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redrydersrequiem · 1 year

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The red assassin

Forgot i had this idea so im finally getting this story out. It’s a little late but here it is.

I love aemond so i wrote this. Took a bunch of things from HOD, assassins creed, and eragon so yeah ❤️😁

Updated this 5/6/2023

The red keep was silent as the queen marched towards her eldest bedroom. Throwing the door open

“Aegon, wake up!”

The boy grumbles, turning over in his bed to mutter “What is it?” the boy states trying to find sleep once more his mother not liking that and throwing the covers off of him

“What is it, what is it is that all you have to say for yourself”

“Has something happened” aegon replies groggily

“Dyana”

“Hmm

“The serving girl.”

“ hmmm”

“For god's sake the servant girl Aegon, the one you sent fleeing from your company, the one I've had to have thrown out of King's Landing to keep up your reputation.”

“Oh please it was harmless fun, she didn’t need to get upset about it.”

“Think of the shame on your wife on me, how can you keep carrying on like this, especially on a day like today.

“Why?what is today?”

The queen just shakes her head at her eldest son

“You are no son of mine

“I did not ask for this. I've done everything you’ve asked me to and I try so… I try so hard but it will never be enough for you or father..”

“Well guess what you’ve got it. You were born into it and you're lucky the girl was young and knows no one from outside kings landing. Now pull yourself together.”

The queen exits the chamber, her words ringing true in the air. Well almost true, for you see Dyana did know someone from outside kings landing, she was a legend going around Westeros.

The Red assassin

An assassin for the people here to put wrongdoing nobility in their place. To remind them that without the commoners they treat so poorly they would have nothing.

Many stories of them ranged from how they had a dragon like the Targaryens, how such noble creatures picked the assassin to carry out their deeds, others where they were simply a rogue mercenary that does as they like, Either way Dyana ran straight to the hide away of the assassin.

Girls she had known had gone there before to seek justice so she knew the way. And just as the night sky had started to appear a lone cottage comes into view amongst the thick foliage of the forest. A single lantern outside and a red ribbon flapping in the wind.

The assassin was home.

Assassins pov

“Come tell me again what happened little one.” I say, staring at the trembling young blond in front of me.

“I was a servant for Aegon the second and his wife helena. I was a good servant i kept my head down and did as i was told, then the other morning i had my back turned tiding things in the room when aegon came up behind me and (sobs) “ The girl breaks down into tears again and i feel the ache in my chest at her pain.

“Shhh shh its ok i can only imagine what has befallen you but you must not worry for i will help you”

‘You will?”

“Yes”

“But he's a prince, he's not like others nobles it’s the royal family they’ll hunt you down and kill you if you harm him.”

“You're right and while that will be entertaining to see them try but till then, we'll see what the gods have in store ok either way i will make sure aegon never looks at another women sideways let alone touch them. So here.” I hand the child a sack of coins and a bag with some clothes and other niceties.

“I have a woman coming in the morning she'll take you with her and help give you a good life ok. I trust her and I know you’ll be well looked after”.

“Thank you, thank you” the girl hugs me once more till a loud roar has her snapping her head up in fear.

“Easy there it's not the royals after you”

“But it was a dragon. They are”

“Dragons don't just belong to the Targaryen’s.”

“So the stories are true.

“I just smile knowingly at her and send her off upstairs to rest for the night. I have a mission to plan.

After all the drama in the day the greens and the blacks both come together for dinner by order of the king

“How good it is to see you all tonight…..together” The king toast before stumbling back into his set, his family all looking on with worry. No one says anything until queen Alicent chirps up

“Prayers before we begin?”

“Yes”

“May the mother smile down on this gathering with love, may the smith mend the bonds that have been broken for far too long. And to Vaemond Velaryon, may the gods give him rest.”

A chuckle falls from Daemon’s seat but he’s silenced by the nudge Rhaenyra gives him. Aemond can’t help but smile at his uncles theatrics. He had agreed with daemons approach. If anyone spoke ill of his wife and family he to would make sure they never spoke another sound. The king pipes up again.

“This is an occasion for celebration, it seems. I've been told my grandsons Jace and Luke have agreed to marry their cousins Baela and Rhaena, further strengthening the bond between our houses. A toast to the young princes….and their betrothed

“ I want to say something to aemond if i may”

“Go on child”the king states to his eldest grandchild,

“Since this night is about trying to mind relationships, myself and my brother Luke would both like to apologize to you.”

Aemond is taken aback by this. But keeps his stone face on

“We were all children, we where, are family, we where raised together we shouldn’t have teased you about your dragon, and we shouldn’t have started the fight that lead to your eye being lost”

“Jace,” rhaenyra quickly tries to stop her son

“No mother this needs to be done”

“I'm sorry , aemond.” Luke no chirps up. “You’ve become a great fighter and a great man and we were blinded by lies and mistrust to see that you and I am willing to take any punishment you see fit to resolve this.”

After a time aemond breathes out and stands to address his nephews”.

“It’s been a long time since I've wished to receive validation from the night. You are right you shouldn’t have mocked me for being dragonless, a pause goes though the room waiting for a string of harsh words to fall from almonds sharp lips. “But I shouldn’t have mocked you for the rumors surrounding your birth. I also shouldn’t have claimed my dragon during its rider's funeral. You are correct we are family and i apologizes to you baela and rhaena , i did not think of your grief, all i thought was of myself and my want for a dragon”

“It is forgiven” balea states rising from her seat. “All has been rectified, we must move forward. We all are the new generation, we must stand united.”

All the elders look around with awe and pride at their children. They can see the strings being mended between the two houses.”

“Boring” aegon lets out. To drunk to appreciate the moment happening around him. His mother tries to shush him but to no avail he simply stand to make a toast.

“Lets us toast to jace and his future bride, you do know how that act is done I assume”. Aegon chuckles at his own drunken stupidness

“Aegon, sit down!” Aemond says loudly from his spot. Ser Criston comes forward slightly in case he is needed. Aegon just laughs more and goes to pick up an apple to go with his fourth drink of the night. But before he can bite into it an arrow flies through the shadows and pierces the fruit out of the prince's hands and into the wall behind him.

Everything goes silent as heads all turn towards the source of the arrow. They see a small cloaked figure walk out

Ser criston goes to move towards the threat but two arrows fly towards him pinning his armor to the wall behind him leaving him pinned to the wall the arrows piercing between his armor in strategic spots to where he was unable to free himself quickly

“Guards guards” Otto Hightower yells out into the night.

“It’s no use yelling sire” a delicate voice pierces the now silent air.

“The guards are preoccupied at the moment. Don’t blame them though men never suspect those they deem unimportant. It just took a quick pinch and they’ll be asleep for a little bit unless they have underlying medical issues then in that case my apologies they probably won't wake back up .”

The girl moves fully from the shadows. She’s cloaked in black from head to toe

( think something like this without the thigh slip cause why you can be sexy and covered)

Assassins pov

Who are you?” Daemon asks from his position near rhaenyra. Slightly guarding her with his Body

“Who am i… hmmmm, I’m a shadow, your grace, a shadow here to deal with an eye sore hiding in a drunken stupor, being protected by the royal family.”

“You dare spea…” Aemond goes to say

“Sit down my prince this does not concern you, only your brother. Besides I hear you are of great character please don’t disappoint me and tell me those tells are wrong. I would be most upset?”

Aemond just stares at the girl, too entranced to say anything further as she turns towards his mother keeping Aegon in her view.

“I must say, my queen, I’m saddened for you. To raise a son with no respect for women at all. Although you're not alone, many mothers fail in the same category. Which is why it takes someone like me to put them in their place.”

“I do not understand why you are here, miss?”rhaenyra asks

“ You can simply call me Scarlet, Princess as I have no faults with you or your family. In fact I quite admire you.” I walk around the room a little closer to rhaenyra, daemon obviously not likening that steps closer to her. I simply put my hands up in defense as I just reached to take a steam of grapes off the table.

“You know I wish I could have been there the day of your corantation. I’ve been told You positively sparkled as you made your way in the room. I especially liked the part when all those old bastards had to kneel to you, that most have been a grand sight. And from all the stories of your family your boys are well mannered,kind and fair to those in your court.”

“If you are not here to kill anyone then what are you here for if i may ask.” The king chokes out

“Well your majesty the king i'm here for a simple warning. A mercy really. As i was thinking of just killing him but I feel like no mother who clearly loves her children should have to witness them die so maybe this will be a wake up call for prince aegon here. Next time you force a woman, hell next time you even look at a woman the wrong way and you use your status to cover it up, I'll slit your throat.”

The queen tenses and I can see she and her father have put the pieces together as to why I'm here. Rhaneyra and her family to their credit stand tall despite their confusion.

“The royals are supposed to be the foundation of society. Try to fix that, because without those people outside these walls your family would be nothing.”

And who are you to comment on royalty might i ask” daemon states.

“Shes the red assassin” Otto Hightower finally speaks

I simply turn to him with a smile on my face bowing dramatically

“I'm honored the master of spies has heard of me.”

“It’s said you help the common folk, that your a weapon for hire to anyone”

“That is correct, as long as they are in true need i try to help, in fact that's another reason i'm here today.”

“Oh?” Rhaenyra asks

“Yes you see while you all are held up here those crab feeders have been making an awful big mess. All mad that they lost the war. Well the people didn’t like that so I helped you all out.” I go over and take out a sack and throw it to the floor in front of them. Aemond had freed criston from the wall as Otto gave a nod to go open the bag. He blanches once he does

“That would be the heads of the leaders of the rebel army. They’ve been destroying those towns east of here and I refused to let them go further. That took me four days, Want to see what I could accomplish with actual backing behind me.”

“What is it, your proposing assassin?”

“Hmm i don't know yet, all i know is that i want the good of the people and if that takes joining you lot I will .”

“The good of the people hmmm? Then tell me is the other rumor true”

“Which one?”

“It is also said you ride a dragon”

At that everyone’s eyes go wide. They don't flinch at the bag of heads but the mention of a dragon. I simply chuckle at the looks on all their faces. I hear the guard outside start to groan and notice my time is coming to an end. I step over to the window opening it. Taking out my whistle I blow into the air before turning back to the confused family.

“Now you can’t believe everything you hear sir, but if i was would that scare all of you. Hmm would it come to reason that the mighty Targaryen’s aren't the only ones who can tame dragons.”

“So you have one.?” aemond asks me, curiosity and wonder shining in his eye.

“I'll have to show you sometime, my prince.”

A light blush coats his cheeks as i smile warmly at him

“But for now I must be going, please consider my offer. You all need to stop the in fighting before worse people come an upserp you. If you need me send a message here. And to show another sign of good faith my king. I present you this”

I take a baggy out of my belt and set it on the table

“Its medicine, it should help your health without having to be doped up on poppy milk. It will ease the aches and help with the pain. Do have your maesters look it over.” I throw a scroll to rhaenyra. And bow. The guards have all woken and rushed into the room. A familiar roar fills my ears and I know it's my time to leave.

“Until next time your highnesses.” I say before bolting across the room and jumping out the window.

Daemon, aemond, jace and rhaenyra all rush the window to see my fleeting form landing on a dragon. Different in shape then any of there’s and glinting silver in the pale moonlight. Its wings are almost angelic as it whisks its rider away from the red keep.

“We can’t allow this insult to stand your majesty.” Otto Hightower yells on in the counsel chambers

“It’s barely an insult” daemon states crouched in his chair like it’s a throne picking dirt out from beneath his finger tips, rhaenyra sat beside him, shaking her head and hiding a smile at her husband's antics.

“You call an assassin coming into the royal palace and almost killing the first prince not an insult. Well do tell us lord what is”

“How about a sniveling snake talking untruths into the king's ear or”….

“What daemon means to say is that while yes this girl making her way inside could have gone wrong I believe it presented us with an opportunity.”

The small council that is gathered simply stares at the princess as though she's grown two heads. Daemon, rhaenyra and Jace are sat on the left of the king while the greens consists, of Otto, Alicent and aemond. Aegon was unsurprisingly absent. All sit on his right.

“Your highness, we must do something about this girl.” Otto once again requested the king.

“Scarlet”

“Excuse me” Otto asks the room doubting his ears

“That girl as you keep calling her grandfather her name is scarlet, i was merely correcting you.”

“My nephew is right, she, I mean, Miss/lady scarlet is not just some person with a knife aimed at us, Not only did she make it all the way through the castle, past all of our guards and make their way into the royal chambers without so much as breaking a sweat.”

“Exactly prince daemon, that act alone can not be tolerated, we must retaliate, we can not allow an assassin as such to continue to exist.”

“Ha your foolery truly knows no bounds lord hand.”

“Why is that lord daemon?”

“Prince daemon but I will let your slip of the tongue slide for now. Your foolery astounds me because that assassin didn’t do anything to us but assist us.”

“How so”

“Tell me my lord how long have you been fighting with the low lands since I conquered them so long ago.”

“It hasn’t…”

“It’s been almost a year since the fighting in the lowlands started back up again uncle. Aemond answers with honesty for his grandfather.

“Thank you for answering honestly brother.” Rhaneyra says warmly towards Aemond

“Yes thank you dear nephew, as i was saying not only did she successfully get through the Castle undetected but she came here for a reason. To warn us about behavior in the royal family that needed to be corrected.as well as delivering us the heads of our enemy’s afeet that has bested our grandest soldiers”

“Your point princess”

“Her point, you old cunt is that we need the girl on our side.”

“Uncle is correct grandfather. Having her come to us and join our court would be most beneficial. Not only does she have the support of the common people but she is also highly skilled, we can also not deny the fact she has a dragon”

“Yes nephew, that is also a gigantic advantage as well. A dragon rider who as far as we know is not a Targaryen. So the question is how did she do it.”

“I agree with my brother”the king finally speaks out. Alicent is visibly taken aback “But my lord this girl attacked your son.”

“My son was in the wrong, we should be thankful she didn’t kill him, she had plenty of opportunities”

“She did indeed brother, but i must say if you’ll allow a brief pause, you look much livelier today.”

“Yes I do feel better, which is another thing we must thank miss scarlet for.”

“My lord, are you telling us you took the medicine the girl left.”

“Yes i did”

“What? What if you had died husband what then?”. Alicent grasps out clutching onto Viserys hand.

“I've felt dead for the last Fortnight my dear, I figured I had nothing else to lose.”

“Father” rhaenyra chides also going up to Viserys and clutching onto his shoulder

“Calm my dears for I feel revitalized. The tingling in my limbs has disappeared and unlike with the poppy milk i don't not feel dazed or heavy. I've had the maesters take the drug for analysis but also to replicate it. I also must say that if they are unable to, I myself would like to speak with the girl again.”

“It seems we all have just cause now to re invite lady scarlet back.”

Everyone agrees with a nod except for otto hightower (of course)

“I do have a query?”

“Yes what is it?” daemon answers sassily back”

“What are we to offer the girl to make sure we have her loyalties or even then to maintain her loyalties”

“Whatever she wants master hand” daemon chuckles out from his seat

“Do not fret Otto, we will summon her and go forward with proper negotiations. Now all worry no more of this.” The king states to the room

“Rhaenyra dear, would you reach out to her as she left the scroll with you”

“Of course, father, I will do it within the day.”

The meeting comes to an end and everyone leaves to attended to whatever business they had. Rhaenyra and daemon go to return to their quarters when a voice halts them. Turning they see aemond coming towards them. Since the night of the dinner they could feel a change in the young man. Hostility doesn’t roll off him in waves any more.

“How may i help you brother” rhaenyra ask the young man

“I wish to be the one to invite the lady” Daemon and rhaenyra share a quick glance a knowing look in their eyes

“And why is that dear nephew?”

“Must i explain that to you of all people uncle. Or can you simply take my sincerity in wanting to be the messenger of the royal house.”

Daemon merely chuckles while rhaenyra pushes him off before his sharp tongue starts something.

“I think that would be the most gracious idea. How else to show we mean business then sending a member of royalty to call upon her. And from what i've seen you can be a very level headed advisor. It would be an honor for you to bring the girl here brother, come we will write out the correspondence and map your trail.”

With that the three leave to complete that task of bring the red assassin into the Targaryen house.

#aemond fanfiction #house of dragon #house targaryen #aemond x oc reader #game of thrones fanfiction #dragon rider

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eliceislandent · 2 years

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02-06-2023 A Day In The Life - Attempting To Get More Done In Our Busy Days.

6:45am: woke up. I sometimes have to force myself to stay in bed when I wake up at like 3am after five hours of sleep. I feel well rested and am tempted to do the whole “rise and grind” thing, however, these days I am more focused on trying to live consistent and balanced best practices. So more sleep. More than I think I need. Needless to say by 6:45, I was up and at ‘em. My son was in the bed and had decided to sleep horizontally so I to disentangle myself from his legs. I had feet in my face. Appropriately humbling, but not a reason to stay in bed any longer. Amazingly, he stayed asleep. Not so for Nic who was also waking up and about to start the day.

7-8: Made the kids lunch. Made the kids bed. Did some quick meditation/calming breaths with my oldest daughter, then packed them off to school.

8-830: No breakfast today. Fasting for Purim. Purim is itself a great story. And like many in the Jewish religion features a woman — Queen Esther — as the hero of the story. Bravely and shrewdly maneuvering her way around the King’s evil advisor, Haman (BOO!) who wants the King Achasueverus to kill all the Jews in the Persian empire.

That is until Queen Esther reveals to her husband, the King, at the exact right moment that she herself is a Jew. The tide is turned. Achasueverus orders the Jews not to be touched and instead that Haman and his fellow schemers to be killed for their proposed plot. We fast as Jews to commemorate the fact that before Queen Esther saved us, we were facing death at the ends of the most powerful force in the world at that time: The Persian Empire.

I love a good story.

I like when the underdogs win.

When the long shot prevails.

And I love a good twist.

The Purim story has it all.

Unfortunately, I don’t have breakfast to look forward to. SO as not to make my fast any harder, Nicole makes her own breakfast and by 9, after getting dressed, I was on the road with my son taking him to school.

9:30am: Successful school drop off. My son and I rock out Justin Bieber and the Jonas Bros. Then I head back home.

9:30: Writing. Wait, writing? Aren’t I in the car, driving? I am. So, what gives???

One of the things I am working on while writing the next book in “The Eddie Ankin series, “The Crew” is the use of dictation. I have long been interested in this and tried it a few times with the dragon software. But as a Mac user, (Dragon is a PC-based software, which I believe it still is) the process wasn’t seamless. It also required that I carry a digital recorder which I often forgot, or brought with me but never took out of my backpack.

However, despite these unsuccessful early attempts, I stayed interested in the sea of dictations.

The last year or two has seen major improvement in the built-n dictation abilities of Macs and PCs. There is no need for a secondary software or additional equipment. And the computer, or as is often the case, my cell phone, transcribe the words I am saying as I speak them. Every so often the microphone beeps off and the computer/cell phone stops transcribing, but it’s usually obvious and I just have to hit the microphone button to start recording again.

I’m not what you would call a “hack gut.” I mean that in the tech sense not the writer one (though hopefully you won’t think of me as a hack writer either”). In this case, I am referring to the idea of dividing methods that shortcut workflow, save time and maximize efficiency.

Dictation is something I’ve always understood practically as a tool that, if mastered, can help me to do more in less time.

I mean I can type pretty fast. But I cannot type as fast as I speak. With dictation I can get more words written in a single writing session. It’s not without mistakes but depending on the headset I’m using, the place where I’m recording (my office; the car), and my own diction, it is pretty darn good.

It’s not getting the words down faster that I appreciate about addiction dictation. It's also that I am a terrible slow editor. One of the part of my editing process is to read the book out loud and hear how it sounds, particularly the dialogue. By doing dictation I am getting a jump on this process. Sometimes a sentence sounds good in my head but does not sound so good when spoken allowed.

Plus, the more I do dictation the better the computer get at understanding me, and I get at not giving in to some of my bad habits as a writer. Most conveniently, I can dictate anywhere more or less. As long as I have my phone and some quiet. Whereas when I am typing I have to be at my desk or maybe the couch, because I am working off my laptop.

Today, in the car I was able to dictate the beginnings of a chapter. Nearly 800 words in 20 minutes. After a revision pass that’s likely to end up around 650-700 words. But still, 650 words in 20 minutes. That means I can get a chapter done in an hour. Maybe less. Unfortunately, I am not yet that practiced at doing dictation. So, I haven’t been enjoying the full fruits of my labor with it since I am still finding my way. It is strange how hearing a story spoken aloud makes it “read” different than when it is written on paper. Or read in a book.

It’s also worth keeping this in mind as I explore the ins and outs of turning my first novel, “The Strange Crimes of Beatrice Clover” into an audiobook.

On the dictation front, a shout out to Kevin J. Anderson who is probably the first author I ever heard talk about dictation as a way to write books and to Steve Higgs, who writes amazing cozy mysteries, who also sings the efficiency and time saving virtues of dictation. Also, Norman Lear, the iconic, prolific, and seemingly immortal television producer who created “All in the Family” who is also a practitioner of dictating his writing. In his memoir, “Even This I Get To Experience” he tells the story of how he used dictation to overcome a terrible case of writers block from which he was suffering. Now, I’m not nearly so proficient at it…yet. But, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. When I get home I’ll edit what I “wrote” (dictated) in the car

10am: It’s the day before Purim so the morning prayers run a little longer this morning, but by

10:45 I am back at the writing, stopping to place a couple of work phone calls around noon to people waking up on the west coast.

12:30pm I take Nicole to a dentist appointment on my way to pick up my son. Some more dictation, but this time into “Eddie Ankin” Book One “The Double” for a chapter I am in the process of editing/revising. I don’t usually use dictation for revisions but in this case I know the few spots I wanted to make some changes. I also knew pretty clearly the way I wanted to change them. So, I dictated those changes on the way home.

1p: Grocery shopping. Tough when fasting. I live vicariously through my son who eats Oreos from the pack and drinks a juice pack. He tries the chicken nuggets from the deli counter, but isn’t a fan. My children are particular eaters.

1:40 Head home.

2: After getting my son situated I go back to work. I edit what I dictated early this morning, and I finish this post. In what feels like no time I am back in the car going to pick up my girls from their school. Normally, Nicole will do one or even both of the pick ups and drops off on days when she works from home, but today she had a bunch of appointments and meetings so I handled them today.

2:45 Nic gets home and I head out the doo to pickup the girls at school

3: Make snack for the kids while Nic does a work meeting.

3:30 Play with kids while breaking to bring this post current.

More to come….

(I am trying to be better about consistently updating these daily logs when I write them. The goal is Monday, Wednesday Friday, but life and work has thus far gotten in my way. I am recommitting myself and redoubling my efforts. I believe doing so is not only a useful record of where my times goes…But, also a record of a time in my life I hope to look back on someday and appreciate this part of the journey. Also, because I know how much I enjoyed and found it useful when others who are successful recorded their days and shared it with others. Hopefully, anyone following along finds this at least a little bit useful and entertaining.)

#work #writing a book #writing life #writing #writing tip #dictation #writer life #author life #author #books #work life balance #Hollywood #screenwriter #Norman Lear #Kevin J Anderson #Steve Higgs #day in the life #bts

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spinaroos-47 · 3 years

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Hunter Noceda AU: Venance

(can't digitalize these rn so you'll get the sketches for now)

So yeah, Golden Guard version two!

When Belos does find out about Hunter in YBOS, Hunter gets the bomb dropped about them being related (idk how yet). but Hunter obviously doesn’t believe in it. Until Hunting Palismen comes around and they find this small thingy, Venance.

(thank you @bernardo-draws-and-cries for the name. Its based on the name Venâncio, which means “the one who hunts”)

He is another grimwalker made by Belos, he’s 12 (yeah.) and way more stressed (Belos has gotten more iron fisted after losing Hunter). Someone save this poor child

- He’s just starting out as the Golden Guard (and he’s not a coven head. Kikimora is. And she still wants him dead too), he’s still getting the hang of it. He does act tough and serious, way more serious than canon GG/Hunter, no space for goofyness.

- So yeah, a duo Hunting Palismen thing would be fun. Haven’t sorted out everything here but I do think Hunter would also go with Luz because of no palisman reasons. And he hasn’t met Ven yet, he only heard Lilith talking about him and Luz and Eda dealing with him on Separate Tides (he was busy drowning in guilt and trying to help with the money situation in other ways), so when he meets Ven and when he sees his face and how similar they are (and how many scars that kid already has), he’s reasonably confused/upset, like “Oh, that creepy man wasn’t lying. This doesn’t make anything on this situation better”

- After the initial surprise/confusion, Luz and Hunter jokingly call him Ghaterer until they learn his name, then they start calling him Ven. At first Ven hates this nickname but ends up reluctantly accepting it.

- Even before Eclipse Lake he’s so scared about being replaced, and knowing about Hunter’s existence in the Boiling Isles makes it worse, now he’s super sure he isn’t as valuable to Belos anymore. So he hates Hunter

- Hunter: come here youre part of the found family now

Ven: NO

Hunter: too late *picks him up*

Hunter: If Luz taught me something is that if you didn’t want to get assimilated into my found family, you should have killed me when you had the chance

Yeah that’s their dynamic when Hunter learns a bit more about him

- Venance doesn’t have much respect as the Golden Guard yet. He’s small (like, maybe even less than 1,50m/4′11″), young, has just been starting out on this role, like, in the last few months, could easily be picked up like a kitty, so he has to fight quite a bit to be taken seriously. Which results on him being way more grumpy and short tempered

- So he doesn’t take it very well when hes made fun of by the scouts in Latissa. Not at all

- Hunter, who was joking around until then:…are you okay?

Ven: I AM! *barely holding the tears back*

Hunter:

Hunter: that’s it youre part of the family now

Ven: you can’t do that

Hunter: we’re two and you’re one, we have your staff and youre very light.

(he still would put up a fight, and it would take a while for it to end. And he bites hard, he has very sharp fangs)

- Scouts: Go home with your sibiling

Hunter: *oh. Oh yeah i forgot we have the same freaking face*

- They don’t know yet about the grimwalker thing. Well, maybe Ven discovers later but at the moment where Hunting Palismen happens, neither of them know anything besides them being related, Ven got told he is his brother, and that Hunter was taken away from the coven before he was born

- Rascal seeing Hunter: hey you’re cool, i kinda want to be your palisman

Rascal seeing Ven: oh heck this kid needs help

- I’m not sure if Hunter gets Lil Rascal. Because on one side, would be fun for him to have Lil Rascal and train doing magic like this, but also could be good for Ven to have some small support back at home, like how they are to Hunter in canon. So this hasn’t been decided yet. Hunter could either get Lil Rascal and Ven doesn’t get a palisman/gets a blue jay palisman, or Ven gets Lil Rascal and Hunter comes back also empty handed

- So I’m going with the no palisman for Hunter route for now.

- It’s a bitter moment for both him and Luz. He tries to convince her that it’s okay, that they’ll get theirs soon, but she still kinda feels like a failure about this. And he himself thinks it’s because they don’t have a magic bile sac, so it’s not a good time for them. Eda and King lift their spirits a bit about this, though.

- Either by peeking around or just flat out being told, Ven does learn about him (and Hunter) being grimwalkers. What does he do with that? He has a crisis about it, which raises even more the stakes for him in Eclipse Lake. He still wouldn’t know his purpose for the Day of Unity, but he would know that he was created for it and could lose his position if he didn’t prove himself worthy of it.

- He would explode at Hunter one day and end up telling the truth about them being Grimwalkers (after Eclipse Lake)

- Ven: Do you want to know what you really are?! You’re a clone! You’re just someone’s clone just like me! A replacement!

Hunter, trying to not freak out but freaking out anyways: ...are you okay?

Ven; WHAT DO YOU THINK?

- If Belos is searching for Hunter, on the grounds of him being a more mature grimwalker than Venance, Ven could end up resorting to sabotaging the searches, he doesn’t want to be replaced.

- And he’s making Ven convinced that he will be replaced, to pit both boys against eachother. He gets Ven more under his thumb and not risking Hunter making Ven change his mind. Which doesn’t work as he intented, Ven does get scared about it but Hunter ends up pretty quickly going “dude why do you think I want to replace you?” and Ven is quickly thrown into a loop because he can’t understand why he wouldn’t want to do that

- Ven: what do you mean with “I don’t wanna be the Golden Guard”? If you’re like me you should DESIRE IT SINCE YOU WERE BORN

Hunter: lol no. I dealt with my need of approval a year ago on therapy.

Hunter: Also being a cop sucks.

- This boy is a tense child always a few bad moments away from a breakdown/meltdown. And has anger problems. A lot of anger in a very tiny body

- There’s some more interactions between Ven and the Noceda duo, and he would rather die than admit that he’s got slightly attached to them

- Eda: Luz told me that Golden Guard is a uwu smol boi that needs to be protected, hell knows what this means

Hunter, who definetly came there too because FUCKING COOL ASS CAVE AND LAKE: i hate/love her

Ven: If i ever see that human again-

Amity AND Hunter: watch your fucking mouth

(definetly not how it would play out but very funny sdkdshdfsj)

- In terms of strength he couldn’t defeat Amity in a fight for the key, he would lean more on the blackmailing. He is a 12 year old but he’s still on a position of power on the emperor’s coven and he knows where the key is, it would put the owlfam on Belos’ line of sight again (if they even ever went away from it)

- That or he passes out, gets dragged out of there by them (he’s a lil shit but they’re not going to leave him there alone where Kikimora could kill him) and he falls asleep for 12 hours in the couch on the owl house. Which ends up giving him a day where he can be just a kid. He’s very weirded out by everything but he enjoys it a little bit at least. He would still try to get the key and would be torn apart by the guilt of thinking of doing this and the guilt of not doing this

- It wouldn’t take much to make him want to stay in the owl house. He’s starved for positive attention. It wouldn’t be easy but also it’s not as hard as for how Hunter is right now in canon

- I don’t think this could happen but I keep thinking about one day him and Hunter switching places so he can be just a kid for one day. Would be cool to see him sneaking into Hexside (or being dragged there, which is more likely to happen) and interacting with Willow and Gus

And that’s some of what we have for Ven right now! He’s a fun character to figure out :3

This took SO MUCH TIME to write

#toh #the owl house #long post #golden guard #hunter noceda au #au #toh au #toh oc #i guess?#alec talks #my art #venance

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moonaft · 3 years

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When Sorrows Come reactions

Spoilers: I did not get bingo.

25 squares, from left to right, top to bottom: 1. Malvic appears at the wedding 2. Sylvester attends the wedding 3. The High King or Queen gets elfshot 4. One of Tybalt's enemies from the short stories appears 5. Hope chests are relevant 6. Something is revealed about the False Queen 7. There's at least 3 Firstborn at the wedding 8. Someone calls Toby a kingbreaker 9. Dianda punches someone important 10. Toby drinks someone else's blood 11. August attends the wedding 12. Hirsent crashes the wedding 13. [Free space] Toby's dress gets blood on it 14. One of Tybalt's friends from the short stories appears 15. Eira is behind the trouble 16. Gillian attends the wedding 17. Lore about the Torquill family 18. Quentin's identity gets revealed 19. Sylvester doesn't attend the wedding 20. Someone mistakes Sylvester for Simon 21. Raysel's plotline moves forward 22. Toby learns about Tybalt's short story past 23. Someone gets elfshot for the second or third time 24. Toby insults nobility we haven't seen before 25. Lore about the Sollys family

Date: April 11, 2015, roughly 6 months after A Killing Frost. No mischief occurred around Christmas 2014.

Are nobles seriously inviting the kingbreaker in order to make contact with her mother who she pissed off during the divorce? Have they been paying attention at all?

Technically, Toby has never committed treason. She definitely didn’t commit treason against Rhys because she never swore loyalty to him.

I think this is the first book that introduced Simon ahead of Sylvester and described Sylvester as Simon’s brother as opposed to the other way around. Sylvester is still on thin ice, by the way. There’s a reason I have both “Sylvester attends the wedding” and “Sylvester doesn’t attend the wedding” on the bingo card.

The Luidaeg denied Sylvester’s request to wake Raysel up - why? Did she want to get the wedding out of the way before Raysel’s trial and October’s next rolling emergency?

Yes, the Quentin problem when getting married at the High King’s knowe. Don’t change his appearance and everyone knows where the Crown Prince is fostered. Do change his appearance and everyone in Toby’s party now knows who the Crown Prince is.

“Dean Lorden is probably technically my brother now” woot.

Toby is voluntarily eating and drinking! After so many books of having food forced of her because she keeps forgetting to do so.

Confirmation that Toby officially owns her place and Luna can’t get Sylvester to reverse that decision.

Dean kissing a strange boy -> ah, they went with changing Quentin’s appearance and bloodline. And they went to the Luidaeg for it. Banshee, huh?

Poor Dean. Toby’s approval means something to him. And Toby continues to eat, good for her.

Yes, I too would love to know more about Sylvester’s Dark Years. Sylvester POV, when?

Dean has now officially heard that Oberon is back, and isn’t reacting. I have to assume the Lordens know the details behind how they broke August’s curse.

Oh Quentin, I love you.

Dean still thinks the Merrow descend from only Titania, but Pete confirmed in The Unkindest Tide that Oberon is her father.

Dean does not understand the value of landlines. Kids these days...

I had not considered that Toby and Tybalt’s wedding would be a historic event.

Surprise wedding date! It really couldn’t have been any other way.

Yes, who would have told Sylvester about the date?

Yep, calling Bridget and Etienne is the best option. And Etienne knows May didn’t tell Toby the date, interesting.

Dammit, Sylvester. I can’t cross that square off yet, he might redeem himself. And Etienne talking sense into Toby!

Did the fae make their kingdoms based on state borders? The West at least was based on SCA kingdoms and principalities. I wonder if Highmountain has a new Crown yet.

Good to know that Oberon can go where ever he wants in Faerie. He could probably bring Riordan back if he wanted to. Is Danny not coming? I can’t say I blame him.

Jazz knows about Oberon too.

I do hope August shows up at the wedding, it’s on my bingo card.

Huh, I knew that Ash and Oak aka New York was a place without fae these days, but I assumed some purebloods and changelings could still live there. Uncomfortably, perhaps, and maybe you couldn’t anchor a knowe there anymore, but I didn’t think it was actively hostile to every fae.

Hey, is that Lowri and Nolan? Nolan’s on guard duty, interesting.

Yes, the Ludiaeg could have married you at any time. Should have thought of that before everyone started offering you their knowe for the wedding.

Oh good they’re bringing Walther.

Makes sense Arden can’t come but she is sending Nolan. Nolan definitely is enjoying life these days.

Confirmation that Madden’s boyfriend is human and doesn’t know about the fae.

“I can go order her to arrest herself, if you’d like” Love it.

I have to assume the Tuatha Express is faster than air travel and not as tiring for the people who aren’t opening portals.

Nessa, the Gwragedd Annwn, a new species. As pretty as the Daoine Sidhe are to a nearly human Toby, wow.

And... she thinks the Luidaeg is Toby? I hope this isn’t a calculated insult. I know Quentin grew up with some bigoted people but this is deliberate.

And Oberon is apparently Tybalt?? What is going on her?

Kerry! We haven’t seen you since A Local Habitation. ‘There are no bad Dayes in this week” aww. I love you, Kerry.

Beacon’s Home is actually a Kingdom and not a Selkie-now-Roane holding? Cool.

It seems important that the Maples vs Ash and Oak decision was happening right before/during the American Revolution but I don’t know why yet.

“The ducal consorts are Daoine Sidhe”, yep both of them.

“Sweet Titania, I love that woman [Dianda Lorden]” Still waiting for Toby’s bisexual awakening.

The Luidaeg confirms the Gwragedd Annwn are Black Annie’s descendant line.

Quentin confirms something’s wrong with Nessa, maybe she isn’t like this at all.

Whee, slightly more Stacy weirdness. I think Barrow Wights would be descended from Maeve, her illusions shouldn’t be better than Toby’s.

Tybalt is apparently descended from both Oberon and the Luidaeg, if his line comes from the Cait Sidhe Malvic sired with his Roane lover.

Confirmation that the Luidaeg can see the future, at least some of the time.

At least Aethlin and Maida seem happy to see Toby.

Maida doesn’t recognize Cass’s bloodline - interesting.

“Um, my boss is Queen Windermere, and my [human] graduate advisor is Professor Weinstein, and my parents are Mitch and Stacy Brown” Cass I love you.

Oh, Nessa isn’t Nessa.

Not!Nessa, holding Toby at knifepoint is not the detergent you think it is.

Toby has a new knife now, sweet. Not!Nessa is a Doppelganger, we haven’t seen one of those in several years. The one in Rosemary and Rue, who wasn’t Gillian?

“Archers,” “I was right about that?”

Perhaps Toby shouldn’t be the one giving orders to open portals, but Aethlin clearly isn’t doing it.

“I punched it in the face” Why do I have the feeling that’s going to solve a lot of problems in this book? And hey, this isn’t a Firstborn or Queen, so Toby got her wish of punching more punchable people.

“You don’t have the authority to order an arrest in my knowe.” Well, maybe you should give her that authority, High King of the Westlands who was almost assassinated.

“Purebloods forgot things, quickly, when they can’t see them anymore” Interesting.

“And even in a backwater Ducky run by a politically unambitious man” Shadowed Hills predates the Mists, Sylvester really just went as far as he could. Or maybe settled there once Amandine built her tower.

“Is he going to try to stab me? Is he better at stabbing than the last batch was at shooting arrows”? I love you Raj. I wonder if the local King of Cats will make an appearance.

Ah fuck, first dead body.

Toby having the most sense in this scene, I love it.

Did Aethlin basically make Toby a hero of the Westlands as well? “Our visiting hero”

Aethlin is not showing up well in dealing with security, nor are his guards.

“People who put deadly traps on doorknobs often forget the obvious, which is that it’s a good idea to lock doors.”

Three dead bodies? RIP Aethlin’s guards.

Only two dead bodies so far. Once Broken Faith had 4, I believe, but we’re only a third done. Good job on not dying, Caitir.

Gordon, hello. I thought the reference to ALH in the “books to re-read” was about the nighthaunts but didn’t expect to see her.

Looks like neither Nessa nor Honey are dead.

This poor Ellyllon doctor, welcome to Toby’s world.

Ah fuck, Tybalt’s elf-shot again.

Good thing Caitir’s a Candela. Thank you, Raj.

Jazz is apparently betting that Toby’s getting elfshot before/during the wedding, this is a girl after my own heart. As is May.

Walther has a fan, I love it.

The Bridge Trolls can search for clues if they want, I guess. We don’t need to worry about people messing with the crime scene anymore.

Toby’s sweet talking the knowe, that didn’t take long.

Toby, Quentin is never going to leave you behind even when he’s knighted and moves back home. He would sooner move the capital to SF.

Evening got her hooks into Aethlin back in 1906, huh?

“I am the breaker of the unbreakable” Yes you are, Toby.

Black Annis was originally named Ismere? I love the lore we’re getting in this book.

There are rumors that Quentin is Toby’s squire, probably started after OBF. The Beacon’s Home Selkies knew about him, after all.

All the Maeve descendant lines with dead Firstborn imprint on the Luidaeg, this is so cute.

So many reasons why Tybalt shouldn’t go looking for Toby as she walks up. Tybalt’s back!

Nolan is great, I love him. Aethlin’s reassuring Nessa, glad to see it.

How does Fiac know enough about Simon and Amandine’s marriage to have negative feelings about it? It sounds like he was around them to notice it.

The Doppelganger isn’t bringing the Revolution, what a pity.

Fuck, she can’t kill Aethlin now. Damn.

This is exactly the scene I wanted to see with a different Daoine Sidhe, but fine. The guards need more training.

Eira killed other seers than the Roane, did she? Did she want there to be no one who could guess her plans?

Toby thinks Maida is upset with her, while I think Maida thinks Toby is the only one she can trust.

Why do none of the Daoine Sidhe save Simon specialize in blood magic? They all suck at it.

“We need to interview your entire staff, and by ‘we’ I mean ‘you’, and by ‘you’ I mean ‘someone you trust’“ Toby’s got this under control.

“I’m sorry, was that disrespectful? I meant fuck you, Your Majesty.” Quentin is not holding back. Chelsea and Raj are literally eating popcorn while watching this. Despite what Toby thinks, she has a court of teenagers.

I wonder what the series would have been like if Penny was sent to Shadowed Hills with Quentin.

I’m glad Quentin got the chance to yell at his father, he needed it. Look, family drama that isn’t related to Toby!

Walther: “I carry the base ingredients [of elfshot] whenever I travel with Sir Daye.” I would too, Walther.

...Are the rest of Stacy’s kids also Seers?

Oberon exists to be more than background, apparently.

Confirmation that the Luidaeg is a century older than Eira! And the Luidaeg will know if she wakes up.

Yes, Toby gets her own court with all her squires and also brothers. Quentin, Raj, one day Chelsea, Peter if he can convince Toby to do it. She has two Seers, an alchemist and her favorite aunts and family in Saltmist.

So the Summerlands have suns as well as moons.

Oh hey, Julie, I thought you died off screen. We haven't heard from you in several books. They’re getting the band back toge- the High King got poisoned?!

“For example, it would be really unreasonable of him to die right now, thanks.”

“If this is where you want to suddenly remember the High King’s evil grand vizier who you just forgot to tell us about until now, that would be great.”

I thought Maida’s father was still alive?

Aethlin has survived his third assassination attempt in the past 24 hours, sweet.

Why did the Librarian call Fiac the Seneschal? He’s the Court Seer.

Oh, so Toby did settle her debts with Mag about her mom’s biography.

We’ve met Tybalt the Torquill family historian, now meet Yenay Ng, the Tybalt historian.

OK, I... didn’t see that coming.

I approve of Toby punching former King Shallcross in the nose. She should punch more nobles on screen.

Huh, I guess that’s where Eira was before she showed up in the Mists.

Is this guy Dawn’s father? The timelines sorta fit.

Aethlin has managed to not get poisoned or stabbed again, good for him.

Of course they enchanted the wedding dress to not get covered in blood. Good thing my ‘free’ space on the bingo card was “Toby’s dress gets blood on it” which was technically fulfilled with the first dress.

I assumed “wine-colored” meant white until it was described in more detail. I approve of dressing the wedding party in red - it will hide the blood.

Sylvester?!? Nope, Simon.

Aww, Simon gets to walk his daughter to the altar. He gets to see his daughter married!

“Then go. Get married. Be happy. You’ve earned it.”

And the wedding is finally on! The local Cait Sidhe are here! Surprise appearance by August!

“As did the man who looked heart-stoppingly like Simon Torquill, but absolutely wasn’t” Oh Sylvester, you made it after all.

I think this is the first time Sylvester’s been referred to in terms of Simon rather than the other way around.

Whoops, more assassins.

I see you, Simon, using your blood to fuel your transformation spells, just like your daughter. Followed immediately by Sylvester charging into battle. And Oberon continues to be background scenery.

Another guard’s death - 3 now? Maybe more?

“Now I have a longbow, motherfuckers, ho, ho, ho” Love you, May.

Badly attempted jailbreak is a bust. Toby’s dress remains pristine.

Surprise appearance by Gillian! I assume August tackled her to the ground when the arrows started flying.

Wedding is complete! Reception go!

I assume Etienne was instrumental in getting Sylvester to the wedding, not only physically but also by yelling at him about what an idiot he was.

Etienne is a little younger than Tybalt, good to know.

They’re going to Disney world without the kids, neat. Surprise August again! Good to know Helen’s seeing a therapist.

Galen has a crush on Poppy. I love this man that we will probably never see again.

Why is Simon a Count again? Shouldn’t he also be Duke Lorden? Does he get a lower title because he’s the second husband, like a courtesy title? Also, glad to see him and August being Lordens.

She hugged him!

Oh hey Sylvester. You could have started with “You make a beautiful bride” and avoided a shitton of trouble. You made it all about yourself. It’s better than if you didn’t attend at all, but man, Sylvester. You disappointed Toby and me.

“Once and future King of Cats”

She accepts the Lorden boys as her brothers!

What does Cliff think of Gilly spending so much time at Half Moon Bay? Does he think she’s in a cult?

Aw, May and Jazz are going to get married!

Oh hey Pete. Only two Firstborn at the wedding, can’t mark that one off. Nice blessing!

That cake sounds super delicious. Fuck, did Oberon give his knife to Toby and then not take it back? Toby has a replacement for her iron knife now?

Oh hi, Gilly. Your mother’s really excited to have you here. I love Quentin egging Toby into eating the cake. “Quentin pressed a fork into my hand, trying to urge me to get on with it.”

And the final blessing comes from Aethlin. He has got to do something to thank her for all her help in stopping the assassination attempts.

Afterthoughts: I am sad none of Tybalt’s friends and family from London/Europe attended. Morane was alive as of 1911, with no word on the others. Hermeline, if she’s still ruling in the Court of Fogbound Cats, has been ruling for nearly three hundred years.

On the other hand, we got a ton of Toby feels and secondary characters. Love the reactions of the Teen Squad.

What a good and heartwarming book.

Spots crossed off:

2. Sylvester attends the wedding 8. Someone calls Toby a kingbreaker 10. Toby drinks someone else's blood 11. August attends the wedding 13. [Free space] Toby's dress gets blood on it 16. Gillian attends the wedding 18. Quentin's identity gets revealed 22. Toby learns about Tybalt's short story past 23. Someone gets elfshot for the second or third time 24. Toby insults nobility we haven't seen before 25. Lore about the Sollys family

Spots not crossed off:

1. Malvic appears at the wedding 3. The High King or Queen gets elfshot 4. One of Tybalt's enemies from the short stories appears 5. Hope chests are relevant 6. Something is revealed about the False Queen 7. There's at least 3 Firstborn at the wedding 9. Dianda punches someone important 12. Hirsent crashes the wedding 14. One of Tybalt's friends from the short stories appears 15. Eira is behind the trouble 17. Lore about the Torquill family 19. Sylvester doesn't attend the wedding 20. Someone mistakes Sylvester for Simon 21. Raysel's plotline moves forward

I should note some of these are rather literal - Eira caused trouble in the back story but she wasn’t active in the main story like she was in both The Unkindest Tide (telling Torin to stop the restoration of the Roane) and A Killing Frost (taunting Toby).

#october daye #october daye spoilers

7 notes · View notes

sabraeal · 3 years

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All That Remains, Chapter 7: The Flower Garden of the Woman Who Could Conjure [Part 4]

[Read on AO3]

Written in honor of @claudeng80′s birthday! I’m only a week and change late this time, but everyone knows what they’re getting into when they request this fic for gifts-- aka, me dithering for weeks on if a chapter needs to be cut and where it inevitably needs to happen. But here is an almost 5K labor of love...and a little bit of hope... :3c

It would easy to speak of good and evil, would it not? To condemn a sorceress for her conjuring, to pity a girl and her deception. That is the way such tales are crafted: for simplicity, moral lines drawn in the sand.

But life does not fit so easily into the pages made to contain it. A line of prose may distill it to its essence, but a word spoken, an act done by a living creature-- these contain multitudes.

“Well.” Lady Mihoko fixes a shrewd glance over the rim of her teacup, pinning Shirayuki to her chair. Bombazine may creak with her every breath, but when Mihoko sets her demitasse upon its saucer, it is silent. “You are much improved.

The words alone would make a compliment, but with the way her ladyship threads them through her teeth, it is an accusation. Her eyes narrow even now, a proctor determined to catch her pupil filching answers from across the aisle.

Still, it’s the kindest words Mihoko has ever managed to spare, and Shirayuki seizes them with both hands. “Thank you, Lady Mihoko.”

All her ladyship’s fine graces do not restrain her from a humorless grunt. “Do not think it so fine a feat. You could hardly have gotten much worse.” With another contemplative sip, she adds, “But your progress is at least...heartening. You might not be entirely hopeless.”

Polite, tea-appropriate smile firmly in place, Shirayuki casts her eyes down at her plate. How fortunate she is to be able to experience such a fine example of being damned by faint praise.

He mouth does not twitch; by now, she knows better than to allow any of her facial muscles free reign in the presence of the lady-- but it does waver. It was not her own voice lilting those words.

A toe nudges her ankle; the consort’s countenance is carefully composed of bland inquiry across from her.

“You are too kind,” Shirayuki manages, smile polished back to its original brilliance.

“I am.” She settles back in her chair, spine straight as a rod, conveying that her enjoyment of the meal now resides firmly in the past. “You are lucky indeed that Her Majesty deigned to take a girl like you under her wing. How fitting it is that my best student is responsible for righting my worst.”

“It is only because I had such a good tutor that I could even attempt to teach.” The consort sets her own cup onto its saucer, mouth rounded in a pleasant curve. Shirayuki’s never mastered the art of it, to smile to brightly with so little teeth or crinkling around the eyes, but on Haki the effect seems natural, right. “But I must say that Lady Shirayuki is a pleasure as a student. A quick mind and a dedicated learner.”

“What she lack in aptitude she certainly makes up with vigor,” Mihoko allows grudgingly. “In my day, that would not be near enough to make a lady.”

It would be easy to condemn the sorceress, would it not? To raise the roses from their bed and cast the bright light of truth upon them, to drag her into the village square and expose her as a deceiver, a most vile villainess to lead this stray girl astray. We would stretch our hands through the pages if we could but shake our girl awake, if we could put our hands around the throat of the conjuress and see she never bent another illusion--

But that would miss the point entirely. You were told, so long ago now, that life does not fit into the narrow confines fiction demands. Surely you have not forgot?

There is a reason for every action. Unfortunately.

“That is true enough.”

The consort speaks in honeyed tones, mouth composed in a thoughtful pout. But that, Shirayuki knows, is merely an inoffensive mask she wears, one that may be discarded at a moment’s notice. It is always her eyes betray her, burning with an intelligence she can never fully quench.

“But was that not also the era of the former Viscount Yuris? Or the Counts of Sui and Lido?” It should be an accusation, a condemnation, but from the consort’s mouth, it is little more than a polite conversation, small talk between two peers. “So many traitors in so few years.”

Shirayuki may have gained some dominion over her face, but not near enough to keep from glancing at Lady Mihoko.

“That is the nature of the peerage,” her ladyship says after a long moment, mouth pursed in a moue of discomfort. “There are always some that choose to overreach their bounds. It is up to every lord to manage his lands in his own way. Though I know Your Majesties have...newer ideas about such things.”

“Better ideas,” the consort reminds her, both silk and steel entwined. “Under the late king, the court grew indolent, as did the crown. If he had not passed when he did, Clarines might have become another Tanbarun.”

Shirayuki’s teeth grit down, stemming the tide of protest that crashes against them. She had fled her home with little pride or trust in its royals, and it’s not as if she cares for the institution, but-- Raj was no longer the embarrassment he’d once been. It’d be a long time before he’d earn as lofty a reputation as Izana or Zen, but, well, he was trying. And as long as his father remained on the throne, that was enough.

She doubts either of them would appreciate the opinion. It’s not as if any of this is about Tanbarun after all.

Mihoko clucks her tongue. “I would not venture to say we had fallen so far as that.”

“No,” Haki agrees, so pleasant. “But I would.”

A silver spoon clatters to a dish, Mihoko’s aged fingers trembling above it. “That would be your prerogative, Your Majesty.”

“It is my prerogative to see to the quality of my husband’s court, my lady. While once this may have referred to the breeding of its members, I believe we have come beyond that. After all, Lord Zakura was hardly born with silver in hand, or Lord Sui, or Countess Yuris.” The consort hums, delicately setting aside her demitasse. “There would be worse things than to see one of the finest minds of our time raised to a position which suited it.”

Her ladyship does not smile-- a terrible business, nowadays, she would cluck, spoon chiming against the rim of her cup, men should know that every smile returns tenfold in ten years’ time-- but there is a softening in her face. Not of agreement, but allowance.

“We shall see,” she sniffs, waving away another tray of sandwiches. “In time. But none of that removes what a wonders you have wrought with this one, and in less than a month’s time.”

Haki dips her head, the barest bow. “Imagine what a lifetime might bring.”

“Yes.” Mihoko narrows her eyes above the rim of her cup. “Quite unforeseeable.”

What does it mean to conjure, to summon something from nothingness, to breathe life where there once was none? It is no mere illusion; not smoke and mirrors and lies shined until gleaming. Not just a lady’s magic, no substance nor thought, made of wishes and air alone.

No, it is creation; the act of sinking one’s hands into clay and forming something utterly unlike its origin, to take one’s will and give it form. It is any surprise that it is the provenance of women?

But that is the thing, is it not? For every creation, there must be a will, must be a spark. For man to be made flesh, there must first be clay. For illusion to be made real, there first must be a wish.

“One, two-- a sprightly pace if it pleases you, my lady! Lift your feet--”

Sweat spirals down her spine, but Shirayuki picks her heels up of the floor, her sashay the barest whisper of slipper sliding across wood. Far from the ethereal wood nymphs cavorting across the palace’s walls, but it carries her across the floor with far more grace than she’s ever managed before. Like flying, provided it was a hen across the chicken yard.

Shirayuki careens more than glides to the next sequence-- the turn, three, four, return, one, two-- and her heart lodges firmly in the vicinity of her throat. She’s never managed this one before, not without stomping on Arundo’s toes or gravity ruthlessly asserting it dominion over her, dragging her to the earth where she belonged, but--

Haki’s hand squeezes tight around hers before lightening into a lift, pulling right over her head. She curls under it, up-up-down, before swinging back, far less measured, but a thousand times more triumphant.

So many of these story children start with nothing-- unloved and unmissed, abandoned by their parents, scorned by those meant to replace them. But this girl--

This girl was loved. She did not have the mother and father that so many other had, one taken by fate and the other duty; but her grandparents tended her in their place. While other little girls were scrubbing floors, or chopping wood, or being chased into the forest with only the bread in their pockets, she was adored; a treasure on her home’s hearth.

And then, in a breath, it was gone. No time for tears, for contemplation. No time for grief.

She does what all bold little girls do: she moves forward, she adapts. All those fears and grief she locks away; a little drawer inside her mind that only opens in the dead of night, when sleep won’t come to her. How worn those memories are by now, frayed about the edges, folded and thin from neglect.

Strange how it is always children who bear the heaviest burdens. Stranger still that they can grow to used to them, that they can bear them even unto adulthood and hardly realizing they are carrying them at all.

That is, of course, until they are lifted.

“You did it!” Haki catches her arms, stopping Shirayuki’s body from crashing into hers, a smile stretched wide across her face. “With not a step missed.”

“I did,” she bursts breathlessly, nearly sagging in relief. “I did!”

A clap cracks in the cavernous room, but it is only Arundo, his own mouth parted in delight. “Brava, my lady! I am most impressed.”

“As well you should be!” The consort steps back, letting her stand on her own two feet. “There are plenty young ladies I have seen on a dance floor that have not done half so well as Lady Shirayuki.”

Even flushed with victory, Shirayuki knows that for an exaggeration; a thick bit of flattery to bolster her confidence. But it hardly matters, not when she traveled the whole floor without a single misstep.

“I truly despaired of ever teaching Lady Shirayuki much more than swaying in place.” Arundo glances at her partner shyly, color high in his cheeks. “I see it merely took a deft lead.”

“Ah, Master Arundo, it takes a woman to understand how difficult a lady’s part may be.” Haki huffs out a laugh that is far less dainty than one she uses in front of courtiers, sweeping long strands of gold from the frame of her face. “If I knew which place to help, it is only because I remember where I most needed it. As my dancing instructor used to say, we all start at the same place.”

“Still,” Arundo insists, “for you to be able to dance the man and the woman’s part-- a most impressive feat!”

“Not at all!” Haki loops the last of her wisps around her ears, and just like that, the consort’s smiling mask slips into place. “This is but a simple waltz. You yourself must know a hundred or more, and dance both parts with skill besides.”

The dance master waggles a finger at her, playful. “Ah, but in the realm of grace and elegance, Your Majesty has far outstripped my paltry skill.”

With the high drama for which the Viandese were known, Arundo swept into a deep bow, bending near in half. Over his back, Haki glanced at her wide-eyed, mouth twitching, though any proof of it was gone before he rose.

“Please, Master Arundo, I am merely well-practiced.” The consort’s mouth tilts, a wry smile playing at her lips. “Izana and I often switch when we...”

Haki’s eyes pulse wide, her cheeks blossoming with a delicate pink. “In any case, I would not have done so well had Lady Shirayuki not already been through the best instruction.”

You see, Miss? Obi’s laugh is bright in her ears, as if he were only right beside her. Anyone can do it. And if you stumble, only stand on my feet and I’ll guide us both through it--

An arm slips through hers, the consort leaning close. “Won’t my brother be surprised to see such progress?”

Shirayuki cannot fathom why Makiri might care about her dancing. He’s seen it before, both of them often pressed into the same endless dinner parties at Lilias, the sort that always seemed to turn into dancing and awkward moonlight professions. He’d been light on his feet when any of the girls dared to approach, not a born dancer like Haki, but a competent one; when she’d clomped past him, dragged by regretful partners, he’d only raised an eyebrow-- an improvement upon the usual sneers she garnered from fellow revelers. He’d never been forced onto her dance card, but still--

Haki slips her a wink, and oh, it’s not her brother she means, but Zen.

You’re supposed to be learning to dance with him, after all. Even in memory, Obi’s smile cuts like a knife’s edge. No wife dances with any man besides her husband.

Shirayuki’s palms sting where her nails cut crescent into them. This room, it’s-- it’s far, far too small. Too tight. So confining, little more than a cage--

“Shall we break for a moment?” Arundo’s jovial lilt crashes through her thoughts like a bird to a window. “And then we shall start the next!”

“A perfect idea, Master Arundo.” Haki smiles down at her, so bright that the shadows of her thoughts burn away. “I dare say my sister has earned a break.”

It was always just enough for this little girl: a grandfather, a grandmother, a loving home and hearth. There had been no dreams of another there, not even when she lost them, not even when she pruned her roses and found another set of hands to take hers. Not even when those hands became a home in themselves.

But with a single word, uttered so casually, a drawer springs open.

Sister. The word echoes through Shirayuki’s head as they walk. There’s an itch of irritation beneath her skin, a pebble in her metaphorical shoe, but still--

Sister. She’s damp, not gently dewed like Haki, so drenched in sweat that her dress clings to her. Fatigued too, every muscle aching, including a few that hadn’t been in her textbooks. She has every reason to want to bury herself in her covers, to try to find the reason her skin feels too tight.

But that’s not what her attention’s caught on, not in the slightest.

“I’m not your sister,” she says, wishing she hadn’t at all. It would be so easy for it to be taken away, for that soft glow in her chest to be snuffed out.

“No,” Haki agrees, looping her arm through hers as if it belongs there, as if she belongs. “But you will be.”

In the morning the girl rose, the cottage empty save for the scent of honeysuckle and forsythia. Her small feet padded across the floor, right to the window latched tight against the night. She pushed up to tip-toe, fingers flicking against metal, and--

And her first sight was a garden, piled high with blooms; a paradise that belonged on a canvas in oils, not at her fingertips.

Do you see? the sorceress asks, rising from where she tends her beds. I awake to this glory every morning. You could as well, if you wanted.

I can’t, the girl says, certain.

The sorceress blinks. And why not?

I... The girl stares out over all this beauty, its scent surrounding her. I do not remember.

Ah, well then. The sorceress smiles, the way she always thought her mother would, had she known her. Then stay a while, and perhaps we will help you remember together.

“May I...” Shirayuki hesitates, biting her lip as they take another winding curve through the halls. The longer she stays within the palace, the more she’s certain: she could live a lifetime here and never knows all the twists and turns it takes. “My I ask you a question?”

The consort peers down at her, both eyebrows lifted in gentle question. “You may.”

“How do you do this all day?” Shirayuki restrains herself from sagging in her stays, whalebone the spine that keeps her upright. “It’s hardly evening and if I hold my shoulder back a moment longer, I think I’ll...”

Collapse, she means to say, but it lingers at the tip of her tongue, too sweet, too untrue. Scream is close, rend this dress to pieces closer still, but closest--

Her mind snaps tight around the thought, a steel trap with a wolf’s paw between its teeth. From the murmurings she’s heard since she first came to Clarines, Wistal has seen enough madness for a lifetime.

“Ah, you see, the secret is--” Haki leans in, looping her arm through hers-- “I don’t.”

Shirayuki blinks.

“You are still learning,” the consort continues, setting herself upright, setting their arms into the proper form ladies strolling. “And thus, you must memorize protocol every day, eat your meals under supervision, and practice the mazurka. I, however, have mastered all this, and thus, I cannot remember the last time I waltzed outside a ball.”

“But the etiquette--” the poise, the presence, the elocution-- “surely..?”

“Well, of course.” She shrugs, jostling their elbows. “But those lessons were a part of my childhood, much like how you probably learned to cook and clean and pick herbs instead of poison. It all becomes second nature to you, in time.”

Shirayuki doesn’t have the heart to tell her how easy it was to mistake mushrooms, but her point-- well, it’s a good one. “I’m not sure that will ever happen for me.”

“Perhaps not,” the consort allows mildly. “Certainly they will never seem as natural to you as they might to a lady born to manors and castles. And had you continued to try to learn manners from a book, than you would have had no hope at all. But--” Haki pulls her closer to her side, mouth curled with satisfaction-- “you are not alone, you have me.”

Her cheeks flush with heat; the very same as the flame that warms her chest. “Do I?”

“You do.” The consort nods, the sort that says she expects her will to be followed to the letter. “I have always wanted to share these things with someone. Alas, I was given but a single brother, and he my elder. But now I have you.”

What was it we said? A human heart has four chambers, beating in concert. A complex thing, a puzzle box of wants and desires, one buried beneath the other, a dangerous tower of longing crushed inside a container too small to hold it. And all of us live our lives never knowing its depths, not until a drawer springs open, and oh--

Oh how easy it is for our longing to sneak up on us, all unknowing. How easy it is to be blinded by it.

When the consort smiles-- really, truly smiles-- it’s too bright, like looking into the sun, and Shirayuki has to duck her head or be blinded. She’s light-headed from only a moment of basking in its radiance; she can’t imagine what might happen if she dared to look more.

“Besides,” Haki continues blithely, skirts brushing their slippers as they walk. “You could drop an entire tureen on my brother and I think he would adore you just the same. Maybe even more, if you dropped it on the right person.”

A laugh bubbles up from her, and oh, oh, it has been far too long-- it leaves her, a cage thing finally freed from its chains, and rampages through the hall.

Haki stares down at her, pale eyes wide and almost wary. For a moment her mouth works, rounding as if she might say, a lady laughs like a bell, not a gong, just like Mihoko--

And then she joins in, just as wild.

But how can she forget about her precious boy, you might ask? How can she forget about her home?

The answer is easy enough: one must only provide a new one. Oh, how easily a heart may be fooled when the illusion is so pleasant, when it is so wanted. Men on the verge of death imagine entire cities in the desert, oases just over the horizon, luring them yet another step to their doom. When there is no relief, no hope, when only doubts encompass us--

That is when we are most in need of fiction. Of an escape, of respite. How simple it can be to close ones eyes to harsh reality when it is paradise that lays before them.

But take heart-- such things never last. They cannot. It is folly to suggest there is no life without suffering-- an excuse to give breath to all kinds of evil-- but for plenty to have meaning, there must be a lack. To know joy there must be sadness, to know wisdom there must be ignorance, and when all one’s days are filled with a mindless, monotonous bliss--

Well, there is no paradise from which man does not escape, and no garden that will keep a little girl from what she seeks.

“Ah!” Haki’s jolts ahead, a filly at the end of her lead. Shirayuki nearly is dragged with her, her feet stumbling over the hem of her gown, but the consort extricates herself just in time, setting her to rights.

“Just-- just wait here a moment, if you would,” the consort tells her, fingers wound tight over the rounds of her shoulders. “It seems as though there is, ah, someone waiting for me at the door. I’ll only be-- a moment.”

Shirayuki blinks as the consort scurries away, skirts sweeping against the carpet in a rhythm and pace too hurried for Clarines’ stately queen. “But, your room is...”

Around the corner, she almost says, a better shorthand for not yet visible, which is what she means. Both points are moot; the consort springs away long before she can speak, the only part of her that remains the lagging lace of her train. And then even that is gone, all disappeared down the hall.

Perhaps it is the angle, Shirayuki allows. With her on the inside of the turn and the consort on the outside...?

Well, it hardly matters. She huffs out a breath, straightening her shoulders, and comes to stand in the intersection. This is a safe enough place to wait; the consort’s chambers are the first door on this hall, and--

And there is someone waiting. Or was, since all she catches of them the flash of a white coat.

The girl knows every inch of this garden in time, every undying bloom. For that is what they must be, at least for them to be so many, for so long. There are daffodils and daisies, dahlias and tulips, marigolds and gardenias, lilacs and lilies of the valley. A hundred flowers and more, too many to ever name crawling up lattice and sprawling over the bounds of their beds.

And yet, there is something missing. It sits at the tip of her tongue, begging to be said, but she cannot find the word, no matter how long she thinks on it. The only thing that comes to her is the memory of loam, and the warmth of hands brushing hers.

Don’t ever leave me, the sorceress would say, a smile on her lips, fingers tangled in her hair.

How could I, the girl would laugh, an inexplicable knot of dread tightening in her belly, when everything is so beautiful here?

“Shirayuki!”

Haki approaches her, smile wide and warm but also-- strain lingers at the corners. Maybe even displeasure. “I thought you were going to wait.”

“I was,” she says, wide-eyed. “I mean, I am. Who was...”

“No one.” The consort waves her off. “Just a delivery. A tisane. For my migraines. I ran out just the other day.”

“Oh.” Her mouth works, grasping for the words that had come so easily no so long ago, but now were like grinding glass. “From the pharm--?”

“Come!” Haki sweeps her arm up into her own, pulling her firmly against her side. “It’s time for dinner, isn’t it? We must see that you’re ready.”

It ends like this: she finds a petal.

It is no crimson red, no passionate pink, but instead a simple and clean white, not so unlike the gardenia. But it is too small for such a flower, too rounded, too plush. She presses it between her fingers and it is familiar as her own skin, as the scent of vanilla on the air, and yet she cannot find the name, nor envision the bloom from whence it fell. Surely it is nothing in this garden.

What it that you have? the sorceress asks, her voice suddenly sharp, like a blade placed between skin and bloated tick. Give it here.

The little girl has not reason not to. It must have blown in from elsewhere.

The sorceress takes it in her hand, slender fingers curling into a fist around it. When they unfurl it is gone, merely dust in the wind.

We need none of that world here, the sorceress says, kinder but firm. You will never leave me, after all.

Of course, the girl says, turning to her with a wide smile. The sorceress has a new hat on, black and covered in flowers, even finer than the ones she’s worn before. Why would I, when--?

Her teeth snap down, words stuck between them. It’s the only way to be safe, the only way to stop herself from saying now what she knows she cannot. Right there, painted on the cloth, next to a blood red dahlia--

--There is a rose. The sorceress’s hat has roses, and this garden does not.

Of course, she says again, stilted. This is where I belong.

Shirayuki stands frozen in the hall, mind churning like a mill’s wheel in the storm of her thoughts. The summer months mean whites and creams and ivories are in season, a playful palette that the consort’s court adorns with floral embroidery. But she did not see a floating train of silk, or the fluttering layers of linen, but instead--

A white coat. A brown paper package done up with twine and ink scrawled illegibly on the outside, passed so quickly from one hand to the next. The scent of herbs is fresh on the air, valerian among them.

She misses it. Almost as much as she misses...

“Shirayuki?” The consort tugs at her, a question writ across her brow. “Is something wrong?”

“Haki...” Her hands clench at her side. “Has there been any news of Obi?”

That is the thing about magic: it is easy to weave wishes into illusion, but to maintain it-- a different matter entirely. A woman may send all her roses underground, never to be seen again, but to remember to remove them from every vase, from the back of a brush, from a hat--

Impossible.

“Obi?” The consort’s grip tightens, even as her smile spread wide. “No, none at all.”

#obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #my fic #All That Remains #snow queen AU #ans #i really and truly thought i'd get to finish out this section #but NO #it is not to be #to be fair it's one of the longest in the story #and it has the most like...plot movement in one piece #so i guess it makes sense #but SIGH #soon guys #soon we'll get to the turn on this #NEXT CHAPTER FOR SURE

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precuredaily · 3 years

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Precure Day 205

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 07 - “Let’s Go! Palmier Kingdom!” Date watched: 31 January 2021 Original air date: 16 March 2008 Screenshots Transformation Gallery Project info and master list of posts

insert quip here

When we left off, the friends were rushing off to Palmier Kingdom because Milk said there was an emergency. It turns out Milk may have been stretching the truth, but of course, danger follows the Rose Pact wherever it goes, so her lie quickly becomes reality. How will the Precures fend off a new enemy? How will Coco and Nuts prove their dedication to their citizens? How will Milk learn the value of doing your part? How will we continue setting up Milky Rose? You’re about to find out!

The Plot

As they fly to the Palmier Kingdom on Syrup’s back, Coco wonders what kind of terrible danger it may be in. King Donuts lectures him and Nuts for leaving the kingdom in the first place because of the inability to protect their people. Meanwhile, in the Palmier Kingdom, there seems to be no trouble afoot at all. The citizens are hard at work rebuilding the palace and buildings. Everyone is chipping in..... except for Milk, who is sitting by a wall, neglecting her responsibilities. Papaya, the mustachioed fairy who was Coco and Nuts’s tutor in the past, sternly reminds her to concentrate on her work; Milk retorts that she can’t concentrate if she’s worrying about the Kings, and Papaya counters that supporting the people is the job of a caretaker. Milk takes this as well as you may expect.

this level of sass would be unrivaled until a certain mermaid swam onto the scene in 2021

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Syrup. Milk excitedly walks over to see if he brought a letter from Coco and Nuts, when suddenly the girls spring up, followed by the kings. Milk gets misty eyed, declares she missed them, and begins running straight towards an expectant Nozomi. What follows is a glorious bait and switch.

vimeo

Milk dives right past Nozomi to tackle her beloved kings.

Over in Eternal, we see a new character walking down the hallway. He is soon revealed as another general of the organization, Nebatakos. He drops a collection item off, a starving animal, and he indicates he only fed it enough to stay alive. Anacondy scolds him for his negligence but informs him that the Rose Pact is in the Palmier Kingdom should he wish to retrieve it. How exactly she knows this is unclear.

Wilson Fisk he ain’t

Back in Palmier Kingdom, Papaya chews out Milk for implying there was an emergency and causing the Precures and Kings to return. (The kings themselves aren’t too fussed about it, for what it’s worth.) She weakly justifies her actions by saying that the loneliness people felt without their leaders was a critical situation and then runs off. While Milk stews over her feelings, Coco, Nuts, and the girls join the rebuilding efforts, spending some quality time with the people and with each other. Coco admits to Nozomi that he wanted to show her the kingdom when it was rebuilt but she’s not disappointed. At the same time, Komachi discusses King Donuts’s lecture with Nuts, who admits the monarch was right in his assessment of their shortcomings and he and Coco have work to do in becoming proper leaders. Karen worries about Milk, who is hiding behind a rock outside the kingdom, but Syrup finds her. He gives her some grief about shirking her duties as a caretaker, and she admits that she took the position to stay close to Coco and Nuts. When they turned around and left, Milk felt lonely and that’s why she wrote the letter. Syrup, still exhausted from rushing to get everyone here, collapses, and Milk apologizes, recognizing her fault in his fatigue.

Syrup has no chill

Everyone is taking a break in the kingdom, eating some giant fruits that look like a cross between a coconut and a papaya. They are apparently DELICIOUS.

please make memes out of this.

These are palmier fruits, and they come from the namesake tree of the kingdom. The giant palm trees have great cultural significance, so Nozomi decides she’ll plant the seed of her fruit to grow another.

Unfortunately their break is interrupted by the arrival of Nebatakos, who demands to know the location of the Rose Pact. When they don’t give it up, he transforms into his monster form of a gray and gold octopus man and begins destroying the precious palmier trees. The girls transform, but not to be outdone, Nebatakos turns the nearby hill (where Milk and Syrup are) into a Hoshiina. Coco and Nuts start evacuating their citizens to safety while the Precures fight the villain and his lackey. Since he’s new, he manages to keep the upper hand, and the girls quickly find themselves at the end of their rope. However, most of the battle is actually focused on Coco and Nuts evacuating their citizens with some help from Milk and Syrup, who fly people to safety. Seeing this, King Donuts laments his inability to help since he’s stuck in the Rose Pact healing. When Nebatakos confronts the Palmier fairies holed up in the castle, Coco bravely leads him away from the civilians, allowing himself to be caught as a diversion. Dream sees Nebatakos strangling him from afar, but she can’t break away from fighting the Hoshiina, so Nuts steps out with the Rose Pact, and King Donuts standing proud inside of it, to face Nebatakos and get him to release Coco. King Donuts pops out for a moment and unleashes a blindingly bright blue light that stuns Nebatakos and the Hoshiina for a moment before he collapses. The Rose Pact falls away from them, and unseen by anyone else in the commotion, it glows blue and emits a bright blue seed.

This will not be important later on, pay it no mind.

King Donuts’s stun attack also gave the Precures enough of an opening to turn the tide of the battle, and they rescue Coco before setting up the Hoshiina and Nebatakos for their special attacks. Aqua unleashes a Sapphire Arrow on Nebatakos, which really takes the wind out of him, and then Dream performs Shooting Star. Nebatakos teleports away, leaving the Hoshiina to take the full force of the attack and it disintegrates.

After the fight, King Donuts is still incredibly weak but admits he was inspired by everyone’s bravery and wanted to help out however he could. He doesn’t say it aloud but he seems to be gaining respect for them as rulers. After that, it’s time for the visitors to leave. Everyone loads up into Syrup after saying their goodbyes to Milk, Papaya and the citizens. Milk gives an inspiring speech to everyone about doing their best while the Kings are away and says an extra special goodbye to Karen. Nozomi asks her to take care of the palmier seed she planted. At last, they fly off, and eventually the crowd dissipates, leaving only Milk. She starts to cry, but then she sees a split-second premonition of the blue seed being held in a tender pair of hands.

Milk turns around and sees the actual blue seed behind her, glowing, so she picks it up and stares at it inquisitively as the scene fades to black.

The Analysis

Honestly having an episode about visiting another world take place this early in any Precure season is really unheard of, but given the circumstances I’m glad they did. Getting to see Palmier Kingdom being rebuilt drives home how much there is to be done, how much damage Nightmare caused, and how strong their community is that they can band together to do this. It also really only works because of this being a sequel, if this had been a brand new show I don’t think this would have been as effective. Even if this series doesn’t always know what to do with its second season, it does have moments like this that make it worthwhile.

More than any other episode I can recall in the past season, this episode is much more about the fairies than the humans. Coco, Nuts, Milk, and King Donuts each have arcs throughout this episode that play into their overall roles in the story. Coco and Nuts are still reckoning with King Donuts telling them he doesn’t acknowledge them as kings yet (and if you forgot it from last episode, it’s one of the first things he says in this one), but they take the chance to self-reflect on their shortcomings and strive to do better. They get some moments of introspection as they help to rebuild, which show their different perspectives and priorities. Coco is a bit sad that he couldn’t show the fully rebuilt Palmier Kingdom to Nozomi, because he wants to show her the kingdom as he remembers it, but she thinks it’s beautiful already because of his efforts.

I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid!

Meanwhile, Nuts takes a more introspective approach as he discusses his feelings with a worried Komachi. She’s afraid that he’s offended by King Donuts’s remarks, but he admits he actually agrees, and that he and Coco have work to do if they’re going to be effective leaders. Later on, they display sincere, unprompted heroism in helping and protecting the citizens during the attack. They tend to the scared and wounded, they ensure everyone is holed up in a secure location so they don’t get injured in the fight, and they protect the civilians by distracting the villain.

Seeing the way the young rulers act in their natural element, in various situations, helps to warm King Donuts up to them. He’s largely unseen during the bulk of the episode, but he’s present at a few crucial points. First, as they all fly towards Palmier, he reminds Coco and Nuts in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t recognize them as kings yet. He’s present during Milk’s first disciplining, and then during the climax when Coco and Nuts are at their best, their bravery spurs King Donuts himself to take action against Nebatakos. He recognizes he’d be a hypocrite if he tells the Kings to protect their citizens while he himself cowers inside the Rose Pact, and that’s why he overexerts himself to buy a little bit of time. Interestingly, his act of bravery seems to be what triggers the Rose Pact to deposit the blue seed. It’s nice to see how he’s begun to accept them after seeing their courage and leadership in a pinch. He’s not such a bad guy.

Most importantly, this episode begins a new character arc for Milk. It’s not a complete reset to where she was on her initial introduction in the last series, but her dependency on Coco and Nuts comes a lot more into focus when they’re not around for her to fawn over. We know she’s been sending a lot of letters, and it turns out she’s doing this at the expense of her other responsibilities towards rebuilding Palmier Kingdom. When called out on her selfishness that made the Kings return and put themselves at risk, she brushes it off and insists she was right, their absence created a critical situation because everyone was lonely without them. In reality, she seems to be the only one who’s lonely and she’s projecting. However, after talking with Syrup she feels some remorse. When Nebatakos attacks she sees the Kings in danger as the direct result of her choice, exactly what Papaya warned her could happen. She takes some initiative during the panic by evacuating some citizens, and afterwards she sees Coco and Nuts off dutifully with an impassioned speech to the citizens. She talks eagerly about about how hard the Kings are working to find the four monarchs, so the citizens have to work hard at home as well. (however, it’s Milk, so whether or not she’s actually learned her lesson from earlier is doubtful) It’s character development, arguably more than she got in the entire previous series, and while I recall in broad strokes where she winds up at the end of the series, I don’t recall in detail what happens so I do still hope they build further on this.

As for the actual protagonists of the show, it feels strange to say this but they don’t do much until the climax. Things happen to them or around them, but as I explained it’s really more of a mascot focus episode. They arrive in Palmier, reunite with Milk, are present at her scolding, and assist in rebuilding. Karen has some dialog about looking for Milk but we don’t really see this. The episode chooses to focus on exposition over action, breaking the cardinal film rule of “show don’t tell.” There is a nice moment about halfway through where Coco and Nuts tell the girls about the significance of the Palmier Tree but again, that’s not them doing stuff. Nebatakos’s attack is when they become more prominent, but even then the fight is interspersed with scenes of the rescue efforts. The girls land a few hits on the villain and the Hoshiina, and then the attention goes back to the fairies for a while with only brief glances at the combat. Dream is worried about Coco when Nebatakos is strangling him but she’s blocked from leaving her fight until King Donuts uses his blinding light and creates an opening for her to rescue him. This allows the girls to set up some combos for their finisher, and then we next see them loaded into Syrup ready to leave. Again, Karen offers kind encouragement to Milk, and Nozomi requests her palmier tree be tended to, but nothing more deep or significant than this.

Nebatakos is a unique new villain. He seems smarter than Scorp, but he’s very indifferent to other people and living beings. I don’t think we’ve had a character quite like him before. He’s callous and efficient, he knows what buttons to push and he just does what he does for a check. When he realized the palmier trees were important, he began crushing them to cause mental anguish. He nearly strangled Coco, which I believe is a first for this series. Had it not been for Nuts and King Donuts, he may not have made it. His visual design is very interesting, as he’s based on an octopus (tako=octopus). He’s a fleshy gray mass with gold armor on his upper body, he has two tentacle arms that bisect or trisect at the ends to function sort of like long fingers. He has, depending on the art in a given frame, between six and eight tentacles that he uses as legs, and most often they are wound together so he can walk bipedally, but he does sometimes unwind them and walk around on multiple tentacles, or use his leg tentacles for grappling purposes. In theory it would make him more versatile, in practice he doesn’t do any creative, unique things with his anatomy like grabbing all five girls at the same time. At least not in this fight. His stand-out feature is his monster voice. He has this gurgling quality to it and I’m not sure if it’s a special vocal filter or the actor is doing it naturally. It helps to sell his aquatic nature and I enjoy it.

The art style of this episode is a little bit off. The animation was directed by our old friend Kawano Hiroyuki, who I’ve pointed out before when his bad faces show up. His signature weird smiles and awkward camera angels are on full display here.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad, but when it is, it’s noticeable. He also gave us this great Nozomi face so I think that balances out.

art

Also speaking of art and animation, there’s a pretty bad goof near the end as the girls fly off.

your device is not malfunctioning, this gif is 1/4 speed

If you notice, the artist completely forgot to draw the part of Komachi that should be visible beneath Urara’s hair. For the entire shot.

If you’ve seen the show before, or you know what the Blue Rose is, you know where the ending of this episode eventually leads to. I’ll assess the Blue Rose arc more once it concludes but so far I enjoy the setup. This episode takes the time to reverse perspectives by having the heroines be the strangers in another land while the mascots are in their home environment. It’s a unique and creative way to continue the plot while also setting up some character arcs and transitioning from the character reintroductions over to the meat of the show. It explores a seldom-seen avenue by showing us the fairy world rebuilding and recovering and that’s one of the ways that GoGo really stands out from the crowd as a very solid sequel that builds on what came before rather than just being more of the same (like much of Max Heart).

Next time on Precure Daily: Syrup’s past begins to unravel! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 Kettei! (in the preview)

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! Precure 5 Go Go!#YPC5GG07 #PCD205

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anywhozits · 4 years

Text

A Christmas Announcement

Rating: T Words: 5172

Verse: Canonverse Pairing: Kristanna

Summary: Kristoff and Anna are excited to finally share the news of their heir-on-the-way with the Kingdom of Arendelle.

Notes: I wrote this last year and forgot to post it, but this is somewhat related to the Christmas fic I’m writing for this year so wanted to get this out before that one! (at least it’s in the same verse and has similar themes, hah) Anyway hope you enjoy and happy holidays!! Thanks for reading :)

READ ON AO3 HERE

The day was Christmas Eve, 1843. A couple years ago, the whole kingdom of Arendelle began celebrating together at the castle’s now officially annual Christmas ball. Something that Anna had begged Elsa to start since the great freeze ended and the doors to the castle became permanently open. It had taken awhile, but finally Elsa caved to her sister’s wishes, likely only partially due to years of internalized guilt for pushing her away, and the ball quickly became one of Anna’s most anticipated nights of the year. Now with Anna as Queen, the tradition continued.

The entire ballroom was filled with glittering decorations, tinsel adorning the sturdy wood beams. Buffet tables sat lining almost the entire left side of the room, filled bountifully with food to feed the whole town and then some. Lefse, lutefisk (the bane of child and teen Anna’s existence), farikal, pickled herring, kjottkaker, salmon, whale steak, sheep, all the traditional favorites. And that, of course, didn’t even including the two tables of desserts and pastries or the sprawling drink selection. A massive 12-foot Christmas tree stood proudly in the right corner of the space, decorated with great care by Anna and Kristoff themselves. Year after year, Anna always insisted she didn’t need any help from the castle attendants, only a few ladders and a few hours of time alone. She always pulled through. The tree—her pride and joy. This Christmas, Anna had also taken the time to pick out hundreds of presents for the Arendellian children and children-at-heart. Kristoff even did some woodworking for the occasion. Highlights included hand carved rocking horses, rolling reindeer on a string, and building blocks. They couldn’t wait for those presents to be torn open by frantic hands, truly cherishing the visual of children playing for hours on the sweeping ballroom floor, both King and Queen watching misty eyed as they imagined their own child playing along next year. A new tradition.

They had hired both a 5-piece band and a choir to make sure that the ball was not lacking in festive music and thus not lacking in dancing. The choir had kicked off the party singing Christmas songs in perfect harmony, the music floating through the castle, making the previously cold stone walls feel more comforting and protective. Guests had started arriving, smiles plastered on each of their faces as they ran through the open castle gates, eyes wide in childlike awe when they entered the ballroom to see the most elaborate Christmas ball yet.

But two people were thus far missing from the party.

Kristoff knocked softly on his and Anna’s chamber door before letting himself in. He saw Anna, dressed to the nines in a green velvet gown topped with white ruffles that hugged her shoulders. Her upper chest was left bare save for a three-layered pearl necklace, an early Christmas gift from Mattias. The sleeves gaped open, lined by white fur that Kristoff knew felt as soft as it looked. Her hair laid atop her head in an intricately braided bun, her gold and emerald crown placed perfectly in the middle, always bringing out the brilliant green that usually hid within her typically cerulean eyes. Kristoff could only think one word. Radiant. Anna was radiant. Sincerely, Anna sparkled. She always sparkled. But something about walking in on her like this, dressed for the ball, so majestic in every single way… made Kristoff feel as if he might cry for the love that grew and blossomed within his heart. A love so permanent… a love so unyielding that he felt it with both a fiery passion and a patient comfort. He took in a breath. Regarding her magnificence for a second time. Her gold shoes sparkled in the candlelight, heels subtle enough to allow her to dance for hours but tall enough to allow her to kiss him without getting on her tip toes. His eyes floated up to her dress yet again. Even though the gown cinched at her waist, Kristoff swore he could make out a little bit of the swell that was their growing child. He took in another breath. She looked ravishing. How could he be so lucky to call her his wife?

But Anna paid no mind to Kristoff, not then. She was looking in the mirror. Frowning. Frustrated.

But still so beautiful.

“Anna, honey, are you ready to go downstairs? The doors are open, and people are flooding in… I think even Elsa and Honeymaren are already here.” Elsa was finishing up the ice sculptures. Her only task this year, something that made her beyond thankful.

“I’m almost ready! I’m just… I don’t know. I don’t feel right. But I can’t put my finger on why.” Anna twirled around in front of the mirror. “The only thing keeping me chugging along is the promise of lots of food. I’m starving.”

“Yes—that was the journal entry for this week. Ravenously hungry. Insatiable I think was the word I used.” For Anna, eighteen-ish weeks pregnant meant the constant desire to stuff her face with literally everything she laid her eyes on. It was like she had this itch that could never be scratched. A deep hole in her stomach that could not ever be fully filled. But the most unfortunate part was that she somehow had recently begun to crave lutefisk. Lutefisk. The food she would have to plug her nose to eat as a kid. Clearly pregnancy made her leave logic at the door. Kristoff sauntered up to her and brought her in close, wrapping his strong arms around her frame, resting them gently on her mid-section, hooking his chin over her right shoulder and kissing her softly on first her shoulder and then her neck and then her cheek before settling back into the crook of her neck. He smiled. This was pure bliss.

Anna entangled her fingers with his own, both resting on her belly. She sighed. “I swear I could eat literally all of Sven right now and only feel a little bit guilty.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Kristoff laughed into her shoulder.

“I’m starving!” Anna pouted, but then Kristoff kissed her neck again softly and she shivered. Too distracting.

“Well, I know for a fact there’s a lot of food in the ballroom if you want to get a move on…”

“I want to, I really do… but. Still. I’m … you know what? I think I know what it is,” Anna said, pulling away from Kristoff suddenly. “You know how a few weeks ago I had to switch to the maternity corset? Because I really uh—popped out that one morning and couldn’t fit into my old one anymore even with the laces practically undone?” One midwife had even said that Anna looked much bigger than what women usually did at this point in pregnancy. Something that she said could mean there was more than one baby on the way…Anna and Kristoff were far too thrilled with that possibility but had mutually decided they didn’t want to get their hopes up if it didn’t come to fruition. Their baby coming into the world already with a friend… already decidedly not alone. It felt almost serendipitous to Anna, but she still refused to think of it more than fleetingly. So for now—one baby. Singular baby.

“I remember,” he said.

“Well, I hate this thing. It’s so … constricting and it hurts and I can hardly breathe let alone gorge myself with disgusting and foul and gross but somehow still super satisfying lutefisk. Like do you really think this is good for the baby?”

Kristoff shook his head. “Probably not—”

But Anna was on a roll. She bulldozed through the answer he gave to her likely rhetorical question. “I know it’s not breathing or anything right? But … it kind of feels like I’m squishing the baby or something and knowing it’s yours and everything it’ll probably be massive so needs lots of room to… get that way. Oh wait no I can’t think about that. Oh God. Massive. Get that image out of my head please. Too big to come out of me and the pain and owwwww.”

Kristoff stepped closer to Anna and hugged her close, stroking comforting circles on her back. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said. She whimpered. “For the record, I don’t think I was too big as a baby. Although, you know… I don’t remember.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Very helpful.”

“I do have some chocolate to tide you over, though. That’s helpful, right?”

Her eyes lit up instantly, nodding her head in ferocious fervor. “Yes, yes, yes. Super, super helpful. Very helpful. The most helpful of all helpful!” Kristoff reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out maybe six truffles. Anna ate them in a flash. “God, these are so good.” Then she frowned again. “But I can already feel my corset getting tighter! And, you know what? What’s it all for, hmm? So I can better hide I’m pregnant? Yeah that’s right I said the word. So, what? You know, it’s really grating to me that something that really deserves to celebrated is instead something that needs to be … hidden away. Like the expectation for a queen is to be prim and proper and ladylike and pure or—whatever…while also producing heirs upon heirs. So, what happens when the very thought of being ‘with child’ comes with this implication that you’re not pure? Even though obviously I mean it’s way more concerning if you’re married and still pure, right? And I know I’m saying this about royalty and everything but that’s just my situation. Generally it’s definitely not just for queens. This is any woman. The expectation of any woman. Nobody cares if men are pure. So they’re just producing heirs or kids or namesakes? … left and right and it’s all fine and dandy. It’s just ... really frustrating. And this stupid corset is like the physical proof of this horrible thing and it’s really making me…so—angry.” Anna let out a long breath. It felt good to get all that out. It truly had been building upon itself in this storm of emotions for the last couple weeks. Constantly growing until this moment.

“You know you’re the Queen, right?”

“Uh—yeah. Pretty sure I just talked a lot about that in my little speech.”

“Yes, right. Yes. But I mean… you’re the Queen.”

“Yes, I know. What’s your point?”

“Well, you’ve got the power, baby,” Kristoff said. “Show them how it’s done. You can … make a decree or—or something. Or you can just lead by example. I’ll support you, Anna. You know I’ll support you. And I agree with you, too. The whole thing’s pretty ridiculous. And definitely not healthy for our massive baby.”

Anna crossed her arms over her chest. “Not funny.”

“Take it off, baby. Off with the maternity corset.”

“I want to … but then people will be able to tell, right?”

“You really think they don’t know? Let me ask you this. Truly—how many people do you think are actually in the dark?”

“Uh—I don’t know. Maybe … four?”

“Exactly! Don’t feel like you need to still hide it. The whole castle has known for a long time. You were wearing the maternity corsets! Someone had to make that for you and you know your maids knew right away. Word is out, Anna. We just can’t be open open about it yet. Soon … but you don’t need to hide it. You shouldn’t hide it.”

She contemplated his words for a minute or so before planting a chaste kiss on his lips. “Thanks, husband. You’re the best listener.” He grabbed her hand and gave her a quick twirl, already preparing for the dancing he knew would take up most of his night.

“Always, my sweet love.”

“Now help me get this thing off. Right now. Please.” Anna turned so her back was to him. His large hands wrapped around the velvet buttons of her dress, undoing them at an unparalleled pace. Soon, the dress dropped to the floor and Anna stepped out of it, only standing in her off-white corset and bloomers. The maternity corset had a slightly different shape, dipping lower to cover her entire stomach, and had two extra sets of laces, one on each side that supposedly allowed for more breathing room and expansion along with a growing belly, but Anna disagreed. It felt just as constricting as her usual corset. She jumped in front of Kristoff again. “Off, off, off!”

He obeyed again, large hands undoing the laces but moving closer as he did this, planting periodic kisses on her shoulders. His mind instantly shot back to the first time he unlaced her corset. Years ago.

The beginning of their … exploration was too hurried. They so rarely got time alone and took it whenever they could … wherever they could … as fast as they could. There was never time to take off any clothes. Dress scrunched up her waist, drawers and breeches pushed down to their ankles was the name of their game. But eventually they got bolder. They snuck around in the middle of the night… and in those stolen moments in the moonlight, they had more time. Kristoff remembered ripping off her dress, throwing it into the corner of her room. Turning his attention to her undergarments, working his hands around the laces, trying to figure out how to make this as swift as possible. He smirked. “Is this appropriate?”

“Of course not,” Anna giggled. Kristoff planted kisses on her bare shoulders and then her collarbones. “But when have I ever been concerned with what’s appropriate?”

Kristoff smiled again at the memory. When he finally shot back to reality, he saw that he was almost done with the laces. He pulled the last few and threw the corset far away from them. It landed with an air of dramatics on her dressing partition.

Anna sighed in relief. “God, you’re so much faster at this than my maids.”

“Years of practice paired with years of … urgency.” Kristoff said, smirking.

It had taken him much longer than he felt comfortable admitting to take that corset off that first night, but since then he’d figured out a foolproof strategy.

She turned around to give him a deep kiss. “I’m free. Thank you.”

Kristoff inhaled sharply. She was even more magnificent like this, ballgown tossed to the side. He brought a hand up to cup her chin and his other drifted down to her stomach. He gave it a rub and she kissed him in response, giggling slightly. “You’re radiant, baby. So beautiful.”

“You really think so?”

“You take my breath away,” Kristoff said, meaning it truly and genuinely from the bottom of his heart. Anna beamed at him, feeling both unparalleled awe and unparalleled respect boiling deep within her soul. She regarded him now. The way the left side of his smile cocked up more than his right, sending him into an eternal mischievous smirk. The way his brown eyes always somehow teemed with an unusual mixture of curiosity and warmth. He was her rock. Her ocean. Her world. And she knew that the same was true for him. She was his rock. His ocean. His world.

Anna tried to put all of those feelings into words. “You—I need you to know that you’re—uh—perfect, Kristoff. Really perfect.” She used this word a lot. He doesn’t like it, he said. It’s not true, he said. He has his flaws, he said. But to Anna, even his flaws were perfect. So, he was perfect.

Kristoff smiled again. Mischievous still. But happy. Pleased. Tonight, he wouldn’t argue with her. He placed his hand on Anna’s swollen belly, rubbing gently. “I like this. Baby is free to be massive now.”

“Oh, shut up and help me put my dress back on,” Anna said through a laugh. “Might be a tough task since my waistline has expanded probably five sizes.”

“I’m up for the challenge.” Kristoff said, pulling desperately hard on either side of her dress before he could button them together. Eventually, he managed. Sure, the button stretched a bit and it threatened to pop off, but he thought maybe it would hold. At least for that evening.

“How do I look?” She gave him a twirl, settling in closer to him and cupping her belly slightly. She loved showing it off. The exciting proof of their future. Of what would come in May. “Ugh. I don’t wanna keep this a secret anymore. This is awful. How I lasted this long—it’s torture! Kristoff! Encourage our little one to make its presence known. Please, please, please.”

He smiled at his wife, dropping to his knees. Rubbing circles on her belly and planting gentle kisses all over before pulling away slightly, both hands still resting on the swell. Kristoff leaned in closer again and whispered, “Hey, little one…your mama and papa love you so much and want to tell the whole world how much we love you so we can celebrate you and love you publicly and—can you stretch out for us or move your little arms and legs or something? Mama and Papa are here for you, watching you grow… loving you…” He kissed her belly again. “We love you, little one.”

“Aww, Kris. You’re so cute.”

He stood up slowly. Waiting to see if it worked. Not that it had in the past… but still hopeful. Nothing. “You ready to go?”

“I’m ready to eat if that’s what you mean.”

They walked hand in hand through the castle hallways, still bursting with the beautiful harmonies of the choir, and finally through the doors of the ballroom. Each and every Arendellian guest turned to watch the Queen and King, or Prince—whatever—consort’s grand entrance. Some even started clapping. Clearly the party was already considered a hit.

Anna noticed out of the corner of her eye that a few of the women had started whispering to each other, their eyes glued to Anna’s midsection. Maybe even saying four people didn’t know was an overestimation.

Come on, little one. Move.

But still nothing.

Instead, Anna’s stomach growled, and she knew she needed to get to the food tables. Pronto. She saw Elsa there, too, finishing up the last of the ice sculptures. A reindeer looking much like Sven perched excitedly by the pickled herring. Perfect. Two birds, one stone.

Anna bounded up to her sister first, skipping in an unbridled excitement. Unfortunately, this excitement was almost purely due to the promise of stuffing lutefisk into her belly which made her mind want to stage a rebellion against her stomach at the very idea. But she paid no mind.

Her fabulous sister, first.

“Elsa, I’m so glad you came!”

Elsa laughed. Remaining calm, of course. As usual. She stood tall as Anna collapsed into her arms. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss your favorite night of the year.”

“Thanks for doing the sculptures, too. Everybody loves them,” Anna said, eyes drifting to the series of sculptures that adorned the space, catching a glimpse of a replica of her favorite snowman and smiling widely. “Especially giant Olaf at the dessert table.”

“That one’s my favorite to make.” Elsa took a step back, away from her sister by a couple paces. She took a moment to gaze intently at Anna, something that apparently had become the theme for the day, pursing her lips while deep in some train of thought. And then, suddenly, the corners of her mouth curled into a giddy grin. She closed the gap between them and whispered in Anna’s ear, “You’re glowing.”

Anna laughed. Elsa’s breath kind of tickled her ear. “I know, right?!”

“Is it weird if I say that I think pregnancy suits you?”

“Whoa, Elsa. That is way out of line. And you said the word pregnant? Shame on you!” Anna’s voice got dramatically low when she uttered the taboo word she didn’t actually think needed to be taboo.

Elsa blushed. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

“I’m kidding, Elsa! I agree with you. Will come in handy—you know—because we want lots of babies and everything,” Anna said. “I love the word pregnant, too. It’s so much easier and less awkward than the whole with child or in the family way nonsense. Like talk about beating around the bush. Jesus.”

“You hungry?”

“Oh, God yes. Thanks for reminding me.” Anna turned, reading to make a beeline for the lutefisk. But then she chuckled slightly and spun back to face her sister. “You’ll never guess what I want to eat, though.”

“Uh—herring?”

“Lutefisk.”

“Lutefisk? You—Anna—want to eat lutefisk?”

“I legitimately want to stuff twenty-five pounds of lutefisk into my mouth right now.”

Elsa laughed in pure shock. “You’re right. I never would’ve guessed.”

“I don’t know if it’s the salt or the disgustingly chewy yet soft consistency that’s getting me going, but it’s doing it. I’m feeling all tingly thinking about it.” Anna shuddered involuntarily How did that sound so good? Truly how? Repulsive. Lutefisk was nothing short of repulsive. “Can you help me fill some plates full?”

“I think your King already has you covered.”

Kristoff, goofy grin plastered on his face, approached the sisters with three plates full of lutefisk and potatoes precariously perched on top of each other. Somehow his left hand held two full glasses of mulled wine.

He passed her a glass of wine and one plate of lutefisk to start. “For you, my love.” He handed the other glass of wine to Elsa who graciously accepted.

Anna attacked the plate. Slurping down the fish in record time. Her face twisted in to some kind of combination of a gag and a smile. “Oh God this is truly horrendous.” Gulp. “Horrid. No…disgusting.” Gulp. “And so grossly…slimy?” Gulp. One plate down. Kristoff handed her the next one. “But also… man oh man does it really hit the spot.”

“I always liked lutefisk,” Kristoff said, taking a piece for himself.

Anna stopped what she was doing and shot daggers at him. “So this is your fault? Lutefisk and a massive … I swear we’re gonna find a way for the trolls to make you go through this next time.”

“You know you love it.” Kristoff smiled mischievously yet again. Taking another satisfied bite of the lutefisk.

Anna pouted playfully and grabbed one handful of lutefisk, flinging it directly into Kristoff’s face. “Trolls.” Another piece. “You.” And another. Kristoff had started opening his mouth to catch the pieces, swallowing in bliss with each successful catch and each delicious bite. “Next.” Anna tried to remain serious, but a smile was toying on her lips. Another toss. “Time.” The grand finale. Anna tricked Kristoff with a fake throw and tossed it into her own mouth instead. He furrowed her eyebrows and looked around, confused. Not having any inkling as to what actually happened. Elsa had started cracking up. Those two. Always getting up to some kind of ridiculous antics.

Anna couldn’t contain her laughter anymore and it came spilling out quickly to the point where she could barely catch her breath. She felt something like gas bubbling in her stomach and tried to calm herself, worried she had upset the whole peace of her body by gorging herself with food and then laughing too hard. But she didn’t have any burp in her… curious. Gassy without gas. Once she had successfully quelled her laughter, she started feeling it again. Gas … or bubbles … or butterflies teeming in her stomach?

Or…

OR…

OR!

Anna outwardly gasped. One hand immediately shot to her abdomen and the other covered her mouth.

Elsa and Kristoff both looked at her curiously, both cocking their head in the exact same way.

“Oh my God it’s happening!” Anna squealed, bouncing up and down so frantically that her mulled wine kept spilling over the cup.

They continued to look at her, confused as ever.

Both her hands rested on her stomach now. “It feels like… all of Elsa’s ice fireworks are going off in here!”

Now Kristoff and Elsa understood. Their eyes widened, they audibly gasped.

Still bouncing, Anna giggled. “Oooh tickly!”

“Anna?!” Kristoff ventured. She beamed at him and motioned him closer. He wrapped one strong arm around her and pulled her in for a hug, other hand staying low, secretly stroking her stomach.

She whispered in his ear. “Can you feel it? Can you feel our little one? At least…I think that’s what’s happening. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I mean gassy but—not gassy…” Plus, mother’s intuition? She just knew this was it. The Quickening. Finally!

He shook his head. “I don’t feel anything. But—I think that’s normal? I can…imagine it takes a while to feel it on the—outside,” Kristoff said, still close to her, hand still firmly on her belly. “But you feel it. Anna, it’s—wow. It’s real. This is happening. I’m so—I’ve never been more—this is the happiest I’ve ever felt.” He kissed her, passionately, on the lips.

“Me too,” Anna said as she pulled away, looking longingly into his fiery brown eyes. Another little flutter resonated through her and she giggled. Pressing her hand and thus Kristoff’s hand deeper into her stomach. “I wish you could feel it.”

“Someday.” He kissed her again.

“Screw the troll idea. You were right. This is so cool. Totally worth the lutefisk cravings.” Their laughter was interrupted by Elsa’s hands looping over both of their shoulders, hugging them tightly. Excitedly.

“Kristoff, Anna! Congratulations. Both of you.”

“Aww, thanks, sister,” Anna said, chuckling into her smile. Noting that Elsa’s cheeks seemed markedly more flushed and she wondered if the mulled wine had already gotten to her. “Wait.” Anna started bouncing again. So enthusiastically that neither Elsa nor Kristoff could keep holding onto her. “This means we can tell people! Oh my gosh can we tell them tonight? Can we, can we, can we?”

“How about right now?”

“Right now?” Anna’s voice cracked. “Right now right now?”

“Let’s go.” Kristoff held out his hand and Anna grabbed it quickly, forcefully. With all the intent in the whole world.

They raced to the small stage where the choir and the band performed. Their royal presence was enough to stop the singing mid-phrase, choir members bowing at attention.

“You don’t need to do that,” Anna said. “Your singing is beautiful, by the way. Thank you for being here. Uh—we just wanted to make an announcement. If that’s okay, of course. We can wait!” Somehow, Anna’s extreme giddiness was still manifesting as a constant and consistent bounce.

The choir singers looked at each other with what Anna perceived as knowing glances, and then nodded for the King and Queen to proceed.

They took center stage, Anna still bouncing, hand-in-hand. “Uh—hello, Arendelle! We wanted to take the time to thank you all for coming to the annual Christmas Ball. We hope you’re enjoying the food and the music and the holiday merriment! We are so happy this has become a tradition, and if I do say so myself, this might be the best ball yet. And not only because of—well, the ball… as of well—tonight, actually, Kristoff and I can finally announce that …” Anna took a moment to scan the crowd of eager faces. Maybe there were more than four who had no idea. “We’re having a baby!” Anna squealed and then screamed, raising her arm and thus also Kristoff’s arm into the air. Kristoff had also let out a few cheers. The crowd applauded, reaching a steady crescendo just as Kristoff picked Anna up and spun her around, giddily laughing, before bringing her face into his hands for a tender kiss. He then dropped to his knees in front of his wife, leaning in slightly, large hands now cupping her belly. Showing off her belly. Celebrating her belly. No more hiding. Just like Anna had wanted. He planted a tender kiss on the curve and the crowd cheered once again. Anna’s hands found their way into his hair and she ruffled it a bit, messing it up in a way she found exceedingly adorable. She turned back to the crowd, Kristoff still rubbing her belly in elation. “Baby Bjorgman is coming at the end of May!” Now Anna noticed a small corner of the crowd exchanging pieces of gold. Of course there had been some bets going on. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Kristoff stood up, kissed Anna once more, and then grabbed her hand, interlacing her fingers with his own. Anna took her other hand and cupped her belly, showing the crowd in more detail exactly how far along she was. Exactly. No mind games from any extra clothing. The buttons on her dress were still close to breaking loose. “Oh, and another thing! Maternity corsets are for the birds. It can’t be healthy to wear them all… tight and constricting and—” Without knowing how to control it, Anna shuddered a bit. So happy to be free. And safe. “Besides—let it all hang out, baby!” She did a little dance right then, shaking her rump and rubbing her belly. Laughter echoed throughout the crowd and then a whole conversation stirred. Anna hoped it wasn’t too judgmental… she didn’t want them to think she had taken anything too far.

But no matter. Kristoff was right. As Queen, she could make some rules. She could set some expectations. Even if not well received in the beginning, they could still hold weight.

Kristoff leaned in to whisper in Anna’s ear. “No more secrets.”

She smiled. Thank God. “Shall we celebrate?”

He nodded. “Let’s dance.”

The choir started singing again. The band joined in. The Holly and The Ivy, a Christmas classic. Merriment abound. Merriment all around. Although Kristoff and Anna took the lead, dancing alone for a few minutes, eventually more and more guests joined in. A little bit of Hallingdansen, a lot bit of pols, and the most bit of Kristoff taking advantage of the fact that the whole kingdom knew how overjoyed they were with the news of their growing family by essentially hardcore smooching in the middle of the dance floor. Their tongues had a good time dancing the Halling, too, and they paid absolutely no mind to the fact that all eyes were on them. Maybe the mulled wine was getting to them, too, or perhaps it was simply euphoria. Between the kisses, Kristoff frequently dropped to his knees to kiss Anna’s stomach or rub excited circles over the curves during the dances. Anna giggled each time, noticing that the flutters seemed to come in more enthusiastic waves when Kristoff’s hands or lips came in contact with her belly.

This felt good. To finally have the freedom to really celebrate. True bliss. True happiness. The best of all the past Christmas Balls. And they had a feeling no future ball could ever compare.

#kristanna #frozen #fanfic #fanfiction #myfics #christmas #fluff #canonverse

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purplerose244 · 4 years

Text

Peacefully

Here for this year’s Ninjago Secret Santa! Man I love this event, thank you a lot @coco-jaguar for organizing it once again! ❤ Hi @davisisacommonname, I’m your secret santa! Here’s you gift, I hope you like it! 😊😊

Merry Christmas and happy festivitites!! 💕💕

Summary: It’s a day like others, just without the usual mayhem shaking the entire city. A time to think of less stressful possibilities.

“So, what did we learn today?”

“That dares are stupid?” As they got back inside the monastery, finally escaping the chilling winter air, Nya raised a gigantic eyebrow at the green ninja. At which the mighty leader seemed to shrink the littlest bit. “… that dares involving the master of lighting putting lights on the tree using spinjitzu, resorting in him entangling himself into the wires and making every single bulb explode by electrification, are stupid?”

“There you go.” The master of water sighed loudly. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised it happened.” Despite the nonchalance of this blondie, the brand-new lights that they had been forced to buy and how she was probably the only one irritated about it – especially since Kai had been laughing hysterically for ten minutes straight afterwards –, she smiled.

Lloyd mimicked her, probably sensing he was not in mortal danger anymore, taking off scarf and hat. His golden locks puffed up as soon as the headpiece was off.

“Does the fact that I lost against Cole count as enough punishment?”

“Mhm?”

“I bet with him it was going to be Kai the first to cause an incident, he was supposed to be the one to take the bet. Now I’m in debt of one week of chores.” Another eyebrow was raised, less furious, more judging. “What? I’m trying to catch up, apparently the guys used to bet on everything when they first formed the team, from who was going to be the green ninja, to who was going to be the first to find out the identity of Samurai X! Like, I’m that prophesied green savior, and I knew about your little escapades.” Nya couldn’t help the little smirk. Ironically, the green ninja did turn out to be the first to discover the truth. “I could’ve won two times already, I wanna keep up now.”

They stepped into the kitchen, hearing faraway sounds. The others were most likely elsewhere putting up less expendable decorations. Nya was already looking towards the stove, thinking of nothing other than hot chocolate. Knowing Lloyd, they were on the same page.

“Okay, that’s uselessly prideful and kind of adorable, but this better not turn into a gambling addiction little one.”

“Nya, my father was the king of the Underworld. Is there really a worse evil than that?”

She couldn’t argue back.

Lost in thoughts about something warm to melt her frozen bones, she almost jumped when the sudden scribble came to her ears, and one extremely peaceful whistling that they were all too accustomed to at this point. In the living room right next, sitting on the sofa with the television uncharacteristically switched off, was Cole. Eyes on a random notebook he had on his knees, a pencil in the air, wearing that ridiculous sweater Jay found at the mall with muscled arms drawn over the sleeves – such a miracle of an ugly sweater.

He looked extremely taken by his activity, munching the end of the pencil every once in a while. Seeing their official lifter so calm and captured by whatever mindless activity had forced him to sit down was curious. It did happen before, but lately it got rarer. It was always a nice view.

Nya looked at the green ninja, who pointed at the kitchen with his thumb, right where the mugs where. She nodded, and went to take place next to the master of earth.

Who jumped right away, giving her a look.

“What the…? You’re back already? I didn’t hear you get in.”

“Wow, you don’t say!” From the kitchen the blonde’s voice erupted. “It’s almost like we’re ninja or something, unbelievable!” It followed accurate noises made by mouth, and if they knew him – and after years they absolutely did – then the little brat was probably mimicking an explosion coming out of his head – he was hanging around Jay a little too much.

Nya giggled, while the master of earth rolled his eyes with a little grin.

“Nice to hear you’re all in a good mood after our little blackout. You got the lights?”

“All done. Sorry about the scare, but it looked like you were in your own world.” She tilted her head, looking around. The living room was getting more festive, but it missed at least half the holly. “Didn’t you guys finish while we were gone?”

“We were going to, then something came up and we can’t really continue until Zane comes back to the shop… Kai accidentally set the tree on fire while you two were gone.” Her loud facepalm spoke louder than any of them. “I think Wu is still giving him an earful as he did with Jay as we speak … and before you ask Lloyd, Jay made a mess before Kai. So I still won the bet.”

“Aww, for once that I actually need Hot Shot to cause a mess!” The green ninja came out of the kitchen, the kettle starting to heat up into the kitchen, pout clearly in sight. For being their brave leader and the strongest ninja of all, he was still kind of a kid – although in all honesty, weren’t they all? “Anyway, what got you so into it that you forgot how to hear?” He walked until he was behind the couch, leaning over the master of earth’s shoulder and smiling. “Hey, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know you could draw!” His surprised tone came out sincerely, especially since it felt like forever since they had found each other in this weird family. Finding new details was always a shock.

Nya scooted closer as well, smiling at the familiar shading of the chicken drawn onto the paper, with the real one sleeping over a pillow in front of the tv.

“You still have a nice touch. I haven’t seen you do it ever since it was just the four of you in action, and this little evil brat was in some random snake prison.” Lloyd mouthed an ‘oohhh’ of understand as why he didn’t remember. “To be more specific, I’m pretty sure it was back when instead of listening to my research about the Serpentine, you guys have tried to poison me with perfume.” Good thing no villain knew about her little Achilles hill.

Cole snorted, pressing his eraser on the corner of the paper.

“You were telling complicated stuff to that airhead that is your brother, to the guy that was lookin at your in awe while trying his hardest to ask you out, and to a nindroid. A robot. You can’t really blame us.”

“What’s your excuse then?” The master of earth raised his piece.

“I’m pretty freaking good at this.” Nya snorted. Again, no arguments here. “You know… I’ve been thinking about those times. And it’s not like it was easier, but I guess we didn’t really know how much things could become complicated and return back then.” Cole looked over the drawing, shrugging. “But I’m in vein of taking something back from there, exactly because we don’t know when we could get called into action again. It’s little, but it’s still mine… I felt silly like that this morning.” He grinned of that introverted nature that, despite years, was still a part of him.

And it was okay. It was great even. Nya gave him a shoulder.

“Hey, it’s not silly, it’s good.”

“Yeah! All of us should do something other than fighting.” Lloyd chimed in, dropping next to Cole on the other side, smiling. “Like for example, even though it’s been a pretty shady part of my life, I kinda miss PE back at Darkley’s. Moving just for the sake of moving. We should play sometimes, not because of training, it could be fun… or Nya could annihilate us, whichever comes first.”

“I’m not that competit-” The master of water blinked twice, shaken by the quickest flashback of her life. “… no wait scratch that, I totally am.”

Cole snickered, tapping the notebook with his pencil.

“Besides having as a golden rule to never put the blacksmith brothers against each other-” It could be the time Ninjago actually managed to get completely destroyed for good. “I would be down for that, why not? No sparring or anything, just a friendly match of whatever. I didn’t even get to do that as a kid, dad would always say that I could risk putting muscles where a dancer didn’t need them…” He flexed one arm, the massive hill pulling up the drawing onto the sleeve. He grinned with satisfaction. “How about football? I’ve always wanted to try football!” Oh for whatever reason other than having the strength to tackle a mountain?

“Absolutely!” Lloyd nodded eagerly. “Let’s do it! Oh, and soccer too, Brad and I used to try that a lot when we were kids!” He seemed to absolutely glow and the perspective, and it was kinda sad that such a simple reality represented an actual opportunity for him.

Before Nya could get lost into more self-deprecating depressive thoughts, and the fact that not even one of them had a normal childhood except maybe for Jay – and considering the still not so clear Cliff Gordon erased reality affair that was still up to discussion –, there was a loud whistle coming from the kitchen. The green ninja immediately sprouted into action, sprinting towards the sound. As soon as Cole decided to put down his drawing, seeing as the chicken had woken up to go bother someone – bet on Kai –, the blondie came back with three steaming mugs, giving to them all.

The master of water held up hers – a blue one with a storm cloud on it saying ‘Too tide to talk’ –, smiling at the distinct bitter scent of black cocoa. They knew each other tastes way too well.

“Sounds good to me. I also fancy basketball, so I’m down for that.”

“Nice! Mm, but how about other hobbies? Nya?” Cole took his time to take a generous sip from his mug that was literally dripping because of the amount of marshmallow – covering slightly the orange surface with ‘I’m a grounded person, like my coffee’ written on it –, while the gray ninja frowned a little. “Anything you would like to regain? You never really stopped with engineering so I’m guessing that’s out of the way.”

“Yeah, but,” She hummed, tracing the warm cup with her fingers. “That wasn’t a hobby or something I liked to do, not at first at least. It was just like Samurai X, a way to show you guys I could do what you did, even better. It grew on me, but it’s kinda work too, I’m proud of it but nowhere near as passionate as Jay or Cyrus Borg could be.” It was all about her tendency of holding onto the things she excelled at after all, the one obstacle that had almost cost her the true potential of her element. Despite her steps forward, putting a difference between liking to be good at something and liking it was still a little complicated. Then again… “… maybe painting?”

Cole grinned in surprise, Lloyd raised his head from his cup showing an impressive chocolate mustache – along with that black mug saying ‘It’s morning so you green and bear it’… and yes those mugs were all Jay’s presents.

“Whoa, where did that come from?”

“Yeah no offence, but you never stroke me as the artistic type.”

“None taken, it’s not exactly something that I feel it belongs to me, but maybe that’s why I used to like it. Because it was so far I didn’t have to think too much about it.” Nya smiled, taking another sip. “Remember the second Steep of Wisdom Wu opened in the middle of Ninjago City? To attract more customers I decided to work on a mural, right on the side. I don’t even know why, I just bought paint, brushes and a suit and started.”

“Oohh, I remember the one!” Lloyd snapped his fingers, the marshmallow in his cocoa shaking in the movement. “It was the one with the big majestic Wu serving the customer, I thought he hired an artist for it! That was cool!”

“You’re not saying it just because you’re my little brother, right?”

“Oh no, if it was ugly I would make a manifest all about it exactly because I’m your little brother. Brotherly code, smack talk every time it’s possible.” And then he fist bumped with his earthly brother nearby, wearing that same stupid grin. “But seriously, you were good at it. We finally have some free time to our hands, maybe it could be a good time for a new work. We still need the mural of that Day of the Departed where Cole turned back human after all, since those monks decided they had ‘lost the harmony of the inspiration’.” No one had been happy with leaving that important adventure behind – too bad they were in a monastery, a place of peace.

Cole hummed mindlessly, munching a marshmallow.

“Tell you what, how about we buy drawing and painting materials together for Christmas shopping?” He chugged down his drink, releasing a very satisfied sigh before leaning his back softly over the couch. “It’s usually Zane or Pix, we could take over for once and no, don’t give me that look water lily, it’s not for buying an extra cake and yes, do give me that look greenie, if you come along we’re so escaping and get to the sweet shop.” And there it came, another fist bump.

She had signed up for this.

She had signed up for this the moment she had let herself being overtaken by a bunch of skeletons, a past hit on her pride that to this day made her want to take a bone and break it in halves every time she thought about it – sports were going to be massacres, she was kinda looking forwards to it.

“I’m bringing leashes for you two vampires with sweet teeth, but it’s not a bad idea. And I like the mall in this period, it could even bring some inspiration as to what to paint.”

“How did you decide the first time?”

“I just thought of a simple design to get more clients.” Nya finished her drink, giving her eyes to a very curious looking blonde, thinking that it had been so long. It had always been so long, every single time she reevoked a part of her life, even though she was still so young. It was that eventful. “I worked on that project all day… but after it melted under the sun, it got ruined because of the wind and a lightning decided to strike it right in the middle, I just splashed it with all the colors I had and spinjitzued the heck out of it.”

“… rage, the mark of an artist.” Lloyd snickered, then he froze, suddenly beaming at the two. “Hey, why don’t you two work on something together? Cole makes the drawing and you paint it, it could be like a Christmas gift or something!”

Nya popped her mouth opened. How did they never think of that? How did they never while they had been battling villain after villain after villain after- Oh, there was the answer.

She turned to the master of earth, who looked just as engaged with the idea, if not more.

“Heck yeah, let’s do it! I can sketch a few ideas!”

“I do have colors I never got to try last time…”

“And I know mom got a few old frames that didn’t get accepted by the museum, I’m sure we can find a good one for this.” Lloyd grinned, scratching his cheek. “It’s almost weird putting up a plan for something other than defeating evilness…”

“Maybe, doesn’t make it any less good.” Cole winked at the two of them, looking inspired. And it was so good to see her brothers so high-spirited, and being happy with them. “… aha, I got one!” The master of earth hurried to the notebook, scrabbling quickly while the green ninja leaned his chin over his shoulder to see better, and the master of water did the same with her elbow on the other side. There was no other noise besides the pencil moving, and the suddenly more vivid voice of the rest of their family not too far away.

Peace was an abstract concept, it was in her life at least. But at least this moment, this situation, this instant, for Nya this was hers. And she wanted to make the most of it.

“… is that Jay getting entangled into the Christmas lights while doing spinjitzu?”

“Yeah? Is that the ‘should I punch you now or later for stupidity’ frown?”

“Nah, it’s the ‘what shade of color better depict bad life decisions’ frown.”

#ninjago #ninjago secret santa 2020 #ninjago cole #ninjago lloyd #ninjago nya #lloyd garmadon #cole bucket #cole brookstone #nya smith #ninjago fic #fanfiction #christmas fic

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mememanufactorum · 4 years

Text

Ace Combat Zero quotes

* Feel free to share as you please, no credit needed. Change pronouns or anything else as desired.

“Oh, him? Yeah, I know him.”

“Did you know there are three kinds of aces? Those who seek strength, those who live for pride, and those who can read the tide of battle.”

“It was a cold and snowy day…”

“It’s starting to come down.”

“You’d better have our pay ready and waiting.”

“Be ready to pay up. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“[name], I got a feeling you and I are gonna get along just fine. Buddy.”

“It all started on that snowy day.”

“My first impression was… He had potential.”

“I forgot about my job and read everything I had on hand.”

“We were all on an equal footing, fighting under the same conditions. No affiliations or ranks to hinder us.”

“The only rule of engagement was to survive.”

“We WILL survive, [name].”

“I figured you’d say that. This is gonna cost you extra.”

“Unlike you mercenaries, I fight for a real cause.”

“The ones who survive are those who fight for their convictions.”

“Dead men’s words hold no meaning.”

“Those mercenaries are crazy!”

“He hesitated. A vulnerability that can be exploited.”

“I was certain I would win.”

“We protect the meek and give our lives for honor. But that does not mean that we are generous… Since generosity will cost us our lives.”

“Well, then, let’s have some fun.”

“I figured it was just temporary chaos and it’d be over by the time I got there.”

“Every now and then, guys like that appear on a battlefield. Someone special, y’know?”

“War is something fought on the desk of politicians. As long as they win in the end, that’s all that matters.”

“But for us, it’s a matter of survival. In order to survive, you need to be able to analyze the situation in an instant.”

“Time to hunt some wild dogs.”

“Looks like we were just a couple of decoys.”

“Yo, Buddy, you still alive?”

“Back then, I was bursting with pride.”

“Staying where it was nice and warm wouldn’t accomplish anything.”

“Whatever it may be, the fact remains I was forced to walk a different path in life than the one I had envisioned.”

“They only fight for their own power and fame.”

“[name], let’s do this right. We got the pride it takes to win!”

“They’ve got a reason to fight. This battle’s over.”

“Let’s take care of them.”

“It takes time to admit you lost.”

“[name], you hear those people screaming for freedom? That’s where we come in!”

“It felt like he could see right through me. He was always one step ahead of me.”

“I didn’t feel like I was fighting with a human being.”

“I wanted to end that battle as quickly as possible.”

“It signals peace, but to me, they are the sounds of death.”

“Everyone is a hero and a villain. And no one knows who is the victim and who is the aggressor.”

“And what is ‘peace’?”

“Looks like we live to see another day, [name].”

“Mercenaries like us are disposable to the guys in charge.”

“But in the end, we survived.”

“When are you planning to buy those flowers?”

“Wait around too long and another guy’s gonna steal her away from you, you know.”

“This is no time to talk about my personal life!”

“Yo Buddy, you’ve got everyone fired up and believing in miracles.”

“Right on! Now that’s what I call teamwork!”

“[name], you hear that warm welcome? It’s the sweet sound of victory.”

“Not bad for a group of misfits, huh?”

“Dammit, there’s too many of them! We can’t handle them all!”

“Time to dive into the fireworks!”

“Looks like you’ve still got the touch.”

“It’s happening just as you thought.”

“It’s about time we got out of this dead-end job.”

“Not just yet.”

“They’re attacking without mercy. Do they plan on burning everything?”

“He can’t be human!”

“He’s like a demon…”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I fight for peace. That’s what I’m up here for.”

“While you’re up here ‘fighting for peace,’ tons of blood is being shed on the ground. Some ‘peace,’ kid.”

“And I’m here to put an end to that.”

“You think you can stop the bloodshed by shedding more blood?”

“Flying with all those ideas floating around in your head is gonna get you killed.”

“Anyway, I’d really gone out with a bang this time.”

“It’s a scary thought, but it also makes you feel alive.”

“But it gets pretty lonely up there all by myself.”

“Guess they’ve come to pick on the dead again.”

“This is the worst kind of support we could hope for.”

“Those mercenaries smell of money and death. They’re nothing but vultures… Scavenging for profit through the blood of others.”

“Sorry about the accommodations. It goes with the business. I’m not active during the day.”

“Something unexpected happened.”

“I figured the least I could do was take them down in return.”

“Of course, that was where my luck ran out.”

“Though I guess it’s hard for bad guys like us to die.”

“The real heroes always manage to die first.”

“We live the rest of our lives in hell.”

“But, then again, being alive is proof that we were good.”

“This will be your final lesson.”

“I’ll show him he’s only digging his own grave.”

“What’s important on the battlefield is to let go of hate, to survive, and to adhere to the rules you’ve set for yourself.”

“There was no more need for an old soldier like me.”

“Hatred cannot be the only motivation for war. It only brings about more pointless deaths.”

“I will never overcome that grief.”

“I’ll just look on from here.”

“He was unstoppable.”

“It didn’t matter where the battlefield was, the man had complete trust in his own powers.”

“He was born for battle, a Demon Lord who struck down all opposition.”

“He was born for combat. It was no wonder they called him a Demon Lord.”

“That said, it was hell trying to keep up with him.”

“He was cool-headed and proud. A combat professional.”

“Maybe the man was blessed by the goddess of war.”

“Before long, everyone had taken notice of him.”

“People wanted to burn his image in their memories.”

“Hell, they weren’t the only ones.”

“Learn to accept it, kid. This is war.”

“There’s no mercy in war. It’s a collision of powers.”

“Even war has a set of rules to follow!”

“Damn them all…”

“Nobody knew why they were fighting anymore.”

“All I felt at that point was sadness for the world.”

“You gonna get remarried to your girl?”

“We’re both getting married for the first time!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch up.”

“Nah… I’m just sad.”

“There’s no impossible jobs for us mercenaries!”

“Your fairy godmother’s here, Cinderella.”

“How can you say that after what just happened?”

“Today is your lucky day, [name]. Like your birthday.”

“And you’re here to pull me off in a magical carriage, huh? To hell I suppose…”

“Buddy… I’ve found a reason to fight.”

“This is where we go our separate ways.”

“And I like to play polo. You know, the game with the horses?”

“…Maybe we should get going now.”

“I should be able to do that too.”

“This war should be over already.”

“Why would they do this after all that’s happened?”

“I’m going to put an end to this war.”

“We’ll decide when this war ends… And now is not the time.”

“Today is a day of hope.”

“We have to go into battle.”

“Are they being stupid or is it just part of a plan?”

“The rest is up to you.”

“Our lives might’ve been different.”

“I will never forget his overwhelming power.”

“I returned alive from that battlefield.”

“There’s no meaning there now that he’s gone.”

“He soon passed away, leaving me behind.”

“We were only able to spend a short time together in peace and quiet.”

“But those who hearts are in the sky will always return to the sky.”

“And he died there, never to return to me.”

“It’s an awful place, but the fastest shortcut.”

“Don’t even think about heading back.”

“What are you fighting for?”

“I will eliminate the false hero.”

“You will make a worthy opponent.”

“What are you doing?! The war’s ended long ago!”

“It’s time for a perfect world without restrictions or wars.”

“He’s going to destroy everything!”

“I’ll follow [name] to the end!”

“I thought I was watching magic.”

“I’d never felt fear toward an opponent.”

“The same went for my ideals. I wasn’t afraid to take on even an entire country.”

“But when I was fighting him, something felt different.”

“There’s always a war somewhere and I’m sure he’s on some battlefield somewhere fighting even now.”

“He’ll always have a place to live.”

“Let the victor be justice.”

“I was hoping to meet you under different circumstances.”

“The table is surrounded by politicians who have never placed a foot on the battlefield.”

“It’s a necessary discussion to build a peaceful world.”

“It’s a disgusting squabble on who gets the largest share of the pie and that’s why it needs to end.”

“It is for that duty that we raised the King.”

“Let’s begin.”

“This place is no longer a battlefield.”

“Clashing greed is the cause of all conflict.”

“Style and skill does not matter in battle.”

“We will carry out the new creation of destruction through the power of righteousness.”

“Territories, peoples, authorities… All will be liberated.”

“Neither nations nor nationalities have meaning.”

“We will erase these unnecessary borders.”

“The world will change.”

“He’s not destroying anything unnecessarily.”

“This darkness and that little window are my entire world now.”

“I’m actually rather fond of it.”

“The darkness envelops me in a borderless world, a world with no boundaries.”

“No matter what the desired outcome is, the world can still change as long as people expand their knowledge and desire change.”

“If I’m with you, I know I can do it.”

“I’ll follow your lead.”

“We’re gonna stop it, no matter what.”

“I never want to see that barren land again.”

“We’re gonna be rich!”

“We’re gonna be heroes!”

“I’m gonna propose to her when I get back. I even bought flowers!”

“So, have you found a reason to fight yet?”

“Here comes the snow…”

“Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they’re invincible.”

“I bet you do too, Buddy.”

“Can you see any borders from here? What has borders given us?”

“We’re going to start over from scratch.”

“It’s pretty ironic, Buddy. A couple of dogs like us fighting the last battle.”

“There’s no mercy in war. People live and people die. That’s all there is to it.”

“You fired up? Come shoot me down.”

“It’s time.”

“Too bad, Buddy.”

“This twisted game needs to be reset.”

“You’re the only one who can stop him.”

“I pray for your success.”

“You and I are opposite sides of the same coin.”

“When we face each other, we can finally see our true selves.”

“There may be a resemblance, but we never face the same direction.”

“Fire away, coward!”

“Come on!”

“Come on, let’s go back home.”

“We wouldn’t want to keep anyone waiting for you.”

“Maybe this was one path to achieve peace.”

“I should have died that day. But I didn’t.”

“I felt an unbearable sadness when I witnessed that landscape.”

“It may be true that the world has no need of borders. But would getting rid of them really change anything?”

“The world won’t change for the better unless we trust people.”

“Trust is vital in a peaceful world.”

“But that’ll never happen.”

“I want to see for myself what borders really mean and what their volition really is…”

“I may not find what I’m looking for but I still wanna try.”

“Anyway, that’s what I’ve come to believe and I think that’s enough.”

“Yo Buddy. Still alive?”

“And thanks friend. See you again.”

“I was never able to find out what kind of a person he really was.”

“But whenever they talked about him, they always had a slight smile on their faces.”

“That, perhaps, might be my answer.”

#Ace Combat Zero #Ace Combat #roleplay meme #roleplay prompt #rp meme #rp prompt

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deldivino · 4 years

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( TAYLOR ZAKHAR PEREZ , CIS MALE, HE / HIM ╱ well, if it isn’t ARES, who has decided to grace us with HIS presence. I heard the GOD OF WAR has been living amongst the humans for 431 YEARS, and hasn’t aged a day, funny right ? they can be TENACIOUS & UNYIELDING, you should watch out because they are also known to be ARROGANT & CARELESS. HE harnesses the power of ANGER MANIPULATION, and have chosen the path of being AGAINST the humans.

heyo heyo , isla here with a super overdue intro shbjsh bear with me cause this is gonna be a lil bit messy !! feel free to shoot me a message here or on discord @la llorona#5226 for any plotting related stuff !! i promise im gonna work on getting through any messages i have , i swear im not ignoring any1 im just trying rlly hard to get through my intros before i do any plotting !! let’s gooo !!

◜ 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ╱ study

name: elias arrebol

nicknames: ares, god of war , stupid ass

age: immortal tbh

abilities: anger manipulation

alliance: against the humans

pronouns: he / him

orientation: pansexual

◜ 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ╱ mythos

ares within greek myth is known infamously as the god of war. born of zeus and hera , he took his place among the 12 olympians , often at odds with his siblings and fellow gods ; he certainly didn’t make it easy for them to get along , with his volatile nature and often ruthless actions distancing them . always intent on starting wars , but never one to follow through with his allegiances, he had a tendency of seeking triumph over loyalty , making his motives quite unpredictable at times, but evidently always managed to be reigned in by the other gods.

◜ 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ╱ mortal history

the fall of the gods was one ares hardly mourned , he found the attention of mortals to be a fleeting thing , and as it was in his nature , he only sought after their thirst for war . he could very well compel it , he was the god of war after all , but as he learned in troy , he could not fight among them as a god , not without the interference of the other gods. so when the statues fell and the mortals forgot that the gods had once walked among them , ares descended and placed himself as a noble within the tudor dynasty . what better place for war then among greedy kings who thought themselves gods ? he traveled between continents , always observing and suggesting but never directly mingling in the lives of mortal ; he’d found a loophole .

at first he liked the mortals , he found them fascinating in a way. fascination , however , is no companion to loyalty , so be as it may , he certainly felt neither inclined to protect them nor annihilate them . but slowly , the tides of time showed him how cowardly they could be , how they fought their wars with such cowardice , how they used mechanisms to root out the purpose of wars ; they let their machines fight their wars . he wasn’t angry , wasn’t much surprised by the way they hid behind their guns , their chemicals , their senseless violence ; he was simply bored of them . he sided among the other gods who opposed the mortals , rather enticed by the thought of an all consuming war between gods instead of the other way around .

◜ 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ╱ present day

ares’s ventures have always been quite extravagant , more attracted to the likes of royalty and wealth . during the 1910′s he found himself taking on the form of a zapista fighting in the mexican revolution , and even long after the war died out , he kept his youthful appearance . he moved to the us during the height of the prohibition era and the violence that pervaded much of new york during that decade . he grew fond of new york over time , surprisingly the towering buildings reminded him of the glory of the greeks and the monuments that they used to erect for him .

he’s taken to the mortal name elias arrabol and hasn’t much sought an occupation or place among the mortals . sure, he has amassed significant wealth throughout the years , wealth which is relatively meaningless to him , but quite crucial in the world of mortals . his life is quite private , living namely among the wealthiest of new york , but never one to partake in the social aspect his title holds . ares could care less where the other gods have ventured of to do , he’s only really cared about the whereabouts of his twin sons phobos and deimos , which , as surprising at it might seem , he does actually care very much about . he does revert back to old habits now and then , finding it so easy to manipulate mortals like puppets , and with anger brimming at his fingertips , he’s able to cause chaos with ease .

◜ 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ╱ connections

not a connection but also relevant kinda ,, i am asking v nicely for sum1 to bring ares his son and phobos his twin brother, deimos !! pleathe i will give you 100 little kithes

lovers : yeah ares is a whore sometimes so WHAT !! can b mortal , can b gods from any pantheon rlly , idc !!

rivals : get wrekt !! yeah so ares has issues with getting along with like , everyone so please if your muse wants sum1 to punch in the face , ares is the god for the job !! doesnt havent to rlly be war related it can just be like heyo you're a dick i fucking hate u !!

yeah no my two brain cells have given out so just any plots please and thank you !!

#nways show me support #k well expect circe's intro post next year HSBJH

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mausi-shan · 4 years

Text

I turned my Spotify 2020 playlist into lyric prompts

1. “Show me a grey sky, a rainy cab ride Babes, don’t threaten me with a good time.” – London Boy, Taylor Swift

2. “I’ve never been in love before, I don’t know what I’m doing I’ve never been too worldly in the ways of woman wooing I know how crazy lucky I am to love you.” – Get This Right, Jonathan Groff

3. “Lights out, I found out my fallen star Goodbye, the sun rises and there’s no more you and I! Tell me how can you sleep? How can you breathe? Baby, tell me how, how you love me now?” - How You Love Me Now, Hey Monday

4. “North is south, right is left when you’re gone I’m the one who sees you home but now I’m lost in the woods And I don’t know what path you are on” – Lost In The Woods, Jonathan Groff

5. “Promise I’ve already learned my lesson, but right now I wanna be not okay” – You Don’t Know What It’s Like, Katelyn Tarver

6. “This is falling in love in the cruellest way This is falling for you and you are worlds away” – Come Back… Be Here, Taylor Swift

7. “From coast to coast I’ll make the most of every second that I’ve been given with this crowd Without a doubt, you’re all I dream about At night we lie awake with stories taking us back to the nights we felt alive” – Vegas, All Time Low

8. “He doesn’t want to bang you Somebody hang you!” – Don’t Lose Ur Head, Six

9. “I thought this time was different Why did I think he’d be different? But it’s never, ever different!” – All You Wanna Do, Six

10. “If I said I want your body, would you hold it against me? Seven in the morning, wanna listen to Britney? Anything you want, baby, that’s okay with me now” – Sleeping In, All Time Low

11. “My heart, my hips, my body, my love Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch Now I’m looking for signs in a haunted club.” – Death By A Thousand Cuts, Taylor Swift

12. “And I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation Never said I wanted to improve my station” – Bad Reputation, Joan Jett

13. “This distance tears me apart God, I need to see you So when the homesickness starts and you’re missing me too I’m gone too long, but when you’re here it’s worth it So just hold on” – Fall To Pieces, Junior

14. “Lyrical smile, indigo eyes Hand on my thigh We can follow the sparks I’ll drive” – I Think He Knows, Taylor Swift

15. “I’m a user and abuser so I don’t need no accuser To slap me down ‘cause I know you’re right” – When I Come Around, Green Day

16. “He’ll never fall in love he swears, as he runs his fingers through his hair I’m laughing ‘cause I hope he’s wrong” – I’d Lie, Taylor Swift

17. “I’ve been in love and lost my senses Spinning through the town” – I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Fall Out Boy (Whitney Houston cover)

18. “I’ve been first class, spent cash Been broke, no joke, nothing good ever lasts Been sued, been screwed, been chewed up Been loved, been lost but never used up This world’s not big enough for us You hate but you’re singing that chorus We’re kings you can’t ignore us” – Anti-Anthem, Sumo Cyco

19. “She didn’t stutter, my chest flutters Cardiac attack in the cradle of the summer Superstitious, the kid’s vicious Bubblegum smile, taste the cherry on her lips” – Birthday, All Time Low

20. “Got my heart out on the table And you didn’t walk away Love me if you’re able” – I Guess We’re Cool, Cassadee Pope

21. “I can make the ground shake, Winds blow, Earth quake, Rain, snow Mountains, I can move mountains” – Move Mountains, Sumo Cyco

22. “I wore the crown, I sold the lie I lived the life and paid for every crime.” – Some Kind Of Disaster, All Time Low

23. “You can’t get under my skin But I get stuck in your head In case you didn’t notice, I’ve been living in it since I left” – With Or Without Me, Sainte

24. “We’re bound to break And my hands are tied” – Rewrite The Stars, Zac Efron & Zendaya

25. “Lovers dance when they feel in love Spotlight shining, it’s all about us” – All About Us, He Is We

26. “A drowning will grasp at straws, a willing man drowns for a cause The blood will spill as cigars blaze and great white jaws will be your cage” – Sleep Tight, Sumo Cyco

27. “Tell me that we’ll be just fine Tell me that you’re still mine Even when I lose my mind” – Afterglow, Taylor Swift

28. “All this time, I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind) Never turned things around (You never turned things around) You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs. So many signs)” – exile, Taylor Swift & Bon Iver

29. “What a shame, what a shame Beautiful scars on critical veins” – Kids In The Dark, All Time Low

30. “Here we are, nearly strangers From two worlds that have rarely met But somehow you have made me someone new” – In A Place of Miracles, Hunchback of Notre Dame (but pheeble)

31. “I give my hand to you with all my heart I can’t wait to live my life with you I can’t wait to start” – From This Moment, Shania Twain

32. “I forgot that you Got out some popcorn as soon as my rep started going down Laughed on the schoolground as soon as I tripped and hit the ground And I would have stuck up for you Would’ve fought the whole town for you” – I Forgot That You Existed, Taylor Swift

33. “The debt I owe, got to sell my soul ‘Cause I can’t say no No, I can’t say no Then my limbs all froze and my eyes won’t close ‘Cause I can’t say no No, I can’t say no” – Bury A Friend, Billie Eilish

34. “Take a breath and let the rest come easy Never settle down ‘cause the cash flow leaves me always wanting more” – Dear Maria, Count Me In, All Time Low

35. “I’m dizzy from jealousy And you’ve got something to lose But darling, don’t let that stop you” – Girlfriend, Best Ex

36. “I’m your number one with a bullet A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it” – Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down, Fall Out Boy

37. “When everyone believes you What’s that like?” – The Man, Taylor Swift

38. “This is the last time I’m telling you this: Put my name at the top of your list” – The Last Time, Taylor Swift & Gary Lightbody

39. “Do you have the time to listen to me whine?” – Basket Case, Green Day

40. “Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost” – Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day

41. “It takes a lot of courage to hold your own against the tide The wind is blowing, bar the doors, it wants to get inside It may seem hopeless, may seem like it’s the end In order to be broken, first it has to bend” – Run With The Giants, Sumo Cyco

42. “No wonder your heart feels it’s flying, your head feels it’s spinning Each happy ending is a brand new beginning” – Ever Ever After, Carrie Underwood

43. “There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen She had a marvellous time ruining everything” – the last great american dynasty, Taylor Swift

44. “Hey ho, let’s go Shoot ‘em in the back now What they want, I don’t know They’re all revved up and ready to go” – Blitzkreig Bop, The Ramones

45. “You think I’m funny when I tell the punchline wrong Now every February, you’ll be my Valentine” – Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

46. “If you want someone to save you, save yourself If you want someone to heal you, heal yourself If you want someone to save you, save yourself” – Free Yourself, Sumo Cyco

47. “I wrote the gospel on giving up But the real bombshells have already sung” – This Ain’t A Scene, Fall Out Boy

48. “I’m here on the kitchen floor You call, but I won’t hear it You said no one else How could you do this, babe?” – Babe, Sugarland & Taylor Swift

49. “Sometimes I get the feeling she’s watching over me And other times, I feel like I should go When through it all, the rise and fall The bodies in the streets” – Welcome To The Black Parade, MCR

50. “I knew you tried to change the ending Peter losing Wendy” – Cardigan, Taylor Swift

51. “But she’s so rock and roll And out of my league Is she out of my league? I hope not” – Trouble, NeverShoutNever

52. “Do you see my face in the neighbour’s lawn? Does she smile, or does she mouth fuck you forever?” – mad woman, Taylor Swift

53. “Diamonds, pearls and rubies all swoon Can I offer you a little salt for that wound?” – Don’t Make Me, Malinda

54. “The night we snuck into a yacht club party pretending to be a duchess and a prince” – Starlight, Taylor Swift

55. “I know I said some bullshit on the phone I never leave well enough alone” – ME! , Taylor Swift & Brendon Urie

56. “Give me therapy I’m a walking travesty, but I’m smiling at everything Therapy, you were never a friend to me And you can choke on your misery” – Therapy, All Time Low

57. “And I scream: For whatever it’s worth, I love you Ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard? He looks up grinning like a devil” – Cruel Summer, Taylor Swift

58. “Nobody tells me I need a rich man Doing my thing in my palace in Richmond” – Get Down, Six

59. “We were something don’t you think so? Rose flowing with your chosen family” – the 1, Taylor Swift

60. “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise So casually cruel in the name of being honest I’m a crumpled up piece of paper lying here ‘Cause I remember it all too well” - All Too Well, Taylor Swift

61. “Run baby, run Don’t ever look back They’ll tear us apart if they’re given the chance” - Check Yes Juliet, We The Kings

62. “Does he watch your favourite movies? Does he hold you when you cry? Does he let you tell him all your favourite parts, when you’ve seen it a hundred times? Does he sing to all your music while you dance to Purple Rain? Does he do all these things like we used to?” – Like We Used To, A Rocket To The Moon

63. “There I go, so dishonestly Leave a note for you, my only one” - Only One, Yellowcard

64. “Caution, police line, you better not cross! Is it the cop or am I the one who’s really dangerous?” – Warning, Green Day

65. “You’re not quite Satan but I really think I hate you” – Both Sides of the Story, We Are The In Crowd

66. “Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends? If you kiss me, will it be just like I dreamed it? Will it patch your broken wings?” – betty, Taylor Swift

67. “Nicotine and faded dreams Baby there’s no one else like me” – Say You Like Me, We The Kings

68. “That smile that made me believe But you were lying through your teeth” – Is She Better, Caitlin Hart

69. “So every day now, you brace for the sounds you only heard on TV You go to class scared, wondering where the best hiding spot would be” – Only The Young, Taylor Swift

70. “Soon I’ll have to go I’ll never see him grow But I hope my son will know My love is set in stone” – Heart Of Stone, Six

71. “Been trying to cover this hear out on my sleeve Been set on playing this down but I think you’re catching onto me” – Lie A Little Better, Lucy Hale

72. “I used to believe, in the days I was naïve That I’d live to see a day of justice dawn And though, I will die long before that moment comes I’ll die while believing still, it will come when I am gone” – Someday, Hunchback of Notre Dame

73. “I close my eyes and all I see is you I close my eyes, I try to sleep I can’t forget you” – I’d Do Anything, Simple Plan

74. “Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the idiot nation Everything isn’t meant to be okay” – American Idiot, Green Day

75. “Somehow something gave you the nerve to touch my hand It’s nice to have a friend” – It’s Nice To Have a Friend, Taylor Swift

76. “Stop fucking around with my emotions” – The Irony of Choking On a Lifesaver, All Time Low

77. “If you can just explain a single thing I’ve done to cause you pain I’ll go” – No Way, Six

78. “Don’t listen to the voices in your head Listen to your heart” – Listen To Your Heart, The Maine

79. “If you wanna piss of your parents Date me to scare them Show them you’re all grown up” – 18, Annarbor

80. “Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?” – I’m Not Okay, MCR

81. “Please leave me stranded It’s so romantic” – New Romantics, Taylor Swift

82. “Not for us, we made a pact Death meet fear” – Love You Wrong, Sumo Cyco

83. “Shade never made anybody less gay” – You Need To Calm Down, Taylor Swift

84. “You push my love away like it’s some kind of loaded gun But you never thought I’d run” – Better Man, Little Big Town

85. “You’re walking suicide You make me lose my heart and lose my mind” – Loose Cannon, Sumo Cyco

86. “Every year when October comes around and it gets colder out I grab my favourite hoodie There’s still a hole from when you borrowed it You used to sleep in it ‘cause it reminded you of me” – Nostalgic, Simple Plan

87. “I will be brave I will not let anything take away what’s standing in front of me” – A Thousand Years, Christina Perri

88. “But I feel so alive with these phantoms of night And I know that this life isn’t safe but it’s wild and free” – Beautiful Ghosts, Taylor Swift

89. “Went home and tried to stalk you on the internet Now I’ve read all of the books beside your bed” – Paper Rings, Taylor Swift

90. “It’s nice to know we had it all Thanks for watching as I fall And letting me know we were done” – My Happy Ending, Avril Lavigne

91. “And do you still think of me when I’m not there? Oh how could I still feel this way after all these years?” – Sleepy Kisses, Candy Hearts

92. “Jaw breaker, you got the kiss that I wanna savour” – Candy Store, Faber Drive & Ish

93. “As I walked out on the ledge Are you scared to death to live?” – Still Breathing, Green Day

94. “Write me off, give up on me Darling, what did you expect? I’m just off, a lost cause, long shot Don’t even take this bet” – A Little Less Sixteen Candles, Fall Out Boy

95. “Barefoot in the kitchen Sacred new beginnings that became my religion” – Cornelia Street, Taylor Swift

96. “And I still talk to you When I’m screaming at the sky” – my tears ricochet, Taylor Swift

97. “Now that I’m losing hope And there’s nothing else to show” – Pressure, Paramore

98. “And if I open my heart to you Will you show me what to do?” – A Way Back Into Love, Hayley Bennet & Hugh Grant

99. “Stopped running, started walking instead It was all in my head, nothing’s against me This war was more civil, I realised I had to secede from both sides” – Arrows, Fireworks

100. “I like when you get mad I guess I’m pretty glad that you’re alone You say she’s scared of me? Well, I don’t see what she sees but maybe it’s ‘cause I’m wearing your cologne.” – Bad Guy, Billie Eilish

#writing prompt #lyric prompts

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mrsunderhill678 · 4 years

Text

I am a writing goddes, bow before my throne of prose and murder.

"I choose death before dishonor, and courage before cowardice, if I am to die on my knees, my teeth will be bared and bloody, laughing at the world for such an attempt at my life.” - Avarell Boneson

“Perhaps I am a wolf, but that does not make me bad in nature, cruel at heart. It means I am willing to fight with my teeth bared and my claws covered in the crimson regret of bad men who fucked with the wrong bitch.” - Avarell Boneson

“I have so much to lose, and so I fight. I bleed. I carry on.” - Avarell Boneson

“I am cold steel and wildfire smoke, I am justice and red hot rage, I am the end of those who wrong me. Stand before me, pray, sell me an empty promise, I assure you, no lie, no man, no beast, can stand in my way.” - Avarell Boneson

“I am a culmination of every girl I ever was, from the little girl scared of the shadows to the woman who now stalks them.” - Avarell Boneson

“Blood for blood spilled is a simple rule, thus is karma's reign.” - Avarell Boneson

“Say a prayer for a damned man and you'll realize you are one.” - Jeremiah Smithen

“I'm in need of a hangin', but they'll need a thick rope to hang the man of a thousand heavy lies.” - Jeremiah Smithens

“I spose I was born for the gallows, might my shadow cheer as I swing? Bring me ta my knees, let me look 'pon the crowd 'a those I love so they know I'm payin' for my mistakes, and rightfully so. I'm tryin' ta be a better man, but the shadow of this hangman's noose lies cold on my soul, and it's a shiver a damned man can't shake.” - Jeremiah Smithens

“I can't take these names off these graves, cuz I was the one that carved em. I'm the one that hung them good men from them trees. They lie three feet off the ground, gaspin' for air that just don't come. Are these men I killed reflections 'a my future?” - Jeremiah Smithens

“Spose my brother made a deal with the devil, 'spose he sold my soul to compensate for the soul he din'it have.” - Jeremiah Smithens

“A century long blood debt lies heavy on my shoulders.” - Valentina Von Shepards

“His blood runs through mine, so I spose either way you put it, his blood spills.” - Valentina Von Shepards

“All I've got is the heart in my chest, but I've learned my heart is a never ending void of condemnable sorrow. This sorrow I feel is what'll kill me, in the end. Cause it's this sorrow that drives my vengeance.” - Valentina Von Shepards

“Either he will bleed for all he's done, or I'll bleed for all he's done.” - Valentina Von Shepards

“I walk in the shadow of kings and queens lost ta time. I am every man he ever killed, every women he broke, and every drop of blood he spilled. I 'spose I'm vengeance, and if it kills me, so be it. I ain't much livin', anyhow. Cause livin' for death ain't no life at all.” - Valentina Von Shepards

“I look to my future and whisper, "Spare me." I crawl on my knees, begging for this future of mine to show mercy, but all it ever says is, "You're only human, so die like one." But living was never about death, even if death is an important place to visit while still breathing. Life is about so much more than the end of it, I've learned. It's about love, the sacrifices you're willing to make, and your care for the people who've built you up over the years.” - Albert Spurs

“I've seen power corrupt men and drag them screaming down a twisting path of bones they've yet to break. Power brings the out the worst in the best of men, it corrupts the good and creates evil. All power ever stole is humanity from the most human of men.” - Albert Spurs

“Time doesn't care about us, and I suppose I shouldn't care much for time.” - Albert Spurs

“We’re the smoke rising from the world’s fucking pyre. Up and up we go, burnin' through the atmosphere, challengin' the sun with our heat.” - Craigsley Thorn

“I stand in a world where the devil's below me and God's above me, either side challengin' me ta be better or worse.” - Craigsley Thorn

“I's seen blood debts play out in gunpowder regrets and charms, I's seen war's that left men broken or dead, but no one ever walked out the same. After all, war breaks men in ways humans never could, it ain't the man that gets ta ya, it ain't the gunfire neither, it's your own damn hands that break ya in the end.” - Craigsley Thorn

“Long 'go I said I'd be the very best, I'd be the most fearsome mother fuckah America'd ever laid eyes 'pon, but that old, beaten country stood me down in a draw fight and I got damn lost. I lie here with a bullet in my head, hangin' from my family tree, 'spose in the end I'm swingin' from the same rope as my father. Funny, how the corpse don't fall too far from the tree, huh?” - Craigsley Thorn

“I was the quickest draw, toughest mother fuckah this side 'a the West, but 'spose my regret draws quicker. He fills me with six round slings 'a lead, and reloads quicker than I can recover.” - Craigsley Thorn

“Came ta America for a new life, but I 'spose when ya step foot in damned land ya become a damned man.” - Craigsley Thorn

“I am no god, though I am cruel as he.” - Cornelius Whitiker

“I suppose to a poor man, riches are poison they wish to choke on, I've learned there is a difference between a poor man's poison, and rich man's poison. I've choked on both and gotten used to these dualities.” - Cornelius Whitiker

“You forgot to wash yourself in the blood of the lamb, my friend, and now, I am washed in the blood of you.” - Cornelius Whitiker

“A man once asked me if I was God, and all I could really say is "Not quite yet, though if you mean God by the end of you, then yes, my friend, I am your extinction." - Cornelius Whitiker

“I have lived through every stage of life, I have been poor, homeless and broken, begging for release. I have been rich and mighty, helping those who had been like me, and now, I have succumbed to power, this rich man's poison tastes sweet on my lip. Like blood of a lamb on a wolf's maw it drips from my chin, a warning of more dangerous things to come, I suppose.” - Cornelius Whitiker

“I wear this halo as if it meant a thing, all this halo is to the holy men who witness me is false hope, false salvation. Even angels sing along to my crimson song, this battered melody of blood set remedies.” - Cornelius Whitiker

“I am crazy they say, but if they knew that I am just like them, they would run for their lives.” - Rolf Lambs

“Easy now, the dog who barks often gets bit.” - Rolf Lambs

“I am mad, they say, barking away my life, chasing cars and headlights with no real meaning. But can't they see, my purpose is their end? My purpose is the madness you say has no reason. But I, am the rhythm, my friend, I am the melody of barks and bites, howls and the spilling of blood that follows the wooping war cries.” - Rolf Lambs

“My heart still beats and thus yours shall not.” - Rolf Lambs

“Look at this hall of hollow souls, look at us, slaves to reason. Slaves to desperation and methods to madness.” - Rolf Lambs

“What can a wild dog do when faced with heaven? Do we bark at God as he barked his commandments?” - Rolf Lambs

“They tell me I have paid the devil's price, that I shook his hand. But don't you see? He shook mine, he shook mine.” - Rolf Lambs

“I am a wild dog of these wastelands, ragged fur and bloodied teeth, broken claws and angry eyes that tell you my bite is worse than my bark, and my tongue is worse than my teeth, for it's the words that fall from it, that kill you whilst still breathing. See? I am just, like, you, so shalt you run from yourself?” - Rolf Lambs

“This show has just begun, and I refuse to draw the curtains until they who have wronged me are strung up by their necks and swing as the curtains finally close.” - Bellatrix Hungarson

“I'm a wayfaring stranger on this road of vengeance, it's always raining here, and I can hear the whispers of the damned in the downpour. Alas, I can hear my own voice, but I've miles to go before I get what I fucking deserve.” - Bellatrix Hungarson

“Perhaps I'm a bad woman, perhaps I'm cruel, but only to those who damn well deserve it. I'd never fire my gun on they who never pulled the trigger, but I'd pull it on they who fired the bullet first.” - Bellatrix Hungarson

“You can damn me, but I've already been to hell, I met evil in the form of a suit and tie, lies behind a pearly white smile. The devil never had a pitchfork, he never had wings, he looked just fucking like us. He wore the faces of those we loved, pulled their skin over his and wore who they used to be like a taut mask, but it never seemed right. Stitches pulled at their smiles, scars and blood stained them. We've all been caught by the devil once or twice, for he starts by digging his claws into our hearts, and convincing us our hearts had always been bleeding.” - Bellatrix Hungarson

“I'm not okay, lost in the tide of vengeance, but at least I have Amaryliss. Her hands are as bloody as mine, her heart as broken as mine, but at least I'm her's and she's mine.” - Bellatrix Hungarson

“If only the specters could warn you of me, and yet, their cries remain silent. Howls into the abyss, never to be heard. Dead warnings lead to dead men, but who said the dead cannot live again?” - Atiogrim Crow

“Behold my dynasty of the dead, my kingdom of skeletons and ghouls, beasts that were once men. But I suppose when your heart stops beating, you become cold and heartless. And once you are heartless, you must find something to replace the soul you lost. Be it rage or anger, mercy or brutality, no heartless beast ever lived without a substitute.” - Atiogrim Crow

“I have shook hands with my darker side, and in turn, Arasill wrapped me in his cloak of shadows, he showed me that the stars blink out, and if you wish upon them, all you'll ever receive is a wolf's howl.” - Atiogrim Crow

“I suppose I am broken, but in a beautiful way. Dark in a way that isn't quite holy, but isn't perfectly sinful.” - Atiogrim Crow

“I down my pain as if it was the finest red wine, I can't separate the pleasure from the pain no more, or maybe I've just gone numb.” - Julia Vanderwitch

“I try to be someone more than this broken girl, but the shadows have surrounded me, and claimed me their ruler. I never intended to spill blood, I never intended to be sinful and wicked, but here I am, downing my own pain as if it was red wine, and spilling other's pain from the glass.” - Julia Vanderwitch

“The devil is not beneath us, nor is God above us, he stands right in front of me, with his empty eyes and smile, his baseball cap and smoke floating around him like willow wisps in the fog. But these wisps never brought me an adventure, they were never there to show me my purpose. All they did was lead me to the deep end, drowning me in this red wine of pain I drink.” - Julia Vanderwitch

“I am the blood-stained beast in Eden, yet the angel of flaming blade does not pay attention to my cries. He does not heed my mournful howls.” - Julia Vanderwitch

“I drag my feet 'cross holy ground, scaldin' my soles, yet all I do is trudge on. I'd say I'm a soldier, but this holy ground burns my feet. I hold this rifle in my hands like a cross, I call it my saving grace, but these days, faith won't save a damned man.” - Dolfin Holts

“I've fought for honor, for blood, for faith and men I cannot name. So why can't I fight for myself?” - Dolfin Holts

“I have saved lives by endin' others, tell me how that's fair. We're broken beasts, bending the fucking crop and watching the sheep scatter as we bare our teeth. But all we ever did was try to save them.” - Dolfin Holts

“Oh lord, let me find myself a river so I can wash these sins clean, but I am haunted by the ghost of my brother. His smile looms over mine, whispering again and again, "You did not save me." And it's true. All I could do was flee, and listen to his howls. Look at all this death I've caused. My brother rots, still walking this Earth, but nothing more than a waxy white beast, clawing at the living, envious of the fact that they may end their hunger. I look into the eyes of every dead man that ever lived, and I see his eyes. His brown eyes, full of love for his family, full of rage and joy, passion and addiction. I'd never seen brown eyes so beautiful. Until I held my baby brother in my arms. And those are the same eyes that looked at me with rage as I gripped my rifle, and fled as the dead swarmed the livin.” - Dolfin Holts

“Fear handed me a gun and said, "Soldier, keep marchin," and that's just what I did.” - Dolfin Holts

“I am no soldier, because this holy ground burns my feet, and these graves break my damn heart.” - Dolfin Holts

“It's strange, how the burden of being a good man lies on my shoulders. I've gunned men down in foreign countries with hardly the blink of my eyes. They had names, families, and yet, they say I'm a good man for putting them down.” - Kerry Hopwood

“I've learned that soldiers fight for what they see as right, and usually, it ain't what the world sees as right. We've all got our own definition of peace, of salvation. But most men just don't wanna be saved. They believe the sun will come before the rain, but any flower that grows comes after the rain.” - Kerry Hopwood

“We are gunfire and bravery, cowardice and courage, the fleeing mouse and the roaring lion. Because we can't be one thing, without experiencing the other.” - Kerry Hopwood

“We've got our chins held high and our guns held strong, so what do you do when faced with a good man? Do you join him in this war for peace? Or do you become the man that stands in his way? You may die either way, but it's better to die for a good cause, than to die because you opposed one.” - Kerry Hopwood

“I shook hands with a devil, and with my heart still beating he dragged it to Georgia and traded it for a golden fiddle.” - Bediah Boe

“I'm a circus act, lifting these weights no man can bare, that no man should, bare. Yet here I am, my strength turned to weakness. I am broken, battered, bloodied, laughing my way through the sorrow.” - Bediah Boe

“Look at this showman's smile, look at the blood on the clown's teeth. I am such a tragic creature. I've traded blows with the devil, and if this rage is the death of me, let it too be the death of him.” - Bediah Boe

“He says we are jesters and vagabonds, outcasts and broken souls. But ain't he the one that made us such? Behold, Borbasli's Siren Cove, the howls ain't the waves my friend, though he'll sell em as such. The wind whips at our backs and leaves us bloody, we all knew where the siren's song went. Yet still we followed. She brang us down ta her level below the sea floor, drownin' us while holdin' our cold hands.” - Bediah Boe

“I spose when faced with love in a world 'a hate, you stumble toward it despite the danger. Ain't no warnin' signs that could keep ya from the danger.” - Bediah Boe

“Redemption is for men with sorrowful tales ta tell, men with methods ta their madness. But here I am, with my Jack Daniels and moonshine, with a sorrowful tale ta tell, but no method ta my madness. For I am not it's orchestrator. He hides behind pearly smiles and beautiful lies, enchantin' he was, ugly in the heart, but just as a siren, beautiful in the voice.” - Bediah Boe

“If you saw the world through my eyes you would fear me.” - Odeyis Bravacallo

“I've learned that the good man will always become enslaved by the bad one. You see, good men don't understand what it takes, to be... Good. Or to do good, rather. They spare the cruel and let the good die all for the sake of a bad man's life.” - Odeyis Bravacallo

“Revolution is a slow game of chess, full of Queen Gambit's and false Stalemates. I will sacrifice my pawns and watch as the brooks and knights swarm your castle, all because the king stood on the front lines!” - Odeyis Bravacallo

“Change is a funny thing, it can be quick, or slow, but it never really feels like anything changes, does it? Only when you look back do you realize nothing's the same.” - Odeyis Bravacallo

“We are ensnared by reason and purpose, guises of self and individualism, but in reality, we're no one! We're minds and souls, but not much else. I don't choose to define myself. One minute I could be the mad hatter, the next, I could be Alice, or the rabbit leading the way, warning you of the time passing by. But time dies slow, doesn't it?” - Odeyis Bravacallo

“Every Robin Hood who dared nock an arrow was killed before it ever flew through the air. All it takes for a revolution is a single arrow, so I wouldn't blame a mad king for banning use of the bow.” - Odeyis Bravacallo

“My life is reflected in the barrel of a gun, I suppose all it's ever been is an instrument of death.” - Hellen Crimsonburn

“Sticks and stones have broken my bones, words have left me bleeding, but I will build an empire from this pain, this grief, this bleeding heart. Not every kingdom is built through fear, I will rule through mercy and last longer than violence could ever hope to.” - Hellen Crimsonburn

“Keep your enemies close, and keep your allies in the dark, so that when the shadows come, they can become the light the kills the dark.” - Hellen Crimsonburn

“Some days I'm a bad woman of sticks and stones, and words that kill. But most days, I'm just scared, turning my fear into courage.” - Hellen Crimsonburn

“I have seen my life reflected in the barrel of my own gun, but I refuse to be an instrument of death for higher powers.” - Hellen Crimsonburn

“It ain't the greater good for all if a man has to die. What happened to his, greater good?” - Axel Whithers

“In this day and age, we sacrifice more than we give, and we kill more than we live.” - Axel Whithers

“We're out here, payin' the price for what we done, sadly, in this kill or be killed world, death is a collective punishment for the human race.” - Axel Whithers

“I suppose to a soldier, loyalty means sumthin' different. It means ya don't leave no one behind, even when a fellow soldier dies, we carry him in the arms 'a our memories.” - Axel Whithers

“We're soldiers, loyal ta a code 'a honor most men don't follow. Honor ain't found in the scourge, it ain't found in the dirt, or the mud. Honor is found in the men that faced the world and din'it let it change em.” - Axel Whithers

“I have seen how war kills men. All it has to do is give em a gun and enemies on the front line, firin' back.” - Axel Whithers

“This gun in my hand I once would'a called the devil, is my only savin' grace these days. It is an instrument 'a death as it is an instrument 's life, and I 'spose I too, represent this damned soldier's duality.” - Axel Whithers

“It's foolish, ta push against an immovable object, when you ain't an indestructible force.” - Milos Fellwitz

“No dead man ever came back for more, all 'cept for Gustave. He plays a dangerous game of three steps forward, five steps back, don't he know the more steps he takes back, the more likely it is he'll fall into his own fucking grave? Or worse, back pedal into those he loves, shovin' them inta their grave.” - Milos Fellwitz

“Hammer's up bitch, this town is damned because a damned man has stepped through it's got damn gates.” - Milos Fellwitz

“Stare me down, raise your fists and charge, but just know, every good men that ever lived, died. But look at the conquerors of history. Gengis Kahn, raiders of seas and England. It's the bad men who live on.” - Milos Fellwitz

“I'm rotten to the fucking core, my blood-stained grin is a threat, a promise and a warnin' ta all who stand in my way. So COME ON, send an army my way, I'll stand, fists raised, threatful grin flashed, ain't no one gon' live ta tell the tale 'a the immovable, indestructible force.” - Milos Fellwitz

“I am Milos, motherfucking, Fellwitz, the cruelty of history trembles as I grin, the brutality of this world quivers.” - Milos Fellwitz

“I'm the result of a merciless world, and you'll be the result of a merciless man.” - Milos Fellwitz

“Morality, it don't get ya nowhere, if it's death you're wishin' for, grab your morals and stick ta em.” - Kai Fell

“I trust my gut, and when that fucker tells me ta pull the trigger, I damn well listen.” - Kai Fell

“We're all cheats, liars and thieves, throwin' our morals away the moment we realize we're God damn mortal.” - Kai Fell

“I've learned that ta survive, I've ought ta trust my revolver sooner than a stranger.” - Kai Fell

“Somedays I'm a saint, other days I'm a sinner, but I'm a crook even with the most charmin' 'a smiles. Good men would swing me from the gallows if they realized I was a bad one. But it's easy to lure men into false senses of security.” - Kai Fell

“I've learned that ta survive, ya can't be good, cause the world ain't gon' be good ta you.” - Kai Fell

“Call me ill, call me sick, but there ain't no cure ta a loss 'a morals.” - Kai Fell

“I ain't nuthin' but a specter 'a flickerin' morals.” - Kai Fell

“I am who I need to be, and I've learned, who I am changes with the tickin' 'a the clock.” - Kai Fell

“I walk within the valley of death, the shadow overbearing, the only light to be found the flickering of my cigarette.” - Banks Cutthroat

“I'm a bad man, committing bad deeds under the false guise of world peace. But we can't attain peace through violence.” - Banks Cutthroat

“One warlord rises and a revolution charges, cut the head from the snake and you become the damn serpent.” - Banks Cutthroat

“The sun sits pretty on the sky, the birds sing, the light shines upon me, yet still, in all this beauty I am ugly.” - Banks Cutthroat

“In this world, damnation is the only salvation we deserve.” - Banks Cutthroat

“The Earth is no longer home, for Mother Nature weeps and weeps, leaving us in a shallow river of her tears. Blood red they are, I wonder if she mocks us for the blood we've spilled. Or does she grieve as any mother would?” - Banks Cutthroat

“All this violence is ugly, and man has no right to make it beautiful.” - Banks Cutthroat

“When heaven bares it's teeth, you learn to raise a lil' hell.” - Edmund Goodbread

“In heaven I met a damned man, with his empty eyes and scarred smile, some days I got'sa wonder, was 'e God or just a very crooked angel?” - Edmund Goodbread

“Livin' scares me, dyin' terrifies me, but there ain't never been no in-between. I have to live in a constant state 'a fear. Fear for existence, and horror for the end 'a it.” - Edmund Goodbread

“The boy I was is cinders, cause this vengeance is a reflection 'a the man who made it. I'm a lowlife tryin' ta get my head right, but I'm spinnin' in every which direction, shootin' point blank at every blurred shape.” - Edmund Goodbread

“I am parched, drinking from pools of my own blood. Alas, it brings me no satisfaction, but I am doomed to drink from a well that shall only ever bring me thirst.” - Murphy Joy

“The days get harder as time moves on, I suppose time knows how to move on better than I ever did. But how am I to move on from what I do not know?” - Murphy Joy

“I am in an eternal purgatory, fog wisps around me, concealing the beasts within the shadows and mist.” - Murphy Joy

“Look at me, all this stardust in my eyes, these long imploded pieces of the nebula.” - Murphy Joy

“These tears are not for what I have, or what I lost, but for what I had.” - Murphy Joy

“I am Murphy Joy, I tell myself over and over, but it sparks nothing in me. Murphy Joy, Murphy Joy, Murphy Joy, is that me or a man I stole?” - Murphy Joy

“I feel as if being me is a distant goal I can't reach. I strive to be myself, but whiskey regrets find me first.” - Bryan Jensen

“My past keeps me fractured, like barbed wire under my shirt it rips into me as I move, as I breathe, as I sit. I have held it for so long that it became a part of me, and now, I fear all I can ever do is bleed.” - Bryan Jensen

“My memory is a slate of broken emotions and raging fires, leaving me stranded and cold, yet surrounded by flame.” - Bryan Jensen

“I cannot accept peace when my whole life has been devoid of it. With all this pain, I fear peace. For in the quiet moments of the night my grief screams the loudest.” - Bryan Jensen

“These lullabies my scars sing are damning, wretched and ugly, they tell me, "Forget how to feel, Bryan, forget that you're real," and I do.” - Bryan Jensen

“I watch the world pass me by with a blank gaze, as if I am in a deadly haze.” - Bryan Jensen

“I spend more time sinnin' then I do grievin', these days. This providence 'a scars and memories have left me numb.” - Sampson O’Connel

“Life and death, same thing, really, I's learned both of em are cold, and neither of em are peace.” - Sampson O’Connel

“I am a blank slate 'a sin and misery, tryin' ta remember what the fuck it was like ta be human.” - Sampson O’Connel

“These days, trouble stalks me as a wolf would a rabbit, it snarls and barks, but I don't hear it til the bastard's two feet behind me. I's learned trouble comes, and sometimes, it just don't go.” - Sampson O’Connel

“Look at this life 'a mine and you'll learn there ain't no greener grass on the other side 'a the pasture, just remnants of a wildfire I set ta feel sumthin' other than the cold.” - Sampson O’Connel

“I swing this lasso and try ta catch sumthin' other than myself, but somehow, I always end up draggin' me in.” - Sampson O’Connel

“The devil's got debts ta pay with me, scores ta settle. He's put a price on my head, and shouted to the heavens, "Whosoever sends this man to me howlin', gets the price of a thousand lives." - Sampson O’Connel

“Listen ta the wind, and tell me, is that a thousand angels, a thousand damned souls howlin, or the hell hounds comin' for my hide? Cause these days, I just can't God damn tell.” - Sampson O’Connel

“Good men have suffered cause 'a me, 'spose the boy I was suffered too.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“I've made friends with all this rage, this greed, this hate, I go hand in hand with my vengeance, and these days, we leave death in our wake.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“This world is an eye for an eye, a brother for a brother, and blood for blood. Wolves stalk and rabbits cower, my ol' friend always said trouble comes, and sometimes it just don't go. And I, my friend, and the trouble that just don't go.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“Inside me is rage and love, anger and hate, passion and sorrow. I am a howl of everything I's ever been.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“My bootprints are bloodied in the snow, and whosoever dares follows in their wake will smell the smoke and flee. Cause only men with nuthin' but rage left can face the damn flame. The smoke blots my vision, the sky burnin' orange with the flames 'a my rage, and I spose all I can do is breathe it in.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“A woman once told me, that if your demons are silent, listen for your angels. But my demons howl, these days. They're in the wind and the fallin' 'a the trees. My angels could try ta find me, but they'd be food for the wolves and I'd find them bloodied before they ever reached me.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“My anger is a point blank rifle, leavin' messes and stains in the snow.” - Clayborne Pettygore

“We all lose our voice ev'ry now and then, forget that our strength ain't determined by how loud we can shout, but how softly we can speak when our anger dares swallow us whole.” - Milo Vadotil

“We're few, but our voices are many.” - Milo Vadotil

“Bein' a warrior ain't just bout fightin', it's bout lovin' what you fight for. In all my years I's learned that the greatest trait a warrior can have is compassion. It's kindness and mercy that wins the war, not bloodshed.” - Milo Vadotil

“Some men are handed destiny on a silver platter, and told that's all they can be, and men like me, men like Chance and Kobi, are given the scraps 'a destiny. Guess all we can do is lick it off our fingers and scrounge up the crumbs of our fate.” - Milo Vadotil

“I never saw fate as sumthin' set in stone, just a path 'a bread crumbs ta follow.” - Milo Vadotil

“If I could give a young man some words 'a advice that will always stand true, I'd tell him this. Cryin' is the strongest thing you'll ever do, bein' you is the bravest thing you'll ever do, and hidin' from yourself is the worst thing you can do for yourself and those around you.” - Milo Vadotil

“Man's best friend is compassion and strength built on love.” - Milo Vadotil

“Slip on my boots, try to trudge on and find, these boots are heavy for men who ain’t walked hell. But I ask, with boots so heavy, how is a man to take a single step?” - Damascus McNemanin

“My life passes me by cause I just don't God damn move on.” - Damascus McNemanin

“Power is a deadly thing, it seeps through good men's veins and whispers in there ear, "Let there be dark," and before God can ever shout, "Let there be light," they're consumed by the delusion that they're greater.” - Damascus McNemanin

“The worst thing bout me, is that I can't kick myself out. I'm stuck with my own company, and isn't that damning?” - Damascus McNemanin

“They tell me men like me can be free, they say, "Thank you, for your sins," and you're expected to say, "You're welcome," as if those sins weren't heavy.” - Damascus McNemanin

“I flick the light on, but the switch just don't work no more. The bulb swings flickerin' from the chain as I should from the gallows.” - Damascus McNemanin

“I look ta the starless sky and wonder, oh midnight dove, where do you wander? You are lost to me and yourself, flyin' toward the sun to kill the man who killed you. But you were never a grave, were you? Just a little critter, wanderin' this Earth 'a endless possibilities. But with endless possibilities comes evil, I've learned. What once was a gift has become a curse to all who hold it. The wrapping lies forgotten on the floor, our excitement has turned to horror, and this joy has become... Death.” - Barley Teatherhall

“Look at me, surrounded by these bloodied knives and empty bullet casings. All this peace was earned in violent delights, but don't violent delights have violent ends?” - Barley Teatherhall

“There's murder deep in my heart and rage deep in my soul. These roots kill me from the inside out and I was born as decaying oak and ashen leaves.” - Barley Teatherhall

“Bein' me is a rebellion to who I am, I suppose.” - Barley Teatherhall

“Legends never die, and thus, I am history.” - Killis Richens

“I dream of the shallow end of life, yet I remain in deep water, drowning for my sins.” - Killis Richens

“Justice despises me, mercy fears me, so I imagine death is head over heels for me.” - Killis Richens

“I cannot know peace, the light has trickled from my blood stream and left the shadows to stick to my heart. Festered weeds they are, killing me from inside, rather than warning me with a flesh wound.” - Killis Richens

“I have been grieved for and yet still, I live. I am a shadow of myself, a shadow of death and this trigger that controls me.” - Killis Richens

“I'm a bad man, blaming he who did not pull the trigger. After all, I'm the one in the chamber, being fired off in rage and consequence.” - Killis Richens

“All it takes to live is a little bit of faith and love.” - Freydis Grimkellson

“I almost lost myself in the nightmares I had faced, and da greatest tragedy we could ever face is losing ourselves. Because if we don't have ourselves, who can we really have?” - Freydis Grimkellson

“The world has told me who I am, who I'm supposed to be, but lies won't change me.” - Freydis Grimkellson

“In her eyes I see the waving grass, da splashing waves and the butterfloies fluttering past. I see us hand in hand, facing the storm or the calm sea, we'll face both with a smile.” - Freydis Grimkellson

“A devil and a beast took me in his clawed hands and told me, "This will heal you." But blood never healed anyone.” - Freydis Grimkellson

“Some times, life is a war, it gives us a shield and tells us to splinter it, it gives us an ax and tells us to bloody it, but not all conflict has to be violent.” - Freydis Grimkellson

“I'll fight death with black eyes and bloody knuckles, because I'd rather die fighting for a dream, than die knowing life passed me by.” - Wesley Homan

“I don't want to live forever, no reasonable man would, with immortality comes regret, and for a man who has more regrets than he can count, immortality is a curse more than a blessing.” - Wesley Homan

“Some days I miss the bright sun, I miss the days I was found and not lost, but maybe I'm not lost, just found in a way I've never been.” - Wesley Homan

“Some fight for honor, others fight for blood or their country, but I fight for others. I'd never fight for myself, my life isn't worth another.” - Wesley Homan

“I'm a renegade in a world full of cheats, in the olden days they'd call me "Most wanted, dead or alive," simply for being free.” - Wesley Homan

“The men who are willing to fight, are pioneers of future days full of bright sunlight and birds soaring by.” - Wesley Homan

“In a world full of kings and queens hellbent on domination, freedom is a rebellion.” - Wesley Homan

“It's good to be yourself in a world full of masked men.” - Wesley Homan

“If you're facing the opposition, preach your dream and find most men are dreamers, not fighters.” - Wesley Homan

“I've been swimming in the deep end with the sharks, praying they don't smell the black blood I've spilled. But they pass me by, because they're more interested in innocent blood.” - Gregory Malhawkson

“I have tried to love first, I have tried to understand my enemy, but there's nothing but hate in his veins and sins in his smile. His cracked yellow teeth haunt my dreams, and every time a wolf howls I fear he draws ever nearer. He is a blood-stained beast, but I can't become him in the pursuit of peace.” - Gregory Malhawkson

“My foe once told me I can't swim against his tide, that I'll drown before ever I find the source of my misery. But doesn't he know, I've been walking on his river bank, crawling up from behind.” - Gregory Malhawkson

“Just remember, damned wolf, if you're justice, and I'm mercy, than vengeance will swoop down and cut one of our throats. And in these years under your boot I've learned, I'm a gambling man.” - Gregory Malhawkson

“In the mirror I see his ever smiling face, the rose on his tailored suit, the blood on his blade and smile. The beast I damned stares back at me with my eyes. All this blood, all this darkness, all these scars and this loss, and for what? A mad man's war against peace?” - Gideon Krober

“Time and karma are chasing me, blood on their blades and my sins listed on cracked yellow paper. I fear karma, but I fear myself, too, so what can I really say but, "I'm fucked?" - Clark Singer

“I'm knocking on heaven's gates, cause I can't take this anymore. But my allies aren't in heaven, they're right beside me, but sometimes I wonder if I'm just preparing for the future.” - Clark Singer

“Oh mother, won't you take these guns from me? Won't you take this darkness and turn it into light? I want you in my life but fear the fact that you gaze upon me. You were my sanctuary and my light, my home and my heart, and now I've run miles from where you wanted me to be. God was never on my side, but you always were.” - Clark Singer

“I can point my guns at the ground and say, "I can't fire! I won't!" But the moment I'm in danger I'll raise that rifle and ruin another life.” - Clark Singer

“My sins sit here on my sleeve, the devil on my shoulder stitching more into the fabric of my coat. The angel lost the battle against the devil on my shoulder, and now all I can hear in my ear are the whispered victory cries of this beast lying heavy on my coat.” - Clark Singer

“In my reflection I see every man I've ever killed and the eyes of my mother, twisted in some odd way.” - Clark Singer

“If I were to retrieve the darkest parts of me and shove them in the corner, you'd be looking at such an ugly, wicked, blood-stained beast, with sharp jagged teeth and eyes that beg for death.” - Abadellon Hourglass

“They say time's all we got, but I'm not the ordinary type, I'm blood and death, war wrought symphonies and screeching angels. So let's kill tonight, my friend, let's kill! Blood shall lie slick on the dance floor, and in this carnival of souls we'll learn, the howls of the damned are the most beautiful of arrangements.” - Abadellon Hourglass

“Humanity is a damned race, have been ever since the serpent infected Eden. So don't you suppose that's God's fault for giving the serpent venom? One garden, one serpent, and a wrathful God? Eden never stood a chance, nor did Eve, nor Adam, nor we.” - Abadellon Hourglass

“Perhaps power is the serpent to my Eden.” - Abadellon Hourglass

“All the roses have turned to graves, all the dogs have turned to wolves, and all the men have turned to beasts.” - Abadellon Hourglass

“Look at us, damned in a beautiful way, howling in a sinful sway. It was always meant to be this way, so sing, dance, your dark, merry little heart is content only with sin. So sin, my friend. Only men who feed their demons make it through the dark.” - Abadellon Hourglass

“It's my time to shine, cause I've learned history favors the underdog.” - Chance Shade

“The world'll try to beat you down, man, it'll tell you you're out of your mind, but you just gotta say, "Get outta my way, this is my life and I'll reach my star." Dreams is all we are, stars in the night sky who forgot how to blink out.” - Chance Shade

“We're dogs chasing headlights and butterflies, just for the thrill of it all. We'd never dare catch em, we'd never dare end the chase in blood.” - Chance Shade

“I've got dreams that keep me up in the dead of night, I toss and I turn, and somedays I forget, I'm on my way home. Cause this path has been long, man. It's winding and it's cold, it's covered in snow and regret. But I can't go back, cause the snow's covered my footprints in a cold sheet of forgotten dreams.” - Chance Shade

“No matter where I go, no matter where I run, I'm always moving forward, and I think that's what counts.” - Chance Shade

“After all these cold nights, and all these cold paths, I found my star in the night sky. If we blink out, we'll blink out together.” - Chance Shade

“I have been regret soft spoken, and anger wrongly placed, what am I but a whisper of everything I've ever felt?” - Billy Velmenstru

“My heart's airing out, hanging from the old tire swing, draining every childhood memory of innocence and turning it into pain.” - Billy Velmenstru

“We're swimming our way home, trying the best we can. But our doubts and insecurities are blood thirsty sharks, smelling the pain before we ever do.” - Billy Velmenstru

“I look to the sun and smile, but she knows better than that.” - Billy Velmenstru

“I am bullet holes and stale cigarette smoke, the broken cigarette hanging from a bad man's lip. I ain't a saint, but I could be if I tried. But I never will. We were born sinners and crawling up the hill I've been at the bottom of since birth just ain't worth the fucking effort.” - Billy Velmenstru

“Oh world, I'm home, it's a lonely place in this heart of mine, and I just don't know where to lay it.” - Billy Velmenstru

“On a sunny day I'm the good Samaritan, but when required, I am the burglar and the man lying bloodied on the side of the road.” - Carlados Dove

“In a world of restless souls, good men are hard to come by, so if you smile, and you agree, the restless soul will blindly follow you into the dark. But they never knew I led them just under the bed where the monsters reside.” - Carlados Dove

“Monsters are just tales and myths of what humanity's done. We are more blood-stained then the wolf, more viscous than the grizzly, deadlier than the black plague and more mysterious than the plague doctors who wandered the cobble streets, with death and intrigue in their stride.” - Carlados Dove

“Around here, no one keeps their eyes closed, we're staring at the higher powers, challenging their gaze.” - Carlados Dove

“The clock stops ticking upon my arrival, for it knows I am here to steal time.” - Carlados Dove

“I shook hands with the devil as I looked in the mirror, and I found, he looks just like me. His crooked smile and fine tailored suit. My mother always told me the devil wears a suit and tie, so I suited up and straightened my tie, flashed my crooked grin to the world, and said, "The devil's home." - Carlados Dove

“Death is the only presence protecting us from the horrors of life, these days. I'd hang myself from a noose if it meant freedom, though my body would be swinging, my soul would be soaring.” - Aciano Dominick

“Perhaps I have to cut the head from the snake if I ever wish to see Eden again. It was beautiful, my paradise, for my paradise was family. But they were stolen from me, howling "Save me! Save me!" But all I could do was stare at the barrel of my gun and swear I'd kill the man who took them.” - Aciano Dominick

“He stole my life in his stride, and in the barrel of his gun are the howls of those I love, and the damned cries he ripped from my throat.” - Aciano Dominick

“Vengeance is all I know, it's crawled into my heart and my head, knocking around my skull and whispering empty promises in my ear. "You will be free," it says, "You will be free," but his death won't grant me freedom, only mine, will. I suppose to me, my death is my Eden.” - Aciano Dominick

“Some days I believe it is my faith that desires to kill me.” - Sigmallio Stirling

“The weight of my silence is overbearing, but the weight of his silence is damning.” - Sigmallio Stirling

“They say it is our faith, our prayer that keeps us alive, but all I hear are echoes of my own voice. God cannot possibly be speaking to me from my own echo, for if he did, all I'd ever hear are questions and cries.” - Sigmallio Stirling

“I tell my love to meet me on the battlefield, hand in hand we will fight this injustice, but somedays I fear it is this battlefield that will be our grave. How could we possibly call it a warzone when it's all corpses? It'd be more appropriate to call it a graveyard, a damned place, courage and honor traveled to my heart to die.” - Sigmallio Stirling

“I have met the devil, with his crooked smile and slanted eyes. He tells me to kneel at his feet, or he'll kneel at my grave, but what does that mean? Is it him or my faith that desires to kill me? Does he want me to fall, or has he already seen me plummet?” - Sigmallio Stirling

“I cannot stand this silence, this damning silence, it is all I hear. No echoes, no prayers, no thoughts, can kill the weight of this silence. It brings me down to it's level and tells me, "God cannot hear you, for he never was." I cry and I weep but it is of no use. It is as if I have no mouth, and yet, I must scream.” - Sigmallio Stirling

“It's easy to say "I did the best I could," when the worst comes to fruition, but if you didn't give it your all, if you didn't fight the immeasurable odds with black eyes and bloody teeth, than you didn't really do the best you could. You did the best you could without sacrifice.” - Michael Tabrowski

“They say in order to do good by the world you must do wrong, but how can that possibly be right?” - Michael Tabrowski

“I've learned there is no sanctuary, no safe haven, no heaven no hell, that can save me from my damning memories.” - Michael Tabrowski

“I cannot preach what I do not know, so when I tell you redemption is not something you want to go through, I mean it. Stay on the right path the best you can, because redemption is hard. It's painful, it's not a race, it's not a marathon, it's a constant battle against yourself and the demons that have become a part of you. It's not a path for the light of heart, only the dark of heart. And it's best to keep your heart beating red as long as possible.” - Michael Tabrowski

“Not all men who do bad, are bad.” - Michael Tabrowski

“Strength earned from grief is a painful kind of courage.” - Michael Tabrowski

“If you look behind the mask of a damned man, you'll find every battle they ever lost, and every smile they ever tried to hide.” - Michael Tabrowski

“Sticks and stones have broken me, and I call myself a warrior?” - Markus Caesar

“I wear Dr. Emory's broken crown of thorns atop my skull. It drains the dreams from my mind and pulls the hope from my veins.” - Markus Caesar

“I'm a dog these days, sniffin' up the same old secret, the same old grave. My owner scorns me, but I can't stop sniffin', cause these bones are mine. I see my own skull grinnin', my ribs weary and broken, cuz in this age, I'm diggin' up my haunted future.” - Markus Caesar

“I was once a warrior, tryin' ta bring justice ta the innocent, justice ta the vulnerable, but now I'm the one who needs savin.” - Markus Caesar

“This road I walked were full 'a secrets and fresh dug graves, but if I'd looked a lil' farther I would'a seen a tomb that read my name.” - Markus Caesar

“I'm just a carnival 'a rust, the jesters and fools have damned themselves for bowin' ta me.” - Markus Caesar

“I 'spose I explain my pain so beautifully cause I can't handle the truth.” - Markus Caesar

“Chargin' inta the unknown turns ya inta a mystery, dun'it?” - Markus Caesar

“My memories are closin' in for the kill, these bloodthirsty lions and fools.” - Markus Caesar

“In these past hauntin's, I see Emory's curious eyes, feedin' upon the memories that damned me. In the mirror I see his eyes, his flickerin' soul, he's hauntin' me, his laugh echoin' in my cries. “ - Markus Caesar

“I fear I have witnessed true evil, and he is far from human. Men can be bad ta the core, but no warlord, no conqueror, no blade ridden fool has ever found themselves lookin' at the world through evil's eyes. For he wears a suit and tie, dancin' in the shawl 'a human misery like he owned the damned race.” - Markus Caesar

“I haz von many a time, but all it took vaz one loss to break me.” - Sameth Winn

“I'd burn my bridges if I zought it vould bring me to her. My sweet daughter, my star in ze night sky, I cannot find her, she vaz my North Star, and now I fear I can't find home. I cannot move on, I cannot remember how to breathe, she vaz the breath in my lungs.” - Sameth Winn

“I hold Toby's heart in my hands, and it beats as slow as mine does. It drips vith sorrow, vith regret and love, but ze grief screams louder.” - Sameth Winn

“Ze vorld haz stopped shining, and zis pain overpowers my love. Ve're holding onto each ozah, because ve're all ze ozah has. Our hearts have broken in half, and sadly, grief found it'z opportunity and filled up ze ozah half.” - Sameth Winn

“Life has taken me through many trials, I'm still standing, but that doesn't mean I've regained all I had won.” - Toby Winn

“I close my eyes and dream of better days, it's sad, that we don't get to be here long, and spend our days dreaming of times that were better.” - Toby Winn

“The good ol' days have passed us by, the wind heard our love and took it with his stride.” - Toby Winn

“I hold Sameth's heart in my hands, but it beats slower and slower, some days I fear it'll stop with all this grief.” - Toby Winn

“All we want is to hold our daughter in our arms again, to hear her laugh, to watch her smile. But love has become such a war. Grief and regret stands on the front lines, firing their rifles in rage and pain, telling us this is all we'll ever be.” - Toby Winn

“These memories won't heal, they're scars in my mind, trouble that just doesn't go. I fear this pain is all I can muster, the smiles have faded from my face, my laugh don't sound the same. There was joy behind that smile once, love behind that laugh. But this smile remains full of tears, this laugh full of glass.” - Toby Winn

“I am the easy target the arrow sinks inta, cause they always come for the wild ones, the damned, the freaks 'a nature.” - Bortley Dekruiful

“The circus dragged me into it's depths kicking and screamin', I followed no siren's song. I fought back tooth and nail 'gainst this blood-stained melody, but she covered me with marks 'a her claws and notes 'a her song. And now I'm in a trance, a foolish delusion that I'll be the last one standin' in a murder full 'a crows.” - Bortley Dekruiful

“I make friends with the beasts and lions in my head, with friends like these I'm my own fuckin' enemy.” - Bortley Dekruiful

“I am the beast master, the damned man, but out of all the beasts I've ever tamed, I'm the hardest one ta catch. I can make friends with lions and cheats, and yet, I can't tame this beast that is me. I am my own beast, and I do not bow to myself.” - Bortley Dekruiful

“I am a wildfire, scorching myself and anyone who dares step foot in the ashen forest of me. I could build an empire of these scorched bones, these scalded skulls. I could sit upon my throne and gaze upon an ever smiling crowd of subjects that forgot to burn is to die.” - Richter Vellomonte

“There are no more heroes in this ashen land, this forest of burnt stumps. Our capes flutter in tatters, relics of who we were draped over our shoulders. But who we used to be is a weight we cannot seem to lift.” - Richter Vellomonte

“This world is kill or be killed, do not forget that he who refuses to pull the trigger catches the bloody bullet.” - Richter Vellomonte

“I suppose, with all this blood on my hands, I have become a wolf. Or a beast, or some extant form of man. I have bled on the floor, and as I realized there were no more heroes left to save me, I had to become the villain that would save himself.” - Richter Vellomonte

“Life is a terrible thing, wrought with terror and horror, ugly prose and poetry, it was never beautiful, just a bloodbath.” - Richter Vellomonte

“I looked at the man I was and said, "I'll build myself an empire," and he told me, with all his childhood naivety, that it would be lonely at the top.” - Richter Vellomonte

“I have been fed the scraps of destiny, devouring crumbs of fate. But I made my own destiny. They say I lost my mind as they threw me to the wolves, but don't they realize? It was among the wolves and the bastards that I found it.” - Richter Vellomonte

“Sympathy is found in such cruel hearts, why is peace found in the eye of the storm when we could give it to better men?” - Jonine Nataliseburg

“Evil is such a wicked root, digging into history, festering it from the inside out.” - Jonine Nataliseburg

“I've learned we are comets amongst the stars, burning in the atmosphere, hurtling toward love and hate, life and death.” - Jonine Nataliseburg

“We're wicks of a candle doomed to burn out, but we should find solace in the fact that we created light while we were here.” - Jonine Nataliseburg

“I find myself in the crossfire of history colliding.” - Jonine Nataliseburg

“Carlita believes she's the final bullet in the chamber, but alas, she's the oak tree, sturdy and strong, roots of light digging into history and driving out the dark. Her scars make her beautiful and strong, her history builds her compassion and everything that has not yet killed her built her throne.” - Jonine Nataliseburg

“There are no more heroes, only the violent ones and the few good men still left.” - Jesus Romez

“Look at this life of mine and you'll damn me, look at this soul of mine and you'll forgive me. Though you are no God, I do not expect you to.” - Jesus Romez

“I have learned evil is a learned behavior, passed down from generation to generation, starting with Adam and ending with Eve.” - Jesus Romez

“I am one of the many violent beasts, and as I look around me, I see monsters, they wear flesh white masks and stained teeth, their snarls are full of hunger, their nails cracked and broken. But look around you, and you'll find the los Muertos vivientes are not the only beasts that roam. They wear our hearts, our skin, our souls. Their eyes are blue and brown, their hair long and short. Monsters look just like us, hiding their fangs behind a blood-stained smile. And we thought the dark hid them? No, my amigo, light hides the monsters in plain sight, the rays of moonlight bask them in a cold glow, revealing what they always were.” - Jesus Romez

“I was born a damned man, foot in the grave, heart in the soil.” - Jesus Romez

“The dawn in my soul has risen red time and time again, I have lost myself to the dark and the lies I believed.” - Alphonsine Daub’ONair

“I have found that in the circus we dance and laugh, we jiv and we jive, but behind our painted smiles, and behind our painted nails, is blood and dirt from the graves we've dug while still alive.” - Alphonsine Daub’ONair

“I am just another clown of Borbasli's Siren Cove, dancing in a rainstorm, juggling knives and doubts.” - Alphonsine Daub’ONair

“We flip the pages and hope to find the end of this torture, but as we read the prose and stare at the poetry, we learn in beauty there was only hidden intention.” - Alphonsine Daub’ONair

“I am so covered in blood I call paint, I am a wolf of painted smiles and curly red wigs.” - Alphonsine Daub’ONair

“We're all stories in the end, bastards and cheats glorifying our damn tales. But they weren't never grand, in the end.” - Walt Burrick

“There ain't no sliver 'a light in this hollow abyss 'a me.” - Walt Burrick

“I am a king wearin' a crown 'a thorns, I never 'spected ta be the one on the damn cross, but here I am, a crucified corpse 'a all I've ever been. The boy 'a wonder, the innocent man tastin' the dark, and the wicked beast all beatin' in one damn chest.” - Walt Burrick

“I'm burnin' alive for these sins 'a mine, wolves are on the prowl for my wicked soul, but they were once sheep, I 'spose to these poor, sorrowed werewolves, I'm the damn moon.” - Walt Burrick

“Spare your sympathy for a damned man, I don't need no silver dollar, I don't need no rusted nickel, for I'm a crooked smile and a wicked blade, nuthin' more than an extension 'a these lives I've took.” - Walt Burrick

“I am swingin' on a rope 'a every lie I ever told, and if an angel were to hear knockin' on heaven's doors, they'd soon realize it was nuthin' but my corpse, thump, thump, thumpin' gainst the damn gates.” - Walt Burrick

"I'll tell ya what, when dark deeds stand on the horizon, stars don't shine like normal. Sure, they're still there, but they don't bring no wonder, only judgment as they gaze at us." - Walt Burrick

"Murphy, look. You're a criminal, there's no denying that, and I'm F.B.I. Neither of our boots are standing on a good place to be. But, I have been told that if you come with me, you drop that gun of yours and, and surrender yourself willingly; that we can get your boots where they're supposed to be. Because right now, Murphy, you and I? We're on thin fucking ice." - Alfred Godsel

"Ah, hello darkness, my old friend. Faring just as well as usual, I would imagine?" - Alfred Godsel

"Oh that ain't heaven at my door. Ain't hell, neither. No, I would imagine not. Just an old friend of mine... Old friends, actually. Darkness, greed and selfishness tend to hold me awfully close." - Alfred Godsel

"Some days you're up, some days you're down, but no matter what, you always got the chance to stand." - Alfred Godsel

"Oh, holdin' a clean knife don't get you very far." - Zafavri Holts

"Come on, I'm a weapon, and weapons don't weep." - Zafavri Holts

"Life beats ya down, it do, but I say, face the challenge, cause it ain't the bark in the dog that counts, it's the love." - Montgomery Dalton

"Have we all been damned or is that just living?" - Murphy Joy

"You are the goblet that never runs dry, my friend. And I will drink from your pain." - Anadon Finch

"Heavy does my heart sit upon the scale, heavy are the secrets that made it so." - Mason White "Payin' the devil's price ain't much ta pay when you forget you ain't your past." - Mick Fallbrook

"I fear I am a reflection of my vengeance." - Diamond Valos

"Justice ain't no lady, nor is redemption, twisted, battered whores they are, caught in a wicked dance." - Sampson O'Connel

"No one cares for the breathing man, they'll scorn you above soil and weep when you're below it." - Burasbley Highersman

"Evil's on my mind, blood is on my hands, and I'm livin' by a crimson stained gun." - Decazle DeLillium

"Set fire ta the roses 'a the graves I've made and tell all who stand in my way, I'm comin' home." - Zachary DeLillium

"When life crumbles, you got to wonder what it's worth." - Bennington Shillow

"I suppose dead men don't speak and nor shall I." - Turner Kordell

"Ever since I was a boy the streets were my home, the rain was my only comfort, the roaring of the highway my only friend." - Kobi Grant

"Look, kid, you try to be more than yourself, you'll end up less than yourself." - Kobi Grant

"You know, home isn't always where you lay your head, it's where you lay your heart." - Shalko Valwit

"Trust me, no man ever wishes for pain, nor do they dream of it. But unfortunately for you, Chance. This is a nightmare." - Karl Vadibrinski

"I am many things, and I suppose for you, I'm a cold midnight grave, left desolate in the cemetery." - Karl Vadibrinski

"The shadows will swallow you whole before ever you are blinded by the light of your dreams." - Karl Vadibrinski

"Take the higher road the powerful say, acting as if they took it all along." - Milo Vadotil

"Look where dreamin' got Icarus." - Theodore Holymann

"When I stand before God, I will have to justify the time I spent on this Earth, and I'm afraid, I won't be able to." - Jarvis McGregor

"I'm starting to realize, I'm no better than those who put me through the ringer and told me I wasn't enough." - Jarvis McGregor

"So, here I sit, at the bottom of the deep blue sea, wondering when the sharks will smell the blood on my fists. Will they drag me to shore, or will they rip and tear at my flesh until I am no more? Can you trust a shark within it's natural habitat, can you trust the wolf not to tear into the sheep?" - Jarvis McGregor

"It's a feeling I won't ever forget. Knowing something bad is going to happen, and it's going to be all your fault." - Isiah McGregor

"I guess some folks are meant for prison, their lives are broken from the start and on the highway they live, prison is the simple destination in which they've been headed for ever since they were born." - Isiah McGregor

"No one was asked if they wanted to walk this Earth." - Leopolo Diamon

"Funny how age kills dreams and rips them asunder." - Leopolo Diamon

"Funny, how we must fall is we are ever to rise again, and we must first break, if we ever wish to be whole... So I ask one question, when shall I be whole, for I have broken a dozen times, and yet, I am unable to carry every piece in my arms, so I simply must leave them behind." - Hargrove Solomons

"Every man is accountable for his sins, whether he has nothing but lint in his pocket or a billion dollars in his bank, I lived, to ensure, everyone was accountable, I was the angel of death, the judge, the jury, and the executioner, and no stone would go unturned, no man, left alive." - Hargrove Solomons

"I'm the chicken inside of the pen, and yet, I'm the fox stalking the damn night, and I don't know which one 'a us will fucking win." - Rodriguez Brickjaw

"There ain't no more soldiers, just men with violent hearts we can't call broken anymore." - Duke Benson "Swing me from the gallows, eh? It's da only fing you can do for a damned man." - Jerry Benson

"Strange, in'it, how when a soldier asks God where he went, all he hears is gunfire. And perhaps that's God's voice, the language 'a war the only tongue he knows." - Mordakai Benson

"Love is worth a helluva lot more than hate." - Phillip Scarrow

"I was always the outcast, the cat in a room full 'a dogs." - Chad Broker

"Trust gets you nowhere, no matter who they say they are, who they claim to be, there's always something hiding just behind the damn smile. If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was a warning." - Andera Malikson "Songs of war knock at your door, my friend. Dare you answer them?" - Valskirrith Deskgrottir "Death is a wild hound, smelling blood on the battlefield before it was ever spilled." - Valskirrith Deskgrottir

"When faced with death, you smile back and pull the trigger." - Clayborne Pettygore

"I hold life and death in my hands, and they slip often, these days." - Zacharia Von Shelton

"I suppose on the battlefield we're all legends, fighting for our right to history." - Nolan Vanberg

"The day we die ain't no cloudy sky, ain't no storm ridden path. When we pass on, and the world reclaims us, the sun will be high in the sky, smilin' at the world as she always do. There is no beauty in death, but it does not take the beauty from the world." - Brock Snipersway "Bein' damned is a good enough reason to keep marchin. So march." - Brock Snipersway

"The light at the end 'a the tunnel is just another runaway train, and I chase it with reckless abandon, refusin' ta believe it'll run me down." - Mikaelson Graves

"We let the sinners in the stable, and the story of faith was twisted into a blood written tale." - Alex Hoffs "Be holy, they say, be goot, but as soon as ya defy their order, they fuckin' defy themselves." - Aggemuth Williamson "Don't dare forget that dark souls once knew the light." - Brayton Oakes "In your presence, I have learned death is not equal nor is it fair. You have twisted the meaning of death from peace to control." - Lucian Void

"We are pawns in a game we are meant to lose." - Lucian Void "They say the dark slowly eats away at the light. But in this place? There was no loving God to say let there be light in the first place." - Hilton Kingrey

"People, they're just like flowers, you see. You put em in the wrong soil, they whither and writhe, no matter how much water you give em. But you put em in rich, heartful soil, and they'll start to bloom. They'll embrace the rain, the storm, the tramplin', cause it helps em grow. Sure, some days they'll bend down, hidin' from the sun, and other days, the shadows'll leave em cold. But ya just gotta give em time. If a flower's dyin', ya change the soil, not the flower. It's same with man." - Wilford Straw

"I have seen all this world has to offer, and yet, I hold nothing." - Jolene Paquil "What a fall from heaven, my life has been." - Killis Richens "Jou think ze devil vould valk freely whilst Olympus still roams? Vith men like him infesting ze Earth, it's no vonder God abandoned us." - Cillian Suchett "The thing that sets me apart from the bad men, is that I don't want to be a monster, I just am." - Alfonso O'Sullivan "Burn the witch, they say, damning the girl who didn't do a thing, whilst the man who pulled the trigger stands, smirking within the shadow of the flame." - Yotsuki Brightburn "You were dead the day you promised my mother glory in Valhalla, dooming her to a purgatory in Hellheim by making a mockery of her death. And thus, my friend, I shall make a mockery of you." - Valskirith Deskgrotirr "You say your blood runs black, but we'll see how much you lie when I cut your throat." - Barley Teatherhall

"Sinners and thieves never win, they say. But it is the wolf that claims the sheep, the hunter that catches the prey. Who's to say we won't re-write the definition of winning?" - Wendell Blackvalley

#Writing #author #characters #characterlines

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