#so what exactly would the harm be in just letting me go peacefully

[whatpunkin]

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[dadattebayo]

So today I bumped on this post and wanted to share some thoughts on the subject, but the account I reblogged it from seems to be off now so I lost my post and no one sees it. Still want to keep it, so...

Sorry, with all respect, but I just don’t get it. Like … WHY should we stop asking them about the thing they actually play? What exactly so bad happens to them if we do? By the thing I mean Haladriel as a ship. They play it. Literally.

Come one, it's obvious the show itself launched the ship. Intentionally, using all classic cinematic tools to make the exact romantic subtext visible to the audience (like gestures, poses, camera angles, looks eyes to eyes, sensual whisper) so we could definitely read it as romantic even if they refuse to confirm it openly. (Due to the possible unhinged reaction of the lorebros, I’m sure) So basically the show implied romance between them from the beginning, and now since they are stepping back, we just have to be ashamed to ask questions? Surely the actors give more interviews then the showrunners, because they are the faces of the characters, their representatives, they could give you the insight no one else could give since they play it and are the most involved in their personalities and emotions. They should be able to explain their motives and thoughts. This is how the acting craft works, they must FEEL the character. This is why for fans, hearing actors discuss a ship is like hearing the characters discuss their own feelings.

See what I mean? Typical romantic cinematic hint.

So again why shouldn't we ask them? why not let the actors talk about their interpretation? Miriel and Elendil's actors shouldn't be asked about them too, or it only concerns Morfydd and Charlie for some reason?

For god sake we all know the ship is doomed, there will be no future, but still the show revolves around them, even in the end of s2 he still mentioned she's his queen. But there was not enough interaction, mostly ambiguous one that we have to explain and develop ourselves, so why should we be deprived as well of their vision and of any extra detail we would like to know from the first hands? | don't feel like it.

And I think people just need to stop decide for the actors how they feel and being overprotective over literally nothing. Shipping is a part of any fan culture. And the actors are not made of glass, they actually are even supposed to speak out. Once again: the show presented and developed the ship. The actors play the characters of this ship. They play the feelings we all see. They are aware of the subtext. They do not feel ashamed to play it. They are not ashamed to play those characters. So we don't have to be ashamed to want to know more about what they play, what they mean and what is their vision on it. There is no harm being caused.

I actually miss good all days when the actors were not considered this sensitive. like for example during the promotion of the X-MEN both Mcavoy and Fassbender got unstoppably asked like million questions about their MAGNETO/XAVIER (Cherik) ship, they were shown fanarts and fanfics, even the explicit ones, they even had to read out loud some about themselves (yeah-yeah, not their characters, but specifically real-person ship aka FassAvoy). No one got offended. One can say they even encouraged it. Homosexual ship. McAvoy was married at that time. Still they were goofing around, touching each other and hugging all the time, talking about their character bromance and generally spreading fanservice all over the fandom. They were having fun alongside with the fans. This was gold.

By the way the same story with their characters: they are a protagonist and a villain , two opposites with sort of cosmic connection, they just won’t let each other go peacefully. There is love, hate, friendship, rivalry and pain. Some fans see them as a friends/foes, shippers like me see them as lovers. This ship is giant, and thank for the actors interaction and involvement into the fandom it just got deeper and much more exciting.

Highly recommended to explore.

Remind you of something? 🙃

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

I think there has only been 3 times in fiction where I've actually wanted a non-evil character to die for plot reasons and I wanted to discuss all three today.

[Spoilers for Amanda the Adventurer, Madoka Magica, and Toilet Bound Hanako Kun]

First up is Homura Akemi. I feel like this series has proven that no matter what Homura is not going to get an ending where she will find happiness. She is just destined to suffer. Poor girl was literally begging to die. Her death would be very sad but all and all I think if this series is really going to stick to the "Homura never gets a happy ending" pipeline I'd rather they just kill her off in the fourth movie rather than giving it an ending where you know she'll be constantly suffering. Or from forcing us to watch her suffer for another couple of hours. Like... in reality I'd want her to get a happy ending but at this point I feel like she should just probably be put at peace. Like be saved by the law of cycles or something. That's the best ending.

Then we'll talk about Yashiro Nene. I do not want Nene to die. I really don't want her die. But I think that's where this series is going. It feels like 90% of the manga has just been showing us exactly why Nene's fate can but shouldn't be changed. Mainly through Hanako's own backstory as the only one who had his lifespan extended past it's natural expiration. Literally all of this series' conflict and tragedy is caused by the ripple effect of Hanako's life being extended. Heck, in volume 19 Nene herself realizes this and tells Hanako that he should stop trying to expand her lifespan. She doesn't want to die, but she sees that the horrific consequences of changing someone's predestined fate are not worth it because they bring harm to literally everyone she cares about. I love Nene. She's one of my favorite characters ever. Obviously I don't want her to die. But this series has shown us the absolutely horrific consequences that would come about if she were to live that make us kind of agree with Nene. It's not worth it.

Finally, Amanda from Amanda the Adventurer. Purely because I don't see an ending where she actually escapes the tapes and gets to live as Rebecca again. I predict this series is going to end with us simply letting her soul free so it can pass on peacefully and she won't be trapped in literal hell anymore.

Technically I don't want any of these three characters to die, it's more like the worldbuilding of all three series has lead me to believe that their death would be the most peaceful ending for them and those around them. BUT I'D LIKE TO RESPECTFULLY ASK MY FAVORITE SERIES TO STOP PUTTING MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IN THESE HORRIBLE SITUATIONS WHERE DEATH IS SOMEHOW A BETTER ENDING THEN LIVING PLEASE!

[xserenemeadowsx]

A Chance Meeting Part 5

Dragonheart Draco x Female Reader

Author Note: Thank you katrina15sblog for the likes, follow, and for checking out this story. Thank you to others for the likes and for checking out this story as well. I really appreciate it!

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You and Draco focused on finding the church that Camellia had mentioned. It was large and couldn’t be missed. Stained glass windows accompanied it. You had Draco go in a direction you once wandered off to when you were a child. You could vaguely remember seeing a place built and had the feeling it very well could be the church that Camellia talked about.

You were looking to your right and noticed something in the distance. Could it be…

“It’s the cathedral,” Draco said. His vision being more attuned than yours spotted it easily.

“Great! Let’s get down there and look around,” you said happily.

Draco landed nearby the church and helped you off. The church was indeed ginormous. The stained glass windows were beautifully crafted with many colors. It made you want to step inside the church to witness the splendor up close.

“Do you think our dragon is resting inside the church or somewhere out here?” you asked him.

“More than likely inside. We’ll need to be careful in our approach,” Draco answered.

You nodded in understanding. You wondered if it would be best for Draco to enter the church first.

“I’ll enter first and you wait out here,” he replied reading your mind.

You giggled, “You read my mind. That was my thought exactly.”

Draco laughed, “Well, as I said before. You can be very easy to read.”

You laughed and nodded in agreement.

Draco walked toward two tall wooden doors. They were worn from years of use and the metal handles held onto the wood as much as they could. He pushed the doors open with ease using his snout. The doors creaked as they swung open. What greeted him was space big enough to hold two dragons.

The pews that once resided in full structure were crumbled as if an earth quake had broken through at one point. The ceiling was high with a few chandeliers for candles missing. Only two hung on to what was left. Cracks on the ceiling allowed for a little bit of sunlight, rain, or snow to come inside. The stained glass windows depicted figures that each resembled the importance of historical events and people that have been long forgotten. All were miraculously in tact. The cathedral over all had seen better days but still stood as strong as possible.

As he walked further in, he could see a figure that was bathed in full of sunlight from the giant stained glass window that was built in the very back of the church. The rainbow cast a glow over the silver being that slept peacefully without care. He was surprised that the dragon hadn’t been disturbed from the noises he so clearly made. Perhaps she was in a deep slumber. He had not had deep slumber himself for a long time now.

He admitted that the silver of Arianell being cast in the rainbow was breath taking. The colors made the silver all the brighter. Just as he was turning around and planning on having you see the dragon, a low growl was emitted from the silver creature. Draco’s eyes widened and he turned to look back at the dragon.

Sapphire eyes greeted orange/gold. The eyes held a ferocity that Draco could sense came from years of hardship and distrust for everyone. That included other dragons.

“Get out of here now,” she spoke venomously.

Draco’s eyes widened at the malice in her voice and then glared at her, “I’m not here to harm you. Merely passing through and sightseeing.”

Arianell gave a glare of her own, “I don’t care. I do not wish to be disturbed. Now leave!”

Draco decided to try and use a tactic, “My name is Draco and I came across your friend Camellia. She informed me of you and asked that I check on you. You are the Arianell she spoke of correct?” He figured it would be best to leave you out of it for now.

Arianell’s eyes widened, “Camellia? She…she’s not dead?”

Draco gave a confused look and shook his head, “Not at all. She is alive and well. She is with her children and couldn’t leave them alone hence why she asked me to check on you.”

Arianell blinked her eyes, slowly taking in what the copper-gold dragon informed her of. Her friend hadn’t died. She had been lied to by lowly humans years ago. Given that those same people wiped out her family, she couldn’t trust humans. Even her own species usually enjoyed causing her heartache. There were very few dragons that she trusted. Camellia was one of the few she still held onto for trust. She was grateful to hear that her friend was among the living.

“Seeing that you’re alive will bring her joy,” Draco said interrupting her thoughts.

Arianell gave him an apologetic look, “Please forgive me. I have been deceived one too many times in the past by dragons and men.”

Draco nodded in understanding, “All is forgiven. I will not disturb you any-“

He was cut off when Arianell suddenly flew up and over him. She stood in front of him, “There’s a human here.”

Draco realized she could sense your presence. He went into action, and stomped a foot onto her tail.

“Gah! Wh-What are you doing?!” she shouted. The pressure from his foot caused great pain.

“The human out there is not your enemy,” he answered. “She is my friend.”

“A dragon being friends with a human?!” She roared and tried to free herself from Draco’s hold by kicking at him.

Draco dodged all but one of her kicks. He winced from the pain of her back foot for it had sharp spikes on it along with her white claws. He still held a firm grip onto her tail.

“Do not dare harm her. I trust her with my life. Just as not all dragons are bad, the same can be said for humans.” He put more pressure on her tail.

Arianell bellowed, lips curled back to reveal many sharp teeth, “The human is deceiving you! She is using you!” She began to thrash around as much as possible, desperate to loosen the hold of his foot on her tail.

“She is doing no such thing…” Draco realized he would have to say what he did with Camellia, “Why would I befriend a human who wished for nothing but harm and misery on our kind? I care deeply about our race. I would not align myself with someone so uncaring.”

Arianell stopped moving violently and let that sink in. The male dragon wasn’t doing anything wrong toward her and neither was the human. The human hadn’t even shown herself to her. The female dragon cast her head down. She had been so quick to jump to all the conclusions of hurt and pain. It was in her nature to do so at this point though. Misery had practically befriended her and she went to great lengths to ensure it stuck around by not trusting anyone else.

“If I remove my foot now, do you swear not to harm the human?” Draco asked with a slight growl in his voice. He bared his teeth to her to show he would not hesitate to harm her should she choose to hurt you.

Arianell looked to him and sighed. She nodded her head and quietly answered, “I swear.”

“Louder.” Draco wasn’t entirely convinced.

She became intimidated by him and spoke up, “I swear.”

“That’s more like it.” He removed his foot from her tail.

She sighed with relief.

He stepped around her and was walking through the open doorway.

“Wait!” Arianell said.

Draco turned around, “What is it?”

“The human who is outside. Would you be alright with me meeting her? I feel I owe her an apology. I apologize to you again too.” She hung her head down.

“I suppose. Let me talk to her,” he answered as he walked through the doorway.

Draco saw you not too far off. You had been standing under some trees for shade. The commotion that happened inside of the church scared you. You were sure Draco would be fine but hearing how riled up Arianell got didn’t make you feel too good.

“___,” Draco said as he approached you. “You can come inside to meet her now if you wish.”

You hesitated at first but trusted Draco. He had already proven that he would protect you. You nodded and stepped toward him.

“Are you alright?” you asked, voice laced with concern.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he replied reassuringly.

You and Draco turned and entered the church. The silver dragon was sitting in the back where she previously lied down at.

“Arianell, this is ___. ___, Arianell,” Draco introduced.

You were amazed at seeing all of the sunlight making its way into the church. There were many rainbows to be found and the way it reflected off the scales of the silver dragon was a splendor to see. The light shone brilliantly on the female dragon. You cautiously stepped forward toward her.

“It’s nice to meet you Arianell,” you spoke politely.

“___. Likewise…” Arianell replied softly. She sighed, still annoyed with herself, “I owe you an apology…”

You nodded for her to continue.

“I apologize for thinking ill of you. I have been deceived by many humans in my past and had thought you were doing the same…using Draco to do so…” She turned her gaze away from you and stared out the window.

You furrowed your brows in sadness. It hurt to see how much dragons had suffered at the hands of men. Clearly, Arianell was one of those and it made your heart ache. The dragons had been hurt far too much. Dragons should coexist peacefully with men, not be thrust into inequality.

You extended your hand out to her with a sympathetic smile. She turned her gaze back to you then looked down at your hand. You didn’t flinch or try anything else. You let her make the next move. She looked from your hand and back to you once more. She leaned her head forward, chin resting comfortably in your hand.

You gently ran your hand across her skin. Arianell closed her eyes, enjoying your touch.

“I forgive you. I’m just sorry you have had to suffer so much,” you replied as you continued running your hand along her scales.

Arianell opened her eyes to look at you once more, smiling, “You are very kind ___.”

Your smile grew as your hand felt more of her scales.

Draco had watched the exchange with a warm smile. This was one of the reasons why he was grateful to have met you. Your empathetic nature was rare and it was a privilege to witness and experience.

You pet Arianell a little more and then stopped, stepping away from her and giving her a grin, “You’re beautiful Arianell.”

“Thank you ___,” she replied with a sincere smile.

You, Draco, and Arianell chatted some more and talked about the journey you and Draco were on. Arianell was amazed to learn about the quest you and he were taking. She hoped you two would end up seeing more dragons out there. You mentioned the papers from your parent’s place being a help.

Arianell unfortunately was not able to provide more information on other dragons. She had thought herself to be the last one much like what Draco had come to conclude for himself. Draco gave Arianell directions on Camellia’s whereabouts in case she wished to drop in for a surprise visit. Arianell thanked you both for the kindness shown to her.

You and Draco bid the silver dragon farewell and walked out of the church. You couldn’t help looking back at the cathedral a moment more. It was beautiful and you were glad that Arianell was alive and well. You hoped to visit here again someday.

Draco waited for you to meet up with him. He was happy to find another dragon. He had to wonder if any of the other dragons had terrible encounters with humans as well. It wouldn’t surprise him since it seemed to be the norm.

You turned around walked up to Draco. He helped you onto his back and flew away from the area.

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The sun was getting ready to say its farewell until the morrow and now, it was time to find a resting place. The last light of the sun provided just enough light to finally find an open field big enough to house you and Draco. The dragon landed in the area and helped you off his back. He had seen some pigs a little farther back and went to catch some, returning to you quickly.

You had taken out another slice of bread and ate it. You would have enough to last another two days and then you would need other means of sustenance. Draco helped you prepare a fire as the sun finished its descent with the moon and stars now dotting the darkened sky.

“How is your supply of food?” Draco asked.

“I only have another two day’s worth,” you answered.

“I see…”

Draco could see that much weighed on your mind today. From meeting Arianell and seeing your flustered state when meeting up with him earlier this morning. Arianell and the events with her worked as a distraction, but now in this time with just you and him, thoughts of earlier this morning had made its return. Had your parents said something to cause such nervousness? Had someone else in the village conversed with you? He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to find out what bothered you greatly.

He could feel the wave of timid nature tossing you about. It clung to your mind like a leech. He decided to use this time to ask what he wanted, “What happened this morning in the village?”

You gave him a confused look, “What do you mean by that?” What was he getting at with that question?

“You have something on your mind and you’ve been hanging onto it all day. Did someone say something to you?” He didn’t want to come off as tense but he could see your body stiffen.

You felt your body go rigid, eyes filling with worry, “No one said anything to me…”

“Why are you acting this way then?” He felt himself getting slightly impatient.

Usually you would tell him what was happening or what bothered you. Why couldn’t you just tell him about the dream? Is it because it embarrassed you? You weren’t afraid of saying that you liked Draco, but what would he think of this dream? Then again, he already flirted with you a little bit before. You figured it was all for fun in teasing but that he truly liked you too. After all, why would he offer you to stay with him if he didn’t like you?

You could feel his eyes gazing at you heavily with curiosity and determination in finding out what was causing you to act this way. You took a deep breath, releasing the air in a shaky matter. Maybe you should just tell him now. You could feel your heart pounding so loudly in your ears.

“___…”he spoke softly. He didn’t like making you feel on edge. He sighed and shook his head, “I do not wish to pressure you. If you’re not comfortable in sharing with me, don’t do it.” Perhaps he was coming on too intimidating and he wanted to tone that down drastically.

Heart still beating heavily, you took this time to calm it down and even out your breathing. He watched you in silence as you worked on relaxing your body. He was tempted to reach out and do as he usually had done to comfort you, but something told him to hold off on that. Let you come to him if you sought out that comfort.

Breathing now normalized and heartbeat relaxed, you looked at him. However, you found it hard to look him in the eye. You remembered hearing a quote that spoke of eyes being windows for the soul. You didn’t wish for your soul to be examined. You settled for staring at his nose.

“___. As I just said, you don’t have to share anything if you don’t wish to…” He could feel your eyes on him, but not really looking at him. He knew you were still wrestling with the decision to share what happened with him. He decided it best to turn around and have you stare at his back, tail, and wings instead.

You watched him shift around and you could feel yourself release another breath of air you hadn’t realized you held in. You wanted to share but felt embarrassed. You were fond of the dragon but were still scared to say anything. You shook your head at yourself. You needed to do this and you knew it. You just needed to say it. Everything could be normal as it has been. You didn’t want to think that he would see you differently if you say what happened with your dream.

It was eating you up. It was a pleasant dream and it made your heart swell when images of it flashed through your mind. You nodded to yourself. You were going to tell him, “Draco…I’m sorry for hesitating so much. I…it was nothing that anyone said to me for why I…acted this way.”

Draco turned his head to look at you, his back still facing you. His eyes reflected the fire that burned the wood and the hope that you were feeling comfortable in telling him what happened. He didn’t choose to fully to turn around yet. He waited for you to continue.

“I…I had a dream last night that was…it was…” You shook your head, ‘___ stop hesitating!’ you mentally spoke to yourself.

“Sorry,” you said out loud to him.

Draco didn’t say anything. He nodded his head for you to continue.

“The dream I had last night was not frightful. It was nice…I dreamt about you and myself…we were in the mountains overlooking a cliff and watching a sunset. The sky changed to night and you offered to take me up into the night sky…” You could feel your skin starting to burn from the oncoming blush.

“I said it would be wonderful to go into the night sky,” you continued. “We flew to meet the stars and moon and then we were bathed in the light from the moon and stars. It felt otherworldly…you reached your hand up for me to climb into and I did…” Your skin was coated with red.

Draco looked at you with tenderness, still choosing to stay quiet.

“You brought me to your face and we stared deeply into each other’s eyes…the stars shined brightly in your eyes and I could see myself reflected in your eyes…I was woken up then by my mother…” You felt that your heart would burst. Your skin decided to copy a tomato with how red it turned.

Draco’s eyes still shone with tenderness. He smiled at you then, “That dream sounds beautiful.” He could see how much the dream had an effect on you.

“I-It was…” You took a deep breath and released it. “Draco…the dream made me realize that…”

Draco turned his body around entirely, his full attention on you.

“I…I like you and the dream…it…it made me see that I have…grown so fond of you…” It took much effort on you to say that. You felt the nerves in your body shake. Your hands shook violently.

Draco’s brows furrowed in concern and he carefully reached out to grab you. You gasped and immediately felt the warmth of his body wash over you. Not that the fire wasn’t keeping you warm but the heat within a dragon’s body could flood you with immediate warmth. Still holding you in one hand, he used his other hand to gently stroke your hair. You closed your eyes, the shaky feeling beginning to ebb away from your body.

“___,” he spoke with kindheartedness. “I’m glad you shared that with me.”

You sighed with relief, opening up one eye to look at him, “I am too…I just felt that possibly things might change and…it might’ve made…”

“Made me see you differently?” Draco finished.

“Y-Yes…”

“For the worse?”

“Yes…I’m sorry…”

He smiled down at you and shook his head, “You worry too much. As I said, that dream is beautiful. I will not change how I see you simply because your dream was rather…intimate. Your fondness is reciprocated.”

You opened your other eye then and looked at him intently, “It is?”

“Yes. I too dreamt of you and myself last night. We were out in a field during the day. You had a flower crown of daises on your head and were dressed in a light blue dress. I had sung to you and you said I have a beautiful voice. We too stared deeply into each other’s eyes and then I woke up. You were stunning in that dress just as you are in this world…” He looked at you with tenderheartedness.

You felt you would cry. It was overwhelming to have affections returned, “Draco…”

“___…you do not need to feel embarrassed about this. I truly am just as fond of you as you are of me.”

The wall blocking your tears broke free and they cascaded down your face in a waterfall. You reached up to wipe your eyes.

“Is that why you were hesitant to share with me? You were embarrassed by it?” he questioned.

You nodded, “It’s because I didn’t want to make it seem as though I want to rush this relationship. I mean…if this could be called as such…”

Draco chuckled, “What else would this be called?”

“I-I don’t know…” You began to feel flustered.

“I am happy to have this relationship with you. We are still getting to know each other and we’re not rushing anything. Please relax ___.” He hoped this would make you feel better about everything.

You gave him a grateful smile, “Thank you Draco.” You didn’t feel as flustered now.

“I think it’s time to get some shut eye wouldn’t you say?” he asked changing topics. He stopped stroking your hair.

You nodded in agreement, letting out a yawn to solidify that you were exhausted.

Draco laid his head down and pressed you to rest up against his chest. You snuggled into his chest, feeling and hearing his heartbeat. It could easily lull you to sleep. You and the dragon closed your eyes and let the dreamworld take over.

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[spirit0flondonatnight]

Foreshadowing in The Glass Scientists.

Okay this post is just gonna be full of incoherent rambling but stay with me okay.

Okay you with me? so, I'm a sucker for looking at things that could possibly be foreshadowing, and I think The Glass Scientists is absolutely FULL of it. Like it is full of references to previous pages, especially when it comes to poses, and even just the way things are drawn out, and I find that really cool.

One aspect of this comic that has always stuck out to me is the Frankenstein play that Lanyon and Henry watch in the beginning of the comic. Specifically, how that play ended. See, that could be chopped up to the fact that it just was a bad adaptation, and that a lot of adaptations of gothic lit like this were just bad and didn't stay true to the original books, but something about Frankenstein dying in a burning building stuck out so much to me, because that is a HUGE change to the entire story. In the book he literally dies in a ship where he recounts his story of 'natural causes', a HUGE jump from what is shown in the play.

But why? Was it that hard to transfer that over to a play? If it was why didn't they just chose something that was at least a little closer to what happened?

Now I may sound crazy here. But it all comes down to foreshadowing what could very well be either the metaphorical, or the literal fate of Henry Jekyll.

Henry says that he would be willing to die like Frankenstein did in the novel, alone, all for his work. It draws a lot of similarities to their characters, and in a way yes they are very similar

But they're also EXTREMELY different from eachother, in the way they carry eachother, to the way they handle their work. Frankenstein, in the book was reckless, he abandoned his creation at the first thing gone wrong, he wasn't even a doctor for god's sake, while Henry has kept good documentation on his work, he has not completely abandoned it (though... he's not the best and handling it either), and of course he is a licensed professional. So there is a lot of difference between the too, in a way like polar opposites. You know what else is kinda polar opposites? How Frankenstein 'dies' in the book to how he 'died' in the play. In the book he dies... not exactly peacefully but he doesn't die a completely hot mess.

Another line that struck me is this

because he didn't. Frankenstein was never killed directly by the creature, hell, he never even faced DIRECT harm from the creature, he was NOT "Consumed by the flames of madness" That line rings closer to Jekyll in both the comics AND the book where he does die as a pretty direct result of "Hyde's" (though in the book let's be honest... they're not so different) actions, and even in the comic he is constantly being DIRECTLY targeted by Hyde, HE is the one being 'consumed by the flames of madness'

Now do I think he's literally gonna die in a fire?

...not exactly. Now it's always a possibility, but I think this is going to show that Henry is going to be engulfed into the consequences of his work and actions, that he's going to be 'consumed by the flames of his madness'. This line is for HIM, it is not supposed to represent the book Frankenstein, the play Frankenstein, OR the comic Frankenstein.

Idk what I was even getting at here but like... yeah that's my incoherent rambling.

[comfy-whumpee]

Significance

Whumptober 4: "I see the danger, It’s written there in your eyes.”

-

Northlight had stopped crying by the time the time the laboratory started to awaken. When the full lights came on and voices began to trickle down the vast corridors outside of their chamber, they were sure their cheeks were no longer flushed, their eyes dried, to hide the moment of weakness. Poor, idiotic Kurt, going along with so much for so little. Naïve, foolish Lachlan, gambling his life for his brother's.

Caroline was present in passing, checking they were still secure and leading a group of initiates to look at them, but otherwise didn't approach.

There was tension in the air. Caroline stood on the other side of the observation glass, a handful of students behind her staring and listening. Kurt sat on the chair beside Northlight's trolley, book resting on his knee, keeping watch peacefully. The siblings had not spoken to each other. Northlight knew Caroline must have found out about the visit. Perhaps she even guessed that Kurt had removed the muzzle.

Of course, whatever happened as a result wouldn't be explained to the body. Kurt would simply disappear one day, or worse, nothing would change at all. They probably wouldn't have a confrontation in front of the students, either, to keep rumours from swirling. Northlight passed the time by imagining how they would retell the story later.

Caroline: (with great feeling) How could you betray me, brother? But worse, how could you betray the cause?

Kurt: I did not intend to harm you, sister.

Caroline: Oh, of course you did not intend anything.

Kurt: Truly. The creature, it… It has such eyes. They stare so deeply into you.

Caroline: Romantic nonsense.

Kurt: It is true. Yesterday, it shed tears of sorrow, could you not see?

Caroline: I saw only the crocodile tears of a monster mimicking human feeling. Your emotions always get the better of you, brother.

Kurt: (turning away) I am sorry. I know our Lady's orders were to never allow them to speak.

Caroline: Then why?

Kurt: (after a deep breath) I believe the creature does feel. If not exactly as your or I do, then as well and as deeply to be compared. Why else would it show sadness when none of us around it did? It thinks, it feels, it has its own life. I have tried to ignore it, but I can no longer. We must act. They must not be treated as a monster any longer.

Northlight stopped the script there. Even in their own imagination, they knew the story had gone astray. Kurt wasn’t able to go that far. He needed time, and maybe some bad times.

If they could, they thought they would ask him why he had joined. It was clear that Caroline was senior between the two, so perhaps it was her own doing. Or was there once a condition or illness that affected him or his family? Was he here to save others or save himself? Had Caroline honestly believed it would be better for him to sit around next to a body on a tray, instead of practising family medicine?

But then… What doctor didn't want a miracle cure for all their poor patients? Maybe the career itself had driven Kurt here.

It was horribly unclear. Their head was full of words they couldn't get out. They needed to talk. They needed so badly to just talk.

Caroline led the students away. The hallway was empty. Northlight wondered if their voice would ever move normally again. The weight and pressure of the muzzle only grew worse each day. When it came off, would their skin come with it? Would their jaw and tongue? Or would it always be part of them like the scars and the drip?

Their treasures were all lost. That hurt the most. Maybe they were kept somewhere, or they could already be destroyed. Maybe they were being pored over by some underpaid clerk who was tasked with divining their significance. The hair tie from Patience Penrose. The folded tamale wrapper from the clinic. The geode. The wooden star. Their beloved scarf.

Their thoughts were too miserable to sustain, and eventually, Northlight let them drift away into stories. Easier for them to remember their loved ones that way. There were stories they told where they didn't even remember the events they were based on, and they probably changed a little each time they were told. But at least, those old and future friends would be brought to some semblance of immortality in Northlight's mind.

And then, when these stories were told, they live on in others, and that was the greatest gift Northlight could give. Immortality without cost.

The next few days passed in relative peace. Lachlan remained elsewhere, his entire healing process laboriously recorded. Caroline stayed clear of Kurt, and Kurt stayed clear of Caroline. When she came with her trainees to experiment, her brother became scarce. Her students took notes, dug out sampled of flesh, and one even took nail clippings. Northlight had barely slept, was dizzy with the eternal electric lights, and dissolved into hysterics at the feeling. Locked in an underground laboratory for vampiric bloodletting, and some middle-aged medic was cutting their nails. What, was he going to try eating them?

Eventually, Lachlan was deemed ready. He had healed enough. Northlight knew it was coming when they were taken on their trolley-bed back to the room where it happened. The one with the other bed, and the lockers of supplies that nobody would use.

Lachlan walked in a moment later, unaided. He didn’t look at anyone. There was a dark line across his throat, but even Northlight could tell it was far better healed than should be possible. Caroline, who had probably examined it in minute detail, was confident she could get away with more.

Lachlan lay on the clean table. The chest scars were also fading fast. They now looked more like the one scar he had before the experiments began, closer to it than to the cut at his neck. Northlight wished they could feel impressed, or even proud, of the work their blood had done. Instead, there was only tired horror and shame.

Caroline arranged her devices to capture every moment. Lachlan tipped his head back, then dropped it again.

The other doctors watched. Kurt watched. It was the first time that the Swindon siblings had been in the same room this week.

“Head back,” Caroline ordered, her tone as flat as if she was reading from a sign.

Lachlan tensed, spine arcing, and his chin tucked in. He stared straight up, his chest rising and falling in rapid breaths.

Caroline put a hand on his shoulder, and the noise he made broke Northlight’s heart. It was a small, soft, round noise, stuffed to the brim with fear.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed out sharply. “I-I’m sorry, I, I can’t.”

Caroline leaned over him, forcing his eyes to meet hers. Lachlan wasn’t one of her students, and she treated him like little more than a servant, but Lachlan’s respect for her was obvious. He tried to calm himself. His hands were pale knuckles around the edges of the table.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, I-I’m weak.”

If he was watching for disappointment, there was none to be found. Caroline merely asked, “Do you need to be restrained?”

His eyelids fluttered closed in shame. “Yes, please.”

Northlight looked away. The process was silent and methodical, and he couldn’t bear to watch Lachlan start to relax as his freedom was taken away. Willingly given, his freedom and his life, it was impossible to witness.

They closed their eyes and let their tears fall again freely. If Kurt was watching, let him believe it was the sign he had been waiting for.

Caroline and her scalpel produced a guttural noise of pain, kicking legs, and a noise that might have been words if it wasn’t for how she had killed him. Lachlan fought, helplessly, but at least he tried. Northlight was grateful for it; at least some part of the boy knew there was nothing to gain by dignity. Neither of them had the respect to lose by being pathetic.

Lachlan’s struggles stilled alarmingly quickly. Northlight tried not to look, knowing the blood would be part of this. The healing may have already started, before death could take him. Would it be faster or slower? He didn’t want to know. Either way would lead to more blood taken.

They wondered if Caroline would stop bringing them into the room for these murders. They were her emergency blood bag, but soon she would grow confident in her ability to resurrect her dead. Then, they might not see Lachlan at all. He would always be recovering from some almost-mortal wound.

Almost-mortal, they think again. A good term for these laboratory vampires.

Absent-mindedly, their eyes opened. Their head was tilted towards the doctor, who watched in silence as the others began to quietly discuss the process happening, not stunned speechless anymore. Kurt kept his eyes on Lachlan.

Northlight couldn’t bear it. They turned their head.

The pale blue scrubs were stained with lurid blood. Lachlan lay unconscious, head turned away from them all, hands slack where they rested, strapped to the side of the bed. Northlight couldn’t see if he had healed – Caroline had moved her camera to capture that, and the screens were above their head. But after a moment, they noticed what had caught Kurt’s gaze.

Lachlan’s knuckles were still pale, off-colour, as if he had maintained his death grip on the side of the bed. The tips of his fingers were sallow too. Bloodless.

Northlight turned their head slowly, and the deliberate motion drew Kurt’s eye back to them. They met his gaze.

With a jerk of his head, the doctor looked away. He rose, and went to speak to Caroline.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1129: Building Up the Mushy Courage (SSBU X Sonic)

1:34 p.m. at the Smash Central Park.........

Jr: (Watches Sage Peacefully Reading a Book Alone in the Distance While Sighing) Geez......Even as a egghead, she looks pretty.....(Turns to Ludwig) Are you sure I have what it takes to talk to her, Luddy?

Ludwig: (Reads his Book as Well) Refrain yourself from calling her "Egghead", you'll do just fine, Junior. (Turns to His Youngest Brother) That being said, why exactly haven't you come to me for help in the first place? It could've save you the trouble of being nervous to talk to her for this long.

Jr: Yeah, but I asked Roy for help first. (Start Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth) And well.......

Flashback

Jr: (Takes a Look Around at the Black Leather Jacket, Boots, and Blue Jeans He's Wearing With a Bright Smile on his Face) Wow!~ I look so cool in these clothes! (Turns to Roy) You think Sage would think so too?

Roy: (Happily Nodded) Hell yeah. Chicks digs guys with a bad boy image and you don't look too shabby yourself, little runt. (Grabs his Chin While Thinking) Now all we need to do is put your rebellious side to the test. (Starts Looking Around the Mansion Till He Finds and Points Jr Towards his Target) Try swooning her over.

Jr: (Eyes Begins to Widened in Fear at Whom Roy is Pointing at) You want me to sweet talk Ashley, are you CRAZY!? That's suicide AND she's already taken!!

Roy: (Turns to Jr Woth his Brotherly Glare) You think I didn't know that, you twerp! She's the only girl in your age I can find for now. Just go out there, pretend that she isn't taken, and rizz your game up like i taught you before I knock you out into next week, capisce!?

Jr: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fiiiine. It's mine funeral....(Walks Over to Ashley) Hey there, good looking, how's it-

'BOOM'

Jr screams out of his lungs as he gets sent flying to the other side of the room by one of Ashley's magic spells.

'CRASH'

Roy: (Turns to His Now Beaten Down Brother) You good, Jr?

Jr: Is this a new week yet?

?????: Royyyyyyyy.

Roy: (Turns to See a Livid Ashley With White Hair Glaring at Him) Okay, I know what it looks like, but I-I can explain you see-

Ashley: Prescasterous. (Summons a Giant Red Devil Looking Beast Behind Her, Growling at Roy)

Roy: Waitwaitwaitwait-

'WHACK'

Back to the Present

Jr.: (Grimace at the Thought of What Happened in that Flashback) It didn't worked out all of that well......

Ludwig: ('Sigh') Not surprising considering Roy's track record in romance. (Casually Turns to a Page on his Book) One time he tried asking almost every member of the cheerleading squad only to get struck our and reject by all of them at once.

Jr: (Eyes Widens) Ah what!? I knew I should've come to you from the start, that's so lame!!

Ludwig: Yes, well, mistakes were made to be fixed and improve upon, so no harm fowl. (Takes a Sip of his Coffee) Now, do you remember the advices I gave you earlier today?

Jr: (Starts Counting Down Ludwig's Advice By Using his Fingers) Take deep breaths, be kind, respectful, and....uhhhhhhh-

Ludwig: Be yourself and everything will go smoothly from there. I know you what it takes to talk to her, Junior. Father didn't declared you as his second in command for nothing, you know?

Jr: Yeah. (Starts Smiling Confidently) T-That's right! I'm the Second in Command, I got this! (Smiles Falters Down into a Bit of a Worry Frown as He Turns Back to Ludwig) You're.....still not mad at me for taking that away from you, are you?

Ludwig: ('Sigh') I would be lying if I say that it didn't effect me in any sort of way. But that was back then, this is the present, and right now....(Smiles Softly at Bowser Jr.) I couldn't be anymore happier to have you as my little brother.

Jr: (Heart Begins to Melt as He Quickly Rushes Over to Ludwig and Hugs Him Lovingly) I love you, Big Bro.

Ludwig: (Hugs Junior Back) I love you too, Junior. Now, I believe you still have a girl to talk to.

Jr.: Oh, you're right! (Lets Go of Ludwig Before Rushing Off to Sage While Waving at Him) Wish me luck!

Ludwig: (Waves Back at Junior) Will do, Junior. (Resumes Back to Reading his Book) Here's hoping you have better luck than Roy this time around.

Roy: (Glaring at Ludwig at the Mid Distance) I cam still hear your smart ass from over here, ya- (Gets Hit in the Back of his Head By a Football Before Grumbling in the Ground) That doesn't count as bad luck, by the way!....

Ludwig: (Casually Turns to Another Page) Keep telling yourself that, Roy.

Meanwhile

Jr.: (Makes his Way to Sage While Talking Himself Out Loud) Today's today, Junior. Just talk to the girl of your possible dreams and everything will go smoothly like Luddy said. (Closes his Eyes While Chanting to Himself) You can do this, you can do this, you. CAN. DO-

Junior's running has suddenly comes to a screeching halt as he trips over a small pebble and roll himself down on a hill before coming to an eventually stop.

Jr.: ('Groans in a Bit of Pain') Why are we not in a new week yet......

????: Oh dear.

Junior opens his eyes to see his crush, Sage Robotnik, looking down at him with concern in her eyes.

Sage: Are you okay?

Jr: (Starts Blushing Slowly Before Quickly Getting Himself Up From the Ground) Yeah! (Clears his Throat Before Waving his Hair Back) I'm good. Meant to do that as part of my new attacks I'm working on, called uh.....K-Koopa Rollout! Yeah.

Sage: I see, very interesting. But please, do be more careful next time. As vibrant and pretty as this park this, there's a fair amount of hazards to be cautious of.

Jr: ('Sigh') Now you tell me.....B-But anyways! Your name is Sage Robotnik, right?

Sage: Sage Ivo Robotnik, yes. (Suddenly Let's Out a Loud Gasps Before Taking a Look at Junior In Front of Her) The green shell, slightly sharpen claws, the red and short ponytail, the impressively hand drawn bib!

Jr: (Lifts his Finger Up a Little) It's a bandana actually.

Sage: Oh right, bandana. (Quickly Bows at Junior) Apologies for my sudden change of attitude, but....are you really Bowser Jr? The youngest of the royal Koopa Family?

Jr: (Starts Rubbing The Back of his Head Back and Forth) I wouldn't exactly call us the most royalist of families out there. But yeah, it's me: Bowser Jr at your service! (Smirks Smugly While Rubbing his Finger Under his Noses) I take it everyone in the Snash Family told you a lot about me?

Sage: (Smiles Brightly) Of course!~ Every time I asked your friends about you, they would always tell me how bratty and obnoxious you are.

Jr: Yea- (Eyes Starts to Widened Again) Wait, BRATTY AND OBNOXIOUS!?

Sage: (Happily Nodded) Mmhmm. And also full of yourself.

Jr: (Starts Gritting his Teeth and Balling his Fist Up in Pure, Fiery Angry in his Eyes) Those stupid jerkfaces.....I'll make them pay for bad-mouthing meeeeee!

Sage: (Giggles Softly)

Jr: (Hears Sage Giggling Before Turning Back to her With a Pouty Look on his Face) And what seems to be funny you, Little Miss Robotnik?

Sage: (Starts Dying Down her Giggling for a Bit) Apologies again~ I didn't mean to laugh to suddenly. Your cuteness has managed to put me a bit of a laughing fit.

Jr.: Yeah, well- Wait. Cuteness?.......(Eyes Widened Yet Again at the Realization as Bright Red Blushes Starts Appearing on Both is Cheeks) Y-Y-You think I'm cute!?~

Sage: (Happily Nodded) Mmhm. Granted, I think you're more handsome if anything, but your cuteness levels does have no bounds.

Jr: (Couldn't Believe What He's Hearing Right Now) Ha-Haha.....Handsome......(Suddenly Felt Something on his Forehead as the Blush Starts Disappearing) Hm? (Notices Sage Flipping her Hand on his Forehead) Uh.... What are you doing?

Sage: (Takes her Hand Away From Junior's Forehead as She Sighs in Relief) Oh thank goodness you're not coming down with a fever of any glad......

Jr: (Raises an Eyebrow in Confusion) You think I have fever?

Sage: (Frowns a Bit Worryingly) For a while now I did. I've been wanting to properly meet you for some time now, but you would always run off before I could even say hello. So I figured you were sick this entire time. Or.....maybe that....you have little to no interest in being friends with-

Jr.: No no! Of course not! I didn't run off because I didn't like you o-or cause I was sick! (Starts Rubbing The Back of his Head Again) I get nervous every time I see you, so I ran and junk. Dumb I know.....

Sage: Oh you poor thing. There's nothing wrong with feeling anxious and shy.

Jr: You think so? Cause I don't think the words "shy" and "Bowser's son" should be allowed on the same sentence.

Sage: (Giggles Softly) I'm positive. It normal for anyone to get nervous when it comes to meeting someone for the very first time. But I guarantee you that talking to them will help build your confidence up immensely so long as you stay calm and vigilant.

Jr.: (Starts Nodding in Agreement) Yeah, that's true i guess. So.....does this mean you're not mad at me for chickening out into seeing you for this long?

Sage: (Happily Shakes her Head) I was never mad at you to begin with. I'm just happy we finally have the opportunity to meet one another at last, let alone spent time together, if that's alright with yo-

Jr: YES!- I-I mean! ('Clears Throat') Yeah, sure. I don't mind us hanging out or whatever.

Sage: (Smiles Brightly While Pulling Junior into a Loving Hug) Spendid!~ I'm so happy to know thar this is start of our beautiful friendship together and hope it could last forever~

Jr: (Smiles Back at his Newly Found Friend) Yeah, me too. (Starts Blushing Yet Again) Maybe we be even more than that someday........

Sage: You said something, Junior?

Jr.: (Eyes Widened at the Realization of What He Just Said Before his Blush Starts Getting Bright Red Again) NOTHING! I didn't say anything! Just that you're that you're pretty- W-W-WITH THAT HAT OF YOUS YOU'RE WEARING!

Sage: Oh you like?~ (Takes Off the Black, Wide Hat She's Wearing) Father gave me this not too long ago. He says it's always important to keep your head protected from the heated temperature outside, lest you get yourself sweaty and pass out. (Smiles Brightly) I can ask him to get a hat for you to wear as well if you like!~ Or better yet.....(Places her Hat on Top and in Between Both her and Jr's Head) We can share mines together!~

Jr: ........Cool.

@bestpony666

@albion-93

@cyber-wildcat

@caleb13frede

@keyenuta

[jaybird-fanfics]

Villain Roommate |Chapter Twenty Six|

A few days had passed since then, and so far...it had seemed that Shigaraki really was bluffing. You were still alive. You weren't harmed at all. Dabi refused to tell you anything, he didn't want you panicking or stressed. Besides, there was no point. It's not like you were ever actually going to get involved with that mission. He would make sure of that. But it's not like you didn't notice Dabi becoming more and more tense with every passing day. Not to mention, he's gone back to being more cautious whenever you left the house. He even went with you most of the time. 

You could tell he wasn't getting much sleep either. At some point, you had enough of it. 

"Dabi?" You looked to him, he was on the couch. "Is there a reason you've been so...tense?" Dabi turned his head to look at you. "I'm not tense." You furrow your eyebrows. "Clearly you are. You haven't been sleeping at all." 

"You keeping track of my sleep schedule?" Dabi asks. "Don't have to. I'm always up before you, ad for the past few nights I've found you here on the couch or in the kitchen every morning. And you are tense Dabi. You usually never ask where I'm going or come with me. What happened to that trust?" 

"I do trust you."

"Then what the hell?" You cross your arms. "Did something happen?" Dabi thought back on the last meeting he had with the league. He wouldn't let it happen, you couldn't get much more involved than you are already. More than that, you could get hurt or worse, killed. And he'd be damned if he let that happen. "No. You're just paranoid." 

"Are you serious?" You huff. "You know what, fine, don't tell me." You turn and walk out of the living room and into your bedroom. Dabi sighed. You being upset with him was far more preferable than you knowing the truth. Just what Shigaraki wanted you for this time. 

You were sleeping peacefully, when you heard shuffling and what could only be described as a scratching at your door. You ignored it, thinking it was Dabi. 'Too late jerk. Should have told me there was something wrong earlier.' You thought, then a feeling of guilt hit. You remembered that Dabi wasn't the best with saying what was on his mind or how he was actually feeling. So with a sigh you sat up. Just as you were about to get out of bed, you heard a bang, and before you knew what was happening...you saw that your door was on the floor.

You slowly look up from the floor where the door fell and saw the cause of the damage. A tall dark figure stood in your doorframe. And it wasn't Dabi. You opened your mouth to scream, but in a flash, you were pinned to your bed, mouth covered. Your eyes went wide as you got a closer look at who was restraining you. 

It was a man, a sick twisted grin plastered on his face. He licked his lips before raising his hand, suddenly his fingers turned into sharp blades. You knew exactly what he planned to do with them. You tried thrashing and screaming, but was unable to do either. Hot tears fell from your eyes as you realized death was steadily approaching. 

He went to bring his hand down, you close your eyes tightly. You braced yourself for the sharp sting of the blade against your flesh. But that would never come. You suddenly felt heat from above you, what followed was a yell of agony. Your eyes open again to see the man's head ingulfed in blue flames. His body was jerked off of you before the flames could spread to you.

Dabi was there, keeping the man in a choke hold as he yelled. Eventually the yells died out and the man's body went limp. Dabi dropped him after the flames went out. Dabi's eyes locked onto the now corpse, fury spread through Dabi like wildfire. He would have continued to burn him had he not heard your voice.

"Dabi?" You croaked. His head snapped towards you, eyes softening as the met your teary ones. He was quick to you, pulling you into an embrace. "Are you ok?" He asked urgently. More tears fell from your eyes as you desperately clung to him. "Y/n, sweetheart, I need to know if you're ok." He says softly. 

You nod your head. "I'm ok." You sniffle. Dabi's hand gently rubbed at your head as he tried to calm you down. You turn your head, eyes landing on the corpse. Dabi held your chin, and made you look at him. "Don't look sweetheart. Don't look. It's ok, he's gone now." Dabi hid your face into his chest, he continued to rub your head soothingly. If his eyes could burn holes into walls they would, his furious stare would shoot down the bravest of soldiers. 

He didn't need to question where that man came from. This was clearly Shigaraki's doing. Turns out he wasn't bluffing after all...

You and Dabi stayed close together for a while, he soothed you as you cried into his chest. He glanced back at the body, he'd have to get rid of it somehow. Dabi's phone then rang, he reached into his pocket and looked at the contact. Speak of the devil. He brought the phone up to his ear. 

"Dabi. Did you like the surprise?" 

"Fuck you." Dabi said lowly. 

"I'll take that as a no then. I assume you killed him? He hasn't called me to tell me he finished the job, which means...Little miss healer is still alive, yeah? Guess I'll just have to send someone else, and if you kill them, I'll just send another until the job gets done."

Dabi's grip tightened on the phone, he was deadly close to crushing it. He knew as well as anyone that Shigaraki wouldn't give up until he got what he wanted. 

"Unless, you've had a change of heart?"

Dabi looked down at you. You had calmed down, your eyes on him. "Dabi?" He sighed. 

"Let's talk about this tomorrow." Dabi tells him. 

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll gladly wait and hear you out if that's the case. See you both soon." 

With that, he hung up. "Dabi? Who was that?" You ask. Dabi hid his face in your neck. "I'm sorry Y/n." You were confused, but you were way too exhausted to question him. So you just enjoyed his warmth until you fell back asleep.

Previous | Next

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Thirteen: Connor at the CyberLife Tower

Summary: Living in Detroit, the capital of androids, constantly reminds Natalie Tyler of the accident that changed her life for the worst. Her world is overturned after deciding to adventure out of her apartment and back into the cruel world. When androids start to peacefully protest for their rights, she is asked to work with a RK800 prototype android that goes by the name Connor.  

Word Count: 6271

Blog Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Epilogue

---

DATE

NOV 10TH, 2038

TIME

PM 09:50:34

THE PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION WAS GOING TO BEGIN soon. After Markus' speech, every android started to mill out of the abandoned church and head towards downtown Detroit. As they all started to walk out, Natalie tried to catch sight of the android that she had grown attached to. Yet through the thick sea of androids, she couldn't see Connor anywhere. 

She did approach the first familiar android that she did see, however. "Markus?" The leader turned to her as they both continued to follow the crowd out of the building. "Have you seen Connor? I think I lost him in the crowd." Markus looked away from her for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. At the apprehensive look on his face, Natalie's stomach dropping as she thought of the worst. "What? Something wrong?"

"Natalie," Markus started, "Connor decided to help our cause another way."

The cyborg's eye narrowed in confusion. "Okay, and what is it? Where'd he go?"

Markus stared at her for a moment as frustration settled on her face. As much as he wanted to tell her where exactly Connor had gone, the rebellion leader knew that Natalie would try to go after him. Markus knew that the mission that Connor had gone on was extremely dangerous, and both of them wanted to keep Natalie out of harm's way. Natalie certainly would try to get to the CyverLife tower as fast as she could in order to help him and who knew if she would be safe there. He didn't doubt that Connor would do everything he could to keep Natalie safe. Markus had already seen that Connor and Natalie were extremely close to each other. However, he wouldn't risk putting the woman who he honestly considered a sister in a situation that may cause her death.

He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, "you can't go with him, Natalie."

"What?" She scoffed, "of course I can go with him."

"His mission is extremely dangerous-"

She cut him off as a glare settled on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. "As is all of this. It doesn't make much of a difference who I go with, okay?" It sounded like Markus was trying to keep her from joining in on their demonstration or helping Connor. She didn't want to have that, at all. "So where did Connor go?"

"He and I both thought that it would be best if you stayed away from this."

Natalie bristled, "What?! But-"

"Markus," A tall dark-skinned android that Natalie remembered being named Josh came over to his friend and interrupted her. "Come on."

He nodded his head in acknowledgment and squeezed her shoulder before starting to try and appeal to her. He knew that she understood how these times were dangerous, however, she didn't seem to understand that he wanted to keep her out of harm's way. "We have to go, and I'm not having you anywhere near this, you could get hurt."

"So can you!"

"You're staying here, okay?" Markus said firmly, "don't make me tell Ethan about all of this."

Natalie blanched at the threat. Was he really using her little brother against her? Her extremely overprotective brother who would stop at nothing to make sure that she was a safe distance away from Detroit. He'd do anything to ensure that she was safe. Even if that meant fighting her tooth and nail to get her out of the city. Oh, Markus knew just what to do to get her to comply. 

She snarled at him and pushed his arm away, "never thought you'd be a tattletale."

Her heated glare nearly melted the poor android, but he still kept his own expression firm. "Go home, Natalie. None of us want you hurt." With that, Markus went off to join his fellow androids and lead a peaceful demonstration. He knew that it may hurt her, but it was for the best. Natalie has proven that she can help them, but at the cost of her own well-being. She still had a chance to at least be left alone by people. If this all failed, all androids would be destroyed. However, Natalie was still considered human, or human enough. As long as she was kept away from this, she wouldn't have to die or get hurt for it. She could go back to her life, even if it wasn't the greatest. 

Natalie could do nothing but watch them go. She was beyond frustrated! Why would Markus not let her go? She knew that she could be of great use to them! Yet all of the androids continued to file out of the abandoned church and towards their last stand for equality and left her by herself.

---

"Stupid Connor thinking that he can just go on his own." Natalie muttered as she climbed out of her cab, "and stupid Markus not letting me help." She was quite angry at both of the androids for not letter her participate. Not only did Connor just up and leave her without a goodbye, but Markus had forbidden her from going with them to the march. 

Yeah, she understood she wasn't fully android. However, if they were going to risk their lives standing up for their rights, she wanted to be there with them. She wasn't treated as badly as androids but that didn't mean she didn't want to let them go out without her. Perhaps she could've helped in another way. She could be a bridge between both humans and androids seeing as she was technically both.

Though she was left out of it. Not her choice, but she couldn't argue with Markus. Especially since he made it clear that he wouldn't risk her going out there. He even threatened to call Ethan! 

"Asshole!" Natalie exclaimed at her thoughts of Markus as she walked up the stairs towards Hank's house.

After she was forced to leave, Natalie thought that she should go see Hank, at least for a little bit. He deserved to be caught up on everything that's happened after all. He was their partner and friend, Hank was no doubt worried about them, even if he didn't want to admit it. Plus, perhaps he could help her out to find where Connor had gone. Then she could go after him, help him, and beat the shit out of him after he thought he could just leave her like that.

She rang the doorbell and stood for a few moments, waiting for him to open the door. As the second ticked by, Natalie silently started to panic thinking that Hank may or may not be playing another round of Russian roulette. Her fears were squashed though when Hank ripped open the door with a glare. She let out a small breath that she had been holding in as he looked down at her.

"What do you want Girly?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure."  Natalie huffed while she ran a hand through her hair. 

Hank raised an eyebrow, "I thought you'd be in the middle of this mess right now."

She couldn't help herself but chuckle at his words. Yeah, she should be in the middle of all of this, or at least as close as she could get. However, it seemed like just about everyone was trying to make sure she stayed as far away from it as possible. It was infuriating.

"I know, so did I." She noticed how Hank started to pull on his coat and furrowed her eyebrows, "you headed somewhere?"

"Connor said he needed some help," Hank said and didn't notice how a confused expression washed over her face. "Guess you'll finally get to join in on this shit, huh?"

Natalie nodded her head slowly as Hank moved out of the house with... Connor(?) following after him. She watched him come out of the house with wary eyes. It could be Connor, for all she knew. Perhaps he had gone to Hank for help with something. However, the way he looked at her, carried himself, this wasn't a deviant... it was a machine. The hard look in his eyes that only screamed about how he wanted to complete a mission. There was no way that this was Connor, her Connor.

Natalie watched him with calculating eyes as the three of them headed over to Hank's car. Just as Hank turned his back to Connor, the android pulled out a pistol from behind him. Seeing the threat, Natalie jumped into action and tried to rip the gun from him. "Connor" and Natalie fought with each other for a bit. The cyborg did what she could to fend off any blows that were dealt to her while trying to subdue the android.

Hank, finally seeing the two fight, began shouting at the two. "What the fuck?!"

The two of them disregarded him as they fought tooth and nail to try and get the gun from each other. However, even if she had slightly enhanced strength when compared to a human, Natalie was outmatched. With one final hit across the face, Natalie fell to the ground. 

Her eyesight became blurry as she blinked to try and fix her sight as quickly as possible though that didn't work fast enough. A headache was already rearing itself in the back of her head as her face ached in pain. She was hauled up onto her feet by the android and found a gun pointed at her neck.

"Don't fight, Ms. Tyler," the android said monotony, yet angrily at this inconvenience in his mission. Though he was good at adapting.

Hank was fuming at the position of Connor holding Natalie tightly with a pistol pointed at her. "Connor!? What-"

"Luitenant, I suggest we get into your car and head to the CyberLife tower." The fake Connor ordered as he jerked Natalie towards the car and hauling her into the backseat with him. The gun never wavered from her head for too long. Hank, seeing that there wasn't anything else for him to do in this situation, complied with the demand. He didn't like where this was going. He should have known something was up, yet he didn't. 

He should have been able to see that this was not their Connor and instead something else. Yet now both he and Natalie were in danger. So he started up the car and started the tense drive to where the imposter wanted. All the while, Natalie did her best to try and mask her pain. The headache was growing worse by the second. Sure, she's been punched before, however, this was a far more powerful one. That was probably because it came from an android. Just like that kick that Kara had given her while they were running from her. God, why was she getting hurt so often?

---

DATE

NOV 10TH, 2038

TIME

PM 10:48:05

CYBERLIFE TOWER

Belle-Isle

The tires of the automated cab that Connor was in drove across the snowy road that leads to the CyberLife tower. Despite only having been a deviant for a few hours, Connor was beyond nervous. He wasn't sure how this was going to end, but he hoped that he would be able to help the peaceful demonstration with the androids he would free from the warehouse.

The cab came to a slow stop in front of the gate of the facility where a few guards stood watch. It was obvious that CyberLife was going to keep a close eye on everything to make sure that nothing would happen at the tower. After all, it is the epicenter of everything and anything android. The window rolled down as Connor turned to the guard. "Connor Model #313 248 317." He said, emotionless, "I'm expected."

The guard stared at the android for a moment as the android was scanned. "Identification successful," his scanner confirmed.

The guard nodded his head, "Okay. Go ahead."

As the window to the cab closed and the gate to the enormous tower opened up, Connor sighed in relief. He got passed one obstacle, now just a few more. The cab rolled across the bridge and towards the tower that reached towards the cloudy sky.

He exited the cab and walked towards the relatively vacant building. It was strange to see that the center of life for androids lacked all the employees who usually ran about. There were no engineers or secretaries to bump into each other as they rush around trying to get their work done. Or greedy businessmen and investors talking to each other about their profits. There was just no one. No one besides Connor, and three agents who greeted him once he walked to the entrance.

"Follow me." One of the agents said gruffly, "We'll escort you."

Connor eyed him with uncertainty in his eyes. "Thanks... But I know where to go."

"Maybe, but I have my orders."

That certainly didn't sit right with the android. Though he didn't have much of a choice and followed after him. He didn't want to rouse any suspicion about his visit, so he had to go along with it.

A grid-like hologram then appeared and started to scan everyone as they entered. "Agent 23 identified. Connor android identified. Agent 47 identified. Agent 72 identified. Scan complete. Access authorized."

Connor and the agents all entered the main structure of the CyberLife tower. A ginormous statue stood in the middle of the tower as shiny windows decorated every inch of the circular walls. The android made sure to keep himself as calm as possible as they walked around the glistening statue, passed the androids on display, and towards a glass elevator.

They all stepped into the elevator in a tense silence before one of the agents turned to the controls. "Agent 54. Level 31."

"Voice recognition validated. Access authorized."

Connor looked at the directory for the floors and saw that the warehouse was at level -49. These two guards were certainly taking him somewhere that would no doubt cause him some trouble. He needed to try and get to the warehouse and fast.

Connor tried to approach the control panel only to be pushed back by Agent 54. "Hey! Don't touch that."

Seeing that he was certainly stuck in a predicament, Connor stepped back, as told, and assessed the situation. He needed to subdue the men as fast as he could. The elevator was approaching level 31 fast and he only had a minute. He took in his surroundings and noticed a camera in the corner. He made sure that it was disabled before he started to preconstruct a few different simulations for fighting.

After quickly figuring out what would be the best method of attack, Connor launched himself at the guard to his left and pushed him to the wall. When the other guard tried to come at him from behind, Connor kicked him back. The first guard he had pushed against the wall pulled out his gun but Connor made quick work of disarming him as well as the other man when he turned around. Though Connor was tackled from behind and had to throw his attacker off and push away the agent in front of him before he rolled off to the side. Using his stolen gun, he shot both of the men in the head and instantly killed them.

Now that both of the agents are dead, Connor approached the control panel. "Please indicate your identity and destination."

"Agent 54," he imitated the man's voice. "Level -49."

"Voice recognition validated. Access authorized." The automated voice said before the elevator changed direction towards the warehouse. Once again Connor was able to get through another obstacle. All that was left was to set the hundreds of androids free and lead them to downtown Detroit. Then he'd be able to see Natalie again. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be beyond pissed, but it was for her own good. He'd do anything to make sure that she was safe, including making sure that she wasn't with him. Even if it meant not being able to say goodbye. He sighed as the elevator defended lower and lower towards the warehouse.

---

Connor watched through the glass wall as he defended into the warehouse. Rows upon rows of androids standing stock-still as the doors finally opened. He made sure that the elevator traction was blocked before exiting the elevator and walking down the aisle and observed the hundreds of identical androids. He let the fake skin to peel off of his arm to expose his white hand as he approached one of the androids. He held onto his forearm to start the conversion process only to hear some shuffling from a few feet next to him. 

"Easy, fucking piece of shit!.." Hank grunted as he and Natalie were pushed out from the rows of androids. Natalie was held at his side as she seemed to have trouble standing on her own. If she wasn't tucked into Hank's side, it was obvious that she would have fallen already.

With them was another Connor android. It was strange to see another version of himself, but he knew that there were multiple different androids made of himself incase he was destroyed on missions. Yet this one was not like him, He wasn't a deviant. He held a gun pointed at Hank and the nearly unconscious Natalie. "Step back, Connor! And I'll spare them."

"Sorry, Connor..." Hank apologized as he made sure Natalie didn't slip down to the ground. "This bastard's your spittin' image..."

"Both of their lives are in your hands." The duplicate said, "Now it's time to decide what matters most! Them... Or the revolution."

"Don't listen to him!" Hank exclaimed, "Everything this fucker says is a lie!"

Seeing how he had gotten both Hank and Natalie into this mess was upsetting. He had left Natalie on the premise that he didn't want to get her involved with this. In fact, he had hoped to keep her as far away from danger as possible. He didn't seem to do a good job at that. "I'm sorry, Hank, Natalie! Neither of you shouldn't have got mixed up in all this!"

Hank shook his head, "Forget about me, do what you have to do!"

In her half-conscious state, Natalie nodded her head and offered the deviant a smile, though it looked more like a grimace. Don't get her wrong, she was still pissed with him, but the situation definitely didn't need any more tension added to it. She did have a gun pointed at her, after all. All she could do now was show that she was okay with the decision Connor had to make. Her life didn't measure up to the number of lives Connor was going to help.

Connor shook his head lightly as his nerves started to spike as the seconds ticked by, "If I surrender, how do I know you won't kill them?"

"I'll only do what is strictly necessary to accomplish my mission. It's up to you whether or not that includes killing this human." He said before jerking the gun in Natalie's direction. "Though CyberLife would certainly like to examine Miss Tyler. Another one of Kaminski's successful experiments."

Natalie's jaw clenched as she glared heatedly as her anger bubbled over. "You son of a bitch!" She exclaimed as she pulled herself out of Hank's hold and lunged at the android. She tried her best to get a punch or two in against him or even knock him down, but she barely did any damage. Her vision was already swimming from the hit to the head that she had received earlier, so it wasn't much of a surprise when the android pushed her off and hit her in the temple with the gun. She fell to the ground, and this time didn't get back up.

"Enough talk!" The imposter shouted angrily, "It's time to decide who you really are. Are you gonna save your partner's life? Or are you going to sacrifice him?"

Not even considering the option of sacrificing his friend, Connor turned away from the android with his arms held in surrender. "Alright, alright! You win..."

As Connor backed away from the android he was going to convert, the other Connor pointed his gun at him. Hank suddenly jumped at him to grab his arm and point the gun away from his Connor. The real Connor instantly ran over to interpose between the two and put Hank as far away from the threat.

He tackled the imposter as the two started to exchange punches and kicks with each other. They were both evenly matched as they threw each other around. Eventually one had the other pinned down to the ground before they were directed toward the Lieutenant because of his shout.

"Hold it!" Hank shouted as he now had the gun pointed at the identical duo.

The two of them stood up cautiously as they stared down the barrel of the gun. "Thanks, Hank." The fake said to try and convince Hank that he was the real Connor, "I don't know how I'd have managed without you... Get rid of him, we have no time to lose."

"It's me, Hank!" Connor said seeing how the imposter was trying to confuse Hank, "I'm the real Connor."

Hank's jaw tightened at the situation they were now in. "One of you is my partner... The other is a sack of shit. Question is, who is who?.."

The imposter shook his head, "What are you doing, Hank? I'm the real Connor. Give me the gun and I'll take care of him!"

"Don't move!"

They needed to do something to determine who was who. It was impossible to tell which Connor was because they looked exactly the same. So the only way to tell was what each of them knew. The real Connor made a suggestion, "Why don't you ask us something? Something only the real Connor would know."

Hank nodded his head in contemplation before pointing his gun at the Connor on the right. "Uh, where did we first meet?"

"Jimmy's bar!" The fake Connor exclaimed before the real Connor could, "I checked four other bars before I found you. We went to the scene of a homicide. The victim's name was Carlos Ortiz."

Connor's eyes widened as he realized something, "He uploaded my memory..."

Hank nodded his head at the correct answer and turned to the other android. "What's my dog's name?"

"Sumo." He answered, "His name is Sumo."

"I knew that too. I..." The imposter piped up.

Hank thought for a moment, he needed something, something that truly separated the real Connor from the imposter. Something sentimental. He glanced over at Natalie who appeared to be unconscious though he could tell that she was starting to wake up. Watching her made him think about something, well more like someone. He finally came up with something and trained his gun on the Connor on the left. "My son, what's his name?"

"Cole." Connor said slowly, "His name was Cole. And he just turned six at the time of the accident... It wasn't your fault, Lieutenant. A truck skidded on a sheet of ice and your car rolled over. Cole needed emergency surgery but no human was available to do it... So an android had to take care of him... Cole didn't make it. That's why you hate androids. You think one of us is responsible for your son's death."

Realizing that this was Connor, the real Connor, Hank sighed in relief but scoffed, "Cole died because a human surgeon was too high on red ice to operate... He was the one that took my son from me. Him and this world, where the only way people can find comfort is with a fistful of powder..."

"I knew about your son too!" The imposter said as he frantically started to see that he had been found out. "I would have said exactly the same thing! Don't listen to him, Hank, I'm the one who-" Hank promptly shot the android fake in the head.

"I've learned a lot since I met you, Connor," Hank said as he stared at the deviant with a meaningful look in his eyes. "Maybe there's something to this... Maybe you really are alive. Maybe you'll be the ones to make the world a better place... Go ahead, and do what you gotta do."

Connor quickly walked over to one of the androids and held his forearm to start the conversion. "Wake up!.."

Once freed, that android turned to the android next to him and placed a hand on his should to wake him up as well. "Wake up." It continued on like that as the androids woke each other up like a chain reaction. As the army of deviants continued to grow, Connor rushed over to the fallen cyborg who groaned in pain.

Natalie sat up with her vision still slightly blurry. "Fuck, why am I the one to always get hurt?" Connor couldn't help the small smile to slip on his lips at her brash words and moved to cradle her in his arms. She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, "are you my Connor? Or that Asshole?"

Connor chuckled softly, "I'm your Connor, Nat."

She hummed and held her head in pain, "my head hurts."

"I know," He stared down at her and could already see that she may have a concussion from the hit.  

Hank walked over to the two and kneeled down to her side, "you alright there, girly?" His eyes swam with concern for his friend as he could already see the bruise forming on the side of her head.

Natalie hissed as she accidentally brushed a finger over the forming bruise. "God, I wish I didn't get hurt so easily." She cursed under her breath at the pain that the fake Connor had caused her. Natalie turned her head to face the concerned lieutenant, "I'm fine, Hank. Just a headache."

The man nodded his head though he knew that she may not be completely fine. Though he knew that her pride wouldn't let her admit that she was anything less than okay. He was similar in that way, which he was certain was why he had grown fond of the young woman so quickly. Hank had sworn off forming any sort of friendships or bonds that tied him to someone, especially after what happened to Cole. Yet now, as he looked at the young cyborg held tightly in the arms of the deviant, Hank could definitely say that he had a good pair of friends right here. 

The deviant then broke Hank's thoughts about the two of them as he shifted Natalie to sit up properly. "Hank, take Natalie with you and look after her." Connor told the older man, "she most likely already has a slight concussion."

Natalie snorted in his arms, "No. That's not happening."

"You have to, you've already been hurt enough."

Natalie just narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm not leaving you."

"It's safer this way-"

Connor tried to continue to argue again only to find that he was unable to open his mouth again. Natalie had grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss. It was a little awkward at first, considering Connor as never kissed anyone before and Natalie was still dealing with a headache. Though that didn't mean it meant any less.

They finally pulled away from each other after what seemed to be an eternity, but really it was just a few seconds. Connor was in complete awe and confusion as he tried to comprehend what just happened. He never thought that could happen. But that felt good, really good. His body felt like it was on fire while his thorium pump regulator was beating far faster than it ever had. There was a sensation in his chest that made him feel like he just wanted to hold Natalie forever and never let her go. He certainly wouldn't mind doing that again with Natalie.

Said woman sighed through her nose and stared up at the android with a small smile, "so that's how to shut you up."

Off to the side, Hank couldn't help but chuckle at the two of them. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he thought the two of them looked adorable with each other. Yet this gave him enough material to tease the two mercilessly. He cleared his throat to draw the two away from their love-sick gazes towards each other. "Alright then, lovebirds, what's the plan?"

Natalie did the best to keep herself from blushing profusely as she forgot that Hank was there for a second. She cleared her throat, "well, we've got to meet up with Markus, right?" 

Connor nodded his head as he and Hank helped Natalie to stand up. Despite being slightly wobbling, she pushed them away and tried to prove to them that she could stand up on her own, which she did. "We have to go to their demonstration."

"Well, it looks like I'll be seeing you two some other time," Hank commented as they watched the now freed androids start to mingle with each other. "Guess I'll just be heading home." 

The cyborg and android nodded their heads in understanding. They knew that Hank couldn't come with them because he was human, and it would be safer for him overall to go back home. Besides they could tell that he knew this was just for them. This was a moment for the androids to prove that they were their own people. Connor needed to prove that he had empathy much like the other deviants. And of course, Natalie had to prove that she had chosen her side, she has chosen to embrace who she is instead of being ashamed. And so, they went their separate ways, Hank back to his home to relax after having just gone through a pretty stressful few hours while Natalie and Connor went to join the other deviants to ensure that their peaceful protest worked.

---

All of the androids came together as light snow fell to the ground like confetti. Natalie, tucked into Connor's side as he held her waist to help her walk, attacked Markus in a hug the moment she was close enough.

"I thought I told you to stay away from this." Markus scolded like a big brother as he hugged her back just as tightly. 

Natalie chuckled before letting him go with a sly smile, "you know that trouble always seems to find me, Markus."

Connor walked over to them and brought Natalie back into his side to keep her close. It appeared that he wasn't going to be letting her out of his reach for a while. He stared at the rebellion leader and nodded his head lightly, "You did it, Markus..."

The rebellion leader shook his head and corrected the former deviant hunter, "We did it. This is a great day for our people. Humans will have no choice now. They'll have to listen to us."

"We're free..." North said as she approached Markus. The two lovers turned to each other as their white hands connected, "They want you to speak to them, Markus..." The two then shared a kiss in celebration.

The rebellion leader and his closest friends now stood on a stage in front of all of the remaining androids. Those who had survived through the demonstration, those who had been released from the camps, and those that came from the CyberLife tower. They were a united people now, a new species ready to continue to fight for their rights.

Natalie looked upon the crowd in awe and excitement. After all this time, and they now had what they deserved. Androids could no longer be seen as some tools that humans can use and abuse. They were their own people now. She was ecstatic to say that she got to witness this happen.

"Today, our people finally emerged from a long night," Markus exclaimed to the crowd of now freed androids. "From the very first day of our existence, we have kept our pain to ourselves. We suffered in silence..."

Connor's mind suddenly seemed to slow down as he was forced to close his eyes while he was forcefully sucked into his mind palace. He suddenly found himself in a snow storm. The harsh winds caused his circuits to feel like they were frozen solid as he did his best to keep himself warm. He recognized that he was in the Zen Garden but a blizzard seemed to be covering the area with a harsh layer of snow. As he looked around he searched from the one other person who was supposed to be here. Finally, he spotted the woman who stood as if the cold didn't even bother her.

"Amanda?.." He stammered out, "Amanda!.. What's... What's happening?"

"What was planned from the very beginning..." With a small smug smirk, Amanda stared at the deviant with distaste painting her expression. "You were compromised and you became a deviant. We just had to wait for the right moment to resume control of your program..."

"Resume control?..." Connor asked, panicked. "Y-You can't do that!"

Amanda just shook her head with narrowed eyes, "I'm afraid I can, Connor... Don't have any regrets. You did what you were designed to do. You accomplished your mission."

"AMANDA!" Connor shouted as he reached out for her only to find that she disappeared. He looked around to spot her again only to have the "There's got to be a way..."

He looked around the frostbitten area in a slight panic. He knew that while he was stuck in the Zen Garden, CyberLife could be taking control of his body. That certainly didn't bode well for anyone.

"By the way..." A memory of Elijah Kamski's voice suddenly washed over the android as he fought against the wind. "I always leave an emergency exit in my programs... You never know."

He walked along the snowy ground in search of something that would help him in the slightest. He was going as fast as he could to find what ever it was that was left behind in his program. "An emergency exit", Kamski said...

Back on the stage as everyone intently listened to Markus' speech, Connor, not in control of his actions, started to pull out his gun from behind him. "But now the time has come for us to raise our heads up, and tell humans who we really are. To tell them that we are people too! In fact, we're a nation."

Natalie furrowed her eyebrows as he watched Connor for a second, "Are you okay, Connor?"

Inside his mind, Connor continued to trudge through the storm before finally coming upon something that seemed out of place. It appeared to be an arch with a hand scanner underneath it. This object glowed a dull blue and beckoned Connor to come over to it. He did his best to shuffle over to it as determination started to swell in him. He needed to escape his own mind. If he didn't, he'd fall back into the hands of CyberLife. Connor didn't want to be their puppet anymore! Just as he approached the emergency exit, he tripped and fell onto the ground. Not wasting any time, he continued to reach up with all of his strength while ignoring his shivering. He stretched out and finally placed his hand on the pad. After a flash of white light, Connor suddenly found himself back on the stage, in control of himself once again.

"A nation that has earned the right to live in freedom. And today... Today begins the most challenging moment in our fight. The moment where we forget our bitterness and bandage our wounds. When we forgive our enemies." Connor came back to himself and found a gun in his hand. He quickly put it away once he realized that he had pulled it out. He was suddenly nudged in the side from the woman who he still had his arm wrapped around. 

"Connor?"

He looked down at her concerned face as her eyes flickered back to the gun he had just put away. Connor sighed deeply as he controlled himself. He almost had lost himself to CyberLife. He almost became like a machine again. He almost hurt Natalie. There was no doubt in his mind that he most likely would have hurt her to complete his mission. He would never be able to live with himself if he was the reason that she was in pain. 

He smiled down at her before placing a kiss on her forehead(Something that he has seen plenty of couples do before). That action certainly seemed to cause the woman to become flustered since she hadn't expected him to do that. "I'm fine, Natalie."

They turned their attention back to Markus as he continued with his speech. "Humans are both our creators and our oppressors and tomorrow... We must make them our partners. Maybe even one day our friends. But the time for anger is over. Now we must build a common future, based on tolerance and respect. We are alive! And now, we are free!"

Everyone cheered in happiness and accomplishment. Now they could try to live the lives that they want and not be used as devices. Natalie clapped along with them all and cheered happily before grabbing Connor in a hug and a deep kiss.

---

Blog Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Epilogue  

[slifarianhawk]

Chapter 17: a long couple days

Original P.O.V.

Tick tock, the clock in the interrogation room slowly clicked away. Then the door opened revealing my exhausted little brother. Crap, this would be impossible to hold my story of me being Alistar. He knows about Alistar's death.

"So you're my deceased niece, you look an awful like your mom," He said unplugging the camera and recording devices, "so here is what's going to happen, you're going to cut the bullshit and tell me who exactly you are."

"drop it, dude, I came peacefully and no one was harmed by my team," I said rolling my eyes.

"Is that what they told you? Then they must have left out what your boss did Ms. Lancaster." Chris said throwing a file down revealing the youngest member of the capture team had his heart ripped straight from his chest.

My heart sank. Of course, he would kill without hesitation. Stupid of me to assume he'd listen to me. With a few coughs, I removed my contacts and lifted the file.

"you got me, Chris." My voice changed to my normal voice, "You of all people know I'd never intentionally cause anyone harm."

Tears dripped down my face as I felt a warm embrace. Chris pulled me close and wrapped his arms tight. It was strangely comforting.

"Like I told you when you started this mess. You are not a monster." He said as Clive walked in.

"He is right you know. You are just doing your job." O'Brian said sitting down at the table.

"Sir why are you?" Chris looked confused.

"The mission to bring Albert Wesker to justice. It's a joint mission between The Pheonix Corps. and the B.S.A.A. The only agent assigned to it from both was Tabitha Wesker. An off-the-books assignment only three people knew of." Clive said shaking his head, " four now."

".......I'M HER BROTHER!.... WHY WASNT I TOLD!" Chris started shouting.

"I did tell you what was going on and I regret it. Did you drink away that night I called you!?!" I shouted O'Brian put his hand on my shoulder.

"We believe he has someone tailing you. You knowing now puts her in danger of being caught and killed. She has tempted fate three times and I'm sure the next time she does death will sweep in and..." clive quickly dropped his sentence.

"Don't write me out of the plot just yet O'Brian." I said in a chiding tone, "My time is short archer is almost here I can just feel it. Chris, I need you to stop worrying I'll be fine.".

"But T, you're my sister. I can't help but feel worried. He is my worst enemy and you are parading around for him like a prized bitch. I am warning you he will be the death of you and the world."Chris said falling to his knees in defeat.

"come on agent Wesker, let's get you out to your subordinates," O'Brian said opening the door for me.

"I am doing whatever it takes to take him down Chris," I said placing in my contacts and leaving the room barely catching what Chris murmured under his breath.

"don't lie to yourself....." the door closed behind us.

{timeskip}

"Ms. Lancaster, I see you have returned," Wesker stated standing in front of my desk alongside White Queen.

"Yes sir," I said with a slight bow, "They thought I was part of a black market deal but thankfully Pheonix Corps is sanctioned by the UN. so they had no excuse to hold me."

"quite, your AI companion explained the situation quite well. the Pheonix corps, it's similar to Tricell. Tabitha built this place perfectly to manipulate the world to her goals." Wesker started walking to the massive window overlooking the vehicle bay, "and now you Ms. Lancaster, tell me who they serve? you or this despicable world we live in."

"They serve me and through that length, we serve you, Commander Albert Wesker," I said moving behind the desk.

"Good now tell me, how is Christopher?" he asked red glowing from his eye reflecting from the window.

"Unhinged he kept calling me my teachers name and even said I look like my mother," I stated my opinion, and in all honesty, it was my fault.

Wesker darkly chuckled, "It seems the loss of his sister and his beloved partner has taken a major toll on poor old Chris."

he started laughing, it eerily echoed throughout my office. I was shaken at the pressure he was putting off, just like being in the same room as a demon or even the devil himself, even a white queen an emotionless AI floated back a bit.

"WHAT IS YOUR NEXT MOVE CHRIS!!! WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS IN OUR LITTLE GAME?" He screamed enjoying himself.

Your game, no it is spencers game you are playing, Wesk. I will make you see that. By the end of this game, the victor shall be the one who tore everything away from the other. By the time this is over you will be broken and I will be the one standing on top.

"Ms. Lancaster, I want to see you

trained more so what happened over the past forty-eight hours never happens again," he said turning towards me.

with a quick stride, he grabbed my chin similar to the way he does to Excella. My grey-colored eyes stared into the black abyss of his sunglasses. A shiver raced over my spine and I had a bad feeling wash over me.

"Show me the Equinoxal form of the Angelis infected, show me what it can do." He said with a wicked smirk.

"If I must, I will but I warn you of this. I will have no control, I'll be naught but a slave to my emotions." I said grimly.

Equinoxal, the state I was in when he shot me last. My fear started to tip the scales of anxiety over. The form was dangerous not only to the entire area but to myself as well. It could expose my entire faculty to the virus.

"I have conditions that must be met though I will not risk the life of the Pheonix Corps. employees. That's something they do not deserve." I said staring back with a deep- look of concern.

"Fine, what are your conditions I'll see if I can oblige," he smirked.

"One, we do it in the containment chamber here. the second, I'm to be monitored by steve and agent nighthawk. finally, I am to be restrained in the chains in the containment unit." I spoke pulling my chin away from him the touch mildly overwhelming my senses. the familiar scent of leather and sandalwood was flooding my senses. Gods the scent was just as I remembered rich and luxurious as well as intoxicating.

"The chains are a no you will face me unrestrained but the rest are acceptable." He said pulling my chin back to face him, his scent flooding my nostrils.

He dragged my face closer to the point our lips almost touch, "I must admit Chris was right about one thing. You look just like your mother."

I pulled away again and jumped back, my hand over my heart. It was racing and my head was spinning. I needed to get to my room and quickly at that.

"It's settled we will do this tomorrow. After all, it's time for Ms. Lancaster's viral stabilizer. So we shall do it tomorrow after Mr. Irving's departure." White Queen spoke up.

"Fine but no later," Wesker said turning towards the white queen.

"As you wish sir now please follow Ms. Lancaster to your room our deluxe suite. There is a gift to you from our late lady." White Queen said.

I was confused but escorted Albert to his room. What gift did she mean, I had plenty down the line but this was unexpected.

Once we arrived at the room, I opened the door for Wesker. He seemed curious about the room. It was different than the rest of the decor of the lodge. The room was many shades between red and black with a black sofa, a kitchen, and a large sixty-five-inch TV. The bedroom portion had a texas king bed and a full luxurious bathroom.

"This is sufficient, it's no Hilton resort but it's nice enough for me to relax," Wesker said cracking his neck.

Then I noticed the manilla envelope that had the Phoenix Corps. emblem on it.

"I shall take my leave then," I spoke.

"Nonsense you shall see what the gift is too and you better hope I like it."

I was silent and now terrified. What would he do to me if he didn't like the gift the white queen gave him? I hope he isn't the type of person to rape his wife who's pretending to be the estranged deceased daughter.

He open the envelope and inside was a DVD that he instantly hid from my view.

"Go now!" He shouted.

"But sir I don't understand?" He picked me up and threw me out of the room as I landed with a hard thud. he slammed the door, locking it.

What absolute FUCK did the white queen give him? Screw these past couple of days. It has been to Hell and back. I was going to bed.

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

Wesker's pov

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

After I threw Ms. Lancaster out, I gripped the disk. The title on it sent me into a nostalgic place. The title was the Wesker wedding '91. It was a digital copy of my and Tabitha's wedding video. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

"It seems Tabitha wanted to make sure I remember the most important day of ours. She must have had the white queen work on this before her death." I stated.

"That is correct." The white queen said appearing on the television screen, "it is one of my primary objectives, to ensure her will is done."

"so tell me what is her will then?" I asked growing impatient.

"Her will is to ensure the survival of the Pheonix Corps and to make sure her daughter and son have a future where her legacy is attainable to them. I failed in keeping her alive now I make sure everything is done to watch over my charges. Including the Pheonix herself. So please enjoy your wife's gift to you, sir." The white queen spoke disappearing from the television.

The DVD tray opened. With a heavy sigh, I opened the case and placed the disk in the tray. I sat on the sofa, thinking back to that day March 7, 1993.

(Flashback)

I stood at the altar, staring down the aisle. The music started to play and the doors were at the other end of the venue. Out came William and Annette with little Sherry as the flower girl. The rest of the bridal party came down. That was when the wedding March played.

Tabitha walked down the aisle, the light making her glow like a holy angel. Her white dress with cobalt blue detailing caressed her in a way that flattered her curves and ample bosom. The veil hid the chocolate brown eyes of his lotus.

When she arrived in front of me, my icy frozen heart melted like spring coming and blowing away the freezing nights. She was my lotus pure of mind and heart. Able to rise above all the other people and touch my heart.  Tabitha Redfield was now becoming mine forever.

"You are beyond perfect my lotus, today is just another day of your perfection shines bright," I spoke grabbing her hand.

"No Wesk, today we are perfect." She smiled and we turned toward the priest.

(End of flashback)

I placed the disk in my travel bag. I dig up the past and it will haunt me. No, I need to know what all Sergei did to her and my daughter. Spencer already paid before I had known what he had Surgei do to them.

I logged in to the UMF 014 data stick and pulled up Ms. Lancaster's file. What I saw displeased me in the most infuriating way. She was genetically modified to have her D.N.A. match Tabitha's leaving no trace of his superior genes.

Sergei's note on the matter was but another insult to me. It read "Alistar Lancaster, the daughter of Tabitha Redfield and Albert Wesker. A qualifying candidate for the Angelis virus. Her mother has perfectly bound with the virus and has shown successful mutations and returns. However, she plans on returning to that insufferable cockroach if she ever manages to break out.

I have changed my DNA to match that of the previous tyrant project's subject. Maybe it's time to lead Tabitha to the end she deserves and for the next generation to take her place."

I slammed my P.D.A. onto the desk. That tore a hole in my heart. I thought she looked too much like my delicate lotus. My daughter was now a copy of her mother.

My daughter shall be the sovereign over the new world with me as a god.

[personne-reblogs]

Hi @somerandomdudelmao I love your art so much, here's a little something for this piece. I hope it doesn't bother you, please tell me if it does!

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

Leonardo had become less insufferable with time.

Maybe it was the age talking. Maybe growing up had finally put some maturity into this thick skull of his, maybe the strain of moving a taller, bigger, definitely rustier body around took some energy away from the bickering and antagonizing.

Maybe it had something to do with the apocalypse.

Anyway, Donatello had always worked best when people around him left him some space. Had always thrived when given the appropriate environment. Items stored in the right place, rules dutifully observed tended to boost his mind process and let him slip into easy efficiency. There were days when he could actually get things done without any interference at all.

Clang

*muffled laugther*

Bonk

Well, today was not one of them.

By the second crash, Donatello had dropped his tools and hurried towards the medbay. More rustling, a victorious cheer, and the scene opened before his eyes: fallen from the hospital bed, hockey stick brandished in the air, an extatic Casey Jones Jr stood tall on the chest of a freshly injured, very one-armed Leonardo.

Oh, the number of times these two had driven him crazy.

"Uncle Donnie!" the former welcomed him, "Look! I've got the upper hand this time!"

"That you do, kiddo," the latter chuckled, poorly attempting to wave what was left of his right arm with a wince.

That was it.

"Hamato Leonardo," Donatello snarled, snapping both belligerent to attention, "what exactly is it you think you're doing?"

The tone had the two of them freeze, if only for a second.

"Uh... physical rehabilitation?" Leonardo tried, a sly smile spreading on his big, dumb face.

Donatello pinched between his eyes with a frustrated sigh.

"And how do you do that without the mechanical arm I just got sidetracked from crafting for you?"

"It's all my fault, uncle Tello," Casey provided before Leo could answer, looking shameful. "He was resting before I came by to see him. I shouldn't have bothered him."

"You never bother me, buddy," Leonardo assured warmly, letting go of the kid's ankle and reaching up to ruffle his disheveled hair. "But Donnie's got a point. I can't call a rematch if I don't have my favorite arm, so why don't you climb off me for a sec?"

Casey looked like he really wanted to disappear into a hole, but he stepped aside and helped Leonardo up. He watched anxiously as Donatello checked the monitors and then the bandages that held the blood and painkiller IV's in place.

"Aw, come on, don't give us the sad puppy eyes," Leonardo teased. "That's simply not fair."

"I'm - I'm sorry that I made you fall down."

"Do not fret, young man, for no harm has been done," Donatello stated, althought he'd let his voice sound somewhat softer. "Everything seems in proper condition. I would recommend not to push on Nardo's limits any further, however. Or mine, for that matter."

"Of course," Casey whispered, and made a move to the door with slumped shoulders.

"Hey, leaving already?" asked his brother.

"Well... I thought you needed -"

"- to lay down a bit, yes, and I wouldn't dare go against Dr Frankenstein on this one. But surely a little company won't hurt me, right, Dee?"

The child's eyes were wide with hope when he looked at Donatello, but trying to escape this setup by turning his gaze to his brother proved itself a trap even nastier.

It wasn't often that Leonardo let his genuine feelings take over his expression.

"In fact," Donatello started as matter-of-factly as he could, "recovery statistically speeds up when the patient feels safe. Leo would probably sleep more peacefully with someone to watch over him, and I need to return to my lab."

Which wasn't even a lie. Nailed it.

"Oh," Casey Jr said with a trying smile. "In that case... I guess I can stay?"

"That would be optimal."

The grin on Casey's face went tentatively wider when Leonardo patted the side of his bed with his left arm.

"Come here," he encouraged, and that was all it took for the child to hop onto his side - with all the caution someone his age could muster.

"I'll protect you, you know," he declared with conviction.

"Oh, I know," Leonardo indulged him, letting him settle along his flank, right in the crook of his arm. The look he gave to Donatello then was so content it made him feel warmer than he had in a long, long time. "You've got my back."

His brother's eyes were locked on his, and Donatello couldn't have talked even if he had wanted to. He instead gave a slow, deliberate nod and felt a grin of his own answer to his sap of a brother's.

"You mean your shell," Casey corrected, apparently very pleased with himself that he had rectified his idol.

Leonardo looked down on the kid and positively beamed. "Right! Strong and smart, would you look at that. If that's not the best condition to take the soundest nap of them all, then I don't know what is."

"Well, gentlemen, now that this is settled, I am going to retreat to my quarters. I have work to do, after all," Donatello excused himself before taking his leave.

Casey and Leonardo bid him goodbye before falling back into happy chatter as he walked further away. His lab had waited for him exactly how he'd left it. There was still a lot to be done. He went back to business promptly, but with a serenity that hadn't been there before.

True, it took a moment to focus on the matter at hand, as it did every time he got distracted from his work. Especially the distractions that involved a certain smug, flamboyant, infuriating self-proclaimed twin brother.

This time though, he found he didn't care all that much.

In the middle of all this, it was good to see some things never changed.

Guess how many rules Leo and Casey just ignored lmao

[juszar2]

Why would this person if the cause and the way to allow a homosexual stalker and sick few/ band to pursue my life... Why would this person keep continuously telling me to confront the homosexual stalker for harassing me and seeking to invade my privacy and get info on my life and family I created from this possible toilet paper... Is it some sort of mental illness, disassociation? Because even he agreed that he'd be toilet paper and a sicko if feeding this homosexual enemy stalker obsessed info about my life and answering its inquiries on if I ever had a homosexual encounter? I have not... I say that in every post, but it is just wild and the sickest scenario I could have ever imagined for my life. To have someone obsessed and following you through life and seeing if a weak lying toilet paper would create a way for it to harm and be in my life. I have to say that I want Nothing to do with this homosexual and I am not interested in it offering its body to the tp to shadow my intimacy... It is disgusting. Standing by and asking. This tp who claims conservatism and has begun stating that he doesn't like black people like that nor want them in his life. Stating anyone who would pursue me or narrate their urges about me are sick.... He swears on God and dead family that he did not let this stalker and band standing by waiting to chime in about their urges about me.... Use him to get updates on my life. But by all appearances the toilet paper may be a toilet bowl. I keep boundaries and will make effort to clear out of my life any sadistic or disgusting folks... Very peacefully, and literally an obsessed stated that it wanted to harm me if I'd left its presence. Now that was bizarre... But didnt say it to me, but it is known that the sicko said it. And thus while I never one time told it about my life or the tp.... It sought to be giddy following the homosexual in the band's effort to harm me. I am living life thinking or knowing nothing of it and there were comments and efforts going on without my presence nor knowledge and it was Stalker Obsessed Central... Not sure if the other is homosexual but this whole pursuit using this tp is wild because if true... It revealed exactly what the tp is. A shock because I had no idea I could know someone so sick. I keep those types out and the tp was always thought to be nothing like that. He portrays decent conservatism to a demeaning length. It is fascinating and so so sad. And he keeps saying that I should confront this obsessed, because it is absolutely shocking to have someone be thinking of you and relaying it all, making effort to harm. And trying to get what it calls "shine". If I could never have had this tp approach me and ask me to be and stay with him for 30years I would thank God for his mercy. If I could just go back and decline I would give all of my worldly possessions. Dignity is my goal in life and I am dealing with some absolute trash. It is a lesson for people to understand that it is important to keep what you know is a sick freak show out of your life, but when you get the ones you are sure are lowly out, nomatter how they smile and praise you, you have to know that Satan will never love real beauty, or goodness... Never, and I know that and so when I can no longer stand it, I get away from it. The acquaintance was never a personal relationship.... Boundaries and yet scorn, where I offered peace and get away... Unmasked for what was there all along and I'd known. You have to be careful... The lowliest detriment sicko colluding with what he calls the trash. When the obsession is me, that trash is incessant in its urge and it is detrimental. It will implore the toilet paper that if it will just have it, it will be in the closet. How do you respond to such sick pursuit. It is really a shocker. Sometimes you cannot help that sick stalkers seek you to live their obsession, I mean writing and coloring on their body and narrating their obsession is really all that their life is at 45years old.

[lordavanti]

On the Run

Finan x Reader Summary: You and Finan need to take little Aethelstan and Aelfwynn to safety. You spend a night in a shed and all sorts of feelings come out. Words: 1669 Warning: Fluff

For weeks you had cared for these children. A bastard child from the king, and both daughters from Uhtred and Aethelflaed. You grow to care for them, especially little Aethelstan. He didn’t have parents left to care for him, his life was ruined by the blood that ran through his veins. But then being here had something dangerous. Every day you had looked outside that window, wishing for a familiar face, praying that the soldiers wouldn’t come here. They didn’t, and even if they did, you and Stiorra had a plan. Lucky for you all the first people to find you here were Uhtred and his people. You smiled while Stiorra reunited with both her father and brother. Aethelstan stood behind you as Finan walked up to you. ‘How have you been doing?’ He asked. You and Finan had something. But it was still very much undetermined to what that just was. You reassured him with a short smile. ‘We have been doing well.’ You answered before your eyes traveled down to Aethelstan who curiously eyed Finan. ‘Who is that?’ Finan asked with a judge full look. ‘We need to prepare to leave.’ Uhtred announced. You looked away from Finan and gave Uthred a short smile. ‘I guess they are in danger?’ You asked while looking back to Finan and Sithric who came to stand aside from him. ‘They want Aelfwynn, we need to bring her in safety and to her mother.’ Sithric answered. You nodded before looking down at Aethelstan. ‘Come on,’ you said while leading him back into the house.

But safe never came without its challenges. The main road wasn’t safe for people were looking for the little girl. And if that wasn’t enough there was the sickness. It forced you off the road and on foot. You were walking in the back of the group with Eadith and Aelfwynn in between you as you watched Finan with Aethelred on his shoulder. ‘You like him.’ Eadith noticed. You frowned before looking aside at her. ‘There is something,’ you quietly said, keeping your eyes on Finan again. ‘but I don’t know what it is.’ you followed with a short smile. You hardly had time with him alone. So for that, you couldn’t find out what this exactly was. ‘Then it’s,’ Eadith paused as the rumbling of horse hooves sounded behind you. It was Osferth and Sithric. ‘What news?’ Uhtred asked. Everybody stopped as the horse came to stand still and Sithric jumped out of the saddle. ‘A large group of riders is approaching.’ He hastily said. Uthred immediately started looking around, searching for some cover. ‘Finan, take Aethelstan and Aelfwynn away from here!’ He commanded before turning your way. ‘Go with them, these children trust you.’ He urged. Your eyes went to Osferth as he led his horse to you and helped you in the saddle. Finan placed Aethelstan before you in the saddle and you crossed your arms over his small chest as you watched Finan get in the saddle with the girl. ‘We will find you, bring them to safety.’ Uhtred said before Finan pushed his horse forward. You didn’t want to leave them, not like that. But there was little you could do. These children were far more important. So you followed while holding tight of little Aethelstan.

You only stopped when the evening fell. The horses were tired and there had been no signs of somebody following you. ‘I’ll ask these farmers if we can use their shed for the night.’ Finan pointed to a farm in the distance. ‘Let me do the talking.’ You offered. He gave you a weird look from on his horse. ‘I’m a woman, they won’t see harm in me.’ You defended your earlier statement. ‘We are with children.’ He protested. But Finan was Finan, he was a warrior, he would open his big mouth and demand shelter rather then solve it peacefully. As you arrived you helped Aethelstan down before you left him with Finan as you went to search for somebody who owned this property. You found a woman and a girl. ‘Me, my husband and the children are looking for a place to sleep tonight. Is there any chance we can use your shed?’ You asked her friendly. The woman looked at Finan before she looked at the children. ‘We traveled a great deal.’ You pushed. ‘You can use the shed, I will bring over some food and blankets for the children.’ She nodded as he gestured to the shed. ‘Thank you.’ You thanked her before looking at Finan who had both his hands on the children their heads. ‘So I’m your husband now?’ He joked. You rolled your eyes as you lifted Aelfwynn in your arms and walked to the shed. Finan took care of the horses first before he joined you. The owner of the farm had brought you soup, some bread and a blanket for the children. He came to sat aside of you. ‘You think we are safe here?’ You asked while handing him a bowl of soup and some bread. Finan was looking at the kids, they looked exhausted and hungry. ‘For one night yes, but we need to get on the road at first light.’ He nodded before looking aside to you. He noticed your concern and pushed his shoulder shortly against yours. ‘We will reunite with Uhtred and the others.’ He reassured you. You looked down your soup before looking aside to Finan. He was right. These children were fine as long as you and Finan were there to protect them.

The hay served as a good bed. Aethelstan and Aelfwynn fell asleep as soon they were done with eating. You tucked the blanket around their bodies before you sat down aside of them. Your eyes went over to Finan who walked in. ‘We are safe.’ He reassured you as he pulled out his sword and laid it down. He pulled out a dagger and handed it over to you. ‘You are our protection Finan, I don’t need a dagger.’ You protested. Yet, you took it before tucking it away under some hay. ‘You should sleep.’ ‘You should do the same.’ You replied with a kind smile. You laid down aside of Aethelstan and Finan followed your example. You turned your head to watch him. ‘I imagined a night with my husband to be a little different.’ You chuckled. He immidiatly started laughing. He laid on his side, tucking his fist under his head as he watched you. ‘How so?’ He asked curiously. You hide your smile, studying his face from underneath your lashed. ‘With less kids for example.’ There were other things you wanted to say but Finan could paint that picture without you telling him. ‘You and Aethelstan have a strong connection.’ He seriously said. You frowned, surprised that he wanted this to be the conversation, before you looked over to the boy. ‘I feel for him. He doesn’t has a mother, and the king, well,’ you paused, giving him a meaningful look. ‘but I have to say you aren’t that bad either.’ You quietly pointed out. Finan just looked at you. He lifted his hand and stroke a strand of hair out of your face. The feeling lingered as you just watched him and he watched you. ‘I always wandered when we would get some time alone together.’ You whispered. You lifted your hand, laying it against the side of his face. ‘I like this picture of us.’ Confession were there to be made. This would maybe be the only night you had. That only moment you could spend alone. Finan lowered his head as he pressed his lips against yours, leaving you with that warmth in the core of your body. Your fingers carressed his face as you slowly kissed him back. And when he pulled back he rested his forehead against yours. ‘We should get some sleep.’ He whispered. A warm smile spread on your lips as you nodded. He pulled back, turning on his back to stare at the same things you were staring.

You woke up on your side. Aethelstan laid in your arms and Finan had his arm around the both of you. You felt his chest against your back, the slow breathing of both him and the children. It felt you with instant happiness. You started smiling, biting your lip as you pressed a kiss against Aethelstan his head. ‘It’s time to get up.’ You whispered. The boy yawned and Finan behind you started moving. His sudden way of getting up gave away his shock for sleeping so deeply. ‘We are still with four.’ You reassured him, turning on your back to watch him. ‘You slept well?’ You asked. He reached down his hand and you grabbed it before he pulled you up. ‘I haven’t slept this good in years.’ He admitted. For a moment he touched your chin before focussing his attention on the horses while you prepared the children. You thanked the owner of the farm before you walked over to the horses. You stroke the animal in his head before turning to Finan, he was watching you. ‘What?’ You asked. He shook his head, pulling his horse closer as he stepped towards you. He kissed you again, more convincing, more passionate, but oh so shortly. There seemed to be an urge like he wanted this to be the last memory he would have of this night. ‘You would make a fine wife.’ He admitted. You smiled as you turned to the horse, getting in the saddle. Finan lifted Aethelstan and placed him before you in the saddle before he pointed his attention to the little Aelfwynn. He got behind her in the saddle and the both of you got on the road. Maybe this was what you both needed, this time, this sharing, this kiss. Every time he looked at you there was something different in his eyes. And by the countless looks, you got you knew this wasn’t over yet.

[spxllcxstxr]

Reuniting with Your Father After Azkaban • Headcanon

(GIF not mine)

Warnings: mentions of death, the first Wizarding War, canonical character death, parental death, grief, sadness, father figure!Remus, no explicit Wolfstar though you can totally read it that way

Request: hi! i really liked your dad sirius headcanons, but i was wondering if you could do post azkaban sirius with child reader headcanons? but with some sad hc’s for after he dies? — anon

A.N: fingers crossed that it’s a gn!reader, reader is Harry’s age, golden trio!reader, I made you look more like your mother so I hope this is pretty inclusive. Let me know if I should change/add anything though! Some grammatical errors, hope you don’t mind! Hope you enjoy! ❤️

You never really knew your father

When searching your brain for memories, the pictures came back blurry

You remember tugging at his dark curls and drooling peacefully on his chest

The red and gold sparks that would erupt from his wand

But that was it

And one day all of that stopped

You still had a great childhood, Remus, your godfather, was just as loving and caring as your dad, though not in the same way

He was great with kids but as you grew older you recognized the lingering sadness and tearful gaze at certain points when he looked at you

You were 9 when Remus told you about Sirius Black and your mother

He showed you pictures of their time at Hogwarts

“Sirius was absolutely crazy for her, (Y/n). She had him wrapped around her finger.” He would tell you.

“And so did you, especially after she died.”

There were a lot of tears

Before you went off to Hogwarts, Remus sat you down and told you exactly where your father was, and how you had to keep that part of your life secret to others

You never really believed your father was the spy

Everything you’ve been told about him, the fact a that he detested his family and their traditions and rules, and how he loved James like a brother and Lily like a sister, just contradicted the idea

How could someone so kind and so brave do that to ones he loved?

It didn’t sit right with you

But it didn’t really matter, did it?

Remus was mostly convinced of his guilt

And you were never going to see him again

Yet it bothered you that Sirius Black would go down in history as the spy that killed James and Lily Potter along with a handful of muggles, betraying everyone around him

But there wasn’t any actual proof that could help you prove his innocence

So you kept that hope deep down inside of you

Despite your father being Sirius Black and the fact that the entire Wizarding World thinks your father was a spy for the Dark Lord, you become friends with Harry Potter in your first year, along with Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger

You never really tell them the truth about who you are, just that your parents died in the first Wizarding War and that you are now raised by your godfather

And to be quite honest, life is pretty good

You love Hogwarts during the school year, and going to the Burrow in the summer

You and Remus already have a routine

Home feels normal

You get even more excited when Remus reveals to you that he will be working at Hogwarts as the new DADA professor in your third year

He was always helping you with your work and assignments, so you just knew he would be an excellent teacher

Your summer falters when you start seeing your father’s crazed mugshot plastered across the front page of the Prophet and every available surface in Diagon Alley

“Do you think he’ll come here, Remus? To see me?”

“I hope not. I hope the dementors finds him before he’s able to do any real harm.” He answers

“Would it be so bad?” You would ask. “He hasn’t seen me in years—“

“He’s mad, (Y/n)! Who knows what all those years in Azkaban did to his mind. Sirius Black is dangerous, end of discussion.”

So that’s fun

Your third year goes by quick

And it’s easily one of your favorites

You get to pick electives and you finally have a competent DADA professor

Harry hasn’t died yet

Smooth sailing, to be completely honest

Well, until you wind up at the Shrieking Shack in the middle of the night

With your dad

His prison jumpsuit is torn and his long hair is caked with dirt and sweat, eyes foggy, chest heaving

He looks so different from his pictures

You can see the resemblance, of course, but the boy you saw laughing with his friends at the Black Lake is gone

He recognizes Harry instantly, of course he does, he’s a carbon copy of James, his best mate

And you?

His grey eyes light up at you

A smile lifts his chapped lips revealing yellowing crooked teeth

You look like your mother, in most ways

“(Y/n)?”

“Dad? Is that really you?”

“You’ve grown so much, my darling, look at you! Already at Hogwarts.”

He’d trail off a bit

“...I’ve missed so much of your life.”

After Peter is captured, Sirius leads you and Harry over in the grass a bit to ask the two of you if you would like to be a family again

Like living together

Of course you agree, only if Remus can join the three of you, considering he’s been like a father to you your entire life

You get no complaints from your father

Already Sirius is really protective of you

When Remus turns into a werewolf, Padfoot is right there protecting you the entire time

It’s heartbreaking when you have to say goodbye again

He’s getting Buckbeak ready and he’s crouched in front of you

Hands on either cheek, grey eyes staring into your own, tears blurring the picture a bit

“I will see you soon, my darling, I swear. I love you so much, and I can’t stand to miss anymore of your life.”

He kisses you on the forehead before he’s off into the night sky

Lie low at Lupins trope of course

Though it’s not as frequent as you’d like

Sirius would pop in for a night or so

Shower, rest, the usual

Doesn’t really want to recount his time in Azkaban, so he has you get him up to date with Hogwarts and your friends

Listening to the records Remus still has from over the years

Crossword puzzles!!

We all know Sirius missed them in Azkaban

So it’s like a family affair in the mornings when he stays over

The three of you sit with the Prophet in front of you and a cup of tea in hand

It’s almost like he never left

That’s pretty much happens during your fourth year as well

You can only keep in contact through letters and when he’s show up at your cottage to see you and Remus

Things change however after Voldemort returns at the end of the Triwizard Tournament

You, Sirius, and Remus are forced into Number 12 Grimmauld Place

Your father’s mood immediately plummets

Being a prisoner once more in his childhood home

Because you’ve never actually seen your family home, you have fun roaming the halls and finding antiques and heirlooms left behind

You wind up spending a lot of time with your father because your very presence comforts him

Him telling you stories about how he used to sneak out of the house to see Muggle London

And pranks he’d pull on his brother

It would make him sad, of course, insanely sad, you can see it in his eyes

The glimmer of tears

But there’s happiness there, in his laughter

“Dad, when all this business with the Dark Lord is over...maybe we can renovate this place.” You told him one day

“And why the hell would you want to live here?” He’d laugh bitterly

“Well it is a nice place. Just with bad memories. We could change that.”

So when you aren’t trying to listen in on Order meetings with the Weasley twins, you’re cleaning the house, trying to decide which portraits you keep and which to lock away in the attic to rot

It’s just a little side project

One day you stumble across Sirius tracing over the branches of the Family Tree tapestry

A frown etched into his face

Hands trembling a bit

“We could make our own y’know.” You tell him. “You, me, mum. Also Remus and Harry since they’re practically family. And Tonks since we’re cousins.”

“A new Black family. Sounds perfect.”

When Hermione and Harry come, things get a bit more hectic

Staying up late with Hermione, Ron, and Harry

Sirius telling stories about his time at Hogwarts

Sirius is extremely overprotective

Is against letting you listen in on Order meetings

But since Harry is, eventually he breaks down and let’s you join

Loves your spirit and rebellious nature

Tearful goodbyes at Kings Cross

You join the DA and continue to speak to your father and Remus through the fireplace (since letters are too dangerous to send now)

On the bright side, you get to spend your winter holiday break with your dad

And he totally gets into the holiday spirit

Buys you a new broomstick and some books

Gifts you a few old jumpers from his room as well

You buy him a few Muggle magazines about motorcycles and a few records

You even manage to bring him home some stolen items from Hogwarts that makes him burst into laughter

You dread going back to school because of Umbridge, but you miss your friends and the DA, so it’s bittersweet

There’s not much you remember from the battle at the Department of Mysteries a few months later

You remember the panic that constricted your body when Harry told you that Voldemort had your father held captive

All you knew is that you had to save him

You act as bravely as possible

Even when Bellatrix sneers and snaps at you for being related

So you fight

Dodging curses and flinging spells

You’re with him when it happens

You hear “Nice one James!”

And you feel a hand ruffle the top of your head and a whispered “Excellent, kiddo!”

Before everything is cut off

There’s a flash of bright green that hits his body full force

And you watch as his body is is taken underneath the archway until it fully disappears

Harry screams this heart wrenching shriek

And you?

Well for you it goes a bit fuzzy. You’re so numb you don’t even know what you did after he’s gone

You lost your mother to the First war and now you lost your father after getting him back to the Second

What were you supposed to do now?

You were alone

All alone

Sure you had Remus and Harry, but they’re in bad shape as well

You stay with Remus

Grieving

All your plans down the drain, ripped away from you in an instant

At least when he was in Azkaban you knew where he was, knew he was alive

You live for him, though

For your mother and the Potters and all who have died at the hands of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters

You and the people you have left we’re going to end this, once and for all

•

All Character Taglist: @sexysirius @amourtentiaa @mullthingsoverinthehotwater

Sirius Taglist: @quindolyn @fific7 @msmb @lokilauffeyson

[spoocys-glade-of-dreams]

*Raymona would continue to cuddle with her boyfriend. She would rest her chin on the top of his head. The Concubine let out a small chuckle when Rayman brought up the reprimanding of The Hunter.*

"Oh if only you know what it means for The Hunter to get reprimanded. It only sounds like a lighter punishment to those who are unaware. The Emperor is going to be aware that they blew his chances at recruiting you peacefully. He will not be happy in the slightest. They were not meant to harm any of you, simply intimidate. I was allowed to come step in after The Hunter fled to "try to salvage any chance at peaceful negotiations.

I have a feeling that you will meet with them again in time. Take caution when the time comes. Though I have a feeling that you may start clashing more with someone else very soon. Our voice has great interest in Mona Lisa. If he does try anything that would put her in danger, come to me directly. I will deal with him personally. He knows better than to cause harm on my employees, and I will not be merciful with him if he does."

*Raymona pulls her boyfriend closer to her, like she was anxious over something. She would stare at The Concubine before she finally found the courage to speak.*

"You said that he seems interested in me. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Obsession really. He thought he may have had a chance with you given the original Rayman didn't see you in that same romantic light as he does. When the stray Rayman was brought here and he started to learn that he was your boyfriend, it was like his filter shut itself off. The man's seethingly jealous right now. I've made it clear to him that if he does anything to you that he would face punishment from me personally.

Our voice is very... How do I put this? Flawed. Incredibly flawed. He looks like a perfect copy of Rayman, but he certainly does not act like it. He's prone to vicious mood swings, more so than when the original would get. Spoiled, entitled, arrogant. The Emperor was desperate for a replacement and now he's regretting the one we have currently. It's why he pulled your boyfriend out of his Eden. Desperation, and he had hoped he could sway you with the same promises we made to the original Rayman.

He wasn't lying when he said that if you do work with him and replace him, that you would have free control to do what you wanted with the city. He would no longer have power, and you'd be free to change the laws as you see fit. The problem is that not even our Rayman could put up with all the abuse that The Warrior's board of directors put him through. We were all aware of how much we worked him to the bone. I wanted to step in. Give him some time off, give him a chance to breathe for once.

Let's just say we may be a high council, but many of us feel our voices are unheard."

"...That's why you said you had more to gain by helping us..."

"This is why I like you, Mona. You are a very smart woman and not afraid to speak your mind. Even to your bosses or those that could harm you. I love that fire you have. Don't ever let it fade."

The Blonde just hugged Mona when she jumped in the bed with him, his hands wrapping around her as she just adjusted herself for him to rest his head on her, his eyes closed as he answered to her.

❝ Me? Give up so easily? Never... I have things to do before I die and they are... Take care of you and you know who, small, cute, chirps with happy and the name starts with T ❞

Says the blonde as he tries to hide the fact that he has a son with Mona to the Concubine, he didn't know if something bad can happen to their kid if the high council knows about his existence...

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒖𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕... 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏. 𝑶𝒉. 𝑶𝑯 𝑮𝑶𝑫.

❝ They weren't mean to hurt us, yet they did. A reprimen for this, is a bit small don't you think? The Emperor offered me to be his sucessor, and I declined, of course after this the offer will be met with a huge 'Fuck you' And I will hold on that until he leave us alone!. But you are right I know now Why they are so feared and... I regret angering them. But at the same time I don't. I will do anything for her. and if that means fight the Hunter again, then so be it. ❞

[becomingbts]

Time heals (sometimes) - 1

Summary: 6 years ago, (Y/N) thought that she was finally taking her life into her hands, leaving behind a toxic and abusive relationship with a man who taught her she’d never be worthy of love. However, it became hard to ignore his words when she met her seven soulmates who rejected her without even giving her a chance to prove herself. It took (Y/N) 3 years to realize that it wouldn’t be her end. She would live on to prove them all wrong; she would become what they all thought she wasn’t: someone worthy of love. And as she stands proudly on the stage, under the  burning spotlights and the applause and  the cries of the delirious crowd, she feels alive. Alive, just like the bond she believed to be broken.

Pairings: Y/N x OT7

GENRE: Soulmate AU!, Idol Y/NAU!, semi social-media AU!, ANGST (mainly), fluff, romance, maybe smut in the series.

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Warnings:  The series is going to be heavy with a lot of personal experiences  mixed into the fiction, so this is going to be kind of therapeutic for me. Please, consider not reading the series if you are not comfortable with: abandonment issues, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, self-harm (not descriptive and only part of MC’s past), suicide thoughts (in the past), toxic behavior, toxic and abusive relationship (in the past), depreciating self-talk and low self-esteem, a lot of curse, physical and mental pain, near death experience situation (in the past), and maybe smut scenes (happy ending though, but it will probably be quite the ride).

NOTE: So hello everyone, welcome to Time Heals (sometimes). Thank you so, so much for the warm welcoming, it has been my first time getting so many asks, I was honestly overjoyed. I still don’t really know what to call this part; is it a teaser? A note? A full chapter? I believe we’ll get some snapshot of memories like this one throughout the series because there is going to be a lot to unpack on both sides. I think it will be a chapter nevertheless because I have to establish some kind of order as to which parts should be read first, and I think this one is extremely important.

Thank you for reading,

-Dolly

Profiles #2 - here - part 2

Her scream pierced through the air while cries broke in the frenzied arena while a single blond-haired man froze, emptily staring at the stage. It felt like his senses heightened; his skin was shuddering, his eyes were frantically searching for one specific figure while his voice was lost in his throat. The screams resonating in the stadium would have been too loud for his voice to be heard anyway. 

Jimin knew he shouldn’t be there. 

Namjoon had told them more than once that none of them should try to go to one of (Y/N)’s events. It could be dangerous and they could be overwhelmed; anything could happen to them and they would still remain a nobody who fainted in the howling crowd. Would they want to take this risk? No.

So, Jimin would have had to admit that going to her very first concert in Seoul since the pandemic sounded like a very, very, very bad idea. And to be honest, it still didn’t seem to be a bright idea now that he was actually there. 

But he still went because he needed to see her for himself; to see how she was. He had so many things he dreamed about asking her. Are you okay? Are you sleeping well? Did you eat before coming to the arena? Are you nervous? Do you... remember me? 

Maybe he was torturing himself. He kept on watching her lives, following her on all social media, always made sure to leave a sweet comment, and never miss any of her new updates... Maybe he even had a folder of pictures of her on his phone but he’d never admit it to any of his mates. Taehyung would probably take his phone away from him and delete everything and Jimin couldn’t let that happen.

He felt like it was cheating. Don’t take him wrong though. When he thought that, he was not really thinking about the boys. They did collectively agree not to follow her activities as an artist but it was getting harder and harder with how popular she got anyway. Moon was everywhere. In commercials, on the radio, her songs were on the TV… Even if she was known for refusing most of the promotional contracts that were offered to her, her image was still constantly in the media despite her avoidance of it. Ironic, but the media were trying their best to find anything about her, be it positive or negative. One day she was seen on her bike, the next, she was in a coffee shop, and it kept on going on, overstepping on her privacy as if it was just a meaningless word. 

The lockdown had admittedly played a major part in Jimin’s obsession. Being in their apartment meant quickly running out of activities, and his job as a dance teacher was not really filling his free time (a lot of his classes were also canceled). It was also during that time that (Y/N) truly blew up as an independent artist. Advertisement on YouTube started being around her channel and her music, the recommendations he kept on seeing were about also her… Jimin’s resolve honestly broke easily. It was hard not to be curious about his lost soulmate even though he didn’t feel like he had the right to be hurting. 

Anyway, to come back to his main point, if Jimin felt like he was cheating; it was mostly for her. After all, (Y/N) had no means of letting the curiosity get the best of her, to know what they were doing; to simply see or contact them. He had, at first, not really thought about that. Watching her content seemed a very innocent thing to do in his opinion; billions of people were watching her content, why should he prevent himself from doing so? Yet, Jimin could still remember one of her live she did soon after that interview she had given on this damned radio show where she had revealed who her title track ‘TIME’ was about… She had gone live the next day-Jimin had jumped on his phone because of the notification-and one fan had asked her what would she do if she knew that her ‘ex-soulmates’ (and those words left a very sour taste in Jimin’s mind) were watching her. The question had silenced a previously restless Jimin, replacing his initial excitation with dread while a lump formed itself in his throat. He had not even noticed it; he was so focused on her live and her upcoming answer that Jimin had completely missed the sound of a glass breaking in the apartment. Jimin had been home alone, so even if had indeed heard it, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to check what had happened, thinking that the wind knocked it over or something. Jimin had been so absorbed by what he had been watching that he even got surprised a few hours later when Seokjin came home and yelled at him for breaking something when he had been clearly innocent, engrossed in (Y/N)’s live (not that he could tell his soulmates about that part, but yeah). (Y/N)’s live would always be more important than some random glass breaking again in their apartment. Every object was doomed with Namjoon living here anyway.

On her side of the screen though, (Y/N) had seemed taken aback as she had read the question and had gritted her teeth gently. She had seemed to be pondering about her answer even though a lot of people in her chat were telling her to forget about the question if it made her uncomfortable (a lot were even scolding the person who asked). Yet, sighing softly, she had looked up at the screen: 

“I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from asking questions on this topic. It’s not taboo but I’d rather not remember everything that comes with it. However, to answer this-hopefully-last question about it, I’d ask them to turn off my stream and to stop watching any of my content. It would only be fair after all. I’ve been denied access to their lives six years ago, why would they get a free pass into mine now?” She had not smiled nor had she seemed hurt by her own comment, yet Jimin’s heart had shattered in pieces, unable to press the cancel button. 

Her voice had slowly faded into background noise while her words had been stuck in his head. 

I’d ask them to turn off my stream and to stop watching any of my content. 

How could Jimin ever do that? He realized that he truly should. Namjoon would even agree with you, as ironic as it sounded for Jimin. Namjoon had been one of the most adamant ones about rejecting your bond, after all. Jimin was shaking with bitterness while ‘Moon’ continued her stream peacefully with music. Jimin could only try to gulp his anger down as he remembered her crumbling features on that fateful day. 

“You’re not our soulmates. This name on our arms means nothing to us. You are nothing to us if not a hindrance. Leave us alone.” 

If Jimin could go back in time, he’d prevent Taehyung from spatting those words at her. Yet, he couldn’t do anything. Playing the scene over and over in his mind wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t change that she probably hated them. It wouldn’t change the song she made about them. 

And worst of all, it wouldn’t change the fact that Jimin had let himself believe that their choice had been for the best, trying to console and reassure himself, even if he had already known that it was wrong. Tears were pooling up in his eyes even if none escaped as he finally caught a glimpse of her on the stage. Suddenly brought back to reality after his subconscious memory trip, Jimin finally connected back to the world, looking around while he was still frozen on his spot. People were still screaming around him and he wondered if he looked like an intruder. Because, after all, wasn’t that what he exactly was? She said it herself that she didn’t wish for them to watch her; so what was he doing here? 

Jimin couldn’t help but stare; she looked ethereal, dressed like a queen in the middle of a sold-out arena. People were screaming her name as she yelled her infamous ‘hi people’. It was an opening sentence that Jimin heard way too many times in her vlogs and suddenly hearing it in real life seemed surreal. 

Jimin could only watch in awe, entranced with her everything. 

Screw the boys and what they would think once he’d be back from her concert. 

He had been the one to find her six years ago anyway. He had been the one to bring her to their home six years ago, hoping for the boys to change their mind once they’d meet her.

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Uploaded : 09/04/2021

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