#no more multicharacter pieces never again

[star-bear-art]

I have been so dreadfully unhappy with my art lately and I think it shows! so until I figure out how to tap my strange brain for sweet sweet content again, I hand over these very unfinshed little things to the endlessly gaping maw of fandom. oh my aching soul, be appeased!!

[sirendeepity]

[ Multicharacter; part iii ]

A/N: I planned to publish this on Friday and drop a completely unrelated one-shot, like, four hours ago, but apparently said one-shot didn't magically write itself (rude.) So yeah, I think the writing high is going down. You'll never see me again. Anyway, this is the infamous dramatic version I went for to close this little adventure of sorts, and I sincerely hope it will make you sad. Enjoy <3

T/W: mention of injuries, blood, loss;

W/C: 2.2k

Rhysand had come and gone and come again, and would make his way back to Velaris in moments. To maintain some semblance of order in the city while Feyre tended to the injured, he’d said. The shocks had been so violent they’d caused trouble there too, although not as severe. There had been a couple more aftershocks, but they were getting far and few in between. A good sign, he had to remember himself. Something to hold on to.

Not long after the second shock, they had found Gwyn. Or rather, she had found them, crawling out of a little hole between a boulder and a collapsed column while using a hand to keep a scrap of fabric pressed to her forehead. She had all but cracked her skull open, and Cassian had no idea how she could even stay upright, let alone be lucid enough to talk to them, telling them who she’d seen where before the ceiling rained down on them so they would know where to look first while searching for the missing priestesses.

As soon as Feyre was done patching her up, Gwyn had cleaned the blood from her freckled face and tied back her matted hair—the red strands even darker now—, and was up and about, helping other injured priestesses. Azriel had kept close to her, leaving her side only when she’d purposefully stomped as far away as she could. Even then, his shadows had kept circling like vultures. There was not a breath Gwyn could draw that Az was not aware of. Even if he was three levels lower—or something close to it. It was hard to make that distinction when the entire thing had collapsed onto itself and the third level was also the fourth and the fifth. Cassian and Azriel had brought down faery lights to scatter around, a small blessing against the dense blackness of the pit. The lowest levels were fully blocked, but Cassian remembered Nesta telling him about some unspoken rule between the priestesses that kept them well away. It did use to host Bryaxis, once upon a time, and Cassian could very much see why they would steer clear from the shadows.

Cassian and Azriel wasted no time worrying about what-ifs. The majority of the priestesses had already been found and carried away, left in the hands of those better equipped to take care of them, but a couple of names were still missing from the list. Nesta was among them. Emerie, too. Cassian had felt like the biggest piece of shit ever when he felt angry and disappointed every time they found someone who wasn’t her. Because his Nesta was still down there, somewhere, scared and hurt and alone and he kept wasting time with other—

“Cass,” Azriel called, a scarred finger pointing downward. “Look, there’s something.”

Cassian squinted, but couldn’t make out anything. Catching his eye again, Azriel monitored for him to let his siphons darken, the lights turning a faint red and blue color.

Then, he saw it. Behind a collapsed column almost entirely pressed against the wall, was a wildly fluttering light. It was a flimsy thing, really, and was off more often than it was on, but it was there. Despite everything, that tiny light refused to turn off entirely. As if it had a purpose, a reason.

Cassian landed as close as he could, careful not to upset the red blocks, not knowing what was supporting them or what they were supporting back. He couldn’t see much past his nose, so he called magic into every siphon on his person, washing the space around him in red light.

And came face to face with yet another obstructed way. The stone was coated in some dark substance, its sickly sweet scent stenching the air around them. Azriel grazed the surface, fingers coming back black. Even his shadows seemed uneasy at being close to it.

Cassian shared a look with his brother, dread crawling up his spine. Something was wrong. With the House, something was wrong with the House.

Cassian reached for the bond, that priceless golden thread tethering him to Nesta. He’d kept it pulled tight to the point of breaking, not daring to let it—let her—go half an inch. Now he wanted to grab the thing with both hands and pull so hard he’d drag her out of whatever hole she’d fallen into.

Where are you, Nes?

[ *** ]

“You have to do it.”

Nesta weakly shook her head, as she’d done every time Emerie had tried to coax her into her plan. They were completely cut off from the rest of the library, the bubble of space even smaller than when she’d first found it. If Nesta tried to stand, she had to bend her head all the way to the side to fit. And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

“Nesta.”

“No.”

The worst was that during one of the last shocks, a large stone had fallen over the boulder already blocking Emerie’s left wing, with another piece of wall leaning on it. There was no way of moving one or the other without risking that pathetic excuse of a ceiling to crush them both.

Following Emerie’s advice, she’d tried to call her silver flames to her, and Nesta wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. She’d quickly learned why, when the realization of just how doomed they were had hit her like a hammer, her body tuning liquid as she slumped to the ground.

“Nes.” Emerie’s voice was hoarse, as if those three letters cost her more energy than she had left to give. “There is no getting out of this, and you know it.”

Nesta looked, truly looked, at her friend’s tired face. Dust and dried blood crusted her cheeks, her hair, her neck. There was a furrow to her brow, and her eyes were shut closed. She must be in so much pain.

“Not that much, really.”

Nesta must’ve said that last part out loud, then.

“You can’t move your wing.”

“I haven’t been able to for quite some time now.”

She was not talking about that specific moment, the situation they were quite literally stuck in.

“They’re a nuisance on a good day,” Emerie murmured, eyelids fluttering open.

“Emerie,” Nesta tried to catch her attention, but her friends went on undeterred.

“Not to mention the chronic nerve pain, and the muscle pain, and-”

“Em.”

“-the constant reminder of what I’ll never get back.”

Emerie didn’t meet her eyes, staring straight ahead and blinking against tears.

A lump got stuck in Nesta’s throat, and she had to swallow to work past it. She placed a hand on her friend’s cheek, whispering, “Em, look at me.”

She didn’t. Or maybe couldn’t.

Nesta lowered herself until their foreheads touched, and closed her eyes as tremors seized Emerie’s body.

“Please,” her whispers turned into a plea. “Please, Nesta. Please.”

Nesta was crying as she reached down, looking for the knife she knew Emerie always kept in her right boot. She could see the hilt in her palm, her knuckles turning whites as she gripped it tightly, yet she couldn’t feel it. She couldn’t feel the clothes on her, clinging to her body from sweat and blood and dirt. Couldn’t feel her lungs expand in a slow, steady rhythm. She couldn’t feel that tug, that light inside her chest, that sense of wrongness that screamed at her to stop, stop, stop!

She couldn’t feel a single thought inside her head, couldn’t hear a single sound past the ringing in her ears.

She must’ve told Emerie to bite down on something, or maybe not a word had left her mouth and the female had made that decision by herself.

Nesta blinked, and time seemed to slow as she pressed the blade against the leathery surface of the wing, and the skin gave way.

[ *** ]

Cassian couldn’t hold her closer if he tried. Azriel had already winnowed away with a passed-out Emerie bleeding all over him, leaving Cassian alone with Nesta. He’d led her out of that gods-forsaken cavity, hands trembling against the need to wrap his arms around her and squeeze until their bodies became one and the same. Instead, he had just allowed himself to hold her close to his chest, basking in the very material and real feeling of her body pressed against his, before swooping her off the ground and carrying her to safety.

When he landed, Cassian realized Azriel hadn’t made it far before healers had jumped on Emerie, tending to her bleeding—missing—wing.

Still in his arms, Cassian felt Nesta inhale sharply and looked down to see her blink madly. Her dirty fingers dug into his arms, breaths becoming shallow and skin turning an even paler, waxy shade.

“Oh, gods,” she breathed. Reality had caught up to her.

Cassian tried to pull her away, intent on finding a quiet, private corner for the two of them, somewhere he could properly tend to his mate. He didn’t make it a step before she slumped against him. He lowered them to the ground, murmuring into her ear as she helplessly whispered, “What have I done, what have I done, what have I-”

“Nesta,” Cassian tried to call her attention to him, going as far as grabbing her chin to turn her head away. She couldn’t even get down a full breath, and tears had begun to freely spill down her cheeks, leaving tracks.

“She’s going to hate me,” she said. “She’s going to hate me forever.”

Her voice broke on that last word, and his heart broke with it.

“She won’t, Nes-”

“She’ll never forgive me!” Her voice rose, and her sobs rocked through her body like a physical blow. Gwyn reached them, kneeling in front of them and combing Nesta’s flyaway locks away from her temples.

“I knew it was a bad idea but I listened to her anyway and now- Now-” She choked. Coughed.

“It’s going to be okay, Nes,” Cassian cleared his throat. He chose to overlook the way Nesta curled against herself, trying to make herself smaller, tinier. Less space she took up, less ruination she would cause.

From the corner of his eye, Cassian could see Gwyn nodding encouragingly at his words. She grabbed Nesta’s hand in hers, bringing them close to her mouth, uncaring of the stains on her skin.

Nesta took a couple of shaky breaths, swallowed, and then said, “I should’ve known better.”

“She told you to do it, Nesta. Didn’t she?”

“She was in pain! Desperate! She would’ve told me anything to make it stop.” Nesta tried to free her hands, to hide them when no one could see the consequences of her actions, but Gwyn held on tightly. Cassian felt Nesta’s pain as his own. It was unbearable.

“You better not say that once she wakes, or Emerie is going to tear you a new one.” Gwyn’s attempt at lightheartedness worked only in part. Nesta didn’t say anything back, but tension still lined her features. She just closed her eyes and leaned her head back against his chest.

“We’ll be alright,” Gwyn murmured against their tied hands, then repeating the words again and again and again. Like a prayer. Like a plea.

Cassian kept idly stroking her hair, her back, her legs, until she went limp in his arms, exhaustion finally taking hold of his mate’s body. The Invoking Stone Gwyn had placed between their closed hands had helped with that, too.

[ *** ]

Nesta woke to a throbbing head and the intense desire to throw up, guts and all. She kept her eyes closed, basking in the warmth and softness surrounding her. Muffled sounds came from somewhere, but she chose to focus instead on the steady thump-thump-thump right by her ear. If there was one thing Nesta Archeron knew, it was that right there, she belonged. Right there, safe between her mate’s arms, she was at peace.

“Hey.” His voice rumbled through his chest, the words ricocheting against his ribs.

Nesta peeled her tongue from the roof of her mouth, swallowing thickly. “Hey.”

She opened her eyes, blinking at the sudden brightness. It was gone a moment later, when one of Cassian’s wings extended to block out the light. Nesta’s heart dropped at the sight. It all came crashing down on her, much like the library did.

Cassian’s hold tightened slightly around her. “We’ll be alright,” he whispered into her hair.

Nesta closed her fists, and something inside her hand dug into her skin. She opened her palm to a blue stone, a faint light coming from its core. Healing light, she realized. Gwyn.

Nesta gasped, tears brimming her eyes.

“We’ll be alright,” Cassian repeated, his finger moving over her spine.

“Will we?” She muttered.

Her response came a second later. Not from Cassian’s lips, but in the form of a jeweled egg-shaped object appearing at her feet.

It missed one little leg, some of the gems had fallen off, and there was a deep dent on one side. Still, it opened for Nesta when she gently touched a fingertip on it. Music poured out of it in a much lower volume, the melodies turning distorted and off-key at times and skipping between notes at others. There was no stopping the tears that fell past her chin as Nesta held the Symphonia close to her heart, and as the music slowly died down, she said her farewell.

“We’ll be alright.”

.

.

.

TAGS: @lady-winter-sunrise

[marvelmymarvel]

Choose Wisely

Part 5/15

Supernatural!MultiCharacter x Reader

Synopsis: Being the daughter of a priest was never easy. Especially when demons follow you every which way. You ran away at 18 and stumbled upon the Winchesters, you learned all about the things that went bump in the night. But your life changed when you met death, and you learned all of the reasons to why supernatural things have always happened to you in particular. But when you are met with the task for choosing who will win the apocalypse, will you choose wisely?

Catch Up: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

You had seen him before, you thought to yourself as the raven-haired man approached from the corner of the room. Time had passed, you and the boys were zapped back to stop Anna from killing Mary Winchester before she gave birth to Sam, and now you were here. “Am I dreaming?” you asked. The minute the three of you came back to the present, you fell asleep, exhausted. You knew it was the body of the young John Winchester, but something was... different. He smirked at you and stepped closer. “I hear you’ve been asking for me” he whispered and your eyes widened in realization. 

“Michael” you whispered and his smirk widened “I do apologize for keeping you waiting, Heavens been.... well Hell” he joked but you just looked at him as he didn't seem like the type to joke. “I have been watching over you y/n” he assured “I can read your thoughts” he answered again. “Stop answering my thoughts” you whispered and he just approached you. “So how many guardians do you know of now?” he asked as he brushed back a piece of your hair, his finger caressed your cheek and it sent chills down your body. “Um,” you muttered before clearing your throat and composing yourself. “I've met five” you whispered as he cupped your chin with his fingers nodding at your answer. “Two left then” he stated and you nodded firmly, trying to remain strong but the way he was looking at you made you want to collapse.

“My God.. you are gorgeous” he whispered ‘Y/N’ you heard someone call out to you in the real world. You gripped onto his shirt and sighed “I have to go” you whispered and he just smiled and backed up. “Will I see you again?” you asked quickly, he winked at you “I’ll always be with you, just call me when you need me darling" he whispered. Your eyes opened to find Dean hovering over you. "Goodmorning... let's get breakfast" he stated. 

The walk over to the Diner was quiet. Your mind was still reeling over Michael in your dream, he chose a good body, you thought. “Whatcha thinking about,” Dean asked, “Your dad was hot when he was young” you blurted out. Your face got red as you realized you said it out loud as Dean choked on his coffee and Sam looked at you weird. “What” you whispered looking at them “I mean its true?!” you argued and Dean shook his head violently at you. “But that doesn't mean you say it” he whispered and you rolled your eyes, “Your just jealous because your dad was hotter than you at that age” you pressed and Dean scoffed “As if” he murmured and Sam shook his head. “Can we focus you two” he pressed and you finally stopped arguing. Leaning over the table you saw a new case that Sam found. “Seems interesting” you whispered as you grabbed your coat “Come on let's go.”

“Cupid” you stated as you looked at the very naked man in front of you, “This is cupid?.” Cupid nodded happily and you shook your head in amazement, that was until Dean made Cupid cry. Cupid walked towards you with his arms wide, crying like a baby, “Nope nope nope” you started as you ducked out of his reach, instead he hugged Cas who looked very uncomfortable. He then went for you again and you backed into a wall, “Okay seriously I don't want a hug” you whispered trying to push him back but he fought you and brought you in. “Oh come-” but you were zapped out. “On” you whispered, realizing he was no longer hugging you and you were no longer with Sam and Dean. You then realized that you were back in the motel, “huh” you whispered under your breath as you looked around confused. 

“Thought you might want out of that hell hole” you whirled around seeing Luc behind you, leaning against the wall. “I seemed to have walked into another,” you said quietly and he just smirked at you, before pushing off of the wall. Walking closer, you backed up. He realized you were still scared and stopped moving “Oh come on. I’m not even that bad” he whined and you laughed coldly “Yeah, that's not what I’ve heard” you snarled back. He crossed his arms and cocked his head at you, thinking of a way to make you understand you were safe with him. That's when you noticed. Looking around the room, you noticed one thing missing. “Valek” He started, making your head snap back to his in fear. As if the name would bring her back. He sat down on the bed and looked up at you as you anxiously looked around you, “Why isn't... Why isn't she around?” you gulped before looking around once more. He blinked at you, this was news to him. “Is she always around?” he asked and you looked back at him, the fear in your eyes confirmed his answer and he stood up making you jump. He searched around the room for her, no Valek anywhere. You eyed the bathroom, it was dark and the door was open. “She’s not here love” He stated while looking at you. You were still a skeptic of that but moved forward as he motioned for you to come to him, he grabbed your hand and walked you over. As you stood behind him, he flicked the light on in the bathroom. You looked around and sighed out in relief. Looking in the mirror, you expected her to be behind you. Snarling down your neck. But all you saw was him looking back at you. “She’s really got you shaken” He stated while turning around to face you. Letting go of his hand you sighed out loud. Grabbing your shoulders, he softly rubbed his thumbs along them as he examined your face. You were stressed and tired, but somehow, knowing that him being near made Valek go away made him happy. “This, this is the first time in which she isn't in a corner” you whispered in shock looking back up at him. He smiled, knowing that Valek was afraid of him, more than anyone else. “She’s afraid of me” Luc stated and you nodded, realizing that the minute he left, she would be back in that corner, taunting and waiting. The words bubbled up in your throat faster than you could stop them, and when they came out, it was too late. “Can you stay with me”

tags: @hell-itwasyou

[him-e]

so i saw Rogue One this weekend, and i wanted to like it but i kinda just found myself a bit underwhelmed by the end of it. i felt like the character development was lacking overall and as a result i guess i wasn't really connecting with any of the characters. what are your thoughts about the movie?

I loved it, but yes, I get what you mean and I recognize this line of criticism has some merits. Rogue One is a very fast-paced movie that tries to juggle action (LOTS of it), backstory, a multicharacter hero journey, worldbuilding, callbacks to the original trilogy, ethical questions, a bit of (VERY well placed) fanservice, romance, and an ensemble cast of people going from complete strangers to kamikaze team with all the complications of the case. It doesn’t entirely succeed at ALL those things at the same time.

Jyn is certainly the best developed of the main characters, both in her backstory and in her relationship with Cassian. The other dynamics in the main team are admittedly just hinted at. What we see of Chirrut & Baze is powerful enough to suggest that there’s a long, intimate history between the two, mostly thanks to a few great lines and to the actors’ intense, definitely romantic portrayal. You’re shown that there’s an actual partnership-bordering-on-friendship between K2SO and Cassian, and consequently (if you’re perceptive enough) you realize how lonely and closed off Cassian is if his best friend is a droid (no offense, K2, you’re great). 

On the other hand, little narrative capital is spent for example on Bodhi and on developing his bond with the others, although he is in many ways the driving force of the plot and could have been the main pov (except he isn’t—Jyn is, and I really disagree with the claims that she could be removed from the story without affecting it. The emotional core of the film is how Jyn’s family is eventually reconciled, made whole again, through both father and daughter choosing the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good and turning against the great evil that separated them in the first place, so yeah… Jyn is the protagonist for a reason tyvm). There’s a torture plot for him that has essentially no payoff, aside from characterizing Saw’s crew as a deranged/morally compromised team of rogue rebels (heh). We see almost nothing of Saw and Jyn’s relationship, which is why Saw’s death falls a bit short emotional impact-wise, considering that he’s been Jyn’s mentor and surrogate father in her formative years post losing her parents.

On the other OTHER hand, I think what RO does nicely is, in fact, offering cues and asking your imagination to RUN WITH IT: when Bodhi says (paraphrasing) “this is for you, Galen”, well, those words are LOADED with the implication that there is a close relationship between him and Galen Erso, that Bodhi likely… worships him?has a crush on him?sees him as the father figure he’s never had?and is desperate to seek his approval? And this means SO MUCH in terms of his characterization & motivations. I’ve already talked about Baze and Chirrut and how with SO LITTLE you’re getting the distinct impression that they’re each other’s soulmate (and they know it). When K2SO “dies”, it’s a punch in the guts because it goes against one of the staples of classic star wars—that the droids ~don’t die~ (virtually, that’s where you realize they’re never getting out of it alive, none of them). I’m not going to talk in detail of Jyn/Cassian, but—even though I do feel like we missed some key bonding scene—I think it’s one of the best written romantic dynamics in these movies, and the ending scene alone gave me the shivers.

In the end, I will say that there ARE some problems in the rendition of the team dynamics, which aren’t ENTIRELY convincing, as they mostly work in dyads: Jyn/Cassian, Cassian/K2, Baze/Chirrut, and Bodhi who remains kind of an outsider, barely connecting emotionally with any of the other main members. At the same time though it’s fitting, in a sense, that these disparate characters are catapulted in the same epic tragedy together without having the chance of really getting to know each other, you know? They share the same enemy, and that’s all. But it’s also all they need to share to be in this together, because the enemy is a galaxy-sized weapon of mass destruction. There’s no time for interpersonal drama. (of course, if you look close enough, they do share something else—they all walk a thin line between hardened idealism and cynicism, they’ve all grown up without a real sense of “home”, they all had to see the fall of their heroes—the decline of the jedi for baze and chirrut, the dark side of the rebellion for cassian, unreliable parental figures (and ideologies) for jyn, the truth behind the myth of the empire for bodhi, etc.). 

so… I don’t know. I do get the feeling of “not connecting” with the characters (because we’re given so little insight in their lives, who they are as people before we’re catapulted along with them into action) and yeah, some parts could’ve been more focused/less cursory/better paced etc, and there’s the HUGE problem of the reshoots that probably affected the overall pacing and continuity of the movie. there are definitely “gaps” (not like, plot holes, but sort of… jumps in the flow of the narration? it feels a bit jittery at times?). But there are ways to fill those gaps, because it’s clear that the sw franchise is something to be experienced at multiple levels—not only movies, but novels/novelizations, comics, sw rebels, the clone wars, etc. It’s an intricate tapestry, and each media is a piece that sheds a little light on a specific piece of the puzzle. Jyn & co. are heroes among dozens of thousands of other unnamed heroes who died for the rebellion. They’re drops in the ocean. What they did was CRUCIAL, and yet, no one’s gonna remember them, and sadly that’s how things often go in war. 

So it makes sense that even their individual stories are fleeting, not designed to STAY, and to be immortalized by a true epic like Luke & co., you know? We get two hours with them, and that’s all. Because they didn’t get much more themselves. They didn’t get to create their years-spanning saga like the original trio, they only had like TWELVE SECONDS before going kaboom. Their lives were never meant to become history; only the way they were going to die.