#two days later spoiler joins the fray | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

myreia · 4 months ago

Text

Desiderium

CHAPTER ONE: THE LIGHT IN THE DARK

Chapter Rating: Teen (full story Explicit) Characters: Aureia Malathar (WoL), Thancred Waters Pairings: Aureia/Thancred Chapter Words: 2,927 Notes: Set during early Endwalker, spoilers for the start of the expac. Summary: After arriving in Old Sharlayan, Aureia wants to see Thancred’s old haunts. He could not be happier to oblige, but his thoughts are occupied by something else entirely. Prompt: ii. hands | blush Chapters: one • two • three • four • five Read on AO3

Grey clouds gather above Scholar’s Harbour as the sun slips below the horizon, a silent herald to a change in the weather.

Aureia observes the sea from the Last Stand, forgoing a seat to instead balance on the railing that lines the café’s perimeter. She turns her mug in her hands, warming her palms against it, and raises it to her lips. For her first night in a new city, she feels a surprising amount of calm. The others have all retired for the evening or otherwise disappeared—G’raha and Y’shtola to the library, the twins to the home of some old friend from the Studium, Urianger to wander the Agora, Krile back to the Baldesion Annex, Estinien to some private place to swing his lance around… They agreed to reconvene in the Annex’s main hall later to discuss their plans before bed, but she can’t bring herself to venture indoors yet. After two moons on a ship, the wide, open boulevards of Old Sharlayan are more than welcome.

The trip was fine, all things considered. One day in and she was jokingly referring to it as a much-needed holiday; out on the open sea life came a standstill, all emergencies put on pause while the wind and the waves carried them to their destination. By the end of the first week, it was less of a joke, the cramped space and lack of activity putting unwanted stress on her mind. By the end of the second, it was no longer enchanting.

Her friends were well-meaning. Estinien tried his best, talking the captain into letting them attempt a training regiment adjusted for the ship’s deck. That ended the day Alisaie joined them and almost knocked him overboard. Alphinaud sought an alternative route, advocating the merits of engaging one’s mind rather than the body. He manifested several tomes on summoning—she doesn’t know from where—and encouraged her to sit and read, arguing that this was as good as any a time to fill the gaps in her knowledge.

Weeks of study and she has yet to summon a simple carbuncle.

With little to do but sit, read, walk the deck—sit, read, walk the deck—and cycle through the same conversations again and again, it’s no wonder she was beginning to feel a little loopy by the end of it. The suffocating stale air of the lower cabins, the endless rock of the ship, the inability to pick a direction at random and take off… She once thought sailors had the most freedom out of any, but now she thinks it an illusion of choice. The ship may go where she pleases, but the people onboard? Trapped.

At this rate the vision she saw this morning may have very well been a hallucination. Hydaelyn has been silent to her for years, her presence a faint whisper around the edges of her mind at most. The woman she saw—tall, proud, ancient, observing her with kind eyes and an even kinder smile—was little more than an echo, fraying at the seams. It is strange to finally put a face to the voice after so many years, and she can’t express how wrong it feels.

Those eyes… She can’t get them out of her head. Intense blue, sharp and passionate and unyielding. She saw them reflected in Minfilia once, then again in Ryne. Love that does not need to be spoken, love that is as enduring and boundless as the sea.

The love of a primal. The love of a god.

Love that can as assuredly drown as much as it can soothe.

A part of her wishes she had never seen it.

Perhaps she didn’t. Perhaps she made it up.

We shall meet again… and soon.

The promise echoes in the corners of her mind. What does it mean, they will meet again? Hydaelyn herself? Or this mortal image of her? Both? She wants nothing more than to tear it free and let it go, casting it to the winds like a fallen leaf ripped from her hands on a cool autumn day. Lost and forgotten.

“Is it to taste?”

The sound of Thancred’s voice snaps her back to the present. She blinks, the warmth of affection washing over her as she notes the familiar trudge of his steps and senses his presence behind her.

Aureia rests the lip of the mug against her mouth, hiding her smile. “It’s fine, I suppose,” she replies. “A bit too dark and bitter. Not even a healthy dose of milk can save this. Over-steeped and scalded with boiling water, if I were to guess. Sharlayans seem to have many areas of expertise, but brewing tea is not one of them.”

“Always a critic, I see. You could ask for sugar, you know.”

“And ruin it even further? Please. You know sugar in my tea is an offense I take personally.”

He snorts with laughter and sidles up beside her, resting his folded arms against the railing. The wind plays in his hair as he looks outward to the harbour, hazel eyes bright and observant in the dusky rose light. “You know, Aureia darling, you were never this opinionated in Ul’dah,” he says. “I don’t recall you caring much about your tea.”

“I may have picked up some opinions in Doma. Hien and Yugiri’s influence, of course.”

“Hm. I think not.”

“You think not?”

“The change began sooner than that. Ishgard, if I recall correctly, with a certain Lord Commander, no?”

“Aymeric may have changed my tastes in some regards, but certainly not with tea.”

He chuckles and kisses the top of her head. “If you say so.”

Together they fall silent, observing the shifting crowd. A scattering of people makes their way across the piers—gleaners and merchants, most like—moving with purposeful intensity. The city is busy in a way other major metropolises are not. Ul’dah’s streets are cramped and congested, sticky with suffocating heat and the scent of crime. Limsa Lominsa’s are open and chaotic, her people as unpredictable as the seas that surround her. And Ishgard wavers between the stately judgement of the Pillars and the brazen instability of the Brume.

But here in Old Sharlayan, everyone seems to have a purpose. A goal. United in their diligence, content with their place in society. She is certain there are the outliers—those who do not fit, who are not so easily shoved into a convenient box—but they seem few and far between. Twelve hours in the city and she has never seen anything quite so… harmonious. Even the Crystarium was not this cohesive.

It’s a little uncanny.

Aureia takes another sip of tea and glances sideways at Thancred. What does he see, she wonders? She’s an outsider to Sharlayan, her observations clouded by her limited understanding and her experiences with the abandoned colony in the Dravanian hinterlands. But he was raised here, educated here—a home of sorts, though he has never referred to it as that. He is in tune to the rhythms of the city, its complexities and intricacies. He will see something she does not.

“You didn’t get anything?” she remarks, testing the waters as she searches for a lead into her real question.

He shrugs and adjusts his coat, tugging his collar high enough to hide his tattoos. “Dickon had some grandiose idea about fine wines to follow up with after a fine meal. I had to extricate myself before his suggestions became too tempting.”

“Hm.” She taps her fingers against the side of her mug, recognizing the weary irritation in his voice. They both have not touched alcohol in years but leaving it behind was far from an easy thing to do. A few years ago, she would never have batted an eye at how present it is in the lives of most, but now she cannot have it… It is inescapable.

A knot twists itself in her stomach. Not wishing to dwell on where her thoughts have taken her, Aureia turns sideways and proffers her mug to him. He takes it without question and sips quietly, brows drawing together with distaste.

Or perhaps it’s not the tea at all that is bothering him so. Perhaps it’s the couple he is staring at, eyes fixed on their passage as they walk through pier, smiles bright and laughter ringing across the harbour. A Miqo’te and an Elezen—students, by the look of then, content to be done class for the day. They pause halfway down the path, the Elezen sweeping the Miqo’te to the side to kiss her.

“You were not wrong,” Thancred says with a grimace. “That is… awfully bitter.”

Aureia raises her chin in challenge. “You can have it, if you want.”

“I think this is more to your taste than it is mine.”

He looks her dead in the eye and takes another sip.

She snorts with laughter and shakes her head, turning back to watch the passersby. The air is grey with the promise of snow, the wind still as if it is holding its breath. Boats creak in the harbour, bobbing up and down on gentle waves, their mariners returned to land for the night. Shadows flicker down the street as the lamplights ignite one by one, preparing the city streets for evening.

“Is it strange?” she asks after a moment. “Returning here after so long…”

“Not at all. Or… aye, perhaps it is.” He lowers the mug, swishing the remaining tea back and forth. “Time will pass—and faster than you expect—yet the haunts of your youth will remain uncannily the same. Were I to recall the tale of every misadventure that has befallen me since I left these shores, we would be here well into the early hours of the morning. And yet when I look upon this place, it has both been years and none at all.”

The wooden railing creaks beneath her as she shoves herself a little closer to him. “Any charming stories to share of your misadventures here?” she asks, crossing her ankles, her feet dangling in the air.

He chortles and raises the mug. “Aye, though I doubt you would consider any of them charming. Questionable, on the other hand…”

“Oh? Embarrassed to share the highlights of your rambunctious youth, are we?”

“Embarrassed? No. Restraining from making a fool of myself by speaking openly of them in public? Yes.”

She catches his eye, noting the sly smile hidden behind the mug. He is unexpectedly playful this evening, his spirits high, all the grumbling and the groaning he did about their time at sea vanished the moment he stepped foot on land. Good ol’ Sharlayan, he called it as the ship pulled into harbour.

His gaze is trained on her with an intensity she hasn’t seen in moons, as if they are a step out of time with the rest of the world. The Last Stand may be crowded with its evening rush, but in this moment, she is the only one who exists.

Aureia pauses and rests a hand on the railing, her fingers brushing against his elbow. She breathes a sigh and turns back to watch the harbour. Though it is now absent of workers, the wanderers have emerged—people there by choice to enjoy the promenades, some alone, some together. There are more than a handful of couples roaming arm-in-arm, bundled in thick cloaks and heavy coats.

Her heart pangs, aching unexpectedly at the sight, and she shoots a sideways glance at Thancred. The desire to be close to him flares in her chest. They had weeks of proximity on the ship, but it was different in such confined quarters. Close, yet far away.

Not that she can imagine them strolling through the streets or being so outward with their affection. Especially in public. They would rather not have more eyes on their relationship than necessary. Even the Worldly Affairs official wasn’t told of their marriage, though she suspected it would have made passing through immigration easier. She wasn’t keen to leverage her weight as the Warrior of Light or the Champion of Eorzea here—big, important titles with an even bigger and more important meaning, and exactly the kind that fall flat on the ears of tired bureaucrats chained to proper procedure.

And yet defining herself as his spouse—as an Archon’s wife—left her feeling odd, as if she were dependent on him. They are a pair, true, but their partnership does not cost them their independence. She can handle her own problems. Besides, she needs to stand with Estinien as the only other non-Sharlayan washing up unasked on its shores.

Aureia wrinkles her nose. She is still annoyed at how easily the Archons among them breezed by—and how close Estinien was to being ejected altogether if Krile hadn’t shown up. Damn Sharlayan and its closed borders. After seeing the remnants of their colony, she carries some disdain for the nation. To prop themselves up as cultivators of knowledge, only to hoard it and file it away, shutting out the outside world. They could do so much good with what they have learned. And yet they keen to keep their neutrality, tucked away safely on their little island, away from calamity, away from strife…

Let it go, Aureia. You barely know this place. Reserve your judgement until you have seen more, yes?

“Gil for your thoughts?” Thancred asks after a moment, observing her with concern.

She arches an eyebrow, leaning in close. “Think you can afford them?”

“We share finances, Aureia darling, if I can’t afford them then I know you’ve spent an outrageous fortune on another gaudy replica of a weapon you are never going to use and I may have to ask Tataru to stage an intervention.”

“…I thought you said you wouldn’t bring that up again.”

“You drag me through the dirt on a daily basis, I must return the favour now and again. Considering you and Urianger have such easy access to ammunition for attacks on my character, I have precious few defenses on which to fall back on. I’m not going to give this one up so easily.”

She grins, her laughter disappearing into the breeze as the wind picks up. It tugs at her ponytail and chafes her cheeks, blowing a strand of hair across her face. The scent of brine washes over her, crisp and salty and fresh, and the first few flakes of snow fall at last.

The cold of the Northern Empty is a different, kinder cold than what she knows. The frozen wastes of Garlemald are harsh and brutal, as eager to conquer and dominate as the empire that rose there. The snows of Ishgard and lonesome and severe, their saving grace the warmth of Coerthan hearths and the way they push strangers together. But here in Old Sharlayan the cold is light and airy, as magical as the northern lights winding their way across the heavens.

Thancred grunts in protest and lowers the mug.

“Something wrong?”

He looks away, expression soured as he observes a pair of Viera. Gleaners, by the looks of them—the uniform is unmistakeable, as are the packs on their backs. They could have been any couple—friends, colleagues, something else—if not for the small touches. Brushing hair off the collarbone, a hand on an arm. A lingering look, a small smile. An affectionate laugh, wholesome and private.

His eyes flick away, staring listlessly into the middle distance as the couple passes the Last Stand. “Bitter tea I can stand,” he says finally. “Bitter and cold tea, I could do without.”

She reaches for the mug, her fingers brushing the back of his hand as they pass by. Neither of them has had time to change; they are still in their travel clothes, which in his case means his usual kit—heavy coat, boots, armguards. The metal and leather are cold to the touch, but she can sense the warmth beneath. He tenses, stirred by her touch, an aching yearning hanging in the passing seconds before—

The moment breaks.

Aureia exhales as her fingertips touch the porcelain, summoning a gentle ball of fire-aspected aether. It warms the mug in a brilliant blaze and puffs out. “There,” she says, lowering her hands and folding them in her lap. “Better?”

He catches her eye. In answer, he tilts his head back and drains the rest of the mug, finishing it off. He sets it on the table behind them (ignoring the mumbled protests and dirty eyes of the couple seated there), places two hands on the railing and leaps over it. He drops down the far side and lands on the stone walkway, his white coat flaring out around him.

Her mouth twitches. “Must you always play the part of the overdramatic fool?” she grumbles. “There’s a perfectly reasonable set of steps over there, you know.”

Thancred glances over his shoulder at her and smirks. “If we’re discussing dramatics, you’re not one to talk. Besides, this is the best avenue to avoid Dickon. I… suspect I may have caused offense. Earlier.”

“Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.” He proffers a hand. “Shall we?”

She snorts with laughter, grinning from ear to ear. With an affectionate sigh, she pushes off the ledge and lands beside him, ignoring the strange looks they attract from passersby. Taking his hand, she loops her arm with his and allows him to pull her away, steering them down the path and away from the café.

#ffxiv #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv fic #ffxiv fanfiction #wolcred #warrior of light #thancred waters #aureia malathar #oc tag #writing tag #endwalker #endwalker spoilers

17 notes · View notes

thetismcave · 1 year ago

Text

Another dramatic drabble with some more headcanons

Session 7 spoilers :)

It really is an apocalypse, Scott thought, watching the carnage from atop the cliffs.

The world had gone mad. The plateau below was splattered with blood, and death was spreading like an infection through the ranks of the players.

He was hiding in his own base, from his own teammates. Maybe it was stupid to keep hanging around, but he knew this place well, and he was pretty sure they didn’t think he’d come back. He’d nearly been killed getting chased out by his own teammate, for fucks sake.

He’d gone to ground after that, but he knew that without info he was a sitting duck. So, here he was, on one of his increasingly rare ventures to the surface, crouching in a tree and watching the grasslands below.

When Cleo dug through their wall, he couldn’t help but be relieved. His instinctive reaction was affirmed when they, treading just as lightly as he was, showed no signs of hostility or of alerting the hunters.

“Hi,” he grinned at her.

“Hi, hi!” They replied, a stressed little laugh in their voice as they creeped through the new opening.

“What’s happening? Why is there a Warden now?” Scott asked softly as she filled in the wall behind herself.

“They’re trying to get me,” she grimaced, easing into a crouch beside him, sheltered under the trees. “As the last- the last green.”

Scott hummed a tense reply, leaning against the rough bark of the oak, slowly creeping further into his- the base.

“Gem also has no band loyalty anymore,” he said nonchalantly, not looking at Cleo, “Because she died, came back as a red, and tried to kill me. So, I had to flee. I’ve been skulking around my own base all day.”

He said it offhandedly, like it was just another anecdote. Like it was an interesting tidbit instead of a near deadly betrayal.

He knew they could see right through him.

She knew what was genuinely laidback and what was a coverup. She knew how much he hated this, how deeply his loyalty ran.

“Widow’s Alliance?” She offered, holding out her arm. The shifting moonlight hit a tattoo, a blue rope winding down the inside of her wrist, its end frayed and orange. He’d known it was there. It’s partner was on his arm, after all. He could barely see his own now, however. The lava from his latest capital ‘D’ Death had burned away most of the skin on his arms. It was there though, the orange strands twisting along his forearm, just a little buried by scar tissue.

(The care was still there too, even though at the start they’d promised to go their separate ways. Even though their bond had been tried by nearly five of these damned games.)

If there was one constant in this mess, it was Cleo, and he could really use a damn anchor right now. He trusted her, and he hoped the feeling was mutual.

“I guess so.” He took her forearm, and the frayed ends of their ties met.

Later, after they joined up with BigB, the infected began closing in again. As they took shelter behind the walls, Scott let the other two know about his makeshift bunker, the one not even his teammates knew about.

“You know me, I’m not gonna go after you.” Cleo said, casually, as if it was a given, a law of nature that he could show her his secrets, his backup plans, without fear. And really, it was, wasn’t it? Even if Cleo didn’t have clear memories of the games before, they knew, somehow, that they could put their back to his and be defended.

He’d wondered sometimes if Cleo, ever the survivor, trusted him as implicitly as he trusted them. As they descended into the mines, he realized that now he knew. Even if neither of them realized it, they were each other’s safety net, a soft place to fall that went beyond alliances, or games, or even memories.

And even though they were being hunted, even though the rest of the world was baying for their blood, Scott felt, impossibly, like they could weather anything this apocalypse could throw at them.

#life series #scott smajor #fanfiction #secret life #zombiecleo #dangthatsalongname #smajor1995 #Tal writes #they got the tattoos after double life :)#platonic soulmates who defy fate itself for each other <3 #a sort of sequel to the other drabble?#and ig it could technically be part of an au??#widows alliance

32 notes · View notes

polyamanga · 11 months ago

Text

Poly Rep: Girlfriend, Girlfriend

Girlfriend, Girlfriend is a romantic-comedy manga by author Hiroyuki.

Naoya has been in love with Saki for years, but despite constantly declaring his love, she's always rejected him--until recently. Not too long after they start dating, though, Naoya is asked out by Nagisa, a girl who has had a crush on him for a while.

Nagisa shows such dedication that Naoya can't bring himself to turn her down...so he takes her to Saki, and asks her permission to date them both. Initially, Saki is vehemently against it, but Nagisa gives her puppy dog eyes and says "pleeeaaaseeee??" Saki can't say no to a cute girl, so she agrees.

GFGF is a comedy series first, and a romance series second. The polyamorous relationship between the main three is used as a vessel for the series' comedy. This usually consists of characters being angry about it for laughs. The relationship is consistently referred to as "two-timing", etc, and the readers are reminded very often that Naoya is scum for dating two women. It gives the impression that the author is only writing about polyamory because he thinks it's funny, and he thinks it's funny because it's wrong...which is very frustrating as a polyamorous reader.

The series can never seem to decide whether or not Saki and Nagisa are happy in this relationship. They will waffle between being perfectly content, and wanting Naoya to themselves and lamenting the situation they're in. Then, later on, Mirika and Shino join the fray, and they are both constantly deriding the relationship and expressing how wrong it is. (At least Shino makes solid points, interrogating Naoya about bigamy being illegal, and asking how he intends to financially support two people in this economy. She comes at it the wrong way, but her concerns are valid lol.)

During certain stretches of the series, it feels like every chapter is telling the reader, "this relationship is morally and socially wrong, but isn't it funny how scummy this guy is?"

Spoilers from here on out:

There are some very lovely moments, in particular chapter 129, after Saki has broken off the relationship because sharing Naoya makes her too sad. While the plot development itself feels like its retreading the same ground other arcs did, the conclusion is heartfelt. Shino and Nagisa agree that if Saki isn't happy, the relationship can't work, and they'll back off so she can date Naoya monogamously. They tell her that they love her, and want to see her happy, and they hope one day she might love them just as much. Saki bursts into tears and exclaims that she loves them both so much, and she always had fun while they were together. She comes to the conclusion that she's ultimately okay with the relationship after all, because, despite the sadness she feels from sharing Naoya, the happiness she feels at seeing the girls she cares about happy as well outweighs it.

THIS is fantastic. It's beautifully written and illustrated, the drama is great and heart-wrenching. I cry every time I read it.

But it's followed by Saki kind of, sighing, rolling her eyes, and letting Shino into the polycule. It still feels begrudging, even after all of that. Again, it's frustrating to read.

I could rant forever about Mirika and how deeply irritating I found her as a character, but I'll summarize it as this: she spends the entire series telling the main cast that not only is their relationship wrong and never going to work, but she's going to break them up and keep Naoya for herself. Then she joins the polycule at the end with no significant development to change that perspective. It's unsatisfying, not only because all of her wrong-doing throughout the series is basically ignored/forgiven, but it also doesn't do her character any sort of justice. SHE didn't want to be in a polyamorous relationship. She actively hated the idea, and down to the very last second, she continues to refuse it. Then...Naoya begs her to join the polycule, and she says yes. That's it.

I would say, in my opinion, as far as polyamorous representation goes, GFGF mostly fails. Some moments shine through, but the majority of the series is almost hostile to the very concept of polyamory, even if it is done in a comedic fashion.

If you're able to take this kind of writing on the chin and not be bothered by it, you very well might enjoy GFGF. I wouldn't go so far as to never recommend it to anyone looking for poly rep in anime/manga. But I definitely know of other series I'd recommend first.

#girlfriend girlfriend #kanojo mo kanojo #Poly rep #poly representation #polyamory

14 notes · View notes

nastudragneel · 2 years ago

Text

Grand Magic Games

NSFW 18+

SPOILER

Natsu X Reader

You have a round in the Grand Magic Games with Natsu but as your targeted he protects you. After you and him discover dragon bones under the stadium you bring the other dragon slayers to see and talk to a spirit of a dragon. After you all went back to town. You and Natsu went back to the inn in a single bed room for some fun.

Established relationship of nine years after the Tenro arc

At The Grand Magic Games

At The Bikini Scene

You see alot of girls jumping down in their bikinis so you decide.

'Oh fuck it let's go!' You think as you jump off allready changed into a bikini.

'What are you doing?' Natsu telepathically asks you.

'Having some fun!' You reply.

Down in the arena all kinds of women were posing so you do the same. You loved it when the crowd went wild as you joined the fray. Having both breasts and a butt. After many different outfits you finally got to the wedding dress part. As Lisanna was speaking to Natsu who you didnt realize he came down, you "accidentally" tripped and fell into your lover's arms.

"Tsu-kun thank you for catching me" you say as he holds you up while Lisanna looks embarrassed. He whispers in your ear

"I cant wait to marry you (n) are you okay?" You giggle and nod as you see Lisanna walk away. He let's you hold yourself up. Then Lucy bumps into him.

"Hey what's the big idea?! Oh Lucy you okay?" Natsu says.

"Ya I'm okay but why are we demeaning ourselves for the crowd?" Lucy says.

"Its to show that Fairy Tail has it all" you reply.

A light bulb clicked in Natsus head he immediately takes off his jacket and places it on you.

"Let's go (n)!" He yells as he grabs your hand and runs to the exit. The announcers say

"Oh look at this folks Dragneel is holding hands with (n) are they boyfriend and girlfriend?" The announcers yelled as the crowd gets riled up.

"Shes my Mate as a dragon slayer!!" Natsu yelled at the announcers. The pumpkin head says

"Well you heard it first here audience (n) is definitely taken by the dragon slayer Natsu!" The announcers say.

Once at the gate everything dissapears and your just in a bikini and Natsu in his regular outfit.

"What do ya think you were doing shaking your butt for everyone ... besides me...." Natsu pouts. You turn around and shake your butt then rub up against him. Holding your hands behind you and ruffle his hair as he pants lightly while roaming your body while noone is around. Turning around you gently kiss him, play with his hair, and rub his chest as you pant lightly. He reciprocates and kisses back with intensity so you match him and start making out.

'Later what do ya say we get our own room tonight?' He telepathically says.

'Sounds great to me I'll buy a room tonight' you think as you kiss him. Both of you hearing footsteps you both stop embarrassed you both may have been caught. So you hold his hand and you both run to the arena seats, where Fairy Tail was. Behind you Lisanna showed up then a little while the others showed up. You stood next to Natsu in the front.

The Next Day

After the main event came the battle event and Sixth Master decided to switch it up from Gajeel to you and Natsu for the battle portion. Walking hand in hand out to the arena after Sabertooth was announced. You both let go of your hands.

"Looks like the couple is ready to fight! Natsu Dragneel and (N/L)" The announcers yell.

"What?! Wheres Gajeel? I dont want to fight a girl!" Rogue yells at Natsu.

"Oh believe me (n) is our strongest dragon slayer in Fairy Tail! She was also with me on Tenro island for those seven years" Natsu defends you.

"Heh that just means we have seven years on you two losers!" Sting yells.

"All right everyone let's get ready for this fight and go!" Pumkin man says as the gong sounds. No one moved at first but then they started spouting off nonsense like how they killed their parents. You hear Natsu say

"Thay were your parents dont you even care?!"

"You guys are scum I cant wait to dispose of you" you say crossing your arms.

"Shut your mouth sweetheart you dont matter" Sting says venomous. You just shrug it off as Natsu is steaming.

"I wont let you talk to her like that!" Natsu yelled as he ran up to Sting and punched him hard. Rogue says to you

"So your my opponent let's go"

He attacks as you block every move perfectly.

"How can you block my attacks I'm a shadow!" Rouge yelled frustrated.

"I've trained against a lot of different dragon slayers except you two and our master uses light so your the only one I havent battled with now" you yell as you cetch him off guard grab his wrist and slam him into the ground. You felt pain behind you as you turn your head to see Sting had attacked you to provoke Natsu ripping some of your clothes. You had been wearing a crop top and shorts. You were flung fifty feet away and landed in the dirt on your feet.

"Once we win I'll make her mine and do whatever I want to her, what do you say to a bargain? And if you win?" You hear Sting yell.

"I wont let that happen! (N) is mine and mine alone!" Natsu yelled at Sting. As you were distracted Sting and Rouge dragon roared at you from opposite sides. At the last second you see Natsu hop behind your back and you both dragon roared dispersing their attack.

'Think if you need me that was too close' Natsu thinks telepathically since you've both imprinted.

'I'm sorry I'm just pissed off and let them corner me let's do this' you think to Natsu. You go for Sting as Natsu goes for Rogue. Blocks and dodges then you get a punch in, using your gravity throwing him into a wall.

'Okay switch now!' You think. You and Natsu switch enemies and run so fast it looks like you teleported. Then barrage punch your assigned enemy. Once done you both jump back. Sting and Rogue jump up high as they use

"Holy Ray!" Sting yells.

"Unison Raid!" Rogue yells.

'Shit!' You think as Natsu jumps to your back.

'Dragon roar now!' Natsu thinks to you. You first really quickly while Sting and Rogue are powering up, use

'Gravity armor! Gravity dragon roar!' You think as Natsu thinks

'Iron dragon roar' but it wasnt enough as the ground gave way and you both fall though you feel Natsu wrap his arms around you. As you use your gravity armor on him as well to cushion his blow as hes holding you, you being on top then bam! You both hit the bottom and lay there for a second as Natsu thinks

'You okay (n)?'

'Ya ugh are you okay tsu-kun?' You think.

'Ya I'm fine. Now I've got a fire in my belly!' Natsu yells in both your minds. Sting and Rogue fall down facing both of you.

'Sorry (n)' Natsu thinks as he pushes you into a mine cart and pulls the lever.

"Nats- blehhh" you go riding down the mine cart feeling super motion sick. After a while you cant hear Natsu or the crowd anymore, suddenly the cart stops fast throwing you out. You fall into a wall and think

'Damn you Natsu you show off' you slowly get up aggravated. You look around only to see all kinds of dragon bones walking around the mine.

Natsus POV

You give a speech about how you know the timing of their moves and power levels then they attack with

"Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang!" Sting yells as Rogue yells

"White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!" They both combined their powers and right before their attack you create

"Hidden Fire Form- Crimson Lotus Phoenix Blade!" You yell as it cuts through both their moves and burns them to a crisp. Sting and Rogue fall koed! The crowd goes wild and the announcer says

"Dragneel defeated them both at once! Amazing folks! Ten points to Fairy Tail!"

'I need to go get (n) or shell kill me' you think as theres too many walls to use telepathy. You go down to the mines as you leave them behind you.

~(n) POV

You cry as your weakness is being alone. Eventually you cant go on and shiver, sitting down crying by yourself. Trying to telepathically contact Natsu but the walls are too thick.

Natsus POV

You keep walking down the rail cart trail as you start to feel (n) and hear her physically sobbing. You feel terrible but am able to feel her imprint.

'Natsu dont leave me alone please.... I cant be alone...' you hear (n) think.

'(N!) I'm here where are you?' You think to (n).

'I'm right here..' she thinks to you as you start to feel your imprints. As you make your way down further into the cave you see a familiar figure.

"(N!)" You yell as the figure stands sobbing. You go up to her and hug her close.

"Dont worry I would never leave you. I will ALWAYS come to you." You say as her sobbing slows then stops.

"I love you Natsu" she says and you retort

"I love you too (n). Let's go (n)"

"Wait you have to see this" she holds your hand and walks further down to the ground floor. You see all kinds of bones.

"These are-"

"Dragon bones" she finishes your sentence as you stare across the room looking at so many bones.

"I think we should show the others" She says and you just nod. You both hold hands and walk out of the mine shaft. Sting and Rogues bodies were gone when you got to the gaping hole in the stadium.

"Ready?" She asks quizzically.

"Yea let's go" you say.

(N) POV

"Yea let's go" Natsu says as you use gravity wings. You link arms together as you fall upward and out of the gaping hole on to the stadium's sand. Everyone has gone home after the fight.

"Of course you won my love" you say huffing a bit.

"What's with the pouting? I was only protecting you imagine if people found out you can turn into half a dragon? Everyone would be after you" Natsu says while you ponder but let him down on the sand. Then you stop using gravity wings and your feet plop down next to his.

"Since you left me alone you must compensate me tonight."

You say puffing and crossing your arms. Natsu just nods then quickly hugs you close and ruffles your hair.

"Okay (n) I promise" you hear Natsu whisper then nibbled on your ear causing you to shiver. You hug him close, then let go. His arm around your shoulder, walking back to the inn. Once there you inquire about one room one bed which was freed up by someone leaving. So you pay, then head to the tavern where everyone was hand in hand. Once in you spot Gajeel, Wendy, Lille, Happy and Carla.

"Hey guys come with us, got somethin to show you its important" Natsu says as you nod and squeeze his hand, he squeezes back. You all follow Natsu down into the stadium's mine system until you all find.

"Oh my dragon bones!" Wendy yells frightened.

"No need to be scared Wendy looks like they've been dead for a long time" Gajeel says as Lille crosses his arms. "We just found this place guys" you say as you squeeze Natsus hand.

'Being here makes me sick' you think to Natsu who thinks back

'Itll be okay I'm here'

"I just learned a spell for this at first I thought it was an attack spell but maybe it's not" Wendy says as she works on her magic circle. After shes finished she summons the Jade dragon who tells everyone, mainly the cats about humans and dragons, dragon slayers, and the war between dragons and humans. Then he tells everyone about dragon slayers and how they eventually will turn into dragons if they keep using the power. After all of that he dissapears no spirit energy left. Everyone looked shocked.

"Can we go back now?" You ask everyone.

"We might as well theres nothing left here but bones" Gajeel says pointing out the obvious.

We all make our way out of the cavern using the exceeds to get the others out while you used gravity wings. Once back in town most of them went back to the tavern while you and Natsu went back to the inn to your one bedroom for the night. 'Intimacy is important' you think as Natsu makes sure the door is locked and the curtains were drawn.

'Yes it is dear' he replies through telepathy. He ditches his shirt and helps you take off your shirt to reveal your pierced breasts. You squish your breasts against his chest making him huff a little and blush. As you rub your pierced breasts down to remove your shorts and panties he rubs your clit making you huff and moan slightly holding a hand onto his chest. He grabs your hand helping you stand then slips it down to your waist. As he attempts to undo his pants you help him as they fall to the floor and his boxers. You feel an erection between your legs and decide to please him. He let's you go as you make your way down to his twitching member. You tease him first giving small kisses.

'(N) pleaseee' he thinks to you.

"Okay okay Tsu-kun" you whisper as you take his throbbing member into your mouth. Your pierced tounge swirling around his tip and member then starting to bob your head in and out until you were deep throating him as he gently grabs your hair and tugs gently. So you go faster making sucking noises along the way as you start hearing soft moans getting louder with each stroke.

'Dont forget to be quite our teammates are on the other wall across from us' you think to him.

'I uh know mhh sweetie uhh' he thinks back to you. You slow to a stop as you feel him pout.

'My turn silly' you think as you sit on the bed and spread your smooth legs. Natsu gets down on his knees and starts to lick your clit making you moan in surprise.

'Shh (n) we have neighbors remember' he thinks taunting you as his dragons tounge slips into your hole making you moan a bit louder as you slap your hand to your mouth.

'You uh did that mnnhh on purpose ahh' you think as he retorts

'Didn't you say earlier to compensate you?'

'Your right... ouhh' you stutter. After you eyes were swirling you feel him stop clit twitching. He pounces on you on the bed as you both reajust. He kisses you as you taste yourself on his tounge, playing around with eachothers tounges going deeper almost into eachothers throats but not enough to gag. While you both were making out

'Are you ready' he thinks to you.

'Yes please Mr. Dragneel' you think

'Ou Mr. Dragneel I like it, you know one day you'll be Ms. Dragneel' he thinks as he adjusts his tip at your entrance. Breaking for air you think

'Pleassee pretty please' you think to him.

'I like it when you beg for me, okay I'll give it to you my sweet dragon' he thinks as he pushes in the tip in, as you gasp and moan at the same time. He puts a finger over your lips and whispers in your ear

"Shh baby, cant have them hearing" he says as he pushes in slow enough for your body to adjust. Squeezing your cervix on his member makes him gasp and moan into your breast. He pushes in a bit more and a bit more letting you adjust until he pushes in the last bit hitting your g spot making you bite your tounge around the piercing. He moans softly and grunts while hes in push up position with his knees bent.

'Ready (n)?' He thinks to you and you nod. Slowly he starts pumping as you both moan softly then he speeds up a bit and more making you both pants, huff and moan softly. As he speeds up in a good motion you match his speed humping upward with a hand on his chest and the other playing with his hair. He kisses you deeply as he speeds up rocking the bed slightly. You both moan as you play with eachothers tounges him playing with your tounge bar.

'Natsuuu I'm I'm gonna cum' you say as he replys

'Cum baby cum' he sucks on your tounge as you moan in ecstasy. He continues to pound you riding out your high. Continuing to pound you he keeps this pace hitting your g spot continuously. After awhile your both panting and huffing outloud.

'(N) I'm gonna I'm gonna cum. How are uh you?' Natsu thinks to you

'I'm going to cum too Natsu' you think to him.

He speeds up a bit more both of you huffing and panting grunting and moaning.

'Its right now I'm gonna cum babe!' he thinks

'Me too baby!' You think as he yells in thought

'I'm cumming!' He thinks

'Me too!' You think as your cervix constricts around his member causing him to slip a loud moan you tilt his head down to kiss you to muffle the noise. Him releasing his hot liquid cum into you as you cum. Natsu was panting and huffing from that work out, while you were huffing and panting as well.

'How are you Tsu-kun?' You think to him as he falls to your side near the wall.

'I'm amazing feels like I'm so relaxed. How are you feeling(n) my lover?' He thinks to you as you grab a towel and let it all drip out onto the towel and fold that part. Then you hand Natsu the towel so he can clean himself. After you put the towel back and lay down close to Natsu. You snuggle up to your fire dragon slayer for warmth as he wraps an arm around your neck and pulls you close wrapping his other arm around your shoulder. You wrap the blanket around you.

"Thank you my sweet Tsu-kun" you whisper as he whispers back

"Anything for my lovely (n)"

"I love you Natsu"

"I love you too (n) let's hit the hay come as close as you can" he says wrapping intertwining his legs with yours.

'Goodnight Natsu' you think

'Goodnight my sweet (n)' Natsu thinks to you as you both drift off to sleep.

#fairytail #fairytailnatsu #natsu dragneel #natsu x reader

49 notes · View notes

blackestnight · 2 years ago

Text

1: res non verba

Prompt: Cross.

Word count: 1682

Contains spoilers for the Reaper job quests, the Dark Knight job quests, but no Endwalker spoilers; also serves as a follow-up to alter idem and absentes adsunt, so I’d recommend reading those if you haven’t.

(actions, not words / a journey; a burden; a joining)

Hanami summons her first voidsent.

The packed earth outside of the entrance to Cutter’s Cry wasn’t quite as hard or cracked as the badlands of Broken Water or the winding canyons of the Red Labyrinth, but Hanami still felt a wave of vertigo as Drusilla faced her, arms crossed with all the expectation of a soldier’s taskmaster. If she’d been a fulm shorter and wearing plate instead of leather, Hanami might have had to close her eyes to keep from seeing Fray in the corners of her vision.

Though, theoretically, she’d be seeing something worse if all went to plan.

“You’ll understand I’m not much in demand for imparting magical learnin’,” Drusilla said, with a wry curl to her mouth, “but given what the mad bastard at the Ossuary said, you’ll be needin’ it. So listen well: if you try to pull this voidsent through body and all, you’re more like to kill yourself in the attempt than get anything useful done. That’s why we call ‘em avatars—they’re not the whole beast, just what power we’re willing to bargain for stuffed into a nice little puppet. I understand your mages like to use statues or pottery to hold the things, but I find them a bit tedious.”

Hanami couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose; she hadn’t had cause to go digging through any Amdapori or Mhachi ruins in a while, but she remembered the damn gargoyles.

“If it were me,” Drusilla continued, “or any of my people, for that matter, we’d use a soul crystal—bloody handy, those things are. They store enough aether for a voidsent to construct a body of its own, at least for a little while, and the more they feed on your victims, the stronger they get. But since you’re bein’ stubborn, I suppose there’s some other trick you’ve a mind to try.”

“I do,” Hanami said, fist clenched in her pocket. “Wait.”

She took a steadying breath, and closed her eyes.

Her soul crystal—Fray’s, once—rested over her ribcage as it nearly always did. At its gentlest it was warm like a blanket left by the hearth, a constant companion—not Fray, not really, not as they’d been in life, but her own heart flavored by the dregs of their memory. Now it prickled against her skin like a hot poker, restless with irritation.

You’re really asking permission of your own delusions, she heard (the voice wasn’t quite hers, too raspy, too alien, but the sentiments were familiar enough to pass as her own mind), to rip open your heart and let a dead thing crawl in for a visit.

Wouldn’t be the first time. Arguably, a voidsent was less dead than some of the other splintered souls that had wedged their way between her ribs. And this one was—maybe—trying to reach out, at least.

You do remember the last time you tried this, you wound up bleeding from your face?

Hanami clenched her jaw—she still had a headache, nearly a full two days later—the noise had been like fingernails on a chalkboard, like metal being chewed up by machinery, only unimaginably louder and echoing directly inside her skull. But the words, jumbled as they had been, were familiar. Home. Light. Love. Save me. If this…thing was what she thought it might be, answering a call for champions, it probably hadn’t hurt her on purpose. Most of the voidsent she’d had the displeasure to meet before weren’t anything resembling human anymore. Who better to play emissary than the fell creature she’d already welcomed into her head?

Ha, she heard. As if you aren’t a fell creature yourself. But the laughter was genuine, if scornful, and the soul crystal settled into a gentle simmer of consent.

Which only left the other thing.

The constellation stone was still wrapped in a scrap of linen, kept carefully separate from her bare fingers after the last disastrous contact she’d had with it. Even through the fabric she could feel it burning—with magic, or with promise. That was part of the reason Drusilla had brought her here in the first place. Cocobuki showed me the scorch marks you left in the street, she’d said, and I rather like this rug.

Carefully, cupped in her hand to conceal it from view, Hanami pulled out the constellation stone and let it slip free of its wrappings.

She still didn’t…entirely understand what had happened, the last time. She only remembered pulsing a little magic into it, the way it had burned like a beacon atop the Crystal Tower, and she’d blacked out soon after. Whatever had made its way through the summoning sigil—if anything—hadn’t lingered long enough for her to see it. But she’d done this, or something like this, once already, and so there was no reason she couldn’t do it again. She just had to do it right.

The Exarch and Elidibus had both talked about rituals and practice, old arcane nonsense for stuffy sorcerers and wizards locked in grand towers. Hanami didn’t do magic, not like that. Her power had always been more primal: raw power, pure intent. A need, and an answer to it. Fray—the thing she’d made of Fray—had said as much: you had a sword and a soul crystal, but what you wanted was a mentor. Shadows spun themselves into shields at her fingertips when her feet were too slow to save her. She would make what she had to, so long as she could pay the cost. Ceremony was incidental. In the Burning Wall, all those years ago, she’d spilled her blood in the soil to tempt beasts to wet her blade at Fray’s behest; now she would bleed aether to tempt something far greater and far more terrible.

She opened her eyes, and darkness boiled on the ground before her.

She hadn’t called up this shadow often—once in the burning memory of Amaurot, the first time, defending her from the monsters that had lunged for her when the Lightwardens’ aether had rendered her blind and useless, and again in the undersea graveyard to drag her through Elidibus’s gauntlet of ghosts. But she recognized the purple-black smoke, the glittering shards of magic that drifted up from the ground, heralding the vessels she’d conjured in the past to hold the shattered pieces of her heart, the same haze that had hung thick around Myste in Gyr Abania when he summoned wave after wave of adversaries from her memory. In another heartbeat or two she would be able to make out an arm, maybe, or the edge of a blade.

In her hand, the constellation stone flared to life, and the ground erupted in fire.

The sigils that had flared on top of the Crystal Tower had been the same clear gold as afternoon sunlight; this time it burned deep orange, like a brushfire, little tongues of purple light dancing from the edges. If Drusilla thought the light show strange Hanami couldn’t see to tell, focused as she was on the scorching heat in her palm. Power and intent, she thought: she had power, and needed only to guide it. The thought came unbidden of the Exarch slamming his staff on the ground, making his grand declarations, but she’d never been fond of theatrics and anyway, the voice had made its desires clear.

Her incantation was simple, in comparison: I’m here. Come home.

The pillar of light flared like a bonfire with ceruleum thrown into its flame, so hot the air currents ruffled Hanami’s hair and the heat forced her to stagger backwards a step; and there, at the heart of the fire, that darkness, the shadow as familiar as her own, only as the light died around it she watched it clutch at the earth and crawl out of it like a corpse clawing out of a grave—

The hazy outline of Esteem solidified as she watched, smoke and shadow given flesh. The gauntlets grew longer, tapering into bloody claws; the faceplate melted away into a gaping maw lined with jagged fangs; the torso oozed out of shape, pulled by its own weight, which made no sense as the familiar skirt ended in dark tatters, short and fluttering around the place where Esteem’s legs no longer were, replaced by crackling red levin and roiling smoke. It was a knight, if a knight could be made of veins and rotting flesh; it was horrid and lovely, a splash of pitch and lurid bleeding red across the browns and blues of the Thanalan desert. Esteem—the voidsent—the avatar howled, once, that same metallic screeching Hanami remembered scouring the inside of her skull, and then its eyeless face swiveled to focus, unerring, on her.

It occurred to her, as the avatar swooped toward her—as Drusilla, somewhere a thousand malms away, cursed—that she might have fucked up.

But the stone in her hand pulsed, once, so bright it felt painful, and before Hanami could move—could begin to reach for the sword at her back—the avatar changed course, diving to the side to skim under her clenched fist and swirl up around her back; before she could run it had pressed its horrid face up next to hers, its teeth cold and wet against the skin of her cheek, and she did stumble back from that only to be caught by its spindly fingers, which curled around her hip in a mockery of a lover’s embrace.

It hovered there, expectant, and the stone hummed with something that could almost pass for—

Joy.

Hanami took another deep breath, and hoped she hadn’t screamed herself hoarse again.

“You said you wanted saving,” she whispered. “You said you wanted me to find you. Are you going to help me, if I help you?”

The avatar unhinged its jaw, and its—eugh—tongue lolled out, nearly brushing her neck. She made a point not to flinch.

Yes, she heard, that same raspy other-voice from her soul crystal, layered with a sound like a shriek trapped in tar. Yes yes yes yes yes. Bargain-maker soul-finder heartsblood yes.

And slowly, so carefully, almost delicate, it tucked its monstrous face against her chest, nestled under her chin, nuzzling against her heart.

#ffxivwrite 2022 #final fantasy xiv #oc: hanami hagane #rpr things #KICKS LEGY IN THE AIR #writing - mine

31 notes · View notes

helpinghanikan · 4 years ago

Text

Shared experience seen by one

Mathew Murdock x Reader

Sum: Movies, books, TV and more have brainwashed the world into thinking your soulmate is one romantic comedy away. But life is never that easy, nor is that cheesy.

AN: I've had this in the back of my mind for awhile. Full disclosure; I'm not good at emotions and I try my best not to make the reader out to be an overly emotional caricature. Spoiler alert, I have failed at both.

“A blowup bed is not that hard to set up, just stay with me instead of waiting for the right place.” Karen had said when you mentioned the impending move to the city. “In fact, you need a job? A very underpaid job?”

The red strand of fate came along during your move. It sometimes tangled while packing, it bended and dipped during the trip, and tightened when reaching Karen’s place. That was how Fate’s strand works; it bounces and moves as you and your soulmate does. It will sway and bounce with your gestures and hand. Although weightless it can be a physical thing to touch and grab, but it takes focus. With enough focus you and Fate can play a game of jump rope; swinging it around with your soulmate on the other side as the anchor. Jumping over the strand like a schoolgirl was Fate themselves. Having a great time watching their chosen couple use the bond to both find eachother and have fun.

Jump rope was played through most of your journey: toying with it on the bus and fiddling while filling out paperwork. It was twirling around your fingers as Karen gave advice for your first day at Nelson and Murdock. “Just bring something food related and they’re gonna love you. Something hearty though, we get enough pastries.” She said then heading out, reminding you to show up around seven.

Just like your nose it’s easy to forget that the strand is there. Just another color that makes up the world all around. It’s only when you reach the building that you notice your strand flat as a table, leading you right into the building.

It’s nothing new for the strand to lead straight ahead. Younger people and children will commonly ignore whatever they were doing before and follow their strand right into the unknown. “Maladaptive following” is the technical for these moments of distraction. Adults will even fall victim to it from time to time: Stopping a business lunch or jog to follow their red strand into the street or some building. Articles and urban legends float about the world stating that many have met their chosen this way. In reality it’s one of the leading causes of death by vehicle for minors.

Now it’s a question whether you were following your strand, or if it just happens to be going in the same direction you were originally headed. Fate was holding your strand so tight it was flat, bouncing as your hands stabilized the box but stayed tight as Fate pulled you forward.

Fate drags your strand into the highest, smallest gap of the elevator’s door. Lifting your head to watch it slide through was giving it too much hope but watching it with eyes was mature enough to acknowledge it without going crazy. Yet as the elevator reached it’s floor, and the strand led straight out, your heart couldn’t help but speed up.

In fiction the sight of your soulmate is portrayed so romantic. There was a few seconds of staring at the shared strand, then at eachother which leads into eye-contact and then a funny/cheesy/romantic line; “I’ve waited so long,” “more beautiful than I could have ever imagined,” or even just “hi,” followed by breathy laughing. They all ended in the two taking a few steps right into each other’s arms.

Your personal situation started off like this. Following the strand across the room and to the man who was your chosen. Following further until the strand was wrapped in a bow on his pinky, on the same hand which held a white cane.

Karen is talking somewhere in the background of your focus. She reaches out towards you in a gesture that is followed by the blonde man stepping up to you with a closed mouth smile. It’s only when he gets to his own name that your ears start to work again.

“-Everyone calls me Foggy, though. It’s good to have join up.”

With the world moving once more the sandwiches almost topple from your hands. Both from trying to get a handout for a proper shake and from realizing no words had come out when you entered.

“Yeah, it’s…hi. I brought lunch, or dinner, or…yeah, they’re just sandwiches.” Were the only comprehensible words that could come out. No matter how hard you tried keep looking at the man in front of you, your eyes kept glancing to the end of your strand.

As the box is taken by Mr. Foggy the second man second, the man at the end of your strand, steps up. Although his face is staring right at you it almost impossible to see his eyes through the glasses. What lines you do see through the glass are likely imaginary; your brain trying to come up with someway that you are special enough to see through his shields.

“Hi, Mathew Murdock,” He says, unfortunately professional.

You shake his hand as well, just as professional but with wondering eyes. Starting at the brown hair with tinges of red in the right light, to the glasses over his eyes which keep you from seeing their color. From his suit without a tie to his hand that held yours in a shake. Where two bows sit side by side, the closest they have ever been.

Fate came along with you at Nelson and Murdock. Instead of being a fellow employee trying their best they just hang around and grinned at you. Sitting on the edge of your desk, playing with the window until Karen had to slam it shut. Blaming it on the faulty building rather than the smirking being that was standing in the middle of the office. Using barely a finger to keep the red strand from touching the floor. Staring you in the eye as they rub your strand between it’s fingers, teasing you with the truth that may not be believed by your chosen.

The entire day is spent as someone else. You were a lightweight as their first party, drinking too much and trying to hide it. Karen was patient as she explained everything but there was still the pressure in the back of your throat. Word vomit threatening to come out at the sight of red, of Mr. Murdock, or of stupid fucking Fate. The latter of which still pulling on the string. Both to keep it from touching the ground and to encourage their chosen couple to do something.

Staring at the abyss between your spot in the corner and Mr. Murdock’s designated office was hypnotizing. Your strand was lightly swinging with Mr. Murdock’s movements. Watching through peripheral vision his fingers drag along paper, reading through touch as he moves the strand without meaning to.

Karen was patient as you struggled to pay attention to the instructions she was giving you. It was too late to say anything about the strand to Mr. Murdock, and this office was way too small for any kind of personal conversation.

“Are you okay?” Karen’s voice is softer than a whisper against your ear. Already leaning over your shoulder, you didn’t flinch at her suddenly speaking. Instead looking over to your new boss and leaning back into Karen. “Sorry. Mr. Murdock and I…And I’ll tell you later.” You whisper, refocusing on the earthly reason you were here.

By the end of your practice there was still no reaction on the side of Mr. Murdock. Although both rude and in bad form a goodbye couldn’t come out while leaving. Instead just a wave towards Mr. Foggy and Mr. Murdock and leaving the door open behind you, Karen following quickly behind. Her heels clip-clapping through the hallway in time with your name called out once, twice…

“Son of a bitch, Karen, I messed up. I don’t know, and now I messed up.” It’s coming out faster than you meant to. With both frustration and almost

Word vomit was finally free to spew. Before the elevator even arrived you were telling Karen everything; about the strand, about the nerves and how you messed up so greatly by not saying anything. When the elevator finally arrived, Karen was guiding you forward. Knowing better than to try and talk anymore while still within Matt’s earshot.

When anyone asks Matt if he eavesdropped, he’d argue; “Of course not, I don’t exactly have a choice with this.” Which was only a half truth, in reality he was a nosy bitch. But it was all for the greater good; clients and their family say the most important things behind closed doors, cops lie and only tell the truth when they think the world isn’t listening, and he just wanted to make sure Karen didn’t get him something he already had.

So, it’s only natural that he listened along as you left.

It took years to try and isolate the noises around him. It was still a struggle to separate them when he first covered his face and climbed to the rooftop. It still hard sometimes, especially when he’s only half focusing, and especially when Karen’s heels can’t be turned off like a radio.

Buried under the heels was your voice. Coming out quickly with a heartbeat to match. “Our strands are connected, and I didn’t say anything and now I don’t know what to do and I can’t say anything now and…” Karen’s soft but sharp voice stops the storm of thoughts coming out. Keeping them at bay until the elevator joins the fray.

It takes longer than it should for Matt to connect the dots. Strands are connected, didn’t say anything…His hands have wondered off of the paperwork in the time it took. Running over the cracks and bits of worn wood from his desk. Dragging up the old crumbs and coffee cup papers that wedged into those gaps. Pulling the smells up and muddying the waters of his sense, hiding the conversation outside until it was impossible to find the women in the hallway.

Matt only had the strand for a short time before the accident. After that it was an overwhelming part of the world. A constant touch on his finger that distracted from something more important. Taking longer than normal people to get used to it, and only a short time after that to completely forget it’s there. It’s been a while since he’s even thought about it: only during selfish moments with a girlfriend. Trying to seek out the vibrations and slightest effect it would have on his chosen. After finding none he’d forget about the strand and move on.

Turning his wrist, he finds the strand once more. Closest he could compare the material to was silk, but it was too soft and slick for it to be that. Tugging on it brought tighter resistance than normal; his chosen’s weight keeping Matt from dragging you right back to him. The resistance getting weaker the more he toyed and the farther you got from him.

There was this urge that goes through everyone when they finally find their chosen. The urge to talk or know them. To hold them tight and find every and any reason that fate had chosen them for eachother. But this was another urge that Matt had to keep down, at least for now.

Yes, that’s what he’s best at, keeping things down. This would have to be different than his old relationships. No trauma bonding over kidnappings as the Devil or making the first move like the suave lawyer man he knew he was. This would be…natural, an organic relationship made by lying to eachother until one finally caves and tells all Just like a suave lawyer.

#Reader insert #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock imagine #matt murdock x you #soulmate au #red string of fate #red string au #oneshot #Marvel imagine #Daredevil #daredevil imaigne #not beta read

153 notes · View notes

haliyam · 4 years ago

Text

interim (v)

zeke x reader/oc

summary: You return to Liberio not long after the Warriors arrive home from their failed mission in Paradis and discover that things have changed. (Or they will, and maybe a little more with Zeke than you expect.) [Season 4 and manga spoilers ahead]

AO3 link | Ch 1 | Ch 4

Hi again! Forgive me for this chapter and the next few ones, guys. I offer you this art I commissioned and an itty bitty happy-for-a-millisecond Zeke/Reader oneshot in the meantime 😪 (Please notice this I am so happy with it)

As usual, Reader default name Lucy is a cis-female Eldian character with a set background and family name. But feel free to set the substitution for Lucy to your chosen First Name using the InteractiveFics browser extension!

Chapter 5

“Why are you helping me?”

You grit your teeth, peering over at Zeke as he lets go of your foot. He was helping you stretch, seeing as you’re too fatigued to do it yourself, not to mention you’re covered in a heated blanket and he’s put hot towels over and under your limbs.

He ignores you, like he’s been ignoring you since he entered your room with all of these items, asking instead whether you wanted help or not. Like he’s been ignoring you since you arrived as a guest at the Yeagers’.

You don’t really like Zeke, and you’re sure he doesn’t like you either. You’re six, after all, with all the confidence the world can offer a child in your position, and he’s twelve, with all the arrogance of a boy already training to become the Beast Titan when the war in the South is over.

That’s why his help is so strange. And without Mrs. Yeager forcing him into it, too? It’s suspect, and you’re not even sure you know that word yet.

“Why—”

“Shh,” Zeke hisses, looking very displeased about having to respond in any way while you glare at him. When your brows unfurrow and you continue to stare at him expectantly, he rolls his eyes. Still, he finally speaks again. “Why are you like this, anyway? Aren’t you Magath’s new star would-be candidate?”

You were, until the ideology tests began. You don’t know they’re called that, but you’ve been doing terribly at the written exams which ask why Eldians are the dirt between the toes of real humans. Your answers show a well-read knowledge of Marley-sanctioned history, but distinctly lack the Eldian shame that comes naturally to your classmates.

This is concerning to the program and to command in spite of your potential, so it’s up to your instructors to beat that shame into you by keeping you running for far longer than the others, leaving you out of meals, or shortening your breaks and then making you stay behind so you can do everyone else’s grunt work, especially after you dared to look Captain Magath in the eye the first time your class fell in to formation after the first round of exams. And every other time since, like an idiot.

“Not anymore,” you answer, struggling to keep his gaze. You don’t really want to talk about this with someone who now must only wait to inherit his Titan. It makes you feel small, and nobody in Marley should have that authority.

Zeke wrinkles his nose. “That’s not an answer. It just seemed like you were doing great… and now you’re a baby that has to be coddled?”

Your glare returns, shame be damned, but the pain that suddenly pulses through your body as surely as your indignation quickly drains it. Your pride and your strength are depleted for the day, and you need to save what remains for tomorrow, when you have to face the instructors again. And besides—Zeke has already seen how weak you are. What’s the point? Tybur pride will do nothing for you now.

You lower your gaze for once. “Are you going to tell the captain?”

Zeke stares at you. “No? Why does Magath hate you now, anyway?”

You know why. Because you’re still a Tybur, and you refuse to be nothing. Even if nobody knows it. Even if you feel like nothing right now.

Zeke sighs again—a concession of his own, though that is unknown to you. “Fine. Just... my grandparents will get worried if they hear you crying because you can’t sleep.”

“I wasn’t crying,” you lie. Your body hurts so much that you haven’t been able to stay asleep for very long. You just didn’t think he could hear you crying.

“Sure,” he scoffs. He’s lied, too. It’s difficult to hear much noise inside your rooms from the hall—but you did pass him on the way to the bathroom with those puffy eyes just a little while ago. “Just make sure they don’t see you as pathetic as you look now—they already have enough to worry about. If you have to be pathetic… only do it in front of me. Understand?”

You still want to glare at him, but somehow, his words are almost as much comfort to you as the towels he’s heated for you. You don’t know the last time you let your guard down since the Warrior program began for your class, and you’re so tired. His words, however cold, warm you in your newfound frailty.

“Okay,” you murmur in defeat, relaxing in earnest. Your eyes are slowly starting to close.

“Hey!” he snaps within a whisper, quickly reaching for your shoulder and shaking it. You’re too sleepy to notice his reluctant concern. “Don’t fall asleep wrapped up in all this. It’s just a few more minutes, and then you have to go to the bathroom and put this ointment on your muscles like I told you. Remember?”

You do your best to widen your eyes and shake your head awake. The effort ends with you groaning in pain, but you eventually manage a nod. “I’ll stay awake,” you promise. When he sighs again and pulls the seat out from next to your desk to sit at your bedside, you murmur something else.

He frowns at you. “What was that?”

“I’ll stay awake,” you repeat, “but will you tell me a story?”

Are you surprised that Willy is coming to visit? Yes and no. Over the years, Willy has perfected the art of making his presence in your life known while somehow remaining completely absent. The nature of the new Lord Tybur’s existence in your world became immutable the summer after that fateful one, after you came crying to him and to Lara when you could no longer bear the loneliness of ignoring your friends’ letters for an entire year. Willy’s response, as with everything regarding Mila, was to turn away and change the subject. It was Lara who couldn’t resist your tears and confessed it all to you—what father told Willy hours before he became Lord Tybur, and then all she learned when she devoured him.

The new Lord Tybur was furious. It was only the second time in your life you had ever heard your brother so angry—but he never stays that way with you or with Lara for very long, and wouldn’t you have discovered the truth after thirteen years anyway? In true Willy fashion, he only smiled days later and expected you never to mention it again. The fact that you have, many times hence, is part of why your relationship is so frayed. That and his tendency to appear, shower you with affection, and then shrink at the first sign of trouble. After all, how can anyone expect you to love a man who can’t bring himself to stand up for you?

Your resignation to this is mostly what keeps you from worrying too much the next morning, when Zeke leaves for HQ and you elect to join the Yeagers for market day. Part of it is guilt—apparently you and Zeke now consume much more than you did as candidates, and you want to make sure that you’re paying your share—and part of it is that you still feel ashamed for letting Zeke see you act the way you did last night. You still have to take care not to groan outwardly when you remember how you shrugged him off when he tried to be a friend, or how much you practically wailed into his chest. Never mind how you hid behind him from Mila when he let you, like the coward you are.

“You’re so pathetic, Lucy,” you mutter to yourself.

Standing not far from you by a vegetable vendor, Dr. Yeager glances over his shoulder. “Hmm? What’s that, Lucy?”

“Er—nothing, Dr. Yeager. I was just thinking to myself,” you smile sheepishly. Drawing closer to avoid getting jostled by the crowd, you search over his selection. “Oh! That’s… a lot of potatoes. You don’t need to avoid other items on my account. I’m happy to pay for my share.”

Dr. Yeager chuckles. “No, no. You know how much Zeke likes them. And don’t worry, Lucy, I can carry them.”

“No,” you say slowly, exchanging a look with the vendor when Dr. Yeager gives his smaller basket a faithful pat. You reach for it instead, tugging a little when he stubbornly refuses. “I’m taking these. You can carry some of the fish, but I’ll be taking most of the baskets. Hand them over and I’ll bring these to Mrs. Yeager.”

Dr. Yeager sighs. “Very well, Lucy. But only because I know how much you like carp from our friend down the road.”

You grin, and he lets you take his basket so you can fill your much larger one with (apparently) Zeke’s potatoes. As you part ways so he can go and buy you fish, you set out to find Mrs. Yeager. She should be waiting outside a little cafe not far from the market—Dr. Yeager likes doing most of the groceries nowadays, and Mrs. Yeager’s one very important task is to buy the household’s favorite seasonal dessert: grapes. Unfortunately, the best grapes in the zone market are sold by an old man who has a bit of a crush on her, and he doesn’t like seeing Dr. Yeager if he can help it. Or Zeke. Or you.

That should be her only task, which is why you’re surprised when you find her with a man and a basket full of cured meats when you arrive.

The truth is you almost miss her, if not for the sweet sound of her amused chuckle right as you decide to head inside to find her. Walking around the man blocking her from view, you approach. “Mrs. Yeager?”

“Lucy!” she waves.

Her raised brows tell you she wants you to meet someone; evidently, the man carrying most of her baskets along his arms, wearing an apron over a button-down and slacks with his sleeves rolled up. You turn toward each other at your name, and after a blink or two between the two of you, you realize that the man’s shock is more familiar than you first realized—probably because it’s your second time bumping into each other this weekend.

“Lucy?” he gawps at you.

You give him the same look. “Kellan? What are you…?”

He follows your gaze to Mrs. Yeager, and the way it dawns on his face is enough for you to trust that this is another funny coincidence. “Oh—” He gestures to her, “I was just helping, er…”

“Mrs. Yeager,” you help him.

“Right, Mrs... You’re Mrs. Yeager?” he asks, glancing at her. It’s clear he’s seen her unmistakable red armband, but it’s not polite to ask which child earned you Honorary Marleyan status.

Mrs. Yeager is accustomed to his curiosity, which he soon realizes along with his manners with an embarrassed flush that makes you smile. Luckily, she takes over for him with a pat on his arm. “Kellan here was helping me with the meats I bought from his family’s shop. He was just telling me that he’s studying to be a doctor, and I thought, what a coincidence—but it seems you two already know each other! Isn’t he handsome, Lucy?”

Such a pointed question. You and Kellan meet each other’s gazes with mutual embarrassment.

“You really don’t have to answer that,” Kellan laughs nervously, which helps you snap out of your stupor and look at him. You suppose he is handsome, even with his dark hair mired in sweat and slicked back today. He’s tall, taller than Zeke and maybe even Reiner, with a strong nose and gentle eyes that watch you hopefully in spite of his words.

The Warrior program and boarding school means no one has ever looked at you like that before, and the novelty has excitement blooming in your chest. Maybe a slight pink on your cheeks, too, which you try to hide with a smile.

“I think so,” you say, his gaze and then his shock making you feel a new kind of brave. “And I have bumped into him a few times. ...Sorry again about yesterday.”

“That’s all right. Bumping into you isn’t so bad,” he says almost smoothly, very nearly matching your courage until he remembers Mrs. Yeager and, as such, his embarrassment. “...You know, because Mrs. Yeager bought so much. I’ve never seen my aunt so thrilled.”

You’ve never been this thrilled either—attractive boys were a constant topic for your peers at boarding school, but then you’ve never had the chance to meet one. You still haven’t. Kellan is an attractive man, a few years your senior and hardly a boy. And you aren’t a liar. He’s very pleasing to look at, especially when his eyes search yours so intently.

“Of course,” you say, trying not to look nervous when you take a step closer and reach for the baskets he’s holding. “Well, thank you for helping Mrs. Yeager. But I can take those.”

Kellan withdraws the arm holding her basket, giving you a once-over. “What do you mean?”

“Lucy is our guest at home,” says Mrs. Yeager, who looks far too pleased with herself. “Even if she refuses to let us carry our own things.”

“Please,” you feign a sigh. “I haven’t kept up with some training for nothing.”

Kellan looks confused as he glances between the two of you, but he’s determined when you meet his gaze again. “Lucy,” he begins, “remember that bookstore I mentioned yesterday? I was thinking—did you want to drop by after this so I can show you which books you can start with?”

“Really?” you ask. Perhaps you were hoping to see him again, make a friend or two at campus, but you didn’t think your encounters could actually move past hello and goodbye. But Mrs. Yeager was right. He is handsome, dark-eyed and tall, and the idea of more of those shy smiles is a flattering one. “Well… I’d like that. But I wanted to bring these home first. And aren’t you helping at your aunt’s stall?”

“I can take a break,” he says easily, smile growing just a little more confident. “And I can help you bring these home! You shouldn’t be carrying all these yourself. Er… If that’s all right with you, Mrs. Yeager. And I’d just have to change quickly. Been out here since early this morning.”

“Of course, of course,” Mrs. Yeager answers for you, giving you an openly suggestive look. You pretend not to see it, but stifle a smile yourself.

Politely averting his eyes to spare you the embarrassment, Kellan reaches for the basket on your right arm, and for a moment you understand the Dr. Yeager of a little while ago. But you’ve never experienced anyone’s chivalry before, excepting Bertholdt (and he was an angel to just about everybody and he was twelve). You can suffer Kellan’s for now.

“Thank you,” you say reluctantly. “But only that one. I have my pride to consider, you know.”

“If you say so,” he chuckles, readjusting the baskets along his arms. When he shifts them all to just one arm so he can wipe the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, his damp hair glistening slightly, you imagine the tales you’ve read of countryside romances at the school library and remember to swoon a little. When he catches you looking and glancing away, Kellan smiles.

“Where to, ladies?”

You find Dr. Yeager with your carp, and he is just as pleased as his wife to have another helper no matter how much he claims he can take another basket of his own. Your fears of Kellan’s talk of med school bringing out unhappy memories in Zeke’s grandfather come to nothing when Dr. Yeager expresses interest in the university system nowadays, and you’re happy to listen to the men converse about Kellan’s plans for specialization on the way home.

“I’ll get it,” Mrs. Yeager says when you arrive, hurrying to unlock the door, and the three of you file into the house while she keeps it open. To everyone’s surprise, the door to the kitchen is already ajar: Zeke and Porco are sitting at the table, poring over folders together in silence. It seems they didn’t hear you come in.

“Good morning, you two,” Dr. Yeager’s surprised remark shatters their deep focus, and both of them spring out of their seats. They immediately turn the folders over and stack them next to a small paper bag.

It’s Zeke who relaxes first. “Grandpa,” he greets, casually nodding at each of you until he spots Kellan coming in from behind you. He doesn’t notice himself straightening up to his full height.

Before he can ask, Mrs. Yeager beams at the sight of Zeke’s guest. “Porco! What a nice surprise. You rarely come to visit.”

Porco’s suspicious brow slackens into a smile for her. It’s almost sheepish, and if that’s the case, is it really Porco? “Sorry, Mrs. Yeager.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Things have been really busy.”

“What are you two doing here?” you ask, rubbing your arms as you set the baskets down by the counter. You join them standing by the table at Dr. Yeager’s urging. “I thought you worked Sundays.”

It is Porco, because he snorts, only a little more politely since the Yeagers are around. “We were supposed to, until our Warchief realized he left work at home.”

Zeke shrugs helplessly. “It slipped my mind. I hardly ever bring home work.”

Porco remembers that you were the one in a hurry to leave HQ two days ago, prompting Zeke to forgo leaving the files in his office when Boy Wonder decided he would accompany you home, which is seriously stupid because you don’t really need any more babysitting. But then the two of you did pass by the family bakery and Mr. Finger—so he decides to stay quiet for now.

On that matter, anyway. He gestures to Kellan, who is quietly helping Mrs. Yeager unload the baskets. “Who’s the guy?”

You shoot him a reproachful, wide-eyed look. “Porco—!”

“This is Kellan. He’s studying to be a doctor, a few years ahead of Lucy,” Mrs. Yeager interrupts. She hardly knows him and she’s already proud of him, it seems, pushing him next to you by the table. He apologizes when the surprising force of her shove has him bumping into you.

“Right.” You steady him with a hand on his upper arm and are unsurprised to find muscle there. “Uh, Kellan helped us bring the groceries home. We’re heading out in a bit so he can show me some textbooks I can study ahead of time, regardless of which professors I get.”

“Textbooks?” Porco repeats with a chuckle. “Since when do you study, Blanchard?”

“Since a while ago, Galliard,” you say pleasantly, even with your teeth gritted, wondering if it’s possible to burn alive with embarrassment while hoping Porco catches alight himself. When the new Jaw only continues to look amused, you sigh. “Kellan, this is Porco, and that’s Zeke.”

You could announce their last names, but everyone in the zone knows who the Warriors are, and Kellan already seems uncomfortable. You hope it’s not because of Porco’s remark and consider throttling the man.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Kellan says anyway, politely offering his hand.

You hold back when Porco shakes it. It goes on for a little longer than you expect and their knuckles are paler by the end of it, but you suppose that’s better than nothing, which is exactly what Zeke gives when Kellan extends a hand to him next.

“The pleasure is ours,” Zeke says in lieu of doing anything else. He’s smiling, one hand in the pocket of his uniform while the other holds half the stack of folders. “Kellan, right? You’re pretty persistent, huh?”

Kellan presses his lips together as he withdraws his hand. “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Zeke stares at him a little longer before he chuckles. “Nah.”

You’re not surprised. Zeke always takes his time warming to people, if he ever does. When he meets your gaze, his amusement softens into something a little more natural.

You smile back, unsure why you feel embarrassed all of a sudden when Mrs. Yeager comes up from behind you. “All right, Kellan, thank you for accompanying us home. Now, off you two go.”

You survey the kitchen counters with a grimace. The groceries still need sorting. “But Mrs. Yeager—” you and Kellan start in unison, and then exchange glances. His light laughter is a little more than charming.

“Ugh,” Porco mutters, echoing more than just his own sentiments.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mrs. Yeager says before you can notice. She rounds the four of you to pat the shoulders of Zeke and Porco. “I’ve found two new helpers in your stead. You can spare a few minutes, can’t you, dears?”

Kellan looks to Dr. Yeager. “But—”

“We can handle it,” Zeke cuts him off, but he’s decidedly ignored the man, waving at you instead. “Do what you need to, Lucy.”

“Thanks,” you beam at him, feeling oddly silly. Like a child playing adult as Kellan opens the door for you. “I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun, kids,” Porco calls out. He chuckles when you glance over your shoulder to shoot him a deadpan look, only to find Zeke giving him the exact same one once the front door clicks shut.

“What?”

“I’m sorry about that,” you say as soon as you leave the Yeager household and head down the steps toward the street. You glance back at Kellan, waiting for him to follow. “Zeke and Porco are nice when you get to know them. And vice-versa.”

Kellan nods, looking at you. “You seem close.”

“Yeah,” is all you can say. When you don’t say more, he doesn’t pry.

He asks to drop by the market again so he can pick up his things and an extra shirt, and you walk in relative silence until you reach it.

“I’ll be right back,” he says, open palms pressing at the air as if you’ll disappear the moment he leaves. It’s cute from someone so much taller than you.

“Go ahead,” you smile, and he does too before diving back into the crowd.

You adjust your armband as you back into a nearby building and watch the coming and going of Eldians through the tightly-packed throng. Long ago, during your first foray into one of the zone’s open air markets, you were disgusted and confused. Only your growing regard for the Yeagers and the thought of Zeke’s sarcastic surprise at the little you knew of the world had kept your mouth shut.

Over the years you came to accept it as part of this temporary home, and market day a time when Eldians could happily interact with familiar faces and keep one another apprised of their trials amid life in the zone. The strong stench of the place became a reminder of this affection you could only find within a community, one completely nonexistent in the grand, empty gardens of the Tybur estate.

The first summer after you left showed you that to Eldians outside of Marley, the Liberio internment zone—a place you still consider a prison for people you care about, where stepping outside its gates to look for a pharmacy when those in the zone have nothing more to offer can end in a beating—is paradise. It’s the most ridiculous thing in the world, but it’s your world. The world that the Tyburs have allowed to flourish.

Alone with your thoughts, you find yourself nervous. Why is Willy coming here? Only Mila was ever permitted to come and visit you—but that was when father was still alive.

Perhaps if Willy sees Liberio, the place that raised you...

You find yourself hopeful. Maybe it was father all along. Maybe Willy isn’t a coward after all.

“Sorry about the wait. Lucy?”

Kellan stands before you, hair no longer damp but brushed down a little more properly. The apron has disappeared in favor of a new button-down, the strap of his messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

His sleeves are still rolled up. You like that.

“Don’t worry about it,” you smile, readjusting the purse at your side. “Ready to go?”

Kellan nods, and is much more talkative now that he feels more presentable around you. He apologizes for his silence earlier—his own scent was bothering him, and he was embarrassed—and he starts to tell you about university as soon as you ask.

The bookstore he mentioned is a little far from the Yeagers’, but it is useful. Many are secondhand, but the store is vigilant about keeping only those published in the last five years. It regularly gets donations, perhaps from sympathetic Marleyans, though how they would know about it you can only wonder.

Kellan advises you as to the best books when it comes to basic medical subjects, which are what you’ll be taking up in your first year. In spite of Porco’s little joke, you’re eager to get started working toward that degree. General List’s words may hang over your head, but now that Willy is coming to Liberio, you have time to wait to tell him instead of putting off writing Lara about it.

“Wow,” Kellan remarks, once you’ve bought everything. “You really are serious about this.”

You glance up at him with a frown you can’t help. “You thought I wasn’t?”

“It’s not that,” he says at once, holding the door open for you as you leave the shop. He offers to take the books off your hands, but you hold the pile to your chest, waiting for his reply. “No, it’s more—I thought I was the only one who did this kind of thing. Study ahead of the year if I can.”

You relax somewhat at his words. “You do this too?”

Kellan nods, and when he reaches again, you let him take half your books. “My friends made fun of me, but I mean to become a physician. There aren’t enough Eldian doctors to attend everyone in the zone, and… I want to help.”

“I see,” you murmur. Suddenly, Kellan seems a lot more charming than he is already. “I bet you’re at the top of your class or something.”

Kellan only smiles, and you blink at him.

“Are you?”

He looks embarrassed about it the way you know most men in your life wouldn’t be. “One of my professors said if I wasn’t Eldian, I might have been offered a scholarship.”

“That’s amazing,” you say, a mix of admiration and pity swirling in your stomach. You wish you could help him. Do more for a man like this.

“Yeah, well…” Kellan shrugs, but he easily replaces his bitterness with a smile when he looks at you again. “You have a good study ethic yourself. You’ll do great.”

You can’t help but laugh at that one. “I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like passing the state exams was a fluke.”

“You wouldn’t be here if it were.” It’s his turn to frown. “None of us Eldians would.”

You wish that were true. Of course, you took the exams as Lucy Blanchard, and for all intents and purposes Willy had nothing to do with your results. You studied ridiculously hard to earn your grades and the state exam score—it’s just difficult not to wonder when Lord Tybur has always known what you were up to.

“Look.” He stops, moving to stand in front of you. “I know we just met, but—I don’t like hearing you say that about yourself. Okay?”

You can only smile. You haven’t known Kellan for half a day, but you don’t feel like challenging him the way you would the others if they said that to you. It feels like he deserves more than that. “Let’s just say I was always the more sports-oriented type. But thank you.”

Kellan looks at you as though he thinks you might say something self-deprecating again and he’s ready to gainsay it. When you don’t, he nods with approval and looks ahead. “Uh, so I was thinking…”

“What is it?”

“My friends study with me nowadays on university grounds. We’re allowed to, and the university library does have some books the store might not. The cafeteria has great food we don’t have in the zone, too.”

He glances over at you, and when you continue to wait for his point, he asks, “Do you want to study with us, maybe tomorrow afternoon? We have lectures to attend this summer, but I can maybe… pick you up afterward? The permit office will let you if you show them that you’ve confirmed your slot. If you want to,” he adds.

His offer is surprising and exciting and daunting in equal measure, because of course someone wanting to spend more time with you is nice, even if you’re ambivalent about meeting new people. Of course, the new people you met at boarding school knew you as Lucy Blanchard, the daughter of some Eldian servant for the Tyburs, and they were Marleyan to boot. Kellan’s friends are Liberio Eldians too. Maybe they’ll be just like him.

“I do want to.”

His uncertain expression immediately lights up. “Great,” he beams. “Will you be at the Yeagers’ tomorrow?”

“Uh… yeah,” you answer, after some thought. You’ll be at HQ most likely, but you can always leave ahead of Zeke. “Just tell me what time you’ll arrive and I’ll have my permit ready by then.”

“Okay,” he says, pleased. “That works.”

You exchange smiles, and he walks you back to the Yeagers with a more relaxed silence than when you left. He hands you your books once you’ve unlocked the door to the house.

“I really have to get back to my uncle’s, but…” He scratches the back of his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, right? Maybe… four?”

“Yeah,” you grin. When he waves, disappearing down the street, you hurry back inside toward the dining room. But it’s empty, with everything sorted in the kitchen. The Yeagers have left a note on the dining table about going out on a Sunday date, apparently presuming you would be out all day, but there’s another note from Zeke on the folded paper bag he and Porco brought home earlier.

Crybabies only, it says. You thought it was part of Warrior work, but you open it and find a few jars of your old favorite fruit jam.

“Tch,” you chuckle, fishing out the jars and storing them, but you take Zeke’s note and bring it upstairs with your books.

You get started on a simple lunch soon after. You want to re-wrap your new books in time for tomorrow afternoon, and make a note to replace Mrs. Yeager’s roll of plastic entirely since you neglected to buy your own. Once you get your permit for tomorrow, it’s still early enough that you have time to visit Mr. Finger, especially since you forgot to yesterday, and you end up sharing his dinner. You were embarrassed about dropping in when he was cooking, but he’s happy for the company, especially while Pieck is away.

To your relief, there are no guards in plainclothes outside the Yeagers’ when you return, and Mr. and Mrs. Yeager are in the living room chatting quietly between them. You greet them and hurry upstairs before they can ask you about Kellan, and allow yourself to linger in the bath when your reflection on Kellan inevitably leads to Mila and the night before.

Given how angry she was yesterday, you already know what she would say to you if she found out about any man like him. Not that you have ever considered sharing your life with anyone, but surely she would accuse you of trying to find some way out of your duty again, even when she knows that the family made sure—

The doorknob turning to no avail rattles into your thoughts. It must be Zeke, since you share a bathroom, so you hurry to get out and get dressed into your pajamas again. Once you’ve brought your things to your room, you give his door a knock.

He opens it pretty quickly. It seems he wasn’t expecting you, because he looks surprised to see you still drying your hair with your towel. On his part, he’s still in his uniform—just without the coat and the belt, one side of his shirt unceremoniously tucked out of his pants. “Hey.”

“Hey,” you smile, more pleased than you should be. You feel like you’ve been waiting to see him all day. “Was that you? I’m done with the bathroom.”

“Ah. Thanks. I’m still finishing something anyway,” he nods, and leaves the door open when you don’t immediately turn and go.

You follow him inside, flopping at the edge of his bed while he goes to his desk again. “What are you working on?”

“Warrior stuff.”

Something must have him in a mood, but there’s no use poking him at this stage. “I saw the jam. Thanks for that.”

Zeke turns away from his desk, his serious countenance lingering just a little before it finally falls away for mischief at the reminder of his little gift. “Like my note?”

“No. And only because it means I’ll have to share it with you.”

“Heh. Yeah, sorry—just putting off turning in paperwork I should’ve gotten done before.” He sighs, obviously trying to settle down, at least until he seems to recall something else. He glances back at whatever he was writing, his pen swaying noisily between his fingers as it hits his desk. After a beat, he slides his work a little further away from him and asks, “How was the date?”

You’d almost forgotten about that. “Oh—it wasn’t a date,” you say, and realize how strange it feels to be discussing a boy with Zeke. “Kellan is just helping me study ahead of the semester.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you say, like a promise. You don’t care to mention that you’ll spend time with Kellan and his friends tomorrow afternoon. That was implied, right?

Zeke shrugs, sitting back against his desk chair. “When did you get so fond of studying, anyway?”

You shoot him a dirty look. “The way you and Porco tell it, it’s like I didn’t know how to read.”

“No,” he laughs, making the denial sound a lot more like affirmation, “I just mean you hated it. Before Bruning knew who you were, you were in the running for either the Jaw or the Armor for a reason.”

You peer at him. When Zeke only lifts a brow, challenging you to deny it, you click your tongue. “I guess. But I didn’t inherit anything, so what was I supposed to do? I was never interested in the varsity teams… not that they would have let me join as Lucy Blanchard. And I wanted to be useful somehow. I mean, actually useful.”

“I know,” Zeke says, watching your fingers lightly pinch at the hem of your pajama top in frustration. It’s almost amusing how your tells haven’t changed a bit, but he can’t deny that it’s endearing. “Well… I’m glad you’re doing something apart from getting me in trouble for once.”

Your jaw drops. “I never got you into trouble for that long, did I?”

The two of you meet eyes for a moment, knowing the answer to that, but you both choose not to bring it up. He wouldn’t put you through that memory again.

“I don’t know,” he grins. “How long did I stand there getting an earful when you glued Nickel’s belt together?”

You stare at him, genuinely trying to remember—before you burst into laughter, hand over your mouth in sheer horror at the memory, as though you can’t fathom ever having done such a thing. Zeke is shaking his head, trying not to smile, when you finally calm down enough to present your defense. “That—that was Pieck’s idea!”

“No, Pieck said she wanted to do it. You actually did it.”

“But it was funny,” you grin. “And Nickel deserved it. Besides, I paid for that too.”

“Yeah…” Zeke’s smile falters. He remembers. You had been about this close to being force-fed the glue you used that afternoon, when you found one of Magath’s fellow instructors asleep in his office. “Nickel deserved everything that came to him.”

He remembers what you looked like when they found you, busted lip still stubbornly set in a line, trembling as Pieck shed silent tears when Magath dragged Nickel out of sight. But then your foot nudges his leg, pulling him from his reverie so he remembers what you look like now. Not a bruised or bloody memory that still wakes him at night sometimes, covered in sweat, but Lucy in the flesh, with a knowing expression on your pretty face. Zeke supposes he’s just as easy to read when you know his tells, too.

“Well... sorry about that anyway,” you say. “Pieck had a name for my brand of stupidity for a reason.”

Zeke knows what you’re doing. He grants it to you with a sigh. “No sense of self-preservation.”

“That. Don’t worry—I’ve developed one since then. Or Pieck’ll really give up on me this time.”

You give him a smile, as if he’s the one who needs comforting when it comes to that night. Why did he have to bring it up? He would put his foot in his mouth if that didn’t remind him of Paradis—of his most recent nightmare. The thought of everything you don’t know makes him feel like an ocean separates the two of you all of a sudden. Like you’re here, and he’s still on that island, a blade jammed into his maw. He shivers.

You lean a little closer, elbow on the footboard. Of course you’ve noticed. “What’s wrong?”

Leaving his pen on the desk, Zeke moves over to sit next to you on his bed. If nothing else, he can at least shorten the distance in one way.

He has a lot to tell you, Paradis foremost of them all. He knows Pieck must have said something, but he’s managed to avoid the topic so far.

He has a lot to ask, too—what was normal school like? Did you really not have any friends? You seemed to make easy enough friends with that Kellan character.

Zeke looks at you like he wants to say something, and then gets as far as opening his mouth before clearly thinking better of it.

“It’s Pieck.”

Alarmed at his tone, you inhale sharply. “What about Pieck? Is she all right?”

He was holding his breath himself, but he relaxes with a chuckle.

“Yeah. She’ll be back with the Panzer Unit in less than a week.”

“Oh! Good,” you say, but then stare at him, obviously catching the lie in his old answer now. But he sees it when you shift priorities (Pieck was always one of them)—you’re clearly excited to have her home earlier than she promised, but the why of it is giving you pause. “So soon?”

“Yep.” He shifts away so that he’s moving up his own bed, at least until he catches you giving him a disgusted expression. You can’t stand it when someone still in their out clothes wears them to bed, and he knows that very well. That earns you an eyeroll, but you’ve had so many arguments about it at this point, many of which began with well it’s my bed and which ended only because he couldn’t stand hearing you talk any longer, that Zeke only sighs and practically vaults himself off his sheets so he can grab a change of clothes before you can start.

He makes a twirling motion with his finger when you look, and you turn to face the wall. This must be the quickest that Zeke has ever grabbed or changed his clothes outside the rush of Warrior training as a kid. He doesn’t know why he’s suddenly conscious with you in the room. It’s just you.

“You know it doesn’t count if you don’t shower, right?” you ask.

Zeke makes a snorting sound as he climbs back onto his bed in a shirt and a pair of pajamas, even if he feels like he’s twelve wearing the whole get-up right now. This time he ignores you until he’s got his back against his pillows and the headboard, legs stretched out over his blanket and his arms crossed over his stomach. “Do you want to know why Pieck is coming back soon or not?”

Your turn to roll your eyes. “Fine.”

Smiling triumphantly, he pulls out one of his pillows and tosses it on the empty space next to him. You wrinkle your nose at him, but he did give you the clean pillow when he’s given you the other before, so you let yourself fall forward on your stomach and rest your head on your arms, both crossed over his pillow. Your hair looks warmer than usual against the light of his lamp as you peer up at him. “So?”

Zeke looks away and shrugs. He shouldn’t be telling you this. But if his room isn’t safe for secrets, then where is? “One reason. Lots of movement in the south these days.”

Between the old Southern borders of Marley and Ulodana lies its new Southern territories, swept off the board by Marley and into its net in years past through the efforts of the Warrior generation before yours. Mr. Ksaver’s, to be exact, before they started training children. You had heard of minor attempts at guerilla warfare within those former nations in their bid for freedom, but little else. After your summer excursion with Mila, you began to distance yourself from news of the world when it came to Marley’s expansion, the Warriors’ activities especially so. Ignorance was better than guilt back then, but Zeke doesn’t know that.

“The South… you quelled a small rebellion there, right?”

“Yeah, but…” One of his hands drums near your pillow, tugging once at its corner as he asks, “You don’t know?”

“The Tyburs aren’t told everything.”

“Fair enough. Between the two of us,” he says, giving you a meaningful look you return with an earnest nod, “a couple of the leaders escaped into the eastern peninsula. Who knows what support they’ve gotten since then?”

You take a deep breath and hum as you exhale. “...That explains why General List reached out to me.”

“List? He’s the one who called the meeting with you?”

You prop yourself up on your elbows. “Didn’t the commander say he was there?”

“He doesn’t tell me everything. So have you decided?”

You almost look amused. “You know I can’t move without Willy’s say-so.”

He shrugs. Needless to say he doesn’t care all that much for the new Lord Tybur, who sounds just as absent as your old man was back then. “I meant what do you want?”

When your surprise at his question starts to fade, you lower your gaze at his quirked brow, slouching a little. “I don’t know. List wants me to… ‘be the new face’ of the Foundation. Distance it, myself from the regime so we can build headquarters abroad and bring in intelligence. That way we can bring more Eldians into the safety of the organization, but...”

“What?” Zeke snaps, sitting upright all of a sudden, but all the reasons you shouldn’t do it skid to a halt behind his teeth when you recoil in surprise. He pauses, clearing his throat, and reaches up to scratch behind his ear instead. “...would your brother put you in danger like that? What about Tybur non-involvement?”

You scoff, eyes narrowed at nothing you can see here. “That’s not what the general thought. He only said Willy wouldn’t do it to Mila.” Zeke grunts at her name, and you shake your head. “I mean… maybe it’s moot. She would never give up control of the Foundation.”

“Yeah... Maybe.” Maybe it’s enough that you’re ambivalent. General List is one of General Calvi’s close allies, and he’s well-known in certain circles to get what he wants. But even he can’t change the century-old tradition of Tybur ‘neutrality,’ even if part of Zeke is curious to see if Mila Tybur or Hulbart List would win in a battle of wills.

He sets that aside when he catches a distant look in your eye. He’s only ever seen one reason you’ve looked like this. Or two. “She didn’t drop by again today, did she?”

You shake your head. “She had Foundation business yesterday. She must have gone from the city last night the minute she left here.”

“Then what is it?”

You look at him, and now he knows what it is. “I just… ugh,” your eyes fall to his sheets. “I don’t know. I was so pathetic yesterday. I wish I—I wish that I could have said something to her.” Your voice is quieter when you add, face flush with embarrassment, “I wish you hadn’t seen me like that.”

“This again,” he says at once. It was difficult not to cut you off from the get-go. “Have you forgotten already? If you have to be pathetic…” He reaches over to graze your chin with the curve of his index finger, tilting it forward so that you meet his gaze. “You can be pathetic in front of me. Understand?”

His soft smile is the same as it was in the hallway yesterday. Warm still, like the solid expanse of his chest when you wept in his arms, but suddenly his finger beneath your skin feels hot. Tingles where he touches you. Like your face, now that he’s looking at you like that.

That’s not right. Zeke is either an annoying jerk who should shut his face forever or all comfort, blankets tucked up to your nose after a grueling day of work and a warm bath; a good night’s rest. Wrapped up in a hot blanket, the murmur of his voice lulling you into a deep and restful sleep. Not standing over a precipice with only the whim of the wind behind you or the rush of blood pounding through your ears without warning.

This is not the Zeke you’ve wanted back for the past six summers.

His touch scalds you—or maybe the memories you keep closest to your heart, as if any closer, any longer and it might burn them away forever.

You tremble, but not with pain, and decidedly ignore it as you stare at him, forcing a slight wince on your mouth. You hope he doesn’t notice you gulp. “That was probably more impressive when I was a kid.”

Zeke lets his jaw drop—it must have been a while since anyone denied him their awe—but he only laughs, so deep and hearty you feel his mirth in your own chest, before he flicks a finger at your nose. “You little ingrate. That was supposed to be touching!”

“Yeah, yeah,” you grin, a little too widely for your own good. Batting away at his hand, you sit up and slide off his bed. You’re strangely hyperaware of the way you gulp again once your feet find your slippers. When your eyes meet, he’s pretending to be cross with you. Maybe you like it better that way.

“But thank you,” you say, rubbing an arm. “Really.”

Zeke only nods, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as you head for the door. “Lucy—you still coming to HQ tomorrow?”

You glance back only once you’ve got your hand on the doorknob. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know,” he says, but he looks pleased. “All right, get out. Distracting me from work and then telling me I’m not impressive anymore…”

“Spend more time with the kids. They still think the world of you. Good night!”

Zeke could probably chuck a pillow at you when you give him a little cackle before shutting his bedroom door, but he lets you escape with your dignity intact.

At any rate, he’s in a much better mood when he gets back to work.

////////

If you're worried about Kellan, you can click the fic list link on my bio for spoilers. (assuming you haven’t already read the other oneshots ahahha)

The flashback at the start of the chapter (as well as the others in the next few chapters) is something of an edited excerpt from a long-ass oneshot I wrote detailing Lucy’s childhood from before she left the Tybur estate, going through her Warrior training, and until a little after the time Lara inherited the War Hammer which I was/am debating with myself about editing&posting maybe after finishing the sequel fic to this which occurs during the Mid East-Marley War. I wondered if I should keep flashbacks out except for 2 crucial flashbacks toward the end of the story, but I’ve been sad about the dumb leaks post-139, having this feeling of ‘what’s the point of all this then if it all ends in that’ (even if this will be canon divergent), and I decided I would like to show the most important bases for Lucy’s relationships with at least Zeke and Pieck before she left, plus editing this in made me happy, so yeah.

Also! I know Zeke was a sweet little boy... but he was alienated by his classmates when he did poorly at first and burdened with expectation his whole life. No doubt that alienation shifted to sudden praise, admiration, or jealousy as soon as he became a candidate, and my hc is it made him a cynical kid when it came to others his age and even older people. Of course, he does eventually learn to be more charming (or annoying) and does have friends (as much as you can have friends in his position and with his life view), but that to me is why he’s like that at 12. Mr. Ksaver is exempt from this obviously as he completely trusts the man.

Another note: This is tagged zeke x reader because it’s in 2nd person POV, but also zeke x oc because reader or Lucy has a set background and family name. If you've gotten this far in interim I'm sure you already know what that is. XD So... please don’t send me hate or frustrations about why she looks like she does in the commissioned art I linked in the top of this chapter. Her family name necessitates that she’s white, I'm sorry. I hate having to say this but I'm not white either, or white-passing or w/e, but as I said in my note in chapter 1 I want to write a Tybur OC. If you’re going to send hate about me making a Barbie doll to complete Zeke or whatever I’m just going to delete it. Lucy is much more than that, in fact Zeke is not an entirely positive force in her life though they may appear to implicitly understand one another, and I have an entire background story and development for her that I‘m excited to write and share. I’m (not) sorry if me taking the time out from that to commission art that makes me happy grinds your gears. Of course I hope that readers will enjoy what I've written for myself but if you don't like it, just click away please. I won't be responding to complaints about that from here on out.

Anyway, thank you as always for reading! Would love to hear what you think. Of the flashback, of Kellan, of Zeke, of Lucy's blatant denial of certain things (I love and hate this), whichever! (Also can you tell I love Porco? He notices everything. Or almost everything.)

24 notes · View notes

clumsyclifford · 4 years ago

Text

cruel summer fic: director’s cut

fever dream high in the quiet of the night

so...............for a fic i wrote in such a short amount of time, and also for a fic written by me, there’s actually a surprising amount of Stuff To Analyze in here. themes. motifs, if you will. anyway. i am really proud of them, and ainslee and helen and sam enabled me, so i’m gonna talk about some of them here!

fair warning, this gets a little long. hence the cut. also i know not everyone cares. and that is super fucking valid. anyway. let’s get into it. spoilers for the fic under the cut, obviously.

1. colors

so this fic has a lot of colors, like a lot more than i normally include (since i tend to write dialogue-heavy stuff). thematically the main important colors are blue and red. the ~blue~ is more or less for this like...physical relationship, but also blue of course connotes sadness and any kind of negative feeling in general (and re: cruel summer the song, "it's blue, the feeling i got"); the ~red~ is there in more romantic moments. the VERY first line of the fic says "the sky is bleeding navy blue" talking from the get-go about jack's uncertainty and how nervous he is and how unfamiliar the terrain is for him. but later on, in the scene when alex randomly picks jack up to go on a late-night adventure, we get this line:

“You certainly surprised me showing up at my house,” he says. “Any reason you thought I would be the best person to join you on your adventure?”

Alex casts a glance at him. The red stop sign before them is a jarring change from all the blacks and blues and washed-out yellows around them.

so there's this flash of red in the midst of the darkness and all this ~blue~ around them, and this is almost a romantic moment, because up until this they've pretty much only been hooking up and they're not even really friends. but now alex has specifically come to take jack on an Adventure. also i think it's interesting that it's a stop sign! possibly conflicting signals!

but then in the nightclub scene there's these lights ("flashes of blue and red keep washing over Alex’s face, making him difficult to look at for too long") and this is the scene where jack tells alex how he feels and then alex says that they wouldn't work. and it's not that alex doesn't feel the same, but alex is rejecting him anyway, so it's somehow a moment that is both romantic and tragic, hence both colors over alex's face at once. and then here:

Blue light washes over Alex. He gives Jack a hard look. “You’d tell your family?”

it's like..........that's the turning point. alex says this and it flips the argument in his favor and proves his point that they couldn't work, and that's a really fucking sad moment for the two of them. but then outside the nightclub, jack keeps talking about alex's red converse. like:

Jack staggers, and Alex grabs ahold of him, wrapping one of Jack’s arms around his shoulders.

“Easy,” he says. “I got you. Just focus on one spot until you get your balance.”

[...] Jack stares lasers into Alex’s red Converse.

because first of all the gesture itself of alex holding jack to help him get his balance is romantic and that even THOUGH alex rejected him there is still something romantic there. and it's here again later:

The scenery races by, Baltimore in all its trashy glory, but Jack fixes his gaze on Alex’s shoe until all he sees is red.

until all he sees is red.......it's all love baby. just call him FLETCHER cos it's all love

(there's also something to be said about the hickeys that are supposedly "reddish-purple"...purple as the middle ground between red and blue...something romantic but kind of painful...masquerading as a thing that exists without feeling...and another thing to be said about when jack falls from the tree and his palms are bleeding red and alex patches him up...but we'd be here all day)

2. shadows/darkness

i honestly don't know how much of this was intentional and how much just worked out, but there’s this idea of a dark cloud of rumors that surrounds alex? there's a lot of talk about rumors and reputation in here. like one of the first lines is:

From what Jack has heard, Alex is bad news. All he has to go on are rumors, but rumors start from somewhere, and rumors surround Alex like a storm cloud.

he's surrounded in this dark cloud of rumors! that's mentioned again in the scene at the high school:

After a while, a cloud of rumors resolves into a reputation, and Alex’s is impossible to ignore.

and this feels inherently dark, and this fic is inherently dark (not thematically just literally dark because it almost entirely takes place at night) but alex specifically seems to be shrouded in shadows and darkness, a LOT. his very first appearance in the fic is introduced like this:

There’s a shadow outside Jack’s window.

Something too irregular to be a heartbeat rams against Jack’s chest. He approaches the window. In the dark, dressed in black from head-to-toe, Alex looks like a robber, or maybe a ninja, or maybe a nightmare.

and almost immediately after that:

Alex fits so incongruously into it, absorbing all the light from Jack’s lamp like a six-foot black hole.

importantly, this is the very first scene of the fic, so this alex is the closest to Reputation-Alex as he gets in the fic, because hereafter jack starts learning more and more about him and the threads of this reputation start to fray and fall away. but in this very beginning, jack sees alex as someone surrounded by these rumors, and he keeps noticing shadows and darkness around alex, and alex (dressed in all black) kind of tries to be seen that way, too.

and then when they're in the high school, this Dark High School At Nighttime, the darkness over alex's face returns. they've all but broken into their high school and that's a very Reputation-Alex thing to do! jack sees this reputation around him, not necessarily as a bad thing but just as something that is very present. this exchange:

“No, it’s cool. I get it. Lotta rumors about me.” Alex nods. Jack can’t read his tone, can’t tell if he likes that his reputation precedes him or not.

“What’s your favorite?” he asks. “Is that a weird question?”

Alex looks at Jack, face shrouded in shadows. “Who cares?”

they're talking about alex's rep and his face is shrouded in shadows. jack is very aware of these shadows. he's not afraid of them or anything. but he knows they're there. he keeps mentioning them. he's never not aware.

and theeeen when there's light on his face...and jack sees him........clearing away this Shadow of a Reputation..........there's subsequently this theme of gold/light on or around alex, in certain moments when jack Sees alex. in the first scene:

Jack breaks away and the lamp light casts a glow over Alex’s face. It occurs to Jack for the first time that Alex is beautiful.

and also from that scene:

“Shh,” he says, grabbing Jack’s face in one hand. His eyes look like shimmering gold. “Your parents will hear.”

and in the high school (this one has Layers) when alex buys jack something from the vending machine, and they kind of...........become friends:

Now he and Alex stand before one, bluish-white light awash over Alex like a fluorescent halo.

there's this light around him and jack can see him, and especially on the heels of that conversation where they both talk about how the other person is good for them, this is a good moment of jack Seeing alex as a person and a friend and not seeing his Reputation

3. the halo (aka the devil/angel dichotomy)

this part is very important to me, so here we go. in the final scene, when alex comes out of his house to talk to jack, his appearance is characterized like this:

By the time Alex appears, a shadow backlit by streetlamps, incandescent halo in full effect, Jack is very close to a nervous breakdown.

now. first of all. his halo at the vending machine had been fluorescent, and his halo now is incandescent. aside from the obvious ~angel/devil~ dichotomy (this part happens only moments later: “I love you too,” Alex says in a rush, and then a devilish grin splits his face in two as he takes Jack’s hand in his own) (i.e. "he looks up, grinning like a devil"), the color of the halo has changed. it started as this clean fluorescent bluish white, like their relationship was before; incandescent light is warmer and it feels a lot closer to red. so the light behind alex's halo has changed, because the nature of their relationship has changed. and that's important.

but the other important thing is that he has a halo at all. because alex is the "devil" in this fic and jack is the "angel," so to speak, of course. but in these two moments, jack sees him as an angel, and he sees this halo. and then JUST after that incandescent halo line, there's this line:

As he comes closer, the streetlight glow fades until only darkness surrounds them both.

importantly: it surrounds them BOTH. the darkness isn't just alex's now. maybe that's because jack has changed and he's done a very non-jack thing, a very alex thing, but whatever the reason, the Rep isn't just alex's now, and jack is aware (not negatively or anything, just Conscious) that it's now around them both. in short, the devil isn't just alex now, but jack as well, at least a little. and then there's also this, and this is the last way jack describes alex:

Alex’s smile gleams brilliantly, impossibly white.

so......maybe.......he's a little bit an angel. a little.

4. height

this is small, but in the beginning there's this:

With a start, Jack realizes he’s actually taller than Alex. Somehow he’d never noticed. Alex takes up space. Jack never has.

this is a scene in which jack feels like alex has the power. because alex has the experience and the Reputation and this is the kind of thing he Does, and it's not something jack has Ever Done. but THEN, in the high school, there's THIS:

An echoing silence fills the space between them. Jack pushes himself off the wall. The two inches he has on Alex suddenly feel very real.

alex is insecure in this scene. he's saying jack is a good kid and that jack is good for him because alex is a bad kid and a bad influence, and suddenly jack has the "power" (so to speak) and alex is the weaker one. because alex is feeling insecure. so suddenly jack realizes not only that he and alex might not be as different as he thinks, but also that alex isn't this untouchable Reputation, that he's also just a kid who resents himself sometimes. and that's very important for their relationship! for jack to realize that alex is not on this pedestal, that he is also just a kid.

5. stuff i did not do on purpose

these are things that either i noticed or that got pointed out to me after i posted the fic but i will gladly take credit for them if you feel like giving it lmfao

(1) there are a lot of taylor references. some of these were intentional (yes it does say cruel twice, that was on purpose lmao), and the mention of august ("August starts melting away, slipping through Jack’s fingers") was kinda a callback, but it fully slipped my mind that all the reputation talk could have read like a reference. "For something so heated, it certainly feels delicate” was not an intentional reference to delicate. but kinda cool that it worked out that way !!!

(2) in the high school scene, jack tells alex that he's the worst thing he's ever done. and then at the end he tells alex, “Alex, I honestly think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” talk about a fucking 180!!!!!

(3) in the very first scene there's this:

and when Jack says he’s out on a limb he means it. To fall from here would mean almost certain death, but fuck, it might just be worth it.

and then later, jack literally falls from the tree. and on top of that, alex is the reason he falls (the texts), but ALSO, alex is the person who's there to patch jack up. it's not "certain death," BECAUSE alex is there. jack hadn't been wrong; alex had been the cause of his fall, but he'd also been the reason why the fall hadn't been "fatal." (using hyperbolic words to make this point)

(4) the first and final scenes parallel each other. in the first scene jack's room is in complete darkness except for the one light at his bedside. in the last scene, too, they're surrounded by darkness. the streetlamps illuminate alex briefly but then the light fades and it's just the two of them in the dark again.

on top of that, here's this from the scene in the car towards the beginning:

“What are you doing here?” [Jack] whispers, leaning through the window. “Turn off your headlights, someone might see.”

and from the last scene:

“What the fuck are you doing?” Alex hisses, and he sounds nervous, for what Jack thinks might be the first time since they’ve known each other. “My dad is still awake, you know.”

so the cautious (jack) has become the reckless, and the reckless (alex) becomes the cautious!!!! that's shown in a LOT of ways in this last scene, but that one is particularly salient.

also, this doesn’t really go anywhere but it is one of my favorite lines of figurative language in the whole thing:

It’s a dumb joke in a lot of ways and Jack gets the sense that had he made it to anyone else it would have landed like an airplane on fire, but Alex actually chuckles.

airplane on fire!!! it’s just so much fun. and so evocative. and i like it.

so anyway, that’s my director’s cut analysis of cruel summer fic. if you read this, or even if you just read the fic, or even if you read this WITHOUT reading the fic (although ???? i think it will make more sense if you read the fic), thank you for indulging me!!! i am extremely happy with the way this fic came out. point being. thank you for joining me. love ya <3

#god i wanna make a playlist for this fic so BAD #the thing is i HAVE a playlist where the plot is very close to the plot of this fic but that's just coincidence #so i might just fuck around and do it #anyway thanks everyone for humoring me #xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo ill kill and die for you all xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo #stuff #director's cut #cruel summer fic #i've never done a director's cut but that's because there has never been so much stuff to Talk About before so like #also yessss i know i'm not a Director and this is Fanfiction #but i like the phrase director's cut i think it fits i'm keeping it you can pry it outta my COLD DEAD HANDS #complete full disclosure this was originally typed up with the intent of only sending it to helen and ainslee and possibly sam #and it was written on discord #sorry if it doesnt make a lotta sense #theres some other stuff but it's a lot more obvious #like the scene in jack's bed where jack resists the urge to brush alex's hair away and when he DOES do it it's with the excuse of sex #versus in the nightclub when he doesn't disguise the action at all #or the 'take your parents' car' 'no' >>> he takes his parents car thing #anyway there are just THINGS in here #STUFF!!!!

13 notes · View notes

only-here-for-jatp · 4 years ago

Text

Build-a-Band Pt 6 Sir Reginald II

It’s another Build-a-Band chapter!!! This time from Julie’s POV as she watches her adorable himbos make Build-a-Bears

She makes Reggie (Spoilers I know, but to be fair- he’s the only one left!)

If I’m really good, and y’all are really excited, I’ll try to get the last part done tonight! It feels weird to wrap this up. Feels like I’ve been working on it forever.

Anyway, you can read it on Ao3 here

And also below! ~1800 words

Julie knew long before Reggie headed home that all the boys would be back, sooner rather than later, which is why she checked her schedule. Luckily, she was opening the next morning and everything would be quiet. Not to mention, she’d already gotten her first couple of paychecks so hopefully she could pay for everything that was about to happen. She knew her father would help since he loved to dote on his adopted ghost boys, but it was also kind of nice to be able to do this for them.

She’d gotten home to find Alex stubbornly refusing to let go of Alexander, Luke whining that he wanted one, and Reggie filled with so much pride and warmth that she could swore he was glowing. By the time she’d left for bed that night, all plans finalized, the boys had been snuggled up in their own bed. Alex in the middle holding tightly to Alexander, sandwiched between the two other boys. She chuckled as she headed out knowing she might need a lot of sleep and energy for her three tag-alongs the next day.

It’s why when she arrived before the boys the next morning, she took a minute to breathe everything in. She kind of liked the mall when everything was quiet and peaceful. The lights were mostly dimmed and the only sounds were the distant hiss of coffee machines and the soft whispers of the few other employees, not willing to break the silence just yet.

The store itself appeared kind of magical with colors and life bleeding through everything. Even though the store wasn’t truly alive yet. She liked being the first one in and getting to set everything up. She could organize the pre-made bears in the window into cute scenes, place out the small props that existed around the store. She tried for something new every time, some small little spin that would put an extra bright smile onto the child that noticed.

It was as she was setting up that she walked past a bin that made her stop. Long before Reggie had insisted on joining her she’d been imagining which bears she’d pick out for everyone. She’d found a bear for Flynn and Carrie and Luke and Alex, but Reggie had been stumping her for a couple of weeks. Until of course, she walked past this particular bin this morning.

She wasn’t sure how she’d missed it before. The bear was soft and black with wide eyes and a small smile. It was soft and the fur had a slight curve to it. She let her fingers drift across the Midnight Moon Bear and knew that this would be the one. No sooner had she finished the thought when she heard the tell-tale signs of poofing ghosts.

She turned around with a smile catching the first glimpses on Alex and Luke. They both stared wide-eyed and open mouthed, although Alex caught himself pretty quick transforming into a look of mild interest. She could still see the sparkle in his eyes though as he started wandering towards the shelves. Reggie just kept nodding the quintessential “AM I RIGHT???” look plastered across his face.

Julie nearly died of laughter once Luke found the puppies and zoomed around the store with Reggie. She took glee in the opportunity to tease Luke about his height. Even with Alex quiet unawareness of what was going on around him, she could spot the joy he was trying to hide.

The store may be no longer be quiet and peaceful, but she had to admit, she liked it filled with life more. It wasn’t the thrill on being on stage in front of screaming fans, but it was the little moments of connection as a child watched a shell of fabric come to life. It was the awe in their eyes as they oh so carefully picked out a heart and gave it warmth and joy and love. Her favorite though was when she stuffed the new toy and she was one-on-one with a child and they kept glancing into her eyes and back to the ever growing stuffie. For just a moment, she knew that child believed in magic and life and love so strongly that it could change the world.

Now here she was getting to watch those emotions dance across her boys’ faces. The boys had so many characteristics which defined them. They were dead, and a band, and family. They suffered through childhoods, that while Julie didn’t know all the details, she knew forced them to grow up fast. Forced them to take care of themselves when the people who should’ve failed.

So, she took a moment to breathe and watch as her boys were able to be just that. Boys. Children. Teenagers. Dorks who just wanted something soft.

After she watched all three of the boys pick up their piece, she grabbed what would soon become Sir Reginald II and led them over to the stuffing machine. She went through the basic instructions, knowing the boys were barely paying attention before guiding them over to the hearts.

She smiled at their enthusiasm and teased Reggie as he looked at every single heart in all of the boxes. Luke was also digging, but it seemed to be more purposeful while Alex picked through the hearts carefully taking his time to find the right one. Julie, on the other hand, knew exactly which heart she wanted. She’d picked it out the day before when Reggie was here and slipped it behind the counter. Out of all the hearts she’d ever seen in the box, it was by far the biggest. Nearly twice as big as the next closest size and a vibrant red. Reggie’s heart was so large, she knew Sir Reginald II needed one to match.

It didn’t particularly surprise her when Reggie asked her to “do the magic” and she struggled to contain her laughter when he managed to drag his friends into a group beg. Julie never intended to say no, but watching the boys plead with her was admittedly adorable. So she led them through it, warming up the heart, jumping with the heart, and her personal favorite- the wish.

When she’d done the heart for Alexander the day before, she’d wished for Alex to know that he was family. He was just as important and valued by her as any of the other boys. Reggie was rapidly taking on a big brother role, and although she tried to be exasperated about it, she couldn’t be more thrilled. Luke was… something. Some days he felt like her other half. Alex though, Alex was everything that kept her calm and steady and grounded. She hoped she knew how much he meant to her.

For Reggie’s bear she’d thought long and hard about what the whispered wish would be. In the end, she thought about everything she loved about Reggie.

Sir Reginald II please take care of Reggie. Sometimes he doesn’t realize how important he is. He’s the glue that holds us all together and keeps us going when everything seems bleak. He is so loved and so valuable. Please remind him of that when everything seems hard.

Alex brought William the Sk8 Bear up first and he seemed to bounce a little as he came to life. The shriek though when Alex caught sight of the skateboard accessories would forever be her favorite.

Reggie came up to him next and whispered to her. I made a wish, but I wondered if you wanted to leave one for Luke too. Her eyes widened as a blush covered her cheeks, but she agreed. Quietly she sang to the heart.

We say we're friends, we play pretend. You're more to me, we're everything Our voices rise and soar so high. We come to life when we're, In perfect harmony

She kept glancing over to Luke, ensuring he wasn’t paying attention, but thankfully he was also absorbed in his bear. Reggie jittered with excitement next to her, ready for the bear to be made, already planning in his head exactly how to accessorize Lukas.

Luke slowly approached her, ready to make Jules a true stuffie. She couldn’t help but give him a look. Was this really the one he picked for her? She loved it, but she had to laugh at the slightly awkward eyeliner they’d put on this bear. Her gasp resounded though as she caught a glimpse of the heart in his hand.

It was a vibrant purple and whatever second guessing she did about his knowledge of her faded as she saw the most beautiful heart. It was her favorite shade of purple and she squeezed it tight, once again feeling a blush crawling up her cheeks.

Once she’d stuffed Jules the Bear, it was a lot easier to see where he was going with this. His smile at the sight filled her with a small light and she passed him the bear while he flounced off to find her the perfect outfit.

Quickly she got to work on Sir Reginald II already knowing that among the clothing and accessories lived a white tank top, black jeans, a leather jacket, and a red stuffed bass guitar.

There was something steady about stuffing the bears. There was a little foot press like on a sewing machine or piano. In a way, it almost felt like she was making music as she brought Sir Reginald to life. The machine would wheeze as the stuffing flowed through the nozzle to the bear and it would make soft whump noises as it filled in all the spaces. Carefully she laced up the back and flipped the bear over. If she didn’t stare too deeply or too hard she could almost see the twinkle in its eye and the smirk on his face.

Looking up, she caught a glimpse of the boys rushing around and finding all the perfect pieces. Dressing the bears, laughing, and teasing each other. Every now and again someone would pick up an article of something ridiculous and hold it up, asking if it was what each other was looking for.

She loved them, but they certainly were high energy and she took a deep breath before rejoining the fray. Luke had Lukas grasped tightly, eyes a little watery while he batted away Alex’s hands who appeared to be trying to snatch Lukas away. She let out a small laugh at their antics and eased Jules out of Reggie’s arms and replaced her with Sir Reginald II.

If she noticed Luke freeze and eye her warily, she didn’t think much of it as she gripped Jules loosely in her arms. Jules ended up in an outfit that was pretty close to her Stand Tall outfit and she was mildly impressed. Unfortunately, Julie caught a glimpse down at her watch and began to shoo the boys out. It was just about time to open, which meant it was time to send them home. She gently placed Jules back in Reggie's arms and began preparing for the rest of her day.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #build a band

10 notes · View notes

greyias · 5 years ago

Text

FIC: The Waiting Game

Title: The Waiting Game Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Angsty angst angst Synopsis: The worst part about all of this was the waiting. Theron hated standing on the sidelines as everyone else risked their lives. He needed something to do. Anything to keep him distracted from his own thoughts. Spoilers: So many spoilers. For the end of Onslaught and its epilogue, for 6.1/“The Task at Hand” and for the upcoming storyline in 6.2. Warnings: Considering what’s going on in the world right now, I’m tagging this as “Covid19 related”, as parts of this may be uncomfortably familiar with the current state of events. There’s also a lot about Theron and his very fraught and complicated relationship with Satele in this. So if you’re not a fan of her, or you just think she’s the worst, you should probably skip this. Because I love her and their very complicated dynamic.

Crossposted to AO3

The crash was loud enough to hear from the senior staff meeting room.

It pulled Theron from the datapad he’d gotten lost in, and had him poking his head out the door into the hallway. He managed to just catch sight of Scourge’s dark armor disappearing around the corner as the Sith stormed off. Not that Theron hadn’t gotten used to Sith temper tantrums since coming to live on Odessen, but it still was enough to pique his curiosity.

Stepping out further into the hallway, he could just make out both Kira and his wife talking solemnly at the door that Scourge had stalked away from. Whatever the conversation was, both Jedi were clearly concerned. Grey gave the little astromech at her side an affectionate pat on the head, before she looked up, squinting down the hall until she caught sight of him. They were all far enough away where Theron couldn’t see their expressions clearly or even eavesdrop on what they were talking about, but the tense postures let him know that something was amiss.

As he walked up, he could see the remains of the crates that had splintered upon impact with the wall, and the rows of cracked monitors ringing the room. He quirked an eyebrow as he looked back at both Jedi. “You guys felt like redecorating? Not sure that ‘Warzone Nouveau’ is going to catch on as an aesthetic.”

Kira shot him a look, but he couldn’t quite decipher what it meant. Maybe she didn’t find his joke funny. Of course, he’d gotten that look a lot. Things had been a little awkward since she and Scourge formally joined the Alliance, but Theron hadn’t been able to figure out if they were just having a difficult time adjusting or if something else was going on.

He was saved from pondering on that further by his wife gently laying her hand on his arm. “Let’s take a walk.”

A familiar feeling of dread settled in his gut, and he swallowed before fixing a smile in place. Even if he had a feeling what this was about, he could pretend for a few moments more. They were quiet as they made their way to the elevator, and were about halfway down when he finally decided to break the silence.

“So, are we walking to any particular place?”

“I thought a stroll in the woods might be nice.”

“Are we going on an adventure?” His humor was a little forced, but he was trying for normalcy here. It’d been a while since they had that. About as long as since Kira and Scourge arrived on Odessen.

“Not the same type of adventure as the last time,” she said, a lilt of amusement tinging her voice.

“Pity.” Even if they were alone in the elevator, his voice was just a murmur as he leaned in closer.

He wasn’t really planning on doing anything inappropriate, was just angling on getting a reaction out of her, but the lift’s doors opened up onto the crowded walkway before he could push it any further. He let out a frustrated sigh and straightened up before anyone saw and got any ideas. The last thing he needed was to start rumors about improprieties in the lifts. Not that he really cared about the rumors about himself, but he’d already caused Grey enough trouble with his undercover stint. He didn’t need to give people more reasons to whisper about them.

Even if they were married.

They ambled on out, towards the cantina. He was trying to act casual, normal even, but Grey hadn’t said anything about what that conversation with Kira was about. Or why Scourge felt the need to redecorate the room quite so violently. But Theron had an idea anyway. Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face, because her hand found his and intertwined their fingers together.

When Theron had gone undercover, Grey had still been wearing the armor from her time before her carbonite sleep. Sometimes he’d wondered if she had worn the giant pauldrons, embroidered cape, and heavy gauntlets as some sort of armor against all the change in her life. But since his return, she’d adopted a new outfit. A much simpler garb, a deep blue tunic that was very Jedi in fashion. As silly as it sounded, it felt like some sort of evolution — like she was somehow more comfortable in her skin and her role in a way that she hadn’t been before.

He liked it though, from the way the color of blue set off her eyes, to how the long trailing scarves on the tunic liked to pick up the wind when they stepped outside. The change from the heavy gauntlets to fingerless gloves was also a benefit, and especially nice in moments like these, as he was able to feel the warmth of her fingertips against his.

Of course, he’d also changed things up a little too. The long gray overcoat had long been discarded — the charred hole in the back where he’d been stabbed wasn’t a keepsake he wanted to hold onto. While he hadn’t abandoned his old style completely—his old, faithful red and black jacket was definitely still around—Theron had felt the need to integrate a little bit more variety into his style. Like the lighter coat he was wearing now, with a set of fingerless gloves of his own.

They were a little more comfortable to wear when he was just working around the base, and the tactile feedback of his bare hands was nice. He was of course referring to the fingers intertwined with his. For a few moments at least, the soft reassuring pressure and warmth of her touch chased away the anxiety welling up in the pit of his stomach. Although he supposed the gloves helped with the coding too, and his endless research with the HoloNet and beyond.

The sight of the two of them walking hand-in-hand didn’t raise too many eyebrows at this point. There had been a time where he’d tried to strictly keep the personal side of their relationship behind closed doors — but that had gone out the window a long, long time ago. At this point, Theron was pretty sure that the only person who scoffed at the public displays of affection was Lana, and that was just habit. Well, and maybe Grey’s older brother would make a comment or two about how disgusting and saccharine they were. But the jerk was probably just trying to get a rise out either of them with that sort of thing, because he got bored easily. It was like having a large, very old and very loud toddler as a brother-in-law. Sometimes Theron was thankful that he was an only child.

For now though, he and Grey were content to walk in companionable silence, meandering through the cantina, and out into the woods. It was springtime on Odessen, and it was a nice day. The variations in the season on the planet was still something that Theron was adjusting to, even years later. If he had to pick a favorite, though, it would be spring. The fields beyond the military hangar would fill with these beautiful white flowers, and the sight of them brought to mind his homecoming from Nathema. The frequent rains kept the air humid, especially out here in the forest where there was less sunlight filtering through the canopy to speed up the evaporation. It made the ground smell fresh and new — and it reminded him of life.

These days, he really liked that reminder.

The temperature was still just cool enough where wearing a jacket outside wasn’t uncomfortable and gave him an excuse to draw his wife in a little closer under the guise of sharing warmth. She leaned into the embrace, and was happy to just walk along in ambling steps for a few more moments and let this quiet moment of peace linger.

Then she let out a sigh, long and wearied, and it told him that whatever she was about to say next wasn’t going to be good news. But he’d already suspected that from Scourge’s temper tantrum.

“The quarantine has failed.” Her voice was quiet, ringing with an air of defeat she let show where no one but him could see.

His blood froze in his veins, his own steps slowing to a halt. “What do you mean ‘failed’?”

“The transport with Satele—where the infected were being contained—it’s not responding to our signals, and there was no sign of it at the next scheduled stop.”

That certainly explained the Sithly destruction. Theron couldn’t even blame Scourge, as a thousand conflicted feelings began to well up within himself. For the past few weeks, he’d been trying his best to keep them tied up. Like he was rolling every single thread of worry and anger and anxiety around each other, like it was some nervous ball of string. He wouldn’t let it unwind, he couldn’t. But the news picked at the fraying edge near the end, and if Theron wasn’t careful it could unspool into a mess that he’d have no hope of cleaning up.

The breath he blew out was long, whistling past clenched teeth. He needed to say something, because Grey was staring at him in the way she always did. Full of concern and warmth and understanding — and he loved being on the receiving end of that but also hated it because it just picked at that loose thread more. Her fingers shifted in his, holding him just a little tighter, and he let out another breath, giving her hand a squeeze in return. He swallowed, forcing the rising lump in his throat to go back down where it belonged, and managed to seize that thread of unease before it snagged on something and undid the tattered fabric of his composure.

He was fine. He just needed to focus. That was all. Preferably on the problem at hand.

So that’s what he did. “What’s our next step?”

“Right now Teeseven is heading out with an escort and as many probe droids we can spare. They can scan and sort through the data faster than we can.”

“And there’s no chance of them getting infected,” Theron pointed out sourly.

“That too,” she added with a sigh. “It’s just safer this way.”

She was right. Of course she was. The droids could do the job faster than anyone, cybernetics or no. He just hated being on the sidelines. Doing nothing.

“Do we know… how the ship disappeared?” He hated the hesitation in his voice, in the question itself. Hated the emotion in betrayed, even if he was sharing it with the safest person in the galaxy.

“No.” She gave his hand another squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

He’d had a nightmare last night. Where that ship of the damned had landed in some busy spaceport. Some place like Kuat. Or Nar Shaddaa. Or even Coruscant. And as the passengers of the transport walked out among the unsuspecting, all of the hapless victims fell into line one by one. And at the front of the crowd was someone that looked remarkably like his mother — but was definitely not her. The woman with Satele’s face had sightless, unseeing eyes that glowed with a malevolence. When she spoke, it was not the soft, calm measured tones he’d come to know, but with a deep chilling voice of a long vanquished ghost that Theron had first heard back on Yavin. Then the woman that was not his mother had turned on the unseen watcher and attacked.

Theron had awoken with a start. A fine sheen of sweat soaking through the thin sheet covering him. Somehow he hadn’t made enough noise to stir the woman sleeping next to him, still cocooned in all of the blankets and comforters on the bed. It had taken him a few moments to reorient in the darkness of their bedroom, let the familiar stone walls ground him back in reality. To remind himself that the dream had just been that. He hadn’t wanted to wake his wife to talk about the nightmare, even if he’d lain awake for a long time afterwards. Trying to shake the images from his head.

If someone were to ask him, Theron would tell them that he didn’t believe in ill omens. The timing of the dream with today’s news was just a coincidence. Or it was the product of a stressed mind trying to cope. His subconscious just trying to get him to pay attention to the things he kept pushing to the back of his mind during his waking hours.

In the light of day, he could see more clearly what was wrong with the dream. The last time the ship was seen, everyone on it was in a comatose state. Trapped in both a nightmarish slumber and stasis. The only thing amiss before today was the Force rumblings from Kira and Scourge that some thing was joining the consciousnesses of the infected together. His subconscious had just morphed that into something familiar — something a lot like Ziost. Another thing he didn’t like to think about.

There were a lot of things he didn’t like to think about. Too many mistakes and unpleasant things in his past to dwell on — and getting through the day right now sometimes felt like walking a very winding and narrow path to keep his thoughts focused and productive. Rather than take one of the branching paths into speculation about what was waiting for them when the ship was found.

As much as he tried to stay focused though, his mind still strayed. And he thought about Satele. A lot. He’d thought he’d excised that particular bad habit a long time ago. When he was growing up, he and Ngani Zho had talked about his mother, of course. Zho had never kept her a secret from Theron, and had told his young charge about his favorite student. For the longest time, Theron had this image built up in his head of this perfect, heroic Jedi that he’d someday meet. If he just tried hard enough, focused enough, and applied himself enough, he’d finally be able to wield the Force, and he’d have a chance of meeting the fabled woman that Zho talked about.

Even when both he and Zho had still been foolish enough to think that Theron had a chance at becoming a Jedi, they had never talked about mother and son ever being able to have that type of relationship. It would have been against those strict detachment edicts, as would have Satele taking her flesh and blood on as a Padawan. Even if the Force had deigned to grant him the ability to wield it like the rest of Revan’s bloodline, he probably would have had someone else train him. Maybe someone like Gnost-Dural. But if Theron was being honest with himself, not something he did often, in some of his more carefree moments as a child he’d imagined the two of them fighting side-by-side with lightsabers in hand.

He’d tried to scatter those stupid, childish notions away when he’d left Haashimut. Along with the selfish, immature longing for his mythical heroic mother to come save the teenage runaway when the shadows grew too dark during the night. He told himself that at thirteen he was too old to be wanting his mommy, especially since he’d never even met her. He reminded himself at fourteen too. By fifteen, he’d just about beaten that feeling away with bitterness. And at sixteen, he’d just learned to forget he’d ever even had the want to begin with.

Theron was approaching forty years old now. He was married and mostly happy with his life. There was still a small part of him, a part of him that he liked to pretend didn’t exist — to pretend had never existed — that still wanted his mother. Maybe not the one that he had, but that mythical, heroic figure of his childhood musings. Perhaps it was human nature, he thought, to crave the security and comfort provided by a parent.

A long time ago, before Ziost and Zakuul, before he’d even met the woman at his side, Satele had told her son that she would always be there for him if he needed her. All he had to do was ask. That same part of him he liked to pretend didn’t exist panicked at the thought that he might not have that anymore.

They’d never had a chance at a normal relationship. Not when Theron had been a young boy, dreaming of being that idealized Jedi like his mother before him. Definitely not as a bitter teenager out to prove that the galaxy was wrong about him. Nor even as adults, when they were working towards a common cause. Outside of a professional capacity, almost all of their conversations devolved into arguments — and since Theron was being honest with himself at the moment — a lot, though not all, of those had been started by him. Clinging to that old bitter feeling because the alternative meant opening himself up to being that scared, vulnerable kid again.

But not everything had been bad. They were precious few, but he did have a few pleasant memories with Satele. Most of them had been after Yavin, but before the Ziost incident.

Mostly he remembers taking afternoon tea on Coruscanti terraces, a pleasant breeze teasing the air. He and Satele would take a break between the endless debriefs on the Revanite incident. Even during these moments of downtime, Satele would sit straight, posture perfectly poised as if she’d forgotten how to relax. Theron would sprawl back in his chair, kicking his feet up onto the table just to see if he could get a reaction out of her. Maybe get her to lecture him on proper decorum. He’d been careful not to kick any of the serving ware, just act like a bit of an uncouth ass.

She hadn’t lectured him though, just let a small smile quirk at the corner of her mouth. As if his attempt to rile her was both transparent and amusing. She would ask him politely about work, careful to keep the subject on something he was comfortable with. As if just the act of having this time together was enough for her, even if they never said anything of substance.

It was funny. He hadn’t realized how much he’d actually enjoyed those quiet moments. At the time he’d just been focused on how awkward it was, trying to navigate the weirdness that was getting to know this stranger who was somehow not so strange. Now when he looked back on it, the awkwardness had faded, and the good stood out more. Time had a funny way of distorting things.

Theron didn’t know what he wanted at the end of all of this. He wasn’t sure if he and Satele could ever really have those quiet moments out on a Coruscant terrace now. Hell, he wasn’t sure if they’d be able to maintain a civil conversation. All he knew, as that when he was faced with the prospect of it, it crystalized in his mind clearly — he didn’t want his mother to die. She would one day, he knew that, by old age if nothing else. But he just wasn’t ready for that eventuality yet — even if they didn’t talk or hug or do any of the things normal families did.

He was just not ready to live in a world where he didn’t have the opportunity to… do something different. And he didn’t want the last things expressed between them to be anger and bitterness. He didn’t want her to leave life thinking that he hated her. Because he didn’t. He just… just…

Without even realizing it, Theron started walking again. His pace brisk as if he could somehow escape the place that his mind had taken him to. Grey’s grip around him tightened but she kept in step with him, despite the fact that his legs were much longer than his and she was practically jogging to keep in stride. She was just there, a quiet, comforting presence at his side. Willing to wait on him to be ready to talk, always so patient and understanding.

He didn’t say anything yet, but slowed his steps a little so she didn’t have to try so hard to keep up even as he lifted his eyes up to the canopy. Counting the branches above as a way to think about something else.

Several years ago, this was the path that Grey had disappeared on when she had tried and failed to get intel from Valkorion for a mission. Where that ghost had stranded her out in the wilds. Where had Satele had found her, taken care of her — brought her to the ship that the former Jedi Grand Master had called home. Grey had eventually told him about all of what had happened, including all of the belongings and keepsakes that had been stowed away. Including some old toys Theron had when he was a child — and a locket with a picture of him after he’d joined the SIS. For a woman who had based so much of her life on not clinging to attachments, Satele apparently had quite a lot of things she was attached to.

He still hadn’t figured that part out. Most people wouldn’t hoard the past possessions of children they didn’t want. Nor steal holos from sealed government files to have a memento of their long-lost son. There was a part of him that wanted to see Satele again so he could demand why she had those. The rational part of him knew it would be a stupid question, because there was really only one logical explanation.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure if hearing her say it aloud would make it better or worse. Hearing his mother actually tell him in words that she cared for him — maybe even loved him — would it make it easier or harder to accept whatever her fate was?

And beyond everything to do with Satele, and all of his stupidly complicated family drama, there was the woman at his side. His wife, his partner. One of the few people who was immune to the sickness that had overtaken his mother. The one who supposedly could walk into the heart of the contagion without fear of infection. Theron should have all the faith in the galaxy that she would save the day. Because she had never let him down, not once since they’d met.

Yet the question still hovered. What if? What if she’s not immune? What if whatever had taken over Satele and all those following her took Grey too?

Theron couldn’t lose his wife. He just couldn’t.

He knew that he would lose some unquantifiable part of his life if his mother died, even if he didn’t understand what that would look like until it happened. But he knew what his life would be like without the woman at his side. He’d already lived through that hell for nearly five years. He knew the emptiness of waking up each morning alone. Of the anger and impotent rage that never went away. Of the grief that bled away the brighter, happier moments. How even sleep wasn’t an escape, because then the day would just start over the moment he woke up.

It was why he’d so willingly thrown himself into danger when someone was conspiring to kill her. Better him than her, he’d thought. It was both a selfless and selfish desire. Keep her safe from harm — save himself from the pain again.

When he looked down from the canopy, it took him a moment to realize how far they’d walked. He blinked, breathed, and tried to reorient himself. Reminded himself to not pick at that thread of anxiety and what ifs. To not look too far beyond this moment. The future wasn’t guaranteed, only the present.

“Is there anything that I can do?” he finally asked, deciding not to ruminate on how long they’d probably been walking in silence.

“Right now, the safest thing to do is let Teeseven do his work.”

“So all we can do is wait?”

“It could be a few days. Or weeks. Or months. I can’t give you any certainties.” She let out a sigh. “I know it’s not ideal.”

Of course it wasn’t. Theron wasn’t good at waiting. For all his childhood training, all of the meditation techniques and special education that Zho had given him, he’d never quite been able to cure Theron of his natural impatience. His drive to just do. It was probably written somewhere in his SIS personnel file, hell, Lana had probably scribbled it in every single margin of his Alliance personnel file too. “Impatient.” ”Impulsive.” “Keep away from trains.”

Theron hated standing on the sidelines as everyone else risked their lives. Or in this case, as a bunch of droids did the searching for him. He needed something to do. Anything to keep him distracted from his own thoughts.

He hated this.

The waiting was killing him. Part of him wanted this to just be over. See where the cards fell and then let life get back to normal. He was also dreading the end of the waiting. The moment it ended, it meant that the danger arrived. Whatever this infection was building towards, something in his life was going to change. He could lose his mother. He could lose his wife. He could lose them both.

So the waiting was a blessing. And it was a curse. And right now, it was all he had. All he could do was focus on the present, even as the future came barreling towards them.

“You know, we’re already in the woods,” he said.

“We are.”

“What do you say we get lost here for a while…” Theron let his voice drop low, and watched as a little warmth raced into Grey’s cheeks. “We could have us another adventure.”

She snuggled in closer, laying her head on his shoulder. The proximity lit up a fire in his gut, and for a few moments, it knocked away that fraying thread of unease. In this moment, it was just the two of them.

“You know, I think that sounds like a good way to spend our time.”

And so they walked on, hand in hand. Still waiting. Together.

41 notes · View notes

ebachan · 5 years ago

Text

Sonic movie 2 - A few ideas

Hi, after watching the movie two times, I’ve come up with some ideas for Sequel! This time using the info from the actual movie and following from the end.

I’m going to be spoilerific here, so I'll include my ideas after the “Read more” tag and tag this post as spoilers ;-) If you are interested, you can read my previous version too :-)

Sorry, for the tag, but I really like you guys & girls & LBGT+ <3

@movie-robotnik-positivity @movie-sonic-positivity @dxrkblaze @aawesomepenguin @welcome-to-green-hills @sonicpositive

I’m aware, this isn’t good movie-script XD I think it may be too long, but I had to get this idea out <3 And it was fun to do <3

We see Sonic interact with GH’s residents like Carl or Wade. Perhaps stopping by Olive Garden to get a free bowl of spaghetti since everybody loves him. We get to see Tom on duty, and Sonic helps him (by making sure the Duck-Mom and her kids cross the street).

After the day job, they go home to eat dinner. Maddie greats them with Chilli Dogs Sonic loves so much. They are about to go eat when Ozzy bolts outside, barking. Before they can react, Tails runs into the house with Ozzy behind him.

Tail: “No, I taste bad! I swear!” (Tails ends up on the floor with Ozzy licking him)

Tom and Maddie watch in confused amusement, but Sonic trembles and yells, “No! I’m not going back!” and dashes into his room.

Tom gets Ozzy off Tails and asks for answers. Maddie watches a few steps away and gets to hold Ozzy.

Tails introduce himself as Miles Prower and asks them about Sonic, and that Longclaw had sent him to find Blue Blur. Tom is suspicious given how Sonic reacted, but he and Maddie heard about Longclaw. Tom goes to Sonic’s room to talk with him and finds him curled up among balls.

Sonic ends up embarrassed and unwilling to talk, but starts talking more about his childhood trauma, and how Tails is from his home planet. He is scared Tails will take him home. Tom mentions Longclaw, and Sonic darts down.

Sonic: “Where is Longclaw? Where is she?!” he shouts while shaking with Tails. Soon, Sonic remembers his position and retreats behind Maddie like a kid. Tom joins them, and Tails, after being less dizzy, explains to them about Longclaw.

She ...

a) had raised Tails

b) was found by Tails

c) found Tails

(In either way, they turn into friends.)

Tails: “The Echidna Clan is plotting something. We’ve seen so many of them scouting the area.”

Sonic is frowning.

Tails: “You have to return with me.” Tails comes closer, and Sonic hides behind Maddie more.

Maddie: “Okay, how about this. It’s quite late, and this is all so sudden. We need time to think about this, right?”

While Tails is a bit disappointed, he agrees. Sonic is glad he doesn’t need to do the decision.

a) They go to eat and are attacked by Echidnas, much like Sonic was attacked as a child. This paralyzes Sonic, who curls up and hides while the rest is powerless against the warriors. Tom gets a big punch, knocking him on the floor. Tails is also overpowered. Maddie hits one with a plate, breaking it. This Echidna punches her in the belly, knocking her unconscious. In the fray, enters Carl with his chainsaw. Echidnas’ Leader, Knuckles, calls for retreat and grabs Maddie, taking her with his fellow warriors through the portal.

b) They sit down while Maddie goes to the kitchen to get the Chilli Dogs. While there, she sees from the window a new portal and walking Echdidna, Knuckles. Thinking he is Tails’ friend (and not recognizing Echidna due to Sonic never describing them too well), she goes out inviting him inside. He knocks her down, and Ozzy starts barking. Tom follows his dog and sees how Knuckles is abducting her in panic (Knuckles was supposed to get Sonic undetected). Sonic could save her, but he is too scared to move.

Either way, Sonic, this time, tells more about his past and the attack. Tails explains those are the Echidnas, he was talking about. Tom can’t let his wife be in danger, so he wants to go to the other side of the ring (Insert Alice in Wonderland and/or Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass pun/Easter Egg).

Sonic is happy he won’t be alone and is ready to go (but he is still scared). Tom reminds him how he had beaten Dr. Robotnik, and that some mole can’t be a problem (Buckles the Mole from Ponic the Hedgehog fan comic). However, Tails first takes them to his island where Longclaw is.

(In the case of a)) Tom tells Carl to take care of their house and thank him. Also, in both cases, he calls Wade to tell him to take care of this town, and that he counts on him to keep it safe. Wade is almost tearing.

-------

Sonic’s world

Tail’s workshop is located on Mystic Ruins (from SA1), which is on a different island. Sonic is nervous to see his first mom. However, Longclaw is happy to see him, and she never blamed him for the first attack. After a bit of introduction, and Tom checking the place, they hear the story.

Echidnas are restless, and Longclaw is worried. They had attacked other islands, claiming them for themselves. They are using weird machines.

Tom: “Machines? ... Like Eggs?”

Longclaw: “Yes.”

Tom/Sonic: “No good.”

(We may get some old-time Badniks :-D)

(Also, Longclaw may be dead for some time, and Tails searched for Sonic to also fulfill her last wish to see if he was okay. So, I'm not including her in the rest of the story ;-))

------

With Maddie

We go to the Echidnas’ main island - the one where Sonic was raised by Longclaw. Knuckles is in front of their Tribe Leader (From SA1, but his name is too long XD, let’s call him TR). TR is disappointed in Knuckles, who failed to bring in Sonic, and thus he won’t get a tribal mask (it means he is a full-blood warrior). He is reminded of how great his father was, and he is sent to guard Maddie in the prison set in a cave/stone-wall.

Dr. Robonik appears and has some of his usual crazy talks, not minding Maddie. Since he knows, they will come for her.

Maddie wakes up, getting up, but the cell is not enough tall, so she sits.

Maddie: “Where am I? Who are you?”

Knuckles ignores her.

Maddie keeps talking, annoying the Echidna.

Knuckles: “Keep it quiet, female!” he shouts.

Maddie is annoyed but keeps her cool. “Or what, Mole?”

Knuckles get really annoyed. “I’m not a mole!”

Maddie: “Then who are you?” -she lists some animals, getting wrong ones-

Knuckles: “I’m an Echidna!”

Maddie: “Oh.”

Maddie keeps talking, trying to understand her situation, and Knuckles ends up telling a bit more (he can slip a few things, as he is a bit naive and inexperienced). He mentions the Doctor.

Maddie: “Dr. Robotnik?”

Knuckles: “Ro-but-nik?”

Maddie describes him, and Knuckles nods. The warrior quickly gets angry once more, as he isn’t supposed to talk with her. She proceeds to convince him, how cruel and selfish this person is, and that he is only using them.

Knuckles can’t help but agrees with her, as he finds the doctor weird, but he can’t go against his tribe. Maddie then asks him for at least something to eat, and the kind Echidna listens.

She uses her pin to lockpick her prison, which works to her surprise.

Maddie: And they say action movies aren't educational.

She quickly runs away with Knuckles returning a few seconds later.

Knuckles: “I don’t know what you...” He looks around with big eyes unable to grasp the situation before yelling, “Oh crab!” He lets go of the plate, finding her footprints easily and following her.

He catches up to her quickly and jumps at her. However, he has no idea, she is Pretzel Lady, In the air, she grabs his wrist and throws him away. But that proves to be a bad idea, as Knuckles ends up over the edge, grabbing the edge and hanging down above deep pit.

Maddie is terrified and rushes to pull the Echidna up. No matter what, she can’t let somebody die because of her, and it wasn’t her intention. She tries to pull him up, but the ground under her stops being solid.

-----

Back to Tails.

Now everybody (I won’t count Longclaw here in case she really died) is on board of Tornado, heading for the Sonic’s Island. Tom is a bit squeezed inside, but doing fine, making a few planes jokes/puns to break the tension.

As they near the island, they are attacked by robots, recognizing Dr. Robotnik’s design (or not XD). In any case, they go for a crash landing and soon are found by Echidnas.

Sonic manages to beat them, overcoming his trauma bit by bit. Then he follows the last robot who leads him into a jungle. Tom and Tails have no chance to follow him but still do so.

Tom asks about the ground being blocky, and Tails doesn’t get why it is weird.

-----

To Sonic

He finds Dr. Robotnik and has a quick talk with him, repeating Tom’s Fun-gi joke, mentioning also his new haircut. Dr. Robotnik is furious. Echidnas attack from the bushes but can’t capture him. Dr. Robotnik then makes a holograph, showing Maddie inside the cell on the floor.

That stops Sonic, and he lets them tie him. He is then taken to the tribe.

----

To Maddie

They are falling, and Maddie, out of instinct, holds Knuckles, protecting him with her own body, but they soon stop descending way too fast. She realizes they are floating, and Knuckles gets her to land safely. He is huffing on the ground, mentioning he hates heights. Before they can talk more, the ground under then vanishes, sending them into the underground complex.

There, Knuckles tries to climb back, but that proves to be risky, causing a small cave in. Maddie suggests they should find another way out and pulls out her phone (let’s say she put it in her pocket before getting kidnapped ;-)), using a flashlight.

Knuckles is spooked a bit first since they don’t have the technology, and so they are in awe in front of Dr. Robotnik, who presents himself as a superior being.

They talk a bit, and Knuckles asks why she tried to save him.

Maddie: “I just... can’t let somebody die in front of me. and I reacted without thinking.”

Knuckles is impressed since he never thought an enemy would help him. As they walk through the maze, they find old pictures left by even older Echidnas (or Bird/Owl’s people), and Knuckles figures out the story about Chaos Emeralds, who are a big legend passed down in his tribe. (At this time they can learn each other’s names)

---

Back to Sonic and Dr. Robotnik

Dr. Robotnik talks about his plans, mocking Sonic, getting a lot of quills from him to power his better machines. Sonic is afraid Maddie would be in danger as Dr. Robotnik said she has a collar that would explode, and that she is hidden in a place he can’t find (but they know she is gone).

So, Sonic plays it safe as he has metallic rings around his wrists and ankles. The robots fly away, following instructions. The TL speaks too, ordering Sonic to listen to his every command. Sonic is cracking jokes as always, but he is getting nervous.

Soon, Tails and Tom make an entrance being captured. Dr. Robotnik is overjoyed, and Tom praises Dr. Robotnik’s new hair cut.

Tom: “Getting ready for a date?”

Dr. Robotnik has some snarky remarks when outside turns into hell, the robots attacking Echidnas.

Robotnik explains he has no use for them and goes away with his robots protecting him. Sonic tries to go after him, but once he moves too fast, the rings turn him into a ball, and he is unable to move.

Echidnas are trying to fight or help the injured. Tom assists them, yelling “Let’s save our problem for later!” Tails tries to do something with those rings, but Robotnik is long gone. Once the fight is over, they take time to talk.

Tails managed to take those rings off, and they are told Maddie is gone, running away from them. Sonic is scared, as this place isn't that safe for non-super-speed-hedgehogs. TL promises help in searching for Maddie. And Tails takes down the cuffs on Sonic’s limbs.

----

Back to Maddie

Inside of the maze, they discover altar with a dusty gem floating above it. Knuckles is amazed, lost with words. They take a bit of the dust away, but Robotnik’s robots find them. Knuckles tries to protect Maddie but is hit. She pulls him to safety, and the robots take Master Emerald away.

Maddie gives a piggy-pack ride to (very embarrassed) Knuckles, following the robots to her best ability, finding the way out. Outside they witness Dr. Robotnik taking the gem further, but they have no chance to stop him.

She continues until they meet with the rest. After a quick briefing, they are all up-to-date, and Echidnas are willing to help them as that Gem is their lost treasure. Tails is analyzing the power-waves from the ME when the land shakes, revealing a huge water monster.

(Dr. Robotnik is in some hoover machine with the ME under it.)

Dr. Robotnik is controlling Perfect Chaos as this monster was trapped and is bound to the ME. From its body emerges a “bubble”, covering the island. Everything inside of it “freezes”. Tails opens a portal, and they head that way.

Maddie throws Knuckles to Tom, getting trapped in the bubble as her leg got stuck. They get away, but they are crushed by her loss. Tails tells them his machine had told him those trapped are still alive. So, they have a chance.

Sonic: “But how do we beat that monster?”

Knuckles proceeds to tell them about the other legend of smaller emeralds, that were scattered across 7 planets to keep them away from evil hands, and the ME was hidden on this very island.

The race to find those ChE starts, as only they can measure to ME. They visit the Mushroom Planet first, as Tails finds the signal.

This way the visit other planets from Sonic’s old map.

(I think this part can be speed-up a bit as we may not have enough time to fully visit all the worlds, but some hints of what has to come a.k.a Shadow or Silver are to be placed here.)

Once they have them, they return (using a plane) to find many islands were frozen. Sonic sees the monster and rushes to fight it. Knuckles is tasked to work with ChE to make a miracle or use their power. He tries, chanting the good old verses from SA1, but nothing is happening.

Sonic meanwhile can’t keep up with Chaos, getting hit a lot, but P Chaos still can’t “freeze him”.

Sonic: “I’m a hot stuff/shot, Bubble Head!”

Sonic gets stuck inside of Chaos' body, and only his electricity is slowing down the freezing process. Dr. Robotnik gloats, dancing. Knuckles joins the fight, punching a chunk of the water out of Chaos’ body. Dr. Robotnik is surprised and yells/recreates the Skyscraper scene (I wasn't expecting that...).

Knuckles gets Sonic out of the water and gets himself stuck. Sonic is sad and angry, racing to get to Dr. Robotnik. Chaos prevents him from doing so. Tails gets closer and loses the ChE as he has to make quick dodging. The ChE falls toward Sonic, who wishes to be stronger to protect his friends, and the ChE reacts, turning him gold.

With this power, he makes a quick job of P Chaos, who is reduced to Chaos 0. Dr. Robotnik loses ME, which shatters. Dr. Robotnik then makes his escape as Sonic loses his Super Form.

They together get Knuckles, who is floating in the water and heads to the island. There they found everybody still frozen. They are losing hope when Chaos 0 appears and sucks the bubble back, returning everybody back. He is no longer aggressive as he was fried from Dr. Robotnik’s control.

Chaos 0 also gatherers the shards and makes ME whole again. The ChE are scattered once more, but only around this world. Everybody is happy and Tikal (yes, he is alive here) recognizes Chaos as an old Chao her grandma told her about (it was a story passed from many generations ago). This Chaos is old guardian who got locked inside of the ME to protect it.

Echidnas promises to keep peace and protect this place instead of ruling it since Sonic was the one who saved them. After a bit, they are ready to return home, but Knuckles bows in front of Maddie, and says, “I can’t return to my tribe until I fulfill my duty. Lady Maddie, you had saved my life more than once. Allow me to be your Guardian to repay my debt.”

She is reluctant, but she agrees, amused. So, they return and Wachowski’s house gains new inhabitants - Tails and Knuckles.

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

Oooof, this was so long XD But I hope this was better than my last draft. I think this one is less polished, as I had mostly idea for Maddie+Knuckles scenes and made Chaos’ one at the spot. I was also reluctant to have somebody die on the screen, so no death :-)

Hope you enjoyed :-)

PS. Sorry for the mistakes ^_^;

#sonic movie #dr. robotnik #knuckles the echidna #maddie wachowski #fan creation #tom wachowski #miles tails prower #chaos emeralds #master emerald #long post #very long post #longclaw #sonic movie spoilers #sonic movie 2020 #sonic movie positivity #thank you for reading

53 notes · View notes

gale-gentlepenguin · 5 years ago

Text

ML dream: (Because my mind finally wants to be nice)

Previous parts (in episodic format) (Here) (Here)

I finally got to watch the dream episode I got spoilers of in my last dream AND a new episode. (My mind proving more consistent then airing schedule)

___________________________________________________________________

-Okay so In my dream, Apparently Arséne is a reoccurring character. (But with ML’s inconsistent episode schedule its hard to say where in the time line he is.) (He appears like Mayura does, frequent, but not too frequent)

-His intro episode was called “Emperor” and basically the events of the first part.

-The second episode he is in is actually the one with the slime Sentimonster. (ItWas called something about the Akuma). The akuma was called like Super science or something like that. It was a science themed akuma which was cool. she had all sorts of chemical reactions. Ryuuko got an appearance.

-Kagami meets Arséne in the episode. She and Adrien fence him. It was actually kind of cool. Some Adrigami for everyone.

-The second episode has Arséne notice Ladybug leaving the fight to get back up. But she manages to get to Fu’s place without him knowing the specific place. But, he sent Tuxx to go try and find the place once Ladybug led him in the general area.

-Wayzz popping out of a spot in Fu’s place revealed the location. Tuxx fed wayzz this lie about how abusive and cruel his master is and needs a ‘Guardian’s help’ Wayzz falls for it.

-Tuxx gets the info and escapes from Fu, who realizes that this was not good.

-This results in the last few minutes of that episode showing Emperor appear at Fu’s window.

-”So Guardian, do you mind if we talk?”

- Apparently has Fu and Emperor cut a deal. Fu agrees to translate the tomes that the penguin miraculous wielder has, if he can find out Hawkmoth’s identity. (Fu does not tell Ladybug about this arrangement, which gets the fandom very salty. I think I remember reading a rant post about it, (the blog kept changing in my dream so I can't remember) but it was really funny to me.)

_____________

-The third episode is called ‘The Historian’ and it starts off with Arséne having dinner with Gabriel and Adrien.

-”So Gabriel, what are your thoughts on these Heroes of Paris?”

-This caught Gabriel by surprise.

-Arséne mentions he found some interesting history about the heroes, mentioning their influence in other cultures.

-Adrien is invested in this. (We get some cool Hero history lore)

-Gabriel asks why he is telling him this.

-”Just figured you would want to know, since your jewelry line seems influenced by them. Thought it was an interesting coincidence.”

-Chat noir mentions what he learned to Ladybug, even mentioning that he might think that he knows who Hawkmoth is.

-Chat noir says its Arséne. Explaining his rational. Ladybug insists that he keep an eye on the suspect.

-Adrien asks Arséne if he wants to join him at a photo shoot at the Louvre. There is an interesting exhibit about Ladybug and Chat noir that he might find interesting.

-Arséne agrees because he enjoys the company of the young Agreste.

-Marinette, Alya and Nathanael were at the lourve because Alix invited them for a sneak peak at a new exhibit called the hall of heroes. (It was closed because private photo shoot but Alix got to sneak them in). Marc was sick so he couldn't come. Alix teases Nathanael about it (MarcNath/ Nathmarc fans rejoice)

-Marinette seeing Adrien at the Lourve. Shenanigans ensues.

-Arséne ships it and Totally recommended Marinette join the photoshoot.

-The photographer LOVED the idea. Using the hero exhibit poses as references.

-Alix’s Dad gets Akumatized because one of the artifacts that was being deliver was stolen and he freaked out over it. (It was Arséne). he becomes ‘The Historian’ and he can summon things from the past! He summoned all sorts of different soldiers and weapons. He also changed costume, depending on the Era from history he was taking from. (I really liked his Napoleon inspired costume.) But his akuma form was pretty bland in normal state. He looked like himself but in a hero costume with a picture of a history book on his chest.

-It is pretty crazy. Adrien’s suspicions about Arséne fell flat. He was relieved Arséne wasn't Hawkmoth.

-Arséne fled the scene once Chat noir got him to safety.

-Tuxx flies to him.

-”You were right, the Akuma did come from the Agreste Manor.”

-”So Gabriel is Hawkmoth, how interesting and completely not surprising. All that man does is sit in his mansion all day. I am shocked no one figured it out sooner.”

-”So what do we do? Do we tell Fu?”

-”Oh Tuxx, we see who can give the better offer.” Arséne says with a smirk.

-Tuxx smiles at this.

-”These two sides both need to learn to chill. Shall we join the fray?”

-Present Alix gets the Bunny miraculous for the first time. It was pretty cool.

- Arséne casually goes into the fight. And actually screws up their fight with the Akuma. Bunnix goes back in time and punches Emperor, catching him completely off guard. Which allows for Ladybug and Chat noir to pull the win.

-Hawkmoth notices Arséne’s assistance and wonders if he is friend or foe.

-Nathanael totally drew Bunnix and Alix wants to have input on the comic. (Nathanael knows Alix is Bunnix but Swears he won't tell anyone, cause friendship)

-Later that night. Gabriel was in his lair, and Emperor shows up.

-”Nice to finally meet you Hawkmoth. I must say, this is a pretty bare bones secret layer. I recommend getting a couch. Maybe having a table or at least a podium. Seriously. The butterflies must really get bored.”

(Then the episode ends.)

230 notes · View notes

jennifercrowart · 4 years ago

Photo

D&D Diary - The Yawning Rodent, 9

Refresher: Our adventurers Lugs (grung barbarian), Lurk (grung rogue), Aelia (tiefling cleric), and Valas (drow sorcerer) with tagalong Deku (ratfolk cleric) returned to the Sunless Citadel after dropping off Calcryx (the Kobold Gang's dragon) with the ratfolk, having taken a break at the Rat's Nest and Yawning Rodent tavern. After being greeted by a Kobold Gang guard on duty, they return to the Goblin Gang's territory but walk right into an ambush. The battle spans the haze-filled hallway as well as the large chapel hall that now serves as the Goblin Gang's living space. After defeating Grenl, an important-looking goblin, the hobgoblin leader has finally charged out into the fray.

Sunless Citadel spoilers!

The fight rages on. Deku, Lurk, and Valas are in the hallway, while Aelia and Lugs are in the chapel hall. The last goblin from the initial hallway ambush tries to flee, shooting his bow and hitting Valas in the side as he goes. The drow is unable to keep standing and collapses, rapidly beginning to bleed out from the deep wound. Deku, his closest ally, manages to make it to him in time and cast strong enough healing magic to bring Valas back to consciousness, and imposes his tiny but well-armoured frame between him and the goblin. "Come and get me!"

The goblin shrieks and continues trying to run away, escaping through the open door to Calcryx's old room. Valas gets back on his feet and follows him, casting Chill Touch and sending the ghostly hand straight through the goblin bandit's body, spookily just knocking the life out of him.

Meanwhile, the hobgoblin boss' twig blight - Ripper - circles around Lugs at its master's command and tries to distract the grung, gnashing its barky teeth. Aelia backs away into the door of the hallway, and, although surrounded by goblins, aims another Burning Hands spell. The sheet of fire from her fingertips easily bowls over the two goblins in front of her, as well as Ripper, who squeals in fright as the flames make quick work of its tree-like body.

"Ripper! Noooooooo!" the hobgoblin boss yells, as furious as he is distraught at the horrific demise of his pet. He points his longsword at Aelia, commanding his gang. "What are you waiting for?! Kill her!"

Lugs, who's been weathering the brunt of the Goblin Gang's assault, is beginning to look rough. One goblin bandit in particular tries to imitate Lurk by hiding behind one of the tents and firing a surprise attack at Lugs, but misses, and sheepishly steps back behind the tent to pretend nothing happened.

Suddenly, Aelia and Lurk - standing closest to the doorway between the chapel and the hallway - hear a bunch of marching footsteps coming from the south. The southern door into the hallway is thrown open, and out runs the elite guards from the Kobold Gang, along with Yusdrayl, who swiftly casts a Mage Armour spell on herself so her small kobold form is covered in an armour of light resembling stained glass. The kobold leader shouts, "we're here to provide backup! Where are you keeping Calcryx, Durnn??"

Durnn, the hobgoblin boss, scowls. "Yusdrayl, you coward - hiring mercenaries for our turf war! This is between you and me!"

"He's right," Valas chuckles under his breath.

Durnn continues to shout. "We don't have your fucking dragon anymore! Your mercs already took it yesterday!"

Aelia and Valas start to sweat. Frantically, they lie and tell Yusdrayl that they haven't found Calcryx yet. Durnn yells in frustration, and charges at Aelia with his longsword, though not able to deal as devastating a blow to her without more of his allies around. The remaining members of the Goblin Gang are now easily outnumbered by the party and the Kobold Gang, as the elite kobolds start cutting down the goblin bandits and interns like a well-oiled machine.

Yusdrayl narrows her eyes, and tells Durnn she won't fall for him trying to pit her against her hired allies. Durnn tries to tell her that the party would obviously steal the dragon from her, as they would know what it's worth and wouldn't want to give it back.

As he's now up close - and, unlike Lugs, she knows more of what's going on - Aelia recognises the crest on the chestplate of Durnn's shiny metal armour. It's the Hucrele family crest; the family of the two human nobles the party was initially hired to find. "Your armour! Where did you get that??"

Durnn snarls, and says he took it from a recent group of prisoners. Aelia tries to press for more information, but he yells, "fuck you!"

From behind him, Lugs deals the finishing blow to Durnn with his club, sending Durnn straight to his knees. Panting, Durnn grits his teeth and clenches his fists, leaning on his longsword and refusing to die through sheer force of will.

"Fine - parley! Parley!" he pants, defeated.

Lurk leans in with a dagger pressed to Durnn's throat, and grins, saying, "ok, let's parley."

"I might be able to tell you some information... if you let me and my gang go free," Durnn growls.

Lurk retorts, "give us the information first, and I might let you live. Tell me something I want to know!"

"About Belak? About the experiments? What do you want to know? ... You already have the dragon!"

With a start, Lurk leans in closer, whispering in Durnn's ear, "tell Yusdrayl that we haven't found the dragon yet."

Durnn's eyes grow wide with fury, but left with little other choice, he agrees. When Yusdrayl again demands to know where he's really keeping the dragon, he says, "... fine. The dragon is really being held on the floor below."

"How do you get to the lower floor? My gang has never found a way down," Yusdrayl says.

Durnn tells them that there's a well in his chambers that is an open shaft leading down to the lower level. "But you'll regret going down there. You won't come out alive," he adds, almost grinning.

Yusdrayl has almost all of her elite guards escort Durnn and the very few remaining hobgoblin and goblin bandits and interns out of the Sunless Citadel. Durnn threatens that he'll be back for revenge for her cowardice and tricks.

Left with just the party, Yusdrayl turns to them and says, "we'll begin searching the nearby rooms and the rest of the Goblin Gang's territory. Thank you for finally helping me get rid of them."

As the guards begin to search, Aelia adds that the party found the room down the hallway where Calcryx must've been kept normally, because it was filled with ice, snow, and her waste. However, she lies and says that the Goblin Gang must've moved her when they heard they were coming. The elite guard sent to search the room confirms for Yusdrayl that the ice and snow in there looks to be about a day melted. The party is relieved to have gotten away with their lies so far, as Yusdrayl seems to believe them.

Not wanting to try their luck too much for the time being, however, they suggest that they'll go down to the floor below to continue the search - and get away from Yusdrayl. The kobold leader agrees, and says that after searching the area and making sure Durnn doesn't try anything else, she should be able to send some gang members down after them to help later on.

Lugs, the most heavily wounded of the group, sits down in the chapel hall by one of the fire pits to take a rest while the others start investigating the area. Lurk goes into the room where Durnn initially came from, finding it to be his chambers - though it's more like a throne room, with a big stone throne next to an empty pot where his twig blight pet must've stayed. In front of the throne is a big chest, and in the centre of the room is the large open well that Durnn described. Deku and Valas try to peer down into it, seeing sickly white vines lining the walls of the shaft, but not being able to see too far down before it gets too thick with dust clouds, illuminated by milky violet light produced by glowing fungi.

Lurk inspects the lock on the chest, and picks it with his thieves' tools. As soon as it unlocks, he gets pierced with a needle trap, coated in poison. However, being immune to poison all his life by virtue of being a grung, Lurk shrugs it off. Inside the chest he finds a few thousand gold pieces, as well as some large onyx gemstones. Pocketing the gemstones, he shares the gold with the rest of the group.

Other rooms connecting to the chapel are now-empty guardrooms, with not much more of note other than waterskins of goon. Aelia takes psychic damage whenever she is reminded of the taste of the cheap and sour wine.

In the chapel living space itself, they find a fair bit of gold pieces on the bodies of the Goblin Gang members. On Grenl's body - the mohawk goblin who used the Faerie Fire spell scroll - they find another scroll of Expeditious Retreat.

The rest of the party joins Lugs, and takes a short rest to tend to their wounds. They level up to 3!

Ready to continue on, the party begins descending down the vines lining the well shaft in Durnn's throne room, as Yusdrayl says farewell and prays that they find Calcryx down there before too long. The climb is easy for Lugs and Lurk, with their grippy frog hands and feet. Similarly, despite his heavy armour, Deku is able to adeptly climb with his clawed ratfolk hands and feet. The two who have trouble are Aelia and Valas, only able to climb down the vines at half the pace, though Deku slows down to keep up with them so the tiefling and drow won't feel too bad. The shaft is full of stale air and thick clouds of dust and dirt, loosened by the vines and fungi growing out of the walls.

After climbing about 80 feet down, the air gets more loamy and damp. The party drops down into a large square room paved with old cracked stone, and lit by more of the violet glowing fungi clinging to the walls and ceiling.

Two animated skeletons in robes have their backs turned to the group, as they shovel compost and soil in the overgrown garden beds that line the room. Aelia calls out to them, trying to be friendly, and they sleepily turn around. Quicker than the skeletons react, however, are two twig blights who tear themselves from the garden beds and run at the party, snarling and feral. Following their hostile lead, the skeletons wordlessly raise their shovels at the intruders. With his good eyesight, Valas also already spots a bugbear and two giant rats sitting around a fire pit in the adjoining open cavern. Time for another fight!

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #dm #dungeon master #dm diary #dnd diary #d&d diary #dungeon master diary #session recap #dnd session #d&d session #the sunless citadel #5e #the yawning rodent

4 notes · View notes

rockboywonder · 5 years ago

Text

dabi is todoroki touya: the proof

This is gonna be a long one.

Ever since Dabi showed off his Quirk in the Training Camp Arc, a particular theory began cropping up. It’s arguably the largest fan theory in the entire BNHA fandom, and with good reason. At the point we’re at now in the story, it’s almost like it’s not even a theory anymore-- it’s just something we’re waiting for Horikoshi to make canon with one panel. The theory of the day is: Is Dabi a Todoroki?

Today, we’re going to lay out everything that points to Dabi being the estranged brother of one Todoroki Shouto, and if you didn’t believe it before, hopefully you will now.

Let’s take it back to the beginning-- if Dabi is a Todoroki, who the Hell is he? After the Calvary Battle in Season Two, Todoroki reveals the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father to Midoriya and introduces the idea of “Quirk marriages;” Todoroki was the perfect blend of Endeavor and Rei’s Quirks. And in a flashback during Todoroki and Midoriya’s battle, there’s a shot of Todoroki’s other siblings, or Endeavor’s failures, playing in the background as Todoroki is dragged away. Soon, we’d come to know the names of the children-- Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Touya.

What we knew about Touya at that point in time was that he was small and presumably physically weak, due to how easily he falls while playing as Natsuo laughs at him instead of helping him out. And from the way that Todoroki family genetics work, it can be assumed that he has fire power, due to his red hair. He’s also the oldest of the four, despite being very short.

Touya is the only named Todoroki sibling not to appear and interact with his family. Fuyumi talks to Todoroki in season two, and although Natsuo has not made his proper anime debut, he eats with his family in later chapters. That’s kind of weird, right? I mean… Unless Touya has been interacting with the main cast the entire time, and none of them have realized it.

Enter Dabi, a villain who desires to change the integrity of the hero world. Dabi has interacted with both Todoroki and Endeavor-- the two members of his potential family the least likely to recognize him. Todoroki because he was kept away from his siblings and forced through individual training (abuse), and Endeavor because he was neglectful of his failures. But we’ll get into that later.

The first time Dabi speaks is when he’s brought before Shigaraki under the pretense of joining the league. When Dabi insults Shigaraki’s judgement if he plans on letting Toga in, he retorts that at least she told him her full name, and that Dabi only gave him a moniker. Dabi says that he will tell them his name when the time comes. Even now, Dabi’s real name has not come from his own mouth.

The next time he takes centre-stage is as one of the antagonists of the Training Camp Arc and the leader of the Vanguard Action Squad. Then we get a glimpse of his Quirk-- blue flames. Other than Midoriya’s father, the only characters with fire Quirks up until this point were members of the Todoroki family. Dabi’s is different in the way that it’s bright blue-- the same colour as his eyes, which are given a close-up as he uses his fire. Which are, coincidentally, the same colour as Endeavor’s, and one of Todoroki’s. Is there any significance in the flame colour, other than aesthetic? Yes, actually. Scientifically speaking, blue flame is much hotter than orange flame, which seem to be what Todoroki and Endeavor primarily use. But it’s not the first time we’ve seen this colour-- Endeavor himself uses blue fire to fend off a Noumu during the Hero Killer Arc. Even then, he comments that it raises his body temperature to a dangerous level. Dabi seems to be, under the assumption that the colour is more than just aesthetic, operating with flames hot enough to damage him. And would you look at that, he’s covered in scar tissue, all over his face, eyes, neck, appendages, and back. These scars will be important later.

After Compress has secured Bakugou and the villains make a plan to rendez-vous and abscond, Midoriya, Todoroki, Shouji, Uraraka, and Asui attempt to jump into the fray to rescue both him and Tokoyami. When Aoyama, bless his heart, catches Compress off guard with his Naval Laser, both Todoroki and Shouji jump to retrieve their kidnapped compatriots. Shouji nabs Tokoyami, but just as Todoroki is about to grab Bakugou, a patched hand snatches him away. “That’s sad, Todoroki Shouto,” is what Dabi says as he lifts the compressed Bakugou out of reach. While it’s not strange that Dabi knows the name of the runner-up in the highly publicized U.A Sports Festival, it is a little odd that he would refer to him by full name, in such a mocking tone, in the middle of this tense situation. The dramatic lighting as the two move in different directions almost screams “this is a scene you need to pay attention to.”

As mentioned before, Todoroki has no reason to recognize Dabi, or Touya. But Dabi certainly knows Todoroki.

Later, when the Pros break into the bar to rescue Bakugou, the police read off the real names of the villains-- but Dabi’s is never mentioned, almost like they couldn’t find out what it was.

Here ends Dabi’s adventure through questionable heritage-- at least, for what’s in the anime. Luckily for us, there’s over one hundred chapters that have yet to be animated, and it’s within these pages that Dabi being a Todoroki becomes less of a theory, and more of a given. So if you’d like to keep as spoiler free as possible, I recommend you opt out now.

During the Overhaul arc, Toga and Twice are the only members of the League directly involved with the raid. Dabi accompanies Shigaraki on his mission to confront Chisaki, and during the course of this, he catches the attention of the Pro Hero, Snatch. During their battle, Snatch asks Dabi if he thinks about the families of those he kills, and how they feel. Soon after, Compress traps Snatch inside one of his marbles with Dabi’s fire, which kills Snatch.

The next arc Dabi shows up in is when the Todoroki connection stops being subtext and just becomes, well, text.

Dabi shows up in front of Hawks and Endeavor with the intention of getting into a fight. He only greets Endeavor, and hesitantly at that, saying “nice to meet you, Endeavor, I guess,” or something along those same lines. It should be mentioned that all of 1-A is watching this fight transpire via the TV, and at this point, it focuses in on Todoroki’s face, who recalls the name “Dabi” and we’re treated to a flashback panel of the “How sad, Todoroki Shouto” bit from the Training Camp Arc. Endeavor recognizes Dabi as the one who killed Snatch, nothing more, and Dabi doesn’t even seem to remember the life he has taken. Before leaving, Dabi refers to Endeavor as “Todoroki Enji--” his full name. This occurrence is a little stranger than Dabi knowing Todoroki’s name. Pro Hero names aren’t typically publicized in the same way U.A students’ are. It’s weird for Dabi to know and/or use the name Enji unless he has a personal relationship with him. Such as… If they were family.

After his meeting with Hawks, Dabi leaves on his own. He then remembers Snatch, and recalls how he asked if Dabi cared about the families of his victims. Dabi laughs, and then the patch of burned skin below his eye starts to leak blood, which drips down to his chin, implying he’s started to cry. He wipes away the blood tears and mumbles to himself; “I thought so hard about it I went crazy.” Dabi has put a lot of thought into families, it seems, and thinking about it drove him mad.

The next few pieces of evidence relate to Touya, not to Dabi, and the things that happened to him. After his battle with the Noumu and Dabi, Endeavor returns to his home, only to be roasted by Todoroki and snubbed by Natsuo, which is perfectly understandable. Natsuo gets up to leave, not being able to stand his father’s presence. He yells at Endeavor, not being able to forgive him in the same way Rei and Fuyumi can, and not ready to make nice with him just because he defeated one villain. He says: “You completely neglected us, and left us to listen to Mom screaming and Shouto crying. Not to mention what happened with Big Bro Touya [...]”

Well, Touya is finally mentioned by one of his siblings. And it seems like whatever happened to him, it wasn’t good. The way it’s framed makes it seem like Endeavor was responsible for what befell Touya, such as pushing him too far in training. The reader is left to wonder: maybe Todoroki wasn’t the first trainee under Endeavor’s wing. Maybe something went wrong with one of the other children.

But all we have to go on is Natsuo’s cryptic words, after which Todoroki claims: “I’ve never seen Natsu get that emotional.”

Until, we get more insight into Todoroki’s abuse during the Joint Training Arc. In a flashback, we see Endeavor yelling at a young, vomiting Todoroki, saying: “Quit pretending to be so frail! Touya’s case was regrettable. He possesses even greater firepower than mine, and yet… He inherited Rei’s weak constitution. He… was almost perfect. Almost.”

So, now the idea of Touya that we have is that he had very strong flames, but his body wasn’t able to handle it. He was almost perfect, but this fatal flaw made it so that he could not succeed Endeavor. Alright.

During Todoroki’s fight against Tetsutetsu, Tetsutetsu claims that the other’s flames won’t work, because Tetsutetsu’s strength was obtained by overcoming his limits. These words trigger a traumatic flashback for Todoroki, where he remembers Endeavor shouting at him to surpass his limits-- there’s no way he can’t do it, he’s just not trying hard enough. Trying to pull himself out of the flashback, Todoroki repeats Midoriya’s inspirational words to himself, and then cranks his flames up to eleven, so hot that they begin to melt the cameras. Because of the black and white nature of the manga, we can’t tell if the flames are meant to be blue or white, but one can assume they’re no longer orange. Todoroki notes that the heat is causing him to become dizzy and sluggish, and that he needs to stop or he’ll burn himself. Burn himself, huh? The heat, in combination with the debris, causes Todoroki to pass out before doing any permanent damage to himself.

So, we have Todoroki, who has acknowledged that his fire can hurt him if he overdoes it. Then, we have his brother Touya, who has more powerful fire than Endeavor, and presumably Todoroki, who is pretty weak to fire. Don’t you think that combination would lead to, I don’t know, burn scars all over one’s body?

Let me paint you a story. Granted, it’s not based on much, and if you have more theories, let me hear em!

Rei and Endeavor have had their first child. At age 4, he manifests his Quirk-- a fire Quirk. Endeavor immediately starts training him to surpass All Might, but Touya’s hesitant with his Quirk, because he’s sensitive to it. After Todoroki is burned by his mother, in the lull where he’s not at his greatest, Endeavor returns to training Touya. Just like what he did with Todoroki, Endeavor screams at Touya to surpass his limits. The stress causes Touya to unleash his full potential-- blue hot flames, which has severe physical repercussions, burning his entire body. Endeavor freaks out and tries to speed along the recovery as fast as possible, because Touya was almost perfect. Going by hair colours, neither Fuyumi or Natsuo have the firepower, or strength of firepower, that Endeavor wanted. Returning to Todoroki, Endeavor casts Touya aside. The experience completely traumatizes Rei, who breaks down. Bitter, Touya runs away, buys some hair dye, and begins to hate everything hero society stands for. He was violently abused by the Number 2 Hero, who is revered by the public. And so, he begins to go by the name Dabi-- Cremation. He does not create fire. With it, he wants to destroy the way things are.

In Todoroki Shouto: Origin, as Todoroki is being pulled away from looking at his siblings, where Touya appears to be alive and well, he has no burn on his eye. When Endeavor is telling Todoroki about how Touya’s case was regrettable, the burn mark is there. Meaning, something happened to Touya in between those two scenes.

I initially wrote this during the Meta Liberation Army Arc-- when the villains were getting more depth, but each time it got to Dabi, the narration pulled away. I thought maybe we’d get an answer at the end. But now, as we’ve entered a new arc that seems to have Hawks and Dabi as main players, perhaps we’ll finally get the info we’ve been craving.

#dabi bnha #bnha #todoroki touya #dabi is a todoroki #analysis #i love this theory pls horikoshi

131 notes · View notes