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crankynewt · 4 years ago

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Good for a Weekend (Helmut Zemo)

Masterlist

Summary: You were retired, a disgraced Avenger content living the rest of their life out in solitude. But Sam and Bucky's shenanigans dragged you back into the hero life and you found yourself face to face with the man who'd got you into this mess in the first place. The question is, however, is he really who you thought he was? Or are you just as crazy as him?

Pairing: Helmut Zemo x Reader

Warnings: TFAWS Episode 3 Spoilers, Zemo (he's a warning), swearing, mentions of torture and experimenting (past), drinking, Zemo being semi-protective, I think that's it??

Word Count: 3.41k

Author's Note: Biting the bullet and writing this BEFORE Marvel does something to get us to hate him again. Also, ZEMO AND BLANK SPACE WORK SO WELL TOGETHER OMG.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” You murmured, looking at the message from Sam flashing across your phone. Although you had stopped dead in your tracks, the chaos of the bustling streets of London continued around you. You pushed your sunglasses further up your nose, them having fallen down as you were peering at the screen of your burner cell.

‘Need your help in Madripoor ASAP,’ the text read. You weren’t daft, you knew exactly what kind of lawless entropy happened on that Indonesian island and if Sam was asking for your help, that meant he was in some deep shit.

‘I’m retired,’ you replied, glancing over your shoulder out of habit. Although you’d been pardoned after the Berlin incident by the government, you were still a disgraced Avenger in the eyes of the world. All you wanted was to live the rest of your life out in peace, a future without the world-saving you began when you left HYDRA with the Maximoff twins.

You hadn’t chosen to become a human lab rat, tortured and exposed to the mind stone until you could suddenly hear the thoughts of others in your head. Telepathy and telekinesis were not necessarily the kind of special skills that employers wanted to see on a resume, but alas, here you were. Thankfully, however, you'd learned to block them out until necessary to violate people's privacy. Fighting aliens and other superpowered entities, including the people you’d once considered to be your family, were in the past.

‘Please. It’s Bucky,’ Sam messaged again. Those three words were enough to make your blood run cold and your heart stop. Bucky was the reason you were in this mess in the first place, and you would be damned if the ex-assassin was going to fall back into the clutches of evil.

With a sigh, you typed back ‘fine’ and began the trek towards your apartment. Your phone was vibrating again immediately, Sam explaining that they would be picking you up at a small airstrip on the edge of the city.

Three hours later, you were walking along a long, concrete runway, the harsh England wind attacking your body as you pulled your leather jacket tighter around you. Your brows furrowed in confusion at the sight of a civilian jet rather than the military-esque vessels you’d become accustomed to. The steps were awaiting your ascent with an older man stood adjacent to the entrance.

“Ms.(Y/L/N),” he greeted. A thick accent laced his tone, one you couldn’t quite determine from the crackling of age in his voice. German or Russian, most likely, you deduced. Attempting to be polite despite your skepticism, you gave him a tight-lipped smile and handshake before the elder man gestured towards the stairs for you. Entering the jet, you turned right to be met with the familiar faces of Sam and Bucky.

“(Y/N)!” Bucky exclaimed, rising from his seat and embracing you in a hug. He held you tightly against his body, almost as if he wasn’t sure you were really there. The super soldier had taken a liking to you when the two of you stayed in Wakanda during your exile, both of you having a certain understanding of the other due to your shared experiences with HYDRA. The sergeant had become somewhat of a brother to you in your time away together. “What are you doing here?”

“Sam messaged me.” You replied, Barnes’ arms immediately releasing you as he whipped around to face Sam.

“You tattled on me to (Y/N)?” He scoffed. If looks could kill, Sam would have dropped dead from the darkness in Bucky’s orbs.

“Wait, if he’s okay then what am I here for?” You said, shifting your gaze to Sam as you raised a brow.

“You’re here to make sure that he stays in line.” Sam snapped, crossing his arms over his chest as Bucky let out an exasperated ‘Jesus Christ’ under his breath.

“Bucky’s fine, Sam.” You replied, rubbing your face with your hand in annoyance as you glanced at the super-soldier.

“He’s not talking about James.” A new voice sounded from behind you, one both vaguely familiar but also strange. Whipping around, you were met with a face you’d only ever seen through a screen. Zemo.

“What the fuck is he doing out of prison?!” You exclaimed, looking between Sam and Bucky in utter disbelief.

“Bucky broke him out of jail!” Sam exclaimed, pointing a finger towards the super-soldier.

“Sam’s the one who pulled me into this mess!” Bucky pointed back.

“You two morons have reached a whole new level of dumbassery!” You exclaimed, keeping a cautious gaze on Zemo in the corner of your eye. “You broke out the man who ripped apart the Avengers out of jail and you let him do it?! The same man who killed King T’Chaka! Do neither of you remember what T’Challa and the people of Wakanda just did for us after we became enemies of the state?! I cannot believe that you would betray their trust and help this monster to escape!”

You paused for a moment, breathing heavily as you looked at the ashamed faces of Bucky and Sam in front of you.

“I’m sorry to-” You heard Zemo begin, you turned to face him with utter rage shining in your eyes. “No! The grown-ups are talking, you can wait your turn.” You scolded him, almost as you would a child but just a tad harsher. Grown-ups may have also not have been the best choice of words to describe Wilson and Barnes.

“I don’t want any part of this suicide mission!” You snapped at the duo, moving to leave.

Thirty minutes later, however, you were still on the jet, glaring into a pair of brown eyes as the four of you flew through the air. Honestly, you couldn’t believe you were still there, but Sam and Bucky knew you too well and pushed just the right buttons to convince you to stay. Sam needed you to tap into Zemo’s mind if need be to figure out if he was planning on betraying them, and you didn’t want two of the last people you trust getting themselves killed if you could prevent it.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum were sitting across from each other, meaning that you got stuck sitting across from the Baron in silence. He shifted uncomfortably under your gaze, the darkness in your (Y/E/C) orbs not sitting well with the man.

“So, you read minds.” He began, rubbing his hands together anxiously. You noted the nervous tick and couldn’t help but feel amused at his discomfort, but your expression never faltered.

“You don’t need to make small talk.” You bit, your icy tone growing colder in every syllable.

“I’m genuinely curious, is all.” He began, pausing his fiddling to brush his hair back only to resume it once more. “It just seems like for someone with your abilities, you’re often an overlooked member of the team. You’re the most powerful, even more so than Maximoff or Banner, perhaps, yet you were never truly an Avenger, were you?”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m retired.” You muttered, ending your glaring to gaze out the window. The way Zemo spoke about you was unsettling, especially considering how he felt about the Avengers. He seemed not to think that you were part of the team, similarly to Bucky, and that brought you a feeling of unease.

“And why is that?” Zemo pushed, your avoidance evidence that he’d struck a chord.

“Why do you care?” You scoffed, looking back at the Sokovian man, both annoyance and exhaustion present in your tone.

“Because I think you’re like me.” He answered, his tone becoming quieter. Zemo didn’t look at you with the same rage you’d seen in footage from 2016, nor with the amusement that he gazed at Bucky and Sam with. No, it was something different, softer and analytical, perhaps. You wanted to peer into his mind for something, anything to figure out what he was thinking, but he would likely feel your prodding into his consciousness. As of now, he didn’t seem to have any plans to betray you guys, and you wouldn’t be the one to give him a reason.

“That’s enough from you.” Bucky interrupted, rising from his seat to switch places with you, his brotherly possessiveness clear as day.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, and Zemo provided the three of you with costumes for the roles you were to play in Madripoor. Yours seemed to have been designed specifically to be horribly uncomfortable, both in feel and the amount of skin that was exposed in the cool evening air. The three of you were making your way towards the glowing city shining in the distance, the nerves in your stomach rising with each step.

“Only an American would assume a fashion-forward Black man looks like a pimp.” Zemo explained in response to Sam’s protests over his own outfit. “You look exactly like the man you’re supposed to be playing. The sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, aka the Smiling Tiger.”

“He even has a bad nickname.” Sam said, looking at the picture of Conrad on the phone Zemo had just handed him. “Hell, he does look like me though.”

“And who am I supposed to be playing, exactly?” You questioned, still unsure as to what role you would be playing in this scheme.

“My partner,” Zemo said simply, an amused smile working his way onto his lips.

“What?! No! Nu-uh, I’m not doing that!” You protested, Sam chuckling at your denial of what was probably inevitable.

“Would you rather the alternative of all of us getting slaughtered the second we step foot into the city?” Zemo retorted, still humored by your resistance.

“Fine, but if you try anything I’m going to break your nose.” You gave in.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Soon, the four of you were making your way into a bar, Helmut’s arm wrapped tightly around your waist since the second you exited the car in a mock possessiveness. It was all part of the charade, you had to remind yourself, as the Baron kept your side pressed against his snugly.

Making your way up to the counter, the bartender didn’t look impressed to see the group of you there as he made his way over to you.

“Hello,” He began. “Wasn’t expecting you, Smiling Tiger.”

“His plans changed. We have a business to do, with Selby.” Zemo interjected before Sam could respond.

“The usual?” The bartender ignored Zemo and turned his attention back to Sam, who simply gave a curt nod in response. The bartender turned, grabbing a snake from a jar and slicing it down the underside with a blade. A part of you wanted to cackle, especially seeing Sam stiffen beside you, and you didn’t doubt that Bucky was having to restrain himself as well. Zemo didn’t seem surprised as the bartender pulled who knows what out from the snake and placed it into a glass.

“Smiling Tiger, your favorite.” The Baron commented, the bartender sliding Sam his beverage only to pour two glasses of a different liquor for Zemo and yourself.

“I love these,” Sam said, raising to clink glasses with yourself and the Sokovian man whose arm was still draped around you.

“Cheers, Conrad,” Zemo replied, smiling back at poor Sam. The three of you downed your burning liquor, Sam struggling the most out of the three of you, clearly appalled by the organ at the bottom of his shot. You could see Bucky give a little nod in the corner of your eye, knowing he must be finding this as amusing as you were.

A man soon approached Helmut from behind, tapping him on the shoulder before he turned to face the stranger, shifting you with him. When Zemo felt the little nudge, he immediately pulled you closer to him. You were even tighter against him now, so much so that you had to wrap an arm around him as well to stabilize yourself. It was almost as if he was trying to shield you from the man despite him knowing full well that you can hold your own.

“I got word from on high; you ain’t welcome here.” He spat, getting too close to the two of you for either of your likings. But Zemo kept his air of indifference while you instinctually moved closer into his side. It’s all an act, remember? You have to play the part of the clingy partner who would get frightened at such a rough man threatening you two. Or at least, that’s what you told yourself.

“I have no business with the Power Broker, but if he insists, he can either come and talk to me…” Zemo began, trailing off as he gestured to Bucky.

“New haircut?” The strange man asked Bucky, who merely glowered in response.

“Or bring Selby for a chat.” Zemo finished, this time him being the one to get into the man’s face. Thankfully that was enough to send him away, most likely to Selby or this Power Broker who seems to be Madripoor’s own version of Big Brother.

You could feel Zemo let out a breath that you don’t think he even knew he was holding, giving a quick glance down at you before placing a peck on your temple. For the facade, of course. But what wasn’t fake were the butterflies rise in your stomach, something that you hadn’t felt in a long time. Were you… Flustered?

No, you reminded yourself internally. This was a very bad man holding you close, the same one who killed the former King of Wakanda and ripped your team to shreds. Not only that, but he hated all the Avengers, so why did he seem to like you? It doesn’t matter whether or not he likes you, he’s Zemo. But the more time you spent with him, the more intoxicated you became. He was starting to look more and more like your next mistake, and love is certainly not a game you wanted to be playing with him. Right?

The next thirty or so minutes were a blur. Bucky having to fake being the Winter Soldier to kick a bunch of men’s asses to finally meeting up with Selby, only for Sam to break your cover through a phone call and Selby quickly being shot. The four of you promptly exited the bar, attempting to remain inconspicuous until bounty hunters from all around started shooting at you. Bucky and Sam jumped forward, meanwhile, Zemo darted to the right, dragging you with him as he moved his hand from your waist to interlock your fingers.

You cut through alleyway after alleyway, hiding in the shadows as gunfire echoed around you. Eventually, you managed to catch up with Bucky and Sam, approaching the pair with your hand still in his.

“Well this is too perfect.” A female voice interrupted your mini-reunion, Sharon Carter emerging from the shadows as she ripped down her hood, gun fixated on Zemo.

“Drop it Zemo,” She started, Zemo raising his gun-holding hand before lowering the weapon to the ground. “You cost me everything.”

“Sharon, wait.” You reasoned, raising your hand as you slowly backed up.

“What, are you his lover now? His sugar baby or some shit?” She badgered you, causing your eyes to widen as you only just remembered that you were still holding his hand. You quickly dropped it, raising it to match your other arm as Zemo sent you a look that you couldn’t decipher. Oh, how desperately you wanted to look into his mind, but the little bit of sanity left in you told you to leave it be.

“Someone recreated the super-soldier serum and Zemo had a lead,” Sam explained.

“That explains why you guys are here. And Selby’s dead.” Sharon replied, gun still pointed at your group.

“So what are you doing here?” Bucky questioned the blonde.

“I stole Steve’s shield, remember? I also took the wings for your ass so that you could save his ass from his ass and became a criminal with their ass.” She explained, pointing the gun at each mention of whoever's ass it was that turn. “Unlike you, I didn’t have the Avengers to back me up, so, I’m off the grid in Madripoor.”

“Hey, don’t blow that smoke. I was on the run, too.” Sam rebutted Sharon’s complaints.

“Was. Is. Big difference. I don’t speak to my family anymore - I can’t. My own father doesn’t know where I am.”

“Listen…” You began. “Sharon, we need your help, the former agent only laughing in response. “Please.”

“This isn’t over.” She conceded, shaking her head at you. “I have a place in High Town, you should be safe there for a while.”

Sharon’s place was definitely nicer than yours is now, and you’re not even on the run anymore. She, thankfully, had a change of clothes for you to slip into, the soft material much a welcome relief from the tortuous item Zemo had you wearing.

While you were waiting for Sharon’s guests to begin arriving for whatever event would soon be taking place downstairs, everybody slowly filtered out of the room until it was only Zemo and yourself remaining.

“Can I ask you a question?” You spoke up, breaking the silence from your spot on the sofa as you glanced towards the Baron seated across the room.

“Ask away.” He smiled, taking a sip from the amber liquid in his glass.

“What did you mean earlier, when you said we were the same.” Your voice was quiet now, so much so that you weren’t sure if he’d even heard you. That is until he got up from his seat and slowly walked towards you.

“I never wanted to tear the Avengers apart, not until they killed my family. Destroyed my city… Sure, I didn’t like them, but I didn’t want to destroy them. It was all about vengeance.” He began, sitting beside you on the yellow fabric. “For you, it was HYDRA who ruined your life. You joined the Avengers because it was where the last people you had left were going and it was the easiest way for you to ensure the organization was destroyed. You never wanted the idolization that came with being a hero, and it was clear when your work was done that you had no desire to keep going. Everything that came after the Sokovia Accords was out of survival.”

“I’m not saying you're right,” you began, “but what would that make me, then? Insane? Cause that seems to be the running theory.”

“You’re not crazy, despite how rumors fly. Neither am I, really.” He began, eliciting a small smile from you at the last bit he added. “You’re a fighter, someone doing whatever it takes to get their agenda done. Whether that means breaking the law or joining the Avengers, nothing will stop you once you put your mind to it - it’s one of the things I admire about you.”

You pursed your lips as you focused on the amber fluid floating in its crystalline home, him taking another sip of the burning liquid. Your gaze shifted back to his face, and oh god, look at that face. Maybe it was the liquor in your system already or maybe your last bit of sanity was finally escaping your mind, but suddenly his past didn’t seem to matter anymore. You had plenty of red on your ledger as well, and the more he spoke the more you began to sympathize with him.

“So you admire me?” You smirked, crossing your arms as you tilted your head slightly to the right playfully.

“Why don’t you look into my mind and tell me?” He replied. Reaching out, you gently placed your fingers against his temple as you gazed into his consciousness. Flashes of magic and madness, ideas of a love that could be forever or go down in flames. You didn’t go searching deeper, because your own mind was racing. Would pursuing this be worth all the pain that could very well follow? No, not could, would. You’d be betraying your former teammates, but what did that matter much anymore.

Rather than pulling your hand away, you placed your lips gently on his, tentatively, even. He tasted of expensive liquor and a hint of peppermint, and you found yourself intoxicated. The kiss ended far too soon for your liking, him pulling away so his brown orbs could gaze into your own.

“So… What do you say?” He asked, cupping your cheek in his hand, you place your own over top of his.

“Why not?” You smiled back, reconnecting your lips to his.

“I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.”

Taglist:

@fanfictionedagain @lam-ila @b0nnyzz @haydieenzzibug @cyanide-mustard @duchess-of-new-shire @the-chocoholic-writer @milenadixon @real-fbi @golddenlioness

#i feel so guilty writing this lmao #i hate liking zemo rip #helmut zemo #zemo #helmut zemo x reader #tfaws #marvel #baron zemo #helmut zemo imagine #daniel bruhl #mcu #tfaws imagine #bucky barnes #sam wilson #zemo x reader #zemo imagine

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hakuoyuki · 3 years ago

Note

I love hearing about people’s theories and was wondering if you’d share yours regarding the recent ask 👀

Absolutely 👀

Do note that these are simply my theories based on what's revealed about Sariel and Rio thus far before the official start of Act 2 and Sariel's route release. Once those are out, it may confirm or invalidate my assumptions.

Disclaimer: All info are based on the JP Version of the app. I do not know if ENG changed or may change any of the following event details / specific word choices (because they often do).

Everything will be under the cut due to both direct and indirect spoilers (both minor and major plot related events) from the following:

・Chevalier’s Route

・Nokto's Route

・Licht's Route

・My Knight is a Beast (Licht Route Release) Collection Event 〜 Rio's Story

・Sariel's 1st Birthday Story (His POV)

・Jin's Route

・Rio's 1st Birthday Story (His POV)

・Luke's Route

・Luke's 1st Birthday Story (both Normal and His POV)

・1st Anniversary Story Event 〜 Sariel's Route

・1st Anniversary Story Event 〜 Clavis' Route

・1st Anniversary Story Event 〜 Rio's Route

・Beast Knight Collection Event 〜 Sariel's Story

・Clavis' Route

ーーーー

Theory on Sariel's Background - What Sariel’s previous occupation before becoming the court’s minister could possibly be

Various reveals alludes to Sariel, a man now in his 40s youngest, being a potential ex-child assassin (from Obsidian) who was after the Previous King’s life but had converted and been following the Previous King’s under his command as his attendant ever since the two formed a “contract” together.

The beginning of Sariel’s “reveal” began in Sariel's 1st Birthday Story (His POV).

It was late January, inside the castle which had became very cold since it snowed during day time sat Sariel alone at the desk in his office. He didn't lit up any candle to warm up the room as he looked through the documents on his hand with the moonlight that shone into the room as he drank from the glass of ale in his other hand. The moon outside was very beautiful tonight, and on a night like this.... a memory always came back to him.

???: “Be it you, or Iーーwere we born in the wrong place?”

Sariel kept thinking about “that person” who told him that.

He thought to himself how he always work while drinking cold ale like this but he never got drunk from it.

Sariel: Even “that person”....

But at the time where people would be asleep, no one else showed up in the room. It was only Sariel alone.

In the end Sariel didn't sleep at all. By the time it's morning, Sariel thought to himself how that doesn't really matter. Because.... ever since he was a child, it's not like he ever got any decent sleep anyway.

Later Sariel went to do some... “clean ups”. What this meant was to go around crushing the bases of those who are trying to bring harm to the palace. Literally, singlehandedly. Get physical and beat them up.

Unlike a court bureaucrat, he seems like someone who's familiar with weapons.

On his birthday, at one of the bases, Sariel found MC tied up, blindfolded and unconscious. The men had kidnapped her to be a hostage. Sariel was glad MC is unconscious although he noticed she's waking up and is able to hear what's going on. But at least MC’s vision is still obstructed so Sariel is glad for that.

Because this way she won't see him beating these men up with his whip.

Sariel grabbed a guy who had collapsed down onto the grown after getting whipped up their chin by his whip. He had grabbed the man by his hair, pulling his head up to meet his own at eye level.

The man was all teary eyed as Sariel spoke up

Sariel: At the meeting two days from now, let's hear about the “circumstances” in front of everyone. Don't go running away or hiding now alright?

Sariel: Because if you don't listen to what the devil says, this timeーー you know what will happen right?

After finishing with the “clean up”, Sariel walked over to MC and told her he's glad she got her eyes blindfolded because he think the devil's work is quite too extreme for her.

Sariel: But I didn't think I'll be meeting you at a place like this, Belle

Then he told her to keep it a secret that the two of them were at this place.

ー

In addition, Sariel have said multiple times (specifically in Beast Knight Collection Event and Clavis’ Route) that unlike the princes, he wasn't raised well and good like the princes were.

In Clavis’ route, it was even revealed that The Person who taught Clavis how lock pick was... Sariel Noir.

After MC asked Sariel if he’s good at picking locks like Clavis is while Sariel was picking the lock to Clavis’ bedroom... this was his reply

Sariel: Please don't lump me in with him. .......The one who taught Prince Clavis how to do it was me.

Sariel: Long time ago, there was some happenings, I ended up being seen picking a lock by young Prince Clavis

Sariel: and he cheekily threatened me that “if you don't want me to tell anyone then teach me how to do it”

Sariel: That's why I'm the one who's better at lock picking

It was here that he once again emphasized how he wasn't raised well and good like the princes were... that's why he's good at “these sort of things”

ー

In “1st Anniversary Story Event 〜 Sariel's Route” Sariel is thinking about “that person” again. But this time we got more insights on him.

As Sariel gaze at the scenery of the country, he remembered how “that person” was the one who appointed Sariel, with his appearance not suited for this beautiful country of roses, as his closest aide.

Who exactly is Sariel an attendant of? Luke route has mentions of how Sariel has been the Previous King's attendant ever since he was young.

“That person” Sariel kept thinking of... is heavily implied to be the Previous King, the father of all the 8 Rhodolite Princes.

Jin’s route also mentioned how 6 years old Jin learnt of “the Palace’s Tragedy” (about his father, the Previous King, and his mother, the Previous Belle) from “the King’s close attendant”. Considering how Luke’s route revealed that Sariel was the Previous King’s attendant ever since he was young.... plus the fact that Sariel had known Clavis’ and Luke’s mother personally as well ever since before they gave birth to the princes because they were palace worker colleagues... It was confirmed (during Sariel might very well be in his 40s.

Sariel: (.........But a “contract” is a contract. This devil shall see through the promise to the end.)

Later on in the event common route, Clavis released mice in the castle (again). Sariel hates mice but now he has to go around catching them because they're all over the kitchen too. Yves and Luke were in the kitchen as the mice ran around, some of them jumping on Yves much to his horror. As Sariel was trying to handle the kitchen, the maids outside were also screaming because of the mice.

Sariel: Anyone who sees Prince Clavis please capture him like you do with the mice

Sariel: Ah, not just capture him but if you're able to exterminate him too that would be so great..... Oops, I accidentally spoke my mind

Rio & the Knights: ...............

After the thing with the mice was over, Sariel was thinking to himself how this time it's “mice” but even with “human” what he does is the same.

As he thought that, Sariel also thought how he doesn't want MC to know about that side of him. Because given his “dark past” he's not in the position to reach out to “that kind of thing” (which was later revealed to be “someone with a beautiful heart like Belle”).

Later on toward the the end of the common route, a knight brought a bouquet of roses to Sariel's office and told him how someone sent them for MC. But immediately after looking at the flowers... Both Sariel and Rio were able to tell right away that it's poisoned. (More on this in the theory on Rio below).

ー

In Rio's Sweet End from “1st Anniversary Story Event 〜 Rio’s Route”... Rio was trying to figure out why Sariel chose MC to become Belle since Sariel seems to have another reason for it that he didn't told anyone about. However, at the same time, Sariel was also trying to figure out who on earth is Rio because no matter how much he tried to investigate and dig up despite his skills (he was able to dig up Luke’s birthday when the birthday boy himself doesn’t even know when he was born or how old he actually is), nothing on Rio “exists” as if he's a man who “doesn't exist”. (More on this in the theory on Rio below).

Rio doubts “her slap” was the reason Sariel chose MC as Belle. He invited Sariel out to drink with him and tried to get Sariel tipsy so he would reveal some deeds to him but Sariel got no openings. What Rio hypothesized though, was that Sariel had been investigating MC “For A While” and “For Some Specific Reasons” had his eyes on her but what that reason is...... is still unknown.

Sariel: For example, what kind of reasons?

Rio, started off seriously but ended it jokingly: You've been doing background check and investigating MC... and turns out she actually have some relations to the royal family!

Sariel, holding himself back from bursting out laughing: That's some development right out of a romance novel right there

Rio changed his plans and tried to ask Sariel what he was doing before coming to the palace, where, and how he lived instead.

Sariel: ......If you tell me where you were raised I'll answer that

Rio: (Huh.......?)

Rio: Could it be that you don't know my identity too?

Sariel: ..........

Rio: (I'm right on the mark)

Rio told Sariel how he seems like the type who can get his hand on any info and is able to do anything so this was pretty unexpected.

Sariel responded with how he too find it strange that he's unable to find out the identity of someone who ought to be a commoner....

Sariel, with an evil smile: That's why I want to meet the one who turned you into a non-existent being too you see?

Rio suddenly tensed up

Rio: .........

Sariel, with a gentle smile: My apologies, it's possible that you just grew up somewhere remote

Rio, winking: You mean raised by an animal? That also sounds like a plot out of a story

Rio: Anyway, if you find out anything about me please let me know alright!

Sariel: Of course

ー

Back to why I mentioned Sariel’s “possible connection to Obsidian” at the very start, there’s actually a few points I would like to highlight regarding this matter.

By this point I think you can see why Sariel is most likely an “ex-child assassin”： his “dark past”, his “lack sleep ever since he was a child”, how he “wasn't raised well and good like the princes were... that's why he's good at “these sort of things” (lock picking, identifying poisons, violence, his “clean ups”)”

But why Obsidian? “With his appearance not suited for this beautiful country of roses”, the other country which Sariel’s appearance seems most suited for is... obviously Obsidian here. His outfit isn’t really making this subtle at all. This combined with the fact that Sariel knows Jin and Clavis are both spies for Obsidian. With Clavis, Sariel knows but he couldn’t find concrete evidence for it. However, with Jin... the two of them has been cooperating. Sariel knows, and he’s been supporting Jin as a double agent. Sariel also got contact with back alley doctors to come treat Jin whenever his life gets endangered due to his status as “an Obsidian spy” and how there are those who suspect Jin of being so. Furthermore, Obsidian is known for child labor. Especially to use them as soldier / for war.

ー

Whether this theory end up becoming completely true / only true to certain extent / or completely off the mark... We shall find out with Sariel’s route that most likely going to be here by Dec 2021 👀

But one thing for sure is, by the end of Act 1, neither we, nor any of the princes themselves, know exactly how old Sariel is nor where he was from despite how a majority of them grew up with Sariel being around ever since they were born...

ーーーー

Theory on Rio's Background - Who exactly is Rio and where is he from? Is he really amnesiac or...?

Various reveals alludes to Rio being a “someone not ordinary” perhaps an (ex-)assassin or royalty/nobility from Benitoite.

While Chevalier’s True Love (Romantic) End reveals Rio to know a “foreign lullaby”...

The first time we got proper some insight on Rio was from Nokto’s Route Chapter 7. Despite having followed Nokto and MC to Benitoite, Rio “lied” about Sariel telling him to remain in the carriage to wait. It was actually Rio’s own decision to, for some reason, avoid being seen by people in Benitoite. Nokto noticed this, but Rio insisted that he has no idea what Nokto is on to and that he has no memory from before 3 years ago.

I’ll get back to the bit about Benitoite later to focus on Rio’s and his “assassin-like” skills first. But through out Act 1, Rio keep avoiding Benitoite like a plague.

Moving onto Rio’s “assassin-like” skills... this also first made its cameo in Nokto’s Route Chapter 7. Rio “accidentally” dropped his trays on Nokto as they walked passed each other and almost “accidentally” threw a knife at Nokto's face, missing it just by his hair.

Rio: Oops. My hand slipped, I'm so sorry.

Nokto saw through that. That neither was the tray dropping nor the knife almost hitting him was “an accident”. After asking Rio what it was that he actually wanted to talk to him about, Rio told Nokto that this is a warning from him. A warning not to hurt his precious, most important girl, or he won't forgive Nokto even if he's a prince.

ー

Later on in Nokto’s Chapter 12, Rio together with MC and Luke were tailing behind Licht into a building.

First of all, it was Rio who noticed the footprints and figured out which direction to go. As the three were eavesdropping from a room nearby, Rio was able to tell how many people were in the other room with Nokto through the eavesdropping through the wall.

ー

Soon after in Licht’s Route Chapter 13, Rio's “assassin-like” senses were triggered here as well. While MC, Licht, and Rio were on the carriage together, Licht and Rio noticed they were surrounded.

In Licht’s His POV story for this chapter, upon realizing that Rio too, noticed the same thing he did... Licht thought how he heard Rio is “just a commoner like MC” but that totally doesn't seem to be the case here.

Because “an ordinary commoner shouldn't be able to notice that”.

ー

Now let me just share “My Knight is a Beast (Licht Route Release) Collection Event 〜 Rio's Story” because this story literally explains itself.

The story started off with Rio rushing to the scene and tackling down the guy who was grabbing onto MC's arm and as they both tumbled down onto the ground...

Rio: Ouchhhhh that hurtsssssss

From everyone's point of view, Rio seems like he clumsily dashed in and fell on that man.

But the man who was tackled down by Rio.... his face became deathly pale.

Man 1: Hey. What's wrong?

Man 2, who got tackled down: Let's go.

Man 1: What?

Man 2: Don't ask, let's leave!!

Just like that, the men ran off like a startled hare. As she saw that, MC wondered what got into them all of a sudden.

Rio: They probably suddenly remembered they have something important they had to do. But more importantly, I'm glad you're safe

MC thought the men were acting strangely but whatever since nothing happened, all is good. She thanked Rio for saving her and asked if he followed her along. Rio told her he did, because he had a bad feeling something might happen and he's so worried he couldn't sit still if that really were the case. Rio told MC to use a safer street to head back or else..... he backed her against the wall. A beast might assault her like this. Backing away from her, Rio told her to get on the carriage that he came on before him. MC asked Rio what about him but he said he got something to do a bit first and he will promptly follow her.

Immediately after, the scene cut to a random house nearby.

Man 1: Hey, why did you run away

Man 2: .....That guy is bad news. If we go against him, the one that's not going to end well is us

Man 1: Haa??

Man 2: Did you not noticed!? That guy when he tackled me down.... He had a knife against my neck!!!

Man 2: It won't be strange to be kill by him!!!

As the man was screaming out his demise, a shadow approached them

???: It's alright. Because I can't do something so cruel like that in front of that girl

The Men: !?

Man 2: I-it's you.......!

They asked Rio who suddenly showed up if he chased them here and Rio said, with a friendly smile on his face as he slowly approached them, that there's simply something he forgot to tell these men who dare put their hand on his MC.

In the next moment, Rio's gaze turned sharp and the men felt chill running down their spine

Rio: There shall be no second time. Bear that in mind.

The unbearable pleasure they felt from Rio made the men tremble in fear like wild rabbits cornered by a beast as they replied “we will never do it again”.

Satisfied with the reply, Rio smiled and left.

As Rio came back into the alley and walked toward the carriage MC was waiting for him in....

Rio: I'll certainly protect you

Rio: No matter with what means I have to use

ーーEnd of “My Knight is a Beast (Licht Route Release) Collection Event 〜 Rio's Story”ーー

As you can see above, the story explained itself here. Those are... not ordinary skills.

ー

In Rio 1st Birthday story, it was revealed that April 13 is not Rio’s birthday. April 13, 3 years ago, was the day he and MC first met.

In His POV, Rio can't remember his birthday so MC suggested he set a date as his birthday so they can celebrate it. As rio agreed... the first date that came up to his mind was “that day” ....the day he first met MC.

Rio felt so happy to be able to spend his birthday with mc but that's also why a certain thought kept repeating itself in his head. If his memories returned, he wonder if he'll be able to remain here unchangingly. He wonder if he can still stay by MC’s side.

Rio: The more happy I feel, the more afraid I become of the future.....

From this story, it seems Rio’s amnesia is “real”. But does he truly not remember “everything” or does he have partial memory of things is something to ponder about. Considering how soon after Rio said the line above to himself, he heard footsteps and he remember the sound of this footsteps belongs to MC’s.

There’s also the fact that Rio been avoiding Benitoite back in Nokto’s route. This also came up again in Luke’s Passionate Love (Dramatic) End.

ー

A quick back tracing to Licht’s route first since Licht’s Chapter 12 also had another key point regarding “Rio and Benitoite”.

After Sariel told MC and Rio how a duke from Benitoite will be visiting Rhodolite as Benitoite’s goodwill ambassador since every year around this time Rhodolite and Benitoite would be exchanging relations and stuff...

Rio: .......A duke from Benitoite you say?

MC saw the smile disappeared from Rio's face so she asks him what's wrong. But his reaction was...

Rio: Ah, sorry. It's nothing.

....If this isn’t shady then what is this.

ー

Then at the very end of Luke’s Passionate Love (Dramatic) End when MC was about to follow Luke to Benitoite...

At the bookstore in the capital city of Rhodolite, despite how much he wants to be with MC, Rio unexpectedly decided to remain behind and not even go with her to Benitoite, letting Cyril be the one to accompany MC on her travel instead. Before MC left, Rio was all sad and worried over her. In which MC, in an attempt to put Rio at ease, told him “benitoite isn't a dangerous country”

Rio: ..........I wonder about that

MC: ??

Rio, do you truly have “no memory of anything before 3 years ago” for you to be avoiding Benitoite to such degree? Are you perhaps related to Silvio in some way?

ー

In “1st Anniversary Story Event 〜 Clavis' Route”, we got another emphasize on Rio being “someone not ordinary”.

After Rio told Clavis he noticed Clavis been snooping around but he don't know what Clavis is trying to do, he asked him if he would tell him what he’s up to. Being asked that, Clavis thought to himself how usually Rio seems like a dog wagging his tail for his master but.... he knows how to bare his fangs at his enemies. He's good at socialization and you could even say he's like someone powerful enough to quarrel with royalties.

Clavis thought how at the very least, Rio is totally not someone ordinary. Because of this reason, he's going to do some digging on his background.

Clavis: That's right. You're my *wife's butler...... I'll at least let you in on the secret, but not now.

Note: This story is a direct continuation of “(IF Event) Royal Wedding～The Prince and the Fake Bride～Part.2 ～ Clavis’ Route″ where in the story, MC and Clavis “got married” (Rio and Luke crashed the wedding though). This premise of Clavis’ MC being Clavis’ “wife” (pre-Clavis route release) continued on even to the story event after this, in “Midsummer's Heat 〜The Drench Beast Wants to Indulge〜 Clavis’ Route”

Rio: I told you she's not your wife but.....

Rio: If you don't tell me, I won't let you meet MC no matter what

Clavis: Oh, that's troubling. If I can't play with my wife I would want to lay traps all over the castle

Rio: But you're not a person with that much free time to pull it off

Rio was smiling but his eyes were sharp like that of a mad dog.

Clavis: (Jeez, if mc really is keeping this much of a mad dog around her then.....)

ー

Then through out the common route of “1st Anniversary Story Event �� Sariel's Route”, Sariel also kept thinking about how Rio, despite the front he's showing, seems to have “another side”

At the end of the common route, after a knight brought a bouquet of roses to Sariel's office and told him how someone sent them for MC. But immediately after looking at the flowers... Both Sariel and Rio were able to tell right away that it's poisoned...

Sariel was thinking once again how Rio really is no ordinary person.

And we got a flashback scene to the first time Sariel met Rio at the bookstore. The scene which happened off-screen during the prologue.

Having entered the bookstore MC was supposed to be working at, Sariel met Rio who was directing killing intent at him.

In the end, Sariel decided to take Rio along with him to the palace too because...

1) Rio is troublesome to handle due to his sharpness and how he clearly is showing that he won't let Sariel off without a fight

2) Rio's killing intent is even giving Sariel the chills

3) Sariel don't know the reason, but it seems this man (Rio) really “needs” MC (the word he use is she's necessary to him for some reason)

So he took Rio with him too since there's no reason not to let Rio stay by MC

Now, considering the above theory of Sariel being a potential ex-child assassin... if even Rio’s killing intent can give Sariel the chills... that’s certainly something.

ー

Sariel: For example, what kind of reasons?

Rio, started off seriously but ended it jokingly: You've been doing background check and investigating MC... and turns out she actually have some relations to the royal family!

Sariel, holding himself back from bursting out laughing: That's some development right out of a romance novel right there

Rio changed his plans and tried to ask Sariel what he was doing before coming to the palace, where, and how he lived instead.

Sariel: ......If you tell me where you were raised I'll answer that

Rio: (Huh.......?)

Rio: Could it be that you don't know my identity too?

Sariel: ..........

Rio: (I'm right on the mark)

Rio told Sariel how he seems like the type who can get his hand on any info and is able to do anything so this was pretty unexpected.

Sariel responded with how he too find it strange that he's unable to find out the identity of someone who ought to be a commoner....

Sariel, with an evil smile: That's why I want to meet the one who turned you into a non-existent being too you see?

Rio suddenly tensed up

Rio: .........

Sariel, with a gentle smile: My apologies, it's possible that you just grew up somewhere remote

Rio, winking: You mean raised by an animal? That also sounds like a plot out of a story

Rio: Anyway, if you find out anything about me please let me know alright!

Sariel: Of course

The bit above here was also shared in Sariel’s theory section but I copied it over and highlighted the bit that focuses more on Rio.

In summary, Rio is most certainly from Benitoite. But regarding his background...

Rio, we know you are no ordinary person but... just who exactly are you??

#asks #ikepri #ikemen prince #イケメン王子 #cybird ikemen series #cybird #ikemen series #ikepri spoilers #ikepri jp spoilers #sariel noir #ikepri sariel #rio ortiz #ikepri rio #long post

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beardedmrbean · 2 years ago

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On this date in history:

In 323 B.C., Alexander the Great died of fever in Babylon at age 33.

In 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt cured a severe case of seasickness which overcame his daughter Ethel's dog, Bongo.

In 1944, the first German V-1 "buzz bomb" hit London.

In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Miranda vs. Arizona, ruled that police must inform all arrested people of their constitutional rights before questioning them.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court. He became the first African American on the high court in August.

In 1971, The New York Times began publishing top secret, sensitive details and documents from 47 volumes that comprised the history of the U.S. decision making process on Vietnam policy, better known as the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg, a former U.S. military analyst, leaked the documents to Times reporter Neil Sheehan.

In 1976, Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles died as a result of injuries suffered when a bomb blew up his car 11 days earlier. He had been working on an organized crime story at the time of his death.

In 1977, James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., was captured in a Tennessee wilderness area after escaping from prison.

In 1983, the robot spacecraft Pioneer 10 became the first man-made object to leave the solar system. It did so 11 years after it was launched.

In 1993, Canada got its first female prime minister when the ruling Progressive Conservative Party elected Kim Campbell to head the party and thus the country.

In 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of former football star O.J. Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside her condominium in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. Simpson was charged with the murders and acquitted in a trial that became a media sensation. A civil court later found him liable in a wrongful-death lawsuit and, in an unrelated robbery case in Nevada, he was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

In 1996, members of the Freeman militia surrendered, 10 days after the FBI cut off electricity to their Montana compound. The standoff lasted 81 days.

In 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il meet for the first-ever inter-Korea summit in Pyongyang.

In 2005, pop superstar Michael Jackson was acquitted by a California jury on charges of child molestation.

In 2009, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in a disputed Iranian presidential election, touching off widespread clashes between protesters and police.

In 2011, the complete Pentagon Papers, a secret history of the Vietnam War, were made public 40 years after the first leaks were published. The excerpts leaked by Daniel Ellsberg led to a battle with the Nixon administration and a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court expanding freedom of the press.

In 2012, ousted Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, in exile and tried in absentia, was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the shooting of protesters.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that human genes cannot be patented.

In 2020, Atlanta police chief Erika Shields resigned after the death of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, at the hands of a police officer. The officer who shot Brooks, Garrett Rolfe, was fired, but reinstated in May 2021.

#nunyas news #today in history

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eijie-cavies · 3 years ago

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Wen Kexing, Scorpion King and Gu-Xiang raised together in ghost valley.

This lovely user had produced a VERY interesting Au that I couldn't help myself but make a lil drabble/one shot on it. @naniya27 I hope you like it! I had fun playing around with Xi'er hahahah. (one shot under the cut)

Zhou Zishu didn't know if he should gape in surprise or tilt his head in confusion at the sight of Wen Kexing and a VERY familiar man clad in black conversing by their table. He had only stood up to order himself some more wine and all of the sudden there was an assassin sitting beside Wen Kexing, more so, this assassin wasn't even trying to kill him.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you-" The man whined.

"I told you I will be "around" little brat, didn't A-Xiang inform you of my whereabouts?" Wen Kexing retorted, his carefree smile widened as he tilted his head back to drink his beverage as if this assassin was not in the least bit dangerous. "Da-ge, you know I would be busy, did you purposely send me away to have your little adventures?" The man pouted, POUTED, as though he was a little brother feigning hurt just to gain favor from his older brother.

'Have I missed something here?' Zhou Zishu internally blanched, approaching their table slowly.

When the man's eyes landed on to him all the traces of playfulness disappeared and a hard mask was set in place. The man straightened in his seat like a proper gentleman with his eyes cold and observant. Zhou Zishu internally shivered, The man looked every bit like he was once did back when he was still serving the prince.

"Ah! A-Xu, come come, you took too long" Wen Kexing whined pettily which gained a slightly shocked but nonetheless passive expression from his companion. "I was gone for 5 minutes Lao Wen-"

"Five minutes too long, a-xu don't deprived me of your beauty" His soulmate winked.

The scandalized look on the scorpion's face ALMOST made Zhou Zishu want to play along with his fan man's antics, but his mind was still too muddled to comprehend just WHY this man was even here.

"Lao Wen, i don't think you need me here if you got a companion?" Zhou Zishu challenged, the man's eyebrows twitched. Either from annoyance or anger he didn't know. "Ah, my bad, A-Xu this is Xie Wang, Xi-er say hello to my beautiful A-Xu" Again, Wen Kexing had that silly sparkling look in his eyes that quiet frankly Zishu decided he would never tire from. "Wen Gongzi, I was not aware you harbored stowaways in your journey" Zishu wanted to snort at that. as if he had not seen the way this "Xi-er" acted while he was not there.

"I know who he is Lao Wen, did not know the Ghost valley is familiar with the Scorpion" Zhou Zishu tilted his head, sitting down across from Wen Kexing. Xi-er looked ready to retort a smartass reply, probably something Wen Kexing had taught himself when the older man beat him to it.

"Ayiah, the ghost valley and Scorpions had always been allies A-Xu, is it not a common knowledge?" he asked.

Zishu only shrugged his shoulder. being an ex-assassin he could always read people based on their body language, and though the man in front of him was of similar occupation, Zishu could not help but chuckle at the way Xi-er's knee slowly moved to touch Wen Kexing's in a protective manner ,or how his jaw flexed slightly indicating that he was grinding his teeth behind his mouth, the piercing eyes never left him for a moment as if anticipating Zishu's attack at anytime. truth be told he looked about ready to drive Zishu away himself.

"Ah that reminds me, I seemed to have forgotten to buy some herbs too take back to the manor, eh A-xu i'll be back in a bit" He smiled warmly before standing up to leave. Zishu knows it's bullshit, Lao Wen would never run off to "buy" something not unless he asked for money first, so Zishu figured that this was his chance to get to know this person, whatever Lao Wen had in mind anyway.

"So...Leader Zhou, we meet again" Xi-'er smiled politely, though the ex assassin knew that that was FAR from a friendly one, more like a challenge. "Yes, after you abducted Chengling" he fired back, smile as taxing. Xie'er ,in a moment of weakness, groaned "Please, don't remind me, i already got an earful from Da'ge about that, I don't want to hear the same from you"

Zishu raised his eyebrow in surprise and confusion, okay so he was not hallucinating then. this scorpion DID call Lao Wen "Da ge"

"Pardon?" said Zishu.

"How was I supposed to know that Zhang boy was your ward and you were with Da ge anyway? he hadn't contacted me ever since he got out of the valley" he pouted...again. "Besides, I already said sorry to him" he reasoned again. Zishu smirked at that "So you said sorry to him and not me or Chengling?"

"Hell no, I don't even know you. and why are you even sticking to Da'ge anyway? this wasn't even in his plan" Xie'er rolled his eyes so far back he was sure it would pop out. The ex- assassin only laughed at that. No, Lao Wen did NOT anticipate their meeting nor did Zishu himself, but he'd be damned if he was the one sticking to Wen Kexing. that fan wielding man was the one who clung to him in the first place.

Just before he could retort Chengling arrived just in time to See Xi-er slightly leaned forward at the table as if he was about to attack Zishu. "Chengling" the swordsman started, but Chengling was fast to run to his side and position himself just behind Zhou Zishu. Xie'er was not pleased. "Little idiot, I thought you went off to buy more supplies for-"

"I was! but Shishu told me to come back here and that he would handle it himself"

'Lao Wen I swear to-'

"Shishu? hah, who are you calling shishu? my Da'ge would never let anyone call him that" Zi'er

"Your Da'ge, definetly did" Zishu almost could not contain his laugh at the scorpion King's scandalized and shocked expression. "This is ridiculous" the scorpion King stood up with al the gracehe could muster in anger "I'm going to find him and set this right" he harrumped, swishing his robes as he disappeared out the tavern.

Chengling, who was still slightly cowering behind him stuttered. "Sh-Shifu, wasn't tha-"

"Yes, don't worry i'll talk to your Shishu about this, come on. Let's go and finish getting those herbs before we go home"

____________________________________________________

"Lao Wen"

"Hmmn?" Wen Kexing hummed, stirring a pot of hot steamed vegetables with chicken soup simmering by the side. "Xie'er was...something" at the mention of his brother Kexing stopped for a second before continuing his minstrations. as if reading Zishu's mind on wanting a clearer explanation, Wen Kexing caved "I found him when I was still in ghost valley. he was one of the children who had been abducted and brought to us" the taller man swallowed hard, clearly struggling, though his face showed little emotion.

"He almost died, luckily I got to him in time and managed to save him, hiding him away was the hardest part. it took a while before he trusted me but once he did I found that I could not turn him away"

Zhou Zishu sighed, with a burst of bravery he walked over to his Zhiji and wrapped his hands around his waist, his head came to rest on Lao Wen's shoulder. "He lived with me for several years,and then Gu-xiang appeared. We barely managed to save her but when Xie'er promised ties with the Scorpion to the former Ghost valley chief he let her go, when I became chief I finally let him go back to his home where he can see his parents again" Wen Kexing stopped, longer this time. His hand shook as he removed the pots from the fire to prevent them from burning, he turned to Zhou Zishu, eyes full of guilt and sorrow.

"But...it was too late, his parents had been killed and with no one to take the title Xi'er had to assume the role and had to band together the scorpions that we know today. He was only 17 that time A-Xu, it took years before he could properly get a hold of the others and most of the time I wasn't even there to help him. I still had Gu-Xiang to raise and it wasn't time for me to emerge from the valley. He had to come to me multiple times-"

Wen Kexing faltered. Zishu figure that was enough, he didn't think Lao Wen would actually tell him that much. The shorter man steadily turned his soulmate to face him, his eyes soft and understanding as he slowly leaned in, just enough to let Lao Wen back out if he so wanted. but the other man stayed in place. He finally rest his forehead against Lao Wen's. in an instant, his partner loosened up, hand began to encircle around his waist as Zishu moved closer, feeling their noses touch.

"Lao Wen, you did great"

At that high praise and implication, Wen Kexing could not help but to shed tears of relief and gratefulness. Zishu understood, Zishu accepted. and most of all Zhou Zishu stayed.

Bonus: Timeline.

Wen Kexing was around 7 or 8 when he was brought in to Ghost valley. so let's say he was 7.

Xie'er came to ghost valley when he was 8 years old making Wen Kexing 15.

Gu-xiang came to valley when she was 7 making Wen Kexing 18 and Xi'er 11.

Wen Kexing was 20 when he took over, Xie'er now 17 years old and given free reign over the scorpions and Gu xiang 9.

Finally current drama:

Wen Kexing - 28

Xie Wang- 21

Gu-Xiang - 17

(These aren't the real ages btw XD just estmation. i had big brain moment trying to sort out the timeline hahaha)

#word of honor #shan he ling #wen kexing #zhou zishu #zhang chengling #xie wang #xie er #gu xiang #wenzhou #Wen kexing is a good dad TvT

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buccigang-headcanons · 4 years ago

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La Squadra Backstories!!!! Stream of consciousnesss style!

So literally I just sat down and wrote down exactly what I thought. I have not edited these at all lmaooo. But I made long drawn out backstories for our underrated assassins so enjoy!!

T/W + C/W - idk I talk about people dying in a lot of ways. Child abuse, drugs, severe illness, dead cats. This stuff is a mess I really didn’t censor it. But nothing is described in detail cuz I’m too lazy for that.

————

Prosciutto cuz he’s at the top of my mind. Mmkay he and Pesci are brothers but not by blood. Pro was an orphan, I still wanna make him Russian, and pesci’s extremely kind and gentle family adopted him when he was like 7. They were like literally a garden catalogue family. Perfection. The parents died when pro was like 15, Pesci was 13?? Idk the age difference I’m just making shit up now. And Pesci had no fucking idea what to do, they didn’t have any other family, and pro was like “I’m still basically a hardened criminal from living on the streets of russia most of my childhood, so joining the local mafia should be a piece of cake”. It was.

Risotto..... fuck it. Polpo is risottos dad. I’ve seen that so much and fuck it I’m here for it now. Idk how I feel about the whole Mariah from part 3 being his mom that seems too coincidental. But either way, he is half Spanish. I don’t think he’s ever been in touch with his Spanish roots at all, but that’s what he is. Polpo had too much fun on vacay in Spain. But it was a once night stand and polpo, a skinny king back in the mid 70s, fucked off to do mafia stuff and didn’t know about this kid. Risotto never knew his father. Time goes by, about the time he’s 10, rizzo’s mom moves to Italy to find the man she once loved. Since the 70s, she has been married and divorced 4 times, disowned by her entire family, and she speaks only of Polpo, the man who swept her off her feet and then disappeared into the night. Leaving only this child with his matching eyes. So they live in Italy, risotto is about 13 now and his mom has been searching seriously for polpo for about 3 years. One day, she gets too close, mafia takes her out. Risotto is all alone in a country he has lived in for less than 3 years. So he decides to take revenge against the mafia. He goes to hunt them down. (I’m too lazy to write out how. Gets a gun. Basically the scene in part 5 where the kid is like “you killed my father and now I’m gonna kill you!!” But he chickens out???) yeah except rizzo didn’t chicken out, he stood firm and killed 2 of them. The other 2 surrendered, and immediately asked rizzo to take polpos test. He did. And he unknowingly met his father, the man his mother had died looking for. He stared into his fathers eyes, black sclera reflecting each other, and passed his test with ease.

Wowwwwwwwww alrighty then that was something. Let’s shake out those jitters because fuck that was intense and let’s move onto some happy shit.

Melone!! Always a bottle of joy. He was a phenomenal student, a perfect child. Perfect grades, perfect attitude, perfect looks. Onlyyyy tiny thing is he murdered cats and buried their heads in the back yard. But that was his only flaw. Aaaaaaaand mayyybe trying to use his extensive knowledge of molecular biology and genetics (even at as young as 11) to asexually breed said cats.

But, apart from that, absolutely perfect specimen of a young boy. And he kept that up until college. Until the rape accusation. Melone had no interest in having sex with her, he swore under oath in open court, he only wanted to “extract her essence” in the hopes of making her amazing genetics stay pure for centuries.

Due to his previously amazing school record, he was allowed to plead not guilty by reason of insanity (because the justice system is bullshit) and was released to his parents. During this whole process, Melone’s mother had begun to grow suspicious of her son, wondering if there was something wrong with him. This led her to explore the crawl space under the garage, more commonly known as “Melone’s childhood laboratory”. The cat skulls alone were enough to set her off. They allowed him into their home long enough to fool the court, but parole officers don’t pay attention, and they kicked him to the curb a month later. Broke, alone, and with no real skills other than his genius mind and gorgeous body, he became a prostitute. It was only a few months before he wandered up to a gigantic white haired man with angry eyes and asked if he wanted a date. Instead of declining, our good ol rizzo just knocked him out cold and brought him home. The rest is history. Literally because I can’t think of what would happen between that and Melone joining the mafia. I assume he was just their house pet for a little while before he decided he wanted a stand too.

Oh good lord these are getting insane. Better keep going. Okay I have no idea what’s about to come out of my head for ghia but oh Lordy. Might as well start. Ghiaccio wasn’t always quite as angry, but it’s actually gonna be a sweet story. Kinda. He used to act perfect, even tho he always felt the anger inside. He was forced to bottle it up and put on a happy exterior always. His mother was Belgian. (From experience, Belgian mothers (Flemish in particular) will beat you until your ass is raw if you talk back). Italian father, they lived in italy. He had 4 sisters, he was the middle child of 5. Around high school, he started acting out. Of course this was due to all of his bottled up anger from the past 15 years. 4 shattered sinks, 16 holes in the drywall, and one classroom fire later, Ghiaccio was expelled from school. His parents were too busy brimming with joy about the success of all his sisters that they didn’t take much notice to him. “If you’re going to behave in such a manner you might as well leave” his mother said. She was past the point of caring enough to beat him. So he left. 16 and with no where to go, he wandered the streets. After a year or so, Ghia had gotten used to that life, and was angry at everyone, sometimes when he wasn’t even angry. Anger had become his coping mechanism. Screaming was easier than talking. Until one day, he screamed at a blonde man in an intersection. Prosciutto was driving back to the squads hang out, boxes of takeout in the back seat of the car. He had chosen to not stop at the red light, just for fun, and nearly ran into our blue haired teenager. Ghia proceeded to cuss him out for a good 4 minutes in the middle of this intersection before pro cut him off. “Get in the back. “ he said, with his own special brand of brotherly love. “I know how you can put that anger to good use”. Ghiaccio, having no real reason to object, got in the back seat. Prosciutto was silent the rest of the drive and Ghiaccio yelled about all the take out food, now splattered on the backs of the seats due to the sudden slam on the brakes.

Y’all I don’t even remember the other la squadra members. Let’s do sorbet/gelato because they have zero backstory or personality so I can just ramble. *Clears throat* let’s begin. These fuckers. Friends since birth. Grew up together, always really close. They were both dirt poor, but because the only school nearby was a decent public school, when were able to slightly experience middle class living. They liked it. They wanted to see upper class, and once they did, they wanted to be there. These two were money grubbing bffs, I’m talking josuke and okuyasu, but like waaaaay more intense and also violent. They both left home around 14, together of course. Gelatos father had left them a few years prior, and his family were on the brink of starvation. Figuring they didn’t need another mouth to feed (and completely abandoning his post as family patriarch lol) he left with sorbet, who’s family had all died in various ways over the years. Most recently, his older sister being taken by some illness that was probably easily treatable, but with no means for a doctor, she died in days. The boys left home and school, and made a living by pickpocketing tourists and occasionally launching into larger heists. They made a decent living for themselves, but eventually started spending their money on drugs. It’s was sorbet first, heroin was really good to him for awhile. Gelato was against it, knowing it was the reason sorbets family had been so poor to begin with. His father was an addict, and despite holding down a job fairly well, spent all his earnings on drugs. Eventually he became too dependent, lost his job, and OD’d. But around this same time, when the boys were 16/17, they were starting to realize their feelings for each other. Confused teenaged minds full of budding love led to Gelato giving in, and soon their days were filled with heroin fueled ecstatic sex. They lived like this for awhile, existing in half reality, until one day they chose to set their pickpocketing targets on a short man with close cropped gray hair. The plan was perfect, sorbet bumped into the man and gelato passed by to grab his wallet, and suddenly they were the size of mere ants. In an instant, they were returned to size, left to wonder if it was real or just a hallucination from long term drug use. But they didn’t run. Formaggio introduced himself, with a loose handshake and a pause to spit out some tobacco, and promptly invited them to a “party”. Although, Formaggio was honest in his promise, this party did have drugs.

Cheese boys turn!! Seriously who am I forgetting??? Illuso my mirror man! Am I forgetting someone else too?? Idk. But shut up Kel it’s cheese boys turn.

So. Formaggio. Probably the most chill childhood. Lower middle class, pretty average, but he was quite gifted with sports. Soccer was his main, and also a fantastic competitive swimmer. (Okay I have a separate hc that Bruno is really good at soccer so hol horse up a moment so I can imagine those 2 playing soccer together in friendly competition. In my lil au where Bruno is in la squadra because I say BruPro exes rights please and thanks.) but anyway, he got really good at soccer and was offered a scholarship to play at a fancy pants private high school when he was 14. Of course his parents made him go, this has been the family’s dream for years, and formaggio’s as well. So high school is amazing, he’s starting to attract attention from universities even tho he’s barely in grade 11 by this point. And it’s all really amazing until he realizes. This isn’t what he wants. And it’s just that. He doesn’t want to play soccer anymore, he doesn’t want to potentially be famous. He just wants to be a kid. So he leaves school, he leaves home, he wants to start over. And he wanders into a diner and sees this small group of weirdly dressed men. At this point, it’s rizzo, pro, Pesci, and ghia. And he’s staring at them because they’re dressed like circus clowns but their aura is so murderous. And then the one who looks like a giant pineapple starts staring back. Pesci gets up and walks over to Formaggio. “I know you! You’re that amazing kid soccer player!!” And he just goes on and on about shit he read in the news (70% of it was false) until pro comes over and yanks his idiot brother away. Pro starts asking Formaggio questions, thinking he could be a good target. Stupid little rich kid. But to prosciuttos surpise, Formaggio is just a down to earth kid with no more money to his name than he needs to pay for this meal. Prosciutto takes him home after that. He doesn’t really offer any explanation.

(The rambling at the beginning of this paragraph actually happened lol so I paused for like 4 hrs oops)

Alright we are back. Had to leave to go to therapy and then scream at my mother and cry to my boyfriend but we are ready to go! Illuso and I really hope he’s the last one and I’m not forgetting one. Illuso was raised in an orphanage from infancy. No idea who his parents could even be. Fun fact: one of the nuns at the orphanage (cuz it’s an orphanage in Italy in 1980, they’re catholic.) nicknamed him Illuso because he was always pointing at things that weren’t there. As a tiny baby and a child, he would always be looking at things no one else can see (yes illuso is a natural stand user fight me). The nuns called him illuso as an insult, hoping to shame him into stopping. He never did. When he outgrew the orphanage, he decided to join the priesthood. He was 19, a priest in training, when the mafia came to the orphanage. They were collecting, and illuso knew they didn’t have the money this month. He tried to talk the mobsters down, but that went about as well as planned. 4 bullets to the chest, 3 open heart surgeries, and half a dozen resuscitations later, Illuso was released from the hospital. The orphanage had been shut down, and no one knew what had happened to the children or the nuns. With no where to go, illuso knew of one place that could use talents like his. The talents of steadily stealing money from the starving children of the church for a decade. It was during polpos test that illuso’s stand manifested. Not due to the arrow, but to protect its user from the other stand. Illuso was able to avoid Black Sabbath by hiding in his newfound mirror world until it was time to return the lighter to polpo (kinda cowardly but whatever.) he was assigned to risottos group by chance and was the last to join excluding Melone. But they loved him as if they had found him themselves.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #vento aureo #golden wind #la squadra #Melone #ghiaccio #Formaggio #illuso #sorbet #gelato #risotto Nero #prosciutto #Pesci #jojo part 5 #jjba

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flashfuture · 4 years ago

Note

Hal’s love life is oftentimes in shambles but Kyle’s burning trashfire of a love life overshadowed it so he seems more love wise than he really is.

Ya know that comment about Kyle’s romantic life post Alex is like...a trashfire because like—here is the tea, for me, Kyle (after Alex) stopped dating someone who was also his friend and just someone who was his lover, and like that’s his issue and why I feel like “well even if Conn and Kyle got together why do you think it wouldn’t blow up in his face?” And like my simple answer is that it’s because Conn and Kyle were friends first, and sure they don’t have everything in common, but they like each other and are best friends, that is a much better foundation for a relationship than what he’s been aiming for, because like I don’t like comparing but Alex was the gold standard and like the biggest difference between her and Kyle’s other ex’s is that she was his friend and PARTNER in life, like...fuck man.

Conn and Kyle have the best friends to lovers arc down pat.

Donna or Jason and Kyle just sitting awkwardly at the Queen’s table, trying not to stare at each other while also not seem too much like they rather deal with the end of the world than be here. Roy and Conn take no joy in their awkwardness (they probs thought the other wasn’t coming and realized all too late) but Kyle has a voice in his head (who sounds like a space Viking he rather not think about) that Ollie is soaking up his unease as if it was candy.

Conn: ya ever...communicate healthly with your boyfriend to flex on your family but like by accident?

Wally: my whole life has been a single mission to be a healthy person to flex on my parents so like go off king.

Kyle will look Ollie straight in the eye and not flinch while he eats his chili, that HC you had that he straight up ate hot sauce for fun as a college student, god he would.

Okay but also Kyle stood no chance in getting good love role models lol. His mom fell in love with a CIA agent who she had to leave to keep Kyle safe. Like Kyle couldn’t even be told real things about their relationship.

John’s wife was killed by a Star Sapphire possessed Carol years before Kyle became a Green Lantern. And then Fatality is John’s other love interest and she is mostly trying to kill John and she’s an assassin/bounty hunter so not a great option lol.

Guy has had a pretty solid relationship with Tora/Ice. But Tora is obviously mean to be with Bea even if DC are cowards. Plus she doesn’t wanna move to Oa with him or anything so long distance relationships are tough.

Which means out of that list Kyle would be getting his advice from people who can not keep a relationship. He fits right into those disasters lol.

Yes it is. See Donna and Kyle knew next to nothing about each other. They just started dating and it fell apart very quickly. Kyle knew Jade very well but they bickered a lot even as friends. It was sort of a case of they lived together and felt like they had to start dating. Jade was always less invested in the relationship than Kyle was. And Soranik is a lesbian more analytical than Kyle and Kyle made some weird choices but yeah def not meant to be.

So Kyle really needs to find someone who’s on the same footing as him. And the best way to do that is for certain to date a friend.

Ollie just looking smugly at Kyle as he starts to freak out. But it takes one awkward shift from Roy and Ollie’s dad instincts kick in so he takes the attention off his kid.

Wally said that by the age of 9 his parents had convinced him hope wasn’t a real thing. So like Wally flexing on his parents by being a well-adjusted happy man is actually something that can be so personal.

Kyle feeling conflicted because on one hand he loves teasing Ollie on the other his chili is so fucking good he needs to know how to make this. Also I think after Hal is back they’d just have a generally still teasing but not hostile relationship. So like people think they still hold grudges but its all in good fun

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amethystpath-writes · 4 years ago

Text

A Gentle Blade Part 28

Part 27 here.

@tears-and-lilies

******

"You tried to make me hate you so that you could protect me."

Kastion hummed and glanced over at Leera.

They weren't very far from Thharewood now. Only a few more hours and they'd arrive at the front gate of the prince's home. Actually, he and Leera were already in Thharewood, just not in the palace, not in the core of the kingdom.

Leera had been on edge the last couple of days, but it'd gotten much worse in the very last day, when they crossed into friendly territory. Kastion assumed it was because she didn't believe it to be friendly quite yet. Not because she thought Rennera was secretly after them, nor Crooked the Devious Guard, but because Kastion asked her to be queen and she was so used to being known as an assassin. The prince reminded her time and time again that that very fact was the reason Thharewood would love her and welcome her.

Thharewood wasn't full of murderers, but the people did believe in striking back. If a nearby kingdom was making threats- or worse, intruding- they wanted to attack a kingdom before Thharewood was attacked itself. The king did things differently, though.

"Something like that, I suppose." Kastion shrugged, looking at his lap instead of Leera. He didn't like how a pleading look from her could make him feel so many emotions. No, that was a lie. He loved it, but it unsettled him in some fashion. He had no regrets falling for an assassin, but it did irk him a bit. A part of him always remembered Leera telling him she only killed the bad guys. Kastion still considered himself one.

If it weren't for Leera sitting beside him, the prince would have heaved a sigh. Kastion nearly hated himself for feeling any amount of hesitance in loving Leera.

"Something like that? That first day I tried talking to you- when you became my guard- you tried to make yourself seem uninterested, but in the woods-"

Kastion smirked at her, any uneasiness melting away. "Are you trying to tell me you had me figured out from the beginning?"

The ex-assassin's mouth gathered to one side in a pinched cheek. "Well, you made it kinda obvious. Made it clear you didn't want to do what you did."

"Hm." Kastion crossed his arms and squinted. "I wonder why it took you so long to realize I was a prince then?"

They both knew the real answer; Leera didn't want Kastion to be a prince. She would have felt fooled and betrayed. But Kastion proved himself to be much better than the prince Leera knew, hadn't he?

She scoffed. "Don't you remember when I directly asked you if you were the prince in the story? You denied it."

"For good reason."

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that I guessed it."

"But then I told you the next day what I was." Kastion laughed. "And then you denied it."

Leera tried to stop the smile playing at her lips, but she couldn't. What was she supposed to say to that? It had been a back and forth game. Her smile fell shortly after. "When did I realize you were a prince?" After all the recent events, it was hard for Leera to recall that particular moment of realization.

Kastion shrugged and bumped her shoulder with his arm. "I told you- for a second time. It was after- uh..." He licked his lips. "It- it doesn't matter when you realized, really. It just matters that you accepted it, right?" As if on cue, the carriage they rode in came to a stop.

Leera put a hand on Kastion's shoulder before he could open their ride and step out. "It still bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Nothing's bothering me. I'm fine." He shrugged her arm away, proceeding with his task.

"Kas, it's allowed to bother you, what happened in Mesenian."

"I never said I was bothered," he told Leera, finally managing to climb out. He kept his head down as he rounded the cart to Leera's side and opened the door there. "I mean, it does bother me, but I don't actively think about it all the time."

The ex-assassin took Kastion's hand, letting him pull her out. "Alright. Well if it doesn't bother you then remind me when it was that you told me- for a second time- that you are who you are." Since very few people knew Leera's face, she kept hers held at a normal angle. If both she and Kastion cloaked their eyes and noses and mouths with shadows, they'd look awfully suspicious. And right now, with the Prince of Thharewood supposedly being dead, it was best that he not be recognized until he got to the palace.

"Can we just drop it, Leer-" He caught himself before he could finish her name, just barely, but it was better than not catching it at all. "Can we drop it?"

"Well if it doesn't bother you that much, and it doesn't bother me that much, then I don't see why we can't talk about it now. It's not like-"

Kastion grabbed her arm and spun her back to face him, grabbing the other arm when he did. "I don't like to think about you getting hurt, okay? It does bother me. I think about it nearly every moment. And when I'm not thinking about you being in pain, I'm thinking about how I caused it. You should want to kill me, you understand? I'm the reason you were there to begin with."

Leera's arms remained stiffened at her sides as Kastion held them. His grip was tight in his stress, but not tight enough that it hurt her. "I don't know how I can help, Kas," she said softly.

Her eyes and nose stung.

"I've told you," Leera continued, "none of it was your fault." She began whispering. "You utilized an assassin because you needed one. I never told you not to give others my name. If anything, it was my fault. And really, it wasn't either of our faults at all." The prince's grip loosened as he tried to reason out what she was about to say. "The queen would have searched for me whether she had a name or not."

The prince let go of her, running a hand down his face. "We can talk about this more later if you want. I have other things to focus on." Kastion walked passed Leera.

Raising a brow, she huffed. "That sounded awful soldier-istic of you."

He stopped, turned his head over his shoulder. "What?" His voice was empty, void of any emotion. On the inside, he was hurt, but on the outside his princely demeanor continued to shine through.

"'I have other things to focus on'?" Leera ran her tongue against the front of her top teeth. She was pissed. "You're not allowed to destroy yourself like them."

Angling his body fully towards the ex-assassin again, Kastion lazily threw his hands out. "What does that even mean?"

She took several steps towards him before poking him in the chest and look up into his eyes. "You've said over and over again that you're terrified of becoming the assholes who trained you. I know what they did to you. My father was in the army and went through similar treatment. They make you shove everything down. They make you swallow your problems, but that doesn't fix them, Kas; it makes them worse. I'm not letting you destroy yourself by pretending-"

"Leera?" The assassin froze, her gaze falling to Kastion's chest, though her vision was unfocused as her jaw fell and stayed open. "Is that you?"

It wasn't Leera who spoke up, but Kastion instead. Recognition be damned. This was someone who knew Leera, which meant they might be trouble. "Who are you?" It was an older man the prince spoke to. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties or early-forties. Black hair. A thin beard, one that crossed in a bridge above the lip and below the nose.

"Is that Leera?" the man asked. He must not have recognized Kastion. Maybe it was because he'd grown a little facial hair himself. Or maybe the man had never been close enough to the prince before to ever recognize him in the future.

Leera's breaths picked up, and her eyes stung more badly than before when she'd grown soft with Kastion. "I should go," she said very quietly and briskly brushed by the prince into the tavern in front of her. It was the last stop before the two went to the palace. She didn't expect this to happen at the last stop.

The black-haired man stepped forward to follow, but Kastion held up a hand, tossing his head back real fast to see where Leera was headed. "I don't know who you are," he said turning to the man again, "but you need to stay out here. Better yet, leave."

Squinting his eyes and smiling, the man said, "I'm usually the peaceful intervention in fights, but you have no reason to be stopping me, so I think I'll be following."

"You're acting an awful lot like a predator, I say that's reason enough. But if you don't think so, then let me say this. As your prince, I am demanding you stand down, and leave without another word spoken to that girl. Am I understood?" Before the man could try to be smart and say something like 'Any man can call themselves a prince', Kastion pulled his royal seal ring out, waving it in front of the man's eyes. "Go."

The man gave a quick 'Oh' before hurriedly taking a bow and muttering again. "Your Highness, forgive me, but the rest of the kingdom thought you to be a runaway, or otherwise dead."

"Great statement, but as you can see, I'm very much alive. The runaway part I'm sure is debatable." The prince had never been as cold as this, but the man in front of him still never gave a claim as to who he was. It was obvious he was after Leera, and Kastion wasn't going to let that happen.

"For-forgive me again, but Leera..."

Kastion raised a brow, clenched his jaw. "I don't know who you think you saw just a moment ago, but the assassin, Leera, was taken by the Queen of Mesenian, as I'm sure you know- as I'm sure everyone knows."

"Leera is my niece."

The prince's eyes widened to the size of two full moons. "You- You are her uncle."

******

Part 29 (to be continued)

#part 28 #leera and rennera #medieval whump #my ability to tag has gone to poo #self blame #angst #fluff #cliff hanger #:)#okay i'm done tagging #I am doing bad at this haha

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where-s-all-blue · 4 years ago

Text

Hopeless Heroes AU :

Ex Hero pack

Brook

83 years old, retired and legally dead.

Former teacher/mentor of Mihawk and Fujitora.

Sword/Air powered hero.

Died at the age of 43 only to wake up a year later as a skeleton.

According to him, both Heaven and Hell wanted him so badly that they nearly started a war. He was revived as a compromise.

During his hero days, he was known as the Humming Swordsman, the current generation of heroes refers to him as Soul King.

The cause of death was poison, his villain girlfriend was very jealous person.

There's a high possibility that his relationship with the said villainess resulted in him having a daughter he never knew of, who'd later on become the mother of Usopp.

Clover

Former tech division leader.

Very much dead. Thanks Akainu, we hate you too.

Adoptive grandpa of one Nico Robin.

Corazon/Rosinante Donquixote

Silent Hero who specialised in infiltration.

Hero name, surprise surprise, Corazon.

Retired after being shot by his own brother, who runs a mafia syndicate. The bullets only caused him to loose consciousness from pain, which actually saved his life as Doflamingo never bothered to check if he'd been killed or not.

Became Law's legal guardian after his parents were killed, he's a stay home dad who sends home made lunches to both Sengoku and Law, whom he consideres to be his real family.

Is actually a magnificent cook.

Crokus:

Former medic.

Retired due to visual impairment and back pains (old age).

Shanks' neighbour.

Fujitora

His failure to detect the corrupt scientists in time made him deeply ashamed of himself to the point where he willingly blinded himself.

Brook's former pupil.

Hangs around Zeff's diner and the base.

Is still very much dangerous individual despite of being legally out of action due to intreatable workplace injury.

Can somehow throw items at people with a great accuracy. Prefers to throw peanuts at Akainu.

Garp

Steel Fist Garp is the official instructor of the Hero Union.

Publicly, he doesn't approve of Dragon's choice of becoming a vigilante, but he in reality he's more than glad to know that there is a second organisation in case of the Union turning out wrong.

Knows that something is wrong in the world government and thus advises his underlings to be very careful of trusting any government official.

Blames himself for the deaths of Roger and Rouge along with the suffering Ace, Sabo and Chopper had to bear.

Rayleigh

Roger's former partner known as Dark King.

Instructed regarding how to use an ability known as "aura" (basically haki exists in this universe but it's very rare).

Adores Zoro and Perona, has requested Mihawk to allow him to be their legal grandfather.

Avid reader of a certain magazine, it's contents make him laugh.

Most people are aware of his secret identity, but they're too sacred of him and thus he's left alone.

Roger

Fire based hero formerly known as Gold, deceased.

Would've loved to adopt Sabo.

Was known for his temperamental nature.

Shanks' and Buggy's former mentor and a father figure.

Shared the habit of accidental mass adoption of younger heroes with Garp and Whitebeard.

Rouge

Had no powers, yet was somehow the strongest individual around.

She could and dud supplex Garp multiple times.

Was usually very patient.

Couldn't cook to save her life, but she did have the right connections everywhere.

Would've adopted Sabo 100% and then beaten up his biological family before using Roger as a lighter to set them on fire.

Sora

Close friend of Rouge.

Died due to health complications that followed after giving birth to her four sons as her natural healing powers couldn't keep up with the destruction that the alteration of her children had on her.

High durability and mild healing powers.

Her hero name was Queen, the majority of people have accepted that Prince/King (Sanji's new superhero persona) is her son.

Nobody ever connected her to Germa 66 due to her kind and loving nature despite the common knowledge of Judge and Queen being a married couple.

Considered Zeff to be a close friend to the point where in her will he's made Sanji's godfather and legal guardian would Sanji choose so.

Tom

Former transportation expert.

Frank's parental figure and mentor.

Assassinated by the orders of Em as he knew too much.

Was the man behind the teleportation system and the scanning system that has kept the hero base free from any unwanted visitors.

Zeff

Former Red Leg retired due to the loss of his leg and in favour of opening a diner for the heroes to hang out in between the missions in France.

He's Sanji's both godfather and a legal guardian by the request of Sora, whom he saw as his close friend.

His civilian persona is a finely crafted cover up which is so convincing that he was deemed to be not a threat by both Em and Akainu due to his "Obsession with food and lack of braincells".

In reality, Zeff is one of the few who are more than aware of what is going on in the world. He has been preparing with Garp, Fujitora, Sengoku and Brook by ensuring that the new generation of heroes won't buy into the lies of the governments and are capable of taking care of themselves and one another.

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kingreywrites · 5 years ago

Text

Of Captains and Change

Words count: 2705

Eugene Appreciation Week Day One: Captain

Summary: The day when Eugene Fitzherbert became Captain of the Guard was the worst day of Henry's life, hands down - and that was saying something, considering he had spent the last twenty-five years serving as a guard, and had lived through the Princess' kidnapping. That was a hard event to top, but Fitzherbert was a man of many talents, apparently.

Read it on ao3

My first contribution to the EAW! Thank you @fishskiin for organizing it :)

The day when Eugene Fitzherbert became Captain of the Guard was the worst day of Henry's life, hands down - and that was saying something, considering he had spent the last twenty-five years serving as a guard, and had lived through the Princess' kidnapping. That was a hard event to top, but Fitzherbert was a man of many talents, apparently.

"Captain-"

"Not your Captain anymore," the Captain- Henry's best friend- James answered, still packing his clothes quietly, looking smaller than Henry had ever seen him.

"You'll always be my Captain, I- James, please," Henry pressed, as he took hold of his arm and stopped him in his movement.

"I can't fight Cassandra, Henry, I can't," James said, trying his hardest to hide the tremors in his voice.

Henry didn't answer, because he didn't have any good responses to this. Of course, his friend wouldn't be able to fight his own daughter and even if Henry wanted to argue, he couldn't really stay Captain of the Guard if he couldn't face the biggest threat to Corona. Henry himself was uneasy at the idea, his thoughts always going back to the little adventurous girl that loved to dress up as a guard when she was ten - Cassandra was part of their family, because the Captain was. Well, James, not the Captain anymore, now the one who held the title was-

"Why Rider?"

"Fitzherbert," the ex-Captain corrected sternly, "and he is the leader Corona's Guard needs."

"Is he though? Because I seem to remember you firing him as a guard in one day! Listen, I like Fitzherbert, but as the Princess' friend, not my Captain-"

"Henry." James' look was serious and dark; Henry gulped, knowing already that this was his 'you fucked up' eyes. "Eugene Fitzherbert is Captain of the Guard and, as such, he deserves your respect. He has proved time and time again that he was much more than the Princess' friend, and if you can't trust him, trust me: he will be a good Captain."

And that was that. James left, Fitzherbert accepted his Captain's position after chasing after another Flynn Rider, and Henry stayed quiet, because he wasn't an idiot - most of the guards liked Fitzherbert and were eager to please him, and that was… good. He had to admit it. With Maximus' help, Fitzherbert helped shape up Corona's defenders and Henry, as sceptical as he had been, could accept that he was great at his job. Which didn't mean he liked the situation any better.

After the whole Cassandra's mess had been resolved - and yes, Fitzherbert had been primordial in that, Henry knew thank you - he went back to see James.

And, apparently, in his twenty-five years of service, Henry had become predictable, because his friend was waiting for him with a full meal prepared, looking more relaxed than ever. James even laughed at his confused look, much more playful now that he wasn't his superior.

Henry sat down, and they started to eat.

"And- he's so careless! He's our Captain but he keeps playing pranks on us, as if we were little kids," Henry kept ranting, stabbing his pasta vengefully, "just last time, he jumped out of a closet and startled Pete so bad he fainted!"

James hummed noncommittally, when Henry knew that a year ago, he would have been red with anger. "Well, what if he had been an assassin?"

"What?" Henry paused his fork.

"I mean, Fitzherbert scared Pete so bad he fainted so, what if it had been an assassin? What if Pete fainted then, and let the way open to the King and Queen's chambers?" There was nothing more frustrating than someone trying to use reason when you wanted to be angry, Henry realised, especially when they had a point.

"Isn't there a more normal way to do this?" Henry grumbled anyway.

"I used the normal way with Pete for the last ten years, and he never changed. At least, he won't forget the lesson this time."

God, Henry hated it when James was right. They finished their meal talking about sports, because it was easier this way.

Henry's life kept its rhythm. He was a great and experienced guard so Fitzherbert often consulted him on different strategies and- well, they had very divergent opinions. Henry had respect for the title, so he didn't yell, but he nearly smashed his head on the table in frustration numerous times, while Fitzherbert seemed relatively calm about the whole situation.

"Thanks Henry!" He always shouted as he left, a bright grin on his face, and Henry struggled every time to not grimace too much.

Nonetheless, calling Fitzherbert Captain was almost natural now. Sometimes, thinking back on his Flynn Rider's days left Henry reeling at the changes the kingdom had went through in barely five years - but it also made the fact the he trusted Fitzherbert all the more obvious.

Yes, as annoying, unconventional, and all around infuriating as he thought his Captain to be, Henry trusted him, with both his and his friends' lives - the highest honour there was in his eyes.

"He's so childish," he still moaned over a drink.

"But?" James asked serenely, now used to Henry's constant rants about the Captain.

"But he's so gooood," was the morose answer. "The guards are the best we've had in years, and we keep learning with him!"

"So there's no problem?" James laughed. "You like him, don't you?"

"... Shut up."

Henry should really stop talking to James - he was getting way too smug with time.

He was overjoyed, however, when James came back to act as Captain for the Princess' wedding - even if it was because he didn't want their current Captain to worry too much about it, since he was getting married. Their planning sessions were delightful, and Henry fully remembered what he loved about James' command - he was straightforward and concise, with everyone given a clear designated role.

That's what he told James after the wedding went on without a hitch - implying not too subtly that maybe, just maybe, he could come back? James was quick to shot this down, however.

"Henry, why do you think this strategy worked?"

"Because it was a good one?" he answered, unsure since he could smell the trap question.

"Yes, it was, as were all my strategies before this one. I'm a great Captain, and I know it, but if this worked when so many other plans failed, it's because it was Eugene Fitzherbert's guards acting under my command."

"That's…"

"True, don't deny it." James smiled and put a hand on Henry's shoulder. "Even you, old friend, you're way quicker on your feet than you used to be!"

"James, you were a great Captain," Henry protested.

"I know! Don't worry, I'm not saying I was bad at my job, I'm trying to make you understand that Fitzherbert is way better with people than I ever was. He inspires the guards, he inspires you to be better, even when you don't realise it."

"But…" Henry sighed, knowing that he didn't have anything to contradict this statement.

"Henry," James insisted softly, "I may have left my position because of the situation I was in, but I am happy. I don't want to be a guard anymore and I never regretted naming Eugene as Captain."

Well, what could one answer to that? Henry bit his tongue, and they changed the topic. Honestly, at this point, he wasn't sure what it was that he didn't like about his Captain - and, perhaps, there wasn't anything. Perhaps he only liked ranting about him, even when there wasn't any fire in his words anymore. Henry's ways were old school, and his Captain's certainly were not, but the Captain was great listener, and he knew how to exploit his team's capacities to their best. The Captain even told Henry once that he liked his brutal honesty.

"I know," Fitzherbert had said, "that you always have Corona's interests at heart when you contradict me. And I also know that, however much you disagree with my solution, you'll never question my orders once they are given so… Thank you for that."

Henry had honest to god blushed under the praise, even if he only answered with a gruff "you're welcome". (He forgot, sometimes, just how much younger his Captain was - his talent overshadowed his lack of experience in certain fields, without mentioning that he was a quick learner - but when Fitzherbert smiled so genuinely, it was impossible to ignore.) And, despite his doubts, Henry had to be fair: none of his Captain's strategy had failed yet.

Well, until now. He probably jinxed them himself with this thought.

"Snow," Fitzherbert groaned feebly, "why is it always snow?"

"Captain?" Henry exclaimed, immediately kneeling at his side, ignoring the snow soaking further his already wet clothes. Henry pushed Fitzherbert back down when he tried to raise himself up on shaking arms. "No, no, don't get up, you fell pretty hard-"

"I- I seem to remember us both falling," the Captain laughed, but he stayed down and that was all Henry wanted. "You okay?"

"I'm- yeah, the others are coming back for us but they didn't have enough rope."

The guards had been trying to find a group of bandits hiding out in the mountains, since they had been taking advantage of the isolation to rob people blind. The Captain had only taken five people with him and, at first, everything went as expected. The Captain sniffed out the bandits by having Henry pretend to be a merchant in a hurry who refused to go around the mountains. They others all hid in the carriage and when he got attacked, they all managed to arrest the three guys - it would all have been perfect, if one of them didn't try to throw Henry off a crack in the mountain, and if his Captain didn't have the bright idea to jump with him in desperate attempt to catch him.

They fell, and Henry had been dazed but that dissipated quickly once he saw his Captain still form not too far from him. Scrambling to his side was the worst five seconds of Henry's life (yes, it topped the day Fitzherbert became Captain. And yes, it wasn't only because he dreaded the mere idea of telling the Princess that her husband was dead, but because… he liked him, alright.)

Thankfully, his Captain was unconscious, but breathing. Henry had to yell at the others to stop yelling because they would bring the mountain down on them, and then they realised the rope they packed wasn't enough, so they made their way back to the kingdom with the three thieves, promising to come back as soon as possible.

"Well, that's between twenty and fifty minutes," the Captain mused quietly, when Henry told him, "depending on if they tell Rapunzel or not."

"It's a fifteen minutes walk to Corona, I don't see how the Princess could make it to us in five."

"She'll find a way," Fitzherbert laughed, and Henry noticed that he was already shivering hard. "You didn't tell me you were fine by the way, don't think I didn't notice."

"I- I'm fine," Henry coughed awkwardly. "I… You saved my life, Captain. Thank you."

Fitzherbert didn't answer right away, and Henry thought that was it - he thanked him and now they were back to manly ignoring their feelings again, as they should. That was why he startled when his Captain's quiet voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You shouldn't have been in any danger."

"... Well, you couldn't predict-"

"I should have!" Fitzherbert exclaimed, sitting up despite Henry's protest. He swayed a little, obviously concussed, but kept talking. "I- Your life, everyone's lives are mine to protect and I should have known- I should have played the merchant part, and you wouldn't have been isolated and unprotected, I-"

"Captain," Henry stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him, like James had done to him so many times before. Now that he was closer, he could see how unfocused Fitzherbert's eyes were, and there was an impressive bruise starting to form on the right side of his head. "Captain, you did everything right. You couldn't have been the merchant because too many people know your face and you know it! Your strategy was flawless and this accident was just that, an accident."

As he was talking, Henry realised that it wasn't just words - he wasn't only trying to comfort and calm a wounded man down, until help could come. He genuinely believed that the Captain - his Captain had made the best plan he could have given the circumstances, and that it was a damn good plan because Eugene Fitzherbert was a damn good leader.

"I think I've never heard you say so many nice things about me in a single sentence," the Captain breathed out, before grinning like an idiot. "Aw, Henry, you do care!

Henry groaned, putting his head in his hands, suddenly conscious that he would not be able to stand another Captain teasing him relentlessly. James was bad enough.

"I think that you're not bad overall, Captain" he answered finally.

"That's as good as a standing ovation, coming for you," Fitzherbert laughed, "and you can call me Eugene, you know, shared near death experience and what not."

"I'd rather stick with Captain, Captain."

"I know in your head you're not calling me Captain everytime," Eugene insisted and… yeah, perhaps he was right, Eugene was easier than Fitzherbert. But he would stay Captain out loud. Before he could say it, Eugene flopped back down and closed his eyes, making every alarm in Henry's head go crazy.

"Captain?!"

"I'm not taking a nap, don't worry," Eugene sighed, looking much too pale for comfort as he opened his eyes back up. "Too cold for that, anyway."

"... You have to stay healthy, Captain, because I'm not telling the Princess you're dead."

Eugene barked a laugh, obviously surprised at Henry's joke. "Is that the only reason you're all protecting me? The threat of Rapunzel?"

"Not the only reason… I'm also not telling Mr. Strongbow."

"Lance scares you?"

"No, the Princess scares me, Mr. Strongbow would cry and I'm not equipped for that."

They exchanged a glance and both laughed. Well, Henry laughed, but he kept a careful eye on his Captain, because he was not really kidding, in the end. Who would he rant about to James without him?

He didn't have to wonder any longer, because he heard the worried voice of the Princess calling their names above him.

"How the hell did she manage to get here so fast?" He said after calling back.

"Told you," Eugene answered cheekily.

The rescue went pretty well, all things considered, the Princess' orders clear and accepting no contradiction. If she ever decided to abdicate the throne, she would make a great Captain, Henry thought bemused. In barely two minutes they had both been lifted up, bundled up in warmer clothing and evacuated in a hot air balloon. Henry was more than surprised to that James was part of the rescue party since, apparently, he had decided to visit right when the other guards came back (and, at this point, Henry half-suspected his friend had psychic powers, he could never hide anything from him for more than one hour).

"You okay?" James asked, and Henry nodded absently, his gaze automatically straying to his Captain as he was being fussed over by the Princess.

He looked still quite dazed and pale, but his smile was warm as he tried to reassure his wife. He was sitting down while she was kneeling at his side. The Princess was carding her fingers through his hair slowly and, at some point, he whispered something and she finally sat down fully next to him, before they snuggled closer.

"So?"

"So what?" Henry startled, his eyes going back to James'.

"Still not convinced by my choice?" James smiled smugly.

Henry groaned, his face a picture perfect of exasperation if one forgot the lift of his lips he couldn't conceal. That was an unfair question to ask when said choice was being all young and cute and heroic right beside them.

"You win," Henry admitted softly, "Eugene Fitzherbert is a damn good Captain."

#Eugene Appreciation Week #As always I'm not sure about this but I wrote it so #and I suck at naming people sorry lol #tangled #Eugene Fitzherbert #captain of the guard #fanfiction

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pinkymoone · 4 years ago

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Savage Garden 🌱 The Gradual Chaos 🌹LEE HYEON-SOOK

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD !!! PROCEED WITH CAUTION

If you’ve kept up with my past posts, I’m obsessed with this manhwa- author LEE Hyeon Sook :) Another excellent story about a bunch of pretty boys in rich-private school with a TON of drama (the way I like it) and that cliche “I’m a girl but I have to go to an all-boy’s school undercover” BUT (don’t click away lol) as the story rolls along there is a gradual state of disorder and chaos from all the drama that happens to violate moral law. LEE took a “shoujo” idea, and twisted it into something much darker.

Rather than romance (although there is undoubtedly a romance between two brothers (Raymond/Euan Kensington) and the main girl, that goes undercover as a guy (Gabriel aka Jeremy) it leans more towards psychology.

Let’s talk about the Chain of Being (most present in Shakespeare). “The Great Chain of Being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals, and plants, to minerals” (as defined by our trusty Wiki). Now from the beginning of this story, the Chain of Being is already broken. Our protagonist is a poor, orphaned girl who was to be sent to become a maid for the rest of her life. However, her friend Jeremy, who was to have the same fate (but as a laborer) actually turned out to be related to a nobleman. Things were looking up for him, while Gabriel was falling more and more into a pit of hopelessness because of her fate. Yet God seemed to have noticed her behavior, as her life took a turn when Jeremy ate a berry that was actually poisonous.

Which brings us to Gabriel enrolling in a super rich-boy school as Jeremy in a deal with his “mother” (whose not really Jeremy’s mother) to trick her husband into thinking that Jeremy was still alive until she tells Gabriel to stop. So it was a pretty “one-minute of glory” kind of opportunity, but Gabriel can now finally escape her fate in becoming a poor maid. She cheated the whole system of the Chain of Being. Yet cheating such a system leads to serious consequences for the future (You’ll see).

With that, the juicy events of misunderstandings and relationships begin. Gabriel wasn’t actually involved in any until she became involved with Raymond and Euan. Although this story delved more into Raymond and Euan’s backstory, it just ultimately sums up to how Euan (older brother) wasn’t living the life he wanted, making Raymond carry all the burden of dealing with marriage and the troubles his older brother gets in to until he can’t run away from it no more. Raymond had his own share of problems that Euan was trying to keep as a secret and it turns out that Raymond killed his own mother. Their mother was broken from their father that ignored her and hung out with other girls, so Raymond being stressed with his mother’s behavior just saved her from the suffering after a gunshot. They’ve been through a lot... but Gabriel comes back with the several consequences of keeping up her facade.

A rich-boy friend of Gabriel, Arron, was actually dating a maid that turned out to be Gabriel’s friend back at the orphanage. With her friend that knew the true identity of Gabriel, she had to come clean. But it seemed her friend had bigger plans, blackmailing the ‘mother’ of Jeremy for money to escape with her true lover. But that plan didn’t succeed as the couple both committed suicide by eating those darn berries once again, breaking Gabriel’s heart and being in a state of danger now that the “mother” got the impression that Gabriel has revealed her real identity to everyone. Arron was absolutely in disarray, almost trying to kill Gabriel because he thought she was the reason his maid-girlfriend died, and she just seems to accept at this point. Why was she even living as Jeremy? It did very much seem that she was going to die at any point being someone that she wasn’t... however her friend, in shock at this acceptance, didn’t kill her.

But. A hit-man is now after Gabriel, so not very much came out of that mercy. On top of that, she seems to be gathering all the rich boys and making them fall in love with her but the time has come to run away. These empty love triangles, in my opinion were left in that state on purpose to show that some things just over power love- like survival?! Come on she’s about to be assassinated! This theme can also be seen by Will, a side-character that had a whole deal going on as well, but he was born sick. Knowing when he would die, he carelessly threw himself on a maid, showing that love is just pointless at times.The danger of being in love in Gabriel’s situation also just seems to block that route as well. Jeremy’s “father” gave Gabriel a ticket to study abroad, and using that, she takes the opportunity to escape after almost getting shot down by the hit-man of the “mother”. Raymond saved her, found out that she was a girl, and was going to accompany her to the train so that she may escape death. But, guess what? Jeremy’s “father” found out that his son was actually Gabriel, and sent a hit-man to kill her as well. Euan couldn’t accept the fact that Raymond was going to be near death by accompanying Gabriel, so he tricked him and went to accompany her instead. Euan also had feelings for her since the beginning of the series... but he also knew Raymond liked her as well.

Sigh...After all that. After Gabriel successfully escaped, Euan died. In fact, Jeremy’s “father” was responsible for his death that was so sudden. Then the author just ends with Raymond and Gabriel reuniting in the far future.

Many absolutely despised this ending. Was it too rushed? Seemed very thoughtless? But I argue that they just haven’t really thought about it. Being undercover as a poor girl that made her way to the top of an all-boy’s school that seems like an area only reserved for gods can only go so smoothly. Rich boys are still human, and rather wouldn’t they be more unhappy with their lives? Being controlled by their parents, they can’t marry freely, escape from work that comes with money (like inheriting a business?), they can’t get involved with maids or “normal” people for reputation, and they have to be reserved to keep secret of all the scandals and crimes that goes behind the curtains of wealthiness. Getting involved with these rich people can get you into some spicy troubles because wealthy people have the power to control the Chain of Being in which they sit at the very top. Now... Why did Euan die such a pointless death? Well... he was already unhappy with his life from the start. He wasn’t a good brother, he wanted to escape from his parent’s control which could easily be seen by his careless involvement in gay affairs at such a prestigious school (he also had someone that he was to marry), and he fell in love with Gabriel even though Raymond liked her as well. The ending was all for his rest. He accompanied Gabriel instead of Raymond to finally be a big brother and protect his brother as well as Gabriel. Gabriel appeared in front of him as an actual girl before they went to go escape. Euan was just satisfied with that. Love with Gabriel was absolutely impossible with him, so all that he could do was to protect her ‘til the end right? Euan already derailed from the train of his life probably when he first met Gabriel on the ground as he was shot by his ex-lover (he survived due to Gabriel and most likely fell in love with her then because she was a being that was totally unrelated to everything he hated about his life and her innocent kindness showed). Raymond, who was protected from becoming like his older brother most likely because of being too occupied with his own problems (like his identity crisis of killing his own mother, that blinded him of everything that was going on in their rich society) So Euan’s death made sense, he was just a lonely failure that sat on the King’s throne, later to be killed for his actually normal behavior. Really goes to show how being rich, being in high society, doesn’t ensure eternal happiness.

#savage garden #Lee Hyeon Sook #manwha #manga review #manga recommendation #dark manga #manga #manga spoilers #shoujo manga #manga and stuff #manhwua #manhua #manga analysis #manga recap

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sammysreelreviews · 5 years ago

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Counting Down My Top 20 Films Of The Decade: Part 1

Ok so I wanted to include pictures for all 20 films so I broke the decade list into two parts! The second part will have a way longer and more sentimental intro but I’m lazy so this one is gonna be short. If you want to read my other decade lists you can read all the television ones here, here, and here AND you can catch my previous movie ones here, here, and here! Hope you enjoy the list these movies are films I’ve seen over and over again and I know you’re gonna scratch your head at a few of these but hey I like what I like okay?! As always *THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!!*

20. The Kissing Booth (2018)

Yes you read that right I indeed put Netflix’s The Kissing Booth on my decade list. Why you ask? Well because it’s literally the perfect movie to put on for background noise, it’s cheesy as fuck which I love, and Jacob Elordi is a fucking smoke. DEAL WITH IT!

19. Project X (2012)

Project X has a special place in my heart because it came out when I was my wildest in college. It’s a party movie that never stops the momentum and honestly has one of the best soundtracks like ever. Also the car in the pool is just fucking legendary.

18. Assassination Nation (2018)

This may be one of the most underrated films fucking ever!? The story about a town that goes batshit after everyone’s internet history is exposed is wild from start to finish. The film focuses on four besties (Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Odessa Young, and Abra) who have each other’s backs when the town turns against them. Bella Thorne, Bill Skarsgard, and Cody Christian are also in this! I started to write a think piece on this movie cause I really think it says a lot about today’s society but maybe I’ll finish and release it in 2020! If you’re a woman please watch this movie! Also did I mention that, Sam Levinson the creator and writer of Euphoria, also wrote this! If you love how batshit Euphoria is this is that times ten!

17. Thoroughbreds (2017)

I only saw this movie cause it was the last movie Anton Yelchin (RIP my king!) was in and even though he had a small part in this dry dark film became one of my favorites. Besides Anton being perfect, Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke give fucking brilliant performances as ex besties turned partners in crime. If you like Gossip Girl, dry humor, and murder this is the movie for you!

16. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

I knew Leonardo DiCaprio was a phenomenal actor but I didn’t really get to see his full range until The Wolf of Wall Street. Leo is always acting serious on screen and in my experience and opinion it’s easier than being genuinely funny. Comedy is hard cause you either have it or you don’t but boy did Leo have it in this one. This movie is long but every fucking scene is bonkers. My favorite might be the fight Margot and Leo have the morning after he comes home drunk in his helicopter. “YOU WOKE UP SKYLA!” Iconic, truly. My fellow film buffs may fight me but I honestly think this is one of Scorsese’s best.

15. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Christopher Nolan was absolutely in his motherfucking bag when he was given the job to direct a Batman trilogy. There’s been so many god damn Batman movies but none of them hold a candle to any of Nolan’s and the third installment had a lot to live up to after The Dark Knight but boy did it rise to the occasion. Bane (Tom Hardy) was a super villain who people still do impressions of and Anne Hathaway does not get enough credit for her rendition of Catwoman! Ok before I forget, Joey King is in this movie but in the flashbacks you think she’s someone else and she wasn’t famous then but I knew who she was so I knew the twist at the end of the movie. Sorry I had to get that out there. Any who, no one has made a superhero franchise, besides Into the Spiderverse, that good well like ever! And no one has ever made a third movie in a series that fucking good like, ever.

14. The Duff (2015)

The movie based on the best selling YA novel was the last great teen rom com we had in YEARS before Lady Bird and Booksmart happened. I mean it’s actually fucking hysterical and I feel like it’s vastly underrated. I personally saw it because I stan miss Bella Thorne, who is excellent in it may I add, but I think everyone should watch The Duff I HIGHLY recommend it!

13. Love, Simon (2018)

Fun fact, I saw Love, Simon in theaters THREE times. Did I cry every time i saw it? Yes. Did I see it because I have a thing for Nick Robinson? Yes. Did I write a review for it that you can read here so I don’t have to talk about it for a 4th time on this blog? Yes. Watch this godforsaken movie and if you want more LGBTQ+ movies to watch check out this list of my absolute favorites here.

12. About Time (2013)

About Time is the best rom com of the 2010’s. PERIODT! Ok I was gonna end it there but honestly guys I fucking LOVE this movie so much! First of all, I have a huge girl crush on Rachel McAdams like she’s literally perfection. Domhnall Gleeson is so charming and funny in this you can’t not love him. The scene when he goes back in time and his daughter changes to a boy!? I was SHOOK. The scene where he goes back in time to see his dad again before he dies!? I CRIED REAL THUG TEARS. If you like movies that are funny, good, British, sad, have elements of time traveling, and lovey dovey, well this is the god damn movie for you. This movie should also be a tourism ad for Cornwall cause I’ve been dying to go there ever since.

11. It Follows (2014)

It Follows was the film that made me start this blog! I’ve written about it too many times to count so my review (that I wrote four years ago!) for it is here if you want to read it. It Follows started the modern horror renaissance and it has haunted me ever since the first time I saw it and that’s why I love it so god damn much.

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iwillhaveamoonbase · 5 years ago

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We Could Be Heroes Ch. 4

Rayla made her way as quickly and quietly as possible back to her dorm. Claudia had texted back that she would wait in her car up the road. It was already after 8, so everyone was either in their dorms or studying in the library. ‘No clue what I’m going to tell the girls. I’m moving in with my boyfriend is the truth, but they’ll start asking questions. Maybe I’ll say nothing. I don’t tend to sleep there as much anymore. Too much risk running into Bandlr.’

By the time Rayla had put her building key in the lock she was no closer to an answer. Rayla went up to her floor and poked her head in her room. ‘Good; no one’s here. I’ll just grab my clothes and my books and I should be good to go. Anything else I need, Callum either has or will get.’ She grabbed a bag and began shoveling her textbooks and notebooks into it.

“Where you been, Rayla?” Rayla gulped as she turned to her roommate, Zaras, a Skywing elf, standing in the door way. Her wings looked as soft as ever while her pale blue skin looked a tad darker from the all sun she must have gotten since it became March. With long black hair and a sweet face, Zaras looked just as soft as her wings. No one ever saw her sharp tongue or heeled boots coming. Zaras had her dark eyebrow raised as she lightly brushed dust off her right wing.

“I’m just getting my stuff.” Was her voice shaking? ‘Confidence, Rayla. Runaan always said to act confident.’

“I see that,” Zaras gave a small smirk. “Where you going?”

“I’m going to stay with my boyfriend for a bit.”

“Why are you staying with Prince Callum?” Rayla felt her heart stop. “I haven’t told anyone.” Rayla’s heart started beating again as she relaxed just a bit. “If anyone asks where you are, I always say you must be in the library or at the 24-hour gym in town.”

“How long have you known?”

Zaras shrugged before sitting on Rayla’s bed. “The whole time, if it’s been more than a year. You spend a lot of time with him and you always look so happy after you spend the night at his place. Why do you think I insisted we be roommates again this year?”

“Because I’m the only person that tolerates your granola habit at three o’clock in the morning?”

“That and I like him, too. He has been nothing but respectful to every elf on campus. I have never seen him so much as raise his voice unless he was being provoked. He’s more aggressive with the humans who push him to try dark magic than he is with us. He also asked my honest opinion on the Sky arcanum and if I knew any good books of spells. You got yourself a good man, Rayla, and I don’t want you to lose him just because someone didn’t like him.”

“Thank you, Zaras. Bandlr is going to go public with this tomorrow. He found out and he’s acting like it’ll just ‘slip out.’” Zaras hissed as she shook her head. “I know. He’s an asshole and I would kill him if I could. I might, anyways. I think I would be doing everyone a favor.”

“Bandlr is going to be the least of your worries. You know that a lot of the humans on campus don’t like you, right? Just purely based on the fact that you freely admitted that you are, technically, an assassin. Even if you haven’t made a kill, you’re still trained and still able.”

Rayla put her head in her hands as she groaned. “I know. I also know that I don’t want to walk away from him. Even though it would be easier and would save the both of us a lot of pressure and harassment.”

“But you love him.” Rayla turned to see Zaras looking at her with a genuinely happy smile.

“That I do.”

“How are you going to get your stuff to his place?”

“His friend, Claudia, is going to help me. Her car’s already parked and she’s waiting for me.”

A quick clap of her hands and Zaras was up and already rifling through Rayla’s drawers. “Well, let’s get packing. Do you want anything out of the bathroom or can I have it? I really like the smell of your moonberry shampoo.”

“You can have all of it. Except the bubbles. Those are mine.”

“Noted. Where’s your other bag?” Zaras quickly helped pack while keeping an eye on the door. It was better to know who was and who wasn’t in the suite so that they could leave with as few questions as possible. “Do you seriously not have any sexy underwear? I have several pairs just to make me feel good on a bad day.”

“Callum might have a heart attack if I did. You know my bra with the front clasp? I wore it one time and he almost fainted. In about five years, I’ll try the front clasp again.” It had been a complete accident that he had even seen the stupid thing. She was changing at his place and he had happened to walk into the room. Callum had blushed bright red and stammered when he saw her take it off before leaving the room, stumbling the whole way.

“Pfft. That is just too adorable. I don’t know how anyone can think that dork is dangerous.”

“I don’t either. The most threatening thing he’s ever done was tell Bandlr to back off after he busted into Callum’s apartment.”

“You might need extra security, then. My dad knows people who work in the security industry. I’ll give him a call if you need it.”

“We’ll let you know. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, to us, that you’re helping me. That you’ve been helping me.”

Zaras shrugged, a thoughtful expression taking over her features. “I told you, he’s a good man. He’s also a talented mage with zero percent of the overconfidence that I see in a lot of the mages here on campus; human and elf. I have no idea how he got the Sky arcanum to work for him, though. From what he told me, he understood that the wind was a part of him, of everything. He also admitted that it was after he broke a primal stone, so take that as you will.”

“He’s explained it to me a bunch of ways and he loses me halfway through. He understands how he did it but he can’t explain it in a way that makes sense. And now that he’s planning to try with the other arcana, he has to make it make sense. He’ll always be dangerous if he can’t make people understand why he was able to access primal magic as a human. There will be people who accuse him of using dark magic to succeed or that he made a deal with someone like Aaravos.”

“I wish him all the luck in the world. I also wish you luck. You’re gonna need it.”

“Thanks. I’ll need every last bit of luck you have. Where’s your lucky coin again?”

“You’ll take my lucky coin over my dead body.”

“I can arrange that.” They chuckled as Rayla did a quick sweep of the apartment. ��I think that’s everything.”

“Let’s go, then.” Zaras made sure to walk out the door first, after grabbing Rayla’s bubbles, and kept the conversation on classes and the latest movie. “I’m telling you, Rayla, you need to go see this one. I’m normally am not a fan of human cinema, but this guy just cried as he rode off into the sunset. Wonderful. I need eight more.”

“You just have a thing for men crying.”

“Who doesn’t? I also really like girls in tight pants. Really tight pants.”

“Are we going to discuss your kinks all night? I’ll need a drink if we are.”

“Buy me some hard liquor and I’ll be sure to tell you every last one of them.”

“Name the time and place. There’s the car.” Zaras nodded and let Rayla lead the way from there. Claudia waved them over and quickly popped the trunk. “Thank you, again, Zaras.”

“You’re welcome. You owe me that drink. And I want you to tell me what’s going on. I’m here if you need me.” Rayla was normally not really a huggy person, but she quickly wrapped her arms around Zaras in thanks. It took a moment for Zaras to return the hug, squeezing Rayla with all her strength. When they separated, Zaras smiled at Rayla again before nodding her head to the car.

“Right. Good night.” Rayla hopped in and Claudia hurried down the road. Zaras waved before quickly turning back to the dorm. “Do you think anyone saw you?”

“Doubt it. Soren got a message from King Harrow today.” Brow raised; Claudia looked at Rayla out of the corner of her eye. “Apparently, he’s going to be officially stationed here?”

“I asked for him. I needed more people in our corner.”

“That sky elf looks pretty in your corner.”

“She is. I’ll introduce you sometime. Make sure you wear super tight pants.”

“Ooh. My kind of girl.” It didn’t take long to reach the apartment complex. Claudia drove to the back and grabbed a bag after parking. “Callum texted that he’s still at the store. I’m going to take his key when he gets back and get a copy made for you. You two can’t leave the apartment until I get back and that might not be until tomorrow night, okay?”

“As long as I get it before classes start Monday, I’m good to go.” They went in and up the elevator. Claudia suddenly got a big smile on her face as she laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m helping my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend move into his apartment. And we have to keep everything a complete secret until tomorrow. I feel like some sort of secret agent.”

“How do you feel about that?” For all of Claudia’s prodding, Rayla had never known if Claudia was actually alright with watching her ex-boyfriend move on or was putting on a front because they were still friends.

Claudia shrugged and turned to Rayla. “Honestly? Not nearly as bad as I thought I would. Neither one of us was mature enough or in a good place for a real relationship. I’m a little jealous, but I think that has more to do with the fact that he’s moved on and in a steady relationship while I’m still going on speed dates. He was everything I was supposed to want; we just didn’t fit together. He has drawn such a thick line in the sand concerning dark magic and, well, dark magic is the only thing that’s allowing my brother to stand anymore. Callum has really pushed for me to learn healing from the other elves here. The only problem is that my father is Lord Viren and he hates elves. No one wants to teach me or help Soren because they’re scared that I’ll take their life force to heal Soren or we’ll take the secrets back to our dad.”

“You wouldn’t, though. Callum told me that you two are Team Soren and Claudia. You’re your own side and you wouldn’t jeopardize Soren’s health to get back in your father’s good graces.”

A chuckle and a shake of her head was all Rayla got for a moment. “He’s right. Viren’s our dad and we want nothing to do with him. He told Soren to kill Ezran while he and Callum were at the Banther Lodge a few years ago, before anyone knew just how treacherous he had become. He also told me to leave Soren to die if it was between him and an artifact that was supposed to amplify magical abilities. The things he’s called Callum and Queen Sarai…. I understand why my mom left him. Soren and I wish we had picked her all those years ago. He’s not going to be nice about this. All the hatred he’s felt towards Callum and Queen Sarai is also going to fall on you.” The elevator opened and the two got out, sitting on the floor with Rayla’s stuff to the side.

“Why did he hate her? She saved his life and died doing it.” Claudia looked conflicted for a few moments. Rayla could see the wheels turning in her head. She genuinely didn’t know what had made Viren turn on Sarai and Callum didn’t seem to have an answer either. If she knew, maybe she could be better prepared for anything Viren launched against them.

Finally, Claudia nodded her head, looking back at Rayla. “Don’t tell Callum this. Or Ezran. You have to promise you will never tell them.”

“Is it that bad?”

Claudia held Rayla’s stare and lightly shook her head. “You have no idea what he has called her. If Callum found out, he might kill my dad. I think King Harrow finding out about it is what ultimately led to he and my dad falling out.”

Rayla didn’t want to keep secrets from Callum and keeping one from Ezran would be more difficult than her training with Runaan. But this was also a chance to get another perspective on Callum’s history. She didn’t trust the news and she didn’t trust what most other people said because they didn’t know Callum; Claudia did. “I don’t like it, but I promise I won’t say anything.”

“OK. I’ll hold you to it.” Claudia sighed as she leaned against the door. “You know that Queen Sarai wasn’t a noble, right?” Rayla nodded as she adjusted herself. She had a feeling Claudia was going to be giving her a lot of information and that this was a lot more complicated than she thought. “Well, when Queen Sarai and King Harrow were kids, they met when his father took him to visit his best general. That was Queen Sarai and General Amaya’s mother. Harrow was instantly smitten with her. They spent a lot of time together during that visit and Harrow was convinced he would marry her. He was right, eventually.

“Queen Sarai didn’t have those same thoughts. She viewed herself as a warrior first and that her job would be to protect the future king. And then she met Marco, Callum’s father. From what I heard; he had no prospects beyond his artwork. He didn’t come from a family with any kind of wealth or status, couldn’t use a bow and arrow or a sword and always questioned why the world couldn’t talk about peace instead of continuing to fight whenever the war was brought up. He was also opposed to dark magic; calling it the reason why the peace had been shattered in the first place. He was probably the last person who should marry a future military leader, but he came to their home one day to paint a portrait of Sarai and Amaya and that was that. They got married a year and a half later and Callum was born about two years after that.

“Marco died when Callum was only a year old from a bad fall. He was painting a client’s ceiling and someone on the ground wasn’t paying close enough attention. Queen Sarai was devastated and she buried herself in her work and raising Callum. Her work brought her to the capital and to Harrow. By this point, he and my father were close and my dad was pushing for Harrow to get married and have an heir before he was crowned king.” Claudia chuckled as a sad smile took over. “Harrow instantly fell back in love with her and he loved Callum immediately after meeting him. It didn’t matter to him that Callum was from his love’s first marriage. He was part of Sarai and that was enough.

“Dad didn’t think it was…appropriate for a future king to marry a woman who already had a child. It didn’t matter that she was a widow. She had a kid and she wasn’t noble; that should have taken her out of the running. He brought women from all over the Pentarchy and Harrow still chose Sarai. And it got really, really ugly between Sarai and my dad. She asked him what his problem was and he called Callum…well, he called Callum a mongrel son of a street urchin. He then said Callum wasn’t fit to lick Soren’s boots, let alone be the son of a king. That was before he proceeded to call Sarai a two-bit gold-digger who was only interested in Harrow because she wanted another man in her life and Harrow happened to be there. He told her she was nothing more than a whore who would lead Harrow to his own destruction. None of that was true, but my dad was so blinded by his devotion to Harrow that he didn’t see the truth anymore.

“Sarai said her piece by calling Dad a self-serving, egotistical asshole. She made him a deal; she wouldn’t tell Harrow what he said if he backed off. Dad knew a good deal when he saw one and agreed. Harrow would have believed Sarai in a heartbeat. Sarai and Harrow got married and then had Ezran. In between, Sarai began to let it be known to the rest of the world about her distaste for dark magic. She thought it was a shortcut and resisted every time it was brought up as a solution. This university was all her idea. She had taken what her first husband had said to heart and she wanted peace between the Pentarchy and Xadia. She instilled that in Callum and Harrow and they’ve instilled it in Ezran and General Amaya. And the four of them have started to instill it in the rest of the Pentarchy.

“They tried to get along for Harrow’s sake but my dad would just rail into her when he thought it was safe. Called her power hungry and manipulative. Soren and I heard things that no one should ever utter about anyone. Sarai died protecting my father because she knew how important he was to Harrow. She thought they would both make it out alive and they had just saved her sister. Dad had a high opinion of her for a little bit, until Harrow started implementing her ideas. The university and this town started to be built less than a year after her death. He pushed for more peace talks and gradually started to reject any of Dad’s ideas if they involved dark magic. Eventually, Harrow started to call for Dad for council less and less.

“Dad blamed Sarai for losing his best friend. The truth is, Sarai was right. Dark magic is a shortcut. It’s the only one we have, besides primal stones, for humans to learn magic. And it’s impossible to get primal stones. There are days when I listen to Callum and agree with everything he says. I wonder if dark magic has twisted my dad beyond repair and if that’s why he’s like this now. He used to be kinder and more understanding. What if dark magic does that to me one day?” She twisted the white lock in her hair and bit her lip. “But I also love magic and don’t want to give it up. I’ve always been a mage, and I’m really freaking good at it. I taught Callum how to use the primal stone and his first couple of spells. Callum can’t explain how he unlocked the arcanum in a way that anyone understands and I refuse to stop using dark magic to help my brother until I have another answer.”

Rayla had heard a lot of this from Callum, but to hear just how this animosity between Sarai and Viren and how that led to Harrow and Viren’s own relationship to deteriorate put new light on everything he had told her. “Callum really doesn’t know?”

Claudia shrugged, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. “He knows about Dad’s feelings towards him and he knows Dad didn’t like Sarai. To my knowledge, he has no clue just how deep that hatred runs and for how long it has. Neither does Ezran. In their minds, Sarai was a saint; why would anyone hate her with all of their being? Harrow doesn’t want them to know what my dad called their mother. Callum also doesn’t know about the deal they made or the argument that it came from. As far as Callum and Ezran know, Dad just gave up and told Harrow to be happy. If they find out, it needs to be from Harrow. The only reason I know is because Dad got drunk one night and told me and Soren everything. When we told Harrow that we knew, he asked us to keep it quiet and never, ever tell Callum or Ezran. That was the same day that we told Harrow about his plot to kill Ezran. We picked Harrow’s side that day and Dad wanted nothing more to do with us and we wanted nothing more to do with him.”

“Why can’t they know?”

“Would you want your sons to know that someone you believed was your best friend and your biggest supporter thought their mother was anything less than honorable, even after she saved his life?”

Rayla thought about it for a moment. If she and Callum had children and were put in a similar situation, would she want their children to know something like that? “No, I don't think I would.”

“See?” Claudia asked not unkindly. “It's one thing to say that Viren didn't like Sarai, it's another to say the words he actually used. I don’t want to tell Callum or Ezran and neither does Soren. It’s not something you feel good about knowing. The only reason I told you is because you need to know what you’re going up against. Dad may say all of those things and worse to anyone who will listen and you have to be prepared. Don’t focus on what they call you. Don’t let anyone get the best of you with name-calling. Only state your and Callum’s truth. If you spend any time saying anything besides that and that you and Callum love each other for who you are, then they would have won and they will keep coming back. I’ll step in if I have to on your behalf. I like you, Rayla, and I like how happy you make Callum. No matter what, he is one of my best friends in this world and I don’t want him to lose you over something neither one of you can control.”

“He’s not gonna lose me. I’ll have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of this relationship at this point.”

“Good.” Claudia hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. “When Callum and I dated, it was before Dad was disgraced. To a degree, it was always assumed we would get married for political reasons. It wasn’t really a big deal to anyone until we broke-up. That’s when the gossip came around. I can’t imagine what the two of you must be feeling right now.”

Rayla stretched her legs out and folded her arms over her chest. “Nervous. A bit relieved. Like we’ve done both the smartest and stupidest thing we ever could. He wanted to give up when Amaya told us I didn’t have an out the second the public knew. He told me to go back to my uncles and I told him that if I did that there would be no second chances. We either stand together now or he will lose me forever.”

“Good for you.” Claudia had a big grin on her face at Rayla’s statement.

“I wasn’t going to let him give up. I think Bandlr’s threat to tell the world and then hearing his aunt tell him I had to stay at the border got to him. He finally came back to his senses when he saw I wasn’t going to run away and was going to take this media nonsense head-on.”

“I understand if he’s concerned about the media. It’s not easy to live the way he does. This is the most freedom he’s had since his mom married Harrow. Every move he makes, every outfit he wears, every person he meets is dissected to death. There are articles and videos out there about whether or not Harrow actually loves Callum and that has hit Callum so hard. They talk about body language this and Callum didn’t go to such-and-such event that and they don’t know anything that goes on behind closed doors. I have never seen someone love their kids as much as Harrow does Callum and Ezran. Harrow’s distance was because he didn’t want Callum to feel like he was replacing his father not because he loved Callum any less. It took a long, long time for Callum to call him ‘Dad’ and being constantly reminded that he is the ‘step-prince’ didn’t help.”

Before Rayla could respond, the elevator opened to reveal Callum, laden with groceries. “Hey, guys. I’ve got enough food to last a month. Or a week since you’ll be here, Rayla.”

Rayla did a quick eyeroll. “Ha ha, Mr. Skinny. It’s all muscle unlike your noodle arms.” Raylan and Claudia stood, each grabbing one of Raylas bags.

“You like my noodle arms.” A quick smirk at Rayla and Callum unlocked the door so they could head inside. Claudia and Rayla quickly put Rayla’s stuff down so Rayla could help Callum put their groceries away. “You’ll be so proud of me. I only got one more piece of fruit for the fruit bowl.”

“You’re eating that, too.”

“I’m drawing it tomorrow and then I’ll be done and we’ll spend the rest of the day eating fruit and Earthblood honey. And the day after that. And maybe the day after that.”

Rayla picked up said piece of fruit and glared at it. “I swear, if your plan is to slowly replace the rest of our diet with your fruit bowl, I will make you eat the actual bowl.”

“Do you hear what I put up with, Claudia?”

Claudia shook her head as she walked over to the two. She looked at the fruit bowl and then back at Callum. “Do you really need all that fruit for art?”

“It’s called still life and I haven’t done it in a while and drawing helps me relax in stressful situations. Also, please lay off my fruit.” Callum handed her the key to the apartment. “Let us know when you get the copy.”

“Got it. I’ll give you the bill then, too.”

“I can give you cash now.”

“Nah, I know you’re good for it. I also know where you live. Night.”

“Night, Clauds.”

“Thanks for the help.” Rayla followed Claudia to the door and locked it behind her. “Alright. We need to talk about something.” Callum gulped as he suddenly found his shirt very interesting. “I’m not still mad at the whole ‘run away while you can’ thing if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Oh, thank god. I was going to have a heart attack.”

“It’s about how…. calmly we bring up marriage. We teased each other about you marrying me because of honey and how strong I am. When Ezran talked about me being his big sister, I almost said ‘yes.’ And then, you called Runaan and Ethari your ‘future-in-laws.’ We’ve been bringing it up for months without ever really talking about it.” Rayla went back to the kitchen, lightly drumming her fingers against the counter. “Do you want to marry me?”

“I’m not opposed to it,” he hedged.

“Callum.” Rayla needed him to be as honest and serious as possible about this. She didn’t want to start planning a forever with him in her mind if it hadn’t even crossed his.

“Fine,” Callum grabbed her hand and looked in her eyes with those suddenly far too green ones of his. “I know we haven’t been together that long, but I know I want to marry you someday. I wouldn’t have asked to meet Ethari and Runaan if I didn’t. I also don’t want to do it for a few years. We’re still young and there are so many things to see and do first.”

“Do you already have a ring?”

“No. I actually have one planned, but I’m going to have it specially made. I’m thinking,” he raised her hand and separated her middle finger out, “a band of platinum that has been twisted. I’m also thinking a moonstone sunken into the band. Nothing jutting out, so you won’t be able to cut someone when you backhand them.”

“But that’s the best part.” Rayla looked down at her hand as Callum stroked the base of her finger. “You’ve really thought about this.”

“More than thought about it. I've drawn it a hundred times.”

“Have you now?” It was supposed to come out cocky and self-assured, but instead, Rayla felt anticipation and curiosity step in.

Callum looked at her finger again, biting his lip. He went over to the bookcase, going to his shelf of sketchbooks. He quickly pulled out the one he was looking for and flipped through the pages. “This is the one I settled on.”

Callum came back to rest the book on the counter, open to a page with a single ring design. The top of the band was braided platinum with the moonstone embedded in the center. Not only that, but one side had a red stone and yellow stone while the other had purple and green ones. Each stone was also embedded. Callum had also drawn what he wanted the inside of the band to look like. So far, it was just the moon and sky runes, but plenty of room to add more. The uneven towers of Katolis were right next to the moon rune. “It’s very detailed,” she breathed.

“I just thought about it one day and I couldn't stop. I actually spent weeks of my summer vacation creating the perfect design.”

Rayla looked up at him. “You were thinking about this when we couldn't even see each other?”

“Well, yeah,” he sheepishly replied.

It was mindboggling to her. He had had this in his head for that long? “We hadn't been together for very long. Officially at least.”

“I'm not ready to get married now. I just know, even back then, that I want to marry you.”

“Is that a proposal?” Rayla let a grin come over her features. Teasing Callum was her default for whenever she became overwhelmed. And she was insanely overwhelmed.

“No, it's a plan.”

“Sounds like a proposal to me. You got a sketch for the ring; told me you want to be with me until you die.”

Callum put a mock affronted look on his face, hand going to his chest. “I did not use those words.”

“Maybe not. But that's what you meant.”

Callum flushed. “It’s not a proposal.” He paused as a small bit doubt entered his voice. “What do you think about the ring?”

“It’s beautiful. And if you had already had it made, I might have said ‘yes’ just now.” Callum glared at her teasing for a moment before her entire statement caught up with him, eyes going wide and mouth slightly ajar. Rayla blushed, quickly turning her attention back to the sketch. “I thought diamonds were traditional among humans, though.”

Callum let her change the subject, probably still processing her acceptance of his ‘not proposal.’ “We,” a quick point of his fingers between the two of them, “are not a traditional couple. I thinks something a bit more symbolic and unique to us would make far more sense. My mom didn't have one on her rings, either. My father could barely afford the plain silver one he gave her and Dad knew that Mom valued simplicity and creativity over showy. That ring was also braided, but it was gold and had my birthstone. Dad said it wasn't so much an engagement ring as it was a promise to love both Mom and me for the rest of his life.”

“You always talk so highly of her.” Rayla hadn’t noticed it before, but Claudia was right; Callum viewed Sarai as a saint. There was always a reverent tone in his voice whenever he talked about her and it seemed like she could have done no wrong in his eyes.

Callum shrugged. "She was my mom. She stood by my father and Dad through the tough times and believed in putting in the hard work for peace, love, and justice instead of taking the easy way out. I never doubted that she loved me and Ezran equally. I remember her being full of love and warmth, with a serious sweet tooth. Only a fool got between her and jelly tarts.” He chuckled. “There’s actually this great story Aunt Amaya tells. When they were kids, someone tried to take a bite of Mom’s cake and she stabbed their hand with her fork. Everyone knew to stay away from her dessert after that. I really miss her sometimes. I think about what life would be like if she were still here. I actually have this pair of socks she tried to knit when she was pregnant with Ezran. They were for me, but the sizing was so off and it looks like she tried to add a thumb at some point. I can never wear them, but I also can't bring myself to throw them away.”

“Do you think about what life would have been like with your father?”

A guilty look crossed his features. “I don't really remember him. It feels like Harrow has always been my dad. Everyone says I take after my father. I'm terrible with weapons, talented in art, and have his eyes. Even my smile is supposed to look just like his did. And it's nice to know that, but, it's hard for me to think ‘that's my father’ when I see a picture or someone mentions his name.” Callum started to absently flip through the pages of his sketchbook. “His grandparents died shortly after I turned six, so I don’t even have anyone to go to for stories about his childhood. My mom left me everything she had, but it was just a stack of documents that didn’t say much beyond medical history and the family trees with a handful of photographs. I have all of his art pieces that aren’t in a museum or were for clients, though. You know that portrait of my mom?”

Rayla turned to the picture in question. It was a replica of a very soft, gentle-looking Sarai. Rayla had often wondered if that portrait had been done while she was pregnant with Callum or was holding him. Sarai had always had a reputation in Xadia for being strong and excelling in combat, even with her talk about peace and understanding. To see her look so sweet had been a little jarring at first. “Yeah.”

“My father painted the original shortly before he died. The actual painting is hanging in an art museum in the capital, right next to the one he painted of Mom and Aunt Amaya. Me, Dad, Ezran, and Aunt Amaya all have painted copies. Trust me, the original is much better and I can’t wait to take you to see it someday. You can tell with each stroke just how much he loved her, and how he carefully chose each color to bring out the softness he saw in her that a lot of people didn’t because she was so good at being a warrior. That's the one thing that makes me go ‘yeah, that’s who my father was.’ Do you think about what your life would be like if your parents raised you?”

Rayla shook her head. “Not really. I couldn't have asked for better than Runaan and Ethari. My parents are members of the Dragon Guard and it’s a big honor, I just don't get to see them. As far as I'm concerned, Runaan and Ethari are my parents. If my mum and dad came here and told me they didn't approve of us, I can't imagine I'd really care. I'm not even sure when I can tell them.”

“You can't call them?”

Rayla shrugged. “That's only really used in emergencies. You have to hope that they call you. Letters are better. It’s getting late. Do you wanna go to bed?”

Callum looked like he wanted to continue the conversation, but looked at the clock before nodding. “Yeah, let’s go to bed. We’re gonna need to be well rested for tomorrow.”

“Is it wrong to hope tomorrow never comes?”

“Well, we’re not leaving this apartment until Monday, so we’ll just pretend it didn’t.”

“Like you’re pretending you didn’t propose?” Callum groaned as Rayla chuckled.

-------------------------------------

Notes:

Up to chapter 12 is actually already up on AO3, I just keep forgetting to post this here. Sorry!

We don't know that much about Sarai in canon, sadly, and we know nothing about Callum's father or that side of his family, and both of them, plus Viren's relationship with Sarai, are going to play a big part at some point. It's a bit of an info dump, but I needed some background laid out and Claudia was happy to help.

I don't think canon Viren thought of Sarai quite like this, but I saw some resentment brewing when Harrow didn't want to leave Amaya, and Sarai, behind when they went to go help Duren.

#rayllum #rayllum fanfic #we could be heroes #the dragon prince #moonbase fanfics

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jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels · 5 years ago

Text

Don’t You Hear My Call Though You’re Many Years Away - Chapter 1

Warnings: None

A/N: This is something I’ve been working on a bit. Sure time travel isn’t real (or is it?), but that’s what makes great fiction right? I have no clue of the word count, and I don’t really care. There’s only brief mentions of Queen in this chapter (yes there will be more, they are about 4 more on my phone at the moment), but it’s important to set up the story. You are the main character, and this is written in first person. I’m not a writer really, but this one has been floating around in my head. Enjoy!

Time travel wasn’t easy even for the most seasoned in my group. But this was my first time, and I was nervous, anxious and afraid. I’d had been told this was completely normal and it would be worrisome if I weren’t feeling those things. But I didn’t know exactly how exciting this adventure would turn out to be, for the past and the present.

I’d met my small group of friends my first year in college, they were all a year older than me, but accepted me quickly. Ryan and Claire grew up together, Sierra and Claire were roommates, who got lucky and became close friends. And Ryan met Dustin in one of his many science classes. Little did I know I’d become friends with people who were trying to change the present, by traveling to the past.

I still don’t honestly know how the “time machine” was developed, if you wanted to call it that. It was more like the transporter in Star Trek. I was told that knowing how it was developed could put me at greater risk should everything be discovered. Only Ryan and Dustin knew every detail of the machine, since they had worked on it together. Claire and Sierra were let in on the secret once the guys knew it actually worked. I just felt privileged to know of the machines existence. And to know that it actually worked.

I’d watched my friends go to the past, and be gone for days sometimes weeks on end, until a specifically selected date, time and location, and they’d be brought back to the present, 2012.

I’d watch them travel and fail, travel and fail. It seemed like history couldn’t be changed. Lincoln was still assassinated, so was Dr. King. Hitler still created the Nazi party, and wars were still waged.

One day while we were sitting in Dustin’s room, eating pizza and discussing the next possible trip, a thought struck me.

“Has anyone thought that maybe you’re trying to stop the big things, when you should focus on the small instead?” I said, as they all looked at me with confusion.

“Think about it” I continued “We’re trying to create a butterfly effect, right? Well, butterflies aren’t big! They’re tiny, delicate, but one flap of their wings causes a huge ripple. So start small!”

Dustin, Ryan, Sierra and Claire all looked at one another and back at me.

I felt like I’d just said something stupid until Ryan spoke up.

“You right” he said smiling at me.

The ball was rolling. Now what event did they want to change?

The choice was always a major under taking. There was much discussing and studying events. Figuring what possible ripple affects could happen and theorizing if they would be for the better or worse. During this time I spent most evenings after classes with my friends, which caused my boyfriend to feel neglected.

We had small fights about it, and the fact that he felt like I could never ‘pencil him in’. We eventually stopped fighting, and things turned cold. This was the demise of our relationship. Apparently I had to either pick him or my friends. How could I explain the importance of what we were doing? He wasn’t in on the secret.

In the weeks that followed his brutal text breakup, I continued to meet with my friends for our nightly discussions. But I wasn’t much help. I was sad. And angry. I wanted to run. But I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to go some place I’d never been. Maybe even a time I’d never been to.

While meeting with my friends one night, I deep in my own thoughts and I unintentionally blurted out “1971”.

All discussions stopped as my friends looked at me.

“What major event happened in 1971?” Ryan asked cocking his head at me.

“Um” I stammered and stumbled over my words out of nervousness “well...John Deacon joined Queen...” my face felt hot and I looked away quickly.

“And...” Sierra questioned.

Before I knew it, I was spilling my guts to my friends. About the breakup and why I wanted to runaway. And how Queen played into this, being that they were my favorite band. Looks of confusion, concern, and understanding passed over their faces as I cried.

“I just want to go back and experience something that I’ll never get the chance to. Something that would never have been possible, because the year I was born! I want to run far away, and what better way to hide from my problems than in the past before any of us even existed!” I choked out, wiping my tears.

I felt like this was something I wasn’t even aware I was harboring, the desire to go back and follow my favorite band as they toured. To be some place, and some time different. I’d heard my friends discuss what they loved about their travels, so maybe it was a bit of jealously as well. Jealousy that I hadn’t experienced those things.

Dustin reached out and touched my arm “so you want to go back just to go...is that what you’re saying?” He asked gently.

“Yes” I sighed. “It’s stupid.”

There was a chorus of no’s among my friends.

I excused myself and returned to my room. Where I stayed all weekend. I didn’t answer the door, calls or texts. I needed time. Time to rest, feel what I was feeling, and to think. Think about what my Ex had said, and what I had confessed to my friends.

When Monday rolled around, I was feeling like I was in a better place, mentally and emotionally.

I was on my way to class when Sierra came rushing down the sidewalk towards me. As she reached me I could see her smiling from ear to ear.

“Come with me!” She practically yelled at me as she grabbed my arm and yanked me in the direction of Dustin’s dorm.

Sierra flung the door open without even knocking, and shoved me inside.

I was panting from try to keep up “what’s...the deal?” I asked.

My friends were all there, with excited smiles, and looking at one another with anticipation.

“We’ve figured it all out, and we’re sending you back!” Ryan said.

“You’re...I’m sorry...huh?” I shook my head in confusion.

Claire pulled me to sit next to her. “To 1971! You’re going to get to see Queens first show! We’ve found out where they used to have band meetings, pubs they played in. We’ve got it all worked out! It’s all in here.” she said as she pulled a small notebook out of her bag.

I skimmed the pages, they really did have it figured out. Even down to the finances, where I should stay, and dates to look for the band. They were getting really good at this.

I looked at my friends, they were beaming.

“But...why?” I asked softly of the verge of tears.

Sierra spoke next to me “because you want this. You’ve don’t nothing but help us and you’ve never asked for anything else in return. You’ve never pushed to know more about the machine or the way it works, you just try to help. And now, we’re going to help you. We’re going to help you run away. Just...not permanently.”

I looked down at the notebook again and the tears started flowing.

“Thank you” I murmured softly.

My friends all reached out to me to comfort and support me, all giving sharing their words of encouragement.

I cleared my throat, wiped my face and looked around at my friends.

“I just have one question though...”

“Which is?” Asked Dustin.

“Will I need my passport?” I asked smiling.

@ixchel-9275 @painkiller80 @painandpleasure86 @queensdivas @heybuddy-drabbles @liliah39 @yourlocalmusicalprostitute @deacyspatronusisacheesetoastie @deakysgurl

#queen x reader #time travel #traveling back in time #1971 #freddie mercury #brian may #roger taylor #john deacon #john deacon x reader #john x reader #dont you hear my call

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