#i have so many thoughts about shadows canonical multiple deaths i-

[lunavagans]

So I had a thought the other day about Ganon‘s and Shadow‘s canon dynamic and how I’d describe it:

The owner who‘s too harsh with punishments after perceived failure and too lenient with the leash vs the dog that’s too afraid to bite his owner so he resorts to doing every trick demanded of him flawlessly no matter the cost and biting everyone else within reach.

Just. A thought yknow. I know cats and dragons/reptiles are more associated with him but it does fit.

[lionlena]

I Hold You (Oberyn Martellxf!reader) one shot

Summary: Oberyn has a nightmare about his sister's death, which makes him fear that he will lose you too.

Warning: angst, hurt/comfort, canonical death of a character, tragic death, blood, mention of rape…

Title inspired by the song: CLANN - I Hold You

A/N: I am obsessed with thinking, how tragic and terrible was the fate of Elia Martell.

Also, watch this: Robert's Rebellion by Oberyn Martell

Hot air blew across their faces as they ran through the courtyard filled with the Dornish sun. From time to time, the shadow of the palm trees growing along the courtyard fell on them. Her dark hair bounced on her shoulders and her bare feet hit on the ground.

She held his hand tightly. With strength so contrasting to her petite body.

And she laughed. Oh… What a sweet sound that was. Like the nectar they drank for breakfast in the morning.

He didn't resist her as she pulled him towards the fountain. He never resisted her.

Even though she was weaker and so delicate, she was able to capture anyone's heart, especially his. She walked gracefully among the vipers and knew that no one would dare to hurt her. And if someone like that was found, he would make sure that such a fool suffered unimaginable torment.

Oberyn loved her like no one else. His sweet sister. Elia Martell. His friend, confidant of secrets, and comforter. He spent so many long hours with his head on her lap as she ran her hand through his raven hair and explained to him that not everything could be solved by force. And that he can't be mad all the time. She taught him how to read poetry. For her, he began writing poems.

She wasn't just his sister. She was part of him. An integral part of his wild soul. It was like a cozy, cool hole in which an angry desert viper hid when the desert heat was deadly.

When she jumped into the fountain and started splashing water on him, he laughed happily and his dark eyes sparkled. She took a step back so that the water flowing from the marble snake's mouth soaked her head. She waved her hand at him, encouraging him to do the same. He wanted to do it and feel the pleasant coolness of the water. But when he took a step forward, the water flowing down his sister's head turned red. His heart stopped and she looked at him in surprise, as if she hadn't realized that her face was turning red with blood.

She extended her hand towards him. With a heavy heart, the prince took a step closer but stopped when he noticed the bodies of two children floating in the red water. He heard his sister scream as she was now holding her dress covered in blood. She lifted the material up, revealing her thighs covered in slippery goo and blood.

He felt bile rising in his throat and struggled to find his voice.

"Elia," he croaked. "Do not leave me!"

His sister looked at him with eyes full of suffering, and suddenly her face turned into yours. The prince suddenly stretched his hand towards you, grabbed your dress, and shouted:

"NO!"

*

Oberyn woke up and sat on the bed, breathing heavily. His body was covered in sweat, his hair was stuck to his forehead, and he felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He glanced sideways at you and his heart tightened. You looked so peaceful as you slept next to him, still with a blissful smile on your face after he took proper care of you and brought you to multiple orgasms.

He carefully leaned over you and brushed your hair away from your face. You lived, you breathed and you were fine. And yet he couldn't shake the feeling that your life was as fragile as his sister's was. You reminded him so much of her. You were delicate and intelligent, sensitive and full of empathy. It was both a blessing and a curse for him. Sometimes he even thought that it was his sister's spirit that put you on his path. To remember again what it's like to have someone he will trust with all his heart and who will surround him with care and love.

Oberyn sighed heavily and moved away from your warm body. He sat on the edge of the bed and was lost in his thoughts. He was the best warrior in Dorne, and yet he failed to protect his sister. What if he fails you? Would you be safer without him? No... He shook his head. The thought of not knowing where you were or what was happening to you was even more terrifying to him.

While he was lost in his thoughts, you woke up and immediately realized what the problem was. This wasn't the first time he had nightmares. Your sweet prince was full of life every day, full of jokes... He was also arrogant, conceited, and proud, but when nightmares came, he was sad and needed support. His entire demeanor changed and you saw a side that few people saw.

You carefully stood up and sat down behind him. You hugged him from behind and placed your chin on his shoulder. You didn't say anything, you just waited for him to speak.

Oberyn sighed, feeling the comforting warmth of your body against his back. In moments like these, he was grateful for your love and understanding. You were a special woman to him. He had never opened up to any other lovers like he did to you. And maybe that's why, paradoxically, he had nightmares more often than before.

He placed his hand on top of yours, which was resting on his belly.

"I'm fine... You can go back to sleep... I'm sure you're still tired from what we did." He tried to make his voice sound convincing, but you could hear the note of sadness and desperation.

You nuzzled his neck as a signal that you weren't going anywhere and tightened your grip. For a moment, a small smile appeared on his face. Then he sighed and took a few deep breaths. And finally, he whispered:

"I saw her again... First it was a memory from our youth. Happy life at Sunspear. We ran to the fountain to cool off..." His voice suddenly became quieter and trembling. "When she entered the water... The water turned to blood, and then... Her face... Her..."

You noticed a tear rolling down his cheek and hugged him even tighter. You pressed your lips against his cheek, feeling the salty taste.

"Her face turned into yours…" Oberyn finished and you sighed softly.

Sometimes you would give anything to take this pain and these terrible memories away from him. Not only were you hurt by your loved one's suffering, but by poor Elia's suffering. When you first heard her story, you cried. You didn't know her, but it seemed so unfair what happened to her and her children. And even though House Lannister had done nothing wrong to you, you hated them as much as Oberyn did.

However, you knew that no one in the world had the power to undo what had already happened. Living in memories led nowhere. So instead of thinking about the past, you focused on the present and comforting your loved one.

"But I'm here... And I'm holding you. You feel my warmth and my breath."

Oberyn nodded.

"But what if one day I can't protect you from the horrors of this world?"

You thought for a moment. His question was one that had no easy answer. Neither of you could promise that nothing bad would happen. You finally answered slowly.

"If something bad happens to me, I will be sure that you did everything to protect me. And I will die with the feeling that I was loved... And that I will be mourned."

Oberyn took a shaky breath and gripped your hands tighter. Your answer was honest, painful and... somehow comforting. But... No, he didn't do everything to protect you. Suddenly he turned towards you and cupped your face in his hands.

"Be my wife."

"What?"

His sudden reaction took you by surprise. The candlelight reflected in his brown eyes, and you could see the sincerity in them. It definitely wasn't one of his jokes or teasing.

"Be my wife." He repeated, his voice becoming more confident, almost demanding, even though you knew he would never force you to do anything.

"I thought that... That you didn't want this... That you were comfortable with our relationship."

Oberyn smiled softly at you and rubbed his thumb against your cheek.

"Because it suits me, but... As strange as it may sound, since I found you, I no longer need other women and I want to provide you with even greater security. And this will happen when you gain the title of princess. Hurting a prince's lover is not the same as hurting his wife. Everyone will think twice. Besides, if something happens to me, you will be left with my estate and under the full protection of the Martell family."

You frowned and looked away from him, and he didn't understand your reaction. He thought you would be happy.

"What happened, my love?" He asked tenderly and gently grabbed your chin, forcing you to look at him.

"You talk about marriage like a business. Something that will make you sleep soundly at night."

He finally realized what the problem was and immediately kissed your forehead.

"Oh, forgive me, my desert flower. It wasn't meant to sound like that. Your safety is important here, but... I want you to be my wife because I love you like no one else. Because you are part of my heart and the air that I breathe. Because I can't imagine a day without your kiss, without your look. I just want to make official what I have known for a long time... I am yours and only yours."

Even if you tried, you couldn't stop the smile that appeared on your face. His words easily warmed your heart and all you could do was whisper:

"I agree."

Oberyn smiled and kissed you gently on the lips. However, you could see that he still hadn't fully recovered from the nightmare. So you stroked his jaw and pulled him towards the center of the bed. You knew that in the morning you would want to discuss your wedding and that you would have many questions, but you knew that you both needed to rest.

"Let's go back to sleep. You're tired."

You could tell he wanted to argue with you, but you had a trick up your sleeve. You laid on your back and patted your belly and you knew he would always take him up on that offer. It was his favorite way to fall asleep after a nightmare. He always wrapped his arms around your waist and buried his head in your lap as you stroked his hair soothingly.

It was like that this time too.

He snuggled into your body and you started stroking his dark hair.

"Rest now, my love. It's all right. I'm here and I'm holding you."

Oberyn closed his eyes, listening to your calm voice. The fear of losing you was still there in him, and he squeezed you a little tighter as if hoping that the gods wouldn't be able to break you free from his grasp.

"I've got you." He whispered and slowly fell into sleep, hoping he wouldn't have another nightmare.

Rest now, my love It's all right The dark is gone I am here I hold you

Pernament tag list: @harriedandharassed

[mommyclaws]

Opinions on Leopardstar? I haven't read leopardstar's Honor yet, not sure what happens there, but I've heard it's somewhat disappointing.

I was always somewhat angry that she never really mentioned Tigerstar after the whole Tigerclan thing, and we never really got to see how she felt about the whole thing, just that the people she sent to die really didn't like her.

A Shadow in Riverclan also kinda did the same thing where she gave a little pep talk and suddenly everything was ok for Feathertail, after she had horrible ptsd from Leopardstar

I want to like her but she's such a nothing character imo to actually have an opinion on because I think she was done pretty dirty, as Riverclan and her weren't really the focus of the series for so long

I consider myself a Leopardstar fan. I’ve been wanting to talking about my feelings/view on her for a while so i’ll put all my thoughts here!

The direction they took with her in canon is dissatisfying but she has alot of groundwork that gives her interesting potential. Her father is a medic- formerly warrior- who changed his position because he is against violence. She turns into everything Mudfur wanted to escape from. Too proud, itching for a battle, apathetic to the suffering of the other clans. And even if it was a let down, I can appreciate the authors at least tried to do more with her character than let her off the hook as easily as Blackfoot.

I like her mostly in comparison to my dislike for Blackstar's character. He teamed with Brokenstar and Tigerstar, committed murders and didn’t protest to the abuse of his own clan. He does nothing to atone and doesn't even seem particularly remorseful but he's still rewarded by being made leader. Leopardstar was already in power when she made the decisions that cost cats their lives. Cats trusted her to protect them and her neglect threw them into savagery and death. Standing by to allow kits and her own deputy be slaughtered is GRUESOME. I read her as someone blinded by ambition, just another product of the code. She misjudged then got in over her head with Tigerclan and was willing to toss others aside to save her own tail. Maybe she truly is remorseful, but it doesn't change what she did. Nothing can.

Crookedstar's leadership was very relaxed and she considered him weak. He gave up land to Shadowclan, he could never keep Sunningrocks, he allowed Thunderclan to take refugee on multiple occasions, and all of the half clan cats he accepts are seemingly only because they're his kin. She had thoughts of making Riverclan powerful and feared once he was out of the picture, it's why she completely disregarded his dying wishes- She couldn't bring herself to respect him.

The politics of Riverclan change drastically with her nine lives. Closed borders and no tolerance for Thunderclan, not even Graystripe, who only wanted to be with his kits. Riverclan is strong. But it could be stronger, couldn't it? She and Tigerclaw served as deputies together, even if he was the enemy, she thought well of him. He is a fierce and respected Thunderclan warrior. Or so he was. While she initially thought it a red flag he was now serving Shadowclan, she couldn't disagree with him for leaving Thunderclan when she already had so much resentment for them and ruling Shadowclan, it was true. They had been weaken for many moons, it was Tigerstar who reunited them and made them powerful. So when he promises to make her clan just as powerful, together, she doesnt refuse.

She very consistently and vocally had a dislike for half-clan cats. She exiled Graystripe. She calls Featherpaw and Stormpaw liabilities. She banishes Stormfur and Brook. I think she has very genuine hateful beliefs but at the same time she’s horrified at what happened to Stonefur. That was a cat she was trusting to become the next leader of Riverclan. And he was killed for defending innocent lives. She knows she was wrong, she regrets it, she has nightmares about the bonehill. (<- This was confirmed by an author apparently!) but her attempts to “atone” are surface level and shallow at best. She wants to be forgiven without changing. She makes Mistyfoot deputy to show she’s better now, but what meaning does that position have after Stonefur was slaughtered? She apologizes to Feathertail and Stormfur, but they still feel like complete outcasts. They’re more friendly with their former clanmates in Thunderclan and Leopardstar later exiles Stormfur over a faked sign. I think her attempts were never to better herself or right her victims, but to relieve her own guilt. She’s always prioritized herself above others.

[optiwashere]

Baldur's Gate 3 Fic Prompts

Prompt fills always give me a quick shot of inspiration, so why not? There's not a lot of general prompt lists out there for this fandom - at least that I can find - so be the change you wish to see and all that.

You can send in a ship or platonic pair along with the letter and number for the corresponding prompt that you want to see (e.g., "Shadowheart/Karlach B5") and I'll write a ficlet! These are meant to be largely rating agnostic.

If you have multiple prompts, please send them in separate asks! It makes keeping track of everything so much easier 💜

A. Fluff & Comedy

Non-sexual physical intimacy

Cooking together

Building something together

Teaching one another their language(s)

Character A gushes about their favorite book with Character B

Gift giving

Bickering/arguing over the party's magic item distribution

Playing a game of cards and one of them gets very competitive

Celebrating one character's firstmorn (birthday!)

First post-canon date

B. Hurt/Comfort

Resurrection hurt/comfort

Scars

Crying

Breakdown and comfort

A character that isn't used to being protected finds someone who will protect them from anything

After being separated from the party, Character A carries a wounded Character B to safety

Character A has a vivid nightmare and Character B comforts them

Non-sexual assisted bathing due to injuries/sickness

Convinced that their past makes them irredeemable, Character A struggles with Character B's affections

Character A suffers from low self-esteem and Character B vocally or physically adores them

C. Angst

Lifespan differences (e.g., Character A is an elf and Character B is a tiefling)

Mutual pining

Unrequited love/attraction

Tired of fighting

Fear of abandonment

Fear of acceptance

Permanent character death (no resurrections, no revivify)

Character A forgets everything about Character B and the relationship they have due to memory loss, mind control, or any other devious plot device the writer devises

Character A believes that Character B doesn't truly love them/care about them at all (resolution up to the writer)

Character A kills Character B

D. Action/Adventure

Catching a spy in camp

Trying to get a better reward for a quest

Exploring a dungeon together

Sneaking into a location together (literal stealth, disguises, etc.)

A desperate escape from an unwinnable situation

Attacked at camp while on watch together

Scouting ahead together

Last two standing in a fight

Stranded on another plane

Character A is magically incapacitated (petrified, mazed, etc.) and Character B is the only one that can help them

E. Miscellaneous Scenarios

Tadpoles sharing thoughts that shouldn't be shared

Discussing their Dream Visitors

A clash over differences in deities

A magical mishap with a scroll, potion, or wand

The first night at camp in the Shadow-Cursed Lands

Character A considers consuming a Mind Flayer Parasite or the Astral-Touched Tadpole, and Character B sways their decision one way or another

While relaxing at camp, Character A begins to suspect that Character B is Orin in disguise

The first morning/day/night in Baldur's Gate after the conclusion of the Absolute Crisis

Character A is considering a devil's deal or a hag's bargain, and Character B convinces them one way or another

One of the characters draws from the Deck of Many Things

[melorambles]

can't stop thinking about Rings of Power and I have Opinions. They gave Galadriel the Captain Marvel treatment. why? yeah she's the most badass female character the general audience will recognize by name alone, but she's not badass because she's a petite warrior woman. she's badass because she's incredibly wise and magically powerful and trained under the Tolkien equivalent of either an angel or demigod or a minor goddess (depending on how we interpret Melian).

If they absolutely had to make their female character a combat badass who is hotheaded, angry, and revenge driven. In the same setting as young Elrond, Gil-galad, and Celebrimbor. And they couldn't change the major plot points of what we've seen so far. I think they'd have been better off using Celebrian. (It also solves the problem of me screaming at the screen about where that Celeborn is.) Hear me out: yeah, Tolkien probably wouldn't have ever thought of her as a warrior, but technically he never said she wasn't. There isn't really enough information about her to contradict existing canon, especially in the setting they picked.

They could still name drop Galadriel; contrasting Celebrian with her mother at every turn. Give us the conflict of Celebrian trying to get out from under her mother's shadow and being compared to her and how Galadriel would handle everything. Maybe the problem stems from the fact that they are reacting oppositely to grief and Celebrian cannot understand her mother's seeming lack of reaction and Galadriel thinks her daughter is reacting as a hot-headed youth. Maybe Celebrian doesn't take her mother's foresight and visions seriously (because you're mother saying she's 'seen the road you're taking and it is a dark one with many challenges' or something definitely is something a daughter would be pissed to hear, no matter how wise your mother is) and Galadriel is trying to give her daughter space. I don't know, i've never emotionally communicated a serious issue in my life. that's what writers are for.

Those of us familiar with the lore would get the treat of watching her interact with Elrond for the foundation of what we know will become their love story. (it doesn't need to be shown at all, cause elrond loved her in secret for literal decades if not centuries, so they can still try to BS us with fake-out relationships.) Those not familiar get to see the contrast of Celebrian, daughter of the wisest most powerful elven lady in existence, on a revenge quest for the death of her beloved uncle (if they still had to use Galadriel's brother's death for backstory purposes) versus a brilliant young healer Elrond half-elven, survivor of what is functionally mass murder and having lost pretty much everyone he cares about (multiple times). They probably approach loss and death and grief very differently and it could create great character moments and conversations.

the fact that the show hasn't really done anything with elrond eventually becoming the best healer on middle earth is also disappointing. if they'd made celebrian their protagonist, and focused on elrond as a healer it would have also provided an interesting flip of the more typical man-warrior/woman-healer setup.

Also, if we go the route of Celebrian having spent years as a terrifying avenging warrior, scourge of the Enemy, it creates a new sort of dynamic to what happens to her in the future. Her capture and torment at the hands of orcs in the future isn't a woman getting fridged (possibly as revenge against her family members) to give her sons motivation to become terrifying warriors, and add another entry to the long list of reasons her husband is sad. It's a legendary and terrifying warrior in her own right getting overpowered, tormented, and instead of succumbing to her injuries, choosing to seek healing and trusting her husband to take care of the kids and follow when they were ready. If handled well (not that I think the show would actually cover that time gap and event), it could be done in Tolkien's 'war is horrible and love drives us' themes.

[saradika]

— WASTELAND, BABY

ix. i'm in love, i'm in love with you

[masterlist] | [part viii]

boba fett x f!reader

rated E - 3k

tags: fallout au, post-apocalyptic, canon-typical themes (violence & death), angst, feelings, hurt/comfort, oral sex (m receiving), PiV, praise kink, almost-died sex, multiple POV

Your emotions churn with the agony that his protection brings, leaving you worried about the unknown as you wait to be reunited.

The sounds of the battle are muted, behind the thick walls of the storefront. The windows hastily boarded up by the settlers who had fled there. Grouped together in nervous huddles in the back, where it's the safest.

You pick at a piece of splintered wood on the floor. Eyes downcast and brow furrowed with frustration, as you strain to listen. Furtive glances towards the back door - wondering if you were strong enough to muscle the metal shelf out of the way.

Because if you were out there, you wouldn't have to wonder. Fixating on that moment when you had looked at him. That moment when you had felt your life tilt, and then fracture, when you had made your decision to stand your ground.

To hold them off. To buy him time.

Never expecting him to change course.

Veering off the straight shot towards his Power Armor, a guaranteed victory. Putting himself between you and harm's way, as that board shattered against his arm. The sound of the splintering wood and his bitten-back groan reverberate in your mind.

It's impossible not to read into. Not to wonder that by doing so, he doomed himself.

If he had, it would be your fault. Could you live with yourself, knowing that?

The thought burns at your insides, searing somewhere deep inside your chest. Trying to figure out if you could make a break for it. Claw your way outside, and back to him.

Not that you would make it far, though. Not with Charon watching. Waiting.

Most likely knowing how much you're itching to get back out there. To help them, help him.

Being in here was probably just as frustrating for him. But he's sworn to this task of ferrying you to safety.

And he's too strong for you to best.

You settle, then. Focusing your frustration on the piece of wood, as it snaps off into your hand. Bringing no relief, only a strange sense of regret at leaving the jagged edge behind.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" You ask - some time later, as the minutes drag on. A breath, "I haven't seen anything like this before. It's..."

Charon blinks down at you, his face even more skull-like in the darkened room. The leathers he wears creaking as he leans against the wall, but your words fail you.

A tremble coming now, as the adrenaline begins to flush from your system. Realizing just now narrowly you missed your own end.

If Boba hadn't come - hadn't pushed you aside...

"I've lived through hundreds of days like this one." He tells you, plainly, "Some make it through. Others don't."

It makes your stomach clench, worry like acid in your throat. Your eyes drop slowly, as your chin rests on top of your pulled-up knees. Giving him another quick look, this one appraising.

"You've made it through them all?"

Lingering like a question, though it's clear he has.

His chin lifts, "Yes."

It has you wondering if he'd agree. If you promised to stick close to him.

"Do you wish you were out there, now?"

The look he gives you glitters in the half-light. He's never smiled in front of you but it's as close to a smirk as you've ever seen. Knowing, as the weapon shifts in his grip.

Repeating the words earlier.

"I do as I am bidden."

"Feelings or no?" You prompt.

"Feelings or no." He confirms, leaving no room for argument.

The short, frustrated exhale through your nose is loud, as your head thunks against the back wall. Worrying at the edge of a fingernail, listening to the muted shouts from outside.

Silence lingers in your corner - until he eventually breaks it.

"I've had many employers. He is among the fiercest of them." He doesn't look at you when he says this, his eyes fixed on a flicker of shadow that crosses in front of the boarded-up window.

"I do not think his end will be at the hand of a Super Mutant. Or a Raider, for that matter."

There's comfort in his answer. One that he certainly did not have to provide. Enough to convince you to abandon your plan of finding a way out of here.

Leaving you to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

All is quiet.

The cracks of laser rifles and moving machinery, the stomping of feet and yells, eventually dwindling to nothing.

You're among the first on your feet, ignoring Charon as you try to muscle the door open yourself. Those worried thoughts swirling and swirling, wondering what you will see on the other side.

"Patience." He tells you - but then he's lifting the edge of the shelf. You've wriggling through the door as soon as it's opened wide enough.

There's smoke outside. Two buildings in ruins. Figures scattered among the road - hulking and green. Smaller - covered in dark leather and rusted, pointy spikes. Stomped down paths through the razorgrain. Lines of broken trellises, the fruit laying splattered across the ground.

You ignore it, singularly-focused. Watching where the people crowd, before you're off at a run. Checking open doors and peering through windows as your eyes burn, as your jaw ticks.

Until you find him.

Tucked away in the new infirmary, his location noted where Krrsantan lingers outside. The Wookie’s fur matted with mud and gore but no worse for wear. A small nod of his head as you slip behind him, and then into the room.

Fennec is already there - the tension in her face easing some, when she sees you.

Grasping Boba's bare forearm, where there's a twisting of dark, bruised flesh. The town medic covering it up with each wrapping twist of stained gauze - two discarded stimpaks laying on the table next to the bed.

Your eyes rove over him - his armor stripped away to just the black robes beneath. That sharp edge of panic only easing when your worried eyes meet his defiant ones. It's when you realize he's safe that the anger comes back.

Folded in with your worry and the relief that blooms so fervently that you're struck dumb. Not sure what to say, to make of anything.

Brushing away the attempts to check you over - rattled, and dust-covered but no worse for wear. Left hovering in the bustle of the room, your back pressed against the wooden wall.

Simmering, as your eyes linger on him. Seeing a singed mark on his bicep as his arm pressed close against his chest - the glancing shot of a laser rifle. It disappears, under another worn bandage.

You still can’t help but feel like you could have helped, if you had stayed. Held your own long enough for him to reach the armor, where it still lingers in the town, untouched. He wouldn’t have been hurt, if he hadn't seen you.

Deep down, a part of you knows it’s unreasonable - that you should be grateful. That Boba had come to your rescue once again, protecting you like before. That perhaps the Mutant you downed had been luck, that you never would have been able to take that blow from the second like he had.

But the fear of the battle still jitters through you, your anger a conduit for everything you haven’t been able to process. Only able to focus on your small part of the much bigger picture.

The minutes pass, and your teeth clench. His gaze purposely avoids yours, as the tending comes to an end - his arm tucked close to his chest, into a cloth sling. A low groan as he’s moved to one of the bedrooms down the hall, as the stimpak works its magic.

It’s one thing that you are grateful for - the continued advance of modern medicine, the accelerated healing. Mending cracked bones and split, scorched skin in a matter of hours.

He encourages them to leave him once the bandages are tied - to go and check on the others. The room slowly empties, until it’s only you in the doorway, Fennec’s arms crossing as she stands at the end of the bed.

Her eyes dart quickly between the two of you.

Sensing the tension, but she had been wrapped up in the battle - picking off raiders from her perch. Seeing the collision as he had changed course, but too far away to hear.

Fennec makes sure he’s set, before she’s slipping out the door. A touch to the small of your back - nudging you inside.

“You did well.” She murmurs, that hand slides to your shoulder. A squeeze, before the door is closing shut with a click that seems to echo.

The air feels thick, once you’re alone. Your hands pressing against the worn wood as his heavy gaze rests on you. Returning it with your own unblinking look.

Unable to resist the urge to move forward, now that he’s here. Your feet taking you to the edge of the bed he’s resting on, with a need to touch him for yourself. The mattress is thin but soft as you sink onto it, the slightest shift of his leg to make room.

You break the silence first - cleaving neatly through it. Unable to take the silence, his look of reproach, when he was the one who had sent you away.

"Why didn't you go to your power armor?" You hiss, as you reach - your touch feather-light as you examine the bindings. Smoothing a thumb over the rough edges, neatly tucking in the frayed ends, “You could have taken them-”

“Do you really think I would have left you out there?” His words are edged with steel - as hard as his armor, “Why didn't you run, sen'ika?"

There's anger in his tone. Rough and crackling at the edges, and when you finally meet his gaze, he looks furious. Like he cannot comprehend what you were doing out there, why you had begged to stay. Why you hadn't gone inside with the others, keeping yourself safe.

It has you realizing that your reason might just be the same as his.

The thought feels like a lightning strike. Feeling the ache of your devotion, how it has been close to smothering you for all these weeks. Never really, truly thinking that the depth of it might be returned. Not from a man like him.

"You must know." You tell him, your eyes dropping to trace the bandages. The flex of his arm under your fingertips, that now goes still.

He must know that you were trying to protect him. To buy him time - even if you feel so foolish for it, now. That it's become impossible for you not to think of him. That it had been love that kept you there, wishing for him to go to the armor - to safety - instead of you.

He must know that your heart has been his, for ages now.

When you finally look up, he's watching you. With that face he makes so often, piercing right through you. Making you feel so exposed - the flesh stripped from your bones until just your beating heart is left.

Your arms wrap around your chest, protective in their movement. His eyes following, his voice rough and low.

“Come here, princess.”

Spoken low and tenderly, your eyes blinking with surprise. Tripping over that tone that he only uses you when you're alone.

Coaxing you onto his lap, instead of by his side. A careful shift as you move around the makeshift sling, settling on his thighs.

His free hand cupping your jaw, the press of his forehead against yours before you’re tilting forward. A sigh as you meet his lips, the scales of your emotions tipping back towards relief. Desperation.

He’s here and he’s alive and you both are. A close call but he’s solid and strong and beneath you now, his tongue slipping into your mouth as his thighs spread. The smallest rock against your core as your lips part for him.

You want to take care of him. To take things slow this time, to see that parts that have been hidden away for so long.

His dark robes are soft under your touch. Fingers tracing the edges, until you find where the pieces meet - undoing them carefully.

Inches of skin come into view, the hollow of his throat, and then down. Your hands follow, over bare and scarred skin, a chest that rises and falls with his breath.

Achingly careful of his arm with your movement. Your eyes greedily soaking in every detail, as the robes part open like curtains. As you see him, for the first time.

He’s beautiful - a lifetime etched into his skin, scars from battles you’ve never heard of. Hoping that one day he’ll want to tell you about them, that you’ll know him as well as you know yourself.

Unconscious of the way he’s been watching you - dark eyes catching the expressions on your face. A long-held breath escaping when your lips press against his sternum, following the path of your fingers. Stopping at each mark against his skin, taking your time.

There’s a shift of his thighs as they inch wider, hips lifting so you can peel down the cotton. Half-hard from the press of your mouth, twitching as your breath ghosts over his skin.

He groans as you kiss him there, too. Silky-smooth skin that swells against your tongue, as you take him into your mouth. Eyes closing as a hand curves around your shoulder - sliding up to press against your neck, cup your jaw.

Sucking on him until he’s fully hard, groaning at the taste of his skin, swallowing down the bead of precum that wells at the tip.

Your fingers wrapping around his base the best you can. Never getting the chance to do this before - so you take the time now to learn every inch of him. The earlier sentiments fused with each touch.

Let me take care of you.

The stroke of your fist tight and squeezing as you try to swallow him down. Unable to make it far before you’re gagging, slicking him up further as your eyes water.

His thumb brushes under the hollow of your eye. Sweeping the tear away, smoothing it into your skin as he groans. The noise rough and low in his chest as his thighs spread further, a flex as he rocks into your mouth.

A praise gritted out through his teeth as your tongue traces each vein and ridge.

“Gods, just like that. Good fucking girl.”

It makes you moan. The words reflected your way, skittering over your skin.

A shiver down your spine as your thighs press together, as you squirm. Damp from just kissing him earlier - soaked now from sucking him.

Your left hand pressing against the seam of your pants, and then dips under, as your fist works faster - eager to taste him on your tongue, to swallow him down.

The sight must do something to him. An edge to his words, an insistence as his hand leaves your face to grasp at your wrist.

Your eyes open, as you ease off him, the back of your hand swiping against your lips as he hangs heavy and shining between his thighs.

“Up here.” He all but growls, “Now.”

You lift, and then linger. Hands pressing into the bed on either side of his hips, eying the makeshift sling.

“But, you arm-” You’re protesting - but then he’s making a sound like a scoff, his fingers biting into your skin.

“It’s nothing.” It’s not. “I need you sitting on my cock right now, princess. Do you understand?”

The command flirts with desperation. His tone, his words, fueling you. That coil in your belly winding tighter as you strip your layers off - leaving them to pool on the ground.

Carefully climbing onto his lap, his cock hard and slick where it slides against your wet pussy.

It only takes a second to line him up. The hand curving around your hip instead, a sharp look as Boba presses you down.

You feel the last strings that tether you to your anger snap, as he sinks fully into you.

He can’t say it back. Those sentiments - the most tender part of you - fused in your answer. Knowing the true meaning of your words, the way the mirror the ones that he had cut off, that night in the cabin.

It’s in your touch and the tender press of your mouth to his.

But it's there.

It was there in the way his heart has flipped. The fear that had risen - after being latent for so many years. How it was never a question in his mind - how his feet had altered his path without ever thinking.

Yes, he was the Daimyo. Protection had become second nature, in these past few years.

But he hasn’t been thinking about that, when the fence fell.

Boba was only thinking of you. He would have thrown himself in front of you again and again. Always taking that same blow.

Taking worse - if it meant that it would spare you.

It’s there, as he drives up into you, burying himself deep. Your gasp high on your lips as you cling to him, fingernails biting into his shoulder.

Gently coaxing you to ride him - for once, letting you set the pace as your thighs slap against his.

Each of your breaths a soft huff, his eyes dropping to watch the sway of your breasts, the way your thighs split around his waist.

It’s easy for his band to sneak down between you. Fingers part around your clit - pinching down, stroking until he can feel the thudding beat beneath your skin. Proof that you’re still with him, as he feels where you’re connected, unable to help pulling your mouth to his.

It’s there, as he swallows your cries - his fingers circling in patterns that he now knows well. The grind of his hips into where you’re wet and warm and clenching down around him, something like a plea breathed out against his skin when your bury your face into his neck.

Hitching breath, his name pretty and ragged as you moan - a jolt that shoots down his spine, straight to his cock. The ache in his arm where your chest pushes against him - forgetting, as you chase the release he’ll pull from you - is dulled by the pleasure of watching.

Feeling, as you string tight against him. A shallow rock of your hips as you cry out, bucking into his fingers.

Boba mourns the loss - missing the way your eyes glaze over, the press of your kiss-swollen lips. It makes him think about how pretty they looked stretched around his cock.

How good you had been, doing your best to make him moan. How your eyes had fluttered shut, a groan buzzing in your throat at his words.

He remembers what he had said to make you do that, the unconscious jerk of your body, the way you had gazed up at him. An overwhelming urge to hear it again - feel you, again.

“Gods, you feel so fucking good.” His voice sounds ragged, even to his own ears, “Such a good girl, aren’t you? Are you going to come again?”

The effect is instantaneous - he can feel the flex of your muscles, the tremble of your thighs as you ride him. The sharp gasp of your breath, the high hum of assent.

A mumbled warning, as his fingers work faster. Too far gone to bounce on his cock anymore, riding out the pulse of your orgasm with the rutting of your hips as he growls on your ear.

“That’s it. That’s my good girl, come on-”

His own is a bright spark - something about to burst. A leaded weight in his belly, drawing tight where you’ve soaked him. Your slick dripping down your thighs, making a mess of his cock, his heavy sack.

There’s a handful of sloppy thrusts and then he’s there. Still feeling the tight grip of your cunt as the pleasure spills from him in heavy spurts. Your head turning as you lean back, pressing your forehead to his as fills you.

Marking you as his, once more.

It’s there - when his arm wraps around you, after. Tender now, finding out a new way to fit together. Sharing the tiny space. Fixing some layers but still leaving his chest bare, for your head to cradle against.

It’s there as he tells you, "Stay with me tonight, cyare."

Finally tearing at those layers and casting them aside - just like you had.

Cyare - beloved 🥲💖

Thank you so much for reading - the comments and tags and notes have absolutely meant the world. Thank you for going on this little journey into the Wasteland with me! 💚 the final part will be out next thursday, the 3rd!

(0-pressure tags 💕: @spaceydragons, @luladoll, @obiknights, @wingofshadow, @bobathirstaccount, @reluctant-mandalore, @ohheyitsokay, @floral-force, @valentine-tx, @ri-a-rose, @dreamlandcreations, @vellichormybeloved, @writeforfandoms, @winchestershiresauce, @monada43, @thegalaxys-edge, @honeydjarin, @ray-rook, @dumfanting, @bedky, @thirsty-boba-fett-posts, @dukeoftheblackstar, @lifelikefae, @pentaghasm, @izbelross, @margowritesthings)

[drinkthehalo]

I saw the Boy Witch again last night.

It was the first time I'd seen Jordan Morley in the role since 2011, and the 13th anniversary of the opening of Sleep No More NYC.

It was magical. Jordan moves like a witch. Little movements of the hands, ways of floating through the space, supernatural.

Jordan finds so many moments of connection.

In May (?) 2011, Jordan's Witch drew me to sit with them at a little table in the lobby dining room, put a little milagro on a red string around my neck, and whispered, "Wear this always. It will protect you." (My memory of this is fuzzy, and I have other memories from this time that couldn't have been accurate, but I think this one is real.) I put the milagro on my bedroom mirror - it was a little hand - and it remained there for ten years, until I moved in 2021. Other trinkets came and went, but that one stayed, along with other milagros from Boy Witches, until they stopped giving them out a couple years later.

Why did I keep it there for so long? That moment of connection had been so beautiful. I knew it was a performance, I knew it wasn't "real," I knew it happened to whoever was in the right place at the right time multiple times per night. And yet somehow, in that brief moment, it had been so deeply moving and meaningful.

I felt it again last night. For the first time since my son was born, my back didn't hurt. I floated through the space like walking on air, like I was 13 years younger.

I've puzzled for so many years about why I am so drawn to the Boy Witch. Often I'd feel ashamed, wondering if it was something prurient, if I was just coming back to be flirted with by an attractive person who gets naked.

It came to me last night though, what's really going on. The Boy Witch is reaching out for connection. With these little moments of fun, and play, and teasing, and then these moments of great longing, of extended eye contact, of tears, of hugs.

He is a character who is cloaked in darkness, narratively an omen of tragedy and death, literally cloaked in the dark shadows of the McKittrick, and yet he reaches out through that darkness, always trying to find human connection. Last night I felt in those moments that he was seeing me as the Porter, as that embodiment of his lost love and humanity.

(Maybe the tragedy of the character is that he can never truly maintain the connection, that the tears aren't real, that those moments are ephemeral, that one moment he looks deep into your eyes and the next moment he spurns you. (Although I take the Boy Witch/Porter's recent NYE wedding as canon!))

What a miracle that this performer I've never spoken to outside of the show, and never thought I'd see in the role again, could reach out through the darkness of 13 years and create such beautiful moments of connection again.

[justtosealmyfate1]

The legacy of war in HP

My fic, the fates, which follows when Albus and Scorpius’ relationship is discovered, takes place only 25 years after the war! That is, in the grand scheme of things, so little time. I thought a lot about societies after dictatorships— more specifically Spain and Latin American countries. Spain took a total head-in-the-sand approach. They don’t discuss their 30+ year long fascist dictatorship, don’t teach it in school and there are still political parties (like Vox) who actively want to return to that era. After Cambodia, Spain has the most mass graves in the world. But since Spain is a liberal, democratic Western country, nobody is forcing them to reckon with this history. This is in contrast with Latin American countries like Guatemala, Argentina and Chile, which had their dictators prosecuted for war crimes to varying degrees of success.

There are pros and cons to prosecution and reparations versus amnesty. It’s interesting to think about what Wizarding Britain would have chosen. Even though Voldemort’s actual dictatorship only lasted about nine months, there were years of political instability and terror in the 90s. It seems like something similar happened during the First War in the 70s, so there would be multiple generations affected by this culture of violence. 

There are other fics that explore this better (like castles by pebblysand and beasts by whinlatter) but I would hope that there would be some form of justice after the Second War. I think there would have to be some degree of amnesty, simply because you can’t prosecute all of the Ministry workers who were complicit in the regime, but I think the point of the HP series would be moot if there weren’t institutional changes after Voldemort’s defeat. The same thing happened in Spain— many of the people who served in Francisco Franco’s regime also served in their democratic government. It’s just more realistic. 

The kids in Albus’ year would be born in 2005/2006– less than 10 years after the war ended. His generation lives in the shadow of a war that shaped their entire society and culture. For Albus especially, because his entire family was deeply entrenched in the war, this would be so consequential. While other members of his family may be able to segregate themselves from “the other side” of the war (i.e. the Death Eaters and people complicit in their violence), he can’t. He’s exposed to a different political class in Slytherin (though not social or economic class, which I think is an important note— Albus is a privileged rich boy from an important family!) I don’t think the kids in Slytherin would be explicitly pureblood supremacists/Death Eaters, but I do think some may be more sympathetic to that way of life considering their families had more social and political power in the 20th century. 

This is what makes Scorpius and his relationship with Albus so exceptional. They have every reason in the world to be prejudiced towards each other. The last two generations of Malfoys have been Death Eaters while the last two generations of Potter-Weasleys have been DA or Order members. The fact that they’re able to forge this dynamic with each other after decades of hatred is insane to me. Which makes it so fun to write fic about!

(disclaimer: If you disagree with me that’s okay! And don’t say I didn’t like that play! Clearly I liked it enough because I’m sitting around writing fanfiction about it nearly a decade later.)

I’m tossing my hat into the ring of this eight year discourse. I’ve seen CC on Broadway, and it was incredible! The technical feats, the acting and the story works on stage. In my opinion, plays are better when they have a very visual, dramatic, jumping-off-the-page storyline. But as a script and as a part of HP canon, the plot doesn’t work as well. The whole time travel thing, Voldemort’s daughter retcon and cutting (and kinda ruining) major characters doesn’t translate well. Albus is also just an unsympathetic character. He’s impossible to root for because he’s so destructive and self-absorbed. I think all fic writers kinda make him better than he was in the play, and this fic is no different. Although I think his personality does tie back, to an extent, to what can be accomplished in a book versus in a play. CC was very plot driven, which is interesting because the main draw of the show is its characters. I think it works on stage, but as HP canon, not really. The younger generation of characters aren’t really fleshed out enough. Albus wasn’t standing around giving soliloquies, he was participating in the plot, and while we can glean his personality and motivations from that, it’s not enough for character-driven girlies like me. I think a lot of the characters in CC are kind of caricature-like and one note because the play was so plot driven. I can see what they were trying to do. Like Rose is bossy and smart like Hermione, but Hermione was also so much more than that, so it feels reductive. Ron is this silly comic relief, which he could be in the books, but again, he was so, so much more than that. Harry is (presumably) very traumatized and quick to anger, which is true, but he also was sweet and kind and a chill guy most of the time. 

I do like some of the elements, like Albus and Scorpius’ relationship (or non-relationship), Albus being in Slytherin and even the difficult relationship between Al and his dad. The play really takes it to an extreme that’s definitely a turn off to a lot of readers, and rightfully so. But it would be hard to have such a famous father who you look exactly like!

[henrysglock]

i love all your theorizing about henry, but how likely do you think it is that it'll actually become canon? bc like, i'd prefer spending time with main group of characters, the party, the teens, joyce and hopper, and seeing their arcs. and i definitely want a satisfactory ending for henry's arc, but i have a hard time picturing a huge twist about multiple henry's and deep diving into the creel family and brenner and time travel, etc in s5. esp bc s5 is supposed to be a lot shorter than s4. idk i'd just love to hear your thoughts!

Oh I’ve been waiting for this one!

Yeah, no, they’re definitely not going to take time to lay out every detail and deep dive into every aspect of characters’ relationships to each other. Are we going to get details on the mechanics of it? Probably not. Are we actually going to return to the fucky NINA sequence? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know!

However…there are plenty of concrete details they have to explain, many of which point to a canon time travel/alternate universe twist.

They have to explain Henry (?) turning back the clock, because they made a point to show us that. They spent a great deal of time on that specific shot.

They have to address Alice’s death, because they explicitly don’t show it, there’s no way Henry (?) physically could have done it if he was trancing Victor the whole time.

They have to address the discrepancies in facts between Henry’s (?) retelling of the 1959 massacre and Victor’s retelling of the same night.

They’ll likely address the discrepancy between the description of the rabbit scene and what Raphael is portraying on screen.

They’ll likely address the 1979 Massacre weirdness too, because they explicitly don’t show Henry (?) killing anyone but the first set of guards and 002…and we also have an image of a blood-free Henry (?) looking at the dead children in confusion.

To do all this, they’ll most likely address the content of the newspapers re: Henry and Edward Creel, especially with so much twin imagery and the concepts of twinners/alternate timelines.

I think they’ll allude to a lot of the fucked-up bits of the Creel-Brenner relationships the same way they used subtext to tell us the kinds of abuse that were done to Henry and El in Brenner’s lab (i.e. the framing of the electrocution scene, the 3 legged Papa drawing, Brenner’s mannerisms with the children). I don’t think they’ll have the time to actually lay all of it out explicitly, and for some parts…they legally/morally can’t and shouldn’t lay it out explicitly.

So…There are a handful of things the Duffers must address, but they definitely won’t explicitly address every clue and the mechanics of everything/every detail. They simply don’t have time for all that within the structure of the season. However, they don’t have to flesh it all out to make the twist work! They really only need a handful of well placed shots; the whole thing could realistically be wrapped up within the same span of time as the NINA twist sequence…that was a huge twist too, and it took a relatively small amount of time. They had Cali, Hawkins, NINA (not memories), and Russia all happening at the same time as the NINA memories thing, and they made it work. They can definitely do the same for a time loop/alternate universe thing when all we really have going on in ST5 is a) the battle against Vecna, and b) the search for Max.

Hell, they’ve already set us up for it with multiple Chekhov’s Gun details in ST4! They kind of have to address it, at this point.

That said, they definitely won’t flesh out every single relationship with backstory re: Henry within the frame of the TV show…That’s what the play is for ;) The First Shadow my beloved…come home to me…

[thisweekingundamwing]

This Week in Gundam Wing 8-14 January 2023

Here’s the last week’s roundup! January 8th - January 14th!

Remember to give your content creators some love! Be sure to join in on the events at the bottom! And remember to send in any new works you see or make next week!

~Mod Hel

Fanfiction/Ideas/Snippets:

danceswithronin

Requiem for the Sinners https://archiveofourown.org/series/3258501

Pairings: Heero/Duo, minor Duo/OMC, Quatre/Trowa

This series was originally posted and languished, unfinished, on Gundam Wing Addiction. Now the author (Clever Young Thief on GWA) has revived it and begun posting new updates on AO3 under the name danceswithronin! Almost all of the original fic has been transferred over and edited, as well as its prequel Fall from Innocence, and both of them are updating regularly every few days. In addition, the author has expanded the series to a number of other one-shots. As of right now, Fall from Innocence is up to chapter 21 and Requiem for the Sinners is up to chapter 38, but I expect one or both will have updated again before the next content update.

[CW: Requiem begins with the assassination of multiple non-pilot characters. As it is a work in progress, happy endings are not guaranteed.]

Two years after the Endless Waltz, Duo is a representative for the struggling L2 colony cluster while Heero hangs in the shadows as Relena's bodyguard, hiding from his past. But when the civil unrest in the L2 colonies threatens to boil over into civil war, the two pilots suddenly find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield.

@expewrites​

Snow Like Ash, Snow Like Sugar https://archiveofourown.org/works/44084992

Gen, M/M, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner

Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Nichol (Gundam Wing), Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell

Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Post-Canon, Mobile Suits & Gundams, Mentions of War & Death, Developing Relationship, Friendship/Love, Snow, winter vibes

Cleanup after the Battle of Brussels takes a hard toll. When Quatre suggests a break, it's a chance for Trowa to appreciate winter through new eyes, and find warmth in the bitter cold.

@helmistress​

Advance from Behind https://archiveofourown.org/works/44278162

M/M, Multi, WuFei Chang/Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy/Duo Maxwell, WuFei Change/Duo Maxwell/Heero Yuy, mentioned Meilan Long/Relena Peacecraft

WuFei Chang, Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Relena Peacecraft, Meilan Long

Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply, GW Holiday Gift Exchange 2022, Pinch-hit, Omegaverse, Mafia AU, lovers of Relena’s purity beware, Pining, sexual themes mentioned

Being an Omega sucked, especially when you knew you were the smartest person in your ‘family’. Smarts didn’t make you an Alpha though, and only Alphas could lead a mafia. WuFei rolled his eyes at the very thought, then turned them back to face the young woman currently on her knees begging his leader to give her a chance.

@miyurinq​

Heart (Ch. 21) https://archiveofourown.org/works/40914714/chapters/111206877

M/M, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner

Quatre Raberba Winner, Trowa Barton, Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Chang Wufei

Not Rated, No Archive Warnings Apply, Post-Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, Minor Violence, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort

All Quatre wants is to help. Even when the war is over, so many people suffer because of the consequences. Helping rebuild is the least he can do. But he seems unlucky, things go wrong all the time and people get hurt.

Trowa hardly recognizes Quatre. He has changed and seems to have problems. He reluctantly tells him about his bad luck, but Trowa doubts that it's just "bad luck" and decides to investigate.

@vegalume

After https://archiveofourown.org/works/44199298

M/M, Duo Maxwell/Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner

Trowa Barton, Duo Maxwell, Chang Wufei, Quatre Raberba Winner, Heero Yuy

Not Rated, No Archive Warnings Apply, Holidays, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, tiny bit of sad-feeling-ness, First Christmas Together, kisses and gifts

Wufei, Quatre and Heero are recalled from their missions and instructed to wait with Trowa and Duo, who were currently on Earth, until it is time for them to resume their missions.

Oh, and it's Christmas 🎄

Arts/Crafts/Photo Manips:

@ghost-proof

https://ghost-proof.tumblr.com/post/705843605972140032/the-season-premiere-of-rupauls-drag-race-had

Duo Maxwell, fanart

@imperviousmelodrama

https://www.tumblr.com/imperviousmelodrama/705927358525358080

Deathscythe, fanart

@noirangetrois​

https://www.tumblr.com/noirangetrois/171815436459/artist-rei

WuFei Chang, fanart by REI

Photosets/Gifsets/Screenshots/Manga Pages:

@fallenwingzero

https://fallenwingzero.tumblr.com/post/706270675613138944/i-love-that-noins-weird-american-western-style?_branch_match_id=1143012942983282777&utm_medium=Share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTyzRKynNTcop0kvOz9VPS8zJSc0rz8xLr0otytc3NzAzAmJzUzNDY0NjC0sTE31jw6qMDLM0MwPzdBMA8LY8bkQAAAA%3D

Noin, Zechs, Naina, official art

Head Canons/Meta:

@fallenwingzero

https://fallenwingzero.tumblr.com/post/706050300179529728/continuing-on-with-my-red-dead-online-duofather?_branch_match_id=1143012942983282777&utm_medium=Share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAwXBiQ2AIAwAwI1ohWDFbcDUJ%2BGRWmPC9N6dqvezAkQ1%2BpaUxWytwB5z5vpd9RgsDQhn9OgQJwreBrILSGDsVJLrPH4lT6OARAAAAA%3D%3D

Red Dead!Duo

Quotes:

@incorrectgundamwingquotes

https://incorrectgundamwingquotes.tumblr.com/post/705921238311305216/kidnappers-over-the-phone-weve-got-your

Kidnappers & Relena

https://incorrectgundamwingquotes.tumblr.com/post/705830682588495872/trowa-remember-bird-watching-goes-both

Trowa & Cathy

Calendar Events:

@gundamzine

Battle Scars and Kitchen Cabinets

Applicatons Open~ https://gundamzine.tumblr.com/post/705258971113619456/applications-are-open-to-apply-fill-in-the

Applications close on January 31st!

@gwcocktailfriday

Cocktail Fridays!

Post responses on Friday, during Happy Hour between 3 & 5 pm in your own timezone.

Here’s the prompt for Friday, January 20th! https://gwcocktailfriday.tumblr.com/post/706415628641320960/cocktail-friday-post-responses-on-friday-january

In need of prompts!

@gwlemonyshenanigans

Lemony Shenanigans 2023! https://gwlemonyshenanigans.tumblr.com/post/705715266075705344/hello-everyone-were-back-d-sign-ups-are-now

@thisweekingundamevents

Events Calendar https://thisweekingundamevents.tumblr.com/post/644080386309275648/events-calendar-update

If you are hosting an event currently, or are planning on one, hit us up with links and dates! We’ll add them to the Calendar and reblog your notices to get the word out!

GW Holiday Gift Exchange 2022

Rules https://thisweekingundamevents.tumblr.com/giftexchange

The full roundup of gifts will be posted on the 21st!

[linkspooky]

Quick question about Junpei in your AU.

Since he mostly have a normal body. Does this mean he still have his Jellyfish? I do remember reading at the end of “Butterfly Curve” that he is apparently as strong as Yuji, in a physical strength sense, so would this make Junpei a pretty strong curse user now?

Especially since Michi is now teaching him all the in’s and out’s of curse techniques.

Little do you know, anon I put a lot of thought into the power systems and curse techniques of every single character I use in my fanfics. 

At the end of Butterfly Curve, Junpei’s body changed shape back into a human again after eating a cursed object. At the moment the closest comparison to his body is someone like Choso, a human curse hybrid living in a body that was reformed by ingesting a cursed object. Basically, canon already revealed that reverse cursed technique would not have worked to change Junpei back after Mahito changed him with idle transfiguration. The workaround I came up with was to instead change the nature of his body from a human one, to a human / curse hybrid. Choso instantly reshapes the host body he is inside of the moment he ingests that cursed object, so then it should be impossible to change Junpei’s body back to its original shape. This also follows what Kenjaku reveals later, while Mahito believes that the body conforms to the soul, it’s actually that they both influence each other. The soul is the body, the body is the soul. Changing the shape of his body made Junpei’s soul conform back to his original shape. 

That’s my explanation for the kind of body Junpei has now, the closest comparison would be the Death Painting Brothers, and Yuji, a body that blurs the line between a cursed spirit and a human body. Since the natural comparison to Junpei would be Choso, who has not only an innate technique, but also the technique that is passed down the Kamo family that Noritoshi Kamo shares then it stands to reason Junpei would still have his innate technique. It’s ambiguous whether the body, mind or soul is what influences cursed technique but Junpei’s body is roughly the same with just a little added spice thrown in. 

My goal with Junpei staying alive is that he gains as much strength as he would have if he went to Jujutsu Academy, was taught there, and became a fourth member of the Nobara, Megumi and Yuji trio. Therefore Junpei’s current power level is roughly within the range of those three, he is stronger than Nobara, about equal with Yuji, but his technique is weaker than Megumi’s “Ten Shadows.” 

Michi is in a way perfectly suited to be Junpei’s tutor. Michi’s cursed technique was designed originally to reflect Junpei’s after all when I was conceiving of the character, they are both curse users who fight by indirectly puppeteering shikigamis, they are also both poison users. The difference being that Junpei creates a Shikigami out of his jellyfish, whereas Michi changes the nature of any body infected with his poison and turns them into puppets he can manipulate. The poison aspect, and fighting with the assistance of a puppet however is something Michi is uniquely good at teaching Junpei because their cursed techniques resemble each other so much. Michi has never been a direct fighter anyway, but rather an indirect fighter who relies on tricks and clever strategies. Gojo even says when he’s training Yuji that most shikigami users are weak and the best way to beat them is to target them rather than their puppets. Michi’s strategies all account for this in mind, that he is physically weak and has to outsmart his opponent rather than overpower them. 

As for the evolution of Junpei’s cursed technique, one power upgrade is that now instead of just producing the one jellyfish he can produce multiples at the same time. Instead of fighting with one large one for example, he can many much smaller ones that change the territory they’re fighting in into a minefield because they will explode and send out poison. Another idea I’ve had is Junpei creating Shikigamis based off of different species of Jellyfish, to create different effects. Basically fighting wise he turns more into a Megumi then Yuji, having a large toolkit of jellyfish he can summon for different situations that have slightly different abilities and using them creatively rather than just punching. 

One big difference between then and now is due to the nature of Junpei’s body changing he now has a lot more cursed energy too, which makes him able to make the jellyfish he produces stronger. Basically even if Yuji is immune to the poison he creates, now his jellyfish also pack enough of a punch physically to be a threat in a fight. The stingrays they have can still pierce you physically. They are also incredibly flexible and fast moving weapons that Junpei can either use for offense, or call towards himself as a shield to hide underneath. 

My final idea was to eventually have Junpei learning a partial domain expansion the same way Megumi does, his domain expansion would be comparable to Dagon’s but instead of being able to summon a whole island and attack people with cursed spirits in a storm he would essentially flood the area his domain consisted of with water basically giving people the helpless feeling of being deep, deep, undersea where no light reaches, and the pressure at this depths is strong enough to crush a human body. 

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Ideas #11: DA, but make it Warden!Inquisitor!Hawke

I have conflicting feelings about each game in the Dragon Age series having a different protagonist. On one hand it's great because it is terribly unrealistic to expect one person to be required to save the world multiple times. On the other, the only DA protagonist I can say I honestly would want to see more of is Hawke.

So: what would it take for Hawke to believably be the Champion of Kirkwall and the Hero of Fereldan and the Herald of Andraste?

Imagine it:

Mage!Hawke goes to Ostagar with Carver and runs into the Human Mage Warden, Greggory Amell, before his joining. As canonically the Hawkes are second cousins to the Amells, this is something of a comedy of errors as there's more than a little resemblance - especially in armor, and especially if Hawke shaves his default beard.

Regardless of the exact circumstances, Hawke becomes friendly with Greggory and Alistair, and is therefore devastated when his cousin dies during the joining. Hawke agrees to help Alistair light the signal tower in his memory...

...and gets dragged into the events of DA:O.

Crucially, enough people mistake Hawke for his newly dead cousin early on that he decides to run with it in an effort to protect his family. (It means a lot of shaving, because half the reason he has the beard is that he'll have a five-o'clock shadow by noon if he doesn't, but sacrifices have to be made.) It's beyond strange for him to be openly using magic after a lifetime of hiding, but no stranger than going by his cousin's name or pretending to be a Warden. Only Alistair and Morrigan know the truth.

After the Battle of Denerim, newly crowned King Alistair helps Hawke escape the attention by telling everyone that "Warden Amell" has gone to report to Weisshaupt about the Blight. In reality, Hawke goes to Kirkwall to track down his family starting with his uncle and is pleasantly surprised to find them already there.

...the events of DA2 go apace, with a few exceptions. Mainly, 1) Carver and Bethany are both alive, as Hawke's absence in the prologue led the family to flee earlier and faster, and 2) Hawke tells his family that he was captured at Ostigar and held in Arl Howe's dungeons until being released by the Hero of Fereldan. The gold he brought home was "reparations" from the king and goes a long way towards funding the Deep Roads Expedition.

Eventually he does come clean to Carver, who thought his brother looked awfully healthy for a man who spent a year in the dungeons of a notorious sadist, and to Fenris, because it's only right he tell his love interest the truth after they start sleeping together. As for everyone else? He regrows his beard and acts insulted anytime anyone mistakes him for his obviously less handsome and talented cousin. It's quite the act.

After the Chantry explosion, he goes to ground in the Free Marches with Bethany and Fenris while Carver stays in Kirkwall with Varric and Aveline trying to restore order. These three years are vaguely Robin Hood, with the trio moving between the Free Cities doing the job the Templars should be doing - that is, protecting the mages that don't want to hurt people and hunting those that do. Occasionally they'll meet up with Merrill and Isabela for their help ferrying people to safety, but for the most part it's just the three of them.

When news of the Conclave comes, Hawke decides to go - just to watch from the shadows and make sure nobody tries to do anything stupid, like order the deaths of all surviving mages or blow up the Conclave to make a point. He even shaves his beard with the vague idea that if things look really bad he can pop in, shout at people as the Hero of Fereldan, and disappear back into the Free Marches once the talks finish.

...and then the Conclave explodes.

At some point between waking up chained to the Chantry floor and running into Varric again, Hawke decides not again. He is not going to spend the next however many years shaving and answering to a different name, not when his siblings are old enough to protect themselves and he has a life to go back to. He tries to explain but only manages to get across yeah, I'm the Hero of Fereldan before Cassandra drags him out to deal with the Rifts.

Cassandra spends the journey to the first Rift asking where "Warden-Commander Amell" has been all these years. (Hawke tries to explain, but gets tripped up trying to figure out how his alter-ego got promoted when he's been AWOL for the last ten years, not to mention what the hell is going on now.) He doesn't manage it before they run into Varric, who of course greets him with "Hawke!" So he spends the first trip to the Breech trying to explain yes, I'm the Champion of Kirkwall, but first I was the Hero of Fereldan but back then I was pretending to be my dead cousin for Reasons; Fenris, Carver, and King Alistair know and now you three and I think Bethany might've figured it out? I never really was a Warden but I did kill the Archdemon, it's a long story.

It is, of course, a ridiculous mess.

It gets more ridiculous when he wakes up after The Wrath of Heaven and has to go through it again with Liliana and Cullen. (And maybe has a minor breakdown in the process because no, I am not the Herald of Andraste. I refuse. I will send the next person who tries to give me another title straight into the Fade.) Variations of this happen every time he has to go through this conversation, which is an awful lot. (It happens once during battle against a High Dragon, culminating with Hawke summoning a massive lightning storm that kills it dead in three strikes. It's terrifying and impressive and doesn't help things at all.)

...and so Hawke gets dragged into the events of DA:I.

Inquisitor!Hawke is just exhausted by this point. He's still humorously charming, but he's also so very tired of trying to save a world that doesn't want to stay saved. This leads to him coming across as a tired schoolteacher whenever he's not casually raining down destruction upon his enemies.

(There is at least an hour of ranting when Corypheus appears on scene along the lines of why doesn't anybody stay dead these days?)

A week or so after they arrive at Skyhold, Carver shows up with pretty much all the sane Templars left in the Free Marches - along with the remaining Kirkwall crew, minus Aveline. And so Hawke ends up having to mediate the Mage-Templar War.

Things get awkward at Adamant because by the Maker, I never actually was a Warden but fuck it all if I'm not going to use the rank they gave me to march into that fortress and take command. No one is more surprised than Hawke that it worked, though there are still a few jerks that fight and Hawke still falls into the Fade, because that's how his life goes.

Hawke spends all of Halamshiral dealing with questions about what he's going to do with the all Inquisition forces, mages, Templars and Wardens at his disposal - plus the friendship of the King of Fereldan and Prince of Starkhaven. If he ends up snapping, "If I have to end up conquering all of southern Thedas to fix your messes, I will," at the lot of them, who can blame him?

Throughout the entire fic, Hawke gets progressively more tired and jaded but still tries to put on his best face as he tries to clean up all of Thedas' messes, I swear to the Maker. It should also be incredibly hard for him to take most threats seriously after killing an archdemon, once leading to him giving everyone in the Inquisition grey hairs by going off to kill a High Dragon by himself.

He also starts out being very careful to hide his magic (he's something of a self-taught Arcane Warrior, channeling his magic through a sword-and-dagger combo), but gets progressively more casual about it. This isn't helped by the fact he's at his endgame long before DA:I starts. (It takes a powerful mage to flick their fingers to light a fire, but it takes a ridiculously powerful one to wave their hand and shoot a fireball that can kill an ogre.)

This is predicated on the beard making all the difference, but could be even funnier with a female!Hawke who makes no effort to disguise herself at all.

And that's all I literally have room for. Let me know if you adopt this bunny, I'd love to see it.

More Terrible Fic Ideas

[caprica99]

Shadow and Bone rant, because I need it

Shadow and Bone has some incredible potential, both the books and the show, but neither actually lives up to it.

Alina could have been interesting. Cartographer is a rare profession for fictional characters, but in the books/show she's just a beginner (at 17/20 it's understandable). Make her at least 25 with 9 years of experience in the army, give her a promotion with subordinates she's responsible for and you would get a more interesting character who saw some serious shit in the army, acts like a soldier, and knows responsibility. (And maybe wants to stop the war at all cost, utilizing the Fold maybe.*wink, wink*)

It bothered me that we never saw her using cartography this profession that makes her unique for reaching her goals. In the show, she has dreams about the stag. It would have been interesting to see HER figuring out the whereabouts of the stag by using the stag's surroundings like mountains, specific types of trees, topography, etc. Work smarter, not harder.

Diana Bishop suffers from the same passiveness in the first book of the All Souls trilogy, but she actively uses her science historian background and those passages are the most interesting parts of her POV. Alina's interest in drawing and geography would give her a unique personality, and made her relatable to many (see ADoW and history nerds). Many YA heroines have a specific and useful skillset: Katniss-archery, Clary Fray-drawing, etc. Sadly, her entire personality is running away with Mal.

Mal's character feels pointless to me. The story depicts an oppressed minority group with special powers, and their struggles in the world, the heroine and the antagonist are both part of the said minority group, and he's constantly shown to be a bigot against the Grisha, so what makes him so important to the plot? His tracking skills? Give the job to a no-name tracker and I wouldn't miss him.

At least the show made him more likable, but Archie and Jessie still lack romantic chemistry. However his chemistry with his friends Mikhail and Dubrov was spot on, I really liked it. They showed life as a simple otkazat'sya soldier on the front, and their death was painful to watch. I thought that his friend's death would make a bigger impact on Mal, him wanting to get revenge on the fjerdans and end the war at all cost, and saying that maybe Kirigan's plan actually makes sense would make an interesting narrative. (They are at war dammit, there's no black and white only grey.)

Mal and Alina don't act like soldiers in a war-torn country, they act like American teenagers, and it's annoying. The General and Ivan are the only ones who act as soldiers in a 3 front war. When the villain shows the most responsibility in your story you should rewrite your heroes completely, or make the villain your hero.

The show is better than the books. It's a rare phenomenon but it is something everyone agrees upon. To me, the first book reads like a draft the author forgot to expand. The worldbuilding, the Grisha, and the characters were a perfect base to an original fantasy universe, but it all falls flat. The show made it richer by introducing multiple POVs and giving the actors more leeway (Ben Barnes ladies and gentlemen). But in the end, they had to stick to the books.

This is incredibly confusing to me because we have numerous fanfictions about Alina staying at the Little Palace, embracing her Grisha side, helping the Darkling because his plan makes sense, or changing his plan by coming up with a better one, or having dark!Alina etc... Clearly, this is what book fans wanted: giving Alina agency, make her realize that she had to work with the Darkling because she's Grisha too and they have the same goals but have different methods, let her be Professor X to Alexander's Magneto, ending the corrupt and incompetent Lantsov line, anything would have been better than taking Baghra's words at face value and running off.

Change I like: the whole West-Ravka storyline, it made the General decision understandable. Zlatan sold Grisha to the fjerdans, wanted to kill Alina and his actions could have led to a civil war, Kirigan only acted as a general of his time (not 21 century guys, we are talking about the unforgiving 19 century) and besides we only see the destruction of Zlatans army (BTW they were ready to kill everyone on the skiff) and not the whole city.

Change I don't like: making Alina half Shu. I'm not completely against it, but it was poorly executed. The racism Alina faces overshadows the Grisha-hate, rather than complementing it. Alina acts like being half Shu is somehow worse than being Grisha, eventough there are literal Holocausts going on against Grisha in two neighbouring countries, slavery in another, and the show never addresses it. This is the biggest problem with her character, she never embraces being Grisha, sides with the muggles, and makes her mission to kill the only person who stands between Grisha and persecution.

Would have been good: the show could have made little 5 minute scenes depicting the plight of Grisha in other countries. Either at the beginning or the end of every episode.

Episode 2: the Ice Court

Episode 3: the Shu concentration camps with the experimenting

Episode 4: slavery in Kerch

Episode 5: the Wandering Isle with consuming grisha blood

Episode 6: the Demon in the Woods storyline

Episode 7: Luda+Aleksander

And now... The Darkling/ Aleksander Morozov/ General Kirigan: the most interesting character in the entire series.

In the first half of SaB he was depicted as every soldier's dream general. Sitting and eating with his men, fighting side by side with them, constantly checking on his troops while other generals prefer to attend court. But in the second half, he transforms into a Mustache Twirling Villain TM and makes rather OOC decisions throughout the trilogy. He could have been a generic villain from the start, but why make him then a compelling character with understandable motivations?

In the books, I understood his motivations, but in the show, he was completely right. His backstory shows that he tried peaceful tactics but those never worked out. The only thing that worked against his enemies was power and violence. The price of hesitance was Luda's life (I'm willing to bet they were married). The Fold was actually a mistake born from desperation. He spent centuries in hiding, seeing his people persecuted. Even with the Little Palace and the Second Army Grisha are considered second-class citizens, they can't hold properties. He has to walk the fine line between usefulness and being a threat. He has to bow to incompetent Kings who don't give a shit about the state of the country. If Alina had to go through so much how would she end up? Because it's a miracle that Aleksander still has it in him to fight for the Grisha.

Many bring up Nikolai Lantsov as the Darklings foil ( or Diet Darkling as @ambitious-witch calls him) to show there is an alternative to Aleksander, but it's wrong. Because Nikolai was never part of an oppressed minority group, never had to fear centuries of persecution, he's an actual prince, it's easy to not be radicalized with his background.

Bonus: If Bardugo wanted to create a fictional world with tsarist Russia as a base, the least she could have done is to open a Wikipedia page or a dictionary for the correct names and terms. Starkov is a man's name: Alina Starkova is the correct form. Ilya Morozov, Aleksander Morozov, and Baghra Morozova would be the correct forms.

EDIT: They could have shown the building of the Little Palace and the start of the Second Army. I wanted to see the normal life at the Little Palace before Alina came along, little Grisha enjoying their powers, their reaction if the Darkling comes to see their training (I headcanon he visits the lessons at least once a year), the other teachers, and their reaction to Alina. Alina in canon is good with kids, maybe if she had spent time with little Grisha, she could have embraced her powers sooner. Having met with foreigners (Fjerdan, or Shu) and hearing their gruesome accounts of the foreign treatment of the Grisha would made her willing to fight for their future.

[cosmos-coma]

A Gift from Above - Part 6

A/N: Part 6! This is a darker chapter than the others, so if you're at all concerned, please read the warnings, and if you need to skip it read the detailed summary.

Pairing: Eskel x Reader

Warnings: (semi- graphic) physical torture, violence (canon-typical), Near-death situations,

Word count: 2.4 K

Summary: You have finally gotten to the town of Mender's where the General has set you up in the abandoned mage's home. Because of your defiance and inability to give him the godly army he wants he decides to torture you to push your magic to do what he wants. Having lost all hope you decide to take everyone out in a bang that almost kills you in the process.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

___________________________

Your cart pulled up to a smooth stop around what you guessed was just before midday. You heard many people beginning to move about outside your walls and the clanking of armor on a few men. The doors of your enclosure opened and you physically recoiled, squeezing your eyes shut against the light of the sun. “Ahh..” you gasped out.

As you squinted into the bright light of the day multiple soldiers transported you inside, re-chaining you to new metal spikes laid out just before a balcony, with a view of a large clearing below. They had you positioned on your knees and put the shackle adorning your neck on a short chain that forced you to bow in false respect for whatever stood before you. Your wrists were bound back and away from your body, forcing you to be open and vulnerable from all sides.

You looked around as best you could with your head bowed. You were in a spacious area connected to a tower that stood in the corner behind you. You could hear the soldiers moving things up and down the tower steps, most likely unloading their carts. There were old tapestries on the wall and the corners lined with bookshelves that had long been looted or destroyed. An old fireplace crackled with life as they added new logs and relit it, the flames causing shadows to dance around on the walls. When your eyes fully adjusted you could see a town a short ways out with people going about their business, oblivious to the horrors soon to take place here.

Opening your mouth to call out to whoever may hear you, your voice got caught in your throat and instead came out in a pained shout as the General stepped his whole weight on your foot. “Ah, ah, my little Healer… No one will come for you no matter what they hear.” he said and finally took his foot away. “The people here are already too wary about the legends of this tower that no one dares to investigate. They’d just consider you confirmation of their village lore...” He continued and walked around to the front of you, smirking in twisted pleasure as he looked down at your form, forced to bow before him.

You heard a soldier rush his way inside and stop as he addressed the General. “We should be ready momentarily, Sir….”

Gazing upward you saw the General grinning from ear to ear like a hyena. His shining moment had finally come. “Excellent… have the men ready in the courtyard to greet our new brothers in arms while I take care of work in here.”

You heard the soldier's feet hitting the stone floor as he ran off to relay orders and your stomach started to turn as you realized that this really was happening, there was no way out of it now, no one had come for you in time.

He grabbed your face in his hands as he crouched down to your level, holding your jaw firm enough that you couldn’t turn away. “So, what will it be, my little Healer? Are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

You had wondered if your whole world lead up to this moment, your whole life set up so that you may die at the hands of this monster? Did your gods know that this is how it would end when they sent you Eskel? Was he meant to be a happiness that made the end worth it all?

You fought back the tears in your eyes that threatened to pool at the thought of your beloved Witcher. This may be how your story ended, but you would ensure you didn’t go calmly. Eskel wouldn’t want you to.

You pulled your expression into a taught one of silent defiance, and spit directly on his face.

Without a word and with a slow hand he wiped it off his cheek before swiftly slapping you across the face. The stinging in your cheek and the inevitable bruise you may not live to see were well worth it to show him his true place in your eyes.

“I see. Then let’s start with the exceptionally hard way and we’ll see how you feel.” he spoke, his words laced with restraint and calmness as he stood and walked out of sight to prepare.

You smiled a touch to yourself, the first smile you let grace your lips in what felt like forever. Your lips cracked and hurt as you pulled them into your expression, but it was worth it, almost anything felt worth it if it made it difficult for the general to get his way.

“Now…” the general said, from behind you. You could hear the logs on the fire shifting and the sound of metal scraping against stone as his steps came closer. “I understand you have some hesitations in doing as I ask.” You felt him grab the back of your dress and draw his knife down it, jaggedly cutting and tearing it from the nape of your neck to the end of your spine. He let go when he finished and your dress draped loosely around you, kept up only by your sleeves and freely opening your naked back and sides to him. “... But let me see if I can persuade you to see my point of view….”

You felt humiliated and exposed under your current state, but the feeling did not last long as a searing hot pain lay itself on your shoulder. Though your scream filled the room it seemed you couldn’t drown out the way your skin sizzled and popped under the glowing hot fire poker he now held. Tears openly ran down your cheeks now and you didn’t bother to stop them.

“How do you feel about my proposition now, Healer…?” he asked and you could feel the heat of the poker nearing your skin again.

“I-I can’t..!” you yelled once your voice came back to your throat.

“Can’t? Or Won't…?” he questioned, with far too much pleasure In his voice, as he laid the poker on your skin again.

Your scream echoed through the halls and you began to silently hope that this would be over sooner rather than later.

But you know you hoped for naught as again he brought the poker close.

As you screamed and attempted to recoil in on yourself you felt heat pooling in your chest and your magic building up in response to your pain. You weren’t sure if they had switched out your dimiterium bonds for something less, but your chains did not resist you now. There was no noticeable icy pain that shot through your limbs as the waves of magic rushed in and pooled with every inch of searing flesh. Though your mind was clouded with a haze of pain and fear at the next touch you began to form remnants of an idea and what would be your last stand.

```

Eskel got the group moving as early as they could. As soon as Geralt got Ciri up and she was on her horse they made a fast track to Menders, racing through every town there and in between.

Eskel knew that they were getting close and his stomach dropped when he heard your screams echo through the valley. His hands white-knuckled the reins as your screams just kept coming, unrelenting and consumed with pain. He was so lost in your sounds that he almost missed the bugle of a horn and an arrow whizzing past him from the trees before them.

The tower of the mage’s home had finally come into view and a few armed men came out of the tree line to engage them. They made quick work of the first few men, Ciri even deflecting her first arrow. However, as they rode closer there were dozens more men surrounding the formerly abandoned home.

Eskel hopped off of Scorpion as the soldiers began coming towards them, as well as Geralt to his own horse, standing beside his brother in arms. Ciri stayed on her horse and in the back, mostly out of the way with her sword drawn just in case. With a nod to his brother Eskel and Geralt went headfirst into the fray, the sounds of soldiers and screams only driving them forward as Eskel became consumed hot anger.

```

You were under the Generals searing “persuasion” for what felt like a lifetime. The reservoir of your magic pooling in your body was more than you had ever channeled. Usually the pain would grow to be too much, but this time you had another pain to pull your mind away whenever you felt like you would burst.

You could barely hear, let alone register the fighting that went on outside. Your chest burned with the heat of a hundred suns and you thought your skin would soon start to bubble if you held it in any longer. The floors began to quake beneath you, cracking and splitting in hairline fractures.

“Thats it…” said the General in an almost praising manner, mistaking your barely controlled contempt for him as the beginnings of his wish. “You just need a final push, it seems…”

The General grabbed a new poker that had been resting in the fire, as the previous one grew too cold for his liking. Instead of laying the poker on your skin, he had grown impatient and wished to push you over the edge in one fail swoop. So slowly but firmly he pressed the point of the glowing rod into your back, burning your skin away and digging into your flesh.

You knew it was time as you let out the most unholy scream, rattling the stone walls around you. You channeled the swirling magma of your magic through your legs and into the ground, no thought associated with the power, no restraint. Your eyes were squeezed shut as your magic poured into the earth. From it, large jagged rocks like those from an impact crater shot out of the ground in a circle around you, extending into the battlefield and even the town below.

```

Everyone fighting on the field of battle before the house had stopped upon hearing a scream unlike the other ones, even Geralt and Eskel. Eskel was about to shoot forward towards your cry, past the men they were fighting, when jagged rocks, taller than any man or beast shot out of the ground before him. Barely missing him and his brother. Many of the soldiers they had been fighting were now either laid out on the ground, unmoving, or skewered upon the rocks that burst forth. And like that the screams had stopped and all was silent.

“Y/N!” Eskel shouted as Ciri ran up to them, tears streaming down her face with all she’s seen, done, and heard.

The group quickly made their way through the rough terrain, using aard to clear a path and came into the abandoned home. The walls now being supported by the lengths of ground that protruded through them.

When they came into the house they witnessed you at the center of this crater like impact, with the General that Eskel recognized from his dream still standing over you. He was beaten and worn, but still standing, having been close enough to you that he didn't get the brunt of the earthly spikes you put forth. But his eyes were drawn more to your slumped figure, curled on your side and barely moving, even for breath.

Eskel heard the General start to speak and move closer to you. He barely knew what happened next as blind rage overtook him once more.

```

Your eyes were clouded with the dust that sprang forth from the results of your magic and you fell forward, laying on your side as you curled around yourself in pain, the chains holding your arms now freed from their metal stakes.

Your chest still burned hot, worse than all the marks now adorning your back and became inflamed with every movement and breath you took.

“I guess I was wrong…” the General coughed out as he took steps towards you. “I didn’t need an army to fight for me.. I just needed a weapon like you…”

You grimaced at the sound of him, the one man you wished to do away with had survived your last act. But as your strength waned and your body began pulling you deeper into the black of unconsciousness you heard the unmistakable sound of a sword going through flesh.

The General’s severed head bounced and rolled into your fading view as his body thumped to the ground out of sight. A look of fear was immortalized on his face and you couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end for the man.

You let out a small whimper as invisible hands grabbed you with a sense of care that you had so missed. You breathed shallowly as you were held and turned to meet the face of your savior. You couldn’t help but smile, your dry lips splitting with the force of it, when you saw golden yellow eyes above you, framed on one side by long etching scars.

“Esk..” you squeaked out, your voice almost completely gone from the screams preceding this. Your muscles fought you with everything they had, but you slowly reached up to touch his face, making sure he was real.

“You found me…” you whispered, smiling softly as you finally succumbed to the black encroaching your vision.

```

“Y/n...?” Eskel murmured and rested his hand over yours as it started going limp against his cheek. “Y/n…?” he tried again as his eyes grew wet, though no tears fell. His memory rang with one of the first things you had said about your magic:

‘I’ve never used as much as I could, I don’t know if it's even something I could survive…’

Geralt came over with Ciri and touched his shoulder as he clung to you desperately, nose buried in your hair to soak up your scent once more. Eskel yelled and screamed at the gods you worshiped for letting this be done to you, for taking away the one being who seemed to really love him. When Eskel's muscles slackened a bit, the anger and will to fight now gone, the group sat quietly in the aftermath.

“Wait..” Geralt interrupted after a moment. “Eskel, listen….”

badum…

Softly, even to a Witcher's ears, they heard it again.

badum…

The quiet and gentle beat of your heart.

_________________________________

Taglist: @writingmysanity @open--till--midnight

[aro-laurance-zvahl]

I like having thoughts (and note, I haven’t watched season two in a long time and I know little and hold no respect to MyStreet’s impact on MCD lore. Answers pertaining to Divine Warriors will reflect as such)

1. Do you think Laurance would have survived till the end of the series? What do you think his fate would have been if Jess continued? What would you want his fate to be?

Personally it’s difficult for me to see much of any hope for his survival if season 3/the series were to get finished. I just don’t know where else his character arc could go beyond dying as a hero before he lives long enough to become a villain.

And I do enjoy that type of arc for him, he’s fought himself for so so long already. He deserves the peace and honor of a death like that. (And if you want to look at it from a more meta perspective, what would Jess&Co make him live for since Loving Aphmau would be out of the question??

2. Do you think Zane is Leona’s father? Would you think it’s a good plot point if he was?

Canonically...I doubt it. However. I do think it would a very interesting plot point if it was true. Add another dash of political plot and options regarding O’Khasis’ heir situation

3. Was Irene a good person? Do you think she was justified with her actions?

I honestly don’t remember much of her lore? But also. I don’t think she was wild and cruel. I think she was Justice. Blind and apathetic to all but the truth and “moral” thing, to a point she recognized and hated which is why she staffed herself.

4. Do you think Shad is as evil as he is believed to be in the series? Do you think he is justified?

Listen. The guy has a mass necromancy army, demands the death of lords and loved ones, possesses a dead man, and actively seeks ruin for the world. It has reached a point that it does not matter what happened to him thousands of years ago. He’s not a good guy or even the victim of the situation. He may have been a victim once, but he is not when it comes to all the shit he’s doing.

5. Do you think the Divine Warriors are gods or just humans with godlike powers? Are they humans who become gods?

Personally I like the humans who became gods, but realistically in canon considering the descendant/reincarnation thing it had going feels like the answer is just. Straight up gods? Maybe? They had something weird going on.

6. Do you think Gene would have been redeemed if Jess continued? Would Dante forgive him? Would he forgive Dante? What do you think his fate would have been?

I hope not. The thing about Gene is that he never was someone who strived to be good. He tried to brainwash a girl to date her. And that was before he became a Shadow Knight.

And gods what he did to Dante was not something small or simple. The guy erased their entire village’s memories of him when he was A Child. And then magicked and manipulated his wife and probably had a butch of threats. I don’t see where forgiveness could even come from. Is there even any relationship worth salvaging? (Also. The fuck did Dante do to Gene that he would have to forgive him for??)

I believe his fate was either death, or surviving and running from his problems.

7. Is Zane capable of redemption in some way in your eyes? What do you think his fate would have been?

No. The man killed multiple villages on screen, murdered many other people, and attempted to kidnap and force Aphmau to marry him.

However what would his fate have been? When season three was in production he was already a MyStreet fav (I’ve always felt like that was the only reason he was even in season three to begin with), I have a hard time believing Jess&Co would not have serviced that side of the fan base somehow with his fate.

8. What characters do you think is the relic holder of each Divine Warrior, apart from the known ones? Would you have a different arrangement?

Canon is

Irene- Aphmau

Shad- Aaron/Alina

Enki- Travis

Esmund- Garroth

Kul’Zac- Wasn’t he that Chad guy? Or was he supposed to be Laurance? Or a season three character?

Menphia- A season three character i at least don’t remember meeting

But in MY perfect world? The changes i make are

Shad- Laurance

Kul’Zac- OC or he just does not exist in the form of a divine warrior. Sorry I just don’t vibe with his Wanderer title

Menphia- Also an OC which I guess isn’t a change

9. Was it a good idea to connect Mystreet and MCD together? Would you have preferred if they stayed separate universes?

It was not a good idea, I don’t understand why it happened, no I do not care to understand, and I will never respect whatever the fuck MyStreet said about MCD lore

10. Why do you think Zenix betrayed Phoenix Drop? Was it the Calling?

Probably the calling yeah, hard to say though not much is known about the guy

11. What would Zenix’s fate have been? What would you have liked it to be? How do you think Garroth and his reunion would have been like?

As is a trend with shadow knights, I think his fate would’ve been death. His would’ve filled the unsatisfying and sad niche as he never got a chance to live and never got figured out. (vs Gene who is ding dong the witch is dead, Laurance who finally feels satisfied with himself, and Sasha who is very finally at peace and got moments of clarity as herself)

And as for reunions, not as well as Garroth would hope. I don’t think there would be a genuine reconnect. Just more grief about it maybe

11. Do you think Jeffory would have come back as a Shadow Knight at some point? Would you have liked it if he did?

No and no, it would be a cheap way to hurt Abby and attempt to close up her arc but other than that serves no purpose.

12. What do you think would happen to the Shadow Knights after Shad is defeated? Would there be a difference between those that are immortal and those that aren’t?

As I’ve been saying a lot, I think they just. Finally all get to die. Souls get to rest. No longer reanimated and tortured by dark magicks. Bittersweet but good.

For a more sweet than bitter bittersweet resolution, they all get to live with their minds freed. Most damage being maybe they don’t remember their time as knights or their deaths. Having to earn and find their places in the world.

13. What non-canon ship would you have loved to see, no matter how outlandish or obscure the character(s) are?

Agg. God. I dunno. Garmau obviously but that’s not outlandish. There’s probably others. I’m blanking

14. Is there any major character(s) that you feel is unnecessary to the plot? Is there any minor character(s) that you feel should have played a bigger role?

The answer to both those questions is probably yes. Because I Know MCD had a lot of characters. I Just Don’t Remember Them Right Now. Maybe I’ll come back to it

15. What do you think of the relationships between the Ro’meave brothers? What dynamic would you have liked to see between Vylad and Zane?

I think they’re neat. Messy. Once brothers turned enemies and strangers. That’s the dynamic I think Vylad and Zane would have too. Just. They don’t have one. And that’s the tragic thing

16. Do you think Garte is alive? What would you like his fate to be?

Yes because Garroth has to kill him and put an end to the Ro’Meave’s rule

17. Do you think Kenmur’s death was a good plot point? Would you have preferred if he stayed alive?

Gonna be honest I do not remember much of season three because I didn’t enjoy a lot of it. And that was probably a part i did not enjoy.

18. What do you think of the personality changes from MCD to Mystreet?

I hate them. With a burning passion. It’s literally the reason I never watched MyStreet. I could not make it past the very first Christmas episode because I thought they were that bad.

19. They mention Cadenza has magicks that relates to the Nether portals but never really utilize this. What do you wish they had done with this information?

I think having magicks to do with nether portals is an odd one that honestly I don’t see having much use until a mlre season three saving the world perspective? And even then I dunno. Is it a weird thing to bring up and leave unaddressed? Yeah. But also how could it even be applied?

20. Many people have well established rewrites for MCD. Because of this, would you still want Jess to continue MCD, even though it will most likely go in a direction we wouldn’t like? For example, she would most likely focus more on the relationship between Aaron and Aphmau in her rewrite. Would this still be something worth seeing or have you grown content with the unfinished series?

We already got a taste of what it would be like with Rebirth, and let me just say, this is a series that should stay dead. A lot of the charm early MCD and MCD!Aph had were lost in Rebirth because of the clear direction and plot. It was no longer a story about a kind woman building uo a village and wanting to help the world she was discovering, it was a story anout a goddess with amnesia and strange powers learning to navigate the world. That just isn’t the story or protagonist any of us fell in love with. The most finish I would want would be Jess&Co realeasing a doc of the general outline of season 3 in its entirety.

Minecraft Diaries Focus Questions

Please respond within 150-500 words and reply to at least two of your peers (jk)

These are some questions I have about people’s opinions/predictions/interpretations that I’m really curious about!! Feel free to answer only one, a few, or all if that’s what you want, and answer in any way (reblog, reply, in the tags)

1. Do you think Laurance would have survived till the end of the series? What do you think his fate would have been if Jess continued? What would you want his fate to be?

2. Do you think Zane is Leona’s father? Would you think it’s a good plot point if he was?

3. Was Irene a good person? Do you think she was justified with her actions?

4. Do you think Shad is as evil as he is believed to be in the series? Do you think he is justified?

5. Do you think the Divine Warriors are gods or just humans with godlike powers? Are they humans who become gods?

6. Do you think Gene would have been redeemed if Jess continued? Would Dante forgive him? Would he forgive Dante? What do you think his fate would have been?

7. Is Zane capable of redemption in some way in your eyes? What do you think his fate would have been?

8. What characters do you think is the relic holder of each Divine Warrior, apart from the known ones? Would you have a different arrangement?

9. Was it a good idea to connect Mystreet and MCD together? Would you have preferred if they stayed separate universes?

10. Why do you think Zenix betrayed Phoenix Drop, was it the Calling? What would Zenix’s fate have been, and what would you have liked it to be? What do you think Garroth and his reunion would have been like?

11. Do you think Jeffory would have come back as a Shadow Knight at some point? Would you have liked it if he did?

12. What do you think would happen to the Shadow Knights after Shad is defeated? Would there be a difference between those that are immortal and those that aren’t?

13. What non-canon ship would you have loved to see, no matter how outlandish or obscure the character(s) are?

14. Is there any major character(s) that you feel is unnecessary to the plot? Is there any minor character(s) that you feel should have played a bigger role?

15. What do you think of the relationships between the Ro’meave brothers? What dynamic would you have liked to see between Vylad and Zane?

16. Do you think Garte is alive? What would you like his fate to be?

17. Do you think Kenmur’s death was a good plot point? Would you have preferred if he stayed alive?

18. What do you think of the personality changes from MCD to Mystreet?

19. They mention Cadenza has magicks that relates to the Nether portals but never really utilize this. What do you wish they had done with this information?

20. Many people have well established rewrites for MCD. Because of this, would you still want Jess to continue MCD, even though it will most likely go in a direction we wouldn’t like? For example, she would most likely focus more on the relationship between Aaron and Aphmau in her rewrite. Would this still be something worth seeing or have you grown content with the unfinished series?

Thank you so much to anyone who answers!

Edit: my dumb butt mixed up the numbering and had put 11 twice lol. I fixed it by combining the Zenix questions together, so I’m sorry if question 10 is very wordy :)

[myopinionhi]

A Will Solace Character Analysis: the Underappreciated Soft Side

I've noticed many fanfictions have Will Solace OOC. So I’ve been thinking about aspects of Will’s personality fans seem to either gloss over or exaggerate. Here, this post is me doing an in-depth analysis explaining Will Solace’s canon personality in the books, and how it can sometimes differ from fanfictions. Sprinkled in this analysis are tips to fanfiction writers on how they write Will as more in-character.

There is one major aspect of Will that people seem to ignore or underemphasize. Nico best explains it when describing Will in this quote

Jason was a fighter. You could tell from the intensity of his stare, his constant alertness, the coiled-up energy in his frame. Will Solace was more like a lanky cat stretched out in sunshine. His movements were relaxed and nonthreatening, his gaze soft and far away. In his faded SURF BARBADOS T-shirt, his cutoff shorts and flip-flops, he looked about as aggressive as a demigod could get, but Nico knew he was brave under fire. During the Battle of Manhattan, Nico had seen him in action - the camp's best combat medic, risking his life to save wounded campers.

To sum it up, Will Solace is a very chill and calm character. A lot of writers make Will more irrational, impulsive, overbearing, and emotional than he actually is. Will is not the type of character to create drama unless he's, as Nico puts it, "under fire." In other words, the intense side of his personality doesn't come out unless the situation is urgent or dire.

Fans remember during the Second Giant War how he gets angry and argues with Nico over Nico's health and shadow-traveling, so many assume Will is going to be this fiery over a lot of other things regarding their relationship. For example, fanfic writers may make Will controlling or overly sensitive with Nico. However, keep in mind, Will gets heated with Nico during the Second Giant War because Nico's shadow-traveling is killing him. This is how Will describes Nico's dire state.

"Coach Hedge told me all about your shadow-travel. You can’t try that again."

"I just did try it again, Solace. I’m fine."

"No, you’re not. I’m a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you’d be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn’t make it. One more slip, and you won’t come back. You are not shadow-travelling. Doctor’s orders."

Will is a healer. When he touches Nico's hand, he can sense how little sleep and food Nico has been getting and how Nico's being taken over by darkness. Nico is on the verge of death and hasn't cared about his health for a long time. Nico is also stubborn about it, so Will has to be aggressive in order to save Nico's life. This aggressive behavior is not the norm for Will, but it can sometimes come out when he has to assert control in a life-or-death situation.

Will is a calming prescence. He's a diplomat. He stops violence on multiple occassions.

He's one of the few people who's able to calm Clarisse's violent rage, and he does so in a gentle manner.

Clarisse pointed her dagger at Rachel. "What about their allies, huh? Did you see that tribe of two-headed men that arrived yesterday? Or the glowing red dog-headed guys with the big poleaxes? They look pretty barbaric to me. It would’ve been nice if you’d foreseen any of that, if your Oracle power didn’t break down when we needed it most!"

Rachel’s face turned as red as her hair. "That’s hardly my fault. Something is wrong with Apollo’s gifts of prophecy. If I knew how to fix it –"

"She’s right." Will Solace, head counsellor for the Apollo cabin, put his hand gently on Clarisse’s wrist. Not many campers could’ve done that without getting stabbed, but Will had a way of defusing people’s anger. He got her to lower her dagger. "Everyone in our cabin has been affected. It’s not just Rachel."

One of the most underrated Will Solace moments is when he stops a bloody battle from happening between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.  

But he knew it wouldn’t do any good. After weeks of waiting, agonizing and steaming, the Greeks and Romans wanted blood. Trying to stop the battle now would be like trying to push back a flood after the dam broke.

Will Solace saved the day.

He put his fingers in his mouth and did a taxicab whistle even more horrible than the last. Several Greeks dropped their swords. A ripple went through the Roman line like the entire First Cohort was shuddering.

"DON’T BE STUPID!" Will yelled. "LOOK!"

People are so used to seeing demigods, especially male demigods, being aggressive fighters that they can't wrap their heads around a brave and strong demigod who actively tries to avoid unnecessary conflict and destruction as much as he can.

And that's Will Solace's strength: he has the ability to prevent as much harm as possible.

Will is a difficult character to write. There's a lot of dueling factors with his personality. He's calm and pacifying while also being brave and assertive. He's fun and lighthearted while also being intelligent, logical, and grounded. He's laidback while also being responsible and hardworking. He's insecure but not melodramatic. He's very caring and protective but not pushy.

Will's personality confuses Nico sometimes too.

He’d always thought of Will as easygoing and laid back. Apparently he could also be stubborn and aggravating.

The trick to writing Will is to keep in mind his default personality is a soft and lighthearted character. Writers tend to overemphasize the hard side of his personality when his default personality is actually the soft side.

Think of the relaxing, lanky cat metaphor Nico uses for him. He and Nico bicker often, and it works for Will because he rolls with everything and doesn't take things too seriously. He's able to alleviate Nico's moodiness with humor, wittiness, groundedness, and patience. Nico affectionately calls Will a "dork" because Will usually keeps things light. Interestingly enough, he's able to be lighthearted without coming across as insensitive or an airheaded goofball, the latter of which is something Nico dislikes about Percy's personality. On a related sidenote, another way writers make Will OOC is they make him too dumb or too immature. I know I mentioned to focus on Will's soft side, but be careful to avoid that too. He's a SENSIBLE, lanky cat.

The way Will keeps his composure during a stressful situation by using laughter while still being mature is expressed well in this exchange with Apollo. (Yes, Will has a lot to manage.)

It was difficult to think of this young man as my son. He was so poised, so unassuming, so free of acne. He also didn’t appear to be awestruck in my presence. In fact, the corner of his mouth had started twitching.

“Are—are you amused?” I demanded.

Will shrugged. “Well, it’s either find this funny or freak out. My dad, the god Apollo, is a fifteen-year-old—”

“Sixteen,” I corrected. “Let’s go with sixteen.”

“A sixteen-year-old mortal, lying in a cot in my cabin, and with all my healing arts—which I got from you—I still can’t figure out how to fix you.”

“There is no fixing this,” I said miserably. “I am cast out of Olympus. My fate is tied to a girl named Meg. It could not be worse!”

Will laughed, which I thought took a great deal of gall. “Meg seems cool. She’s already poked Connor Stoll in the eyes and kicked Sherman Yang in the crotch.”

The fiercer side of Will's personality comes out only when the situation calls for it; this happens sometimes when he has to be a caring family member, a responsible healer, or a warrior in a dire situation. Even when he gets more forceful, he doesn't get more forceful than he has to.

Since Will has such a balanced and lighthearted personality, what are his flaws? What are the dark sides of his personality? There are four main things that stick out.

1. He's insecure about his self-perceived lack of abilities.

"I agree," Will said. "I wish I was a better archer … I wouldn’t mind shooting my Roman relative off his high horse. Actually, I wish I could use any of my father’s gifts to stop this war." He looked down at his own hands with distaste. "Unfortunately, I’m just a healer."

2. He sometimes struggles to endure the heavy responsibilities he has as a healer and as a protector to his family.

“I got it reattached,” Will told me, his voice shaky with exhaustion. His scrubs were speckled with blood. “I need somebody to keep him stable.”

I pointed to the woods. “But—”

“I know!” Will snapped. “Don’t you think I want to be out there searching too? We’re shorthanded for healers. There’s some salve and nectar in that pack. Go!”

I was stunned by his tone. I realized he was just as concerned about Kayla and Austin as I was. The only difference: Will knew his duty. He had to heal the injured first. And he needed my help.

3. He forces himself to bottle his emotions to keep his composure.

Will laughed under his breath. “I’m terrified. But one thing you learn as head counselor: you have to keep it together for everyone else. Let’s get you on your feet."

Here's a second example.

I rested my hand on Will’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back by dawn.”

His mouth trembled ever so slightly. “How can you be sure?”

4. He constantly worries about his loved ones.

Nico rested his hand on Will’s shoulder. “Apollo, we were worried. Will was especially.”

In conclusion, Will Solace's personality is difficult to get correct. But don't worry, if you write Will as a laidback, witty cat in your fanfics, I guarantee he'll be more in-character than many other fanfics with Will Solace.

(Note: I am only human. If you believe I'm misinterpreting some aspects of Will's personality, feel free to express it. What I say isn't 100 percent the right interpretation.)