#got him to yell while fighting the specters too

[charger-lens]

Kotallo going “WOOO” when fighting the tremortusk with Aloy

[justagalwhowrites]

The Savage and the Sanctuary - Ch. 3: Parents

You and Joel try to figure each other out and you and Ellie navigate your new relationship while you get ready to go to LA. A continuation of The Savage and the Sanctuary, a no outbreak TLOU story, from the prologue through chapter 2 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

CW: Remembered negligence by a parent. No use of Y/N. Whole fic will be explicit so minors DNI, 18+ only.

Length: 7.5k

Fic Masterlist | Masterlist | AO3 | Prologue | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

“Again.” 

You threw a punch at the sparring mitt on Joel’s hand. 

He shook his head once, tightening his jaw. You weren’t landing the blows well, something was holding you back. 

“C’mon, you got more in you than that,” he said, almost taunting you. “Again.” 

You yelled then and really pulled your fist back before swinging forward yet again. This time, though, it actually forced his arm to move some, making him recenter his weight as he tried to keep position. 

“There you go,” he said. “Keep doin’ that, let’s go.” 

“Seriously?” You panted, dripping sweat, your sports bra clinging somehow even tighter to your skin than it was before the workout started, something Joel was desperate to not pay attention to. “I feel like I’m about to die.” 

“Gotta build up that muscle,” he said. “Come on, Siren -” he said your code name like the taunt it was. “Hit me.” 

You really went after him then, wailing on the sparring mitts and coming for him hard and fast enough that it forced him to step back. 

“Better,” he said eventually and you lowered your hands, your chest heaving. “See? Knew you could do it.” 

“Yeah, turns out all it took was remembering what a dick you are,” you said, a teasing edge to your voice. “Way easier to want to punch you then.” 

“Ma’am?” Esmo’s voice appeared at the door to the pool house. “The car will be here in an hour.” 

“Thanks,” you panted, shucking your gloves and looking to Joel. “You all packed and ready?” 

“I’m ready,” he said. “Won’t have to worry about me.”

“You say that,” you said, putting the gloves away and grabbing your water bottle, chugging from it as you caught your breath. “But we’ll see how you do once we actually get to L.A.” 

“Don’t think it’s gonna be much of a challenge,” he said, even though he knew you were right. He just wasn’t about to say it. “Just don’t do anything stupid, we’ll be fine.” 

“Aw, now where’s the fun in that?” You asked, starting back toward the house. “You OK to get the kid?” 

“What if I said no?” He asked. “I’m not a damn chauffeur, you know.” 

“Sure about that?” You asked. “Because you beg to drive often enough…” 

“I got the kid,” he said. “Go do whatever air-headed shit you gotta do before you get on a plane.” 

You mouthed his words mockingly back at him as you made your way to your room and Joel made his way to the kitchen to get water for himself. 

Things with you had fallen into an almost surprising cadence in the week since his birthday and the conversation in your kitchen. 

It wasn’t that he liked you or anything as extreme as that. He’d just learned how to see you more as a person and less as the specter who haunted the wall of his daughter’s bedroom. You were still spoiled and overly opinionated and frustrating to no end but you were also oddly kind, sharply observant and a dedicated parent to a child who wasn’t yours to begin with. 

Even though your love and care for her was obvious, Ellie seemed to want to tiptoe around you for a few days after she got suspended. She avoided staying anywhere you were for too long, but Joel saw how you’d perk up when she came in and then visibly deflate when she left without saying much of anything at all to you. You tried to pretend like it didn’t bother you, even as you spent hours on the phone with the school trying to convince them to let Ellie come back early without saying why she’d picked a fight with that asshole boy to begin with. He didn’t buy it. 

Eventually, you wore the school down, and Ellie only missed two full days of classes. She just didn’t seem all that eager to return when she climbed in the car for Joel to drop her off the morning she went back. 

“You ready for school?” He asked eventually, glancing her way, trying not to think of navigating conversations like this with Sarah. There were points in time where he could tell something was bothering her but prying would just make it worse so he asked the innocuous questions in hopes she’d give him something - anything - to work with. 

“I guess,” she shrugged, staring determinedly out the window. 

“Want to tell me what’s on your mind?” He asked eventually when she didn’t give him anything else to work with. 

She sighed heavily. 

“I just…” she looked at Joel, her small hands twisting around themselves on her lap. “I know that stupid fucking boy is going to keep saying that shit. What do I do? I know, I know, I can’t hit him. Even though I should be able to fucking hit him.” 

Joel tried not to laugh at that. He didn’t entirely disagree. 

“He scare easy, you think?” He asked, glancing over to Ellie. 

“He seems like a little bitch,” she replied. “So yeah, probably. Why?” 

He shrugged, coming up with a plan. Or a semblance of one, anyway. 

When he got to the school, he didn’t go to the drop off line. Instead, he parked and got out, Ellie frowning as he did. 

“Show me this kid,” he said, nodding for her to lead the way. 

She scanned the crowed for a second before she found him, leaning against the side of the building, looking like he was vaping before the day started. 

“There he is,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Fucking asshole.” 

“C’mon,” he said, walking up the hill toward the school, keeping an eye out for any teachers or parents who might cause any trouble. “We’ll handle it.” 

Ellie kept up, her much smaller legs needing to almost jog to keep pace with his longer, purposeful stride. Thankfully, the kid was trying to stay out of sight, making Joel’s plan a lot easier. 

The kid was, as it happened, also cocky as hell. 

“Well look who’s back,” he said, shoving back off the wall and not seeming to care that Joel was there. The fog from the vape reeked of pot. “What, your whore mom get them to let you out of your cage early?” 

“You motherfucker!” Ellie lunged for him but Joel held her back. She looked up at him, indignant, but he focused on the kid in front of him. He barely came up to Joel’s chin, maybe 16 years old and suddenly seemingly aware that he’d picked a fight with someone who wasn’t smaller than him. Joel stepped closer, squaring his shoulders, letting himself tower over the kid. He gulped, almost comically so, and stepped back until he was against the wall again. 

“We got a problem here,” Joel said. 

“I.. I don’t…” the kid stammered, but Joel cut him off. 

“Don’t remember askin’ you a damn thing, you little shit,” he said. “I said, we got a problem here. And that problem is you. Now, see, I don’t take too kindly for assholes like you causin’ problems for my people and Ellie here is one of my people. You may not know it but it’s my job to make sure she don’t have problems so you being one… well, that’s an issue, ain’t it?” 

The kid was silent. 

“That was a question,” Joel said, staring him down. “Answer it.” 

“Yes sir,” he said quickly. 

“Good boy,” Joel said using the same tone he would a dog who’d misbehaved. “The way I look at it, we got two ways to handle a problem. We can remove it or we can resolve it. I got all kinds of ways I can remove a problem but resolving it is easier. I like easier. Which would you rather I do?” 

The kid was silent, his eyes darting. 

“Answer. The. Question.” 

“Re…resolve it,” he said, shrinking lower on the wall. 

“Good,” Joel said. “That means, you stop talking shit. You don’t look at her, you don’t talk to her, you don’t talk to anyone else about her, you understand?” 

“Yes sir.” 

“You’re gonna treat her and her family with respect,” Joel considered. “And you’re gonna keep your thoughts - and hands - to yourself. I hear about any other shit like that comin’ out of this school? I’m going to assume it’s coming from you and I’m going to assume you’re a problem that can’t be resolved. That means you’re one that needs to be removed. Do you want me to remove you?” 

“No sir.” 

“What was that?” Joel asked, even though he’d heard him perfectly fine. 

“No sir,” he said, a little louder that time. 

“Good,” he said again. “Now apologize to Ellie.” 

His eyes darted to Ellie and back to Joel. 

“But…” 

“This ain’t a debate,” Joel growled. “Apologize. Now.” 

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly to Ellie. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean any of it, I’m really sorry, I won’t say any of that shit again, I promise!” 

“Good,” Joel said. “Tell anyone about this and I’ll make sure they know about this little vaping habit of yours. Don’t think Texas takes too kindly to drug use, regardless of who your damn daddy is. Remember what I said about problems. Don’t become one and I won’t need to treat you like one. Do I make myself clear?” 

“Yes sir.” 

Joel gave him one final up and down, almost surprised to not find piss staining the front of his pants when he did. He looked back at Ellie. 

“Should get you to class,” he said. “C’mon.” 

He guided Ellie away from the kid and toward the sidewalk and she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut until they were out of earshot. 

“That was so fucking cool,” she was damn near beaming up at Joel. 

“He bothers you again, tell me,” he said, stopping to face her before she made her way to the front door of the school. “I’ll handle it.” 

“Would you beat him up?” She asked, her eyes lighting up. 

He made a face. 

“He’s a fuckin’ kid,” he said. “I don’t hurt kids. But he don’t need to know that. So let me know and don’t go trying to handle shit yourself again, OK kid?” 

“OK,” she said, giving him a firm nod. “Thanks, Joel.” 

He just gave her a nod back and watched her go into the school, staring down the kid still cowering against the wall as he made his way back to the car. 

Ellie started spending more and more time with Joel after that. He took her to and from school almost every day and it only took a few days for her to start talking to him. 

He didn’t invite it, not really, it just kind of happened. It started with her throwing her book bag in the back seat with a little too much force and sighing heavily and Joel’s latent fatherly instinct kicked in before he realized what he was doing. 

“Everything OK?” He asked, raising her brows and glancing toward her as he made his way around other cars picking up kids as the school day ended. She just looked at him, incredulous, until he shrugged. “Don’t take a genius to see something’s goin’ on. That kid give you more trouble?” 

“No,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. He was quiet, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel, giving her room to sit in the silence. And then she sighed. “It was another kid. Said some shitty stuff.” 

“Shitty stuff like what.”

“Just stuff,” she said, clenching her jaw before deflating. “I just… I don’t think I want to talk about it yet.” 

“Well,” Joel said. “Here when you do. Know your aunt is, too.” 

“Yeah, I know,” she said, watching Joel for a moment. “Want to kill some shit when we get home?” 

“Assuming you’re talkin’ about in one of those damn games…” 

“Duh,” she said. “Don’t think I’m allowed to do it in real life even though some people fucking deserve it.” 

Joel tried to keep from smiling at that. The kid had a mouth on her. He shouldn’t encourage it, he knew that. He shouldn’t encourage her spending time with him, either. But something in him liked that she sought him out, that she felt like he was someone who was safe, someone she could confide in. 

“Sure,” he said. “We can kill some shit.” 

“Fuck yeah.” 

“Hey,” he said. “Language.” 

And he watched as she rolled her eyes good naturedly, a small smile tugging at her mouth. Knowing he made her feel a little better tugged at him, too. He tried to remind himself that he wasn’t supposed to care. You and her were a job, nothing more. Caring about either of you was stupid at best, a liability at worst. It was best to keep his distance. 

He played the video games, anyway. 

Joel watched as things softened with you and Ellie in the week that followed and then, eventually, as he was having coffee before taking Ellie to school and you were sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, reading something on your iPad while eating avocado toast with a cup of coffee - because of course you ate fucking avocado toast - she sat next to you, plopping her backpack down on the open chair on the other side of her. 

You set the iPad down gently and gave yourself the excuse to do it by using both hands to pick up the toast, taking a small bite and chewing slowly before picking up your coffee with both hands next so the iPad wasn’t a distraction. 

“So,” Ellie said eventually. “You have that movie coming out soon, right?” 

“I do,” you said, looking over at her and smiling just a little. 

“Probably have to go do all that promotional shit soon, huh?” She asked, brows raised. 

You nodded. 

“Next week,” you said. “You’re going to go stay with your grandmother while I’m back in LA.” 

She nodded slowly. 

“Are you going to be doing the TV shows and shit?” She asked. 

“Some,” you said. “Doing a few days of interviews for different outlets and then I’ll be on Jimmy Kimmel the day before the premiere.” 

“Remember that time you were the voice of the cartoon duck when I was little?” She asked, smiling bigger. “You brought me and Mom to the premiere?” 

You laughed a little. 

“Yeah, you didn’t want to wear a skirt then either,” you said. “You were like seven and you insisted on wearing jeans on the red carpet.” 

Ellie laughed, too. 

“I liked that movie,” Ellie said. “It was good.” 

“I’m glad,” you smiled at her. “I made it for you.” 

She smiled tightly, the two of you watching each other for a moment. 

“Maybe we can watch it together when you get back?” She asked. “Haven’t seen it in a while.” 

“Yeah,” you smiled. “I’d like to that.”

“Cool,” she said as Esmo set a breakfast sandwich in front of her.

Esmo gave Joel a look, a death glare that told him to keep his mouth shut lest he disturb the delicate dance happening at the breakfast bar as the two of you ate side by side in silence, neither of you looking at the other but also not at any phone or tablet. 

Eventually, when Joel knew he was going to have to get Ellie loaded into the car, she broke the silence. 

“Hey Sissy?” She said, looking at you hesitantly. 

“What’s up kiddo?” You asked, watching her with a gentle smile on your face. 

“I…” Ellie paused, looking to the side for a moment and taking a deep breath before facing you again. “It really fucking sucked when my mom died. Even though we knew it was coming it still really, really, really fucking sucked. But as bad as it was… I know it would have been a whole lot worse if you weren’t here. I’m really glad I’m not doing this shit on my own.” 

Even from his place near the coffee maker, Joel could see you starting to tear up as you reached out and cupped her cheek. 

“I’ll always be here for you,” you said, voice wet. “You’ll never be on your own.” 

“I know,” she said. “I just… wanted you to know. That I know.” 

You smiled. 

“Thanks, kiddo,” you said. “Have a good day at school, OK?” 

“Thanks,” she smiled. “Have a good day doing… whatever it is famous people do.” 

You snorted and Joel got Ellie to school, the uncomfortable tension that had been in the air in the house since the day of the fight fading. 

It was a relief for Joel, too. He tried not to think about why, instead deciding that he was happy that he didn’t need to try and tiptoe around you and Ellie anymore. He’d felt oddly uncomfortable, knowing that you were hurting. He found himself trying to avoid picking at you the way he usually did, any small, cruel pleasure he took from it nowhere to be found when he knew you were actually miserable. 

He wasn’t sure why he cared. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know why he cared. Now, things could go back to normal. 

And they did. Mostly. 

You still did the exact opposite of what he asked you to do whenever possible. You still went for coffee at the local coffee shop at least once a week, the one you’d gone to so much that Joel was certain the girl behind the counter knew who you were. You still went grocery shopping yourself. One day, when you apparently wanted to send him into a blind rage, you drove to a public park and got out of the car without saying a word. 

“Hey!” Joel yelled, jogging to catch up to you as you stretched a little, jogging in place as you did. 

“Yes, Big Miller?” You asked, brows raised, that stupid baseball cap that you pretended like protected you from everything under the sun pulled low over your face. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doin’?” He asked, his hands on his hips, jaw squared. 

“Going for a run,” you said, as though this were the most typical thing in the world. 

Which, if you weren’t the most famous woman in the world, it would be. That just wasn't the case. Not with you. 

“Not out in public you ain’t,” he said. “Back in the car. Now.” 

“Back in the car. Now,” you said, puffing your cheeks out mockingly. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t feel like running on a treadmill today, it’s finally not 115 degrees outside, I’m going for a run in the park. Keep up if you want, sit in the car if you don’t, it’s really no skin off my back either way.” 

You started at a jog down the path before Joel had a chance to argue. He just growled, following along behind you, sweating through his t-shirt and jeans and wishing he was in his gym shoes instead of his fucking work boots. He glared as he passed other people on the trail, each of them looking at him like he was some kind of crazy person. 

“See, was that so bad?” You asked, panting for breath, your skin covered in a sheen of sweat as you made it back to the car. He snatched the keys from your hand and stalked to the driver’s door as you laughed. “God, you’re so sensitive! Such a baby…” 

So the next day - when you decided to go to fucking Target in the middle of the afternoon after going to the dentist - Joel had had just about enough. 

“No,” he said as you pulled into the parking lot. “Absolutely not.” 

“Well that’s unfortunate for you,” you said, ignoring him and getting out of the car, anyway. 

But Joel was ready for you this time, catching you as you came around the trunk of your SUV, making you jump. “What are you… Hey!” 

He ignored you, looping an arm around your waist and forcing you back as you beat uselessly at his chest. He wrestled the back door open and forced you unceremoniously into the back seat before he climbed in the driver’s seat and pushed the button to activate the child locks. 

“What the fuck!” You protested, pulling helplessly at the door handle. 

“Act like a fuckin’ child and I treat you like a fuckin’ child,” he said. “No reason for you to go to fucking Target. Already went to the store this week, don’t need any more of this shit from you.” 

“You realize that I pay you, right?” You snapped, leaning between the driver and passenger seats to scowl at him. “I’m literally your boss, you can’t just manhandle me into my own fucking car because you’re in a mood!” 

“Actually, pretty sure your manager signs the checks to my brother’s business,” Joel said, fighting the urge to smirk about it. “Studio, too. Think that makes them my boss, not you. Besides, I’m paid to worry about your safety which means I don’t gotta listen to you.

“You’ve been lucky that no one has really noticed that you live here yet but all it takes is one asshole with their goddamn cell phone camera out sharing your photo to one of those damn magazines and you’ll get swarmed everywhere you go,” he continued. “That what you want? These idiots following you everywhere? Following Ellie everywhere? You want your damn stalker showing up at your door?” 

You sat back in a huff, crossing your arms and glaring out the window. 

“Then maybe you should fucking listen to me,” he said. “Know what I’m talking about.” 

“Such an asshole,” you muttered and Joel smirked. 

This relationship with you he knew. This, he could handle. 

But he still found himself walking a strange line with you as the two of you worked on your fight skills together. Spending a few hours with you every day, showing you how to move your body, your body that was barely covered by those tight little gym outfits. He might loathe those as much as he loathed needing to be around you. 

Because, when all was said and done, he couldn’t ignore the fact that you were the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. It was disorienting, even after being around you as much as he was, to see you and recognize that you were real, that you really were just that beautiful. 

It wasn’t even that he was attracted to you, he told himself, the fact that you were beautiful was just a fact. Anyone could see it, even him in his deadened state. The fact that his heart beat faster when your hand brushed his skin was just biology. He was just a man, of course he’d have some sort of physical reaction around someone who looked like you. 

He tried not to think about needing to be in close quarters with you in new territory over the next few days, about what strange feeling he’d been sure was long dead would awaken in him then. 

At least he could still put you through your paces. 

Joel came home from picking up Ellie just as the car taking the two of you to the airport pulled up outside. Joel loaded his bags into the trunk of the car, waving off the pushy chauffeur as you herded Ellie to the car with all her bags. 

“And you have the charger for your Switch?” You asked, your arm around Ellie’s shoulders. 

“Yes,” Ellie rolled her eyes. 

“And your laptop for school?” You asked. “Because you can’t get out of homework just because you don’t have it…” 

“I have it,” she said. “And I have like 20 pairs of clean underwear and a toothbrush and…” 

“And your phone?” You asked. 

She looked at you, incredulous. 

“Duh.” 

You laughed and gave her a squeeze. 

“Alright,” you said. “Let’s get you dropped off so me and Big Miller can get out of here.” 

Ellie snorted. 

“Yeah, you and Big Miller need to go do movie star shit,” she said, getting in the back of the car with you, Esmo giving her bags to the chauffeur. “Don’t want to hold up such important things.” 

“Alright, Siren,” Joel said. “Let’s go.” 

The three of you went to Ellie’s grandmother’s house and she almost tackled her, you getting out and greeting her with a warm hug, too. 

“Hey Mom,” you smiled. “Thanks for taking our trouble maker here.” 

“Try and stop me from hanging out with my favorite granddaughter,” she smiled. 

“I’m your only granddaughter,” Ellie rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. 

“Have time to come in for a few?” She asked. “Introduce me to this tall, dark and handsome man you brought to my door? I’m Elise, by the way.” 

“Oh that’s just Big Miller,” Ellie said, smirking. 

“Big Miller?” She frowned down at her before looking at you. “What’s a Big Miller?” 

“He’s the security guard I mentioned before,” you said. “And I’m afraid we have a plane to catch.” 

“Don’t they wait for you these days?” She teased. 

“Not when you fly commercial,” you teased a little back. “But I’ll be back in a few days. Let me know if you need anything.” You turned your attention to Ellie. “Behave yourself, alright?” 

“She always behaves,” Elise said. “Which is why I get to load her up with sugar before she goes home.” 

“Hell yeah!” Ellie said before looking back to you. “I’ll be good, Sissy. Promise.” 

You seemed satisfied but were still slow to get back in the car, giving another final round of hugs before getting back in. 

“Directly to the airport, ma’am?” The chauffeur asked. 

“Please,” you said, watching out the window as Ellie and Elise headed into the house. 

Joel found himself checking on you in the rearview mirror as you made your way to Intercontinental in Houston, a recommendation of Joel’s you’d actually heeded. 

“It’s a bigger airport,” he’d said. “Less likely for people to notice you and, if they do, they got no reason to think you live in Austin. Extra layer of security.” 

You did your makeup - something he didn’t like noticing - and then kept mouthing words to yourself as you kept your nose buried in an iPad. 

“What are you doin’?” He asked eventually and you looked up, your eyes meeting his in the mirror and he tried to ignore how fucking pretty you were when your makeup was done. Didn’t seem possible that you could get any damn prettier but of course you found a way. 

“Trying to get off book for the chemistry reads I have tomorrow morning,” you said. 

Joel frowned and twisted around to face you. 

“The fuck does that mean.” 

You smiled a little and he felt a twinge in his chest, one he resented. 

“It means I want to have my lines memorized before I need to read them with some people who are kind of auditioning tomorrow,” you said. “It’s not required or expected but I like being able to really focus on the person I’m working with and be a good scene partner. There are a few up and comers, it can be intimidating being in a room and reading with someone like me. I want to make sure they’ve got everything I can give them to do well.” 

He just grunted, facing forward again as you got closer to the airport. He hated when you did shit like that, something that seemed kind and thoughtful. He didn’t want to think of you as that type of person, it made him uncomfortable and it was worse when he knew he was about to be closer than usual to you over the next few days. It was easier to keep his distance from you when you were a spoiled brat. When you were nice or observant or, heaven forbid, vulnerable, he was keenly aware of the effect you had on him, on the way he wanted to look at your too perfect face and feel your fingers on his skin. It was an effect he needed to get over. You were a job. Nothing more. 

There was a team of people waiting for you at the airport, half a dozen of them damn near swarming the car as the driver pulled up to the curb. 

“So it begins,” you said, an ominous note in your voice before you plastered a smile on your face as someone opened the door for you. 

The team ushered you through the process of getting you into the airport quickly, apparently desperate to avoid the disruption that would come with your presence if you were noticed. Your bags had been sent ahead earlier in the day and someone in a suit took your tote bag with your iPad and laptop and book and rushed it ahead to security as someone else finalized both you and Joel’s check in on the flight. 

“I got a firearm in that bag,” Joel said as someone took his luggage from him. He turned to someone in a suit next to him, one who was paying far more attention to you than to him. “Hey, that OK? They hear me about the gun? Really don’t want to get to fuckin’ California and not have my side arm…” 

“I’ll make sure there are no issues,” the man said, giving Joel a tight smile 

They moved both of you to the front of the TSA line, the check seeming more cursory than anything for you, at least. They still gave Joel a full pat down, one that strayed a little too close to his crotch than he was pleased with, giving the agent a death glare until they pulled their hand away. Then, in another flurry of people in suits, the two of you were ushered into one of the fancy fucking airport lounges Joel had always walked past but never even dreamed of going inside, tucking you away in a private corner with a reserved sign on the table, a server immediately rushing to take your order. The whole process took maybe 10 minutes, you with a glass of white wine as you folded yourself back into the corner of the couch, settling in with your iPad in your hand again. 

Joel scoffed derisively. This shit was almost heaven sent, a reminder of just how easy life was for someone like you. Exactly the thing he needed to remember that you weren’t just some pretty face, that it must be easy to be fucking nice when everyone was waiting on you hand and foot all the time. 

“Yes?” You asked, brows raised as you lowered the tablet. 

“It always that easy for you?” He asked. “Just everyone takin’ care of all the hard shit, no lines, no dealing with authorities, just stroll right on through?” 

You laughed a little, shaking your head. 

“It’s easy here because no one was looking for me,” you said. “Wait until we get to LAX, then we’ll talk.” 

“What makes you think it’ll bad?” He asked. 

“Well, someone on the flight is going to notice me,” you said. “They always do. They’ll tweet about it, probably with a picture they didn’t ask my permission to take, and then half the paparazzi in LA will show up, ready to catch me looking tired and cranky after a flight because I haven’t given them shit in months and, unfortunately, my picture sells.” 

“And it’s really gonna be that quick,” he said, skeptical, his brows raised. 

“Oh, definitely,” you said. “And it’ll be like that the whole time I’m in LA, there will always be a photographer right on my ass, all day every day. Quinn tipped them off to a few places I’ll be so they will hopefully calm down otherwise but yeah, it’ll get crazy. The good news is, the people in LA are used to it. They see movie stars every day. There will always be a few tourists or super fans who come up but it’s not too bad, just the photographers are rough.” 

He nodded slowly, processing. He’d worked closely with Tommy in the week leading up to this, coordinating with a security team in LA. You’d have a driver, other people besides him on hand in situations that might be dicey or where more people would know where you were but Joel was still going to be your body man. He just wasn’t sure exactly what to expect once he was on the ground. He’d never dealt with paparazzi, at least not in fucking Los Angeles. 

You finished working on your lines after a while, putting your iPad aside and just looking around the small parts of the lounge you could see from the corner where they’d put you. 

“Can I ask you somethin’?” Joel asked after a while, curiosity nagging at him. 

“Sure,” you shrugged, trying not to look taken aback. “What’s up?” 

“Ellie’s grandma,” he said slowly, trying to figure out how to word it. “Seems like you’re closer to her than your mother.” 

“That’s because I am,” you said. “And that wasn’t a question.” 

He gave you a look and you laughed once. 

“I guess I was just… I didn’t know why that was,” he said. “Was wondering.” 

You considered Joel for a moment. 

“This falls under your NDA,” you said. “Just so we’re clear.” 

“Course,” he said. 

“Do you know much about my career?” You asked, adjusting in your seat as you did. 

He shrugged. 

“A little. Know you’ve got an Oscar for some movie I never fuckin’ saw. Know that show you were on, Siren, of course.” 

You nodded slowly. 

“Well, I was ‘discovered’ when I was five,” you said. Joel’s brows shot up. “I was in line at the grocery store with my mother and a modeling agent saw me there. According to her, he practically signed me on the spot and I started working right away. I don’t remember it well. The work was just catalogue at first, nothing crazy. Then I started doing commercials… by the time I was seven I was on my first TV show.” 

Joel frowned at that. 

“What show?” 

“That sitcom Family Tree?” You said it like it was a question. “It aired in the 90s and the early 2000s, I was the precocious baby of the family. Cute, smart ass, that sort of thing.” 

“Oh shit,” Joel laughed. “That was you? Jesus, I remember watching that show with my parents…” 

You smiled a little. 

“Yeah, that was me,” you said. “My first big job. I met Elise and Anna, Ellie’s mom, on that job. Elise was the tutor for the kids on the show, we basically had our own little school with the five of us. She brought Anna to set one day and we hit it off… Anyway, the point of this is, my mother was my manager. I was on that show for 10 years and I was doing movies, too. My mother was in charge of all of it. She handled my contracts, publicity, all the money… that was the real problem.

“She stopped seeing me as her daughter pretty early, I think,” you continued. “Probably hard to see the person making you rich as your child, not when all you want is to get more money. More, more, more, she was never happy with it. She would throw me at any job that was offered as long as it paid, no real direction to my career for years, not until I started to be old enough to have some of my own damn artistic vision. But… well, she handled the money, every cent I made and boy did she handle it, handled it right out the door.” 

“Jesus,” Joel blinked back his shock. 

You shrugged. 

“I figured out what was going on when I was about 14,” you said. “By then, I’d been working almost 10 years and I didn’t have a damn penny to show for it. In fact, I owed the IRS a shit ton of money because she hadn’t paid taxes, either. It was a disaster because I was suddenly without a manager, penniless, in a legal shit show and I needed to find someone else to be my guardian because lord knew I couldn’t stay with my mother after that. I tried to make a go of it on my own - I thought it would have been easier, it felt like I’d been taking care of myself for long enough anyway - but, when I was through the worst of the financial stuff, I went to live with Elise.” 

You laughed a little and Joel wasn’t sure why, none of this shit was funny. 

“She was so pissed at first,” you said. “She didn’t say it at the time, of course, she didn’t tell me any of this until I was in my 20s but she was furious I hadn’t come to her right away. She’d already been looking out for me more than my mother ever did, she seemed to know that my mother wasn’t doing anything to take care of me. She had me spend the night with Anna all the time, she was always checking to make sure that I was safe on set - more than I can say for a lot of other kids who have worked in this industry, let me tell you. She was always there for me. I just was afraid that, if she took me in when I had nothing at all, she’d somehow end up on the hook for all the money my mother and I owed everyone. I did an action movie with some stupid, bloated budget when they needed some smart alec teenager to play the kid of the hero and waited for that check to clear. It was enough to cover almost everything I needed to pay back and then I felt like it was OK to go to her and tell her everything. So, as far as I’m concerned? Elise is my mom. The woman who gave birth to me just happens to share my DNA and not much else. I’ll take care of her, check in on her, make sure she has everything she needs for a comfortable life, but that’s it. She is not my mom.” 

Joel watched you for a moment, just processing. Without meaning to, he pictured Sarah at 14 - just a year before she’d died - and she was still a kid, just a kid. He pictured her trying to navigate a world that was cold and cruel and cared nothing for her safety without anyone to help her and his blood got hot, his fingers clenching a little tighter, his jaw setting a little firmer. 

You frowned at him, cocking your head at him as though he were a curiosity. 

“What?” 

“Nothin’,” he said eventually, sitting back in his chair and looking back out at the room, watching for potential threats against the shockingly human thing that was you. “Just didn’t expect that is all.” 

Someone came and got the two of you for the flight, when boarding was winding down and you wouldn’t need to stand there and wait with all the other mere mortals and Joel was able to tuck that odd feeling down low inside him again. It didn’t matter that you’d once been a vulnerable kid hung out to dry, you’d clearly done just fine for yourself. He didn’t need to think about you that way. It wouldn’t make a difference now, anyway. 

The two of you were seated in the front row and, for the first 20 minutes or so of the flight, Joel started to think that you might have been wrong. You’d kept your head down and folded yourself into the window seat as quickly as possible, not giving anyone much of a chance to look at your face. Maybe no one would really notice you, maybe you would be able to make it out of the airport on the other side with no one the wiser. 

And then some asshole heading back to his seat from the bathroom froze, his jaw dropping when he saw you. 

“Holy shit,” he breathed. 

You smiled a small, almost amused smile. 

“Hi,” you said. 

“You’re not…” he said, looking around the rest of first class like he might have been crazy. The man across the aisle for Joel leaned forward, peering around him as he frowned. 

“Afraid so,” you scrunched your nose in a way that Joel was sure was meant to cute and charming and probably was to everyone else but, to him, it was just enraging. 

“Holy shit,” he said again, stepping in front of Joel as if he wasn’t there at all. “I loved you in Fast Track! That one chase sequence where you were driving backwards was so cool, how did they do that? I read you did your own driving, is that true?” 

“I did some of my own driving,” you laughed lightly. “But I didn’t drive much there, we had a stunt driver that actually faced backwards in the car and drove when we were in reverse. I did drive the forward facing parts of that sequence, though. I’m glad you liked it.” 

“Can I get a selfie?” The guy asked, already pulling out his phone before you even had a chance to say no. “My best friend is in love with you, he’s going to freak out, he had your poster on the wall of our dorm freshman year.” 

Joel was about to tell him to fuck off but you were unbuckling your seat belt. 

“Sure,” you said, getting up and standing next to him so he could take the picture. You smiled and looked far more beautiful than anyone sitting on a plane had any right to be and Joel gritted his teeth. “What’s your name?” 

“Sean,” he said, still looking at you like he wasn’t sure you were real. 

“Lovely to meet you, Sean,” you said. “Tell your friend I said hi.” 

He went back to his seat and you sat back down and Joel couldn’t help but notice the way your fingers tightened on the end of the arm rest, as though you could dig your nails into the plastic if you just tried hard enough. It was the only indication that anything was wrong. If he hadn’t been around you so much over the last few weeks, he’d never have noticed but now, it seemed impossible not to. 

Sean, it seemed, opened the floodgates. People started cautiously approaching, all talking to you, all awed by you, all asking for selfies that you obliged with a smile. You answered questions patiently, signed napkins, took a video where you said hi to someone’s wife. All the while, Joel ground his teeth while people damn near sat on his lap while they waited to get a moment with you. 

Eventually, a flight attendant got fed up and made an announcement. 

“Everyone, we understand that we have a high profile passenger on board,” she said. “While I’m sure this is very exciting for some of you, we still need to maintain safe travel conditions while in route to Los Angeles. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened so flight attendants can do their jobs and you’re not hurt by unexpected turbulence. Thank you.” 

Joel could have kissed her as everyone reluctantly made their way back to their seats and you visibly relaxed, leaning your head back and closing your eyes, taking a deep breath as you did. 

“You alright?” Joel asked, keeping his voice low. 

You opened one eye, looking at him quizzically before closing it again. 

“Fine,” you said. “Just ready to get to LA.” 

Joel kept his eyes and ears open the rest of the flight, hearing your name come up in hushed whispers from all around them. He heard the snap of a cellphone camera shutter and looked around, glowering, for the culprit but never spotted them. Joel searched your name on Twitter. You were trending, pictures of you being rushed through airport security earlier and from the plane everywhere while everyone under the sun tried to figure out what the fuck you’d been doing in Houston, Texas, to begin with. 

When the plane landed, the flight attendant let you and Joel off first to avoid the threat of chaos as you made your way quickly toward arrivals. 

But you paused, just shy of the end of the secured area, staring it down the sliding doors as though they were an opponent. 

“We doin’ this or not?” Joel asked, probably gruffer than he should have. 

“We are,” you said, not looking at him. “I’m just… saying goodbye to the quiet life I’ve had the last few months. I’m going to miss it.” 

You didn’t wait for him to respond. Instead, you just made for the security doors, greeted by a sea of cameras as the chaos of your existence in Los Angeles welcomed you home. 

Next Chapter

A/N: Thank you for being patient with this series! I've started graduate school so everything I care about seems to get put on the back burner anymore. I hope you enjoyed it, anyway.

This LA arc I am SUPER excited for. Get ready to learn so so SO much more about Siren and Joel both as things ramp up in the City of Angels.

Also, sending some love to one of my besties (who does NOT read my fic but does know I write it) who answered the arbitrary questions I had about the Houston airports. She's the best.

Thank you for choosing to spend your time with my work! Love you!

Taglist: @christinamadsen @eff4freddie @brittmb115 @copperhalfcent @r3dheadedwitch @pedropascalsbbg @lovelyjess69 @yopossum @moel-jiller @picketniffler @lilyevanstan1325 @reluctanthalfwayoptimism @wintersquirrel @missladym1981 @mellymbee @canthinkof1user

[punchyrowrow]

Dimensional Shift

The Gang™ is running out of time. They've been fighting this random ghost that showed up out of nowhere. This ones really hard on Danny because he has to be extra careful not to get hit. This new ghost keeps blasting things that turn into slightly different versions of themselves. He hit a Nasty Burger bag sitting next to a trash can and when the light cleared, it said Greasy Beef. A blast hit Tuckers PDA and suddenly it was replaced with a small touch screen tablet. Around a corner, Wes held on to his camera. He wanted to get closer but this was the only place he could safely hide. As much as he wanted a better shot and loathed Fenton (or said he did) he couldn't help but remember how scared the halfa was last month when Wes accidentally got between Skulker and his prey. Once Danny knew he was ok, he reeled into him about how stupid he was for still following him around. He tried to convince Wes to stop it all but of course Wes didn't agree to that. The two landed on a nice middle ground of the idiot only showing up to a fight after Danny is already there and Staying. Hidden. Danny emphasized the last two words by poking his finger into Wes's shoulder hard enough to push him back a little.

So here he was, taking cover behind a wall so the stupid and not at all terrifying ghost kid who he hates, won't cook him later. He wanted the best shot of this fight but it was hard with the angle so he kept his camera out from behind the cover of the wall and just looked through the viewfinder. While keeping his eyes on Danny, he missed the purple blast coming right for him. His camera was suddenly surrounded in a bright light and when it was gone, he was holding a pencil and piece of paper.

Danny was fighting back with everything he had. He had gone the entire time without getting hit directly by a blast, but he was getting hit by things getting kick backed by this ghosts beams.

After Danny threw another blow at this specter, he was quickly hit by a scooter that now says Dagger. Sam and Tucker were huddled around a device using the same technology as one of the thermoses (which were discarded next to them with, what Tucker thinks is, broccoli cheddar soup spilling out of them).

"Is it ready?" Danny yells over the coms in their ears.

"Not yet! You need to distract him for a couple more minutes!" Sam yelled back, seeing Tucker still struggling with his new device. At that same time, Danny dodged yet another blow from the mysterious ghost.

Wes was trying to line up another photo, now with his phone camera. The picture won't be as good but at least it will be something. He's also not as hidden now se he can keep an eye on both ghouls in the air. He won't be losing another camera today. He snapped a shot of Danny evading yet another beam.

Danny's relief was short lived. After the beam missed him, he heard a crash from behind him and his two best friends yell. He raced towards them and landed. They were both blown backwards from the device but they were ok. As for the device, its now pieces of something he doesn't recognize.

Danny was checking on his friends when he heard a voice call his name behind him. He turned to see Wes Weston running from around a corner. Quickly after seeing that, he saw a purple light hurdling towards him. It was too close for him to react and it hit the ground directly in front of him. He got knocked back and

Wes saw Danny hit the ground hard. And what's worse is he was not getting back up. Wes began sprinting as fast as he could towards the three of them to help. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the robed spirit land and conjure another ball of light. He tried to run fast and began calling Danny's name, hoping the moron would wake up in time. He was getting closer and closer and Danny began to stir. Wes let out a breath but didn't slow down. The light in the corner of his eye grew to its apex. Wes called again. "Danny! Wake up!" And then it light was moving. Hurdling towards the defenseless group. Wes wasn't close enough to move them and, while Danny was finally awake, he wasn't aware enough to do anything. So Wes did the only other thing he could think of. The beam was getting closer and closer and Wesley Weston simply...dove in front of it.

Danny was gonna kill him for doing the exact thing he specifically asked him not to do only four weeks ago.

Danny saw the light coming for him. And then he saw the ginger idiot getting in the way. Again. His eyes widen when he realizes what's happening he immediately gets up but it's too late.

Wes feels it. The warmth surrounding him. The last thing he sees is Danny getting up with a speed he's never seen before. But he's not fast enough. The light envelopes him just like the warmth. He's flying and falling and moving and feeling. Everything is happening.

And then nothing is happening. And he's on his back. His eyes are closed. He tries to move but it hurts. Like he's been laying in the same position for a long time. He slowly peels his eyes open and he's in a room. It's a large and ornate room. With a large and extremely comfortable bed. A small clatter comes from just next to him. He looks near the bedside and sees someone crouched down. He can't see his face, but he is wearing a nice shirt with some slacks. His hair is dark and as he gets up he can see that...

It's Danny.

Danny stands up and places a mostly empty glass with a bit of water still at the bottom, back on the table.

"Danny?" Wes asks quietly, not totally sure of where exactly he is. Or how he got here. Or why Danny is dressed so nice.

The well dressed teenager finally notices that Wes is awake. "Oh. Uh. I spilled your water." He points to the glass. "Sorry." It sounded f=very insincere.

"Uh. I'll..." He looks around like he isn't super sure what to do or like he doesn't really want to be bothered with all of this. "I'll go tell your dad you're up." His dad is here? Danny begins to walk away but Wes calls for him to stop. Danny turns around. He looks a little confused.

"What happened? Where are we?" Wes finally asks.

"You're at my house?" Danny answered like is was a trick question. "You passed out during dinner so my father had someone put you in here to rest. Let me grab your dad." Danny turned around again and headed for the door. Wes took another look around the out of place room. "FentonWorks looks a lot different on the inside."

Danny stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned around to look back at Wes. He just stared for a moment before asking "how do you know tha-" Suddenly a voice came from the hallway that made the tension snap. "Daniel? Is everything alright?" Both boys looked to the door where a well dressed man with gray hair pulled pack in a low ponytail appeared. Wes quickly recognized him as "Mr. Masters?" Wes asked. Danny took one more look back at Wes. The last few minutes with this guy have left him beyond confused. He started walking to the door. "He just woke up. I was just about to get his dad." Vlad pats Danny on the shoulder. "I'll retrieve him. You stay here and keep on eye on him." Vlad is about to leave but Danny stops him. "Please. I'd really rather get him." Vlad faces him very quickly and gives him a stern look. "I. Will get him." Danny holds eye contact like he is challenging him. After no change in the older man, he deflates and rolls his eyes. "Yes Father." Vlad grins a bit and ruffles the young man's hair. He walks back out if the room.

Danny takes a deep breath before facing Wes again. While he would love to ask some questions, he's not really in the mood to unpack any of the answers he might receive. When he does finally turn around back to the guy in the bed, he is met with the widest eyes he's ever seen. He could swear that Wes was on a contest for the widest jaw. "oh god, are you having a stroke?" bit instead of an answer, he was defend by the guy.

"FATHER?!"

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

Oh wow did you actually finish this? I got a silly idea at like 11pm to write something about Wes getting stuck in another dimension. So I sent the next three and a half hours doing just that.

I would like to say 1. thank you for reading. 2. this is really the first story I've ever written besides like three dribbles I have on my account. So if it doesn't seem like the best writing, that's why. Or maybe I'm just a bad writer... 3. I would like to reiterate that I got the idea for this story about three and a half hours ago I thought it would be funny if Wes had to convince DANNY that Fenton is Phantom. I have spent the time since, writing. It's now almost 3am and I'm very tired. I don't know how good this is or where/if I'll go anywhere with it but it is what it is. If you really really liked it, then I might try to keep writing but I've literally never done this before so who knows!

Anywho! Thank you for sticking around and reading this. I'm gonna go to bed. Good night!

[bridgyrose]

Morgan gave a toothy grin as she watched the bandit in front of her drop. The smell of gunpowder lingered in the air and sent a shiver down her spine while her heart raced from the familiar thunderous roar her flintlock pistol made. Even the feel of grip in her hand again brought back the familiar thrill of battle to her mind. And she craved more.

“Morgan,” Skylar whispered to her. “Dont get carried away.”

“I never get carried away,” Morgan replied as she glanced at the bandits that started to circle her and Skylar. Her finger lingered against the trigger of her pistol as she counted each bandit. Twelve in all, not a small number to just be wandering around the forest. No, they had a base nearby which meant more would be on the way if they took too long. “I do what is necessary.”

“We need to get back to the main road and-”

Morgan didnt let Skylar finish her thought before she rushed at the nearest bandit, slamming her fist into his gut at full sprint. The sound of ribs cracking delighted her ears as cold shadow started to coalesce around her arms. Her body started to fade in and out of existence as she ran to the next bandit, swords slicing through her as if she were a shadow herself.

One of the bandits pulled back as he dropped the sword in his hand. “She’s not human!”

“Human or not, she’s still flesh and blood!” Another one called out. “Hit her-”

Talon-like claws punctured through the bandit, the scent of blood drove Morgan’s hunger as the shadows created a mask in front of her face. Her eyes almost glowed red as the shadows settled along her body, her form almost that of death itself as she lashed out at another bandit. It had been much too long since she had felt this thrill, no longer wanting to lose it.

Morgan growled as she lashed out at another bandit, her body disappeared and reappeared like a specter with each movement. She had become the embodiment of death, a reaper of souls once more. With each slice of her claws, she’d watch the blood drip down and with each shot of her flintlock, the more she lost herself.

“They got in your way,” the shadows whispered to her. “End them now and you can keep moving.”

“Morgan, stop!” Skylar yelled.

Morgan froze with her flintlock raised at Skylar’s head. She glanced at the cowering bandit behind her, and then to the weapon in Skylar’s hand. “Why would you get in my way?” she asked calmly, her voice deeper as the shadows distorted her words. “You wanted the bandits gone from this part of the road, didnt you? Killing them is the only way to clear out the filth.”

Skylar moved to protect the bandit, her gaze still on Morgan. “You agreed to quit fighting as soon as anyone surrenders. And they surrendered. Now back down.”

Morgan stayed still, flintlock still raised as she glanced at the bandits that were strewn around the clearing. This was how she had always dealt with anything that got in her way. Bandits, knights of the kingdom, rogue pirates, rivals and enemies… all were to be killed so they were no longer a threat. To let them live was to invite them to try again. And yet, as she looked at the determination in Skylar’s eyes, she found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldnt pull the trigger.

She finally lowered her pistol as the embrace of the shadows left her. She turned away and spoke with a growl. “Fine, we do it your way.”

Skylar turned around and slammed a foot into the bandit behind her.

Morgan paused and looked at Skylar. “I thought you didnt want to kill him?”

“I didnt. He’s just knocked out.”

Morgan rolled her eyes and continued to walk back to the road. “I dont think I’ll ever get used to these rules.”

Second snippet of a project with @rei-of-sunsh1ne

[auxiliarydetective]

Eros and Psyche AU - Part 2!

This technically still belongs to Day 29 of the OC Pride Challenge (which you can find here) but since there's no real prompt for day 30 and I had to split this into two parts, I figured I might as well post part 2 today.

Charlie returned the next day. And the day after that. And multiple more days to come. Every day, there was a different experiment where Charlie got to make Egon happy with the simplest tricks in his book. Throughout these various days, Charlie found himself befriending Egon and the other Ghostbusters, even the perpetually sarcastic and annoyed Peter Venkman. After a while, it wasn’t just experiments either. They would ask Charlie to help with some equipment, organize some data, or just make some coffee. Little by little, Charlie became part of the team. Sometimes, he’d even spend his nights at the firehouse, cleaning the uniforms or just watching over the Ghostbusters in their sleep. Not that he hadn’t been doing that since coming to Earth, but now he was there officially. He was sure that the Ghostbusters never even noticed when another ghost came to assault them in the middle of the night. It happened every now and then. Probably a result of them catching so many of their fellow specters. But whenever it happened, Charlie was there, warding off the ghosts with arrows of light. Eventually, Charlie really became a part of the Ghostbusters and it went down as follows:

Charlie came into the firehouse with a smile on his face. Ecto-1 was there, that meant everyone had to be here too.

“Morning, Janine,” Charlie said, coming up to Janine’s desk first, as usual. That had become tradition by now.

“Morning, Charlie,” Janine greeted back.

“How’s the situation, are there many calls?”

“Oh, the usual.”

“Do you think anyone’s sleeping?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“GOOD MORNING!” Charlie yelled up through the hole of the fire pole.

“Morning, Charlie!” Ray shouted back. “Come on up!”

Charlie flashed another smile at Janine, then hopped up the stairs. When he reached the top, he paused. The Ghostbusters were lined up behind the little dinner table, waiting for him to come upstairs.

“Did I do something wrong?” Charlie asked, looking fully perplexed.

“No, don’t worry,” Winston said.

“Not at all,” Egon agreed. “Come closer.”

So, Charlie did. That was when he spotted a bundle on the table. A flight suit complete with patches, elbow guards, a belt, some sort of pouch, boots and a camera. Venkman came strolling around the table and threw an arm around Charlie, pulling him closer.

“Today is a great day, Charlie,” he said, “because today, my friend, you have the chance of becoming part of the glorious Ghostbusters.”

“Who, me?” Charlie gasped.

“Yeah, you,” Ray confirmed. “We couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the job.”

“You’re not scared of ghosts, are you?” Venkman asked.

“No, not at all, I am a ghost,” Charlie said before realizing what he had said and correcting himself to: “Y’know, with my ESP and all that.”

“Your ESP is part of the reason why we chose you,” Egon explained, completely ignoring Charlie’s slip-up. “We’ve been wanting to document the various specters and beings we encounter and that includes taking pictures. But since we’re always too busy fighting the ghost, we need someone else to do it for us.”

“And that’s where you come in,” Ray concluded. “If you’re up for it that is.”

“Sure!” Charlie called out. “I’d be honoured!”

Quickly, Charlie took the various items from the table and got suited up. Now he stood there in front of his friends, a proud Ghostbuster. Well, assistant Ghostbuster. Ghostbusters cameraman. No, he was a real Ghostbuster. Only a few minutes later, they were off to a call. Charlie sat in the back of Ecto-1, so close to Egon that he could faint.

The call was an easy one, according to Egon and the others. But Charlie could prove his worth immediately. While the others trapped the ghost, he had his camera pointed at the specter constantly, trying to get the best angles and shots possible. When they were done trapping the ghost, they went outside again. But now, a team of reporters waited outside. Immediately, Venkman greeted them as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Egon answered the technical questions. He described the supernatural in words that Charlie found mesmerizing, giving his world a whole new perspective. But then, suddenly, the reporters were focused on Charlie.

“What’s your name and what is your affiliation with the Ghostbusters?” the reporter asked, almost shoving the microphone into Charlie’s face.

“Well, uh, I’m Charlie Drake,” Charlie stammered, “and I work for the Ghostbusters. But all the credit goes to them, I just take the pictures.”

“So you’re a reporter?”

“No, not at all, I-”

Luckily, Egon was there to the rescue. He wrapped an arm around Charlie’s shoulders protectively, making Charlie’s heart beat even faster, though for a different reason.

“Charlie takes our documentation and research pictures,” he explained. “He’s also an ESP extraordinaire and paranormal expert. But if you’ll excuse us, we still have a lot to do today. If you want an extensive interview, make an appointment.”

With that, he led Charlie back to Ecto-1. Once they were back in the car and Ray started driving, he told him:

“The reporters can be a bit pushy. You’ll get used to it eventually but it you don’t, just redirect them to someone else.”

“Yeah, Venkman always likes talking to those guys,” Winston remarked with a smirk.

That was the first call with many more to follow. Between calls, Charlie developed the photos. Sometimes with Ray and Egon, sometimes just with Ray and sometimes just with Egon - which was obviously the best constellation. Charlie liked Ray, he liked him a lot in fact, but he loved Egon and even the littlest moments alone with him were pure gold. He loved listening to him talk about what they found in the pictures, about the classifications, about the different forms of aura, their strength, the tiny occurrences Charlie had managed to catch.

That had been the first call. But there was another that stood out. This particular one took the Ghostbusters to the aquarium. A few days earlier, Charlie’s equipment had been upgraded to include a first aid kit. Just in time, too. It had been an emergency call, made by the frantic aquarium director who said his visitors were in great danger. The culprit, he said, was a huge octopus. So, all five of the Ghostbusters hopped into Ecto-1 and raced to the aquarium, sirens blaring. When they reached the aquarium, a group of reporters with a camera was already there, as well as a large crowd of evacuated visitors. By now, Charlie was a little more used to reporters, though a camera crew was something new. He helped the others put on their proton packs, then - after Peter had gotten his share of attention - they went inside. Using a flyer as their map, they made their way to the exhibit hall where the octopus had been sighted. They had barely gone far into the building when they already walked on wet floors.

“The creature must have smashed the glass of one of the tanks,” Egon theorized.

“How big do you think it is?” Winston asked. “Is it just a big octopus or is it a huge monster?”

“I dunno,” Peter murmured. “With normies you never know.”

They kept walking, constantly looking around for signs of the beast.

“We’re getting close,” Charlie announced after a while.

“Can you sense it?” Ray asked.

“You better believe it.” Charlie shuddered, a grin on his face. “Makes my skin crawl.”

Ready to shoot, Charlie held the camera up to his face. They were really close now. Just one more corner to turn. Ray saw it first, gasping audibly.

“Wow!”

“It’s a kraken,” Egon remarked.

“How are we gonna get something this big into the trap?” Winston murmured.

“Well, only one way to find out,” Peter declared, grabbing his particle thrower.

Quickly, before he could shoot, Charlie got a photo in. But the moment the camera flashed, the kraken woke up. Quickly, the Ghostbusters all grabbed their particle throwers, stepping into the main area of the exhibit hall. It was a circular room with multiple pillars holding up the ceiling and tanks all around. Soon, it turned out that the proton packs only did very little damage. The kraken only let out pained screeches. But when Egon managed to hit its eyes, that was when it happened. In a fit of rage, the Kraken slammed one of its fleshy tentacles through the room, smashing one of the pillars. Winston was quick enough to duck away, but Egon wasn’t. The tentacle hit him and swabbed him off the ground like a fly, sending him crashing into one of the tanks.

“Egon!” Charlie cried out against the loud rushing of water spilling out through the broken glass.

He started running, slipping across the ground and dodging the various sea creatures now wobbling across the floor. Egon had been swept out of the aquarium, lying motionless on the ground. Raw panic eating at Charlie’s nerves, he fell to his knees next to him. Immediately, he checked his heartbeat. Thank the gods! He was still breathing.

“Egon!” Charlie hissed. “Hey, Egon!”

Egon groaned quietly, then started moving.

“Take it slow, don’t push yourself.”

“It was a good call to make the proton packs waterproof,” was the first thing Egon said once the disorientation wore off.

“Yeah, that was a genius call,” Charlie agreed with a smile.

He had spotted a wound at the back of Egon’s head and was now digging through his medkit.

“Take off your glasses for a second, I need to put a bandage around your head.”

“I don’t like being blind,” Egon mumbled, but he did as he was told.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.”

So, Charlie hurried with his medic duties. He made sure to be gentle, carefully holding Egon’s head. Once he was done, he patted his cheek and smiled.

“There we are. But you probably shouldn’t jump into battle straight away again.”

“Egon!” Peter yelled from across the room. “Egon, use that large brain of yours and come up with a plan! We need a plan!”

At the same time, Ray was grabbed by the kraken and lifted off the ground.

“Charlie, are you getting this?!” he shrieked.

Out of pure reflex, Charlie held up his camera and snapped a picture. Peter and Winston pointed their particle throwers at the arm the kraken held Ray in, prompting it to let him go.

“Now would be a good time, Egon!” Winston called.

But Egon just sat there, looking around the room, trying to find some sort of solution.

“I have a plan!” Charlie suddenly gasped. “Until now, we’ve only tried capturing it, but how about we try fighting it with its own weapons?”

“You know how to do that?” Egon asked.

“Of course! Give me your proton pack.”

Quickly, Egon slid the proton pack’s shoulder straps off and picked the heavy equipment up off the ground, putting it on Charlie’s back. In return, Charlie handed over his camera.

“Guys, try keeping it in the middle of the room!” Charlie shouted.

Then, he pointed his particle thrower at the ceiling. He started burning sigils into the concrete above the kraken, careful not to mess up the perspective or shape. It wasn’t that easy after all. But finally, the sigils started to glow, bright light raining down on the kraken. Charlie cheered, but he cheered too early. The kraken’s arm shot out to grab him, snaking itself around Charlie and the proton pack, pulling him into the light. Immediately, Charlie felt nauseous, the world started spinning, he felt like he was dissolving. Then, everything stopped and he fell down, into the void. From then on, he barely noticed anything happening. He caught a glimpse of bright light, possibly from a trap, felt himself be picked up and covered beneath some sort of fabric, heard the siren of Ecto-1, bits and pieces of conversation… But after a while, it all stopped.

Egon and Winston carried Charlie out of Ecto-1, his body covered by a banner from the aquarium. It had been an impulse decision because they hadn’t wanted the crowd and the reporters to see what had become of him. Now, looking back at it, it might have been a stupid decision, considering it looked like they were carrying a corpse. Janine shrieked when she saw this.

“My god, what happened?!” she gasped, running over from her desk.

“Charlie got in contact with a surge of psychokinetic energy,” Ray said as Egon and Winston carried him towards the stairs.

“Is he dead?!”

“No, he’s alive. He’s gonna be alright. I think.”

“You think?!”

“We’re sure,” Peter lied. “Just… get back to your desk, alright? We’re gonna take care of him. For now, he’s asleep and we’re gonna see how he feels when he wakes up.”

“Okay… whatever you say…” Janine murmured.

Upstairs, Egon and Winston put Charlie into Egon’s bed. They pulled the banner away and stared for a few seconds. Before them lay a creature that looked like the Charlie they knew but also wildly different. This creature had long, twisted horns that had been quite the obstacle while carrying him, pointy ears, fluffy white hair and light blue skin. A bow and a quiver with various metallic arrows were swung over his shoulder.

“It’s the silhouette we saw on the Aura Video-Analyzer,” Winston remarked. “What do you think happened?”

“Whatever sigil Charlie burned into the ceiling must have weakened him,” Egon theorized. “Just like it took the kraken’s power away and shrunk it, it must’ve destroyed Charlie’s human disguise.”

“Do you think we should figure out who he really is?”

“Maybe. For now, I’d like to know about the sigil he painted. - There should be a book on one of the shelves in my lab, a lexicon of runes and sigils. Would you get that for me?”

“Sure.”

As Winston left, Egon stayed behind. Carefully, he pulled the quiver and bow off of Charlie’s shoulder and leaned them against the nightstand. Then, he pulled the blanket up to Charlie’s collar. He wanted to leave, but then his attention went back to the bow and quiver. Curious, he pulled one of the arrows out of the quiver. It seemed to be made entirely of rose gold.

“Egon!” Peter called from outside the room, causing Egon to jump.

Before he knew it, the arrow’s tip was nudged into his fingertip and dissolved into sparkling dust. At first, Egon felt no different. But then, when he looked at Charlie again, his heart suddenly beat faster and he felt all warm and fuzzy inside. It was almost like a feeling he knew, like when Charlie had had his hands on his cheeks before, but a lot stronger.

“Egon!” Peter called again.

Reluctantly, Egon left the room and closed the door behind him. As it turned out, the proton pack Egon had worn hadn’t been fully waterproof and would have to have some parts replaced. Quickly, Egon got to work. Once he was done, he headed back to the bedroom to check on Charlie. But when he opened the door, Charlie was gone, along with the bow and quiver. Egon started to get a horrible feeling. Could he have lost his connection to this realm entirely? Did that mean he had just dissolved? Was he, perhaps, really dead? No, he couldn’t be dead. According to all the measurements they had taken, Charlie was a demon or demigod and that meant he couldn’t die. But what if he did? And if he hadn’t, would he even come back?

Three days went by and there was no sign of Charlie. In the meantime, Egon went out of his way to research who Charlie really was. Maybe it was invasive, but he had to know. Perhaps Charlie needed help to get back to the human realm and that was why he wasn’t back. He had to want to come back, right? They hadn’t done anything wrong, had they? Either way, Egon needed to see Charlie again. He found himself thinking of him even more than usual, in situations where it was really less than practical. One thing was clear: Egon would be more than willing to summon Charlie if necessary. Or Chandrah, as he had found out. A demigod capable of strong spells of love. But then did that mean… that Egon was in love? No, that couldn’t be. He barely felt any different from before the arrow had touched him. Or maybe that was exactly the point. Had he always been in love? Either way, he would have to see Charlie to make sure.

On the fourth day after Charlie’s disappearance, the Ghostbusters had yet another emergency call: Apparently, the museum was being terrorized by a mammoth. As it turned out, this job was even harder than the kraken job had been. Within only a few minutes, the Ghostbusters were all on the ground. The mammoth came stomping towards them with an aggressive cry, ready to crush them. Egon crawled backwards frantically, the heavy proton pack wearing him down. Suddenly, a beam of light shot through the hallway, hitting the mammoth right between the eyes, causing it to stumble backwards and fall. Egon turned around and couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Charlie!” Ray cried out, scrambling to his feet.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Charlie said with a smile.

He stood there in his demon form, quiver over his shoulder, proudly holding his bow. As everyone else got to their feet, Egon stayed down, motionless in shock. He only started registering what was going on again when Charlie held his hand out to him to help him up.

“Charlie, you came back,” Egon gasped, cupping Charlie’s face in his hands.

“I’m sorry I left,” Charlie stammered, “I was scared, I was-”

He was suddenly quiet when Egon pressed a kiss onto his lips.

“Woah, lovebirds!” Peter shouted. “Can you wait ‘till after we have this ghost locked up?!”

It was just now that Egon truly realized what he had done. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Right.”

[thestarrynightslover]

I'll Make It Okay for You - Part 1

Pairing: Harvey Specter x Reader

Word count: 3,666

Warnings: Discussion, yelling, some angst, mentions of drugs, and drug abuse. 

Summary: What happens when (y/n) (y/l/n), Harvey’s secret crush and a junior partner at his firm, openly defies him in front of everyone?

You can find Part 2 here.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the show Suits, or its characters, also not associated with it in any way or know anyone involved with it.

A/N: So, this is my first Harvey Specter fic and I’m obviously quite unsure about it, lol. This might’ve ended up like one big mess, cause I tried to combine a bunch of Harveys I wanted to see. The perfect recipe for disaster, right? Anyways, I hope it doesn’t suck too bad and, please, feel free to give me feedback, cause I’m also here to learn!!

(y/n) = (your name) (y/l/n) = (your last name) (y/n/n) = (your nickname)

| masterlist |

You’d barely stepped out of the elevator when you were met by your secretary that morning. That couldn’t mean anything good.

“Morning, (y/n/n). You’ve got an emergency meeting with Jessica today. Gonna give you the schedule on the way there.” Lucy stated, leading you on the opposite way to Jessica’s office.

“Oh, I got the memo; company’s under attack again. She wants me on the frontlines this time. Louis is probably running around saying ‘We’re at war, people, war!!!’, or something like that. But why aren’t we headed towards the boss’ office?”

“Apparently, uh, she wants y’all to convey at Harvey’s office.” She said hesitantly, as if afraid of your reaction.

“Are you kidding me? It’s the first hour of the morning and she wants me to go see that smug face of his?” You pouted childishly.

“Smug and hot, you mean.” Lucy corrected you, getting an outraged look from you in response, as she usually would by saying anything positive about Specter.

“Shush,” You said, motioning for her to stop talking, “ one shall not praise Harvey Annoying Specter around me.” You stated full of obstination, but the younger woman just laughed you off and said:

“Well, here we are. I guess I’ll just have to send you an e-mail with your schedule, since, once again, we spent our schedule minutes of the day talking about “the enemy”.” She mocked with gestures and everything this time. That Lucy really was a piece of work, she timed the whole thing perfectly, in a way that you couldn’t even repudiate her insinuations because you were already standing in front of Specter’s office door.

Not long after you had entered and Jessica had officially started the strategy-meeting, though, all eyes in the room turned to you, as your phone started ringing in your back pocket. "Shit! I'm- I'm so sorry, guys, I guess I-"

"Can you please take your job seriously for once in your life, (y/l/n)?" You heard Harvey Pain-In-The-Ass Specter rudely remark, as you tried to swallow your embarrassment.

“Well, like I was trying to say, I’m sorry. Gonna turn it off right now, won’t happen again.” You said, directing your apologetic look to Jessica.

“You should just go ahead and answer it, could be something important.” She calmly told you.

“Especially now that you’ve already interrupted our work.” Specter chipped in again, which just gave you more fuel to answer the goddamn phone.

“Hello, yeah this is her.” You confirmed to the man on the phone, while taking a few steps towards the corner of the room. “What??? Are you sure? Oh my God! O- okay, just tell me which one and I’ll be there as soon as possible! Right, thank you.” Everyone’s eyes were on you, trying to understand what made you look so distressed. Except his, of course.

“Wait a second. Are you leaving right now?” He asked with a mix of annoyance and irritation in his voice.

“Yes, I am. I’m sorry, Jessica, but this is a family emergency. I have to go.”

“Well, I just hope you know that this doesn’t look good for you, (y/n).” She said, voice inexpressive.

“I do and, honestly? I couldn’t care less about that right now.” You firmly told her, while hoping your career wasn’t over by the next morning.

“I hope everything goes well for you and your family, (y/n). If you need anything, and I mean anything, just let me know.” Louis told you with that childish smile of his. Jesus, even in a moment like this, he tried to flirt with you.

“Thank you, Louis. That’s very kind.” You faked a tiny smile.

“Unbelievable.” 

“What?” You asked, turning back to face Harvey.

“Your firm is under attack and you’re leaving because of some stupid family crap?” Was he even serious?

“Precisely. And I don’t really care what your thoughts are on it. Our priorities are clearly very different.” Who the hell did he think he was to say anything about your family’s issues?

“Well, that shouldn’t matter because, the minute you walk in here, through those elevators out there, you’re supposed to leave all things personal behind.”

“Oh, right. I’m so sorry that I’m not some heartless lawyer like you, who’s just in it for the petty fights in the name of money-making.” Shit. You needed to get the hell out of there before you said something else to make Specter wanna kick you out himself. So you did. Stormed out like there was no tomorrow, leaving nothing but the very shocked Donna, Jessica, Louis, Mike, and Rachel behind. Oh, yeah, and a very pissed-off Harvey Specter.

Okay, maybe you were a little too harsh, but given the place you needed to go, to do what you needed to do, you didn't care about Harvey, your job, or anything else.

---

It was much later on that same day, around dinner time, that you heard a soft knock on your door. But how could someone be at your door, if the doorman downstairs hadn't announced any visitors? Were you dreaming? Well, the day had been so tiring that that wasn't exactly impossible�� Nonetheless, you made your way to the door, whilst holding your very needy three-year-old nephew in your arms. Not that you could blame Henry after the day he’d had.

Since you weren’t expecting anyone, it was reasonable to believe that, whoever it was, was going to be a surprise. But not in a million years would have you ever guessed that Harvey Specter was the one knocking at your door. Especially considering what had happened at the firm earlier. How did he even know your address?

“Hi, (y/l/n). I didn’t know you had a kid.” He stated with a bit of surprise of his own, pointing to the little boy you were carrying.

“No, uh, I don’t have any.” You managed to say, trying to control your shocked expression. “This is my nephew.” You clarified again, a little more at ease this time.

“My name’s Henry. What’s yours?” You heard your nephew ask with his cute child-voice.

“Harvey. It’s, uh, it’s very nice to meet you, Henry.” Harvey told the boy, holding out his hand for him to shake, as a sweet smile came to his lips.

“Is he your friend, auntie (y/n/n)?” Henry asked you hesitantly, before making a move. The Don’t Talk to Strangers Rule must’ve kicked in his mind. 

Before answering him, you hesitated a little bit yourself, though. Was Harvey your friend? Obviously not, but if he came to your apartment in the middle of the night like this, it was probably because of something important. Work-related, of course. Which meant you’d have to let him in, so you settled for what would be the easiest classification for a three-year-old.

“Yeah, bud, he is my friend from work.” Hearing that, something in Specter’s eyes changed, you didn’t really know what, though.

“Well, then, can he come play with us?” He gave you such a cute look, that you almost said yes right on cue. But you obviously couldn’t. 

“You’d have to ask him, but I’m sure he has a lot of other, more important, things to do now.” You tried to explain to the little boy, giving Harvey a look. But you didn’t get too far, as the lawyer quickly said:

“Of course I wanna go play with you! That is if your auntie’s okay with that…” Now he was mocking you, that was the only explanation.

“Can we play with him, then, auntie (y/n/n)? Please, please, please?” God, what horrible thing could’ve you possibly done to deserve this particular punishment?

“Um, I guess... If he really has nothing better to do-” Harvey didn’t even let you finish your sentence.

“I really don’t.” He said, shooting you and Henry a bright smile that you’d never seen before.

“Okay, then, come in. Please disregard the mess, I got this stuff to make dinner, but someone just won’t detach, right, mister?” You asked your nephew with fake annoyance in your voice, as you tickled his sides a little bit. He just laughed at you. Though what really caught your attention was the fact that Harvey, too, was chuckling lightly at the scene, as he started picking up your groceries’ bags from the floor. “What are you doing?”

“Helping you, what else?” You gave him a weird look because, well, it was a weird situation. Maybe he noticed your discomfort because he added: “You look tired, so I’ll help you by making dinner and putting the rest of these away.”

“You’re kidding, right?” There was no way in hell that the All-Mighty Harvey Specter was gonna get domestic for you, of all people. Since he didn’t bother to answer, you went on: “First of all, what was it that you really came here to do, hum? And, second, I don’t need your help with anything.” Normally you tried to be kind to everyone, but, then again, Specter wasn’t exactly your normal kind of guy.

“Well, first of all,” he started in a tone of mockery, “that was rude! Look at the example you’re setting for little Henry!” Oh God, as much as you hated to admit it, he was kinda right, because you had completely forgotten about the little boy still cradled in your arms. “Second, we can talk about the reason why I came here later,” after your nephew’s asleep, was implicit in his speech, “third, it looks like you do need some help. And, for your luck, I happen to be a very good cook when I want to.”

“But-” You could barely begin your sentence, as Harvey sharply cut you off:

“You see, buddy,” he started, motioning to Henry this time, “the quicker we get your auntie on board with the game plan, the quicker we’ll get to eat and go play together!” Son of a bitch! Using a child to get to you…

“Can we please, auntie? Please?” How could you not crack after that pleading?

“Fine, but I swear I’ll make you pay if we wake up with food poisoning tomorrow, Specter.” You told him playfully, trying to lighten the mood after all of your bluntness.

“Oh, trust me, (y/l/n), you won’t. This will be the best meal you and the young man here will ever have in your entire lives.” He said cockily, but without the usual arrogance level, if that even makes sense.

A few hours and a really great dinner later, you and Henry couldn’t help but snicker shamelessly at Harvey’s ridiculous faces, as the three of you played a game on your living room’s floor. Trying to catch your breath from your giggles, you glanced up at the clock and realized that it was way too late for your nephew to be out of bed like that. So you broke up the game, announcing:

“It’s bedtime for you, Mr. Henry.” You watched the faces of the pair turn into ones of pure disappointment, as they prepared to pout.

“Just a little longer, auntie (y/n/n)! please!” The little boy started.

“Yeah, auntie, just a little longer! Please?” This time it was the grown man, one of the toughest Wall Street lawyers.

“As moved as I am by your synchrony, guys, the answer is a big no. C’mon, bud, let’s go brush your teeth. And then straight to bed. So say bye to Harvey, and thank him for being so nice to us tonight.” He looked between you and Specter as if still hoping for a hail Mary of some sort.

“Bye, Harvey.” He sounded so sad, but then he smiled brightly again, as he repeated what you’d told him to say word by word: “And thank you for being so nice to us tonight.” Hearing that, both you and Harvey chuckled lightly at the young boy, who quickly added: “Will you come see us tomorrow too?”

“Uh, we’ll, uh, we’ll see about that, okay, little man?” He tried to let Henry down slowly but, watching the boy’s expression become a sad one instantly, he added: “It’s just because both your auntie and I have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow, but I’ll do my best, okay?” That was definitely a side of Harvey you’d never seen before, he had even bent down to be on your nephew’s level.

“Okay.” Henry said quietly, seeming to be a little happier, too.

“Okay, then let’s just go upstairs already.” You took the boy’s hand to guide him towards the spare bedroom’s bathroom, all the while shooting Specter a look that told him to wait for you a little longer.

“I’ll wait for you down here.” He said, proving he understood what your eyes tried to transmit.

So you headed upstairs with your nephew and, after a good fifteen minutes of brushing Henry’s teeth, helping him into his PJs, and tucking him in, you finally managed to come back to the living room, where you found Harvey looking through some of your photos displayed on the sideboard. For a minute or two, you just watched him. It wasn’t that you liked what you saw or anything. It wasn’t. It was more like postponing the weird conversation you two were bound to have, because, after all that had happened in those few hours, the atmosphere was, at very least, a strange one. But, almost as if he’d felt your gaze on his back, the lawyer in him was switched on, and he interrupted your thoughts by saying:

“Ah, you’re back. Good, because we need to talk.” You just motioned for him to follow you into your home office. But both you and Harvey looked so informal to be in that kind of environment, that you just indicated the small couch on the wall opposite to your desk for you to take your seats in.

“So, uh, before you even say anything, I wanna thank you for being so kind tonight,” a small smile came to your lips, as you remembered, not only the evening but how your nephew had used almost those exact same words, already imitating you, a little earlier. Specter smiled too, you noticed. “and I also wanna apologize. If you came here to talk to me… I must’ve made you waste a lot of time, huh?” You tried with a half-smile this time, as embarrassment started taking over you.

“What? No, of course not! I'm pretty sure that I told you I didn't have anything better to do, didn't I?" He calmly asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'm not buying it. You're Harvey Specter, isn't that what you're always saying? And Harvey Specter always has something better to do, isn't that right?" You shot back in a mockery tone, regaining your confidence.

"Well, maybe. But, not today. So don't apologize, and don't thank me. I'm the one who should be thanking you, I had a really good time tonight." Okay, now you were shocked. He had a good time?

"Uh, okay, um, so... What was so urgent that you had to come here in the middle of the night?" You nervously ranted, while tugging your hair behind your ears. He just stared at you, so much so that you almost repeated your question.

"Um, yeah, about this morning… That's why I came here…" You were already guessing that that would come up eventually, but it was the topic of your conversation? "I know that you and I always had our differences, and maybe even some rivalry-"

"Some rivalry? Dude, I'm just a junior partner, and ever since I started on that firm you've been persecuting me-"

"I wouldn't say persecuting…"

"Oh, you wouldn't?"

"Not since you made junior partner anyways. Now it's just a healthy rivalry between work friends…" He tried to use what you’d told your nephew earlier. 

"Oh, so you do admit you were persecuting me when I was an associate, huh?"

"Shit." He muttered quietly, as you watched him with a victory smile on your lips. "You know what? Hell yeah, I did persecute you when you were an associate." Hearing that blunt admission of guilt, you just couldn't find anything to say. “You wanna know why? I did that because, from the first time I saw you doing your job, I saw this very thing that I see now: you kicking ass, you think I wanted to admit this to you? I’ll answer it myself: no, I didn’t. The only reason why it happened is that you led me to it.” He blurted out, completely knocking you off your socks.

“So, um, you treated, you treat me like shit because, um, because I’m good?” You asked, still unsure of what to think about his confession.

“Well, that was part of it, sure. So, you see, I could understand it when you weren’t particularly thrilled at the perspective of working with me. But, this morning, you said that I’m a heartless guy who only cares about money… Is that really what you think of me?” This time he sounded genuinely sad? When Harvey said that he’d come to your apartment to talk about that morning, you thought he was gonna reprimand the shit out of you for disrespecting him ⎯ your sort of boss, a senior partner ⎯, but, apparently, he was asking about it on a more personal level. A level you’d never really thought played a part in your relationship with him.

“Oh, Harvey…”

“Be honest, please. I don’t want your pity. You don’t even know me all that well, so don’t try to minimize anything. I can take it.”

“That’s not what I was gonna do. And, trust me, you’re probably the last person in the world I’d pity.” You told him with a sly smile. “You’re right. I don’t know you all that well. Or, at least, I didn’t this morning. But I do know that you’re not heartless. Also, I was really out of line then, I’ve seen you fighting tooth and nail for a lot more than just money in that firm. You’re loyal to your firm and friends like no one else and, tonight, I watched you sitting on the floor and playing with a little boy. And, trust me, that meant more to him than you’d ever know, especially after today… Anyways, what I’m really trying to say is that I was so damn wrong and that I’m sorry. I’d gotten some pretty nerve-racking news beforehand, not that that’s an excuse but...” You told him, meaning every word and trying hard to show how much you regretted your previous actions.

“Wait, what news?��

“Ah, it’s nothing for you to worry about, really.” You tried to brush him off.

“Oh, c’mon! You said all those nice things about me, but when it comes to your life and your problems you still don’t trust me, isn’t that right?” His tone was sharply inexpressive, but his eyes showed he was actually hurt.

“What are you talking about? Oh my God, Harvey! I’ve relied on you for a number of cases that I really cared about! I let you in on my apartment! I let you spend an entire night around my nephew! Of course, I trust you!”

“Then what the hell is the problem? You think I’m not gonna give a damn about your family issues? Is that it? Because I am literally begging you to tell me about them!”

“I don’t wanna tell you because I don’t want you, or anyone else on the firm, to think that I’m some pathetic little girl who uses her family issues as an excuse to get out of a tough fight.” You confessed in a lower tone, slightly embarrassed, just hoping he would understand and stop poking. “Things are very different when you’re a woman, you know…”

“I would never think that about you. Family is important. Especially if it’s made of people like Henry…” He said, reassuring you, even though there was a hint of sadness in his voice. “Besides, you said you trust me, so you need to trust me when I say that I wouldn’t betray you by telling people about your problems. I’m not here as your boss, (y/n). I just wanna help you.” He sounded so sincere and, if you were being honest with yourself, you kinda really needed to vent.

“Okay, um, where to start? I have two sisters: Henry’s mother, Kat, and a fifteen-year-old, Lisa. I’m the older one of all three of us. Lisa’s sick, like very sick, so my parents, who are both retired, are with her at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, to try and get her better. In the meantime, Kat was supposed to go to college, as well as care for her son, between my parents and me, she wouldn’t even need to provide for them or anything. But, a while ago, she overdosed for the first time. That’s when we found out about her addiction. We’ve already tried a million different things but nothing works. So, my parents and I threatened to make her lose her parental rights over Henry, hoping that it’d be a wake-up call for her, but it backfired. She just took the boy and disappeared, then today I get that call, from the police department, saying that she was in custody for drug distribution and endangering the well-fare of a minor. They asked me to go pick my nephew and, maybe, get Kat a lawyer.” And, just like that, you’d told Harvey Specter, of all people, everything. Tears rolling down your cheeks and him pulling you into a hug.

If anyone had told you that that was how your night was gonna go, you would have definitely laughed them out of the room. But now, just sitting there, being held and caressed by Harvey, as you let your armor down, it was finally beginning to look like things were gonna be okay. 

[starlightrevolution]

The Holy War Begins

Long ago, when the Gods still walked the Earth, there were 88 brave warriors who would face any enemy to protect the Goddess of War, Athena. Those warriors were named Saints. The sacred Saints would battle evil to defend truth and justice. Now, in the modern era, the Earth shall face an evil greater than all others, and so a new generation of young heroes, fueled by their courage and power, must rise alongside the new reincarnation of Athena. They are the Saints of Athena.

“Excuse me.” Steven called as he approached Sour Cream, before trying to hand him a small flyer. “My dad is giving guitar lessons. You just have to show up right after the car wash closes. It’s for free.”

The teenager ignored Steven’s pleas and simply walked away, before Steven turned around and began looking for another person, when Connie calmly walked in from the other side of the street, also holding several flyers.

“Did someone accept one?” Steven asked.

“Yeah.” Connie nodded with a smile. “And then tossed it away immediately.”

The two laughed for a moment.

“Okay, let’s get moving.” Connie commented. “We have to give all of those flyers by sunset. I’ll go to the main street, and you go to–”

The two suddenly heard the sound of screaming, which seemed to come from just a few city blocks away. They looked at each other for a moment, before dropping all of the flyers and running towards the source of the sound as fast as they could. They went around a corner and ran into the small park right on the middle of the city, before they saw their small mayor on the top of a tree, holding onto a branch in fear as a furious dog barked at her from the ground.

Connie did not think twice before dashing and leaping, back flipping before grabbing Nanefua from the tree and perfectly landing one her feet just a few meters away, before safely placing the mayor on the ground.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Mayor?”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be.” Nanefua yelled as she pointed at the dog, which was angrily dashing towards them. Connie put her hands up as she stared at the dog angrily, before Steven suddenly jumped in front of the dog with his arms up. The suddenly movement of his body made the silver necklace Steven had been wearing shake for a moment, as the angry dog stopped and stared at his with a furious expression.

“Please, stop.” Steven pleaded as he stared at the dog with a worried expression. “I know you’re angry, but you don’t have to be this cruel. I’m not sure what happened, but I’m sure we can talk about it.”

The dog stared at Steven for a few more moments, before the expression of anger vanished for its face and it laid down calmly next to Steven, who carefully approached him and petted him on the head.

“Why was she so angry?” Steven asked.

“She?” Connie wondered aloud. “You can tell it is a she just by looking?”

“I may or may not have stepped on her tail by accident.” Nanefua confessed, as she suddenly heard the dog’s grown and hit behind Connie.

“Come on, don’t be like that.” Steven told as he petted the dog, before carefully taking her in his arms and approaching Nanefua. “Alright, Mrs. Mayor. Now apologize.”

“I… um…” The Mayor hesitated slightly, as the dog looked up at her angrily, before she closed her eyes in fear. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“See? She’s not that bad.” Steven commented as he petted the dog for a few more seconds, before placing her on the ground with great care. The do looked up at Steven for a few moments, before turning around and running away, while Steven gently waved her goodbye.

“Sometimes I wonder, is there any situation in this world that you can’t talk your way out of?” Connie asked sarcastically.

“I hope not.” Steven commented, as the two began calmly walking away from Nanefua. “I think the only thing in this world that I truly hate is violence.”

Steven carefully reached for his silver necklace, the words ‘YOURS EVER’ written in gold on the star shaped pendant, before he hit it under his shirt, and the two peacefully walked away from the park.

===============================================

“Dad, we’re back.” Steven called as he approached his father’s car wash, Connie running closely behind him, before he noticed a tall blonde strange standing right next to his dad, who at the moment was washing a small vehicle. “Look, we got a client.”

“Are you a priest?” Connie asked, as he noticed the robes the man was wearing.

“Indeed. I worked at the cathedral right outside the city.” The man explained. “Although I guess my faith alone won’t keep my car clean, will it?”

Steven and Connie laughed for a moment from the priest’s quick joke, before they heard the sound of an alarm, and Connie reached for her pocket, pulling out her phone and looking at the timer.

“Oh no! I’m going to be late!” Connie declared, before she turned around and ran off, quickly waving goodbye to Steven as she dashed down the street. “Pearl is going to kill me!”

“Anyway, how much will this be for the car?” The priest asked as he showed Greg his credit card.

“Oh! I have one of those credit cards machines things.” Greg explained, before the priest followed him inside.

Steven prepared to follow the two inside, when the sky suddenly turned black, as if the sun had just vanished. The light from a nearby light pole began flickering, before going out in its entirely. Steven looked up at the broken light pole for a few moments, before he heard the sound of footsteps, and turned to see someone approaching him.

“The planet Earth is orbiting around a bright star we call the sun. This sun is the light that illuminates the darkness.” The figure spoke, before she got close enough for Steven to make out a few details. It was a tall woman with dark hair, wearing a black dress. She stared at him with what seemed to be dead eyes. “It is only when we fly away from any star and truly reach the vacuum of the great infinity that we can truly understand the nature of this universe.”

“Who are you?” Steven asked, taking a few steps back, before the woman approached him, her lips approaching his ear, as she began whispering.

“Human with no hate… you’re the one we’ve been searching for…” She whispered. “My name is Pandora…”

The light once again began flickering, and Steven looked up for just a second to see the light pole had once again lit up, just as the sky turned back to its normal blue. He looked around to see the woman had vanished, before he heard the sound of his father coming out of the car wash.

“It was good to make business with you.” Greg explained as he came out of the building alongside the priest. He turned back to Steven, to see a distressed expression on the boy’s face. “Are you okay, Schtu-ball?”

“Yeah… yeah…” Steven breathed as he nodded, slightly nervous. “I’ll be fine.”

===============================================

“I’m here!” Connie yelled as she ran onto the top of a large mountain filled with massive rocks.

“You’re late.” Pearl declared calmly, as she sat with her arms crossed at the top of a massive stone. She leaped and graciously spun in the air, before perfectly landing right in front of Connie. “Were you even serious when you told me you want to become a Saint?”

“I was! I really was!” Connie answered defensively. “I just have my own life, that’s all.”

“Alright, enough talking and more training.” Pearl explained as she pointed towards the massive stone she had just jumped down from. “Destroy it.”

“What? You want me to break this gigantic thing?” Connie asked in surprise. “That’s impossible!”

“You’ll never know until you try.” Pearl declared. Connie stared at the large rock for a moment, before her expression changed into one of purpose, and she punched the rock with all her strength, only to quickly pull back her arm in pain, as blood began flowing from her fist. “You’ve been training with me for three months, and you still can’t break this rock?”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Connie asked angrily as she held her fist.

“You just have to understand the origin of destruction.” Pearl explained.

“Origin of destruction?”

“Everything that exists is made out of atoms, which were scattered through the universe by a massive event we call the Big Bang.” Pearl explained. “We Saints must burn the leftover energy from that event that exists within us, our Cosmo, to create our own miniature Big Bang within ourselves. That way we can tear apart the very atoms that make up the physical universe, allowing our punches to split the skies, and our kicks to tear the earth apart.”

Pearl carefully raised her hand, before punching the massive stone, which glowed in a golden light, before breaking to miniscule pieces and disappearing into nothing, as Connie stared up with her mouth open and her eyes widened.

“Now, since you arrived late, we’ll have to pick up the pace.” Pearl explained as she turned to Connie. “Two thousand push ups today, instead of the regular one thousand.”

“Really?”

“I can make it three thousand if you want.” Pearl declared. “But do it quickly. We don’t have all night.”

===============================================

Garnet walked through the dark mountains as she heard the sound of the waterfall flowing from the Five Ancient Peaks of Rozan. She held onto the large golden box on her back and paid attention to every single step she took, which was why she could so easily identify the sound of the footsteps that closely followed her. She saw a purple light, and quickly leaped away right before the dark cosmos could strike her.

“It appears that I’ve arrived too late.” Garnet commented as she calmly approached the dark figures in the shadows. “You Specters, the disgusting beings from beyond the grave, have already escaped your prison.”

“You’re one of the Saints of Athena?” One of the Specters asked. “I guess we have found our first opponent.”

“Opponent? Oh no, this won’t be a fight.” Garnet commented. “It will be a massacre!”

The golden box in Garnet’s back suddenly opened, as a golden statue in the form of a woman holding a large cup over her head came out. The statue suddenly split to pieces, revealing itself to not actually be a statue, but instead a cloth, which flew and placed itself around Garnet’s body.

“Gold?” One of the Specters asked in surprise. “A Gold Saint?”

“Aquarius Garnet!” She declared, before she struck the air with one of her fists, and a massive blast of cold air struck the Specters, swiftly freezing the surplices of the entire group, as they all fell to the ground defeated. “Diamond Dust!”

“I-I couldn’t see a thing…” One of the Specters complained. “She moved at the speed… of light…”

The Specter fainted, before Garnet looked up to the full moon.

“If the Specters have returned to life…” Garnet commented, more to herself than to anyone else. “I am sure that so has their God.”

The moon would quickly set hours later, making way for the sun, as the hours became days, the days became weeks, the weeks months, and the months years. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, six years of peace passed by, with no sign of the God of the Underworld truly making its return.

===============================================

“Out of the many Warriors who gathered here in Greece, only the two of you remain.” Connie heard as she looked up the see the Pope, standing on a large platform on the coliseum as he watched over the arena, filled with several knocked-out warriors, with only two still standing, those being Connie and a large muscular man. “Whichever one of you achieves victory will become a Saint of Athena, and be rewarded with…”

Connie looked to the direction the Pope had pointed, and her eyes glowed with stars as she saw the shining bronze box, since she knew exactly what that box contained.

“The Pegasus Cloth!” The Pope declared. “Fight!”

The large man suddenly dashed and struck Connie right on her face, sending her flying onto one of the walls of the coliseum.

“You couldn’t even dodge that attack?” The man asked. “I was expecting more from someone who was trained by a Gold Saint!”

“Dodge?” Connie asked as she got back up, and the man’s expression changed into one of surprise as he realized Connie was completely unharmed. “Why would I bother dodging a punch as weak as yours?”

“Don’t mock me, you little bitc–”

The man suddenly groaned in pain as he flew to the other side of the coliseum and hit a wall before landing on the ground. He looked up while holding his chest in pain.

“What did you just do?” The man asked. “Did you teleport? That’s cheating!”

“This? Oh, it’s just an ancient technique named ‘Walking’.” Connie declared sarcastically as she got into a fighting position. “I trained my body to a point in which I only need a second to deliver a hundred punches on a target that is 3.4 meters away from me.”

“A hundred punches per second while 3.4 meters away?” The man asked in shock. “But that speed is…”

“Mach 1!” Connie declared. “I can punch at the speed of sound!”

“Why you…” The man declared angrily as he got back up and began dashing towards Connie. “The Pegasus Cloth is a Greek relic! I won’t allow a filthy Indian American such as you to take it!”

Connie smiled confidently and began moving her hands around in a seemingly random pattern, which the man ignored as he continued to dash towards her.

“That pattern…” The Pope whispered. “She’s tracing the thirteen stars of the Pegasus constellation. She will defeat him with her next attack.”

“Pegasus Meteor Fist!” Connie declared as she punched the air exactly a hundred times in a single second. Her opponent screamed in pain as a hundred shockwaves of Connie’s punches struck him directly, and his body flew towards a large pillar.

He managed to look up, to see the same pillar has began to collapse, and was about to crush him. He closed his eyes in despair, before waiting a few seconds and opening them, to see Connie had just caught the pillar in midair. Connie smiled at him in a mocking way for a moment, before tossing the pillar away, as the man fainted from shock. Connie made her way towards the Pope and bowed in respect.

“Congratulations.” The Pope declared, before he pointed at the box, which opened to reveal a bronze statue of a Pegasus. The statue divided itself into pieces, before placing itself around Connie’s body in the shape of an armor. Connie looked down upon her cloth in amazement, before smiling confidently. “We have just witnessed the birth of the brand-new Pegasus Saint! Pegasus Connie!”

===============================================

“It’s been six years since you left, Connie… things have changed so much since then…” Steven whispered, as he stood right in the middle of the large hill and held a small dog in his hands. “I have always been good with animals… but ever since you left… in the last six years ago…”

Steven carefully placed the dead dog on the hole he had made on the ground, before carefully filling it with dirt. Steven fell to his knees and tears began flowing from his eyes, as he looked around the hill to see the several dozen other spots, which were all holes just like that one.

“Every animal I touch…” Steven whispered, before looking up towards the full moon and yelling. “They all end up dying!”

“It is only when we fly away from any star and truly reach the vacuum of the great infinity that we can truly understand the nature of this universe.” Steven heard, before he turned around to see Pandora approaching him. “The true nature of this universe is darkness. Nothing but pure and utter darkness.”

“Y-you!” Steven whispered in surprise. “You’re that woman from that day.”

“Your majesty brings the end to all life with your kind touch. That is what makes your touch so sublime. Do you know why?” Pandora asked.

She carefully got on her knees and hugged Steven, as tears continued to flow down from the boy’s eyes.

“Because death is the most beautiful salvation.” Pandora whispered.

“D-death?” Steven asked, before Pandora smiled and grabbed him by the hand, pulling him back to his feet.

“Come with me!” Pandora declared with a smile as she began running and pulling Steven by the hand, who hesitantly followed her down the hill.

“Where are we going?” Steven asked.

“To the cathedral!” Pandora declared joyfully. “It is time for you to discover your real destiny.”

Steven looked up to see they were approaching a large cathedral. Pandora stopped running as they approached the entrance, before a blonde priest, the same one he had met all those years ago, carefully opened the cathedral doors to allow Steven’s entrance. Pandora and the priest stood on the sides of the door, before getting on their knees and bowing before Steven.

“My king, you have finally returned.” The priest whispered, as Steven hesitated for a second, before slowly entering the cathedral. “Our wait has finally ended.”

Steven entered the black cathedral, which was entirely dark, illuminated only by the light of the moon. The place was empty and completely silent. Steven looked up and gasped in surprise as he saw a large statue looming over the room. It was not a statue of Jesus on his cross, or of the Virgin Mary, but instead a statue of a face Steven knew very well.

“That is…” Steven whispered in shock. “Me!”

Steven looked up towards the terrifying statue of himself, wearing a strange black armor and wielding a black sword in his hands, while surrounded by the dead bodies of several children. Steven took a few steps back in fear, before he felt the priest gently holding his shoulders from behind. Steven continued to stare at the statue, not daring to take his eyes off it.

“Behold who you truly are, my king.” The priest whispered. “The true savior of this world.”

“I… don’t... understand…” Steven whispered, as the image before his eyes changed into what seemed to be a dream, and he saw the image of all of the animals he had killed, all surrounding the large statue while joyfully smiling.

“Those animals have been saved by you, my lord.” The priest explained. “They will no longer have to feel any rage or pain. They will no longer feel any hunger or be in any danger. You have given them true freedom.”

“Death…” Steven whispered as he looked down, before his necklace began glowing with a faint purple light. “Death is true freedom… I understand…”

“I am Pandora.” Pandora declared. “High Priestess of the Underworld.”

“I am Hypnos.” The priest declared. “God of Sleep”.

“I am…” Steven whispered, as his eyes changed color to that of the light surrounding his necklace, and a gentle smile formed on his lips. “I am Hades, God of the Underworld.”

===============================================

“Where are we going now?” Connie asked as she followed after Pearl, who was already wearing her Gold Pisces Cloth. “Am I already going on my first mission?”

“This mission is very important. It was given to us directly by Athena.” Pearl explained, as Connie expression changed into one of seriousness. “There have been some sightings of Specters near Beach City. Since you’re familiar with the area, it might be better to have you in the team.”

Connie nodded, as the two approached a small group of other Bronze Saints, which were being led by a single Gold Saint.

“Taurus Amethyst!” Connie pointed in surprise.

“The one and only.” Amethyst boasted, before she turned to Pearl.

“Did you get any word from the Silver Saints that we sent to investigate?” Pearl asked, as she signed for Connie to join the other Bronze Saints.

“None yet.” Amethyst declared. “I’m hoping we can meet them there.”

“So, you’re the new Pegasus Saint?” One of the Bronze Saints asked.

“Yep, Pegasus Connie.” Connie declared pridefully as she showed off the cloth around her body.

“Dragon Jeff, at your service.” The boy in the green cloth declared. “Personal pupil of Libra Padparadscha.”

“I am Cygnus Patricia.” Declared the girl in the white cloth. “I’ve been trained in the use of cold air directly under Aquarius Garnet.”

“Am I the only one here who didn’t train under a Gold Saint?” Asked a boy in a pink armor with chains around his arms. “I am Andromeda Daniel, trained directly under the Silver Saint Cepheus Daidalos.”

“Very well.” Pearl declared. “We have a long journey ahead of us, so we better start walking.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

===============================================

“Beach City is just a few miles ahead.” Amethyst declared as they ran through the forest during the night.

“Connie, you’re falling behind.” Pearl declared as they began approaching Beach City. Connie nodded, before she turned to see a strange orange light in the distance.

“Is that…” Connie whispered, before her eyes widened and she dashed towards the light as fast as she could.

“Pegasus! Don’t just run in without receiving orders!” Jeff yelled, before they all ran after her.

“That light, it is coming from Connie’s hometown!” Pearl declared. “No matter what, think before acting, Connie!”

Connie swiftly moved at the speed of sound, followed closely by the other Saints as they landed in the middle of Beach City, and looked around in surprise upon realizing what the source of the orange light was. The entire town was on fire.

“Who the hell did this?” Connie asked angrily.

“Specters, obviously!” Jeff answered.

“We have to save the survivors!” Daniel declared.

“He’s right!” Pearl ordered. “Bronze Saints, go search for survivors!”

“The two of us will go after the Specters!” Amethyst declared, before they all nodded and the two Gold Saints vanished in a flash of light, before the Bronze Saints turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

“Beach City is small, so this shouldn’t take long!” Patricia commented. “But we have to be careful. We can run into a Specter!”

“I’m not going to let any Specter stop me from saving anyone!” Connie declared angrily.

“Calm down, Pegasus!” Jeff declared.

“Everybody, watch out!” Patricia yelled, before they all leaped, just in time to avoid several metallic tentacles that came out of the ground. The tentacles quickly pulled a large figure from beneath the ground. “Surplice? You’re a Specter!”

“You’re…” Connie commented in surprise. “Mrs. Mayor?”

The Specter attacked with her tentacles, which the Saints were just barely able to avoid.

“She is the mayor of Beach City!” Connie commented. “Why is she wearing a Surplice?”

“She’s not the person you knew anymore!” Patricia declared, as the others glanced at her. “Once the 108 Malefic Stars awaken, the souls of those that serve the Hades invade the Earth and each of them take over a human body. The human possessed by the evil soul will have both their mind and body altered to fit their Surplice, and will completely abandon their previous lives and live only to serve Hades, thus become a Specter!”

“You got that right, child!” The Specter declared with a sarcastic smile. “I am no longer the worthless human I once was. Nanefua Pizza is dead. I am Worm Laimi, the Terrestrial Star of Submission!”

“Very well! Then let me show you the power of the raging dragon!” Jeff declared as he dashed towards Laimi and threw a strong upwards punch, as the Cosmo around his fist glowed and took the shape of a green dragon. “Rozan Ascending Dragon!”

The roaring green dragon flew towards Laimi, who swiftly avoided it by pulling herself with her tentacles. She trusted her tentacles towards Jeff, who quickly blocked it with the green shield attached to the left arm of his Dragon Cloth, as the metallic tentacles broke to pieces without being able to leave even a single scratch on the shield.

“My mighty tentacles weren’t able to overpower this little shield?” Laimi declared in surprise.

“The Dragon Shield is the most powerful defensive tool among all Bronze Cloths.” Patricia declared, before she leaped over Jeff and prepared to throw a downwards punch from above towards Laimi.

“You fool! Instead of hiding behind the shield you just gave me a chance to attack!” Laimi declared as more tentacles grew from her back and flew towards Patricia.

“Did you really think I’d be this stupid? I will be the one to sculpt your ice coffin!” Patricia declared, as she punched the air, and a large blast of cold air flew from her hands, freezing every single tentacle in place, before flying past them and freezing Laimi’s feet. “Diamond Dust!”

“What? Impossible!” Laime screamed in surprise.

“Don’t bother waiting for it to melt. Even with all of this fire surrounding us, my ice is as powerful as the unbreakable icebergs from Siberia.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Daniel declared, before he extended his chain in a circular pattern on the floor. “My chain can detect all nearby life forms, no matter how they try to hide! Thunder Chain!”

The chain suddenly extended and flew from house to house at the speed of sound, swiftly entering every single house on the street, before carefully pulling out several civilians from within the burning houses.

“What’s with that chain? It is like it is alive!” Jeff asked in surprise.

“Alright! Let’s get done with this Specter and go save everyone!” Connie declared, as she began punching the air a hundred times to create her meteors, but instead of punching randomly, she threw every single one of her punches into the same spot, as the meteors merged together into one single comet, which struck Laime with a hundred times more power. “Pegasus Comet Fist!”

“Gah!” Laime screamed in pain as she spit blood, and her Surplice broke to pieces alongside all of her tentacles, before she fell to the ground dead.

“Alright, guys! Let’s get moving!” Connie declared confidently, before they all nodded and ran towards the next street.

They dashed around the corner, only to suddenly stop as they saw their way being blocked by three bodies on the ground. They could tell just by looking at the Silver Cloths around the bodies that those were Silver Saints.

“Those are…” Daniel whispered in shock.

“They’re the Silver Saints that were sent by the Sanctuary before our group!” Patricia declared in surprise.

“One of them is still breathing!” They heard Connie declaring, before they all ran towards one of the Saints on the ground, who looked up at them while spitting blood. “Are you okay?”

“He’s drowning on his own blood, Pegasus, of course he’s not okay!” Jeff yelled.

“Who are you? What happened to your group?” Patricia asked.

“I’m… Cerberus Dante…” The Silver Saint struggled to speak, groaning in pain in between almost every word. “We were attacked… such a terrifying force… we couldn’t advance… we couldn’t attack… we couldn’t retreat… we couldn’t even defend ourselves…”

“Can you identify the enemy?” Patricia asked. “How many of them were there?”

“It was just… one man… he was… Hades…” Dante whispered, before his eyes went completely white and he stopped speaking as his breathing fully stopped. Before the Bronze Saints could react, they suddenly felt a powerful darkness engulfing them, and looked up to see a dark figure hoovering above them.

“Watch out!” Patricia yelled from the top of her lungs. “I think that is Hades!”

“Hades?” Connie asked as the figure carefully floated down and landed in front of them, and Connie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Steven?”

“It’s been six years, Connie… I mean… Pegasus Connie!” Steven commented with a smile.

“Why? Steven… how…” Connie asked in shock. “How can you be Hades?”

“Everybody, be careful!” Patricia yelled. “The person right before us is the reincarnation of Hades! We’re all in danger just by being near him!”

“Hades?” Jeff yelled, before he dashed towards Steven.

“Jeff, stop!” Daniel yelled, but it was too late, as Jeff approached Steven and threw an upwards punch.

“Rozan Ascending Dragon!” Jeff yelled as the dragon flew towards Steven, only to suddenly stop in midair without touching Steven’s body. “What? The dragon stopped! It’s like there is some sort of gigantic Cosmo holding the dragon back!”

The green dragon suddenly changed color to purple, before he turned around and flew towards Jeff. Jeff yelled tried to defend himself with his shield, only for the dragon of darkness to break right through their most powerful defense and strike Jeff directly, his shield breaking to shards as he fell on the ground right next to the others.

“My own attack… turned against me…” Jeff whispered in pain.

Attacking a God is an act of blasphemy. Any mortal who dares to raise their fists against a God will be punished by having their own blows turn against them.

“You’re the one who commanded the Specters and destroyed Beach City?” Connie asked angrily, as she began walking towards Steven. “How could you do something like this?”

A powerful Cosmo suddenly glowed from Steven’s body, as Connie suddenly stopped walking. She stared at Steven in confusion for a few seconds, before she looked down at her own legs, which were completely still, even through she was trying to move them with all of her strength.

“This Cosmo coming from his body is huge! I feel like it encompasses the entire universe! It is still expanding!” Jeff declared in shock. “This powerful Cosmo is preventing us from approaching him or retreating! We can’t move!”

When exposed to the Cosmo of the Gods, all six senses humans naturally possess are negated and rendered useless.

“Oh, Connie. You haven’t changed a thing.” Steven declared with a kind smile. “You promised me that you would be a Saint the next time we meet, and so you did.”

Connie felt as if the entire universe was shaking as Steven took a few calm steps towards the Bronze Saints.

“I finally discovered, the true secret behind the universe. I finally know how to find true salvation.” Steven declared in a kind tone of voice as he approached Connie, their faces almost touching. Connie felt a liquid hitting her feet, and the Bronze Saints looked down to see the ground was completely tainted by a large pool of blood from the same civilians they had just a minute ago. “It is death. It is only in death that one can truly rest and be happy forever, without any worries or anxieties. Death is the secret behind it all. Death is salvation.”

“Get away from them!” Steven heard, turning his head just slightly to see two Gold Saints running towards the scene. Steven’s distraction lasted only one moment, but was more than enough for Connie to leap away from him, landing several meters away, followed shortly by the other Bronze Saints, and then by the two Gold Saints that landed in front of them.

“So that’s Hades, hm?” Amethyst asked with a serious expression as she crossed her arms. “I thought he would be taller.”

“That is…” Pearl whispered as she held a blood red rose in between her fingers. “Connie’s childhood friend, Steven! He is Hades’ reincarnation in this era?”

“Be careful!” Patricia warned. “His Cosmo is devastating! I don’t think we’d be able to match it, even if we all attacked together!”

“Maybe not, but we have to try! Feel the painless death of my gentle poison roses!” Pearl declared as she fired her rose towards Steven, and several hundreds of other poisoned roses formed around it, all flying towards Steven at once. “Royal Demon Roses!”

“Cower before the devastating power of the fastest attack among all twelve Gold Saints!” Amethyst declared, as she uncrossed her arms and attacked faster than the speed of light, before immediately crossing them once again, giving the illusion that she was able to attack with her arms crossed, as a golden raging ox of energy dashed towards Steven. “Great Horn!”

The two attacks flew towards Steven, as the God of the Underworld simply stared of them calmly, without even bother to defend himself in any way. A shadow suddenly appeared right in front of Steven, and violently punched away both of the Gold Saints’ attacks.

“It’s you, Kagaho?” Steven asked, slightly surprised but still calm.

“I will not allow either of you to even try to attack his majesty, Lord Hades.” The Specter declared, opening his dark wings as if they were a shield to protect Steven. “My human name was Peedee Fryman, but now I am Bennu Kagaho, the Celestial Star of Violence!”

“Stay out of my way, Specter!” Pearl declared, as she fired a large barrage of black roses towards Kagaho. “Those black roses will instantly tear apart anything that comes in contact with them! Piranian Roses!”

“You’re attacking me with roses? Is this some sort of joke? I’ll show you what a killing move is truly like!” Kagaho declared angrily, as he opened his wings, and released the burning energy equivalent to that of an exploding sun. “Corona Blast!”

The two attacks struck each other, creating a large explosion of fire and sending burning black flower petals flying all over the battlefield.

“This Cosmo! It matches that of a Gold Saint!” Amethyst declared in surprise. “That Specter is incredibly powerful! He’s not even one of the Three Judges of the Underworld, but he surely is a force to be reckon with!”

“You think that was impressive?” Kagaho asked mockingly. “Just wait until you see this one!”

“That is enough, Kagaho.” They heard Steven’s voice, before Kagaho turned to see his king staring at him with a serious expression. “Our job here is done. Let’s go.”

“Lord Hades, I am sure I can defeat them all!” Kagaho insisted.

“Did I stutter?”

“No, my lord.” Kagaho declared, before he began walking away right behind Steven.

“Steven!” He heard, before he looked back to see Connie staring at him angrily. “After all of that, you’re just walking away?”

“I already got everything I needed. The destruction of this village, the beginning of the Holy War…” Steven explained. “The disappearance of the human named ‘Steven’. There is nothing else for us to do here. But don’t worry, Pegasus, we will meet again. This war is just beginning.”

Before they could react, a large black light engulfed both Steven and Kagaho, and the two disappeared out of thin air. Connie stared at the spot where they had stood, before she fell to her knees, and crunched both of her hands into fists.

“Steven…” Connie whispered, more to herself than to anyone else.

“I am sorry.” She heard, before she looked up at Pearl, who had a bitter expression on her face. “Hades was right here, yet I couldn’t do a thing…”

“What now?” Connie heard Jeff’s voice from behind her. “What are we supposed to do now? What about the Silver Saints? What did they die for?”

“I… I…” Connie whispered as tears began flowing from her eyes, before she carefully got back up, looked up into the rising sun, and yelled from the top of her lungs. “I want to become stronger!”

[itsclydebitches]

A weird defence I've seen of RWBY's conflicts has been that it's good writing simply by the virtue that people can disagree on what's the right thing to do in said conflict. Which doesn't work when one decision is being presented as the only valid choice while every other option is either not addressed or demonized. This isn't a story leaving a nuanced set of stances to explore, it's a guy on stage signalling the crowd to boo whenever someone goes against the Protag's decision.

Real quick, I want to talk about RWBY by not talking about RWBY. I’ve seen this argument a lot too and the tl;dr is that just because your audience debates the right action in a conflict  — something that is inevitable given how subjective media is  — doesn’t mean the story encouraged that reflection in any way. As you say, RWBY pretends that those disagreements don’t exist and that This Is The One (1) Right Answer... which entirely defeats the purpose of a morally nuanced situation in the first place. That lack is bad writing because it demonstrates the author’s inability to provide an accurate picture of the conflict while still ensuring we come out of it liking the parties involved. The conflict was too complex for them to manage alongside equally complex characterization, so they just pretended it was far simpler than it actually was. That’s not something to praise. 

But to get to the not RWBY part. I’ve mentioned this a couple times before, but one of the scenes that I think manages these sorts of conflicts really well is the funeral fight in The Haunting of Hill House, episodes 6, “Two Storms.” So warning from here on out for spoilers. Sometimes, the best way to see what’s not working well in one show is to look at another show that does (basically) the same thing successfully and compare the two. 

Normally I’d include screenshots, but Netflix doesn’t allow that :/ So I’m forced to rely on bullet points. 

The basic premise is that the Crain family has assembled in daughter Shirley’s funeral home, the night before they bury their sister, Nell. A lot of secrets are about to come to light. 

The scene kicks off when their father, Hugh, relays the call he got from the housekeeper the night of Nell’s death. She had committed suicide in the family’s childhood home. 

Though everyone knew how she’d died, son Steven is distraught at hearing the details and reveals that a few weeks prior Nell crashed a book signing of his. This shocks the others given that this was very unusual behavior for Nell. 

Shirley likewise reveals that she got a call from Nell who’d been worried about their brother, Luke, but hadn’t spoken to her the night of her death. The implication is that no one did. They’ll never know what was going through her head the night she died. 

Hugh reveals that she did call him. “I talked to her.” 

Stunned by this news, his children demand to know what was discussed and Hugh is clearly reluctant to continue. However, he eventually says that Nell wasn’t just worried about Luke, but also the “Bent Neck Lady,” a specter from her childhood.

The viewer knows that ghosts are real in this show. The kids don’t. Or rather, they all experienced supernatural occurrences in their childhood, are still experiencing them now, but only some of them are willing to admit they’re real. Steven is the diehard skeptic of the bunch and starts yelling at his father, accusing him of aiding Nell’s delusions and ignoring a family history of mental illness. In particular, he declares that this “makes you culpable [in her death].” 

Steven continues to accuse Hugh of “holding back information” about Nell and Hugh shoots back that “If I held back anything it was to protect you kids.” The viewer understands Hugh’s dilemma: the only reason he keeps things to himself is because Steven and the others refuse to believe the truth, with an added dose of this supernatural stuff being very dangerous. Steven asks, “Why do I need protection from the truth?” 

Before their fight can go any further, Shirley tells Steven, “You might want to check yourself before you start talking about the truth.” He published an autobiographical book about their childhood trauma and notably capitalized on a supernatural angle he doesn’t believe in. Shirley calls it “blood money.” 

As the argument about the ethics of his book rages, Shirley defends herself primarily with how everyone else thinks this is “blood money” too. No one took a cut when Steven offered one, proving how despicable they all think it is. 

Meanwhile, sister Theo has been getting heat for being drunk (a coping mechanism for her own supernatural troubles) and Shirley eventually pushes her far enough that she admits she did take Steven’s money and used it to get her degree. “It’s good, fucking money.” Suddenly, Steven has someone in his corner and Shirley’s main defense has crumbled. 

Shirley is furious that Theo had this secret income but was still living with her and her husband. Theo reminds her that she offered to pay rent, but Shirley isn’t interested in hearing that. She demands that Theo move out immediately and uses this betrayal as the new way to protect herself. She’s the victim here. 

Steven, sensing another secret in the works, cautions Shirley to “get off your high horse before you fall off.” 

Shirley maintains her position until her husband blurts that they also took Steven’s money. Shirley hasn’t been running the funeral home well and they would have sunk without it. 

Despite being the punching bag for the second half of this fight, Shirley is offered both reassurance and dignity. Her husband emphasizes that the only reason they’re struggling is because Shirley is a good person. She does too much work pro bono. Shirley also delivers the line, “Do you have any idea how much you’ve humiliated me?” calling into question the husband’s choice to admit this now, purely as a way to prove her wrong. 

Shirley leaves to get some distance and discovers that someone — something — has put buttons over Nell’s eyes. The shock of this keeps the fight from continuing and, as plot intervenes, gives the characters the space needed to eventually start healing and forgiving one another, notably by sitting with the various truths they all now have to grapple with. 

Phew! A long summary, but I’ve put this much detail in to highlight the nuance of the scene. Obviously RWBY would differ in many ways  — less cursing, for one  — but the core elements of any morally complex scene should be the same. The important takeaways here are that no one in the Crain family are “pure” or “evil” and everyone gets their chance to be both right and wrong. Hugh is right that Steven won’t listen to him and wrong in that he didn’t do enough to help his kids. We get Steven and Hugh’s frustration, their understanding of the world at odds with one another. Steven is wrong to put everything on his father and justified in starting his writing career with their story. We watch the scene move from “Steven is Wrong and everyone agrees” to “Oh shit nm, more and more of the family are revealing that they benefited from his money, complicating how “wrong” he actually is.” Shirley is right to point out that Theo is getting drunk during their sister’s funeral and Theo is right to point out that being drunk doesn’t erase having a good point. Theo is allowed to scream at the group and then immediately be offered help when she falls. Shirley pretends she’s better than all of them and is slowly, horrifyingly proven wrong, but is then still extended compassion and is allowed to point out how horribly they’ve just treated her. The husband is right about the money, wrong about keeping it a secret/revealing it the way he did, right in how he tries to diffuse the other fights, and VERY wrong by getting caught kissing Theo down in the storeroom! 

The scene twists and turns in a way that highlights everyone’s points and their flaws, the moments when their perspective should be upheld and questioned. The end result is a scene that has space for the audience to debate everyone’s choices without imposing the single view of This Person Is Obviously Wrong/Right and If You Think Otherwise You’re Not Watching The Show Correctly. The show itself acknowledges the complexity and nuance of these problems. It asks, “Hugh should have tried harder, but what more can he do when his kids literally don’t believe this stuff exists? Was Steven really justified in writing a book about their collective experiences? What does it mean that something his family sees as capitalizing on their trauma also helped them keep businesses and schooling afloat? Was it okay for Shirley’s husband to keep that money a secret, even if it helped them? How might he have told her in a less cruel manner? What about Shirley’s life has led to her intense need to be on that ‘high horse’?” 

And of course: “Who is really responsible for Nell’s death?” By this point the viewer already knows that there is no “really” here. This is too complicated a tragedy to lay the blame at any one person’s feet. Everyone in this room has moments of justified accusations and moments of chastisement because they’re well written, well rounded characters who are neither saints nor devils. The length of the scene (done in a single shot!) emphasizes that if you just wait long enough, even the most perfect looking person will eventually have a skeleton pulled from their closet. No one is above mistakes. 

RWBY has NONE of that. Zip. Nada. Nothing. RWBY gave us a scenario with many of the same, core themes  — secret keeping, secrets unwillingly revealed, blaming others for your mistakes, hurtful actions with helpful consequences, questioning who is responsible for a tragic death  — and instead of even attempting to give us some of the above nuance, RWBY said only that Ruby was right, Ozpin was wrong, and demanding that the audience ignore the nuance they could already see in order to accept the canon. 

RWBY’s scene asks the audience to play dumb and look at the world as a Black and White place, despite the show simultaneously insisting that “the world isn’t a fairy tale” and is, in fact, filled with shades of gray. 

Just not any shades of gray that mess with that dichotomy that now drives the story.  

That’s not good writing. It’s oblivious and contradictory writing that makes the audience frustrated. Not satisfied, surprised, contemplative, or curious. Just frustrated. 

[the-l-spacer]

Summary: After a battle goes wrong, Madeleine realises that he's not as infallible a knight as he'd hoped.

(He deals with it badly. Espresso helps.)

haha madeleine hurt/comfort time.

-

Madeleine wasn’t okay.

Madeleine wasn’t okay, and yet, he knew it hardly mattered. Not when the battle had gone this wrong.

Surrounding him were remnants of the fight. Ripped pages of monster books that snapped at their heels now drifted slowly to the ground, the air clouded with dust from collapsed bookshelves, the wisps of the nightmare-ridden librarian’s howling specter dissipating slowly. Behind him, his fallen companions; Custard, Chilli Pepper and Gingerbrave.

The companions that he had failed to protect.

The only other cookie that remained standing was Espresso, though the mage was hardly in any position to help. Bleeding from several places, and swaying on his feet, his eyes unfocused.

First order of business, help the mage off his feet.

Madeleine limped over, gritting his teeth whenever his weight landed on his shattered right ankle. He slung an arm around Espresso. “Alright, I’ll get you somewhere you can rest. Then, I’ll tend to the others.”

Espresso did not respond, only sinking ever-so-slightly against Madeleine. Together, they hobbled over to the nearest bench, where Madeleine set his friend gently down.

“K-knight. You need to rest, too,” Espresso finally rasped. “You’re in no state to move. The others will wake up on their own.”

“There’s no guarantee that they will. The librarian hit them hard.” Madeleine felt panic begin to rise from his chest, his usual eloquence leaving him. “They looked bad. Really bad. I must go to them. I must.”

He got back up roughly, batting away Espresso’s thin, brown hand that reached out to hold him back.

In his head, over and over again, The young cookies are dying. Dead. And it’s all your fault.

“No. No. Nononono.” He reached Custard first, knelt gracelessly on the dank, carpeted floor beside the would-be boy king. With hands that shook from panic and pain, he drew the last of his healing potions from his pouch, and tipped half of it into the boy’s mouth. “T-The Divine, please spare your grace to save this child. If it be your will, if it be your will-”

A sliver of light filtered in through the dust-caked windows, warming his skin. Sleepily, Custard’s eyes opened.

The relief he felt nearly made him double over, but he knew he couldn’t spare a moment to rejoice.

“Heal the others,” he softly said. Standing on knees that trembled, he made his way to Chilli Pepper. When he first met the de-facto caretaker of the young band of cookies, he’d turned his nose up at the common, mercenary thief. Yet, over their journey she had proven to genuinely care for the children she’d unwittingly found under her charge, and Madeleine knew she could be trusted to take care of them now, when they were at their weakest.

His left knee hit the ground at her side, and he gave Chilli Pepper the dregs of the red potion. The thief’s eyes flew open. “Madeleine…? You.. what’s going on…” As memories of the fight returned, she sat bolt upright. “Gingerbrave! Custard! The stupid brats insisted on coming with us to fight, and now-”

“-Custard is awake. Gingerbrave is still out,” he hoarsely interjected. “Go to him.”

Ordinarily, Chilli Pepper would have scoffed at taking orders from a toff. Now, she only nodded, and stumbled to her feet.

Madeleine was left, kneeling gingerly on the floor, lacking the strength to get up, willing himself to stay conscious. As if through water, he could hear the sounds of pounding footsteps. Wizard and Strawberry, who had stayed behind where they had made camp, arrived at the scene.

Distantly, he heard the cookies crowd around Gingerbrave, saw the healing glow as Custard laid his hands over the boy. He prayed to The Divine that it would be enough.

A collective cheer rose from the group, and Madeleine let his head hang in relieved gratitude.

A while later, he became aware of several presences around him. “Mister Madeleine? I’m going to heal you now!” The voice of Custard cut partly through the fog in his mind, and he gave a small nod.

He felt hands — child’s hands, too young and small to have to face the battlefield like this, and yet, unshaken in his determination to do so — rest on his shoulders.

And bit by bit, the pain was lifted. Cuts sealed, bruises faded from purple, to yellow, and then, nothing, the gash around his midsection closed up, his ankle righted itself, and the sudden lightness that he felt left him giddy.

He slumped forward, and found himself caught by a pair of familiar arms. “Don’t pass out on me, Madeleine” He looked up, and there Espresso was, brown eyes filled with concern.

“Espresso…” Madeleine murmured. Then, noticing the others around him, he tried to right himself, despite the churning of his stomach, “Espresso! How kind of you to catch me. I must say, I’m much obliged!”

Upon hearing him speak, the cookies let out a breath of relief. Gingerbrave threw his arms around the paladin, shouting, “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Before he could respond in kind, Chilli Pepper quickly pried Gingerbrave off. “Hey! The guy needs some space. Let’s go back to camp, yeah?” A responding chorus of cheers rose up from the kids, and they began running back the way they came, the lure of warm food and rest drawing them away from Madeleine and Espresso, still kneeling amongst the carnage.

Madeleine watched as Gingerbrave, who just minutes before had been nothing but a crumpled heap, raced the others, darting between bookshelves, yelling and laughing. He saw Custard bossing the others around playfully, as if the very same did not happen to him.

Espresso’s hand cupped his face, gently turning it back to his. “Madeleine, are you certain that you’re ‘okay’. You seem… unlike yourself.”

Upon hearing the other cookie’s words, the weight of his guilt doubled on his shoulders, and he sagged. “I failed them, Espresso.” He whispered. “I swore I would protect them at all costs, but then…”

The specter of the librarian, dwarfing the bookshelves of the Forgotten Academy’s library. Its ghastly form ranting and raving over distant memories of noisy students,. Flinging wild, relentless projectiles the size and weight of bricks at the party before it.

Custard going down under the barrage. Gingerbrave and Chilli Pepper’s anguished screams as they saw their friend fall, before swiftly meeting the same fate.

His breathing quickened as scenario after scenario flashed before his eyes. If the potion had been too weak, if The Divine hadn't answered, if Custard and Chilli Pepper had been too slow in stabilising Gingerbrave.

Dimly, he could hear Espresso’s voice. “Madeleine? Madeleine! Listen to me, you’re spiralling, you foolish knight!”

His heart racing, he laughed, high and unnatural. “Yes, I’ve been foolish, haven’t I? If I hadn’t been so slow, so weak, so foolish, perhaps none of this would have happened. Perhaps, perhaps if I hadn’t been such a failure of a protector!”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that!” Espresso said, panicking, mentally combing for books he’d read on how to deal with a situation such as this. “Okay. You need to breathe. Can you breathe with me? In for three, then hold it for four counts, then let it out in five? Can I hold you?”

Everything was too much. Too much and Madeleine was shaking and he wanted to scream or cry or both but all he did was give a tight nod.

Arms encircled his shoulders, warm and feeling like home, and he almost threw them off because how could someone like Espresso want someone like him, someone who had failed so badly in his oath, who, through incompetence nearly caused the death of children?

“I- I- Espresso, it's my fault,” he gasped, “my fault.”

Espresso’s voice was soft. “It wasn’t your fault, Madeleine. Now breathe with me. In… and hold… and out.”

Madeleine tried to match the other cookie’s breaths, and after a while, his own breathing slowed.

They stayed there, simply breathing together. Then, Espresso repeated, “It wasn’t your fault. None of us were prepared for this. Even with the extent of my skill, I nearly perished trying to defeat that… that thing. You did the best you could.”

“I promised myself, when I first knew that the cookies I’d be escorting to the Vanilla Kingdom were children, that I’d defend them. I’d take the blows so they didn’t have to.”

“And you have.”

“But it wasn’t enough.” The tears came, pooling in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks. “In the end, it wasn’t enough.”

Wordlessly, Espresso’s arms tightened around him, and Madeleine collapsed against him, face pressed to Espresso’s chest, tears wetting the front of his robe.

Silence, but for Madeleine’s soft sobs. Espresso closed his eyes, and continued, “I’ve never said this before, but I suppose there’s no other time but this. You’re the-” He grimaced slightly against the next words, unused to such openness. “-The strongest, bravest cookie I know. I don’t know no one else so willing to throw themselves in front of others to defend them. Foolhardy as all hell, but brave.”

A choked, disbelieving laugh. “Really.”

“Really,” he affirmed.

“And what of today,” Madeleine said, “If- when the ‘brave’ defender fails to defend.”

"You forgive yourself. You train, become stronger, and do better. You thank the stars that everyone made it out alive. There’s no use dwelling on ‘if’s. I know I'm a damn hypocrite for saying this, but failure doesn't doom you." A sound of incredulity from Madeleine. "It's something I struggle with too, but I do remember Latte telling me something of this sort... Our failures don't define us. We- you are enough, just as you are."

They remained that way, Madeleine clinging to Espresso until his tears slowed. A few minutes passed, perhaps more. Faintly, Madeleine said, “...my leg’s fallen asleep.”

Espresso chuckled. “We should probably get up, then.”

The two cookies helped each other to their feet, and began the slow walk back to camp, in companionable quiet that followed. Espresso chanced a look at Madeleine. The paladin was running a hand through dishevelled hair, cleaning up his appearance so the others wouldn’t worry. His red-rimmed eyes fixed on him. “Thank you,” he murmured, “for calming me down. For… for your words.”

“Don’t think I didn’t mean every one of them.”

Madeleine took Espresso’s hand in his, squeezed briefly, and let go.

“...Besides,” the mage smiled impishly. “What else are boyfriends for?”

He strode ahead, leaving Madeleine trailing behind, gobsmacked, his mouth forming the word ‘boyfriend’ over and over, a stupid grin eventually spreading across the paladin's face.

After all, sometimes what one needed to feel better was warm reassurance, and sometimes, one needed a surprising kick to the system. And like all good coffee, it was Espresso’s pleasure to provide both.

[five-rivers]

Doctor

The final continuation of Science and Stuck!

.

.

.

Jack and Maddie had never been in the Ghost Zone before, and they watched with fascination as the camera they had attached to Phantom dipped and bobbed, weaving through a complex maze of impossible and decaying architecture. Really, this whole endeavor would be worth it just for this.

But they'd already learned so much more. The interaction between Phantom and the box-obsessed ghost had been enlightening, giving insight to why Phantom did not simply destroy weaker ghosts who trespassed on his territory. They hadn't believed that ghosts could make deals like that.

It put Phantom's fights in a very different perspective. He might be coordinating with the ghosts he 'fought' to make himself look good. After all, if he could bargain with that ghost, why not others?

Admittedly, that theory was a bit out there, but it was plausible.

They had also been interested to see that Phantom was aware of the camera and its function. They had designed it to bond with the ghost's body, to trick it into accepting it as part of itself. They had assumed that the ghost's mind (such as it was) would be similarly fooled. But, it wasn't. Phantom appeared to have understood the camera almost immediately and had attempted to remove it.

Phantom swooped around another twisted staircase. Maddie tapped on the glass screen.

"I wonder what he's trying to hide," she said.

"Well, we'll see it sooner or later," said Jack, cutting off a corner of his emergency fudge. "There's no way he'll be able to get the camera off." He snorted. "Even if there was a ghost intelligent enough, they don't have the equipment."

Maddie nodded. "I suppose it's just frustrating. All this time, trying to figure him out, and now we have to wait even longer." She sighed. "Him knowing it's a camera is going to skew our results, too. He'll be on his best behavior while people are watching. We already know that from his whole hero routine."

On the screen, Phantom turned a corner, and the Fentons were treated to a view of a vast, open expanse. Floating islands charted their own paths against a green and swirling sky. Clouds of ectoplasmic mist scudded along the not-horizon. Disembodied doors flew by without rhyme or reason.

The picture shifted from side to side as Phantom took in his surroundings. It stopped, lingering on an oddly skull-shaped island for several long seconds before Phantom turned away.

.

Danny had known the portal the Box Ghost had shown him was close to Skulker's island, but he hadn't quite realized how close. It was a good landmark, he knew exactly how to get to the Far Frozen from here, but he didn't really want to run into Skulker.

He didn't want to deal with any of the ghosts he usually fought with his parents watching, and maybe listening, through the camera. They might not actively try to expose him, but a number of them were too comfortable with shouting out things like-

"I'll wrap Ember's gifts with your pelt, halfa whelp!"

Ugh. Like that.

Danny twisted and froze a tracking missile, not watching as it began to arc to his left, caught in the orbit of the staircase maze Danny had just left. He sent a few blasts at Skulker.

"I think you should find something to put in the gifts first!" he shouted. "Unlike last year. I heard you were begging MP3 players off of Technus minutes-" he cut off to dodge a net. He hated nets. Why did Skulker even bother with them, when he was trying to kill Danny, anyway? "Minutes before the party!"

"Like you're one to talk! You completely destroyed the party!"

"Hey, blame Ghostwriter for that one!"

"And you don't understand! You don't even have a girlfriend!"

"Well, neither will you for much longer if you don't come up with better present ideas!"

The fight had wound down into the two ghosts just yelling at each other. For all the violence Skulker regularly subjected him to, Danny sometimes wondered if Skulker actually wanted to skin him, or mount his head on a wall, or any of the other threats he belted out, or if he just wanted the thrill of the chase.

"Can't you just give me a break for once? I don't have time for this!"

"Oh, please, you have all the time in the world, whelp!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, what with you being a hal-"

Danny flew over and clamped a hand over Skulker's mouth. "Not another word," he hissed. "We're being watched."

"What do you-?"

Danny cut him off, pointing significantly at the camera. Skulker immediately started laughing.

"Oh, yeah, laugh it up. Wait 'til it happens to you."

"Ha! That is why I, with my modifications, am superior! Something as ridiculous as that could never happen to me!" He started laughing again.

"Whatever," grumbled Danny. "Are you going to keep attacking me, or can I go to the Far Frozen in peace?"

Skulker waved him off. "Consider it an early truce present!" he said. "But don't forget! I'll get your pelt eventually!"

"Sure," said Danny, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He floated backwards for a ways before turning, wary of being stabbed in the back. Or shot in the back. Or blasted in the back. Or whatever having missiles or nets launched at him from behind would be called.

But, once again, he was on his way to the Far Frozen. With his luck, he'd only be interrupted a dozen more times before he actually got there.

He sighed, thinking of ways he could block the camera in an emergency. Ice, perhaps? He could always put his hand over it, too. Maybe he should have done that from the beginning, but a part of him, the part that had argued with them before, wanted to show them the truth about ghosts. Part of him wanted them to see.

So, even though he kept fiddling with the camera as he flew, even though he definitely wanted it off, and quickly, he couldn't quite bring himself to cover it.

"Hey! Phantom!"

Danny turned, trying to place the voice. "Sydney?" he asked, surprised, spotting the sepia-toned specter. "What's up?" He slowed so that the other ghost could catch up to him. Sydney didn't often leave his lair on his own.

"Wow! It's lucky you came out here! I thought I'd have to go through your portal to find you." Sydney shuddered. He caught up to Danny. "I'm throwing a truce party this year!" he said, happily. "I'm inviting everyone." He handed Danny a small envelope. "It's a bit early, because I wanted to make sure that it didn't overlap with anyone else's party."

"Thanks, Sydney," said Danny, both surprised and touched. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it, you know what my l- my afterlife is like." His smile turned into a grimace at the awkwardness of his phrasing.

"Afterlife? But you-"

"I have a camera strapped to my chest right now. I'm pretty sure it's broadcasting. I don't really want to talk about it."

Sydney blinked at him. "Your existence is very difficult, isn't it? I'm glad I didn't manage to steal it from you when we first met."

"That's both of us. The shades in your lair still behaving?"

"Oh, yes. It's all fine. Thanks for asking! I've got to go deliver the rest of these! Good luck with your camera situation!"

"Yeah, stay safe, okay, Sydney?" called Danny, as they sped away from each other.

"You betcha!"

Danny tucked the invitation into a pocket. He'd have to check out the details later, when he wouldn't have to hold it at a weird angle to keep the camera from seeing it.

Now, if there were no more interruptions, he could get to the Far Frozen before- He stopped. That forest had not been there before, and, usually, the floating islands didn't move like-

Not a floating island Undergrowth oh Ancients he looked mad run run run.

It was a good thing Danny was faster than Undergrowth. He didn't want to fight the plant ghost on his home turf... if there even was any turf underneath all those plants.

The chase (not to mention dodging and fighting off the seed bombs that Undergrowth had lobbed his way) had drained Danny, and he was flying significantly slower. The hope that he'd get back home before dawn looked distinctly forlorn. He sighed. That was just his life, though, wasn't it?

.

Maddie had filled half a notebook with questions.

Ghosts appeared to be much more complex than previously believed, even if it was clear that what rudimentary social structure they had was founded entirely on violence. The three encounters Phantom had had in the Ghost Zone thus far illustrated that perfectly.

The first, with Skulker, served as a sort of average. The ghosts had fought, demonstrated that they were more-or-less equals, and then parted, apparently not wanting a more definitive contest. The second had been with a smaller ghost who was obviously submissive towards Phantom. The third, with the plant ghost was more along the lines of what she and Jack had expected: Strong ghosts attempting to defeat and consume weaker ones.

"I wonder what this 'truce' they keep talking about is," said Maddie, tapping her pencil on her notebook.

"I wonder what that sound is," said Jack. "The microphone shouldn't be picking up this kind of interference."

"I think it's core noise," said Maddie. "We can analyze the sound later and compare it to his ectosignature, after we find out where he's going." She glanced at the clock. "And after we get some sleep. Everything is being recorded."

"I'll have to double check all the connections before we do this again. I bet it's a loose wire." Jack pouted.

Maddie nodded. "Where do you think he's going? You don't suppose he thinks he has some way to get it off?"

Jack shrugged. "His lair, maybe? The distance might be why he stays in Amity Park."

"Lairs are still pure speculation, though," said Maddie. "Although, one hypothesis is that they help ghosts reform and heal, so he might think it'll get rid of the camera."

Jack grunted in acknowledgement. "What do you think that white dot is?" he asked, pointing at the screen.

"I think it's one of those floating islands," she said. "It's a different color than the others."

They watched as it grew larger on the screen. "I think Phantom is heading towards it."

"Maybe it's his lair," she said. "He does have ice powers. Ice and snow could be what gives it its color."

"It does look like that could be," said Jack.

The island grew larger and larger, and eventually the picture showed that they had been right. The island was covered with snow and more.

"I think those are buildings," said Maddie, pointing out little mounds. "Crude, but still buildings. Perhaps Phantom is trying to replicate features of Amity Park in his lair?"

"You don't think it could be some kind of," Jack waved his hand vaguely, "rudimentary ghost settlement?"

Maddie wrinkled her nose. "What would they have to gain? Why would you say that?"

"Because I think I see some ghosts moving around down there."

Sure enough, Maddie could see movement where he pointed. The ghosts were white-furred, and difficult to see against the snow, but they were there. They looked fierce. Animal ghosts of some kind, Maddie assumed, but warped over the years.

"They all look so much alike," said Maddie, fascinated. "I wonder what could have caused that."

"Well, they say form follows function!" said Jack. "Or the 'native' theory could be correct, and they formed that way, without human consciousness involved!"

"Hm," said Maddie, making a note. "We'll have to look into that again."

Phantom's hand flashed in the camera's peripheral vision. "He's waving to them," said Jack.

"Great one!" shouted one of the ghosts on the island, voice made small by distance.

"Frostbite!" yelled Phantom in return, voice much louder. He swooped down, and was embraced by the other ghost, who was much, much larger.

The other white-furred ghosts cheered. Maddie frowned.

"If he has this sort of reception here, why come to Amity Park?" she asked. "If his Obsession is attention..."

"Maybe it's human attention he wants," said Jack, rubbing his chin. "Either way, they're... enthusiastic, aren't they?"

"I can't believe they've banded together like this," said Maddie. "It doesn't make sense. The structures... they don't make sense, either. Ghosts shouldn't need things like that, especially not in the Ghost Zone."

"Maybe they're a different species of ghost that does need things like this," said Jack, most of his attention on the ghosts greeting Phantom. "We've never seen any like them here. They might only be able to exist in cold. Or they could have Obsessions related to, uh... igloos?"

"They aren't really shaped like igloos, though," said Maddie. "I think there's stone under there."

"The ice could just be dirty."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

.

Getting to the Far Frozen was a relief. Danny felt a the tension he'd been carrying within him relax as soon as he spotted Frostbit.

It was replaced with embarrassment once everyone started fussing over him. Technically, this was in front of his parents. Still, he'd take embarrassment over what he was feeling earlier. His core was singing that he was safe safe safe among allies and friends, and the cold felt wonderful against his skin.

"What brings you to the Far Frozen today, great one?"

Danny chuckled nervously and reached back to rub his neck. The motion was stopped when he encountered the collar around his neck. "I'm actually here to see a doctor. I've got a bit of a medical problem. At least, I think it's a medical problem." Danny touched down on the surface of the snow, wilting slightly as he tugged fruitlessly on the collar. "I don't really know. Can you help?"

Frostbite's eyes went wide for a moment before shifting into pure concern. "Of course, great one. We'll take a look at you right away. Unless you need to rest? We know we are far from your home."

Danny shook his head. "I want to get this fixed right away," he said.

When Frostbite scooped Danny up and put him on his shoulder, it wasn't a surprise. Neither was the short flight to the Far Frozen's medical 'cave.'

Oh, to be sure, it was a cave, but Danny always felt like calling it something like that, something so crude, was a disservice. For one, the entrance chamber was gorgeous. A huge, underground atrium with an intricately grown and carved ice ceiling, geometric patterns spiraling down the walls; ghost writing above graceful arches, indicating what each space was used for. Shining, high-tech devices that made even Tucker salivate. Some people might judge them on what lay above ground in their village, but appearances were often deceiving in the Ghost Zone, and the Far Frozen was one of the most advanced societies around.

Only an idiot would mistake the tribe of the Far Frozen for savages.

Frostbite carried Danny into the diagnosis area, set him down in a chair, and began going through the routine of cleaning his hands and putting on medical equipment.

"Oh," said Danny, leaning forward, "Frostbite, you don't have to, I know you're busy."

"Nonsense, great one! You deserve the best of care, and I am here to provide." He sat down on a stool across from Danny. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

Danny began to explain.

.

Jack and Maddie weren't talking. This is because they were in shock.

The ruins at the beginning had been one thing... Those were expected, the ghosts of buildings, so to speak, ectoplasmic echos. But this place? This level of technology- It shouldn't be possible!

"I know," said Jack, and Maddie realized she had spoken out loud. "But... it's here, isn't it? We're seeing it."

"It could be a trick," said Maddie. "A facade. There's no way any of this is actually functional."

"But if it is... Jazz and Danny, they might be right," said Jack. He sounded troubled. "If ghosts can form societies, and create technology and art like this, even if the societies are based on violence, that indicates some form of sapience, of intelligence, even if it isn't human intelligence."

Maddie nodded. "I think we should withhold judgement until we actually see results," she said.

"Yeah," said Jack. "Just... I feel sort of like the bad guy in a sci-fi movie, you know? The one who insists the aliens or people with superpowers aren't really human."

"It isn't the same, Jack. These are ghosts."

"But what does that even mean anymore?"

Maddie sighed. "We'll have to change our theories," she said.

"Ah," said the ghost known as 'Frostbite' on the screen, scanning Phantom with some kind of unknown device, "yes. I see what the problem is. I'll take the camera out, now, and then we can work on the other bits."

The screen went blank.

.

Getting the collar removed was both easier and harder than Danny had expected. Easier, because all he had to do was take a drug and let Frostbite peel it off, harder because he had to come down off the drug before he went home, lest he get into a fight and wind up with semi-permanent injuries. At least he was able to send a message to Jazz to ask her to cover for his absence.

He didn't get home until four in the afternoon. Nothing remarkable happened on the way back, because the Far Frozen decided to send some warriors along with him to make sure he got back safely. He was a bit surprised, however, to find his parents passed out at their desks in the lab, apparently reviewing recordings from the camera they had stuck to him.

Recordings like that could be dangerous to him. Should he delete them?

No, he hadn't said anything incriminating, and they were unlikely to be able to use the footage to attack the Far Frozen. The floating islands moved, after all, and he had entered the Zone from a random portal. It should be fine to leave it like that.

He let himself turn human. The air down here was chilly. He should get them blankets or something and let Jazz know he was back, then he'd pass out himself.

While he was draping a quilt over Maddie's shoulders, he caught sight of her notebook and the last line she had written.

The kids are right. We'll have to revise our theories concerning Phantom and the other ghosts.

[autumnalfallingleaves]

After several months, I finally wrote a thing because Wizards hit me in the feels.

~~~

Remembering.

Or,

There are consequences to changing the timeline.

~~~

Blinkous Galadrigal has, for nine-hundred years, known that there would one day be a Trollhunter with piercing blue eyes that shine like hope. Hope for victory. Hope for the next day. Hope for the future. 

He has met this Trollhunter. His name was Jim (an odd name), and his blue eyes had shone as he rallied the citizens of Dwoza to arms. Something had stirred within his breast, then, along with the utter fear that threatened to overtake him. His brother felt the same, he could tell, but he, Blinkous Galadrigal, would not give in to the terror, not when this literal whelp could stand before them and tell them they’d win, despite what they may think. He had lived a much longer life than this child. Surely, he could fight a war?

And they fought. And they won, all because of this child with hope-blue eyes and the ability to look at him and tell him he could do so much more. 

Much later, the Trollhunter approached him, after the fighting had ceased and Jim and his companions had returned to whence they came. 

Deya the Deliverer, once Callista the Calamity, stood before him and told him who this child had been: a Trollhunter, like herself, but from the distant future. Jim had told her, she said, that a day would come where Blinkous himself would be a close companion of his, and one whom Jim trusted with his life. 

He would need to know Jim, she said, but do not tell him that you know him. Let him forge his own path, but do not let him do it alone. Guide him to be the child of hope that he knew from Dwoza. 

Hope for the future, Blinkous, the Deliverer told him, and teach Jim to hope, as well.

~~~ 

AAARRRGGHH!!! has, for nine-hundred years, known that there would one day be a Trollhunter with a toothy, knowing smile that looks like mercy. Mercy for the disillusioned. Mercy for ones who do not know better. Mercy for those who deserve second chances. 

He knows this because it was this whelp who showed him a better path. Under Gunmar, AAARRGGHH!!! was always watching his back, always frightened, always waiting for the fatal blow. In the Skullcrusher’s horde, there was always a chance that you would be killed by one looking for power, no matter what your rank was. This… Jim had looked at him, smiled, and offered a hand not to strike him, but to offer a chance to start again. A chance to live a life without fear.

AAARRRGGHH!!! was reluctant to take it. What did this child know of him? Of war? Didn’t he know that there was no mercy for a killer like him? 

Kill him! The citizens of Dwoza yelled, and AAARRRGGHH!!! agreed. He was guilty of so many things. The only thing he deserved was death. 

But no. He never got what he wanted, did he? Not a chance to have a peaceful life like these Trolls, not a chance to have a family like the small, four-armed Troll and his brother, both of whom were clearly terrified by him. 

The Jim had scowled at the other Trolls and told them no, they would not kill him. Then he smiled at AAARRRGGHH!!!, and it shone like mercy, the kind where you could try again and again, and no matter how many times you slipped, you would not be punished for it. 

The boy was merciful. The general was not used to this feeling… this… this… kindness. When had he ever been kind to another? He couldn’t remember. And…

…When had he ever been merciful?

But the Jim was filled with it, and it was this mercy that allowed him to meet Blinkous. Or Blinky, because Blinkous was hard to say and that was what the Jim had called him. Blinky was skittish and anxious, but he was also empathetic and kind. He did not hit AAARRRGGHH!!! when he made a mistake. He corrected him with a smile, and not once did he ever judge him. 

It was nice. 

After the Battle of Killahead, on their way to the New World and a new Heartstone, as the Dwoza stone had died in the blast of magic that shook the heavens, Blinky told him who the Jim had been: a Trollhunter like Deya, but from the future. He and AAARRRGGHH!!! would know the boy, he told him, and they would be his teachers. 

AAARRRGGHH!!! was glad. The boy had been his savior, and he would have a chance to repay him. He would teach him mercy, AAARRRGGHH!!! decided, like Blinky would teach him hope. The mercy to be able to spare a former GummGumm like him.

~~~

Deya has, for nine-hundred years, known that there would one day be a Trollhunter with a soft-yet-strong voice that rings like justice. Justice for those unfairly slain. Justice for the generations yet to come. Justice for oneself. 

This Trollhunter was the one who gave her her purpose, her name. Before, she had been Callista the Calamity, doomed to put all she loved in danger. She was an outcast, she was bad luck, she was someone no one wanted around. She was tainted by humans, after all, and carried a human name. But she couldn’t help it. Her memories of her old life were gone. Where was the justice in that?

But Jim hadn’t cared. He saw Callista, not the Calamity. He didn’t have the history needed to judge her. He’d met her in the dungeons beneath Camelot and decided she was someone who was worth saving. He spoke of hope and mercy and justice, and Callista couldn’t help but swept away by the tide of it all. It had been a while since someone had cared enough to talk to her, and more importantly, to listen to her. 

And he listened. He listened as she told him about her story: her village destroyed, being captured by humans, given one of their names, and deemed an outcast by her kind. She lamented to him about how she wished she could avenge her village, her family, to enact justice for them.

She listened, too, and learned of how Jim was not of her time. He was from the future, and held the position of Trollhunter, a mantel granted by Merlin to protect Trolls from evil, such as Gunmar and his horde. Merlin? Protecting Trolls? A preposterous thought. 

But here was this half-human, half-Troll boy from the future, with a suit of ebony and crimson armor, and she had no choice but to believe. Maybe she, Callista, would be Trollhunter one day, and she would finally be able to bring about the justice she so desired.

And little by little, as the days went on, Jim gave her the tools to bring her justice. He gave her the courage to speak up as he pleaded with Dwoza to help them in the coming war. He gave her status she needed as she helped win the fight against the GummGumm general. He gave her hope as she sat in a crevasse, Amulet in hand, unsure if she was worthy to wield his mantel. 

It’s Jim’s, not mine, she thinks, but Jim tells her no, that the mantel is hers. He may be Trollhunter, but he is the future’s Trollhunter. The people back where he comes from need him. She, Callista, is this era’s Trollhunter, and the people of this time need her. 

She listens, and he leaves, and before she goes as well, her village gives her one last gift in the form of a carved totem.

She is Deya, and she is the Deliverer, but it was someone else who delivered her, who did her village justice as he gave her her purpose. 

So she fights. 

After all is said and done, she is visited by a specter of Merlin. He tells her that she, his champion, will have a legacy spanning centuries. Her name will be celebrated by thousands, and she will be remembered by countless others. He tells her that, when she dies, her spirit will live on in a Void Between Worlds. She will serve as a teacher for those who come after, and eventually, for Jim, the boy with eyes like hope, a smile like mercy, and a voice like justice. 

So she waits. She fights for justice, and eventually, she is killed by Bular’s sword. It’s morbidly poetic, in a way: she locked away the father, so the son takes her life in retaliation.

The Amulet leaves, and she is reborn in a world of spirits and magic, all cloaked in a blue haze.

Later, she is joined by others: a lean Trollhunter with the affinity for cloning themself to get the edge on enemies, a pacifist Trollhunter with gentle eyes and words, a Trollhunter whose son sought only to make him proud, and many more. 

Deya does not tell them about Jim. It’s too soon for them. They know the stories, of course, where a whelp from a distant land inspired the mighty Deya to take up arms against Gunmar and his injustices, but they do not know the true nature of the boy. That is knowledge for her and her alone. 

Finally, nine centuries after the great Battle of Killahead, a human is Chosen as Trollhunter for the first time. His eyes shine like a hope not seen in years, his smile bestows mercy upon whomever he graces it with, and his voice rings like a chance for justice. 

His name is Jim Lake, Jr., and as he fights, as he wins, Deya watches with a proud gaze. Her title might be “the Deliverer”, but it is he, this human child with the resilience of a Troll, who truly deserves the moniker. 

He delivered her, and in turn, she delivered the world.  

[word-scribbless]

Hiding

Masterlist

prompts: 12:“Holding everything in doesn’t help, you know.” 

19: “She’s hiding behind the sofa.”

______________________________

Y/N sat curled up on the couch in her hotel room with a cup of tea, wondering how long it’d be before a knock on her door. She had been with the BAU for 3 years now, however this last case may have shaken her the hardest. She was taken hostage, not for long before her team found her, however she was held at gun point by their unsub and wasn’t sure she’d live past today. Just like she guessed, a few minutes later she heard a knock. She reluctantly got up and looked through the peep hole, slowly opening the door. “Hey Spence” she greeted. “Hey y/n, I just wanted to check on you after today.” “I’m fine, thanks for checking in though” “Y/N” he said not believing her “I’m okay!” “I know I should believe you and just walk away but...” “Spence” y/n cut him off. “I really am ok, but maybe we’d both be better if you came in?” She offered He nodded and moved past her into the room “I’m just watching some random TV movie” she told him curling back up in her spot as he joined her “Y/N if you need to talk about this” he started She nodded as tears started to fill her eyes. “I’m not ready yet!” She told him sobbing. He moved closer to her and wrapped her in his arms. “I was just so scared!” “Shhh shh” he calmed her “I know I was too!” He agreed They sat like that until she calmed down. She finally looked him in the eyes. Her heart fluttered like it always did when she was near by the handsome genius. After almost dying today she decided she should finally make a move on her feelings for him. “Spence” she whispered before closing the gap between them. His lips felt the way she always imagined. The spell was quickly broken as Spencer gently pulled her away from him. A look of worry on his face. “Y/N” Her heart broke. She should have known he’d never feel the same way. “I’m so sorry, I think you should leave” she said standing up and turning away from him. “Y/N” he said grabbing for her arm but she pulled away. “Please leave!” “Y/n please just listen to me!” He begged “GET OUT SPENCER!” She finally yelled, desperate to be alone. Spencer conceded and left y/n’s room. He stopped outside the door for a moment as tears welled up in his eyes. He knew he messed up. What if that was his only shot he just ruined? He had been in love with y/n for years now and wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but in that moment he was terrified that if he kissed her back he’d be taking advantage of her. She had just been kidnapped and held at gun point. What if she wasn’t thinking straight and he used that against her by letting her kiss him. However she had clearly seen his pulling away as rejection and refused to talk to him about it. The plane ride home the next day was no better. She sat as far from him as she could and quickly turned down his every advance to talk to her. It went on this way for about a week. Only talking when they were forced to by work. Finally Morgan and JJ had had enough of it. JJ was y/n’a  best friend and of course Derek was Spencer’s, they knew they had to step in. Spencer was typing out another text to y/n that he knew would go unanswered. “Yo kid” Derek greeted “Hey” Spencer answered not looking up from him phone. “Alright what’s going on with you and y/n.” Spencer let out a sad sigh. “I finally had a chance and I screwed bit up!” He put his head in his hands. “Yeah I’m gonna need you to elaborate” Derek laughed. “Morgan she finally kissed me man!” Specter groaned. “And that’s bad why?” “It wasn’t, it was perfect. Until I pushed her away.” Spencer admitted. “You what?!?” “Would you lower your voice?” Spencer said looking around. “Kid you’ve wanted that girl since you first met her. I’m just a little confused how that led to you pushing her away.” “It was right after she was held at gun point! I was afraid that’s what fueled it and I didn’t want her to regret it!” Spencer sighed. “Okay I get that. So just explain that to her.” Morgan offered “Yeah, easier said than done! She won’t even look at me!” He scoffed “she won’t answer my calls or texts or even be in the same room alone!” “Okay well I happen to know where she is right now... and know she is getting a very similar talk as you.” Derek smiled. “So go try again pretty boy.” Derek explained that y/n was at JJ’s and they were tired of seeing their friends hurt so they wanted to end this fight. Meanwhile at JJ’s house y/n was curled up on the couch with Michael telling JJ the same story. But in her story she explains that Spencer looked horrified and would never want her. “Y/N I really don’t think that’s the case! He’s crazy about you why won’t you just talk to him?” JJ says “Because avoiding it is much easier than getting hurt, thank you very much! Now can we stop talking about it?” Y/N groaned “What so you can continue to be miserable? Holding everything in doesn’t help, you know.” JJ said rolling her eyes. “Oh but it does!” Y/N responded “it’s much better than hearing him say he doesn’t feel the same way.” “BUT WHAT IF THATS NOT WHAT HE SAYS,Y/N! HE-“ JJ is cut off by the door bell ringing. She goes to check who it is and sees Spencer at the door. “Well, looks like you can’t run any more” she smirks “Ah!” Y/N squeaks and jumps behind the couch with Micheal in her arms. JJ rolls her eyes and opens the door. “Hey Spence” “Hey JJ, is she here?” “She’s hiding behind the sofa.” JJ pointed, causing Y/N to groan. Spencer nods and walks around the couch to sit down next to Y/N as Micheal crawls to his mom. “Hey there.” “Hi” she said shyly. “Y/N just let me explain?” Spencer asked grabbing her hand. “Fine, but Spence if your going to let me down easy can we ju-“ “Kiss me again” Spencer cuts her off. “What?” “Y/N when you kissed me before I was scared that it was just left over feelings from being in danger and I didn’t want to take advantage of that... so if you feel for me any bit of what that kiss felt like you did that night... then Y/N, please. Kiss me again!” He explained moving his hand to cup her face.

She nodded hesitantly and leaned in to capture his lips. Pouring everything she had into the kiss. He responded by pouring all his love for her back into the kiss as well, while shill holding her gently. They pull away and Y/N looks up at him expectantly. “Y/N I wanted nothing more than to kiss you that night, but I was afraid you were just kissing me because I was there, I didn’t want you to regret it if you didn’t really have feelings for me.” He said causing her to nod. “And now?” She asked kissing him again “any doubts about my feelings now?” She asked smiling. “Nope” he smiled “how about you? Any doubts about how I feel?” He asked and she shook her head no. “Can I take you out tonight? On an official first date, no doubts or worries just us?” He smiled. “You sure can! But I’m still gonna worry, I have a date with the man of my dreams, I’m gonna be a little nervous.” She giggled as he pulled her into another kiss. “Oh thank god!” JJ said walking back into the room, now Morgan can relax and you two can stop being so moody.”

[tsuki-sennin]

Mina-san, bonne lecture~! (Tsuki recaps his feelings about Kamen Rider Saber, a personal essay.)

So, Saber... what a wild ride it's been, huh? Just a quick heads up, this is very long and rambling, and also contains spoilers for everything in Saber. It's fine if you don't wanna read all this, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.

TL:DR, Kamen Rider Saber's an undercooked hot mess I absolutely adore, warts and all.

Speaking as objectively as possible, it's a 6/10. Probably closer to a 5 than a 7... it's not great: All the different plot elements are cluttered and weirdly paced; character focus is disjointed and clearly biased toward certain characters, leaving great ones like Kento and Ogami, interesting ones like Kamijo and Hayato, and underdeveloped ones like Sophia and especially the Shindais in the dust; not to mention its balance of comedy and drama is off, and while both are very effective, there's a lot of mood whiplash that can take you out of the story. I also feel like a lot of the easily avoidable character conflict could've been easily resolved, even in universe, by simple conversations. Be careful Fukuda, I think Inoue might sue you if he finds out you've been biting his style and doing it worse.

Rider shows have a very frustrating tendency to drop cool form ideas and not do anything with them, and I don't think it's ever been more the case than with Saber. There's a similar argument to be made with the majority of Heisei Phase 2 after Gaim, but wow. The suits are expensive to make without just straight up recycling everything, I get that, but man, I really wanted to see more Wonder Rider forms. How come Touma got all the fun, eh? Of note are the Blades King of Arthur forms (which look amazing by the way), Espada's Jaaku Dragon forms (one of which I even drew last night), even the non-elemental random Wonder Ride Books all have awesome design elements that go tragically unused. Even if the other Swordsmen just kinda have the ones they do get to use slapped onto them, that's at least something. Touma also just straight up only uses Diago Speedy twice and never again. You have cool props guys, don't waste them like that!

Speaking of waste, Espada, goddamn. Since most of the Wonder Ride Books are Story Type and he needs one very specific Story Book to transform, he doesn't get much of... anything, really! No Wonder Rider forms like Blades, Lamp Do Cerberus being exclusive to Ganbarizing, only getting to use the Ride Gatriker like once, he even spends the second and third arcs as a completely different Rider, then once he comes back he doesn't get a King of Arthur-granted upgrade or even a Necrom Espada form. ...at least, not yet anyway. I'm holding out hope for Espada x Necrom and the eventual Saber V-Cinemas. Extra Rider stans, we will be well respected someday.

The Unreal Engine CGI used for fights in early Chapters was pretty good but wow it feels disconnected and they really drop it quick. I feel like if the animators had more freedom to use as many forms as they want, we'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of the books beyond... decoration basically. I actually really liked the CGI sequences, they felt creative and were fun to follow along with.

The soundtrack is pretty great on its own and conveys what it needs to, but they seriously overplay the orchestral themes. It honestly feels kind of... stock at times. I think my favorite parts of the score are when it winds down, since it feels a lot more natural and lets the cinematographers and actors speak for themselves.

As awesome as I think Falchion's design and the Mumeiken Kyomu are, The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin comes up short as its own standalone thing. You'd think 30 or so minutes of non-stop action would be awesome, and it almost is? It's as good as a typical episode of the series with a higher action budget, but it kinda drags on a bit too long; and although I think Emotional Dragon looks cool, it feels a bit tacked on. Coming off of the incredible Zero-One REAL×TIME, it doesn't give you much room to breathe, which Rider films are typically great at handling. I also thought the resolution for the kid's subplot was kinda forced. He does an okay job at acting considering his age and doesn't overstay his welcome, but I really don't see how 20 minutes of violence and action is enough to convince him to be brave enough to go play with the other kids. 5/10, it's closer to a 4 than a 6 and I think that maybe Zero-One should've stood on its own if they really had to push back Kiramager Bee-Bop Dream because of the pandemic.

Alright, with all that said... As imperfect and undercooked Saber was, like Ghost I can consider it a personal favorite, 10/10. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want, but holy hell it's just the show I needed. Takuro Fukuda has a talent for creating fun, wonderful characters and utterly fascinating worldbuilding and concepts. It's a shame he doesn't utilize them fully, but hey!

The action and fight choreography are pretty top notch as usual. Lots of beautiful shot composition and set pieces, and plenty of great angles to help keep up with the extra busy action. I love watching the suit actors perform and they deserve all the respect in the world for their hard work in those hot, sweaty, and heavy costumes. Their visual design is also top notch, with lots of unique and fascinating forms and cool weapons I desperately want to play with despite being broke, all with spectacular finishers and hype jingles with the voice of Akio motherfucking Ohtsuka calling them out. A real feast for the eyes. Not a single bad suit among them, yeah I said it, fight me.

The crossover specials are soooo good too.

-I went over my feelings on the Zenkaiger crossover episodes in a separate post (good luck finding that btw), but to sum it up, they were great character moments for Zox and the Shindai siblings with lots of great screwball comedy and some good old fashioned meta humor.

-The Ghost crossovers are great little side stories all about how Daitenku Temple somehow had the Ghost Ijunroku Wonder Ride Book? I genuinely have no idea why it was there, or how Makoto had the Specter Gekikou Senki, and as far as I remember neither of their origins are explained. Did Luna or Tassel hand them off to them and told them to wait for a sword guy? And why do these generic French Revolution Gamma villains working for Danton get their asses handed to them so easily by Kanon, who literally just became a Rider? I thought that Makoto deciding to adopt all the Kanon clones into his family was both hilarious and adorable though; considering all the crap they went through, I think it was a good ending to this plot. Gimme Espada x Necrom already Toei/Bandai/Fukuda/whoever I need to yell at, give Kento things to do, I beg you.

-I haven't actually seen Super Hero Senki since it's not available for subbing yet, but apparently there's a Journey to the West plot starring the Taros and Ohma Zi-O and I want to see that so badly.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra? Yoohei Kawakami? A match made in heaven, that's what they are. All of their themes are absolute bangers. All of them. Almighty, Kamen Rider Saber, Sparks, Taju Rokou, all excellent and empowering pieces. Rewrite the Story, Will Save Us, and The Story Never Ends are all amazing inserts done by the cast, and it makes me wish we had even more of them to help break up the monotony of the score.

The characters are what easily make this show such a great watch though. For the most part, they have great personalities and chemistry, consistently fun and interesting scenes, well acted and... sometimes well-written development, and deeply investing personal stakes.

Narrating it all is the delightfully eccentric Tassel/Viktor, portrayed by Romanesque Ishitobi "TOBI" of the Paris-based Les Romanesques. I was utterly confused by his presence at first, wondering why there needed to be a narrator when the story would've been perfectly fine without it. He even got a special spot in the opening despite having no stake in the plot despite seeming to live in Wonderworld, who the hell is this guy? But then I thought "OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD". I thought it'd be some subversion of expectations, true form, "That Was His Mistake!" shit. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in my head. I'm very happy that they didn't do that, as I grew to love having male Yuuka Kazami as my narrator, and when he was shown to be actually important by being friends with Yuri my mind was blown. And doubly so when I realized just how deeply necessary to the plot he really is.

Rintaro/Blades is up there as one of my all time favorite secondary Riders, since his curiosity is always consistently funny and adorable, his forms are all gorgeous and impressively designed, his relationships with Mei and Touma are absolutely sweet and compelling to see unfold, and his arcs about becoming willing to call out those he views as family and coming to terms with his feelings of inadequacy and both moving past and using them to strengthen himself are always great lessons to pass on to kids. ...even if they took like 10 goddamn episodes to be conveyed in what could've been 5, but hey, Takaya Yamaguchi does a stand-up job all throughout. Rider veteran Eitoku's refined, almost logical movements with the Suiseiken Nagare absolutely beautiful to see in action, and his final form having the same white and blue color scheme as Zooous's base form is an amazing touch I don't see appreciated enough.

Mei Sudo's also absolutely wonderful, serving as the perfect emotional core of the story, responsible for most of the funniest lines, sweetest character moments, and some of the most deceptively compelling drama. Asuka Kawazu brings the perfect energy for such a dynamic and well rounded character, and absolutely nails her scenes of quiet turmoil. As much as I would've loved her to become a Rider, I don't think she really needed to. She's already done so much to help, and as cool as it would've been to see her pick up a sword and fight alongside them as Espada, Calibur, or Falchion she's already endeared herself to me as one of my favorite supporting characters in the whole franchise.

I can't get enough of my homeboy Kento Fukamiya/Espada. Like Rintaro and everyone else for that matter, he also suffers from Saber's pacing issues; and like his predecessor Valkyrie from Zero-One, he doesn't get a proper upgrade aside from his Wonder Combo, instead becoming an anti-villain using a completely different powerset and shifting the Raimeiken Ikazuchi out of focus for the Ankokuken Kurayami, and I feel there's a serious missed opportunity to see him use Jaaku Dragon with Alangina. However, Ryo Aoki's performance is probably among the most easily praiseworthy in the whole cast, managing to convey both Kento's kind and knightly stoicism as Espada and his emotionally unstable despair as Calibur perfectly, in conjunction with Yuji Nakata's experienced and expressive stuntwork.

Ren Akamichi/Kenzan's a dark horse favorite for sure. I remember back when Saber was first picking up, people hated this breezy mad lad for being such a simple character at first. Overly concerned with strength? Black and white world view? Annoyingly energetic? Agh, real-feeling character flaws, I hate them, get him away from me! But then y'all came crawling back. Eiji Togashi's apparently a bit of a rookie actor, and it really shows with some stilted delivery and the way he sometimes bobs his head when giving his lines, but man he improves dramatically as the series goes on. His inexperience ironically ends up really selling his character development, and his unexpectedly beautiful relationship with Desast is special evidence of that. The Fuusouken Hayate's three modes and Satoshi Fujita putting them to excellent use through his stellar acrobatic movements are also really cool.

Why did Luna have to be a child for so long? Does Wonderworld not age whoever inherits its power? Well since Luna randomly becomes an adult in Super Hero Senki and some of the final episodes, I guess so? Miku Okamoto does a fine job for a kid actor, but she's basically done all the heavy lifting for the whole series and doesn't give Mayuu Yokota enough time to get a feel for her character as an adult. How did she choose Touma to inherit the power anyway? Does she just subconsciously decide to trust him with it upon seeing how kind and passionate about storytelling he is? Well if that's the case, why didn't Kento get at least some of that power too? He's just as important to the merchan- I mean Luna-chan, isn't he? Why did Tassel pick her over someone who isn't a literal child who'd be understandably terrified about basically becoming an embodiment of storytelling?

Sophia also kinda suffers from the same problems. Rina Chinen's voice is very pleasant to listen to, but she doesn't really do much beyond serving as a source of exposition and support. I think her dynamic with Mei's adorable, and given her kindness I can certainly understand the respect Northern Base has for her, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot. If she could use the Kurayami and become Calibur all this time, then why didn't she take it from Kento and Yuri and do so earlier when Kento decided to go back to being Espada? I know she's not much of a fighter and as the closet thing the Sword of Logos has to a leader after Isaac's death I'd understand not wanting to put her at risk, but considering Storious is destroying the world, and she's very evidently kicking a lot of ass in the first part of the final battle even in the basic Jaaku Dragon form, I think it would've helped a lot, just sayin'. Tassel at least has the excuse of being unable to interact with the real world, but Sophia obviously didn't just be put in charge of Northern Base just because she's a pawn in Isaac's plans right?

Ryou Ogami/Buster is also a victim of the disjointed character focus. I have no problem believing he's an excellent father and fighter thanks to Yuki Ikushima and Jiro Okamoto, respectively, but he feels a bit flat and simple in comparison. His rivalry with Desast is randomly dropped, his wife doesn't even show up until the final episodes, he's kinda sidelined in terms of action a whole lot. I imagine that must've sucked for the Rider Dads out there. He does get to star in his own manga, and that was pretty good, so I guess I can't be too mad.

Tetsuo Daishinji/Slash fares better though. Hiroaki Oka, being a Kamen Rider fanboy himself, manages to make him among the most relatable characters in the series. Not only are his hyperfixation on swordsmithing and anxiety played surprisingly believably, Hirotsugu Mori letting him cut loose is extremely cathartic and hilarious, and you really feel for him when the Onjuuken Suzune becomes the first victim of Calibur!Kento's sword sealing.

Yuri/Saikou's another dark horse favorite, for me at least. "Oh great, Avalon guy's got even more merchandise to sell, I wonder what his Sword of Light is- it's himself. Well... that's different." I admit, I didn't like him at first. He felt like he was there to fill out character dynamics in the absence of both Rintaro and Kento, I thought his gimmick was too silly even if his design and jingles were bangers, I didn't particularly care for his power set. But then XSwordman came around I totally got it. He's an endearing, hard-working man trying his best to catch up on all the cool shit he missed, unafraid of experimentation, ready to throw down at a moment's notice, serving as a wonderful bit of consistent support for our heroes, a truly knightly individual, an absolute Chad. and goddamn does he make me worry. Tomohiro Ichikawa, I salute you good sir.

Even if they fall short compared to the rest of the cast, the Shindai siblings are at least cool enough to not wanna write out entirely. They kinda devolve into comic relief after they become allies, something that villainous Riders from Chase onwards are very prone to doing, and it's especially awkward in their case because I think that they kinda get off scot-free for obeying the obviously sinister and crazy Isaac for so long, as well as driving a wedge between a lot of people and threatening children in Reika's case. I think their sibling dynamic is nice though, even if Fukuda recycled it from Makoto and Kanon and has some... questionable possessive undertones as a result. It's cool how they're basically foils to Touma and Rintaro though. The dispassionate and methodical Reika/Sabela is beautifully played by Angela Mei and her moments of emotional depth are fascinating to watch. Her Rider form is a thing of beauty, and its use of literal the Eneiken Noroshi's smokescreens and Yuki Miyazawa's precise and deadly stinging strikes are a joy to watch. And while Ken Shonozaki's not given the best direction as the undercooked plate of 7-Eleven fried fish that is Ryoga/Durendal, he manages to sell him as an experienced and hardened warrior with an awkward side that's especially evident in the Zenkaiger specials. His goddamn RWBY weapon that is the Jikokuken Kaiji is absolutely sick, I'm a sucker for transforming weapons and its combination of time and water powers is really cool, especially with Yasuhiko Amai's deliberate and forceful acting in the suit.

Daichi Kamijo/the Second Calibur, for as brief as his story was, was a pretty cool starter villain. Hiroyuki Hirayama brings this poor bastard to life in a genuinely touching way. I love how as Calibur he goes full force on his creative use of Wonder Ride Books for attacks, and his debut as Jaou Dragon got my blood pumping. His end is also deeply tragic, and I really felt for him when he realized just how badly he fucked up. Hayato Fukamiya also does wonders for the backstory, and while he also doesn't get much to work with, Mitsuru Karahashi makes his regrets and love for Kento feel genuine.

Legeiel and Zooous are both very intimidating and entertaining villains. On top of being just the right balance of goofy and threatening, Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa's stage presences are both very strong, and their mixture of camaraderie and in-fighting is extremely believable. Zooous's rivalry with Rintaro feels incredible to see through to the end, and although Legeiel doesn't get quite the same treatment, Elemental Dragon had such a cool debut that it more than makes up for it. Their final fights are also absolute spectacles. I don't think their sympathetic angle works even close to as well as it does with MetsubouJinrai or even the Gamma, but I get it, power corrupts, and you probably feel a lot of sadness and regret for things you've done when you die unless you're a right bastard.

Isaac/Master Logos/Solomon is kinda generic. As wonderful as Keisuke Soma is, he doesn't get much dimension to work with. The result of that is while he nails being as smug and punchable as possible, he feels almost... comically generic. Genta Umemori from Shinkenger was full of personality! He was also basically some guy, but he was fun, he felt connected to the rest of the cast! Meanwhile the only real time we get to see Isaac's depth is when we see him crying over his failures. I almost appreciate him being unapologetically evil though, since I've seen way too many shows where redeemed villains get off scot free for way worse things, and some where they outright demand you to sympathize with them despite them doing nothing to warrant it.

Bahato/Falchion surprises me by not just being a movie villain whose actions affect the main plot, but also being a movie villain who actually gets to appear in series as a recurring threat! ...and it's not a particularly great showing on his part, sadly. Masashi Taniguchi does a wonderful job with what he's given, but his character feels like a retread of Eternal without any of what made Katsumi Daido a compelling and frightening villain. I'd like to believe Yuri when he says that he used to be a good person and a hero to the people, but I can only hear so many anime villain monologues about the pointlessness of life and the beauty of destruction before I can never take them seriously again. ...I think that's his biggest problem, actually. I thought he was an overall uninteresting and generic villain in the movie, and the cartoon nihilist he's shown to be in series is only a small step up. He still feels like filler. If only there were a far better written and much cooler villain who takes on the Mumeiken Kyomu after his de--

Desast is probably one of the finest anti-villains I've ever seen in recent years. On top of an absolutely badass character design and the excellent combination of Kazuya Okada/Danki Sakae's suit work and Koki Uchiyama's stellar voice acting, his story being so thoroughly intertwined with Ren's makes their shared journey and bromance a borderline Shakespearean tragedy. His struggle for identity despite Storious treating him as nothing more than a failed experiment and the Sword of Logos treating him as a mere monster really gripped me, and the way he uses what little time he has left to encourage Ren into blossoming on his own is absolutely beautiful. I think his enmity with Ogami is criminally underexplored in series, considering he killed several of the previous Riders and how Ogami's in desperate need of screentime.

Then there's our main villain, Kamen Rider Storious. Robin Furuya brings an incredible amount of charisma to this character, expertly portrayed as both a sinister, manipulative bastard , and as a lonely, tragic figure that arguably makes him feel even more villainous. Speaking as a struggling writer myself, it's easy to feel stuck in the idea of "fuck it, who cares, maybe everything is predestined", but I can't imagine what it's like to know that as the truth and carry it with you for all that time. All of your grand ideas have roots from your experiences, and you're not the only one who even could have those experiences. It's easy to just fall into despair and give up trying, but would that make you happy? Sure, Storious is sadistic, he may be fulfilling his goals, he may be ungodly powerful... but it's not enough for him, is it? All of his friends are gone, one of them even at his own hand, he probably doesn't have any idea what to do after he destroys all the world's stories, Touma even reached his full power before he did, and his downfall is so predictable that even a blind person could see it. He even seems to welcome it, what's up with that? But then I realized... OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD. He's so far gone, he's so desperate to stick it to the Almighty Book, he's willing to twist the archetype of the Hero's Journey so hard, it snaps in two. What I think is interesting is that he's ironically trying to chase the trend of "edgy superhero story" that became super popular in the 21st century. The Boys, Brightburn, Kamen Rider Amazons, The Sentry, No More Heroes, Magical Girl Site, even mainstream comics from DC and Marvel... Surely Storious must've seen the cruelty and tragedy these stories are filled with, but he chooses to go through with trying to force the world into this direction anyway. Did they, along with seeing the ever-popular tragedies of legendary playwrights and bleak satire of the twentieth century fuel his despair?

And yet... there's one who stands in determination against his ideals.

Our hero, Touma Kamiyama, the titular Kamen Rider portrayed by Syuichiro Naito and Kousuke Asai, he speaks to me on a personal level. There're plenty of jokes to be made about his procrastination in early chapters, his godless fashion sense, and him doing the funny run up the slope, that's all fine and dandy, but I rarely feel so connected to a character the way I did Touma. The struggle to create, find companionship, live your life, reach out to others... these're things a lot of people struggle with, and of course you see them depicted a lot in media about creators, but Saber gets to the root of what the greatest thing about storytelling really is. Giving people hope, while using the pain of the past as fuel for the future. Sure, Storious may be right about how every story has been done as far back as human civilization gets, he may even be right about how any spin or creativity humanity has is outright predestined. It should be pointless to even try, right? That's where Touma Kamiyama disagrees. He didn't spend all that time fighting and creating just to give up at the idea of predestination. His novel writing-fueled creativity in his early training, his devotion to his friends that let him surpass Kamijo as Dragonic Knight, his compassion for the Primitive Dragon that let him combine their powers to destroy Legeiel as Elemental Dragon, his resolve that let Xross Saber dethrone Solomon, and his passion for the craft of storytelling that let our heroes channel their wishes into Wonder Almighty... all stemming from the belief imparted onto him by his predecessor that "Hope lies beyond your resolution." And that you decide how your story ends. He may not be the greatest Rider to some, he may be as lame as others think he is, he may not even be my favorite, but I have no issue calling Touma Kamiyama... Kamen Rider Saber, one of the all time greatest carriers of the Kamen Rider name.

The final chapter's definitely not as great as some other Rider finales, but goddamn. Primitive Dragon consciously choosing to save Touma is so sweet and such a great emotional payoff, I loved jamming out to the opening theme while our boys lay the smackdown on Storious. Wonder Almighty's a fitting final bit to close the main series out with, if not exactly a great one. I think the cover is great, and the book's body is a lovely shade of candy apple red, but I really don't like how its pages are just the covers of the other books copy-pasted onto onto the pages, that feels lazy. Maybe if it were a panorama of all the books' characters, I'd like it a lot more as a symbol of how unified the Swordsmen are, but eh, what can you do? On a related note, does this mean all the "last episode extra final forms" of the Reiwa Era are gonna be named after their series's opening? That's a neat idea.

I felt a lot of feelings seeing all those video messages of Rider fans all across Japan talking about their favorite stories, and how their passion and fond memories help reshape the world. Mei's monologue at the ceremony about is also really touching and- IS THAT A HUMAGEAR!? :O

Y-yeah dude, it is! Wow, where have you guys been for the past 48 episodes?! Are you guys doing okay? How come you're like... the only one here? Is the technology of Hiden Intelligence only really that prevalent in that very specific metropolitan part of Japan and they're just not coming around much over here? Is it like Dragon Ball where anthropomorphic animals are just vibin' with humans while the heroes are off kicking ass? Apparently he's played by Hasegawa Keiichi, who wrote this episode and had the award ceremony named after him. ...is Hasegawa Keiichi a HumaGear in this universe then? Did he set up this award ceremony in Touma's honor? If so, why is it named after him? Did reading one of Touma's books lead to his Singularity? I know this is just a cameo, but... god, I have so many questions that probably will never be satisfactorily answered.

Overall, if I had to compare Saber to anything, it'd probably be Sam Reimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It's awkward, stupid, overwrought, undercooked, illogically written, scattershot, cheesy as fuck, and has a tendency to squander its otherwise fine execution; but the sheer passion for storytelling, sense of spectacle, deeply fascinating characters, and belief in the ideals set forth by the cast, crew, and fans are absolutely admirable. Improvements would certainly make it an overall better experience, to be sure, but there's something deeply captivating about how wonky this series is. Seeing everybody get their happy ending after all they've been through felt extremely gratifying though, and I may have to wait another for the epilogue to and then wait for Revice, but... man. I'm hella proud of our awkwardly-emoting, fashion disaster novelist and all of his heavily flawed friends for carrying the Kamen Rider name on to the future. Here's hoping Revice will keep it going.

Alright, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y, I had a lot to say. I'll probably be liveblogging Revice as episodes of that come out, so... look forward to that, I guess. See ya.

[mhdiaries]

Haunted – Student Spirits River Styxx Diary

Ghost Date... May 1

Welcome to the last voyage you will ever take. Now prepare yourself to say goodbye to everything you hold dear because you shall never see it again!

Hahahahaha - so silly. Dad says I’m not taking my junior reaper duties serious enough, so I’m practicing my “ominous voice.” I told him that I could be 30% more serious if he’d let me have a real scythe, but he said I would have to “earn it.” So. Not. Fair. Pfffttttt... He’s still upset, I think, about me using his scythe to cut out paper snowflakes to decorate the ship. Dad said he thought himself immune to fear until he saw what I’d done to his ship. Whatevs - I thought the ghost Yeti we were transporting really enjoyed that little touch! Anyway, I told him I would do my beast to be grave when we ferry new ghosts. I guess I probably shouldn’t tell him about the confetti cannon I ordered.  

Ghost Date... May 10

We didn’t have any passenger reservations today, so Dad gave me the day off, and I went to hang out with Vandala on her ship. She said she was going to sail to the phantom island Hy Brasil to do some shopping. When dad dropped me off, Vandala’s ship was already at full sail. I didn’t see Vandala on deck so I asked one of the skeleton crew where she was, and he pointed to the captain’s cabin. I stuck my head through the door and saw that Vandala was leaning against her captain’s chair with a very strange look on her face. I told her that I loved the shade of green she was wearing, and she said, “It’s not a fashion statement, River, I’m seasick.” Poor thing. I tried to cheer her up by singing a little pirate ditty I made up:

Though the sea be rolling and the waves be high, and the ship be rocking from side to side...

I think it must have touched her, because before I could finish she put her hand over her mouth and was fighting back tears as she zipped from the cabin. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and totes embarrass her, so I went back out on deck while she composed herself. I floated up to the quarterdeck and tried to convince the helmsmonsterto let me steer the ship for a while, but he wouldn’t even look at me. “Captain said after the last time you is not to touch the wheel... ma’am.” Geez grim, you accidently steer into a giant whirlpool one time, and every ghost is like, “Don’t let her take the wheel.” The next thing I did was pop in on the lookout up in the crow’s nest. After I floated back down to pick up and return his spy glass - pirates are so jumpy - he told me that Hy Brasil was coming into view, so I went down to find Vandala. Oh. My. Ghost. Something is ringing the call bell, better go up and see what it is. I’ll be back to finish you off later.

Ghost Date... May 10 (continued)

So when Dad has to go out to collect a few things, one of my duties as an R.I.P. (Reaper In Preparation) is to take care of customers when he is away. So I floated up to see a very red faced phantom pushing the call button like it was a vending machine that took his money but didn’t give him a candy bar. So he starts yelling... rude... when he see me, and insists that I take him to the other side. I told him that we were closed and to come back tomorrow. Then he DEMANDED to see my superior, and I said, “You do know who my superior is, right?” I think he then thought I was being rude, and he turned from red to purple. Then Dad came home. Dad’s customer service skills are of the scythe, and it wasn’t long - maybe a couple seconds - before the phantom turned a whiter shade of pale, and agreed to come back tomorrow...

Where was I? Oh, right, Hy Brasil. Vandala was feeling a little bit better, and by the time the ship was anchored in the harbor she was ready to hit the markets. The island only appears once every seven years, so it was crowded with phantoms, ghosts, specters and apparitions. I even thought I saw Kiyomi Haunterly there, but she disappeared before I could talk to her. There were lots of creepy cool shops, and I found my Dad a new blade cover for his scythe. It’s made from the toenail clippings, ewww - of a black dragon, and it fits Dad’s scythe blade perfectly. Vandala found a place to get her leg waxed - the wooden one - which she says cuts down on the wear and scare of salt water while keeping out the ghost termites. She also found a place to buy old treasure maps, which is strange, ‘cause if you had a map to a treasure, why wouldn’t you just go find it yourself? Anyway, the shop creeper told Vandala it was authentic, and she was all ready to buy it. Now, by this time I had put Dad’s scythe cover on the end of my staff ‘cause it was easier to carry that way, and my hood was pulled down over my face ‘cause it had started to rain. That’s when I decided it would be funny to pop up behind the shop creeper and practice my “ominous voice.” So I did, and when I said, “This map is fake - it will lead you to no treasure,” the shop creeper nearly jumped out of his ectoplasm. He looked at me, and started apologizing to Vandala, who was getting a very piratey scowl on her face. “I, uh, well you see, captain, I mean, of course, I will return your money minus a small restocking fee.” I was trying not to laugh and then I snorted, but an “ominous voice” snort sounds kind of like a growl, and he gave Vandala all her money back. After we left Vandala asked me how I knew the map was fake. I stopped, and using my “ominous voice” again told her “There are some secrets that only a reaper can know.” Then Vandala got very serious and said, “So, lucky guess then?” “You know it,” I answered, and we ended the day with ice scream before getting back on the ship. Later on, after we got under way, I think Vandala was wishing she’d skipped the ice scream.

Ghost Day... May 17

Okay, it’s not like I usually notice things like this, but something is going on at school, and it’s not good. Principal Revenant has been handing out detention like it’s candy. I wish it was candy, I love candy. Oh candy, why are you so sweet and delicious? Okay, so back to the not-so-scary-sweet Principal Revenant. She is so strict that you don’t have to break a rule to get into trouble; just breathing on one is enough to earn yourself a detention sundae with chain sprinkles... mmmm sprinkles... on top. I was telling Dad about the situation, and he did this thing he does when he knows something but can’t tell me. It sounds like “hhmmpph”, but second “m” and first “p” are silent - yeah, it’s hard to explain - but what it means is “All things shall be revealed in time.” It also means that I don’t have a ghost of a chance of getting any more information out of him because he is bound by the “Reaper’s Oath of Neutrality”:

By my scythe I do solemnly swear to use neither word nor deed to affect an outcome as yet undecided. 

Any reaper who breaks this oath must give up their scythe and spend the next thousand years as a solid pondering their poor choice. This happened to my Dad’s cousin who’s a high school guidance counselor now. Scary. R.I.Ps. don’t have to take that oath until we get our real scythes, but we are “encouraged to practice neutrality in every situation.” Hah! I challenge every reaper, R.I.P. or otherwise, to remain neutral about Principal Revenant. 

Ghost Day... May 20

Dad is going out of town to a reaper’s convention in Las Plague-ns and is leaving me in charge. WOOT! He also left me a list of Do’s and Don’ts as long as my staff, of course. Here are some of my faves:

1. Do not lend to boat to your Uncle Charon. Dad says it takes a week to clean up the stray coins and that Uncle C always returns it with the fuel tank empty. 

7. Do not turn this vessel into a party barge to the neglect of its primary mission. Hmmm...

15. Do no repaint the boat. Awww... Porter and I had already picked out some screechy keen colors, too.

36. Do not yell, “We’re going down! We’re going down! Get to the unlifeboats!” or “Captain, we’ve hit an iceberg!” or “GHOST KRAKEN!” It is not funny and makes the passengers nervous. Is too funny.

50. Do look at this as a big step toward getting your scythe. I trust you and know that you will do a grave job. - Thanks, Dad! I promise to make you proud.

[beetlebitchywitch]

Ya know what I’m horny on main for? Angry!Beej. I have this constant fantasy of coming home much later than I said I would, a lil bit tipsy, having walked home in the dark and Beej fucking railing me against the wall for worrying him so much.

UGH ok y’all really got me going with these and I for real cannot complain at all

Also, let it be known now that I typically write from a cis!female perspective, given that I am a cis female. I would be willing to write from a more gender neutral perspective if asked, but I’m hesitant to write Beej with a cis!male, not because I wouldn’t want to, but because I wouldn’t want to contribute to the fetishization that MLM couples so often go through. Not to say that any other female writers that write Beej with a male are doing so, I just had a major problem with that back in the day when I first started writing fanfiction and I don’t ever want to do that again, because fetishizing gay couples simply for being gay isn’t cool my dudes. 

CW: Name calling, light BDSM, general dirty things!

SO

It was a coworker’s birthday at work on Friday, so you were all invited out for drinks to celebrate. Beetlejuice, of course, wanted to go with you. “To protect you from creeps,” he said, but really it was to keep a hand on your hip, ready to make it very clear to all in the club that you were spoken for, if only you’d say his name. 

As much as you’d love to take Beetlejuice with you, you somehow think that being dragged away from any hopeful suitor by an unseen specter would not go over well. So, you begged him to let you go out on your own, promising to be home by 10, untouched and unharmed. Reluctantly, he agreed, so long as you wore his tie with your outfit- if he couldn’t go with you, he wanted his mark on you while you were gone.

You chuckled in amusement and slipped off to your bedroom to find an outfit to pair well with his striped tie, which you washed a few times in the sink for good measure given its…hygienic state. You eventually met Beej once more in your living room, a white button up and tight black skirt paired with his tie and the glittering sandworm bracelet he had made for you in the Netherworld.

Dear sweet God/Satan, you looked fucking delectable. He wanted to tear that fucking skirt, if you could even call that measly piece of fabric a skirt, off of your thighs and leave his mark on every inch of that smooth, delicious skin. But he knew how much you wanted to get out and enjoy some time with your friends, so he reluctantly attempted to shoo away his impending hard-on and stood up to greet you, whistling lowly. 

“Damn, sweetness, you look good enough to eat,” he drawled, leering at you darkly. “And with my tie, mmm, fucking impeccable. Now, are you gonna behave for me while you’re gone, doll?”

You nod with a sweet smile, understanding how much stress this was likely to put your boyfriend under. You appreciated his willingness to fight his insecurities so you could have time with your friends- and you wanted to make sure he knew.

“I’ll keep to myself, I promise, babe,” you say, drawing your fingertips down the side of his face. “Until I get home, of course. Then I’m all yours, as a thank you for what you’re doing for me tonight.”

The tips of his hair flashed pink as he rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly shy. “No need to thank me, babes. Just…don’t make me wait up. I want you to come back to me, safe and sound, alright?”

You answered with a simple kiss, rubbing your thumb over his cheek before pulling away and rushing out the front door with a wave. He sighed happily, drunk on even the softest of your kisses. God dammit, he was whipped…and he fucking loved it, damn you, you and your soft eyes and your warm smile and your beating heart. He stared after you for a moment before sighing and plopping down on your couch, already counting the seconds until your return.

2:00 AM, 5 hours later

Too many seconds. Too many fucking seconds. You were supposed to be home 4 fucking hours ago and he wasn’t sure if he should be worried for your safety, worried about your relationship, or angry at your lack of care for your promises. He’d spent the last hour debating on finding whatever bar you’d gone to and checking up on you, but the deep voice of anxiety in his mind warning him that he might find you in the midst of breaking his heart kept him glued to the couch, watching the front door anxiously. The minute he heard the knob turn, the pit of his stomach filled with a slurry of emotions.

You stumbled into your living room, reeking of alcohol and sweat and…who the fuck got close enough to you to leave their scent in your hair, on your skin, on your clothes? Beetlejuice rose from the couch, arms crossed with eyes of cold steel. You freeze- fuck, what time is it anyway?

“Where. Have you. Been?” he asked coldly, slowly, as if a perfect storm was brewing inside his lungs and ready to explode past his fanged teeth and lips worried raw. 

“Baby, I’m sorry, fuck, what time even is it? I had too much to drink-” Without another word from you, Beetlejuice snaps his fingers, and you feel the intoxication flee from your brain, your senses coming back to you as your body voids itself of the remnants of your night out. Suddenly, it’s all clear- he’s been waiting 4 hours longer than you promised he would, all alone, thinking God knows what about what you were up to. “Oh…oh my God. Beej, honey, please, I’m so sorry-”

“Whose scent is on you right now?” he growled, crimson beginning to crawl his way from root to tip in his hair, his eyes flashing dangerously with barely-restrained rage. “Who the fuck did you let close enough to you that I can smell him from here?”

Oh fuck. You were in for it, and you knew it. Despite the constant coldness of his body, you could feel heat radiating from him, as if the anger was truly burning deep inside him. But there was something else- the tips of his hair were a deep, rich blue. He wasn’t just angry- he was sad. 

“Baby, it was no one, I swear. There’s not much room in bars, people are pressed up against each other all the time! No one touched me like that, nothing happened.” God, you just wanted to fix this. 

“Nothing happened, huh? Then where the hell have you been?” he yelled, his fists clenching at his sides. “You promised me you would be home at 10, yet here you are, dragging yourself in at 2 AM, and you don’t smell like me anymore, you just smell like booze and other men and all the fun you had without me. Tell me, babes, did you have fun without me?” His voice broke a little at the very end of his sentence, his eyes trailed on the ground. God fucking dammit, you fucked up so badly- he was willing to challenge his insecurities for you, willing to let you go out on your own despite how scared it made him, and you took that trust and you practically spit on it. 

“Beej, please, I’m so sorry. Just…let me make it up to you,” you plead. Those last few words make his ears perk up, as if they’ve sparked an idea in his mind. Suddenly, he shoots you a snarling sneer, his hair deepened with streaks of magenta and his eyes locked on his tie around your neck.

“Oh, sweetness…trust me. You will.” In an instant, he has you pinned against the wall, lips crashing against yours, all teeth and tongue and wet heat. He hoisted you against the wall, his hands clutching your hips so tightly you knew you’d have bruises in the morning. You kissed him back ferociously, letting your hands drape over his shoulder and clutch at his suit jacket as your guilt is muddled with lust. He pulled away, smirking darkly at you. “I’ll tell you what’s about to happen, baby. You’re going to take my cock, nice and deep, and I’m gonna fuck you against this wall until the scent of whatever ugly breather got too close to you is gone. And if that takes all night? Well, I hope you’ve got it in you to cum more than once, because I’m not stopping, not unless you safeword. Is that fucking clear, or do I need to repeat myself?”

You gulped, feeling your panties grow wetter and wetter as he growled against your lips. Dear fucking Jesus, you still felt bad for what you did, but if it led to this…no, you weren’t gonna justify how you hurt him, but you were certainly gonna catalog this little escapade away for future exploration. You nodded feverishly, trying to lean in for another kiss, but he fisted his hand in your hair and held your head firmly against the wall.

“Stay still, Little Red, before the big bad wolf comes knockin’,” he drawled, placing your feet on the floor before tearing your skirt and your panties from your body. He whistled lowly, letting his fingers dip between your folds and gather your wetness on his finger tips. “Damn, darlin’, maybe you want the big bad wolf to come eat you up. Tell me, is that what you want? You want my mouth on you?”

A whine built in the back of your throat as you nod, biting your lips as his fingertip circles your swollen clit. “Fuck, Beej, please-”

“Oh no, I’m not your Beej tonight,” he snarled, letting his hand smack harshly against your ass. “Try again.”

“Fuck…Sir, please, please, your mouth!” you cried out. He chuckled darkly, gripping both of your thighs in his hands.

“Good girl, babycakes,” he said, letting his tongue trace along your folds, dipping in to circle your clit and reveling in the way your thighs trembled under his fingers. Your breathing quickened, your hands scrambling to find purchase in his hair as he tortured you with light traces of his tongue on your clit and down to your entrance. He let two fingers slip inside you as he sucked on your clit, growing harder at the sound of the long, deep moan it drew from you. When he felt you were properly prepared for him, he pulled away, despite your babbling protest. He unzipped his trousers, letting his cock spring out as he hoisted you back up against the wall, the swollen head dragging against your already sensitive pussy. 

“Sir, please, I’ll be good, I promise, just please fuck me-” and oh was it good when he slid into you in one smooth thrust, his face buried in the crook of your neck and inhaling your scent. He growled, giving you a quick, deep thrust. 

“You still smell like him,” he snarled. “Beg me, slut. Beg me to show you who you belong to, beg me to make you mine.”

“You, Sir, I belong to you, please, God, show me!” you cried out, grinding your hips down onto him. Something in him clearly snapped as he began to thrust into you wildly, his teeth sinking into your neck. You threw your head back against the wall, seeing stars and not giving anything even close to a shit because he felt so good, so warm, so strong. His cock hit that special spot inside you that made you clench around him, a hoarse scream wrenched from your lips.

“Yeah, right there? Right fucking there? Tell me, slut, that does that feel good?” he growled.

“Fuck yes, fuck, fuck, I’m so close, please please let me cum!” 

“My, ngh, sweet little slut, you can beg harder than that can’t you? Fuck, you’re so fucking tight, so wet around my cock baby,” he groaned, pounding into you with such intensity that you weren’t sure how much longer you could wait for his permission.

“Sir, please, fuck, I’ll be so good for you, I’ll never come home late again, I need to cum, holy shit, fuck, harder, let me cum!” you cried, your nails scratching down his shoulders in ecstasy. He laughed, taking pity on you and he reached down to play with your clit, and one, two, three thrusts later you were cumming around him, arching your back away from the wall as he too spilled inside you with a quiet groan into your neck. Finally, you slid to the floor in his arms, both sweaty and spent and high on adrenaline and dopamine and whatever other chemicals your love triggered inside you. After catching your breath, you opened your eyes to see him staring back at you, with his vibrant pink hair drooping down over his forehead. You smiled softly, shyly, and ran your fingers through it. 

“Beetlejuice, I mean it. I am so, so sorry that I came home so late. I knew how big of a challenge this was going to be for you, and yet I was entirely careless and that wasn’t fair to you. And as absolutely mind-blowing as that sex was, I don’t want this conversation to end there. You deserve better than that. I want to know how you’re feeling,” you murmured, pulling him next to you against a wall and laying your head on his shoulder. You felt him heave a heavy sigh. 

“I’m better now that you don’t smell like some fucking sweaty ass breather,” he said. “But…I was questioning everything. I wanted to come find you, make sure you weren’t hurt or worse, but I just…I thought maybe you’d decided you didn’t want me, met someone else that made you happier, and that if I came to find you, I’d just see that it was all true.” 

Fuck it all if that didn’t stab you right in the gut. You can see the tips of Beej’s hair fading to a soft blue, tinged with sadness, and you can’t resist the urge to lean up and leave soft, loving kisses across his face.

“There is no one that can make me happier than you do, Beej,” you asserted, meeting his gaze intently. “You really think some random asshole in a bar could ever live up to you? I mean, you’re the Ghost with the Most, you rock my world, you hold me steady when I’m weak, you make me laugh when I want to cry, I just…no one-night-stand in a bar would ever be worth losing your love, losing you. I love you, Beetlejuice. I love you more than you know, and that’s OK. I understand your fear, and I promise, I’m going to be more cognizant of how my actions affect you from now on. And if I mess up…well, sometimes naughty sluts need punishing, hm?” You added that last bit with a less-than-innocent wink, pulling a laugh from Beetlejuice’s lips despite the tears shimmering in his eyes.

“I love you too, babes, you know that? I never thought some fragile, living girl could ever hold me down, but I don’t regret it for a second. You’re mine, and I’m yours, and I know I don’t remember that a lot but…I’m tryin’, babes. You know I’m tryin, right?” he asked, unsure. You smile, leaning forward for one final kiss before pulling him to his feet and towards your bedroom- a very long cuddle session is in order.

“Yeah, Beej. I know.”

AAAAAAAH I really need to go to sleep but W O W 

Also I know I got a little possessive!beetlejuice going in there but come on, can you blame me?

[baidar-oroq]

13-Home

I originally wrote this story just after 5.3 launched as something I only shared with @voidsharkffxiv, as we’d always RPed Baidar and two of his characters, Kagetake Okeya and Naoh’li Nelhah, as collectively experiencing the Shadowbringers MSQ. In a lot of ways, while it is clearly resolving a lot for them, it also has served as the launching pad for what’s become my FFXIV Write 2020 work, and since today is a you pick day, I felt it fair to post it! Has spoilers for the 5.3 MSQ, especially the trial, so it will be tagged accordingly.) (Setting: Mor Dhona, the Rising Stones, the Source/The Crystal Tower, the First, the end of the 5.3 MSQ.) He has to will his hands to not shake as he places the crystal holding the memories and soul of Y’shtola by her head-it had been agreed, when the three had passed through the Rift, that Naoh’li would carry them, him having the most connection to all of the Scions, the longest friendships. But when the time came to place their souls and minds by them, it had been Krile that had offered Baidar Y’shtola’s, simply nodding at him. He remembers that day when he had carried Y’shtola out of the Barber at Rhalgr’s Reach in the aftermath of Zenos’ brutal raid, how Krile had wanted to ask what there was between him and Y’shtola. She had never asked in the end, but by then, it had become obvious what there was. He doesn’t quite realize that he has sunk to his knees beside her bed, Kage and Naoh’li standing at the end of it, waiting to see if this insane scheme was going to work. How can we know what will happen? What if she regains her soul but not her memory? What if something goes wrong? What if Krile screwed up somehow and this isn’t her soul and she turns into Urianger or something? 

He closes his eyes, the slightest smile coming to his face at that last thought. Baidar is faintly aware that the last thought is ridiculous, but these aren’t normal events in the least. Despite the time they spent on the First in saying their farewells, his body is still bruised and worn from the war against Elidibus and the specters of Light that he had summoned to face them, to fuel his ascendancy into godhood, to become the primal he was in truth. The desperate race across Norvrandt, battling beside old friends and allies, until it had been them, and the Exarch, climbing the Crystal Tower to bring it all to an end had been etched into his bones, and it never takes much for him to recall those last desperate moments…

Light storms down on them from the armored figure that Elidibus had ascended into, the first Warrior of Light of myth given form. Portals explode into being around them, figures of Light appearing and racing at them, weapons raised. Kage’s shield is up, his feet braced, the power of a goddess manifesting itself as wings unfurled from his shield and his very body. Every bolt of power, power that shakes the Crystal Tower, that Elidibus hurls at them, alongside blows from his immense sword, hits the Rock of Hydaelyn and does nothing but elicit grunts of effort. “That all you got?” Kage yells in defiance. 

Under the cover of the shield, Baidar and Naoh’li fight, Naoh’li throwing magics out as if they were party favors, Baidar’s katana a blur in the light. The specters try to rush them from both sides, but neither give way. Baidar in fact is laughing, laughing yet again as he kills, and Naoh’li shoots him a look. “What are you laughing at?” he yells. 

Dragonsong draws a complex pattern in the air that destroys a dragoon made of energy just before he lands on top of Baidar, who is still laughing. “That all you got?” he yells, grinning madly at Kage. “Been fighting beside me too long!”

Kage gives him a smile as he weathers another desperate assault from Elidibus. Then his face snaps back into its serious mode. “We can’t keep this up though! Going to clear you two some space and then give the bastard everything you’ve got!”

“It won’t be enough!” Elidibus roars, racing towards them, sword raised, glowing with the power of a star, like a landslide coming to wipe them from existence. Kage waits, waits, balanced on that edge that he’s learned to walk so well beside Baidar and Naoh’li, and at the last possible moment he strikes. He parries the sword with an impact that causes shockwaves in the air, and then with every ounce of his strength he barges the Warrior of Light in the face with his shield with a sickening impact. Elidibus falls backwards, staggered, as Naoh’li’s codex snaps open in his hand and he says an incantation that sounds as if a dragon had roared. A roar that is answered as a form appears in the air above Naoh’li, wings flapping with dread menace, the Calamity himself making itself manifest from aether. 

A shade of Bahamut, the destroyer-god, ender of worlds, appears above them, infused with as much aether as Naoh’li can spare from what he has gathered in this battle, and as if it was a falcon cast from the falconer’s glove, Bahamut races towards Elidibus, trailing the same flames that had devastated Carteneau. The construct explodes in a fireball that drives Elidibus into the floor, smashing the Crystal Tower’s surface. “Baidar!” Naoh’li yells hoarsely, “Finish it!”

Baidar raises Dragonsong over his head, the crimson aether of Nidhogg roaring upward in a pillar of rage as Kage and Naoh’li step behind him, Kage with his sword and shield at the ready, the words in Naoh’li’s codex glowing with aether as Elidibus slowly rises to his feet. More power than Baidar has ever raised fills him, drawn from the aether of two of the most important people in his world, and the floor craters under their feet as the power builds to a crescendo in their souls. He remembers something he said to Y’shtola on the night before they attacked Vauthry on Mount Gulg, as he was falling prey to light sickness, and it comes to his lips in a shout that he directs at an embodiment of hope. “What do we do?!”

He slashes Dragonsong a dozen times in the air in front of him, drawing lines of power in front of him before focusing all of his might into a colossal beam of crimson that races out towards Elidibus, the ultimate art of the samurai, the Doom of the Living. “WE HOPE!”

For a moment, an endless moment, the last of the Unsundered, child of Amaurot, the Warrior of Light, resists the attack, but in the end, he is driven to the floor by it, his armor rent and torn, a god taken down by mere mortals…

Baidar realizes that light is beginning to glow around each of the crystals by each of the Scions, and he can sense as one by one, aether moves into the bodies of each one of them. He hears, distantly, Alisaie and Thancred sit up and speak, but all he can see is Y’shtola sitting up by him, becoming a blur as his eyes fill with tears, and he doesn’t properly register what she says until he realizes she has spoken his name. He looks for a moment at Kage and Naoh’li, neither even bothering to hide their joy, then he turns and takes her hands in his and smiles as tears run down his cheeks.

“Hey, Y’shtola. Welcome home.”