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x-authorship-x · 2 years ago

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Jokes aside the idea of Shisui smartly winning a place as Fugaku's right-hand man and using Mangekyō fuckery against ROOT is so cool? Also Fugaku doesn't strike me as someone who would be a super bad Hokage- would he be the best? No. But would he be the worst? I don't think so, especially with Shisui at his side

And who knows?

Maybe with time things will get better and Konoha will accept Fugaku as their new Hokage. I know I would 🤭

- Koto-anon

It depends on how you judge success/badness/goodness specifically towards leadership in Narutoverse!

Disclaimer! This is all my opinion! I don't want to be lectured! I'll keep deleting bullshit!

I'm gonna try really hard not to start spiraling into historical analysis of power structures and perspective bias etc etc but knowing me that's what's going to happen anyway so let's just get into it 🤣

So, fandom usually looks at Hokage candidates by their raw strength which makes sense, considering all the talk of "Strongest in the Village" and looking at who we have in Canon:

Hashirama was the God of Shinobi

Tobirama was a genius with Jutsu and assumed to be a good policy maker too

Sarutobi was 'the professor' and was pretty spry against Orochimaru even as an old man

Minato was a genius sealing master and the 'fastest man alive'

Tsunade could crush mountains and perform healing miracles

Kakashi is a (you guessed it) genius and the man of a thousand Jutsu

Naruto is literally the Jinchuuriki Favourite Child of "God-God" Sage

But, honestly, discounting Tobirama... Who here is actually fit to be a leader and not just...a glorified general?

We need to understand what the Hokage actually does. Jokes about paperwork aside, how does the mantel of Kage fit within the broader sociopolitical framework, what role do their advisors and council play into the system?

So let's make some assumptions.

From examples across time and space, we know that Generals can be just as much in power as a civilian politician or the biological heir to a dynasty. I'd recommend looking at the Hokage as a hodge-podge of these:

The Hokage are all connected to each other. Hashirama-(brother)->Tobirama-(student)->sarutobi -(student's student)->Minato-(sensei's teammates/saru's other student)->Tsunade-(predecessor's student)->Kakashi-(student, sensei's son)-> Naruto

They're military leaders and the power structure of the villages are based on this Shinobi prowess

They are also in control of their civilian population (if there is a civilian council, I doubt they report to anyone but the Hokage) and they mediate with Daimyo etc.

Hashirama was the Senju Clan Head, a mantel that maybe passed to Tobirama but more likely passed to Hashirama's mysterious children.

Tobirama was, at the very least, his brother's closest advisor. That's some political practice, right there.

Sarutobi, we assume but then...maybe not!, was the pretty important to the Sarutobi. And there seems to be a fair few of them looking at that one panel of them all breathing smoke and shit (assuming that they're not just a huge pack of brothers but most are part of their own family unit)

I don't think Asuma has a dozen brothers. Maybe he does but, frankly, I'd be disappointed if they all didn't have daddy issues with the Sandaime as well.

I'm going off tangent🙃

MY POINT is that Sarutobi possibly had some experience with bureaucracy before becoming Sandaime. Maybe Tobirama punished them all with paper pushing, idk

Minato.... I don't know what to tell you but I'm tempted just to...skip... him because frankly his term of office was so short he probably hadn't even redecorated or got the smell of smoke out of the furniture yet! Regardless, being smart with seals doesn't mean he's a good judge of politics, economics, or social welfare! He gets brownie points for being a thinker, tho

(Does Konoha function as a welfare state? Surely with the injuries on a regular basis, as well as the crazy working schedules and the turn over of retiree veterans, they've got to have some impressive infrastructure- No, don't get me started-)

Tsunade. Right, listen, she's a doctor yeah but this woman really had no clan left to learn leadership for and she's been wandering the continent for a decade in a drunken stupor. I love her but there's a reason she's smashing desks and it's because she's been confronted with problems she can't pummel or resuscitate. Tsunade didn't get a medical degree (did she????) just to have to study MORE bullshit. She's frankly wasted here but better her than some of those fuck-wits.

Kakashi. 🥹 Leading the Hatake? No. ANBU? Does Captaincy really count as anything but even more field experience. Result: Why (i love you but SEND THE MAN TO THERAPY AND GO TO THE SPA)

Naruto. Well... They wouldn't let him jump from Genin to the Hokage. Is this because they know he's so uneducated and needs to go back to school or is this purely because you HAVE to climb the pecking order in order to hit the top. Both? Both is good

So there's just... A lot here. And I can speculate to fucking hell and back but there's very little actually elaborated on in Canon. What do they even do in the Hokage Tower? Is it just all mission paperwork or does Konoha function more like... Idk a principality? What is the involvement of the Daimyo?

This is where fanfiction reaaally takes the reigns and I love that for them ✨😤

So what would make a "bad" Kage?

Danzo.

Danzo is a SHIT Kage and not just because I hate him. We're looking at someone who poisoned the previous - relatively successful - leadership, worked with foreign powers to manipulate other nations as well as his own village, orchestrated and then ordered the slaughter of thousands of Konohan citizens, kidnapping and experimentation, sabotaging political rivals (whether they considered themselves rivals is a different matter all together), bolstered social conflict and international tensions, bloodline theft and forming a private army who were indoctrinated and sealed to his will-!

So if that's the "shit" end of the scale, where do the other Hokage line up?

Hashirama: congrats on building the village! However, it's really contested whether you actually met your new allies on equal standing and it's left a lot of social pressure that will explode down the line 🥺 you get points for spirit but the execution (whoops) might prove a bit wobbily

Tobirama: congrats on being the best of an....interesting bunch. You seem to have had a good head on your shoulders and, pre-founding antics aside, you've committed to the bit. Unfortunately, you have an evil student :/ oh, right, and those social issues? You're probably making them worse

Sarutobi: well. You sat there. Congrats on living so long, I guess. You taught a few loose canons big names, you signed your name on the top of the exam, you held onto peace for a good while by the skin of your teeth. Unfortunately any good you mightve done or process made has been massively underscored by allowed your live-in nuclear-weapon-child to be abused and reviled, your students have either fucked off or were chased out after performing atrocities against the population, your teammate tries to get the last student of your (brief) successor to kill you... Yeah. It's a lot. Oh, also your own son flipped you the bird for a decade to go live in the Capitol instead. Oh, yeah, and you must either live in a bubble of ignorance (ignoring that crystal ball you've got going on) or you're wilfully ignoring Danzo squirreling funds to his private army ;/ all in all? Not great signs of leadership control, you rotten motherfucker

Minato. Is it even fair to list him when he martyred himself before anything could happen? All i can say is... Yikes. Also congrats on dying so quickly that you were immortalised as the faultless golden hero of the village ☺️ all in all, Minato is just lucky to be here

Tsunade: um. She fucked off for decades, loudly proclaiming her disgust/revulsion of Konoha and how stupid anyone would have to be to become Hokage, and hasn't exactly been graceful or pleased since being strong armed into taking the job. I'm not saying I don't sympathise but at the same time... Not a good start. Idk about anyone else but if my (dictator?) leader loudly hated the job and the village and had also gone AWOL for years living it up whilst the village was kinda imploding... I would be pretty resentful. Girl Power can only fly you so high 😔✊

Kakashi: I'm sorry that they made you do this 🥹 you are smart and you've seen a lot of shit but... He might be long-suffering for his duty but, like with Tsunade, you've got to weigh up if they'd be better elsewhere. Kakashi is high on the list of Hokage we've got to work with, however. Well. If you ignore that he was hated for most of his life, first for his father and then for being a little brat, and then for being an "eye thief", and then for being a Friend Killer, and then for being a Pervert- well. His reputation abroad is much better but there's a reason most leaders have, at least loosely, a cult of personality (Narutoverse is bad for this, btw). He has similar problems to Tsunade but he wins out on loyalty.

Naruto. I'm not going here because it's Boruto territory and that's a hard pass.

So what makes a bad Hokage? The usual things, I'd imagine:

pathological power grabbing (war mongering isn't good for your own minions and it's not good for international friends)

ignoring the wants and needs of the wider population (revolutionaries 🤷)

Inconsistency (people watch their leaders extremely carefully and so do their enemies)

lack of attention (^^^)

lack of control (you're running a military dictatorship, commit to the bit)

too much control (Danzo, I'm looking at you)

selfishness (it always bites in the ass)

pure ignorance (Sarutobi, I'm looking at you)

a focus on the brute side of things instead of the subtler arts (Sarutobi isn't brute strength but, unfortunately, he's on the other end where appeasement is making things worse)

So, looking at this, what makes a good Hokage?

Someone who knows what they're doing? 🥴

Someone who wants to be there or at least has dedicated themselves to the roll in its entirety without going on a power trip or burning out in a short period? 💀

Dedication

sensitivity

an awareness of social pressure and tensions (literally read the room)

a firm hand to the law (you gotta keep the minions in line)

support for both the backbone of society (Shinobi and Clans) as well as attention to the majority and minority (civilians hold a lot of sway in the every day realities of Konoha, don't let the Jutsu fool you) and knowing when to invest so neglect doesn't bite you in the ass (or rip everything up by the roots - ROOT, lol)

You need intimidation/respect (they are mercenaries after all) abroad as well as devotion and reverence at home (good old propaganda to keep the masses contained)

looking at the various downfalls of previous Hokage, you gotta deal with threats close to you with scary efficiency.

Another disclaimer: this is a profile for a leader in Naruto. I don't want to hear shit about me promoting aggressive foreign policy or totalitarian ideology, omfg

So! Bearing all this in mind, and incorporating an awareness of canon context... Would Fugaku be a good or bad Hokage?

I think he'd be a very important and decisive one. Good? That's a little more nuanced. Let's get into it-

Fugaku has the "good" qualities:

He's Clan Head, so about as much experience as any of the others had, but then he's also Police Chief (ACAB, whoops) so we're dealing with someone with intimate knowledge of the letter of the law, navigating Konohan crime and punishment as well as legal bureaucracy, and he's already a direct authority within the village and - get this - with the civilians.

Fugaku didn't personally want the Coup but he's a leader listening to his clan and they're getting desperate (and, therefore, more explosive). He's managed to hold his own against all these influences around him. Should he have completely shut them down? Maybe, but then what if they tried to usurp him? The Uchiha Clan can't exactly afford to split into fractions

He's called Wicked Eye for a (mysterious Mangekyou) reason. The fact that his skills aren't discussed in canon only gives us even more leeway to make him a total BAMF. He could also, apparently, go head to head with Golden Boy Minato. Am I sensing a badass? I think I am

He's surrounded by trustworthy BAMFS. Hashirama had Mito and Tobirama (Madara too, not to incite commentary, lets stay focused). The others struggled with this: Tobirama's successor is a little bitch and Danzo was devil spawn, Sarutobi was trapped between Danzo and his wild-card/war criminal students, Minato's Kushina died with him and everyone else doesn't seem on the level, Kakashi's bestie is literally a major antagonist, Naruto is (BORUTO REDACTED). Fugaku, however, not only has a bamf Clan who seem pretty devoted to him as a leader (we don't see a lot of dissent) but he's got Itachi and Shisui right there. They had a problem with the Coup, not necessarily with Fugaku himself although I think (looking at their characters) interpersonal strife would be set aside in favour of the bigger picture. All in all, there's a reason why he was thought of as the 'father' of his Clan (but what if you have daddy issues 👀)

Does Fugaku also show signs of being a bad Hokage?

Well, the timing might prove deadly against him. A revolution when the wider population is so anti-Uchiha would tear Konoha in two. But... That's if you're thinking that a Coup would be... Well, what you'd imagine. But if it's performed by Uchiha, the masters of genjutsu and manipulation? Taking liberties with Fugaku's Wicked Eyes and possible OC Uchiha characters, who knows if it would be a seamless transition? (In a fic, maybe Shisui's use of Kotoamatsukami on Danzo and ROOT would be the tip of the iceberg on what happened in the Uchiha Revolution. The Sandaime deciding to united the fractions of Konoha with Fugaku as his successor....?)

Fugaku isn't power snatching and, if he was, it wouldn't be directly for himself like Danzo's is. Danzo might sugarcoat it as an ideological difference, a variation in his vision of Konoha compared to others, but it's really all about him. Fugaku feels... vindicated.

Fugaku wouldn't be unwilling, uncomfortable, under qualified, or underpowered.

Personality-wise? He'd be like Tobirama, who i think was the best previous Hokage. Would this turn Konoha into a police state? Wasn't it always that in some form, anyway?

Overall, I think Fugaku would be a good Hokage, if he was extremely careful and played his cards right (and, considering his dedication and shrewdness, there's no reason to think he wouldn't be)

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naggascradle · 23 days ago

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9, 11, 23 !!

9. Build your small council with any characters dead or alive

fuck. thats a hard one. okay number 1. im making victarion master of ships because that shit would he hilarious. number 2. im making that one pentoshi merchant who got murdered that was master of coin in f&b my master of coin. he was good at it. my master of laws will be okay actually who is even a good master of laws here none of these laws are ever enforced. id want a northerner so maybe wyman manderly. no idea if hed be great but id love to see what happens. master of whisperers. bring mysaria back EASY. that bitch had it on LOCK. grand maester well if i could have anyone hmm... alleras the sphynx condragulations id love to see you on the council. if not sarella then marwyn that bitch was crazy. lord commander Welcome back ser duncan! hand of the king im struggling but lets go with davos i think hed be stressed out but thats why its fun.

11. Favorite bastard

god its a hard tie between jace and jon im sorry like i objectively love every targaryen bastard who looks distinctly non targaryen because they have a threat to the dynasty and usurpation of the throne to show how worthless blood tracing actually is. its literally so awesome and my favorite. im pro bittersteel fyi.

23. Two characters you need to interact

ngl meera and asha and arya. thats three but its okay let that slide. id love to see cultural clashes between those three and also being counterculture women in westeros. itd be interesting.

#grask

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tlgadtv · 8 months ago

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Ok so Ive had a huge obsession with the song ‘The last great American dynasty’ for like nearly a year now (see literally all of my usernames) (tlgad) and like I keep associating it with loads of different characters and stuff but the main one is ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and mainly Lucille Bluth

So it’s mainly the bridge which is

‘They say she was seen on occasion Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea And in a feud with her neighbour She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green 50 years is a long time Holiday House sat quietly on that beach Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits And then it was bought by me’

I haven’t watched arrested development properly in a while so this may be shit but anyway so obviously the Bluth family has a holiday house on the beach which is what gave me this idea in the first place

‘They say she was seen on occasion, pacing the rocks staring out at the midnight sea’ is about Lucille who hasn’t been seen since Cinco de Cuatro and is staying at the beach house. She is staring out at the sea when she starts having a ‘feud with her neighbour,’ Dusty who is collecting rocks off Lucille’s beach which initially makes her mad. (The part of the song about the dog doesn’t fit here at all so I’m ignoring it)

‘50 years is a long time Holiday House sat quietly on that beach’ is no longer about Lucille but instead Michael when after his wife died he thought the house was staying unused by the Bluths, just sitting quietly on the beach. It is also ‘free of women with madness, their men and bad habits,’ the woman with madness and bad habits being Lucille and her mother making the kids do the swimsuit beauty contest thingy, but it has been free of that since the family stopped using the house and Michael stopped using it after his wife died.

‘And then it was bought by me’ has got to be when Michael and the family goes back there in season5 after everything happens

I need to make an edit of this asap, but I don’t have an editing account for anything other than thg/tbosas and gravity falls 😭

#arrested development #lucille bluth #michael bluth #the last great american dynasty #taylor swift

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fatalelity · 11 months ago

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oh yeah here's tav! addison (or as i like to say ... taddie. bc haha tadpole .... okay bye)

basic rundown ( spoilers for act i mainly ) :

she was born to a dynasty of surgeons, doctors, spellcasters etc in baldur's gate

she's a medical doctor — trained surgeon to be precise, but god she is not a cleric and will go on a 'not all doctors are clerics fuck you' rant

a lover of wine, literature, and just having a good time mostly

she's a pacifist at heart so you can imagine how she feels with what happened to the goblins (yes, my party's on permanent knock ppl out mode)

oh on that note, she became an accidental necromancer... hahaha

being a variation of tav, she's special in the way that she has an innate ability to turn back time (never forward) — if you're familiar at all with "reset theories" this is what i'm going for. for those who don't know, the tldr is that she will remember every event that happens even if she goes to another spot in time (aka reloading a save state). she can't will it to happen. it triggers upon intense emotional responses. it's only been triggered twice in game. it'll take a toll on her and she won't be able to rest for at least two nights

so, that being said she is a sorcerer!

her main party at the moment are with shadowheart, karlach, and gale

she's definitely polyamorous. she has intense feelings for both shadowheart and gale, which is one of the points in the timeline that fucks her up the most

she really does like karlach, but probably wouldn't try to pursue a romance or whatever with her. they vibe. they get angry together. it's fun /*shrugs*

ACT ONE.

she accidentally got lae'zel killed by the tieflings who held her captive �� she thought they'd leave the other in her hands but alas. they went into battle, rolled initiative and she wasn't fast enough to stop people... she still feels horrible about it

she's spurred events that lead to the druids attacking the tieflings twice — those were her two resets. she still feels guilty about it, even though the current timeline they are fine... mostly

needless to say, she did not side with the goblins. whilst she actively tried not to kill them, it's hard not to when you use magic and your self preservation instincts kick in

she didn't actually kill minthara, knocked her out real good and hoped she lived

she consumed a tadpole once and that was that

got beef with astarion, tbh they probably would've had hate sex or something idk man. it's a weird relationship she's either being really nice to him or roasting him alive

actively trying to get shadowheart the fuck outta sharran but like, won't judge her for her faith bc it's all she's got since her memories are literally taken away

she's learned to lie real well since travelling with the cohort

scratch, owlbear, arabella, plus mol's gang are her kids. do not fuck with them. i'm serious. she almost killed kagha during the first reset because of it.

unfortunately due to her being single minded of wanting to get the gang to baldurs gate and find answers, unless she sees your suffering, gets lost herself, and/or its something related to her personally she will not engage in the side quests

that being said, they did spend some time in the underdark but very briefly because they got lost and ended back in the camp

so instead, she opts to go through the mountain pass but again got lost and ran into ethel

she accidentally uses necromancy to make mayrina's husband er ... undead. needless to say she feels like a sack of shit for doing that and wants to undo it but this is ultimately mayrinas choice so she let's them be

since on the topic of necromancy, she does still have that cursed necromancy of thay book in possession. no idea what to do with it but yknow, it's not an active problem

in the mountain pass she will not make a detour to the creche, she will go straight to the shadow cursed lands

ACT TWO.

shes actively trying to not have gale go blow himself up... desperately.

there's some strain between her and the others minus karlach, her mvp ... the fires of avernus can sure be comforting in moments that feel so cold to her

I will say this : the decisions she makes here are NOT good. at this point she's mostly focused on keeping everyone alive and kinda forgot about the fact that halsin is Here to lift the curse

she follows kar'niss, does the whole cutscene at moonrise tower and reluctantly agrees to help balthazaar

she goes into his room and er, let's just say her party (NOT HER) took more than just the moonlantern

she will get lost because she's a rich girl from baldurs gate who never learned how to USE a compass ... anyways, let's say she does not go to the mausoleum first and ends up trekking backwards ....

before reaching last light inn, she meets the boy Oliver and plays only one round of hide n seek with him because she has a mission and that triggered the scene where she had to fight his family and pissed him off so royally that it locked her outta lifting the curse. oops. she doesn't know that though ...

when she finds dammon she will actually make the detour to find karlach her metal. she adores karlach. she wants her to live. she wants to give her a real hug.

during said metal excursion er .... let's say she finds her way into the house of healing and she found arabella's parents before arabella herself... the house of healing was where she did her first act of mercy killings outta the many

arabella obviously will stay in camp and tbh, she has this gnawing feeling so she looks around to see if there are any other surviving tieflings (there were not, she was distraught and during long rests the more restless companions can hear her cry in the corner)

i know she said no detours but she saw a night orchid by the cliff and HAD TO get it for shadowheart because God she would kill for some joy — shadowhearts little reaction / joke made her smile for the first time very sincerely

anyways, she finally finds their way into the mausoleum and ahahaha .... hahaha ....

the gauntlet of shar was probably one of the most painful things to witness shadowheart go through. she did not like it and in fact at some point she takes over and sacrifices her own blood

she ignores raphaels entire request lmao

uhm, I'd say what she did with balthazaar was er ... some misty steps, and she pushed him off a cliff out of self preservation

taps into shadowhearts goodness and let her lean into her own intuition which resulted in aylin being spared

after shadowhearts been exiled, she will literally do whatever means to comfort her oh dear God

jaheira does die in moonrise tower ... she feels like shit about it (lol what's new)

anyways, the big boss battle happens and they make their road to baldurs gate

ACT THREE.

say no to evolution god please. she hates the emperor and will do things to piss him off such as steal from the house of hope

she completes companion events in this order (as of now): shadowheart, astarion, karlach, wyll, gale

she didn't actively encourage shadowheart to kill her parents but shadowheart did; she DID actively encourage astarion to not ascend and free the spawns ... oops. monster hunters hate her so much rn

she's deeply tormented by orin. like i mean deeply. she's in despair. she wants it to stop so bad.

obviously she chooses aylin and isobel over some wizard in a tower

she wants to fist fight shar and mystra. so bad. she may be a healer but *cocks gun*

i will add more to this and then write a cohesive page as the game progresses here lol

#* 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 : ooc #LISTEN THE BRAINROT IS SO REAL IM DEBATING WRITING [REDACTED] [ REDACTED ] AKA SHADOWHEART #the way how she's inspired by my dnd sorcerrer whos inspired by me rping addison its so wild the inspo cycle

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wandixx · 11 months ago

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1765

Thank you so much for asking!

It was an interesting time. Not necessarily this year in particular but a few following decades for sure. Not a good time but interesting. Like in this Chinese curse.

However, 1765 was not just your ordinary year in this dying country either. Just a year before the Polish and Lithuanian aristocracy (and Ukrainian I guess, even though the country at the time was called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the territory of now Ukraine was included and aristocrats living there also had the right to vote) elected the new king (yeah, since 1573 this country had elective kings, it was a bit of a mess tbh). His name was Stanisław August Poniatowski and for once he was not a foreigner (it's like 5 foreign/6 local or 7/4 ratio depending on how to count Władysław IV Waza (Vasaätten in Swedish) and his brother Jan Kazimierz who were from foreign dynasty but from what I know were actually raised in Warsaw. Add one to local if we count Anna Jagielonka but she wasn't actually ruling I think)(Jeez, I get sidetracked a lot, am I not?). Anyway, long live the king! At least this one tried to do something about all of the shit that was going on! He failed miserably, yeah, but at least he tried. It's much more than can be said about at least a few of his predecessors.

Back to the 1765 because I'm spoiling, back then it was believed there were some chances of healing. New King just opened a new school in Warsaw but it was not your ordinary Sunday school. Szkoła Rycerska (Knightly School I guess) was a special school for aristocratic youth in the spirit of Enlightenment and raised a bunch of much-needed wise patriots instead of drunk short-sighted idiots who were governing back then. Kinda late for the party with Enlightenment, I know but anyway, it was really needed back then. Unfortunately, they were still deep in this whole "aristocracy is a pupil of an eye of the country" mindset (though this aristocracy was a bit different than what it means in the West, we have separate word for it but aristoracy is best translation I could get, because you could be dirt poor and aristocrat, just born into the right family and supposedly they were all equal. supposedly. They made up about 10% of the population though. There were three or four "classes" of them, based on the amount of money they had, I can talk about it more if someone is interested), so only blue-blooded deserved to go there. But, you know it was a step in the right direction and between the fact that the king had very little influence on anything, lots of conservatives in parliament, fucking liberum veto (this shit deserves its own, separate rant, the stupidest idea in the history of Polish law and I have a vague memory of chimney tax being a thing), and the way foreign powers were messing up, it probably was almost as good as he could get. As the name suggests, its main focus was the military and civil servant type of service. Each year supposedly 200 boys from poorer (still aristocratic though) families got stipends from the state budget to attend it. During almost 30 years of working, it was finished by 950 people. IDK what happened with these 200 stipends/year. Probably didn't work because this country was quite literally dying, burning, okay, maybe I'm overexaggerating but t'was bad.

Anyway, like any school, Szkoła Rycerska had its share of famous graduates. The most famous one definitely is Tadeusz Kościuszko. Idk if Americans tried to translate his name in any way, so here you go, certified Polish spelling (he himself translated his first name as Thaddeus). Anyway, yeah, he is The Guy who fortified Philadelphia and a bunch of other places like Saratoga, West Point, etc. during the American Revolution (I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to his success in this war tbh). He also used money he got from Congress as a payment/thank-you gift to free as many black slaves as he could, while having enough to give each of them a decent start in free life (education and stuff like that). His last will too was like that but it was never executed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Unfortunately, he wasn't as successful in Poland.

Btw, the highest mountain in Australia is named after him. No, to my knowledge he had never been in Australia.

Other graduates of Szkoła Rycerska also did some amazing things but their more of the local heroes, so tell me if you're interested in me telling you more about them.

Yo, I just made quite a long post about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth near the end of the 18th century and hadn't outright mentioned that it disappeared as a country in 1795. Not in a "got separated into two countries like Czechoslovakia in 1990's" but in a "not a sign on a map it ever existed"

That's an achievement.

I can and will elaborate on anything that spiked your interest, I hope it's coherent enough to be readable

I was well into answering this when my god damn ancient laptop decided to freeze and delete it all, I swear just getting angry with this thing is shortening my life more than stress of finishing high school ever could

#history #polish history #18th century #idk how to tag it #thaddeus kościuszko #Polish-Lithuanian Commonwelth #btw in literal transtlation from Polish it would be “Republic of Both Nations”#it's a cool name I think #have a nice day dear stranger who got to this part

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ahungeringknife · 1 year ago

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Prince of the Fallen Tower

March 13

Exploring some ideas with my blorbos mostly. Also it's always a good time when I get to write Malik being a catty shit

prompt from @deepwaterwritingprompts specifically this one

---

Every day Altair walked past the Fallen Tower to go to work and every day he looked at the swords on display in the courtyard. There were twelve of them. One for each former royal, driven into a stone shaped like the old king's head. Altair just knew the history which wasn't even that old. The last family had been deposed by the Mage King now in power only thirty years ago. Long enough ago Altair hadn't even been born but not so long everyone just forgot.

Or at least you'd think so.

No one bothered with the Fallen Tower anymore. They just acted like the crumbling castle wasn't even there. Why would they bother? The Mage King's palace was new and lavish beyond belief infused with magic and technology Altair couldn't hope to understand. He was just a book binder.

But every day he walked by the Fallen Tower and the stone of the old king with hair of swords and every day he looked. At work when he wasn't busy he actually took time to read some old stories, recent histories. The last royal family had been liked within the kingdom despite being the enemies of everyone else but had been hard to kill. He knew they'd been shapeshifters and that was why shapeshifting was outlawed by the mage King now. He knew the histories really but often his eyes would linger on the name associated with this dynasty; Sayf. Of the sword. A sword.

Swords like the hair of the stone that looked like the old king in front of the Fallen Tower.

Altair was walking home, the sun was setting and the sky was orange and yellow in front of him and curling pink and black behind him. He stopped on the side of the road and looked at the stone carved in the shape of the king with its twelve swords shoved into his head. No one gave him notice. No one was looking at the old castle either. Anyone else on the road was headed home like Altair should have been.

He stood there looking at the swords for several long minutes. He remembered a story he'd heard as a boy. It'd only been a few years since the coup and the Mage King had overthrown the Sayfs and there were always whispers and rumors he'd missed one. One of the stories he remembered from when he was a boy was they said one of the prince's had shapeshifted into a sword to avoid being killed during the coup.

Altair was learned and knew how to read and put some weight into stories. He knew they weren't always true but his business was in stories and keeping them around. The latest job at his shop was literally an order for thirty copies of a book written by the Mage King's biographer about all the good the Mage King had done for their nation since ousting the last monarchy. It was a story and not a good one at that. Altair knew that just from the state of the road he walked to and from work. His parents said the road had been maintained during the rule of the Sayfs but under the Mage King it hadn't been looked after.

He still felt foolish stepping off the road and walking up to the Fallen Tower. The gate across the front was sagged and the bars bent from the old coup. It wasn't hard for him to shimmy his thin frame through the bars and into the courtyard where the stone shaped like the old king's head was.

Standing in front of the stone he felt all the more foolish. There was no magical sense here. He didn't know what he'd been expecting but he had been expecting something he guessed. Well how would they know it was safe? Altair wasn't exactly anyone of import. He could use some light magic but nothing like the great mages the Mage King surrounded himself with or even the vicious Sayfs.

He reached out and touched the first sword. "My prince, it's safe now," he said quietly. Nothing happened. He didn't expect anything really. He went down the line of the swords and at the eight one the hilt felt warm in his hand after he said that. The other swords had been stuck securely in the stone but when he wiggled this one it was loose. With a grunt he pulled it free and nearly unfooted himself. He ended up just stumbling back, long sword in hand. The tip clattered against the courtyard flag stones. "Oh shit," he whispered looking down at the sword. "That worked?"

Having enough insight to realize he was standing out in the open with a sword from the old regime in the courtyard of their former home Altair quickly took the sword out of sight into a covered walkway against the side of the wall. He looked down at the sword again. It wasn't an overly fancy sword but it was well made and he realized unlike the other swords in the stone had no rust on it. "Are you really a prince? If you are you can come out. No one's looking."

A minute ticked by and Altair was starting to feel very stupid when the sword leapt out of his hand and in the sound of first squeaking metal and then cracking bones its form and shape distorted into a person. Altair had to look down so gruesome was the sight of watching a sword become a person.

When the noise stopped and Altair looked up. Standing in front of him was a man in fine clothes that had some wear on them like he'd been in a fight but finer than anything Altair had ever seen. He had a face like an eagle with a hooked nose, serious dark eyes and a mouth more that looked suited for frowning, which was what he was doing now. Altair stared at him wide eyed.

The man looked around and then at Altair. "Where am I?" he asked and Altair couldn't help but think he had a cadence sort of like his father. Which made sense. They'd probably have been around the same age during the coup.

"Uh-- the Fallen Tower- I mean, this is the ruins of the Sun Castle," Altair fumbled. The man's frowning face frowned deeper. "It's been almost forty years since the coup," Altair said unhelpfully.

The man's, the prince's, shoulders sagged. "Forty years?"

"Yes. Can I ask your name, prince?" Altair asked carefully.

"You pulled me from the stone and don't even know who I am?" he asked scornfully.

Altair blinked at him, "It isn't like the rumor was specific which prince might be a sword. And I'm only twenty five. I wasn't even alive when your family ruled."

The prince clenched his jaw furiously but didn't seem so upset at Altair so much as the mention. He breathed out deeply through his nose. "I am Malik, and I suppose I'm the last Sayf left then?"

"I suppose so," Altair said.

They looked at each other for a moment. "Why did you pull me from the stone? Do you have a plan to kill that bastard mage Robert?"

Altair blinked at him again foolishly. "Honestly I didn't think this far ahead. I wasn't expecting you." He shut up when the glare Malik gave him was hard enough to curdle milk. "I'm just a book binder. I thought it was just a story."

"Peasants are always useless," Malik muttered and stalked past him. Altair watched him use magic to warp the gate of the castle into a proper opening and stepped out onto the empty street.

Altair dithered for a second before realizing he couldn't just let a prince of the old regime just wander around alone! "Malik wait," he called and raced after him.

#365 #writeblr #writblr #fanfiction #assassin's creed #altair ibn la'ahad #altair #malik al sayf

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viciousgold · 2 years ago

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some fun no context ao3 tags I've seen in hdm fanfiction regarding either marisa, marisa and asriel, marisa and lyra, etc. (most of these are regarding marisa and asriel lol) there's also a sprinkle of marisa and mary thrown in (SOME HDM SPOILERS MENTIONED, some nsfw mentioned)

idiots in love - heretics in trouble - sinning - Marisa keeps Lyra -bad parenting, but it gets better -feral Lyra Belacqua - angsty as shit - Marisa being Marisa - chaotic romance - Edward Coulter (cameo) dani: bruh idk why this tag made me laugh so hard

because they are stupid and I love them, also I will throw hands with god for them, and then write a 200 page analysis of their relationships - alethiometer use - Marisa Coulter is bad at feelings, Marisa Coulter needs a hug - Ex sex - I needed something sweet so I wrote something sweet - Stelmaria is the only braincell around there - Heresy - Bad Ideas and Reckless Behavior - Criminal Activities

Drinking to cope, but not in an excessive way, but there is, as the title suggests, a lot of alcohol in this - absolutely clueless idiots - two science gfs with two different lives - locket origins - feral heretical parents and lovers, because I've shipped them since I was 13 so what, peak romance is fighting non-stop then jumping into an abyss to save your child

Thorold's appearance is brief - Allow me to rewrite the script from this episode, if the writers gave us nothing I will do it myself - I wrote this while listening to Taylor Swift's music - asriel is kind of a bitch - Dadriel - The Affair: Part 2 - Asriel gets some sense knocked into him at an earlier date - one dad joke was made - church adjacent sex - girlboss murder dynasty - I just feel compelled to use science metaphors when it comes to Masriel - Asriel is smart and clueless - Marisa is desperate manipulative and possibly unhinged - Stelmaria is the only reasonable adult here - mother trying her best - childhood trauma but we see the trauma

Marisa keeps turning up the heat - Thorold saw/heard too much and probably got paid too little - Whatever happened to Thorold? - reminiscing on hate sex - absolute abysmal misery, but it's sort of happy in the end - The Subtle Knife but with Mrs. Coulter tagging along - A little Stelmarisa sweetness to lighten the angst - Canon compliant if you try hard enough - they're sad and horny people - this is a Lantern Slides type fic, except because it's me a single Lantern Slide is 3000 words long - shameless sitting around

a first and last attempt at writing about science - no literally it's just pwp - monster thesis (affectionate), monster thesis (derogatory) - Roof Sex - kind of angry sex but feelings too - Asriel being Asriel - Little Lyra is the cutest thing ever - We need more fluff so here it is - church stuff - two stubborn adulterers - in which canon is changed and destiny doesn't like that - murder flirting - 5000 words of emotional ineptitude

#{ childlike rambunctiousness } memes lol #oh look another dani shitpost #the mun; dani

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unhingedwomandiaries · 3 months ago

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Another thrilling morning in the corporate gulag, going through my usual ritual: laptop plugged in like I'm hooking up life support, trudging upstairs to the water cooler like a death row inmate getting their last drink, then back to my SAD-inducing cubicle to fire up Windows fucking 10 or whatever prehistoric operating system they've got us running on. Login, wade through the endless stream of emails that breed like rabbits overnight, then onto the real breakfast of champions – mainlining news like it's cheap heroin.

Started local because you've got to know which pensioner's been murdered in their bed this week, then moved onto American news because apparently I hate myself. And there it was, splashed across my screen like someone had vomited neon ink: Hunter Biden, America's favourite fuck-up, on trial for... what is it this time? Drugs? Christ, that family's got more issues than a newsagent's shelf.

But here's where it gets properly mental. Some woman called Hallie Biden's dropped some bombshell testimony, and I'm sitting there thinking "Who the fuck is Hallie Biden?" Had to Google her like some peasant who doesn't memorise political family trees for fun. Turns out she's the widow of Biden's other son Beau (currently feeding the daisies), and – wait for it – she used to shag Hunter too.

I'm sorry, but what in the actual necrophiliac fuck? Who looks at their dead husband's brother and thinks "Yeah, that's a reasonable replacement"? That's not grief counselling, that's a fucking Jeremy Kyle episode waiting to happen. I wouldn't even consider my brother-in-law as dating material, and he's properly mental. This is the bloke who claims Jesus literally whispered in his ear like some holy telemarketer, promising him eternal salvation if he'd just put down the bottle. Next thing you know, he's gone from pisshead to preacher faster than you can say "religious persecution complex."

And it's not even like my brother-in-law's some sort of catch. He's got a face that'd make a blind nun cry. Zero chance I'm eyeing up the in-laws as potential replacements if my husband cops it. But apparently when you're part of America's most dysfunctional political dynasty, shagging your dead husband's brother is just another Tuesday.

The whole Biden clan's like some twisted soap opera where everyone's fucking everyone else and occasionally doing lines of coke off the White House china. They're basically the Kardashians with nuclear launch codes. Makes our Royal Family look positively functional, and they've been inbreeding since before America was even a twinkle in England's colonial eye.

Just wait until they make this into a Netflix series. "House of Cards" meets "Jeremy Kyle" with a dash of "Intervention" thrown in for good measure. They'll probably call it "Biden Our Time" or some equally shit pun. I'd watch it, but only because I'm a terrible person who enjoys watching rich people's lives implode in HD.

#diary #news #biden

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netegf · 1 year ago

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i am so excited to read this beautiful masterpiece and to delve into nete!!! his feelings are so strong and i am literally so giddy to see his perspective, esp considering where we left off omg!! <3 😱💖💖💖

Maybe he used to, back when he was young and naive. Back then, he cried a lot, each morning a dreaded reminder of the pain and ache that awaited him each day, all for a purpose he couldn’t quite understand yet, that made no sense in a child’s mind, that had no way of truly understanding the concept of a future littered with war and loss, a future where he would carry the burden of being the next leader of his clan, the eldest son of the mighty, revered Toruk Makto and Palulukan Makto, the grandson of brave, respected leaders, the next in line of a ruling dynasty filled with great people he had to follow and to live up to.

ok so this is my second read-through because i was literally so excited to get started lmfao!!! but this part here hit me square in the chest when i first read it... poor bb nete :'(( the anxiety, the pressure, the fear of failure here is so palpable and REAL. i relate to him so hard and feel all of that weight on his shoulders. and in retrospect, it also makes the words nete overhears later that much more hurtful 😭😭😭😭🩷🩷🩷🩷 such thoughtful andra writing omllllll <33333 all the emotions!!!!

He couldn’t do this without you. He needed you to be his first flight. Like you told him last year, and like it’s been solidified in his soul every day since, you and him were meant to rise and fall together. You were meant to fly together, to soar together. And that couldn’t happen if a tiny accident delayed your progress.

this literally made my heart clench.. his gnawing concern and panic for her.. he's so scared of being alone with his fears it's literally going to make me tear up i cannot 🥺🥺🥺 there's something really vulnerable and scary about actively recognizing in the present how important someone is in your life and that you might completely collapse without them.. i feel his anticipatory grief like crazy and i feel him so hard <333 i also love that reader can read his feelings so well 💖💖💖💖

“I know what I promised. And I intend to keep my promise. You don’t have to worry, Teyam. You and I have always been two sides of the same coin. And as long as you want me by your side, nothing could ever pry me away.” "Just hang on, please. Shit. Please don't die. Please don't die."

this juxtaposition is LITERALLY cinematic!!!!!!! 🤭🤭🤭🤭

Neteyam didn’t get scared often. A whole lifetime of being raised like a soldier made his skin as thick as an 'angtsìk’s, and little ever managed to get under it. You did. You had unmatched prowess to make him feel so many things, too many things, all too intense, all too powerful, all too overbearing. When he was young, all of them were good and pure, all exciting and hopeful - love. It was love. Now, he feels anger and resentment, vengeful spite and deep arousal, all of which poison his mind and make him a version of himself he hates. Hate. That’s it. It’s all hate, isn’t it? So if it is… why are his limbs trembling and eyes watering, why is his mind jumbled with all these memories, why has the blood coursing through his veins been irreparably polluted with so much deep, earth-shattering terror and grief at the thought of losing you? Why was there a crater in his chest where his heart usually resided when he imagined his life without you in it?

me reading this part:

ANDRAAAAAAA </33333333333 😭😭😭😭🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

HE IS ABSOLUTELY FALLING APART AND VERY EMOTIONALLY CONFUSED! i loooooooove reading these kinds of descriptions omg

That day was Neteyam's happiest day. That memory is still something that he cherishes deeply, that he'll never be able to shake, that haunts him at night, that shakes his resolve whenever he's thinking of a new way to make you pay. That memory is still untarnished in his mind, and it will always remain so, especially today, as he's fastening Oare's lifeless form onto Seze, petting her one last time, allowing the tears he's been stubbornly pushing back this entire day to finally fall from his cheeks onto her face, almost like she was the one crying, one last time. "I'm sorry, girl. I'm so sorry."

this moment was so fucking beautiful :'((((( i appreciate that despite how much the two of them have been through together, and all the inner turmoil and history, he knew how important it was to honour Oare and reader in this way 🥹🥹🥹🩵🩵🩵🩵

then bring Oare back to the village for a proper funeral :(((((( my. heart is exploding at this point

"... that it should be her. She should be the next Olo'eykte. That she is the most deserving of it, has been since she was young. It took a long time to see it for myself, but... I don't know. Maybe he.." + "I mentioned it to her. She said she... doesn't want to mate with Neteyam. That she couldn't ever love him the way a mate would. She was... very adamant about it."

I FEEL SO !!!!! </333333333 i feel like this was literally his two biggest fears omg :'((( one, that the people around him (especially his FATHER AHHHHH!) think he's unfit to lead the clan / incompetent, and two, that reader would never love him in that way... 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔 i am utterly!!! in distress!!!! i feel like this context perfectly sets up the rest of the series... it makes so much sense that something this harsh and earth-shattering to nete would force him to switch up to a 'hate' that intense - he probably felt like he needed to rewire his brain after that 😭😭😭😭😭

queen andra, as always, ur work is so remarkable and i'm so invested in this beautiful story 💖💖💖💖💖🥰🥰🥰🥰 thank u thank u thank u for ur incredible work!!!!

𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕟 𝕄𝕖 | ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕍: 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖

Pairing: Neteyam x (f)Omaticaya!Reader

synopsis: Memories flood Neteyam's mind as he deals with your accident, making him relieve your history and all the reasons he can't shake you from his life, no matter how hard he tries.

warnings: 18+ minors DNI, aged-up! Neteyam/Reader, enemies-to-lovers, angst (mentions of violence, battle, blood, death)

wc: 5.1k words

a/n: I'm actually really nervous about this chapter, because while I love it, it's different than any other Monster in Me chapter so far. This is also the only chapter I've ever written entirely from the MMC's POV, and I hope you enjoy finally finding out why Neteyam's been acting the way he has, and why he's so adamant in his quest for vengeance. As always, thank you for asking to be tagged, I'd love to hear your feedback, your replies and asks and reblogs make my life, so thank you! Thank you to @cinetrix for her amazing Neteyam art, ilysm bestie x and thank you to @draiochtwrites for listening to me talk about my stupid ideas for hours every day, i love you x

na'vi compendium: txepvi - spark, ite - daughter, srane - yes, Olo'eykte - female Olo'eyktan, tam-tam - calm, oare - moon, tewng - loincloth, torukspxam - octoshroom, ngaytxoa - I'm sorry, 'itan - son, angtsìk - Hammerhead Titanothere, yarik - herbivore, ftang - stop, tsantu - good guy, tsìltsan 'eve - good girl, kali'weya - arachnoid used in Uniltaron

: ̗̀➛ previous chapter (x) : ̗̀➛ series masterlist (x) : ̗̀➛ series playlist (x)

And maybe in another life We fight all day, kiss all night But I don't wanna break your heart You keep yours, I'll keep mine

Neteyam, for the first time in his life, couldn’t have cared less if he tried that there was a battle underway, that there were humans screaming and charging at the Na’vi around him, that the explosions happening every time a helicopter went down in flames deafened his ears - none of it mattered anymore, not as he heard the screech of an ikran he knew all too well, that he loved, that was now lifelessly falling towards the ground, taking the woman of his worst nightmares and biggest fantasies along, not when, with every second passing where he ignored the rest of his surroundings and dove as fast as his own ikran could possibly fly in order to make it to you in time, another memory flashed across his mind, so many memories he thought he left behind, so many memories that would haunt his every waking moment if he wouldn’t catch you, if he was too late.

“Teyam, do you trust me?”

“What kind of question is that? You’re my best friend. Of course I trust you.”

Your mischievous smile, although more devious than Neteyam liked, always had power to put his heart to ease… after all, it was you. You, his best friend, the girl who knew everything about him, that helped him withstand every challenge life threw at him, just a couple 11 year olds who had gone through more than most adults do, who have been forced to grow up a lot faster than any kid their own age should ever do. But Neteyam didn’t mind. Maybe he used to, back when he was young and naive. Back then, he cried a lot, each morning a dreaded reminder of the pain and ache that awaited him each day, all for a purpose he couldn’t quite understand yet, that made no sense in a child’s mind, that had no way of truly understanding the concept of a future littered with war and loss, a future where he would carry the burden of being the next leader of his clan, the eldest son of the mighty, revered Toruk Makto and Palulukan Makto, the grandson of brave, respected leaders, the next in line of a ruling dynasty filled with great people he had to follow and to live up to.

Now, he no longer cried, because no matter how hard life got, he was never alone. Because, even though you didn’t have quite the same pressure on your shoulders, you carried your own burdens and a sadness deeper than Neteyam could ever imagine or could ever want to. In his mind, the sting from a few bloodied gashes and the headaches that tried him each night were a small inconvenience compared to the pain that you struggled with and braved every moment since your parents died. When his father told him that you would be joining him for training in the weeks after the accident, Neteyam didn’t know what to expect. But day after day, you managed to blow not only his expectations, but his entire family’s out of the water, each day just another opportunity for you to prove to everyone that your future would be as bright as all the stars in the night combined, that you were special and unique, that you were a talent that only comes once in a few lifetimes.

Now, years later, Neteyam still found it hard to believe how strong you were, how capable and skilled and fearless. Whereas he’s always been more withdrawn and temperate, your fire burned strong and untamed, and you always managed to get both of you in trouble - if he were to be honest with himself, though, he would never mind, not with you.

“Good. Then let’s go.”

You didn’t bother looking behind you as you started sprinting, your flowy top and tewng, always one-of-a-kind, undulating in the wind, making Neteyam’s heart flutter in his chest. You were so beautiful. The most beautiful. A purple flush rising in his cheeks was all that was needed for Neteyam to be grateful for the way you always ran ahead of him, too impatient to wait for a boy that liked to take his time and enjoy the moments few and in between in which life didn’t have to go too fast for his comfort.

"Where are we going, Vi?"

"Shhh, more walking, less talking, 'Teyam. You need to learn to embrace the unknown." you chuckled as you stopped and waited for him to catch up, before taking him by the hand and pulling him until he stumbled softly onto you and you both fell, him on top of you, with a gasp that turned into loud giggles from your side and unflinching groans from his.

"Vi..."

"The mighty warriors have fallen, what will the clan do without us?"

He couldn't help his own exasperated chuckle and the roll of his eyes as he spoke.

"I don't think we're quite there yet."

You shrugged, sure of yourself as always, a trait Neteyam admired and tried to emulate, to little avail most days.

"Soon. Your dad's already talking about the Iknimaya. We're almost ready, Teyam. And if we do it soon, we'll be the youngest Na'vi to ever do it. You and me."

Before he could say anything, you reached for him until your lips made contact with his cheeks, and it didn't help his blush, that was now deep periwinkle and burning his skin from the inside out, like a fire that wanted to escape his body, too powerful to be contained inside it.

"And just like today, if you ever fall, I'll always be there to catch you. You and I, we're meant to fall and rise together."

Those words rang painfully in Neteyam's ears as his ikran dove at full speed towards the ground, as his open, stretched out hand was just outside of your reach, as he watched your body disappear through the trees, where it would inevitably crash, where it might be lost forever.

His heart, that was going as fast as his ikran was, watching your unconscious form collect deep, bleeding scars like Kiri collected pebbles in the woods with every hard branch your body made contact with, stopped racing in his chest as, by the grace of Eywa, your fall was broken by the plush, attenuating force of a torukspxam right before you hit the ground. Despite the fear, so deeply embedded in him, it was impossible to know if he would ever be able to fully detach himself from it again, a seed of hope bloomed in him that maybe he wasn't too late. That maybe, despite not being able to catch you, not now nor for the past 7 years in which he's left built up resentment prevent him from wanting to, maybe he wasn't too late.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

He didn't wait for Seze to land before he jumped and approached you, pushing with all his might against the drag of his own heavy body that felt like it was experiencing the world in slow motion, until one of his hands found the back of your neck, propping you up gently and his other hand placed two fingers on your pulse point, trying to feel for a heartbeat that would either calm his own or stop it altogether.

"Please, Txepvi. Please..."

When the small, barely-felt flutters registered in him, he let out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding and wasted no time in picking you up bridal-style and running back to his beautiful ikran. He had no time to dwell on the cracks deepening in his heart as he watched Seze bumping her snout on the side of Oare's lifeless face, sorrowful trills filling his ears, no time to dwell on the red liquid spilling out from multiple points in your body, dripping down his body and onto the ground, no time to stop yet another memory fighting to come to the forefront of his mind.

Fickle as you are That's exactly why I keep on running back 'Cause I'm brittle at the parts Where I wish I was strong

“I can walk, Teyam.”

Neteyam decided to ignore you as he grabbed you by the back of your knees and carried you back to the village, the gash in your leg large enough to have hit a couple veins and stain your thigh red, but not deep enough to make it life-threatening - still, Neteyam wouldn’t take any chances. Taking chances… that was the reason for keeping you so close to him, your face buried in the crook of his neck… that was the only reason.

“Can you, Vi? Isn’t that how this happened in the first place?” He chuckled, yelping a little when your fist made contact with his chest.

“It was an accident, you know that.”

“Yeah, well, you have a lot of accidents. And so close to the Iknimaya, too…” the shake of his head was mostly a teasing one, and although he tried to push away the nagging fear eating away at him, the one that told him you might not be able to take it with him, the one that screamed he’d be all alone once more, like he was before you, the one that urged bad memories and ugly scenarios into his mind, the one whose ugly head appeared as though from around the corner, staring intently to see if he’ll allow it to approach or banish it from existence. He couldn't decide yet.

“Aw, it’s sweet you’re worried, although I think it’s mostly selfish and you’re just too scared to do the Iknimaya by yourself.”

The tinge in his cheeks is enough validation for you to start laughing at him, your head thrown so far back, he had to readjust his grip on you, so that you wouldn’t fall out of his arms.

“I knew it! You scaredy-cat. Why would you be scared, Teyam? Out of everyone here, everyone who’s gonna do this next, out of all of us, you are the best. You’ve always been the best.”

“No. You’re the best." As much wasn't up for discussion to him, and never will be. "And you promised.”

Your smile softened taking him in, the little pout he tried his best to conceal, the little scrunch of his nose, the way his ears twitched in slight annoyance and slight embarrassment… he couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought you found it… endearing?

"Just hang on, please. Shit. Please don't die. Please don't die."

And maybe when you need my help I like myself when it's over But later in the light, you go Dark and rogue, and I need closure

“Ma ‘ite, you have to be more careful.” The quiet, teasing admonishments of his grandmother do little do deter you, although you keep your eyes on the ground, slight embarrassment visible in the swish of your tail and the flatness of your ears.

“Srane, ma Tsa’hik. Ngaytxoa.”

The thick cream paste made its way from Mo’at’s fingers to your thigh, where it was spread in a hefty layer until the cut was no longer visible. You winced as it made contact with your skin, but said nothing as you accepted the help, and Neteyam saw his grandmother nod in approval at your bravery and inclination to suffer in silence, to not let anyone know you’re in pain at any point. Strong heart. Him, on the other hand, wished you were a bit more forthcoming, wished you didn’t feel the need to go through suffering alone. With a pat on your head and a soft smile, the Tsa’hik raised from her spot on the floor and turned her back on you both.

“You’re all done. It’s just a scratch, this time. I feel like I always have to have extra healing salve at the ready just for you. Now go, and be careful. Your Iknimaya is soon and my grandson would never forgive you if you missed it.”

“Neteyam, quick, put her on the mat. I need all the help I can get, now! Go get all the healers in training, we don’t have a lot of time.” The barking of orders did little to ease Neteyam’s fear, as he very rarely has ever seen his grandmother this agitated. After sending away the trainees, she turned to her grandson and took a deep breath, to calm herself. As serious her voice was, as rushed and violent the atmosphere around them, she still found the second to put her hand on her grandson’s chest, feeling the erratic, loud, trepidous heartbeat that refused to settle in him.

“Ma ‘itan, she’s very weak. I know you haven’t been close in a long time, but she is your intended mate. I need you to prepare yourself for the worst. Now go back to the battle.”

“No. I’m staying here.”

Maybe it's because, for better or for worse, you were a constant in his life. From the second your presence made its way to him, you never left. There hasn't been a day that he hasn't seen you, that he hasn't been in your vicinity, not a day in which you haven't trained together, side by side, friends before, enemies after, but always together. Your words, that he drowned for years, came back like an undying echo ringing in his ears.

"You and I, we're meant to fall and rise together..."

I don't need a reason to keep on dreamin' That we don't lose, yeah, what's the use?

More and more, it felt like you had been right all along. He didn't think about it for so long, so desperate in his attempts to hurt you like you had hurt him, to sour your life like how you soiled his most precious memories, all of you and him, all of a childhood long left behind, all of fantasies he's harboured at the time that long dissipated from the version of future he used to dream about. Nothing about his life now was how he once envisioned, and that was because of you. He would never forgive you, but he couldn't let you go, either. No matter how the visions differed from his current reality, he couldn't shake you, couldn't let you go. Because despite it all, he couldn't part with the girl that used to be his partner in crime, his training buddy, his best friend, his first flight.

"Are you ready?"

Neteyam watched in awe as you confidently nodded at his father, smiling as if the hardest challenge an Omaticaya Na'vi would ever undertake, one that most people did when they were much, much older, was nothing to you, like it was just another yarik hunt that you've done a thousand times before. You turned to him and the smile you gave him dazzled him, left him breathless, not a good thing for the trek he was about to undertake, but still, not something he would could ever find it in himself to be upset about. You turned your attention momentarily to the bowl of paint in your hands before you brought a finger to his face, completing the pattern that was the same as the one you were adorning, one that he painted on you.

You both took turns saying goodbye to everyone, paying special attention to the little bundle in Neytiri's arms. Neteyam couldn't believe this was his little sister, and couldn't believe how attentive you were with her, how careful and loving. Some of his personality must be rubbing off on you, because to the Sully family's surprise, you didn't drop Tuk once in the year she's been born. In fact, you haven’t dropped anything in the last couple of months, including yourself from high places, which used to be one of your favourite past times, and Neteyam couldn't help blush at the thought that he was the reason you were being a little more careful.

As expected, the climb was the hardest thing Neteyam ever put his body through, and he felt suddenly grateful for all the years of torturous training that now felt like a peaceful breeze of the wind in an otherwise unyielding hurricane. Still, seeing you in front of him, not once complaining, not in front of the multiple 15 to 19 year olds that were also taking their rite of passage today, not in front of your Olo'eyktan, made him push through, too. If you could do it, so could he. Because you would do it, so would he.

The rookery was hidden behind a waterfall, and Neteyam watched as one by one, the few Na'vi joining you both either failed or succeeded, and with each attempt, his fear grew stronger, his mind more restless. Eventually, it was his turn, and with a deep breath, he started walking towards the slippery ledge that would lead him to his fate. A hand on his chest not only stopped him in his tracks, but also stopped his heart momentarily, just momentarily, because before he knew it, it started booming again with enough intensity to dizzy him.

"Ma tsantu... you got this. Remember, you and I, we're meant t-"

"-to fall and rise together, I know." you smile, your fingers smoothing the deep frown that gave Neteyam a headache without even realising and he sighed, trying to calm his mind and soul, focusing on you and only you.

"Exactly. So you can't fall, because if you do, I'll have to follow you... and I don't intend to fall yet, Teyam. Not yet."

"How did this happen?"

"Oare... got shot. She's dead. She... fell. I couldn't catch her." I couldn't catch her...

Neteyam couldn't bear to look at the way his grandmother was ripping you apart, although he knew it was all with the purpose of putting you back together again. Her trainees, all girls he knew, some girls he knew more intimately than others, all flocked around you, with wet cloths and trays of balms and powders, of plants and tinctures, and it all hurt, the guilt of knowing to some extent, to a large extent, this was all his fault. This ongoing war between you, never-ending and harrowing, reached a nadir that resulted in the death of your ikran, in your accident, and indirectly, because of your removal and his from the battlefield, might result in the deaths of good na'vi men and women, all of whom had families and a life, and a future they would be robbed of.

Neteyam couldn't leave you and go back. If he did, he knew that much like you, he wouldn't be able to focus enough to matter, and the thought of his mother, of his father, losing one more loved one was too much to bear. Neteyam couldn't leave you, but he couldn't stay here either. It hurt, being here, watching flashes of the girl he hates intertwined with the girl he loved more than anything else in the world, it hurt, having to deal with feelings he buried deep down and memories that came to him like summer rain, uninterrupted and warm, but powerful enough to flood and leave damage their wake.

With one last look at your unconscious form, Neteyam left the village on the back of his Ikran, knowing there was one thing he needed to do, he had to do. His mind was overcome with agonising sorrow as Seze's mourning was felt through his entire being, and the full weight of what transpired came crashing down on him like a tidal wave he could do little to stop, but had to power through, hoping that by the end there was something left of his heart to go on. Oare, much like Seze, has been in his life every day for the last 7 years, and he loved her. She was playful and sweet, and she always played with him when he snuck out at night to give her pets and treats, refusing to let your declining relationship affect their bond. Oare was Seze's best friend, her companion and life partner, and Neteyam knew her death would affect his ikran for a long time, perhaps forever.

With a squeal that matched the banshee, Neteyam watched from the air, on the back of his new mount, his new friend, his new spirit sister, as you made Tsaheylu, and his heart, that has been barely beating in anxious fear, felt finally awake again.

"Ftang! Tam tam, tsìltsan 'eve." your smile was wide and relieved as your eyes searched the sky until they found his, and he swore he never knew it was possible to love someone so much, to feel so connected to a soul, so much so it felt like he could hear you, your heartbeat and your mind, like tsaheylu would have been redundant because he knew. He just knew.

"I did it, Teyam!"

"Yes, you did, Vi! Come, first flight seals the bond."

"I'm sorry, girl. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry that I beat you... again. You're gonna have to do much better than this to beat me, Teyam."

The floating rock you landed on, hours after you finished your Iknimaya, was alit with biofluorescence, the colours reflecting in your eyes and on your shiny skin, covered in a light layer of sweat from the flight.

"Give me a break, Vi. It's my first time doing this."

"Yeah, cause I've been doing it for ages." you say, chuckling and rolling your eyes. You prop your body on your elbows and point to the two banshees playing in the air with each other, a mass of ravelling green and purple, so beautiful, and so, so free.

"I can't take all the credit. She did most of the work. I love her already, Teyam. Do you have a name in mind for yours?"

Neteyam didn't have to think about it too much. Ever since he's first found out about the Iknimaya, a story told to him by his mother consolidated a name in his memory that he's never been able to forget.

"Seze. Like my mother's ikran that bravely gave her life in the war against the Sky People."

"That's pretty. And fitting. She's a beautiful flower."

"What about you?"

"Oare."

"Why?"

"I used to look at the moons every night and think I'm so far away from this, from my destiny, from who I've always known I was meant to be, the Iknimaya might as well have been the moon - unreachable, untouchable, a world away. And now, I'm here, with you, way past curfew, and we're gonna get in so much trouble and I couldn't care less because I did it, I reached the moon. And I did it with the only person I ever wanted to. So.. Oare."

"Thank you, Teyam. I learnt a lot from you in these years. Ever since I met you, I knew you were special. And I think, even without realising, I wanted to be more like you. I've looked up to you for so long, I don't even remember my life before the Sullys took me in. If I'm here today, it's because of you. You helped me become more temperate and understand the weight of my talent and my power, and that I have a responsibility to the clan, that this is bigger than me, and my life."

Neteyam was taken aback at your words. You were never this forthcoming with your feelings normally, but he couldn't say he wasn't happy about it. He was so happy.

"I love you, Vi. I may have made you more responsible, but you made me better. Braver. More creative, more inventive. I almost couldn't finish the Iknimaya today, and then one of your crazy ideas popped in my head, and it worked. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't have done this without you, without your influence in my life. Thank you."

You smiled softly, and put your head on his chest, just watching the dance of the banshees, and he prayed that this moment would never end.

"I guess we really are meant to be together then, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess we are."

Neteyam placed Oare in the village, where the elders and Tsa'hik would be able to perform Eywa's funeral rituals, before making his way back to the tent. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped him as he was met with your drowsy, blood-shot eyes, so much sadness in them, it broke him. They were so different then the ones that have haunted Neteyam's mind today, so devoid of the innocence and love he remembered, so filled with anger and spite and hurt, so much like his own, such a bitter reminder that the past was only that, the past, and there was nothing left of you, or of him, of the love you shared and the future he envisioned. With one last memory, Neteyam felt the walls surrounding his heart, thick and unflinching, growing harder with every year since the Iknimaya, fortify yet again, as one last memory emerged uninvited and reminded him of why, despite your history, Neteyam would never look at you the same way again.

And I know whatever this is ain't love So I'm goin' I'm gonna let you go, let you go

"I'm going to go back to my tent. I had too much of a good day to spoil it by Jake yelling at me for 2 hours straight. I'd rather save the pleasure for tomorrow."

"That's so unfair, why do I have to suffer by myself?"

A shrug was all the answer you felt was necessary to give him, and he felt his heart drop at the notion of going to his family's tent so late, so far past curfew, without your much more argumentative presence, that his father could never resist. He walked cautiously, silently, praying that his family would be asleep so he could just sneak in and postpone the yelling until tomorrow. To his surprise, he heard whispered voices coming from right outside the tent, whispers he quickly recognised as his father and grandmother's.

...Olo'eykte? You? Neteyam couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't believe how quickly his father was willing to replace him, how quickly he considered you better and more worthy of the title than his own son, than the rightful heir. You were both 12, for Eywa's sake. How could a decision be made so early? Neteyam felt tears gather in his eyes, the betrayal's sting more painful than a kali'weya's, and yet, still, a part of him knew this already. A part of him couldn't find it in him to be upset, because you were better. And you deserved to lead, you deserved to fulfil your destiny, that was made for greatness, made for the songs and the ballads, made for history.

"It's Neteyam's birthright, Jakesulli. It wouldn't be right, no matter how worthy the girl is. What about a mateship? They have been inseparable for years anyhow."

"Ah, she would never want to be Tsa'hik. And she wouldn't be good at it anyway. Besides..." the silence felt like it dragged on forever, and he clung on to it, afraid of what was waiting for him at the end of it.

"I mentioned it to her. She said she... doesn't want to mate with Neteyam. That she couldn't ever love him the way a mate would. She was... very adamant about it."

As Neteyam looked into your eyes, those words forever embedded in his psyche, playing in his ears like a cacophony of sounds that rattled him every time he saw you, even so many years later, solidified in him by all the times you continued to hurt him, continued flaunting your relationships and skills to him, your connection and closeness to his own family, that sometimes he felt like he didn't belong in anymore, like he was the adoptive one... he was reminded that every time, it hurt, every day, it broke him further, and those eyes that were once his guidepost and the reason he got up in the morning, were now empty and bleak, and enough to make anger bubble in his soul once more, until it drowned everything else, until it was all that was left.

I don't need a reason to keep on dreamin' That we don't lose, yeah what's the use? I don't need a reason to keep on dreamin' That I can win this stupid thing called love

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