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kadextra · 7 months ago

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after my previous post, I decided to read ahead of the manhwa now bc I can’t wait!!! and I kinda feel like writing down some liveblog thoughts here while doing it :D

here we go, starting from chapter 184

[ MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!! DO NOT CLICK if you haven’t ever read before. I’m so serious its a lot of spoilers. pls just ignore this and scroll on ]

ummm dokja saying “oh this scenario will be fine! don’t worry i’m prepared this will be problem-free & so very easy haha :)” + getting all emotional about his friends is setting off my red flag senses so hard. dokja you still have the fate message praying on your downfall….

dokja I’m scared. Dokja I Don’t Like This

ah. hah. the demon king guy is literally dead on the floor 🧍awesome

damn I knew this couldn’t be trusted and some plot twist would happen it was never going to be that simple. someone has to take the position now. I hate you nebulaes how about you catch these hands

OH NO JOONGHYUK?? YOU STUPID IDIOT STOP

my boys are fighting o(-(

yo wait turns out the world won’t reset even if he regresses??? but still :( he won’t be able to see this to the end and will get stuck back in the loop :(( joonghyuk has changed so much from the start and I’ve grown to like him a lot he doesn’t deserve this I’ll cry

OF COURSE DOKJA GONNA SACRIFICE HIMSELF INSTEAD. ITS HIS FAVORITE HOBBY!

dokja’s self reflection of how the reason he survived all the tragedies in his life is bc of TWSA & watching how joonghyuk never gave up…. the whole “it’s because you saved me so now it’s my turn to save you” from a person directed to their favorite character and their favorite story which was their life companion…. honestly I don’t quite have words to describe the way these lines make me feel. it’s just profound and deeply relatable

gilyoung my poor son he doesn’t want his hyung to die 😭

sighs it’s too late. at least demon king dokja looks cool…. now the wings fanart I’ve seen in passing makes sense…..

he’s a goner

I am going to be completely honest. I genuinely expected to be reading more of an epic shounen-style final battle where he uses all the cool corrupted demon powers and maybe goes a little wacky because that’s usually what happens in stories when the protagonist unlocks an evil power and has to fight his friends. NOT THIS????????

the situation has zero hope and he is just standing there one sidedly taking hits from his friends who are forced to kill him. while guiding them on how to do it. smiling and offering them words of encouragement. this is so devastating I feel sick

URIEL MY BABY seeing her cry is the worst it’s torture

of course his stigma is called sacrificial will

STOP

THAT ARTWORK

THEY ARE HIS LOVED FAMILY…… HE LOVES THEM ALL N JOONGHYUK WAS YHR PERSON HE LOVED MOST I CALLED IT I want to hit something

im full on crying now

all the constellations messages of they don’t wish for his death I’m not strong enough

reading this feels like getting ripped apart limb by limb

NO WAY THE FVGTIFJFJCKN HELD BY THE NECK THING RETURNS A THIRD TIME LIKE THIS??? STOOOPPPPPPPP

uriel T-T

he died

demon king of salvation

need to just lay here for a bit

ok I’m back joonghyuk is disassociating from the grief. relatable

“What if Yoo Joonghyuk went back and there was no Kim Dokja? or what if Kim Dokja never acted like this again? Yoo Joonghyuk was afraid of something for the first time.”

“He met Kim Dokja in his third regression and they became companions. Then he lost Kim Dokja”

he cares for him so much

a scenario without dokja.

whag did I just read

UGH that was so good. emotional damage was an understatement now I get why ppl were warning me

why did I decide to do this in the middle of the night…. I need to stop now I’m tired but how am I going to sleep? im haunted with thoughts

it’ll take a bit longer for the manhwa to adapt this part but I’m honestly really glad I continued reading and got to imagine it all myself in detail first- it hit so hard. I’ll let it sit and take a few days break before I continue. excited to see how they adapt it into drawings and cry all over again cause this wound ain’t healing for a while

I have the need to recommend this story to all my friends and family

oh right!!!!

the other day I went through youtube animatics & saved some that I could watch when finishing certain chapters into a note (thank goodness most put a warning of when to watch in the first few seconds!)

since I finished 188, I get to watch this one :D

youtube

I just watched it

I cry myself to sleep

#hurted #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv spoilers #kade reads orv #kade reads

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glowyjellyfish · 11 months ago

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Once the demo loaded for me, I only had about an hour and a half to play before I had to quit and go to bed, and I spent most of that time on the piano minigame.

Some thoughts:

Cloud is such a baby omg. Part of it is the obvious Zack dialogue blatantly coming from his mouth, of course. Loved the obvious swap where Secret-Cloud-Grunt (Ramirez, if you will) was clearly assigned the lines Zack said to Cloud. Cloud’s brain what are you doing.

Sephiroth will take some time to master, especially as I barely remember the controls. He looks like an idiot when I am controlling him, lol. Perfect acting on him and everyone really so far, A+.

I am going to miss so many climbable surfaces

the mountains are so spiky

NIBELHEIM PORK SANDWICH. Well there’s my themed meal! (May not actually do, but come on they threw that out for me a couple weeks in advance??)

I am gonna master every song on that piano dammit. I got very close to star rank tonight, only 2 Goods and the rest Great!

Pretty sure that on my first play through, I am going to do as much as possible and whatever feels right with regards to the affection system. I can’t not rifle through Tifa’s room, for one thing, and I’m never gonna say no to a side quest. Aerith or Tifa would be preferred for the date on my first playthrough, but if I wind up hanging with Cait Sith because I wanted to glean all available information on how he functions and whether Reeve is talking directly to me, so be it.

It’s possible I got some things right in my wild guessing since Remake—more likely character stuff than actual plot, I think—but honestly I am looking forward to being completely wrong about most things.

Also it warms my heart how much Cid and Vincent were in that trailer. Maybe Vincent won’t be spilling his major trauma immediately after we meet him?

Day 2:

Took me probably another hour to get star rank on the piano

Something about Obvious Zack Behavior is incredibly cute when it’s Cloud doing it

I feel like I may have missed a lot of crates and chests

The normal chit chat with Sephiroth and Cloud and Tifa? Omg

Trooper cloud saved Tifa’s life without her knowing!

Sephiroth saved Tifa’s life in the river and Zack saved Cloud’s life, poor nameless other guy but ❤️ Zack and boy must Tifa feel weird about that memory

I want to explore the whole Shinra mansion so badly, I found Vincent’s room and the tubes

I really like how rebirth made it a little clearer that Sephiroth snapped because Jenova started having influence on him once he reached her. Not that I’m trying to make her the villain and him the victim—pretty sure once he falls in the Lifestream, he’s running the show with all his own villainy going, Jenova’s basically The Thing—I just like that the flashes compared to flashes Cloud has had show her influence on him. I like that they didn’t go too hard in making him Evil; you can still see the underlying tragedy.

(I mean, we all know Hojo is the real villain and I think even Sephiroth would agree on that)

Also on multiple occasions I asked Sephiroth why he was so pretty

I REALLY like how those who are in the know about cloud and Zack can easily read between the lines and see what Actual Cloud did—not only showing us Random Trooper on the ground saying “Mo…” but also showing that Cloud’s memories match.

the struggle of having cloud drag himself along the ground while Sephiroth murdered people was AMAZING.

How dare they stop right there before the flashback is over. I know the point is to be tantalizing and they probably changed a thing or two but. Come onnnnnnn let Cloud deliver the cliffhanger.

(Oh, I did look at Tifa’s dresser but then said it was a joke, did not impress anybody lol. Should’ve stayed away!)

(I would like a screenshot of Cloud saying “hey Sephiroth, whatcha got there?” Sephiroth: A KNIFE

#ff7 rebirth #ff7 rebirth demo #ff7 rebirth spoilers

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ghostlandtoo · 2 years ago

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what a stupid fucking show. lol.

like, i won't argue that tlou ep3 was a well-written episode and etc and etc, but it's becoming blatantly obvious to me that the writers and druckmann are diverging heavily from joel and ellie's characterization in a way that feels really fucking bad.

in the first thirty minutes of the game, joel and tess kill 20 guys in the QZ out of revenge. in the first episode, robert and his gang is killed off screen, by fireflies, and the most violence is joel beating a FEDRA agent with the insinuation that it's a PTSD reaction. it feels like joel is being defanged, turning less violent so the audience feels more sympathetic to him. i'm waiting for the pittsburgh episode to see how they really write him, like maybe his capacity for violence is supposed to be heightened because of that stupid fucking letter from bill, but it's undercutting the natural progression of his character and his feelings towards ellie.

and christ, fucking ellie. it was EXTREMELY weird how fascinated she was by joel beating up that FEDRA agent. (in the game she's surprised when joel and tess kill the ones who caught them outside the QZ, saying "i thought we were just going to hold them up!") and when she finds the infected in the cellar, and cuts it just to see it bleed before she kills it, like she has a weird fascination with violence and gore, doesn't sit well. ellie is fascinated with the outside world and maybe she's a little naive, but she only resorted to violence when it was immediately necessary. as a contrast of joel being less clint eastwood, ellie is more morbid, which also fucking undercuts the moments she lashes out (in the pittsburgh hotel to save joel's life, against david, etc).

i'm happy that people liked bill and frank's relationship. the main loss in this episode are the funny ellie and bill quips, and the intense fight in the high school. but the difference between Game Bill telling joel:

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time I had someone I cared about. It was a partner. Somebody I had to look after. And in this world that sort of shit's good for one thing: gettin' ya killed. So, you know what I did? I wisened the fuck up. And I realized it's gotta be just me.

and Show Bill leaving this message to joel:

i used to hate the world and i was happy when every one died. but i was wrong, because there was one person worth saving. that's what i did. i saved him. then i protected him. that’s why men like you and i are here. we have a job to do. and god help any motherfuckers who stand in our way.

it's such a weird way to foreshadow the end of the game and joel never needed any one to tell him what to do. he's adamant about never comparing ellie and sarah, because he never does. how joel feels towards ellie naturally progresses through the game, from being an obligation to the memory of tess, to someone he cares so much about that he can't trust himself with her safety, to securing her safety and the highest fucking cost (their relationship). it's disingenuous to the character of joel and his own motivations.

i don't believe that derivative works must remain 100% faithful to the source material. but i do feel genuinely crazy watching this show, and people's reactions to the show and its character choices, and feeling like the odd man out for questioning why these specific changes were made.

but ultimately, one of my biggest fucking gripes about the old man yaoi and their happy (to a certain sense of the word) ending, this ending they get in this show but not in the game, is that ellie isn't going to get that. ellie and riley and cat and dina, they can't get this happy and loving relationship because the story they are in won't let them. ellie was one of the first lesbian characters i immediately and strongly identified with, even before i knew she was a lesbian, and the series is a fucking tragedy and i'm glad bill and frank got their happy ending together, but i know the lesbian and bisexual women won't get that.

the last of us isn't a happy game or series. most moments of joy and immediately undercut by tragedy. ellie tries again and again to bring levity to the environment, but it can't last. and to see her lose a fundamental part of her character, the part fascinated with the outside world, with an urge to do good, feels bad.

#etxt #sorry if u liked it im just a hater

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thewinchestah · 1 year ago

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The weird thing is that in hindsight, we had so many

bad omens saying that this was coming, like that was

some self fulfilling prophecy shit. The way the players were treated by the media, tv hosts invading the training centre with a helicopter to do silly Sunday tv stuff. The jingles with children begging the players to think of them while playing cause they never saw Brazil take a world up home. The entire zeitgeist felt like a tragedy waiting to happen.

this fucking tweet that cursed us back in 2010 saying

"calm down guys everything is going to get better

after the World Cup 2014" is was foreshadowing,

after 2014 the ENTIRE COUNTRY WENT DOWNHILL

then, we had Thiago Silva, the fucking TEAM

CAPTAIN SITTING ON TOP OF THE BALL CRYING

BC HE COULDN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE DURING

THE PENALTIES (the Neymar incident didn't even

happen yet) ANOTHER HUGE FORESHADOWING

after that we had the incident, Neymar gets really

badly hurt, the country is in SHAMBLES. Thiago is

ALSO OUT BECAUSE HE GOT THE 2ND YELLOW

CARD. no one knows what is going to happen, who is

going to replace him? Is he going to play ever again?

WHO IS GONNA BE OUR CAPTAIN?? WHERE IS

OUR LEADERSHIP?? We were feeling like the avengers after thanos’ snap.

SO Bernard Duarte, call sign

"happy legs" enters the

scene. Btw tumblr and twitter had a weird thing

going on with him and David Luiz. Fandom culture

entered Football like I've never seen and ppl started

shipping those two and it would create a mess post

7×1. This was the wonderful time where players were

treated like supernatural characters. Like Bernard is

tiny and everyone was very protective of him like

kpop fans are of their bias, David was huge, one was

a striker the other a defender.... you can tell where

this is going. (Btw I’m not excused from this crime, I was a 14 superwholockian, it was 2014, just check my 2014 to see some incredible evidence of the time’s zeitgeist)

Every sports journalist is begging for Bernard make

the starting 11, the game was going to be held in

Mineirão, where Bernard's team Atlético Mineiro

played who he would be playing

"at home" with the

huge majority of not only Brazil fans, but Atlético

fans. The game was on. He was going to save us all. We could trust him, we was young promising, had just won a major title with atlético and had his big break to European football. THIS was. IT. THIS WAS OUR ENDGAME.

AND OH, DID I TELL YOU GUYS DAVID LUIZ WAS GOING TO BE OUR CAPTAIN???

SO IT IS MATCH DAY, THE PLAYERS COME TO FIELD HOLDING NEYMAR’S JERSEY. IT’s TIME TO PLAY FOR YOUR LIFE. EVERYONE WAS BELIEVING ON A HAIL MARY. BERNARD COMPLETELY OUT OF POSITION, THE TEAM MENTAL STATE IN SHAMBLES, DAVID LUIZ ACTING LIKE A DEFENDER/OFFENSIVE MIDFIELDER BUT FUCK IT RIGHT? WE HAVE THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

and the unthinkable happens. The tragedy. The disaster, the oncoming storm, a train wreck that you just can’t stop starring, the commentators are so flabbergasted they can’t speak. We feel like we are experiencing a fever dream. When it ends, there are no tears, you can’t cry, just stare at the roller thing at the sidebar of the FIFA’s score stat’s thingy at your screen bc they couldn’t fit all German scores in one “box” and the lone honour goal from Oscar. Just silence, silence from the genocide of a nation’s hopes and dreams in short 20 minutes from the “seleção’s shutdown” when Germany scored their first 4 goals.

David is crying, saying he is still going to give happiness to his nation. The internet adopts him, some people call him the main villain. People are grieving. The seleção’s players are radio silence for DAYS until they drop a joint statement saying the still have game left - the 3rd place match against the Netherlands - where we were humiliated again. And the fear of Argentina winning the World Cup at our home??? we had to cheer for GERMANY, WHO PUBLIC HUMILIATED US, WIN THIS THING. The public sentiment about the seleção also changed a lot, a lot felt the the good old days were over and at the current generations, at the the generations to come; with disdain. It is only now, 8 years later, the the general public feels like they can trust and are happy with the seleção’s performance again.

So many expressions and pop culture bloomed from the 7x1. But when it comes to 7x1 veteran’s careers, many of them fell off the radar. David was one of the most criticised for the lost and it was a while before was respected again, but I think we went full circle coming back to Brazil to play for Flamengo. A lot of the not so notorious players just became infamous and their careers never recovered.

In light of brazils first world cup game today I'd like to share with everyone the Germany x Brazil 7-1 semifinals from the 2014 world cup and how morally DEVASTATING it was

You ever do so poorly your coach immediately resigns and the country makes up a new idiom over it

Even our president at the time was like "guys that was so fucked up :("

#i could be a World Cup 2014 scholar #so much stuff happened #World cup 2014 #World Cup #seleção brasileira de futebol #seleção brasileira #Brazil nt #coragem Felipão

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happymeishappylife · 1 year ago

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Books I Read in 2023 (Part 1)

1. Doctor Who: Web in Space by David Bailey

Ice Spider captures ship, Amy, Rory, and Doctor land on and try to help. Also attacked by Robots who then capture Doctor and TARDIS. With help from Messy a cute plumbing robot, they escape, save the spider and the human crew.

2. Odd Interlude by Dean Koontz (Special Story in between Novels 5 & 6)

I have to be honest, this threw me because it jumps back to invents prior to Book 5 fresh after Odd kills for the first time and while he is still trying to reconcile this it made the book hard for me. That and it’s the first and only time we’ve switched voices in the book and no offense, no 12-year-old, no matter how traumatized or amazing sounds like Jolie. Still it was a quick fast read and it explores a topic Koontz loves to visit in all his works which is Fort Wryven.

3. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (Book #2 of The Heroes of Olympus Series)

What a relief to have Percy Jackson back in action. I mean I love this boy and who doesn’t when you have lines responding back to Gods like, “All roads lead there, child. You should know that.” Percy: “Detention?” There’s just something about this very powerful, brave, and heroic demigod, just not fully understanding the things he’s told and being jealous over not being able to turn into animals when he’s already destroyed a glacier and summoned a hurricane of power. Never change Percy. But also, what a delight to be introduced to such great characters in Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang who are powerful demigods in their own right and instant family to Percy when he shows up to Camp Jupiter without his memories. I love that the three instantly click and have such a great dynamic with each other, despite the tragedies in all their lives and the immense trouble that brews throughout this book and is building in the series. I’m so excited for Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter to team up though, but I’m worried about Nico (though like Percy I kind of want to wring his neck for lying about knowing him) and I’m super worried about Annabeth even though I already know the spoilers and what’s about to happen. I’m not ready for it, but I can’t wait to read it.

4. The Musician’s Daughter by Susanne Dunlap

Overall this was a good read. I had some trouble with it at times because it was set in the past and it was overall unclear how old Teresia was so some of the actions that she was put through seemed super creepy. Plus even though the story did revolve around helping the Romani and reestablishing some of their lost titles, there was still some prejudice there through the use of the words they shouldn’t be called, and while I can excuse the ‘bad guys’ in the novel for using. Teresia and even Mirela herself used it which showed the authors lack of understanding. Still, I liked how thrust into the grief and sadness at the sudden murder of her father, Teresia not only steps up to help her family but also herself and fight for what she wants and how she wants to live her life. Plus I’m glad nothing seriously happened to Toby because that would have been awful.

5. Labyrinth by Kat Richardson (Book #5 of The Greywalker Series)

Picking up right where the previous novel ended, we join Harper as she arrives home from London to the comfort of her boyfriend and the chaos that is unfolding by the Pharoahn’s plans in Seattle. Half the book is Harper falling into danger either because people are looking for her or she throws herself into it. I didn’t always agree with her choices but I also felt her suffering the more in touch with the Grey she gets. Still wasn’t prepared for the ending though and I do wonder where it will go from here since this felt like the penultimate battle.

6. Star Wars: Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to read more of the extended Star Wars universe but I forgot how much I missed it. I really do enjoy seeing what happens to Luke, Leia, and Han after the events of the main trilogy even if one of them is hurt, about to die, and just absolutely beaten up the entire novel, cough, cough Luke… But still I enjoyed the storyline where Luke, Han, Chewie, and R2-D2 are investigating the possible former living conditions of the Jedi before they were murdered and come across the next plot from former Empire elites to takeover control. Especially Leia story where she gets to be a bad ass fighting against this dark side child and his mom. Meanwhile Luke is having to stop a ship that was built 30 years ago from destroying the planet his friends on while its picking up a collection of aliens and indoctrinating (or trying to) into the next stormtroopers while one of his students is captured and threatened with execution. The only thing that irked me in the book was the romantic story. I had no issue with Luke and Callista being friends but the romance seemed forced and I was glad at the end that Han makes a comment about it looking more like siblings than romantic partners because it just felt weird.

7. The Spy Who Haunted Me by Simon R. Green (Book #3 of the Hidden Histories Series)

Considering the absolute twists in tone and situations between the first and second book, I had no idea where this was going to go especially after a world ending fight in the last one. So a spy game solving all our favorite mysterious tall tales and creatures? It made it fun and still jammed pack because going from Nessie, Sasquach, a Russian failed experiment base, a disappearing US battleship, and Area 52 was a lot to take in. I’ll admit, I was sad that Molly wasn’t more in this book because she is a great character, but it was nice to see Eddie work without his family and his friends to see who he is when he’s alone. And he’s still a master spy but a pretty damn good hero too. Now, the one thing I’m learning is this series is Green’s way to relive all of his favorite characters from his finished series. First is was Giles and this time it was Walker which was interesting, but also I already knew 1, Walker didn’t kill the other spies but also 2, he obviously wasn’t going to die because John does that later. Still interesting to see the team up, plus I learned there is a full crossover book with the Droods and the Nightside later so I can’t wait to put Eddie and John Taylor together.

8. Stars of the Kanri by S.P. Dorning

Picked this up because it seemed like a fun independent sci-fi story, but as soon as I read the dedication, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it because of the authors insistence that God put him in this story to tell His tale. And at first all was good (ignoring the first time writing mistakes), but as soon as we land on the planet it all becomes about how The Father of All will guide us and does these miraculous things and I was turned off. Plus the big secret that Mason is a robot isn’t really a twist at the end because it was made clear in the beginning what was going on. And also the people from the stars saving primitive lifeforms because they know better has been an overtold device that’s reminiscent of that colonization vibe and I can’t stand it. So definitely not picking up the sequel whose plot is given away in the epilogue.

9. Tesla’s Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman

Overall I enjoyed the premise, the plot, and the storytelling of this book because the idea that Nikola Tesla hid away objects of incredible power and incredible abilities in some random attic in Colorado Springs is an interesting twist. That and the Accelerati (founded by Edison) are these scientists that constantly try to quash and control big inventions and mysterious happenings fits right in. And I also enjoyed the characters, but it didn’t feel like I was reading about true middle school kids or actual events that middle schoolers might become a part of. It felt at least like these kids should have been high schoolers in my opinion. So that took me out of it a little. Still I liked the book enough to see where it goes from here and since there are two more in the series it will be a fun, but short right.

10. Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz (Book #3 of Frankenstein)

In this never ending 48 hours of a story, told over 3 books so far, we got a little more action heavy in this one as all our characters begin to meet up with each other. Victor’s creatures are continuously breaking down or going overboard on their programming, Erika befriends one of them and relishes the secret proving that she’s not perfect like her predecessor. Her predecessor is alive and helping the creatures of the dump live and survive, our two favorite human cops befriend a dog, and Decaulion gets a glimpse of his maker as he not blows up one of Victor’s labs, but his backup as well. It’s going to be interesting to see how Victor responds to this, especially because it seems like more and more of his creatures are on Decaulion’s side. But I also have 2 books to go, so I know a lot can change in a day.

#2023 rewind #books i read

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sarah-dipitous · 2 years ago

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Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 150

Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magic Menagerie/A Christmas Carol

“Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magic Menagerie”

Plot Description: Sam confronts his fear of clowns when he and Dean investigate a children’s pizza chain that’s manifesting children’s worst (and deadliest) fears

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: I don’t know what my worst and deadliest fear is, so it’s up in the air

Working with Frank seems to be a real pain

Yeah I’d say octopuses are rare in….Kansas

…who’s afraid of unicorns??? Horses, sure. But UNICORNS??

Sam’s really fighting his demons…or…clowns. Kinda same difference.

Oh this place is a sensory nightmare

Man, that maintenance worker just told Sam to do the worst thing he could probably imagine: come back after close

Obviously?? Obviously unicorns are evil, Dean??

Nooooo, not the maintenance guyyyyyyy. K but what HAPPENED to him? Shark in the ball pit? He already had to clean up puke in there, whyyyyy

K yeah. Shark. Dean exasperated that Sam does not celebrate Shark Week

Hope that kid’s drawings don’t come to life. Giant robot with laser eyes?? Nope

Oh damn, Sammy’s not playing around any more

Is it the too eager ticket taker?? Is he partly the problem? It’s him or the other worker’s kid

Dean’s always so good with kids. Warms my heart

Omg Sam. Playing extremely bad cop here?

The guy in the lion costuuuuuuume 💀 asking a guy he thinks is a federal agent if he’s ever done shrooms in a ball pit. I’ll admit, doesn’t sound like a bad time

Yeah. The overeager overachieving prize counter worker. Of course it’s him. Oh. He got passed over for promotion…

Dean…I know this guy sucks but…you’re not gonna let him just drown on dry land, are you??

Awwwwwww, Sam got Dean that giant slinkyyyyyy, and in return, Dean got him a Plucky doll. Great job.

“A Christmas Carol”

Plot Description: Amy & Rory are trapped on a crashing space liner, and the only way the Doctor can rescue them is to save the soul of a lonely old miser. But is Kazran Sardick beyond redemption? And what is lurking in the fogs of Christmas Eve?

From a…purely…artistic standpoint, I am curious what the scenario Amy and Rory were, um, playing out in her cop kiss-o-gram uniform and his centurion uniform.

The chaos of Matt Smith’s Doctor is pretty unparalleled

In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before ❤️❤️

Watching the Doctor deduce what’s going on with Kazran and why he didn’t hit the young boy this soon after watching an episode of Sherlock reeeeeeeeeeeally is something. Steven Moffat did in fact write this one. It’s almost embarrassing how he has his two leads be this similar. Benedict would have delivered this in the EXACT SAME CADENCE

Omgggg I forgot he didn’t just bop around this guy’s timeline for funsies or to solves mystery. He DELIBERATELY DECIDED to A Christmas Carol him. Amazing

The Doctor? Universally? Recognized as a mature and responsible adult??

He just wanted to see the fishhhhhhhh. He was such a kind boy

(You ever regret a decision so badly?? That’s how I’m feeling RIGHT NOW about this whole rewatch, but I know it’s just because I’m exhausted and work was terrible this week)

The tragedy of how much fun they’re having vs how much time Abigail has left vs the fact that they don’t really know….

How do they not notice?? The Doctor noticed before. He saw the number, and he’s just living each Christmas Eve. How does he not see it now?

Oh…the change after he finds out how much time she has left. No no noooo

I can’t imagine WATCHING so much of my life be rewritten

It’s a good little twist that he brings little Kazran to see how he grows up as the ghost of Christmas future

#hellsite nostalgia tour 2023

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cjsinkythoughts · 4 years ago

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Rocks, Shoulders, and Ears

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 3501

Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Major Angst in this one, guys, Loads of Feels (sorry not sorry), John Walker being a douche (I really don’t like the guy)

A/N: I’m SO SORRY! I promise I was planning on it being shorter, but I went a little overkill with the angst! There’s just so many feelings and not enough space in my heart and soul, so I had to pour them out here! You get to see more of Reader and Sam’s relationship in this one and there’s major Bucky Feels towards the end (in my defense, this is based on the Couples Therapy half of the episode).

I’m really hoping we get to see Bucky go to Louisiana next episode! I’m holding out for it! I have a few ideas that include Sarah, but I need the episode! Ugh! Now we have to wait a whole ‘nother week! I really shouldn’t write three chapters on one episode in one day. I just couldn’t help myself!

Anyways! Please enjoy this part and thank you so much for all your support! Seriously, it’s meant so much to me, especially after the week I’ve had! If you haven’t checked out the previous parts, my FATWS Series Masterlist is HERE, so please go read those first. Like always, this isn’t beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Enjoy, babes!

!SPOILERS UNDER CUT!

The last thing you remembered was falling asleep in Bucky’s arms after walking a few miles. And a hospital in DC wasn’t exactly what you preferred waking up to, but it’s what happened. Turned out, not only was your shoulder dislocated and your thigh was strained, but you had a mild concussion. Your arm was in a sling and your palm, which you had completely forgotten about after you wrapped it while on Bucky’s back, was wrapped properly. Luckily, your thigh wasn’t too bad, but they wanted to put you on crutches, which you refused immediately.

You had to get out of that building. You had no idea where the guys went, which was weird because you were sure they’d never leave you alone. Especially in a hospital.

You quickly snuck your way through the halls after grabbing your bag which - thank God - was left on the seat besides your bed and changing into an extra pair of clothes.

You tried calling Bucky’s phone, the one he had specifically for you, which he always always answered. He even made an excuse to go to the bathroom once when you accidentally called in the middle of a therapy session. Nothing. You called the number four times before trying Sam’s phone.

It clicked on the first try.

“Hey. Listen, sorry for leaving-”

“Where the hell are you?”

You heard him sigh. “I was just about to explain, so hang on a second there. You weren’t waking up, probably because that concussion you forgot to mention to us-”

“In my defense, I didn’t know.”

“Sure you didn’t.” You rolled your eyes, throwing your free hand up, exasperated. “Anyways, Bucky wanted me to meet someone, we’ll talk about that when you inevitably get here, put we had a bit of trouble and Bucky was arrested-”

“What?!”

“Chill your pants, Y/L/N. Just listen. We’re in Baltimore. I’ll text you the address. Get here soon and I’ll explain the whole thing. We’ve been here for a couple hours, but there’s people on their way and we’re getting everything situated right now.”

“Okay. Fine. But you’re in trouble.”

“Don’t I know it, babe. Now hurry your cute little ass here. We’ve got stuff to talk about.”

*****************

The ride from DC to Baltimore is usually an hour or so, but you’ve got resources, especially in the nation’s capital, and riding the bike you got, being able to go way over the speed limit? You got there in half the time. Being an Avenger really does have its perks.

The moment you got there, you hopped off the bike, not even bothering to turn it off, and stormed into the precinct. You headed straight over to the desk, but a pair of hands caught you by your uninjured arm before you could make a scene.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Sam spoke softly, squeezing your bicep gently. “He’s okay, alright?”

“Why is he-”

“He missed his court-mandated therapy session.” Sam informed you, pulling you over to where he had been sitting previously. “There was a warrant out for his arrest. They had to bring him in, but it’s fine. His therapist’s been contacted. She should be here any minute to get him out.”

Your head fell back at his words. His therapy. How could you forget? You let Bucky complain to you about it and played along sometimes, but you really did think it was good for him and you tried supporting him. Yet you made him miss it and now he’s in trouble.

“Hey. Y/N. Look at me.” You found Sam’s worried eyes, his hand coming up to hold the side of your neck. “He’s okay. He’ll be out in just a bit. It’s fine.”

“It’s my fault, Sam.”

“No. It’s not. He’s a grown ass man who made the decision to skip.”

You shook your head, holding his wrist for something to anchor you down. “No, Sammy. I brought him along. I should’ve been more responsible-”

“I know we’ve joked around about you being in charge and stuff, but…you know it’s not all on your shoulders, right?” Sam tilted his head slightly, eyebrow pinched in confusion making his eyes narrow.

You turned your head, not wanting to look at him. You didn’t need another set of deep eyes to fall into. “Sammy…I promised him I’d look after you.”

“I know. And that’s fine. But looking after us - looking after him - doesn’t mean you have to be there to hold his hand and take the fall for him. He’s not a child. Hell, he’s a hundred years old. Tell me you understand that.”

Licking your lips, you closed your eyes and shook your head again. “I-I can’t-”

“Is that why you’re obsessed with finding Wanda?”

You frowned at his question, eyes snapping to his. “I’m worried about her, Sam.”

“I am too, but she can handle herself. And if she doesn’t want to be found, you have to let her be. I know the Avengers were your only family. I know how much Steve meant to you-”

“No.” You pulled away rather harshly, digging your nails into your palms, trying not to cry, ignoring the wound you were irritating. “No, you don’t. How could you understand my feelings for Steve when I don’t understand them myself?”

Sam always had this ability to make anyone feel important, just by looking them in the eye. It was something you always admired about him; the way his smile could light up a room, those warm eyes making everyone’s fears go away. They reminded you of hot chocolate. Something that could soothe your worries, comfort you, warm your very soul from the ice tragedy and heartache tend to big on.

You promised yourself you wouldn’t cry in front of people, but with the way he was looking at you, it was hard to keep the tears from slipping.

“You loved him, Y/N. Why is it so hard for you to see that?”

“I didn’t - I wasn’t in love with him, Sam.” You argued, wiping your cheeks aggressively and turning, crossing your arms defensively.

“What do you call it then?”

It was a rhetorical question, Sam copying your movements and sitting straight to watch for Bucky coming out. A rhetorical question that you didn’t know the answer to. Because you weren’t in love with Steve. No. Maybe you had been, but somewhere along the way he passed your heart to Bucky. So why did it hurt so bad?

You refused to dwell on it anymore, clearing your throat and dabbing at your eyes one more time before changing the topic. “Why are we in Baltimore?”

“Bucky wanted me to meet someone. Isaiah. You know him?” Sam turned back to you, his warm eyes shifting into something else. Suspicion? A bit of anger? Annoyance? You couldn’t tell.

“Isaiah? I don’t think I know any Isaiahs. And definitely not here. Why? Who is he?”

Sam shook his head, eyes darting around the lobby. “We’ll talk about it later.”

You nodded, although now your curiosity had peaked and you wondered who this guy was that made Sam so agitated. While you waited, you felt your eyes drooping and you let your head fall onto Sam’s shoulder, who chuckled.

“You’re still tired? You know you slept for, like, twelve hours, right?”

“I haven’t been sleeping much.”

Sam turned his head to kiss yours. “Y/N, I know you want to care for everyone, but you’ve gotta take care of yourself too.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” And with that, the subject dropped, Sam pulling out his phone while you rested your eyes.

It was another ten minutes or so before Sam’s name was called and the both of you stood up to greet the speaker. A woman, Dr. Raynor. Bucky’s infamous therapist.

And speaking of infamous. The moment you heard his voice, you squeezed your eyes shut, hoping it was just your brain malfunctioning. And then he was walking towards you, calling Bucky ‘Bucky’ like they were old pals and he was saving him from something terrible.

Your face scrunched up as Walker talked about stopping Bucky’s regular therapy sessions. “He’s too valuable of an asset to have him tied up-”

“Don’t call him an asset.” You snapped. “He’s a human being with needs, and therapy-”

“He’s a super soldier with skills that we need.” Walker cut in, making you scowl as he turned back to Raynor.

You scoffed in disbelief at his words, turning on your heel and walking away before he did, heading straight for Bucky, who lifted his right arm, wrapping it around your shoulders once you were close enough.

“Are you okay?” You whispered, closing your eyes and trying to relax in his hold, breathing him in.

“Are you? Should you be walking? What did-”

You shook your head. “I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Promise.” You sighed out with a nod, squeezing him once more before pulling back as Raynor stepped forwards, ordering Bucky and Sam to do a session with her. You almost laughed when Sam tried refusing, a little chuckle actually leaving your lips when Bucky slumped, dragging his feet like a kid going to the principal’s office.

You followed, Bucky holding the door open for you. “Thanks, Buck.”

“Of course, doll.” He gave a small smile, before walking in after you, Sam letting out a, “hey!” when Bucky shut the door on him, making you roll your eyes. You let the corners of your mouth tick up slightly in amusement. Yes, they annoyed the hell out of you, but you had to admit it was pretty funny sometimes.

“I believe I asked for James and Sam, Ms. Y/L/N.”

“It’s Agent, actually, and I think I’m gonna sit in.”

Raynor narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think-”

“That wasn’t a request.” You threw her words to Sam back at her, making Sam smirk. You shot him a wink as she relented with a sigh.

“Fine. Just as a spectator. Don't interrupt.”

You raise your hands in surrender, slipping around the table to stand in the corner as your fellas sank down into the seats across the table from her.

A small puff of laughter came from you at the lack of response when she asked one of them to start. She shot you a warning look over her shoulder, but you shrugged. You couldn’t help it; it was like all those times back in grade school when a teacher asked for a volunteer to read in a classroom full of rowdy kids and crickets followed.

Once she mentioned the next exercise was used for couples, you had to laugh, making both men shoot you begging pouts.

“Y/N.” Raynor glared at you, so you controlled yourself, gesturing for her to continue.

Her miracle question did work so well, neither of them cooperating well.

She didn’t even bother with you when you started cackling after she mentioned the “soul-gazing exercise” and Bucky thanked her, Sam commenting that he would like this one. You gave a teasing wolf-whistle when they got close, one of Bucky’s thighs between Sam’s and vice versa.

“Doll.” Bucky whined at you.

“Listen here, smartass-”

Raynor cleared her throat, cutting Sam off from finishing his statement towards you. You leaned back against the wall, crossing your arms with a smirk. After all the bickering and side taking they’ve put her through, letting you enjoy this was the least they could do, and they knew it.

Of course, this exercise didn’t work out either. A staring contest. Children. She was best friends with literal children.

But then something happened. Something you never thought would happen. Raynor asked Bucky why Sam aggravated him, and Bucky looked over to you, his eye growing sad in a way they only did when Steve was involved.

“Steve believed in you.” Bucky told him earnestly. “He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield? That is…that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing. So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me.”

You heard his voice crack a little at the end as he slumped down in his seat, you jaw dropping slightly. You listened to the rest of the conversation, catching the way Sam grew irritated again, something that you didn’t previously think was possible, but was happening more and more now.

Why wasn’t Sam talking to you? Why was he holding all this in suddenly? And why…Bucky…he didn’t tell you that. Why didn’t he say anything? How could he ever feel…

But you knew how he could feel like that. Yes, Steve believed in him so much that he tore the Avengers apart for him…but he was the only one willing to do that for him. Yeah, you and Sam and Wanda and Clint, you all joined their side but, being honest, it wasn’t because you believed in Bucky. It was because you believed in Steve. Of course, it was different now. You believed in Bucky with your entire being, and you believed in Sam with your heart and soul, but…did either of them know that? Did they believe you when you told them? Or did you not tell them enough? This whole time you thought you were doing right by Steve - trying you damn hardest to watch out for them. But it obviously wasn’t enough. And that was on you, no matter what Sam said.

You read people. That’s what you’ve always done, that’s what you’d always do. It was the reason you earned your spot on the team. You read people and situations and could figure your way into their heads in a second. Years and years of undercover work taught you how to do that and how to protect yourself while doing so.

So why? How? How did you miss something this big? How did you miss the way Sam was holding onto something? Why did you ignore the vexation in his tone for the last couple weeks? How did you miss that Bucky was hurting that deeply? Why didn’t you do anything more for him?

You left the room before either of the boys, but you heard Sam standing up as you walked out the door.

You should’ve known you weren’t the only one holding things in. Of course they were. The difference is, you were supposed to be their rock, the thing they could hold onto to ground themselves, the shoulder for them to cry on, and the ear lent to them whenever they needed someone to listen. That was your job. It wasn’t their job. Not for you. Your rock - your shoulder, your ear - he left you. And you thought, after all he did for you, if you just returned the favor for his best friends, you’d…you dunno. You’d be closer to him, maybe.

But you couldn’t. Because you weren’t Steve Rogers. And you knew that from the start, but you had to try. You tried. And it wasn’t working. He made it seem so easy when he did it for you. Clearly you didn’t give him enough credit for dealing with all your shit on top of his own.

“Doll.” You didn’t stop walking, needing to get outside for some fresh air. “Doll, hold on. Wait a minute.”

He grabbed your arm as you made it outside, spinning you to face him. “You didn’t tell me.” You spoke quietly, your voice fragile as you stared at him, confusion and hurt in your eyes. Were you really that bad at doing your job? Did you really already fail him? He asked you to do one thing…

“I didn’t…I didn’t want you to deal with my problems.” You opened your mouth, but he shook his head, holding your face between his hands. “I’m not stupid, Y/N. I know something’s going on with you. You’re good at hiding your nightmares at night, but I’m better. You’re jumpier than usual. Quieter. Every time Wanda’s brought up, you turn away. And the other day? On the truck? You froze. I was watching, doll. It was just a second, but you froze. You never freeze.”

“It’s not your job to worry about me, Buck-”

He frowned, tilting his head. “Not my job? Aren’t we friends? Isn’t that what friends do? Or am I just a job to you? I know you promised him to look after me. Is that all I am to you? A responsibility?”

You shook your head vigorously, holding onto his wrists. “No. No, Bucky, I just-”

“Do you think he was wrong about me?”

Salty diamonds ran down your cheeks as you clenched your eyes shut and shook your head. “No.”

“Did you ever believe in me? Did you ever care or was it all just because Steve? Is Steve the only reason you tolerate me?”

“Don’t say that. God, please don’t say that.” You begged quietly, meeting his gaze again. Every beautiful detail was laced with devastation, eyes imploring her to make him feel better. “Of course I believe in you. I have since Wakanda, you know that. Yes, okay, maybe Steve is why I helped you at first, but-but…I care about you, James. So much so that it hurts sometimes. He wasn’t wrong about you. Or Sammy. You both mean so much to me. Okay?”

You watched his Adam’s Apple bob as he swallowed thickly, nodding slightly. You both simultaneously moved to get closer, him pulling you while you stepped into his chest, arms around his waist. His arms were tight around your shoulder, holding you just as firm as the kiss he planted on your forehead.

Sam came out, planting himself besides you as you pulled away, Bucky wiping your eyes. “I feel better.” He huffed out sarcastically, making you smack him in the arm. “Ow! Yeesh. Women these days.”

The sudden siren of one of the parked police cars made the three of you look over, spotting Walker and Hoskins. You groaned. “Did he see that?”

“Hey,” Bucky caught your jaw between his fingers, shaking his head. “Who cares? It’s between us and us only. Right?” You nodded, making him kiss your forehead again, a whisper of “attagirl” against your skin. You hadn’t heard that from him in a while.

“Gentlemen!” Walker waved them over, nodding at you. “And lady.” The three of you reluctantly walked over, Bucky going to lean on the police car Walker and Hoskins were near and you hopped up to sit on the hood of the police car across from them, Sam besides you.

You got information from Walker, who was once again trying to get you to work with him, but Sam summed it up nicely, explaining that the three of you didn’t have to follow the rules he did. You started to leave, Bucky tucking you under his arms once you slid off the car, when Walker stopped you once more.

“A word of advice, then. Stay the hell out of my way.”

You grumbled under your breath as the faker and his lapdog walked off. “I’m gonna kill him.” You vowed as the three of you started in the other direction. “I swear to God, I’m gonna rip that shield off his back and use it to beat him in that stupid face of his-”

“Down, girl.” Sam jested, flicking your ear. “We need a game plan. What’re we thinking?”

Your eyes narrowed as Bucky piped up, talking about the Isaiah character - who you still didn’t know - before HYDRA entered the equation.

“Absolutely not.” You shook your head, tugging his arm to make him stop once he mentioned Siberia. “Do you remember Siberia? Because if you’re actually suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, we remember Siberia very differently.”

“He’s our best bet-”

“So you’re just going to go sit in a room with this guy?”

Bucky scrunched up his nose. “Ye-yes…”

A beat of silence passed before Sam gave his stamp of approval, but you still disagreed. “There’s no way this’ll end well and I refuse to let you-”

You found your face between Bucky’s hands again. You really wished he’d stop doing that and just ask for your attention. You didn’t mean that, of course. You’d be held by him every second of every day if you could. “Don’t you trust me, doll?”

You licked your lips, looking around the darkened street. This was not a good idea. A bad plan - a terrible plan, really - but, unfortunately, it was the only one you had. “Dammit. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.” You finally sighed, running a hand through your hair after Bucky let go of you, his eyebrow quirking.

“Is that a yes?”

Sam nodded. “We’re gonna go see Zemo.”

You tugged Bucky’s hand when he nodded back and went to walk after Sam, who started walking around the corner, making him stop. “And yes. I do trust you. With everything I have, Buckaroo.”

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yanderefairyangel · 2 years ago

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4 - Ok but can we stop making fun of Zephia for Sombron or ???

Cause I keep seeing on the Internet that Zephia’s plot line is the dumbest cause and I quote “she could have had kids with literally any guy if she wanted so why obsessing over Sombron if she did not loved him ?”

Well, that’s gonna sound silly but: it simply is because Sombron was the one to bring up the idea. So no, actually what Zephia seeks in Sombron is her child, the one she craves. She sees him as the mean and him only because 1) he was the one who gave her that idea 2) he was the only one around 1 000 years ago 3) he is her freaking deity... that’s lot of reason. Zephia may not be in love with him but she still have for him the love of a devout and that’s the ultimate level of loyalty. That’s why I said that Zephia is also like Sombron’s children with the bad influence he had upon them, but Zephia was much more impacted by it and most importantly, also felt absolute dedication towards Sombron, so the only way she found to break “her curse” was to have his child, and she only saw that in Sombron, the man that would grant her wish, bring her salvation by making her a mother, curating her loneliness much like... Veyle

5 - I’ll say it then wash my mouth forever

That’s what makes Zephia a tragic and interesting character but before that, can we ponder : if Sombron was asleep for 1 000 years just like Veyle was ven though she woke up a bit earlier than him, then how could he have tasked Zephia to “fix” her ? Easy, either it happened before Sombron’s defeat and she still remembered that, either Zephia decided this on her own upon seeing how Veyle was. The only reason I can think of for her to do that is obviously to use her as a marionette to bring Sombron back but seeing how Zephia seemed to have convinced Sombron that Evil Veyle could be a worthy heir; I actually think that Zephia was trying to make Veyle the perfect child for Sombron. Regardless, Zephia sort of saved Veyle by using this spell to change her personality and while I despise her, she must have done this part of by pity seeing how Sombron would have never accepted her if she kept on being herself. Zephia knew that more than anyone but after you defeat Zephia there is some instance that seems to make you think that maybe... maybe... she sorta cared a little for Veyle other than in a brainswashing manipulative way... but I’ll doubt it. However the parallel bewteen her and Veyle definitely shows that there was a tragic thing in their relationship ; is that Veyle could have been the daughter Zephia wanted had she treated her differently, had she turn her back earlier since Veyle seeked for the love of a parent/sibling and Zephia for that of her own child. But like I mentionned, Zephia being influenced by Sombron made her just as blind as him

Moreover there is a little thing about this family Zephia wants :

The other reason why she was so blind to the love and family bound between the Hounds is simple : they aren’t her children that she made of her own. The child that Sombron promised her would be, and she kept obsessing over it because she things blood is required to make you a real family to someone since she talk about this with Sombron. So of course, she can’t reguard any of the Hounds as her real children since she did not birthed them, hold their baby body etc. So she is also blind because of this. Another evidence of this is the reason why she made the time travel spells. She pretends that she did it because she knew she was going to die and bullrubbish but the real reason is actually this :

I can’t be the only one who, upon seeing this, deduced that she actually made this thing because of her desire to see one last time her real family ? Zephia regret her actions even though she lacked any agency in that tragedy but she obviously longed for her dead family, this dead family, the guilt and desire to have this love she lost too young and too long ago is what is driven her to have this child, this little being who might break her “curse” as a lonely fearsome monster.

Also just in case, I am not inferring that Zephia was brainwashed or literally cursed because it's been proven many times she followed Sombron on her own accord and did those things willingly. The "curse" I am mentionning is a parallel with Mélusine's curse since, legends and tale heavily rely on symbolism, hence Mélusine's "curse" is actually a symbolic element representing the damnation of a being for being depreived of love, especially the damnation of a mother incapable of loving her own children due to "being a monster in disguise"

4 Hounds deep dive part 4 : Zephia

In the Hound family, I demand : the mother/older sister. Let’s break down evul momy lizard.

So of course SPOILERS AHEAD and no, whatever postive things I migt say about this piece of lizard meat, I don’t like her nor do I justify any of the things she has done but if I have to be critical, I’ll have to put my biais aside (I'll do the same thing as for Marni, reblog and add)

So Zephia, or if you prefer as I like to call her, Aversa 2.0 is basically a mix between Aversa and Nyx : she was some sort of genius talented baby mage dragon since according to both her and Mauvier, she had stronger dragonic impluse, far stronger then average Mage dragon so I guess dragonic impulse are linked to genetics in the Engage world ? Cause she says it’s “a gift” so it’s innate, not as if she spend hours practicing, ... in others words like Aversa and Nyx but because she is too OP, she ended up blowing up her home town, killing her own family in the process

That’s what we know of her backstory. A woman so OP she could have been the Fell Dragon if Sombron wasn’t there. This events tooks place when she was young but at some point, she ended up working for Sombron. Since Sombron is over 3 000 and arrived 1 000 years ago in Elyos after his family got killed, coupled with the fact that Zephia is over 2 500, this means that Zephia’s rampage tooks place at least 1 000 years after Sombron’s arrival in Elyos since he and Lumera since they are of the same age where child. As a loyal servant of Sombron, when he was sealed away, she immediately worked in order to bring him back, watched over sleeping Veyle in her temple and eventually took over Griss, Marnie and Mauvier and forms the Hounds, a “group whose goal is to serve Sombron and protect Veyle”. Once Veyle awoke, seeing her gentle personality, Zephia began her manipulation to “fix” her and if she is very manipulative with Veyle, she is actually incredibly loyal to the Fell Princess (that’s how i call Evil Veyle) since this version of Veyle is the perfect version. She is so devoted to Sombron that she puts every of his needs and desire before everything to the point of becoming blind and... not very bright cause she is incredibly dumb sometimes... eh, but basically she is the perfect pawn for Sombron because she is driven by a desire, a specific desire ; that Sombron would be the father of her own children. So now, here we go.

The main thing with Zephia much like the other villains in this game, she is driven by the desire of love and family

1 - Zephia la Mélusine

Melusine is a unique class that debuted in Engage, and is reserved to the only 2 mage dragon (or rather Full Mage dragon) that can join our party or is an ennemy in Engage, Zelestia and Zephia. Described as “an alluring magic knight who rides an evil dragon”, it’s name is based on a creature from European folklore, la fée Mélusine, a Nixie.

There is a lot of version of her story, but most famous as her being cursed by her mother to turn into a a dragon half woman each Saturday and that her only salvation would be to find a man who would accept to marry her, to have her children and to respect the oath of never seeing her bathing each Saturday. At some point, Melusine meets a man called Raymondin, a young lord who accidentally killed his uncle and helps him in return, he accepts to marry her and promise her to never spy on her as she bath in secret every Saturday. They have children most of them having monstruous feature according to foklore, but they are of the number of ten. However, Raymondin’s brother, the count of Forez encourages his brother to spy on her by saying she might be up to something bad * cough, cough cheating * and of course, being the jealous husband type Raymondin eventually ends up spying on her and discover her dragon tail. The version varies from there but all ends the same : Mélusine, desesperate as her husband’s action condamned her to endless damnation, she screams out of despair, and fly out of the window (yes cause she is a dragon/fairy so she had wings with her tails... don’t ask me ok, it’s a mythological figure) but she returns at night to caress her kids, and legends as it that at night when she can’t enter the place to take care or see her children, she spent the entire night crying out of despair and that when someone of the family dies or that her family’s good pass onto someone else, she screams and laments. Her names in breton means “La Mielleuse” = the Sweet/The Smooth

Now bear with me : Mélusine was a dragon-woman yearning for family and whose salvation relied on founding this family but she was robbed of it because of an invidual’s toxic behaviour... reminds you of someone ? It’s pretty obvious that not only her design, her class and story macthes with this story, that’s preety much why the dev decided to name her class that. Zephia’s story aligns pretty much with that of Mélusine, she too seeks salvation in family only for it to ends tragically but their fate is rather different however.

2 - Zephia and the meaning of family

When exactly did she started to be obssessed by it ? Well...

After this conversation... very weird conversation if you ask me. I mean, Zephia associate the words “children” with “subordinate. To which Sombron answer by “If you require some of those [loyal subordinnates], then just do what I do. Make children”. Sombron’s answer make sense with how he is. Cause look at the definition Sombron gives of family

(NB to me, I gotta make a post about the meaning of family cause the more this goes, the more complex it gets)

Regardless by Sombron’s definition, children are synonynoms of subordinates but the interesting bits about Zephia is that what seems to have drawn her attention was this part

She comments that it’s a “revelation” and this comments obviously shows that Sombron put something knew in her mind.

What Zephia however doesn’t seems to realize is that Sombron doesn’t care about his children love and that his children most definetely did not loved him, but rather feared him with the sole exception of Veyle but Veyle was too young at the time and overall remained ignorant of a lot of things but Veyle is another topic.

Upon this thoughts, Zephia tries to remember her family. She obviously doesn’t because of several reason : other then the fact that she was young when her rampage occured, it’s well established that because of their lifespan being longer than human’s, dragons often forgets a lot of things the more time passes, but even more than an average human brain.

Basically, Zephia’s definition of family aligns with the one given by Sombron but the difference is that Sombron makes kids because “power” whereas Zephia wants kids because she want Luv... and that’s where it gets interesting

3 - Zephia break down : a woman who yearned for love

This is the parts where you see that Zephia isn’t a comically evil lady but a character with actual motivations. Just like the character her class is named after, Zephia seeked for the love of someone, that someone be her child.

That’s how Mauvier describe Zephia to Zelestia, but note that he mentions how above all her negative traits, she is lonely. In the full convo, he said the last part of the sentence with a sad look and a sad tone which are notable speaking of Mauvier, a character that emotes very little and most importantly who resent Zephia for killing Marnie. What I like about this support is that Mauvier begins by saying it’s his point of view and perspectivism is going to be important about the Hounds in general, but even though what he saw and knew of Zephia was her harsh and destructive side, he was also able to sense her loneliness.

That’s not that surprising because Mauvier is Veyle’s knight, and who was the most lonely person Mauvier ever met ? Veyle. And who also wanted a family and love ? Veyle. Basically, Zephia shares a lot of common things with Veyle (excuse me, i have to wash my mouth for saying this I hope it’s the last time) : that is to say

1 ) they both are terrible lonely

2) they both yearns for the love of family

3) they both yearned for Sombron’s attention + got contaminated by him (to some extent)

Zephia was after all resposible for the death of her own family even if she could not control it and who knows how many years she spent all alone until she met Sombron and entered his service ?

She even express the wish to see her parents once again but that’s not all

It’s revealed that the reason why Zephia never allows herself to get attached to any of Sombron’s children is to protect herself from sadness* since she knows he will dispose of them sooner or later. A kind of “ your goldfish is gonna die within 2 days, why bother getting attached ?” mentality. Or if you prefer this

This also explain her entire relationship towards Veyle.

Regardless, Zephia’s relationship to love is actually quite complicated because when she dies, we have this whole conversation with Griss

And when say that, guess what ? I’ll believe her. Zephia really though of the Hounds as her family, no matter how toxic she was towards them... because of her complicated story with love. Even Veyle mentions that Zephia showed kindess towards her (though we all know why eh) but she was shown to be capable of acting both as a loving mother and an abuser because Zephia remained lonely during such a long time that she forgot how it feels to be love and a family, but most importantly because the only model of a family she saw during all these years was : Sombron’s. A toxic environnement where violence was required to have what you wanted, those kids had to kill in order to survive themselves and she also saw those children being killed in awful ways. Sombron literaly tasked her with getting care of the corpse... yeah. Basically, Zephia’s problem is that she yearns for the love of her children but she doesn’t know HOW to love them nor even express it, mainly because the only familial environement she remember is a... no actually toxic is an understatement when it comes to describing the experience that is being Sombron’s children. Zephia’s love manifest itself through her attitude of being harsh and destructive despite her motherly attitude and before someone acts like “toxicisty isn’t love” yes, I know that.

HOWEVER, toxicity can be a result of love, or rather love can create a toxic behaviour. All feelings are like medicine, medicine is somthing that can cure you or poison you depending on how you use it. Anger can be the fuel of toxic behavior but we sometimes need it, same thing for sadness. Love may be what we all yearn for, but there is no denying that it can also be what freed the worst in all of us. I think the movie that shows that best is Luis Bunel’s masterpiece, El.

But I digress, what is important is that Zephia is incapable of being a loving mother because the only “love” she witnessed was the one given by Sombron to his children.. so yeah any family she could have based on this influence was bound to be ducked up. She wanted to and to be loved, but because of Sombron’s influence, she was incapable of understanding the real meaning of family even though she still had one thing over Sombron and that was to understand that a family can bring you the love you desire which Sombron never even consider since he seems to consider his children to be like the humans that believes in him. She was still able to praise her “children” when needed but still gave them violent punishement when she judge it necessary. if Zephia is Melusine, then Sombron is at the same time Raymondin and the one who cursed her. By uttering the cursed words that made her want to have a child, he actually doomed Zephia to crave for something she is incapable of having and that would dommed her. My personal commentary on Mélusine’s story was precisely that she needed love to be saved, but not just her husband, but her loving family and that it’s precisely the inner toxicity of her husbanf, his jealousy that doomed her to remain a monster who would still love her children but unable to remain by their side. Sombron’s influence is like a curse (and don’t worry Rafal, one day I’ll talk about what he did to you) and he also cursed Zephia, corrupted her with his toxic view on family. In that regard, that makes the ressemblances between Veyle and Zephia ever more barrant; she too after all, was a tragic woman who yearned for the love of someone, her child.

She also bears strinking similarities with Sombron : Sombron seeks 0 Emblem, his Elys, his ideal. Zephia has eyes only for him.

Zephia confirms she had no romantic feelings for Sombron and that she wasn’t exaclty looking for his affection unlike what Mauvier claimed even though you could say that maybe Zephia did not wanted to admit it, but seeing how things are presented I believe Zephia more. What is important is that she pushed everyone away for Sombron, but not really for him, but for what she wanted him to be : the father of her child. Just like how Sombron become obsessed by 0 Emblem to the point of not seeing anyone, Zephia became blinded by her desire to have a child. When Veyle fights against her, she says “ You don’t see me, do you, Zephia ? You see me and you think of Papa.” Sombron’s influence on someone just as lonely as he was is obvious : he was a lonely dragon seeking for the love of only one person to the point of making everyone suffer and not caring, and Zephia repeated the same schema on the Hounds, with the difference that she did care about them to some extent.

Proof ? Well, she still leaves Mauvier and Marnie chances to get back on her side, when she fight Mauvier, Mauvier still talks about how he truly believed they were family but in his support with Zelestia he will take this back, though for Zephia they were indeed family because to her, that’s how family is like. Even as they are fighting in chapter 23, Zephia still offers Mauvier to return to her side. Zephia’s attitude definetely was shaped by Sombron’s influence since she became almost like him and guess what ?

Mauvier may be talking about magic powers here, but I am not (especially seeing the allegory there can be within Sombron’s magical power), what I am saying is that Zephia could have been an equal to Sombron’s toxicity in family if it weren’t for 2 different things : one, she is aware that family mean love. 2, she ends up realizing herself how blind she was and love did deliver her (and death too, incidentally).

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #zephia fe #four hounds #mélusine #fire emblem emotional damage #zephia fire emblem #fire emblem #sombron continues to prove each day he is the worst parent in fe verse whatever the tournament's result might have said

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profoundbondfanfic · 2 years ago

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Another day of more amazing recommendations you guys sent us.

PART 3:

Home Is by Castielslostwings [Explicit, 61k words]

Abruptly terminated from his all-encompassing job at Sandover Bridge & Iron, company man Dean Smith makes a spur of the moment decision to embark on a cross-country roadtrip to "find himself." And if he's going, why not ask along the strangely attractive but down-on-his-luck homeless guy who's been sleeping outside Sandover's building? He looks like he needs some help finding himself, too. The hell with it, Dean's tired of playing by the rules, and playing alone. Little does he know, Castiel may be just what he needs.

Hot Water by Chiyume [Explicit, 151k words]

Castiel hated public showers. In which Castiel is forced to use the company shower after hours and ends up doing unspeakable things he never thought himself capable of... AU-fic containing mystery attractions and a lot of hot water.

If These Wings Should Fail Me by narrow_staircases [Mature, 35k words]

Some days, Castiel wonders if he should never have healed Dean at all. Because now Dean has nothing to wrestle with, no physical pain to nurse, no slowly-mending fractured ribs to remind him that his brother and his sacrifice were real, that Sam Winchester saved the world and that Dean was a part of that fight. He's a blank slate, and it's Castiel's fault. Without pain to ground him, center him, do whatever it is that pain has done for Dean Winchester his entire life, he erodes, steadily and quietly, until Castiel no longer recognizes him, and has no one to blame for his loss but himself. In which they stopped the Apocalypse, but Dean is steadily falling apart after losing his brother, and Castiel is doing everything in his power to try to get them back on a path to normal.

Last One Out Hits The Lights by entanglednow [Explicit, 37k words]

After they stop a plot to tear open a hole straight to hell, the Winchesters face more trouble when zombies start rising from their graves across the country. Bobby calls all hands on deck and Sam and Dean, along with an angel, a mess of out-numbered hunters, and a very reluctant prophet of the Lord, have to try and save the world. Or go down in flames with it.

Light Me Up by tricia_16 [Explicit, 195k words]

Five years after participating in a life-changing threesome with his then-girlfriend and her friend Cas, Dean's single, comfortably bisexual, and has everything he's ever wanted except for that special someone to share his life with. When tragedy strikes, he and Cas are reunited in an unexpected way, and a split-second decision entangles their lives in ways neither of them could have predicted...

Look Homeward, Angel by sirkay [Mature, 108k words]

Dean is twenty-five and thinks he's going to spend the rest of his life exactly where he is: working in his dad's auto shop, estranged from his brother, trying to make up for the mistakes he made as a teenager. That is until his mom leaves without a word, and he drives to California to escape his problems and reconnect with Sam. Mary Winchester finally does what she should have done years ago: she leaves John. Traveling cross-country, she encounters people who help her learn things about herself she would have never thought possible. The one thing she can't bring herself to do is call her sons. When Dean's impromptu road trip crashes and burns, a mysterious stranger in a trench coat pulls him up from rock bottom and launches him on a path that will force him-- and everyone in his life-- to face the things they've been hiding from. (And they might just have some fun along the way).

My Eyes Are An Ocean by entanglednow [Explicit, 10k words]

It's amazing what you decide you can get away with when you can't see a damn thing.

Ninety One Whiskey by komodobits [Explicit, 401k words]

In the spring of 1944, the 104th Medical Battalion of the United States Army is disbanded, and its men reassigned to various infantry companies in preparation for their invasion of occupied France. For First Lieutenant Novak, this is less than helpful, as he has so far met his platoon’s designated medic a grand total of twice, and has both times found Sergeant Winchester to be the optimum combination of reckless, arrogant, and downright insufferable so as to make cohesive platoon function near impossible. When the time comes to move out, however, Castiel has to reconcile himself to the fact that men are going to go down and trust that Dean Winchester may well be the only person who can put them back together again. WW2 ETO infantry AU.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 4] [part 5]

#500 followers celebration #favorite fics #group rec #submitted rec

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en-hale-archives · 3 years ago

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Me with You ~~

pairing ⑅ bestfriend!Jake x fem!reader

genre ⑅ friends to lovers, fluff, slow dancing, suggestive/smut

words/read time ⑅ 3.9k/12-19 mins

warnings ⑅ 18+ content, light cussing

synopsis ⑅ Jake is back in his hometown to spend time with his closest friend. During some fun and frivolous dancing, things start to heat up...

author's note ⑅ I’m really proud of how this story turned out. I'm not a huge fan of second person, so I wrote in first, but if anyone asks, I can copy and post again in second person. It's more fluff than anything, but it does get a bit steamier towards the end, so I’m just going to go ahead and put a warning.

————✧————

When the back door finally slammed shut and the cacophony of barks faded down the street, I could finally let out my sigh of relief that I had been holding in since this morning. I tapped on my phone. How many days had we been watching Mrs. Chen’s pets? And just how was I able to put up with hours of barking, the smell of fresh turd lying across the lawn, and dog walks till dark? Including their rigorous feeding times and bathroom breaks -- I’m surprised I haven’t exploded yet.

I had so much planned the minute they left my house, but instead, the sudden silence felt all too relaxing and I laid my head against the cold countertop. I could finally stop stressing, stop thinking, and stop worrying about reprimanding for chewing on my shoes or peeing in the house or the continued barking that never ended. I was free. I felt like I could’ve stayed laid on the countertop forever, drowning in the evening sun. Who knew watching five dogs would take such a burden out of a person. Jake and I had taken on the job of dog sitting for Mrs. Chen while she visited some family in Tokyo. We both switched off every other day; some of the dogs at my house and the others at his; until we realized it would be easier if he just spent the few days at my house as we co-doggy sat. He got up bright and early to take them on their walks while I prepared their highly detailed and specific meals. Then from there, we spent the rest of the day making sure they didn’t run off somewhere or cause too much destruction in the house. But alas, Mrs. Chen came back early from her getaway and picked up Toby, Caleb, Khao, Sofia, and Pickle on her way home. Although I was exhausted from watching 3-foot dogs all day, the pay was amazing for me, and it would help tremendously for all the online classes I was going to be taking next semester.

The warmth of the sun cast a comforting trance over my heavy eyelids, and soon enough I was fast asleep, standing in the middle of the kitchen with the soft sound of nothing surrounding me.

By the time I had fluttered my eyes open, I had realized I was now seated in my dining chair and a large black jacket was placed over my shoulders. I sat up and let out a yawn, wincing at the bright light coming from the tv and shaking my now numb arm awake. I must have been sleeping for a while because the evening sun had turned to pitch of black. The moonlight beamed through the window and danced along with the sways of the large oak tree out front. I stood up and walked over to the refrigerator in which I grabbed two water bottles and some leftover pasta.

I was sure that Jake hadn’t eaten since lunch, seeing as he only ate if someone sat food in front of his face. I dragged my feet up the stairs until I heard the slamming of a book and the fast typing of a keyboard come from the living room. I turned and looked behind me. Jake had settled his things on the coffee table and floor, large books, folders, and several amounts of crumpled up pieces of paper found their way around Jake, himself slouched up against the edge of the couch. He had changed clothes since the last time I had seen him, he now wore a plain blue shirt with grey sweats, his eyebrows furrowed as he worked hard on whatever he was getting at.

“Oh yes, I was starving!” Propping himself up on the couch, he took the plate of pasta. I placed the waters on the coffee table and settled comfortably on the couch beside him.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anybody sleep standing up before. Look,” Jake took his phone off the charger. “I got a picture.” He pushed the screen in my face, and of course, there was my unconscious body laying on the counter, mouth open and all. I playfully pushed it back his way as his face lit up with a smile I was all too familiar with.

“What are you doing down here so late, it’s almost 12 in the morning,” I asked. Jake’s smile disappeared when he was reminded of the work he had been doing seconds before.

He let out a large huff of air. “Trying to get some words on paper but instead it turned into a paper massacre,” he jokingly replied, “sorry for the mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, taking a swig of water. I was going to ask if he wanted to watch a late-night movie, or pull an all-nighter and talk endlessly until the sun rose, but I could tell by each passing second that Jake was worried about this, and he wanted the time he had now over the summer to work on his music. I wished I was motivated to work on my own music, but unlike Jake, I wasn’t in a globally popular boy band. My complicated best friend for over 10 years had been working his butt off since middle school. It was his annual time to sit back and relax while he had the time to, but instead, he chose to use that time to help watch a bunch of dogs with his hometown bestie. God, I loved him.

Jake pulled himself off the couch and right back onto the floor, leaving the rest of the pasta to me. He picked up his pen again and started scribbling down words as quickly as he could, trying hard not to forget the lyrics that had floated into his head. Until he stopped, closing his eyes for just a split second, and let out a powerful sigh. Crumpling up the sheet, he stacks it on top of the others in frustration and started frantically tapping his pencil against the table.

“Maybe it’s best to just try again in the morning,” I advised, taking a small bite of the pasta that was left by my side.

“How come I’m having such a hard time with this?” He gazed up at me frantically for a clue, as if I had the answer to fix a problem as big and as important as his was. I looked at his doleful eyes and the bags that were starting to grow underneath them. I couldn’t help but think, because I made you sit up and watch a bunch of dogs with me.

“Do you want me to see if I could come up with something?”

“If you want. But, hold on, I think my thoughts are coming back up.” He quickly grabbed another piece of paper, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

I tried my best to keep occupied by watching videos on my phone, but I found myself suddenly bored out of my mind. I laid out on my back and picked up one of Jake’s folders. Briefly looking through it, I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous at the amount of fan art and letters, praising him and the other members. Followed with that were just more and more engene stuff, full of nothing but kind words and heartfelt messages. Part of me wished that I was able to travel with Jake and see the world like he was. How fun would it be to meet people that praised you? And how cool would it be to see that you had fans? I couldn’t help but plaster on a huge smile as I skimmed through some of the notes until I finally came to one with familiar handwriting.

Remember Me were the words written on the top of the paper in bold and bright colors. But the message written underneath is what caught my attention:

To the person that makes me the luckiest guy in the world, this song is for you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but please just remember me -- it was Jake’s handwriting.

I didn’t feel like I was breaking any crime reading his stuff until this moment, but curiosity killed the cat, and right now I didn’t mind being a feline. I checked to make sure Jake was still busy, and he was, almost like he had teleported into his own world. I quietly turned back to the sheet and started reading. It was about a girl, presumably his crush I’m sure. She was someone important to him, someone who made him love so much that it hurt. But this was far from a happy song, in fact, it was terribly heartbreaking. She didn’t understand his love, she wasn’t able to interpret it like he wanted her to. But he confesses that he was scared of what telling her would do, worried that she wouldn’t feel the same. So instead, it was like he was apologizing, and asking that she forgive him for not being brave enough to tell her, and if he did ever get the courage to, for her to remember him even if she wasn’t able to love him like he wanted her to.

The song ends like how the title began, and I find myself flabbergasted at the beautiful mixes of rhymes and metaphors that read like a poem. This was the first of Jake’s songs that made me feel this way, like I had just finished watching a tragedy movie with Ryan Renolds starring. I blink back the tears that I didn’t realize were forming. How come he never told me this? We never kept secrets from each other, like ever. It never mattered the subject or the severity, we had always promised that we would be open and honest with each other. I wish I would’ve known this sooner, maybe I could’ve saved him from feeling this way. And what girl could it possibly be? I knew for sure I was the only girl he was presumably close to; but was there someone else?

I glanced down at Jake, who was still in a focused state of mind with the pencil in his mouth and mumbling lyrics softly under his breath. I tried picturing my bubbly Jake writing these agonizing words and miserably failed.

Jake looked up at me as if he could feel my gaze on the back of his head. “I think I’ve found the chorus, but it’s the rest of the song I’m not able to get, and how come it’s so hard to find another word that rhymes with severe? Beer? Sphere? Revere? Appear? Gosh, rhyming sucks some serious ass!”

“This song is beautiful.”

Jake furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Huh?”

“This song I found in your folder.” I glanced back at it in my hand. “Remember Me.”

Jake’s gaze leaped from my eyes to the sheet, and I felt his body tense. “Where’d you get that from?”

“I was just going through one of your folders. Did you accidentally get it mixed up in your fan folder? Cause this is -”

“Did you read it?” He interrupted.

“Yeah, and it’s perfect.”

Jake glanced at me for a split second before turning back around, obviously uncomfortable. “I was watching one of those Kdramas you love so much and it inspired me. Could you help me rhyme with severe now?”

I knew Jake like the back of my hand, so I knew continuing on with this conversation would get him upset if he’s clearly avoiding it. But, I wasn’t going to just let him off that quickly. “Jake, come on, you can tell me anything. Who is this about?”

Jake looked back at me with a hint of something in his eyes, something I’ve never seen before, and something I wasn't able to decipher. “Nobody, I was just feeling really inspired, that's it.” His tone had switched from calm to agitated.

I give him my I’m-not-stupid look and he comes back with his own you’re-being-delusional stare. “It’s seriously nobody, truthfully and honestly.”

“Okay, okay I’ll back off.” I could tell he was starting to get defensive, and when he got like that, it took him at least a few hours before returning to normal. I watched Jake's Adam's apple move up and down, a way in which I could tell he knew I was not convinced in the slightest. “Well, sometimes we go through things that can remind us of situations like that, but not necessarily in that same exact context, you know? It has to be amplified for that audience appeal.”

“Okay...but have you ever felt this way before? Not exactly like how it’s written, but maybe somewhere along these lines?”

I thought I was going to get another vague answer, or worse, an aggravated one. But instead Jake looked down at his pencil as he tapped it along his wrist. “...maybe, but I think everyone can connect to the words in some way. I mean, everyone feels some kind of heartbreak in their life, right?” Jake's answer was still pretty vague, but at least I was able to get something out of him.

“Okay, but you know you can tell me anything, like, anything ever because you know that you’ll never actually have to feel this way, right?” I said, maybe too much in a hurry.

“Of course I know that.” He replied, giving one of his awkward grins.

“And if anyone has made you feel this way, then you know you can tell me that too cause there a sucker to lose out on a perfect person like you.” I teased in a sing-song way, poking his shoulder hard. Jake chuckled and poked me back.

A weird silence grew in the room, and Jake went back to trying to find rhyming words. I tried getting back on my phone, but I knew I needed to say something to let go of the tenseness in the air.

“Hey, crystal clear rhymes!”

He leaned his head back and looked up at me. “Nevermind, I give up for tonight.”

I could see the stress that played on his face. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, but by the time I do, it’ll be too late.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake pulled his knees up to his chest and spoke. “This was going to go on our album comeback that needs to be finished in the next four months. By the time I think of something, it'll be too late and I’ll have to wait until the next four months. But by then, I'll have forgotten. This always happens and I have no idea how the hell to fix it.” I couldn’t tell if he wanted my help or just a bit of comfort.

“Did you try asking the other guys to see if they had any ideas?”

“Yeah, but they’re working on their own parts, I can’t ask them to do this too.”

“I’m sure they’d be willing to help if you asked,” I assured him.

“I know they would, but I just don’t want to. I always ask them for help, I thought being away from the studio and being back home would help my brainstorming abilities.” He gave a weary chuckle that almost sounded like a groan.

“Well, maybe tomorrow will come with better results.” I did my best to give him some motivation, but I could tell I was failing miserably at that too.

Jake watched as a car zoomed past the window, a low bass sounding off as it zoomed away. “I bet it’s easier to just listen to music than to try and come up with it. I remember when I would just blare NCT all day long and jam out in my room. It seemed so much easier back then to come up with stuff than it does now. I miss it.” He took a slight pause before continuing. “ Did you know that song you read was the easiest thing I have written in my life? I remember writing too. I just had this super weird feeling in my chest one day so I basically locked myself in my room and took maybe two hours and just wrote a bunch of words down and connected them to sound like a song. For once my mind had just gone blank and I couldn’t stop thinking and feeling that song, like I knew what it was supposed to sound like, I knew what the lyrics were supposed to mean. I just knew everything. And I miss that feeling, that feeling of like- '' He broke off his sentence when he looked back up to my eyes. It seemed like he was talking more to himself than to me. He swallowed hard and looked back at the pencil still in hand.

“Well, I'm sorry you don’t feel free anymore. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel like that again-”

“No, please don’t feel like that. It’s just something that had just recently started happening, something I really just can’t fix…” His voice gets softer and softer the more he spoke.

“Have you spoken to your manager about it?” I asked. “He’s super nice from what I understand. And he’ll probably have better answers than your friend who can barely play the piano, let alone produce an entire song.”

Jake laughed before I had the chance to. “ See, now you're underestimating yourself. Remember that song from freshman year? The one about-- what was his name, Josh?” Jake teased. I grabbed a pillow and slammed it into the back of his head. “Oh my gosh, I thought we promised we’d never bring it up again!”

Jake chuckled and laid his arm on the couch completely turning towards me. “How about we sneak out and go get ice cream and try to not wake up your mom in the process?”

I suddenly jumped to my feet when I have the perfect idea on how to cheer up the gloomy Mr. Shim. “Or, we could do something even better!”

“Urgh!” Jake groaned.

I grabbed my phone and hooked it up to the speaker. I was going to turn on his hit song Drunk-Dazed as a joke, but Jake needed this break from his career, so instead, I crunk up Beyonce as loud as it could go without disturbing my mom who slept upstairs. I turn back to Jake and reach out for his hands, already moving my hips to the music.

He shook his head and threw it back onto the couch as if throwing a temper tantrum. “I literally dance for a living.”

“Okay but this will be different, I promise.” I grabbed the piles of papers on the ground and threw them in the trash, I then pushed the coffee table near the wall and piled his folders and books neatly on top.

“Come on, cowboy!” I grabbed his hands and helped him up. He was reluctant to get up, but he threw one last groan before standing on his feet.

“This will get the brain juices flowing again!” I told him. I go back to my phone and switch it to one of my favorite Beyonce songs that she covered, At Last.

I sang dramatically to get Jake to smile, and luckily, it worked. I placed both my hands over his shoulders and swayed us back and forth, still miming the song as overly exaggerated as I could. Jake still couldn’t help but smile, and it didn’t take him long to join me in the rhythm and sway naturally with me. I learned at our middle school dance that Jake had perfect rhythm. He was able to impress the rest of the crowd when he busted out moves from BTS. Everyone was impressed, including me.

Now we were on a steady roll. I accidentally stepped on his feet a few times, but it was fine seeing as I was wearing foam flip-flops and he was barefooted. After a while, the song switched and played another of my favorites that didn’t match our style of dance, but we still moved slowly to the beat. Jake tried twirling me, but since I have two left feet, I almost ended up hitting the wall each time and Jake laughed loud at my clumsiness. The moonlight from the kitchen had now switched to the window in the living room. It gleamed through and glistened on Jake like a spotlight, just like the ones on the stage did for him. In a split second, I was reminded that he wouldn’t be here forever, just like he wasn’t here for the past year. I tried to not let it settle on my face that I was scared to see him go again, so I played up on the fun we were having now. Jake looked like he was at ease; finally, since he’d been here, he looked genuinely happy and I wasn’t going to ruin that.

After another handful of songs full of laughs and giggles, we were soon sweating and taking deeper breaths than normal. Each song was different from the one before, but it didn’t stop us from sticking to our style of dance. Even with the simplicity of the moves and the slowness of the steps, I had to take a minute to relax. I hooked my arms around his neck and rested my entire body on his. I could feel Jake’s own sweat seeping through his shirt, But I didn’t mind the wetness that was now attached to my cheek. I thought he would act awkward and ask for me to pull away, but instead, he gripped tighter on my hips and started slowly moving me side to side. I let out a long overdue sigh, trying my best to match the steady breathing of Jake’s with my own. It was actually therapeutic: hearing his heartbeat in one ear and the softness of the music in the other.

I tried to continue our steady breathing together, but his had picked up a bit, almost out of nowhere. I felt the heat of his breath on the nape of my neck, and it made my entire body tingle in a way it never had before. After this sudden feeling, I realized just how close we really were. His leg hair tickled my legs, I could feel the bone of his foot connecting to mine, I could feel his thin waist against mine as well. I felt like I needed to back up, but instead, I couldn’t and continued to sway softly against him. A few seconds later, Jake’s hands rose a little higher, planting themselves on my waist and tightening their grip as if they were trying to pull me closer than we already were.

The sensation hadn’t stopped though, it clung to my body like my damp shorts did on my thighs. Sooner or later I felt pressure on the lower part of my stomach and thought for sure that Jake was messing around and wasn’t feeling what I was, which indicated that I needed to pull back before this feeling became too much.

This is so embarrassing. I thought. How could I let myself feel like this? How was this in any way okay? I finally pulled back, the sensation becoming too unbearable, and glanced up at his face. His pupils were large in a way I hadn’t seen before. His mouth was slightly open and a drop of sweat slowly traced down his forehead, onto his nose. That pressure I was feeling on my stomach had now doubled in force, and Jake's face had switched from calm and subtle, to alarmed and panicked...

————✧————

(part 2 possibly...?)

Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please, leave any constructive criticism you have on helping improve my writing!

————✧————

None of the images are mine, They all belong to their rightful owners :)

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eydi-andrius · 4 years ago

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THE KAMBAL - Trese meeting their S/O for the first time....

CRISPIN

You two first met when he saved you from an aswang attack in MRT

Since then, you keep meeting him in a dire situation caused by the lurking supernatural beings residing in Manila

Every damn time he’s there to save your unlucky ass

From then on, you earned the “Miss ‘Di Pinagpala” or Miss Unfortunate nickname from him

It’s very unlike Crispin to tease someone but saving you, every time you’re in danger, created an unexpected bond with him

Even his brother, Basilio was surprised when he initiated the teasing because his brother is known to be serious and quieter than him

He just can’t stop talking about you to his brother, Alex and Hank

He doesn’t know why but he just loves to keep talking about you to his family

Everything and every talk reminds him of you

He sounds like a guy who is truly, madly, deeply in love with someone

With the way he was talking about you, Basilio decided to tease his brother

“Wag na mag-talk. Ligawan mo na kasi.” (Stop talking, court her.)

At first, he denied that he likes her

Until for almost 2 months, he didn’t get a chance to see you

Oh boy, the word misses you was an understatement

He was worried about what if you’ve been kidnapped or worse died without him saving you

The Diabolical was filled with an anxious Crispin

On the other hand, during those months, you were busy doing your thesis and was outside Manila

So when the panel approved your thesis, you and your groupmates decided to celebrate the good news

But you can’t really enjoy the celebration because your mind was filled with thoughts of a clean cut black haired guy, with chiseled jaw and big round pitch black eyes demi-god which you never got a chance to see for a while

During the walk to the area where you intended to party, you got lost and separated from the group

Fuck right?

You walk around the area and tries to find your friends

The nickname given by Crispin worked like a charm, unfortunately, and you saw yourself in front of an Amalanhig

Instead of confronting the monster, you run

Until, you collided to a firm chest of someone who smells familiar

You looked up and saw the familiar diamond shape mask of tragedy

“Crispin!” you sighed in relief and he immediately took care of the Amalanhig

You heard footsteps behind him and saw Basilio

“Oh! Miss ‘Di Pinagpala! Kumusta? It’s been a while since we last saw each-”

Your attention was pulled back from Basilio when Crispin squeezed you

His mask disintegrate and he stares at you nervously

“Let’s go on a date. Kahit sa may Dimsum Treats lang sa Asturias.”

BASILIO

He always complains about your bakery’s pandesal

But in the mornings, he made sure to buy on your store for whatever reason despite the endless complaint from him

You scratched your head in irritation and tried to remember the first time you met this guy

You were new here in Manila

You came from the province with lots of stories about aswangs so when the monster tried to eat you, you stabbed the creature’s left eye and chopped it’s head off using the butcher knife you picked up while running away

That’s when you saw a figure wearing a black suit and diamond mask of comedy not far from where you fought the monster

His mask disintegrated and you got a chance to see his face

Slick long black hair, strong jaw, broad nose and pitch black eyes

The moment you saw him, you know something will change

But not like this though

The moment Basilio saw how you killed that aswang easily, he knew he likes you

It’s not always you’ll see a badass lady aside from bossing around here

And he knew trying to get your attention will be twice as hard as any girls he used to hook up with

Every time he tried talking to you, you just nod, hmmm, and ah uh

The only words which earned a reaction on you was when he complain about the pandesal you were selling

Since then, he made it a habit to complain and visit you early in the morning

He also insists on taking you out on a date many times

Which you always refuse because anyone on this street knew he was a huge flirt

It was so unlike him but he asked Hank how to court you and make you say yes for a date

Hank smugly and willingly helped him

That’s when you regularly receives flowers and hand-written letters from him everyday

The letter were mostly jokes and pick-up lines which Hank taught him to write

The gesture is so darn cute!!!

You can’t help but smile while reading them

Despite the added efforts, he stills complain everyday just to have a reason to see you

You’ve decided to finally give in

“Kapag sinabi mo na hindi rin masarap ang pandesal namin ngayon, wala kang mapapalang date sa akin.” (If you came here just to complain again, I will never say yes going out with you)

Basilio’s jaw dropped for a moment but he recovers quickly and shouted, “Ikaw ang may pinakamasarap na pandesal sa Manila! Sa sanlibutan at karit-an!”

*Hello! You may drop a message to my inbox for fanfic ideas about trese or even suggest which character I should create imagines next!

#trese komiks #trese 2021 #trese netflix #the kambal #crispin #basilio #trese anime #The Kambal x Reader #trese spoilers #trese drabbles #basilio trese #crispin trese #crispin x reader #basilio x reader #trese imagines #basilio fic #crispin fic #headcanons

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delimeful · 3 years ago

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nothing in this world (i wouldn’t do) (2)

warnings: mild blood/violence/injury, demon slaying, miscommunication, impromptu first aid, mentions of spiders, virgil tempting fate with his internal dialogue again

Whenever Virgil wasn’t sleeping, he was on the move.

At first, it had been because he didn’t trust himself around towns for too long, and there was always the chance of a real demon slayer getting wind of that ridiculous rumor and trying to track him down and kill him for it, even though it totally wasn’t his fault.

But then, as time went on, his bizarre pseudo-popularity seemed to have a different side effect.

Namely, every time he managed to save another human and hauled them back to the nearest town, he’d be practically swarmed. Antsy townsfolk would hurriedly inform him of the horrible tragedy they’d heard about up north, or the mysterious disappearances by the woods between this town and the neighboring one, or any sort of rumor that they thought a “demon slayer” should know about.

Where exactly were all the real demon slayers when people needed them? Why was he, an actual demon, seemingly more accessible for seeking help?!

Still, he wasn’t exactly doing anything else with his life (his unlife?), and if there were less demons, that meant the world would be safer for Thomas, didn’t it? So off he went, taking the less-traveled paths and following vague leads right into more danger.

His latest case had been a requested one, from a weaver in the last town. She had received a letter from her brother saying that he planned to come visit, and weeks later, he still hadn’t appeared or replied to her many return messages. The worry seemed to weigh her down like a physical burden, and he’d agreed perhaps more easily than normal.

Now, he was wedged into a shallow crevice in the mountainside and sorely regretting that decision.

The issue wasn’t the demon, no. He’d actually been making good progress on getting deeper and deeper into its territory in the past few days.

The issue was that he wasn’t the only one hunting it.

First, it had been a gaggle of young teens, and he’d been so alarmed that he’d almost dropped right out of the trees and ushered them back out of the woods. The less humans traipsing around this deep in demon territory, the better.

Of course, that was when he’d managed to spot the swords strapped to their sides, and suddenly, never appearing before a human again was looking more and more appealing. He’d immediately switched gears from tracking to stealth, and honestly, should have just turned tail and left then.

Instead, because those kids were around Thomas’s age and he still needed to find that weaver’s brother and also he was a sentimental idiot, he trailed them at a distance, always staying downwind and poised to bolt.

They handled themselves well at the beginning, and then the environment began to warp around them, and then it turned out there was more than one demon nesting here, and Virgil had been on the brink of jumping down and interfering, swords or no swords, when--

Between one blink and the next, one of the demons was cleanly beheaded.

The demon slayer-- for what else could he be-- smiled brilliantly as the body disintegrated to ash, holding a hand out to help one of the teens to their feet.

“It seemed like you all could use a little assistance,” he’d said, turning to face one of the other demons with a confidence that visibly unsettled it. Above, a circling crow cried out raspily. “My dear Missus informed me of your call for backup.”

If the stranger’s swift execution hadn’t tipped Virgil off, the way the baby slayers looked up at him with blatant awe was clue enough. This slayer was powerful and charismatic, whereas Virgil was neither of those things, so he was going to stay right here in his crevice until the whole situation had sorted itself out.

The three other demons seemed to have no such qualms, lunging at him in a semi-coordinated attack. The slayer handled them with terrifying ease, and for a moment it seemed that the battle had been settled, as simple as that.

Of course, that was when the landscape twisted further in on itself, buzzing like a disturbed wasps nest, and Virgil realized abruptly that this was the first time he’d seen so many feral, newly-created demons in one territory.

A stronger demon was keeping them all in line, like the queen of a hive. And it wasn’t at all pleased about the intrusion.

The slayer seemed to have caught on as well, his sword held aloft in threat. “Looks like the real fight starts now,” he said with a sharp, cocky grin.

Mere minutes later, the smile had grown considerably more strained.

Coincidentally, he’d taken considerably more damage in that time as well.

The slayer had given as good as he got, but against a demon’s healing factor, it wasn’t good enough. He was losing.

“Get out of here!” he instructed, and the baby slayers hesitated, clearly torn. He shot them a dazzling grin, hiding all signs of fatigue even as another blow rattled his sword. “Come now, don’t you know an order when you hear one? I don’t want any distractions while I handle this gruesome ghoul, so back to town with you!”

He cut off any further arguments by pointedly leading his attacker astray, giving them ample time to flee. Virgil felt some of the tension fade from him as the baby slayers got away cleanly, leaving just the slayer and the queen.

Really, he shouldn’t want the slayer to survive. Not when having a slayer that strong anywhere near him, or even in the same country as him, could easily be a death sentence. That didn’t change the jolt of panic that went through him when the queen finally gained the upper hand, knocking the slayer back into sheer cliff face hard enough to snap something.

… A slayer that protected others from demons so wholeheartedly was one that would protect Thomas.

The queen advanced towards the slayer, wounded and weakened but already gloating about how his flesh would be more than enough to completely rejuvenate her. Her entire focus was on the human’s fallen form.

Virgil dropped down on top of her soundlessly, claws piercing through muscle and fat until he’d torn her nearly clear in half. She shrieked in outrage, but a skull-crushing stomp was enough to knock her unconscious for at least a few moments.

The slayer, exhausted, half-crumpled against a tree, and his shoulder very clearly dislocated, looked up at him for a moment with something like hope.

When they met eyes, however, that was swiftly extinguished in favor of wary frustration.

“Another demon?” he complained, trying rather unsubtly to grasp for the sword that the queen had knocked free of him. “Exactly how many monsters can one fit on a single mountain?”

The sword was entirely out of reach, but Virgil kicked it a little further away for good measure. The slayer shot him a petulant glare.

Virgil pointed at a scrap of bloodied cloth left behind from one of the baby slayers, trying out a questioning rumble. Backup coming for you?

“I’m offended that you think I would answer that,” the slayer responded, nose upturned, “or any other monosyllabic interrogative questions, for that matter.”

Virgil growled low in his throat, frustration bubbling up. If he ditched the slayer here without backup, there was no guarantee that someone would find him before the morning came, and Virgil was relatively sure that the demon he’d just stabbed through wasn’t the only threat up here.

Not to mention the cold. He hadn’t thought the nights were cold enough to harm people yet, but demons seemed a lot more durable, and the slayer was shaking just slightly. He remembered the few times he’d had to sit out snowstorms while traveling back home up the mountain, and couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.

So, leaving the slayer behind to fend for himself wasn’t an option. That meant doing something insanely, dangerously stupid: taking the guy with him.

Precautions first, then. He was pretty good at hiding himself from other demons by now, but human scents were a lot more trackable.

Virgil scooped the slayer sword up off the ground by the hilt, grimacing at the burning sensation it emitted. The slayer’s jaw dropped.

“Hey! You can’t just take that!” he cried indignantly, starting off on a tirade about craftsmanship and integrity. His rant cut off sharply as Virgil raised the sword and brought it down on the queen’s neck.

His motions were stilted compared to anyone who actually knew how to use a sword, but it hardly mattered. The sun-blade cut through easily, decapitating her in one motion and leaving only ash behind. He took a moment to hope for the soul of whoever she’d been before being turned, and a longer moment for the weaver’s brother, who was surely dead. Exhaling lowly, he planted the sword blade-first in the dirt.

It was tempting to keep it; he’d certainly wished more than once for an easier way to deal with his adversaries than the bloody scraps he normally got in, but there was no way he was bringing a demon slayer and a demon killing sword with him. That was just asking for trouble.

“That demon did all the work in an honest fight against me, and yet it’s the backstabber turning against his own kind who actually gets to eat me? That’s sad, even for a demon,” the slayer bit out, still trying to inch his way back up into a standing position.

Virgil ignored his muttering and took a testing breath in through his mouth. The slayer was definitely bloodied, but most of the major injuries mustn’t have broken skin, because the smell wasn’t too bad. It probably helped that he’d managed to avoid being injured in this fight, and so didn’t have a desperate need to heal like normal. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t even need a nap to make up for it.

He reached out for the slayer’s collar, already mentally plotting out the most efficient way to a distant abandoned bear den when a piercing shriek sounded, and his vision was suddenly full of flapping feathers. He staggered a few steps back with a surprised yelp.

“No! Missus Fluffybottom, you beautiful fool!” the slayer cried out, sounding incredibly distraught.

Virgil swatted outwards and managed to catch his furious assailant on the second try, his hand easily big enough to grasp it. He drew it away from his face for inspection, and realized that the screaming and wriggling bundle of fluff was actually a young crow.

“Scourge! Fiend!” the crow yelled at him in a belligerent tone that was uncannily similar to the slayer’s. He blinked down at it, befuddled.

“Wait! Don’t hurt her,” the slayer said in the most subdued voice Virgil had heard from him all evening. He looked up and found that the slayer had managed to climb to his knees, but wasn’t struggling to move further. “She’s a simple bird, no threat to you. You’ve already got your prize, haven’t you?”

There was something uncomfortably desperate in his gaze, and Virgil realized with a start that the slayer absolutely believed he was about to kill his bird in cold blood. He opened his hand, bracing for another assault, but the crow kicked off and flew right to the slayer instead, nestling against his collarbone. “Roman, Roman, Ro-man!” it crooned.

“Get out of here, you finicky little fowl, go! Shoo!” the slayer-- Roman?-- commanded, to no avail. He glanced up at Virgil, lifting his good hand and turning his bad shoulder slightly as though to shield the little creature.

Virgil averted his eyes from the bird, hopefully conveying how much he didn’t care about her. If he had enough self control to not murder-kill people despite it being all monsters like him wanted to do, he wasn’t going to snap because a bird the size of his palm repeated some swears in his direction.

Back to business. He grabbed the back of the slayer’s outfit and pulled, hauling him up onto one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. … Or like a sack of other, non-food items. Virgil sighed through his nose. Whatever.

Roman sucked a breath in through his teeth as his injuries were jostled, and then immediately started squawking in protest upon realizing the indignity of his position. The crow-- apparently dubbed Fluffybottom-- repositioned herself to a perch on Roman’s calf and joined in on the complaints with her own raspy calls.

Virgil ignored them, already focusing on the trek ahead.

---

By the time they reached the cave, Roman had long stopped muttering creative obscenities under his breath.

The slayer might have actually fallen unconscious, but Virgil wasn’t going to jostle him around just to check. If he stopped focusing on their surroundings, he could easily hear Roman’s heart beating, the blood pumping beneath his skin, tantalizingly out of reach--

… He had mostly focused very hard on their surroundings. The point was, the slayer was definitely still alive, which meant him passing out during their travel was fine. Convenient, even.

It certainly made it easier to squat and carefully lower his body onto the cave floor without worrying about any sudden thrashing on Roman’s part. Laying flat on his back with only the slightest crumple to his brow, the guy looked a lot less intimidating. He was probably Virgil’s age, honestly.

He also looked unsettlingly corpse-like at the moment. Virgil considered for a moment, and then sidled over to Roman’s side, tugging his injured arm out of the curled up position it had taken. He carefully maneuvered it until it was straight out, forming a right angle with Roman’s side.

Then, he pulled, applying a slow, steady pressure. The misaligned bone shifted back into place with a sickening clunk, and Roman cried out as he regained consciousness. Virgil released him, and he instantly cradled the limb to his chest.

“What in the name of--,” he started, and then seemed to remember it all at once. Or the wave of pain from all those other injuries hit him all at once. One of the two.

Either way, he sagged back against the ground, squinting at Virgil suspiciously as he bustled around the small space. Missus Fluffybottom landed on his forehead, making him look even more ridiculous.

“I notice I am not devoured,” he finally spoke, almost conversational.

Virgil ignored him in favor of moving to arrange some firewood near the mouth of the cave.

“Not even a teensy bit,” Roman continued, making a show of inspecting himself for missing flesh.

Virgil continued to stack rocks around the wood. He was beginning to regret waking the slayer up, dislocated shoulder or not.

“Now, my silent saboteur, I want you to be honest. Are you planning to turn me into some sort of spider?” the slayer asked, and that was enough to finally make Virgil turn with an incredulous raised eyebrow.

“What?” Roman defended, pinkening. “That’s a real thing that a demon did to some people! And you seem... spider-y.”

Virgil scowled at the insulting way the comment was phrased. Spiders were cool and helpful and oh yeah, they didn’t annoyingly needle him while he was busy keeping them alive. He abandoned the fire to stalk closer and drop to a squat by Roman’s legs, dodging a wild kick easily. He pointedly tore a long swath of white fabric from the slayer’s overlayer.

“Hey! Do you even know how long embroidery like that takes--,” Roman cried, and Virgil smacked a hand over his mouth, drawing close and hissing quietly. The sound was close enough to a shush to get his point across, going by the way the slayer huffed indignantly but didn’t speak when Virgil pulled his hand away.

He did whine in protest when Virgil grabbed his injured arm, but then he went still and silent, like he thought any sudden movements would end with the whole limb removed. Virgil wrapped his forearm in the fabric, and then looped the extra around his shoulder, maneuvering him as painlessly as possible, and tied it off.

Roman’s silence suddenly felt distinctly different.

Virgil pulled him up into a sitting position by the front of his shirt, and tightened the knot slightly. The sling looked just about as good as could be expected, given the circumstances.

“You are actually a demon, aren’t you?”

Speech was one of those human things that Virgil still hadn’t recovered, but he thought that the sarcastic fang-bearing smile he directed at Roman spoke volumes all on its own.

“Then why are you tenderly nursing a demon slayer back to health?” he retorted, sounding bewildered and incredulous in equal measures.

Why are you pushing your luck? Virgil thought back, clicking his teeth in irritation and shoving the slayer back into a prone position.

Roman let out a high pitched wheeze, his good arm coming to cradle his ribs defensively. “Or not-so-tenderly, I suppose. The question stands!”

Virgil rolled his eyes and returned to the half-built fire. He’d pestered the only doctor in town for first aid lessons for months, he wasn’t going to stop practicing medicine just because of a little thing like being turned into a demon that craved human flesh.

To his surprise, the silence lingered as he worked, long enough that he turned and cast a suspicious glare over his shoulder at the slayer, who jolted nervously at his attention.

“Wh-what?” he asked, fiddling with the torn edges of his sling. “No escape attempts here, haha!”

“...” Virgil squinted at him and his blatant fake laugh for a long moment, trying to figure out just what was wrong with the scene.

Wait. Where was the bird?

A chill ran down his spine, and he twisted to stare at the mountainside beyond the cave entrance. No raspy-voiced baby crows in sight.

It had to have gone for help, knowing exactly where Virgil and its slayer had holed up. Roman knew he’d realized it, was watching him with the wary expectancy of a cornered hare in front of a trapper.

A surge of furious panic did bubble up in the back of Virgil’s mind, but he quelled it with relative ease.

If backup was coming, then the human was no longer his problem.

Pleased at the neat way the situation had resolved itself, Virgil tapped two fingers to his temple in a gesture of farewell and scrambled out the cave, scaling the cliff face and resolving to put as much distance between himself and this region as possible.

With any luck, he’d never run into that particular slayer again.

#sanders sides fic #sanders sides #ts virgil #demon slayer au #nitwiwd #nothing in this world i wouldnt do #my writing #writing #bthb #ts roman #kny fusion #am i forgetting tags?#im really fond of this one #i hope you guys like it :)

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lady-literature · 4 years ago

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Death

Ive been wanting to rewrite this thing for a while now so here you guys go! credit to @bunathebunny for the original idea | @maribatmarch-2k21 | find more here

Marinette dies during the final battle with Hawkmoth.

Paris watches her fall, watches her take Hawkmoth with her, watches a child make a sacrifice she never should have had to make. Paris mourns and lays her to rest and sings her praises like she was the hero instead of the tragedy itself.

Her parents are too heartbroken to stay in the city their daughter loved (too furious to stay in the city that killed her) and so they run to Gotham.

Six months pass, and when Marinette wakes up in her grave, clawing her way out of the dirt and wood until she is bloody and staggering, there is no one waiting for her at home.

***

Marinette comes back wrong.

Not that, I think, there’s a way to come back right.

Dying changes you. And dying with the power of Creation thrumming through your veins? With the ancestral magic of a thousand Guardians crackling against your skin? With the history of a lost people stuffed inside your head and naked desperation clawing at your heart and the cries of your best friend echoing in your ears as you fall and-

Marinette comes back wrong.

***

Most of Paris knows she’s there, hidden in the shadows and watching.

It’s hard not to when criminals start turning up beaten and broken, screaming about little girls covered in blood and bruises and spots. When plenty of people have seen her flying across the rooftops or lurking in alleyways that are dark even as the sun shines bright.

They do not call her Ladybug anymore, for she is no longer their hero.

Marinette doesn’t mind. She is an afterimage, a ghost story, a thing that was once a girl but is now wrong wrong wrong.

Now they call her the Girl in Red.

They say she is benevolent. They say she is vicious.

I suppose it depends on who you ask.

(I suppose it depends on what they were doing when they met her.)

***

She has wandered the streets of Paris for many years when she comes across a man who is like her.

She meets him quite by accident, wandering through the shadows of her alleyways. They lock eyes—acid green clashing against inhuman blue, both glowing too bright in the shadows to be natural—and the pair of them freeze.

Well, Marinette freezes as much as she ever does, which isn’t much. The edges of her waver and mold to the shadows she’s in and the longer she stands there, the more she flickers.

Bloody then not then back again. Like she doesn’t quite know who to be.

Marinette looks up at him, and in her battered and broken mind, she cannot decide what he is.

He is a man who smells like death but is not dead. A man who is lost, wandering the world without a home just as she is. A man who is trouble, the same kind she bares her too sharp teeth at and hunts where it’s too dark for others to see.

(But isn’t she herself trouble? Hasn’t she heard the whispers and rumors people spin of her? Hasn’t she, herself, left the bodies of people too broken to ever fix lying in alleyways without a second thought?)

(People are much more fragile than she remembers.)

***

Jason looks down at her, this impossible child who is pale and terrifying and so indescribably other, and something in him cracks.

She is familiar, but not in the sense that they’ve ever met before.

No- she is familiar because under all the blood and bruises and demonic bullshit, he can still see the little girl hidden behind it. He can still recognize the look of a child dragged into a war that was not theirs because, once upon a time, that kid was him.

(Jason looks down at her and, in her place, he sees a little boy in red and green and gold.)

It’s been a long time since Jason was a hero—a lifetime ago, really—but he can’t ignore a kid in need. Even if she is creepy and kinda see-through and not quite human.

Which is good, he supposes, considering that after their first meeting, the little runt never leaves his side.

***

Jason leaves Paris two weeks later and when he goes, Marinette goes with him.

Paris is her city, is the only city she’s ever known… but it’s also the city that got her killed. She remembers little about Before, but she hadn’t needed to. The whispers people make behind their hands tell her more than enough.

Marinette has stayed in Paris for long enough, she thinks, bound by a duty she no longer needs to uphold.

Big Brother tells her of a different city, one plagued by madmen that lives in endless night. So many dark streets and people in need of saving, so much trouble teeming beneath the surface, just waiting for her to snap and snarl at it.

(Big Brother also tells her of the Bat that watches over the city. He speaks his name with scorn and an aching sort of longing that makes Marinette think of lost children and homes where no one is waiting for you.)

Jason grinds the whole of Gotham’s underground beneath his heel and Marinette stands at his side, a vicious shadow that people only ever get the chance to underestimate once.

Together, they are the Red Siblings, and together, they are Gotham’s worst nightmare.

#maribat #maribatmarch2021 #platonic jasonette #my typewriter #mlb x dc

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