#I’d kill to see this trio come about

[forgetful-nerd]

The real reason we’ll never get another Turtles Forever is because if these three met then they would absolutely destroy everything in their paths.

Also they’d verbally eradicate any villain’s self esteem in like 10 seconds.

[sukunas-wife]

you could do something where sukuna and yuji team up to protect their mom/wife when a person is bothering or harassing her, they love her so much that they won't let someone hurt her 🥹💗

Leave Mama Kuna alone 😔

Old Day, because no one was brave enough to confront Sukuna for murder.

Warnings? Murder, in red text a man attempted to force himself on reader, Gore, Blood

It didn't take much to upset Sukuna, he was always looking for a reason to snap at someone and end a life. Sadly his son Yuji was a cock block for murder, and it irked him that he basically had to shake and rile his son up to get angry and then he’d just flat line and “but why don’t we-“ They didn’t agree to often on why a man should die- but in this case they were all agreeing. “Get him daddy!” Yuji yelled, pointing his chubby finger at a man maybe in his early Twenties who had been talking to you while you were trying to pick out Snacks for Yuji. He had wandered off after passing a candy stand and usually you’d send a maid or help to get the necessities but today you wanted to take Yuji out to walk and play and hopefully learn some self preservation, Sukuna, well he was feared and he just wanted to come along to make sure no idiot would try to disrespect you. “Listen, I’m just trying to get some things for my son. Leave while you still can and maybe my husband will let you live.” You smiled nodding at the man who scoffed “Your husband? What is he? a Mercenary? What’s he gonna do to kill me? That’s probably a lie you probably don’t even have a so-” you sighed turning away when Sukuna lifted the man by the neck with one hand twisting him around to face him, “No, I’m your God,” his stare darkened “but I’m not so merciful.” There stood Yuji by his dads leg, “Yeah! You deserve no mercy! That’s my mom you were disrespecting!… Idiot!” You tried not to laugh at Yuji’s extra words and went back to paying the scared vendor for the snacks you had picked out. By the time you looked back the guy was laid out on the floor bloody and probably just barely clinging to life, head being pressed into the dirt being grinded on by Sukuna’s large foot. Yuji was swinging away on his ribs and stomach, for a 7 year old his hits were surprisingly solid.

As the day progressed you had managed to convince Sukuna to have lunch despite the fact he didn’t eat human food. But he watched as Yuji sat beside him slurping away at noodles and his rice topped with diced meat, “Boy’s more human than curse.” Was all Sukuna said when Yuji looked up at him, noodles hanging out his mouth before he slurped them up smiling. “Daddy I gotta Pee.” Sukuna sighed standing up out of the booth, “then go.” “…go with me?” Yuji looked up at his dead with pleading eyes before Sukuna groaned and motioned for him to go, “Fine.” Sukuna was waiting outside the bathroom when he heard a trio, two men and one woman. “That's her isn’t it? She’s the Deity at the Shrine house isn’t she?” One man asked the girl. She just shrugged, “Yeah but I don’t see what’s so special about her? So she had some big curses kid, her body’s probably trashed or something.” “Shut up Kaguya, you're probably just jealous, any man would give anything to lay that woman in their bed. If I had a chance I’d get her pregnant too, look at her, I’d do anything to pull her robes off.” The second guy spoke up, “That’s sick man, she has a husband and kid, Yeah she’s pretty but she’s literally a deity, have some respect.” Kaguya interrupted “She’s probably a slut and maid who just had sex with him and got lucky she got pregnant, she’d probably spread her legs for anyone if they offered a comfortable lif-“ Sukuna’s hands were bloody, in a matter of seconds he had ripped th hearts out of the first man and the girls chest. It hadn't been processed as they managed to look up his blood covered hands. The smirk on his face was sinister and became worse when the second man looked up at him in fear, struggling to scream. He shoved the man’s friend's heart into his mouth like a gag, leaning down with a threatening voice “You’d do best to keep your mouth shut.”

Yuji and you had wandered off from Sukuna when he became surrounded by people bearing gifts to honour him. He was annoyed and even more when he turned to realise both you and Yuji had left his side. You were taking Yuji with you to the shrine house the people had built for you. The eunuchs at the entrance greeted you, stopping to ask if Yuji would be entering with you, which caused him to hold onto the side of your robes and sleeve, you put your hand on his shoulder comforting him, “Yes, this is my son after all.” Entering the shrine, you made your way all the way to the back where you would sit and wait before the doors would open to the public. Yuji was walking around the room looking around until he stopped. You had a wall where all the drawings he’d ever given you while leaving the palace had been framed because “I don wan you to forget me” A young girl came into the room shocked that Yuji was there until you cleared your throat, “oh! Forgive me Lady Y/n, I didn’t know you would be here today.” You waved a hand of dismissal. “I didn’t expect to be here either, but I thought Yuji,” you looked at him, he was staring at the girl in the door, slowly walking to you, his eyes never left her face. He looked serious, a face his dad often wore when something was wrong and he was watching it play out or when he was lost in thought. He turned away from you leaning against your lap standing between you and the girl. “Who the hell is she?” He sounded like a younger version of his dad with his demanding tone and dead stare, his curse word caught you off guard. You tried to form words stopping when you couldn’t, “she’s a servant who works here Yu, what’s wrong?” You leaned trying to get a look at his face, but he wouldn’t turn to look at you, he had his target. The girl became uncomfortable under his stare, “well, him Lady y/n there was an expecting mother who came by begging for a miracle.. the details shouldn’t be explained in front of such a young boy or boy at all really but-“ you held up your hand silencing her. “Bring her into the main room. I'll be out in a minute. I just need to make sure Yuji will be okay here for a few minutes.” She bowed, closing the door, Yuji turned to look at you and he seemed visibly at ease, “Yu.. what’s wrong?” He looked at the door, “She’s funny.. in a bad way..” you didn’t know how to answer. “Alright, I’ll remember that then.” You stood up, setting him on your chair and kneeling in front of him, “Will you be okay here? Alone for a short bit?” He shook his head no while kicking his feet, “Don’t leave me.”

That’s how you ended up with Yuji following quietly behind you when you made your way through the hallways to the main room. He got distracted stopping for a moment to look at a picture, the end of the hallway split two ways. There was a painting of Sukuna holding newborn Yuji, he looked so serious in the painting, when you told Sukuna you wanted it for your shrine he refused to smile saying it wouldn’t look good in the public eye or something along those words. Yuji was pulled out of his day dream when he heard you scream, he ran trying to find you. He froze seeing a man cornering you in the hallway, you were fighting him off the best you could but you couldn’t only do so much against a half curse half man that was attempting to measure up to Sukuna. He was far off from even touching the hem of Ryomen’s robes, but he was an entitled arrogant bastard. When the servant girl came, Yuji saw how she smiled at the scene. Yuji ran in blind, jumping and climbing the man’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck and biting into his shoulder. The man screamed and tried to pull Yuji free. He couldn’t do it alone so the servant girl tried, you fought harder when you saw how she was shaking him around. You broke free from the man's grip pulling Yuji free from her before rushing screaming for Sukuna, all the eunuchs wouldn’t be able to help you. The man grabbed your robes and Yuji fell from your arms, he watched his man lift you by the front of your robes and your hands, nails were digging into his wrist.

Why don’t you use your technique mom!? DO SOMETHING! dads not he- “Domain Expansion” the room went black, there was the sound of a drip and everything was dark, it felt hard to breathe, “Cleave.” Your eyes widened before you shoved the man off of you. You heard the squelch and thud of a body, and the crashing and cracking of the walls to your shrine being torn apart. Turning to look you saw Yuji, his hand sign was opposite his fathers, but he looked livid. His face was covered in markings mirroring his fathers more human form. You wanted to say something, but you turned to the gaping wall. The Cursed man was laying in the dusty street, he was sliced deeply but not fatally. The servant didn’t stand a chance. She was sliced finely for betrayal. Watching a crowd gather you pulled Yuji with you to see if the cursed man was alive. He was laying there, unfocused, he saw you and yelled “ILL FUCKING KILL YOU AND YOUR DAMN CHILD I AM THE ONE DESTINED FOR GREAT I WILL BE THE KING OF CURSES YOU BOTH WILL DIE AT MY HANDS,” before forcing himself up, chest, arms, and waist crossed with deep gashes.

He tried to lift his hands only to realise they weren’t there, his arms were gone. Yuji was mad that a man would try to take advantage of his mother, but as long as his father wasn’t there he would be there, but for now, a low chuckled rumbled behind the man, “You’ll need your hands to even think about laying them on my wife and son.” Sukuna wrapped his arm around the man from behind, large hand squeezing his neck, a low grumble, “You aren’t strong, you’re a fool and your brain is a pile of shit. You deserve only the worst death, but I’m having a little fun here so I’ll make this slow and painful.” Uraume approached Sukuna holding out his staff. Sukuna stabbed it into the ground piercing the man on the pointed edges, letting him sink down until it pierced through his chest. There the cursed man screamed and no matter how much he squirmed and begged for mercy Sukuna would push him down further. The man begged for mercy, for him to stop, “Did you listen to my wife when she asked you to stop?” He took the man’s jaw in his hand forcing him to look up at him, the pressure slowly fracturing his jaw as he shook his head no trying to profusely apologise. Sukunas nails dug into his face before he let go, “Did you have mercy on my wife when you grabbed her like this?” His large hand crushed the man's throat, nails digging into his skin, blood flowing, “WHEN MY WIFE TRIED TO PUSH YOU AWAY DID YOU WALK AWAY? NO YOU TRIED TO TOUCH HER LIKE THIS.” Sukuna placed his hand on the man’s chest, “dishonourable actions will be paid for with blood.” The crowd was watching when Sukuna drove his hand into the man’s chest squeezing his heart in his chest, the man screamed and gurgled as he spat up blood. Sukuna ripped out his heart throwing it on the ground and ripping off his head crushing his skull in his head, “Let this be a warning to every human in the vicinity, in this city in the existence of this time, that any man or woman who would act to lift a hand against my child or wife, your blood will be spilled to atone your sins.”

The crowd quickly cleared out and Sukuna turned to you, Yuji still had the markings on his face, his eyes were red. Sukuna nodded, holding an arm out to you. Pushing Yuji ahead of you, you started to tear up, hugging your husband’s side. Yuji was hugging your side. “Ryo-“ he shushed you using a hand to press your face against his chest. Burying your face against his hot skin your body wanted to tremble while you cried into the comforting of your husband but his presence was reassuring as surprising as it might sound. He rubbed his warm hand up and down your back “I’m here now.” He rested his chin on top of your head, he looked down at Yuji pulling him into his other side ruffling his hair. “You did good kid.” Yuji still looked serious before he leaned into his dads side with a slight smile. He went over to hug you, you took hold of him and he didn’t let go until you stopped sniffling. He smiled up at you, puffy eyes and red cheeks, Sukuna snickered, pinching your cheek making a joke, Yuji’s bright smile didn’t falter, “I still think you’re pretty.” Your sudden laugh made your husband and son laugh. Kneeling down you pinched both of Yuji’s cheeks lightly as he laughed, before cupping his face in both hands bringing him close to kiss both of cheeks and forehead calling him “My Little Protector.” He smiled with pride before you got up smiling at Sukuna, he sides eyed you before sighing leaning to the side giving you his face, “and my big hero.” Cupping his face you brought him into a kiss and he smirked against your lips when Yuji let out a loud “eeeewwww”

“Cmon Yu,” you held your hand out to him and he took it happily walking while holding your hand, “I’ll be stronger next time!”

Tag:

@sakuxxi @mercymccann @simpforyoubitch @certainduckanchor @domainofmarie @najiiix @bakugou-katsukis-wife @amitiel-truth @souyasplushie @mylovelessnightmare @sad-darksoul @cyder-puff @satorisgirl l @bontensbabygirl @lupita97lm @queen-luna-007 7

[jreads]

Not sure if this is where we submit requests, but i’d kill for a fic where reader’s having debilitating anxiety attack in Jackson (like where your vision blacks at the edges and you can’t breathe) and suddenly a strong force is keeping you up and you look up and it’s Joel; and he’s concerned bc he relates (but you don’t know each other) and you take a fistful of his shirt and suddenly they feel the symptoms retreating - and that’s how you meet, and you’ve found comfort in each other since. :’)

Sorry if that made no sense it’s word vomit LOL

Also sidebar: unexpected constellations will stay w me forever thank you:’)

Of Memories and Mealtimes (Joel Miller x F!Reader)

Word count: 2.5K

Warnings: Mentions of blood, Mentions of anxiety and panic attacks, Mentions of death, Foul language

A/N: this prompt was so cute, I hope I did it justice!

It’s been getting colder recently. No snow, not yet, but the breeze has a certain nip to it, blowing burnt orange leaves to rest on the ground like a natural carpet. The days are grey, and the nights are long, and that creeping feeling has been looming ever closer recently. You’ve found solace in the comfort of the kitchen. The air here is warm and humid and smells of frying garlic and onion. You perform repetitive, menial tasks and it staves off—to some extent—the ever-present penetrating feeling of loneliness. 

Since arriving in Jackson, you’ve struggled to find a place, a sense of belonging. You’re coming to the conclusion that maybe you never will. You thought you had one… but that was a while ago. 

It’s selfish to think you’re the only one in this town with a painful past; it’s clear that everyone is trying just as hard to find reasons to get through each day. You’re not alone. But you do feel like it. Often.

Maria has taken pity on you, stationing you in the kitchens because she knows you like it there. Knows you like to watch the people sitting at tables and soak up sounds of laughter in an attempt to steal a moment of second-hand happiness.

It’s late now, pitch black outside, and your shift is almost over. You’re cutting fruits and veggies for omelettes in the morning: spinach, olives, tomatoes. There are maybe five people still sitting, a table of three, one woman at a booth, and a man sitting alone at the bar. Sometimes, you like to eavesdrop.

The trio are talking about their old lives. They seem to have found something in common, street racing. Moding their cars, evading the cops… back when you could just drive into a gas station for petrol.  One used to have an old Charger, stolen in the looting. He reminisces over how the purr of the engine felt, how the lights of the highway would turn to a blur as he accelerated. From the corner of your eye, you see the man from the bar get up to leave, dropping some coin on the counter. You used to like to drive fast too. When it was for leisure and not for survival.

“I’m scared.”

The familiar voice sears through you like a branding iron, bringing with it flashing images of memory. Fuck. No, no, no. Not now. 

The freeway is peppered with stationary cars, and you’re swerving, as fast as humanly possible, trying desperately to navigate the mess. The Jeep behind you is gaining, and the little boy in your passenger seat is rigid in fear. If you can just make it through the overpass, it clears out after that. Their car is good offroad, but yours is faster. You upshift.

There’s gunfire, and your rear window shatters. He screams. You use your right hand to push his head down. He needs to stay low. You’re almost there.

Another gunshot. You try to ignore the popping of the rear tire; try not to think about what it means. The vehicle swerves and you fight against it by correcting the wheel. It’s no use. You clip the side of an abandoned car, and your own flips. You’re thrown through the windscreen. It’s the last thing you remember before your vision goes dark.

There’s pain. But not from the onslaught of old memories. You’ve slipped with the knife in your distraction, cutting a deep line into the side of your thumb. It’s dripping down, coating your fingers in a slick red. Your heart is pounding out of your chest, lungs constricting so hard you can barely get a breath in.

“Could I take five?” you manage to gasp to the other lady. But you don’t even wait for her reply before dropping the knife with a clatter and banging gracelessly through the back service doors. Your vision is blurring, darkening at the edges and your head is spinning. It feels as if you might die. You’re going to die.

Your hand is now coated in blood and—with little thought—you try to brush it off with your right, only succeeding in spreading the scarlet until it’s all you can see.

You wake in a ravine. How long have you been out? There’s pain in your cheek and you reach up to pluck a piece of glass from it. The crash. The kid. Oh, no. Oh, god. You call his name, voice hoarse. No reply. Your legs are too weak to support the weight of your own body, so you scramble up from the ditch, back onto the freeway. The car lies a few meters away on its side. Scraped and destoyed. And beyond it, a small body. No.

You crawl to him, sobbing at the bones bent in unnatural angles. And the bullet wound through his chest. You scream. You wail. His lifeless form is so small in your arms, leaking blood over your palms. You were supposed to protect him. You were supposed to—

His body is going cold. Limp and lifeless. But you can’t let go. Maybe, if you just hold on tight enough, the force of your love can breathe life back into his lungs.

You’re covered in his bood, figuratively, literally, it’s everywhere. Stumbling as if you’re drunk, you cry so hard that the tears only blur your vision further. It’s been a while since you’ve had one this bad. If you could just get back to your house. God, why did it have to happen in public? You can’t see where you’re going, so it’s no surprise when you run into something.

No, someone. There are hands on your shoulders and a comforting voice, gravelly Texan accent. What is he saying? You can’t tell. You’re going to be sick.

Something blocks out the lights of the streetlamp. There’s a body beside you.

A fragile body, broken and empty. Leaking life onto cracked pavement.

No, but this body is warm. Strong and gentle. A calloused palm cradling your head into a broad chest, a steady heartbeat. Alive. This body is alive. You clutch onto the fabric of his shirt with desperate hands, forgetting for a moment that your own blood will stain the fabric. He’s speaking words, low whispers, but the sound of them vibrates through him and into you. He’s telling you to calm down.

But you can’t. How do you tell him you can’t? You’re choking on air, hiccupping in a way that hurts.

“Come on now, breathe with me.” He smells nice, like cedar and whiskey. You can feel him smoothing circles onto your back, the rise and fall of his chest as he inhales and exhales. You try to copy him, lungs spasming with the effort. “That’s it. Keep going.” You’re heaving loud, ugly, uneven breaths, but it’s all you can manage. Past and present are flashing before you, your own blood, someone else’s, unseeing eyes and dead silence, a thumping pulse and soothing voice. It’s getting easier; you’re synchronizing your breaths to his own. But as you lean into the comedown, that exhaustion starts to creep up behind you. You melt into him in relief, but he doesn’t shy away. “There you go. I got you.”

Pieces of your surroundings start to fade back into view. You’re under the awning by the barn, shrouded in shadow. He’s practically holding you up by himself, and you feel a sudden deep stab of embarrassment. You can’t look this stranger in the eyes.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble into his shirt.

He doesn’t loosen his hold. “You got nothing to apologize for.”

“Probably got… blood on your shirt.” It’s taking effort to even form the words.

He laughs lightly and the sound is like warm caramel. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

The nausea is ebbing, but you find you don’t want to leave. Caught in his arms, you feel the safest you’ve felt in a long while.

“You should probably get that finger bandaged.” He steps away, pulling your arm into the light to examine the cut and you almost sob once more at the loss of contact. “I got supplies back at my place, if that’s alright by you?”

“Okay,” you say because you feel too weak to walk back to your own house alone right now. And also because in the glow of the streetlamp, you can see the rugged handsomeness of his face, etched with sweet worry, dark curls interspersed with shots of grey. You’ve seen him before. The man at the bar, so often alone. 

You’re shaking now, visceral, wracking shudders. He sheds his coat and swings it over your shoulders before leading you down the laneway.

His house is not far, a five-minute walk at most. He ushers you up the front porch, opening the door to a dim-lit living area.

“Joel?” A shrill voice calls down from above. 

Joel Miller? This is Joel Miller?

“Yeah Ellie, it’s me.”

A little girl comes bounding down the stairs, dark hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. She stops dead when she sees you, noting the jacket around your shoulders, the blood on your hand.

“What happened?” she says, with a kind of fascinated wonder that comes naturally to kids. Oh god, she reminds you of—

“Kitchen accident.” Joel replies smoothly. “You mind getting the med kit, kiddo?”

Her big eyes blink once, twice. “Oh, yeah.” Then she’s running right back up the staircase.

Joel sits you on the couch, grasping your wrist with a tender motion so at odds with all the things you’ve heard about him. Then again, you never knew he had a kid.

“Is she yours?”

He doesn’t look up from your palm. “In the ways that count.”

The girl, Ellie, is back down in record time with a worn first aid kit that she extends to Joel. When he takes it, she looks again at you with blatant curiosity. You feel guilty for barging into the warmth of their home like this.

“Ellie, why don’t you go boil some water for coffee.”

“Can I have hot chocolate?” she asks, and the hopeful joy in her voice is enough to finally make you smile.

Joel does too. “Sure.” And she’s off once more, rounding the corner to where you assume the kitchen lies. “But don’t go putting extra sugar in it,” he calls after her. The soft domesticity makes you ache with loss.

“Well, good news is you won’t be needing stiches.” He pulls an array of supplies from the box: disinfectant, gauze, a bandage. “But you should tell Maria to take you off kitchen schedule for a couple days.”

“How’d you know I was on kitchen schedule?” 

“Lucky guess,” he replies easily, but you swear there’s pink travelling across his cheeks. 

The disinfectant stings and you hiss. He falls into silent work, and you find yourself watching him, trying to understand how the man in front of you is the very same that garnered such a ruthless and cold reputation. 

He breaks the silence first. “I don’t mean to pry but…” Joel fastens the bandage securely around your finger. “…if you want to talk about what happened…”

You don’t. Not now, maybe not ever.

When you don’t reply, he nods his head. “I get it.” You watch him cast a glance toward the sound of a boiling kettle, to where Ellie is. “Trust me, I do.” 

You sit with him and Ellie—quiet with a warm cup of coffee—until late into the night. Ellie makes a face at the smell of it and quips back and forth with Joel about how he can ‘drink that piss.’ The girl has a mouth on her. She’s clever, sharp-witted, and the banter between her and him seems to dig a needle and thread into your gaping heart and sew one single stitch into it.

Past midnight, despite your repeated refusal, Joel insists he walk you home. Seeing your own house, cold and devoid of light makes your shoulders slump and heart race anew. Joel seems to note the behaviour.

“You’re always welcome at ours.” You know you’ll never take him up on the invitation. From the sadness in his eyes, you think he knows it too.

There are miles between you. “Thank you.” He only nods. You leave him standing on the lawn.

From behind the safety of the porch window, you can see that he waits for the light to turn on in your living room before walking back down the street.

Maria has insisted you take a few days off. Damn it. Joel must have said something. You try to busy yourself in the garden instead, but the gloves fit awkwardly over your bandage. You don’t last long anyway. The sound of school children heading home hits your ears around 3:00PM, and within minutes, a small shadow blocks where the sun hits your face.

“What’re you doing?”

Just seeing her face is enough to put a small smile on your own. “I’m planting basil.”

“What’s basil?”

You laugh. Actually laugh. “You want to try some?” You offer her a leaf and she chews it thoughtfully. Gives it an approving face. A thumbs up.

“You should bring some for Joel.” The forwardness of her suggestion is almost shocking, but she seems like the type of kid who says whatever comes to mind. You like that about her. “His cooking is pretty bland.”

Two laughs in one day. This kid is like medicine. “You think so?”

“Mhm. You could come over now. I think he’s on patrol, but he’ll be back soon.”

You think about turning her down, just on reflex. But you like how it feels to laugh, just the way you liked how you had felt in Joel’s arms the other night. So you agree. Her smile is brilliant. 

Minutes later, when she loops her arm through your own, she says, “Hey but don’t tell Joel what I said about his cooking, okay?”

You promise.

Around 7:00PM, he comes through the door, a weary sigh giving him away. “Ellie,” he calls.

“In here!” She’s excited. You’ve prepared a meal: pasta, sundried tomatoes, and the basil plucked from the garden. She’s been picking at the penne with her fingers, unable to wait until he arrives.

Seeing the surprised look on his face when he rounds the corner makes you feel suddenly shy. “I wanted to do something to thank you for last night and, well… Ellie found me in the—”

“Joel, it’s so fucking good.” At this point the muscles in your face are starting to hurt from smiling. 

Over dinner, you actually start to engage in the conversation, and somehow you seem to get along like you’ve known each other for years. In tandem, they work to bring you out of your shell. Your voice is hoarse and face warm by the time you go to leave, but Joel stops you at the door.

“Let me walk you back again.” Your selfish streak is only getting worse. You say yes. You think you see Ellie’s face in the top window as the two of you leave, a devious grin on her face.

Conversation flows on the way, about food, wine, Ellie. It’s comfortable, familiar, but there’s something… 

A yearning, buried under layers of friendly formality. He walks you up your porch and you think, for just a moment, about inviting him inside.

But you’re not quite ready for that just yet. So, you rise up to kiss him on the cheek instead, relishing the stunned look on his face.

Shy again, you back away across the threshold. “Good night, Joel.”

He says it back, and the way your name rolls of his tongue ignites something long dormant within you. You think he might be looking at your lips.

When the door closes, you let out a shuddering breath. And for what seems like the thousandth time that night, you smile.

[milkywaydrabbles]

If it's quite alright with you, I would like to request Castlevania's Alucard with a female s/o who helped take dracula down. I imagine she takes Grant's place from the videogame,(they never adapted him in the anime 😔).

Love to see Alucard with a bossy, mischievous girl boss.

A/N: Hello aaa thank you for the request!! I had to do some background checking on Grant since I didn't actually play the games (fake fan fr) so I hope this sounds okay! I rewrote this like 4 times because I didn't know if HCs or a full drabble would be better ;A;

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this! It was fun writing a S/O like this!

TW: none!

Alucard with a sassy S/O ☼Oh, she was bossy alright. After the curse was lifted and she realized she had supernatural powers that never went away after being turned back to human from that demonic form (don’t ever ask her how that came to be, she’ll just shrug. How do you even explain that?) she felt more invigorated to go and fight Dracula, completely ignoring the three that saved her life. ☼“A thank you would be nice” Trevor would grumble, and she’d turn around with a taunting smirk. “I would say thank you if it weren’t for the fact you almost killed me along the way.” Was her retort, and before Belmont and company could even speak she marched her way along to the castle. “Are you coming?” she questioned ☼If y’all thought the trio was fun with their bickering you should see the way she gangs up on Trevor with Alucard! But only when Sypha wasn’t around, she had to maintain an image around the woman (that she wasn’t just as childish as the boys were, liar.) ☼“Come on Belmont, don’t listen to Alucard. I think your whip is cool. Just...not as cool as the magical sword that floats around him all the time.” She’d throw a wink at the Dhampir, who couldn’t help but blush up his neck and cough into his hand to cover up his embarrassment.  ☼Turns out, she was actually super helpful in the fight against the night creatures that crawled around Dracula’s castle, along with the vampire generals. Effortlessly jumping from wall to wall, slicing through skin and cracking bone with superhuman strength and a dagger, she really did help clear the way to Dracula for them to finish the job. ☼With all said and done, Trevor and Sypha packed up to leave, Alucard assumed you’d be going with them. ☼Imagine everyone’s shock when you shyly looked down at your scuffed boots and asked if it would ‘be alright if I stayed around. I quite like it here with you’.  ☼The teasing that would ensue from the nomadic duo would be endless until they finally left.  ☼Fast forward after defeating Death, and village Belmont being established (she still calls his Village Treffy) she’s just as fiery as she was in the beginning. The only difference is the outward love and affection she shows Alucard. And if anyone said anything about it, she’d simply flick them off with a middle finger. ☼Sometimes though, that didn’t work out the best in her favor, and would come home with cuts and bruises.

“My love, please don’t think you have to fight for my honor or something ridiculous like that.” Alucard would sigh, lightly dabbing at the cut above her eyebrow, apologizing silently when she winced. “Adrian, how am I supposed to let it go when they have something awful to say about you? You let them live on your land, build them a village, saved them from Danesti. And they have the nerve to insult you for being half vampire!” You got too animated, clutching your head where the blow landed. Alucard clicked his tongue, continuing to care of the cuts and bruises. 

“Plus, if you think I look bad you should see the other guy.” She joked, flexing an arm that wasn’t currently being bandaged up. “You didn’t think I’d lose did you? I have to look cool for our nephew that's on the way!"

Oh, he was absolutely smitten with her.

[ickadori]

++ 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐗𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐆

[summary] forced to voice an embarrassing thought to keep from dying, shen does what he does best and comes to your bedside to tease you.

[cws] gn reader. minor spoilers for the UMA spoil fight. reader has a broken rib. unedited.

Maybe turning into a semi-mindless zombie wouldn’t be so bad - at least you wouldn’t have to worry about doing a skin routine any more.

You also wouldn’t have to shout out your hopes and dreams and completely embarrass yourself in front of the trio.

67 seconds.

You sigh to yourself, arms crossed over your chest as you listen to Shen’s dream —a very grandiose one at that, but a part of you feels as if there’s a small possibility of it happening…or maybe that’s just your bias talking—, and three sets of eyes turn to you, waiting.

“Oh,” you start, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed at the attention. “I…I think I’m just gonna let the timer run out, guys. Don’t worry about me. Carry on.” You wave them off.

“Stop fuckin’ around, this isn’t a game.” Andy snaps, and you shoot him an annoyed look. The man that had come charging in with a rocket launcher, snagged a zombie-bride, and then proceeded to have the entirety of the zombie town participate in a brawl was telling you to stop fuckin’ around?

“Maybe you should try telling that to yourself, you half-dead per—” A head of blue hair is suddenly blocking your vision, and you blink as Shen crouches in front of you, his eyes trained on yours as he gives you a patient look.

“What’s going on?” His eyes flick between your steadily decreasing timer and your face. “Even if we kill Spoil, their ability won’t go away, you know. You’ll stay a zombie.”

“That’s fine,” you obstinately turn your nose up. “I’ve been thinking about switching up my look anywa—!” A scream is pulled from you when you’re suddenly snatched up into the air, and you look back to see Andy holding a fistful of your shirt, a maniacal grin on his face as he propels the both of you closer to spoil.

“You wanna be a zombie, eh? Then let me help speed up the process!” You recall how Andy had immediately spoiled when he got too close to the UMA, and a wave of panic washes over you as you’re forced to come face-to-face with your decision.

“W-Wait! I change my mind! Andy, I said—Andy!” He catapults you into the air, and you wonder for a brief second how the hell Fuuko could possibly get used to this.

Andy grins up at you, and your hands reach out for him as you go flying back down, only to be met with nothing as he cackles. “You know what to do if you don’t wanna die!”

Your gaze moves to Shen who’s watching on with a look of amusement, and your cheeks and ears burn as you slap your hands over your eyes.

Damn it all.

-

“I’ve gotta say, your dream is quite the lofty goal.”

You groan as you flip over in the infirmary’s bed. Not only had you been forced to shout your humiliating dream at the top of your lungs, but Andy had also failed to practice the same care and compassion he put into carrying Fuuko around, resulting in him breaking two of your ribs when his torso slammed into yours to keep you from going splat on the ground.

Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll go away - it’s wishful thinking, but it’s better than facing him after you loudly declared that your dream in life is to—

“I never saw myself getting married,” Shen muses, “but if it was to you…well, I don’t think I’d have too many complaints.” The heart monitor you’re hooked up to starts to beep wildly, and you make a noise of embarrassment before you’re hastily moving to pull the wires away from you.

You only manage to get one off before a pair of warm, strong hands are covering your own and pulling them down to rest in your lap, and your head snaps up to lock gazes with Shen, that signature smile ever present. “I hate you.”

“Yet you wanna marry me - you’re a strange one.” He breathes out a laugh, slightly leaning forward in his chair, and you go to turn your head only to find that you can’t.

“Shen, stop.”

“What?” You narrow your eyes at him, and he pouts before dropping his ability. “I don’t like when you hide that cute face of yours. Haven’t I told you that?” Yes, many times, and it’s only served in making you want to hide it even more to conceal your burning cheeks.

“Well, get used to not seeing it because I’m never showing it again once I get out of here.” You’ll go into hiding—put your ability to good use and vanish off the grid and lay low in the African jungles or something. You could live off the land; build a small house, start a garden, hunt for food, really just reconnect with nature while you waited for the world to end.

Yeah, that’ll do.

“Oh that won’t do,” Shen tsks as he shakes his head. “It won’t be much of a wedding if I can’t see your face.” The beeping goes haywire again, and you sputter as you shake your hands free from his grip.

“I-you-we’re not getting married!” The both of you hadn’t even kissed yet—you weren’t even in a relationship, not really! There was…something between the two of you, but with the possibility of being killed so high, no one was really eager to form such connections.

The idea of getting married to Shen had only come to you after hearing Andy announce that he was getting hitched, to a zombie of all things, and your mind had immediately conjured up images of you and Shen being the ones to tie the knot. It had been a silly thought, but your brain had latched onto it nonetheless in that instant.

“Yet.” He stresses, and then your hands are back in his, his fingers intertwining with yours. “We’ve got a lot of milestones to hit before we can finally tie the knot, after all.” He leans in a bit more, and your eyes widen as his flick down to your lips. “…I think now would be a good time to hit one of ‘em, don’t you?”

…you must have died. Andy hadn’t caught you at all and you had burst open on the ground - they were probably scooping your body parts up right now to give you a proper burial.

You must be in Heaven right now, and this is simply all just some kind of hallucination that God blessed the love-sick idiot with, and who were you to deny such a generous blessing?

“…yeah.”

His lips are soft against yours, incredibly soft, like pillows, and his scent wraps around you and squeezes you tight. You feel warm all over, and when one of his hands move to cup the side of your neck, you briefly wonder if you had went to Hell instead with how hot your skin burns.

His tongue runs along your bottom lip, prompting a gasp from you, and you feel him huff out a laugh through his nose before his tongue is making its way in. It’s rubs against yours, and then it’s running along the roof of your mouth and forcing you to abruptly pull back from the ticklish feeling.

The both of yours breathing is ragged, but that doesn’t stop either of you for going in again - the next kiss is messier, sloppier, chockfull of held back emotions that had been festering for months, and Shen curls an arm around your waist to tug you closer.

A sharp pain follows the action, and you wince through a groan as Shen immediately pulls back and moves his hand away from your side. “I’m sorry,” he pants, lips moving to press against your temple. “I got too caught up.”

“It’s okay.” So much for being in Heaven. “It’s just still really sore.” He hums, fingers softly tugging at the hospital gown you wear as his eyes take in your face. You take the chance to do the same, although you find your gaze focusing on his pink, puffy lips more than anything else.

They curve into a grin. “See something ya like?”

“No.” His fingers push into your cheeks.

“Your face is burning up. You sure you don’t see something you like? You positive? Maybe you want another kiss, huh?” He squishes your cheeks together, forcing your lips to pucker, and you make a noise of complaint before he’s pressing a quick kiss to your mouth. “And another, yeah?” He kisses you again, a loud, exaggerated ‘mwah’ sounding after, and you laugh as best you can with your cheeks squished together.

You don’t know if marriage is in the cards for you two, but even if it’s not, you think that just being with him as you are now is enough.

[lovelybrooke]

Hey I was wondering what everyone’s “roles” would be with the platonic strawhats especially with a reader who’s maybe the youngest? And as such their relationship with the reader- I could see the monster trio fighting over who’s gonna be the readers ‘big bro’ first while the girls are sat in the background already being called ‘big sis’.

In my perspective I’d say reader spends the most time with Luffy (of course), Chopper and maybe Ussopp. But I was wondering if jealousy would come into play and how the crew would work around it.

If the reader was younger, not a lot would change much. However, I do see you point on them fighting over your love and affection. In my mind, the reader would be around 5 to 12 years old.

Sanji would definitely be a mother hen, constantly making sure you're okay and eating enough. He doesn't care as much about being viewed as your big brother, he's happy if you're happy. I imagine that him and Chopper do that parent thing where they track your height using the door frames around the ship (IDK if that made sense or if only my parents did that). He would totally gush anytime you got taller only to instantly feel a sense of dread because that means you're growing up.

Zoro remains your bodyguard, just more teddy bear like. He doesn't carry his swords around you but keeps them in sight incase anything bad happens. If your younger, he'll let you play on him like he's a jungle gym. He pretends that he doesn't like it and you're annoying him, but secretly loves hearing you laugh as you're carried around on his back.

Usopp definitely wants to be your big brother. He tells you tall tales of his "adventures", feeling his heart sore at your look of awe at all the cool parts. He knows he's not the strongest, so him and Chopper are your "teachers" so to speak. They both try and teach you the best they can, while also making it fun so that you don't get bored. Usopp loves teaching you, since it causes you to view him as super smart and knowledgeable, and so you look up to him.

Like I mentioned, Chopper constantly worries about you. Any scrapes or bruises will not go unchecked, regardless of how small. Due to his anxiety, Chopper feels like any small thing could kill you, so he's constantly doing checkups. If you have the smallest discrepancy, he along with Sanji are forcing you to rest for the rest of the day. Although, he's likely to let you off the hook if you beg hard enough, since he doesn't want you to resent him as you get older.

Luffy is your designated playmate. Unlike the other, he doesn't care about being viewed as big sibling, he wants to be your best friend. He wants you to come to him whenever anything is wrong, and he doesn't like it when you hide things from him. While he won't force you, he'll definitely ground you if you refuse to talk to him about anything that's bothering you. He doesn't see any fault in this since he's so open, and believes that if you just talk, you'll get better. However, he's an amazing friend, sneaking you snacks when Sanji said you'd had enough, he plays games with you when everyone else it too tired too, and even gets you a new toy every time they visit a new island.

Robin is your big sister, not doubt. She's stricter that the others but isn't terrible. She makes sure you wake up and go to sleep at the right time. She forces you to eat all the healthy food you hate and will sometimes even give you chores if she thinks you been misbehaving too much. However, she loves you dearly, and wants to see you grow into a strong and smart adult, so she makes sure you read and train, especially as you get older. She gives off the vibes of someone who brags subtly about your achievements. Like some rando is talking about how their child just learned how to read a book all on their own, which causes her to explain how you read a book twice as long and is improving every day. She doesn't stop until the other person leaves.

Finally, Nami is like the cool aunt. She doesn't let you do anything too extreme but will let you do things the others won't. She'll let you come shopping with her and buy you handfuls of sweats and matching clothing. She doesn't care when Robin or Sanji gets upset, because she just cares about making you happy.

[1000roughdrafts]

hey! if you take requests, i’m just wondering if you’d consider a sister winchester one? maybe her at 18? i love your writing so much, and i’d really love something like a hurt reader/dying reader?? something super angsty ahaha

Oh, for sure! Angst is my favorite! (as I'm sure you can tell by the word count lol) sorry it’s taken me like 3 years to get to this 😞

A/N: this was meant to post 2/28/24 because I wanted to ease into coming back with an every other week posting schedule BUT I’m just too excited and antsy for that lol also it’s set in Season 1, Episode 1

Thank you by the way!

Title: Please Wake Up

Warnings: swearing, graphic description of injury and illness, blood angst, hurt/dying reader, depiction of medical procedures, takes place in season 1 episode 1 :)

Word Count: 5.8k

Being third born after two boys, Y/N always felt like she had big shoes to fill. Despite her best efforts to impress the man, she never really formed a bond with John. Her next role model was Dean, who became more of a father to her than John ever was or could be.

Until her eleventh birthday, Dean did her hair into pigtails every day, partly because he hadn't learned to do any other hairstyle but mostly because he thought it was the cutest on her. He'd pack her and Sam's lunch with snacks he'd bought from vending machines and even pretend to take her on hunts because he knew she wanted to be exactly like him.

When she wasn't learning about monsters and guns with Dean, she spent time with Sam. He'd help her with her homework or play board and card games. They have as much in common as Y/N and Dean. Neither Sam nor Y/N got along with John, and neither remember their mothers. 

Y/N's mother was a woman John met in Nebraska three years after the boy's mom died. The affair only lasted a night, but to his surprise, he heard from her again six months later with the news that they had a baby girl on the way. John was shocked and heartbroken. He couldn't bear the thought of bringing another child into the life of hunting.

John kept his distance, adamant that Y/N would be better off without him, and when another three months of silence went by, he figured that Y/N's mother came around to see it his way. Unfortunately, her pregnancy was complicated, as was the birth, and it turned out that having Y/N is what killed her. 

When John got the call, he had half a mind to let the state take custody of little Y/N. Indeed, they would provide her with a better life than he could. John decided to meet her at least, and when he laid eyes on her perfect little face, he couldn't bring himself to abandon her. 

Y/N was barely sixteen when Sam left for college. While she was proud of him for putting himself first, it broke her heart for him to go the way he did. She missed him more and more every day, often keeping Dean up at night with her sniffling and crying. After a while, he would get into bed next to her when the tears started and sing Hey Jude while playing with her hair to help her fall asleep. That went on for another six months before she finally started to fall asleep without crying. 

For her seventeenth birthday, Dean came across a necklace he'd wanted to get for her since Sam left. From his wallet, he took out the only picture he had of the sibling trio, representing the single moment of their life where John treated them like regular kids, and using his pocket knife, he carved around their heads and bodies to match the exact size of the locket, smiling proudly at himself when it fit perfectly. 

Now at eighteen, she stands next to the Impala while Dean lugs their bags out, drops them into the trunk, and slams it shut. He heads for the driver's door but stops when he realizes Y/N hasn't opened hers yet. Eyebrows raised, he twirls a finger in the air as if to say, 'Let's get a move on.'

"Are you ever gonna teach me how to drive, Dean?" she asks. "I mean, you've got to, you know?" 

"No, I don't. Get in," Dean says. She does so with a huff. Dean checks the mirrors before backing out of their parking spot. Turning to Y/N, he says, "Besides, as long as I'm around, you don't need to," but softens his face into a smile when he looks at her. "Cause there's no way in Hell I'll ever let you drive my car." 

Y/N lets out a soft chuckle. "It doesn't have to be this car, Dean!" She rolls the window down, letting the cool breeze hit her face. "What happens if we get separated and I'm being chased by… I don't know, something that has super speed, and my only way back to you is to steal a car and -" 

"Stop. First of all, you should know that I'd never put you in that kind of danger," Dean says, disgusted by the mere thought. He lets out a long sigh. "I'll teach you," he says, looking at her gleaming smile. He tries his damnedest to see her for the adult she's becoming, but he only sees the happy baby in pull-ups he used to feed marshmallows and jello to on a motel room floor. "Just… not yet, okay?" 

She scoffs, "Most people learn to drive when they're only fifteen. I mean, you took me to freaking Vegas with a fake ID for my birthday, for fuck's sake!" 

"I said not yet, Y/N!" he says, shooting her the 'dad look' he's been perfecting since she was four. 

"Fine," she grumbles. She clasps her hands, "So I was looking through news articles, and there seem to be vamps in the next town. Should we be on that?" 

Dean clears his throat and needlessly adjusts the rear-view mirror. "Actually, kiddo, we're on something else right now." He keeps his head straight but glances at her out of the corner of his eyes. Whispering, he says, "We're gonna go get Sammy." 

Y/N's eyes widen as her head whips to look at him. "What?" 

He keeps his eyes on the road, "yeah, uh, with Dad missing... we could use the help," he says, gripping the steering wheel tighter. 

"But Sam's at college!" Y/N scoffs, "he wanted out!" 

"He abandoned us!" he shouts, shaking his head at himself when he notices her shoulders tense. Her eyes peer into her lap, where her hands lie folded. “Look Y/N/N, I just… I can't shake this awful feeling that something is wrong." He waits for a response from her, but she only nods with thin lips. She tunes him out and focuses on the wind hitting the window. "I gotta make sure they're okay," he says softly. 

Over the years, Y/N has learned to trust Dean's intuition, but right now, it just feels like he's being selfish. She opts to stay quiet, even if it makes a long drive longer.

Y/N jolts awake at the sound of the trunk slamming shut. She takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She doesn't see Dean next to her, so she scans her surroundings through squinted eyes, hoping for a clue about her whereabouts. She finds a gas station receipt in her lap and flips it over to see the scribbles of Dean's handwriting telling her to 'stay put or else.' She rolls her eyes, crumpling it into a ball to throw it into the backseat.

She hears the voices of two familiar men, one of whom she hasn't heard in two years. Her heart races, and she fumbles with the seat belt, trying to unhook it with shaky hands. She jumps out of the car and turns in time to see Dean leaning on the back of the Impala.

"It's a law school interview," Sam says, "and it's my whole future on a plate," he glares.

"Law school?" Dean asks with a smirk. Y/N walks over to stand next to Dean. He shoots a quick, acknowledging glance her way. Sam's eyes shift between Dean and Y/N, softening when they land on Y/N, "so we got a deal or not?" he asks flatly.

Dean says nothing but lightly nods his head. Y/N runs towards Sam, nearly knocking him over with a hug.

"Y/N/N," he smiles. Pulling her even closer to him, he wraps his arms tightly around her back and kisses the top of her head. "I missed you," he whispers.

"I missed you, too," she says, her eyes welling up with tears. Sam looks at Dean just in time to see him press his lips together with an 'I told you so' in his eyes. Sam shakes his head, squinting at Dean just before he lets go of Y/N.

"Kay, I gotta put a bag together," he sighs, "I'll be right back."

He turns to head for the door, and Y/N doesn't take her eyes off him until he disappears into the building. She blinks her eyes and turns to face Dean. He pushes himself off the back of the car and silently heads for the driver seat.

Sam and Y/N sit in the car at a gas station while Dean heads for snacks. Sam opens his door but quickly looks over his shoulder to check on Y/N. This is when he notices the box of tapes sitting next to her. Intrigued, he shifts in the chair and asks her to hand them to him. Y/N is hesitant because it's hard to say how Dean would react, and she's always hated being in the middle of their fights but does so anyway. Sam rests his tongue between his lips as he takes the box from Y/N. Stretching his legs out of the car, he rests the box in his lap to filter through them.

"Hey," Dean says from behind the Impala, his mouth wrapped around a candy bar, "either of you want breakfast?" he asks, holding a soda and a bag of chips.

Y/N waits for Sam to answer first. "No, thanks," he says, glancing Dean's way momentarily.

"I do," Y/N smiles.

"So how'd you pay for that stuff? Three of you still running credit card scams?" Sam says, going back to looking through the cassettes.

"Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career," Dean says, putting the gas nozzle back into the pump.

Y/N chimes in, "Besides, all we do is apply," she shrugs, "it's not our fault they send us the cards."

"Yeah? And what names did you write on the applications this time?" he asks, swinging his legs back inside the car and closing the door behind him.

"Uh, Burt Aframian," Y/N answers. Dean gets into the seat, handing Y/N the drink and chips. "Thank you," she chirps.

"And his son Hector," Dean adds, "scored two cards out of the deal."

"Sounds about right. I swear, man. You've gotta update your cassette tape collection."

Dean frowns, nearly offended. "Why?"

"Well, for one, they're cassette tapes, and two," Sam holds one up, "Black Sabbath? Motorhead?" he says, dropping them to grab another, "Metallica?" he laughs, "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock," he says as Dean rips the Metallica tape from his hand with a glare.

"Well, house rules, Sammy." Dean pops the tape into the player with a tight smile, "driver picks the music, shotgun shuts their cake-hole," he says, dropping the empty case into the box. "Isn't that right, Y/N?" he smirks into the rear-view mirror and smiles when he sees her roll her eyes.

"You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old," Sam scolds, "it's Sam, okay?"

Turning the volume up, Dean cocks his head to the side, "sorry. I can't hear you. The music's too loud," he says with a slight chuckle.

Crashing a crime scene where police are still investigating is just another Saturday with Dean for Y/N, but seeing Sam's eyes widen at the box of Dean's fake IDs calls attention to how out of the norm this life is. Dean makes wise-ass comments to the cops, as usual, and Sam stomps on Dean's foot. Dean responds by smacking Sam's head as they bicker on the way back to the car, but Y/N can't help but grin from ear to ear.

Even when her brothers are arguing, Y/N couldn't possibly be happier. Today is her first hunt with both of her brothers and the first time in far too long since the three of them had been together for any reason.

They make their way to find Amy, who they learn is the girlfriend of the victim from listening to the cops on the bridge. They stop her while she's putting up missing posters, and after lying about being distant relatives of her boyfriend, they ask if she'd be willing to answer some questions to find him.

… "It's kind of this local legend," Amy's friend says after a few minutes of chatting. Massaging her thumb with her other hand, she continues, "This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago." Dean glances over at Sam and Y/N, who listen intently, "Well, supposedly, she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever."

At a local library, Dean searches the archive page for any murders on Centennial Highway with no results. Sam shoves Dean's chair, and when it rolls back, he scoots his chair to the computer to take over, earning him a slap from Dean. After replacing 'murder' with 'suicide,' a news article pops up.

"This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river," Sam reads.

"Does it say why she did it?" Y/N asks, scooting her chair closer to Sam to try and read the screen.

"Yeah," Sam says.

"What?" Dean says with raised eyebrows.

"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently, her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing." Sam lets out a breath, "both die," he says in a whisper.

The air grows thick around them, and Y/N frowns. "That's terrible," she says, shaking her head.

"'Our babies were gone,'" Sam reads, "'and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch."

"Hmm," Dean points to the picture on the screen, "that bridge look familiar to you?"

They hit the bridge at nightfall. Crickets sing to water drumming against the rocks as it rushes under their feet. The clouds hang low in the sky, giving the air around them a haze.

"So," Dean says, peering over the bridge at the water, "this is where Constance took the swan dive," he says, leaning against the rail next to Y/N. 

"So you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asks in disbelief, looking over at Dean. 

"Well, he's chasing the same story, and we're chasing him," Dean shrugs, turning to walk down the bridge. 

Sam turns to follow. "Okay, so now what?" he says, forcing a breath through his nose. Y/N walks right next to him, still scared to let him out of her sight. 

"Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while," Dean grumbles. 

Sam stops walking, "Dean," he says, raising his hands before dropping them. "I told you. I've gotta be back by Monday." 

"Monday," Dean says, pivoting to make grueling eye contact with Sam, but only turns his body enough that he's still facing the bridge's railing. "Right," he says, shaking a finger, "the interview." The bridge creaks under him as he turns the rest of the way. 

"Yeah," Sam nods. 

"Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Dean says, shifting his weight between his feet. "You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asks, the animosity growing with each word. 

Sam shrugs, "maybe. Why not?" 

Dean's voice roughens, "Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know the things you've done?" 

Sam takes a few threatening steps toward Dean, "No, and she's not ever going to know," he scowls. 

"Well, that's healthy," Dean sneers. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later, you're going to have to face up to who you really are," he says, turning around to continue walking. 

Sam huffs, "Who's that?" 

"You're one of us," Dean shrugs, a hand gesturing towards Y/N. 

"Hey! Leave me out of this," Y/N grumbles from ahead. 

"No," Sam says, speed walking towards Dean, "I'm not like you," he says, turning around as he stops in front of Dean. "This is not going to be my life."

Dean keeps his jaw tight. "Well, you have a responsibility to..." 

Y/N feels the tension rising and tries to plead with them to stop arguing, but they ignore her. "Guys!" she shouts again. 

"To Dad? And his crusade?" Sam scoffs. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like! And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her," he shakes his head, "Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back." 

Dean grips Sam's shirt and swings him around and against the bridge's railing with a clunk at Sam's weight against it. 

Y/N flips around and runs to their side, "Dean, what are you doing? Are you crazy?" She panics. But Dean continues to ignore her as he glares at Sam. 

After a long, breathless pause, Y/N shouts again, "Dean!" 

The misty air is still between them, and even the wind seems too frightened to move. It's as if the world is put on pause.

Dean's eyebrows raise, and he keeps a firm grip on Sam's shirt. Under his breath, he says, "Don't talk about her like that." 

He throws Sam's jacket from his hands and takes a few stabilizing steps backward in one movement. Y/N runs to check on Sam, who shakes her off with an "I'm fine" that sounds muffled compared to the pounding of her heart. A few tears escape her when she looks over at Dean walking away from them, but she doesn't realize she's crying until the taste of salt hits her lips. 

Her eyes return to Sam, shaking her head in disgust that Dean would treat him like that. She knew it had been rough for Dean since Sam left for college, but hell, it's been hard on her, too, and she's not throwing anyone against the side of a bridge!

Dean halts, “Sam. Y/N!” he calls. Y/N turns with a full-body glare, but her eyes widen when she sees a woman in a long, white dress standing on the bridge's railing. The woman looks over at them, and Y/N can see the resemblance to the picture of Constance. The woman's hair and dress sway in the wind, and she keeps her eyes on them as she allows herself to drop from the ledge. 

With a grunt, Sam rushes to the railing to look over it for her, Dean and Y/N not far behind him. 

"Where'd she go?" Dean barks. 

Breathless, Sam pushes out an "I don't know." 

The roar of the Impala's engine turning on startles them, their bodies whipping around just in time to see the headlights flick on. 

"What the-," Dean says. 

"Who's driving your car?" Y/N asks. 

Without taking his eyes off of the car, Dean pulls his keys from his pocket and jingles them, stealing Sam and Y/N's attention to them in unison. The engine revs, drawing back their wide eyes to the Impala. The tires squeal as the car begins to speed towards them. 

"Y/N, go! Go!" Dean says with a hand on each of his siblings, spinning them around to run in the opposite direction. Dean presses his hand firmly on Y/N's back as they run, keeping himself between her and the car. They run as fast as they can until Dean can feel the Impala's breath on his ankles, and he guides them towards the bridge's railing. 

Y/N's heart feels like a brick in her chest, weighing her down at the thought of jumping over. "I can't," she says in a breath, and all in a split second, she feels like her feet are cemented into the bridge's planks as Sam jumps over. "No!" she screams as Dean grips onto her arm, pulling them both over the bridge. 

Sam hangs from the ledge of the bridge, shouting for Y/N as her screams are washed out with a big splash. "Y/N!" he calls again from the back of his throat, climbing up the bridge to get on his knees. He looks over the bridge, scanning for Y/N and Dean, calling out when he sees his brother, "Dean! You alright?" 

"I'm super," Dean grumbles with an outstretched thumbs up. Lying on his back, half submerged in the muddy water. 

"I can't see Y/N! Where's Y/N?" Sam panics, and when the words hit Dean's ears, he springs to his feet in a second. He whirls around in a circle as he searches for her. 

"Y/N!" Dean shouts, wiping mud from his face. He paces around, "Y/N, where are you?" he yells, half-expecting her to pop out from behind a bush to scare him. 

The world spins around him for a moment, utterly void of sound aside from a ringing in his ears as Dean tries to comprehend what is happening. He closes his eyes tight, shaking his head to clear away the fog that covers him. They open onto the water, catching the moon's glimmer reflecting off something. He runs towards it, hopping from rock to rock until he finds Y/N's broken locket stuck in algae. Dean picks it up with shaky hands, recalling how her face lit up when he first gave it to her. She'd be devastated to see its state now. Fear spills down him in an icy chill.

His head swivels around in search of her. Tears, that he refuses to let fall, poke at his eyes when he sees her lying face down in the water, a bloody rock next to her.

“Y/N!” He shouts, rushing to her. He kneels to pull her out of the water by her shoulder, turning her over so that her back rests against his knee. "Y/N!" he yells again, and when she doesn't respond, he grabs her by the waist and hoists her over his shoulder. He grunts, shifting his weight before jogging for the shore. "Sam! I got her!" 

"Dean! Is she okay?" He calls out as he sprints down the side of the hill to catch up to them. The brothers reach the shore simultaneously, and Dean drops to his knees to gently set Y/N on the ground in front of him, Sam following suit. 

"Come on, be okay, be okay, be okay, be okay," Dean pleads softly, placing two fingers on her neck. His heart is beating so hard that he can't tell if it's her pulse he's feeling or his own. "Sam, I can't feel anything," he says. Dropping an ear to her mouth, he adds, "And I don't think she's breathing." 

"Call 911," Sam demands, ripping his jacket off to tie around Y/N's bleeding head wound. He quickly inspects the rest of her body for any bleeding before placing a hand on her chest. Looking up at Dean, who stands frozen, Sam puts his free hand on Dean's shoulder, "now, Dean!" he shouts, shoving him. 

Sam tilts Y/N's head back, checking again for a pulse, a breath, a twitch, a shudder, anything that meant he wouldn't have to perform CPR on his baby sister. He places his hands on her chest, one over the other, pausing in case her heart miraculously started again, but all he feels under his palms is the stillness of Y/N's wet and cold chest. 

Sam begins chest compressions, and the tears he'd been holding back rush out uncontrollably when he feels her ribs break under his palms. It makes him want to pull away, but he forces himself to continue. Dean watches in wide-eyed horror as he gives the 911 operator their location when asked, keeping his free hand pressed against his forehead. 

"Anything?" he shakily shouts at Sam after what feels like hours. Sam ignores him, counting out loud until he hits thirty again. He stops compressions to blow a shuddering breath into Y/N's mouth, watching her chest rise and fall before delivering another. "Hello! Is anybody on the way? My sister is dying here!" Dean shouts into the phone, but all that meets his ears is static. 

"Dean," Sam says with a heavy breath, beginning compressions again. "You gotta take over," he says between breaths. 

Without question, Dean drops his phone to the ground as he falls to his knees next to her, "come on, Y/N," he pleads, ignoring the burning in his knees as he places his hands together on top of Sam's. Sam leaves his hands under Dean's for just one compression before pulling away. 

"Okay, that's ten. You've got twenty more before breaths," Sam says before they count out loud together with every push into Y/N's chest. 

Dean is growing tired by his third round of compressions, but the sirens in the distance electrify him, giving him the energy he needs to continue. 

His face scrunches up as he musters the emotional and physical strength to keep going. Sam hurries to his feet, "don't stop, Dean, you're doing great!" he says with a palm at him. 

"Don't stop," Dean repeats mindlessly, "don't stop." 

Sprinting towards the paramedics, Sam waves his arms, shouting, "Down here! We're down here!" before he knows it, a group of professionals sprint down the hill, the gurney in tow. One takes a story from Sam as one tries to pull Dean away so the other two can take over caring for Y/N. 

"No, I can't stop!" he cries, which grabs Sam's attention, "don't stop," he nearly whispers, hands pumping into Y/N's chest. 

Sam rushes over and lowers himself to Dean's level. "Dean, let go. It's okay, they'll take it from here," he says, grabbing onto Dean's hands to pull him off of Y/N. They watch the paramedics in shock as they cut the shirt, bra, and pants off of Y/N, inspecting her skin. The first responders put what look like stickers with wires attached to them onto her chest and pull out the AED, telling everyone to stand clear before delivering a shock with a beep. Then, there was a pause and the silence that follows is deafening. Nothing. They check for a pulse and call clear again, shocking her. Then, nothing. Again. 

In the hospital's hallway, Dean tries to tune out the surround sound of constant beeping. His elbows rest on his scraped and bloody knees with his head held in his hands. He rocks back and forth, battling with himself. He sheds tears both out of fear for his sister's well-being and of guilt that he did the very thing he promised her he wouldn't: put her in danger.

The clacking of Sam's shoes pulls Dean from his homemade mental Hell. Dean lifts his head, quickly wiping his eyes before grabbing the cafeteria coffee. Sam's familiar smell of motel soap and deodorant washes away the torturous smell of hand sanitizer.

"Thanks," Dean mutters, taking a sip of the coffee before placing it next to him on the cold tile floor. 

Sam's eyes are red and puffy. Dean struggles to comprehend how Sam doesn't even try to hide the tears coming down. He often admires his brothers ability to wear his heart on his sleeve, though he'd never admit it. He wonders who he's being 'strong' for in this moment because it's certainly not himself.

Clearing his throat, Sam pulls his pants up slightly at the thighs before sitting on the bench next to Dean. He glances up at the ceiling momentarily, waiting for the announcement to end before asking, "Any news yet?"

Dean shakes his head. "No," he says in a raspy voice, forcing his eyes to look up and down the hall. "Excuse me," he says, standing to interrupt a nurse before she can enter a different room. "Would you mind helping us find whoever we need to talk to for an update on room 221?" he asks, gesturing to the door he hasn't been able to even look at since arriving.

Her eyes flutter to Sam, then the door, and back to Dean before she somberly nods. "Of course," she says, setting her pen back onto the clipboard as she turns to head in the direction she came.

Dean wants to return to his seat, but his body feels like an anchor. He sucks in a sharp breath. His shoulders tighten into his neck and with weak arms his hands fall to his hips. He hangs his head, clenching his teeth and pulling his face to suppress the tears. Sam jumps up to Stand with Dean, placing a hand tightly on his shoulder.

"She'll be alright," Sam says, not fully believing himself, "she's a Winchester; she has to be." 

Dean quickly straightens himself out because damn it, he's the one that's supposed to be taking care of his younger siblings - not the other way around.

"Sam and Dean Winchester?" a deep voice echoes the hall and they whirl around to greet the doctor. Dean quickly slaps the tears from his face. "I'm Dr. Ferguson," he says, holding his arm up to shake hands with Sam, then Dean. "Let's go somewhere more private to talk."

"We're good here," Dean spits. 

"Very well," the doctor sighs, looking down the hall behind him. He shuffles them closer to the wall and out of the traffic flow. "Well, while we were able to restart her heart, I'm afraid your sister has sustained a substantial injury to the head," he says, "the trauma caused the tissue around her brain to swell quite rapidly, and well, we have her on a ventilator, but," he lets out a breath, "we haven't seen as much progress as we were hoping for. She's technically in a coma right now, but we hope to see her come out of it in the coming weeks." 

"Weeks?" Dean bellows.

"Yes, I'm afraid that's standard recovery time for an injury of this magnitude. Although, we'd be having an entirely different conversation if not for your quick thinking in the field," he says with a tight-lipped smile, eyes jumping from Dean's to Sam's, "it's a long road to recovery, but this is a good start." 

"And what happens if she doesn't wake up?" Sam asks. 

"We will do everything in our power to ensure that doesn't happen," the doctor nods. 

"Thanks, doc," Sam croaks. "Can - can we see her?" he stutters. 

"Of course," he says, pushing the door open with his fingertips, "go on in," he says.  

Sam immediately notices Dean's hesitancy when they exchange a glance, so he nods before taking a few steps into the room. He covers his mouth to stifle a sob when he sees his little sister with a tube down her throat and one in her nose. When he's close enough, he reaches for her hand and sits in the chair beside her, startled by the sound of the door shutting. Dean slowly enters the room, but keeps his distance.

Dean feels like the air is void of oxygen and tells himself to pull it together enough to stand by her bed. "Hey kiddo," Dean says to Y/N with a shaky breath. "God, please be okay," he says, forcing a smile as he grips onto her hand.

The two sit with Y/N for days, only leaving for bathroom trips and snack runs, but when one goes, the other stays, and when one is napping, the other is awake. Dean has grown slightly more self-composed but is still anxious as they stay by her side, even when the nurses come to deliver medications, chart vitals, or empty her catheter.

"Hey, Dean," Sam says, clearing his throat. 

"Yeah," he replies, keeping his eyes on Y/N. 

Sam looks down into his hands, "about my interview-" 

"Wait, what?" Dean says, cutting him off, "you're still gonna leave after all this?" he shouts through a clenched jaw. The chair scoots back in a screech as he quickly brings himself to his feet, "you don't wanna be here when she wakes up?" he asks, aggressively gesturing at Y/N. 

"Dean, we don't even know if she'll wake up," Sam quivers. 

"Man, you are a piece of work," Dean shouts, shaking his head. 

"If you would've let me finish," Sam growls with narrow eyes, "I was going to say that I called earlier… to reschedule it," he sighs, looking back at Y/N, "they were very understanding of the situation." 

"Oh," Dean says, turning on his heels to face away from Sam. He swipes a hand down his face, shaking his head when his eyes open to the white walls of the hospital's room. "Look, man, I'm sorry," he says, palms open and facing Sam. "This just has me on edge." 

Taking a few steps towards him, Sam holds back the urge to get nasty with Dean, telling him he's not the only one feeling 'on edge' about their sister's condition. Instead, he raises his palms and softens his face, "Me too. Believe me." 

By Thursday, Y/N had graduated from a ventilator to an oxygen mask. Though still needing the feeding tube, she's shown glimpses here and there of the Y/N they know and love, but overall, she struggles to remain conscious. The doctors are calling it a 'Minimally Conscious State' and "completely normal with this type of recovery."

On Saturday, Sam heads out for food from a local restaurant at Dean's request - something about them having good pies - but Sam has a sneaking suspicion that Dean needs some time alone with Y/N, and Sam could use the fresh air anyway.

Sitting in the chair beside her bed, Dean holds one of Y/N's hands in both of his, bringing it up to his lips and kissing the back of her hand. "I'm so sorry I failed you, Y/N," he cries. "I should have been protecting you," he whispers, letting the tears fall freely now, "but instead of doing that, I got you into this mess."

Looking up at Y/N's face, he swears he sees a tear slip down her cheek. Despite being convinced he's imagining it, he reflexively draws his hand to wipe her tear away, gasping when it comes back wet. His heart races as he gently stands to get beside her in the bed. "Shh," he coos, wrapping his arm around her.

His eyes fall shut, and he's transported back in time to the almost seven-month period where she would only fall asleep if Dean were right there in bed next to her. Through tears and voice cracks, he sings Hey Jude in a whisper, occasionally reaching over to wipe her tears away.

"I love you so much," he whispers. "I don't know how to live without you," he says, his tears turning into sobs. "Please wake up," he cries, arm wrapped tightly around her, "I promise I'll teach you how to drive if you just please wake up."

~~~~ If you liked my story, please remember to heart, comment or reblog. Or if you'd like, you can add yourself to a tag list here if you wish :) Thank you for reading!! :)

Everything Tags <3

@wayardblueshun @81mysteriouslyme @drakelover78 @soab1967 @shutupandfeedmethings @pollywantacracker666 @sonnierae26 @obsessed5sosfreak @tlovescoffee @noodledoodlebug @hobby27 @cluz1babe @emptycanvasposts @suckmyapplejacks @signrunsavestheday @flamencodiva @roseblue373

Dean <;3 @akshi8278 @squirrelnotsam @laxe-from-outer-space @ellewritesfix05 @cluz1babe @lyarr24 @mrspeacem1nusone @idksupernaturl @fandom-princess-forevermore @stoneyggirl @chaospossum @nachofriess

Sam <3 (not including the tags already above :) ) @fangirlxwritesx67 @immafangirlmess @sizekinkshawty

[colourstreakgryffin]

I have a request to make. Yandere obanai vs yandere mitsuri vs yandere shinobu, with a darling reader with a pet anaconda (who is also quite the cuddle bug)also the anacondas name is noodle.

Happily will do this idea! It actually sounds somewhat cute so let’s find out what will happen with these three! A little short but that’s okay, I assume!

Lol. This picture is the only thing I can find for these three!

Yandere! Romantic! KNY Hashira Scenarios: Iguro Obanai vs Kanroji Mitsuri vs Kocho Shinobu

What a absolute disaster pitting these three together is. Obanai is hostile, Shinobu is dangerous and Mitsuri is passive-aggressive! So every scenario ends in a vicarious fight that could shake the ground

All three fall for you very close to one another, and find out each other’s feelings for you when they notice the lovestruck glares directed at you during one of the many Hashira gatherings. This triggers the Yandere corruption and it gets worse with the rivalry growing alongside it

Obanai is the first one to find out how about your pet. A big emerald-palette anaconda named “Noodle” by stalking you from your window. Mitsuri learns about Noodle by getting invited into your house and Shinobu learns about Noodle last when you ask for medicines useable on snakes

Obanai knows his snakes very well so he offers you snake care advice as Shinobu and Mitsuri angrily glare at him for winning over your attention so easily. He has the biggest advantage over the two girls, for his knowledge on snakes

Though, all three are very jealous of Noodle for the way you admire and love him. Why does that stupid serpent get your affection?! They are also very jealous of each other

All three love you dearly so they’d never try kill Noodle at all and will always run up to you to give whatever you want for Noodle or for yourself but they all wish they could get rid of Noodle without hurting your feelings

Overall. They argue and fight basically constantly over who can touch you and/or take care of Noodle for you. You do notice how bad it gets from behind closed doors, but you just hope it doesn’t have anything to do with you

Shinobu may or may not put coma-inducing serum in your beloved Noodle’s food to make you come to her for medical care. Mitsuri and Obanai get furious over the situation as they both know that Shinobu is the reason Noodle is hurt and she is hurting you for her own selfish infuriation

Mitsuri is a lot closer to you then she is to Noodle but she is very good at handling the heavy snake as if he weighs nothing to her. Obanai and Shinobu get jealous at the way you coo happily at her and Noodle cuddling

All three are very invasive and clingy, grabbing onto random parts of you whenever they can, bickering and swiping at each other so they’ll back off. It never ends until you get up and walk away, but that doesn’t mean they won’t follow you like a group of ravage fans to a Popstar

You having Noodle isn’t a favourite for Yandere Obanai, Mitsuri and Shinobu but your happiness is very important to them so they don’t really mind that much. Tho, the main problem is the rivalry the trio have against each other

All three are very manipulative, all emotionally. Shinobu tries to directly trick you into thinking the other two are liars, Obanai uses old fashion gaslighting until you think he is the only safe one whilst Mitsuri simply lies about what those two do with a few crocodile tears so you’ll sympathise with her

Won’t deny. Obanai would most likely work hard to invent a new form for Serpent Breathing, mimicking Noodle and other anacondas to try impress you

“Noodle’s a anaconda, my lov— Dokusha. He has very specific requirements for temperatures, try maintaining the cage in 60 to 70 percent humidity with periodic spikes near 100 percent— hm? Don’t thank me, we’re… friends”

“Heeeey! Dokusha! Look! Wanna see something cool! I’m gonna go play with Noodle! Are you ready— Oh! No, don’t worry! He isn’t heavy at all! He’s fine, I’d you want me to, I’ll gladly do it! Anything for you— because it’s fun!”

“Oh my, Dokusha. Noodle likes a bit tuckered out? What is the problem? He… he won’t wake up? Well, that sounds like a good thing— a simply horrible thing! I’ll try figure out what’s wrong, okay! You can rely on me”

[takusan-no-ai]

Can I Be With You Tonight?

PREVIOUS|CHAPTER ONE|NEXT

PAIRING: Atreus x Female Reader (Romantic) (Slow-burn)

SUMMARY: Baldur tracks down Kratos on his father’s command. Fearing the worst, Kratos takes (Y/N) and Atreus to complete Faye’s final request.

“Heh. So this is where you’ve been hiding? Once again, the All-Father’s best tracker succeeds,” Baldur says, stalking the trio from up a mountain.

“Father said there may be a kid, but he never mentioned two.” He watched as Kratos battled the troll. The boy and girl occasionally attacked alongside Kratos, only on his command though.

“Not even capable of fighting on their own without being hand held,” Baldur laughed. He continued to watch from afar as Kratos snapped the troll’s neck. “Gruesome much?” He mocked.

“See you soon, Kratos.” Baldur walked away further down the mountain.

Atreus stabbed the defeated troll in a fit of rage. Kratos grabbed hold of him.

“You’re nothing to me! Nothing!” Atreus screamed.

“Boy, look at me! Look at me boy! Boy. Look at me.” Kratos calmed him down. Atreus took deep, heavy breaths. His face covered in troll blood.

“We did it.” Atreus said despite being out of breath.

“You are not ready,” Kratos spoke plainly, picking you Atreus’ bow.

Atreus gazed at his father in disbelief. “What. Are you serious? I found the deer”–he pulled an arrow out of the troll–“I proved myself! How am I not ready?” He was still gasping for air.

“We are going home.” Kratos stood and gave Atreus his bow.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was looking at the mountains, her ears perking up and twitching about. “What is it bug?” Atreus asked her. She drifted her attention from the mountain to her friend.

“You’re still going to call me that?”–she giggled–“Anyway, I just thought I’d heard something.” Kratos looked at (Y/N).

“Are you sure?” He asked. (Y/N) nodded. Kratos grabbed their hands and walked back home.

“Father, why are you in such a hurry?” Atreus asked.

“Someone dangerous might be watching us. We have to hurry home just in case.” Atreus and (Y/N) stared at each other with an anxious look in their eyes.

They had to fight off reavers in order to make it home. Kratos quickly dealt with them while Atreus and (Y/N) defended each other.

Their home grew nearer and Kratos opened the door. “Inside boy. Girl.” The two went in while Kratos stayed outside.

He walked over to the the ashes of Faye by her pyre, storing them safely in a small sack.

When Kratos enters the house he sees Atreus and (Y/N) reading. “This word means death to all,” Atreus said. (Y/N)’s face scrunched up.

“…I thought that word meant something else.” Atreus chuckled, asking her what she thought it meant. “Dragon.” Atreus laughed more and (Y/N) punched his shoulder.

Atreus looked at his father and frowned. “He doesn’t know anything,” he mumbled. (Y/N) looked down, the tension in the air high.

Kratos walked up to Atreus. “You lost control.”

“That thing was trying to kill us. It’s not like you don’t get anger in a fight–”

“Anger can be a weapon…if you control it, use it. You clearly cannot.”

“I haven’t been sick in a long time. I’m better now.”

Kratos stared down at Atreus. “Fine.” He got down on his knees and held his hands up towards Atreus. “Here.”

“You want me to hit you?”

“I want you to try.” Atreus pondered for a moment and then threw a punch forward.

Kratos quickly blocked it, causing Atreus to “ow” in the process. (Y/N) stood up and left the two, not wanting to sit in the middle of it. She walked off towards the door, stopping in front of it.

She gazes at her hands, and sweat rolls down her face. Traumatic memory one after another come rushing to her. Fighting off and defending herself for years, never knowing warmth or love until she met her new family. “Will I ever know you?” She whispers.

A distant sound tickles her ears. The sudden loud noise makes (Y/N) jump. “Quiet,” Kratos said. He motioned for Atreus and (Y/N) to come closer.

Then came fast banging on the door, with a man’s voice following it. “Come on out! There’s no use hiding anymore. I know who you are…,” he said. Kratos walked towards the door to listen closely.

“What’s going on? Do you know him?” Atreus whispered in confusion. (Y/N) and him held hands, shielding one another.

“More importantly I know what you are.” The man continued.

“Boy, girl, beneath the floor, now!” Kratos hurries to hide the two in the hatch under the house.

“You told us to never go down there,” Atreus says, hesitating to go under. “Who is that?” He asks again about the stranger.

“I do not know,” Kratos says while removing the carpet covering the hatch.

“What’s he talking about?”

“I do not know.” The hatch is now opened and the two kids climbed inside, (Y/N) going first. Kratos closed the hatch and walked towards the door.

“Just tell me what I want to know. No need for this to get bloody!” The man speaks again. Kratos opens the door, revealing a bearded man with tattoos all over; otherwise known as Baldur.

Baldur looked Kratos up and down, “Hmm. I thought you’d be bigger.” He stepped closer. “But you’re definitely the one. Little far from home, aren’t ya?”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, you already know the answer to that.”

While Kratos and Baldur confronted each other, (Y/N) listened in on their conversation. “What are they saying (Y/N)?” Atreus asked.

“I’m still not that good at this, so it’s a little hard to tell.” Atreus scooted closer to (Y/N) and grabbed her hand.

“Just focus. I know you can do it.” She smiled and closed her eyes.

“The stranger says he’s here for something”–she pauses to listen in more–“they’re fighting now!”

“Is father okay?!” Atreus started to fiddle with the hatch. (Y/N) grabbed his arm to stop him.

“He’s your father. He’ll be okay.” She assured him.

After some time passed the two heard the door creak. The hatch was opened, and the kids were happy to see Kratos.

“Boy.” Atreus finally calmed down.

“There was so much…I thought…you’re alright.” Atreus smiled.

“I’m alright.” Kratos pulled them up. “Both of you gather your things. We are leaving.” Atreus grabbed his bow and (Y/N) grabbed her weapons.

“I thought I wasn’t ready,” Atreus said.

“You are not. But we have no choice now.” Kratos closed the hatch, hiding it with the carpet. “Prove me wrong,” He said.

“Yes sir.”

(Y/N) and Atreus left the house and Kratos closed the door. “The mountain. That’s gonna be a looong trip,” Atreus said.

“Yes, but an important one.” Kratos looked down to (Y/N) grabbing his hand. She motioned for him to crouch down.

She whispers in his ear, “is it really appropriate for me to be here. This seems a little personal for you and Atreus. After all, Faye is your family.”

Kratos frowned at (Y/N). “You are family too. Don’t forget that.” He walked ahead of her to Atreus, who was none the wiser to their short conversation

(Y/N) froze with a smile on her face before running to catch up with the others.

- Fin

[celestialking]

Fate's duel

◇ NSFW 18+ only ◇ Minors/Ageless blogs DNI ◇ You will be blocked ◇

Finished writing: August 9, 2022

Pairing: c!Dream , gn!reader

Warnings: degrading, humiliation, bit of dumbification, throat fucking, little bit of plot, tiny bit of choking, let me know if i missed one

To think, out of all places the forest by Las Nevadas would be where you found Dream. Your sword was in your hand within seconds amusing the blonde. 

"Hey," he greeted. "Come to join me finally?" It seemed like a joke between friends, but he had been pestering you for years now or at least however long it's been since you left the original community house. 

You shook your head. "No Dream, I'm taking you back to prison. You already know that I'm giving you more mercy than Sap will," you waved him over, still keeping your sword up for added protection. "Cmon, just make it easy," 

Dream chuckled, circling you. Both of you were on edge, weapons drawn, circling slowly in this shape of rising tension. "Are you though? Sap said he'd kill me, I'd like to see him try. Quackity already killed me partly, isn't it fitting another part of their trio will take a turn killing me slowly," 

You said nothing watching the grip on his ax shift. 

"Is it Karl's turn next?" 

"Enough games," you watched a grin spread across his lips. 

"A game huh? Want to play one?" he stopped moving. 

You paused on the other side of him. "What kind of game?" 

"A little duel, if you win I'll come with you," 

"And what about you, what if you win?" You watched the cloaked man slowly eye you up and down. 

"Being on the run is kinda...stressful. it'd be nice to relieve it," 

You almost dropped your sword. "You want sex," you said bluntly. 

Dream laughed, it was loud and echoed through the forest. "I didn't say that, but if you're offering," 

"I didn't offer but you asked for it," 

He took a step closer. "But you didn't say no," there was silence. A new form of tension seeping into the air. 

"Fine," you said. "If you somehow win, then that can be your prize, just don't cry too much as I drag you back to Sam," 

"Of course, wouldn't dream of it," he purred. The scoff you let out as he used his own name as a joke was unbelievable. 

You should have known that some rules should have been laid down. That a dirty trick was on its way, but that was the last thing on your mind as you clashed metal with Dream. He was a cheater, he was a liar, he was- fucking kicking your ass. Within minutes Dream was sitting on your hips, your back against the ground. 

"I believe," he panted, holding the bar of his ax on your throat. "This means I win," you struggled beneath him, but he was too big to push off. Dream watched in amusement as you clung on to the tiniest smidge of hope that you could prevail and then laughed as it faded. 

You stopped moving beneath him before giving a weak whine. "You win, now get off, you're crushing my lungs asshole," 

Slowly Dream leaned back moving off of your body. He stood up watching as you picked yourself up off the ground. 

"What? Quite staring at me like that," you snapped. "A deals a deal so if you were waiting for me to beg to bring you to Sam you'd be sorely mistaken," 

"Actually I'd love to see you on your knees begging," he grinned. 

"You wish," you spat, leaning down to pick up your weapon. You both blinked at each other. 

"Your house," 

"What?" 

"Well I'm not letting you see my lair," 

"My house is in the middle of the damn server," you argued. 

Dream just shrugged. "Sounds like a personal problem," You opened but quickly shut your mouth. If you had spoken it was quite possible a few unsavory words about your unchosen company would have slipped out. You snapped at him to keep up before leading him to your place. 

He whistled entering your house. "Haven't been here before," 

"You were too busy blowing it up before," you hummed. 

A loud thud startled you but he had just dropped his things at your door. You watched with a judgemental glare as he strolled over to your couch. He plopped down on a cushion leaning his arms across the back. "Well?" He said cockily. With the way he had made himself comfortable and the amount he had spread his thighs it was obvious what he wanted. 

"Knees," 

The dark command sent shivers through you. Wordlessly you found yourself complying. Green eyes watched you bored. Wait when- "I'm not going to wear my mask during sex, that's a bit ridiculous," he scoffed noticing your confused look. 

Slowly you undid his pants, hopefully he would ignore the tremble in your hands. Your eyes trailing across the light freckles and darkened eyes. You had to admit for someone who was supposed to be your enemy he was quite the looker. His cock was heavy in your hand, twitching as your tongue trailed up the side. Dream's head tilted back, a soft moan escaping his parted lips. You hadn't been trying to tease, honestly. The soft noises he was letting out were addicting however. Your lips barely wrapping around the tip, your tongue darting to the places that seemed to make his breath hitch. 

"Enough playing," Dream demanded, a hand moving to rest on your head. 

You rolled your eyes but finally took him into your mouth. 

He was quick to push, shoving the tip to touch the back of your throat. Your hands flew to his legs to ground yourself as bitter tears sprung to your eyes from the sudden intrusion. "Relax, you'll be fine," he cooed. 

Your pace was not quick enough so naturally he took over. Hips thrusting up to fuck his cock into your mouth. Saliva gathered as you attempted to swallow around him, however, it only added to the slick noises of his thrusts. "Hard to say you hate me when you have my cock down your throat isn't it?" He teased. 

You looked up at him blinking through wet lashes able to provide no response. It was criminal how much you were enjoying him using you. "Poor baby, God your lips feel so fucking good around me," he groaned tilting his head back. Your nails dug into his thighs slightly as he held you on his cock. Your cheeks burned as you realized he was having you cockwarm him. He twitched on your tongue the tiny movement being the only warning you got before cum filled your mouth. You pulled off with a slight cough after swallowing. 

"You sure were fast," you licked over your lips. "Guess the big bad Dreamie doesn't have much stamina, creams himself just-" 

His hand grasped your face, squishing your cheeks. "Careful what you say sweetheart, because we aren't done here. Now unless you wanna be fucked on the ground like a whore; you better show me to your room," 

Dream followed behind as you shakily lead him to your bed. "Why don't you undress, slowly," he added the last word as an afterthought. You watched the dirty blonde lean back against your door waiting for his show to begin. Dream was delighted by the inch after inch of skin that was revealed by removing your clothes. 

As you dropped the last piece of fabric to the ground he pushed himself off the wood. 

"What about yours?" You blurted. 

He paused in his step before letting out a slight bark of a laugh. You unfortunately didn't get a chance to enjoy a little strip tease as Dreams clothes were off and onto the ground by the second his was between your thighs. 

The prep he did was quick but just enough. You couldn't lie there was a slight stretch as he slid into you but you weren't bothered. 

"I haven't even started yet," he grinned watching your eyes roll back as he bottomed out. Dreams' first thrust or two were sharp and sudden. The hands on your hips warned you of his soon-to-be fast pace. He slammed into you, hands digging into your sides. Part of you was starting to believe the whole "I'm a god" speech now. He knew the exact way to get you falling apart under him. Exactly what made you tick. You didn't even have to ask for his hand to be on your throat, he had already moved it there. Hearing your breath hitch sent a shiver of delight through Dream. 

"Of course you would like this," he taunted. 

He listened to your breathless whines and moans before speaking again. "Go on dove, tell me how good I feel, tell me how much you love this," it was pure amusement that filled Dream's eyes when you didn't answer. 

Whether it was out of pure embarrassment or the pleasure that was clouding your mind keeping you from doing so; he didn't care. 

"Look at yourself, fucking pathetic," Dream laughed. His hand squeezed gently on your neck. "You're supposed to be taking me back to jail but here you are too busy spreading your legs for me," the humiliation that burned through your body added to the flame like nothing else. "I like this. You under me. I get stressed pretty easily, maybe you'll let me come back more to blow off some steam," 

Honestly you were still too lost in the cloud of pleasure that you slowly nodded making him grin. "Aw, you'd like that sweetheart?" Dream grunted, cock still dragging against your walls deliciously. "I don't like to share you know, so if you're mine, you're fucking mine," Dream warned. "My little plaything," 

You whined at the tighter grip on your throat. It was only harsher for a second before he opted to have both hands on your hips instead. The small pants and moans that slipped through Dream's lips was twisting your stomach into knots. Why were all the bad men so hot? 

Dream was mumbling, mumbling sweet pleasure-induced words. Words that were tearing your self-control apart. Embarrassingly you were close to falling off that edge. Dream seemed to notice immediately. 

"Oh come on now," he purred. "Just from my words?" he didn't look bothered, however, actually quite the opposite. It was fueling his ego. 

"We haven't even gotten to the best part, was going to make you scream on my tongue for hours," he whispered, leaning down. The noises of his pleasure were now significantly louder thanks to his sudden closeness. "Fuck you til the only things you know are my name and how you're made for this cock," 

You squirmed beneath him begging. "Please, please, please," 

Dream continued speaking, each sentence burning you hotter than the last. The constant quiver of your legs gave you away. "That's it baby," a hand moved between your thighs to help. "Let go. Now," 

You trembled in his touch, sobbing as you attempted to rock your hips down against his. Dreams teeth bit into your collarbone. You cried out cumming. He groaned feeling you tighten around him. 

"Oh fuck," he panted. Dream hips stuttered as his orgasm finally reached its peak. The high whine that left his lips surprised you. Warmth burned your lower body as he filled you. 

There wasn't silence for long, however. Dream's communicator buzzed beside him. It had fallen out of his pants. Who could that be? There weren't many who could contact him. He leaned over glancing at it before grinning up at you. 

"Mind if a friend joins?"  A friend? 

Reminder: DNI = Do Not Interact

If you are a Minor/Ageless blog, Do not follow. Do not comment. Do not reblog. Do not like. DO NOT INTERACT.

Either add your age to your bio/pinned, message me in private, or DNI.

[madametamma]

In this edition of “What I’d like to see in a Danny Phantom Reboot.  Character arcs for the trio.

1. Tucker. He doesn’t always get along well with Sam.  He didn’t in the OG series but in this one I want this explored.  Sam is fairly new to their friend circle and there are a few things about her that rub him the wrong way.  Not just that she can be a kill joy and hates meat, but she’s able to convince Danny into doing some questionably unsafe things for the sake of helping others.  Tucker often is the one to call her out when she goes too far.  He’s pretty ‘take it or leave it when it comes to Danny as a superhero.  He thinks it’s cool, but also would be fine with it if Danny gave it all up to just be the normal kid he used to be.  He sees how stressed out Danny is and misses it when the weight of the world wasn’t always on their shoulders. 

2. Sam.  In the OG series she would often push Danny to go too far as a hero, even to the point where it’s probably not good for him.  I want this dynamic explored more.  She really pushes Danny to be the best he can be for the town because of her desire to make a positive impact.  Sometimes to the point where she sees Danny more as a tool for her own good intentions than she sees him as a person who needs a break from time to time.  Tucker calls her out on this when he suspects her of doing it, and she calls him out when he convinces Danny to slack off too much. For so long Sam has only had her activism and not any close friends and she learns how to be a better one.

3. Danny.  Tucker and Sam often act as his shoulder angels/devils.  Sometimes Tucker wins out and he slacks off in his heroic duties leading to problems for the town he’s sworn to protect.  Sometimes Sam wins out and he can throw himself all into his hero duties and he seriously hurts himself.  It’s a tough balancing act and when he goes off the deep end, he really goes off to the point where it’s hard to convince him to come back.  Both Sam and Tuck have moments where they try to tell him they were wrong to tell him to do something but Danny doesn’t listen until someone pays a price. They all grapple with the fact that they’re a bunch of teens who don’t really know what they’re doing.

[martellspear]

— power went out and I ran out of things to think this afternoon;

— this is a anti targaryen restoration post, be warned :)

One of the most surprising things in the entire ASOIAF books is simply HOW did that family manage to be around for over 300 years. I’ve never seen so many individuals being so dense – of course, we have exceptions – but ?? Perhaps that’s what you get for the inbreed, the stupidity gene remains and grows strong and turns into a parasite that eats brains.

Let’s start with the C trio; A united the Seven Kingdoms because he thought unity was the right path to defeat the Long Night, which is great, but then he did NOTHING to actually prepare for it ?? The Wall was built by the Starks. In F&B we see that, Targ after Targ, the prophecy has little impact on how they conduct things; I’d love to say something like: fine, let’s blame it on time and wars (which, they caused) but ?? your ancestors' most important words about saving the place you, and your descendants will, live just do not carry enough crucial significance for them to be carefully passed down to the next generation?

Then, we have R. I will admit that when I first read the books I liked him - and although I still find him an interesting character, I cannot let go of the idea of how obtuse he is (it’s deeper than that in his case but I’m annoyed) -. Since I’m venting, let me just say that it completely baffles me how some still view RL as a love story; that man was OBSESSED with the prophecy, he drastically changed his lifestyle for it, but he’d abandon everything for love? And then… proceed to – likely – hide from his lOvE that her loved ones are dead (his dad killed them) while keeping said person in a place that, regarding both climate and social aspects, is detrimental for her. Furthermore, to defy and insult three powerful Houses because he fell in love with someone he saw a few times?

Yes, love can make people take routes they wouldn’t normally take, but the cost was too high for it not to be “means to an end”.

Coming back to my original thoughts: I believe that Targs are unfit to rule – if you want evidence, you can literally just open F&B, any page will do – and the couple good monarchs that family produced doesn’t make up for all the damage they caused since they sat foot in Westeros. They feel entitled to a land that doesn’t belong to them and are saviors because the Gods said they are ??

It's a funny concept when you contrast it with how the series ended: Cersei on the Throne, Arya defeating the Night King and the two last Targs with awful endings (that’s martelldoo): one dead and the other exiled.

Anyway, I just wanted to vent because the thought of a Targ restoration pissed me off this afternoon – it validates every horrendous thing that happened to those considered “casualties” and puts these people in that obnoxious concept we see in succession: no real person involved. But since “we” have the power to save the world, it was worth it and everything it valid, RIGHT?–

[lakesbian]

I don’t know who said it, but at one point I had come across this notion about taking a negative and turning it into a positive. I tried to take the day’s events and turn them around in my head, to see if I couldn’t find a more positive twist on it.

if my memory serves this is similar to something brian says later about Looking For The Good. this does not actually represent any deeper similarity between them because this is the only time taylor thinks something like this whereas brian is for real really into strained smiles and pretending everything is Chill or even Good but [touching glass] i miss brian i want to see him. Soon.

Okay, so the first thing that came to mind was “Yet another reason to kill the trio.” It wasn’t a serious thought – I was angry, but it wasn’t like I was going to actually kill them. Somehow, I suspected that I’d hurt myself before I hurt them.

this is usually the part where people point out how funny it is that taylor 1. goes "sure i'm angry but i won't Actually do anything violent" and 2. "my power isnt that good. more like a taser than a gun." but she's like. 50% right. she does actually engage in self-destructive behavior before anything else, it's just that it happens to lead riiight into outbursts of repressed anger justified/called for by the dangerous situations she's putting herself into. she is also not wrong about the "i dont have a killer instinct" thing. she has instincts for doing things that are worse than killing. our lovely girl

[itsthenovelteafactor]

OMITB S3 Thoughts:

Overall, really enjoyed season 3. I do consider it a bit of a step down from seasons 1 and 2, but there is a lot to enjoy and appreciate and I am looking forward to season 4!

Things I liked:

The. Musical. Numbers. 

They were so good and weird and surprisingly emotional

Honestly all the Broadway stuff made my inner theater kid happy

The main three are delightful as always!

I was so happy Uma and Howard got character spotlights! 

The parallels between the play and the mystery *chefs kiss*

Loretta. Meryl Steep was incredible as always and I loved her in this role. Definitely my favorite of the new characters this season I hope we see more of her! 

Mabel learning ASL!

Charles and his emotional support fish

Costuming as always is great. I want Mabel’s sweater collection.

Mabel’s notecard script in the last episode was GOLD 

Spitzprobe might be one of my favorite episodes of the show as a whole 

Things I didn’t like as much:

I did feel like some of the characters built up in the first two seasons got put on the back burner for the new cast

Biggest ones were Will and Lucy. Like, Will especially because his father had a heart attack and he wasn’t mentioned?? Oliver fully wrote the musical at the end he’d definitely be coming with VIP seats, right? 

Trio was so great together but only really came together the last few episodes. :/ 

WHY DID SELENA GOMEZ NOT SING?? 

Also. Like. I am a huge Theo fan and seeing him back was delightful and James Caverly is always a standout but I feel like we jumped over some pretty important stages in his redemption arc that I would’ve loved to see. Like, we went straight from “maybe you’re not such a bad guy” to sleepover buddy. I will admit I was looking forward to a drawn out healing/forgiveness process that kind of got skipped over.

Especially since both the play and Ben’s death involved someone getting pushed from the top of a building and the Zoe parallels were right there and never got acknowledged. 

Also rip Oliver that his past two producers have gotten arrested and had sons that killed someone by pushing them off the top floor of the same building maybe he IS cursed. 

Literally why did Mabel not get to sing. Like, I know Mabel the character is probably not a huge singer but it’s Selena Gomez. Y’all could’ve done something.

Miss the Arconiacs! 

I realize this section is way longer than the first one but it’s just because I have more thoughts not because I dislikes more things.

WHERE WERE WINNIE AND MRS. GAMBOLINI??

Wishlist for season 3:

More Will! He’s the last functional character let him get in on the shenanigans please.

More Lucy! I love the energy she brings to the show it’s so good.

Mabel does not need another love interest. Have not cared since Oscar left. (Did people not like Oscar? He’s such a sweetheart I miss him I hope his yoga studio is doing well) 

More of the trio being buddies in general

Theo getting some interactions with Charles and Oliver maybe? Half-brother reveal? 

More hanging out with the Arconia residents 

Would like some explanation for why Theo is not in jail. I’m not upset about it but like…he should totally be in jail? 

More Detective Williams

Honestly with the established characters I’d love to mix up and get some new dynamics like Will and Charles? Uma and Mabel? Oliver and Lucy? Williams and Howard?

There to be an homage to a study in scarlet with different interpretations of what Sazz wrote

You know what Mabel should sing. I’m still holding out hope.

The next time they do a montage of different people reacting to the podcast cut to Theo reading a transcription. I just think if a podcast accuses you of murder the very least they can do is make it accessible to you.  

[yourfavoritebookclub]

WINGLEADER: A Xaden Riorson POV Fanfiction

CHAPTER 11

Jack recovers quickly, shouting across the clearing at me, “And if we don’t want to rethink our actions?” 

I clamp my jaw, a muscle feathering there, the only indicator that my anger is close to breaking the surface.

I look toward Violet and I hope she can see the words in my eyes

I will not allow them to hurt you. You are safe as long as I am here.

Whatever Violet is thinking is lost on me as she rips her head away from my gaze and back to the trio of assholes in front of her. 

“There’s nothing you can do, right? Wingleader?” Jack bellows. I don’t think he’s aware that I have no problem breaking and bending rules if I have to. Wingleader or not.

“It’s not me you should worry about today,” I reply.

Behind me, Sgaeyl’s anger is coming off in waves, and I don’t mind being arrogant about the fact that we are a very, very dangerous pair.

Violet risks another glance towards me, her eyes meeting Sgaeyl’s before flicking her gaze in front of her.

“You really going to do this? Attack a squadmate?” she asks Tynan. It’s not a plea. No, it’s a judgment.

“Squads don’t mean shit today.” he growls, lip curling into a cruel smile.

Without taking her eyes off of the three threatening figures looming in front of her, she speaks to the yellow Feathertail behind her, “So I guess that’s a no on the flying?” The Dragon only responds with a low puff.

“Andarnaurran.”

I turn to look at Sgaeyl, brows furrowed. “What?”

“Her name.” She says simply before nodding to the clearing. 

“Oh, fucking hell.” Violet glances behind her. “You don’t have any claws?” she groans  before turning back to the three men in front of her.

Jack bellows as he breaks into a run, sword held high.

“Please, Violet. Don’t pull your punches. Be my Violence right now,” I plead with her inside my mind. I think I might be begging.

“She is not a killer Xaden.”

“I fucking know.”

Violet’s dagger goes flying with a flick of the wrist sinking it into Jack’s shoulder. Jack falls to his knees, his sword dropping to the ground with him. It’s not enough though. Oren and Tynan are rapidly closing in on her, swords raised, utter determination on their faces.

But I’m not moving from the treeline. No, I’m going to give Violet the chance to take them down on her own terms. Or at the very least make her scared enough to remind her that killing is sometimes the only option.

Violet slings her other dagger into Tynan’s thigh, and I suck a breath in through my teeth as Oren swings his sword down, aiming for her exposed neck. She ducks, unsheathing her dagger and swiping for his ribs in one smooth movement. 

She rises up and is immediately met with Oren’s sword. It makes contact in a movement that should have left her completely disemboweled if not for the dragon scale armor I already knew was underneath her leathers.

I’d been pretty sure that day on the sparring mat, our bodies pushing against each other so tightly I could feel every inch of her, including the ridges of her armor.

“The girl told Fierge and *Tuisceanach earlier of her armor built from Teine’s scales.” 

“Smart.” I say curtly, too distracted by the fight in front of us. 

“What the hell?” Oren shouts in surprise as his sword glances off of her side.

Behind Oren, Jack is shouting, “She destroyed my shoulder! I can’t move it!” He’s cradling the space between his delts and traps. She hit right at the joint. 

“That’s the thing about having weak joints; you know exactly where to strike.” She shouts back at him.

“Kill her!” Jack orders with a scream before bolting in the opposite direction, disappearing into the tree line.

Fucking coward.

Tynan goes for her again, sword out in front of him. She spins away and thrusts the dagger behind her into his side, then turning to Oren, swings her elbow into his chin. It’s an impressive maneuver. 

“You fucking bitch!” Tynan screams, clutching at his side. The wound is a deep, clean slice, his fingers doing very little to stop the blood from splashing onto the grass at his feet. 

“Such an original insult!” she says, slicing into a still dazed Oren. 

Tynan’s on the move and, before Violet can right herself, he cuts her from shoulder to bicep with his sword. 

My stomach roils and I think I’ve praised Malek more in the last handful of months than I have in my entire existence because of the woman in front of me, fighting with all of her courage, in all of her pain, for the innocent dragon that stands before her.

Behind her, Oren has recovered, and his arms begin to rise– ” Behind you!” I shout, and she pivots before he has a chance to behead her with his sword.

The dragon – Andarnaurran – juts her jaw forward, snapping at Oren. He stumbles backwards and Violet finds her opening.

Instead of killing him, she brings the pommel of the dagger down onto his head and, with a crack, Oren crumples to the ground.

She’s not a killer. Even when she needs to be. 

Violet turns towards Tynan who has his sword raised in a defensive position. He’s too wounded to go on the offensive now.

“You can’t interfere!” Tynan yells, face contorting with rage.

“No, but I can narrate!” I shout back. 

Behind me, Sgaeyl has gone serpentine; her giant head moving side to side, poised to hunt her prey. 

Violet risks a glance in our direction, eyes looking above my head at Sgaeyl; fear has broken through her bravado.

“Your arm is shot, Sorrengail,” Tynan says through his teeth. 

Violet raises a brow, “I'm used to functioning in pain, asshole. Are you?” 

Gods, this woman. This brave, exceptional woman. If the world knew what she was capable of they would get on their knees for her. 

“Pay attention, Wingleader.”

“I know exactly where I sliced into you. If you don’t get to a healer soon, you’ll bleed out internally.”

She’s goaded him into a fury and, as he moves to strike, she flicks her knife at him. 

Where it lands in the grass several feet away.

Fuck.

She’s out of options.

Without a thought I’ve loosened the leash on my power, shadows swirling at my feet forming a brutal wave of blackness. 

Tynan grips the pommel of his sword with both hands–

No.

I step forward into the clearing, ready to strike.

Until a black cloud appears overhead.

Not a cloud, but a dragon.

Tairn barrels towards us landing with a smooth grace that nothing so large should be capable of. With a gust of wind from his great black wings, he encases the little yellow Feathertail in a shield of scales, fire, and teeth.

I swing around to look at Sgaeyl.

“Why–”

“I told him to get Andarnaurran, that the small one was losing. I didn’t know he was going to come falling out of the sky,” Sgaeyl snips, her lip curling slightly. But the fire’s gone out of her eyes at the sight of her mate.

Tairn turns his eyes towards Sgaeyl and I.“You asked *Mo Chroi. This is who I choose. This is my rider.” Tynan and Violet both stagger as the gust of wind pushes them off balance. Violet manages to right herself, but Tynan’s mouth has fallen open, and he begins retreating at the sight of the most lethal dragon known on this Continent. 

“I am more dangerous than even the unknown shadow wielder.” 

There’s complete silence in my head. I have no thoughts, no words, as Violet turns towards Tairneanach, son of Murtcuideam and Fiaclanfuil, descendant of the Dubhmadinn line.

My dragon’s mate.

There’s silence as he speaks into Violet’s mind, words only for her. She stands stock-still for a heartbeat before she stumbles over to the side where Oren’s still body lay.

Within an instant, Tynan knows what's coming for him. He bolts for the trees as Tairn opens his maw, and spits a stream of fire into Tynan’s back, incinerating everything in his path.

More silence, and then Violet speaks, “I can’t kill an unconscious man.” She shakes her head at Tairn.

I don’t have it in me to reprimand her for it. My head is swimming. The momentary silence in my head has broken into an avalanche of thoughts.

Sgaeyl, behind me, though shocked, seems nothing short of pleased.

More silence. Violet glances at Oren's crumpled body. “Well, that’s a statement on his character. Not mine.”

A dragon choosing their rider is one of the most intimate connections our souls can make, and it is not for us to bear witness to. Violet is safe, and it’s time for us to go.

I run up Sgaeyl’s side and take my seat in a single, swift movement, raking my gaze over Violet one more time before Sgaeyl launches us into the air.

Notes:

*Aisteach and Tuisceanach refers to the two dragons who sniff Violet on the Flight Field. I named them the Gaelic words for “Curious” and “Thoughtful”, respectfully. EDIT: one of the green dagger tails bonds with Rhiannon and is name Fierge, I’ve changed the name in this chapter to reflect that.

*Mo Chroi is Gaelic for “My Heart” and will be something Tairn will continue to refer to Sgaeyl as throughout the series as a term of endearment.

[markantonys]

amol chapters 21-36, though once again contains major spoilers for character endgame fates that still haven’t happened yet as of chapter 36

so asha’man can compel aes sedai with the bond but aes sedai can’t compel asha’man? that’s rancid

“she also wanted to be done with the black tower” mood!

my man demandred shows up with the sharans, being very sexy as always. don’t lie, we all have our FILF (forsaken i’d like to fuck) demandred is mine 100%. i love an evil man with a weird nose and an antagonistic homoerotic obsession with the hero (see: francesco pazzi in i medici season 2). i hope he doesn’t get cut from the show and instead absorbs some of the less sexy forsaken’s plotlines so that he can have something to do prior to the final season lmao

he’s acting like a jilted ex by claiming that he has “crawled through the depths of sorrow and risen up to accept my glory,” asking people if they know anything about rand, saying that leane is beautiful but he doesn’t give a shit because he just wants her to deliver a message to rand. “tell him i will finally have satisfaction.” literally the gayest possible way you could’ve phrased that my dude

“i will slaughter and destroy. i will seize his people. i will enslave his children, i will take his women for my own. one by one, i will break, destroy, or dominate everything he has loved. the only way for him to avoid this is for him to come and face me.” somebody is not taking his recent breakup well! his recent 3000-years-ago breakup. on a more serious note, exhibit fucking A of how stupid it was for bashere to make elayne publicize that rand is the babies’ dad!

i’m laughing about all these gay dramatics because rand is literally about to go face the dark one, he does NOT have time for your shit demandred. he’s gonna hear this message and be like “oh my god why are you so obsessed with me” and then continue on to shayol ghul. the dark one is gonna be facepalming that demandred’s gay dramatics are trying to get in the way of his faceoff with rand.

previously we’ve discussed that demandred is mat’s foil, but he’s also gawyn’s foil: homoerotic obsession with rand that consumes their every waking thought meanwhile rand never thinks about them and has no idea they’re obsessed with him. but gawyn was able to get over his onesided breakup and find closure where demandred couldn’t. although rand DID have that angsty gay thought about how maybe demandred wouldn’t have turned to the shadow if rand/LTT had loved him instead of competed with him, so not quite as onesided as gawyn. we’ve also previously discussed mat and gawyn foiling each other (young extremely skilled military men thrust into leadership positions they didn’t want, wary of being used by aes sedai, complicated relationships with rand), so this is just a nice trio of foils here.

in conclusion, demandred and LTT are that post that’s like “characters that never dated but are definitely exes now”

when perrin vanishes graendal’s balefire in TAR: “the woman started. they always did that. didn’t they realize that nothing was real here except what you thought to be real?” i’m so sick of perrin reading 1 wikipedia article on TAR and then acting like he knows it better than women who’ve been studying it for years (he also kinda did this with the wise ones when they tried to warn him against going in the flesh and then once he did so he was like “this doesn’t feel evil, they’re wrong about that”)

“a warrior who will not strike a maiden is a warrior who refuses her honor.” king gaul!!! and we have quite a bit of both gaul and lanfear shaming perrin for Not Killing Women and perrin himself acknowledging that it was foolish of him not to kill graendal when he had the chance. this combined with lan’s scene in the last chapter chunk, i feel like sanderson is coming down hard on how stupid this rj attitude was lmao bless

lanfear says that graendal was invading bashere’s dreams oh no!!!! what did she do!!!! i’m remembering that min had some kinda Darkness viewing about bashere and biting my nails!!!

well, if bashere is under the influence of the shadow then at least that would explain why he made elayne endanger herself and the babies by making her tell everyone rand is the dad lmao idk if he WAS under the influence of the shadow back at that time, but i’m going to believe he was in order to rationalize that buckwild stupidity.

“[egwene] looked at [gawyn], a cold strength in her eyes, and nodded. light! how could she be so calm when he had to clench his teeth for fear they would start rattling together?” that’s our wife!!

gawyn is using the bloodknife rings oooh sexy

at the shayol ghul group, rand has placed aviendha in charge ❤️❤️ so we could’ve had rand facing off against the dark one, aviendha leading at shayol ghul, elayne leading the armies, and mat maybe helping her lead the armies if he was here instead of ebou dar. power polycule!!!

aviendha sees rand approaching the cavern: “he wore his coat of red and gold, but under it a simple two rivers shirt. what he had become and what he had been, wrapped together in one.” 😭 rand has two swords, callandor and laman’s sword. “he carried that because of her. fool man.” 😭😭 “aviendha raised her hand to him, and he raised his in return. that would be their only farewell if he failed in his task or she died during hers. with a last look, she turned away from him and toward her duty.” 😭😭😭😭😭

randlayne was given priority for a number of chapters, and then in this brief portion avirand got priority - avi is the last one to see rand here, and she’s also the last one who got an on-page Relationship Moment with him (a couple chapters ago when they were standing together after scoping out shayol ghul), not to mention the Romance of her being the one leading the group protecting him outside the cavern. meanwhile min has only exchanged about 3 words with rand in the entire book 😌 fueling my belief that min was just sex while rand was Going Through It and desperate for companionship and she was literally the only one available, but elayne and avi are his endgame. now that the end has come and he’s back with his other loved ones, min has all but vanished from his mind and from the book while elayne and avi are the ones he’s focused on and the ones who have onscreen Relationship Scenes with him. min didn’t even GET an onscreen goodbye with him at all lmao! cadsuane mentioned that rand had given min jewelry as a goodbye gift but we didn’t see the interaction! we love to see it! or not see it, in this case.

we have a battle scene here that i did enjoy because it was wonderful to see avi flexing her leadership AND channeling skills! a perfect culmination of her character arc!

moiraine on the shayol ghul cavern: “this is not the bore, this is not the dark one’s prison.” it’s not? oh. well then...................i don’t know what the bore is and at this point i’m too afraid to ask. (update: later on it’s mentioned how the bore is Outside The Pattern. i would very much enjoy seeing the show adapt this whole pit of doom confrontation because it’s hard for me to visualize so far in this chapter chunk.)

so moiraine and nynaeve will be the 2 women to use callandor with rand. awww i really think one should’ve been egwene since she and rand have been foils and two sides of the same coin and complements and yin and yang and co-protagonists for so long. bummer! i think her instead of nynaeve would’ve had more impact bc it would’ve shown how far rand has come out of his paranoia and self-isolation, if he was doing this with 2 aes sedai he strongly mistrusted for a long time rather than with nynaeve who was always the only one he never mistrusted or pushed away. and in fact it would’ve been such beautiful poetic cinema if callandor only required 1 man and 1 woman and it was just rand and egwene going into the cavern together. haha i was also thinking that egwene would’ve been better than perrin doing all the TAR stuff, so i guess my dream last battle would just be egwene doing EVERY task jkfjg it’s what she deserves!

nynaeve is wearing a beautiful dress because of course women be dressing to the nines to go BATTLE THE DARK ONE

i once saw someone say that the dark one’s all-caps dialogue makes them think of an old person on facebook accidentally writing things in all caps all the time and now that is always what i think of jkfgjh

rand is now entering the cave, so he officially has no time to deal with demandred’s gay dramatics and in fact has never even heard about them. god it would be so funny if demandred gets killed without ever coming face to face with rand in the entire series, that’s HUGE gawyn-onesided-homoerotic-rivalry-with-rand energy!

“an empress had to be crafty, strong, and skilled if she was to survive” and we have never actually seen tuon be any of those things, we’ve only been told that she is, so i guess that means she won’t be long for this world yeah baby!

“matrim would never be a rival...was not the prince of the ravens a check upon the empress, to keep her strong by providing a constant threat?” see, if the ship had been done well, i would be swooning over the romance of tuon being puzzled that for the first time she has a healthy relationship and a family member who won’t try to kill her, but it wasn’t, so instead i’m just like “yeah i WISH mat was a rival and a threat to her” (but i can soothe myself that maybe this is a sign that mat WILL someday be her and the empire’s downfall, and she’s just underestimating him here as usual)

wait shit tuon believes that rand knelt before the crystal throne, and now that i think about it he did do so literally and also kinda did do so metaphorically since he let her walk all over him in arranging their “alliance,” but the dragon kneeling before the crystal throne was a marker of the bad future in avi’s visions..............OH NO

tuon can you stop forcibly renaming mat FOR FIVE MINUTES

mat just says “knotai? i kind of like it” because by this point he has been officially slave-broken and happily accepts his new slave name

but again i can soothe myself that tuon naming him this as “a bringer of destruction” is a sign that someday it’ll backfire on her and he’ll bring destruction to the empire rather than to the empire’s enemies, as she believes here

mat tells tuon that they have to go help egwene’s army and has the audacity to be upset that she seems like she either might not help or might use the opportunity to enslave all the aes sedai. “i never thought the leopards would eat MY face,” sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces party.

“you gave your word.” “i signed a treaty. any treaty can be broken, particularly by the empress...the empress cannot be constrained by words on a paper.” LMAO wasn’t there a bit in a past book where she insisted that she was so honorable and always kept her promises? LMAOOO and she’s always pressed about the westlanders not keeping their oaths (that they never swore anywhere but in her deranged mind) and whatnot.

me after violating a legal document that i signed: i cannot be constrained by words on a paper 😌

she doesn’t Actually break the treaty yet because she decides it’s in her best interests to help the ~marath’damane army~ so she can use them to defeat the shadow (with the alternative being go back to seanchan right now, solidify her rule, and then come back to fight the shadow with her own forces. because obviously we totally have enough time for that, tuon, it’s not as if the last battle started DAYS ago or anything.) however, this just proves how fucking stupid and pointless the seanchan peace treaty is - tuon does not consider herself bound by it in any way and WILL violate it the SECOND it inconveniences her.

“the clouds had parted above them - they often did when [elayne] was near, one way the bond with rand manifested” ❤️❤️ romance!

just a week or two ago i saw someone shitting on elayne’s pre-battle speech in this book and saying it was lame, but i just read it and it rocks??? fuck off. elayne says “i am supposed to reassure you but i cannot...doing so would remove responsibility...this is not a day for empty promises” and people say it’s lame and not inspiring, but if she HAD hyped the soldiers up more with false positivity then people would’ve said she was being insensitive of the gravity of the situation and treating war as child’s play. there is literally no winning for elayne among Certain Readers.

“birgitte, i am in command, and you are my soldier. you will obey...i’m one of the few channelers of any strength this army has, and i’ll be drawn and quartered before i let myself sit out the fight. i’m easily worth a thousand soldiers on this battlefield.” GO OFF!!!!!!

birgitte tries to protest about the babies, because as we know those are the people she actually cares about and elayne is just a vessel for them in her eyes, and elayne claps back with “even if min hadn’t had that viewing, i’d still insist on fighting. you think the babes of these soldiers aren’t at risk? many of them line the walls of that city! if we fail here, they will be slaughtered. no, i will not keep myself out of danger, and no, i will not sit back and wait. if you think it’s your duty as my warder to stop me, then i will bloody sever this bond right here and now and send you to someone else! i’m not gong to spend the last battle lounging on a chaise and drinking goat’s milk!” YES!!! 👏👏👏👏👏 CHEERING AND PUMPING MY FIST

also, this is another example of there being no winning for elayne among Certain Readers: she does stuff like this and they complain that she’s reckless and gets people killed and Doesn’t Listen To Birgitte, but if she were to spend the last battle lounging on a chaise and drinking goat’s milk they’d complain about her doing nothing and letting everyone else die in her place.

mark my words, lounging on a chaise and drinking goat’s milk is exactly how tuon will spend the last battle. probably min too.

“an odd sensation came to mind. one of the women was in trouble. was it elayne? aviendha? he could not tell.” when rand senses one of his bondholders is in trouble, elayne and aviendha are the only two he cares about 😌 either that or he doesn’t even consider min could be in danger because she’s not doing anything in the battle lmao

moridin arrives. “you could step aside. if my victory is not assured, neither is your fall. let me pass. for once, make the choice you know you should.” “now? now you beg me to return to the light? i have been promised oblivion. finally, nothing, a destruction of my entire being. an end. you will not steal that from me, lews therin! by my grave, you will not!” and they start swordfighting. poor demandred, he wants what ishamael has with rand. demandred and gawyn shaking on the gates yelling “let me in!” whilst rand is too busy in his intense and complicated *and reciprocal* relationships with ishamael and mat.

also, like lanfear, ishamael hovers just on the edge of being a really interesting and complex villain and character, and i hope the show will bring out his motives and psychology more especially through use of AOL flashbacks. it already did a great job establishing “i just want existence to end” as a motive for joining the shadow via dana.

perrin sees the cavern battle from TAR: “two men, locked in battle. two women, as if frozen.” if moiraine and nynaeve spend the entire battle just frozen and not doing anything i’ll be so mad lmao i guess it’s actually good that egwene wasn’t wasted here

perrin and gaul are attacked by aiel male channelers who have been turned to the shadow. this is so interesting, why the hell is it just kind of a 5-page footnote in the final book of the series? why didn’t we get any aiel asha’man? that would’ve been so cool!

“i killed two of those myself, perrin aybara. one could channel. i think myself great with honor, then you slide in and take two captive. bain would laugh herself all the way back to the three-fold land if she saw this.” aw a tidbit of gaul-bain banter/friendship! it should be gaul and bain who are first-siblings rather than bain and chiad. like maybe bain and chiad are already lovers, gaul and chiad start falling for each other, and bain’s resistance is to taking gaul as her first-brother and sharing chiad with him, and then they get a nice little rivals to friends to first-siblings arc. it would’ve made so much more sense! i’m hoping the show will give us mixed gender first-siblings in general (and first-brothers, getting rid of the nonsense that men are worse at being close friends with each other than women are lmao)

“i don’t like fighting beside those seanchan” king gawyn strikes again! and egwene thinks that she “should be fighting the seanchan with every breath, not allying with them. her instincts rebelled as she approached the gathering of seanchan.” i swear to god gawyn and egwene are the only people who still remember that the seanchan suck (and elayne, i believe she was resistant to the idea of allying with them back in the big meeting?)

“egwene’s chances depended on the seanchan joining the battle and engaging the sharan channelers. her stomach twisted...the seanchan damane were not free women; they could not choose to fight. from what she’d seen of the sharan male channelers, they were little more than animals themselves.” queen egwene being the only one to acknowledge this!

“egwene revised her expectations. she’d imagined fortuona as a spoiled adolescent, the product of a coddled lifetime.” no yeah you were right on the money there egwene no revisions needed

egwene absolutely OWNS tuon throughout this conversation and it gives me so much life!!!!!! it is so goddamn satisfying to see someone FINALLY stand up to tuon, given the way she carries a spine-removal kit around (to use @butterflydm​’s extremely apt analogy) for use on literally every single other character who has interacted with her thus far.

now i am going to take a pause simply to record some epic egwene quotes before going back to analysis mode

when tuon says she’d considered whether it would be appropriate for her to speak to egwene with her own voice: “i have considered myself whether it would be appropriate to speak to one such as yourself, who has committed such terrible atrocities.” OOH

when tuon decides oh so generously to see egwene as a queen rather than as a marath’damane for this conversation: “no. you will see me for what i am, woman. i demand it.” OOOH

when tuon agrees and says that she’s spoken to marath’damane before, as it’s allowed for an empress to speak with her pet hounds: “then i will speak with you directly as well. for the amyrlin judges many trials. she must be able to speak to murderers and rapists in order to pass sentence upon them. i think you would be at home in their company, though i suspect they would find you nauseating.” OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH a worthy successor to that epic elaida clapback

“i represent the ultimate proof that your society and empire are built upon falsehoods. here i stand, a woman you insist should be collared for the common good. and yet i display none of the wild or dangerous tendencies that you claim i should have. so long as i am free from your collars, i prove to every man and woman who draws breath that you are a liar.” OOOOOHHH and the other seanchan murmur at this!

there will be more epic quotes coming but now i want to analyze. suffice it to say that this was me throughout this scene:

tuon insists that egwene wouldn’t criticize the collar if she’d known its peace and whatever nauseating shit, and egwene reveals to everybody that she WAS collared and she HATED IT!! tuon is big mad because she didn’t know this so now egwene’s made her look like a fool (and undermined the damane system and her authority) in front of a lot of people.

tuon rounds on mat to demand why he never told her that egwene was collared. he replies, “i didn’t think too much about it. she wasn’t one for very long.” boy i bet egwene wishes SHE was able to not think too much about it! mat has deadass been mooning over the head slaver for all these books with that one time his best friend was enslaved by these people just completely slipping his mind. he also chimes in with an obedient little “may she live forever” when tuon ends a sentence with “the empress” which is sickening.

egwene’s FIRST assumptions when she sees mat among the seanchan are that he’s undercover and they don’t know who he really is or that he’s a captive, that he’s in danger, and that she needs to save him from them. i think this is supposed to be a humorous role reversal of mat thinking these things about egwene being amyrlin when he first arrives in salidar, but it’s absolutely heartbreaking. egwene sees her close friend all buddy-buddy with the people who enslaved her and who have enslaved or murdered countless of her sisters and allies, and she assumes that mat must be there for an ulterior motive or not of his own free will, but nope, he voluntarily threw himself in with them because he was into tuon’s ~mysterious eyes.~ and how can i laugh at egwene ~presumptively~ thinking mat needs a rescue, when he DOES need a rescue before he spends the rest of his life miserable and under tuon’s thumb?

egwene says that their marriage was a result of tuon getting caught up in mat’s ta’veren pull (which tuon denies). “‘being ta’veren never did get me much,’ mat said sourly.” so is he admitting that he doesn’t want this marriage or this life?

tuon is mad at mat for not telling her about egwene’s stint as a damane and says “we will speak of this on another occasion. it will not be pleasant.” and later in the scene when he displeases her, “we will have many words about this tonight” 🚩🚩🚩

“egwene regarded the woman, baffled. light! these people were completely insane.” YES. YES THEY ARE. what a breath of fresh air to see a pov character FINALLY acknowledge this. egwene you’re the only bitch in this house i ever respected.

“oh, light, rand. what did you promise them?” mood

egwene actually makes an effort to get concessions from tuon AND SUCCEEDS (tuon agrees to give up tremalking) unlike rand just going “oh well there’s nothing i can do” the second tuon counters him and mat just standing there silently not even trying. because egwene is the only bitch in this house i ever respected.

me @ every character but egwene, gawyn, and elayne: you have the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair

egwene announces that all sul’dam can channel. tuon tells her not to spread such lies. “oh? shall we test it, fortuona? you said you trained them yourself. you are a sul’dam, i presume? put the a’dam on your neck. i dare you. if i am wrong, it will do nothing to you. if i am right, you will be subject to its power, and will prove to be marath’damane...let us do it and test the real strength of your commitment. if you prove to be able to channel, will you do as you claim others should? will you stroll up to the collar and snap it around your own neck, fortuona? will you obey your own laws?” i am screaming and hollering in approval, but then, for some GODFORSAKEN reason, this DOES NOT HAPPEN. at this point being collared and forced to channel is literally the only thing that could possibly force tuon into any sort of character development, so WHY in the name of the light would you set this up so perfectly and then wuss out of following through???????????? what’s the point????????? i’m so mad!!!!!!!!! just when i think tuon might finally be forced to face a consequence for the first time in her life!!!

“‘i plan to live centuries,’ egwene hissed. ‘i will watch your empire crumble, fortuona. i will watch it with joy.’” AND YET EGWENE FUCKING DIES IN THE LAST BATTLE AND TUON’S EVIL ASS GETS TO LIVE!!!! IT’S SO UNFAIR I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!! nobody is going to stand up to the seanchan once egwene, possessor of the sole backbone in the westlands, is gone!!!! i’m sure egwene’s death will be a moving Heroic Sacrifice moment, but my god it’s the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened for the upcoming fourth age. the world doesn’t need rand or perrin or mat or nynaeve anymore after the last battle, but it needs egwene DESPERATELY. if an ef5 had to die, why couldn’t it have been literally any of them except egwene? except i don’t want rand to die because he deserves a second chance at life, and i don’t want nynaeve to die because she deserves her happy ending with lan after they’ve had a Doomed Relationship for so much of the series, and i don’t want mat to die because he needs to overthrow the seanchan empire and then go back to the westlands to marry rand and elayne. so, i will amend my statement: if an ef5 had to die, why couldn’t it have been perrin? lmao (tho i do stand by the fact that rand or nynaeve not making it would’ve been better For The World than egwene even if i would’ve been sad personally, and possibly mat as well unless i really AM meant to believe that he’ll destroy seanchan, in which case he needs to survive to the fourth age too)

mat intervenes and pushes them apart. “let’s be civil, ladies. don’t make me throw the pair of you over my knee.” i am going to strangle him and make it stick this time. my earlier-in-this-book sympathy for mat is over now, fuck post-WH mat all my homies hate post-WH mat. like can you IMAGINE a woman with no political authority saying this to two extremely powerful male rulers/leaders while they’re arguing about serious political and human rights topics? ..........okay cadsuane would absolutely do this, but aside from her.

“the people of the world need you two, and they need you levelheaded, you hear me?” they literally do not need tuon mat they would literally be so much better off without her. “this is bigger than any of us. when you fight each other, the dark one wins, and that is that. so stop behaving like children.” and so we have the culmination of the gross ass “one side wanting to enslave the other vs. the other not wanting to be enslaved being treated as equally petty, selfish, and in the wrong” theme that’s been present ever since COT. i’m fuming!!!! chewing rocks!!!!!!!!

“when you fight each other the dark one wins” would’ve been an effective line to use when the world leaders were squabbling in the big meeting scene or when rand and egwene were arguing, NOT when tuon is threatening to enslave egwene and egwene is saying she wants to see her slaver empire destroyed!

although at least mat does chide tuon a little bit extra and tell her that she needs egwene, and doesn’t say anything more to egwene or try to tell her that she needs tuon, so that’s a small mercy

the meeting ends and egwene returns to “where gawyn waited for her” sanderson couldn’t have gawyn present for/within earshot of the meeting because gawyn would’ve beat mat’s ass for treating egwene like that, and rightfully so. also because he would’ve just straight up killed tuon using his bloodknife ring abilities the second she threatened egwene. egwene wouldn’t kill tuon because she’s too practical and levelheaded, but gawyn would’ve snapped and taken her head off, my impulsive boy.

elayne’s exhausted herself channeling in battle, and birgitte actually admits that elayne was right to want to fight and that she did well and that seeing her fight right on the front lines inspired the soldiers, thank god.

elayne realizes that bashere’s been spreading misinformation, which led to them being taken by surprise by a second trolloc army, and concludes that he’s a darkfriend and fires him from being her general and puts him under guard. lan’s been noticing agelmar making mistakes too, so i’m guessing graendal’s messing with all the generals’ dreams.

i’m sad because i always was fond of bashere, but i’m also thrilled because now elayne is in charge and flexes her military general muscles and puts together a good battle plan on the spot! that’s my girl! fuck perrin and everyone else who claimed she’s only a good leader because she sits quietly and lets the male generals do all the work.

“the one power flooded into her, though she could hold only a trickle. she could act as if she weren’t exhausted, but her body knew the truth. she would lead them anyway.” ❤️❤️

min gets sent as a messenger from bryne to tuon. the aes sedai doing gateways have to make them as small as possible since they need to conserve their strength, and min is annoyed that they make her one so small she has to crawl through it. why don’t you do something useful rather than complaining that other people don’t have enough energy left to do things, min?

she mentions that one of the aes sedai notes her “breeches and curls” do NOT tell me min has been curling her hair even during the last fucking battle????? 💀💀 i hope that sanderson just forgot or didn’t realize that her hair wasn’t naturally curly (and it isn’t - there were multiple times in rj’s books where she mentioned that she started curling it For Rand) because otherwise, oh my god.

she’s been doing odd jobs in the camp for a week. interesting that a week has passed since the day before rand went to the pit of doom. “it wasn’t work that had required her, specifically, but it was better than sitting in tear and worrying about rand...or being angry at him for forbidding her to go to shayol ghul.” meanwhile, avi was briefly disappointed that rand wouldn’t take her but accepted immediately that it was the right course of action. “you’d have been a liability there, min told herself. you know it. he couldn’t worry about saving the world and protecting her from the forsaken at the same time.” at least she admits it. “sometimes, it was hard not to feel insignificant in a world of channelers like rand, elayne, and aviendha.” that’s because you ARE insignificant 😌 like, there are so many ways to pull off “non-magical non-warrior character has strength in other areas” and none of them were used with min. her viewings are useless and the emotional support she allegedly provides for rand is either nonexistent or detrimental 90% of the time.

like what’s going on???? lmao anyway

min was just internally moping about being useless but when mat says “hey i could use you” she gets offended that he phrased it rudely or something??? not sure if you noticed but we’re in the middle of a WAR here min, people don’t have time to waste on making sure their requests are phrased politely enough so as not to hurt your feelings.

min even seems to know about mat’s luck??? you’ve met him ONCE and it was before he had that luck! elayne doesn’t even know about it and she’s his bestie! what’s going on??? i would say rand told her, but i’m not sure even rand is aware of mat’s luck? totally possible that he could be, i just don’t remember.

“they’re insane, min. they’re all bloody insane.” “i’m sure egwene would help you escape if you ask, mat.” “well, i didn’t say they weren’t fun. just insane.” mat name ONE time that the seanchan, infamous war criminals and human rights abusers in whose company you’ve been constantly miserable and fearing for your life and your freedom, have been “fun”

“gritting her teeth, min went down on one knee. the woman was the empress, after all. min wouldn’t bow to mat or the generals, but it was only proper to show respect to fortuona.” literally why??? she’s not YOUR empress!

“who is this one, knotai? she thinks herself high.” “oh, well, she’s just the dragon reborn’s woman.” “how curious. that would make her your equal, knotai.” DJFKGJKJHJKDFHGLJ tuon is calling mat rand’s lover and you can’t change my mind

also, it’s making me completely insane yet again that mat is fully aware that min is rand’s girlfriend and is also fully aware that rand is elayne’s babydaddy and we just do not ever see him have any reaction to that or wonder what’s going on. and we can’t even say “maybe rand explained it to him offscreen while they were catching up” because they didn’t GET one of those catchups like rand & perrin and mat & perrin got.

mat tries to hustle min out: “just keep moving. don’t risk her deciding to snatch you up. she’s not particularly good at letting things go, once she has them in hand.” i was all prepared to feel sorry for him, but then, “he actually sounded proud, saying that.” sigh. “you’re as crazy as they are, min thought.” for once something we can agree on. i am trying so hard to interpret everything as mat having been brainwashed and psychologically beaten into submission, but at times it is difficult.

“i don’t belong to anyone. except maybe rand, and him to me.” compare with aviendha: “he did not own her, and she did not own him.” HMMM. very telling. we now have this, avi shunning the thought of possessive public touching while min drapes herself over rand in public constantly, avi accepting immediately that rand has his duty and she has hers while min mopes over rand not taking her to shayol ghul, avi thinking that she couldn’t be with rand until she knew who she was while min thinks she’ll be whatever rand wants her to be.............the two of them are truly at polar opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how they view relationships, with min being the end of “painfully insecure, possessive, and monogamous.” “we belong to each other” is probably meant to feel romantic, and if used it a different moment maybe it would be, but the fact that we had avi thinking mere CHAPTERS ago that she and rand don’t own each other really throws this line into sharp relief.

oh wack tuon declares that min is her truthspeaker now. is something interesting and non-rand-related finally happening to min for the first time in 14 books? also, note that it’s something interesting happening TO her rather than her DOING something interesting. that’s the real reason she’s insignificant compared to rand, elayne, and aviendha: not because she isn’t a channeler, but because she’s a passive character. things happen TO her, she doesn’t MAKE things happen.

“loial fought on. this song was not a song of victory. it was a song of life. loial did not intend to die here on this hillside. by the light, he had a book to finish before he went!” 😭❤️

mat is weirdly into min all of a sudden lmao hate that. although it IS further evidence for the “mat is gonna cheat on tuon so fast” folder, and that’s always a good thing. and i guess i shouldn’t have expected anything different when the “thinks of all women in terms of whether they’re fuckable” character and the “exists solely to cater to the straight male gaze” character met up.

“she was with rand, so that made her practically his sister.” so you’re saying that min is your sister-wife, because you are also with rand? also, contrast to in LOC when he was like “elayne is so hot, but i wouldn’t kiss her, not because she’s with rand, just because she’s annoying” mat was 100% willing to homewreck rand with elayne, make of that what you will jkjfgh

mat managed to retain his old clothes and puts them on now! phew

it’s so wild that tuon can just go “you’re my truthspeaker now” and snatch min???? and no one does anything about it???? well min, i guess you’re headed off to seanchan forever after the last battle. sucks for her and i’m not necessarily glad about someone else falling into seanchan hands.............but this DOES clear the way for avirandlayne throuple raising their six (6) babies in caemlyn endgame to happen, it has to be said.

mat mentions that he burned the ugly ratty coat he wore to visit elayne in TOM, aw he was so upset that she made fun of it djkfgj

“mat grinned at tuon, and she favored him with a smile. light, but he liked those smiles.” sigh. though this does absolutely read like a fully brainwashed damane being happy to receive a sul’dam’s approval, which..........well, it sure doesn’t SOOTHE me, but it’s better for mat’s characterization to believe that he’s been brainwashed and slave-broken rather than that he’s just fully bought into all this while in his right mind.

“gawyn stepped up to her side, faithful as always.” ❤️❤️ THIS loyal husband DOES spark joy.

egwene notes that gawyn is looking pale, as if at the start of a sickness. oh no!!!!! i think i remember it was mentioned that you don’t live long after activating the bloodknife rings, but idk if that was just because people only activate them to go on suicide missions or if it means that the rings themselves will actually kill you after a certain point. i do know already that gawyn dies (sob) but i don’t know how or when it will happen (same with egwene’s death, i only know the bare fact and not any details).

lan ousts agelmar and mat ousts bryne later in the chapter. and tenobia dies in the battle, so with her gone and bashere currently unfit to rule, does that mean my girl faile is now queen of saldaea? nice! i mean, rip tenobia and everything, but all hail queen faile.

“‘he seems to be yelling for the dragon reborn,’ galgan said. demandred’s voice boomed across the battlefield right then, enhanced by the one power. he was demanding that the dragon come and face him in a duel.” THIS IS SO FUNNY TO ME KJFGKHJ the Unhinged Ex energy of it all! the dragon is a little busy battling the dark one, demandred, read the room! i can’t tell you how much this is making me laugh!!

“mat inspected the fellow through the glass. ‘demandred, eh? has he gone a bit dotty, or what?’” mat watching demandred and going “imagine being so obsessed with rand. could not be me!”

in worse news, mat ends up getting his very own slave due to Can’t Kill A Woman behavior, so that’s fun. (he didn’t explicitly reference Can’t Kill A Woman or give any reason for saving the sharan channeler’s life, but i assume this is the reason.) his response to realizing he accidentally enslaved someone: 1) tells tuon she can have her (because slavery is fine as long as HE’S not the one doing it, i guess), and when tuon insists that the channeler is his, 2) “mat shrugged. what else could he do?” i can think of a few things, mat. just a few. “maybe, if the damane belonged to him, he could let her free or something.” all right that’s something at least. now to see if he actually follows through on that after the last battle or if he simply grows ambivalent enough to let her remain damane.........

“has he punished you for that?” “yes. he returned me to life.” wow moridin needs even MORE therapy than rand does

logain’s contingent arrives on elayne’s battlefied. “we came to you first. the black tower stands with the lion of andor.” fistpump! they may have given up on their deadbeat dad, but they went straight to stepmommy elayne the second they had the chance.

“the woman approaching wore fine seanchan silks, and egwene’s stomach turned at the sight. that finery existed because of a foundation of enslaved channelers, forced into obedience to the crystal throne.” GO OFF QUEEN!!!!! but then it turns out that the woman is min, so idk if that’s supposed to make egwene’s moral rant feel humorous or something? also, the narrative has definitely 100% forgotten that da’covale, aka regular non-channeling people, are also slaves (earlier in this book a westlander referred to them as “servants” which i remember seeing quite a bit in the late rj books too)

“‘you should see the things [the seanchan] drink, egwene.’ ‘i’ve seen them,’ egwene said, unable to keep her tone from coldness. ‘oh. yes. i suppose you have.’” absolute dick move by min here. wasn’t she in falme for a long period of time trying to help rescue egwene?? she should be even more aware of egwene’s captivity than mat! why does everybody have such an easy time just Forgetting that their friend was enslaved and traumatized?

“‘i suppose i’m better off with fortuona. she...knows about a certain talent of mine, thanks to mat, and it might let me help her. and you.’ the statement was laden with meaning.” is min actually going to try to use her newfound influence with tuon to take seanchan down from the inside? now that would be an interesting plotline for her. why didn’t this happen to her 7 books ago? i say, axe min as rand’s love interest and instead send her into tuon’s path MUCH earlier on so that she can use her viewings to influence her into having a little smidge of character development, and plus min has known the sul’dam secret since TGH and so might make more headway with tuon there than mat ever bothered to. then have mat stay with rand instead, being his general and a childhood friend to remind him of who he used to be (since mat actually knows the shepherd boy and min does not). they would both be way more useful in the other’s plotline. hell, we can even switch the romances and make min tuon’s love interest and mat rand’s!

egwene on mat: “a carouser, leering at every pretty woman he met. treating her like a painting and not a person.” i’m probably supposed to think egwene is being unfair to mat and misjudging him, but this is literally exactly how he’s been treating women in his own narration ever since WH and even ACOS. since then, every single woman he meets, he describes in terms of whether or not she’s fuckable. this was not the case in the first 6 books.

“he’d jumped into the river to save kiem lewin from drowning. of course, she hadn’t been drowning. she’d merely been dunked under the water by a friend, and mat had come running, throwing himself into the water to help. the men of emond’s field had made sport of him for months about that. the next spring, mat had pulled jer al’hune from the same river, saving the boy’s life...that was how mat was. he’d grumbled and muttered all winter about how people made sport of him, insisting that next time, he’d just let them drown. then the moment he’d seen someone in danger, he’d gone splashing right back in. egwene could remember gangly mat stumbling from the river, little jer clinging to him and gasping, a look of pure terror in his eyes.” 😭😭😭😭😭

“he was a scoundrel and a fool, but she trusted him. light help her, but she did. she’d trust him with her life.” ❤️❤️❤️ i remember when they parted in LOC being so afraid that that was the last time they’d ever see each other, so i’m so happy to see them interact again in this book! even if their one interaction thus far was mat being shitty to egwene. but i have hope that there will be more and better interactions coming.

once again we have mat fretting over how he married an “aes sedai” and not the fact that he married a slaver

“she was something incredible, though. he felt a thrill each time she gave orders; she did it so naturally. elayne and nynaeve could take lessons. tuon did look very nice on that throne.” 🙄🙄🙄 and once again we have mat gushing over how good tuon is at bossing people around, but failing to provide us with any examples of her showing ACTUAL leadership skills. and gushing over how good tuon is at bossing people around when he constantly shits on the wondergirls for a non-malicious and less extreme version of the same behavior. elayne could take lessons? please. unlike tuon and mat, elayne knows that being a ruler is about more than giving orders and looking good on a throne. mat’s “coming to respect nobility” arc, if it had to happen at all, should’ve been him realizing that being a monarch is hard fucking work, rather than declaring that tuon is Not Like Other Nobles when she embodies every single one of his original negative perceptions of them.

but the good part of this passage is that it gives grounds for mat to have a Queen Elayne kink in a better universe, god bless. getting railed by elayne would honestly do him so much good.

“the sul’dam, catrona, almost choked on the words ‘aes sedai.’ mat couldn’t blame her. those could be tough words to speak.” and once again we have mat showing more empathy for the sul’dam than for the aes sedai they think should be enslaved.

“he didn’t look too hard at the damane [whom he accidentally captured]. mat was responsible for her being captured. it was better than her fighting for the shadow, wasn’t it? blood and bloody ashes, he thought to himself. you are doing a fine job of persuading tuon not to use damane, matrim cauthon. capturing one yourself...” sorry, have you EVER tried to persuade tuon not to use damane? this is literally the first time i’ve seen any indication of that, mat. at least he’s feeling some guilt and sense of responsibility right now, for a whole 3 sentences.

“it was unnerving how quickly the sharan woman had taken to her captivity. the sul’dam had all remarked upon it. barely a moment of struggle, then complete subservience.” AKA EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO MAT IN COT

“demandred - despite continuing to rave about the dragon reborn - was continually testing mat’s defenses.” JKJDFGKJJKH KILLING ME AGAIN rafe please give demandred a canon messy gay backstory with LTT because no other justification for this behavior would be as good.

more lines of mat gushing over tuon’s pretty eyes and how much he likes it when she's pleased with him

mat just referred to the sharan channelers as “marath’damane” ugh. but then a paragraph later he mentions “[the seanchan] had started using the term [aes sedai] instead of marath’damane by mat’s order” so that’s good. maybe the prior line i’ll chalk up to it originally being galgan’s line which sanderson then gave to mat and forgot to change “marath’damane” to “channelers” or something.

“he had an inkling of what tuon might be capable of, if she grew displeased with min. he loved her - light, he was pretty sure he did. but he also let himself be a little afraid of her. he’d have to keep watch so that tuon didn’t decide to ‘educate’ min.” okay this is bone chilling. mat is SO CLEARLY in an abusive marriage and a subconscious part of him KNOWS it and is trying to protect min from tuon, though he’s resigned to the thought that it’s too late to protect himself. but the conscious part of him is insisting that he loves tuon, he really does! heartbreaking.

mat spends a whole paragraph talking about how it sucks that seanchan women’s armor doesn’t show boobs and how he ACTUALLY ASKED the armorer if that should be changed. “light, these people had no sense of morality. a fellow needed to know if he was fighting a woman on the battlefield. it was only right.” i’m thinking that in addition to Objectifying Women and Can’t Kill A Woman nonsense, mat is also afraid he might be like “ooh that soldier’s hot!” and then realize it’s a man jdfkjg just accept it mat it’s okay.

“tuon blinked once, looking straight at min. the room seemed to drop into shade, feeling colder. mat shivered. he didn’t like it when tuon got like this. that stare of hers...it seemed like the stare of another person. a person without compassion.” i mean this is literally how she always is? name ONE time when tuon has displayed compassion. also, more “mat being trapped in an abusive marriage and trying to convince himself that it isn’t so and that this isn’t the ~real~ tuon” vibes here.

really interesting scene between tuon and min regarding min’s viewings. tuon attempts to take advantage of the viewings and prevent them from happening, which is a refreshing change from how everyone else just immediately accepted “ah well they can’t be changed, no point trying.” and min stands up to tuon and refuses to share her viewings anymore if tuon will just use them to execute people she suspects of future treason, which is a refreshing change from everyone else having their spine removed when tuon is in the room. see? these two characters play off each other quite well and this plotline/dynamic should’ve been set up way sooner! my 2 most hated characters in the series, yet when they’re together i actually kinda enjoy their interactions lmao it’s witchcraft! probably because min is finally showing an actual personality outside of loving rand now that she’s been separated from him, and because she argues with and challenges tuon and tuon actually listens to her (to an extent) since she’s her truthspeaker.

“if only min would learn a little respect.” mat is literally so scared of his friend getting abused the same way he is, he wants her to just keep her head down.

i love egwene and mat talking in code about his medallion! “do you still have your pet fox?” “i do. he’s snuggled up nice and warm.” “take care of him. i would not see you suffer gareth bryne’s fate.”

mat says “what does elayne want to do? isn’t she in charge?” king shit! respecting her authority and wanting her input, unlike perrin! and then he asks them to make another gateway to get elayne to this meeting so she can discuss with them!

“elayne strode through, thick with child, eyes practically on fire.” mat shaking hands meme with rand and aviendha over commenting on the fire in elayne’s eyes

“she maintained the posture of a queen, but her disheveled hair and clothing burned in several places indicated what she’d been through.” and his earlier description of egwene: “blood and bloody ashes - if he had a soldier with that cast to his skin and that look in his eyes, mat would send the fellow to bed rest for a week.” see, mat? this is what ACTUAL leadership looks like, while tuon has been sitting cozy on her throne letting everyone else do the fighting.

i love to see mat and elayne making battle plans together!!!! power couple!!!!!! tuon could never (she’s just sitting there silently for the whole discussion)

“now, if only [galad] could right [elayne’s] moral compass. she wasn’t a bad person, but galad wished that she - like other monarchs - could see as clearly as he did. he was beginning to accept that they didn’t. he was beginning to accept that it was all right, so long as they tried their best. whatever he had inside of him that allowed him to see the right of things was obviously a gift of the light, and holding others to scorn because they had not been born with it was wrong. just as it would be wrong to hold a man to scorn because he had been born with only one hand, and was therefore an inferior swordsman.” y’all are really trying to tell me that gawyn is the worse trakand brother when galad’s self-righteous holier-than-thou superiority-complex christian-fundamentalist ass is out here behaving like this??? unreal. galad fucking sucks!!!!!!! and has learned absolutely nothing from what morgase was trying to teach him in the last book - his arc should’ve been coming to realize that his view of what’s right isn’t absolute truth, but instead it was coming to accept that it’s okay if other people aren’t as good and perfect as he is because they have not been blessed by the light like he has. bonkers!!!!

like, this is VERY close to how tuon thinks in her povs. this sense of entitlement and enlightenment, this conviction that they are the only ones who know what’s truly right and they must help the ignorant rest of the world see it too - that is BANG ON seanchan thinking.

“he had stopped worrying that his words offended [elayne] long ago. it seemed he couldn’t claim that a day was pleasant or his tea warm without her taking offense somehow. it would have been nice if aybara hadn’t run off. that man was a leader - one of the few that galad had ever met - that one could actually talk to without worrying that he’d take offense.” galad literally being a rightwinger complaining about how easily offended everybody is these days by harmless little things such as being part of a group trying to take away their rights! clearly, elayne is just a special snowflake who’s too sensitive, it’s so unfair that she’s mean to galad! 

no wonder reddit is on galad’s side and whines so much about how immature and prejudiced elayne’s behavior towards him is

the virgin galad (religious zealot, misogynist, joins a group dedicated to oppressing people like his sister and then complains about how mean she is to him about it) vs. the chad gawyn (respects women, devoted his life to protecting his wife, switched sides when he realized that his original side was actively bringing harm to his loved ones)

in conclusion, fuck galad all my homies hate galad. except all my homies DON’T hate galad and so i am alone being old man yells at cloud meme! wake up, my homies! he’s the worst!

there IS a small moment where he instinctively thinks of the whitecloaks as “the whitecloaks” instead of “the children” and is shocked with himself about it, so i guess that’s something. too little too late!

we catch up with faile retrieving the horn from tar valon! wow i completely forgot about that. their conversation at the beginning of the book where they sent her to get it feels like it was 5 books ago.

and aviendha is attacked by some of the aiel male channelers! turns out that when an aiel man can channel they send him to the blight (i’m sure this was mentioned before, i just forgot) and that’s how they all got corrupted by the dark one.

“mat had run off to the seanchan, talmanes to fight alongside queen elayne. one by one, everyone in this group was being eaten by trees, mud, or monsters. why did they all leave olver alone?” “noal...dead. would mat die too?” 😭😭😭

“i am not spending the last battle clinging to a rock! [nynaeve] thought.” my mood exactly lmao we’re on page 600 and she and moiraine have not done anything yet!

it turns out that alanna is in the cavern and is dying, and rand will snap and go crazy if she dies, so nynaeve has to save her but she can’t use saidar because she’s still linked with rand. oh shit!!! it’s nice to see alanna’s bond with rand FINALLY be relevant and have narrative payoff.

egwene is still so ready to help mat escape tuon and the seanchan 😭

mat complains that tuon wants him to sit in judgment. “mat was not going to order men to be executed, and that was that.” okay so then you should sit in judgment and pronounce them innocent rather than avoid jury duty and let other people pronounce them guilty and have them executed? obvious solution here, mat. he complains about elayne and other nobles (gawyn here in this passage) being entitled, yet when HE is given power and privilege that he could potentially use to help others, he does nothing with it. (obviously he’s too busy preparing for the battle to sit in judgment right at this very moment, so that’s fair enough, but his objection IS that he doesn’t want to execute people rather than that he has more pressing duties right now.)

we get 2 little nuggets of the mat-gawyn interactions i’d hoped for in the previous book and didn’t get and i’m delighted!!! “gawyn trakand was apparently practicing to be an aes sedai sometime, because he kept giving mat glares that would have made moiraine proud.” “‘burn me, first rand, then you [egwene]. is everybody going to chivy me about these days? gawyn, you want a turn?’ ‘yes, please.’ he sounded eager. ‘shut up,’ mat said.” JDFGJKHKJHJFG that’s one of my top 10 interactions in the book so far, why did it make me laugh so hard!! could’ve been even better if mat had married elayne and he and gawyn were now annoyed brothers-in-law!

“he could feel something pulling on him, tugging him northward. rand would need him soon.” “he narrowed his eye. rand was tugging on him.” one more cauthor ta’veren pull instance for the road!

“this is it, egwene. take a deep breath, a last pull on the brandy, or burn your final pinch of tabac. have a good look at the ground before you, as it’s soon going to be covered in blood. in an hour, we’ll be in the thick of it. the light watch over us all.” dun dun duuuuuuuun!!!! and the next chapter, titled “the last battle,” is TWO HUNDRED PAGES so i’m calling it a day for this recap.