#however I cannot at the moment do treatment and work

[idkimoutofideas]

Having a weird one this week

[r0-boat]

Hello there (general kenobi)

SO! I was wondering if i could request the kings reacting to Kings, MC having mental breakdown or like crying all alone somewhere but suddenly hide it (at least try to) when they discover the crying

I just had a good cry so i got curious later to how they would React

Thank you! Luv u ! And love your writing! 💕😍😍

Whb Kings reaction to:

Mc having a mental breakdown and crying

Cw: angst, hurt/comfort

Intro

The memories of Gabriel killing your best friend playing your head You had been so strong up to this moment... Why... Why now?

Nonetheless seeing a murder in front of you would be hard on any human especially one who had lost their parents in a homicide.

You try to tell yourself that he's okay and you will be okay. But it's hard to believe when the same angel is hunting you down and his mark shows crystal clear on your skin, a mark you try desperately to wash off. Soon everything came crashing down being being ripped from your home to an unfamiliar place the smell of blood and bodies angel and devil on the streets of Gehenna. You locked yourself into your room unable to hold back your emotion.

Satan

He practically ripped the door off its hinges. Even though you have the door locked he can sense you are in distress locked door or not you are in danger and he is not going to let it stop him.

You weren't in danger no angel has broken in, You are not hurt You are not bleeding but you still cry, scooping you into his arms It doesn't matter what you were crying about You are still crying, You are still hurting, And he will cradle you into his arms until those tears dry. Put the soft voice he'll ask you what's wrong He knows he cannot use his normal voice because he'll just scare you. Through your broken sobs He knows you're talking about Gabriel and the war. He clutches his teeth anger is bubbling inside him but he keeps it down. He swears that he will protect you and that the lives lost will not be in vain.

Those angels will pay. Gabriel will pay.

Mammon

He immediately cradles you holding you close your small frame against his large chest. He picks you up carrying you to his bedroom laying you down on soft silk he lays next to you. A sad human must be pampered.

Mammon is not a good talker but he knows how to take care of the things he loves. If you need your alone time he understands he'll make sure your treatment today will be of utmost importance. If you want he will stay with you being there to be a big teddy bear for you to hold and cry and an ear to listen. You'll be bathed in his bathroom tonight You will have all of your favorites prepared and delivered. You will not leave his room You will not leave his side.

Leviathan

He walks in your room more like barges into your room. Locks do not exist in his castle. Only for him to freeze his eyes going wide when he sees you crawled up crying. He feels his heart sink into a pit in his stomach.

He feels like shrinking into a puddle He knows part of this was his fault. But he doesn't know how to talk to people. He doesn't know how to console you He doesn't know how to help!!

He leaves the room ordering his servants to do anything to make you feel better or else they'll get hanged. To hell with his jealousy, you come first in times like these!

Beel

You know what makes him feel better? Going out and having fun. However sometimes that doesn't work with certain people. As his nobles do what they can to console you. He barrels through the door. loads of snacks in his arms (He didn't know which one you wanted so he just got everything)

Sometimes some people rather just be left alone during that time but feels about just can't knowing that you're on the other side of the door hurting. Knocking at your door constantly checking in on you. He's just worried.

Once you calm down he will listen to everything you have to say while the two of you eat snacks.

Lucifer

Lucifer is not well versed in mental health of humans So whatever he does he goes by the book whatever his books on human say he does. Being the extremely direct demon he is He will directly ask you if something is wrong and what has you so sad. However since he is not well versed in human mental health he is kind of scrambling, He is trying everything trying to stay calm. In the end he sits next to you petting your head until you calm down.

He does not like when you shed your tears in sorrow, They do not feel as good as when you shut them not of anger or pleasure or fear.

Oh boy if he hears what Gabriel did He will personally deal with his brother himself. Lucifer does not take kindly to angels or devils that hurt his beloved one move over Satan Lucifer needs a 'family reunion' with his brother.

[howtofightwrite]

re: the question about stunning someone with head trauma (and how you Should Not unless you're okay with them dying) would knocking the wind out of a character be a better way to have that happen?

Yes, but no.

So, knocking the wind out of someone is a lot safer. I wouldn't say perfectly safe, this is how Harry Houdini died, after all. However, it's a lot safer that head wounds, and usually wouldn't result in any major injuries.

The downside is against a trained opponent, who's ready for the hit, it's not going to work. This isn't called a, “sucker punch,” without reason. If your abdominal muscles are tensed for the punch, they will absorb a lot of the blow. So this works better against the unaware or the untrained.

The other problem is, it's not going to take someone out for the duration of the scene. In a self defense situation, winding your attacker is great, because it lets you create an opening to start your escape. But, it's not going to stun someone for minutes. From personal experience, you can measure the time you gain from winding your opponent in seconds.

There are combos that start with winding someone and lead into more painful blows that can extend that opening. But, there is a continuity of force: Incapacitating someone for longer requires inflicting harm that is increasingly difficult (impossible) to moderate.

If the goal is to escape from someone who means you harm, then yeah, an elbow strike to their stomach, will give you the opportunity to get out of there.

If the goal is to have a prolonged conversation while standing over a defeated (but still living foe), that's not really something you can do intentionally. At the same time, intentional application of lethal force isn't as reliable as you might expect. For example, gunshot wounds to the head are only fatal ~98% of the time.

The issue with this train of thought is that the individual inflicting harm cannot moderate for the desired outcome. Knocking someone out, only for them to recover, is 100% possible. However, you can't do that intentionally. And having a character who does bounce another person's head off the pavement until they stop twitching, is an incredibly violent act, and it's not going to be a casual, “well they're just knocked out.” It's a, “Carl, that kills people,” moment.

If you want a character that is disproportionately violent, and probably scares everyone around them a bit, this will feed into that presentation. If you want a character who's a good person because they don't kill people, then attempting to inflict life altering injuries on someone is probably not the best way to demonstrate their ethics.

(Remember, Batman doesn't kill people, he just shatters their spines; leaving them at the mercy of the American health care system. So, the real moral lesson of Batman is that it's better to be psychologically unwell and wealthy, than economically disadvantaged. You can murder half of the city, and he'll gently deposit you in a padded cell that you can escape from whenever you get bored of the place, but if you so much as imply that you'll resort to less than legal means to put food on the table for your starving family, he will end your existence as a vertebrate.)

And, yes, I fully realize that, by the nature of his character, and comics, Batman (like most superhero comics) is poorly suited to discuss the complex factors involved in street level crime. This this is more of a critique on the treatment of “violence is okay, so long as no one ends up in the morgue,” more than a specific character critique.

There's another part to this that worth remembering, and I know I've said this before, but when you're writing, violence offers diminishing returns. Violence releases the tension you've been building. You can think of it like a rubber band gun. Until you pull the trigger, that rubber band is under tension, and the moment you release it, you hit your audience. Now, getting hit a rubber band is a sharp, and somewhat unpleasant experience, but the second time is going to annoy you less than the first, and if you're constantly bombarded with them, you'll quickly become numb to their impacts.

I'm not saying that you can't, or shouldn't, use violence, however as a writer, you are paying a very real cost whenever you use violence to resolve a scene. It's something that you do need to consider carefully. Part of my aversion to questions like this comes from this structural consideration. A lot of writers make the mistake of using non-lethal violence somewhat indiscriminately. This can absolutely harm the credibility of your characters, and your world.

There is absolutely a place for violence in stories, however, this is a tool that is most effective when used sparingly, or deliberately. (This doesn't mean the violence itself needs to be deliberate, just your use of it.)

A lot of the time when someone says, “I want to use violence to temporarily remove a character from the scene,” that's a scenario that will harm your story. There are a lot of ways to remove a character from a scene, and I don't mean, “alternatives to fighting,” like hiding from them or talking them down. The limit here is your creativity, and in a lot of ways, violence is the least interesting way to achieve your goals.

-Starke

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[thehollowwriter]

I think we should talk more about the mysgony when it comes to parents in media, and how fathers are favoured and praised for the most the most basic shit while mothers are demonised for making mistakes or being bad. This is gonna be a long one, buckle up.

I hate Mrs Rosehearts as much as the next guy, but it's unfair that Mr Rosehearts is not given similar criticism for allowing his wife to treat Riddle the way he does. I hardly see people bring him up apart from mentioning that Riddle's parents probably have an unhappy marriage, and some people say something along the lines of "poor Mr Rosehearts, struggling with a wife like that".

Of course, we don't know enough about his character to gauge how Mrs Rosehearts treats him, bit it's clear he just passively stands to the side when it comes to whatever Mrs Rosehearts wants to do with Riddle. That itself is very harmful and it's own form of abuse, imo.

The same applies to Alador Blight from the Owl House. He's praised for being a wonderful dad that finally came through and stood up to his "horrible wretched bitch of a wife" (who, if she was a guy, would probably have more people analysing her and trying to find ways to sympathise with her just saying)..

And while, yes, he did stand up to her and that's a good thing, the general consensus is he was a brilliant dad from the start that was held back by his wife's wicked ways. But... that's not true? His first appearance is him telling Amity to stop being friends with Willow. He ignores his children constantly, and, like Mr Rosehearts, stands passively to the side when Odaliah treats her children like her property.

He's a neglectful parent at best and just as concerned with image and status at Odaliah at worst. But... that stuff is just forgotten. Most people just say "we thought he was bad but it turns out he was manipulated by his wife". He is HIS OWN PERSON. You cannot just blame everything on his "evil manipulative wife" (which is also smt that sometimes happens irl when both parents are abusive). He is still fully capable of making his own decisions.

And again, it's unfortunate, but if Odaliah were to be given his treatment or if Alador were a woman, the general response would be "That's sad but not an excuse! I can't believe she was forgiven!"

The worst I can think of atm, is Silco and Vi from Arcane. Now ofc they're not married. But the circumstances are similar.

Silco is praised to the high heavens for being one of the best dads in animation (#1 goes to Doofenshmirtz ofc, which I agree with) and the reasons for this are because he... shows his care, puts Jinx first, and loves her. Wow. Fucking groundbreaking am I right. The bar is soooo high/s

The thing is, Jinx is a child soldier. She works for Silco, protects his shipments of Shimmer, takes out the enemies that need taken out, etc. He found her as a young child, and when we cut to the present, she's murdering people without so much as flinching, even delighting in it, and suffering badly from trauma and hallucinations.

Obviously, Jinx was not given the care she needed, and was instead trained to assist Silco.

Am I denying Silco loves her? Of course not! He clearly does. But that's just not good enough. He's a loving dad, but not a good one. He's not the father that neither Jinx nor Powder needed.

Meanwhile, we have Vi. Vi loves Powder, protects her, cares for her, tries to keep her out of harm, stands up for her, and so on. She cares so deeply for Powder, and you can see it. The moment she got out of prison, her first goal was to find Powder.

However, because she hit Powder once, and shouted at her, she's apparently an abusive monster who never cared about Powder. Reminder, she hit Powder because her entire family was killed in front of her and then she learned Powder was the reason that happened. She was like... 14? And she immediately left to calm down. She did not abandon Powder, she left to take a breather because she realised she was too angry. And when she came back, she was drugged and arrested.

Silco is a grown adult who purposefully flooded the streets of the Undercity with a highly addictive drug, turned Powder into a soldier, and is generally a terrible person, even if he is a three dimensional amd well written antagonist.

Vi started the story as a teenager suffering poverty and discrimination just like Silco, had to deal with her own parents death, then her adoptive family was killed in front of her, and then she was forcefully taken from her sister. And yet, people are convinced Vi is a terrible and abusive sister who never loved Powder?

The only example worse than this, methinks, is Stella and Stolas from Helluva Boss.

Stella is a shitty mother who ignores her daughter, which the the audience is shown via a scene were Octavia is having a nightmare and she tells Stolas to deal with it. She frequently screams and swears at Stolas and throws things at him, with no regard for her daughter's presence or feelings.

This is pretty terrible, right? Of course! Everyone knows Stella is a horrible mother.

Stolas on the other hand, is praised for being such an loving and caring father, who tries his best. He even has a song with Octavia!

Well, he also: openly talks about having sex with Blitz and how much he likes it while she was right there, told her people want her money and her body, generally doesn't pay much attention to her either bc he's wallowing about Blitz not loving him back, and doesn't give her feelings much regard.

And yet, the misogyny extends beyond just Stella because people generally agree that Octavia is ungrateful and doesn't appreciate Stolas enough. They get mad at her for disliking the fact that Stolas is cheating on her mother with an imp who's been nothing but rude to her and ruining their family further, and even mock her for feeling unloved. Hell even Brandon, one of the creators, has allegedly recently called her a "cockblocking slut" which, frankly, is a disgusting thing to say about a 17 year old girl.

Idk man I'm just tired.

[nicromancytarot]

3 OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE THE MOST MONEY, WHICH ONE WILL YOU PICK???

This is a general reading based on a collective of people. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. If you don’t feel the pile resonates with you, don’t be scared to try another, if it still doesn’t feel right, that’s ok! Maybe our energies aren’t as connected and my readings are not for you.

I do these strictly for fun and educational purposes. I don’t change for these readings and I do not fake readings. I would tell you the cards I got but I pull like 20-30 cards each reading and that just slightly a strenuous task to write them all down lmao.

PICK A CARD READING

I asked my spirit guides what 3 opportunities coming into your life would give you the best and most successful financial abundance, pick a pile to find out.

Pile 1 ———> Pile 2 ———> Pile 3

PILE 1

1) Office/corporate job.

This will unfortunately be a place of unhappiness for you, you may feel as though you always have to keep your guard up to protect yourself from your colleges. This is certainly a workplace where you will have to work with others and contribute to the working aspect of it, but you may not feel safe or comfortable around some of the other people. This is most likely due to the fact that this is showing to be a workplace in which everyone is pushing each other out of the way in hopes to reach the top, but so many fall from the climb.

The reason I believe spirit is saying that it’s a good place for financial opportunities is because it truly does pay very well, the only downside being the people and environment you have to work with. You may feel as though you cannot leave this job due to the money and may feel oppressed by it.

ADVICE: Focus on your mental health before caring for others, give yourself a pat on the back for being able to deal with this situation and start by healthily and safely moving away from this.

2) Building a business or partnership.

It will be a risky jump at first and may even make you wonder if it’s worth it at the start - it very much will be so continue, persevere and do not give up. This will give you the best financial opportunity out of the three and I see the money rolling in quickly with the ace of wands. You will be able to share this money with those you love and even have the ability to flaunt it as you please.

To do this opportunity you will need to leave whatever current situation you are in at this moment. It will appear scary at first but it will become an uphill climb and you will reach it to the top.

ADVICE: Before starting this business or partnership you will need to take some time to clear any debts you have, ensure you will not have to deal with them after embracing this opportunity and make sure it is all taken care of prior to this new beginning.

3) Relationships.

I see you getting into a relationship with someone who will give you the opportunity to either work alongside them or allow them to supply for you. They have enough money to sustain the both of you, and even a family if needed. This is truly up to you and you will not feel financially burdened by them with whatever decision you make.

I do however unfortunately see this being a short-lived situation (around 2-3 years.) There will be an end to this relationship and at that point if you haven’t already, you will need to begin finding ways to make your own money. There will be a short period of stress and stagnancy at the beginning of the end of this relationship, but you will make it out unscathed.

ADVICE: Use manifestation and prayer to your advantage, God, spirit or source are always listening and are ready to give you the treatment you deserve, do not be shy of asking for help.

PILE 2

1) Humanitarian work, turned fame.

I see you working alongside charities or advocating for humanitarian causes. I’m being shown someone who is giving their everything while not expecting anything in return. With the knight of swords I notice a person leading a protest and it truly looks and feels like they are making an anticipated difference. Your angels, God or the universe is seeing this and preparing a reward for your hard work.

Unfortunately there will be a short time filled with gossip and hate, I see this reaching the media and that is what will fuel people to talk bad on you and what you are doing. Do not let this get you down because this will bring good karma your way and you will receive abundance in all forms, I see someone who is now able to spend money on what they want while still helping out with these important causes and spreading the word around the world.

This energy is so powerful, with the lovers I can tell that you, my pile 2 are destined to do this and to take this path. Your voice and your influence is sure to change the world, it will make people open their eyes up to the important things and you will be noticed for making the world a better place.

ADVICE: Visualise abundance in all forms, you guys are extremely talented at bringing your visualisations to life so use this ability to bring the most positivity and money your way.

2) Lawyer/place of law, defamation, lawsuit, divorce.

I know this doesn’t seem very positive in itself but I see many ways of this playing out for you. In some cases it may be that a few of you are becoming lawyers or even judges, if so I see this bringing in a windfall of abundance and you will once again be gaining money for imposing justice on those who have suffered injustice.

For those of you who don’t resonate with that, I see you going through some troublesome time with the law, I don’t see it being that serious but it would make sense having the fact that you guys are my famous pile. There’s something to do with either a tricky divorce, a lawsuit or a defamation case. Luckily, I do see you guys winning this and gaining a lot of money from it whatever it is. Weirdly enough I do notice you possibly meeting someone who could turn into a romantic partner in the future while in this place LMAO.

ADVICE: Let the lawyers deal with this issue, do not try to chase anything, you may get yourself in trouble. For those of you who are the lawyers/judges, continue what you’re doing, don’t doubt yourself.

3) Partnership or collaboration with friends.

For the time it would last it can definitely bring in a lot of money. I do feel as though the downfall would be caused by some type of betrayal or just an argument between friends. At the time of the end you will feel very trapped and not very sure what to do next and may even end up hoarding the wealth you have made.

Once this period is over, I notice that you will either begin working on this project by yourself or scrap it to create something new. I will not sugarcoat it for you - both of these decisions have the same fait, they either turn out to be very successful and bring in a lot of extra money, or they fail completely. Take some time to think what you want before rushing into anything.

ADVICE: Let go of guilt, there is no need for you to feel guilty for something ending, you can always try again or make it better, don’t be so hard on yourself.

PILE 3

1) Entertainment or public speaking.

This first opportunity is divinely picked, even if you decide not to do this for money, you will be doing it nonetheless (money is just an extra bonus.) I got the 10 of pentacles in two decks and the 9 of pentacles as well so I think we can both notice the amazing financial opportunities this can bring.

This will lead you to be very vulnerable and open, expressing your emotions and talking about past experiences. When doing this reading I had an urge to use one of my more “taboo” decks so I assume this has to do with something that a lot of people would frown upon. This could show as expressing mental struggles through music or even talking about trauma as a stand up comedian for example.

ADVICE: Use manifestation and prayer to your advantage, God, spirit or source are always listening and are ready to give you the treatment you deserve, do not be shy of asking for help.

2) Charity work + relationships.

I see that you’ll start some type of work just for the sake of helping others. This will bring in much manifested abundance in all forms. You will feel very shut off to the idea of other people helping you out and you may refuse help from others during this time.

A relationship or perhaps job offer will come your way, this will bring great teamwork and abundance. I feel at the start of this opportunity you will try your best to balance these two things, but will inevitably come to the realisation that you cannot have everything at once and will end up needing to choose one while losing and letting go of the other.

ADVICE: Make a gratitude list for both of these things, which one makes you the the most grateful? Perhaps that the one you must continue on the path of.

3) Spiritual work/healing.

There’s energy of you tapping into the 4D and learning that you can manifest whatever you please while also continuing to help other people on this journey. There could be a sense of working with past lives and alongside your spiritual gifts, maybe even helping people with shadow work.

Another very destined path, I feel this would treat you very well and help you gain a large sum of money along the way. This will however become very time consuming and you will need to stay very motivated and focused.

ADVICE: Don’t shy from asking for help when you need it. Always have courage and do not give up.

[transmonstera]

PLEASE READ BELOW

Hi! I am a UK based trans artist and writer looking to pursue a private hysterectomy. I run an Etsy store (you may even have one of my stickers or badges!) and work part time but am still struggling to save much of anything towards surgery due to debt, living costs, etc so I’m looking for a little bit of help!

The reason I am pursuing a hysterectomy now is due to having cervical ectropion. This condition is where the cervix is essentially inside out and causes bleeding and excruciating pain. Frustratingly enough the treatment for this condition worked for all of two weeks before returning straight back to how it used to be. Cervical ectropion is aggravated by fluctuating hormone levels, particularly estrogen, so if I was to ever experience atrophy and seek treatment for that it would only make my ectropion far worse. The NHS does not offer hysterectomies for this condition due to them deeming it “a harmless condition”. Funnily enough the only procedure they approve of to “treat” this is a tubal ligation which has nothing to do with the cervix (make it make sense). 

I could attempt to get a hysterectomy through my GIC (Nottingham), however their communication is abysmal, I get one appointment a year with them and I cannot sit by and wait for the topic to come up on their terms, they never even spoke to me about top surgery (after telling me they would) leaving me to get that privately too, and I think even if they do approve a referral it’d take far too long and I would have little control in the situation. I simply cannot be in this pain for however long they wish to take to help me. Especially with how things are going for trans healthcare.

So I’m looking to get it privately. I have been recommended Mr Saurabh Phadnis with Nuffield Health in London due to him approving hysterectomies for many reasons and getting rid of everything you wish to remove and not just the bare minimum. I would like to go with him as I wish to remove everything including the cervix. My GP is happy to do a referral for him, so it is literally just a case of getting the funds. I was quoted an estimate of roughly £9000. I’m not going to ask for people to send me that amount as I know it is a huge sum to ask for. I’m hoping to raise as much as I can by about January/February time (through donations, etsy sales, and anything I can spare from my part time job) and look at taking out a loan for whatever is left over and if I can save even a third of the full amount that would help immensely.

A hysterectomy would truly change everything. I don’t want to take depo injections for the rest of my life, I don’t want to be in pain anymore and I don’t want to bleed randomly throughout the day because I dared to go for a walk. This is not just for transition purposes, this is so I can live without fear of further pain, more bleeding, being unable to treat potential atrophy because of an existing condition, HPV, cervical cancer, pregnancy scares etc.

If you'd like to donate:

ko-fi.com/transmonstera

cashapp: £transmonstera

Even if you can’t donate, please take a moment to share. It’d mean the world to me.

[saltymongoose]

ok i have a request: phobos with a shy player who hides behind him to avoid talking to people. extra bonus points if they also tend to get overstimulated and will just hang out in his office because they know nobody will disturb them

Of course! Here you go Anon, Happy New Year! <3

Phobos' Reaction to a Shy!Player

(TW: Yandere, Obsessive Behavior, Referenced Violence)

The moment you first show some signs of extreme shyness, Phobos’ concern is obvious. The sight of you ducking behind him when two of his agents passed by made him wonder if they'd committed the sin of scaring you in some way.

He’ll ask you about it in a soft manner, ever polite and gentlemanly. “Have my men done anything to make you wary, Your Grace? I assure you, I’ll punish them appropriately for their transgression, whatever it might be."

(Perhaps he was a little too convinced that they did something. But the Director couldn’t stand for anyone or anything making you too scared to be there at the Nexus’ headquarters, too scared to be near him. Plus, he couldn’t stand it if these nobodies made his organization look bad to you. Not when all of this was for your favor.)

You wave your hands and try to assuage his concern, explaining that you were just a bit overwhelmed by others’ attention and that his personnel weren’t at fault for anything. (Luckily for them.) The Director merely hummed in response, but you could tell he was put at ease by the way his hand fell from the pommel of the sword at his side.

After that, however, Phobos learns to appreciate your shyness each time it rears its head. The way it causes you to go to him for comfort is something he can’t help but adore, not only because it serves him with that attention from you he so craves, but also because it shows just how much you trust him.

Really, it’s enough to make him swoon. Witnessing his God showing so much faith in him and his capabilities, seeing how you go to him and him alone for comfort—it's far more than any simple vessel of yours could hope for.

Phobos will do his best to ensure that you never regret your choice, and he’ll be infinitely welcoming and understanding whenever you feel the need to escape from others’ attention.

He’ll place himself between you and anyone else who enters your vicinity, acting as a barrier should you not want to spend your time mingling with his lessers. (Besides, he really doesn’t think that they deserve an inkling of your attention anyway, even if they are his underlings.)

If you do decide to socialize, he’ll try to keep you close regardless. He figures it would be best to do so in case anyone tries to get too comfortable around you or dares to upset you.

Needless to say, the workers of the Nexus Core are never truly at ease whenever they’re around you; it’s impossible to be. Not when their Director is leering in their direction like he’s a second away from violently lunging at them. And they honestly believe Phobos enjoys the discomfort they feel around him. (And they’d be right.)

On the off chance that Phobos cannot accompany you, he’ll have one of his officers do it instead (likely a Tower Guard or another one of his more powerful units). They’ll be under strict orders concerning their treatment of you, of course.

Phobos absolutely loves it when you hide away in his office to get some proper peace and quiet. Just being able to look up from his work and see you lazing about on the seat closest to his or reading a book he’s gifted you makes him feel all the more warm in your presence. Perhaps it’s the joy of being in your sphere, or simply the gratefulness he has that you chose him and his place as your getaway, but the butterflies in his chest can’t seem to die down when you’re so close.

He’ll encourage you to stay more often and for longer each time you drop by. Phobos will also use a myriad of reasons to try to convince you if you hesitate; whether it be his need for your tactical knowledge or him “accidentally” ordering someone to bring your favorite snacks/drink to his office before you even entered. Either way, you’ll find yourself having some obligation to spend more time with him. Not like you mind it that much; Phobos is surprisingly good company (to you, at least), and it stops you from having to mingle with others when you don’t wish to.

Overall, Phobos is surprisingly soft and doting when faced with your shyness - even affectionate (and clingy) at times. However, that's to be expected; it's a side only you could ever bring out of him, after all. For the Director of the Nexus Core, treating you any different would be a crime worthy of the worst consequences imaginable.

[callsign-cacti]

Bet on it

Finn x F.Reader 5.3k words

Summary: A missed meeting, a drugstore bag with a fake pregnancy test, a forgetful Kenny Roper, and intimate knowledge about a bet made by the STU baseball team. What could go wrong?

Rating: Mature: drug use, drinking, future chapters will be 18+.

Warnings: Mentions of faking a pregnancy for a prank/ revenge. If this triggers you, please don't read!

Part Two

You had made it a point to never step foot in either of the South Texas University Baseball houses. For any reason, be it for work or, other recreational purposes. However, here you stand, hand seconds away from banging on the front door of the house.

The neighbors probably thought that you were yet another scorned lover, come to beg for yet another piece of the baseball boys. Yet that couldn't be any farther from the truth.

Taking a moment, you recall all the anger from early as you had sat in the library, waiting for Kenny Roper to show up. And he never did.

As the minutes turned into an hour, and your anger continued to grow with the passage of time, you became more and more sure that today was the day. You had been holding onto this little nugget of information for when one of them truly pissed you off, and you knew that the bunch of idiots, would in fact, do something dumb enough to warrant this.

Kenny Roper was just the poor soul that pushed you over the edge.

So you felt no remorse as you banged on the door, not hesitating to throw it open, as you knew the dumbasses never locked it. You bit your lip as some of the boys yelped, all turning to see who was storming in. As soon as you crossed the threshold, you were assaulted with the stench of stale beer, weed, burnt food and B.O.

Wrinkling your nose, you scanned the room, taking in about half the team lounged about the living room. And then you found Roper, tucked behind McReynolds. Looks like he wasn't so dumb after all, if he immediately knew that you were here for him.

Finn recovered first, "Well look who it is, I thought you had taken a solem vow to never step foot in this cursed house!"

"Shut the fuck up Finn!" You snapped, eyes never leaving Roper. "Roper, where the hell have you been?"

As Roper pales, the rest of them start snickering.

"Actually, I don't give a shit where you have been, 'cause I don't want to hear your dumbass excuse! Upstairs, now!" You barked, knowing it would be easier to compose yourself in front of Roper then it would be with half the team watching you. And lord knows you would need some composure for what you were about to pull off.

As Roper silently led you to his bedroom, passing a door with a sign that read, Fornication. Under. Consent. of King, you scoffed, rolling your eyes.

Behind you, the boys began to whoop, Plumber was even dumb enough to shout, "Get it Rope!"

At that, you whirled, ripping the sign off the door and chucking it at Plums head, promptly shutting him up.

As Roper closed the door behind him, you heard shuffling coming from downstairs, the boys being as subtle as a pack of elephants in their snooping.

"I cannot believe that you didn't fucking show up Roper!" You yelled at him, beginning to pace back and forth. "I literally rearranged my whole schedule for you, and you don't even have the gall to show up! This class is quite literally the only thing that is keeping your ass off the bench!" You're screeching now, knowing that you need to be loud enough for the entire house to hear.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't show, but practice ran late, and then coach wanted to talk to me after. By the time I finished at the field, I figured that..."

"You figured what?" You bit out. No need to fake your anger for this part. You knew that the baseball boys felt entitled due to the treatment they recieved from students and professors alike, but this was on another level.

"You just figured that since you were a little late it would be okay to make me sit for an hour waiting on you? That since your on the goddamned team I would do the entire thing for you? That I would bend over backwards for you, yet again!"

"Just calm down!" He tries to placate, rising up off of his bed, hands outstreched in front of him as if you're a wounded animal that he's trying not to scare. You can practically hear the collective intake of breath from his teammates.

You're not sure if even Brumley is dumb enough to tell a woman to calm down when she's this mad.

"Calm down, you want me to fucking calm down?" You hiss at him, tone dangerously low. The realization that he is well and truly fucked washes over him, his face going pale, limbs tensing. Now he's the one taking a step back as you advance on him. Eventually, his legs hit the bed, leaving him to fall back onto it.

"How in the ever loving fuck am I supposed to calm down when I am stuck with your dumbass for the considerable future. When you can't even show up for a meeting for a class that would keep you on the team. Now that I know for sure that I can't trust you as far as I can throw you!"

Throughout your little speech, you had been gripping the bag tightly, using it as an extension of your hand as you waved it around. Now, you brought it up to your chest as you lowered your voice, Ropers eyes squinting as he tried to figure out it's contents.

"How am I supposed to calm down, when I just took this!" And with that, you fling the bag towards him. He just barely manages to catch it, holding it slightly away from his body as if it was going to bite him.

Cautiously, he opened it, squinting as he reaches down to pull it out. It's barely out of the bag before it's being dropped on the floor as if it's poisionous.

"What the hell is that" Fear has edged into his voice as he finally looks at you.

"You know exactly what it is!" Crossing your arms, you glare at him, not giving him an inch.

"But it's not mine right?"

"Well do you see anyone else in here with us dipshit?" You spat, pinching the inside of your elbow, desperatly trying to keep the laughter that was clawing it's way up your throat down.

"But, we've never... we didn't... did we?" He's reached back down to tenatively pick up the pregnancy test. He looks at you, then back at the test, then back at you, then shakes his head, as if trying to wake himself from a dream.

"You're shitting me Roper. You mean, you don't even fucking remember sleeping with me?" Your voice is dangerously high at this point, and your hoping that it will pass as you trying not to cry instead of you trying not to laugh. In the other room, something crashed, and you heard the whisper yelling at whoever had knocked it over, but your eyes never left Roper.

“I can’t believe this!” You screeched, throwing your hands up into the air.

“How the hell am I supposed to trust you with a baby if you can’t even remember the simplest fucking thing like a meeting, or the night that you fucking impregnated me!”

And with that, you threw the door open, not at all surprised to see the guys strewn about the hallway, desperately trying to look as if they hadn't been eavesdropping, and failing miserably.

You rushed down the stairs and flew through the back door, barely holding yourself together. It was only once you were outside that you allowed the laughter to escape.

This was the part of the plan that had taken you the longest to decide on. You knew that the money would come out very quickly, but did you want to let Roper stew in what was surely a full on crisis?

As tempting as it was, you also didn't want the rumor that you were pregnant getting around, let alone with Kenny fucking Ropers baby.

So, as soon as you composed yourself, which took a couple minutes, as the look on Kenny Ropers face was not something that you would be forgetting any time soon, you let yourself back into the house, went to the fridge, pulled out a beer and popped the top of.

Unfortunalty, you wouldn't get the full amount today, as only half the team was here, but you had the time to collect, and a pocket full of blackmail material.

Reaching into your bag, you pulled your camera out, and began to head for the stairs.

Once you got within eye sight, you began taking pictures. Finn was collecting the money, McRenyolds was sitting next to Roper on the bed, who was still clutching the pregnancy test in his hand. Plum and Dale were both on the ground laughing, and Coma was pulling out his wallet and counting bills.

As Coma put the bills in Finns hand, Plum collected himself enough to pull himself up off the floor.

"I mean, really dude, how the fuck did you forget sleeping with her?"

"Yeah, especially with that much money on the line." Coma chimed in, reluctantly placing his bills in Finns hand.

"I mean,first of all, she's hot as fuck..."

You raise your camera again as you speak and began to snap away.

"Well thanks Plum!" You say, a grin spread wide across your face. Most of the heads in the room, except for Roper and Plum snap towards you, and you beam as you capture the pure fear and confusion as it flits across their faces.

Plum, bless his heart, just continues on. "I mean, you guys literally told me about this bet on the first day of practice!" And just as the guys begin to violently shush him, he connects the dots on his own, his head whipping towards you.

Once you get a picture of his face, you lower the camera, tucking it into your bag as you take another sip of your beer. They all watch as you walk across the room towards Finn, taking the money from his hand and putting the beer in it's place.

Once you make sure it's all there, you shove it into your bag, and take your beer back from Finn.

Brumley, the dumbass, is the first one to break the silence.

"I don't think your supposed to drink if your pregnant. It's bad for the baby!" He exclaimes, nodding at the beer in your hand.

Rolling your eyes, you look around the room. You can see it in there faces who has figured it out, Finn, Dale and McRenyolds being the only ones who have figured it out. The rest are still looking between you and Roper in confusion.

"I'm not pregnant dickheads!" You hiss. "I mean, you think I'd touch him with a ten foot pole? Not fucking likely!"

When you don't get a response from anyone, you take one last drink from your can before shoving it back into Finns hand.

"Well, this has been fun, Roper, I'll see you Friday for our presentation!" And with that, you head for the stairs, pausing to look back over your shoulder. "And I expect to see you with the rest of my money. I know the whole team was in on it!"

And you left as pandemonium broke out upstairs.

-

They found you the next day in the dining hall at lunch. Heather, your roommate, had literally just walked out for her class, and you remained behind, having a few more minutes before you needed to leave for class.

Opening your book, you pulled out your pens as you lifted a fry off your plate, only to have your fry snatched from your hand as you watched someone else slide your book out from in front of you.

You looked up to see Finn munching on your fry as Dale closes your book. You smirk as Roper and McRenyolds pull out chairs in front of you, and flinch as the chair Nesbit is dragging over squeals on the tile floor.

They have you completely surrounded.

"Hello boys," You smirk, picking up another fry. "Come to give me the rest of my money?" Popping the rest of the fry into your mouth, you summon a smug smirk as you lord your win over the boys.

Finn chuckles as he throws his arm around the back of your chair.

"We'll give you the money."

'Perfect," You interrupt him, holding out your hand.

"If, you tell us who squealed to you about the bet." McRenyolds finishes for him as Finn high fiving you before reaching to steal yet another one of your fries.

"Nice try, a reporter never squeals on her sources!" Batting Dales hand away as he reaches for your plate.

"Come on, you owe me!" Roper states, leaning across the table to take your drink. You scrunch your nose as he puts it back down in front of you, and reach over the table push it back towards him.

"You can have it, I have no interest in catching whatever diseases you may carry!" Beside you, both Finn and Dale chuckle, and you lean back to cross your arms so that you can effectively death glare at Roper.

"And I owe you, owe you for what exactly?" You let all traces of humor drain from your tone.

"Umm, for yesterday?" Roper offers up weakly, well aware that he just fucked up.

"Oh, I owe you for completely rearranging my schedule to fit around yours, only for you to stand me up and leave me to do all the work on a project worth thirty percent of our grade. Oh, and lets not forget about the little bet that you started with the entire baseball team about who could sleep with me first. I owe you for that?"

"Well, I didn't fucking start it... W..." McRenyolds kicked him under the table, promptly shutting him up.

"What he means to say, is that he is truly and deeply sorry, that he regrets all of his actions. And that we would all truly appreciate it if you could, just this one time, fudge your morals a little bit, and tell us who ratted on us!" Finn proclaimed, as Roper nodded along with him.

"In fact, I think we all owe her an apology!" Finn stated, a grin stretching across his face.

"Y/n, I am very, very sorry about the bet! It was very wrong of us, and we will never do it again!"

"Your damn right you won't!" You mutter rolling your eyes at Finn. Dale and McRenyolds scoff at him, as Nesbit smothers "Asskisser" in a very fake cough.

“C’mon guys, you gotta be better then that, y’all gotta butter her up. Right now, she’s fifty bucks richer and still riding the high of Ropers embarrassment!” Finn chastises.

“She already took our money!” Dale whines. “C’mon, don’t you wanna be a good friend and tell us who squealed?”

You snort at this, throwing a fry from your plate at him. He catches it and winks as he throws it into his mouth.

"It's cute that you think we're friends!"

Now, Nes chimes in. “It was obviously someone who was least likely to win that squealed!”

“So, you!” Finn says, popping another fry into his mouth.

“Guys,  it was probably someone who already graduated. Figured they would sabotage the bet because they didn’t win.” Roper adds, looking at you with suspicion.

“I mean, statistically speaking, I’m the one who would win.” Finn says, tightening his arm around you. “Right honeybunch!”

This sends the guys into an uproar so loud they don't notice your low hum.

“Why the fuck do you think you would win!”

“Bullshit”

“Shut the hell up Finn!”

“Tell him he’s wrong!”

You scoff. “As if I’d touch any of you with a 10 foot pole. I’m very content not having any STDs thank you very much!”

“I mean, look at the rest of the guys she slept with…” Finn starts, before your turning to look at him.

“Keeping tabs on me Finnegan?”

And he doesn’t even hesitate. “Course I am. Gotta see who floats your boat, so I can imitate them, and subsequently win the bet.”

Rolling your eyes, you shove him off you. “You’re all disgusting!”

And as the rest of the guys begin to protest, you snatch your book off of Dales lap, shoving it into your bag, and ignoring Finns eyes on you as you walk away.

-

Your not even the least bit surprised when Finn finds you the next day, even though your tucked away in your little corner of the library.

“Ok, I know you’re the type of person who appreciates the whole, no bullshit thing,” which Finn and the team had learned the hard way when they had all attempted to flirt with you on your first team interview after a game last year.

Your response, listing off all of the simple mistakes they had made, and insinuating that they were all very, very small because of those dumbass mistakes.

That was the night the bet was born.

“So I’m just gonna come right out and say it. You’re a liar. A hypocrite, if the shoe fits.” You narrow your eyes as he finishes his statement with a flourish, bringing that stupid pipe to his lips. Leaning forward, you snatch it from his hands, throwing it down onto the table.

“You can’t smoke in the fucking library dipshit. And also, how dare you call me a liar. You don't know jack shit."

“But you don’t deny being one?” Finn was smart, you would give him that. It was a damn shame that he wasted it all on beer, baseball and pussy.

“And why would I lie Finn? Isn’t being with one of the baseball boys the goal? From what I’ve heard, I’m supposed to shout it from the rooftops, maybe even get it tattooed on my forehead. I slept with one of the baseball boys!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, that’s way too long to fit on your forehead. It would probably be better on your lower back, you know, like a tramp stamp!”He grins as he says it, leaning back into his chair, propping his feet up on the table, and crossing his arms behind his head. You try to ignore the way it makes his biceps look, and you definitely don’t notice the way it makes the veins on his forearms stand out.

“Did you come here for a reason Finn, or do you just find enjoyment in bugging me?" You snap at him, looking back down at your paper.

“Well, I clearly came for the pleasure of your company! And also, to… sate my curiosity, if you will.”

“Well, you asked your question, and I gave you an answer, now you can leave me alone so I can work on my paper!” It was a clear dismissal, but he didn’t move a fucking inch, continuing to stare. You kept your eyes on the paper, your hand moving to write down shitty sentences out of pure spite. You were definitely going to have to rewrite part of this paper.

“You know, I can go away real easy for the low price of just two words, a name is all it takes sweetheart!”

“I told you Finn, I have never slept with anyone on the baseball team, ever. Now leave me alone!”

“See sweetheart, the thing is I don’t believe you when you say that. You hesitated for too long yesterday, and quite frankly, we are all good looking guys. Well… most of us. And you cannot tell me that watching us play doesn’t get you all hot and bothered!”

“I have literally never been less turned on then I am when I am watching y’alls games.” You deadpanned. Which was a lie of course. He wasn’t wrong. The team had some very good looking guys, and those pants did wonders for their asses.

“Sweetheart, please, you can’t bullshit the bullshitter!” Rolling your eyes, you turn your attention back to your work, hoping that maybe if you stopped giving him your attention, then he would go away. He was silent for a few seconds, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw him stand, only for him to pull out the chair your bag was in, drop it to the floor, and seat himself.

“Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way…”

“Shut the fuck up Finn, we aren’t in one of your stupid spy thrillers!”

“Please!” He begs, so loud that a few other students turn to look your way. The attention doesn’t seem to phase Finn, although you should have known that it wouldn’t. If anything the new eyes just egg him on.

“Why do you even want to know so bad huh? The bets over, no one won, it doesn’t matter!” You spat.

 A part of you debated on just telling him. He was as hard headed as you were, and the likelihood of him giving up was slim to none. There was always the option of just giving him the name of one of the seniors that had graduated, no harm no foul, but this was also Finn. If he found out that you had lied, then it was just going to make things worse.

You could revisit the idea of telling their coach. The probability of any of the players getting benched was slim to none, but you did have a little bit of pull, as you were the one writing half the articles the scouts were reading. You would never actually write untrue things about the guys and their game, for several reasons, but they didn’t need to know that.

You were jolted out of your thoughts by Finns snapping by your ears, flinching at the loud sound.

“How am I supposed to make my argument if you’re not even listening to me?” He pouted, leaning back in his seat once he was sure he had your attention.

“I don’t know Finn, maybe you could take the goddamned hint and leave me alone so I could get some work done?”

“I’m just saying, you had to find out from someone, and the team has been sworn to secrecy to never tell! The only thing I can think of was if someone was pussy..." He trailed off, remembering who he was talking too as he snapped his mouth shut.

“So you just wanna know who blabbed. This has nothing to do with me?” You innocently ask, batting your eyelids at him.

“Mm, exactly. See, you’re a smart girl, I knew you would…”

You lean forward, gesturing for him to come closer. Trailing your hand up his arm before cupping it around his ear as you leaned in to whisper a name.

"Walt Finnegan."

And that shuts him right up, allowing you to quickly shuffle your papers together and gather your bag, leaving a shocked Walt Finnegan left behind.

-

After Finn found you that morning in the library, Dale cornered you as you were coming out of class, demanding to know who told you. Then it was McRenyolds, who had shoved a girl off of him, before marching up to you, spouting some bullshit about the sancitity of secret keeping on the team, and how, as captain, he needed to know and some other crap.

The next day, you saw Nez coming out of the cafeteria, and you had to put up with his badgering the entire fifteen minute walk to class. The class that you shared with Coma. And you might as well have skipped it, seeing as you spent the entirety of the fifty five minutes shoving the notes from him off of your desk.

After class, you met up with Heather on the green, practically collapsing onto the blanket she had laid out.

"Rough day?" She asked, a smirk fully gracing her face as she took in her misery.

"Their tenacity is surprising. They have been bugging me all day!" You whine. "It almost makes it not worth it. Almost!"

After you explain your day to her, the two of you lay on the green in silence for a few minutes, before she begins packing up. She still has one more class to attend before she's released for the weekend. Once you confirm your plans for later, she is off.

Flopping back down onto the blanket, you pull out your book, letting out a content sigh.

It’s the first time in days that you aren’t doing homework, or writing articles, or being assaulted by the entire baseball team, or stressing about all three. Your laid out in one of your favorite corners of the green, sun shining down on you as you open your book.

You get five minutes of peace and quiet before Finn sits down next to you, effectively ruining your alone time.

“No!” You shout, the frustration in your tone clear. “No, not right now Finn. This is the first time in days where I haven’t been busy. I've been alone for like, five freaking minutes and…”

"Well, I could give you some peace and quiet if you just tell me the truth!" He says, that signature shit eating smile of his firmly in place. When you stay quiet, he nods. "That's what I thought!"

And then he surprises you, shifting so his back is against the tree next to your blanket, and lifts your legs, pulling them onto his lap. Without another glance at you, he pulls out his own book before opening it to the dog eared page.

Quickly, you snatch your legs back, moving to nail him in the leg, but he's faster then you, wrapping your ankle in a steel grip.

"Ah ah ah, you want peace and quiet don't you?" Then he's gently placing your legs back in his lap.

You gape at him, not quite comprehending what was happening, or what angle he was trying to play. But his focus never strayed from the page.

Now you were torn, if you said something, he would probably start in on you, and you were too tired to really fight him on this today.

Maybe you should just leave it alone, and not look a gift horse in the mouth. You really didn’t want to get up and go inside, and if he was being quiet, then who were you to protest. It also didn’t hurt that he looked really, really good with his dumb fluffy hair and stupid tight shirt that strained across his biceps.

Your decision was made for you as his hand begins sliding up your calf, kneading at the muscles there. You're barely able to catch the moan that threatens to escape.

Suddenly, your assaulted with visions of running your hands through that hair, finding out if it was really as soft as it had always looked invaded your mind, nails raking down that toned back…

“I can feel your staring!” He teased, breaking you out of your trance, and made you snap your attention back down to your book in an attempt to hide the blush that heated your face.

And you tried to focus on your book, you really did. Finn didn’t seem to have any problems paying attention to his. At least, that’s what you told yourself in an attempt to explain why his hand was crawling up your leg. His fingers moving higher as the patterns he was tracing got larger.

Yes, that was it. He was just distracted, and he didn’t realize what he was doing. And he also didn’t realize that you were making absolutely no effort to stop him.

But when you looked up from your book, you found his eyes on yours, a smug smile plastered on his face as he trailed his fingers dangerously high on your inner thigh.

“So, we’ve slept together huh?”

You hum, refusing to break eye contact with him. “Shame you don’t remember, although, with your performance, I’m not surprised you blocked it out.” You had fully intended for the comment to be biting enough to get him to back off. However, your voice came out unexpectedly breathy, undercutting the snark of your words.

A smirk grows on his face as he shifts his weight, bringing his face closer to yours so that he’s whispering right in your ear, his fingers dangerously high close to where your thighs meet.

“I know that’s a lie sweets. You wanna know how I know it’s a lie?”

You know you should push him off you. Finn was a fuck boy, and more then that, right now he was motivated, not to sleep with you, but to get some answers. But instead, you found yourself nodding, the sensible part of your brain having left the second his fingers made contact with you.

“There’s a few reasons. One, you could quite literally cut the tension between us with a knife, but somehow, your managing to keep your hands off me, which means I’ve yet to work my magic on you!”

Your moving to swat Finn away, the moment ruined by the return of Walt FInnegan to his natural state, a cocky asshole. But one again, he's moving too fast for you to comprehend, swinging your legs off of his lap and leaning over so that he's hovering above you, faces inches away from the other.

“Besides sweets, if we fucked, there’s no way in hell I would forget that.”

And then he’s standing, brushing off his jeans and winking before walking away.

You sit in shock for a second, watching as he fades into the throngs of people milling about campus.

Finn won that round, you can admit to that. But there’s no way he’s winning the war. Gathering your things, you plot the entire way back to your room, practically throwing the door open, grinning manically when you see Heather beat you back.

“Get up! Change of plans, we’re going out tonight!”

-

I still don't get why you won't just sleep with him!" Heather whines are she puts the finishing touches on your hair. With a flourish, she spins your around to the mirror, and you smile at what you see there.

"Thanks babe, your a godsend!" She just winks at you before moving to start on her own makeup.

Your original plan had been to stay in and do a movie night, but after Finns stunt earlier, you weren't content to let him have the upper hand for long.

So now, the two of you were getting ready for the Sound Machine, knowing that was the baseball boys party of choice when they weren't throwing their own or out of town.

And, to top it all off, James, a smarmy asshole from your English class had told you he would be there tonight. Which made him the perfect unknowing accomplice in your little game with Finn.

In the back of your head, you knew that you were walking a fine line, especially with Finn. When you had chosen to play that little prank with Roper, you severely underestimated the boys need to know who had told you.

And you never thought that Finn would take this much interest in getting to the bottom of it.

Although now, you were beginning to question if you would have done anything differently.

Your snapped out of your thoughts when Heather emerges from the bathroom, still ranting about the baseball boys.

"At this point Heath, it's a principle thing. I can't go sleeping with the athletes! I would lose all my credibility. Also, I have spent the last three years of my life insulting their very manhood. It would be hypocritical of me to fold now."

"And Walt Finnegan has spent the last three years panting after your ass babes!"

"Oh has he now, is this before or after he's stuck his tongue down three quarters of this school's female population?" You spit back at her.

Walt Finnegan didn't want you. He wanted to win the bet to rub it in his friends faces. He wanted you because he felt like you were unattainable.

And most importantly, he couldn't have wanted you that bad, because he had already had you, and he had forgotten about it.

[rinskazuu]

genshin men as songs in my playlist

aether, albebo, al-haitham, itto, cyno, diluc, kazuha, kaeya, ayato, heizou, childe, thoma, tighnari, scaramouche, xiao, and zhongli

these are written romantically, but if you want to view them as platonic, you can try.

cw: angst w no comfort, fluff, varies depending on character and song i chose. some of these are written in first person, some in x reader form, you can view them however you like!

a/n: initially, i was going for songs fitting their personality, but i accidentally made kaeya and childe's angsty, so i remade them. also, this took so long, for absolutely no reason.

AETHER- hold on by flor

throughout the journey aether's been on in teyvat, all he does is help nations, people, archons, you name it. but i want to be his escape, someone he can hold and be comfortable with. for a moment, i want him to worry less about what's going on outside, and just close his eyes. he's so selfless, and i believe he deserves the same treatment in return.

♡

ALBEDO- something about you by eyedress

you’re just so mesmerizing and beautiful to albedo, that he can’t help but feel subjected to paint you. you’re always catching his breath, from the way your eyes glint when you’re talking about your interests, to the way your body sways when he accidentally catches you dancing in your room, while he’d been busy with his experiments. he just cannot keep his eyes off you.

♡

AL-HAITHAM- out of time by the weeknd

al-haitham would most definitely let his pride get in the way of your relationship. he’d also prioritize his dying love for knowledge over you. the moment you leave him, and he finds his closet half empty, he’s drowning in guilt. he’s reaching for you, but you’ve moved on, and now it’s too late for him to hold you again.

♡

ARATAKI ITTO- always forever by cults

itto is the type of man to boast about you to everyone, having never said anything negative about you. he’s the type of man to snuggle you, and tell you every night how grateful he is, and how happy you make him. he’s going to tell you, that from here on out, you’re stuck with him, and that you’re two peas in a pod.

♡

CYNO- the one that got away by katy perry

cyno isn’t as much of a tsundere as the fandom writes him out to be, so this doesn’t sound fitting. but i feel like his role as the general mahamatra would definitely play a bad part in your relationship. he’d be too busy to take you on a date, or too tired to accompany you to an event. it’s not until you’ve left, that he’s realized he’s neglected you for too long.

♡

DILUC- be kind by halsey

with diluc, i imagine wanting to take his burdens off his shoulders, and comfort him, reassure him. i want him to rely on me, and be comfortable enough to come to me to talk. it makes me sad, how isolated he is, or rather, how he felt the need to isolate himself.

♡

KAEDAHARA KAZUHA- old love by yuji & putri dahlia

not only does the melody suit kazuha, but so do the lyrics. there's not a lot that kazuha holds dear, simply because he wanders a lot. he moves from place to place, and you're one of the only stable aspects of his life. he will always return home, to see you.

♡

KAEYA- midnight rain by taylor swift

i feel like kaeya would suit taylor’s perspective in the song. you wanting to settle down, but kaeya can’t love you for too long, because he's holding a major secret that is threatening yours and potentially teyvat's safety. you’re the sunshine, and he’s the midnight rain. he’ll have to leave you soon, but for now, he’ll let you hold him.

♡

KAMISATO AYATO- still with you by jungkook

ayato is not only head of the kamisato clan, but he’s a commissioner too. he’s used to running things mostly by himself, because he had to take care of his little sister alone, and rebuild the kamisato clan from the floor. he’s often isolated, completing work, but at the end of each day, i want to remind him, that we are in fact together, and any challenges he faces, are mine to struggle with too.

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SHIKANOIN HEIZOU- enchanted by taylor swift

heizou is a man who can easily sweep you off your feet, with his charm, pretty smile, and his skills as a detective. he can read your feelings and the type of person you are. he knows exactly what to do to reel you in. your love is enchanting, so unique, and will last for an entire lifetime, if not more.

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TARTAGLIA- save your tears by the weeknd & ariana grande

i know we kind of ignore how unhinged childe is, but i want to acknowledge it. he doesn’t know how to love or be loved, which leads to him not knowing how to comfort you. he’s going to hurt you, mentally/verbally, often. he’s going to tell you to stop crying, instead of holding you, or call you dramatic, instead of snuggling you in bed and encouraging you.

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THOMA- i wanna be yours by arctic monkeys

thoma is often busy, since he works for a commissioner, and one of the most well known and respected clans in inazuma. he sees you a lot, whether it's running errands, or accompanying one of the kamisatos somewhere. he's in love with you, and he'd do anything for you. but for now, he needs to focus on his duties.

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TIGHNARI- sweet by cigarettes after sex

even though he's a busy man, tighnari still makes plenty of time for you. he's sweet and smooth with his swords, easily swaying you. he makes it known, to not just you, that he loves you to the ends of the world. he knows how to make you swoon, from taking days off to pick flowers for you, to having deep talks with you in the shower. he's always thinking about you, even picturing your smile while he's off gathering gifts for you.

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WANDERER- space song by beach house

after regaining his memories, and even after his redemption arc, scara will still have major trust issues. wanting to there for him isn't a crime. but because of his trauma, he's going to keep pulling away from you, and pushing you farther from him. no matter, you're not going to give up, and you want him to feel loved and comforted.

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XIAO- be there for you by nct dream

xiao is one of the most obvious characters with a traumatic backstory, and i believe i want to be there for him the most. it's not going to be easy, since he's lived 1000+ years. he's used to being on his own, and all he knows is how to protect, and kill. but for once, i want him to rely on me, and for him to breathe a sigh of relief.

♡

ZHONGLI- wildest dreams by taylor swift

as an archon, zhongli has been alive for over 6000 years. even though he's given up the title, and is now living a normal life, he will always remain an immortal. eventually, you will pass on, and zhongli will be alone again. regardless, he's going to spend every waking moment with you, until your very last breath. he will cherish your love for the rest of eternity, even if you're not physically there.

i do want to add, i have so many taylor swift, the weeknd & chase atlantic songs, but didn’t think the last 2 would be as fitting as taylor’s. i have 150 songs & this does not define my entire playlist, there are so many genres. i just happened to make them romantic/angsty..

[meepispeepis]

Shang Tsung's Peril is not Liu Kang's Fault (A Headcanon Analysis)

Ok, so I've been meaning to make this post for a long time, but here it is! Shang Tsung, we all love him. You love him, I love him, we all love our sassy, unapologetic asshole of evil.

However, I found myself feeling off about Shang Tsung's story and how it relates to Liu Kang and his perspective on changing the timeline. In summary, back in MK11, Liu Kang becomes the Keeper of Time and alters the timeline, which leads us to MK1. Everyone in the Mortal Kombat series has been changed, but also keeping the trademark traits that many know them for (Shao Kahn being a tyrant, Kung Lao desiring to be in the spotlight, Johnny Cage being the comic relief, etc). However, where I, personally, took issue with the story is how the villains from the previous timeline are treated compared to Shang Tsung.

I think everyone can agree that Shang Tsung (and Quan Chi, but this isn't about him lol) was treated weirdly horribly in Liu Kang's new era. Now, understandably, if we look back to how Shang was pre-MK1, it's not unreasonable for Liu Kang to demote Shang Tsung the way he did…But when you look at how other villains are treated (General Shao, Sindel, Mileena, Tanya, Noob Saibot/Sub-Zero, etc) in Liu Kang's new era, Shang Tsung happens to stick out like a sore thumb. Now, I get it, outside of the game, Shang Tsung is an iconic villain in the Mortal Kombat franchise, and as storytelling goes, NRS is always going to bring him back as an antagonist figure.

But I feel like there's some missed potential and some story and character moments that are a bit…Contrived, for lack of better words. So, I want to go over how Liu Kang's power over his timeline is presented, why the treatment of Shang Tsung, at least for me, feels off, and how it could've been used a bit better. A.K.A, Shang Tsung's downfall isn't Liu Kang's fault, and let me explain!

The Hourglass, the Timelines, and Liu Kang

We're going to take a moment to analyze Liu Kang's timeline and how the Hourglass works based on the canon events and interactions from MK1 and a bit of MK11. We will be leaving speculation and theories out the door for this one and follow strictly what NRS told us from the story they weaved.

Starting with the Hourglass...We don't know anything about the Hourglass. Ok, that was an oversimplification of what we comprehend about the Hourglass, but believe me, we really don't know what it does.

From what we can ascertain about what the Hourglass can do, we know you can pear through the Hourglass to see past events. We witnessed this with Geras in MK1 when he used the Hourglass to determine who it was that talked with Shang Tsung at the beginning of MK1. We also know that it can be utilized to monitor the current timeline and, if needed, can be used to reset the universe however back the user desires. However, no one can just use the Hourglass. At least based on MK11, only someone powerful enough to wield the title Keeper of Time can control the Hourglass. Not only that, but one cannot reverse time whenever they want. We saw this first hand in the MK11 plot, where Kronika needed to fuel a crown with countless souls and obtain the Jinsei capsules.

Kronika, upon receiving the vials of Jinsei energies: "I now have the energy to resculpt the Sands of Time."

Kronika, while speaking with Revenant Liu Kang: "Timecraft requires an abundance of raw, temporal energy. Every mortal soul contains a lifetime of this power. Every hour, every minute, every second lived is stored within." "In his Well of Souls which, remains untouched, beneath his island. A destiny I crafted for Shang Tsung, in case I ever had need."

We also know that the Keeper of Time can stop time on a large scale. We can see this as Kronika brings back old and new allies and rivals from the past, while also stopping time during the beginnings of MK11.

And based on what Liu Kang tells us in MK1, the Hourglass is considered as follows:

Liu Kang, speaking with Empress Sindel: "A celestial object which lies beyond the realms, the Hourglass regulates time and destiny."

We'll actually come back to the 'time and destiny' thing later down the line. Now, there may be other things about the Hourglass that I might be missing, but thus far, this is all that we are shown and told, canonically, what the Hourglass CAN do. We're not informed much about any potential weaknesses of the item aside from that it requires Kronika's crown to fully reset and restart time. We're not even given other intricacies on how the Hourglass works either, which we'll get into later down the line. Right now, all we know is that:

The Hourglass can ONLY be used by powerful individuals such as Kronika, Shang Tsung, or Fire God Liu Kang. If anyone else were to attempt to wield the powers of time, they end up like Fujin.

The Hourglass, once wielded by said powerful entity, can monitor the current present timeline.

If the wielder so desires, they can also stop time at a worldwide or even universal scale.

The Hourglass can be used to revert time however long back the user desires. Even allowing them to completely change history and destinies. However, they require Kronika's crown and powerful energies to be infused in said crown for this to be possible.

So, we have those bases down. Now, let's talk about Liu Kang and the handling of his new timeline, the MK1 timeline.

Unfortunately, we don't get much insight into what Liu Kang saw when he peered into the Hourglass and what was done for him to change the current timeline. The closest we get to what he did when constructing the timeline is that he popped & locked while in front of the Hourglass. But we can ascertain what he did to achieve his new timeline based on not only the MK1 story but also the character interactions he has with the other playable fighters.

We'll start with what we have seen from the story mode. In Liu Kang's new timeline:

Tarkatans are now just diseased individuals who will eventually become ravenous monsters.

Outworld and its leaders are still hellbent on conquering other realms.

Raiden is now mortal, Kung Lao is still "Second-Best," Johnny Cage is still a struggling martial arts movie star, and Kenshi is part of the Yakuza looking for Sento.

Sindel is now queen of Outworld and has two daughters, Kitana AND Mileena. However, her husband, Jerrod, is once again dead.

Shao Kahn is no longer the king of Outworld, instead "demoted" to the status of General. Reiko is also his adopted son now.

Speaking of which, Mileena is no longer a science experiment made by Shang Tsung. She's now the actual birth sister of Kitana.

Tanya and Rain are also pacified, as Tanya is now a warrior priestess and protector of the throne, while Rain is the High Mage of the palace.

Shang Tsung has become a begging salesman, fooling people with mock potions and cures to make a potential living.

Now, I'm actually going to stop here because all of this we learn about of Liu Kang's new timeline before Shang Tsung becomes a literal threat. And so far, some things look good for Liu Kang's new era...However, there are some things that I question about Liu Kang's new timeline and we'll go down the list about it.

Starting with the Tarkatans, if you are aware of at least Mortal Kombat 11, you would know that Tarkatans are a race of people. Yet, in Liu Kang's new timeline, they're instead diseased people...Why? Now, before, when I first watched MK1, I thought that they were going to reveal that Tarkat (the name of the disease) was created by Shang Tsung...But it's not????

We actually learn this in the first 5 minutes of MK1, where Shang Tsung is advertising his healing remedies, and he SPECIFICALLY STATES how his mock cures could heal those affected by Tarkat. So that means that this was purposefully done when Liu Kang recreated history. Now, this isn't me blaming Liu Kang (we'll also get to that later too) because Liu Kang does mention that Tarkat's existence in his timeline was an "unforeseen consequence."

Liu Kang VS Baraka: "As my creator, you're to blame for my affliction." "It was an unforeseen consequence, Baraka."

But it's still weird that Liu Kang would allow such a dramatic change for a race of people. Now, albeit, Tarkatans were often depicted as fighting for Shao Kahn. You know, one of the main antagonists of the Mortal Kombat franchise. But it's still weird that Liu Kang decided this was a more suitable outcome, and we'll actually discuss this in a moment.

Next, I want to talk about Outworld itself, a very divisive realm that, in the previous timeline, was a practical breeding ground for most of our known antagonists (and protagonists, too). If you at least know about MK9, you would know that the Mortal Kombat tournaments exist because of Outworld. Shao Kahn, the previous ruler of Outworld, wanted to merge Outworld with Earthrealm. But the Elder Gods created a checks & regulations system called the Mortal Kombat tournament to keep not only the realms in check but also ensure that Shao Kahn didn't get too powerful (with some help from Sindel).

Now, you would think, in Liu Kang's new era, he would eliminate the need for that to happen, especially since Sindel was now the ruling force in Outworld…But no, the Mortal Kombat tournament still stands? Now, admittedly, Liu Kang does inform us that the more "militant force" of Outworld and its politics are the reason why Mortal Kombat exists. He and Jerrod agreed that this would maintain the peace between Outworld and Earthrealm.

Yet, it still feels off that Liu Kang would also allow such a tournament to still exist; an event infamous for causing conflict so great that his best friends, even HIMSELF, perished for it. Why should Mortal Kombat be the by-all, end-all to keep peace with another realm? Not only that, but Outworld is a world riddled with conflict. Now, they don't SPECIFICALLY say that Outworld has conquered other realms, but they do name internal quarrels that Outworld faced in its past. And, sure, these conflicts are not really described in any detail when mentioned, but it shows the troubled history that Liu Kang mentions when talking with Raiden and displays Outworld's desire for conquest. Which, once again, why would Liu Kang still keep Outworld as this conquest-driven realm where Mortal Kombat is NEEDED to maintain the peace?

Now, next is the many "new" characters we meet in MK1. Now, to properly talk about this, we actually are going to start with the villains of the previous timeline, and then we're gonna come back to the Hourglass being able to regulate time and destiny. Heavily going to talk about destiny, though.

Now, where to begin! Let's start with Shang Tsung since, believe it or not, this post is about him too. From the very beginning of MK1, we learn that Shang Tsung is a wandering charlatan who sells quack cures and fake magic. We see this as he tried to market an elixir to a crowd of desperate locals, only to be caught red-handed by a man who outs his falsities. After the fact, we are shown that Shang Tsung resides in an Outworld RV (a wagon), and he dons disguises so that he can easily fool others of his crafts. During his conversation with Damashi, we hear Shang Tsung describe his lifestyle as "barely survival." We don't know if he has an actual home to go to, but considering that his wagon is considerably full of stuff, he most likely lives and breathes in that wagon.

From this, we can ascertain that Shang Tsung lives a life of squalor. And if the opening 5 minutes of MK1 isn't convincing with his dirt-faced ass, sad little meow meow visage, then listening to his interactions with the other playable fighters should be enough to assure you that Shang Tsung was in poor conditions. Now, considering what Shang Tsung has done in the previous timelines (MK9-11 & MK-MK: Armageddon), you would say that this is a well-deserved fate...However, some things make Shang Tsung's life in MK1 seem glaringly unfair.

To discuss what I mean, let's look at the other villains in the Mortal Kombat franchise and their new life in MK1. Starting with Sindel. Now, say what you will about Sindel's retcon in MK11; it stands that she was a villainess in the most recent memory of the rebooted MK games. She has done some pretty horrible stuff, such as killing her husband Jerrod in the alternate timeline, lying and betraying her own daughter and her allies, imprisoning the Cage family, and specifically telling them that they will "breed slaves" for her new regime. Now, as I said, I am aware that Sindel was beloved because of her story before MK9-MK11 where she was once a villain, but she redeemed herself to become a hero. I'm not blind to this, but considering that MK1 is building off of what they attempted to tell in the altered timeline, Sindel is pretty awful. Considering that Liu Kang merged with Raiden and his revenant self and absorbed their powers and knowledge, you would think that Sindel would get a pretty bad life, much like Shang Tsung...Right?

Now, while the "restored" Sindel is an absolute W for Sindel fans, considering what Liu Kang did to Shang Tsung in his new timeline, it feels a bit off. Because mind you, Liu Kang wouldn't know about Sindel's "redemption arc," and considering that they also retcon Sindel's origin, she should be getting the same treatment as Shang Tsung, right? She was dangerously close to obtaining a realm where she reigned as a tyrannical queen.

But no, she's given what she wanted. She's now the Empress of Outworld. The only good thing about this is that she isn't the vile person we saw in MK11. Instead, she's a firm yet compassionate queen. She's willing to be at war with anyone who rivals Outworld's power, but she states multiple times how she prefers that to not be the case. She even talks down to General Shao by reminding him of the teachings his father told him about war. MK1 Sindel also loves her daughters and does her best to protect them. Mileena is a grand example of them due to her being infected with the Tarkat disease. Sindel tries to conceal her affliction to prevent those who would do their family harm from using this against them. And as foolish as this was in hindsight, she allowed Shang Tsung to concoct a temporary cure for her daughter. This time around, Sindel also loves her husband Jerrod, and his untimely death took a toll on her. And this time around, she didn't off herself because of it :D.

Ok, so Sindel got off scot-free, mainly because the developers realized they made a mistake by turning the most beloved character into the most hated. And that can be forgiven, so we'll overlook that for now. But what about Mileena? In the altered timeline, Mileena was created by Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn. The reason for this was because Shao Kahn believed that Kitana could possibly, and eventually, betray him IF she were to learn the truth of her origins. Being new to Mortal Kombat, Mileena's atrocities are not plainly told aside from her being a mean mama jama like her creators. She ruled Outworld for a time, even was called the "Mad Empress," only to be killed by Devorah in MKX. So, not many notable war crimes that Mileena herself has done, aside from assisting Shao Kahn in the invasion of Earthrealm.

So I'm not too mad (never was really) about Mileena also receiving a better life in Liu Kang's new timeline, despite being a villain herself. And, I honestly see it as poetic. In my opinion, and I don't know if the rest of the fandom agrees with this, but I always felt that Mileena's core theme was about family. And I'm kinda disappointed that this wasn't explored for the altered Mileena in MK9-MK11. Also two, I can somewhat understand Liu Kang wanting to provide Mileena a better life. Mileena was a child a circumstance, created by vile individuals who wished to use her for ill. She was pretty much a child, mentally, and had no choice in who she could become, should the winds of fate not breeze by her. So Mileena becoming Kitana's actual sister and still becoming the future empress is satisfying (another W for Mileena fans).

But, at the end of the day, Mileena was still a villain with very little redeeming qualities. She was supposed to be exceptionally loyal to Shao Kahn and perhaps even Shang Tsung. So why does she also get a happy ending while Shang Tsung ate shit for MK1?

Then, we have the most considerable outlier in MK1, General Shao. Based on what we saw in MK9 & MK11, Shao Kahn not only conquered realms, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent lives, but he was also complacent in the death of Jerrod. Shao deceived Kitana into believing she was his daughter, only to have Shang Tsung create a clone of Kitana (Mileena) to kill her, in case she rebelled. Killed Liu Kang's best friend (Kung Lao) TWICE, attempted to publicly execute Kitana, actually killed Shang Tsung and transferred his soul and powers to Sindel, stole countless souls in Earthrealm to make himself more powerful, was complacent in the death of all the beloved characters in MK9, literally broke Liu Kang's ankles, snapped Kotal Kahn's back and killed him in MK11: Aftermath, committed attempted GENOCIDE upon Earthrealm when he tried to invade and forcibly merge the realms. There might be others I'm forgetting, but the bottom line is Shao Kahn is the meanest motherfucker in Mortal Kombat history.

And being the primary antagonist, you would think that Liu Kang would run this guy into the ground! Better yet, not have him exist at all. You know where this is going, homeboy is quite literally in MK1. Even more mind-boggling is that, like Sindel, General Shao is still in a position of power. He may not be the emperor of Outworld, but he runs its military. THE MILITARY. He has an entire army of HIGHLY TRAINED soldiers at his command! And unlike Sindel or Mileena who fight for the good guys, General Shao is…Complicated. Let me explain.

From what we can ascertain about General Shao, based on how the other characters describe him before he fell into villainy; General Shao grew up as a sickly boy. His father fought hard to not only ensure Shao's survival but also bring him up into the warrior he is. We also learn that General Shao comes from a warrior clan or at least a long line of warriors in his family. His father, like all fathers in this game apparently, was highly respected by Sindel. So much so that she quotes him when talking to General Shao.

General Shao also presents himself as highly patriotic to Outworld, as we see numerous occasions where he's zealous for Outworld's victory and power over others. Now, Liu Kang does mention something that I find interesting.

That sentence alone would have us believe that even before Shang Tsung spoke with General Shao, Shao was already someone who was prideful of himself and had heavy prejudices towards others. We can see that plainly whenever he speaks with any of the Earthrealmers. But something tells me that General Shao isn't the villain that NRS wants us to believe he still is. When talking with Sindel in private, he mentions a lot about how he feels that Outworld is shackled by Liu Kang's supposed "influence" on Outworld.

Now yes, as we later know, it is Shang Tsung that's been feeding General Shao these lies. But remember, Liu Kang said that Shang "played" on these traits that General Shao had. This means that these feelings were harboring for who knows how long. I think NRS wants us to presume that these negative feelings were festering since Jerrod & Liu Kang agreed upon settling realm tensions with Mortal Kombat. But however long these emotions have been boiling within Shao Kahn, that's what made Shao vulnerable to such manipulations. Because General Kahn's speech consists of him feeling that Outworld is trapped and that it needs to be liberated.

But the underline point of this is that even General Shao, the biggest, baddest villain in all of Mortal Kombat, was given a better life than Shang Tsung. The very same man who killed Liu Kang's spiritual brother and best friend TWICE and nearly took over Earthrealm. He's given a high position of power, yet Shang Tsung was left to struggle for the barest minimum.

And this is where we need to go back to the capabilities of the Hourglass. Liu Kang and Kronika specifically mention how the Hourglass is used to establish history and destinies for those within the timeline. In Kronika's case, every time she restarted the timeline, everyone was essentially kept the same. We saw this when Raiden discovered that he and Liu Kang were always destined to fight, and Liu Kang was supposed to die.

And casual reminder, that destiny, by definition, means that there will be necessary events that will happen to one person or thing in the future. And the Hourglass, based on what NRS is telling us, is used to craft these destinies. So, you would think that Liu Kang would want to construct different futures for everyone, which he did, but why is Shang Tsung the outlier? Because Raiden is wholly distinct compared to the thunder god he was before, in his ending, Liu Kang purposefully changed Raiden so that he doesn't become Dark Raiden in his timeline. Sindel is also given a fresh coat of paint as well along with Mileena. Yet, Johnny Cage is the same, Kung Lao is the same, Kitana remains the same, but Shang Tsung is still a conniving little shit?

And during the interactions with Shang Tsung, Liu Kang mentions that he gave Shang Tsung this life because he wanted to reform Shang Tsung…Which, that doesn't make any sense! Because when Liu Kang FINALLY informed Sindel, Kitana, Mileena, and anyone who was in Shang's laboratory about the previous timeline, NONE OF THEM KNEW OF THIS! Nobody in the new timeline knew who they were before the change! How the fuck can someone be reformed for something they didn't even know they've done? Not only that but are you about to tell me that this BRAND NEW SHANG TSUNG is literally being punished and put in timeout ALL BECAUSE OF HIS OLD TIMELINE SELF? A VERSION OF HIMSELF HE HAD NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF, WOULD HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF, AND NEVER COMMITTED ANY OF THE ATROCITIES THAT THE OLD SHANG TSUNG HAS DONE????

Even more weird is this comment that Liu Kang makes:

Wait, what the fuck does that mean, 'other timelines'? Because in story mode, Liu Kang AND Geras inform us, the audience, that they've never seen other timelines exist outside of their own. Hell, Geras said that in the billions of years of him living, other branching timelines have never existed! And based on my research, the Hourglass has never been shown to let the user peek into the future. Yet, here, Liu Kang brings up how he saw what Rain and Shang Tsung have done in other timelines? Now, yes, these dialogue options could've been placed AFTER the events of MK1's story mode, especially since the majority of the interactions between fighters are spoken as though the events from the story AND their arcade ending have already passed.

But let's look at Rain for a brief moment. Going back to the first image I posted above, the exchange between the pair goes like this:

Rain: You took Godhood from me?

Liu Kang: Because in no timeline had you used it wisely.

And there's another one I want to point out too:

Liu Kang: Pride has been your downfall in all timelines

Rain: Then why not change me in this one?

So, from what NRS is telling us from these interactions, Liu Kang WAS aware of previous timelines when recreating history? So that means that when he was recreating Rain's destiny, or future, he saw multiple events where Rain was still harmfully prideful? Liu Kang SPECIFICALLY SAYS that in no other timeline, Rain as a demi-god was a detriment. And that would mean that he would HAVE to see into the future to see if keeping Rain as a demi-god would be worth the risk in his new era! YET, APPARENTLY, HE EITHER HAS SELECTIVE FORESIGHT, OR THIS IS A PLOT CONTRIVENCY BECAUSE THERE ARE MULTIPLE TIMES WHERE LIU KANG SAYS THAT CERTAIN EVENTS WERE OUT OF HIS SIGHT. HIS TALK WITH BARAKA FOR GOOD EXAMPLE, WHERE HE MENTIONS THAT TARKAT WAS A UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCE! LIU KANG EVEN TELLS TOMAS (Smoke) THAT THE REASON WHY HE WAS ORPHANED WAS SO THAT HE CAN MAKE HIS TIMELINE, WHICH MUST MEAN THAT HE WAS ABLE TO CRAFT HIS LIFE FROM NEAR BEGINNING TO END!

SO WHICH IS IT NRS, CAN MY BOY ACTUALLY SEE INTO THE FUTURE? HOW LIMITED IS HIS SIGHT? DID HE OR DID HE NOT ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT OTHER TIMELINES? And Rain is right to question, why didn't he change him? Because Mileena was changed, compared to the playful vileness she was before. And an even better example to compare to Rain, RAIDEN was altered! He's woefully humble, the nicest, sweetest farm boy to ever exist, and he too was demoted from literal Godhood! So why didn't you also change Shang Tsung? Why keep him as a charlatan who will lie, cheat, steal, and kill his way to power?

Now, yes, Liu Kang does mention how he wanted to leave everyone's fates in their own hands. But these are fates that YOU CRAFTED FOR THEM! AND DID VERY LITTLE TO ACTUALLY DIFFERENTIATE THEM FROM THEIR PREVIOUS COUNTERPARTS! Sure, their new life experiences that Liu Kang gave them, their personalities would change. But, that's practically null because most of the good and bad guys in MK1 are practically identical to their previous selves. Once again, Johnny Cage is no different from the Johnny Cage we saw back in MK9-MK11, Kung Lao is still the same since that same era, and even Shao Kahn is somewhat still similar to his tyrant self in the previous games!

So it's no wonder that Titan Shang Tsung was able to just swoop in and take this new Shang Tsung under his black wings because this "new" Shang Tsung is no different from what he was. All that changed is that the little shit doesn't know magic and is poor!

I'm actually going to stop here because I think you can get my point. Liu Kang did a horrible job recreating this timeline. Which the blame actually goes to Netherrealm Studios. While I do love the story of MK1, it's horribly too simple and vague when it comes to not only its story plots but also the capabilities of how Liu Kang constructed this timeline. Because this makes it seem like Liu Kang held some special prejudice against a Shang Tsung who didn't commit any of the crimes that his previous self had committed, yet still punished him for it, and called it "reforming" him. Yet, he's happily willing to overlook the crimes that Shao Kahn and Sindel have committed for some reason!

So, I actually want to write up an alternative story for how Shang Tsung became the way he did because the one that NRS gave us is flawed in so many ways.

Reimagining of the Hourglass & Shang Tsung

We're first going to further expand upon the Hourglass since this very item is the core reason why MK1 becomes a reality. We all know that Kronika has been manipulating the Hourglass for billions upon billions of years. We get this timeframe from Geras, who has been working alongside Kronika for many eons. And I'd like to think that the Hourglass, due to Kronika's influence, has been forever tainted with her vision. It has, for many millenia, saw the intended vision that Kronika wanted out of her balanced timeline, so when there is a disturbance to her vision, it slowly, like a snail, attempts to revert back to the "status quo." Now, whether or not this makes the Hourglass conscious or not I'm unsure if I would call it that. But, clearly, Kronika's vision and influence have rubbed off on this celestial item. This could be why certain characters in MK1 practically remain the same.

And with this in mind, Liu Kang noticed this. When he was recreating the timeline, he may have seen that no matter what he did, everyone, one way or another, would revert back to an aspect of themselves that they were before. So, Liu Kang had to make necessary changes. Raiden could no longer be the God of Thunder, Rain could no longer be a demi-god, Subzero & Scorpion would have to become blood brothers, Mileena and Kitana would become actual sisters, etc. As for the villains, Liu Kang must've known that, while there are people in the world who simply do terrible shit just because, more often than not, there is a reason for their villainy. So, he provided them what they wanted. Sindel remains as the queen of Outworld, Rain is instead a High Mage in Outworld, and while General Shao may not be the emperor of Outworld, he's still given a position of power by leading Outworld's armies.

So what would this mean for Shang Tsung? Well, why not give Shang Tsung what he wanted too? And to understand what Shang Tsung wants, we gotta first go over who he is real quick. Now, I'm not going all the way back to the arcade cabinet Mortal Kombat. If it hasn't been obvious, I'm mostly taking notes and points from MK9-MK11 because that's the jumping point MK1 is coming off from. And based on the research I made, not much is known about MK9 or MK11 Shang Tsung. We know he was from Earthrealm (most likely China due to his name) and that he had magical capabilities that led him to Outworld.

And other than that, there's not much of Shang Tsung's new backstory that we see here. He's kinda like a Joker character, just more sophisticated and not too insane in the membrane. Shang Tsung simply wants power and will do anything to obtain it. But, let's look into his capabilities to consume souls. From what we saw in MK9 & MK11, Shang Tsung MUST consume souls to remain young and strong. How he got this way, the games don't tell us, and I'm not going to rely on any of the multiple character endings in these games since they are infamously known to have endings that are either not canon, semi-canon, or have contradictory plot points. And, once again, I'm also avoiding any canons in the Midway Mortal Kombat games since who knows if any of the canon events BEFORE the first Mortal Kombat game still stands. See Sindel for a point of reference in MK11: Aftermath.

From what I saw in the MK fandom, many compare Shang Tsung to a vampire, which is a pretty apt comparison. Depending on the vampire media you consume, when vampires are deprived of blood for too long, they start to wither away and become decrepit; slowly or quickly reverting back to a frail, old state of being. And the only way they can prevent further degradation is by consuming blood, which changes them back to being youthful again. The same could be said about Shang Tsung. Once again, we don't know the rules of his soul consumption in the NRS games. Does Shang Tsung need to feed regularly on souls or risk becoming old within weeks or months? Or does Shang Tsung consume a soul, becomes youthful again, but year after year, as he gets older again, he knows he has to soul-suck another individual to keep his vigor? Regardless, Shang Tsung, selfishly, prolongs his own life at the expense of others if he does not wish to die. Which could also explain why Shang Tsung desired power so much. If he was powerful enough and had a steady stream of souls to collect, he could stay young forever, effectively immortal. Now, would this say that Shang Tsung has an inner fear of death? Maybe, why else would someone desire such a feat if not to avoid the dreadful reality of one's mortality. He was already well versed with magic before, so why not ambitiously expand his possibilities while also keeping his being alive eternally? It's classic TTRPG Lich shit.

So, what did Shang Tsung want in the previous timeline? He desired power and an endless supply of souls to upkeep his well-being so that he could continue to live youthful. That's pretty much what it boils down to. So, how would Liu Kang, essentially, give Shang Tsung what he wanted. We know that he depowers Shang Tsung, which is a good starting point. If Liu Kang hoped to ensure that Shang Tsung wouldn't receive any magical prowess, taking it away in the new timeline is a good idea. On top of that, keeping him in Earthrealm would also be a good idea. Now, yes, there are some Earthrealmers who gain magical capabilities and they're not from realms like Outworld or Chaosrealm. However, more often than not, the reason why they gain their powers is due to a freak accident, an item they possess, or due to being gifted by it from otherworldly beings of power. So the chances of Shang Tsung becoming a powerful sorcerer in Earthrealm, if Liu Kang played his cards right, would still be a low probability.

Another thing would be to put Shang Tsung in a position of power. This could either mean that Shang Tsung could've been born into nobility or even royalty like Sindel and her daughters. And I say could've because we gotta look at Kung Lao. Kung Lao still has the history of his ancestor, the Great Kung Lao, being the greatest Mortal Kombat champion. So I can imagine that Shang Tsung, when the time would come for his arrival, would've been born into a long line of respectable nobles or part of a royal house. And before we continue, we gotta talk about Sindel's interactions with Liu Kang. There are multiple times where Sindel questions the legitimacy of her own actions because she learned how Liu Kang created the timeline and is thus her creator. Yet, Liu Kang keeps reassuring her that her actions, decisions, and life is still her own. That she is not part of some grand plan that Liu Kang had for her. And I want to slightly expand upon that. To do so, we got to go back to the Hourglass.

The Hourglass, I feel, is like talking to a genie. It's a common trope that one must be careful when making any wish with a genie because the creature will take your word literally or twist it on its head. It's like the saying goes, "Be careful about what you wish for." And I can imagine that Liu Kang made commands, or wishes, to the Hourglass to gain the desired results he wanted, like inputting a command to an AI machine to get results. However, Liu Kang didn't want to have an iron grip on how people's lives were spent. Kronika has always made it where Liu Kang was the "chosen hero" of Earthrealm or that Shang Tsung would be a menace. So Liu Kang did the equivalence of putting in a simple command like, "I want Sindel to become the empress of Outworld." But to ensure that she still had the free will to achieve such a status, he probably put opportunities within her ancestors' history so that it would become a POSSIBILITY for Sindel and her daughters to become royalty, but never a guarantee. We'll get back into this when we discuss Shang Tsung again.

So essentially, Liu Kang had a looser grip on the fates of the characters of MK1, giving them ample opportunities to weave their own destinies based on the lives they lived and the chances given to them. And while these changes may have slowed down the Hourglass's capability to conform this new timeline back into Kronika's vision, this also left this timeline vulnerable to Titan Shang Tsung's meddling. Because, yeah, I think we're all overlooking the terrifying idea of Titan Shang Tsung being the catalyst cause for why MK1 becomes a thing to begin with. I would honestly his involvement in MK1 entirely to this instead.

When Titan Shang Tsung mentioned that he discovered the timeline where Liu Kang won the battle instead of him, they make it seem like that he learned of this yesterday and decided to act upon it today. Instead, I would've preferred that he was messing with Liu Kang's timeline without the Fire God even knowing it. Titan Shang Tsung should've been the reason Tarkat existed, Titan Shang Tsung should've been the one who pulled the strings for Jerrod's eventual death, Titan Shang Tsung should've been responsible for Smoke losing his family, TITAN SHANG TSUGN SHOULD'VE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR WHY LIU KANG'S SHANG TSUNG BECAME HOMELESS!

Because that would've made Titan Shang Tsung a more personal and deeper threat. Because he could easily blame all the events that happened in Liu Kang's timeline on Liu Kang himself. Because Liu Kang had a looser grip on how his timeline worked, Titan Shang Tsung saw holes in Liu Kang's timeline that he could use to agitate the timeline, thus giving the Hourglass ample reason to revert certain events back into Kronika's vision. For example, Mileena being infected with Tarkat and becoming the Mileena we know from the previous timeline, General Shao eventually wanting to become emperor of Outworld, or the Shirai Ryu becoming a rival clan from the Lin Kuei.

So, it would make sense for him to sabotage HIS OWN SELF so that this new Shang Tsung would become vulnerable to his schemes in the hopes of gaining not only a better life but power. I can imagine that Titan Shang Tsung disrupted the new Shang Tsungs family line by showing them forbidden magics. Magic so off-limits that Liu Kang himself had to intervene, which ruined the Tsung family and brought them into obscurity. Or, Titan Shang Tsung may have destroyed their family fortune due to political intrigue or financial bankruptcy. Whatever Titan Shang Tsung did, it brought the Tsung family to the lowest of the low, so much so that they either had to escape, move, or were somehow taken to Outworld. And being in Outworld didn't improve the family's lives as they would never reach the noble or royal status that they had before.

And this is where we gotta talk about freedom of choice with Shang Tsung because I feel like some people forget that his info card mentions this about Shang Tsung in MK1:

"Shang Tsung grew up in Outworld's backwaters. Too lazy for hard labor and too shifty for honest work, he eked out a living selling quack cures and fake magic."

Now, when we look at Outworld and the way it's presented, the realm is definitely a high fantasy realm. They don't have cars like we do, they use carts, they don't have advanced technology like cellphones or T.V. Hell, Mileena shows genuine awe when she sees Johnny fly a drone and calls it magic. So it can be assumed, as well, that they probably work up some elbow grease when it comes to planting, performing customer service work, and other hard labor. All of it is done by hand with little intervention from machines. Or, the convenience is done by magic, but we can clearly see that magic doesn't come naturally to just anyone since Rain had to go to school just to become a hydromancer. Also, to be fair, the magic system in MK is not really grounded anyway, so :/.

So I can imagine why work was somewhat undesirable for Shang Tsung. He didn't know magic himself, so he didn't have the convince to let the wills of the mystical to relieve him of work. And depending on HOW poor Shang Tsung was, Shang Tsung probably wasn't able to hone any skills. We know that he speaks well, but how much of that was due to any formal education or self-teaching himself to sound as though he knows what he's talking about. And considering the fact that he's considered "shifty," that must mean that he had to resort to a life of stealing from others when he was younger. And I refuse to believe that Shang Tsung never had opportunities in life to potentially rise above his poor lifestyle, but because of his growing guarded and selfish nature, he couldn't help but grow impatient when the comfortable lifestyle he wanted took longer compared to just finding way to sneakily get what he wants.

And like I said, in this headcanon scenario, Titan Shang Tsung essentially groomed our new Shang Tsung into this lifestyle and way of thinking. He probably manipulated moments in his life to make it seem like Shang Tsung had no choice but to accept a life of deception, that this Damashi character was his only hope of ever achieving that comfortable lifestyle he always wanted, along with weaving a fake story that people "conspired against him since his birth."

And to add to this tragedy, I want to go back to Liu Kang and how everyone blames him for the reason why their lives either went to shit or for why horrible things happened to them. Because, once again, I refuse to believe that Liu Kang would just create Tarkat, or let Smokes' family die, or even let Jerrod die for the 100th time (guy can't catch a break). I like to think that Liu Kang and Geras eventually connect the dots that it was thanks to Titan Shang Tsung's meddling in his timeline that events transpired the way they did. Yet, Liu Kang doesn't want to tell anyone this. Because while it was Titan Shang Tsung's fault, the Hourglass is truly the one to blame. Even beyond the grave, Kronika nearly got what she wanted as everything nearly reverted to some twisted version of how her era once was. So Liu Kang takes the blame for it all because telling everyone that they're potentially doomed to become the worst versions of themselves or that they will experience expected tragedies would be too much for them to handle. So Liu Kang allows them to use him as the scapegoat, to blame their blights on him for why events turned out the way they did.

And I'm finally going to stop here because this has gotten too long and at this point, I feel like I'm a rambling mad woman XD.

Essentially, the TLDR version of all of this is that Titan Shang Tsung is the true mastermind for why Shang Tsung became what he was. He manipulated events so that he could merge his timeline into Liu Kangs and fucked up Liu's new era because of it. Shang Tsung's downfall wasn't Liu Kang's fault and it shouldn't have been.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this ramble, and please feel free to express your own opinions about Shang Tsung's story in MK1. There's probably something about MK1 that I missed that probably justifies Liu Kang being the reason Shang Tsung becomes homeless, but I did my best with the sources that was provided to me.

[backjustforberena]

Haha rephrase then, do you think had she met Addam and Alyn when they were young, when her own children were alive and children, Rhaenys would have been more or less accepting of them?

In TV Canon that is, in book canon I think it's implied she would have burned most of Driftmark for the betrayal of it.

Rhaenys is an interesting personality to try and figure out.

Okay, anon, you got me at a good moment because I'm a couple of gins down, settled in for the night and I really like getting inside Rhaenys's head, so let's give it a bash. With the caveat that this is all, obviously, speculation on my part and very, very, very changeable by each and every factor in this scenario.

Because the question is, what do you mean by "accepting them"? Do you mean accepting their existence, just in general, with the idea that she's not going to do something absolutely crazy or vengeful? Is this a scenario where she just has Corlys tell her, to her face, that these are his kids?

Rhaenys isn't a cruel character. She's not rash, she's not particularly vengeful. She's pragmatic to the point, sometimes, where it's like she's cut out her own heart in order to serve some greater good or greater peace or purpose or security. She's also incredibly merciful and logical. She won't see the transgression as something committed by those boys. She wouldn't see, I don't think, any fault or blame with the mother, either.

So, it's all on Corlys. He's the wildcard because it depends on what he's asking of her. What he wants her to do and what position he's putting her in. And when, as well. And how.

My gut is that if Corlys just confesses all, then she'll work through it. She won't force Corlys to punish the children or the mother - nothing like driving them out of their home or forbidding him to see the boys (though he can bloomin' well end the affair, I'll tell you that for nothing).

However, things drastically change if Corlys wants to give them anything more. If he wants to put them in the succession. If he wants to have them in High Tide, with their kids, then that becomes just a massive deal. Just, in society, that's shameful to her. I mean, goodness, he'd have to go to one of her family to get those kids naturalised. Proclaim it, to the world, that not only did he cheat on her, but the hers that she gave him are not worthy.

If they become a threat to her children and to their rights, then she's going to keep them at arm's length. I think that's sort of, a little bit, what we see in her treatment of the Velaryon boys in Episode 1x07: she's so aware of the danger that those boys represent, as much as she loves them, it's something that cannot be ignored and she will not allow her personal feelings to ever get in the way of a politically good move, especially surrounding the idea of succession. She has to protect herself and her children even if that ends up doing harm (not real, bloody harm, just things getting a bit ugly and little kids having feelings hurt - which is never nice).

Obviously, the idea of naturalising Alyn is different in Season 2 because Corlys desperately needs an heir, especially one suited for wartime.

I do want to clarify, I don't think any of this would happen. Corlys just isn't that guy, we know that. I don't see any world in which he'd do this, want this, or even suggest it (this being presenting his bastards to Rhaenys, or proposing to have them in High Tide). One thing that seems to be repeated and very present is the idea that he's ashamed by this. He won't talk about it. He doesn't like it, and he particularly doesn't like it in the context of it threatening the relationship with his wife. He's not waltzing around saying: look what I did!

What the state of the marriage was when the boys were conceived/born or whatever, we don't know, but with the characterisation we have... Corlys doesn't want any of this scenario, oddly enough (because, seriously, dude, two??). He seems to be deeply shamed by it and in deep denial. Corlys is also a big stickler for "the rules" and tradition and all of that, so his treatment of his illegitimate sons would be in line with whatever the order of the day was. Plus, Laenor and Laena are great and his in-laws have dragons... that man's not stupid (much).

It's funny, looking at the quote from Mushroom: "Princess Rhaenys, his wife, had the fiery temperament of many Targaryens, Mushroom says, and would not have taken kindly to her lord husband fathering bastards [...] Only after the death of Princess Rhaenys did Lord Corlys at last feel able to bring his bastards safely forward" - because it's all speculation. Whilst it's clear that F&B is different from HOTD, looking at this, we could say it STILL holds up.

Rhaenys does have a fiery personality. It may not be burning High Tide to the ground but she has a lot of emotion within her and the capacity for great displeasure and anger. She doesn't take kindly to Corlys's actions (low bar, Mushroom, no one would) - but she's not wrothful. She's heartbroken. And the idea of Corlys fearing her reaction is really intriguing in this version because he expects her to be exactly as Mushroom describes, almost. He expects her temper. So much that he strikes out with his own first, like something wounded, lashing out.

We turn from a Corlys scared his wife is going to burn his backside, to a Corlys concerned about just what it will do to her. What it will do to their marriage. And isn't it just so interesting that Mushroom focuses on the potential for a woman's anger than he does for a man's shame? The stereotype of a scorned woman. It's definitely an intriguing interpretation that we have, now.

I think, actually, looking at your question, we sort of have our answer. Rhaenys has known about Alyn and Addam. She probably has for years, including a time when her children were alive. This is not new information to her - only putting some of the information together is new to her (I can't really work out the specifics, as whether it's Alyn's name or his face or his role in Corlys's near-death or what - I think we can only gather that she's never interacted with Alyn before, in this context and at the age he is now, and she's never met his mother).

So is she accepting of them? Yes. Insofar as she acknowledges Corlys's actions and the fruit of them, and hasn't done anything cruel about it. Insofar as she's aware of everything but chooses to still love her husband, build a life with him, have faith and trust in him and she lets that pain and that wound simply scab over.

She accepts insofar as she's able to recognise it and face it when she has to, even as it does break her heart. If she had lived, would she be best mates with her husband's sons by another woman? No. That's ridiculous. But, I believe, from the small scene we have with Alyn, that a relationship could be formed that would be, at least attempted, forgiving. She could mitigate the pain, to serve that end goal.

As Rhaenys says: Alyn's past is no fault of his.

And as Eve says: "And that’s a classic example of her yet again putting aside her personal grief and her feelings. I think inside, she’s broken and devastated. But always doing the right thing."

Hope that covers it ;)

[andreal831]

Klaus and Rebekah -- Abuse

I often call Klaus out for his treatment of his siblings. Just like I call out the majority of the characters for their behavior. However, Klaus stans get very offended when I do this, even though they are the ones who say they love how evil he is. I often get accused of being biased and 'hating' Klaus. I promise you, I don't. I do not care enough about any fictional character to hate them. I may not like them or they aren't my favorite characters, but I clearly still tolerate them enough to watch the show. It's also funny because I don't talk about my least favorite characters specifically because I don't like them. Therefore, the fact that I spend time talking about Klaus means I like him to an extent. I like aspects of his character and was disappointed in his lack of development.

Too many people want to erase his abuse towards Rebekah or, even worse, justify it. As someone with a degree in Psychology and who works every day with victims of abuse, I wanted to break this down for the fandom.

First, I cannot stand it when Klaus stans want to pretend Klaus's actions are justified. Abuse is never justified. Mikael's treatment of Klaus was not okay even if Mikael thought he was creating a strong warrior. And Klaus' treatment of Rebekah is not okay even if he thinks he knows best.

Second, being abused and having trauma does not justify or relieve responsibility from someone if they then become an abuser themselves. It does happen, unfortunately, but they need to be held responsible as abusers.

Third, there are different types of abuse. One is not more damaging than another, they are all terrible and cause long-lasting trauma.

Psychical Abuse

"Involves the use of physical violence, or threats of it, to maintain power over an individual. Because of this, survivors are afraid and uncertain when more abuse will occur. This often reinforces the regular use of other, more subtle, types of abuse."

Physical abuse is the one that is talked about the most because it is so easy to see. Klaus has been physically abusing Rebekah for about 900 years. He does it so frequently that she often flinches away from him. She never knows what to expect from him, if he is going to be a loving brother or revert back to her abuser. This creates its own trauma as she loves the caring side of her brother but is terrified of what he can turn into. It's part of the reason they have such a codependent bond. She still sees the brother she loves and wants to save him.

The first moment of physical abuse that we see is after the Hunters dagger their family and Klaus slaughters them all. Klaus grabs her roughly and screams in her face. This is after Rekekah wakes up covered in blood and sees the man she loves dead. She is clearly terrified of Klaus in this scene. People will try to justify this and say Klaus was "in the right" since Rebekah shouldn't have trusted the Hunter. But, I'll refer you back to my first point, we do not blame victims for their abuse, we do not justify abusers in their actions. Rebekah did not plot against her family. She made a mistake in trusting someone, a mistake that everyone in that family has made. Hell, Klaus is sleeping with Genevive while she is actively trying to murder his child. He sleeps with Aurora while she kidnaps Rebekah and throws her into the ocean. But Rebekah was in love with the Hunter. Even after what he did, she still buried him in peace. Klaus was not in love with the women he allowed close to him and hurt his family. He does not have a moral high ground. And even if he did, again, we do not justify abuse.

This event starts a cycle of abuse. Klaus holds onto the weapons, even though, at this time he is not any stronger than his siblings and they cannot be used against him. He doesn't do it to protect them but to threaten them. Anytime they disagree with him, he threatens to take years away from them, to strip them of their bodily autonomy. They are so scared of those daggers that they won't even stand against Klaus for each other.

We don't see much of their lives, but in every era after this, we see Klaus physically abusing Rebekah. He is constantly waving the daggers around and using them against her. This is physical abuse. He is stripping her bodily autonomy away from her and taking years of her life away from her. We don't know how many times this happens but we know she lost 14 years of her life in the span of 200 years, so I can only imagine how much of her life she truly missed out on.

In the 1800s, he threatens her away from Marcel and when she doesn't obey him, he daggers her and costs her 52 years of her life. In 1920, he daggers her for wanting to be with Stefan, taking 90 years of her life away. In Season 4 TVD, he daggers her for months because she doesn't want to help him make his hybrids.

He has no problem choking her and breaking her neck after he left her to be abused and tortured by vampire hunters. He compels Marcel to kill her witch body if she disobeys him. Not to mention the sanitorium episode where she is running, scared for her life from her brother. He constantly threatens her with bodily harm if she goes against him.

Emotional Abuse

"Includes non-physical behaviors that are meant to control, isolate, or frighten someone. These behaviors are often more subtle and hard to identify but are just as serious as other types of abuse."

Even as a human Klaus is condescending to Rebekah, telling her she cannot play with knives because she is a girl, despite the fact that Rebekah is the only one of his siblings who has ever been brave enough to stand up to Mikael. I know it is the times, but as a reminder, Viking women often wielded swords.

Klaus emotionally manipulates Rebekah from early on. He continues to gaslight her and make her emotionally dependent on him. He even jokes about his abuse to her and their siblings, often make jokes about daggering them and finding a place to store them if they disagree.

The first time is right after they are turned when Klaus tells Rebekah their father killed their mother. This is a lie. He killed Esther and he knows it. He tells Rebekah that so she won't leave him. Even if it comes from a place of fear, this is emotional manipulation. He does not allow Rebekah to make an informed decision. Their entire vow is based on this lie.

Klaus is very good at framing himself as the victim and making his siblings feel guilty, even when he has done the same or worse. He refers to himself as their "bastard-brother" often and talks about them abandoning him, which is just a lie. Rebekah and Elijah never once abandoned him for 900 years. Elijah only left to lead Mikael away and the only time we see Rebekah leave is when she is daggered. Yes, Rebekah begins to act in reaction to Klaus' abuse, but it takes about 700 years of being abused before she even does this. Also, you can't use Rebekah calling Mikael as an explanation since he didn't find out about that until 2012/2013.

I would also like to point out, Klaus is celebrated for killing his abuser but Rebekah is condemned for 'trying' to kill hers. I also hold that she didn't actually want him dead, she acted in pain and instantly regretted it. He is also the one who abandons her multiple times, even leaving her in Mystic Falls after she has been daggered for 90 years.

Klaus has no compassion for Rebekah's feelings. He is constantly belittling her for loving or caring for others. He would often make comments, especially in front of others, about her being stupid or naive. Like making fun of her love for Alexander in front of Stefan or making fun of her in front of Marcel. This is a very common way for abusers to control their victims. If the victim feels small and insignificant, they do not feel brave enough to leave. He constantly makes her feel like she is nothing, that she has nothing so she has no choice but to stay with him.

He lets her think he is dead for days, despite what he knows it will do to her. When he reveals himself, he leaves her in the hands of self-declared vampire hunters and makes no move to rescue her even later.

And then Klaus' moment of 'growth' is when he doesn't kill her in the cemetery in Season 1, but "sets her free." Again, this is a way for him to exercise his control over her life. He is exiling her but frames it in a way that he is the good guy. He has complete control over her life still. She is not allowed to return to see Marcel, Hayley, Elijah, or anyone. She only is able to return when Klaus needs her.

Sexual Abuse

"Sexual abuse is when a partner controls the physical and sexual intimacy in a relationship. This often involves acting in a way that is non-consensual and forced."

I think we can all admit, Klaus and Rebekah have a very strange relationship. He is very possessive of her and it often comes across as a toxic boyfriend.

For some reason, Rebekah has to ask her brothers' permission to turn her boyfriend, Emil, into a vampire. Further showing her lack of autonomy. Klaus laughs at her and shames her for her love life. He then takes it a step further and throws Emil off the balcony, proving to Rebekah once again that she is not allowed to have anyone in her life outside of him. He even does it with his siblings when he sees Rebekah and Elijah acting too close, he attempts to victimize himself, pretending they are excluding him because he is their half-brother, rather than for the real reason that he has hurt them once again.

The next romantic interest for Rebekah is Marcel. I'm not going to get into the problems there, but we do need to acknowledge the grooming that occurred. But that is not why Klaus is opposed to the relationship. He doesn't want Rebekah to pursue Marcel because he views them as being his. He doesn't want them to have anything in their life outside of him. When she disobeys, he punishes her. He doesn't punish Marcel even though Marcel was the one who pursued her. He only punishes her. Not only does he dagger her, but he barters her life for Marcel's desire to become a vampire. He does this specifically to drive an even deeper wedge between Rebekah and Marcel, so that when he undaggers her after 52 years, she will not seek a relationship with Marcel.

Klaus then wants props for later "giving permission" for Marcel and Rebekah to have a relationship. It is completely sick that he thinks he is allowed to regulate his sister's love life.

Rebekah next forms an attachment with Stefan. She actually meets Stefan first, but because Klaus is jealous, he is constantly throwing fits in the 20s and wants to separate the two. When it is time to run, he doesn't give Stefan the chance to come with them. He compels Stefan to forget about them, despite it being Rebekah's boyfriend. Rebekah decides she wants to stay with him and he daggers her for 90 years for this 'betrayal.' In fact, he only releases her when he plans to use her against Stefan. When he is done with her, he abandons her in Mystic Falls to go create his own family of hybrids.

And if you think this is okay because Rebekah is 'breaking their vow,' I want you to really think about that. Rebekah is 900 years old and not allowed to essentially move out and start her own life because her older brother never learned to make his own friends/romantic partners.

I also think we need to evaluate the vow. While Klaus may have kept to the words of it, he did not keep to the meaning of it. "Always and forever" was meant to show their loyalty and love for each other. Not that they were not allowed to have their own lives. Klaus broke his vow by keeping them in a box and robbing years of their lives. That is not an act of love but an act of abuse.

When they are back in New Orleans, he is constantly using her past with Marcel against her. He blames her for the issues with Marcel even though he was the one who introduced Marcel to the family and supposedly raised him. It is just another way to emotionally manipulate her as well as control her romantic life.

And then at the end of The Originals, the only glimpse of remorse we see is that he tells Caroline to get the cure for Rebekah. He doesn't apologize for the thousand years of abuse he inflicted on her and acts like this one act (which he has very little to do with) will make up for the rest of it. Someone recently pointed out the timing of it. Klaus didn't want her to take the cure before, but now that he is dying, he is fine with it. Since the show did very little to show growth in his relationship with Rebekah, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he has it in his head that Rebekah will be able to join him in the afterlife sooner if she takes the cure.

All of this to say, Klaus spent 900 years abusing his sister. Yes, she began to react against him, but that doesn't make it okay for him to continue to abuse her. It is fine to like Klaus' character, but it is not fine to justify abuse. People suffer this type of abuse every day and justifying it on social media allows this abuse to continue to be justified in real life. Don't be so blinded by a fictional character as to hurt real-life victims.

[the-starry-seas]

Last Line Challenge

tagged by @starwarsanthropology (twice), @mereelskirata (twice), @varpusvaras, @sithfox, @merlyn-bane

@whiskygoldwings (twice), @rooksunday, @adhd-coyote, and @loverboy-havocboy (also twice)

ily all and i love all the tags i've been getting 😊 i've simply been busy with Event Fic that i can't share oops. but i am reverse-uno-tagging each and every one of you :3

in lieu of my actual most recent work... jango one-shot! in which daimyo boba gets a little disrespected and jango handles it in the manner he knows best

violence. it's violence. people die.

Jango stands up.

“I will not allow anyone,” he says, his toe spikes ching-ing faintly with each step he takes down the stone dias, “to disrespect Lord Fett.”

His voice is deceptively soft. If Boba didn’t know him so well, he might think it was a request, disguised as a demand. He can almost picture that same nearly-polite tone, asking please don’t do that again?

But he remembers that tone. He remembers being a boy, and watching his father walk toward a man, puzzled at his father’s neutral, almost submissive demeanour. He remembers wondering what could ever make legendary bounty hunter Jango Fett approach a threat – however subtle or minor – with anything but raw power.

And he remembers what happened next.

He shifts his weight forward, sitting almost on the edge of the throne, eyes fixed on his father’s form. In his peripheral vision, he can see Fennec, aware that something’s happening but confused as to what exactly it is.

“I think you should apologize,” Jango suggests.

“I said what I said,” the man repeats. “And what I said was-”

Jango’s fingers tighten around the man’s throat before any of them see him move, dragging him out of his seat and around in front of Jango like a dog flinging around a rat. The man manages to draw a blaster from somewhere, shooting at Jango and hitting him in the bottom of the chestplate. Jango lets go, a calculated movement, not borne out of pain or surprise. The methodical nature of the man’s release eludes him. He scrambles back, hopping up onto the table to try to get away, blaster leveled in a shaking hand.

Jango leaps forward, hand planting on the table, boot coming up to land beside it. The way he moves on all fours should look awkward and off-centered, especially since he stays low to avoid hitting the pendant lights, but there’s grace to it as he advances. Four blaster shots ping off Jango’s chestplate. None of them have any effect on him now.

Boba can see the very moment the man realizes that Jango let him go on purpose.

Jango’s momentum carries him forward easily. He straddles the man’s hips, hand planted on his chest even as the man brings the blaster up again, trying to adjust for their new closeness. Jango strikes quickly, hand wrapping around the top of the blaster and yanking it away in a sudden, harsh movement that snaps two of the man’s fingers almost effortlessly.

He screams, cradling his hand to his chest. Jango already has the end of the blaster’s barrel pressed against the man’s forehead as his left hand reaches to his belt. He draws the long, jagged Tusken knife that K'jevra had given him. The blade scrapes slowly against the metal of the scabbard, the harsh, grating sound an intimidation tactic that makes even Boba shiver slightly.

“I beg your pardon!” interjects the Zabrak who’d brought them all here, jumping up from his seat. “I cannot allow such treatment of my guards!”

“Beg, then,” Jango says, in that same voice, its softness a sign of danger now to everyone in the room. He raises the knife, holds it in the air, lights gleaming off the blade. “Beg Lord Fett for forgiveness.”

“Lord Fett, please. The man was a fool, but this is an unspeakable show of violence.”

“Not much of an apology,” Boba muses. He pauses, for a moment, eyeing the Zabrak for any signs of remorse and finding none. His gaze moves to the men on the table. Jango hasn’t looked away from his target’s face, even though the other man stares at Boba with fear. “I leave his fate to your mercy, Father.”

Their visitors’ eyes widen as they realize the relation.

The man on the table doesn’t have time to scream.

His death is almost incidental. Blood spatters across the tabletop as Jango pulls the knife out and rises to lunge at the nearest man in the same instant. Despite what he’d just seen, the guard was foolish enough to have drawn his blaster. Jango is on top of him before he has time to aim, and his shot goes wild, not that any of them see the blaster bolt leave a scorch mark on the wall.

All eyes are on Jango, as he and the guard tumble to the floor together. Boba knows the man’s dead by the time they hit the floor, arm falling lifelessly as Jango lands on top of him and rolls to the side. He comes up kneeling on one knee, knife held flat against his thigh, already aiming his blaster at the third guard. The guard hesitates, for a moment, and the fourth takes the moment to try to outdraw Jango.

Jango lets the bolt hit, then slowly turns his head to stare at the fourth guard. They freeze, clearly realizing their mistake, and begin to raise their hands, one in the air, one to the side to set the blaster on the table. Jango lets them disarm themself before throwing the knife, already turning away from metal cutting through flesh to use the small rocket mounted on his left vambrace on the last remaining guard as they start to fumble for their blaster.

The Zabrak stands frozen in shock and horror.

Boba rises, standing before the throne with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I thought you had at least one brain cell wandering around between those horns of yours. Get out, Varian, and get off this planet. If anyone ever sees you here again…” He lowers and softens his voice, matching Jango’s almost exactly. “I’m a simple man, like my father before me. Do you understand?”

Varian nods, backing away slowly, mute with terror. When he reaches the doorway, he turns and flees, the echoes of his footsteps quickly receding into quiet.

Jango stands up, takes a napkin from the table, and begins cleaning his knife.

[neartheeasternfence]

Four Years Ago, Yashiro “Got Away”

Impressions; Chapter 56

Yashiro on the title page seems exposed and vulnerable. The appended phrase is an eye-catcher or advertising slogan, not a part of the work. It must be the editor in charge who is the first, professional reader and companion of the serialization that devises them each time. It is a little regretful that they are eliminated from volumes. 56’s eye-catcher can be interpreted as “[A] want any excuse to stay close [to B],” I wonder. If A is Doumeki, B is Yashiro, and vice versa. Doumeki is the one staring at Yashiro, and at the same time, Yashiro holds feelings for Doumeki.

Doumeki did not confirmed the contents of the video. To Doumeki, whatever the situation, it was Yashiro’s privacy. Asked why he has gotten so much pleasure with Doumeki, Yashiro’s face turns straight one moment, and he replies that only their bodies have good compatibility. While he must have had the same question too, has he adjusted it that way for the time being? Doumeki seems delighted to learn that Yashiro is interested in Doumeki’s personal life. However, Yashiro almost runs away from the scene. He fears getting attached to anyone or anything as ever -- “I am afraid of losing you (I will not lose you if I do not get you) (ch.23, vol.5).”

Something is horrifying about the interaction over “You prefer cruel treatment, don't you?” It is the same as “You go in for pain, right?”, “Yes,” and “Without pain, I cannot arouse…” (ch.24, vol.5). It clearly shows that Yashiro’s trauma has not changed in any way and remains there. Even though Doumeki comprehended something at the end of volume 6 (Tobu tori ha kotoba wo motanai, the translated title: Flying birds never speak), he was not privy to everything... In chapter 25 (vol.5), he minded Yashiro giving tears, but little did he know that Yashiro was having such flashbacks. Since Yashiro is positive to Doumeki’s questioning, the context goes to ‘I prefer cruelty.’ Still, Doumeki cannot help settling Yashiro’s words, plus his enraptured tone, on ‘I prefer you’ or ‘I prefer doing it with you,’ I think.

Doumeki longs to touch Yashiro skin to skin, not to bite or restrain him. His pleasure lies in bringing Yashiro pleasure. For Doumeki, rimming is a symbolic act, an attempt to reach back to Yashiro’s past he cannot fully know, to reclaim the entirety of Yashiro. In chapter 52, I realized that he must have lived a life in the Sakura Family ruminating over the whole memory from the three months with Yashiro. In chapter 56, I recognized that it was Yashiro’s ‘taste,’ his figure and essential parts, and every ‘texture’ of him that occupied Doumeki’s private fantasies. His side face expression is the same when he looks up from Yashiro’s lower stomach, takes a small breath over Yashiro’s heart, shifts from fingering to rimming, or lightly stirs Yashiro’s emissions with his fingertips. Doumeki must be profoundly impressed by experiencing in reality what he has only imagined for the past four years.

When Yashiro first used the word “rape” (in katakana), I was surprised (ch.47, vol.8). Words are labels and categorize things. All the sex Yashiro had experienced, even as he had grown up and regained a certain degree of sexual agency, had been substantially so. He found Doumeki was the sole exception. At that time, it was sorted into the category of “something different from what I know” (ch.25). Although it may not derive a name even now, the rest was categorized eventually as rape. One night with Doumeki drastically altered Yashiro’s perception of sex.

So, what is this? Despite its not being rape, yet not the equivalent as four years ago either… (I suppose that means). Doumeki seems to have developed an understanding that four years ago, Yashiro “got away” because he imposed his emotions on Yashiro. Doumeki takes a breath at the top of the vertical panel, while the bottom two-thirds of it is blank (filled with screen tones). It suggests the passing of time and indicates that he has chosen his words prudentially.

[elonaswrath]

‼️‼️‼️‼️WARNING SPOILERS FOR TAZ THE SUFFERING GAMES GRAPHIC NOVEL ‼️‼️‼️‼️

okay i have so many thoughts. first of all i think that removing some of the minor characters like the head from the arc worked well. However, the removal of the countering adventuring party in wonderland was not a welcome change for me. The lack of a foil through out the game made it feel hollow and lacking substance. In fact the whole gn felt very rushed. Nothing really seemed to get a moment to breathe because they had to rush to the reveals about IPRE (more on this later). I think one of the cardinal sins of the novel however is showing us characters like Lup too soon. What made the stolen century and the lead up to story and song so good was the fact that we did not know anything about the characters but instead that we learned about them as they grew. One of the most powerful moments of balance was the reveal of davenport and the unfurling of the mystery of the seven birds, but here it just happens. Like there is no mystery there is nothing but the mystery being solved. Taako’s line of “You took half my heart” means so much more when we see what Lup meant to him. The stolen century gives so much more power to things like that, but here because we needed a clean ending they just had those things happen. ALSO ABOUT LUP I CANNOT STAND THAT THEY SHOWED THE BEST DAY EVER!! Like it’s a fun easter egg if you have listened to balance but by putting it there devoid of context it has no weight and I feel flops on its face. This really feels like it’s living in the shadow of stolen century, almost like Across the Spiderverse being a part one.

I am genuinely baffled however by the treatment of wonderland. Because so much of the story is weighted towards the events after wonderland we lose so much of what made this arc special. It seriously felt like nothing from wonderland could breathe because they needed to explore the moon and the secrets on it. This led to some of the worst changes in my opinion. We lost some of my favorite lore in the series when the final wheel spins are cut. I think Magnus taking all of the punishments on the last wheel, spinning without caring what it will cost him is some of the best of the series and it’s just gone here.

My biggest complaint however is the focus that is paid to specific moments and not paid to others. I think that no healing in wonderland deserved a full page if not a two page spread as it is one of the best moments in the series. Also, arms outstretched felt so jumbled and lost in the chaos of the page. I would have loved a two page spread of them reaching for one another. I realize it means more to us knowing that it drastically changed the narrative and that it took all three of thb to do it but still I think that could have been so emotionally resonant. I think the book could have taken itself more seriously as a piece of emotional media. What made TSG and SC so good was the emotional depth we finally saw. Wonderland was supposed to suck because losing things should mean something. I wanted to see the characters breathe and be affected but there was too much ground to cover.

Let me also say I think Carey absolutely killed the illustration work and there was so much good in the graphic novel. I just have a special place in my heart for this story and I understand this review seems mostly negative. I say these things not because I hate the work but rather because I think it pertinent to discuss why some things did not land with me. I loved the majority of it. Seeing this arc come to life and having moments like Dupree appearing were so fun but also there is so much room for potential improvements. I give the novel a solid 7.5/10 on a first read. I think it’s definitely one of the weaker entries so far but I am so excited for Stolen Century. I hope that they give the next novel more time to develop. If that means waiting longer so we can get more brilliant art from Carey I am so good with that. My one hope is that we see more of the characters emerge in the next gn because this felt very story driven and not very character driven. And it is in the end the characters that I love. The story worked as means to build the characters and I think we need to see more of that.

[rose-sophia-isabella-rogers]

Worth the Risk: Chapter I - Before

Chapter Summary: You've known Anakin ever since you were a youngling. It was hard to see one of you without the other. It's different when the Clone Wars start. But then, you're finally paired together for a mission and you're almost always together again. However, an argument after you almost die, may ruin your relationship. Or maybe it will do something completely else?

Pairing: Anakin Skywalker/Reader

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Reader, Shaak Ti (only mentioned), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, Rex, Jesse, Sketcher, Bunker, R2-D2

Word Count: 4338

A/N: This was supposed to be a one-shot. Once again, I'm proving myself I can't write those. Oh well. Anyway, I've got into "Star Wars" a few months ago and this is the result. I haven't watched everything yet, but I couldn't stop myself. I hope you will enjoy this. Happy reading! P.S.: The gif is not mine! Same as the Star Wars franchise. Nor you, for that matter. Oh, and I didn't know if the people on the tag list wanted to be only in my fanfictions about Aleksander Kirigan or in all my works. So, I address you guys now: if you're not into the Star Wars or this pairing, let me know in the comments and I will remove you from the tag list and won't tag you in the next chapter.

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or removed):

@intothesoul

@mizelophsun11

@pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy

@zeeader

@marrymonrich

@wonderland2425

@chelseyyouraverageluigi

@thehufflepuffavenger1

@drinix

@astro-kitty-launch

Anakin Skywalker has been your best friend since you were little. When he arrived to the Jedi Temple, the rumors about him being the Chosen One quickly spread. Other younglings were a bit afraid of him or treated him as someone amazing already. You were having none of that. During your first training together, you beat him up. He may be the one to save you all, but you were here longer. He was not going to get any special treatment from you.

However, after the training was finished, you hurried to him and took him on a tour of the Jedi Temple. You didn't want to treat him like he was better than you, but you didn't want him to be your enemy either. He was a kid, like you. And you could tell he appreciated that.

Ever since that, you spent every free moment together. Everyone knew that wherever you two showed up, chaos followed. He was advancing quicker in the Order, but you were an apt student and were close behind. After the Initiate Trails you were honored to be chosen by Master Shaak Ti. She's a good mentor and you really valued everything she had to teach you.

Then, the Clone Wars started. Your Master was asked to oversee the Clone production and training. You accompanied her and also took part in some battles, sent as a Commander. Soon after, you took your Jedi Trials and the Council granted you the title of the Jedi Knight. It was time to leave your Master and become a General of the Grand Army of the Republic. Of course, Anakin has been one already for some time, having passed his trials before you.

Because of the war, you and Skywalker have been spending less time together. But wherever you two manage to meet, you always try to take the most of it. But for some reason, the Council have never asked you to go to the battle together. Until now.

*

Anakin is walking through the Jedi Temple with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda. They're discussing the new mission Skywalker has been given. He needs to free another planet from the Separatists.

'Don't worry, Master Yoda,' he says, as they exit the Temple. 'Obi-Wan and I will not fail you.'

'Go with you, Obi Wan cannot,' Yoda says, surprising them both. 'A different task, he has. Send someone else with you, we will.'

'Who?' Anakin asks, frowning. At the same moment they notice Master Mace Windu approaching with you. He's saying something to you and you nod, absolutely concentrated. Until your eyes fall on your best friend. Then, you grin. He does the same. But Obi-Wan's face falls.

'Master Yoda, are you sure about this?' he asks. 'The two of them together…'

'What is needed to save this planet, exactly is,' Yoda finishes.

'We'll be fine, Obi-Wan,' Anakin says, already heading your way. Kenobi sighs.

'This is gonna end badly,' he murmurs. 'Or at least in an explosion.'

You and Anakin meet halfway. At once you start talking strategy amatively. Windu passes you and joins other Masters, eyeing you skeptically.

'Are we sure about this?' he asks. 'There is a reason why we haven't paired them up together for a mission. They tend to be… destructive together.'

'To put it lightly,' Obi-Wan adds. But Yoda smiles.

'Trust them, we must,' he says. 'Powerful together, they are. Win the battle, they will.'

And so, an hour later you're at the docks, getting ready to board the Resolute, Anakin's Venator-class Star Destroyer. Anakin's Clone Legion, 501st, is to join you, same as yours, 98th. They greet each other and chat, waiting for you and Anakin to declare you're ready to fly. Ahsoka Tano, Skywalker's padawan, stands a bit to the side, talking with Captain Rex, one of the clones.

'Ahsoka, do me a favor and keep an eye on these two,' Obi-Wan says, glancing at you and Anakin.

'Why?' Tano asks, puzzled.

'Wherever they go together, chaos follows,' Kenobi explains and pats Rex on the shoulder. 'Good luck to you all.'

'Thank you, sir,' the Clone says, already fearing his future.

'All set?' Anakin asks, joining the group.

'We were waiting just for you,' Ahsoka answers and smiles at you, as you approach them. 'And [Y/N]. Hi!'

'Hey,' you say, grinning at the young padawan. 'Shall we?'

'Let's destroy some droids,' Skywalker says, smirking at you. You smirk back and board the ship with him.

'May the force be with you,' Obi-Wan calls after you. You and Anakin turn and salute him.

'And with you!' you say at the same time and head inside. Kenobi sighs.

'Please, be careful,' he asks.

'I'll keep an eye on them, sir,' Rex promises.

'Thank you,' Obi-Wan says. Ahsoka smiles at him and boards the ship with others. She can't wait to see you and Anakin in action together.

*

When Obi-Wan returns from his mission, you and Anakin are still away. The task is going well, but he hears there are some complications. Still, you return not long after him. The Clones from your legions are the first to get out of the Resolute. They all look weary.

'How did it go?' Kenobi, who is there to greet you, asks. The Clones look at him. Rex walks forward and brings his hands together.

'Please, sir, please, never put the two of them on a mission together again,' he begs. Obi-Wan raises his eyebrows.

'That bad?' he asks.

'They were crazy,' Jesse, a Clone from 501 says with wide eyes.

'That bad?' Obi-Wan sighs.

'It was quite fun, actually,' Ahsoka says, joining them with a small smile, also looking tired. 'But… they are something else together.'

'They're chaos, that's what they are,' Jesse mumbles. Just then you and Anakin show up. You're having a bacta patch on your forehead.

'And what happened to you?' Kenobi asks.

'Skywalker,' you answer, but don't sound angry.

'Yeah, well, it worked, so I'm not sorry,' Anakin says. You roll your eyes.

'But we're not doing it again,' you say.

'How about next time you can throw me into a swarm of droids?' Skywalker suggests. Your eyes light up. Obi-Wan's go wide.

'You did what?!' he demands from his former padawan.

'She had two lightsabers!' Anakin defends himself. You grin and decide to quickly evacuate yourself, not wanting to be berated by Kenobi as well. Ahsoka and Clones take that as their cue as well.

While you retreat, Skywalker glares at you, feeling betrayed. You wink at him and walk away gracefully. Until you hit a droid and trip over him. You can hear Anakin's laughter very clearly.

'Damn you, Skywalker,' you murmur and stand up. You stick out your tongue to Anakin and walk away.

'How can one change their personality so quickly?' Jesse asks Rex. 'On the battlefield they both have been professional, focused and very scary. And now they are…'

'Young people having fun,' Rex finishes with a small, sad smile. They observe you walking away in silence, pondering about the cruelty of the war.

A few days later the Clones from 501st and 98th legions get bad news. The Senate and Jedi Council were so impressed and satisfied with how the mission went, they want to pair you, Anakin and your legions for more missions. All Clones groan in unison at the news. Some actually cry.

However, with time it changes. Yes, you and Anakin can still be crazy, not only on the battlefield. But 501st notices that you tend to have a calming influence on Skywalker. And 98th notice that you seem to thaw around Anakin. They're used to see you calm, collected and serious. Sometimes even a bit too much.

501st Legion takes a quick liking to you, not only because you calm down their general's temper. You are fun, compassionate, kind and you are a very warm person. Sometimes, Anakin even thinks they like you more than him. He is probably very right.

98th Legion is fast to warm up to Skywalker, too. They admire his skills, intelligence and strategies. They also love his fun side and to joke around with him. And annoy you with it.

Both Legions have a chance to see more than anyone, maybe with an exception of Ahsoka, the chemistry between you and Anakin. While others see it as some sort of connection, good sync in the Force, they see it's something… more. And they're determined to see what exactly it is. The opportunity for that comes with one of the missions.

*

The Clones stand awkwardly outside the medic bay. They look at each other. No one dares to speak. They wince, hearing something clattering inside.

'So… they expect a report,' Sketcher, one of the Clones from 98th, says.

'Do you want to go in and tell them that?' Bunker, his companion, asks. Sketcher gives him a horrified look.

'None of us does,' Jesse murmurs. Just then Ahsoka, who had to take a shower because she was completely covered in slime, shows up. Everyone looks at her with hope.

'Commander, the Jedi Council expects a report,' Rex quickly says. Tano raises her eyebrows.

'Shouldn't Master Skywalker and Master [L/N] do it?' she asks. All Clones look at the door to the med bay. As on cue, Anakin's and then your voices can be heard:

You could have died!

But I didn't!

'I see your point,' Ahsoka sighs. 'I'll get right to it.'

She turns to go and contact the Council. The Clones hurry after her, no longer feeling guilty for not stepping in. Only Rex and Sketcher stay behind, ready to assist you and help if necessary.

Inside the med bay, you and Anakin are glaring at each other. You're covered in bacta patches. But you don't see why your friend is making such a fuss. You're fine. Nothing serious has happened to you.

'But you could have,' Skywalker says. You roll your eyes.

'What's your deal?' you ask, putting a hand on your hip. 'Usually, you don't hesitate to do things like that. You do even more dangerous stunts.'

'You're supposed to be more responsible one,' Anakin argues. 'Besides… you're not me.'

'I know, but what's that supposed to mean?' you ask, narrowing your eyes. Skywalker clenches and unclenches his fist.

'It's less risky when I don things like that,' he says after a tense moment. 'Dangerous things.'

'And why is that?' you ask, crossing your arms over your chest.

'Because I'm a better Jedi,' he blurts out. 'I've always progressed faster than you.'

He regrets his words the moment they leave his mouth. You look as if he's slapped you. For a long moment you stare at each other. Finally, you huff.

'You can be a really unsensitive jerk, Skywalker,' you snap and march out of the med bay.

'[Y/N], wait, I didn't-!' Anakin starts, panicked. But you push past Rex and Sketcher, and hurry away. The Clones stare after you, then look at Skywalker judgingly.

'What?' he asks. Rex sighs and Sketcher shakes his head.

'What?' Skywalker repeats, annoyed, crossing his arms. 'Come on, spit it out.'

The Clones exchange a look. Sketcher waves his hand and walks away. Anakin and Rex stare at each other. Skywalker raises his eyebrow, waiting. The Clone sighs again.

'You should have just told her you were worried, sir,' he says and the Jedi quickly opens his mouth to protest. 'You and me know she's just as good as you. You're angry with her, because you were scared. You know that, I know that, but she doesn't. So, give her time to cool down and talk about it. But calmly now. And explain your reasoning. And apologize.'

'Are you giving me orders, Rex?' Anakin asks, a bit amused.

'Just a suggestion, sir,' the Clone answers, salutes and walks away. Skywalker sighs and runs a hand through his face. He knows Rex is right. But how to talk to you?

Nevertheless, he gathers his courage, and once you're getting close to Coruscant, he searches for you. He finds you in one of the storages, checking for supplies. The furrow of your eyebrows tells him you're still angry. But he has to clear the air now, before it's too late.

'[Y/N],' he says, walking inside. 'Can we talk?'

'Talk or yell at each other?' you ask after a beat.

'Talk,' Anakin answers, walking slowly to you, and scratches the back of his neck. 'I… I owe you an apology.'

You finally look at him, raising your eyebrows at him. You clearly haven't expected that.

'I am not a better Jedi than you,' he says. 'And I have no right to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. I'm… I'm sorry.'

'I'm sorry, too,' you say after a pause, looking at him with sorrow. 'I… I shouldn't have stormed off like that. You… I… Truth is, I've always been a bit jealous of you being promoted quicker than me. Because I was in the Temple longer than you. Ever since I was a baby. I've tried to get over it, but I guess a part of me is still angry about it. But the truth is, the time spend on the training doesn't matter, but talent does. And you're a natural, Anakin. I just… I just wish you'd trust my skills as well. I may be not as good as you are, but I'm capable of doing risky things, as well.'

'I do trust your skills!' he hastily says, taking a step toward you. 'And you are as talented as I am. I just… I… You…'

'Yes?' you ask when he trails off. He gulps and looks into your eyes. His pulse speeds up. He can do it. He can.

'I was worried about you,' he confesses softly, surprising you. 'When I saw you jumping into that fire… for a moment my heart stopped. I thought… that you're not gonna come out of it. I feared I had lost you. When you emerged, I… I was so relieved. But then I became angry. For you to putting yourself in such risk and for making me so scared. I… lashed out at you and I'm sorry for it. But the thought of losing you is…'

You eye him warily, your heart beating fast. He looks at you like a kicked puppy. There's deep sadness in his eyes and… and something else you don't dare to name. Probably, if you reached out, you could read him. But you don't. And you beg him in your mind not to speak.

'It was unbearable,' he finishes softly anyway. You gulp. His eyes are begging you to say something. Your heart screams at you to answer him. But you can't.

'Well… I'm still here,' you say and smile nervously. 'Still in one piece. But I promise to be more careful. And as responsible as usual at least.'

You stare at him, expecting him to smile back. To finally get rid of this tension between you two. So everything could be back to normal. But he doesn't. He stares back at you, his eyes serious and… Oh, no. Determined.

'What if I do lose you one day?' he asks. You quickly put your guard up.

'You'll move on,' you answer, softly but sternly. He scoffs and looks at you with disbelief.

'Do you really think I can do that?' he asks. 'Could you move on if something happened to me?'

'Yes,' you answer with difficulty, forcing the tears back from your eyes.

'Seriously?' Anakin huffs, narrowing his eyes at you. You gulp, feeling a burning sensation in your throat.

'I'm not saying it would be easy,' you say. 'But I'd have to. That is the Jedi way. No attachments. Letting go of those we lost. Moving on.'

You give him a pointed look and walk past him. You press the button to open the door, but suddenly Skywalker grabs your wrist and presses the button again, closing the door. You stare at it, stunned. Your breath hitches when you feel his chest pressing into your back.

'What if we weren't Jedi?' he asks quietly, straight into your ear, causing you to shiver.

'Then… I'd mourn you,' you answer, also quietly. 'Openly. Letting everyone know how… hurt I am.'

'No, that's not the word you wanted to use,' he says, gently squeezing your wrist.

'Heartbroken,' you whisper. 'I'd be heartbroken.'

Anakin lets go of your wrist. But his hand moves to your waist, his other landing on its other side. He starts to turn you around. You panic and press the button to open the door. But it doesn't budge. You frown, confused. You can't wonder about it, however, because your eyes meet Skywalker's.

'Let me go,' you plead, for both your sakes. But he leans toward you, allowing his eyelids to drop a bit. You want to give in. Oh, you want it so much. But…

'What about Padmé?' you ask. He freezes. He looks at you with a frown.

'You've been going on about her ever since I met you,' you huff. 'And then you were reunited and… you always wanted to be on the missions that were connected to her and I always felt… how much she means to you.'

'She's just a friend,' he says, but you give him a skeptical look. 'Truly. Yes, I thought Padmé is… someone more for me. But then I met you and I realized… She was the first beautiful and kind girl I've ever met. What I felt for her was a childhood crush. Nothing more. I'm certain of it. Because what I feel for you is stronger than what I've felt for her.'

'Don't,' you say harshly, attempting to move away. 'Stop it here, Anakin.'

'No,' Skywalker says sternly, looking at you with passion. 'I've been hiding my feelings for too long. I almost lost you today and I can't… I can't continue without you knowing about them. Without knowing about yours…'

He reaches out and cups your cheek. He wipes out a stray tear you weren't even aware of. You open your mouth to protest more, but he quickly leans to you and your lips touch… and it's everything you've ever dreamt of and so much more.

You've been in love with your best friend for years. You've tried to deny and hide it. Because you are both Jedi and you also believed he has some feelings for Senator Padmé Amidala. But now he's kissing you. He's almost devouring your mouth and you just want more. You don't even realize when you put your hand behind his neck and pull him closer to you.

'[Y/N]…' he groans, deepening the kiss.

'Anakin…' you whisper and finally get enough clarity to push him away. 'We… we can't. The Jedi code…'

'Is wrong,' Skywalker says strongly and cups your face, looking at you pleadingly. 'It must be. Because how can this be wrong? Kissing you is the rightest thing I've ever done. I was made to love you, I'm sure of it. How can this be wrong?'

'Attachments lead to fear,' you say, forcing yourself to ignore what he said. 'Fear leads to hatred. Hatred leads to the Dark Side.'

'I'm certain that if I ever was tempted by the Dark Side, you'd beat that idea out of me.'

'Ha. Maybe. What if I turned to the Dark Side with you?'

'You couldn't. You're too strong for it. Too good.'

'I don't know. I've already broken so many rules for you.'

You look at him softly. His breath hitches. For the first time he can see past your walls. He can see the depth of your feelings for him. He opens his mouth to say something, but then voices destroy the moment:

What are you all doing here?

Uh… nothing! Everything is fine!

Yes, perfectly fine, General! No need to worry!

Alright… Where are Anakin and [Y/N]?

Uh…

Um…

… They're in there, aren't they?

No, General, don't!

They need to clear some things out!

The door start opening and Anakin quickly lets you go, stepping away from you. Once it's open, you're met with Obi-Wan, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Next to him is Ahsoka, looking at you with curiosity. Behind him are the Clones, looking at you sheepishly. You huff.

'Seriously, guys?' you ask, putting hands on your hips.

'We were just trying to make you up,' Sketcher says, grinning. You roll your eyes.

'Did we at least manage that?' Jesse asks hopefully.

'We're good,' you answer and look at Anakin. 'Right?'

Skywalker nods without a word, staring you in the eyes. You turn your gaze to Obi-Wan.

'You didn't have to come and get us,' you say.

'You've been docked here for minutes and no one was getting out,' he explains. 'I was beginning to get worried.'

'Seriously?' you ask, annoyed, glaring at the Clones. They grin at you. You huff and head toward your room. Kenobi shakes his head and follows you. Ahsoka looks at her master. He snaps out of his reverie and walks away, his padawan close behind him.

Not much later he's getting his things, when Rex shows up in his room. He closes the door behind himself. Anakin raises his eyebrows at him.

'What is it?' he asks. Captain straightens up.

'I just wanted you to know, sir, that none of us is going to tell anything about it to anyone,' he says seriously. Skywalker looks at him, confused.

'About what?' he asks.

'Exactly, sir,' Rex says and gives his supervisor a pointed look. 'We also erased all the recordings from the camera in the storage room.'

Anakin's eyes go white and his face goes pale. He opens his mouth to say something, but the Clone interrupts him by saluting.

'Sir,' he says and turns to leave.

'Uh, thank you, Rex,' Skywalker quickly says. Captain turns his head and smiles.

'To be honest, sir, we all have been waiting for that for a long time,' he says and has an audacity to wink, then chuckle at the dumbfounded look on Anakin's face, and walks out.

'Those Clones,' Skywalker huffs after a moment, running a hand through his hair. He quickly gathers his things and leaves.

He finds you in the docks, talking to R2-D2. He hurries to you. You frown at his flushed cheeks.

'What's wrong?' you ask and look at him alarmed. 'Does Obi-Wan know about…?'

'No, and unless one of us says something, he won't,' Anakin denies. 'Rex and others deleted the recordings from the camera in the storage room.'

'The… camera, oh sweet Maker,' you groan, hiding your red face in your hands.

'And they won't tell anyone either,' Skywalker adds and huffs. 'Apparently they ship us.'

You let out a nervous laugh. But you uncover your face. Anakin looks at you softly.

'I meant what I said,' he says. 'I-'

'Don't,' you interrupt him, looking around. 'Not here. Besides, I got the message.'

'What about your feelings?' Skywalker says and grabs your wrist. 'I won't let you go until I hear about them. Please. I need to know.'

You could tell him you don't feel the same. You'd break his heart but maybe it would allow you two to move on. But you know he'd recognize you're lying. Especially since you kissed him back…

'It has always been you, Anakin,' you decide to say softly and look him in the eyes. 'My heart has always belonged to you.'

'Can we… give us a chance, then?' he asks hopefully, moving his hand so he could hold yours.

'I'd like nothing more,' you admit, your heart literally hurting. 'But you know we can't.'

'If I ever try to turn to the Dark Side, you have my permission to beat me out of it,' he quickly says. You snort.

'What if you already turn to it?' you question.

'I know you'll never let that happen,' he answers, grinning. You scoff and roll your eyes. Anakin takes your other hand in his and looks at you pleadingly. In the corner of your eye, you see your Legions discreetly observing you with bated breaths.

'If the Council finds out, I'm the one taking the blame,' you say after a long moment. 'You're already a controversial figure in their eyes. While I am their favorite.'

'Works for me,' Skywalker says, starting to smile.

'And you also have to let me take risks sometimes,' you insist. 'Trust in my abilities.'

'I will,' Anakin promises hastily nodding. You sigh.

'I can't believe I'm agreeing to this,' you murmur. Skywalker smirks and squeezes your hands.

'I'm that good of a kisser, huh?' he teases.

'Oh, you are,' you confirm, loosing yourself in the memory of his lips on yours… You quickly shake yourself out of it and pull your hands away.

'We will have to be careful,' you say. 'I'd like to remain a Jedi at least until the war is over. And you're needed, oh the Chosen One.'

'We will,' Anakin assures you softly, leaning toward you. 'But can I kiss you again?'

'Someone can see,' you protest.

'There are only Clones and R2, they're not going to tell,' Skywalker says. 'I saw Ahsoka walking away somewhere with Obi-Wan. Please. So I would know you're serious and this is not a dream.'

'Fine, but only one,' you give in after a moment. Anakin quickly cups your face, before you change your mind, and joins your lips for a short, but passionate kiss. He leaves you breathless when he pulls away.

'Damn you, Skywalker, you'll be the death of me,' you say weakly. Anakin chuckles and lets you go.

'I'll come to your room later and take you out on a date,' he says, winks and walks away. You blink and turn after him.

'You'll what?!' you call, but he doesn't stop. 'What have I done?'

You sigh, troubled. You know this is wrong. You should resist the temptation. But you can no longer deny yourself what you've wanted for years. Anakin Skywalker.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts! Reblog, like and comment if you could. Every comment makes my day!

This can also be found on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53898226/chapters/136425739