#shoot the bombs from a safe distance instead

[martyrbat]

[Breaking The Silence website, where's theres text and video testimonies]

[ID: A video of a man sitting at a table and talking into a microphone. Subtitles on the video translates what he says. It follows:

“We grew up with the idea that next to the state of Israel, a state of Palestine would be established. That's a part of the democratic values I was raised with at home. But then at age 18, I was drafted to the IDF. I served for three years in the Nachal Brigade's elite unit, a sniper's unit. And I served in a military dictatorship, that today is 57 years old.

As a solider I would break into Palestinian homes in the middle of the night, as a part of a mission called [quote] ‘mapping’ [unquote]. Which means in a pretty reflexive manner we would be sent into a neighborhood, in Nablus for example. Pounding on the door in the middle of the night, waking up the entire family. I, as the team's photographer, would make the Palestinian family stand against the wall and take their photos, walk around the house and take some photos of other things as well.

During this time my officer would be sitting in front of the head of the household, writing on a piece of paper all the information about the family. Who works, where do they work. Who studies, where do they study. And at the end we would draw a map on the paper, hence ‘mapping’. And then we would go to the next house, and then the next house and so on. And in one night, the elite unit goes through an entire neighborhood.

When we arrived afterwards at the base, we would throw away that piece of paper. I would delete the photos from the memory card of my camera. Why? Because we weren't actually searching for someone. The order we got before going on these missions was [quote] ‘to create a feeling of being [quote] ‘chased’ [unquote] among the Palestinian population’ [unquote]. Because a Palestinian who feels ‘chased’, is a Palestinian that's easier to control. And that at the end of the day, was our mission in the occupied territories.” END ID]

Breaking the Silence is an organization of soldiers who share their stories about how Israel's military violence works. What I know from different testimonies is that they often check to make sure the families they're disturbing have no suspects and no investigations against them, because doing this when an investigation is ongoing can disrupt it. So they're intentionally doing this to people who did nothing wrong.

I find testimonies like this to be genuinely important, and still I can't stop thinking about the active members of Breaking the Silence who jumped right back into their uniforms to participate in the attacks on Gaza.

[confused-wanderer]

It would be hilarious if villains loved Nightwing and were terrified of Officer Dick Grayson.

Dick Grayson- who is used to open spaces and adrenaline- being stuck in a boring bleak office, surviving on shots of coffee and red bull with caffeine that would make Tim concerned.

The thugs soon realised that unlike most of the other cops - Dick was from Gotham.

No one fucks with Gothamites.

Villain *shooting at Dick with machine guns*

Dick *appearing from the shadows behind him*: Boo.

Villain: THIS IS A FIVE STOREY BUILDING HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET HERE

Or

Thief *throwing a counting down bomb at Dick*

Dick: *catching and tossing the bomb at a safe distance before turning round and shooting it so it explodes mid air while running after thief*

Thief: .. what the actual fuck

Dick: Gee look at all that time you had! Shame you threw it away :D

Thief:

Dick: I’m from Gotham

Thief *realising they fucked up* : Please don’t steal my bones

OR

Shooter: *sets elaborate booby traps throughout the houses in an active hostage situation*

Dick *using his training as robin and inhuman flexibility to surpass them with ease*: Ah been a while since I got to have a nice stretch thank you.

Shooter:

Dick:

Shooter:

Dick: .. Hi :)

Shooter: Are you Satan?

AND

In interrogation room

Murderer: I think I’ll take your eyes and add them to my collection

Dick *running on spite and caffeine that could give Superman a sugar rush* : Funny.. I was going to say the same thing to you

Murderer: .. what

Dick: I wouldn’t take your eyes though.. they look like the inspiration behind the whole Medusa’s “look at it and you turn to stone” thing-

Murderer: Hey! Take that back before I gut you

Dick *smile stretching wider without blinking* : oh? Or what? I know everything about you. Who says I can’t kill you and walk out with everyone being none the wiser? I know how to kill someone too..you aren’t special.

Murderer:

Murderer: I’m scared for my safety.

Because the thing is, Nightwing is who Dick really is. It’s who he can be free as, be himself as without red tapes and regulations. Where he can give as good as he gets, and he’s kind and empathetic. He gets to help the downtrodden and goes easy on most of them if they give up right away, not to mention the fact that he never causes permanent damage.

But officer Dick Grayson is a different story. He runs on sleepless nights and no self preservation. Seeing an officer with an uncanny skill set they’re scarily good at, not to mention the cheery attitude he always has scares the shit out of criminals. Cuz no way in hell is a smiling Gothamite not a deranged one. He chases crimes like a bloodhound, and isn’t afraid to make good on threats he makes to ensure they never hurt anyone again.

Bonus if the batfam doesn’t know about this.

Red hood: Shit I can’t believe we ended up in Bludhaven

Red Robin *tying up the corrupt politican* : Since this is a sensitive case, we need someone we can trust to make sure it is seen through.

Red hood: .. So we paying a visit to Officer Grayson?

Politician *screeching* : NO NO NO NO! PLEASE NOT HIM!! JUST KILL ME INSTEAD AND TAKE ALL MY MONEY I CANT DEAL WITH HIM!

Red hood: .. is he fucking serious?

Henchmen: Sir he is. And we agree. Please take our bones and kill us but don’t take us to Officer Grayson.

Red Robin: Wait what did he do?

Henchman 1: He asked boss if the hat was sentient.. and said that if it was would it make that hat the top and boss the bottom.

Henchman 2: Last time we met I tried to shoot him but suddenly my gun was blank and he raised his hand and let the ammo drop

Red Hood: Well even I could do that-

Henchman 2: They were my bullets. I had selected the colour personally.

Red robin *growing concerned*

Henchman 3: He sang a lullaby to a child when we were holding the station hostage, and replaced the people with my family members. He even sang their social security numbers!

Henchman 4: He’s the most dangerous of them all. I ain’t shitting ya when I say he’s as scary as the bat from Gotham.

*all nodding in agreement*

Red hood:

Red Robin:

Red hood: Nah that doesn’t sound like Dick

Red Robin: Agreed. Let’s go there Hood.

*villains’ sobbing intensifies*

[dinozenkaiju]

The Walking Dead AU thoughts ....

Buck and Bucky being in the air force before the start of the zombie apocalypse was my idea but then I watched The ones who live and Michonne and Rick on the run made me think of the Buckies.

When everything started going down and the army got involved the Buckies were tasked with bombing the bigger cities. They were dealing with alot of guilt for not giving all those innocent people a chance to evacuate but they did their job under the pressure of their higher ups.

/I think instead of helicopters they still fly bomber planes like the B-17 but something more modern ^^"/

Both of them are in a bit of denial that the dead are coming alive but Bucky is the first one to have an encounter and after that he is set at doing anything possible to protect his Buck and his men.

Buck is the type to believe blindly that if someone is infected they can heal and come back, putting himself at risk for trying to help the infected.

They manage to survive with the army for the first few months but then things kept getting worse and they found themselves being involved in the creation of the CRM

Buck was against everything the CRM did but after years of no sign for things to get back to normal he lost hope and followed his orders of bombing innocent people.

He couldn't deal with loosing people all the time and he decided that he and Bucky would be safer in the CRM.

Bucky wanted to run away years ago but Buck stopped him because it was impossible to leave the CRM alive. But Bucky couldn't live with what they did, all that bombing made him feel like he was dead already.

The only thing keeping them grounded was keeping their men safe: Curt, Brady and Demarco, Cros and Bubbles, Rosie, Blakely, Douglas and Crank.

One day after a bad mission Bucky made up his mind to run away.

It's been 7 years since the end of civilization and Bucky was ready, he didn't tell anyone of his plan except Buck of course. The less people knowing the better and if his Buck was with him he believed things would be OK.

The plan was to run away with their plane but they were always escorted by other CRM helicopters so they needed to make a diversion to be able to escape. Things didn't work out and Bucky had to shoot down the helicopters. He made this decision even knowing the men and living with them for the last few years.

Buck was shocked but he knew this was their only chance so he helped him.

Their man didn't know what was happening, why was Bucky shooting the other CRM helicopters? Did he finally gone mad? They tried to stop him but Buck convinced them that they needed to run away.

They had planned a hiding place for provisions and fuel and made a lot of distance from the CRM according to their plans their safe place was going to be some abandoned hotels they were hopeful they won't have to fight emidiatly but will have time to make their own settlement.

/not sure of an ending yet but let's pretend they were OK.

[that1emowitch]

Villain - Chapter 6: Arkham Knight

Chapter links: Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch.3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch.6

Summary:

Jason escapes Arkham on his own and starts planning out his villain arc.

A/N

Guys just so you know, Jason in this timeline is actually Red Hood, but I'm just using the persona of Arkham Knight as Jay's villain self. He's not gonna do the things AK!Jason did.

Pov of Jason Todd, about a few hours after the last chapter.

I don’t want to go to lunch. Some part of me just wants to let me starve. If I’m going to die again, I’d rather it be on my terms than because the Rogue Gallery beat me to death. But the guards drag me there anyway.

A more rational side of me knows lunch is my best chance to escape.

Not that I have much of a chance anyway. Even with my enhanced healing from the Pit, it’d take me at least a few days of rest to completely recover.

Good thing I don’t have to completely recover for my plan to work.

When the guards force me onto a seat in the canteen and shove a plate of slop in front of me, I take a look around. As expected, all the Rogues coming in are looking at me, but they’re still being escorted by their guards. Right now, they can’t really harm me much.

This is my chance.

I suddenly throw my elbows back, catching both my escort guards in their groins, and quickly snatch a gun and card. A few bullets shoot towards me, but I dodge and make for the doorway. There are a huge number of guards coming after me, with reinforcements on the way, but the two dozen or so guards escorting other inmates, according to standard procedure, are stuck bringing their charges back to their cells so they don’t try to escape either. I can sense another fight going on, between Bane and the guards, but I pay it no mind.

Instead, I make my way out of the door, straight to the locker room where I’m certain all my equiptment’s locked up. I’m running purely on adrenaline, ignoring my legs screaming in agony. I shoot every damn person in my way, making full use of my League training, until I find myself in the locker room. I barricade the door behind me, making sure no one can follow. 

The alarms blaring are now being accompanied by the sound of the whole place being locked down, but it’s nothing a few bombs couldn’t solve.

I find my equipment soon enough and quickly suit up. As I pull on my jacket and helmet, I suddenly feel much less claustrophobic, like the familiarity of the suit is granting me safety. 

Obviously, they don’t just leave bombs lying around in Arkham, but they haven’t found those hidden in my helmet. My trusty guns are gone, I’ll have to make do without them.

It takes me less than a second to blow up the wall. I feel the fresh, cool air, and immediately start running in the direction of the wall surrounding the prison. For some reason, there aren’t as many guards around me as I expected. That’s when I see huge plants breaking away at a wall in the distance, with an armada of guards fighting them, but I don’t wait around to find out what’s going on. 

What happens next feels like a blur— like I’m relying completely on my instincts to get me to safety. I’m vaguely aware of killing a few guards, blowing up another wall, stealing a car, driving to my safe house, then collapsing on the floor.

When I wake up I’m lying in a dried pool of my own blood. Seeing that jerks me awake instantly. My wounds mostly seem to have healed, but I can see a bullet wound I’ll have to reopen to dig the bullet out.

Fuck.

The memories come back to me in a wave— Batman putting me in Arkham, the Rogues, the J— NO!  

I lean against a nearby chair, pulling myself up and shaking the thoughts ut of my head.

First things first. I need to clean up. This is a fucking mess. And I need to know the date.

I check my phone— I’ve been unconscious for 2 days. That’s two days wasted. Quietly scolding myself, I move to clean up the area, getting it done in a matter of minutes.

My stomach’s growling, but my thoughts are elsewhere— the Batman. Bruce. The man who pretended to be my father, then replaced me the moment I was gone, didn’t even bother to avenge me. When I came back he pretended to love me again, just to throw me out the moment I broke his precious rule. Him and his little nest of birds. All fakers.

I slam my fist down on the counter, making a slight dent. I hate them.

I need a plan, I decide. The last time I did this, I made Bruce choose between me and the Joker. He chose the fucking Joker over me! That should’ve been my sign to get far, far away from this shitshow.

“You’re not leaving Gotham,” I whisper to myself. “There’s too many people here who need the Red Hood— the kids , Jason, think about the kids! ”

A snort escapes me as I realise I’m talking to myself. I really have gone crazy, haven’t I?

“You need your revenge,” I continue anyway. Talking out loud, for some reason, makes me feel less alone . “Something to make sure the Bats never haunt you again.”

There’s only one sureshot way to guarantee that, but another voice, deep in my mind whispers, No! We’re not killing them.

For some reason, I agree. But there are other ideas I have. I pull out a notebook from one of my hidden drawers and start scribbling down a name: Arkham Knight.

Arkham’s what started this phase in my life, it should get some credit.

Maybe Batsy will finally get a villain worthy of him.

[pressington]

28,000 Palestinians dead. Does nobody realize how insane that is? How can zionists sit back comfortably in their homes, watch as children lose their limbs and lives before theyre even a year old, watch as isreal shoots down Palestinians waving white flags, watch as they bomb Rafah, a place they said was SAFE, and continue to preach that "Isreal has the right to defend itself". From what? What does a colonizer state that doesn't even have the right to EXIST have to defend itself from? The 12,000 children that no longer exist? The innocent men, women, and children they've continously bombed for 75 years? How can anyone DARE to defend Isreal, how can anyone feel sympathy as "isrealis" live safely in their stolen homes, go to concerts and attend school, see their families instead of burying them in unmarked graves, cheer and laugh as they watch Gaza be bombed from a safe distance. Children in Isreal go to school and laugh and play together while children in Palestine bury eachother. Isreal is built on genocide, Isreal is built on antisemitism, isreal is built on the graves of these beautiful people and their home, never forgot that. Palestine WILL be free in our lifetimes 🇵🇸

[lupuslikethewolf]

One thing i have noticed in regards to J*R's bigotry and how it is presented in popular media (i.e. news stations, articles and by celebrites) is that the main focus seems to be on the transphobia, and - as a british trans person - i think it is safe to say that a major reason for that is the rampant transphobia already present in this country, but the blatant anti-semitism, racism, misogyny, and right-wing politics tend to just get swept under the rug.

I am brown (desi), trans-masc and gay, but i'm not jewish, so if i am incorrect about anything i say regarding anti-semitism, then please correct me! this is based of research and what i have heard from jewish people, not personal experience.

In order: Misogyny and TERFism, Transphobia and UK Politics, Racism and Xenophobia in Writing, and Anti-Semetism and Caricatures.

Misogyny and TERF-ism

I think the first thing to say is that J*R glamorises the term TERF, or 'Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist' and considers herself the height of Women's Rights Activism.

I think this is truly evident in the fact that she seems unable to include a female protagonist in HP that isn't motherly or a love interest. Hermione Granger, while the most well-rounded and complex of the female characters, is the caretaker of Ron and Harry during their time at Hogwarts as students, and is treated as the 'back-up' girlfriend by Ron and Harry during the Fourth Year Yule Ball. Lavender Brown exists to create a 'Not Like Other Girls' trait in Hermione by distancing her from all the boy obsessed, hyper-feminine 'bad' girly-girls of Gryffindor. She is also, again, nothing more than a love interest. Molly Weasley is a mother figure for Harry, and everything about her eventually links back to that fact. She cooks, cleans, looks after people, knits and sews, etc etc. Nymphadora Tonks was actually an interesting and badass character, but then J*R got mad at her fandom for doing fandom things and turned her into a one-dimensional tragic love interest for her queer-coded character who she has admitted to writing as a fucking AIDs allegory.

I believe this view is rooted in her transphobia, TERF-ism and internalised misogyny, as J*R cannot create a 'good' woman who isn't motherly and feminine, but only in the acceptable way. This is seen in Rita Skeeter, who is also hyper-feminine and yet described in a very masculine way, with 'thick fingers' and a 'heavy-jawed face'.

Transphobia and UK Politics

The transphobia tends to rear its head most often because it is incredibly common and in the public eye, especially with the UK government repeatedly shooting down efforts to make progress, like how they blocked Scotland's law to make self-recognition easier for trans people. It is also evident in her TERF-ism and the fact that she no longer hides her support for anti-trans movements, and instead uses her platform and wealth to fund and promote them.

There is also the fact that she has also been using that same platform and wealth to publicly campaign against Scottish Independence for far longer.

The UK Tory (aka Conservative) Party has routinely held up J*R as a bastion of good-will, 'progress', and the ultimate citizen, even quoting her directly when sprouting anti-trans bullshit. While J*R will claim to be a Feminist and support Labour (the only real left-leaning opposition to the Tories), her views often align more with those she claims not to support.

Politics also show themselves in characters such as Seamus Finnegan, the only Irish character, with the most stereotypically Irish name there is, who is always blowing things up when trying to cast spells, and loves to drink. In the 90s, when HP was set, Northern Ireland was suffering from something known as 'The Troubles', wherein two sides known as 'Protestants' and 'Catholics', whether there was a religious affiliation or not, were bombing, street fighting, sniper attacks and committing other acts of civil warfare all throughout the country. And J*R put those actions onto a child.

That's some Tory shit right there.

Racism and Xenophobia in Writing

If you have seen any criticisms of J*R's writing of diverse characters, you will know that she has a massive, massive problem with using stereotypes, especially in names, to portray her Characters of Colour.

I think the most obvious tends to be Kingsley Shacklebolt, the only major black protagonist in the series. She named her only black character Shacklebolt.

SHACKLE bolt.

Just let that sink in for a minute.

Then there is Cho Chang, who's only personality traits include being sad about her boyfriend, kissing Harry Potter, and being smart. She is also the only main asian protagonist, and her name is just two east asian-sounding surnames put together.

'Cho' is Korean or Burmese, and 'Chang' is a romanised Chinese surname.

Padma and Parvati Patil rely on the same stereotypes. Their culture - especially the clothing - is completely butchered and used as nothing more than fan-service to prove how not-racist she is (yeah right) and are only around to be love interests who get tossed aside and treated horribly by Ron and Harry.

'Padma' is a Persian name while 'Parvati' is a Hindu/Sanskrit name.

If a writer needs to rely on stereotypes and racist views to write her characters of colour, than she is not a good writer and either needs to be held accountable and made to unlearn her biases, or simply not allowed to write anymore.

Anti-Semitism and Caricatures

Reminder to listen to Jewish People and the Jewish Community when it comes to Anti-Semitism in HP, not just some non-jewish 16-year-old with too much time on their hands and unlimited internet access trying to procrastinate revising for their exams!!

(Tumblr crashed when i was writing this part of the post,,,, feels targeted /lh) Also, this is not a definitive list of anti-semetic items in HP, go look at a Jewish person's perspective to fully understand! This is a good post from @/whilommm regarding the new HP game and this post by @/genderkoolaid which talks about a youtuber posting videos on antisemitism and other issues head-on.

Goblins are the most prolific anti-semetic stereotype seen throughout HP, and most other mythology.

The first and most obvious thing, in my opinion, is the description of their noses. Hooked noses are a very distinct trait found most often in Jewish people, and are described very often in the Goblins, and not only that, but Snape and other villains in HP have 'bad' or 'ugly' noses.

Goblins are also greedy money-hoarders who run the banks, which feeds into anti-semetic conspiracy theories about Jewish people running the world's economy, and the N@zi propaganda of Jewish people hoarding wealth and collapsing the German economy.

There are little-to-no female goblins. Which, while also feeding into the misogynistic side of J*R's writing, also presents jewish-coded characters as being inherently misogynistic when that is not the case of any ethnic and/or religious group.

The goblins are rude to wizards and any other outsider, which is a belief that likely stems from the fact that it is an incredibly hard and long process to convert fully to Judaism, as the beginning involves being turned away from converting three times by the same Rabbi. This does not make Judaism or Jewish People xenophobic or even otherwise cautious of outsiders, it is simply part of their religious conversion process made to deter people who do not genuinely want to be apart of the religion and to make sure those converting are doing so with good and honest intentions.

If the Death Eaters are meant to be Fascist N@zi Allegories, why not make the only jewish-coded characters you have actually well-fucking-written and main fucking characters. Or, better yet, Don't Call It A Fucking A Nazi Allagory!!! Oppression doesn't have to involve Fasicsm/Nazis!!

The New Harry Potter Game Not To Be Named And Only Ever Pirated If Even That is a whole other can of worms of blood libel, romanticising oppression and even more anti-semetic caricatures that deserves its own post.

Final Notes

This is not a definitive list, but simply what I personally am most angry about and can remember the clearest from my last re-read of Harry Potter. Other things to be considered: bad world building that makes no sense, werewolves as an AIDS allegory that then proceed to prey on kids, homophobia regarding dumbledore and wolfstar, and her use of slavery and 'slaves who enjoy being enslaved' because what the fuck was that thought process.

Here is a post @/chaos-in-one with some other links and more brilliant points about why people should hate J*R

[svartikotturinn]

I couldn’t stand to watch Shaun’s latest video, so I started reading the transcript instead. I got about 15 minutes in before I just had enough.

The good: I don’t think he’s legitimately antisemitic. I think he’s just a contrarian dipshit who took his anti-Israeli stance mostly because he had an excuse to go against what his government was saying (along with other Western governments) and didn’t bother to look deeper. So he is a lot of things but antisemitic does not seem to be one of them.

Also, I should commend him for pointing out actual cases of Israeli disinformation, such as an outright lie by the IDF spokesman, and brings up the violence towards mourners and even pallbearers at Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral, which he rightfully condems (no, chanting slogans does not justify it).

The bad: The sheer one-sided laziness, up to and including outright lies (which, I hope, for his sake, were based in ignorance and not malice), starting right at the beginning. He says what got him doubting the narrative of ‘Israel good, Palestinians bad’ was a photo of Israelis sitting on chairs they’d brought watching the Gaza Strip being bombed from a safe distance in 2014—he neglects to mention that those are people from nearby Sderot, a town that had been subject to repeated rocket strikes from Hamas. He offhandedly mentions that the other side does it, too, but barely gives this thought much weight. Worse, he certainly does not consider that Israelis can at least claim that they’re cheering for the death of mlitants out for their blood hiding in the destroyed buildings, while Palestinians cheer for the deliberate killing of civilians: stabbing and shooting random civilians, launching rockets indiscriminately at civilians (no, Israel doesn’t do that, that’s what intel and GPS systems are for).

(Pro-tip: check out what your favourite pro-Palestinian influencer’s page for what they said while the October 7th Massacre was still ongoing. I bet you’ll be horrified. Shaun himself, for example, retweeted an infographic about the asymmetry of casualties in both sides over the years and blocked me when I called him out on his callous ‘well, numerically…’ attitude. That was last October, not 2014.)

Then there’s Abu Akleh’s death, which he also discusses. I’m using this term charitably, because he says it was definitively proven as murder and says any claim to the contrary has been proven to be a mendacious cover-up. No, he does not provide any sources countering, say, the official US position. (For the record: fuck then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s reaction. He is a prime example of the problems Israel actually has.)

Then he had the sheer audacity to claim that the claims of tunnels under As-Shifā’ Hospital were unfounded. What fucking nerve.

I was hoping to reach the point where he talks about how Hamas treats the Gazans, and point out that the disparity of casualties has to do in large part with the fact that Israel actually cares for its civilians (something he didn’t even hint at up to where I got), but that bold-faced lie about the hospital made it too much for me.

Fuck you, Shaun.

…Oh, and one last thing: he talked about the Western position being one of resistence to the implied barbarism of Islam. So, Shaun, I’m here to say it’s not fucking ‘implied’, you dolt, it’s emphatic. Read the fucking Qur’ān and tell me that shit doesn’t sound like any other cult leader’s insane ramblings. Listen to opinions Muslims express in polls. Talk to them about history, especially the history of the region. It’s cultish shit on par with MAGA/QAnon and Russian propaganda, but you start hemming and hawing when brown people say it, like a stereotypical Westerner who dismisses their country’s superstitions but gladly adopts those that come from China or India. How utterly disguting.

EDIT: I should’ve stopped listening to this prick back when he made his inaccuracies-ridden video about Harry Potter. I guess maybe in his view, there are indeed good and bad sides rather than actions…

[kagedbird]

Continuation of this

Allora: *stretches as the group walks along the path, groaning* How much further til we get to Whiterun? I feel like this road is endless.

Lucien: Quite the journey yet. Should we take a quick rest?

Taliesin: I'm more than happy for all the rests we take, but if I may ask, why do you? Surely you aren't that out of shape.

Allora: ...*purses her lips, glancing at the boys who all give her varying degrees of 'eh' or 'absolutely do not say anything'* ...I have health problems. I require more rest than most people.

Taliesin: I presume this has something to do with what you told me before about the incident with the Thalmor?

Allora: To a point. It wasn't just that. Yes I'd like to rest, if that's okay.

Inigo: I am glad you are taking breaks instead of trying to push forward. Come rest with me underneath this tree! *gently tugs her along with him*

Kaidan: *stares heatedly at Taliesin* She told you about that, ey? Sure it wasn't news to you though.

Taliesin: *rolls his eyes* No. It was the norm for torture tactics from them. The only difference was their reasoning for taking you and the real reason they wanted you. I have no interest in your sword or you by the way.

Kaidan: Best keep it that way, friend.

*A cacophonous roar is heard in the distance, making Allora shoot up from her resting position with Inigo and rushing forward, lute in hand*

Allora: Lucien, keep Taliesin safe, Inigo, Kaidan, with me. It's close.

Kaidan: *brings out sword, by her side immediately* Aye.

Inigo: Right behind you. *pulls out his bow, notched at the ready*

Taliesin: What on Nirn-?!

Lucien: *gently pulling Taliesin by the rope on his wrists* Come on, they'll want us out of the way-

Allora: Untie him, just in case something goes wrong.

Kaidan: Are you mad?!

Allora: If something happens to Lucien I want him at the ready to get them both out of there, now shut up it's-

Dragon: *screams in righteous fury as it senses an equal down below, dive bombing the group*

Allora: *grits her teeth and yells* RUN!

Taliesin: *being yanked by Lucien as he stares in slight horror at the dragon and Allora running towards it with just a lute in hand* Is she MAD?!

Lucien: She'll be fine, now let's go!

-One battle song later-

Taliesin: *staring heavily at Allora as her body is somewhat pushed by the force of the dragon soul entering her body and Inigo catching her as she stumbles* By the gods... what is she?

Lucien: One could say 'out of this world.' I just say 'my best friend,' though.

Kaidan: *scoops Allora up into his arms before he and Inigo meet up with the other two* Right. Now we're taking a break. She needs to rest.

Allora: *grumbles weakly but can't protest as she's falling asleep*

Taliesin: *looks warily between everyone before looking at Allora* ...I'm not so certain who to be afraid of most anymore with you lot.

Kaidan: *smirks as he shoulders past Taliesin back to the previous resting area that isn't in cinders* Good.

[maximuswolf]

Interpol - Rest my Chemistry [Alternative] my interpretation

Interpol - Rest my Chemistry [Alternative] my interpretation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gnwCOSYVPU I haven't slept for two days – I can’t sleep, I’m too stressed out or without booze I stay awake thinking about everything in my past.I've bathed in nothing but sweat – I know I need to bathe, but bathing for me means being clean, being comfortable. These are foreign concepts. Even the simple act of being clean makes me uncomfortable because I feel vulnerable being naked even by myself because I was abused.And I've made hallways scenes for things to regret – I take those memories and seal them behind doorways so I don’t have to confront them.My friends they come – They only come by to share drugs or sell drugs – nobody is real nobody caresAnd the lines they go by – I’ll fucking snort whatever you put in front of me because it’s the only way I know how to feel anything anymoreTonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – I need a breakTonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – I need a reprieve from my own destructionI live my life filled with no pain – because that pain I’ve buried under so many drugs and booze I can’t hardly remember it anymore, and that constant buzz lets me be in peace from it.Just some rage and three kinds of yes - The rage is beyond what you can ever even begin to understand, there aren’t words that can describe it. The yes is please take it away, death has become my lover. Yes is no, I can’t cope with any more pain. Yes is I want to know happiness but I don’t know how.And I've made stairways – I want to climb out of this pit of despair but I just make the path without climbing it, without doing the work because building the stairs is a distraction.Such scenes for things that I regret – ptsd flashbacks, remorse, tragedy, loss, bad decisionsOh, those days in the sunThey bring a tear to my eye – When I should be experiencing happiness I’m not, Existence is pain.Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – I somehow have an urge to live my pain instead of bury itTonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – because I’m exhausted, I need rest, but I can’t sleep and maybe a night sober will let me not wake up sweating with my heart pounding in my chest every four hours. Maybe I’ll sleep without the bombs exploding in my head, and seeing the corpses of my friends.But you're so youngYou're so youngYou look in my eyesYou're so young, so sweet, so surprised – he’s not talking about a lover, he’s talking about his children. How their so innocent and constantly in awe of the beauty of the world he has become so disgruntled from.I see a sign says "OK" - maybe things will work out, you’ll be alright. But it’s off in some obscure distance, might as well be in grey scale saying “whatever”.Gotta take a ride, just recline in the faraway – I’m gonna buy some heroine, shoot up and take a short vacation from reality. I’ll be all right. It hasn’t killed me yet, just one last fix. Gotta take some time to realize – I need a moment of clarityThat my friends they come – he realizes that they aren’t really friends they’re a curseAnd the lines they go by – this time the lines aren’t drugs it’s lines on the road as he tries to run away from himself.Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – I need to stopTonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry - I have to stopBut you're so youngYou're so youngYou look in my eyesSo young, so sweet, so surprised – I would do anything to keep you safe, keep you innocent, to not hurt you or die so I’m not there anymore, to not break your heart.You look so young like a daisy in my lazy eyes – you’re the only hope I have left even though I’ve given up.Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – I have to stop for you now, tonightTonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry- or I’m going to stop by death.Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – this is a promiseTonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry – I can’t do this anymore. Submitted November 23, 2024 at 03:59AM by Absinthicator https://ift.tt/0yQDFft via /r/Music

[monsuta127]

Ok now a bit of lore about my Darksiders character:

- Name/age/height: Jay (any pronouns) // 23 yrs // 5"4 (5"5 w/ skates on)

- When the apocalypse happened, all they did was scurry and hide like the rest of humanity. They had little survival skills so they were lucky to have lasted long enough until they were found by Ulthane in a storage room.

- Once at Haven, Jay barely speaks to anyone, nor do they really eat or sleep. But then they meet Jones (Strife), who then motivates them to keep going. (I plan to write their whole convo someday cuz it digs deep into their character.)

- After their talk, Jay decides to try to talk more people and Ulthane. Taking in information about survival skills such as how to filter rain water, how to hunt/kill, first aid, etc. They write or draw it all in a notebook they carry. Jones even teaches Jay how to use a gun.

- They hate the thought of feeling useless. Especially after hiding and cowering before they were found.

- A few weeks in and Fury enters the picture. Jay didn't really talk to her until after her fight with the Council and taken to the new realm.

- Time is different in the new realm, every month = 20 years on Earth. But we humans wouldn't know since time acts the same there.

-Almost 7 months go by and Jay has been learning new skills and knowledge from the other humans, and even a bit from Fury about magic and her brothers.

- One day as Jay sits on a meadow a lil ways far from the village and Fury, she spots something unusual in the distance. They go over to investigate to find the one and only Wicked K.

- Mistaking him for a demon, Jay shoots him but it does little effect. But instead of killing her, Wicked K decides to have a little 'fun.' He tells Jay that if they defeat him, they can go back to the village safely, but lose and they recieve punishment. Of course, Jay fails miserably and Wicked K punishes her by sending her back to Earth, nearly 100 years ater the apocalypse.

- Jay, now reliving their nightmare one again, they hide in the tunnels where they fall into despair. But with the skills and knowledge from their friends, from Jones and even Fury, that they carry with them, it gave them the courage to keep going.

- So they plan out a map of the area to try to find Haven in the hopes that Ulthane is still alive and look for a way to get back to Fury snd the others.

- During the next 8 weeks, Jay spends their time either looking for Haven, scavenging for items (including magical items as well) or setting up traps in and around their bunker.

- One day as they were scanning for things at a ruined store, a ball of red fire hits the building near them, triggering the zombies that were nearby. As Jay escapes the store and the zombies, something big and red lands next to her, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Looking up they see War, the Red Rider of the Apocalypse.

- But this isn't when War and Jay team up, instead they set off a smoke bomb to get away. At first War couldn't tell if they were human due to their disguise hiding most of their features. That is until Vulgrim casually mentions the human as War finishes collecting souls for him.

- With War now knowing a human yet remains on Earth, he is determined to find them in order to protect whats left of the balance. He later finds her trying to get away from the crushing claws of a demon kind known as 'Trauma.' At some point Jay gets trapped under rubble in the process.

- War saves her and get her out of the rubble. As more demons approach, Jay takes him to the bunker, where they discover that he's War, Fury's brother. After exchanging questions and some answers, War offers her protection until they can find Haven. In which this time, Jay agrees.

Darksiders sona lets goooo!!!!

I just really wanted to make a ref for more Darksiders stuff hehehe

(Bit of context in my last written post)

**Correction: until they find WAR. Their plan was to look for Ulthane but stumbled upon War at the Crossroads**

Also dont be afraid to ask questions or give ideas, im open to most asks!

[imaginesfordifferentfandoms]

Right Here

Click here for my masterlist.

Febuwhump Prompt - Friendly Fire

Prompt - ‘And when the walls come crashing down you'll realise home was never the walls around you, home was the people within those walls. Home was him."

You weren’t fully aware of just how you had gotten to where you were, sat next to a small fire, snake in your hand and Daryl sat as close to you as he could get, your sides pressed together as he continued to shoot you worried glances every few moments. You remembered the prison, remembered watching as The Governor used Michonne’s weapon to kill Hershel, watched as he had destroyed your home and for what?

You remembered losing track of everybody in the chaos and remembered not even seeing Daryl but feeling him grab your hand as he ran past you in a blur, not giving you a chance to realise what was happening but once you saw it was Daryl you had just let yourself be pulled along, trusting that he’d get you somewhere safe.

And of course he had, pulling you along for so long that your sides ached and the sounds from the prison faded into the distance, your home just gone like it was nothing, your family had lost each other and for what?

You didn’t say anything as you stared into the flames, thoughts running faster than you could keep up with. Your eyes scrunched tightly together in an attempt to slow them down but it didn’t work and with a soft groan you let your head fall to the side, resting against Daryl’s shoulder and found it helped.

Of course it helped because even though dead people were roaming the earth, even though you’d lost more people than you could count, even though you’d lost a place you thought you could call home, you’d lost your friends, friends who had become family, even despite all that you know it could get worse. If Daryl hadn’t found you, if he hadn’t pulled you along with him out of that prison, you would have felt like the world had ended again but ten times worse than now.

Daryl was your rock. He had been the one to find you wandering around alone in the city that had been taken over by the dead, a city that had been bombed by its own government. You’d been starving when he found you, dehydrated, covered in a mix of walker blood and your own. You smiled as you remembered him thrusting a crossbow in your face, barking out questions about whether you’d been bitten or not, whether you had a group. Eventually, he lowered the weapon causing you to breathe a sigh of relief and began walking away, gesturing for you to follow him with a nod.

In the first few months Daryl definitely regretted that decision, not used to somebody clinging to him like you had. You remembered his attitude towards you to begin with, remembered Shane’s gentle suggestions that you should join them instead of sitting off Daryl, should back away from the Dixon brothers but you ignored the warnings and it took a lot of time and patience before Daryl finally warmed up to you.

Once he had though you two had become inseparable, occasionally Daryl did still snap at you, sometimes needing time alone and not knowing how to tell you, he’d never had somebody like you in his life, somebody so good, so optimistic, who wanted to be around him. You always just smiled at the outburst though, a soft smile and a squeeze of the hand was all you gave him before you wandered off, giving him the time he needed until he came to find you, taking a seat with you and giving you a smile of his own.

“You doing ok?” He asked you, voice low to match the atmosphere around you. You stayed silent for a few moments, not quite sure how to answer the question before you took a steadying breath before asking a question of your own.

“You think we’ll find any of them?” Your voice just as soft as his.

Daryl’s silence was enough of an answer and you sniffed as you blinked away the sudden wetness in your eyes, taking another deep breath.

“I’m glad we’re together.” You told him and he couldn’t help but smile at that because he was thinking the same thing, he didn’t know what he would have done if he hadn’t found you.

Instead of saying anything though Daryl just hummed but you smiled into his shoulder, well versed in all things Daryl Dixon to know that it meant he was glad you were both together too.

“Where do we go now?” You asked him and he stayed silent for a long while before speaking.

“We go wherever we want.”

The next day the two of you set off again, Daryl suggesting you try to find shelter or failing that at least gather some supplies. By some miracle the two of you came across an old but elegant looking house, standing tall and seemingly safe.

“Stay behind me.” Daryl told you, pushing you behind him before he raised the crossbow and pushed the door open, banging against it as he did and waited for any sign of walkers. Daryl turned to you and you raised an eyebrow at him, he waited a few seconds longer before walking in, gesturing for you to follow closely behind.

It took a while to search the whole house both due to the size of it and because you kept getting distracted by all the trinkets and luxuries that the obviously rich owner possessed. Daryl had rolled his eyes as he watched you hold a necklace up, watching as the sunlight made the diamonds shine brightly but there was a softness to him as he fought back a smile.

“Wow.” You grinned when Daryl opened the cupboards, junk food lined up like they were prepared for the end of the world long before anyone else knew it was happening. “I’ve missed chips.”

“Help ya self.” He said as he searched through the cupboards putting some food out on the table and you smiled at his back before doing as he said, grabbing a variety of different snacks and placing yourself at the table and digging in.

It was weird how normal this felt, weird how easy it was to forget about the outside world as you and Daryl sat together, having long since made your way into the living room, the two of you on the sofa with Daryl’s arm resting against the length of it, so close to you that he could feel your hair against his forearm.

The two of you were sharing a bottle of something expensive between you, you laughing as Daryl spoke, missing how his eyes lit up at the sight of you so happy and carefree, trusting him completely.

Here, locked away in this house, only you and Daryl existed, no walkers, no Governor’s, no beheadings or fights…just you and Daryl. It felt like before the world had gone to hell. You could imagine it was like before except you knew that this would never be a possibility, knew that before this you and Daryl would never have crossed paths.

The thought seemed almost impossible now, it was hard to recall a time when Daryl Dixon wasn’t by your side and you couldn’t help but selfishly be a bit glad that the world had ended if it meant knowing Daryl.

You shifted closer to him as you wondered just how you’d gone so long without knowing him, how you’d lived your life everyday oblivious to the fact that Daryl even existed and hated that you knew if you’d met back then you probably wouldn’t have let yourself get to know him, knew Daryl wouldn’t let himself get to know you.

It was a strange feeling, being glad about the apocalypse.

“You ok?” He asked you, noticing your expression turn from happy to wistful.

“I’m really glad I met you, Daryl Dixon.” You told him, looking up and not realising just how close you’d gotten to him.

Daryl looked down at you, hesitating before lifting his hand to your head, letting his fingers brush a strand of hair from your face before they trailed down your temple to rest against your cheek. He could feel his heart threatening to beat out of his chest as he felt you smile under his hand.

“Glad I met you too.” He confessed, tone gruffer than he intended but it made you smile more, you didn’t know too much about Daryl’s romantic past but you knew there wasn’t much to talk about. It was good that he was nervous, it made you feel better knowing that it wasn’t just you.

“Daryl,” You whispered, so many thoughts in your head that you weren’t quite sure how to articulate them.

You didn’t have to though, you never had to really, because just as you were well versed in all things Daryl Dixon, he was just as good when it came to you, knowing what you wanted to say even if you didn’t.

“Me too,” He said just as quietly as you had been and you let your hand rest on his jaw, thumb brushing against his cheek before you moved closer, slowly giving him time to pull away if he wanted to.

He didn’t though, instead he met you halfway, letting your lips brush against each other’s softly and slowly, the movements slightly awkward but neither of you noticed or cared, too absorbed in each other, in how right it felt to finally kiss each other after months of back and forth flirting, months of testing the water before backing off, neither of you willing to risk the bond you had with one another.

Now it seemed foolish to wait so long, especially when you could lose each other any day, the events from the prison showed you that and maybe that’s why now was the time for it.

The kiss was interrupted when you heard a clatter from outside. Daryl pulled away with a soft groan, letting his forehead rest against yours as you both listened but the sound continued.

“Maybe it’s just somebody who lives here?” You whispered, watching as Daryl squinted and sighed, leaning forward to place a quick, slightly unsure, kiss against your lips before standing and picking his crossbow up, turning towards you with a stern look.

“Don’t move, stay here.” He warned and you nodded, pulling your knife from your boot, nervously playing with it as you listened to the sound of Daryl’s footsteps, praying that it was just nothing but knowing that you couldn’t be that lucky.

“Y/N, get outta here!” Daryl shouted, causing your stomach to drop.

You immediately shot up and ran towards the front door, watching as Daryl struggled to hold it shut as walkers piled up, pushing against it and trying to force their way in. Daryl watched you take a step towards him and immediately shook his head.

“Go!” He yelled at you but you shook your head back.

“I’m not leaving you here!” You protested.

“M’right behind ya, just get outta the house, meet me out by the road, yeah?” He said, nodding at you and watched as you nodded back before shooting him a desperate, pleading look.

“Stay safe.” You said and he smiled.

“Right behind ya.” He told you again, softer this time and felt relief flood through him as he watched you run.

You ran through the house, quickly making your way out of the back door that was thankfully free from walkers and continued to run, making your way over to the road as Daryl had told you too.

You made the mistake of glancing over your shoulder, looking to see if Daryl was coming when suddenly you felt the world tip before you cried out in pain as your head connected with the pavement, already feeling blood trickle down from the cut.

You blinked hard before you shot up upon hearing the snarls of a walker, having to pause for a second as the pain in your head blinded you, the feel of a hand on your leg causing you to scramble back as best you could but the walker was not giving up its hold on you.

You glanced around, looking for your knife and groaned when you saw it had ended up flung ahead of you, too far for you to reach. The walker continued to make its way closer to you and you tried to fight it off but you couldn’t, trying to keep moving back as best you could with its grip on you.

Just before you could call Daryl you were flinching as walker blood and brains splattered all over you as a bat was brought down on its head before you let out a huff of relief. The relief was cut short as you saw a man in a black mask gesture for two other men behind you to grab you.

“Daryl!” You yelled desperately as the men easily pulled you up.

Daryl had finally managed to fight his way out of the house and moved even faster as he heard your panicked cries calling for him. He ran out of the back door, not even hesitating with pulling the trigger on the crossbow, immediately taking one of the men down before he turned his attention to the other two.

They were both blocked by you but Daryl knew he could make one of the shots and keep you safe, he watched as one of them kept you in front of him, the two of you facing Daryl as he led you backwards towards the car, you silently pleading with Daryl not to let them take you.

The man not holding you tried to move quickly over to the driver's seat but he wasn’t quick enough for Daryl who released the arrow the moment he moved away from you. Then there was the one holding you, he was now looking towards his friend but quickly snapped his gaze back to Daryl.

Daryl glared as he tried to get a clear shot but he couldn’t, not without hurting you and he couldn’t do it. He waited, anxiety flooding through him as he saw tears make their way down your face before he finally, finally, had the shot.

He released the trigger again, watching as the arrow flew towards the man holding you and watched as he turned, positioning you so you took the arrow to your thigh, a cry of pain leaving you as the man chuckled and opened the car door, pulling a gun out as Daryl went to step forward, instantly stopping him in his tracks.

Daryl felt the urge to cry himself but took a deep breath, not focusing on the fact that you had a damn arrow sticking out of you that he had put there, trying not to focus on your cries or the fear displayed clearly across your face.

Instead he focused on the man holding you, watched every move he made, watched as he got too cocky and turned away from Daryl. Daryl took the opportunity to move two steps to the left, barely noticeable but giving him full advantage.

He didn’t wait for the man to turn around, didn’t hesitate as he pulled the trigger a final time and watched with satisfaction as the man hit the floor before he even knew what was happening.

Daryl watched as you wobbled, the man no longer holding you up had you seconds away from joining him on the floor but before you knew it Daryl’s own familiar, comfortable, arms were wrapping around you and you buried your head in his chest, sobbing against it as he held you tight.

“You’re alright, I got you, not gonna let anyone take you.” Daryl continued to whisper reassurances into your hair until you calmed down.

Once your tears had subsided Daryl pulled back and cupped your cheek in his hand, his fingers brushing away some of the blood from the cut. You watched him frown before shaking his head.

“Damn lucky we packed the medical supplies.” He muttered as he moved around you to help you sit down on the backseat, apologising as you winced against the arrow in your thigh.

“I’m so sorry,” He said quietly, guilty.

“Don’t be, please,” You said, sniffing back more tears, “Please don’t be sorry, you saved me.”

“I shot you!” He exclaimed, angry at himself for taking the shot, for letting you go off alone, for letting you get hurt on his watch.

“Hey,” You called softly, getting his attention. You lifted your hand and brushed some hair away from his face, smiling as he leaned into your touch. “You saved me.”

You watched him look up into your eyes, searching for any hint of a lie, of resentment, of fear, of hatred, all things he would deserve but he saw nothing but trust and something else, something soft that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Ok.” He said simply, nodding before rooting through the bag, pulling alcohol, cloths, a needle and thread out, shooting you an apologetic look. “This is gonna hurt like a bitch.”

That was, quite possibly, the understatement of the century because as soon as Daryl pulled the arrow out of your thigh…there were no words to describe the pain, the burning sensation that seemed to spread through your entire body and you had to bite down so hard on your lip to stop from screaming that you ended up splitting it.

Daryl worked quickly but all his touches were gentle, trying to provide comfort where he could. The entire time he worked he spoke soft words of encouragement, watching as they seemed to help, giving you something to focus on.

“Ya doin’ great, nearly there, attagirl.” He continued to murmur and you kept taking deep breaths trying desperately to only listen to his words.

“All done.” He told you and you let out a loud sigh, a mix of relief, tiredness, pain and gratitude all rolled into one. Daryl kneeled up so he was face to face with you and let his hand brush your hair off your sweat stained forehead. “You did good.” He told you with a smile and you couldn’t help but let out a huff of laughter as you leaned down and captured his lips in yours, feeling him kiss back.

The kiss stayed soft and slow, you were exhausted and Daryl’s nerves were too high but you both needed this, needed a minute to see that you were both ok, you were both alive and together.

“You saved me.” You whispered against his lips as the two of you pulled away and Daryl looked up at you with wide, wet eyes. You let your fingers go up to his hair, running them through and pulling gently at the knots. “Thank you.”

“Don’t ever have to thank me for that, we look out for each other, yeah?” Daryl asked and you nodded, smiling down at him brightly despite the tiredness pulling at your eyes and the pain in your thigh. “Get some sleep,” He told you, gesturing for you to lay across the back seat, “I’ll get us somewhere safe.”

“I’m good,” You told him both of you knowing it was a lie and Daryl smiled at you, rolling his eyes fondly as he gestured to the back seat again.

“Get some sleep, I’m gonna be right here.” He promised and you nodded, leaning down to kiss him once more before you finally listened to him and made yourself as comfortable as possible across the back seats of the car, smiling as you felt a familiar leather vest being placed over your chest.

Somehow, despite everything, you still felt safer than ever as you held the leather vest close, pulling it up and breathing in the scent that reminded you of home before you let your eyes fall shut, the sound of the engine starting as you began to fall asleep.

“I’m right here,” You heard Daryl promise again, softly as if he was speaking more to himself than you but you still let yourself smile, cuddling further into the vest before finally drifting off, trusting Daryl entirely.

__________

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[phenomenalgirl9]

Elder Vampire! Seokjin x Newborn Vampire! Reader: Blood is Red

<;- Previous / Next ->

Part iv

A/n: Sorry if I kept anybody waiting =)

(In this AU just the bute doesn't change you, it kills you untill you are provided the blood of an pure blood vampire within a certain time to get turned... my au my rules 😛) There are gonna be mentions of blood and almost death so read with caution.

Summary: Namu clan has always been very strict and secretive as to whom they let into their clan. And go strictly by the rules of the Vampire Community as to never put a threat to their identity. What happens when Jimin finds a girl on the verge of death in an abandoned street.

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

Each day the training got harder and harder as it was found out that the Argon Clan were making moves, according to the intel from the Wolfs the clan has even recruited new members and a series of murders have been going on. So it's only a matter of time before they come for the Namu clan, the Bangtan House being one if the most important of all places. But, you are a greater target and Jieun will surely target you more, hence, Yoongi baught a few wolf ops with him to teach a few of you the use of guns.

Hoseok explained you how even being a supernatural you can use silver bullets safely without hurting yourself. And you found yourself to be a natural at shooting.

"No doubt, you always were good at it. An expert hunter, turned in a vampire" Hoseok said "You are an invincible super human, always remember that" he said holding your shoulders, you guys were still trying to get used to the smell but you could never distance from Hoseok for that.

Apart from you Jungkook and Jihyo were good at it. Jimin was more comfortable with his bow and arrow that were actually awesome. Meanwhile Taehyung was good at bombs and Mark, one of the wolves' bombing experts showed him how to handle them, along with his sword. As for you, you marvelled at all but bombs, so you decided to stay within combat instead of explosives.

One evening you were sitting on the roof munching down an apple when, Jin came in and said "Hey beautiful"

"Hi Jin" you said with a smile.

"come with me I have something to show you" he said and put out his had "lets stroll there together"

"You came all the way here? Couldn't you call?" You said chuckling.

"I do not use those devices and the boys were busy so I had to come and get you" he said. You grabbed his arm and went. You again had this warm feeling inside you the moment you and Jin touched. You smiled to yourself at the fluttering feeling at your cold heart. Jin was leading you to one of the practice rooms. You saw a tall thing covered with a white cloth.

"Jin, what's that?" You asked.

"Uncover it and reveal it to yourself" he said, as you eagerly went on to find:

(imagine this to be on a mannequin)

You just stood there staring in awe at the gear, it seemed custom made as per you taste and you were sure Jin took Hoseok's help in this. You went on to take a closer look saw that the dagger hilt had your Name initials on it. You had always awed at Jihyo's gear, but you now loved the one you have. The blacks with purple tints suited you perfectly.

"Jin!" You said and ran to hug him and he caught you. "Thank you so much! This looks so great and perfect oh my god" you mumbled in joy.

"Thanks to Hoseok and Jimin, I knew exactly how to get these designed" he said

"Aye and this" Jin said, as he brought out something from his pocket.

"I personally chose these" he said.

"But if you dont like any piece we can get it changed" he said looking at you.

"I love each and every piece" you said adoring your new gear

"so why dont you get dressed in it?" He said.

You nodded and grabbed the main trouser and top to the room attached to change. You changed into it, only to realise that the top had a zipper and a belt in the back that you couldn't reach.

"Um.... Jin?" You called out.

"Yes?" He said from outside

"Can you come here and Zip this up?" You said.

"Should I get Jihyo? Wait I'll get Her-"

"No" you said "You come in" you said in. a firm voice, you blinked and found Jin standing behind you. You could swear you heard him suck in a breath. He touched your shoulders lightly as if you were made of porcelain. He held the zipper and as he pulled it, his touch felt like it burnt your skin. You could see his eyes raking up and down your body through your mirror, as he tightened the belt. He lingered a bit before he cleared his throat and left. Not before you noticed how red his cheeks and ears were.

"Yn?" You heard Namjoon's voice from outside. You shrugged on your jacket and stepped out of the room.

"Yes Joon?" You said.

"Wow" he said "You look really scary, I mean the good kind of scary" he said.

You chucked and thanked him and he proposed that you both go for a walk.

"Jimin told me you have some wierd feelings going on?" He said fixing his specs.

"That Rat!" You muttered before answering "Yeah um... Its embarrassing" you said.

"I know. You must think you like him" Namjoon said.

"Yeah I actually do" you confessed genuinely.

"But Yn I must tell you, you dont" he said. And you were shocked, since when did he knew more about of Your feeling than You?!

"Excuse me?" You said, irritation laced in your voice.

"Yn, don't get angry but it's just the blood pull, being around Jin all the time, makes you feel like you like him" he said.

"I'm not around him all the time" you protested

"Yeah apart from training and running errands. Don't think I didn't notice the two of you spending nights reading and talking at the library" he teased, with a smirk.

That is true, you generally spend nights with Jin, talking to him, reading with him, learning about different creatures.

"I also spend time with you Namjoon" you say, which is also true, you spend time learning about poisons and antidotes, they somehow peaked your interest.

"Yes, with Jin hyung" he mentioned

"Ah yes I feel a pull towards him and increases with the moon. The fuller the moon, the lesser the attraction. But I do genuinely like him" you said.

"Yes, but I just want you to be careful and think every step you take. Cause you're the first female atleast I have seen hyung to seem interested in" he said.

"I will" you said, after having a little more chat, Namjoon went off to mind his own business and you went back to change but something caught your eyes and instead you ran towards where you knew He was. How you knew? You don't know.

You grabbed a glove and dropped it infront of him.

"Pick it up" you told him

"Yn, you sure you can do this?" Jimin said from the other side of the room.

"Yes I know what I am doing" you said.

"But, What are you doing? Jimin ssi? Why did Yn drop a glove infront of Jin Hyung?" Taehyung asked in confusion.

"Pick it up Kim Seokjin, I challenge you to a swords duel" you said with a smirk.

"You really do that with a gauntlet you know" he said.

"Modern times, modern things" you said.

And he did, he picked it up and gave it to you. "Ok Yn Ln, I Kim Seokjin accept your challenge" he said. And you smiled to yourself, yes you have been planning to do this, and the moment you laid eyes on your gear, you wanted him to the first one you fight. Jihyo did say you had a clean chance of winning over Jin, so you did it.

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

The next day (Duel day)

You glanced at Jin one wore time, taking in his black clad hunting gear. You would lie it you said, you didn't feel week in the knees for him. Who wouldn't?

But no, you took your brain out of your crotch and brought back your head in the game. You had to win this, Jimin brought out 2 practice swords and the two of you faced each other

"There's still time to forfeit" he said with a smirk

"In your dreams" you muttered and as if on cue, Jimin blew the whistle and the match started. It was a one match duel. The two of you watched each other and every movement.

The rest 7 shook in anticipation as to who would hit first, who'd call the first strike.

"Too scared to strike?" Jin asked

"You first grandpa" you teased

"Uh huh, lady's first" he said.

But you remained in your place and said "That only applies when you don't have senior citizens in the scene. But here you are" you said and that broke Jin's armour of patience and he swiftly brought down his sword to knock off yours but you skillfully blocked it out with one whisk and attacked him instead. You were playing all offence and Seokjin himself found this fierceness of yours extremely hot.

He kept evading your attacks as you never gave him a window to attack and not leaving any place unguarded. The two of you went on, to and fro hitting and evading and the audience couldn't move their eyes away from you. The two of you constantly threw insults at each other the moment you'd distance each other by the force of the sword.

You swiped your sword at him but he gracefully ducked from under it and grabbed your hand and even before you realised what was happening you were under his hold, him holding your neck with one arm locking your free arm and holding the sword arm with the other and you couldn't move.

"I do like when you're wild, but you can't defeat me" he said in your ear. His deep voice under his close proximity sent shivers down your spine and you tried to move and get free.

"What happened? Cat got your tongue? Do you forfeit?" He asked again his breath brushing over your ears.

"No" you said and kicked his knee with you foot hard and as an impact he winced which was enough time for you to set free and hold up your sword.

"Not today Seokjin. No not today" you said with a smirk. Jin swore to rub that smirk of your face, even though he had to admit this all was really kinda turning him on, but now was not the time for that.

The fight was so intense that Hoseok was amazed at the skills of the both of you showed. He's never seen anyone fight like that. Jimin almost felt proud that he trained you, well to some extent, you were surely pretrained and forgot that when your memory was taken.

Jin aimed his sword towards your leg and you swiftly jumped and that's when it came to your mind. You kicked his palm, resulting in his sword falling and you took the chance to land on it and pointed your sword towards Jin and said "Up"

You cant believe you did it, you defeated-

Your thoughts were cut when Jin caught your arm and tackled you down to the ground pointing your sword to your neck and said "Now now, getting to ahead of ourselves aren't we?" He said and looked into your eyes and the guy's mind went blank, just for a moment the tall sexy man, whose one look enough made you want to surrender infront of him. But you took your chance, that one moment of vulnerability was enough for you to tackle him instead. You pinned him down to the ground pinned his hands under your knees and locked his legs with your own. As for your arms, you held him down with one and used the other to hold your sword to his throat.

To say Jin was shocked, is an understatement, but he was also immobile. But additionally he was extremely extremely impressed not to say how extremely desirable you looked as you sat on him, pinning him down, your butt painfully close to his crotch and shit he couldn't thunk straight. Neither could you, you almost forgot that you were here literally pinning Jin down infront of your friends and you are completely lost in his eyes, you've never looked at him thus close. His eyes, his nose, his plump lips that you've often wonder about feeling on yours or all over your body. You could literally feel him twitch under you, and felt as if his whole body was warming up, and his ears were red. You couldn't take it anymore you dropped the sword and connected your own lips, and damn, he kissed you back the moment your lips touched his, and you felt flutters coursing through your body and you forgot everything. Jin had loosed up his hands which were now encircled around your waist, pulling you even more closer to him.

You drowned out every other voice around the two of you, you never heard an annoyed Yoongi was was being held down by Hoseok to not interfere between the two. You certainly never noticed a flustered Jihyo covering Jungkook's eyes. No you didn't all you knew were the lips of this man that devoured yours as hungrily as you did. You felt fireworks in your stomach. Noway this was the blood pull, is what you thought.

But the moment was soon interrupted my a phone ringing, and it was as if your trance broke. You were both so flustered that neither of you uttered a word and just stood up looking at Hoseok who was talking on the phone with a grave expression. As soon as he hung up he looked at you and said "Jieun is on the move, she's coming for Yn. Our clan leader Jackson just called"

"Finally then" you said and everybody looked at you in shock. "I want to fight that bitch and avenge my family" you said "I want to avenge every moment that got stolen from me because of her"

"Are you crazy?" Jungkook shocked everyone and spoke first "That's Jieun! Lee Jieun! The head of the Argon Clan. Who almost got you killed. You might be a great fighter but that doesn't mean your ready to face a whole army" he said.

"He's right. They can't fight and protect you Yn" Namjoon spoke up.

"They don't need to! I can protect myself! You said

"We are sure you can" Jin spoke up and put a hand to caress your right cheek "But all of us would be distracted as we all will have your safety in mind. Don't you think that would be advantageous to our enemy"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" You said.

"We need to throw them off your trail" Jihyo spoke up. We'll relocate to the house in Busan and I'll get someone to dress and smell like you and you-" she was cut off by Hoseok who said

"will come with us, to our base" Hoseok said "only our smell can cover up for yours"

"As much as I hate the idea of you being surrounded by wolfs, I think that's our better chance. Jungkook call the Enha house and TobyTo houses for back up and to go directly to the Busan house. Jihyo call the imposter and Hoseok please take care of Yn" he said, grabbing your shoulder.

'Don't worry I won't let her in harmsway. No matter what, we'll have the wolfs and the other hunters" Hoseok said.

You looked at Jin and said "I don't wanna leave all of you, alone to fight". Jin just smiled and brought you in a hug and said "You wont, you'll have Namjoon go with you"

You sighed and said "I don't wanna leave you, Jinnie", Seokjin smiled at you audible pout and the usage of the name you used to call when you were a kid.

"I'll find you as soon as all this is over? Okay? I'll run to you if needed" he said

"What if I need you?" You asked and he pulled you away but still held your shoulders.

"I'll always ve there for you when you need me" he said holding you close by your shoulders and connected your foreheads.

"You promise?" You said with glassy eyes.

"Promise" he said. You pull back and bring out your pinky, Jin just laughed connected his pinky to yours.

What you didn't know was Yoongi was watching the whole scene as he was making calls and he smiled to himself. He was supposed to protect you, for himself and for your parents whom he had promised before their deaths to always protect their dear daughter. He wannted you safe and he's sure Jin had the same motive, even though he'll have to have "the talk" with him later, still he was glad where you were and the person you were with.

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

Soon, a girl came from a ove the roofs. You were sure she was there to avoid eyes.

Jihyo and you took her to you room, see was exactly you height and body type just that she was blond, but it was nothing a bit of potion from Namjoon couldn't handle. You cut you finger and apples some of your blood on whose name you learnt was Yeji's body which would be covered in clothes.

As soon as she was dressed and masked, you were shocked that it almost felt like you. You thanked Yeji, but she said she was more than eager to help, as back in the years, her parents had once saved her from some rogue wolfs. You both promised to keep in touch after this whole ordeal was over and Jihyo always welcomed more females.

As you stepped back into the courtyard, Hobi came and almost latched to you like a koala. And God you felt like you'd suffocate off the smell.

"Hobi! What. Are. You. Doing?" You said.

"Rubbing off on you" he said

"Yes literally! But why?" You said, trying yo get used to the smell.

"So that your own smell gets covered by mine" He said.

"That isn't necessary Hoseok" Jin said literally snatching you to his side. " Namjoon has the smell removing potion ready, he and Yn will take a vial" he said, hugging you.

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

You climbed on the car after hugging eaach of the members of the Bangtan house except Namjoon who was already in the car, even Yeji, leaving Jin for the last.

With a last hug you whispered "Remember your promise" and you got in the car.

You were scared, for the members and of whats to happen, and specially how you'll spend the night without Seokjin. More importantly how many nights would you have to spend, without Seokjin.

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

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[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 2x11 thoughts

For an episode that ends with a journalist Ted trusts but has (understandably) recently lied to warning Ted that he’s publishing an article about his panic attacks, it was fitting that this episode seemed entirely about what all of these characters choose to tell each other. And after most of a season of television that Jason Sudeikis has described as the season in which the characters go into their little caves to deal with things on their own, it turns out they are finally able to tell each other quite a lot.

Which is good because, um, wow, a lot is going to happen in the season finale of this show!

Thoughts on the things people tell each other behind the cut!

Roy and Keeley. I absolutely loved the moment during their photoshoot in which they bring up a lot of complicated emotional things and are clearly gutted (“gutted”? Who am I? A GBBO contestant who forgot to turn the oven on?) by what they’ve heard. We already know that Keeley and Roy are great at the kinds of moments they have before the shoot begins, in which Roy builds Keeley up and tells her she’s fucking amazing. From nearly the beginning of their relationship, they’ve supported each other and been each other’s biggest fans. But their relationship has gone on long enough that they’ve progressed from tentative arguments about space and individual needs into really needing to figure out what they mean to each other and how big their feelings are and what that means in relation to everything else. Watching these two confess about the uncomfortable kiss with Nate, the unexpectedly long conversation with Phoebe’s teacher, and—most painfully—the revelation that Jamie still loves Keeley didn’t feel like watching two people who are about to break up. (Although I could see them potentially needing space from each other to get clarity.) It felt like watching two people realize just how much they’d lose if they lost each other, which is an understandably scary feeling even—or especially—when you’re deeply in love but not entirely sure what the future holds. Not entirely sure what you’re capable of when you’ve never felt serious about someone in quite this way, and are realizing you have to take intentional actions to choose that relationship every single day. I’m excited to learn whether Roy and Keeley decide they need to solidify their relationship more (not necessarily an engagement, but maybe moving in together or making sure they’re both comfortable referring to the other as partner and telling people they’re in a committed relationship) or if things go in a different direction for a while.

Sharon and Ted. I’ve had this feeling of “Wow, Ted is going to feel so intense about how honest he’s been with Sharon and is going to end up getting really attached and transfer a lot of emotions onto the connection they have and that is stressful no matter how beneficial it has been for him to finally get therapy!” for a while now. And Sharon’s departure really brought that out and it was indeed stressful. But the amount of growth that’s happened for both of these characters is really stunningly and beautifully conveyed in this episode. Ted is genuinely angry she left without saying goodbye, and he doesn’t bury it some place deep inside him where it will fester for the next thirty years. He expresses his anger. (I also noticed he sweared—mildly—in front of her again, which is really a big tell for how much he has let his carefully-constructed persona relax around her.) He reads her letter even though he said he wasn’t going to, and he’s moved. I don’t think Ted has the words for his connection to Sharon beyond “we had a breakthrough,” but Sharon gets it, and is able to firmly assert a professional boundary by articulating her side of that breakthrough as an experience that has made her a better therapist. And is still able to offer Ted a different kind of closure by suggesting they go out before her train leaves. No matter how you feel about a patient/football manager seeing their therapist/team psychologist colleague socially, I appreciated this story because IMO it didn’t cross big lines but instead was about one final moment in this arc in which both Ted and Sharon saw each other clearly and modeled what it is to give someone what they need and to expect honesty and communication from them. I liked that Ted ends up being the one saying goodbye. (The mustache in the exclamation points!) I like that whether or not Sharon returns in any capacity (Sarah Niles is so wonderful that I hope she does, but I’m not sure), the goodbye these characters forge for themselves here is neither abandonment nor a new, more complicated invitation. It’s the end of a meaningful era, and although the work of healing is the work of a lifetime, it’s very beautiful to have this milestone.

Ted and Rebecca. So, maybe it’s just me, but it kinda feels like these two have a few li’l life things to catch up on?! (HAHHHHHaSdafgsdasdf!) I really adored their interactions in this episode. I maintain that Biscuits With The Boss has been happening this whole time (even when Ted’s apartment was in shambles, there’s biscuit evidence, and I feel like we’ve been seeing the biscuit boxes in Rebecca’s office pretty regularly too), even if it might have been more of a drive-by biscuit drop-off/feelings avoidance ritual. It was really lovely to see Ted on more even footing in Rebecca’s office, joking around until she tells him to shut up, just like the old days. And GOSH—for their 1x9 interaction in Ted’s office to be paralleled in this episode and for Ted to explicitly make note of the parallel in a way Rebecca hears and sees and understands?! MY HEART. In both of Rebecca’s confessions, she is not bringing good news but it is good and meaningful that she chooses to share with Ted. In both situations, Ted takes the moment in stride and offers acceptance equivalent to the gravity of what she has to confess. And in both situations, he’s not some kind of otherworldly saint, able to accept Rebecca no matter what because he’s unaffected by what she shares. He is affected. When he tells her about Sam, you can see a variety of emotions on his face. Rebecca is upset and Ted is calm, and even if I might have liked for him to try to talk about the risk the affair poses to the power dynamics on the team or any number of factors, I also really liked that he just accepts where she is, and—most importantly—does not offer her advice beyond examining herself and taking her own advice. A massive part of being in a relationship with another person (a close relationship of any nature) is figuring out how to support that person without necessarily having to be happy about every single thing they do. It’s so important that Ted connects what she’s just told him about Sam back to what she told him last season about her plot with the club. These both feel like truth bombs to him, and he is at least safe enough to make that clear. These are both things that impact him, things that shape how he sees her and maybe even how he sees himself. He cares about her and is capable of taking in this information; he has room for it. But it’s not something he takes lightly, and neither does she. See you next year.

Tumblr user chainofclovers and the TV show Ted Lasso. My brain is going wild thinking about all the ways the next “truth bomb” conversation could go in 3x11 or whatever. Maybe they go full consistent parallel and Rebecca confesses something else, this time about her and Ted or some other big future thing that impacts him as much or more as the other confessions have. (The same but different.) Maybe the tables turn and Ted has something to confess to her. While the 1x9 conversation ended in an embrace and the 2x11 conversation ended with a bit more physical distance (understandable given the current state of their relationship and the nature of the discussion), the verbal ending of both conversations involved voices moving into a sexier lower register while zooming in to talk specifically about their connection to each other, so I have to assume there will be some consistencies in s3 even if the circumstances will be completely different. I don’t really know where I’m going with this and I obviously will go insane if I sustain this level of anticipatory energy until Fall 2022 but I have a feeling my brain and heart are going to try!

Sam and Rebecca. I know there’s been a lot of criticism about whether this show is being at all realistic about the power dynamics and inevitable professional issues this relationship would create. On some level, I agree; I like that pretty much everyone who knows about the affair has been kind so far, but you can be kind and still ask someone to contend with reality. But I also think that in nearly every plot point on this show, the narrative is driven by how people feel about their circumstances first and foremost. (It’s why the whiteboard in the coaching office and the football commentators tell us more about how the actual football season is going from a points perspective than anyone else.) This episode reminded me how few people know about Sam and Rebecca, and how much their time together so far has been time spent in bed. The private sphere. I thought this episode really expertly brought the public sphere into it, not—thank goodness—through a humiliating exposure or harsh judgment but through an opportunity for Sam that illustrates not only all his potential to do great things but how much Rebecca’s professional position and personal feelings are in conflict with that. Could stand in the way of that. I don’t have a strong gut feeling about where this will go, but I do think Sam’s face in his final scene of this episode is telling. He started the episode wanting to see Rebecca (his most recent text to her was about wanting to connect), and Edwin’s arrival from Ghana really exploded his sense of what is possible for his life. If he’d arrived home to Rebecca sitting on his stoop prior to meeting Edwin, he’d have been delighted. Now he’s conflicted, and whatever decision he makes, he has to reckon with the reality that he cannot have everything he wants. No matter what. And Rebecca—she has taken Ted’s advice and is attempting to be honest about the fact that she can’t control Sam’s decisions but hopes he doesn’t go, and even saying that much feels so inappropriate. And I’m not sure how much she realizes about the inappropriateness of the position she’s putting him in, although maybe she’s getting there considering she exits the scene very quickly. I’ve honestly loved Rebecca’s arc this season. I think it’s realistic that she got obsessed with the intimacy she thought she could find in her phone. I think it’s realistic that her professional and personal ambitions are inappropriately linked. (They certainly were for Rupert. It’s been years since she’s known anything different; even if she’s done some significant recovery work to move on from her abusive marriage and figure out her own priorities, she’s got a long way to go.) I know there are people who will read this interaction between Rebecca and Sam as a totally un-self-aware thing on the part of “the show” or “the writers” but what I saw is two people who enjoyed being in bed together and now have to deal with the reality that they’re in two different places in their lives and that one has great professional power over the other. If that wasn’t in the show, I wouldn’t be able to see it or feel so strongly about it.

Edwin and Sam. I really enjoyed all the complexities of this interaction. Edwin is promising a future for Sam that doesn’t quite exist yet, though he has the financial means to make it happen. He offers this by constructing for Sam a Nigerian—and Ghanaian—experience unlike anything he’s found in London. Sam is amazed that this experience is here, and Edwin’s response is to explain to him that the experience is not here. Not really. The experience in Africa. Sam has of course connected to the other Nigerian players on the team, but this is something else entirely. I’m really curious if Sam is going to end up feeling that what Edwin has to offer is real or not. That sense of home and connection? So real. And so right that he would want to experience that homecoming and would want to be part of building that experience for others. But at the end of the day, he went to a museum full of actors and a pop-up restaurant full of “friends,” and is that constructed authenticity as a stand-in for a real homecoming more or less real than the home he’s building in Richmond? (With other players who stand in solidarity with him, and with well-meaning white coaches who say dumb stuff sometimes, and an a probably-doomed love interest, and a feeling that he should put chicken instead of goat in the jollof, and the ability to stand out as an incredible player on a rising team.)

Nate and everyone. But also Nate and no one. Nate’s story is so painful and I’m so anxious for next week’s episode. For a long time I’ve felt that a lot of Nate’s loyalties are with Richmond, and a lot of his ambitions are around having given so much to this place without getting a lot back, and having a strong feeling that he’s the answer to Richmond’s future. But now I’m not so sure; his ambitions have transferred into asking everyone he knows (except Ted, of course), if they want to be “the boss.” But Nate is all tactics and no communication. When he wants to suggest a new play to Ted, he hasn’t yet learned to read Ted’s language to learn that Ted is eager to hear what he has to say. And while Ted has been really unfortunately distracted about Nate and dismissive of him this season, he clearly respects Nate’s approach to football and was appreciative of the play. Nate just can’t hear that. The suit is such a great metaphor of all the things Nate is in too much pain to be able to hear clearly. Everyone digs at him for wearing the suit Ted bought him (including Will, who’s got to get little cuts in where he can, because he’s got to be sick of the way Nate treats him), but when he gets fed up his solution isn’t to go out on his own and find more clothes he likes; he asks Keeley to help him. And then crosses a major line with her...and no matter how kind she was about it, she was clearly not okay. Everything is going to blow up, and I’m so curious as to whether Nate will end up aligning himself with Rupert in some way or if he’s going to end up screwed over by Rupert and in turn try to screw over his colleagues even worse than he’s already done. Or try desperately to make amends even though it could be too late for some. Either way, I’m fully prepared to feel devastated. (And there’s no way I’m giving up on this character. If he’s able to learn, I truly believe he could end up seeking forgiveness and forging a happier existence for himself. Someday. Like in season 3 or something.)

Ted and Trent. Trent deciding to reveal his source to Ted is a huge deal, and I’m torn between so many emotions about this exposé. I’m glad it’s a Trent Crimm piece and not an Ernie Loundes piece. I’m glad that Trent made the decision to warn Ted and let him know that Nate is his source. I fear—but also hope—that this exposure will set off a chain reaction of Ted learning about some of the things he’s missed while suffering through a really bad bout with his dad-grief and panic disorder. The things Ted doesn’t know would devastate him. I wonder if Ted will want to figure out a way to make Nate feel heard and reconcile with him, and I wonder how that will be complicated if/when he realizes Nate has severely bullied Will, gets more details on how he mistreated Colin, etc. I wonder if Rebecca, whom Nate called a “shrew” right before she announced his promotion, will be in the position of having to ask Ted to fire him, or overriding Ted and doing it herself. So many questions! I have a feeling it’ll go in some wild yet very human-scaled, emotionally-nuanced direction, and I’ll be like “Oh my GOD!” but also like “Oh, of course.”

This VERY SERIOUS AND EMOTIONAL REVIEW has a major flaw, which is that none of the above conversations include mention of the absolute love letter to N*SYNC. Ted passionately explains how things should go while dancing ridiculously! Will turns on the music and starts gyrating! Roy nods supportively! Beard shouts the choreography like the Broadway choreographer of teaching grown men who play football how to dance like a boy band. Everyone is so incredibly proud when they nail it. I love them.

I cannot believe next week is the end. For now. I’m kind of looking forward to letting everything settle during the hiatus, but I’ve really loved the ride.

[moreespressoformydepresso]

No it’s not I love it when people interact with my posts! I’ve just had a rough couple of days so I haven’t responded as much as I wanted to. Emotions, gotta love em and all that.

Honestly this is hilarious and I love it so much you don’t even know. But I feel like while the parents would initially react like that, they may start to look closer afterward. And they’d see a side of their child they’d never seen before: a happy side. Not that the kids aren’t ever happy, they are. It’s just that they’re always more content than actually, joyously ecstatic. But now? They’re practically glowing with joy as they jump and dance around freely, slowly letting loose and being carefree children.

And maybe this raw, unfiltered look at the district kids showing their culture and just being kids will help the Capitol as a whole look at them in a new light. They’ve got the upper hand here, because the numbers are even but the tributes have Reaper, Jessup, Marcus, Coral, and Brandy on their side. Come on now, they could kill the mentors no problem if they really wanted to. But they don’t. Instead, they’re trying to have as good of a time as they can in these bad circumstances. Without the fear and anger, the tributes show their real selves. Sweet souls who didn’t have a choice in any of this. They’re cornered, but they’re not acting like the animals Gaul claimed they’d act as. If anything, there’s more humanity in this footage of kids teaching each other how to dance that there is in anything the Capitol has ever done. Gaul may have televised her theory once news of the arena bombing got out, so now people are questioning the games as a whole. Their own children have never looked more openly happy than they do while letting a bunch of dirty, starved District kids lead them around by the wrist and teach them about their culture. Some realize that the only difference between this and the games is that there aren’t people with guns outside threatening to shoot them if they don’t fight, and once that gets spread the dominoes start falling. The mentors getting out and avidly defending their tributes and actively trying to save them from the games is the nail in the coffin, sending the domino spiraling outward even faster.

It would be so funny if Vipsania cannot do any gymnastics at all but I headcanon Treech as an actor and a circus performer (the D7 Theater Squad doubles as a circus in my head) so he helps her do a cartwheel and assists her with a backflip (though she can’t do that last one on her own). All the districts have their own dances so they end up sitting in a circle showing their own dances off and teaching the others the basic steps. It’s a fun activity they end up doing for hours until it’s too dark to safely continue.

I headcanon that Persephone ended up viewing Mizzen as a little brother so he drags her around by the wrist teaching her all the cool things about district four while she listens with a fond smile and mentally conspired to get him out of the games and fix the D4 school system so he can make his career dreams come true. Maybe at some point funeral practices come up in culture conversation? That would definitely humanize the districts, because you can look from a distance and judge funeral practices as “lesser” but when someone who uses them explains it… that just hits different. It’s impossible to avoid how much it means to them and it’s just so… human, you know?

Idk just some thoughts I guess? I don’t have a good way to end this tbh.

For some reason I started imagining a scenario where the tributes and the mentors somehow get trapped together in the arena (without the peacekeepers being there don't ask me how I haven't figured it out) at first the mentors are freaking out meanwhile the tributes are just sitting there being like: we are dead anyway and each group is staying on one side of the arena and don't want to cross the other side however when supplies are sent for the mentors empathize on only the mentors the nicer ones are willing to share with their tribute while the less good ones are complaining and screaming nonstop until the tributes have enough of the screaming and tell them to shut up Bec they are the ones who the capitol is trying to save and send supplies for and the ones who well get to live while if they get out of the arena while they will come back home in boxes and will never get the chance to grow up except one and the tributes who are frustrated with their mentors varbully smack them down until the bad mentors finally shut up and slowly they go from insulting the tributes to trying to have a somewhat casual conversation although with little success idk I am writing this while half asleep so sorry if it's all random and there are dozen of plot holes and I haven't decided if the reason they are all trapped in the arena is Bec of the bombing and where the peacekeepers would be as I am not considering them so sorry if this is all random but it's a scenario that I thought would be somewhat amusing

That's a fantastic setup for a fix-it!! Because the best way to convince people to part with their prejudiced, bigoted beliefs is to let them interact with the people they hate. It forces them to see the humanity in those they've convinced themselves are lesser beings. It's what most of my full fix-it AU's are focused on: forcing the mentors to see what they refuse to accept. The tributes just don't have the power or influence to stop the games, but the mentors do. They have the freedom to actually do something. It's just that they don't, because they only care about their own tribute and are raised to believe in the system. The games are a part of the system. Working within the system means trying to make their own tribute the victor, and it's that mentality that gets all of the tributes except Lucy Gray killed.

The bombing's the only time the tributes and mentors both go into the arena at the same time, so it'd have to happen then if we wanna stick as close to canon as possible. Ain't no way the Capitol's gonna let their precious children be alone in a large space with district people so there would be peacekeepers either way. The best way to handle this is to kill most or all of those peacekeepers via rubble. The first bomb goes off in the entrance rather than near it, effectively collapsing it shut, and the second goes off lower down in the stands. Only the walls to the bottom of the stands collapse, the ceiling stays intact. Possibly a third bomb goes off to create a gap in the ceiling that's too high for anyone to reach.

Maybe Treech and Lamina are sent by the mentors to climb the pile and find a way out? Because the mentors view themselves as smarter and more superior so they try to take the lead and be in control. They wanna send Wovey too but the 22 glares (bc Dill wouldn't glare) burning into their very souls put that idea to rest very quickly. But Lamina and Treech can't make an exit without moving stones which would risk bringing the whole building down on everyone. The mentors refuse to accept "no" until Reaper and Marcus have enough of their shit and threaten them to accept the answer or face the consequences. Sejanus, throughout all of this, is an absolute angel trying to stop his mentors from being jerks. It's not effective, but he's trying, and he only admonishes the mentors that try to threaten back. Not Reaper or Marcus, because of course not. They're well within their rights to be rude to the Capitol kids. So, they're stuck and retreat to their corners because of the mentors.

I think the tributes would want to be with each other while stuck in the arena, but their mentors would stop them because competition and "those other tributes are vile and dangerous district scum and you're different so I can't be around those beasts!" Maybe that's actually the snapping point for one of them? It would show some more selfless characteristics which would make it harder for the mentors to ignore. This kid didn't stand up for themself but for people who they met days ago that'll have to die soon. It's very echo-y in the arena so even spoken words can be heard by everyone. Perhaps, while the tributes like Facet and Panlo are screaming at their horrible mentors for being trash, they reveal some of the horrible living conditions in the districts? Like one of them will go "and not even when we're in the Capitol can we escape you worthless, slimy douchebags depriving us of our basic needs! Not even when you need us fed will you bother inconveniencing yourself in the slightest to be less than the bare minimum requirements for a basic human being!!!!" and it kind of shocks the mentors out of their delusion because the tributes haven't ever been so openly hostile before.

Maybe, if they rant a little further, the other mentors turn to their own tributes and ask if things are really that bad. The answer? "Ha! No. Absolutely not don't worry :). It's worse :D" When Facet straight up tells Livia he hates her and everything about her, and Brandy declares she wishes she'd gone through with slitting Arachne's throat rather than showing mercy, they start to realize just how much the tributes loathe them. It's awkwardly silent for a few minutes when Gaius tries to lighten the mood with one of his "jokes". The mentors laugh. The tributes scowl. Panlo says nothing, merely looks Gaius in the eyes for a few seconds. Then he spits in his face and decks him hard enough to break his nose. Standing up, he goes to sit with Sheaf. The glare he gives when Gaius speaks up indignantly and tries to follow shut him up immediately as he sits down. Something about the previous conversation about not feeding the tributes sits with Vipsania and she turns to Treech. "When I said you should perform for food, I-"

"I know about the prize, Vipsania. It's fine, you don't have to lie." Marcus and Sejanus have spent this quality time to bond and become actual friends (because Sejanus is very funny when he subtly roasts his classmates and Marcus can appreciate that the guy's trying to help them at least) so when Sejanus tries to apologize Marcus merely gives him a hug and assures him that he didn't do anything wrong. Coriolanus' belief in Gaul's theory is destroyed because they're all effectively cornered and this is the most human he's ever seen the tributes act (because he can't not pay attention this time). No one's dead, and even the already starving tributes who were initially denied food haven't done anything drastic or caused any actual harm. Huh... Maybe he should listen to Tigris a little more, she's always been there for him after all. He knows she has the best intentions, whereas Gaul... He's starting to have his doubts about her.

Pup asks Lamina whether she thinks he's been a good mentor, and her answer is along the lines of "Yeah, and you've been a good friend to me." She glances at Treech, and he remembers all the things he so desperately tried to diminish and write off. The way they were always near one another, them sharing all their food (his earned through performance, hers given by Pup), the way they constantly looked over at one another to make sure they were still okay and their obvious concern. They cared about each other, and he was fine with taking someone so clearly important to Lamina away from her because actually questioning the system would've made him uncomfortable. His comfort had been more important to him than her happiness, her mental stability, and possibly her life. Vipsania turns back to Treech. "Do you hate me?" It catches everyone's attention, and he stares at her with an unreadable look on his face before hesitantly saying: "You could've been much worse..." While she knows she'll regret it, she repeats herself. "But do you hate me?" For a few agonizing seconds, you could hear a pin drop while everyone waits for his next words. They don't come. Instead, he merely looks away from her, curling in on himself. It's answer enough.

All the other tributes look away as well, and that's when it finally actually hits the mentors. Even the tributes with nicer mentors hate them. It's Lucy Gray who explains it. Some of them like their mentors just fine, but due to the circumstances... There's a part of them that can't help but feel resentful towards the Capitol kids. Their privileged lives, their frivolous worries like school projects that somehow take precedent over children who rely on them to survive, the everything about their circumstances and everyone's role in it. The system that caused the suffering and future death of the tributes is the same system that benefits the mentors. And no matter how much said mentors show they care, it clearly wasn't enough to make them even question this unfair world. Silence and inaction can speak much louder than any word or action ever could sometimes. This is one of those times.

I have so many more ideas but I'll cut it off now. Do you want to write this? If not, I'd be interested :) (with credit given ofc). I do have two running stories and 3 things I plan to start writing, but I'd give this precedence over at least 2 of those lmao. But it is your idea so...

[remakethestars]

Being Batman’s Daughter Would Include:

Headcanons.

❝Listen, Robin. At their core, people are cowardly and self-serving. Trust no one until you know them. And even then, never completely.❞

— Bruce Wayne, “The Lesson Plan”

TRIGGER WARNING: Plant murder. Mentions of drugs/tranqs (stopping dealers), violence/physical harm, broken bones (knee cap), limb dislocation (shoulder), (Jason’s) death, smoke, waterboarding/drowning?

Headcanon masterlist.

You know how every teenager has that paradigm shift because as much as they love the people around them, they’ll never know the inner workings of your psyche? And they realize they’ll never truly be known? And it makes them feel really lonely?

Yeah, you never come to feel like that because you know Bruce digs so far into everyone around him he probably knows you better than you do.

Honestly, he probably reads your diary. At least, he reads the fake one you hide under your mattress. And the second decoy in the A.C. vent above your dresser.

If you’re as paranoid as Bruce, you probably don’t have a diary, and the aforementioned “decoys” are just to mess with him.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was practically your Bible growing up.

You’re torn between giving yourself the tactical advantage of being underestimated & being non-reactive, which — besides giving you the lioness role in the lion–gazelle dynamic — gives you the advantage of having time to think carefully on the repercussions before speaking.

Because, as Sun Tzu said in chapter seven, verse twenty-one, “Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”

Seeing as Bruce and Damian both have eidetic memories, I’m guessing you do too. 

Which means you totally read the dictionary when you were young and whip our big words nobody’s heard of.

Bruce always assured you it’s okay to be scared. As a matter of fact, like he told Dick (seen in flashbacks in “The Lesson Plan”), he taught you to “Let terror embrace you. The better you know fear, the better you can use it against others.”

And we all know Bruce is the paragon of using fear against people.

Take that, Scarecrow!

(See, I chose that gif because earlier in that move, he displays a fear of bats, & in that scene, he summons them to use as a distraction and walks through them completely unperturbed. No? Okay, I’ll see myself out.)

You started into the vigilante business young, a little bulge under the back of Batman’s cape that made the rest of the Justice League in the meeting think Bruce was host to an alien parasite until your little mask-covered eyes poked up over his shoulder.

The League’s known you since you were young, so they kind of all see you as their niece. That just quadruples the amount of people who are overprotective of you.

Eventually, in your tweens, you think enough’s enough and start out on your own — being underestimated may be an advantage, but it’s getting ridiculous — and you tackle unsolved cases.

You set up various safe houses around the world for your own disposal (using the zeta tubes) and anyone who sees the inside of one in an emergency is always surprised. You don’t really understand why; what serious vigilante doesn’t have secure, state-of-the-art safe locations scattered across the planet?

Sometimes, it gets you into danger, but you always get yourself out of it. If there ever comes a time you can’t, well, you’ve got a direct link to Batman, and if communications fail, you can always yell for your Uncle Clark at the top of your lungs.

If the latter ever comes to fruition, you ask Bruce if he’s disappointed you had to call for back-up or that you called Superman instead of Batman, and he says, “It takes a strong person to admit when they’re weak, [Y/N]; if anything, I’m proud of you. Besides … you’re not the only one who yells for Uncle Clark when they get in over their head.”

Your training entailed hacking and mechanics, so you like to fix computers and sell them on the internet Hugh Jeffreys style. It started out with Macs from the dumpster behind Gotham Academy and turned into a surprising side hustle. Large portions of your profits go into either savings or funding your extracurricular activities. 

You’re using a MacBook that’s running Linux and an iPhone 4 that’s running your own program. 

At some point, your phone falls into the wrong hands, and someone asks why it has such high security. You deadpan and say, “I have three older brothers.” No further explanation required.

One such solo case led you to a ring of drug dealers working in a small town outside of Gotham. You made some tranquillizers and heavy-duty smoke bombs and busted out your shinobi-iri training.

After sliding on a mask covering the bottom half of your face that filtered out smoke, you set all of the bombs off at once in the ventilation system, filling the building and using the infrared in your domino mask to sedate everyone before the cops arrived so no one got hurt (because there would inevitably be a firefight if the cops got involved).

You never go into a situation expecting to go hand-to-hand with someone; you always have a plan to take our your targets quickly an efficiently.

One night, when you’re working on a cold case in Gotham, you stumble across some intel that Poison Ivy’s been stockpiling chemicals and is going to wipe out all human life on Earth.

Luckily for you, Bruce’s paranoia is hereditary; you just happen to carry some white kryptonite in your belt, so you won’t have to go all the way back to the cave to obtain some.

You type out a quick debrief on your wrist computer in case you end up needing to send out an S.O.S., pop on your bottom mask to filter out spores or pheromones she might send in your direction, and bust out your shinobi-iri training again.

Of course, you try the peaceful approach, explaining to Ivy that you agree with her on the tree-hugger front to build rapport (T.B.F., who doesn’t?), but it comes to physical confrontation. You kill every vine that comes your way with a quick punch from your kryptonite ring, toss an expanding polyurethane foam bomb (see Batgirl #38) at her feet, and manage to get an inhibitor collar on her.

Gordon takes her away, and by the next morning, it’s on the news.

“You took down Ivy by yourself?” Bruce asks when you come down for breakfast.

“… Yeah,” you say after a moment, expecting a tongue-lashing.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. She didn’t get a hit in. And before you ask, I had a contingency set up in case things went sideways.”

“… Good job.”

Your dad has the article framed in the batcave, which is the bat-equivalent of having your drawing on the fridge or getting a sticker back on a test.

You’re fighting a grin for the rest of the day.

It bugs you you can’t tell anyone why you’re so happy, so you visit Dick in Blüdhaven while he’s on patrol and give him a play-by-play. You even get a hair-ruffle!

Deathstroke targets you at some point. One of Batman and Nightwing’s worst villains, and he targets you because he knows they love you. You’re the smallest bat at the time, the weakest; he thinks you’ll be the easiest to take.

Boy, was he wrong.

He was trained by the League of Assassins, so you know dropping a smoke bomb’s not going to give you cover (and his mask probably has infrared). His brain processes faster than yours, so tricking him is improbable. He’s probably done enough research on you to know you favor foam bombs and has fast enough reflexes to dodge before they go off.

And he’s jammed your comms so you can’t call for backup. You’re worried he’s got kryptonite on him and will hurt Superman if you call for help.

It’s just you and him.

He has enhanced stamina, so he tries to wear you out. You maintain distance to avoid taking damage and wearing faster.

You always admired Tim for his ability to plan ahead (see, like, the entirety of the Red Robin comics). He doesn’t know how he does it; he just does. He can’t really teach you, so you just watch and learn.

You realize your fight with Slade is just a matter of managing the distance and immobilizing him, so you strike. You duck behind a pillar or grab onto a railing or something and shoot him through the thigh with your grappling gun, reeling him in. He, of course, draws his sword or a knife to cut the line, but you’re already throwing high-density expanding polyurethane bombs.

And, just like that, you’ve single-handedly taken Deathstroke.

It sends a clear message to the rest of the Gotham villains, Blüdhaven’s villains, the League of Assassins — don’t mess with the bat’s little girl. She can hold her own.

Now it’s time for you to come up with another plan to take him down; you doubt the same method will work twice, and you’ve just made a very powerful enemy.

As Wonder Woman’s said, “Do not mistake a desire to avoid violence for an inability to deal with it.” You might go into most situations with a plan to take down your opponent already in motion, but when it comes to an all-out brawl, you’re perfectly capable and don’t pull your punches.

You’re working on an unsolved case in Blüdhaven (Dick’s got enough on his plate) when you get an S.O.S. from the aforementioned along with the feed and recording from his mask. You listen to the mission briefing while you ride back to the cave and then the audio from the Young Justice mission. They got jumped by the League of Shadows in an abandoned factory, and Talia’s trying to coerce Damian into joining the League or whatever.

The usual dropping some smoke bombs and tranqing everyone isn’t going to work on thirty armed League assassins who were trained to fight blind, so you load up on polyurethane foam bombs and call Jason and Cassandra.

The three of you take out the guards outside before splitting up and taking either end of the building (Cass stays with you). You meet in the middle, in the room the team’s being held in.

You highjacked the speakers, so they’re blasting AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill” upon Jason’s insistence. You wanted Zayde Wølf or Alice Cooper’s “Hey, Stoopid,” but big brothers will be big brothers.

Jason pops them with rubber bullets from above to slow them down for you while Cass demolishes them and you drop foam bombs, slinging your signature custom shuriken, bonk them over the head with Tim’s staff you picked up along the way, dislocate their arms, or shatter their kneecaps. 

You and Jason get a couple slices from swords that got a little too close, but it’s nothing compared to what you’ve had before. 

When the fighting’s done and the building’s quiet, the team’s, like, “Who the heck are you guys?” 

And Dick’s, like, 😏 “They’re our siblings.” 

Speaking of siblings, you’re older than Damian, and as such, you take upon yourself the honor of teaching him all things pop-culture.

“I have a lot of amazing older siblings. I want to be a good big sister.”

First things first, you give him one of your refurbished e-waste phones and take him to Target to pick out an OtterBox or a LifeProof case or something that’ll keep it safe in the pocket of a vigilante.

Vigilantes are always coming to you when their phone’s broken anyway; you’ve got a stack of spares you’ve repaired.

Then you help him set up a Spotify account (follow me at @remakethestars 😉) and try to help him find his rhythm.

Poor child’s never had Oreos before, so you drag a pack of Double Stuffs out of the cabinet and a glass of milk and show him the best milk-dunking method you know.

You think about handing him a cookie and telling him to waterboard it until the bubbles stop coming up, but cookie-dunking is something every kid does; it’s sacred, and you don’t want him to associate it with violence.

You show him how you and Alfred feed the bats in the batcave.

And you show him Vine compilations and your favorite shows and movies and as many classics as you can, and you put up with him pointing out the inaccuracies and calling them stupid.

Every time he doesn’t get a reference, you write it down so you know what to show him later.

If anything ever happens to you, Damian finds your list and makes it his personal mission to watch/read everything on it. It makes him feel close to you.

You build a relationship with him that’s similar to his and Dick’s, and he comes to you with things he might not be able to come to anyone else with.

Plus, since you live in the manor still and he doesn’t want Bruce to think less of him, it’s you he comes to after a nightmare.

If you know Alfred has pictures of him curled up in your side, you ask him to send them to you. Not for blackmail purposes; just to have.

You’d never use the need of comfort or the sharing of emotions against him because (A) it’s perpetuating toxic masculinity and (B) you don’t want him to think it’s wrong or confirm any of the stupid “strength” things the League of Shadows taught him.

You gave him a stuffed cat that looks like Alfred (the cat, not the butler) with some of your perfume spritzed on it. He verbalized his revulsion when you gave it to him, but on nights he has a bad dream and you’re not home, it brings him comfort.

Titus comes to get you when Damian’s upset. 

Even when he’s not with Damian, he seems to know. Pets are like that.

You’ve learned to trust Titus’s instincts. Damian thinks it’s suspicious when he’s feeling down and you just happen to call.

You never realized it until a long time later, but Ace was acting weird the day Jason came back from the dead.

And he was acting weird the day Jason came back to Gotham too. He ran to the door and began barking. Alfred swept security, but nothing seemed to be off. The whole family was on edge that day.

You were the reason Jason knew he wasn’t completely forgotten; he spotted you through a café window, and you were wearing his jacket.

Visit my headcanon masterlist.

[katnissmellarkkk]

Elllow! Today’s bookcomb consists of Peeta being protective of Katniss. Could have been much more implied moments but here’s some explicit ones 🤗

-

But it’s too late to run. I pull a slimy arrow from the sheath and try to position it on the bowstring but instead of one string I see three and the stench from the stings is so repulsive I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I can’t do it.

I’m helpless as the first hunter crashes through the trees, spear lifted, poised to throw. The shock on Peeta’s face makes no sense to me. I wait for the blow. Instead his arm drops to his side.

“What are you still doing here?” he hisses at me. I stare uncomprehendingly as a trickle of water drips off a sting under his ear. His whole body starts sparkling as if he’s been dipped in dew. “Are you mad?” He’s prodding me with the shaft of the spear now. “Get up! Get up!” I rise, but he’s still pushing at me. What? What is going on? He shoves me away from him hard. “Run!” he screams. “Run!”

-

I trip and fall into a small pit lined with tiny orange bubbles that hum like the tracker jacker nest. Tucking my knees up to my chin, I wait for death.

Sick and disoriented, I’m able to form only one thought: Peeta Mellark just saved my life.

-

I jump as Peeta grips my shoulder from behind. “No,” he says. “You’re not risking your life for me.”

“Who said I was?” I say.

“So, you’re not going?” he asks.

“Of course, I’m not going. Give me some credit.”

-

Anger flushes my face. “All right, I am going, and you can’t stop me!”

“I can follow you. At least partway. I may not make it to the Cornucopia, but if I’m yelling your name, I bet someone can find me. And then I’ll be dead for sure,” he says.

“You won’t get a hundred yards from here on that leg,” I say.

“Then I’ll drag myself,” says Peeta. “You go and I’m going, too.”

-

“We’re going!” says Peeta, shoving the Peacekeeper who’s pressing on me. “We get it, all right? Come on, Katniss.” His arm encircles me and guides me back into the Justice Building.

-

Peeta steps up on a crate against the wall of the sweetshop and offers me a hand while he scans the square. I’m halfway up when he suddenly blocks my way. “Get down. Get out of here!” He’s whispering, but his voice is harsh with insistence.

“What?” I say, trying to force my way back up.

“Go home, Katniss! I’ll be there in a minute, I swear!” he says.

-

“He was poaching. What business is it of hers, anyway?” says the man.

“He’s her cousin.” Peeta’s got my other arm now, but gently. “And she’s my fiancée. So if you want to get to him, expect to go through both of us.”

-

When we’re outside, I turn to Peeta. “You go on back. I want to walk by the Hob.”

“I’ll go with you,” he says.

“No. I’ve dragged you into enough trouble,” I tell him.

“And avoiding a stroll by the Hob . . . that’s going to fix things for me?” He smiles and takes my hand. Together we wind through the streets of the Seam until we reach the burning building.

-

“Peeta’s argument is that since I chose you, I now owe him. Anything he wants. And what he wants is the chance to go in again to protect you,” says Haymitch.

I knew it. In this way, Peeta’s not hard to predict. While I was wallowing around on the floor of that cellar, thinking only of myself, he was here, thinking only of me. Shame isn’t a strong enough word for what I feel.

“You could live a hundred lifetimes and not deserve him, you know,” Haymitch says.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say brusquely. “No question, he’s the superior one in this trio. So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Haymitch sighs. “Go back in with you maybe, if I can. If my name’s drawn at the reaping, it won’t matter. He’ll just volunteer to take my place.”

-

The reaping takes only a minute. Effie, shining in a wig of metallic gold, lacks her usual verve. She has to claw around the girls’ reaping ball for quite a while to snag the one piece of paper that everyone already knows has my name on it. Then she catches Haymitch’s name. He barely has time to shoot me an unhappy look before Peeta has volunteered to take his place.

-

“And I’m not saying I’m not going to try. To get you home, I mean. But if I’m perfectly honest about it. . .”

“If you’re perfectly honest about it, you think President Snow has probably given them direct orders to make sure we die in the arena anyway,” I say.

“It’s crossed my mind,” says Peeta.

-

I check over my weapons, which I know are in perfect condition, because it makes me seem more in control. “I’ll take the lead,” I announce.

Peeta starts to object but Finnick cuts him off. “No, let her do it.”

-

No one’s thrilled with the idea of me going off alone, but the threat of dehydration hangs over us.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go far,” I promise Peeta.

“I’ll go, too,” he says.

“No, I’m going to do some hunting if I can,” I tell him. I don’t add, “And you can’t come because you’re too loud.” But it’s implied. He would both scare off prey and endanger me with his heavy tread. “I won’t be long.”

-

Nothing. I find nothing. Not so much as a dewdrop. Eventually, because I know Peeta will be worried about me, I head back to the camp, hotter and more frustrated than ever.

-

I know it’s stopped when I feel Peeta’s hands on me, feel myself lifted from the ground and out of the jungle. But I stay eyes squeezed shut, hands over my ears, muscles too rigid to release. Peeta holds me on his lap, speaking soothing words, rocking me gently.

-

While Johanna collects water and my arrows, Beetee fiddles with his wire, and Finnick takes to the water. I need to clean up, too, but I stay in Peeta’s arms, still too shaken to move.

-

This is when Beetee reveals the rest of the plan. Since we move most swiftly through the trees, he wants Johanna and me to take the coil down through the jungle, unwinding the wire as we go. We are to lay it across the twelve o’clock beach and drop the metal spool, with whatever is left, deep into the water, making sure it sinks. Then run for the jungle. If we go now, right now, we should make it to safety.

“I want to go with them as a guard,” Peeta says immediately. After the moment with the pearl, I know he’s less willing than ever to let me out of his sight.

-

I’m so light-headed I’ll black out in a matter of minutes. I’ve got to get away from this tree and —

“Katniss!” I hear his voice though he’s a far distance away. But what is he doing? Peeta must have figured out that everyone is hunting us by now. “Katniss!”

-

Caesar leans in to him a little. “I think it was clear to all of us what your plan was. To sacrifice yourself in the arena so that Katniss Everdeen and your child could survive.”

“That was it. Clear and simple.” Peeta’s fingers trace the upholstered pattern on the arm of the chair.

-

A hush has fallen over the room, and I can feel it spreading across Panem. A nation leaning in toward its screens. Because no one has ever talked about what it’s really like in the arena before.

Peeta goes on. “So you hold on to your wish. And that last night, yes, my wish was to save Katniss.”

-

“When that wire was cut, everything just went insane. I can only remember bits and pieces. Trying to find her. Watching Brutus kill Chaff. Killing Brutus myself. I know she was calling my name. Then the lightning bolt hit the tree, and the force field around the arena . . . blew out.”

“Katniss blew it out, Peeta,” says Caesar. “You’ve seen the footage.”

“She didn’t know what she was doing. None of us could follow Beetee’s plan. You can see her trying to figure out what to do with that wire,” Peeta snaps back.

-

Peeta’s on his feet, leaning in to Caesar’s face, hands locked on the arms of his interviewer’s chair. “Really? And was it part of her plan for Johanna to nearly kill her? For that electric shock to paralyze her? To trigger the bombing?” He’s yelling now. “She didn’t know, Caesar! Neither of us knew anything except that we were trying to keep each other alive!”

Caesar places his hand on Peeta’s chest in a gesture that’s both self-protective and conciliatory. “Okay, Peeta, I believe you.”

-

Gale’s expression darkens. “Peeta might have done a lot of damage tonight. Most of the rebels will dismiss what he said immediately, of course. But there are districts where the resistance is shakier. The cease-fire’s clearly President Snow’s idea. But it seems so reasonable coming out of Peeta’s mouth.”

I’m afraid of Gale’s answer, but I ask anyway. “Why do you think he said it?”

“He might have been tortured. Or persuaded. My guess is he made some kind of deal to protect you. He’d put forth the idea of the cease-fire if Snow let him present you as a confused pregnant girl who had no idea what was going on when she was taken prisoner by the rebels. This way, if the districts lose, there’s still a chance of leniency for you. If you play it right.” I must still look perplexed because Gale delivers the next line very slowly. “Katniss . . . he’s still trying to keep you alive.”

To keep me alive? And then I understand. The Games are still on. We have left the arena, but since Peeta and I weren’t killed, his last wish to preserve my life still stands. His idea is to have me lie low, remain safe and imprisoned, while the war plays out. Then neither side will really have cause to kill me. And Peeta? If the rebels win, it will be disastrous for him. If the Capitol wins, who knows? Maybe we’ll both be allowed to live — if I play it right — to watch the Games go on. . . .

-

Caesar and Peeta have a few empty exchanges before Caesar asks him about rumors that I’m taping propos for the districts.

“They’re using her, obviously,” says Peeta. “To whip up the rebels. I doubt she even really knows what’s going on in the war. What’s at stake.”

-

He asks Peeta if, given tonight’s demonstration, he has any parting thoughts for Katniss Everdeen.

At the mention of my name, Peeta’s face contorts in effort. “Katniss . . . how do you think this will end? What will be left? No one is safe. Not in the Capitol. Not in the districts. And you . . . in Thirteen . . .” He inhales sharply, as if fighting for air; his eyes look insane. “Dead by morning!”

-

“Katniss!” He whips his head toward me but doesn’t seem to notice my bow, the waiting arrow. “Katniss! Get out of here!”

I hesitate. His voice is alarmed, but not insane. “Why? What’s making that sound?”

“I don’t know. Only that it has to kill you,” says Peeta. “Run! Get out! Go!”

-