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moonlighter-at-midnight · 2 years ago

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ror | shiva x reader | the hot spring screwup

hi there! this is my first writing piece in yeeeears so sorry if it’s booty. i originally was working on a buddha chapter piece but got this idea and decided to post this first since it’s just a little one off thing. the idea of the reader’s character is basically the same as the one that i will be writing about in the buddha piece. so if you like this, be on the lookout for that release! also, i have only watched the anime so what I know is solely based on that (with some additional research courtesy of professor google) so if there are any inaccuracies, i apologize! anyway, please enjoy! ♡

warnings: nudity, no sexy time but heavily alludes to it, basically straight up mentions wanting to bang shiva

spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

You sigh dreamily as you step into the steaming water, sinking down until you were submerged from the neck down. Your tense muscles unraveled and the dull ache of your wounds waned, sending you into a state of pure euphoria. In life, you had fought in a myriad of brawls, but none quite like this. It was a battle of souls, a bout that would affect humanity’s fate, and against a god no less. However, you had managed to overpower your opponent in the very end, saving your soul from decimation and adding another triumph under humanity’s belt — and all at the cost of a badly broken arm, cracked ribs, and bruised lungs. Despite the advanced technology and medicine of the god realm, it did little to quell your pain. Thankfully, one of the nurses told you about the incredible hot spring, and you were all too pleased to learn that the bandages were infused with some type of magic that allowed it to get wet. Valhalla was sure an interesting place.

The idyllic silence is abruptly broken when you hear several pairs of feet shuffle into the area. You grumble quietly at having to share the divine space. You were not in the mood to interact with people especially if they were gods. That was the very last thing you wanted. But, the hot spring seemed spacious enough and paired with the heavy shroud of steam, you’d probably have very minimal to no contact with whoever else had entered. As long as you stayed in your little nook at the far side of the spring, they wouldn’t bother you right?

“This was a good idea. I’m getting riled up and tense waiting for my turn to fight. If only old man Zeus hadn’t browbeat me into letting him take my turn. This will definitely help loosen me up.”

You freeze, your once relaxed muscles stiffening at the sound of the booming voice.

What?? Is that a man’s voice? It couldn’t be.. No, it has to be a mistake…this is the women’s hot spring…maybe it’s just a woman with a deep voice. Yeah, that’s it..a woman with a deep voice, you think to yourself trying to assuage your panicking mind. Your breathing grows shallow as you nervously listen for affirmation that these were indeed women. Females. Girls. Fellow vagina owners. And not men.

“Always itching for a fight huh Shiva? Glad to know you haven’t changed,” another voice says as multiple laughs erupt into the air.

Your stomach drops, and you feel like it’s falling out of your butt as your fears are dismally confirmed. Not only were they men, but at least one of them, if not all, were gods.

Fuck me.

You try to ever so silently press yourself against a rock in the farthest corner possible, dipping yourself lower into the water so that you were only visible from the nose up. If it weren’t for the thick steam emanating from the spring, you surely would have already been noticed.

The water sloshes and ripples as the men make their way into the spring, causing your anxiety to further skyrocket as your chances of a clean escape begin to dwindle. You had to get the hell out of here. You try to devise a plan to flee undetected or at least without your identity being discovered. If you ever meet the legendary Mulan, you’d have to ask her how the hell she did it. But, here were the cold, hard facts: You were butt ass naked. At least five to six men were here, probably all gods, one of them being the all powerful Shiva. The exit and your towel were on the completely opposite side of where you were. You had a broken arm, broken ribs, broken everything really; you were in no condition to fight.

Plan A: Jump out of the spring from where you were and run like hell. High risk of slipping, falling, breaking your neck, and then having your dead, naked body discovered by a bunch of male gods. Next.

Plan B: Walk across the spring and hope that you don’t get noticed. High risk of getting caught and bumping into someone who will kill you and then having your dead, naked body discovered by a bunch of male gods. Next.

Plan C: Swim underwater. The water seemed clear enough. However, your lungs were bruised, and although not fatal or very serious, that put your breath holding capacity to maybe like five seconds. Ten if you were feeling daring. Not to mention you had only one good arm. You were sure this plan would probably also lead to your dead, naked body being discovered by male gods. Next.

Plan D: Quietly stay behind this rock and hope they leave without ever detecting your presence. Hmmm. Alright, (y/n), okay. I might be on to something here. They haven’t discovered me yet, and they’re probably on the other side and are totally not going to come over here. No risk of being discovered dead and naked. None whatsoever.

You nod to yourself, stupidly confident in your plan and so totally absorbed in your own thoughts that you failed to notice the white haired, smoking man that had peered at you from over the other side of the rock.

“Who are you? Why you hiding behind this rock?” the man asks nonchalantly.

You jerkily pause your head mid-nod and slowly look up at him. At this point, you were still only visible from the nose up. And just like that, your plan had gone up in flames.

“Well? Are you going to say something or are you just going to hide in the water?” he speaks again.

“Indra, who are you talking to over there?” yells one of the men.

“I found some guy hiding over here. Varuna, clear the steam will ya?”

Suddenly, the dense haze of steam dissipates. You peek out from behind the rock and are confronted by five other pairs of intense eyes. The white haired man, who you gathered as Indra, gets down from the rock and joins the rest of the group. Among the men was a blue man with an elaborate headdress, a long, white haired man with some sort of weird mask over his face, a large, tan man with purple beads around his neck, a black, spiky haired man with four arms adorned with several tattoos, and last but not least, the one with the most intense aura of them all — a purple, four armed man, with a third eye in between his eyebrows. You gulp.

This isn’t good.

“Yo, who are you and why are you hiding?” says the purple guy aggressively.

He locks eyes with you as he approaches. You instinctively scoot back. As you watch him scrupulously, something in his demeanor and appearance tells you that this guy is Shiva. And if it you weren’t so unnerved and being backed into a corner by him, you’d say he was actually quite hot. Too bad he was probably going to snap you like a twig.

“I’ll ask you one more time before I force the answer out of you,” he asserts, cracking his knuckles to emphasize his point.

You feel your body slump in defeat. There was no way out of if it. You were out of options and better to maybe try and explain yourself instead of foolishly staying silent. You take a deep breath through your nose before standing up fully. It was the first time you felt truly blessed for being vertically challenged as the water was about chest deep on you, covering your goods.

Everyone looks at you with some degree of surprise and shock as they realize that you’re a human woman. Shiva specifically gazes at you hard. Something about you seemed familiar, although he knew he’d never seen your face before. He would never forget a human who looked as exceptionally stunning as you. But then it clicked. The broken arm, the (y/c) eyes — you were one of the Einherjar. He had witnessed your fight earlier, but your all black shinobi outfit revealed nothing but your eyes, thoroughly concealing your appearance. You had been introduced with only the first initial of your given name revealed which further added to the obscurity. He, the other gods, the humans, and the legends passed down about you, all speculated you were a man, but clearly history was very wrong. Regardless, he was too enamored in the battle itself to have paid any attention to the individuals fighting in it. But now that you were in front him, fully exposed and vulnerable, he couldn’t take his eyes off you. He also couldn’t help but observe the way beads of water sensually glided down your body and into the valley of your breasts, disappearing into unseeable territory — territory he wanted to explore and conquer. And the way you shyly looked up at him through your lashes only made him curious to know what that pretty face would look like when he did it.

Shiva smirks. ”A human huh? You were that one fighting earlier weren’t you? (first initial f/n) (l/n) right?”

You couldn’t help but feel incredibly flustered from being basically naked in front of bunch of a men whose eyes were all on you. Especially Shiva’s. You could feel him unabashedly scrutinizing every inch of you, his eyes darkening with desire. Your face burns red, and you look away.

Damn, he has me so hot and bothered. Why is he so good looking?

“Yeah, that’s me…you can call me (f/n). Uhm, look I don’t want to cause any trouble so if you could just let me pass, I’d really appreciate it…” you manage to utter.

“Go right on ahead,” Shiva says, still smirking. He steps aside making way for you to pass. The other men follow suit.

Why does this seem too easy?

“Thank you…also, could you guys turn around?”

The other gods glance at each other and shrug and start moving at your request. All except Shiva of course.

“I prefer to watch,” he says impishly, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Your eyes widen, and you snap your head towards him. “But!” you start to object.

“You can walk out yourself or I can do it for you. Which one will it be, Miss (y/n)?” His smirk only grows wider. The other gods only shake their heads at his antics.

A shiver runs down your spine. You weren’t sure if you wanted to know what the latter meant (or maybe you did), but you had set your mind on getting out of there. Taking another deep breath, you start making your way out of the water. You put your good arm across your breasts as the water level curtails the closer you get to the edge of the spring. Shiva’s eyes remains fixated on you, not daring to miss a single moment.

Here goes.

Taking the final step out the water, the cold air swathes your naked body and you break out in goosebumps. You briskly rush to your towel in a desperate but futile attempt to cover your ass from Shiva who’s enjoying every second of it. You try to ignore his scorching stare on your backside as you finally grab your towel and wrap it around you, gripping it tightly with your good hand. You sigh heavily.

So much for not letting the gods see me naked. But at least I’m not dead and naked.

You’re about to head towards the exit when a hand grips your towel, jolting you forward into them. Your startled eyes come face to face with Shiva’s devilish ones. You somehow maintain the grasp on your towel, although it becomes dangerously close to being pulled off you. Your eyes unintentionally trail down, half relieved to see a towel around him, yet half disappointed. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Shiva who could only revel in the reactions he elicited from you.

What is wrong with me?

Normally, you’d never let someone toy with you like this, never mind this overwhelming sexual desire you had for this man. But the carnal look in Shiva’s eyes, his sexy smirk, his muscular physique, his tantalizing, brazen demeanor — it was enough to make you putty. You couldn’t imagine how you’d act if he touched you.

“(y/n), you know what? I decided I don’t want you to go. Why not stay with me from a while?” His grip tightens on your towel, his knuckles grazing your skin.

You shudder at the slight brush of his skin on yours. It feels like an electric shock has run through you and into your very core. As you consider the tempting offer, a little voice in the back of your head starts to emerge from the depths of your lust smitten brain.

No matter how hot he was, he was still a god. Someone who wanted the destruction of humanity and who undoubtedly would be participating in Ragnarok on the side of the gods. The answer is obvious. I should say no… plus I mean, like, a god and a human? Is that even allowed? There’s just no way. I can’t just do naughty things with him…right?

“I should really go..” you say half heartedly, clearly conflicted.

“It wasn’t a request (y/n),” he says, his eyes darkening as he pulls you against him.

Before you’re able to respond, someone clears his throat behind you. You both look to see the other four armed god, a pair of arms resting on his clothed hips and the other pair of arms crossed loosely at his waist. “Shiva, you should let her go. Don’t force her.”

You almost object to his usage of the word force but decided it would be best to keep your mouth shut.

“Ahh, Rudra. You’re always so serious. I was just having some fun,” Shiva responds light heartedly, loosening his grip on your towel. “But, I guess you’re right! You know best!”

Before you had a chance to protest, Shiva had already let you go and was headed back towards the water, a pair of arms nonchalantly behind his head. You stood there, stunned at the abrupt loss of his closeness and touch. Feeling disappointed would be an understatement. You turn and manage to mutter a thank you to Rudra who nods his head in acknowledgment before also heading back to the water where the other gods had silently been watching everything unfold.

You watch Shiva as he descends further into the spring, his back facing you. You sigh dejectedly. Steam begins to fill the air again, but before Shiva is completely engulfed, he looks back at you, smirk plastered on his face as he winks at you. Your face flushes, and you could feel heat rushing to your core. Something told you that this wouldn’t be the last time you would see him.

extra scene

You hastily leave the hot spring and into the locker room. As you start to change, you replay the events of what happened in your head. The more you think about it, the more increasingly irritated you become. You were unsure if it stemmed from pent up sexual frustration or from being cornered in a potentially perilous, but completely avoidable, situation. Whatever it was, you were peeved and wanted to take it out on someone, and you knew exactly who. Once you’re fully dressed, you storm to the reception area of the hot springs and furiously approach the front desk. The same teen who checked you in was still there, face still buried in the same magazine as when you had first arrived. If he had taken his eyes off his magazine for two seconds instead of just waving you over to the male side, you wouldn’t be in this mess.

“Excuse me!” you say sharply, slamming the key card down on the counter. This spooks the teen boy into dropping his magazine, face twisted in bewilderment and fear.

“Y-Y-yes ma’am? How can I be of service to you?” the young kid stutters, scared shitless by the cross look on your face and the intense aura you exuded.

“You waved me into the male side of the hot spring! Do you know the kind of mess you got me into?! Do I look like a man to you?!”

His eyes widen, mortified. He had only hoped nothing bad happened to you. He couldn’t afford to lose this job. His mom would kill him.

“I am so sorry ma’am! No, of course I don’t think you look like a man. I must’ve made a mistake when I scanned your key card!”

He was sure that all the key cards he had scanned today belonged to all males, but even he couldn’t deny that he never really paid attention to the actual person coming in and could’ve easily made a mistake. He takes the key card and scans it, scouring the information on the computer. He looks at the screen then looks at you then back at the screen. Well no wonder he waved her over to the male side. She raises an eyebrows questioningly.

“Is something wrong?”

“Uh, your name is (f/n) (l/n) right?”

“Yes, and?”

He turns the computer screen to you. A picture of you in your fighting attire served as your ID picture and in bold letters under “sex” read male. It suddenly all made sense. You can only snort at the revelation.

“I’m sorry ma’am! I believe there was a mistake when creating your key card! I can get that fixed up. We just need to take a new picture and change you over to female-“ but before he could finish, you snatch the key card from him.

“Nope, that’s okay! That’ll be all! Thanks!” you exclaim hurriedly, setting a generous amount of bribe money down on the counter before scurrying away.

Maybe I can “accidentally” run into Shiva again.

You smile giddily to yourself as you fantasize about your next encounter with the devilishly handsome god.

The teen watches you run away, dumbfounded. “I need another job,” he complains to himself. He gathers the money and slowly grins to himself as he counts the stack of bills you left. “Or maybe not,” he says to himself, tucking the money into his pocket. He had a feeling he would probably be “accidentally” waving you over to the male side again.

shoutout to those who caught the mean girls reference! sorry if you read this nonsense lol i kept editing and rewriting for days and eventually got fed up and decided to just post it. hopefully, i’ll get better at writing!

#shiva #shiva ror #ror #record of ragnorak #anime #fanfic #shiva record of ragnarok #rudra ror #rudra #snv #snv shiva #snv rudra #shiva x reader #shiva ror x reader #ror x reader

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 2 years ago

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Alright, let’s get into some interesting stuff

So, Aphrodite was born from the castrated dick of Uranus (He was castrated by Kronos) and it fell into the sea where it lay for a while before it exploded and Aphrodite arose from the ‘sea foam’ (This has nothing to do with the ask I’m just sharing it)

At some point later on she was wedded to Hephaestus (Roman name Vulcan)

Now Hephaestus has an interesting relationship with his mother. See in one version she cast him out of Olympus because he had a lame foot and thus apparently not worthy of divinity. The other he defended Hera from Zeus when Hera had angered Zeus (probably when she confronted him about another affair) and Zeus cast Hephaestus out of Olympus and he fell for a full day.

Now for his return in the first version he trapped Hera on a chair and refused to free her until Dionysus wined with him and once the smith was drunk and unconscious was sent up to Olympus where he decided to free his mother (although in another version he did this in an effort to learn who his mother was)

Now at some point he and Aphrodite marry but she constantly cheats on him with Ares (and several other gods and mortals) and at some point he trapped the two in a net and showed them to all the gods who laughed at the two (except Poseidon who ordered Hephaestus to let them go)

Now, let’s get into Hephaestus in RoR

He has a good relationship with the Norse Pantheon as a whole since they respect blacksmiths (I mean they are the ones who are most like warriors so it would make sense) and he has made several weapons for them all, especially the Valkyries

He also however is often helping the mortals who reside within Valhalla, those who wish to continue battling with others or those who continue to train even in death so he provides all sorts of things for them to continue as they please, and they respect him greatly for it

To the point he’s actually become friends with Tesla and his science crew and supplies them with all kinds of materials to advance their research and sharing his knowledge

My request, Hephaestus fights for the humans in an exhibition match after Buddha’s because the humans have an extra fighter and it was either send out a one of the Einherjar or someone volunteers

Whoever he goes up against is your choice but how does it go and the reactions of the Greek Pantheon as well as Humanity to the fight and Hephaestus winning, especially Aphrodite

-The rhythmic banging of a hammer hitting an anvil could get irritating after a while, but if you’ve been doing it for thousands of years, it becomes soothing, relaxing.

-Being the God of the Forge was a demanding job, but hard work meant excellent products for those who appreciate those products that you can provide to them with a sense of pride.

-Despite being a Greek God, your forge and home were both in the Norse Pantheon, as the gods and humans both, many of them warriors, appreciated your trade.

-You were never bored, sitting around twiddling your thumbs, you always had orders for new weapons and armor, as your clients wanted new weapons to train with, or had worn out their weapons from fierce training, becoming stronger.

-You didn’t mind, you loved working, you loved making weapons and tools for those who you knew would put them through the paces.

-The Valkyries were some of your most frequent clients, especially Brunnhilde and Goll, as the youngest Valkyrie was in training and her sisters wanted her to use many different types of weapons, to find out which clicked with her.

-Goll adored you, looking up to you like an uncle-type of figure, as you would personally show her your newest weapons and creations

-You got plenty of clients from other pantheons, the Shinto pantheon is your biggest source after the Norse, and you enjoyed making their unique weapons and armor, working hard on the intricate details.

-You’ve recently started to make tools for a new group of clients, after Brunnhilde introduced you to Nikola Tesla, who was very…enthusiastic, almost to the point of intimidating, at first.

-You and Nikola quickly became friends, as you allowed him to study the tools around your forge and you were in awe of his scientific equipment, the two of you bonding over your various crafts!

-You helped Nikola building equipment that could handle his experiments with his friends, which has helped him tremendously as his equipment breaks less, leading to much quicker breakthroughs in the research of him and his friends.

-Despite not living there, you were still respected in the Greek Pantheon, warriors like Ares and Hercules were always putting in orders for new swords, and your craftsmanship was second to none and many knew that.

-There were a few who didn’t respect you, Aphrodite and Hera were the only two that came to mind immediately.

-Hera was the cruel mother who cast you from Olympus, leaving your leg to be injured for centuries until you fixed it yourself, using a brace that forced your leg to straighten until you no longer needed it.

-Aphrodite was your wife, given to you by Zeus, after you trapped Hera on a throne that held her down, and when you refused all other payments, Zeus offered up Aphrodite who was disgusted by you, as you were dirty from the forge, despite loving the beautiful gifts you gave to her.

-Aphrodite constantly cheated on you during your marriage, mainly with Ares, but you fully believed you could probably seduce Ares, as he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the toolbox.

-That’s why you still had respect for him, as you know she seduced him, having caught them and paraded them around in front of the other gods, embarrassing them both, but Ares was the only one to apologize to you, as Aphrodite told him that you said it was okay.

-You divorced her and took back many of her gifts, something Zeus allowed, much to her dismay, and you remade the beautiful jewelry you had crafted into new works of arts for other gods, as thank you gifts.

-When Ragnarok was announced, you were bogged down with orders for weapons, mainly for that Jack the Ripper fellow who was quite the weapons specialist.

-You were on the side for the salvation of humanity, as you respected their perseverance and creativity when it came to weapons and armor.

-Brunnhilde approached you after Buddha’s fight, because they now had an extra fighter, both sides agreed to an exhibition match, as neither one wanted to use one of their fighters for an exhibition match, so they sought out volunteers.

-You felt flattered when Brunnhilde approached you first, wanting you to fight for humanity and you didn’t hesitate to agree, grabbing a two-handed hammer, but with your strength, you could use it one handed, slinging it over your shoulder before you went to clean up a bit, as you’ve been working hard in your forge and needed a bath before your match.

-You were a bit annoyed, seeing the cruel Nergal was your opponent, who was being booed by many, but as you walked out, the roar of cheers from gods and humans alike was heartwarming.

-Ares was cheering for you, as you were his friend, and many of the other gods wanted you to win more than Nergal, but this match was purely for entertainment, an exhibition match, so whoever won that match it wouldn’t count against the final total of wins.

-Nergal was fast on his feet, using his scimitar and a dual lion headed mace, but he was quick to underestimate you, thinking you were slow due to your large muscles from centuries of working in the forge.

-You made quick work of his scimitar when he got too close to you, punching the flat end of the blade with your fist after you saw the tiniest chip in the edge, snapping it in two pieces, leaving only his mace against your hammer.

-Zeus was impressed with your fighting skills, you were agile and easily able to block Nergal’s blows with ease, actually being able to grab the made by the handle, holding it up and away from you when he tried to bash your head in.

-The match was short, only about eight minutes or so total, as Nergal was a slippery snake to get a hold of, but you managed to knock him down, raising your hammer with both hands to strike him down.

-You stunned all when he rolled to be out of your trajectory when you let go with one hand, swinging your hammer easily with one arm, quickly ending him.

-You grinned brightly, holding your fist up in victory, despite being battered, bruised, and a few nasty cuts over your body, soaking up the cheers.

-Ares and Zeus were cheering loudly for you, being a bit obnoxious, but it was Aphrodite’s reaction that really stunned all those around her, leaning her cheek on her fist, a genuine smile on her face, “He looks so happy.”

-She didn’t want to get back with you but seeing your joy at being in such a good battle, that pure happiness warmed her heart.

-After getting patched up and taking a day or two to heal, just a bit, you were back in your forge, creating new weapons, your hammer hitting down upon your anvil, a sense of peace filling you once more.

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror aphrodite #ror zeus #ror tesla #ror ares

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mysteroads · 7 months ago

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Chapter 4: Lost and Found

Summary: Tomura continues his escort missions, defies the laws of life and death to make sure he's there for *all* his friends, and brings the story full circle.

Excerpt:

Swallowing hard, Tomura knelt in front of Mon and gently took her face in his hands. “Mon-chan, I need to break a rule,” he whispered. Her ears pricked up. “I think the broadcast is a little behind, so I died already, but I need to go to before I died.” His throat tightened, his fingers prickling as his quirk stirred in reaction to his sudden spike in adrenaline. “Not far, just a few minutes. I need to be there for Dabi. He’s so fucking stubborn! If he dies without someone there, I know he'll do something stupid! I don't know what happens to people who die and refuse to leave, but I bet it’s not good. Dabi as a vengeful ghost isn't something anyone wants. So, I'm going to try.” He smiled crookedly and rubbed behind her ears. “I don’t know who runs this crazy afterlife business, but I doubt they’ll be happy with me. That’s just fine. I’m a villain, breaking rules is kinda my thing, but you’re just Mon-chan. I’m not even sure why I’m explaining this to you.” That was a lie, and Tomura knew it. He was explaining to delay his trip, to spend a little bit longer with his dog, just in case he got on God’s or Buddha's or Whoever’s actual shit list with the stunt he was about to pull.

Giving her one last hug, he stood up. “Mon, go home.” He pointed to the waiting door. Mon whined, her ears pinning back. “Go home,” he repeated sternly. Still whining, little stub of a tail tucked, Mon reluctantly went to the door, paused one last time to see if Tomura would change his mind, then nudged the door open and went inside.

Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Tomura turned and headed down the hall, his black coat flapping out behind him. He reached out as he walked, running his fingers along the wall, letting Decay out. His quirk couldn’t touch this world anymore, but he imagined it eating away what it could touch. He could picture it perfectly, Decay destroying this hall, destroying any barriers that got in front of him, letting him walk wherever he wanted.

The world around him went black. Not black as in behind his eyelids or the times he’d been locked in a pitch dark room for training. This black was… empty. A weird sort of hungry empty that ate up every other sensation. There was nothing to hear, no echo of his footsteps or the sound of his own breathing. He couldn’t feel anything either, not the clothes on his skin or the beat of his heart, not even the feel of the floor beneath his feet. He’s not even sure he’s still walking. No sound, no sight, no sensation… except a sudden and overwhelming sense of being watched that exploded out of nowhere.

Tomura fell to his knees, or thought he did, suddenly hyperventilating. The back of his neck prickled, and he expected to feel teeth sink into the tender skin. It was like every nightmare where he ran from something invisible and deadly, but his body refused to cooperate and he woke up just before it caught him— only this time, he refused to wake up.

“Let me be there,” he whispered. And he could hear himself. The sound made him jump, and the way each word fell from his lips like it was weighted was almost as terrifying as whatever was watching him. Swallowing, he forced himself back to his feet, and kept walking as he spoke, “I failed them all. I let them die when I should’ve saved them. I can’t undo that, but let me be there for this at least! Please!”

He struggled forward a few more feet, then the feeling of eyes on him vanished. There was a nearly audible snap! and he tripped… and fell into a frozen wasteland.

The switch from literal nothing to this was painful, a complete sensory overload, and Tomura had to spend a moment coming back to himself. When he could finally think like a human again and not a small, scared animal, he looked around.

Everything was coated in white frost, and thick fog swirled around, obscuring his vision. Dead or not, a shiver slipped down Tomura’s spine and his breath puffed out in a little cloud of condensation. His teeth actually chattered. “D-Damn it, Da-Dabi. W-What d-d-did you d–d-do?”

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the-musings-of-a-manga-reader · 1 year ago

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Shuumatsu no Valkyrie

"Shuumatsu no Valkyrie" or " Record of Ragnarok"

Gods vs Humans. Who will win?

Ragnarok has come and the gods are ready to end all of humanity but the Valkyrie Brunhilde is here to put a stop to that plan. She proposes the idea of a tournament; Gods vs Humans. Whoever reaches 7 wins will be named the final winner. The prize? The saving or destruction of humanity. If the humans win, humanity will be safe for at least another 1000 years, and if the Gods win? Humanity will cease to exist.

Have you ever wanted to watch Jack the Ripper fight a god? What about Rasputin or Adam (of Adam & Eve)? Well, this series is just for you! You can watch as humans from history take on a variety of gods from different religions/mythologies. Some of which include Poseidon, Beezlebub, Shiva, Anubis, and More.

What drew me into reading this series was seeing the list of who the human fighters were. The absurdity of Jack the Ripper fighting a god, honestly had me laughing, and then after seeing who the other fighters were, I knew I had to check it out.

If I’m being honest I didn’t really care for the first fight, it was nothing special in my opinion, but by the end of the 2nd fight I found myself looking forward to more and it’s with the 3rd fight that I found myself fully drawn in and consumed by the series. I’m now officially obsessed and I have spent probably more money than I should have on merch 🤣

(You thought I was joking? 🤣)

This is a series I highly recommend if you like mythology, history, fighting games, and tournaments. However for mythology and history lovers, please be aware that this series and its portrayal of the characters aren't realistic or how they are often described.

The personalities and the overall character designs are very interesting, to say the least. Zeus looks way older than his brothers even tho he is the youngest. Buddha looks like an e-boy, and Loki looks like a twink which isn’t surprising but I don’t understand the green hair since he was often said to be a ginger in mythologies 🤣. King Leonidas looks like he stepped out of G.I. Joe or something. The character designs are so far out there but honestly, it's one of my favorite parts. I’m always looking forward to seeing what a character is going to look like.

Currently, the series is being printed by Viz Media as part of their VIZ Sig line, with Vol. 7 being the most current release. Physically the English version is far behind Japan, with Japan being at vol 19 (I believe), and with Viz only releasing 4 volumes a year it’s going to be a long while before we’re caught up physically. However luckily for us impatient people, the app Manga Hot has an English translation for Record of Ragnarok and you can catch up pretty close with Japan. I think it's only a few chapters behind.

Another thing I want to mention briefly was the anime. There is an anime for this series and it’s available to watch on Netflix but I don’t recommend it. It really does a terrible job of depicting the scenes from the manga. It lacks the emotion, the thrill of the fights, and the art is a disgrace to the manga. (They made my boy Poseidon ugly 😭) However, If you do want to watch it I highly recommend you wait till after you read the manga.

(This is just one picture I found comparing the same scene from anime and the manga)

As long as you don't take it too seriously, I think many people would enjoy reading this series. It's fun, chaotic, and always has you on the edge of your seat.

(I used photos from fan scans I think it's valhallascans so credit to them and whoever else worked on it.)

#manga and stuff #anime and manga #viz media #manga #seinen #record of ragnarok #shuumatsu no valkyrie #anime #manga rec #manga review #manga recommendation #greek mythology #norse mythology #manga seinen #manga series #seinen manga #manga art #manga panel

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gate-to-valhalla · 3 years ago

Note

Hiii😊

Can I request a one shot with Buddha? Maybe one where buddha falls in love with a human (reader) and she is the main reason of why he decided to fight for the humanity? Please ❤️❤️

Thank you so much 💕💕💕

A/N: Of course! I hope you enjoy it and thank you for the request!

———————————————————————

My Promise to Her

Buddha x (Fem) Reader

Type: One-shot

Situation: Buddha falls for a human female reader

Requested by: @milydeframbuesa

“Lord Buddha!”

That voice. He recognized it. The god would turn slightly, his eyes slowly opening before closing again as they tried adjusting to the light of the sun that beat down on the earth. He had been napping under a large tree, though if anyone asked, he’d probably say he was meditating. He would hear his named called again though closer this time and it would be followed by rushing footsteps. Buddha’s eyes would fully open this time and he’d sit up straight, looking up at one of the only people he truly cared for.

(Y/N), a human woman from the village nearby. She was kind and would bring him treats from her bakery whenever she had the chance to visit. When she did, they’d just sit and talk about random things, from how the clouds looked like bunnies or turtles to philosophical dilemmas.

Regardless, Buddha enjoyed her company and whenever she came, he couldn’t help but feel butterfly’s in his stomach and his heart speeding up. If only she knew. He couldn’t bare to tell her, especially now after a conversation held with Zeus. That he’d be fighting for the Gods on the destruction of humanity. His heart began to ache. Maybe this was the wrong decision after all. Buddha’s usual smile would turn into a frown as he saw the woman appear.

There was no treats, no smile on her face or her cheerful attitude. Instead he was greeted with fear. (Y/N) was covered in scrapes and bruises from head to toe, with a small bit deep cut on her cheek and her dress ripped in multiple places. Tears had pricked the corners of her eyes and a look of relief washed over her face as she rushed over to him. Buddha was quick to stand up, a wave of panic washing over him as he saw her condition.

“Oi..what happened to you?”

He questioned slowly though he didn’t get an immediate response as instead (Y/N) just collided into his chest, tears flowing freely. Buddha tensed up when she came into contact with him. He didn’t dislike it, he was just unsure. Wrapping his arms around her carefully, he’d pull her closer and let her cry for a few moments before asking again.

”What happened? Why are ye so beat up?”

(Y/N) would take a few deep breaths as she tried to calm her sobbing and hiccups. She was in pain, yes, but there were more important things that needed assistance.

“T-The village..is under attack by raiders..t-they destroyed m-my…b-bakery and t-took my n-necklace.”

Buddha had finally took the chance to look closer, realizing that (Y/N)’s necklace was in fact, missing. He understood how important it was to her. She probably care more about the necklace than her bakery. It was a generational heirloom after all. Humanity had its failures, it was only natural but Buddha didn’t mind, especially when there were success’s. Like the woman in his arms. She was poor and built herself up, starting a business that all people could afford. She’d help those whoever asked and protected those who couldn’t protect themselves. A true success and one he couldn’t help but love.

“You don’t have ‘ta cry anymore (Y/N). ‘Cos I’m here and I’m gonna get that necklace back for ya, ya here? You just rest here and I’ll take care of it.”

Buddha said confidently. He would smile widely down at the woman in his arms who in turn looked up at him with worry and a hint of fear. Buddha’s eyes would soften as did his smile.

“You don’t ever have to worry, (Y/N). I’ll always be here to protect ya, okay? I promise.” He kept his promise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And if the Gods won’t save them…I will. And if any of the gods get in my way…I’ll kill them. I made a promise and I’m gonna keep it.”

Buddha would yell out to to the crowd for all of humanity and divinity to hear. He made a mistake siding with the gods and now he was going to fix it. His eyes would search the crowd looking for the woman that he could call his. When he finally set eyes on them, he couldn’t help but smile slightly. There she was, smiling happily and waving to cheer him on, with her necklace in tact. Neither of them would ever forget that day. Where Buddha made his promise to protect her and the rest of humanity and she in turn promised to always be by his side.

#buddha record of ragnarok #record of ragnarok #oneshots #x reader #female reader #shuumatsu no valkyrie #shuumatsu no valkyrie headcanons #yellow

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ladyzerodark · 2 years ago

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So I’m not sure how I’m going to go about it, like with comics or fics, or whatever but the basic premise is this:

Tripitaka has gone missing from the Mountain of the Buddhas and Sun Wukong and the crew have to find him. The last known location was in the Connecticut area, so they head there (followed by an angel, who act as, guides for beings that go to other pantheon territory). They end up causing an issue for the Power of Darkness who was in the meeting with a group of demons. After clearing that up, they join forces to try to find Tripitaka. Tripitaka himself, is looking for a way to get into the Akashic records because he wants to help Ilyth'La, a creation of Nyarlhotep and Cthulhu, go against her creators and keep them from being resurrected, permanently sealing them. Multiple different Gods, Goddesses, Angels and Demons show up to either help or hinder the group on their journey.

Honestly, it started out as a simple concept then kinda went out of control and I’m STILL adding mythologies in (figuring how to add in Tezscatlipoca as of today). I want to be fair about adding in mythologies that aren’t touched much in media because they are just as cool as the more talked about ones.

Like I have ideas for shitposts and gag comics (Bluey has given me SO many ideas) so I will be doing those kinds of things when I can/have the energy.

There’s also a separate storyline I have for the Six Eared Macaque, who was revived and “gifted“ to Asena the Wolf (of Turkic lore) by Erlik Khan as an apology for the death of her eldest child. I’m not sure what to call this arc because it’s not TECHNICALLY redemption, more like “Six actually having good influences in his life“ because whoever his influences were in his life before... oh boy. What a mess. I’m also using it as an excuse to essentially develop a character for him that is not centered around him pretending to be Sun Wukong. (I go as far as having Asena give him a new name, so would he be more of an OC at that point? I don’t know)

I’ll post more about it in a bit, I’m getting excited and that jumbles my thoughts.

Also hey, if you know any other mythologies I should add in please: give me the knowledge or good references so I can be thorough.

#things dark does #jttw x mythology #journey to the west #mythology

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hyenahunt · 3 years ago

Text

Beast Survival - 7

Writer: Nishioka Maiko

Season: Summer

Proofreading: royalquintet (JP & ENG)

Jun: Well, there'd be no point to fishing if that were the case. The real thrill comes from how it's a showdown between man and fish, doesn't it?

[Location: Beach]

Jun: First, cast your line into the sea... And then all we've gotta do is wait for a fish to take the bait. Easy, right?

Aira: Wha, we're starting already!?

...Um, so I cast my line — hiyah! Like this?

Jun: Yep, just like that. All that's left for us is just to be patient and wait.

Aira: Gotcha~ ♪ Oh ravely lil' fishies, dear lil' fishies ♪ C'mon and meet me already~

Y'know, I never realised just how convenient fishing gear was. Whoever first came up with it is amaaazing ♪

Jun: It's really not something you'd notice unless you're in this situation, huh. I'm sure there's loads of other convenient things we've always taken for granted.

Aira: It'd be even more convenient if we had fishing gear that was completely automatic, though~

Jun: Well, there'd be no point to fishing if that were the case. The real thrill comes from how it's a showdown between man and fish, doesn't it? It'd be pretty boring if we didn't have to lift a finger for it, yeah?

Aira: Hmm? Sazanami-senpai, have you gone fishing before?

Jun: Sure have~ Just a few times when I was real small, though.

I was super happy when I made my first catch. You can't afford to be careless when you're reeling in a fish, and that feeling of tension really hooks you in.

Aira: Ooh~ Sounds like it might actually be pretty fun! Wonder if I can reel one in soon myself~

Jun: Not just yet. Fishing's also a real test of patience, y'know~ It starts from when you're wondering if you'll even catch one or not.

Well, since this is kinda our last resort I've got no intention to lose my catch, of course.

— Ahh, I see. Maybe this is just how hyenas feel, actually...

They don't even know if they'll find any prey, and even if they do they can't be sure they'll catch 'em without a hitch. It's a given they'd go all out with desperation.

Aira: We're just as desperate now too, aren't we~

We ran into some obstacles at first, and did have our regrets, but I'm glad it seems like it's doing good for getting you into character!

Jun: For real, though. We've realised just how important it is to find food and a place to sleep, or kinda like... I feel like I'm getting an idea of just how harsh life would be after getting exiled from your own kingdom...

Aira: Hehe. Well then, let's make sure we return victorious from this trial ♪

✦✦✦✦✦

[Location: Starmony Hall Courtyard]

Leo: With a heave! And a ho! And out they go! Can I leave all the veggies I've gathered here?

Tatsumi: Ahh, yes. Leaving them there should be no problem. I've collected some firewood here, too.

This may be breaking a few of your rules, but just in case, I borrowed some sleeping bags as well.

Leo: Wahahaha ☆ We were supposed to be getting a taste of savannah life, but now it's more like we're going camping~

With all this, it might be pretty different from animal life. But hey, we're having fun so who cares!

Tatsumi: Perhaps I wouldn't wholly agree with that. In the very same way that beasts live by tooth and claw, humans make use of fire and tools to survive, after all.

I do believe the ability to make and use tools is a special talent of mankind.

Leo: Yeah! I think so, too!

But what Nami~'s tryna do is become a hyena, though~ That kinda complicates things, right?

Tatsumi: Heheh. It does, doesn't it? But I do feel that Jun-san's been overthinking it just a touch...

Ah, never mind me. There's no point discussing this while he himself isn't around for it.

On that note, I wonder how those two are getting on... Even if they don't catch something big, fishing up anything at all would be nice.

Leo: It'll be fiiine~ We're on the brink of starvation here, so we're all desperate! They're gonna come back with a heck of a catch, I just know it!

And if he doesn't, my stomach's gonna glue itself right up against my spine! I'm gonna turn all harp-shaped!

✦✦✦✦✦

[Location: Beach]

Aira: ......

Wehhh. I'm not catching a thing~! The bobber isn't moving at aaall!

Jun: Like I was telling you, fishing is all about patience. Not to mention if you shout so loud, you're gonna scare off all the fish, y'know?

Aira: Urgh. But just sitting like this and staring at the water is boring me outta my mind, and I end up remembering just how hungry I am~

Jun: Well, I totally feel you there. Doing nothing but waiting is reminding me of my own hunger, too. Let's see... We could take our minds off it for now by playing a game of Shiritori or —

Mm!? Shiratori-kun, it looks like you've got something on the line!?

Aira: Huh!? Wahhh! Y-you're right!? W-What should I do!?

Woahhh!? The line's pulling completely taut! It feels like I'm gonna get yanked right into the ocean—! Nghhh... Sazanami-senpai, save meee~!

Jun: Stay calm! Please make sure you stay right there and brace yourself, okay? I'm gonna help you out!

Aira: A-Alright—!

Jun: Wow, it's really pulling hard, huh...!

Okay, let's haul it up in one shot! Here goes! One, two, threeee—!

Aira: Hiyaaaaarrrghhh!

—I did it! I fished it up...

—Wait, huh......!?

Jun: ...I-It's a... broken umbrella?

Goddamn! Who the hell did this!? You're not supposed to dump trash in the sea!

Aira: Seriously! It even got my hopes up and all! I won't forgive 'em!

Ah, geez... And here I thought we'd hooked a big one~ ...Hmm?

Huh? It looks like this time there's something pulling on your rod, Sazanami-senpai?

Jun: Woah!? There really is!?

Jun: Damn, it's strong as hell...! Feels for sure this is gonna be something huge!

Aira: Dear God and Buddha~! Please let it be anything but another umbrella~!

Jun: Alriiight, here we goooooo—!

✦✦✦✦✦

[Location: Starmony Hall Courtyard]

Leo: Those two sure are taking their time~... It's been so long that even my tummy's stopped grumbling out music...

Tatsumi: Are you alright, Leo-san? They certainly are a little late...

Hm? Over there, is that...

Leo: Mom, Dad, my little angel Ruka-tan... Please forgive me for passing on first. The savannah was just too much for me...

Tatsumi: Leo-san, Leo-san. Please have a look over there.

Leo: ...Mm~? Whazzat? If it's a waste of time I'm gonna bite ya! Grrrrrr—!

Tatsumi: It's alright. It seems like it's good news for us ♪

Jun: Heeey~! Sorry to keep ya waiting~! We're back and managed to catch a big one~♪

✦✦✦✦✦

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

#jun sazanami #aira shiratori #leo tsukinaga #tatsumi kazehaya #enstars #ensemble stars #enstars translation #s: beast survival #era: !!#type: scout #status: complete #hyenahunttl

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arashikitten · 4 years ago

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Of Molten Gold and Frozen Silver

When Qi Xiaotian had gone to Flower Fruit Mountain that morning, he’d gone expecting either brutal sparring, grueling physical labor, or, if Sun Wukong was feeling particularly lazy, an hour or so of meditation.

He had not been expecting to find Sun Wukong hunched over in pain, gripping his head and snarling like a wild animal. He also hadn’t expected to see a familiar bluish-white smoke slowly circling the Monkey king, accompanied by the very worrying sound of small, whispering voices that seemed to fill up the cave. Qi Xiaotian felt ice settle into his veins. He recognized this, he’d seen this before, just a week prior.

Baigujing. The White Bone spirit.

He should’ve run. The moment he’d seen the white smoke, he should’ve booked it to the hills, rushed back to the city to sound the alarm for everyone, to save as many people as possible from the oncoming rampage.

But… he couldn’t. Sun Wukong, his mentor, his idol, was in trouble. He needed help, and Qi Xiaotian would be damned if he didn’t at least try to do something. Slowly, carefully, he reached out toward the shaking Monkey King.

“Sun Wukong? Hey, um, are… are you-“

“Run.” Qi Xiaotian froze, the air leaving his lungs as terror flooded his veins like ice. Wukong’s voice was raspy, tight with pain, and each syllable trembled in the musty air of the cave. This thing- this demon, it was hurting his mentor, and Xiaotian felt his heart wrench at the notion. He needed to help.

“Wukong-“

“Xiaotian, you need to run. I can’t… I can’t hold Baigujing back for much longer. It’s way...way stronger than before, I won’t last long. I thought, thought that I could handle it, but…” the monkey king gasped as his knees gave out, sending him to the hard stone floor. Qi Xiaotian rushed forward, even as Wukong began to growl like a rabid animal, tail lashing back and forth like an irate cat. He reached forward, almost touching Sun Wukong, when-

“STAY BACK!” A pale gold force rippled out from the monkey king’s form, sending Xiaotian flying back. He winced as he slowly began to push himself up, a twinge of pain in his side confirming the presence of a quickly-forming bruise. He looked up at his mentor, questions on his tongue-

When he finally saw Sun Wukong’s face. And every muscle, every nerve ending, went cold as terror crashed full-force into him like a tsunami, sending him plunging into the waves, too disoriented to know which way was up even as he was drowning in fear.

Dark, empty shadows obscured to top half of Wukong’s face, leaving Xiaotian unable to see the familiar golden glow of his eyes. The bottom half of his face, the part Xiaotian could see, was pale and washed out, appearing a dusky gray-purple like that of a corpse. His mouth was twisted in an ugly snarl, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light of the cave. But that wasn’t what scared Qi Xiaotian.

No, the thing that scared Qi Xiaotian was the singular, glowing blue eye that pierced through the shadows of the Monkey King’s face, pale smoke leaking from the outer corner like tears. And, despite the cruel snarl and the tense, aggravated posture…

That eye was shining with fear. Sun Wukong… was scared.

Sun Wukong. Who had fought countless demons. Sun Wukong, who had thwarted death countless times, becoming immortal four times over in the process. Sun Wukong, who had gone up against the entire Court of Heaven, and was only stopped by the Buddha himself. Sun Wukong, who was strong enough to lift an entire mountain with ease.

Sun Wukong, who had saved his life…

Was afraid. Was terrified of whatever was trying to take over his body, trying to trap him in his own mind. His mentor, his powerful, wise, unflappable mentor was scared, and Xiaotian could only watch in horror as he began to succumb to the demon.

“Kid… listen… to me. You… you need to- to run. Go- go and warn the others. Please, before… before it’s too late.” Gods, Wukong sounded so desperate, so terrified, and it made Xiaotian’s heart crack in his chest. His throat felt tight as he held back a sob, praying to whoever was listening to please, please put a stop to this, please don’t let this be happening.

“Sun Wukong, please, no…” it came out a whisper, trembling with unshed emotion.

“Kid… run. Please. I don’t… I don’t want to- to hurt you. Not when… not when you’ve done… so much for- for me. Please. Run.” Qi Xiaotian gasped softly as he saw tears slowly trail down the Monkey King’s face, even as he could see the traces of his mentor began to leave that one blue eye…

And suddenly Wukong’s face relaxed, a small fond smile taking it’s place over the snarl, that glowing blue eye filling with affection and kindness and love-

Xiaotian’s breath stuttered as he stepped back. His eyes burned with tears that he refused to let fall, trembling hands covering his mouth as he began to sob. Wukong cared about him, cared about him not just as his successor, but his-

Xiaotian turned and ran as fast as he could, eyes screwed shut against the pain and wind as he finally let his tears fall.

Sun Wukong watched him go, smile filling with relief. And even as the White Bone spirit finally won, even as pain flooded every nerve ending, even as his heart started to shatter…

He knew his kid was safe

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fanfics4all · 4 years ago

Text

Angels, Demons

Request: Yes / No can you do a spencer reid imagine based on season 9 episode 23 and 24 please?? Anon

Requests are open, but please read this! <3 Have a nice day/night

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Word count: 6009

Warnings: Spencer getting shot, reader getting shot, criminal minds stuff, ya know the drill.

Y/N: Your Name

Y/N/N: Your NickName

Y/L/N: Your Last Name

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

“So, we get Henry to bed, and, you know, we’re about to finally have some alone time with Mommy and Daddy, and… you guys know the rest.” JJ said while rolling her eyes. Spencer walked up to us along with Alex and I smiled at him. Spencer and I have been dating for a few years now and he was the love of my life.

“Ah, trying to dust off the old cobwebs.” Morgan said with a smirk.

“Inappropriate!” Garcia whisper-yelled and smacked him in the arm.

“What?” He asked with a laugh.

“Seriously, though, how long has it been?” She asked.

“Too long.” JJ said with the most serious face I’ve seen.

“Do we know what the case is?” Alex asked, changing the subject.

“Not yet.” I answered.

“Hotch just said to drop everything and get back here.” Rossi said.

“You need some private adult time.” Garcia said.

“Spencer and I can watch Henry for you guys if you want.” I offered, Spencer nodded in agreement.

“You two should go to Mexico. Or the Maldives, maybe.” Garcia said.

“Cruz?” JJ asked looking behind us.

“Yes! Exactly. A cruise would be perfect.” Garcia said.

“No, no, no. Matt Cruz.” She said motioning behind us. We all looked behind and saw Cruz and Hotch walking towards the round table room.

“Let’s get started.” Hotch said. We all got up and followed. We got int the room before them and sat down quickly.

“How are those ribs?” Cruz asked JJ.

“Still hurts when I laugh. You?” She asked.

“The scars impress the ladies.” He said.

“I hope you don’t mind, Ms. Garcia, but I took the liberty of having the much less talented version of you in my office load the case details.” He said taking the remote from Garcia.

“Oh. Yeah. Sure, no problem.” She said and sat down.

“A good friend of mine, Sheriff Peter Coleman, down in Briscoe County, Texas, reached out to me about a possible case. He’s a former Texas ranger, he’s a good guy.” Cruz said.

“He read about our work on the Silencer case two years ago. He asked for a consult.” Hotch said.

“What do we have?” Alex asked.

“Abigail Jones. Prostitute. She was found in a dumpster last night.” He said.

“What’s that on her wrists?” I asked.

“It’s, uh… it’s…” Cruz said while having trouble with the remote.

“Uh, would you mind?” He asked Garcia.

“Thank you, Jesus, Buddha, and Allah.” Garcia said quickly, taking the remote from him and standing up.

“I like to cover my bases. You have to squeeze it.” She said and the pictures zoomed in.

“Rope burns.” Rossi said.

“Which goes hand in hand with the lacerations on her back.” Cruz said.

“There’s also a gunshot wound to the back of her head, execution style.” JJ said.

“It’s a conflict in M.O. The cutting and restraints points to sexual sadism, but the gunshot wound ends the torture too quickly for a sadist.” Spencer said.

“Is she the only victim?” I asked.

“There;s Hannah Kelly, another prostitute, killed six months ago, dumped one jurisdiction over.” Cruz said.

“Forensic countermeasure. Smart enough to separate the victims so we won’t tie them together.” Alex said.

“And practical, too. The body was left in hooker row, where they pick up their johns, which brings us to our first victim, Lucas Wagner. Killed eleven months ago. Multiple arrests for soliciting a prostitute. He was found outside of a crack house where some of them lived.” Cruz said.

“He takes a paying customer and drops them where the girls live. That sends a message that nobody’s safe.” Morgan said.

“Tell Sheriff Coleman we’re on our way.” Hotch told Cruz and we started collecting our things. We all got our go-bags and hopped onto the jet. We all were looking through the case files.

“Ballistics matched one gun to all three shootings. So, the same unsub killed one John and two prostitutes.” JJ said.

“At least he keeps it in the family.” Rossi said.

“Maybe the John was a friend of the unsub, someone he picked up prostitutes with.” Alex said.

“Well, once he kills his friend, it makes it easier to kill the prostitutes.” Morgan said.

“That would explain why there’s no sexual assault on the victims. It’s not about rape for this unsub, it’s about toture.” Spencer said.

“I mean, that fits, kind of, but it just feels like we’re missing something.” I said with a sigh.

“What we’re missing is whether this guy’s a sadist or not. A gunshot to the back of the head throws everything off.” Rossi said.

“We’re presuming he’s using the gun to end things, but it could be part of the psychological toture.” Hotch said.

“I’m gonna cut you, and if you flinch, bang.” Spencer said.

“Okay, so let’s go with that for a second. There were five cuts on Lucas Wagner, nine on Hannah, twelve on Abigail. He’s escalating his torture. Sadists definitely do that.” I said.

“And they get deeper with each victim.” Alex added.

“That’s right. The first cuts were experimental in nature, and the latter ones were about maximum infliction of pain.” Spencer said.

“What if this is vigilantism? He’s punishing theses woman and their Johns to clean up the streets.” Rossi suggested.

“But then why take so long to do it? Three victims in eleven months? That’s a substantial cooling-off period.” I said.

“Y/N, Morgan, and Reid talk to anyone working the streets last night and see if they saw something useful. Dave and Blake, go to the coroner’s office, see what you can learn there, and JJ and I will go to the station with the Sheriff and start interviewing friends and family.” Hotch ordered. When we landed we settled in and immediately got out in the field. Morgan, Spencer, and I went to the station with the rest of the team first and we had an officer come with us.

“Not too many spots for working girls to go to, so this’ll be your best shot.” He said as we got out of the car.

“And you turn a blind eye to what goes on in here?” Spencer asked.

“Agent, we only got one bar around here. Monday night’s karaoke, Tuesday’s line dancing, and the girls are discreet. Can hardly tell the professionals from the locals who just want to get their drink on. Not to mention, we shut this place down, then what?” He answered.

“The devil you know kind of thing.” Morgan said.

“Exactly.” The officer said. We walked into the bar and just about all eyes were on us.

“Deputy.” The woman at the bar greeted.

“Dinah, these three are agents from the FBI. You mind answering some questions?” He asked her.

“Don’t know much, but sure.” She answered.

“We’re trying to find out more about a woman named Abigail Jones. Did you know her?” Spencer asked placing her photo on the bar.

“Why ya’ll askin’ about Abby?” A man at the bar asked.

“When was the last time you saw her?” Spencer asked.

“Last week. Same bat time, same bat station. She’s alright, ain’t she?” He asked.

“No, actually, she was killed a couple of nights ago…” I answered.

“Killed? God almighty.” He said.

“How well did you know her?” I asked.

“Used to flirt. You know. She always said I couldn’t handle her. She was right. So I’d buy her drinks. She liked when I buy her drinks.” He answered.

“Was she that kind of girl? Party girl, maybe?” Morgan asked.

“It was hard to tell when she was loaded or not. I mean, she was always off. Like she had her own song goin’ on in her head.” Dinah answered.

“Mack the knife.” The blonde girl on the other side of the bar said and we all looked at her.

“Let me ask you, did Abigail come in often? Was she a regular customer?” Spencer asked as I walked over to the girl.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Mack the knife.” She said with a sigh.

“Was that the song in her head?” I asked confused.

“No. it was the name of her last… date. You know what I mean?” She answered.

“I do. Have you ever met Mack the knife?” I asked.

“No. She told me about him, said he was a good tipper.” She said.

“Do you know where we might find him?” I asked. She started shaking and I looked over Dinah who was staring at us.

“Would you prefer if we chat privately?” I asked quietly.

“I can’t.” She said.

“Okay.” I said and sat down next to her.

“Why don’t we just talk then, you don’t have to look at me. Don’t move your head, just keep looking down.” I said quietly and took my card out.

“I’m just trying to flirt with a pretty girl. And if you don’t mind, could you lean over and take this card from me?” I asked. She leaned over and took it from me.

“See? I’m not so bad.” I said with a small laugh.

“Come on, we’re just talking, having some fun, right?” I asked with a smile.

“Why don’t you show me that pretty smile of yours. And smack me on my shoulder, like maybe I’m trying to get fresh or something, huh?” I said trying to instruct her what to do.

“No? Yeah? Yeah?” I said with a raise of my brow as she shoved me a little bit.

“Dirty girl, you wish.” She said with a flirty laugh.

“Alright, well, you can’t blame a girl for trying. Especially when a pretty girl like you is sitting here all alone.” I said and she gave a little giggle.

“It was nice to meet you.” I said with a smile and got up to return to the boys.

“One last question. Do either of these two people look familiar to you?” Morgan asked as Spencer placed the pictures.

“The boy looks familiar. Girl I’ve never seen.” Dinah said, shaking her head.

“Well, thank you for your time. Would you mind if we came back a little later?” Spencer asked, collecting the photos.

“Oh, anytime. Got nothin’ to hide.” She answered and we went to leave.

“Sorry I couldn’t help you none.” She added as we left. We called Hotch and JJ, telling them about what we found out.

The next day we got a call about another victim. All of us got our coffee and started the day. Spencer, Rossi ,and I went to where the body was. We pulled up and they were about to cut the body down.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing!?” Spencer shouted, stopping them.

“Do not disturb the crime scene.” The Sheriff that came with us said.

“We took a bunch of pictures just like you ordered.” The other cop said.

“I ordered you not to touch a damn thing.” He said.

“We need to look at the crime scene undisturbed. Do you mind not standing there?” I said.

“He’s escalated his cuts. They’re not only bigger-”

“Cutting was done postmortem. It was the gunshot that killed her.” Spencer said, cutting Rossi off.

“How can you tell?” An officer asked.

“Uh, based on the lack of blood flow and scar tissue. If she were alive when this was done, there would be a lot more blood on her back.” Spencer answered.

“Which means this wasn’t S&M. This was symbolic.” I said.

“Symbolic of what?” The Sheriff asked.

“We’re not sure.” Rossi said.

“Can you guys smell that?” Spencer asked.

“Lavender.” Rossi said.

“That doesn’t grow in these parts.” The officer said.

“It’s mainly around her legs.” Spencer said.

“Why would he do that?” He asked.

“Reid, can you look into it? We can’t trust the coroner to follow through.” Rossi said.

“Yeah.” Spencer said getting up.

“I can help.” I said following behind him.

Spencer and I checked out the information, then joined the team to give the profile. Once we were set up we gathered everyone up and was ready to tell them what we’ve learned.

“We believe the unsub we’re looking for is a white male in his early 30’s. While his M.O. is that of a sadist, we think there’s an underlying pathology of what we call a wound collector.” Hotch said.

“What’s that?” One of the officers asked.

“A wound collector is someone who uses a lifetime of sleights, grievance, and wrongs as justification for violence.” Spencer said.

“Examples can be as large-scale as Hitler scapegoating the jews for the Holocaust, or as common as an abusive husband blaming his wife as an excuse to beat her.” I explained.

“This unsub is low key, almost submissive in public. He has to be to attract the prostitutes.” Rossi said.

“But his real nature will be revealed in the safety of isolation. This is the type of man who would anonymously express himself online by raging against how these women are filled with disease and filth, how they deserve what’s coming to them, probably to cover for the rejection of a woman or spouse who’s wronged him.” Spencer said.

“Which means the unsub probably has a working-class or part-time job. It gives him the time to plan and execute the murders.” JJ said.

“He’s strong and good with his hands and probably drives a work truck or large vehicle.” Rossi said.

“This allows him to move the bodies and carry the tools for posing his victims.” Alex said.

“Tabitha Ryerson tells us he’s losing control. He killed her in her home and then transported her body to the woods so he could mutilate her postmortem. The public nature of the display was a message.” Morgan said.

“To who?” An officer asked.

“To us. This is a small town and he knows the FBI is here investigating his crimes. He thinks that he’s showing us that he’s smarter than we are.” I answered.

“He’s also showing us his wounds. There’s part of him that wants us to stop and punish him for his crimes.” Hotch said as his phone rang.

“Thank you. Excuse me.” He said answering and walking off. The meeting was now dismissed and we all went off to do our own thing.

Currently Alex and Rossi were interviewing a man they called Mack the knife. However, it turned out it wasn’t our guy. Spencer and I were still looking into the lavender while all this was going on.

“I think we got it!” He said, turning to me.

“What is it?” I asked and he showed me a book.

“Let’s go tell the team.” I smiled and we walked over to the others. Hotch was talking to one of the victim's sisters when he looked over at us. He came over and Spencer was ready to rattle off the information we found.

“Guys, I think we know what the lavender on Tabitha Ryerson’s legs is about. Have you ever heard of spikenard?” He asked.

“Uh, no.” One of the officers answered.

“It’s perfume. It’s mentioned in the gospels.” Hotch answered.

“Yes! It’s derived from lavender. It’s what Mary Magdalene used to wash jesus’ feet, which tells us that this unsub’s message is obviously religious in nature.” I said.

“Preacher Mills, maybe. He came forward to volunteer information.” Morgan said.

“Well, yesterday he said he’d let us know if he had any more information, but apparently he’s changed his mind.” Hotch said.

“He fits the profile. He’s morally rigorous, submissive in public.” JJ said.

“So we’ll put an APB out for him.” One of the cops said with a nod.

Spencer and Morgan went to the church to see if he might be there. I was here with the rest of the team trying to figure out where he could be, if he wasn’t there.

“Well I don’t get it, if the preacher had something to do with it, then why was he so helpful?” An officer asked.

“Unsubs insert themselves into investigations all the time. They enjoy the power and the feeling that they’re smarter than us.” Alex answered.

“And to keep tabs on the case. He wanted to know how close we were to catching him.” Hotch added and I heard my phone ring.

“Hey Garcia, whatcha got?” I answered and put her on speaker.

“I got the backhoe going into the not-so-clean preacher. I haven’t found his present whereabouts yet, but I’m looking at his bank account and I can tell you he doesn’t adhere to the “give all your money to the poor” model.” She said.

“Any idea where the money’s coming from?” Hotch asked.

“Not yet. But it’s mostly cash, and we’re talking six figures big.” She answered.

“You know, maybe it’s sex trafficking. This unsub is able to get prostitutes to let their guard down. They’re somebody he knows.” Alex said.

“I thought you said our killer was a John.” An officer said.

“Prostitutes would rat out a JOhn or kill him themselves, but they’d never go against their own pimp.” I said.

“Garcia, take everything we know about Mills and run it up against pandering and procuring charges. This isn’t the first time he’s done this.” Hotch said.

“You got it.” She said. She hung up and called us back when she had more information.

“Did you know the charge of being a pimp, when gussied up, is “procuring and pandering”? And Hotch was right. Preacher Mills is familiar with this charge. Because before he was Justin Mills, he was Gordon Borell, and he was arrested for cutting one of the ladies he employed.” She said.

“Where did he cut her?” Rossi asked.

“On the back. When questioned, she said- oh, I’m gonna have to look at kitten videos after this- He was marking his property.” She said.

“You’re kidding.” The Sheriff said.

“That’s why he specifically asked me about the wounds on Lucas Wagner. He knew we’d find out about his past.” Hotch said.

“Hey, Garcia? Why didn’t we find this out until now?” I asked.

“Because he changed his name when he crossed the border. The Northern border to be exact. Mr. Mill, Nee borell, is from Tees, Alberta. I’ll tell you what those Canadians, They seem so sweet and innocent, but when they go back, they go Darth Vader bad.” She said and I shook my head. I decided it wasn’t the right time to tell her that Darth Vader turned to save his son’s life.

“So he came here to start over, took on the mantle of the collar as the perfect cover for the sex trade.” Rossi said.

“No one in this town would question a man of God. But now we got the smoking gun we need on this guy.” The Sheriff said.

“Garcia, was there an attempted murder charge?” Hotch asked.

“No. In fact, she said he wanted her to go back out and start working when he was done cutting her.” She answered.

“He’s not our unsub.” Hotch said.

We hung up with Garcia and went back to the rest of the team, now that Spencer and Morgan were back.

“This guy fits to a T. How can we rule him out?” The Sheriff asked.

“Criminally, pimps follow the same behavioral pattern as drug dealers.” I said with a shrug.

“Prostitutes are his revenue stream.” JJ said.

“He would only kill them as a last resort.” Spencer said.

“Which is why the cutting in Canada was a punishment, not a religious punishment, but a punishment for not doing their jobs.” Alex said.

“Then he comes here to start over, set up a new shop.” Morgan said.

“And that’s when somebody found out about his past, used it as a forensic countermeasure to throw us off track by framing him.” I said.

“That’s why the gir;s kept saying, “They’re” after us. There wasn’t a team of unsubs, but one sadist copying the behavior of another.” Hotch said.

“It would also explain the change with Tabitha, the escalation, the perfume on the feet.” Spencer said.

“But you said the unsub wanted us to catch him and punish him.” The Sheriff said.

“What he really wanted was for us to catch the preacher.” Rossi said.

“So whoever this guy is, he’s fooled all of us, and now we got nothin’ when it comes to the profile.” The Sheriff said.

“No, that’s not true. The unsub chose Mills for a reason, and Mills can still lead us to the unsub. We’ll have Agent Morgan and the deputies start at his house.” Hotch said and off they went. We were all trying to figure out where the preacher could be going. So far, nothing.

“Repeat, I’ve got the suspect headed into El Lobito’s diner.” An officer over the radio said, which made my ears perk up.

“Copy, Deputy. We’re on our way.” The Sheriff said to her.

“We got him.” He said walking up to us.

“Alright, Blake, Reid, and Y/L/N go with the Sheriff. Dave and I will coordinate the response here.” Hotch ordered and we nodded. We followed behind the Sheriff and got on our way.

“The preacher’s not answering.” Spencer said as we were on our way.

“Keep trying, we need to tell him we know he didn’t do this.” Alex said and Spencer went back to calling. Still no answer.

“He’s been in there a good five minutes now. I haven’t seen any movement yet.” The officer that was at the scene already said as soon as we got out.

“What about patrons?” I asked.

“Uh, it’s closed.” She answered.

“How many entrances?” Alex asked.

“Uh, two it looks like.” She answered.

“The question is, is he alone?” Spencer asked.

“Guys, I’ve got movement. We should move in now, Sheriff.” Another officer said.

“Actually, we’re better off establishing the perimeter first. We need to open up and line of communication.” Spencer said.

“Alright, agreed. We need to get around to the-” The Sheriff started, but was cut off by a gunshot, he was down.

“Shots fired! Shots fired!” One of the officers shouted and we all got down. They started shooting at the window trying to hit the preacher. I saw the Sheriff still alive not far from us and I went to try and pull him to us. The preacher started shooting wherever he could and I was in his line of fire, but I couldn’t just leave the Sheriff there.

“Y/N!” Spencer shouted and ran out to try and pull me back.

“Reid!” I heard Morgan shout and I looked back to see Spencer on the ground. I dropped the Sheriff and quickly went to Spencer’s side.

“Spencer! Spencer!” I shouted, but he was out of it. Morgan ran up and pulled him back. I went with him while JJ and Alex went to try and help the Sheriff. Morgan rested Spencer against a car and I kneeled down next to him. He had been shot in the neck.

“Spencer, baby, I’m right here.” I whispered.

“Y/N! We’re going in, you stay with him!” Morgan called and I nodded.

“Everything’s gonna be okay baby, the ambulance is on their way.” I whispered. I saw his eyes open for a second and he looked at something, but I was too focused on him to drag my attention away. His eyes shut once again and I was beginning to panic.

“Hurry! Please!” I shouted. Alex came beside me and looked at him.

“Ethan! Ethan! You have to keep your eyes open.” She said. She was calling him the wrong name, but now wasn’t the time to correct her. The paramedics finally came and Spencer was being loaded into the ambulance. Alex was on the phone with Cruz as I stared at Spencer, worried and scared.

“Y/N you should go in the ambulance with him.” JJ said walking up to us, along with Morgan. I just nodded and quickly got in with him, Morgan was joining us since he was a little banged up too.

“The sound is like a tea kettle. Do you hear it?” Spencer asked with a slight slur.

“What? Reid.” Morgan asked.

“Pressure’s dropping.” One of the paramedics said and I swear my heart leaped out of my chest.

“Pulse is thready. Starting large-bore I.V.” He said.

“Spencer!” I cried.

“Reid!” Morgan said worried.

“Agent, you’ve got to sit back.” The woman working on Morgan said to him.

“You gotta help him, man.” Morgan said to the guy.

“Spencer, please, you’re stronger than this.” I said gently holding his hand.

“Stay with us, we’re right here.” Morgan said to him.

“Spencer, please, stay with us.” I begged.

We finally made it to the hospital and they took him in right away. I had done to the bathroom to wash my hands and when I came out JJ was there with Alex.

“Anything yet?” She asked and I shook my head. I took a seat near them and tried to hold back my tears.

“Spencer would have read like two books by now, maybe three.” JJ said, trying to lighten the mood.

“It should have been me…” I whispered.

“Or me, or any of us.” JJ said.

“No. He pushed me out of the way…” I said with tears in my eyes.

“If he doesn’t make it…” I started, but couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence. The tears finally falling.

“He’ll make it.” JJ said.

“He has to.” Alex said. Garcia walked in and saw us.

“Hey.” She said walking over and coming to give me a hug.

“You made it.” JJ said.

“Yeah, turns out we’re not the only ones connected, he knows somebody with a plane.” She said, trying to keep the mood light.

“How is he?” She asked.

“Still in surgery.” Alex answered with a sigh.

“You all can see Agent Morgan now.” A nurse said to us.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’d really like to stay here…” I said looking down at my hands.

“The second you hear anything, call us.” JJ said and I nodded.

“Hey, I’ll be right back.” Garcia said and I nodded with a sad smile.

I’m not sure how long I was there, but it felt like forever. All the negative thoughts were running through my head and I couldn’t stop them.

“Agent.” Someone said and I looked up to see a doctor.

“How is he?” I asked standing up.

“Incredibly lucky. Two millimeters to the right and the bullet would have torn through the carotid artery. It nicked some smaller vessels, but we’ve stopped the bleeding. You can see him now.” He said and it felt like I could breathe again. I grabbed his things that they gave me and quickly called JJ.

“Hey, how is he?” She asked.

“He’s alive. I’m going to see him now.” I said.

“Great. Okay, thanks Y/N.” She said and hung up. Garcia had met up with me in his room and she was setting up little Doctor Who figures in front of him.

“It’ll be so great if he wakes up and this is the first thing he sees.” She said.

“Yeah… The Doctor always makes him smile.” I said with a sad smile.

“It’d be really weird if he wakes up and we’re all just oooh starting at him.” She said, which made me actually laugh a little bit.

“So, I’m gonna go stand over here.” She said and moved to the window. I gently grabbed his hand and sighed. Garcia had went to go get him some food for when he wakes up.

“Y/N?” He asked and I looked up to see him awake and I smiled.

“Spencer! You’re alright.” I said and he looked at the Doctor Who figures in front of him.

“Garcia.” I said before he could ask. He chuckled and I moved to sit at the edge of his bed.

“When this comes off, I’m gonna look just like Boris Karloff.” He said and I chuckled a bit.

“A little green makeup and it’ll be the best Halloween costume ever. And I could always go as the Bride of Frankenstein.” I said and he chuckled.

“You’d look very cute.” He said and closed his eyes.

“Hey, everyone is fine, don’t worry.” I said gently squeezing his hand.

“I’m not.” He said with a small smile.

“Then what is it?” I asked, but before he could answer Garcia walked in.

“Hey, hey, hey.” She said with a smile.

“Look who’s still awake. Can you tell her she can go now, please?” Garcia asked him and motioned her head at me.

“I’m okay, Y/N. Go help the team.” He said. I knew he was right, but I didn’t want to leave him…

“Are you sure?” I asked and he nodded with a smile.

“They need you, you have to be my fill in.” He joked.

“Fine.” I chuckled.

“I love you.” I said and leaned down to kiss him.

“I love you too, now go.” He said and I nodded.

“Call me if anything changes.” I said to Garcia and she nodded.

I made my way back to the station. I was kind of in the dark about what was going on.

“Hey, how’s Dr. Reid?” One of the officers asked as I walked in.

“He’s awake, he’s gonna be fine.” I answered and made my way to the team.

“That’s good to hear.” He said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Let’s take a car ride. I’ll fill you in.” Rossi said in a quiet voice.

“JJ, send us the info.” He added as he got up, along with Alex.

“Will do.” She whispered. The three of us left.

Apparently Dianh had a son that was being used against her. The cops were corrupt. Luckily we had a suspect so hopefully everything would work out. Rossi and Alex were in the front talking, but I couldn’t seem to pay attention. My mind kept drifting back to Spencer.

“What the hell?” I heard Rossi say, which snapped me back into reality. They were looking in the mirrors and I looked back to see two cop cars following us. They turned their sirens on and trapped us between them.

“I thought you said it doesn’t get any worse.” Alex said.

“Until it does.” Rossi said. The two officers got out with their hands on their guns and we just watched in shock.

“Are they really gonna shoot Federal Agents?” I asked.

“They’re cops who’d rather die than get locked up. They’re desperate.” Rossi said.

“She’s coming to you.” He said to Alex.

“Don’t they know they’re outnumbered?” I asked.

“I don’t think they care.” Alex said as we all pulled out our guns.

“Let’s roll.” Rossi said. We started shooting and just rolled through them. I was hit in the shoulder, but it wasn’t anything too bad. I could deal with it for a few hours if needed. I moved to the front with Rossi while Alex sat in the back with Dianh’s kid and her Mother.

“You alright kid?” Rossi asked me.

“I’ll be fine for a few hours, let’s get them to the safe house, then we can deal with me after.” I said and they nodded., We got them to the safehouse and the rest met us there with Dianh.

“Let’s go, you two drop Y/N off at the hospital then meet us at the junkyard.” Hotch said and Rossi and Alex nodded.

“I’m fine Hotch.” I said and he shook his head.

“I’m not letting you go with a bullet wound.” He said and I sighed. Probably a good idea. They dropped me off at the hospital and I was getting treated. As soon as I was done they said I was free to go and I decided to just go see Spencer.

“Hey, you guys okay?” I asked.

“What happened to you?” Garcia asked.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” I said and smiled at Spencer sleeping.

Finally the case was over and we could all go home. When we got off the plane Alex offered to help us home. We knew she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. We were walking upstairs to our apartment and it felt so good to be home again.

“You sure you guys are okay?” She asked.

“I feel great.” Spencer answered and I nodded in agreement.

“Ah, that’s overselling it.” He said and I giggled.

“I, uh, I feel great considering I just got shot in the neck.” He said as we reached the top of the stairs.

“Sounds about right.” I said. Spencer opened the door and Alex followed us in.

“Where do you want this?” She asked referring to our bags that she refused to let us carry.

“Right there is fine.” I said pointing to the couch.

“Okay, so, you two should get some sleep.” She said.

“Are you alright?” Spencer asked.

“Yesterday touched a nerve when I saw you like that.” She said.

“Who’s Ethan?” I asked.

“My son.” She answered and my eyes widened slightly.

“He was nine when he died. Doctors said it was neurological, but they didn’t have a name for it. Still don’t. That drove me crazy, no word to put to this thing that took away my greatest love.” She said and my heart hurt for her.

“I’m sorry.” Spencer said.

“He kept growing despite his disease. The last time I laid beside him, he was almost as long as me. He was ready to go, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I begged him to open his eyes. And the cruelest part was that I could see who he would be at twenty, but I knew he’d never get there.” She said.

“I’m so sorry, Alex.” I whispered.

“Ethan’s a great name.” Spencer said which made her smile.

“Yeah. It means enduring.” She said.

“It’s fitting.” I said.

“You and James never let go of one another.” Spencer said and she smiled. She made her way to the door, but Spencer stopped her.

“Have you ever had that feeling that your future is somehow behind you?” He asked and I looked at him confused.

“All the time.” She answered with a nod.

“I did, too. But it isn’t.” He said and I smiled at him.

“Ethan would have been a lot like you.” She said and left.

“Bye Alex.” He said and I knew it was the final goodbye. She wasn’t going to be a part of us anymore. I pulled Spencer in for a hug and he held me tightly.

“I really thought my future was behind me, until I met you.” He said and kissed my head.

“I know.” I whispered and smiled up at him. He pulled away and walked over to his bag. He pulled out a small box and turned back to me. He got down on one knee and my eyes widened.

“Y/N Y/L/N, I love you with all my heart and you’ve helped me so much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” He asked and a few tears fell down my cheek.

“Yes! A million times yes! I love you so much Spencer.” I said and leaned down to kiss him. He pulled back with a laugh and placed the perfect ring on my finger. I looked at the ring and it was simple gold with small diamonds around the outside. The band itself was like a vine and it was perfect.

“This is amazing Spencer.” I whispered and he smiled.

“I thought you’d love it.” He said and I smiled up at him.

“We should probably get some sleep now.” I whispered and he nodded.

“Come on, let’s rest up.” He said, pulling me along with him. We got into bed and he held me close.

“I love you so much Y/N.” He whispered and kissed my head.

“I love you so much too, Spencer.” I whispered back and smiled.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @softgamerking @lady-of-lies @simonsbluee @ravenmoore14 @ravenempress101 @cillianchamp @pettyjayy @reidssmile @currentfangirl-futuremedexaminer @braeleexelizabeth @satans-0-spawn @emofairygay

#Criminal Minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds season 9 #spencer x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer x fem!reader #spencer reid x fem!reader #fanfic #request

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kacychase · 4 years ago

Text

MM - My story to you (707xMC)

SUMMARY

This is my legacy for you.

Saeyoung, I know that you can see me here. Whoever you are, wherever you are, this is my legacy for you. You don’t need to wait forever as long as we are together. And to cherish and love you, I wrote this piece for you. Our love story…

In case you get lonely, in case you have doubts, I will always be here to take your doubts away.

Hoping that you’ll always love me as much as I love you~

Your wife always,

Hana

~---°---~

Word count: 4555

When you read this, Saeyoung, I hope that you remember the early days. Haha, in fact, I don’t really know how I landed there in the first place, how “Unknown” has chosen me to be hacked. Maybe I have been just a random puppet to him, one in a million…?

But either way, I’m glad I met you.

Back then, when I entered the house, and suddenly, the phone has been entering the chat messages, you have immediately reacted to my arrival. In retrospect, it was pretty typical of you to analyse my profile, find out my credentials, my number, likely my credit card details (thanks for not hacking me hehe~). Funnily, you were immediately the one teasing about everything.

Hahaha, just as I read what you wrote, I just couldn’t help it.

Back then, in confusion, I was trying to grasp the information you and the rest of the RFA had given me – and to be honest, I was a little scared that I might have been in trouble. However, as things finally started to calm down, I finally caught myself catching a breather.

The first time we somewhat got acquaintance was right after you did a background check on me.

You as Seven, hacked yourself into my life and into my heart, and before you could pull away, you couldn’t break through your own firewall. See how well you kept me as our wife to make these jokes? Aren’t you proud reading this, hehe~ I hope I will get more good wifey points from you once we have finally married in our own little spaceship.

Hadn’t it been for that moment, I wouldn’t have known for myself how to get to you.

Oh, that day… It was a tough day for both of us.

“Cheer up meow! You’re with the person you like meow!”

I couldn’t imagine what kept you out, what kind of burden and pain made you restrain and go back this much. Initially, I was convinced to cheer you up and lighten up your day, but now… I can’t help but already feel unsettled.

Your words could’ve cut through butter: “Why is this on again…” Your way of eyeing the cute robotic cat didn’t affect the little fellow, however. Completely unwavering, your own programmed cat responded in its perfected fashion: “I turn on when I sense depression meow! You’re with the person you like meow!”

Man…

I wish that this forced confession would’ve meant more now, but as your face distorts in frustration and anger, I can’t help but worry.

‘What happened to you, Seven…?’ was a thought that played through my head non-stop, knowing that my previous calls didn’t change your attitude… But you sounded happier then.

“You like meow! You like meow! You like meow!” I nearly would’ve chuckled from the cuteness of this thing, hadn’t you finally lost your last straw with it. Your glasses partly reflected your eyes as you stood up, but I could figure that you weren’t exactly amused.

“Damn it. Shut up…!,” you yelled in your annoyance, making me sober up. This was no fun time for you. Trying to look at what’s wrong, the following movements all were so sudden: you approaching the cat, taking it into your hand, and taking a big swing…

With this, your own sweet recreation of Elizabeth the 3rd was no more – or rather, became many pieces scattered on the floor.

My face hardened at this sight, knowing that he might regret it later… And I couldn’t just watch all of this on the floor. It hurt. “ think it’s broken… Can I fix it?”

Muttering those words to you didn’t seem to help your mood become any calmer. “Just leave it. It’s useless,” you just replied, eyes looked on the pieces as if to avoid my eyes. This room, all of these insides felt even colder than before. The bomb suddenly didn’t bother me as much.

“I’ll throw it away later,” you said with a effortlessly booming, icy voice, although you probably didn’t try to sound menacing. At least I would always trust you not to hurt me. Just as assured as I am now, writing this piece to you, I used to be back then.

Your words… It was a bittersweet, funny thought. “And I’ll be leaving soon, so just forget about me.” While you tried to push me away, throwing knives into my heart, it’s as if it was the only goal for you. You seemed to run away, and with this, the hacker 707 became the most predictable person I could hack myself. Neither me, nor the RFA were meaningless to you, and your efforts to protect us proved it.

“I’m sure you’re just upset over Yoosung!,” I just replied with as much enthusiasm as I could muster – I hated the cold feeling of the apartment, “Cheer up!” I just wanted him to be happy, to forget his grief. And I have always been glad to be born a fighter. Your statement: “It’s none of your business how I feel” sobered me up like anything else. But sulking and choosing to be hurt wasn’t an option for me when I knew what my goal was.

I would not take these empty phrases to heart. Back then I already knew that this was not the true Seven or Luciel. Or the true you… And ironically, you started saying these things as if you purposefully tried to contradict yourself: “You wouldn’t have known, but this is how I’ve always felt. There was never a single day when I wasn’t depressed.”

‘This man would make me start praying to God again’, I thought. I wanted to make you feel liberated for a change, to help you with your burden. But then, as you said these words, I understood that if you struggled for a long time… Maybe you didn’t know how to confide in me? Maybe you needed to figure out how to share and disclose yourself to other people before you could trust me?

The silence of me staring right back into his honey-golden eyes seemed to make him nervous, and he continued saying icy things: “Can’t you see that it was all a lie? The jokes, the pranks, all the laughs! Don’t think about me, just think about protecting yourself!”

It would be the least thing I would want, but knowing that you were (still are) the more capable out of both of us, I assured you instead: “I can protect myself so don’t worry!” I threw right back at him with a cocked eyebrow, remembering that during my time in middle school and high school, I did have quite a few self-defense classes. “I’m pretty strong.” I couldn’t help but smirk a little in my pride.

Instead of indulging, you kept up your façade: “You’re underestimating your opponents” and I knew that you as well were a fighter for your own things. For some reason, it made me believe in you even more. You wouldn’t give up on me, as much as I couldn’t give up on you. “You’ll really be in danger with that attitude.”

Not as if we weren’t already, I wanted to say but I realized that it was both ill-intended and unproductive. I didn’t want to lunge back at you. It’s what you twistedly wanted, and I was not going to let you down. “You’re so similar to Yoosung,” you muttered, looking down at thee wooden floor of Rika’s apartment, a sad smile appearing and vanishing just as fast. “Yu don’t have a care in the world regardless of what’s going on,” you said to me, and I couldn’t help but see him for what state you were in right then.

You avoided everyone, worked day and night, eyebags on your face, you lashed out on people you cared for, and were scared. “I just want to be with you, because I like you!” Sometimes, a hacker might see the code as too complicated due to circumstances.

“How many times do I have to repeat myself…,” you started muttering as you corrected your posture, your left hand now tightly gripping onto your headphone cable, “I can’t be with you. We can’t be anything together!” Your hand trembled, and I just listened to your every word.

“Everything that surrounds me… is an illusion that exists in a temporary life of an agent named 707. They’ll all soon fade away. My house, my cars, RFA, you, this place, everything… one day they will disappear like the morning fog. A real life, real things I can have… don’t ever think and hope those things can exist.”

“Yoosung, Hana, all the members, even if you say that you like me… my life…,” suddenly, you let loose of that cable, both of your hands dangling helplessly, just as your head looked down, “y life can’t embrace anything. You don’t know how it feels to live that kind of life. Don’t be nice to me when you don’t know anything. Please… get away from me.”

No. Even if it had been for the best of both of us, I wouldn’t have been able to fulfil your request because I loved you too much. I was and would always selfishly fight for you, and I still do it. I don’t regret anything, and I appreciate your support every day.

“Just leave me alone…”

I felt it in every bone.

“The person you like is the 707 in the chatroom, not me!,” you cried out, suddenly looking straight-up at me in bewilderment. I didn’t know whether what you said scared me or you more… But I wouldn’t accept it. I had to support you.

“Then please let me understand the person in front of me!” It broke my heart to see you like this, and after that incident, I have always known that you felt guilty for treating me like this, Saeyoung. But please understand… there is nothing to apologize for when you are scared.

And therefore I hugged you. God, you trembled so badly, your breath might have hitched. It was as if my senses went off immediately – you were so close, your smell of Honey Buddha chips and PhD Pepper, your matching racing heartbeat, your hitched breath were so much at once, but man.

I was glad I did that right thereafter.

You whispered my name. “Why are you doing this to me?” Suddenly, a dagger hit my heart. I wished it wouldn’t have hurt that much hearing you say that. But you struggled. I would be there for you, no questions asked. And if you read this, my dearest partner in crime, Agent 707, Saeyoung, husbando, please understand that this still counts, okay?

Okay.

Further on, you insisted that you couldn’t embrace anything, that your life was wrong from the beginning, dangerous and filled with lies… I instantly felt my heart drenched and twisted like a wet towel. As you said that you couldn’t protect me or your brother, that was it. I felt a little tear falling down, and couldn’t help but to shake a little. Secretly, I hope you wouldn’t feel it.

With a silent whisper, you asked: “Why can’t you understand me?”

Another tear, and silence. I didn’t want you to hear that I cried, didn’t want you to worry, so it prolonged my answer. For that, I sounded even more assured: “I like the Seven that’s in front of my eyes. Regardless of how complicated your life is. I want to know.”

Haha, Saeyoung, see how I remembered every word? While you said that you could remember every one of our conversations, I can just say that I do, too. And I treasure every one of them in my memories.

“Hana… Don’t do this… please… I-I-,” you mumbled in a gut-wrenching plea, showing your true suffering for something, and I hugged you even tighter. “I cherich you… I want to make you hapy… but I can’t! Why do you want to be with me when I’m so dangerous?”

‘It’s you, Seven’, I thought to myself, knowing fully well that it had always been you. It would always be you. “Why do you like me!”

It was you.

“There is no reason. I just like you. That’s how I feel!,” I call him out, suddenly my own voice shivering. With that, I suddenly felt your chest decreasing, letting out air both you and I had been holding. Your sigh was so relieving to hear, and I felt distress flooding out of my veins.

“You’re impossible, Hana,” you muttered, making me chuckle a little at his frustrated tone. “You’re so strange. I feel like I’m going strange, too. Why aren’t you giving up?!” When your voice broke, my face felt like the cat on the floor, shattered to pieces.

“Why aren’t you getting hurt and abandoning me?!” That was it. I couldn’t listen to it any longer. I didn’t want to hear you say these things, hurt yourself and me in the process. I loved you, and wanted you to be happy. As you continued to rant, I suddenly uttered a word, and it felt so incredibly hard to speak up.

It nearly was as if a wall refused to make me do so.

“You.”

Your body stiffened, and you turned around. For some reason, your stare was even more scared when you looked down on me, and your eyes widened. Letting my arms go off of him, I just couldn’t help but stare back. Why was he so bewildered to look at me.

“You shouldn’t have been able to…,” you stared at me, eyes teary. “Seven…,” I said, suddenly feeling like hugging him. So I did.

“Hana… Are you…,” he muttered in shock, body shivering even more. “I-I will protect you, Hana, I promise. You survived, you’re alive, and I will keep it that way,” you mumbled, suddenly hugging me tightly and back then not knowing what it meant, I just tried to hug you back.

“Can I be next to you when you work?,” I asked you back then, but you didn’t move. “A-Alright,” you replied with a shivery breath.

“I can’t guarantee that I will be good for you, Hana. I don’t think I will be good for you,” you remarked and went out of the embrace, looking at me meaningfully. Your golden eyes sparkled through your glasses, and I couldn’t help but softly push a little bit of your hair strands away.

“Your eyes…,” he whispered, “They’re beautiful.”

I had no clue what that meant back then, but I just replied that so were yours. My smirk seemed to have reached you as well. And as both of us felt that there was nothing to say anymore, you announced: “Time to go back to work.”

At that very moment, I already asked myself how the heck I had flipped the switch for you, an unknowing feeling in my tummy region as I approached you.

There was only one chair in your work area, and I realized that my tummy growled. You immediately turned towards me. “There should be some leftover stuff from yesterday,” you just immediately announced, just as your tummy started to growl as well.

With a small grin, I just responded: “I made sushi today. There have been some for you, too, so it’s definitely time to eat!” “I need to w-“ “I know, I’ll bring it, Seven.”

Quickly ignoring your protests, I ran off to the kitchen, knowing that I put extra much effort into the sushi. Even trying the inside out rolls, I smile at myself as I made a smiley out of the little plate with rolls. In the hopes that you weren’t a picky eater, I transported both plated to your station, putting it on a table where usually, your Honey Buddha Chips and your empty PhD bottles would have situated. I decided bring them away soon in my head.

However, your face was the best when you discovered what exactly I brought you. “God, Hana…,” you muttered, visibly gulping. “Why are you so nice to me? After I’ve been angry with you…”

“It’s because I have feelings for you. Plus, I would love you to try my sushi,” I smiled brightly and received a confused, yet admiring stare from my counterpart. “You’re too positive for your own good,” you finally smiled back at me with these words, seeing the smiley on the plate. As both of us took the chopsticks, I realized I forgot drinks. “Ah! Do you want to drink something or-“

As if reading my thoughts, you suddenly pulled out a bottle of PhD Pepper and man, I could have sworn it wasn’t there before. And yes, after that, both you and I know that it wasn’t there. “A tribute to the Gods for my beautiful existence and for having you in my life!,” you just rambled out of nowhere, probably to light up the mood.

I couldn’t help but blush though. “Thank you, Seven. I’m glad that we can get along like this,” I sincerely couldn’t help but saying this, but your eyes intensively stared back. With that, you put away your headphones, probably because we were about to eat. “You’re too good for this world, Hana. I want you to know that I want to make you happy from now on…”

Your words made my heart skip a beat, and the way you blushed… While you might have pulled up your sleeves – with very handsome lower arms – I couldn’t help but stare at your gushing face still. “Hey, Seven.”

As you looked up, I desperately wanted to kiss you. So much, but I didn’t know whether I would overwhelm you again.

So I took a deep breath.

“Could you feed me again please?”

This was WAY better, hahaha. God, even writing this, your reaction was hilarious! I bet still that both of us thought of the time you were still angry, and fed me all flustered. WheI asked you oer the call, I honestly wouldn’t have expected you to accept it.

But this time, I was less surprised.

“Okay, if that’s what it takes you to e-eat,” you stammered, your face competing with your hair for redness. Man, you looked adorable to me.

“Hmm… Maybe, I can feed you, too, so that all of us are treated equally,” I replied with a little grin.

“How can you be quirkier than 707, Hana?! You’re really strange!,” you finally called out on me, grinning nervously. I just couldn’t help but laugh it off.

“I still love you, Seven, Luciel, or however you want to be called, I asked you to feed me last time. I want to repay with gratefulness!”

And with that, where there has been coldness in the apartment, your chuckle… I don’t know whether you do it on purpose, but it is still absolutely beautiful. It makes my gloomy days sparkle brightly, and my face can’t help but have this lovestruck face you fall for so much. I could have listened to you forever back then.

“That’s it,” you say, your eyes shining in a breathtaking way. With that, you took the chopsticks into your had, picked up a Sushi from your plate and chirped: “Open your mouth, kitty~”

As I chewed happily while looking at him, when all of a sudden he asked something of me.

“Please… call me Saeyoung. It’s who I truly am.”

After that, for some reason, we could’ve taken up to any challenge. The RFA was happy for us, and even after a lot of effort, you, my Saeyoung – as I came to uncover his past – could save your brother and have him live in our apartment. Things were crazy, we went along too well for our own good, to the point of you proposing to me after a month. God… The door thing was a crazily good idea.

But there was one thing that was strange, and I didn’t know how to tell you during those days when we ate, when we were grocery shopping, or when both of us worked next to each other on that computer. Most of the time, I was finished before you and I could cuddle on your lap after… It was amazing. Still is.

However, there are… weird things going on. Ever since the messenger mystery has been solved, I could live a life chatting with everyone, but since the first day of us as a couple, I couldn’t help but see them… Glitches.

It had been so weird, but scary, and I didn’t know how to tell you. I dreamed of losing you, and I was afraid that I was about to disappear when parts of binary code appeared on my hand that night.

“OH MY GOD!,” I shrieked into the usually tranquil and loving night that we had.

“Hana?!,” you called on me, immediately worried since you knew that I wouldn’t be easily shaken. “What is it?! A bug again?! A bad dream?? Do you need anything?!” Bewildered that he couldn’t see the obvious glitch on my hand, I couldn’t help but point it out: “Can’t you see it?!”

“What?”

Your voice was extremely confused, just as your face was speaking of alarm. Wearing your glasses today, I know that you would have to see it as I held up my arm.

And seeing that I had not much to explain, I still tried to soothe us both. “Saeyoung… I don’t know what this is, and I don’t know how to get rid of it. Could you know what it-“

“The game… It’s starting to fall apart.”

All of a sudden, the whole atmosphere was scary. I could practically feel your heartbeat from far away, and for the love of God, I didn’t know what you meant. “What do you mean?”

Panic seemed to influence your fingers as you grasped my face, your pupils dilating. “Please don’t disappear, Hana, I- I might have made a mistake.”

In complete confusion, but used to that emotion, I brace myself by taking a deep breath: “Please explain the situation to me. I’m here. I won’t go.” This was to soothe both of us as I had no fucking clue what was happening to my arm. The green numbers on black ground felt like a huge computer screen.

Hearing you mumble: “It’s lagging… I knew it…” and other things scared the heck out of me, Saeyoung. Don’t pull this shit ever again on me, you hear?!

“Saeyoung…” My voice was increasingly panicky as I picked up the vibe that you were exerting.

“You see everything around us, Hana?” We could have heard a pin drop at the silence.

“Yes. What about it?”

“Well…,” you muttered, and with that, you pressed the enter key.

And this was when I finally understood what you have said all the way. The ugly truth, the failure to protect, the way you were anxious of leaving…

All of the things around us, even Saeran bursting into the room… It turned into a huge mess of binary codes, other commands I have seen you type, and so, so much more…

“Saeyoung?”

“Right now, I have created all of it. I wished for it a while ago…,” I looked at you in bewilderment. “I wanted to help out people of this world because the world is cruel, Hana. This world was made to satisfy someone’s obsessions, nothing more. I’m just a pawn of this. So are you. I couldn’t have you near me because I wanted to resist this.”

Your chest began to shake, but I was suddenly taken aback. What… What the fuck happened to me?! My vision started to blur.

“I’m just here to help someone else, and I was supposed to leave,” you muttered to explain this to me, “But here I am, loving you and being engaged to you.”

Seeing your face has pained me the most. I couldn’t help but be in utter shock. “Then why… Why did you do this?”

His face scrunched into a painful smile. “You broke the fourth wall. You are someone. And I want to protect you from this.” I listened to your story, to what this world was supposed to be, how I might have been a player who glitched into my own body.

But imagine if my words had been any other than the ones I ultimately said: “I will stay with you, Saeyoung. No questions asked. We will fix it.”

Looking at me in awe, with tears in his eyes, he closed the gap between us, eyes closed. I immediately put my arms around you as you remembered, deepening the kiss and responding to this fiery and heated kiss. I loved how much we were able to share, to inhibit our shyness towards each other. But this hurt.

It hurt so much when we broke apart

“If you survive this, Hana… You might become the wizard’s apprentice, too. But if you wish to come back to your old self, I wouldn’t fault you…,” you whispered crying, and as you broke, you just decided to look me dead in the eye, knowing that with his past, and this current state of me slowly becoming unreal, I could say anything.

“H-how?!,” I replied in desperation, tears streaming down my face at the distress. “I want to be with you, Saeyoung! I wish for us to be together and happy! Is this too much to ask?!,” I screamed into the void around and glared at him. “How the hell could you have hidden it to everyone?! What about that damn wish?! God… This is messed up, Saeyoung.”

As the world reconstructed itself around us, I couldn’t help but keep my eyes trained at yours, guilt haunting his face. “You know what. How did you know what happened?” You stared at me, knowing full well that back then, you left me in utter confusion. “Your eyes… normally, you weren’t supposed to have any. But look at yourself.” Looking at his glass reflection, I tracked myself – light brown hair with bangs put up in a bun, angry hfnwn eyes looking back at myself, I realized…

I remembered. I played the game myself. This wasn’t my original me…

But I still don’t care. “God, I’m sorry, Saeyoung,” I said to him, realizing how many times he must’ve watched me play this game. “It’s alright, you played my route nearly all the time,” he chuckled emptily back at me, “Someone was obsessed with me~”

Blushing, I responded: “Well, yeah! See? I would choose you again! The first time was me being a newbie…”

“Well, MC,” God that felt weird, “What now?”

With our first child on the way – it feels like two though – I feel like I chose the right path, don’t you think, Saeyoung? You have asked me how it was to find everything out, all of a sudden to ask that. It was a shock, but I decided to focus on what I truly wanted. I want you.

So here I am, with my lovely husbando, married at the space station, a horribly unhealthy eater and great taste in your car babies~

With the goal to be a good wifey… Both of us don’t exist, but to us both, we do.

And that is what counts, doesn’t it?

#mystic messenger #mm 707 #707 #707mc #707 x mc #mm fanfic

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shijiujun · 5 years ago

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[起承] Chris’ Mini Concert in Taipei 20191222 - Summary

As promised, the concert summary!!

First, let’s look at this gorgeous background and what Chris wore in his first song - Totally magical my god and GALAXY THEMED!!! Okay it was actually purple themed because he likes the colour and a lot of fans actually turned up in purple things.

Being the dumbass that I was, I did not do that because I didn’t even THINK OF IT HONESTLY so in my haste i had to go buy some purple cap that is really cute (unicorn-themed!) and yes turned up for the concert.

I went with a lovely new friend this time along with two other friends (all of who I met on Tumblr!!) and when we first reached the venue, there were so many other fans there already as usual giving out freebies - I have completed a set of five plastic fans with Chris and Jake faces printed on it, and now I have three plastic sheet 2020 calendars with Chris’ lovely face on it so amen. A lanyard also, and ooooh like they printed fake passenger tickets with chris’ face on it HAHA

Venue/Seating: 20 Rows, 20 Seats, 10 on each side with a row cutting down the middle and then a stage - In terms of venue I think it was a pretty cozy venue, definitely smaller than the venue for the Trapped Taipei and Taichung fanmeets so everyone got a much better view. This is the venue they used for the first History Party

I was seated in the 4th row, which was farkinggggg close. Ann and Elle were seated in the 2nd row, and we were technically all in the same area - BEST

So after we were seated, suddenly there was a lot of commotion from the fans, and that’s when we realised that ANDY AND KENNY WALKED IN!!! They came in with caps and face masks on, and they sat themselves in the first row on the right section - I’d like to mention that seated in the same row were also Chris’ parents, his brother (real or like bro I haven’t figured out yet), Diane and Director Lee from Trapped (ahhhh Diane is farking pretty) and yes, Jake was not there, BUT BUT BUT I do believe he was invited, but he’s just busy with work. Jake and Zhang Guang Chen (the guy who plays Andy in Trapped) both liked Chris’ concert photo on Instagram!!

Photos weren’t allowed, and they were damn fucking strict about this which I honestly DONT UNDERSTAND but am not surprised at - It’s like he’s thanking his fans for turning up and he’s really touched and everything and all fans want to do is have some really nice photos of him you know CRIES IN A CORNER - So it was like the Trapped fanmeet media mafia again, people standing at the sides watching and making sure you dont take photos

BUT BUT BUT in the first two songs they couldn’t control us all because we were ALL taking photos, which is why I have photos from the first two songs but NOWHERE ELSE, but tbh the first song’s visuals were so beautiful that those were all I needed for photos, seriously - Which is nice because I rented a cam for this and I REALLY WOULD HAVE CRIED IF I WALKED AWAY WITH NO PHOTOS

He sang a few Chinese ballads, and then he went to change clothes, and THEN HE TURNED UP IN THIS SHIRT AND DANCED TO THE WEEKND’S CAN’T FEEL MY FACE

At the beginning of the concert he told everyone that he wasn’t going to cry and we all called bullshit on that and hahaha lo and behold he cried halfway through and then at the end A LOT

Xiao Yi hosted it again!!! My god, I love Xiao Yi so much, he’s honestly the best and he’s way more handsome in person than he is on Instagram HAHAHA and I love how close he is to the Trapped boys

I do have more photos of this but they’re all half blur because I was trying to dodge the photo police, but hip thrusting moves? Check. Skin reveal? Four holes in his shirt, CHECK.

Anyway, the entire show was filled with like crazy good dance numbers and Chris sang songs such as A Whole New World, and also two of his self-composed songs!! I can’t remember what the first song was called but he did sing this at the Taichung fanmeet, and the second song is called 「不想分開」which means ‘Don’t Want To Separate From/Leave Each Other’ and they’re pretty good

Chris said that HE MIGHT have some album/single release activity next year and asked us to look forward to Jan 2020 I don’t know what to expect tbh HAHAHAHA

And Chris also sang Della’s song from Trapped - and halfway through the song DELLA APPEARED AND STARTED SINGING WITH HIM!! And he was so touched that he started to cry (as always, the crybaby), then the audience and Xiao Yi got Della and Chris to duet one of Della’s other more popular songs, and then SHE WAS THE BEST BECAUSE SHE led Chris down the stage and into the crowd and got him to touch everyone’s hands (okay not everyone, but whoever who could reach him) - Unfortunately I was literally two arms length away from him, so I didn’t even try reaching out for him but as always he came real close, and I got to witness that face up close for the fifth time this year, thank you god and all the higher powers above and buddha for giving me this excellent year

And everytime Xiao Yi and Chris asked questions to the audience Kenny would be like this absolute fanboy yelling from his seat - Gotta love the friendship between them

Xiao Yi printed like photos of him and Chris and stuck it on chocolate bars and gave them out to the audience for like question and answer LMAOOOO funniest shit ever - So XY asked how much do we love Chris, and the first fan was like ‘I left my kid at home to come and watch Chris’ and then another one was like ‘I came here on a TOUR and now I have left my tour group secretly for a few hours so I can come attend this’ LMAOOOO

And CHRIS’ attire was fucking on point that day, all his outfits were like fucking A+++++++++ like sexy and handsome and WOOOHOOO

Okay and now storytime - The one SHITTY thing that happened during the concert:

So there was this older lady seated in the first row, and in the beginning she kept getting up to talk to the staff and I didn’t think much of it - You know maybe she’s a hardcore fan or something and she knows the staff and has some special connections or whatever

And then, LITERALLY HALFWAY THROUGH A SONG, she stands up and she starts shouting. I’m not joking, she starts fucking shouting and pointing at like some fans in the second row saying, “Why is it they can take photos but I can’t?! You guys are too much!!!”

Mind you all, Chris is literally PERFORMING and she’s making a scene

So the staff get her to sit down, and then we think it’s the end of it right, but no she proceeds to yell at shout the same thing across like three fucking songs, and then at one point she stands up and tries to get attention from the staff to come and catch another fan seated behind her because she’s taking photos

In the end no one else in the vicinity dared to take photos or whatever and she was still being a bitch and yelling - And the dumb thing is that she wasn’t asked to leave. This crazy woman in the first row making a scene and she’s not being asked to leave wtf

And then she just keeps shouting throughout the entire concert, and at two instances Xiao Yi had to say “Hey guys, everyone, be good okay? Everyone, please be good”

Okay and then some point in between crazy lady brings out a decanter of like whiskey and chugs it down - Like so wild

So okay, she’s sitting in the first row, and it doesn’t take a genius to know that the risk of sitting in the first row or at the sides is that staff can easily get to you to ask you to not take photos - and she’s in the “because I can’t have it NO ONE ELSE CAN” mode, which is like... okay that’s one thing, but the other part is-

CHRIS IS LITERALLY PERFORMING WHY WOULD U CAUSE A SCENE FOR HIM?!!!

And she was just plain fucking rude she was honestly yelling and scolding like other fans, and I feel like that she doesn’t have a right to do that

Around me were ALL the major Chris fanclub/fanaccount fans and they were all like wtf is wrong with her?

Basically she was such a disruption and idk why she wasn’t asked to leave

Worst of all, in his every very last song, Chris actually sang half a verse to her directly, and IDK if he knows her, or maybe heard that she was being very enthusiastic, or didn’t know that she was being a crazy bitch, in any case, Chris effectively rewarded her bad behaviour

A lot of the fans were really upset about that, because this woman fucked up the entire experience for us (just imagine someone yelling like two rows in front of you and shouting and pointing throughout the whole like 45 minutes) and Chris basically signalled to her that it’s okay to be a nuisance to everyone else, even if it was done accidentally

Otherwise, A+ concert!!! So happy to be in Taipei again and seeing the boys!!!!! And Lisley and Kana were both there as well, and i have to say I really, really love Diane <3333

Concert was a little bit short imo but the tickets weren’t expensive so it’s alright. No fan benefits this time HAHAHA

#chris wu #wu chengyang #吳承洋 #mini concert #history3: trapped #kenny chen #andy bian #summary!

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musophobic-saviour · 6 years ago

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Love

Please.

Please, no.

He had his mind made up. He’d been certain of his motivation, since the moment Katya had told him there was a chance.

He would burn the world again, ten, twenty times over for even that sliver of a chance.

Anna would live. For this end, Artyom was ready to die.

But he would not die, not a moment before he kissed her lips once more.

“Artyom?”

The Rangers eyes drifted open lazily, ignoring the lights dancing in his eyes and the screaming of his geiger. A light, slender hand brushed across his mask, the big blue eyes that met his squinted in a stern, yet loving glare he was all too familiar with.

“It’s time to get up, love.”

Sweet, sweet Anna. Artyom slowly, with a lot more effort than was normally required, stood and began to follow his wife. She wore no gear, and so was surely a figment of his subconscious and the radiation, but Artyom did not care. This was Anna, his Anna, and he would follow her to the ends of the Earth and back.

He blinked, and she was gone, but he did not panic. She was with him still, he knew.

He entered the Institute, odd muttering and groans assaulting his ears, but he paid them no mind.

He could see it now. She would open her eyes, confused. Then she would smile, throw her arms around him, he could almost hear her.

“I knew you’d make it, Rabbit. You always do.”

Then she would learn about how many rads he’d taken, and she would yell at him. He was so looking forward to hearing her yell at him again. He would relish that fight. Yes, like a dehydrated man relishes clean water.

He reached the top of the ladder, that odd eyeless ape coming into view. It reminded him of a librarian in a way, but blind, unable to see him at all. He let out a chuckle, and a broken molotov and three expended shotgun shells later, he learned to be quiet.

He learned to be quick, too. Two shots to the head, from Millers railgun. That would do it.

His ribs hurt. It was hard to breath. Maybe he’d punctured a lung, he didn’t know. He wasn’t a doctor.

Heh. He remembered when he’d fallen in love with her. The exact moment. A little beggar had come up to them both on...well it wasn’t really a date. Going to the surface was rarely romantic. They’d just come back, and the kid, couldn’t have been more than six, tugged on Annas sleeve.

“You’re a Stalker, right? Do...do you think I could have a bullet?”

They’d just gotten back from the library, had to use up their MGRs on a couple of Librarians. Anna just took the magazine from her rifle and handed it to the girl. There must have been twenty rounds left in there.

So tired...

“Did you not find it, love?”

She sat in a wheelchair to his left, shirt stained with blood, coughing into her hand as he knelt next to her.

“N-no, I will! I just-”

“It’s okay, Artyom. You tried your best.”

He’d never been truly angry at his wife before. Frustrated, yes, annoyed, of course. But the young man from VDNKh slammed his fist into the tile wall, feeling one of his phalanges crack, and he yelled at her for the first time in his life.

“STOP IT!”

He looked back up, and a desiccated corpse sat in the chair. He felt hot tears gather at the corners of his eyes, and he stood, holding his rifle more gingerly than before. No. No, it was here somewhere.

He’d proposed to her in the spring. He had the ring made by Andrei, a simple thing made of stainless steel. Gold and silver were rarities in the metro. He’d taken it to a special shop in Polis to have it engraved, a simple scene of a running rabbit.

Miller had voiced his disapproval, but if anything it made Artyom more determined. It was after sparring. They were both sweaty, disheveled, and probably smelled awful, sat next to each other on the bench. He just didn’t have it in him to wait anymore.

He held out his hand, the ring in his open palm.

“Marry me, Anna.” Anna was always so aware, so in tune with her surroundings, that he’d never seen her that surprised before, wide-eyed, caught without something witty to say.

He was afraid she was going to say no for a moment, before she grabbed him by his shirt and kissed him.

It had to be there.

Please. God, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, whoever is listening please let it be here.

It couldn’t not be.

He would find it.

Anna would get better.

He would build her a house on the shore, with a great view and good fishing.

They would all sing songs around a fire on the beach, drinking mead and laughing at the stupid things they’d done on the road.

They would argue over baby names. He wanted to name their son Sukhoi, and their daughter Sasha. He would hold her hand even as she crushed it, cursing his name to the heavens, and he would cherish every fucking second.

A case. Yes...yes, that must be it!

Artyom could barely lift his arms at this point, but he pulled that container open with all of his might, slamming the case on the table, opening it up.

Five doses. Yes. Yes! This will do!

He laughed to himself, and was answered by a growl from the doorway.

#metro exodus spoilers #drabble

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commander-yinello · 6 years ago

Text

Identity

My entry for @saeyoungweek! I really wanted to write for the prompt identity because it speaks to me a lot.

I hope you enjoy reading! <3

----------------------

Who are you?

He grinned when he saw the curt message on his phone. They had a new member in the RFA, practically shoehorned in by V, and she was asking everyone who they were to get to know them. No doubt the others have held an entire essay describing themselves, Zen more than the others.

Leaning back on his chair, fingers hovering over the screen, he wondered what to say. A man who does shady things for money. It was better if she didn’t know that. Someone who has to work day and night to meet crappy deadlines. He shook his head. Too negative. A new member should have positive experiences while in the RFA. With fervor he typed out his preferred title.

I am the defender of justice, 7! 0! 7! When people cry out for help, I am there! The world has no fear, for 707 is here! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ And who are you? ^_~

Perfect. Short and powerful, just the way he liked it.

She followed up with a short description of herself. Nowhere as cool as the defender of justice, she joked. Luciel wants to reply that wasn’t true, but an e-mail on his computer screen sent from an unknown source told him to get to work.

“Work work,” he muttered, turning to his keyboard and putting his phone away. Mary would chastise him if he didn’t finish the current request today.

***

His phone chimed, interrupting Luciel’s twenty-hour session of lying down flat on his stomach. He turned his head away from burying it into the mattress to check his phone, the rest of his body refusing to be move.

Who are you?

Odd. Didn’t she ask this yesterday? With a bit more effort, he took the glasses off his nightstand and put them on.

How are you?

Ah. That made more sense.

God 707 is doing amazing! The lie was written so easily with one hand. He added a whole arsenal of emojis that didn’t match the empty feeling inside of him. Do you have need of the defender of justice?!

Please God 707, save me from procrastination! I’ve got chores I don’t want to do! T_T she replied with the same amount of radiant happiness, and it gave him some energy that he thought to be lost for the entire day.

Quick!! つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Take my energy! つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

It’s not working! What shall I do, defender of justice??

Luciel chuckled and willed himself to roll on his side so he could properly reply. He spent the entire afternoon messaging her, unwilling to think of the workload that lay beyond his bedroom door.

***

I also want to be the world’s best hacker!

He grinned. He was so far behind with the client’s latest project, but he couldn’t care less. For the past few days he had been more active on his phone, talking to her, pranking Yoosung, joking about the lives of the other RFA members. His maid berated him for looking at the security cameras too often.

You don’t want to be the world’s best hacker. You will be staring for days at your screen, never sleeping and forever eating Dr. Pepper and drinking Honey Buddha Chips. ◉_◉

Oh no! Are you alright? Do I need to tell your maid off to give you a break? You must get your rest!

Oops. Had he gone too far with his joke? Time for some deflection.

I’m kidding! It’s fine. I wouldn’t do anything else!

Really?

I can handle it! What’s more important is that you’re happy. (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) I will be whoever you need me to be~

There was a pause, longer than normal. Luciel was starting to wonder if she had to run off to do something when he saw the icon of a reply being typed.

I don’t want that.

His stomach sank.

I want you to be yourself. I want you to be happy too.

She didn’t understand. No, she couldn’t understand. He sighed and gave her an honest reply.

I’m just a 2D guy designed to make you happy. There isn’t more to it.

:( That’s not true, Seven.

Something about her insistency made him want to slam his fist on the table. He bit his lip until it stung in pain, tasting iron. Why were her words getting to him? Happiness was not meant for him. It was already a blessing that he could talk to someone like her regularly. He was fine living a fabricated life on the chatroom.

So why did this conversation make him so irrationally angry?

He decided not to reply.

Tossing his phone as far as possible on his computer table, he dove back into his code, drowned himself in it and worked on as long as he could until he passed out from fatigue. The continuous buzzing of incoming messages reminded him of his failure to keep himself in place.

***

The sound of his phone startled him awake. He got up, feeling the dent of the mousepad in his face, wiping away the drool from his mouth. 1 AM on the computer clock. When his phone rang for the sixth time, he answered.

“Why did you call me?” he asked, instantly regretting how harsh he sounded.

“You didn’t reply to my messages. I… I got worried.”

She would be worried. She was still full of hope. Luciel ran his tongue over the wound on his bottom lip, wondering what to say.

“I’m sorry. I’m tired and behind schedule. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“That’s okay. I know you’re working hard, but please rest too! I mean it!”

She reminded him of Mary. Except sweeter, and less taser threats. “Why are you up so late? Can’t sleep? Want me to sing you a lullaby~?”

A sound that was a combination of a squeal and a gasp came through his speaker, making him quiet his laughter so she wouldn’t be offended. “Y-you should go to sleep! Next time!” she demanded.

“Next time,” he promised. He was about to say goodbye and work on when suddenly he heard her voice again.

“Hey, Seven? Remember when I asked you who you were?”

Luciel blinked. “Yes?”

Did she know, he wondered. That the defender of justice was just a smokescreen he could hide himself in, so that everyone, but himself most of all, didn’t see who he truly was?

Now he realized why he had gotten angry earlier. It was because he couldn’t tell her why. He couldn’t show her his true self, the Luciel that was always tired of work, of himself. He had no past to be proud of, no future to look forward to. All that matter was his work for the agency. He wasn’t who she wanted him to be. He wasn’t who he should be for her. Even his own name was a lie. A fake identity so no one else would need to look out for him. He wasn’t carefree, or safe. She shouldn’t be around him.

He was the happy-go-lucky online prankster devil, and he would wear the mask until the end. He had already accepted it. Mentally he prepared himself to change the subject.

“I wanted to properly introduce myself first, but I was so nervous I sent everyone that. I felt so dumb, but I’m glad you gave me a normal response.”

A silent sigh of relief left him. “That’s so adorable! No worries, I’m sure the RFA likes you for it!”

“Maybe, but I like you.”

“Wh-“ he stuttered. His heartrate sped up and he clutched his shirt. “Ah, you shouldn’t say such things! That’s dangerous for my heart! Dangerous!”

He heard her giggle on the other end. “Go to sleep! I won’t go to sleep if you won’t!” he demanded, so flustered it was hard to say the words.

Finally she gave in and hung up, leaving him to calm down from the sudden attack. It would be a lie to say he didn’t like her too, but… he also knew that he would only end up hurting her like this.

So why couldn’t he push her away?

***

I’ve been thinking.

Of all messages he expected, it wasn’t this.

Of?

You.

He choked and his face started to flush once more. The half-eaten sandwich now sat forgotten in his other hand. She continued as he sat frozen in his kitchen chair.

I was thinking that I don’t really know you. I know a part of you, but I want to know all of you. There is more to 707 than just jokes and clever hacking tricks.

Oh. So she did suspect something. A hundred jokes ran through his head, but in a moment of madness he decided to reply seriously.

What if the parts of 707 you don’t know make you unhappy? Isn’t it better if you don’t know?

The Seven I got to know cares so much, he tries everything to keep everyone around him happy. I cannot imagine someone like that being horrible. As I said before, I want you to be happy too. I won’t stop, no matter what.

She was incredibly stubborn. Luciel’s face felt hot watching her type on and on about how she wasn’t going to quit. He wasn’t convinced she would stick around once she truly saw him.

You will see.

But the feelings he got reading her promises lit up a tiny spark of hope, and foolishly he thought, who knew?

Perhaps… perhaps she could be the one to convince him to take off the mask.

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garywonghc · 6 years ago

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An Introduction To Buddhism (1 of 2)

by Chogye Trichen Rinpoche

This is a teaching about the importance of cultivating positive emotions such as loving kindness and compassion, and how this will promote well being, not only in ourselves, but also in the greater world we all share.

[A Buddhist Aeon] In order to put the Buddhist tradition into context and understand how a fully enlightened one appears in this world, it is important to know about kalpas, the aeons or cycles of time. Within a given cycle of time, there is always the formation of a physical environment of the 'outer elements', and this environment will be inhabited by sentient beings such as ourselves. A kalpa time cycle is divided according to three phases: First, there is the process of coming into being or 'creation'; next, the time span during which the environment and beings abide; and finally, the phase of cessation, where that cosmos and the beings within it disappear. A kalpa or aeon in which a fully enlightened one appears is called an aeon of light, or 'fortunate' aeon. It is fortunate because a fully enlightened one appears in the world and bestows the light of spiritual intelligence upon the beings there. In contrast, there are the dark aeons, those cycles of creation in which no enlightened being will appear. It is also said that the dark aeons are more numerous than the aeons of light.

[A Fortunate Aeon] The particular cycle in which we now live is of a very special type, known as a 'fortunate' aeon. At the beginning of this fortunate aeon, there was a Chakravartin, a universal monarch of great power known as Tsibkyi Mugyu, or Arenemi. As ruler at an early stage in the formation of that aeon, King Arenemi enjoyed a reign of great prosperity, harmony, and well being. This was true not only for the realm of the gods, but also for the human worlds. Although officially King Arenemi may not have had many queens, still it is said that as a great universal regent, he had thousands of queens. We are also told that these queens bore him more than one thousand princes. Due to his vast merit, merely by gesturing to one of these women and calling her his queen, she was able to bear him a son. King Arenemi gave rise to the wish that each of his sons could share among themselves the rule of his kingdom.

In those times, there lived a Buddha, the historical Buddha of that era, just as the historical Buddha of our era is Shakyamuni. These are fully enlightened Buddhas who display the twelve great deeds of an enlightened one. The Buddha of that era was known as Mahavairochana. The king approached Buddha Mahavairochana, saying that he had fathered more than one thousand sons, and asking how he might bless each son to enjoy a worthy and meaningful reign as king. The king asked if he might offer the services of these princes to Buddha Mahavairochana, in order that his sons might bear even greater fruits of virtue. The Buddha accepted King Arenemi's request, taking the princes as his disciples. The king offered his sons to the Buddha with great aspirations, wondering in his heart when they would become equal to the Buddha himself. He asked Mahavairochana, 'When will they be like you?' The Buddha reassured the king that all of the princes, as his disciples, would one day certainly become fully enlightened ones. Over the progression of the cycles of time, it is said that an aeon of light is generally followed by a dark aeon. This particular aeon in which we dwell is known as a Bhadrakalpa, an 'extremely auspicious aeon'. At the beginning of the formation of this aeon, it is said that in the middle of the universal ocean there blossomed a one-thousand petalled golden lotus flower. This wondrous lotus sprung up with such force that it reached to the heights of the realms of the gods or devas. The appearance of the golden lotus caused the gods to exclaim, "What a wonder it is to witness the blooming of the thousand petalled golden lotus! It is an auspicious omen, signifying the coming of one thousand Buddhas in this aeon." Thus the blossoming of the lotus foretold the birth of the thousand princes destined to Buddhahood.

[Previous Buddhas] Delighted by Mahavairochana’s prediction, the king further wondered in what order his sons would become enlightened. He requested the Buddha to reveal this to him. Mahavairochana ordered that the name of each prince be written out, and the names were gathered in a cloth and placed in a vase. Then the Buddha drew names, one by one, unfolding the sequence in which each of the princes would reach Buddhahood. The first name selected, the one who would become the first Buddha of our fortunate aeon, was the one we know as Buddha Krakuchandra. The second name drawn was the one who became Buddha Kanakamuni, the second Buddha of our kalpa. The third name drawn was the prince who would be born as the Buddha Kashyapa, the third Buddha of our fortunate aeon. The fourth was the name of the prince who was to become the enlightened one of our present era, Buddha Shakyamuni. Hence Shakyamuni is known as the fourth great emancipator, or liberating one. The fifth name drawn was the one to appear as our next Buddha, Lord Maitreya. The sixth will come as Buddha Simhanada. In this way the names of each of the more than one thousand princes were drawn. It was further prophesied by the Buddha that the prince whose name was drawn last, upon taking birth as the final Buddha of this fortunate aeon, was to be an extraordinary enlightened one. This Buddha would embody all the realisation, qualities and activities of all the previous Buddhas united within himself. Our present era is that of the fourth prince, known to us as Buddha Shakyamuni.

[The Coming of the Buddha of this Age] Prior to Shakyamuni's descent into our world, he reigned in the realm of the gods known as Tushita. Whoever ruled in the Tushita heaven assumed the name of Svetakirti, and so this was Shakyamuni's name while he dwelt there. During his reign in the Tushita heaven, Svetakirti received many requests from gods as well as humans, beseeching him that he might appear in our world and manifest the twelve deeds of a supremely enlightened one. In response, he made five careful and specific observations regarding the circumstances of his future birth. These included the place in our world in which he would be born, at what time and on what date, as well as whose child he would be, and so forth. From these five careful observations, Svetakirti determined that he would appear in this world as a prince, the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in the kingdom of Kapilavastu. The remains of Kapilavastu are found in southern Nepal, not far from the border with India.

[Lumbini Garden] Just to the east of Kapilavastu there was in those ancient times a small kingdom whose capital was known as Devadaha. The two kingdoms enjoyed prosperous matrimonial bonds, with frequent marriages occurring between them. In those days, the woman who was to be the grandmother of Shakyamuni Buddha, whose name was Lumbini, dwelt in Devadaha. While Lumbini, a queen, was dwelling in the capital city of Devadaha, she used to visit a very beautiful garden nearby, which was owned by a wealthy family. As she went there frequently, she grew to wish that she be given the garden as her own. Her husband, the king, told her, "Although I may be the lord of this land, it would not be right for me to claim someone else's garden for you. Still, if you so wish, I shall build for you just such a garden." And so it was that the king built a most unique and splendid garden in the countryside between the two cities. He named the garden in honour of his queen, and that place is known to this day as Lumbini. Queen Lumbini became the mother of two beautiful princesses. As was the custom in those times, she consulted the astrologers and soothsayers, so that she might know what future best suited her daughters the princesses. The seers unanimously predicted that both girls had the great merit to marry either a powerful ruler, or to become the mother of a mighty being who would become a supreme enlightened one. In the light of these predictions, her husband Suprabuddha, the king of Devadaha, wished to form a bond of marriage with the king of Kapilavastu, a man of great fame and reputation. As it happened, the king of Kapilavastu harboured a similar wish. Thus Queen Lumbini’s eldest daughter, Mayadevi, was chosen to marry Shuddodhana, the prince of Kapilavastu. The marriage between Mayadevi and Shuddhodana was a grand celebration.

[Birth of Shakyamuni] In due course, the future Buddha Shakyamuni entered into this world. It is said that Queen Mayadevi conceived her son on the full moon night of the sixth lunar month in the earth sheep year. Then, in the fourth lunar month of the following year, the year of the iron monkey, on the seventh day of the month, she gave birth to a son. The normal period of growth in the womb is nine months, yet it is said that she carried her child for almost ten months. This is the account of the gestation and birth of the Buddha as it is given in the traditional histories. After Mayadevi found herself heavy with child, she remained for the most part in confinement, away from the social activities of the royal court. But, as the time to give birth grew near, she wished to withdraw to somewhere more peaceful. When asked what place she would find more pleasing, Mayadevi proposed a visit to her mother’s garden, Lumbini, to relax and take rest. As she strolled in the Lumbini grove, the time for Buddha’s birth suddenly came upon her. Just as Queen Mayadevi reached out to grasp the branch of a plaksha tree, the Buddha miraculously issued forth from her. Causing Mayadevi neither pain nor injury, Buddha was born from under her right arm. The legends of the Buddha’s birth tell us that from the day he entered Mayadevi’s womb, all the devas and gods from the golden celestial realms watched over and protected him. It is even said that Buddha emerged from the ribs of Mayadevi’s right side in the form of shimmering, scintillating golden light. Thus his appearance in this world was not by means of an ordinary birth, but was accompanied by miraculous events. We are also told how, immediately upon emerging from Queen Mayadevi, the Buddha walked seven steps in each of the four directions. Taking those steps, Buddha uttered four profound statements. The translation of these four statements is wonderful in the Tibetan language, where they reflect a play on the words for east, south, west, and north. As the Buddha took his first steps, in the eastern direction, he said, 'From here I arrive to attain nirvana, enlightenment.' The word for east in Tibetan also means 'to arrive'. Stepping to the south, the Buddha said, 'I will be in harmony with worldly understanding.' As he moved to the west, the direction of the setting sun, he said, ' This is my final birth.' And, with seven steps to the north, Buddha said, 'I have purified all my deeds in samsara, worldly existence...' playing on the word for north which also means 'purify'. Naturally, a child born in the ordinary way would never be able to walk and speak with such eloquence and dignity. Yet at his birth the Buddha strode forth in each of the four directions, heralding the event of his birth to all the world as he fearlessly proclaimed, 'I am unexcelled by anyone ever to appear in this world.' The child was raised as prince Siddhartha, and all people held great hopes for him as the future leader of the Shakya clan.

[Marriage] When his time of maturity had come, two fair princesses were proposed who might serve as his future queens. They were called Yasodhara and Gopaka. Both princesses belonged to highly respected and wealthy families, and there were many princes in the surrounding kingdoms who eagerly sought their hands in marriage. And so a competition was arranged, and all their suitors had to display their skills and sportsmanship, in hopes of winning such widely coveted brides. Prince Siddhartha defeated every rival and had the honour of claiming both princesses as his Queens. In this way, Siddhartha prepared to succeed his father as ruler of the kingdom of the Shakyas. Having married, Siddhartha reigned as prince of the Shakya kingdom. One day, he went on his first excursion outside of the palace and into the city of Kapilavastu. On this journey, the prince witnessed four events that would change him forever. These events brought Siddhartha face to face for the first time with human suffering, from which he had so far been carefully shielded by his father the king. Having never in his life seen such conditions, Siddhartha immediately understood that all living beings are subject to the inevitable sufferings of illness, old age, and death. As the full force of this understanding struck his mind, Siddhartha wondered how any one could pretend that all was fine in the world and carry on as if such suffering did not exist! This experience quickly caused Prince Siddhartha to give rise to a powerful sense of renunciation, and it forced him to recognise the futile nature of this world. All the activities of this life were ultimately meaningless, since all who inhabit this world must one day experience the same pains and pass away, leaving the experiences of this world to fade away like a dream. Having come to this realisation, Siddhartha resolved to leave the palace life and wander in search of the truth. He sought to extract from life its essential meaning.

[Leaving the Palace] The young prince had a faithful attendant known as Chanda, and he had a most excellent horse known as Kanthaka. Siddhartha summoned his attendant and ordered him to prepare his mount. Bidding his wife and infant son farewell as they lay asleep, he stole from the palace in secrecy, under cover of night, lest his subjects learn of his departure. Prince Siddhartha ordered his attendant to grasp the tail of his horse Kanthaka, who then miraculously bound over the walls of the palace compound and into the city. It is said that the four great guardian deities of the directions offered their service to Siddhartha, each lifting one hoof of the horse and spiriting them off through the air, until at last they brought them to the place known as Vishuddha stupa, the ‘stupa of great purity’. It was there that the prince formally abandoned the life of a householder and adopted the life of a total renunciate. Seizing a blade, he cut off the length of his hair, as a sign that he had parted from all attachment to this world. Siddhartha discarded his princely garb, his gown and ornaments. It is said that hosts of gods and devas magically appeared all about him, offering him the robes of a spiritual mendicant. Donning these garments, bestowed upon him by the gods themselves, he declared, ‘I have renounced worldly life in order to seek the path to enlightenment.’

[Early Asceticism] Now Siddhartha pondered carefully the nature of the path he sought. He understood that all the Buddhas of the past had reached enlightenment through ascetic practice. He knew with certainty that there was no way for him but to follow the same path. Siddhartha resolved to practice the ascetic way, making a solemn vow of fasting, and abstained from all food for six years. He further determined to remain motionless in meditation, and so it was that he sat continuously for six years without moving. This period of Siddhartha Gautama's life has come to be known as the six years of asceticism, of unbroken, solitary meditation practice. This is how penances led him to the threshold of enlightenment, on the banks of the river Niranjana. During these six years of fasting, Siddhartha also kept a vow of noble silence. He did not speak to anyone, but remained absorbed in the silence of meditation. Once, as he sat motionless and speechless, some local cowherds came upon him, and wondered if he was a human being or a statue. They went so far as to poke burning irons into his ears, but Siddhartha showed not the slightest reaction. In this way he demonstrated the greatest determination to succeed in his meditation and austerities.

[Enlightenment] Now Siddhartha Gautama's mother had passed away seven days after giving birth to him, and she had been reborn in the land of the gods known as the 'realm of the thirty-three.' As a deva of this realm, she possessed some limited clairvoyance, and was able to see that her son from her previous life, Gautama, was undergoing great hardships. As this goddess, the former Mayadevi, wept for Siddhartha, her tears fell miraculously from the celestial world, forming a small pool in front of the meditating Buddha. In response to this, the great meditator Gautama broke his silence, just one week before he was to attain enlightenment. He spoke out reassuringly to his mother, saying, 'Although I have gone through these ascetic practices of unimaginable difficulty, yet I still have not reached my goal. I have only one week before I will gain enlightenment. Then I will repay your kindness, and will come to teach you in the near future.' In this way, his mother was the first person for whom Gautama broke his vow of silence, just prior to attaining enlightenment. Completing his six years of meditation, Siddhartha arose from that place, setting out on foot for what would come to be known as Bodhgaya, the diamond seat. Thus he came to arrive before the great Bodhi tree there. He knew that this was indeed the very place where all the past Buddhas, such as Krakuchandra, Kanakamuni, and Kashyapa, had attained enlightenment, on the very seat he himself now approached. In deepest reverence, Gautama bowed before the vajra seat and then took his place upon it, leaning his back against the Bodhi tree. Upon that very throne of enlightenment of the Buddhas of the past, Siddhartha repeated the greatest act of all of history, achieving complete enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya. Gautama had spent six years meditating on the banks of the Niranjana, and had come to the diamond seat of Bodhgaya to finish his meditation training. He entered again into seated meditation at dusk on the full moon night. Terrifying hosts of mara-devils and evil beings swarmed around him in a jealous frenzy. They threatened him with fearsome apparitions, brandishing terrible weapons and hurling them at him in rage and envy. These demons had great power and were able to destroy whatever they set themselves upon. Yet, due to the invincible power of meditation, compassion, and loving kindness emanating from Siddhartha, they could not defeat him. Now only hours from gaining enlightenment, in a meditation of unassailable stability, he transformed all that was flung at him into celestial flowers. He suffered not the slightest harm. Thus conquering and subduing all the mara-devils during the period of dusk on that night, then continuing on through the middle watch of the night he remained in the deep Samadhi of meditation. Finally, in the early dawn that followed the full moon night, he gained complete and perfect enlightenment, samyak sambuddha. Having attained enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama, now the Buddha, entered into the most sublime and indescribable state of bliss and emptiness that is the enlightened state. In this profound condition he gave rise to a great wish, thinking, 'How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings could share in this realisation which is now my own.'

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