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terabyteturtle · 2 months ago

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SSBU Roster's Building Skills

Would (insert character name) be good at building something? (These are merely my headcanons.)

Mario - 1000%. One of his alternate costumes is a builder costume for Pit's sake.

Donkey Kong - Not really. Would probably use too much brute strength and accidentally smash something. Besides, construction sites jog too many bad memories.

Link - Pre-Ultrahand? Maybe. Post-Ultrahand? Absolutely.

Samus - Definitely, but I think she'd be more well-versed in futuristic technology stuff as opposed to the classic hammer and nail.

Dark Samus - Would rather destroy something.

Yoshi - The most he could probably build is a Lego set, and even then, he probably couldn't keep himself from trying to eat the pieces.

Kirby - Same as Yoshi, except he somehow nearly choked on a Lego once and hasn't dared to try eating one again since.

Fox - He knows a little bit on how to repair ships, but for the most part, he doesn't have much knowledge on building things. Typically, he lets Slippy handle that stuff. He'd be a quick learner, though.

Pikachu - Probably wouldn't be able to sit still for long enough to do it. He's best used as a retriever for parts and tools.

Luigi - Absolutely. He might not have had his builder outfit make it to Smash, but he's just as capable as Mario.

Ness - Doesn't have much experience, but this kid can build whatever he puts his mind to. He might need some helping hands, though, because there's nothing you can't achieve with the power of friendship on your side.

Captain Falcon - Better at repairing than building. I can honestly see him being the type of guy to turn the instructions upside down when something confuses him.

Jigglypuff - Could probably build a Jenga tower if she tried hard enough, but would rather tell others to build stuff for her.

Peach - Doesn't have much experience with building anything, but she's determined and won't stop 'til she gets it right. She'd probably want to have the assistance of the Toads.

Daisy - Same thing as Peach, except she'd be too stubborn to ask for help.

Bowser - Depends on what it is. If it's something for his kids, then he'd try his best to make it himself, usually coming out with amazing results. If it's anything else, he'd step off to the side and let others do it for him.

Ice Climbers - Sure, they're handy with toys and stuff, but they don't really know where to start when it comes to bigger projects. Hand them a set of instructions and things might turn out okay.

Sheik - Yes. Sheik's smart enough to build anything, no matter what it might be.

Zelda - Also yes. She can construct a phantom knight with her powers, and wisdom is kinda her whole thing, so she'd be good at figuring out how to build something. Plus, she has the blood of the goddess, so she could probably just wish to build something and---ta-da!---it's done.

Dr. Mario - Same as Mario. I mean, they're the same person, after all.

Pichu - No. This adorable fluffball would have too much energy and not enough attention span.

Falco - He also lets Slippy handle everything construction-related, but he has more knowledge on the subject than Fox does (at least, when it comes to spaceship stuff).

Marth - Has probably never seen a hammer used for anything other than combat in his life. He'd be good at giving commands, but he'd rather leaving the building itself to the professionals.

Lucina - Pretty good at building models, but has never tried her hand at anything life-sized.

Young Link - Yes. He's actually gotten quite skilled with crafting things out of wood.

Ganondorf - Why build something yourself when you can just take someone else's work and call it your own?

Mewtwo - Are you kidding? This guy has telekinesis on his side; he can build whatever he puts his mind to. Literally. Which is probably not a good thing for the other fighters.

Roy - I don't know for sure, but he could probably put those strong arms of his to good use.

Chrom - He'd probably be pretty good at it, considering how strongly he believes in being able to achieve something with enough faith and determination.

Mr. Game & Watch - Only good at building extremely specific things. His 2D-ness kinda limits his options.

Meta Knight - Bro built his own airship. I think he's more than capable.

Pit - Now here's a guy that I think would be pretty good at building something. Unless you hand him a set of instructions, that is.

Dark Pit - Same as Pit, except he'd find a way to burn the instructions out of frustration.

Zero Suit Samus - Would actually be more capable than before now that she has two working hands as opposed to one hand and a cannon arm.

Wario - He's actually quite handy, but more often than not, he's too lazy and would gladly let others do it as long as they don't ask to get paid for it.

Snake - Yes, yes, yes. This man is good with his hands.

Ike - I can see him being able to build weapons and help out with the heavy lifting on big projects.

Squirtle - Isn't great at building things himself (especially if they're taller than him), but is a great assistant.

Ivysaur - Contrary to what most might think, she’s pretty good at building things. Her vines help her do a lot of heavy lifting, and she’s smart enough to figure out how to put stuff together.

Charizard - Tries his best, but accidentally ends up crushing or destroying whatever he's trying to build. Can not handle delicate projects.

Diddy Kong - Absolutely. This little guy is incredibly crafty, having fashioned his own peanut popgun and rocketbarrel jetpack.

Lucas - Again, with the power of friendship, anything's possible. Would rather build stuff with buddies than do it by himself.

Sonic - No, mainly because he wouldn't be able to focus. Sonic strikes me as the type of guy who just can't sit still for too long.

King Dedede - Yet another lazy one who'd rather have minions do it for him. Also, he ate concrete once just because he was curious about the taste.

Olimar - Probably one of the best builders on the roster. Calm, cool, collected, and has plenty of experience with numerous types of builds.

Lucario - Doesn't have much experience with building things, but would be good at it considering he's got nerves of steel.

R.O.B. - Can easily build and repair stuff as long as it's not himself. If that's the case, then he might have a few problems.

Toon Link - Will try his best, but needs tons of extra help and guidance.

Wolf - Is best at building and repairing guns and spaceships. Can not work collaboratively. Do not pair him up with anyone else unless you want to witness a fight.

Villagers - Definitely. These cheeky little dudes are excellent craftsmen and are natural-born leaders. Their cities and islands wouldn't be where they were today without them.

Mega Man - He was originally created to be an assistant to Dr. Light, so chances are he probably would be pretty good at helping with a project.

Wii Fit Trainers - No. They're too focused on exercise to know how to do anything else.

Rosalina & Luma - Absolutely! Rosalina created an entire functional Comet Observatory, for Pit's sake!

Little Mac - His hands are made for punching, not building.

Greninja - Probably not due to zero interest and zero experience.

The Mii Fighters - A troop of train wrecks. I can't see these guys getting anything done, especially if they're in the same room with each other.

Palutena - She's a goddess. She could probably build whatever she wants.

Pac-Man - Not unless he has plenty of Power Pellets to eat. This guy gets cranky and demotivated on an empty stomach.

Robin - This tactician has no building skills whatsoever aside from making D&D models.

Shulk - Can repair weapons with ease, but doesn't have much experience otherwise. If he's really feeling it though, he'll stop at nothing to make sure that whatever he builds is perfectly functional.

Bowser Jr. & The Koopalings - Now here's a crafty bunch. All of them have immaculate crafting skills and can find a way to make something no matter what you give them. Putting them all together, you have one hell of a construction crew. If only they'd use their building skills for something other than mischief...

Duck Hunt - Tries, but fails every single time (which is kinda expected considering neither of them have opposable thumbs). The sheriffs usually have to step in and take over.

Ryu - With his calm mind and big, strong arms, I think he'd hit the nail on the head (more so with construction projects than with anything technological).

Ken - He doesn't have the calm mind, but he does have the strong arms, so I think that would count for something (also more so with construction projects than with anything technological).

Cloud - Yes, but is more well-versed in weaponry and some forms of technology. It's not one of his most prominent skills, but it's something he has under his belt.

Corrin - They don't have much experience due to their upbringing, which makes them a little clueless to the process as a result. However, they'd be quick to learn if another fighter showed them how to build something.

Bayonetta - Would rather have others do it for her, and if anyone has any complaints, they better ask their mum how to speak to a lady.

Inklings - No. It wouldn't be long for it to turn into a turf war.

Ridley - Would rather burn everything to the ground.

Simon - Is resourceful when it comes to constructing weapons and preparing holy water. Has more knowledge about old-school structures than modern ones.

Richter - Same as Simon, except that his knowledge extends to different types of traps as well.

King K. Rool - This is the type of stuff he has minions for.

Isabelle - Doesn't have any experience when it comes to building itself, but would be excellent at organization.

Incineroar - Would be good at it if he focused enough, but unfortunately this is not the case. Would somehow turn the whole thing into a competition and crush whatever he built if he didn't win.

Piranha Plant - Doesn't know how to build stuff and doesn't care either. Would probably eat the materials, as well as those trying to use them.

Joker - Yes, he's crafted various items that are useful for phantom thievery and is smart enough to comprehend how things are put together.

Hero - Also yes, especially if all of them are working together.

Banjo & Kazooie - I can see Banjo being good at building things, but Kazooie might have some problems.

Terry - Better at knocking things down than building things up, unless he's giving you a pep talk.

Byleth - They've definitely got the smarts for it. I wonder if there's a unit on architecture in their lesson plan...

Min-Min - Yes, she's pretty good at pottery when using her normal arms. Don't expect her to be able to build anything with her battle arms, though.

Steve & Alex - I don't even need to answer this one.

Sephiroth - Would rather burn everything to the ground x2.

Pyra - Not really due to inexperience, but is interested in learning how to forge weapons. Is great at working with others collaboratively.

Mythra - Also not great, except she'll try to learn stuff herself and would be too stubborn to accept help (which usually doesn't end too well).

Kazuya - Typically pays others to do it for him. Firmly believes that his hands were not meant to create but to destroy.

Sora - Yes, but he'd need help and assistance from others, especially if there's something he's stuck on. He's a firm believer that two heads (or more, if possible) are better than one.

Note: These are just my headcanons. Some characters I am less familiar with than others, though I tried my best to do some background research on them. If there is some sort of discrepancy here, please kindly let me know, and I will revise it.

#ssbu #super smash bros ultimate #headcanons #entire roster #smash ultimate

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i-love-you-very-much · 1 year ago

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saw Nerdy Prudes Must Die and uh

it's very much not what i expected. unlike Black Friday, it doesn't have the same plot as TGWDLM, and the references to it don't impede the plot (although i do still think it was a bit much). like Black Friday, however, the start of act 2 has a song from a different musical that i would be more interested in watching instead, as i don't really give a shit about high schoolers but i love me some smoked meats.

i haven't seen any of the Nightmare Time stuff, so i don't know if there's more to the story between the Mayor and the Lords In Black, or if they decided to put that into the plot because they could. again, it didn't impede the story, but it seemed... underfounded? i guess? especially for something that's 2½ hours long and takes a break in the middle for The Barbecue Monologues and The Bath Scene (which. i get it was there for character reasons. but it didn't need to be that drawn out no matter how good the song is).

i think Mariah, Angela, and Bryce really carry the show, they were perfect casting for the characters they played. it's also Corey's best acting in a starkid show so far. sometimes it's fun to hear Kim's vibrant and piercing voice in a song where that's absolutely not the style they're going for.

speaking of, the music sounds much more full than the previous two, although the semi-hollowness adds to the charm and atmosphere of TGWDLM (not so much Black Friday though). the camerawork is also much better.

it feels almost a waste to cast most of the actors to characters that don't really fit their vocal strengths. i get that the cast is supposed to be stereotypical high school nerds, but like. you don't Have To make them put on funny voices for the characters.

speaking of the characters: i don't like any of them. not "i don't like how they're written," but i simply find them all insufferable and would hate to be locked in a room them. this isn't a bad thing, sometimes it's fun to absolutely hate characters, but i did find myself wincing at them more often than i'd like to in a musical. they're more "what 30 year olds think high schoolers are like" than "what high schoolers are like." like. they should have been a different kind of insufferable.

i'd like to see someone give an intricately detailed literary analysis of it, mainly because i think it would be fun to read but also because i wanna see how many parts of the story i can throw at it and ask "how does this work with the themes, motifs, and symbolism present in the story to make it stronger and more cohesive?" and if any of the answers are "it doesn't. dude, it's a comedy musical, it doesn't have to be that deep" i will not be surprised.

given that it's a horror comedy, i probably should have expected to experience the hallucinations i did, but there were quite a few moments where i had to look away and try not to pay attention. this isn't an indictment of the show, this is just my personal thoughts on it. if you know someone who doesn't like gore, physical violence, or bullying, do not recommend this to them.

my favorite bits (not in order)

when Max all but dares the audience to leave the theater in Literal Monster Pt. 2

"So you... DON'T want to be bullied?" and the ensuing scene

"Wow, Ms. Tessburger, it IS like that, isn't it?"

"i'll carefully smash it with this hammer."

honestly? The Barbecue Monologues

pronouncing only the first half of rendez-vous correctly when logically it should be all right or all wrong

the fact that Grace's dad calls her mom Mother but her mom calls him by his name

any time Angela makes a face

the beans bit

"the trees are greener! the sun is brighter!" when it's october and neither of those should be happening

"Fuck you, Clivesdale, go get fucked, you're fucking losers and we'll kill you" as an accepted high school cheer

Curt visibly holding in laughter after "they didn't say."

Grace downing 20oz of "strong" hot water in one go

"are you a woman of faith?" "catholic." "i'll take that as a no. imagine you're a GOOD christian."

Steph asking both Pete and the audience "what are we watching?"

overall? 6/10. not bad, but not my cup of tea. if i were to rank the hatchetfield musicals this would probably be the middle of the three.

#iloveyou.pdf #probably won't put this in the main tag cos there's negativity

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votestaynight2 · 1 year ago

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9th Day - Mydear, straydead (Scene 3)/10th Day - strike lovers (Scene 1)

――――I'll protect Tohsaka. Saber isn't dead yet. Even though Kuzuki was an unexpected monster, Saber hasn't lost yet. And besides, Caster shouldn't be able to finish Saber off.

"――――――――" I put strength into my grip. I glare at Kuzuki, so as not to miss even his blinking. The instant he faces Tohsaka, I slide myself in between them. Knowing Tohsaka, I bet she'll jump instantly to the side to shoot Kuzuki――――

"Kya…!" There's no time to do so. It happens in an instant. The instant I think Kuzuki's body wavered, he is in front of Tohsaka.

She's astonished, but Tohsaka instantly points her hand at Kuzuki. But the right hand that almost pierced Saber's neck… …Strikes Tohsaka right in her chest.

"Ah――――guh……!" Time stops for Tohsaka. She's hit right in the center of her body and has her breath stopped.

That's it. As she cannot breathe, she cannot cast her spell and has most of her ability as a magus cut off. She managed to instantly jump back, so the attack only stopped her breath.

But the next attack… Even though she jumped back, it's only about a meter or so. Such a distance… It's not even considered a retreat against Kuzuki――――!

"Kuh――――!" I move in between them. Using my wooden sword as a shield, I face Kuzuki, who's about to attack Tohsaka. He thrusts his fist.

"Wha…!?" I can't see it…!? How did Saber avoid such a―――― "――――, guh――――!" I desperately protect my left side.

I hear a heavy sound and the sound of my wooden sword breaking. I see Kuzuki getting ready for his next attack.

――――I'll die. I feel it instinctively. My strengthened wooden sword was like metal. If he can destroy it in one blow, he can destroy any part of my body.

――――I can't stop him. Tohsaka is coughing painfully behind me. I can't see his attacks, and my only weapon was destroyed.

His fist accurately goes for my temple. Emiya Shirou will die from that hammer-like attack. Having my head smashed off, I would probably splatter a rain of blood and brains.

――――I'll die if I don't stop it. A weapon. I can't match him. I'll need a strong weapon to make up for the vast difference in our powers.

It closes in on my brain. I imagine myself dying. No. If that happens…

――――I'll die if I can't stop it. A weapon. I need a weapon. A weapon that he can't destroy. Not a quickly-furnished weapon like a wooden sword, but a proven, strong weapon. The finest quality at that, a weapon undeserved by me. Yes, the weapon he carries would probably be――――

"――――Trace, on." Then I'll make it. I'll make it even if it's impossible. I'll make it no matter what the consequences may be. I make myself believe that strengthening and reproduction, things that already exist and things that do not already exist, are similar.

That's right, there's no time to think. Fake it no matter what. It does not matter if something gets destroyed in the process. I don't care even if it's just a fake. Hurry. Forget everything. Don't I know that I'm not the only one who'll be killed!? If I can't stop it, Tohsaka will……!!!!!!!"

"Huh, no way…!?" That spectacle… Tohsaka speaks out for me. "Hm――――" A deep voice. Is that Kuzuki's voice? Something might have happened to my ears as I can't hear properly.

No, not only my ears, but the senses of my limbs are too weak. Only my right eye is functioning. I watch the approaching fist. I observe as someone else's action blocks the attack.

"――――――――" My arms are about to rip off. Even though I have no feeling, I hear my nerves tearing off.

In my hands are his twin swords. Yang-sword Kanshou and Yin-sword Bakuya. The names of the swords. Even though they're haphazardly reproduced, the swords still present their existences to the wielder.

――――But I'm sorry. I can't project you guys perfectly with my skills.

"Guh――――!" "―――――――"

We spring apart. The twin swords that parried thirty attacks break as if saying they cannot take any more. It's not because they lost against Kuzuki's fists. The swords disappeared because I couldn't maintain their image.

"――――――――" The twin swords must have been unexpected, as Kuzuki shows hesitation for the first time. Then… A strong wind is created in the intersection.

"Saber…!" I look toward the wall. Saber must have healed as she is standing up. Caster is backing away from her.

…Yes, that's why it was a mistake. Even though she was defeated, Saber still had her powers. So there's no way Saber, who has powerful magic resistance, could be cornered by Caster. It is Kuzuki's role to finish Saber off. But Caster made a mistake. She must have been planning something, but that extra thinking caused her to lose out on her perfect chance.

"――――――――" Kuzuki retreats. He stands as if to protect Caster and… "This is it. We'll retreat, Caster." He makes a precise decision.

"Master…!? No, Saber is hurt. You should be able to defeat her again――――!" "She is not someone who would fall for it twice. It is I who underestimated her. I should have attacked her one more time."

…Kuzuki is right. Saber was cornered because Kuzuki's techniques were too odd. But that's only up to now. I can't cope with it no matter how many times I receive them, but Saber is already used to the attacks.

The main point of a tactic is not to have a concrete shape. Even though they are strong, Kuzuki's attacks are too odd, so they are easily seen through. Therefore, they must be fatal on the first strike. That is the difference between a "technique" that is trained to an art, and an "action" that is trained to the utmost limits.

"…I understand, Souichirou. Yes, a Servant should obey its Master." Who was that directed at? Caster's robe flutters as she finishes.

…There's nothing after that. The bluish-purple robe circles Kuzuki, and as if through sorcery, they disappear without a trace.

"…Crap. Now there's no way Kuzuki will come out from the Ryudou Temple." After Caster and Kuzuki disappear… Without caring for her wounded chest, Tohsaka grits her teeth in regret.

…I understand how Tohsaka feels. Since we attacked them, Kuzuki will now stay in the Ryudou Temple. So we will have to go attack their territory if we are to defeat Caster.

But the Ryudou Temple has a gate watcher called Assassin, and Kuzuki and Caster aren't easy enemies either. We'll lose if we just attack recklessly. But we have to go to the Ryudou Temple if we want to defeat Caster.

"Rin. I will warn you that the temple is a treacherous place for us Servants. There is not much chance of winning even if we get Archer and try to force our way through." "…Heh. I know how strange that mountain is. I won't follow them out of vexation, nor will I drag your Master into going there."

"――――Then you will give up on defeating Caster?" "Are you kidding me? I don't like getting beaten, and more than that, I can't let Caster be. I think your Master has the same opinion on that." She asks me by looking at me.

"[line13]" Saber must have followed Tohsaka's example, since she looks as if she's asking me whether that is the case.

"Of course. We can't leave those two be. Caster won't stop collecting magical energy, and her Master, Kuzuki, said he won't stop her. Then we'll just defeat them. It seems Assassin is at the Ryudou Temple, but everything will be over if we defeat Caster's Master, Kuzuki."

"Yeah. I don't think Kuzuki-Sensei will easily let us take his Command Spell, but we should be able to do something if we capture him. …I guess we'll have to stick to planning for now…" ―――Then. I don't know why, but Tohsaka suddenly…

"By the way, what was that, Emiya-kun? Wasn't strengthening the only magic you could use?" She asks me with a serious expression.

"――――?" Does she mean reproducing Archer's swords? Well, I'm still surprised myself, but I don't think she should glare at me for it.

"Answer me. You told me before that strengthening magic is all you can use, right?"

"Well, that's right. Projection is the first magic I was able to use, but I was taught to use strengthening magic because projection is inefficient. …Oh, didn't I tell you about this?"

"―――No. I'm mad that I haven't heard about it." She glares at me. I don't know why, but Tohsaka is really pissed.

"Then let me ask you. This isn't your first time using the projection magic?"

"Oh… I guess not. I do it quite often to get myself together after I fail the strengthening magic. But it's not like I can project something useful like I just did now. I can get them looking the same on the outside, but they were all empty on the inside."

"Empty inside? What do you mean? Do you mean you can only reproduce the appearance?"

"No, I'm thinking about what's inside as well, but I can never manage to do it. That's why I'm surprised right now. What I imagine isn't close to the real thing, but the swords just now were pretty close."

"I see. Then does it mean you acquired projection before strengthening?" "It's more like that was the only thing I could do. My father told me it was useless and that I should use strengthening instead."

"―――Yeah. I would have told you the same thing as well. …But that's strange. You reproduced Archer's swords for such a long time, but you still can't project normal things. …Maybe you have a limited attribute. There are magi who aren't versatile, but very powerful in one matter…"

Tohsaka starts thinking by herself. She does not even look at me… "―――Let's go home for today. It seems Saber used magical energy to heal herself, so we have to let her rest." …And she goes home like that.

There's no one at the house. The hallway's dead silent. My ears might still be screwed up, as I can't even hear my own footsteps. The numbness in my limbs won't go away, and I don't feel like I'm stepping on the ground.

"――――――――" Surprised that I can still walk in this condition, I go with Saber to my room.

"Let's not train today. You must be tired, right? You were pretty badly wounded too." I talk to Saber once we get to my room.

"…No, I do not have a problem. I have used magical energy to heal myself, but I am still able to replenish that magical energy. More than that, Shirou. Is there anything wrong with your body?"

"…? No, I'm fine. My limbs are still heavy, but this is like muscular pain, so I bet it'll be gone by tomorrow."

"……All right. But please tell me if your body is hurting."

"Yeah. You can wake me up too if anything happens. If you get hungry at night, I'll make you something." I can't provide magical energy for her, so all I can do is make some food to cheer her up.

"…Shirou. Please do not push yourself." Saber goes to the next room.

"……Yeah. I guess I'll go to bed." I set my futon down and lay on it. My limbs are a bit numb. It might be the effect of magic I'm not used to doing, as I feel like I'll pass out if I let my guard down.

"…Hm. …What's going on――――?" I guess… I'm tired. The ringing in my ears annoys me, but I think I can still get a good night's sleep――――

"―――! ―――Ah……"

"Ah, gu―――, guh―――"

"Haa―――Haa―――, ha, gi―――"

"Ah―――guh―――……!!!!!" I squeeze the futon. It feels like hot metal is coming up my throat. Every muscle, every bone in my body is messed up.

"Gi―――ah, guh―――!" I hear a grinding sound with my numb ears. The sound of creaking bones is coming from within me. What don't they like? My bones are twitching as if to complain to me, and my ribs are shaking as if to burst out of my body.

"Guh―――haa―――……!" Pain runs throughout my body. My whole body is pushed down by a great force, but the pain is coming from within. It's condensed in a small place, but the contradiction is that my body is expanding.

"Gah―――……!!!!" On top of my futon, I wiggle around like a bug and try to bear the unknown pain.

"Haa―――ah, ah―――" …My brain's burning. My brain must not be able to endure the pain, as it is like a sauna now. I don't care if this is compensation for magic over my level, or if this is the abnormality Saber was talking about.

"Guh―――ah―――………" But for some reason, I don't want to ask Saber for help. I don't want to worry her, and I have to be responsible for what I did. "…It's natural… to do so…… since I'm a guy―――" I suppress my moaning as I sweat.

…The clock I look at with my vague mind says it's not yet midnight. I should be able to escape this pain if I sleep, but I'm sure the pain will wake me up even if I do.

"Ha―――Haa―――gu―――……!!!" …I'm going into a daze. My mind's boiling up. The pain should go away once the sun comes up. But until then… I have to bear this pain for about seven hours, and this fact by itself seems like a bad dream―――

Interlude 9-2

The place is not too pleasant for him. Frustration and delusion, envy and jealousy. This place, permeated with emotions, is like a cursed room. It should have been his, but this room was never used for him.

"Damn――――this place stinks like piss." This is all his delusion. A stranger's child spent a few years in here and threatened the Matou blood for a long time. That's the only past he knows. His father never said anything, but his grandfather told him a bit of what happened here. His father did not choose him and decided to kill off the Matou blood, but his grandfather wished for the revival of the Matou family.

That's why he has no feelings toward his father. His father taught him existence and failure. His grandfather taught him superiority and privilege. Thinking about what his mother gave him, Shinji laughs.

First of all, women are not needed at the Matou household. He heard that his mother is some Carrier, but she must have become useless after giving birth. He can bet on it that he'll find what used to be his mother in this room. But he has no intention of searching for such a thing. First of all, he does not want to see that which gave birth to his unskillful body.

The basement is filled with decay. Strange worms are wriggling around deep within the dark. There should not be any more nutrition to suck out of here, but the worms are still living here in this underground training area.

…No. From the beginning, this place has been used not to raise people, but to raise bugs. What can be seen inside the dark are swarms of bugs with black wings. Even the shadows on the walls must be black bugs. ――――In it all… A golden man unsuited to this lowest pit is there.

"Oh, you were here, Archer?" "―――――" The golden man, Archer, does not look at his master and just stares into the darkness.

"I have good news. Kotomine said he'll overlook any of our actions. ―――Hah, I thought he showed promise, but he really is useful! That means we won't get in trouble no matter what we do, right!?" Talking in delight, he walks towards Archer. "[line9]" Archer finally notices his master. The red eyes move.

"――――! Oh, no, I didn't come to complain to you. I don't care where you go and what you do. I respect my Servant's free will. I'm tolerant, unlike others."

Shinji's pressured by the red eyes, but he still approaches Archer. Even if Archer may be an ominous existence, he is only a Servant. Therefore, he maintains his arrogance against Archer. He shows leniency, but he still displays that he is the stronger one.

"―――I see. Kotomine thinks highly of you, huh?" "Yeah. I guess he owes my grandfather. He said a bloodline with a history like mine should win over some third-rate magus. ―――Hah, that's obvious. He's stating the obvious, but he's good at determining who's strong. I'm thinking about maybe thanking him if I obtain the Holy Grail." Joyful laughter echoes through the room.

"―――Then let's start, Archer. We don't have to worry about catching people's attention. Go ahead and kill all you want, eat lots of souls, and get strong. …Then they'll be next. We'll have to crush that annoying Saber and go settle things with Emiya." He pats Archer on the shoulder. Archer watches as if something unpleasant has touched him.

"What? I told you we're going. No matter what hero one may be, a Servant has to obey his Master, right?" He must have imagined himself raping Saber and letting his friend crawl on the ground. He orders Archer in high spirits. But the golden man does not move. "―――Shinji. You do not understand what the Holy Grail is." And he says his Master's name for the first time.

"――――Huh?" "Ignore the other Masters if you want the Holy Grail. They are only sacrifices. If you really wish for the Holy Grail, there is something we must obtain first." "Something we have to obtain first…?" The boy, Matou Shinji, looks at his Servant. His feet are moving back unconsciously, and he has let go of Archer's shoulder.

"Let us obtain that first. I am lending you my powers to obtain the Holy Grail. The only common goal between us is the Holy Grail. Well, I do understand how you feel. Revenge is delightful. To seek pleasure is proof that you are human. I shall take part in that joy once we are done with what we must do."

Archer smiles for some reason. …Sensing something evil in it, Shinji finally feels uneasiness about the Servant's identity. The eighth Servant. A heroic spirit that should not exist. ―――The strongest king of heroes, said to have existed since the last Holy Grail War――――

"…Oh yeah. Come to think of it, I haven't asked you before." Shinji speaks, still trying to preserve his superiority.

"What? I shall answer you if you question me, Master." "It's about your wish. What do you want to do after you obtain the Holy Grail, Archer?" It's a natural question. A heroic spirit that is half immortal and has all the treasures in the world. What can this man possibly wish for now?

"――――What? You did not know?" Archer says so with surprise. His face is smiling as if he found a small happiness.

"I allow everything that is magnificent. A splendid ornament is something I must admire the most. But―――I cannot stand giving it to the meaningless extras." "…Extras…?" "It happened a long time ago. I chose ten servants and tried to kill the one that I did not need. What do you think happened, Shinji?"

"Huh? They were all slaves, right? Then didn't you kill them all?" "No. I actually could not kill anybody. None of the laborers were meaningless in the old world." He shrugs his shoulders ironically and steps forward. …A deeper darkness. He raises his foot over the dark shadow.

"But this world is filled with extras. I believe there would not be a single meaningful person even if I sought through a thousand people. ―――Man, this world has gotten so friendly to humans."

"…? I don't get it. What do you want, Archer? You want the Holy Grail because you have something you want, right? Then――――"

Archer does not answer. The golden man does not even turn to his master and…

"It is a simple thing. A lot of something is ugly by itself."

…Lowers his raised foot into the darkness.

…A smashing sound. On the ground are numerous smashed bugs, with more swarming around.

10th Day - strike lovers

"――――It's morning…" I slowly open my eyes. The night that felt like it'd last forever has ended.

"……Good. The pain's gone." I don't know if I could not bear the pain anymore or if the pain went away at some point. Anyway, I feel no pain and I don't feel sleepy nor tired. My head has cleared up, as I managed to get about three hours of sleep.

"All right. I'll go make breakfast." I get up from the sweaty futon. …Then. As soon as I get up, my left foot slips.

"Huh?" I touch my left foot thinking it's strange. There's nothing wrong with it. There's no pain nor blood, and―――I don't feel like I'm touching my leg.

"……Hm." I don't feel anything on my left leg or my left arm. I try pinching the left side of my chest and, again, feel nothing.

"……" I guess my body hasn't fully healed yet, even though the pain went away. The whole left side of my body is numb and it doesn't feel like it's my body. Um, I think something like this happens frequently――――

"It's like when I sleep in a wrong position in the shed. I'd use my arm as a pillow and blood wouldn't be flowing in it when I woke up." Yeah, that. This is like the numbing one gets from having the blood circulation to a limb cut off temporarily.

Well, it moves fine, so it should heal in time. It reacts slowly and it feels like I'm moving it using a controller, but it shouldn't hinder my everyday life if I'm careful.

I refrain from using a knife this morning and make a simple breakfast consisting mainly of bread. My dominant hand, the right hand, is good, so I can use the frying pan. I cook some ham and eggs, instant clam chowder, and make breakfast for three.

"Itadakimasu." "Itadakimasu." The two bow and dig into the toast.

Saber eats the toast and salad like always, munching and nodding. …Yeah. It's interesting to see Saber using chopsticks, but Western food suits her more.

"――――――――" Saber's usually quiet. It's not that she's untalkative, but it seems like she considers silence a virtue. So this is how she is during meals. It's easier for me to stay quiet during meals, so a meal like this is ideal for me.

"…Huh?" Then, I realize why it's so quiet this morning.

In a word…

"Hey, morning! …Oh? We're having French food this morning?" …Fuji-Nee didn't stay over last night.

"Yup. I cooked French food this morning. So just be quiet and eat." I give Fuji-Nee her mug.

"Hm? But this kind of smells like instant food, Shirou." "It's just your imagination. Your nose isn't working too well since you just woke up."

"I see. You might be right. Oh, good morning to you too, Saber-chan. I'm sorry I couldn't come home last night." Fuji-Nee gulps down the hot clam chowder like some kind of sports drink. I bet there's some special coating on her throat.

"Good morning, Taiga. I did not see you yesterday. Was something wrong?" "Hm? Yeah, I had to work… well, no. I'm just going around visiting people who are sick. But that ended yesterday, so I can relax again today."

She puts margarine on her bread while she's speaking. It doesn't really matter, but Fuji-Nee doesn't use butter. I can ask her why, but I don't want to since I'm sure I'll get a stupid response.

"……Hey, Fuji-Nee. How many students are in a serious condition out of the ones who went to the hospital?" "No one's in a serious condition. They're all just staying at the hospital to be safe, and I hear they can all come back to school next week. It's all right, Shirou. Just relax, and don't worry about that incident."

Fuji-Nee bites into her toast. She looks so carefree that looking at her makes me feel like I can trust her.

"――――I see. That's good." "Yup, everything's all right. I'll be looking forward to dinner tonight."

She has a peaceful smile. …Yeah. At times like this, she reminds me that Fuji-Nee is Fuji-Nee.

"Then I'll be going. Please take care of the house while I'm gone, Saber." "Yes. That is fine, but… Shirou. I did not see anything made in the kitchen. Am I to go without lunch today…?"

"…? Oh, no. I can come home early today since it's Saturday. I'll be a bit late, but I'll be back by lunchtime to make lunch."

"――――I see. Shirou, it is troubling if you do not tell me about such matters. It seems you are pretty careless this morning. Your reactions are slow too. Do you have something that is worrying you?"

"Huh? No. My body's still heavy from yesterday, but this should get back to normal in no time." The left side of my body is still numb, but it doesn't hurt, so there's no problem. I can't tell Saber about such a thing and worry her.

"Well, you're right that it's my fault. Meals are your only hobby. I'll make a big lunch to show my apology, so let's call it even." I wave goodbye and go to the door.

"Hm. I cannot agree with what you just said. It is only that I would not have energy in emergencies if I skip meals――――" "Just forget about it. See ya, Saber!"

I leave Saber's complaints behind me. "Whoa―――this is more tiring than I thought."

I touch my numb left leg. It didn't happen when I was in the house, but I start feeling sick once I start walking. Even though it doesn't affect my movements, it's a big mental burden to walk with a numb body.

"…No, I have to bear it. This is nothing compared to those two." Even though she healed up, Saber got her throat cut and was smashed against a wall. Tohsaka took that hammer-like blow to her chest. It should be nothing for me, as I didn't actually take a hit.

"―――――Well." I step out with my numb left leg and start walking down the hill. …I feel slightly nauseous. I walk to school with ghost-like steps.

…Then. School's over before I notice it.

It might be because of my body, but I don't have a sense of time. I don't remember anything about the lectures, and I'm not too sure what I did either.

"―――Could this be bad?" The left side of my body is still numb. Even though I don't feel anything, having it numb for so long gets me worried.

"I don't feel it, but it seems like it's getting heavier." …The nausea won't go away either. And, of course, Kuzuki wasn't at school.

"―――I'll go home. Saber's probably hungry." I grab my bag to go home. I think I've forgotten to do something, but I should remember once I go home and rest.

"――――Oh." I remember when I walk up the hill with my numb left leg.

"I forgot to talk to Tohsaka." I forgot about it since I had my hands full with my body, and since my head was spaced out. Well, I'm sure nothing big happened since she didn't come see me. Considering my condition, I can contact her once I get better.

"I'm home." I announce myself loudly and head to the kitchen.

I put the food I bought in the refrigerator, wash my hands, and put on my apron. I'll be making codfish pot tonight, so I'll use some meat for lunch. I think about making teriyaki chicken and start getting ready.

"Are you home, Shirou?" Saber must have heard me, as she comes in from the porch.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm late. You can rest while I cook. You must be hungry――――" …Crap. I dropped the dish in my hand since I was preoccupied with Saber.

"Shirou, the plate is broken." "Yeah. That's the first time I've done something like that." I'm surprised as well, so I respond stupidly.

"Sorry. I'll clean it up right away, so you can sit right there." I pick up a piece. "――――Huh?" I drop it.

"It seems you are tired, Shirou. No, I will clean it up, so you go ahead and cook."

I guess trying to pick it up with my left hand was a mistake. …Well, that's a good lesson. My left hand is still numb, so I'll be really careful when using the kitchen knife.

"Shirou. Please do not push yourself. Please make something simple. I am glad that you are trying to do your best, but I do not want your blood in our meal." Well, I don't want that either. I'd be a failure as a cook.

"All right. Then I'll put effort into dinner and make a simple lunch. I'll still make what I was planning to, but I won't use any pumpkin or white radish. Is that all right?" I take 200 grams of chicken, put it on the cutting board, and carefully ready my fork. I have to make the main dish with care because of what I told Saber this morning.

"Yes. I will be looking forward to it, Shirou." Saber replies, as if she can sense my enthusiasm.

"――――――――" I'm more enthusiastic now. I'll poke some holes first with the fork and――――

"…Doorbell?" "Shirou, it seems there is a visitor." "I guess so. I'll go get it."

"I'm coming――――!" I jog to the door. It's rare for someone to come visit at this time. Fuji-Nee doesn't ring the bell, and she has a spare key. I don't have many guests, and since there aren't that many houses around, I don't have many neighbors.

"…Who could it be?" Well, it's not anyone hostile since my father's boundary field isn't ringing, so I bet it's someone from Fuji-Nee's place.

"Who is it?" I open the door. Then, my mind freezes.

"[line12]" "[line12]" We stare at each other silently. …Well, I'm just dumbfounded, but Tohsaka looks angry.

"T-Tohsaka――――why are you here?" I ask a natural question with my mind blank. "You skipped our regular contact." Tohsaka answers simply.

"I skipped our regular contact? Well, I did forget to go see you… But did we ever agree on such a thing?" "[line12]"

Tohsaka glares at me silently. …This is bad. I don't know why she's mad, but I feel like I've done something really bad.

"…Sorry. I apologize for forgetting about it. It was a natural duty as your ally to contact you on a regular basis." Being pressured, I apologize. That must satisfy her.

"―――Yeah. Our situation hasn't changed, so it's natural for us to check up on each other." Tohsaka seems to have calmed down.

"――――――――" I sigh with relief. It's surprising enough to see Tohsaka at my place, so having her get mad at me here is like an out-of-this-world experience. I have to take care of this troublesome situation as fast as possible.

"―――I understand. I'll contact you, so you can go home now. I'm sorry you came all the way here." …Hey. Why make a face like that?

"…Tohsaka? I got your message, so aren't we going to meet up at the park under the bridge?" I get a bad feeling, so I ask timidly. …That must have been the last straw. As Tohsaka is good at reading what I fear the most…

"No, this is a good opportunity, so we'll hold the meeting here today. You wouldn't turn away a friend who came to see you, would you?" She smiles like a devil and says a devilish thing.

"Wha―――have a meeting here… Are you going to come into my house…!?" "What? You came into my house as well. And it's not like this'll be my first time, so there's nothing you have to hide from me."

"Oh." That's right. It was Tohsaka that treated my wound on that night I first met Saber.

But then, I was just confused about this Master thing, and the fact that Tohsaka was at my house didn't register. Even if we're cooperating, Tohsaka is Tohsaka. She's the school idol and a girl of my age. It's an outrageous situation for her to come into my house… Wait, why is she coming in!!!?

"Well, I'm coming in. We're going to be talking, so we can do it in the living room, right?" "H-H-H-H-H-H-Hold on, you idiot! It'll be terrible if you come into my house!"

"It's fine, it's fine. Oh, and I haven't eaten lunch yet, so I'll be counting on you." The intruder, Tohsaka Rin, comes into the house.

"Whoa, hold on…! Stop doing things without thinking!" I object in a loud voice, but it has no effect on my enemy. The intruder carelessly goes into the living room, leaving me confused out in the hallway.

…So. After the three of us have lunch, we talk about our future plans.

The topic, of course, is Caster. We talk for about four hours on how to beat her at the Ryudou Temple, but the results are not good.

"…Geez. I guess the only thing we can do is to beat them straight on. If what Saber's saying is true, Servants can only go in from the front entrance."

"Yes. There is a strong boundary field against spirits on that mountain. My only option would be to enter from the front gate. …Since Archer has independent action as his class ability, I am sure he can manage to get in there by force."

"And after he manages to get in there with all his might, Caster will be waiting for him, right? That's not good at all."

"…You're right. He can't be the target when he's the one who should be shooting the target. Well, I'm sure Saber and Archer would be able to beat Assassin together, but cornering Caster after getting into the temple would be another problem. From what I hear from Emiya-kun, there's a big pool of magical energy there. If we corner her badly, she might take us out along with the whole Ryudou Temple."

"Certainly. Caster does not seem like someone who will graciously accept death. If she is going to die, she will try to take us down with her. It does not need to be mentioned that the Ryudou Temple will be destroyed as well in that case."

"Don't say scary things, Saber. Are you saying Caster will self-destruct if we corner her?" "I bet you she would." "She probably will."

"……" They're in perfect unison. Come to think of it, Saber and Tohsaka have the same opinions, and it seems like they approve of each other in combat. Both of them are saying not to attack there, so challenging the Ryudou Temple must be really hard.

"Oh, it's this late already?" The clock's sound echoes through the living room. It's six o'clock and the sky is tinted red.

"―――Well, I guess the meeting's over. I have to start preparing dinner." I get up. I'll be making codfish pot tonight, so it won't take that long for me to cook it. All I need to do is to cook the rice and make something that'll go with the pot――――

"What? Why are you looking at me?" "――――――――" …Well. Why is she making herself at home when we're about to make dinner?

"And you're sitting so far away from me. I don't know if that's your usual spot, but it's inconvenient unless you come closer while we're talking. Why are you sitting way over there?"

Tohsaka, who is sitting magnificently at the table, stares at me, who is sitting at the very corner. …There's only one reason why I'm distancing myself from Tohsaka.

"Shut up, my usual place is right where you're sitting! It's like this because you stole that spot!" I complain with all my might.

"Ohh. I see. You didn't care about it outside of here since we're Masters, but you go back to being yourself back at home, huh?"

"I-Is that bad, you idiot!? This is normal since I'm a guy…!" It's strange not to be nervous when it's a girl of my age, and Tohsaka at that.

I've been having the meeting normally, frantically telling myself that we're both Masters. It's pitiful, but I was nervous throughout the meeting, and I don't know how many cups of tea I had.

"But isn't that strange? Saber's a girl too, and from what I hear, Sakura and Fujimura-Sensei come here as well, right? Then I should be no different."

"……" It's not! Saber and Tohsaka are different, Fuji-Nee and Tohsaka are different, and Sakura and Tohsaka are different. First of all, I can handle being with Saber because she's someone to fight alongside with.

"…Heh, just go home. We're having dinner now. Archer's waiting for you at your place too, right?" "Oh. I can't go home when we haven't decided anything yet. Aren't we going to talk about our future plans after we eat dinner?"

"――――――――" Oh, I feel really dizzy.

"Guh… Is that already determined, Tohsaka?" "Am I wrong? I don't care if you don't want to. So you're fine with letting Caster do whatever she wants for a while, huh?" "Gah――――" I swallow my words.

"Shirou. She does have a point. There is no problem even if she stays here." To make things worse, Saber is on Tohsaka's side.

"――――All right. But I won't be held responsible if you don't like the food here. And Fuji-Nee―――Fujimura-Sensei will be coming, so you can convince her."

"I know, I know. I already know how good you are from the lunch you made, and I also know about Fujimura-Sensei. I'm aware of it, so don't worry about it."

"――――Heh, I won't be held responsible even if you regret it later on." I look away from her and head to the kitchen.

――――Then. I wash my hands, go to put on my apron, and notice that it's not there. …No. First of all, I don't even remember taking it off after preparing lunch in front of Tohsaka.

"Huh?" I look around.

Tohsaka looks at me, laughs, and… "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I just don't know about a guy walking around in an apron, Emiya-kun." …Speaks with an expression of triumph.

I cut the codfish. I've cut up the cabbage, and the white radish is grated. "…All right. All I need to do is put these in the soup and put it on the stove…"

The pot is boiling. It's a simple dish, so the soup is like the only thing I can work on. That went well, so all that's left is to prepare the plates――――

"I'm home! Man, it's so cold that it started snowing." There's commotion as Fuji-Nee comes home. "Welcome home. It started snowing outside?"

"Yeah. It's not much, but it looks like it'll pile up. Wow, we're having pot food for dinner? Great going, Shirou. Wow, I feel good. Maybe I should have some alcohol." Fuji-Nee goes into the living room, saying scary things.

"Hello, Fujimura-Sensei." "Oh, it's Tohsaka-san. What's going on? It's rare for me to see you here."

……? Fuji-Nee naturally accepts Tohsaka's greeting. She hums, goes past the living room, and comes into the kitchen.

"Wow, that's a good codfish. They say white codfish is the best, so sake's really gonna taste good with that."

Fuji-Nee opens the refrigerator. Then. After taking out a snack and eating it…

"WAIT, WHY IS TOHSAKA-SAN HERE!!!!!?"

"Hey, Tohsaka-san! It's not 'hello'. What are you doing here at this time!?" After swallowing her snack, Fuji-Nee marches into the living room.

"Emiya-kun is treating me to dinner. As for you, aren't you lacking a bit of common courtesy, coming in here without ringing the doorbell?" The Tohsaka army calmly counterattacks Fuji-Nee.

"Ugh… I-I'm a supervisor here! Shir―――Emiya-kun's dad put me in charge here, so I'm like family here!"

"I see. Then I shall formally greet you. Hello, Fujimura-Sensei. I spent the whole day here. I will continue to study for the exam with Emiya-kun after dinner, but please do not mind us."

"Wha―――Shirou… no, Emiya-kun! What is the meaning of this!? Since when did you decide to hold a study session with Tohsaka-san!?"

"Sensei? Please do not push yourself if it is hard to address him that way. It does not concern me how you may call Emiya-kun. I do not care if you call him by his name or with '-chan' added on. I respect people's privacy."

"Ugh―――Tohsaka-san, did you hear about it from Sakura-chan…?" "I cannot say what Matou-san was talking about, since I must respect her privacy as well. But I wish it is as you imagine."

Fuji-Nee falters in front of Tohsaka's smile. …I understand how Fuji-Nee feels. You feel pressured and cornered when she makes that smile…

"―――I guess the match is decided. I can leave them now." Actually, it wasn't even a match to begin with. It's only a matter of time before Tohsaka talks Fuji-Nee down. I'll let Tohsaka take care of it and I'll go cook dinner――――

The snow stops before the pot is empty. It only snowed for about two hours, so I bet there's only a bit of snow out there.

"Shirou, I put the dishes in the sink." "Oh, thanks. I'll go wash them real quick." I get up and head to the kitchen.

"Are you doing the dishes? Maybe I should do it. It doesn't balance out if I'm the only one getting treated." Tohsaka gets up as Fuji-Nee sits down. The proposal is delightful, but I can't let a guest do the dishes.

"No, you'll just owe me one. Just sit there since you just ate. And Fuji-Nee, you're to go prepare the bath." "All right, I know." Fuji-Nee is obedient, maybe because she's full now. It'd be easy for me if she were always like this, but that'd be kind of boring as well.

"Oh." I dropped another plate. It's been twenty minutes since I started doing the dishes. This is the second plate I've dropped on the floor.

"……Hm." I can't excuse myself saying that it's because my left hand is numb. I must be lacking concentration if I'm dropping dishes because of such a small problem.

"――――――――" I calmly think for a second that I should put it off until my left arm heals, but I shake off the idea.

I roll up my sleeves and continue with the dishes. I can only accept it if it's some outside factor, but I can't accept an internal factor causing it. There's no way I can't win against myself, so I can't admit defeat.

"Hm――――" As a result, I recklessly increase the damage. This is the third plate I've dropped. I put a towel below me after I dropped the first one, so it fortunately did not break.

So it shouldn't be a problem, but―――― "――――――――" It's really awkward having Tohsaka's eyes on me every time I drop a plate.

"…Fujimura-Sensei. Is Emiya-kun always like that?" I can hear Tohsaka from the living room.

"Don't be stupid. Shirou has never broken a plate before. I bet he's nervous because you're here." Because you're his enemy. Fuji-Nee adds.

"――――――――" Tohsaka ignores her and stares at me.

"……" …This is hard. Half my body is numb, so if she watches me and distracts me―――whoa.

"Damn." I cluck my tongue and look down at the broken plate. This is the fourth one now. I knew I was going to drop it, but I couldn't move my left hand quickly enough. "……" I slowly look behind me…

"――――――――" …She's watching me. Tohsaka is observing me really closely.

Then. She suddenly gets up and comes over here.

"Emiya-kun. I'll do it, so you go and rest." "But…" "Don't step on the broken plate, okay? I can figure out where to put what, so you can go drink some tea." Tohsaka rolls up her sleeves and stands by the sink.

"――――――――" I guess it can't be helped. It's hard to stop Tohsaka once she makes up her mind, and to be honest… …It's vexing, but Tohsaka looks so beautiful when she's washing the dishes that I'm fascinated by her figure.

Fuji-Nee's the only one in the living room when I get out of the bath. Tohsaka's shoes are still at the entrance, and I bet Saber's at the dojo.

It's almost nine o'clock now. I――――

0 notes

flingmetothemoon · 11 months ago

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The-Quill-Warrior's idea of Amy's Piko Piko Hammer if it has more rocket powers.

Description: Going from Simpsons to Sonic… HELP ME WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME

But anyway, this is an idea that sparked in my head when I was fandreaming about the Sonic franchise. What if Amy Rose's Piko Piko Hammer had a rocket function? Wouldn't that be something?

She could deal even more damage, with quicker versatility and agility, and as a bonus, she could even flip it upside down and ride it like a jet-powered scooter! It sounded so cool to me, that I had to get it down on paper. Even though Sega's probably not gonna do something like this, I just thought it was at least worth jotting down.

The idea came to me after I thought about how Amy could be playable in Sonic's boost-style gameplay, as well as when I was thinking about King Dedede's Jet Hammer from Super Smash Bros.

I call it the "Piko Rowsh Hammer" because apparently "piko" is the sound the hammer makes when struck (I personally don't hear it.) So I thought about adding a rocket sound effect to that name; something like "RRRRROWWWSSSSSSH!!", and that's why I call it the "Piko Rowsh Hammer". It can also be called the "Love Rocket Hammer".

Also, Amy's design in this is not my idea. I took the liberty of using the design made by the endlessly talented Shira-hedgie, because I think it is the best design for Amy that I've seen in a while. Also, she's a wildly talented artist who is a master of expression and movement. And she can draw Sonic characters amazingly well. I highly recommend you watch her; her stuff is great!

Also, if you didn't notice, I went for a different art style this time from what I'm accustomed to, just to see if it really works. So far I like it, but it might need some tweaking. What do you guys think of it?

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

Oh but that doesn't end there, I commented to express my even cooler idea… C:<

Imagine that along with a switch to open up an opening on each side of the hammer where she can blast pink energy balls and lasers or pull out spikes and break through solid rock, landmass and flesh easier, or maybe even a switch that activates all of the above! Imagine all of that among with the fact that she can multiply more hammers out of thin air as shown in Sonic X and the theory you wanna go with the idea that her golden rings on her wrists could be limiters that Shadow wears, what if she takes them off and fights off with her new upgraded hammers in all of her GLORY! :D One thing she have to be careful with is for the love of Chaos, DON'T CRUSH SONIC WITH THEM! X'D

Also, the edges of the hammer can serve as wheels and the handle can pull out 2 another smaller handles to hold onto and she can ride her hammer like a Segway. She can do this or fly on it with rocket fuel to save up as much stamina as possible. With these powers and abilities, she can beat multiple enemies 10x her size and natural strength! :O

But she doesn't have to be the only one to be this deadly, besides his X-Tornado, remember when Tails can summon an arm cannon to shoot out energy balls, flicking hands, and tail swipe?

(I like to think on the other side from this fanart by artsonx is another arm cannon he can use on his other hand so he can shoot from both directions) Well perhaps he can get bigger impact from using these attacks by using a gadget that is like his rocket propelled ice skates, except with more rocket hoverers on the bottom instead of ice skates to boost his speed and so then he won't always tire his tails out.

So then you'll get a young yet determined power couple full of passion who can be able to stand on their feet in battle without needing to stand by the sidelines cheering on Sonic to do all the hero work for them when he just wants to explore the world around him and chill. Tails needs to believe in himself and Amy believes in him. I loved it when they seemed to spent more time with each other than with their own supposed idol combined in Sonic X and I miss that aspect. 💛🦊🌹💗

I think that the reason why Sega, IDW and Archie never really let Amy and Tails have moments together is because they knew that deep down putting the two of them together would bring nothing but mischievous chaos.

Like imagine:

Tails being as smart as he is with his inventions and determination guiding him and Amy with her impressive strength and fiery drive fueling her, they would make the most deadliest ass kicking duo. Like they would ruin lives if they were given more time to interact and yet they never really do and thus that makes Sega, IDW, and Archie absolute cowards-

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic #Miles “Tails” Prower #Tails #Amy Rose #Tailamy #Tails X Amy #Sadist Amy Rose #Amy is powerful agenda #Amy Rose is the secret third ultimate lifeform theory #Magical girl #Amy Rose is a magical girl theory #Essay #Analysis #Character dynamics #Tails is a kitsune theory #Cloudy chats #Power couple

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save-the-villainous-cat · 3 years ago

Note

Hello there Villain, I would like to request Snippet of a Hero getting sedated and when they wake up, they remember and/or Villain reminds them of all the (Embarrassing, Awkward, Cute, etc...) things they said in their delirious state and Hero is just wallowing in embarrassment, which Villain finds adorable. Thank You -Sidekick

The hero woke up to the most terrible sound on earth — the ringing of a digital alarm clock.

Said terrible sound hammered through their skull and assaulted their brain with a ridiculous amount of strength and patience. In a desperate attempt to stop this violence, the hero turned around and smashed their arm on the alarm clock. When the cursed piece of plastic still continued to torture their brain, the hero clenched a deadly fist and nearly destroyed the thing without looking at it.

At least the ringing stopped.

“Not a morning person, huh?” The hero groaned at the sound of the villain’s voice. It was nothing more than another evil that waited for their downfall. Just like the alarm clock. The hero played with the thought of picking it up and throwing it at the villain’s head. However, that would have required definite dedication to raise their own head and the pillow was just so damn seductive right now.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fuck off, you heathen,” the hero mumbled, their words muffled by the incredulously soft pillows. They sank right into them, letting the fabric swallow them whole. God, they had never felt more comfortable.

“My, my. You should be nicer when you’re in my sheets.” Oh no.

The hero’s head jumped up and they turned around in the bed which was, in truth, not theirs as they frantically searched for the villain’s eyes. Once they had found them, their own gaze slid across their body. The villain’s hair was wet — probably from a very early shower, the villain seemed to be that kind of person — but they were already dressed.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t realise,” the villain said. The hero felt the heat poking in their cheeks and they averted their eyes instantly. No, they had not realised that it was the villain’s bed.

They sat up and pulled the blanket closer, a desperate attempt to cover their —how one quick look down revealed— sparsely clothed body. How on earth did they end up in the villain’s bed?

“Wait, we didn’t…no, we did not…” The hero didn’t remember much but they felt like a night with the villain would be unforgettable. Also, they were pretty sure nothing scandalous had happened because the villain was too calm for that. Not a hint of the disgusting embarrassment the hero felt was in their enemy’s gaze.

“No, we did not. However, you offered a great show for everyone who was willing to endure your terrible slurring and cursing.” The hero frowned which hurt and they wanted to fall back into the heaven the villain’s pillows were.

“Wait, was I drunk? What the fuck happened? I remember nothing.”

“That seems to happen when you pay sketchy bars which are full of villains a visit. I still don’t know what you were doing there but someone thought it to be funny to put something into your drink. Twenty minutes later, you were almost on the supervillain’s lap and telling them all your little secrets.” The villain’s jaw set. “I had enough pity to drag you out and bring you home.”

They had their I-am-going-to-murder-someone-expression but that dissolved quickly when the hero spoke up.

“Wait, was it some kind of truth serum shit?” The hero acted unbothered but in secret, their brain worked on suppressing to be kicked into panic mode.

“I don’t know. You were pretty out of it. And the things you said when I brought you home…I’m not sure if it was the truth.” The villain’s now sober expression turned playful. They put the glass of water in their hand to their lips, a smile forming. “But if it was, you know where to find me.”

They took a sip.

“Oh, come on. What could I have possibly said? I have barely secrets. You already know my identity, so it can’t be that bad.”

“You described on several occasions numerous ways to have sexual intercourse with me.”

Upon hearing that they just…they just stopped. All of their body systems came to a total halt. The hero couldn’t say anything. They couldn’t move, they couldn’t breathe — all they could do was stare and try not to die of embarrassment. Which seemed more impossible every second such suggestive scenes scorched into their brain.

This was terrible.

“Was funny, actually. You’re quite creative.” The villain placed the glass on the dresser and through their blurred vision, the hero saw them coming closer. The hero had zoned out completely. Nevertheless, they felt that their body was still working as blood rushed to their face like a river would in a valley. God, this was awful.

The villain sat down on their bed and the hero could feel the mattress obey under the villain’s weight.

“Don’t worry. The other villains didn’t get to hear that, those lovely sentences were reserved for my ears only.” The villain tapped the tip of the hero’s nose with their finger, forcing the hero to wake up out of their personal limbo of embarrassment. They turned to the villain, too stubborn to look away.

They had known the villain for a long, long, time. Longer than they should have. Their history was rich. Full of team-ups and betrayals and tears and hugs.

Despite their weekly fights, the villain was the closest person the hero had in their life. And sure, maybe they were deeply desperate to connect with them even more. But…they wanted to burn that part of themselves. It was embarrassing and wrong and it hurt because it wasn’t meant to be more than a hypothetical dream.

The horror was apparently deeply fried into the hero’s eyes.

“No need to be ashamed.” The villain grinned and bit their bottom lip. “It was surely no truth serum.”

Both of them knew that was a lie.

#sorry I post this a little late #I got interrupted while writing #by a certain someone #writing snippet #heroxvillain snippet #heroxvillain prompt #heroes and villains #hero #villain #heroxvillain #hero x villain #an answer for an ask #request #suggestive

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magnoliawitchcraft · 2 years ago

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HOLD A FUNERAL FOR YOUR OLD HEART

I have been thinking a lot about grief. Probably because I have been doing it pretty consistently. Sometimes I feel as if I am getting worse. Other times I feel as if I am getting better. But it sits like a cannonball on my chest. It caves in my ribs and hollows me. But that's part of my practice, learning to sit with it. Letting time pass and heal with people I love and devotion to my practice. A victory only won through patience and the gifts of others.

That being said, I am also crazy.

So I did what any stellar, big bosomed, dramatic woman of my stature would do. I threw a party. If you're still reading, you might be interested in throwing a fun'eral for your old, broken heart too. I know I did. Fuck it, that bitch will be back in a week. Here's how I did mine. You're going to need:

-empty box (make it small, like a cardboard jewelry box or a matchbook)

- piece of paper

- something to draw with, but the more time you put into the drawing, the better.

- Something to light this on fire (don't be stupid, stupid. It's not witchcraft if it's not fire safe).

THE PROCESS

Draw your heart. Make it however you want. Runes, sigils, art, secrets. Something worth devotion and time, literally put your heart into it. For easy prompt, write down what you feared and what's worth acknowledging and letting go of.

Put that shit in the box (if you're Yzma from the Emporer's New Groove, put that box in another box. And then mail that box to yourself. And then smash it with a hammer.)

Now here comes the fun part. Throw yourself a party. Just for you. Alone. Get all dressed up in your best goth outfit. There are musts in witchcraft, but theatrics for this spell is a mist. Play the most over dramatic funeral music you can. Like "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. Or "Wind Beneath my Wings" by Bette Midler. Lean into the silliness of the whole event. Make sure that you are along and have a genuinely nice time by yourself. And when you're done putting on this show for yourself, read the person who you were a eulogy. This is the one serious part of this entire endeavor.

-THE EULOGY-

This is the hard part because you have to be kind to the person who you were. You have to be kind to the part of yourself that feels yucky. Self love isn't always accessible, but you're by yourself. This is a good time to practice one action of self kindness. Depending on where you are emotionally, you might not have the practice and strength to be able to perform self kindness. If not, you're more than welcome to base yours of mine.

For me I wrote something like this:

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to honor the passing of me.

From one point of time to the next, I will move and transform. The person who I was is honored here. They are at rest within the casket of time. You have taught me much, but I no longer wish to be ruled by you. Thank you for serving me well. May your rest be sweet and warm. I ask for your guidance and protection cares and informs me."

This concludes the eulogy.

-THE BURIAL-

It's time to bury your heart! This is an important step because the earth heals all that is returned to it. There are lots of ways to give your old heart a burial. The traditional way of burying it in the earth is most conventional (if it's not biodegradable like plastic or glass, don't put it in the ground, we share the earth with critters). However you can also:

- burn it

- let it down a stream

- put it deep in the garbage

- scatter it to the wind

- take it to a park and leave it underneath a bush and then when you try to get on the bus you realize you were late to the bus and then wait 20 minutes for the next bus because you're not psychic just a witch

Regardless, there is one final offering that we leave for the person that we were. That is the joy of living now. Before leaving or releasing your heart in its coffin, thank your heart and tell it a story. Sing it a song. From your body and breath, speak words of promise for tomorrow. While the old heart might not be able to come with, the new heart will experience enough joy for the person you are and the person you were.

Now get on the bus and listen to some 70s disco. Congrats on the fun'eral, go celebrate.

May the gifts of the earth be ceaseless at your hearth.

<3 Magnolia

#death witch #paganblr #folk witch #the morrigan #spellwork #death magic #coping with grief #griefjourney #magick #midwest gothic #liminal spaces #irishwitchcraft

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admirableadmiranda · 3 years ago

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Debts and balances: or how much does one man have to pay over the course of his life?

Good morning everyone! Today we’re going to be talking about debts, and why Jiang Cheng needs to shut the fuck up on debts because he is the one in the wrong pretty much the entire time.

Let’s start by acknowledging that I am not of this culture so I may perhaps state a thing or two wrong, but I also have several functioning brain cells to rub together and I pay attention so I will probably be more right than most of the “hot takes” I see on why Jiang Cheng is not actually in the wrong here. Because he is. He so is.

So, debts. First of all, there are multiple levels and layers of debts and to whom do you owe them too. So let’s start with the first one where the story is subtle about it and yet both Jiang Cheng and Madam Yu are in the wrong. We know that Cangse Sanren saved Jiang Fengmian’s life at one point when they were young. Life debts are big. To only be alive because of someone else’s actions is a debt that it is possible you will never be able to pay back. There are multiple stories of otherwise good people protecting the obvious villain because they owe that.

Jiang Fengmian’s only way of being able to pay back that debt after Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze die is to take care of their child and raise him how they would have. I.E, as a cultivator. This is not a debt that Wei Wuxian owes to the Jiangs. It is quite literally, the least of what Jiang Fengmian owes him and his parents to do.

Jiang Cheng cannot claim that Wei Wuxian owes them for his life. He is wrong.

Next debt that even Jiang Cheng does not try to claim, only his ever so pleasant stans, the fucking dogs. The fucking dogs that he does not actually give a fuck about.

Wei Wuxian does not ask anyone to do anything about the dogs. He is not in a mental state to. He is in a state of triggered phobia where his brain literally goes into run away screaming mode. This is also not funny and Jiang Cheng is a jackass for making fun of it whenever it happens. Jiang Fengmian is the one who decides that it’s better for the dogs to go. Even though Jiang Cheng is upset, he does not actually hold this as a lingering grudge against Wei Wuxian. He lets it the fuck go. And even if he didn’t, the resentment and anger should be aimed at the person who actually made a decision about it. Not Wei Wuxian. He does not give one singular fuck about his dogs later on. Let the fucking dogs go.

Third off: The Fall of Lotus Pier. There are different levels of blame that we can lay on this. Wei Wuxian is not close to responsible for this. Jiang Cheng knows this and elects to blame him anyway.

The first people we can lay the blame on the fall of Lotus Pier is the Wens, who came with ships, warriors, Wang Lingjiao to rile up the notoriously short tempered asshole Madam Yu, and Wen Zhuliu the Core-Melting Hand. They came prepared for battle and they got what they wanted. Madam Yu is the second one we can lay the blame on, for deciding to attack and demean Wang Lingjiao, not for making her do anything she didn’t want to do, because holy hell did she want to whip Wei Wuxian until he couldn’t move and leapt at the chance to do such a thing, but because Wang Lingjiao is a servant who was elevated by her lover and Madam Yu is a classist asshole. This is the only reason she flips out. Wei Wuxian did nothing wrong. Wei Wuxian does not have the blood of Lotus Pier on his hands, he is tied to Jiang Cheng and told to protect him at the cost of his life, a debt he does not owe.

The four debt he attempts to claim, the only one that might be considered to have some teeth if it weren’t for how much Wei Wuxian gives him back almost immediately. Jiang Cheng goes to distract the Wens from Wei Wuxian and ends up getting captured and losing his golden core. So first off, in this world a golden core is a lot to lose, I won’t deny that. But, first off, Wei Wuxian is only in danger because after being whipped a lot, then strangled, then having to run after Jiang Cheng multiple times because he would rather go die at Lotus Pier than listen to either of his parents and escape, he still goes into town to get them something to eat because otherwise Jiang Cheng would rather lie on the ground and die. Fucking great sect leadership there, huh Jiang Cheng? But yes, Jiang Cheng sees the Wens, sees them notice Wei Wuxian, goes off to distract them and then gets captured and loses his golden core.

Now we’re getting to some of the debts that Jiang Cheng owes and refuses to pay back, because that’s definitely going to get him far in this world. Wei Wuxian in his panic and attempt to find Jiang Cheng, finds Wen Ning, who after some struggles manages to convince him that he can sneak in and get Jiang Cheng back out. In addition, he also retrieves the bodies of Madam Yu and Jiang Fengmian. This is huge. Jiang Cheng now owes him both a life debt for again, saving his life at great cost to his own: Wen Ning is literally committing treason here, and also for restoring the lost honor of not being able to bury his parents properly. Wen Ning gives them a proper burial and later after the war he is able to lie them to rest in the Ancestors Hall so their spirits will be at peace and he will have fulfilled his fillial duties. By all means, the debt he owes Wen Ning in particular is so great that he should have taken in every Wen in those camps and sheltered them because it is as close as he will ever get to repaying that debt. And that’s just Wen Ning!

The next debt he owes and refuses to pay is to Wen Qing, a genius doctor and respected by Wen Ruohan, who uses the prestige and skills she has to protect both him and Wei Wuxian in at this point enemy territory when they are being actively searched for, being the new sect leader and head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang. She hides them and then later uses her skills to give him a new golden core so that he can go and fight back against his people, revitalizing his clan and eradicating hers. This is another debt that could only really be paid back by protecting her people if she came to him. He owes her literally his life, his power and his people.

The third debt he owes and refuses to pay is to Wei Wuxian, who more than overbalances the scales back in his favor by giving him his golden core. He pays his chance at immortality, his power, his strength, his cultivation, everything that he has to his name so that Jiang Cheng won’t starve himself to death over losing his core. In addition, he tells Jiang Cheng that this comes from a once in a lifetime favor from his mother’s master so even before when he didn’t know about the core, this is still a massive, massive debt, a limitless one time favor from an immortal that he uses Wei Wuxian’s chance to get and never actually thanks him. So at this point, his own golden core as a debt starts to seem a little hollow. Either way, it’s been repaid. An action you do in service of someone else is not a weapon you get to hold over their heads for multiple lives.

Moving on! The next debt he would like to claim is that Wei Wuxian apparently has no right to do things he does not approve of. Excuse me? Is he now a computer program that crashed? What the fuck Jiang Wanyin? Wei Wuxian has less rank than him, although Jiang Cheng is so high rank in this society that he only shares his rank with three other people and there’s no one above him so it would be very hard for him to not be, but he is still a person, with his own thoughts, wishes, dreams, hopes and beliefs. He is not an extension of your hand, to make your clan look good and stand behind you as a hammer to smash on people. Wen Qing goes to Wei Wuxian to ask for help for finding her brother, her people because they are literally being tortured to death. This is a debt that by all means, Jiang Cheng should be repaying. See that part where Wen Ning committed treason to help him and restore his family’s honor? See that part where Wen Qing literally gave him the ability to go back to war against her family? This is the point where anyone with honor would recognize this is the only thing I can do. I will throw myself on my sword if I must, but I must repay this debt to them. There is nothing less I can do. But Jiang Cheng has only the honor of a mangy cur and ignores this, and when Wei Wuxian goes to fulfill this debt, he tells him to stop. To him, his multiple life debts are an inconvience to shoving his nose so far up Jin Guangshan’s ass that he’s tasting what he had for dinner that day.

The next debt that he would like to claim is the death of his brother in law. This is a debt that Wei Wuxian would owe to specific people. This debt is to Jiang Yanli, Jin Guangshan and Jin Ling, one of whom is wanting to forgive it, one who is too small to decide at the time, and one who straight up does not give a fuck beyond advancing his power. Jiang Cheng is not one of these people. His sister is fine, she’s not his concern anymore, she’s a part of the Jin sect. The only reason why he died is that Jiang Cheng decided the best way to repay his debt to Wei Wuxian was to throw a temper tantrum and declare him an enemy to everyone, ripping out every support from under his feet. Regardless, Jiang Cheng is an asshole and does not get to claim this debt.

The final one of Wei Wuxian’s first life that he keeps hurling at him is the death of his sister...the death of his sister who chose to leap between Wei Wuxian and a sword. The death of his sister at a battle that broke out because Jiang Cheng has been with Jin Guangshan whipping the cultivation world into a frenzy against the Wens and Wei Wuxian because of power and jealousy. The battle that would have not happened if they’d left them alone. Jiang Cheng has been to the burial mounds. He has seen the farmers, he has seen the baby there. He has decided that rather than do anything to repay these various deaths, he will kill them on other people’s swords instead. Because he is also a coward and won’t pick fights he can’t win. In addition he likes to steal Yanli’s agency, she’s the one who chose to come, she’s the one who chose to get in the way and she doesn’t die with regrets. And she is not his debt to claim. Again, the one who actually gets to claim this death that Wei Wuxian is not responsible for is Jin Ling, who actually shapes up and decides that it doesn’t matter, he doesn’t blame Wei Wuxian for it. He forgives him his role in that space and moves the fuck on, unlike a certain sir stabby grape mcwhipinnoencts.

And then Wei Wuxian dies and any debts he may have still owed to Jiang Cheng, not that there were any, die with him. Jiang Cheng has no claim on him, he was not part of his sect, they were not brothers in any way, indeed Jiang Cheng called him his enemy. Even most people with far more real grudges at this point would let it go. Wei Wuxian is so dead that no one can find his soul, no matter how hard they look. He comes back to life and reaps the rewards of his actions, finding new allies, getting the chance to actually interact with Jin Ling and make his apologies, and in the end, settle down to a peaceful life with an adoring husband and nothing left to be repaid. If there is still a debt he owes, it is only to Mo Xuanyu, who gave up his entire cycle of life to let Wei Wuxian reincarnate early with his memories, a sacrifice he only asked for repayment in the death of his family. He may owe more still, but that is all Mo Xuanyu wanted from him in repayment for this great sacrifice. The cultivation world is in the wrong when they’re trying to persecute him again for the actions of his previous life, he owes them nothing anymore. The debts he carries towards Jin Ling are the ones he chooses to take on, feeling guilty that he grew up without his parents due to the world’s general actions and also no one else taking responsibility for how far things fell.

That is what Jiang Cheng finally realizes in the temple, crouched on the floor and sobbing like a spoiled child over the golden core sacrifice. Is that he is in the wrong and has been in the wrong the whole time. That there is nothing he can hold onto, no debt that Wei Wuxian ever owed him that he could demand to be paid. He built it all up in his head as he left his honor, his family and his dignity in the wake of his arrogance. And it’s a painful thing to realize, the consequences of your decisions, but all he can do is live with his own ruined reputation, his own loneliness and the fact that no one wants to be around him. He’s blacklisted by multiple matchmakers, his disciples are more like thugs, Wei Wuxian chooses every opportunity to get away from him and even Jin Ling likes him less and less over the course of the book, not forgetting that he seems to prefer Jin Guangyao to begin with as he actually talks to him sometimes and doesn’t hit him. Jiang Cheng refusing to pay his debts gives him exactly what a debt deserter deserves. No one has a reason to trust him. The one bit of positive character growth he does is giving up and not trying to reel him back in by telling him of the sacrifice. At this point, all it would be is just him trying to get another debt he cannot hold because it is long since repaid, never quite made up for what they gave him to make up for it, and worthless in the face of Wei Wuxian’s new life. Wei Wuxian owes him nothing and never has.

Also, just to tally up the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng on things given between the two of them, Jiang Cheng gives him: a lot of whinging on how unfair it is that Wei Wuxian is a prodigy, and a one time immediately regretted and held over his head sacrifice of a golden core. Whereas Wei Wuxian gives him: many lessons on how to be a kinder person that he ignores, the patience and tolerance of his stinkbug attitude, his love, his affection, his fucking golden core, his reputation, his blood, his livelihood, taking over his debts, trying to keep any of his actions from reflecting on the Jiangs even though if Jiang Cheng had repaid any of the debts he owed, there would have been no problems because if the Jin’s did decide to attack, Wei Wuxian would fight back and he can level battle fields on his own, his honor, his relationships, and even his life in the end, because if Wei Wuxian had ever turned on him like he claimed, he would have been a bloody smeared spot on the ground. And Jiang Cheng gobbles this all up and demands more with Wei Wuxian’s blood and tears dribbling from his mouth.

Would you give that much for someone who doesn’t treat you well? Would you find that a reasonable price to pay for someone who demeans you at every opportunity, who tells you you deserve your misfortunes and that no one likes you? Why are you surprised that in the end Wei Wuxian would rather walk away with people who care about him, why he gives up, leaves any opportunity for anything in Jiang Cheng’s hands. Wei Wuxian has given more than any person should for almost nothing. It is a sign of triumph and victory, of recognizing his own worth and value in the world and who he wants to be with, that he leaves, that he walks away with his head held high. He owes Jiang Cheng nothing, and Jiang Cheng will just have to fucking live with that.

#mdzs #jiang cheng #canon jiang cheng #let's talk about debt #long post #let's use fuck as a exclamation mark #modaozushi is the story of walking away from an abusive relationship and we should recognize that #no yunmeng reconciliation #wei wuxian #wei wuxian did nothing wrong #addressing common misconceptions when it comes to debts to be paid #let's stop excusing Jiang Cheng avoiding paying any of his debts

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yandere--stuck · 3 years ago

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Grim - Yandere!Grimdark!John x Reader

[Warnings: Suggestive, graphic body horror, mentions of blood and gore]

---

John had watched you die. Not long after he had died himself.

He had seen the dead body of his father, lying on the floor beside Rose's mother. The scent of wine mixed with the stench of blood and death, making the Heir wrinkle his nose in disgust.

He didn't know why he didn't cry. He didn't cry at a lot of things. He didn't know why. Maybe he never learned how.

Or, maybe, it was the comfort of your presence at his side. The feel of your arm brushing against his, the sound of your voice hitching in shock. Even if he no longer had his father…. At least, he had you.

Maybe Dave had been right, the game had been bad news. They probably shouldn't have played it. Really, it had only brought ruin into their lives - into the lives of all it touched.

But it's not like they were the only harbingers of the apocalypse. And if you all hadn't played it… He could have lost you. It's not like he wanted to die, or that he didn't care about his dad or his friends, but you were the most important thing in the world to him.

Really, the main reason he had wanted to play was to finally see you, one on one. Rose was his best friend, but he felt disappointed that you weren't his server player, and jealousy at Jade being your client player. But, finally, to close the loop, he was your server player.

His excitement in seeing you, taking in everything about you, made him lose himself, and he ended up smashing his face against the screen of his laptop. The exhilaration and euphoria of seeing you and serving you almost overpowered the terror at the prospect of you dying, of you not making it to your planet in time.

But, you did eventually make it. The relief made John's heart burst with joy, hugging his laptop to his chest, trying to imagine the warmth of the machine was your own body heat. He made goo-goo eyes at you through the screen, resisting the urge to kiss the pixels that made up your form.

He had to continue making progress, but he was terrified of you getting hurt - so, he alchemized his glasses to include a screen that displayed your status in the game. This way, he could check up on you and carry you with him, outside of pesterchum, at least.

Vriska kept pestering him, eventually convincing him to fall asleep on his quest bed, saying something about "god tiers", apparently it was something even higher than the usual tiers on one's echeladder.

The next thing he remembered was awaking on some sort of chess board-esque battlefield with some little chess guys on it. Luckily, he was able to borrow his dad's car in the meantime (good thing his dad had gotten on his ass about *finally* getting his driver's license… Though, did he really need one if he was controlling it with his new windy powers?) And he had even managed to reunite with dear, sweet, precious Liv Tyler! Though… She was a lot more robot-y than before.

The thought of sharing her with you made him absolutely giddy! And the idea of you being a co-parent to Casey… God, it made him smile so hard his face hurt!

And! He had even gotten a cool hammer! You'd certainly be impressed by his strength and his cool moves. John would prove himself to be a great, protective boyfriend for sure!

A looming darkness caught his attention, and he felt himself pulled toward it. It seemed to come from a large castle shrouded in darkness. It didn't seem to be natural, like from a thunderstorm. It didn't seem to be from a fire either, the darkness neither smoky nor smelt of burning.

His eyes widened as he focused on something in the midst of the darkness - and he let out a gasp when he realized it was you!

He kicked into gear, rushing to meet you. You were dressed in your dream planet pajamas - and you looked so cute in them! As you turned, hearing him approach, he had to fight the urge to not fling himself at you, pulling you into a tight embrace as he spun you around in his arms.

He shook himself out of his daydream as you spoke to him, explaining that you had seen the darkness, as well, and wanted to investigate. It seemed to be coming from within the castle. Of course, John offered to accompany you inside. If anything went south, he'd be there for back-up!

He had to hide his grin and blush as the two of you ventured in, you sliding up beside him for reassurance.

Walking through the cavernous halls of the castle, you were horrified to find the bodies of so many innocent people strewn about, blood and viscera covering the walls and floors. The bodies, as alien as they may have been, were clearly. This was a massacre.

But, beside you, John felt… Nothing. It was sad, sure, but… You were still alive. And that was all that mattered, really!

You jumped when you stumbled upon a living person, John moving in front of you protectively. You held your breath as the figure turned, revealing…

Rose?

Though, she looked much different than what little you had seen of her. Her skin had turned a ghoulish gray, her eyes as black as night, and her eyes seemed to glow, illuminating her face. And a darkness seemed to surround her. It emanated off of her, stretching above her like tendrils.

Could… Could Rose have done this?

John seemed completely unfazed, greeting Rose with a wave, saying something about her "finally going grimdark."

Rose let out a noise that sounds something like a giggle, her lips quirking upwards. She tried to speak, but the words that came out… They weren't even words, you think. It sounded fuzzy, but also incredibly, painfully loud. It didn't sound like any noise a human could make, like TV static blaring in your ears, or switching through radio stations with no signals. It was suffocating and loud and- everywhere. It felt as though Rose's voice was everywhere, all around you, inside of you.

You were sure you let out a scream, but you only heard Rose's voice - even as you screwed your eyes shut and clamped your hands over your head, all you could hear was the noise…! It felt as though your ears were starting to bleed.

John's hands clamped down on your shoulders, bringing you back to the moment. You breathed heavily, chest rising and falling heavily as you tried to ground yourself.

Rose's eyes were full of guilt and concern, a pained expression on her face as she turned away.

As you tried to ground yourself and recover, you barely noticed John caressing your shoulder with a thumb. Nor did you see the deadly glare he sent to the back of Rose's head.

It's not like he didn't love Rose, but he loved you far, far more. If she ever hurt you again… He couldn't be held responsible for what he'd do.

The both of you followed Rose through the castle, the girl not able to bare turning around to face either of you. Still shaken up, you kept your head down, not wanting to look at the bodies or gore. John held you close to him, stroking your arms up and down to comfort you.

He had to fight not to smile, the feeling of your skin on his was electric.

Eventually, Rose guided the both of you out to a balcony of sorts - and you stopped dead, gasping in horror.

John's father and Rose's mother… Both dead on the ground. Murdered.

You couldn't help it, you turned to face John. The man's face was one of shock, his breathing shallow as he processed the scene in front of him.

His dad… He couldn't believe it. He had just seen him. He was right there… He felt his heart break.

Oh, and what was worse… You had to see something this awful! Oh, you poor thing! He had to get you away from here…!

But, everything happened so fast. All at once, a figure appeared - a man with the face of a dog and the body of one of the many, murdered chess people, armed with a sword. Instinctively, you stumbled back - and John turned, reaching out for you, terrified of losing you.

Before he could even call out for you, his words got choked up in his throat, replaced with nothing but blood. Pain exploded from his abdomen and his back, ocean eyes widening as they focused on the sword going straight through him.

The figure pulled the sword free, the Heir grunting in pain as his organs were ripped apart, blood gushing from his open wounds. As John fell to his knees, trying desperately to hold himself up, he spat out blood onto the white, marble floor. Slowly, he sank to the floor, eyes growing dim as, in his last moments, he tried to find you.

---

Coming back to life, John found, was a lot like waking up - the slow awareness of consciousness, the disorientation. A sudden burst of energy hit the man as he felt himself be rejuvenated, colors exploding across his vision. He blinked as he regained his sight, the world fading in from white. He swiveled his head, trying to find you.

In the distance, he could see Rose and the dog-man battling over the battlefield, blasting off magical attacks at one another. His heart pounded in his chest.

If she was there, then where were you?

Looking down, he surveyed the balcony. The body of his father, Rose's mother, and-

Oh. Oh, God. God, no, please!

The Heir felt tears strain at his eyes, his mouth pulled into a pained, horrifying grimace. He fell hard to his knees, kneeling above your body.

"No, no, please!" He choked out a sob. "Please, please, wake up!"

John clutched at your body, fisting the fabric of your pajamas in his hands as he shook you, desperately trying to get you to regain consciousness. He could feel his eyes and cheeks begin to sting with tears. His breathing was shallow and fast, having to use his powers to try to even it out.

He sobbed, all words incomprehensible by now. He let out sobbing screams as he clutched your body close to him, already feeling the warmth leaving you. He pressed, desperate, messy kisses to your lips and face - but, it was no use. Your real body and dreamself had both died.

He doesn't think he had ever cried before now. Only you made him feel so strongly. He loved you. He only loved you. He needed you. He couldn't lose you.

He couldn't.

Without you, life was meaningless. You were his only reason for playing this game. His only reason for doing anything - for living, for breathing. You were perfect. You were everything.

But, without you, there was no point. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair!

Grief and rage filled him to the brim. He grit his teeth and he screwed his eyes shut, eyebrows knitting together.

The air tasted of electricity, and without his knowing, the dark clouds that swirled from above dripped down and encircled him like an inky blaze.

And John let out a scream.

Or, at least, he had tried to. His cry had been cut off by inky, black tendrils forcing their way inside of his open mouth. The tentacles came from everywhere, from the gloomy clouds from above the darkness that surrounded the man.

The eldritch beings that had given the Lalonde her current state had felt power within John's rage and sorrow, as well. The outburst had drawn their attentions - feeding off the darkness within him. They would remake him in their image, as well…

John gagged as the tendrils snaked their way down his mouth and down his throat, his neck bulging from the amount of vines forcing their way down his throat. John could barely breathe, writhing in desperation to get air into his lungs. He tried to use his powers, trying to suck in air through his nose in an attempt to somehow get oxygen through the vines' air-tight hold in his throat - only to let out a strangled, muffled scream as tendrils slipped up into his nose, reaching up into his brain.

If he could have, John would have gurgled or spit up around the tendrils, but he didn't even have the ability to do even that. The Heir's limbs spasmed as he tried to reach up to yank the tendrils out, only for more to snap the man's arms against his torso. Even more came to wrap around John's legs, restraining his legs and tying them together.

More tears bubbled up from his eyes as he felt the tentacles curled around his legs, thighs, stomach and chest - almost caressing him, as if gently teasing him. The tender touches only served to contrast the agony of the tentacles spreading further into his body, ripping through his throat and into his stomach and intestines.

The pain was so unbearable that if he could have, he would have puked, but the tentacles blocking his throat and mouth would have never allowed him to do so.

John swore he could feel himself bleeding internally, but in truth it was the feel of the darkness spreading all throughout his body, taking hold of him, corrupting him. He could the darkness clog his arteries, wrap around his bones, fill him up to the very brim with itself - somehow, despite the unknowable agony he was in, John had managed to stay aware, but only barely.

Until, the tentacles that had filled up his nose plunged deep into his brain. The man's body jerked wildly, twitching and spasming as the darkness overtook and corrupted his mind. Dark grey overtook and crawled up his skin. His dark hair slowly turned from his natural hair to a stark white. His eyes, forced to say open, lost their irises and pupils as they were lost in an impossibly bright, growing white.

As the tendrils finally burrowed completely into John's body, deep inside him - a horrible scream erupted from his body, making the ground below him shake and crumble, inky darkness flowing like smoke from his open, shrieking maw, now filled with fangs.

---

You awoke with a start, taking deep gasping breaths. God, your head hurt, and your back wasn't exactly feeling any better. Felt like you slept on stone… Rubbing your head, you looked down, confirming that you had, in fact, slept on stone. It had a distinct symbol on it, and looking at the front of your new outfit, it seemed to share the exact color and symbol.

You stilled suddenly, blinking, realization washing over you. An ominous presence seemed to loom over you, making a shiver crawl up your spine. You turned, and jumped in place.

It was… John. Or, what looked like John. He grinned, looking upon with an eyeless stare. It reminded you of how Rose looked before. Had… Had whatever happened to her, happened to him, too?"

"John… What's going on?" You asked, eyes flitting around in confusion. Somehow, John had taken you all the way to your planet after you…

You…

You died, hadn't you?

"John…?" You settled your focus back on him, letting out a gasp as he pulled into an embrace.

A rumble seemed to emit from within his chest… Was… Was he purring?

You settled into his hold, trying to hide your nervousness. "What happened back there? What happened to you?"

John's expression flickered to one of nervousness, before opening his mouth to speak.

You let out a yell of pain, the sound all too familiar to you. It suffocated you, overpowering even your own yelling, incomprehensible, ear-bleeding static that seemed to drill straight into your eardrums, into your mind, and your very being.

You had only realized John had stopped attempting to speak when he clasped his hands over yours, easing them from your head and holding them in his own. Whimpers bubbled up from his throat as he leaned forward, nuzzling you.

You laughed nervously, detangling your hands from John's to pet at his now-white hair. "It- it's okay, John. We… We just need to find out how to get you back to normal, okay? And then, we can get back to Rose and the others and-"

You were cut off, letting out a soft grunt as John pushed you back down onto your quest bed. A powerful purr rumbled from within him, leaning down to kiss and lick at your neck.

You were stock still for a moment, before letting out a shocked laugh, not knowing how to react. Your hands wormed your way to his shoulders. You chuckled, trying to push him off of you. "John, I- now's really not the time-"

In one swift movement, the grimdark Heir was able to pin your wrists by your head, letting out a playful growl as he straddled you.

"John…" You could whimper, voice dying out.

John only responded by diving in, kissing and licking hungrily at your neck and shoulders, occasionally pressing hungry kisses to your face and lips, swallowing your whimpers and moans.

John's purrs seemed to surround you on all sides as he dug his teeth into your neck, claiming you as his own.

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lazypeachsoul · 4 years ago

Text

are you thanking me or your god? - u.r.

Pairing: Uhtred Ragnarsson x fem!reader.

Request: by @viktoria12 “Hey can you write a imagine with Uhtred? The content is up to you🙏”

Warnings: Nothing.

Word count: 1.601 words.

A/N: I have to admit this was a bit tricky because I've never read uhtred imagines. But it was fun, i really like uhtred as a character. i hope you like it and I'm sorry it has taken me some time to post it.

Masterlist.

To be added to my taglist use this forms or write me an ask!

Winchester was the busiest it had been in a long time. With the coming of spring, the merchants were returning to the city to trade and spending too much time around the alehouse. Spirits were high after the blessing given by the priest on Easter and the year was expected to be calm and fruitful. Except for the danes lurking in the surrounding areas. But nobody would dare talk about that when it’s the Lord’s day.

Good weather meant people would go outside more, and therefore more gossip. Every turn you took on your way to the market, you would hear a different rumour. Most were about the health of the king, some were about the threat of a battle. You even heard one about danes walking around the city freely.

But your head was too centered on the task at hand. Abbess Hild had asked you to go to the market for flour and other necessities, and you wouldn’t dare disappoint the Abbess. You weren’t even a nun and you still followed her orders like a soldier.

Your house was close to the convent and, ever since you walked past the gates and into their garden when you were young, they had treated you like their family. Sometimes too much when it came to the boys your age. But they were only trying to protect you.

Sister Hild, later Abbess, had always surprised you. Not only did she have a strong will and personality, she was also physically strong. More than what a woman of god should be. but still, with all her strength, she needed you to go buy the necessities that they couldn’t get from their garden.

Too distracted by your thoughts and the gossiping going around, you collided against someone making you almost tumble to the dirt floor. If it hadn’t been for a quick hand grabbing your dresses you would be covered in mud and other disgusting stuff.

Looking up you saw a scruffy looking man, but not in a bad way surprisingly. This man looked almost too different from what you were used to seeing around Winchester. Something about his reaction told you he was trained, and the scars in his hands and handsome face gave away he was probably a soldier. For who is what you were curious to know.

Realizing the compromising position you found yourself on, with a man holding your dress, you quickly tried to regain your balance. The man let go and you tried to stutter an apology, but your attempts were stopped by a sweet but authoritative voice behind you.

“Uhtred! I was looking for you, we need to discuss…” Her voice got interrupted when she recognized you in front of the man. “What are you doing here, darling? I thought you would be in the market by now.”

“I tried Abbes, I just had a little-” You tried to speak but were interrupted by a deep voice. In a normal situation you would be angry at such interruption, but when you heard the voice you couldn’t really care about it.

“We had a small incident, Hild. Don’t worry, nobody is hurt.”

The voice fit the man perfectly. With a deep voice he spoke calmly and yet you could pick up a joking tone towards the Abbess. Who is this uhtred man? Why is he joking with Hild? But wait, how does Hild even know a man like him?

Full of curiosity you realized you were still standing between them. Clearing your throat you nodded at Hild and turned around with a smile to your saviour.

“Thank you Lord for helping me. I’m in your debt.” Nodding your head you moved past them, not missing the small smile on the man's face.

“You owe nothing to him, young lady. He's heathen. He doesn’t deserve your compassion.”

A loud laugh was heard from the man along with what sounded like a smack, probably to the leather of his armour. The words of the Abbess circled your brain for the rest of the day. So he was a heathen, a friend of Hild and incredibly handsome. Great, what a mysterious man.

After your chores were done and you took some time to relax outside of your house, the world seemed to dissipate around you. The soft sound of quick steps and panting made you look up from your dress, breaking the peace of your surroundings.

Eanflæd was running towards you, people looking her way either worried or weirded out by your young friend’s race. She reached you just in time to ungracefully collapse on the bench you were sitting on.

“Is everything okay, Eanflæd? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you run that fast. Not even when the chickens escaped.”

She was trying to regain her breath, but took the time to pinch your arm for the reminder of the chicken run.

“You...you…” She panted before taking a big breath. “You weren’t going to tell me you have been seeing the Dane-slayer.”

“Who?” You couldn’t hide your surprise.

The only person you had seen outside your family was the man who sold you the produce for the abbey. And also that man…

“Are you talking about Uhtred?”

“You know him enough you don’t even talk about him like a lord?”

You tried to hide your laugh but a small snort came out.

“I don’t know him. He merely saved me from an ugly fall this morning.” Shrugging you tried to dismiss the gossip. “But you do seem to know about him, so tell me…”

The next day didn’t allow for much thinking about ‘the Dane-slayer’. You had been working non stop in your father’s farm and everything hurt. But your mother has asked you to take some fresh eggs to her friend, and you couldn’t say no to your mother’s gentle face.

It was late enough for the ruckus of the market to have died down, but not enough for it to be dangerous or improper for a young woman to be walking around unaccompanied.

Too absorbed in your own thoughts you didn’t hear the neigh of the horse until it was too late for you to react. Looking at the animal getting closer you couldn’t help but try and pray that you would be saved, but no prayers came to your head at that moment.

Just when you were about to give up and close your eyes, something yanked you out of the way making you barely dodge the horse and the man on the cart who was yelling at you. Your heart was hammering in your chest, ears ringing and hands shaking. The eggs were no longer in your grasp but smashed against the floor, although in that moment you could make yourself care for them.

The same hand that had yanked you out of the way, spoon you around. Your saviour was none other than yesterday’s saviour. you really were in debt with this man now.

“Are you okay?” His voice was worried, a contrast to the day before’s joking tone.

Time seemed to slow while you assimilated what had happened. Probably too much time passed before you could answer but the man didn’t seem to care. When you could trust your voice to speak again, the words came out all at once.

“I was nearly trampled by someone’s horse in the street, but you stepped in just in time to get me out of the way even if it put you in danger as well.” He smiled at the jumbled words and after a deep breath you tried to regain your thoughts. “Thank you, lord.”

“Are you thanking me or your god?” Uhtred spoke and you knew he was trying to avoid your shock at the incident.

You thought about the answer and tried to smile, probably looking more like a grimace.

“Both? Yes, I think I’m thanking both.” Your voice lowered, probably to avoid other people hearing you talk that way about the Lord. “Both is good.”

He smiled and took a step back looking at you, probably checking for any injuries. The people of Winchester were used to accidents and didn’t normally care, but you could feel some stares on you. Probably because of Uhtred and his fame.

“You seem to be in one piece, can’t say the same for the eggs.” He pointed at the road.

“You have saved me twice now, lord. I might have to ignore the Abbess and ask you what I should do in return for you.”

“I wouldn’t ignore Hild. You don’t want to know what she can do with a sword.” He tried to dismiss the conversation but your curiosity only grew. “I only ask for one thing in return.”

You nodded, asking for him to continue and still trying to imagine Abbess hild wielding a sword. You knew he was a soldier, and a good one. But Hild? No, she was a woman of God.

“Stop distracting yourself when walking around. If you don’t you might end up like your eggs.”

“But if I stop getting distracted, what would you save me from, Dane-slayer?”

What possessed you in that moment to utter those words you couldn’t really say. You just knew it was not entirely proper and that if your mother heard your ear would hurt from the scolding. But the smirk on Uhtred’s face was worth it.

“So you know who I am. But I know nothing about you. Is that unfair?”

“I have my ways, Lord Uhtred. Maybe when you save me next time I could tell you something about myself.”

"Let's just hope it's not a dangerous situation then. Just to make sure you can tell me after."

taglist: @webreathfandoms

#the last kingdom imagine #the last kingdom x reader #uhtred x reader #uhtred imagine #uhtred ragnarsson x reader #uhtred ragnarsson imagine #the last kingdom fanfic #myfic

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sleeping-on-cracking-ice · 4 years ago

Note

Y/N gets attacked and Chishiya is sure she will handle everything but when he sees her later there's blood everywhere, later he finds out that attackers actually cut her cheek really deepy and she will probably have a scar. He feels guilty and try to make it up by bringing something special (like cute pictures of cats bc he remembers when she quietly told Kuina that she loves cats) and from that day he is always trying to make sure that Y/N is doing fine. (2/2)

Of course! Here you go!

A Ginger Cat | Shuntaro Chishiya

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

Characters(s): Chishiya (ft. Kuina, OC, Ann)

Summary: You get hurt during a game, but Chishiya thinks that you can handle it yourself. Later when he discovers that you were injured more worse than he thought, he brings you something to cheer you up

Warnings: swearing, blood

Word Count: 4.6k

*reader is female

The registration room had an eerie aura, you swore you could’ve heard a pin drop in there. Nothing was moving except the occasional piece of dust flying past in the breeze. You stood with your back to the wall, glaring up into the bright florescent light that had seemed to become an all too familiar ongoing theme of these homicidal games.

The wall was cold and rigid along your spine, but you put up with the small sharp pain. There was nowhere else to wait, besides on the disgustingly dirty floor. You had to gain as much rest and strength before beginning the game.

Kuina sighed heavily to the right of you, glancing at the game phone she had picked up a few minutes prior and rolling her head back against the wall in boredom. Chishiya stood next along from her, earbuds lodged in his ears and blasting loud music while he held his gaze strictly on the ground in front of him.

“Come on,” Kuina groaned, stretching her hands above her head. “When is this game starting? We’ve been here for a solid half an hour.”

She walked to the entrance of the registration room and peeked her head out the door. “I’m surprised no one else has come. Maybe it’ll be just us,” she suggested, turning back to you and Chishiya.

“That sounds great, until it’s a game of hearts,” you bluntly stated, fiddling with the fabric of your shirt. Chishiya and Kuina both turned to you, sudden concern on their faces at your accusation.

The room fell quiet once more, until a familiar voice echoed through the room from all your phones simultaneously.

“Registration is now closed,” it spoke. “Game: Mice, Cats and A Dog.”

You frowned at the strange game name, having heard nothing like it before. You felt a feeling of relief wash over you as a five of clubs card conveyed itself on your screen. You were anxious you had accidentally manifested it to be a hearts game with your sly comment earlier.

“Rules: Players are the Cats. There are three live Mice to catch, each hiding in different areas around the building. Once found, the Mice must be killed using your own preference of weapon that is available on the table in the registration room.”

All three of you glanced towards the small table positioned next to the phone table that was scattered with small weapons that would hardly be enough to hurt a human. You had been wondering why they had offered such shitty weapons.

“Although, you must avoid the Dog’s gaze, for it will kill the Cats on sight.”

Your heart dropped at that last statement. You were to be hunted.

“You have an hour to kill all three Mice and return to the lobby with the bodies. If you fail to do so, all exits around the building will be closed and several more Dogs will be released and finish off the remaining players. You have ten minutes to position yourself in the building before the Dog is released.”

The list of rules on your phone screen shifted to a timer for ten minutes, already beginning to count down. You turned to Chishiya and Kuina.

“Any strategies?” Kuina asked, looking between you and Chishiya.

You pursed your lips in thought. “Split up. That seems like the most logical option. It will be quicker to find the Mice then,” you proposed, crossing your arms over your chest and scanning over the small map nearby that disclosed the layout of the deserted hotel the game was taking place in.

“But then the “Dog” will have more of a chance to find us if we split up,” Kuina argued. Kuina always focused on the safer route to ensure everyone’s survival rather than the easiest.

“No, it will be worse if we’re together, cause it can kill us all at once,” you retorted, walking over to the weapon table and starting to scan your options.

“I agree with Y/N,” Chishiya spoke up, pushing himself off the wall and strutting over to stand next to you and help pick a weapon. “I played a game very similar to this one. The best option is that we separate. Only then do we have a chance of finding the Mice in the time limit.”

Just as he said it, the phones all announced you had nine minutes left until the hunter began searching for you.

“One mouse each, and if you find yours early, keep searching so we can speed up time.”

You nodded at Chishiya’s command, snatching a small hammer and a pocket knife from the table for your weapons. You all walked out of the registration area (the front desk of the hotel) and into the empty lobby, watching as the hanging chandeliers glistening against the moonlight shining through from the obnoxiously big windows.

If anything could have gotten worse, you had to find tiny mice in a huge hotel in the complete darkness of night.

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

You took to the upper bar.

The area in itself didn’t seem that big. But when you found it, you realised that it would be incredibly hard to find a single mouse in the cracks and small spaces between all the furniture. The eerie aura didn’t help much.

You sighed in frustration after searching underneath yet another couch. “What the fuck is this game? How the fuck am I supposed to find a rodent in a huge place like this?” you whispered angrily, flopping down on the couch dramatically.

It had been around forty-five minutes since the “Dog” had been released, but you have always been quite confident in your escaping and hiding strategies, so you weren’t too worried. The only thing you were concerned about was finding a mouse. Chishiya and Kuina had to have caught theirs by now.

A small scuttling noise cut you from your thoughts. You snapped your head towards the bar, where the sound was emitting from. A wave of excitement filled you, becoming hopeful that the noise was the mouse you were searching for.

You stood from the couch and quickly walked towards the bar, making sure not to make too much noise in case you alerted the rodent. The noise seemed to have come from behind some bottles beneath the counter. You crouched down on your knees and looked along the shelves, scanning for any sign of movement.

“Come on little mouse,” you taunted, becoming frustrated. When you noticed the flash of illuminated eyes staring holes into you through the glass of a tequila bottle, you quickly snatched the neck of the bottle and pulled it from the shelf, locking eyes with a desperate mouse with it’s back half stuck in a mouse trap.

The mouse shook violently against the trap, letting out small squeaks of pain and glaring at you with fear in it’s eyes. Although, it’s most noticeable feature was a large cross that almost seemed burned into it’s lower back. The cross had no fur or skin along it.

“This has to be one of them,” you reassured yourself, reaching to pull out the small pocket knife.

You picked up the mouse trap and hissed as the mouse managed to nip a part of your finger in defence. “Little shit,” you muttered, before pressing the point of your knife against the mouse’s back and pushing in harshly to kill it.

You hoped that you would just end it’s life and that would be that. But of course, the game had to throw in some sort of twist.

As you stabbed the small rodent, a impossibly loud screeching sound emitted from it’s tiny throat, making you drop the creature in shock and cover your ears.

The animal screeched and screeched, pain dripping from it’s cries that echoed across the room angrily. You began to panic, realising that there’s a chance the hunter could hear you. But maybe that was the point.

“Shut up!” you yelled over the mouse’s cries. You pulled the knife swiftly from the mouse’s fur and continued to repetitively penetrate it’s skin, mercilessly making it shut up while blood splattered across your angered face.

You breathed heavily once the room had fallen silent once again, staring down at the mutilated dead rodent. For a short moment, you felt bad for ending it’s life so unpeacefully.

Your head snapped up to look over the bar when sudden heavy footsteps made their way down the hall outside the bar. Your heart leapt to your throat and you turned to press your back against the bar, keeping your head down so whoever it was couldn’t see you.

You cringed as you picked up the remains of the mouse, holding it tight in your hand so you wouldn’t drop it. If Chishiya and Kuina had finished their halves, all you had to do was get to the lobby and you would be fine.

You placed your spare hand over your mouth to quieten your breathing, listening to the footsteps of the stranger who brought themselves into the room. The rapid movement of their feet made you anxious. You had never encountered a hunter that could run as fast as that.

You heard them flip a few tables over, hearing glasses smash against the walls aggressively. You closed your eyes tightly in realisation. The attacker was trying to make it harder for you to leave quietly if you were in there.

When the room fell quiet, you slowly peeked your head over the top of the bar. You managed to catch sight of the hunter themselves.

They seemed to have resembled the body of an older male, fit and tall. They had long, baggy pants, a black t-shirt while holding a machete that easily was as long as your arm. But most oddly, they wore a mask that conveyed a snarling German Shepherd.

The hunter was preoccupied over by the lounged area, looking behind the back rests of the couches and underneath coffee tables.

‘If I stay here any longer, they’re guaranteed to find me,’ you thought to yourself.

You decided you were going to attempt to leave. You had more of a chance of surviving by running than hiding.

You lifted your legs and trudged towards the edge of the bar, ducking underneath the table that was placed at the end before slowly rising to your feet. A quick glance down at your hand was enough to reassure you that you hadn’t dropped your ticket to a few more days of staying alive.

You kept your eyes locked on the hunter, making sure they didn’t turn their back as you were trying to leave. You thought you had almost made it before you miscalculated your step and tripped over a shattered glass on the ground, making you stumble forward and a loud noise erupt from the impact from your shoe to the glass.

As soon as you regained your balance, you didn’t even bother checking if the hunter had heard, you knew they did. You immediately took off running, holding your pocket knife in one hand in fear. You weren’t even halfway down the hall running towards the lobby before you heard the Dog’s footsteps behind you, trailing close and fast.

“Chishiya! Kuina!” You screamed out, picking up your pace and holding the body of the dead mouse close to your chest to make sure you didn’t drop it.

There was no way they were going to help you now, especially against someone like that. You were on your own for now, so you put faith in your own legs to carry you all the way down to the lobby.

Your heart was racing as you almost fell down the flights of stairs, so desperate to get away. At some point, you glanced upwards and saw your pursuer on the flight above you, making you feel sick.

“Fuck,” you gasped out, quickly scrambling down the darkened stairs. The blood of the mouse’s corpse seeped through your fingers as you held it in a tense fist, dripping down your arm grotesquely.

As you neared the ground level of the hauntingly big hotel, you stumbled as you jumped the few remaining steps and saw a sign that had an arrow labeled “Main Lobby” pointed to the left. You took in that direction, glancing behind you to see the “Dog” hot on your tail.

But unfortunately, you took too long to look at the sign. The “Dog” quickly caught up, grabbing an aggressive fistful of the back of your shirt and yanking you backwards towards them. You were too scared to scream. The air was forced from your lungs as you were pulled back, landing on the ground with the “Dog” suddenly standing over you, feet planted on either side of you.

Before you could even think, their machete plummeted down towards your face, making you flinch your head to the right, narrowly avoiding the blade. Although, the edge of the sharp metal managed to graze your cheek, creating a long gash along the side of your face.

The “Dog” continued to attempt to stab you in the face, stumbling above you as you attempted to kick their legs out from underneath them. In a sudden desperate attack, you kicked with all your might at their locked knees and they let out a yelp of pain as their knee buckled harshly backwards. You took the opportunity to run, not even giving them a second glance. You knew they’d already be back on their feet, after you again.

As you neared the humongous room that was labeled the lobby, you saw Chishiya and Kuina by the big doors that led inside. They seemed to have been banging their fists against an invisible force, separating you from them. The game must have locked them in when they placed their dead mice in the box that was located in the centre of the huge hall.

Their faces changed their hopeful expressions when they saw your pursuer, the blood running from their cheeks, making them pale. As soon as you entered the lobby, passing through the invisible force with ease, they followed behind you quickly.

“Hurry! Throw it in!” you heard Chishiya cry to you desperately behind you. You glanced back to see him slowing down, holding out his taser towards the “Dog” in case they managed to reach you. The electric light of his taser lit up significantly in the darkened room.

Once you reached the small white box placed on the table in the centre of the room, you shoved the disgusting remains of your victim inside, watching as it landed on top of two other mice.

Everything froze. The “Dog” immediately stopped running, dropping to their knees and face-planting onto the ground in front of Chishiya. All three of you stopped in shock, heavy breaths filling the air. Had you done it?

“Game Clear. Congratulations.”

The collar around the “Dog’s” neck exploded, blood splattering the walls and coating the gorgeously patterned carpet with it’s own artwork. You had seen it many times before. Once more couldn’t hurt.

“Took you long enough,” you heard Chishiya smartly remark. You glanced towards him, raising an eyebrow. He looked smug, as always. Not a single scratch on him.

“Give me a break, I had to face someone three times the size of me,” you remarked, rubbing your face tiredly. Your adrenaline had calmed, and now the pain of your deep gash on your cheek settled in. You hissed as your palm grazed it, pulling back and looking at your hand to see blood across it.

“Shit,” you rasped out, wiping your hand on the material of your pants.

“You okay Y/N?” Kuina questioned, walking over to you. You shook your head, dismissing her. “Yeah I’m fine. Just a small gash. It’ll heal soon enough,” you reassured.

“Are you sure? That looks quite deep,” Chishiya commented, strutting over and using his hand to push your chin to the side so he could look more closely at it. The feeling of his hand placed so gently on your skin made your heart suddenly race, and you panicked and pulled your head away before he could even see your wound.

“No, it’s fine,” you insisted, attempting to hide your embarrassment. “Let’s go back. It’s getting late, and I’m tired and hungry.”

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

You stood in your bathroom, attempting to wash your clothes that you wore at the game earlier. You were soaking and scrubbing them in the bathtub. No matter how much blood seeped from the fabrics, it never seemed to be clean enough.

You grunted, annoyed and tired. Kuina said she was going to spend some time out nearby the pool with Arisu and talk to him about his game. Chishiya didn’t say where he was going, but you assumed it would be the roof or something away from everyone else.

A wet feeling along the side of your neck made you suddenly flinch and hit your skin, worried it was a weird bug of some sort. But your eyes widened when you brought your hand back and saw the concerning amount of blood spread across your palm.

You stood up from the side of the bathtub and leant against the sink, looking to the large mirror. “For fucks sake,” you sighed out as you caught sight of your large gash again. “This has been bleeding for hours. How do I make this stop?”

You winced as the moist towel you used earlier was once again dabbing along the skin of your face, collecting up the annoyingly large amount of blood percolating from your cheek. You were becoming afraid that it wasn’t going to stop at all, but you were too stubborn to go to Ann for medical help.

You’ve seen her weird dissection obsession, so you felt uneasy putting the trust of your health into her hands.

The blood dripped quicker the more you attempted to clean it up. Soon, there were miniature blood puddles scattered around the sink as you kept trying to clean them.

*********** “Hey Usagi, have you seen Y/N?”

Chishiya was making his way around The Beach searching for you. He usually liked spending his late nights having a drink with you in a quiet corner of the ground floor pool. Although, he hadn’t been able to find you and he was getting worried. You usually were either down in the lobby or with Kuina after games.

“No, I haven’t. Sorry Chishiya.”

He huffed annoyed, thanking Usagi and walking away from the dance floor. He thought he should check in your room as a last resort, but if you weren’t there, that’s when he would really worry.

He slowly made his way up the multiple flights of stairs, passing by a few people on the way. During the walk, he zoned out in his own thoughts, his mind filing with you.

How would he ever tell you how he felt? He believed you only saw him as a friend, an annoying one at that. Especially since you happen to banter a lot with him. The thought made him smile, he loved that you didn’t take his bullshit seriously and treated it like a game.

‘How do I let her know that I truly do care for her?’ he asked himself, fiddling with the drawstrings of his white hoodie as he strolled down the brightly lit hall. He hadn’t ever been the best with emotions, so how could he show that he was genuine about his romantic feelings towards you?

When Chishiya reached your room, he lifted his fist to knock on the rotting wood, freezing suddenly. Why was he hesitating? He’s done this so many times before, why was he suddenly nervous? He shook his head, embarrassed for catching himself in these thoughts. He had worked himself up again.

He knocked on your door loudly three times before calling out to you. “Y/N? You in there?” The silence that followed his call made him anxious. He knocked again, this time more persistently.

“Coming!” he heard your muffled voice call through the door. He stood back from the door as you opened it, giving you a small smile. But it soon disappeared from your face when he locked eyes with the bloody tissue that you held to your cheek.

“Hey Chish,” you groaned out, lazy eyed and turning back into your room, leaving the door so he could come in. Chishiya rushed to you quickly. “Wait, Y/N. What’s going on? Why are you hurt?” he asked frantically, pulling on your shoulder to get you to look at him.

You brushed his hand off of you. “It’s fine. Just a small gash from the game earlier. It started bleeding again,” you said, giving him a stare.

Chishiya shook his head and cupped your face, avoiding your cut, to have a closer look. “No Y/N, that doesn’t look okay. It’s bleeding way too much.”

You stayed still as he replaced your hand holding the tissue on your face with his own, being as gentle as he could as he cleaned the blood gathering around the gash.

“Here, sit down on the bed,” he muttered, indicating towards the end of your bed. You both shuffled over and sat down, Chishiya still holding the tissue on your face.

You could feel his hot breath against your lips as he examined your wound. His dark eyes glistened in the dim light of your hotel room. He looked ethereal. But he took a quick glance towards your eyes, snapping you from your daze. You hissed as he caught a bit of the gash on the tissue. “Sorry,” he apologized, moving his hand to your chin to readjust your position.

He then sat up and walked towards the bathroom, walking quickly so the blood of your injury didn’t drip too much. As he was there, you heard a soft gasp. He probably had found the blood-covered sink and towels.

He returned back with a clean towel that he found in your bathroom cabinet. He held a somewhat annoyed expression on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me this? If I knew it was this bad, I would’ve helped you out.”

You shrugged your shoulders. To be honest, you weren’t too sure why you didn’t tell Chishiya or Kuina. It just didn’t seem that big of a deal.

“You’ll need some stitches,” he concluded, holding a clean towel underneath your cut. “Also, stop using tissues to clean the blood. They flake easily and can stick to your injury.”

You nodded, looking down in embarrassment. You wish Chishiya didn’t find you like this. You hated making anyone else worry about you when it wasn’t entirely necessary.

“Look at me,” he demanded, bringing your head up with a gentle hand on your neck. Your breath got caught in your throat as he wiped around your cheek, cleaning up any excess blood.

“Come on. Let’s get you to Ann,” he said, standing up and holding his hand out for you.

You took his hand and he pulled you up playfully, making you almost stumble into him. You glared at him. “Wow. Even when I’m injured you’re still a bully,” you teased. Chishiya smirked and winked at you, making you roll your eyes.

And yet, the whole way to Ann’s medical room, you didn’t let go of his hand.

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

You woke as the sun hit your eyelids, illuminating your room with bright rays of light. The sun was strangely gorgeous that morning, so you woke up in a good mood.

You sat up and stretched, letting out a large groan as your bones popped in your back. Although a wince made its way onto your face as you yawned, making the skin of your treated gash stretch.

Chishiya had told Ann to place a protected medical patch on your cut, since he thought it would be better than just leaving it in case of it getting infected or worse during your next game. So for the time being, you had a flat piece of cotton taped on your face. Ann said to only leave it on until it had certainly stopped bleeding through, as well as to change it around two or three times a day.

When your eyes finally adjusted to your surroundings, your sight landed on a strange scene in front of you.

At the table on the end of your bed, there was a small plushie of a ginger kitten. The makeshift fur on the stuffed toy was slightly dirty and it was missing a bead for an eye, but it still remained strangely comforting.

You crawled to the end of your bed and reached out to grab the plushie, bringing it close to you and looking over it for anything. Who knows? Someone could have put it in your room as a trap.

But it was proven safe when you noticed the small, neat writing on the end of the kitten’s tail, which read ‘Chish’.

You chuckled at the childish toy, realising Chishiya must have snuck it into your room while you were asleep.

“Idiot,” you laughed, “Can’t tell me he likes me as his friend but he can put enough effort into finding a stuffed cat in the Borderland for me.”

It felt special, because you knew Chishiya would have had to go into deserted Tokyo to find such a gift for you. You looked on the table and saw a small piece of paper. You frowned and reached out for it and opened it.

‘Here’s a stupid plushie for your troubles. Kuina said you liked cats so I thought you’d feel better with this xx’

You laughed at his half-hearted message. Chishiya never was that good with words, but he didn’t have to be in order for you to understand how he felt towards you.

Although the plushie was a bit beaten and battered, it still brought such a sense of home to you.

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

You sat in the lobby, watching everyone scuttle around. Your usual drunken party group passed through every now and then, which was always good entertainment.

You jumped as you felt a pair of hands suddenly grip onto your shoulders, quickly moving to your eyes and covering them.

“Guess who?” the stranger asked cheekily, making you relax when you recognised their familiar, cocky voice.

“Get your hands off me Chishiya,” you giggled, pulling on his hands and turning around so you would face him. His face held a big smile across it, which was so unlike his usual neutral expression.

“What’s got you so happy?” you questioned, raising your eyebrow. Chishiya pulled away from your face and jumped over the back of the couch so he was then sitting beside you.

“Nothing, I’m just happy to see you,” he admitted, laying his head on your shoulder comfortably. His boldness was rather prominent then more than you had ever seen.

“How’s your cut?” he asked, looking up to examine the patch on your cheek. You shrugged it off. “It’s fine, not too bad now.”

Chishiya smiled, and suddenly leaned forward and left a lingering kiss on your good cheek, making your eyes widen at his action. “That’s good,” he gushed and continued on like he didn’t do anything.

“Yeah. Um...” you muttered awkwardly while rubbing the spot on your face where he kissed. “I wanted to say... thanks for the gift earlier,” you said, placing an arm around his shoulder comfortably.

Chishiya beamed happily, but tried to hide his blush by turning away from you. “No problem,” he mumbled out, trying to sound like he didn’t care.

You laughed at his response. Chishiya may have not been that good with words, but he didn’t need to be for you to notice that he really loved you.

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commander-gloryforge · 2 years ago

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have 2, 16, 25, and 27 for soleil, if you’d like! :D @kerra-and-company

What's their class/elite spec? Weapon of choice? Did they purposely train for it or did it just sort of happen?

Soleil is a Guardian and will later become a dragon hunter :) she’s probably learned to use multiple weapons but for now she will almost always use the hammer! it’s her favourite weapon because of how heavy and deadly it is. it doesn’t need much to smash someone’s skull or slam someone away from her! later when she also uses a bow it will be a nice little contrast to her heavy big closeup weapon :)

What's their greatest fear (be it one of the three from the personal story or something else entirely)?

oh this requires some thinking. i feel like i haven’t developed her enough to give a proper definitive answer? but. answering on the spot, weakness is something she’s terrified of. soleil prides herself in being physically as well as mentally strong, her whole life everything’s been about being strong and doing whatever she wants by herself. i feel like she’d be terribly scared of losing that one thing she can always rely on in any way. (that being said, there’s a 99% chance of me taking exactly that away soon)

and another fear, well… i think the only thing more terrifying than losing her own strength and power would be losing aryel.

What are they self conscious about?

OUGHH i don’t know i don’t know… it’s not like there’s nothing to be self conscious about but it’s hard to pin down right now. i mean, there has to be something that even makes her so afraid of losing power in the first place. i feel like i need to do some more digging into the deeper levels of her personality because i tend to just see her on that surface level of “violent and loyal”. oh hey. actually that’s a great thing to be self conscious about. deep down she feels like she’s nothing but a war machine, herself as well as many people around her struggle with seeing her as a person with emotions, struggles, fears and desires that go beyond “kill kill kill”. she feels like she’s flat, especially compared to aryel who is someone with such deep passion and interests, with complex emotions. i think she feels… just plain stupid. just dumb. oh

How good of a leader are they?

okay this one may come as a shocker. Soleil is a GREAT leader. yes she’s impulsive and hot headed but she’s brave, loyal, a brilliant fighter, and she’s actually brilliant when it comes to battle tactics. she observes danger quickly and immediately knows how to act, and the soldiers of the pact trust her instincts, more so than they trust trahearne or aryel. if sol steps into a camp, the morale goes UP, she’s excellent at motivating and inspiring the people around her because she really is always ready for a fight herself.

she quickly adapts to leading big armies (even though she pretends like she hates her position at first) but people also usually rely on her when it comes to smaller groups or guilds. she’s still “just” the co-commander, so technically aryel is still above her, but really she’s the best leader out of the two. she will probably also take the position as the leader of dragons watch when the day comes :)

thank u for sending asks and sorry it took long and also sorry that this post may be a bit long. and ALSO sorry for mentioning aryel in every single question. do not separate :)

#soleil huang #dio answers

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tigerkirby215 · 3 years ago

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5e Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Andrew “Silver” Silver. Made for Riot Games.)

That feel when Arcane Episode 1 comes out tomorrow (at time of writing) so I’m making a build for Jayce in like 4 days lol.

I think Jayce is a cool concept that was kinda doomed from the start to not appeal to many people. Other transforming champs had far more interesting kits meanwhile Jayce kinda just... has both a gun and a hammer? While Samira proves that design works Jayce puts way too much focus on that I think. Not helping is the fact that he has one of the most basic kits I’ve seen and basically no lore. God I hope Arcane gives Jayce a personality...

At least his simple kit makes it easy to design a kit for him... Shame that Intelligence is useless in 5e.

GOALS

This is what the future looks like - Of course the main appeal of Jayce is his hammer that’s also a cannon. It was meant for mining? Yeah yeah sure sure...

Accelerate! - Speeding up protons isn’t the hardest thing to do, and it’s always useful to both move and shoot fast!

Feel the thunder - Of course shooting is only half the battle. The other half is smashing!

RACE

Jayce is a human, believe it or not. It’s almost like most of Runeterra features humans. And while I’d love to give Jayce a Dragonmark as I think playing him as a Dragonmarked character would make a ton of sense in an Eberron campaign I’m going to opt for accessibility and go for good ol’ Variant Human instead. You get +1 in two different stats (increase both your Charisma and your Strength by 1), proficiency in a skill of your choice (grab Investigation and pretend that you’re an Intelligence character), and a Feat at level 1.

I’m actually going to go all out on being a generic human and grab the human-specific Prodigy feat from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything! You learn one language of your choice (again pick your poison), get proficiency with a tool of your choice (kinda the main reason I grabbed this feat: take either Smith’s Tools or Tinkerer’s Tools depending on your DM), and proficiency in one skill of your choice (I’m cheaping out and taking Religion to continue pretending to be the Intelligence character.)

But most importantly you get Expertise in a skill of your choice: we’ll of course be taking it in Arcana to understand Hextech better than anyone else. Which oh yeah you should probably get Arcana from your background: don’t be afraid to modify your background for Arcana proficiency as well as proficiency in some tools!

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Jayce is a pretty boy first and foremost... Well, he’s a smart boy first and foremost but in-game he’s a pretty boy first.

14; DEXTERITY - For once “something something Medium armor” is quite justified since Jayce does wear a Breastplate!

13; STRENGTH - You’re carrying around a giant mining tool all the time, and it’s a requirement to multiclass.

12; CONSTITUTION - You need some sustain in top lane.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Shame that Intelligence is useless in 5e. I’d love for this to be higher but we need everything else more. See if the actual smart people (IE the actual Artificer) can make you a Headband of Intellect.

8; WISDOM - Victor sees Jayce as a bit of a hot-head and seeing as Viktor is basically robot Jesus in everything but gameplay I’m more inclined to believe his opinion over Jayce’s. Or maybe I’m just a simp for Viktor.

Feel free to swap Intelligence and Constitution if you want worse health but better roleplay.

Also feel free to discuss with your DM the possibility of playing both a Warlock and a Paladin based on Intelligence! I think it’s more than justifiable to play your character as a scholarly knight, and honestly Intelligence is such an underutilized stat I’d gladly promote more intelligent characters in my campaign.

BACKGROUND

There’s quite a few backgrounds for Jayce, as he’s a man of many hats! There are three that I think would work best so pick whichever one you think would be the most fun and make your own Jayce!

BACKGROUND 1 - SAGE

The most obvious one: Sage (or Cloistered Scholar from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide) will let you play up Jayce’s intelligence. You get proficiency with Arcana and History as well as two languages of your choice. But the main appeal of being a Sage is the knowledge of a Researcher. You know where to find important information, and if you can’t find it you can always ask professor Heimerdinger!

I personally went for Sage but again pick what you fancy and build your own Jayce.

BACKGROUND 2 - NOBLE

If you’re a Pilty you’re a Noble. You get proficiency with History and Persuasion along with a language and gaming set of your choice. But notably your Position of Privilege makes it easy to smooze around and socialize. If you want to lean into the more Charismatic side of Jayce then this is the background for you.

BACKGROUND 3 - CELEBRITY ADVENTURER’S SCION

Acquisitions Incorporated is a book I will shill whenever given the chance. Piltover is a city of progress and the Giopara clan (yes that’s Jayce’s family name) didn’t get there by doing nothing! We’re going to be treating Celebrity Adventurer’s Scion more like “Noble 2″ with a famous name around the world! Along with proficiency with Perception and Performance (which tbh I may swap around) and two languages of your choice you can do a little bit of Name Dropping. Clan Giopara has made a number of important technological discoveries (notably the invention of Hextech) and I’m sure that level of prestige is bound to get you places.

(Artwork by West Studio. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1

Starting off as a Paladin because you can’t be the Defender of Tomorrow if you’re not a Paladin! But really it’s so we can actually get some armor and a weapon in our starting equipment; proficiency in Athletics and Persuasion is a nice bonus too.

You also get Divine Sense, letting you detect celestial, fiend, or undead (thankfully for Heimerdinger it doesn’t detect Fey) within 60 feet of you as long as they’re not hiding behind a wall. You can also grab a Refillable Potion to carry 5 health points of healing in Lay on Hands, that you can either give to yourself or an ally! You can also use 5 Lay on Hands points to neutralize a disease or poison. This ability will grow in power as you get more Paladin levels but for now it’ll serve as a nice pick-me-up.

Since there isn’t much to talk about at level 1 let’s address Jayce’s weapon: a Warhammer is the obvious choice and you’ll need one for other abilities down the line, but it’s not exactly a two-handed weapon. The weapon you’re looking for would be a Maul. A maul is strictly two-handed (and heavy) which means you can’t use it with a shield but the plus side is that 2d6 packs quite a whallop compared to 1d10.

You are more than welcome to grab a shield if you want more AC, but if you’re going to go two-handed you may as well go all out with the Maul. My recommendation for your Paladin starting equipment would be to get both a Maul and a Warhammer and opt for a shield later (if you even choose to use one) as they’re not that expensive. All of this won’t matter in the long-run but until you get some proper big-hitters you will have to pick and choose your weaponry carefully.

LEVEL 2 - WARLOCK 1

I SWEAR THERE’S A REASON WE’RE GOING HEXBLADE. Thanks to Hex Warrior you can swing a weapon with Charisma: currently it can’t have the two-handed property (so no Maul) but it does mean you’ll be swinging a little better with your 16 Charisma versus 14 Strength.

You can also inflict Hexblade’s Curse with your Bonus Action for some Anathema's Chains utility. You deal extra damage to the enemy each hit equal to your Proficiency bonus, crit on a 19 or 20, and heal for your Charisma modifier plus your Warlock level when the enemy dies. You can use your Hexblade’s Curse once per Short or Long Rest.

But of course Warlocks also get Spellcasting, notably Pact Slots which come back on a Short Rest which may be important for a Paladin. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list like Booming Blade since you don’t have Extra Attack yet, and Prestidigitation for all sorts of general Hextech utilities. You can also learn two first level spells like Shield from the Hexblade list because it’s Shield, and Armor of Agathys for a Bramble Vest into healing matchups.

LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 2

Look you’re playing a Hexadin you may as well grab Divine Smite fast. It’s kinda the main appeal of this multiclass: turn spell slots into 2d8 damage, plus an extra d8 per spell level up to a maximum of 5d8 from a 4th level spell slot. And if you hit an undead or fiend the damage increases by another d8. (For a maximum of 6d8 against fiends or undead specifically.)

Oh and of course with Divine Smites based on your spell slots you get Spellcasting too! You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level: Divine Favor will serve as a Hyper Charge of sorts, Thunderous Smite will serve as Thunderous Blow, Shield of Faith will help for protection, and Detect Magic will help you deal with Hextech.

And finally you get a Fighting Style: since we can’t get the legally not Artificer cantrips anywhere else we’ll be going for Blessed Warrior to take both Guidance and Mending. Yes it is sad that the Mending cantrip is an important part of building Jayce, and you are more than welcome to take a more practical fighting style instead if you so desire.

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 2

Going back to Warlock for Eldritch Invocations: uhhh ima be real with you chief we’re in it for the long haul so just grab Eldritch Mind for now. We’re also going to wait on spells for a bit...

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get their Pact Boon and man I wonder what the character with a superpowered hammer will have. Pact of the Blade will let you summon any weapon to your hand as an action... Well except for ranged weapons.

That’s what Improved Pact Weapon is for! Along with making your Pact Weapon a +1 you can also make a shortbow, longbow, light crossbow, or heavy crossbow as your Pact Weapon. My recommendation would be to go for a longbow since you can’t shoot multiple shots from a crossbow, and the longbow has the best damage and range out of the bunch. Of course since you’re a Hexblade you can shoot any of those bows with Charisma!

If you don’t want to shoot a weapon for Jayce’s Mercury Hammer feel free to just use Eldritch Blast and Agonizing Blast instead. It’s most likely more effective overall, but in the name of ability accuracy I took Improved Pact Weapon to transform your weapon.

You also now have second level spell slots which you’ll probably be using to Smite, but you can also grab Branding Smite for the enemy revealing part of Shock Blast, and Misty Step. For Flash.

(Artwork by Michelle Hoefener. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 3

Back over to Paladin, as Jayce fights for the glory of tomorrow. That’s why we’ll be going for the Oath of Glory! You get your Channel Divinity at level 3 of Paladin and can use it for various different options: if you want to take To The Skies then Peerless Athlete will give you advantage on Athletics and Acrobatics checks for the next 10 minutes. You can also carry, push, drag, and lift twice as much weight as normal; and the distance of your long and high jumps increases by 10 feet.

Alternatively if you want to inspire innovation and pretend that you’re a healer then Inspiring Smite will let you give out temporary hit points to yourself or allies within 30 feet of you after you use your Divine Smite. The total number of temporary hit points equals 2d8 + your level in this class, divided among the chosen creatures however you like. And finally Tasha gave you the option to Harness Divine Power if you just want more Smite slots; I mean spell slots. You can recover a spell slot equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded up, so currently a second level spell slot which you don’t even have lmao.) You can currently only use this once per Long Rest, but you will get more uses later.

You also get Guiding Bolt and Heroism as spells from the Oath of Glory, for a Shock Blast that will make it easier for your allies to hit an enemy and some fearless progress! And finally you get Divine Health, because innovation doesn’t take sick days.

LEVEL 7 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins can finally get an Ability Score Improvement: Charisma kinda controls everything that you do so increase that by 2. This does mean you can prepare more spells but I’m going to wait for...

LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 5

5th level Paladins get Extra Attack, so you can shoot or smash twice in a round! Unfortunately because of how Pact of the Blade is worded you can’t shoot then stab (because it takes an action to switch weapons), but don’t be afraid to talk to your DM about making the weapon swap a Bonus Action.

As a Glory Paladin you get Enhance Ability innately, as well as Magic Weapon which sure would matter if your weapon wasn’t already magical. You can also prepare second level spells like Warding Bond to keep your allies safe, and Aid which you can cast with your Warlock slots for maximum spell slot efficiency! I mean, unless someone else can cast it at a higher level. Then you should probably get a different spell.

(Artwork by Choe HeonHwa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 4

Hopping back over to Warlock and hey look at that another Ability Score Improvement! Cap off that Charisma so you can both swing and shoot with maximum gusto!

You can also learn another spell like Shatter to send a Shock Blast into a crowd, and can also grab Mage Hand as a cantrip. Viktor did have some good ideas: extra hands are useful.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks get to replace a lot of stuff: for a start keep Improved Pact Weapon but replace your other Invocation with Eldritch Smite, for more easily accessible Thundering Blows. For your Lightning Field take Cloak of Flies: yeah it’s Poison damage and yeah it’s only 5 per turn, but it’s extra damage for free that can’t be saved against. There are perhaps more useful options but this is more accurate to Jayce and still certainly useful if you want to get into a big brawl!

You can also prepare a whole lot of third level spells like Counterspell, because Jayce seems the type to have Counterspell.

You can also replace Misty Step with Thunder Step if you want more distance with your Flash, but Misty Step still has value since it’s a Bonus Action that you can cast with your Paladin slots.

You can also grab other useful spells like Blink, Hypnotic Pattern, Vampiric Touch, Mirror Image (2nd level), or Tongues if you so desire, but I picked the spells that fit Jayce the best.

LEVEL 11 - PALADIN 6

We’ve got everything we wanted from Warlock so now it’s straight down Paladin. 6th level Paladins get to defend their own tomorrow with Aura of Protection. Put simply: you (and allies within 10 feet) get to add your Charisma modifier to their saving throws. You like a +6 Concentration check? How about a +14 Charisma save?

You can also prepare more spells but honestly we got everything we need for Jayce. Feel free to grab what you want until we can prepare third level spells.

LEVEL 12 - PALADIN 7

7th level Paladins get to open the Acceleration Gate thanks to Aura of Alacrity! You move 10 feet faster, as do your allies within 5 feet! (Not 10 feet because I guess WoTC decided that moving slightly faster was too OP.) Additionally you can use Harness Divine Power twice per Long Rest, to keep your energy reserves at maximum.

LEVEL 13 - PALADIN 8

8th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement but we’re finally going to grab Great Weapon Master. Hope you’ve been using your Maul well because you can now take a -5 to hit to deal +10 damage! Additionally if you either crit or kill an enemy you can make an attack with your hammer as a Bonus Action. Of course Great Weapon Master only really supports your hammer but as a Paladin you’re expected to be in melee. Honestly your ranged options are more of a backup in this build.

(Artwork by Xuning Cui and Kudos Productions. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 14 - PALADIN 9

9th level Paladins can prepare third level spells! For a start you do get Protection from Energy as a Glory Paladin, but far more importantly you can Hyper Charge thanks to Haste! This works regardless of if you choose to go for melee or ranged combat, and will always be useful. Just be careful not to lose concentration!

Additionally you can prepare spells like Revivify and Aura of Vitality to pretend that you’re a healer, and Blinding Smite to continue being the Paladin!

LEVEL 15 - PALADIN 10

10th level Paladins get Aura of Courage. Allies within 10 feet of you can’t be frightened, and neither can you. So fight for Piltover without any fear!

You can also prepare another spell and now’s the point that I’d recommend mostly utility spells: Remove Curse? Dispel Magic? Unpreparing some of your lower level spells? Remember that the reason you’re a prepared caster is so that you can have what you need when you need it!

LEVEL 16 - PALADIN 11

11th level Paladins get Improved Divine Smite which despite the name doesn’t improve your Divine Smite. It does let you add a d8 of Radiant damage to all your melee attacks however, just to solidify that melee is better than ranged top laners.

LEVEL 17 - PALADIN 12

12th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement and remember how I kept Booming Blade even though you now have Extra Attack? Well because of funny D&D interactions the Warcaster feat will let you use Booming Blade when making an Attack of Opportunity. It also gives you advantage on Concentration checks, and will let you cast while holding a giant hammer, which is why we’re taking it.

(Artwork by Christian Fell. made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - PALADIN 13

13th level Paladins can prepare 4th level spells. You can carry a QSS around to use Freedom of Movement, and can also use Compulsion to persuade a crowd that Hextech is the future! You can also prepare spells like Death Ward for a Guardian Angel, or Staggering Smite for even more Thundering Blows!

LEVEL 19 - PALADIN 14

14th level Paladins can use magic to destroy the magic. Cleansing Touch will let you end one spell that’s affecting a target you touch as an action. You can do this a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, and regain all expended uses at the end of a Long Rest.

And you can prepare another spell, but at this point just pick your fancy really.

LEVEL 20 - PALADIN 15

Our final level is the 15th level of Glory Paladin for Glorious Defense. When you or another creature you can see (not necessarily an ally is the funny thing) within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to give them an AC boost equal to your Charisma modifier (so a +5; you’re basically giving them the Shield spell!)

If you end up blocking the attack you can then strike back at the foe, as long as they’re within range of your weapon. (This is actually one of the few times that being in cannon form would be beneficial!) You can block attacks a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Oh and to top it off you can use Harness Divine Power three times per Long Rest, to make sure that your hex-batteries never run dry.

I may as well discuss: WHY ISN’T JAYCE AN ARTIFICER?

The very simple reason is because no subclass fits his abilities of having a weapon that swaps between forms, and the reason for that is that Artificer is a very new class with very specific themes. Every Artificer subclass has a pet with the exception on Alchemist and Armorer: Battle Smith would’ve fit Jayce well (you could have a Repeating Heavy Crossbow and a +2 Maul to simulate “switching” weapons) but then you’d be stuck with a robot dog which would make no sense for Jayce. You could also play an Armorer Artificer and use Firebolt for your ranged attacks but I don’t think the same feeling is captured, especially since your melee attacks would be flavored as gauntlets instead of a hammer.

I went for the Hexadin build for a variety of reasons. The main one is that Pact of the Blade would be the most direct way to swap between a melee weapon and ranged weapon, although Eldritch Blast was also a great replication of Jayce’s ranged attacks with is nice too. As for Glory Paladin I was actually surprised how many abilities the subclass had that fit Jayce: increased movement speed, powerful ranged blasts, and weapon boosts. The Charisma-based SADness was more of an added bonus of none of the Warlocks fitting Jayce well, although I also wanted to be able to make Jayce swap between melee and ranged attacks without investing too much in both DEX and STR.

I am planning to make a homebrew Artificer subclass based on Jayce, but that’s with a big TBD (to be determined) tag on when it’ll come out. Until then this build replicates him with official content, and I think with a bit of homebrew from the DM (notably making you an Intelligence caster instead of Charisma) this build works well-enough for Jayce.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Strength through progress - The great thing about being a Hexadin is that the only stat you need is Charisma, so you can actually grab other good feats like Great Weapon Master and Warcaster.

Never a wrong step - The other great thing about being a Hexblade is that Aura of Protection keeps your saving throws very high. A +6 CON save with Warcaster means that you should be making most Concentration checks with ease. And with Shield (and Glorious Defense) you can keep your AC safe too!

I'm always ready - The final benefit of being a Hexblade is the Pact Slots. Having two slots that come back on a Short Rest means that you can always have spells like Haste and Counterspell at the ready. Not to mention Harness Divine Power in case of an emergency if you need your spell slots back.

CONS

Eyes on the horizon - Guidance and Mending are fine and dandy as cantrips but you’re losing out on other potentially better Fighting Styles like Great Weapon Fighting or Defense. It doesn’t make a huge impact in the long run but every little bit helps, especially since you don’t have a Shield since you’ll be using a Maul.

I fight for a brighter tomorrow - When you reach level 20 it’s hard to remember the steps you took to reach it. Making a Hexadin build delays a lot of your stronger abilities in the name of easy ability scores. If you’re starting around level 8 then this won’t be a big problem, but from level 1 the first few missions will be tough.

Electrify - The other bit of honest truth is that there’s little reason to have a bow as a Paladin. Pact of the Blade is cool but even with Improved Pact Weapon it’s unwieldy, and you’d honestly be better off with Eldritch Blast. But where’s the fun in that? Well at least Eldritch Blast doesn’t require you to carry arrows with you too...

But you can’t make progress without some struggles. The world may fear magic but harnessing it is just one step for a brighter tomorrow. If everyone can embrace that then the city of Piltover will be able to overcome any challenge! As long as no kids break into your penthouse, at least. Innovation is often the fire that ends up lighting the powder.

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #dnd Paladin #yeah he's not an Artificer #cope #League of Legends #League of Legends Jayce #lol jayce #Arcane #League of Legends Arcane #hammer #hextech #I wrote this build in like 4 days lmao

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lopsided-whiskey-grin · 3 years ago

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If Minute Man Mobius is your speed perhaps. Maybe you. You should maybe. Unless? Nay, nay, banish it- lest? 👀💦💦💦

(Premature ejaculation kinkfic please)

I am having so many big brain thoughts about this request I can hardly think straight 🥴 also do you know how long it's been since I've written smut? Waay too long omg so thank you for this

Fun stuff under the cut 😏*****

ok so here's what I'm thinking…

WHAT IF Mobius is a Minuteman when Loki is captured and taken to the TVA? Hasn't been promoted to agent yet. He staunchly follows the rules: no relationships, no touching, no getting involved with ANYONE. But Mobius is a curious man, he can't help it. He's seen things when he's gone on missions to all those different planets and planes of existence and timelines, things he's kept tucked in the back of his mind, things he's wondered about, things he's wanted to experience. But he WON'T because there are rules, goddammit, and if the TVA has set a certain rule in place it's probably for a good reason, right? Right?

Minuteman Mobius is assigned to the Loki variant case. He's a good little grunt, does what he's told, when he's told. He's on the the team that nabs the Asgardian god in the Gobi Desert. He's the one that wrestles him back through the Time Door after Hunter B-15 throws the time-twister around his neck. Mobius can feel the surprising strength emanating from Loki as he struggles against his hold; bicep bunched, shoulder straining, pure unadulterated rage. Mobius finds he is at a loss for words to describe the feeling of the sudden heat that pulses through him at the contact. His breath quickens, his heart rate ticks up. Must have to do with the adrenaline or something, he reasons.

Later, after Loki's arraignment with Renslayer, Mobius is tasked with guarding the variant until one of the agents can decide what to do with him. They're in the time theater together, alone. There are two more minutemen outside the door, but here, in this space, there's only a hollow, angry silence with Loki sitting at the small table, fuming, and Mobius standing quietly, awaiting his next orders. He keeps his eyes locked firmly on the variant, gaze traveling over every inch of him. Mobius wants to feel that raw power from Loki again. The abrupt thought surprises him and he shudders. It's a quick thing that he pushes away immediately, with a cough to clear his throat and one hand smoothing down the front of his armored gear, but not quickly enough that Loki doesn't notice.

He turns in his chair slowly, his eyes locked on Mobius and Mobius has to force himself not to take an instinctive retreating step. He instead straightens his back and raises his chin, gripping the butt of his pruning stick. It's no use. Loki rises and slinks toward him with a predatory grin like a... like a cat, the name of which Mobius has just learned two days prior.

Mobius swallows hard. The chinstrap of his helmet cuts into his throat. But he does not take one step back, even when Loki comes to a stop right in front of him. Loki has a good few inches on him and he has to cast his eyes up just a little to keep his gaze centered on him.

Mobius' heart is thudding in his chest. He's never been this close to someone before, not like this. "Back off, variant," he says in a voice that's not as commanding as he'd hoped.

Loki narrows his eyes. "No."

A bead of perspiration tracks down Mobius' temple and he flexes his fingers to get a better grip on the pruner. His voice trembles when he tries again: "I said back off, vari-"

His words are cut off as Loki simultaneously grips his collar and the wrist of the hand holding his weapon. He is yanked forward until their faces are mere inches apart and Mobius suddenly can't breathe. A tremble wracks through him and he looks up at Loki almost helplessly. He has never been touched this way, ever. He's suddenly struck with the realization that it's all he's ever wanted. All he's ever craved.

A pulse of heat rushes through him, pooling right in his gut. His cock thickens rapidly and his knees weaken. Mobius' next breath catches in his throat. He can hardly make sense of anything that is happening.

Loki flashes a wicked grin, full of understanding and Mobius is almost lost in it. The hand that had been gripping his collar moves up the side of his neck and Loki's fingertips find the fine hairs at the nape just under his helmet. Mobius swallows thickly. His pulse is hammering away, making him lightheaded.

And then Loki dips his head down and his lips find the soft flesh of his throat where the rapid beat of his heart flutters just under the surface. And it's too much. It's not enough. Mobius feels hot and tight and he does not know fucking why.

"I- I don't," he stammers, but he's unable to articulate anymore words because the very next second Loki is laving a wet, slick stripe up his neck with his tongue and sucking against the skin right under his earlobe.

A white hot bolt of pleasure sears through him at the contact and he comes immediately with a hitching moan, soaking his TVA issued briefs with pulse after pulse of his release. He almost topples forward with the force of it, but Loki steadies him with at hand at his waist.

Mobius slowly looks up, his cheeks flushed with arousal and embarrassment. He doesn't know what to say. In this moment he's not sure if he even knows how to speak.

Loki's gaze pins him as he trembles with the aftershocks of what has happened. Intrigue and something deeper swirl within the stormy blue depths.

"Interesting," Loki breathes softly.

And before another moment passes, the door behind them suddenly smashes open and the room becomes a flurry of chaos with agents and hunters and minutemen flooding in and roughly pulling them apart.

Loki is pushed forcefully to his knees with a growl. Mobius' feels a possessive anger burn in his chest when he sees it. Their eyes lock one last time before Mobius is shuffled out of the room, thrown with force into the hallway. He hits the far wall, shoulder connecting first with a crack of pain, and he sinks down slowly, more confused and bereft than he's ever felt before. He wishes with everything inside him that they just had a little more time.

#when i tell you i had a blast writing this #thanks anon for the idea!#lokius #mobius #loki #loki x mobius #lemon #minuteman mobius #enjoy

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renegadeontherunn · 3 years ago

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hi fiona!! can't wait to see all the prompts you'll write! how about 21 for rex and ahsoka?

!!! kt!!! thank you so much for the ask!!! asjkdlkas someone tell me how to write less please AKJSDSAKK

21. "Why are you always so reckless, huh? Do you ever think about what would happen if something happened to you?" // from these prompts! // read it on ao3!

They limped—or at least, Ahsoka limped—up through the forest and eventually emerged at the edge of the hill where peach-orange grass gave way to a navy cliffside. There was a jagged path carved out, wide enough for them to get across in 2, maybe 3 lines. She could make out dark blotches a few miles away—Anakin’s ships. So they had been able to land. That made one of them.

“We should go around,” Rex’s gruff voice said as he came up behind her. Ahsoka looked over her shoulder at him. He eyed the dropoff warily. “There are rockslides this time of year and I don’t trust this cliff.”

Ahsoka turned back, head craning up to examine it. “That’ll take too long.” She nodded toward the other ships in the distance. “Anakin needs our help and this is the fastest way to the landing zone.” She stepped onto the path, one hand on the cliffside to steady herself.

Rex moved forward. “Commander—”

“It’s fine, Rex. We have to help Anakin.” She tried to ignore the scorching pain shooting up her leg. Her shoulders moved with a breath. “Trust me on this one.”

She was stopped by a warm hand on her arm. “It’s not safe. Especially with our wounded.” Ahsoka could feel his eyes on her leg. “We can’t help General Skywalker if we’re dead.”

“Rex—”

“All due respect, Commander, trust me on this one.”

Ahsoka gritted her teeth, shifting once again to face him. Her mind briefly raced through alternatives, outcomes, a headcount, and with one more twinge in her ankle, she sighed and relented. “You’re right.”

Rex gave her a nod and turned to direct the troops back around.

Her eyes found the horizon once more and Anakin’s ships that rested there. She had a bad feeling about this battle. Something was going to go—

“Commander?” came Rex’s voice at her shoulder. Ahsoka didn’t look at him, instead closing her eyes, brow furrowed as she listened, as she felt. The ground shook lightly under her feet, the faint screech of metal against metal, metal against stone. “What is it?”

Ahsoka came up from beneath the waves of the Force, eyes opening as she unhooked her lightsabers. “We’ve got company.” As soon as the words left her mouth, a battalion of black-plated droids materialized around the curve of the cliff. They stopped in what seemed like surprise, and there was a shout from Rex. Her side shot first, quick as they’ve always been, and in a breath, Ahsoka was deflecting bolts from every direction.

It was a pretty typical battle, as far as strategy goes, and Ahsoka found herself getting lost as the droids approached and withdrew in turn, her spinning lightsabers loops of light in clouding dust.

Rex appeared at her side. “What’s the plan?”

“You said there are rockslides here?” She sliced through another two droids.

He stopped shooting, incredulous gaze boring into her even through his helmet. “No.”

Ahsoka twisted in front of him, habitually falling back into their familiar sword-and-shield technique. Rex’s pistols were in the air once more, his aim deadly even as he kept his focus on their conversation.

“We wanted to go around anyway. Why not block them here?”

A shot skimmed off Rex’s shoulder. “You’re not serious. That’ll get us all killed.”

“No, it won’t,” Ahsoka insisted. “Just get all the men off the path and onto the hill. I’ll bring the cliff down in front of us.”

She risked a glance behind her and, seeing that everyone was off the cliffside already, Ahsoka pushed Rex back. She steadied herself in the Force and pulled.

The ground rumbled, there was the sound of crunching metal, and then Rex’s hand was on her arm, trying to tug her away. There was a shrill gasp in the Force and Ahsoka saw a massive column of rock headed straight for them.

“Rex!” she shouted, throwing herself into him and sending him to the ground a few feet away. She scrambled forward, and the rock collided with the spot where they had just been standing.

But Ahsoka hadn’t moved far enough.

The column had completely smashed through the path and the rest was crumbling away. She tried to run, but her broken ankle clipped the edge, her stomach dropped, and then she was falling.

She blindly reached out, scrabbling for purchase on the cliff, but gravity’s grip was not so easily curbed.

“Ahsoka!”

Rex was leaning over the side, hand out; Ahsoka’s hand brushed his, fingers slipping past each other, just too far to reach, and she plummeted. Wind rushed past, rocks cascading down alongside her. She saw Rex’s well-worn helmet grow smaller and smaller, and then something slammed into her and the world cut to black.

Someone was screaming. There was a ringing cutting through Ahsoka’s brain and everything was muffled as she blinked squinting eyes open, but she knew she could hear screaming. It got louder as she tried to move her legs—tried, because she couldn’t even feel her legs, couldn’t feel anything but searing, scalding pain up her spine, down every nerve—and when she gasped in a breath of dust, the screaming paused and turned to coughing. Ahsoka’s chest shuddered, her throat scraped so raw she thought she might vomit.

Then she opened her eyes fully, saw the blood pooling beneath herself, and did vomit. Pounding head, pounding heart, Ahsoka weakly tilted her gaze up. Far above her was blurred movement, a wave of white dotted with blue swirled down and around and back up again. Her neck ached so much it tingled, turning numb. Her wrist vibrated and beeped.

Wait, that wasn’t right. Wrists don’t normally do that. She slowly moved her arm up onto her stomach, saw the faint blink of green that was, she realized after a few stuttering breaths, her comm. Another second in agony and she clicked the call through, surprised it was still working at all.

“Ahsoka!”

Rex.

It was Rex. Some of the fear swelling in her throat eased at the confirmation of his presence. Rex was there. He’d know what to do.

“Ahsoka? Can you hear me?”

She licked cracking lips. “Yeah.” She hoped her broken voice would carry. Wondered if her broken body would need to be carried too. “Yeah, I’m here.”

A sigh of relief made static on the other side. “Are you alright?”

Ahsoka took stock of herself. Broken leg, obviously, maybe both. A concussion if the pain-filled sleep tugging at her was any indication. And she was pinned—half her body nearly crushed under the immense pieces of cliffside that’d fallen with her. Jagged stone cut into her shoulder.

“Ahsoka?”

She hesitated. “I could use some help.”

A muffled swear, a shouted order, the sound of a hundred quick, urgent footfalls. His voice was tight when he spoke again. “We’re coming to you now. Can you walk?”

Ahsoka shook her head before she realized that was a bad idea—her vision whited out at the corners—and that he couldn’t even see her anyway. “No.” Her head swam. When had it gotten so cold outside? “I’m pinned. I think my leg’s broken.”

“What about the Force?”

Oh. Ahsoka had forgotten about that. But when she dipped into its familiar depths, sleep, the dangerous kind, pulled at her—down, down, down—until Ahsoka gasped and ripped herself away. Adrenaline hammered her heart. “No. Don’t wanna risk it.”

Rex didn’t bother asking for further information. The footsteps got faster.

“Are you okay?” Ahsoka asked softly.

“Yes, sir,” came the rough reply.

She nodded, forgetting again that he couldn’t see. “Good.”

“Good?”

Ahsoka blinked. “Yeah. That’s kind of what I was going for.” Her chest tightened, ribs shifting; she should probably stop talking.

“You can’t just—” Static crackled over the comm. They must’ve hit a deadzone.

Ahsoka drifted her eyes along the crimson sky, sinking in and out of unconsciousness as she waited.

“—mander? Commander?”

“Here,” she said belatedly, her brain coming back to the surface. “‘m here. ‘m fine.” Trees rustled in the wind. Ahsoka thought she could hear them coming, not just over the comm, but actually hear them, in the distance. She suddenly remembered where she was. “Gonna try to get out.”

Rex’s voice bit through the air immediately. “No, don’t. You’ll hurt yourself more. Just stay awake.”

She shifted, readying herself to try pulling her leg out. “’s fine, I got it.”

“Commander, stay exactly where you are.” His voice was clipped. “Don’t try to move.”

Ahsoka groaned, lightning zipping up her leg. “I got it.” She was starting to sweat, despite the cold. It had been cold, right?

“Ahsoka, stop!”

And she did, blinking in shock.

Rex’s tinny voice continued, wired anger cutting through the comm. “Why are you always so reckless? Do you ever even think about what would happen if something—” Ahsoka couldn’t tell if he’d cut himself off or if they’d hit another deadzone, but either way her head throbbed with pain and guilt.

“Sorry,” she mumbled back. She was completely spent of energy, spent of strength, and her body ached with agony.

“—and on the cliff—” Rex’s voice suddenly cut back in.

“Wasn’t trying to be reckless,” she interrupted, voice breathy. There was a crucial piece of information he was leaving out. “Trying to save your life.” Ahsoka dropped her head onto her arm.

There was the sound of shuffling, static rocks shifting beneath far-away feet. “What about saving your own life?” Past the haze slowly encroaching on the world, Ahsoka wondered why he was so angry with her. She didn’t think she’d ever heard him so emphatic. He’d scolded her plenty of times—follow orders this, don’t run off looking for trouble that—Ahsoka should’ve been used to it. But still.

Cynicism seeped out of her exhausted mind. “Can’t save everyone.” It was something Anakin had told her, back when she’d first become a Padawan, back when she was determined to get everyone out of this alive. When she’d thought that was even an option.

“You can try.”

There was a pause, and in it, Ahsoka breathed, her eyes slipping closed.

“Ahsoka!”

Rex was shaking her shoulders, his face, bare of its helmet, twisted in worry above hers. Ahsoka’s heart shuddered, stumbled, like it’d just remembered that it had to beat. Her hand instinctively clutched his arm.

“You’re alright.” People were moving, pushing the rock off her, and Rex’s voice broke through the onslaught of pain. “We got you.” His hand was on her shoulder. “I got you.”

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