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viloxity · 1 year ago

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Fluctuating Skies (Part 1 of 2) — Yandere! Sung Jinwoo x Female Reader

Part 2

Synopsis: The scenario where the Monarchs rule Earth and the Shadow Monarch finds you in the New World.

A/N: this is one of two parts (he’ll get more unhinged, don’t worry). additionally, this is cross posted on quotev under the same name (viloxity). Any and all feedback or comments are greatly appreciated!!!

You loved the sky.

The sky was beautiful, and perfect. It was never-ending; even when you stared until your eyes burned, you could never find the ending—or the beginning. You would stare, and stare, until you noticed the clouds. The way the clouds explored the skies’ vastness, steadily drifting towards their next unknown journey, gave you hope in this fickle world—a world where you were not sure if a tomorrow was guaranteed.

Each distortion that filled the skies—the skies you have started to despise—spelled an inevitable demise as humanity endured even worse losses. As you took exams at college, there were lines outside of hospitals. The day of your graduation, as you walked the confetti covered balcony, there were bodies lining graves—the A-rank dungeon break nearly flushed out a small city an hour away from you. That day, your supposed ‘celebration’ encompassed hesitant smiles and reluctant whispers that congratulated you on your success.

“At least we are still here.” You recalled a woman saying, scolding the looks on her family’s faces.

You looked at the sky, your tassel gently flowing with the motion of your head. Eventually, the monsters will take over this land. They will overwhelm humanity’s strongest fighters and wipe out the population in clusters. You could feel the anger pooling, then, at your helplessness. Average civilians were so weak, so useless. It hurt that you couldn’t even protect anyone, let alone yourself. Why, why were you born so weak—

Your emotions stilled at a cloud that slowly passed over the sun. Your heart was calm, beating slower.

Even when the world ends, the sky will remain unchanged—unchanged, vast, and still beautiful.

Then, the world ended.

You still remembered the day as if it were just yesterday, when the gates appeared—the roaring sounds oscillating across the entire country and its diameter devouring the peaceful summer sky. The action of itself was unjust—not because it triggered the apocalypse, but because it tied in a pacifist to the unyielding destruction of the entire world. There was a brief intermission between the gate openings and the flow of monsters; realization of the situation propelled Darwin’s theory of natural selection into motion. You were lucky to have broken out of your stupor, yelling out that everyone should run—maybe you saved some lives that day.

The screams were just as loud as the tremors that shook the earth once the rampage began. You could not focus on anything else but the shrieks, and the vile sounds of slicing of innocent faces you would now never get to meet in this lifetime. Once again, you were helpless to the world around you. No awakening, no power, no ability to do anything. The best you could do was silence your whimpers and hope it all stops.

Was your family okay? You thought as another scream fell silent. Where were they?

You looked at the sky for a miracle, but all you could see was that damned gate.

“Thank you.” The stranger’s trembling hands folded over the small bread bun, his eyes full of shame and gratitude.

You nodded, then smiled. “You can pick up water from the well just North of here.”

The man nodded his head, repeatedly murmuring ‘thank you’s’ with his voice growing hoarse as tears dripped down his eyes. He had not moved to start eating yet; you could feel his hesitance even after you gave him the bun. You nodded once more before making a swift exit. From a few meters away, you could distantly make out the sounds of biting and chewing.

Your heart felt content. It was warm, sometimes, but it was hard for the heat to linger long. It was hard to fan the flames in the first place; humanity had dispersed into fragments, with remnants of a sound society lost long ago. You also had not heard of a single word regarding your family, no matter how many villages you crossed or people you asked—you assumed them dead on the day of the Parade.

Yes, the day of the Parade. The day of the nightmare you wished to forget, the crossing of endless monstrosities, and the mark of the end of humanity. By some miracle, despite the constant onslaught of dragons and beasts crossing the gates, you lived. Back then, people agreed how fortunate you and others were to be able to hide—after all, if you didn’t hide, you ran. Yet, all you could feel was turmoil brewing within you.

Was it really something fortunate?

The people you loved; your family, friends, they were all gone. Your accomplishments, career, vanished the moment the gates flooded open. Back then, you were playing a game of ‘pretend’—those serene smiles and unsaid thoughts renounced the oncoming catastrophe as a tale of make-believe. You wanted to shout at the survivors that nothing was ‘fortunate’ anymore, that you all were apart of scrapped pages ripped from a fable that deemed your lives forfeit after its story reached the end. You were dirt on the ground, now; organic matter that existed as sustenance for better life forms.

Then, there was the sky. The sky you had loved and cherished deeply, was an entity that you blamed. It was the sky’s fault; something that symbolized tranquility and freedom was replaced as a symbol of the beginning of the end. Beautiful, were the bright explosions that blinded and wrecked cities. Vast, the lines of gates that it held. Limitless, the rows and rows of monsters it brought from within. No longer a constant variable in your life, it was something that reminded you of the day you lost everything.

At least, that’s what you thought back then.

There was more to life than you realized when you found the first village. You had trekked far from the city, and far from your home. You did not know where you were walking, and it looked fruitless based on the lack of your supplies. By a stroke of luck, a group came across you while you were slumped on the floor. They pitied you, offering to take you to their sanctuary—the last of humanity’s efforts to survive.

Upon arrival, you noticed the structure itself looked flimsy, with a handful of people walking through rubble and around deep holes in the ground. It also looked poorly built; houses were built from logs and leaves, with some looking as if they could fall over any moment. But, that didn’t matter—what mattered were the people. A person stood in the middle of the village; you could only make out his shouts and pointing in different directions to assume he was the leader of the village. You watched as men moved to build another house, the same poorly structured house, as others ran away to seemingly get supplies. The women occupied their time by cooking and playing with the children, and you nearly cried at how carefree the children looked.

Despite everyone’s losses, they still moved on. You all were specks of dirt in the ground, but together—as soil—you could erode even the hardest of rocks.

You stopped momentarily, turning behind a piece of wooden wall that was left from a now-destroyed-shed. You peeked around the corner, seeing the man feast on the tiny bun. Good, he was eating. You originally volunteered to assist outsiders, thus had been handing out bread buns the entire day to lone scavengers roaming the outskirts. Although you could no longer take care of your family like you used to, at least you can try to ensure the nourishment of others.

You sighed, relief sifting down your body. You shifted through your bag, feeling the weight of a singular item. You had one more piece left, meaning your work wasn’t over, but you had exhausted nearly the entire outskirts. Perhaps you should take another lap around again—

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw what looked to be a dark, blackened figure. It reminded you of the black spots you would get when you were dizzy or fatigued, so you turned your head for a better view.

There was… nothing. Everything was dark, covered by a half-broken roof and the rapid growth of moss and vines. You felt as if… something was staring at you. It was like a sharp pinch, as if there was a pair of eyes piercing like a needle into your soul. At the same time, you felt tired; enough so that if you were to close your eyes right now, you were sure the abyss would greet you in response.

Your eyes swept the shed, noticing a faintly drawn outline that was swaying within the void of darkness. You made contact with a pair of dimmed gray hues, its stare so bold and cold that a shiver quaked through your body. It was tempting to conclude that it was just some illusion, some petty trick on your mind so that the pill was easier to swallow. The longer you stared into the gray depths, the more you couldn’t look away.

What was this feeling?

It was not only that you felt your heart pump strenuously, but the surreality of your condition. You felt and heard your heart pump simultaneously with the feeling of adrenaline hitting your bloodstream. Your arms and legs tensed out of instinct, causing you to wince as your muscle fibers moved and pulled across your bones. The several cracks under the soles of your feet trembled slightly, as if matching your fear.

You wanted to look away so badly. You are too entranced now; a rabbit trapped under sharp claws as the wolf stared down its prey.

Please, please, please, look away.

No, this feeling—

You are remembering that day again. God, why even remember now?

It must be a coincidence—but it couldn’t be. It feels so much like…

Like…

Like those beasts.

Those beasts that walked where the sun did not follow.

They appeared in shaky and inky black forms. They would appear, and whatever they would do, would always result in a calamity. You heard the most screams from them, always.

“I’m paralyzed.” You thought, realization sinking in.

Is this the end?

Then, a sigh.

A deep, long, aired out sigh.

In an instant, all the pressure building within your frame vanished. The tension on your sarcomeres lessened, like a weight slowly floating off your shoulders. As the rush dissipated, you are left with trembling hands and shaky legs. Your senses came back to you, one by one.

Your head shot up, fearful eyes meeting wary ones. You see a figure, now—which looked to be a man—but it was odd. His frame was fluctuating between reality and obscurity, like he was struggling to pick the right balance of tenebrosity or to succumb entirely to the veil of night. His stare engraved holes into you; it was lucky that you hadn’t deflated into a balloon, most likely due to the restraint on his aura.

Aura… his sheer presence is powerful enough to knock you unconscious, that much you could tell.

To be truthful, you were clueless as to his actual thoughts. Initially, his presence was concealed—only emitting essence that you now thought was a warning. Maybe you pushed a button or two, seeing as he actually appeared in front of you. If anything, you were slightly grateful to know that you weren’t entirely crazy and that there was an actual person in the shed. However, you couldn’t read his expression at all; firstly because he wasn’t conveying anything, and secondly because you were too scared to try.

Neither of you moved; the shock having knocked the breath out of you and the stranger seemingly studying you.

Then,

“Go home.”

His voice was deep, so low in octave you imagined the sound waves still bouncing around your ear drums. In any other situation, it would’ve soothed you, as you envisioned singing lullabies or the humming of baritone tunes.

But, you also weren’t stupid. The man’s wording was specific—a demand. In a sense, he was a king; a ruler who offers you mercy after finding you in contempt of the sovereign because you tried stepping on his land. Unconsciously, your legs moved, recognizing that the lord gave you permission to leave—words your being waited on with bated breath to live another day.

So, you ran, not realizing that you dropped your bag of items, nor the growing smile on the stranger’s face.

That man, he never left your mind.

Somber gray eyes, and a complexion that rivaled Greek gods. His hair was as dark as the shadows devoured under his silhouette. He was more than ordinary, representative of a being that practices and deals in absolute power. There were only a handful of people who were gifted with abilities like that, back when the very first gates opened.

Right, now you remembered—they were called hunters. Hunters were classified into different rankings, all the way to S-rank and even national level hunters. To be a hunter, you were granted a certain seed of power.

If he were to be like anything else back then, could he have been a hunter? An S-class, even?

It was rare to come across ‘hunters’ anymore, the label long disbanding alongside the association that coined the term. When they appeared, it was considered a bad omen. Either they were chased by the Monarchs of the New World (for the risk they held) or isolated by the unawakened out of fear. Perhaps, the man was the last of the hunters—of the humans who could fight back at all.

Either way, you wanted to see him again. The more reflecting you did, the more you registered his seclusion; he is far, far from the remnants of civilization.

Regardless of the fear you felt, or the possibility of death, he was still human. He was someone who lost everything, just like you and everyone else.

The destination was a long and grueling walk from the current village you stayed at. Passing by outlanders, you gave out food and supplies as normal, while steadily making your way towards the shed.

Would he still be there? It was hard to say. Most remaining hunters were known to be nomads; staying in one place for longer than a day was like shooting fish in a barrel for their next enemy. You were not sure if he was a hunter in the first place, too—it was your latest profound superstition to be proven by whatever little luck you had left. As you treaded further, the familiarity of your surroundings fill you with perpetual dread. You began to second-guess your courage to embark on this trip in the first place, thoughts clouded and eventually drowned out by faint whispers inside decaying wooden walls. The moment your final step reached the broken shelter a hush filled the air, the shed girdling the edge of the forest encompassed by a heavy silence.

“Hello?” You called out to no one in particular.

You nearly surprised yourself with the surge of bravery to make out your greeting. You peeked into the shed, hands waving through vines. There was no one around the entrance, despite you hearing multiple voices.

Odd.

You weaved through a few cracks in the floorboard before being greeted by gray eyes. You jumped, obviously, because you did not expect him to be in such close proximity to you. He was a till a few feet away, but you could have never spotted him if he chose to sit closer to the wall. He was indeed discernible now, sitting under a small stream of light gifted by the sun. His shadow dragged along the box he sat atop of, sinking behind its crevices before pushing itself onto the wall and absorbing its shade. In any other universe, you would’ve described it as strange. In this case, you thought it supported how outlandish—and isolated—he must be.

“You’re back, what a surprise,” The man said, expression clearly detached. “I thought I scared you off.”

This was going to be difficult.

“Right. I was, but I thought it would be better to introduce myself since we got off on the wrong foot—“

A half truth, but you were also cautious.

“—my name is Y/N.”

He was burning holes into you again—the stare wasn’t any less discomforting than the previous time. His silence, too, was deafening. A sudden urge to scream to at least get a reaction out of him rose within you, but you quickly simmered it out.

The stranger’s eyes narrowed slightly as he let out a faint hum.

You winced. “I wanted to give you something that I couldn’t last time.”

You quickly plucked out a wrapped item, hastily tearing through the covering to reveal a bread bun. You weren’t able to catch a glimpse of his face, opting to shift the bread onto an elevated surface so he wouldn’t be incentivized to lunge at you.

“I hope that this helps you, even if it isn’t a whole lot.” You said, nervously picking your cuticles.

The silence was very, VERY heavy, and—can he please say something?

You looked up and caught the man’s wide eyed, dazed state as his eyes lingered on the bread. It reminded you of a skeptical stray cat at a crossroads when offered an open-hand. The man’s eyes met yours, then, and all you could think was how much better he looked without baring his teeth at you.

“You’re funny.” He dryly chuckled, faint smile betraying his nonchalance.

You offered a small smile, blissfully unaware of his next few words.

“I’m Jinwoo.”

And,

“See you tomorrow?”

“Are you a hunter, Jinwoo?” You asked after placing down the wrapped bread.

You wanted to use his name in some way, lest you forget it or say it wrong. It was ironic you carried over some of your social habits after the end of the world, like a puppy you once fed.

“You could say that,” Jinwoo replied simply.

“Could?” You echoed.

He must’ve noticed your frown, adding, “Not like it matters now.”

He had a point; the name lost its meaning awhile ago. Still, you were ruffled by his restrained disposition. Surely, the label still had meaning to him.

…No, that was an unfair presumption. Jinwoo knows his own memories and emotions better than everyone, especially you. Besides, it wasn’t worth arguing the semantics on the basis of mere suspicion.

Thus, you decided to let it go.

Ah, that reminded you—he never told you his last name.

“You don’t have family?”

“I did.”

You perked up. “…You lost them, too?”

Jinwoo closed his eyes, licking his lips. “Because of the Tragedy, yes, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Then, he squinted his eyes curiously. “I’m more interested in your story.”

You coughed suddenly, shocked by his gravitation towards you. Maybe it was because all you had to offer was bread and stories, or because you never took the chance to settle with your memories, but you felt compelled to talk.

And talk, you did.

Jinwoo was an excellent listener; he was levelheaded and passive, allowing you to just… talk, and talk, and talk (with a tendency to sigh or huff as remarks). You were spilling your family’s entire life story, grasping this fact in the middle of talking about your sister’s fiancé’s secret affair, but you found that you didn’t care. If you weren’t able to come to terms with your family’s passing before this, perhaps someone else can remember in your stead.

Did he care to remember every single detail, anyway? Probably not.

“Hold on—I lost track of the time. Crap, it’s getting dark.” You said, rushing to readjust your cloak. If you started the walk now, you might make it before it’s fully dark.

“It’s rather late, it wouldn’t be safe for you to leave.” Jinwoo said, rough voice clipping louder than your hurried shuffling.

“Did you like my stories that much?” You joked.

You waited a few beats of silence. “Sorry, bad joke; I wouldn’t have any place to sleep if I stayed, anyway.”

The shed violently shook at the end of your sentence, causing your heart to lurch in your chest. You latched onto the metal pole next to you, clutching tightly as you waited for the shaking to cease. Within seconds, Jinwoo was next to you, gently but firmly holding your arm; in moments, the quaking stopped.

“Must’ve been an earthquake.” Jinwoo noted, tone and expression laced with unconventional serenity.

Your quivering hadn’t stopped after the vibrations ceased. In fact, it increased exponentially because you were still trying to comprehend the glimpse of Jinwoo’s vibrant, deep purple eyes etched with absolute unadulterated fury.

You were deluded, you thought quickly as your breathing hastened. You were tired, surely.

“I should go home.”

His breathing stilled.

“Don’t forget about me tomorrow,” Jinwoo said, sounding strangely hollow as his iron grip slowly released you.

Once again, you ran away from his grasp.

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kimbappykidding · 1 year ago

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Imagine playing hard to get with Yeonjun at the Hybe picnic

You and Yeonjun had been unofficially seeing one another for a while and things were going well until he asked you out...over text. You got he was a busy man but couldn't he atleast pick up the phone to ask you to be his girlfriend? It wasn't the sort of thing you just did over text. That took the least amount of effort possible and made you think Yeonjun didn't really care. So you didn't respond to the text hoping Yeonjun would realise why you were upset and call you or that he'd wonder why you'd gone all quiet on him. He didn't and a week passed without him checking what had happened or following through in any way. You wondered if he just thought you'd rejected him and so had closed off so you asked Soobin but he said Yeonjun was fine. As loud and happy as ever and that hurt. So any sympathy you had for him vanished and just in time too because you had the Hybe picnic. A few weeks ago you'd been excited about this! A chance to hang out with all the groups you hardly ever spoke to in one place...it'd be amazing. However, with recent events, it turned from a fun social event to one of revenge. So when you arrived with your group and saw TxT you waved to them but made sure not to make eye contact with Yeonjun. You didn't register his presence and ignored how handsome he looked. You couldn't help but smile when TxT made their chaotic entrance but told yourself you were laughing because of the other guys, not him. One of the first games you played was a race. You'd get a mission and then have to select another person to help you do the mission. Yeonjun went first and he picked you for his mission. You acted like you didn't really know him and stood a safe distance apart only politely answering his questions. The challenge was to get someone who could do the crab and walk 3 meters. Yeonjun knew you'd always been flexible and loved gymnastics so was confident you'd smash this. When the host asked him why he picked you, Yeonjun said it was because you were the main dancer so he hoped you'd be flexible. He smiled at you when he said it and you smiled back but didn't meet his eye. You did the challenge and then quickly returned to your seat, giving Yeonjun nothing more than you needed to.

You went in the next round for your team and the challenge you had was to get someone to say an English tongue twister. You knew Yeonjun was famously good at pronouncing English words (RIP Beomgyu) but you couldn't pick him...then you remembered Seventeen had an American member. You raced to the table and just told them "English speaker" and they all pointed to Joshua. You gestured for him to come and the boy jumped up, running with you. You got there second and while stood in line waiting, you noticed this boy was cute. His eyes were kinda similar to Yeonjun's but his nose and lips were different. "Sorry I don't think we've been introduced before I yanked you away" you said "I'm Y/n". The man nodded chuckling slightly "nice to meet you Y/n I'm Joshua". "Nice to meet you too...so are you American or...". He nodded "yeah I'm American but came here to be an idol. I'm from LA". "Yes!" you cried happily and Joshua laughed. "That's really cool you're from LA, did you see a lot of famous people?". Joshua laughed and the two of you started chatting until the host noticed and shushed you both. Meanwhile, Yeonjun saw the whole thing and he wasn't happy. He could tell from your body language that you found Joshua attractive on some level and didn't like how well the conversation was flowing between the two of you. When you both got told off for talking you laughed together and shot each other looks like it was some big inside joke. You looked good together and Yeonjun couldn't help but glare. When you hadn't responded to his message he thought this was some sort of joke or that you were too busy. However now, watching you he began to reconsider that. The first duo succeeded and then it was your turn. The challenge was a tongue twister and Yeonjun sighed "well he's American so this will be easy". Yeonjun was praying Joshua would fail but how would he mess up his home language? Of course, Joshua said the whole thing perfectly and you cheered "wow that sounded so good!" making Joshua blush. You walked away together still chatting and took the long way around so Joshua could finish what he was saying. You then got back to your tables (which of course were next to each other) and said goodbye. Yeonjun felt better knowing you were away from one another but not for long. It was dinner time and everyone raced to get into line. Yeonjun was determined to get in between you and Joshua and was relieved to see you were 2 ahead of him and Joshua 1 behind him. So Yeonjun thought it would be safe until the people in between got the answers right leaving you, Yeonjun and Joshua all next to one. Yeonjun was pleased he was in the middle but now felt the pressure to keep getting answers wrong so as to keep separating you. He knew it was childish but he couldn't help it. He had no idea why you were acting like this but he wouldn't take it lying down. Finally on your 3rd time you were asked a question and Yeonjun knew you wouldn't know the answer. It was about Geography and Yeonjun knew that wasn't a strong point of yours. He searched his brain for the answer so he could whisper it to you but he didn't know it...but guess who did. Joshua whispered the answer and you heard it repeating it. The host paused "did you know that?". You nodded "totally, I love capital cities". The man didn't seem convinced and let you take the food. Yeonjun didn't miss how you shot Joshua a smile. Yeonjun was too nervous to eat properly and spent most of his time with his eyes glued to your table. Everything was going well until they brought the prizes out for people who won challenges. Yeonjun accepted his and watched as you headed to Joshua to split it with him. Yeonjun watched as Joshua tried to give you the money back but you wouldn't dream of it. In the end, Joshua agreed to take it but only if you took his ice cream. It was a cute exchange and Yeonjun could see Joshua's members smiling. Yeonjun wasn't the only one noticing the chemistry there. After dinner, it was the dance challenge which comforted Yeonjun. He knew he was a good dancer and went all out hoping to show you why he was better than Joshua. Yeonjun hoped you were watching him but when he looked back you and Joshua were hiding near one another. He saw Joshua ask you what the move was and you helped him both laughing. The hosts soon caught on that you two were hiding at the back and asked Joshua to come forwards and dance. You got eliminated together and sat at the back. Yeonjun tried ignoring it but when he saw Joshua whisper something in your ear he lost it. He completely messed up the routine and got eliminated. You didn't even seem to notice too busy chatting to Joshua and Yeonjun took a seat near Beomgyu annoyed. "You okay?" Beomgyu asked and he nodded "I'm fine...". The day ended and Yeonjun called out to you. You were with your members but paused when you saw him. You said goodbye and made your way over to him. "So what are you into Joshua now?" Yeonjun asked. You shrugged "why do you care?". "Seriosuly?" Yeonjun asked "you're just going to pretend like there's nothing between us?". "Well officially there is nothing" you said "technically I can flirt with however many guys I want because we're not together!". Yeonjun heard the way you said that and paused. "But that's not my fault I...I asked you out". You sighed "yes but how did you do that Yeonjun? After 4 months of spending time together, hanging out, hooking up, talking all the time...you ask me by text?" you asked "that's cold Yeonjun". Yeonjun froze because he honestly hadn't thought of it like that. The two of you had been talking and you'd said something so hilarious he'd been laughing about it all day. He knew how he felt about you and was tired so it just came out. He asked if you wanted to make this official and went to bed hoping for an answer the next morning. He honestly hadn't considered that there were some things you should say in person and he agreed this probably should've been one. "Shit Y/n I'm so sorry!" he said and you looked at him with tears in your eyes "you mean a lot to me Yeonjun, am I really only worth a text?". "No of course not!" Yeonjun said touching your arm and you pulled away. "Y/n please let me explain of course you deserve better!" Yeonjun said. You went to talk when a figure appeared. "Hey is everything okay here?" Joshua asked looking at you crying. You thought it was really sweet that Joshua would come and check but Yeonjun didn't. He stepped forward, his patience for Joshua evaporating more and more by the second. "We're fine" he said through gritted teeth and Joshua smiled at him "that's great but I'd like to hear it from her". Yeonjun went to argue when you stepped between them "don't worry Joshua we're fine just bickering". "Then why are you crying?" he asked and you sighed "because we're kind of together and it hurts when the person closest to you hurts you...but don't worry Yeonjun isn't dangerous, we just need to discuss this. Thank you for checking and for being so great today". Joshua nodded "okay no problem, we're not leaving for a bit so call me if you need me". You nodded telling Joshua you would before turning back to Yeonjun "you have some explaining to do". Yeonjun earnestly explained everything, how he never thought it through, how he just wanted you to be with him and how sorry he was. "I'd been wanting to ask you for ages because I really like you Y/n. I'd never do anything to hurt you and please let me make it up to you...I swear I won't do something like this again". You paused looking at him again "but how do you know that?". He shook his head "because I will never forget how today felt. I was so panicked thinking I'd lost you and I will never be stupid enough to make that mistake twice. I never want to be without you" he said touching your arm and this time you didn't step back. "I believe you and I forgive you" you said. Yeonjun's face lit up into a smile and he hugged you letting out a huge sigh of relief "I'm so happy, thank you Y/n!". "Just don't do it again" you said relaxing into his hug "I thought I'd lost you too". Yeonjun shook his head holding you close "as long as you want me I'll be here and so on that note. Y/n, will you please be my girlfriend? These past few months with you have meant so much to me and I want you to be mine". You smiled "I will" and Yeonjun picked you up swinging you around before setting you down. "You're my girlfriend" he said looking at you before laughing "I'm never going to get used to saying that". "Then stop talking for a second" and you said and Yeonjun smiled reading your mind "good idea" and he kissed you. Yeonjun finally kissed his girlfriend.

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laterosal · 10 months ago

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♤ unKing | Barou Shouei x gn!Reader

▽ featuring: barou shouei x gn reader … no repost on any platforms © laterosal 2024 … sooo bachira and his clown antics resulting in barou and you casually kissing—and hinted in a no-blue-lock!au where barou, bachira, nagi, and reader are in the same youth team (requested!) … word count: 969

… A/N: hii mike!! i hope you’re having a good day as well, i’m just surviving school as i gotta wake up early now. (very unfortunate) but i tried your first request—something did not click because it took me a week to get down a few hundred words… so i tried with the second request and maybe it did work? hope you enjoy this one :)

📌 AO3 | requested one-shot

Shoei Barou often thought his teammates in his youth team were chaotic, but not to the point where you would even have the thought of Barou, the “king” of the field, having chased down a small bee. A small bee, taunting Barou’s every move, realizing he was backed into a corner and had to feel the wrath of Barou.

You could practically feel that fury booming from a few meters away, as you leaned against the goal post, staring amusingly at these soccer players’ shenanigans. Surely it started with Seishiro Nagi, a somewhat unmotivated yet genius soccer player who decided to join a youth team out of boredom. His famed skill was trapping: hence, the Trap-Whatever-You-Can-Championship (Part 2) commenced amongst the highly skilled soccer players of their youth team. Held in the penalty box in the soccer field, Nagi started off with balancing his cellphone on his leg, moving on with a black-inked pen on his foot. Other soccer players attempted to do the same, though only a select few were even able to find the key concepts of trapping an item. One would include Shoei Barou—his effort of perseverance unwavering as some of his fellow teammates taunted him.

Bachira Meguru, who early on into soccer figured out their skill in dribbling, decided to take up a challenge and participate in Seishiro Nagi’s challenge of trapping items. You decided to try out this skill of trapping, although you long gave up and decided to hang around the goal post.

…

It did not go as well as planned.

Bachira, his bright highlights that flowed to the rhythm of his dribbling, seemed to not take trapping a skill so seriously. Rather, he attempted to balance a soccer ball on his ankle, then kicked it into the sky and chased after it. Only without noticing Barou behind him—the king of the field wiping the sweat dripping down his face as he squeezed some water out of his water bottle, who was conveniently hanging around you.

“Oops! I guess I should have known that trapping would kill me~” Bachira’s smile widened as Barou gave the former a death glare. Bachira looked up and attempted to follow the soccer ball, knocking Barou down. Like a pair of dominos, Bachira stumbled to the nearest patches of the grass near the goal post, and Barou tumbled into you, where his lips were pressed against yours.

Silence.

The soccer ball thumped against the grass, slowly rolling towards Bachira.

Bachira raised his eyebrows and scratched his head sheepishly, already scrambling away from Barou. They all did not want to mess with Barou himself—especially when his temper would blow away the feeble from the soccer field. You stared surprisingly at Barou as he slowly stood up, a pointed glare at all his teammates watching.

“S… orry?” You murmur as Barou narrowed his eyes at his teammates.

“Stop watching and get back to doing your—” Barou cracked his neck and knuckles, his voice a low and threatening one. Bachira whistled from across the world, teasing Barou to chase him. And like a small animal chase, the king of the field scrambled onto his feet and tailed the bee, easily dodging and swerving across the field. You grinned at the sight, touching your lips gingerly as you remembered the small kiss planted on your lips, leading to the king of the field with a murderous intent chasing…

“GET THE PHONE!”

“NO, HE’S GOING TO KILL US—”

“YOU DRIBBLING BEE, DON’T DIE TO HIM—”

The teammates were howling and screeching (in case Bachira gets jumped by Barou), while Seishiro Nagi stood on the sidelines, pulling out his phone to hop onto some video games.

“Oi, Y/N, want to help me out here?” Bachira yelled out as he ran towards you.

“Don’t. You. Dare. Y/N!” Barou screeched as he went for some other teammates who began to taunt him. You decided that if you wanted to see the golden light tomorrow, perhaps it was best to sit out today.

You didn’t want to get on Barou Shouei’s bad side, did you?

“I-hm, I won’t.” You promised Barou. “Bachira, how’s it going with Barou chasing you..?”

You didn’t even get a chance to hear Bachira’s response as he tumbled onto the field, as Barou violently shook his shoulders. He later stood up, clasped his hands together and brushed off some grass on his uniform, stalking towards you.

“You don’t need to be sorry, Y/N.” Barou lowered his voice as he put his hand on your shoulder, flinging off the towel slinging from his shoulders onto his head. You frowned as you wondered why he started off the sentence with those words. “That little busy bee… I swear… Next time he pulls any of those antics again…” Sorry..? Did you ever apologize to him—

“I’ll… help you.” You gave Barou an assuring smile. “Yeah?” Barou blew a heavy sigh out and hopped out of the field.

You soon realized that you had mumbled an apology after the kiss—

Oh.

“I’m surprised that the king even acts so uh, un-kingly in front of you.” Nagi shuffled over to you, leaning against the metal poles of the goal post. “Y’know, Y/N.”

“Uh-huh? I don’t really… understand.”

“Mm, sure. He doesn’t act so strict with you, unlike me.” Nagi groaned as Barou tugged on the back of his shirt, signaling to get up for practice. If Barou had heard Nagi’s words, the king brushed it off like they did not bother him at all. Nagi snorted, before a swift click on his cellphone screen—a VICTORY screen flashing on.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe Barou did act a little… less strict in front of you.

He seemed so much of an un-kingly soccer player in front of you who seemed to listen to you.

#roro's reqs ★#roro residence ✩#bllk x reader #blue lock #bllk #fanfic #oneshot #bllk barou #blue lock barou #reader insert #gn!reader #ooc #bachira meguru #nagi seishiro #bllk bachira #bllk nagi #no-blue-lock!au

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blitzbahrain · 2 months ago

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Switchgear Solutions for Solar and Wind Energy Systems

Why Switchgear Matters in Solar and Wind Systems

Switchgear plays a central role in controlling, isolating, and protecting electrical equipment. In renewable energy applications, it helps:

· Manage power flow from variable energy sources.

· Protect systems from faults or overloads.

· Ensure seamless grid integration and disconnection when needed.

Unlike traditional power plants, solar and wind systems generate intermittent power, requiring switchgear that can handle dynamic loads and frequent switching.

Challenges in Renewable Energy Applications

Here are some of the unique challenges renewable energy systems face — and how they impact switchgear selection:

1. Variable Output

Solar and wind energy production fluctuates based on weather and time of day. This demands switchgear that can:

· Handle frequent load changes.

· Operate reliably under fluctuating voltages and currents.

2. Decentralized Generation

Unlike centralized grids, solar and wind systems are often spread out across multiple locations.

· Modular, compact switchgear is preferred for such installations.

· Smart monitoring becomes critical to manage performance remotely.

3. Harsh Environments

Wind turbines operate at high altitudes, and solar farms are often exposed to heat, dust, or salt.

· Switchgear needs to be rugged, weather-resistant, and have high IP ratings.

· Outdoor switchgear enclosures and temperature management are essential.

Key Features of Switchgear for Solar & Wind

When designing or upgrading renewable energy systems, look for switchgear that offers:

1. Remote Monitoring and Control

Smart switchgear integrated with IoT technology allows operators to track real-time data, detect faults early, and optimize system performance.

2. High Interruption Capacity

Wind and solar systems may experience voltage spikes. Modern switchgear provides high breaking capacities to safely interrupt fault currents.

3. Modular Design

Allows for easy upgrades and maintenance — crucial for scaling renewable installations.

4. Eco-Friendly Design

Look for SF₆-free switchgear that uses clean air or other sustainable alternatives to reduce environmental impact.

5. Hybrid Capabilities

Switchgear that can connect both AC and DC sources is increasingly valuable in mixed-source grids.

LV, MV, and HV Switchgear for Renewables

· Low Voltage (LV) Switchgear: Used in residential or small-scale solar systems. Compact, safe, and cost-effective.

· Medium Voltage (MV) Switchgear: Ideal for commercial and industrial solar/wind applications.

· High Voltage (HV) Switchgear: Essential for utility-scale wind farms or solar plants feeding into the national grid.

Each type requires specific protection, metering, and automation components tailored to its load and system requirements.

Final Thoughts

Switchgear is the backbone of any successful solar or wind energy system. As these technologies become more mainstream, the demand for resilient, intelligent, and environmentally friendly switchgear solutions will continue to rise.

Whether you’re an energy consultant, project developer, or facility manager, choosing the right switchgear today will set the stage for long-term efficiency, safety, and scalability.

#electrical engineers #electrical supplies #switchgear #electrical equipment #solar energy #bahrain25

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oksana-moods · 1 year ago

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Queens of Promise - Final Part

Summary: The journey is a work of art, they say. And if to grow one needs to bleed, then you certainly paid your price.

A/N: Writing this part was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Nothing seemed fit, nothing seemed good enough for a Last Part. There were some feelings or emotions that I couldn’t quite grasp, unfortunately, so to give you this part without stalling any further, I decided to move on with what I had. Hope you guys like it. Thank you to the ones who stayed or kept asking for the end of this story. Thank you everyone who spared a time of your life to read my work. And to the ones who shared some love, thank you.

As always, it means the world to me.

Previous Parts here

Warnings: Game of Thrones kind of violence, language. Mentions of blood and death.

“We were the Kings and Queens of promise We are the Queens”

Your limbs hurt, it feels like daggers are piercing through your skin with every step taken, yet you’re standing. It’s astounding.

Just like the people of Taharr, who gathered under the castle walls alongside the river shores from both sides. From your point of view they looked like ants, but there were more than thousands willing to pay their respects, their last courtesy to Queen Calanthe. The Strong Lioness.

The Lords, Ladies and other knights were allowed inside the castle walls and would attend the ceremony on the inner patio, the one with the river view.

However, you and a very selected few were in the winter garden, where there were statues of the former kings and queens, soon there would be one of Calanthe too. Too soon for your liking.

Many rivers grew or were born from a mountain of rocks, but the “Castle River” started from inside the boulders and rocks where Triskelion Castle was built in, its first appearance was, in fact, in the winter garden.

This spot of crystal clear water had a coffin boat on it, beautifully decorated with golden lionesses and adorned with chrysanthemums, your mother’s favorite flowers. They were simple - misunderstood she used to say, but they were always pretty.

Usually, the ceremony occurred on the seashore, at Pierce Coast, however, contemplating the attacks and the coup attempt, you had decided to stay and proceed with the burial in the capital, from the castle.

You knew how far you could shoot an arrow from this height and considering the winter garden stood close to fifty meters from the ground, would be a long shot. She deserved no less.

Three women covered from head to toe in full white gowns with golden lines forming some sort of pattern arrived at the garden where you stood and started to enchant their elder song.

It was always beautiful to watch, but the lines of the old druid poem touched a little too close this time.

The elder song was meant to guide the spirit to afterlife, the lines referred to the circle of life provided by the water. Every energy, every soul, everything was water. The flow of the universe.

You tried, but it was impossible not to share a tear or two as the last verse was sung. The song was about to end, your mother’s time as ruler was about to end. This was a reality that you did not want to acknowledge.

Your mother was gone.

And you were alone.

As the song ended, the men close to the boat looked at you expectantly, looking for your signal to release your mother on the river, to go down with the flow. As her boat was released, you tightened the grip around the bow on your hand.

Your knuckles hurt, but everything in you hurts, there’s nothing new.

You casted your eyes downwards, following the boat but also watching as the others knelt as it passed by, never stopping, the water flow was inexorable just as life was.

It was painful, it was raw. It was true.

The seconds passed and your eyes burned just as your heart was, it was time for you to shoot your arrow in flames, only you couldn’t. After your shot, there was no turning back.

Maria, who stood several steps ahead, looked back at you. Even without words you knew what she meant. It was time. But you couldn’t.

She nodded, encouraging you to lift your useless arm and loose the arrow as you were supposed to. But you couldn’t.

You looked down at the fire pit in front of you, waiting to kiss your arrow and, as the flames danced, you blinked your tears away. Your hands were shaken.

“How can you shoot so far, mother?” The childish voice made the woman look down at you and she smiled that tender smile of hers.

“Practice, love.” She approached you with her bow, beautifully crafted and adorned with rubies, she extended it to you and encouraged you to hold it properly.

Now, standing right behind you, she commanded. “Take a deep breath and, as you do, pull the string with your other arm.” You did as you were told and she kind of guided, kind of corrected your movement. “Take your aim and release.”

Your movement faltered. “How do I aim, mother?” You heard a snort a second later after your question.

“Both eyes open, love. Choose your target and point the arrow at it, that’s your aim.” She instructed and guided your little hands. “Never lose sight of it. inhale, exhale, release.” Her voice was soft in your ear.

It was a little overwhelming. Only ten summers had passed for you, but your training was intensive. You wanted to play gobstones, wanted to play pass the ball, throw your hat, all the games the other kids were playing, yet, you couldn’t. Your free time was scarce as a breeze during summer. As a future ruler, you were supposed to train, study, observe, learn. There was no time for anything else.

“I can’t do this, momma.” You muttered after a second, for your arms got too stiff and shaken, you lowered them before you could loosen the arrow.

“Why not?” She inquired, never leaving her place behind you.

“My arms hurt. I’m terrible at this.” You confessed. From all the activities she requested for you to take, bow and arrow was the worst. You were the worst at it.

A second snort was heard and she squeezed your shoulder lightly. “Your arms will hurt if you overthink. Do it swiftly.” After a light tap on your chin, you turned your face to her. “And you’re not terrible, you’re afraid of failure. Don’t be.”

“What if I miss?” You blinked as she laughed lightly at your question.

“If you miss, you go and take another shot.” Her smile could light up the whole world. “Failing is to give up, so there’s no failing, as long as you try again. Be stubborn.”

At this, your face lit up like a tree during the summer festivals. “I can be stubborn!” You offered as if this was all that was missing in your life for you to accomplish your goals. Maybe it was.

With renewed interest and spirit, you turned to your target once more and pulled the string again, following her guidance as if it was a recipe.

“Don’t overthink.” She muttered behind your ear and hell, you heard her smile when you did as told. Your hand let go of the string and your eyes followed your arrow until it reached the target, almost a hand away from the bullseye, it wasn’t perfect, but you were content.

You could be stubborn.

A hand on your shoulder brought you back to reality and you blinked again at the arrow on your hand, begging for you to bathe it in flames and let it paint the blue sky.

“You can do this.” Carol Danvers smiled softly by your side and you clenched your jaw.

Taking a deep breath, your arm pulled the string until it reached your cheek and you could see the flame dancing on the tip of your arrow, the boat caught on your blurred vision.

Inhale. Exhale. Release.

Thousands of eyes followed as the arrow crossed the sky on that pale morning. As it flew, your heart hammered your ribcage.

You let out a low whistle when the arrow missed the boat and dived a foot away from the boat where your mother slowly and continuously flowed with the waters.

You had missed.

You had failed.

All of a sudden, you felt a light breeze hit your face and you sworn by all heavens that your nostrils were invaded by your mother’s perfume. Your lungs burned as chrysanthemums claimed the air around you.

Another light squeeze on your shoulder and, handling you another arrow, Danvers stubbornly said. “You can do this.”

Stubborn.

“I can be stubborn.” You muttered, doing the same thing you did seconds before. You lowered the point of the arrow on the fire pit and soon pulled the string until it touched your cheek again.

Inhale. Exhale. Release.

The people on the banks of the river resumed the chant started by the White Ladies as the boat was engulfed in flames. It was beautiful, it was disheartening.

As the boat sank, you retreated into the castle. Your steps were heavy, stiffy as if walking took a toll on you.

Your mother’s sun sank into the fate's waters.

Your sun had just begun its ascension.

– – –

The chill in the air could almost be touched. The Winter Garden was taken by a thick haze, yet you could still see what was in front of you.

The stone, carved to resemble the woman your mother once was, felt cold, probably colder than it should be, but you touched it, nonetheless.

Almost a moon had passed and the crafters worked non-stop until this memorial statue was ready, you were adamant that it should be before your coronation. And here you were, hours away from officially being crowned the new Queen of Taharr, in front of the last queen, seeking comfort.

“I never really gave much thought of how this would be,” You spoke to the stone, it remained immovable, as you knew it would. “But I never thought it’d be this hard.”

Even with all the things you had to do after the last battle, known as the Battle of the Failed Coup, your head didn’t rest or stopped thinking about your mother. After a while, it became pretty common for you to speak out loud as if she was present and would engage the conversation.

You were past the point of feeling silly, now it brought you a mild sense of comfort. It was odd, you knew, but one should work with what they got and if you had to go through your grieving, you’d do it your own way.

“How am I supposed to move on?” You asked but your words were engulfed by the fog and died in nothingness just like all the others. You felt so not ready for this, completely unprepared and the urgency only drove you a little bit closer to the brink of the edge of your sanity.

She would hate to see you stuck in the mud like you were, and you’re afraid you’re becoming everything you hate. However, day after day, the weight of your decisions and their aftermath sometimes felt a burden too heavy for your shoulders. And you hated to feel so incapable, so defeated.

First, you thought you were listening to things, but then the unmistakable sound of shoes scraping the wet grass properly reached your ears and you knew you were not alone anymore, a person - not a ghost - was about to arrive where you were.

“Thought I’d find you here.” Maria Rambeau's voice filled the silence after she stopped right behind you.

You ignored her choice of greeting and fired. “What have I done, Maria?”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow, my queen.” The woman shifted, side walking to level her eyes with yours. You all but flinch at the measure, you’re still not prepared to be called the supreme ruler of Tahar. Still feeling undeserving of the title you’re supposed to bear.

“All this time, all the lessons and I feel like it was all for nothing. She’s dead and that’s because of me. It’s all my fault.” There you were, digging deeper into the mud of remorse and guilt. You felt like a wreck, beyond repair.

“If I may, I don’t see it that way, my lady.” Maria starts. “Queen Calanthe died a true queen’s death, fighting for her people feistily, as she always did.” She paused for a second to make sure you were listening. “Your mistakes or even Loki’s betrayal can’t and won’t diminish the importance of her sacrifice, of her strength.”

Her hands pointed to the castle you were standing on, as to emphasize her next words. “The enemy had us in a chokehold, yet Triskelion resisted, she endured and Taharr prevailed. There will be so many songs about this feature, my lady.”

“What will I do with songs?” You retorted like a petty child.

“Revel in them! For she’ll always be alive, in every ballad sang from a bard and in our hearts. In your heart.” She replied without missing a beat, adamant in making her point of view crystal clear.

“And now?” You inquired. Unsure to whom, if to the wind, to your friend or to the memory of your mother, you did not know. “There was so much to learn. There’s a whole kingdom waiting for me to guide them but I feel so lost.

“I don’t know if I should gather the army and seek revenge or if I should prepare for winter and reinforce the borders.” You continued your rant. “If I should reunite with the other kings to hold Hydrarr’s plans or if I should just stand here, waiting.” You balled your fists, irritated with one of the feelings inside your heart.

Being indecisive wasn’t a trait usually associated with you. Before, you’d say that is best to ask forgiveness than living a lifetime wondering what could have been. Before, you had your mind made up and set with a plan. Before, if things went wrong, you’d just go with the flow.

That was before.

“There are so many decisions, so many lives depending on me and said decisions. I feel like I’m crushing with the burden and crushing even further with each passing second.” You finish, now looking back to the stone, jaw clenched.

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” Maria interjected. “I used to say these words to your mother and it is only fitting to keep saying it, because it’s still the truth.”

Her words made you avert your eyes to your friend and there were so many thoughts running in your head, that it seemed difficult to organize or even prioritize given there was so much to be done.

Deciding on taking one step at a time, you shot. “Maria, remember that promise that you made me that you’d comply with everything I said after I became queen?”

“Of course I do, my queen.” Maria smiled softly. “Is this the moment where I pledge to follow every single command of yours, no matter how silly they are?” She humored, not really knowing why the hell you brought this up.

“No.” You turned back and looked at her. Your tone was so serious that you can see her forehead frowning. “I want you to be you. I want you to be my conscience… Would you do the honor of serving Taharr as High Advisor?”

She’s taken back by your bluntness. This wasn’t small, actually, you were asking a lot of her but giving just as much. It was the second most powerful position in this Kingdom, losing only, of course, to the queen herself. “M-My queen? Are you sure?”

“I am.” Few times in your life you felt that sure.

She’s speechless for a moment. Perhaps trying to read the catch on your request, maybe weighing her options.

“I won’t take shit from you if you try to play the queen card on me. If you want me to step in as Advisor, I want my voice to be heard and I don’t want blindspots.” Her face was devoid of that humor from seconds ago. She meant business and if you wanted her to take this job, there would be conditions. She wouldn’t pose as a mannequin

“Deal.” You offered your hand for her to shake and seal the offer. “That’s exactly why I need you. I want to be as good as my mother was, and to do that I need someone to keep me on my toes.” You sighed, now deflated. “There’s no one else here to do that.”

“You are good.” She intervened. “You’re worried about the right things, everyone makes mistakes.” Maria squeezed your shoulder affectionately, trying to pull you back from the sorrow abyss you were floundering in. “We just have to learn how to pick ourselves up now. We’ll do this together.”

You nod, but let her words simmer through your head while you take a few steps until the edge of the Garden, where you could see the city below. The sun had only started to rise and the fog was slowly dissipating around you or the city.

“Learn.” You try the word in your mouth as if a wine for you to taste. You had learnt so much in this past year. Hate. Love. Fear. Heartbreak. Grief.

“Can I ask you something personal, Maria?” You asked, briefly glancing at your friend then looking back down, to the small buildings bathing on the first light of the day. Maria barely nodded her head to signal for you to go on, then you fired. “How did you know Carol was the one?

She remained silent for a few seconds, looking down, you knew she had heard you, for this was her telltale that her brain was working on an answer. “Do you remember when your mother created the High Guard?”

“She asked for the mightest and greatest knights from every village in Taharr. It didn’t matter their status. First it was a tournament, then the best were selected so you’d fight against each other until only the best kept standing.” You remembered, despite being relatively young. It lasted for weeks and you were mesmerized by many warriors displaying incredible techniques and skills.

“Exactly. Carol and I were from different villages, so the tournament was the reason why we met and she challenged me in every possible way.” Maria began, eyes flashing with memories of a brilliant past, if the smile on her lips said anything.

“In the tournament she was my rival, but after, at the sparring turns, she came with everything she had. She was marvelous indeed: strong, fast, powerful, yet, I could always find a way to counter her attacks.

“We kept our little competition, even after the tournament, even after we were both granted our current titles for bravery and skill set, but there had always been this pull between us, you know?

“I’d both hate and love that smile of hers and she later confessed she both hated and loved my bossy face. When she finally let her guard down, I saw the woman behind the title, behind the Marvelous and she was beautiful - I simply knew Carol was my person.”

You nod as if to thank her for her explanation while you stood there contemplating her words and their meaning. Eyes still cast down, you’re able to discern some dots that you knew were people, moving around the streets starting, preparing for another day. Completely unaware of your inner queries.

“May I ask why you wonder, my queen?” Perhaps not only your citizens were unaware of the doubts clawing your guts.

“I-.” You sighed, unsure of what words to use in an attempt to explain the turmoil in your head and chest concerning a certain princess that has already been spoken for. “I thought Wanda was the one.” You felt stupid for still giving thought to a woman who misled you. “For me.”

Out of a sudden, you felt your back hurt again due the burden pressuring you as if to remind you of where your focus should be. It was not the time to think about Wanda.

And speaking of hurt, you stared at the burnt mark on your hand, a last minute gift from your pal Lord Vision, as punishment for your audacity of touching Wanda in a way you were not supposed to.

“For the first time in my life, I let myself be vulnerable and she did the same.” Your eyes met concerned obsidian orbs intently looking at you. “I swear she did and she showed me how wonderful she was on the inside.”

Fidgeting with your hands and the hem of your tunic, you continued, eyes cast once more on the people moving on with their lives. The way you couldn’t. “There were so many flaws, Maria, fears… I loved that Wanda no one else knew.”

A sad smile now adorned your lips. “And I hate to know she played me like a doll in a sick game. I hate to understand that I was just stupid for falling in love and believing that she loved me back.”

“You shouldn’t think that way, dear.” Turning to look at her again, you could see her eyes were soft, but there wasn’t a single trace of pity. “What your heart felt was your truth. I, myself, had a hard time believing that Princess Wanda was capable of something like this. But if she deceived you, that’s on her. She’s the one losing.”

Her lips twitched a little, trying to give way to a small but sincere smile. “You are a wonderful person and whoever you choose to be your queen will be the luckiest woman for sure.”

You narrowed your eyes a little. Maria wasn’t one known for throwing compliments at the wind for no reason. With a slight smirk, you asked. “Are you saying this because you’re my friend?”

She gasped, offended. “Of course not!” Then, the lines in her face turned a little less grave. “I’m telling you this because you are the Queen, my boss. Why else would I lie?”

At her words, a laugh erupted from your chest as if a bubble wanted to set free. Your whole body shook and you could see hers did as well.

For some reason, after this unexpected section of laughter, you felt a little less burdened, it was just tiny, but you felt a little bit lighter.

As the laugh died down, she elbowed you lightly and called. “Come. There’s a coronation for you to get prepared for.”

Wordlessly, you started to follow her, casually walking towards your chambers. Before your mind could travel to an unwanted, dark place of sorrow or worry, Maria’s voice found you again.

“Have you heard your friend Aria Stark is here for your ceremony?” She never gave you the time to reply, for she completed her own thoughts. “And that her sister, aka your ex-fiancé, Queen Sansa, came as well?”

“Oh.” It was all that you could mutter. You knew Aria should arrive soon, for she sent you a raven when she heard the news. Funny how a powerful friendship developed after you stumbled on a lost grieving girl in Braavos.

But you were specially surprised by Sansa’s presence, you supposed she wouldn’t want anything to do with you after you, politely, declined her proposal offer.

“‘Oh’” Maria mocked your tone. “I swear, you and your redheads.”

– – –

The raging storm knocked at the walls mercilessly, the thunder shook the whole castle as the lightning flashed the room alit every now and then. The fire in the fireplace danced erratically and you were surprised it still continued alive despite the wind making force through the cracks of the windows.

Staring at the cup of wine in your hand, you thought that maybe the weather was just mirroring the feelings in your chest. The taste of the wine faded from your tongue, but you could still taste Wanda’s love on your very lips.

It was amazing, actually, how you could all but remember your time with her when confined in your chambers alone. If not sad, it would be mesmerizing the way you missed her lips and not even the strongest alcohol could numb it in your skin, in your mind or heart.

You wished you could escape the assault of memories and tender moments together, however, all you seemed to be capable of was to stumble on the ashes of your once upon a time with the northern princess.

So much for your happy ending.

Heavy knocks on the door broke your miserable daze and you cursed them, and entertained the idea of asking for their head on a spike for interrupting your sulking, but you assumed it’d be Maria. It would be more likely for her to have your head in one.

Without waiting for your response, you were proven right, when she barged into the room as if she had run for miles. Her rapid breath made you anxious, for she hadn’t given you a single clue as to why she was so nervous and breathless.

“My Queen, you won’t believe-.” She paused for air, but you hated the drama she created. There were thousands of things you wouldn’t believe in, but they were all running through your head.

You wouldn’t believe it, but you entertained the idea of a dragon rampaging your realm. Or about flying whales passing above the city, with this storm, who could say?! Perhaps the Kree or Skrulls had organized and orchestrated a secret invasion and the city was doomed. Highly unlikely, but what if the same iced zombies that infected Westeros came to Noveria? After all, no one really knows what happens in Vormir.

“My Queen-” She resumed, putting your imagination to rest. “Barton is here, alive. And the Black Widow is here with him.” Her eyes portrayed nothing, and you did hear the second part. Lady Natasha, your enemy’s loyalist was in your castle, the nerve.

But you chose to focus on the first part, for lately, good news was just scarce as the leaves during winter. Your beloved friend, the one that taught you so much, the very one you thought you had lost - just another casualty to your naivety and recklessness, was back and alive.

At least this was definitely good news and yeah, this was something you couldn’t believe in.

You started to move around your room, gathering the minimum of clothes to be presentable before your subjects and you thought how much you have changed, a few months ago and you wouldn’t have minded if you were half naked.

As you approached your closet, you barked at Maria. “Take Clint and Romanoff to the Great Hall. Call the cooks and bring whatever they can prepare this fast and get a barrel of our finest wine.” The High Advisor nodded and started to leave the room, but stopped when you spoke once more.

“And for fuck’s sake send a word to Lady Laura, immediately.” A sharp nod and she fled to comply with your orders.

The fire cracked calmly in the fireplace, giving the foolish idea that everything was calm despite the thunderstorm raging against the walls, despite the storm increasing inside your chest.

As soon as you entered, you spotted three figures standing, close to the fireplace - Maria, Carol and Sam. And another two figures seated at the table, one in front of another, eating rather fast - they were starving.

The quietness of the Hall was violently interrupted by your heels clacking against the marble floor as you marched towards the people gathered and saw their heads rising from their meals to look at you.

Even a few meters away, you saw Clint limping from his chair and sunk his knees on the floor, looking directly at your eyes. “My Queen.” The weight of his eyes and tone showed you his grief, his – your ruefulness.

Before your hand could touch his shoulder, you saw Natasha Romanoff also kneeling slightly behind Clint, eyes cast on the floor and voiced. “Queen Lioness, my condolences.” The action surprises you, surely, but you’re mostly stunned because of her tone.

It almost seemed that she meanted what she had just said, that she was indeed sad about your mother’s death, even though her Kingdom, her army, was responsible for this fact.

Confused, you nodded. Then, resumed your previous action and pulled Clint by his shoulders, so he could get to his feet, and hugged him.

“I thought you were dead.” You confided, voice as far from a queen’s as possible, twice as weak. “I’m so glad you’re not.”

He returned your embrace just as tight. You knew what you had suffered, only the gods could know what this man had endured. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it faster.” And by his words you knew he blamed himself for not being here during the battle, the coup attempt. Or the burial. He, too, blamed himself for Queen Calanthe’s death.

“You’re here now.” You patted his cheek and gave him a weak smile. You meant your words, but it still hurt, you wouldn’t deny it.

Taking a deep breath to help you fall into the character you were supposed to play, you raised your chin slightly and directed a hard glare at Natasha, with a matching hard tone directed at Clint. “Now you want to explain why there is an enemy, a Sokovian no less, still breathing inside my castle?”

– – –

“You’re lying.” You hissed, for the thousandth time. You just couldn’t believe what they, especially Natasha, were trying to say to you.

“Why would I lie?” She asked, tiredly, arms crossed in her chest. You amused the idea of putting her in chains, to make her understand her position, you even entertained the idea of taking her to her room, a cell in the dungeons, to retribute the hospitality.

But in the end, you gave in after Barton pledged on your friendship’s name for you to listen to them, to the both of them. The only problem is that they were suggesting absurd things to a very jaded woman.

“Oh.” You mocked confusion. “Why would a Sokovian lie, Romanoff?” You shot back venomously. “You’ve been lying this whole time! I don’t even know your reasons anymore!” At this, you threw the decorated invitation you had received earlier at the table.

The marks of burnt and crinkles of a parchment recently crumbled in a paper ball were visible, but also visible was its content. Without even trying to hide your disgust, you started to spat the words engraved not only in the paper, but also in your mind.

“Prince Vision, heir of Hydrarr, son of Red Skull, proudly announces his marriage to Princess Wanda Maximoff, heir of Sokovia, daughter of King Django and Queen Marya Maximoff, with the blessings of King Pietro, who announces his retirement due critical illness. The ceremony will be due in two moons. This invitation is extended to the friendly realms to Sokovia.”

Taharr wasn’t, obviously, a friendly realm to Sokovia. This was probably Vision’s way of taking an opportunity of messing with your head a little further. Or, perhaps, this could be Wanda’s doing. Who knew?

Whoever sent this, did on the sole purpose of fucking with you. And they succeeded.

Maria, Carol and Sam gasped at your words, they were just as shocked as you were. You knew about the marriage, it hurt like hell to see a confirmation, but you were completely in the dark about Lord Vision’s - now Prince Vision - origins.

Not to mention the news about Pietro’s retirement, since when does a King or Queen retire? All the ones you knew died and their rest would be in the afterlife. What the fuck was going on?

A more rational part of your brain understood the geopolitics involved in this marriage: Hydrarr and Sokovia would become one united Kingdom, with its forces and ruthlessness combined, who knew where they’d stop? With King Pietro’s retirement, Wanda and Vision would, respectively, become Queen and King of the combined territory.

With a start, you realized the only ones who did not bore impressed looks were Clint and Natasha. They already knew about this. And, for a split second, you almost doubted your friend. Almost.

“And that’s a coup.” Clint pointed at the paper while the Black Widow simply wrinkled her nose as if the parchment had a bad smell. “A very well orchestrated one, might I add. They’re overthrowing Pietro.”

Your eyes darted back to him and he continued. “I told you, Lord Vision has been contaminating Sokovia for years. Day after day, he’s working to make it more Hydrarr’s. And with this marriage? He’ll achieve it.”

“Harv Krickitt told you this?” You asked about the man, the jeweler, who crafted the piece of jewel the Black Widow assigned to kill you had received as payment. Barely a year has passed, but it felt so, so long ago, almost another life.

Remembering that day, that night, your eyes were hard and jaw so clenched it hurt, still, a pale contrast to the pain brought by the memories dancing behind your eyes.

“Kricket told us Vision was the one to ask for the necklace, with the lioness’ pendant. But he was asked to deliver it to Barnes’ care.” Natasha answered, voice as if made of stone. “He killed Steve during the attack. Those men, that day? They were a Hydrarr unit, a cover up.”

“As everything so far, my queen, this was a set up.” Clint completed. And you laughed at the absurd image they were trying to paint. Inwardly. Outside it looked more like a snort that could very well be mistaken with a choke.

“You want me to believe that Pietro, that Wanda,” Your voice failed, it’s been months since you last spoke her name out loud. You tried not to show any weaknesses, but your heart still skipped a beat and you hated it. “-had nothing to do with this?”

“Precisely.” His words were unwavering. He was certain and you seriously wondered how badly your friend had been compromised.

If you were the older you, this thought wouldn’t have even popped into your head, because it'd be straight away unfathomable, but the older you died after facing the treason of people so dear to you. Wanda’s betrayal was a stab in the guts, for sure, but Loki’s? It killed your heart.

So, who could blame you for asking?

“Did you turn?” Your tone was flat, devoid of emotion.

Across the room, your peripheral sight caught heads snapping at you or even the sound of an intake of a good amount of air. The other occupants of this room judged you had gone too far on your assumption and that this was not what someone with Clint’s reputation should hear upon returning home.

But you didn’t care that this could offend him or even if you were calling him traitor right on his face, you were the queen, weren’t you? You were entitled to.

To his credit, Lord Barton didn’t even flinch at your question, his voice, still unwavering. “I would never!”

Your eyes searched for his, scrutinized his soul looking for any sign of deceit but you found nothing. He was speaking the truth.

Nodding as to show you accepted his answer, you resumed the conversation. “What are you suggesting?”

“Vision has the Maximoff twins in a hook.” He fired back without wasting a second, if you were willing to hear him, there was no time to waste. And, as if on cue, Natasha expanded the idea started by Clint.

“Pietro is ill, that part is true, but Vision is threatening Wanda’s life if he does not step back.” This sentence ignited a fire in your whole being, even though you didn’t know what to believe. If all of this is true or not, it didn’t matter, the idea of someone hurting Wanda made you very angry. “And Wanda has to marry Vision, otherwise he’ll kill Pietro.”

Your head snapped at the redhead seated in front of you so fast it felt like a whiplash, at the same time, your heart rate skyrocketed to the moon.

“You mean she hadn’t agreed with this marriage on her own?” You carefully chose your next words, you wanted to make sure your ears and your brain were not playing games with you. “Are you telling me that she won’t marry him because she wants, but obliged to keep her brother safe?”

“I am.” Her confirmation blew the air out of your lungs.

Alarmed, you got off your seat and retreated to the fireplace, which still cracked, unbothered by the revelations these walls have just witnessed. You tried to remind yourself to keep breathing, because these past minutes were beyond intense.

Your head was still trying to wrap itself around the proposition the spies were presenting to you and, at the same time, your heart was trying to grasp the meaning behind these implications.

Wanda was about to marry a man because of her duty to her brother, to protect the last blood attachment she has with her family. And if she was forced to marry him, if Pietro was not involved, then could this mean-?

“Wanda would never betray you, My Queen.” Clint’s voice reached your ears as if he spoke from miles away, but he knew how fast your head and heart were running, he knew what sort of questions plagued your mind. “She was devastated, went berserk after she found the house you shared empty.”

Contradictory emotions clashed on your chest and you didn’t even know what those emotions were, for there were so many. And just like that, you didn’t know what to think or what to make out of this.

For so long, you believed and were led to believe that Wanda had participated, organized this ploy like a brilliant sociopath. You blamed her for your suffering, you hated her and called names in the confines of your room at night while tears ran free down your cheek.

You cursed the feeling she made you feel and now someone dares to say otherwise. Someone dares to say you got it all wrong, that you were lied to and the woman you loved had nothing to do with this?

“This is profanity.” You whispered, but somehow Clint heard, despite the heavy rain outside.

“I’m not lying.” He confirmed, as if this was all that you needed to accept this plot twist.

“You can’t possibly think that I’ll believe this, Clint. I was put through hell.” You cried, disregarding the others still present, you didn’t care if they saw you weak right now. This wasn’t news to them after all.

Without a word, Natasha pulled something from her battered purse and you were about to turn away again when she opened her hand, palm flat upwards, offering you its content. Your eyes narrowed due the feeble light, tiredness and to try and keep the tears from falling.

“Wanda gave me this.” The Black Widow spoke solely to you, for she knew the others didn’t know what was in her hand nor its meaning. “She said you would understand-” And by the looks of it, Natasha herself didn’t really know what was the meaning of what she was carrying either. “and I quote ‘It’s impossible to hold back the wind”.

It was dirty, but with a step or two you could very well distinguish the trace and pattern of a tied knot in a rope, it was unmistakable that it was the same piece of Aberdeen rope you had given Wanda in what felt like a lifetime ago.

The memory, though, surfaced as if it was yesterday.

Wanda watched as you absentmindedly ran a hand through your hair. “Why do I feel so tied to you?” She wondered out loud, after you settled down close to her at the cushions sprawled on the floor.

“I don’t know.” You smiled softly, offering her a cup of tea. “But if it makes you feel better, I feel just the same.” You countered and she smiled away.

It was unclear if your answer had pleased her or not. Sometimes you felt as though you knew Wanda like the palm of your hand and others, just like now, it was as if she was a stranger that had just arrived in the room.

Sometimes it was impossible to decipher her silence.

After a while, she turned to you with a bittersweet smile gracing her heavenly lips. “Do you think this will last forever?”

You were touched, paralyzed even, for you didn’t really know what she specifically meant with ‘this’. It could be the feeling of being tied or the tie itself - conversations like these with Wanda were like treading on thin ice or holding on a breakable thread. So you remained muted, waiting for further context.

“Forever. Don’t you think this is such a strange concept?” She chuckled humorlessly. “Forever doesn’t even exist, if we think about it.” She rambled with brows furrowed.

“Forever could last a lifetime.” You tried tentatively, still unsure of where this conversation was heading to.

“Forever could last a whole minute.” She retaliated without missing a beat. She wasn’t even looking at you anymore, but to a fix point at the wall as if it could show her the future if she stared at it for long enough.

“You don’t know how long your forever will last.” Now, your brows were also crinkled only your eyes were cast on the mug nested on your hands. “No one knows.”

“What do people do, then?” You looked at her, but her inquiry seemed genuine.

You laughed at the absurd. You had no clue about what they do with their forevers. To be honest, you didn’t know anything about this. “I don’t know. I guess, they live the best they can, nonetheless?” You supplied.

It was so strange, because during your whole life you’ve learnt a lot of things, but no one stopped even a second to explain to you what it was to like someone. To love someone. The ‘what to dos’ and the ‘hows’ were completely overlooked as you grew up.

Tilting your head up, as if the sky could be of any help, your eyes caught sight of a rope loosely tied to the canopy, it wasn’t big, but you took a piece with your knife and expertly started to knot it down, your skills from your time as sailor showing off, and you were highly aware of Wanda’s eyes focused on you.

You pulled the tip of the rope from both sides but the knot remained untouched, the tie was still perfectly strong, as if made of stone. Then, you offered it to her, heart pounding in your chest as if you were handing her your own heart on a silver plate.

She took it in her hands with a tenderness yet unseen, as if it was made of glass. “This tie could last forever.” Though you pointed to the piece of rope in Wanda’s hands, you both knew what tie you meant with your words. You just hoped she wouldn’t freak out with your naive, yet brave attempt to wish for impossible things.

You were completely conscious that a future with Wanda was highly improbable. Still, you couldn’t help but dream that the two of you would find a way and make it work. Somehow.

“Can we stop this?” She asked, but this time she stressed the last words of her sentence and moved her hand between the two of you. This time, she was crystal clear about what she meant.

“It’d be like holding back the wind.”

You touched it with a gentleness that no one in the room judged you’d possess. It burst a fire in your chest and it was getting harder and harder to hold back the emotion slipping through the cracks of your heart.

It was impossible to ignore the hammering thoughts shooting through your head and there were so many, so loud that you thought you’d go crazy.

This piece of fabric meant nothing and everything at the same time.

“I need to think.” Without another word, your fingers closed around the material and your feet stormed out of the room to collect yourself in your own chambers, so you could ruminate about the implications laid upon you this night.

— —

“Stop this wedding!” Lady Danvers’ voice resonated throughout the Hall. “I’ve got an objection.” She looked sheepishly to the side and revealed a sly smirk and whispered for only you and her own wife to hear. “I always wanted to say this.”

If the moment wasn’t so daunting, you’d probably laugh or retort some snide remark, but your eyes were solely focused on the woman dressed in white in front of the makeshift altar prepared for the occasion.

There were shocked murmurs, metal clanging against metal, for you dragged the fight from the inner gates into the main hall of the castle, where the wedding was taking place. There were voices speaking, screaming words devoid of any meaning, for your ears ignored any and all of them.

Her eyes were locked on yours and your knees felt weak; she was a sight to behold and worship. Like a true goddess, Wanda Maximoff’s dress made her look ethereal, as if she was sent from another dimension to cleanse this Earth’s sins and her eyes cast on yours burn with something you couldn’t know.

The contrast of white and red, from her auburn hair cascading down her shoulders, was mesmerizing and it only made it difficult for you to think coherently. For a whole second you forgot where you were and what you should be doing.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Vision shot his hand to his sword, but with one look he realized he was outnumbered.

A sly smirk crossed your lips, tongue as sharp as usual. “Well, you did send me the invitation, have you not?” With a start, you realized that your sarcastic self hadn’t vanished for good.

You could make anyone mad with only a couple of words. And, oh, Prince Vision red with anger was one of your favorite sports. Just like he was.

“You’re invading my castle!” His voice boomed throughout the room, in a futile attempt to intimidate and stop your advance. Poor him.

“Last time I checked this was Maximoff’s.” You provoked, walking towards his direction, with the conviction that his goons would know better than to come your way. You were a woman on a mission and they wouldn’t stand a chance.

In fact, there weren’t many goons available anymore. Rumlow was dead after all, and Natasha had her dagger dangerously close to Bucky’s throat rendering him immovable. And the others… Well, they wouldn’t dare to cross paths with you right now.

Drawing his sword, Vision took one step towards you, but you could see that this action was just an automatic response, for his eyes darting around told you his head was running all the possible outcomes and, more importantly, how he’d get away from this.

He wouldn’t.

You were adamant in making him pay for every single word, or minute he made you suffer. For every lie, every single action and all the blood shared that he was responsible for. Especially your mother’s. Oh, you’d make sure he’d pay.

“One shouldn’t draw a sword if not ready to bathe in blood.” Your words were marked by each step you took, hand with a tight grip on your own sword. To be honest, it looked like he wanted to try his chances with jumping from the window instead of facing you, but you had cornered him now.

“You think I won’t kill you?” He threatened, lifting his sword so it’d be between you. Perhaps in his head this could make you stop.

It wouldn’t.

“Will you try it by yourself or will you ask someone else to do what you can’t?” You jabbed back, but remained immovable only a few steps away from him. You were ready to take matters into your own hands, you were ready to go to hell and back.

However you were a queen, threatening a prince under another king’s roof. Again, the older you, would be hands deep into Vision’s throat squeezing the life out of him, but your new version knew better. This was not your castle, nor your land.

No matter how much this man had made you suffer, no matter how many crimes he committed to you and to your people. This was still Sokovia, another man’s realm, there were rules and you should step down on shedding blood at your will.

“You should surrender, Vision.” King Pietro rose to his feet, taking the cue from your pause. It was visible how this illness had an effect on him even though he was trying to be tough.

The man, on the other hand, decided to ignore this modest warning and took another step, ready to clash his sword on yours, but before he could, another blade appeared under his chin, kissing the skin on his throat which made him stop in his tracks.

Perhaps Wanda had that sword under her dress this whole time, perhaps she took from some random guard around her. In fact, it didn’t matter where that blade came from, because her intentions were clear and menace was evident in every inch of her being.

“You’ll do what you were told.” Not that it was needed, but her eyes screamed danger. Vision could be many things, but he wasn’t crazy enough to ignore the threat underlining her words. “You’ll abide to the King’s order.”

Visibly cornered and defeated, the prince dropped his sword and looked up with a sorrowful eye, ready to beg for one of the Maximoffs for mercy.

“Take this idiot out of my face.” Pietro commanded no one in particular, not that he needed, and two guards pushed Prince Vision out of the hall, closely followed by Clint and Carol. They certainly would make sure he’d stay locked.

By then, all the guards loyal to Vision or Hydrarr were dead or arrested. It was the first part of the plan, designed in Triskelion: to take down Vision, they’d need to undermine his influence, take his minions to be able to weaken his power inside the castle.

The last part was the invasion itself and the dramatic wedding interruption.

Your head was highly aware that you were needed to stop this plot orchestrated by Red Skull. After all, Taharr was one of the most powerful realms in Noveria, even though shaken, Triskelion was still a stronghold against enemies in this continent. Taharr was the only realm that could prevent this coup.

No one else would be this effective, this fast or this invested. One could say that it was the smartest thing to do, that no other vengeance would be greater, but your heart hammered your ribcage looking at the redhead barely meters away from you.

There was nothing else greater than the way she was looking at you.

With a start, you didn’t know what to do now. All this time, you and your friends thought what needed to be done to stop the coup, your mind didn’t wander to the moment after it. Again, you were used to fighting, but what was expected to be done after the fight?

Even more, after those wonderful days in that cozy house, you’ve been running from her memories and the feelings she’d made you feel. You were clueless about what you and Wanda were - are.

Suddenly, you felt a body colliding with yours and it took you a second to understand what was happening and you closed your arms around her. And, once more, it felt as though you had been locked out of heaven.

The woman roamed her hands all over your body, your hair, assessing every single part to make sure you weren’t hurt. To make sure you were in one piece. When satisfied she rested it on both sides of your cheeks. Holding you in place. Eyes set on yours, centimeters away.

“By the gods, please, don’t tell me you believe in him.” Her voice sounded strangled, as if trying to keep herself composed was a strenuous effort.

“He was pretty convincing.” You replied without missing a beat. How could you think, when breathing her breath was so intoxicating? You were incapable of speaking something more elaborated and you knew she’d be upset with your answer, but Vision pulled quite the number.

For a second, she said nothing. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on yours, letting her hands fall to your shoulder as yours instinctively found her waist. As if they belonged there, as if they have never left at all.

When she opened her eyes, it was perfectly clear how sad she was. “I can’t even begin to imagine what he put you through.” They were so genuine that your heart clenched. “I’m so sorry. For everything.” She whispered the last part and it was hard for you not to kiss her right then and there.

But you were a queen now and this was not your castle. You couldn’t just do whatever your heart desires. With a chaste kiss on her forehead, you disentangled yourself from her embrace and walked towards the limping form of King Pietro, only to realize Wanda had taken your hand on hers to hold as you walked.

“Lioness, I apologize for everything Vision did and I condoned.” The man was weak, very different from the one you met in his dungeons. But he was still as regal as someone of his position should be. “I know it can’t be erased, but your presence will be appreciated during his trials.”

Taking your nod as the only answer he’d receive, he turned to the crowd standing awkwardly in the hall, most of them without a single clue as to what had just transpired. Raising his voice, he said. “Now, I understand that there’s a feast to be served and I see no reason for us to starve.” Then, he turned to a maiden in sokovian’s colors and ordered. “Take half to the city and bring the rest for us, there’s an army to feed.”

– – –

You looked up to the sky and tried to spot any cloud but there was none. It was so impressive, because you swore you have never seen this shade of blue, it was as if the sky had been painted.

Wanda had told you that this was a rare occurrence during winter, but it was a welcome change to the permanent gray, common for the colder season. Also, she said that if the blue showed up more than once in a week, then it meant that spring was slowly lurching towards Sokovia.

It was the second time you were mesmerized by this impressive color and beauty. Surely spring was on its way.

Ironic, you thought.

‘I’ve learned to let myself get cut to always return whole with spring’. You felt as if you could hear your mother speaking these exact words to you. You felt as if you were a whole new person and somehow, these words made more sense now than ever.

It had been a rough winter. Metaphorical and not. The weather proved to be a ruthless enemy, without mercy, it wiped the crops, farms and you thanked the gods for the crown’s reserve, so there was food enough to aid the whole kingdom.

And, as a matter of speaking, your winter was just as hard. Funny to think you used to complain about all the training and study you had received when younger, because right now, you felt as though you should have been pushed harder.

Mastering all weapons, learning numbers and languages, geography and geopolitics, religion and history, nothing really gave you the mere idea of how to bear the weight of a crown. The younger lioness couldn’t even grasp the importance or the challenges a ruler would experience.

Granted, as the days passed by, you understood what you should do and knew what variables you were supposed to think of before making a decision. But nothing, and you do mean nothing, prepared you to understand that there is no right move.

People will get hurt, people will suffer. No matter what you choose, there will always be consequences. The trick is to look for the lesser of two evils and accept what you can’t change. It was this trick that you struggled the most, though.

It was ironic, indeed, how much you have grown after your trim. After your mother’s death, Loki’s betrayal and even Wanda’s, even though it was just another ruse, you had felt that, mourned that love, after all of these cuts and trims, you didn’t even know you could endure this much.

Life took so much from you, yet, here you were. Still standing.

Persevering.

Just another irony, if someone asked you, because that's what Pietro had said to you earlier in the meeting: ‘Spring is life persevering after a long winter.’ And you agreed.

Your philosophical moment was cut short with the arrival of no one other than Wanda. Her perfume announced her presence seconds before her hands found your back as she slid them until she was hugging you from behind. You snacked your arms around hers and closed your eyes for a moment, savoring her warmth, her scent, her company.

Right after the wedding-stopping thing, you learnt that Wanda basically became your shadow. Wherever you went, she was probably following not far behind. Unconsciously, she was probably scared of losing you again if she let you out of her sight.

And there was a shift in your relationship after the very much needed, long and exhaustive conversation about everything that transpired since that morning she left you in that house. Your point of view and hers.

It was hard. She had cried and you had cried, it was obvious that she was blaming herself for basically everything you had suffered. It was unfair for her to think like this, but she was adamant. And you knew, deep down, she was sad you had doubted her.

However, there was nothing that could be done on that matter. It was in the past.

With a kiss on your cheek, she let go of your waist and stepped to the side so she could take a look at you. Basking in the sun like this, she felt as though you were an angel sent from above.

You and your army saved her kingdom from certain doom. Funny, though, for Wanda never saw herself as a damsel in distress kind of princess, but her own and her people’s freedom was a gift, delivered by your hands.

“Pietro said you wanted to talk to me?” She started, tilting her head to the side in evident curiosity. When you left her this morning after breakfast because you had a meeting with her brother, she was quite surprised. Not that you two didn’t bode well, but because she wasn’t invited.

In fact, she was told to not interrupt.

“Yes. Thank you for coming.” You said, turning your body so now you were facing her, the balcony serving as a body support. “I was wondering if you’d take me on that horse ride to see the waterfalls?”

She smiled softly, her curious self giving way to the old Wanda who wouldn’t stop talking about the amazing waterfalls close to the castle. She thought about how endering you were right now, asking for her to fulfill a promise she never imagined would really become true.

“Say no more.” She grabbed your hand and fled the room. Not long till you were each on a horseback, riding to one of her favorite places in the world.

The ride to Ms Marvel waterfall was barely an hour long, but perpassing through fields, trees and the most beautiful sightseeing rivers. It was so pretty, so particular, that you felt as though you were walking inside Wanda’s memories, for she had described this place over and over.

The moment you set foot on your destination, you realized how thoroughly Wanda had been when speaking about this place. Every single pebble, rock, grass and the magnificent waterfall was just as she painted with words.

It was beautiful and magical.

Despite the weather, you shed your clothes and jumped into the cristaline water, followed suit by the princess. The redhead, however, was far more used to the cold waters than you were, but you always liked cold baths.

This one felt as though you were being cleansed. It was welcoming.

As Wanda swum towards you, it was easy to see a soft smile gracing her lips and a predatory look on her eyes. Hair slick back due the water, some droplets covering her face and you wondered if she wasn’t a siren, trying to lure into unknown waters, to your demise.

Somehow, her body was warm even though you were both chin deep into the waters and her embrace was something that you couldn’t find words to describe. And seeing this new side of her, so carefree, and not preoccupied with everything, made your heart soar in your chest.

Surely, your relationship wasn’t exactly a secret, but it was plain to see that, right now, there were no worries about who could find out. You were not the enemy anymore, there was no war and there was no one targeting you.

For Wanda, this was almost living her fairy tale dreams, right after emerging from her worst nightmares. First, she had lost you. She was a wreck after she realized she had not been as careful as she thought she was.

It was no mystery to her who had taken you but much to her dismay, Vision had convinced Pietro that you were secretly invading Wolfgang, taking advantage of her innocence to demoralize his image and power.

Wanda tried to explain to her brother, but to no avail for his mind was impregnated with lies and deceit. She tried to make Pietro understand that she loved you and though you had never used words, she pretty much knew you also had strong feelings for her, and you were definitely not using her as the Advisor had informed the king.

It was all part of the plan. It was a mess. However, the final strike was yet his boldest. Vision pledged Wanda was impure and no one would want her as wife, but he could take this burden for the sake of their friendship.

The nerve.

Curious enough, things got worse when Pietro started to believe her. One day, he showed up at her door and was utterly embarrassed for not believing her, he then explained to her that he had talked to you and there were no reasons for him to think you were lying.

Wanda’s heart broke all over, for she could only imagine how bad it must have been in the dungeons with the care of the likes of Vision and his loyalists. She was scared, she was hurt and she was desperate to set you free.

She schemed a plan with Natasha and Clint for you to escape, but her brother fell ill, probably poisoned by Vision even though they could not prove it, and they became hostages too. On their own castle. Each of them had a sword on their throats, each of them were ready to lose everything in order to keep the other safe.

Among all the other things, Wanda would lose the love of her life.

“I know I never said this to you.” Your voice brought her head out of her reverie. It was even and melodic, she found herself smiling. “And I think this is so silly now, trying to mask my feelings.” She felt, more than heard you chuckling, even under the water, your whole body shook. “I love you, Wanda.”

Her head snapped backwards so she could have a better look at your face. After all the time you spent together, she came to decipher whether you were mocking or not, yet, this voice, this tone was different. It was new altogether.

You were older, wiser and sadlier too, she realized, you were not the Young Lioness anymore.

“I mean it.” You finished, trying to convince her that you were not messing around.

Realizing her lack of answer might have led you to believe she was searching your eyes for a lie, she shook her head and smiled softly. “I know.” She did believe you. She really knew, she really felt.

You have told her, just not with words.

You couldn’t help but lean in and capture her lips with yours. When Wanda was about to deepen the kiss, you pulled back and looked down in time to see a small pout and you smiled softly at her attitude.

“There’s something else I want to talk to you about.” You ran your hand down her cheek, mesmerized with the perfection glued to your body. “Did Pietro say his plans for his future to you?”

Despite the intimate moment, or position, Wanda felt a slight shift in your stance and certainly the topic of the conversation. Seconds ago you were talking about feelings and now you returned to politics.

She didn’t not know what exactly you were talking about. Or what you really wanted to. But this question was just a preamble, that much she was certain.

“That he desires to step down from the throne to look for treatment and healing?” She asked, head tilting to the side and she was so adorable wearing that confused look of hers that your heart skipped a beat.

You only nodded and she asked. “Why?”

For hours, you had been trying to think of the best form to ask her. Being blunt, straightforward as usual or perhaps with a romantic flourish, but in the end, anxiety took the best of you and you were not sure of how to do it.

There were two Wandas. The one you were in love with, the simple woman with a heart, you usually knew what she’d do or say. But then, there was the feisty and strong princess, who will always think about her duty to her people before anything else. Even her own heart.

And that woman? She could virtually say or do anything, she was indomable and you were irrevocably devoted to her.

“I was thinking about what we always said…” You mentally kicked yourself for being so stupid and not knowing the right words. To be honest, you were afraid of her reply or even her decision. “About a time or place where we could simply be, where we’d have a choice.”

A quirk of brow told you she did not understand what your words meant and you sighed heavily. Deciding to take the bandage off, you shot. “Wanda Maximoff, will you marry me?”

She opened her mouth, but then the words hit her and you saw her eyes grasping their meaning as it sank in what you were asking. What you were really asking her. What you were really asking of her.

“How?” She asked, doubt written all over her face.

For sure, you had hoped for an easy ‘yes’ even though you already knew it wouldn’t come. However, a how it was far better than a no.

A smart comeback made its way to your tongue, but you swallowed it down just as fast. “If you’ll step up as the new queen of Sokovia, why wouldn’t you as Novi Grad’s?”

Her jaw dropped a few inches at your proposal and everything that would surely entail, regaining her composure after her stupor, she fired back. “Is this political?”

She tried to disguise the hurt perpassing her being. She wanted you, but were you suggesting just a political maneuver?

“No.” You were quick to clarify. “I want to marry you because of what I feel for you. But I understand that this is not simple. Between the two of us, we can’t take one thing without the other.”

For several seconds she looked at you and said nothing. Her eyes scrutinized every freckle, every inch of your face and eyes. You were so beautiful and she hated how much she loved you, how desperate she was for your touch.

The possibility laid upon her was far too tempting. She was aware of her needs and duty and for a long time she wished she could split her heart from her responsibilities, but right then and there, this was her chance, your chance to finally combine both.

It wouldn’t be needed to sever one thing from another, the both of you could take your place as required without breaking your hearts in the process.

“Are you sure?” You were not convinced of what she was really asking. What should you be certain about? Your love, your offer or everything in between?

“I’m sure of what I feel for you.” You replied and her eyes, once lost, finally focused on yours. A soft snort told you that this was not of her concern. Good.

“I know, darling. I love you too, you know this already.” Her smile was soft but not more than her words. “I was just… Do you think we can reunite the realm?” She asked more directly this time and you understood her fears.

The Golden Accords existed for a long time and there would be resistance, there would be fear, but there would also be reunion, there would be peace. And that was the very thread you were holding on.

“In my humble opinion? You and I together can do anything.” Certainty coated every single word rolling out of your mouth and that made Wanda’s smile go wider. She always loved - after she had hated - your confidence.

– – –

If you squinted, her dress looked like a waterfall, cascading down her back, feet and beyond and Wanda, once more in full white, looked like a fallen angel. Her eyes, her smile… everything in her glowed brighter than a star. She was perfect.

After your vows, Pietro took your hand and Wanda’s and laced it with a red piece of satin. It represented your bloods, your souls intertwining themselves, tying the eternal knot between your lives.

Her smile was broad and you were certain it shone for miles, when Pietro spoke the last sentences of the ceremony. “I now present you the Queen of Taharr and Queen of Sokovia. All rise to the Queens of the Great Realm of Novi Grad.”

The crowd was loud to the point you couldn’t even hear your own thoughts and you swore the earth shook when you leaned in and Wanda sealed your promise with a kiss.

The promise of union, the promise of peace, prosperity and love.

After all, you were the Queens of Promise.

taglist: @californianwhiterabbit, @cowxpoke

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda x fem!reader #angst #princess wanda #wanda maximoff x female reader #medieval au #queens of promise #wanda maximov #princess reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda x female reader #wanda x fem #wanda maximoff x fem! reader

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ravenclawwitchc · 10 months ago

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Magic and Memory

*another shinran fanfic

*post BO

The pale pink envelope was mixed in with a bunch of gifts, and to get to it, you had to trek over a mountain of wagashi. Yukiko sat beside him, focused on peeling an apple, her knife moving slowly and steadily, as if that apple was the most important thing in the world. No matter how you looked at it, it was just an ordinary Fuji apple...

By the time Shinichi's gaze wandered to that envelope for the fifth time, Yukiko finally burst into a shaky laugh. If he wanted to see it so badly, why was he pretending to be cool just now? She tilted her head, wondering, could it be that Shinichi was shy?

Shinichi was defeated. Saying he wasn't interested was a lie, but he swore he was only a little curious.

When he woke up in the hospital bed, he had a splitting headache and could only mechanically follow the doctor's instructions to feel each of his limbs in turn. After dealing with the doctor, he also had to answer the questions from the police who came to inquire about the incident. It wasn't until Amuro mentioned that Miss Ran was also undergoing treatment—and he responded with an "Uh?"—that anyone noticed something was wrong.

Then another chaotic round of medical checks, and the final conclusion was: he had amnesia, and, unfortunately, it was selectively targeted towards one person.

“Can you repeat who it is that I’ve forgotten?” with a puzzled expression, he asked Hattori. Hattori chuckled, “Your childhood friend, first love girlfriend, and the older sister from the detective agency you clung to after you got turned small.”

Shinichi couldn’t quite believe that the sentimental guy Hattori was talking about was him. Falling in love at first sight in kindergarten sounded too ridiculous. But more importantly, he looked down to confirm that the bandage on his chest was real and that the gunshot wound wasn’t fake: “So why isn’t anyone concerned about my injuries?”

A look of pity that Shinichi couldn’t understand appeared on Heiji’s face again. “Sigh, you don’t get it.”

He neatly folded the Star Prince blanket his girlfriend brought and placed it at the foot of the bed (by the way, Kazuha was currently visiting Ran on another floor of the hospital—she had prepared a Star Princess version for her too).

While tidying up, Hattori recalled the message he just received from Kazuha: “Heiji, after Ran found out Kudo-kun had lost his memory, she just rubbed her forehead and said, ‘Again?’ Do you think she’s angry…?”

He put himself in her shoes, thinking about how he would feel if he had been deceived, and then found out his boyfriend had amnesia. He thought: Alright, this time, it’s my turn to play the relationship expert.

Of course, when Shinichi discovered Heiji secretly taking photos of him looking pale and frail and sending them to an unknown account, he immediately kicked him out, accompanied by Hattori’s defense of, “I’m doing this for your own good!”

But while he could chase away troublemaking friends, he couldn't chase away a mother concerned for her son.

The weather was clear that day. Yukiko arrived and slipped a pale pink letter into the pile of get-well gifts, then casually hung her trench coat on the coat rack. "This is from Ran; she asked me to deliver it to you. Want to take a look?"

Shinichi turned his head away. “Thanks, just leave it there for now.”

Then the unfortunate event described in the first line of this fanfic took place. For Shinichi to admit he cared a little (in fact, he cared a lot) about this girlfriend he thought he had never met, he would rather solve a hundred cases and fall off a cliff like Sherlock Holmes.

However, his mother saw through his worries, and he opened the letter amidst the laughter around him.

To his surprise, the letter contained no accusations, questions, or even comfort and concern. The pale pink letter, with a cherry blossom hue, crossed two floors, coming from a place that was perhaps just ten meters away in a straight line.

The flowing script on the letter told the familiar story of the Issun-bōshi, but compared to the traditional version, she—the girl named Ran—wrote a different ending.

After the Issun-bōshi and Princess encountered and defeated the demon at Kiyomizu Temple, Princess gently tapped the unconscious Issun-bōshi with the magical hammer. The Issun-bōshi successfully grew into a handsome young man, but when he woke up, he had forgotten everything.

The curse from the demon was not unbreakable. The princess asked the dazed Issun-bōshi, “Are you willing to return with me to the source of our memories, to seek the truth that belongs to us?” That hand she extended was firmly grasped, and the magical hammer, by their wishes, rewound their time to the beginning of the story, when the Issun-bōshi, was still a child, referring to Princess as his sister. He would stand on a stool to help the princess wash dishes her colorful garments...

Shinichi stared at the crossed-out word “wash dishes” over and over again.

Some fragmented images flashed by: the two of them busy at the kitchen sink filled with the aroma of happiness, or him draping a coat over the girl sleeping on the sofa. Why didn’t he carry her back to the bedroom? For a moment, he felt a bit resentful, then remembered that this had happened while he was still in Conan’s body.

The girl’s face remained blurry, but that warm scent mirrored the smell of the letter.

No, more than that, the simply marked location, “Kiyomizu Temple,” also gently plucked at the strings of his memory.

Secrets hid between the lines of the story, and the detective’s sharp instincts urged him to grasp the clues handed to him tightly.

But before that, what was this feeling? His chest felt full, tinged with a lemon-like sourness.

He blushed, took a deep breath, and buried his face in the fragrant letter.

What kind of couple's daily life was this? Oh no, even his desire to solve the mystery of his memory temporarily took a backseat… He seemed to really care about this girlfriend he had forgotten.

The letters about daily life drifted for several rounds, and his receiving time gradually settled on the mornings.

At first, the letters came through Yukiko, but soon, the frequent appearances of this celebrity aroused Kogoro's suspicion, so Shinichi sent an urgent signal for help to his friends.

When Hattori walked in again, he found his friend furiously writing under the Star Prince blanket.

Shinichi strained his brain to add details in the letter about how the little one took care of Princess and how he used the magical bow tie to warm their budding romance. He wrote with restraint, yet his ears turned red, and he firmly warned his curious friend not to peek.

As everyone knows, Hattori is a loyal friend, on either side.

So he didn’t open the letter, nor did he tell Shinichi that he hadn’t confessed the truth to Mouri before his amnesia. When he brought back the reply the next day, he also didn’t mention how Ran seemed thoughtful, whispering to herself, “Bow tie…?”

The letter Hattori sent was light blue, and its style was a bit... different.

Instead of confessing to each other in a calm and warm daily life (as Shinichi had imagined), the Issun-bōshi, and Princess embarked on a wonderful adventure.

Along the way, they encountered a powerful Tengu challenging the Issun-bōshi, a shrine maiden following the tengu’s scent, and a dark knight who was betrothed to the Princess. Wait, what kind of nonsense is this? Shinichi quickly tossed the tengu and the shrine maiden out of the main storyline, but hesitated when it came to the dark knight.

You, who have helped me time and time again, who exactly are you? A nameless knight shrouded in black... If you are willing to fulfill the humble wish of this princess, then please, remove that mask as dark as the night and show me your true face...

Who the hell is this guy?

Shinichi flipped through the letter repeatedly, comparing it to the previous ones, confirming that the feelings between Princess and the Issun-bōshi were indeed growing. He restlessly glanced out the window: Tokyo in March, branches adorned with the prelude to spring, greenery beginning to bud.

It was only after reading the first letter that he gradually felt inclined to observe the Tokyo scenery through that window.

Golden sunlight streamed in, falling on the letter, and the handwriting transformed into a brilliant gold.

If you have not forgotten our childhood oath, please write your proof upon my lips…

He fell into deep thought.

The familiar sensation reminded him of a memory buried even deeper.

As the words thawed, a corner of the thick ice covering it was pried loose, and the first feelings summoned were joy and tenderness, followed closely by bone-deep pain.

The images swayed, as if something were trying to blur them, yet he still saw deeply within the scene: a girl with closed eyes and luscious lips.

The bright hue reflected from the crown settled at the visual focal point, and all he wanted to do was…

Shinichi inwardly groaned at how easily he blushed.

This was the first time he looked down at the other person in his memories, and for the first time, that person’s face was so clear.

Though her eyes were still closed, his heartbeat couldn't lie to him.

He solved the mystery: the dark knight was also him.

His mood relaxed, and he naturally spared some mercy, adding the knight into the Princess’s adventure, casually allowing the knight and the princess to share an intimate kiss in front of the Issun-bōshi:

“The curse of the demon has made me forget you, but from the moment I laid eyes on you, I vowed to take on the promises of the past, present, and future. Your Highness, please lift my curse.” With that, the dark-clad knight sealed his vow with a kiss…

Shinichi pondered, regretting whether it had been too abrupt.

But according to his memory, they should have indeed kissed at that time, right…? Based on his impression at the time and his rapidly beating heart, he couldn’t think of any reason to stop the romance.

The reply came quickly. The first line of the pale yellow letter read: “A kiss on the cheek.”

Shinichi fell silent, confused, suppressing the inexplicable déjà vu in his heart.

He grabbed Hattori, who was supposedly there, and asked him for a long time, only to receive information about the murder case.

“Your first kiss is at Kiyomizu Temple; it won’t be easy getting there. Good luck, Kudo,” Hattori said, laughing gleefully. In return, Shinichi kicked this spoiler out and had Kazuha volunteer to be the messenger.

After that, the Princess, the Issun-bōshi, and the occasionally appearing Knight embarked on an adventurous journey across Japan. Within the confines of their small hospital rooms, they traversed Mount Fuji, Kyoto, and Osaka, battling mountain demons, snowmaidens, and mist tengu.

Along the way, Shinichi attempted to confess his feelings several times whenever the knight made his appearance, only to be inexplicably thwarted by mishaps in the letters each time. (How could it be that every attempt ended in failure?)

Fortunately, during one of the princess's attempts to shake off these troublesome fellows, their confessions were finally received, albeit in a rather awkward manner (but that didn’t stop Shinichi from recalling the excitement of the London night for several days).

The colorful letters in the hospital drawer piled up, gradually decorating his pure white room before the cherry blossoms bloomed in April.

Visitors gradually dwindled, and the media shifted their attention to other hot news, while the story on paper reached a turning point—the Issun-bōshi and knight were abducted by demons, and the princess traveled across mountains and waters to rescue them.

Each day in the hospital bed seemed longer than the last, and when Kudo Shinichi awoke from another chaotic dream, he saw the clock's hands ticking past ten. Ten o'clock, morning, and morning meant—

He reached out too far, pulling painfully at his gunshot-wounded left shoulder, but he stubbornly managed to grasp the letter resting on the bedside table. Today's envelope was light gray, folded into the shape of a paper crane, and the flowing handwriting filled the sails of his heart with wind:

Through snow-covered roads and thunderstorms, the princess kept moving forward. She crossed nine tall mountains and nine wide rivers, finally reaching the divine forest. Her heart, filled with longing, curled up uneasily within her chest, and she bowed, following her heart's desire: If possible, I wish to offer my melancholic heart to you... Lord Shinigami!(死羅神)

Trees, the wind, and the girl’s cries. That part of the memory was resilient and firm, wiping away all the droplets on the glass.

But the forest, the forest… should be tied to a more tender emotion, as if it were set against a backdrop of crimson hues.

A scene flickered in Shinichi's vague memory, and he built a bridge across the blurred surface of the water, leading directly to the end, continuing:

The Shinigami descended. With a sweep of His flowing sleeves, a long wind swirled and healed all the princess's wounds. “In exchange,” He said, “like the nameless dark knight, the curse can only be lifted by the princess’s kiss.”

Shinichi thought carefully, and the next part could naturally... naturally... Wait. For some reason, he gritted his teeth and added, “Not on the face.”

If Hattori wasn’t lying to him, then this time, amidst the colorful mountains, they would finally have their first kiss.

Shinichi suppressed the unsettling sense of déjà vu within him.

The letter was handed over to Kazuha, flying away like a bird with wings. The waiting was always long, long enough for the sun to rise and set again. The rays of the setting sun scattered, ephemeral, and elusive, and just within this one day, he sadly recalled: they truly hadn’t had the chance to kiss at Kiyomizu Temple. Not just that day, but even afterward, up to the entire final confrontation—

Uh, did he reveal too many of the lies Conan told in his letter?

The flood of memories this time was so overwhelming that he felt a bit unable to cope. Just before the sun sank below the horizon, he hurriedly wrote a formal letter of apology, pleading with a nurse to deliver it to Miss Mouri, who was staying two floors below.

This time, he didn't write in the tone of folklore but solemnly, from Edogawa Conan to Kudo Shinichi, recounting everything he could remember (though, embarrassingly, years later, when he saw it among his wife's collection, he found it incoherent and nonsensical).

But at this moment, Kudo Shinichi was still a young man who would struggle, wrestle with his emotions, and toss and turn over this. Worse yet, after the first day, the second day, the third day... no more letters arrived, and even Heiji and Kazuha stopped responding to his text messages. Late March was cherry blossom season in Tokyo, and a branch of blossoms slanted through his window, almost fervently and noisily urging him to remember more warm yet bittersweet memories.

He was truly afraid that, in the future, he would only have these memories to hold onto.

What finally awakened him was a gentle kiss falling on his forehead.

When he opened his eyes, he was stunned to see—unexpectedly, without any warning, a storm, a flower in bloom, he could think of countless adjectives, but in this instant, he actually thought of nothing, his mind went completely blank—a girl with black hair cascading down, her (very beautiful, perfectly flawless) eyes gazing at him. Her eyes were purple, it turned out.

"Shinichi," she said.

"Ran?" The only name that came to his mind.

"You remembered," she smiled. "I thought about it and decided it would be better to tell you the end of the story in person. The captured Issun-bōshi refused to let the demon pry into his past, so he locked the Princess in the deepest part of the palace of memories. Now, the princess took out the key and said to the Issun-bōshi, ‘We are safe now, and—I've forgiven you.’"

"You've forgiven me?" he murmured.

He still didn’t fully understand all of it.

A mysterious power, both terrifying and mesmerizing, memories like intermittent streams suddenly converged into a torrent, a flood sweeping through every inch of his body. Fragmented images pieced themselves together in his mind: smiling, defiant, glittering, the colorful neon splashing from the fountain, the princess, the knight, the pitch-black Shinigami, the red school trip, all sorts of vivid colors swirling around in the blank hospital room.

Shinichi felt a wave of dizziness in his head; for the first time, he truly realized what kind of life he would lose if he were to lose these memories.

"Are you okay?" Ran waved a hand in front of his face with concern.

She, along with Heiji and Kazuha, had planned for a long time to sneak out of her parents' supervision to visit his hospital room, but the scene before her eyes was a bit... well, different from what she had imagined.

Sure enough, her childhood sweetheart boyfriend was just staring straight at her face, half-awake and half-asleep.

"Oh, and one more thing, I checked with the doctor, and in two days, we'll be able to go for a walk, so you don’t need to write any more letters for now." She glanced around, then waved at the surveillance camera, "That's all, we'll get in touch later."

Before leaving, her cheeks blushed as she added, "That kiss just now... does it count?" She sneaked a glance at the camera, pretending to be nonchalant. "As for the rest... we'll talk about it once you’re better."

She felt a little embarrassed; being hospitalized had made her look quite weary. But what Shinichi saw was a smile, in 4K clarity, with the blush on her cheeks and the fine fuzz on her skin, radiant.

Ran left with worry, thinking that Shinichi must have been seriously injured this time. She still didn't know how she had triggered such a massive resurgence of Shinichi's memories, with an impact comparable to a tsunami.

However, according to Kazuha, the next day, Ran received a new, colorful letter that seemed to say something like "Your smile makes my heart flutter," and she indeed sighed again, exclaiming, "Again?"

This time, no one could deny her smile.

Fin.

#shinran #kudo shinichi #mouri ran #dcmk

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quirkwizard · 1 year ago

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Glad to see ya back at it again with your work! I adore your stuff like lots💕! Totally random question: I have an OC that is based off a conspiracy theory called “Oxygen is a hallucinogenic.” Is there a possible way of making that into a quirk? I can totally understand if it’s too much. I’m just genuinely curious.

While I'm not sure about a full blown illusion power, as you can't exactly balance something like that around something ubiquitous as air, I think you could do a more toned down hallucinogenic power based around breathing in air.

I see it working as an Emitter type Quirk that allows the user to alter the air around them up to five meters. When this air is breathed in and processed, the user can inflict minor psychosomatic effects, effectively causing their target's body to believe something is happening to it. This can have any number of effects, such as making targets feel like they got pinched by something, having them start seeing spots, or making their ears start to ring. The user can target the five senses and may target each one once for each target. As this is coming from the air itself, it can be difficult to identify the source and cause of the issue. The user can target specific effects and areas and can be selective with the targets. Once the Quirk is undone, the targets will return to normal. This gives the user a good tool in subterfuge, able to subtlety inhibit and distract their foes. If nothing else, it can be hilarious to confuse people with it. Though the actual effects of the Quirk are weak and can't deal real harm to the body, working more to distract and hinder people. People can counter this ability by simply not breathing, leaving the area, disrupting the flow of air, or knocking the user out. A possible name for the Quirk could be "Airborne".

#My Hero Academia #Quirks #Original Quirk

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posttexasstressdisorder · 28 days ago

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Strauss' 'Blue Danube' waltz is launching into space to mark his 200th birthday

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace WriterUpdated May 25, 2025 6:16 a.m.

This undated photo released by the European Space Agency shows the 35 meter-diameter deep-space dish antenna, DSA-2, in Cebreros, Spain, receiving the first signals from Venus Express. (ESA via AP)AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Strauss’ “Blue Danube” is heading into space this month to mark the 200th anniversary of the waltz king's birth.

The classical piece will be beamed into the cosmos as it's performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The celestial send-off on May 31 — livestreamed with free public screenings in Vienna, Madrid and New York — also will celebrate the European Space Agency's founding 50 years ago.

Although the music could be converted into radio signals in real time, according to officials, ESA will relay a pre-recorded version from the orchestra's rehearsal the day before to avoid any technical issues. The live performance will provide the accompaniment.

The radio signals will hurtle away at the speed of light, or a mind-blowing 670 million mph (more than 1 billion kph).

That will put the music past the moon in 1 ½ seconds, past Mars in 4 ½ minutes, past Jupiter in 37 minutes and past Neptune in four hours. Within 23 hours, the signals will be as far from Earth as NASA’s Voyager 1, the world's most distant spacecraft at more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) in interstellar space.

NASA also celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008 by transmitting a song directly into deep space: the Beatles' “Across the Universe.” And last year, NASA beamed up Missy Elliott's "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" toward Venus.

Music has even flowed from another planet to Earth — courtesy of a NASA Mars rover. Flight controllers at California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory sent a recording of will.i.am's “Reach for the Stars” to Curiosity in 2012 and the rover relayed it back.

These are all deep-space transmissions as opposed to the melodies streaming between NASA's Mission Control and orbiting crews since the mid-1960s.

Now it's Strauss' turn, after getting passed over for the Voyager Golden Records nearly a half-century ago.

Launched in 1977, NASA's twin Voyagers 1 and 2 each carry a gold-plated copper phonograph record, along with a stylus and playing instructions for anyone or anything out there.

The records contain sounds and images of Earth as well as 90 minutes of music. The late astronomer Carl Sagan led the committee that chose Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Stravinsky pieces, along with modern and Indigenous selections.

Among those skipped was Johann Strauss II, whose “Blue Danube” graced Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi opus “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

The tourist board in Vienna, where Strauss was born on Oct. 25, 1825, said it aims to correct this “cosmic mistake” by sending the “the most famous of all waltzes" to its destined home among the stars.

ESA’s big radio antenna in Spain, part of the space agency’s deep-space network, will do the honors. The dish will be pointed in the direction of Voyager 1 so the “Blue Danube” heads that way.

“Music connects us all through time and space in a very particular way,” ESA’s director general Josef Aschbacher said in a statement. “The European Space Agency is pleased to share the stage with Johann Strauss II and open the imaginations of future space scientists and explorers who may one day journey to the anthem of space.”

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hirocimacruiser · 1 year ago

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MA70

3L Zero Yon specification MA70 Supra where you can enjoy the powerful acceleration of the big turbine

The MA70 Supra was popular as a pioneer of high-power sports. That's not an unusual number these days, but at the time, the 7M with the 3L turbo was easily over 300 horsepower even in a light tune with only boost up, and if you replaced the turbine, it could easily reach 400 horsepower. It was a great addition to the Zero Yon and the fastest attackers. This Supra is also one of those classic tunes, and although it doesn't have flashy aero equipment, the inside is finished to exact zero-yon specifications.

Replaced the turbine with Garrett's T04E and combined with a custom-made special intercooler to support high boost. The reinforced clutch and wide rear 265/40 tires absorb the power. When you actually step on the accelerator, the acceleration is impressive. The moment you step on the pedal, you feel a momentary slump as the torque builds up, but once you reach over 4000 rpm, the power suddenly explodes and you accelerate with great speed. In the rain, even with the 265 Advan tyres , the wheels would spin easily.

The suspension is equipped with TEIN coilovers and pillow uppers, allowing for a wide range of settings. One of the attractions of this car is that you can have fun swinging the car around with the LSD set to a high initial. 3L turbo cars are common these days, but considering the price of 1,380,000 yen, even though it's a used car, it's still a valuable choice for a lonely runner with a deep pocket.

It's a car that exists.

PIC CAPTIONS

●Additional meters include a boost gauge on the column and an exhaust temperature gauge and oil pressure gauge on the front pillar. Not only is it highly visible, but the trust meter panel fits comfortably.

-The suspension is equipped with Tein coilovers. The tires are a combination of Advan and Volk Group C tires: 235/45ZR17 at the front and 265/40ZR17 at the rear.

●Replace the turbine with T04E. The large displacement of 3 liters + big turbine exerts furious power from 4000 rpm. Latest super sports.

INFO BOX

Supra 3.0GT Limited

1990 model inspected September 9th

Mileage 69,000km 1,380,000 yen

Tune data: T04E turbine

Blow-off SPL intercooler

HKS Power Flow EVC

Reinforced clutch

sports muffler

Tein coilover pillow upper

- Quickshift Project

Sports pad additional meter

SHOP INFO

kick off

2-1-5 Arai, Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture 272-01

0473-58-1211

It's a sporty model, and it's also an FR 5-speed car. We have a wide selection of cars, from light tunes to hard tunes with modified engines. Even if it's not in the store, we'll look for any car you want if you let us know.

#MA70 #MA70 Supra #A70 Supra #Toyota Supra #JDM #Mk3 supra #3rd gen Supra #7M-GTE

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dzthenerd490 · 5 months ago

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File: OC 37

Warning! The following is to only be seen by administrators and O5 council members. If you are not of Level 5 Clearance, you will be exterminated by order of the O5 council!

SCANNING

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CHECKING RANK DATA OF VIEWER

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RANK OF VIEWER CONFIRMED

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NO SIGNS OF TAMPERING DETECTED

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VIEWING OF SCP-AKU APPROVED

SCP#: AKU

Code Name: Dragon Slayer’s Forbidden Sword

Object Class: Anticipi

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-AKU is stored in a specialized compartment located in Site-AP but is occasionally moved to Site-AM when deployment is almost a guarantee in the future. The O5 Council and a select few from Administrative Staff and other Foundation Staff are allowed to be aware of SCP-AKU’s location at any given time. These select few are the only ones who know the true extent to SCP-AKU's containment procedures and as a result their identities will never be revealed.

Description: SCP-AKU is a sword that stands 31 meters long and takes on the shape of a very rouged and feral looking sword. It is a sword that can only be wielded by SCP-5514 and is meant to be a final resort against LSAs too powerful for its original arsenal to handle. The inner core of the sword is made of SCP-AFD-4.8, an extremely powerful and destructive substance that can be forged into a powerful steel. However, it corrupts the minds of anyone who touches it for extended periods of time whether they be organic or even synthetic life. This applies to even A.I. and Species of Interest: Cybertronians; as such, since SCP-5514 is controlled by agents of Mobile Task Force Eta-5 “Jäeger Bombers” both the anomaly and the pilots have a risk of corruption. It is for this reason that the handle is made with the largest mass of Caronium the Foundation has harvested and laced with Telekill.

The Caronium in the handle is made with an internal structure similar to a brain with functioning neurons but is physically no different to a mind that is medically brain dead. Regardless because it is like a living brain and also has cybernetic origin, SCP-AFD-4.8 influence will be drawn to it but that’s where the Telekill comes in. Despite it technically being a brain-dead mind SCP-AFD-4.8 could easily reanimate it and have the sword possess the rest of SCP-5514, but the Telekill prevents that. It acts as a prison for the handle of the SCP-AKU preventing SCP-AFD-4.8 from spreading its influence beyond either through itself or through the Caronium brain. The exact formation of this handle was only possible thanks to the blueprints provided by SCP-AVC.

Deep Silver Flow and Grey Concrete make up the dull side of the blade, acting as a cover and surprising conductor for a device hidden in the blade. It is a long engine device that extends along the blade and extends at least 15 meters and is filled with Vibration Crystals. It connects to the mixture of Grey Concrete and DSF to not only allow it to phase through any form of matter on command but instantaneously incinerate it into dust. This even applies for immortal or regenerative beings that are typically immune to DSF’s anomalous effects. Additionally, while SCP-AFD-4.8 will power the engine within the blade, the Vibration Crystals within will act as a conductor allowing the engine to connect to different dimensions and planes of existence. This means that even LSA, that can tether themselves to other realities or are capable of dimensional hopping will not be able to dodge or survive a strike from SCP-AKU. Additionally, the Grey Concrete will amplify and enhance the Vibration Crystals allowing SCP-5514 to even reach entities that escape from our reality.

Finally, the very edge of the blade of SCP-AKU is still made of SCP-AFD-4.8 but coated with a combination of Datacalium, Orichalcum, and Allaxounium. Created by the Department of Technology, Alchemy, Science, Magic and Warfare through years and years of experimentation. With this dangerous combo and the already added effects of SCP-AFD-4.8 it has only become even more destructive but equally more useful. The Allaxounium in the blade can allow the blade to extend and even transform into a shield making it a tool of both offense and defense.

Of course, the Orichalcum and SCP-AFD-4.8 allow it to be overcharged with destructive power. This power can coat the blade in a vaporizing blade of light and energy incinerating all who touch the blade completely. It's even possible for the blade to manifest laser blasts, and even create a large indestructible forcefield of both positive and negative energy preventing anything from piercing it. Then finally there is the Datacalium which has been programmed to transmit signals form SCP-AKU to SCP-5514 allowing the pilots to fully control what the blade does with any of the previously mentioned properties or even combos of said properties.

Plans to create SCP-AKU were made in 2011 after the SCP-ADH incident had finally come to an end. SCP-5514 had suffered extensive damage as a result, and it was declared that a new weapon was needed to empower one of our greatest assets. SCP-AVC was contacted and came up with a plan to use multiple Foundation resources to make the ultimate weapon that would allow SCP-5514 to challenge the Gods of the Abyss and maybe even the most dangerous one of them all, the Scarlet King.

However, once it was completed in 2015 it was already deemed too dangerous to be used carelessly. As such a plan was made to have it transferred between Site-AM and Site-AP seemingly at random and in a way, no one will ever be able to tell where it is except for the O5 Council and a select few members. It won’t even be possible to find records of its current location in either of the sites in any of the highly classified archives. Though as an added precaution this file has been laced with a hidden memetic so that anyone who somehow bypassed the authorization scan will be unable to physically see any files relating to SCP-AKU. Regardless SCP-AKU is still labeled as object class Anticipi for if it were to fall into the wrong hands like Group of Interest: Anderson Robotics or the Decepticons, it would mean the end of the world.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

#DZtheNerd #SCP: Horror Movie Files #SCP: HMF #SCP Foundation #SCP Fanfiction #SCP AU #SCP #SCP Fanmade #SCP OC #SCP-AKU #Anticipi #Site-AP #Site-AM

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styrmwb · 7 months ago

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I Beat Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I went ahead and I did it

The urge to go ahead and finish the XIII trilogy after beating XIII-2 won out, and I can finally say I cleared this off the ultimate list of FF games.

Lightning Returns is an interesting one. It's a slow burn kind of game; it took me a bit to really lock in with it, but once I did, I got into a nice flow state with it. It's also a game that simultaneously could work very well by itself, but also feels like it's essential to be the act 2 of XIII-2. It's weird. Not bad! But weird.

Day 1: Gameplay

I think this is where LR shines the brightest.

Combat is. ALMOST like its predecessors. Rather than it being menu selection, you're pressing buttons like an action game; and rather than swapping paradigms, you're swapping between 3 "schemata", which are basically customizable job types that are also a dress-up minigame. You also still have an ATB system... kinda. Rather than a bar that fills up and executes all of the commands you put into it, it's more like an action meter. You can do so much in each schemata before you run out and you gotta wait for it to refill. On paper it sounds entirely different, but with the ATB filling and the schemata switching, I still felt that echo of paradigm switching (especially since I essentially gave myself a commando, ravager, saboteur setup), and the ATB in practice still felt like the ATB of classic. It's different for sure, but still has enough connection to not feel like it's a complete jump away from its prequels. Also, you have these points called "EP" that you get from day start or killing enemies which you can use for things like full cure or esuna, but the big thing I used it for was "Overclock" which slows down time for your enemies while speeding it up for you. It gives you a unique ATB bar that I essentially used to keep up my assault when needed. Very fun once I had enough EP to not worry about using it all up.

Where XIII was a straightforward, classic RPG story that had some side quests, and XIII-2 was more side quest heavy but still sectioned, LR feels like it's ENTIRELY made of side quests, in a way. Even the main story is split up into quests that sometimes require you to do side quests (which was weird if you gotta do them why are they side), plus it had a board of collection quests that you could turn into. If you just looked at XIII, you'd be like "what the fuck happened", but going through the trilogy, I can feel the natural progression. As someone who enjoyed the XIII-2 style quests (plus I'm MMO brained so quests are ingrained in my DNA anyways) I quite enjoyed this style of game organization. It allows you to move back and forth between the areas and their stories, which mixes really well with:

Time management. The big deal about this game that I think MOST people look at and think "oh no". I also thought "oh no" at first. There's not exactly a Majora's Mask style time reset or anything (which I gotta talk more on this topic later) and you don't really have time to sit and rest unless you're in a menu, meaning every single step counts, but it does give you a temporary time stop ability, that uses the same resource as your big combat abilities. I was really unsure of it at first, I didn't know how to handle it, but once I really got the hang of things, I realized that I didn't need to time stop nearly as much as I did, and I was able to strike a good balance. Like I said, I found the flow state of managing quests, travel, teleportation, and still leaving myself with enough for combat buffs. As time passes, different enemies come out, different NPCs appear and disappear, different stores open and close, it makes you think about where you have to be, when you have to be where, and you have to think about your travel time. There's a quest I have to do but they don't appear until 14:00, so I'm gonna sit here and kill guys until like 13:00 where I'm then gonna take the train over there. It was scary and weird at first, but it's a system that I think is improved with knowledge of just how much is in the game.

One last thing I wanted to talk about, is Undertale. This game has a fucking Undertale genocide mechanic (I know Undertale came after but hush shush). There are actually limited enemies in the game (save for a couple), and you can actually completely extinct a species by killing all of them. When you've killed all but one, that one becomes a Last One, which is a hyperpowered hot pink version of that enemy that drops better loot. This also interacts with time management well because as the days go by, enemies drop better abilities for you to use, BUT, you also have to make sure you're giving yourself enough time to do shit AND kill all of everything. This is cool! It's also grindy, which does kinda suck. Having to kill 30 reavers (behemoths) gets mindless after a bit, which CAN be enjoyed, but can also be ugggghhhhhhh. I think I felt both of those emotions. This is at its worst in the final dungeon where there's 3 new monster types that can be killed off, meaning if you wanna kill all of em for the quest that makes you kill all of em, you HAVE to last second grind. Stinks when I just wanna finish the story.

Together, Lightning Returns offers an experience that's actually quite fun, but I think you REALLY HAVE to have the knowledge to make the most of it. It gives me the vibes of something that would be better on subsequent playthroughs, where you really know just how much is in this space.

Day 2: Story

The story this time about is weird. After the world Fucking Explodes in XIII-2, and Lightning turns herself into crystal to have Serah live forever in her memories, she's woken up (numbers) years later by God Himself, who said "hey shit's boutta explode in a few days can you go save a bunch of souls so I can put them in a new world I have your best friend here (he's a kid again don't worry about it) and I'll give you your sister back" and then Lightning goes "ok (unfeelingly)" and does it. Rather than a single focused story, it's split up into 5 main quests you can move back and forth between, all centered around a character from previous games. You got Noel, Snow, Fang, Yeul/Caius/Odin, and Sazh. Between these, and the many side quests, the game is very character based rather than narrative based, I feel, which I certainly don't have a problem with. Characters, I'm coming to realize, are my absolute favorite part of any media and the most important thing to me ever (which I think is why I end up making 20 hour long character sections (coming soon)). As you help people and your friends, you realize God is A Bitch And A Liar, so you go to Kill Him. This culminates in an ending that is 1. INCREDIBLY CHEESY, 2. A nice little celebration of the entire XIII trilogy, and 3. A little stupid. It's nice. It's not the greatest in the series or even the trilogy, but it's nice. Again, it feels like it's the second half to XIII-2, wrapping up everything that that game set up, which stinks a little cause it means it can't hold on its own well, but is nice when you're doing it in sequence.

Day 3: Characters

I've lived with this cast for 3 games now, and LR is, for the most part, a nice bow on everyone's stories/a cool way to take all their characters.

Lightning - Lightning in this game felt more of what I knew than XIII-2. Unfortunately, a major plot point was that her emotions were essentially stripped away for most of it, but it didn't stop the game from showing me her caring about her family and other people, and despite her being God's Servant, it does not prevent her from rebelling against the higher powers when they're being assholes, just like in the original XIII. She's not my favorite protagonist out of the entire series, but I think LR ended her story in a way that made me a lot happier than XIII-2. I also find it really funny that Square's IRL usage of her as a fashion model seriously had its impact on this game with the garb switching, and the fucking ending of her going to France.

Hope - My favorite boy felt off at first. Why was his voice acting like that? The reason? God is a bitch. My boy was relegated to being a child sized costume for a motherfucker; and unfortunately, this half self of him kinda got on my nerves as he Kept Telling Me Things All The Time. I know it's an hour until I get called back. Please stop. At least I can be happy about the fact that the real Hope was actually the force that helped Lightning at the end, right as she helped him. I love the relationship between the two of them, one of my favorites in the series.

Snow - I genuinely think that his role here was NEEDED for his character to go into. For two games, he's been the extreme positive force. A heart of gold and a brain of brick. Challenging this with the failure to protect the one person he loves the most, plus centuries of stagnation and trauma, pushes Snow in a way that I think was really important. I can't say I LOVED seeing him so despondent, but I do think it was the right play. Seeing him at his lowest, yet still coming out on top, and finally, FINALLY, being rewarded with time with Serah, Snow feels like he actually went through the challenge he needed to get the ending he deserved.

Fang - I actually really enjoyed Fang here, because for most of the game, it was between Fang and Lightning. I will say, Vanille is not one of my favorite characters. At all; and unfortunately, Fang's primary character trait is that she is completely devoted to the one person she loves (you CANNOT tell me that this shit isn't romantic), Vanille. This is a good character trait, I just don't care for how it's aimed. But being able to enjoy Fang and Lightning's friendship, as well as Fang starting that fire of rebellion that I loved in XIII, it made me happy. I don't understand your crush girl but go off

Vanille - Going off that point; I understand Vanille. I really do. She feels like she did a lot of pain and wants to make up for it. I just... I can't. I dunno. The vibes are off for me. I think I could have appreciated a little more insight or explanation on WHY she has the power to hear the dead, and How Exactly she's going to save them and not kill them.

Sazh and Dajh - Once again thrown to the sidelines?????? Like, ok. I get it. Compared to the fighters, the ancient warriors, Sazh and his son are pretty much civilians! So in that way, I get it, they get the easy life compared to everyone else. But to see Dajh reduced to a plot point yet again upsets me. I want to see some growth for these guys, cause they deserve it. I even feel that Sazh got snubbed in the ending cause he didn't even get to appear alongside his own Eidolon like everyone else did. I love these two, and I love seeing them happy, but... gimme a little more, man.

Odin - Can I just say, it is SO funny that fucking Odin, classic FF summon, insta-killing warrior, majestic horse transformer, reincarnated into a chocobo? Hilarious. I do love that narrative of him being by Lightning's side, though. I think it could have been strengthened back in XIII-2, but it's still nice.

Noel - This poor fucking guy dude. Living with centuries of failure and loss. He never got a chance to really enjoy and be happy; it made me so sad to see him in the place he was in, and to have that fight against him. I am incredibly glad that he finally got to have an ending with Yeul; it feels like he really got what he deserved after all his torment.

Yeul - I still think she's more of a plot device than a character, but I did really appreciate that LR completed what she is on top of giving more explanation onto Chaos. Chaos is souls, and since every Yeul is intertwined, constantly dying at a young age, all being the same, yet all being different, that's A LOT of soul juice that congeals yet contradicts each other. The reveal that the Yeuls Are Chaos was literally the one thing I needed that completely solidified all the confusion I had from the last game, and how that turned into keeping Caius around, and them entering Etro's place in the new world, made complete sense. Sure, the Yeuls might not be a character, but they're a very VERY cool world aspect. Also they let the last one be with Noel :))))))))))

Caius - He remains an incredibly cool character. LR might not add much to him, but it doesn't ruin him in the slightest. He's still completely devoted to all of the Yeuls, and their wants affect his very being. Him becoming essentially the lord of death was a very cool ending, simply because it means he still reached the only goal he ever wanted. I love Caius, man.

Lumina - She's.... confusing. I didn't understand at a single point what her deal was, and honestly I still don't think I do, but that might just be me being stupid and not literate enough. Why was she summoning cyclops, why did she break Lightning's sword, why did she cause chaos. Just for funny? I guess? Other than that though, I do think the concept of her character was cool. The part of Lightning's soul removed from her; not only is it the part that had Serah, but it's her childhood self, her childhood emotions that she pushed away. The reveal that Lumina is Claire, and not Serah, was a huge one, and I think it was honestly foreshadowed in the fact that Lumina's eyes look more like Lightning's than they do Serah's. Wait, I'm just realizing it now, was she just fucking around cause she was a kid? That makes a lot more sense actually. Anyways, I think I would have liked a little more overt acknowledgement to her appearance. Give me one verbal "why do you look like that". I also enjoyed the bits where she was actually shown to care, like in Sazh's story.

Bhunivelze - God Himself. The biggest ASS that ever lived. What a douche. I think my favorite part about Bhunivelze was the consistency of the fact that he can't do emotions. It was shown in Hope's voice acting and lack of feeling, it was shown in the one part of Lightning that he took away; and it was his ultimate downfall, when that bit of Hope reversed on him, and made him feel shit he cannot comprehend. It's cool to see something so consistent in a character like this. He also serves as your typical JRPG "church bad" archetype, God only cares about his followers and nothing else, which does give me a bit of schadenfreude, shitty as it is. He is willing to lie and manipulate to get his way and get around what he cannot do. Very cool antagonist. Not the best, but very cool.

The game's just a nice tale ender for everyone (except for like, maybe I could have used an extra moment or two with real Serah). It serves as a good celebration of the trilogy, bringing everyone back in some form. Hell, even Cid came back, even if he was just a bunch of souls in a Cid costume.

Day 4: World

I should have mentioned this sooner, but whatever. The world that the game takes place in, Nova Chrysalia, is SUCH a cool concept???? Like, with the gameplay being what it is, if they just separated the story/characters, the world being super unique could absolutely make this game stand on its own. It's the remains of the normal world mashed together with the realm of death. Since the realm of death is also related to time, and it's broken, people Don't Age. Also, since the goddess of death, who deals with reincarnation, is dead, people can't be born. This world is the perfect stagnation that makes the setting of finite time until the end work. It makes systems like the Last Ones work. It's just super cool. It's split up into 4 zones, each having a sort of unique mechanic. You got Luxerion, the holy city and the capital, with a really cool gothic and checkerboard aesthetic spread around; you got Yusnaan, the city of "we're gonna party til we die (think Eulmore from XIV)", that completely changes vibes at night, as well as having a cool coliseum, and a bunch of for flavor restaurants; there's the Wildlands, that serves as that kind of Archylte Steppe-like big area, and is the only place with a chocobo for you to ride; and then finally the Dead Dunes, a big desert with a ruin underneath it. They're all very unique feeling, and I don't feel bored, especially moving between all of them. I think the Dead Dunes are my favorite zone, simply because you get to slide down the sand and it's really really fun. Yusnaan is probably second.

I think the one gripe I have is that the game needs to sell you a little more on the fact that everyone has been exactly the same for like 500 years. I don't know why, but it just feels like it needs a little more fuel in that department to fully immerse me in it. Maybe some more stagnation or apathetic feelings. There was a quest with a girl selling her tears that I think did this right, give me more of that. Also, uh, with this all said:

Day 5: This Is Just Majora's Mask

Hi yeah let's make a game about the end of the world. We're gonna give it a time limit. We're gonna split the world into 4 sections. The game is mainly going to be focused on side quests where you help the people of the world reach their final wishes, and some of them will be based on time of day. Not to mention, in the final dungeon, we're going to let the player either go straight to the final boss, OR they can do 4 mini trials that give them a super powered upgrade right before the final boss.

I could put some of these separately as a coincidence but I'm gonna be real that final dungeon solidified something to me: something's off. There HAS to be inspiration here lmao (none of this affected my enjoyment it's just really really funny)

Day 6: Music

As usual, the music is fucking phenomenal. It's beautiful, it rocks, it's terrifying, it's amazing. Lightning Returns might have one of the Best final boss themes in the entire series and nobody knows cause it's the weird last entry in a trilogy people hated.

I have. One flaw though. I don't... really like how previous battle themes were used as normal battle themes, cause it feels like it takes away the impact. I was walking through the Wildlands at night, when I ran into a Dryad, and suddenly Desperate Struggle starts playing. I think "oh fuck I just ran into a mini boss" and I thought I was right when this dude started doing massive damage and summoned a bunch of clones. Then I ran into a slug and the same song played. I'm not sad to hear those songs because the XIII trilogy does not miss at a single point, but it makes me sad when they all have the same meaning. I'm also really upset since Worlds Collide doesn't ever get to get to the good part since all the Hoplites are dead before it gets going

Day 7: Graphics

XIII's sauce remains. The game still looks good, and they solved that weird facial expression thing that XIII-2 had. I love the consistent checkerboard aesthetic that the Chaos has, spread throughout the game. Also, that fucking final boss battle? Holy shit. Beautiful. How the floor turns into Bhunivelze's fucking robe??????? That's so cool. The final prerendered cutscene was absolutely peak.

just gonna sleep in the inn for a bit now to get to

Day 13: 0 Days Until The End

Lightning Returns is a game in a weird place. I definitely do not think it deserves the reviews it got; I think that is a result of a time mechanic people didn't really give time (lol), as well as being the 3rd entry in a trilogy where people Did Not care for its first entry, but it really doesn't deserve to be one of the lowest rated FF games.

It could honestly work as its own game. You remove all the actual FF bits, and you have a wonderful standalone action JRPG. But in the same vein, it really Only works as a finale to the XIII series. The story, the characters, and even the evolution of gameplay, it only works/it's at its strongest when you've played the previous games. It wraps up bits from XIII-2 in a way that it feels like it was MADE for doing that.

When I started the game, I wasn't vibing with it. You need to give it time. You need to understand it, and know what it offers and how it works to really appreciate it, it's not going to be instant. Although, towards the end of my playthrough, it was getting a little grindy cause I really frontloaded my experience, not really knowing how much content I had, and in how much space. Especially with the NG+ feature, I imagine this game goes hard on your 2nd-on playthroughs. I'd love to see a speedrun or a fully optimized playthrough, that's GOTTA be sick.

7/10. A bit of an awkward experience in places, but in the end a fun, unique experience that also serves as a nice ending to an overhated trilogy. It's also Majora's Mask. Bhunivelze's Savior.

#final fantasy #final fantasy xiii #lightning returns #tumblrshape #games i beat in 2024 #jared's game ramblings

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