#thinking about fighting for a century straight to protect a kingdom

[stormflute]

Lego Monkie Kid: Breath of the Wild

[rawliverandgoronspice]

So let me get this straight. TOTK!Rauru had repeatedly requested that the Gerudo join the ‘protective embrace’ of his kingdom, to serve him. Protection from whom? The monster clans? If anything, the Gerudo seem at the peak of their power! They have some measure of control over the molduga, the fiercest of the desert’s monsters. It’s also established elsewhere that the Secret Stones merely amplify one’s existing power—that one would catapult Ganon to near-unstoppable heights speaks of his already formidable might. With him at the helm, the Gerudo were ready and willing to invade Hyrule. Until Rauru demonstrated a superweapon that quite literally vaporized any notion of a military assault—a superweapon that Rauru (and his cohort) brazenly wears. Ganon is entreating a party wearing nuclear launch codes around their necks! And those aren’t even the only Secret Stones in Rauru’s possession, later handing those out as he sees fit to the Sages. Of course, the narrative portrays Rauru as someone who would never abuse that kind of power—he’s a Good King. But that’s a terrifying Sword of Damocles.

Yep. Pretty much.

Also I'd like to point out that apparently, Rauru's "sin", and what passes off as his character arc (so far, I haven't finished the whole game yet), is that he was too confident that he'd keep Ganondorf under control as a vassal? Like, okay what were the options otherwise? What should he have done that he didn't do? Like in OoT/TP beforehand: was Rauru supposed to simply imprison the king of a foreign nation just because he didn't pass the vibe check --or worse, kill him off? And then what happens to the gerudo? I feel like we've gone down this road before, and it didn't lead anywhere pretty...

This is what I mean about the poor character writing in this game: I think Rauru is supposed to be the emotional core of the story, and he might be the only one with an "arc" so far, but his flaw/regret is... a whole bunch of nothing? Unless you think he should have commited genocide to protect his kingdom from evil, according to the game that refuses to examine his actions/power, there's nothing he should have done differently besides... not having his wife be murdered? That's not a character arc, that's just an unfortunate event you participated in unwillingly!! To make a comparaison that is worth being brought up: the king of Hyrule in BotW worked much better in that regard, because he is indeed partially responsible for the fall of his kingdom through the pressure he inflicted upon his daughter and the prideful belief that he could control a force of nature (Calamity Ganon being treated as such in that game) through technology; both of these attitudes costing him everything, condemning his daughter to a century-long fight and said technology ruling the lands through terror in his stead. As a ghost, he haunts the wreckage waiting for the hero to wake up to try and finally correct his mistakes through Link.

I think they kind of wanted to do that again in TotK, but it extremely doesn't land in my opinion because Rauru has no flaw --beyond, apparently, not being bigoted enough?

[waeirfaahl]

The lava monster issue

There was a certain weird aspect about the lava monster. The concept of him and his backstory is simple, what makes him relatable episodic character, but only on the surface level, because as soon you start to think and analyze the details and how it sticks to the premise of setting, you will realize that there's something wrong either with the character or with something around him.

First of all, ironically, but exactly this lava warrior is the first human Jack ever kills. Yes, Jack just helped him to rest in peace, so the guy died mostly due to his age, so he is in Valgalla now as he wanted, but still. Jack became the reason of his death, hence he killed a human before his encounter with bounty hunters from 5 episode of 4 season.

Second, how this warrior mentions, the monster (of course, Aku) imprisoned him in crystal, but the warrior's spirit was strong enough so this "prison" stone became his body basically, and he is able to fight and even control stones and lava... And instead of a battle against Aku for avenging his family and maybe even helping to other enslaved ones he creates various traps for a warriors, who would kill him, so he would go to Valgalla through honorable duel... What?! There's no mention that he can't leave these mountains! He literally created all these traps, i.e. he went on outside of the mountains! Yes, he is trapped in the stone body, but he doesn't mention that he can't leave these lands! He can do various weapons from own body just like Aku does! What a heck?! He is the earth/lava bender straight up!

And, well, with omiting some details for a while, this warrior did nothing wrong and was pretty good guy, who protected his people. Why the three alien gods from "Birth of Evil" did nothing?! Why they didn't help to this guy to save his family?! Why they didn't give him a weapon against "the monster"?! Why they were okay with him being cursed and trapped for eons?! And third, his backstory raises lots of questions. Of course, since this guy exists for eons, and he learnt lava/earth bending after many centuries of lying in the cursed trap, his memories about the past could be mostly erased and become very vague, i.e. he remembers only certain vague parts, but not details and full events (and, well, we remember the example of Emperor's words about his confrontation with Aku in 1 episode of 1 season and what really happened in "Birth of Evil" between him and Aku). But still. Like, he mentions that the black moon made the solar eclipse and started to grow, so the darkness absorbed skies and woods and then "the monster born from the darkness attacked" and began to destroy the warrior's kingdom.

Ah... why Aku decided to teleport(?) exactly this way? Moreover, why Aku was there alone and decided to attack exactly them and exactly to burn these lands with its human habitants?! This event clearly happened after Jack was sent to the future, 'cause before this Aku chilled only in Emperor's lands (and after he was free from the stone tree, he attacked exactly Emperor's kingdom). You really don't see the problem? Well, if Aku started to take over the world, he had to be with the large armies of robots and demons, i.e. the warrior would remember small demons and "giant iron insects/people" or whatever. Plus, the people mostly would be enslaved, not killed. Another aspect — how, according to the lava warrior, Aku mocked on him "You'll never join your family/friends!" and hence trapped him in the magical crystal forever just because the warrior attacked him (and again this parallel with arrows).

Ah... I don't know, but such a brutal punishment "for eternity" would be more suitable for Jack's parents, especially Jack's father, not just some random dude from thousands Aku will see in the future (although, Aku could see some parallel — like, the guy clearly was a chief in his tribe and had a wife and two sons, but nah, here Aku just demonstrates that black cynical humor some mythical creatures/spirits had). Simply saying, the guy not only has almost erased and vague memories about these events, but also he doesn't know the whole story, 'cause he arrived exactly after the attack already happened.

[dark-side-blog3]

What do you think about Boston Lobster? Is he dangerous and cruel towards his victim? Is it hard to survive with him in this relationship?

I've written for him before, but I'd like to take a crack at writing him again! Back when I wrote for him the first time, the SP Boston Lobster didn't exist! I've decided to meld the two together as if they were a singular entity for the purposes of this list. They sort of are-- SP Boston Lobster is just Boston Lobster expanded upon and evolved. I've condensed them anyways.

Warning for canon spoilers, and reader death!

++++++++

Boston Lobster sees no place for humans in this world. And that includes taking them prisoner. Sad to say that Boston Lobster will kill you if you are his master attendant. The only saving grace is that if you're his master attendant then he can't kill you as quickly as he would if you were just any other human, as you'll likely have other food souls ready to protect you, and a slight bit of control over Boston Lobster. It's this power disadvantage that makes him infuriated with you; You humans think you're entitled to claim ownership over other sentient beings, putting yourself at the top of the food chain and degrading those you put beneath you! Boston Lobster would tear your spine out of your body with his teeth if you weren't protected by contracts!

Or at least... So he claims.

Boston Lobster does intend to eventually kill you, as he does with all humans, and dismantle the oppressive system that Food Souls have suffered under for hundreds of years-- the only way of which he can see is by killing those at the top and creating a new normal...

But he's also... Curious. Boston Lobster had heard from Peking Duck that there would eventually be a human that could change his mind, shining like a ray of sunlight in the darkness of humanity. And through a series of coincidences and stalking of Peking Duck, he saw you. And it was an almost instant feeling that you could be the ray of light his rival mentioned so long ago.

Possessive, and sadistic. But his sadism has limits-- at least where you're concerned. Boston Lobster makes threats day and night about all the terrible, graphic things he will do to you when he finally figures out a way around these infernal contracts.

Something he won't tell you is that he could kill you even with the "contracts" in place.

He may have conveniently been summoned by you a few days after observing you, but he was one of the first food souls ever created, and he was defective: Boston Lobster could overpower and kill the humans meant to control him. And he did. Boston Lobster doesn't have the same restrictions other food souls have. He could straight up kill you, and he wouldn't suffer any repercussions for it. Repercussions besides no longer having you, that is.

But you're interesting to watch. You're not as megalomaniacal as every other human; Despite owning many powerful combat-focused food souls, you only seem to care about your restaurant and the chef's guild you're a part of. Even exploring new areas in new countries, fighting monsters, all you do is look for new ingredients to use. You could have pillaged every city you came across, easily sicced your food souls and the fallen angels you've somehow tamed into destroying entire kingdoms. But the thought hasn't seemed to even occur to you. You just want to cook, serve people food, and even serve some of your food souls... You're weird. And Boston Lobster feels a twinge of hope watching you.

But being discovered harbouring affection for a thing like you would ruin everything he's worked towards all these centuries. So, when Boston Lobster finds himself actually liking you, he needs to turn it around-- make the story fit his narrative as the badass revolutionary against human lives!

So he starts bullying you. It does make him happy to see you get frustrated at his antics, or even occasionally scared.

He cusses you out, and tries to rush at you but remains slow enough other food souls have to pin him to the ground (a couple of times they haven't grabbed him and Boston, needing to cover his affection for you, socked you in the jaw), mixes pebbles into your rice supply and handfuls of sand into the flour... Anything that makes it clear to everyone he definitely doesn't like you, even a little bit!

And because he hates you, no one should ever think twice when Boston Lobster comes home from a day of fighting fallen angels and deliveries, and drops a bag of snacks on the table of your room, waiting for you to thank him for generously picking some snacks for you. Or when he tells you to be happy. Or when he goes out of his way to make you happy, taking you out to places to eat, watch fireworks, stargaze... Don't get the wrong idea and think he likes you, idiot. He just wants to prove a point. But if anyone says that he likes you, tell him, okay?! Or if anyone else makes you unhappy-- He'll take care of it! He's the only one allowed to pick on you. Those dumbasses might take it too far, after all... You should only be a bit tormented. He's got a knack for the balance of that, you know. So he should be the only one you let bully you! In fact, Boston Lobster will just hang around to make it clear no one's allowed to mess with what he owns.

This hot and cold nature isn't as innocently "school-bully-crushing-on-victim" as it may seem, however. Boston Lobster is aware that his urges go... Deeper than that trope humans love. It isn't simply about picking on you to hide that he loves you.

Boston Lobster fantasizes about killing you.

He does intend to, fully. But he wants to wait a little bit. He wants to kill every other human first, to liberate the Food Souls and establish a new world order. He wants you to see everything he does for his people, how he turned the world on its head just so everyone can be free. He wants you to see what he's done... Maybe he wants you to be proud of him? Maybe he just doesn't want to put his toy down until he can't procrastinate on it any longer.

He thinks of how he'll wake you up that final morning, watching from the top of a tower or hillside at the crumbled human cities post-war getting rebuilt by the Food Souls that will live there soon. Telling you about how the last human died, probably scared shitless and begging for mercy, before Boston Lobster crushed their skull between his claws. Giving you one last meal, letting you say whatever final words you like, before he grabs your head with both hands, holding your shoulders still with his claws, before snapping your neck. It isn't a quick way to go, and it isn't a painless way to go, as it takes a few minutes of your brainstem disconnected from your heart and lungs to make you finally die. But it is a relatively peaceful way to go-- Boston Lobster doesn't have to hear your laboured breathing or pained cries. You two can just sit next to each other on that hillside, as the sun slowly rises, and the Food Souls begin the first day of a completely human-free existence. And everything will be peaceful, finally.

Boston Lobster thinks about the day he will finally kill you every time he steals a kiss from you, shields you from the gaze of others, and whenever he catches you stealing a glance at him as he strips out of his overheating clothes. It's a fantasy Boston Lobster most closely associates with the tingling excitement and love you fill him with.

Every day is another day closer to fulfilling that fantasy. But until then... He could settle for suckling some bruises into your neck, perhaps even calling you something other than a moron while you two set up for the day.

[sucker-for-shifters]

For Day 15 of GtWAC:

Authors, share a little lore, be it from your main story or an AU.

~~~

I have to limit myself, because if I rambled about all the lore that's in my head right now, we'd be here for a week straight.

From Beyond the Grave:

During Wynn's initial life, he served under Queen Aurora, who convinced her kingdom that they were being threatened by supernatural beings that wanted to kill them. Wynn initially became a knight to protect people, but under Queen Aurora's rule, he regularly ventured out to stop "threats to the kingdom". His blind faith in his Queen (not to mention her threats towards those who didn't believe her) made him turn a blind eye to what he and the others were doing, and he quickly rose up the ranks to become one of her more favored knights. However, when he was off on one of his last missions, he broke when he saw them slaughtering entire families, and seeing for himself that their "protection" was actually more like genocide. His spirit completely broke, but the Queen refused to let him leave, instead sending him out on one last mission: Killing the green dragon that inhabited a nearby forest. Reluctantly, Wynn goes, and he proceeds to let the dragon kill him in order to make up for his wrongdoings. It's currently unknown why he resurrected a century later, but he's making a better use of his "life" knowing that he can make amends. However, even in "life", he isn't alive again permanently, having to absorb the life energy from other living things in order to survive.

In the meantime, Cen has been alone for many years, being seen as a burden by the other fae due to being unable to fly or use magic without passing out. He doesn't specify exactly what he's suffering from aside from describing himself as "unusually weak", but he suffers from something akin to chronic fatigue, with his most prominent symptoms being his near-constant insomnia and low energy levels. He labels himself as a paperweight, but in reality, he's very capable when put in the right situation. When needed, he is able to use magic and/or fly for short periods of time, but he can't do it for long before he runs out of energy. More often than not, he lets his mind do most of the heavy lifting, having idly studied all sorts of subjects over the years.

Inquisitive Minds for the Supernatural Kind:

While many different Supernaturals live in Umbra/The Underground, there aren't actually many other brownies living there, especially ones like Gray. In fact, Gray is quite an outlier, both physically and socially. Due to being so small compared to other Supernaturals (avg. 5.5" compared to a human-sized Supernatural), brownies tend to live in the shadows, using already-established buildings as cover and scavenging for the things that they need, much like borrowers. However, brownies have a few tricks up their sleeve, including the ability to turn invisible on a dime and, in some variants, turn into animals to disguise themselves. While you'd think that you'd find them in more established societies/groups, brownies are mainly lone wolves. While it helps them remain hidden, it also leaves them open to the dangers that you'd normally expect, like getting trampled, attacked by an animal, or freezing to death.

Usually, brownies stand about 5.5" (males) and 5.0" (females) tall respectively, and generally have darker hair, skin, and eye colors. They also have short pointed ears, and generally have freckles or other types of similar skin markings. Their hair is usually a bit more unkempt, and usually ranges from a dark brunette to a black color, though there are lighter variations. More often than not, brownies are assertive and don't take any nonsense, fighting back fiercely when they've been wronged, looked down upon/discriminated against, or are otherwise in danger. Gray, however, is a solid inch taller than average (standing at 6.5", where a normal male brownie would only reach his collarbone), has sleek silver hair, green eyes, and fair skin. He's also very meek when he's first introduced, not to mention a big pushover/people-pleasing.

This isn't touched on in the introductory story itself, but a thing that I really wanted to work on for worldbuilding.

[buckybarnesdiaries]

longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine, benign, homecoming, one, freight car

© mine.

bucky barnes x reader. ⎢ masterlist.

Bucky is kidnapped by Hydra to reactivate the Winter Soldier.

word count: 2.924 words. it worth it, i promise!!!

warnings/tags: none. angst as hell mostly. but it has a happy ending.

author notes: i don't speak russian, but i haven't used google translate either, so no worries. none of my stories contain reader’s body descriptions to be inclusive.

join the tag list NEW!!! here.

No. It couldn't be possible. It had to be part of a terrible nightmare. Bucky couldn't have been kidnapped by Hydra again.

You didn't know what to expect in the ship flying to the secret location of the organization. For Stark, it didn't take more than a couple of minutes to track the arm down, since Shuri put a small monitor on it when the soldier stayed in Wakanda. She never told it, wanting to use it in some kind of circumstance like the one you all were going through now. And you couldn't be more grateful, but it didn't help to make you feel better.

You were sitting close to the back hatch. Back rested against the metallic wall and legs curled to your chest. Nothing inside your head more than the hallucination of a pair of blue eyes staring at you. Blaming yourself was something you couldn't avoid. You should have been with him, by his side, protecting him as many times you promised him. But in fact, you just failed him. You failed his trust, his love. You let them take him. Only God knew which torture Hydra was putting him under, while you were there, lamenting.

You didn't even notice Steve's presence squatting next to you until he placed a hand on your shoulder. Then, you raised your face towards him. He was suffering too. In the end, Bucky was his long-life friend, his big brother. He lost him once and felt like he was going to lose him twice. Although this time was different. You were carrying the dispositive that could put to sleep back the winter soldier, but, at what cost?

“Buck got you now. Everything is gonn—”. He spoke in plural, referring to your last night's talk.

“How could you be so calm, Steve? How do you do it?” You whispered through your trembling lips, about to break in crying.

“Because he needs us focused, not distracted”.

He was wise. Captain America was wiser than anyone in that ship. He curled the left corner of his lips up, trying to make you feel good, trying to transmit you the encouragement you needed to not give up. And he did, more or less. You had to fight harder than ever. For Bucky, and only for Bucky. That's why you didn't hesitate on jumping out from the ship when it landed on the cold hard ground, as the freezing weather hit you on the face.

Following the plan, you ran quietly to the back door hidden under a huge layer of snow. Shaking part of it with the palm of your hand, you placed the device with technology from Wakanda on the locker. Not later than fifteen seconds, it deciphered the code to open the hatch. Once in position, the Avengers followed you downstairs. The passage was empty and silent. The only sound that broke it was a couple of rats running away from your presence. You all had studied the plans of the building, mostly underground, remembering exactly where you had to go.

The coast was clear, that was the reason why you all were so confused. You were expecting to find more than a dozen of agents, but when T'Challa enunciated through your earwigs that he only located two heat spots, you couldn't believe it. How only one man kidnapped the most fearless assassin up to now? Tortuous and bitter screams dragged you back to reality, causing your brain to react to make your legs run faster than ever in your whole damn life. You knew by heart that voice beneath all the pain.

Your skin bristled when your gaze landed on that chair of horrors, connected to an enormous power source. Bucky was sitting there against his want.

“... добросердечный… возвращение на родину… один…”

“STOP IT”. Steve yelled.

Huge mistake. You were aware of it when —yes— that man stopped reciting the Russian words to re-activate the Winter Soldier, but only enough time to push a red button near to him and close the heavy door in front of you. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. At the moment you glimpsed Steve’s shield sliding above the floor, straight to the inside of the room where Bucky was being tortured, you followed the same way. Never in your life, you were this fast. Like a lightning bolt, you snaked yourself under the small distance between the door and the ground before being closed. Now, it was you, that man and the soldier.

“You’re late…” He mocked with an awful American accent, under James crying out loud in pain. “грузовой ваг—”.

Your left hand moved quickly to unholster your gun and shoot him. One… Two… Three… Four bullets right to his head. The man fell dead before he couldn’t complete the command. You didn’t lose time, running to the controls to try to turn that machine off. But it was impossible. Even if you knew Tony could do it, there wasn’t signal inside those large and wide walls made of steel reinforced. You were in one of those abandoned soviet bunkers, that could save you from Armageddon. You were inhaling and exhaling so fast that your lungs never got really full, trying to focus, trying to shut every single noise around up. Trying to think of a plan b. But it was your heart who pushed you to act and not your brain. Grabbing Steve’s shield, you aimed for the energy source before tossing it like a damn frisbee.

That thing blew up, turning off any kind of light and dispositive around, as the sparks and the cables decorated your surroundings. Just like the fire that started to burn down a pile of boxes with different documents of Hydra. But that wasn't why you were impatient. Catching the shield when it came back to you, your legs moved immediately to Bucky, still stirring on his seat for a few seconds else. Then, he simply stopped shaking. Her eyes were wide opened. Reddened, in tears. His chest rose and fell violently. His heart was racing. And you could see the trauma taking control over his body in holy silence.

You didn't doubt removing the protection from his mouth along the restraints keeping him on the chair. Your fingers trembled like never before, not having any more time to lose. Probably, the Avengers would be trying to open the door when the emergency red lights illuminated the bunker, producing a loud alarm sound to indicate that something was going wrong inside the facilities.

“C'mon, Buck… C'mon, we have to leave”. You told him, trying to help him to stand up.

But as soon as your hand was about to land on his arm of vibranium, the five cold digits got closed around your throat. Soon, the lack of air for you was more than evident. He got up on his own, not needing you to do it. The ocean blue in his eyes turned into a dark storm. There wasn't any gesture on his face, more than his jaw clenching, pressing his teeth together. That wasn't Bucky —your Bucky—, but the unstable trained assassin Hydra turned him in. You could barely gulp saliva, gripping his metallic wrist with both of your hands to try to stop him from murdering you.

He couldn't. He couldn't kill you. His strength was suffocating you with no mercy, though.

For a moment, you felt too weak to fight, seeing everything around you getting blurred and darker. Blacking out. But there was something inside you, a sweet tone of voice calling your name. A male voice. Your eyelids rolled down bit by bit, wanting to concentrate on that honeyed sound being closer and closer.

“любить”.

The sore whisper left your lips. Love. The first time Bucky told you about love came to your mind. He told you about his family. George, Winnifred, Rebecca. He told you how much he desired to have a family of his own. To be loved.

“новый”.

Your almost dead fingers traced the form of his new arm made in Wakanda when you felt him lifting you from the floor, being suspended on air.

“сороковых годов”.

Trying to keep a firm tone of voice as much as the pressure let you, the Russian words were spat to the confused soldier, who wasn't understanding what you were doing. The forties changed his life. He was sent to war and, lately, captured by HYDRA. It was something he'd never forget, part of his DNA.

“заката”.

You didn't know what the hell your subconscious was doing either till that precise instant. You were reprogramming him. You were using his own memories to reset his wiped brain from them. Dusk. The first night he spent in Wakanda, Bucky was terrified. But you stayed with him. You comforted him by saying that everything was going to be okay, that his life would be different. That he was safe. That he was at home.

“лето”.

His last night of summer in that kingdom, Bucky took you to his favorite place between the woods, wanting to show you the fireflies fluttering in the middle of the gloom. He used to walk there whenever he woke up from a nightmare. Those small insects used to make him feel better for some reason he didn't comprehend. Until he saw their light reflecting on your amazed orbs. Bucky knew then he was in love with you. Besides his long-life friend, the only person who never judged him, who never ran away from him. The same person that now was dying under his fingers.

“шесть”

Six years took him to be Bucky, after his last war, after the last effort, after the last jump. He was a new man. You made him a new man. A good one. You guided him through the right way. You helped him to get used to the twenty-one century. You accompanied him to therapy and stayed in the waiting room every single session until he finished.

“заткнуться”.

The soldier ordered you to shut up, earning quite the opposite when you knew it was sorting some kind of effect on him, as soon as you felt some relief by the grip loosening around your throat and your tiptoes touching the ground. Little by little, you opened your eyes again, gluing them on the blue ones fixed on you.

“боец”.

He wasn't a super soldier, he was a fighter. He spent the last six years of his life fighting for it, fighting for ruling his existence, fighting for being pardoned for crimes he didn't want to commit, fighting for your love. Bucky furrowed swallowing, allowing you to place your feet on the floor.

“Бруклин”.

And when he demonstrated to the world that he was no longer the Winter Soldier, but James Bucky Barnes, he moved to his birthplace. Brooklyn. You and he rented an apartment together when you both learned that you couldn't live apart. That you were made for each other.

“Отец…”

A tear ran down your cheek, slowly moving your left hand to his free one. A shiver toured his backbone when he felt your warm touch holding his hand and, even if his cold fingers were still around your throat, the soldier bowed his head to follow the connection between the two of you. His flesh hand landed on your stomach, pressing it under yours, trying to transmit to him the news about your pregnancy status. Bucky was going to be a father. You were going to build a family as he always wished.

“Свобода”.

As the sob escaped your soul, his hand made of vibranium released your neck. Freedom was what he got after all those years.

Bucky was free.

His hold was the only thing that kept you on your feet, pining to the cold hard ground, as well as you trying to fill your lungs with the heavy air around you because of the dense smoke coming from the flames burning down that damn place. You watched Bucky picking the shield close to you, probably believing it could be easier to kill you with it than with his own hands. Your arms automatically wrapped your abdomen, as if you could protect your unborn child from that horror, crying James' name to remember you.

“James… James…”

You weren't able to stop whining, feeling a heavy sorrow under your chest, covering your vitals organs. The noisy sound from the bunker was suddenly turned into a constant beep, beep, beep that caused you to frown yet keeping your eyes closed. You called him once and again until a warm hand laced his fingers with you. Peace invaded you eventually, after a fond squeeze around your skin followed by a pair of rough lips pressed on your forehead. You let yourself go, not finding any strength inside your heart to continue awake.

The next time you opened your eyes, you needed a moment to adjust your gaze to the sunlight. Purring feeling more comfortable than before, you rolled on your stomach, sinking your nose into the large pillow. Bucky's scent was like a punch of reality. Your eyes snapped open as your pulse increased, starting to panic. Sitting up, your orbs moved quickly all around the room you recognized instantly. It was your dorm in the Compound, the one you used to share with your boyfriend —and the father of your child. It was empty. No trace of James anywhere. You tossed away the oxygen mask and the sheets covering your stiff anatomy, getting up from the bed. Another huge mistake.

Everything spun around you, feeling strong dizziness hitting your head, having to sit down for a second. But as soon as you felt recovered, you stood up again walking straight to the main door to step out. The hallway was deserted, hearing some voices coming from the meeting room. You followed them slowly, finding balance with your palm against the walls. Sam was the first one noticing your presence, coming faster to help you.

“James… James…” You mumbled, not really sure about when you started to sob again, whilst your muscles got tense with every syllable.

“He's okay, he's okay, take it easy, girl”. He tried to calm you as Steve reached you to bring you to the closest chair.

“We don't know what you did… but even if that man introduced the commands again… you turned it off”. Natasha spoke this time.

“I re— I repro— reprogramed him”.

The confusion was more than evident between the Avengers present in the room. But no one of them had the need to ask how. The spy taught you Russian in your free time, you weren't a fluent speaker, but it was enough to have a chat. Even so, you weren't going to say the words you used. You weren't going to make Bucky go through another wipe. If they worked, you'd make sure that he'd hear them when the occasion required it.

“I wan— wanna see him… please”. You cried covering your face with both hands, desolated after the hell of the situation you had to live.

“He's resting”. Steve informed you, squatting close and placing a hand on your right thigh to gently caress it. “And you should do the same. For your baby”.

“There's no way you're gonna stop me from seeing him”. You replied, raising your head and looking at him through your eyelids. Silently pleading.

He snorted, convinced that you wouldn't change your mind. Nodding two times with his head, he stood up and offered you a hand to hold it and help you to walk. Steve guided you through upstairs, following your pace step by step —he could have carried you onto his arms, but he wasn't sure if he could hurt you accidentally. You were too weak, barely breathing properly because of all the smoke you swollen inside the bunker. Although you started to feel somewhat erratic and excited as you were coming to Bucky's old dorm.

Steve opened the door for you, letting you walk inside before closing it behind your back. Your boyfriend was peacefully sleeping under the sheets. There were some scars on his face, already healed but yet seeming painful. The only explanation you found to be there was that Bucky used the shield to open the door and take you out of the bunker. A theory that made more sense when you noticed that he hadn't his prosthesis and his shoulder was covered by a thin black microfiber.

You headed to the bed, tucking in to wrap his warm and heavy body between your arms. At the moment he felt you, he embraced you as better as he could, not opening his eyes but shedding a tear. His lips started to tremble as you pecked them, previous to hiding his face into your neck.

“I'm so sorry…” Bucky sobbed, causing your whole anatomy to shudder because of the sorrow in his voice.

“We're gonna be okay, my love… You, me, our baby… Our family”.

His crying increased after those two words, caressing his back slowly to comfort him somehow. You knew that this recovery would be hard and painful, being conscious of how close he had been to end with your life. He didn't want to do it, nobody could deny it. You were everything he had, everything he always wished for deep inside his soul and heart. And the acknowledgment of having a baby with you only provoked him to feel guiltier.

But as you said so, everything was going to be okay.

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[freddy-fazbears-wonderland]

good to hear! what new content do you have for your foxica au? im happy to listen! ~sodapop anon

This actually ties into my Circus Baby Magical Girl AU specifically. I really didn't have to come up with a backstory for the magical kingdom but Foxy and Chica live in my head rent free so...

Also keep in mind that this is a gijinka AU so they are humanoid for the most part.

I may have originally written a backstory for Chica and Foxy but I'm changing it up a bit.

So, Chica is one of a handful of potential heirs to the throne. Since her parents failed to name any heirs before their deaths, a war over the throne begins and Chica ends up being caught in the crossfire despite her initial disinterest in becoming a queen. She was one of the youngest and still a teen, that's why.

Chica eventually joins the fight but only after her elder siblings betray her trust and try to kill her multiple times. She originally joined to protect herself and her younger siblings.

But as the war leads to her learning more about her parents' reign, she realizes that her entire dynasty up to that point was overrun with corruption and that the kingdom runs the risk of collapsing if it ends up the the wrong hands. And that in turn may lead to the magic dying.

So you'd think that with this enlightenment, Chica would get tons of support and gain enough to challenge her siblings, right?

Nope! Anyone she could rely on is already fighting for one of her siblings and the little support she does have obviously won't be enough to even put up a decent challenge.

With no one else to rely on, Chica decides to enlist the help of one of the prisoners in her parents' castle. And that prisoner just so happens to be Foxy, an infamous pirate and warlock who has gain quite the reputation despite being around the same age as the princess and being at sea for almost a few years.

Foxy initially refuses to help and it takes a lot of convincing on Chica's end due to his disdain for the royal family. Not even promising to take him off of death row and set him free was enough.

This leads an argument between the two and Chica opens up about her own disdain for her family (specifically her ancestors, parents and older siblings) in the heat of the moment. This leads to the two having a little heart to heart about their families and Foxy finally agrees to help under the condition that Chica protects his mother (she was always good to her son, even when he became a pirate) and grants him a single wish.

With Foxy's experience and charisma, Chica ends up gaining enough power to face her siblings, win favor amongst her people and come out victorious in the fight for the throne.

Despite still feeling the fatigue of war, Chica gets straight to work as the new queen and starts a reformation, bringing the kingdom back to the glory days before her family took over.

The magic is as strong as it as ever been and the kingdom begins to recover from centuries worth of corruption and years worth of war.

Also turns out the war was somehow the perfect time for enemies to become lovers because Chica and Foxy slowly started caring for each other... A lot. And feelings were caught.

Of course, marrying Chica wasn't Foxy's original wish but a good few years can change a person. And before anyone comes to me about this being dubious, Chica has the power to reject wishes if she wanted to due to having royal blood. She very well could've turned Foxy down.

And since this is somewhat of Foxica AU, she does accept his proposal, even though it's supposed to be the other way around since she's a queen but Chica don't give a damn about useless traditions.

They eventually marry and have Vivi soon after, pretty much setting the course for Elizabeth to become a magical girl when the time comes.

I could go more into this. Hell, I can write one shots based on this. But I should hold my tongue for now unless someone wants to hear more.

[dungeonaspects]

Campaign Idea: The Heart of The Forest

"The lifeblood of the world has been drained to its last drops, once the heart fails, so do we."

The History

The heart of the forest was a secret for eons, the paths obscured by the will of nature. Within ancient texts and hidden murals the secrets of the heart can be discovered, its powers laid bare only to those that truly searched for answers.

From the heart the cure for all diseases and ailments can be found, age can be reversed, limbs regrown, lives saved. Many perished searching the world for the heart, even more gave it up as a fairytale. Yet one group succeeded, led by a great archdruid.

An avatar of a god had been struck down by a blight that ate away at their divinity, to maintain balance in the world the adventuring party persuaded the archdruid to guide them to the heart. It took many months and many trials to find, the twisting trails of the forest arduous even for the ally of nature.

The hearts guardian would not let them pass, so the party let their desperation take hold. They murdered the guardian, like a common animal. The druid was enraged yet the paladin struck them down, refusing to let their deity die over some beast.

And so the party cut into the heart, taking the oozing blood and feeding it to the god who convulsed before the blight receded, their grandeur returning. The god was grateful to the adventurers, granting each a wish within their power, one was wealth, another a weapon of great power, the third a guarantee from the god that when they die they will come to the gods realm, and curiously the last.

The final wish was for the party to leave the forest safely, recognising that without the druid they would likely die in the twisting forest. The god smiled and exerted their will, straightening the fractured paths and hidden trails. A single road led out the forest, perhaps a three day travel.

With that the god left, the party was met back home with a heroes welcome and accolades. They are now a story passed down in generations, the saviours of the gods.

The Hook

What happened next was where things took a turn. The god thought little of their actions, so grateful to be alive that the simple act of letting their protectors get home was without question.

Yet without realising they had broken an enchantment that nature itself had wrought, a protective defence around the very heart of life. The heart sat open to the world, a road now cutting through its maze-like home where any could wander through.

And so people did, some looking for the secret elixir to save their loved ones from death, others looking to save themselves. But then there were those that sought to make coin. Once a merchant company caught wind that the elixir was real they sent a convoy to the heart, the owner beseeching the king to sell them the "useless land" that was the obscure and impassable forest. The king sold it to the merchant company for only one-hundred gold.

The company threw out the commoners that had begun to settle there, before long palisades and guard posts were built around a huge complex that began to envelop the heart. From here the merchant company could bottle and sell the blood of life.

Sold for excesses of ten's of thousands of gold the company built a fortress around the heart, one so well fortified and manned that even the surrounding kingdoms feared the formidable force. It has been almost two centuries since it was first built, the same merchant leader standing atop a monopolised supply of eternal youth, selling it to the opulent to live forever as young and healthy.

However the price had just jumped to two-hundred thousand gold for a single mouthful, the rich elite now struggling to get their hands on the life-giving elixir. And what's worse, the regular users who cannot get their hands on the elixir have begun to age quickly and... mutate. Their hands ending in claws, their hair being replaced with black oozing vines.

But the true kick in the teeth for the kingdoms instead of the kings and queens are that the lands are dying, forests are blighted, crops are failing, even the bounty of the sea is dwindling. The heart of nature may be enduring its last fluttering beats, and the rich simply wish to squeeze the last few drops from it.

Some Ideas

While this is uncomfortably topical I do feel like it could be a good basis for a campaign. You must fight back the figurative (and maybe literal) corruption found within the land to give life to the source of life itself. Will you see the worsening world devolve into chaos as the rich (and often those in charge) fall to madness, could the earth turn to dust?

In terms of motivation players have a few different routes, the selfless:

"I wish to save the world and make it whole again"

The atonement:

"My god/family caused this, I must fix it"

The need:

"My (family member) is dying, and getting hold of that elixir is their only hope"

The selfish:

"That elixir can line my pocket, it can't do that if it's run out"

Or it can be a mixture of the above, someone employed by the merchant company to fix the problem, promising them an endless supply for their dying mother and riches if they resolve the issue. And of course I'd love to hear about different motivations you can think of, these are just a few off the top of my head.

As for how you resolve the issue that's up to you, there's always the mcguffin idea, an artefact that can heal it. But I like the idea that the heart needs straight up power to repair, and the lives of the sentient races are drops in the ocean, it would need a god. The party will need to convince a god to die to save the world.

This can go as smoothly or as rough as you like, you must complete some tasks for the god to "tie up some loose ends", or you need to overpower the god then drag their avatar to the heart and sacrifice them to it. A bit hardcore but will certainly make the players question how right it is to take a life (especially one that could be a good aligned god) to save the world.

We may all know the pragmatic answer but a divine being bound in golden rope, kneeling next to the drained pond below the mutilated heart, and one of you needs to kill the weeping deity, that's gonna be a gutpunch.

I would talk with your players about how dark you want it to go, since this can go in a rough direction. If everyone wants to participate this can be an intense emotional rollercoaster, just make sure in session 0 you know what may make everyone uncomfortable.

Art by Jakob Eirich

Words can't really describe how I feel about this picture, there's something ancient and foreboding about it, but I get this feeling of peace looking at it. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel, but damn do I like it. Thank you

[sillysorcerer]

A small flame dances in front of the three guards, the light dancing across their faces.

"It, it's a phantom. it has to be!"

A young, frail knight shakes in his armor. It is ill-fitting, and the three are clearly poorly funded.

"Shut up! it's the witch's trick. It has to be. She's around here somewhere," the large guard corrects his companion. He has a flat, bold face.

"What if it's a fae? or- or a sprite," the first guard asks. The larger guard inches closer to the flame, studying it. The heat is all too real on his face, and it still dances on the wind, hovering in front of him, taunting him. He is about to grab it when the small guard causes him to jump.

"It's a fairy! We're all going to be cursed just looking at it!"

"It's not! Shut up," he snaps back.

"What is it then," the third guard asks. "He might have a point. Fire doesn't just fly."

"F-fine. You have a point." The bulky guard backs away. "Let's just go. She can't have gone far." The three guards cower away, down the road.

The mage known as Rose Lalonde fades slowly back into view, casting off her invisibility now that her pusuers were gone. Fire plays around her fingertips.

Rose leans against the tree on her back. She sits on a waist-high stone wall, built to protect travelers along the road. It stretches further than anyone can see. Long ago it was clean and white, but now it is dusty and grey with time, even as the bright sun shines on it.

Rose extinguishes the flame with a snap of her fingers and heaves a long sigh. Her pointy hat flops slightly, matching her bored sideways glance. She only looks up after noticing the fanged face staring at her, hanging upsidedown from the tree. Whoever it is decended unnaturally quietly, but Rose refuses to give up any emotion.

"You don't seem very worried about the guards," the stranger smirks, grinning ear to ear. Her long black hair floats down a foot or so, a stark contrast to Rose's pale blonde hair. The woman's fangs poke ominously from her mouth.

"Please, these guards couldn't catch their own shadow," Rose responds. She meets the creatures eyes, and stares into a deep green abyss, darker than night.

"You don't seem very scared, human."

"That's probably because I'm not very scared," she replies, leaning back.

"You don't know who I am?"

"You mean you aren't a very strange dryad?"

The stranger is stuck for a moment, without an answer. Her guest laughs, and disolves into thick, black smoke, making the shade as dark as a moonless night. The blackness congeals into a very tall woman, her head resting just below the taller branches. She wears old, distinguished clothing, fitting some sort of noble. A large corset hugs her frame, and the dress under it is tight and ornate.

"Is this more satisfactory for you, before I drink you dry," The vampire asks.

"Much," is the only word Rose Lalonde offers. She still hasn't budged, and at this point, the vampire's curiosity is piqued.

"You are a wanted criminal are you," she asks, "Hiding from the silly guards?"

"It depends on who you ask. Everybody seems interested in the Lady Grimme," she gestures to herself with a flourish of her wrist.

"You must be pursued as well. You didn't show yourself until they left." Rose leaves the vampire with another charming smirk.

"Astute, little wizard-" Rose cuts her off with a sharp

"I am *not* a wizard." The vampire takes a step back, surprised by the sudden expression shown by the mage.

"Struck a nerve, have I, wizard?" She leans in close to rub it in.

"What makes you so different?"

"Everything. They dress like gaudy tyrants from a planet of harlequins, throwing their filthy beards around like unshowered would-be gods. They think magic can be tamed, controlled, and auctioned off. They have no respect for the danger sorcery can create. They believe the world is there to serve nothing other than their inflated intellects. They are fools pretending to be powerful."

"A deep nerve it seems," the vampire laughs. "I'll certainly enjoy draining it," she toys.

"That still doesn't explain why you are wanted."

"The wizards got what they deserved," Rose responds, ignoring the tall brooding woman's teases.

"Don't be so reticent, dear Lady Grimme." The fanged creature sits on the air, seemingly oblivious of gravity.

"Please do tell. Give me a taste of your life." Rose is silent, still smirking at the vampire. The tiny mage thinks she is the one in control here. The vampire is only playing with her, for now. Would they fight, Rose would be hopelessly outmatched by the tall, thin, creature of the night.

"You expect a lot from me when you haven't even told me your name."

"Ah, but names have power, don't you know, Rose Lalonde?" Rose doesn't move.

"Where did you get that name?" Rose feigns concern. She sits perfectly still, watching her fanged guest.

"We both have our secrets."

"But only one of us are any good at hiding them," Rose retorts. Behind her smirk is the ever so subtle presence of superiority.

"Hahahaha!," The black haired vampire has never seen such a bold face presented to her. She can't decide if she hates it, or enjoys it.

"You're a bold one, mage. No one has had such nerve to play games with me." The vampire licks her fangs, staring at this tiny mortal before her feast.

"Unlike the wizards, I can back up my prowess."

"Watch your choice of words, mortal. You can't move from my charm," she teases.

"And you have no way of hurting me even if you wanted to." The black-veiled vampire stands up to loom over Rose, growing closer as they continue their discourse. Rose is quite aware.

"Are you willing to bet on that?" The vampire freezes. Why is this puny mage so confident? She's fallen for every trap laid before her. Why does she still seem so smug? Suddenly, the tall vampire isn't so sure. She smiles, settling on a test for the human.

"Those charmed by my presence are only able to lie." She grins, waiting to see Rose's response.

"Clever. Either I play along, or reveal I am unaffected. And I assume you'll kill me if I don't, so I may as well." The little witch catches on fast, the vampire thinks. At least her meal is a smart one.

"Your death will be more fun this way, you'll see. So, let's begin. What are you really wanted for?"

"Wanton destruction of the kingdom, study of the dark arts, kidnapping, brainwashing, attempted treason, murder, arson, and tax evasion," Rose lists mindlessly off the top of her head as her eyes roll. She doesn't even try to hide her sarcasm. She's issuing a bet, a verbal puzzle, and it hasn't gone unnoticed.

"What of that was the truth," her fanged company frowns. No human could do so much.

"All of it." Rose gives that infuriating smirk again. It is a lie, but not one she can learn anything from. The vampire growls. Moments ago this wizard seemed worried about pitiful humans in thin metal plates, playing guard. Why now does she act so defiant?

"Would you call yourself powerful?"

"Only sometimes," Rose responds. It's impossible to garner the truth from her claims. Rose knows this. It's clear from her piercing, amethyst eyes, and that damned smug smile.

"Are you having fun with this," the vampire asks.

"I've never had this much fun." She responds, leaving loopholes like a genie.

"Will you tell me anything?"

"I'll tell you anything you ask," Rose teases.

"Where are you from?"

"Nowhere in particular." Rose seems to be enjoying this far too much.

"Why aren't you worried?!"

"My mother told me to be a brave girl." The vampire laughs for only a second. It fuels back into her growing anger.

"Why did you act like you could beat me?"

"I was stupid." The vampire scowls, how DARE she LIE about that. She IS a fool for challenging me, the creature thinks.

"Lie or not, I'm getting hungry. Do you have any last words?"

"I do not."

"So bold. What will save you when I bleed you dry?"

"Vodka will save me." Rose has to try not to laugh at her own joke.

"Do you fear me?!?"

"Actually, I enjoy this talk." The vampire raises a claw, only a foot from Rose's face. Then she stops.

This smile is different. There is sincerity in Rose's face. Then she stands and bows... The vampire shifts, standing straight. In an instant, the tension fades, bewilderment taking it's place.

"How did you escape my charm? How are you not enthralled, frozen?" The vampire stoops slightly, studying the human so below her.

"Imagine your surprise when you find out." The tallest female looks irritated again.

"Do you ever tire of speaking in riddles?" The vampire is getting tired of waiting. As if Rose can sense her impatience, she responds.

"Fine. ask me anything. I will give you an honest answer." The vampire studies her, thinking hard. This question will end her little game.

"Why are you still here?"

"I wanted to see you in person." The vampire is frozen. No one, not a single human in ten centuries has ever been this bold in front of such an ancient and powerful being. who *is* she? The creature's thoughts are interrupted by a sudden gust of wind. A massive, four-eyed black dragon lands beside the tree. Rose climbs atop it's back.

"Come Mutini, I think our guest has had enough for today." How dare she! The vampire lunges, but it is too late. The massive dragon has taken off.

The vampire stands, still reeling from the interaction she's just had with this so called Lady Grimme. She was confused at the conflicting information, but more infuriated that her meal was interrupted. Good food doesn't run away. She will find Rose again, and when she does-

the vampire's thoughts are interrupted. She kneels, and picks up a book the witch must have dropped. What a fool.

It takes the vampire a minute to process what she sees. It is the Grimoire of the Zoologically Dubious, written by Abdul Alhazred. The dark arts- was this witch serious when she said she studied the dark arts? There is a bookmark inside, and the vampire opens the book to the marked page. Inside is an illustration of her own face. Kanaya Maryam, the Rainbow Drinker. Listed is her age, powers, and very nature, indiscernable to all but the most foolish humans who dare translate it's ancient text. Below it all, is the mage's signature, "RL".

The vampire realises Rose left this behind on purpose. She had everything planned the second they met, she may even have planned their meeting. She was prepared for every charm, every game, and for her eventual escape. Every answer was planned, every statement calculated, and every move was thought ahead of time. And the vampire fell for it.

She looks up at the fleeting shadow in the air. Never in her entire unnatual life had she met someone quite like Rose Lalonde. But now, she was thirsty for more.

@rosemarymonth2021 Here is my story for the Fantasy prompt

[egelantier]

Tian Guan Ci Fu

where is it and what is it

it’s a chinese webnovel by mxtx, the same author who did untamed; it exists as a webnovel, finished and kindly translated here, the manhwa, the donghua (animated adaptation) happening right now, and there’s a live action adaptation in plans, directed by the same guy who did untamed. the donghua is gorgeous, the adaptation i’m unsure about but prepared to be hopeful, the manhwa seems to be very pretty. but all the adaptations only cover the very beginning of the novel for now, so i went ahead and read the novel, and i have no regrets. it helps that the translation is very good - not without awkward translatorese, but it has consistent and engaging flow and style, and it’s also pretty good at conveying mxtx’s humor without awkwardness. it reads pretty well.

what’s it about?

the world is split into two parts: mortals and various ghosts and demons and entities share the land, while ‘heaven officials’, aka gods, live in the heavenly kingdom in the sky. pretty much anybody can become a god if they do something really heroic or memorable and/or cultivate (meditation, training, virtuous behavior) really hard. when above, the gods rule their domains and fulfill their believers’ wishes; they work sort of like pratchettian gods, dependent on their followers’ beliefs and getting influenced by them. heavens are strictly hierarchical, with their own economy and pecking order, and the gods aren’t particularly sinless or benevolent; mostly it’s a question of scale.

our hero, xie lian, is a prince of a prosperous kingdom who’s been on a fast track to ascension for most of his very short life; he’s talented, he’s virtuous, he’s kind, he’s strong, and his only peculiar flaw is (somehow naive, but well-meaning) obsession with equality and value of human lives and so on. he becomes a god, unexpectedly, at seventeen, after slaying one especially dangerous god, and rises in heaven at the peak of his faith, influence and happiness.

…and then he finds out about drought and incipient trouble in his own kingdom, and, being a young and righteous god too close to his mortality, eschews heavens and returns to save everybody. it, to put it lightly, does not go well. at all. in fact, it goes catastrophically wrong, and, having lost everything, xie lian ascends again, only to get into a fight with the heavenly emperor, and get banished again, this time for good. he roams the mortal lands for next eight hundred of very lonely, luckless and hard years, technically immortal but not invincible, with his powers and his luck stripped away, and leans to make do, eking out a living as a scrap collector. his temples are desecrated, his name is forgotten, his kingdom is long gone, and - well. so it goes.

so it goes! until one day, to everybody’s great surprise, he ascends once again: a humble, gentle, immune to embarrassment, unflappable man, an embarrassment to heavens, a 'laughingstock of three realms’ who just wants to be left well enough alone. he’s Tired.

instead of rest, he gets sent to investigate a dangerous ghost stealing brides who pass through its mountain, and there, during the course of the interrogation, has his first (he thinks) meeting with a terrifying, old-powerful and vengeful ghost king named hua cheng, who likes to terrorize heavens from time to time. but said ghost king seems to be very benevolent and very interested in helping xie lian, and xie lian is pretty instantly smitten… with knowing what’s the cause of such interest.

…and meanwhile, in the beginning, there'was an unlucky boy, born under the worst stars, whom xie lian saved from falling once, while still mortal, and promptly lost track of. a lot of things happened to this boy, who wanted to be the most devoted worshipper to xie lian the god of the sword and the flower. as one does, you know.

that’s the beginning! from there on: investigations, heavenly secrets, old friends and enemies and acquaintances, thematic parallels, old tragedies, more pining than you can shake a stick at, grand acts of love.

is it good?

it’s very, very good. it’s the first fantasy cnovel i read (aside from the hilarious one about a guy traveling back in his own timeline and becoming a sugar baby to a mafia boss, which was in a very different league), so i don’t know which things are baseline and which things are unique, but it had a very solid foundation: ambitious multilevel, multi-timeline plot coming together in the end both events- and emotions-wise, beautifully iddy main relationship, maybe multifaceted characters who change and grow and clash together in fun ways, a clear and heartfelt understanding of its own core themes.

it’s also, unexpectedly, very funny, in this visual, slapsticky, begs-to-be-adapted way - i found myself laughing out loud over it a lot of times, and it possesses this gift of swerve between understated but earnest emotions and all-out jokes that i associate with… a bit of prattchett and a bit of gintama, honestly. take it as you will.

(oh my god the mecha. i will laugh over this one until i die.)

it also made me cry several times; granted, it’s not like it’s this time, but those were very heartfelt tears.

and the main duo?

first let me say that xie lian was lifted out, wholesale, out of my deepest character preferences. he fell really, really far, and did some bad things, and some very horrible things were done to him, and by the time we meet him he went through everything and achieved this effortless kind of traumatized, humble, accepting, wryly self-deprecating, utterly competent chill that makes a character incredibly appealing to me. he’s kind, and he’s sweet, and he’s gotten any possible embarrassment at least a couple of centuries ago, and he kinda made peace with himself and kinda didn’t. i love him.

and, thankfully for me, hua cheng, the ghost king, loves him a whole damn lot, a ridiculous amount, an epic, over-the-lifetimes, life-shattering amount, and he’s a terrifying presence to everybody else and a shy, protective, sweet dork to xie lian, and every time they’re together on page my entire heart is just. it’s AMAZING. he’s a great combination of playing the obsessive protective yandere stalker-lover trope straight and putting it on its head, by making hua cheng not just revere but respect xie lian, in all his good and bad decisions.

they are just so - good for each other, holy shit. they get each other so well. they’re the best ever power team. i love them.

(the rest of canon is various character reenacting “really? in front of my salad?” meme at them. it’s hysterical, and it’s the best. everybody teams up to tell xie lian that his boyfriend is Problematic way, way before xie lian clues into the fact that he does have a boyfriend, and he’s having none of it. i love it.)

and the themes?

okay, so. roughly half of this novel is ridiculous iddy pining, and a fourth of it is various tropes (off the top of my head: soulbond, sex pollen, body switch, de-age, various shades of identity porn… crossdressing…) played very shamelessly. but it also really benefits from having an overarching set of ethical questions, and while it deals with them a bit shounen-style, it still deals with them, and it makes the whole text fresh, and sweet, and bold.

is it possible to save everybody? should you try to save everybody? if you lack the powers to back your convictions, does it make you complicit? when is it possible to stop the cycle of suffering, what can you do if you want to but can’t? if you tried and people you failed turned on you, whose fault it is, where does the blame stop?

Detailed spoilers begin from here, and i would REALLY advise to stay unspoiled, because the domino reveals are very fun

i loved the various ways the novel sets all those pieces up and then overturns them and then returns to them. xie lian wanted to save everybody and it was arrogant naivete of an untried, untested, privileged young man who never had a real challenge before; his presence made things escalate quicker, and yet everybody around him pretended it was his attempt to make things better that ruined everything, and not a combination of factors outside of his control. and yet he accepts the blame, because it dovetails with his shame at not having enough powers to back his intent up; and yet his triumph over bai wuxian is that he doesn’t, after all, renege on his initial drive to help people.

my most favorite part of this novel is that its turning point, the lynchpin of the whole novel, the moment that keeps xie lian’s soul and safety intact, is not his personal purity and drive; it’s not even hua cheng’s devotion and sacrificial love. it’s just a moment of little, grudging, human kindness from a little, petty, rude man whom the history will sweep away soon. the bamboo hat in the rain. the rest of the plot keeps twisting and turning and coming back to itself, but this? this was unquestionably, beautifully clear, and i loved it. it’s never about the gods, it’s all down to - fallen human is human, ascended human is human, and human is not some state, virtuous or sinful, you get stuck with - it’s a multitude of choices, and there’s never a final one.

and incoherent spoilery screaming for people who read it already

oh my god i had SO MUCH FUN. i’ve been flailing on meme for days, because somebody just finished reading there too, and i’m still bursting with ALL THE FEELS. ruoye origins oh my god! that hat! jin wu’s backstory and ultimate end! e-ming’s praise kink! pei ming’s little shippery 'hoho’! hua cheng’s horribly handwritten stick and poke tattoo of xie lian’s name! the lanteeeeeeeeeeeeerns. feng xin and mu qing on the bridge, making up with each other and with xie lian! hua cheng trying to explain to xie lian that his habit of using himself as bait and pincushion at any given moment is deeply emotionally upsetting to him, and succeeding! banyue’s learning from xie lian to be a truly horrible cook! the entire deal with shi qingxuan and he xuan and the wind fan in the end. THE CAVE. THE GIANT MECHA. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and aaaaaaaaaaaaa and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and i am beset, beset by feelings. come scream with me.

[yanderecandystore]

Rip Tumblr D-do you have any dragon ocs that might kidnap their s/o? Also I know that this is a stupid question but can I call myself Cold anon? ;-;

Hello 🍨 Cold ❄️!! I'm really glad you sent me this request!

 The current app that I use for writing is bugging out a lot, so I'm sorry if there are many grammar errors and mistakes here and there.

 And uh... Cold? I think I fucked up your ask? I think I got a little too excited and went in a different direction?? If you don't like it I understand, I could always do another one 😳😋

 TW/Tags: Guess who is being an emotional ball once again?? Me! Yey! Send help! // look, I'm sorry but, low-key? This is edginess overload lol (medieval bitch times, which by that I mean: dark times with terrible people in it) // deaths // abuse of power // Reader said: eat the rich // non-binary reader just because // cursing // slight plot twist? But, like, bad plot twist // soft dragon boi 

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

You curious little thing - [Yandere!Dragon x Reader - Short Fanfiction]:

" Deep in the forest, up in the mountains, legend says that a dragon sleeps deep within the caves. And as the old story goes, gold awaits inside his domain, but only those courageous enough to enter the deep cave and defeat the dragon, would be able to take the creature's treasure.

Many have persuaded the quest of defeating said dragon, yet no one ever came back to tell the story.

And while you sit at the comfort of your small cottage reading about the old tales of the dragon's cave, you can't help but consider the story to be just that, a story. A piece of fiction made to scare the local children away from the mountains, or to enchant those that were easily invested into these types of stories.

It seems like you're one of those that were fascinated by the old tales. Regardless of if you find it true or not. The old tales still hold a mysterious charm that manages to keep you intrigued no matter what age you re-read them.

Tales of the forest spirits protecting their land with mischievous wit, tales of monsters that crawled out of your bed to cause nightmares on the simple minded, tales of mighty dragons who could easily rule the world if they so pleased to.

Yet they didn't. Either because they didn't want to, or maybe they really didn't exist. Who knows, right [Y/N]? Not that you, a simple commoner, would know any better.

Although, from the tales you read, isn't always the common folk the ones to first encounter these things?

It always ends bad, but still.

A commoner would be the first one to be affected by the wrath of such supernatural creatures.

However, as stated before, there is no way of knowing if such a thing is real or not, right? It's been eons since the last time someone even mentioned a dragon's presence in your kingdom, and it's been centuries that the concepts of dragons had fallen into the mythological category.

There hasn't been a single person to mention the beast's names in years. There was no visible way of them being remotely real, right? That sounded absurd.

But of course, like all tales are written, your's seem to have reached the beginning of your own personal adventure when the king mentioned the need of soldiers willing to face the beast inside the cave, who was presumably hibernating throughout this whole time.

And of course, the public had only laughed at this sort of news. You see, your king's authority over the entire land has been dangling by a thin thread. The taxes, the frauds, the imminent wars threatening to occur at any second now, has helped a small portion of people to start questioning if not downright rebelling against him and his reign of terror.

The revolution was rising slowly, yet something needed to push it forward, the straw that broke the camel's back.

"What could it be?" You might be wondering.

How about kidnapping and force recruitment with the help of blackmailing? Specifically targeting the poorest people in the kingdom and taking their family members hostage if they don't comply?

Sounds so evil that you may think it's bullshit right? So inhumane, that the villain of this story might as well be your crazy king, right?

Oh, [Y/N]. You're absolutely right, yet a little bit wrong considering that even if such an evil act sounds absurd, it's absolutely real. It's part of your reality now.

And even if your king is a vile creature of pure hatred and deserves to be fed to the rats, by being a terrible ruler, husband, and father- You were soon about to learn that there are worse, more powerful forces that can easily overpower the insanity of that sad, pathetic evil man.

To your dismay, your family was one of the chosen ones to suffer from this. Because of poverty, you and your father lived in the outskirts of the kingdom. It was perfect for the king and his soldiers, as you and your father lived distant from the main town, if any of you two ever die on the process of going into the beast's cave, or disobey the king's orders, no one would notice if you two were suddenly wiped from the face of the Earth.

And of course, holding hostage just one person was easier than multiple family members. Although your king was absolutely insane if not completely psychotic, you could at least understand how he moved his pieces in this massive game of chess.

I mean, yes, you understand his reasoning. Still doesn't mean he is right.

Soldiers didn't wait too long to show up and try to force your father to go with them. But you didn't take none of that, you wouldn't let your dying father be taken by them.

You screamed, you shout, you let venom spill out of your mouth by each profanity you threw at the soldiers and the king they claimed to serve. It didn't take long before the general noticed that you were one of the rascals forming a rebellion. Well, you didn't really need to be officially part of the revolution, just disagreeing was enough to make the general decide to take you instead of your old father.

You can still remember how he was trying to scream his lungs out, to stop the soldiers somehow.

This was it, right? The day, for you and possibly all these other commoners to die in the name of an asshole. How honoring.

Among you and other miserably unlucky individuals, there were all kinds of different people. From innocent, to criminals. From young to old, from poor to… Well, mildly not as poor. Nobles would never be subjected to this, you know that. All of these individuals were carried away by a carriage. All crammed into one little vehicle, away from the public sight.

After being far enough from the town and now deep within the forest, the soldiers commanded all of you to get out of the carriage as now you'll begin to walk straight to the mountain while carrying… Gold?

"- It's a gift from the king. Survive long enough, and you'll be able to take it with you." The general said, his tone being condescending as ever.

You could…. Technically run away, right now. They haven't really put any restrains in any of you-

"- Over there!" A soldier alerted the general, who looked little surprised by seeing two of your group running away with the gold in hands.

Without hesitation, or even a slight hint of empathy, the general shot both with his crossbow. Their bodies fall flat in the forest ground, with all that gold and jewelry accompanying them. All that gold being wasted and left behind, just like the bodies of the people carrying them.

You felt sick, the need to vomit was surfacing through your stomach. This- This is terrible!? This is so cruel! How can they continue to walk like nothing happened??

God, how did a once prospering kingdom has now fallen in such a low pit?

As you can imagine, the walk was torturous and it felt like it was going forever. Of course, a lot of questions were emerging about the strange situation.

One: how did the king know and was certain that the myth of the dragon was real and that the dragon was awake?

Two: why didn't he call his own army to attend to such issues instead of the common folk being forced to go with his wishes?

Actually, now that you think about it, why are there so few skilled, trained soldiers taking a bunch of people to a cave unprepared?

Carrying a bunch of gold for fucks sake, this stuff is heavy!

If it was truly a gift from the king to your group, then why were you obligated to carry it all the way to the cave? Sounds unreasonable and if anything, absolutely ridiculous. It would only slow your group down, and for what?!

Sounds like a trap to be…. Honest. Wait a minute-

"- Shit!" You whisper to yourself at the sudden realization that you're fucked, which unfortunately, caused a soldier that was near you to hear it.

"- Nothing sir, I just stabbed my foot in a rock." You weren't lying though. This whole walk bullshit your doing has destroyed your low quality sandals, and now you could basically feel the ground stabbing you every time you stept.

The soldier just grunted at you, and as much as you wished to take his sword and shove it up his bum, you couldn't help but go back to your original train of thought before you got interrupted.

You were going straight to death right? You're not supposed to fight a dragon, but rather serve as an offering?? What?!

You can't even speak or alert your fellow companions in any way. The last three people that have spoken without being directed to, were shot in the head.

The realization has sadly come in too late for you to make any plans now, as you forward as your group walk upwards, following the mountain's trail, you find yourself facing not only the entrance to a presumably dangerous cave infested with predators, but also the gates to your inevitable death.

You would now have to think of how to escape the soldiers and their arrows, or how to possibly make your death less painful. Being eaten by a dragon doesn't sound really fun.

When entering the cave you're met with more-

"- Are you fucking kidding me?!" Someone screamed, while easily accepting their death.

You couldn't help but agree with the person. While entering the cave, you're met with a great ravine, going in a spiral fashion deeper into the cave.

In other words, you have not only walked all the way up to a fucking mountain, but you would now need to get down into a creepy cave.

You almost considered asking for some eternal peace before remembering that your father's life was still in line. You just… Don't want to go away like this, you don't want your father to go like this.

And once again your group, that was now a lot shorter due to the amount of deaths along the way, was now following the general once again. Only this time, the soldiers were behind all of you, probably to guarantee no one ran away. Too late for that now anyway, so why even bother?

You didn't realize how you were on the very front of everyone, side by side with the man that was leading you to your doom.

You felt his eyes fall into your form a couple of times, but he never really turned his face to look at you. After a long silence of just a bunch of miserable people stepping closer to a terrible plan that was not well thought-out, he said:

"- You know it already. Right?" His voice was rough and still held the nonchalant tone that was written all over his face. You doubt this man could have ever smiled once in his life.

You almost choked with your own breathing, the nerve of this man! You couldn't help but let out the only thing you have wanted to say this whole time:

"- I hate you." You say as your eyes start to become a little watery. The feeling of desperation was eating you up ever since you entered the carriage, but only now you felt how bad the teeth of despair hurt.

"- I know kid. Me too." He responded, his tone never changed, even while saying that.

You guess he didn't really appreciate his job as much as you thought he did. Yet, you couldn't find in your heart to pity the man, as he was complicit in all of this mess. But I guess, you do hope for this man to find some sort of redemption, either presently or in his after life.

You still think he did a lot of bad things of course, his crimes are probably never gonna be forgiven. But just because of that, it didn't mean he couldn't start to do some good actions now, not for the sake of finding inner forgiveness, but for the sake of others. For the sake of the innocent people being not only met with unfair treatment, but also being ruled by a psychotic tyrant who is a complete imbecile. No wonder the queen and his son were missing for so long, you would probably have run away if you were them too.

When finally coming down, with your feet now hurting like a bitch, you can find some time for yourself to appreciate the beauty of this place.

You know, before you lose your head? To a freaking dragon??

Honestly, you at least hope that the stories you read were true, because holy fuck- Imagine how exhausted your body is from walking for what it feels like an eternity, holding jewelry made with gold, only to find an empty cave?

Then you would be able to go feral kill one or two soldiers before getting your ass beaten. As you don't have enough reason to just do that right now, right?

You expected to be met with disappointment, but what you truly saw while finally getting into the dragon's territory, you were able to not only feel enchanted by the magnitude of these treasure places, but also forget the danger of the situation, as you look around and remember the tales you read.

This is so much better than what you have imagined it to be like. It's… Mesmerising! It 's beautiful! The underground pond, the glowing crystals, the pile of gold, the stolen statues of the great warriors of your kingdom, golden weapons all scattered across the floor, the white feathered looking dragon staring down at you from his nest, that little tea set that is really cute and fragile yet it probably cost way more than your house, your clothes, and all of your furniture all together.

Oh no wait-

"- We came with what you asked for, Artemio." Said the general fast walking his way to be in between you and the beast.

To say you were freaking out would be an understatement. You knew dragons were huge, but you didn't expect it to be so… Huge! You know??

Oh my God, you're dead-

You looked around to see only you, your group of commoners ready to be probably eaten, and the general. And while looking for the soldiers, you noticed them trying to close the opening with a man built gate, created to keep the beast.

But obviously, that gate looks absolutely ridiculous, there is no way this guy couldn't destroy it by simply slapping it. It's quite laughable, yet…

You feel this is not just a coincidence or a bad made joke. You have a feeling they know the gate is essentially useless. It was really old, so, clearly this has been going on from quite some time.

Has… Has your kingdom been doing this for centuries?? Bringing offerings to please the dragon and beg it to sleep for more centuries to come?

"- This is absolute bullshit!" You screamed, not noticing how your heart was racing and your breathing had started to become frantic. You were panicking while coming to terms with the fact that your whole world was collapsing in front of your eyes. Your scream clearly surprised your fellow companions, yet it didn't surprise the dragon or the general.

The dragon had, well, a dragon face, so you have no idea what it was thinking, and the general was still with the same non-expressive face since the beginning of this stupid trip!

"- What?! You have nothing to say?? You brought us here to die, at least say something, you coward!" You were fuming with rage. How can a person like this be so annoying even when he is not saying anything.

He looks at you with an understanding expression, yet you don't think about what it could mean as you reach to one of the many golden weapons spread around across the floor. They were heavy and quite frankly completely useless, yet you still hold into that golden sword like your life depended on it.

And it did, actually.

Have you gone insane or just completely blind with rage and the instinct of survival? You're not sure just yet, but you'll lose your last bit of sanity to stand your ground.

You aren't going down without a fight.

"- Come at me, you big bird!" You yelled, looking kinda epic and kinda goofy at the same time. You probably shouldn't insult a dragon who hasn't decided who he'll first, it may change his appetite.

Before the general could interfere with your foolish behavior, the one and only had spoken:

"- Where exactly is what we had agreed on?" Like in true entitled brat fashion, Artemio asked the general while putting his head in his pawn.

"- We had to eliminate a couple of the troublemakers. In the end some of the gold was left behind in the progress-"

"- No, I mean, where truly is what I asked for? The jewelry is quite frankly ugly, the gold coins don't matter as I already have plenty, and none of these humans look really edible. Or well… Appetising." You could swear a pouty face was appearing in Artemio's face, yet only one thing had taken your attention. That's the reason why they needed so many disposable people? Oh… Wait a minute, did the dragon just call everyone here too ugly to eat?

"- If you can't compromise with your promises, then I think we'll have to change the deal-" Artemio started getting up from his nest, stretching out like a cat.

"- Oh, please no, can't you just-" The general panicked, thinking that the dragon would destroy the village.

"- I want that one." Artemio said. Pointing at you.

"- What?" You looked behind you just in case you were in the way of someone else. No, you weren't.

"- Uhn… What?" Oh look, even the general was confused as you, and well, the entire cast of people that were thrown in this hell hole.

"- Yes, that one holding the spear."

"- Just… That one, or-"

"- Just that one. And I won't get out of the cave for at least a century, I promise!" He sounds and acts like both a child and a cat, preparing himself to pounce on its prey any moment now.

"- ….. Okay then, fair enough. It's your problem now kid." He said, making a motion for all the other captives to follow him. Which they gladly did, because, you know, they aren't the protagonist of the story.

"- What?! You can't leave me here, you bastard!!" You screamed, although subconsciously you already knew his answer.

"- I think I'm just doing that!" He screamed from the other side of the cave, fuckz they really didn't waste no time at all, did they?

Sigh, who are you kidding? If you were one of them, you would have ran away as fast as you could. At least some gave you sympathetic looks before going back to their "freedom".

You heard the heavy gate closing. Well, shit. It's you and him now.

You tried going back into your original threatening stance, but before you could, you saw a glimpse of Artemio coming in at full speed, taking no time to jump at you. This is it [Y/N], send your last prayers to your father and your old life before-

Before he starts licking you... like a dog? What?

He pauses and you tense up, looking up and seeing a dragon powerful enough to destroy villages, looking at you like a precious little gift.

Artemio picks you up and hugs you in an almost bone breaking hug. Confused and frustrated with how the situation was going, you asked:

"- A-Aren't you going to kill me?" Yes, it was a pathetic question, if a dragon isn't killing you, then why ask it to do it??

"- I have been so lonely since the last human that I chose! I usually prefer to have many friends around but all of the other options seemed so boring, you know?" His voice is oddly cheerful and sweet to someone that sees humans as pets, or "friends". So… What is really going on here?

"- I thought you ate people." You said, still frustrated that you were betrayed and lied to through this entire day.

"- Well, I guess I can eat humans-" Says the giant bird-lizard acting like a child trying to lie about doing something wrong- "- But I really don't like doing it, I promise!"

"- I just wanted someone to play with, you know? All the dragons that I know are just so boring and take everything seriously." He huffed in annoyance.

"- Well… Do you-" You started questioning if you really want to to know the answer, but curiosity sure is killing this cat!- "- What happened to the other humans that were here?"

"- Oh, they… Uhn, they died, because of your shirt lifespan and all ya know." He responded.

"- Oh… Then why did the soldiers bring us here saying you were going to eat us?" Why not go full balls in and ask everything, right?

"- It's- Sigh, it's really embarrassing, but I didn't know any other way of how to ask for company down here." He said shyly, which only confirmed your suspicion of this being complete bullshit.

"- And you threaten to burn a whole kingdom just because of that?" You asked.

"- Yes!" He answered with no shame whatsoever. This guy was a dog wearing a dragon costume, you couldn't believe what you were hearing.

"- Sigh, oh my God…"

"- Hey, uhn, what's your name?" Artemio spoke, he thought that he should also ask questions as he wants to be able to enjoy every second with his new pet.

"- It is [Y/N]. And you're Artemio, right?" You can't believe any of this, really. You went from an absolutely terrible life or death situation, to a… Well, you can't even tell what the hell is going on anymore!

"- [Y/N].... [Y/N]! [Y/N], that's such a good name!" The excited dragon repeated your name multiple times before interrupting your peace once again. You can't be mad at him, but-

Come on, you needed some time to accept everything that just went down. You didn't even notice you were on the floor until Artemio was in front of your view again.

"- [Y/N]!" He was so easy to please, that just saying your name was fun to him.

"- Sigh… Hey Artemio." You sighed as there was no way in hell this dragon would leave you to deal with this weird feeling of emptiness arising in your chest.

"- What do you want to do now?" He asked cheerfully, but not completely oblivious to your feelings of being abandoned underground with him by force.

You stayed silent for a second, again, trying to come with terms with this new lifestyle that you were subjected to. You technically could ask Artemio to open the gate, he doesn't seem to have any intention of hurting you. But who knows? He has a different point of view in this whole thing than you do.

Silence was taking over the cave, but not exactly an awkward silence, just… A comforting one.

The water dripped from the ceiling. You felt the ground underneath you shake a little as Artemio followed your "guidance". He decided to lay on his back near you.

He wasn't really doing any self reflection at all, he just wanted to join in with you, yet all he could think is how happy he is to have someone else to spend time with.

You may only see him slightly from the corner of your eyes, yet you still feel a little, strange, by seeing a dragon mimic your ways.

You don't feel nessecerally homesick, but you do miss your father. You absolutely hate the idea of coming back to the kingdom, but… If you could see your father one last time, and probably help him with the gold that is in this place….

Maybe you could even-!.....

"- Artemio."

"- Yes, [Y/N]!*

"- AAH!" He turned himself to meet your face so fast that you whimpered because of his sudden motion.

He was going to check if you were okay, but you stopped him showing that you were fine, just a little spooked.

"- Hey, Artemio-" You said again, as you were still reformulating your question in your head-

"- Do you know how to burn an entire castle?"

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[dragynkeep]

in a way, both Ruby/Oz have their confidence broken when they learn a certain truth involving Salem: her being immortal/hermothersfate but while Ruby does get shaken by salem , she recovers quickly and strives to keep fighting. Ironwood, on the other hand, chooses to act like Ozpin and focus on putting off the problem as long as possible; by taking Atlas into the stratosphere, he is basically running away from Salem and giving her free rein on Remnant, and time to further build up her forces.

Yeah, this is a mad simplified and straight up misinformed ask, anon.

Starting with Ruby/Ozpin, it’s not that their trauma is done different in the same scenario, it’s that Ruby straight up ignores her trauma when it exeeds more than five seconds. Not only that, bu Ozpin never stopped fighting. He literally brought a time of peace by the time the show started. He created the Academies, Maidens, was behind many historically significant events with him being behind the idea of the creation of Atlas according to James in V7.

Ozpin kept fighting and gave the people he was protecting the means to defend themselves. Huntsmen were trained to fight the Grimm, the kingdoms were built to protect the innocent who would’ve been killed out in the undefended villages that exist outside these safe zones, either by bandits or grimm. He locked the relics away so Salem could never get them to rule over the people, he trusted a few close allies with most of the truth, and his flaw was not trusting them with everything, but that flaw is both explained and justified. When Ozpin tells people the whole truth, they either abandon the fight or straight up betray him. 

And he does this all while still trying to believe in the good of humanity. He’s faced with the serious trauma that his wife and abuser literally cannot be killed, that she will forever follow and hurt him (Imagine Blake and Adam but if Adam was immortal and their abuse had gone on for centuries rather than like five years), and yet he still tries again and again to keep fighting. Because if he gives up, humanity will be destroyed by Salem. 

Ruby keeps fighting, but she’s not fighting well. Her brief breakdown over the death of her mother feels unearned because she doesn’t know Summer. Her mother died when she was very young, since she apparently couldn’t even talk yet according to Yang. Summer is more of an abstract figure rather than a direct relation to Ruby, and any moment to help built up Ruby’s feelings and relation to Summer before V7 was a five minute gravescene that felt more like a tribute to Monty, and moments given to Yang. The worst part of that scene wasn’t that Ruby was upset over someone she doesn’t even know, but that Yang, the girl who did know Summer, had hardly any relevence in that scene apart from comforting Ruby. 

And in the end, it didn’t even matter! Ruby got right back up again and starts acting like a cocky little shit in the Ace Ops fight. Where was the sobbing girl from five seconds ago? The one who had her eyes start doing light shows and supposedly stop working? Cause that’s not the Ruby we get right after.

And her keeping fighting mentality? That’s going to get innocent people killed. It’s not a new flaw that Ruby has, she has the tendency to rush into fights without thinking, but the problem is that the show never treats it like a flaw. She jumped at the Deathstalker and nearly gets herself killed? Weiss saves her and that flaw is never chastised, only brought up in what was meant to be a moment of self reflection in V5, only for Ruby to keep doing it. She went to follow White Fang members in V2? She gets trapped underground and captured, needing her team to come and help her. She jumped into the fight with Tyrian despite Qrow repeatedly telling her to stay away? She distracts Qrow who has to save her, and then gets poisoned by Tyrian and almost ends up dying.

In V7? There is no other option. If there was a way for RWBY and their allies to keep fighting Salem’s forces and protect those being evacuated, that would lead to some credit to Ruby’s argument, but there isn’t. Ruby wants to keep fighting, and once again isn’t listening to realistic counters to her argument. They can’t keep fighting with Ironwood’s armies decimated, they can’t keep fighting with the Ace Ops exhausted and one having her Aura already shattered, they can’t keep fighting with the immortal witch that they know can’t be killed coming personally to the battlefield, nevermind the fact that a rogue Maiden and a seriously dangeorus criminal who nearly killed Ruby and Yang are already in Atlas.

Ironwood’s plan is cold and is an unfortunate plan that will get innocent civilians killed, but the fact of the matter is that it’s the only plan they have that doesn’t end in their immediate annihilation. I hate people saying that he’s running away, he’s retreating. He is making a tactical retreat so that they can build their forces and have time to plan a counterattack, time that they don’t have because the immortal witch who wants to kill them all is literally on their doorstep.

If Ruby had figured out that maybe her Silver Eyes could hurt Salem and suggested that, maybe they would’ve had a way to repel Salem even if they couldn’t defeat her. But Ruby hasn’t bothered to properly harness her powers outside of one lecture from Maria and barely beating the Leviathan before Cordovin had to come in and kill it for good. Ruby didn’t bother to further train her powers in the training montages we were given this whole volume, she’d rather be a Huntress and enjoy the benefits while simultaneously lying to her employer about the war he’s fighting in. 

In conclusion, fuck outta here. Ruby isn’t this pure soul who’ll always keep fighting, she’s a flat character who refuses to acknowledge her flaws and gets away with being a wholeass hypocrite by being sad sometimes. 

[sssn-neptune-vasilias]

So like, Ironwood’s clearly tumbling down the staircase towards authoritarianism so I just wanted to clarify my points about him because I did agree with a lot of what he was saying during the first couple of seasons up until he decided to completely throw himself off the boat without a life preserver. Also I don’t want y’all calling me an authoritarian (or fascist, Tumblr really doesn’t like to learn the difference between the different kinds of authoritarianisms and just lumps them all under fascism because why take a class when you can just say words?).

1) I think Ironwood was right to bring his airships to Beacon and frankly I think the other headmasters should’ve as well. Obviously no other Kingdom works like Mantle/Atlas- they’re the only one where the Hunter Academy is a direct branch of the kingdom’s military- but SOME protection should’ve been brought from Shade and Haven as well as Beacon. The Vytal tournament was an incredibly important part of Remnant culture, and ANYBODY could’ve seen that as a chance to strike. Any terrorist organization, anybody with a grudge, anybody with an agenda could’ve seen a giant float collessum and decided it’d look better crashing towards the ground. I think Ozpin, Lionheart and Theodore were hugely negligent not requesting SOME kind of military support from their respective kingdoms to watch over the event. Just think about it, that would’ve created FOUR different systems Cinder would’ve needed to hack into instead of one. The other three headmasters didn’t bring security and relied completely on Ironwood to save them when shit hit the fan. Ozpin’s words to Ironwood will always be hilarious to me. “You brought your army to my kingdom James… Use it!” The same army that he swore brought more harm than good? The same army he promised would be ineffective in keeping the peace? Now all of a sudden he’s begging for it? Ozpin of all people should’ve been READY for something like this. He’s closer to Salem than ANYONE he should’ve KNOWN that she would use an opportunity like this to strike. A wounded and defenseless Maiden locked in Beacon tower, a one-woman army infiltrating an SDC tower and leaving no recognizable trace other than a wake of bodies, a breach where “hundreds of people were killed” just weeks before, then Yang’s random and brutal “attack” on a seemingly defenseless student? Ozpin should’ve seen the signs of an imminent attack and acted proactively to ensure the safety of not just Beacon but the world. And instead he was too clueless to even ask for a security detail. He claimed that there was peace in Remnant, and that there was no need to upset people by bringing weapons of war, but peace needs to be defended. The Fall of Beacon was proof of what happens when you wait too long to defend yourself. Bringing in other kingdom’s defenses would’ve also shot one of Cinder’s weird monologue in the foot. She calls Ironwood a “tyrannical dictator” who “occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces” but if Ozpin had REQUESTED those airships? Maybe not even all of them but SOME? And brought his OWN? It would’ve just been business as usual instead of some kind of “invasion” from a previously adversarial nation. Ozpin’s complacency gave Cinder another nail to shut the coffin with. Did Ironwood overstep bringing ALL those ships without a warning? Absolutely, and whoever’s running Vale is out of their mind for not engaging their defenses to deter those ships before they entered Vale airspace in the first place. Should an equal number of ships all flying different flags have been there ANYWAY to stop something like the Breach or the Fall happening? Absolutely.

2) I think Ironwood’s plan is the right move. Let me clarify, the “tell the world about Salem” plan is the right move. “Unite the world against a common enemy” is the right move. “Expose the enemy for who she is and force her to leave the comfort of the shadows and engage in an actual war instead of the silly chess game proxy war you’ve been engaged in all this time.” If you expose Salem and make her a target, she crumbles. Anyone working for her is a top of the most wanted list, and it’s impossible for her to infiltrate and manipulate behind the scenes as she’s been doing. Her only army is Grimm and the kingdoms have been doing decently against them for centuries. I think Ironwood’s got a good idea, and Ozma was just too jaded by his centuries of life to believe that the world would pull together the way it needed to to band against Salem.

That said, I think Ironwood’s entire plan was a necessary evil. “Pull all Atlesian forces and resources out of Remnant and back into Mantle, to ride out the waves of Grimm that would come to tear the kingdom down after they learned about Salem.” It was a well thought out plan! He had STEPS. He KNEW that people would panic and planned AROUND that! For a “tin man” with no heart, he sure as fuck knew how to account for everyone else’s. Argus would suffer for this, sure, but he left them with a giant fucking jaegar, a Pacific Rim style wall around its biggest weak point, and enough air ships and guns to hold off a small scale invasion. Argus was also a unique situation where it was Mistral’s responsibility that Atlas elected to care for. We haven’t heard of any similar cities like this. He wanted to keep his people safe. And I know that’s a slap in the face to all of the people of Mantle who were living in the beginning stages of authoritarian rule for MONTHS, but I think the ends justify the means here. Ironwood’s plan was never to subjugate his people indefinitely, but to keep them safe until the worst had passed. I REALLY think Ironwood’s plan would’ve worked, and CLEARLY Salem does too, otherwise she wouldn’t be sending the biggest Grimm army ever seen and a whale the size of a fucking island to stop him. Telling Remnant about Salem was and still is a good plan, and drawing his troops and resources back to handle the fallout of it was a smart choice.

3) I think Ironwood is right to try abandon Mantle, and frankly I think he should’ve done it sooner. Ironwood is right, if Salem destroys Atlas, she destroys Remnant’s only hope of defeating her. Mistral and Haven were already attacked by the White Fang and Cinder’s crew without so much as a finger raised against them. Have fun reading the books to find out what’s happening in Shade. If Ironwood doesn’t save A) the power of the Winter Maiden B) the staff of creation, C) the lamp of knowledge AND D) as much of Atlas as he can, we’re fucked, and we’ve already lost the fucking lamp. The WORLD is fucked if we don’t stop Salem. And even KNOWING all of this, Ironwood waited until he had definitive proof that the enemy had already invaded Atlas before moving to leave. Tyrian and Watts were one thing, but Salem leaving her chess piece on his desk without him even knowing she was there? I can’t blame him for being scared. I can’t blame him for wanting to leave ASAP. Frankly I can’t blame him for calling RWBYJNRQOP naive. Saving every individual person down in Mantle would doom Atlas as a whole, and by extension the world. I don’t think I would’ve been able to fight against RWBY for wanting to risk saving everyone, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to fight with RWBY for the chance to take the risk either.

Last season was super political, which was a first for RWBY. Yeah, the writing’s ALWAYS been on the walls that Ironwood would take these steps into authoritarianism, and last episode had him breaking out into a full sprint. He straight up shot a member of his opposition! And that guy wasn’t even EXPLICITLY opposition, he was just questioning how Ironwood was handling the situation! I don’t think anyone can honestly say they’re surprised by this, and it’s super important to not just be against authoritarianism, but actively against it. We can’t condone it and must uproot it wherever it even begins to take hold. That said, I will say that, up to a point, Ironwood’s had good ideas on helping to save the world, while RWBY’ve been cutely optimistic but not very pragmatic in their “save every life no matter the cost” approach. And let’s be real, the show is called “RWBY” not “Ironwood” so I’m fully expecting the narrative to play out in a way that validates RWBY and demonizes Ironwood. I’m fully expecting Ironwood to completely fly off the walls as Salem draws nearer. I’m fully expecting to want to kick myself for agreeing with his motivations during season 7. I’m just writing this so that there’s a clear record of my stance not only for my followers (and for people ready to make callout posts, here you go 😉) but for myself too! So I can see if my stance changes and where I was before. So here you go future Tobias. Good luck!

[allthebooksandcrannies]

I keep seeing all these posts about what kind of benders each of the BatFam would be, but all I can say is Bold of You to Assume that Mr. I-Thrive-as-a-Normie-in-the-Midst-of-God's-Among-Men-Through-Sheer-Spite and his equally badass but totally human kids works be benders at all. So I see you Bender AUs and raise you

Earth Kingdom Nobility Bruce: this Gotham alternative is similar to Omashu in organization and relation to the capital of Ba Sing Se but struggles from centuries of corruption that worsened significantly from the destabilization that occurred with the redistribution of resources after the Hundred Year War began. Bruce's family have never been benders but have always been among the wealthiest in the city anyway due to their history of working closely with the current Avatar and the cultivation of extensive trade networks throughout the four nation's, though obviously this was affected by the war. His city was near the Earth kingdom border with the fire nation, and was one of the first conquered earth kingdom cities. Bruce's grandfather managed to keep the majority of his family's wealth interact by nominally cooperating with the Fire Nation, but in actuality using his influence to help protect the people of his city from the worst of the fire nation's oppression. Bruce's father continued this practice and became an accomplished healer to help those suffering.

After Bruce's parents were killed by a mugger left in desperation by the poverty and corruption allowed to grow under imperial rule in order to favor the fire nation colonists and nobility sent in to strengthen their control of the area and raise funds via high taxes for the war effort, Bruce is inspired to take his ancestors quite rebellion and charity a step further. After leaving and training in secret for years to become proficient in both earth kingdom and fire nation combat styles and chi blocking. He returns to his city and begins protecting it in disguise as the city's ancient protective spirit, believed to take the form of a giant bat, because it terrifies the fire nation soldiers and gives hope to his people.

Bruce spends his nights as a sort of Robin Hood figure and his days as an airheaded noble who's just lucky that his wealth and influence with the peasantry and nobility alike makes him useful to the nation, making him an excellent spy for resistance forces and the White Lotus. As the way effort continues and he gains more and more allies, his protection gradually expands from just his city to more and more of the Earth Kingdom.

Alfred's family had long worked for Bruce's family and he continues the family tradition, but as a young man he fought in the Earth Kingdom army though this is obviously kept secret from people outside the family. Alfred's apparent status as nothing more than Bruce's servant allows him to pass undetected and move amongst the peasantry discretely. He is one of Bruce's main sources of information on who most needs his help (and stolen fire nation funds) and what society's upper echelons may hide from one of their own but can't keep hidden from gossiping servants.

Dick was raised as an acrobat in a fire nation circus but that didn't stop some overreaching fire nation soldiers from covertly burning parts of their trapeze right before they performed after the ringmaster refused to pay their bribe. After being taken in by Bruce and figuring out what he was up to, Dick was all too happy to join his crusade, not only because of what happened to his parents, but also because his mother was actually descended from a group of non-bending air nomads who had chosen not to live in the temple system and thus survived the massacres. They had been hiding in plain sight in the fire nation ever since, though Dick's mother had made sure he always knew his people's heritage and beliefs. Her nickname for him, Robin, was a reminder that he was always meant to fly. So, fly he does, under the guise of being a nature spirit. Most don't question this excuse, since the fire nation has done plenty of harm to the local forests, but Dick can't help but move like an Airbender. Even if his family hadn't actually seen a bender in four generations, the avoidant fighting style, the lightness on his feet, are quite distinct, with his entire childhood spent doing acrobatics that came straight from the air nomads passed from parent to child. Thus, those who see The Robin Spirit fight, insist that it isn't a nature spirit, but rather a vengeful Air Nomad guardian spirit, come back to take revenge on the ones who killed their people. The fire nation tries especially hard to discredit these rumors but it's basically impossible once they catch on. Dick loves it.

Jason is an earth kingdom orphan from the city and has all the stubbornness to prove it. He's the next addition to the family. I haven't decided much more than that yet, but I'll come back to it later. His fighting style is much more aggressive than Robin's

Tim is also earth kingdom and from high society, and while not nearly on the level of Bruce's family, his family is still quite wealthy (though this is relatively new wealth, come from being collaborators with the fire nation government). Tim was inspired by Bat and Robin Spirits willingness to stand up for what's right, especially after he figures out who they really are. Long before becoming a vigilante, he starts anonymously slipping Bruce information he learns from spying on his parents and their friends.

Stephanie's family is earth kingdom but her father runs one of the underground gangs that terrorize and steal from fire nation and earth kingdom civilians alike.

Damian and Cass are both fire nation, having been trained by the Firelord's personal assassin corp.

Again, I think I'll come back to this with more details on the Batfamily and the league but this is where is leaving it for now.

[tiikeria]

No Roads Left to Run

Title: No Roads Left to Run Ship(s): None Rating: T Warning(s): Minor Character Death, Language Words: 3,577 words Summary: Everyone thought they knew the legend. The story of the king who wished for the go and was punished for his greed when he couldn’t eat, and when his beloved daughter was turned into a golden statue of herself. When he begged Dionysus for a reprieve from his mistake, he was given a way out: wash anything he turned to gold in a river, and they would return to the way they were.

That was how the story went, at least. The story of Midas.

It couldn’t be more wrong.

Notes: What is it, 2016? I’m writing fic? Something ain’t right. But, this is based on an AU I have with a couple of friends that we started, oh, 4 or 5 years ago. This fic was started in 2016, actually, with a certain person as Akakios. Obviously that changed.

Always, enjoy the fic and hit me up if you’d like to chat!

The rain had started to fall on the docks as the last terrified scream echoed against the concrete buildings and steel containers surrounding them, trapping them in, looming over them like a silent jury. Looming over him. His hand lowered shakily and the gold marks along his skin faded into nothingness as he let the power drain from him, no longer necessary now that the threat was eliminated.

But now…now he had a different problem. One gold couldn’t fix. One he couldn’t fix. 

As the rain became heavier and thunder rumbled in the distance he could feel their gazes on his back, and he could imagine the expressions on their faces if he would turn to look. Fear. Horror. Possibly betrayal.

He had lied for so long. Lied to them all. He had hidden who he really was under the guise of protecting them. Instead, he had only been selfish. He had lied to them because he cared. And because they cared in return. They cared for him, and not for the gold that formed from his fingertips so effortlessly. He didn’t want to lose that feeling of belonging that he hadn’t had in decades. So he lied.

And now he lost it anyway.

He couldn’t turn, couldn’t face them, their disappointment, their fear. Everyone feared him in Los Santos; they feared who he truly was, to be exact. Few feared the Fake’s Golden Boy. But many feared the God that owned the city.

No one had known that they were one and the same. Until now. Until he had no choice. Until he had to give everything up in the name of protecting them from being gunned down in a planned massacre.

At least they were alive. That was his only solace. They were still alive.

Without turning, he spoke, voice just loud enough to reach them above the rain and thunder, “I’m sorry.”

And he ran.

Everyone thought they knew the legend. The story of the king who wished for the golden touch and was punished for his greed when he couldn’t eat, and when his beloved daughter was turned into a golden statue of herself. When he begged Dionysus for a reprieve from his mistake, he was given a way out: wash anything he turned to gold in a river, and they would return to the way they were.

That was how the story went, at least. The story of Midas.

It couldn’t be more wrong.

Midas wasn’t born a king. He wasn’t even born a mortal. He was a demigod, son of Dionysus and a blind peasant woman named Theodosia. Born of trickery, when Dionysus disguised himself as the woman’s devoted husband, Akakios, as he was out to market. She only discovered the deceit afterward, but it was too late. She would birth the God’s son when the time came.

They called him Midas, and Akakios loved him as if he was his own blood. After all, the two had desperately prayed for a child and if this is how the Gods chose to grant their prayers, then so be it.

Midas grew into a curious and playful young boy before they discovered his gift. His gift of gold. He didn’t understand why the King of their small island called his Mama and Papa and him to see him. All he did was make a flower pretty and shiny for his Mama. Was he in trouble?

He would later say he was.

The King was a greedy man, always coveting the wealth of the larger islands, of the grander Kings. And he saw Midas as a way to achieve that wealth; a child who could make gold on command was his gift from the Gods. So, he offered the peasant parents a deal: he would ensure they had food on the table, and clothes on their backs, as long as the child would create for him.

Without a way to truly say no, they agreed, and Midas went into the employ of their King. He still remained with his beloved Mama and Papa, growing stronger every day as he helped with their modest farm. But the calls to create were getting more frequent and more elaborate, and Theodosia and Akakios worried when it would no longer be enough.

The answer came on the eve of Midas’ thirteenth birthday, Akakios out at market two days away, with a promise to bring his son a wonderful gift. The King had not called in a few days, which had become a bit of an oddity, but they thought nothing of it. If he didn’t call, Midas stayed home, and stayed strong. Too much creating and he would grow tired and weak.

They should have worried more.

The knock on the door came as the moon was rising over the coast. Midas would always regret opening that door.

Soldiers grabbed him as soon as the door opened, their grip tight on the boy’s arms as he struggled. He heard his mother cry out for him, reach for him. She was yelling at the soldiers to release her son, that they had no business taking him.

“By decree of your King, this boy is now property of the Kingdom and shall be escorted to the palace,” one soldier spoke, his voice cold and level. He cared not for this woman’s concern, for her upset. At least, until she grabbed at Midas.

A sword was drawn in an instant, blood on the floor as she dropped. He vaguely remembered screaming for her, trying his best to get to her. But it was too late. Far too late.

The last time Midas would ever see his first home was that night, as flames licked the sky and destroyed everything he ever knew.

Gavin was good at hiding. He had done it for centuries under different names, different faces. He had run for years, for decades, without so much as a second thought. So why was it so hard to leave now? Why couldn’t he find himself away from Los Santos, away from California, away from the States?

Why wasn’t he back in England with Dan? Why was he still watching them from a distance?

Because he cared. For the first time in many, many years, he cared.

So he stayed.

He spent three years as a slave to the King. Three years of nothing more than creating for a man who cared not for him as a person, only as means to an end. Gone was the curious child with the golden smile and bright laugh. Gone, like his home. Gone, like his family. He was alone, and only had himself to blame.

Him, and his golden curse.

It was three years before anyone would come for him. Dionysus himself coming to collect his son from the tyrant who had made him a slave. Dionysus didn’t take kindly to the treatment of his blood, to the murder of Theodosia, whom he still cared for.

It wan’t Dionysus that found him, though. It was a satyr named Pan. The God of Nature himself.

“Midas?” He questioned, looking into the eyes of a boy who had seen too much, “It’s time to come home. Your father is here.”

“Akakios?” Midas would ask, knowing he would be wrong. He wondered if Akakios would have ever come for him if he knew where he was. If he knew he was alive. Midas’ power took everything from Akakios; he had no reason to seek out the bastard child who ruined his life.

“No, boy,” Pan predictably told him, something kind in his gaze, “Dionysus. He’s been looking for you for quite a while; no child of his shall be a slave.”

“He’s a few years too late,” Midas told the God, but followed him despite his cynical words.

Dionysus couldn’t have been more different than Akakios had been. Akakios was a quiet, thoughtful man. Dionysus was loud, boisterous, and quite temperamental it seemed. But, he was Midas’ escape from this prison, and he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Midas had his suspicions as to what happened to the King, but he never asked. He never cared. If the King was dead, then everyone was better for it.

He allowed Dionysus and Pan to lead him away to yet another place he didn’t know. Another place that wasn’t home.

He had never been more homesick in his life.

The crew was searching for him. They had been for the last week since he disappeared. He saw Michael’s fires, and Jeremy’s fights. He saw Jack’s helicopter combing the hills and Geoff’s car on the streets. He saw cameras searching for him, Matt on the other end. He heard Trevor digging for intel, and Alfredo searching by scope. And there was Lindsay, causing chaos as if they hoped it would be a siren song for Gavin to come back. To help them cause it.

But it wasn’t any of them who found him first.

No, it was the one who grew up in Los Santos. The one who knew the stories. Who knew where you turned when your luck had run out.

Fiona arrived to the modest plywood stand in a damp alleyway in La Mesa with a bag full of gold pinched from the crew and a determination unlike any other. She was the one to call him back, unable to ignore a request from his own altar.

“Fi? Why are you here?”

She graced him with a narrow stare, arms crossed, anger and concern in her veins, “ Why do you think I’m here, Gavin? I’m here because you left. You left and you haven’t come back.”

Stepping from the shadows, he gave her a tired, golden-eyed once over, ‘I’m not coming back, Fiona.”

“Like hell you aren’t!”

He lifted his head, standing straight, looking very much like the God he was, “Go home, Fiona. Forget Gavin Free. Forget me.”

He didn’t stick around to hear her reply.

He was eighteen now. Two years with Dionysus, and two years since he was no longer a slave. At least, in normal terms. Now…now he was a trophy. Dionysus’ favored son; not because of himself, but because of his mother. His mother Dionysus still loved. He was nothing more than his remaining link to the past.

He was no more his own man than a child.

But, he did have solace in one other. Pan, the Satyr God, had become his closest friend. He taught him how to control his power, how to shape it, how to bend it to his will. He taught him about the shepherds who called to Pan for blessings, and the animals they herded across the land. Pan taught him about nature, and showed him how to respect it.

But, most of all, Pan taught him he belonged to no one.

The Gods of Olympus also seemed to take a shine to him. Artemis taught him the hunt, and how to feed himself should he require it. Hephaestus taught him the forge, another way to bend his powers into beautiful and useful shapes. Apollo taught him medicine, how to heal himself if a fight went wrong. Athena taught him wisdom, and how to find one with unpleasant intentions.

Hades gave him the greatest gift of all.

In a small temple on the coast, a lone keeper watched over the altar of Hades. Devout in his care of the temple and his prayers to the god, Hades had been curious what this man had lost to cause him to be so pious to the God of the Underworld. Hades appeared to the man one night, as the keeper was finishing his evening prayer, and he asked. He asked what the man prayed for more than anything.

“The happiness in the afterlife of my wife and son,” the man answered, eyes awed, but tired, as if he had lost the life that once resided in them.

“What is your name, Keeper?” Hades asked of him, not unkindly, “And what were your wife and son called?”

“Lord Hades,” the man replied, “They call me a Ghost now, but once my name was Akakios. My beloved was Theodosia, and my son Midas.”

Hades knew then he was looking at the man who raised Dionysus’ golden son, the same one Pan had been searching for in an attempt to bring happiness back to his friend. Dionysus had never truly been a father to Midas. But Akakios had. And it was only right the boy was returned to his father.

“Devout Akakios,” Hades spoke, “I wish for you to meet someone. You have been praying to me for many years, and I wish to reward your selflessness. You cared not for your own gain, but for the souls you have lost. Come with me, Temple Keeper. And I will give you a gift.”

Akakios had no reason to deny his Lord, so he stood, approaching the God of the Underworld with the lack of hesitation reserved for men who welcomed death. Together, Hades whisked them away from the temple on the coast, to a grove surrounded by trees, the smell of earth as strong as the scent of sea salt had been before.

“Hades,” a voice called, “What do I owe the pleasure?”

Akakios never dreamed of meeting one God, let alone two, but before him stood a Satyr, flute in hand, a crown of leaves and flowers adorned his head. Pan, the god he once prayed to for the safety of his flock.

“I found him, Pan,” Hades said, gesturing to the man beside him, “You were correct, he did yet live. He’s been one of my most loyal followers, but he is here now. Pan, may I introduce you to Akakios.”

Pan seemed quite overjoyed to meet this mortal man, and it only confused Akakios more when the satyr…hugged him?

“Oh, he’ll be thrilled, Hades! He’s nearby, wait here!”

Akakios looked to his God for answers, but found nothing more than a kind smile.

“Pan!” Another man’s voice echoed through the clearing, “What is this about, my friend? I haven’t seen you this excited since the last revelry!”

The voice was so familiar, yet so different. Who was Pan leading back down the path?

Akakios’ breath left his lungs as a golden-eyed boy — no, man — followed Pan back into the grove. It couldn’t be, yet here he was, alive and breathing and looking at him like he had seen the ghost he had been called.

“Midas?”

“Father?”

“I hear you’re looking for him.”

The crew was no stranger to the black-clad figure in their living room. He had his own reputation, but seemed to exist only when he wished to exist. The city called him The Ghost, the specter in black with the blank white mask that haunted the streets.

Rumor also had it that he was Midas’ only priest.

“We are,” Geoff said, eyeing the figure warily, “But not for a favor.”

“No, you’re looking for him for personal reasons, I am aware,” The Ghost said, glancing out the windows overlooking Los Santos, “I know who you are and what he means to you. A friend, not a God. Something he desperately needed after so long alone.”

Jack cocked her head, “So you are connected to him.”

“You could say that, yes. I know you know how to contact him. One of you already has. But it will take more than gold and pleas for him to come back. He’s frightened.”

“Of us?” Fiona pipes up, brows burrowed in confusion, “Why?”

“Almost everyone who has ever known his true nature has turned on him. Used him for their own gain. Or, has cast him out, shown him hatred and distrust. He doesn’t want that with you. He cares too much; it’d kill him if you cast him aside.”

“I don’t care if he shits diamonds!” Geoff exclaimed, “He belongs here.”

The Ghost cocked his head, and they could almost sense he was smiling, as if they had passed some test of his when it came to Gavin. Maybe they had.

“Go to his altar. All of you. Bring your tributes. He cannot ignore a call from the altar; he refuses to. Tell him what he means to you. He will listen, but this may be your only chance to get him back.”

“What’s your angle?” Jeremy finally asked, arms crossed, “Why help us?”

The Ghost laughed, something soft in it, as he pulled off the mask, showing them a olive-skinned man with dark hair pulled back and sharp, clever steel-gray eyes assessing them, “I’m simply a concerned father, looking out for his son.”

Midas would run many, many times in his life. Whether from those with foul intentions or from lives run their course. But none were more important than when he ran from Dionysus that first time, Pan and his father by his side. He was a free man, now. Free to be who he wanted.

It wouldn’t be the last time he’d be Free.

He gained a reputation in the cities they passed through. He would set up a small stand, selling jewelry and golden trinkets. The nobles loved his work, but the peasants were the ones who praised him more. He would take the coin he earned and buy them food, buy them cloth, buy them whatever they needed. He never kept for himself. He, nor his father, nor his brother. They gave to those who couldn’t provide.

“We’ve been where you are,” they told them with sincere kindness, “If you ever are in need, pray to the one they call Midas. He will answer.”

Gods are only as strong as their following. And as Midas’ following grew, the stronger his power became. Everyone prayed for gold. But he wasn’t just the fledgling god of gold. No, he was more. God of the Outcasts. God of the Impoverished. For they coveted gold in the purest form. They only wanted to provide for themselves and those they loved.

So, while Midas charmed the nobles, he truly became a man, a God, of the poor.

Years would pass, and he would gain many names. He would become many men. He would help many more. He would learn at the greatest institutions, read the greatest literature, and see history unfold right before his eyes. The rise and fall of empires, the invention of wonderful and terrible things, religions growing and dying. He watched it all.

And beside him stood his friend — his brother in all but blood — Pan, now often called Daniel. And on his other side, bearing a gift from Hades himself, stood Akakios, his beloved father.

And he? Well he became fond of a certain English name. Gavin.

He was tired. Tired of hiding. Tired of trying to decide to run, only for his heart to bring him back. He was tired.

He was tired of lying to himself that he didn’t care anymore.

So when he got the call from his altar with a very familiar feeling, he wanted to ignore it. But, his promise always brought him back. Midas would always answer.

“Fiona,” he started, appearing in the alleyway without preamble, “I told you to forget-“

“Yeah, and I think she probably told you that wasn’t gonna fucking happen, Boi.”

Midas froze, taking in the nine people before him, staring at him, having called him here. They were all there. His crew. And on the altar was his own gold aviators, among gold trinkets he recognized. The crew loved calling him a magpie, always picking up something gold and shiny for them when he could. There sat his gifts to them. In a gift back to him.

“Midas,” another voice chimed in from behind him, and he didn’t have to look to know who it was, “Listen to them. They care more than your fear leads you to believe.”

“We miss you, buddy,” Geoff looked torn between reaching out for a hug or throttling him, and Midas’ heart ached for how normal that was, “Come home. I don’t care what magic shit you can do. You’re still our favorite dumbass that makes stupid bird noises and makes up words because you can.”

“I’m a God,” Midas choked out, “I’m not like you. I never should have been close. I never should have pretended.”

Lindsay smiled gently, their hand reaching out to him, “I’m sure even Gods need friends.”

“You…you really…don’t care?”

“I mean, we kinda would like an explanation, but for the superpower shit, not really. I mean, it was pretty fucking cool how you made goddamn statues of those guys,” Jeremy’s grin was lopsided and Midas could have hugged him too for how normal they all acted. It was as if nothing changed. Had anything changed? Well, yes, they knew the truth. They knew their Golden Boy was a Golden God.

But they didn’t care. And now he felt foolish for thinking they even would.

“Go home, Midas,” Akakios said quietly, “They’re as much your family as I am. Go home and be happy. You deserve it.”

Slowly, Midas stepped towards his crew, and they could see a change in him. Something different. Something more familiar.

Gavin Free had returned to his family. He had stopped running for the first time in a long, long time. And they were there to welcome him home with open arms.

[lobster-tales]

The Moon - Yueki

Day 6 of Winter ATLA Femslash Week. This work is available here on AO3. 

Prompt:  The Moon or Ten years later... / Post-Canon

Suki makes a choice that will save the world, but at a steep price. But what she must lose, Yue is grateful to gain. Also they totally fall in love. Based on the song "Hijo de la Luna" by Mecano

Night became necessary for Suki. Her days belonged to the Fire Lord and officials, ensuring the Kyoshi Warriors were at their posts. The only time she had for herself was bathed in darkness, when she scaled the walls of the palace and perched on the tiled roof. Most nights, she was content to sit under the stars, letting the sky swallow her whole. 

This was not one of those nights. Suki pulled her knees closer to her chest, her eyes downcast. Around anyone else, even her warriors, such a vulnerable posture would betray her, compromise her strength in their eyes. She could only let down her guard when she was alone. 

A cloud drifted past the strongest source of light. Suki looked up at the full moon, relaxing in the silver glow. Well, she was almost alone. 

“Hey Yue,” Suki said. “Me again. How are you?”

She was met with silence. Suki never received an answer from the elusive moon spirit, but she made sure to ask anyway. “I’m sorry, but I don’t really have any good news. Everything’s still the same. Fire Lord Zuko’s been bedridden for nearly a week now. Yesterday, he looked like he was getting better, but his fever went up again today.” Suki paused, unsure how to proceed. “Aang is a wreck. Katara has barely slept. She and the other healers have been working to find a cure, but so far they haven’t succeeded.”

Suki slid her hands down her calves, the fingers of her left hand gently grasping the wrist of her right. “I um… I overheard some officials in the hall. They were talking about who's next in line just in case…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “They mentioned Azula’s name, but she’s still recovering. She won’t be able to run the nation in her state. Which leaves… no one.

“I know what happens when there’s no one to take the throne. I’ve read about coups before, and even all of my warriors wouldn’t be enough to stop the Fire Nation officials, or at least,” Suki said darkly, “whoever poisoned Zuko.” 

A breeze ruffled her hair. In the distance, far beyond the palace walls, a dog barked. And still, the moon said nothing. 

Suki pressed her lips together, fighting back the wave of feelings. Tears already welled in her eyes as she said, “And… I don’t know what to do.” She looked skyward, her cheeks wet. “I know… you grew up during the war too, Yue. We all did. I don’t know what it was like in the Northern Water Tribe, but for the rest of us…” Suki began to shake, her voice trembling. “I don’t want it to happen again. It 

 I don’t think the world could survive another war. 

“And it’s not just that, it’s…” She began sobbing, burying her face in her knees. She whispered hoarsely, “Zuko’s my friend. And I don’t want him to die.”

Suki wept openly, letting the feelings tear through her. She had spent countless hours fending them off, forcing through the pain. She had to be a leader, to stay positive in front of everyone. Now, she could release those thoughts, each ragged breath a testament to her fear.

A hand pressed against her back, gliding gently across her shoulders in a show of comfort. Suki froze. Who could have followed her this high up? Maybe the Avatar?

She lifted her face, the cold light spilling across her features. Her mouth dropped. 

A girl sat beside her. Physically, she looked to be 16, but her eyes betrayed centuries of knowledge. Her white clothing contrasted her dark skin, the fabric floating around her. Her white hair was pulled into two loops, a water tribe band holding the style in place. The girl smiled, a hint of uncertainty in her blue eyes. “Hello Suki.”

Suki’s breath escaped her in a single word. “Yue!” She tried not to gawk, reigning in her expression like she did around the Fire Nation officials. Unsure how to address a spirit, Suki rose to her feet and bowed respectfully. 

Yue remained seated, nodding. “Please, sit.”

“Yes, your… spiritness.” Suki lowered herself onto the tile, crossing her legs beneath her and keeping her spine straight. 

“No, just… call me Yue. Please.” Yue considered her carefully. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“Yes. I am.” Blood rushed to Suki’s cheeks as she began to think. After the war, she’d spent countless nights beneath the moon’s glow, pouring out the feelings that she couldn’t share with anyone else. What had Yue heard? What secrets did she spill by accident?

“I know this must be a shock for you,” Yue murmured. “But… I know everything that’s going on. About Zuko, the poisoning, and I want to help.”

No amount of diplomacy training could stop Suki from staring. “You… want to help? I thought spirits didn’t interfere with human affairs.”

“I’m not all spirit,” Yue said. “I actually used to be human. Part of me still is. And as someone who used to live in the material world, I want to do something to protect it.”

Suki had heard the story before, of the water tribe princess who sacrificed herself to become the moon spirit. Yue’s act had been described like death. She never thought Yue had retained any of her humanity, much less enough to intervene. 

“How?” Suki asked. 

“Well, I actually can’t do it alone. You see, the moon spirit has the power to grant a wish.” She hesitated. “But at a steep price.”

Suki searched her face, trying to guess what a spirit could want, or even possess. “Anything.”

Turning her head, almost ashamed, Yue murmured, “For someone to get help from the moon spirit, they must give up their first born child.”

Dread washed over Suki. “Zuko can’t. His first born child… He needs an heir.”

Yue nodded slowly. “Anyone can make the wish to heal him. Anyone can make the deal.”

A thought struck her. One that put the sour taste of martyrdom in her mouth. She had told her pupils a thousand times: the greatest strength of a Kyoshi Warrior is her warrior’s heart, because not all battles needed weapons. 

Suki straightened her arms, hands on her knees, and she took a deep breath. “I’ll do it. In exchange for his life, I’ll give you my first born child.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Yue bowed her head reverently. “Consider it done.” Suki expected her to disappear, but instead Yue leaned forward and embraced her. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “But also… thank you…” 

Her skin was cold, but Suki didn’t mind. Without thinking, she lifted her arms around Yue. The moon spirit stiffened at the human contact, then relaxed into her embrace. Yue pressed her nose into the crook of her neck. 

Suki asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you thank me?”

“Oh!” Yue pulled away, averting her eyes. “I… Sorry, that was inappropriate.” She tucked a loose strand of white hair behind her ear. “I know it will pain you to lose the child, but… it gets lonely, up there.” She nodded towards the full moon. 

Suki searched Yue’s blue eyes. She realized the opportunity she’d been granted. After years of telling Yue all of her secrets, now she could return the favor. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”

Yue frowned. “What… it’s boring. Really.”

“Come on,” Suki said, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “You already know everything about me. Now I want to know about you.”

“Oh.” Yue glanced at the sky, biting her lip. “Well… I guess I could stay for a few minutes…”

***

Violet dawn crept over the horizon. Yue surrendered to the hour, wrapping her arms around Suki again. Their laughter still hung in the air around them.

Suki murmured, “Will I see you again?”

“Only once, when you…” Yue paused. “When you… finish the deal.”

The thought sent a jolt through Suki. Over the last several hours, she’d forgotten the terms. Yue was such a lovely distraction. 

“Goodbye, Suki,” Yue whispered, and her form disintegrated. 

Suki lowered her hands. Yue’s smell lingered on her clothing, the soft scent of moss. When the first beams of sunlight touched Suki’s skin, she still faced the space Yue had taken up. She waited a few more seconds, exhaustion setting in. 

In the palace below, someone shouted Zuko’s name. Suki rose to her feet. She would go see him. Katara would cry, Aang would hug her. None of them would ever know the cost of his recovery. 

Suki looked at the moon, still hovering in the morning sky. Then she descended. 

***

The hills of Kyoshi Island were short relative to other ranges in the Earth Kingdom. The highest point on the island was shorter than the lowest in the nearby Patola Mountains, home of the now empty Southern Air Temple. This summit was named Hei-Ran Peak, after the mother of Avatar Kyoshi’s wife. A wooden hovel had been constructed on the flat top. Rumors said Kyoshi would meet with her enemies here, away from civilians. 

Suki sat several yards in front of the hovel, legs crossed, facing west to watch the sunset. The winds of early spring bit at her, but the bundle strapped across her chest kept her warm. The trek to this spot had rocked the child to sleep, and she could feel his steady breathing. 

A few minutes passed, then an hour. The sun and all it’s light disappeared. The stars became visible, and Suki saw her shadow lengthened by a brightness behind her. She remained seated, still. 

A hand pressed against her back, gliding gently across her shoulders in a show of comfort. Suki relaxed into the touch, rising to her feet and facing Yue. Two years had passed since their first meeting, but the moon spirit hadn’t aged at all.

Yue grinned, almost sheepishly. “Hello Suki.”

“Hey Yue. How are you?”

For the first time, she got an answer. “I’m good,” Yue said with a smile. 

Suki wasn’t sure how to proceed. She felt like there must be some ritual, some rite she had to perform, but hours of research on the subject had revealed nothing. Apparently, very few individuals in the history of the world had accepted the deal with the moon. “I brought him.”

Yue’s eyes widened, and she reached a hand towards the bundle across Suki’s chest. “Is this him?”

“Yep.” Suki carefully removed the fabric concealing his face. 

Yue leaned in, gasping at the sight. The infant had the dark skin of a water tribe descendant, with snow white hair. He slept soundly. 

“He’s… he’s beautiful,” Yue said. “Who’s the father?”

Suki chuckled to herself. The question was fair, but that part of the process had been the easiest. “Sokka.”

Yue froze, meeting Suki’s eyes. “Oh? I thought you two weren’t...”

“We’re not, but we kept in touch after the break up. Besides, I thought if you had the choice, that’s who you would have gone with.” Suki gazed down at the boy. Though she’d known his fate for years, no amount of preparation could soften the upcoming loss. “So um… how does this work?”

“We don’t have to do it right now,” Yue said. “I was thinking maybe we could… talk? Like last time?”

Relief washed over Suki. Not once in the last few years had Yue left her thoughts. In her dreams, she still heard the sound of Yue’s laughter, smelled her mossy scent. Suki outstretched her hand, indicating the hovel. “I can make us some tea?”

The night passed easily. Yue told Suki that the tea was delicious, withholding the fact that she’d long lost her sense of taste. A few hours in, the child woke up crying, and Suki showed Yue how to change his cloths and feed him. Yue learned diligently, though in the spirit world, he would not need any of those things. 

The three of them laid together on a bamboo mat, the boy in the middle. Yue had not stopped smiling, her eyes on the boy. Suki trained her gaze on Yue instead, focusing on her face, filling in the gaps of her memory. 

“Did you name him?” Yue asked.

“No. I thought you would want to.”

Yue considered for a moment. “How about Arnook? After my father?”

“You don’t have to ask me,” Suki said with a smile. “But that is a good name.”

A moment of stillness passed. 

“He made the deal, didn’t he?” Suki asked. “Both of your parents did.”

Yue pressed her lips together, her eyes solemn. “Yes.”

“But you grew up in the human world.”

“When I was born, the spirits gave my father a vision. He knew I would become the moon spirit,” Yue said. “So… he negotiated with the moon. I would get sixteen years in the material world, then spend the rest of eternity as a spirit.”

Suki nodded thoughtfully. “I see.”

A thought crossed Yue’s mind. “Did you want to? Negotiate, I mean.”

“No,” Suki said, tracing her fingers over the baby’s small hand. “He was never my son. Always yours.”

“He could be yours, too.”

Suki frowned at her. “What?”

Yue shifted, leaning on her elbow. “You could pass over to the spirit world, live with us there. Humans have done it before.” She tilted her head. “Actually, I know someone who is planning to, when his time here is done.”

“Who?”

“Zuko’s uncle, Iroh.”

“Iroh?” Suki’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

Yue smirked. “You think you’re the only one who talks to the moon?”

Heat raced across Suki’s face, but she pushed through the embarrassment. “Oh.”

“Do you want to? Live with us?” 

Yue looked at her so earnestly that Suki hated her next set of words. “I can’t, Yue. At least, not yet.” She sighed. “I still have work here, unfinished business.”

“Ah. I see.” Yue’s face fell. “Well, when you’re done… come find me.”

Suki grinned. “That won’t be a problem. You’re hard to miss.”

“How dare you.” A playful look flickered across Yue’s features. “It’s not polite to comment on a lady’s weight.”

They chuckled together. In a movement so natural that Suki felt she was born to make it, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Yue’s. The kiss was soft, not hungry or needing, and Yue hummed contentedly. 

“The sun’s about to rise,” Yue whispered against her lips. 

“Damn.”

Yue scoffed, pulling away. “Not in front of the baby.”

“He can’t understand me,” Suki said, leaning in and kissing Yue again. 

“Suki,” Yue giggled. “I have to go.” She ran her fingers through Suki’s hair, murmuring, “I’ll see you again?”

“Of course.”

Yue reached for Arnook, taking the baby into her arms. “Say goodbye, Arnook.”

He gurgled at Suki, and she held up her hand in a lame wave as a response. 

“Goodbye, Suki.”

“Goodbye-” but both Yue and Arnook had already disappeared. 

Suki rolled onto her back, gazing up at the ceiling of the hovel. Sunlight peeked through a few holes in the wood. She closed her eyes, and slept.