#or in this case the youngest sacrifice themselves for them

[dostarsfallatall]

So I keep seeing stuff for the Arcane season 2 I believe i haven’t even seen the show probably should but I’ve seen/heard and or a character (Viktor) being a religious reference to Jesus so it made me have a brain fart that If Vitor and Jayce are Jesus and Judas parallel are Vi and Jinx a Cain and Abel parallel going a step further would that make isha jinx’s or possibly even Vi’s sacrificial lamb

[fallenwhumpee]

Leader has to fight with their possessed team and ends up heavily injuried by their loved one

You have good taste, anon. Please enjoy <3

"It's alright."

• Masterlist •

Warnings: Sci-fi elements, mind control, knife, self-sacrifice, open ending.

Leader didn't believe in fate. With millions of people making countless choices every day, how could anything be predetermined? Yet, sometimes, things felt destined.

In interviews, worst-case scenarios, or intense debriefings, Leader was always asked the same question: Would they fight their own team if it ever came to that?

Their answer was always the same: a determined yes.

It was Leader's biggest lie, and they didn't know how to cover it up.

The question was asked so often that Leader became convinced it would happen eventually. So, when it finally did, they couldn't tell if it was fate or if they had jinxed themselves.

When Leader first pulled the blueprints for the mission, they had to take a leap of faith. They had to believe their team's minds were strong enough to withstand any... outer forces. There was no way to know who would stand and who would fall, but their team was the most stubborn one. If they couldn't pull off the mission, no one could.

"I don't like this," Right Hand muttered.

"Stop being a doomster. We'll finally get Whumper. They'll be immobilized in that machine," Youngest chirped.

"That's what worries me. If Whumper is accepting such risks, the machine must be strong. What if..."

"I will deal with the 'what ifs'," Leader cut in. "But only if you want the mission. This can either put us at number one on the list or..."

"Or put KIA next to our names," Right Hand grumbled.

"You have so little faith in us," Teammate hummed.

"We should vote on this. As usual, I won't join. Now, who wants to go?" Leader ended the discussion.

Youngest, Teammate, and Tech outnumbered Right Hand and Medic.

Leader nodded, hiding their unease behind a mask of determination. The vote was decided, and there was no turning back now.

"Get ready," Leader commanded, glancing at their watch. "We leave in one hour."

The hour passed in a blur. Leader wasn't a pessimistic person, but they struggled to stay positive. The team gathered when they were checking the plan for the fifth time, their minds set.

They were going into the nest.

As they approached the target location, an abandoned industrial complex, the atmosphere grew tense. Right Hand glanced at Leader, worry etched on their face. Leader hated to see them like that. With a frown present, their friend looked older, more tired.

"Leader, are you sure about this?" they asked quietly.

Leader took a deep breath." Do you ask what I believe or what I think?"

Right Hand didn't answer.

A light headache began making itself known as they stood before the door. Their only advantage was their unexpected arrival, but when they stepped in, Whumper would be aware. The nest was almost like an extension of Whumper, which worried Leader to no end. But as long as they eliminated the enemy systematically, they would be fine.

So they began fighting. Leader gave order to use firearms first. If one of them got out of control, close combat would give them some time. A bullet wouldn't. Luckily, they avoided any loss when they took out the guards. Youngest began complaining about a headache, but it was only that, complaints.

When they took down the second wave, Tech wanted a break. Leader sent them back to the vehicle, not taking any risks. They could feel their own thoughts weighting down but still coherent and intact.

They didn't think of any other possibilities. Fear was the last thing they needed.

They cleared the base slowly, reaching to the heart of the complex. Leader was tired but standing, just like the others. And if they were so close to the machine and only getting a moderate headache, victory was theirs.

"I was expecting you," Whumper's almost mechanical voice sent a shiver down to Leader's spine. "You never fail to amuse me, Leader. Did you truly believe my power was limited to my people?"

Leader marched forward, banging through the last doors. There was Whumper, sitting in a giant machine, defenceless.

"This ends here. Now," Leader muttered to themselves. They cautiously stepped closer, the rest of the team rushing in after them.

"Enjoy your gift."

The machine grew louder.

Leader turned back immediately, about to shout their team leave, but pain, sharp and sudden, took over their thoughts. They whimpered, their vision so bright and empty, their face warm and knees aching. They didn't know how long it took, but they were in their knees once they opened their eyes, their nose bleeding.

The team was on the floor.

Leader quickly scrambled back to their feet, rushing over the closest one— Medic. But before Leader could shake them awake, Medic's eyes opened, empty.

"No," Leader forced out. The team slowly got back to their feet, movements stiff and unnatural. Leader didn't want to believe that was real.

But Medic's punch to their jaw was very, very real. Leader stumbled, their face throbbing. They wiped the blood on their nose, directly rushing for Whumper. They couldn't afford being sentimental.

Leader returned Medic's punch, knocking them out. They caught Right Hand's arm coming from their blind side— Leader didnt knoe if they felt proud that their friend was ysing a move they taught or horrified that they were the target. They twisted that arm slightly, but they failed to make the knife drop since they couldn't risk breaking Right Hand's arm.

Youngest caught Leader's waist, Teammate jumping on them. Leader struggled to stay upright but managed to dodge the knife that whipped the air. They walked backwards, slamming the two hanging on them to the wall. Their own body weight was enough to knock the duo, but Right Hand charged on them.

If Leader pulled aside, Right Hand would kill Teammate.

So Leader let it come. They didn't look down, they couldn't. But they pushed Right Hand back, ignoring the blooded knife falling.

Leader ran to Whumper, pulling the knife  from their belt and aimed Whumper's heart. They outran Right Hand somehow, and within a matter of seconds, the machine shut down, Whumper's tense body falling to the floor.

Leader staggered, pain flaring at their side. They gasped, their vision darkening  for a moment.

It was over.

Right Hand catched Leader before they hit the floor— or after, Leader couldn't follow. They could only take a sharp breath and close their eyes against the growing pain, consuming their thoughts.

"Leader— oh my, Leader I-I," Right Hand stuttered, or Leader heard only a part of it.

Leader forced their eyes to part, relaxing after seeing those eyes with tears. "It's alright," Leader muttered, their blooded hand reaching to Right Hand's face. "You didn't do it."

Whose blood was it? Whumper's? Their?

No, that wasn't important. As long as it wasn't from one of their teammates.

"Don't, uh. Just..." Right Hand searched for something. They tucked a fabric in Leader's hand, guiding Leader to press it somewhere between Leader's ribs and stomach. "Keep the pressure, okay. I— I will wake up the team and get you home."

"Don't... don't like bring o-ordered around," Leaded chuckled, but it hurt. They had to bite their lip to stop a scream.

"I know," Right Hand forced a smile and propped them against the machine. "I know."

Leader let out a grunt, not wanting to worry Right Hand more than they were, but also failing to keep the pain in. They tried to focus, but breathing was getting harder and harder.

Right Hand turned their back hesitantly, going to get the others back to their feet, starting with Medic.

Leader managed a faint smile, maintaining pressure despite their fading strength. After making sure that Right Hand wasn't panicking, they allowed their eyes to close for a moment. The team was safe, Whumper was gone. Nothing else mattered.

[mithoen]

i’ve seen some ppl theorising that swansea was saving the cryopod for anya because she told him abt the baby, and while there’s nothing explicitly in the game clarifying whether or not that’s the case, i do personally think it’s far more likely for swansea to have been saving it for daisuke… just because when jimmy walks in on swansea and anya’s conversation in the cockpit, anya is in the middle of saying “if that’s how it has to be”, and jimmy explicitly points out that she had been crying prior to him walking into the room. she and swansea had likely already discussed the plan far sooner than jimmy and daisuke ever even caught whiff of it, and that’s probably part of the reason why anya does what she ends up doing — she knows they’re likely never going to be rescued, and she knows she’s probably destined to die on that ship. she probably never would’ve wanted to be the one to get in the pod regardless, because even if she had survived— then what? she’d be the only one left alive after however many years, forced to carry jimmy’s baby to term? no. far better that daisuke, the youngest of them, the kindest of them, the one with the brightest future, gets the strongest chance of survival out of anybody. which is also why it’s rly poetic irony that daisuke’s desire to help anya when it was already far too late ends up getting him killed as well… both of them prepared to sacrifice themselves for the other; neither of them living longer than swansea or jimmy or curly. a tragedy

[xenosaurus]

listen listen listen. i need to know everything about this disabled Big Lad and the badass wife please and thank u

Their names are Ami (human) and Beezle (u’rahm)! Ami was adopted by a u’rahm family when she was a small child and raised entirely separate from other humans, Beezle was her childhood best friend.

Beezle’s disability is genetic, but also recessive and varying in presentation. It’s a growth hormone insensitivity that prevents some systems from responding appropriately to periods of rapid growth. Most individuals with the condition due within a few days of birth, as the cartilage supporting their organs fails to grow fast enough and inevitably blocks their intestines.

However, there is a separate, much less severe genetic condition that is fairly common among u’rahm that affects the supportive and connective tissues— in most people, it leads to hypermobile joints and chronic digestive discomfort. If you have both, though, it drastically reduces the chance of a fatal organ blockage, as the too-small cartilage is flexible enough to allow food to pass through.

Those that survive early childhood usually go undiagnosed until their first adolescent growth spurt, when the particular growth hormone becomes a primary signaler in development. They almost always die.

Beezle is the youngest of five children, and has a particularly severe case of the aforementioned joint problem. The comorbidity got him to adulthood, but two of his siblings died young. His mother, mourning and firmly in denial about how sick her youngest is now that he’s relatively stable, put a lot of pressure on him to live a “normal” life. There is a dangerous lack of respect for limitations and accommodation.

Ami, small and fragile as a child, and Beezle, sick and fragile in general, were the bottom of the social pecking order in a situation where roughhousing is used to define relationships. Bullied kid besties, basically— they imprinted on each other young. They were ‘snare kids’, a particular low social ranking defined not by losing fights, but by skipping them and relying on tricks and cleverness. Hunting with traps.

Beezle is patient, maintains an impressive poker face, and is depressingly used to making compromises on his comfort and safety (lose the battle, win the war). He’s calculating and deceptively gentle, willing to let you walk all over him riiight until the last second. Ami, on the other hand, is often outright mean and happy to fight dirty. She’s so small her anger is easily brushed off, so she doesn’t bother to hide it.

They’re incredibly protective of each other, with the well-earned trust and vulnerability of two people who have repeatedly proved themselves willing to make sacrifices for the other.

[annoyinglandmagazine]

Then They All Fell To Their Knees As He Raised His Fist Before He Spoke Chapter 1

Summary: Elrond decides fuck it and joins the fellowship of the ring. Sauron should be getting very worried right about now. Title from Hells Comin’ With Me because that’s kind of the vibe here.

He appraised those before him, many valiant warriors certainly, some with enough good in their hearts to perhaps fight the corruption. Maybe they would stand a chance, just maybe, of overcoming this darkness. They would have to he supposed, after all the age of the elves was coming to an end, his kind were dwindling after so many ages of loss, few remained on these shores and fewer still of the famed heroes renowned in song.

Even they were chiefly renowned in songs recounting their heroic deaths, their last stands, their attempt to fight against total despair just that, attempts; brave ones of course but…. The Elven heroes of song almost always failed, with particular emphasis on those coming from the house all three of his fathers belonged to who in their case were quite literally doomed, ‘to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well,’ summed it up quite succinctly he thought.

Now, Earendil had circumvented that Doom for himself but only by forsaking all else, an untold sacrifice of all he held dear and through incredibly fortunate timing that was unlikely to be replicated and they certainly couldn’t wait for. If there was hope to be found was it really to be found in those great heroes? Perhaps their time had truly passed, now their only role was to provide shelter and counsel to those who needed it and protect their own until the time came to sail.

Had they not already given enough to this Middle Earth? Now they were truly spent and the other kindred must finally learn to do this completely for themselves, they’d needed him less and less as the years wore on regardless, fewer travellers coming through as his house’s existence was occasionally forgotten to mortal memory . In a few more millennia it would be as if they’d never been there.

He was willing to see it done, the Fellowship of the Ring with the hobbit as Ring Bearer, least likely of all the kindred to be corrupted if Bilbo Baggins was any example to go by. He was willing to see it done until the youngest hobbit appeared from where he’d been observing proceedings and demanded to be included in the quest. Elrond knew he would not be able to turn him away, just as he and Elros could not have been made back down from bearing arms at what must be a comparable age.

How many times must this happen? How many would have to sacrifice their innocence for their safety, make such impossible decisions for those they loved? Could he truly let this continue, let more people continue to suffer as he and his brother did in a world torn apart by war? He could not in good conscience stop Pippin from fighting to save Middle Earth from subjugation or refuse him his loyalty to his friend but perhaps he could protect him as he hadn’t been protected.

If Earendil had broken the Doom through sacrifice Elrond would do it through sheer righteous fury. One thing the Noldor could not be criticised for was their lack of will to keep trying when all the odds and common sense were stacked against them. Besides, Luthien and Beren had won against Morgoth. Perhaps he could take some of those ‘whatever the opposite of cursed is’ genetics and combine it with the stubbornness and fury to end this once and for all.

He was definitely not doing the ‘and my weapon’ bit though. This was a time sensitive matter and it would take many more years than they had for him to list all the items he had on his person that would be considered weapons in his hands.

*****

They waited for Elrond to finalise it, surely he must say something, after all this was his council so it only followed that he would announce its end. He simply furrowed his brow, Frodo wondered if perhaps he had decided they may not have hope after all; if Elrond believed it was futile he wasn’t sure what they would do next. There was nowhere else to go, no one more likely to have all the answers.

After a tense moment’s pause Elrond rose to his feet, all eyes in the room waiting for him to voice his approval of the quest. He announced with suitable solemnity ‘You will be the Fellowship of the Ring.’

Gandalf nodded to Elrond in a private moment of conference, accepting the path that had been chosen. Then, for the first time in Frodo’s memory, Gandalf seemed genuinely taken aback when his old friend continued to speak, eyes widening in complete shock.

Elrond smiled at Frodo, with just as much kindness as he had before but an edge of something, of light and passion glinting in his silver eyes that Frodo hadn’t seen anywhere before. ‘I will accompany you on this quest also and give what assistance you may require to see it to its end.’

This was met with a moment of confused silence, no one quite knowing if they had understood correctly; it was one thing for a reckless young archer prince from Mirkwood to volunteer his services but elven lords- elven lords known for their scholarly and healing prowess at that- did not go on quests. They simply didn’t, they hadn’t for more generations than hobbits as a species had existed for, they hadn’t since the One Ring was new to the world.

Glorfindel was the first to recover his voice, ‘My- my lord are you certain?’

The advisor at his side, Erestor if Frodo remembered correctly, looked at him incredulously, distracted from the look of pure exhaustion he was sending towards Elrond, ‘Of course he’s certain. We hoped this day would never come but just look at him, he’s gone full Finwean. There is no way you’ll be able to get him to back down now.’

The look of pure terror that took hold of Glorfindel at these words, when he had shown not a trace of concern at those black riders, was staggering to behold as he swung around in his chair and stared at Elrond in horror, ‘Elrond- I beg you to think rationally. Please don’t do this.’

Elrond spoke gently, ‘Glorfindel, you needn’t worry, I can manage-’

Glorfindel exclaimed in despair ‘I’m not worried about you! You don’t understand, your family will kill me if you pull a Fingolfin. We’ve gotten so far, you can’t do this to me now.’

‘Glorfindel no one is going to hold you responsible. I’m several millennia old, they know I make my own decisions-’

‘Do you think that will be enough to hold off the Lady Idril if I tell her her only grandchild rode off to face Sauron the year he was meant to sail! That’s not even to start on if the Feanorians in Aman have recognised your adoption as making you a genuine heir to their house, they’ll tear people limb from limb! Starting with me!’

Erestor seemed much more calm about the whole thing, inquiring in a voice dripping with sarcasm, ‘Will you require a large hound of some kind? Since we seem to be resorting to plan L of our Last Alliance contingencies?’

Elrond did not pay him much heed and began to move on to other matters, ‘Arwen will take care of Rivendell, she’s more than capable.’ Here Gandalf shot Elrond a questioning look and Elrond nodded in response which seemed to both satisfy and surprise him going from a brief rise of the eyebrows.

‘And I have full faith my captain and counsellors will assist her should she need it. My sons will muster the Dunedain, they are not as many as they once were but I’m sure Aragorn can attest they may be of no small importance in the fight to come.’

‘Is there anything else?’

*******

By the end of the week Elrond had set as much in order as he could, organising a few packs, mostly comprised of whatever healing herbs he may struggle to forage for and anything he thought his companions likely to neglect, he had enough faith to know Aragorn would pack well but it was best to be cautious for the rest of them.

The hobbits were not used to such journeys and while they could be relied on to think of things that would be nowhere on anyone else’s list of priorities such as, from what some of his rather mystified kitchen staff had informed him, pots and pans, they may pass over more urgent matters such as tertiary blades in case they lost their first two. They would have packed at least two wouldn’t they? He’d heard the Shire was a peaceful place but surely not so peaceful they wouldn’t carry little knives in their boots just in case? Maybe it would be best he pack them five each as a precaution.

The old motions brought more memories back than he usually cared to respond to all at once, Maedhros drilling into him what he would need to have on him at all times, yes even while still in Amon Ereb you never knew when orcs could attack, grabbing the essentials from a camp that needed to be abandoned without a trace faster than anticipated.

He knew he was putting this off, it was a greater struggle than he should like to admit to relinquish the power Tyelpe’s last creation gave him; despite never seeking it out, to feel it leaving him, especially on the brink something that would require any reserves of strength he could call on, was no small thing.

The longer he left it the higher the likelihood he would manage to convince himself it was unnecessary when he knew how disastrous the consequences would be if one of the three left Rivendell, where it was safe from Sauron’s designs and protected this place that was so dear to him and would not survive without it.

He found Arwen by the shores of the Bruinen, the spray dancing about her hands as if it had already recognised her as its current mistress; perhaps it had. There was a melancholy air about her, an apprehensiveness; the fate of this quest certainly held more at stake for her than many others as now it would include both her love and her father in the balance.

He carefully slipped Vilya from his finger and gazed upon it for one last time, cradling in his palm the flawless work of one of the greatest smiths who had ever lived, his beloved, far too trusting, cousin, betrayed for his good nature by one he had let into his halls.

This was for him, for his Tyelpe and for his king who had pressed the ring into his hand, entrusting it to his keeping, in the bright dawn of the day he had ridden off never to return, a parting gift to the person he had loved most in the world, given with a chaste kiss to his hands.

This was for Celebrian, his wife who had endured horrific torment and suffering at their hands, who had been forced to leave by the vindictiveness of all that Sauron had created. This was for all of them, what they had begun must finally be called to completion, they must finally be able to see that it had not been for nothing, he would not sail and join those he loved until they could rest in the knowledge that Middle Earth was safe, that their tormentors were gone.

He could not hope to succeed if he allowed his desire for the power he could call on from this ring if situations left his control to cloud his judgement of what would truly be best for their goal. He must be able to trust that he was strong enough himself, if he was going to need to fall back on external power to save them once things got challenging there was no point in this entire endeavour.

So he smothered any lingering hesitancy and sat by his daughter’s side, holding the ring out before her. ‘I think it is time you take this, my daughter. It will give you the power to shelter this valley from those who would do it harm in my absence.’

She met his eyes and took it, watching for any hint of reluctance to relinquish it, cautious as he had taught her of the snare objects such as this held on those who possessed or coveted them. He watched her place it into her finger with a combination of many emotions but mostly an overwhelming sense of pride.

She closed her eyes and he could feel her mind pushing out cautiously around her, prodding her and there and embedding herself into the valley’s fabric, the force of the river setting in her consciousness with the throb of her heart, the earth beneath her bursting into bloom quite suddenly with the excess of power flowing through her veins and spilling out in the form of a few new rose bushes on the river bank.

The valley may have been reluctant to accept another guardian after so long, even one who was in many ways familiar to it, so to intertwine with it fully Arwen only needed a little push. Elrond’s heart was somewhat lighter after discovering that the process did not push him out of alignment but only have her settle in beside him, even without Vilya he could feel the hum of the valley around him as he had before.

He was also much relieved that he hadn’t been relying on the ring as much as he’d feared, hadn’t become complacent enough to forget years of training and he felt his- well Galadriel didn’t like to call her own abilities magic but he was less certain about that matter in his case, as, he believed, was she though she hid it well- was as honed as ever, restless and waiting for a chance to be set free on it’s unfortunate enemy.

When Arwen opened her eyes at last her eyes were wide and shining, reeling from what she felt coursing through her, suddenly having things that she had only glimpsed in her father’s eyes her entire life at her fingertips in a single moment. She had most likely never looked more like Luthien Tinuviel, the certain sense of the otherworldly enhanced to a degree rarely seen in those with as slight Maia heritage as her.

‘Ada, I,’ she blinked rapidly trying to carry a train of thought through when bombarded by that of so many in the valley’s at once than she was used to, finally setting for a disbelieving, ‘Is this how you feel all the time?’

Elrond chuckled, ‘You get used to it my dear.’

‘Really?’

‘Just give it a few thousand years.’ The glare she gave him was met with perhaps less cowering and a good deal more chuckling than she would have liked.

[tallsc]

AvA Orange and Red: Character Dynamic Analysis

I would like to preface this analysis with recognizing that all of the Color Gang have a very close bond. Orange, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, each and every one of them care so much about each other and absolutely would sacrifice themselves to save the others, and this analysis doesn't make that any less true.

However, in that universal deep care and trust for each other, there are still some notable differences in the relationships between specific sticks. In this analysis, I would like to focus specifically on Orange's and Red's interactions throughout the show.

Also, some of these points I have also talked about in my Red Character Analysis, but I'm going to be explaining them through a different lens here.

Another disclaimer is that I'm not going to be addressing the possibility of a romantic relationship in this analysis since I don't think I'm very qualified to talk about that one, everyone can headcanon whatever ships or lack of ships you want XD

But now that that's out of the way, let's start the real analysis!

Red and Orange are, in a lot of ways, opposites. Orange appears to be the oldest, while Red is generally seen as the youngest. Orange is cautious and prefers calm, repetitive safety, while Red rushes into things and enjoys excitement despite the risks. When confronted with a choice between going somewhere new but dangerous and staying safe at home, Red will always choose the former and Orange will always choose the latter.

This has led to a sometimes strained relationship between them - particularly from Orange to Red. And, while this was most visible during the Lush Caves conflict, there are some details in their interactions before then that still indicate something being off in their relationship.

Prior to Lush Caves, especially seen in the non-Minecraft non-AvA episodes, there has been a strong tendency for Red to be the one always going out of their way to help out Orange with whatever they needed. Red's always the one pressing start, fullscreen, helping Orange out with little things, anything Orange asks of them, without question. And while yes, this indicates Red's speed of understanding what's needed from them, it also is definitely worth noting that all these cases is doing what Orange specifically needs. Red wants Orange's approval.

If this was reciprocated, this could easily be a sweet friendship/relationship/however you decide to interpret that dynamic. But, past the type of friendship Orange has with everyone in the CG, the helpfulness and the trust toward Red specifically doesn't seem to be there. Not for a while, at least.

Orange easily gets carried away in the moment, and can sometimes take their friends for granted. They still care about their friends, a lot, but they also often get frustrated with the others and can be lost in the moment - even to the degree of abandoning their friends in favor of going home or accidentally killing one of their friends in a fight. And even in less high-stakes scenarios, they often don't join the others and may do minor things to sabotage them - or at least not be very helpful. Kicking the boat away from Green in Parkour, or turning down the volume when their friends were playing music. It's not terrible by any means, but it's not very kind or healthy either if done too often.

But it's also noticeable that Red often gets the brunt of this apathy or hostility. Because again, they and Orange are opposites. Despite Red wanting to make Orange happy, Red's also impulsive, adventurous, a little chaotic - all traits that Orange rarely wants to deal with. All traits that pull Orange into dangerous and scary situations. And Red, being the stick that they are, never really seemed to catch on how much their behavior was upsetting Orange. Another flaw of their quickly made decisions.

But while it may not have been recognized, the actions that resulted still were clear. In PvP, Orange nearly stabbed Red with an actual sword when Red wasn't using real weapons. Orange would later use Red as a weapon to fight the witch - and I didn't see anyone else jumping on or kicking each other around as blocks. Or in Vs Arcade Games when they all fell out of the maze, Orange ran past Red to go catch Yellow. While yes, Yellow fell from higher, Orange could have at least gone and helped Red up afterward. And in building contests, which Orange is usually the judge of, the only prize Red ever got was from Yellow.

In all these cases, yes, a problem or imbalance existed already for the whole group. But it's always seemed to be consistently a little worse for Orange and Red. And that's why I'm not as surprised at what happened in Lush Caves. But also, why I am so happy with what happened afterward.

The episode itself was just a culmination of all the anger and resentment of everything going on finally coming to a head. Orange was sick of being dragged into danger by Red. Red was sick of being overlooked and their feelings ignored by Orange. That battle itself may not be all that surprising anymore given the prior animosity between the two.

This fight could have broken their friendship permanently. If either one refused to stop, if either one took the others' actions personally and refused to forgive, this could have marked the point where every little action got to be too much, and they could have broken that bond for good.

But this is the Color Gang. None of them can hold a permanent grudge against each other to save their lives. Especially not Orange, who would kill to save them even after only having known them a few minutes. And especially not Red, who doesn't have a hostile pixel in their body.

So they did stop. They did forgive. And more than that, they realized something was wrong. They realized that how they were acting, especially toward each other, was wrong. While this was more clearly shown for Orange, I think it was true for Red too.

Because when you look at their actions afterward, they change. For the rest of the series, Orange has put more focus into consistently helping, trusting, and supporting their friends - including Red. They stopped ignoring or arguing with their friends and stopped trying to solve everything themselves. Hey, Orange's primary role after their solo episode even became a support to the Warden. This doesn't seem like a role they would usually be as comfortable with beforehand.

And on Red's part, Red started being more careful to get others' agreement on their course of action. They let others take the lead when needed, and when they had a plan themselves they tried to make sure the others understood. They, too, recognized that they need support, they need to do things alongside their friends, not in spite of them.

Neither of them were perfect in this. Orange still has a tendency to want to do all the most important things themselves, and Red still struggles with acting too quickly before understanding others' feelings. But there's progress. They both recognize their mistakes, and they're both trying.

And most importantly...

They're finally doing it side by side.

Well, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, you thought of this topic in a new light, or at least found it interesting! This one's a subject I've been thinking about for a while but it took a while to put it into clearer words ^-^

I've done a few analyses like this before, and will likely do more, so keep an eye out for that! I linked the Red analysis up at the top, but here it is again and here is the Yellow Leadership analysis.

[nighttimeebony]

By the way, has anyone else noticed the similarities between these three ships?

BECAUSE I HAVE AND I CANNOT PRETEND TO BE NORMAL ABOUT IT ANYMORE

(unhinged gay screaming and rambling below the cut)

You know, "serious, deadpan gay has their heart melted by a nerdy, chaotic disaster bisexual with childhood trauma." Alternatively, "not enemies but initially on opposing sides before sun-coded breaks down moon-coded's walls and then subsequently become best friends that are closer to each other than most other people."

To start, the similarities between Lan Zhan, Cas, and Shouto:

Deadpan, cold, aloof, serious, intimidating, takes things literally 

Initially driven by rigidly-defined principles/goals before having their world view altered by the other half of their ship, which in turn causes them to become more uncertain of themselves and what they want, but recognizes that they are happier and better-off for it now than they were before

They were raised in an unforgivingly strict environment where there was no margin for error, causing them to become cold and jaded in a way that covers up the fact that, at their core, they are fundamentally kind and good in a way that they don't even realize but desperately want to be

Socially awkward introverts that hate everyone but This One Person

Come across as very intimidating but are actually very soft 

Surprisingly good with kids

Familial issues/trauma

They can also be identified as the "fell first" half of the relationship, and most likely fell within one of their first few interactions with their love interest 

Youngest siblings

Has an obsession with a specific animal (Cas likes bees, Lan Zhan likes rabbits, Shouto likes cats)

The undisputed powerhouse of their respective series that everyone recognizes as one of, if not the strongest members of the cast

Everyone thinks they're super wise and mature, but they are actually the pettiest bitches you will ever meet

Gay and entirely obsessed with This One Person

They all have small, private conflicts about allowing themselves to Feel. They were raised to compartmentalize, repress, and conceal-don't-feel; push everything down until you are perfect and untouchable. Then their love interest comes along and upends everything and finally allows them to Feel, but because they were taught to repress everything, they don't entirely know how to do that yet, so, with the help of their love interest, they slowly heal and learn how to be more human and less like the image of untouchable, god-like perfection they were raised to be (metaphorically for lwj and Shouto, but literally in Cas's case)

(I was gonna say, "they all belong to the mile-high tall club", but then I realized that only applies to lwj and Shouto because Cas is technically shorter than Dean, lol. Though, I guess you could argue that his true form (without his vessel) is taller, but, like, c'mon)

Incredibly dry, niche sense of humor that's only really funny to This One Person

Lan Zhan and Shouto both have mothers that they love, but who were forced into an unwanted, loveless marriage by their father that led them to be increasingly isolated from their children until resulting in a psychotic break that ultimately destroyed them and drove their husbands to imprison them (Rei in the mental hospital and Lan Zhan's mother in the Jingshi)

Unrepentantly earnest and blunt with their thoughts

Completely whipped for their partner

Now! To the disasters! Wei Ying, Dean, and Izuku:

Friendly, excitable, extroverted, sunshine-y/always smiling

Near-unparalleled geniuses in their fields of interest that like to experiment and test things

Childhood trauma

The powers that be have decided that they are undesirable in some way or another, that they are a waste, disposable, an acceptable sacrifice to make in the grand scheme of things. They have all struggled with feelings of worthlessness, and have all arguably struggled with self-hatred at least once in their lives, and even if they don't actively hate themselves anymore, by and large, they do not recognize that they have value just as they are, that the only value they have lies in what they can do (or sacrifice) for others. None of them have much in the way of self-esteem or any sense of self-worth.

At their core, they want to save people.

They all have themes of being different from the negative characatures that society tried to make them into.

Extremely talkative and come across as annoying to most people

Likes kids

Reckless and jump head-first into danger at the drop of a hat

Carry feelings of guilt, have a tendency to cast blame onto themselves, takes responsibility for things that aren't their fault

They want so badly to do good, and they choose to be kind in a world that deemed them unworthy of it

Good relationships with their respective maternal figures/caretakers (Dean and Izuku with their actual mothers, and Wei Ying with Yanli)

Wise-cracking smartasses that give off dumbass energy

Bisexual

Inadvertently ends up adopting a small army of children

Deflects their traumatic experiences with jokes

Has that one female best friend that is definitely a lesbian (wwx and Wen Qing, Izuku and Ochako, and Dean and Charlie)

"Oh my God, (Cas, Lan Zhan, Shouto)! You can't just say things like that!"

They are the caretakers, the protectors, but they so rarely let themselves be cared for by others. Their respective love interests are some of the few people they feel comfortable being truly vulnerable with and will let take care of them

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms™

In particular, I noticed a lot of uncanny similarities between Wangxian and Destiel specifically, especially in the themes and arcs that exist in both the couples and the individuals

[inexplicifics]

Everyone’s foaming at the mouth for justice for the Count de Lettenhove, and rightly so, but what about the rest of the Pankratzes? The mother who never protected him? The siblings who smiled when he was chosen as the sacrifice? Surely every witcher in the keep is wandering around with a hit list carefully tucked away in their potions bags, of which ones deserve death and which ones should just be smacked around a bit, or scared until they piss themselves? If I were Jaskier I’d have sorted everyone into tiers just to be safe, in case a witcher ever stumbled across them out in the world somewhere.

I really do have to figure out what the hell to do with the Count de Lettenhove and his family.

I think Jaskier's mother has retreated so far into Noble Propriety that she can't get out again, in part because it would mean admitting that her husband is a jackass and she has gone along with some nasty shit because it was the Proper thing to do. Admitting it was wrong would mean admitting she'd been a bad parent, so she clings to Noble Propriety as hard as she can.

Of Jaskier's siblings - I think one is their father all over again, two are just kind of taking the easiest path of going along with their father's bullshit and hoping for a good marriage/court position/wealth and advancement, and one - the youngest - misses her brother, or at least the idea of him. She didn't see him often, what with him being off at Oxenfurt and then court, but he was always kind when he was there...

And that's as far as I've gotten.

The real question, I suppose, is whether they manage to retain their power after the conquest of Redania.

[mymanyfandomramblings]

What are your thoughts of how Dipper and Pacifica are as parents? Who is stricter and usually handles the discipline at home? How do you imagine their relationship with their children?

Yes, I love talking about this!

They're both good parents, although Dipper does naturally spend a lot of time fretting about whether he's secretly actually a terrible father (he isn't, of course, but worrying is Dipper's natural state), and it took Pacifica a bit to really adjust and step into her role as a mother, as she's not naturally especially warm or nurturing, however they are both still very good parents to their kids.

Pacifica is definitely the stricter of the two, and more of the disciplinarian, although Dipper can definitely be strict, particularly if he's afraid that the kids will get into danger. Generally Dipper is both very anxious about making sure the kids don't get themselves into danger, and extremely protective over them (Pacifica is pretty protective over them too, but in more of a 'I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you' whereas Dipper's protective instinct is more of the 'I would sacrifice myself in a heartbeat for you' type).

They both have reasonably good relationships with all their kids, although Maisie and Pacifica are not especially close. The girls both like talking paranormal stuff with Dipper (although it's from more of an adventurous perspective in Maisie's case, and more of a scientific way in Violet's), and both of them share his appreciation for music from the seventies. Alexander is also pretty close with Dipper, as they like talking codes and ciphers together, although Alexander personally feels robbed that Dipper never fulfilled his childhood dream of having a ghost-hunting show. Alexander is also close with Pacifica, as, because he's the youngest, she does tend to spoil him a little bit, and he appreciates this. He's also the only person who can really reliably make her laugh (she's quite a serious person), and as an amateur comedian, Alexander appreciates this. Violet is also very close to her mother, as they're quite similar people, and she tends to go to her for advice, whereas Maisie would usually seek out Mabel or Wendy's advice on the same matters.

Hope that answers the question!

[syrena-del-mar]

Third-Child Syndrome: Birth Order Theory in La Pluie

Every week I come back to La Pluie and every episode I just leave it feeling more and more hurt on behalf of Tien. Honestly, I feel like I go into every episode with a bated breath, hoping that Tien will come out of it unscathed. The worst part is that nobody is purposefully inflicting the pain on him, it's simply a byproduct of his upbringing and surroundings.

There's something intriguing about his own placement in his family. He's neither the youngest nor the oldest, and even though he's technically a middle child alongside Tai, he doesn't have the unique attribute of hearing his soulmate when it rains. He's not resentful, but even he admits his own jealousy to Tai about having a soulmate out there. Not only is it a connection to a romantic partner, but arguably a connection with his own parents, who share the same condition.

In the family, his placement isn't distinctive, so he turns to being headstrong. He's loud. He's too much. He has to be if he wants to stand out in his family, yet he's told to learn to calm down even when he puts everyone's needs above his own. He's overlooked. Behind all his boisterousness, he's starting to crack under the pressure of being the middleman of the family and it's finally starting to become apparent.

Appearance of the Birth Order Theory in La Pluie

The birth order theory argues that within a family structure, each member has to adapt to the roles to ensure the longevity of the family by reducing competition and establishing cooperation; essentially, siblings taking on the role of Darwin's finches, evolution for survival of the family. The family dynamics that develop within childhood also develop into personality difference between siblings depending on birth order. Whether there is actual evidence, aside from anecdotal evidence, supporting this theory in its application on individuals in real life is mostly irrelevant in this case, because often you can find the application of this theory in character tropes.

Now immediately, just from the first episode of La Pluie, there is an established "pecking order" within the Saeng family while they're, presumably, having family night and watching a movie. The two oldest sons sitting right at the sides of both parents, sharing space with them at an equal level on the couch. The two youngest at the bottom, making themselves comfortable on the floor, with no where else to sit. Yet, as is commonly seen with the youngest child, Jan demands for the attention and love of his parents. Meanwhile, Tien remains in his section of the floor, no intention of being directly involved or connected with the rest of his family, aside from the hands of his oldest brother on his shoulders.

Not to mention the difference in the sibling order within the nuclear family can also be observed simply through the significance of each of the names the siblings have been given. [Thank you to @recentadultburnout for this great post providing us the meaning of all the names]. While all of his three brothers have astral names, we have Saengtien which means candlelight. Candlelight is typically symbolic of light/warmth in the darkness of life, the security that comes with the light it shines, and of sacrifice. The longer the wick burns, the more of the wax disappears. A flame on a candle can easily disappear into smoke if not well taken care of. If nothing else, it's a fitting name and depicts exactly what role he plays in his family.

Understanding the Third-Child Syndrome

The Third Child Syndrome is typically understood to be a way to describe the theory that the third-born child in a family of several siblings is typically going to be neglected in comparison to their older or younger siblings, due to the fact that parents are unable to fully provide the third-child with adequate attention and support. Typically, the third-born lacks in receiving a much of the parents attention, so they end up clamoring to get that missing attention by doing anything they can, whether that mean being the jokester of the family or developing negative behaviors [i.e., anger and screaming] to gain some of the missing attention.

The third child is, typically, born into a family that already has a structure that has been established, so they negotiate their sense of self to be able to establish harmonious relationships with their siblings and parents. They are found to have lower self-esteem due to a lack of uniqueness in their birth position. While the first child is doted on, the second child establishes their position by making one-to-one relationships in the family or forming teams of two, excluding the rest. Here, the third child instead gains attention by helping others first before himself. As a result, many times the third child may find themselves feeling distant, aloof, detached and emotionally neutral from the family and the troubles that they face. Consistently, the third child will choose to not 'take sides' when it comes with familial problems, so that they don't shake up the power relationships that have been created. Typically, they find comfort in the relationships they form outside of their family because it provides a sense of control that they lack in the family home.

Saengtien and His Constant Need to Self-Sacrifice

Now you can just doom scroll through the Saengtien tag and you'll find countless examinations of Tien and his constant need to put others before himself, particularly Tai. Well I'm going to add to that.

As I stated above, even when we see the Saeng family all together (prior to the divorce), we see that Tien takes the role of being sidelined, enjoying the hecticness of his family while being detached. Then when we reach the news of the divorce, a heavy topic, one that is very literally splitting the family apart with the sons being divided by the two parents. Made worse that they were soulmates that didn't work out, a 'promised' happily-ever-after that ultimately met its demise for one reason or another. We bear witness to the fall out of the choice that their parents made and how it affects the family, with both parents barely holding back their own emotions, Tai storming off, Neua and Jan is various stages of emotional turmoil. Yet, when we pan over to Tien, we see a trace of a grimace but no other reaction to the new.

Now I'm not saying that Tien didn't take the divorce as hard as the rest of his family. Yet, as the third-born, it's pretty obvious to see that even behind the 'ruckus' and 'boisterous' exterior that he takes on, he's likely the main mediator of the family. Rather than crying or getting angry about the news of the divorce, he is rather emotionally neutral while facing this news in comparison to the rest of his brothers. He likely compartmentalizes and reserves his own emotions, knowing badly everyone else is taking the news. Instead of also breaking down, he chases after Tai because he knew how hard Tai would take the news, as the only other member of the family with the same impairment.

Not to mention the small detail of having a notepad ready to go in his pocket. He's always prepared for his older brother. He doesn't add to the tragedy that is his family falling apart, instead he reaches out to make sure that his brother okay. He reassure Tai that he's not alone in that room, that he is just right outside for him. Instead of rejoining the rest of his family, Tien chooses to stay right by his side. Instead of seeking comfort from his other brothers, he gathers himself in a hug, knees to chest. The only support he receives is from that closed door. His priority was never his own comfort or coming to terms of what the divorce means for his family, instead it was to ensure that Tai wasn't suffering alone in the silence of his room.

Years later, we see that Tien's relationship with Tai is still strong. Tien verbally expresses and reassures Tai that if he tries to disappear, he will be the one that go after Tai and find him. We also see that he's the one that likely is the most in contact with the rest of the siblings. He's the one that brings up the idea of reaching out to their other brothers to find out what their mother wants. He's likely the main bridge of this family and he's more than aware of it. Tien plays the role well, while he may run his mouth and be a bit reckless, he's also perceptive. He's aware of how sensitive Tai's mental state is, how isolated his brother has made himself, so he verbally assures him that he will always be there for him and even invites him out to accompany him to the bookstore. He likely knows that Tai enjoys book-shopping and the invitation comes after he lets him know that their mother wants to meet.

Question is: Who would be the first to notice that Tien is also fragile behind the prickly exterior that he puts on? Who would notice if Tien ran away? Who would be the one to find him?

Negatives of Being the Third Child: Saengtien's Own Troubles

The negatives of a third child often deal with the over-willingness to sacrifice their sense-of-self to secure the needs of others. The more the third child cedes their personal identity to secure the happiness of others, the more they are likely to ignore their own pains until it becomes too late. Often Third-born children don't receive the same amount of praise or recognition as their older siblings, and at times, their younger children. Parents may be less demanding when it comes to the third child, but when the third child doesn't live up to expectation, they are often subject to harsher criticism from the family.

Now, Saengtien is brash and a loudmouth at times, but honestly when you one of four siblings... who wouldn't be? When you're compromising your own self for the happiness of others, you have to let go of that energy in other ways, Tien's way just happens to manifest through his rambunctious antics. The divorce occurred while Tien was still in high school, I assume from the uniform that he was wearing, so it's not farfetched that he likely coped by skipping school and that affected his grades. His mother uses his prior actions of acting up against him. It's not surprising that he has developed a level of brazenness when his own mother doesn't speak all that well of him (even when he's the one that got Tai to show up!)

I truly believe that the depiction of Tai and Tien's sibling relationship is very accurate to how many real siblings are. You can tell they love each other deeply under all that teasing, that said, words can hurt. Tai seems to have a rather dismissive attitude towards Tien when his more loudmouth personality seeps through, telling him that he needs to learn to calm down. Tai, in all likelihood, does not mean to hurt Tien or his feelings, but small seemingly insignificant, passing comments, especially made by the people that you love, can build and really harm one's self-esteem. More so when the person, that those small comments that are directed at, doesn't have a strong sense of self.

So Tien starts believing the negativity, that maybe he would be a better person if he was calmer, that maybe the grades that he receives are symbolic of what he's worth, that his passion for what he studies isn't enough, that his value is intrinsically tied with the grades he doesn't get. He internalizes every negative thing that people have said about him and he himself underestimates his own talent and passion, as a result. The explosion with Lomfon when they were first partnered together was only the tip of the iceberg of how Tien really sees himself.

Even when he's nagged at and told these slightly snide comments by the people that he loves, he still defends them. He asks Tai to hear their mother out, to give her a chance to talk instead of automatically storming out after hearing the news of her remarriage. He waves away Tai's comments regarding how he should calm down and instead invites him out to go to the bookstore. Words hurt, even more when the ones throwing them at you are your own. Even though he unconsciously taking them to heart, he's still the one playing mediator, speaking up for others, but never for himself.

For the loudmouth that everyone says Tien is, he never seems to be able to advocate for himself.

[@heretherebedork did a great break down on Tien's self-deprecation, which you can read here. Honestly though, go through their Tien x Lomfon tag because all their metas about them are amazing, week after week.]

A Middle-Child's Relationship with Love and Being Cared For

According to some studies, the middle child in relationships can be hyper-independent and self-reliant due to the their upbringing of not having an exact place to fit in. As a result, even though they are able to compromise well, they're often not able to clearly communicate their own needs and often end up hiding their own emotions to smooth any situation over. Since they have a tendency to bottle their feelings up and avoid confrontation, they often don't seek for comfort from others.

As much as Tien is able to speak on behalf of people and give rather decent advice when prompted or unprompted (i.e., "You got yourself in this mess. Unfuck it."), there's not many people lining up to be Tien's advocate or sounding board. While he takes on the role of being the caretaker, the mediator, his own needs end up on the backburner. Tien doesn't have that person to lean on; seemingly, everyone takes his headstrongness at face value without examining if it's a façade that Tien puts onto keep his deeper emotions in check.

Even though the first time Tien heard these words, an offering to have someone to lean on, was merely part of a script, it was words that Tien needed to hear. That there is someone out there that would be willing to listen to him. That his mere existence isn't solely to hear the complaints of others and that there is someone that would one day provide him the same comfort that he provides his family. That there is someone that will be there for him when he most needs it.

Tien has held it together so much better than anyone has given him credit for, yet his own family tends to treat him as simply the loud or the careless one. They care about him, but they don't necessarily care for him or his needs. His emotional needs are never quite put as a priority and the way he melted under Lomfon's gaze with scripted words, really shows how much he needs someone he can depend on, even if he didn't fully realize it himself.

Prior to Episode 8, each time that Tien has received any semblance of comfort with Lomfon has been due to different pretenses. A film project, a reason to quiet him down from arguing with a professor, a place to sleep while he's drunk. The care that he was being shown was never solely because Lomfon actually cared for Tien, rather there was a transaction that was taking place.

Lomfon is finally seeing a different side to Tien, beyond the impudent exterior but rather as someone who is under constant pressure. He saw a snippet of just how far Tien would go to protect Tai in episode 7, but episode 8 really puts into perspective for him just how much Tien cares for Tai. Like Tien had told Tai before, if he disappears, he would be the one to go after him; he does exactly that. It likely hurt Tien that much more that he didn't even consider that Tai had gone to the spot their parents had proposed, because he knows Tai so well and knows that a potential betrayal from Patts would break him. Yet, he didn't make the connection instantaneously. So Tien falls back on blaming himself, on calling himself the asshole. He believes that he bares the responsibility of taking care of Tai after seeing all the pain he has gone through and that he is a failure.

And for the second time, Lomfon is seeing just how self-deprecating and how fragile Tien actually is behind the sharp words that he throws. He sees just how much Tien is able to love and care for his brother, to the point that he would endanger himself to find him without a second thought. He realizes this and tells him to calm down. While mirroring what Tai had told Tien in episode 2, this time it's more than a gentle dig at Tien's personality and about how he reacts, but rather he states it so that they could put their heads together and figure out how to find Tai.

Lomfon is finally seeing and looking at Tien, likely starting to understand who Tien actually is under the prickly exterior. Unlike in the film project where Lomfon's offer of being there for Tian was simply scripted, this time Lomfon is saying it out of his own free-will. He's attempting to ground Tien, holding him back and up. No longer does Tien simply have a wooden door to lean on, instead he has someone that he loves showing AND telling him, that he can depend on him. So he turns into Lomfon's embrace, because for once he can't pretend that everything is alright, he can't mediate his way out of his brother missing. Tien is finally being offered comfort rather than offering it and he takes it, because he needs it to believe that everything will turn out alright. For the first time, he isn't left to deal with the mess of his life alone.

That's why it's going to hurt so much more when Tien find out that Lomfon has his own soulmate(s). Tien, who has only had a taste of what it means of loving someone and being cared for, would do anything to guarantee the happiness of others before his own.

Life imitates Art: Foreshadowing for the Third Child

I think I've probably killed the point that Tien is self-sacrificing at this point, but it scares me to think of how Tien is going to take finding out that Lomfon is the 'soulmate' of Tai and Patts. Especially since he's already clocked that Lomfon is at least a bit interested in Tai.

Tien has finally had a small (smidgen) taste of what it means to be cared for. He's already starting to come to terms that he might be in love with Lomfon. Yet, he's still the biggest advocate that those that lose their hearing and hear the voices of another person means that they are destined to be together.

Like @wen-kexing-apologist stated, the relationship between Lomfon is going to be interesting, because it's so different from all the relationships that we've seen La Pluie depict. While it would be your standard romance, of learning to love each other and the progression from that, in any other drama, it's far different in La Pluie. I wonder if it's possible to move on when you have someone (in this case two people, worse when one of them is your brother) stuck in your lover's head every single time it rains. And it rains a lot in Thailand. We've already seen how that turned out for Patts and Nara.

While Lomfon might be willing to contradict and find that it's some scientific phenomenon, and ultimately chose who he actually, I just can't imagine that Tien would come to terms with that notion very easily. I don't think the difficulty that Tien would face would be like that of Nara's own fears when she was with Patts, but rather because it wouldn't be shocking to see Tien struggle with feeling guilt. Tien is someone who has conditioned to ignore his own needs in favor of the happiness of others. Now add in that Lomfon might have 'soulmates' and one of him being his brother, he's might actually believe that he's robbing two people important to him of their potential happiness.

And that brings me to the scene that Lomfon and Tien worked together on for the film project. Originally, the only importance I attributed on the words Lomfon's character (Gonmek) offered to Tien's character (Tongfah) was that it was an offering a place where he could seek comfort, which I thought Tien needed to hear at the time. Now, going back to that scene, I caught that these words were being offered after Tongfah had disappeared from Gonmek's life for years and had gone without communication due to family issues that had arisen.

Even though Tien might fight for the happiness of his brother, he doesn't seem all that big in fighting for his own, because he likely believes that he'll be able create his own elsewhere (i.e., his film friend group) without hurting the happiness of those he holds dear. I hope that I'm making parallels out of nothing, but there's something to be said that all the lines that deal with "disappearing" have either been said by or Tien. If we take the Nora Roberts book that Tai was reading into consideration, it's not too far of a stretch to think Rafe MacKade was an allusion to Tien [see my Nora Roberts x La Pluie meta here]; Rafe had left his hometown for years prior to returning. It wouldn't be outrageous to find Tien extracting himself from Lomfon's life, especially due to his strong belief in the notion of soulmates and his willingness to sacrifice himself if it means the happiness of others. Similar to the Tongfah and Rafe MacKade, Tien might find himself leaving for his own reasons.

If Tien does end up leaving, I can only hope he finds his way back after finding his own happiness.

Final Thoughts

I'm not ready for the amount of pain that Tien is going to be subjected to. Almost every character that loses their hearing in the rain has discussed how lonely and alienating it can be, but I find the character most alienated to be Tien. For all his intensity and volume, he is the one that is never being heard, he's the one unintentionally isolated just due to mere circumstance. Still, he's the one that holds the most hope. With a story that surrounds love and soulmates, it's ironic that the strongest believer in the idea of soulmates is the one without one.

When Tien said, "If someone can hear your voice when it rains, and you get exactly that one's voice, if the hearing loss guy lacks a soulmate, his world will be filled with emptiness," all I could think about whether that is how he currently feels about his own love. This man is surrounded by soulmates, he grew up with the idea that soulmates were innately perfect for each other, the ultimate love. Yet, here he is, collateral to a divorce that isn't perfectly understandable, but he still believes strongly that the loss of hearing is bound to lead to your soulmate or else that just signifies desolation. I wonder if that's how he finds himself to be? Empty? Hollow? Purposeless? I can't help but think that he needs to hold onto the belief of soulmates to accept his own future.

I don't think that Lomfon's interest in Tai and his ability to hear Tai and Patts will breed any type of ill-will between Tai and Tien, but I can definitely see Tien running away from Lomfon. Running away from his feelings. Running away from what they could be. Instead, he'll do anything and everything to guarantee Tai's happiness, even if that means burying his own.

Would it be too much to ask for Saengnuea to also lightly threaten Lomfon on Tien’s behalf?

[cagcdlxve]

⋆˙⟡ The sisters of the Lotus Church ⋆˙⟡

S O //steeples hands I figured it was about time I elaborated on the sisters that Lilith may have mentioned occasionally. They aren't her birth relatives but basically as close to family as she was ever able to get. "Sisters" refer to the nuns of the church, while her "Mother" was the head of said church. This is more of a personal reference for myself so I can include more details about Lilith's history, but feel free to enjoy it too ^^ There would also naturally be more sisters than listed here, but these would be the ones with the biggest impacts in Lilith's life. Just some content warnings tho, there are many strong themes of abuse scattered throughout these little expansions on Lilith's upbringing. Mostly with Elousia and Phineas, but just be advised!

⋆˙⟡ Mother Elousia Hark

The Matriarch of the Lotus Church. She is an older woman (appearing in her 70s) with fully white hair and a perfect posture as she walks. Renowned for her wisdom and ability to take leadership, she has gained the respect and trust of all of the sisters of the church and the townsfolk as well. When she speaks, it is with clarity and directness. However, she holds a deep love and care for her church and the people of the nations.

She received her role unexpectedly after her mentor passed away from illness, becoming the youngest Matriarch to inherit the title. In her time she faced many challenges, earning the people's respect after taking charge in the recovery of "the Great Fire", which destroyed much of the Laurel Valley and killed many of her people and creatures. It was during this time and several other events that she became more stoic and dedicated to her faith.

Unfortunately, the church of Gaia is not as neutral as it was always meant to be. Before her time, the church was favored by the Laurel Valley after the Silver City rejected Gaia, and the Oasis Domain chose to favor others in the pantheon. The church had also lost a lot of its original intentions. It was always meant to help people connect to themselves and connect the world and all living things, but grew more into reverence of the natural world through strict rituals given by others instead (this fact even Elousia does not know, as most of these teachings have been lost to time. ) The King of the Laurel Valley ( Rowen Brivet ) made many deals with Elousia for support, which she kept completely behind the scenes from everyone. Phineas was the chief liaison in this relationship, however the King very frequently took advantage of the church to further his own goals.

Elousia is not proud of these decisions, but she has always cared deeply for the people of her home. In wanting to do anything to protect them, she was willing to sacrifice morality in the process. The hardest decision she ever had to make, however, was when Lilith entered the picture.

Elousia and Phineas had many an argument about what to do about the child blessed with the prophecied connection to Concordia's magic, something that had not been seen since the founding of their country. Phineas saw an opportunity to study the world's magic and aid the king in conquering all of Concordia, while Elousia saw a child of the valley and the church who needed to be protected.

In many cases, her hands were tied by the king for Phineas to fulfill his desires (by exposing Elousia and her dealings and threatening the people and their safety including with the lies that Concordia's magic was dying so it was a necessary evil), while Elousia simply did her best to lead Lilith down the path that would be best for her. Lilith was intended to grow up to be the perfect acolyte (and eventually martyr) of the church. She taught her everything about their teachings, rituals, and traditions. This kept her busy with many duties.

However, Lilith had proven to be quite a handful as a child. She was full of life and wonder, and always questioned everything that was told to her. Elousia has always known what fate awaited Lilith, so somewhere along the way became very strict and overbearing with Lilith to curb her free spirit tendencies, executing many punishments to keep her in line and limit her access to the outside world as much as she could. In a lot of ways, she was attempting to harden her own heart too, as she was also very fond of Lilith and hated what Phineas would do to her. But her priority would always be the Laurel Valley; a belief which she passed onto Lilith.

⋆˙⟡ Lilith holds a deep reverence for Elousia, as her mother figure and someone she looks up to for guidance/inspiration. There is little else that Lilith wants than her approval, and has carved great portions of herself just to try and earn that love. She absolutely defends most of her actions, even the worst ones as necessary for her and for Concordia.

⋆˙⟡ Sister Meredith

Meredith is an even older woman than Elousia at about 120 years old, she has been dedicated to the church for almost as long as that. She worked primarily in the kitchens, preparing meals for the poor and for the staff of the church. She has a generally very sassy personality and is known for being something of a cooky old lady. She is very particular about weird things and speaks in a lot of anecdotes, but more often than not she speaks wisdom that hits very close to home.

She loves the church and the people, though is suspicious of Elousia and what she dictates. She often clashes with Elousia and goes behind her back to do things, which more often than not she ends up being right about. The two of them used to be closer when Elousia first entered the church but became separated as Elousia grew apart from the church. Meredith likes to call her the "tyrant" behind her back, but deep down misses her and their closeness.

⋆˙⟡ Meredith is also very fond of Lilith and tries to correct for Elousia. She is something of a grandmother to her, and Lilith has always loved to hang around and hear her stories. Meredith will often sneak Lilith snacks and treats that she makes or collects from her family. She tries to alleviate some of the loneliness, but she will always wish that Lilith had friends her age.

⋆˙⟡ Sister Annalaide

Is a very sweet but shy, middle-aged woman who is the lead caretaker of the Garden. Her voice was very quiet but she has one of the biggest hearts for the natural world. Her magic for plant life and for animals was one of the best in the church, and she would share this often with Lilith. She is so dedicated to nature that she abstains from eating meat completely.

Unfortunately, she can be a huge doormat when it comes to confrontation and submits easily to authority. She also has a few weirder habits and quirks, such as fainting at the very sight of blood. She is quite a free spirit otherwise, dancing under the trees with the wind and collecting rocks just because she thought they were pretty. She is as devout as any of the sisters and generally well-liked. Though everyone knows better than to tell her a secret, as she will easily give in to giving details when prompted to.

⋆˙⟡ She would be considered by Lilith to be an aunt of sorts to her. Annalaide would always encourage Lilith to explore the wonders of the world and taught her literally everything she knew about gardening, plant life, and animals. Lilith would try to spend time with her, but Elousia forbade the sisters from forming bonds with Lilith or coddling her in any fashion, which Annalaide would agree to. She also would know when Lilith left the house through the garden, and Elousia knew she could just ask her where Lilith was. She tried her best to cheer Lilith up but was too cowardly to do much.

⋆˙⟡ Sisters River & Raine

These two twins are the current youngest and the newest sisters of the church, both joining at 18 when Lilith was still a child. They became devout to Gaia after the death of their parents, having nowhere else to go and little to their name. River has long blond hair and is generally on the ditzy side but with a bubbly disposition. Raine has long brown hair and is known for being very direct and having a calmer disposition.

They are always seen doing everything together, no matter what the task is ( even if it only requires one person to do it. ), and tend to be the ones who work very closely in volunteering out in the Laurel Valley to help the less fortunate. Often they can be seen making gifts and preparing/gathering materials to give out. Both are highly creative and skilled in crafts. River is talented with sewing and embroidery, while Raine is talented in music and writing.

⋆˙⟡ They were really as close to actual sisters as Lilith ever got. Both of them took to Lilith very well, particularly because they understood what orphanhood is like, and often included her ( as much as they could ) in their various activities, teaching her music and sewing. They would also advocate for Lilith to travel with them for volunteer work, but these did not have a high success rate unless Elousia was traveling with the group. Raine and River never fully understood why Lilith was given such harsh treatment, so would occasionally try and give Lilith some joy by providing books and materials for her to craft with.

⋆˙⟡ Sister Portia

An older woman ( close to Elousia's age) and a very flighty individual who is the head healer of the church. Portia is almost always seen fussing over details and has a lot of OCD and germaphobic tendencies. Of course, it could be said that she takes her job as a doctor incredibly seriously. There are few as knowledgeable about medicines and surgeries as she is, with animals and with people. Many flock to the church simply for her to aid them, which of course she does. It's why she joined the church to be able to expand her reach.

None of that changes the fact that she is easily overwhelmed and has also been known to speak her mind as it comes - including telling people when they've been an idiot for gaining the injury that they did. She believes very deeply in people being educated enough for them to take care of themselves, which she and Elousia have many fights over. The two of them often bicker about practices and policies, but Portia is equally one of her closest friends at the church.

⋆˙⟡ She would be considered an aunt as well by Lilith, and very highly regarded by her too. Portia was very heavily involved in Lilith's care and teachings, as she believed having practical knowledge of medicines was just as important as Lilith's magic. There were many days when Portia had to heal Lilith's wounds from her training or punishments. Portia knew what was happening, and equally knew that there was something that wasn't right. She would've left after realizing Elousia was dealing with things she shouldn't, but she couldn't bring herself to leave Lilith alone without some guidance. Portia does her best for Lilith, which she accepts happily. Often she would be her assistant for surgeries or medical emergencies, putting her training to use.

⋆˙⟡ High Druid Phineas Tessance

He is an older man with long greying brown hair, generally appearing a bit disheveled in his flowing green robes and bags under his eyes. His disposition typically is very direct and proud. He has dedicated his entire life to the study of Concordia's magic, making it his mission to understand it to its fullest. This has earned him the title of High Druid in the Laurel Valley, the highest position of magic one could ever have. His passion has long since morphed into an obsession with this magic. He will lock himself away in his room for hours with little to eat and no sleep as he pushes knowledge to its brink.

Phineas was always taken the most seriously by the king, who would provide him with materials and sustenance for him to continue his research. He also eventually joined the King's council, becoming one of his most trusted advisors. He knows Rowen very well and was even originally tasked with destroying the evidence of the affair. However, Phineas saw the markings of the babe and immediately knew that this child was no ordinary human being. She had the blessing of Concordia coursing through her veins. A deep connection to the magic that he knew he could use.

Phineas knew too what Rowen's plans were, and while Phineas was not so concerned with conquest, he was promised access to the source of even more knowledge of this magic as long as he could find a way to bring the king's plans to reality. This he was more than willing to accept. But the child could not stay in the palace ( and he certainly wasn't fit to raise a human being ) so he strong-armed Elousia into raising her while he performed his tests.

He was only able to get so far with Lilith while she was a baby. So most of the time he spent running tests and seeing her connections, discovering that she would be able to wield all of the elements, rather than just one. Her early childhood was also spent simply learning about magic and he taught her the history and legends of Concordia, leaving everything else to the sisters.

Unlike them, he felt absolutely no love towards her and never grew attached. In fact, he constantly encouraged Elousia to do the same. Giving her the story that Lilith was born as a vessel for Concordia's magic to be reborn with and needed to be harvested for the good of the whole nation. Nature was dying all around them, and the natural disasters were only growing in intensity. He told her that Lilith would need to be sacrificed so that Concordia could be restored, and pointed to a prophecy that "said" as much. If he happened to find anything that contradicted this, he got rid of the evidence and lied about the whole thing to keep his promise to the king and continue his research. He was planning on finding the source and using Lilith to achieve control over it.

As Lilith turned around 9, the tests grew in their intensity. She was already leagues ahead of any other student, having a natural affinity toward everything that she was taught. So in turn, he would ramp up her training until spells would become difficult for her to perform. He would push her and push her to the point of exhaustion, silencing her cries, and screams, and fighting back with his own punishments - sometimes magical, but sometimes physical. He rarely used the same method twice. He did this often to grow her capacity to contain magic within her body.

However, the worst came as she got older, and his training transformed into experiments. This was when he would have her chained down after being sedated, and either take her blood to study it or simply use different types of magic to draw out the light magic within her learn about its effects, and then document them. He was in the habit of talking out loud to himself about these findings, though more often than not Lilith was not fully conscious during these.

He learned that her magic was quite literally intertwined with her being, so while the other elemental magic was fine to use and enhance, the light magic would eat away at her body in various manners. Eventually, it was incorporated into her training to try and infuse her body with more magic so that it would slow this particular effect, and training continued to build up those reserves.

Phineas showed absolutely no care towards her, in fact, he was much happier to work with her whenever she just complied with what she was told. ( which was often between his training and Elousia's regiments was incredibly easy to do. ) He would praise her when she did well and showed genuine happiness when the results were positive, which was rare as he was especially particular with how she performed in her magic. The entirety of his focus was simply trying to find the absolute limit, no matter what it cost.

⋆˙⟡ He would be Lilith's father figure, being the most ( and only ) predominant male in her life. However, she does not fully consider him this, referring to him strictly as being her mentor/teacher. She believes him to be very intelligent, but she holds a deep fear of him though she does not remember all of his experiments ( nor does she call them that, even though that's what they are. ) She has also blotted out a good portion of his actions, believing them to be for good intentions no matter how much they hurt. She would leave her training with him exhausted, wounded, and often emotionless while the weight of it all only grew bigger on her shoulders. Whenever she would seek comfort from Elousia, she would be turned away by her and the other sisters ( not by choice ) and occasionally even punished again for her tears as wanting to get out of her duties.

Lilith was taught from a young age that this pain was a necessary burden that she had to bear, and learned to keep her mouth shut. Talking about it only made things worse, and even she grew to believe that it was what just had to be done, no matter what it cost. Being and becoming a vessel was literally everything she knew, and Phinease and Elousia were not shy at all about communicating this to her. Despite all of their efforts, they could not completely destroy the hope that she had that she could still explore the world and be more than what they had planned.

I'll make another post just for the other NPCs that could have existed in Lilith's life, or rather are relevant to her in one way or another, mostly about Rowen and his whole deal and then his family that is actually Lilith's family - but that is for another time. (this has been sitting in my drafts since March |D)

[jezabatlovesbats]

My brother and I reacted to Elf on the Shelf: An Elf’s Story. Here are our notes.

The quality is the same as we remember. 

How do you become a scout elf? Is it like the space ranger academy? Is there, like, military-style elf training?

“A special case?” (Cut to PlainRock destroying an elf on the shelf box.)

We elves can see everythiiiiig… so be nice!

He thought this has the same animation quality as PMATGA and Free Birds.

A letter falls off… and then it’s just PlainRock’s name.

Do ALL special cases just fall off the mail stack like that?

What if there was some kind of badge or something that indicated your rank as an elf? 

Chippey is willing to potentially sacrifice himself… 

Why does Santa’s beard look like it’s solid? 

So Santa gives the assignments? Do they even have resumes?

Then, he proceeds to cut the line.

Also, all the background elves look like copy-paste NPCs. 

Is not having belief in Santa a touchy, taboo subject to bring up here? I’d assume so.

How did literally everyone hear that? Do elves have supersonic hearing? Then again, when I was younger, I believed our elves could hear everything I was doing. 

I’d be terrified if I went through that shipping process. 

The original elf on the shelf book was published in 2005. What was supposedly the situation before then? 

What if that slide jump thing missed? Would the elves get seriously injured? 

And then he gets flung onto a doorstep?!

“It came! It came!” That means they ordered it. But according to this lore, Santa and his whole North Pole setup is actually real, so how did they? 

My brother says that either the twins ordered it themselves, or the parents are really good actors. But then, how did the twins find out what it is?

He also says that Taylor has a severe case of Tom Holland face. Also, according to the back of the box for this special, he’s 9.

He’d love to name his elf Stinkypants. Or Shredder. Or Ripjaw. 

“Your name is Sh*tbag. Now fly.” “No, mom! Don’t let his name be Sh*tbag!” 

This whole special, but with unnecessary censorship (like in those videos). 

If this special came out today and Taylor had an Xbox with a mic, it would be way different. 

Ooooh… it’s one of those singing things…

“Princess is nice.” Drag Queen Chippey when?

Can you imagine if he’d actually been named Dazzle McNoodle, Bergoopuff Special, or Fruity McNooty? 

If you named him Skeeter, he probably would’ve turned into an elf version of Mater. 

Taylor in this moment: “Eh, screw it. If I’m gonna have this thing spying on me, I might as well treat it with respect.” “What about Chippey?”

“Buddy…” If Elf hadn’t come out years prior to this, there wouldn’t have been a joke to make here. 

They stole this kid’s idea. A “Thank you, Batman! Your ideas are the best!” moment.

If an elf dies in the house, would the kids think its corpse is watching them? Would they even know? 

How does he know about the magic-flying? Did other scout elves tell him and other newbies about all this? 

Same vibe as, “Go, web! Fly! Up up and away, web!” 

That photo implies that the real Santa took time out of his busy life to go to a random Macy’s in the middle of some northern state. 

“Time to report to Santa! He’s gonna love hearing my plan!” (later…) “Okay, Santa, here’s how we execute him…”

My brother says Smash at Snowflake. (But how old is she?)

How fast do the elves fly? 

We imagined our youngest brother’s elf telling his name to the other elves and getting bullied for it. 

“What’s your name?” “I’m Sonic!” 

Every elf turns in his direction, and it cuts to them beating the hell out of him. “HAHAHAHAHH LOOOOL! IMAGINE BEING NAMED AFTER A CRINGY FRANCHISE WITH A CRINGY FANBASE!” 

“We’re on our way to snitch on our kid to Santa for the first time!”

They’re ice skating… on snow??

You can just tell when the commercial breaks would be in this. 

Then he proceeds to get back to doing Toy Story stuff. Like, Elf on the Shelf is pretty much like Toy Story, but much more Christmas-flavored. 

“Do you see him? Where could he be?” And then they look in their garbage can.

“Oh, no! The dog got him!” 

“We don’t know where he landed after coming back from the North Pole!” “Ooooh… about that… I saw him, and then I threw him in the washing machine.” 

“Maybe you could try roasting chestnuts on an open fire.” Do people even do that…? 

He squeaked when being poked. He’s made for the dog.

“Do you have anything you’d like to say about Christmas?” “Oh, let me begin. Number 1: Whoever picked up that peppermint stick on the street, that was mine. I want it back. Number 2: I know what everyone was thinking when that running of the reindeer happened, BUT THAT WAS NOT ME. THAT WAS FREDDIE. Number 3: JINGLES, YOU STILL OWE ME SIXTEEN BUCKS!” 

“Tell us what it’s like to have Christmas magic!” “You’re too young to know, kids.” 

Infinity War had nothing on the moment with Taylor touching Chippey. 

If it were me and my brothers, they would’ve tried to pull me and my finger out the way. 

You probably knew this was coming- “Mr. Claus, I don’t feel so good…”

Wait, so how were elves perfectly up and kicking BEFORE they got their magic? Is magic their lifeblood now? 

So they’re not even wearing, like, any hospital gowns or anything? 

That reminds me- when I was 6-7, I had Hello Kitty and the other Sanrio characters run a hospital/health department called the CPA. What did it stand for? I have no idea.

Yeah. The doctor says he’ll be better by the next morning. I feel it would’ve hit harder if he took a day or two off to recover. Then, that way, Taylor probably would’ve regret his choice more and had more time to reflect on it. Oh, god… WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!

The background elves. THEY’RE ALL THE SAAAME! 

“I wonder if Christmas will still come.” People who celebrate it can do it without elves. 

Dear Santa, just kidding. I believe in you. All I had to do to regain belief was commit what was probably a crime against Chippey’s life. 

It’s pretty nice to see Santa in casual outfits.

He could’ve faked that letter, and Chippey could have believed it. (But if he did, his magic wouldn’t have come back… I AM QUESTIONING THE LORE OF A SPECIAL MADE TO SELL BEHAVIOR BAIT FOR KIDS.) 

“Chippey, I’m so sorry. It didn’t even feel like Christmas without you.” What about carrying Christmas in your heart like Santa said earlier? Also, like I said, if you celebrate it, you can do it without an elf in your house. 

This is a family of theater kids. 

Santa doesn’t go down a chimney here. He just kinda poofs in and out, which is honestly a clever way for him to save time. 

[time8582]

Man I thought you’d never ask! Buckle up cause you can probably tell by now I ramble a LOT and I’ll get side tracked at some point. Not all of this will be 100% fact I will most likely change a lot of stuff at some point

First thing first some background/lore

Guardians are people/ beings who travel to different universes and time lines to help their “Champions” who are people Guardians choose to protect and stuff their kinda like guardian angels? But also not? There main goal is to protect their champions and guide them to a better path or the path they’re “supposed” to be on, or just help be the person they want to be and let them know that no matter what their is always someone who is rooting for them and help them fight their battles. The second priority is protecting those their champions cherish and are close to them if their champions are the cause of distress for others champions or what other universes they’re from (for example if they become evil and kill everyone or become the everyday evil) its the Guardians job to try and persuade them to redeem themselves and be as non violent as possible but if they’re champions are to far gone they (guardians) have to put the people around their champions safety first and stop them, best case scenario for that is imprisonment, worst case death. By the time my OCs “become” (force) Guardians whether or not the champions could see the guardians becomes kinda finicky, sometimes their champions can see them sometimes they don’t well most of the time they don’t. And because of that they can’t really do much when it comes to physically helping their champions so if they’re dying they kinda just have to sit there and watch same with the evil stuff some fore would stop them if they try. There’s waaay more of this but I want to talk about the OCs :p!

This is getting really long so this will mostly be just about the two who are mentioned in the memes and their relationships with thier champions in the AU’s. (Also pretty much all of my oc’s are not completely human soo yeah)

Jerico (had this guy since I was ten still unsure of about his name) is Kai’s Guardian and shares canon Kai’s fierce love for his family and protectiveness  as well as the temper Rico’s can just seem to be a lot more…violent? He would a hundred percent kill and maybe torture for his champions if they want but there has to be a “good” reason he will not kill cause it’s funny or because there are people in your way. I don’t really have a lot of thoughts on BE Kai yet But! Jerico would be soo mad at Kai in the scorch AU. He be screaming profanities at him and probably try to shake him as if that would make Kai come to his senses. He would definitely try to reassure Kai’s worries about being replaced on the team and just try to steer  him back to the other ninja but weather that would work or not is up in the air.

Ok now onto the baby Jacobi! He’s the second youngest of the group in world but he’s technically only excited in my head for like 6 years now. Obviously Jay is Jack’s champion, his very first one in fact!  That will be important later for I want to start off with the Storm Vessel AU cause that’s not as angty. One of the agreements Jacobi had with his Dad is that he come home for lunch and dinner when ever he calls ‘‘em over (the same goes for his older brother even though he’s an adult) it doesn’t matter what cries he’s in the middle of with his champion he’s coming over and EAT. (Note I have not read the fic I’ve only seen your post about the AU and this idea just came into my head) So when the sacrifice thing stared jack and his bro was called home and the moment he was gone Jay shows back up and the other guardians immediately starts freaking out and panickly starts coming up with a plan on to fix/explain this to Jacobi before he comes back. And in the middle of arguing about the plans they here Jack shit out of panic in the distance singling to them that he’s back and about to start freaking out to. And that’s all got for Storm Vessel AU time for the angst! Jay is Jacobi’s champion and BE Jay just so happens to be Jacobi’s first instance with dealing with an evil champion and he did not take it well. Skybound is already a pretty stressful season for him (Jay is constantly taking hits and Jack can’t do anything about it) I haven’t read the BE origins fic in a hot minute so I’ll just say in a version of the story where no can see him it storms for weeks around the misfortunes keep after Jay captures the ninja and every one thinks it’s Jay when it’s actually Jacobi (he’s got lightning powers too) When a ninja gets captured by the sword their guardian gets sent back to there own base so it takes a for anyone to come pick Jacobi up so he’s stuck with this cruel version of his champion unable to anything but stew in his anger and sorrow which of course effects the weather around him until someone comes and picks him up. :( You said in a post that no one ever called Jay out for because anyone who could was to scared of him to do so but Jacobi would.not.care. He would be so upset he’s one of the only Guardian to NOT kill for any reason. So he’d only shock Jay or something (cause they most likely be a fight) and run off some where probably to Jay’s parents (I mean how can he not find comfort with them? Look at them!) and hide out in the junkyard until someone picks him up. I’ll probably end up drawing something for both scenarios.

I’ll stop here cause this is REALLY long but thank for asking:) let me know if you want to know more about them just maybe ask more specific ones? Yeah…

I downloaded a meme maker just to this cat meme for the purified au

And then I ended up making a bunch more with my OC’s and your other AUs instead of sleeping so here you go

:]

[sagau-my-beloved]

Hi ! I just wanted to say I really enjoy your writing it’s great . And since requests are open ( and sumeru is coming up ) I was wondering if you could write some sagau sumeru content ? I’d love to see it ! Have a great day / night : D

Sumeru sagau headcanons:

Hello! Thank you so much! I'm super excited for Sumeru honestly

Since I don't currently have a whole lot of information on all the stuff surrounding that, I can really only do basic headcanons, but I would be happy to flesh this stuff out a bit once the content is actually released and we get more solid information surrounding the region and characters and such

But for nowwww

Warnings: Spoilers for the Sumeru trailer, general sagau stuff, vague mentions of death, general obsessive like behavior

• In Sumeru the disappearance/death of their God was particularly painful because of how much it resembled your disappearance

• A being that embodied wisdom, kindness and love, falling tragically to something they could only ever speculate, was almost the exact same as what legend told of your past

• Those stories ended up intertwining themselves with one another, to the point that some of the people in Sumeru considered you and there Archon God one in the same

• Not in a literal physical sense, but some of the more outlandish conspiracies are that their old Archon God was a reincarnation of you in a way

• If you return to Teyvat before the rebirth of the new Dendro Archon, then the people of Sumeru rely on you more heavily than any other nation

• In that instance, they would be a godless nation, and since they already consider you to be so closely related to their former God, it's almost as if this dissension was something of a rebirth for their land and the wisdom it held

• If you arrive after the rebirth when the nation is a bit more stable, which is the most likely situation to happen, you've got a bit more wiggle room

• The people aren't so heavily reliant on you to be their guiding figure then

• But, either way, when you do get to Sumeru, it's going to be very difficult for you to leave

• The people living there often use the serenity and beauty of nature to keep you, why would you rather be anywhere else?

• Their Archon is the youngest, the least experienced, and this can be worrisome for some of them

• They know that having you around would both help with general morale, and the guiding of their realm to what it once was through your hands

• Their land could only truly flourish under your reign of course

• It only makes sense that you, in your all knowing and all seeing wisdom, reside in the nation of wisdom when they need you the most

• All the regions fight to be your permanent residence really, it's considered the greatest honor for them

• And you certainly have a place to stay in each, the work you do requires travel, and why wouldn't you want to indulge in the beauty of your lands?

• But Sumeru is widely known to have pushed the hardest, been the most persistent, sacrifice the most in order to provide you with a place that you would truly want to reside

• A place that you could consider home

• When it comes to forms of worship, each nation is kind of known for offering things that relate to their element

• So in this case, you better be prepared for a whole lot of flowers

• You're going to be absolutely covered in them, almost everything you touch is also going to be covered in them

• And everywhere you step and everywhere you look and—

• You get the point

• They're a domain that is lush in beautiful greenery, of course they're going to use that to their advantage

• Also every single statue of you that is in their domain has a flower crown

• In some of the smaller towns it's turned into a local ritual, who gets to make the daily flower crown that goes on their personal statue of you

• They, like every nation, believe themselves to be your one true successor nation, the one you favor most, the one that is most in your image

• It boils down to the concept of life and death, growing and dying, that's what their domain is founded on when you dig deep enough into it

• And of course, what is more godlike than that?

[animeomegas]

Omega!Bakugou headcanons

Anon: Pssssss imma need some more omega Bakugou like now no it make him jealous too because why not

AND

Anon: hi! could you do some omega!bakugou x male alpha!reader? nsfw and sfw pls <3

nesting too pls!! idk why but I love the idea of nesting sjdjsnd, pregnant bakugou fluff would be lovely too <3

AND

Anon: Hi I was wonder if you could do omega Bakugou sfw and nsfw please 🥺

(Hey, everyone!! Bakugou is very popular in my inbox! Okay, let’s write some omega!Bakugou headcanons <3 I have another request for pregnant!Bakugou, so I’ll add that part of the middle request to another post 😊 Also, I only write for a gender neutral reader. I hope you all enjoy~)

Warnings: N-sfw under a cut, suggestive behaviour multiple times not under the cut.

Nesting:

Bakugou is not an omega who is big on nesting. He does nest and he’s very proud of his nest, but he doesn’t feel the urge to nest super often.

He doesn’t keep a permanent, all year-round nest, he’s kind of a clean freak so having to constantly clean all the blankets in his nest would drive his nuts.

He does nest during his heat and late term pregnancy, and also after periods of extreme stress, but not often outside of these times.

But if he knows his alpha likes his nests, he might build them for his alpha when they’re stressed, although he’ll claim he just felt like making it and it shouldn’t go to waste.

It’s not a very convincing lie.

His nest is not in a very popular style, mainly because Bakugou overheats so easily.

It’s a simple double mattress on a very low frame, with a couple of pillows and sheet like blankets that he normally uses as a base rather than a covering.

He has a black and red colour scheme that he thinks is the coolest thing ever, and he definitely has an All Might pillow hidden somewhere at the back that he threatens his alpha to keep a secret, it’s very cute.

He likes his nest to be in an easily defendable position, whether that be inside a large cupboard or wardrobe, or a small room with one door and a small window.

Bakugou also keeps a mini fridge by his nest, as a lot of omegas do, to store water and food, but what he has that a lot of omegas don’t, is a mini freezer too.

He keeps ice packs and ice lollies in there to help when he’s in heat because his temperature tends to get way too high.

Bakugou doesn’t like being vulnerable, so his nest is a sensitive topic for him.

It takes him quite a while to let his alpha into his nest, but he’s quicker to let them chill outside of it, holding his hand and keeping him company. He would probably let them outside his nest after courting for a year and knowing them for at least two years. When he lets them inside depends on a lot of factors, including how well they deal with him from the outside of his nest. It could be anywhere from three months to another year.

Pups:

Bakugou has always wanted some pups, but in a removed and distant kind of way. After all, becoming the No. 1 hero was far more important than any of that ‘family’ nonsense.

He only really considers pups when he’s in a very committed relationship and at a comfortable place in his career. He’s not prepared to take time off at a vulnerable career moment, after all.

Bakugou wants two children, because, while he would never admit it, he always wished he had a sibling when he was a kid, so he wants to give that to his children.

But he’s very conflicted about it.

Firstly, two pregnancy leaves would be a huge blow to his career. Prime hero years and prime ‘having children years’ are the same years, so in a way, he has to decide how to balance these two priorities. He isn’t sure he wants to risk his career with that much leave so close together (heroes can’t be in the field while pregnant at all, so it would be a huge sacrifice.)

Secondly, he’s nervous about how useless he would likely feel while pregnant. He’s a workaholic and being confined to his house and losing control over his quirk would drive him nuts.

So, he doesn’t really know what to do. He doesn’t share any of his concerns with his alpha, but he does take their wishes into account too. If his alpha really wants two children, Bakugou does keep that in mind. But he’s not a push over. If he decides that two maternity leaves are too many, then it’s too many. It’s his body and he won’t let anyone tell him otherwise.

So, with all this in mind, Bakugou is fucking thrilled when he finds out he’s having twins.

Two pups for the price of one pregnancy leave?? Sign him the hell up!

Bakugou has twin boys, both alphas, and Bakugou just cannot believe his luck that all his problems just fixed themselves.

“But I don’t want to go!” came a defiant voice from the back seat of the car. Both you and Bakugou sighed, not keen on restarting the disagreement that had plagued the household for the entire morning. It had taken twice as long as normal this morning to get the twins dressed and in the car because of this very argument.

You could see Bakugou about to open his mouth to tell him that they had to, but you held up a hand to stop him.

“Why don’t you want to go, sweetheart?” you cooed at your oldest son.

“I don’t want you and daddy to leave…” whimpered your youngest son, answering in his brother’s stead.

Bakugou winced and reached a hand into the back and squeezed each of his son’s hands in turn.

“I know.” He said simply. You could feel his guilt, even though you both knew it was the best for all of you that the twins get used to nursery so that both you and Bakugou could go back to focusing on your careers. They would be fine, you tried to convince yourself. Millions of kids do this every year and it works out fine.

The nursery came into view, and you refocused your attention onto finding a parking space in the little car park on the side of the building. You could hear your sons shifting anxiously in the back and it pulled at your heart strings. You pulled into an empty space and turned off the engine. You and Bakugou shared a single look before moving to get your children out of the car with practiced ease.

“No,” your eldest son shouted. “I’m not going to go. I’m staying here!”

You had tried to take him out of the car seat, but he had refused to cooperate. You didn’t want to pull him out in case you hurt him. Bakugou came to stand behind you, your youngest son clutching his neck desperately.

“Let me talk to him,” he spoke softly, handing the younger twin over into your arms.

“Hey,” Bakugou said softly, leaning down to peer inside the car where his eldest son stubbornly sat with his arms crossed. “It’s okay to be scared to go to nursery, you know.”

Your oldest son visibly flinched and avoided looking at Bakugou in the eyes.

“I’m not scared, daddy. I just don’t want to.”

“Uh huh,” Bakugou said, eyebrow raised.

“I’m not!” Your son exploded. When he realised that he’d just shouted at his father, the colour drained from his face and his bottom lip started to quiver. Bakugou wordlessly held out his arms and his eldest son accepted the embrace just in time to burst into heavy tears on Bakugou’s shoulder.

“It’s alright,” Bakugou hushed. “I’m not angry at you.”

In your arms, your youngest son was watching his brother cry and letting out little whimpers into your neck. You rubbed his back soothingly and whispered that everything was going to okay.

Out of the corner of your eye, you realised another parent was staring judgementally at your family. Bakugou clearly also noticed because he bared his teeth as a warning and the parent quickly moved on. You scoffed at the idiot who thought it was a good idea to antagonise an omega who was looking after a distraught pup, let alone when said omega was a top ten hero.

“W-What if they don’t l-like me?” your eldest whimpered out.

“Here,” Bakugou wiped some of the tears away with his thumb. “How about this, you tell me if anyone is mean to you and I’ll sort it out, how does that sound?”

“But…” your son hesitated. “But what will you do?”

Bakugou grinned.

“I’ll make their parents regret doing such a shitty job at parenting.”

You gasped, halfway between scandalised and amused.

“Katsuki!” you reprimanded and smacked his lightly on the shoulder.

It did seem to cheer up your sons, though, who were now giggling at your antics.

“Daddy said a bad word,” your youngest twin giggled to you.

“He did,” you pressed your lips together. “And it was very naughty of him.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes and instead placed the pup in his arms on the floor, taking him by the hand. You did the same and slowly, you both made your way toward the school gate. The mood dropped, but neither of your children tried to resist.

You could see a teacher standing at the gate to escort the new students and you made your way over.

“Remember,” Bakugou said before you reached the gate, stopping you all for a moment. “We’ll be back in this many hours,” he held up three fingers. “Can you guys tell me how many this is?”

“One… two… three…” they both said together.

“That’s right! See? You guys are going to be the smartest ones in there,” Bakugou boasted, ruffling their hair.

“Careful,” you teased. “They’ll turn into you.”

“Are you saying I’m always the smartest person in the room?” Bakugou grinned back.

“No, I’m saying you always think you’re the smartest person in the room.”

“Oi!” he growled, knocking his shoulder with yours. The pups giggled again, seeming to be in higher spirits. You escorted them to the gate at the front of the playground and let the teacher introduce herself.

And with one final goodbye, your pups were off into the nursery and out of sight.

You and Bakugou walked to the car in silence, digesting what had happened and processing that your little ones were now old enough for nursery. You both slipped back into the car and began the drive home.

It was weird to think that your children were neither with you, nor at home waiting for you, but that kind of existential deep dive could wait until later.

Bakugou’s hand settled just a little bit too high on your thigh. For the moment, it was time to appreciate the novelty of an empty house.

 Jealously:

I don’t think anyone would be very surprised to find out that Bakugou can get quite jealous on occasion.

In the early days of your relationship, he’s very nervous that his alpha is going to find a ‘better’ omega, an omega who is more traditional, and leave him for them. It takes a lot of bravery for him to leave himself vulnerable to being abandoned, and occasionally the insecurities seep through.

He hates the whiny, simpering omegas that plaster themselves onto the nearest alpha, and it makes him furious to see anyone doing that to you.

He has no subtlety, no brooding angst, he just threatens the other omega(s) away to their face, and then drags you somewhere private to cover you in his scent.

Later in the relationship, things change. He’s extremely confident that his alpha is his. Why would they ever leave him? He’s the best fucking omega ever!

Instead, he gets jealous if he isn’t getting enough attention because you’re spending too much time with someone else.

He doesn’t do this in a possessive way, it’s just that he doesn’t get a whole lot of free time and when his alpha spends that free time with someone else? Another omega? He’s pissed.

He gets surly and passive aggressive about it, and it’s extremely obvious.

The best way to fix it is to just give him lots of attention, he won’t behave like this is you have to leave for something important (he understands duty like the best of them), so it’s very easy to address.

Bakugou idly stirred a pot of miso soup as the radio in the kitchen blasted out whatever awful top 40 song it had picked this morning. He had only put it on to fill the silence really, which was the only thing this awful excuse for music was good for in his opinion.

He was making breakfast for the two of you as a kind of mini celebration. He had two days off in a row, the first time in a couple of months because of his crazy work schedule and he wanted to make sure he spent every moment that he could with his alpha. And so, here he was, getting up early to prepare breakfast for your both.

There was a lull in noise as the radio switched between songs, and in the few moments of silence, Bakugou could hear shuffling coming from the bathroom. He grinned. Perfect timing.

He put down the last plate and waited for you to come out, you should be here any second now.

 Fiddling with your shirt one last time you swung open your bedroom door, bag on your shoulder, finally ready to leave. You were interrupted momentarily by a delicious scent in the air. Bakugou must be cooking, so you followed the smell to the kitchen and walked in to say goodbye to him, vaguely sad that you were going to be missing his food, but he was probably only making himself something to bring to work, anyway.

And then you saw the elaborate breakfast spread your heart stopped. Had you forgotten an anniversary? Bakugou looked just as shocked to see you dressed up and ready to leave. However, his shock soon melts into frustration.

“Why are you all dressed up?” he growled, the excitement that had been on his face when you walked in now gone. ���You said you weren’t working today.”

“I’m not,” you said quietly, confused as to why he was so upset. “Izuku messaged me while I was getting dressed and invited me for brunch, I was just going to meet him.”

Bakugou’s face screwed up at your words. He went to open his mouth but then stopped. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was doing the breathing exercises that his therapist taught him for when he was angry. What had you done to make him this upset?

The relaxing exercises clearly weren’t working for him because he stood up from the table and stalked out of the room suddenly, shutting himself in your bedroom. You winced as the door slammed shut behind him.

Oh dear… you had made your mate so upset that he had shut himself away in your bedroom. Your stomach twisted itself into a knot. It was time for some damage control (and a quick check of the calendar to makes sure you hadn’t actually forgotten an anniversary or something.)

You shot a quick text to Midoriya, apologising for cancelling and letting him know that something had come up. He sent back a ‘don’t worry!’ message and about six smiling emojis. Well, at least he wasn’t also mad at you.

Fishing out a tray from the cupboard above the sink, you stacked it up with as much food from the table as you could, thankful that it appeared to still be warm, and carried it to your bedroom door.

“Katsuki?” you called out, knocking on the door with your foot. “I’m coming in, is that okay?”

There was silence. Well, silence was better than swearing, so you carefully slid open the door and moved towards the brooding lump on the bed.

“The fuck do you want?” he growled. “I thought you were going out to eat with Deku?”

You froze at his vicious tone. Was he jealous? Well, that was a lot easier to solve than forgetting an anniversary, at least.  With a smile, you slid the tray onto the bedside table and climbed on the bed behind you mate, letting out a reassuring scent. You wrapped your arms around him, ignoring how he tensed in your embrace, and whispered into his ear.

“Why would I spend time with Midoriya when I could be spending time with you, hmm?” you whispered, purposefully blowing hot air onto his neck. You revelled in his full body shiver. “The only reason I accepted plans with Midoriya was because I thought you were going to work.” You pressed as close to him as you could and placed a single kiss right behind his ear. Bakugou melted at the affection.

“Come on now,” you continued, a coy smile on your face. “Let’s not let this delicious breakfast go to waste.”

You reached over and scooped a little bit of rice onto your fingers before holding it up to his lips. Bakugou opened his mouth with only a small grumble in complaint, and you made sure to push your fingers a little deeper inside than perhaps absolutely necessary.

“I promise I’ll make this morning’s misunderstanding up to you.”

Miscellaneous:

Bakugou’s scent is fairly sweet but still quite smoky.

When he’s upset/stressed, his scent is like burnt sugar, and when he’s very happy/excited, he smells like almost like a marshmallow roasting on a bonfire.

It’s a very pleasant scent but it does tend to divide people. Some love it, and others hate it.  Bakugou doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about his scent (except his alpha, but shh, that’s a secret!)

In his family, his father is an omega and his mother is an alpha and while they are happy together, Bakugou always promised himself that he would never end up in a relationship like that. He didn’t want some alpha bossing him around like his mother bossed around his father.

Bakugou finds meek alphas (and people) annoying, but he doesn’t like super aggressive alphas either. He’s attracted to people who exist in the middle of those extremes.

Bakugou knew he was an omega from birth, and it was something he was very insecure about for a long time. It was a big part of why he turned out the way he did as a child, he was making up for something that he viewed as a weakness by being as aggressive as possible.

His mother wasn’t great at making him feel secure in his secondary gender, assuming he would like certain things and pushing him in certain directions simply because he was an omega.

His father said that he was there if Bakugou had any questions, but he let Bakugou reach out to him instead of reaching out to Bakugou, and Bakugou was too proud to make the first move.

Bakugou ends up deciding that being an omega wasn’t going to stop him becoming the No. 1 hero. He decided that he could overcome being an omega.

It wasn’t until he was an adult that he actually started to accept being an omega was a part of him that he didn’t need to overcome, but that he could instead embrace and that it didn’t make him weak to do so.

When he does become a mainstream hero, he makes sure to always tell the omega children that he meets that they can do whatever they want and still be an omega.

N-sfw under the cut

Bakugou is a switch, mostly.

Oftentimes he switches multiple times in the same session, so his alpha needs to be quite the brat tamer to keep him from getting frustrated and trying to get on top so that he can control the pace.

He has a very high sex drive, and he likes to have a partner who can match him because he way prefers sex to masturbating.

It would be hard to find someone whose chest and nipples are as sensitive as Bakugou’s, and when he’s in heat, he can definitely orgasm just from his chest being stimulated.

Bakugou is also definitely a squirter, something which he was very shocked and embarrassed to find out.

Bakugou generally prefers slightly rougher sex. He gets bored when the pace is too slow and definitely scratches and bites (and is happy to receive the same in return).

When he’s in heat, Bakugou is a bit different.

He’s not a pillow prince by any means, but he is definitely a lot more passive than he is normally.

He’s not super loud, but he definitely swears a lot, even between waves of heat when he gets grumpy that he’s too hot and sticky. That swearing is a lot less sexy though.

Bakugou’s sexual side doesn’t really come out outside of his own home. He doesn’t like flaunting anything in public and can even get uncomfortable talking about sex with his friends, especially when they tease him with personal questions. He’s definitely a private person when it comes to sex.

Although that is not to say he isn’t confident in the expression of his own sexuality, much to opposite is true. He is definitely the kind of person to order some new toy or outfit on the internet every month to surprise his alpha.

He’s sexy and he knows it, so why not?

[summercatastrophe]

Wdym it's the end of the world and someone would sacrifice themselves for the sake of others? It's all happening too fast, let's go back before we turn apeshit this Saturday!

No hurt for now, I've had enough of mental breakdown bcoz of it. Baby Clawthorne sisters fluff, y'all!

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The merciless cries echoed vast and loud across the hall made the curly-haired witch jolt from her sleep. The bags under her eyes are too young to take place in a toddler's tiny face. Blinking a few times to remove the sleep in her eyes, it only took her a peak to know that even the night couldn't be spared by her little sister's demand for attention. 

Titan, it's the middle of the night! What does that little gremlin want now, this time? 

She realized the cries weren't going away any time soon, so she put on her glasses and hopped out of bed with a groan. Days and nights aren't peaceful enough for a nap or sleep, especially since her chaotic little sister has finally become a member of the Clawthorne family. So waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of her cries is no longer a big deal. Pushing herself out of bed to attend to her sister's needs when her parents aren’t available is the real deal.

As she passed through the corridor, she noticed a faint light coming from the living room. When she took a peak, she found both her parents still sound asleep despite a show still running at the crystal ball and the sound of their youngest battling whose sound was the loudest. 

Instead of bothering to wake them up, little Lilith went down to turn the crystal ball off and returned to her original job to pacify her little sister. Titan knows her parents deserve to have a little rest.

Now, back to the gremlin. When she creaked open the door to her nursery, she wished for once that she had been born deaf. If the sound that echoed down the halls is considered to awake the whole village, then the sound just outside the nursery door is enough to wake the entire isles, maybe even the Titan itself, just to make that horrible sound stop.

She found the trouble that cost her good night's sleep standing on her wooden crib. Using both of her tiny hands to clutch the wooden bars tightly to support her weight, her golden eyes shining with tears found her big sister's tired eyes. 

And just like that, Lilith immediately melted. Not in the name of Titan that she’ll glare at those soft fiery golden eyes. Maybe soon when she’s big enough to handle her temper, but not now yet.

“What now, Eda? Can't you give us a good night's sleep for once?” She may still be cranky about the sudden wake-up call, but she won't be using a higher tone of voice on the little gremlin for revenge. 

 

Eda immediately stretched her arms towards her as the sight of her made her crying stop. Her tiny lips trembled dangerously as sweat, snot, and tears disgustingly stuck on her face. 

Lilith did what she was taught to do. Lowering the rails of the crib, Lilith  gently lifted her and carried Eda to her chest to bring her little body to rest. "There, there, hush now." She whispered tenderly as she gently slid her hand from the back of Eda's head down to her small back repeatedly while giving her a little rock.

"Are you hungry?" 

Eda is still in tears, but unlike lately, she's now completely silent with only a few hiccups to unleash. To her surprise, she felt Eda nod like she understood her as she laid her cheeks on her sister's shoulder. "Nem-nem..." 

Lilith knows that there's a bottle of milk lying around here somewhere, but she's too tired and lazy to seek it when it's already hidden in plain sight. She's still practicing her circles to summon things out of nowhere, just in case she'll mistakenly summon winged snakes, she didn't try to draw one so that she could make Eda's drink. Instead, she decided it would be best if she just looked at one of her drinks in the kitchen, where her mother always keeps a stash of those.

“I'm gonna get you a new, erm, nem-nem. So stay here-“ But before she could even put her down in the crib, the little orange spitfire started to wail a lot louder again as she clutched the fabric of her sister's clothes even tighter. It was a sign that her little sister wouldn't let her leave from then on. So, with a sigh, she snatched the towel hanging on her crib and damped it gently on her face to remove the snot and tears. 

"Okay. Just be silent or else I'll let the bed bugs eat you. " She taunted them as they got out of her room. Since it was dark, she drew a circle, and a ball of light appeared. It made Eda in awe as she tried to reach it. Lilith chuckled before letting her have the ball of light as she created another. One for each. 

The two sisters passed down the stairs, silently walked away from their parents, sound asleep in the living room, and reached the kitchen with a ball of light guiding their way. For a three-year-old and a half, her height couldn't even reach the handle of the fridge, even on her tiptoes. Pursing her lips, she pulled a chair and made Eda sit on it as she stepped away to figure out how to open the fridge, which Eda quickly followed for her elder sister's touch. 

Lilith didn't notice that Eda was trying to reach for her as she was concentrating to at least cast a spell that would open the fridge one way or another 'coz it is sealed tight. It wasn't until the very last second that she returned her gaze to Eda, and her heart began to race quickly and loudly. She saw her at the edge, and with one swift move, she crouched and stretched her arms in time before her sister could even land face down on the ground. 

Then there was a thud. 

Lilith's ears perked up by the sound the chair made as it came into contact with the hard floor. She quickly stood up with Eda close to her chest, unminding the icky drool her little sister wiped on her clothes. Then, she felt Eda wiggle excitedly, muttering incoherent words she had a hard time understanding while pointing something behind her back. Confused at first, she followed what was making her sister fuss and turned her heel. 

When she saw something in the dark, her heart beat faster. Two figures with two pairs of glowing eyes stared menacingly in their direction. Lilith instinctively clutched Eda even tighter, burying her face in her shoulder as her stance turned into something protective. The figures seemed to get closer, and when Lilith was about to scream and wake the soul out of their sleeping parents, the shadows spat the scary figures and showed two familiar faces that she definitely didn't want to see again at the shadows. 

 

"Hawksley! Both of you scared me!" She whispered a little loudly. Tension immediately left her body as the two approached. 

When she saw the look her mother's palisman was giving her, she pursed her lips. It seems like she's seeing her mother in Hawksley's place. Well, he's her familiar after all. 

The strong flapping of wings that Hawksley made as they flew made Eda giggle as the wind brushed their face. The yellow cardinal perched on her other shoulder, immediately catching Eda's attention as her little sister's baby hands tried to catch the bird in one quick move. It made Lilith chuckle when she saw how irritated Eda was when their father's cardinal flew even faster than she was to catch them. 

"I was just trying to get her a drink because she was crying because she was hungry," she explained. Pursing her lips, an idea popped in her mind. "Now that you're here, would you do me a favor and get Eda's milk? so that we could get a decent sleep in just a couple minutes." 

Her proposal seems to make Hawksley agree with the idea of sleep. But then, as Lilith waited for Hawksley to do something, it just stared at her for a whole minute before she figured he wouldn't be helping her do the task. 

"Hawksley is bad." Then she stuck out her tongue and used her free hand to pull the skin beneath her eye downwards, forming a goofy look. Eda found it funny and blew raspberry directly at her sister's mouth that made Lilith yelp and disgustedly spat on the ground like it's some kind of drink that their Mom often makes. The giant bird cawed and tilted its head, watching in amusement. 

Then, when Lilith was about to put her sister on the floor because it's much safer for her on solid ground, Hawksley circled the sisters and stopped mid-flight in front of Eda, who was now petting the yellow cardinal carefully. Lilith had no clue what he was up to when suddenly, it dug its talons inside Eda's mane of orange hair, which immediately sent Lilith into a panic. 

"Hawksley, stop! Your claws might hurt her! " She tried to take a couple steps back to shoo the giant bird away, but it didn't. The idea of Eda getting lines of scratches on her scalp made Lilith upset and angry. When she looked at her sister, instead of her already throwing a fit over the uneasy movements around her, the little one looked unbothered. In fact, she even looks like she's about to laugh. What? 

Lilith stayed still while keeping a watchful eye between Hawksley and Eda's unbothered looks despite the sharp claws their mother's palisman had. Sure, she trusted him to be careful with her, especially since Eda is still a chaotic baby, but it's best to get cautious about what's about to happen if those talons ever dig deeper into her orange fluff of hair. For a one-year-old, Eda has already developed a mane of hair, forming in a way that's just like their mother's. She won't be surprised if Eda is also able to fit unending supplies of things—

Wait... just like... their mother's! 

The moment she figured out the reason why the giant bird was behaving like that, Hawksley presented the answer itself. Eda's half-empty bottle of milk was clutched tightly around the hawk's talons. Lilith let out a relieved huff that was shortly followed by a snort as the little Clawthorne set eyes on it and snatched it quick to finally have her midnight drink. 

"So that's where it went." She trailed, watching her sister hungrily devour the drink she'd been on the hunt for this night. She then looked back at Hawksley, who was resting on top of the counter, and gave the bird an apologizing look. 

"Sorry for doubting you, Hawksley. Thanks for helping me out. " She said sincerely, and the hawk let out an affirmative caw. Lilith brought her attention back to her sister, who was already halfway through finishing the drink. "Let's get you to bed." 

The palismans led the way for their masters' daughters to get to their respective quarters. The yellow cardinal flew ahead with a ball of light above its head for the eldest to see which way to go, while the giant hawk trails behind the young Clawthornes, a ball of light above its head too, making sure that the eldest won't fall as she takes the stairs. 

As they reached Eda's nursery, Eda had already finished her drink and was now being her giddy and energized self. Titan, it's not even halfway daylight yet. 

She knew very well that forcing her to sleep would only make the spitfire regain more of her energy. Not only did she watch her mother prove that point, she also watched how her dad did a certain type of trick to trick her to sleep. The trick? Show Eda various types of glowing and shiny objects.

Glowing and shiny objects, just like this cylindrical lamp in her hand that has shapes of stars and circles on its exterior, and once a light ball is placed inside, it would illuminate the room with a soft glow of light.

With the help of Hawksley, she sat on the rocking chair located near Eda's crib while her arms wrapped around her sister to secure her place on her lap. The lamp had already a ball of light inside and now shining bright above the circular table in front of them. With Eda keeping her eyes steady at the twinkling little thing in front, immediately getting mesmerized the moment it opened, Lilith let out a heavy sigh.

Finally, she's calm.

Hawksley and their Dad’s cardinal did them a favor and perched above the chair's headrest and rocked the chair for the little ones to sleep. It made Eda startled for a second, breaking the eye contact from the lamp and looking immediately at Lilith. But just a smile from her big sister, the little one knew it's alright.

Their Dad's little trick really worked because Lilith, too, was on her limit for the night as she watches the stars slowly circled the room. Lilith let Eda lay all her weight on her chest after a while, getting herself comfy and snuggled in her warmth.

This is nice...

When the little gremlin yawned widely, her growing baby fang showed. With tired eyes, Lilith let out a small smile when finally, Eda closed her eyes. Her breathing turned steady, the spitfire is now sound asleep.

Too tired to put themselves to bed, the eldest decided to just spend the night at the rocking chair. There are no worries that they might fall while they're sound asleep for there are two strong familiars watching them closely, her mind and body is at ease as she trusted them their safety.

As the made-up stars engulf the room with a soft glow of golden light, as the gentle wind outside seems to whisper hushed lullabies...

"Night-night, sister."

The Clawthornes are now sleeping at last.