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kyidyl · 3 years

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Kyidyl Explains Bones - Part 6

(All of these are under the KyidylBones tag.)

Age Determination

Well, age at death anyway. I’m gonna put this warning up front:

Today’s post will contain pictures of the skeletons of children. This is something that a lot of people, even those who think they won’t be bothered, find upsetting. This goes double if you actually have children. This post will also include frank discussion of child death.

You have been warned.

So what is age determination? Age determination isn’t the process of figuring out how old a set of remains is, it’s the process of figuring out how old the individual was when they died. Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, I’m putting everything behind a cut today.

Ethics: Beyond the normal respectful approach, there aren’t separate ethical considerations with dealing with age like there are for sex and race. Just be considerate of the fact that child death is super upsetting to some people. I literally had people in my classes at the masters level who were moved to tears by some of the younger remains, so even when you’re used to looking at things from a clinical perspective, kids can be tough.

General: Age is separated into three general categories: juvenile (0-early 20s), adult, and elderly. Juveniles are from birth until the last known skeletal change takes place. IE, until all your teeth come in and all your bones fuse. These are really good indicators of age, so we use them as much as we can for as long into the lifespan as we can. Adults range from “done growing” to “showing signs of degeneration” EG, arthritis and that kind of thing. Elderly is anything older than that.

Also, this applies to all age categories: size is not an indicator of age. Ever.

Juveniles: We say juveniles instead of children because people in their late teens and early 20s aren’t really children, but they haven’t finished growing yet. So juvenile is a more inclusive term, and the more accurate one. That said, kids are by FAR the easiest to know the age of. Juvenile remains do not look like small adult remains, because juveniles that have skeletons that do not resemble adult skeletons beyond the basic “ah, that’s probably a human”.

There are a few ways that we determine the age of a juvenile, and the first thing we check is the teeth. Before the body, before any other signs. Because the teeth are consistently accurate across race, sex, economic standing, any pathologies, etc. Teeth are formed and come in on a schedule. Here is that schedule:

And here is a link to a high res PDF version that you absolutely should take a look at (Source).

Beyond this, the 3rd molar AKA wisdom teeth come in between ages 17-25. Now, archaeological remains won’t have scars on the bone from the wisdom teeth removal that a lot of people commonly undergo, but in the future that will be visible on the bone. I’ll get into this more when I get around to doing the damage and pathology posts, but healed bone has a different appearance than unbroken bone, so a healed-over tooth socket has a different appearance than bone that never had a tooth there to begin with. In addition, while tooth eruption in a living juvenile is accepted as the time when the tooth breaks through the gums, in the remains of a juvenile we can see un-erupted teeth within the jaw. It looks like this:

(Source)

As an aside: those lines on the teeth are called enamel hypoplasia, and I’ll cover it more in the teeth post, but essentially if you don’t get proper nutrition as a child when your adult teeth are developing in your jaw you get these lines in them.

So anyway, because teeth come in on such a precise schedule, and because teeth survive better than anything else in your body (especially in a child’s body. Childrens’ bones are fragile, partially ossified, and they decay quickly.), they’re very good for estimating age at death. Even more so than bones, because bones can be altered by illness, malnutrition, repetitive activity, or genetic anomalies. Teeth almost never are. Or, rather, their rate of growth isn’t.

Another thing we look for when determining age at death is the fusion of the bones. See, as you’re growing you have more bones. Those get larger until they meet up with the bone they’re part of, and then they start to fuse. These are called epiphysis (growth plates). Very young children don’t even have entirely ossified (bone instead of cartilage) bones, let along epiphysis that touch. Babies don’t show up often in the archaeological record because of this. To better illustrate this, here is an image of an xray of a baby’s hand:

(Source)

You’ll notice that the finger bones (Metacarpals and carpels, known collectively as phalanges.) have small little bones at the ends that aren’t attached - that’s not an anomaly, that’s normal. Those are the physis, which will fuse later in life after they are larger, and the plate between them from which they grow is the epiphysis. You can also see that the wrist bones have barely begun to ossify and don’t show up on the xray, and the physis for the radius and ulna (arm bones) also haven’t begin to ossify and thus don’t show up - that’s why the arm bones look like one bone. They aren’t, they have an epiphysis at either end (Your elbow is a separate bone called the olecranon and it doesn’t fuse until later on.). This happens at a very predictable rate, and so we can tell how old someone is from a combination of their teeth and which bones have and have not ossified and fused. In addition, the bone of the epiphysis has a unique texture that is referred to as “billowy” in the literature (even tho I hate that word). Here’s a picture:

(Source)

The one on the left is what you want to look at, since this is a progression through age. Also I sniped this from a paper on age estimation, so if you’re interested in this take a look at it. It’s on researchgate so it’s not behind a paywall. As an aside: researchgate is amazing and you should all learn to use it.

Anyway, see that bumpy texture on the left? That’s what unfused bone looks like at the growth plate. This actually applies to, as far as I know, all land mammals. So if you find animal bones with this texture at the end of the bone, then that animal was a juvenile when it died. Bones fuse at different times in your life, but we know the times when they fuse. There are 206 bones in the adult body, so that would be a lot for me to try and put in a tumblr post, but if you google a specific bone you should be able to find the ages they fuse. I believe, if memory serves, that the skull sutures are the last to fully fuse, and they in fact continue to become more tightly fused as your life goes on. I’ll cover that in the next section tho. It will hold together as a teenager, but the skull bones take a long time to fuse to each other. Two of the last epiphysis to fuse though are the iliac crest (The curved part of the hip - it’s actually its own separate bone. Like just the small, smooth curved part.) and the sternal end of the clavicle (clavicle = collarbone, and the sternal end is the medial part towards the sternum.). This happens in your early to mid 20s.

So teeth and bone fusion are the two most used methods of age estimation. So if anyone ever shows you a small skeleton with fused bones and calls it a child, roll your eyes at them. It’s not a child.

One last note on juvenile skeletons: until the individual undergoes puberty, sex and race determinations are extremely difficult (teeth can be used for race, but not for sex. Not really, anyway.). So again, anyone who professes to know the sex of a set of pre-pubescent remains without like...a gravestone or something telling them is probably a liar. Right now the methods for doing that are either expensive (genetics) or inaccurate. And doing genetic evaluations on old juvenile remains is difficult, because their bones are more fragile than adult bones and break down easier, which exposes the DNA to easy degradation. It’s not impossible, it’s just usually more difficult and more expensive.

For reference, here is a juvenile skeleton laid out in standard anatomical position. There is more than one individual here, so ignore any of the bones outside the arms and above the head.

(Source)

Adults and the Elderly: After an individual finishes growing, estimating their age becomes increasingly difficult. There’s no such thing as, for example, an average number of tooth cavities. In addition, the natural growth and destruction of your bone cells over your lifetime means that things you do habitually can significantly alter the shape of your bones and the rate at which they break down.

However, there are a few things that can be used. Joints wear down at a fairly consistent rate, and arthritis leaves specific markers on the bones that we can identify as arthritis rather than normal wear and tear. This is most easily views in two places: the public symphasis (the front where your two hip bones meet.) and the acetabulum (The socket that the round end of your thigh bone is in.). The picture I used above is an image of the wear and tear seen on a series of pubic symphysises (symphysii? IDK.). And so these are matched against skeletons whose age at death was known and age ranges for changes to this area were arrived at.

When I was doing my MSc, we did a project where we were assigned a set of remains and had to use everything we’d learned in the course to do a full evaluation of our skeletons. Well, the majority of my skull was missing and so I used the acetabulum to do age estimation on the skeleton (I had some teeth, but not most of the ones that are diagnostic of age, which I’ll cover in a sec.). This is an image from and a link to one of the papers I used:

(Source)

Two things happen here as you age. One, the edges of the socket become damaged and it starts to change the anatomy (F is oldest). Two, that space in the middle is called the acetabular fossa, or the acetabular notch. And as you can see, the shape of it changes over time due to normal wear and tear. In combination with resources like the one I linked, we can use this to estimate the age of an adult or elderly individual.

Another tool we use has to do with the fusion of your growth plates. After the bones fuse, the line is still visible. Throughout your life the remodeling (normal breakdown/growth of bones and healing from damage.) causes the sutures to be come less and less visible. We call this obliteration. In the elderly, most of their sutures and growth plates will be completely obliterated. For example, the femur is in four pieces as a child. The main body of the femur, the head of the femur, the greater trochanter (The big bump on the top outside. This is like...the part that’s wides below your hips where your thigh meets your pelvis, but on the outside.), and the condyles (the rounded pieces on the far end.). The greater trochanter fuses and obliterates pretty early on, but the head and the condyles are pretty easy to see even in adults. Here’s an example showing the femoral head:

(Source)

As you can see, the trochanter has fused and is obliterated, but the head has fused and you can still see the line from the growth plate. The sutures in the skull are especially good for this, as cranial sutures take the majority of the lifespan to obliterate (sometimes they never fully do.). If you see a smooth skull, that person was ooooold.

The last easily accessible way we assess age at death is via tooth wear. Now, this won’t work in modern skeletons, which is why there’s a lot of research surrounding the evaluation of age at death. We’re well aware that after humans entered roughly the industrial age, our foods became soft and teeth no longer wear like they should, and after that point in time it’s not possible to use the standardized methods of tooth wear to evaluate age. Well, I should rephrase, it won’t be possible in westernized and industrialized societies. Cultures in Africa and South America that still practice pastoral or hunter/gatherer lifestyles will likely still have expected tooth wear. Anyone who lives in a society that has and uses grocery stores or doesn’t use two rocks to mill flour (Do not underestimate how much bread people ate.), is not going to have expected tooth wear (so it’s not about rural vs city.).

See, it’s normal and natural for teeth to wear. It’s normal and natural for the yellowish substance below the enamel, called dentin, to show. Dentin is almost as hard as enamel, and it actually regrows. We evolved to have tooth wear both on the surfaces and between the teeth. Humans used to eat much tougher foods, and even when we weren’t, our foods had a lot of grit in them (IE, tiny pieces of stone from milling flour. I have a whole ass theory about the role of dirt in the evolution of teeth for all animals but that’s neither here nor there.) and wore our teeth down. Wear isn’t a sign of bad dental hygiene, it’s a sign of a tougher diet. After the industrial age we started using different methods to produce food and started eating softer food overall, so we stopped putting the stresses on our jaws required for both proper tooth wear and the proper growth of our teeth (AKA: wisdom tooth impaction.). So normally worn teeth look like this:

(Source for both images)

If you’ll notice in that top image the lines where the teeth meet fit exactly together. This is because of tooth wear. Interestingly you’ll also notice in the bottom image that this individual’s teeth are unevenly worn, meaning they chewed on the right side of their mouth. This is actually something we see all the time because of both handedness, and insult to the teeth on one side of the aw (AKA it was painful cause they had cavities.). This individual was likely a young adult given that they don’t have a lot of tooth wear to begin with, but they were preferentially using one side of their mouth to chew and so it is more worn than it would be for someone who wasn’t doing that. Here is the chart we use to grade tooth wear and age on adult teeth:

(Source)

That link has a larger version of the chart and more images.

So the fact that I’m 40 and still can feel all the cusps on all of my molars is an anomaly compared to previous humans. Soft foods. So if you compare the above image of the jaw with the chart, you’ll see that the individuals in both pictures have wear in the 25-35yrs old age rage, or what we would consider to be a young adult. And before you start talking about average age of humans back in the day, don’t forget that the average includes a lot of dead children. Once you made it to adulthood you lived a decent amount of time.

So those of you who are older than your 30s or so might not remember this, but when your adult incisors come in they had small ridges on the edges. It was easier to tell on your top teeth (maxillary incisors) than your bottom ones (mandibular incisors.), but it’s present on both. These bad boys:

(Source)

That is obviously a living human, but I’m showing you because they wear quickly. They do, however, wear at a prescribed pace so if a set of remains has them they were young. Sometimes they’re gone before you’re even an adult, but I figured I’d mention them because they are another kind of tooth wear.

Disease: The last thing that helps in age determination are age-based diseases. Namely, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. There are circumstances wherein someone younger can have both of those pathologies, but that’s why we have all of the other things. So if we see signs of arthritis in a younger person, we’ll have the other signs to help us realize that they aren’t an elderly individual.

Osteoarthritis is, essentially, a thinning of the cartilage, fluid, and other soft tissues in the joints, causing the bones to rub against each other instead of sliding nicely on the cartilage. Now, a certain amount of thinning is expected with age - obviously, as arthritis in the elderly is extremely common even now. But osteoarthritis is an escalation of the normal wear and tear into a pathology. Osteoarthritis damages the joints, and so bone attempts to regrow, so you see a lot of abnormal outgrowths of bone that fit tightly together because they were rubbing against each other. You also see, in extreme cases, striations on the bones where they were grinding together. Like this:

(Source)

This is a knee joint, viewed from the posterior side. You can see on the bottom condyle and the opposing articular surface that there are lines. Those lines are from the bones grinding. You also can see, especially on the tibia, all those little funky looking bone bits. All that roughness sticking out around end, below the flat surface. Some roughness there is normal, but that’s rougher than it should be and that’s the result of osteoarthritis.

The other disease common in the elderly is osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is an illness that causes compact/cortical (the thicker hard bone around the spingy bone to thin and become porous (hence the name.). I’ve held bone with extremely advanced osteoporosis and they are about half the weight of normal bones. So that’s the first sign. The next sign is that they’ll be damaged, both from the natural processes of time and from subsequent handling, because they’re farm more fragile than health adult bone. The vertebra also take on a “squished” appearance due to the forces of gravity and the remodeling during the life of the individual. You also will often see poorly healed breaks (I’ll show you more of this later in this series when I get to pathologies.).

So that brings us to the end of the bit about age determination. Hope you guys are enjoying this series. :) I think next up is gonna be teeth! =D

#science #KyidylBones #archaeology #forensic #forensic anthropology #skeleton #age #human skeleton #human remains #educational #infodump #bones #human bones

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ivyuns · 3 years

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violation 2

hwang hyunjin

genre: angst

word count: 0.9k

warnings: mentions of death and pregnancy, psychopath! fiancé, revenge, hyunjin gets hurt, this story is read in 3rd person, not proof read, police officers are in the story, arrested, kinda rushed, if anything else, lmk!

summary: after hyunjin kills you, your fiancé tries ways to get revenge on hyunjin

note: hi! im sorry this came out a month late than it shouldve had but its here! for those who are wondering, landing in your heart will continue after may since ill be on summer break.

masterlist

part one

after your sudden death, your family was having problems. since your cafe was popular in that area, many reporters came to the house, asking what happened.

all your fiancé could say is that you were murdered by your best friend. which he was right.

after your funeral, your fiancé went to your cafe and went to see the security footage from the night you didn’t come home. first he saw that you were inside the cafe, alone with hyunjin. he heard you tell hyunjin that he could go home for his “exams”. he checked the other cameras and saw hyunjin picking up his hoodie. the same hoodie he wore when he kidnapped you.

after you cleaned up and everything and left the cafe, he got to see your beautiful smile that he’ll never see again. he smiled but was quickly faded away whenever he saw hyunjin behind you as you were walking the other way.

“fuck you, hwang hyunjin.”

the following days after your funeral, your fiancé had told your mom about him suspecting hyunjin for your death. “the hwang hyunjin? no it can’t be him!” your mom exclaimed and laughed but your fiancé left of poker face on him.

“m-mom please take this seriously. there’s camera footage that hyunjin was following y/n.” he said, almost begging for her to believe him. and after showing the camera footage, she grew pale. ‘i should’ve known from the start’ your mom thought to herself.

your fiancé and mom partnered up and researched about hyunjin and his job. “skz?” he questioned. your mom looked away from her computer to look at her son in laws and read “kwonga has stole billions of cash from skz.”

kwonga.

it was your dad’s nickname.

“oh my god. i-i mr kwon stole money from hyunjin- i-is that why hyunjin killed my daughter-“ your mom said, almost not believing what she just put together. almost passing out of the fact that her husband was secretly in a mafia, your fiancé took her to her bedroom for her to rest as he went back to work.

‘skz mafia whereabouts’

he clicked on the link and read hyunjin’s profile. ‘left recently due to high amounts of stress and anxiety.’

after hyunjin left skz, he moved back into his parents. of course, his parents didn’t know he was in a mafia so he used the best excuse he could think of which was “i quit my job as a grocery worker”

hyunjin unpacked his bags and kkami came into his room. “hi kkami!” hyunjin exclaimed and went on the floor to pick up kkami. but kkami ignored him and jumped on his bed and laying down. hyunjin frowned and went back to unpacking.

hours later, he decided to take a walk around since it’s been awhile. he walked around and he realized your cafe was around the corner of his house. he saw all the flowers and pictures of and for you at the front, with some people standing in front of it, grieving for you and your unborn baby.

hyunjin walks up to the front door and walks inside the cafe. the cafe was now spacious and was filled with your favorite things. stuffed animals, fairy lights, favorite colors, etc.

he smiled as he remember the thought of you two being kids. how you always dreamed of having a successful cafe in the future. hyunjin regrets accepting his mission. if he was just his old and normal self, you would still be here. enjoying the happy smiles of your customers and employees.

“hwang?” someone calls out.

hyunjin turns around to see your fiancé behind the counter. eyes puffy and red from seeing all your things here. “h-hey f/n. i uhm i just came here to see what happened. and i’m sorry you lost two amazing girls in your life.” hyunjin quickly said and exited the small building.

your fiancé catches up to him and whispers into his ear. “you’ll be next.” but as hyunjin turned around, he saw nobody. hyunjin quickly ran back home and thought about his choices.

a few days has passed and hyunjin was locked inside his room. he didn’t fully know about the term “you’ll be next” but he knows that one of these days will be his last.

“hyunjin-ah. please come out and buy me groceries.” hyunjins mom knocked on his door and left money on the floor next to his door. hyunjin sighs and gets up. getting ready and grabbing the money off the floor and leaving.

before he could enter the grocery store, he was greeted with police officers. “please stop and show us your id. we heard there was a murder but the murder hasn’t been turned in yet.” the police told hyunjin.

hyunjin nods his head, sweating. he takes out his id and all the information matched the murderer description. “mr hwang hyunjin, you’re under arrest for kidnapping and murdering kwon y/n and her unborn daughter.”

“no! t-that’s not me!” hyunjin yelled at the officers. but it was no use. he’s been caught.

handcuffs were locked on his wrists behind him and got into the car. the police officers called his parents about his arrest and was terrified of their own son.

your fiancé who was hiding saw the whole scene. proud of him and your mom. it started pouring and he was still outside. he looked up and smiled. “you’re welcome, y/n.”

he didn’t want to kill hyunjin, because he knew you’ll be upset with him by killing your once best friend. instead he wanted to turn in hyunjin but secretly. tears left his eyes and the stress has left his shoulders.

“thank you my love.”

“thank you dadda”

his smile grew wider, hearing the sweet voice of yours and hearing his daughter who he wish he met. “i love and miss you two.”

END <3

deeply apologizing for the ending :(

#hwang hyunjin #hyunjin angst #stray kids angst #skz angst #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #stray kids hyunjin #jyp skz #jyp stray kids #kpop #kpop angst #kpop fluff #angst

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shattered-mirror-fanfic · 3 years

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HAHAHA! I’M EARLY THIS TIME! Anyways, before you read: This is your warning about how in this chapter there’s mentions of child abuse, blood, death and scientific experiments on a child. You have been warned.

Ao3 Link: Chapter below cut for those who read it here on tumblr: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32206135/chapters/84899077

The walk home from school was dull as always, walking along the grey path, connected to a grey street, little color in the world. Despite being only six years old, Desdemona had many responsibilities, especially after their soul fully developed.

The routine was simple: walk home, get homework done, change clothing, get a snack, curl up on the couch with the snack, a blanket, and their favorite doll until their dad got home. Usually on Thursdays like this, Desdemona feared when their dad would get home because he would yell at them and have them turn off the tv and get in the car. This new addition only started when their mom disappeared. One day, at 3:20 when she was meant to get home, she didn’t show up. It wasn’t Des’s fault, they were only a child and their soul wasn’t even fully developed, they were only wondering what if’s, it shouldn’t be their fault that it became real.

No matter, they had other worries. They didn’t have any homework so they went straight up to their room, changing out of the light blue and white uniform shirt and white shorts into a comfortable black and white striped t-shirt and brown overalls instead. They grabbed a blanket and pink axolotl doll from their bed and went downstairs again. Before going into the living room, they popped into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of cheese puffs from the pantry that were hidden away at their height so their father couldn’t confiscate it. There weren't many of the puffs left so they took the bag with them. They went to the living room and climbed onto the grey couch, covering themself and their plushie with the blanket. They grabbed the discarded remote and turned on the tv, pressing random numbers until they got to the cartoon channel.

Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to an hour, and the front door slammed open as the episode faded to black.

“Turn that tv off right now! Get up and get in the car, traffic was held up enough already!” The tall man who entered had yelled. Desdemona hated their father on Thursdays, he was always so mean and would only let Desdemona eat stale animal crackers that tasted both bland and too sweet. Regardless, the child slid off the couch and went to the door, putting on some boots and grabbing their father’s hand to be led to the car.

They were set in a booster seat and buckled in with the stupid animal crackers and doll. Their father slammed the door shut and got in the drivers spot, driving off down the road to their destination.

Roughly twenty minutes had gone by when the car stopped outside of a large grey building located along a dirt path. Desdemona dreaded this place, there were no good people there, only mean men in big white coats. The place was bland and basically greyscale, no pictures or paintings anywhere, it was like a prison. Desdemona’s father led them to a room with only a bed, a few chairs, some counters and cabinets. Without instructions, Des hopped on the bed and waited, swinging their legs while their father sat in one of the folding chairs in the corner of the room. The child held their plushie tightly, letting their dirty blonde hair fall in front of their face, hearing only their father wishing for a normal child before three of the mean men in white coats came in and began their tests.

~~~

Souls develop in a human by the age of five, beforehand their souls are usually white, empty and still developing their traits. For Desdemona, their soul didn’t develop correctly, and by the time the trait showed itself, it was too late to guide their soul differently. It was malformed and full of hate and malice, the only things they were shown before, not an ounce of KINDNESS was present in soul tests, the only trait that had developed into a positive range was DETERMINATION, and even then, it was very weak, and couldn’t manage being the dominant trait on it’s own.

It was very rare for souls to be malformed, and even rarer to have all but one trait be malformed. Oddities like these seem to be caused from one parent having a malformed trait, which in Desdemona’s case, could be their father having malformed kindness, after all, he was a “businessman”. It could be possible for a soul to be malformed in another way, where all the traits exceed limits, the soul exhibits all traits to an extreme and displays all the traits equally among the heart. But this has only remained speculation.

~~~ “Des, wake up.” They heard their father say. There wasn’t a clock in the room, but even then, they knew it had been at least five hours since the doctors gave them the medication that put them to sleep. Desdemona sat up and saw their soul was exposed, it was black and inky, with a little dot of red on the side where a doctor most likely had injected raw determination into their soul to make it normal.

“Sorry dad, I’ll be better…” The child weakly said.

“Listen Des, I know you hate me, I’m just still upset about what you did to your mother.”

“I didn’t do anything! It’s not my fault!” Desdemona cried. Their dad sighed and picked them up and carried them to the car, putting them into their seat before settling into his own and beginning the drive home.

“We’re having mac and cheese again, and I want you to behave tomorrow and remember…”

“No showing my soul to anyone.”

“And if someone asks?”

“Say it’s determination and dodge other questions...”

“Good, sorry the tests ran a bit late, your soul is just needlessly complicated.”

The drive was boring as always, the sky was illuminated with the end of a sunset, but it wasn’t anything. Des fell asleep in their seat, only waking up when the car drove over a bump that jolted the end of it.

Tomorrow is another day.

~~~

Stepping onto the schoolyard was a chore, it was tedious, unnecessary, the educational systems flawed anyway, and yet it is still done because in our minds we believe that we would not make it anywhere without wasting time here. Desdemona wished they could just stay at home and learn from the internet where they only learn what’s necessary for a future career.

But, no, the elder gods demanded that all children (which is all people under 18) are required to attend hell to understand what awaits them if they step out of line. Unfortunately Desdemona was not one of the “gifted” ones that were made to believe that they were smart when in reality it’s just a facade to let the parents know which kid needs therapy before 16.

In reality, Desdemona was just standing paralyzed at the school gates, knowing nothing excited them. They were tired, full of hatred, and bored. They looked around, seeing all the happy friends playing chase and other games, no one was alone, this saddened the blonde child at the gate. Until a new face appeared next to them.

“Hi! Who are you?! Names [REDACTED]! What’s yours?!” A boy excitedly spoke. Desdemona stared at the white-haired boy, stunned. Someone wanted to talk to me?

"My name is Des...Desdemona."

"That's a cool name! Say friend, what's your soul trait? Mine's determination!" The boy continued to speak. Desdemona stared at [REDACTED] before answering.

"Determination...at least I think…"

"Well can I see?" Before Des could say no, the teacher came out and called the kids inside for class time. "Hey, we'll talk after class ok? Bye friend!" And the boy left. He was always interesting.

~~~

The school day was done in an instant, and Desdemona found themself walking back home. The clouds greying above, making the air cold and damp.

"Desdemona! You should wait here until your father can get you! It's going to be a downpour!" They heard the teacher cry. They were only a little out of the gate, so it probably was best to listen. They walked back to the roofed area that the teacher was under, along with their new friend [REDACTED]. "I'll call your dads, do you mind waiting here?"

Two shakes of the kids heads and she left.

"Hi Dessie! Can I see your soul now?" Desdemona's new friend asked. They were conflicted, but ultimately, they trusted [REDACTED]. They pressed and hand against their own chest and out popped the pitch black soul. "Wow! I haven't seen a soul like that before!"

"My dad doesn't like me showing my soul…"

"It's cool though! Don't feel bad!" The comment made Des smile, it was great to have a friend that accepts their oddities. The two talked about all sorts of child nonsense afterwards. About ten minutes had passed when the teacher came back out, her face was one of distress.

"Desdemona, your father will be here shortly, [REDACTED], I'll walk you to where your mother is, ok?" The kids nodded. They waited a few minutes until a car pulled up and out stepped Desdemona’s father carrying an open umbrella.

“C’mon Des, I have to take care of paperwork before eight.”

“Dad! Can my friend come over? Please?” The blonde child asked, running up to their father.

“What?! N-...fine, whatever keeps you happy, but you know the rules. Ma’am, is that ok?” The grown man asked, directing his attention to the teacher.

“Well, I would have to inform [REDACTED]’s mother, but if she agrees, then it’s fine.” The teacher responded. Desdemona smiled and ran back to give [REDACTED] a hug while the teacher pulled out her phone again.

~~~

The ride home wasn’t dull for once, this time, it was fun! Desdemona and their friend sat and chatted the whole time, talking about the most random of things. When they finally got home, Des bolted upstairs to change into their usual after school clothes as fast as they could so they could get back to their friend. They could talk and play for the rest of their short lives the whole night! It was so much fun, and it was only sunset when Des’s father said that [REDACTED] had to get ready to go home.

“Des, can I ask you something?” Their father asked, leading them to the kitchen while their friend was packing their bag still.

“Sure!” They had left the kitchen and went to the empty backyard with only a tree and some bushes.

“When did you think you could keep it a secret that you showed your friend your soul?” Des choked at the sentence.

“Father, I’m sorry, he didn’t tell anyone and no one else saw!” The child spoke, tears forming in their dark eyes.

“Well that’s where you’re wrong, as your teacher saw and informed me when she called to ask if I could come to pick you up.”

“Dad! I’m sorry! I’ll be better! I can make it up to you!”

“Too late, Desdemona.”

~~~

When [REDACTED] finished packing his bag, he slung it over his shoulder and looked around, not seeing their friend at all.

“Hey Dessie?! Where are you?!” He asked to the open room. I should investigate! And off he went, looking around in every room for their friend, he never saw them leave so who knows where they went! Only after going downstairs again and seeing his friend’s father walk into the kitchen from the backdoor with red hands, did [REDACTED] figure out where their friend was.

Into the back yard he went! Only after sneaking by Des’s father and opening the slightly ajar door, did his smile and his heart sank. There, laying on the ground in front of the willow tree, was Desdemona, unmoving, and in a puddle of a dark red liquid. [REDACTED] rushed over to kneel in front of their now deceased friend.

“Dessie...please wake up, why won’t you wake up?!” He shouted while tears formed in his eyes. “Dessie! Please! You’re my only friend! Why can’t you wake up?!” He shook his friend’s body and noticed the black soul, shattered in half. The boy grabbed it and held it close. “Please wake up! Please wake up! Please wake up!”

Then, the feeling of [REDACTED]’s skin being torn off in pieces hit, and he let out a sharp cry of pain. The shards of the black soul soared up and [REDACTED]’s red soul was drawn out. “I need you to wake up!”

Silence…

The screaming had stopped, the black soul was absorbing new determination provided by the red one. [REDACTED] fell onto his side and let his eyelids grow heavy.

The only other thing he could remember from that day were police sirens, an ambulance, and being paralyzed, forced to stare as his friend was covered in a white blanket, and carted off.

~~~

That was the last of Desdemona, a child born with a destiny to die at the hands of a cruel father just because they had an imperfect soul.

Not even time remembers the life it took, the only one who could remember the blonde child was the one with their soul. The boy grew up on a quest to bring back their once friend, no matter how much their hate and death corrupted them.

#shattered mirror #undertale #thsc #the henry stickmin collection #toppat recruits #post-pacifist ending #CrossOver #fanfic #fanfiction

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mostly-megan · 4 years

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I Read The Triple Frontier Early Draft Script

And I have several thoughts on it. @frannyzooey Told me to, so I’m going to go down the line of points I thought were interesting and notes on the characters. It’s all going to be below the cut so we don’t bother the people who don’t care.

It was clearly a very early draft, but I still think it’s interesting to see how the characters changed over time.

Important note: Everyone except for Benny and Tom is only referred to by their nicknames, no real names. So I keep that up to keep from getting confused.

I do not link to the google doc with the script, but you can dm me if you want the link privately.

Warnings: Mentions of violence, suicide, and sex; mild gore; character death; racism

Story:

Pope during the drug raid learns from a teen in the gang where Lorea keeps his money

Redfly, Benny, and Cat are in North Carolina and keep turning down bs military mission

Pope shows up on Redfly’s stoop, stays with his family, and he tells him about the heist

Redfly seems to agree, but only because Pope is asking and not for the money

The “ You were shot 5 times for your country and can’t afford a new truck” scene is here bit for bit

They go meet Ironhead at one of his support group speeches to convince him to join. He begrudgingly agrees.

Cat and Redfly talk at the fight about the job and both reluctantly agree since the other will do it

Cut to South America running through surveillance, we learn that there are two gun towers, ground sensors, machine guns, and several guards

Pope’s informant is Lorea’s sugar baby(?), Yovanna, who gave him a pic of the money in the office a few weeks prior

The plan is to hide in one of the maid vans and make their way in and out with the money

Everyone is distrustful of his old intel, so they do their own surveillance

Getting caught in rain on heist day, they wait in the jungle for the guard rotations to resume, almost catching hypothermia

The heist vibe is the same, but this time they find the money is not there instantly

Redfly and Cat try to call the mission, but Benny and Pope insist on getting the money

Benny gets shot(grazed?) in the face and wants to say fuck it, but Redfly reminds him it was his idea

Pope blackmails the guard in the video room and gets the tape before killing him

While Cat, Benny, and Redfly grab the money, Ironhead is shot badly and they have to tape his mouth to keep him quiet

This is when Redfly snaps and decides they go out blazing

Lorea’s guards are outside waiting for them, but the boys literally blow up the front of the house and make a run for the river behind the house with a raft waiting

Lorea’s personal guard shoots him

Kidnapping Yovanna from her apartment, they get her money, passport, and visa to her Redfly grills her and seriously debates killing her, but instructs her to get to Australia

After essentially holding up the airstrip workers, they see the news of the break-in on TV and weigh 8 tons of money

Cat argues it’s too much weight, but agrees it will probably be fine

During the flight, Ironhead dies from his wound

Helicopter crash is the same

Pope goes in solo to speak with the farmers and they actually almost kill him before Redfly shoots way too many of them

They get pack animals from the farmers, load up the money and Ironhead, and start climbing

At some point, Cat insists they bury Ironhead because taking a body with them is going to start causing way worse issues

They camp at the burial spot, Pope voices how he blames himself for the death

The trek up the mountain is the same, including dumping some of the money and memorizing the coordinates

Getting to a port town, Cat gets sick from exposure, so they rest a few days

The local gang leader figures out who they are and uses his gang of kids to confront them

They shoot their way out and grab with guns and the money backpack on the way to the car

Benny drives and they almost flip the truck

They literally ALL get shot, but still make it to the boat and get away

The boys all agree to donate all the money to charity, in honor of Ironhead, and almost literally head off to the sunset

Characters:

Redfly

All-American late 30′s white guy; genuiniely wants to be a good person, but seems too wrapped up in the Army life

He’s the main character and most of the story is his POV

He is still with Molly and the girls, and we actually get a nice scene with them in here

He legitimately snaps once Ironhead is shot and doesn’t come back until after they bury him

He seriously almost kills Yovanna and sounds like he regrets not doing so

Says the words to her “After you sucked him off? You were lying there, playing with him- And you asked ‘What’s your real name? Where are you from?’-What did he say?” and I disliked it

Yovanna tells him that Pope thought he was so honest and he hates knowing he is not that person anymore

Pope

Mid-30′s white guy; way more of an instigator and really manipulated his friends to join him

They never give a reason why he wants to get rid of Lorea

His argument for committing a crime is that America was founded on crimes and it’s not different them the war crimes they committed under orders

Seems embarrassed about his relationship with Yovanna and it’s implied he actually told her his name, but he told her Redfly is the most honest guy he knows.

Calls some indigenous South Americans “Indians” and says they “don’t even know what century it is”

When an informant runs late, he says it’s because they run on Latino Standard Time

He saved Ironhead’s life once in fire and that is how he convices him to come, so he blames himself solely for his death

He literally brought cigars with them for after the heist. They smoke them once they are in the boat

They made Pope the asshole we don’t like, which is understandable, but upsetting

Catfish

Laid-back mid-30′s white guy who now trains Benny and works as a Private Investigator

He still is the main joker and sarcasm, but they really make sure we remember how dark his past is

There is a scene played as a laugh where he gets annoyed waiting for a cheating couple to fuck, so he holds them at gunpoint, tells them to strip and kiss, take the picture, and then tells them he’s sorry, but they should just get a divorce. It comes off terrifying and gross.

He seems to really distrust Pope and is closest to Redfly

He barely speaks Spanish

The Special Forces Museum put up a statue of him, the only living operative to have one, and his wife tells him to retire then because there was no topping that

When they argue about the weight limit, Cat says “Oh, I’m sorry, I missed you going to flight school.” And I appreciate that line.

Benny

Early 30′s white fighter

He’s described as being all or nothing and prone to manic depressive behavior and “prone to pills”

Redfly thinks he’s too old to go pro in fighting and Benny is v offended

He’s the only one to cry over Ironhead’s death

He still uses his “fuck you” money for a fire

He seems to have the most med knowledge and is the one checking for hypothermia, gives the “reason” why Ironhead dies, helps nurse Cat when he’s sick

He’s mostly played for laughs and it’s sort of a waste

Ironhead

Grizzled, but generous 55 year old white vet

He is literally the father figure here and is called that often

He is not related to Benny, but he seems to have a very soft spot for him as the youngest

He somehow served under Redfly?

He gave up running and gunning to mediate and help newer retirees

In the support group, his speech details all of the horrible things that he’s seen and had happen to him, this is supposed to be the reason why the younger soldiers listen to him

One of the group admits to almost committing suicide the past night and Ironhead say he will not tell him not to do it, just that he will not do it tonight and they all recite not tonight, it’s actually touching to “see” them all taking heart in what he is saying

He only agrees to help Pope because Pope once saved his life in combat and he told him he owes him. This scene is described as a father sadden that he can’t get through to his son, but says yes to keep an eye on them

In the “what will you buy with your money” scene, he says he will donate it to charity. It’s quickly followed by Benny excitedly saying he wants a Ferrari and Ironhead affectionately looks at him and says, “That’s a nice car, Ben!” Which made my doubting heart melt...

He the entire time gives the boys reminders to preserve their humanity and is the one who tell Redfly it’s good he let Yovanna go

When he’s shot, they say that the wound was through, meaning that the bullet entered and exited. But, when he dies, Benny says the bullet must have shifted and nudged into his heart. And I’m really annoyed by that clear mistake....

I genuinely did like this version of the character, not more than OUR Will, but I liked him

Lorea

His intro to the movie is literally leading the police in a high-speed chase in his yellow Lambo

He brings a business partner to his mansion during the boys surveying his house and they see his personal guard shoot the partner and cut off his head so it fits in the trunk of the car

I had to learn that, so now so do you

He has a thing for exotic birds and has to bring in several shifts of maids to clean up after them

He comes off here as way more of a rich wimp

Yovanna

Lorea’s sugar baby/girlfriend who sleeps with Pope and gives him info

She used to be a beauty queen

The script says Redfly is her type and she says out-loud that she wants to watch Pope and Redfly fuck.

She taught one of Lorea’s birds to say “Hello, Beautiful” and lets that bird get loose in the mansion so she can get the pic of the money for Pope

I genuinely liked her character, too

My Review

I prefer the actual plot and planning of the final movie. The plan and surveillance here slowly fell together smoothly, but ultimately made far less sense.

But, I think they felt like actual friends here. They interact with each other instead of around each other

But this version is racist and kind of gross, so I’d take kind of boring any day

4/10, please do not make me read again

Tagging because you guys seemed interested: @frannyzooey @mandoplease

@krissology @pedropasscals (thought you might like it)

#triple frontier #excuse me while i go rewatch the movie #i only genuinely rooted for ironhead in this #and sometimes cat and benny #redfly bored me as usual #weird script review

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hippychick006 · 4 years

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12.06 - Celebrating the life of Asa Fox Episode Review/Recap

Honestly, I see a picture like this on a promo and I have no hesitation diving straight in. Okay, you all know I have a hurt!Sam fetish, complete with writhing on the floor padabooty, let’s not bang on about it.

Official episode summary: THREE WINCHESTERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE – When hunters gather together to celebrate the life and tragic death of one of their own, Sam (Jared Padalecki) Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Mary (guest star Samantha Smith) must take action when a demon starts picking off hunters one by one. John Bedham directed the episode written by Steven Yockey

My optimum number of Winchesters is two but yeah, I don’t mind a buy two get one extra free here and there.

Overall, I do really enjoy this episode, even after rewatch but putting under a cut to save space.

There’s a lot of things I don’t like about the Dabb era, and in terms of this episode, retconning Mary to be a hunter after parenthood is one of those things that niggles a little (I know she was a hunter before parenthood which also irks for different reasons) so there’s a lot I have to shake off from my mind in order to be able to enjoy an episode. And on rewatch, I had less issues than I did the first time (but given I’m coming at this straight from season 15, it could be a case of me just grasping onto absolutely anything that isn’t terrible).

Aside from the Mary thing, I love so much about this episode, not least because there isn’t a single mention of feathers who I am seriously going to struggle watching in any episode going forward thanks to 15.18 debacle.

Anyway moving swifly on…

First up is the intro and I love the introduction of Asa Fox as a character. We first meet him as a child, who Mary saves from a werewolf attack. And then we see him become interested in hunting (as Mary tells him she’s soon going to retire, and he’s worried that if she does: who’s gonna save people like me?)

Asa decides it’s going to be him and through a montage set to Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Roll On Down The Highway, we see Asa grow up to become a pretty awesome hunter. Throughout all this time, he writes postcards to Mary, but doesn’t send them (no address) so he has quite a collection by the end and I think it’s all his hunts.

I’m so caught up in how awesome Asa is and how much I like this new character, I’m completely jarred when he comes to a sudden and unexpected end via hanging which also brings the music to an abrubt halt.

Great intro, Asa said very few words but I’m already mourning not getting to know him more.

After the opening titles, we switch to Jody who is chilling out at home about to watch Netflix when there’s a knock at the door. Turns out it’s Sam and Dean who have just finished up a hunt and stopped by to visit. Unfortunately the cardboard cutout “just add water” instant girl hunters are at a concert. Jody offers to feed them, and Dean lets her know that he killed Hitler since the last time they saw her.

Sam: *huffs and walks away Jody: *blank stare “thank you?” Dean: You’re welcome

Love it.

They have pizza and watch Netflix and have a debate about rom coms. Sam says Dean is more of “an animated Japanese erotica chick.”

A little oversharing on your brother’s habits there Sammy, but Sam is not concerned in the least. In fact, I love how totally relaxed Sam is sitting here. He’s clearly comfortable at Jody’s slumped on her sofa.

The phone rings and Jody goes to answer it, Sam and Dean have a conversation about Sam oversharing which Dean’s uncomfortable with.

Sam: Dude, be proud of your hobbies. It makes you who you are.

Supportive Sam encouraging his brother!

Jody returns and walks past them, she’s clearly upset. The boys follow to watch her start packing. They ask what’s wrong and Jody says a friend of hers died – it’s poor Asa from the opener and I wasn’t expecting a link from Jody to Asa.

The name is familiar to Dean and he’s trying to figure it out when Sam says it’s the guy Ellen used to tell stories about at the Roadhouse. Asa apparently killed five wendigos in a single night and now I’m even more mourning his loss. Seems Jody met Asa when he came to town on a hunt, she caught him out when he tried to pretend to be an FBI agent by the name, Fox Mulder. He’s worse than the Winchesters! Anyway she helped him out on a ghoul hunt and they kept in touch.The boys decide to go with her to the wake, John didn’t let them go to hunter gatherings outside of bars as he always said they were trouble.

Turns out Asa lived in Manitoba, Dean says “oh Canada” when he gets out of the car on arrival. Sam is impressed with the house which yes, nice digs for a hunter.

We meet Asa’s mother, Lorraine and she knew her son was a hunter. She’s heavily in to the drink but she’s just lost her son, so I’m cutting her some slack as I can’t imagine anything worse.

Dean finds his way to the kitchen (and the beer) which has no label. He’s concerned but “Bucky” homebrewed it himself and it’s strong. Dean introduces himself which gets the attention of the several hunters in the room,

Randy: No freakin’ way. Aren’t you dead? Like, four times? Dean: Yeah. It, uh, didn't take.

Just wait till they hear about Mystery Spot where he died over a hundred times in a single day!

Sam fanboy hunter: Wait. Your brother here? Sam? Dean: Yeah, he's still alive, too. He's –

Fanboy doesn’t even wait for Dean to finish, he’s off to find Sam. Same fanboy (named Elvis), same tbh

While Dean’s making friend’s in the kitchen – and learning not to say the name ‘Wendigo’ which turns out to be a trigger word to take a drink - Sam’s homed in on hotboy Max and his equally hot sister Alicia. Turns out their mother is a good witch who taught Alicia how to hunt bad witches.

Sam (to Max): What did she teach you? Max: Uh, mostly how to seduce men. Alicia: She also taught him some magic, which is actually more useful. Max: Eh, mostly the men thing.

Max is definitely getting his flirt on, making sure Sam knows he’s into hot men, and we cannot deny, Sam is a hot man. Before Sam can flirt back, Elvis interrupts and introduces himself and then makes Sam feel awkward when he asks Sam about being possessed by the devil. Bad Elvis!

Max (and Alicia) are both pissed on Sam’s behalf,

Alicia: Dude, you don't just ask someone about something that messed up. Max: Seriously, back off.

Protective!Max alert, I’m going to need a few minutes with my new ship Samax, though to be honest, the way Max and Alicia are sitting together, it might need to be Samaxia, which no issue other than it sounds like a drug that gets advertised on television with all kinds of side effect warnings, like may cause death...)

Elvis makes Sam feel so awkward that he runs off to go find a beer. Elvis then tries to talk to Max and Alicia and they outright just tell him to go away. Love them.

Aww, Sam got his beer and then went off to find his big brother. In fairness, I think they’ve been separated five minutes at this point and in that time Sam was accosted by Elvis. Dean’s looking through Asa’s office and discovers he has a real angel blade. Sam asks if Dean knew people tell stories about them.

Dean: Yeah. Apparently, we’re a little bit legendary. Sam: Yeah, but, I mean, so was Asa. Then a hunt went bad, and he ended up hanging from a tree, alone in the woods. Dean: He died on the job. No better way to go. Sam: You really believe that? Dean: Yeah. What, you don’t? I mean, come on, Sam, it's not like we're in the “live till you're 90, die in your sleep” business. This? [Dean points at Asa’s hunting wall] This only ends one way.

It’s difficult watching this knowing the ultimate end as I know Sam’s never agreed with this, being the one to want to see an end to hunting at some point; but you can’t deny Dean has been consistent in how he thinks he’s going to go out and has always seemed at peace with that.

Sam says they should get back and Dean agrees but warns Sam not to say “wendigo” to anyone. I love that he warns Sam. Every time Dean is a good brother, it just reminds me how much of a bad sister I am as I would not have passed on the warning. Sam’s confused about why he can’t say it but seems to just accept it.

Only a few people are around by the end of the night, still telling stories of Asa’s epic hunts - mainly Bucky. Why show, why give us this amazing man and kill him off in the first five minutes?!.

Anyway, turns out that the “ghoul story” from earlier had more to it. Asa and Jody got together for some “sweet sweet time alone”. Jody plays it down, says it was more of a casual thing. Turns out Asa could beat Dean in the ladies game and I think even Alicia and Max mother was one of his conquests (we saw this in the opening montage as well, Asa kissing a different woman in his car in between hunts).

Randy asks if people want a beer and heads to the kitchen, and I fear Randy is not long for this world as he walks down the hallway alone. We stay on him as he returns and my anxiety is kicking in, even with expecting something, it’s sudden when his throat is slit and he’s dragged off down a side corridor by someone wearing black.

Alicia walks back into the living room carrying two beers – and we’re reminded she’s dressed all in black?! Alicia? Surely not.

We see someone enter the door and only see their boots as they walk, they stop just outside the living rom where everyone is talking. Loraine hears the footsteps stop and tells the stranger to come in and not hover.

Turns out it’s Mary. Awkward Winchester family reunion, given I think from memory Mary walked out an episode or so ago.

Sam, Dean, Jody and Mary go somewhere more quiet to talk.

Mary: What are you doing here? Dean: What are you doing here?

I love the reversed dynamic of Sam being go between Dean and Mary (where it was the reverse between Sam and John). Sam introduces Mary to Jody as their mother.

Jody: I thought– I thought you were... Mary: I was. Jody: [quietly] Wow. Wow! [She hugs Mary excitedly] It is so nice to meet you!

She belatedly sees the awkward tension and ships out to give them “some family time”

Dean asks where Mary’s been and she responds she’s been using John’s journal to work through a few things.

Dean: You could’ve just asked us, you know. Sam: Dean, come on. Dean: She could’ve. Mary: It’s okay. He’s right. But… This is something I needed to do alone. I… Listen, most of the people I knew are dead. And then I remembered Asa. He was so young when I met him, I thought he must still be around. And then… I saw an article about his death, and, uh… Dean: So you’ll text us once a week, maybe, but you’ll drive all the way to Canada to see some dead guy? Well, that’s awesome. I’m gonna get some air. Mary: Dean, wait...

Mary tries to go after Dean but Sam stops her. Sam knows his brother.

Jody on the other hand stops Dean at the door and pretty much says she’s here if Dean wants to talk about anything other than killing Hitler (which Dean spent the five hour drive telling her in excruciating detail.). She talks about giving anything to have her dead husband and son back but at the same time she would be worried it wouldn’t be the same which gives Dean some food for thought in regard to his complicated relationship with Mary.

Mary’s in the kitchen getting a beer, Lorraine introduces herself as Asa’s mother. Mary introduces herself as Mary Winchester, which Lorraine can’t believe as Mary should be her age. Mary: It’s a long story. She says she’s sorry. Lorraine says she should be, Mary’s the reason her son didn’t become an astronaut. She’s very bitter and hands Mary the box with the postcards Asa wrote to her. Mary defends herself and says she saved Asa’s life.

Lorraine: [scoffing] What am I supposed to say to that? After you, Asa got so… Hunting was his whole life. He never married. Never had a family, kids. And now… enjoy the wake.

I love this next scene between Sam and Mary. Sam finds Mary and asks if she’s all right. She thrusts the box of postcards at him and says she’s fine. She goes into Asa’s office and tells Sam she saved Asa when he was a kid, and this is all on her.

Sam: Well, no. Obviously, mom, he made his own decisions. And he helped a lot of people, you know?

Sam and free will and then we have Season 15 debacle. Pfff

Mary tells him that everywhere she goes and everything she does just feels wrong, but she’ll get used to it.Sam tells her he understands, she just needs space and so does Dean, (who we see outside drinking from his flask), He says Dean is just scared they are going to lose her again,

Sam: “that – that because we're (Sam and Dean) hunters, you're gonna walk away. But I know that’s not true. Even looking at these… [Sam holds out the box of Asa’s postcards to Mary] I mean, you saved Asa in 1980, um, after Dean was born. After everyone thought you quit hunting. Seems like you couldn’t stop then, and… I’m guessing you can’t stop now, either. This job, this life, is crazy and insane. But it’s in our blood. Come on. [Sam puts his arm around Mary] Mary: Where we going? Sam: To say goodbye to Asa.

I love that Sam understands more than anyone the desire to have normal/safe, pulling against the need to save people/hunt things so I love this scene between him and Mary and I like Mary a little bit more because of it. Damn you Jared! You even got me to like Claire once!

They go to say goodbye to Asa and I like when Mary undoes the cover over his face and we get blood dripping onto Asa’s forehead. It’s interesting to have both Sam and Mary in this scene in a callback to Sam’s nursery scene. They both look up and it’s Randy, tied to the rafters, dead and bleeding from his neck wound.

Back in the living room, Bucky is still telling stories about Asa. Sam and Mary rush in and Sam tells everyone they need to leave because Randy is dead. I like this, it’s like a murder mystery now. All of a sudden, water is shut off (this is new canon?), and the twins can smell Sulphur. Lights are flickering. Demon alert!

Bucky tells them it’s Jael, a crossroads demon who hangs people, which is his thing, snaps necks (Asa), slits throats (Randy). Turns out Asa exorcised the demon but now it’s back. Bucky tries to open the door, Elvis helps but it slams shut.

Max (trying to impress Sam): you’re wasting your time [he waves a hand in front of the door and we see red symbols] Max says the entire house has been warded.

Not sure if that impressed Sam or not but Max had me at “Seriously, back off” and now this? *Fans self

Anyway, it means they are trapped inside.

Back outside with Dean, he’s still drinking from his flask. He hears footsteps and doesn’t bother turning around, just tells the person to “go away”. I think he thinks it’s Mary, but turns out to be Billy saying “you’re not the boss of me.”

Dean: Billie. What’re you doing here? Billie: My job. [Dean chuckles] Well, I’m not dead yet. Billie: Shame. But actually, I just finished inside. I was reaping a fresh soul.

Wait, what? But Dean’s brother is in there! Dean’s pissed and marches to the door.

Inside, Bucky is telling the group more about the demon Jael. Asa exorcised the demon but not before it killed a first nations girl by tying a noose around her neck.

Outside Dean is rattling and banging on the door

Dean: Sam. Sammy! Hey! Billie: You can huff and puff, but that house is on supernatural lockdown. They can’t even hear you.

Bucky is still expositioning and Dean is still trying to get past that old Winchester nemesis “the door”, even throwing a solid statue at it, but nothing is happening.

Okay, we’ve now reached the only part of this episode I have an issue with. We’ve got a group of hunters standing around wondering who the demon is amongst them and not one of them can remember the tests for a demon. Sam come on! You knew Christo in season 1 and you performed a reverse exorcism in season 8.

Anyway Elvis accuses Alicia of not being in the room and Max says Dean wasn’t in the room either (uh Max buddy, accusing Sam’s brother isn’t going to win you any points in the whole wooing thing, just fyi - of course wooing Sam in the first place is pretty dangerous terratory)

Finally Alicia remembers about holy water but they are all out. Elvis says they can just make more but Mary reminds them the water is off. Uh? The toilet bowl?

Dean’s stopped attacking the door and turns to Billie and asks, What did you do? Billy says it wasn’t her, she’s just cleaning up the mess but “it’s always nice to see a Winchester who can’t get what he wants.”

Dean: You think this is funny? Huh? Hunters are dying in there. Billie: Everyone dies.

Dean is pretty much losing his shit and I’d like to remind people that at this point, he doesn’t know which hunter has died.

Back with the group, Sam finally remembers his brother is outside so all focus is on Alicia who starts coughing. I think she’s faking it to screw with her brother (totally what I would do) but no,

Alicia/Jael: Alicia’s not here right now. [Her eyes glow red] Leave a message. [she punches Max] Oh, you’re a fun group. We’re gonna have a good time tonight.

Jael leaves Alicia in a cloud of demon smoke and flies into the fireplace. Sam and Max get Alicia up (Samaxia forever – warning for side effects which may include internal bleeding and even death)

They now need to figure who in the house Jael has jumped into. Jody gives the orders (I’ll forgive this, she’s a cop) and they pair off to search the house (why not sweep room to room?), Anyway, Sam’s with Mary and Jody’s with Bucky.

Dean’s worked out that Billy got in to reap the soul so if she can get in, she can get Dean in.

Billie: I could, I suppose. But– Dean: Do it! Billie: But it’s a one-way ticket. And you’re gonna owe me one.

Billie, Sammy is in there, do you think Dean cares about “cosmic consequences” at a time like this? There is a door between them right now ffs! Sammy may even be dead and Dean does not want him decomposing before he can find a crossroads to make a deal!

Elvis who was supposed to be partnering with Lorraine, left her briefly to get her a double (vodka I presume?). Anyway Dean comes flying through the door like the overly dramatic bitch he is whenever Sam is in danger.

Dean (whipping out demon knife): Where’s my brother? [he’s already marching past them btw to go look]

THIS IS MY SHOW! What moron thought this show was going to end with DeanCas? Come on, don’t be shy, show yourselves so we can point and laugh because you are going to have an epic tantrum approximately 3 and a half years from this episode which could have been prevented if you’d watched the damn show, instead of wallpaper. By the way, in this episode, Castiel was played by the statue Dean threw at the door. [It represents the violent nature of the Destiel relationship – I have a 500 page meta on this if anyone is interested].

Lorraine accuses Dean of being the demon.

Dean: Demon? Lorraine: Kill him! Dean: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, lady. Look, I’m not a demon, okay? I’m one of the good guys. Now stick with me, do what I say, and everybody’ll get out of here, okay? Everybody!

Elvis – making far too much use of his screentime matches Dean’s dramatics by pulling out his own knife and saying ominiously “well, not everybody” [complete with red flashing eyes].

In this episode, Dean is allowed to be a proper hunter and is able to fight. He taunts the demon, “You’re kinda slow for a demon, aren’t you?” which, he seriously is, no idea how this demon got my wonderful favourite side character “Asa” killed (if he’s not in the final watching Kansas play at the Road House along with all my other favourites, I will be pissed and have a full week meltdown on Twitter – just fyi) [*I won’t really because I’m not insane. Please don’t report me.]

Dean tells the demon to go to hell. The demon tells Dean that Hell is a “complete train wreck” (uh, no, what is a “complete train wreck” is most of season 12-15) Hell is much more pleasant. Dean repeats for the demon to go to hell and starts reciting an exorcism (finally, the smart brother is in the room). Love hearing Dean recite the exorcism. Demon says nuh uh though and snaps Elvis’ neck complete 180 which causes Lorraine to scream, the black smoke escapes from Elvis still standing body. Elvis collapses on the floor and Lorraine is wailing. And I can say “Elvis has left the bulding” which I’ve been waiting the entire episode to be able to say. I’m marginally disappointed Dean didn’t.

Dean helps Lorraine up while shouting “Sammeh!” which brings Sammeh running to the living room.

Mary: Dean. We thought you were outside. Dean: Yeah, I got back in. Sam: How? Dean: It was a one-time deal. Won’t happen again.

Thankfully, there’s no time for Sam to initiate the Spanish inquisition on THAT right now. They account for everyone – except Elvis obviously. The lights go out and everyone puts flashlights on (Max and Alicia have the phone torch on – me as a hunter!) but Dean pulls out the knife which Alicia and Max look at.

Alicia: Mm, impressive. Dean: Demon blade. Kills ‘em dead. Max and Alicia in unison: Nice.

While I try to work out a Sam/Max/Alicia/Dean ship name, Bucky suggests lighting candles, Dean says they need a devil’s trap. Sam says “on it” and Dean is right there with him “yep”. My boys working in sync!

Dean’s plan is for them all to stand in the devil’s trap. The person who won’t get in, is the demon. Clever plan. Mary is impressed and it’s nice for her to see how well one of her sons turned out as a hunter and the other is a cute dumbass – at least Sam had a flashlight.

Mary goes off on her own for some reason and goes to get the angel killing blade from Asa’s office.

Max tries flirting with Sam again, asking what kind of pentagram they are doing

Sam: Standard pentagram. Nothing fancy. Max: I like a Fifth Pentacle of Mars. It’s got more character.

Max bringing his A game to the flirting, I like it. Alicia doesn’t like all the flirting: “Because character is really what matters right now.” They are just like Sam and Dean! Spin off of codependent witch siblings right tf now. Please and thank you.

Jody sees Mary return and is suspicious she was off on her own. She whispers to Sam that she thinks Mary is possessed, she gets increasingly worried which draws the immediate attention of Dean who comes over and asks what is going on (demon knife drawn out and ready once again). Sam quietly tries to tell Dean that Jody thinks their mom is a demon, but Jody shouts, No, I don’t think, I know! I know she’s a demon. [points accusingly at Mary] which prompts Bucky to steps away from Mary and reaches for his knife.

Mary: Hey! Jody: Kill her! Use the knife! Kill her now! Sam: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. Hold on a second, [turns to look at Jody] Jody, you… You don’t sound like yourself. Dean (not even looking around):That’s because she’s not herself. Are you?

Oh my poor Sam Dumbchester, on rewatch, this episode did you dirty, I was sucked in by my love of Asa Fox and the whole door thing and the Sammeh! I’m so ashamed. Hands my bitter Sam girl platinum membership card back to the bitter Sam girl club in recognition I am no longer worthy of holding it Jody turning into the red eyed demon is in the running for worst “playing of a different character ever” but it’s up against stiff competition from Casifer, Empty!Castiel, Gestapo!Castiel and gayforpay!Castiel and is mercifully short. My main issue with this demon is there is no real consistency through the different bodies it inhabits. They should all have agreed how to play it imo and I do think Kim goes Disney villain OTT but not enough to cause embarrassment, just would have been better if the performance had been toned down some.

Demon Jody had hoped they would kill their mom “wouldn’t that be a riot?”

Dean (sarcastically): Yeah, super fun

Sam tries to attack Jody and is thrown. Big brother is pissed and tries to attack but is thrown too. Uh, how come the lame demon can fight now?

Anyway, Mary attacks and tries to kill Jody with the demon blade and manages to scratch her arm, but Sam says no and pulls Mary away. .

Mary: What are you doing?! She’s a demon. We kill demons. Sam: No, but she’s Jody.

I like this that Mary doesn’t know you don’t just go around killing people, you try to save them first.

The demon is bored and claps her hands, and everyone collapses onto the ground and cannot move (where was this kickass power earlier?). The demon says she’s heard so many stories about the Winchesters, she stands over sam and says, “The idea that he left a meatsuit alive is just so deliciously weak.” Sam gives his “bite me” face.

As for the rest, she’s been inside their heads and starts spilling out secrets – the twins are Asa’s children (I forgot about this detail), Lorraine apparently tried to sabotage Asa’s truck to stop him going out hunting (which is a nice call back to him trying to fix the truck in the episode earlier). She says Jody fantasized about a life with Asa. Bucky manages to get up to attack but Jody grabs him and holds him on his knees.

Jody/Jael: And you. Bucky. Brave, brave Bucky. I was there that night. Tell these nice, stupid people what you did. Tell them what you took from me. Asa was mine.

I like this next scene, Sam manages to stand up and start the exorcism before he’s thrown across the room again. Dean picks up where Sam left off, until he’s thrown through a glass door, the twins are next and get pinned to the wall.

Bucky finally confesses that he killed Asa [and the way he’s dramatically thrown to the floor would never have made it into a scene in seasons 1 to 5]. Oh show, weeps for the quality that once was. Season 12 (heavy sigh).

Mary stands up and finishes the exorcism which sends the demon back to hell.

Sam rushes over to help Jody who says, “That… sucked”

[Try re-watching your performance Kim!]

Lorraine: Bucky, what did you do?

They all turn and look at Bucky.

Bucky says they were hunting in the woods for Jael and he wanted to go back and get the angel blade. Asa wanted to keep hunting but Bucky pushed him and Asa fell and cracked his head and died, which I feel kind of sorry for, not like he did it deliberately and he lost his best friend [and lets be real, it’s not the worst thing a supposed “best friend” has done on this show]. It’s a very tragic end for a great hunter (don’t fast forward to 15.20)

Bucky asks what they are going to do to him.

Alicia: Tell everyone, every hunter we meet. They’re gonna know your name, Bucky. Know what you did. Max: You like stories. This is the story everyone’s gonna tell about you. Forever

I guess I get Max and Alicia’s anger, Asa being their dad and all. It’s just tragic all round because I do feel it was an unlucky accident and Bucky clearly misses his best friend.

I like the setup of the funeral pyre, now 3 hunter bodies being burned, Jody, Lorraine and Mary are standing in front of the pyre. Alicia and Max are resting against their car and Dean and Sam are doing the same against baby.

Lorraine tells Mary she was wrong, “Asa did have a family. He even had kids. I’ve got grandchildren. Suppose I should go meet them.” She walks over to hug Alicia and Max.

Jody and Mary are left at the pyre,

Jody: I don’t know what’s going on between you and your boys, but I gotta tell you, mom to mom, they are good men. Best I’ve ever met. Mary: I know. They’re not the problem.

Jody walks away and leaves Mary on her own, which is Dean’s opportunity, he taps Sam and they both go over to Mary. They ask if she’s okay but Billy appears and says, “She’s really not.” Mary asks who she is and Dean says she’s a reaper that got him back inside.

I would like to have much preferred to have seen Sam’s reaction as well as Mary’s but we don’t get this and it’s a bad choice of angle for me. Billie says Dean owes her one and looks at Mary, “This one. This one right here.”

Billie is still on her “what’s dead should stay dead” kick. She’s a stickler for the laws on that (and never really changes tbh, I don’t really get Billie’s overall arc.)

Mary says she didn’t ask to come back, Billie agrees but says the dead man’s look in Mary’s eyes says she hates it, that she feels she doesn’t fit, like she’s all alone.

Dean: Well, she’s not alone.

Billie (still looking at Mary): Tell me I’m wrong. [Sam and Dean turn to look at Mary and kudos to Jared once again for saying so much with no words as to how he looks at Mary here]

Billy says she’s not here to hurt Mary, “I’m here to offer you mercy. A one-way ticket upstairs, away from all of this.” [Again poor choice of camera for this scene as we see Dean but not Sam]. Mary asks how it would work.

Sam: Mom. [My poor boys!] Mary: You just kill me again? Billie: Reapers don’t kill people. Rules. Mary: Well… then… [she looks up at Sam and Dean] Me: Don’t you dare break my boys fragile hearts! Mary: Then I guess you’re just gonna have to wait. Billie: Winchesters… Me: Same tbh Billie Billie: …if you change your mind– if any of you change your minds– you know my name. [she disappears]

Sam asks if this means Mary is coming home. Mary says yeah, but follows up with: Not quite yet. I just need a little more time.

Sam looks disappointed ☹ but he understands

Dean: Can we buy you breakfast at least? Mary: Bacon? Dean: All the bacon. Mary: I would love that.

I love that Dean and Mary can find a common bond through food. Sam hugs Mary as they walk together towards the Impala

Despite a couple of wobbly bits sprinkled here and there and my poor Dumbchester Sammeh, I still really love this episode overall, the good far outweighs the issues I have and I’ll happily re-watch it as a stand-alone MOTW. I loved the introduction of the witch twins and wish we’d got to see a lot more of them *coughs* and a lot less of other “fan favourite” characters.

It will be interesting where this one will ultimately fall in my definitive list.

#spn rewatch #12.06 #celebrating the life of asa fox #episode review #episode recap #Dabb era actually has some quite good episodes to enjoy #if you ignore being repeatedly punched in the face with Cass is best friend/brother

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simonxriley · 5 years

Text

Rest easy love, I’ll be there soon!

Pairing: John Price x Liz Walker

Summary: When Price loses his better half on the battlefield, he’s left with grief, guilt and two children to take care of. And the only thing that keeps him going beside the two kids he shares with her, is knowing he’ll see her again soon.

Words: 2,572

Warnings: Angst

A/N: After @3sleepycats mentioned this after reading my one-shot ‘I Love You And I’m Sorry’ about doing something similar for Price and Liz, I had to do write this. And don’t worry it’s not as bad as the other...or is it? I hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated.

Death became a part of Price’s life, he commanded people and some of those people died. He’s lost recruits, fellow soldiers under his command and friends, it was almost normal for him in a messed up way. But her, he wasn’t supposed to lose her. She was the one thing he was supposed to protect and he failed.

He shut the door behind him, and locked it. The room was dark and quiet, not a soul in sight. He sighed and went to the kitchen to grab himself a beer from the fridge, then made it back to the living room to sit in his favorite armchair. With a blind eye, he turned on the lamp next to him, illuminating the room in some light.

Price twisted the cap of his beer off, placing it on the table next to him and took a long drink of it. As he reclined in his chair, with a drink in hand, he looked around the room, seeing toys and stuffed animals laying on the floor, specifically though, he was looking at the pictures on the wall.

His eyes darted to the one of Liz holding a swaddled newborn Johnny in her hands with him behind her, looking over her shoulder down at him. One of the few pictures that were taken by a professional.

That day he’ll always remember, not only because of how exhausting it was, but because Liz was so self conscious. How she complained she didn’t look good in anything and how he had to remind her that she looked beautiful in everything. To her it sounded like a lie just to get her ready for the picture, but it wasn’t, not even close.

He turned his head to look at the family picture of all four of them, taken only two weeks after Emilia was born. All of them looked so happy and in love!

Price sighed and took another sip of his beer before getting up from his chair. He walked back into the kitchen, standing over the sink to dump the rest of the beer down the drain and then set the empty bottle on the counter and headed upstairs.

He came to Johnny’s room first, quietly and slowly opening his door to check on him. He left it open, leaning against the doorway to watch him for a bit.

Little Johnny, not so little anymore. Nine and wilder than ever. Everyone keeps saying that he’s a carbon copy of himself, but he would always disagree. Yes Johnny did look a lot like him, yet he could pinpoint what he got from Liz. Like his mouth and nose and his recklessness.

Price was thankful he had a job that kept him in shape so he could keep up with two wild kids that inherited their mothers’ recklessness. He would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it.

He was about to close the door and go check on Emilia when he saw something was on the floor, which looked like a photo. As quietly as he could he walked over and picked it up, seeing it was the photo of him and his mom. Price looked down at Johnny with a small, sad smile on his face and set the photo back on his nightstand, thinking he must have been looking at it when he fell asleep.

He brushed some of his Johnny’s hair out of his face as he leaned down to kiss his head, whispering. “I miss her too!”

After fixing the comforter around him, he left the room to check on Emilia.

As he neared her room he could see a glimmer of light from underneath, which indicated she was awake. He slowly opened the door as to not startle her - seeing her sitting cross legged on her bed looking down at something.

“Hey princess it’s late, what are you doing up?”

“Why did she have to die daddy?” She looked up at him, brown eyes glistening.

His voice got caught in his throat as he made his way over to her bed to sit down next to her, that’s when he saw she was looking at the photo album she kept by her bed.

“I’ve been asking myself the same question since the day she died. And I wish I could give you the answer, but I can’t.” He let out a deep sigh as he met her gaze. “I do know is that she misses you just as much as you miss her.”

Emilia’s face softened and a small smile started to spread across her face. “She does?”

Price chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Of course she does, you and your brother meant the world to her! You two were the only reason she retired, because she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving you.”

“Then why did she?”

He gulped and tensed in her gaze. The one thing that’s been eating at him for the past nine months was about to come to life and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that. But he couldn’t lie to her, even if she was only seven.

“That was my fault, I asked her to come. We needed one more person for that mission.”

As Emilia’s face broke into pieces, so did his heart. He watched her bottom lip quiver and tears well in her eyes, yet when he reached out to her she backed away. Which broke him even more.

“You said you would protect her.” She sobbed out. “Why didn’t you protect her?”

“I did.”

“That’s not true, if you did she would still be here.” She curled in on herself, crying harder than before.

He moved closer to her, reaching his hand out to her. She looked up red faced and tear stained and uncurled herself. “No!”

She quickly got up and ran out of the room. Price looked down at the picture and sighed, looking at the one with Liz and Emilia playing a board game in the kitchen, both with a smile on their faces.

“I’m sorry love, I’m so sorry!”

He got up from the bed and went after Emilia, luckily he knew where’d she be. There was only one place she goes too when she’s upset and that’s the little nook in the pantry.

He went back downstairs and into the kitchen, flipping the switch to engulf the room in light. “Emilia, please come out.”

“No, go away.”

Price exhaled a breath and walked into the pantry to see her exactly where he expected her to be. He knelt down in front of her, giving her a small smile. “Emmy, please come out.”

She didn’t say anything, just turned away from him and laid her head against the wall and cried some more.

He re-positioned himself on his butt and gently grabbed her arm, pulling her to his lap to hold hug her tight. She fought to get away, shoving at his chest, which only seemed to hurt him more. But he deserved it, he was the reason Liz wasn’t here right now, all because he needed her help.

“I’m sorry Emmy, I’m so sorry. I know it’s my fault your mum’s not here and I would do everything I could to go back to that day and make things different. I can’t and I’m sorry.”

Emilia stopped her fighting and grabbed his shirt to sob into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him and slowly rocked her. As her body trembled in his arms he closed his eyes to push back the tears in his own. If only he never asked for her help, she would be alive right now, not rotting in the ground. She deserved to be alive, but she isn’t because of him.

Eventually Emilia’s crying ceased and she just stayed in his lap fiddling with his shirt.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

She wiped her eyes and got off from his lap and headed out of the kitchen. He sighed through his nose and got up, following after her - flicking the lights off as he exited the room.

Walking back up the stairs and to her room, she was already in bed under the covers with her back to the door. He walked in, leaning down to kiss her head before shutting off the light. “I love you Emmy!”

In the dimness of her room he saw her grabbed her teddy bear and hug it, then let out a long sigh. A few seconds later she turned to him, wiping the last few tears from her eyes. “I love you too daddy!”

He gave her smile and kissed her forehead, moving some strands of brown hair off her face. “That’s good to hear. Now get some sleep you have school in the morning.”

She groaned and turned over, closing her eyes. And that was his cue to leave her room for his.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he entered the room him and Liz use to share. How he can still picture her laying in bed on her phone or snuggled up next to him. All the talks and laughs, the amazing sex. All the things he would love to get back.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed with a sigh, he looked over at his nightstand, seeing the unopened letter from Liz. He found it a week after she passed when he was going through her nightstand for a hair tie for Emilia. And even though it’s been months, he still hasn’t opened it.

There will never be a right time to open, so he grabbed it from the nightstand and opened it, unfolding the piece of paper to read it.

“John, my sweetheart, you know I’m not good with words so I decided to see if writing them down was better and since it’s our anniversary why not now?.

I never truly thanked you for what you did for me all those years ago, how you got me out of a bad situation and let me have a life I’ve always dreamed of. When I joined Bravo Team I never realized how much my life was going to change for the better. At that time I saw you as someone I owed a life debt, a debt I would never be able to pay off. Little did I know two years later I would be calling you my husband and we have a child together.

Becoming your wife was one of the best days of my life, when I became Elizabeth Price I felt reborn. I was no longer a part of a family who emotionally abused me and neglected me, I was no longer linked to them and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

When we met, I was just a nineteen year old gone rogue, angry at the world and trying to put herself in the ground. At that time I didn’t think I deserved to be saved, why would anyone want to help me? The disappointment. The lost cause. But you did, you saw past the recklessness, the anger, the attitude and saw a young woman crying out for help. All I wanted was for my family to love me, even if it was a lost cause. Instead I got a new one all thanks to you, both in the figurative and literal sense of the word. And it changed me for the better.

So much has happened in the seven years we’ve been married, two kids, countless missions, creating Task Force one-four-one. We weren’t just a good team on the field, we were a good team off of it as well. And once Johnny came along you were already on board with letting me semi-retire, knowing I would rather be home with him than out there. And thanks to that I went back to school to get that degree I always wanted.

As much as I loved being out there with you killing the bad guys, the one thing I enjoyed the most was when we were all home, just the four of us, as a family. Watching our children play in the backyard, or taking them to one of the horse races, those will be the memories I’ll always hold dear.

Alright enough of me rambling. Thank you John, for everything! For being the best husband I could ask for and the best father our children could ask for. Love was always a touchy subject because I never knew what it was like, until you. You showed me what it was like to be loved for who I was, flaws and all and that meant more to me than gift you could buy me.

I love you John, forever and always!”

He wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffled, setting the letter down on the bed. He stood up walking to the closet to grab the present that was hidden behind some of her sweaters and sat back down.

Liz never was good at hiding presents and that made him laugh. They would have to hide the kids presents at Mac’s home or they would find them.

Price looked down at the present in his hands and began to rip the wrapping paper off of it to reveal a box. He set the wrapping paper aside and opened it - moving the tissue paper to see there was a boonie hat inside of it. He laughed and took it out of the box to inspect it, noticing there was a card below.

Setting the box down next to him and the hate in his lap, he opened the card. All it said was ‘We hope you like your new hat and Emmy said you need to wear it all the time’ love Liz, Johnny and Emilia!

He placed the card on the nightstand and looked over his new hat. It was navy blue and matched the rest of his. Now he was certain he would never wear another hat in his life, this was the last thing he received from her and it’ll stay with him for the rest of his days.

After he cleaned up his mess and changed he got into bed, running his hand over the spot Liz used to lay every night. He can still picture her and he hopes her face will never fade from his memory.

He turned over, placing his hat on top of his clock and looked at the photo of him and Liz on his nightstand. “Goodnight love, and thank you!”

xXx

The next morning after dropping the kids off at school, he stopped by a flower shop for some flowers to put on her grave.

He zipped up his jacket some more as a cool autumn breeze flew by him. He’s been standing by her grave for a good hour now, catching her up on all that has been going on in recent weeks and apologizing for not coming as often as he would like and how it took him nine months to open his present. He could picture her laughing and saying it was okay, he has the children to worry about and that gave him peace.

Eventually he needed to head to work, so he took a few steps forward, placing his hand on her tombstone then leaned down to kiss it.

“Rest easy love. I’ll be there soon!”

#liz x price #oc liz walker #john price #call of duty #captain price

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kissofmidnight · 4 years

Text

The Kiss of Death

(links to A03)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Pairing: Bjorn/Female OC of color

Warnings: Adult content and Adult Language, 18+ only, nsfw

Words: 1085

Kara

Bjorn walks ahead of her, metaphorical fumes spouting from his head. An hour ago Askeladd had asked her to fetch his second in command. Fortunately, one of Odinson’s many talents is tracking and the mastiff easily sniffed out the large man’s location. For a trivial reason Bjorn became upset. “He should’ve sent one of the men.” he had said but it’s obvious he didn’t want a woman telling him what to do. Men are so simple. Kara didn’t respond to his foolishness. She follows behind him quietly but Odinson sticks to Bjorn’s side. She isn’t sure why the mastiff has taken to him.

Half an hour later, they reach the tavern, a longhouse close to the shipping docks. The entire band is here and they’re causing a raucous, like usual. A group of men surround a fist fight, whether it's serious or just drunken fun, Kara never could tell. Askeladd sits at a table at the far end of the hall, his analytical blue eyes are transfixed on nothing in particular. Bjorn takes his place at Askeladd’s opposite. When Kara sits beside his leader, the larger man crosses his arms and glares at her.

“You have no place here.” Bjorn sneers. Kara ignores him, feels the heat in his dark eyes from doing so, and looks up at her captain. If anyone would shoo her away, it would be the boss. Askeladd glances at her, his eyes light and present. He doesn’t tell her to leave but he doesn’t tell her to stay. So she stays.

“King Olaf has asked for our assistance,” the captain says, his voice low but loud enough to be heard in the noise. “A little weasel rallied up enough common folk to start an uprising in the North, they’re refusing to convert to the King’s religion.”

“And?” Bjorn says.

“And, Olaf is adamant that everyone pray to ‘Christ the Savior’.”

“He’s a King. I’m sure he has a sizable army to enforce his rules.” Kara conveys and forces herself not to roll her eyes at Bjorn’s scowl.

“He has the numbers. But the men in the North are not your average common folk. Somehow they gathered enough gold and silver to hire Jomsvikings to their cause.”

Bjorn narrows his eyes, “You want us to go against Jomsvikings?”

Kara was well acquainted with Jomsvikings. She loathed them more than anything on earth.

“What better opponent to fight for a chance in the halls of Odin.” Kara says.

“I don’t fight to die.”

“None of us do,” Askeladd intervenes, “We fight for money. And the King is offering us what the peasants up North are giving the Jomsvikings. With that amount of coin, we could lay low for several winters.”

“What makes you think the King will keep his word?”

Askeladd leans forward, resting his forearm on the table surface, “I saw it in his eyes. He is a man of honor, and it is a sin to lie.”

Once the sun went down, Kara leaves the tavern bringing with her a plate of raw lamb meat for Odinson. The owner had scolded her for allowing the dog inside previously, so the mastiff usually waited at the main door. Upon seeing his master, the dog rises on all fours, his tail wagging and his tongue lolling out his muzzle. He leans against her legs and she almost stumbles from his weight.

“Stop that Odinson!” Kara laughs and scratches behind his left ear, his favorite spot. She places the plate on the ground and waits patiently as her furry friend eats his meal. The night sky is littered with dusts of white and the light of the crescent moon illuminates the city. The salty scent of the sea travels with the wind, the sound of ocean waves is subtle.

Kara remembers stories her mother used to tell her; generations ago, their Nubian ancestor traveled far from her homeland, farther than most explorers, and found herself in Norway. Where she settled in the vast country remains a mystery and generations later her descendants migrated to Denmark. As Kara closes her eyes she can picture her village with perfect clarity.

It was an unusual village; long before she’d been born, the inhabitants learned to live in harmony with nature. The village was surrounded by forest; oak trees grew through the middle of homes, flora was left to grow wild, and gardens of fruits and vegetables were plentiful. Although the villagers used the assistance of horses, the animals could roam where they pleased. Even the livestock roamed.

It was paradise and it had been reduced to ashes.

Kara places a hand on her womb; her eyes scan the stars and she wonders if her mother and her ancestors could see her from so far away.

+++

Odinson trots behind her, still licking lamb blood from his chops, as they return to the inn. Her room is rather small, but it’s better than sharing with anyone else. Almost a month ago, the band had stopped at a Danish settlement and she’d been forced to board with the captain. She didn’t trust him but her distrust for the others was stronger. For a Dane he was respectable; in fact the only time he was ever in the room was to sleep. Nonetheless, as a woman it’s better to room alone.

Kara kneels before wooden crates filled with her things. Most of the crates contain necessary tools for healing: herbs, salves, bandages, tweezers, blades, and rune stones. When the men call her ‘Witch’ she knows it’s meant in a derogatory way, but she really is a witch. They were common generations ago, but Kara wouldn’t be surprised if she is one of few left. Every year, as the Christian belief spreads, the Norse religion becomes more myth than reality. Kara knows the Gods’ strength relied on belief and they are weaker than they’ve ever been.

Kara rummages through the crates and when her fingers feel smooth metal she carefully pulls out piece after piece of armor. The last to come out is a golden helm with owl wings molded on the sides and chain mail hanging from the back. The inside is lined with black dyed silk. Kara feels the inside, feeling the smooth rim and down the cold chain links. It’d been years since Kara donned the armor, but now she has a reason to.

The Jomsvikings have come and if that man is still amongst them she would be the one to drive a sword through his heart.

+++

Thanks for reading!

#vinland saga #vinland saga anime #vinland saga manga #anime fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #manga #anime #kiss of death

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suicidalcatz · 5 years

Text

DOG DAYS ARE OVER : CHAP 9

Pairing : Jake Kiszka x reader

Genre : College AU

Previous parts : Prologue ; Chap 1 ; Chap 2 ; Chap 3 ; Chap 4 ; Chap 5 ; Chap 6 ; Chap 7 ; Chap 8

Masterlist : here

AN : Hello reader ! How we feelin today ? Yeah me too, I guess it’s time for a party then ! But pay extra attention to the title, I warned you. I’ll be waiting at the end, I have some things I’d like to discuss, see you in a few!

Chapter 9 : Be careful, okay ?

Unsurprisingly, it turned out that we were the only ones invited, for some reason I couldn't quite decipher. It was only December so maybe the boys didn't make friends with their other classmates yet, but still I found it odd. They were funny, nice, and really, really skilled. But their friends, or lack of for instance, wasn't a topic I could bring just like that, so I'll have to wait for now and ask any of the twins when we were alone, I guess. Couldn't say I was surprised by their dorms, too, as they were pretty much the same as ours, maybe a little bit more messier. The four of them slept there, in two different rooms, on two different floors, from what I understood.

Josh of course lead the way, while Mandy was whispering questions she couldn't keep in her head but was too shy to say out loud for everybody to hear.

- Who's the long haired bassist ?

- That would be Sam, my little brother, he replied in the same quiet tone. Why ? Interested ?

Mandy poked him in the ribs when he smirked at her in a suggestive way, and I let out a chuckle. The boys were all in favor of going inside to get warm and drink together while getting to know each other. It seemed like a good program. We helped them bring all of their stuff back inside either to the Music Dept building (drums and mic) or their dorm (guitar, bass and amps). And as Jake wouldn't let me lift anything that he deemed heavy, they declared me tambourine supervisor, making a show of putting it in my hands like a holy relic and insisting that this job meant a lot of responsibilities. Not gonna lie I was feeling kind of stupid seeing them carrying gigantic amps in their arms while the tambourine I got kept ringing with every step I took as if to remind me how useless I was.

- Oh that's him you were talking about last time, I said while sneaking a peek at him behind my shoulder. You guys really look alike. And the drummer is your childhood friend Danny, right ?

Josh looked positively surprised for a moment before acquiescing, asking me how I knew this info.

- Jake told me one time, when you were rehearsing.

The thought of that night made me smile to myself, remembering the awful pictures and odd war metaphors with poor Danny trying to calm everybody down. However, my smile disappeared quickly when I caught Josh's unamused expression. It didn't last long, hardly a second, before he found his usual cheerful self, but it was enough to make me uneasy. Something in his eyes told me there was something wrong. And I knew it was linked to Jake, I just ignored why. A piece of the puzzle was missing and it was slowly upsetting me since nobody cared to tell me. He was weird when he saw the both of us hanging out together, and flipped when he discovered we texted, but I thought we were over that now. So was he still upset about the whole thing ? Should I avoid talking about it even though I have his phone number too now ? Or am I being totally paranoid ?

The singer abruptly stopping still in the middle of the hallway got me out of my thoughts, though, painfully so since I face-planted on the back of his head and shoulder blades, making the tambourine ring in the process.

- Please stay with us mama, we're here.

Rubbing my nose, I heard Sam snort loudly and probably at me but had already been warned that he was a sass master, so took no offense in it. Danny, on the other hand, seemed like the sweetest dude alive. Always smiling and asking if we needed help with anything, with a quiet charm and a soothing aura. What a great guy. Now that I knew a bit more about the Kiszkas, I felt sympathy for his poor soul.

Jake came by my side, and I suddenly got surrounded by the twins, one of them waiting impatiently at my left, and the other filling the empty space between the wall and I. Gently dropping his amp on the ground, he searched in his jeans pockets for the key to their room, lightly brushing my face with his hair in the process, before bending over a little to unlock the door. He moved aside just enough so that Josh could have the honor of introducing us to their room by violently slamming the door open while posing and screaming « TADA ! ». Shaking his head, Jake got in first, seemingly not in the mood to wait for his brother, switching on the lights and putting his guitar and amp at their place in a corner of the room. Josh motionned us to go first, and Mandy pushed me by the shoulders.

It looked... just like them. And smelled like them, too. The ground was covered by gigantic berber carpets, bunk beds were on the side of a wall, cornered by guitars, amps, and boxes of vinyles piled up in a tower. Some rock legends posters were displayed here and there next to their respective beds, and facing their single wardrobe, which I supposed they all had 2 drawers of it. On top of it was a turntable, and facing the door a window and a messy, messy desk. Orange leathered fatboys were sitting on the floor, an ashtray was hiding in a corner beside the wardrobe, and a door next to the desk was leading the way to their kitchen. Raising my head, I saw they had decorated their celling with colorful fabrics in red, maroon and orange, keeping one of them at the window as a curtain. Numerous mobiles hung by the celling, some of them with agate and quartz stones of every color, others in the shape of animals crafted by hand, and the whole room smelled of masculine perfume and incense. It was so them I was suddenly aware of where I stood and every nervousness I had lost came rushing back again.

- Welcome to our humble home, greeted Josh as Sam had already climbed barefoot on the top bunk.

- Please make yourself comfortable, added Jake.

The brunette removed his shoes and went around the room to get a towel in order to scrub his sweaty face, letting it stay around his neck. Danny asked Mandy if he could take the beer keg to get us all drinks and she thanked him, standing by my side frozen in their doormat.

- Oh please don't stay here ladies, have a seat, anywhere you want.

Josh didn't even have to turn around from his vinyle collection to know we didn't move an inch, it was honestly scary how well he knew us already. That piqued Jake's interest who raised his head and gestured for us to come.

- This is my bed, he said while straightening the covers a bit, feel free to sit on it if you want to.

Jake then sat down on the bottom bunk and gave a heavy pat on the mat, and that's the moment Mandy chose to shake out of it and push me on the bed in the less discreet way possible to make sure I couldn't sit anywhere else but besides Jake. I swear to God.

The death glare I gave her when she made herself comfortable on a fatboy was so intense that she felt it and smirked at me. Unbearable.

- Be careful not to bump your head, okay ?

Jake's raspy voice came to my ears and when I turned my head he was smiling at me, hand on the back of the top bed. We were cramped in here, not having much space to ourselves and almost hitting our heads with every movement we made, but it came with a strange sense of security and intimacy. You could put a curtain around us, and it'd be like we were all alone.

- If you're uncomfortable you can always sit on the ground or take the desk chair, interrupted Josh without looking away from his vinyles.

Both his brother and I shot a glance at him but he wasn't returning the favor, instead he kept his face burried in his boxes, trying to find something to listen to. His behavior was beginning to concern me more than I thought it would. And even Jake raised a questionning brow at his intervention. For some reason he looked really serious, with a closed expression. Not someone you'd like to ask the hour on the street. I shrugged it off for now, like the others did, telling myself it'll pass eventually, and that we were all gonna have a fun night together. Once Josh finally found something worth listening to, Sam let out a loud sigh of relief before relaxing into the bed cracking under him, letting his long legs hang into the nothingness between the mattress and the ground.

- Oh, you must be reading my mind, he groaned. Finally some fucking good music. All those pop and rap concerts today nearly made my head explode.

We all snickered at that comment and a smiley Danny put a goblet of beer in all of our hands before settling down next to Mandy. Once Josh was absolutely sure of his choice of music and nodded along in the rythmn of the first few seconds, he climbed on the desk and clapped his hands in his little brother's direction, something that surprised me for a second before Sam threw a little box his way, and I understood. They had a weed box, that Josh opened and began to roll a joint for us to smoke together.

As the night went on, my former stiff posture got more relaxed, and Mandy had already befriended every person in the room, requesting for Sam to teach her how to roll a proper joint, and laughing at Danny's witty interventions on the matter. We were pleasantly either drunk or high at this point and Josh got into an unstoppable karaoke mode, blessing us with his singing and exaggerated dance moves, only focused on the music blaring through the turntable's speaker. Jake and I were face to face now, sitting cross-legged while he passionately shared his knowledge on astronomy with me. And I knew for a fact that in this moment all the stars he spoke about were nothing in comparision to the ones he had put into my eyes when he talked with such passion to what he and other people deemed as nerdy subjects. With the alcohol running in my veins, listening carefully to the words coming out of his mouth was becoming more of a challenge, especially when said mouth looked so delicious, with his voice low and eyelids hooded by the drinks he had.

- I'm sorry that's not interesting, he finally apologized while running his fingers through his hair.

- What, no ! I love listening to you, you know so much stuff, it's impressive.

On the covers, my hand found his knee in a reassuring manner, too fixed on his smile to care about everything else. The world could catch on fire and I wouldn't even notice, had a feeling he wouldn't either. We were in our own little bubble, not paying attention to anything that wasn't the other. Mandy flirting with Sam, Danny contemplating the ceiling, Josh singing loudly ; everything was just background noise to us. Certainly because he was drunk himself, Jake took my hand in his to give my knuckles a light peck kiss.

- Thank you. If only people were more like you...

He trailed off, taken aback by the sudden music change, and gave me back my hand. My heart was still banging against my ribcage while he was trying to guess what the song was, asking his twin for a confirmation. The sensation of his soft lips against my hand was still very vivid, and my brain was too busy replaying his last sentence again and again to think of anything else. A fluttering sensation I knew too well spread in my stomach when he returned his attention to me, a boyish smile adorning his mouth. I could ear him say how much he loved that band, but my heart was still thumping so loud in my ears that I stood there in silence, replying to his smile with my own and craddling my hand with the other like I just got burned.

Unaware of my internal breakdown, Jake let the joint hang between his lips, and my gaze could only follow his movements before he noticed me.

- My bad, do you want some ?

My whole being was on auto pilot and I only bobbed my head at his question, letting the boy in front of me put the joint between my own lips, getting his zippo to light it for me.

- There ya go, don't inhale too hard or your head'll get dizzy. Try to keep the smoke in for a bit.

Taking a deep breath, I did as I was instructed, his eyes never leaving mine as I did, careful and cautious until he motioned for me to blow. As an art student, it obviously wasn't my first time smoking weed, because all stereotypes were true, people here smoked a lot. More than necessary if you'd ask me. But it felt good nevertheless to be taken care of while I did, even being instructed what do to. I didn't cough, but my face heated up almost instantly as I felt the smoke burn my lungs and my vision getting a bit blurry with the drinks I had before. The whole room reeked of weed and booze Sam had toppled on the carpet, the air filled with a thick cloud of white smoke mixing with those of the incenses Josh had lit up earlier. Jake took the joint between his fingers, considering the few centimeters left before looking at me with a serious expression.

- Do you trust me ?

- Of course I do.

Maybe sober me would've said that it depended on the topic or asked what shenanigans he was up too, but drunk me was on autopilot mode and couldn't get enough of Jake, whether it was his scent, his voice, or his fingers and knees brushing mine because of how close we were sitting. So it really didn't matter right now, I trusted him with anything.

- Come closer, he muttered while putting half of the joint on his mouth.

He gestured for me to get closer to him and swiftly brushed my hair behind my shoulder before framing my face with both of his hands, fingers linking our two heads together as he leaned on me, keeping us merely inches apart. With the joint between us, he began blowing smoke for me to inhale, keeping it from escaping with the barrier his hands formed. It was intense. Both the strong effects and the proximity of our bodies. I don't know which one made my heart rate go wild, too concentrated on his eyes just in front of me, body heat emanating of his body and bathing mine in a warm sensation. I could feel some of his fingers gently tug on my hair as it got tangled in it, and automatically put my hands on his shoulders during the exhange, giving it a firm squeeze when I couldn't take more weed. It hardly lasted more than a few seconds but everything seemed to happen in the painfullest slow imaginable. I coughed, this time, not letting go of Jake's arms as he took me in his arms, rubbing circles on my back.

- Are you crazy ?

Tiny tears had gathered at the corner of my eyes because of the smoke but I could still clearly ear Josh's humorless voice next to us. My back was facing him so I missed the exchange but Jake's body tensed and his hand left my back as he shrugged, probably silently asking his brother what was up. Wanting to calm my breathing to listen to them only made my body betray me as a violent coughing fit got over me, causing me to shake and Jake to reaffirm his hold on me.

- Can't you tell she's not used to it ? Good job, Jake.

- I'll get her some water.

His voice resonnated in my ear before I felt him slowly detach himself from me to get up. I could tell part of him was upset his brother kept nagging him, but the other one probably felt too guilty to retort and he just got to the sink with an empty glass in hand. Scrubbing my eyes, I met Josh's sympathetic gaze before he patted me on the hand, and even though I'd usually appreciate his concern, his whole bizarre behavior had me more upset than anything at this point so I shook his hand off to follow Jake in the next room, slaloming between Danny's large sleepy body and Mandy and Sam's spot. I found him in the dark, standing back to the door, checking the water with his index finger to make sure it was cold enough.

- Hey.

When the brunette looked at me, his concerned eyes made me instantly feel guilty. Maybe I should've been more responsible, but I was okay, more than okay, I didn't drink too much or anything, just enough to feel light-headed, and there really wasn't anything to get worried about.

- I'm sorry I made you smoke too much, he started while filling the red cup.

- You didn't do anything wrong, I just had a coughing fit. You know, I said while getting closer, I used to do this with friends so you don't have to feel bad or anything.

A small smile spread at the corner of his lips and he turned off the water, only looking at me when he handed me the cup. And after all the booze, weed, and smoke, I must admit it felt pretty nice to have cold water running down my throat.

- I know, but I should've been more cautious, y'know ? One time I got carried away and my girlfriend got sick so I should've known better s'all.

My heart stopped at his words. I didn't hear correctly what he just said. It wasn't possible. Maybe I was too drunk after all, imagining things that nobody said, ever. A painful lump grew in my throat, making it impossible for me to drink anymore. My stomach was in knots, overcoming my whole body with a nauseous feeling. My voice was small and strangled as I spoke.

- Your girlfriend ?

- Yeah, Mina. She lives in our hometown so it's kinda hard, but I feel like you two would get along so fine. You kinda remind me of her sometimes, you know ?

A fond and nostalgic smile danced on his lips as he said that, making me want to vomit for real now. Not because I was disgusted, but because my stomach kept turning on itself, and my breath was stuck in my lungs. I put the cup back in the sink when I noticed my fingers were shaking. How could've been so stupid ? Of course he had a girlfriend. I wanted to cry and then laugh at myself for being so dumb. Of course there was no way this perfect boy was single, what was I even thinking ? Anger started rising within me, at myself, for being this delusional. I was feeling downright pathetic to have ever thought he could love me the way I loved him, and what pained me the most was that I was the only one I could blame.

- Everything alright here ?

That's when Josh's head peaked through the open door and I sucked in a breath, feeling tears clouding my vision. Unable to bear it much longer, I faked a headache and waved everyone goodbye, only letting myself cry in the comfort of my dorm.

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

AN : Not gonna lie I’m so stressed about this chapter, please don’t hate me, I had this idea in mind for a while now. The Angst Days Are Not Over unfortunately, but it’ll get better in a few chapters. Please let me know what you think, feel free to message me or review, see you on Saturday for Part 10 ! (And I’m currently writing Part 13 atm) As always, thanks for the love and support, I know this is a slow burn so you might get impatient but we’ll get to it soon now.

#gvf fic #gvf x reader #gvf imagine #gvf fanfic #jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka fic #jake kiszka imagine #jake kiszka #josh kiszka fic #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet #greta van fleet imagine

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forever-rogue · 6 years

Text

Animal - II/II

A/N: Part 2? Part 2! Merry Chrysler from me to you! Enjoy loves, I hope you all like it! Anywaysss, requests are open, taglists are open as well! xx

PS: this little story was loosely inspired by the song Close to Me by Ellie Goulding.

Pairing: Ben Hardy! Roger Taylor x Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: Slight language, mild smut (allusions to smut??)

PART I (on my page/Masterlist - links still aren’t working properly!)

MASTERLIST (link on main page)

Much to Roger’s chagrin, Y/N spent the next couple of days at Brian’s. She knew she should go home and face Roger, but just couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. All she wanted to go was hide out for a few and days and have some piece and quiet.

“Lovely little sister,” Brian called out as he came home from rehearsal one evening, chucking his bag on the chair near the door. She poked her head out from the kitchen, her brows knitted in concentration, “Rog is asking about you again - still. Isn’t it about high time you went home to him?”

“Lovely older brother,” she sighed as she stirred the pasta sauce she had been hard at work on, “Roger needs to learn to be patient. It’s only been a few days, it’s not like I’m never going to speak to him again. Such a drama queen.”

“You know how he gets,” Brian threw his hands up in exasperation - he felt like the middle man between two feuding children. He opened the fridge and pulled out a drink, “and I don’t disagree with him. It has been three days.”

“I know, Bri, you don’t have to remind me,” she rolled her eyes as she tossed the sauce over the pasta she had made earlier, “besides, you’re starting to sound just like dad.”

“Yeah, well, I’m looking out for you,“ he leaned against the counter as he watched her work, getting two plates ready for them, “I love you and Rog, and I know he’s absolutely mad about you. On top of that, he’s driving all of us crazy because he won’t stop talking about you. I’m pretty sure Deacy is ready to go ham on him.”

“You know it’s bad when Deacy gets upset,” she agreed as she tried to picture him, the most gentle man she knew, getting mad. She couldn’t even recall the last time he raised his voice, “I make no promises, but I’ll talk to him.”

“When?”

“Soon,” she said vaguely as she handed him a plate of pasta, “Roger Meddows Taylor can learn to wait.”

Looking at the clock on bedroom wall, Y/N was surprised to see that it was nearly one in the morning. She rubbed her eyes, tiredness slowly setting in, before closing her book and setting it on the nightstand. While she and Brian may have been polar opposites in a lot of ways, their sibling resemblance was strong when it came to things like the pursuit of knowledge.

She had been reading about new some discoveries over in the Egypt, when she decided it was time for bed. She got up and turned the light off, grabbing her jumper and pulling it on. It had been Roger’s originally, but she quickly made it hers once she discovered how comfy it was. Plus, Roger’s scent always clinged to it, making her feel safe and loved. Y/N pulled the covers back and slid under the covers, hoping she would warm up soon.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, her body froze when she heard something clink against the window. Figuring it must have been a bird, or some sort of insect buzzing about, she ignored it and pulled the covers up higher. After a few moments, she heard the clink again, and again, and again - this was no coincidence.

Y/N got up and tiptoed over to the window before sliding it open and sticking her head out.

“Y/N! Love, down here,” she heard Roger calling out to her. She looked down at the street and saw his blond mop of hair bobbing up and down.

“Rog, you absolute wanker!” she hissed at him, “what do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’ve come for you!” he stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, “I just want to talk, love. Please?”

“Fine - but why are you throwing rocks at my window?” she asked as she rubbed her brows in frustration, “you’re going to wake the whole neighborhood. Plus Mrs. Fletcher upstairs, and she’ll have my head if her sleep is disturbed. And yours, likely, she isn’t exactly Queen’s biggest fan.”

“Just let me up, and I can explain-”

“Rog, you have a damn key to this place! Why didn’t you just use that?” a look of realization crossed his face as Y/N mentally slapped herself. She loved him to death, and for how smart he was, sometimes he was a complete fool.

“I...completely forgot,“ he admitted, “but isn't this much more romantic? I’m like Romeo looking for his Juliet.”

“Tragically romantic,” she sighed at him, “now get upstairs. I’ll unlock the door for you, you silly fool.”

“Be right there,” Roger eagerly waved at her as he headed into the building. Y/N shook her head to herself as she closed the window and headed to the door. She checked to make sure the commotion hadn’t woken Brian up, and thankfully the light was still off.

Y/N opened the door and leaned against the frame as she waited for Roger to make it up to her. It wasn’t long before the sound of his rapid footfalls could be here and he came into view, a goofy grin on his face.

“Love,” he said quietly as he stopped in front of her, his blue eyes studying her intently, trying to gauge her reaction. He quickly pulled out a bouquet of red, long stemmed roses from behind his back, eagerly waiting for her take them. She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face as she took them from him and smelled them, “do you like them?”

“I-” she paused as she felt tears coming on, moved by her favorite goof’s sweet gesture, “I love them, Rog. I love you.”

“I was hoping you would,” he said quietly as he reached up and gently wiped away the single tear that escaped, “I love you, pretty girl.”

“Come inside,” she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, quietly shutting the door, “Bri’s asleep, so try and keep it down.”

“Of course,” he said as he followed her into the kitchen, where she made quick work of getting a vase and setting the flowers int them. She admired them for a second, before feeling Roger’s arms wrap around her waist. He rested his head on her shoulder, “I’m sorry, love. I know I have a temper and pick fights over the stupidest things sometimes. I’m sorry for getting so upset over something so trivial.”

“It was extremely trivial,” she agreed as she turned her head to kiss his cheek, “I don’t think whether we get married on the 24th or 25th of July is going to make a difference, you silly buffoon.”

“Uhh, don’t remind me,” he groaned as he buried his head on her shoulder, “when you say it out loud like that it makes me sound like an absolute twat.”

“You were being an absolute twat,” she agreed, chuckling lightly, “but you’re mine. And no matter what happens, I want you to always be mine.”

“Does that mean that you’ll still marry me?” he asked cautiously, as though it was ever up for debate. Not marrying, really hadn’t crossed her mind.

“Of course I’ll still marry you,” she said as she spun around and took her face in his hands. She could see that his eyes were looking glossy, “Roger, you’re the love of my life. I know we bicker and squabble, but, I’ve come to realize, that doesn’t mean we’re not meant to be together. There’s no one else I’d rather bicker with. There’s no one else I want to come home to. You. It’s only you. I don’t want to be somebody without your body close to me. Do you understand that?”

“Why are you so perfect?” he whispered softly as he rested his forehead against hers, “I don’t know what I’d love without you.”

“I’m sure you’d manage to survive,” she disagreed with a small laugh as her eyes met you.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said as his eyes locked on to her, “it’s you. And it will only be you.”

“You’re so silly, lover boy,” she smiled as he put his hands on her hips. “can I ask you for something?”

“Anything.”

“Kiss me,” she said as she ghosted her lips over his, “I want you to make love to me. And make me moan your name. Just like you always do.”

“Y/N,” he said her almost like it was a prayer, “do you have any clue what you do to me?”

“Show me,” she said as he wasted no more time in crashing his lips on to hers, both of them fighting for dominance, but Y/N quickly gave in and let him take control. He slid his hands under her jumper, the touch of cold hands on her warm skin making her shiver.

“You’re wearing my jumper,” he commented as he kissed along her jaw line, “looks so much better on you then it does on me.”

“It looks even better off,” she teased him as he groaned her kissing down her neck, making sure he would leave a barrage of hickeys marking her as his. She let out a low moan as he nipped at her sweet spot, “Roger!”

“Come on,” his voice was low and husky. She nodded in agreement as he pulled her along to the bedroom she always stayed in at Brian’s. She hushed him, making sure they didn’t stomp down the hallway, waking Brian up in the process. They didn’t need him to kill the mood right now. Roger opened the door gingerly, shutting it as soon as the two of them were in the lightly illuminated room. Roger took one look at Y/N before pinning her against the wall and continuing to kiss her, not letting her sneak so much as a kiss in, knowing it was going to frustrate her, “fuck, I love you.”

“Roger,” she breathed as she tangled her hands in his unruly hair. She could the vibrations of laughter in his chest as he stopped and looked at her, “you play so dirty.”

“It’ll all be worth it, love,” he promised as reached for the bottom of her jumper and pulled it over her head, discarding it on the floor. He admired her for a moment, and Y/N took advantage of the break in his ministrations, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He smiled at her for a moment, gently touching her lips.

“Don’t get all mushy on me now, Taylor,” she teased as she reached for his belt and swiftly unbuckled it, “not tonight.”

“Whatever you want,” his breath hitched as he quickly slipped off his pants and reached for her and kissed her roughly and guided her towards the bed, “can’t promise that Bri won’t wake up. I’ll have you screaming in no time.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she raised her eyebrow at him as she pushed him down on the bed and straddled his hips. It was her turn to make him squirm as she kissed along his jawline.

“Never been a lie yet, has it love?” he said gruffly as he deftly flipped her so he was on top and in control.

“If you’re going to do it, just do it and shut up!” Brian’s voice was sleepy and annoyed as he shouted from across the hall. Y/N’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment as Roger chuckled and hung his head.

“You got it mate!” he shouted back at Bri as Y/N slapped his arm, trying to contain her laughter. Only in this crazy family she thought to herself.

Y/N’s eyes fluttered open as she felt Roger’s long warm fingers ghosting along her spine. She rolled over so she was face to face with him and kissed the tip of his nose.

“Good morning, love,” he said quietly, his voice was rough and gravely from recently waking up.

“Good morning, Rog,” she smiled at him as he reached over and took her hand in his, pressing a chaste kiss to it, “ a true Renaissance man.”

“Only for you, “ he winked at her, “for the rest of the world I’ve got an image to keep up. I am Roger Taylor after all.”

“You’re so full of it,” she rolled her eyes at him, “good thing we know the real you.”

“I love you, Y/N, truly,” he whispered softly as she closed her eyes and hummed contently, “no matter who the world sees or gets, you’ll always have all of me.”

“I know,” she agreed, “you’re a silly man, an overdramatic hysterical queen, but I love you for that. No matter how silly our fights are, I always want to come back to you.”

“I’m not hyster-”

“Yes you are, silly boy. You’re giving Freddie a run for his money these days,” she insisted as she opened her eyes to peek at him.

“Am not!”

“Need I remind of you want happened when the lads didn’t agree with I’m in Love with my Car?”

“I’m sensitive about that,” he half joked as he pouted. Y/N giggled as she kissed his pouting lips.

“I know my soft boy, I know-”

“Breakfast is ready you fools!” Brian exclaimed as he swung the door opened and looked at the two of them. Y/N pulled the covers higher over herself as Roger gave him a what the fuck look.

“Bri! Have you ever heard of privacy?!” she hissed at him.

“Last time I checked, this was my place,” he said as he raised his eyebrows at her, “and I’ve had to listen to the two of you going at it all night. So I think privacy is a little non existent at this point.”

“Why were you listening!?”

“No one could sleep through that,” he said, a haunted look on his face. He was clearly trying to get the memory out of his mind, “so yeah and anyways, food’s in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, Bri,” she said as she and Roger started giggling like school children caught red handed.

“Oh and Mrs. Fletcher from upstairs was on one this morning,” Bri called to them, “she said if she ever hears that much noise again she’d get us all evicted.”

“Roger! I told you so,” she said as she smacked him and he gave her an innocent smile, “I’m mortified.”

“At least you had a good time?” he tried and she gave him an incredulous look.

“I swear,” she sighed as slid out from the under covers and reached for her robe heading to kitchen, where she could smell delicious food, “I don’t know how I put up with you.”

“Because you love me?!” he said as he hastily followed after her, almost tripping on an article of discard clothing, ‘Y/N! Love, wait!”

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peepingtoad · 5 years

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Anonymous Fanmail // always accepting

Good evening (or day) to you anon! Let me say first off how touching it was to see this message pop up earlier on! I know my activity has been spotty as hell lately, with inspiration being flaky and my attention span even more so--so it really is encouraging to hear that the little I've managed to do in the past couple of months is still well received.

From reading your message it seems like you have a great handle on writing and vocabulary, but I also know that English really can be a bastard of a language whenever it deviates from the standard. So I can only commend your commitment to gaining even more understanding.

So to answer your question, under the cut are some of the authors/works that have influenced me most. I’ve not really had a chance to make my way through my huge reading list, or read much for a couple years now, so I’ll just mention some of the ones that really stuck in my mind:

Darren Shan

I really must start with Darren Shan, because for a teen author his descriptions of monsters and violence still are some of the most viscerally gross and visual I've ever read. So you can imagine what it was like reading him as a 9/10 year old! I don't get to show it very often on Jiraiya, but I really do love to write a bit of nasty gore where I can. This probably shows more when I'm writing certain toad stomach themed jutsu scenes... but yeah. This author really inspired me as a kid, and fantasy-horror for young adults is still a genre I'd love to write one day (if I ever come up with a solid original idea, that is)! Which leads me on to--

Stephen King

Who, honestly, I haven't really kept up to date with. The novels I read by him were his classics: Carrie, Misery, Pet Sematary... which I think were all written before I was born, now that I think about it. I know he can be a little long-winded for some, but I really appreciate how he builds up tension and works with multiple threads at a time. His are some of the few books that actually made me scared in my teens, his psychological horror is great, and he doesn’t shy away from a sex scene, even if they’re usually horrible. I always love an author who goes into nitty-gritty, not necessarily pleasant detail.

J.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R. Tolkien

A predictable one, I'm sure! But I've definitely drawn influence from the sheer world-building of Middle Earth, which has inspired worlds for my own OCs, but in regards to fandom has made me want to delve a little deeper into areas the canon leaves unexplained (it really is my goal to one day fill in all the blanks in Jiraiya's life, working with what little we were given and the messy timeline). And while Tolkien's characters can be a little wooden and overly functional at times, the true joy I find in his works is the sprawling descriptions of nature and the world, and how well-linked all of the characters/figures of the past are to each other. Also I feel it's an unpopular opinion, but I absolutely adore the songs/poems. Every one of them. Especially 'The Ent and the Entwife'.

Richard Adams

Most known for Watership Down, and his style again contains lots of beautiful nature imagery (with a very strong environmentalist lean). It's a pretty traumatic story, as anyone who has seen the animated film from the late 70's will recall, but what the book offers on top of that is a whole mythology that the animals believe in, world-building, animal characters that are both intelligent and believably still animals, gorgeous descriptions of the English countryside... yeah. It's one of my all time favourites! I’ve yet to bring myself to read The Plague Dogs, however, because I know it will upset me a whole lot.

Whoever the hell wrote 'The Soddit' and 'Bored of the Rings'

Yes, seriously. I'm a sucker for a good spoof, and these made me laugh out loud. I recall many terrible euphemisms. Not to be read with a critical mind whatsoever :’) they are kinda trash, but I really enjoy content that doesn’t take itself very seriously.

Terry Pratchett

Count this as a relatively new inspiration--I'm an absolute newbie when it comes to Pratchett, if I'm honest, which is ridiculous because it’s right up my alley. I’ve only fully read Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman), read halfway through a few of the standalone Discworlds, and watched several of the animated and BBC series adaptations, but I’m definitely inspired. It's just really daunting to know where to start with the main body of Discworld in particular. But I think after spending my childhood enjoying comedic fantasy in general (I also thank the Fable trilogy of games for that), it was only natural that I found his tongue-in-cheek, conversational to the point of being mundane, playing with tropes style a perfect fit for me. All of that, with some pretty immense world-building in too! It’s great to see such a loved world that is written in such a light, funny way (from what I’ve read), especially since I do my best to let humour inject itself into my writing wherever possible.

Oscar Wilde

And more specifically, The Picture of Dorian Gray. This is just peak gothic sexy decadence, I assure you. And it's one of my all time favourites... again, for gorgeous descriptions, but it's more sensory than physical. And of course, high-key gay subtext. And did I mention it's sexy? Not in the obvious way, just in a 'this level of indulgent description of luxuries and hedonism is downright slutty' kind of way. If you want obvious sexy though, definitely check out the film starring Ben Barnes too!

Anaïs Nin

Ok look, so in answer to one of your other questions, I do indeed read fanfic. Not as much now as I used to or would like to, but I certainly do. And Anaïs Nin is one of the few well known erotic writers I’ve read that I think is better than the best fanfiction stuff I’ve read. Because honestly, lots of them are dudes (sorry Jiraiya) and it’s just... nah. I’ve always thought that the erotic writing in decent fanfic tended to be high tier for somebody not paid to do it. Anyway, when it comes to Nin the writing is beautifully sensual, but I’ll warn you for questionable content at times--and I mean triggering content. I think that a lot of her erotic short stories were commissioned by others, so I don’t judge her, but there is also a lot of symbolism within the taboo so... that’s my warning about that.

John Keats

Time for a poet, and one of my favourites is this guy. Pretty much covering the Romantic/Gothic cusp, all the poems I remember reading by him were long, indulgent, sensual and low-key filthy. I can’t really say much other than read Keats! ‘Isabella, or the Pot of Basil’ is a favourite!

Seamus Heaney

My favourites are ‘Death Of a Naturalist’ and ‘Blackberry-Picking’. Get that gross, kinda visceral nature imagery. Nice.

Wilfred Owen

Mostly studied him in college, which I enjoyed a lot, but I ended up revisiting his war poetry when I started writing Jiraiya. Something about the way he questions patriotism and feels for the ‘enemy’ related a lot to him for me, and the poems themselves are so tragic they really spark up your empathy.

... As for songwriters? Hmm. Lyrically, I always enjoy pretty gloomy stuff. Nick Cave, The Cure, Placebo, Depeche Mode. A lot of it very spooky and sad-romantic. I definitely have a type :’) a definite favourite is also Björk, both for her surreal lyrics, and the crazy stuff she can do with her voice also helps!

I’m honestly struggling to think of more off the top of my head, because I know I have read and enjoyed more books/poetry than this. Sadly I’ve been too preoccupied with other things to branch out into more world literature, but it’s something I want to make an effort to do--especially Chinese and Japanese literature, some of which are on my current book pile. But these are some of the few that came straight to mind for me, and are probably my biggest influences. Hope you enjoyed my lengthy rambling nonetheless. And again, thank you so much for your kind message! It really lifted my spirits <3

#{long post}#{fanmail}#{ooc}

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thecorteztwins · 6 years

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Rando Munday OOC Things

- The LARP was so fun this weekend! I always have a good time but this time was EXTRA GOOD!! - Chatzy used to be a HUGE part of my Tumblr RP experience, I did hours like every night? And now when I see a link for a chatzy on my dash I’m like...too pooped. Ditto for the Discord RP that I’m in, I can generally just do one thing a week there. I think it’s because I’m working more hours now than I was then, and get up earlier, but I miss it. - I’ve started watching Aggressive Retsuko on Netflix, I really enjoy it! Cute and relatable (even if my office is nowhere CLOSE to that bad! it’s really great actually!) Director Gori is my favorite, I love her so much!!

- I went to a women’s college. New students got assigned an older “sister” to show them the ropes and stuff. Mine was more of an older “sibling” because they were identifying as nb at the time. He ended up transitioning fully to male, getting on T, taking a male name, etc. My dad, an old conservative Southern guy, met him both before and after the transitioning. He was super cool both times, and he used the right name/pronouns, not just to his face but even now when he asks me how Neil (the guy’s name) is doing now, and if we’re still talking. For whatever reason, he’s very invested in our friendship; I think he was just glad to have someone looking out for his little girl. Anyway I told him that Neil was living in Madison, in Wisconsin, and he was SO HAPPY?! Like he was THRILLED to hear that! He explained to me that he had been worried a bit for Neil because apparently Wisconsin has some pretty conservative areas, but Madison is like this hip liberal alternative college town, and that it’s “perfect” for Neil. My dad is adorable, is what I’m trying to say. - I believe our shrew is a southern short-tailed shrew. Most shrews can't stand each other but this breed can be social and share burrows! SO WE COULD HAVE LOTS OF SHREWS also we think it was a mom bc it was hauling a grub instead of eating it on the spot. I have half a mind to buy some mealworms next time I'm at the pet shop and scatter them in the yard for the shrew(s) - Tumblr reminded me of how Hagrid made Harry a scrapbook of his parents and brought him a birthday cake and is the one who got him Hedwig and I AM SO UPSET hagrid is so wonderful and unappreciated - Why does everyone think Hufflepuffs are all nice floofballs? Being loyal and hardworking does not automatically beget niceness. The Death Eaters were loyal and hardworking too. Not anti-Hufflepuff here (they’re my fave house!) but just, like, noticing. - “Reality doesn’t come with trigger warnings” Reality doesn’t come with a laugh track either, but our media also includes those? Reality doesn’t come with pause and rewind buttons, but we can do that with our media? And there’s “Viewer Discretion Advised” shit in front of lots of shows? Like this is just the dumbest argument. I’d like to think that even if I were against trigger warnings (which I’m NOT) I would employ better arguments than this. I feel that way about a lot of things---it’s less being agreed/disagreed with that peeves me, and more the stupidity of the argument being used. Even when I agree with the point being made. - And then I saw someone say “Trigger warnings let people avoid topics that make them unhappy” uhhhhhh should I be looking for things that make me unhappy? Should I stop watching shows I enjoy and start watching shows I hate? Should I look for pictures of things I find upsetting instead of cute animals? Should I read books in genres I dislike instead of stuff I’ll enjoy or at least makes for a good hate-read? What the fuck kind of argument is this? If people are seeking out things that make them unhappy, that seems a LOT more uhealthy than avoiding it, what the fuck. - So apparently there’s a new member of the Avengers but it turns out she was with them all along, she was a founding member of the team but then something happened that made everyone forget her but she was TOTALLY present in all the old issues, and we’re going to draw a bunch of scenes from those old issues but with her in it doing/saying cool things and have all the Avengers remember her now and talk about how great she is! Holy shit this is...are you kidding? Please tell me she turns out to be a bad guy and this is all fake OH IT IS thank goodness. Actually I really love this. I would have hated it if she was for real, but this turning out to be a villain plot makes me like it (because I hate the genuine “retconned into being a pre-existing part of the team” when it’s played straight) - I don’t think it’s cool to speculate on other peoples sexualities, even if they’re in the public eye, but if you’re going to try to guess which female celebrities are gay...look for who a lot of lesbians crush on. This is just a general pattern in my experience, not a universal fact, but I notice queer women seem to find other queer women most attractive. Maybe it’s the overall preference for “butch” traits that I find is common among gay and bi women, maybe it’s just my own imagination/confirmation bias, but I swear we can fucking sense it. - Things I hate: When someone includes stuff like “so hate me if you want” or “so you can tear me apart now” or “so now you clearly think I’m an awful person” in their argument. This does not incline me to take your argument more seriously, nor in any way be sympathetic with you. In fact, it fills me with fucking ire, and I have no doubt other people feel the same.

#munday #mun monday

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imagine-attackontitan · 7 years

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Stay (Chpt. 1: Hope)

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Original Female Character

Word Count: 5,950

Warnings: ??

AO3 link posted under xOblivion_is_Gracex (yes, this is my sad collection of fics)

A/N: So, this was my very first time writing Attack on Titan. I’m still fairly new to the fandom, but I fell in love with the characters (especially Levi). The beginning of the fic will be set in 844, so there won’t be much Reiner, Annie, Jean, etc. until later on. Chapters will be posted on AO3 before being posted here.

Chapter 1: Hope

Year 844

The stone wall I sat upon was far from comfortable, but that one spot gave me the best view of the sky. Plus, it was far enough away from the rest of the soldiers that I didn’t feel so suffocated. Isabel and Furlan sat on either side of me as we stared up at the night sky together. They had been upset with me for wanting to go on the expedition alone, leaving them behind in the process. I knew that it wasn’t fair of me to ask them to have blind faith that I would make it back unscathed, but I had to limit my losses somehow. I knew that talking Hope out of going was out of the question because wherever Erwin went, she wasn’t very far behind. The two of them were practically connected at the hip, stirring up some foreign feelings in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw the two of them together. If I couldn’t get her to stay behind, I knew I would have to focus all of my energy on keeping her alive, so I couldn’t pay much attention to my friends. Keeping an eye on three people instead of just one was a much larger job than I was prepared for, but it was easier for me to just tell Furlan and Isabel that they couldn’t come along instead of trying to explain why , which was what Isabel wanted to know. In the short time we had been a part of the Survey Corps, we came to realize that the majority of the soldiers were skeptical of us and only one welcomed us with open arms, ready to take on the titans with us by her side. It was an odd behavior, but it was a refreshing one at the same time.

“Levi,” Furlan spoke, his voice full of purpose. My eyes met his in an intense stare, and I knew that it was his final attempt at trying to convince me to let them come along. He stared at me as Isabel remained completely silent, the only sound coming from the wind rustling the leaves on the trees just beyond the outermost wall of the fortress. His eyes flickered with optimism as he continued, “believe in us”

I nearly jumped in shock at his request. It was far more emotional than I was used to. I never liked talking about my feelings or opening up to people in the first place, and he was urging me to place my complete trust in them. My trust had been there from the very beginning because I knew they would’ve died for me the same way I would for them. To hear Furlan pleading with me to believe in their abilities was something I had never experienced before. After the initial shock wore off, I smiled and gave a single nod, resting my arm on my knee that had been propped up on the stone wall I sat on, “alright. I’ll believe in you”

Isabel’s head fell back as she smiled widely. I didn’t even have to look at her to know that she was filled with joy. That girl was so expressive that it almost worried me. She never tried to hide her emotions, either, which was something I did more often than not. If she was angry, she would flat out tell you that she was angry if you hadn’t figured it out by her simple actions, “yay!” she beamed before focusing her full attention on Furlan, “bro sure is a stubborn one, ain’t he?” she asked

Furlan chuckled, “ especially when it comes to admitting he has an adolescent crush on a certain someone ” he teased, referencing the young woman who I refused to admit had a hold on me like no one before, a hold that I didn’t even understand myself.

As soon as they mentioned her name, time seemed to stop completely as I stared up at the stars, my heart racing, thudding against the rib cage that helped hold it in place. It was as if the organ was trying to burst through my chest just so it could take a breath of fresh air, something I hadn’t known the taste of until the moment I met her. Erwin and his team had been the ones to drag Isabel, Furlan, and I to the surface with the promise of not charging us for our crimes as long as we joined the Scout Regiment. Even though I first breathed the open air when I reached the surface, it was...different once I met Hope. Meeting her only hours after being brought to the surface made it feel like I hadn’t breathed in my entire life. Only after meeting her did I realize how sweet the air could taste. She changed my mind on the one thing I thought I had been certain of for my entire 26 years of life-that humanity was all bad, that there were no good people. The moment we met, her very first actions toward Furlan, Isabel, and myself were removing the handcuffs that left us restrained on the way to the base of operations that the Survey Corps used. She had chastised her superiors-Erwin included-without fear of being reprimanded, scolding them for restraining us “like animals.” Many of the others looked at us like that’s what we were: animals. However, she saw us as people no different from the soldiers she served with. Her action of removing the cuffs could’ve had deadly consequences, but just like they put all their trust in her, she put all her trust in us. In her eyes, the moment we set foot inside the walls of the fortress, we were a part of the team, and she treated us no differently than anyone else.

Her name alone, Hope, had surprised me when she first introduced herself. It was a strange name to hear, especially coming from a place where there was none of it. We had always wished for a better life, but we never had any real hope that it would become a reality. Yet, she was the embodiment of what that word meant, and it even showed itself in her physical features. Crystal blue eyes that bled into a thick and piercing violent ring surrounding the blackness in the middle, matched in both power and intensity as the young section commander and the man I was destined to kill-Erwin Smith. Their eyes were not exactly the same, though, as her eyes held the most perfect mixture of both innocence and pain that I’d never seen before. It was clear that she had experienced a great deal of her own trauma, but it didn’t destroy the faith she had or the kindness she had to give. Her eyes were warm and inviting, like the fireside in the bitter cold, but they were also careful, calculating, and withdrawn. The warmth she had to offer was filled with sorrow because it was clear that her love was born like a flower in the spring, having to endure the harsh winter before being able to bloom. Her hair fell in thick and wild pure white waves, snowy strands whipping around her fair-skinned face every time I watched her practice with the 3d maneuver gear. One of the soldiers she seemed close to, Mike, had commented that it would be a terrible shame for her to have to cut it, which was the truth. Her eyebrows reminded me of Erwin’s, thick and full yet perfect with no maintenance. Hers were longer, though, much like her thick and dark eyelashes that sat so delicately atop the eyes that captivated me from the moment we met. It was like staring up into the sky as the sun set on the horizon.

She was a wild beauty, unlike anything I had ever seen before. I had been so used to the angry lifestyle that everyone led while in the underground city. However, she was so different. She was kind and compassionate, delicate yet strong. She had an intense love for humanity that spread like a wildfire, but there was a fire of animosity in her eyes whenever the titans were mentioned. There was this exceptional grace within her as well as a desire to do good, to bring peace and harmony to all those who surrounded her. There was also an unparalleled desire to protect Erwin, which was making my mission to kill him even harder. If I betrayed her and killed Erwin, she would kill me or I'd be forced to kill her-something I could not and would not do. She was the one who accepted my friends and I into her way of life without missing a beat. She was the one who smiled at me as she cleaned the leftover mud from my face-something that had been left there despite my request for it to be wiped away while travelling to the surface. She was the one who scolded Flagon when he degraded us while explaining that the barracks needed to stay clean. If I betrayed her by killing the man she was closest to, I would be sentencing myself to death by her hands. Even if she didn’t kill me, the guilt I’d feel over the sadness my actions brought upon her would. However, if I betrayed my friends and didn't kill Erwin, we would be prisoners of the Survey Corps forever. All we wanted was to live freely on the surface, and our newest employer was willing to grant us that if Erwin Smith was killed and the document was retrieved. Just picturing the way she would kneel over his lifeless body with tears in her eyes-the world having crushed her once more-sent a shiver down my spine.

“She is beautiful, though” Isabel said, pulling me from the endless and jumbled thoughts of Hope that ran through my head all day long. She laughed, holding her stomach as she stared over at Furlan, “I think I even have a crush on her”

“Levi’s is a little different. Isn’t that right?” he asked, elbowing me in the side

I shook my head and clenched my jaw, trying to suppress those feelings. Just thinking about her made my heart beat faster. Hearing her name made my whole body feel lighter. It was a constant struggle to maintain a certain level of composure, “I don’t feel anything for her” I argued, not wanting to explain to them the feelings I had because I wasn’t even sure what they were.

Furlan narrowed his eyes, always able to tell when I wasn’t telling the truth. He told me so many times before that I did small things, which gave me away. He was perceptive when it came to the people around him, making it almost impossible to lie to him and get away with it. I should’ve known not to try it, but I did. As expected, he called me out on it, “so you don’t stare at her during meals when she’s not looking? You don’t smile when you hear someone say her name? You don’t watch her from the window in the barracks while she’s outside with the horses? You don’t find yourself at a loss for words when she’s around?” he asked, pointing out all the times that my relationship-for lack of a better word-with Hope was suspicious. He continued, “you’re the one with a silver tongue here, but you can barely speak to her at all. It’s like every time she talks, you’re hanging onto every word. I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but the girl has something to do with it”

“Hope! Her name is Hope!” I snapped, clenching my jaw tightly. After a tense moment of silence, my eyes widened as I realized what I had just done. There was no harm in Furlan calling her “the girl,” but it sparked some kind of fire within me-one that had lain dormant for so long. I shook my head again, wanting to move right past what I had just said. I cleared my throat, “there are plenty of explanations for each of those, and none of the explanations are that I like her because I don’t ”

“Sure it’s not, bro. It’s because you love her” Isabel laughed, clapping a hand onto my shoulder as her body trembled with unchecked and refreshing happiness. The two of them loved to tease me about anything and everything, including my need for a spotless living situation. It was a contradiction. I was from the underground city, the dirtiest place known to humankind, and I was a “clean freak” as Isabel put it. It was all harmless fun, and I was happy to be the punchline of any joke if it made the two of them happy. As her laugh died down, she snickered, “just make sure to invite the two of us to your fancy wedding”

I rolled my eyes, “we’re not getting married”

“Who's not getting married?” a voice sounded from behind us. Not just any voice, either. That voice.

My eyes shot open, wondering how long she had been standing there listening to our conversation. I didn’t want her to think anything just because Isabel and Furlan were teasing me. The last thing I wanted was for her to be repulsed by me, and it was obvious that she was with Erwin. I had no place to come into the fold and tear down whatever it was she had built with him just to satisfy some of my own desires. Deep down, I knew, though, that there was something sacred blossoming between the two of us, something I had been fighting since the day we met. It was like meeting her suddenly filled this hole I never knew existed up until that day. Before I had the chance to greet her or even turn around to take in her unparalleled beauty, Furlan beat me to it, “oh, look who it is! Hi, Hope!” he exclaimed, turning around to face her with a wide smile. Even though we weren’t planning on sticking around long, it was impossible for us not to find her somewhat alluring. My way was just more...intense than Furlan’s and Isabel’s. Instead of damning myself by turning around to face her, knowing that I’d be unable to hide my excitement, I stayed facing away from her. Without hesitation and seeing the route I was trying to take, Furlan challenged me again by standing up, Isabel following him in perfect synchronization. I sucked in a harsh breath as he continued with a smile, “we’ll give you two some time alone”

“I’ll see the two of you in the morning. Sleep well” she said in that voice that sounded like velvet falling from her tongue. It was like hearing the birds singing their sweet songs first thing in the morning. It was a gentle voice which captivated me just like her eyes did. When I turned around to see my friends walking away, I couldn’t help but watch her. Every time she bid farewell to anyone, she would grasp their right shoulder with her right hand while offering them a warm smile. There were no words spoken, but it was one of her ways of offering respect to the people around her. Erwin did the same thing to people, and I wondered if she had been the one to pick it up from him or vice versa.

Before he left, Furlan turned back to smile at me, standing behind her so she didn’t see the mischievous look in his eyes, “behave yourself, Levi” he warned, cocking an eyebrow. It was clear to see that I wasn’t the only one who had this conflict, since Furlan seemed to be pretty taken by Hope as well. However, he wasn’t afraid to admit that it was an adolescent crush. He was open about how he felt, and he flirted with her pretty often. She always gave it back to him, but I knew that it was a part of their playful banter. Still, it didn’t keep me from feeling jealous. As my friends, Isabel and Furlan just knew that my feelings for her were serious.

She smiled back at him as the playfulness reached her eyes, “I’ll keep him in line” she joked. With one final bow of his head to her, Furlan disappeared with Isabel, leaving me completely and utterly alone with the goddess of a woman. It was like they wanted to see me fail at this point, which made me regret my decision to disclose certain...personal information to them. She turned her attention back to me, gliding across the stone like she was floating. Before I could process what was happening, she took Furlan’s spot and dangled her legs over the side, clasping her hands on her lap, “they tease you quite a bit, don’t they?” she asked, locking her gaze with mine.

“Mhm” I nodded my head, too afraid to speak to her in the moment. More often than not, I was able to compose myself and take everything in stride. Not much bothered me, but her presence always caused me to lose my composure. My insides felt like they were trembling every time she was around, and I couldn’t help the gentle quaking of my hands or the heat that rose in my throat. She captivated me to the point that I couldn’t formulate a single response until I was able to pull myself back to reality. Her mere presence felt so surreal that reality didn’t even matter to me in the moments we were alone together.

Her voice both pulled me back to reality and lightened my heart, “it’s because they care. Erwin does the same thing to me, and I do the same to him”

I grimaced, thinking of the man who had her all to himself. It was the first time I was ever truly jealous. Just like my freedom, Erwin robbed me of her as well. She was by his side at all times, listening to everything he said and hanging onto every word, much like what I did with her. They were inseparable and practically attached at the hip. They were so similar but so different at the same time. He was far more cold and calculating than she was, but there was a warmth and a twinkle in his eyes that came alive whenever she was around. It was subtle, but I noticed everything. I clenched my jaw again, staring down at my hands in my lap. I took a deep breath, calming my heightened nerves as I spoke, “the two of you are...together?” I asked

She grimaced, clearly disgusted by the mere thought of it, “of course not! That’s...disgusting”

“Oh” I breathed out, feeling both relieved and discouraged by her answer. I was relieved that the section commander hadn’t taken everything from me, but I was far more discouraged that I had absolutely no chance of being in her company in a...romantic way. If she wasn’t with Erwin, the most handsome man in the entire Survey Corps with his perfect everything , there was no way she would be with me, a criminal and thug from the underground city. Her answer only reinforced why it was better to not even try to form any kind of relationship with people like her-good people. While I didn’t like Erwin, he was a noble and humble man who gave himself freely to the Survey Corps. He lived by a code, and he treated people with respect. He had been willing to give my friends and I a chance on the surface, which only spoke to his morality. If anyone was worthy of her, it was him. I could think of no one more unworthy of her than me, so all I could do was watch as she inevitably fell in love with Erwin. Besides, I was destined to be alone from the start.

*Hope’s POV*

As soon as Levi’s dull blue eyes-which always seemed to look grey under the moonlight-flickered away from mine, I could sense the shift in his mood. Erwin had made it crystal clear that he didn’t want the newcomers to know that we were related, and I couldn’t bring myself to disobey my older brother’s orders no matter how much I wanted to. Without knowing that we were related, Erwin and I would’ve looked like a couple. There was a side of him that only came to life when we were together, and it was clear to see that others noticed that, too. Levi was perceptive, so I shouldn’t have assumed that he wouldn’t catch onto the fact that there was something between Erwin and I. I just didn’t want him to think that it was anything romantic, which he did. As the moonlight lit up his fair skin and youthful face, I couldn’t help but stare. He was stunning in an unconventional kind of way. There had always been something between Mike and I, and Erwin always made his support for that relationship very clear. Still, we were never together, but it was one of those “maybe” relationships.

Levi and Mike couldn’t have been more different from the outside looking in. Levi was short with straight, raven black hair with an undercut and dull blue eyes. I hardly ever saw him smile, but I couldn’t expect much given his history in the Underground City. There were only terrible stories that I had been told of the living conditions down there, which must’ve been why he usually wore an expressionless face. Around his friends and I in private, he was much more open and willing to show a grin now and then, but it was obvious that the world had beaten him down. It took one to know one, though. Mike was the polar opposite. He was more than a full head taller than I was with beautiful short blonde hair that he parted down the middle. In almost all ways, he reminded me of my older brother and the man I loved most in this world. Mike was stern, and nothing seemed to faze him. He was a great soldier and an even better friend. There was never a time I didn’t feel safe while I was with Mike because I knew that if I failed to protect myself, he would step in and do the job for me; however, I always protected myself, so I never had to test his loyalty. Mike wanted to start a family at some point, which was great because he showed his talents when it came to children. Levi, on the other hand, showed no interest in starting a family of his own, grimacing as the children played within the walls. Even when he saw a loving mother with her child, he became distant, almost like it disgusted him. Where Mike was passionate, Levi seemed apathetic. Where Mike was warm and inviting, Levi seemed much colder and more abrasive. Still, I couldn’t shake the way my heart raced or the way my lungs tightened and refused to allow air into them whenever I thought of the man sitting next to me. Seeing that my response to his question seemed to trouble him for some reason, I shook my head, wanting to explain myself a bit more, “it’s not that I think Erwin’s disgusting because I don’t. He’s a handsome man, which is pretty obvious to every person who has seen him. The two of us are close in a different way. He's my best friend, and thinking about being with him in any way other than that is...unimaginable” I added, seeing the very hint of a smile spreading across his face. His eyes brightened as if he was coming alive ever so slowly. I swallowed hard, “I know you two don’t get along after...what had to be done to get you here, but he’s a good man. I just hope that one day, you can see that, too”

“I do” he replied, his voice deep and coarse. It was rough but oddly calming at the same time, and whenever he spoke, I was left completely speechless, unable to interrupt a voice like that, “he cares deeply for you, and he keeps you protected no matter what that means. I can tell from your interactions now that it’s been like that for a long time. I respect him for that reason and that reason alone”

Biting my bottom lip, I couldn’t waste time reading into the meaning behind Levi’s statement, but I knew it was inevitable once I returned to my room. Instead of trying to explain the countless other reasons why he should respect my older brother, I moved on to the reason why I came up to the roof in the first place. Aside from spending time with him, I was curious as to why he had been so withdrawn today, barely speaking to me or anyone else. He was even unnaturally quiet when it came to Furlan and Isabel. It wasn’t that he was as talkative as Furlan and Isabel on any other day, but he was usually much less upset. As he continued to stare up at the stars, I pulled my legs up to my chest, hugging them closely, “was everything alright today?” I asked, my question getting nothing but a silent nod in response. I never knew that a simple nod could hurt so much, but it was like he was trying to push me away at this point. My jaw tightened as I narrowed my eyes at the stubborn man next to me, “look at me, Levi. Talk to me” I pleaded

He shrugged his shoulders, snapping his head to the side to stare down at me. His eyes were narrowed and much colder than I expected. I nearly jumped back when I saw how bitter he looked, “I don't know what you want me to say”

I shook my head, “it's not about what I want you to say, it's about what you want to say” I explained, my heart aching because it felt like we were taking two steps back. I swallowed hard, “if you don't want to tell me what's bothering you, that’s fine. I won’t pry. However, I do know that something isn't right. All I’m trying to say is that you should know that you can talk to me about any of it without fear of judgement”

He closed his eyes, almost like he was fighting back the urge to open up to me completely. I could see the conflict on his face, but I promised I wouldn’t pry. As he let out a deep breath, his eyes finally opened once more and locked with mine, “I don't want you going on the expedition with us” he confessed

My eyes widened, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Of all the things he could’ve been upset with, that was what set him off? That was why he hadn’t said more than two words to me the entire day? I would’ve expected almost anything else. He looked rather distraught by the thought of Erwin and I being together, so I figured that would’ve been somewhat of a reason. Mike flirted with me in the hallway earlier with Levi in earshot, so I even would’ve pegged that as the reason for his sour mood. However, the simple fact that I was going on the expedition with them was what upset him the most, “why?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. Once again, my question was answered with less than one word, and he just grunted instead. It was one of his typical ways of communicating when he just didn’t know how to respond. This was another one of those times, but I didn’t know why. I shrugged it off and stared back out at the sky, “well, you haven't seen me fight yet, so if it's because you don't think I'm strong enough-”

He cut me off, “I'm sure you're plenty strong enough, but titans are always stronger” he retorted, his eyes flickering down to his hands in his lap. He was struggling again with how to continue, so I gave him his time, watching wisps of his black hair blow gently in the breeze. He swallowed hard, grasping his knees and squeezing his trousers tightly, “Flagon told us about the low success rates and the heavy casualties that come from these expeditions”

“I won't die” I assured him, but at the same time, it was also to assure myself. There was only so much Erwin could do to keep me from going with them. Ever since I joined the Survey Corps, he had been trying to keep me off to the sidelines, not wanting me to risk my life the way he did. However, I wanted to follow him wherever he went, no matter what it entailed. I would live at his side, I would fight at his side, and I would die at his side. Try as he may, Erwin couldn’t convince Commander Shadis to pull me from any expedition, and I never requested to stay behind. My place was fighting alongside my fellow soldiers. Commander Shadis knew how deadly I was when it came to the titans, so including me on the expeditions only boosted our chances of success.

Levi’s voice interrupted my train of thought, “no one plans to die, but it happens to all of us” he mumbled, “I’m glad you’re here right now. I want you out here on this roof with me because I don’t want to be alone on what could be my final night on this Earth” he confessed, shining a light on his fears and insecurities for once. He wasn’t afraid of dying, but he was afraid of being alone, of being abandoned. Weren’t we all, though? If nothing else, Levi and I had that in common. He turned his full attention back to me, his voice suddenly filled with renewed vigor and purpose, “what I don't want is for you to go on the expedition...because it's dangerous”

“I'm just as dangerous” I argued, wishing that he would stop treating me like some damsel in distress. I had a total of 12 solo titan kills under my belt, and I was only 19. Of course, the abnormals and the variants were a team effort because it was far too dangerous to try to kill them on your own. I saved others from becoming the titans next snack, so I could take care of myself. If I couldn’t protect myself, then I had already accepted my fate. I wanted to die a hero, and I couldn’t do that by sitting behind the walls and hoping that my brother and friends would come back safely. I could ensure their survival as long as I fought with them. When Levi remained completely silent, not making a single sound, it finally sank in. It wasn’t because he thought he would have to look after me and make sure I didn’t get myself killed. The simple and unbiased reason why he didn’t want me to go was because he cared about me. Of course, he wouldn’t be caught dead saying that word when the object of his care was me. However, it was clear as day. He didn’t want me to get hurt because there was a part of him that cared genuinely about my health and well-being. The man so many people thought cared about nothing and no one aside from himself was the one who cared most. The revelation came as a complete shock to me because I was sure that I was the only one who had any sort of...feelings for him. Clearly, that wasn’t the case, “it's the same reason why I asked Erwin to reconsider having you come along” I murmured

His breath hitched in his throat, and he narrowed his eyes at the trees beyond the wall of the base. It was the most determined I had ever seen him before, “you'll make it back alive. I'll make sure of it” he promised, those piercing grey eyes locking with mine.

“I'll be watching your back, too” I promised him, knowing that I would keep it no matter what. I desperately wanted to grab his hand, to feel his smooth skin against my own, but I had seen his reactions when people touched him. He wasn’t a fan. I stared back out at the leaves of the trees dancing in the wing, trying to make sense of my own feelings, “this won’t be your final night on this Earth” I assured him

“Why do you even care?” he asked, clearly skeptical of my reasoning.

“Why does the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening? Why are there stars in the sky?” I asked, gazing up at the sparkling lights in the sky that were scattered across the vast expanse of the sky where the moon wasn’t. My mother told me stories about the stars when I was younger, telling me that my father-a man I never knew-was always fascinated by the stars. She would always remind me that the darkest nights produced the brightest stars. When I was young, I understood it in a very literal sense. When the moon failed to show itself and the night was darker than ever, the stars compensated for its absence. As I got older, I realized that her words of wisdom were not only about the stars, but they were about me as well. Erwin carried on the tradition of watching the stars with me as our father did with him and as our mother did with the two of us until she died when I was only five years old. Just looking up at the stars reminded me of her, reminded me of the kindness and love she gave so freely, and it caused my eyes to gloss over with tears. I blinked them away and swallowed back the lump in my throat before continuing, “when you can answer those unanswered questions for me, I'll be able to explain the unexplainable to you”

“The sun rises because that's just always what it has done. It has been like that long before you and I were ever born, and it will continue long after we are gone. There are stars in the sky for the same reason. They're there because they've always been there” he answered

“And I've always cared about you” I replied, glancing up into those fearful grey eyes, like I was about to tell him the worst news. He looked terrified of my confession, but I proceeded as if I didn’t notice, “I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’ve cared about you long before you and I were ever born, and I will continue to do so long after we’re both gone from this world. It’s as natural as the flowers blooming in the spring and the sun rising at dawn. A part of me feels like I’ve known you since the very beginning of time itself, but it’s just taken me this long to find you. That’s okay, though, because you’re here now, so I won’t dwell on all the time I’ve wasted looking for someone to fill the void that only you could” I added, not taking into consideration the fact that my feelings for him were completely inappropriate or the fact that Erwin wouldn’t approve of such an arrangement. Mike was the safe option, but Levi was the one I wanted.

I would choose him. Forever.

#stay fic #jealous Levi #levi x oc #levi ackerman #levi x ofc #Erwin Smith #older brother erwin #mike zacharias #slow burn #original female character #original character #oc #attack on titan #aot #snk #aot fic #attack on titan fanfiction #shingeki no kyojin #fanfiction

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monkeydluffy19920 · 7 years

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SaNami in the New World pt. 4 - Zou

A busy December is over and it’s been a long time since the last part so let’s continue to analyze how the relationship between Sanji and Nami has been made huge steps of developments and how it can be seen in the New World. Some of these points taken out have been shortly introduced in “Reasons why SaNami could happen part 1 and part 2 as well. Previous parts of this series are handling happenings in Fishman Island, Punk Hazard and Dressrosa. this Zou/Totland arc is currently running but there are already so many important moments and so much to talk about so it’ll be easier to divide these into smaller pieces. In other words this part will handle the happenings from Zou until the retrieval team is formed. Then the next upcoming part (number 5) Tottoland/Whole Cake Island will start from where they sail towards WCI. Like the previous parts this is going to be a long post but there might be points that we’ve been missing, feel free to make additions :) !

But before starting this part I want to give a special thanks and credits to my fellow SaNami mate @pernanegra who inspired me to do these projects. The posts in this series are based on his awesome thoughts from OJ threads (here are links to part 1, part 2 , part 3, part 4 and part 5). He has made amazingly splendid job by gathering and doing such detailed analyze about Sanji’s and Nami’s nakamaship and I really recommend you all to read them !

1. Mugiwara re-union and Sanji’s disappearence

Nami and others have survived from BM and we see them in Zou. We can see that Nami is sleeping at the daytime. This is something that I didn’t first pay attention but thanks to Pernanegra’s sharp eye and discovering now this panel became much more interesting from shipping perspective and in general as well. If we think about it, we haven’t seen her taking daytime naps after leaving her home village in canon at least. Back in Arlong arc we saw Nami taking a nap after having a temper tantrum due her upset of betraying her new friends. Pernanegra stated this very well: Sleeping can be a way to escape reality, to forget the pain and as he menioned, it’s possible that she has been crying herself into sleep. At least she has fallen asleep after great exhaustion most likely caused by worrying, just like in Cocoyashi. Don’t know if this is just imagination but it looks like she is sleeping in a fetal position and one reason why it’s really popular way to sleep is because I’ve heard it brings safety and brings some health benefits because somehow it makes the blood flow well but not expert in these things so maybe someone knows more?

Then Chopper wakes her up but she seems to be very sleepy in the beginning. Once she is awake she becomes happy to hear that others have arrived so they rush to see them. After a while Mugiwaras are reuniting but that joy didn’t last long, at least for Nami who bursts into tears when Luffy mentions about Sanji and Momo.

Oda loves cliffhangers and yes, he made us wait for a while before we finally found out what was going on. First there was a welcome/reunion party with Mink tribe and almost everyone seems to have. We know that Nami usually enjoys partying and having some drinks with her nakama but this time it looks like she is not in mood for the partying. Because I read manga and watch anime I like to compare them and the difference in anime was that she was partying with other like she had no worries. Of course manga usually pictures one moment in panel and it might not show everything but for me it left the feeling that Nami would rather be searching Sanji but that’s just one opinion.

Meanwhile the others are partying without worries Nami intrudes them and asks about Sanji. However this doesn’t lead her anywhere because her crew mates tell Nami that there is nothing to worry about. Luffy and Zoro are definitely thinking he’ll manage on his own. Their reaction to her question is something that makes the navigator only upset and angry. It is pretty clearly that Nami really is worried about Sanji and she even tells her crew mates to treat his disappearence as a urgent situation.

Probably many of us were expecting to see the reason for the disappearence when Robin asked Nami to tell what happened before but we only managed to see that they fought with Big Mom’s ship. That’s informative indeed but Oda wants to keep the tension by not telling immediately what happened. Franky brings Nami back on earth by making her realize she is the one who is behaving oddly here and she finally admits that she hasn’t been rational and she has overreacted telling that she was impatient. Like Pernanegra said, it’s really interesting that back then when they reunited and they were on their way to welcoming banquet Nami didn’t explain at all what has happened in Zou (that they saved the minks, beat down Kaido’s men and face Capone and BM pirates again there) but it might be that Chopper told something while partying or maybe not (because that would’ve kill the party mood). Anyways, only things mentioned by Nami is the letter Sanji gave and that she has been in hurry to save him.

2. Saving the Minks

Nami explains in the flashback how Curlyhat Pirates (Sanji’s team) were blasting against BM pirates by doing awesome team work. Nami and Chopper feel flattered when they are praised by rest of the crew. Back to Nami’s story and happenings at Zou: Sanji is now their temporary captain and orders Brook to take care of Nami. Like pernanegra said, Sanji is now “the boss” and he has now different responsibilities that are showed in the Dressrosa part. By the way their new captain has been a positive influence to Momo because that little samurai wants to protect the ladies just like Sanji ! Their relationship has evolved after Sanji became the captain and started to take care of him instead of being jealous over Nami.

After sailing arriving to Zou Curlyhats part for a short moment to explore the places. Sanji later finds out Nami is in trouble so he rushes to help her. Too bad the anime ‘killed’ the moment of reunion by making Nami kick him after he makes a cheery mellorine-greeting to her. Anyways when they go further they learn that Zou is inhabited by Minks and that their home was ambushed and attacked and inhabitants were left to death. Sanji warns Nami about the risks that are around the corner if they start to save them. It is thanks to incident with kids in Punk Hazard that Sanji acknowledges and senses that Nami would want to save them, even though she doesn’t say a word about it.

After Fishman Island and Punk Hazard Sanji is now able to understand Nami’s thoughts much better than before and he was really right about his guesses. When Nami was attacked by one of the minks, Wanda the navigator swore that they will help the inhabitants and that they are not going to leave anyone behind. (she was so damn brave for keeping her head cool, even though there was a dynamite waiting to be exploded just in front of her). As said, Sanji predicted it right when it was about her intentions, she wanted to help them. There has been a major change in their nakamaship because now they have achieved a level where they understand each other even without words, it’s like mind reading.

With the help of Curlyhat pirates the residents of Zou gets the help they need. It’s kind of sad that these are the last moments where we’ll see Sanji’s team happy and smiling together for the last time before the tragic happens. This definitely does strengthen the nakamaships between curlyhat members. Minks are so thankful the Curlyhats are treated like national heroes.

After helping the Minks Sanji rushes to see Nami and others and he is very pleased to see Nami in her new dress and goes all mellorine like usual. Maybe he could’ve controlled himself if he wasn’t that hyped about Mink women but well he wanted to try the “garchu” on her and this is how he fails his chance to be romantic and gets a punch instead and he flies with hearts : D This is a comical gag of course but it would be interesting to see whether there will be a day when Sanji approaches her without any mellorine-overload and would that change something? In other words would Nami punch him if he approached her more seriously?

Funny fact is that he has now seen Nami twice in a gorgeous dress in canon story, first in Thriller Bark and now here in Zou. What makes it more interesting detail is that, in both situations Sanji’s first thought has been that “is Nami a goddess”. Just like Pernanegra said, Sanji is actually the only character that has reacted to her dresses and who makes compliments out of it.

Then comes the trouble, Big Mom Pirates. Again, Sanji takes instinctively the lead like a captain and decides to go for some negotiations with Brook. By the way it seems like Nami isn’t bothered from Sanji’s company at all (otherwise she would’ve avoided him after the punch but they are close to each other even after the “garchu” tryout). Curlyhat captain tells Nami to stay safe with others. If you take a close look to Nami, you can see that she accepts his will but seems to be a bit unsure about the decision. Maybe she did not want to let him go without the whole crew. (note: in Mangastream verson Nami says “I got worried” instead of “we” and in anime she says also “we” instead of “I”. I might have asked this before but does anyone know what she says is in the original manga?)

That might also be the reason why she got caught with Chopper later. This is really interesting thing because usually Nami does it all to avoid getting into fights but now she tried to sneak against the enemy. Forgot to write about this in reasons to love mugiwaras - Nami”-post but this is definitely a sign of Nami’s character development because just like Pernanegra reminds us in his post, Nami did ditch Zoro and left him all alone against Baroque Work members Mr 1 and Miss Doublefinger back in Alabasta or when she openly said in Fishman Island that she is scared while hiding in Franky’s tank. Things have changed, now she is more ready to face enemies from her own will in order to make sure everything is ok.

3. Invitation to tea party and Sanji disappeares

Since they got surrounded by Capone and others they are forced to go into his castle (seriously that DF power still is kinda creepy). This is where Oda-sensei finally tells us why Sanji left so suddenly and this is what definitely shook part of the fandom, the invitation for Sanji that came as a surprise for everyone.

After the shocking declaration Nami is the first one to react asking what’s going on but Sanji remains silent. He is probably quiet because they revealed his last name, something what he wanted to forget and knows that his family has something to do with this case. Maybe it’s because of the shock but unlike the expectations Sanji is not mellorine after hearing about the marriage, instead of that he actually dislikes it a lot, even hates it.

His reaction might sound odd from the first hand since we know that he is a quite a hopeless romantic who always dreams about ladies but if we think about the post about marriage @namibean wrote a while ago this might make sense because as she said, marriages in One Piece have been represented as a opposite to term freedom and this is excactly what Sanji will lose if he marries Pudding. I don’t know whether he knew it from the very beginning but marriage would tie him down to either BM Pirates or to Germa66 and this would mean bidding a farewell to his dream of finding All Blue with Straw Hats and so on.

This has been pointed out in numerous posts but I still find it a very interesting that Nami is highlighted a lot in this disappearece case maybe even more than usual. She shows lots of interest in first hand and keeps on digging information. When they heard about Sanji’s origin Nami brings up something that has happened more than 2 years ago, before time skip: Remember in Jaya when they tried to find gold from Norland’s territory? Nami told to Chopper to dig out as much as he can but after hearing Sanji mention about his origin she tells Chopper to stop the search. It almost feels like Sanji’s story was more interesting for her at the moment than gold what could indicate also to that fact that she might not be as greedy as she looks.

Nami’s flashback to Jaya could be another remarkable parallel to Fishman Island where Sanji brought up something Yosaku said linked to Nami’s past. This does not only mean both of them have really detailed memories but also that both have paid a really good attention to the necessary things back then.

Sanji still refuses to take part to this tea party. He makes it very clear that marrying a girl he doesn’t even know is ridiculous. Like Pernanegra said, even though Sanji is known to be a womanizer and “a dirty minded ero kappa” he still have some principles. The response is not ok for Capone who tightens up the situation by threatening Nami. Mangastream version says “As you can see, I won’t need to hurt you for you go to the tea party” We don’t know how much Capone knows about Sanji but at least he managed to hit the nail on the top. Sanji is reacting immediately to see Nami sinking down by Capone’s DF powers

One of the biggest mysteries in this arc is that what Vito whispered into Sanji’s ear. It’s something we still don’t know for sure but my guess is that it has something to do Nami. Not maybe anything straightly related to her but possible that it’s something that affects her as well. Anyways, she is very curious but confused about it.

After Vito’s words Sanji makes the decision and goes for the tea party. He writes a letter to his captain and rest of the crew. Another interesting detail is that he gives the letter to Nami, not to Brook who is his first mate or to Chopper. Really hard to say the reason but maybe he gave it to her was because she is the one he has known the longest among the Curlyhats or if he thinks she is the closest person he can trust (don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Sanji does not trust Chopper or Brook ! but maybe he feels like Nami could take the best care of the letter). This is a bit out of topic but I love how Oda made that panel so intimate for them, even though they are surrounded by the enemies and in the anime episode Toei highlighted them in that hugging scene.

After the hug he throws his nakama out of Capone’s castle but they want him to go too. It might be just Nami’s tendency to become highly distressed if someone she likes is in danger but she is really worried and wants him out as well. Not talking about romantic aspect when I used the word ‘like’ because she does not only become stressed about her crew mates but also other people she becomes attached, for example she was very worried when rescuing the kids in PH etc.

Sanji tries his best to comfort them and he gives them a smile telling there is nothing to be worried about, just before the doors to Capone’s castle closes. Nami reacts with two exclamation marks, Brook is pretty much speechless as well and Chopper is in edge of tears.

In manga Capone with his castle tank disappears into woods and the rest of the Curlyhats are left behind calling for Sanji but animation team decided to make it even more dramatic. Intended or not Toei made Nami run after Capone but unfortunately she has to give up and she collapses to the ground and probably keeps yelling Sanji’s name (or something like “noooo”/”come back” etc.). Pernanegra made another good discover but Sanji’s smile might have reminded her of Bellemere who also flashed a smile before the tragedy. This could be one reason why she reacted so strongly to his farewell and why she wants him back so eagerly. No doubt she does not want to lose another important person from her life and she is aware that Sanji is in danger.

4. Building up the Retrieval team

Then we move to present where Brook sings about Master Nekomamushi . Lyrics are pretty simple but pernanegra was wondering whether the lyrics could’ve gotten inspiration from Sanji’s farewell. Brook told he does not know Nekomamushi and only imagined how he could be. This is pure guessing but what could link Sanji to lyrics is that he decided to face his problems alone.

Nami’s reply to Luffy’s question about marriage is surprisingly laconic and I don’t think this is usual for her (mostly she always have a answer to questions but now she seems not to have one). It may also be her posture and the size of the panel why her answer catches the eye easily. Like pernanegra said she might be unsure because of thinking of future and how Sanji’s marriage would change the relationship between him and his crew mates. Now the Crew acknowledge that Sanji went from his own will. We’ve been writing how Sanji and Nami has been able to read each others minds and actions during their adventures in New World but this time things are different. Maybe one of the reasons that Nami feels so unsure and has a troubled expression is because no matter how logical she tries to think she can’t find reasonable reasons what could explain why he decided to go. This is the first time she isn’t able to understand him and it bothers her.

Robin tries to comfort the others by saying they shouldn’t blame themselves. She can relate on Sanji because she has gone through similiar situation when she was about to leave the crew. Zoro however is having a different opinion. Because he witnessed in Thriller Bark how Sanji does not want to be trouble for his nakama marimo is very upset to find out that Sanji has underestimated his friends who were ready to go after him. He is also mad because Sanji’s disappearence ‘messed up’ the Kaido plan and he makes his opinion very clear.

Nami’s reacts very strongly to Zoro’s arguments. She is furiously taking Sanji’s side and telling that accusing him is wrong because Sanji did not intentionally end up in his mess. It’s understandable why Luffy is following their argument from aside and does not intrude. After seeing and realizing how important this seems to be for Nami he decides to go after their cook.

Nami goes to see Pekoms with Carrot, Luffy and Wanda. She is really curious and wants to know more so she can finally understand his reasons. When they hear about Vinsmokes she seems to overreact when hearing that Sanji is linked to ‘evil’ people. When she finally learns why Sanji was leaving she realizes that there was nothing she could do even though she would’ve wanted because the main reason is that BM is blackmailing him extremely.

When Luffy tells that he is going alone with Pekoms Nami feels a bit surprised and upset. She always thought that the crew would form a retrieval team and Luffy going alone would mean that she would be counted out from plan and this was something she did not expect, especially when she has been constantly talking what they are going to do with Sanji-kun.

When story keeps on rolling and they find out about raftels. She shows there few moments of self-confidence and one of them is when telling that she will protect Robin no matter what. Oda made Nami burst in flames swearing that she will do bad things if anyone lays their finger on Robin. Intended or not this fiery detail looks like a nice parallel to Sanji because he is usuall the one who sets in fire (for example hell memories).

Later Luffy is ready for some parties but Nami tells that there is no time for it. She acknowledges the fact that every minute counts. Nami also tells that she is coming and gives him another reason to join the retrieval team. Even though they were mainly able to come over of the thoughts of guilt she is still feeling that she is responsible for his disappearence and seeing her already being eager to get him back makes me feel that she definitely is worried about him and why wouldn’t she be worried?

Remember how distressed she was when Robin disappeared they had only little time to find her? Of course these are different cases with different backgrounds and reasons but there are some similarities and as said, it’s in Nami’s nature to become so stressed when it’s about her nakamas.

Like pernanegra said, this situation about Luffy thinking food and fun before the rescue is by the way really similiar to one that happened in Skypiea and it is another parallel because we can see Sanji telling Luffy that there is no time to waste and they have to find their navigator.

Now the have built the Sanji retrieval team that includes Brook, Chopper, Luffy and Nami and from the Mink tribe Carrot and Pedro joins in as well without to mention Pekoms. They have now agreed to meet the rest of the Mugiwara crew in Wano, after they get Sanji back.

Pernanegra summed up this part very well telling that Nami has now done 3 acts or redemption since the New World. First she forgave Jinbei and Fishmen in Fishman Island, then she saved the kids in Punk Hazard and now she has saved the minks. Most interesting thing is that Sanji has been important part of these missions by standing by her side.

Now that they are dealing with arranged marriage we can see how much Sanji is against the idea and after their ways part Sanji has left his nakamas so many questionmarks about the situation but they learn that he had no other choices. Sanji’s departure has distressed Nami a lot and for many reasons. Like written above for example she is bothered that she can’t currently understand his motives. However she has been the one who has ‘taken the lead’ and pushing others to focus on finding him and refused to be left out from the retrieval team telling. There is again the theme of responsibility around in this arc. Sanji feels like he is the one who must solve this case “he caused” by himself and Nami has been feeling responsible for letting Sanji go away.

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animalistauntamedblog · 6 years

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If I said to you, “You are invited inside an animal research lab, free to venture where you will on an open access, 360-degree, street-view-style virtual tour,” what would you think?

Would you even want to – even in the interests of arming yourself with the facts? What if I added, “Don’t worry, there is absolutely nothing here to upset you”? Would you be ready to believe me and give it a go?

Well, it’s for real – times 4. Four animal testing facilities in the UK opened up their doors and welcomed in the film crew of the Lab Animal Tour. And so with this groundbreaking initiative, you and I, anyone and his aunt can now nosey around inside the labs to our heart’s content. Just click on the link.

I promise you will be impressed and reassured. It’s all gleaming and spotless and the animals are so well looked after – not that you will see that much of them. But when you do, they are looking healthy and well-fed, with clean dry bedding and constant access to water. Their pens or cages for the most part are of a ‘decent’ size, you might think. And they are not being kept in isolation. The very worst I saw was an apparently willing and calm rhesus macaque monkey placed in some contraption designed to keep him/her immobilised while being slid into an MRI machine. Not too terrible, one might consider.

What’s more, there are little videos embedded in the tour, with researchers or animal-carers explaining what they are doing and why. And it’s all very nice, clean and reasonable, and entirely devoid of anything remotely cruel or bloody.

Except….

Notably and significantly, certain rooms on our virtual tour such as the operating theatre, the post-mortem suite and the intensive care unit are displayed with no animal presence. We only get to view these rooms empty, in all their nice, shiny, glass and steel clinical cleanliness. But just the names of those rooms must surely sound alarm bells.

The Lab Animal Tour, a commendable project in open access and transparency? Open access yes. Transparency no. As you may have worked out by now, my take on the Lab Animal Tour is more than a little sceptical. The Lab Animal Tour is no better than a PR exercise, a carefully sanitised piece of propaganda on behalf of those who have no interest in animal testing coming to an end.

So who created the tour? And how is it funded?

It’s all the work of an organisation called Understanding Animal Research (UAR), a misleadingly innocuous title. Who are they? “A not-for-profit organisation that explains why animals are used in medical and scientific research. We aim to achieve a broad understanding of the humane use of animals in medical, veterinary, scientific and environmental research in the UK. We are funded by our members who include universities, professional societies, industry and charities.”

In other words, the force behind the Lab Animal Tour is none other than the designated spokesbody for the researchers themselves. Faultless PR is UAR’s remit, not impartiality.

Understanding Animal Research’s website purports to tell you everything you need to know about animal research in the UK. This is a flavour of their list of ‘Myths’ we the public have ‘erroneously’ swallowed about the use of animals in medical research – which they are at pains to debunk:

Research on animals is not relevant to people because animals are different from people

Systematic reviews demonstrate that animal studies are meaningless for human health

There is an endless list of drugs that have to be withdrawn because of side effects, and these side effects are a major cause of hospital deaths

Many pointless, unnecessary experiments are carried out

Researchers do not care about the wellbeing of laboratory animals

Laboratory animals suffer great pain and distress

How could we be so stupid as to believe such nonsense! There are lots more supposed ‘myths’ listed on this page. If you want to look at them and see the ‘facts’ with which the organisation puts us straight on our delusions, click here

Animal Aid though, paints a very different picture

The difference is that Animal Aid (with assistance from PETA) is courageously uncovering the truth animal researchers are at such pains to conceal. UAR’s carefully-edited version of life in the lab is designed to reassure a public only too happy to believe that testing on animals is both necessary and humane. After all, which would you prefer to be true: that animals suffer, or that everything is fine?

According to Animal Aid,“Each year inside British laboratories, around 4 million animals are experimented on. Every 8 seconds, one animal dies.” No mention of that in the Lab Animal Tour. And these are just some of the unhappy animals making up that number, everyone a person not a statistic

There’s a short video on Animal Aid’s website, “This will make you rethink animal experiments”, which I chose not to watch. So just to warn you, I can’t vouch for how graphic it is. Their Animal Experiments section is packed with impeccably resourced information. And another important fact you won’t discover on the Lab Animal Tour is that animals are being abused daily, not just for ‘vital’ medical research, but also for testing:-

Product safety – agricultural and industrial chemicals, food additives, paints, and household cleaning products

Warfare – effects of injury, shooting, radiation, chemical poisoning and gases

Pain analysis I won’t list the tortures animals are subjected to for this purpose. Refer to the Animal Aid website if you really want to know

Psychology – sounds innocent enough, but ditto the above

Animal Aid also tells us that hundreds of thousands of genetically modified animals are specially bred every year, mostly mice. “And for every GM mouse used in an experiment, hundreds more die or are killed, either because they are surplus to requirements, because they fail to exhibit the desired genetic alteration or because they are born with other, unintended malformations.” Another unpalatable fact that the Lab Animal Tour and UAR avoid mentioning.

UAR and their Lab Animal Tour/Animal Aid – diametrically apposed to one another

‘Have no truck with Animal Aid; it is the same lunatic animal rights brigade in a new package. Society must leave these dangerous fools behind’

That strongly worded statement appears on UAR’s website, on a page called Life Stories – ordinary people bearing witness to how animal testing “has changed their lives for the better.”

It’s unlikely any of us have ever heard of David Dade, the man who made that statement, and one whose ‘Life Story’ is featured. This unfortunate man has both parents suffering from cancer, and his son from diabetes. Understandable then that he’s willing to provide a testimonial for a website promoting the use of nonhuman animals in medical research.

He’s possibly unaware of what a glance at Animal Aid’s website would tell him: the large and growing number of reliable alternative methods – such as organs on a chip, and the use of human tissue – that can make animal testing a bad dream of the past.

The moral of the story?

It has to be, looking out for what we are not shown, not told. People who have something to gain by using animals, in whatever way, are always expert at putting a gloss on their activities. Think McDonald’s and their ads with kids and animals frolicking happily together on a picture-perfect farm.

Compared with other users of nonhuman animals though, the Lab Animal Tour, UAR and lab animal researchers in general have an additional and potent weapon up their sleeve. They claim to have moral right on their side. No-one is morally obliged to eat meat, or take a trip to the zoo. But who, they say, could be so callous as to deny those suffering from crippling diseases the hope of a cure? That is the way subjecting unwilling victims to horrific, and sometimes fatal procedures is justified.

What we can do

Click here for Animal Aid’s useful pdf document about human tissue donation (to donate your tissue you don’t have to die first!)

To ensure your charitable giving does not help fund research on animals click here for a comprehensive list of testing and non-testing charities.

Check out the Humane Research Trust

And Animal Free Research UK

Source New project gives you 360-degree, Open Street-like view into animal research labs

Throwing Wide the Window on Animal Testing – A Blessing or a Curse?

The True Cost of New Drugs

The Punk Rocker with a Snake Venom Habit – An Unexpected Hero for Animals?

Animal cruelty-free testing methods will be tested by U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Because THEY Are Worth It

Ten Fascinating Way Technology is Saving Animals

Taking the Lid Off Animal Research Labs -Don’t Worry, It’s All Good

#AnimalRights #AnimalTesting #Birds #Cats #Chickens #Dogs #Ethics #Health&Medicine #Hens #Horses&Donkeys #PersonsnotProperty #Primates #Rabbits

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spin-attaxx · 7 years

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1, 2, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 31, 33, 38, 40, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50

1. Your first OC ever?

Already answered.

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Oh god, it largely comes down to Jessica, Lumina and Charn. But if you put a gun to my head, I’d have to pick Jessica. She’s the oldest of the three, and I feel like I relate to her more.

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Lumina, no question. If she sees someone feeling down, she’ll do her best to cheer them up and make them feel better, and even when things seem at their bleakest, she’ll find some way to find hope in the situation.

In fact, I imagine seeing a genuinely upset Lumina would break anyone’s heart (unless they’re Charn or Shade).

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

Already answered, but since I get to say another one, I like @jezmm‘s Alice Grayson. I like her design a lot (particularly her long red hair and blue flares), and she’s a pretty cute character.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

Hmm, not sure if introduce is befitting, since I’ve drawn her once or twice, but I imagine Tesla has it particularly rough compared to the other Elementals (all of whom can claim to being the last of their kind and losing at least one friend or family member).

She was once a kind-hearted Electric Elemental in a high class aristocratic city on a Mystic planet far from Enchantus. Things were bad enough when her Time Elemental fiancé up and died one day (along with, mysteriously, every other user of Time magic in the universe), but when a bunch of haggard refugees came to the planet some years afterwards warning about some android named “Charn”, she dismissed them and chose to stay.

Then Charn came and did what he does best; annihilate the city, kill everyone, them proclaim himself the ruler and creator of the planet and torture what survivors were left into believing him without question (”2 + 2 = 5″ style). Though Tesla escaped, she became more jaded and cynical now that she was forced to live her immortal life in squalour fleeing from his threat.

Today, you’re likely to find her glugging down unhealthy amounts of alcoholic, poisonous and generally unpleasant drinks, swearing her head off at those who slight her, and taking immense pleasure in talking down idealistic minds, all while craving the days of her old life.when she wasn’t such a bitter lightning cloud of loathing.

17. Any OC OTPs?

Three come to mind. Ivorn x Lily (the thought of an easily flustered metal technology geek and a calm and peaceful Plant Elemental being in a relationship always felt right to me), Shade x Evil (even if his original goal of proving Elementals can be evil is kinda null and void now, he just loves doing things he shouldn’t do), and Charn x Himself (dude has an ego the size of the universe. He wouldn’t actually compliment alternate versions of himself, though - he’d kill them so there’d only be one Charn).

18. Any OC crackships?

Beta and Jessica. The idea of a psychic robot having a crush on a socially-awkward human he’s trying to kill on threat of death sounds both plausible and totally bonkers at the same time. In fact, Beta X Cassidy also counts, only it’s instead with a human who’s got steelier nerves than he does.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

I’m probably going to say Jessica. I feel like she’s changed quite a lot since I first doodled her as a semi-afterthought to round out a trio. I’ve always wanted to make a Metroidvania game, and Jessica was originally just one playable character (and not even the “main” one). Eventually, she became the main character of the trio, and now she’s the only playable character.

That’s because I keep thinking about her character and her role in this story;s world. I devised her with the idea that what would normally be the mysterious aloof serious side character to a more conventional and emotional protagonist would instead be the main focus. I freely admit much of her personality is derived from mine; being hard to approach, somewhat anti-social and always living with the feeling that she’s being judged every moment and that deep down she’s a failure at what she wants to be.

(That said, I think it’s fair to say that I’m more well-adjusted and approachable than she is lol.)

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Lumina’s the most obvious one of the lot. When it comes to genres, she’s very adaptable and open-minded, but she prefers upbeat pop songs. Especially with 80′s/90′s synth sounds or catchy dance songs (think something like “Butterfly” by smile.dk?)

As for her voice, I don’t know any singers who’d fit her, but I’ve always felt that Tara Strong would be my first pick for her. So I guess something like this, only more upbeat and with a more British accent?

(In case the link dies in the future, I’m referring to Ember McLain from Danny Phantom, which I actually saw little of back then.)

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

Already answered.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

Already answered.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

While I don’t think a full-on OC was inspired by a song, Lumina’s design was altered after I heard the theme to Jem. At the time, she was a fairly generic pink-haired pixie girl in a white and pink jumpsuit, and then after hearing it, I (for some reason) decided, “Hey, what if I made her super J-pop idol/80′s glam girl?” and tweaked her outfit and gave her her big poofy ponytail. I regret nothing.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Lily’s would be super pretty and calming, with reblogs of cute animals, pretty flowers, relaxing scenery, and the occasional conversation/picture/embarrasing situation with Ivorn.

33. Your shyest OC?

Jessica. She never starts conversations, always sweats and panics internally while talking to someone who isn’t a close friend or family, and is more comfortable staying inside than going out in public. Though if you’re antagonising her and/or trying to kill her, she gets more of a backbone and snarky lip.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Hmm, maybe Lumina? I imagine it comes with her performing onstage, though I magine someone else may have more natural talent at it than her. Cassidy, maybe? I dunno.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Honestly, any time I get fanart of them, especially if the artist did it without me prodding them about it or as part of a mutually beneficial art trade or the like. It makes me super happy that there are people who liked them enough to draw them when they didn’t need to.

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Already answered.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I guess the fact that I’ve created a range of characters with their own lives, backstories, personalities, relationships and futures in a world of my own creation, which I can control as I see fit. Like, sometimes I’ll see a character like Genesect that makes me go, “Wow, that looks so cool/cute/whatever, I wish I came up with that!” And then I look at any one of my characters and I feel better because I came up with them before anyone else did.

45. A character you no longer use?

Admittedly they were in a sort of limbo status for quite a while anyway, but Stuart and the third robot character aren’t likely to be part of the TSOTS-verse any longer. Besides the fact that Jessica’s gameplay style differs from traditional Metroidvania characters like Samus and I was afraid their styles would be weaker by comparison (plus extra work), I was never really able to come up with a concrete design for Stuart, nor could I settle on a name for the robot (for the longest time I went with Dave, after David Bowman from 2001, but that never sat well with me, and the only other alternative I could think of was ROM, which is taken). Will they get a new lease on life in the future? Maybe, but for now, they’re dead in the water as far as major uses go.

Still, at least they’re better off than a third Charn minion alongside Beta and Cassidy. He was an old man who’d be a cyborg, and the reveal of this would have him decking a reluctant Dave in the face. That’s about the only thing I miss from axing him; I think having Beta and Cassidy in a duo is a better choice for their characters.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Voidica. A nice girl who’ll gladly accept anyone as her friend, and born to a universe with Charn in it. And then Charn killed her off in cold blood, with zero chance of her coming back or having any kind of afterlife.

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Lumina, no question. Shade and Jessica get driven up the wall by her antics when she falls in love with a new meme.

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

- Shade’s character of being a total bastard just to prove he can be is basically one giant spit in the face to the Pokémon animé (and I guess to a much lesser extent the games), which made the bold claim of saying that Pokémon - who are more or less as clever/sentient as humans - cannot be evil, and routinely made Pokémon that followed that statement to a T or else turned good (mostly legendaries like Deoxys, Darkrai, Kyurem and Genesect). In fact, I think a precursor of his character came in the form of my headcanon for Genesect in my (short-lived) playthrough of Black 2, where he was a homicidal maniac who only tags along with the protagonist so he could get back at Team Plasma for ditching him in favour of the Tao trio.

- If Shade ever does a good deed entirely of his own will, he’ll go out the same way as Rorschach from Watchmen.

- Charn’s name came from a book I read years ago, “Through the Dragon’s Eye”. His design, meanwhile, started as a generic final boss doodle I off-handedly made, then changed many times since then. Ironically, his head remained consistent in all of them (though his eyes were less triangular and villainous.

- I came up with several possible backstories for Charn, such as him being a robot controlled by a t-rex’s brain (yes, really). I even toyed with the possibility of pulling a Joker and giving him no clear-cut origin, though now it’s far more defined.

#ask box meme #anonymous #long post #is long

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