Joe Chill to avenge his parents. At this point, Bruce had not established his “no guns and no killing” rule, but he still was willing to compromise his morals and doom his life to act out his revenge plot. After Joe Chill gets murdered, Bruce realizes that his death did not bring him the closure he thought it would. He remembers the kindness his butler Alfred Pennyworth and police officer James "Jim" Gordon showed him. He seeks to provide the same kindness, warmth, and protection to innocent people. Bruce no longer lets himself get consumed by fear or vengeance, and he throws the gun he was going to kill Joe Chill with into the river. For a time, he gives up his identity as a rich boy and lives like the less fortunate do in Gotham City because, as Falcone says, “You’ll always fear what you don’t understand.” From then on, Bruce turns his trauma into strength, into the Batman. He dedicates his life to fighting crime in Gotham City, so no person has to experience the pain he did. Bruce is no longer afraid. He uses the bat symbol as a symbol for good for victims and a warning to criminals that he is to be feared.

In Nolan’s next entry to the Batman series The Dark knight (2008), the theme of revenge and fear continues to get explored. In the dinner scene, the thesis of the movie and; the morality of Harvey Dent’s character is set up, with just one line, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” The audience can infer that Harvey probably has a fixed moral compass. Later we find out the people call him Gotham’s “white knight.” Harvey’s need to help the people is so sincere that even “I dedicate my life to saving Gotham,” Bruce Wayne is willing to trust him. Through Harvey, the movie asks the question, if Harvey is given power will his goodness be corrupted? Will submission to fear be his downfall? Can human nature be easily corrupted? Harvey believes in the power of symbolism. He believes in the symbolic goodness of Batman; he lies and says he is batman to protect the real Batman. He compromises his moral code by harshly threatening a criminal to protect Gotham. He fears what will happen if Gotham City loses Batman, its symbol of hope. His need to preserve goodness gets him kidnapped and the fire results in the disfiguration of his face. I think Harvey wanted to die a hero, but his destiny was ripped from his hands when Batman saved him. Instead of him dying, a hero's death, his beloved girlfriend Rachael is murdered. He feels angry and betrayed by Gordon and the world he tried so desperately to help. Harvey’s anger transforms into vengeance; he has a mental break murdering everyone he feels betrayed him. Even though Batman ultimately accepts responsibility for Harvey’s murders, protecting Harvey’s perceived goodness. Like Harvey theorized in the dinner scene he lived long enough to see himself become a villain.

~ Kittyilana046

p.s.

I wasn't planning on posting this because I've never written a meta before. I wrote this for my film college class. Truly, this was not supposed to see the light of day. I hope this was okay.

#batman #batman begins #the dark knight #analysis #meta #long post #kittyilana046

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cantillat-moved · 4 years ago

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@fakepriest 💕kiritsugu 🃏 shirou

ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴ ᴍᴇᴍᴇs ɪɴsᴘɪʀᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ɪ ʟɪᴋᴇ, ᴘᴀʀᴛ 1.

[ 💕 ] does your muse believe in true love? do they believe in love at all?

To say that Kiritsugu has a complicated view of love it would be an understatement. Kiritsugu believes that he is cursed to destroy everyone he ever loved.

His mother died when he was very young, and thanks to his father’s Sealing Designation they keep on traveling all across the world until settling at Arimango Island in the Philippines, staying there for a year. He liked it here, and even developed a crush for an older girl, named Shirley, that became his father’s assistant. Everything was peaceful and life was good, until Shirley drank a concoction made by Emiya Norikata and became a vampire, turning the entire island population into ghouls. After killing his own father, Kiritsugu was taken in by Natalia Kaminski, a freelancer and part-time Enforcer. Following on Natalia’s footsteps, she also became his mother figure and taught him the ways of the world, about magecraft, and how to kill mages. He also had to blow up her plane when a mark became problematic, to prevent a plane full of ghouls and demonic bees reaching New York City. Oh, yeah. It was Mother’s Day too. And he was barely 18. Fun times. He rescued a child soldier and she called herself Maiya after a fake passport he provided her. Yet Kiritsugu knew that no matter how much he cared for her, he would end up causing her death too.

When he met Irisviel, she was still in her tank, seeing her as an empty doll with no survival skills. Out of spite, old man Acht decided to throw Irisviel away in the disposal yard during a blizzard, with the wolves about and everything. Kiritsugu rushed to her rescue, deciding to teach her about the world and eventually becoming closer. --- yet he knew that every passing day he would become closer to kill her. Every time she smiled was a reminder that one day he would kill the woman he loved, how he had been killing everyone he loves. When Illya was born, Kiritsugu felt that he shouldn’t hold her : she would be ruined by his hands too. He was going to kill her mother, strip away her happiness. And, if he failed, she too would suffer worse than any Einzbern homunculi before her and die alone in a foreign land, far from home.

In the end, he was right: Kiritsugu brought nothing but misery to those he loved. Maiya died because she believed in his dream. He murdered his own wife and was powerless to save his daughter. And his adopted son? The boy that he orphaned and caused so much pain? The boy too is doomed to walk a path of pain to fulfill his ideals, bearing the sins of the father proudly to become a Hero of Justice. Love is nothing but pain for Emiya Kiritsugu.

[ 🃏 ] how does your muse handle being lied to?

Shirou don’t lie. It is part of him: he can’t bring himself to lie, always transparent and straight-forward. It is how he is. But to be lied to? I’m not talking about white lies (he isn’t capable of these either), but hurtful things. Surely, it upsets him – angers him depending on what it might be, yet there is no point in lingering on it. Only dealing with whatever it may be. Part of him would blame himself for not seeing throughout the falsehoods, vowing to do better next time. And, indeed, the boy eventually grows up to become a cynical person, always suspicious and assuming others have their own agenda. What really gets to him is when people lie to the ones he cares about and hurts them. That WILL get to him .

#fakepriest #. meme reply #x kiritsugu #x kiritsugu : headcanon #x emiya : headcanon #x emiya : headcanon : shirou

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themattress · 4 years ago

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OUAT AND ME: SEASON 6

Story - Season 6 returns to the single-season story arc structure, with its story being the Savior's Fate Saga. The story deals with Emma reaching the point that all Saviors eventually reach: burnout in the lead-up to their Final Battle. And Emma's Final Battle comes courtesy of the Black Fairy, the creator of the Dark Curse who wishes to extinguish all light magic.

And yes, that is the core story of this arc. The problem is that it only constitutes about 25% of it; the rest is dedicated to subplots upon subplots: all the people who were brought in from the Land of Untold Stories, the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Evil Queen split from Regina, Regina and Zelena's sibling rivalry reigniting, Belle and Rumple's relationship growing more toxic then ever before, Aladdin the Savior of Agrabah and the Princess Jasmine who is looking for him, a new curse befalling Snow and Charming, the mystery behind how Charming's father died, a new realm being created by a genie's power which brings about the "return" of Robin Hood, a multi-realm quest undertaken by Hook, and flashbacks that have jack shit to do with anything....this season is so packed, it's insane!

If the core story was particularly strong, maybe this wouldn't matter so much. But it's not, since it relies upon yet another bullshit redefining of what it means to be "the Savior"; all of a sudden it's an ancient position that has spanned across all of time and through every realm, like a fairy tale version of the Slayer concept from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And anything empowering about being the Savior is totally gone with this new definition, as now it's a requisite that all Saviors get worn out and die in their Final Battles, doomed to never obtain their happy endings. What a cheap, lazy, miserable way for the writers to raise tension after realizing that all of the epic, mythological stakes raised last season would be hard to top.

Not helping is that in a pretentious way of subverting expectations, they have the majority of the Final Battle...not actually be a battle. Instead, it's a ham-fisted "full-circle to Season 1" situation for Emma and Henry, while everyone else is getting to do more exciting things in the Enchanted Forest. Even the actual battle part of it ends up being underwhelming. Everything does still get wrapped up in a pretty suitable ending, but it's undermined by both the infernal status quo the show's been stuck in since 3B and an intrusive sequel hook into the ill-conceived "reboot" that is Season 7 which never should have been allowed to happen.

Tl;dr: this story arc sucks.

Characters - It's the lowest point for so many of them...

* Emma is a little better in Season 6 than she was in Season 5. She's still generally treated terribly due to the very nature of the arc and has some horrifically shitty things done to her, but she is also able to catch a break every now and then rather than the misery being an uninterrupted stream. She also marries Hook by the end and even plays a decent role in the finale showing how far she's come since Season 1. It was as good a note to go out on as she was going to get, and Jennifer Morrison made the right call to make this the end of her story.

* Snow and Charming...what is there to even say about them at this point? I guess I can say that not only have Goodwin and Dallas' performances largely flatlined and not only are they still written as more parental toward Regina than to their own goddamn daughter who Regina separated them from for 28 years, but they now have retcons applied to them that are ludicrous at best, character assassinating worse than Season 4's eggnapping subplot at worst. No wonder that Goodwin and Dallas were all too glad to call it quits after this trash!

* Henry, despite all odds, is still one of the better characters in this season! Jared Gilmore continues to prove what a better actor he's become and bring a likability to Henry that sometimes is even enough to counteract less-than-ideal written material. Also, getting to see him more invested in Emma again after being hogged by Regina for so long is great.

* The Savior's Fate Saga is a tale of two Reginas. The Regina Mills of Storybrooke is still as insufferably written a Mary Sue as ever, but now we also have the Evil Queen, the dark side of her personality that split from her. With the exception of one episode, the Evil Queen is played excessively campy by Lana Parilla. Adam and Eddy's claims that this "purely evil" Evil Queen would be even worse than the previous one are laughable when we end up seeing what's actually on screen; the Evil Queen from the first two seasons was a legitimately frightening and formidable villain, whereas this Evil Queen is a clown. Sometimes she's an entertaining clown, while other times she's a cringe-inducing clown. But what she most certainly is not is a worthy adversary to the heroes, especially this late into the show.

And then there's the irony in her ultimate fate: rather than destroy her, Regina mixes her heart with hers so that they are both equal and both redeemed. On the one hand, this is a mind-boggling new level of Creator's Pet for Regina to reach, as you would think that the whole point of the Evil Queen is for Regina to suffer the karmic fatal punishment that she deserves for all her years of atrocities without actually having to kill Regina off. And yet in the end Adam and Eddy couldn't bring themselves to kill off any version of Regina, even after they gleefully killed off alternate versions of Snow and Charming a few episodes earlier. But on the other hand, the redeemed Evil Queen is honestly more likable than the redeemed Regina, actually apologizing to Snow for everything, temporarily sacrificing herself for the greater good of everyone in the finale, and getting to have a happily ever after with an alternate version of Robin Hood following a romance closer to what that relationship should have been from the very beginning. In the end, though, I'm just left wishing that the writers had done a far better job redeeming Regina so that this split Evil Queen wasn't necessary. Who knows, we might have had a better season if so many of it wasn't wasted on her.

* Rumple is awful in this season. Just...the absolute worst. After resolving the plotline that the Season 5 finale left him on in the premiere episode, he cuts his hair short and takes his Darkest Dark One shtick to a whole new level of unpleasant and abusive. He stalks and harasses Belle, attempts to take her baby away, makes out with the Evil Queen, and continues to casually threaten Storybrooke without any remorse or any repercussions. And once his new son Gideon and his mother the Black Fairy enter the picture, he dicks around in nonsensically written plotlines in both the past and the present, while Belle essentially takes him back yet again despite the horrific abuse he inflicted upon her. It's painful to watch, especially when Robert Carlyle has completely given up and is phoning it in like mad, with his regular delivery of lines being in a sleepy tone of voice that actually gets grating to listen to.

Much like in Season 5, Rumple improves in the last five episodes of the season, with Robert Carlyle regaining some energy as he declares war on the mother who abandoned him (if you know Carlyle's life story, you can understand exactly why this is) before learning the shocking truth that he was born as a Savior with his mother being his fated enemy, and that she was banished after she cut him off from that fate. Finally exhausted with it all - light, darkness, heroism, villainy, everything - after the emotions of this revelation hits him, Rumple lays his last cards down on the table, joining his mother's side for the Final Battle but with a magical contingency in case she betrays him (which she does). He then kills his mother, chooses to do the right thing for Belle and Gideon's sake even against the temptation of his dark side, and is rewarded for this one good deed by getting a do-over with the two of them as a family and even being accepted at the table with the other heroes. To quote Rumple back when his character was of the exact opposite quality as it is now: "Well, that was a bit of a letdown!"

Now, the "Rumple was born as a Savior" twist is out-of-nowhere nonsense, but it might have worked if Season 6 had been the final season. Not only would it had made him an effective foil for Emma, but it would also add more dramatic weight to his ultimate fate: his death. Yes, Rumple was in fact all set to die if either the show hadn't gotten renewed for another season or if it was and Robert Carlyle turned down returning for it as he actually was very close to doing, sacrificing his own heart in order to break the spell on Gideon's, conquering his dark side once and for all. A very similar scenario ends up being utilized for Season 7's finale, but it lacks the punch it would have had here, where it's the would-be Savior who, after having reached burnout, dies in his Final Battle, rather than the actual Savior who is able to survive thanks in part to his sacrifice. Of course, I still would have preferred Rumple's death after him being the sole Big Bad of a two-part series finale at the end of Season 5, but I digress. Bottom line: Rumple was a complete mess this season and it's sad how far he’s fallen.

* Hook starts off well enough in this season, being Emma's stalwart emotional support who accepts her offer to move in with her (a pay-off that we should have had in the Season 5 finale if it only wasn't so crappy), bonding further with Belle and Henry, resolving the hanging plot thread of his younger half-brother while gaining a new father figure, and eventually making plans to propose to Emma. But then...it happens. It's revealed to both him and us that in the most contrived situation possible, Hook was the one who killed Charming's father. This derails his entire character for most of the remaining season, initially torn between telling Emma about this and covering it up before having a break with her which causes him to go mope and dope for a while before being forcibly sent off on a multi-realm misadventure by Gideon and, once he's finally gotten back to Storybrooke, has his transgression easily forgiven by Charming and his marriage proposal re-accepted by Emma, making this entire stretch of time absolutely pointless! Hook has some good moments in both the musical episode where he and Emma's wedding happen and the finale, but they aren't enough to salvage this from being his weakest showing in any season. Dark Hook was better than this!

* Belle...nope, not even gonna talk about her. Like I said before, she's done as a character.

* Zelena is this season's screwed over regular, and in comparison to Archie, Ruby, Neal, Will Scarlet and Robin Hood, she's got it easy. Her problems have less to do with her character, which is one of the better ones in the core cast at this point, but with her material. First, she and Regina have a sudden falling out because Regina...blames her for Robin's death. OK, all of that talk about how far Regina's come for not going evil over the loss of her romantic partner in the Season 5 finale isn't really worth much anymore when she's still resorting to blaming other people who aren't the actual murderer for that loss! Zelena then goes back to living at her isolated farm house, entering an alliance with the Evil Queen where she'll help her out in small ways but also not commit to fully teaming up with her as a villainess since she has a baby to take care of, plus she rightly doesn't entirely trust her alternate sister.

After the Evil Queen betrays Zelena but Regina still doesn't forgive her for what she blames her for, Zelena is absent or in minor roles for several episodes before she ends up joining the heroes' side out of altruism and the desire to become a good example for her daughter, eventually sacrificing her magic powers to aid the cause, which finally gets Regina to forgive her (probably because it's a sacrifice she's never been able to make). And that's about it.

Oh, but she does get to hit the Black Fairy with a car. That was awesome.

* The Black Fairy / Fiona is the Big Bad of the Savior's Fate Saga. Jamie Murray does a great job portraying her, being whimsically evil like you'd expect a dark fairy to be, and the Black Fairy being the person who created the Dark Curse actually makes a lot of sense when you go back and rewatch Season 3's "Going Home", a Dark Curse-heavy episode that first talks about her, or the Blue Fairy's knowing, worried expression upon Rumple's mention of a curse back in Season 1's "The Return". Unfortunately, that's all the praise I can afford her.

The core problem with Fiona as a character is a simple one: she is too derivative of previous, better Big Bads...especially Regina and Peter Pan. Like Regina, she is a powerful, larger-than-life villainess that Emma has always been destined to face as the Savior, and who ultimately casts the Dark Curse which makes herself mayor of Storybrooke, Henry's adopted mother, and a foe that Emma can only defeat if she believes in magic. And like Peter Pan, she is a parent of Rumple who also chose power over love and abandoned him, becoming the all-powerful ruler of a dark realm who occasionally went out and kidnapped children to bring there, and who is positioned as the story's Ultimate Evil who makes her last stand casting the Dark Curse in Storybrooke and being killed by her own son. This is especially bad when we already have an evil version of Regina to contend with this season and when it's following off of Hades, who was a better successor to Peter Pan's style of villainy (ruler of a dark realm that the heroes venture into to save someone) while still being unique.

She did improve somewhat in the last few episodes, where we see that she at least has sincerely loving Rumple as a differentiator from her ex-husband, has a warped belief that eliminating light magic and wiping out all realms but one is actually the right thing to do, and plays her role in the finale well. But it's too little too late for her to be considered as belonging among the great OUAT villains, let alone the Ultimate Evil that she's billed as. She needed a lot more originality and a lot more truly heinous deeds if that was ever to work.

* There are tons of new side characters in this season, usually either well-handled or not.

Well-handled side characters include the Tremaine family (particularly Lady Tremaine) who make Cinderella's life miserable in both the past and present, Captain Nemo who serves as a father figure for Hook and his half-brother Liam II, Gabriel the Woodcutter who makes an entertaining villain in an otherwise dumb flashback, Robert the father of Charming who is well-depicted in spite of how he dies, and Roderick, Gideon's brave but ill-fated friend.

Poorly-handled side characters include the Oracle who is a plot device character if there ever was one, Edmond Dantes (the Count of Montre Cristo in name only) and his lover Charlotte, Beowulf (another in name only character), Stanum the Tin Man who is pointlessly shoved into Zelena's backstory, Tiger Lily who is an exact carbon copy of Tinker Bell, and almost all of the Wish Realm characters because, as I will discuss later, the Wish Realm episodes are awful.

Then there are the in-between side characters, the ones that are handled...well-ish.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde carry over from the Season 5 finale at the start, then are both taken out of the picture in the 4th episode. Their backstory is well written, they are both well acted, and their death contributes to the ongoing Evil Queen plotline. However, it can't help but feel disappointing - we'd only just gotten a working relationship going between Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Whale in the previous episode, and now that's rendered pointless. And Sam Witwer is such an entertaining presence as Mr. Hyde, so it's sad to see him cut down so soon.

Robin of Locksley, the Wish Realm version of Robin Hood who crosses into Storybrooke, is cool in that we get Sean Maguire back and he is allowed to play something slightly different, since this version of Robin is a selfish, sarcastic asshole instead of a noble, chivalrous hero. However, it also reinforces how badly handled Robin Hood in general has been. Much like with what I said about Regina, I would have rather him and his romance with Regina been written well from the beginning so that this "do-over version' wouldn't be necessary.

After much hyping by the network, Aladdin and Jasmine kind of suck. Aladdin has an inexplicable cockney accent that is really distracting, he's written more selfishly and immaturely than his animated counterpart, and making him a Savior in order to tie him to the main plot is stupid. Jasmine fares better, especially when she receives some development in the 15th episode that largely focuses on her, but before that she was just kind of there and didn't possess the same strength of character she was so known for in the animated film.

Jafar, the Big Bad of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, is featured too. He is now played by Oded Fehr, and while Naveen Andrews is missed, Oded is one of the best replacements possible and does a stellar job. But while he's great whenever he's on screen, that's the problem - he isn't on screen very much at all. He also doesn't accomplish anything relevant to anyone beyond Aladdin and Jasmine in the time he has - even when he is released from his bottle in the present day, all he does is have a confrontation with Jasmine before BOOM! He gets turned into a wooden staff by magic dust thrown into his face and that's it for him. This was yet another sad waste of a great character with a great actor, but then again, Jafar returning in any medium tends to elicit diminishing results compared to his initial outings.

Finally, we have Gideon, Rumple and Belle's son and Emma's direct opponent in the Final Battle. The problem with Gideon is that the writers keep changing his character on a whim. First he's a projection of Rumple and Belle's future son from within Belle's womb, who masquerades as Morpheus in order to put Rumple through a test which he fails miserably. Then, after being kidnapped by the Black Fairy and taken to the Dark Realm, he shows up as angry, Kylo Ren-esque villain who claims that he wants to kill Emma so that he can somehow absorb her power, become the Savior and defeat the Black Fairy. But then it turns out that this was an act he was forced to play - after having been raised to be a villain by Fiona, Gideon rebelled, so she ripped his heart out and has been using it to control his actions so that he could free her from the Dark Realm for good. So he's a pure innocent, then. But then, in the Final Battle, he is rewritten by Fiona's curse into a stingy, spiteful businessman before reverting back to his innocent but controlled self...and then reverting back into a baby. Gideon, you've come full circle....and I still have no idea just who the Hell you are.

Returning characters include Violet, Ashley / Cinderella, Dr. Whale / Victor Frankenstein, the Dragon, August Booth / Pinocchio, King George / Albert Spencer, Baelfire, Tinker Bell, Ariel, Blackbeard, Malcolm, and Isaac Heller. Some of these returns are successful (I always love to see Ariel, and Isaac receiving some closure as a character was fantastic to see), others not so much (Tink's cameo was contradictory and pointless, and there was no excuse bringing back Baelfire in a flashback - for God's sake, Dylan Schmid is as tall as Robert Carlyle now!)

Atmosphere - There really isn't much of one anymore for the majority of the season. There is nothing remotely special about Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest at this point, new places like the Dark Realm are woefully underexplored, and there aren't any locations like Camelot, the Underworld, or the Land of Untold Stories from last season that make a big impact.

However, there is certainly atmosphere in the two-part season finale, "The Final Battle". Unfortunately, instead of being an epic atmosphere like you would expect, it's dark and miserable and claustrophobic up until the happy ending. Kind of sums up the show now!

Episode Quality - A few episodes in this season are so bad that they're downright unwatchable, and I was able to watch the worst of late Season 2. "Changelings" is all about Rumple taking his abuse of Belle to a new level all while the episode tries to use the Evil Queen and the Black Fairy as scapegoats so that you can feel bad for him. "Ill-Boding Patterns" continues the whitewashing of Rumple at the direct expense of his sons, completely butchering Beowulf in the process. "Page 23" is an exercise with boredom in both the flashback and present day stories and comes to a truly awful conclusion for Regina's character that doesn't even make sense for her. And "Awake" has the ugliest-looking, most ill-conceived flashback story ever: Snow and Charming actually woke up during the Dark Curse and then woke up Rumple so that he could take them to Emma, only to then choose to abandon her so that she can achieve her destiny as the Savior before everyone goes back to sleep (quite literally in Charming's case, how the fuck does that work!?) The only reason this exists is so that Adam and Eddy can say "See? Snow and Charming totally DID abandon their daughter!" whenever anyone says it's Regina's fault Emma grew up without parents.

Perhaps most insidiously, we have the two-part midseason finale, "Wish You Were Here" and "Tougher Than the Rest". Aladdin is turned into a genie and the Evil Queen takes advantage of a passing statement Emma made about sometimes wishing she wasn't the Savior by making a wish that Emma's desire was granted. Thus the Wish Realm, an alternate world where the Dark Curse was never cast, is created. And the insults just keep piling up from there: the depiction of Emma as a wimpy princess if she had been raised by her parents, Regina trying to prove to Emma that "none of this is real" by crushing Wish Snow and Wish Charming's hearts (I can vividly envision Adam and Eddy having an orgasm over this scene), Emma snapping out of it when Wish Henry tries to kill Regina and that's "everything Emma never wanted him to be" (a fucking hero who will bring down the monster who slaughtered his grandparents!?), Charming similarly being considered "dark" for trying to kill the Evil Queen, the explicitly stated notion that Emma owes Regina for ruining her life because that's what made her strong, the appearance of Wish August who is so much more boring than the real August, the appearance of Wish Hook as a fat old drunk, and Rumple and Belle getting back together due to what's going on with Gideon, with Belle asking "What have we done to each other?" (NO. There is ZERO moral equivalence between Belle and Rumple here.)

"The Savior", "A Bitter Draught", "Street Rats", "I'll Be Your Mirror", "Mother's Little Helper", "Where Bluebirds Fly" and "The Black Fairy" are all watchable, if not particularly good.

All the other episodes have their strong points. "The Other Shoe" is a fun breather episode the likes of which this show desperately needed more of. "Strange Case" features a great take on the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "Dark Waters" has Hook and Henry at their best and introduces Captain Nemo played by the great Faran Tahir. "Heartless" is the only episode in the season where Lana Parilla plays the Evil Queen with old-school menace, with the curse she ends up placing on Snow and Charming being legitimately ingenious and diabolical. "Murder Most Foul", until its literal last minute twist, is a highly engaging story and features a (rare at this point and thus even more appreciated) explosively emotional performance from Josh Dallas in its climax. "A Wondrous Place", if you ignore the awful Storybrooke scenes, is a weird and wacky crossover between characters of various stories that reminds you why you liked this show to begin with, and features Oded Fehr's last and best performance as Jafar where he is finally able to match Naveen Andrews in raw intensity.

Then there's the musical episode, "The Song In Your Heart". This is the textbook definition of an episode that is really good and enjoyable in a bubble, but is utter nonsense when applied in context. The flashback is a total filler story about a musical curse being cast by the Blue Fairy so that its result can be used by Emma in the present, and it’s only being used by Emma in the present because the Black Fairy suddenly decides "forget casting the Dark Curse and having the Final Battle, I'll take the Savior out now!", and when she fails it's right back to casting the Dark Curse and having the Final Battle as if nothing ever happened! And Emma and Hook having their rooftop wedding where the whole town starts singing and dancing about "a Happy Beginning" despite knowing damn well that the Dark Curse's arrival is imminent is hysterical- all logic dictates this should have been saved for after the crisis is over, not before it's even begun! It's dumb as Hell, but the songs and dance moves are fun (except for the Snow and Charming vs. Regina one, that was just cringy) so it gets a pass.

Lastly, there's "The Final Battle". For all of its many, many faults, it is better than Season 5's two-part finale (and also better than Season 7's, as we'll get to in the next post), and the areas where there could have been improvement are so blatantly obvious that what could have been is easy to imagine (ex: Rumple dying, a few questionable shots from the final happy ending montage cut, and the entirety of the dumbass Season 7 lead-in framing device removed entirely). It's the closest to a decent series finale we have, even if in terms of satisfaction it pales in comparison to the likes of "A Land Without Magic", "Going Home", "There's No Place Like Home", and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland's "And They Lived..."

Overall - I need to issue a formal retraction about the statement I made in this long-ago post. Not about how Season 5 would have been better with an even stronger connection between its two arcs; I still believe that. But returning to a full-season story arc format was a terrible idea, because with Season 6 we see that Season 1 was lightning in a bottle that's never getting recaptured. Every other time Adam and Eddy are given a full-season story arc, their ADHD style of storytelling won't let them stay focused and they'll end up throwing everything but the kitchen sink into it, resulting in a disjointed, convoluted, borderline incoherent mess. This is especially bad at a point where the vast majority of their most talented scriptwriters have long since departed from the writing team. Season 6 isn't the worst season (that comes up next), but it's probably the most miserable and depressing one, especially considering the fact that it was enough to make several main cast members quit. Back in Season 3, I'd have been ecstatic if you told me that this show would be getting 3 more seasons. Now, when actually at Season 6, I was horrified when I was told that it was getting 1 more season.

#Once Upon a Time #ABC #OUAT and Me #Opinion #Analysis

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dawna-the-daring · 4 years ago

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Trollhunters O.C's

Heroes

The Nobel Family

Skylar Clarice Nobel

Mother of Duksy and Dawna, Skylar Clarice Nobel is a high ranked aristocrat who takes the title of Dutchess. She is a magic user who has worked alongst side Merlin and studied under him to master her illusions when she was younger. She is very close with the Royal Family having grown up in the Royal Court. She gave birth to her twins before her "lover" died in the Gum-Gum war. It was rumored the mage was seeing a changeling (Strickler) but the rumors were silenced when her baby girls were borne human. Alone and feeling lost she falls for King Arthur wishing for his hand in marriage. After Gweniveres death they seem to be growing closer but Arthur is weary of magic. Skylar to appease him surpresses that part of herself and discourages her daughters from practicing any magic. A well intentioned mother who does her best but is often ignorant to her childs needs and wishes. She cares more for status than her families happiness and is often doing what Arthur asks rather than what her family needs.

Dusky Gracelynn Noble

Dusky is a bubbly teen who's a huge people pleaser. Like her mother she can create powerful illusions and uses these powers to do fun tricks to impress people at parties. She is a beloved princess in the Royal Court and all the other nobles love her. When Arthur banned magic she stopped practicing and simply used her charm to continue being the center of attention. She once had a good relationship with Dawn but over the years they grew apart. She knows she will not take the throne thanks to Dawn and resents her sister because of it. She spends her time partying with other nobles and taking any of Dawns possible suitors in spite. She just wants her older sister to notice her and act more normal like her and her mom but Dawns in another world.

Dawna Annabelle Walthomew Noble

Dawna is the secret child of Morgana Le Faye. After a mistake in her youth Morgana finds herself pregnant and alone, afraid of the scandal she decides to take a potion to speed up the pregnancy. She makes a deal with Merlin and he helps her hide the child. Skylar who was pregnant at the time believes she had twins rather than one child. Raised in the castle as a powerful magic user Dawn does not learn the truth of her origins for a long time. She grows up oblivious in the Royal Court and is Queen Gweniveres and King Arthur's favorite. Taught by Morgana and Merlin she has powerful magic that amazes her aunt Gwenivere. She is destined to be the next to the throne if Arthur and Gwenivere do not conceive and Morgana does not rule. Dawn however has other plans and often sneaks out into the woods to learn spells after Arthur bans magic. She wishes to be a magical knight that travels the world and wants nothing more than trolls and humans to get along.

Dawn after the fall of Camelot is badly injured and develops a memory problem. She is found and taken into the order as Strickler believes her magic could be useful. Strickler is not her father (though for a time he thought he might be as he had romantic affairs with Skylar) but he is her mentor in the Order and the closest thing she has to a father so he is recognized as such. She grows up with Nomura, Otto, and Strickler teaching her the ways of the Order and the Gum Gums.

Pyra

Penelope or Pyra is the daughter of a single father who's an ex veteran. He now works at an office cubicle while Pyra goes to school. A quirky kid with aspegers she has a high I.Q and enjoys the world of science. Her father doesn't understand her love for it but does his best to be supportive. Now attending a new school in a new town Pyra decides to explore and take the long way home. As she's walking through the woods she trips and slashes her leg on a rock before getting knocked out. This "rock" was a piece of HeartStone that breeched the surface. Now Penlope is connected to the Heatstone and has fire powers. As she struggles to understand what's happening to her she befriends the CreepSlayerz and together they try and find out what's really happening in Arcadia and how to control her powers.

Noble

Noble the Nifty is a Viking warrior. Daughter of the Tribes Leader she inherits the clan after her father dies from a troll in battle. Not letting grief and hatred consume her she knows the difference between Gum Gums and regular trolls. So she risks everything to make an alliance with the good trolls and together they drive back the Gum Gums and take back their land. She herself falls for a troll during battle (Kelpy) and eventually they wed shortly before she's killed.

Kelpy

Kelpy the Kindred is a Celtic troll who spends his time wandering Europe and exploring. He is a talented warrior but is lazy and after the death of his people he choses not to fight. His skills are renound as his people were talented warriors but he wants nothing to do with that life as it killed everyone he loved. When he meets Noble and Dawn along with the troll resistance he realizes he can't stand by and watch more people die. He joins the resistance and takes pleassure in hurting Gum Gums. He's weary of humans after what happened to his people but he learns to trust them and even falls in love with the feirce viking Nobel after Trinamir tells him he should confess.

Trinamir

Trinamir is a Kuberra troll who was taken from his home and inducted into the Gum Gum army. As soon as he was able he got rid of his armor, changed his Gum Gums marks, and ran away. He wishes to find somewhere peaceful where he can be safe and not have to be in this war. He however gets captured and is imprisoned for some time in Camelot just for being a troll. He was a philosopher who just wanted to avoid the war after he was freed but he realizes the wars bigger than himself when he sees humans and trolls fight together at Killahead. He becomes a master strategist in the coming years and a formidable opponent tracking the rest of the Gum Gums down. He is given the name Trinimir the True because he has always stayed true to himself and his beliefs.

Villains

Mother Rose

Mother Rose is a powerful witch who has made it her misison to discipline naughty children. She's an elemental mage who can create realistic illusions and control plants. Connected to all the gardens of the world she lures children in and tests them with tempting treats to eat or toys to take. If you take these toys or treats without permission you will slowly turn into a plant and be doomed to forever live in her garden as another one of her craefully tended to plants. For each child she takes she gains more power as she feeds off the emotions of the trapped children. However if your a good child and don't fall to temptation she is a sweet lady who can give you whatever you desire. Her test is harsh but it's rewards have helped many.

Delilah

Delilah is the daughter of Mother Rose. She's a shapeshifting mage who excels at casting illusions and fire/shadow magic. After an accident leaves her with amnesia she is confused for a polymorphous changeling and taken into the Order. A sadist like her mom Delilah enjoys pain and does many of the Orders dirtier jobs as it brings her pleasure. She meets Dawn in the Order and falls in love but is brutually beaten by Bular for trying to make a move on his mate. This furthers her already stewwing hatred for trolls and someday she hopes to run away with Dawn so the Order can no longer hurt either of them.

Changeling Sisters

Not much is known about this family other than their aristocratic changelings and very high up in the Order. They are "cousins" to Dawna but that's more for formality than aby blood relations. The sisters are considered direct descendents of Janus the Changeling and they each have each mastered an elemental power. Some talk of fowl play has been discussed about their parents sudden death but no such things have ben confirmed as those who spread rumors mysteriously die.

Emerald

Emerald is the oldest of the Crystal sisters. She has mastered Earth magic and is the patriarch of her family. She takes care of her sisters and manages all their finances and missions from the Order. She is the coldest and sternest out of all the sisters but she is not the cruelest. Rumors are she is a ploy morph and will take the form of another changeling to ruin their life when bored/angry/threatened but no such rumors have been confirmed. Some say she is envious of Dawn and wishes to kill her but no attempts have been made public.

Ruby

Ruby is the twin sister of Sapphire. She has mastered fire and is the most bubbly of the sisters. Her happiness however is out of sadistic glee and she's happiest when smashing someones head in. Sapphire is her rock and they are the closest of all the sisters. She has anger issues and her sisters often have to stop her from doing something impulsive or stupid. Her anger fuels her fire.

Sapphire

Saphire is Rubies twin sister. She controls water and ice while her sister controls fire. They are complete opposites but they love each other and get along fine depsite their different personalities. Sapphire is dead to emotion and only cares for her family. She does not often get mad but when she does she takes it out violently on whoever triggered it. She may be quiet but she's always listening waiting to strike.

Opal

Opal is terrifying. She may be the youngest in the family but her powers are the strongest and she is not afraid to use them. Master of air she often uses this ability to make peoples heads explode or choke them to death. She hates when people don't take her seriously because of her age and she makes sure to show off her powers so no one makes the mistake of thinking she is naive because she is young. She'll slit someone's throat before she'll shake their hand.

3below O.C's

Heroes

Astro Novas

Astro is the husband of Vala and father of Stellar. He's a human scientist from Earth. He happened to stumble across Area 49-B when looking for a astrophysics or space shuttle engineering job. He soon realized the horrors of the compound but was afraid to leave as he needed the money and no one else had responded to his job calls. Then Vala crashed to Earth and everything changed. He fell in love with the Arkirridon and after a year of imprisonment he freed her using some of her tech. They've been on the run ever since. Astro believes his wife is dead after she takes off in a spaceship to try and get back to Akiridion-5. He dies before he learns that she is alive just unwell.

Vala Novas of House Novas

Vala is a Nobel Akiridion from Akiridion-5. She and her sister Celestial were raised in the Royal court with the King and Queen and know them closey. Vala was more impulsive than her sister and often got herself in trouble with the Queen. As a fighter pilot and commander of a fleet she was focused on keeping the peace and ensuring her planets safety. In her cadet training days she met Varvotos Vex and Val Morando. They we're close friends. One day while exploring a not so distant star system Vala was unexpectedly shot down and captured before a homing beacon could be sent. She was imprisoned on Earth before the kind scientist Astro freed her. Together they have a child named Stellar. Vala is sadly separated from her family when trying to leave Earth to return to Akiridion-5. Her ship gets flung across the galaxy and her core cracks corrupting her. She becomes more violent and hotheaded wishing for revenge against the Queen and King for abandoning her and wishes for nothing more than to find her daughter.

Stellar Novas/Stella Nova

Stellar is the hybrid child of a human and Akiridion. She was homeschooled for most of her life and raised by her two parents. Her mom taught her about her home world and their culture along with science and math while her dad taught her fun learning games and how to socialize. Her mother taught her to spar when she was young and it was a happy life. When Stellar was about twelve her mom found an old ship and her parents worked on fixing it. Her mom told her she was going to Akiridion-5 and would return to pick them up once she got a better ship. The ship exploded once in the atmosphere and Stellar and her father move for a change of pace. Astro decides being close to the enemy to watch them is better than hiding far away so he goes back to Arcadia Oaks where Area 49-B resides.

Villains

Celestial is Valas older sister. While Vala is a fighter she is a politician. Her hands are dirty with secrets while Valas are stained in blood. Raised as a proper noble she is one of Akiridion-5 strategists. She works with the King and Queen to keep the planet in Order and the military functioning. She wanted to marry Val Morando but grew jealous as her sister gained his affections. Distancing herself from her she becomes devastated when she goes missing. She blames the King and Queen for not searching hard enough for her sister and their lost friend. Because of this anger she helps plot a coup against them with Val Morando. She wants only vegance for her sister and to find her or her dead core.

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