#rip king they almost saved you Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[mistbornthief]

men will literally resurrect then take control of a fanatical religious cult to pit against the other fanatical religious cult they started to hide from the demonic gorillas that beat them to death only to become that which they fear most (demonic gorillas) instead of going to therapy

[nanaslutt]

Hiii hope you are well ❤️💜💕💕you're a amazing human being and I love your work 😘💖 requesting sukuna fucking you from the back while holding you in a choke hold with his big bicep (true form or not it's fine)?

Have a wonderful dayyy😭😭💜

This is uhhhhhhhhh read at your own discretion (ILY nonnie ty for the ask<3)

Contains: fem reader, true from sukuna, double penetration, blood, so much degradation, dirty talk, manhandling, rough sex, hair pulling, passing out, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, blood, dacraphillia, cumming inside, talk of pregnancy, dub con if you squint, mind break, strangling, breath play

MDNI

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

"Fucking." thrust "Take it." thrust. Sukuna fucked his inhumanly large dicks in and out of your holes at an almost intolerable pace. He had completely filled you up, not a single ridge inside your pussy was being neglected as his massive cocks abusing your sore holes.

He had two large lands gripping your waist, while he dug his nails into your skin, making pretty streaks of crimson blood drip down your hips and thighs. One hand was dangling by his side, occasionally leaving harsh slaps against the fat of your ass, while his other—arguably the meanest limb—currently had you in a chokehold.

The massive curse would squeeze his arm around your throat and completely constrict your airflow before he loosened it for a couple seconds, laughing at you while you gasped and sputtered, choking down the oxygen he allowed you to. You were positive he had ripped you open at some point, it had been hours and you still hadn't adjusted to his cock properly. Every time he pulled back his hips and thrust his cocks inside you, you felt like your guts were being shoved out of the way to make room for him.

You had gone numb to his nails that dug into the flesh on your hips, too focused on the painful pleasure you were feeling between your legs. "Fuck! Fucking bitch-" He cursed, squeezing your neck tighter and leaving a mean slap on your ass when he felt you cum around him for the nth time that night. The pulsing and clenching of your walls made the pace of his hips stutter before he got ahold on himself again. "Did I say" slap "You could fucking" slap "Cum?" he snarled, spanking your ass so hard you swore it would leave a permanent imprint of his hand against your skin.

"'M s-ooryy, sorry s-ahh!" You tried to speak through his heavy thrusts, but he was having none of it. "Didn't say you could fucking talk either," The king emphasized with a particularly hard thrust, that made you dizzy as you yelled out in pain. "Gotta shut you up." He growled, pausing his hips for a second before he cupped his free hand over your mouth, completely covering your mouth and nose as he once again squeezed his bicep around your neck. "Try not to die." He laughed menacingly into your ear before his hips started up a bruising pace.

Your eyes immediately rolled back into your head at the overbearing stimulation. You were thrown into fight or flight mode when you tried to gasp against his hand but to no avail. Sukuna kept his hand firmly pressed over your face to ensure that no oxygen would enter your lungs. "Aww, is the little slut crying?" He giggled, staring down between the two of you at the mean arch he had you in, watching his cock leave your asshole, lined with streaks of blood.

"You wanted this, kept fucking around so I brought you into my domain like you wanted." He snarled, gripping your jaw with his current hold on your face and turning it to the side so he could get a glimpse of your expression. Your face had gone pale, save for the deep blush that covered your cheeks. Your eyes had lost focus, continuously rolling into the back of your head with each thrust he gave you, and your soft cheeks were wet with your tears—those same eyes had begun to swell up from how long you had been crying.

He was right though, your fucked up body was loving this, you would scream that from the rooftops if he allowed you to, but right now it was quite evident he didn't want anything to do with your voice. "Oh fuck." He laughed, his four eyes all staring into yours as you did your best to keep yourself awake, trying to maintain eye contact with the curse to the best of your ability. "You really are crying." He bared his teeth to you as he smiled maliciously, both of his cocks twitching at your fucked up expression.

He watched intently with bated breath as your eyes fully rolled back into your head, your body going limp in his hold as he smiled, "Yeesssyesyes, fuck." He groaned, before releasing his hand from your mouth and simultaneously loosened his hold on your neck. Immediately his big hand started slapping your face harshly, "You don't get to get out of this that easily." He laughed, watching you slowly regain consciousness against him as you coughed and sputtered into the air when you came to.

"How was your nap?" His laugh vibrated your body, at some point he had picked you up a couple inches off the ground, and you internally thanked him as you had lost feeling in your legs quite a long time ago. Your moans echoed loudly in the space of his domain, whines turned into screams when he scratched his nails deeper into the skin of your thighs, reminding you of his hold there.

"You're a fucking mess." He chastized, as you gasped and cried into the space in front of you. Your smaller hands came up to grip his bicep, using the little strength you had left in your body you push his arms towards your neck once more, silently telling him to choke you out again.

Sukuna's eyes shot up in disbelief, were you seriously trying to order him around right now? You had balls, he would give you that. "Oh you want to die don't you, bitch?" He snarled, releasing you from the chokehold he had you in and instead used two hands to wrap around your neck and strangle you while he fucked his hips into you impossibly harder.

“You like this? Huh?" He growled as your cunt unashamedly squeezed around his cock, "Such a fucked up human I caught." He laughed to himself while you gasped and clawed at his hands, leaving angry red marks on his skin. "What's wrong? Gonna pass out again? Huh?" He cooed, feigning remorse while he felt your body try to fight back against him.

Despite how bad you had wanted him to choke you out, your body was going to register his actions as a threat no matter what. "God, stop fucking squeezing or I'm gonna cum inside." He said, making you panic slightly. You weren't on birth control, but you weren't even sure if a curse could get a human pregnant. Sukuna was a special case, which made you even more confused. Not like you had the brain power to go over the logistics of that right now anyways.

He felt your cunt and ass squeeze his cocks simultaneously at his words, also noticing how you tried to shake your head at him, warning him not to. "Oh does that scare you?" He asked, unimpressed when you continued your annoying moaning and babbling, not answering him. "I asked you a question, brat." He growled, squeezing your throat harder for a brief second before he loosened his grip, allowing you to breathe.

You gasped and choked on the oxygen, trying to turn your head to the side to look at him when you spoke, making little progress in your efforts as his hold on your neck was quite strong. "N-no, do-nt cum insdie." You cried, making him smile at your weeping face. "No?" He repeated, pouting his lip out at you in faux sympathy, "But I want to." He said, shaking your neck in his grasp and making your empty head shake around like a bobblehead toy.

You had no strength in your body left to fight him, opting to face your fate and let him have his way with you, you would deal with the consequences later. You couldn't lie that the thought of this terrifying man filling you up in both holes for the first time didn't excite you. The rational part of your brain was slipping further and further away from you the longer he fucked you. He was hitting all the right spots inside you, and at some point, the pleasure had started to overwhelm the pain.

He noticed your body had stop stying to fight him, falling limp to his ministrations as he pressed his hips flush against your ass and rotated it in circles, "You want my cum inside you, human?" He asked, his deep voice against your ear sent goosepumps down your arms. "Wanna be my concubine huh? Ill keep you here forever," He groned, his hips still rotating in circles and massaging your sweet spots, "Ill fuck load after load into your used-up cunt, till I get you pregnant." His voice was pushing you closer and closer to your orgasm.

You knew this was fucked up but you couldn't bring yourself to care right now, he was working you over so fucking well. "Yesyesyes Sukuna~ S-sukuna pl-ease~" Your hoarse voice whined out, broken up by his thrusts. In any other scenario, he would've cut you down for using his name without permission, but right now, your cunt and asshole were milking him quickly toward his orgasm, he was too close to care. He groaned at your words, his large hands abandoning their place around your neck to grab your tits and massage them, digging his nails into the flesh there, hard enough to draw blood as he used your body to ground himself.

"Fuck- sloppy fucking pussy gonna make me cum-" He groaned. His eyes wandered up to your neck, and he shook his head at the dark purple marks that littered your skin there, he couldn't help but think how fucking pretty it looked. The sight brought him closer to his high as his hips started losing their pace against your ass. "P-please- c-can I c-cum" You wined. He smiled at you, proud that you remembered to ask before you so greedily orgasmed without his permission. He was the one who was so kindly fucking you after all, so he should get the say in weather you cum or not.

"You can cum after me." He challenged, wanting to see if you could really make it. From how hard and rapidly your cunt was pulsing around him, he didn't think you would last much longer. "F-fuuuuck fuckfuck." You whined as he fucked the moans from your throat. He shook his head in disapproval, "Such a naughty mouth, remind me to take care of that next time." He said in response to your cursing as one of his large hands abandoned its hold on your hip to push your lower back down into a meaner arch against him.

The promise of a next time almost made you cum around him at what was to come. You had no idea how you held yourself back, maybe it was your inner consciousness afraid of what he would do to you if you disobeyed him, but you managed to hold out long enough for the king to cum. "Fuck, take it all, if you let a drop go to w-waste, I’ll kill you where you stand." He promised, clenching his jaw together as the rope started to untangle in his stomach.

His head tipped back, his jaw going slack as the first suprts of his cum started flooding your cunt and asshole. The second you felt his seed fill you up, you came around him, your holes milking him through his orgasm as you came harder than you ever have. If it wasnt for his four arms that held your body up, you woulve gone slack against the floor, "Fuuuuck! Fucking" thrust "Take my cum" thrust "Yesyesyes" The curse groaned, biting his lip at the intensity of his own orgasm.

His cum filled you up to the brim, the feeling of his warm seed filling both your holes at once felt strange and uncomfortable, but also weirdly right, you felt like this was your purpose—like his words were true, maybe your purpose really was to be here and be at his beck and call whenever he needed to release his stress, or simply wanted to get off.

He didn't wait for your own orgasm to finish before he released your body from his hold, letting your weak body fall to the ground of his domain by his feet, his cocks slipped out of you with a lewd squelching sound as you twitched below him in your aftershocks. The mouth on his stomach smiled at you, matching his own expression before it opened to lick your blood and juices off of his orgasm, and swallowing it greedily.

Your eyes fluttered as you started to come down from your orgasm. The massive figure in front of you ran a hand through his sweaty hair before his heavy leg kicked you in the stomach, not too hard, but hard enough to make you cough and direct your attention up at him. Before you knew it his face was in front of you and his large hand was in your hair as he raised you up from the ground with that grip alone, making you wince and whine in pain.

He stood to his full height once more, dragging your head and pressing it flush against his dirtied cocks, smearing your cum and blood on the side of your face as he gave you a disgusted look, "Clean your mess, useless human." He spat, digging his nails against your scalp. You gripped your hands into his massive thighs, and looked up at him from underneath your lashes, practically looking at him with hearts in your eyes as you rubbed your head against his thigh before kitten-licking one of his dick's tips.

He huffed out a laugh of disbelief at how obedient you were. How did he manage to find such a perfect fuck toy? Let alone a human toy at that. He could work with this.

[bodhrancomedy]

8 Games Which Made Me Bawl My Fucking Eyes Out (in the best way)

1. A Story Beside

Holy hell, I think the fact I played this one when I was isolating with COVID and terrified my breathing issues were gonna be permanent probably added to my complete sobbing breakdown at the end of this.

Every single chapter is a beautiful gut punch and the ending sequence where you guide Lyric back through her story? Heartbreaking.

2. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

This is probably one of my favourite games of all time and certainly one I’ve sunk the most hours into.

The fact that your first run-through is almost guaranteed to be full of failure and missed chances just adds to the pain I felt.

But the bug in the nursery. That’s what got me.

3. What Remains of Edith Finch

I’m not sure there’s anything I can say about this game which hasn’t been said already.

Each new room puts another knife in your heart as you pull apart the seams of the Finch family curse with Edith as the last survivor.

Gregory was the moment I had to take a break to compose myself.

4. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

While I think this remake took some of the teeth out of the original, this farm sim which spans the life of your character is full of heartbreaking moments as you raise your child.

Honestly, being allowed to be queer and nonbinary in this game made me bawl because I remember wishing to both be a boy and love men in the older games.

5. Dragon Quest IV

I could add several of the Dragon Quest games to this list, but after fighting the final boss for nearly two decades, beating this game had me sobbing for hours.

That last scene of Chapter Five had such a tiny little animation of our hero taking off his sword and that send me over the edge.

6. Bramble: The Mountain King

I don't know where to start with this dark folktale of a game. From tragic monsters to absolute gut punches following great unsettling scares, this journey to save your sister as a scared child ripped my heart in two.

The hell Olle goes through for his protective sister is dear to my heart as a nervous little brother myself.

7. Citizen Sleeper

The very concept of this RPG is haunting. A construct on the run from the corporation who took your body is sad enough, but the express love of humanity which runs through this? Beautiful.

I'm not very far through and it's already had me in tears twice.

8. Outer Wilds

I don't think I can say a single thing about this game without completely spoiling it.

Go in blind, but be ready for heavy and sorrowful themes. All I'll say is when you hear the ending theme, have tissues ready.

[swans-chirping-in-the-distance]

It's not "only Sophie can do this". That is so far from true. Her friends are:

Fitz, one of the most powerful telepaths of his time. Could've killed someone if his friends didn't stop him. Sort of did kill him. Btw, it was his traitorous older brother.

Biana, one of if not the ONLY vanisher who can completely vanish to every species. Has twice tackled murderers. Almost fell off Mount Everest and is covered in scars because of those times. She's super proud of it. Literally could kill you in a face full of a makeup

Keefe, also tested on. Has 3-4 abilities, two of which are new with him. Snarked the ogre king and won a sparring match with him because of it. Also ripped out THE ogre king's earring. Pretty good with weapons. Can make you listen by word of mouth.

Dex, such a powerful technopath that the council requested him to make special tech instead of an elf that's hundreds of years old and invented most of society's daily gadgets. Often underestimated.

Tam, one of the few shades that can control shadowflux. Joined a group of murderers and killed a friend to save his sister (yeah Keefe's alive, but Tam thought that Stellarlune would kill him and he still did it).

Linh, who held up a river surrounding a kingdom that was poisonous and harder to control when she didn't have full control over her abilities. Btw, she was 15.

She is friends with a variety of elves with crazy powers, ogres, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, and a human.

Only Sophie being able to go in these battles is dumb. It makes sense bcz she's the mc, but not in the actual series.

So I present multi-perspective kotlc.

Solves the "only Sophie can do this" issue. Better for character development. Makes side characters' relationships and lives matter more.

It would change the plot slightly but I think it would help.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

I think the thing that's fueling my Dead Boy Detectives fic series is that almost every major character has had some sort of interesting/unhinged interaction with every other main character. Like beyond the incredibly interesting/fleshed-out relationships between the main four detectives we have examples like:

1) Cat King and Monty forest interaction where the Cat King toys with Monty in order to both protect/play with Edwin

(Which, by the way, the Cat King knew about Monty before the forest scene when he shapeshifted into him by the lighthouse. So, like, did he know what Monty's secret identity was then and just straight up didn't say a word because he felt like it? Or did he figure it out later?)

2) Jenny straight up meeting Charles and Edwin only after being possessed by a demon and literal minutes before her shop gets blown up leading to the iconic "you were about to leave those boys forever now you're going to risk your life to save them" line

3) Jenny only meeting David to sing Belinda Carlisle/threaten him with a meat cleaver and get her SECOND near-death experience

4) Hell, on the meat cleaver POV: first and only time Niko meets the Cat King it's to threaten him with a meat cleaver and clock him for his interactions with Edwin (same goes for Crystal even though it's her second time meeting him)

5) Any scene Charles has one-on-one with Monty plus the bit on the sidewalk where Monty straight-up bypasses him for Edwin and Charles just goes "I was polite, wasn't I?" while the girls are clearing him away for Edwin and Monty to flirt

6) Night Nurse and Kashi. Everything about those interactions are *chef's kiss.*

7) Same goes for Night Nurse and Niko. Their dynamic is so fucking good and leads to the fantastic "reading comprehension" bit.

8) And from a more devastating/angsty POV, the scene with Esther and Monty in episode 5 where Monty feels more like a teenager than any other character in the cast. And as much as Esther is a camp queen in that scene, it's also terrifying because that iron cane is against Monty's chest and she literally ripped him apart episodes before that and she's going to kill him again next episode with that very cane and your brain is just bouncing between laughing at the "it's honestly nbd" line and going on red alert because get the fuck out of there, Monty, you're going to die at her hands-

[fabricated-misslieness]

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: prince alhaitham x knight male reader

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: settling into your new duty

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 4.34k ~ PT.1 ~ PT.3

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: sword training, incredibly minor injury, classism, mention of civil war

☾⋆☆⋆☽

Sumeru is a kingdom of knowledge, the wisest, most strategic of all. Yet they had not foreseen the kidnapping of the Crown Prince, much less by a dragon.

Azar, the king of the nation, is a man that takes pride in his intelligence. He knows of risks and consequences as much as he does of rewards and outcomes—he uses this as his stake in the world of Teyvat. His immense knowledge and the expanse of his land strike fear in the other kingdoms, despite his nation's sworn neutrality. These aspects of his make him the most admired man in Sumeru.

At least, that is what the common folk think.

At first, the King did not seem to have noticed his adoptive son was taken; or at the very least, he didn't care.

The Crown Prince was a clever man himself. Ever since he was young, he had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. As he grew into his adulthood, his collection did not satisfy him still, even if he has shown that he is already smart enough to take his father's place.

Perhaps Azar saw him as a threat to his throne. The dragon was actually doing him a favor. Why did he need to undo a deed so convenient?

But his Queen begged him, and eventually he gave in. He could not have her daily weeping stain their reputation.

He sent you. Your men lacked experience, and you, among the rest of the war generals, were the only knight of low blood.

It was clear that he intended to rid himself of you. When the news that you had failed would eventually reach the castle, he would cradle his wife in his arms and tell her he had tried.

But then you were back, the beloved Crown Prince in your arms, and he was displeased.

The Queen wept, finally, out of joy.

It was she who bestowed upon you the great honor of being Alhaitham's Knight, his alone, and you should be grateful for it.

In her eyes, you should be grateful. In your comrades' eyes, you should not. You were to be ripped away from your beloved peers, all to protect the Prince you had already saved once.

You know you should agree with your comrades, and yet there is something inside of you that thinks otherwise...

☾⋆☆⋆☽

There was an oath.

You had promised many things, kneeled with your head pointed down to his feet. He stood in front of you, in his golden gown, with the most blessed waters from the churning river of the Asavan Realm in his hand. He poured this water onto your head as you spoke the words.

The water that streaked down your bloodied helmet and armor pooled red around his feet, as if the very words you spoke dripped down your body.

"I am your shield," You had said almost mechanically, "the blows upon your body will not be yours, but mine. I am your sword," You stared at his bare feet—even as he stood in the bloodied water he did not flinch, as though he too took the oath from you himself. "where you point, I will strike."

"I will serve and protect you as your Knight," You had said, then, with great conviction, a surge of emotion in your body you couldn't quite point an origin to, and said, "I am yours."

☾⋆☆⋆☽

What did Alhaitham need from a knight?

He was very thankful for what you had done for him–it was the first time in his life that he had thanked a knight, much less a low blood–but it did not mean he required his protection.

He did not need his shield, who would dare to strike him? He did not need his sword, who would he seek to harm?

He did not need you at all.

He didn't need you stalking behind him, every step he took mirrored by your feet, he would much rather you stayed behind. You were not allowed even to do that, it seemed. The oath was meticulous, your sense of obligation towards it even more so.

Yet, as he turned around to shout a command to keep you away, he could not.

How could he, the Crown Prince, not tell a simple command? He had done it all his life, to servants, to knights, to nobles.

And there you stood behind him, your steps stopping suddenly, your face turning startled as you had almost ran into him.

You were just serving your oath. You were just protecting him.

He turned back around and continued on without a word.

☾⋆☆⋆☽

The first night you turned him in for bed, bowed your head as you closed the doors, you didn't know what to feel.

But then, you had your first meal. It was big and hearty, nothing you'd ever eaten before. It felt like a King's feast: an entire roasted pig on a platter of lettuce, a basket of all assortments of bread, a big bowl of steaming rice, another platter of smoked brisket ready for the taking. All of this encompassed in one plate. You could enjoy this.

Then, when the servants redirected you to your new chambers, you got a room. Your own room, for the first time, in the royal chambers wing.

The moment you collapsed on the bed you let out a big sigh—heaven must feel like this.

For the first week, you are satisfied. You finally get to rest.

Then the second week comes, and you miss your brotherhood. The Prince is not a good companion. He does not speak to you nor address you, but you know he does care for your presence when you find him staring at you during conversations he does not quite care for.

His gaze is judging, then. At least you think so.

His eyes drag boredly over the expanse of your armor, like a foe on the other side of the battlefield looking for a chink in your armor, something to take advantage of.

Most of the time he finds nothing. Most of the time, he brings his eyes back to the person opposite him within the minute.

And that is that.

No non-noble knight nor servant was allowed to voice their opinion to royal blood; if they came to be in that position of lowly work, how could their opinion matter?

They were only allowed during open discussion, and even then, most brushed off their ridiculous notions.

Generals could, but you were no longer a general.

So you are silent, and so too is he. Most days he would be fine with this silence. Today he is not.

"You are just going to watch me read?" He had asked, a book poised over his lap. It was fiction. Scholars would be baffled by the choice, what need would the Prince fulfill with fiction? But he knew you were not going to say anything.

"Yes." It is simple. You are supposed to be simple.

"You may go."

"What?" Emotion, no longer simple. He had caught you off-guard, and now you were questioning his command.

He was merciful anyway, "Leave."

So you often spent afternoons in the middle of the week, when he was without duty and reading for leisure, with your comrades. Training, for there was nothing to do with the Prince that would keep your muscles built as they were supposed to be, and also, due to your time together, you had begun to crave the grueling hours of hard work. These hours were your respite.

Sometimes he came to watch. You found him in the corner of your eye. He though he was being sneaky.

He does not stare at you the same way he does when conversation no longer draws his attention. He stares at you with, what is it, entertainment?

You don't speak of it to him.

☾⋆☆⋆☽

One afternoon, he does not let you go.

He has to begun to be more tender with you. He's increased a lot of things as of late: his eyes flitting over to meet yours, his visits to your training sessions, greeting goodmorning and bidding goodnight. They are subtle, but welcome.

Today, he has given you the honor of sitting beside him. He is not holding a book. You think that perhaps today the focus of his leisure will be you. You are right.

"What's your name?" It hadn't occurred to you that he didn't know it.

"(y/n)." You had said then, and it was simple.

In Sumeru, a servant does not speak the words "I have something to say.", what would a master care for what a servant had to say? They say, instead, "I have something to report.", then it is something important.

"You might have not seen me, but I watch you train." You've noticed, and you find yourself working harder when he is there. "You seem happy then, should you not be strained?"

You have to tread on your words lightly. "Being with you, your highness...my duty has just been to follow you around, for now. It is not enough exercise."

The Prince's nose scrunches up and for a moment you think you've offended him. "You wish to exercise?"

"It is...a change of pace."

"Right..." He hums, his gaze fluttering away. "Well, I'll see if I can arrange something."

He does not. Perhaps his mother said no. She and his father were the only ones he could not object to; his father by hierarchy, and his mother by respect.

The next afternoon, again, you sit at his side. Today, he is admiring your sword.

"This is the one that cut down the dragon?" He asks, running his fingers over the blade.

"Yes, your highness." You nod. In a rise of panic, you forget that he is supposed to know certain precautions himself. "Be careful, your–!"

If he hadn't pricked his finger as he did, you would've been punished.

The blade falls harmlessly over his lap. He stared at his finger like he had never felt pain before, his eyebrows furrowed. You take his hand over your palm and examine the wound. It is akin to pricking one's finger on a needle, if not deeper. It is nothing serious.

He knows this, knows that the pain is lesser than that of an injury caused by even a paper, and yet he lets you examine it.

Touching a royal blood without explicit consent is punishable. He does not mention it.

"I should've been more careful," He speaks the words he sees so clearly at the forefront of your mind, "it's fine. I'm fine."

"Of course." You take away your hand, and for a moment he finds himself missing the cold steel of your armor.

He clears his throat and offers the blade back, "What do you think of your sword?"

It's a peculiar question. Swords were just tools to kill with, nothing more. Especially not for a low blood. This blade was standard, your fellows had the same blade. But it was different, you suppose.

The leather of the handle is frayed, the pommel flattened, and the edges of the sword sharper. It looks used, it looks yours.

"It has grown old." You sheath it away. "Its whistle is not as sharp, it does not cut the air as it had once did. But it has served me well."

To think an object ages...yes, he has seen it. He sees that some books' pages are light, and others are dark as if coffee-stained. But a sword? "And your armor?" He asks curiously, "Has it grown old as well?"

"Well," You flex the plates over your fingers, "there is dust and dirt in the cracks, and it feels tighter than it had once been, but that is just me growing."

So the armor wasn't old, but you were? You were hardly a couple years older than he, and yet...yes, he sees it. He sees the way you are aged by battle. What battle? The failed civil war inspired by "king" Deshret, perhaps. But you must have been fourteen when you fought it.

"Did you fight in the civil war?"

"Yes." A nod.

"Do you wear this same armor?"

"No." You let your hand fall over the center of your chest. "But I wear the same chainmail." You remember how it had felt when you were young, slipping past your wrists. You had bound the excess higher with leather. It made your gloves fit tighter.

"How many years did you fight?"

"Two. I was thirteen my first battle."

So he was wrong. He rarely ever was wrong. It didn't taste bitter on his tongue like most wrongs he'd spoken. It tasted like revelation.

"Thirteen?" He asks, his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, your highness." You say it like it is nothing.

"Open discussion." He declares. You did not need to reply anymore, you could speak unprompted.

"Some of my comrades were twelve." You let your hand slide down your leg, the glove feels heavy over your knee. "Most of them died their first battle, others their second. I was among the youngest to survive that first year."

He asked many questions after that, and you answered truthfully. He asked about the battlefield, the civil war, your encampment, and many more things you had to dig your mind for. Despite it being open discussion, he did not leave you time to talk more after the question was answered.

Perhaps you had grown tired of it, because you asked, "Why are you so interested, your highness?"

He paused. You had taken him off guard, "Well..."

He was curious. Why was he so curious? You were a low blood knight, akin to a servant. The peculiarities you held were merely your battle prowess and the fact you defeated a dragon, and he already knew these things. What more would he need to know?

He was curious for the first time about a knight, for you weren't a remarkable nor infuriating scholar or servant, but a simple knight.

"I am simply curious." He replied, then, because he did not have an answer.

You couldn't ask him for a better one.

☾⋆☆⋆☽

Today there is no time for leisure, only appearances. You trailed behind him in the city whilst he showed his face. It was meant to demonstrate that the royals were not so out of touch; the Prince had always thought it foolish.

Especially hauling a knight around behind him and not even talking to him.

You've long since gotten used to it, so the conversation of the last two days and his apparent need for another today was quite the challenge.

Don't speak out of line, don't speak unprompted, don't offend, don't speak too much.

"What do you think of this?" He asked, holding up one of the traveling merchant's wares, a model of a Liyuan dancer carved from wood.

An opinion. He was asking you for an opinion. No one but your fellows did so. You clear your throat to dismiss your surprise, "It is good, you can see the subject clearly. However, the carving is not smooth."

He nods his head and sets the sculpture down. "Then, which would you pick?"

Just a small look at each of the sculptures and you shook your head, "I would not."

"Why is that?" He furrows his brows, he hadn't expected that.

"None of the carving is smooth. There are edges you could cut yourself with." The Prince rolls his eyes, he thinks you're only fearing for his safety, but you continue, "It does not make for an appealing sculpture. It looks like it was carved with a butcher's knife."

The Prince laughs then. You'd heard it before, but this time it sounds different. It sounds pleasant, and dare you say more genuine.

"Right," He smiles at you. It's rare and all the more beautiful. "a Sumeru carpenter is better, then?"

"I believe so, your highness."

He nodded at this and moved on. He seemed appreciative of your opinion. A first for you, coming from a noble blood. It felt, for a lack of better word, refreshing.

He asks you again for your opinion at different merchant stalls. He asks you about the quality of this embroidered fabric, your opinion on pig's blood–you've never had it before, to his dismay–and even simpler, about the color green.

All these opinion had affected his choices.

When you came upon another carpenter, this one unequivocally Sumeru, he had not asked you about a single sculpture specifically, as he had done with other merchants' wares. Instead, he waved his hand in front of the display and asked, "Which one do you like?"

It wasn't "which one do you find most appealing", then it would've been an opinion for him to take into account. He asked it like it was definitive.

"That one." You pointed at the sculpture of a tree, a mere weeping willow. It reminds you of the myth of Irminsul, but that is not why you chose it. The leaves remind you of the color of his iris; the orange shading of the bark, the ring around his pupil; and the gray-lilac of its flowers, the silver of his hair.

He does not question you, only shoots a smile at the vendor, completes the transaction and moves on.

It was strange, the way your opinions mattered to him, for all the reasons given before. It might've made your peers feel powerful, even, that they had so much sway over a royal blood's decisions, much less the Crown Prince. But to you, it only felt...like you were seen, in a way. That you mattered.

You did matter, in situations such as battle and the war table; but you never mattered in the smaller things, like what color pleased you.

He seemed to think otherwise.

When you returned, that same day, to the castle, it was already evening. Dinner, however, is not served yet, so again you are left to your leisure.

The Prince considers the objects he has bought. His father does not like him to keep them—they are made less than skillfully in his eyes, by low-blood hands and low-blood artisans. He buys them only for show, because, again, that is what his father wishes. The King does not make appearances himself.

The Prince never really thought it a waste. It was just the way things were, much the same as the world created rain only to dump it over barren soils.

However, as he held these objects in his hands, he thought it was a waste; not of material, but of your opinion. The sculpture, most of all, as you had picked it out of desire.

He gives the servant that greets you at the door most of the things he's bought, then turns to you with the sculpture.

His hand extends it to you. For a moment, you are too dumbfounded to realize he is offering it to you. "My Prince, I–"

"Take it." He only says, his arm still extended; neither does he mention the way you call him yours.

For the first time since you were declared a war general, there is sheepishness in your gestures as you take the sculpture. "..thank you."

It is not in his blood, even less in his title, to say the following words, "You're welcome."

☾⋆☆⋆☽

He stood a little closer today whilst you trained, even more when you beckoned him closer. It drove your fellow knights away, fearful of the Prince's gaze, but you didn't mind it. Perhaps you should've. It was because of him that you missed a chance to reconnect with them since last week, after all; but he was merely curious.

His curiosity about you was also curious. You couldn't quite put your finger on why he was so interested.

Except you could. You had saved him from a dragon. That is enough.

Although you knew the King and the Queen both were each inquisitive in their nature, they were hardly ever curious about their servants and their knights. With how alike the Crown Prince was to them, you would've imagined him to be the same way. He had been the same way in the beginning. Something sparked a change.

You don't find yourself worrying about it, not now.

Instead, you worry about your stance. You worry about the way your sword strikes the dummy and you worry about the way your feet strike the muddy ground.

Most of all, you worry about not making yourself a fool—or...

Is it that that you worry about, or is it about making an impression? Impressing him?

In your distraction, you make a mistake. You swing down your sword, and it does not quite sever the dummy's stuffed, fabric arm. You click your tongue and dislodge the blade, about to strike the dummy again when he speaks.

"You said your sword was old?" He phrases it as a question, but he continues as if it wasn't. "Why not replace it?"

"It works the same." You reply, in the next moment, severing the fabric arm entirely.

His voice cuts through the sound of your efforts, "The frayed handle is not hard to hold?"

"Perhaps." A frustrated grunt.

"And the pommel doesn't affect the weight of the swing?"

"It does." Another.

"And yet you keep it." This statement has you stopping.

It has you turning around to face him, balancing the sword in your hands so as to show him each aspect, regardless of the fact he has examined it before. "The other men believe it is luck to keep the same items. I do not know if it is true; my men wore old armor and wielded old swords when they were melted down by dragon's breath. What I do know that my blade holds is sentiment. It holds memories. I did not wield this blade during the civil war–those are bad memories–but I have wielded it during moments of hardship, and most of all during moments of victory. Killing the dragon, for one."

It was not open discussion. He hadn't declared it, and neither had he asked you a question. You weren't supposed to give an answer.

He seems shocked, not at the unprompted rant, but at your words. "...yes."

It had not occurred to him that the age of things was good, nor that it might hold sentimental value. The tunics he wears this month are not the same as the last. The tunic he will wear for this year's Enlightenment Festival will not be the same tunic as the one of the year before. His plate is not the same each dinner, and his utensils neither.

Nothing in his life has been the same, permanent. Everything changes. He had never thought it a bad thing, not until now.

Your breathing steadies, the frustration fades. You speak your apologies, kneeled with your head pointed down to his feet, the pose of a beggar, the pose of an oath-taker. "I'm sorry, your highness. I did not mean to speak out of line, I only–"

"Haitham." He replied.

His name? You knew his name. You keep your gaze on his feet, "Prince Alhaitham, I greatly apologize–"

"Haitham." He repeats. Not Prince Haitham, not Alhaitham. Just Haitham, no respect to the name, no "Al", no title. Just Haitham.

You don't know what to say.

"Lift your gaze, (y/n)." He speaks your name...tenderly. Full of apprehension, you obey, looking into his green irises and red-rimmed pupils. When you meet his eyes, you see that he looks down at you not with anger, but with sympathy. "Speak my name. No apology."

"Haitham." You say. It feels strange on your tongue: titleless, respectless.

He smiles. It is a tiny thing, but it is directed to you. "I forgive you." He offers yet another mercy, "You don't have to impress me, even though I know you will continue to, subconsciously."

He was right, but it eased your nerves a bit.

You turn around and continue to train. Your sword whistles in the air, now, with ease; creating a song he quite enjoyed. The uninterrupted harmony created by metal as it thrummed with each coordinated swing of the sword felt akin to the pieces he played during his harpsichord lessons, though the playing of the instrument seemed much more mundane in comparison to this.

It was much more than music too, it was a dance. The step of your foot with each lunge and each strike–recovering from the strength required for each swing and simultaneously gathering more strength–seemed to take as much grace and effort as a ballerina.

There was beauty in this, beauty in the skill to slaughter, ignoring the reason for which to know it.

"My Knight," He speaks not your name, but to be his is still a special condition that sparks emotion, "what do you say I follow you around tomorrow?"

The excitement created by the way he addressed you turned into confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

Alhaitham shakes his head with a smile, "Open discussion."

"Why do you need to see what I do on the daily, your highness?" After all, your routine was hardly important. No one would ever ask such a question of a knight nor a servant.

"I am merely curious."

He was always curious as of late, mainly about you. It was starting to seem normal now. "My routine...my duty is to be your protector, your highness." You press your lips into a pitiful line, "I do not have anything outside of that."

He frowned. It was true, and he hadn't considered it. It was a strange thing, to not know what came next, unlike how he always did. Actually, it felt a bit exciting. "Then how about what you did before?"

He likely knew what you had done before, if he ever paid attention to the knights' routine. Yours was never separate, you've been doing the same thing for over a decade. But...you had actually started to miss it. It was evident in the thrill you received from taking up your training once more, even if sparsely.

When he speaks up again you think he only seeks to break the silence, but his voice was soft, empathetic? "I'm interested."

It sounded narcissistic at face value, but he was easing your concern from the mundanity of the routine. "Sure."

You hadn't imagined the Prince ever taking an interest in you, much less another noble. This will be interesting.

[sorchathered]

Sacred New Beginnings- Chapter 6

A/N- sorry I’ve been so behind lately guys! Life has been kicking my ass and writers block has reared its ugly head. But I’m finally here, we are going to do a couple of time jumps in the future but if you’ve read Lover you know we have a happy ending, so don’t worry!

Summary- Jake and Stormy hadn’t seen each other in a month, finally a long weekend sees our lovers reunited, but not everything is smooth sailing.

Warnings- Drinking, language, a little bit of violence, smut (save a horse, ride cowboy Jake 🤠). Minors DNI.

Song inspo- “I miss you”- Adele

Pairing- Jake Seresin x reader (oc Stormy)

It had been nearly a month since you’d seen Jake, your perfect week in San Diego heavy on your mind as you packed your bag for the holiday weekend. The two of you had been swamped with work but every available hour of free time was spent on FaceTime, most nights falling asleep together through the phone.

Stepping out of the airport brought it all back, sometimes you still couldn’t believe he was really yours, especially when he was scooping you into his arms and carrying you bridal style to his truck, giggles pouring from your lips at his need to be touching you at all times.

He’d missed you so damn much, he’d barely made it in the door before he’d taken you up against the wall (you knew that sundress had been a good idea) and then again in the shower before you both finally collapsed in the sheets of his California king bed he’d let you pick out before you went back to Florida.

Waking up to him would always be your favorite thing, he looked so at peace and almost boyish in the mornings it made your heart clench as your eyes took him in. Heavy body half slung over yours, perfect hair in complete disarray as he let out little snores (that he vehemently denied were a thing).

You’d spent the day at the beach catching up with the daggers and getting all the hot gossip from Phoenix and Bob’s wife Ellie. Rooster had been relocated to the Golden Warriors due to an altercation he’d had with Jake on your last visit, he and Mirage were apparently working on a relationship and she was still very much pregnant. You had ripped him to shreds before you left and hoped he would get his shit together so it was refreshing to hear that he at least seemed to be trying for his future child. Ellie also spilled the beans that she and Bob’s newest baby would be a little girl, their very first and you had to laugh and say a silent prayer for her 3 big brothers, sweet little thing would no doubt be spoiled rotten.

—————————————————————-

Dinner and drinks at the Hard Deck were a must, you never thought you’d be so nostalgic for one of Penny’s greasy cheeseburgers and a night of pool with your friends. You offered to grab the next round of beers, copping a feel of your super hot boyfriend as you passed, truly the man had no right to look this good. It made it more and more difficult to leave San Diego being in his orbit, he’d clearly been spending way more time in the gym without you around and it definitely showed, you were pretty sure one wrong move would split the sleeves of his button up from the swell of his biceps and it had you hot and bothered already.

Penny rang up your beers as you two chatted and got caught up, but you noticed a concerned look from her in the direction of your group that had you craning your neck to see the issue. You’d barely been gone 5 minutes and already two of the little tag chasers that frequented the bar every weekend were crowding Jake and Javy, barely there tops and cut off shorts leaving very little to the imagination as you caught one of the girls place her hand on Jake’s chest.

“Hey no fighting in my bar Stormy, you know the rules” Penny said with a gentle hand on yours, she should practically see the steam billowing from your ears as you took the scene in.

“I know the rules Pen, I promise to be sweet as pie” you scooped up the beers and gave her a wink, she groaned and facepalmed as she mentally prepared herself for what you had in store for those poor unsuspecting idiots.

Natasha caught your eye as you placed the beers on the table, probably a little rougher than was necessary and she tried to catch your arm but you easily slipped from her grasp as you looped through the crowd of your friends. Jake looked a little panicked when he saw your face, he had tried to warn them off that his girlfriend was here and he wasn’t the least bit interested but these girls were persistent, one had even gone so far as to suggest you could come home with them and watch and Javy had to stop himself from laughing directly in her face. You didn’t share and you certainly didn’t take kindly to someone trying to touch your man, so when you’d crossed the threshold to the pool table everyone seemed to stop what they were doing, very interested in seeing where this situation would go.

One of the girls had her hand on Jake’s bicep as he was trying to let her know his girlfriend was behind her, as she whipped around to say something snarky but it all died in her throat when you grasped a handful of her hair and yanked her backwards.

“Didn’t your mama ever teach you to keep your hands to yourself?” You said as you pushed her towards her friend, both of them stumbling backwards in their ridiculous stilettos.

“Look honey I get that you think you’re something special but your “boyfriend” isn’t the relationship type, he’s told me so before several times after we’ve hooked up so I-“

She didn’t get very far before you lunged at her, it took Jake, Javy and Mickey to hold you back as the bell rang out from the bar. You hadn’t hurt anyone yet but Penny decided it was best to send both girls packing before she had to call a coroner to collect them. You were fuming, once they’d been sent overboard the boys let you go, you smacked all of them on the arms as you wrenched yourself from their grasp, stomping out the back exit with your middle finger in their general direction. Jake was on your heels with a promise that he’d keep you from hunting them down, catching you just as you slammed your fist into the weathered wood of the building.

He grabbed your hand before you could do anymore damage and you half wanted to rip his head off, looking every bit your callsign with the storm raging in your eyes.

“Baby, come on, look at me please? Don’t worry about those girls, you know they don’t mean shit to me…right?” He suddenly looked very worried at the thought that you might not believe him. “You do know that don’t you?”

You swiped the tears from your eyes before you could get more emotional and let him pull you into his arms, you weren’t really pissed at him and deep down he knew that. “Of course I do Jake, you’ve never lied to me, it's just still new with us, sometimes I forget just how many of these girls have been one night stands, I’d be lying if it doesn’t make me feel a little jealous. I feel like I need to keep you locked up in the house, it should be illegal for you to look this good.”

He throws his head back and laughs at that, but you’re serious. He’s yours now and you want everyone to know that the only girl Hangman is taking home is you.

You slide your hand across the back of his scalp and give a sharp tug, making his eyes fly open as he tries to stifle a moan.

“Does it look like I’m joking Seresin? You want to swagger around here in your half buttoned shirt and slutty jeans, getting me all hot and bothered? You like making me jealous? Maybe we need to go home so I can show you who you belong to since you seem to have forgotten.”

His pupils are blown and irises nearly nonexistent, you can feel him hot and hard pressed against your thigh, you know this side of you has got him right where you want him.

“You just say the word sugar and we can head home, I’ll even get on my knees and beg you to forgive me.” He says a little shakily, he’s not at all used to someone else being in control but damn he wants to see where you take this, it may be the hottest thing he’s ever seen watching you be dominant and a little mean to him. He’d fuck you right on the pool table in front of everyone right now if you asked, he’s starting to worry the two of you might not make it home without him taking you.

It didn’t take much convincing to leave the group shortly after, you were still angry and Jake was definitely too turned on by it to continue playing pool. You barely said a word on the ride home, and didn’t give him the chance to open your door as you marched into his house, disappearing down the hallway to the bedroom. He shook his head and chuckled a little, it was hard to take you seriously when he knew the end result would be the two of you fucking but he had no idea what you had in store.

——————————————————————

You’d planned on making this weekend a little adventurous anyways but now you were angry and determined, overcome with the need to be in charge. So when Jake stepped into your space seeing you stripped down to your lingerie you refused to let him touch you, swatting his hands away and pushing him towards the mattress.

“C’mon baby you aren’t still mad are you?” Jake huffed as you took both his hands and bound them with the rope you’d originally brought for him to use on you.

“You promised you’d beg for forgiveness Jakey, so that’s exactly what’s gonna happen. No touching, no cumming until I say so, by the time I’m done with you I’ll have you a ruined mess. How’s that sound?” You were eyeing him with curiosity, you’d always let him take the lead in bed but you had a feeling he would like this more than he had ever let on. You definitely weren’t disappointed as you saw his eyes darken, he was practically salivating at your words and you hadn’t even touched him yet. Grasping his chin between your fingers you hovered your lips against his, every time he leaned forward you pulled back and by the third time he was whining, you knew he’d be putty in your hands but this was better than you’d expected.

“Baby I-I’ll do whatever you want, fuck just-just kiss me please and then you can string me up six ways to Sunday, I’ll be good I promise.” He had the cutest little pout going and you couldn’t help but lean in and give him what he wanted, running your hands through his golden hair and licking into his mouth as he tried to scoot closer to you, poor thing probably didn’t even realize he was doing it until you stepped away from him completely soaking in his pink cheeks and glazed eyes.

“Alright sweet boy, you got your kisses. Sit still and be good, promise I’ll make it worth your while. I need you to tell me if it’s too much though, ok?” You lean in to press kisses to his forehead as he nodded enthusiastically and you try to stifle a laugh, he’s like a damn puppy just trying to get your attention.

“Alright baby, lay back. Think I might give you something you’ve been asking for first, gonna let me ride your pretty face? How’s that sound?”

He scoots to the headboard as fast as he possibly can with his hands tied, gazing up at you as you remove your skimpy underwear and climb up his body, pressing kisses and nips to his skin and oh you might just be hooked on all the little noises he’s making. Finally settled above his face he gives you that million dollar grin you love so much, and licks from your entrance to your clit, testing the waters as he goes through all the little tricks that have proven to have you a moaning mess, the room filling with sounds of you both and the lewd wet noises as Jake ate at you like a starved man. Once he’d sent you over the edge, white knuckling the headboard as you cried out for him you felt a little more at ease, but you wanted more. He had a bit of a kink for edging you and you’d always wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine, so you climbed off of him with jelly legs and splayed your naked body on top of his, pressing his tied wrists above his head as you tasted yourself on his tongue and ground your obscenely wet pussy all over his clothed cock, he was hard as a rock bucking up into you at the delicious friction. Pulling him from his briefs caused him to hiss into your mouth, and you pulled back to nip at his jaw, seeking out the spot on his neck that was most sensitive.

“Oh fuck, baby come on now, you can’t just tease me like this forever- Jesus Christ-“

You’d found the spot evidently, that combined with you grinding yourself across his erection, letting your clit bump against the head as he flexed his hands against the rope. “Shhhh, let me have my fun baby, ohh ohhh it feels so good, shit you feel so fucking good” you were close again already and Jake was losing his mind, in reality he could get out of these knots fairly easily but he’d promised to be good, maybe he had a death wish but saying underneath you like this would be a damn good way to go. He felt himself getting close, you could tell he was nearly there when you wrenched yourself away from him and watched the look of shock cross him as the neediest whine you’d ever heard came from your big hulking boyfriend.

He was leaking like a damn faucet in your hand, tip angry red while his chest heaved, an artist couldn’t begin to try and sculpt how gorgeous he looked to you, your mouthy over the top man was quickly being reduced to a puddle and you were thrilled with the result. You proceeded to play with him and back off two more times with your hands and mouth before he was thrashing his head back and forth, a sob bubbling up from his chest.

“Please-please baby I can’t anymore you win, next girl that comes near me is gonna know I’m yours before she even gets close enough, f-fuck shit I can’t- love you so fucking much”

You laved your tongue over the head of his cock and batted your eyelashes, you definitely got the appeal now as you took in his sweaty form, poor Hangman; reduced to near tears in under an hour just from his sweet little girlfriend, if you were honest you enjoyed it a little too much. Sliding back up his body you removed the ropes, kissing at his wrists and he sighed in relief, he kept his hands to himself as he waited to see if you’d give him what he needed.

“Go ahead Jakey, take what you want baby I’m all yours.”

He flipped you both over immediately, sucking on your tongue as he slammed into you, loud moans and harsh slapping noises coming from your bodies as he sought out his release.

“Fuckin mean, toying with me like that sugar. You know you’re all I’ve wanted, think about this pretty pussy gripping me tight all fucking day, give anything to fuck you like this every night. Nobody makes me feel as good as you do- no one. Love you so goddamn much.”

Now he’s turned you into the moaning mess, playing with your clit as he fucked you hard, you were on the edge again he could feel you pulsing around him, pulling your face into his he sucked your bottom lip and came, desperately grinding up against him as you rode the aftershocks together.

You couldn’t believe what had come over you and you put your hands over your face and giggled. He laughed at how cute you looked and stole kisses, you both needed to get up and shower but these little moments were so scarce these days that he couldn’t help but stay put as long as you’d let him.

——————————————————————

Sunday morning was lazy lovemaking and breakfast in bed, before he finally had to help you pack up to head back to the airport. You’d been a bucket of tears the whole car ride, practically in his lap in the truck the second he’d parked.

“We got this baby” he’d said as he walked you to security, and your heart broke with every step you had to take to get on your plane. Once a month would never be enough, you both wanted a lifetime, it was time to make some changes.

Jake Seresin Masterlist

Tagging- @mamamaystbr @mamachasesmayhem @bobgasm @attapullman @roosterforme @pinkdaisies9285 @djs8891 @jessicab1991 @the-aspiring-fanfic-writer @mygyn @angelbabyyy99 @86laura11 @shanimallina87 @floydsglasses @jostan456 @kmc1989 @dempy @its-the-pilot @mrsevans90 @purelyfiction @nouis-bum

[gx-gameon]

Some reasons why the DM cast would not like the friends Jaden made during school:

Syrus: In the dub, it's clear that he doesn't have the best relationship with his brother Zane so he projects the perfect brother figure onto Jaden. The minute Jaden doesn't fit the ideal, he abandons Jaden at the toss of a hat. From trading his bed/eating his breakfast shrimp to the Dark World, Syrus was never as loyal as Joey. Only reason he got the Ra Yellow promotion duel was because of his brother and it's hinted that he was given his Obelisk Blue rank as a 'thank you' for helping against the Light of Ruin since he was at the final battle (even though all he did was hold Aster). Didn't truly improve until Season 4 and his deck upgrade came from his brother. Literally rode coattails to where he is at the end of the series.

Chazz: He was a jerk at the start, but mostly due to his brothers putting pressure on him. When Jaden tried to bond with him, he was mostly rebuffed and while he could see Duel Spirits, he never reciprocated Jaden's attempts to bond over it. Despite everything he went through with Jaden, he didn't hesitate to rejoin Obelisk Blue in a heartbeat come Season 4.

Bastion: Season 2 did this man no favors. He lost on purpose to join the Society of Light to get recognition and respect, which he never got anyway. He did give Jaden the wake up call he needed to get out of his Dark World funk to at least beat Yubel/get Jesse back.

Alexis: RIP her development in GX because her archetype didn't do well in the real life sales, because having a Ritual Expert would have been great. When Jaden returned, she tried to act like nothing happened and tried to force Jaden into activities, which only made him angry because he wanted to be left alone. She only moved into the Slifer Red Dorm because Crowler was trying to make her into a pop star with her brother in Season 2 so she can't be blamed too much for leaving.

Atticus: After getting his memories back, all Atticus did was become comic relief and tried to hook his sister up with guys. Never did he duel with his own original deck against the villains (Red Eyes deck is hinted to be the deck he was given as a Shadow Rider, not his original). He's one of the few that can beat Zane since he was part of the Obelisk Elite but never showed it. It's his fault that the Sacred Beasts woke up because he stole the keys for his plan to get Alexis to hook up with Chazz. Literally tried to force his sister into stardom against her will because he's an overly dramatic theater kid.

Zane: Zane is a one trick pony with a pretty powerful beat stick. His entire deck revolves around getting out Cyber End Dragon via Power Bond. Anyone in the pros can shut that down quick and instead of trying to improve he just kept with his old deck and fell into the underground, rejecting any help due to pride. Literally almost rage quit his final duel with Jaden because Jaden was trying to duel around a brick opening hand and had to think instead of having fun on the fly.

Aster: Multiple posts already on this for this blog, was manipulated because of tunnel vision concerning avenging his dad and didn't care who he hurt as long as he got his revenge.

Hassleberry: This boy literally has a dinosaur bone in his leg which gives him dino powers, got his spirit sent to space to save the world, and still will talk smack about Jaden behind his back and call his Duel Spirits 'imaginary friends' despite having met Neos.

Axel: He saw that Jaden's monsters were forced to attack Brron and how it wasn't truly Jaden's fault that his friends were sent to the stars, but still turned his back on the boy and told him that he was on his own. Despite his tough guy act, he ran when the Supreme King challenged him the first time. Redeemed himself by beating the Supreme King in Sesaon 3 and in Season 4 by helping Jaden though!

Jesse: Jesse is a all around sweet guy, he really is! The fact that he considered making himself a martyr to save the school was fulfilling his dream probably doesn't sit right with some of the DM crew because of how Jaden blamed himself for not being strong enough to save his friend.

Exception to this cause would be Jim. He saw that something was going down at the academy and investigated. the minute he saw Jaden as the Supreme King? In the original Japanese he outright asks if Jaden was tricked into being a ruthless warlord. Only reason this man did not return in season 4 was because his Japanese voice actor retired. Chumley is in this camp too because he stayed a solid friend with Jaden after Season 1.

Okay I thought I was the Gx friend groups number 1 hater but I take my cap off and pass it to you. Way to eviscerate all of them.

Here’s the thing. The DM cast are big friendship people. They forgive people for things they probably shouldn’t as long as the offended party says it’s okay. But they are also loyal.

In Duelist kingdom Téa holds a bit of a grudge against Mai until they get to know each other. Joey and Tristian are very protective of their friends. Yugi is warm and welcoming to all but he won’t stand for anyone messing with his friends and loved ones. Atem is protective. He loves his friends dearly and will do anything to keep them from harms way. And Seto is a dragon, he hoards that which is precious to him and protects it viciously.

I don’t think they would tell Jaden they didn’t like his friends. Nor do I think these adults would hold grudges against children (Seto might but he’s Seto Kaiba he held a grudge to the afterlife) but they aren’t fans of all of Jaden’s friends

Syrus

Syrus for all the reasons you stated, they just don’t like him. Syrus tries to force Jaden into a preferred older brother role instead of his best friend and equal. If Jaden fails that glorified image even a little bit Syrus loses all faith in him and interest in their friendship besides whining until Jaden full fills the role again. He’s a fair weather friend. I don’t think he’s a bad character or person but he needs to grow up. But because he is sheltered by both Zane and Jaden (from hiding behind him and Jaden’s hero complex) he doesn’t have to. Hopefully he matures after school.

But from a parents perspective this is not the person you want your kid relying on. He’s the friend who expects you to always be there for him but won’t be there for you in a hard time. Yugi’s good at reading people and from the stories Jaden tells them (which put all of his friends in a much better light) he and the Sam cast are not impressed. Téa and Joey especially don’t like the kid. Mai to. She felt with a lot of fake people in her life time. But how do you say that to a kid like Jaden who is so excited to have friends? Yugi is hopeful that Syrus will mature one day. After all his mom had similar worries when he became friends with Joey. But as time goes forward he’s proven wrong and Joey is a little offended by the comparison.

Chazz

I haven’t seen season 4 so I can’t comment on it. I’m almost done with my rewatch of season 1 and Chazz grows a lot in that season. I can see the DM cast being wary of him in the beginning because Chazz does start off as a bit of a bully. But after the school duel and Chazz starts truly hanging out with the cast I think most of those fears are put to rest. With finding out about his family and he is fairly loyal to Jaden. It’s not Joey levels but he’s not suppose to be (he’s not the designated best friend though he does a better job then Syrus)

I think by the end of season 1 they like him. (They haven’t met any of these kids and only have Jaden and school reports to go off of) the kid did stand up for the whole school against his brothers using a completely different and “weak” deck. He’s impressed them, and he at least tried to help. He took down one shadow rider.

In season 2 they are probably worried about him with the cult running around but I don’t know how much Jaden has told them about said cult. Chazz is also a real winner in that season of I remember. He goes out and beats all the members of the cult and wins the Gx tournament while Jaden deals with the leader. That should be the job of the “best friend” but Syrus and Hasselberry were mostly cheerleaders. It sticks that most of it is off screen but at least he’s helping. The cult can’t gang up on Jaden if Chazz is mowing them down.

Season 3 is a mess for Chazz. He’s sideline like most of the cast and it doesn’t help that he is one of the nay sayers. I know it’s a spell and Jaden is being selfish and rushing ahead. But this is a rescue mission that you chose to go on. I need to rewatch this season because how did Chazz and the others get captured? How did they not fight back? I don’t remember them taking part in one duel in the dark world. Like they were just following, complaining, and dying. It sucks how much the writers sidelined the cast like I love the exchange students, it think they are better characters over all, but the way the og cast is handled is t the best.

In conclusion, I don’t think the DM cast disapproves of him, it’s just a complex relationship between him and Jaden. I have them becoming Chazz’s pseudo family by the end of the au. Him and Jaden started on a ruff foot but they got there eventually.

Bastion

It’s almost funnier to say they forgot Bastion existed. He’s so fun in season 1 even though he’s a simp I love the energy he brings. But he’s the e first of the cast to get hard sidelined. I have to watch season 2 again. I always felt bad for the kid. Arthur and Solomon would have loved this kid. I’m going to play with his story a lot because he just wants to be acknowledged and seen as an equal to his friends and is constantly dismissed. Like he willingly joined the cult. He’s going to get a DM parental figure. One that probably doesn’t want the nerd following them but will grow to love their newly acquired duckling. I need to rewatch season 2 and think through the DM cast.

Alexis

Is that why her development gets thrown in the garbage?? Her archetype didn’t sell well? No she’s the ritual expert. And you’re right that would have been super cool. She’s still not a good friend. She’s alright in season 1 and at least takes down one of the Shadow riders. In season two she has a mini arc as the ice queen and they do a nice job of if I remember correctly. But she’s also sidelined in season 3 and I’ve heard season 4 is not great for her. To focused on her crush on Jaden and his past and her idolized version that she can’t see the Jaden in front of her is in need of help.

I don’t think the DM cast hate her but I think she rubs them the wrong way in season 3 and 4.

Maybe I’ll extend post cannon because I can see Alexis with a mentor and learning how to navigate her own feelings becoming a real power house. Ritual decks are rare and I wish we saw them more. Atem has two ritual monsters he uses in Black Magician of Chaos and Black luster solider. I’m not saying Atem’s her mentor but she just needs a chance to grow and stand on her own. Post cannon is going to be forcing these characters to stand on their own two feet, letting them fail, and watching them build themselves back up again.

The og friend group relies on Haden way too much to solve their problems.

Atticus

Atticus is a disappointment. He’s so fun and a goofball which is very different from his shadowrider persona. And I’m okay with that. It’s not his personality that upsets me. (Joey and Tristan have a can can dance when they beat an enemy and sing “can can we kicked it in the can can” like they would love Atticus and I love that goofball energy)

No where Atticus is a disappointment is that he never wins a duel on screen. He’s built up as this amazing duelist. He wins against the tomb keepers duel spirits to get his half of the shadow medallion. He’s part of the obelisk elite like Zane (I always wondered why their uniforms are different and now I know) yet he never wins an on screen duel.

I’m okay with him being a jokester and having fun with his kid sister and her friends, he’s behind his class by two years so he’s got to make new friends and Alexis and her crew welcome him. But I wish we say more of that.

Serenity join the DM cast in Battle City works this really well. She’s new to the group but already has connections because she’s Joey’s sister. She doesn’t know the rules and learns over time. Shes not the strongest but she’s helpful (saving Joey from the anchor) she doesn’t take center stage but we care about her.

But the difference between making her a side character/cheerleader and Atticus is Atticus is hyped up to be a good duelist. If they just showed him winning a duel or even talked about how he was win off screen I wouldn’t be as mad but the boys is a joke. He’s older than the rest of the cast and while he can be a goofy older brother he should also be a mentor or at least protective of the group. What was he even doing during the Gx tournament/Alexis’s cult time. I honestly forget. His kid sister spent a season looking for him and fighting to save him and the writers could let him return the favor. No Jaden has to save her.

(Like let him attempt. Maybe he can’t win in his own and Jaden has to take over or switch it and have Jaden start the duel but he’s not getting through and then Atticus steps in. It would be like Arem taking over for Kaiba bs Noah, where he takes Kaiba’s life points and deck and still pulls out a win. Do you know how good that would have made Atticus look if he took over Jaden’s duel using his deck and was able to beat Alexis. He’s a great duelist and to win using someone else deck is always seen as an impressive feat.)

I’m going to play with him to. I think most of the DM cast would love him. The Gx writers really just dropped the ball on their side characters.

Zane

Way to kick Zane when he’s down. Honestly sounds like something Kaiba would yell at him.

To be fair, if Zane is a one trick pony it’s also a fault with the school. They held him up as the best of the best and never forced him to change or adapt. The pro league is far more aggressive and he should have been prepared for that. If none of the students could beat him that’s one thing but a teacher should have pointed this flaw out. Maybe they did and he was to prideful or thought they were wrong because no one had ever stopped him before.

In know the Cyber end deck is a good deck. It still sees play today and has a lot of legacy support. So I don’t think it’s that his deck is bad. I think he just needs to change up his strategy.

But in topic. Ever already discussed the DM cast feelings towards him. He’s talented and good to Jaden in season 1 but they can’t help him in season 2. One they have their own things going on and two they can’t reveal their connection to Jaden. In all honesty they probably don’t know about Zane’s underground dueling until Jaden does. By then it’s too late to get the kid out.

Aster

I’ve already talked a lot about asteroids and his relationship with the DM cast and how they feel about his actions so we will move forward.

Hasselberry

I haven’t rewatched season 2 but I remember preferring Hasselberry to Syrus

They thing that drives me nuts though is that they both act like Jaden is crazy talking to spirits. Syrus has had multiple encounters with duel spirits since season 1 and Hasselberry has turned into a cartoon dinosaur and fought beside Neos. The man has no room to talk. We are all suppose to believe in your Dino DNA but you think Jaden talking to spirits is crazy.

Hasselberry is far more helpful than Syrus but it’s the Jaden is crazy talk that drives me nuts. Like he draws the same short straw as everyone else in season 3 and I want to do a deep dive on who got what negative emotion because some fit the character way more then others but we will talk about that later.

Over all I think the DM cast would like Hasselberry. If he’s away from Syrus. They get really toxic together trying to prove who is Jaden’s “true best friend” and he follows Syrus’s lead of putting Jaden on a pedestal and then getting upset with him when he falls off. (I wonder what their friendship could have been without Syrus?)

Axel

Okay I have to defend my boy here. Yes he sucks for abandoning Jaden. He’s also the “most experienced” when it comes to missions like this. I need to rewatch season three to figure out exactly where everything g went wrong. Yes Jaden is selfish and moving to fast but it’s also understandable where he is coming from. And everyone else invited themselves on the mission.

I saw someone say season three is meant to show Jaden what will happen if he keeps bringing his friends into dangerous situations and loses. Um I’m sorry. Jaden didn’t ask them to come. He does in season 1 ask for Syrus and others to come and support him but he doesn’t in season 3 he knows this is dangerous, stupid, and reckless, he knows he’s going to do whatever it takes and he tells them that up front. And then they get mad at him for doing exactly what he said he was going to do. And I can see the Duel Academy kids getting upset because they’ve spent 2 years with Jaden holding their hands but Jim and Axel? They did so well in the other dimension and Axel knows what this kind of mission intels, move fast. They have a short window of time to not only save Jesse but to move without Yubel knowing they are there. They have to keep moving.

Now in his defense. If my friend (and let’s be honest Jaden, Jim and Jesse are probably his first real friends) just accidentally murdered/was forced to murder our other friends I’d be upset to. And you have to blame someone even if that blame doesn’t go to the right person. Syrus was running (both his mouth and his legs) and he’s the weaker of the two. Jaden, in theory, can take care of himself. Should Axel and Jim slip the responsibility and in go after Syrus and one stay with Jaden yes. But they are teens and no one expected Jaden to spiral like that.

So here Axel is, his whole life has been a war zone. He finally has friends and they are dropping like flies but he’s still going strong. Until the supreme king is revealed to be Jaden. Jaden the silly sweet kid who welcomed him even after the way he acted. Who has always dueled with honor. Who he abandoned and lead to this monstrosity before him. And he just killed Jim. Him who only wanted to help him and is all around a great guy.

I don’t blame him for having a panic attack. He reached his limit and freaked out. He also over came that and still came back to help Jaden. Risking his life to do so.

After season 3 and 4 the DM cast love him. I don’t think he would ever run from a fight again. I think he’s started down the worst that could happened and over came it. He shows his loyalty (from what I understand) in season 4 and I believe is one of the few life long friends Jaden made at school.

Jesse

My boy. I think the DM cast is more worried about him than anything. He does have a self sacrificing tendency. But then so does Jaden. I think that’s the thing that worries them the most about the two of them traveling together post cannon. They know Jaden won’t let Jesse get hurt. But what will Jesse do if Jaden gets hurt protecting him? And the opposition is true to Jesse won’t let Jaden get hurt and we’ve already seen the lengths Jaden will go to if Jesse gets hurt protecting him.

Over all the DM cast likes him (with Seto Kaiba being huffy about it, only because he’s scared he’s losing Jaden to his future boyfriend/husband. He’s got big over protective dad fears going on)

Jim and Chumley

No notes. They are great friends and very helpful in their seasons.

I already decided Chumley finds out in between season 1 and 2. He’s just a good guy and I wish we say more of him.

I wouldn’t put it past him to figure out Jaden’s identity on his own. But still need to rewatch their season and see how things play out.

As of right now.

The DM cast likes

Chumley (finds out post season 1)

Chazz (the drama with his family solidifies his placement in season one but he doesn’t find out until post season 4)

Jesse (finds out during season 3)

Jim (finds out post season 4/ maybe mid way season 3)

Axel (same as Jim)

Aster (ruff starts but he and Jaden end up close and he finds out post season 2)

DM cast are on the fence about

Alexis

Atticus

Zane

Hasselberry

Bastion (I forgot him when I was first making this list and that is actually hilarious)

They got some ground to recover. The DM cast don’t openly dislike them. But they don’t know if they trust them with the Jaden.

This person is on thin ice with the DM cast

Syrus (is anyone suprised)

[aroaceleovaldez]

okay outside of the retcons and continuity errors in TSATS, I think the main part that bugs me is how much the book seems to infantilize Nico, particularly relating to his relationship with Will. Especially because the book seems to remember and then forget again that Nico is autistic only when it’s convenient to infantilize him further.

Nico is randomly nerfed and basically helpless at literally everything the entire book. There is not a single fight EVER in the book that he actually fights without someone else very directly doing the work for him or actively helping him (usually LITERALLY holding his hand), save for that singular time where he sneak-attack kills the monster that just regenerated, but honestly that doesn’t really count as a fight. Or the aeternae, but they literally weren’t attacking him.

He’s in the underworld! He’s been dating Will for a year! How is he completely incapable of the simplest tasks? He tries to help Will - in the infirmary (is helpless at it), patch up his wounds (Will’s condition only worsens), put batteries in a sun lamp (he drops the batteries) - every time he manages to fuck up like he’s never done a single task in his life before. He runs away from every fight or someone else does the work for him because he’s randomly incapable of it for some random excuse. He completely loses several notable powers of his (only ever using one of his powers the entire book, and the only other reference to his powers is his shadow-travel which we don’t actually see) and acts like he’s physically incapable of them even though they logically should be the best answer for a particular situation (geokinesis! dream powers! influencing fear/nightmares! one-tap kill dissolve-you-to-bones! rip souls out of living people!) Yet Will randomly can do everything he can’t - generates two completely new powers to fight Nyx with (alongside bringing back an old power that got forgotten)! Plus a third (growing flowers/plants) that doesn’t even have anything done with it! Can pick the fruit from Persephone’s garden when Nico can’t (LITERALLY IN NICO’S OWN HOME)! Nico panicking? Soothes him without even trying. Will saves Nico in fights like five different times when he’s supposed to be the one with zero combat experience and explicitly isn’t a fighter (and doesn’t even have a weapon) and Nico’s the one who lived on his own as a rogue for three years! They’re in the Underworld, Nico’s home, and Will - WHILE ON DEATH’S DOORSTEP. LITERALLY. - is more powerful than him! For no reason! Nico is a Big 3 kid! He’s SUPPOSED to be extremely op! We don’t even see Nico speak to any true ghosts the entire book and they even acknowledge that he’s Ghost King!

And then on top of it all, the narrative keeps treating Nico as not knowing what’s best for himself and making Will always correct. Or making it so Will is the only one who is able to comfort Nico ever. And have Nico constantly refer to Will with almost exclusively babyish pet-names - “Night-light,” “Care bear” (when logically Nico shouldn’t even know anything about Care Bear lore?), even “sun therapy lamp” isn’t great. The constant “My little ball of darkness” also isn’t great? Like, if you establish that Nico’s extremely short, then it’s not as bad cause then it’s a height joke, but since the book never establishes that it just reads as more infantilizing.

I get they were trying to hype up Will for this book and let him have some action scenes so it wasn’t just Nico dragging him through the Underworld for 50 chapters while he does nothing but be emotional support. And Nico’s powers usually means he very often acts as an almost literal dues ex machina in a lot of plots. But you can still work with that without nerfing Nico so much, or completely infantilizing him! Just because Nico has trauma doesn’t mean he can’t be capable on his own, and that doesn’t have to negate him having people he leans on for support! These things can coexist!

[dragonclaw29]

Top Ten Manga

It’s been a minute since I last uploaded a top ten of any kind, Grad school will do that to you. However, now with my studies almost over I thought I would revisit my top ten manga and see what new titles have amazed me! 

-Note I am not including Webcomics so if you want Manhwa and the like let me know and I will make a separate list. 

10. Sakamoto Days

Starting off with a bang we have Sakamoto Days. In a world of assassins even a mild mannered fat store clerk could be a tough challenge. That is definitely true for Sakamoto the former top assassin in Japan. Watch as Sakamoto is targeted by Esper's, Triad members, and old friends as he battles to protect his home and his daughter. It’s a fantastic read and great for the action lover and comedian a like. 

9. Claymore 

Claymore tells the tale of an elite class of women tasked to fight off monsters who plague the land. Clair the last member of this group must protect the peace, her new friend Rakka, and her self. However, dark secrets lurk in this world and the shadowy organization that dispatches the Claymores may not be as kind as they appear. 

8. A Story about a Droid 

I debated about including this because it is such a short read. But it is also a very good and cute read. This story is about a droid who finds a baby and decides to take care of him. In order to care for the child the droid puts on a human disguise. The story follows the droid and her child as she raises him in a post apocalyptic world. 

7. Berserk

RIP Muria I will always be heartbroken that you passed before finishing this wonder of a story. This manga has always been one of my favorites and for good reason. The art is fantastic, the story is gripping, and the characters are dynamic. However, this manga is shocking, cruel, and depressing- not for the faint of heart. 

6. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun

Monthly Girls Nozaki is the tale of a girl in love. Chiyo has been in love with Nozaki for a while and she finally decides that she has had enough. Working up the courage she confesses to him, only for him to give her an autograph. Turns out her class mate is world famous in the realm of shoujo manga and has never been in love. Chiyo’s confession goes right over his head leaving her dumbfounded but not hopeless. This manga is a great romantic comedy including some of my favorite characters in fiction. Definitely worth a read if you want to laugh a night away. 

5. Dungeon Meshi

Have you ever been playing DnD and been like “hmmm I wonder what a Mimic tastes like?” If so I have the manga for you! Dungeon Meshi or delicious in dungeon follows a group of adventures as they venture into a dungeon to save the main character Laos’s sister. However, with no supplies they are forced to eat their way through to survive, much to the disdain of the party except for Laos he loves it. 

4. Sousou No Frienen

We all know elves live a long time but sometimes it doesn’t hit an elf until they have seen their old comrades fade away. Frenen is old even and has wandered the world in search of rare magic, and I mean rare not necessarily useful. Only after being recruited to aid the hero’s party and defeating the demon king does she come to realize that human relationships are complex and that time is fleeting. This is a great fantasy manga with great magic and quirky characters as I write this I am rereading the manga for the fourth time. 

3. Yotsubato!

Man aren’t five year old's hectic little animals?! Yotsuba is a young girl in a new neighborhood who isn’t afraid to wander off, get into trouble, or of anything except for maybe scary statues. This manga follows her life with her dad living every day to the fullest. If you are feeling down this is a great pick me up. I reread during finals and it really helped. 

2. Tongari Boss/ Witch Hat Alter

Witches are born with the ability to use magic and normal people aren’t. At least that’s what they say but what happens when a young girl gets a glimpse at the secret of magic. What if the reason magic is solely for witches because of the great danger magic can place not only yourself but the world in. Witch hat alter is one of the best fantasy manga out there right now and I want the next chapter to come out already!!!

1. Chainsaw Man

I remember the conversation that led me to read chainsaw man years ago. It went something like 

“Hey dude you should totally read this manga it’s badass!”

“Really? What’s it about?”

Insert a few seconds of silence 

“Well.. It’s about a dude who turns into a chainsaw and kills devils” 

“That’s insane” 

“Trust me it’s sooo good you have to try it! It has a section where he rides a shark into battle while on fire!” 

And with that fateful line I decided to give it a read. All I can say is thank you for telling me to read it because I love this manga. It is so funny, and crazy, and sad, and mind bending, and so many other things. I never thought a story about a dude who literally has a chainsaw growing out of his face would make me cry but life works in funny ways. 

Well that’s my list. I hope you find some of these recommendations helpful. If you have any questions, or want more let me know!! Have a great Summer!

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Fresh Pain

Epilogue for Sweet Treats AU: by character | chronological | epilogues

Warnings: these drabbles will include dark elements such as noncon, control, intimidation, and other stuff that may not be specified. Take this as you chance to scroll by.

Please let me know what you think <3

🍭🍭🍭

Hot pain shoots down your arm. You groan as you wiggle your fingers and give up. It hurts too much. You gnash your teeth and whimper. You puff through your nose as agony courses through your muscles.

The gunshot echoes in your mind. Birdy. You should’ve known she’d blab. You really didn’t think she was that stupid. Why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut?

You sigh. What can you do now? Stay angry? She might deserve it but not as much as they fuckwads who took you. 

“You’re not helping yourself,” the man says as he rouses in the chair. He sits up and stretches his neck. “You tense up like that and it’s only gonna get worse.”

“Like you give a shit,” you growl. “Easier to trade us like cattle if we can’t fight back.”

He snickers, “well, I did tell him not to fire into the goddamn car but I think he did us all a favour clipping your wing.”

Your eyes roll back and you curl your lip. His arrogance reminds you of Sam in a way, but there’s less humour there. He’s king shit among the shitlords.

“So, how much am I worth? Is it a bundle deal?”

He pokes his tongue out, gliding it over his lower lip as he runs his index down the cleft in his chin. He’s amused. You’re not.

“You know, I don’t think there’s a price worthy of you. As much as I could use the pocket change.”

“Bullshit. You’re working for them. I know a goddamn pig when I see one.”

“Ex-pig. Fed.” He explains, “pays a lot more to work for myself.”

“Oh, yeah,” you wince and hiss as another pang coils in your arm, “and what about the other two?”

“Business partners.”

“Oh, if you asked me, I would’ve thought the other one with the shit stache was the leader. You fall in line right behind his greasy ass, don’t you?”

He rumbles, half a growl, half a chuckle. He leans forward, hands clutched together, “you’re trying to provoke me.”

“If this is a job to you, you should finish it,” you sneer, “arm hurts so bad, you’d be doing me a favour.”

“And what about your friends? You don’t care about them? You haven’t even asked.”

“I don’t gotta ask,” you suck in a breath and shake a hand in front of your arm, not daring to touch your wrapped wound, “goddamn it. God… urgh.”

“I told you to relax,” he chides.

“Hard to fucking relax with a jackass sitting in the corner like a goddamn Bond villain.”

“August,” he stands, “if you’re wondering. And you’re Candy. Fitting, you are a sweet thing, aren’t you?”

Your eyes list away and you drop your head back weakly. He’s irritating, almost as much as Sam. This is why you sold a dream to mean and not the real thing.

“I got some painkillers,” he lowers himself onto the edge of the bed, “if you ask nicely, I could slip you a few. Strong stuff, too.”

You glare at him. You’re not stupid. A bullet wound isn’t going to save you. It’s just another disadvantage.

“I’m good,” you snip.

“Strong, I like it. Stubborn, don’t like that so much,” he traces his fingers along your shoulder, “but that face balances the tables, don’t it?”

“You’re fucking disgusting.”

“Hmph, aren’t you a picky bitch?” He scoffs and grips your arm, squeezing until you shriek. You kick as lightning shoots up to the joint and ripples through your flesh. “I’m tryna be a nice guy here and you’re not helping, are you?”

“Fucker–”

He rips his hand away from your arm and taps your cheek. Not a full slap but enough to sting. He frames your chin and forces your head straight.

“Enough of that. I don’t like girls with ugly mouths,” he seethes as he leans in.

“Talk about an ugly mouth,” you retort.

He shoves you back, slipping his hand down to your neck. He squeezes and pins you to the pillows. You cough, arm thrumming until you squeak. As if this couldn’t be worse. A new set of psychos to deal with.

“You got two choices, cupcake. I can feed you some pills or something else. All I’m asking is for a little gratitude. Just… be nice.”

You furrow your nose defiantly. A scream curdles in the air and permeates through the wall. Birdy. As much as you hate her, you don’t want her to be hurt. Your eyes flit to the door and you try to sit up without thinking. He keeps you down without effort.

“She’ll be fine,” he bends over you, close enough that his breath wraps around you, “as long as you behave.”

[bougainvillea-and-saltwater]

get 🫵 asked ‼️

2, 23, 25 for jia

H for jiraak

and 🤝 for you >:3

HELLO BELOVED‼️ I'M MOST VERILY GETTING ASKED, THANK YOU SO MUCH! 🥰💖

2. First time meeting their best friend

answered here!

23. First display of their powers or abilities

answered here!

25. First major success in their story

Oh, definitely killing Alduin! And it’s a double success for Jia, because she had just come out of a very serious injury back then—at her first battle in the Throat of the World, the World-Eater almost ripped her arm off. Her shoulder and collarbone broke, all her left side down to her pelvic bone was marked by huge claw marks, and on top of that, she was launched into a rock and hit her head. I think that, if not for Paarthurnax who carried her away to High Hrothgar and the Greybeards who healed her afterwards, Jia would be dead. Imagine a person, even a Dragonborn, carrying on after that, striding into Sovngarde with hope in the heart still, killing a God, and saving the world. I’m just so proud of her…😭

H. First time sharing a bed (non-sexual)

AH, it was at Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm! Jia had just come out of Ulfric’s palace, where he’d made a very tempting but ambiguous offer to her, and while she and Miraak had rented separate rooms, she couldn’t sleep alone that night, she was very nervous and restless. Nothing happened between them, except that they found comfort in each other’s arms for the first time in forever… Here’s the part from the fic:

“I don’t want to stay alone tonight.” Her confession, as if it is a stretched rope, on one side of which hangs the trust and safety, and on the other the reserve and indecision. “Can I lay down with you? Just—Just to sleep together.” She hastens to clarify when she detects Miraak’s look touched by a tint of darkness, and a breath is caught in his throat. It should be desire, she acknowledges, but it is neither profane nor carnal. No, it is the first time she sees a feeling so pure yet so ardent sculpted on a man’s face like a brand. And maybe there are indeed many things Miraak lusts to act upon now, this moment when he is almost losing his mind from all this—all this hunger. Without words necessary, they lie down on the harsh, unkempt bed that welcomes the sleepers with prickling straw for a mattress and timbers full of splinters for a bedstead. But to Jia and Miraak, this is a luxurious bed made for lords and jarls and Kings, soft and restful for the weariest travelers. Because this is a bed where they no longer lie alone and wanting, but next to each other and so during the night, their dreams may get interweaved, and their darkest secrets may get buried inside one another’s skin; if they still have any secrets left untold. 

🤝 - Favorite "first meeting" scene you've written between two characters

God will punish me for this, for I have sinned, but my favorite first meeting is… is between Jia and Caranthir… OKAY, LET ME EXPLAIN.

There’s this sinister atmosphere when these two meet; you know something very bad will happen, you know Jia is in grave danger, you know he’s like a vulture who scrutinizes its prey to destroy it, and at the same time, you can see the glint of obsession in him, his sadistic need, even his secret, twisted infatuation with her.

For a moment, he stands there, towering above her shackled, paralyzed form, his eyes glinting in gloated triumph and leering at every feature of her face. As the realization finally strikes him, a scathing grin twitches the edges of his mouth. “We Altmer, you know, have a long memory. And this head right here,” he says, slowly dragging his palm above her head, a travesty of a tender gesture, “reminds me of the one I took from the shoulders of a certain Imperial about... twenty years ago. Ah, such a troubled man he was that one. However, as he was churning in his lunacy, he kept murmuring two names—the one belonged to his Nord paramour, and the other couldn’t have appertained to anyone else than…” His hand viciously balls into a fist within her hair and whispers, “You might have poisoned the other morons, but know that I cannot be put down by the likes of you. Worry not; I have something for you, bastard. A gift—a repayment in kind, for all the things you have done and all those you might have done if I had not trapped your inexistent brain with that exposed wine cup. And I will rejoice to listen to your cries and pleadings for mercy and swift end... Elettra.”)

The fact that he knows her true name, the fact that he knows everything about her as he instantly understands she’s Remus’ daughter. He’s AWFUL but I like to think he’s a mastermind...

[p-r-art]

The Half Hashira Kap. 4

Muzan sped forwards and stopped right in front of me. I looked up at him, as I am clearly smaller than him. His red eyes. All I see in them right now is malice and destruction.

"It's enough for me that you're not under my control (Y/N). Disrespecting me is crossing your boundaries."

His right hand moved to my neck and slowly began to squeeze. But he knows he's not scaring me off. Rather the opposite.

"Muzan~" I spoke to him in an almost flirtatious tone.

He briefly lost his composure towards me.

This allowed me to free myself from his grip. I rushed behind him. I placed my right hand over his right shoulder from behind and my left hand ran over his left hip up to his chest. As I use my abilities I can look over his left shoulder by hovering. I grinned and brought my lips close to his ear.

"Muzan~ I know, let me make it up to you later when we're alone. And I'm sorry for my disrespect, but Tanjiro and his friends are fun and pique my interest in more ways than one~" I almost purr at him as my cheeks turn red and lewd thoughts flood my mind.

Muzan tenses up under me and, as always, doesn't know how to react when others are around. When we are alone, he knows exactly how to act.

"(Y/N) what do you mean by interesting?" Douma interrupted the moment.

I turned to him and carefully approached him in his robe. With my fingers, I grabbed his chin so he can look directly at me. Douma's cheeks turn red from my closeness.

"Douma~ what do you think we do when we're alone? Interesting in a way and because I want to see what else happens in the fights. If it gets too dicey, I'll save them and intervene." At the end of the sentence, I shrug and look at the Obermonde, who are still kneeling.

-I could never let one of the pillars die. They mean too much to me- It came into my head.

"You're testing my patience." Muzan finally spoke, but his voice didn't sound as harsh as before.

I giggled.

"My sweet upper moons I think it would be better if you left." I spoke calmly. Probably a little too calmly.

The atmosphere in the air became unbearable.

Long nails came out of my hands. The demons were confused and didn't seem to understand what was going on.

"I'm testing your patience demon king? Which one of us can go through the day and night? I think I am the perfection of us." I got louder and louder towards the end of the sentence.

Before any of the demons could react, I had ripped an arm off the black-haired man in the white hat with my speed.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT THE MASTER!!!" Akaza screams and tries to run towards me, but the injured demon king steps in and stops him. His arm had regenerated immediately, of course.

I could also feel his presence right behind me. His hot breath could be felt on my bare skin on my shoulder. It made me shiver. Muzan knows exactly how to get me.

"I know you're perfect. You are what I strive for. But there's something else I want..."

He paused and turned me round so that I had to look him straight in the eye.

"You. I want you (Y/N)."

I've known that for many, many years, but he also knows he'll never have me.

I smile, almost sadly.

"You know you'll never have me. And I think it's better if I leave now."

I looked at the woman sitting at the biwa. She played and let me disappear.

POV On Muzan and the upper moons:

"(Y/N)!!!" Douma shouted.

But the woman was already gone.

"Master how so you don't punish her for what she did to you?" Akaza said, still angry.

"Shut up number 3 you don't know what you're meddling in." Upper Moon number 1 interfered and silenced the other demon.

Silence reigned between them all. It was almost unbearable.

"Kokushibo will keep an eye on her when she's travelling with those ridiculous demon slayers." The man addressed nodded and disappeared immediately.

Everyone else disappeared as well and went about their missions.

"(Y/N)...Even if I have to wait centuries for you, you'll be mine eventually. Even if I have to kill your husband to do it." Muzan muttered, a maniacal smile appearing on his face.

[fangsandsoftgrass]

Day 2 Blanket./Flame.

Wanted to write some angst after the final battle in Solitude (takes place the night before before this) >:3

The smell of burnt flesh was inescapable, as a funeral pyre stacked high with bodies blazed beneath the Castle Dour; casting dark shadows behind those who stood in attendance. Flames licked at the bodies piled before them, solemn prayers and the choked wailing of those left alive was the only sound besides the crackling of the fire, and as Cirwedh watched from the side she made note of each face. Every tear, every balled fist, every person she'd leave offerings to after this was over.

A cold hand came to rest up on her shoulder, and when she turned she saw Fennorian and Lyris now beside her. Lyris' expression was grim—so different from the usual cocksure bravado—and her hand palmed the haft of her axe almost nervously. Fennorian stood silently, hand simply resting on Cirwedh for support while the three watched from a distance as the Princess spoke over those burning. Lyris' was the first of them to speak, turning her back as she did so.

"I'm going to wash the grime off, maybe get a drink." She waved a hand behind her as she hung her head, "I'll find you two later."

Cirwedh watched as she disappeared through a stone archway before turning her attention back to the shadow beside her. Fennorian hadn't moved once, not even to watch Lyris leave, and when she placed a hand atop his, the skin felt feverish.

"Fenn?" It was soft, whispered but there.

He finally looked up, before looking back down to where she stood. Fennorians eyes were cold and empty, and redder around the edges than usual. He pulled his hand away from her shoulder and the missing weight was unbearably noticeable.

"I could have been the same."

Cirwedh could only watch as he looked down at his hands, and the cuts that marked them. She knew there would be bruising tomorrow, but for now they were perfectly porcelain beneath the scratches.

"If I'd kept on—if Lyris hadn't knocked me out of it—I could have killed these people as easily as the fiends. I could have been the same as them, mindlessly ripping and tearing and-" he stopped, tears beginning to wet his cheeks. Cirwedh knew the feeling, was extremely familiar with it in fact, and couldn't help the pang of guilt in her chest. Maybe had she ended the King sooner they wouldn't be burning so many bodies. Wouldn't be saying these things. But she hadn't, and here they stood warmed by a fire fueled by her failures.

"If you hadn't let go, more could have died." She reached forward, only hesitating for a moment before wiping his tears with a calloused thumb. "You stopped the tide, Fenn. You held those gates and when they fell you held the line. You didn't become like them. And you won't."

Fennorian smiled weakly, looking down with wet eyes and holding her hand to his cheek. Though soaked in blood and sweat as they were, she didn't think twice to pull the taller elf into an embrace, and when she wrapped him in her arms he melted into the touch. She knew what it was like, to need someone to hold you up when it feels like you're falling apart. She'd been there too many times. For a moment they stood there simply holding each other; finding comfort where they could as more bodies were piled into the fire. It wouldn't be until sunrise that the flames finally died, and most would be gone by then, but as the wind carried glowing wisps of embers into the sky they stood watch, and made peace with those they could not save.

Burning the names of the dead into her memory, like they were brands pulled from the fire, Cirwedh held on to what little comfort she could find. In the morning she'd visit each home and leave food, gold, anything their families would need. But for now—dark and full of horror as the night was—she would stand, ever the watchful hound, with Fennorian at her side. There was a lone howl in the distance, and then nothing but the cracking of bones and popping wood the rest of the night.

[woodaba]

We Wouldn't Have Alan Wake II Without Quantum Break

Remember Quantum Break? The first game announced for the Xbox One? The link between cult classic Alan Wake and surprising studio-saving hit Control? That prominently features Lance Reddick, the much-missed actor who was frequently one of the most electric screen presences of our time?

Don't worry, I barely do either, and I played the game yesterday.

So, a refresher. Quantum Break, announced in 2013 alongside the Xbox One and released three years later, is a third-person shooter starring Shawn Ashmore aka Iceman from the X-Men movies as Jack Joyce (and not Jake Joyce as I constantly remembered him as. In my defense, it's a better name, if only because then his superhero name could be Quantum Jake...), who, after being turned into A Remedy Entertainment Protagonist after a time-travel experiment gone wrong, battles against fellow Remedy Entertainment Protagonist Aidan Gillen aka Doctor Pavel I'm CIA as Paul Serene, over what to do about an imminent apocalypse after Time starts Breaking because of the aforementioned time-travel experiment.

As a rehabilitating former Doctor Who obsessive, I'm particularly open to this kind of time-travel nonsense, but Quantum Break is frustratingly unwilling to capitalize on its own premise. Interesting things happen, sure: people get stuck in causality loops, confront and become acausal time monsters, and live entire second lives in the past after time-traveling, but almost none of it occurs to Jack Joyce: he just spends his time just shooting guys in a series of warehouses and offices. Quantum Break is a potentially interesting story that we don't really get to see anything of, instead anything compelling in the narrative is relayed to us second-hand, by the myriad emails and documents scattered throughout the gunfights, or over the radio, and, of course, Remedy's now-signature multimedia ambitions.

In between acts of the video game Quantum Break, you'll be treated to episodes of the TV show Quantum Break, a live-action c-tier circa-2009 network TV production starring some of the big(ish) names that headline the game Quantum Break, but mostly follows a cast of extras who navigate around the events of the game while working for baddie Paul Serene's Evil Corporation, Monarch.

It's in the TV show that what Quantum Break actually is begins to take shape. Remedy, as a studio, has always been interested - and unusually adept at - pastiche, whether it's the noir comic stylings of their still-astonishing Max Payne duology or the rickety but deeply charming Stephen King love-in that is Alan Wake. And here, they do a genuinely stellar job at replicating the look, feel, and sensibilities of a 2008-2013 network TV Lost/Fringe rip-off that gets canceled after one season.

That may sound backhanded, but I assure you it isn't. I've long been a fan of Remedy, in spite of, or perhaps because I don't think they've made a truly great game since Max Payne 2. In a medium that often pillages relentlessly from Film and TV, Remedy set themselves apart from their competition with the depth of their understanding of the production of film, bringing into games a deftness of set construction and filmic pacing that blows their contemporaries out of the water. Even more-lauded names like Naughty Dog and Rockstar come up short against Alan Wake's hauntingly gorgeous misty woods, best illustrated with Rockstar's Max Payne 3, which matched Remedy's cinematographical flair in the cutscenes, but fell far short of their level design chops and breadth of influences.

Quantum Break is, in aesthetics and production, a genuinely extremely well-considered pastiche of this period of sci-fi television that is now comfortably in the rear-view mirror, the time since its release having given it a real nostalgic charm that would have been dulled at the time of release. It really reminded me of the years I spent watching shows like Heroes, or Flash/Forward, shows that may not have been very good, but are intoxicatingly emblematic of their time and place, hiding just beneath the floorboards of the shows that would actually get to be remembered.

It's a shame, then, that it just fails to really compel on any level beyond appreciation for the pastiche.

Much like the gameplay, the TV episodes of Quantum Break feel almost ancillary to another, better story that we never get to see. The stars of the game feel wasted here - particularly Lance Reddick, one of my favorite actors, who steals the show every time he appears, but is given vanishingly little to do in comparison with a group of wafer-thin characters that struggle to manifest a single dimension, with relational at best connection to the concerns of the narrative. It looks like a particularly budget-strapped episode of Warehouse 13, sure, but it doesn't really feel like one, as the episodes - until the last one, which is a noticeable improvement - are shockingly paceless and devoid of the arcs that would make a singular episode of television compelling. They are, ultimately, primarily dreary, overlong, and constantly highlighting the fact that they are largely interstitial filler.

It would be wrong to accuse Remedy of not having their heart in Quantum Break, as there is too much evident passion to discount, but I do feel like they struggle to find a core to this idea, something that they truly want to explore. Whether I'm playing the game or watching the show, QB leaves everything on the surface, with nothing to really find beneath the surface. It's notable that the game is absolutely filled with constant allusions to Alan Wake - including a full-blown trailer found on a TV moments after starting the game that bears startling resemblance to the eventual plot of this year's Alan Wake II - and that the game started life as a pitch to Microsoft for Alan Wake II: one suspects that they would much rather be making that game at this moment in time than Quantum Break, or that the game is a test-bed of ideas for the studio's future, the act of throwing a thousand darts at a quantum dartboard, and seeing which ones find their mark. It's just that for this effort, precious few of them do.

And yet, the surprise is that by the end, I truly felt like Remedy was genuinely onto something with the spirit of Quantum Break's ideas, if not the execution of them. The television show is the thing that makes Quantum Break live, that marks it out as something worth remembering in a sea of slick third-person shooters with cinematic ambitions. It is the icon of the foundational belief of the Xbox One, that the future of games lay in a synthesis with television, a dead-end future that had already worn out by the time the game was actually released. What remains is little more than a gimmick, sure, but it is one that, by the end, is oddly compelling, even if most of it is terrifically boring to actually experience.

There is a genuine thrill to seeing characters in both video game graphics and live-action forms, shifting between the two seamlessly thanks to some genuinely well-realized digitized actors that still look good today, a shift that blends well with the time-space bending of the plot. Do I care about Jack Joyce, as a person? Not even slightly. Did I still grin when I saw Actual Shawn Ashmore briefly appear in the TV episodes after controlling Virtual Shawn Ashmore? Absolutely. It's the same kind of shallow thrill you get from Cheers allumni showing up for a visit in Frasier, or when the Torchwood crew talk around the presence of Mr. Doctor Who, Esq, but as something that works with what the game is doing rather than distracting your attention elsewhere.

The gameplay portions represent time breaking down with (genuinely cool, if shallow) shards of space and glass and stuttering loops of physical time, but the collision of the Real and the Virtual feels so much more effective in communicating the idea of time and space shattering and colliding into one another. I just wish it played in this space more, focusing on Ashmore, Reddick, Monaghan, and Hope, rather than the cast of goons and extras who feel wholly separated from the game until the final mission.

I'd like to say that I'd love Remedy to take another crack at this idea, with the lessons they've learned from Control and Alan Wake II, but that already feels like a fool's hope. The ballooning costs of video game development make the idea of filming an entire TV mini-series alongside it feel laughable. Sure, Control's live-action segments were plentiful and superbly produced, but they were also far more restrained than Quantum Break, focusing on short segments with one non-big-name actor each in a couple of highly reusable sets. With both this and its open-world, side-questing structure with plenty of loot and upgrades to collect, Control is something largely in line with the realities and productions of modern game development

Quantum Break isn't rooted in reality for even a second. It's a time-locked instant, the most 2015 game ever made, which makes it all the better that it came out in 2016. There's no future in what Quantum Break envisions. It's a failed experiment, something to shrug at and move on. And yet, it compels me regardless, despite the fact that I don't really like it.

We need games like this, I feel. Historical curios like this show that the shifting landscape of the medium isn't a straight line, it splits off into splintered fraying timelines, some leading to nothing, but others spilling back in unexpected ways. After all, Courtney Hope, who played Beth Wilder here, returned for the starring role in Control, and that game feels so keenly like the product of lessons learned from QB, with everything from the live-action segments, the document-reading, and the combat feeling like a progression from Remedy's previous work. In particular, my complaints about QB's narrative taking place almost entirely off-screen evolves into a hugely compelling aspect of Control, with the genuine highlight of that game being reading the endless documents detailing the horrors and nightmares of America transcribed into corporate mundanity.

And while I've only played a taster of Alan Wake II, there's no doubt in my mind that that game, a bona-fide critical darling the likes of which Remedy hasn't had since Max Payne 2, owes a great debt to QB. Not least because its engine provides the framework for the game, but also because, well, it's been in there, this whole time.

Waiting for The Return.

[aquadestinyswriting]

Writing Exercise 3

Ok, so I was looking through this post again to see if I wanted to do any of the other writing exercises on it and I came across the "Shuffle a playlist on your music player of choice. For whichever song plays, describe what you “see” with your imagination." exercise. Needless to say, since I have at least 4 different playlists just for my many WIP series, I needed to give this one a shot.

I'm just gonna go with shuffling my 'Emotional Songs' playlist since that's the most extensive one I have and I use it to plot with. Placing the song and my thoughts about it under a cut to save everyone's dashes.

Tagging: @davycoquette (as requested), @druidx, @lexiklecksi and @sparrow-orion-writes because you guys might get a kick out of this.

And shuffle chose the following song:

Oh man. Ok, so let's get into this.

I feel like I'm losing hope In my body and my soul And the sky, it looks so ominous And as time comes to a halt Silence starts to overflow My cries are inconspicuous

OK, so for this part of the first verse, I typically see Elowyn staring up at the ceiling of the cavern she, Meredith and Enezeage are shivering in after almost drowning trying to swim through some flooded mineshafts to get to some Bad Guys(tm). I think it's pretty accurate to say that at least the girls are feeling a bit hopeless since the other two members of their party have just drowned and Merri and Elowyn had just about followed suit not that long before.

Tell me, God, are you punishing me? Is this the price I'm paying for my past mistakes? This is my redemption song I need you more than ever right now Can you hear me now?

The scene in my head for this part skips ahead a little bit to when Elowyn dies for the first (or was it second?) time thanks to being ripped to shreds by a Dire Dire weasel (the thing stood about 4 feet at the shoulder, which is a bit taller than Elowyn). Elowyn's sitting in the waiting room when she suddenly gets pulled through a portal by a clawed, reptilian hand and is then told that she's now Kurtulmak's Vassal before she wakes up back in the real world pretty much naked and covered in ick. Bear in mind this takes place waaay before Elowyn finally gets ordained as a paladin, so she's a rogue at this point in the story of the campaign.

'Cause we're gonna shout it loud Even if our words seem meaningless It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world I wish that someway, somehow That I could save every one of us But the truth is that I'm only one girl Maybe if I keep believing, my dreams will come to life Come to life

There are a couple of scenes that flash into my head for this first chorus honestly. All of them involving Elowyn standing up for herself, her beliefs or others that are less fortunate than herself. The first one is when she's standing up to King Storri and Captain Bloodvein about the kobolds that the party ended up taking on as companions after that whole resurrection by Kurtulmak thing. The next one that comes to mind is quite a lot later when she's up on a box trying to calm a riotous mob that's trying to get into the Temple of Moradin in Toreguarde.

After all the laughter fades Signs of life all washed away I can still, still feel a gentle breeze No matter how hard I pray Signs of warning still remain And life has become my enemy

Now, I tend to switch POV over to Meredith for the second verse, only because this song is a definitive fit for both girls, for slightly different reasons. For this first part of the second verse, the scene that comes to mind is always one where Meredith is sitting in her room in Acacia Avenue after the celebrations for Darkhide's defeat are over and the party have been chucked out to go home and sleep. The scene is not a happy one, since she's trying to pray to Moradin and not getting an answer and is slowly realising that her people are still in grave danger, despite the defeat of one of the most powerful necromancers Allansia has seen in about a decade.

Tell me, God, are you punishing me? Is this the price I'm paying for my past mistakes? This is my redemption song I need you more than ever right now Can you hear me now?

For this second half-verse, I tend to visualise Meredith sitting in her cell waiting for her trial and likely execution date after she's discovered and arrested in Fangthane upon her return there. To be fair, she doesn't believe her gods are punishing her so much as kicking herself for getting caught because she has no evidence with which to exonerate herself, so she's spending herself praying for some sort of miracle.

'Cause we're gonna shout it loud Even if our words seem meaningless It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world I wish that someway, somehow That I could save every one of us But the truth is that I'm only one girl Maybe if I keep believing, my dreams will come to life Come to life

Like with Elowyn above, I tend to see various scenes for this chorus. Most of them involve Meredith standing up to the various enemies that her party met during their adventure. I also sometimes visualise a few scenes where Meredith is trying to keep her party or her people safe from some sort of danger, even if it's not immediately visible.

'Cause we're gonna shout it loud Even if our words seem meaningless Like I'm carrying the weight of the world I wish that someway, somehow That I could save every one of us But the truth is that I'm only one girl

For this chorus I visualise short flashes of both Elowyn and Meredith trying to talk some sense into their people as matters in both Toreguarde and Fangthane start to fall apart. Mostly it scenes of Elowyn trying to stem the corruption in the Council and the Brotherhood of Cleaving's reign of terror in Toreguarde and Meredith trying to talk some sense into the leadership of her Church as a full-on Schism starts erupting.

Still, we're gonna shout it loud Even if our words seem meaningless It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world I hope that someway, somehow That I could save every one of us But the truth is that I'm only one girl Maybe if I keep believing, my dreams will come to life Come to life

For this last chorus, I tend to visualise the lead-up to the final battle of the campaign. The first scene I visualise tends to be Elowyn getting ganked on top of a sea stack and Merri having to ress her mid-battle. However, the main scene I tend to see is Elowyn trying to talk Ionah (the Big Bad) down in attempt to, potentially, save what's left of the woman's soul. There was a whole heartfelt speech about understanding why Ionah followed the path she did and the fact that there was second chance still available. The body language I can see for both women in my head at this point is just heart-breaking, because Elowyn tried so hard, only for Ionah to turn around and basically murder her son (and Meredith's husband), who is off-screen and on another plane of existence at this point.