#ruby failing to stand up to her past self was good | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

crimsonxe · 7 months ago

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Oh wow there's some grade A bullshit going on in here.

[The woman of Rwby have very little characterization to the point they get overshadowed by the male characters (example: jaune). Crwby/Rt cannot write women, but they also just can't write. Team Rwby in the series has made baffling decision after baffling decision, such as.]

Already starting off with a massive load of bullshit. The reality is that the women of RWBY have a LOT of characterization, a LOT of depth, and a LOT of complexity.

Ruby: Looks up to a seeks to be a hero to save people; also puts the weight of the world on herself, is self-sacrificing, and has a massive imposter syndrome due to her mother

Weiss: Weiss goes from ignorant to realizing how badly the faunus are treated; how her family has been warped; and seeks to fix what her father damaged.

Blake: Stuck between humans and faunus; extremists and pacifists, while knowing that extremes are wrong not having an answer and being willing to state as much; who is haunted by her past where she was pulled under a terrorist psychopath; is an abuse survivor that buried her true self that is only recently resurfacing thanks to her gf Yang as well as having low self-value + mountain of guilt

Yang: Puts forward a strong guardian side and buries her own hurt, trauma, and cynicism; self-value is in the floor leading to her sacrificing self tendency as others in her eyes hold more value; and is trying to balance between being there for Ruby and also pushing her to be her own person to stand on her own feet. Fell hard for Blake, went through an emotional storm, and came back together with her leading to the two becoming a couple after finally admitting their feelings.

There is not a single male character in the show that comes close to that, especially not Jaune. You dumbasses don't have a clue what good writing is and instead spew biased salt bullshit. Newsflash not going according to how you want or catering to your characters is NOT bad writing.

[Lying to ironwood despite him being trustworthy as seen multiple times before.]

Boo fucking hoo, not only was he showing instability but RWBY & Co. had just dealt with Leo and following that Cordo. They did what most people WISH MC's did in holding cards back from a suspicious "authority figure" till proven trustworthy. Lo and behold that they were RIGHT given how low he falls post pressure coming down, straight into authoritarianism. Though even before then his treatment of Mantle wasn't great.

[Acting as if ozma is suddenly the worst person in existence because he hid the fact Salem probably can't be killed. While yes that is very questionable that doesn't change the fact he did care for beacon and every other academy. He specifically made sure the students could actually be students instead of foot soldiers.]

It still doesn't change the fact that Oz had sent countless huntsmen/huntresses to their deaths fully knowing that Salem was a thing they might encounter and that she can't be killed. He's not the worst but their reactions to that news is within the vein of fitting.

[The entire thing with Salem being revealed to the people and the fact she's immortal.]

People need to know what they're dealing with and the threat looming over the world.

[Yet despite these actions they are treated as heros. Which normally makes sense but in context.. makes them really shitty.]

Because they ARE heroes. Your genocidal general on the other hand isn't. Where he tried to throw the city of the poor to the wolves, RWBY & co. followed the huntsmen/huntress raison d'etre of fighting for EVERY life and gave EVERYONE a chance of survival across both cities.

[Rt can't write. That's just a fact. Im sorry some people don't wanna believe that but the fact is Rwby has failed as a series because rt can't write, and especially cant write women.]

No, its not fact shit-for-brains. Its not even good opinion, just some salty ass know-nothing gushing salt from their mouth so to speak. Once again not being to your liking or how you wanted things to go is NOT bad writing. I shutter at the idea of what your dumbass would consider good writing for women.

[Ironwood at the start is a man with his heart in the right place but is hasty with his decisions. The actions he later makes that people would dub as out of character. Is when he when he finds out he's been lied too.]

Oh is that before or after he sold Oz out to the council in v2 to have himself put in charge of security going into v3 with the council also suggesting they were going to remove Oz as headmaster on top of that all because of IW's reports to them? Or when he said that if Qrow were one of his men he'd have him shot? Or when he extorts Jac-ass in v4? Or his not keeping Mantle's cyber-security up to date? Or his repeatedly forgetting about Mantle? Or his trying to throw Mantle to the wolves so long as Atlas was okay? And shove this notion that this came out of nowhere up your know-nothing ass, cause the exact traits that led to his fall were ALWAYS shown; they just became far more apparent as IW fell.

I don't know who your anon is, but when this level of bullshit pops up in the main tag it demands to be pushed the fuck back on.

Figures the turd claiming that CRWBY can't write women is a Ironwood bootlicker and a Jaune stan.

Your opinion doesn't count for shit.

... Ok let me explain something that hopefully makes sense.

The woman of Rwby have very little characterization to the point they get overshadowed by the male characters (example: jaune). Crwby/Rt cannot write women, but they also just can't write. Team Rwby in the series has made baffling decision after baffling decision, such as.

Lying to ironwood despite him being trustworthy as seen multiple times before.

Acting as if ozma is suddenly the worst person in existence because he hid the fact Salem probably can't be killed. While yes that is very questionable that doesn't change the fact he did care for beacon and every other academy. He specifically made sure the students could actually be students instead of foot soldiers.

The entire thing with Salem being revealed to the people and the fact she's immortal.

Yet despite these actions they are treated as heros. Which normally makes sense but in context.. makes them really shitty.

Rt can't write. That's just a fact. Im sorry some people don't wanna believe that but the fact is Rwby has failed as a series because rt can't write, and especially cant write women.

Ironwood at the start is a man with his heart in the right place but is hasty with his decisions. The actions he later makes that people would dub as out of character. Is when he when he finds out he's been lied too.

As for Jaune... Look I've made multiple discussions on why I like jaune as a character. But to sum it up. He's a inoffensive character. Most offensive thing about him was his crush on Weiss and him lying about transcripts. Thats about it.

Now I'm done trying to defend myself. If you got a complaint tell me! Whether in chat or by using anything else besides anonymous asks.

You hiding your account and not manning up to yo damn words makes you sound like a coward.

I ain't trying to be dick, hell I'm mainly focusing on my rewrite of Rwby and my own shit. I just want to say what I think, if you disagree that's perfectly fine. You ain't gotta hide yo account I ain't gonna make fun of you.

Ok I think I've rambled enough, I got a limp dick ass hate who decided to just insult me out the blue.

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rwbybutincorrect · 3 years ago

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I have some suggestions for your RWBY pokemon AU

I think Absol makes more sense as a pokemon either for Ruby, or, what I think is more fitting, for Qrow. Absol in the pokemon world is considered a harbinger of disaster because of its ability to sense oncoming calamities, and Qrow considers himself a bad luck charm and his weapon is called Harbinger, so I can imagine it being like, his signature pokemon, and maybe Ruby, wanting to emulate her Uncle, catches one for herself.

I also think Ruby and Yang's starters make more sense swapped around, Blaziken fits more with Yang (a hot headed fighting type) rather than Incineroar (a Dark type meant to emulate Heels in wrestling I.e the bad guys). Incineroar also fits better with Ruby's v1-v3 colours, though I also don't think a fire starter would fit Ruby, I think Sceptile fits more, as it's a fast pokemon that uses its leaves on its arms as blades, which I think fits Ruby better.

I'd also pick Rosarade over Florges but that's just my purrsonal preference.

Now for Weiss, my only suggestion would be changing Corvinkight with something else, and I'm thinking Glaceon. I love the idea that Weiss as a child finds an injured Eevee in the large family garden and secretly takes care of it, but her father finds out and forces her to take it back to the wilds, but while out there it saves Weiss from several Beowolves and in the artic climate evolves into a Glaceon which Weiss then adopts.

Blake, id replace Absol with Greninja for aesthetic, but otherwise I would change Gallade's past, Ralts' only show themselves to trainers with strong positive emotions, so I can't see Adam ever having one, but I like the idea of maybe Blake and Yang being helped during the forest exam at Beacon by two Ralts/Kirlia's who they then take (Yang saying its the sign of their new partnership), and otherwise I would change Gallade for Gardevoir for Blake and have Gallade be Yang's pokemon, since it's a pokemon with strong morals and I feel fit Yang better.

Now for Yang, and other than the previous suggestions of Blaziken and Gallade as hers, I would replace Tyrantrum with Hitmontop, storywise I'd say that, when she's recovering post Beacon and on her way back from visiting Summer's grave, she encounters a Tyrouge rushing headfirst into fighting a stronger pokemon and getting seriously hurt, so Yang saves it and takes it home to recover. Despite all its injuries it still insists on training, Tai seeing this starts encouraging Yang to train with it, hoping it'll help her out. As both Yang and the Tyrouge bond and train, learning not to rush headfirst into battles and to adopt a more balanced fighting style, it evolves into Hitmontop to symbolise Yang's recovering and training.

And thats just RWBY, I have plenty of suggestions for JNPR, Sun, Ilia, Adam, Salem's forces, STQR, the Ace-Ops, Happy Huntresses and Neo~

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submitted by @ladydevoir thank you :EYES:

[for reference, this is about this post]

treating this like an ask because i assume that's why you submitted it, because of the text limit but :EYESY:EYES:EYES

my choice of absol for blake is because i knew about the lore implications of absol and thought it would be a tragic detail if an absol appeared before her trying to protect her from the travesties she's repetitively had to face. i might give one to qrow anyway because I'm not afraid of duplicates!!! i didn't think about any supporting adult pokemon teams quite yet!

i will be honest, the blaziken choice for ruby was mostly self indulgent :3 i love chickens and blaziken's aesthetic. notable moments in the anime stuck with me, like during xy's series when there was a vigilante "blaziken man" protecting luminous city - that's a big reason why i chose it for her, that kind of over the top kind of heroism i thought worked. as opposed to incenroar who fights dirty. early in rwby, yang is a very backhanded and not exactly noble kind of hero. just look at the "yellow" trailer, fucking shit up for self motivated reasons (good for her.) i thought it fit her! --- but i can absolutely see what you're saying with sceptile, that is another favorite of mine and i'd love to see her with a sceptile that could mega evolve!

roserade, yeah i can see that fitting too! i forget it exists sometimes- my bad - and i like the grass type a little bit more to some extent than the fairy type because ruby has less of an association to the balance of nature~ that fairies do

i like the glaceon idea a lot too!!! the concepts of potential and direct reflection of her cold home - not to mention it's my second favorite eeveelution :D corviknight, yeah, it's my weakest link and i wanted to add it purely on the basis i'd like the snow queen to have her knight - but i think a glaceon would be much cuter, considering she already has plenty of stand ins for her glyphs!

I'm also interested about the greninja for the aesthetic! I'm not all that attached to the kalos starters so i tend to forget about them a lot more, i leaned on the "dark" type for blake but definitely didn't consider the. actual ninja pokemon. but i also tried to hold off on giving her a proper starter because in this little hc concept of mine, starters come specifically from pre-huntsmen schools (like signal in yang and ruby's case). i liked having the narrative of some students being "othered" by lacking starters - a visual tool when displaying their teams that they didn't have the opportunity to start where others did. not to say greninja couldn't have been a wild encounter or something else - fun to think about and really fits!

i DID not know about the kirlia lore though, i thought it was pretty weak when i was coming up with it and that is so interesting to know. i enjoy the idea of a pokemon switching allegiances from adam to protect blake but with this new information, I'll probably rewrite it in a way where the bee duo's ralts evos are more exclusive to them :3 i do like your idea of switching them, though, i tried to switch them to divert expectations, right (yang being a bit more masc than yang yet having a gardevoir, blake having the more showmanshy evo) but i might switch them. or i can just say the pokemon are practically shared and will switch up who they're paired with by their own choice. gf things <333

the hitmontop concept is really interesting for yang! it really does fit her - and i never paid attention to the line because, i will be honest, it never aesthetically pleased me, but narratively it works super well. i liked tyrantrum because i loved giving yang dragons and i also thought if she restored a tyrunt herself, it would be a nice indication of yang's genuine intelligence and wisdom. i don't like people boiling her down to a bimbo, haha funny stupid lesbian, but i feel like people also fail to recognize her genuine technical and social intelligence that she's portrayed throughout the series. then again, a hitmontop could show that emotional and protective instinct and intelligence she carries. it's sweet!! I'm torn!!!

AAAAANYWAY LONG STORY SHORT thank you so much for your opinions!!! i love the feedback and second opinion. i did a little bit of brainstorming with few friends in our discord server and its nice to hear an unrelated voice's takes!

feel free to send us more ideas if you'd like!!! :D as of right now I'm working on (the original) jnrp's post, and have penny, oscar, roman, neo, emerald, mercury, and cinder's teams planned! (I'm not sure how to section them off atm so their posts are coming later!) I'm curious to hear your ideas for when i get around to these other characters

#rwby pokemon teams #rwby #submission #jinn's answers #petal burst #im tagging these things for mysake <333 #thank you #talk to me about pokemon @ everyone #mod weiss doesn't understand my pokemonwords enough #and i get judged for team planning when i should be sleeping!!!!#long post

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kiribaku-queen · 4 years ago

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Unexpected [1/8]

Pairing: Dabi x reader, Hawks x reader, Touya x reader

Fluff, angst, AU

Word count: 3.5K

A/N: Welcome to my second series「UNEXPECTED」! Hopefully, I will update this series every Monday and maybe upload a oneshot on Friday???? I hope you enjoy this series as much as you did 「HOME」and let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Summary: Being quirkless wasn’t so bad. Especially when you had two badass best friends that had amazing quriks to make up for it. That is until one of them breaks your heart by disappearing in thin air. And the other breaks your heart by wanting to focus on his hero work. After coming back to Japan after studying abroad for 5 years, you were in for a whirlwind of surprises.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Nothing stays the same forever. No matter how much you wished it was, no matter how happy you were, things were bound to change. Most of the time for good, but on rare occasions for worse. Yet, you didn’t know that when you met them.

Keigo was always the outgoing one of the group. Always the one who says whats on his mind and jumps into action when he sees something wrong. He always cracked jokes and made everyone smile even when he wasn’t trying. You guess you could say he was pretty popular, especially with the ladies.

Touya was the opposite. A shy kid, often left out of group activities. He was someone who you wouldn’t expect to be friends with but once you were, he would treasure you like ruby that was hidden away for thousands of years. He was shy but that didn’t stop him from having fun or making friends. He liked to watch from afar and enjoyed watching others have fun. Even though Touya was a shy kid, he still had friends.

That’s where you come in. You were his first ever friend. You might not have been popular but you were friendly with anyone you came into contact with and tried to make friends with everyone, regardless of character. A red head with sapphire blue eyes caught your eye. While all the other children were playing with each other, he was standing by himself, eyes darting to different groups of people. He looked like he wanted to join but decided to keep to himself. You weren’t having that. No way were you going let someone be alone during playtime. So you took a deep breath and strutted right towards him. But it looks like you weren’t the only who wanted to make a change. A boy with golden blonde hair and an impressive set of red wings was also making his way towards the same boy. And the rest was history really.

You would never regret that day at all. Because you met two people who were going to be by your side forever. Takami Keigo. Todoroki Touya. The three of you would do everything together. Spend free period together. Eat lunch together. Walk to and from school. Hang out after school. There was never a moment where you three weren’t seen together. And you were the perfect trio. Keigo, the loud, pretty boy who brings attention to him wherever he goes. Touya, the shy, handsome one who tags along to anything and everything. Then theres you, the one who is a good combination of both of their personalities. The one who helps keep these two idiots in check.

Even though you guys were the best of friends, there was one secret that you were holding. You might have a small, itsy-bitsy, very minor secret crush on Todoroki Touya. He might not talk much or show much emotion but when he does, it’s the most sincere reaction. When he smiles, his eyes completely disappear and he is rolling over laughing. You can’t help but smile whenever he does. It’s like you accomplished this big mission to make him smile. You and Keigo could be arguing all day long but Touya would step in to finally stop the fight with a few words a wisdom. Did you mention that Touya acted way more mature for his age? The one thing Touya does that just makes your heart go doki-doki is when he tries to cheer you up after lots of teasing from Keigo. You would be puffing your cheeks at Keigo because was laughing at you. Right before you were about to explode from frustration, Touya would come to pat you on the head to cool you down. But his pat on the head was definitely something else. He would pat from the top of your head all the way down to the back of your neck twice before always tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. This little action never failed to make your heart flutter.

It was another day of walking home from school, of course arguing with the one and only Takami Keigo. You and him were walking a little ahead, leaving Touya to walk behind you guys as he watches you two bicker as usual. This time, you were arguing about who likes Touya more.

“Of course its me, you idiot!” you insult Keigo, pointing a finger at him. He slaps it away and points a finger right back at you.

“You’re the idiot! I was the one to talk to him first. So that means me, Takami Keigo, likes him more. And I bet he likes me more too,” Keigo smirked at your disbelief face.

“Noooo, he likes me more!” you tried to argue. Only one way to find out the answer. You both look behind you at Touya who stops in his track. He glances between the two of you and looks back down again.

“Which one is it, Touya? Me or this loser here,” Keigo snickered, pointing to you. This time, you slapped his hand away and awaited Touya’s answer. Your heart started racing and your palms were starting to get sweaty. You wanted to act like you didn’t care but secretly, you wanted your name to be called out. A blush appeared on Touya’s cheeks as he looked back up at the two of you.

“(y/n), of course,” he mumbled. A cheer ruptured through your veins while Keigo is drowning in defeat. He grasped onto Touya’s shoulders, shaking them and asking why he wasn’t the favorite. “(y/n)’s a girl, of course I’m going to like her more,” he shyly said. That just made Keigo groan even more. You couldn’t have been happier. Touya said your name. And he didn’t even hesitate! That was for sure a win.

All three of you stopped at a street that split into two directions. This is where you usually split up and continue to head home. Keigo’s home is in the left direction while you and Touya’s place is in the right direction. Keigo parted ways with you, leaving you alone with Touya. Walks home were quiet but a pleasant quiet. You could take quick peeks at him and he would never say anything. Did he know you were looking at him? Maybe. But he never said anything to stop you so you’re just going to assume that he doesn’t know.

Touya’s house arrived first, leaving you to walk home by yourself. There would be times when Touya would skip his house and walk you all the way home but today was a little different. When you arrived at Touya’s, his father was already there waiting for him. It was no secret who his father was: the number 2 hero, Endeavor. He was waiting by the gate in his regular clothing but he was still as intimidating as ever. Touya physically shrunk at the sight of his father, quickly saying his goodbye to you and running inside.

“Oh, bye Touya…” you barely managed to say. He ran past his father, head down. Endeavor gave you a look before also going inside, sending chills down your spine.

“Scary…: you mumbled to yourself, turning in the direction of your house. You occasionally looked back to see if Touya would appear again but he didn’t.

Ever since then, Touya was getting more and more distant. He wouldn’t walk to and from school with you guys anymore. He would either leave really early or really late, you guys missing him each time. He would be missing during free period or lunch. Even when you guys were hanging out with each other, he wouldn’t talk much or be his usual self. You were started to get worried about him. But you didn’t say anything because you thought you were imagining it. It started to get serious though when he would come to school with bandages on his arms.

“Touya,” you called his name, going up to him during break. “Are you okay?” you asked, touching his arm that was bandaged. Touya jumped and got up from his chair. You jumped in response, shocked by his reaction.

“Don’t touch me,” he snapped at you, pulling his arm away from your grasp. Keigo immediately jumped in between you two, trying to protect you and glaring at his other friend.

“She just asked if you were okay,” Keigo tried to calm the situation. Touya just looked away angrily. That seemed to push Keigo’s buttons. “Oi, why are you acting like that? We are just worried about you!”

“Well I don’t need you to worry about me! Just… Just leave me alone!” Touya yells and storms out of the classroom. You were left baffled and confused. You were just trying to be a good friend but he exploded in your face. Did you do or say something wrong? Keigo was just as confused but more mad. His wings could be seen shaking as he was trying to suppress his anger and control his wings from spreading wide.

Touya got more and more distant until one day, he stopped coming to school. Something was really wrong. You felt a great sense of uneasiness and it wouldn’t go away no matter what you did. Days passed. Weeks passed and Touya was still no where to be found. Since his disappearance, you would stop by Touya’s house every day after school. You thought maybe, just maybe, Touya was just at home and that you would get a glimpse of him somewhere. But you were met with disappointment each time. You would do that every day until you got the news. The worst news of your life. Touya passed away.

Touya’s death was hard to get over. When you heard of the news, you were completely devastated. A crying mess. Your heart tightened with even the smallest thought of him and there was an endless amount of tears running down your face. You felt guilty everyday following his death. You could have done something about it. You should have asked if he was okay earlier on. You should have persisted in trying to help him. You should have been a better friend. You didn’t even get a chance to tell him how you felt.

Keigo was there for you every step of the way. He was equally as devasted with the news but was better at hiding it. He felt an overwhelming amount of sadness enter his heart when he saw you bending over, crying at his picture at the funeral. Keigo kneeled beside you, holding your shoulders in a side hug, half of his red wings moved to cover your body in comfort. You leaned into him, crying into his chest.

“Keigo,” you croaked out. Your voice was hoarse from crying nonstop and you barely got it out of you. Keigo looked down at you with love and concern in his eyes. “Let’s make a promise. To not leave each other ever. I don’t know what I would do if you left my life too,” you barely managed to get out that last sentence because it was too devastating to think about. You started to cry again and he hugged you even tighter.

“I promise. We’ll get through this together,” he promised, resting his chin on the top of your head.

And he kept his promise. You two were stuck together by the hip. It was you guys against the world. He never abandoned you and you never abandoned him. You continued to do everything together. After school classes. Free time. Applying to the same school. Commuting together. The only rule you kept together was to never bring up Touya. His memory was too sad and would always result in depressive episodes. But he was always in the back of your mind. Keigo knew that and would constantly try to get your mind off him by distracting you with things you liked. That would range from bringing you flowers, taking you to your favorite arcade or watching your favorite movie at home. The more time you spent together, the more you got closer, and the more feelings started to grow. Eventually, Keigo asked you out during your first year of high school together. It definitely came as a surprise but you couldn’t have been happier. And then for the first time, Touya never returned to your memory.

You two were happy. And it was the happiest you’ve been in a long time. Keigo was so sweet to you. He only had eyes for you since the beginning. Ever since elementary school where you two first met. He was determined to make you his but after all those events that happened, he wasn’t going to rush things. Keigo knew that you only had eyes for Touya and when he died, he was still on your mind. It was going to take time for you to get over him, he knew that. And when you were ready, he would be there to love and protect you from anything and everything.

But everything started to change when your third year rolled around. It was time to think about college and life after high school. You had started to think about options that were close to your home but you really wanted to go abroad. You had always dreamed of studying abroad and if there was a time to do it, it would be for college. You really didn’t want to pass up the chance, but you wanted to talk to Keigo about it first. Walking down the hallway with all your college options in hand, you were on a hunt to find your boyfriend.

You found him talking with a group of girls in the hallway. But you got a strange feeling. One girl was getting way too close for comfort to your boyfriend. She was fake laughing at everything he said, touching him at every chance she got and stood close enough where her chest was touching his arm. You went to him and cleared your throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. The girl that was all over Keigo let go of his arm and backed away while giving you a dirty look. But you ignored her. Instead, you put your attention on Keigo.

“Can we talk?” you asked, gently pulling on his sleeve. He look down and then back at the group of girls.

“Uh, I’m kind of busy right now,” he said. You cocked your eyebrow. That wasn’t the usual response that you would get.

“Well, it’s kind of important,” you inform him, lifting up the college options in your hand. One pamphlet caught his attention. He took that one out from the pile and started going through it.

“America, huh? You want to study abroad?” he questions looking disinterested.

“I was just thinking about it. You know I really want to-”

“You should go,” Keigo interrupts you, slamming the pamphlet together and handing it back to you. You looked at him in disbelief.

“Well I was hoping we could talk about it first,” you say, a bit angry and annoyed at his actions towards you.

“And I told you that I was busy. Later,” he patted the top of my head and turned back to the group of girls. “Anyway, where was I ladies?” and the group burst into a fit of giggles. You couldn’t help but stay frozen in your spot. Did you really just get dissed like that? From your own boyfriend? You let out a scoff and walked away. There was no point in standing there, looking like an idiot. You’ll definitely need a talk later. Keigo’s smile falters and he hears you walking away. His heart clenches and he wants to run after you so bad but he couldn’t. He had to do this.

You were itching in your seat. You leg was vibrating under the table. Your eyes glued to the clock. Could time go any slower? Finally, the last bell of the day rang and you sprung out of your seat to walk next door to Keigo’s class. He was already packing up when you approached him.

“What was that all about?” you asked, crossing your arms together. He didn’t look up. He didn’t acknowledge you. He just continued to pack his stuff.

“What are you talking about?” he asks right back.

“Earlier today. You brushed me off like I was some nobody. I wanted to talk to you about something important and you made me feel like you didn’t care,” you confessed, pouring out all your feelings to him. He stopped packing his stuff and straightened his back, letting out a big sigh.

“Maybe I don’t.”

“What?” Did you hear that correctly? You hope your ears were just playing tricks on you. Keigo turns to you with hands in his pockets. His face was expressionless.

“Maybe I don’t care.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you saying that?” you started to raise your voice, tears were on the brink of your eyes. Your boyfriend let out another sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m just trying to tell you how I’m feeling. It doesn’t matter to me what college you go to. You can stay here in Japan or move across the world to the States. But I’m not going to college or chase after you if you go.” He said. Your heart was breaking with each word and it was clear in your face that you were hurting. Keigo sensed your heartbreak from miles away but he continued. “Come on, why the sad look. You knew that this was coming. You knew after high school I was going to focus on becoming a hero. And not just any hero. One of the best in the nation. I don’t have time to be fooling around in college or chasing after you.”

“Is that why you’ve been so distant lately?” you asked, eyes glued to the floor. You didn’t want to believe that he was being distant. That he was drifting away from you. It brought back too many bad memories. You started to feel something tight in your chest and a heavy weight was being pushed on you. It was starting to get harder to breath but you tried your hardest to keep your composure.

“Come on (y/n). Don’t act like you didn’t know. This was never going to work out. You’re quirkless and I’m going to become a top hero. The equation doesn’t add up.” God you were beyond furious, hurt, upset, baffled, shocked. You were feeling so many emotions at the moment that you didn’t even know how to express it.

“You promised,” you barely let out a whisper but that seemed to cause a reaction out of Keigo. But it disappeared as soon as it came.

“We were kids,” he responded. You wiped away the tears that you didn’t know where streaming down your face. You sniffled and just nodded your head. You got the picture now. You understood. There was no point in trying to fight him or scream at him. Quite honestly, you couldn’t process what was happening because it was all too sudden. This all happened out of nowhere. And you were feeling numb.

“I guess I will go study abroad. Thanks. Good talk.” You say before turning and walking away.

All that was 5 years ago. You haven’t seen or talked to him since. You went to study abroad in the States for your whole 4 years of college. And as much as you loved it there, you loved Japan more. It’s been a hot second since you been on Japan grounds but it felt good to be back. Even more exciting, you were on your way to your new job as a teacher.

You didn’t have a quirk so you weren’t very useful in most situations growing up. But becoming a teacher was like giving back to the community and being useful to others that are specific to them. Thankfully, you were a quirkless teacher teaching at a school full of quirkless students. They still need an education afterall, and need to learn how to fit in society without a quirk.

You were taking your time getting to the school. You wanted to take this time to take in the city atmosphere and the air and basically let it all in. Everything looked the same. The streets. The people. The shops. The villains?

A scream could be hear and you whipped your head in that direction. A villain took to the streets, a huge bag of money in his hands. You started to panic and searched your surroundings. Where there no pro-heroes nearby? Looking back at the villain who was speedily coming closer to you, you caught sight at the scene behind him. Part of a building was destroyed, leaving glass shards everywhere. The villain, big as he was, started throwing cars and large objects out of the way, hitting the other buildings around him. One large object came dangerous above your head, hitting the building behind you. You looked up to see large, sharp glass coming straight at you. Bracing yourself, you prepared to get hit any minute now. But it never came. You opened your eyes slowly. You were being embraced by someone. Looking up to see who had saved you, your breath got caught in your throat.

Golden blond locks of hair. Sharp, fierce, yellow eyes. Majestic, red wings.

Takami Keigo saved your life.

Tagged: @bestgirlkonan

#dabi x reader #hawks x reader #touya x reader #dabi imagines #hawks imagines #bnha hawks #bnha dabi #bnha imagines #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #touya is dabi change my mind

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3nsider · 2 years ago

Text

Continuation

Ok so I was mostly right about some things yayy (bumbleby kiss let's gooo) but many of the points might get confirmed or be confirmed to be completely off with what happens today so I'll talk about them after the finale. For now I'm gonna talk about what I think might happen in this final episode:

Ofc Ruby and Summer talk, I think the "you never were the hero" could be a comforting thing Summer or a Summer vision might tell Ruby, that all she can do is the best she can but no one blames her for failing and should cut herself some slack, that she's special and is loved by everyone but is not meant to be the one savior that is not allowed to make mistakes.

Maybe her talk with Summer at the beginning could resemble Red Like Roses II

Hopefully she'll get to talk to Penny as well, make peace with her passing, be reassured that there's nothing she could've done to change things and her sacrifice. I'm asking for at least a hug I'm begging

Please for the love of god let Little be a Penny ascension at least

Maybe at the end of Ruby's ascension she gets merged with Penny/Summer? Very far reach but not impossible. At least maybe crescent rose

Ruby's ascended form could honor their special place in her heart, so there would be some aspects of her dead loved ones on her like some green and white details on her new outfit

New emblem?👀👀 Or Summer's one gets returned to her somehow

Since Jaune fell off the tree i do think he'll ascend to some version of his younger self but with his experience so far intact and like his younger self doesn't have to be the pre- ever after, it could be him right before getting betrayed by alyx, we don't know

Neo and CC either die, get separated and neo ascends, or they just get left behind bc they can't even get past the door. Maybe ascended Ruby gets out of her cocoon and beats them up to an epic new song :)

The door leads to a weird remnant location or a vault, maybe to where the gods are and they get them to remnant. Maybe the door takes you to where you have the strongest attachment to in your home world, hopefully team RWBY don't get separated this way and we don't have another v4 type travelling through remnant arc again(not that it would be bad, just take a lot of time away from the main plot, it was good for v4 but it wouldn't fit at this point in the story)

I still stand by Lewis being an Ozpin incarnation

In fact I think the episode could start with an Alyx+Lewis getting to the ever after flashback like we did with Jaune

Alyx's ascension is either Juniper or the blacksmith but I'm more leaning towards juniper bc she wanted to help fix what she broke, starting with Jaune and her appearance has too many references to a rabbit for me to think otherwise. Also the blacksmith i think is part of the tree's inner ascension mechanism that keeps the world going, like the ever after's circle of life

Vacuo after credits scene! Pls! Maybe showing either team cvfy or sssn or both!

Anyway omg half an hour left!!! I'm so excited and nervous and not ready for the hiatus😭😭it's been an exciting journey and v9 has been my favorite so far, I can't wait to cry yet again.

Ok before today's episode comes out (ep6) I'm gonna write all my theories(keep in mind these may not be original from me, just what i think might happen) on what's gonna happen for the rest of the volume, kinda like a RWBY bingo card but I'm too lazy to do that so I'll just list them here, get ready folks:

Ok first of all ofc bumbleby major confession/romantic scene (hopefully kiss plsss) today

Here's how I think the kiss is gonna play off: soft bmblb acoustic version in the background playing with Blake's hands on Yang's cheeks, Yang's arms around Blake's waist and the most corny and punny and a bit angsty conversation/banter ever. And for the rest of the volume they're gonna be holding hands, cuddling, touchy feely, making every place they get to the garden where they go bmblb style

Jaune is the original rusted knight from the girl who fell through te world bc the ever after saw he was too late and now his purpose is to be too early or on time for everything from now on

Team RWBY will face their v4-6 selves maybe in the cloud bridge to instead of facing who they are now, what they will become/want to be - i think here is where the bees kiss will happen at the end

On that note, that encounter or moment might make them face current fears and i want Blake's momentary loss of yang when she fell to be brought back dammit

I think summer ascended and has been part of the ever after

Little is either the ascension of summer or penny

The shadow person behind alyx in the portrait/mirror in the intro is a past incarnation of ozpin

That or they are alyx pre-ascension

Alyx for sure ascended and came back to remnant without her past memories

Neo might be alyx's whitewashed ascension that came back

Ppl that want to leave the ever after but aren't sure of their purpose need to ascend to be able to leave

Summer is the narrator of the story from the teaser we got 8 months ago

That or the narrating voice is from Jaunes mom telling him the story when he was a kid as a flashback of how he knew the story and motivated him to be the rusted knight until team RWBY arrived

There is a possibility that there's a loophole to ascend while retaining your memories, like wanting a new role that is very similar to your current one and that requires u to keep your knowledge

If that is the case, ruby could find crescent rose but ask the blacksmith to reforge it and she ascends with a new purpose but with her memories (she could combine crescent rose and her mom's weapon ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)

Another possibility if there's this loophole, we could get them in their vacuo outfits early lol just wishful thinking

The curious cat might catalyze or prevent ruby's ascension

Neo could find the truth about Roman and then ascend and stay in the ever after

Crack theory but would be funny if it happened: since neo's goal is to get revenge on ruby rn, what if she creates a clone of her to kill and that technically counts as her fulfilling her purpose and she ascends against her will lol

After the bees kiss they better not get separated istg

We get a cathartic reunion of ruby and yang with summer

We get to see how summer fights with her axe in a flashback?

The original jabberwalker eats someone

That's all I can come up with rn but I'll add stuff/edit what turns out to be true and what not as the episodes air.

IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS EPISODE AND THE SECOND HALF OF THE VOLUME

BUMBLEBY KISS HYPEEE🐝🐝🐝

#rwby9 spoilers #rwby9 #rwby spoilers #rwby v9 spoilers #rwby #my post

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rosy-cheekx · 4 years ago

Text

Hypothetically

@aspecarchivesweek Day One: Wish

I wish to make you happy.

Jonathan Sims/Georgie Barker

This was it. Jon fiddles with the pale green collar of his shirt; eyes focused resolutely on the version of himself in the mirror that hung on the wardrobe in his student flat. Tonight’s the night I’m going to ask Georgie to…

He shakes his head to himself, wincing at the end of that sentence. He knows what he’s going to do tonight, what he wants to do tonight, what difference does vocalizing it make, even if it’s just to himself?

Glancing down at his watch, Jon chews his lip. He was meeting Georgie at the bar in thirty minutes. The bar was ten minutes away…He should probably leave now, right? In case he needed to find them seats or use the loo or if the walk ended up taking longer than the dozens of times he’s been there before? He doesn’t want to be late, that would just make everything worse-

Huh. He’s pacing. Jon forces himself to stop and stands in the middle of his bedroom, wrapping his hands around his sides, thumbs digging into his back, feeling his diaphragm push his ribs out and in as he breathes, focusing on the solid movement of his body. Why am I so nervous? His therapist had talked to him, years back, about identifying sources of his anxiety. He hates that it works, hates that it means confronting his own brain and acknowledging his faults.

Is it the bar? No. This bar, The Addison, is one of the few pubs Jon actually enjoys. It’s always got a bit of a draft so even in the busiest nights it never feels like the heat of the room is inescapable. Jon’s not the biggest fan of beer, per se, but he can knock back a pint with the best of them, so long as he has something in his stomach first, and the pretzels and beer cheese The Addison makes are his favorite. The thought of them make his stomach growl.

Is it Georgie? No. He has a lot of strong feelings for Georgie, feels comfortable being himself around her. He drops his stuffy academic persona and can be his regular, less-stuffy-but-still-academic self, the one who speaks to her flatmate’s cat in a higher-pitched voice but still with proper Queen’s English, because “they deserve to be treated with respect, don’t you Madame?” She cares about him, too, he knows that, and he’s enjoyed their months as friends and the past few weeks they’ve been a couple.

As a couple…He feels a twinge of anxiety in his chest that makes him flap his hands instinctively, a quick stim to ward off the impending doom building in his belly. Ah. Found it. He and Georgie have only gone on a few dates: a coffeeshop on a Saturday morning, and a movie night in Georgie’s flat, an evening which had been planned to be a movie marathon of Georgie’s favorite bad horror movies, the B and C rated films that were truly just a vehicle for half-naked women sprinting down alleyways and gratuitous fake blood effects. Any excuse for them to laugh over popcorn and predict the plot points, except Jon had fallen asleep partway through the second movie and had woken up the next morning on Georgie’s couch, a worn fleece blanket over his slumped form. But this? This was a proper night-time date, involving alcohol and a walk home and, Jon was sure, a “mind if I come in?” and it would be different because it wasn’t a friend he was talking to, it was his girlfriend and there were expectations and he was a virgin and didn’t want to disappoint her because he knows Georgie is experienced and she deserves to have a good time and it’s his responsibility as a boyfriend to do that, even if he’s terrified because he hasn’t before—

Woah. Jon takes a deep breath. That was a lot. He did a full Sims, as Georgie would say, letting things snowball in his head until he explodes. He closes his eyes, wringing his hands again, just a gentle flutter at his sides. It’ll be fine. She’ll understand. She has up to now. Georgie has understood his weird studying habits, his deep aversion to spiders, his need to be early everywhere, his sudden shutdowns and stimming habits and how he loves to be held and touched. She can certainly handle him being a nervous virgin.

Jon slips a condom in his wallet and then, hesitating, tears off two more and throws them in. In case he messes up the first time. Checking his watch, he sees its quarter to eight. If he leaves now he’ll only be five minutes early. Perfect.

The Addison is a healthy dose of busy on a Thursday night in late autumn, the hum of conversation and music floating over Jon is just the right amount of chaos for him to reach equilibrium, feeling enthused by his nervous energy. He’s sitting at the bartop, spinning the cap to his beer bottle, watching it whirl, whirl, whirl, clattering on the stained wood and spinning all the while. It’s entrancing.

Georgie is speaking to him now. She smiles warmly at him and feels his stomach flip. God, she’s gorgeous when she smiles. Her hair’s in braids this month, pink and orange weaved tightly together, contrasting with the tight black turtleneck dress she wears. He catches himself staring at her profile, the planes of her face animated as she tells him a story about her professor and his alleged vow to fail her this semester. His face is warm. See, he soothes himself, you are attracted to her. You’re just nervous.

“Jon. Jon?” Georgie’s eyebrow is quirked up and she’s smirking at him, like she’s caught him in a lie. “Everything alright? You’re staring.” Jon feels another rush of blood to his cheeks, prickling at how exposed he feels to have been caught up in his thoughts about her.

“Oh-uh, yeah,” he nods, hesitating before reforming his own features into a smile. “I-I was just thinking. Well. How nice you look tonight.” Georgie isn’t immune to compliments, he knows this for certain, and its reaffirmed as she ducks her own head briefly, smile shifting from teasing to soft.

“O-Oh. Thank you, Jon.” She sips her drink, preferring something a little harder than Jon’s beer, usually a vodka cranberry she can nurse throughout a night or throw back when she needs a little something more in her bloodstream, fogging her mind. “You look really nice too, you know. Your green shirt is my favorite.” She gestures to the button up and he nods absently, glancing down at it. When he looks up, her face is close to his, hand weaving into the curls by his ear. He sighs and leans into the touch, feeling a shiver run through him when they kiss. He tastes the cranberry on her lips, vodka on her tongue, her liquid courage enthusing him as well as her (not that she needs any excuse to be bold, really), and makes a choice.

When they pull away for air, he grins wildly at her, the face he makes when he knows he’s about to a very Not-Sims thing. When the bartender makes his rounds again, a pale man in a black button-down, Jon orders his own ruby-red drink. Georgie’s eyebrows meet her hairline as he does so, folding her hands together. “Who are you and what have you done with Jonathan Sims?” The chuckle behind her voice balances the sternness of her words. He just grins at her and takes a sip of his newly-acquired vodka and cranberry juice, the dry flavors curling on his tongue and making his head feel light and warm after even half the glass.

Jon is drunk. It doesn’t take a genius to see that. He knows he’s a lightweight and even the divine soft pretzels he’s been munching on since his arrival can only handle so much. He’s finished his second hard drink on top of the beer and is feeling properly light and airy. Like a cake, he giggles to himself. He’s having fun, chatting with Georgie about life and cats and uni and their plans for the future. Jon’s entertaining a couple of options, a few research jobs in London, and Georgie is poking his side, making him laugh as she teases him about his studying skills being useful for something more than exams.

“At least I have studying skills!” He says, pushing her off his side, linking their fingers together to inhibit her from poking him again. “You can’t ride my coattails forever, you know.”

“I won’t have to! It came in today.”

“What did?” His thoughts are clouded, edges of anxiety smoothed over into something more ignorable.

“My microphone! So I can start my podcast about spooky shit, remember?” Georgie squeezes his hand and finishes her own drink, far along as Jon in liquid consumed but not nearly as affected as he is. “I’m going to uncover the world’s mysteries and teach my faithful audience about the supernatural. I’ve got the title nailed down, too.” With her free hand she paints a banner in the air. “What the Ghost. ‘Cause it’s like ‘what the fuck’ and I can talk about all sorts of weird shit.” Georgie swears a lot, and more when she’s tipsy.

“Can I see it?” The words are out of his mouth before he can think them through. “The-the microphone, can I see it?”

Her eyes widen and she nods, “Oh, yeah of course! I haven’t been able to test it out yet, so maybe you can help me.”

Jon insists on paying. So does Georgie. They resign to splitting it, each vowing to pay next time and knowing they will never outsmart each other.

Jon doesn’t realize how drunk he is until he’s walking the five minutes to Georgie’s flat. Tucked into her side, the air is cool around his face, the wind an icy hand cupping his cheek. Everything feels smeary, liquid, warm. Hands in the pocket of the peacoat he knows he bought for the aesthetic and not to keep him warm, he fingers his wallet, feels the circular outline inside, and feels…nothing. Good. He can do this.

He’s always loved Georgie’s flat. It is warm, all orange and yellow lamplight, houseplants, and a cosy cluttered look. Her roommate exists only in residuals, the sneakers she leaves by the door and the dishes she does at odd hours more proof she exists than anything like conversation. Jon respects that. Georgie’s room is a lot like the rest of the flat, which means it’s a lot like Georgie herself. Warm, dark, soft, and scattered, with hidden elements of cat hair no matter how many times she cleans. Jon throws his coat over his desk chair and collapses onto her bed, reveling in how her pillows feel under his back. He takes a moment to greet the weird smile-faced stain on her ceiling before sitting up, watching Georgie fold herself next to him and open a carboard box, taking out a chunky black microphone with a USB cable. She brandishes it like a sword, before angling it to her face.

“This is BBC 4 with breaking news,” she intones into the microphone, putting on a crisp RP accent and lowering her voice an octave. “Ghosts and ghouls have been discovered at King’s College, Oxford, residing as university professors. News anchor Jonathan Sims has the story. Sims?”

Jon presses back his giggles and leans into the character, accent already pretty close to the posh voice she puts on. “There’s been an error, actually. They’ve been the students all along. Journalism student Porgie Parker has been found out to have been a ghost. These discoveries were made after her boyfriend, English Literature student…Bonathan Bims, realized she had never picked up a textbook because she couldn’t! Her hands went right through them!” By the time he’s gotten to the word textbook, Georgie has pounced on him, microphone forgotten as she wrestles him to the bed, alternating between poking and tickling him until he lets the bit trail off, voice a mix of giggles and pleas for her to stop.

When she lets off, Jon abruptly realizes the intimacy of their position. She’s straddling him, her hands pinning his wrists to the plush pillow behind his head. They’re both breathing hard, cheeks flushed, and smiling.

Jon isn’t sure who started the kiss, but it doesn’t really matter. His arms are wrapped around Georgie’s neck and her hands are cupping his face, cool to the touch, nails lightly scratching his jawline. The bed is soft and Georgie is warm, pressing in from all sides, and it feels good. This he likes.

She kisses along his jawline and he feels heart rate pickup, flexing his hands (when did he curl them into fists?) as she presses against his neck. He wishes vaguely she’d put her hands back in his hair, he likes that soft feeling of pressure on his scalp. The smile on the ceiling is smirking at him now, the curve of the water stain looking more vicious than it had earlier.

Her hands are on his chest, she’s unbuttoning his shirt. Her hands feel too cold now, the shiver running through him one of anxiety, not desire, and Jon is sitting up before he knows what he’s doing. Fuck. Georgie, the saint, backs off him and kneels beside him on the bed. Jon’s hands flit to the undone buttons, fingertips circling them, suddenly unsure what to do.

“Are you okay, Jon?” Georgie’s voice is softer, eyes searching his face as she wedges her hands underneath her knees. He watches her wrists, the swing of her braids as she cocks her head, anything to avoid her eyes.

“I-” he gestures to her vaguely. “Y-You know I haven’t before, right?”

“Oh. Oh.” Georgie nods, understanding maybe a little better than he expected. “No offense, but I kinda figured, Jon. Not in a bad way!” She backpedals. “I just figured, you know, there’s no rush.”

“I mean, there’s a little of a rush,” he admonishes under his breath. At her hum of confusion: “You know, the whole-” he gestures again, as if he could pluck the word from the air. “-third date…thing.”

“Jon,” Georgie sighs his name, voice soft and so patient, a voice he doesn’t think he’s heard used anywhere else. “There’s no rule saying what we have to do when. Or how. Or ever, for that matter. It’s no one’s business what we do except ours.” She reaches out a hand, waiting for a slight nod, before taking his thin hands in her own. “Is that why you drank more than usual today?”

Jon nods, feeling a sag of relief spread throughout his body. “I just- I want to make you happy.”

“You do make me happy, you twit. That’s why we’re friends and it’s why I’m dating you.” She presses a kiss to his knuckles. “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t need sex to be happy. Is it fun? Yes. But not necessary.”

Jon frowns, chewing on his lip and eyeing the window of her bedroom, tracing the rectangle with his eyes over and over again. “I-hmm.” Georgie watches him search for words; she knows how he ticks well enough to know they’re coming if she waits. “What if, hypothetically, I never had sex with you? Ever.”

“Well,” she gave his hands a light squeeze. “Hypothetically, I’d be totally okay with it, though I’d ask if you were asexual and make sure we had appropriate boundaries.”

“Huh?” The word draws him back to her face, the deep brown eyes that search his own. “Asexual. Like, no sex?” She nods, again, ever-patient. “Huh. Asexual.” He drops the pretense. “Maybe.”

Asexual. The word felt good as he rolled it around in his mouth. He traced the letters with his fingertips in cursive against his thigh as Georgie let go of him, rolling off her bed to pull on sweatpants and a t shirt instead of the dress she was wearing

“Let’s look into it, if you want. Together.” Georgie grins at him now, rye and warm. “I will have to ask you if want hypothetical crisps, because I’m hypothetically fucking starving.”

#aspec archive week #jonathan sims #Georgie barker #cw alcohol #cw internalized acephobia #/confusion #just some good confusing feelings #based on my own experiences? said who?#also! important note: Jon's stims are reflective of my own habits #just sayin #asexuality #ace #ace flavor: who knows? not even Jon

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littlemisssquiggles · 4 years ago

Note

What do you think of the idea of Emerald/Oscar? They have some soft moments together.

Hello Sweet o/ Well this squiggle meister is definitely on-board with the Green Team/Emerald City pair as a FRIEND-ship with Emerald being yet another proxy big sister figure to “adopt” Oscar as their close companion whereas the little prince in turn could finally provide Emerald with the strong and devoted family type of bond that Emerald truly wants and failed to garner from the villain side especially with Cinder Fall who she saw as a “mother” or close guardian figure who saved her from her former life of poverty.

Another reason why I like the Emerald City duo is because I’d like to think that part of Oscar’s willingness to believe in Emerald and desire to look out for her stems from him and Oz essentially fulfilling Hazel’s role of continuing to watch over her in his absence.

After all, it wasn’t just Oscar to be saved from Monstra. Emerald was too. Hazel Rainart gave his life to ensure that both Oscar and Emerald were finally free of Salem and since Hazel is gone, Oscar probably sees it as his right to stand by Em in his place; especially since he also owes her for his salivation.

Plus, a second reason why I think the showrunners may be pushing the Emerald City bond is because, ultimately, Emerald will become the next Fall Maiden; replacing Cinder Fall.

Think about it. Professor Ozpin was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Beacon Academy is the fortress secretly housing the Vault of the Fall Maiden which contains the Crown of Choice---the only relic that Salem couldn’t acquire on her own since the true path to claiming it still rests in Ozma’s memories. Memories that will soon be passed onto Oscar Pine who is Ozma’s current incarnate officially succeeding Professor Ozpin.

Even if Oscar gains the knowledge to locate the Relic of Choice; he and the heroes would still need the hand of the Fall Maiden to open the vault. And as it stands, the Fall Maiden powers still rest with Cinder Fall who Emerald Sustrai was a former affiliate of and whom she shares a bond with; whether Cinder dares to admit it or not.

You see where I’m going with this?

Emerald becoming the Fall Maiden after Cinder has been a headcanon for her that I’ve been rooting for since the conclusion of V5. Based on how things are shaping up and what is required to move forward, I think Cinder’s final curtain call may be drawing near and what would actually be most fitting is if Emerald is the one to deal the killing blow to Cinder.

As a matter of fact, it would almost be symbolic if Emerald is the one of all characters to be the one to put a stop to Cinder---not only saving the others from her but also ironically saving Cinder from herself. Emerald killing Cinder would be an act of mercy from someone who genuinely loved Cinder and wanted nothing but the best for her. And why I love this idea is because it would be a fantastic parallel to the end of Cinder’s backstory in the Midnight episode.

In RWBY V8CH6, Cinder’s path and descent in her megalomaniac madness was forged the instant she killed Rhodes. Say what you will about him as a character; Rhodes cared deeply for Cinder…even up until the moment she cut him down with the very same weapon he gifted her.

So with that in mind, imagine how fitting of an ending it would be if Cinder died the very same way she was ‘born’, essentially.

You can pretty much say that the person we know Cinder Fall to be was born when she killed her former mentor and the one person in her life that actually genuinely cared about her at the time.

So…imagine the poetic irony that would be for Cinder Fall to now die---killed by the hands of her own former apprentice and the one person in her life who genuinely cared about her at the time---Emerald Sustrai.

Imagine if…Emerald kills Cinder and Cinder gets a strange sense of déjà vu because not only did her surprised expression at being killed by Emerald reflect the one Rhodes made to her the night he died but through Emerald, Cinder sees her former young self---the side of her she discarded when she chose her path that night.

Cinder began her path with the bloody end of a blade through the chest of someone close to her. So for Emerald to kill Cinder the same way---even better if it’s done with her very own weapon---then that would be…downright perfect as ending to Cinder’s arc.

Apologies to all the Cinder Fall fans reading this post. The CRWBY showrunners have had Cinder dance with death one too many times. I myself have honestly been curious about how Cinder’s story was going to end in the canon. While I still like my Red Queen headcanon for her, I would be okay with Cinder dying if Emerald was the one to kill her.

NOT Ruby. NOT Jaune. But Emerald. If there is one character who would be most fitting to be the one to put an end to Cinder Fall, it would be Emerald.

Killing Cinder, especially if it was done in protection and/or aid of the heroes, would be the final nail in Emerald’s own arc of “switching sides”.

As stated back between V6 and V8, Cinder was technically the one thing still tying Em to the side of evil as she once remarked that she was only on Salem’s side out of her loyalty to Cinder. Emerald already left Salem but Cinder still lives as an anchor to possibly tempt Em back to the side of evil. But if Em were to be the one to stop Cinder, then that cord would finally be cut thus cementing Emerald as being on the side of good---officially in respect to her story.

Emerald helping to save Oscar and return him to his allies on Monstra doesn’t make her a “good guy”. Emerald helping our heroes take down Ironwood, help Penny and save the refugees of Atlas and Mantle doesn’t even make her a “good guy” either.

But stopping Cinder Fall for good---to be the one to put her down and essentially save everyone from the monster she knew Cinder would ultimately become if not stopped--- that, to me, would be the move to officiate Emerald Sustrai as a “good guy”.

Even better if Cinder were to plant the tough choice right in Em’s face. Imagine if…Cinder puts Oscar’s life in danger and orders Em to be the one to kill Oscar for her; like the devoted pawn she always treats her as. Imagine if…Em is placed in a position where she is made to choose between her old loyalty to Cinder as a villain or her newfound loyalty to Oscar as a hero.

Just as how Cinder was Emerald’s anchor to the villains on Salem’s side, Oscar is technically now Emerald’s anchor to the heroes on Ozpin’s side. So if Cinder forces Em to kill Oscar but Em ends up killing Cinder instead to save Oscar for a second time----this would be it. This would be the deed that cements Emerald as formally giving up on Cinder and fighting for the side of good; at least in my humble opinion.

And the cherry on top would be that killing Cinder causes the Fall Maiden powers to go directly to Emerald and if Emerald becomes the Fall Maiden---the maiden tied to the vault and relic housed in the school that is tied to Professor Ozpin whose very successor is her closest ally on the hero team---I’d like to think this would be a perfect conclusion to Emerald’s “arc”. I think that could work epically.

This is why I’m rooting for Em to become the next Fall Maiden. This happening would definitely further cement the Emerald City dynamic since Oscar’s new “big sister” or rather “cousin” would be the maiden tied to “his” relic needed to open “his” vault hidden in “his” school.

(I think I’d rather refer to Emerald as Oscar’s adopted cousin since I low-key like the concept of Oscar taking Emerald back home with him to Mistral only for her to be adopted immediately by his family since Emerald was an orphan who grew up on the streets and never truly had a family of her own but ultimately finds one with the Pines who willingly take her in. It FITS; dagnabbit.)

My one gripe with Emerald City duo though is that I wished it had better build-up throughout the series run. I’d be lying if the fact that Emerald and Oscar barely had any interactions prior to V8 definitely hurts the believability of them suddenly being close now with Oscar willing to vouch for the good in Emerald…even though he literally just met her like yesterday according to the timeline.

I know it helps the meme of Emerald “only knowing Oscar for 24 hours and would be willing to kill anyone who dares to hurt him” but from a storytelling perspective, I really wish the development of this dynamic had been delivered better. I mean I’m happy that we finally got the payoff of Emerald and Oscar becoming friends and seeing Em joining the heroes thanks to her friendship with Oscar…but it’s like eating a delicious cheese burger without the cheese.

You get to see the beginning of it and the joyful payoff of the end but the middle part that was needed to make it fully work is non-existent and ends up hurting it in respect to consistency.

While I understand that Emerald helped to save Oscar’s life---that’s not really enough to sell his sudden faith in her. At least for me. Can’t speak for everyone else. Since, like I said, we barely got any scenes of Oscar and Em interacting before she showed up to help get him out of Monstra.

The ONLY thing that’s canonically helping sell Emerald City to me is the fact that Hazel was shown to care for and look out for Emerald’s wellbeing in the past and since Oscar spent more time with Hazel; by extension; custody of Em was transferred to Oscar/Oz the minute Hazel died…especially since, he was technically the one forced to kill him when he sacrificed himself to stop Salem.

I guess I just personally would’ve liked to have seen these two interact more over the seasons, particularly for V8 while Oscar was imprisoned.

Perhaps that chance will come now that Em is on the team working with ALPN. And it would probably work even better if Em becomes the Fall Maiden. But for now that’s mostly just speculation.

All in all, bottom line---as I’ll say again, this squiggle meister really likes Emerald City as another close friendship dynamic for Oscar and Em respectively and I’m looking forward to seeing how this dynamic develops over the next season.

I’m curious to see how much more Em and Oscar can help each other as friends especially since Oscar still has own inner demons with the Merge to deal with emotionally and I’m especially curious to see how Em would react to reuniting with Mercury in Vacuo now that she’s joined the heroes---even better if she’s now the Fall Maiden after killing Cinder.

That should be a fun development but we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, hope this lengthy response answers your question, Sweet XD

~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #emerald sustrai #cinder fall #rwby volume 8 spoilers #rwby emerald city #rwby volume 8 theories #sweetgm2

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gmun-ooc · 6 months ago

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the seconding

You end up at the beach. It doesn't look like any beach around where you live, but your brain tells you it's that one. You know how dreams are. You want to skip stones, but now is not the time. You try to see if you can find your friends. No one is here. No one living. You're not sure if anyone is alive in this world. It's always hard to tell when you can't see your body in a dream like this. This reminds you of when you were younger, but you shoot down even the vaguest flash of that thought as quickly as you can. You are not who you were. That's why that's the past. Where were you? Everything is so hazy out here. You try to focus on the beach again. Are there shapes in the water? It's not supposed to look like that, right? The distortion is getting to you. Everything feels like it's slipping inexplicably. You feel so tired. But you're dreaming right now? You're asleep where you fell asleep, but you feel too tired to move. It's warm. The waves shift, focus sharpens. You see shapes you know. Right? Your ward's friend appears. You think. She is misshapen, but it may be the water. She's mangled and golden and honestly you would not have been able to recognize her if not for the screaming dreamvoice that lets you know things. You know who this is. You feel indifferent to it. You knew already. It was not unexpected. You swing your mind out for a second. Why? You just knew. Your mind winds you back, when you were in her house. Splitting her open. A million images of the gore you saw today flash before you. Elbow-deep in metallic organs. Your hands. They're warm. You look down, but do not see your hands. They are shaped like your hands, yes. You will not recognize them as yours. You won't allow it. They're colored, yes. Stained. Why won't you believe it? Why won't you believe me? You won't let it. These are the hands of someone else. You can see it so clearly. You animate the body of someone else, in this dream. These horns look nothing like yours, these are not your clothes. You did not walk here and you do not stand before the beach. Maybe you are with them in the water. You watch through the eyes of your killer. You know how they say you see your life flash before your eyes when you die? You look out through the ones of the troll who kills you. You ignore the purple of their skin when their hands are covered in warmer greens, amber, gold and ruby. The blood is still warm, you think. Everything feels so distant. You're untethered here. You look back, try to pick yourself out from the crowd of the dead. You see your friends, your neighbors, maybe. There's a lot in there. Lusii too. It's hard to look at, even for you. You don't see your self. You see your ward. The water comes over you. This may not be you, but that is him. You've finally failed him. Everyone found out. Everyone paid. What will they say about you? About who did this. You see him in the water and everything is wrong about him. You hope this is just the version of him contained to this reality. I need you to make a promise to me. About this. You'll be fine. You won't let it happen. It gets warmer by the second. Are the waves getting bigger? You hope they devour whoever did all this. You want to devour them yourselves. Maybe they'd look good next to- You wake up. It's still. It's not as warm as it was. You realize it was sweltering. You've never felt heat like that in your life. You shouldn't be able to. You get up, restless. For the obvious reason. You know who to check up on first. Your shadows dance, and you arrive at the door. You listen first, hopeful. Nothing is quite loud, but he was always quiet. You crack open the door gently, peeking in. You can see him. He is whole. He is safe. His lusus is with him, equally alive. Just asleep. They are both asleep. You put them to bed hours ago. The ice melts. You go back to your block. He's safe. You're safe. Everyone else will be. No one knows. No one is afraid. You smile. What were you so worried about?

*Wakes up from a dream where their hands were covered in the blood of someone they care for* Zur3ly th1z m3anz noth1ng. Haha.

#Speak.#Write.

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norahastuff · 5 years ago

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Funny thing about her plan though. She didn’t say anything about needing you

When did Bucklemming get so good at writing Cas. Or should I say when did they decide to start doing it consistently. There have always been good Cas moments in their episodes but I think between these last 2 seasons they’ve been writing some pretty decent Cas content that actually builds on his past troubles and experiences.

Cas’ arc this season is endlessly fascinating to me. I’ve spent a lot of time this season talking about how it seems everyone has a role, a destiny in this fight except for Cas. Sam, Dean, Jack, they’ve all been specifically called out by God/Billie as having a part to play. Not Cas though. He’s not a part of their stories and none of the Cosmic Beings seem to have any interest in him. Except for The Empty.

It stands to reason that The Empty would have this obsession with Cas. All it wanted was peace and oblivion, and Cas was the one who took that away from it. And now it wants him to pay for that.

It used to seem like The Empty was nothingness. That once an angel or demon was there, their sense of consciousness ceased to exist. That’s how Cas described it after all. In 13x06, when Sam asked him what it was like, he said:

“Well it’s dark...and nothing. It’s like nothing.”

There was always a hesitation when he talked about it, a hint of something more. And now, because of Ruby, we know why.

Ruby: This place is full of sorrow and despair, playing over and over again. Of angels and demons dreaming about their regrets. Forever.

Cas: Yeah I know.

God that’s horrifying. I mean seeing as we were originally introduced to The Empty as a metaphor for Cas’ depression and hopelessness, it’s very fitting, but still horrifying.

I think it’s the inevitability of it. Every angel and every demon, no matter who they are and what they’ve done are sentenced to an eternity drowning in sadness and regret. What about Hannah, who only ever did what she thought was right - both for angels and humans alike? Or Samandriel (Wiener Hut Alfie) who was kind and believed in Cas’ goodness when few others did. Or even Joshua? Or countless other who don’t deserve to be sentenced to such an existence including Cas himself.

We’ve seen the very obvious problems with Heaven and Hell that have hinted there may very well have to be a serious restructuring of the Afterlife, seeing as how the way it currently exists seems...untenable. I wonder if it may be necessary for them to address the Final Destination of the angels and demons as well. I mean Cas did make Ruby a promise.

What strikes me about this conversation? Ruby wasn’t blackmailing Cas, she was pleading with him. She’s desperate. And it’s clear by looking at Cas that he understands. I could be wrong but I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear about this. I mean we’re clearly not done with Cas’ story with The Empty just yet, and this whole thing may well play a part in that.

And then we return to the concept of destiny and how that’s currently informing Cas’ sense of self. He doesn’t have a part to play in this fight. Sam and Dean do and ultimately Jack is supposed to be the one who can end it all. Cas firmly believes that as was evidenced by his conversation with Dean last episode. And this week he even goes one step further by ordering Jack to (almost) kill him in order to further the mission. It’s very clear that that’s what Cas sees as his role in the fight: sacrificing himself so the more important players can fulfil their destiny. What was it he told Dean all those years ago? “Angels are warriors of God. I’m a soldier.” His allegiance may have changed, but that’s ultimately how he still sees himself. His only purpose and place being to serve the greater good.

It’s why the exchange between him and Dean when he returns is so interesting.

There is a fundamental difference between how they’re looking at things that Cas just isn’t getting. Cas is a tactician. He saw a way he could find what they were looking for. Yes it put him in danger but he succeeded. And what’s more, he’s not a named player in this fight. The Empty reminded him of this yet again: “Funny thing about her plan though. She didn’t say anything about needing you.”

If he has to sacrifice himself so the others can succeed, so be it. As long as they win.

But that’s not how Dean sees it, and you can tell by that last gif how frustrated he is that Cas doesn’t get it. A win’s not a win to him if they have to lose Cas to do it. He’s proven that many times over. But Cas hasn’t gotten that yet.

Cas needs to remember what made him fall in the first place. What made him lose faith in destiny and God’s plan. Particularly in this moment as they are running around trying to complete Billie’s tests.He needs to remember all those years ago what he felt so strongly he felt compelled to open up to Dean, a human he’d known for such a short amount of time. He wasn’t just a warrior...

I’m not a… hammer as you say. I have questions, I have doubts. I don’t know what is right and what is wrong anymore, whether you passed or failed here.

Cas is not a hammer. Not then, not now. Questioning fate and destiny was the right thing back then, and it’s still the right thing now. After all fate, destiny, the grand plans, -they’re not real, no matter which cosmic being is holding the blueprint.

And maybe, somewhere along that road Cas will realise he’s not just an expendable soldier in this fight. He is an integral part of the Winchester family. They care about him. He matters beyond any kind of cosmic plan. And Dean in particular, cannot carry on and have hope and faith in any kind of victory without Cas by his side. We’ve seen what happens when he’s not.

#oh cas #spn meta #my spn thoughts #15x13 #destiel #you deserve to be saved #free will's an illusion #don't even know if this makes any sense #i had an early class this morning #online but still #so i my thoughts may not be entirely coherent right now #long post for ts

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descendantofthesparrow · 4 years ago

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Harry Hook x La Bouff!Reader -oneshot - Different

Harry slammed his book shut and pushed it away from him, the book sliding to the edge of the table. He muttered to himself as he buried his face in his arms “fuck this, fuck school, fuck math, and fuck beasty boy for good measure” he growled, sitting up, grabbing his bag, and pushing back his chair. he stomped out of the library, ignoring the shushing librarian.

Back on the isle he never had to deal with this kind of shit, no cow-cu-les or whatever it was called, no algebra or devision. (math terms spelled wrong on purpose)

It was kill or be killed, steal or starve, math didn’t matter on the isle, only knowing how much you were owed did, and he never had to know that thanks to Uma calling the shots.

That was probably why he was comfortable as first mate, he was the scary one, the one who threatened and dished out punishments, not the one who counted how many rubies the Frollo’s owed them for protection.

He was failing all his math classes, failing English, failing chemistry, and he HAD to pass almost ALL his classes if he wanted to stay in Auradon.

It was known for all vks that if you failed most of your classes you would be expelled and sent back the isle.

Which was bullshit but Auradon was strict in its rules, he had even heard one of the Pan kids be threatened with expulsion for low grades.

But he wouldn’t be sent to the isle, he would be sent home…and the isle was Harry's home…so, it was the same in the eyes of Auradon.

Harry stomped out to the gardens and slumped down on a tree, next to one of the little lakes full of koi and turtles. Harry sighed, rubbing his face, letting his bag slide off his shoulder and slump on the floor.

“fuuuuck school” he muttered, his head falling back against the trunk, letting the cool breeze flow around him, listening to the water as the koi jumped around.

He felt a stray tear of stress trail down his cheek.

“Are you okay suga?” a light southern drawl of a girl suddenly spoke in front of him, Harry snapped his eyes open, staring into the kind (e/c) eyes of a (short/tall) (skinny/muscular/thicccXD) girl that stood in front of him, her face dropped in concern for him. “I saw that little show you did hun, I know that feelin, school drawin you down?”

Harry huffed and grabbed his bag, standing and glaring at the honey-voiced girl “none of yeh business lassie, mind yers” he pushed past her and towards the dorms, done dealing with people other than Uma or Gil for the day.

He felt kinda bad because the girl seemed to be showing genuine concern (like most Auradon kids, annoyingly kind) but his stress about school was his to deal with, he didn’t need some over concerned Auradon brat in his business.

Harry muttered to himself as he scribbled in his notebook, glaring down at his English book. He had an essay due in the next three days and he understood nothing about the subject.

He growled and chucked the book away from him, the heavy book sliding against the soft grass and stopping under a heeled boot. He burled his head in his arms and went still, teeth-gritting and his mind attacking him.

“hun, are you sure you don’t want help?” the honey-dipped voice asked again, closer this time, and just across from him instead of above. Harry looked up, eyes once more locking with the kind-eyed girl.

Harry glared at her, going to grab his book but jumped as her eyes narrowed and shook his book in his face “hun, I know the consequences if ya fail ya classes! None of yall deserve to go back to the isle over some failed classes, please let me help, you won't owe me anything over it, I promise” Harry sighed, looking at the now outstretched hand of the girl, he grabbed it, yelping as she strong armed him into a standing position.

“shit lass how strong are yeh!?” Harry muttered, staring wide-eyed at the girl, she laughed and grabbed his notebook and bag, shoving them into his arms and tugging him towards study hall.

“quite~ I work with my aunty at her restaurant~” Harry hummed and pulled his jacket out of her grip, fixing his grip on his bag and slugging it over his shoulder.

“alrighty then” he muttered, opening the door for the girl and letting her step into the hall first before following in after her.

(y/n) La Bouff, was the girl's name, and she had been….a much better tutor than he thought she was going to be, his Fs and Ds had turned to Cs and Bs and was no longer threatened with expulsion.

Which resulted in Uma hunting down (y/n) and inviting her to sit with them for lunch, as thanks for helping her first mate not be kicked out of school.

And like the sweet thing she was, (y/n) happily agreed….and now three months later was still sitting with them every meal and had been gifted an anchor necklace as her welcome to the crew.

At the moment he and (y/n) were strolling down the hall, making their way to their next class. Galvin suddenly slammed into (y/n)s shoulder, making her wince, Harry turned, glaring at the shorter teen and growling. (y/n) placed her hand on his arm and shook her head “ignore him” she whispered, forcing him to walk.

“Why did he-“ Harry was about to ask why he shoulder checked her before Galvin turned and chucked a balled piece of paper at (y/n)s head. “hey ‘La Bouff’” he taunted, giving a nasty grin “still faking your status? Have you told your pirate friends that your not even really Charlotte’s kid?” harry raised his brow��.this-This is what he was bullying (y/n) over for? That she was adopted? Wow, Auradon kids really had nothing better to do, did they?

“oh fuck off Gavin, at least my ma wanted me, yours is stuck with you~” (y/n) smirked, kissing her middle finger and blowing it at him, harry snorted and leaned over, coughing on his spit.

Gavin turned red, sputtering over his words, trying to find another insult “well-well, um-you’re just using the pirates to gain popularity!”

(y/n) pursed her lips, placing her hand on her chest “oh bless ya heart suga, I think you got me confused with your shallow self~ now why don’t you run back to ya little friends and go pretend to be better than me somewhere else where I don’t have to look at you~” Gavin turned scarlet, turning and running off, cursing under his breath.

Harry snickered, rolling his eyes at the cowardly boy and tossing his arm over (y/n) shoulder protectively, daring any more bullies to try to rouse a fight with (y/n).

“yer mighty impressive lassy” harry hummed, looking at the grinning girl, who giggled and bowed her head.

“thank you kindly harry~ I do take pride in takin them down a peg or two~” she laughed, wrapping her arm around his torso, pulling herself flush against his side.

Some Auradon kids raised their brow at the odd pair, adopted granddaughter of high-class wealth and the most powerful man in New Orleans, and the son of a pirate.

Their eyes drifted to Harry's new necklace, the shining gold hook swinging side to side as he walked, then to your simple silver anchor necklace, polished but obviously not expensive.

But the two of you didn’t seem to care, glad to have each other's friendship. That would probably turn to something more one day.

Which Uma did bet $50 on you making the first move so it better turn to something more one day or Uma would be out $50 bucks.

-end-

permtaglilst

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose @amorathegamingkitsune

@random-thoughts-003 @rintheemolion

#descendants #Descendents #disney descendants #harry hook #harry hook descendants #harry hook x reader #harry hook imagine

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alolowrites · 4 years ago

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Late Night Visitor

Summary: A mysterious stranger visits your balcony and accidentally leaves behind a priceless jewelry that they stole from a museum.

Author’s Note: I’m pleased to share the next story for @bnhabookclub Hero Camp Bingo event. The prompt I used was “Crime AU” It took a while getting this done because of work stress and having slight writer’s block (plus I kept changing the story’s direction). But really, it was because of how stressed/tired I’ve been the past few weeks. So, really sorry if it took forever posting another story.

It’s also my first time writing for Hawks, so hopefully I did him justice! He was the first character that popped up when working with this prompt. Please enjoy!!

Word Count: 2.3K+

“Ah! Hot, hot!”

Well, isn’t this just great? Nothing like accidentally burning your tongue during dinner to remind yourself how impatient you are—damn hunger. One hand flails to cool down your mouth. Steam dances above the hearty bowl of curry rice, the sweet smell of caramelized onions greeting your nose with a soft kiss. Bless the local 7-11 markets for selling quick and easy meals.

You sit criss-cross applesauce on the fluffy gray rug and scroll through social media for the millionth time. It’s been a slow weekend as yesterday’s news is recycled for today’s news. A random show plays on the television, but you don’t pay attention to the white noise. All your focus is on the phone, yet you still reach for another bite from your meal. How the rug stays clean during dinner nights at home is a complete mystery.

Sipping on your drink, you spare a glance at the balcony and do a double-take—a stranger is crouching outside. You choke, “Oh shit!”

Without thinking, you scurry behind the gray couch, not caring if the rug becomes messy. Your pounding heart is like a concert bass drum which echoes around the small apartment. The sound drowns out the show’s mindlessly chatter. Frightened eyes peek around the corner, and you whip back in full regret.

The person is still outside. Their back is facing toward the balcony door, and they are wearing a form-fitting black hoodie. Hands search for your phone, but they come up empty. Panic finally settles in when you realize it’s on the coffee table. Great, you moan as your head softly hits against the furniture—is the door even locked?

You’re faced with a dilemma: Do you stay out of sight until the stranger leaves or risk being seen while getting help? After much deliberation, you swallow a hard pill and growl at the ceiling, “If I’m doing this, I better not die!”

You’re like a soldier crawling through the mud with a drill sergeant yelling down your neck. You snatch the phone off the table, but make the mistake of looking up at the sliding door. Everything comes to a screeching halt as curious gold eyes stare into your timid ones. The mysterious visitor becomes more intimidating thanks to the balaclava mask—it covers the lower half of their face.

The intense staring contest last for an eternity. You nearly rip off the loose strands on your rug when the stranger approaches closer; they stop when you back away. Taking pity on you, they jump over the balcony and disappear into the quiet night.

A sense of relief washes over you.

Who knows what could have happened to you? Maybe your mom was right about learning some self-defense; the pepper spray is not enough. As you stand and dust off your pants, a shiny light catches your attention; it’s coming from outside. You go against your better judgment and tiptoe toward the balcony.

Your jaw immediately falls to the floor when you spot an exquisite ruby pendant. A sparkling round diamond sits above the bright red gemstone, a slight tint of purple hue lurking underneath. Even the platinum metal chain carries an air of luxury. It’s as if the gods carefully hand-crafted this entire jewelry themselves. In short, it is simple but elegant.

Sliding the door, you wonder if this is some kind of trap. After checking your surroundings, you swiftly pick up the accessory and snort, “Thank you for making me feel poor.”

Fingers glide along the gemstone’s perfect curves as you gaze at the sleeping neighborhood. Your mind goes wild: Who was the person with those haunting golden eyes? Why did they come to your balcony? And why in the world did they leave behind a beautiful masterpiece?

You have so many questions but very few answers.

༛༛ ༛ ༛��༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

“So, you didn’t call the police?”

“Um…no…?”

“And why not?”

“It was a mixture of being both scared and stupid.”

“Oh my—” Fuyumi pinches the bridge of her nose. You twiddle your fingers like a guilty child and sink further into the booth. Fuyumi had her suspicions when you texted her to meet up at the usual coffee shop near your apartment. It’s your go-to place whenever you’ve done something questionable, which is ninety-nine percent of the time. Plus, the café whips up the perfect batch of castella—her favorite pastry.

Customers stroll in and out of the coffee shop as piano music plays softly in the background. Roasted coffee beans linger in the air, tempting your nose with its delicious aroma. Out of habit, you push the castella closer to Fuyumi as if that would help soften the blow. She exhales, “Next time, please call the police.”

“Yes, mother,” you mumble much to Fuyumi’s displeasure, but she lets it slide. With the worst over, you bounce straight up and tap the table with an air of excitement. “Oh! Here’s the best part though, besides surviving a break-in—”

“The person was outside your balcony.”

“—close enough, but not really the point, okay?” Fuyumi rolls her eyes, and you fish out your phone to show her a picture. She takes a closer look as you ramble off. “Anyway, my late-night visitor left behind this gorgeous pendant! Why they were carrying this around is beyond me, and so carelessly too. I’m no jeweler, but I’m pretty sure those stones are worth a fortune—still beautiful, though.”

“Yeah, and stolen!” The white-haired teacher hisses. You blink, wholly baffled at her extreme reaction. Fuyumi whips out her iPhone with two fingers flying above the screen. She shoves it toward you, your eyes skimming through the article. The news delivers a sharp slap across your face as the realization sinks in.

Oh no…

Fuyumi bites her lip, “It’s The Grand Droplet, a priceless heirloom rumored to offer infinite life and prosperity. Police are saying the notorious thief, Hawks, stole the pendant last night from the Yutaka Jewelry Museum.” A few seconds later, she adds, “You have the pendant—”

“Shhhhhh!” A hand attacks her arm, your panicked eyes wandering around the coffee shop as if your cover got blown. No one turns their heads, but you shoot an annoyed glare at Fuyumi. “Why don’t you say it louder? I don’t think the barista heard you!”

“I’m sorry! It’s just,” she grips the table’s edge and leans closer, “This is serious! You have to bring the pendant to the authorities. See, this is exactly why you should have called the police last night! The longer you wait, the more guilty you look. Maybe you’ll even become an accomplice to the crime.”

“You’re not helping!”

“Sorry…”

You dramatically groan into your hands, “Why did this happen to me?! When I said I wanted to live like Larry, I didn’t mean this!”

“I know,” Fuyumi pats your head and sneaks a bite of her delicious treat; her phone chimes beside you. She checks the message before flashing an apologetic stare. “Listen, I have to take care of something with my family, but I hate to leave you like this.”

“No, it’s okay. I can handle this myself,” you pathetically convince her. “I’m sure nothing bad will happen, knock on wood—”

“The table is metal.”

“I said what I said!” Your fist aggressively pounds the table, scaring off some customers. A mother hastily pushes her child away from the chaotic scene. You calm down and sigh, “I promise to call you if I’m in danger, okay?”

“Okay.”

You nod before whispering, “Sorry, table.”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

The walk back home is anything but relaxing. You are on high alert, throwing suspicious glances at anyone coming too close to you. They could be undercover cops waiting to ambush you and interrogate your poor soul for hours until the necklace reappears.

But I didn’t do anything! I’m a good noodle!

You sigh as the key unlocks the door, your shoes flying off by the entrance. Fortunately, you hid the pendant in a safe place. All you want to do is get rid of this jewelry; it brings nothing but trouble.

Marching down the hallway, you grumble under your breath, “Stupid Hawks, and his stupid stealing habits.”

Everyone knows about the infamous Hawks. He strikes when one least expects him to, and somehow successfully evades capture after every heist. But Hawks always leaves behind his signature red feather as a little present for authorities—it never fails to rile them up. Hopefully, the cops show some mercy when you explain what happened. Maybe you should work on your puppy dog look before heading downtown, which might help you score a few sympathy points.

You find the burgundy jewelry box sitting on the closet’s top shelf and breathe a sigh of relief—the pendant is still inside. Not wasting precious time, you close the lid and exit your room. A soft click makes you freeze.

Standing by the balcony door is Hawks, who wears a black jacket with a white shirt underneath. His ashy blonde hair is lazily slicked back, a few strands sticking here and there like no tomorrow. Surprisingly, he lowers the balaclava mask and flashes a boyish grin, “‘Bout time you came home! I was getting bored out there.”

“How did you—wait, never mind. You break into high-security places to steal things for a living,” you say, shifting the jewelry box onto your right grip. “Listen, as much as I would like to stay and chit-chat, my day is fully booked. Can’t really cancel on these people, ya know?” You slowly tiptoe backward, an awkward laugh ringing through the air. “Let’s do a rain check; I’m free next week. Okay? Okay! See ya—“

“Hold it!” You halt on his order, a curse slipping out your mouth. Hawks strides across the floor, and you clutch the box closer to your chest. You feel as though your feet are glued to the ground, the nerves growing stronger once Hawks stands only a few feet away. He crosses his arms and nods at the box, “Whatcha got there?”

“Oh, it’s nothing special, really.”

“Can I take a look?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Um, because I don’t want to, that’s why,” you childishly snap and send him a dismissive wave. “Now, shoo! You’re wasting my precious time.”

Hawks chuckles at your feisty attitude. He finds this whole ordeal extremely amusing. You know who he is, you know of his reputation just like everyone else in Japan. And yet, you keep on swinging like a boxer with your witty responses. Still, he has a job to finish. “I’m not leaving until you give me that pendant.”

“Well, I hope you’re paying for half the rent because there’s no way in hell I’m giving it to you, Mr. Thief.” Two seconds later, you add, “Besides, it’s not even yours!”

“It’s not yours either.”

“Oh!” You give him a fake laugh, pointing one finger at your chest. “So the thief is criticizing me for having something that’s not mine? How rich.”

“You’re lucky I find you cute, but,” Hawks dangerously invades your personal space without giving you a chance to stop him. From far away, he doesn’t appear tall. However, Hawks somehow towers over you, which makes you involuntarily squeak. A wicked glint shines through his golden eyes as he studies your unique facial features. You suddenly forget to breathe when his eyes glance at your lips—damn him.

Hawks plucks the box from your loose grip. The hypnotic spell comes crashing down, and you loudly snarl, “Hey! Give it back!”

“Sorry, Dove,” Hawks keeps you at arm’s length, his gloved hand giving your shoulder a soft squeeze as he smirks, “I got a buyer who’s willing to pay a hefty price for this beauty. Of course, you are way more stunning, but he doesn’t need to know that.”

“Quit charming me!” You’re a blushing mess now and throw a pillow at him; he easily dodges it much to your dismay. Hawks’ cackles bounce off the wall, which makes you scowl. His fingers slide the balcony door open, and he tastes sweet freedom.

“Farewell, Dove!”

You have a deja vu moment when Hawks jumps over the edge. Your legs rush outside, and eyes frantically search the streets, but it’s no use—the thief is long gone. One hand slaps your forehead as you stupidly let him get away with the jewel. Feeling like a deflated balloon, you whip out your phone and make a quick call.

“Fuyumi…yeah, the pendant got stolen again.”

Stupid thief.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

You collapse on the couch with as much grace as an inexperienced dancer who steps on people’s toes. Work left you exhausted, but you’re glad it’s almost the weekend. You’ll definitely sleep in and have a lazy day on Sunday. It’s what you deserve after meeting tight deadlines and also talking to the police about Hawks.

Fortunately, they do not blame you for anything, much to your relief. It’s been about a week since Hawks broke into your apartment to steal back the Grand Droplet. Police have no luck locating him; they believe the thief is lying low until it’s safe enough for him to strike again. Where exactly is anyone’s guess.

A knock disrupts your thoughts.

It comes from the balcony, and you jump to your feet. No one is outside, although a flash of red catches your eye. Lo and behold, it’s Hawks’ signature feather with a small note attached. Oh, how lovely, you think before snatching the gift off the floor. Your pet name is affectionately written across the paper. You hate yourself for finding Hawks’ calligraphy impressive, but proceed to read the note.

Sorry for cutting our convo short—had a deal to close. No hard feelings, though, right? If anything, I’ll make it up to you, Dove. Besides, you still owe me that rain check.

See ya soon!

-H

You don’t bother biting back your smile.

Guess you’ll be seeing Fuyumi at the coffee shop again.

Fourth prompt is crossed off. Which one will be next? Stay tune! Thank you for reading!

Previous prompt: Cuddles

Hero Camp Bingo Masterlist

#hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #hawks imagine #bnha hawks #keigo takami #bnhabookclub #hero camp bingo #crime au

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sweetchup · 4 years ago

Text

The Hard Path

Type: Oc Story request

Word Count: 4K words

Warnings: Past abuse and PTSD

Author Note: I know I’ve been gone for a while. Not really any excuse except school has been beating me up. I hope @lelewright1234 likes her OC request.

“Oh, Great Gods from above. The ones that protect us and our families every day…”

Leah kicks the man to her right and attempts to escape. Though it was proven to be futile as she was preceded to be thrown back into the harsh muddy ground.

“Please accept this child as a worthy sacrifice…”

“No, let me go! Stop!” She shouts as the men forcibly drag her up the wet stone staircase to the altar, “Please anyone! Help me!”

Leah’s pleas and cries fall on deaf ears. She couldn’t tell if it was the sound of the downpouring rain drowning her out or if the citizens chose to ignore her. Though, she soon believed it was the later as the citizens from her village began chanting in unison with the great priest.

“Wang-go, Monster of destruction and creation. Please accept this child as your sacrifice and new holder.”

The great priest holds up a ruby dagger he took from his pocket. As he showed it off to the crowd, they roared with excitement. Though as soon as he lifts up his palm they fall into a deadly silence. Taking one last look at Leah, he swings the dagger above his head before plunging it into—

“Leah!”

Leah is startled awake and pants heavily. She realized she wasn’t there. She wasn’t back at her village.

“G-Gon.” The curly haired girl chokes out. Gon gives her a concerned look as he proceeds to sit down next to her. Leah tries to say something else in response but stops short of answering when a cold feeling hits her clammy forehead. Very startled, she looks up to see Killua on the other side of her pressing a cold water bottle to her forehead.

“What are you doing startling us like that, idiot?” Killua says jokingly. Though his face didn’t reflect that as he looked at her serious and slightly concerned.

“Startled you?” Leah slowly repeats mumbling. Using a napkin from the dinner they had a while ago, she attempts to wipe some of the cold clammy sweat from her forehead. Ever so slowly she seemed to be coming back to reality. She wasn’t back in her wicked village. No, she was on a blimp with Killua and Gon going to York New City. She wasn’t some sort of kid anymore, she was a hunter learning Nen.

“Yeah, you kind of started to fight in your sleep while mumbling something and all of a sudden a gigantic storm started to form.” Gon explains sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.” Leah apologies, though it comes out almost robotically. Unconsciously, she traces her chest over where her heart was, the whole reason she got chosen for her “gift”. Killua and Gon look at each other concerned before Killua lets out a soft sigh. Leah feels Killua ruffle her puffy hair making her look at him.

“Don’t apologize idiot. It’s not your fault you have some ancient disaster god or whatever in you.”

“I know you are right Killua. But still—“

“If you’re thinking of saying something about how you should have been able to control your powers better, don’t. Remember Gon and I are Hunters. Leah, we aren’t going to go down that easily.”

“Yeah!” Gon shouts, finally back in an enthusiastic mood. “Plus you’re our friend Leah. I don’t think you would ever hurt us.”

Killua and Leah blink together before Leah breaks let’s out a small giggle and Killua lets out a sigh.

“W-what? What did I say?”

“I swear you’re an idiot sometimes.”

“Hey! No I’m not!”

“Yes you are! After you went and fought Hisoka, you might actually be counted as a mega idiot.”

“I—“

“Killua. Gon.” Leah interrupts, grabbing the two’s attention. Giving them both a warm smile, she ever so gently says. “Thank you. Thank you very much”

Both burst out into a bright red blush with Gon letting out a cheeky laugh and Killua mumbling something unheard under his breath.

The cute moment is disturbed however, as all of a sudden a crackling sound comes over the intercom and the pilot's voice is heard throughout the blimp.

“Thank you for joining Blimps-RS for this trip. In about 15 minutes we will be landing in York New City. Please remain seated and remember to fly safe with Blim—“

“Hey guys look at this!” Leah looks over to Gon’s loud call and her eyes widen. Her and Killua scramble over to the window. Looking down the three wowed at the great lights of the city. Leah had never ever seen a city so gorgeous before. She had only heard in books at how magical cities were but she had never imagined, nor dreamed such a sight as this one.

Ever so slightly Leah smiles to herself. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be that bad.

“Ok so you remember what to do right?” Killua says for what felt like the 108th time in a row. Leah lets out an exaggerated sigh as she repeats what she had been saying for the last 20 minutes.

“I have to disappear for 2 hours around town while you guys help Kurapika with the phantom troupe. If I get into any trouble make sure to call Leorio. I also will make sure I don’t converse with any strange people because they will only have bad intentions for me.” Leah repeats, sassily imitating Killua’s voice at the end.

“Killua. I think Leah gets it. Let’s go.” Kurapika says, dragging Killua out of the restaurant.

“You better stay out of trouble, you hear me!” Killua shouts one more time before he disappears out of sight. Leah sticks her tongue out towards him in response before shaking her head. Here she was thinking this trip to get some video games would be fun but all she has been doing is being forced to hide from these “phantom troupe” people while the others go on a manhunt to try and kill them. She didn’t even have a moment to spare to check if there were any special books up for auction.

As she was grumbling to herself in misery about her bad luck, she feels a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she sees that Leorio hasn’t left with the others yet. Watching closely, she sees him reach into his pocket and take out some cash.

“Hey Leah. I know things haven’t been great for you, having to hide for most of the time on this trip. Why don’t you go buy something nice on this trip? Maybe a souvenir or something?”

Leah hesitantly grabs the money from him, “Are you sure? You don’t have to give this to me. I have a hunter license just like you and can use some of that money.”

“True but think of this cash as my thank you for being the only sane person on this trip.” Leorio says, slightly grumbling in self misery at the end.

“Okay then. But don’t think of asking for anything back later. I’m not giving you a single cent~” Leah teases out to the tall man. Leorio only shakes his head before leaving the restaurant to catch up with the others.

“Bye leorio. Stay safe!” Leah shouts out before quickly turning back to the cash in her hand. Counting it, she realizes she has more than enough to get a new needed book. Now just the question was where could she find one. Letting the thought sink in, she leaves the restaurant and begins to walk around the streets of York New.

She knew any new book would solve her thirst of knowledge, but it would be much more convenient if she found one about her powers. The books explaining her village gods and the chosen ones to hold them are few and far to find. Especially hers,.... Wang-go.

Wang-go, The god of destruction and Creation. Originally locked away by his brothers and sisters who feared him. He was locked up for centuries on end until eventually the chains that kept him trapped down began to slowly snap and break. Fearing for the worse, the people of her village offered the gods a vessel to lock him in. A woman with a type of heart defect, a husk empty heart. Now, per tradition, anyone who is born with a husk heart bears the burden of having Wang-go sealed away in them.

Herself was the most recent holder with the last being almost 6 generations ago. This makes the information Leah seeks few and far between. However,...

Sneakily smiling to herself. Leah searches through the auction menu. In no ways is she giving up. She will be able to master her powers and not just a little bit, no, she will figure out a way to perfect them.

“There you are..” Leah eyes a specific item on the auction menu. Zaviers’ ancient artifacts and wonders. On the menu, the store had just auctioned off a scroll yesterday that was only just 30 kilometers away from her village. So there is a high enough chance that the store had a book or artifact about her village gods.

Now all she need is to get there and search those shelves.

“Damn it…” Leah sighs, slightly frustrated. An hour had gone by being in this store and there was still nothing about her gods. “All I need is one book about Wang-go, just one book.”

“Wang-go huh~?”

Leah freezes up as someone blows on the shell of her ear. The next thing Leah knows, she is half away across the room and feeling slightly nauseous. She thanked her stars for practicing her teleportation power recently.

“Oh~ how exciting. You never do fail to amaze me, don’t you, Lele?”

“Hisoka…” Leah mumbles angrily under her breath. This wasn’t good, she remembered Gon and Killua mentioning to her that they found out he’s part of the troupe. Plus after seeing him fighting in the arena against Gon, she doubts she can stand a chance against his Bungee gum. Shifting her feet slightly, she gets into a readied stance, ready to bolt out of there when she has a chance.

“Now, now, I’m not looking to fight you. I’m actually here to ask for your help.”

“Help? Not a chance. Give me one good reason I should help someone like you.”

Hisoka let’s out a chuckle as he pulls a clear bag out from behind his back. He twirled them around with his bungee gum as he waits for Leah’s response.

“Wait a minute…T-those are…”

“Wang-go scrolls? Why yes they are, Lele.”

“How in the world did you get your grubby han—“

“Now, now~ I’m on a tight schedule. How about we chit chat more about this…” Hisoka takes the bag back into his hand before waving it around. Making it disappear in a cloud of smoke like magic, “... later~.”

Leah pauses for a moment, taking in her options before sighing. “Fine. But, I swear to god if any of this plan has to do with hurting any of my friends I’m out, you hear me?”

“Crystal~”

“Okay… so I know I agreed to help. But, why the heck is Illumi here as well?” Leah groans, scooching more into the corner of the backseat of the car. Hisoka lets out a small chuckle from the passenger seat but he chooses not to respond and continues to toy with his cards.

“Chrollo paid me some money for a Job and I need to pick up the rest in person.” Illumi says, his bug like eyes trained on the road ahead. Does this man just not blink?

Leah just decided the best option would be to ignore Illumi’s presence for now. Looking out the car window, she decides to somehow entertain herself by watching the little water droplets racing down the transparent surface. It was strange, the rain in New York. Mostly due to the fact that the city bordered a Desert.

Letting out a sigh, Leah thinks of the possible scenarios as to why Hisoka would need her. Well, she actually didn’t exactly need to guess why, she knew that he needed her for her powers. It was actually more for what. She just— Suddenly she feels her phone go off in her pocket.

Hesitantly, she sneaks a glance at the two men sitting in the front and sees them occupied in a conversation. Leah, determining it was safe enough, unlocks her phone. She bites her lip as she opens the missed messages from Killua.

From: Killua Hey where are you? The plan fell through.

From: Killua Get back here as soon as possible.

Leah blinks and knits her brows in confusion. What is Killua talking about? They planned to track the base to tail a specific member. How did that fall through?

Sent: Leah

What do you mean it fell through?

Leah’s blood ran cold as she read the next message.

From: Killua

The troope has already left York New. Kurapika also got a message from Hisoka saying that their partnership is over with.

Sent: Leah

Killua. Hisoka hasn’t left, I’m with him right now.

Before Leah could see what Killua could send back, a card splits the screen in half. Flinching she drops the phone on the car floor, watching it glitch and fizz out.

“Now. Now, Lele~. Let's pay attention to the situation at hand shall we.” Hisoka tells the young girl with a smile. Leah lets out a shaky breath and decides the best option would be to not test her luck for now. Fighting Hisoka right now would be a bad option especially with Illumi here as well to back him up if need be. Watching carefully, she observes as they drive through the maze-like outskirts of the city. After a couple of turns, they come to a stop in front of a train station.

Looking around confused, Leah mutters out “Why are we here?”

Illumi and Hisoka both ignore her again as they get out of the car. Hisoka comes around to the back doors to let her out.

“Hisoka! I’m serious. Tell me why we are here?”

Hisoka stares at Leah as she glares back at him. Somehow seeming to contemplate his answer, he finally says. “You're a gift.”

“Excuse me?” Leah stutters out as Hisoka grabs onto her wrist, pulling her out of the car. Hisoka begins to explain as he forces her to walk with them into the station.

“You’re a smart girl aren’t you? I’m sure you can understand this quite well. The boss has found out that I’ve had some connection with the chain user. So I’ve lost some… trust… with him per say.”

Illumi signals to Hisoka to go through a specific doorway, causing the three of you to enter an empty hallway with hardly any people. Even with the lack of people, Hisoka doesn’t relax his grip against Leah’s wrist as they continue to walk.

“I thought I was at a loss you see. I had lost the boss’ trust and lost a chance in getting so close to fighting him. But then I remember, your cute little face—“

“Don’t call me cute you narsistik clown.” Leah snaps back as the three of them return to a crowded area. Though after a quick look around, Leah realizes they are back outside yet this time on steel platforms with many trains coming to and from.

“Some just don’t know how to take a compliment.” Hisoka laughs unbothered by the girl’s offhand insult. He just continued on with his task of yanking Leah onto one of the train cars. “It’s just I remembered the Boss being so disappointed when he couldn’t find the chosen ones from the tribal areas of Aruni. Thankfully, I realized quickly that since I knew you are one of those chosen ones, the boss will surely find you interesting and in return, hopefully forgive me.”

Catching Leah off guard, Hisoka suddenly harshly pushes her into one of the private train cars before closing the door.

“Hey Hisoka!” Leah yells, stumbling up rather quickly from being thrown on the ground and tugs at the door handle. Though she curses under her breath as soon as she finds out it is locked shut, “Open this up righ—“

“A Child?”

A shiver goes up Leah’s spine as she hears a male’s voice from behind her. In a flash, maybe due to her instincts or maybe her training, she leaps to the other end of the cabin. With a hammering heartbeat, she observes the black haired male in the same room as her. The train car was not that large, so it gave her a rather good glimpse at him. Some being the cross-like tattoo on his forehead or the crystal blue earrings poking out from the tufts of his hair.

“Oh my. How interesting.” The man seemed to marvel at something and take a step closer. “What sort of power is going on with your hands?”

Quickly, Leah takes a short glance around and gasps as she sees her hands glowing and sparkling. She wanted to practically bang her head on the wall for making a stupid mistake as to activate her powers.

“Oh I see.” Leah takes a step back from the man as he continues to approach, “That’s not a Nen ability is it? I guess Hisoka wasn’t bluffing this time around.”

Ever so suddenly, the man pauses his approaching movements and instead takes a seat at one of the booth chairs. Gesturing to the seat across from him, he unnervingly smiles and says “Please, take a seat.”

Leah breath and heart stutters in unison. There was nothing friendly about that man's smile. It was like staring at the teeth of a poisonous viper, ready to sink its teeth in and go for the kill. Taking a gulp to hopefully moisten her dry throat, she knows she has to force herself to move. That man was not asking her to take a seat, it was an order. Cautiously she makes her way and sits down from across the man.

A thick silence enters the room as the man pours himself and Leah some tea. He takes a light sip of his tea but Leah doesn’t copy his movements. She can only stare at the hot dark black water in front of her. Even with her throat as dry as sand, she doesn’t attempt to drink it.

The man opens his mouth to speak but a loud whistle cuts him off. The main lights of the cabin suddenly shut off and the train begins to slow chug forward, now leaving the station. Leah turns to look frantic out the window.

“I need to go.” She breathes out, her heart beating faster the further they get away from the train station.

“Pardon?”

“My friends. They are still in York New City. I can’t—“

The man lets out a chuckle causing Leah to pause. Crap, what was she thinking. She can’t let her emotions get carried away. This isn’t some normal person she is conversing with, it’s the leader of the phantom troupe. A person with a class A bounty on his head.

The man takes another sip of his tea, finishing it off, before looking back at Leah. “I’m going to ask you some questions. Answer them if you can.”

Leah slowly nods her head. She knew she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“First, What’s your name?”

“Leah.” Her voice cracks a little as she speaks causing an uncomfortable feeling in her throat. In order to sort the discomfort, she grabs her cup of tea and takes a sip. Surprisingly, the man waits patiently before asking another question.

“What’s your god?”

Hesitant, she decides to answer it simply and vaguely. “Wang-go”

“Ah, The God of destruction and creation. Though most considered him to be a Monster due to him being predicted to look as a ugly mix of boar, man and crane.”

“How do you know that?” Leah speaks out. Such information was only known by city elders and holders such as herself. The man ponders for a little, taking a quick glance at the desert scenery that has come to view now that they have left the city, before getting up and grabbing something. Coming back, he places the bag down and takes out a scroll.

“Though I can’t read your native language, I had a native translate bits and pieces of it to me a long time ago.” He seemed to skip over the obvious part of slaughter some to get the scrolls, but Leah decided to not press into that topic.

“Do you know what’s in these scrolls, Leah?” Leah shivers. The way her name rolled off his tongue like they were old time friends was extremely disturbing to her.

“I’d have to read them. I was never allowed to look through them.”

“I see. Then, who taught you your powers? I heard they had to be trained and practiced over many years to use on command.”

“Well, I do have a book that I got a while ago…” Leah pauses for a second. She was in a tough spot. If she revealed that she hasn’t mastered her powers, she could be considered useless and killed. Though, she could also be let go instead. Was it a good idea to take that risk though…

“I see, so you're not well versed in your abilities yet.” Leah freezes. This was going horribly for her right now. She in no way was stupid or trying to make it obvious in her hesitation, it was just this man always seemed to somehow be one step ahead of her.

Being extremely on guard, Leah watches as the man leans his hand over to her. He strangely extends his pinky out to her. She gives him a confused look as a sudden lightning strike flashes on both of them.

“How about we make a deal, Leah.”

“A deal…?”

“I will allow you to use all of the scrolls and books I have to help you gain your powers.” The man pauses for a second and a serious look comes onto his face, “However, in exchange you will become the troope’s temporarily new number 11 and I will personally be in charge of observing your progress.”

Knowing she has no choice, Leah reaches over to agree but stops short when he speaks up again.

“I want your honest commitment. Not to force this on you.”

“Why? Won’t you just kill me if I don’t agree?”

The man hums in agreement, “Usually I would but in this case it would be such a waste to kill you. As well as the fact that it would be an honest nuisance if you agreed and tried to escape every chance you got. So it would be beneficial if you agreed willingly.”

Leah thinks for a moment. She knew the right choice was to go back with Gon and Killua as well as the rest. It was so obvious, they were her friends. Yet,... why couldn’t she just do so.

“Leah! Stay here! Killua and I can take care of this.”

“Idiot. You have to be careful, you aren’t as strong as us yet.”

“Don’t worry Leah. I’ll make sure to retrieve those idiots, just stay here and read a book.”

“Trust me, Leah. I don’t want you to come. You aren’t fast enough yet to go against the troope. You’ll just end up being an easy target.”

Oh… she knew why. She was just tired of being left behind again and again. She wanted to prove she was just as strong as her friends. She wanted to join them on their adventures as well.

Gon…. Killua….Leorio. And Kurapika. I’m sorry but… I can't continue to be left behind anymore.

“I-I. I accept.” Leah says, hesitatingly connecting her pinky with his. She shivers at his strangly cold hands touching hers. Even more strangely, like out of a movie or book, thunder and lightning crashes throughout the sky in that moment

“Excellent. I realized I haven’t formally introduced myself. My name is Chrollo Lucilfer but you can just call me boss.”

Standing up from his seat, he gestures for Leah to get up as well which she does as well. Lightly, Chrollo places a hand on her shoulder and begins to lead her out of the private train car. “I say we go introduce you to the other members.”

“Of course…

...Boss.”

#chrollo lucilfer #gon freecss #phantom troupe #Killua zoldyck #gon #killua #Chrollo #hunter x hunter #hxh #oneshot #oc

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liya4kar · 4 years ago

Text

Liyada’s Fics Masterpost

It was time I wrote a Fic Masterpost.

So for everyone who is interested by my fics, firstly I invit you on my AO3 where you can litteraly find everythng, especially since I don’t post the fics directly on Tumblr.

And if you want the details, here we go!

Also here the plan, because the post is really long lmao-

I/ Pokespe

1. Multi-chap fics

a) Three Years

b) The Magical Dexholders

2. AUs

a) Yorozuya no Lack-chan

b) Legendary Dexholders

c) Blonde Family

d) Yokai AU

3. Stand-alone OS and Drabbles

a) OS

b) Drabbles

II/ Other fandoms

a) Champion (Marvel)

I/ Pokespe

1. Multi-Chap Fics

a) Three Years

This one is my baby, the one I had been working on for 2 years and a half, the one I progressed the more in, and also the one I haven’t updated in a year even if I have 6 chapters ready to post, cause I’m lazy af. Also the ones where you can very easily see how much my writing progressed since I started writing for Pokéspe.

Warning: Graphic Description of Violence, Major Character Death (though this one is complicate and don’t fully apply)

Genre: Angst, Adventure.

Words Count: 69,567

Statut: In Progress

Characters: The whole Spe cast up to SM.

Relationship: Background Frantic, Entourage, Agency and Laverree, a lot of other friendships.

Summary: Some secrets should never be revealed. Or should they?

After a strange explosion, X and Y fear the apparition if a new threat for Kalos, and decide to get themselves implicate. But things are not as simple as they look, and nothing will go the way they want. And as those attacks take bigger scales and start to involve a large number of people, they would have no choice but to find the motive behind them to stop them; even if it means getting back on some bitter memories from three years ago they all would have preferred to forget...

List of chapters: Part I: Kalos

1. The Explosion

2. The Lumiose Badlands

3. Shalour City

4. The Attack

5. Next Action

6. Lumiose City

7. Blackout

8. Chase in Lumiose City

9. The Next Day

10. Couriway Town

11. Sunrise

12. Tic Tac

13. Terminus

Part II: Unova

14. A Day in Driftveil City I

14.5. A Day in Driftveil City II

15. Welcome to Unova I

15.5. Welcome to Unova II

16. The Twist Mountain I

16.5. The Twist Mountain II

b) The Magical Dexholders

This one is purely self-indulgent fic, where I basically write the dumbest thing that get in my mind. Aka some Dexholders become Magical Girls or Boys, but they’re dumb, but it’s okay because the bad guys, their friends and their world in general is dumb.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Parody, Humor, Friendship

Words Count; 27,944

Statut: In progress

Characters: The whole Spe cast up to SM, and some OCs

Relationship: Diamond & Silver, Blue & Yellow & Gold & Platinum, Green & Crystal & Pearl

Summary:

It’s an emergency! The Darkness Power Of The Terrible Evil has invading the Pokespe world and take over the region of Kanto! Some magical fluffy creatures needs help in order to stop the Darkness Power Of The Terrible Evil!

The day Dia met a strange professor fan of Magical Boy and a strange pink creature, he knew his life would never be the same...

In the meantime, Blue and Yellow have to face a terrible threat to get back their home, but get new abilities in exchange.

List of chapters:

1. A story is not interesting if nothing go wrong in it

2. If you are a Magical Boy, don't forget to take an insurance for building destruction!

3. If the authorities say that a radioactive cloud did magically stop at the border, you can totally trust them!

4. You can’t be a protagonist if you don’t have an ultimate move, a dark past or a secret identity!

5. No matter how good it looks on TV, sh*t stay sh*t!

6. An homage to a work becomes a fanfiction when it becomes an important part of the plot, you moron!

7. If you update on the 1st April everyone's gonna believe it's a joke, even if it isn't, so update on the 31st March!

2. AUs

Those fics are not multi-chap fics, but more like OS and drabbles that are related between each others.

a) Yorozuya no Lack-chan

Heavily inspired by Gintama, AU where Lack did not get back in Interpol and started doing odd jobs instead. Serie of Drabbles.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Parody, Humor, Friendship

Characters: Lack-Two, Whi-Two, X, Sun

Relationship: Lack-Two & Whi-Two, Lack-Two & X, Lack-Two & Sun

Summary:

When Whi-Two bumped into Lack-Two after months, she was not expecting him to went from Interpol officer to dog walker. And neither that he’d get her, and this guy from Kalos, to join he’s odd jobs agency.

List of chapters:

Dogwalker Lack-Two in action!

The Blazing Begining of Odd Jobs Yorozuya no Lack-Chan!

b) Legendary Dexholders

In a world where being a legendary Pokémons can be boring, the legendary Pokémons decides to have a little bit of funs. Shenanigans ensue.

Aka the legendary Pokémons decides to become humans, and of course they happen to be our favorite DHs.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Friendship, Family, Supposed to be comic at first but also goes on the character study sometimes

Characters: Silver, Giratina, others for next OS.

Relationship: Implied Preciousmetal, Blue & Silver

Summary:

List of chapters: Giratina

c) Blonde Family

In which Yellow, Pearl, Bianca and Y are all cousins. Shenanigans enssue.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Family, Comedy, Crime

Characters: Yellow, Pearl, Bianca, Y

Relationship: Yellow & Pearl & Bianca & Y

Summary:

Family reunions are rarely all peace and calm. But when, out of four cousins, you have three Dexholders and a clumsy professor assistant, things are bond to be messy.

List of chapters: To be a cousin, Don't listen others confessions or you'll end as responsible as them

d) Yokai AU

What if yokai existed in the Spe universe?

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Supernatural, Friendship, Adventures

Characters: Pearl, Schilly

Relationship: Pearl & Schilly

Summary:

Pearl had first seen them when he was four years old. And he had learned to live with this world only he could see, to maintain his balance of a normal life.

He had just not expected one of his junior to also see them.

List of chapters: Chilling Party

3. Stand alone OS and drabbles

a) OS

Here you can find the 1K+ words stand-alone OS. Links are in the tittles!

A Good Christmas Movie is Made of Hot Chocolate and a Fire-Breathing Cat

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Horror, Parody, Christmas, Hallmark Movie, Specord Winter Writing Event 2020

Words count: 4093

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Y, Sun

Relationship: Implied Laverree and Delivery shipping, Y & Sun

Summary:

Everything is perfect in Y's life. Too perfect, like in a Christmas Hallmark movie. Now, with a fire-breathing cat name Sun, it's up to her to find a way out of this Christmas hell.

One-shot wrote for the Winter Writing Event on the Specord, with the prompt X & Sun, Horror and Parody, My Life is a Hallmark Movie and PMD, and Chuck E Cheese's Ball Pit.

Celebi-rities in Distress

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Parody, Friendship, TV Show

Words Count: 5017

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Sapphire, Lisia, Ruby, Emerald.

Relation Ship: Background Franticshipping, Sapphire & Lisia, Ruby & Emerald

Summary:

Sometimes, it only takes a silly TV show, weird games and arrogant prissy boys to make a new friends.

Or how Sapphire became friend with Lisia to teach Ruby and Emerald a good lesson.

Bonding on the Grand Line

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: One Piece AU, Pirate

Words Count: 2948

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Pearl, Cheren, Sinnoh and Unova Gym Leaders

Relation Ship: Pearl & Cheren, Mentionned Commoner Shipping, Past Pearl & Diamond & Platinum, Mentionned Cheren & Black

Summary:

In a world where Gold Roger is still an unknow name, Pearl and his crew left North Blue for the Grand Line. But are they ready for everything waiting them?

Of Swords & Of a Gun

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: AU, Angst,

Words count: 4209

Statut: Two-Shot, in progress

Characters: Pearl, Cheren, Sinnoh and Unova Gym Leaders

Relation Ship: Soudo & Bede, Bede & Rose, Soudo & Schilly, Schilly/Hop, Bede & Schilly & Hop

Summary:

In a world where everyone has a Sword, Bede is an abnormality who has a Gun.

In a world where the Tsurugi family is the best blacksmith clan of Galar, Soudo fails to meet people's expectations.

In a world where they have to fight and find their places, will the two of them discover why they exist? Maybe the answer had been in front of their eyes since the beginning.

Pallet Association

Warning: Graphic Description of Violence, Major Character Death <3

Genre: Cyberpunk AU, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Kanto Week, Angst, Dystopia, May be a bit OOC for certain characters

Words count: 3637

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, Prof. Chen

Relation Ship: Green & Blue, Green & Blue & Red & Yellow, Green & Prof. Chen

Summary:

In Pallet City, one of the biggest megalopolis in the world, the Pallet Association controls everything. Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green decide that it needs to change.

But Green may have forgotten to mention a few details to them.

(This OS have two alternative endings because I couldn’t picke one)

Storytelling

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Fluff, Domestic, Comedy, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Johto Week

Words count: 2843

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Silver, Gold, Crystal

Relation Ship: Silver & Crstal & Gold

Summary:

Silver has apparently never heard a fairytale of his whole life, so Gold and Crystal decide to give him an express fairytale class. Turned out that it was a really bad idea.

Festival War

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Hoenn Week

Words count: 2843

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Emerald, Latias, Ruby, Sapphire

Relation Ship: Franticshipping, Emerald & Latias, Emerald & Ruby & Sapphire

Summary:

It's the summer, it's time for festivals, but with the Hoenntrio and their love for bets and contests, it could only go wrong.

Family Business

Warning: Craphic Description of Violence, Minor Character Deaths <3

Genre: Angst, Villain AU, tw: Drugs, Weapons, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Sinnoh Week

Words count: 3596

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Platinum, Diamond, Pearl

Relation Ship: Implied Entourage

Summary:

Because she was the heir of the Berlitz family, she will continue to develop their wealth and their power, no matter what it takes. No matter if the path she’ll take was full of blood and corpses and crimes.

Parent-Teacher Reunion

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, School life (but it’s still in the canon universe), Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Unova Week 1

Words count: 2638

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Cheren, Black, White, Bianca, Iris

Relation Ship: Agency Shipping, Cheren & Black & White & Bianca & Iris

Summary:

Did you ever wonder how was Black's school life? Well, welcome in this parent-teacher reunion where Cheren have some things to say about his childhood friend...

Crimes Movies are Sad Except When Everyone is Dumb

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Crime, Comedy, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Unova Week 2

Words count: 5565

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Whi-Two, Lack-Two, Hugh

Relation Ship: Whi-Two & Lack-Two & Whi-Two

Summary:

It was a normal day for Whi-Two. A casting, a murder, two former classmates coming from nowhere... ... Wait, what?

Strength

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Character Study, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Kalos Week

Words count: 2198

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: (Malva’s) Delphox, Trevor, Furfrou, Floette

Relation Ship: Delphox & Trevor, Delphox & Furfrou & Floette

Summary:

Delphox was strong. Malva was strong, too, but Malva's had lost, so Malva was weak.

Delphox had lost too, but she could not admit she was weak too.

No, she was strong.

It was the boy who was weak.

Treasure

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Negative Spe AU, Adventure, Friendship, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Alola Week

Words count: 1649

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Sun, Moon

Relation Ship: Sun & Moon

Summary:

Sun always liked helping at the soup kitchen, seeing the smile and laughs of everybody around him, but the lunch breaks were always the best moment.

Too bad that this girl decided to ruin this one.

The Child of the Outdoor

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Character study, pre-canon, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Galar Week

Words count: 1317

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Schilly, her Pokémons

Relation Ship: Schilly & her Pokémons

Summary:

Schilly always loved outdoors. It was joy, fun and great memories. It was her Pokémons, too.

Professor Santa

Collab with @coppertrapinch for the Specord Secret Santa Event! (Check her work she’s amazing!)

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, Christmas, Specord Secret Santa Event 2021

Words count: 3623

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Prof. Oak, Prof. Birch, Prof. Samson Oak, Prof. Rowan, Prof. Juniper, Crystal, Gold, Sapphire, Trevor, Soudo, Schilly, Prof. Magnolia

Relation Ship: Prof. Oak & his need for a break

Summary:

Something was bound to go wrong with Gold organizing a party... but a Secret Santa on top of that? Poor Crystal was just too stressed at work... it was time for Professor Oak to step up to the plate. Can the renowned Professor save Christmas in time without gaining another wrinkle?

...No. No he cannot.

The Christmasly Idiotic Adventures of Pearl and Lack-Two, or the time when two idiots stopped an evil organization while being on a gift hunt

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, Christmas, Specord Secret Santa Event 2021, Crime (??), Adventure

Words count: 5326

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Pearl, Lack-Two

Relation Ship: Pearl & Lack-Two

Summary:

Pearl liked Christmas. Really. Well, except when some (false) "Gift Fashion Specialist Journalist" disturbs all his plans and ruins his gift hunt. Why do he has to get a present for such a brat anyway?

Screw up Secret Santa! This year, we're gonna kick some ass for Christmas!

b) Drabbles

Ok no big presentation here cause it’s only very short drabbles (>1K words)

Valentine Day 2020: Laveree Shipping

Valentine Day 2020: Entourage Shipping

X teachs incorrect French words to Gold

Crystal is scary and very powerful

Soudo and Chilly don’t like they English localized name, and Marvin is too young for this

II/ Other fandoms

a) Champions (comics)

Heat-Haze Days

Warning: Graphic Description of Violence, Major Character Death <3

Genre: Angst, inspired by the Kagepro song “Kagerou Days”, Time loop

Words count: 4213

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Miles Morales/Spiderman, Kamala Khan/Miss Marvel, Sam Alexander/Nova

Summary:

It was a normal summer day, everything was fine... But the heat of haze had decided otherwise, and it was up to Miles to try to find a way out.

14 notes · View notes

spookyspaghettisundae · 3 years ago

Text

What Would Follow the Healing

The warrior's axe trailed behind him in the dirt, dragged by a weary hand too weak to lift it any longer. He lurched and stumbled, weary not from the sun's relentless rays beating down upon his bare bronzed torso, but from the numbness that gripped his body.

A shambling gait to keep moving forward, ever forward, was the most strength he could summon. Gravel crunched underneath his sandals, and he kicked up dust whenever he tripped, oblivious to the pain throbbing from the snakebite in his calf—to the venom that had long spread throughout every limb.

At this crawling, miserable pace, he had wandered the desert for long enough to have lost all sense of time and expected death to greet him any moment now. Yet he wanted to live. To fight another day. To not perish to the bite of some lowly creature after having braved so many battles for his god against able-bodied men.

His pride—his determination—allowed him to hold on. He wiped the sweat from his brow and paused to catch his ragged breath. He coughed through chapped lips, hacking, wheezing, reeling, and almost keeling over.

The world blurred until he squinted hard enough to spot his destination. He blinked and struggled to see past the distortion of unbridled heat rising from the scorched tawny rocks and sands. To see where he had lumbered off towards to seek his only hope at salvation.

Where the grounds sloped down, a beautifully shimmering stream emerged from jagged stone and mounted into a rippling pond, around which a small oasis of palm trees had arisen. A thin plume of smoke trailed into the skies from the chimney of a quaint sandstone hovel, squat on the edge of the oasis.

The Witch Crossing.

He picked up his pace, driven by hope again.

Loose rocks tumbled down and he caught himself upon some dried exposed roots as he descended the final slope to the tiny dwelling. The stones cracked and clattered and rolled down alongside him and one of the rocks bounced off the trunk of a palm tree. His axe lazily clanged against a rock as he marched on, finding new vigor and energy even if he could not shrug off his awful condition, no matter how much he tried to will it away.

Only as he neared the dingy little shelter did his impaired vision afford him glimpses of more unsettling details: stacks of bleached human skulls bunched together upon piles of stones, animal skeletons crudely roped together with coarse twine to form strange magick fetishes, and eerie arcane symbols etched into boulders with the sharp edges of simple stone tools.

Halfway across the oasis, she suddenly appeared.

The witch.

He had blinked, certainly; fighting with all his might to stay awake and alert, no doubt; but in one moment, the cloth curtain covering the entrance to the witch's hovel had stood closed, and in the next, she stood in front of it, staring at him through wide eyes.

Amber, piercing, unblinking, more unsettling than the strange decor that surrounded her eerie abode. Her olive skin was covered in dirt and black hand-painting that matched the glyphs upon the stones, contrasting those bright and cruel eyes.

Her attire took him aback, for she wore nothing but a skirt of hide and vulture bones, breasts bare for him to lose focus on.

"What is it you seek here, pilgrim?" she asked. Raspy was her voice, authoritative her speech, hungry in a way—reminiscent of smoke and the crackle of embers exploding from a fire. "Are you so daft to not heed any warnings?"

He coughed and his knees wobbled, and he did his best to remain standing.

He knew that she knew. Her piercing gaze said it all, wandering up and down his figure and studying him.

She knew what condition he was in.

He looked like death.

"A snake bit me," he said.

She scoffed. "Yes. I see that."

Between more ragged breathing and the ensuing silence growing longer and longer, a twinge of anger welled up in his gut, making his heart beat even faster yet, and leaving his vision clearer than from before the venom starting to dull his senses.

"Then help me, witch! I have treasure! I have gold. You can have anything you want from me," he said, wheezing in between the last words.

"Anything?" she said with a smug smirk.

"Anything!"

He pawed at the tiny pouch hanging from his belt. Fingers fumbled with the knotted cord that kept it by his side, then gave up. He furiously ripped at it and the string snapped. He tore the little leather satchel open and emptied its clinking contents onto the ground. Coins of different color and bearing many different crests, and a small emerald and a beautiful ruby, they all glittered and sparkled in the sun as they plummeted down, landing softly in the sand.

The smug smirk vanished from her visage.

"Fool. Am I to scoop that up from the dirt like a dog?" she said, glaring at him.

Her face never flinched. The dried black paint upon her face lent her statuesque features a fierce and fearsome air.

With a groan, he dropped to his knees and hastily started gathering the coins and gems again.

"I don't want your riches," said the witch. "What would I spend them on, fool? Those who share your creed are the ones that drove me out here. I do not trade with the people you call 'civilized'. Your coin is worthless to me."

He groaned again. Slammed a fistful of coins into the dirt. Then he met her cruel stare with an angry glare of his own.

"Then name your damned price. Is this not Witch Crossing?"

She arched a brow and asked, "Which crossing?"

"Witch Crossing. Witch doctor, are you not?"

"Which doctor?"

Though her play on words was lost on him, he knew she was mocking him.

Though the jumble of emotions and the torrent of pain afforded him no space to let go and relax, lest he lose his consciousness and die miserably without her aid, he knew better than to offend her. Likely, she reveled in the power she currently held over his life, like a sword hanging from a thread that dangled above his head.

Right now, she was the only thing standing between him and the jaws of death. The hollow eye sockets of skulls piled up nearby stared back at him, empty and uncaring and foreboding of the grim fate that awaited him.

He shouted at her, "Enough, woman! Do not mock me! I have slain capable warriors!"

"And you threaten to kill me before I can heal you? You are truly a foolish fool, pilgrim."

"I am no pilgrim," he said, sighing with resignation. Breaking eye contact, for she truly held all the power. He was at her mercy. "I am of the warriors who hunt down the savage cult of serpent-worshippers out here."

"Yes, I recognize the bronze symbol you wear around your neck, you fool. Martyr. Martyr and fool. You martyrs are all fools."

"Watch your tongue," he hissed at her.

His vision immediately blurred. Did she grin again in response to his threats? Or did his words simply not reach her, unable to penetrate a black heart devoid of all mercy?

"A cult hunting a cult, nothing of which I should concern myself with. Do you reckon I should draw their ire by aiding you?"

"Please," he begged.

He clasped his hands together, almost as whenever he did in prayer before the imposing statues of his god. Just as empty then, his gesture was empty now—all self-serving. Only a hoarse rasp escaped his throat, and words failed him.

She, however, continued to chide him, "Or must I expect your fellow faithful to march upon my home to harass me if I leave you out here to waste away from your own stupidity?"

"Please. Heal me," he croaked.

She suddenly stood closer. Had he even blinked? Having disappeared from her doorstep to standing suddenly in front of him, ten paces closer, eliciting a surprised gasp from him. He fell back, too much weight coming to rest upon his swollen leg—it had doubled in size since suffering the bite—and he emitted a piercing shout of pain before crumpling onto his side in response.

She crouched down beside him and grabbed him by his cheeks, squeezing and scrunching his face uncomfortably in between the fingers of one hand and her thumb as she wrenched his face around to stare into his eyes, up close.

He dared not resist. The sharp reminder, the throbbing agony flaring up from his snake-bitten calf, it pressed him to be wiser about crossing the savage witch of Witch Crossing.

In this unforgiving desert, where the snake worshippers reigned supreme and he had lost all his companions in battle against the heathens, this lonesome witch now posed his only hope.

After piercing his soul with her baleful gaze, she sneered at him and released him from her grip.

"Savage is what you call me."

"I have never," he protested. But not too loudly.

It was true that he had never named her thus—out loud. In his thoughts, however, that was exactly what she was to him.

Hex-bearer. Poison-maker. Child-slayer. Beast-lover. Man-eater.

"But your kin have, and you would ape their words in a heartbeat, just like you all ape your prayers to a god that never answers."

He bit his tongue.

She said, "Answer me honestly, for your life depends on it. Were the tables turned, would you aid me if I beseeched you?"

He swallowed, and it felt like swallowing a handful of gravel and grit. Her stare drilled deeper into his soul, and he knew better than to lie.

"No," he finally breathed.

Said the witch, "Truth. You would laugh in my face and leave me to rot among the sands and the beasts."

"And you would have me die like this? To right a wrong before it is even committed?"

He pleaded with her. With every fiber of his pain-wracked being, he pleaded. Not even by words, but by appealing to whatever shred of goodness might be left over in the darkest reaches of her being. He pleaded with his eyes, with his continued kneeling before this unbeliever.

"You are useless to me. I cannot even eat you, as envenomed as you are," she said.

She grinned at him. Toothy, bright white teeth, flawless. Too perfect for one who was said to taste human flesh. A grin that did not reach her eyes, all wicked and marveling at the pain that had brought him this low before her.

These were no idle words, he sensed. She truly ate people.

This was why they called her savage. Witch.

Monster.

The grin faded from her lips, hiding her teeth again. Could she read his thoughts?

"Perhaps you can be useful after all," she said. "If you do one thing for me, I shall do one thing for you. Your coin is of no use to me, but the arm that wields your axe may serve another purpose. It still holds strength and can carry your sorry hide on one more quest."

He gasped. Neither in confusion nor in pain, but in surprise.

"Name it," he breathed. Swallowing another lump in his throat.

The chance of living dangled in front of him while he spotted a mirage on the horizon. A gleaming light, a vision of his god, beckoning him to march on as bravely as he ever had. All in his mind, he understood, but it was his hope manifesting.

"Please, tell me what to do," he begged, focusing on meeting her unsettling gaze once more.

She pointed down the stream that crossed her oasis.

"There is a cave downstream. Follow the flow of water and you cannot miss it. In that cave dwells a beast, as strong as three men and all tooth and fang. Bring me its head. And I will heal you."

The shining light of his god on the horizon faded, making way to the shadow of death, creeping closer towards him once more.

"Y-you—you are out of your mind. As strong as three men? I am but one, and not even at full strength with this snakebite," he said, shaking his head. Breaking eye contact.

So close to salvation, yet so far. The silence she left to drape over them was deafening.

Motes of sand carried by the breeze lazily swept over them. Wind howled through the hollow of the skulls and the witch's hovel.

The skulls smiled at him. Mocked him just like she did.

Meeting her gaze again, he nodded in resignation. Unlike the skulls, she did not grin any longer, but the derision in her very existence got to him. It fed the anger in his belly. The futility of releasing it upon her was abundantly clear to him, only shoveling more coal into the flames of his impotent rage.

Yet—he now reckoned he could always kill her after she healed him.

He nodded again and groaned as he gripped one of the glyph-covered boulders and heaved himself back up onto his feet, swaying and wobbling where one of his legs failed to support him and his body threatened to stop obeying him altogether.

She helped him stand. Calloused fingers grazed his shoulder with surprising softness, sending tingles down his spine. To his surprise, she folded his fingers around the grip of his axe, ensuring that he held it firmly.

No more of her awful grins saw him off.

Instead, she pointed down the stream, prompting another nod from the warrior, for it took him more than a second to regain his sense of vision and discern which way the water flowed. The world spun around him in his dizziness, and every finer detail blurred into the bright sun's blinding light.

Though his hand gripped the axe more fiercely now, the weapon's blade soon trailed behind him in the dirt again, dragged in a weary hand too weak to lift it any longer, the head of the axe now scraping against rock and sand until he reached the edge of the water.

He lurched and stumbled downstream. By the time he was out of earshot from the witch, he recoiled and then bent forward, emptying his stomach of its contents, splattering the naked rock before him with his vomit.

The wind howled again, carrying dust across the rocky desert.

Once his shambling gait had carried him over the bend of several boulders, out of sight from the witch, she smiled to herself.

She smiled because she harbored no hopes of him ever slaying the beast. The saber-toothed cat that lived in that cave was her beloved pet. She had reared it from the day it had been a whelp.

She had lied as much as she could to the warrior-zealot, reckoning that he would have killed her once she healed him. The witch could have ended his life once he laid down to rest and eaten the warrior with ease; the venom in his flesh would not have harmed her. Nor would it harm her beloved cat.

However, she relished the thought of providing her pet with an easy snack.

She disappeared back into her hovel to continue working on her stew.

The warrior would never be seen again.

—Submitted by Wratts

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jq37 · 5 years ago

Text

The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 10 Blood and Bread

Come Together

Welcome back and I hope you took advantage of the opportunity to catch your breath because the Rocks family is granted no such reprieve. Fresh off the heels of Jet’s tragic murder by Ciabatta and Calroy answering the question of whether a cake can coup, we pick back up with Theo who’s foiled his imprisonment by making use of the skills Lazuli taught him and magically busting down the door. Then, he makes use of his other knight skills and absolutely eviscerates the shocked guards outside.

He runs for the King’s quarters and, obviously, doesn’t find Amethar as he’s in a smoking crater outside, but he does run into Caramelinda who he immediately informs of the situation as best he can. Cara is confused, even as guards (Cal’s men) show up and start firing on them. She tries to get them to stop on her royal authority but Theo hears a lot more soldiers coming on a Nat 20 Insight and is like, “We need to go.” Cara does her own Insight check and has the good sense to follow him.

They run and Theo takes her into a little secret door in one of the hallways. Just in time too, because Cal walks by all camp-y kids movie villain, clearly telegraphing his intention to kill Cara, and tries drawing her out by saying some bait-y stuff about Amethar but Theo says they should ignore it and they escape down a spiral staircase instead of confronting Cal.

Meanwhile, Ruby (still Invisible) runs across the bridge, feels Jet pass, and keeps running, all the way to the standing stones of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

“Bring her back,” she demands, tearfully. “I know you can bring her back. What is the point of having magic if I can’t bring her back. Please.”

The SPF appears and gently says that the nature of the world is such that she can’t bring Jet back. However, it may be possible to bring them to Jet. Go north to the Stone Candy Mountain, she says. That’s where she is and where her sister is waiting.

Ruby then sneaks her way back to the castle, and sees Kerradin on his way there with about 30 knights. On double Nat 20s, when she gets to the castle, she clocks her dad immediately. Cumulous (who was also in the general area Ruby just came from and can now see where she is based on the glow of her magic, though he doesn’t know it’s her) also sees Amethar. Ruby, horrified at the thought of losing both her sister and father within about five minutes, runs to him.

Liam, still in the lingerie shop, hears Ciabatta wonder where the “witch boy” (Liam himself) went and also gives away some plot info for free: Alfredi has been hanged and she was apparently the only person skilled enough to make watersteel daggers. They’re fresh out. They leave and Liam pops out of the Rope Trick. He checks the glowing chest and sees that all that’s in there is a glowing rock--ambush bait. He then wraps Jet’s body in tasteful lingerie (sure), puts it in a cabinet for later retrieval, and takes her sword and locket for Ruby before stealthing away to find the others.

Amethar, fallen but not Fallen, unsteadily picks himself up, just in time to see the magic glow of his invisible daughter’s footsteps approaching him. “Pops, it’s me,” she says, voice wavering. “I think Jet is dead.” Amethar gives her a huge dad hug as she channels some of his barbarian energy, vowing to kill whoever did this, and their children, and drown their lands. The very stealthy Liam and Cumulous also show up for this--Liam joining the hug and Cumulous just announcing his presence awkwardly when his name is mentioned.

Liam lets them know where Jet’s body is and also gives Jet’s things to Ruby. Ruby takes the sword but haltingly insists that Liam keep the locket--it won’t work alone, and besides, Jet would want him to have it.

Cara and Theo pop out of the secret tunnel and the kids instantly Perception/Insight check her (no doubt feeling burned after Cal’s betrayal). Ruby, on a 23, gets nothing sinister--it’s just her extremely freaked out mom. With that reassurance, she reveals that Jet is dead and Liam chimes in that it was Ciabatta and his men. Liam accusatorily mentions the letter that got them ambushed and Cara claims to not only not know about the letter, but to not know the lingerie lady at all.

Ruby lets everyone know that Kerradin is on his way and Cara says that most of the Castle Candy soldiers have been sent to Castle Many Licks on Cal’s orders. It’s mainly just Cal’s men in the castle--the castle that is currently being redecorated with House Cruller banners. Translation: They’re F’d.

Amethar remembers that Manta Ray Jack is still in the harbor and--after talking Liam out of going rogue and tracking Kerradin--the group decides getting to him and making a break for it is the best bet. They pick a path that will go past the lingerie shop so they can pick up Jet’s body on the way.

They see torches being lit and hear dogs--clearly a search party coming for them--so Ruby uses Prestidigitation to scent the path with anise so the dogs will be confused (which Brennan rewards with disadvantage on tracking checks). Ruby and Amethar are both mortally wounded, but they decide that getting away ASAP is a better option than waiting to tend to their wounds. They roll initiative and head off.

The Sweet Escape

This is another unusual combat episode from Crown of Candy. There’s not so much brawling as there is running and trying to avoid fighting. I don’t think a play by play will be very interesting, so I’ll just give a quick rundown of the highlights.

The mechanics of this is it’s basically a series of group stealth checks until they get to where they’re going. Ruby still has 25 mins left on her invisibility and Brennan lets her cast Mage Hand with a 1st level spell slot to keep Theo’s armor from clinking and giving him disadvantage for seven rounds.

They fail their first round of checks and are spotted by hot-hounds (hot dog hounds, of course). Cumulous tells the group to keep going and he stays behind to handle it. He kills the dogs (yay?) but alerts other guards in doing so. Liam, with his crossbow, headshots the guard about to make trouble for Cumulous and then Cumulous steals his chariot.

Ruby, cantrip master, uses her Mage Hand (feeling a kiss on her cheek as she does) to hold a lantern and send it in a different direction, creating more confusion for the people tracking them.

Cumulous, on a Nat 20 Animal Handling check, fully on purpose (and after taking a bunch of damage from being fired on by ballista) drives the chariot off a cliff.

We’ll get back to that.

Liam, four rounds in, remembers that, oh yeah, he *does* have Pass Without Trace which gives +10 to all stealth checks--a little late but a game changer nonetheless. As he casts it, Cumulous feels the call of something like the Hungry One but not the Hungry One and Liam feels that same weird magical feeling he did running from the Cathedral in Comida.

Cumulous, as he rockets off the cliff (killing the horses in a very Hardwon Surefoot move), uses Fluffwind (his staff) to cast Gaseous Form--dropping his speed to a snail’s pace but saving his candy bacon.

The rest of the group does stealth checks until they make it to Dulcington. Ruby sets a tent on fire with her lantern as a distraction and all of them have to cross a river (the bridge is occupied by guards). Ruby gets a Nat 1 and falls in but Liam gets a Nat 20 and helps her across.

Unfortunately, the initial splash into the river alerted guards and they’re run up on by Ceresian soldiers. But, really, it’s more of a minor annoyance. Between Peppermint Batman critting, Ruby doing some sniping (losing her Invisibility in the process), Theo desperate to not see another Rocks dead on his watch, and Amethar in a full dad-rage, these guys are dead before they even have a chance to attack.

Cumulous drops Gaseous Form and anime sprints back to the gang.

Amethar and Liam grab Jet’s body and then run for the harbor with the others. Theo Messages Jack to get the ship ready because they’re gonna be there in a minute and they need to go NOW.

Enemy archers fire on them but they ignore it and just keep running. When they show up, Jack is confused but they’re like, “Sail now, questions later.”

Brennan says there’s no way they’re gonna get the ship going before soldiers catch up with them but he obviously didn’t count on Amethar going into a rage and just pushing the boat himself, snapping the mooring keeping it docked. As soldiers ride up on them, Ruby uses Mage Hand to help with the few remaining ropes and Theo casts Knock to undo the reins on one of the horses, sending the mounted soldier flying.

They narrowly escape up the river, and that’s where we end our episode.

Thing I’m Concerned About

This is something I mentioned as an aside in the last recap and it seems that it’s become relevant so I’ll be more explicit now. When the tear-away lingerie came up in episode one, it seemed like it was news to Cara (and I’m sure Brennan too because it was obv off the cuff). But last episode, the letter they got seemed to indicate that she was in cahoots with that person. But then in this episode, after a pretty high Insight check that indicated she was on the level, she said he didn’t know about any lingerie lady. Which seems to indicate setup, right? Which would make sense there was nothing at the shop and assassins waiting (assassins who seemed unsurprised to see the kids and not her for what it’s worth). But the way they got the letter, with Cara leaving the room, it seems like she would have seen it. So was that even really her? Is there a bad guy walking around with Disguise Self? If so, Bad! Also Bad! if she actually does turn out to be bad and it was like a DC 30 Insight check to find out, “Surprise! Your mom has been secretly evil this whole time!” Cara calls Ciabatta Imperator before she gets that info and idk if that’s Brennan misspeaking or A Clue and it *better* be the first because I don’t have the energy for *another* betrayal right now. It does seem like exactly the kind of thing you’d use in story to bait the twins if you knew them though, right? Like anyone who even sorta knew them (but especially someone who really knew them like Cal--was he there for that lingerie conversation in episode 1?) would know that was surefire twin-bait.

Don’t love that the SPF is, with different faces and different tactics, corralling everyone to the Mountains. I don’t know what her game is but I Do Not Trust fae. Also, maybe I’m being paranoid but when the SPF said, “Your sister is waiting,” I def had a burst of...your sister as in Jet or your sister as in this bastard child who we know nothing about? Wouldn’t that be such a dirty trick? To skirt fae lying rules (idk if they exist in this world) by talking about Jet a bunch and then saying, “Your sister is waiting,” about a totally different (half) sister?

So who all is working together? Cal last week said he was working with Alfredi and Ciabatta was also working with Alfredi. Plus, Kerradin was there (which, sidenote, WILD. Did Alfredi just take all the heat or something?). But I can't imagine everyone’s goals are fully synced. Ciabatta seems to mostly care for his own power. The Pontifex wants the Ramsian Doctrine fulfilled presumably which puts her at cross-purposes to Cal. What’s everyone’s game here. Is any of this stuff just happening independently of the others and Amethar just has hella enemies/has just lost Concord protection?

All this “like the Hungry One but not the Hungry One” stuff has me suspicious. People have mentioned to me that the noises that Brennan makes when he brings that up are kinda snorty and pig-like which raises two possibilities. It could be the vengeful spirit of Preston--which would go with the ice motif since he’s a peppermint pig and we all know peppermint is the cold magic of candy. It could also be related to the Great Boar of the Meatlands. I can see a pig spirit showing favor to an angry kid who took good care of his best pig friend who then tragically died, even with the cross-food barrier. Idk, we’ll see how this goes.

Ruby, my girl, please don’t do anything rash in your grief. You’re 1000% valid but please stay as levelheaded as you can.

Five More Things

Lol at Ally very confidently saying they don’t have Pass Without a Trace even after being reminded of it and then three turns later being like wait nevermind.

Killshot Thompson at it again with those precision voice breaks at all the most heart-crushing times. I would have loved to have seen Emily’s reactions from video village during the scene with Amethar. And then the, “I can’t lose another. Please,” to Liam? Ugh. My heart.

Ally’s “WHY?” when Manta Ray Jack started ringing that bell was beautiful.

“Another secret black woman,” might be the funniest thing Lou has ever said. And he’s said a lot of funny things. He originated, “Somebody call Wizards of the Coast.”

A second set of double Nat 20s from Siobhan! She also did it in Fantasy High Sophomore Year when freeing Fig from mind control. The only other person I think who’s done it is Lou as Fabian during the arcade battle in FH S1. You can’t really tell because of the way I glossed over the nitty gritty of this ep, but the Nat 20s were really out of control this session. It’s just that, as the cast said in Adventuring Party, Nat 20s don’t get you spectacular things this season. They just mean you get to not die that turn.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #the royal report

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