#love in the midst of doomsday

[aruanimess]

Round three, of me endlessly yapping on Reverse AU. I am still VERY new to this.. tumblr asking, notes and whatnot, so.. I apologise if I seem somewhat annoying and bothersome Anyway, less 'bout me, more on blondes! I'm going to try spitballing a few ideas there and there, because I don't have ONE big topic/arc to really focus on, so here we go!

1; Armin being captured after his identity is figured out. There are.. three way's of this going, in my opinion. >First, being that they managed to successfully take him down into the tunnels to capture him, possibly after some convincing by Annie, since he trusts her a lot? (Plus, if Armin sticks around to around S3 when they're all in that Cabin, hiding away from the Military Police and all. I think Annie and Armin would be.. somewhat awkward, between each other. Since, she cares for him, a lot and.. betrayed him.) >Second, same scene where his identity is discovered and remains at the top of the staircase, but more or less breaks down because he doesn't know what is right anymore, he cares for his new found friends, the thought of betraying them crushes his heart, so he gives up and surrenders peacefully. >Third, transforms and makes a run for the walls to dip, which could ALSO go multiple ways, but.. I don't really have much on that. 2; Warriors Reveal, though Armin is now in the midst of it. I cannot see Armin ever betraying Paradis Island and trying to capture Eren (a second time, mind you), now that Reiner decided to reveal their identites to the same bloke he tried capturing too - yikes. Armin could very well try making them surrender, in a subtle way so the situation doesn't escalate, nor turn his own comrades against him. So, he tricks them and everyone. Transforming along the other two to capture Eren, only to fight Reiner along with Eren but obviously ending in failure with Bert's Titan crushing them. On one hand, I think Bert would try getting Armin, though Reiner is too focused on the mission, he ditches Armin and makes a run for it.

3; Armin still gets captured by the Opaki, though he saves Annie from being the one to be captured by it. As fun and simple it would be if she was the one to be yoinked, so they couldn't use the power of the Colossal and rescue her, I decided to go differently with this. While Armin does end up getting captured, he isn't terrified that he can't protect his people, that they need him, without him he'll die. No, he's accepting his fate. They have Annie, they can still blow up the Doomsday Titan and they'll all be fine, he may die but will die at least doing something right for them, finally doing something useful after betraying his friends, and putting his life down on the line, as their Commander.

(I also agree he'd still be the next Commander that Hange would put the title upon, so.. it sorta means a lot, like he finally is one of them in some way? - I dunno, spitballing!) But, ahaa.. Yeah, that isn't happening. Annie is not letting that blonde go, despite they have a clear winning shot here, she is not about to let him die. Not now, there is still more to be said to him, with how she feels. So, the mission of saving Armin is once more! AND, to end it off, I like to think he'd still be suicidal and jump for the Parasite to hold it down along with Reiner, even if there's a chance of him dying from the Colossal's explosion.

I apologise having to read this entire shit-show of ideas in your inbox, I doubt I'll do more to not seem too big of a yapper, but we'll see! I hope everything is going well for you, have a wonderful day/night! Now, I depart. Toodles!

Hello, Rux!!

Please, never apologize for sending an ask! I absolutely love hearing your ideas and I’m very happy to know the reverse AU still resonates with people :D

Okay, now let’s see:

1. I do prefer the second scenario in the staircase scene. Armin at this point has nothing waiting for him back in Marley and as a character he generally prefers ending conflicts with talking rather than fighting so I believe he’d rather strike a deal and resolve this through diplomacy. 

2. Now for the Warriors reveal… we do have to consider that this scene occurs very soon after Armin’s own reveal. Like it’s all happening within three days tops. There’s always the possibility that he’s too busy getting interrogated within an inch of his life to even attend these events. 

Personally, I’m more curious as to whether Reiner and Bertolt would attempt to convince Zeke to launch an operation to “rescue” Armin at that point, or write him off as a lost cause. I think there’s potential for drama and bitterness in both cases. In the first scenario, you have a Reiner who fought to save Armin getting betrayed by someone he considered his friend, while in the second scenario, you have an Armin even more estranged by his peers in Marley, sad and disappointed they never even cared for him. 

3. Here you’re gonna have to forgive me, because I respectfully disagree.

While Armin and Annie would absolutely act the way you described in the event of Armin getting captured by the Okapi Titan, I don’t see why the Founder Ymir would bother to kidnap him. In canon, she only does so because he’s the Colossus and is the only one with the power to stop Eren. So I’m afraid that our girl Annie would have to be the one getting choked by that tongue… (well that was a sentence I’d never thought I’d write xD)

As for the Commander part… I don’t know. On one hand, I do see how meaningful such a gesture would be from Hange, accepting Armin as one of their own wholeheartedly. On the other hand, the idea of an outsider coming in to “save” the Paradisians from their plight and lead them to the truth makes me feel kind of uncomfortable. 

Personally, because I’m a useless bisexual with a one track mind, I’d love to see how Commander Annie could work. At the very least I’d like to consider the possibility of her assuming a leadership role. She’s not an out of the box thinker like Armin in canon, but she is very practical and very decisive when it comes to battle. In another world, raised alongside Eren and Mikasa and not as confined by her father and her circumstances, I can see her developing a keen eye for solutions, maybe not outrageous strategies, but clean simple yet effective and devastating in their consequences plans. She’s ruthless, she’s perceptive and she’s willing to give up her life to achieve her means.

Honestly? I’d love to see it explored.

[davematthews]

Eight visionary, compassionate, and reconciliatory New Year's messages:

Nelson Mandela: "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." - Nelson Mandela

Mairead Maguire: “We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Our common humanity is more important than all the things that divide us. We need radical thinking, creative ideas, and imagination”

Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Dalai Lama: "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." - The Dalai Lama

Pope Francis: "…let us enable the power of God’s love to transform our lives; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish." - Pope Francis

Arandhati Roy: (We are) “…trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture… in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves... It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it…. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day I hear her breathing.”

Ghassan Abu Sittah: “There is no lonelier place in this universe than around the bed of a wounded child who has no more family to look after them…"

Albert Einstein: “peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding. “

Happy New Year.

[all-skedaddle-and-no-bop]

im not a writer but my overly dramatic bum had to pull the notes app out to write this apocalyptic sorta scene after last night, enjoy

who knew your doom could sound so beautiful?

you lay awake at 4 am, the sound of panicked, harsh ringing echoing through the empty room. you quickly dismiss it. no need for reminders.

outside, the storm continues. the rain hits hard, the heavens rumbling with promise of something more to come, the winds picking up and prancing through the free, empty streets-- you envy them. you can hear the creaking and shuddering of your shelter, the very feeling resonating deeply through you, or perhaps it's just your heart rate picking up.

you never thought you'd be so afraid of death.

in fact, if I remember correctly, you longed for it. in the face of an earthquake, you smiled with joy, your eyes brightened, your soul felt lighter-- the earth crackling with hope, ready to greet you with open arms into a warm, suffocating, yet loving embrace. but that wasn't your time.

in the midst of your thoughts, your fears, your heartbeat, you hear it. a grounding, yet lifting sound. a warning, one might say, but what is a warning when you know your fate? on the contrary, it welcomes you with gentle voices, eases your fears. one by one, the sirens harmonize through the empty city, even the winds whistling in on the tune, the raindrops dancing. a performance, for your ears only. the sirens fade in and out, but are never too far apart. you feel you can sleep to this lullaby, this daunting, yet mesmerizing sound, though you can also hate it very easily. but then tell me, why do you feel a longing when it's gone?

you wonder what it would like to lay awake while listening to this tune in a lovers arms. maybe you would enjoy it more. the sirens let off once more, and you hear the slow receding of the voices; your weight settles once more in your chest. your thoughts return, flooding your mind faster than this rain would swallow your body. soon.

but for now, you let the sirens, slowly picking up, slowly weaving together, hold you warm. you've lost track of time. what is silence, when this is the only sound that echoes through your mind, burns your ears, soothes your heart? a mother's lullaby, a lovers heartbeat, your doomsday harmony.

the sirens sound pretty tonight, you think to yourself.

[beeindaclouds]

Ok may i request something for C!Techno and C! Phil.

The reader is C!Phil's adopted child and techno's favorite sibling (because we all know he'd have a favorite) and they end up in the wrong place at the wrong time during Doomsday and neither Phil or Techno knew they were there when L'Manburg was destroyed. The reader ends up loosing their second life and they end up being afraid of Dream because he was the reason they were there in the first place.

Techno and Phil only realize what happened after they see their body along the rubble of what was L-Manburg.

Just something angsty with fluff at the end.

Aah thank you for requesting this, I love this idea so much ;-;

Hope you enjoy <3

Fallen victim to the smile

Click here before requesting, please ^^

Reader: GN - They/Them

You had overhead your dad and your older brother talk about the oh so called "Doomsday"

They had been talking about it for quiet some time now and, you being the curious little siblings that you were, couldn't help but eavesdrop evey once in a while

Especially whenever you'd bring some sustenance for the trio

It was during those times that you would analyze the masked man, Dream

He always had this daunting aura that surrounded him and the mask definetly didn't make him any less scary

The man would sometimes steal glances at you, making you freeze in your place or sometimes use Techno as a shield

You just didn't trust him.

And you definitely didn't trust him when one day he pulled you the side, only to whisper something into your ear

You tried your best warning your dad and brother but, as they were too busy getting ready for their attack, they didn't even spare you a glance

"This is only the begging."

The words had scared you into doing something, anything, to stop whatever he had in mind

Just a 'stay put and safe' was left to you as they exited the house

Now obviously you wouldn't stay put. You couldn't.

You were convinced Dream definetly had something more sinister in mind, and you had to stop and warn everybody else

Borrowing one of the many horses of Techno, you quickly headed your way to L'mamburg

When you stepped foot into the nation everything seemed to be just fine. There were no explosion, no commotion, nothing at all

Letting out a sigh of relief, happy to have come earlier then the chaos, you started looking around for your family

Your search was unfortunately interrupted by a slight chuckle from above you, followed by a sizzling noise

"I'm happy you came for the show... to bad you'll have to take part in it too"

Screams surrounded you as the tnt was thrown above you, destroying every piece of land it landed on

The explosion slowly got closer to you, and your last sight before losing your second life was him

You had fallen victim to the smile

Phil and Techno had been enjoying the destruction of the land that had put their life through hell

But that celebration was soon cut short as they saw a familiar body in the midst of the demolished land

The blood God didn't think twice before jumping down to your unconscious body, holding you close to his chest as he wondered out loud why you had been there

Your dad soon followed, catching your hand just in time before watching your body dissapear and reset

Quickly getting their thoughts togheter, the duo headed their way to their house in hopes of finding you there

And, just as they deducted, you were back into your room

Lights off, hugging your knees to your chest as light sobs came from your mouth

The two slowly approached you, questioning why you were there

You couldn't find yourself to say anything other then

"The smile...I see the smile everywhere. It's watcing me I can feel it. Please, get it away from me!"

[caspiansreelreviews]

R/C ‘Seeking a friend for the end of the world’ 2012

•Main cast : Steve Carell , Keira Knightley, Adam Brody

•3 words to describe this movie : Beautiful, Quirky, Emotional

•A rough summary with no ending spoilers …

When finding out the world is going to end , Dodges wife decides to leave him . In the midst of feeling lost and deflated , he crosses paths with a kooky character named Penny . She takes him on an adventure to find his high school love before the world is struck by Asteroid Matilda .

•My Review

This is definitely in my Top 5 ‘end of the world movies ! (And I’ve watched ALOT 😂)

This movie is genuinely heart warming , funny and gut wrenching sad all at the same time . It’s easy to get carried away in the story and completely forget that the world is going to end . And every now and again when you are reminded , you feel your heart drop because you know that this beautiful story has to come to an end . But how will it end !?

In my opinion �� Perfectly! It was everything I wanted .

Steve Carell plays his role brilliantly. You really feel for him . And I’ve never seen Keira Knightley play such a cool and quirky character before . Both are such likeable characters.

An aspect I particularly enjoyed was seeing how all types of people were reacting to their impending doom . Seeing some living it up doing everything they can to stay positive, some doomsday preppers that are sure they could survive , and then some who have just completely lost it .

It really makes you think . What would you do knowing the end of the world was a matter of weeks away ? Seek comfort in loved ones ? Tick everything off your bucket list ? Experiment with drugs or even go to sex parties ?! Or maybe just go insane and rock in a corner until it’s all over .

This film had me glued to the screen . It grabs a hold of you suddenly and doesn’t let you go . You don’t want it to either . When I really think about it , this movie isn’t about death at all . But life . And how we CHOOSE to live it .

On that note… Grab the tissues and get ready to start questioning life . Enjoy !!

[froborr]

The heartbreakingly beautiful story of a doomsday prepper and an Animal Crossing LARPer finding each other--and love--in the midst of pandemic. Also they're played by Ron Swanson and that one guy from White Lotus.

[rhetoricandlogic]

Blackout - Connie Willis

Connie Willis returns to the shelves after eight long years with an absolute monster of an epic, a time-travel saga so rich in scope that it's taking two volumes to tell, yet so intimate in its observation of character that what you take away from it are not thrilling action setpieces but those moments of bonding people share — warm, funny, confused, trivial, angry, heartfelt — that take on a new and infinitely greater meaning in the shadow of death. One theme is driven home throughout: time is the most precious commodity we have.

This is Willis's gift as a storyteller. An obsessive researcher, she cares about the effects of great events on individuals, and views the momentous through the perspective of the mundane. In this story, the setting is London and surrounding areas during the Blitz in the late summer and fall of 1940. As in her earlier novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, time-traveling Oxford historians from the mid-21st century hop into their wayback machine to witness historical events firsthand. Blackout follows three of these travelers as they seek to observe, not the activities of the most renowned heroes and villains of the time (there are actually specific rules that prevent historians from getting too close to, and perhaps altering, the events they're observing), but the everyday heroism of everyday people.

I think Willis is living vicariously, as many authors do, through these characters. And that's all right, because what person captivated by the past would not like to project themselves into it once in a while? Willis knows that doing so wouldn't be nearly as romantic as you might think (especially if you're plunging into the middle of a world war). But why let that stop you?

It bears mentioning at this point that Blackout is not the first novel of a duology, but the first half of a single, two-part novel. Knowing this going in will help to smooth any frustration over the way the book doesn't so much end as stop, without a climax, and with just the barest of cliffhangers to lead you into part two. There are also a couple of unresolved plot threads, one of which provides the story with its rare moments of comic relief, involving two additional time travelers. There will be more to learn about these characters in the second volume.

Polly Churchill is transported to London in the midst of the Blitz. It's her task to observe the lives of shopgirls working in department stores by becoming one herself. Mike Davies intends to pass himself off as an American journalist covering the Dunkirk evacuation efforts. And Eileen O'Reilly lands a job among the servants at a wealthy estate in Warwickshire, in order to observe the hordes of evacuee children being sent from London in droves. Everything seems routine, but from the start we can sense something ominous. Schedules for time travelers are being shifted at the last minute. A young friend of Polly's with a desperate crush on her is deeply worried about something. And once the historians arrive at their various destinations, they notice an unusual degree of "slippage," missing their target dates not by hours (which is normal) but days. It isn't long before something potentially disastrous is made plain.

Amid the growing suspense, Willis builds an engrossing work of humanist fiction that avoids pathos and easy sentiment in depicting the quiet practicality and occasional heroism (and yes, the callousness) of Londoners surviving the Blitz. Memorable characters abound, and Willis's gift for natural dialogue brings scenes to life in a way that makes you feel you're in their presence. And she never pulls the lame stunt of creating a character for you to love just to kill them as an exercise in cheap button mashing. We get to know every one of the people with whom Polly shares a shelter every night, like the blustery, avuncular stage actor Sir Godfrey Kingsman, who quotes the Bard every time he opens his mouth yet whose personality rings true all the same. Eileen finds herself saddled with two of the most ill-behaved children in history, and yet you kind of like them, especially because, as a sort of brother-and-sister demolition duo with an appallingly indifferent and irresponsible mother, you realize they've only ever had each other. I'd think one very real risk a time-traveler would face would be to bond with someone from their distant past. See history unfold amongst the people who lived it, and you no longer have the safe emotional distance of words on a textbook page.

Finally, Mike ends up in an unintended situation that makes him fear he's violated the ultimate taboo and done something to alter the course of history, though he's reassured — not always convincingly — that rules regarding "divergence points" would make that impossible.

At first, the little ironies that frustrate Eileen, Polly, and Mike are funny — it seems they're forever just missing someone or something by minutes — then become more and more unnerving as the bombs keep falling. If I have to complain about something, it's that the final third of Blackout feels overextended, with our principals trying and failing to connect with one another over and over to the point it nearly gets redundant. But there is a much bigger story here, and in a quietly profound way, missed opportunities ("For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost."), and the way minor events can influence and illuminate whole histories, play a main role in it. Times of crisis like the Blitz were times when a person might live another day or die based on whether or not they paused while leaving home to put on their favorite hat. When what little time we have on this earth can be snuffed out so completely in such short notice, then there's no time to do anything but look ahead, and never look back.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles

The Doomsday Books #2

Flat open moorland in 1823 could be a desolate lonely place for some but for others it is a place of intrigue and danger, dysfunctional families and family feuding, messes to clear up, and fertile soil for the growth of potential happily ever after romances for more than one. Great story that kept me awake till almost two this morning – had to finish before I slept last night!

What I liked:

* Rufus: retired major, newly minted earl, in the midst of trying to restore his estate, dealing with evil relatives, in need of someone to assist and perhaps befriend him, caring, kind, short tempered, loud, and lovely, perfect for and with Rufus

* Luke: educated, experienced secretary, loves to create order and be helpful, from a smuggling family, had a difficult childhood, carries baggage and scars from the past, has secrets, a bit of a schemer, perfect for and with Rufus

* The slow burn but then steamy relationship that develops between Rufus and Luke and being able to see the two men as a happy couple

* The way more than one character impacts another in a positive way

* Getting to see and catch up with some of the characters in the previous book

* The setting, plot, pacing, and writing

* That I was drawn in and cared about the outcome

* Being able to hate the bad guys – and be happy when they were dealt with

* Hoping that there will be another book in this series

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about inheritance and how ruthless some people can be when trying to achieve their goals

Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

BLURB

Major Rufus d'Aumesty has unexpectedly become the Earl of Oxney, master of a remote Norman manor on the edge of the infamous Romney Marsh. There he's beset on all sides, his position contested both by his greedy uncle and by Luke Doomsday, son of a notorious smuggling clan. The earl and the smuggler should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a trained secretary and expert schemer—exactly the sort of man Rufus needs by his side. Before long, Luke becomes an unexpected ally...and the lover Rufus had never hoped to find. But Luke came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he's desperate to keep hidden even from the lord he can't resist. As the lies accumulate and family secrets threaten to destroy everything they hold dear, master and man find themselves forced to decide whose side they're really on...and what they're willing to do for love.

[crybabytoni]

Inspired by the song As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese

Soap and Ghost found themselves in a small, dimly lit room, their bodies weary from the battles fought and the weight of the impending doom. Their feet ached, worn from endless hours of running and fighting. Ghost's back, once strong and resilient, now carried the weight of their shared burdens. They sat together, bottles of whiskey by their side, attempting to drown their sorrows and set aside the grief that threatened to consume them.

The papers had declared doomsday, and the world stood on the brink of annihilation. The button had been pressed, and the countdown to destruction had begun. The knowledge that they were mere moments away from nuclear devastation hung heavy in the air. Yet, in the face of this impending calamity, they found solace in each other's presence.

As the night unfolded, Soap and Ghost shared stolen moments, stealing glances between sips of whiskey. Their gazes spoke volumes, silently conveying the depth of their connection and the love that blossomed amidst the chaos. The world outside burned, consumed by flames and destruction, but in that room, their hearts burned with a different kind of fire.

Soap, ever the soldier, donned his final suit, a symbol of his readiness to face whatever fate had in store. Ghost slowly took off the mask, holding the hard shell skull in his hands, a shaking thumb caressed over the rough surface, saying goodbye to his old friend.

From the quiet TV in the background, the host announced that he would not continue the program, to spend his last hours with his loved ones. He was urging others to do the same.

With the weight of their impending extinction pressing down upon them, John pulled Simon into his arms, holding him tightly as tears streamed down their faces. It was a bittersweet moment of farewell, their love radiating through every touch and every whispered word.

"I weep and say, 'Goodnight, love'," John murmured, his voice choked with emotion, as he felt his organs failing. In that final, heartbreaking exchange, they found solace in their shared grief and the knowledge that, even in death, their love would endure.

As the world crumbled outside, John and Simon clung to each other, finding comfort in their shared presence. The atom bomb locked in, its destructive power an echo of the chaos around them. But in the midst of this devastation, they focused on the love that bound them together.

In those last moments, as the world caves in, Simon looked into John's eyes and whispered, "I am glad it's you I welcome death with."

Together, they faced the end, their souls intertwining as the world dissolved into oblivion.

And as the world caved in, their love remained, an eternal flame flickering amidst the chaos. The memory of their final night alive, their love defiant and unyielding, would forever burn brightly in the hearts of those who dared to remember, a beacon of hope and resilience in the face of an unforgiving fate.

[mcrcki]

Was that [GRACE VAN DIEN]? Oh no no, that was just [ELAIN ARCHERON], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES]. They are [TWENTY TWO] years old, use [SHE/HER], and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

how long has your character been here -

a little over six months. elain is not someone who handles big changes well, so this has been ?? a lot but she has started to settle in thanks to the help of her family

what is your character’s job -

she helps run a bakery!

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom -

elain is pulled from the end of a court of silver flames!

has any magic affected your character -

nope! elain is the same elain as always, honestly, she’s been changed enough from magic she is not looking to get her memories or anything else messed with again, thank you so much!!!

other notes -

damn do i love a soft vibe tragic backstory bitch, this time in faerie form! so original!! anyways, elain is my angel and i don’t want to hear anything bad about her ever thank you so much goodnight – pls enjoy me info dumping the current hyperfixation

elain is the middle child of the archeron family, having always been closer to her older sister nesta in comparison to her younger sister feyre. their mother always claimed elain was going to marry for her looks and for love, her family constantly putting a lot of weight into her appearance for that

she’s always found some sort of peace and quiet in gardening however, though her love of baking didn’t come till later. tending to her garden was one of the few things that elain still had control over, when everything else in the archeron life was falling apart

she and her father are the only ones who are affected by tamlin’s glamour once he takes feyre to prythian.

this girl is just so kind, she is sad over the death of a like great aunt that literally never existed but she is still bummed about it

just wanted to travel the world and see flower festivals with feyre and enjoy their lives together and then so much shit goes wrong so fucking fast !!!!! so–

ok at this point im going into spoilers for a court of mist and fury and beyond so anyone reading don’t read on !! all you gotta know is this is a sweet summer child and i would die for her

during acomaf elain is engaged to a human boy, the son of a lord who just absolutely hates faeries. homeboy is like a doomsday prepper but for faeries invading the mortal lands. so ofc when feyre comes back with just a whole fucking group of faeries, elain is understandably a little worried and she doesn’t want it to get back to her fiancé. she stuck around for the meeting though and honestly good for her, she is loyal as hell and we love her for that

and then she’s just kinda gone until the end of that book when she and nesta are fucking kidnapped and forcibly made into faeries by being thrown into the cauldron by the king of hybern, to literally just prove a fucking point, to make it clear that it can do that!!! (there is so much more during these scenes that i dont want to explain bc again spoilers but damn the end of that book is a nightmare of drama)

anyways, elain is tossed into the cauldron like a sack of potatoes and just dumped onto the fucking floor, having gone through possibly the most traumatic thing anyone could really go through and light of my life, dumb bitch #1 lucien really looks at her and goes “you’re my mate” like my love, some tact. time and place

i love lucien don’t get me wrong , just that line in the midst of everything?? what a time

mor takes the sisters away from hybern, hides them up (i think up at their cottage???) , when feyre goes back to the spring court with tamlin. enter the poor way all of prythian handles trauma –

(literally is no one in all of this faerie or human lands a fucking therapist , pls can we get the sisters to talk to ANYONE)

ok a court of wings and ruin – elain has gone almost completely nonverbal with grief and ptsd and very poor adjustments!!! except for some weird freaky cryptic comments that everyone just looks at her like “ok honey let’s go back to bed”

she has not accepted her change into fae, and spends like weeks just crying and talking about her upcoming wedding to greyson. like genuinely, all i want to do is hug this woman she needs a good hug. esp cause, while again i love him, lucien is not helping matters like at all. he’s doing so much, and it’s just.. buddy pls some space (i would love a lucien tho so they can maybe one day talk about their shit together)

either way, elain is finally starting to talk a little bit, but again it’s that cryptic shit, that after a few weeks of it, the only person who seems to actually understand what’s going on is azriel! shoutout to you az! cause surprise, the cauldron made my girl a seer!!! and she is so afraid !!!!

anyways, she starts to kind snap out of it once there is a name for what’s going on, once people start realizing that she isn’t like.. out of it, just seeing the future. she starts to bake with nuala and cerridwen– the two maids rhys employees. literally that is one of the biggest things that pulls elain out of this mess of grief that’s in her mind. it’s still her solace even now, baking is where things make sense for her. she loves gardening, but there is something about baking that just clears her mind like nothing else.

eventually the inner circle makes their way to greyson and his family’s estate for the express purpose of trying to get them to agree to take in human refugees in the upcoming war. they glamour elain so that she still appears human but my boy jurian is out here being a bigger gossip than the suriel and already told them everything. greyson like screams in elain’s face to end their engagement (and i became a nesta stan in that moment ty for slapping the shit out of that boy)

losing greyson for good really set elain back off on the bad path of nonverbal constant crying. she barely leaves the war tents, only moves outside of them when the camp has to move, and is just going through a terrible heartbreak like pls can she catch a singular break!!!!!

she sure fucking cant!! bc she gets kidnapped by the cauldron and taken into the heart of hybern’s camp almost immediately after!!!!!!!!!!! again shoutout to azriel for just jumping right in for that rescue mission with feyre , you’re a superstar.

so war happens , elain stays mostly out of it thank god, she is not a fighter. but i will die on the hill that she deserves recognition for killing the king of hybern!! ik nesta cut off his head but elain is the reason nesta was still alive!!!!! to do it!!!!! she is the person who stabbed him first!!!!!! and she deserves that title just as much as her sister!!!!!!!

elain and her sisters lose their father in the fight, and while elain is in mourning , she goes to visit the memorial spot that feyre had created for him quite often. but she returns to velaris with her friends, her new family and is honestly, pretty well adjusted by the end of it, like she’s really coming out of this on the other side doing pretty well all things considered.

for the novella – elain’s visions are mostly gone, she is adjusting well, honestly she’s just vibing, baking and hanging out with the twins, there’s a lot of like innerworkings of her relationships between lucien and azriel and pls don’t ask me who i ship her with i simply do not know and would rather her just be happy with no man before she gets stuck in something for centuries

ok final bit i promise i know my intros are always disgustingly long but a court of silver flames!!!! this is where i’m pulling elain from

the last thing that elain remembers from home is feyre and rhys telling the inner circle that they’re expecting, and her fight with nesta at the house. she remembers nesta snapping at her over their father’s death, when elain wanted nothing more than to just check on her sister, to make sure she was adjusting well. she left the house crying, having thought the training with cassian was supposed to be helping nesta but, she is more skeptical than ever.

here in dc, elain is definitely going to be like, relieved to find people that she knows, will be settling in with her bakery once she is .. adjusted. she doesn’t handle change super well so it’s gonna take some time before she feels confident in the city but i cannot wait until we are at that point

update as of 12/12/23 :

elain has drunkenly eloped with a certain fox boy fae :)) she and lucien have accepted their bond and now are living in some fairytale bliss for a little while before reality crashes down around them, considering the absolute fucking nightmare her family has found themselves in

connections :

✩ friends!!

honestly please just be her friend , she is such a kind soul and will look after you and be the sweetest person, i just think she would do really well with a group of friends that like lift her up and are more high energy than her, just good vibes

✩ employees

once she opens her bakery, she’s gonna need people to come work for her so :)))

✩ maybe someone she could nanny for

i think while she is getting used to the city and settling in she might try to pick up some odd jobs here and there before she settles into owning a whole bakery and i think she’d like the idea of helping people like that

✩ someone to help her adjust

like a guide to dc kinda vibe, someone that can explain the modern world, help her out so she doesn’t feel like she is burdening her family by having them have to like walk her through all of this

✩ trauma bonding buddies

someone wanna talk about their issues with her and provide a safe space so she can finally talk about her own shit!! thanks sm !!!

[aidanrgallagher7]

Love in The Midst of Doomsday~

Pairings: Five Hargreaves × The Reader

Chapter Six: Day Six

Chapter Five is here..

The Masterlist is here..

Warnings: mentions of blood, death of a character, mentions of depression and cussing

Word Count: Over 1k

The story is back guys! Get ready, it's a long one🎉❤

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the hours went on, you begin to worry about Five's whereabouts. You have not seen him since Luther pushed him off of the stairs and he blinked. That was early this afternoon, and it is now pitch black outside and still no sign of him.

Diego "We have to go."

"Wait, where are all of you going?"

Klaus groans, "We got an invitation from the old man to come to dinner."

"Is Five there?"

Luther "We don't know where he is."

"Oh, that's great." You say as you start to pace back and forth.

Allison "Hey, I'm sure that he is fine." She reassured me, "Five is just being Five right now. He'll be back. He always comes back."

"Yeah.."

Vanya "Are you coming with us?"

"Uhm, no I'll just stay here incase Five comes back. Plus, I'm gonna help my dad when he comes back with the groceries."

Vanya "Oh okay! I had so much fun with you today, its so nice to have a nice family member-"

Klaus and Allison "HEY!.." they shouted in unison.

Vanya "I love you both, you know that." They agreed and a few minutes later, they all leave you all alone, in the apartment with your thoughts.

~~~

Five's p.o.v.

I still have Lila pinned underneath my foot, struggling to get me off of her but i let her suffer for a little longer. She deserves it.

"I gotta admit, it was clever. Having her come into my brother's life, deceiving him.."

Handler chuckles, "I thought that you'd appreciate the gesture."

"And let me guess, she is your dau-"

Handler "Daughter, yes. My one and only. So I'd appreciate it if you let her off of the ground." I do as she says, and Lila starts coughing from her air circulation being cut off for a little too long. She gets up after stumbling few a few seconds, then she gets in my face.

Lila "I am thoroughly going to enjoy killing you one day." I couldn't help but chuckle at that remark.

Handler "Alright dear, you had your fun. Now run along, we need to have a little chatty chat."

"Yes, the grownups need to have a talk." She snickers but then she remembers who her 'mother' is, so she obeys. The next few minutes made my head spin. The Handler gave me an ultrasound; kill the current head of the Commission for a way back to the present year, with no complications. How can i trust her? She has tried to kill me so many times that i have lost track, as well as had targets be put on my wife's life as well. Not even including her attempts on killing my entire family. But unfortunately, i am running out of options and especially, time.

Handler "So, what do ya say Five? Are you in?"

"I need time to think." I say as i start to make my way towards the door.

Handler "Tik tok number Five! I am all you have left!"

"Not yet you aren't." With that being the last words, i blinked and i end up in the restaurant that my father sent me the location for. I was hesitant to come but of course, if anyone, he'll know what to do. And as for Y/n, she'll be okay for an hour or two without me, right?

~~~

You were about to call your father to see what was taking him so long at the store when you hear a cat's meow, coming from the hallway. You have no pet's in the house. You chase the sound and you find an orange kitten, sitting in the middle of your kitchen.

"Hi there sweetheart! Where did you come fro-?" In seconds, you were hit on the back of the head. When you awake, you are tide in a chair in the middle of the balcony drop off area. 'What the fuck?' You think to yourself. You try to move but your hands and legs were bound. 'If only my knife was in my pocket..' the next moment, two men with white hair are standing in front of me.

"Who the fuck are you?" You ask sternly.

"Where is Diego?" The man asked in Swedish.

"Go fuck yourself." The man snickers and hits you in the face hard enough to make you bleed. I slit out the led taste in my mouth and i chuckle, "is that all ya got?" They kept hitting me and asking me where Five and his family is. But i would have never told them where they were. They kept hitting you until your vision became blurry. Only until then, did they stop.

"She isn't going to tell you, brother." He mumbled to the skinny older man. "Better wait until someone else comes home.." shit..my dad.

"What do you want with Diego anyway huh? What did he do to you huh? Did he look at ya the wrong way?" You cockily ask, which earns you another punch to the stomach that took your breath away. "You really think that you are get away with this?" You ask in swedish. Earning a frightening stare from them. "Who sent you here? Was it a woman?" They do not answer, what they do is look at each other and that is an answer to you. "If so, she is my boss." You say with a smirk on your face, "and she will not be happy when i tell her that two pathetic swedes broke into my apartment and tried to kill me." They eldest starts to laugh, and lowers himself to get into your face.

"You are lying." Before you can speak, a blade goes through your stomach. But you are used to this. You are an assassin and that job comes with getting tortured half of the time. You were gonna speak again but you all hear the lock to the front door turn. It was your dad. You try to scream, but you are instantly smothered by a hand, much more massive than yours. Covering your nose and mouth.

"Put her in the closet!" The eldest ordered the tallest, and he obeys. You see your father but he does not see you. The man hides himself behind the wall, trying to not be seen. You hear your father put down the groceries and then everything goes dark again.

_____________________________________

By the time you wake up, it was the morning after. You hear Diego screaming for you and you whimper as a response.

"I-I'm in here" you try your hardest to shout but your wound is making that impossible. Within a few seconds, Diego and Luther pull you out of the cloest. The sunlight hurts your eyes and every touch is killing you.

Diego "Hey, hey look at me-"

"Where is Five?"

Diego "Five is fine, you're gonna be okay-where does it hurt?"

Luther "Diego she's been fucking stabbed!"

"Go-go get my med kit that i keep under my bed." I whisper to him and he runs towards my room. "Where is my dad? Is he okay?" Diego looks away from me, "Diego? Where is my dad?!" Panic starts rushing through my veins, giving me the adrenaline that i need to stay away through the pain.

Diego "I'm sorry Y/n." He says as he unties my ankles.

"What?!"

Diego "He's gone."

"Where is he?!" Diego tries to stop you, but you get up and you run throughout the house. The pain was irrelevant to you in this moment. All you wanted to do is see him. What you find, is mortifying. He was in his computer chair, with knives sticking out of his chest and mouth. This was not supposed to happen. He was not supposed to die here. He was meant to die of old age. Not murder in this timeline. How can this be real? You fall to your knees in front of your father, shouting 'im so sorry' over and over again, uncontrollably sobbing. Diego holds onto you as you grieve. That was until Five blinks into the apartment, finding his wife on the floor, her face is bloodied and bruise, and she has a stab wound to her torso. And Elliot, is dead. How could this have happened within an hour or two of him being away from you? What is happening..?

You don't even care about Five's presence right now. All you want to do is hold onto your father. But Five pulls you away from the situation.

Five "What the hell happened here?!"

Luther "We just came back, just like you! We found Elliot and then we found Y/n in the closet." He grabs you by the waist, snapping you out of your weeping state.

Five "Honey, you've been stabbed, you are bleeding out-please let me help you."

"Where were you?" His eyes began to water for the first time since the very first apocalypse, "why weren't you here?"

Five "Y/n, I'm here now-please..i need to stitch this, you'll die if i don't help you!" You felt like saying, let me die, but you don't. You give in to Five and he sweeps you off of your feet and carries you to the bathroom.

Five "Take care of Elliot please, we need to give him a proper burial. I need to take care of her."

Luther "We got it, go on-hurry!" He does just that. Your pain was flooding back into your wound, and you cannot stop screaming.

"Fuck!" You say as Five places you down into the bathtub to contain all of the blood.

Five "It's okay, hey-hey, look at me!" You connect your eyes to his own, "I'm not gonna lose you again, do you here me. I can't." You slowly blink and he knows that that was your answer, "This is just like the last time baby, remember?"

"Of course i remember, how could i forget-?!" He applies alcohol, making every part of your body tense up from the excruciating pain.

Five "Shh, shh, keep talking to me baby. What do you remember?"

"I remember we both got hurt during that mission, but you didn't care about yourself. Yo-you made sure that i was gonna make it before you took care of yourself." You say forced out in between him applying pressure, and sterilizing the stitching equipment to prepare. "Thats when i knew that ya really liked me." He pauses and smiles at you.

Five "I've loved you from the moment i met you Y/n. I could never let anyone hurt you. But i couldn't always stop it."

"Hey, this is what we are trained for. We get used to it after a while, don't we?"

Five "yeah."

"Five-" he starts stitching your wound, making you hault.

Five "I know-just breathe, keep talking to me!"

"Where were you? You have been gone for hours."

Five "She's back babe..i spoke to her."

"That's impossible. You told me that she got shot-"

Five "Yeah, she did. But she's back and she offered me a deal." He blurts out as he finishes up the stitching. "I told her that i needed time to think."

"She did this. She ordered the killing?"

Five "I don't know baby.."

"Of course she did Five. Who else would want me dead?"

Five "Who did this, who was here?"

"They were Swedish. It was two of them. They were shocked that i could speak Swedish and that i wasn't afraid."

Five "They are part of the Commission. They tried to kill me and Diego at the Ball the other night."

"Who were they really after?"

Diego "Me." He says from the doorway with tears in his eyes. "They are after me." Five looks at his brother with rage in his eyes. Any minute longer, and you would be dead right now.

"Why you?"

Five "Lila, i am certain."

Diego "Everyone wants us dead Five!"

Five "Raise your voice at me again, and i will kill you myself." Diego doesn't say another word, so you break the silence. But it was hard, hence you are on the verge of passing out from the loss of blood and the pain you were dealing with.

"Why are they targeting you Diego? Do you know?"

Diego "No, i don't. But when i find out, i promise you, I'll avenge your father's death Y/n..i-i'm sorry. Neither of you deserved this.."

"I'm not angry at you Diego, none of this was supposed to happen. My father was supposed to die of old age..i saw him die of old age before..none of this was supposed to happen. Someone is making it happen."

Five "It's her. It's always her."

"We need to kill her Five. Once and for all."

Five "We will. I promise Y/n. Even if its the last thing we ever do..she will die." You nod and your eyes get heavy. "Okay, time to get you cleaned up, c'mere.." he looks at his brother, still standing in the doorway with his thumb up his ass. "Can you make yourself useful and help me hold her up so i can clean her own blood off of her please." Diego wipes his tears off of his cheek, man's up, and help's his brother.

"M-my clothes.."

Five "Its okay honey, don't worry about your clothes right now, i just need to get ya better okay?"

"Hey..look at me." He obliges and instantly, it was like Diego wasn't even in the room, "i know that if you could have been there, you would have been. I am sorry for asking you where you were, i just can't believe my father died for absolutely no reason at all. Just because he came home at the wrong time."

Five "i can't change what happened. And fuck, i wish that it didn't..but we will avenge him, all of us will. Your father was a great man." You nod as you begin to cry, but you hault when your stitches sting your stomach. "Woah..no more tears." You take a deep breath and you turn your sadness into anger. That is what kept you alive all this time. Anger. After you were clean and dried, Five places you into your room and he lays with you for a little while. Yes, doomsday is coming, but his wife was almost killed, doomsday is second on his mind.

Five "How are you feeling now?"

"Angry."

Five snickers, "Good. You can use that."

"I always do."

Five "All of this will end. We will get our lives back, and she will be gone. And affter we do that, let's get married again." That made you lift up out of shock.

"What?"

Five "Marry me again." Your smile begins to tug at the corner of your lips, "when this is all over, me and you, let's do it all over again."

"You would want too?"

Five "More than anything." You crash your lips onto his own, and his smiles. When you pull back, he speaks again. "We have been through hell and back hun. I've been gone for five years, away from you for that long i-..i just want to make everything right again. I always mess things up and i just want to make you realize that i love you more than anyone and anything."

"And i love you Five."

Five "So is that a yes?"

"Yes." He kisses you again and it is like your wound was gone and nothing bad ever happened. Now, you have another reason to stay alive; marry your soulmate after you save the world.

_____________________________________

Five's p.o.v

As soon as Y/n is fast asleep, i leave her to go see the Handler. My father told me to start using my powers in seconds instead of jumping hours, years or decades. That can be useful, but it is not what i need to hear right now. I need to save my family. I need to save my wife. So i make another deal with the devil.

Handler "Ah, just in time for happy hour! Come, sit!"

"So," i say as i shut the door behind me, "if i do this, you will give me the time to make it back to the present day? No more doomsday..?"

Handler "No more doomsday." I take the card that she hands to me and it tells me the date and the location of where it will take place. I take a deep breath and i blink back to my wife's apartment. I must tell her what I am doing. If she does not agree, than i will find another way to save everyone.

It is the early morning when i make it back to everyone and Y/n, is very weak.

Five "Hi sweetheart."

Y/n "Hi. You speak to her?" I don't answer her, i simply hand her the card that she handed to me. She takes a second to read it and she snickers. "I guess we have a day mission."

I tisk my tongue and i cup her cheeks, "I'm doing this one alone baby. You rest."

Y/n "I'm fine."

"Okay." I hand her a knife and she take it in her own, "Try to kill me."

Y/n "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. If you are ready, then prove it. Try to kill me. If you get me on the ground, then you can come."

Luther "Five, seriously?!" He says with a mouthful of food in his mouth.

Klaus "Oh, I'd like to see this actually." He says as he puts his feet up on the dining room table.

"C'mon. Just like the Commission days." She starts swinging, and i dodge every swing. She keeps it up, even though she is in obvious pain. She gets a few punches in me, before i grab her, and she instantly cries out. I had to stop her before she ripped her stitches out.

"I told you, you need to rest." She rests her head on my shoulder and i hold onto her as she calms her heartrate down. "You still got it though, you got me good!" I wipe a little bit of blood off of my mouth and she finally has the strength to raise her face to look up at me.

Y/n "I need to come with you Five. I need to ask her if she ordered it."

"You will get the time to ask her before we put a bullet in her skull sweetheart." He said kindly but sternly. "I need you to stay home, while i take care of this. When i come back, we will do a memorial service for Elliot and then we can do whatever you want. Deal?" She thinks for a moment before she nods her head.

Y/n "Deal." I lean down and kiss her forehead, cheek and then lips. Before i blink into the building of my opponent. 'This should be fun,' i think to myself.

...

When he blinks, everyone is staring at you. You pause. And then you finally ask them, "what?!"

Klaus "I am just so baffled!"

"Baffled? About what?"

Klaus "Seeing Five love another human being, it is just-" he makes an explosion noise with his mouth, making everyone laugh, including you.

"Well, he loves all of you too. If he didn't, he wouldn't be trying to save all of hiu again."

Allison "I've never thought about it that way before."

Vanya "I don't really remember anythint from our childhood."

"I'm sure that everyone will fill you in. But just remember that they all love you. Isn't that what really matters?"

Vanya "Yeah, it does."

Luther "You truly are the best thing to ever happen to this fucked uo family." He blurts out.

Klaus "Isn't she? It just adds to the question as to why she married Five!"

"Oh come on!" The conversation lasted hours before your pain became to unbearable. "I gotta go rest guys..husband's orders." They agreed and they let you climb into bed and you shut your eyes. And then you remember where Five was headed and you decided to get dressed in a suit, and made your way to the building that Five would be at. You have to speak to the Handler. Even if it gets you killed, you need to hear it in her own words that she ordered the murder of your father.

...

After Five has the head master all to himself-after killing everyone in the meeting room-the man begs for him to spare his life.

"Is there anything i can do to make you reconsider?!"

Five "I don't think so." Seconds later, Five breaks the fish bowl, and the mission was complete. He watched the fish flop until it stopped flopping completely and raises his head in satisfaction.

Then, he walks out of the building with the fish in a small bag and waited for the Handler to join him in an alleyway. Once she does, he hands her the fish bag and she gasps.

Handler "I can always count on you, Number Five."

Five "Now, it is time for you to do your part."

Handler "Right. Well, i-" she pauses when she hears footsteps and Five does too. When he saw your face, his heartbeat rose to his throat and he could not feel his legs. Every sense in his body flared and he instantly felt sick to his stomach. "Ah! My sweetheart, what a surprise!"

Five "Y/n, what are you doing here?!"

"You know that i had to come. I had to ask you myself." You walk up to the woman and you look into her eyes. "Did you do it?"

Handler "Do what, my darling-?"

"Cut the darling bull crap! My father was killed last night, by two Swedes in my father's apartment." You unbutton your blouse, exposing your stitches to her and she gasps. "If my brother-in-law's didn't come home when they did, i too would be dead."

Handler "Y/n.."

"Did you order it?!" You shouted at her and she takes a step back while Five looks at you, then back at her, waiting to hear her answer.

Handler "I would never order a hit on you Y/n. I love you like a daughter, you know that!"

"Then why were the Swedes sent to my house?!"

Handler "I ordered a hit on Diego, not expecting them to actually pull through!"

Five snickers, "Of course you did."

Handler "Oh come on Five, it's just business."

"So my father was never the intended target?"

Handler "No sweetheart. And neither were you." You nod and take another step forward, take a deep breath and turn to Five.

"I'm sorry that i came here even though you told me not too-"

Five "Y/n-"

"I love you." You say as you take your gun out of your back pocket, and aim it at the Handler, but before she could shoot you first, Five blinks the both of you to an abandoned lot in the middle of nowhere. When you land, you land on your stomach. Five, of course, lands on his feet. He see's you lying there and he falls to his knees in relief. A second late, and you would be dead. The Handler is too quick for you. She is too quick for anyone and Five knew that. And so did you, but you did not care.

Five "Y/n what the fuck was that?!" You didn't answer, "do you have a death wish?!"

"I'm so tired Five." His rage sombered when you said that. He has not come to realize that what you have been through in the last twenty-four hours have been immensely difficult and depressing. "And she deserved it."

Five "Yes, she does. But we need to do it correctly Y/n. If we do it your way, then we both die." You let your head fall in embarrassment. You let your rage get the best of you and it almost got you and the love of your life killed.

Five "Hey," he gets down beside you, "we have wedding plans remember?"

You giggle as you wipe your tears away, "I remember."

Five "Than we must stay alive in order to get married again honey."

"I'm so sorry."

Five "I am not mad at you sweetheart, i almost lost you..again! Do not apologize for the Handler's mistakes."

"How do we do this Five? How can we beat her?"

Five "We have to do it together."

"All of us?"

Five shakes his head, "All of us."

@moriartysringtone7137 @mxstoney-blog @noellehnsherr

@dyor @s0ftd3m0n @itzel17

@qualitymugghostrebel @oh-chuck-help-me @cocoa-creampuff @asphodelshare

@lilablosom @jellytoru @natsgaygf

@claudiachaotic

[dailyadventureprompts]

Random Encounter: Rift Events

The thinking DM’s alternative to “rocks fall, everyone dies”

Sometimes a the heroes fuck up catastrophically. They fail to stop the dark ritual in time, they sever one of the anchors of reality in the midst of a battle, they drop the doomsday artifact down a very long flight of stairs and it ends up breaking. You could end the campaign right there, improvising a hasty epilogue and send your party home for a couple weeks while you prepare to start from scratch.  Alternatively, you could use the narrative stakes you set up for yourself and do something interesting. 

One of the most important writing lessons I’ve learned as a DM is to ask myself “what happens if the party fails” as a means of giving my writing richer dramatic stakes, because unlike most forms of fiction a d&d campaign can’t have an ending predetermined by the author. To that end it’s a good idea to have some options in your back pocket for when your party goes so far off the map that you couldn’t have possibly prepared for this eventuality. Taking inspiration from the “Doomscars” of Kaldheim, a rift event represents a breach in the fabric of reality accompanied by a natural disaster, the result of either a catastrophic release of magical energy, the fracturing of fate, or planes smashing into eachother with the force of sizemic shifts. 

To quote Jason from The Good Place: “I'm telling you, Molotov cocktails work. Anytime I had a problem and I threw a Molotov cocktail, boom! Right away, I had a different problem.“ And that’s exactly the ethos we’re looking to bring to the table with a rift event. Whatever stakes your campaign had at the moment, whatever crisis your heroes were gearing up to face, they suddenly have a VERY different crisis which you can eat up the rest of the session ( or the session after a cliffhanger) with to buy yourself more time to figure out the long term implications of what your heroes have done.

Consider some options below:

Your party, every one, and everything are suddenly sucked into a different plane as the world is overturned around them, giving you time to move the plot forward back in the material plane while they play out a short “ get back home” arc. The Astral Sea is a great place to dump them out, as it’s not only a shocking contrast to your mundane campaign world but can also provide novel means of transport home.

The area your party is standing is now having an earthquake, which they desperately need to escape through skillchallenges and cooperation. When they finally get clear and survey the damage, they realize that not only did they put a dent in the world, they went and created a portal to some other reality, which is now bleeding mosnters and weird magic into the material plane. Bonus points if the villain/loved ones/the mcguffin is now on the other side of the rift, forcing the party to choose between dealing with the newly emerged threat or go perusing their original goal.

Awaken a Kaiju. No really, having your mid to high level heroes inadvertently release the tarrasque or some other giant beast is a great way for them to get back to the monsterhunting days of the early campaign, AND a convenient way to not have to explain why no one mentioned the campaign ending threat lurking in the wilderness before now.

Consider Divine intervention. There’s no better moment for the gods to make themselves known then when all seems lost. This interference can be as direct or subtle as you’d like, either coming as a devil’s bargain or an act of otherworldly compassion. My advice is to reward the character who’s the most pious (even if they’re not the cleric) or the most in need of saving, and have the intervention take the form most apt for the particular divinity. A god of healing may give the lost one more desperate breath of life, enough for the heroes and bystanders to pull them from the rubble, while a god of knowledge might reveal that the past 24 hours have all been a vision, forewarning of what WOULD happen if the party makes the unwise chose. Also feel free to throw a fiendish or eldritch twist to this, with faustian pacts being made to pull the world from the fire.

[candlecoo]

An AU in which Izuku is Shigaraki Izuku, the middle child of the Shigaraki Brothers with Hisashi as the eldest and Yoichi as the youngest, where as his nrothers had the ability to steal or pass on their quirks Izuku had the quirk to travel through time and space like Number Five of the Umbrella Academy.

Izuku was the comic book nerd of his brothers, always deep into the realm of fiction when Quirks came into being and then one day Izuku simply vanished without a trace which triggered Hisashi's overprotective instincts to go haywire as he "lost" one of this two brothers.

In truth Izuku accidentally went too far forward in time, where he learned of ghe end of days and would go back to prevent it. Izuku would spend decades protecting the future by preventing doomsday from occurring time and time again, he remained the Comic loving Shigarski brother but he had become increasingly manic and Sparky.

Eventually Izuku comes to the present, the latest Doomsday revolves around UA of all places which leads to Shigaraki Izuku arriving in the midst of USJ and coming face-to-face with his green haired doppelganger/nephew Midoriya Izuku.

P.S. Aizawa is Shigaraki Izuku's spirit animal

I don’t have much to add to this but here’s some art!

[turnbacktyne]

No listen i know there’s so much more to Karl, Sapnap, and Quackity and their stories individually, and maybe I’m way too focused on the relationship side of the DreamSMP and way too biased towards karlnapity, BUT-

Karlnapity genuinely deserves a happy ending together. All three of them have carried such a heavy weight on their shoulders, seen such horrible things happen to those around them, had such horrible thing happen to them. And yet they still found love. Among a wartorn nation, in the midst of battle and through doomsday, they found solace and comfort and love and peace and warmth with each other. They found a home with one another. 

And after everything that’s happened to them, the fact that they all still choose to love is already deserving enough. The scars that Quackity carries, the memories of all his attempts failed. The betrayal that Sapnap faced, watching his best friend turn into a monster. And Karl, falling through time and desperately trying to keep himself and save others. So much fucking weight on each of their backs, they fucking deserve to have one good thing, their loves at their sides to comfort them and give them solace and safety and love. 

Maybe I’m naive for always wanting a happy ending, but genuinely karlnapity deserves their happily ever after with one another. 

[michaels-two-dads]

Hey hey Log tell me about beeduo presidential era :D

Well, Leo, if you insist, I suppose I have to..

(I am talking about the characters here, lines get a bit blurry for this era because the content creators were becoming friends at the time, but I am looking at it from the perspective of canon)

One of the many things that drives me so insane about Presidency Era Beeduo is that they were able to become so close in such a short amount of time. Ranboo joined the server, and Tubbo gave him a tour, and it’s like- somewhere between there and Doomsday, they formed an incredibly close relationship.

In the midst of all the shit that when down after the prank on George’s house, somewhere along the line, Ranboo and Tubbo just- clicked, with each other. Tubbo was not in a good mental state at all during his presidency, especially after exiling Tommy, but Ranboo was there for him the whole time. Ranboo was a comforting presence for him, someone who was there for him, who he could be himself around.

We can see how much they cared about each other in their actions!

Despite being in competition with each other, they never held any animosity towards each other. If Ranboo won the presidency, he planned to make Tubbo his Vice President. If Tubbo won the presidency, he planned to make Ranboo his Secretary of State.

Tubbo, who is known for being the fucking commander and chief of repressing his emotions, opened up to Ranboo about his concerns about his presidency. Ranboo supported him, and told him he was doing a good job, something that no one else was telling Tubbo. Tubbo thought himself to be a horrible president, but Ranboo genuinely supported him when basically no one else did. Hello?!?!?

And let’s talk about when Ranboo was outed as a traitor.

When Ranboo was outed as a traitor, he expected Tubbo to hate him. He expected the relationship that they had built to be destroyed. When he showed up on Doomsday, he fully expected Tubbo to hate him, or punish or hurt him in some way, but Tubbo acted completely fine. I don’t remember his exact wording, but he was legitimately confused by Tubbo’s nonchalance, writing something along the lines of “Why doesn‘t he hate me?” Even after Doomsday, and Tubbo did nothing against Ranboo, he took Tubbo off of his friends list, assuming Tubbo hated him. Ranboo angrily cursed himself for betraying ”the one person who trusted me the most“. Which. Ow. Like. God. God.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Ranboo, Tubbo was 100% on his side. When Quackity brought up the idea of executing Ranboo, Tubbo immediately shut him down, comparing Quackity to Schlatt, which is, you know, basically the worst fucking person to be like in Tubbo’s mind. Not only that, but Tubbo threatened the life of Quackity, one of his oldest friends, in Ranboo’s defense. Even after saying that executing Ranboo would be treason, Tubbo brought it up again, pulling out his axe and saying “You’re not gonna touch Ranboo, though.” He made his point clear. Like!!! He cared so much!!! They had such a close relationship!!! FUCK!!

ALSO. Just. Doomsday. MAN.

As someone who recently re-watched Doomsday from Ranboo’s POV, there are so many little actions that showed his closeness with Tubbo. He moved Squeeks away from where the explosions would be, saying that he had “already hurt Tubbo enough”, so he should at least save Squeeks. He chose Tubbo’s side, despite the fact that he believed Tubbo hated him, and he chose Tubbo BECAUSE he didn’t want to hurt him again. LIKE. HIS EXACT WORDS. “I’ll hurt him again.” GOING INSANE! And he left a sign in front of Tubbo saying “I’m sorry.”

Just- the fact that long before the marriage, they were able to get such a close relationship, and even after what Ranboo assumed would destroy their relationship forever, they were able to get even closer after Presidency Era. Back then, they had no idea that they would fall in love, no idea that they would adopt a child together, no idea that they’d get married, but they trusted each other in an almost inexplicable way.

[zeta-in-de-walls]

What's the most common misconception you hear about c!tommy?

Hey! Really interesting question, cheers. I’d say that there’s quite a few misconceptions floating around: that he never apologises, that he hasn’t developed, that his exile was his fault, that he’s the main source of conflict on the server, that all he does is steal, and plenty of other stuff.

But the one I probably hear most is how Tommy supposedly values music discs over people.

This one is such a mess of misconceptions. I’ve even heard it said that Doomsday happened because Tommy cared about his discs too much and he was wrong because you shouldn’t value items over human lives. I hate this one because it misunderstands Tommy enough so you can dismiss him because its such a weak position. 

Anyway, I understand why its so messy. Tommy throughout season 2 is frequently in a state of uncertainty and is being driven by emotions and isn’t thinking clearly after so much suffering. He says a lot of stuff he doesn’t mean and is very suggestible. Most of his talking about the discs is done when he’s lonely and thinks his friends don’t care for him anymore, that they’re better off without him.

Now, let’s be clear: music discs are something Tommy’s character loves. His happiness every time he listens to one feels very genuine. He’s had so many emotional moments listening to his discs with others and even considers his bench his happy space. He likes them and invites others to listen with him. These items hold no intrinsic value, they’re of no worth to anyone else besides how much they mean to Tommy. The only reason to take them is to try to control him specifically. That’s the original reason Dream took them in the original disc war - to punish Tommy after he caused some trouble. 

And the original disc war was fun for Tommy. He found the battle to be exciting and enjoyed trying to outplay Dream with his best friend Tubbo and anyone he could get on his side. It was like a fun game to him. One that, while chaotic, no one really got hurt from at all - the only one who really suffered was Tommy himself, who put stuff on the line for it and had his whole base dug up. (And Tubbo who got dragged in and lost items, but he was initially a very willing partner who found the conflict fun too.) 

And then we have Dream, who traded away L’Manburg’s independence for Tommy’s discs, an interesting decision which meant only Tommy really paid the price that day. Everyone remarked on how unusually selfless it was of Tommy. That day was a victory for everyone else, but bittersweet for him. Wilbur consoled him, saying they could get them back and then they’d have even more history and sentimental value attached to them, having been what paid for L’Manburg’s freedom. Tommy was encouraged and so the game continued.

Dream over this time became not just Tommy’s enemy, but his friend. They had fights and conflicts but it was more like a fun game. As they also did stuff like make a church together. Eventually Tommy managed to steal Mellohi back from Dream while Skeppy acquired Cat. At the elections, Tommy gives Mellohi to Wilbur who gives it back again when they’re banished. Months pass and they finally win back L’Manberg and its a wonderful day (until it goes wrong) but Tommy’s not done with his disc war. 

This disc war was always a personal thing for Tommy, he’s never wanted others to be dragged in and hurt by it. He kind of takes Tubbo for granted, but Tubbo’s also always been his partner in crime and Tommy enjoys having a war he can fight alongside his best friend - he and Tubbo against Dream. Dream at this point is still seen as a friendly enemy, in spite of choosing Schlatt and helping Wilbur blow up L’Manberg. Anyway, he rejects Presidency, giving it to Wilbur because he trusts him and also wants to focus on his personal battles after so long ignoring it. He doesn’t want others to be dragged in or for his interests to be divided. He’s leaving L’Manburg in safe hands he can trust. That’s season 1 of the SMP, but season 2 is where things get messier.

After the war, Tommy hears that Tubbo had been suspicious that Tommy might’ve been the traitor. In order to show that he trusts him, Tommy gives Tubbo Mellohi. It’s not just a disc now, its a sign of trust, a sign of their bond - at least in Tommy’s eyes.

Then Dream builds obsidian walls around L’Manburg and we first see Tommy showing that bit of selfishness. He states that he’d wanted to step away, that L’Manburg wasn’t his priority anymore. That he’d left it in safe hands so he could focus on the discs. But it doesn’t matter what Tommy intended. Dream is targeting him and is dragging the rest of L’Manburg into it by threatening to seal them in obsidian forever if they don’t comply. Tommy and Tubbo do have a disagreement here, but its not actually so much about the discs. 

-Tommy believes that fighting Dream is the superior option, if they ask for help from others in the server - because what he’s doing isn’t right - then they could defeat him, show him that he couldn’t just push them around. 

-Tubbo feels like that would get them killed and he doesn’t want to risk their lives. It would be better to appease Dream for now and secretly plot how to take him down later but Tommy’s being too hotheaded. 

Tommy brings up the disc to state how he trusts Tubbo and would consider being exiled a betrayal but Tubbo reminds him that they’re just discs and there’s more on the line and Tommy needs to be more cooperative. Anyway, Tommy’s hurt by Tubbo exiling him and think its a sign that he doesn’t care about him anymore. Tubbo meanwhile found it difficult to do but felt like there was no other option but did still care about Tommy. Tubbo would later come to regret doing it while Tommy would later say that it was the right choice when they finally actually talk. 

The discs here are kind of a symbol but Tommy doesn’t really value them over others, he’s being a little selfish for sure but that is mostly a result of being treated unfairly by Dream and feeling attacked and ganged up on by his friends, not seeing how they were trying to help him. Dream’s the one to blame here. At worst, Tommy’s being irresponsible in thinking he can just step away from L’Manburg - he didn’t value the discs over it, he just wanted to fight a personal battle without L’Manburg being involved for once. But too many things do matter to him and Dream realised he could attack Tommy through his friends. Its also why Tommy says he didn’t want Tubbo to be President, because he wanted him to be free to help him in his personal war too. There were some issues in their friendship that for sure got exploited and blown out of proportion.

So post-exile. Tommy is rather confused. He’s decided he doesn’t want to die and that Dream wasn’t really his friend, but he still feels abandoned by all his other friends. He still believes they didn’t really care about him after his failed beach party and everything else. And his feelings on Dream are mixed because he knows logically he should hate him but emotionally he still feels like he’s his friend.

Tommy at this point, begins clinging to the discs as some sort of tangible goal while feeling so lonely and abandoned. He has no real sense of agency and really wants Technoblade to give him guidance. Technoblade however wants to destroy L’Manburg and reaffirms his thoughts that Tubbo doesnt really care about him. Tommy is still...kinda(?) clear that he doesn’t want L’Manburg to be destroyed but is willing to compromise on minor terrorism. His remaining belief in L’Manburg is being eroded. You can see in his trips into L’Manburg he is rather unaware of the extent of his actions. He’s suffered and now feels right in lashing out. It seems to be the start of a villain arc even. Right at this point, the discs make more sense than people so they are his goal. And yet even in the midst of his uncertainty, he says the one Tubbo has is safe, he wants to get the one Dream has. 

The discs are Tommy’s way of saying he wants to fight Dream. It’s not really about the discs anymore, Dream went way too far with the exile and now Tommy wants to stop him and find it easiest to frame it as going after his music disc.

Then the festival. Tommy finally confronts Tubbo and sees him about to give his disc to Dream. It’s his worst fears confirmed, that Tubbo doesn’t really care about him and that he’s on Dream’s side. They fight and Tommy finally says the line ‘the discs were worth more than you ever were!’

And he regrets it immediately. The statement rang false. They were just discs and Tubbo was his best friend. He immediately tells Tubbo to give up the disc and changes sides then and there. The discs were not more important than people. He was being selfish. And he also remembered how much he cared about L’Manburg and didn’t want it to be blown up no matter what he’d agreed to the day before. He wants to fight for it, choosing his friends once and for all. 

In his argument with Techno on Doomsday, he does bring up his discs and words it kind of awkwardly. He tries to explain that ‘nothing had been taken from you, while the discs were stolen from me’ Tommy believes that Techno is destroying something people loved when he could’ve just walked away, he wasn’t fighting for something he loved like Tommy in his wars. That’s what he’s trying to get at, not that music discs are more important than people. Tommy doesn’t actually believe that and prefers wars that don’t hurt others, as the disc wars was once supposed to be before Dream brought in everyone else. Even saying that, Tommy admits he’d messed up so many times in chasing the discs. That he was wrong.

Tommy talks about going after the discs again but at this point it really means taking down Dream. Dream had expressed that he would not stop, he enjoyed their ‘game’ too much. Tommy has nothing left to lose as far as he’s concerned and needs to take down Dream for everything he’d done. 

During the disc saga finale, again Tommy always chooses Tubbo first. There’s this one moment where he has Mellohi and could run away forever but he stops and gives it up along with all their items before their taken to the vault and almost forced to watch Tubbo die while he gets thrown in prison forever. But he chooses Tubbo. He always does. 

Okay, summary over. I hope that better explains why I dislike the misconception that Tommy chooses his discs over people. He doesn’t really. It’s used to discredit him way too much, I feel. It’s only at his lowest, after being tormented in exile that he even gets close to that position and that’s when he’s on the bring of choosing a dark path and becoming what he hates. At the festival, he rejects that path.

Now that he has his discs, he hasn’t started trouble with them once. They’re safe and he can bring them out to listen to when he’s feeling low, not hurting anyone. They’re just something he loves and its okay to have attachments.